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From September 26 to October 9, 2025, Saudi Arabia is hosting its inaugural Riyadh Comedy Festival as part of Vision 2030’s entertainment push. High-profile American comedians, including Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart, and Bill Burr, among others, were invited to perform for payments reportedly ranging from $300,000 to $1.6 million.

However, the conditions for their skits are strict: No criticizing the Saudi government, the royal family, the Islamic faith, or local culture.

Given Saudi Arabia’s suppression of free speech, imprisonment of dissidents and activists, and restrictions on women’s rights, the agreement of so many American comedians to perform, especially under such rigid speech restrictions, has sparked widespread controversy.

Glenn Beck is certainly perplexed. If the Trump administration offered these American comedians the same amount of money to perform for a “Trump comedy weekend” on the condition they don’t criticize the government, the Trump family, or MAGA culture, they would never agree to it, he says.

“Everybody would have been out of their mind crazy on the left saying, ‘Look at Donald Trump, wants to shut people down,”’ he scoffs.

Comedian Bridget Phetasy thinks success has gone to comedians’ heads. “I think comedians got too rich. … Maybe comedians in general just need to go back to being kind of viewed as dumb losers again,” she laughs.

“Maybe this is a challenge for them to push the limits because they can say whatever they want in America. So going to Saudi is, like, a little dangerous, a little titillating,” she adds.

However, she doesn’t necessarily blame these comedians — especially the ones who haven’t had much success — for taking advantage of the opportunity. They may be choosing to “sell their [souls],” but many of them probably needed the money.

“Some of these comedians were not hugely famous and have been struggling for a long time. … So, I don’t know. It’s like, get that bag, but you’re going to have to hear about this forever,” Phetasy tells Glenn, noting that some of the more well-known comedians probably ended up doing damage to their brands for agreeing to the Saudis’ conditions.

Glenn’s co-host, Stu Burguiere, doesn’t see an issue with comedians performing in Saudi Arabia either. “I don’t understand why there is a double standard for entertainers in this world. All sorts of American companies sell products in these countries. … Tons of investors do business in Saudi Arabia,” he says.

“This is not the Nazi regime. We’re not at war with them. They’re supposedly in some ways allies of ours, and, like, do the people of Saudi Arabia not get to laugh? Do they not get to go to comedy shows?”

“That’s all absolutely true, and I don’t blame really any of these people for taking the money and going. At the same time, you also have to understand that you are a useful idiot who’s being used by a regime,” Phetasy counters.

Unlike Stu, she doesn’t think this comedy event is the same as an American company doing business with the Saudis.

“Business people are smart enough to be behind closed doors and do all this stuff in Park City at secretive events where they all fly in on their private jet. And entertainers — their face is their brand; their jokes are their brand. … I think that’s why they get held to this unfair double standard because they’re actually quite poor compared to everyone else around them. These are court jesters for the kings. Literally,” she says.

But Glenn can’t get past the hypocrisy. “The Jewish state could have put on a comedy festival and paid them the same amount of money, and I bet you almost all of those comedians would have turned it down because it’s Israel. They would never do it for Donald Trump,” he says.

To hear more of the conversation, watch the video above.

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​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Bridget phetasy, Comedians, Dave chappelle, Comedy, Saudi arabia, Blazetv, Blaze media 

Virginia Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones is facing increasing pressure to withdraw from the race after a disturbing text message exchange he had with a colleague in 2022 was leaked to the public. The messages were so upsetting that they even prompted an MSNBC host to call for Jones to end his campaign.

Jones, then a Democratic Virginia House delegate, texted Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner on August 8, 2022, criticizing Republican lawmakers, including then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, according to messages obtained by the National Review.

‘He should probably be forced to withdraw from the race.’

He reportedly called Gilbert a “POS,” adding that if his Republican colleagues “die before me,” he would “go to their funerals to piss on their graves.”

“Three people, two bullets,” Jones allegedly wrote. “Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot.”

“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones apparently continued. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”

Jones also appeared to wish harm on Gilbert’s children.

RELATED: Texas National Guard deployed to Chicago amid increasing left-wing violence

Jay Jones. Trevor Metcalfe/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

“Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy,” Jones reportedly wrote.

“I mean do I think Todd and Jennifer are evil? And that they’re breeding little fascists? Yes,” he allegedly continued.

Coyner responded by asking Jones to “please stop,” adding, “It really bothers me when you talk about hurting people or wishing death on them.”

Coyner told the National Review that she sent screenshots of the conversation to Gilbert the same day.

“On August 8, 2022, I had a text conversation with Jay Jones. What he said was not just disturbing but disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office,” she told the news outlet. “Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and joked about shooting Todd Gilbert. It’s disgusting and unbecoming of any public official.”

Jones did not deny sending the messages. However, he initially downplayed his remarks and blamed the uproar about the messages on his opponent, Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, in a statement to WTVR-TV on Friday.

“Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret, and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics,” Jones wrote. “Let’s be clear about what is happening in the attorney general race right now: Jason Miyares is dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign. This is a strategy that ensures Jason Miyares will continue to be accountable to Donald Trump, not the people of Virginia. This race is about whether Trump can control Virginia or Virginians control Virginia.”

Later that day, he issued another statement, taking “full responsibility for my actions” and extending his “deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family.”

“Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry,” the statement reads. “I have reached out to Speaker Gilbert to apologize directly to him, his wife Jennifer, and their children. I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology. Virginians deserve honest leaders who admit when they are wrong and own up to their mistakes. This was a grave mistake, and I will work every day to prove to the people of Virginia that I will fight for them as attorney general.”

Jones’ apology failed to stop the growing calls for his withdrawal from the race.

RELATED: Liberty cannot survive a culture that cheers assassins

Virginia State Delegate Todd Gilbert. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Miyares called Jones’ text messages “disqualifying, particularly in this era of political violence.”

“He apologized now, two years after the fact. … And he said it is only through pain that policy changes occur. Now, the idea that you think pain is what changes policy, I don’t think that’s acceptable in the public arena,” Miyares added.

President Donald Trump also urged Jones to end his campaign, calling him a “Radical Left Lunatic.”

“It has just come out that the Radical Left Lunatic, Jay Jones, who is running against Jason Miyares, the GREAT Attorney General in Virginia, made SICK and DEMENTED jokes, if they were jokes at all, which were not funny, and that he wrote down and sent around to people, concerning the murdering of a Republican Legislator, his wife, and their children,” Trump wrote on social media. “Democrat Jay Jones should drop out of the Race, IMMEDIATELY, and the People of Virginia must continue to have a GREAT Attorney General in Jason Miyares who, by the way, has my Complete and Total Endorsement — JASON WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

Even MSNBC host Joe Scarborough agreed that Jones should withdraw his candidacy.

“He should probably be forced to withdraw from the race. And ‘probably’ is doing a lot there,” Scarborough stated during the Monday episode of “Morning Joe.”

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger did not explicitly call for Jones to withdraw.

“After learning of these comments earlier today, I spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted,” Spanberger stated. “I made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words. What I have also made clear is that as a candidate — and the next governor of our commonwealth, I will always condemn violent language in our politics.”

Blaze News asked Spanberger and the Virginia Democratic Party whether they have any plans to request that Jones withdraw from the race.

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Country singer Zach Bryan is coming under fire for releasing a snippet of a song that appears to attack Immigration and Customs Enforcement while claiming the U.S. is “fading.”

The singer-songwriter released a snippet of what seems to be a new song, but the lyrics led many to criticize him on social media.

‘I don’t care how popular he is, he’ll never sound the same to me.’

The snippet was posted to his Instagram account with only the description “the fading of the red white and blue.”

The lyrics refer to police as “cocky motherf**kers” and then have a line against ICE.

“ICE is gonna come bust down your door,” it reads. “Try to build a house / no one builds no more.”

The lyrics end, “Got some bad news / the fading of the red, white, and blue.”

Many online objected to the message of the song.

“Who’s ready for the Zach Bryan-Dixie Chicks tour? Prob a huge Bud Light sponsorship for this one,” joked country singer John Rich.

“Zach Bryan has always been a giant douchebag…his music has also always sucked. I’m just glad more people will start to see how big of a clown he really is,” read another response.

RELATED: TikToker encourages illegal aliens to find vacant homes and become squatters: ‘We can seize it!’

Photo by James Smith/Sam Snap/Getty Images

“ICE agents risk their lives daily. Violent leftists throw bricks at them, attack them, spit at them, even shoot at them. And this is the song he released. Career over,” said one critic.

“Deleted all of his music. He’s like Springsteen now. I don’t care how popular he is, he’ll never sound the same to me,” responded another detractor.

“Yeah, over this guy now. I was listening but as soon as the politics comes out, he goes the way of Robert DiNero [sic], Bruce Springsteen, Cher, and all the other far left proponents. Too bad,” read another response.

Bryan made headlines in 2023 when he was arrested in Oklahoma and charged with obstruction of investigation. He posted his side of the story on a video on social media and apologized for getting too “lippy” with the police.

“I was an idiot today,” he said at the time.

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​Zach bryan, Anti-ice song, Leftist celebrities, Anti-ice rioting, Politics 

With the government shutdown nearing its first full week, Democrats have kept up their demands that have led to the deadlock. Over the weekend, however, President Trump had some choice words for Fox News after the outlet aired an interview with a Democrat senator arguing for their outrageous demands.

Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a familiar figure on Fox News programming, joined Fox News White House correspondent and co-host of “The Sunday Briefing” Peter Doocy to discuss health care in an interview on Sunday. Amid the government shutdown, President Trump took to Truth Social to call out this move.

‘Fox should either get on board, or get off board, NOW.’

“Why is FoxNews [sic] and Peter Doocy putting on Democrat Senator Mark Kelly to talk about, totally unabated or challenged, Healthcare?” Trump said in a Truth Social post Sunday morning. “The FAKE SPIN is so bad for Republicans that it is hard to believe that we WIN.”

In one part of the interview, Kelly called Republican criticism of Democrats’ demands a “red herring.”

RELATED: Trump administration finds a creative new way to mock Democrats amid shutdown

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump gave Fox News what appears to be an ultimatum regarding its messaging going forward: “Fox should either get on board, or get off board, NOW, but at this point, it just doesn’t make any difference to me.

“They suck up the Ratings because of us, and then spin them in the Democrats’ direction.”

Trump also aired his grievances with what he perceived as incorrect polling, claiming his real approval rating is 65% popularity, “a Republican RECORD.”

“Republicans are so tired of this fight with Fox always trying to be so ‘politically correct!’ Thank you for your attention to this matter,” Trump concluded.

Blaze News reached out to Fox News for comment.

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​Politics, Trump, President trump, Government shutdown, Democrats, Peter doocy, Fox news, Sunday briefing, White house 

The Trump administration is deploying 400 troops from the Texas National Guard to Chicago amid escalating violence over Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the city. The move comes on the heels of an attack on ICE officers, allegedly by left-wing activists, and weeks of rolling protests and riots around ICE detention facilities in and around the city.

‘Violent incidents … are impeding the execution of the laws of the United States.’

The unrest has increased in response to Operation Midway Blitz, an immigration enforcement operation targeting illegal aliens in Chicago. The city has become a hotbed for illegal immigration due in large part to its status as a sanctuary city, meaning that law enforcement is not permitted to cooperate with federal personnel and city resources are open to illegal aliens.

In a memo on Sunday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced he was activating the Texas National Guard, writing, “Violent incidents, as well as the credible threat of continued violence are impeding the execution of the laws of the United States.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said that he “fully authorized the President to call up 400 members of the Texas National Guard to ensure safety for federal officers.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, called the deployment “Trump’s invasion” in a post on X and said, “Every American must speak up and help stop this madness.” He lamented the fact that “no officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate.”

Pritzker signed a law in 2019 banning Illinois law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. He has stated that “the state of Illinois will not coordinate with ICE on federal immigration enforcement.”

RELATED: Trump reportedly sends 300 National Guard members to Portland from California — and Democrats are seething

Photo by Spencer Platt / Contributor Via Getty Images

In a press release, the Department of Homeland Security announced that special operations teams have been deployed to Chicago following attacks on federal law enforcement on Saturday. The attacks occurred as Border Patrol officers were carrying out operations in Chicago.

According to DHS, Border Patrol vehicles were boxed in and then rammed by left-wing “domestic terrorists.” One of the alleged assailants, Marimar Martinez, “was armed with a semi-automatic weapon and has a history of doxxing federal agents.”

CBP agents fired shots in self-defense, hitting Martinez, who has been discharged from a local hospital and is now in FBI custody, the press release said. Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, suspected of driving another vehicle “involved in the ramming,” has also been arrested.

Crowds “began throwing smoke, gas, rocks, and bottles at DHS law enforcement” as the scene became increasingly violent. DHS reported that Pritzker refused “to allow local police to help secure the scene.”

Another ICE vehicle suffered a flat tire and was “mobbed by domestic terrorists, forcing law enforcement to abandon the vehicle for their own safety.” DHS added that several CBP officers have been hospitalized with various injuries.

In addressing the situation, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “We will not allow domestic terrorists to attack our law enforcement. If you lay a hand on law enforcement, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

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​Operation midway blitz, Chicago, Hegseth, Abbott, Pritzker, Border patrol, Politics 

ESPN and Disney have rejected the accusation that executives removed commentator Paul Finebaum from network shows after he spoke about Charlie Kirk in an interview that aired last week.

Finebaum, a legend in college football broadcasting, appeared in a sit-down interview with OutKick’s Clay Travis to discuss a possible transition into federal politics.

‘This is not true at all. The below is TOTALLY FALSE.’

Finebaum told Travis he was greatly affected by the death of Kirk, saying he was “numb” for hours after hearing about the assassination.

“I felt very empty doing what I was doing that day,” Finebaum told Travis. “It’s hard to describe, not being involved in politics … how that affected me and affected tens of millions of people all over this country. And it was an awakening.”

Finebaum then revealed that he was subsequently inspired by Kirk and may be exploring a run for Senate as a Republican in Alabama.

Since the interview was released on Sept. 30, Finebaum has reportedly been pulled from ESPN network shows.

“Disney/ESPN has removed [Finebaum] from appearing on ESPN since his [OutKick] interview expressing interest in running as a Republican for senate in Alabama,” OutKick’s Travis wrote on X. “ESPN has canceled all network appearances on all shows, including some that have occurred for a decade plus.”

However, Travis was immediately confronted by one of ESPN’s own.

RELATED: Charlie Kirk assassination inspires famed ESPN commentator to run for Senate — as a conservative

— (@)

About 25 minutes after Travis’ post, ESPN’s vice president of communications, Bill Hofheimer, responded to claims with a straight denial.

“This is not true at all. The below is TOTALLY FALSE,” Hofheimer wrote on X.

Travis hit back, saying the decision was above Hofheimer’s “pay grade” while asking the executive to cite appearances by Finebaum.

Travis’ claims were followed by college sports site On3 confirming the story through reporter Pete Nakos.

Alabama’s AL.com also said it had confirmed the story. However, ESPN is sticking to Hofheimer’s statement.

— (@)

In comments to Blaze News, ESPN referred to Hofheimer’s X post as its official public comment.

“Finebaum was never banned. Any reporting on this is totally false,” ESPN’s senior communications director, Amanda Brooks, explained.

She told Blaze News that not only is Finebaum scheduled to appear on ESPN’s “First Take” on Tuesday, he is also “scheduled to do hits on SportsCenter this weekend.”

The network stated that it is trying to find various college football analysts to step into different roles “in the event that Finebaum chooses to run for office” in order to be “prepared for his potential absence.”

ESPN outright denied the claims made by On3, Outkick, and AL.com

Brooks said Finebaum will continue his “SEC Nation” appearances and his own ESPN show, “The Paul Finebaum Show.”

Fans had noted that they saw Finebaum on SEC shows over the weekend.

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The United States faces an existential threat from the accelerating military power of communist China — a buildup fueled by decades of massive economic expansion. If America intends to counter Beijing’s ambitions, it must grow faster, leaner, and more efficient. Economic strength is national security.

The ongoing government shutdown may not be popular, but it gives President Trump a rare opportunity to make good on his campaign pledge to drain — and redesign — “the swamp.” Streamlining the federal government isn’t just good politics. It’s a matter of survival.

A government that builds wealth rather than expands debt can out-produce China, sustain deterrence, and restore the American ideal of self-government.

George Washington ran the nation with four Cabinet departments: war, treasury, state, and the attorney general. The Department of the Interior came later, followed by the Department of Agriculture, added by Abraham Lincoln in 1862 when America was an agrarian power.

The modern Cabinet, by contrast, is a bureaucratic junkyard built more in reaction to political problems than by design. The Labor Department was carved from the Commerce Department to appease the unions. Lyndon Johnson invented the Department of Transportation. Jimmy Carter established the Department of Energy in response to the Arab oil embargo. The Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence emerged after 9/11.

The result is a patchwork of agencies wired together with duct tape, overlap, and patronage. A government designed for crisis management has become a permanent crisis unto itself.

Enter the Department of National Economy

A return to first principles starts with a single question: How can we accelerate American productivity?

The answer: consolidate. Merge the Departments of Commerce, Labor, Agriculture, Transportation, and Energy into a Department of National Economy. One Cabinet secretary, five undersecretaries, one mission: to expand the flow of goods and services that generate national wealth.

The new department’s motto should be a straightforward question: What did your enterprise do today to increase the wealth of the United States?

Fewer bureaucracies mean fewer fiefdoms, less redundancy, and enormous cost savings. Synergy replaces stovepipes. The government’s economic engine becomes a single machine instead of six competing engines running on taxpayer fuel.

Fold Homeland Security into the Coast Guard

Homeland Security should be absorbed by the U.S. Coast Guard, which already functions as a paramilitary force with both military and police authority, much like Italy’s Carabinieri. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, DHS personnel would share discipline, training, and accountability.

FEMA would cease to be a dumping ground for political hacks. Any discrimination in disaster aid — such as punishing Trump voters — would trigger a court-martial.

The Secret Service would focus solely on protective duties, handing its financial-crime work to the FBI. The secretary of the Coast Guard would gain a seat in the Cabinet.

Restoring intelligence to the OSS model

The Office of Director of National Intelligence should be re-established as the Office of Strategic Services, commanded by a figure in the tradition of Major General “Wild Bill” Donovan. Elements of U.S. Special Operations Command would be seconded to the new OSS, reviving its World War II lineage.

All intelligence agencies — CIA, DIA, FBI, the State Department, DEA, and the service branches — should share common foundational training. The current decline in discipline and capability at the National Intelligence University, worsened by the DEI policies of its leadership, demands urgent correction. Diversity cannot come at the expense of competence.

RELATED: Memo to Hegseth: Our military’s problem isn’t only fitness. It’s bad education.

Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images

Law enforcement and the flat tax

At the Department of Justice, dissolve the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Shift alcohol and tobacco oversight to the DEA, firearms and explosives to the U.S. Marshals.

Let the DEA also absorb the Food and Drug Administration, which would become its research and standards division.

Return the FBI to pure investigation — armed but without arrest powers. Enforcement should rest with the U.S. Marshals. Counterintelligence would move to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, reinforced by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

The IRS should be dismantled and replaced with a small agency built around a flat-tax model such as the Hall-Rabushka plan.

Move the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response to Homeland Security. Send its Office of Climate Change and Health Equity to NOAA — or eliminate it entirely.

At the Department of Housing and Urban Development, expand the inspector general’s office tenfold and pay bonuses for rooting out fraud.

Restoring deterrence

The Pentagon needs its own overhaul. Because of China’s rapid military buildup, the Air Force’s Global Strike Command should be separated from U.S. Strategic Command and report directly to the secretary of war and the president under its historic name — Strategic Air Command.

Submarines and silos are invisible; bombers are not. Deterrence depends on visibility. A line of B-1s, B-2s, B-52s, and 100 new B-21 Raider stealth bombers, all bearing the mailed-fist insignia of the old SAC, would send an unmistakable message to Beijing.

RELATED: Exclusive: China behind massive nationwide SIM farm network that directly threatens American critical infrastructure

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Toward a leaner republic

With Trump back in the White House, this moment is ripe for radical efficiency. A government that builds wealth rather than expands debt can out-produce China, sustain deterrence, and restore the American ideal of self-government.

George Washington’s government fit inside a single carriage. We won’t return to that scale — but we can rediscover that spirit. A lean, unified, strategically organized government would make wealth creation easier, limit bureaucratic overreach, and preserve the republic for the long fight ahead.

​Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Department of justice, Department of homeland security, Intelligence community, Office of the director of national intelligence, Doge, Small government, Pentagon, Office of strategic services, Fbi, Cia, Reform, George washington, Irs, Flat tax, Taxes, Spending, China, National defense, National security, Coast guard, Department of national economy, Wealth, Economic growth, Employment, Jobs, Prosperity, Drain the swamp, Deep state, Administrative state, Deterrence, Peace through strength 

Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla were abruptly stopped on their way to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip amid the Israel-Hamas war last week. The group of over 40 ships was met by Israeli forces, and a little more than a third of the group has since been deported back to European countries.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, which consisted of 42 ships and roughly 450 members, set sail from Europe over a month ago and was approaching Gaza late last week, at which point Israeli forces apprehended the ships.

Greta Thunberg and 170 other members of the flotilla were deported following a brief detention period over the weekend.

Among the activists were several journalists, European lawmakers, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, and 22-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.

On Monday, the Independent reported that Thunberg and 170 other members of the flotilla were deported following a brief detention period over the weekend. Those who returned described mistreatment by the Israelis, though the Israelis vehemently denied these claims.

RELATED: Gaza flotilla with Greta Thunberg says they were attacked by drone bomb — video appears to show embarrassing culprit

Photo By Kike Rincon/Europa Press via Getty Images

“We also saw Greta Thunberg at the port, in that case with her arms tied and an Israeli flag next to her, just a mockery,” Italian journalist Saverio Tommasi said, according to the New York Post. “Let’s say the mockery was part of the verbal and psychological violence they always carried out, in order to demean, ridicule, and laugh in situations where there is nothing to laugh about.”

The Israel Foreign Ministry denied these claims, calling them “ludicrous and baseless allegations” and adding that Thunberg never complained about them “because they never occurred.”

An alleged video of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir went viral on Friday at the port where some of the flotilla activists were brought. The video allegedly shows Ben-Gvir mocking the activists, calling them “terrorists.”

One of the stated objectives of the flotilla was to break through the Israelis’ “illegal” blockade of Gaza, which has been in place since June 2007 when Hamas seized control of the territory from the Palestinian Authority.

The mission departed in late August 2025 in waves in order to deliver “medical supplies, nutritional aid, and solidarity crews,” according to the Global Sumud Flotilla’s August 10 press release.

Negotiators for the newly brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas are reportedly expected in Cairo on Monday.

Blaze News contacted the Global Sumud Flotilla for comment but did not receive a response.

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​Politics, Greta thunberg, Global sumud flotilla, Blockade, Gaza, Itamar ben-gvir, Israel, Hamas, Israelis, Israel hamas war 

Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny delivered part of his monologue in Spanish last weekend on “Saturday Night Live.”

The appearance came after the artist, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, was named by the NFL as the Super Bowl LX halftime performer.

‘I think everyone is happy about it. Even Fox News.’

Ocasio opened the sketch comedy show by telling the audience he is very happy to be performing at the Super Bowl, “and I think everyone is happy about it,” he joked. “Even Fox News.” Clips from Fox News anchors like Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters were played, spliced together to say, “Bad Bunny is my favorite musician and he should be the next president.”

The host went on, “I’m very excited to be doing the Super Bowl, and I know that people all around the world who love my music are also happy.”

At this point, Bad Bunny began speaking in Spanish.

Even though “Saturday Night Live” has always been an English broadcast and much of the controversy surrounding the Super Bowl appointment is due to the fact that his music is predominantly in Spanish, the singer delivered several lines of the monologue in the foreign language.

RELATED: Trump administration issues warning after Bad Bunny named to Super Bowl halftime show: ‘We will deport you’

“Especially all the Latinos and Latinas across the world, and here, in the United States, all those who have worked to open doors,” he continued, according to a translation by Newsweek.

Bad Bunny received raucous applause as he remarked, still in Spanish, “It’s more than an achievement for myself; it’s an achievement for all of us. It shows our footprint, and our contribution to this country, that no one will ever be able to take away or erase.”

He concluded with a line that was seemingly intended to mock his critics, switching back to English: “And if you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.”

The announcement that the 31-year-old will perform at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, in February took the internet by storm last week, especially since he said in September that he has avoided U.S. tour dates due to possible immigration enforcements at his concerts.

Providing “many reasons” as to why he did not “show up in the U.S.,” Bad Bunny said “there was the issue of — like, f**king ICE could be outside.”

“And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” he added, according to the Guardian.

RELATED: Anti-Trump artist Bad Bunny named Super Bowl halftime performer — immediately makes it political

Doja Cat, host Bad Bunny, and special guest Jon Hamm during “Saturday Night Live” on Saturday, October 4, 2025. Photo by Will Heath/NBC via Getty Images

Adviser to the Trump administration Corey Lewandowski was asked last week about Ocasio’s concern for illegal immigrants and their possible deportations. He confirmed in an interview that ICE agents will be at Super Bowl LX.

“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else,” Lewandowski explained.

Bad Bunny has also been criticized for mocking President Trump in a July 4 music video in which he draped the Puerto Rico flag over the Statue of Liberty and used an audio clip of an impersonation of the president.

Ocasio endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election and said he was offended by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico that was made at a Trump rally.

While performing in Spanish has become a sort of resistance effort by activists, especially at sporting events, it’s important to remember that Latin America did not start speaking Spanish until it was colonized.

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A judge’s South Carolina home went up in flames on Saturday afternoon, reportedly resulting in three hospitalizations.

Photos and videos of the incident showed large black plumes of smoke engulfing the four-story property. Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein and her husband, former South Carolina Sen. Arnold Goodstein (D), are the owners of the beachfront house, according to local reports.

Judge Goodstein was reportedly out for a walk with her dogs when the blaze broke out. Her husband, who was inside at the time, was forced to jump out a first-floor window, a neighbor told the Post and Courier. According to reports, he sustained multiple injuries, including broken bones in his hips, legs, and feet. He was airlifted to the hospital.

‘The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony.’

Two other individuals, one of whom is believed to be the couple’s son, were also reportedly hospitalized. The extent of their injuries has not been reported.

The South Carolina Supreme Court stated, “Chief Justice John W. Kittredge is aware of an incident involving Circuit Court Judge Diane Goodstein. At this time, [South Carolina Law Enforcement Division] is on the scene and will begin investigating as soon as the fire has been contained. Local law enforcement partners have been alerted and asked to provide extra patrols and security. The Judicial Branch will remain in close communication with SLED.”

While the cause of the fire remains unknown as the investigation continues, Kittredge indicated it was the result of an “apparent explosion.”

RELATED: From lawfare to ‘barfare’: Another way to target Trump allies

Diane Goodstein. Image source: South Carolina judicial website

“Judge Goodstein was walking on the beach when the fire started,” Kittredge said. “Her husband, Arnie, was in the house with children and perhaps grandchildren. The family had to escape by jumping from a window or balcony. I’m told there were injuries from the fall, such as broken legs.”

“Arnie’s injuries may have been the most serious, for he was airlifted to the hospital,” he added.

Critics of President Donald Trump have attributed the fire to right-wing extremism, despite the absence of any initial evidence amid the ongoing investigation.

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) slammed Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, and others in “MAGA-world” for supposedly “doxxing” judges, including Goodstein.

“Trump, @StephenM and MAGA-world have been doxxing and threatening judges who rule against Trump, including Judge Goodstein,” Goldman wrote in a post on X. “Today, someone committed arson on the Judge’s home, severely injuring her husband and son. Will Trump speak out against the extreme right that did this??”

Officials have not, at this point, indicated that the fire was the result of arson.

RELATED: Federal judges refuse to detain Rhode Island man indicted for alleged Trump assassination threats

Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images

Miller fired back, calling Goldman “deeply warped and vile.”

“While the Trump Administration has launched the first-ever government-wide effort to combat and prosecute illegal doxing, sinister threats and political violence you continue to push despicable lies, demented smears, malicious defamation and foment unrest. Despicable,” Miller responded.

“Meanwhile, the Democrat AG nominee in Virginia is fantasizing about murdering his opponents,” Miller continued, referring to text messages that nominee Jay Jones admitted to sending about former political rival Todd Gilbert, “and a Biden federal judge is showing radical leniency to a monster who tried to assassinate a Supreme Court Justice.”

“While you post your libelous madness, we will keep focused on delivering public safety and fighting domestic terror,” Miller added.

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​News, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Stephen miller, Fire, Diana goodstein, Arnold goodstein, South carolina, South carolina supreme court, John kittredge, Daniel goodman, Politics 

“Doors win wars” is more than just a slogan. It’s a proven fact.

In Pennsylvania, our Citizens Alliance team executed the largest Republican ballot-chasing program in the country, knocking on more than 510,000 doors in 2024. The public goal was for Donald Trump to capture 33% of the mail-in vote. He earned 34.5% — and with it, Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes. That effort helped re-elect Trump as president.

The ‘New Jersey Chase’ is about more than one race. It’s about creating a model Republicans can replicate across the country.

Now we’re bringing that same fight to New Jersey.

With mail-in ballots already hitting mailboxes in the governor’s race, the “New Jersey Chase” has officially begun. The mission is simple: flip New Jersey red.

We aim to deliver a victory for Jack Ciattarelli, flip key state assembly seats, and push conservative leadership into county and local offices up and down the ballot.

Democrats have run a ballot-harvesting machine in New Jersey for decades. They exploited mail-in rules while Republicans sat on the sidelines, often complaining about the system instead of competing inside it. That ends now.

I’ve said it before: I don’t like mail-in voting. But I like losing even less. Until the rules change, we can’t let Democrats dominate the battlefield uncontested. The rules are the rules. Our job is to win under them.

So far, our New Jersey Chase team has knocked on 284,565 doors, encouraging Republicans to request, complete, and return their mail-in ballots.

Each door we knock and each conversation we have are about more than one election. It’s about building a culture of action on the right.

This mission is personal. On September 10, when my friend and mentor Charlie Kirk was assassinated for standing up for free expression and American values, something changed in all of us. I don’t need to spell it out — we saw it. The world saw it.

Charlie believed in the power of dialogue to move people off the sidelines and into the fight. He also believed in me.

When the Trump campaign needed someone to design and execute a ballot-chasing strategy in Pennsylvania, Charlie asked me to take it on. Together, we proved the establishment wrong.

RELATED: Charlie Kirk sparks viral Christian revival: ‘I’m going to go take his seat for him‘

Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images

Now, in his memory, I’m channeling that same fight into New Jersey.

Our opponents are entrenched, ruthless, and armed with decades of political machinery. But they underestimate grassroots patriots who are willing to put their shoulders to the wheel and take their state back.

Jack Ciattarelli has the vision and leadership to restore sanity in Trenton. His victory would prove to the nation that even in deep-blue territory, conservatives can organize, fight, and win.

The “New Jersey Chase” is about more than one race. It’s about creating a model Republicans can replicate across the country — a model that turns every Trump supporter into a Trump voter, ensures every conservative voice is heard, and makes sure every ballot is counted.

We are building a red wall, one door at a time.

In New Jersey, we’ll prove the future belongs to those who knock, not those who sit back and hope. By November 4, we will have knocked on 500,000 doors.

For Charlie. For New Jersey. For America.

​Opinion & analysis, Elections, New jersey, Grassroots, Governor, Jack ciattarelli, Democrats, Republicans, Donald trump, Charlie kirk, Mail-in ballots, Door, Blue states 

The Republican primary for the competitive U.S. Senate seat in Texas just got more crowded, thanks to one GOP lawmaker.

Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas officially launched his Senate campaign on Monday to unseat Sen. John Cornyn of Texas. Cornyn has already spent the last several months campaigning against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who launched his own Senate campaign in April.

‘There will be a full vetting of his record.’

Although the Republican primary was already poised to be a close race, with a slight edge for Paxton, Hunt’s candidacy complicates the political calculus.

“The time is NOW,” Hunt said in his campaign announcement. “For Faith. For Family. For Freedom. FOR TEXAS. I’m Wesley Hunt, and I’m running for Senate.”

RELATED: Conservative firebrand Chip Roy bids Congress farewell, targets new political venture

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Hunt’s candidacy has already caused an uproar, with the National Republican Senatorial Committee claiming the congressman has chosen “personal ambition” over holding the narrow Republican majority in the House.

“John Cornyn is a battle-tested conservative who continues to be a leader in delivering President Trump’s agenda in the U.S. Senate, and he’s the best candidate to keep Texas in the Republican Senate majority,” NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez said in a statement. “Now that Wesley has chosen personal ambition over holding President Trump’s House majority, there will be a full vetting of his record. Senator Cornyn’s conservative record of accomplishment stands tall against Wesley’s.”

RELATED: White House dares Democrats with nuclear response to looming shutdown

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Notably, early polls show that Hunt’s candidacy weakens Cornyn’s odds of winning re-election. In a two-way race between Cornyn and Paxton, RealClearPolling averages show the incumbent at a 2.3-point disadvantage. However, in a three-way race between Cornyn, Paxton, and Hunt, the senator is facing an average four-point disadvantage.

Although Hunt is polling significantly behind both Paxton and Cornyn, it’s likely that he would act as a spoiler candidate for the incumbent, widening Paxton’s lead in the race.

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​John cornyn, Wesley hunt, Ken paxton, Texas senate, Texas, Senate race, Senate primary, Republican primary, Donald trump, 2026 primaries, Nrsc, Politics 

Readers of Blaze News may recall a violent robbery caught on surveillance video a month ago in San Jose, California, during which a mob of hammer-wielding, hooded individuals smashed and grabbed their way through a jewelry store in broad daylight.

The robbery at Kim Hung Jewelry in the 1900 block of Aborn Road took place on the afternoon of Sept. 5, police said.

A niece of the 88-year-old assault victim told KNTV she is ‘very, very happy’ about the arrests — although her uncle won’t be returning to the store for the foreseeable future as the robbery remains a ‘mental crisis for him.’

The preliminary investigation revealed that a driver rammed a vehicle through the store’s front entrance, after which more than 10 suspects — one of whom brandished a firearm at one adult male victim inside the business — poured inside, police said.

As the suspects stole thousands of dollars worth of items from the store, police said a second elderly adult male victim was violently assaulted. The suspects fled the scene in multiple vehicles, police said. The elderly adult male victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police added.

KNTV-TV’s video report about the robbery said the assaulted 88-year-old man who was running the business also suffered a stroke.

However, detectives soon identified seven suspects: Angel Herrera, 21; Toddisha Mayfield, 31; Zakhari Blue-Gordon, 23; Tom Donegan, 19; Jacques Samuel, 18; Cisco Lutu, 18; and Amari Green, 21, police said.

Detectives obtained arrest warrants for all suspects and search warrants for their associated residences, police said.

Dublin Police arrested Samuel on Sept. 22, and he was taken to the San Francisco County Jail, police said.

On Sept. 30, Herrera was arrested in Pacifica, Mayfield was arrested in San Leandro, Blue-Gordon was arrested in San Jose, and Donegan was arrested in Manteca, police said, adding that Lutu and Green were arrested in Antioch on Oct. 2.

Mayfield, Blue-Gordon, Donegan, Lutu, and Green were booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail for robbery police said, adding that Samuel will be extradited there at a later date.

Police added that evidence of the crime was found during the execution of search warrants; detectives discovered a firearm, loaded magazine, and multiple rounds of ammunition, as well as large quantities of suspected cocaine.

Image source: San Jose (Calif.) Police

A niece of the 88-year-old assault victim told KNTV she is “very, very happy” about the arrests — although her uncle won’t be returning to the store for the foreseeable future as the robbery remains a “mental crisis for him.”

Those with information about this case or similar cases can contact Detective Hernandez #4392 of the San Jose Police Department Robbery Unit via email: 4392@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4166, police said.

In addition, anonymous crime tips can be submitted using the P3TIPS mobile app, calling the tip line at 408-947-STOP, or on www.siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org, police said, adding that tipsters are eligible for cash rewards from the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers Program if their tips lead to arrests.

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​Arrests, California, Jewelry store robbery, Police, San jose, Assault, Elderly male victim, Crime 

Weeks after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the liberal media continues to grapple with his legacy: Just how much damage did he wreak upon democracy by regularly inviting college students to debate him in public?

“Hate” is understandably difficult to measure when it comes in the form of rational arguments. When it comes in the form of a bullet — a bullet that tears through flesh and destroys lives — you’d think it would be more cut-and-dried.

Shakur did her killing as a member of the Black Liberation Army, a black-nationalist/Marxist group that rose from the ashes of the Black Panthers.

Not so when it comes to a convicted cop-killer and fugitive from justice who died earlier this week: “Assata Shakur Was a Black Revolutionary Who Fought for Freedom Even in Exile.”

Admittedly, that headline — from the leftist radicals running Teen Vogue — was from one of the more glowing obituaries for the woman born JoAnne Byron. But even the New York Times glossed over Shakur’s sordid crime by dignifying her with the label “convicted revolutionary.”

Technically the FBI branded her a “terrorist,” but why split hairs?

Amerikan woman

And while the NYT piece does include the damning facts of the case — a jury found Shakur guilty of fatally shooting New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a routine traffic stop in 1973; sentenced to life, she escaped justice by fleeing to Cuba — it also gives much more space to the self-justifying words of Shakur herself.

“I didn’t feel like no JoAnne, or no negro, or no amerikan. I felt like an African woman,” the article quotes from Shakur’s 1987 memoir, “Assata.”

Underneath this mask of “objectivity,” the NYT is doing what it does best: reinforcing the common liberal consensus.

Roughly speaking, that consensus is this: Shakur’s intentions were noble and her cause important, and that makes her an American (or “amerikan”) hero — no matter that an innocent man had to die.

‘Rest in power’

It’s this consensus that has led hip-hop artists like Common and Public Enemy to name-check Assata as an anti-racist hero. It’s this consensus that led the Chicago Teachers Union to eulogize Shakur as a “leader of freedom” — with nary a mention of the man whose freedom she took away forever with the pull of a trigger.

You may notice that those on the left tend to eschew the standard “rest in peace” when acknowledging the deaths of their heroes. Instead they opt for “rest in power.”

That’s because liberals by and large don’t believe in any kind of afterlife — a “peace” for which we can hope once we exit this realm of suffering and strife. For them there is only “power,” and the purpose of this one and only life is to seize it — and keep it.

When that’s your only metric for a life well lived, you can excuse all sorts of “collateral damage.”

RELATED: Radical killers turned campus heroes: How colleges idolize political violence

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A murderous failure

You also don’t have to look too closely at your accomplishments. Shakur did her killing as a member of the Black Liberation Army, a black-nationalist/Marxist group that rose from the ashes of the Black Panthers.

According to the group’s manifesto, the BLA’s mission was to “strive for the abolishment of [capitalist, imperialist, racist, and sexist] systems and for the institution of Socialistic relationships in which Black people have total and absolute control over their own destiny as a people.”

By the time the group dissolved in 1981, it hadn’t achieved these ambitious — if exceedingly vague — goals. What it had achieved in its 11 years of existence was to carry out some 60 acts of violence, ranging from bombings and hijackings to armored truck robberies to the execution of more than a dozen police.

Any sane culture would write off the BLA as a murderous failure. Instead we downplay the mayhem and amplify the message. Is it any surprise that the Black Lives Matter generation is ready to pick up the torch?

The next time you hear a liberal complain that Kirk’s mourners are celebrating a “hatemonger,” consider some of the left’s other “activist” heroes.

Mumia Abu-Jamal

Jeff Fusco/Getty Images

The legend: An “internationally celebrated black writer and radio journalist … author of six books and hundreds of columns and articles [and] organizer and inspiration for the prison lawyers movement,” Abu-Jamal has been unjustly imprisoned since 1982. An early 1990s cause célèbre thanks to the “Free Mumia” movement, Abu-Jamal’s relevance has faded, although he apparently carries enough intellectual respect that Brown University recently acquired his papers.

The reality: Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, was convicted in the 1981 murder of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, after Faulkner pulled over Abu-Jamal’s brother, William Cook, in a routine traffic stop. Eyewitnesses saw Abu-Jamal run from across the street and shoot Faulkner in the back. After Faulkner returned fire and shot Abu-Jamal in the chest, Abu-Jamal stood over Faulkner and shot him four times, once in the face.

Leonard Peltier

Mandel Ngan/Getty Images

The legend: Leonard Peltier is a leading member of the American Indian Movement and martyr for indigenous resistance whose case has been taken up by Hollywood celebrities, Amnesty International, and even members of Congress. His decades in prison — portrayed as proof of U.S. government hostility toward native sovereignty — finally ended when President Biden granted him clemency on the last day of Biden’s presidency.

The reality: Peltier was convicted of murdering two FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, during a 1975 shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Both agents were executed at point-blank range after being wounded. Ballistics tied Peltier’s AR-15 to shell casings at the scene. While courts acknowledged procedural flaws in the investigation, his conviction has been upheld on appeal for nearly 50 years.

Kathy Boudin

Donaldson Collection/Paul Marotta/Getty Images

The legend: Kathy Boudine was a tragic child of the 1960s who, after serving her time, redeemed herself as an academic and advocate for prison reform. When she died of cancer in 2022, the Center for Justice at Columbia University she co-founded lauded her for her “lifelong work as an activist, organizer, teacher, and champion of social justice.”

The reality: In 1970, Boudin narrowly escaped death when three of her fellow Weather Underground members blew themselves to smithereens trying to build a bomb, most likely meant for Fort Dix in New Jersey. She resurfaced 11 years later when she pled guilty to felony murder for her role in a 1981 Brinks robbery. Acting as a getaway driver, she enabled the ambush that killed two police officers and a security guard. While she expressed remorse for her victims, she never denounced the leftist worldview that directly led to her crimes.

Bill Ayers

Chicago Tribune/Getty Images

The legend: Bill Ayers is an “anti-war activist” and education reformer who staged “symbolic acts of extreme vandalism” to protest the Vietnam War before settling into respectability as a professor of education. He is cast as a thoughtful radical and elder statesman whose youthful excesses are overstated.

The reality: Ayers co-founded the Weather Underground, a domestic terrorist group responsible for bombing the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, and police stations. He escaped serious punishment on technicalities, not innocence. In 2001, he told the New York Times: “I don’t regret setting bombs. … I feel we didn’t do enough.” That line ran the morning of the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center — an atrocity committed in the name of the same “anti-imperialism” Ayers espouses to this day. Ayers’ early fundraising for a young Barack Obama would come back to haunt the then-presidential candidate in 2008.

Bernardine Dohrn

Bettman/Ralf-Finn Hestoft/Getty Images

The legend: Bernardine Dohrn is a feminist revolutionary and law professor who dedicated her life to fighting injustice, later channeling her radical energy into more mainstream activism.

The reality: Dohrn, married to fellow Weather Underground leader Ayers, publicly glorified Charles Manson’s followers after their grisly murders, exclaiming, “Dig it … they even shoved a fork into the victim’s stomach! Wild!” The remark shocked even fellow radicals; Dohrn later claimed it was an “ironic joke.”

Angela Davis

Bettman/Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty Images

The legend: Angela Davis is a brilliant scholar and activist, wrongly accused and hounded by the FBI because of her communist politics and black liberation work. Acquitted of charges, she has been celebrated worldwide as an icon of resistance and prison abolition.

The reality: The firearms used in the 1970 Marin County courthouse hostage crisis — in which Judge Harold Haley was killed — were registered to Davis. Though a jury found her not guilty, the fact remains that her guns enabled a deadly assault. Davis has never expressed remorse for the judge’s murder, and her continuing status as a celebrity intellectual glosses over that reality.

​Culture 

In June, Israel embarrassed Iran’s ruling class, killing generals, politicians, and nuclear scientists with precision strikes. Tehran’s top brass thought they were safe. They weren’t.

Why? Their bodyguards and drivers carried cell phones that gave them away. That’s all it took for Israel to trace them and unleash devastation. The supreme leader only survived because President Donald Trump ordered Israel not to pull the trigger on him.

Phones in pockets and drones in the sky may not look like weapons, but they’re deadly if left unchecked.

The Israelis achieved this feat by identifying the weak link and exploiting it.

“We know senior officials and commanders did not carry phones, but their interlocutors, security guards, and drivers had phones; they did not take precautions seriously, and this is how most of them were traced,” an Iranian analyst told the New York Times.

Iran’s failure should be America’s wake-up call — because we share the same blind spots.

The weakest link in US security

The U.S. government spends billions on cybersecurity. All that it takes is one careless employee with a smartphone in his pocket to blow it all up.

Even when not in use, phones emit wireless signals that can be detected, tracked, or exploited, potentially allowing adversaries to locate classified sites or intercept top-secret communications.

Most sensitive government facilities ban phones, but bans mean nothing without enforcement. Few have the tools to actually detect compromising phone use.

The solution already exists: wireless intrusion detection systems. Think of them as radar for the invisible spectrum. They pick up unauthorized devices, expose the threat, and let security teams act before adversaries do.

Washington wastes trillions on bureaucratic nonsense, but it can’t make sure the guy walking into a sensitive compartmented information facility isn’t carrying a digital beacon for the Chinese Communist Party? That’s how empires fall.

The new terrorist weapon

Drone technology is also changing the game.

In 2020, Azerbaijan crushed Armenia with cheap drones. Ukraine used $1,000 drones to destroy billions of dollars’ worth of Russian aircraft during Operation Spider’s Web. A hundred hobby drones, a few bombs, and some know-how — that’s all it took to humiliate the Kremlin.

RELATED: Does anyone think we’re up to the task of controlling AI?

Photo by Surasak Suwanmake via Getty Images

Now imagine what Iran, China, or even a terrorist cell on U.S. soil could do using the same playbook. Hackers can override “no-fly” geofencing software in minutes. That means no city, power plant, or military base is truly safe.

Stopping this requires ripping China out of our drone supply chains and arming American law enforcement with real anti-drone defenses. Anything less is a gamble with American lives.

Adapt or die

War evolves, technology evolves, and America must evolve with them. Phones in pockets and drones in the sky may not look like weapons, but they’re deadly if left unchecked.

America doesn’t need more bloated Pentagon reports or blue-ribbon commissions. We need decisive action — mandating wireless intrusion detection systems in every secure facility, hardening our skies against drones, and cutting China out of the equation entirely.

The Israelis exploited Iran’s weakness. Tomorrow, someone will exploit ours — unless we fix our weaknesses now.

Adapt or lose. That’s the choice.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, National security, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Drones, Cell phones, Iphone, Israel, Iran, China, Russia, Terrorism, National defense, Ukraine, Wireless intrusion detection systems 

Sean “Diddy” Combs — mogul, producer, and architect of a billion-dollar brand — was sentenced Friday to more than four years in federal prison for his despicable crimes against women. The sentence won’t shatter the glossy mythology he’s sold for decades. The headlines will obsess over the punishment and whether justice was done. But the deeper story is the culture he built — and that millions of Americans continue to bankroll.

Let’s stop pretending: No other major American music genre has a criminal record like rap. This isn’t a bad apple. It’s a poisoned orchard.

No other genre has turned crime, misogyny, and hatred for order into cultural virtues.

Tay-K was convicted of murder in 2019 and again in 2020 for a separate shooting. He’s serving 55 years. South Park Mexican is doing 45 years for child sexual assault. C-Murder? Life for killing a teenager. Big Lurch is doing life for murder and cannibalism. B.G. just got out after 14 years for weapons and witness tampering. Chris Brown — who still charts — pled guilty to felony assault of Rihanna and keeps finding trouble. Shyne served nearly a decade for a nightclub shooting that Diddy himself may have committed. Kodak Black, Max B, Crip Mac, Flesh-N-Bone, Big Tray Deee — all convicted felons.

That’s not some obscure playlist. That’s the soundtrack.

Try compiling a similar rap sheet for classical violinists, country balladeers, or pop crooners. Even rock, infamous for its drug excesses, never reached this level of violence or degradation.

Still think this is just about “personal behavior”? Listen closer.

Even when not committing crimes, many hip-hop “artists” glorify them. Anti-police, anti-woman, anti-civilization — these aren’t exceptions but industry standards. “F**k the police” wasn’t a phase. It was a forecast. “Shoot a cop, that’s my solution” isn’t satire. It’s strategy.

You don’t have to dig to find chart-toppers dripping with misogyny, death threats, and celebrations of drug-dealing and street violence. This isn’t fringe content. They’re topping the Billboard charts.

In what other industry could someone openly brag about pimping women, selling narcotics, or “sliding on ops” and still land Super Bowl halftime shows, Sprite deals, and White House invitations?

RELATED: Bad Bunny gets the ball, football fans get the finger

Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images

Defenders call it “storytelling,” “street realism,” or “art.” But these aren’t neutral observations. They’re recruitment ads for a culture of moral rot. Many rappers don’t just depict criminality — they embody it, and their fans reward them for it.

Every stream, download, and ticket sale is a vote for decadence — a few more dollars for the next defense attorney, a little more validation for the notion that responsibility is oppression and chaos is authenticity.

Even academics have noticed. Law journals have dissected the way hip-hop glorifies violence while its corporate enablers polish the packaging. The same elites who decry “toxic masculinity” will nod along to lyrics calling women “bitches” and “hoes.” The same corporations that preach “inclusion” will bankroll artists who sneer at civilization. The same politicians pushing gun control will campaign beside men who made fortunes romanticizing drive-bys.

Yes, hip-hop has artistic power. It grew from hardship and gave voice to the voiceless. But no other genre has turned crime, misogyny, and hatred for order into cultural virtues.

There’s a difference between reflecting reality and selling it — between giving voice to pain and turning pain into product. Today’s rap industry isn’t holding up a mirror to society. It’s pointing a gun at it.

The Diddy sentencing should be a wake-up call. It isn’t just a reckoning for one man. It’s a moment of clarity for a culture that has lost its moral compass.

The question isn’t only who committed the crime. It’s who bought the album.

​Opinion & analysis, Sean diddy combs, Diddy trial, Diddy sentencing, Federal prison, Sex crimes, Murder, Rap, Hip hop, Crime, Law and order, Misogyny, Anti-police, Drug dealers, Trafficking, Prostitution, Civilization, Art, Music industry, Decadence, Super bowl, Super bowl halftime show, Pimp culture, White house 

Freedom of speech on university campuses has collapsed. Left-leaning college administrators, faculty, and students have been silencing conservative voices, and conservative students are increasingly adopting the left’s errant ways. The Trump administration has launched a strong counterattack that also seems poised to suppress speech.

The First Amendment’s free speech guarantees are at the core of our liberties. As Justice Louis Brandeis explained in Whitney v. California (1927), “If there be time to expose through discussion, the falsehoods and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.”

Conservatives debate and debunk bad ideas — they don’t silence those with whom they disagree.

Though set out in a concurring opinion, Justice Brandeis’ counter-speech doctrine has become the bedrock of free speech jurisprudence. In the milestone First Amendment case of United States v. Alvarez (2012), Justice Anthony Kennedy cited Justice Brandeis, opining, “The remedy for speech that is false is speech that is true. This is the ordinary course in a free society. The response to the unreasoned is the rational; to the uninformed, the enlightened; to the straight-out lie, the simple truth.”

Many in Gen Z and younger Millennials would beg to differ. To many of these students and recent graduates, particularly — but not only — on the left, offensive speech is violence that should be silenced — and with physical violence, if necessary.

A telling survey

For the last six years, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has surveyed tens of thousands of students at hundreds of American universities to evaluate the status of free speech on campuses. Its most recent survey, in collaboration with pollster College Pulse and RealClearEducation, included 68,510 students at 257 universities.

The results are troubling. Together with other surveys, campus activism, and social media invective, a considerable decline in support for free speech is manifest, particularly among younger Americans on the left.

FIRE’s scores are based on 12 components, including student perceptions of six factors, three areas of campus speech policies, and three types of speech controversies. FIRE generates a blended score on a 100-point scale, which it converts to letter grades. Claremont McKenna College (not affiliated with Claremont Institute) received the highest score, 79.86, and Columbia University’s Barnard College the lowest, 40.74. My alma mater, Columbia College, was next lowest at 42.89.

Just 11 of the 257 schools surveyed received a grade of C or higher; 14 received a C-minus; 63 ranged from D-minus to D-plus; and 168 institutions — nearly two-thirds —received an F. Of the top-10 schools, only Claremont McKenna did better than a C grade, scraping by with a B-minus, though FIRE observed that but for rounding scores, the college would have received a C-plus. Each of the other nine top-ranked schools received a C.

According to FIRE, the lowest-ranked schools are home to restrictive speech policies, threats to student press freedom, speaker cancellations, and the quashing of student protests. Only 36% of students said that their school’s administration protects free speech. To the contrary, the great majority of campuses are inhospitable to faculty and students who oppose diversity, equity, and inclusion, observe religious tenets, are pro-life, favor Israel in its struggle with Hamas, or otherwise fall on the conservative side of the political spectrum (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).

Top-down indoctrination

The most troubling result of FIRE’s survey and other recent studies is that educators in both K-12 and higher education are indoctrinating students in ideologies that are completely adverse to free speech.

FIRE warned that there has been a “steady erosion of free expression at colleges and universities,” adding that “the atmosphere isn’t just cautious — it’s hostile.” To stop speakers with whom they disagree, at least 71% of students surveyed (a high) support shouting; 54% (a high) endorse blocking other students from attending a speech on campus; and 34% (also a high) support the use of violence at least some of the time.

The FIRE survey found that 76% of students would stop someone from saying that Black Lives Matter is a hate group; 74% would stop a speaker from saying that transgender people have a mental disorder; and 60% would not allow a speaker to say that abortion should be completely illegal. These numbers suggest almost universal support from left-leaning students to bar speakers with whom they disagree, and at least some support from conservatives. American liberals used to champion free speech, which was the message of those angered by Disney’s suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

Our rights are under attack. The remedy for the excesses of the radical left is to restore an understanding of why America is a beacon of liberty — not to adopt the left’s worst impulses.

Smaller majorities, comprised chiefly of conservative students, would bar speakers from advocating that the Catholic Church is a pedophilic institution (62%), that the police are just as racist as the Ku Klux Klan (62%), or that children should be allowed to transition without parental consent (51%). While I disagree with these perspectives, it is not conservative doctrine to bar speakers who have bad ideas.

Conservatives debate and debunk bad ideas — they don’t silence those with whom they disagree.

A more careful review of Claremont McKenna’s scores and the national data demonstrates the fervor of left-leaning students to suppress speech with which they disagree. Claremont McKenna ranked only 24th for tolerance of conservative speakers and 186th in the closely correlated category of tolerating differences. Overall, most campuses received higher marks for tolerating controversial liberal speakers than for tolerating controversial conservative speakers.

On a positive note, 79% of respondents thought their college protects free speech, and about half would feel comfortable disagreeing with their professors on controversial political topics. However, anecdotal evidence and surveys suggest that conservative students would feel less secure in speaking candidly than liberals.

RELATED: Gavin Newsom’s ‘fascist’ slur echoes in the streets

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

One-sided censorship

A decline in support for free speech and an increase in support for violence to suppress opposing views go hand in hand in authoritarian regimes. According to a recent report from Vanderbilt University’s the Future of Free Speech project, over the past decade, the number of countries limiting speech has far outnumbered those expanding it. Of the countries surveyed, the United States had the third-largest decline in support for free speech since the last study was published in 2021.

According to Jacob Mchangama, executive director of the Future of Free Speech, the decline in the U.S. represents fundamental shifts in values within a short period. While older Americans (ages 55 and over) have maintained relatively stable attitudes, showing only single-digit declines in most categories, the steep drops among younger cohorts raise profound questions about the future of free expression in America. College-educated Americans show another surprising shift. This group, traditionally associated with openness to diverse viewpoints, has markedly decreased its support for controversial speech since 2021.

The Free Speech study found that younger Americans are especially hesitant to defend speech that offends minority groups. Only 57% say such speech should be permitted, a result driven by those on the left. Tolerance for religiously offensive speech declined from 71% in 2021 to 57% this year, a result driven by those on the right.

In a recent YouGov poll, 25% of those who are very liberal agreed that violence is acceptable to achieve political goals, as did 17% of liberals, but only 6% of conservatives and 3% of those who are very conservative approved. Eleven percent of adults said that political violence can be justified, while 72% disagreed. By contrast, for those ages 18 to 29, 19% believe violence can be justified, and just 51% disagreed. Ironically, while 65% of all adults believe violence is justified for self-defense, just 60% of those ages 19 to 20 agree. Their views may be associated with sympathy for criminals as perceived victims of systemic oppression.

Justifying violence

In April, the nonpartisan Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University issued a report based on its extensive polling that concluded “widespread justification for lethal violence — including assassination — among younger, highly online, and ideologically left-aligned users.” NCRI reported that these “attitudes are not fringe — they reflect an emergent assassination culture, grounded in far-left authoritarianism and increasingly normalized in digital discourse. Cyber-social platforms — particularly Bluesky — play a strong predictive role in amplifying this culture.”

More than 2,100 students were arrested during campus protests last year. Though demonstrations continue, they have been smaller in 2025 since the Trump administration’s crackdown on universities that have enabled anti-Semitic demonstrations.

The administration is pressuring universities to end anti-Semitism and take down barriers to free speech by revoking visas for foreign students who have endorsed Hamas or used violence to support Palestinian causes, and by suspending funding for leading universities that fail to defend the rights of Jewish students and faculty, including Columbia, Harvard, Brown, UCLA, and the University of Pennsylvania. At least 60 colleges and universities are being investigated by the Department of Education under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act for their handling of anti-Semitic discrimination.

The Washington Post recently reported that the Trump administration is developing a plan that would give an advantage for research grants to schools that pledge to adhere to administration policies on DEI and combating anti-Semitism. According to the Post, universities could be asked to affirm that admissions and hiring decisions are based on merit, that specified factors are taken into account when considering foreign student applications, and that college costs are not out of line with the value students receive.

RELATED: Make college great again: Trump ‘has the spine’ to declare war on woke universities

Photo by Heather Diehl/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

While a requirement that universities adhere to the law to receive funding is sound, a requirement that they adopt discretionary policies preferred by the administration, or avoid criticizing its objectives, is not. Much as I would likely support the administration’s policies, the time will come when Democrats reclaim the presidency.

I don’t want them to impose a radical left agenda on universities as a condition of funding. Particularly because Democrats would encounter a sympathetic audience, their effectiveness would be far greater than any benefits that the Trump administration might achieve by suppressing dissent.

Numerous educators have been suspended or terminated for blaming Charlie Kirk’s assassination on Kirk or MAGA, or even openly endorsing Kirk’s murder. A Washington Post columnist was fired, Jimmy Kimmel was suspended for four nights, and investigations are proceeding against members of the military and federal agents who posted intemperate thoughts on X and Bluesky.

Root out the rot

I have written extensively on loyalty tests, cancel culture, and radical left bias at American universities, as well as the Biden administration’s collaboration with, and coercion of, social media platforms to silence conservative views. I opposed those actions not because of my agreement with those who were censored but rather because I support the First Amendment.

For many years, the rot on American campuses has spread as the radical left has pummeled and marginalized conservative voices. Under intensive indoctrination about safe spaces, intersectionality, and oppressor ideology, too many Americans under 35 have lost track of American exceptionalism and the beauty and meaning of free speech.

Our rights are under attack. The remedy for the excesses of the radical left is to restore an understanding of why America is a beacon of liberty — not to adopt the left’s worst impulses.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published on the American Mind.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Freedom of speech, First amendment, Woke universities, Woke education, Left wing violence, Censorship, Censorship of conservative voices, Gen z, Louis brandeis, Whitney v. california, United states v. alvarez, Anthony kennedy, Fire, Foundation for individual rights in education, Polls 

Whether you celebrate Christmas and Easter or Rosh Hashanah and Passover, read the Bible or the Torah, go to church or to the synagogue, these traditions trace their origins to the ancient Middle East, a region Mark Levin passionately defends as central to our shared faith and heritage.

If we cherish these time-honored traditions and want to continue practicing them freely, then we need to understand that a very real enemy lives and breathes to see them crushed.

“They are people who want to destroy [our traditions], and they want to destroy us … and if they get their way, that’s the plan,” Levin warns.

The enemy he speaks of is primarily Iran, whose nuclear ambitions and network of terrorist proxies, like Hamas, along with Qatar’s financial influence, threaten everything the West values.

And yet, we have Democrats, RINOs, and grifters in this country who are aiding and abetting the enemy.

Whether it’s Dearborn, Michigan, attempts to establish a Sharia-governed city in Texas, growing anti-American sentiment in parts of New Jersey, a New York City mayoral candidate or Virginia’s lieutenant governor candidate sympathetic to radical causes, CAIR and Students for Justice in Palestine acting as Hamas front groups, or Qatar’s billions buying off American institutions, Levin warns these are vivid threats to our cherished traditions enabled by complicit leadership.

“The only thing that can stop it is you and me,” he says.

“That’s why when … grifters out there, podcasters, and others, use a platform like mine to lie about the president, to lie about the prime minister of Israel, to give aid and comfort to this enemy, I speak out.”

The amount of “crap” he gets for this is sometimes overwhelming, but Levin’s resolve is iron. “So be it,” he shrugs.

“And I will continue to speak out because [we’re] red-blooded Americans. We’re not the French; we’re not the British … and we will stand up to this. We’re people of faith, not fundamentalists.”

“We don’t seek to destroy people who disagree with us. We don’t seek to destroy anybody, but we will defend ourselves — just as the Israelis do, just as our president, our historic iconic leader, defends us today,” he encourages.

To hear more, watch the video above.

Want more from Mark Levin?

To enjoy more of “the Great One” — Mark Levin as you’ve never seen him before — subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Levintv, Mark levin, Blazetv, Blaze media, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, Israel, Christianity, Islam, Muslim 

For the first time in years, the Republican Party has momentum with America’s youth.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination jolted young voters into the political fight. Many students and teenagers first encountered politics through Kirk’s viral debate clips or the wave of conservative influencer content that followed.

The political landscape shifts as fast as internet memes. The era when a campaign could hire an intern to post twice a day is over.

Figures like Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and even Alex Jones command more attention from Gen Z than most senators ever could. Ask a teenager about Mike Johnson or Ron Johnson and you’ll likely get a blank stare. Ask them about Charlie Kirk, and they can quote his videos word-for-word. Kirk was not only a cultural giant but also the leader of a network of influencers who connected conservatives with a rising generation.

Trump as proof of concept

Conservative politicians often struggle to overlap with their influencer counterparts. Donald Trump proved it can be done. His mastery of social media carried him to victory in 2024. Trump’s rapid-fire posts and fluency in internet culture convinced young voters he understood them.

Democrats tried their own version of “youth outreach” — with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz attempting to meme their way into relevance. The result? Cringe. Young voters walked away.

If Republicans want to sustain their surge, they must keep building para-social relationships. For Gen Z, politics is less about white papers and more about viral clips. Students rallied to Trump and Kirk because they were captivating, funny, and relatable. That matters more than policy minutiae.

Enter JD Vance

Vice President JD Vance may be the heir to Trump’s social media throne. He combines political stamina with influencer wit — a rare skill set.

Vance’s Yale Law pedigree and mastery of policy shine in debates and press conferences. He speaks clearly, with bold ideas on foreign aid and criminal justice. But Gen Z doesn’t tune in for long speeches. They want punchlines. Trump understood this. He may be the only president with “Funniest Moments” compilations on YouTube. Vance seems to get it, too.

When Kirk was assassinated, Vance was the first to host his show. That was no accident. A hole opened in the conservative influencer space, and Vance moved to fill it. By stepping into that role, he told young voters that Charlie’s vision of connecting with Gen Z didn’t die with him.

Kirk’s efforts helped Trump retake the presidency in 2024. His legacy may yet help Vance win in 2028. Vance has built his own digital reputation: His tweets mix humor and insight, his football posts feel genuine (unlike Walz’s forced fandom), and he has leaned into memes at his own expense. That kind of self-deprecation resonates with an online generation allergic to pretension.

RELATED: Holy defiance: Why Erika Kirk terrifies the feminist elite

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Keeping the energy alive

But Trump’s legacy is more than jokes. He delivers. He has nearly wiped out illegal immigration, shut down USAID, and pushed DEI out of government and corporate life. Winning has become a habit. Gen Z notices.

This generation didn’t grow up with the lethargic Republican Party of the 1990s and 2000s. Their political world began when Trump rode down his golden escalator in 2015. They expect leaders to win, not just talk.

If Republicans want to dominate the future, they must keep MAGA’s high-octane energy alive. The political landscape shifts as fast as internet memes. The era when a campaign could hire an intern to post twice a day is over.

Charlie Kirk understood it. Donald Trump proved it. If JD Vance keeps pace, he could lock down the youth vote for the next generation.

​Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Jd vance, Charlie kirk, Gen z, Politics, Memes, Tim walz, Kamala harris, Cringe, Youth vote, Republicans, Democrats, Elections 

President Donald Trump early Sunday sent 300 federalized National Guard troops from California to Portland, Oregon, the New York Times reported, citing Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power,” Newsom told the Times. “The commander in chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens. We will take this fight to court, but the public cannot stay silent in the face of such reckless and authoritarian conduct by the president of the United States.”

‘These violent riots are not about free speech. This is the rule of law vs. anarchy. We will win.

The Trump administration’s reported move to mobilize California National Guard members in Portland comes after a federal judge on Saturday blocked Trump’s attempt to mobilize 200 Oregon National Guard members in Portland, the Times said.

Democrat Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek told the Associated Press that 101 California National Guard members arrived in her state by plane Saturday night.

“This action appears … intentional to circumvent yesterday’s ruling by a federal judge,” Kotek said Sunday, according to the AP. “There is no need for military intervention in Oregon. There is no insurrection in Portland. No threat to national security. Oregon is our home, not a military target.”

Blaze Media’s National Correspondent Julio Rosas posted the following video from the ground in Portland Saturday night, showing federal agents using tear gas to push a left-wing mob away from an ICE facility.

RELATED: VIDEO: Federal agents clash with mob of Antifa-fueled, anti-ICE protesters in Portland

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Meanwhile, a Kotek spokesperson said Sunday he could not verify the National Guard members’ current location and directed questions to the Defense Department, the AP said, adding that the California National Guard also referred questions to the Defense Department. The outlet also reported that a department spokesperson declined to comment, and that the White House offered no immediate comment. The Defense Department is now called the Department of War.

As Blaze News previously reported, federal agents on Saturday clashed with a mob of Antifa-fueled, anti-ICE protesters in Portland, leading to numerous arrests.

Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in a Fox News interview Sunday morning described the attacks on ICE agents as “unprecedented.”

“Gangs, cartel members, and known terrorist organizations have placed bounties on the heads of several of our law enforcement officers,” Noem wrote on X. “These violent riots are not about free speech. This is the rule of law vs. anarchy. We will win.”

In addition to the chaos and violence in Portland, it’s been similar scene in Broadview, Illinois — a Chicago suburb — where leftist militants have been attacking ICE agents. The tensions only heightened there Saturday.

Fox News’ Bill Melugin on Sunday said he confirmed with several law enforcement sources that “Chicago police officers were instructed by their Chief of Patrol to NOT respond to Border Patrol agents[‘] call for help yesterday after they were reportedly surrounded by a large crowd of protesters following a ramming incident & shooting of an armed woman.”

The armed woman — a U.S. citizen and member of a mob that surrounded and “boxed in” federal agents’ vehicles outside the Broadview detention facility — was identified as Marimar Martinez and was named in a Customs and Border Protection intelligence bulletin, DHS wrote in a statement, Fox News said. Martinez also allegedly doxxed agents and posted online, “Hey to all my gang let’s f— those motherf—— up, don’t let them take anyone,” the cable news network added.

Fox News also noted that DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said no law enforcement officers were seriously injured during the incident, and that “the woman involved drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds.” The driver of another vehicle — whom DHS identified as Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz — allegedly was involved in the ramming and was apprehended, the cable news network also said.

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​Anti-ice, Broadview illinois, California, Donald trump, Gavin newsom, Governor newsom, Ice protests, National guard, Portland, Portland oregon, President trump, Tina kotek, Politics