November 8, 2025

WELL, THAT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT A LEFTIST:

Posted at 6:36 pm by Glenn Reynolds

ED MORRISSEY: An Open Letter to Our Friends at the Heritage Foundation.

The value of the Heritage Foundation is that it provides us with rich resources with which to defend and promote ordered liberty in the American sense, in which the true constitutional order constrains government in both law and subsidiarity through federalism in order to promote the flourishing of a free people. Those who sympathize with — or worse, promote — the ideals of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are the opponents of liberty and federalism, no less so than those who sympathize with and promote the systems of China, Iran, and Russia today. Not only should we criticize those on the Left who espouse those positions, we should even more passionately oppose those who do so while claiming to be on the Right. That is the purpose of our intellectual institutions — to stand for principle rather than to shrink from debates.

If the Heritage Foundation does not see that as its mission, it is difficult to understand what its mission actually is. Nothing that Mr. Roberts or the Heritage Foundation board has yet said gives any confidence that the organization can articulate it, other than as measured in vote counts rather than intellectual and moral clarity and rigor.

Nonetheless, I certainly hope that the organization will recover its purpose and mission in the days ahead, and will find leadership that meets this moment.

Heritage is certainly leaning in hard these days to Robert Conquest’s Third Law of Politics: “The simplest way to explain the behavior of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.”

Posted at 2:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

13TH CENTURY HUNGARY WAS A VIOLENT PLACE: Medieval duke’s remains recount his grisly murder. “Details surrounding the grisly killing of the 13th century Hungarian duke named Béla of Macsó have remained murky for centuries. The duke met his demise at the hand of enemies, but far less is known about what motivated his killers or how the attack really unfolded. Now, after years of reexamination and interdisciplinary analysis, an international team of researchers has a much clearer and reliable picture of Béla’s fatal encounter. Their findings published in the journal Forensic Science International: Genetics not only corroborate the dignitary’s skeletal remains–they show that the duke’s death was no crime of passion.”

Posted at 2:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds

VIRGINIA CLOWN SHOW UPDATE: Dems Rejoice as Child Murder Buff Taps Blackface Gov, aka ‘Coonman,’ to Lead Transition Team.

Jay Jones made history this week as the first person to be elected attorney general of Virginia after fantasizing about murdering a political opponent’s children and urinating on Republicans’ graves. So it makes sense that Jones would seek the counsel of another Virginia politician who knows what it takes to overcome a scandal involving moral depravity. (Step 1: Refuse to step down. Step 2: Be a Democrat.)

Jones announced Thursday that former Gov. Ralph Northam (D., Va.) was among the “distinguished and experienced leaders” who would serve as co-chairs of his “Standing Up for Virginians” transition team. Northam is best known for surviving a racism scandal that prompted widespread, bipartisan calls for his resignation.

But only temporarily:

Northam refused to step down, and eventually, Democrats gave up. Their enthusiasm waned when Northam’s would-be successor, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D., Va.), was credibly accused of sexual assault by several women. Attorney General Mark Herring (D., Va.) was third in line for the governorship, but he also admitted to wearing blackface at a college party in 1980. If all of them resigned, the speaker of the House of Delegates—a Republican—would become governor. So the Democrats just pretended like it never happened.

Then COVID-19 happened. Then George Floyd. Northam embraced the prevailing wokeness of the time, stressing the importance of “inclusion,” and applauding the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond. His former critics flip-flopped without shame. They started appearing with Northam in public and praising his leadership. Then-president Joe Biden, who said Northam should resign because he had “lost all moral authority,” commended the governor at a rally in 2021. Pete Buttigieg, who denounced the “terrible” yearbook photo and demanded Northam’s resignation in 2019, said he was “honored” to appear with the governor at a press conference two years later. The Washington Post editorial board, which had also called on Northam to resign, celebrated his “hard-earned” comeback and “genuine humility.”

The Washington Post called for Northam to step down in February 2019, then backtracked at the end of that year, then wrote glowing hagiographic praise for Northam at the end of his time in office:

With partisan divisions flaring thanks to the Trump-inflamed climate in Washington, Northam stumbled into the national crosshairs that January by making unclear comments about a late-term abortion bill that conservatives seized on to accuse the doctor-governor of supporting infanticide. It was a false allegation, but Northam did little to clarify his remarks.

Curiously missing though from that “false allegation,” is a quote in the article of Northam’s actual words in the late January 2019 interview with a DC news radio station shortly before the yearbook photo was published:

“If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

He’s offering this to make the case that the new bill is less draconian than its right-wing critics claim. Yes, he allows, there will be situations where a child is delivered alive and then killed on the table on mom’s instructions — the logical end point of liberal abortion laws, as pro-lifers have warned about for years. But it’ll be “kept comfortable.” Why, they might even revive it if it isn’t breathing when it’s born, like saving the life of a death-row inmate during a suicide attempt so that he can be properly executed the next day.

What’s all the fuss about?

* * * * * * * *

The only spin the left is offering on Northam’s comments is that he must be describing an unviable fetus, a baby that’s too sick to live for long after delivery. That’ll probably be his spin too after the outrage wave reaches him. But that’s missing the point: Although the idea of a doctor killing a child on the table after it’s been born alive is especially gruesome, there seems to be no dispute that Tran’s bill would allow the child to be killed right up to the point of birth.

One star, cannot recommend; worst reboot of The Odd Couple yet, but the two should get along famously.

Posted at 2:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

BEAR MARKET: Japan deploys military to defend nation from bears.

However, the soldiers will have one major handicap in the war:

The soldiers will not use firearms to cull the bears.

That’s right…the soldiers will not be able to bear arms.

Instead, they’ll be carrying bear spray and nets, so you can imagine how that fight is going to go.

This, but with subtitles in Kanji: 

Posted at 1:44 pm by Ed Driscoll

TO BE FAIR, LEFTISTS HAVE ALWAYS HATED HOMESCHOOLING: Mark Zuckerberg’s illegal school drove his neighbors crazy.

The Crescent Park neighborhood of Palo Alto, California, has some of the best real estate in the country, with a charming hodgepodge of homes ranging in style from Tudor revival to modern farmhouse and contemporary Mediterranean. It also has a gigantic compound that is home to Mark Zuckerberg, his wife Priscilla Chan, and their daughters Maxima, August, and Aurelia. Their land has expanded to include 11 previously separate properties, five of which are connected by at least one property line.

The Zuckerberg compound’s expansion first became a concern for Crescent Park neighbors as early as 2016, due to fears that his purchases were driving up the market. Then, about five years later, neighbors noticed that a school appeared to be operating out of the Zuckerberg compound. This would be illegal under the area’s residential zoning code without a permit. They began a crusade to shut it down that did not end until summer 2025.

WIRED obtained 1,665 pages of documents about the neighborhood dispute—including 311 records, legal filings, construction plans, and emails—through a public record request filed to the Palo Alto Department of Planning and Development Services. (Mentions of “Zuckerberg” or “the Zuckerbergs” appear to have been redacted. However, neighbors and separate public records confirm that the property in question belongs to the family. The names of the neighbors who were in touch with the city were also redacted.)

The documents reveal that the school may have been operating as early as 2021 without a permit to operate in the city of Palo Alto. As many as 30 students might have enrolled, according to observations from neighbors. These documents also reveal a wider problem: For almost a decade, the Zuckerbergs’ neighbors have been complaining to the city about noisy construction work, the intrusive presence of private security, and the hordes of staffers and business associates causing traffic and taking up street parking.

Share a thought for the plight of the average Palo Alto millionaire leftist and the plight he faces living next to the Facebook billionaire. The struggle is real.

Posted at 1:16 pm by Ed Driscoll

OLD AND BUSTED: The 1970s Hollywood trope of bitter PTSD-inflicted American soldiers broken by years of service in Vietnam.

The New Hotness?

Exit question:

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

TESLA STOCKHOLDERS OKAY A BIG PAY PACKAGE FOR ELON MUSK — One Trillion (Yes that’s a “Tr”) Dollars.

“Unexpectedly,” the Grauniad is not happy about this:

 

Posted at 10:45 am by Ed Driscoll