Category: blaze media

It’s no secret that the Department of Justice and the FBI were weaponized against President Donald Trump and his allies under the previous administration.

Damning new revelations about the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation indicate, however, that the campaign waged by former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s lawfare regime to hound and potentially lock up individuals supportive of Trump and/or skeptical of the results of the 2020 election was far worse than previously imagined.

‘[Biden] thought basically half of America were domestic terrorists.’

“Arctic Frost was not just an attack on Democracy; it was a coordinated and sustained invasion of it,” Mike Howell, president of the watchdog group Oversight Project, said in a statement.

“Everyone responsible should be held accountable and banished from public life,” continued Howell. “The long continuum of a decade-long campaign by the Federal government against Trump can get complicated. What you should know is that they were so out of control, and thought they never would get caught, that they named this investigation after an orange to mock Trump.”

This week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and the House Judiciary Committee published thousands of pages of additional documents altogether providing a better sense of the vastness and invasiveness of the Arctic Frost dragnet, which was launched in April 2022.

Grassley published documents earlier this month detailing how the Biden FBI sought private cellphone records from numerous GOP lawmakers during Arctic Frost — an operation greenlit by Garland and former FBI Director Christopher Wray that morphed into at least one case brought against Trump by Garland’s special counsel, Jack Smith.

Apparently the covert surveillance of Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), and other lawmakers was just the tip of the iceberg.

On Wednesday, Grassley made public 197 subpoenas obtained through whistleblower disclosures showing that Smith and his team demanded testimony, communications, and records related to at least 430 Republican individuals and entities.

RELATED: The bureaucracy strikes back — and we’re striking harder

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Grassley stated, “Arctic Frost was the vehicle by which partisan FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors could improperly investigate the entire Republican political apparatus. Contrary to what Smith has said publicly, this was clearly a fishing expedition.”

Among the recipients of the subpoenas were:

financial institutions and platforms such as Avidia Bank, Bank of America, Capital One, JP Morgan Chase, TD Bank, BILL, and Wells Fargo;various campaign, consulting and legal outfits including the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, the Republican National Committee, Parscale Strategy, and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee; and34 individuals including former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, Trump 2020 communications director Tim Murtaugh, GOP campaign operative Thomas Datwyler, former acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, and deputy national security adviser Robert Gabriel.

Grassley indicated that Smith and his team squeezed some of these individuals, banks, and businesses for their records concerning and communications with:

media companies such as CBS, Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, and Sinclair; “any member, employee or agent of the Legislative Branch of the U.S. Government”; White House advisers including Stephen Miller, Dan Scavino, and Lara Trump; conservative groups including Turning Point USA and the Republican Attorneys General Association; data concerning Republican donors and fundraising efforts; and financial data relating to conservative individuals and entities.

‘I think they’re being sabotaged within.’

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) said Wednesday that “what is revealed in those 1,700 pages of documents, in those 197 subpoenas, is nothing short of a Biden administration enemies list. I’m old enough to understand how toxic a term that was under Richard Nixon. This is far worse — far worse, orders of magnitude worse.”

“People need to understand how politicized the Biden administration turned all these agencies,” continued Johnson. “[Biden] thought basically half of America were domestic terrorists.”

Johnson emphasized that the records Grassley made public were not obtained from the FBI but rather from a whistleblower and suggested that Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel are being hindered by bad actors within their respective agencies.

“We need to do everything we can to assist Director Patel and AG Bondi in making sure they have the staff to take control over these agencies. They’re the heads of them — I don’t think they have the control,” said Johnson. “I think they’re being sabotaged within.”

— (@)

The House Judiciary Committee released over 230 pages of additional documents on Tuesday providing insights into the nature and origins of Arctic Frost.

Among the heavily redacted documents turned over by Patel is a April 13, 2022, memo issued by the Washington, D.C., field office that discusses the flimsy predicate for the Arctic Frost investigation — a probe allegedly named after a type of orange to mock Trump.

RELATED: GOP senator to sue Jack Smith after his lawyers try gaslighting on Biden FBI surveillance

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The memo requesting the investigation alleged that “subjects corruptly conspired to obstruct the United States Congress’ certification of the 2020 Presidential election results by submitting fraudulent certificates of electors’ votes to the United States Government” and cited supposed evidence that individuals linked to the 2020 Trump campaign allegedly attempted to convince former Vice President Mike Pence to support alternate electors in 2021.

At the time of Arctic Frost’s conception, the lawfare regime appeared particularly interested in hounding former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and legal scholar John Eastman.

However, the documents suggest that hundreds of other conservatives may have also been targeted for investigation, including Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro; Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.); Steve Bannon; former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows; former co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council CJ Pearson; and the chief operating officer of Turning Point USA. Tyler Bowyer served as COO of TPUSA until recently.

Other documents in the trove provided by Patel indicate that the scope of the Arctic Frost “fishing expedition” grew rapidly such that just months into the probe and days after the agent who requested the opening of the investigation celebrated the indictment of Peter Navarro, investigators requested additional funds and bodies.

“The Arctic Frost team is requesting approximately $16,600 from [the Public Corruption Unit] for travel in June to conduct more than 40 interviews, serve subpoenas, and execute several cellular device search warrants,” said an email dated May 25, 2022. “We would be requesting assistance from 11 [Washington Field Office] individuals to travel to various locations, in addition to utilizing individuals from the various field offices.”

By January 2023, the Arctic Frost operation — which was formally assigned to Jack Smith in November 2022 — had targeted individuals in at least seven states, interviewed over 150 individuals, served over 400 subpoenas, and secured scores of search warrants, including for lawmakers’ phones and Trump’s Twitter account.

Missouri Rep. Bob Onder (R) noted that the revelations about the Arctic Frost probe have revealed “an alarming weaponization of government power at the highest levels.”

Editor’s note: Mike Howell is a contributor at Blaze News.

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​Arctic frost, Fbi, Weaponization, Corruption, Jack smith, Merrick garland, Christopher wray, Wray, Garland, Smith, Donald trump, 2020, Kash patel, Pam bondi, Politics 

Politicians and pundits have found a new social menace to fret about: online gambling. Some even compare its growth to an “opioid epidemic.” But alarmist rhetoric often obscures more than it reveals.

A new study by Douglas Walker of the College of Charleston and Brett Evans of Georgia College dismantles many of the claims fueling this moral panic. The authors find that much of the fear surrounding online gambling rests on weak evidence and flawed research methods.

Legalization didn’t create online gambling. It merely brought an existing market into the open, where it can be monitored, taxed, and regulated.

Walker and Evans examined the academic literature most often cited by anti-gambling activists and found “implicit anti-gambling biases, flawed research methodologies, and unsubstantiated conclusions.”

The result, they argue, is a distorted public perception of an industry that has become both mainstream and heavily regulated.

A case study in statistical gamesmanship

The researchers focus on three papers that critics routinely cite to show that legalized sports betting harms society.

The first, from the University of Oregon, claimed a link between sports gambling and intimate partner violence. The authors found that violence increased in cities where local NFL teams lost as betting favorites. But the same study failed to mention that violence decreased — and by a larger margin — when those teams won as favorites.

Since favorites win more often than they lose, the Oregon study’s framing was, at best, misleading. By focusing narrowly on “upset losses,” the authors turned an isolated pattern into a sweeping conclusion. Walker and Evans note that such selective reporting suggests an intent to produce a politically useful result rather than an accurate one.

Confusing deposits for debt

A second paper — beloved by anti-gambling commentators — claimed that online gambling depletes household savings. Yet it defined all unresolved bets as losses, even when the bettor eventually won. The study also lumped sports betting with online casino gaming, which has existed far longer, and ignored daily fantasy sports altogether.

Its data failed to mention that the median sports bettor wagered only $750 over 12 months — about $62.50 per month. That hardly supports the picture of mass financial ruin.

Ignoring the market that already existed

Like so many policy debates, this one forgets the black market that thrived long before legalization. Critics assume online gambling barely existed until states sanctioned it. In reality, the American Gaming Association estimates that Americans wagered $64 billion through offshore sites in 2024 alone.

RELATED: Stop blaming dopamine — kids aren’t addicts; they’re bored

Ivan Kuchin via iStock/Getty Images

Legalization didn’t create gambling. It merely brought an existing market into the open, where it can be monitored, taxed, and regulated.

Correlation without causation

A third set of studies blames sports betting for macroeconomic trends such as rising bankruptcy and delinquency rates. Walker and Evans point out that such research often mistakes timing for causation. States typically legalize gambling or lotteries when budgets tighten or economies falter. The economic distress comes first; gambling reform follows.

Recent years have included two divisive presidential elections, a global pandemic, and disastrous public policy responses — all of which distort economic data. Yet many academics pin every fluctuation on gambling laws.

As any freshman statistician knows, correlation does not equal causation. But for activists chasing headlines, correlation is good enough.

The return of the prohibitionists

Walker and Evans don’t romanticize gambling. They simply urge policymakers to weigh evidence honestly and to resist moral panics. Moderation is the sensible course.

But prohibitionists in public life rarely settle for moderation. They prefer sweeping bans that spare them the hard work of assessing trade-offs. As Prohibition showed a century ago, banning a popular activity doesn’t eliminate it — it just drives it underground.

Online gambling deserves scrutiny, but it also deserves truth. Demonizing it with sloppy statistics or ideological bias serves neither public health nor public honesty.

​Opinion & analysis, Online gambling, Addiction, Las vegas, Gambling legislation, Regulation, Moral panic, Economics, Debt, Myths 

Democrats are casting the shutdown showdown as a battle over health care costs, tapping into widespread anxiety over the cost of health care, especially among those enrolled in Medicare. For them, it’s politics. But for millions of American seniors, the worry is real — not just a convenient talking point.

Recent polling shows 58% of Medicare recipients 65 and over are concerned about future health care costs, and half are worried a major health situation could result in either debt or bankruptcy.

If left unchanged, Medicare will be unable to pay full benefits by 2036.

While medical debt is a growing concern among Medicare recipients, the staggering size of the federal debt — largely driven by Medicare spending — is a ticking time bomb Congress can no longer ignore. As one of the largest federal spending programs, Medicare consisted of a jarring $874 billion out of the $6.75 trillion federal budget (about 13 cents of every dollar spent in FY2024).

While Medicare receives some funding from premiums paid by enrollees, the single largest source of revenue comes from the federal government’s general fund. If left unchanged, Medicare will be unable to pay full benefits by 2036.

Medicare Advantage toes the line

Fortunately, policy solutions exist that can help both seniors and taxpayers.

Medicare Advantage merges public financing with private delivery under accountability. The government pays a fixed amount per enrollee to private plans, calibrated by benchmarks and quality measures. Plans that achieve higher star ratings — which were just released for 2026 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services earlier this month — receive bonus payments. Meanwhile, poor performers lose ground.

This structure introduces incentives for efficiency and quality that are lacking in traditional Medicare. Yet, successive years of cuts to how Medicare Advantage plans are reimbursed have forced several major insurers to announce they’re withdrawing from certain Medicare Advantage markets next year.

Companies like UnitedHealth, Humana, Aetna, as well as regional plans such as UCare (serving Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin) and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, are withdrawing from select Medicare Advantage counties across the country, citing rising costs. Seniors are using more medical services than expected, driving up claims, while federal reimbursement rates are being cut. Added regulatory and administrative burdens (such as expanded reporting requirements and prior authorization rules) further limit insurers. Together, these pressures make participation unsustainable in some markets.

If unchanged, more insurers will leave Medicare Advantage, and options for seniors will continue to shrink. Meanwhile, Medicare costs are growing much faster than private health care spending.

In 2023, traditional Medicare spent $15,689 per enrollee, more than double the private sector amount. This is a result of the traditional fee-for-service model, which pays providers per treatment instead of per patient, rewarding volume over outcomes, encouraging unnecessary care, and driving up costs.

Conversely, Medicare Advantage’s structure encourages prevention and coordination. To attract enrollees, Medicare Advantage offers supplemental benefits such as vision, dental, hearing, wellness programs, transportation, and over‑the‑counter benefits. Many Medicare Advantage plans now include these extras at little or no additional cost. That flexibility helps tailor benefits to beneficiary needs.

Better treatment, lower costs

When allowed to work, Medicare Advantage delivers higher satisfaction, lower costs, and greater access to coverage than traditional Medicare. One Harvard study found that seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage had better health outcomes than seniors on traditional Medicare. A National Institutes of Health review of hundreds of studies found that Medicare Advantage provided significantly better quality of care and health outcomes than traditional Medicare by a factor of four to one. Another NIH study found that across 48 studies, Medicare Advantage enrollees received more preventative care and had fewer hospitalizations and emergency visits, shorter stays, and lower total spending.

The financial and quality advantages are clear. One study comparing expected out‑of‑pocket costs in Medicare Advantage versus traditional Medicare found that from 2014 to 2019, projected costs were 18% to 24% lower under Medicare Advantage. For seniors on fixed incomes — that is significant.

RELATED: Democrats deny shutdown is about health care for illegal aliens — then one admits the truth

Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images

Seniors get it. This year, the majority of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Over the last two decades, enrollment in Medicare Advantage has skyrocketed. Unsurprisingly, polling shows 93% of Medicare Advantage enrollees were satisfied or very satisfied with their coverage, and 94% would recommend it to their family and friends. The Congressional Budget Office now projects that by 2034, Medicare Advantage could account for nearly two-thirds of all Medicare beneficiaries.

The model for the future

Medicare Advantage provides the model for quality, affordable health care for seniors that aligns with what they prefer. Reducing regulatory burdens and barriers within the insurance market will provide Medicare Advantage plans greater flexibility and even entice those insurers leaving the Medicare Advantage market to reconsider.

Medicare cannot continue as purely fee‑for‑service without reform — neither for the medical and financial health of Americans, nor for the sake of the federal budget. The current fiscal challenges plaguing the federal budget demand models that can bend the cost curve while improving quality. Medicare Advantage is not a cure-all, but it is among the most promising tools in the toolbox.

​Opinion & analysis, Medicare, Health insurance, Medicare advantage, Congress, Taxes, Insolvency, Spending, Democrats, Patients, Fee-for-service 

Everybody knows the real victims of 9/11 weren’t the 3,000 murdered Americans or their grieving families. No, according to the new progressive hierarchy, it’s Zohran Mamdani’s second cousin — thrice removed, four times hijabed — who claims she was once offended on the subway. Allegedly.

So if you’re keeping score at home in the “words are violence” sweepstakes, here’s the latest update: Something that probably never happened is righteous if it helps an Islamic socialist become mayor of America’s largest city. Meanwhile, Virginia’s Democratic candidate for attorney general gets a pass for fantasizing about the murder of a Republican lawmaker and his family.

Nothing new under the sun. Just another civilization sprinting toward its chosen darkness, proud all the way.

You’d think New Yorkers might have enough self-respect not to be played so easily — especially when it comes to one of the most fateful days in American history. But no. Apparently Loki was right. They were made to be ruled — and by the very people who treat the ashes of Ground Zero as a holiday display.

I’d wager real money that at least one family member of a 9/11 victim will vote for Mamdani next week. Loki, it seems, must have read John Calvin at some point in his multiverse journey: When God wants to punish a rebellious people, He gives them wicked rulers.

The worldview beneath the wreckage

We can’t outrun our worldview. Because worldview is destiny. When a people deny reality, they descend into madness. That’s what’s happening to those voting for Mamdani. They are largely godless, and once you reject the author of reality, you’re on a short, steep slide toward hell.

Hell, for its part, knows how to work with human nature. The devil discovered long ago that our fallen desire to shake a fist at God rivals even his own. That’s how you get from watching the Twin Towers fall to, just 25 years later, electing a man who shares the same ideology as one of the hijackers.

Not secretly. Not reluctantly. These voters are proud of it. They’ll call friends and family “racists” and “Nazis” for disagreeing. Such is the will to power when you reject God: The world must be turned upside down and morality twisted into a hall of mirrors.

When even Ayn Rand saw the abyss

Ayn Rand, no friend of Christianity, at least saw the problem. In an interview late in life, she told Phil Donahue that without some objective truth in the universe, nothing else made sense. Why do we reason instead of acting on instinct like animals? Rand recognized, however dimly, that a world without truth collapses into nihilism.

But that clarity is rare. Rand was a unicorn. Most people in her camp never do the math. They end up voting for their captors, praising their murderers, and calling it freedom.

The short version is simple: If you’re not in Christ’s camp, you belong to chaos. There are no neutral parties. Hell is happy to let you think otherwise — right up to the moment the darkness slams the door shut.

The believer’s tension — and the city’s choice

Every true believer wrestles with the tension between judgment and mercy. We are commanded to love God with our whole heart, mind, and strength — and to love our neighbor as ourselves. You can’t be “nicer than God,” but you must strive to let mercy triumph over judgment whenever you can.

RELATED: Zohran Mamdani’s Soviet dream for New York City

Photo by: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

New York doesn’t care. The city long ago chose the darkness, which knows no such tension. Evil allows the illusion of tolerance until the moment comes to plant its flag.

By all means, take one more stroll down Tolerance Boulevard, Big Apple, and see where it ends. You’ll find it’s a one-way street to annihilation.

The math checks out

New York has made its peace with godlessness. First it worshiped the idol of corporate power. Then it voted for Sandinista Bill de Blasio’s Marxism. Now it’s ready to give the false god of Islam a chance to shatter its soul completely. The math checks out every time.

Nothing new under the sun. Just another civilization sprinting toward its chosen darkness, proud all the way.

God help us all.

​Opinion & analysis, Zohran mamdani, Hell, New york city, Mayoral election, Big apple, Socialism, Marxism, Evil, Tolerance, 9/11, Violence, Words, Loki, Jay jones, Murder, Incitement, Twin towers, Church, Faith 

Public universities in Florida may soon have to hire more Americans, thanks to a decision from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In an announcement on October 29, DeSantis directed the Florida Board of Governors to “pull the plug” on the use of H-1B visas for faculty and staff at Florida state universities.

‘Why do we need to bring someone from China to talk about public policy?’

In explaining the decision, DeSantis criticized companies for prioritizing visa-holders over American workers: “These tech companies will fire Americans and hire H-1B at a discount. … This is basically, in some respects, cheap labor that they’re bringing in to try to save money.”

The governor said these practices hurt American workers, who should be first in line at American universities.

DeSantis said his administration has discovered many examples of unnecessary H-1B hires in the university system. “You got a computer application professor from China, public policy professor, China. Why do we need to bring someone from China to talk about public policy?” DeSantis asked.

He went on to list more examples, citing them as proof of the threat that H-1B visas pose to American workers, particularly when visa workers can be paid significantly less.

RELATED: Senate Republicans betray Trump, help Democrats try to block tariffs

Photo by Kevin Dietsch / Contributor via Getty Images

To address the issue, DeSantis announced, “I am directing the Florida Board of Governors to pull the plug on the use of these H-1B visas in our universities.” He went on to say that staff and faculty jobs can be filled “with our residents in Florida or with Americans.” The Florida Board of Governors oversees the state’s 12 public universities.

The H-1B visa program has recently become a hotbed issue. On September 19, President Trump signed a proclamation requiring companies to pay a $100,000 fee for new H-1B hires. In August, the Young Republicans of Texas announced they would endorse only national candidates who oppose the H-1B program.

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​H-1b visas, Florida, Ron desantis, Universities, Visas, Politics 

A bombshell report came out over the weekend accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement of surveying millions of Americans’ social media accounts. In what left-wing groups call an “assault on democracy and free speech,” this looks to be a major violation of American rights and freedoms.

Or … maybe their journalistic machine isn’t telling the whole truth.

The problem

In the report, the Verge alleges that ICE has partnered with an AI-powered social media monitoring group Zignal Labs to survey the social media posts of everyday Americans as part of an online surveillance system. The platform can scan posts in 100 different languages, analyze photos and videos to pinpoint the precise location they were taken, and even review weather data thanks to a new partnership with NOAA.

If you do something illegal and you post it online, you’ve just supplied the evidence to charge your crime.

With the power to process up to 8 billion posts per day, the Verge raises serious concerns over Americans’ privacy and free speech, as if the Constitution had suddenly become precious again. And for what? According to Will Owen, the communications director at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, the goal is to “terrorize immigrant families” and “target activists fighting back against their abuses.”

That sounds terrible, if it were true. Unfortunately for Owen, he’s missing some details.

The details

For starters, ICE isn’t targeting “immigrant families.” Anyone who’s a legal citizen or in the country under an active visa isn’t under any pressure — or terror — at all. What ICE is looking for are illegal immigrants who have broken our nation’s laws and deserve a one-way ticket back home. Owen’s first claim is incorrect.

Second, the “targeted activists” he references are the ‘mostly peaceful’ protesters that have incited violence across the U.S. The most recent attack happened last week, when an anti-ICE protester in a U-Haul truck tried to ram into Coast Guardsmen at a base in Alameda, California. Or maybe you remember the deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Texas? Perhaps I could interest you in the rising tensions in Chicago, or the active calls for violence from former media pundits, or liberals’ outright disregard for law and order relating to ICE in general. These “activists” sound more like rioters, agitators, and criminals than law-abiding citizens who simply wish to exercise their First Amendment rights. Owen just isn’t being honest.

RELATED: House Democrats’ ICE ‘tracker’ will ‘put our lives in danger’: DHS agent

Photo by Mathieu Lewis-Rolland

The Verge is right about one thing, though: Social media monitoring isn’t a new phenomenon. In fact, social media has been used as a political weapon for years. The Biden administration loved it, in fact. Unlike ICE, which is (allegedly) leveraging social media to bring illegal aliens and criminals to justice, the previous White House and its party apparatus preferred to target regular American citizens. Here are just a few examples:

Let’s start with the Twitter Files. Remember when Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) silenced journalists he didn’t like?Then the Biden White House pressured Facebook to censor conservative content, especially posts that questioned the COVID vaccine.The Biden-Harris campaign also ran a deep-state censorship campaign against the American people under the guise of misinformation and disinformation.Biden’s DOJ demanded info on users who interacted with Trump’s Twitter account.President Trump was banned from Twitter amid political pressure.The Biden administration indicted Douglass Mackey for jokingly telling voters to cast their vote for Hillary Clinton via text in the 2016 election. The conviction was later tossed out as saner minds prevailed.And on, and on, and on.

The truth

Believe it or not, social media isn’t a private space concealed under lock and key. It’s a public square brimming with comments, photos, videos, and data. When you post online, you willingly put your content in the public eye for all to see, and many groups regularly take advantage of it. Facebook can scan your posts to serve you ads. The large language models powering AI can gobble up your data for better responses. And yes, law enforcement can see illegal activity and charge offenders under the law. It all falls under fair use.

That means, if you do something illegal in the public square, there could be consequences. If you post about illegal things, legal repercussions will follow. The same goes for an illegal alien whose crime is simply residing in the country. All it takes is a photo, video, or some piece of information that confirms their location to pursue charges or, in this case, deportation.

A final word to the wise

Although illegal aliens don’t get to enjoy the same rights as American citizens (that requires citizenship), they do have to follow the same laws. No one — legal, illegal, or otherwise — has the right to commit a crime in a public space in the United States. If you do something illegal and you post it online, you’ve just supplied the evidence to charge your crime. Generally, it’s a good idea to refrain from posting about illegal things if you don’t want to get caught. In the case of an illegal immigrant living in the United States, it’s probably better not to post at all.

​Tech, Ice, Immigration and customs enforcement, Social media monitoring, Surveillance 

Let’s face it: Halloween is only fun if you’re a kid. If I had my way, I’d spend the evening at home with all the lights off and a pile of newspapers on the doorstep so nobody thinks there’s any free candy to be had.

But I have children of my own, which means I’ve got to roam the streets with all the other middle-aged walking dead and their spawn. Now I can either do this in the time-honored dad uniform of jeans and quarter-zip sweater, or I can dispense with pretensions to dignity and wear a costume of my own. Years of experience has taught me that option number two is the only way to go.

Investing in a basic theatrical makeup kit can ensure that your costume is at least as frightening as the obsessive amounts of time and energy that clearly went into it.

Look, I hate dressing up for Halloween. It’s not so much that I mind wearing a costume; it’s the hassle of deciding upon one and then procuring the necessary pieces to make it happen. School just started and “the holidays” loom; who needs another decision to make?

But I’ve come to see it as my duty. You see, every adult standing around like a dork in their street clothes makes the occasion that much less Halloween-y. You get a critical mass of such wallflowers, and the night is ruined. So each year, a certain number of us must take it upon ourselves to do what other parents can’t or won’t.

I’m no hero. Or if I am, I’m a reluctant one. Every time Halloween comes around, I tell myself I’m going to sit this one out. But in the end, I always suit up. I like having a job to do. Over time, I’ve compiled a list of simple rules to help me do that job. Maybe they can be of use to you.

1. DON’T pick something you have to explain

Matt Himes

I threw this together at the last minute with an old dress shirt and and my son’s debate trophy. The key is confidence. Walk around with an indifferent swagger, NOT as if you’re pleading with people to guess who you are. They know who you are — and if they don’t, that’s their problem. The startled laughs and nods of appreciation that trailed in my wake as I moved through the crowd told me all I needed to know. Remember: A good Halloween costume is all punchline, no setup.

Here’s an example of a costume that didn’t work because I violated this rule:

Matt Himes

New York City, 2008 (that’s my friend Robin as “Sarah Palin” next to me), and I’m dressed as … what? An Islamic terrorist? Well, yes, but he’s also an Obama supporter, as explained by the cover of “Rolling Jihad” taped to my chest. Instead of going with something timeless and elegant like “Jäger bomber” I’ve turned myself into a walking political cartoon (the ones that nobody gets). Do this, and you’ll have people puzzling over your little commentary (or threatening to beat the s**t out of you on the F train) all night.

2. DO team up with your kids while you still can

Matt Himes

That kid in the striped shirt? He’s 12 now. This year, he’s going as a disgusting zombie and hanging out with his boys. But once upon a time, we were best friends, just like the duo we portray in this picture. Enjoy it while it lasts: At a certain point, childhood ends, and Hobbes has to step aside.

Here’s an even older one with my daughter. She’s applying to college this year as I quietly sob into my laptop.

Matt Himes

RELATED: ‘Carrie’ and the monster who raised me

Sunset Boulevard/Getty Images

3. DON’T prioritize ‘originality’ over recognizability

Matt Himes

You may pride yourself on your refined taste in music, art, and movies, but Halloween is not a time to show it off. Nothing kills a costume concept like the desire to be “original.” I thought I had a brilliant idea for my wife a few years back: Stevie Nicks. Not too mainstream or obvious but oh so clever and niche. And who doesn’t love Stevie Nicks? A better question to ask would have been who recognizes Steve Nicks? Nobody who saw the above ensemble (right) did, that’s for sure. I thought this look would hit like the opening arpeggiated synth bass line of “Stand Back,” but my ego wrote a check my eye for scarf-and-hat coordination couldn’t cash.

Unlike Stevie’s Prince-inspired 1983 banger, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is not a song I ever need to listen to again. But like I said, when it comes to costumes, it helps to go for the big hits.

Matt Himes

Do I like Queen? They’re OK. I’d rather listen to Steely Dan, but Donald Fagen isn’t going to make for much of a costume, now is he? So Freddie Mercury it is. He’s like Donald Trump: You may not like him, but there’s no mistaking his signature style.

Not a huge “grunge” fan, but the same thinking guided my choice to be Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. In this case, it helped that I, too, have fair skin and hair. Also this particular image is well-known enough that you can type in “Kurt Cobain sunglasses,” for example, and the internet knows exactly what you’re talking about.

Matt Himes

Admittedly, Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen is a bit of a “deep cut,” but anyone who didn’t get it just assumed we were generic punks — itself a valid costume. Although sharp-eyed readers will notice that I nailed the details.

Matt Himes

4. DO get way too into it

Let’s zoom out on that Stevie Nicks photo:

Matt Himes

That “authentic Gene Simmons KISS demon” costume cost me something like $300; it had reviews from professional KISS cover band guys raving about how it gets “every last grommet” correct.

I also spent an hour and a half figuring out how to do my own face paint, hunched over the bathroom sink while watching Simmons himself demonstrate on his daughter.

Overkill? You bet. But sometimes you have to take one for the team. Plus now I have an heirloom-quality codpiece to pass down to my children and grandchildren.

Matt Himes

Investing in a basic theatrical makeup kit can ensure that your costume is at least as frightening as the obsessive amounts of time and energy that clearly went into it:

Matt Himes

5. DON’T overshadow your wife

When the Gene Simmons idea got ahold of me, I was planning to do something to go along with my wife’s Stevie Nicks. Tom Petty? I can’t remember, but the result would no doubt have been uninspiring. I’m glad I made the choice I did, but I do regret leaving her in the lurch. While there’s no rule that says couples have to coordinate costumes, I did have a responsibility to make sure she was properly sorted before getting myself ready. It’s like in those airline safety videos when the oxygen masks drop.

My showboating tendency is still kind of an issue in this Boy George/Cyndi Lauper combo, but I like to think I did right by her — and the “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” songstress.

Matt Himes

And the year we showed up as these two, I think she got the better part of the deal (that mask was hot):

Matt Himes

Some people say my wife’s clenched fist and rigid posture is a sign of distress; I just a see a woman grateful to submit to her husband’s God-given role as Halloween creative director:

Matt Himes

When you marry a marine biologist’s daughter:

Matt Himes

One year, I had an idea of being a head louse. Didn’t quite come off (see rule 1 above) …

Matt Himes

… but I did get this photo of my wife as a school nurse that I will treasure until my dying day:

Matt Himes

6. DO strut your stuff

As the father of two daughters, I’ll be the first to say that Halloween costumes have gotten way too revealing. But that doesn’t mean all nudity is gratuitous; sometimes the “role” calls for a little sex appeal.

Matt Himes

You’re not going to have this lithe, youthful body forever — if you’ve got it, flaunt it! That said, keep in mind that you will be around children and old people. When my wife wanted to leave the house in this “sexy squirrel” getup, I had to put my foot down. Some looks need to stay in the strip club.

Matt Himes

Happy Halloween to you and yours.

​Costumes, Lifestyle, Trick or treat, Costume, Kiss, Kurt cobain, Bojack horseman, Marriage, Kids, Family, Happy halloween 

Amazon responded to allegations of thousands of upcoming job cuts following a scathing report that said the company planned to replace more than 600,000 U.S. jobs with robots.

The New York Times reported last week that it had reviewed internal documents that allegedly revealed Amazon’s intentions to avoid making new hires by increasing automation. Amazon told Blaze News in response that “leaked documents often paint an incomplete and misleading picture” of company plans and that the details did not reflect its overall hiring strategy.

Less than a week later, Amazon is announcing thousands of job cuts.

‘This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet.’

Reuters reported on Monday that the company is planning to cut as many as 30,000 corporate jobs as it attempts to “pare expenses” for overhiring that happened during the peak demand period during COVID-19. Reuters said that three sources provided the outlet with the inside information.

In comments to Blaze News, Amazon simply stated that it is reducing its corporate workforce, which totals approximately 14,000 roles being cut.

While there was no mention of the allegedly 16,000 remaining cuts, Amazon said the latest jobs reduction had no relation to the New York Times piece. However, a spokesman carefully articulated that Amazon sees that story as revolving around “potential future hiring of hourly employees within operations facilities.”

“It’s not related to today’s announcement,” the spokesman added, without making any mention of automated replacements.

RELATED: Amazon’s secret strategy to replace 600,000 American workers with robots

Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In a press release, Amazon said it is offering “most employees” 90 days to look for a new role within the company and will “prioritize internal candidates to help as many people as possible find new roles within Amazon.”

However, despite representatives shying away from addressing a future entrenched in automation, the company openly discussed its need to “organize more leanly” ahead of upcoming changes that are a result of AI integration.

“This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet, and it’s enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before (in existing market segments and altogether new ones),” Amazon’s Beth Galetti wrote. “We’re convinced that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.”

RELATED: ‘Smart bed’ customers rage, rig aquarium coolers as Amazon outage overheats their mattresses

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Amazon said it will continue to hire in “key strategic areas” in 2026 while also “finding additional places we can remove layers, increase ownership, and realize efficiency gains.”

The company recently boasted about its annual holiday-hiring increase, stating its plans to fill approximately 250,000 positions. However, in its communications, Amazon has avoided directly revealing its plans relating to automation. It did, however, deny recent claims that it has directed employees to avoid using terms such as “automation” and “AI” in reference to robotics.

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​Return, Amazon, Automation, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Corporate america, Jeff bezos, Robots, Tech 

Disaster nearly struck eastern Mississippi on Tuesday, Oct. 28, when a truck hauling lab monkeys from Tulane University crashed, with several of the animals fleeing the vehicle.

While all but one of the escaped monkeys were “destroyed” — according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department — the monkeys were “aggressive to humans” and potentially carried “hepatitis C, herpes, and COVID-19.”

However, Tulane University has now set people’s minds at ease and claimed that the escaped primates would not be the cause of the next pandemic.

“Non-human primates at the Tulane National Biomedical Research Center are provided to other research organizations to advance scientific discovery,” Tulane University said in a statement. “The primates in question belong to another entity and are not infectious. We are actively collaborating with local authorities and will send a team of animal care experts to assist as needed.”

“I wasn’t aware that they transported monkeys this way,” BlazeTV co-host 1/4 Black Garrett says on “Normal World,” adding, “let alone with herpes and COVID.”

“Here’s what I love, though,” BlazeTV host Dave Landau chimes in. “They say ‘potentially diseased’ even though they have the three diseases and they’re coming from New Orleans.”

“You have, like, herpes, hepatitis C, and COVID-19. They always try to jam it in there like it’s just as bad. It sounds like you’re trying to tell a girl what you have,” Landau laughs. “You’re like, ‘Look, you might want to get tested for hep C. You know, maybe some herpes and, you know, COVID-19.’”

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​Video phone, Upload, Sharing, Free, Camera phone, Video, Youtube.com, Normal world, Normal world with dave landau, Dave landau, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Mississippi, Diseased monkeys, Wuhan lab, Covid-19 pandemic, Scamdemic, Tulane university, Covid-19, Herpes, Hep c 

A shocking murder-for-hire plot in Missouri has led to the arrest of three people who were trying to cover up the sex assault of a 15-year-old girl, prosecutors say.

Kcoree Warren was shot and killed at his home on July 8 to keep him from testifying at trial against a man accused of having sex with the girl on March 21.

Klaus himself was killed on the same day, and prosecutors said the white Kia that was seen driving away was destroyed in a fire.

Police said a man named Lavor Harmon met the girl as she was walking home from a school bus and exchanged phone numbers with her. He picked her up later to go shopping and then allegedly had sex with the minor girl at his home.

Warren reported the alleged crime to police, and Harmon was charged on May 19.

About 10 days later, Harmon’s sister Lavonda Harmon went to Warren’s home with another man and offered him $12,000 to keep quiet about the crime. He declined.

Warren was then shot and killed later by Andrew Klaus.

Klaus himself was killed on the same day, and prosecutors said the white Kia that was seen driving away was destroyed in a fire.

Prosecutors say that Harmon was present when Klaus was killed, along with his uncle Anthony L. Young and that man’s son, Anthony D. Young.

RELATED: California pastor arrested in murder-for-hire plot against daughter’s boyfriend, who narrowly survived shooting, police say

Police say they know the identity of the man who went with Lavonda Harmon to offer the bribe, but they have not released that information, and he has not been charged.

Lavor Harmon is being held on a $2 million bond, while both Anthony L.Young and Anthony D. Young have bonds for $2 million on unrelated federal charges.

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​Murder for hire plot, Kcoree warren death, Statutory rape, Missouri murders, Crime 

President Donald Trump said opponents of the “climate change hoax” had won the struggle after Bill Gates said supporters should pivot their efforts.

Gates has been a longtime proponent of policies to fight climate change, but on Monday he took a far more moderate tone that accepted the survivability of slightly higher global temperatures.

‘Bill Gates has finally admitted that he was completely WRONG on the issue.’

“I (WE!) just won the War on the Climate Change Hoax,” the president wrote on his Truth Social account.

“Bill Gates has finally admitted that he was completely WRONG on the issue,” he added. “It took courage to do so, and for that we are all grateful. MAGA!!!”

Gates issued the announcement in a memo titled, “Three tough truths about climate.”

He described the previous view on climate change as the following: “In a few decades, cataclysmic climate change will decimate civilization. The evidence is all around us — just look at all the heat waves and storms caused by rising global temperatures. Nothing matters more than limiting the rise in temperature.”

He added: “Fortunately for all of us, this view is wrong.”

Gates opined that governments may have to “invest in cooling centers and better early warning systems for extreme heat and weather events,” and added that people “will be able to live and thrive in most places on Earth for the foreseeable future.”

RELATED: Trump shuts down UN-backed effort to impose global climate change tax, calling it a ‘scam’

Gates went on to say that the world’s efforts are better spent trying to reduce poverty and disease.

“The doomsday outlook is causing much of the climate community to focus too much on near-term emissions goals, and it’s diverting resources from the most effective things we should be doing to improve life in a warming world,” he added.

The billionaire concluded, “The biggest problems are poverty and disease, just as they always have been.”

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​Donald trump, Climate change, Bill gates, Global warming, Politics 

On October 27, conservative firebrand and BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey, star of the hit Christian podcast “Relatable,” commanded the stage at Turning Point USA’s Baton Rouge, Louisiana, tour stop, where over 1,500 cheering college students packed the Raising Canes River Center Theatre to capacity.

Allie opened by encouraging the crowd with her favorite Charlie-ism — the phrase he used to encourage her with when the media tried to smear her: “Keep slugging.”

“I want you to think of that phrase every minute of every day. The only thing that you can do with the grace and the power of God is to keep slugging — first for the honor and the glory of Jesus Christ, but also in honor of Charlie Kirk,” she said as students stood to their feet and applauded.

She then launched into an inspiring speech titled “5 of Charlie Kirk’s Most Controversial Truths.”

Truth #1: Feminism has failed women

While the feminist movement claims to be pro-women and pro-equality, it’s actually worked to women’s detriment. Instead of making women equal to men, the feminist movement sought to make women the same as men.

“It has fed us this lie that in order to be respected, that we women have to talk like men, that we have to act like men, that we have to be like men,” Allie said.

But that required forsaking the very things that make us women — primarily being moms and wives, which the feminist industrial complex has demonized by pushing abortion, sexual liberation, and gender abolitionism.

Feminism has “left each and every one of its followers lonelier and more broken,” said Allie, who then reminded the women in the audience the truth about who they are.

“Your value, your worth comes from the God who created you. … You were made in God’s image, and your equal worth, your inherent worth, comes from that reality. It doesn’t come from feminism. … You can be strong, and you can be courageous, and you can be brilliant, and you can be hardworking, and you do not need to act like a man to do that.”

Truth #2: Porn has weakened men

Pornography, Allie candidly explained, doesn’t just harm men; it harms everyone and everything we ought to hold dear: women, children, marriage, and psychological and physical safety. Porn “objectifies women and children,” “commercializes sex,” “glorifies violence,” “creates addiction and shame,” “destroys marriages,” “ruins your perception of other people,” and has become “the legal loophole for sex trafficking,” she warned.

“Men, we need you, and we need your masculinity, and we need your strength, and we need your boldness, and we need your courage, and we need those things to be harnessed for good,” Allie pleaded.

“We need really strong men, and porn makes you weak.”

Truth #3: Merit always trumps DEI

The fear of oppression based on skin color, gender, or any other trait is a hardship Americans today don’t have to worry about.

“And so, we should not be doling out punishments or doling out rewards based on what people look like, based on their sex, based on how they identify. That is actually called partiality, and the Bible calls it a sin,” Allie declared.

The truth was, is, and will always be that nothing in life is “fair.”

“There are different circumstances surrounding our births, different economic situations, different kinds of parents, different kinds of springboards that we’re given, different kinds of setbacks, a different set of strengths, a different set of weaknesses, different kind of personality, different connections that we all make,” Allie said.

Man’s futile attempt to level the playing field in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion only creates more of the evils, like racism and sexism, it supposedly aims to eradicate.

Allie, echoing Charlie, clarified that “what matters across the board is excellence. What matters across the board is hard work. None of us is entitled to anything … so we should only reward that which someone works for through her own talents and efforts.”

Truth #4: America is a Christian nation

Leftists who are threatened by Judeo-Christian principles that challenge every progressive narrative often try to erase America’s deeply religious heritage. They pretend Enlightenment-based ideals, not Christian doctrine, are the bedrock of the nation’s foundation.

But that’s a lie.

While, yes, our founders passionately believed in free speech and expression — core Enlightenment ideas — these values didn’t contradict or eclipse their commitment to God.

“From the Declaration of Independence to all of our founding documents, all of the founders at the very least understood that it was the direction of providence, the Creator of the universe, the giver of all rights, that laid the foundation for this country, is the source of liberty, and the author of morality,” Allie said.

“America makes no sense without Christianity. America makes no sense without the recognition, as we read in the Declaration of Independence, that we were given certain unalienable rights … given to us by a Creator whose power transcends the government, and therefore, the government cannot arbitrarily take those rights away,” she declared. “That is the foundation on which our country is built.”

Truth #5: Jesus is the only way to Heaven

This particular truth — the central message of the gospel — is the one that got Charlie killed and the one that makes him a martyr, Allie said.

She then shared the good news of salvation through Jesus with those in the crowd who aren’t believers. “By grace through faith, if you believe in that gospel, you won’t die, but you’ll have eternal life,” she encouraged.

“Charlie was first an evangelist, he was first an apologist before he was a political activist or an organizer, and he shared that gospel. He died for that gospel because he believed it to be true. And he wanted you to know that it’s true. And I want you to know that it’s true.”

Allie ended with this powerful reminder: “One day Jesus is coming back, and there will be no more politics. There will be no more debate. There will be no more division.”

“But he’s not here yet, which means that in the meantime … we’ve got work to do. And that might look different for every single one of us, but let me tell you what I tell my audience all the time. … Do the next right thing in faith with excellence and for the glory of God.”

To hear Allie’s full speech, watch the video above.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Relatable, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Allie beth stuckey, Turning point usa, Charlie kirk, Tpusa, Lsu, Blazetv, Blaze media, Feminism, Christian nationalism, Pornography, Merit, Dei, Christianity, America’s founding 

In September, Amazon raised warehouse worker pay to over $30/hour, framing the wage hike as an effort to enhance employees’ experience. However, earlier this week, the company contradicted its human-centric initiative when it suddenly slashed 14,000 corporate jobs in accordance with its plans to invest heavily in artificial intelligence.

Longtime climate change fearmonger Bill Gates also published a memo on his Gates Notes blog, where he wrote: “Although climate change will have serious consequences — particularly for people in the poorest countries – it will not lead to humanity’s demise” — a stunning contradiction to his yearslong alarmist rhetoric.

While Amazon and Gates’ shifting narratives may appear unrelated, Glenn Beck says they both hint of a dark future on the horizon.

And it all centers around power — but not the political or economic kind.

“I mean energy,” says Glenn. “The world is starving for energy.”

But energy means different things to different people. Amazon’s push for AI-driven commerce represents one side of the playing field — the side that craves unrestricted energy abundance via fossil fuels and nuclear power. Gates’ long history of climate alarmism, though recently softened, embodies the other side’s push for “green” energy only — restrictive renewables and emission caps that will surely starve innovation.

It all boils down to “global fascism on one side” and “Marxist degrowth” on the other, says Glenn, noting both frameworks are deeply flawed.

However, both sides will have good and bad parts. The Marxist degrowth crowd will be pro-human workers and real food but anti-capitalism and fossil fuels. The growth-centric fascist crowd will promote capitalism and oil drilling but also Big Ag and Big Pharma, unrestricted artificial intelligence, and other dystopian technologies, like digital IDs.

But where does that leave someone like Glenn, who’s pro-human workers, ethical AI, oil drilling, real food, and capitalism but anti-climate change, Marxism, and globalist initiatives, like digital IDs, 15-minute cities, and central bank digital currencies?

He warns we’re headed into a time where we’re going to be asked to choose between these two options.

“This is the split that is coming, and I believe the Marxist global warming side is going to be extraordinarily appealing to a lot of people,” says Glenn, warning that it’s “a utopia that can never survive.”

The other camp, however, is equally as flawed. So what do we do?

We choose the “third way,” says Glenn.

“It’s the U.S. Constitution.”

To hear more of Glenn’s analysis, watch the clip above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Blazetv, Blaze media, Global warming, Climate change, Amazon layoffs, Amazon, Bill gates, Energy, Energy crisis, Artificial intelligence, Ai, Green energy 

Vice President JD Vance had a very warm response to the idea of running for president with his “best friend” Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State.

Vance made the comments while speaking on the “Pod Force One” podcast from the New York Post. He said President Donald Trump suggested the idea of a Vance-Rubio ticket during a lunch a few months prior.

‘A lot of the good work that we’ve been able to do as an administration is because we’re all able to work together.’

“I mentioned it to the secretary in jest, but it feels so premature because we’re still so early,” Vance said.

He went on to say that he was focused on the main problem plaguing Americans.

“We’ve got to make life more affordable for American citizens,” he added. “Again, we’ve chipped away at that problem, but there’s a lot more work to do there. So, my attitude is, the American people elected me to be vice president. I’m gonna work as hard as I can to make the president successful over the next three years and three months.”

Vance is the clear front-runner for the next Republican presidential candidate in recent polling.

“If we get to a point where something else is in the offer, let’s handle it then,” Vance continued. “But let’s at least get through the next couple of years and do good work for the American people before we talk about politics.”

RELATED: White House hammers Jen Psaki over comments about JD Vance’s wife: ‘Circle back on that, moron’

When asked if playing second fiddle to the vice president would cause “tension” between the two, Vance called Rubio his “best friend in the administration” and said there would be no problem at all.

“He and I work a lot together,” Vance said. “A lot of the good work that we’ve been able to do as an administration is because we’re all able to work together.”

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​Vance presidential ticket, Vance-rubio 2028, 2028 presidential election, Vance vs rubio, Politics 

The horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk in September should have united Americans. Instead, it split them even further. Conservatives watched too many of their countrymen on the left openly cheer the murder, and even weak denunciations often suggested Kirk got what he deserved.

For a time, the right rallied — praising Kirk and demanding justice. That unity didn’t last. A furious fight over Kirk’s legacy followed, and that’s worse than politics: It’s destroying the movement he built.

Charlie Kirk’s death was a monstrous crime. Let it not become the occasion for tearing the movement he led to pieces.

George Washington spent much of his Farewell Address warning the young republic about foreign entanglements. He praised American separation from Europe’s great power intrigues and warned that making any foreign state a favored nation would corrupt domestic politics. Washington foresaw factions forming around foreign loyalties and predicted patriots who raised concerns about foreign influence would be branded traitors.

His warning applies now, and the fracture cuts through conservatism itself. The United States has long allied with Israel — sharing intelligence, aid, and military cooperation. Many conservatives, especially evangelicals, treat support for Israel as near-religious obligation. Others point to practical security benefits in the Middle East. That religious devotion makes criticism of the relationship politically perilous. You can denounce Britain or Germany without being vilified. Question our alliance with Israel, and you risk immediate slurs — racist, anti-Semite, bigot.

As Washington warned, centering policy on a foreign nation invites domestic discord and foreign meddling. Qatar and other Gulf states now pour money into U.S. institutions. Diasporas like India attempt to consolidate as a power bloc. None of this would surprise Washington. It was predictable. Still, both sides chatter past his counsel — and refuse the restraint he urged.

Anger misdirected

Charlie Kirk excelled at coalition building and peacemaking. He united disparate conservatives behind Trump and MAGA. That’s why the civil war over his death is so corrosive. Conspiracy theories swirl. Former allies denounce one another in his name. Private texts between Kirk and fellow influencers have been leaked and used as weapons. The spectacle is inhuman.

The impulse to treat Kirk’s private words as scripture echoes how people now treat the Constitution — stripping context until the document becomes a cudgel for whatever program you prefer. Left and right both reduce texts to proof texts; neither seeks the actual meaning.

Kirk’s position on Israel was complicated. He loved and supported the state and saw biblical significance in its existence, yet he also held America First concerns about military commitments and complained about pressure from Zionist donors who pushed TPUSA to cancel conservatives. He sought to defuse right-wing animosity toward Israel through messaging at home and tempering excesses abroad. His views were nuanced — like most people tend to be when the shouting stops.

Instead of using the outrage over his assassination to crush the left-wing terror network behind it, too many conservatives turned inward and drew long knives. One faction hates Israel so fiercely it would harm America; another treats any deviation from absolute support as treason.

At the moment, conservatives should unify for survival, they trade blows over purity tests.

Opponents or enemies?

The reality is simple: Israel will remain. The conservative movement needs a coherent strategy. Religious devotion among evangelicals will persist, but it’s waning among younger Christians. Pro-Israel advocates must make a practical case to younger conservatives if they want broad support. Those who question the tie to Israel will keep growing in number.

If pro-Israel conservatives want to avoid the radicalization they fear, they must tolerate dissent within the coalition without staging public witch hunts. Those who seek to re-evaluate the relationship should keep arguments factual and pragmatic. Washington’s cautions about favored nations and about letting hatred sabotage the country remain relevant.

RELATED: Christians are refusing to compromise — and it’s terrifying all the right people

rudall30 via iStock/Getty Images

We saw, after Kirk’s killing, how large segments of the left revealed a murderous contempt for conservatives. That truth cannot be unseen. But within conservatism, the critical question is whether your rival on the right is an opponent to debate or an enemy to be excised. Zionist or skeptic, neither camp is calling for your child to be shot. That low bar — refusing to wish literal violence on fellow citizens — must hold if conservatives hope to form a durable coalition.

This is not an appeal to centrism. I have my views and have argued them plainly. But Kirk wanted a movement that could hold together. He worked to build a broad tent. The conservative civil war must end because the stakes are too high.

If conservatives continue sniping through Kirk’s memory, they will squander their political capital and invite worse divisions. Washington warned us what happens when foreign loyalties and religious fervor distort public life; he warned that factional hatred breaks nations. Conservatives ought to remember that now — not to moderate principle for its own sake, but to preserve the only structure that allows principle to matter: a functioning political majority.

Charlie Kirk’s death was a monstrous crime. Let it not become the occasion for tearing the movement he led to pieces. The left must be opposed forcefully and without mercy in politics, but infighting on the right hands them victory. Put down the knives. Honor Kirk by building the coalition he believed in — or watch the movement dissolve into impotence.

​Opinion & analysis, Charlie kirk, Assassination, Conspiracy theories, Conservatives, Civil war, The right, The left, Tpusa, Turning point usa, Witch hunt, Israel, America first, Maga, Zionism, Evangelicals, Religion, Qatar, George washington 

New revelations show the extent of the investigation known as Arctic Frost into the alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election.

The Biden-era Federal Bureau of Investigation allegedly had a list of 160 Republican associates to investigate, according to the documents released by the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee.

‘This ought to be a chilling message to each and every American who loves this great country and believes in our constitutional system and equal justice under the law.’

President Donald Trump and his allies have accused the previous administration of trying to imprison Trump officials under the guise of the Arctic Frost investigation out of political motivation.

“New Arctic Frost documents reveal even further wide ranging investigation by Biden’s DOJ to take down President Trump and his supporters,” reads a post from the committee on social media.

The stated goal of the investigation was to find evidence that Trump allies “conspired to corruptly obstruct the United States Congress’ certification of the 2020 Presidential election results by submitting allegedly fraudulent elector certificates.”

In a media briefing Wednesday, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said the new documents were obtained through a whistleblower and not from the FBI.

“This ought to be a chilling message to each and every American who loves this great country and believes in our constitutional system and equal justice under the law,” Johnson said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) shared more than 1,700 pages of documents.

RELATED: Exclusive: House Republican seeks criminal investigation into Jack Smith’s alleged surveillance scheme

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas responded to the revelations on social media.

“Sen. Chuck Grassley just revealed that Jack Smith sent a subpoena to Verizon to tap my Senate office phone,” he posted Wednesday afternoon. “This comes after learning that nearly 20% of Senate Republicans’ cellphones, including mine, were also subpoenaed. Arctic Frost is the Biden DOJ’s Watergate, and they need to be held accountable.”

The targets of the investigation included White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino and senior trade counselor Peter Navarro, as well as the chief operating officer at Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Charlie Kirk.

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​Arctic frost investigation, Fbi investigation, Biden lawfare, Results of 2020 election, Politics 

The Department of Justice has indicted Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive congressional candidate who previously worked for Media Matters of America, with forcibly impeding, intimidating, and interfering with a federal agent during a chaotic protest in Broadview, Illinois.

Five other people involved in the incident were also indicted.

Blaze News was present at one of the protests where Abughazaleh filmed herself appearing to be part of a mob that impeded a federal vehicle with a federal agent inside.

Abughazaleh is a candidate for Congress in Illinois’ 9th congressional district but has been consistently protesting at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility outside Chicago. Broadview is not located inside the 9th congressional district.

Abughazaleh has been seen in multiple videos, including video she has posted herself, appearing to attempt to stop federal vehicles from leaving or entering the facility.

Blaze News was present at one of the protests where Abughazaleh filmed herself appearing to be part of a mob that impeded a federal vehicle with a federal agent inside. The agent continued to drive at a slow pace, and the people did not get out of the way, video showed.

ICE agents stationed by the perimeter fired pepper balls at the crowd to get them to stop their attacks.

— (@)

Abughazaleh posted on X her response to the charges, claiming the Trump administration is trying to stifle dissenting views.

RELATED: ‘Shoot the f**kers!’ Anti-ICE agitators caught on video apparently calling for violence in wake of deadly Dallas shooting

Photo by Blaze News

“This case is a major push by the Trump administration to criminalize protests and punish anyone who speaks out against them. That’s why I’m going to fight these unjust charges,” she said, painting her and other protesters’ actions as standing up to “masked men” who are “abducting our neighbors.”

The facility in Broadview has been a consistent target of anti-ICE agitators since the Department of Homeland Security launched Operation Midway Blitz. DHS had to install a temporary security fence to prevent rioters from having easy access to the building, but a judge later ordered the fence to be taken down.

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​Politics 

Former CNN anchor Don Lemon had previously defended the trans-identifying community, but he undermined that activism when he used the term “trans” as an insult.

Lemon was being interviewed on the “Clip Farmers” podcast when they started mocking the ladies of MAGA. When they arrived at former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, he unleashed the T-word.

‘I thought that you couldn’t tell if someone is trans. Can’t be all about identity and then use it as an insult.’

“I think she looks trans,” said Lemon to the shocked hosts.

“Let’s end on that note,” said one of the podcast hosts.

“She looks clockable,” he added, which is a term to deride trans-identifying people who do not pass for the gender they choose.

The video was widely circulated on social media, where many lambasted Lemon over his comments.

“Don Lemon commenting on how women look? Peak absurdity,” replied Charles Gasparino.

“Don Lemon is unbearable to listen to. No wonder he’s been fired from every company he’s been lucky enough to get hired by and had to start a YouTube channel of his own and it’s awful too,” read one response.

“I thought that you couldn’t tell if someone is trans. Can’t be all about identity and then use it as an insult. Funny,” said another detractor.

“Asking Don Lemon if a woman is hot is like asking a vegan to recommend a good steakhouse,” joked another user.

RELATED: Transgender activists insult beloved ‘Harry Potter’ actor after his death because he once defended JK Rowling

Lemon had characterized conservative bans on pornographic books in public schools as transphobic in comments from 2023.

“So let’s just be real. These book bans are rooted in anti-blackness and transphobia and queerphobia,” he said at the time.

He also criticized bills restricting drag shows and defended trans-identifying activist Dylan Mulvaney during the Bud Light woke controversy.

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An 11-year-old Florida girl was arrested Monday after writing a “kill list” at her school desk, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office said.

Staff at Riverview Learning Center in Ormond Beach notified a deputy about the “kill list,” which contained four names, officials said.

‘I was still playing with dolls at 11.’

The suspect said she was just playing, officials said.

RELATED: Florida sheriff’s office under fire for posting 9-year-old male’s mug shot on Facebook after his felony arrest

Image source: Volusia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office

Still, the girl was charged with making a written threat to kill — a second-degree felony — as well as violating her probation.

The sheriff’s office posted video after the girl’s arrest showing deputies perp-walking her into a jail cell. A deputy is heard asking her if she had been there before, and she replied in the affirmative.

RELATED: Blaze News original: The disturbing trend of females as young as 12 who’ve been accused of brutal physical attacks

Image source: Volusia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office

Commenters on the sheriff’s office Facebook page were taken aback not only by the arrest but also by the suspect’s age — as well as the additional charge of a probation violation:

“It’s the probation at 11 that has me reading the post twice,” one commenter wrote.”Glad I wasn’t the only one who had to re-read about the probation … at 11!” another user added.”Can we back up a minute,” another commenter interjected. “Did I just read that an 11-year-old is already on probation???””I was still playing with dolls at 11,” another user reacted.”The parents have failed the child. Not the system,” another commenter offered. “It is the parents who are responsible for getting the child the help she needs. There are plenty of services available — many at no cost. The school/system can’t force therapy, stabilize home life, enforce curfew, and monitor friends. Stop blaming the system/community. Parents need to look in the mirror.”

Another user opined that “publicly shaming this child goes against what research shows us is more effective in preventing this behavior and ultimately protecting others. To not only release the name of a child, but to create a video of her arrest typically creates worse future outcomes.”

The aforementioned sentiment was a main issue in a Blaze News story published earlier this month about another Florida sheriff’s office that was under fire after posting a 9-year-old male’s mug shot on Facebook after his felony arrest.

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There have been calls from both sides of the aisle for NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa to drop out of the race, as he continues to lag far behind front-runner Zohran Mamdani.

While the argument from many is that Curtis Sliwa’s base would then vote for Andrew Cuomo — who they view as the lesser of two evils — BlazeTV host Liz Wheeler doesn’t think they’re right.

“While on paper, Andrew Cuomo is clearly less of a radical than Zohran Mamdani, might seem like he’s the lesser of two evils, that’s actually just hypothetical because Zohran Mamdani, even though he verbalizes these extremely radical, dangerous, anti-American viewpoints, he hasn’t been terribly effective in doing any of that stuff,” Wheeler explains.

“He just says it, and he has a large platform, and words matter. But his policies haven’t yet hurt people. But Andrew Cuomo’s have,” she continues, noting that Cuomo “presided over the tyrannical disaster of COVID in New York City.”

“Over 10,000 senior citizens in New York City were essentially sent to their deaths by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo because he forced them to go back to nursing homes, and they died of COVID there,” she says.

“And his record, Andrew Cuomo’s record, even if his words are less radical than Zohran’s, is Andrew Cuomo’s record not more deadly? And so, when I hear this argument coming from some people on the right that Curtis Sliwa should drop out, I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You’re thinking about this all wrong.’”

Wheeler believes Andrew Cuomo should drop out, not Curtis Sliwa.

“Andrew Cuomo’s voters obviously reject Zohran Mamdani. That’s why they’re choosing the independent Andrew Cuomo over the Democrat Zohran,” Wheeler says. “So, if Andrew Cuomo drops out, would his voters not migrate to Curtis Sliwa?”

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