SALLY QUINN and the Establishment Blues. “Ms. Quinn’s column epitomizes that sense of Washington’s permanent power brokers that they are somehow, in their world of power elites, deserving of their place and have a right to be running the rest of the country and telling everybody else what to do. Whether the rest of the country likes it or not. . . . Make no mistake. The real source of Ms. Quinn’s resentment and Establishment blues is nothing more or less than one example of the resentment of Washington insiders at the arrival in the capital of America’s outlanders.”

DOG BITES MAN: Left-wing activist turns out to be professor.

APPARENTLY STILL THINKING IT’S 2020: Mount Holyoke mandates DEI training, ‘anti-racist plans’ for official student group recognition.

“A VAN DROVE INTO A CROWD.” The BBC’s Passive Voice. Technically, that’s actually active voice, but I take the point. But a more accurate passive voice would be “A van was driven into a crowd by a Muslim immigrant with a long history of crime, who probably should have been executed, or at least imprisoned for a long time, before this point.”

SIR ISAAC NEWTON SMILES: Joel Kotkin: Scientists who believe in God are challenging the expert atheist establishment. Or Werner Heisenberg, who (allegedly) said, “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.”

As I’ve suggested before, all you have to do to sell creation science to intellectuals is call it simulation theory.

I NEVER WANTED TO BE A DEAN: Law School Dean Tenure Shrinks to 2.8 Years Due to Financial Constraints and Strained Relationships With University Administration.

It’s not a great job. I was recruited to apply for a deanship a few years ago. I had always said I didn’t want it, but it was a school where I had quite a few friends, and it looked attractive. I did some deep introspection and concluded that I didn’t want to be a dean even in an attractive setting. As it turns out, I dodged a bullet, since I would have come in just in time for Covid and Black Lives Matter, but I wouldn’t have been happy regardless.

DON SURBER: Journalism 2026: Any time President Trump gives a speech, it must be described as rambling. And/or “dark.”

LEFTIST WHITE WOMEN ARE A DEADLY DANGER TO CIVILIZATION:

She has been programmed to blame only straight, White men for everything, so she follows her programming like a robot

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 26, 2026

ICYMI: RAND PAUL RELEASES DOCUMENTS ON INTERCEPTED COVID RESEARCH MATERIALS:

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has released another batch of documents related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest records show that U.S. officials intercepted undeclared biological materials tied to a U.S.–China coronavirus research network as early as 2018, likely in an attempt to avoid international tensions and regulatory scrutiny, Paul said.

The documents, which include a Department of Homeland Security intelligence report, primarily focus on a network centered around University of Minnesota virologist Fang Li.

The released documents also include pages from “Tony’s Diary:”

Privately, in his diaries, Doctor Fauci admitted he no longer believed the wet market was the origin of covid. A week later, he convenes a call with 12 scientists, and only two of them think it's definitely animal spillover.

Publicly, he comes out against lab leak and presses… https://t.co/OUc88vmIqv

— Robby Soave (@robbysoave) July 26, 2026

As Jim Geraghty writes, “For the entirety of 2020 and long after, the ‘it started in a wet market’ view was the respectable one. Believing that somebody at the Wuhan Institute of Virology hadn’t been careful one day and had gotten accidentally infected with a virus that had gained a function or two during its time in the lab made you a crazy conspiracy theorist. In fact, the lab leak theory was evidence of your racism. And now — in July 2026! — we learn that Fauci himself had dismissed the wet market as a potential source at the end of January 2020.”

Then there’s an incredible juxtaposition by Fauci of new deaths and new WaPo profiles:

Fauci's diary entry for May 21, 2020 is one of the most grotesque documents you will ever read. It opens with the mounting Covid death toll and people dying across the country, then abruptly pivots into an extended exercise in self-congratulation about his newfound fame. How was… pic.twitter.com/IMpCWerfTR

— Hans Mahncke (@HansMahncke) July 25, 2026

Alyssa Farah, now an employee of ABC News, makes an appearance in “Tony’s Diary:”

Apparently while working at the White House, Alyssa was moonlighting as guest booker for CNN: pic.twitter.com/XHjq1inCXz

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) July 26, 2026

(Originally posted yesterday, by Ed, but too important to risk losing it in the weekend.)

TAKE A HIKE, MARK: You’re Kidding, Right: Mark Sanford Announces Bid For Lindsey Graham’s Senate Seat.

#JOURNALISM: Mark Judge: Questions for Tom Rosenstiel and the Students at the Philip Merrill School of Journalism.

THEY HAVE THEIR PRINCIPLES. AND IF THOSE BECOME INCONVENIENT, THEY HAVE OTHERS.

It is incredible how far the Democratic Party has moved politically. Just listen to @BarackObama on immigration 20 years ago. @HillaryClinton spoke similarly back then.

The question of course is why. The answer I believe is not a change in fundamental views, but rather a… https://t.co/T8zj27wzVr

— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) July 26, 2026

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

HIS MOST UNDERRATED PROPERTY: Elon Musk’s Boring Company reportedly raising funding at a $20 billion valuation.

NUCLEAR POWER AND DESALINATION PLANTS: ‘Tremendously Grave’: The First US City Is on Track to Run Out of Water.

I REMEMBER JERRY POURNELLE IN THE 1970S WRITING ABOUT WHAT ORBITAL TELESCOPES COULD DO: Astronomers Detect an Atmosphere on a Potentially Earth-Like World.

WELL, GOOD: Scientists find compound that may help muscles stay strong as we age.

I’VE ALWAYS KIND OF WANTED A V-12: 2026 Aston Martin Vanquish 25 First Look: A Silver Anniversary of V-12 Power.

NO SURPRISE: Oh Look! Another Bloomberg Mayor Would Rather Limit Gun Rights Than Jail Criminals.

WELL, GOOD: Underwater drones find Benin coral reef long presumed dead, and it’s teeming with life.

I DIDN’T THINK OF COFFEE AS A RISK FOR THAT: Coffee Company Recalls More Than 3,000 Gallons of Cold Brew Concentrate Over Botulism Risk.

DON’T COUNT ON BEING ABLE TO DO THIS: Anne Hathaway’s ‘buzzer beater’ pregnancy feels so relatable—I’m expecting my first baby at 44.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Urologists Warn: Dark Urine Could Signal Dehydration or Serious Health Issues for Those Over 50.

ROGER KIMBALL: Odysseus Visits the Smithsonian.

I’M SHOCKED IT’S NOT MORE THAN 40%. 40% won’t hire Trump voters: New report details higher education’s ideological divide.