Author Archive: Ed Driscoll

January 27, 2026

JUDICIAL LAWFARE:

Posted at 7:45 am by Ed Driscoll on Jan 27th, 2026

WHY THEY FIGHT:

Posted at 7:14 am by Ed Driscoll on Jan 27th, 2026

January 26, 2026

OLD AND BUSTED: “Yeah, I’m In the Media. Screw You.”

—The late Ginny Carroll, a bureau chief with the then-Washington Post-owned Newsweek, who admitted on C-SPAN that she wore a button with the above message at the 1992 Republican convention.

The New Hotness? Washington Post Braces for Massive Layoffs.

Bezos has probably spent more than a quarter billion dollars keeping the paper going for just 3 years. And my guess is that all the metrics are going in the wrong direction. In other words, there’s no end in sight to the losses. But the staff reaction to his attempt to stop the bleeding is that he’s not a good steward.

Thanks for the $300 million, Jeff, but you suck!

Some of this is definitely self-inflicted. The paper was making a profit during Trump’s first term because it went all in on resistance journalism. It had a staff of progressive voices that became well known on the anti-Trump left. So when there was no Trump to bash starting in 2020, readership declined. Then when Bezos demanded a bit more neutrality from the paper (canceling an endorsement of Kamala Harris) a quarter millions progressive subscribers cut them off. Simply put, the Post made itself a paper that catered to the far left and readers came to expect that. There’s no going back without angering a lot of those people and losing their support. That’s where things are now.

The layoffs are expected to happen in early February, so expect more on this by next week.

The Sulzbergers managed to diversify the revenue streams of the New York Times sufficiently over the last decade to the point where, as one wag said on LinkedIn in 2024, to him, the paper is “is basically a game and cooking app, with occasional detours into the news when I want to feel enraged about something:”

This tracks our household’s experience. Last year, I upgraded from the $20/mo basic digital subscription for the Times to the $25 All Access Tier. We use the NY Times Recipe App (which was a separate subscription) several times each week to plan and cook meals. I’m a sports junkie, so this gives me access to The Athletic. And now we have unlimited access to all puzzles (though, ironically perhaps, none of us play Wordle). For me, it’s Sudoku and sometimes the crossword. Honestly, the news is so depressing these days that I can’t stand to read it anyway.

The New York Times is basically a game and cooking app, with occasional detours into the news when I want to feel enraged about something.

In contrast, Amazon is Bezos’ diverse revenue stream, and the Post his money pit. No wonder he wants to cut the bleeding before likely offloading the carcass to its next owner.

Posted at 9:14 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 26th, 2026

CAPITALISM, THE UNKNOWN IDEAL:

Posted at 8:45 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 26th, 2026

SOMEBODY SET UP US THE KANYE: Kanye West says car crash turned him into a Nazi in full-page Wall Street Journal advert.

Kanye West has blamed a car accident for a months-long psychotic episode in which he declared he was a Nazi.

The rapper said the incident, which happened 25 years ago, caused an undiagnosed brain injury he believes contributed to his bipolar disorder.

On Monday, West took out a full-page advert in The Wall Street Journal, publishing a letter titled “To Those I’ve Hurt” in which he apologised for his anti-Semitic behaviour, including making offensive statements and selling T-shirts bearing swastikas.

In February 2025, West posted a series of anti-Semitic messages on X, writing: “I am a Nazi” and “I love hitler”.

As psychologist Geoffrey Miller tweeted in response, “Come on. He’s 48 years old. If you haven’t figured out by age 30 that you have bipolar, and you’re not taking your mood stabilizers, and getting good support from family, friends, therapists, & psychiatrists, that’s a serious failure — both medical and moral. And it’s not plausible that he’s been in a delusional manic episode for his eight solid years of antisemitism…He deserves no sympathy and no forgiveness.”

Still though, I’ll be curious to see what the next angle to generate maximum PR attention is going to be.

Posted at 8:14 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 26th, 2026

HEADLESS AGENT RETWEETED BY CLUELESS FOUR-STAR: Former US Special Operations Commander Shares AI-Generated Anti-ICE Propaganda About Pretti Shooting.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s shooting in Minneapolis that left anti-ICE insurgent Alex Pretti dead, an obviously AI-generated photo purporting to clearly show Pretti being executed by Border Patrol agents is making the rounds on social media. That alone isn’t surprising; it happens any time there’s a major event. What’s surprising is the identity of one of the people sharing it as if it’s real and using it for anti-government propaganda purposes.

Meet Gen. Raymond A. “Tony” Thomas III, retired, who served as commander of the US Special Operations Command from 2016 to 2019.

While the resolution of the photo is quite good — much better than the grainy phone videos going around — the resolution also allows us to see that the agent kneeling doesn’t have a head, and that one of his legs seems a little bionic. Thomas shared the photo in response to posts from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, former US Navy Reserve intelligence officer Jack Posobiec, Attorney General Pam Bondi, venture capitalist Keith Rabois, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Why would he do this?

The leg morphing into a rifle is a nice touch. Perhaps the headless agent just wandered in from a Tarantino movie:

Posted at 5:14 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 26th, 2026

RIP: Sly Dunbar, Sly and Robbie reggae drummer, dead at 73.

Lowell “Sly” Dunbar, the Jamaican drummer for the former reggae group Sly & Robbie, has died. He was 73.

Dunbar’s wife, Thelma, confirmed the news to Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner on Monday.

“About seven o’clock this morning I went to wake him up and he wasn’t responding, I called the doctor and that was the news,” Thelma said, though she didn’t confirm the cause of death.

“Yesterday was such a good day for him,” Thelma continued. “He had friends come over to visit him and we all had such a good time. He ate well yesterday … sometimes he’s not into food. I knew he was sick … but I didn’t know that he was this sick.”

Dunbar’s daughter, Natasha, told TMZ the musician passed away at his home in Kingston, Jamaica. Like Thelma, Natasha also did not disclose the cause of death.

“As one half of Sly & Robbie, Sly helped shape the sound of reggae and Jamaican music for generations. His extraordinary talent, innovation, and lasting contributions will never be forgotten,” read a statement from the family, per TMZ. “Sly’s music, spirit, and legacy touched people around the world, and we are deeply grateful for the love and support during this difficult time.”

Dunbar was such a prolific session drummer in the 1970s that Brian Eno said, perhaps with only slight exaggeration, in his famous 1979 speech turned 1983 Downbeat article, “The Studio As Compositional Tool,” “when you buy a reggae record, there’s a 90 percent chance the drummer is Sly Dunbar. You get the impression that Sly Dunbar is chained to a studio seat somewhere in Jamaica, but in fact what happens is that his drum tracks are so interesting, they get used again and again.”

Posted at 4:45 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 26th, 2026

JOHN NOLTE: Staff Melts Down as Serial-Lying Washington Post Faces ‘Massive Layoffs.’

To begin with, over the weekend, we learned that after spending tens of thousands of dollars, making reservations, and securing over a dozen credentials, the cash-strapped Washington Post reversed course and announced it would not be covering the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Then we learned that “massive layoffs” are imminent — I should say “more” massive layoffs because the Incredible Shrinking Washington Post has already suffered massive layoffs.

We’re told this new round of “massive” [tee hee] layoffs” could kill off its entire sports desk and decimate its foreign desk.

That’s a shame:

UPDATE: “Stewards:”

Posted at 2:55 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 26th, 2026

OLD AND BUSTED: “I’m Not a Witch.” 

The New Hotness? Kanye West apologizes for ‘reckless’ antisemitism in full-page Wall Street Journal ad: ‘I am not a Nazi.’

Kanye West has issued an apology to Black and Jewish communities after years of spewing racist and antisemitic beliefs.

“I lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst,” he wrote in a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal.

“You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to have someone who was, at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self,” West, 48, added.

But wait, which “true self” is that? The one who in 2005 blurted out on live TV during a Katrina fundraiser that “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people,” or the one who was photographed wearing a swastika chain while hanging out with Nick Fuentes and recording a song titled, “Heil Hitler?”

So what’s the next phase for the man whom 20 years ago Time magazine dubbed “the smartest man in pop music?”

Posted at 2:35 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 26th, 2026

TIM WALZ CALZ HITLER!

Here’s Walz yesterday, comparing the children of Somali grifters to Anne Frank: Tim Walz Criticized for Minnesota Anne Frank Comparison.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has prompted a backlash after comparing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities to the terror of the Holocaust documented by Anne Frank.

Walz, a Democrat, made the remark during a press conference on Sunday after the latest deadly shooting of a U.S. citizen by federal officers in Minneapolis. Alex Pretti’s death on Saturday came just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good.

“We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside,” he said. “Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank. Somebody’s going to write that children’s story about Minnesota.”

The remark quickly drew condemnation on social media, primarily from conservatives, though some defended the comparison.

Here’s Trump today: “Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength. I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession. The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future.”

John Hinderaker writes, “Did Walz really call the President to suggest they work together? It is hard to imagine, but that is what Trump says. Tom Homan’s presence in Minnesota can only help, although the situation here is so far gone that the 11th Airborne may be a more practical solution.”

How badly were Walz and Harris gaslit by their internal polling last year? When Walz was constantly redlining the Godwin meter whenever he mentioned the Bad Orange Man, didn’t he ever stop think, “Hey, if Kamala loses, I’m going to have to work with this guy. Maybe I should dial the rhetoric back a notch or twenty.”

Related: Ringleader Behind the Somali Fraud Scandal Says There’s No Way that Walz and AG Keith Ellison Didn’t Know She Was Stealing a Quarter Billion Dollars.

Posted at 2:22 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 26th, 2026

January 25, 2026

BARACK OBAMA FORGETS HIMSELF, PONTIFICATES ON WHAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SHOULD DO ABOUT ICE:

Obama begins:

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.
Which “core” values are under assault? The values of safety, security, and not being afraid a criminal illegal is going to rape, murder, or ram you with a car or commercial truck? Or is it the core value of not having your First Amendment and other civil liberties violated? As I recall, Obama was not big on civil liberties, since he used his presidential powers to not just spy on journalists (Hello, James Rosen and Sharyl Attkisson), but to weaponize the IRS to block Tea Party and pro-liberty groups who opposed him from acquiring 501(c)(4) status so they could fundraise against his 2012 re-election.

Of course, Obama just leaves that one hanging, because his “core values” are flexible.

He blathers on.

Federal law enforcement and immigration agents have a tough job. But Americans expect them to carry out their duties in a lawful, accountable way, and to work with, rather than against, state and local officials to ensure public safety.

That’s not what we’re seeing in Minnesota. In fact, we’re seeing the opposite.

Jan Brewer smiles: Byron York on immigration law: Federal government has enforcement authority.

Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said that, despite what Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass think, state and local governments do not have the authority to enforce immigration laws — only the federal government does.

Bass defended her resistance to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement on CNN’s The Situation Room, where she responded to the network’s new poll finding that 54% of people approve of the administration’s program to deport illegal immigrants. However, Bass said she does not believe this poll is accurate and that federal agents were “overstepping,” taking away power from the state.

In response, York clarified that the federal government has the sole authority to enforce immigration law.

York recalled the Obama administration, when Arizona officials told former President Barack Obama, “You are not enforcing immigration laws, so we’ll do it.” Obama said no, the issue went to court, and the president won.

“The ruling is the federal government has the sole authority to do this,” York said Tuesday on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “So when Karen Bass says, ‘It is like the federal government is coming in and taking our state and local authority,’ no, they don’t have any state and local authority.”

Bill Clinton has weighed in as well, despite having his own unique record of smashmouth immigration enforcement:

Posted at 8:52 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 25th, 2026

THE LEFT DOESN’T WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS ABOUT ALEX PRETTI, THE MAN THE BORDER PATROL SHOT: “We already knew that Pretti was carrying a loaded handgun and two extra loaded magazines when he showed up at an active ICE operation targeting a violent criminal illegal immigrant. And like Good before him, Pretti wasn’t some random citizen. He was part of an organized network dedicated to interfering with immigration enforcement. And he brought a loaded gun. Cam Higby from Newsmax spent days undercover inside the Signal messaging groups these activists use to coordinate their efforts. What he found was stunning in its sophistication. These aren’t just angry citizens showing up to protest. This is a well-oiled machine running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Related:

UPDATE:

Posted at 6:30 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 25th, 2026

IRONY: ICE Incident At One Epicenter of Welfare Fraud.

Including an old friend:

“Before all this chaos erupted, the entire country had its eyes on the fraud; now everybody is angry about ICE.  That’s how Frey and Walz want it.”

Posted at 5:45 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 25th, 2026

NATIONWIDE ANTI-ICE PROTESTS REVEAL HOW UNIONS AND ORGANIZED LEFTIST GROUPS AIM TO REKINDLE THE ANGER AND DISORDER OF BLACK LIVES MATTER:

The organized nature of the demonstrations has not been lost on President Donald Trump.

“These people are professionals,” he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. “They are highly trained to scream, rant, and rave, like lunatics, in a certain manner.” Speaking to reporters that same day about the scene at the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis, he described a protester who was “so loud, like a professional opera singer … These are professional agitators that want to see our country do badly.”

This month, assuming a role similar to that which it played in fomenting BLM chaos, unions, including United Auto Workers, have taken leading roles in coordinating the nationwide march.

“No work, no school, no shopping — only community, conscience, and collective action,” the ICE Out For Good website reads. Those outside of Minnesota are encouraged to “take action on January 23 in solidarity by organizing or attending a non-violent solidarity event, demanding corporations stand up to ICE, and calling on Congress to act now to rein in ICE.”

An “ICE Out for Good” rally—organized by a conglomerate of large and small unions as well as left-wing political groups such as Zohran Mamdani’s Democratic Socialists of America—is being held in Manhattan’s Union Square late Friday afternoon.

The unions, which once championed the BLM cause, have since rechanneled their energies toward resisting ICE and Border Patrol officers, perhaps seeing an opportunity to rebuild solidarity and passion on the left in the face of the MAGA movement. Friday’s strikes and protests, for example, resemble the nationwide “Strike for Black Lives” that took place in July 2020 at the behest of 60 unions and social justice groups, the San Diego-based outlet KPBS reported. Essential workers from Boston to San Francisco ditched their jobs to “rewrite the rules so that Black people can thrive, that corporations dismantle racism, [and] white supremacy.” In June of that year, researchers around the world promised a strike to #ShutDownSTEM and #ShutDownAcademia in support of BLM.

Flashback: Welcome to protest season, where the cause changes but the tactics stay the same. “One year, statues are toppled and the next, Jews are bullied, but it’s amazing how the far-left treats such wildly diverse issues with the same small toolbox. It has ever been thus. As one radical wrote for a Students for a Democratic Society publication in the 1960s, ‘The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.’”

Incidentally, Worst Hitler, Ever: Church-Invader Nekima Levy Armstrong Rushes to Democrat-Friendly CNN After Release by Activist Judge.

UPDATE:

Posted at 5:30 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 25th, 2026

QUESTION ASKED: Who Built the USSR?

One of the epic stories of World War II is how Russian troops held the Stalingrad tractor factory against repeated assaults by German units from August to October 1942. That factory, the historians tell us, had produced more than half of the Soviet Union’s tractors before the war, and had begun manu­facturing T-34 tanks in 1941. The factory finally fell in battle, but it was rebuilt after the war as a symbol of Soviet resistance to fascism—and an enduring icon of the economic miracle of Soviet socialism.

The truth was, the Stalin­grad factory had been designed and built by American engineers and American workers living on-site in the early 1930s, and then outfitted by a dozen or so American companies, including International Harvester. The McClintic-Marshall Company made the plant’s steel structures, which then shipped to Stalingrad for assembly. The first tractors to roll off the assembly line in June 1930 were designed by the McCormick Deering company.

In other words, this supposed icon of Soviet industrial prowess was one of many examples where American companies, engineers, and workers helped transform the USSR into a major ­economic power.

Oh sure. Next you’re going to tell me that the Americans designed the Soviets’ postwar Tupolev Tu-4 bomber:

Posted at 5:14 pm by Ed Driscoll on Jan 25th, 2026
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