Category: blaze media

Second-year defensive end Marshawn Kneeland scored the first touchdown of his career on Monday night against the Arizona Cardinals. The Dallas Cowboys player recovered a blocked punt in the end zone, and although his team lost 27-17, it was the biggest play of his career.

With one sack and 12 tackles this year, the former Western Michigan player was certainly performing better statistically in his sophomore season than last year, after the Cowboys drafted him 56th overall in second round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

‘I still feel like she’s there watching over me.’

This made the Cowboys’ announcement Thursday that Kneeland is now deceased even more shocking.

“It is with extreme sadness that the Dallas Cowboys share that Marshawn Kneeland tragically passed away this morning,” the team said, per ESPN. “Marshawn was a beloved teammate and member of our organization. Our thoughts and prayers regarding Marshawn are with his girlfriend Catalina and his family.”

Sadly, Kneeland’s mother also recently passed away.

RELATED: LA Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen puts Christian faith front and center during World Series: ‘Make heaven crowded’

After a successful college career, Kneeland was preparing for the NFL Draft when his mother passed away suddenly.

As reported by the Dallas Morning News, she passed from an undisclosed illness. Kneeland said at the time that he just found a way to manage the loss and said he always told her he would make it to the NFL.

“She’s still with me,” he said. “I got this urn of her ashes I carry with me everywhere. I still feel like she’s there watching over me.”

Kneeland subsequently carried the ashes in a necklace following the draft.

After the announcement of Kneeland’s sudden death, fans were understandably shocked.

“Bro scored a touchdown Monday night and 3 days later he’s gone. Life is crazy. I feel horrible for his family and friends,” one fan wrote on X.

“Rest in peace man, he had such an insanely bright future,” another fan replied.

Another noted that it was “hard to find the right words right now.”

The poster added, “Marshawn Kneeland wasn’t just an incredible athlete he was the kind of person who lifted everyone around him.”

‘… a pain I can hardly put into words.’

Kneeland’s agent, Jonathan Perzley, released a much more personal statement on the loss of his “dearest friend”: “I am shattered to confirm that my client and dearest friend Marshawn Kneeland passed away last night,” Perzley said, according to TMZ.

“I watched him fight his way from a hopeful kid at Western Michigan with a dream of being a respected professional for the Dallas Cowboys,” he added. “Marshawn poured his heart into every snap, every practice, and every moment on the field. To lose someone with his talent, spirit, and goodness is a pain I can hardly put into words.”

RELATED: Is Michael Jordan’s NBA halftime series a flop or a gold mine of insight?

— (@)

Frisco Police issued a subsequent press release saying that Kneeland’s death was being investigated as a suicide.

“A man was found deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound following an outside agency vehicle pursuit that led to a multi-agency search in Frisco,” the department wrote on X.

The release said that reports indicated Kneeland had fled the scene of a car crash after evading troopers on the Dallas Parkway.

“During the course of the search, officers received information that Kneeland had expressed suicidal ideations,” Frisco PD wrote.

Kneeland was later located just after 1:30 a.m., dead by “what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

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​Fearless, Nfl, Football, Dallas cowboys, Died suddenly, Sports 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is working on identifying and tackling the root causes of America’s obesity epidemic. In the meantime, the Trump administration wants to make sure that Americans have access to affordable diabetes and weight-loss drugs, specifically glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, better known as GLP-1 drugs.

To this end and as part of his months-long campaign to bring most-favored-nation prescription drug pricing to Americans, President Donald Trump has struck a deal with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Ozempic, to cut prices on their weight-loss drugs in exchange for Medicare coverage.

A senior administration official indicated on Thursday that since Trump issued his most-favored-nation pricing executive order in May, GLP-1 drugs “have been top of mind” — not just because of the pharmaceuticals’ apparent cardiometabolic benefits “but also because this is, again, an issue of fairness.”

RELATED: How MAHA can really save American lives

IM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Per the terms of Trump’s deal with the two companies, “starting oral doses of GLP-1s will cost just $149 for everyone on Medicare, Medicaid, or Trump Rx,” said an official. “That’s roughly 1/9th of today’s list price.”

For Medicare, the manufacturers have reportedly agreed to reduce prices on GLP-1 drugs that are currently used for diabetes and other covered conditions to $245 per month across all other doses, added the official.

Savings generated by these price reductions will apparently be used to provide new coverage for GLP-1 drugs to patients struggling with obesity who face high metabolic or cardiovascular risk at the same monthly cost of $245.

As of 2020, over 100 million American adults were obese, and more than 22 million adults suffered from severe obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

While the adult obesity rate reportedly declined from 39.9% in 2022 to 37% this year — representing roughly 7.6 million fewer obese adults — Gallup recently indicated that diagnoses of diabetes have reached an all-time high of 13.8%.

Amid the glut of diabetes cases, there has been a significant increase in the number of U.S. adults who report taking GLP-1 drugs — from 5.8% in February 2024 to 12.4% in the latest quarter of 2025. The three-year decline in obesity among most age groups appears to correspond with the embrace of the weight-loss drugs.

When asked roughly how many patients on Medicare and Medicaid would be impacted by these changes, another administration official noted that in Medicare, around 10% of the population will be eligible for the standard access. While the drugs are approved for a much broader population, access has been constrained for “patients that will benefit clinically from it.”

There will reportedly be three tiers of patients in Medicare who will have access to these drugs for the purposes of addressing obesity and driving “cardiometabolic improvement”: those with a body mass index greater than 27 kg/m² suffering from pre-diabetes or established cardiovascular disease; patients with a BMI greater than 30 who have uncontrolled hypertension, kidney disease, and/or heart failure; and individuals with a BMI exceeding 35.

‘We do not believe that GLP-1s or drugs alone are somehow some silver bullet.’

“This is about making America healthy again,” said the second official. “This is about preventing strokes, this is about preventing heart attacks, and this is about preventing end-stage renal disease.”

The officials acknowledged, however, that cheaper drugs do not amount to a long-term solution to the problem of obesity.

“Make no mistake: We’re in a war against obesity. We do not believe that GLP-1s or drugs alone are somehow some silver bullet to make the … country healthy again,” said one official. “They are an important jump-start.”

In exchange for their cooperation, the pharma giants are gaining additional access to beneficiaries who wouldn’t otherwise be covered by Medicare for obesity indications, certainty from the Trump administration on its approach to drug pricing moving forward, and a commitment to invest in American manufacturing.

One Trump administration official told reporters that this initiative is expected to ultimately be cost neutral, stating, “This is really a win-win on all sides — for taxpayers, for Medicare beneficiaries, as well as for the companies.”

Last month, Trump announced an agreement with AstraZeneca that would guarantee every state Medicaid program across the country most-favored-nation drug prices on the pharma giant’s products. The previous month, he announced a similar deal with Pfizer.

“In case after case, our citizens pay massively higher prices than other nations pay for the same exact pill, from the same factory, effectively subsidizing socialism [abroad] with skyrocketing prices at home,” Trump said in a statement. “So we would spend tremendous amounts of money in order to provide inexpensive drugs to another country. And when I say the price is different, you can see some examples where the price is beyond anything — four times, five times different.”

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​Donald trump, Obesity, Fat, Glp-1, Kennedy, Rfk, Health, Drugs, Most favored nation, Pharma, Pharmaceuticals, Eli lilly, Novo nordisk, Politics 

BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey’s Turning Point USA speech where she condemned pornography as “evil in every way” sparked a wave of attacks from men who claim to share her Christian and conservative values.

These men claimed that she was a “feminist” who should not be directly speaking to men. In fact, she was simply reciting a message that Charlie Kirk himself was very passionate about.

“There is a segment of males on the right, presumably the political right, who also profess to be Christians, who have been expressing their utter indignation that I gave a speech at a Turning Point USA campus stop and that in that speech, I talked about the dangers of pornography,” Stuckey explains on “Relatable.”

“I was called a feminist. I was called a bad mom, a negligent wife who was trying to act like a man. I was told that I should only talk to women or that I should not talk at all, that women have no place in the public square,” she continues.

Stuckey was asked by Kirk to join her on this campus tour before he was assassinated, so in order to honor him, her speech reflected the most controversial truths that he taught.

One of these truths is that porn has “weakened men,” which was the catalyst for all the outrage that followed.

“Charlie was so good at talking about this and so good at talking so courageously and sternly and clearly to the young men,” Stuckey said during her “controversial” speech, before explaining why it “is so detrimental not only to men” but also “objectifies women and children.”

“It commercializes sex, which is a gift from God for a married couple, between one man and one woman. And it glorifies violence. It creates addiction and shame. It destroys marriages. It ruins your perception of other people. It is the legal loophole for sex trafficking. It is evil in every way, and it will destroy your life,” she said.

“And this is what I would want to say to men, and I hope that you hear it from strong men in your life, that 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,” she continued.

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

Some “Christian conservative” men who heard this part of Allie’s speech took to X to mislabel her a “feminist” who should not be speaking to men.

“There is probably not another Christian woman in the conservative commentary space who has made more of an effort than I have to pull women away from progressivism, to try to change women’s minds and hearts when it comes to abortion, to try to change women’s minds and hearts when it comes to marriage,” Stuckey says in response.

“So, to say that I am a feminist who preaches to men really is just laughable. And it just goes to show you that people will just lie,” she adds.

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.

​Video phone, Upload, Video, Camera phone, Sharing, Free, Youtube.com, Relatable with allie beth stuckey, Relatable, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Feminism, Anti pornography, Dangers of pornography, Human trafficking, Sex trafficking, Exploiting women, Allie beth stuckey 

More Chinese scholars from the University of Michigan have allegedly been tied to a smuggling conspiracy.

The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party announced Wednesday charges against three UM scholars, bringing the total to seven Chinese nationals connected to the alleged smuggling plot.

‘It is part of a broader, coordinated campaign targeting universities across the country, driven by China’s efforts to acquire American technology.’

In June, the Department of Justice charged Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend, 34-year-old Zunyong Liu, with smuggling a fungus into the United States. Officials claimed that the Fusarium graminearum could potentially be used as an agricultural terrorism weapon.

Liu allegedly claimed the reason for smuggling the pathogen was to conduct research at UM’s laboratory, where Jian worked.

Chengxuan Han, another UM scholar, was also arrested in June after she allegedly mailed several packages containing “biological material related to roundworms” to UM’s laboratory.

Han, 28, was sentenced in September to time served and was expected to return to China.

RELATED: University of Michigan now under fire after Chinese scholars allegedly smuggle bio-weapon

Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Three additional Chinese nationals who were working at UM were terminated after the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan filed new charges, claiming the individuals were involved with a biological material smuggling plot, according to the Select Committee’s Wednesday press release.

The Detroit News reported that Xu Bai, 28, Fengfan Zhang, 27, and Zhiyong Zhang, 30, faced charges including smuggling biological material into the country and lying to federal agents.

Han allegedly sent one of the packages to Bai’s apartment in Ann Arbor. A complaint reviewed by the Detroit News stated that Bai became uncooperative, refusing to speak with investigators.

Han also allegedly sent several packages to Fengfan Zhang and Zhiyong Zhang.

“When asked if he had ever received any packages from Han, Zhiyong Zhang showed multiple signs of nervous behavior, including his right eye twitching only when discussing Han, and he was unable to fully explain whether he did or did not receive any packages,” a federal agent wrote.

UM reportedly fired the three scholars after they refused to cooperate with an internal investigation of the lab, operated by life sciences professor Shawn Xu.

“Professor Xu has been cooperative with the University of Michigan’s investigation into the laboratory,” Xu’s lawyer, David Nacht, told the Detroit News. “He has not been informed by any federal official that he is a target of any investigation.”

According to Nacht, the lab continues to operate, and Xu remains in good standing with UM.

“Professor Xu has lived in Michigan for decades, and he does basic biological research on worms,” Nacht claimed. “Those present no hazards, nor do they have any military or obvious commercial application.”

RELATED: From Wuhan to Michigan: Feds nab ANOTHER Chinese scholar in alleged bio-material smuggling plot

Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In 2019, Zhiyong Zhang allegedly sent a package to Xu that contained petri dishes with nematodes, or roundworms.

“Professor Xu’s laboratory routinely receives roundworms and other biological material through the normal mail and [FedEx] and UPS from a laboratory in Minnesota that produces them,” Nacht told the Detroit News.

UM’s termination of the three scholars means the Chinese nationals are no longer in compliance with their visa requirements and may be subject to deportation.

“These new charges reveal an organized network of scholars engaged in illegal activity on Michigan’s campus,” Select Committee on China Chairman Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) stated. “It is part of a broader, coordinated campaign targeting universities across the country, driven by China’s efforts to acquire American technology. University leaders should launch internal reviews to safeguard their research from China’s adversarial actions. My colleagues and I appreciate the accountability we’ve seen from Michigan through our oversight efforts, and we will continue to use every tool we have to protect taxpayer-funded research and national security.”

Blaze News contacted the Select Committee and the University of Michigan for comment.

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​News, University of michigan, Michigan, Chinese communist party, Ccp, Chinese scholars, China, Biological material, Bio-material smuggling, Smuggling, Politics 

A typical UFC broadcast on ESPN is now shrouded in an alleged fight-fixing scandal.

The No. 1 broadcast for UFC “Fight Night: Garcia vs. Onama” was going as typically as any other event at the UFC Apex until the fourth-to-last fight took place.

The outcome of that fight, however, had UFC President Dana White immediately on the phone with federal authorities.

‘Are you injured? Do you owe anybody money?’

It turns out that White already had his eye on the match between fighters Yadier del Valle and Isaac Dulgarian. Specifically, White and the UFC had already contacted Dulgarian after getting word of suspicious bets placed against the Kansas City, Missouri, native, who was a healthy favorite to win the fight.

“About one o’clock that day — we’re with a company called IC360, and they are the best bet-monitoring company in the business — and they reached out to us and they told us that there was some unusual action going on with that fight,” White told TMZ Sports.

White continued, “Do we know anything? We didn’t, so what we did was we called the fighter and his lawyer and said, ‘What’s going on? There’s some weird action going on in your [fight]. Are you injured? Do you owe anybody money? Has anybody approached you to, you know,’ and the kid said, ‘No, absolutely not. I’m going to kill this guy.'”

The UFC boss said he simply replied “OK” and let the fight happen. Dulgarian was a reported -250 favorite.

“The fight plays out, and first-round finish by rear-naked choke. Literally the first thing we did was call the FBI,” White said.

As it turns out, the bet-monitoring system may have pointed to that exact outcome after an usual amount of money was put on the line.

RELATED: NBA coach, former player arrested in Mafia-tied nationwide gambling bust

The fight is available online, and viewers can watch as Dulgarian struggles to grapple with his Cuban opponent before eventually tapping to a rear-naked choke with 1:19 left in the first round.

IC360’s co-founder, Scott Sadin, revealed that several factors pointed to a possible outcome in line with the unusual bets. Sadin said the company typically looks for “two strange things or more” that raise eyebrows in terms of fight betting. For this fight, Sadin said there was “significant [betting] line movement, not just on the outright winner of the fight but also when the fight would end in the first round.”

“Something that at least warranted further investigation,” Sadin told TMZ.

The betting expert explained that the total value of bets on the fight was higher than what was expected, as were the bets on Dulgarian to lose, as well as when and how he would lose. All of these factors likely pointed to a specific outcome that, if fulfilled, could signal that there was an agreement for the fight to end in that manner.

This is what caused White to “literally [walk] up from the octagon into my room in the back and [call] the FBI.”

Dulgarian has not been charged with a crime, nor has he been proven to have rigged the fight. In White’s Magic 8-Ball, though, the outlook is not so good.

RELATED: San Jose Sharks apologize for displaying pro-ICE message on scoreboard during Hispanic celebration

“Fight-fixing is absolutely insane,” White said. “… I’m not saying this kid’s guilty. … There’s no proof that he’s done this yet, but I can tell you this … it definitely doesn’t look good.”

He added, “[Dulgarian] and his lawyer denied … everything. … We asked them all the questions.”

Blaze News spoke to former UFC fighter T.J. Laramie, who was recently in Japan with his brother and fellow pro fighter, Tony Laramie.

T.J. revealed that before his brother won his fight on the Nov. 3 Rizin FF-Landmark Vol. 12 card, he was asked to rig the match.

“My brother actually got approached prior to his fight in Rizin this past weekend to throw the fight, essentially, and they were willing to compensate him minimum three times his fight purse,” T.J. told Blaze News. Tony openly mocked the offer on social media, having lost only once in the last six years.

Older brother T.J. said with how prevalent betting is now, even on regional promotions, it likely would not take much for a fighter to say “yes” to an offer like that.

“We put in so much and get paid very little, so I could see why it would be enticing for certain people. Especially in these smaller shows, where there’s less eyes on it and less on the line in general. I personally wouldn’t do that, but I could certainly see why someone would,” T.J. added.

Much as with recent NBA scandals, T.J. said the bets may not manifest in fight-fixing as much as they may come into play due to “insider information.”

“Maybe someone in the camp knows about an injury or something compromising a fighter that no one else would know — and definitely not the oddsmakers,” he said.

Tony is 11-3 overall. T.J. has a record of 16-3 and has won four fights in a row since he last fought in the UFC.

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​Fearless, Betting, Gambling, Betting scandal, Fight fixing, Nevada, Ufc, Mma, Sports 

Move over X! The public square has a new mayor. The latest user metrics show that, for the first time ever, Threads surpassed X in monthly active users worldwide, and it’s on track to rise even further. At the same time, X continues to decline, spelling disaster for the world’s free-speech platform. Will censorship run rampant on the global stage, or is there still hope that X can bounce back? Let’s find out …

Threads has more daily users than X, but it’s not what you think

In a graph compiled by Similarweb, September shows that Threads just barely eked ahead of X in monthly active users, coming in at 130.2 million daily users compared to X’s 130.1 million users. The difference between them is razor-thin, but it’s still significant for one big reason: September 2025 marks the very first time that Threads surpassed X since the platform launched on July 5, 2023.

Graphic by Zach Laidlaw

Another quick look at the graph outlines a second alarming stat — X, marked in orange, is on a clear downward slide, while Threads, highlighted in blue, is climbing upward. Now that both have intersected, it’s likely that they will trade places permanently, giving Threads the crown over X in active monthly users worldwide.

Threads stands to gain it all and shift the political narrative back in favor of the left.

But it’s not all bad news. Threads may be king around the globe, but X still leads on mobile in the U.S. market with 21.3 million daily users over Threads’ 16.2 million daily active mobile users. The disparity is even larger for website visits, with 140.7 million daily active users flocking to X.com versus a paltry 7.7 million daily users on Threads.com.

So why worry if X is still ahead of Threads in the United States? There are several causes for concern:

The great social media reset

Now that Threads is the new worldwide digital town square, it’s only a matter of time until the U.S. market takes a hit. The first major paradigm shift will come from brands as they pull advertising dollars from X and invest in Threads with its wider global reach. Advertisers have already dropped X in the past, and Elon Musk sued to reverse it, though there may not be much he can do if brands simply decide to prioritize a more active platform.

Next, users will continue to drop off in favor of Threads’ growing community. They’ll follow their friends and relatives to Meta’s platform, further hitting X’s bottom line. If X loses enough traction after that, it will either recede into obscurity or worse, it could dissolve entirely.

The end of online free speech

As a bastion of free speech, X is the premiere open platform with the least amount of political censorship. While Americans can exercise these rights on X, the rise of Threads opens the door for greater censorship around the world, especially in countries where X is already banned.

If X topples entirely, no U.S. citizen is safe from the next Democrat president reinstating the oppressive censorship tactics from the Biden administration. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg claims to be a proponent of free speech these days, but does anyone trust him to keep his word in the next administration? I’m not holding my breath.

The echo chamber wars

Just as pre-Musk Twitter was a left-leaning echo chamber for liberal ideas, X could become the same thing for the right. More left-leaning users will undoubtedly flee to Threads to shore up their online political stronghold, and X will morph into a right-wing haven primarily for conservative values.

It might sound like a good idea to give both sides their places to gather online in peace, but the truth is a little more grim. Echo chambers of any kind have consequences, and society is better off without them. We need an online space — like X — where the two sides engage in civil debate, a fact that the late Charlie Kirk knew well. In Charlie’s own words, “When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence … because you start to think the other side is so evil and they lose their humanity.”

X is more than its user metrics

Looking at raw data, the graph is clear: X has been on a steady decline for years dating back to Elon Musk’s acquisition. At the same time, Threads has continued to grow month over month, and it doesn’t show any signs of stopping. If the trend plays out, X is at real risk of losing its power in the social and political landscape, while Threads stands to gain it all and shift the political narrative back in favor of the left.

RELATED: Zuckerberg’s vision: US military AI and tech around the world

Photo by Alex Wong / Contributor via Getty Images

That said, X’s U.S. momentum is still going strong, providing enough engagement to keep the platform relevant, at least for the time being. X is also so much more than a social media app — it’s a hub for xAI and Grok, a PR machine for SpaceX, a launchpad for the new Vine, a budding financial platform, and more. Musk is betting big on X as a holistic lifestyle product that transcends its social roots. The new strategy provides multiple engagement points to grow the userbase outside of X alone, keep users locked in every day, and make sure they come back for more, Threads be damned.

​Tech, Threads, X, Free speech 

Police in Medford, Oregon, said officers responded to a report of a shooting at 18 Hawthorne Street just after 3:30 a.m. Sunday.

The investigation revealed that a neighbor heard and observed a loud commotion outside his apartment, police said.

‘Good job neighbor. That’s what it’s about!!’

Through his window, he saw an unknown male attempting to force entry into the front door of a nearby apartment, which he knew was occupied by an elderly resident, police said.

The neighbor grabbed his handgun and rushed over to assist, police said, adding that once he was in the unit, the neighbor saw the suspect assaulting the elderly resident.

During the confrontation, the neighbor shot the suspect, and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, police said, adding that multiple rounds were fired.

The deceased individual has been identified as 32-year-old Martin Uriel Jimenez of Medford, police said.

The neighbor who fired the shots was detained and is cooperating with investigators, police said.

While no arrests have been made, police noted that detectives are continuing to investigate.

Police added that “as is standard protocol in all investigations where deadly force was used and resulted in death, the case will be presented to the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office for review.”

RELATED: Man opens fire on armed suspected intruder — outside neighbor’s home: ‘We’ve always told people not to mess around down here’

Image source: Medford (Ore.) Police

It appears that many commenters under the police department’s Facebook post about the shooting are squarely behind the neighbor who rushed over to help. The following are but a few of them:

“I own the property where this occurred,” one commenter stated. “I know all the tenants well. They are all clean, gainfully employed, good citizens. The intruder was unknown to any of them. The intruder was violent, deranged, no pants on, kicked in an apartment door at 3:30am and attacked the tenant inside as he was calling 911. The younger man in the neighboring apartment heard the commotion and came to the aid of his neighbor resident to find the intruder beating the older gentleman/tenant and causing injuries. When the younger neighbor intervened, the random, pants-less, 6’2”, 280# intruder charged at him and was shot by the neighbor in an act of self defense. 100% justified.””That hero better not get charged!” another user declared. “I hope my neighbor would do the same.””The intruder received justice,” another commenter wrote. “I hope the neighbor is cleared as it should be.””Sounds like the neighbor saved the resident, don’t charge that man for anything,” another user said.”Good guy with a gun for the win!” another commenter exclaimed.”Good job neighbor,” another user said. “That’s what it’s about!!”

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​Crime thwarted, 2nd amend., Guns, Gun rights, Defending others, Intruder, Break-in, Physical attack, Elderly neighbor, Fatal shooting, Medford, Oregon, Police, Self-defense, Crime 

Federal officers have been met with a range of resistance from protesters, most notably in blue sanctuary cities like Portland and Chicago. Now, however, the Department of Homeland Security has announced the implementation of new rules that should give officers an advantage as they continue to do their already dangerous jobs.

Early this week, the Department of Homeland Security updated its list of prohibited and restricted conduct on federal property, and those wearing face-coverings should take note.

Those rules will be enforced ‘on federal property or in areas outside federal property, that affects, threatens, or endangers federal property or persons on the federal property.’

“Wearing a mask, hood, disguise, or device that conceals the identity of the wearer when attempting to avoid detection or identification while violating any federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation” is forbidden, the rules say.

Those rules will be enforced “on federal property or in areas outside federal property, that affects, threatens, or endangers federal property or persons on the federal property,” the rules state.

RELATED: ‘Unleashed’: Houston ICE agents complete another large-scale immigration raid

Photo by Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

Investigative journalist Katie Daviscourt reported that this rule change is a “game changer” because it will give federal agents greater jurisdiction in making arrests at and near the federal facility in Portland, where local police previously had jurisdiction.

DHS officers at the Portland facility announced Wednesday that they had begun enforcing the new policy, Daviscourt said, though it was originally supposed to go into effect in January 2026.

Violation of the rules “can be a federal criminal offense punishable by incarceration up to 30 days and a $5,000.00 fine,” DHS noted.

The greater latitude granted by this rule change may allow federal officers to operate more efficiently as they work to deport illegal aliens from America.

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​Politics, Department of homeland security, Katie daviscourt, Masks, Ice, Cbp, Dhs, Regulations, Portland, Portland oregon 

Elon Musk’s appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” last week should be required listening for anyone who still believes “one citizen, one vote” is the bedrock of our republic. For more than three hours, Musk — engineer, entrepreneur, and agent provocateur — peeled back the curtain on what he called Washington’s longest-running con: a taxpayer-funded pipeline that turns illegal immigrants into future Democrat voters.

Musk didn’t hedge. The ongoing government shutdown, he said, isn’t about continuing resolutions or fiscal cliffs. It’s about Democrats refusing to cut the hundreds of billions in welfare spending that draw migrants across the border. Turn off the cash, and the migrants leave. Cut the flow of migrants, and the left’s imported electorate vanishes.

When the rule of law returns to our borders, it returns to our ballot boxes. That’s a future worth shutting down the swamp to secure.

Joe Rogan was gobsmacked, for good reason. The former head of the Department of Government Efficiency described, in clear terms, what many Americans have long suspected but have been told was a conspiracy theory: The government’s own spending has become a political machine.

The welfare magnet

Musk’s argument is simple. Blue-state welfare programs — Medicaid expansions, housing vouchers, EBT cards, in-state tuition — advertise America as “free everything” for those who cross the border. When Rogan asked what would happen if those benefits stopped, Musk replied, “The Democratic Party will lose a lot of voters.”

Not some — a lot. California’s supermajority didn’t appear by chance, he noted; it was built city by city, sanctuary by sanctuary.

That blueprint is now spreading to Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and other battlegrounds with generous welfare systems. The U.S. Census already rewards high-immigrant states with extra congressional seats and Electoral College votes. Add motor-voter laws, same-day registration, and ballot harvesting, and you don’t need a single illegal ballot to tip the scale. The counting itself does it.

This is arithmetic, not a conspiracy theory. Since 2021, the Department of Homeland Security’s parole programs have admitted more than a million people under “humanitarian” pretexts. Federally funded NGOs meet them at the border, fly or bus them to swing districts, and sign them up for every benefit imaginable.

Musk argued that ending the handouts would prompt a voluntary exodus within weeks — no ICE raids or roundups required. Yet Democrats treat any effort to cut those programs as existential sabotage. Why? Because their own numbers show what happens when the inflow stops: Red states stay red, blue states fade to purple, and the Electoral College map becomes competitive again.

The real shutdown fight

That, Musk said, is why Democrats would rather grind Washington to a halt than surrender their demographic advantage. The “shutdown” isn’t a budget fight — it’s a fight to preserve a political machine.

Enter Donald Trump’s enforcement agenda: the program many voters thought they were getting after the 1986 amnesty deal that never delivered. Mass deportations. Mandatory E-Verify. The end of catch-and-release. A full audit of every federal dollar funneled to “new arrivals.”

Critics reflexively cry “xenophobia,” the same way they called a border wall “immoral.” But this isn’t about left versus right — it’s citizens versus cartels. A union welder in Pennsylvania, a black business owner in Atlanta, and a Latino pastor in Miami all lose when the voting power of citizens is diluted by noncitizens who bypass the legal system their grandparents followed.

Representative government dies when representation is determined by who sneaks across the border first. Real elections require verifiable citizens, not harvestable bodies. Ethical leaders don’t traffic in future ballots; they protect the franchise like nuclear codes.

The fix

The appeal of Trump’s immigration plan is that it’s universal. America First means American tax dollars for American citizens, not for an imported electorate. Require proof of citizenship to register to vote. End chain migration and the visa lottery. Finish the wall. Empower ICE and Customs and Border Protection to do their jobs. The crisis collapses the moment the incentives do.

RELATED: ‘Operation MRE’: Meals, reform, enforcement in a SNAP!

breakermaximus via iStock/Getty Images

No more midnight ballot drops in swing districts. No more census manipulation. Just the restoration of an old promise: play by the rules, and the rules will protect you.

A choice bigger than party

This fight transcends party and personality. It’s about whether your grandchild’s vote will still count in 2050. Support strong immigration enforcement. Demand audits of federal spending. Tune out media race-baiting and sentimental excuses. End the programs that siphon taxpayer money into the hands of those who broke the law to get here.

When the rule of law returns to our borders, it returns to our ballot boxes. That’s a future worth shutting down the swamp to secure.

​Opinion & analysis, Immigration, Mass deportations, Immigration and customs enforcement, Voting fraud, Illegal aliens, Illegal immigrants, Ice raids, Elon musk, Joe rogan, Joe rogan experience, Voter id, Elections, Democrats, Citizens, Voting rights, Welfare state, Benefits for illegal aliens, Government shutdown, The left 

The son of a longtime Michigan sheriff has officially tossed his hat in the ring for Congress.

On Thursday, Captain Mike Bouchard, son of Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, announced that he will be running as a Republican for the 10th District seat in Michigan currently occupied by Rep. John James (R), who is now running for governor.

“My family taught me that service isn’t a slogan; it’s a duty,” Captain Bouchard said in a press release. “I’ve worn the uniform of our nation and faced America’s enemies abroad. Now I’m ready to fight for our people here at home — to keep our families safe, our jobs local, and help make our country strong again.”

Captain Bouchard, a paratrooper and Bronze Star recipient who just returned home after serving a nine-month tour in Iraq with the Michigan Army National Guard, claims he wants to continue serving his state and his country.

‘Michigan built the tools that won wars. Now we’ll rebuild the economy that wins the future.’

“Warfighters don’t quit. We adapt, overcome, and keep moving toward the objective. That’s the mindset I’ll bring to Congress — mission focus, no excuses, and zero tolerance for failure. The people of Michigan deserve a warfighter in Washington who understands the mission and has the backbone to get the job done,” his statement continued.

In the press announcement about his candidacy, Captain Bouchard repeatedly referred to President Donald Trump, indicating that he intends to run on a MAGA-type platform. He has already identified public safety, caring for veterans, and the restoration of American manufacturing as his primary issues.

“Michigan built the tools that won wars. Now we’ll rebuild the economy that wins the future. President Trump is putting America First, and our economy will reap the rewards,” he said.

Captain Bouchard has long had the support of his father, Sheriff Bouchard, who spent nearly a decade in the Michigan legislature as a Republican before becoming sheriff of the state’s wealthiest and second-most populous county in 1999.

The sheriff told Blaze News back in September that his son is an “amazing person” who is “very qualified” to represent Michigan in Washington, D.C. “He feels very strongly about serving this country, and I think the next step in his mind would be to serve in a different capacity where his experience and knowledge could help.”

“He’s just wanting to make a difference.”

Other notable Michiganders besides his father who urged Captain Bouchard to run for the congressional seat include rock legend Ted Nugent; former Michigan Gov. John Engler (R) and his wife; former state Attorney General Bill Schuette; Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido; and Macomb County Treasurer Larry Rocca.

RELATED: ‘Defund the police’ dying out, but cop-hatred from Dems, media still going strong

Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images

In response to a request for comment about Captain Bouchard, a spokesperson for Rep. James previously told Blaze News, “Given the current dynamics and potential candidates in Michigan’s 10th District, John’s confident [Republicans] will hold the seat.”

While James won the seat in a squeaker in 2022 and then won re-election with relative ease in 2024, the 10th District is by no means a Republican stronghold, spanning most of Macomb County, a blue-collar area often considered a bellwether in presidential elections.

Other Republicans who have expressed interest in running for the 10th Congressional District include state Rep. Joe Aragona and former Oakland County GOP Chairman Rocky Raczkowski, the Detroit News reported in July. Assistant prosecutor Robert Lulgjuraj of Sterling Heights announced his candidacy in August.

The Democrat primary race for the seat is full as well, as former special victims prosecutor Christina Hines, former state Rep. Tim Greimel, attorney Eric Chung, and U.S. Army veteran Alex Hawkins have all announced their candidacy.

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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday that if Democrats keep the government shut down, there could be serious repercussions for air travel as air traffic controllers — those directing over 44,000 flights and more than 3 million airline passengers daily — are being spread thin and overworked without pay.

“You will see mass chaos. You will see mass flight delays,” said Duffy. “You’ll see mass cancellations, and you may see us close certain parts of the airspace because we just cannot manage it.”

‘Asking them to go without a full month’s pay or more is simply not sustainable.’

Duffy’s warning evidently fell on deaf ears. Democrats have, after all, made explicit their intention to use Americans’ pain and inconvenience as political “leverage.” A senior Democrat aide even indicated last month that the party will not concede short of “planes falling out of the sky.”

Citing air traffic control personnel issues and the need to keep American skies safe, Duffy announced on Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration will be reducing air traffic by 10% across 40 “high-volume” markets starting on Friday.

Despite his recent initiatives to recruit, train, and retain air traffic controllers, Duffy indicated that the fruits of such efforts take years to fully manifest and that at present, the FAA is still 2,000 controllers short. The government shutdown greatly compounds the impact of this underlying staffing problem as the existing workforce is spread thin, overworked, and paid nothing.

While air traffic controllers received a partial payment in early October, Duffy indicated that they haven’t been paid since, prompting some controllers to take second jobs.

RELATED: Trump uses tariff revenue to protect poor mothers and kids hurt by Democrats’ shutdown

Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“Our air traffic controllers, and a lot of those who work at DOT but throughout government, they haven’t received paychecks,” said Duffy. “Many of these employees, they’re the head of household. They have their spouse at home. They have a child or two or three, and when they lose income, they are confronted with real-world difficulties in how they pay their bills.”

Nick Daniels, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said in a statement on Friday, “For this nation’s air traffic controllers, missing just one paycheck can be a significant hardship, as it is for all working Americans. Asking them to go without a full month’s pay or more is simply not sustainable.”

‘We are not going to do anything that will compromise the safety of air transport in the United States.’

“During the shutdown, these professionals are required to oversee the movement of the nation’s passengers and cargo while many are working ten-hour days and six-day workweeks due to the ongoing staffing shortage, all without pay,” continued Daniels. “This situation creates substantial distractions for individuals who are already engaged in extremely stressful work. The financial and mental strain increases risks within the National Airspace System, making it less safe with each passing day of the shutdown.”

Bryan Bedford, the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, noted that a recent deep dive into National Airspace System data revealed both “issues of fatigue” among controllers and pressures building in a way that if left unchecked could impact air safety.

“The data is telling us we need to do more, and we are going to do more,” said Bedford.

“We’re going to look for a ratable reduction across these 40 markets over the next 48 hours,” said the FAA administrator.

“We’re not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating.”

While the FAA has not released the final list of airports that will have their capacity cut, a source provided a proposed list to CBS News naming the following airports:

Anchorage International (ANC)Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL)Boston Logan International (BOS)Baltimore/Washington International (BWI)Charlotte Douglas International (CLT)Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (CVG)Dallas Love (DAL)Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA)Denver International (DEN)Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW)Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW)Newark Liberty International (EWR)Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International (FLL)Honolulu International (HNL)Houston Hobby (HOU)Washington Dulles International (IAD)George Bush Houston Intercontinental (IAH)Indianapolis International (IND)New York John F. Kennedy International (JFK)Las Vegas Harry Reid International (LAS)Los Angeles International (LAX)New York LaGuardia (LGA)Orlando International (MCO)Chicago Midway (MDW)Memphis International (MEM)Miami International (MIA)Minneapolis/St. Paul International (MSP)Oakland International (OAK)Ontario International (ONT)Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)Portland International (PDX)Philadelphia International (PHL)Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX)San Diego International (SAN)Louisville International (SDF)Seattle/Tacoma International (SEA)San Francisco International (SFO)Salt Lake City International (SLC)Teterboro (TEB)Tampa International (TPA)

“If the pressures continue to build even after we take these measures, we’ll come back and take additional measures,” continued the FAA administrator. “We’re trying to be prescriptive, surgical, put the relief where the relief will do the most good, but again, we are not going to do anything that will compromise the safety of air transport in the United States.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday, “We want to reopen the government so we can resume travel in the safest and most efficient way possible, especially as we head into the busiest travel season.”

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​Faa, Federal aviation administration, Sean duffy, Bryan bedford, Flying, Travel, Fly, Airlines, Safety, Donald trump, Shutdown, Politics 

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Thursday that she will not seek re-election after nearly four decades serving in Congress.

Pelosi was first elected to the House in 1987 to represent California and eventually became the first female speaker of the House. Pelosi served as speaker from 2007 to 2011 under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and again from 2019 to 2023 under Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

A successor has not been named.

“For decades, I’ve cherished the privilege of representing our magnificent city in the United States Congress,” Pelosi said in a video posted on X.

“That is why I want you, my fellow San Franciscans, to be the first to know,” Pelosi said. “I will not be seeking re-election to Congress.”

RELATED: California Republicans sue to stop Newsom’s redistricting scheme — he responds: ‘Good luck, losers’

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Although she has announced she will step aside after this term, a successor has not been named to run to represent California’s 11th District.

RELATED: Zohran Mamdani becomes first openly socialist mayor of New York City

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative,” Pelosi said.

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​Nancy pelosi, House democrats, California, San francisco, Progressive, Congress, Barack obama, Donald trump, Joe biden, Speaker of the house, Politics 

Our movement is at a crossroads, and the question before us is simple: What does it mean to be a conservative in America today?

For years, we have been told what we are against — against the left, against wokeism, against decline. But opposition alone does not define a movement, and it certainly does not define a moral vision.

We are not here to cling to the past or wallow in grievance. We are not the movement of rage. We are the movement of reason and hope.

The media, as usual, are eager to supply their own answer. The New York Times recently suggested that Nick Fuentes represents the “future” of conservatism. That’s nonsense — a distortion of both truth and tradition. Fuentes and those like him do not represent American conservatism. They represent its counterfeit.

Real conservatism is not rage. It is reverence. It does not treat the past as a museum, but as a teacher. America’s founders asked us to preserve their principles and improve upon their practice. That means understanding what we are conserving — a living covenant, not a relic.

Conservatism as stewardship

In 2025, conservatism means stewardship — of a nation, a culture, and a moral inheritance too precious to abandon. To conserve is not to freeze history. It is to stand guard over what is essential. We are custodians of an experiment in liberty that rests on the belief that rights come not from kings or Congress, but from the Creator.

That belief built this country. It will be what saves it. The Constitution is a covenant between generations. Conservatism is the duty to keep that covenant alive — to preserve what works, correct what fails, and pass on both wisdom and freedom to those who come next.

Economics, culture, and morality are inseparable. Debt is not only fiscal; it is moral. Spending what belongs to the unborn is theft. Dependence is not compassion; it is weakness parading as virtue. A society that trades responsibility for comfort teaches citizens how to live as slaves.

Freedom without virtue is not freedom; it is chaos. A culture that mocks faith cannot defend liberty, and a nation that rejects truth cannot sustain justice. Conservatism must again become the moral compass of a disoriented people, reminding America that liberty survives only when anchored to virtue.

Rebuilding what is broken

We cannot define ourselves by what we oppose. We must build families, communities, and institutions that endure. Government is broken because education is broken, and education is broken because we abandoned the formation of the mind and the soul. The work ahead is competence, not cynicism.

Conservatives should embrace innovation and technology while rejecting the chaos of Silicon Valley. Progress must not come at the expense of principle. Technology must strengthen people, not replace them. Artificial intelligence should remain a servant, never a master. The true strength of a nation is not measured by data or bureaucracy, but by the quiet webs of family, faith, and service that hold communities together. When Washington falters — and it will — those neighborhoods must stand.

RELATED: Evil never announces itself — it seduces the hearts of the blind

Lisa Haney via iStock/Getty Images

This is the real work of conservatism: to conserve what is good and true and to reform what has decayed. It is not about slogans; it is about stewardship — the patient labor of building a civilization that remembers what it stands for.

A creed for the rising generation

We are not here to cling to the past or wallow in grievance. We are not the movement of rage. We are the movement of reason and hope.

For the rising generation, conservatism cannot be nostalgia. It must be more than a memory of 9/11 or admiration for a Reagan era they never lived through. Many young Americans did not experience those moments — and they should not have to in order to grasp the lessons they taught and the truths they embodied. The next chapter is not about preserving relics but renewing purpose. It must speak to conviction, not cynicism; to moral clarity, not despair.

Young people are searching for meaning in a culture that mocks truth and empties life of purpose. Conservatism should be the moral compass that reminds them freedom is responsibility and that faith, family, and moral courage remain the surest rebellions against hopelessness.

To be a conservative in 2025 is to defend the enduring principles of American liberty while stewarding the culture, the economy, and the spirit of a free people. It is to stand for truth when truth is unfashionable and to guard moral order when the world celebrates chaos.

We are not merely holding the torch. We are relighting it.

​Opinion & analysis, Conservatism, Conservative movement, Nick fuentes, America, America first, Maga, Reason, Hope, New york times, Founding fathers, Founding principles, Morality, Religion, Duty, Progress, Administrative state, Deep state, Bureaucracy, Big tech, Silicon valley, Artificial intelligence, Gen z, Culture, Economy, Liberty, Freedom, Citizenship 

In a recent appearance with Glenn Beck, Whitney Webb lays out her case that the Great Reset did not end with the election of Donald Trump. Elites, ever given to schemes involving central control, reallocation, and number-go-up, are planning to tokenize everything they possibly can, including natural resources.

Webb draws a connective line between BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, the World Economic Forum (not exactly a freedom-oriented outfit), digital ID, and this process of so-called tokenization. This term is new to many people. Essentially, tokenization refers to the process of placing a metric, a mark, an identifying code on an object. The identifying marker is then pumped into an aggregating and analytical machine.

There is, no doubt, some obscurantism in the tech community, intentional or otherwise, as well as some heavy cognitive dissonance playing out for the rest of us as we watch the real, actual economy withering at our feet. How does giving (or selling) rights to natural resources like water help you and your neighbors pay bills, raise families, live in some semblance of accord with God?

The coming system is intended to solve for the management of not just anything but everything.

Neither Larry Fink nor the WEF are working on our behalf by digitizing water. Then what are they up to? Dropping in recently on CNBC, Fink said, “I do believe we’re just at the beginning of the tokenization of all assets, from real estate to equities to bonds, across the board.”

Through the implementation of natural resource assets, the plan is to mark, meter, and digitize water, trees, air, and animals of every sort, then pin their existence, in the digital tokens’ monetized form, to the shared economy. That unlocks foreign investment and, one imagines, perpetuates some modified version of the ever-unstable and unsatisfactory financial enclosure of benefits and retirement that has, so far, kept enough U.S. citizens satiated to keep it rolling.

Any and every AI is designed or able to adapt to the tokenization process. It needs be automatic and fast enough to keep up-to-the-minute record of millions or billions of transactions, sales, shorts, liquidations, and so forth. Rather than a system of streams or channels, the need is for computing to move like water itself. For Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies hoping to participate in the tokenization bonanza, that means their encryption and storing of information (through so-called hashes and ledgers) needs to flow at the speed of the global digital economy.

Indeed, we’ve seen for years that some lesser-known cryptocurrency companies, like Hashbar as one example, have been building their hash, as it were, to function within an AI-controlled global marketplace. These hash-products, not too dissimilar from Bitcoin in terms of their ledger-keeping properties, are meant, in a stupefying sense, to mark individual drops and tranches of liquid or digitally liquified assets.

RELATED: Can anyone save America from European-style digital ID?

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

It’s hard to visualize such unnatural and invisible arrangements, so here’s a real-world example: Say you have 10,000 board feet of Douglas fir trees on a lot in Washington state. If the Fink version of tokenization goes forward, you’ll be able to “digitize” those useful board feet of wood and sell portions, as opposed to the whole lot. Now picture that process for, well, anything you can imagine and much that you can’t.

In simple terms, the likely outcome of all of this BlackRock-WEF-AI machination is immediate dissociation between the human and the trees, the fir needles, the smell of the soil. All of that, given enough backroom dealing, political sloth, and diabolical Wall Street ingenuity, will be erased.

Are we talking about selling public lands? Theoretically, yes. Although major legal, regulatory, and political hurdles remain, the principle of leaving at least some portions of the created world exempt from actionable financial valuation is already eroding away. The accelerating logic of digital terraforming has no conceptual limit. Granting the premise that tokenization is good, not only should private property be tokenized, but all water, all minerals, and every possible other item with unexploited value rooted in human experience. The coming AI, digital ID, hash-rated system is intended to solve for the management of not just anything but everything.

The disturbing undercurrent of plans, outcomes, and inertia around this improbable intersection of technologies gets more disturbing when you accept that it is, in fact, a long-term plan nearly realized.

In her chat with Beck, Webb outlines another piece of the puzzle, termed “natural asset corporations.” This is pitched to the mainstream as a way to invest in conservation, ensure biodiversity, and so forth. But if we recall the century-long technocratic play, the current AI inertia, and the bipartisan support for anything to keep the fiat economy limping along, it’s easy to see how those natural assets under ownership might be subject to changes in any legal stipulation barring sales to other corporate or government entities. Those interlocking directorships have a knack for change.

We haven’t even mentioned energy, but we must, because this scheme ultimately needs to take into account the sun itself! Who owns the sun? Well, BlackRock, of course. Or some quasi-tech giant/WEF version of BlackRock.

Actually, no one owns the sun but God, and we have to remember this fact. By way of the wholly God-given system, we see that the sun feeds the grass, grass feeds the animals, we eat the animals.

The technical details on the capture of energy are intense, involving data centers to run the AI, political control to rubber-stamp the terraforming for the electrical inputs, and, at some near point, the encrypting of energetic inputs into a digital (hashing) ledger to be monitored, metered, and controlled.

You can probably see here how necessary the personal digital ID is to the entire panopticon. But if not, consider it unlikely that your or my interests are going to be taken into consideration by third-country customer service agents employed by the electrical company to manage our dissatisfaction in the event that a neighborhood brown-out is required while grid power is shunted over to the local data center.

​Tech, Culture, Politics 

Republicans have given voters no reason to support them beyond the claim that Democrats are dangerously radical.

Well, sure. But when voters look around and see rising prices, rising crime, and no clear plan from the party in power, they turn to the other side. That’s what happened in Virginia, and it will keep happening as long as life stays unaffordable and Republicans offer nothing but excuses.

Republicans can still win — but not with hollow slogans or billionaire donors. They need to fight for affordable living, strong families, and safe communities.

Democrats’ victories in Virginia and New Jersey shouldn’t shock anyone — Trump didn’t need either state to win the presidency in 2024. What should alarm Republicans are the margins. Democrats crushed their opponents by 15 points in Virginia and 13 in New Jersey, performing better than Kamala Harris did against Trump in New York.

The blue wave swept deep into Republican territory. Democrats unseated Virginia’s attorney general — a respected conservative — with Jay “Two Bullets” Jones, a radical, scandal-prone candidate, and still won by nearly seven points. They gained at least 13 legislative seats, leaving Republicans with half the representation they held just eight years ago.

In Georgia, Democrats flipped two public service commission seats — their first statewide wins since 2006 — and won them by 24 points. They broke the GOP supermajority in the Mississippi Senate, flipped a state House seat, and took local races across Pennsylvania. In New Jersey, where Republicans didn’t even see the blowout coming, Democrats regained a supermajority in the General Assembly.

Taken together, these results point to a coming wipeout. Democrats have outperformed their 2024 presidential baseline by an average of 15 points in special elections this year, according to Ballotpedia — more than double the overperformance seen during Trump’s first term. In 45 of 46 key contests, Democrats either held or improved their position.

All liabilities, no benefits

Republicans now face the worst possible political scenario: They hold power, which unites and energizes Democrats, but they’ve done almost nothing with it to inspire anyone else.

The first year of Trump’s second term has been defined by trivial fights and tone-deaf priorities: tax favors for tech investors, special deals for crypto, and zoning disasters for rural and suburban voters. The data center explosion in Virginia, which has raised utility bills and wrecked communities, could have been an easy populist target. Instead, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) vetoed a bill to rein it in.

Despite cozying up to Big Tech, Republicans haven’t reaped any benefit. The Virginia Republican Party is broke, its candidates are outspent, and the grassroots are demoralized. The GOP keeps selling out to special interests that will never back the party. How have the ties to crypto, Big Tech, and Qatar paid off?

The reality is, Republicans don’t need those donors — they need a message to inspire a new generation of activists.

How Democrats outflanked the GOP

Democrats have learned to look like the party of normalcy while Republicans drift between populist posturing and corporate servitude. In Virginia, Abigail Spanberger ran on cutting costs, lowering taxes, and fighting crime — and she did it in the language of moderation. Republicans, who should own those issues, barely showed up for the debate.

Spanberger’s ads promised relief from inflation and touted her background in the CIA and law enforcement. She presented herself as steady and practical while Republicans floundered. Once again, Democrats outflanked the GOP on the right.

Republicans could have drawn blood by hammering Democrats on crime in Northern Virginia. Instead, they ran away from tough-on-crime policies. Winsome Earle-Sears even toyed with “criminal justice reform” while voters begged for accountability and order.

The result: Democrats ran as Bush-era Republicans, while Republicans looked like corporate consultants. Democrats talked about affordability and safety. Republicans talked about crypto and zoning boards.

The Trump paradox

The GOP’s reliance on one man has hollowed it out. Trump won the presidency in 2016 by talking about forgotten workers and American industry. But his divided message, personal vendettas, and fixation on media attention have since consumed the movement.

RELATED: Here’s what exit polls reveal about Tuesday’s electoral bloodbath

Photo by Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Now the party gets the worst of both worlds — all of Trump’s baggage, none of his appeal. Democrats use him to rally turnout. Independents recoil. The GOP lacks infrastructure, vision, and discipline. The movement that once promised to fight the establishment has become addicted to social media applause.

A party in search of conviction

If Virginia had a commanding figure like Ron DeSantis at the top of the ticket, Republicans might have dampened the blue wave. But without an inspiring message, voters in an economic crisis will always drift to the other side.

The problem isn’t demographics; if it were, Democrats would campaign in Virginia the same way they do in California or New York City. Instead, they skate by on empty promises because Republicans, trapped by special interests and lacking a winning message, have become easy targets — and surrendered the very issues that could win back suburban voters.

Republicans can still win — but not with hollow slogans or billionaire donors. They need to fight for affordable living, strong families, and safe communities. They need a moral and economic vision that reaches beyond social media and into the lives of working Americans.

The question conservatives must ask is the one George Patton once put to his men in another context: When will we finally fight and die on our own hills instead of dying on someone else’s?

Twitter is not America. And unless Republicans start acting like they know the difference, they’ll keep losing — and keep deserving it.

​Opinion & analysis, 2025 elections, Democrats, Republicans, Blue wave, Virginia gubernatorial race, New jersey, Jay jones, Abigail spanberger, Donald trump, Ron desantis, Supermajority, Exit polls, Zohran mamdani, New york city, California, Gavin newsom, Law and order, Criminal justice reform, Crime, Affordability crisis, Public safety, Ai data center, Populism, George patton, Billionaires 

The state of California is asking that a man convicted of horrific repeated rape of his children be released after he was diagnosed with dementia.

Ramiro Ruiz was incarcerated for 85 years to life in 1998 after being convicted of heinous crimes that involved repeatedly raping, sodomizing, and drugging his children. He also chained up the children.

‘This guy was clearly a monster then, and he’s a monster now.’

On Monday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation went before a Madera County courtroom and asked that Ruiz be released before his impending death.

The CDCR argued that the 86-year-old was no longer a threat to society because of his advanced age and deteriorating condition.

Prosecuting Attorney Eric DuTemple opposed the release request.

“This guy was clearly a monster then, and he’s a monster now,” DuTemple said. “I think that he was best described in the probation court when he was sentenced that he is a sadistic pedophile.”

The victims ranged in age from 5 to 15 years old, and one was developmentally disabled. Ruiz was formerly diagnosed with sexual sadism disorder as well as pedophilic disorder.

“The decision the court has to make is the defendant is still capable of committing super strikes and is he an unreasonable risk to the public if we release him out of CDCR custody,” DuTemple continued.

Madera County District Attorney Sally Moreno argued that Ruiz was still capable of committing crimes against children if released.

RELATED: Man sentenced to 50 years for ‘staggering’ torture of his daughter including force-feeding of laxatives

“This was probably one of the most heinous sex crimes I have seen in my 20-plus years as a prosecutor,” Moreno said. “He does have an advanced age — I believe he’s 86 — but that doesn’t mean he’s incapable of maneuvering or manipulating a 2- or 3- or 4-year-old child up onto his lap where he could inflict all kinds of horrible damage.”

The judge refused the request on Monday, after shutting down the argument that Ruiz had behaved in prison. He pointed out that there were no children in prison to abuse.

“People were sentenced for their crimes, they were sentenced by judges and juries, and victims were given assurances that this is the amount of time this defendant would serve,” Moreno added.

Defense attorney Aaron Montoya indicated that they may refile a request for compassionate release.

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Democrats are learning all the wrong lessons from where their vile rhetoric has gotten them — and Nancy Pelosi’s latest outburst is only the latest proof.

In a recent CNN interview, Pelosi called Donald Trump “a vile creature” and “the worst thing on the face of the earth,” before backing up her claim with virtually nothing.

“He’s just a vile creature. The worst thing on the face of the earth, but anyway,” Pelosi told the interviewer.

“You think he’s the worst thing on the face of the earth?” the interviewer asked.

“Yeah, I do, because he’s the president of the United States, and he does not honor the Constitution of the United States,” Pelosi replied.

“Really, Nancy? You couldn’t think of one single solitary thing that’s worse than a president who believes in things like freedom and liberty, and, you know, smaller government and lower taxes? That’s really the worst thing in the world to you?” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales responds on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

“These people are so incredible in their myopic thinking. I really wonder how they’re going to cope when Donald Trump is out of politics,” she adds.

Pelosi’s assertion that Donald Trump is “the worst thing on the face of the earth” is the kind of rhetoric that has led many Democrats to speak similarly to any Republican voter or official, as is evidenced in one recent case out of Montana.

After voting for Trump’s big, beautiful bill, freshman Senator of Montana Tim Sheehy (R) received an alarming voicemail from Haley McKnight, a woman running for the Helena city commission.

“I just wanted to let you know that you are the most insufferable kind of coward and thief. You just stripped away health care for 17 million Americans. And I hope you’re really proud of that. I hope that one day you get pancreatic cancer and it spreads throughout your body so fast that they can’t even treat you for it,” McKnight said in the warm, friendly voicemail.

“I hope that you die in the street like a dog. One day, you’re going to live to regret this. I hope that your children never forgive you. I hope that you are infertile. I hope you never manage to get a boner ever again. You are the worst piece of s**t I’ve ever, ever, ever had the misfortune of looking at, and you don’t serve Montanans. You serve your own private interests,” she continued.

“God forbid that you ever meet me on the streets, because I will make you regret it. F**k you. I hope you die,” she added, for good measure.

Apparently, McKnight doubled down when asked about the voicemail, calling it justifiable rage.

“Did she have this all mapped out on a piece of paper, or did she just fly in there blind?” Gonzales asks, shocked.

“This woman is running for office,” she adds.

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The newly elected mayor of Coeur d’Alene in Idaho was accused of making hateful comments against Christians in a video spliced together from the many rants he posted to social media.

Councilman Dan Gookin garnered 34.2% of the vote to defeat the incumbent mayor as well two other opponents. Gookin had been a member of the city council since 2011 and ran as a Republican but has a history of tangling with the local GOP.

‘I admit that my language is salty. For that I apologize. I am a passionate man. I get worked up, especially when extremists are trying to destroy my community.’

After Gookin won the mayoral election, a video of his comments about Christians resurfaced on social media. The video contains multiple clips, many of which are unrelated phrases.

“Christians, they tend to be the rudest, most disrespectful jerks I have ever seen,” he said in the video.

“I seriously think if Jesus were here today he would have a message for everyone who’s a Christian, and he would just say, ‘Get the f**k!” he says in another clip.

The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee reposted the video in Oct. 2024 along with a statement of condemnation.

We have received multiple complaints from community members regarding Dan Gookin, Precinct Committeeman, Coeur d’Alene City Councilman, “North Idaho Republican” member. … It has been reported that he has engaged in verbally abusive behavior towards Christians, including the use of insults and defamation. The KCRCC rejects ALL forms of racial, religious, sexual, and political supremacy; and ALL political violence; and ALL political weaponization of mislabels.

However, Gookin responded at that time with a video explaining the context of many of the spliced clips and showed that they were misleading.

For instance, the second comment quoted was actually from a rant against Facebook but was cut off to make it appear that he was simply criticizing Christians.

“I seriously think if Jesus were here today he would have a message for everyone who’s a Christian, and he would say, ‘Get the f**k off Facebook!'” reads the full quote in context.

He said that some of the other clips had to do with comments he saw from people identifying as Christians but mocking the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“It’s obvious to anyone with a brain that this stuff is taken out of context! But the far right lack brains,” Gookin said.

“I admit that my language is salty. For that I apologize. I am a passionate man. I get worked up, especially when extremists are trying to destroy my community,” he adds.

He went on to post other clips with more context.

“I’m sure the Pharisees back in Judea would have loved this technology and used it to take Christ’s teachings out of context and do a video like the local far right has done to me,” he continued. “Evil hasn’t changed much in 2,000 years.”

RELATED: Liberal feminists melt down on Twitter over one tweet from a Christian pastor

Gookin complimented the voters for choosing to elect him mayor.

“The citizens of Coeur d’Alene made a good decision, and I look forward to serving them,” he said.

In Oct. 2023, the KCRCC sued Gookin for defamation related to accusations of “money laundering, election fraud, and campaign finance violations.” That lawsuit was dropped after they reached a mediated settlement to receive $25,000 from Gookin’s insurance company.

Gookin also defended a local ice cream shop from critics who attacked it for showing support for Charlie Kirk after his assassination.

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A Democratic congressman tried to criticize a deportation operation, but the Department of Homeland Security said he was “deliberately misrepresenting” the incident.

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) posted a video on Wednesday of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents dragging a woman out of a preschool.

‘ICE law enforcement did NOT target a daycare and were only at this location because the female illegal alien fled inside.’

“ICE isn’t going after the worst of the worst. This morning, they took a preschool teacher without a warrant IN FRONT OF CHILDREN in my district,” he added to the post.

Only hours later, DHS responded from its official social media account and completely undermined Quigley’s version of the incident.

“Congressman, you are deliberately misrepresenting the facts,” the agency wrote. “ICE law enforcement did NOT target a daycare and were only at this location because the female illegal alien fled inside.”

DHS said that officers were trying to perform a “targeted traffic stop” of the female because she was an illegal alien from Colombia. The driver of the car refused to pull over, and the officers gave chase.

The couple abandoned the car at a shopping mall and then went into the day care and preschool.

“They ran into a daycare and attempted to barricade themselves inside the daycare — recklessly endangering the children inside,” the statement continued. “The illegal alien female was arrested inside a vestibule, not in the school. Upon arrest, she lied about her identity.”

RELATED: ICE officer shoots at driver who tried to run over agent during vehicle stop in California, DHS says

“Facts including criminality and information on the male assailant are forthcoming and we will update the public with more information as soon as it becomes available,” DHS added.

Quigley responded with just two words.

“They’re lying,” he wrote.

A WGN-TV report claimed to confirm that a day care teacher had been detained from the Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center in Chicago. The school indicated in a statement that the officers did not present a warrant and were following the woman, who was arriving for work.

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Americans across the country are overwhelming food bank and hunger relief organization lines after SNAP benefits were halted on November 1 — with nearly 42 million Americans losing their benefits all at once.

In Phoenix, one woman waiting in a devastatingly long line at St. Mary’s Food Bank told a reporter that she wants the men and women in Washington, D.C., to “hurry up and get the job done” and “worry about the people, not about themselves.”

Reportedly, 900,000 Arizonans were gearing up to lose their benefits.

And in Los Angeles County it’s even worse, as over 1 million families are on EBT — which is out of 3.2 million families total, amounting to about one-third of the population.

However, two U.S. judges have ordered the Department of Agriculture to release contingency funding to restart the SNAP benefits, but those funds may not reach families who are hungry for up to a week.

“Our elected officials are letting us down because, you know, we vote and put these people in office, and they tend to get a personal vendetta going with each other and forget about the main thing, which is the people,” one woman in L.A. County told a reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

Because of the amount of people on EBT, the food banks helping out are expecting to run out of food.

“That is not sustainable,” executive producer of “Pat Gray Unleashed” Keith Malinak comments, shocked. “Even in good times.”

“That’s staggering,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray agrees.

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