Author Archive: Ed Driscoll

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE:

DOMINIC GREEN: Antisemitism in the Yookay.

In his address to Congress on Tuesday, King Charles emphasized the common roots and unusual endurance of the English and American systems. Unlike France, where everyone expects the Fifth Republic to go the way of the previous four quite soon, the Anglophone constitutions remain the same while the political regime shifts beneath them. The high-immigration, high-welfare, multiculturalist regime that is now breaking down in Britain was created in 1997. If the leading party in the polls, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, wins the next election, it might be able to start laying the ground of the next British regime. It will restrict immigration, reassert the centrality of English culture, shrink the welfare state, and face serious opposition from the institutions through which it must govern.

Yookay Britain isn’t like Nazi Germany in the 1930s. It’s more like Tsarist Russia in the 1880s. A state that can’t reform itself indulges the anti-Jewish violence of Britain’s urban peasantry as a safety valve. Commissioner Rowley looked no more surprised than the police officer in “Fiddler on the Roof” who warns Tevye that a pogrom is in the offing. But British Jews aren’t isolated. While the Labour prime minister Keir Starmer wrings his hands and the Green Party leader Zack Polanski winks at Islamists, Mr. Farage demands action to protect Britain’s Jews. So does Kemi Badenoch, who leads the Conservative opposition. To Mr. Farage and Ms. Badenoch, securing the future of British Jews is part of restoring law and decency to British life.

Speaking of the Greens, question asked and completely dodged:

JOHN PODHORETZ REVIEWS THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2: For the sequel to a beloved working-girl comedy, everybody forgot to find a plot.

You might enjoy The Devil Wears Prada 2 if you love dresses. I don’t know about or care about dresses, so I can’t really comment on the value of the fashion platery here, but the original did find a way to echo the emotional resonances of Working Girl and Pretty Woman as it converted Andy from a nerdy shlub to a radiant neo-Audrey Hepburn. Since Hathaway is gorgeous from the outset and has maintained her knowledge of how to dress well from the original movie, there’s no transformation here to make you ooh and ahh.

I have nothing against sequels, or legacy sequels, or fluffy movies that only seek to entertain. But Rule 1 is they need a story that makes sense. And Rule 2: They do need to entertain.

Read the whole thing.

NEW FOOTAGE OF TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT RELEASED. Here’s What It Shows:

The friendly fire theory just got buried — on video.

For days, questions swirled about whether a Secret Service agent wounded at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner had actually been hit by fellow agents in the chaos. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro put that narrative to rest Thursday night.

Pirro released new, high-quality security video from the Washington Hilton Hotel showing 31-year-old Cole Allen charging through a Secret Service checkpoint during the April 25 dinner, where President Trump was scheduled to speak. The footage, she noted, had already been submitted to U.S. District Court.

“Today, we are releasing video already provided to U.S. District Court showing Cole Allen shoot a U.S. Secret Service officer during his attempt to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” Pirro said in her X post. “There is no evidence the shooting was the result of friendly fire.”

 

Related:

That’s a plausible theory, but which movie did Allen think he was starring in? Taxi Driver? JFK? The Manchurian Candidate?

THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU TRACKING FOR LOWEST STAR WARS BOX OFFICE OPENING EVER:

The Mandalorian and Grogu box office projections are continuing to trend in the wrong direction, with new estimates suggesting the film could deliver the lowest opening weekend in the history of the Star Wars franchise.

According to the latest tracking data, the film is currently eyeing an $80 million-plus four-day Memorial Day debut. While that might sound respectable on paper, it would fall well below previous Star Wars theatrical releases—and even trail 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story, which opened to $103 million over the same holiday frame.

Solo holds the distinction of being the first Star Wars movie to actually lose money at the box office (but seemingly not the last).

For Star Wars, a franchise that once dominated the global box office, that’s a stunning shift.

Far more so than Spinal Tap, Kathleen Kennedy spent the last ten years working extremely hard to make Star Wars’ appeal increasingly selective:

LATERAL MOVE:

UNEXPECTEDLY: Bombshell sex harassment suit against Lorna Hajdini, JPMorgan branded ‘complete fabrication’ as John Doe unmasked.

A former JPMorgan staffer who sources identified as Chirayu Rana has been accused of making fabricated sexual-harassment claims against a high-ranking executive at the bank after an internal investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing, The Post has learned.

Multiple sources told The Post that 35-year-old Rana, now a principal at investment firm Bregal Sagemount, is the man who brought the bombshell lawsuit against Lorna Hajdini earlier this week.

Rana’s suit, filed on Monday under the pseudonym John Doe, accused the 37-year-old executive director of turning him into her “sex slave” by drugging him with Rohypnol and Viagra and threatening to slash his bonus if he did not comply.

The story as originally reported was likely doing wonders for JPMorgan’s recruiting:

Incidentally, what is up with the photo of Rana in the Post’s article? It looks like it’s either AI-generated, or massively Photoshopped and processed. When the story first broke, I thought it was bound to soon become a “ripped from the headlines” Law & Order episode. But perhaps Pixar is getting the jump on buying the rights:

UPDATE (FROM GLENN):

UPDATE (From Ed): They don’t call it “The Daily Fail” for nothing:

FLORIDA, MAN:

“THIS GOVERNMENTAL ERA OF RACISM TO CURE RACISM IS ENDING AND DEMOCRATS ARE LOSING THEIR MINDS OVER IT:”

Related:

Tweet continues, “White progressives don’t understand how belittling it is to black voters to claim all their success came from white progressive handouts, not their own capabilities and achievements.”

JUST THINK OF THE MEDIA AS DEMOCRATIC PARTY OPERATIVES WITH BYLINES, AND IT ALL MAKES SENSE:

“THE MEN WHO FOUGHT IN VIETNAM—AMERICAN AND SOUTH VIETNAMESE—WERE HEROES. They didn’t lose. They were betrayed:”

MICHAEL 2 CONFIRMED WITH FILMING SET FOR 2027, PER LIONSGATE:

After a record-breaking opening weekend, Michael Jackson’s biopic, Michael, starring Jaafar Jackson, will receive a sequel, Michael 2, as revealed by Lionsgate chairman Adam Fogelson.

Speaking on The Town, Fogelson confirmed that development on the sequel is underway after the film secured the biggest opening ever for a biopic. The original biopic, directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”), details the King of Pop’s rise from child star to global superstar.

Jaafar Jackson has received rave reviews for his acting debut, playing his uncle. According to Fogelson, the years that follow offer expansive material for continuation.

“There is a massive amount of music and life experiences, separate from allegations, that could fill more than a second movie,” Fogelson said.

Michael 2 In The Works With Director Antoine Fuqua Returning After The Success of Michael, Starring Jaafar Jackson[.]

Michael 3 sounds like it will be really lit, though: Michael Jackson and Jeffrey Epstein: Photos, Testimony and More Reveal Their Ties.

SCOTT JENNINGS HUMILIATES FORMER DAILY BEAST EDITOR OVER GERRYMANDERING AND RACE:

Jennings pointed out that African American members of Congress have been winning in majority-white districts across the country, which tells us that the justifications for majority-minority districts are no longer valid.

That set off another round of crosstalk, with Neera Tanden jumping in and Ana Navarro noting that the four black Republican members of Congress were all leaving — as if that matters or negates the point.

“Well, they ran for other offices,” Jennings pointed out.

Then Avlon, perhaps sensing the argument slipping away from him, reached for a historical data point. “We haven’t had an African-American Republican governor since Reconstruction,” he said, throwing it out like a trump card.

But Jennings was ready.

“Republicans tried to elect one in Virginia,” he shot back.

Avlon, clearly flustered, was practically speechless.

But then Jennings came in with the kill shot: “Then you got a white Democrat who gerrymandered the state.”

Everyone knew that Jennings had nailed him, and so Sara Sidner, who was guest-hosting the show, cut to a break, declaring, “Everything is crumbling clearly at this table.”

California could have had a black Republican governor as well in 2021, but the Los Angles Times thought that would be awfully racist: “Larry Elder is the Black face of white supremacy. You’ve been warned.”

UPDATE:

DON’T BE STUPID, BE A SCHMARTY: The Party With the Nazi Tattoo.

Susan Collins, the incumbent, is the very definition of a moderate Republican. Collins isn’t making Schumer back the Nazi Tattoo Guy; Collins is, in fact, a great excuse not to back the Nazi Tattoo Guy. Not that Chuck Schumer should need an excuse to decline to back Platner. This one’s easy.

Platner certainly hasn’t toned down the Jew-baiting or conspiracist pronouncements about Israel controlling America to siphon taxpayer money away from working families. It’s his whole brand. And one can expect it to continue now that Schumer is approving of that brand.

One need not be Jewish to understand that Nazis are bad. The moral failure here is the Democratic Party’s, not a single constituency.

That’s not to say there are no Democrats who know right from wrong. For example, Platner recently characterized Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as “the bane of my existence”—the latest in a long line of reasons to admire Fetterman, who has made no secret of his disdain for Jew-baiters with Nazi tattoos.

There are the rare progressive activists with a conscience as well. Gun-control advocate Shannon Watts, who has been railing against the left’s support for Platner and its giddy embrace of anti-Semitic influencer Hasan Piker, tweeted today to remind everyone that Piker praised Platner by saying: “He was pro-Hamas. He was giving Hamas credit in 2014. What more do you f**king want?”

Apparently many in the party were convinced by that argument—made by a guy who, by the way, said America deserved 9/11 and is enthralled by political violence more generally.

Related: What would it take for Democrats to abandon a progressive candidate?

Listen, everyone makes mistakes, though perhaps something less drastic than permanently inking Nazi imagery on their chest. Platner keeps apologizing for every new comment that pops up, and there will almost certainly be more. What if the man has shown terrible temperament and judgment, little intelligence, and exhibited no perceptible skill that makes them right to serve in the most important deliberative body in the country? No problem.

A few years back, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) dismissed the influence of socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as largely irrelevant, noting that their influence extended to “like, five people.” Well, since that time, Democrats have abetted the rise of the unhinged Left at every turn, from communists to cultural wackos, and those preaching revolutionary violence. The Democratic Party has become such a big tent these days that unapologetic terror-shilling communist Hasan Piker, who tells his millions of followers to “soak the streets in capitalist blood,” has been invited into the movement by popular personalities on the mainstream Left such as Ezra Klein and Jon Favreau. Unsurprising coming from fans of Zohran Mamdani, a devotee of “globalizing the intifada” or, rather, the global violent targeting of Jews. These positions, it seems, only lift your stock on the contemporary Left. Ocasio-Cortez is quickly becoming a centrist in her party.

At this point, what could a progressive say to be shunned by Democrats? What sin could precipitate the party abandoning a candidate? It’s difficult to think of anything. And please, don’t bring up former California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell, who is now dealing with multiple accusations of sexual assault and rape. Democrats lose nothing by abandoning a primary candidate in a deep-blue state.

Come to think of it, the only offense that could conceivably turn the progressive Left against you is openly supporting Israel, as Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has found out. Otherwise, you’re good.

No word yet if Platner will be self-funding his campaign:

GOOD AND HARD, FUN CITY:

HEGSETH: “The mantra you would hear dripping from the lips of generals, with a serious look on their face was, ‘our diversity is our strength.’ Which is the SINGLE DUMBEST phrase in military HISTORY. Of course, our diversity is NOT our strength. Our UNITY is our strength.”

Meanwhile, the left’s Hegseth Derangement Syndrome continues unabated:

THE GASLIGHTING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES:

The New York Times is determined to ignore the Wuhan Institute of Virology forever, though:

KYLE SMITH: Animal Farm Review: Mucking Up Orwell.

While the animals are initially excited to share the ownership and operation of the farm, dividing the bounty equally becomes a problem. Napoleon turns into a parody of Donald Trump who mocks and razzes his political rival, another pig named Snowball, who is voiced by Laverne Cox. Whatever wise good governance Snowball suggests—saving half the harvest for winter, installing a water mill to generate electricity—Napoleon (or, as he calls himself, “Na-po-po”) leads the crowd in mockery. “It just sounds pretty boring,” he says, and pushes a jeering mob of brainless sheep to repeat whatever he says. Before being forced into exile, a frustrated Snowball cries out, “You animals are all too stupid to understand.” Mr. Stoller and Mr. Serkis (the veteran actor who played Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” movies, Caesar in the “Planet of the Apes” franchise and Alfred in “The Batman”) consider this remark a sharp rejoinder to populism. Do you feel duly reprimanded, fools?

Much of this roams pretty far from Orwell’s vision, but that’s not the reason the film fails. It fails because it’s obvious, witless and dull. The animation is charmless and bland. The altered storyline, which is told from the point of view of a new character, a porcine young Everyman named Lucky (Gaten Matarazzo), and narrated by Orwell’s stand-in for the suffering proletariat, the ever-toiling workhorse Boxer (Woody Harrelson), builds to a conspiracy between the increasingly dictatorial Napoleon and a clumsily reworked version of Orwell’s Mr. Pilkington, a tech mogul (Glenn Close) who has nefarious designs on Animal Farm. Her company is both a snazzy creator of cool products and a mega-retailer—a sort of Applezon. The animals, who become more and more like humans as the story goes on, get dazzled by and addicted to her wares. People say things like, “I like the optics.” A pig has a back tattoo reading “Go pig or go home.” The strenuous attempts at hipness here are as antithetical to Orwell as any other element.

USA Today adds: Andy Serkis explains why he changed Orwell’s iconic ‘Animal Farm’ ending for new movie.

Andy Serkis has been trying to animate George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” for 15 years. In 2026, he says, it “couldn’t, actually, be more relevant.”

Serkis and his producing partner, Jonathan Cavendish, started tinkering around with an adaptation after he filmed 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.” The rebellion in that movie reminded him of “Animal Farm,” which he read for the first time on the bus to school when he was 10 or 11. Fifty-some years later, it sticks with him. He wore a red hat to the premiere that read, “Make Animal Farm Fiction Again.”

* * * * * * * * *

Serkis approached the adaptation by asking himself what Orwell would write about if he wrote “Animal Farm” today. He didn’t want it to be a story about Stalinist Russia. Instead, he gravitated toward themes of capitalism, wealth and overconsumption. The billionaire antagonist, Pilkington (Glenn Close), drives what closely resembles a Cybertruck.

This isn’t the first attempt at a mirror universe Animal Farm; Roger Waters did the same thing nearly 50 years ago on Pink Floyd’s Animals: “Whereas the novella focuses on Stalinism, the album is a critique of capitalism and differs again in that the sheep eventually rise up to overpower the dogs.”

CONSERVING CONSERVATISM MOST CONSERVATIVELY:

THE CORBYNIZATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONTINUES APACE: Maine Shows Antisemitism Is a Shortcut to Success in the Modern Democratic Party.

Governor Janet Mills on Thursday announced that she was dropping out of the Maine Senate race, with polls showing her way behind Graham Platner, who is now presumed to be the Democrat who will go up against Senator Susan Collins in one of the most hotly contested races of the year.

Platner was largely unknown at this point last year and yet managed to drive a sitting governor out of the primary before a single vote was cast. But he had one thing going for him, which is that he gained attention for his antisemitism. That is a ticket to success in the modern Democratic Party.

Al Sharpton smiles.

UPDATE: Question asked:

Flashback: Steve Hayward’s review of Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism, from the January 2008 edition of the Weekly Standard.

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