HMM, WITH A CHICAGO TWIST:

I'd like to know how they got to him.

It's not just that, being from Chicago, he suddenly remembered all Chicago pols are rat bastards.

They got to him. Something subtle. Can't have been the Catholic Charities thing, that predated Pope Leo XIV's inauguration as a Chicago pol.… https://t.co/PSNJtXnFkx

— Northern Barbarian (@xnoesbueno) April 20, 2026

THE RISE OF THE “FIFTH BRANCH:” “a self-perpetuating elite network of bureaucracy, permanent political class, academia, and cultural institutions that operates with increasing independence from the citizenry it was meant to serve.”

HEY, BIG SPENDER: Massachusetts paid out $1 billion in improper SNAP payments while 75% of able-bodied recipients didn’t work, new report finds.

The report, released Thursday and authored by visiting policy analyst Hayden Dublois, found that the Commonwealth now carries a SNAP error rate of 14.1 percent — significantly higher than the national average of roughly 11 percent, and the worst of any state in New England. New Hampshire, by contrast, ranks among the best in the country.

SNAP enrollment in Massachusetts has surged 40 percent over the past decade, climbing from just under 785,000 recipients in 2015 to more than 1.1 million in 2024. The study found that between 65 and 75 percent of able-bodied recipients are not working, while state policies continue to allow individuals to bypass federal asset limits and remain eligible for benefits regardless of accumulated wealth.

A whistleblower cited in the report described fraud within the system as “rampant” and “unabated,” along with a workplace culture that actively discourages basic verification of eligibility.

If the workplace culture “actively discourages basic verification of eligibility,” then fraud is the desired result.

#JOURNALISM:
What does an arch mean? If Trump, fascism. If Mamdani, warmth and friendliness.

They love the commies. Love love love.

WELCOME TO YOUR OVERTLY ANTISEMITIC, TERRORIST-SUPPORTING MICHIGAIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Weeks after a Hezbollah-linked terrorist tried to murder dozens of Jewish children in Michigan, the state party recently nominated a Hezbollah supporter for the University of Michigan Board of Regents over an incumbent targeted because he’s Jewish.

SOME OF US WERE SAYING THIS BEFORE HE WAS SWORN IN:

I think what we've learned since Obama left office is that, as his critics argued, at heart we was always a radical leftist and his apparent moderation was more a tactic than his sincere self. https://t.co/uqFLhLJEVm

— David Bernstein (@ProfDBernstein) April 19, 2026

GOOD QUESTION:

On a wide range of issues, the long tail of East Bloc Cold War propaganda has much more of a foothold in American politics, both left and even more surprisingly, right (I’m looking at you, Tucker Carlson), than it ever had during the Cold War.

Two reasons come to mind, though they are at best partial explanations. One is our elite universities, which have long been home to domestic radicals, but now also house a large contingent of Third World Communists and Islamists, such as Mamdani’s father. A second is the popularity of Bernie Sanders, who had a long career as a Communist fellow traveler before pretending to moderate to become a Vermont senator, and whose increasingly radical rhetoric on everything from greedy bankers to “Palestine” is right out of the wrong side of the Cold War playbook.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT… DON’T WATCH IT: Monty Python’s John Cleese nails the core principle of a free society in this conversation on comedy, cancel culture, and letting humor breathe.

COLD CIVIL WAR:

This is insane. One can make a very reasonable argument that some prominent people hoped for a justice to be assassinated in order to change the Dobbs ruling. That’s the dark truth. https://t.co/fTDu4UHRbu

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 19, 2026

TRUE:

Define poverty in America. It’s not starvation. It’s not dying in the elements. It’s not failing to get medical care. Most people who are under the poverty line have cell phones. Many have cars. Most are fat.

You throw out the word “poverty” as if we’re supposed to react as if… https://t.co/41aAyoB0Wz

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) April 19, 2026

And from the replies: “The poverty line in America is top 5% in the world. Hell the UK just realized it would be the 51st poorest state if they became a state.”

SPEAKING OF THE GEN Z AWAKENING: We are hearing a lot these days about the growing interest among Gen Zers, and especially the guys, in Christ, Bible reading and church attendance. But when was the last time you encountered someone who says it was a book on Quantum Physics that led him to faith?

MY FORTHCOMING NEW YORK POST COLUMN IS ON THIS TOPIC: Your Local College Is Running Out of Cash.

Though fortunately the University of Tennessee is flush with cash. That’s in no small part because enrollment is booming, with students coming here from all over to experience a normal, non-PC college life.

ALMOST EVERYTHING CALIFORNIA DOES NOW IS CONCERNING: Why California’s ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’ Should Worry Gun Owners. “What should concern everyone is what will likely follow AB 2624—what industry California Democrats will decide next needs a shield from public scrutiny, and what states will follow with their own similar legislation.”

IS THERE A LEFTIST MOVEMENT THAT ISN’T FULL OF SEXUAL ABUSE? Lefty love boat: Greta Thunberg’s freedom flotilla rocked by sexual misconduct allegations.

PROBABLY:

Want some truth?

If the Democrats get a 53 vote majority in the Senate they will pass Amnesty and laugh at the Republicans that wouldn’t pass election integrity with a 53 vote majority.

(Both will be happy)

— C3 (@C_3C_3) April 19, 2026

ROBERT SPENCER: Iran’s New Supreme Leader Surfaces (Sort of) With a Chilling Message. “It was peculiarly fitting: the threat of a phantom navy from a supreme leader who may very well not be alive at all.”

ICYMI: JOHN LUCAS ON VIRGINIA’S SPECIAL ELECTION: Scrapping the Work of the Founding Fathers: Crafting a revolution with an end-run around the Constitution.

It’s tomorrow, so if you’re in Virginia do be sure to vote.

ICYMI: SALENA ZITO: Dr. Helen Smith’s newest book His Side is a fresh look at male alienation. “Noted forensic psychologist Dr. Helen Smith’s newest book, His Side: Men Speak Out on Dating, Marriage and Life in America, is a provocative look at the male experience. Smith uses interviews to examine how straight men are forced to navigate shattered norms in a turbulent society. Smith, who has long studied the human experience, takes the conversation outside of clinical data and brings the reader into the living rooms, workplaces, and communities of everyday men. There she uncovers the cultural fraying of the male experience in this country, one that has often been narrowed, stereotyped, and viewed with hostility. She uncovers a deep-seated ‘connective tissue’ that has been unraveled by a culture that often views the male experience through a narrow, and sometimes hostile, lens. . . . Smith’s book is a central guide for both men and women who are eager to understand navigating our modern world. The book offers great insights into men’s needs and a perspective that is clear-eyed and useful for both genders.”

You can read the book here.

LIGHTNING DEAL: Mregb Solar Charger Power Bank 42800mAh. #CommissionEarned

ACTUAL SMART DIPLOMACY:

We have achieved a new balance in the Middle East in which Israel, Saudi, and the Gulf states work together under an American umbrella, with Iran isolated and China locked out. It’s an incredible accomplishment 50 years in the waiting. https://t.co/lKG3G4H9aq

— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) April 19, 2026

THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IS SHADIER THAN THE FOR-PROFIT SECTOR: Investigation: UPMC jet frequent flier to Florida city where CEO owns condos.

And much less regulated and scrutinized.

BLOCKADE HARDER THEN:

One of the Israeli generals said the blockade will do more damage to the IRGC than every bomb we dropped on them for the last month. https://t.co/eFtZZBrjpt

— Dandalf (@DanTalks1) April 19, 2026

NOVEMBER PREVIEW: Abdul El-Sayed Gets More Brazen As New Michigan Primary Polls Show Him Surging.

Establishment Democrats view El-Sayed, who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as unelectable, and fear a primary win for him would torpedo their chances of retaking the Senate, where they need four seats to flip it.

Most polls have shown Stevens ahead, but within the margin of error. But the most recent two have shown shifts in favor of El-Sayed, with one showing a three-way tie between the three candidates and one even showing El-Sayed and McMorrow were tied while Stevens trailed significantly.

It is perhaps with the knowledge in mind that his association with Piker and his anti-Israel, anti-AIPAC views don’t appear to be hurting him with Democratic voters that El-Sayed has gotten even more brazen, with him dragging the Vance family into his Senate primary battle, and “joking” with podcaster Brian Allen over their private life. He also disgustingly suggested that Vice President Vance didn’t love his children in a way he’d love white children.

It’s almost impossible to believe that this is Michigan.

ON SUNDAYS I RUN A PROMO POST FOR (MOSTLY) INDIE AUTHORS:  Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

There is also a fun vignette competition.

ROGER KIMBALL: The Geopolitics of Epic Fury.

I don’t mean to single out the paper that President Trump accurately, if impolitely, calls “the failing New York Times.” About all things Trump, The Wall Street Journal is just as bad. Between February 28, when Operation Epic Fury began, and last week, when President Trump allowed Iran to lift its head out of the water briefly in order to surrender, the WSJ has run countless stories explaining how, despite appearances, Iran was actually winning the conflict. On Saturday, the Journal greeted Iran’s braggadocio about the Strait of Hormuz just as enthusiastically as did the Times. If your version of those papers came with a magic subtext mood reader, you would have been able to hear the excited Molly Bloom-like cries wafting off the page: “Yes! Yes! Yes! Please let it be so! Please let something bad happen to US forces so we can wipe that grin off Trump’s face! Please!”

It’s so obvious.