TWENTY MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE: Want to know how a socialist mayor would govern New York City? Ask Chicago.

A major city. A heated mayoral election. A familiar dilemma: a moderate, business-friendly Democrat versus a democratic socialist. New Yorkers, take it from Chicago — we’ve seen this movie before, and the ending isn’t pretty.

New Yorkers will cast their ballots Tuesday in New York’s mayoral primary, where 11 candidates are vying to win the Democratic primary in America’s largest city. Frontrunner and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in a tight race against New York state assembly member Zohran Mamdani.

Mamdani wants to freeze rents, open city-owned grocery stores, provide bus service for “free,” tax corporations and the 1%, and increase the minimum wage to $30, among other left-wing positions that differ greatly from Cuomo. Most of Mamdani’s ideas are shared (at least in principle) by Mayor Brandon Johnson, and many of them are popular in blue cities. But experience has taught us here that far-left candidates do not make for effective or popular municipal executives in today’s stressful economy.

Johnson tried to float a $300 million tax hike — and failed. He tried to pass a “mansion tax” that would’ve hiked the real estate transfer tax — and failed. He’s built too few affordable housing units for too much money. He’s isolated himself from many of the state and federal officials he hopes will come to his financial rescue, and he’s done egregious special favors for the people who got him elected — namely, pushing an incredibly costly new contract with the Chicago Teachers Union. He forced out a highly competent schools chief who wouldn’t cow to his desire to borrow recklessly. His city is broke, but he wants to spend more. The list goes on.

Johnson’s approval rating cratered in his second year — a reflection of how quickly progressive promises collapsed under the weight of governance and Chicago’s financial reality. What sounded good in theory has translated into dysfunction, driven by fiscal missteps and political inexperience.

Johnson is one of the most progressive mayors in the U.S., but Mamdani, inarguably, is yet more radical.

America’s Governor is also going twenty minutes into the future:

UPDATE: NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is poster child for ‘luxury beliefs.’

a term I coined years ago — means opinions that confer status on the upper class at little to no cost for them, while inflicting serious cost on the lower classes. And the very people who back Mamdani are the ones who most resemble him: affluent, overeducated, and eager to prove their virtue at someone else’s expense.

As is often true of those who embrace luxury beliefs, Mamdani purports to care most about the working class. He says he wants free buses, government-run grocery stores, and a freeze on rent increases.

But his platform would hurt the working classes a lot more than it would help them.

Take, for example, Mamdani’s plan to freeze rents. Without raising rents, many landlords cannot afford to maintain their buildings, which leads to apartments becoming rundown or empty. This is one reason why, ironically, cities with rent control policies have the lowest levels of affordable housing — a policy that hurts working-class families most.

Then there’s Mamdani’s push for free public buses, a plan that would cost $630 million a year. An analysis by the Transportation Research Board found that “some public transit systems that have experimented with or implemented a fare-free policy have been overwhelmed … by the presence of disruptive passengers, including loud teenagers and vagrants.” This, too, would make life harder for low-income New Yorkers who depend on public transit every day.

Mamdani has also been a supporter of the “defund the police” movement. But a recent poll from the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, found that a majority (54 per cent) of New York City voters say they want to see more police officers across New York. Only 17 per cent say they want to see fewer, while 21 per cent say they want to keep the existing number as it is. Meanwhile, the poorest Americans — those who earn $25,000 or less a year — are three times more likely to be victims of robbery, aggravated assault and sexual assault, according to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics.

As Kevin Williamson warned a decade ago, “the thing about [Mike] Bloomberg is, he’s a busy body and a nanny and self-regarding and sanctimonious and unbearable, and Jesus, are we going to miss him when he’s gone, because Bloomberg, for all of this faults and his weird little psychosis about bacon and salt and soft drinks and sugar and all the rest of it, and smoking, especially, basically kept what was best about the Giuliani administration.”

Gooder and harder, Fun City.

UPDATE (10:30 PM):

FAKE NEWS FAIL: CNN Exposed for Bad Iran Strike Reporting.

That’s the same Natasha Bertrand who “exposed” the Hunter Biden laptop “Russian disinformation” story, which was, like the CNN piece here, fake news. CNN claims:

The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by four people briefed on it.

The four people are not named, of course. One wonders if they’re the same leakers who broke the “Hunter’s laptop is Russian disinformation” story to CNN, to this same reporter. Sometimes, coincidences are just coincidences — but here?

Brit Hume adds: “That CNN report on this left out the part about this intelligence report being considered ‘low confidence.’ Imagine that.”

At his Substack, Erick Erickson writes, “What do you think is more likely? The attack did not set back Iran or anti-Trump bureaucrats are trying to make a successful attack look bad to discredit the President and the military.”

Joe Concha quips, “Surprised CNN just didn’t go with 51 intelligence officers for old times sake…

Heh, indeed — 0r maybe 57 for a nice Manchurian Candidate callback:

Related: UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief: ‘Night and Day’ Difference Between Iran’s Nuclear Capabilities Before and After US Strikes. ‘It is clear that there is one Iran—before June 13, nuclear Iran—and one now,’ says IAEA’s Rafael Grossi.

UPDATE: This is CNN:

MORE: Pooh-Poohing the Iran Bombing.

All right, let’s talk about the leaked intel assessment on the bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites. CNN reported one US intelligence assessment concluded that Iran’s nuclear program has only been set back a few months. The New York Times soon followed with a nearly identical piece.

There are no specifics in either piece. We don’t know—and we it’s clear the reporters do not know—which sites they are relaying quotes about. And there’s a strange, or maybe not so strange, unwillingness to note that the assessment in question, from the Defense Intelligence Agency, was made with “low confidence”—which is code for “we don’t really know what happened so we’re going to guess, kind of.”

But here is one assertion in the Times report: “The strikes badly damaged the electrical system at Fordo, which is housed deep inside a mountain to shield it from attacks, officials said. It is not clear how long it will take Iran to gain access to the underground buildings and then repair the electrical systems and reinstall equipment that was moved.”

If the Times is reporting that detail accurately, then Fordow is done for. The power sources are down and no one can get inside the facility. So it is accurate to say the site was not completely destroyed physically, but that doesn’t mean it is functional or operational. The facility is hundreds of meters deep. Among other things, there’s no air in there.

Exit quote: “Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons has been made more dangerous for them, vastly more expensive, and more difficult by significant margins. And any progress at all will have to evade Israel’s watchful eye.”

But have we heard from Joe Scarborough on how things are going at Fordow?

GREAT MOMENTS IN PR: Disney Has a New $200 Million Movie About to Come Out So It Must Be Time for One of Its Overpaid Woke Communist Non-Talents to Open His Mouth Again.

Pedro Pascal has launched a new attack on JK Rowling – defending his description of her as a ‘heinous loser’ as he declared how ‘bullies’ made him feel ‘f***ing sick’.

The Game Of Thrones and Gladiator II actor has doubled down on his criticisms of the Harry Potter author over her gender-critical opinions in a new interview.

Pascal, 50, whose sister Lux recently came out as a transgender woman, initially made the scathing ‘heinous loser’ remark in April on Instagram.

He was responding to activist Tariq Ra’ouf who was calling for a boycott of any future Harry Potter projects due to Rowling’s outspoken stance on trans issues.

The British writer, 59, had celebrated a ruling by London’s Supreme Court determining that, specifically within the terms of Britain’s Equality act, ‘woman’ meant a biological female and not gender.

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You have the right to exist. You do not have the right to use government or corporate force to compel free people to accept your deranged, delusionary view of the word.

So if I understand this: People who do not play around with your brother’s delusions are attempting to “erase” him from existence — and you certainly don’t want such bigots’ money, do you? So you certainly are telling them not to see your movies, right?

Trannies are insulting Rowling by saying she looks like a tranny.

What an own-goal sort of insult.

Exit quote: “Hey everyone be sure to rush out and see The Fabulous Four. It’s a real family film.”

MUST WATCH: VA Secretary Collins Destroys Lying Democratic Senator During Hearing.

Need a little afternoon pick-me-up? Look no further than this clip of United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins absolutely destroying Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) at a Senate hearing this morning, and for good reason.

Collins testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, and when it was Murray’s turn to talk, she tried to play a game of “gotcha” on the topic of the VA discriminating against certain people. Her source? The Guardian, a liberal rag published in the United Kingdom that has one of the worst cases of TDS you’ll ever witness.

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This is the way.

MASSIVE RESISTANCE 2.0:

ANALYSIS: TRUE.

YES, ALL THE LEFTISTS WILL PUSH FATNESS FOR “EQUITY” PURPOSES. And because they want everything to be ugly, to match what’s inside of them.

HEH: Trump Rejected Putin’s Iran Offer: ‘I Need Help With You.’

Trump has for months sought to end Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, having entered the White House on a promise to swiftly bring about a peace that has remained elusive as the war rages on each day.

He has expressed frustration with both sides as peace talks make little progress. Trump sees the burden on American taxpayers of military aid to Ukraine and the vast loss of life as intolerable.

“I’d like to see a deal with Russia,” Trump said on Tuesday morning as he headed to the NATO summit in the Netherlands, Fox News reported.

“As you know Vladimir called me up. He said, ‘Can I help you with Iran?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t need help with Iran. I need help with you.’

“And I hope we’re going to be getting a deal done with Russia, which is a shame. Six thousand soldiers died last week.”

Trump slapped Zelensky into line very early in his second term. Maybe now he understands Putin requires similar treatment if there’s going to be a ceasefire.

THURSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM:

And by “bombing away” the infrastructure where that bomb is built: Five Takes on Bombing Iran.

(Classical reference in headline.)

BIDEN TELEWORK ABUSES CONFIRMED: A new analysis by the Inspector-General (IG) at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) confirms serious teleworking abuses by more than half of the employees at the federal government’s central human resource agency.

HISTORY: US, Japan mark 80 years since the end of the Battle of Okinawa.

Many of the Marines and soldiers fighting on Okinawa were veterans of the island hopping campaign. However the 82 days of fighting on Okinawa would not be easy. Japanese forces set up extensive defenses, aiming to lure Americans deeply inland to where they could inflict heavy casualties. The invasion was not helped by the weather or Okinawa’s rough terrain, with troops finding themselves caught in hellish storms, walking into Japanese ambushes, or combinations of the two. Eugene Sledge, whose memoir ‘With the Old Breed: recounted the battle and provided some of the basis for the miniseries ‘The Pacific,’ recounted the overflowing mud, flooding foxholes and miserable conditions that left soldiers and Marines as worn down as the combat was.

At sea, the worn-down Japanese navy heavily utilized kamikaze attacks to strike the larger British and American navies. These damaged the aircraft carrier the USS Bunker Hill, among others. However the U.S. Navy managed to score heavy victories, including sinking the battleship Yamato in April 1945.

Slowly the ground invasion gained momentum. In May, after two months, Americans captured the fortified area around Shuri castle. Japanese forces were pressed back to one end of the island. Despite that, they continued to resist. It was only on June 22 that fighting ended and the Tenth Army raised the flag in conquest.

Ultimately the fighting costs the lives of 12,000 Americans. Three times as many were wounded.

“Thank God for the Atom Bomb,” as Paul Fussell wrote, because Operation Downfall — the invasion of Japan — would have been one long Okinawa from start to finish.

SHE’S READY FOR HER NEXT CLOSEUP, MR. DEMILLE: Rachel Zegler reveals psychiatrist, anxiety meds helped her deal with Snow White backlash.

The 24-year-old actress opened up about the controversy and how she moved past it in an interview with i-D magazine published on Monday, June 23.

“My f–king psychiatrist has seen me through all of it,” Zegler explained, noting that her medical doctor constantly reminded her that “what you’re going through isn’t normal.”

“That sentence did such wonders for me in multiple situations in my life,” she said.

The “Y2K” actress also revealed that she started taking anxiety medication.

Zegler said the decision was “truly a game changer” because “I just wasn’t functioning” and “I wanted to function in a way that made me feel confident in the way I was moving through the world.”

Besides her psychiatrist and anxiety meds, the “West Side Story” star also cited her “mindset” as one of the things that helped her overcome the backlash she received.

“I think a victim mindset is a choice, and I don’t choose it,” she explained“I also don’t choose nastiness in the face of it. I don’t choose negativity in the face of it.”

Whatever Zegler’s been prescribed, it’s a helluva drug:

And as Ed Morrissey tweets, “Did her PR crisis firm come up with the idea to pass her off as a head case? Because if so, I suspect she needs a new PR crisis firm, unless the plan really is to further convince producers and directors of her toxicity.”

IMDB lists no upcoming movies she’s attached to, but: Rachel Zegler Reportedly In Talks To Portray Iconic Sound Of Music Role. The role originated by Julie Andrews, specifically:

Rachel Zegler is reportedly in talks to play the main role in The Sound of Music. Zegler is known as a skilled actor on both the stage and screen. On the film side of things, she got her start playing the role of Maria in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story. This year, she returned to the musical genre when she played the titular princess in Disney’s live-action Snow White. Though the film itself was subject to some harsh critique, Zegler’s role was consistently praised. On stage, she made her Broadway debut in 2024 in a production of Romeo & Juliet.

As per Deadline, Zegler is now reportedly in talks to play the protagonist in The Sound of Music. According to the source, the Snow White actor is in conversation to play the role of Maria von Trapp, a part originated by Julie Andrews, in a stage production of the series at Lincoln Center in New York City. It was noted by the source, however, that Zegler’s Sound of Music role is not yet confirmed.

And thus Hollywood comes full circle. One of the themes of Peter Biskind’s seminal 1998 look at the fall of Old Hollywood, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, was that the last of the industry moguls blew through massive amounts of money, and hastened their demise, by attempting to recreate the enormous box office success of The Sound of Music, with failed musical after failed musical (Doctor Dolittle, Finian’s Rainbow, Paint Your Wagon, et al), even after the post-JFK, Vietnam War-era public signaled that they were done with the genre. With post-pandemic Hollywood trying — and usually failing quite badly — to get back on its feet again, no wonder they’re attempting to chase the dragon once again. But given Zegler’s toxic views on Israel, which side will she be rooting for in the potential remake?