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The Blue Catastrophe

Greg Strange
@GregStrange
“Lawyer up!” That was advice from California Congressman Robert Garcia after the nationwide blue bloodbath on election night. So much for working together to solve the country’s problems. We’re gonna take you down, Trump! And all your henchmen! My gut-level reaction to Garcia’s stark and vengeful pronouncement would be, “Load up!” As in, ammunition. Because this crazy, destructive, Marxist-leaning, Israel-hating, Islam-coddling, criminal- and illegal alien-loving party is going to be emboldened like never before.
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Latest podcast episodes

The Uranium on Richmond Terrace: How a Staten Island Warehouse Won WW2

Ekosj
@Ekosj
In September 1942, the US Army went looking for the most important raw material of the war. They found it on Richmond Terrace on Staten Island. And it had been there for almost two years, with a label on it. The story starts in London in May 1939. Edgar Sengier ran Union Minière, the Belgian company that owned the Shinkolobwe mine in the Congo. Shinkolobwe was a freak of nature. Its best ore ran 65 percent uranium oxide. After the war, three-tenths of one percent was considered a good find. But nobody much cared.
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Freedom to Learn
Freedom to Learn

Nathan Diament & Sydney Altfield on Faith-Based Education, the EFTC & the Opportunity Fund for Jewish Education

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a case that could reshape the relationship between religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws in our country. Nathan Diament of the Orthodox Union joins the podcast to discuss whether a state can impose its views on religious schools and institutions. This week’s episode also features Sydney Altfield of the OU's Teach Coalition, who explains how the Jewish community is preparing for the federal scholarship tax credit by launching the Opportunity Fund for Jewish Education, a new scholarship granting organization built to make Jewish day school affordable for every family. Government Money, Secular Strings: Can a state impose its views on religious schools? The Supreme Court will decide. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/government-money-secular-strings-f0f7baee Opportunity Fund for Jewish Education: https://jewishopportunity.org/ Teach Coalition: https://teachcoalition.org/ 🔗 Links & Resources: Visit our website: DFIPolicy.org 💡 Stay Connected: Follow us on Instagram: @DFIPolicy Follow us on Twitter: @DFIPolicy Follow us on Facebook: /DFIPolicy Subscribe to our YouTube channel (@DFIPolicy) for future episodes! 📩 Contact Us: If you have feedback or suggestions for future podcasts, please reach out to us at Podcast@DFIPolicy.org. 🎧 Thank You for Listening: Freedom to Learn is a production of the Defense of Freedom Institute. You can learn more about DFI at DFIPolicy.org. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a thumbs up, share it, and subscribe for more insights into education law and policy. Thank you for your support!
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Not Dead Yet
Not Dead Yet

Rob Long

The guys catch up with Rob Long — a renaissance man: Cheers, Kevin Can Wait, National Review, Ricochet, and now… seminary. What’s the secret sauce that makes a TV show’s writers’ room work? What can laughter — a sort of involuntary breath — teach us about human nature? Were Jesus and the twelve disciples funny? Why is loving your enemies such hard work? Is Rob going to seminary for the parking perks?

Hosted by BSBen Sasse and CSChris Stirewalt, with guest RLRob Long

Organization:
American Enterprise Institute
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Random Thoughts As I Restock the Bunker

Old Bathos
@OldBathos
No conservative judges until 2031 or later. The Senate is now +4 Dem. In 2028, the GOP defends 19 seats; the Dems 15. It would take a tsunami to even get to 50. The GOP defends only 14 of the 33 in 2030. The Path to Citizenship will soon consist of the few minutes it takes to authorize a canvasser to fill out voter registration forms for the new citizen voter.
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The Learning Curve
The Learning Curve

Dr. John Ferling on Jefferson, Hamilton, & Federalism

This week, on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University speak with Dr. John Ferling, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of West Georgia. Prof. Ferling explains how Jefferson and Hamilton’s sharply different political and economic convictions shaped the early American republic. He explores Jefferson’s American Revolutionary politics, mistrust of centralized power, and more states-driven vision for the nation. Ferling also discusses how Hamilton’s military service under George Washington shaped his case for an energetic national government and political economy grounded in commerce, banking, and manufacturing. He examines the two statesmen’s cabinet clashes, their 1790 compromise, and competing views on constitutionalism, debt, tariffs, and foreign policy. Ferling also considers their responses to the French Revolution, the Jay Treaty, and the Alien and Sedition Acts. He explores Jefferson's victory in the election of 1800, Hamilton’s mortal conflict with Aaron Burr, and how the enduring legacy of Jefferson and Hamilton's rivalry still influences American political life and policy today. Prof. Ferling closes with a reading from his book, Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation.
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What Fox News Won’t Say

GrandpaPublius
@GrandpaPublius
First, Wow! Yes, the polls were all wrong. They overstated Republican support. Republicans win in Florida by 2 percentage points. Republicans lose in Texas by over 10 percentage points. The flaky, nut case Lt. Governor of Fraud Central Minnesota gets rewarded with a trip to the Senate. We have to live with all those new senators for at least six years. All in all, wow. I would like to say what everyone on Fox could not bring themselves to say: Ten years of Trump is two years too long.
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The Coming College Bailout

Jeff Ditzler
@TheLostDutchman
Higher education is struggling. Several factors, including a smaller youth population, increased skepticism about debt and the financial value of a degree, and the Trump administration’s reductions in international student visas, have led to a contraction in the once-rapidly growing sector. According to a recent report by NPR, about a quarter of the country’s private colleges and universities are at risk of closing or merging within the next ten years.
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The American Idea
The American Idea

Jefferson’s Other Declarations: His Enduring Impact on American Politics and Culture

Famous for the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson spent the rest of his life thinking and writing with an eye toward changing public and political ideas and norms. Professor Jeremy Bailey, author of a new book on the subject, discusses with Jeff three other ‘declarations’ Jefferson made during his long public life, commenting on a free press, native lands and peoples, and slavery. Jefferson wrote knowing that his words would become public, and would likely be read for years, and continued debates over these three issues is proof of his 250-year reach through our history, politics, and culture. Get Jeremy’s new book: https://a.co/d/09xQ6e4i Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/ Thank you for being part of The American Idea community.
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What has the Outgoing Republican Congress Accomplished?

Eb Snider
@EbSnider
Republicans had an advantage in holding the House, Senate, and White House. These things don't occur very often. Granted, the GOP had a slim, troubled margin in the House, but there was unquestionably an opportunity to pass legislation and advance the ball down the political field to better position the base in the back-and-forth political game. So this brings up both a question and an opportunity to survey the performance review: What has the outgoing Republican Congress accomplished?
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Let the Recriminations Begin

EJHill
@EJHill
Well. The polls weren’t wrong. A veritable blue wave crested above Donald Trump’s America on election night. MAGA is apocalyptic. Sean Davis of The Federalist blames “the neocons.” That’s because real MAGA has never been tried, I guess. Donald Trump lit the Republican Party on fire. Darline Graham, Vivek Ramaswampy, Ken Paxton… they all fed the flames. Kansas sent its first Democrat to the Senate since 1932. The GOP won in Florida - but barely.
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Election Prognostications: Mixed Signals, No Wave

KellyJohnston
@KellyJohnston
Warning: this is a long post, but it's the kind you can skip over races you don’t care about to find the ones you do. I made the case, with help from others, including the Washington Post and Echelon Insight’s Patrick Ruffini, that most of the public polls are off. The question is how much, and where. I also teed up how to watch the early returns in states whose polls close the earliest, starting with Kentucky (6 p.m. EST), for possible trends.
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Trump at the Lincoln Memorial

Steve Fast
@SteveFast
I was excited to hear that Trump would go live at the Lincoln Memorial to give his closing pitch for the midterms. I was hopeful for a rousing close to a Republican campaign that has otherwise been rather lackluster. But no. The speech was at the Reflecting Pool — the Lincoln Memorial was not visible. The crowd was small and gave only tepid applause. He started by announcing that it would be renamed the Trump Reflecting Pool. He then said it was a joke, but it reminded viewers of his narcissism.
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Addressing The Festering Embarrassment That Is Tucker Carlson

Brian Watt
@BrianWatt
It's the day before Election Day (or in California, Election Month-or-So), and the warped and devious charlatan Tucker Carlson has baselessly announced that Israel is prodding President Trump to drop a nuclear bomb on Iran. It's not enough that Carlson has attacked the legacy of Charlie Kirk or openly supported Michigan Islamist and Democrat candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed. Now Carlson is making headlines internationally for his outrageous and unhinged claim about a potential nuclear strike on Iran. So, will Vice President J.D.
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A Genuine American Patriot

Susan Quinn
@SusanQuinn
We often meet nice people on cruises, but I rarely meet special people. This last trip, however, I did. Her name was J.J., and she had more energy and resilience than almost any American I’ve ever met. What struck me most, though, was her extraordinary love for this country and its military. Ever since she was a little girl, J.J. aspired to be a “Julie” on the Love Boat. After a varied career, she finally applied for a job as a cruise excursion director.
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God Bless Haley Stevens

GrandpaPublius
@GrandpaPublius
Hey, Chuck! Hey, Hakeem! Barack! Kamala! What are you going to do now? Haley Stevens just grew a spine and announced she can’t bring herself to endorse a flaming antisemite. You four all decided to pretend that a Muslim Brotherhood defender wasn’t really an antisemite. You four all decided the Democratic Big Tent had plenty of room for Jew-haters as long as they pretended they weren’t Jew-haters, and were just Zionist-haters and Israel-haters.
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Quote of the Day: The Left

Seawriter
@Seawriter
When the left loses an election, it tries to destroy the country; when it wins, it succeeds. - Nancy Pearcey One need only look at the two-year temper tantrum the US left has exhibited since the 2024 election to understand the wisdom of the first half of the quote. They have turned obstructionism into an art form, taking actions and positions which undermine the security and prosperity of the United States. Incarcerating violent criminals? Fuggetaboutit: That is what Trump wants to do, so no!
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Medicare for all

Joker
@Joker
There are a lot of downsides to a Medicare-for-all system, specifically having to do with the actual care — the time to see a doctor or specialist, the lack of innovation, the fact that everyone still needs to pay insurance premiums even under those programs, and eligibility for anyone who sets foot in the US. Just look at the VA. Proponents claim that they'll pay for it by taxing the rich. If it were that easy, countries with socialized medicine would already be doing it. There's enough there to cover costs for about a year. Maybe.
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Trick or Treating 2026

Full Size Tabby
@FullSizeTabby
I had an unusually large number of trick-or-treaters at our house last night. I did not recognize most of the costumes. Several Hogwarts student outfits were familiar, along with the “Maverick” character from Top Gun (mostly on young boys who seemed to have little idea about the character), and some police officers (again, mostly on very young boys). No firefighters (last year there were several). Fewer inflatable costumes this year than in recent years.
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How Much is Too Much?

Gus Marvinson
@Gus
When I was much younger and "my steps were quick and light," as Mr. Seger used to sing, I sat down at a table in the library with Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. I hadn't read Hemingway before then, and selected that particular volume because it was referenced in a now-forgotten article I'd read. Once I had my nose squarely, and immovably, in the book, I caught myself giggling. Not because it was funny, but because I enjoyed the prose so much. It was so purposeful and gossamer-like.
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Korean Bits and Pieces from the Anecdotal Yokel

Andrew Troutman
@Dotorimuk
Thought I’d post some bite-sized chunks about Korean life…random things and unrelated. Think of them as parts of a slowly-cohering mosaic I will never fully construct. Lining busy streets are ginkgo trees aplenty. In Korea, they are associated with Confucianism and scholarly traits. They basically went extinct in the wild, but people, especially in these parts, have preserved them.
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Swing and a Myth

Andrew Miller
@AndrewMiller
The man lay stretched out on the jutting rock, bronze chains dangling from his wrists. In the distance, the sinking island glowed magma-red and deep orange in the sunset. Wreckage floated by. There was a soft whoosh and some slight scrabbling. The man opened one eye. There was a bird – quite a large bird, all things considered; regal, even – with a very sharp beak. ‘Don’t even think about it,’ he said, wearily.
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Battle for a Ridgeline

Seawriter
@Seawriter
The Schnee Eifel was rugged upland on the German side of the German-Belgian border. It was thickly-forested with few roads. It was virtually impossible for vehicles to travel in and difficult for infantry. The Siegfried Line ran through it. Between September 1944 and February 1945 three major battles were fought in it. “Javelins in the Half-Light: The Schnee Eifel Battles, 1944-45,” by Craig S. Chapman, tells the story of those three battles.
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Obama Sinks Lower

Old Bathos
@OldBathos
This offensive ad is running across channels in Maryland, with Barack Obama urging voters to approve Question 3 that would give the state legislature authority to ignore both the state constitution and SCOTUS precedent requiring congressional districts to be contiguous and reasonably compact. Maryland is already gerrymandered: Seven of eight districts are drawn wildly to give Democratic majorities, including mine, which used to have a GOP representative. Republicans make up 30 to 40% of voters but have 12.5% of the districts.
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