Owned and Operated: How Oligarchs Turned American Politics Into Tribal Reality TV

America still pretends elections are grassroots democracy while billionaires, super PACs, media empires, and donor networks quietly write the script behind the curtain. The takedown of Thomas Massie exposed the modern system in full view: loyalty to the political machine now matters more than principles, and dissent against foreign policy orthodoxy or party leadership triggers a flood of money, propaganda, and coordinated political punishment. Meanwhile, millions of cable-news-addicted voters rage on command over carefully curated culture-war distractions while the oligarch class tightens its grip on both parties, the media, and the national narrative.

Thune joins the resistance; Sends Senate home without passing a budget. Whee!

Led by John Thune, Republican senators have joined the resistance by going on recess without fully funding the Department of Homeland Security—perhaps in an effort to attract the terrorist vote.

Senators claim it is a pro forma recess and not a real recess. I never studied the law but I do know that when lawyers start talking in Latin, my liberty is in jeopardy.

Stop the Hatred, by Walt Tollefson

America, we need to remember how to disagree without hating one another. When I was growing up, many of my neighbors and friends were Democrats. My family was conservative and Republican. We disagreed. Sometimes we argued politics at the dinner table. But when the weekend came, we still went swimming together, canoeing together, watching movies together, eating together, and living as neighbors. Political disagreement did not require hatred. It did not require destroying friendships. It did not require treating half the country as enemies.

Democrats are blowing it: Taking back the House should be a gimme. It isn’t.

History says it would take a miracle for Republicans to hold onto the House. Presidential parties lose seats in the House at midterms. There are a few exceptions. Backlash from the Lewinsky impeachment gained seats for Democrats and 4 years later, tough action on 9/11 earned Bush’s party extra seats.

The MAGA Trap: How Narrative Warfare Turns Fringe into a Political Weapon

They’re not rolling tanks into MAGA headquarters. They don’t have to. This is 5th generation warfare—the kind where the battlefield is your head and the objective is reputation, not terrain. No explosions, no uniforms, just a steady drip of images and narratives that quietly decide who looks sane and who looks like they need adult supervision. And right now, one of the cleanest plays on the board is simple: take the fringe, staple it to the mainstream, and let human psychology do the rest.

Scott Jennings owns CNN: The latest conservative star inspires by pushing back twice as hard

There will never be another Rush Limbaugh and yet conservatives search for one because we have hope and optimism. We said there would never be another Ronald Reagan but then along came Donald Trump. One of the things he did was get fake conservatives—Bill Kristol, Jonah Goldberg, George Wills and the entire cast at National Review—to self-deport.

A Blood Sport, Not Politics – The Domestic Cognitive War

America is witnessing an internal insurrection and subversion from the enemy within. We must stop calling what we see “politics,” for it is not, it is a blood sport for absolute power…The Democrat party does not want a country of laws, it wants a dictatorship, hence it continues to project exactly what they are doing on others so that their sheep, the useful idiots, their indoctrinated masses who protest “no kings” will continue to do their dirty work for them.

Living Behind Enemy Lines, Tale #92: “You Are A White Supremacist, Aren’t You Diane?”

Living Behind Enemy Lines, Tale #92: "You Are A White Supremacist, Aren't You Diane?"

By the time I stopped laughing, the indoctrinated reporter had gathered what wits he had and stuttered “how many white supremacists do you know?” Laughing again, I asked him what made him think I would be acquainted with the four “white supremacists” in Oregon.

The Seriousness of the Surge in Catholic Conversions

As a somewhat frequent participant in Catholic discussions on Twitter — I still refuse to call it 𝕏, the dumbest rebranding of the 21st century — I’ve been seeing a ton of posts about the surge in Catholic converts. Apparently, the algorithms see what we like, and send more of the same our way!  Many …

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