Category: blaze media

There it is: There was no Russian plot to help Trump win in 2016. None at all. It was a campaign lie, first publicly unleashed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager exactly nine years ago today. It was investigated by the CIA, it was found severely wanting, it was dismissed, and it was resurrected by an angry President Barack Obama and his CIA ally John Brennan.

Everything that came after was smoke and mirrors. The framings, the recusals, the deleted files, the special counsel, the hearings, the testimonies, the impeachment, the prison sentences. All of it was based on the one essential, base assumption that somewhere down there, Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted Donald Trump to be president of the United States and had worked to make it happen. And that part was not true.

Every time any one of their lies or obfuscations was exposed, they’d dig down deeper into the dirt and the weeds.

For nine long years, thousands of reporters, politicians, editors, staffers, judges, and pundits poured millions of hours into every detail. They studied, theorized, talked endlessly, brought charges, and wrestled over a narrative that was false at its core.

I personally spent thousands of hours editing and writing and talking about people like Carter Page, Stefan Halper, Christopher Steele, George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, Sergey Kislyak, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, Konstantin Kilimnik, Robert Mueller, Adam Schiff, Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein, Glenn Simpson, Alexander Downer, Michael Horowitz, James Clapper, John Brennan, James Comey, Natalia Veselnitskaya, Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, and Kevin Clinesmith.

Remember that nefarious Russian spy Carter Page? FBI lawyer Clinesmith eventually pleaded guilty to deleting the part of the surveillance warrant application admitting Page was actually a CIA asset. That was four and a half years ago. He got probation for ruining that young man’s life from a guy named Judge James Boasberg – the same activist Democrat judge still issuing insane rulings to undermine President Trump.

Few people in the Democratic Party press want to talk about things like that, of course. Every time any one of their lies or obfuscations was exposed, they’d dig down deeper into the dirt and the weeds, muddying the clarity and throwing out confusing details.

They’re still trying!

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on why her conclusions contradicted the Senate Intelligence Committee’s findings. That report — approved by then-Chairman Marco Rubio — acknowledged no evidence of collusion but insisted Russia had “meddled.”

What the committee didn’t have were the emails and internal records Gabbard declassified. They relied instead on the testimony of John Brennan and James Comey — two men now exposed as liars.

The Washington Post ignored those revelations and instead focused on whether Gabbard believes current Secretary of State Rubio lied.

The Associated Press followed suit, parroting the claim that “everyone knew” Russia interfered in the election. Its goal, along with many of its media allies, is to shift the conversation and bury the real lie: that the so-called interference aimed to help Trump win.

In reality, Russia stood to benefit more from a Clinton presidency.

Remember the oft-repeated claim that 17 U.S. intelligence agencies agreed the Kremlin tried to take down Hillary Clinton’s campaign? That turned out to be false. Only the CIA signed off on the assessment. And now we know even the CIA didn’t believe it. At President Obama’s direction, Brennan concealed that inconvenient fact from the final report.

Russian intelligence knew Clinton was physically, mentally, and emotionally unstable. They knew her campaign used sedatives to manage her manic episodes and fits of rage.

Putin understood how worried Democratic insiders had become. He held onto that damaging information — something that truly could have swung the election. He didn’t want to humiliate Clinton. He wanted leverage after she won.

So the Kremlin didn’t release the goods. Instead, it pushed internet memes.

Now, the truth is out. The Russia narrative was a lie — just one in a long line exposed over the past nine years.

The politicians, the press, and the former intelligence brass who sold that lie lied about this, too. They’ll keep their Pulitzers and their paychecks. But they forfeited their credibility — and any hope of an honorable mention in the history books.

Blaze News: Over target: Panicked liberal media attacks Gabbard’s ‘treasonous conspiracy’ claim

Auron MacIntyre at Blaze News: If no one goes to jail, the coup was a success

Charlie Kirk at Blaze News: The old-guard GOP dropped the ball for decades. Trump delivered in 6 months.

Glenn Beck at Blaze News: In 6 months, Donald Trump has done the impossible

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​Opinion & analysis, Politics 

Mark Levin can’t help but notice the correlation between Democrats and mortgage fraud. But he isn’t surprised. “So many of them are crooks,” he scoffs.

The most severe case is perhaps New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is currently being investigated for a host of mortgage-related crimes.

Not only did James allegedly list her father as her husband on mortgage documents for a Queens property to secure more favorable loan terms, but she’s also been accused of falsely claiming a Virginia property as her primary residence in 2023 to secure a mortgage, defying New York’s residency rules that require her, as the attorney general, to live in the state.

On top of that, there are allegations that James misrepresented her Brooklyn brownstone as a four-unit property on mortgage applications, despite official records indicating it has five units, to get a better loan.

When she was caught by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, James blamed racism.

“She’s now stereotyping black people as mortgage crooks,” Levin says. “No, black people are not mortgage crooks. You are, Letitia.”

“And so is Adam Schiff,” he adds.

It appears that while the Democratic California senator was trying to undermine Donald Trump with lies and malevolent plots, he was simultaneously sweeping his own crimes under the rug. Earlier this year, FHFA referred Schiff to the Department of Justice when it found that he likely committed mortgage fraud when he reportedly claimed both his Maryland and California homes as primary residences on loan documents from 2003 to 2020 to secure lower mortgage rates.

“Can you imagine being this thug? Concocting a whole Russian collusion thing against the president, spending two years trying to take out the president of the United States … when you knew in your past the allegation is that you committed mortgage fraud?” Levin comments.

To be expected, Schiff has called the accusations baseless and written off the criminal referral as nothing more than political retaliation.

But President Trump is serious about Schiff facing justice.

“Mortgage Fraud is very serious, and CROOKED Adam Schiff (now a Senator) needs to be brought to justice,” he wrote on Truth Social, calling Schiff “a low life.”

“I agree with all that,” Levin says.

To hear more of his commentary, watch the clip above.

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​Levintv, Mark levin, Adam schiff, Letitia james, Mortgage fraud, Blazetv, Blaze media 

The Metropolitan Police Department is embroiled in controversy over allegations related to its reported crime statistics.

The Washington, D.C., department placed Police Commander Michael Pulliam on paid administrative leave in May after a police union accused the MPD of deliberately manipulating crime data, several law enforcement sources told WRC-TV.

‘This is deliberately done.’

Pulliam, who is under investigation, denied the allegations.

Gregg Pemberton, the chairman of the D.C. Police Union, a branch of the Fraternal Order of Police, explained to WRC how the statistics are manipulated to make it appear that crime has declined. The union also warned about a larger trend of supervisors instructing employees to engage in such practices.

“When our members respond to the scene of a felony offense where there is a victim reporting that a felony occurred, inevitably there will be a lieutenant or a captain that will show up on that scene and direct those members to take a report for a lesser offense,” Pemberton said. “So instead of taking a report for a shooting or a stabbing or a carjacking, they will order that officer to take a report for a theft or an injured person to the hospital or a felony assault, which is not the same type of classification.”

Pemberton stated that crimes that should be reported as involving a suspect armed with a dangerous weapon have instead been documented as felony assaults.

RELATED: Metropolitan Police Department refuses public access to Jan. 6 use-of-force reports

Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

“When management officials are directing officers to take reports for felony assault, or if they’re going back into police databases and changing offenses to felony assault, felony assault is not a category of crime that’s listed on the department’s daily crime stats,” he continued. “It’s also not something that’s a requirement of the FBI’s uniform crime reporting program. So by changing criminal offenses from, for example, ADW bat or ADW gun to felony assault, that would avoid both the MPD and the FBI from reporting that as a part one or a felony offense.”

Pemberton claimed that union members had reported that the directive came from command staff who want to ensure that the “classifications of these reports are adjusted over time to make sure that the overall crime stats stay down.”

“This is deliberately done,” he told WRC.

Pemberton called the MPD’s reported severe drop in crime “preposterous,” adding that there is “absolutely no way.”

“Last year they suggested that it went down 34%,” he said.

As of Thursday morning, the department’s crime data stated that violent offenses are down 26% when compared to the same time last year. A breakdown of those violent offenses included a 47% decline in sexual abuse and a 28% decline in robberies.

RELATED: Trump mulls unique strategy to crush DC crime wave: ‘We’re thinking about it’

Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images

Chief Pamela Smith told WRC that the department cannot comment on an ongoing investigation; however, she did address the union’s allegations.

“The Metropolitan Police Department is committed to upholding the trust and the confidence of the public,” Smith said. “Any irregularity in crime data brought to my attention will be addressed immediately. I do not condone any official reclassifying criminal offenses outside the guidelines set in MPD policy. Any allegation of this behavior will be dealt with through our internal processes, which will ensure those members are held accountable. I have the utmost confidence in the command staff leadership currently in place across the Metropolitan Police Department.”

The union’s allegations follow comments earlier this month from President Donald Trump, who stated that he was considering having his administration run Washington, D.C., due to the local leadership’s inability to significantly reduce crime.

“We have tremendous power at the White House to run places when we have to,” Trump stated. “We could run D.C.”

He noted that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles is “working very closely” with Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) to reduce crime.

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​News, Metropolitan police department, Mpd, Washington dc, Washington d.c., Dc, D.c., Michael pulliam, Gregg pemberton, Dc police union, Fraternal order of police, Crime stats, Crime statistics, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Susie wiles, Muriel bowser, Politics 

Texas Democrat Rep. James Talarico recently claimed on “The Joe Rogan Experience” that the Bible supports abortion — and BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey couldn’t find his reasoning more wrong, or more ridiculous.

During his viral appearance, he asked that pro-choice Christians “who respect the bodily autonomy of women” be “given the space to make our theological argument” because he believes that “there is a lot of biblical evidence to support that opinion.”

“What do you think is the biblical evidence to support the opinion of being pro-abortion?” Rogan asked.

“In Genesis, God creates life by breathing life into the first human being, which we later call Adam. That life starts when you take your first breath. And that is actually the mainline position in Judaism, is that that’s when life starts,” Talarico explained.

“Something interesting that Jesus does throughout his ministry is he is breaking first-century norms about women, talking with women, learning from women,” he continued.

Talarico went on to reference Mary, the mother of Jesus, to support his pro-abortion views “because before God comes over Mary and we have the incarnation, God asks for Mary’s consent.”

“Okay, so his three defenses basically boil down to ‘God breathed life into Adam, so therefore life doesn’t start until first breath.’ And then, I’m sorry, I’m not trying to laugh because it’s a serious thing, but it’s so ridiculous,” Stuckey says. “‘Jesus talked to a woman at the well for a long time, and therefore he’s pro-abortion.’”

“And then number three, ‘God asked Mary’s consent before impregnating her,’” she continues. “All three of these passages, according to James Talarico, are secretly about abortion, but ‘thou shalt not murder’ is not.”

“There’s so much wrong with this, even beyond that. Number one, Adam was made from the dust. God created Adam from the dust, so he was literally not alive when God breathed life into him. Babies in the womb are alive,” she adds.

And while some on the side of pro-choice might dispute that babies in the womb are living, Stuckey explains that “if they’re not alive, you don’t need to have an abortion.”

“But poison is used to kill that child. Forceps are used to kill that child. That child is stripped of its amniotic fluid in abortions to die. They’re not just removed,” she says. “They are killed via pill, via poison, via dismemberment to ensure fetal demise.”

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Beloved professional wrestler Hulk Hogan has passed away at the age of 71.

Real name Terry Bollea, the Augusta, Georgia, native was apparently visited by paramedics early Thursday morning at his home in Clearwater, Florida.

A group of police cars and emergency medical teams were reportedly spotted parked outside of Hogan’s home, according to TMZ, and the WWF and WWE legend was carried out on a stretcher into an ambulance.

‘You are in my childhood Hall of Fame.’

Unfortunately, operators stated that Hogan had suffered “cardiac arrest.”

The WWE said in a statement that it was “saddened” to hear about Hogan’s passing.

“One of pop culture’s most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s,” the statement read. “WWE extends its condolences to Hogan’s family, friends, and fans.”

RELATED: Why Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan were perfect for Trump’s RNC

— (@)

TMZ had previously reported that Hogan was near death but was told by sources close to the situation that the wrestling icon was simply dealing with symptoms from a neck procedure he had in May. Hogan’s wife, Sky, had denied rumors he was in a coma and said his heart was “strong” after the surgeries.

Hogan’s wrestling career started in the mid-1970s with Hogan eventually reaching icon status through the WWF, a company that later rebranded as WWE, and a slew of Hollywood movies.

His movie debut was in “Rocky III” in 1982, which led to him starring in movies like “Suburban Commando” and “Mr. Nanny” in the 1990s.

Hogan later was part of the massively impactful wrestling group the NWO while working for WWE’s main competitor, the now-defunct WCW.

RELATED: Hulk Hogan reportedly helped teenager out of a car wreck after witnessing highway crash in Florida

Hogan made his support for President Donald Trump clear in recent years and was just one of the many stars to appear at the 2024 Republican National Convention last July. In a widely publicized moment, Hogan ripped off his America-themed shirt mid-speech to reveal his “Trump Vance 2024” T-shirt.

Fans reacted to the news of Hogan’s death with positivity but also mourned the wrestling world’s loss.

Donald Trump Jr. posted to X, “R.I.P to a legend.”

“A true American patriot!” an X user exclaimed.

“You are in my childhood Hall of Fame,” another fan wrote.

Hogan leaves behind his daughter, 37-year-old singer Brooke, and his son, Nick, a 34-year-old reality television star.

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​Politics, Hulk hogan, America, Maga, Wrestling, News, Culture, Entertainment 

Less than a day after the Trump administration announced its ambitious plan to lead the world in the AI industry, news broke that China has accessed high-tech AI chips on the black market despite U.S. industry protections, threatening America’s competitive advantage in the cutthroat industry.

The Financial Times reported on Thursday that China has been selling and receiving cutting-edge AI chips on the black market despite Trump’s export controls and tariffs to curb Chinese access to leading technologies.

‘Trying to cobble together data centers from smuggled products is a losing proposition, both technically and economically.’

The report went on to say that more than $1 billion worth of NVIDIA B200 chips has been sold on the black market in China. Lawyers familiar with the trade rules told FT that while it is legal to sell and receive restricted chips within China, on the condition that the proper tariffs are paid, entities selling and sending them to China would be violating U.S. regulations.

The report indicated that NVIDIA was not aware of these illegal sales by third parties.

RELATED: Everything’s bigger in Texas — especially Nvidia’s new $500 billion AI factories

Photo by JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images

“Trying to cobble together data centers from smuggled products is a losing proposition, both technically and economically,” a NVIDIA spokesperson told Blaze News. “Data centers require service and support, which we provide only to authorized NVIDIA products.”

The Trump administration has lessened its restrictions on older chips, such as the H20 chip, but chips like the B200 and the B300, the latter of which has reportedly been advertised in China but has not yet been released, are crucial to maintaining U.S. supremacy in the technology world.

The U.S. has been attempting to “win the AI race,” as AI czar David Sacks said in a White House press release for the American AI Action Plan on Wednesday. While the plan does provide for greater cooperation with friends and allies on the world stage, it also prioritizes protecting the American AI industry and maintaining a competitive edge in AI development.

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​Politics, Tech, Nvidia, Artificial intelligence, Ai chips, China, United states, Trump, Tariffs, Ai race 

On Sunday, the second Trump administration turned six months old.

President Trump’s first four years in the White House were already a big success, which is why I fought so hard to bring him back for a second go-round. Yet I think Trump’s second has already surpassed it in just one-eighth the time.

The administration hasn’t just said the right things. It has done the right things.

Completely and instantly securing the U.S.-Mexico border after the four-year Joe Biden invasion is one of the most important and impressive accomplishments in American presidential history. TV news said the president’s tough trade talk would crash the economy in days; instead, the stock market hit record highs this very week, and blue-collar wages are rising faster than they have in nearly 60 years.

Under any other recent president, I am convinced the June Iran crisis would have ballooned into a full regime-change war, with far more money spent and many American lives lost. But under President Trump’s measured hand, America managed to strike a crippling blow to Iran’s nuclear program while suffering zero casualties and even bringing a ceasefire between Iran and Israel as part of the bargain.

Celebrating wins, big and small

Yet when I think about the events of the past six months, it’s not the big wins I think about the most — it’s the small ones. They’re the triumphs that don’t necessarily grab the largest headlines, but they show that this administration really is committed to systematically throwing out the suffocating groupthink and stagnation that have ruled in D.C. for decades.

Time and time again, this administration has been doing things that past Republicans could and should have done, yet inexplicably never did. For instance, back in 1981, the outgoing Jimmy Carter administration engineered a court ruling that abolished the federal government’s hugely successful hiring aptitude test because it was (you already knew this was coming) racist. Presidents Reagan, Bush 41, or Bush 43 could have fought to restore merit-based hiring. Yet they never did. Subsequently, over 45 years, our government went rotten as diversity, equity, and inclusion replaced merit.

Now, this administration is finally acting to bring back merit in government. Imagine that! From Harvard to Hennepin County, this administration has begun toppling the race- and sex-based discrimination that had taken root all over America in flagrant defiance of both our Constitution and historic American values. It is purging DEI commissars from federal agencies, imposing uniform standards on the military, and sending out warnings to the private sector as well. This isn’t superficial — it’s the destruction in detail of a rotten, anti-American ideology.

It would have been easy for Donald Trump to make a few speeches and sign a couple symbolic orders about “protecting women’s sports” — past Republican administrations would have settled for exactly that. But this administration has genuinely done the work to protect American children from the transgender mania, one of the great evils of our time.

Actually delivering on promises

Across America, health care providers are ending their involvement in child mutilation and similar treatments because of the dramatic increase in regulatory hostility from this administration. Children’s National Hospital in D.C., Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Stanford Medicine, and others have stopped providing surgeries or puberty blockers to minors in the face of this administration.

Where it matters most, the Trump administration has stepped up to save children from predators calling themselves “doctors.”

For my entire life, Republicans loved to make a show of complaining about America sending billions in aid to foreign countries. But they never stopped it — until Trump. He actually delivered by cutting USAID down to size and keeping more of America’s money in America. The same goes for defunding NPR, PBS, and Planned Parenthood: long years of talk, until the Trump administration fought to make it actually happen.

RELATED: In 6 months, Donald Trump has done the impossible

Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images

It was obvious for almost 20 years that the TSA’s policy requiring passengers to remove their shoes before boarding a flight was a pointless bit of security theater, yet Presidents Bush, Obama, and Biden all kept the policy in place anyway. This administration finally got rid of it.

While the Biden administration treated the cryptocurrency industry as a borderline criminal enterprise, Trump signed the GENIUS Act, which positions America to lead this innovative industry.

The administration hasn’t just said the right things. It has done the right things, in detail, to ensure its promises are delivered at the micro level. The administration even made showerheads great again. And it’s that commitment to the small things and common sense that will pay dividends over the next three and a half years. Because an administration that cares about the details of governing will make all of America great too.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on RealClearPolitics.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Charlie kirk, Charlie kirk tpusa, Donald trump, President donald trump, Border crisis, Secure the border, Men in women’s sports, Iran, Immigration and customs enforcement, Mass deportations, Transgender agenda, Transgender athletes, Cryptocurrency, Genius act 

Lawn and car guys are celebrating after Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin’s latest push for deregulation.

Zeldin shared a letter Thursday encouraging manufacturers to “produce cans that best meet consumer needs,” including gas cans “with vents to facilitate fast and smooth fuel flow.” This push comes in response to regulations previously implemented by former President Barack Obama in 2009 that removed vents in gas cans in order to reduce vapor emissions.

The vents originally prevented a vacuum from forming inside the gas can, allowing it to pour gasoline smoothly. Since the regulation was rolled out, consumers and retailers have expressed frustration with the new design, which often causes gasoline to spill.

‘Pointless government regulations have ruined many commonsense products, and everyone knows it.’

“Gas cans used to POUR gas,” Zeldin said in a Thursday post on X. “Now they just DRIBBLE like a child’s sippy cup. The Trump EPA’s message to gas can makers: VENT THE DARN CAN and let it FLOW BABY FLOW!”

RELATED: Exclusive: Lawn and car guys will cheer after Chip Roy introduces bill slashing gas can regulations

Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

Phil Robertson, the late star of “Duck Dynasty,” demonstrated the inefficiency of the EPA-compliant gas cans, mocking the regulations on the “dangerous piece of equipment.”

“The safest gas can delivered on earth,” Robertson said sarcastically as the gas slowly dripped out of the can. “Reminds me of my prostate last night. I’m just not getting the flow that I once had.”

RELATED: Trump administration takes aim at Obama-era climate change regulations

Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas has been leading the charge in the House with his Gas Can Freedom Act. Blaze News first reported Roy’s bill in February, which aimed to “eliminate the unnecessary federal regulations that have made gas cans dysfunctional.”

“Pointless government regulations have ruined many commonsense products, and everyone knows it,” Roy told Blaze News in February. “The federal government does not need to be involved in every aspect of our lives, and we never needed them involved in our gas cans.”

RELATED: Chip Roy reveals to Glenn Beck possible motive behind Elon Musk’s scathing review of the ‘big, beautiful bill’

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

As of now, no legislative actions have been taken on Roy’s bill beyond its introduction in the House. Roy remains committed to the bill and is urging his colleagues to take up the legislation.

“Let’s get it passed and cut these burdensome regulations FOREVER.”

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​Chip roy, Epa, Lee zeldin, Environmental protection agency, Barack obama, Gas can regulations, Deregulation, House republicans, Gas can freedom act, Gas cans, Politics, Phil robertson, Duck dynasty 

Texas A&M is facing backlash after an internal email by Alan Sams, the university provost and executive vice president, asked recipients to contact the university police if they saw ICE on their campus.

The email’s subject line was “Correcting Misinformation Regarding Immigration Enforcement Activity.”

“I’m reaching out today to address concerns related to immigration enforcement and the university that are circulating among faculty, staff, and our graduate student community. As stewards of our employee and student data, the university cannot share personal information about individual students or employees except as permitted by law, such as directory information,” Sams wrote.

“Your safety, well-being, and privacy are of the utmost importance. We take great care with personal issues or concerns raised by our faculty, staff, and students, and we investigate situations fully and confidentially,” he added.

“Oh, read between the lines there guys,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says on “Come and Take It.” “Confidentially. Wink wink, nudge nudge. We won’t tell ICE. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with us.”

“And then, of course, they go on to passive-aggressively scold people who may be, I don’t know, sharing that there are people there who are illegal,” she adds.

“Please keep in mind that sharing partial or inaccurate information about individual situations can inhibit investigations and can be damaging to the individual involved. While we may not be able to comment on specific situations due to student or employee confidentiality, we will always take care to try to stem the spread of incomplete or inaccurate information, and we hope you will, too,” the email continued.

Sams went on to explain that “the university does not proactively share information with immigration authorities,” before adding, “if you are ever concerned about your safety, see something suspicious or encounter a federal law enforcement officer on campus, we ask that you immediately contact the university police department.”

“In other words,” Gonzales says, “we don’t intend to cooperate with ICE. If you’re an illegal here, your secret is safe with us until there is literally nothing else we can do about it because we really, really love illegals here at Texas A&M more than American citizens.”

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As the 2026 primaries begin to take shape, one swing state in particular has remained on the GOP’s radar.

After Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina announced his retirement in June, all eyes turned to Tar Heel State native Lara Trump. Although the Republican nomination would have undoubtedly been hers to claim, Lara passed on the opportunity to scoop up the Senate bid.

‘Despite Cooper’s popularity in the purple state, Republicans have maintained a steady winning streak in North Carolina.’

Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who previously co-chaired the RNC alongside Lara Trump, will instead be running for the North Carolina Senate seat, reportedly with President Donald Trump’s blessing.

Although neither candidate has issued a formal announcement, Whatley is expected to face off against former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

RELATED: Exclusive: Congress pushes bipartisan bill preventing Mexico’s ‘illegal seizure’ of American assets

Photo by Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images

Despite Cooper’s popularity in the purple state, Republicans have maintained a steady winning streak there. Since 1990, Democrats have won only two terms to represent North Carolina in the Senate. Since 1980, the swing state also voted for a Democratic presidential candidate only one time — in 2008, when former President Barack Obama was on the ticket.

RELATED: Vance casts tiebreaking vote to advance DOGE cuts after Republicans defy Trump

One GOP operative told Blaze News that Republican Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, had previously met with Whatley to discuss a potential Senate bid. The NRSC has also been floating Whatley as a potential candidate since January, and internal polling has indicated that a “pro-Trump Republican” would be the strongest candidate, according to the GOP operative.

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​North carolina, Senate, Senate republicans, Senate race, Donald trump, Lara trump, Roy cooper, Barack obama, Tim scott, Nrsc, National republican senatorial committee, Rnc, Michael whatley, Republican national committee, Politics 

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard published a report on Wednesday that appeared to confirm the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian election interference was a work of fiction comprising misquotes, unreliable reports, lies of omissions, and straight-out falsehoods.

Rather than admit fault or come to terms with the role it played in perpetuating an apparent hoax on the American people — one that set the stage for years of Russian-collusion smears, two congressional impeachments, multiple arrests, and greater tensions with a pre-eminent nuclear power — the liberal media is now desperately trying to both downplay the gravity of the newly declassified House Intelligence Committee majority staff report and spin the conclusions therein.

Refresher

The House Intelligence Committee report is a product of congressional investigators spending over 2,300 hours reviewing the ICA and its source reports, conducting dozens of interviews, and comparing the ICA analytic tradecraft against well-established intelligence reports.

According to the report, the intelligence community had no credible evidence of Russia working to help Trump win.

What’s more, the report — which Gabbard indicated provides evidence of a “treasonous conspiracy” — claimed that the ICA, which was released by the Obama administration just weeks before President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017:

incorporated dubious claims despite high-level protest within the intelligence community; leaned on the bogus Steele dossier while failing to mention it was produced in part for the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign and had Russian links; omitted narrative-killing evidence such as Moscow’s withholding of damning information about Hillary Clinton’s health issues, which if released could have helped Trump; and propped the narrative that Russian President Vladimir Putin “aspired” to help Trump win on “one scant, unclear, and unverifiable fragment of a sentence” from a “substandard report” that CIA officers initially omitted but were ordered by then-CIA Director John Brennan to include despite protest.

The report also indicates that the Obama administration leaked falsehoods from the ICA to the media, which publications like the Washington Post dutifully printed.

Liberal media turns on another gaslight

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins did her apparent best on Wednesday to distract from the damning contents of the report by making its release about an imagined interpersonal drama between the president and his director of national intelligence.

‘Who was saying that?’

RELATED: Obama and Brennan set to reap the whirlwind: Gabbard refers evidence of ‘years-long coup’ to DOJ for criminal probe

Photo (left): Kevin Dietsch/Getty Image; Photo (right): Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Collins suggested in question form that Gabbard was “only releasing these documents now to improve [her] standing with the president after he said that [her] intelligence assessments were wrong,” referencing Trump’s assertion last month that Gabbard was wrong in suggesting there was no evidence that Iran was constructing a nuclear weapon.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt asked Collins, “Who was saying that?”

Leavitt later added, “The only people who are suggesting that the director of national intelligence would release evidence to try to boost her standing with the president are the people in this room, who constantly try to sow distrust and chaos amongst the president’s Cabinet, and it is not working.”

The Washington Post, one of the chief proponents of the Russian collusion narrative, appears to have adopted a different strategy in attacking the report and its credibility.

Earlier in the week, the Post pushed an article asserting that Gabbard’s “seditious conspiracy” claim is “based on thin gruel.”

The article strategically assigned greater weight to the conclusions of previous investigations, including the Senate Intelligence Committee’s multi-volume report on the ICA, which “found the ICA presents a coherent and well-constructed intelligence basis for the case of unprecedented Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election,” and that “Moscow’s intent was to harm the Clinton campaign, tarnish an expected Clinton presidential administration, help the Trump campaign after Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee, and undermine the U.S. democratic process.”

Sarah Bedford of the Washington Examiner noted that the problem with Democrats and the media using conclusions of the Senate Intelligence Committee report to contradict the newly declassified House report and Gabbard’s corresponding claims is “it’s not clear that the Senate had the same level of access to source material” that CIA Director [John Ratcliffe] now has.”

“The conclusions about the Steele dossier not being a significant source for the ICA and about the CIA not wanting it included, for example, appear to come from interviews,” continued Bedford. “Brennan just denied again that he wanted it in the ICA when the committee interviewed him in 2018. But Ratcliffe’s memo is based on actual emails from 2016, which tell a completely different story.”

Bedford was referencing the declassified memo released last month by Ratcliffe, which criticized the 2017 ICA and identified “multiple procedural anomalies” in its preparation.

— (@)

The Associated Press effectively told its readers not to believe their lying eyes in an article titled “Gabbard’s claims of an anti-Trump conspiracy are not supported by declassified documents.”

RELATED: If no one goes to jail, the coup was a success

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Like the Post, the AP leaned on the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report to suggest there were no politically motivated aspects in the Obama administration’s assessments, but it also refuted arguments that Gabbard did not appear to be making.

Gabbard told Fox News that there “was a shift, a 180-degree shift, from the intelligence community’s assessment leading up to the election to the one that President Obama directed be produced after Donald Trump won the election that completely contradicted those assessments that had come previously.”

Gabbard was referencing how the ICA concluded in early January 2017 that Russia was trying to boost Trump — yet just weeks earlier, the FBI’s director of counterintelligence and the DNI’s national intelligence officer made no such claim in their briefing to Congress on Vladimir Putin’s supposed leak operations.

The AP insinuated, however, that Gabbard was alternatively referring to the intelligence community’s consistent view that there were Russian efforts to manipulate the vote count and concluded “there was no shift.”

Despite the article’s framing, the AP acknowledged that “the material declassified this week reveals some dissent within the intelligence community about whether Putin wanted to help Trump or simply inflame the U.S.”; however, the AP suggested that the dissent detailed in the House report was business as usual and glossed over the fact that the debate concerned violations of analytic tradecraft standards and the inclusion of unreliable or false information.

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​Russia gate, Russian collusion, Russia hoax, Obama, Media, Washington post, Coup, Treason, Tulsi gabbard, Donald trump, Election, Moscow, Russia, Politics 

The French government recently implemented a law requiring internet users to verify their age before accessing adult websites. In response, leading porn purveyor Pornhub blocked access to its site in France, its second biggest market after the United States, citing concern for user privacy.

This is just one piece of a larger effort in France to protect minors online. Authorities have also proposed restrictions on platforms like X and Bluesky, and President Emmanuel Macron has voiced support for banning social media access for children under 15.

The effects of early and chronic pornography exposure go far beyond the individual. What’s at stake is our shared understanding of sex, intimacy, and family.

France is not alone. Pornhub has already pulled out of 19 U.S. states over similar age-verification laws. And across the European Union, countries such as Spain, Italy, Germany, and Belgium are either considering new laws or expanding existing ones. Globally, Pornhub is banned in numerous countries, including Russia, China, India, and Pakistan.

At first glance, these laws may seem largely symbolic — easy to bypass for anyone with modest technical skills. And it’s true that they probably won’t stop determined adults or teens from finding workarounds. But that doesn’t mean they’re meaningless. In fact, we should celebrate these laws and others like them for two reasons.

First: Anything is better than nothing. Any law that makes it harder to access pornography is a good thing.

Second: The exposure of children to pornography is one of the most dangerous and under-acknowledged threats to our social fabric.

A 2022 study by Common Sense Media revealed alarming statistics:

The median age of first exposure to pornography is just 12 years old, with many children exposed even earlier. 73% of all minors under 17 have consumed pornography. Of those exposed, 29% viewed it unintentionally, and of that group, 63% had been exposed in just the last week.

These numbers are staggering. They make it clear that pornography isn’t a fringe or hidden danger — it’s ambient. It’s part of everyday life for today’s youth. Even more disturbing: 63% of teens say they’re “OK” with the amount of pornography they consume.

This isn’t just a moral or spiritual problem — it’s a neurological and cultural crisis.

RELATED: Behind closed tabs: How the porn industry’s profits are built on real-world abuse

07_av/iStock/Getty Images

Pornography is addictive — and disordering

Pornography is, by its nature, addictive. Like all addictions, it escalates: To sustain stimulation, the user must consume more — and often more extreme — content. But unlike many other addictions, pornography doesn’t just compromise behavior; it rewires the very foundations of a person’s sexual identity.

This is particularly dangerous for children. Young brains are pliable, and early experiences shape long-term patterns. The brain’s neurochemical response to sexual excitation — especially when triggered by pornography — creates what might be called a “first wire”: a foundational neurological connection that can define future desires, expectations, and impulses.

This is why early sexual exposure is so damaging — and why child sexual abuse causes such long-term trauma. Even in the absence of physical abuse, when the exposure is virtual and indirect, the impact can be profound. The body’s natural processes are being hijacked and twisted at the developmental level. Left unchecked, these patterns harden into addiction and dysfunction.

The cultural fallout

The effects of early and chronic pornography exposure go far beyond the individual. What’s at stake is our shared understanding of sex, intimacy, and family.

When young people learn about sexuality through pornography, rather than through healthy relationships, spiritual formation, or parental guidance, their entire framework for love, marriage, and family is warped. And because sexual identity is upstream from marriage and family, and because marriage and family are the bedrock of civilization, the consequences ripple outward across society.

This is not hyperbole. A society cannot survive without stable, self-giving families. And families cannot form or flourish if children are neurologically and morally disabled before they even reach adulthood. If a generation’s understanding of love and sexuality is shaped by pornography, then everything that flows from sexuality — courtship, commitment, procreation, parenting — is at risk of disintegration.

A moral and political imperative

We must stop treating pornography as merely a private moral failing. It is a public hazard. It is a systemic threat to the future of families, and by extension, to the future of nations.

The United States, a country that promises “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” should feel no hesitation in restricting or even prohibiting the industrial distribution of content that destroys life, undermines liberty, and poisons the very possibility of happiness.

Critics may call such laws prudish or paternalistic. But in truth, they represent a long-overdue return to moral sanity. They affirm what was once widely understood: that children must be protected from premature exposure to sexuality; that families are the cornerstone of any lasting civilization; and that not all freedoms are worth preserving when they come at the expense of human dignity.

A culture that cannot draw a line around what defiles its children is not a culture that can endure. Laws like France’s are a small but essential step in the right direction — and they deserve our full support.

​Pornography, Pornhub, France, Lifestyle, Culture, Christianity, Human sexuality, Censorship, Big tech, Online porn, Xxx 

New York City has met many challenges in its history as the capital of capital.

The constant problem that surrounds the city is that with great wealth comes great political profligacy. It is not the first time New York has found itself staring down a time for choosing at the barrel of a gun.

Trump hasn’t yet nicknamed Zohran Mamdani ‘Mad-Mani,’ but whatever he’s called, he’s a real threat to the city.

Tom Wolfe captured the “radical chic” and “mau-mauing” of the compromised big-city life in America, most obviously in San Francisco and New York. But Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his capable chieftains snuffed out the bonfire of the vanities through such commonsense policies like fixing broken windows policing, CompStat, and welfare to work — commonsense policies that fueled an urban renaissance, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg inherited, embraced, and built upon over his three terms.

Memories are short

Somehow, New York voters forgot what unbridled crime in the streets and rampant racialist and redistributionist policies in city hall did to their quality of life. And so they elected Bill de Blasio as mayor. As promised, he swiftly began dismantling the regime of good governance that had made the city great again.

Eric Adams was elected precisely because the people of New York City wanted a return to law-and-order sanity after eight years of de Blasio’s progressive dumpster fire. Sadly, Adams proved to be too ethically compromised to effectively resist the flood of illegal immigrants — many of whom were dispatched on border state buses — who filled the Port Authority. Housed in luxury hotels at taxpayers’ expense, they tested New York City’s sanctuary resolve.

Motivated by his political survival instincts, Adams’ spine stiffened. Conveniently, he was summarily whacked with a federal indictment. “More lawfare!” said his defenders. “Just following the facts where they lead,” countered the Justice Department careerists.

Nevertheless, Adams and Donald Trump found common purpose — and this triggered Democrats in general and progressives in particular. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), naturally, called for Adams to step down “for the good of the city.” You know, the new mantra of the left: guilty until proven innocent.

What are the political odds of Mayor Adams winning against the Democratic Party blob that has just nominated 33-year-old anti-Israel, Marxist Zohran Mamdani as its mayoral nominee? Not good. Right now, far from a coin toss.

RELATED: Mamdani’s socialist New York sounds great — if you don’t have kids

Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

Adams and New York City have four months to mount a credible, winning opposition. It’s a window of political opportunity that would not exist if it were not for Trump gratuitously playing a lawfare card of his own in the form of a timely presidential pardon, giving Adams a new lease on life — and New Yorkers a last chance to inhabit a livable city.

Trump hasn’t yet nicknamed Mamdani “Mad-Mani,” so I’ll go ahead and do it for him. Whatever he’s called, he’s a real threat to the city. Peter Orszag spoke for many successful business executives — the ones responsible for New York’s financial health. Appearing on CNBC, Lazard’s CEO revealed how troubling he found Mad-Mani’s “globalize the intifada” language — not to mention the would-be mayor’s antipathy for free-market capitalism and dislike for the wealthy.

New vanguard rising

Orszag strongly hinted that his firm, and all the public and cultural goods that it underwrites, could relocate to more friendly climes. Florida beckons.

What have this longtime Democrat in good standing and others, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), been hearing from the socialist-friendly new guard?

It’s “they” — the old guard — who are no longer in charge of New York City politics. The Brooklyn progressives are running things now. Atop the pyramid is the new Adam and Eve, political power couple Mad-Mani and AOC. The vibe they send out is that they would happily have the old guard acquiesce to their agenda or move to Boca Raton.

What does this ascendant power couple hold to be shared and self-evident? For them, Israel and America are both apartheid states, and capitalism is the engine of inequality. And this anti-Semitic, anti-capitalist, anti-American power couple is trending on Instagram and just won the Democratic primary. AOC is coming for you, Chuck.

An appeal to sanity

Why do Democrats hold fast to obvious falsehoods? The answer is that they are repeating what they have been taught in school, from Head Start to college classes. This is what most American kids are being taught, unless they were homeschooled, took the Catholic school route, or went to Hillsdale College.

Schumer and Orszag know this, as do untold numbers of sensible, centrist Democrats. Many of them know the “Chicken for KFC” mindset firsthand in their own families and that their kids, grandkids, and wives are voting for this madness. The intifada chicken has come home to politically roost — and on your watch and with your wallet.

A new coalition of sanity needs to be built and built quickly. New York is worth fighting for and saving.

While conservatives and centrists were shaking their heads in mirth at the spectacle of “Dykes for Palestine,” AOC was still basking in the spotlight for successfully derailing a proposal from Amazon to build a second headquarters in Queens, adjacent to her congressional district. Not because she wanted the jobs in her Bronx district, but because she didn’t want them in New York City at all. Mind you, this was a project so beneficial to the area — it included some 25,000 jobs — that not only was Andrew Cuomo for it, but so was Bill de Blasio. AOC, though, was content to invoke the specter of “corporate greed,” which is what passes for reasoned debate among this generation of young Democrats.

RELATED: New York City’s likely next mayor wants to ‘globalize the intifada’

Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

The reality is that New York City Council, and the protest industrial complex surrounding it, has gotten a lot younger. They are the ones doing the work, organizing, showing up, and winning elections. The Democratic Party is nothing without the protest industrial complex. George Soros and his son pay well and seem to have a taste for chaos.

The progressive ramparts have their favorites. They want true believers running things.

Sorry, Chuck, they are not that into you anymore. Truth be told, they never were.

Although New York has not had a viable two-party system for a long time, when things get bad enough, New Yorkers turn to a law-and-order Republican like Giuliani or an independent like Mike Bloomberg. But do NYC voters really need to wait for all those broken windows — and the chaos it symbolizes — to materialize again before waking up?

It is time for New Yorkers’ wallets to shut tight on Mamdani and open wide for Adams. A new coalition of sanity needs to be built and built quickly. New York is worth fighting for and saving. Its future hangs on the choice those who have not yet left make now.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.

​Opinion & analysis, Bonfire, Vanities, Tom wolfe, Zohran mamdani, Progressives, Marxist, Intifada, New york city, Queens, Mayor eric adams, Mayoral election nyc, Alexandria ocasio-cortez, Chuck schumer, Aoc, Broken windows, Law and order, New york city council, Socialism, Brooklyn, Peter orszag, Business, Florida 

Just weeks ago, Americans were told that the case was closed on Jeffrey Epstein, but in a dramatic turn, Ghislaine Maxwell may be taking the stand to testify.

“Justice demands courage. For the first time, the Department of Justice is reaching out to Ghislaine Maxwell to ask: What do you know? At @AGPamBondi’s direction, I’ve contacted her counsel. I intend to meet with her soon. No one is above the law — and no lead is off limits,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in a post on X.

The House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Maxwell over the Epstein files, and her lawyer has publicly stated in response to the news that she will “always testify truthfully.”

“She’s going to name names,” senior editor for politics and Washington correspondent for Blaze Media Christopher Bedford tells BlazeTV hosts Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson on “Blaze News: The Mandate.”

“The question is, what evidence could be provided for actual prosecutions? Which is always a risk now that the administration faces,” he continues, noting that the “thing about Maxwell” is that “she’s got no dog in this fight.”

“She could be interested in chaos. She could be interested in hurting Donald Trump. She could be interested in helping the cause for truth. Maybe she’s had just a huge turnaround in prison,” he adds.

While Bedford believes her motivations will be “entirely out for herself,” the end result will likely be that she’s going to “hand over names” because she was never offered a plea deal in the first place and might try to get a lesser sentence.

“And here’s the risk in general of the client list,” Bedford says. “The list of people who went to the island is broad. The list of people who went to the island includes artisans, includes workers, includes staff. And then you’re going to have the whole question of, well, a 16-year-old girl who refuses to go on the record and refuses to press charges.”

“We could find some great stuff here. I think we will,” he continues. “But is it going to tidy up the administration’s mess? That’s a different question entirely.”

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​Free, Video, Sharing, Video phone, Camera phone, Upload, Youtube.com, Blaze news tonight, Blaze news the mandate, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Jill savage, Matthew peterson, Christopher bedford, Jeffrey epstein, Ghislaine maxwell, The epstein files 

Foreign agents were able to penetrate the systems of the U.S. agency responsible for maintaining and designing nuclear weapons.

The National Nuclear Security Administration, which operates under the United States Department of Energy, was compromised along with other sectors of the department.

According to Bloomberg, while the NNSA is semiautonomous, it still holds the responsibility of producing and dismantling nuclear arms in the United States. This makes the intrusion even more concerning when considering the origins of those who penetrated the system.

‘Microsoft is aware of active attacks targeting on-premises SharePoint Server customers.’

The Energy Department revealed in an email to Bloomberg that an “exploitation of a Microsoft SharePoint zero-day vulnerability began affecting the Department of Energy” on Friday, July 18.

The email continued, “The department was minimally impacted due to its widespread use of the Microsoft M365 cloud and very capable cybersecurity systems. A very small number of systems were impacted. All impacted systems are being restored.”

While the government entity did not expose information about the source of the intrusion, Microsoft revealed on its own blog that it has identified multiple hostiles working on behalf of a foreign entity.

RELATED: Microsoft ‘escort’ program gave China keys to Pentagon

Missile launch station in Cold War-era underground bunker, Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, South Dakota. Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

In a blog post published Tuesday, Microsoft explained that vulnerabilities in their SharePoint servers have been targeted by three “Chinese nation-state actors.”

“Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon” were the first two Chinese groups identified by Microsoft, the blog explained. Microsoft then said, “In addition, we have observed another China-based threat actor, tracked as Storm-2603, exploiting these vulnerabilities.”

Microsoft noted in a separate blog post that “on-premises” customers have been under attack as a result of the hack as well.

“Microsoft is aware of active attacks targeting on-premises SharePoint Server customers by exploiting vulnerabilities partially addressed by the July Security Update,” the company wrote.

Although an anonymous source told Bloomberg that no sensitive or classified information was known to have been compromised in the attack, the outlet also reported that the breach was only possible due to a 2020 hack on software manufactured by IT company SolarWinds. That attack swept up a trove of Department of Justice email credentials.

This means that foreign agents have been working against the United States, using the same compromised data for nearly five years.

RELATED: DOJ email accounts compromised in SolarWinds hack attributed to Russians

First thermonuclear test on October 31, 1952. Photograph on display in the Bradbury Science Museum, photo copied by Joe Raedle

The 2020 hack saw the DOJ attribute the malicious intrusions to Russia, with about 3% of its Microsoft Office 365 email accounts potentially compromised.

At the time, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Agency, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a joint statement saying the work “indicates that an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) actor, likely Russian in origin, is responsible for most or all of the recently discovered, ongoing cyber compromises of both government and non-governmental networks.”

Microsoft has advised users to download the latest security updates for the affected programs, as hackers have stolen sign-in credentials, usernames, passwords, codes, and tokens as part of previous attacks, according to Bloomberg.

Blaze News reached out to the Department of Defense regarding any possible exploitations they may be concerned about but did not receive a reply.

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​Return, Hack, Hackers, Russia, China, Microsoft, Department of defense, Doj, Department of energy, Tech 

A new DC Cinematic Universe has taken flight with James Gunn’s “Superman.”

While critics from both sides of the political aisle argue over whether the film is “woke” (it’s not), I want to highlight a more meaningful — and largely overlooked — message at the heart of the story: the power of kindness in a cynical, chronically online world. Based on the knee-jerk backlash the movie has inspired online, it’s a message we clearly need.

Some have called this version of Superman ‘weak,’ but I see something else — something that’s been missing from many past iterations: humanity.

While this “Superman” couldn’t be more timely — it explores themes of individuality, idealism in the face of public scrutiny, cancel culture, and life in a social media-saturated society — it ultimately uses these themes to emphasize the timeless traits that have allowed the character to endure for almost a century.

Hassled hero

“Superman” centers on a younger Clark Kent (David Corenswet), who has been active as Superman for just three years. While beloved by many, others see him as a wild card and potential threat — especially after he intervenes in a war between two fictional nations, Boravia and Jarhanpur.

Superman protects the defenseless people of Jarhanpur from Boravian forces, but his actions anger the U.S. government, which fears conflict with Boravian allies. Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) seizes the moment, convincing the military to back his surveillance program, “Planet Watch,” as a pretext to go after Superman. He even unleashes a swarm of mind-controlled monkeys to flood the internet with anti-Superman propaganda — #supers**t trending like wildfire.

Meanwhile, Clark’s girlfriend and Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), who knows his true identity, challenges him to explain his actions in a professional interview. It’s a complicated, very modern kind of pressure.

Here to help

What makes this Superman compelling is that he’s not driven by politics or power — he just wants to help people. All people. He doesn’t weigh the geopolitical consequences; he sees someone in danger and acts. That impulse, that moral clarity, is what defines him. It’s also what gets him into trouble.

This instinct is rooted in a message from his Kryptonian parents — a message that, when finally decrypted by Luthor, reveals their true plan: They hoped their son would one day rule Earth and repopulate it with Kryptonians. Even Superman didn’t know this. Suddenly, even his most selfless actions come under suspicion.

RELATED: Superman’s message to MAGA: ‘You’re not American’ if you don’t love immigrants

Eric Charbonneau/Warner Bros /Joe Maher/Getty Images

‘Weakness’ or humanity?

Some have called this version of Superman “weak,” but I see something else — something that’s been missing from many past iterations: humanity. He’s not a flawless, all-powerful icon. He’s relatable. Grounded. Fallible. And when the world turns on him, his powers offer no protection from the sting of media outrage or public mistrust. Stripped of certainty, he holds fast to one thing: hope. Hope for a kinder world.

That perseverance — trying to do good even when it’s hard or unpopular — feels deeply human. Isn’t that what we all wrestle with? We want to be seen, to be understood, to be forgiven when we mess up. Especially in the age of cancellation, when any misstep is dissected in real time by a million strangers. Superman, in that sense, becomes a stand-in for anyone who’s tried to do the right thing and gotten burned for it.

There’s even a quiet Christ-like quality to his vision of the world. In one of the film’s most touching scenes, Lois and Clark reflect on their “punk rock” upbringings:

Lois: “You think everything and everyone is beautiful.”
Superman: “Maybe that’s the real punk rock.”

It’s a simple exchange, but it captures everything about this Superman. Like Christ, he sees not the brokenness of humanity, but its beauty and potential. He chooses to love us anyway. He chooses kindness — an underrated value that could very well heal our culture, breaking through our biggest political divides to help us realize we are all human beings made in God’s image.

Daring to believe

And that kindness changes people. Superman’s example inspires Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) and fellow Justice Gang members Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion) and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) to stand up for the innocent people of Jarhanpur. Meanwhile, Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) joins Superman in stopping Luthor’s plot to destroy Metropolis.

Despite everything — public outrage, alien expectations, media spin — Superman doesn’t abandon his ideals. He doesn’t lean into resentment or vengeance. He chooses instead the simple truths taught to him by his Earth parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell). In the words of the former: “Your choices. Your actions. That’s what makes you who you are.”

James Gunn’s “Superman” resonates because it dares to believe the best in people. No matter your politics, race, or religion, most of us are doing our best — even when we fall short. And if that’s considered “weak” or “woke,” we should ask what we’ve really come to expect from our heroes.

If kindness is the new punk rock, then maybe punk rock is what will save the world. And who better to lead that charge than Superman?

​Superman, James gunn, Culture, Superheroes, Wokeness, Cancel culture, Dc comics, Comic books, David corenswet, Hollywood, Movie review 

You spend, for argument’s sake, a full third of your life sleeping. Anything you spend 33% of your life doing is obviously very important, even if you aren’t fully conscious when you’re doing it.

And yet people are still surprised when I tell them they could revolutionize their health if they just took their bedtime habits a little more seriously.

These pillows are as American as apple pie.

Consider testosterone, the master male hormone, which men have to thank for libido, muscle mass, drive, and a willingness to put themselves in harm’s way to save a cute little kitten when no one else will. Most of a man’s testosterone is produced at night, so if a man doesn’t sleep properly, he’ll produce less testosterone.

One study, by a researcher called Plamen Penev, showed that if older men double their sleep from four to eight hours a night, they can double their testosterone levels. Just like that. I don’t think there’s another health intervention a man could make that would have such a drastic effect on his hormonal health.

There are many different things you can do — simple things — to improve the quality of your sleep. You can turn off your electronic devices a few hours before bed and start to darken your home, to simulate the natural diurnal rhythms that have governed sleep since time began. You can take a hot shower or bath before bed to lower your core temperature. Really: Doing that can send you off to the land of Nod up to half an hour earlier.

You can change your bedding, too. Of course you want to be comfortable, and if your bedding is itchy or too thick, you won’t be and you won’t sleep. But an under-appreciated aspect of your choice of bedding is whether or not it contains harmful chemicals.

Lab mice sleep on corn-cob bedding. A study showed that corn contains a substance that mimics the “female” hormone estrogen, and so lab mice get a huge dose of artificial estrogen while they sleep, through their skin. Enough, in fact, that it can interfere with reproduction and even make them sterile.

RELATED: Is your home trying to kill you?

Mirrorpix/Getty Images

There haven’t been many studies of the effects of bedding on human health, but we have every reason to believe most bedding, which is made of synthetic fibers and laced with nasty chemicals like fire retardants, is having a negative effect on our health. Dermal contact — through the skin — is one major route for harmful substances to enter the body, and if you have your face buried in a pillow that’s soaked in fire retardant, you’re inhaling that stuff all night long. Do you want to inhale fire retardant all night long?

But help is at hand. The Woolshire, a wonderful little family business up in Idaho, is making the most amazing organic virgin-wool pillows — not a single synthetic fiber or harmful chemical in sight — and what’s more, the company is doing so in a way that benefits its local community and the nation.

All Woolshire pillows are handmade, using antique American machinery and local wool that’s milled in one of the longest-running wool mills in the country, in Montana. These pillows are as American as apple pie.

Wool is a superior material, and not just for pillows. It makes you wonder why we ever stopped using it. I’ll let the good people at the Woolshire explain:

“Wool is naturally flame retardant, self-cleaning, and temperature regulating. It retains its loft, is moisture-wicking, and it is very cozy. It has been used by humans for its incredible properties since the Stone Age.”

The Woolshire currently offers two products: its signature Woolshire pillow, with a variety of different fill depths, and a child’s pillow. I’m told the company will be expanding soon to offer other products, including a travel pillow, a prototype of which I’m lucky enough to own.

All my pillows are now Woolshire pillows, and, honestly, I’ve never slept better.

(Oh, and before you go to the website and order the best pillows money can buy, and then have the best night’s sleep of your life, take this promo code with you. Enter REN at checkout and get 10% off your order. Thank me later.)

​Provisions, The woolshire, Maha, Wool, Sleep, Idaho, Lifestyle 

Alabama police have arrested seven people so far in a terrifying child sex trafficking ring that involved an underground bunker in the small town of Brent.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said they opened an investigation into concerns about possible sex abuse on Feb. 4. Four months later, they announced arrests and unbelievable details about what they uncovered.

‘I know God’s forgiveness is boundless, but if there was a limit to it, I think we’ve reached it.’

Initially, police announced four arrests on Saturday related to investigation into the bunker and said that at least six children had been drugged and raped, according to Assistant District Attorney Bryan Jones. The storm shelter was being used as an underground bunker.

The four men arrested were identified as William Chase McElroy, Dalton Terrell, Andres Trejo-Velazquez, and Timothy St. John. Some of the suspects had allegedly confessed to their crimes, according to Jones.

“It’s just unimaginable that someone could do this to a child,” he said. “Children are defenseless, and they depend on adults to take care of them and protect them. And then when adults do these types of things to them, it’s just really horrific.”

McElroy was charged with four counts of first-degree rape, six counts of first-degree human trafficking, six counts of first-degree sodomy, and four counts of first-degree kidnapping.

Terrell was charged with six counts of first-degree rape, 12 counts of first-degree sodomy, and five counts of first-degree human trafficking.

Trejo-Velazquez was charged with six counts of first-degree human trafficking.

Timothy St. John was charged with two counts of first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sodomy, four counts of human trafficking, three counts of first-degree kidnapping, one count of bestiality, and one count of aggravated cruelty to animals.

RELATED: Woman sentenced to life in prison for ‘abhorrent’ abuse of infant

On Wednesday, Bibb County Sheriff Jody Wade announced three more arrests.

Rebecca Brewer was charged with eight counts of human trafficking, eight counts of first-degree human kidnapping, and three counts of sexual torture.

Ricky Terrell was charged with one count of rape, but other charges are pending.

Sarah Louis Terrell was charged with one count of sexual torture and two counts of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old.

Investigators said that some of the offenders were parents of the victims, who ranged in age from 3 to 15 years old. The number of victims increased from six to ten.

“I’ve been in law enforcement for 33 years, and this is absolutely the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen when it comes to the victimization of children. I know God’s forgiveness is boundless, but if there was a limit to it, I think we’ve reached it,” Wade said.

Wade said that people would make “appointments” to pay for sexual assault of the children at the bunker.

Images from the underground bunker were released in hopes of jogging the memories of others who might have been similarly victimized.

“There were chairs and beds and things of that nature, and the children were drugged by Mr. Trejo and tied to the bed, into the chair, into a pole. And then people would come and pay money to have sex with these children,” Assistant District Attorney Bryan Jones said.

RELATED: Man serving life sentence for child sex abuse allegedly escaped prison with help of his mother, a former corrections officer

“It absolutely infuriates me. But we have to kind of put that aside and just do the job. That’s all we can do,” Jones said.

Investigators believe there may be even more perpetrators and victims to be discovered, and more charges may be filed against those already arrested.

“There are some allegations with individuals that we will have a hard time identifying, just because we don’t know their names. And the children were drugged, according to one of the co-defendants. And so they may not be able to recognize or be able to identify anyone,” Jones added.

Victims were handed over to the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

Brent is a small town of only about 2,900 residents in the center of the state.

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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has released a top secret document — only ever seen by a handful of people — that appears to reveal the truth about Russiagate.

That is that Russia did not have dirt on Trump like the left claimed — but on liberal darling Hillary Clinton.

“It is explosive,” Blaze media co-founder Glenn Beck says. “They said Russia was in the bag for Donald Trump, and he’s going to be a puppet because they have so much dirt on him as found in the Steel Dossier.”

But that couldn’t be further from the case, and the top secret document that reveals this has landed in Glenn Beck’s hands.

“The document details SVR, which is the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. And the reports from 2016, from Russia about the hacking of the DNC. Remember, they were hacked and nobody could figure out who hacked them,” Glenn explains.

“Out of that hacking, the Russian foreign service, at least, this is the information they got from intel on the Russia foreign service, that Obama and the Democratic leaders were, and I’m quoting, ‘extraordinarily alarmed about Clinton’s health,’ calling it a ‘potential serious negative impact on her chances,’” he says.

“Type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease, deep vein thrombosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” he continues, “intensified psycho-emotional problems, uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression, and cheerfulness.”

But that’s not all.

“She was also, according to the intelligence that they got from the Russians based on the DNC hacks, she was allegedly also on heavy tranquilizers every day, obsessed with power and afraid of losing,” Glenn says.

“Russia also knew about the alleged secret meetings where Clinton allegedly offered State Department favors to religious groups for campaign support,” he continues. “Ethical scandals galore, including pressure on the FBI over her email probe via high-ranking DOJ officials. Russia had all of this. All of this.”

“This is what the left always does,” he says, adding, “Whatever they’re accusing us of doing, they’re doing.”

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Last week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard revealed evidence that the entire Russiagate hoax — a scheme to derail President Donald Trump’s first term — was manufactured by the outgoing Obama administration. At a press gaggle on Tuesday, Trump followed up by accusing Obama of “treason” for trying to rig the 2016 election and calling for severe consequences.

These revelations matter. But unless someone actually goes to jail, they won’t change anything.

MAGA supporters were furious over how the Epstein case was handled because they’re sick of elites skating free.

Democrats have shown they’re willing to jail political opponents — up to and including the president himself. Republicans, on the other hand, have proven utterly incapable of holding lawbreaking leftists accountable. Exposing treasonous acts is helpful, but if no one is punished, the corruption only deepens.

“Lock her up!” wasn’t just a chant at Trump rallies. MAGA supporters understood that the Clintons were deeply corrupt. They saw in Trump a candidate who might finally deliver justice. Elites gasped at the slogan, warning about the dangers of weaponizing the justice system. Then, with no sense of irony, they weaponized that very system against Trump to stop his re-election.

The lesson should have been obvious: Either cross the Rubicon, or don’t approach it at all. But don’t go fishing in it.

Americans are tired of watching the powerful get away with everything. In 2008, bankers crashed the economy and got bailed out. In 2020, Anthony Fauci and the biomedical regime imposed tyranny under the guise of public health. In 2020 and 2024, Joe Biden was propped up by a Democratic cabal that subverted the Constitution and jailed dissidents. The southern border was thrown open to reshape the electorate and lock in leftist power.

Kamala Harris nearly extended that reign — had she not turned out to be the dumbest, most tone-deaf, and most unlikable candidate ever smuggled onto a national ticket.

Yet through all of it, no one in power has paid a serious price for their crimes.

Major revelations come and go. But with no accountability, they become little more than distractions. There may have been a time when shame alone could bring a public reckoning — but our current ruling class is incapable of shame. They don’t resign in disgrace. They don’t retreat. They wait for the news cycle to move on.

The scandals pile up like grains of sand in a desert, each one indistinguishable from the next.

RELATED: Rule by the people? Not anymore in the Western world

Blaze Media illustration

In this environment, exposing corruption becomes just another way to tranquilize the public. People think, “At least the truth is out there — maybe voters will care.” But what if the scandal is about rigging the vote in the first place? If Democrats can open the border, fabricate intelligence, and collude with media to tip elections, then what good is the ballot box?

Exposure, without punishment, doesn’t deter. It emboldens.

The left doesn’t hesitate to jail its enemies. January 6 protesters were locked up for years — including some who never entered the Capitol. Trump officials like Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro were arrested and imprisoned. Pro-life activists got comically inflated sentences for silent protests. The FBI threatened parents who challenged school boards. Douglass Mackey was convicted for making memes. Trump himself faced fabricated charges that could’ve put him behind bars for life — all to stop his return.

So why are Republicans so cowardly?

If what Gabbard alleges is true, then Barack Obama, James Clapper, John Brennan, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, and Andrew McCabe conspired to destroy the American electoral system. They manufactured intelligence for the express purpose of overturning a legitimate election.

That is treason, plain and simple.

If these people are allowed to walk, they’ll know they’re untouchable. And they’ll act like it. Again.

Trump seemed genuinely surprised and angered by the backlash to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files. Some speculated it was because Trump himself was implicated, but that was always unlikely. If real dirt on Trump existed, the people fabricating charges against him would’ve used it. Instead, Trump kept comparing Epstein to Russiagate — and now it’s obvious why.

RELATED: Why the Epstein story cannot be buried

Photo by Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images

He knew the Russiagate disclosures were about to drop and didn’t want them overshadowed by Epstein.

Still, the connection matters.

MAGA supporters were furious over how the Epstein case was handled because they’re sick of elites skating free. They’re sick of being ruled by people who break the law with impunity. Fauci. Epstein. The Clintons. Americans know they’re governed by some of the worst people on the planet, and they’re done pretending otherwise.

The country is crying out for justice.

But frankly, I don’t think the Trump administration will deliver it. I hope I’m wrong. But I doubt there will be any serious action taken against Obama or the rest of his old guard. Republicans talk tough but never follow through. Even after the left tried to jail and then attempted to assassinate the president, the GOP still wrings its hands over setting a bad precedent.

It’s a bad joke. And everyone knows it.

Revelations are fine. But none of this will matter until the Trump administration grows a spine and puts these people in prison where they belong.

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