May 4, 2026

SPRINGTIME FOR PLATNER: Democrats Go Into Their Dance.

“Don’t be stupid, be a smarty – come and join the Platner party!” is the collective refrain from Democrats (with rare exceptions) as they close ranks around the guy with the Nazi tattoo.

Now that Governor Janet Mills has dropped out of the primary race, the opportunity for Graham Platner to be the Democrat candidate for United States Senate in Maine is all but assured, and Democrats are willingly spinning this news as “happy and gay.”

Yes, yes, Graham Platner covered up his Totenkopf tattoo with a really shitty wolf-ish thing, but let’s all remember two things. First, he knew what that tattoo was (his own former campaign manager attests to that, as do other people who heard him talk about it), and second, he was totally fine with keeping that tattoo UNTIL he was running for office. So no, the Nazi apologetics coming from Democrats are pathetically disingenuous. Example A of this apologia comes from “Pod Save America” Obama bro Jon Favreau, who tried giving Hasan Piker an out (and Piker made a fool of him by affirming his fanboy love for Hamas), who is desperately singing a tune that he would rightfully rip Republicans for, if there was a Republican who had a Nazi tattoo running for office. As he himself says, he’s doubling down because of loyalty to the Party. Ahem. 

In 2014, Daniel Hannan wrote, “The greatest cultural victory of the Left has been to disregard the Nazi-Soviet Pact:”

To the modern reader, George Orwell’s depiction of how enmity alternates between Eurasia and Eastasia seems far-fetched; but when he published his great novel in 1948, such things were a recent memory. It suited Western Leftists, during and after the War, to argue that Hitler had been uniquely evil, certainly wickeder than Stalin. It was thus necessary to forget the enthusiasm with which the two tyrants had collaborated.

Flashforward to 2026, and Oceania has never wanted to punch Nazis: 

Tweet concludes, “It’s a story about how years and years of moral indignation from the Very Serious People™ class proved to be a paper-thin veneer over your team jerseys.”

UPDATE: Heh, indeed:

Posted at 6:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

TO BOLDLY GO WHERE GEORGE C. SCOTT HAS GONE BEFORE: Flipper Around, Find Out: Iran Weaponizing Dolphins for a New Porpoise.

The United States Navy’s dolphin doctrine began in 1960, when a study was conducted on a Pacific White-Sided dolphin to see if its shape or features allowed for less drag in the water. And if so, could that be applied to torpedoes to make them faster and longer-range?

Two years later in Point Magu, California, dolphin radar was studied to see if they could be used to detect mines. A year later, the Marine Mammal Program was underway, training descendants of Flipper to help out our Navy in their own unique way. The program was classified, but was still in limited use even as late as 2003 in the Gulf War.

Animal rights activists naturally hated the program from the outset. You thought environmentalists were bad, just imagine the vapors the PETA people got at the concept of dolphins being sent into harm’s way as an expendable asset.

According to open source information, most of the alleged porpoise purposes were defensive in nature – mine detection. Three weeks into the President’s naval blockade of traffic in and out of Iranian ports, the regime is resorting to using Flipper to carry and deploy mines, not to identify and defuse them.

In accordance with the prophecy:

Related: Iran Fires on Ships and US Navy Responds by Sinking Six of their “Fast Assault Boats.”

Posted at 5:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

HOW’S THAT SAVE AMERICA ACT COMING ALONG, SENATOR THUNE?

Posted at 5:36 pm by Stephen Green

WE’VE DESCENDED INTO SOME SORT OF BIZARRE HELL-WORLD IN WHICH BOY GEORGE IS A VOICE OF SANITY: Boy George Is a Mensch.

Ireland has a serious problem with antisemitism. Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Irish political class has cultivated an environment of extreme hostility toward Israel and Jews. Irish social media is a sewer.

Ireland is one of a handful of countries refusing to participate in the upcoming Eurovision song contest because Israeli artists will perform. Boy George has himself faced pressure to boycott the contest, at which he is slated to sing. “Are people asking me as a principled human being to turn my back on my Jewish friends?” he asked recently. “It’s not going to happen, it’s never going to happen.”

On Friday, Boy George demonstrated his courage by addressing the antisemitism in the room: “If you don’t know any Jewish people, maybe that’s the problem.” He turned to the Irish audience and challenged them. “Do you know any Jewish people?” Silence answered his question. “Look at the quiet. So weird.”

Boy George is a good man. He has integrity and guts. Let’s hope others in his industry see the value in challenging the antisemitism that is sadly taking root in Ireland and elsewhere. Courage tends to be contagious.

Read the whole thing.

Exit quote:

 

 

Posted at 5:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHO THEY ARE…:

Related (From Ed): Judge Apologizes to Would-Be Trump Assassin, Sparks Outrage.

Posted at 5:05 pm by Stephen Green

MAYBE IT’S TIME TO ADJUST EXPECTATIONS: A tiny world beyond Neptune has an atmosphere that shouldn’t exist. “In the cold reaches of the outer solar system lie thousands of small objects known as trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) because they lie outside the orbit of Neptune. A thin atmosphere has been observed around Pluto, the most famous TNO, but studies of other TNOs have yielded negative results. Most TNOs are so cold, and their surface gravity so weak, that they are not expected to retain atmospheres.”

Posted at 4:50 pm by Stephen Green

SO MUCH LEFTY VIOLENCE:

Posted at 4:48 pm by Glenn Reynolds

LIFE IMITATES STAR WARS:

Posted at 4:34 pm by Stephen Green

R.I.P. STEWART BAKER. I worked with him on some interesting stuff many years ago, and of course have known him as a blogger for decades. We sometimes disagreed, but he will be missed.

Posted at 3:55 pm by Glenn Reynolds

THANKS FOR NOTHING, DEMS: House bill Balances Colorado budget using taxpayer refunds.

Polis’ office suggests that, due to immediate reductions in state tax collections upon passage of the federal OBBBA, the state is entitled to recoup Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) refunds accordingly.

However, as previously explained, Legislative Council Staff believed that the request was legally dubious and could exacerbate future fiscal challenges should the governor’s office be wrong.

Regardless, four members of the Joint Budget Committee decided to pursue recouping TABOR refunds from taxpayers, and House Bill 1419 is how they plan to do it.

Assuming the governor’s suggestion is legal, the state would retain $136.1 million in overcollected revenue that would otherwise be refunded back to taxpayers under TABOR in FY2026-27 and $153 million in FY2027-28.

However, if the Polis proposal is found illegal, the state would likely be required to repay the money at 10% annual interest, as required by TABOR.

But cut spending? Never.

Posted at 3:48 pm by Stephen Green

LITERALLY ANY BEHAVIOR IS ACCEPTABLE UNTIL IT COSTS THE DEMS POWER:

Posted at 3:32 pm by Stephen Green

RICHARD FERNANDEZ: The Horns of Hormuz. “If Project Freedom succeeds, the Strait will essentially be controlled not by Iran, but the United States.”

Posted at 3:17 pm by Stephen Green