DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: A Very Bad Session for Second Amendment Rights (And This One Bright Spot).

SORE LOSER:

.@ScottJenningsKY doesn’t hold back on Thomas Massie’s way out the door: “Despicable, anti-Semitic, nasty, gutter politics… it needs to be condemned.”

President Trump didn’t just beat Thomas Massie.

He made an example out of him.

Then Massie ends his career with this line… pic.twitter.com/lNmUo4tZAN

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) May 20, 2026

“Then Massie ends his career with this line about Ed Gallrein: ‘I had to find him in Tel Aviv.'”

MONEY: Forget tariffs and the Iran oil shock—a top economist says the Fed is blind to the real inflation threat.

For Luther, the real dynamic behind the recent spike couldn’t be more basic: The overall dollars America’s paying for goods and services is rising a lot faster than the quantities of cars, appliances, or hotel rooms we’re producing and supplying. “There’s a grain of truth in the tariffs and oil price argument,” he says. “But those price increases mainly take money away from what’s spent on other things, and don’t have a major impact on overall inflation. The fundamental problem is that more money is chasing the same number of goods. We have an aggregate demand issue, not a supply disruption issue.”

Luther explains that “aggregate demand” or “total spending” comprises all domestic expenditures by consumers, government, and businesses for everything from plants to inventories. So where is all this excess money coming from? A major source is a ramp in government spending: the CBO forecasts that federal outlays will rise a lofty 6% in FY 2026 (ended in September). An obvious contributor, also cited by Powell, is the king’s ransom being lavished on AI data centers, projected to reach almost $1 trillion this year, multiples of the number three years ago. To boot, consumers—especially the well-to-do—continue to spend big time on everything from dining out to health and wellness. The “wealth effect” from a stock market led by an S&P that’s gained 28% in the past year also likely emboldens folks to reach deeper into their wallets.

The main culprits remain in Washington, where they print whatever money they require to cover their spending addiction.

FASTER, PLEASE: ‘Economic Fury’: U.S. Treasury Targets Iranian Exchange and Hamas Flotilla Fools.

PUTTING YOU AT RISK BY DESIGN: Focusing on Gun Control Rather Than Criminal Control Forces Armed Citizens to Act in Self-Defense.

UM…:

Democrat star Graham Platner’s now deleted reddit account was archived. Here’s some gems:

"I still have to jerk off every time I sit in a portas—-er… that blue water smell conditioned me." 

Described penis drawing inside a portable toilet while deployed overseas and called… https://t.co/dmSGeBdGYc

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 19, 2026

CHANGE: Welcome to the NEW Republican Party: What It Stands for, What It Hates, and Why Thomas Massie Is Toast.

HMM: White hydrogen discovered in billion-year-old Canadian Shield rock points to potential new energy source.

DON’T FORGET:

Hamas are Gaza moderates.

— Katya Sedgwick (@KatyaSedgwick) May 19, 2026

ICYMI: Prepare for an Earth-Shattering Kaboom As Starship V3 Finally Takes Flight.

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: ‘Decolonial orientations’ psychologist sought at University of Rhode Island.

FALLOUT:

The president was crystal clear, the deal was; pass the Save America Act and I’ll save Cornyn. This was John Thune’s choice. https://t.co/AcrVPNjSjv

— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) May 19, 2026

UPDATE (FROM GLENN):

Literally all they had to do was pass voter ID, which 80% of the country supports. https://t.co/0c8qIst3kB

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) May 19, 2026

You have to wonder why Thune, et al., are so dead-set against enacting such a popular policy.

PAYBACK’S A… YOU KNOW: It’s Primary Election Day in the People’s Republic of Oregon, and the ‘People’ Want Revenge. “On primary day, Oregon voters will affix some C-4 and light the fuse to the one deliverable Kotek could lay claim to in her entire first term of office.”

PRIMARY PREVIEW: Nancy Pelosi endorses Connie Chan to succeed her after 40 years in Congress.

California Rep. Nancy Pelosi has made her choice for who should succeed her in Congress.

The longtime congresswoman endorsed San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan on Monday in the race for the former House speaker’s seat.

Pelosi gave the nod to Chan over progressive Saikat Chakrabarti and California state Sen. Scott Weiner.

“I know this district, I know the Congress, and I know Connie,” Pelosi said in a short clip showing her seated next to Chan. “I’m proud to endorse Connie Chan, and I ask you to join me in electing her to Congress.”

I can’t help but think that voters there will go for Weiner.

THE ACTORS CHANGE BUT THE MISSION REMAINS THE SAME:

https://t.co/64IvWPXiQy pic.twitter.com/i01jgAWVyI

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) May 19, 2026

Once more to Orwell: “It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies and nosers-out of unorthodoxy.”

FACTS WOULD BE NICE, YES: San Diego: More Facts, Please.

AIR FORCE ACADEMY BLUES: Why Is My Alma Mater USAFA Allowing Professors Who Undermine The Commander-In-Chief? “If any cadets or recent graduates reading this article have sat through one of Dr. Burke’s classes, and have information on additional subversive comments, please contact us at .”

CHANGE?

🚨 JUST NOW: President Trump announces HE'S ENDORSING in the John Cornyn vs Ken Paxton US Senate Texas GOP primary today

"I'll be making an endorsement at 12:30-1PM today for the big race."

HERE WE GO! pic.twitter.com/cN80RHFSM1

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 19, 2026

COLORADO: A Very Bad Session for Second Amendment Rights (And This One Bright Spot).

OUCH: Standard Chartered is cutting thousands of workers for AI. Its CEO calls them ‘lower-value human capital.’ “Comments on the earnings call to the effect that the positions shed were ‘lower-value human capital’ may raise eyebrows and in the immediate aftermath of the call, his terminology attracted a lot of criticism online and across social media.”

WELL, WHEN YOU PUT IT THAT WAY…:

"We destroyed California – vote for us!"
🤣🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/Idc1ZF4AKL

— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) May 19, 2026

DON’T GET COCKY: Democrats Face Midterm Disappointment.

JAW, JAW IS BETTER THAN WAR, WAR: Trump pursues ‘strategic stability’ with China, downplays conflicts over Taiwan and land ownership.

LOS ANGELES: Spencer Pratt Asks Google Why He Can See His Burned-Down House on Their Maps and Gets an ‘Answer.’

CHANGE (IT BACK): RFK Jr. reopens religious liberty division at HHS for anti-abortion conscience protections.

OCR is the main law enforcement arm of HHS, overseeing voluntary compliance with more than 50 laws and regulations regarding healthcare best practices, including conscience rights, civil rights, and health information privacy and security.

Administration officials charged that the Biden administration HHS, led by now-California Democrat gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, deprioritized cases involving alleged religious liberty violations, particularly among physicians or providers who claimed participating in abortion or gender transition procedures violated their consciences.

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a press release on the change that reopening the dedicated conscience rights division will allow HHS to “defend these rights with clarity, accountability, and resolve.”

A Kennedy — it boggles the mind, but in a good way.