My friends called today, down from L.A., they were clicking tabs all night, browsing half of the day ...
James Talarico says Karmelo Anthony was convicted because "there were no black members of the jury" and the "system is not working for black Texans."
— Brandon Gill (@realBrandonGill) August 20, 2026
Karmelo Anthony stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf to death for absolutely no reason.
And @jamestalarico sides with the killer. pic.twitter.com/kFIPWiMxp2
Ed: This is the kind of performative wokeness that white progressives use to pander to black voters. However, it's also a signal to everyone else – whites, Hispanics, and even moderate black voters – that Talarico is a radical activist who will sell out rather than recognize justice. It may help repair some ties to black voters, but don't expect them to suddenly get over the Jasmine Crockett and Colin Allred attacks.
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Breitbart: Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins has a warning for Democrats. He hopes they will stop acting like fools.
Speaking to fellow actors Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett on the SmartLess podcast, the Oscar-winning star said he had a bone to pick with the Democrat Party and its followers.
“I got to say, there got to be better ideas and better, you know, better motivation for people to vote for Democrats. They have to get their stuff together. They really do,” Robbins said.
He went on to say that there is too much. reliance on a constant stream of political outrage and that the outrage is replacing logical thought about the issues.
“The idea that you can find your worth and purpose and virtue by hatred is this terrible, terrible idea,” Robbins lamented.
Ed: And just like that, TDS has ceased to exist as a coherent strategy. I wrote about this earlier today. I had expected Orange Man Bad to survive one more cycle, but it's pretty clear that its value has long since dissipated for Democrats. And now even some Hollywood celebrities are wondering what Democrats actually value, other than personal hatred for Trump. (In fairness, Robbins has been coming around for a while.)
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This is the way to combat the false lure of socialism to young women. With real stories. Great campaign from @IWV pic.twitter.com/YTCBCU6faO
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) August 19, 2026
Ed: It's a great spot, presumably produced through AI as an homage to Back to the Future. I appreciate the approach, but all we really need to do is show people the history of Marxist systems in the 20th century and even in this one (Venezuela especially). No time-travel necessary.
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Victor Davis Hanson: As far as tolerance goes, in the entire region, only in Israel is it legal to criticize political or religious figures. Only there can one choose to adopt an openly gay or trans lifestyle. Only there can an apostate renounce one’s religion or urge others to do the same. And only there can Christians establish a new church almost anywhere they choose.
Some of Israel’s fiercest feminist critics who wear miniskirts and halter tops, some of its most severe gay opponents, and some of its more virulent trans adversaries would in all likelihood be summarily arrested in most Middle Eastern countries if they dared to speak, act, or wear clothes as they do in the West—except, of course, in democratic and free Israel.
In terms of protest, scream publicly in Tel Aviv, “I no longer believe in the Jewish faith, and I hate the current government of Israel”—and there is little chance of being arrested.
Chant the same publicly in any Muslim country in the Middle East—“I no longer believe in Islam, and I hate our current government”—and the loud critic would be either jailed or beaten by a street mob or worse.
Ed: The contradiction here is foundational, but to the Left, irrelevant. They are not siding with Islamists over Israel because of animus toward the latter, but out of animus for Western civilization as a whole. Marxists have long adopted Islamism not out of agreement with its tenets, but because it also opposes Western civilization. "Hating Israel is a selective syndrome," Hanson writes, and it's a lot more selective than even he demonstrates. Read it all.
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BREAKING: A new court exhibit reveals a relative of James Comey sent a blistering text to wife Patrice Comey lambasting them for posting "a call for violence" against President Trump, asserting: "I have held my tongue for a long time, but I just can't do it anymore. You guys have…
— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) August 19, 2026
You guys have really gone off the deep end over the years with your TDS. "86 47" is a call for violence no matter how you spin it. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I am thoroughly embarrassed to have ever defended the absolute coward that is your husband. You and Jim are some of the least accepting, most hypocritical people I've had the displeasure of knowing. I hope Jim goes to jail for his crimes."
Ed: I still don't think this prosecution will succeed. It will produce some memorable nuggets such as these, though. For a "call to violence" to rise to a crime, the threat has to be specific and imminent, neither of which applies to the deeply stupid message Comey published. It's sufficient to know, though, that Comey is deeply stupid as well as morally warped, and that even his family members see it.
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Jennifer Sey: The WNBA’s statement was a classic non-apology: “The WNBA is aware of interactions at last night’s game in Atlanta in which fans were asked by league security to cover their shirts. This should not have happened.”
No we apologize.
No we told them to do it and we were wrong.
No we are sorry to the paying fans that they were told they couldn’t wear a t-shirt supporting female athletes.
None of that. Just a late admission that their own people overstepped — after the video of Kasey Thomason and her daughter Annie was already circulating.
I would argue that while there may have been specific direction to security to censor pro-woman messaging and for camera guys to skip over any support for XX-XY and save women’s sports messaging . . . it probably wasn’t even required. These institutions are so thoroughly captured that security and camera guys wouldn’t even need explicit orders. They already know which messages are forbidden. Which t-shirt to censor. Which people to skip in the broadcast.
Because let’s be clear — they showed a woman in a “Trans kids belong in sports” shirt repeatedly on the national broadcast. This didn’t go both ways, as some are now claiming (I’ll get to that).
Ed: And she does. I find it ironic beyond belief that the Dream forced the two women to cover up their t-shirts with shirts proclaiming "Wellness Night" in an attempt to promote the transgender delusion. And this from a team in a league for women who refuse to define "women" when the term is the first word of the league's name! Nothing about this screams "wellness."
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The news here is actually that Cornyn was hiring Democrats. https://t.co/IKDjSInOHo
— Abigail Jackson 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) August 18, 2026
Ed: I missed this story when it popped up earlier in the week. My good pal Kurt Schlicter did not ...
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Kurt Schlichter at Townhall: In perhaps the least surprising revelation of this campaign cycle, besides the epiphany that the guy with a Nazi tattoo turned out not to be very nice to women, was that the Deputy Legislative Director for nominally Republican Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) just enlisted in the legions of blasphemous, demonic Democrat James Talarico. For any Texans wondering if, in retrospect, they should’ve given Ken Paxton a shot instead of sticking with the incumbent, you’ve got your answer: Hell yes. This turncoat, one Jacob Smith, had a central role in developing policy for an allegedly Republican senator, yet he slid seamlessly into the camp of the imp pushing the gender mutilation of children, socialism, DEI, open borders, and gun control. But then again, Sen. John Cornyn would be on a smooth glide path to another term as a senator if he had ever done anything to stop the gender mutilation of children, socialism, DEI, open borders, and gun control — his record on these ranges from AWOL to active collaboration with the Democrats.
So, but for Ken Paxton, Texas’s non-Cruz senator would’ve had the same policies, whether it was John Cornyn or Pete Buttigieg’s Mini-Me.
This is why we Republican voters sometimes have to take the risk of dumping the weakhearts, the losers, and the toe-shrimpers of the ruling class and their regime media overlords in favor of the based.
Talk about proving us right. Cornholio has already been reveling in the strange new respect bestowed by the Washington Post and others following his utter humiliation by the Texas GOP. The sorest of sore losers, a man offended by the uppity voters refusing to obey, he’s refused to do anything to support the Republican nominee, blocked Trump’s initiatives, and passively aggressively tweeted stuff that’s 180 degrees from the conservative Republican promise he ran on. That’s not surprising because John Cornyn is not a member of the Republican Party. He’s a member of the John Cornyn Party, and the John Cornyn Party’s platform consists solely of John Cornyn being the senator and getting all the perks, prestige, and posterior-kissing that come along with it. Texas GOP voters saw him for the phony he is, and now he hates them even more than he did before the primary — and he hated them a lot.
Ed: I need to sit down with my pal Kurt and ask him to open up more about his true feelings. I suspect many of you have already read this, but if not, go read it in full. Cornyn has no one to blame but himself for his loss in the primary, mainly over gun control, but also because voters here didn't trust him on immigration enforcement after that cave to Joe Biden. And the fact that his deputy on policy feels comfortable working for progressive James Talarico certainly calls into question Cornyn's commitment to conservative policies.
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As he is not driven by bias and malpractice, I agree he is not a typical "journalist"
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) August 20, 2026
Ed: Someone in this exchange has small-dick energy. And it's not Nick Shirley.
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NBC News: The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade with Iran on Wednesday after the UAE said it had come under renewed fire from the country — a move that will further isolate the Islamic Republic, which is suffering under U.S. sanctions and a blockade.
Incoming ballistic missile fire triggered nationwide warnings Tuesday night for UAE residents to seek shelter, the first time in weeks such an alarm had sounded. ...
Following the announcement that two ballistic missiles had been fired toward the UAE, both of which splashed down in the Persian Gulf late Tuesday, the Emirati Foreign Ministry said it decided to impose the punitive measures, while also saying it remained committed to “dialogue, cooperation and regional integration.”
The step halted all trade and financial transactions “until further notice,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ed: Iran denies firing missiles at the UAE, but no one else would be firing missiles at normal commercial traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. It's a gift to Trump, who announced early this morning that an "economic D-Day" was coming, and that anyone doing business with the IRGC would take damage from it. I wrote about it here.
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turns out when you select for cowardice you get an institution incapable of policing itself https://t.co/bUoLAJgDNU
— Razib Khan 🧬 ✍️ (@razibkhan) August 20, 2026
Ed: Academia has no interest in policing itself. That's why it should be defunded entirely.
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Matt Calkins: So that was the thesis of my column (which you can read here) — that supporting the separation of biological females and males doesn’t automatically make you transphobic, so let’s stop throwing those labels around.
I sent a draft after talking to my editor the morning of Friday, July 31, telling him there was no rush to run it. He told me later that day that he and others were looking at it, but that it wouldn’t be ready for Sunday’s paper. Monday night, I got an email saying that his boss was hoping to talk to the top two newsroom editors about it on Wednesday. No feedback had been given to me. Thursday afternoon, my editor informed me that it wasn’t going to run because I didn’t tell him I was doing this in advance. I didn’t buy this reasoning. If that were the case, the piece would have been killed on the spot, not passed through the hands of multiple editors over several days.
My response? To resign on the spot.
That may come off as an emotional decision, but it was exactly what I was prepared to do. This, after all, was one of several columns of mine that had been spiked at the Seattle Times.
Ed: Be sure to read all of this. It makes clear how editors are shaping narratives and silencing dissent. That didn't start with COVID, and it sure hasn't ended with it either. And if you can, consider kicking in for a subscription to a columnist with integrity. Follow him on Twitter, too.
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Everyone knows that Meghan, particularly, will NOT change an iota of her playbook. She will continue to be obnoxious, lying about everything, disruptive where she can be, playing the victim, flaunting tradition with glee, craving attention and media coverage...
— Grace Bloom (@JustSoDuckie) August 20, 2026
She'll NEVER… https://t.co/mETPM9v0CF pic.twitter.com/Z6sL6TRr2G
She'll NEVER CHANGE. I would strongly suggest that any and all royal family members that have to have personal interactions with this amoral couple wear recording devices to protect themselves from the blatant gaslighting and fact manipulation this disgusting duo uses as a weapon against others.
Ed: It's good advice. I'm just here for the "All About Eve" meme, tbh.
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BREAKING: Rabbi Asher Lopatin, a long time Democrat voter, says he’s voting for Mike Rogers.
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) August 20, 2026
“Abdul El-Sayed has made one thing very clear. We cannot let him anywhere near the U.S. Senate.” pic.twitter.com/EmIxMwNZJ9
Ed: Democrats are about to learn a very hard lesson – and hopefully in more places than just Michigan, Maine, and Wisconsin.
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Last night's lyric: "Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers.
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