IT’S PRETTY MUCH ALWAYS THAT WAY:

You know how everyone says that you’re not allowed to criticize Israel?

It turns out, at American universities, you’re not allowed to criticize Qatar.

Every accusation is a confession. pic.twitter.com/bxKtPKup6y

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) September 5, 2025

#JOURNALISM:

None of this was true, even at the time. https://t.co/XyZVYhGD9Z

— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) September 5, 2025

DISPATCHES FROM THE ICE FLOE: “She’s missing stuff:” Eleanor Holmes Norton’s colleagues see signs of decline.

What we’re hearing: “She’s missing stuff,” a senior House Democrat said of Norton’s apparent decline, telling Axios that Democratic leadership’s deliberations about her potential reelection bid are “delicate.”

• A third House Democrat said their own observation of Norton from working with her on a committee is that she essentially goes through the motions and little else: “She shows up to committee, she reads the speech.”
• “All of that is true,” said a fourth House Democrat. “She reads what her staff puts in front of her. She can’t say anything she’s not reading. That’s a staff-driven office now, just like you saw in the Senate with Feinstein,” referencing the late California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

* * * * * * * *

Between the lines: Many House Democrats declined to weigh in on whether Norton should run — largely because they haven’t spoken with her.

• “I don’t know that I’m ready to bury [her] yet,” said D.C.-area Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.). “We just haven’t had conversations about it one way or the other — I haven’t anyway.”
• Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told Axios: “I haven’t seen her in a little bit, so I haven’t had a chance to hear what she has to say.”

Zoom out: The firestorm over Norton’s future comes as Democrats are grappling with aging leadership.

Flashback: The Democratic Party’s Ice Floe Politics. “The next time a Democratic politician makes an anonymous observation about the age or vigor of a colleague with whom they disagree, be skeptical. The remarks are made to reporters as if in sorrow, but the message is about as subtle as a shiv in the prison yard.”

I DUNNO BUT WHY TAKE CHANCES? Can meat really protect against cancer-related deaths, as a new study indicates?

WRITERS WHO WANT TO GET A JUVENILE BOOK OUT MIGHT BE INTERESTED:   Adventure Books Announcement!

SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED:   Maine’s ‘Reckless’ Secretary Of State Admits ‘Some’ Noncitizens Are On State’s Voter Rolls.

PORTLAND’S HAPLESS MAYOR DOESN’T UNDERSTAND YOU GET MORE OF WHAT YOU PAY FOR, IN MONEY OR GOODS:  Portland’s hapless mayor sends groveling email for voters to hand over their belongings to fix homeless crisis.

YOU COULD JUST PUT A PERIOD AFTER “LIES”:  The Associated Press Lies: Climate Change Isn’t Making U.S. Corn Farming ‘Dicier’.

HAVING ACTUAL PRINCIPLES INSTEAD OF SHIFTING IN SEARCH OF POWER HAS CONSEQUENCES:  There’s always the question of who is sincerely principled and who will always find an excuse for the principle to not apply to their enemies. a lot of the time it’s a bitter lesson that most are hypocrites. but I gotta hand it to the gun people: they’re principled.

WHEN IT COMES TO FREE SPEECH, THE U.S. LIVES IN CONSTANT FEAR OF BECOMING THE U.K.: Adam Goldstein’s & my latest piece puts the Graham Linehan arrest in perspective w/ the full-blown free speech crisis in the U.K.

PERHAPS IT’S A CASE OF “AND”:  Fear of Success?

ALL IN ALL IT’S JUST ANOTHER, ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL:  The Student Debt Racket.

DO YOU MEAN THE PEOPLE WHO INSISTED WE WEAR MASKS AND STAY SIX FEET APART AND USE THE DUBIOUS VAXES?  “Experts” Unable to Explain Why Nobody Trusts the “Experts”.

I can’t imagine why no one trusts them….

OH, WONDERFUL:  If Washington parents thought yesterday’s post was alarming, just wait until you see today’s.

A VERY PRODUCTIVE ONE:  Raid At LG/Hyundai Plant In Georgia By ICE And ATF .

STATE CHILDCARE IS TO CHILDCARE AS MILITARY MUSIC IS TO MUSIC:  State childcare is a conveyor belt for broken kids.

THEY DO HYPOCRISY LIKE WE DO PATRIOTISM:  The three ways summers of discontent can tip into collective action.

UK, WHAT THE EVERLOVING:  Another Serving of Rue.

THERE IS A DANGER TO USING DIAGNOSIS OF MADNESS TOO FREELY, AND YET…  But! It’s Madness!

OH, THE 2024 ELECTION PROVED THAT:  The Cracker Barrel kerfuffle proves the now powerful reach of the alternative/conservative press.

FOR $30, YOU TOO CAN BE AN EXPERT… APPARENTLY:  Fake Experts Accuse Israel of Genocide.

REPORT FROM THE BLUE ZONES: Minneapolis Dems: We Know Our Election Was Rigged But Let’s Keep The Results Anyway.

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

NATE SILVER ON “BLUESKYISM:” “Demographics alone only go so far in explaining Blueskyism, however. It’s not a political movement so much as a tribal affiliation, a niche set of attitudes and style of discursive norms that almost seem designed in a lab to be as unappealing as possible to anyone outside the clique.”

So like modern leftism in general.

Plus: “But if the benefit of tweeting all the time is less than it once was, so is the cost — at least for someone like me. That’s because some of the most annoying people on the platform have exited for Bluesky. . . . On Bluesky, exactly the same people — and I do mean exactly — attack exactly the same perpetual enemies, but to roughly 1/60th the size of the audience.” We all appreciate that.

THE LAUNCHES ARE MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN EITHER: ‘The turtles and the nudists will have to migrate’: SpaceX plan for Starship launches from Florida sparks debate among Space Coast residents.