Month: July 2025

Have you heard much about Elon Musk’s new third party, the ‘America Party’ in the news lately? Probably not, and there is a reason for that. No one is interested.

CNN’s data analyst Harry Enten recently looked at poll numbers for Elon and his new party and they are not pretty. To hear Enten tell it, the new party is ‘pretty much dead on arrival.’

Democrats and the media were excited about this at first because they believed it would hurt MAGA and the Republicans, but people on the right have been down this road before and remember how the story ends.

RedState reports:

Enten explained how Elon suffered a net drop in popularity from June 2016, when he was the most popular person in the poll with a +29 net favorable. “Down we go!” Enten said, as he explained the number in July 2025. Now Musk was at -37 on the net favorability scale. That was a 66-point drop.

Part of that is because of how the Democrats demonized him over DOGE — trying to characterize him as a Nazi was a dishonest and despicable attack. But Musk himself has also alienated many on the right with attacks on President Donald Trump. Enten detailed the drop Musk faced with Republicans, “Two thumbs down! A drop of 55 points.” He went from +61 to only +6 with Republicans.

In terms of the third party itself, only 25 percent were in favor, while 74 percent were opposed. Ross Perot tried to start a third party. He was more popular, but it failed.

It is “dead on arrival” — at least in terms of having a viable third party. But it could act as a spoiler in elections.

Watch the video below:

Jeez louise, Musk’s 3rd party looks close to dead on arrival.

He’s suffered a 66 pt drop in his net favorable since entering the politics scene. At a -37 pt net fav now!

With the GOP, he’s down 55 pts in just 4 months to just a +6 pt net fav.

74% oppose a Musk-led 3rd party! pic.twitter.com/vYGnXtV8oN

— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) July 18, 2025

People on the right know that the most important thing right now is to keep the Democrats out of power. A third party would be the left’s key back into the House, the Senate, and maybe even the White House. That cannot happen.

The post CNN Data Analyst Declares Elon Musk’s New Third Party is ‘Pretty Much Dead on Arrival’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Culture

My Department of Education

Parents are not just caregivers and providers but teachers, too. 

Amid the hue and cry over the Trump administration’s long-overdue efforts to shrink, pare back, and, with luck, decommission the Department of Education, I spent some time reflecting on the essential irrelevance of this federal bureaucracy in the academic careers of nearly everyone in my family.

By my reckoning, my parents were born at least two generations before the department’s founding in 1980—my father in 1937, my mother in 1944. Both received what can only be regarded as first-class public school educations—my mother learned French, and my father participated in Youth in Government—that would have been unlikely to have been improved upon had they benefited from the interventions of the Carter administration. 

Meanwhile, my grandmother—my mother’s mother—was, by her account, educated in a country schoolhouse in Allen, Nebraska (present population: 355). It is impossible to say what, if any, governmental body oversaw this schoolhouse during my grandmother’s schooling in the 1910s. But I can say, with certainty, that my grandmother spoke with impeccable grammar and diction, wrote in immaculate cursive, had an impressive command of U.S. and world history, and was so devoted to following current events that she often lamented to me that she wished she had been a newspaperwoman—like Dorothy Kilgallen, whom she watched on the game show What’s My Line?. Since she never went to college (though she did go to secretarial school), I can only surmise that my grandmother owed much of her smarts to whatever she was taught in that country schoolhouse—which, somehow, managed to function without the Department of Education, thank you very much.

In my case, I concede that I was schooled during the era of the Department of Education, though after the second grade, when my parents decided to homeschool me and my brother, federal involvement in what or how I learned seemed quite remote. In fact, I would characterize my parents as my own personal Department of Education—the authority figures who, with infinite patience, exceeding thoughtfulness, and a fair amount of good humor, oversaw my studies.

Such was their interest in tailoring my education to my needs and interests that my parents had attempted to intervene in my schooling even when I had, for several years, attended a small private school. My mother insisted that I read and master grade-appropriate McGuffey Readers, and my father attempted to implement the advice in various books by Cultural Literacy author E.D. Hirsch, such as What Your First Grader Needs to Know and subsequent volumes. These at-home efforts were concurrent with their paying my private school tuition. 

It is not a surprise to me, then, that my parents had the confidence to proceed with homeschooling. Although our curriculum and grading were provided through the distance-learning program of a private school in Baltimore, the day-to-day responsibility of teaching the material fell to my parents. They divided the curriculum according to their respective personalities and strengths: With her gift for language and artistic bent, my mother oversaw Greek mythology, English literature, and, hopelessly in my case, French—the last, I suspect, because she wanted to brush up on her own command of the language. Meanwhile, my rational, logical father presided over instruction in math, science, and other similarly dull subjects. 

Did I learn more at home than if I had continued at my private school? Maybe. Looking back on it now, though, the most important lesson I learned is that parents are not just caregivers and providers but teachers, too. If more parents accepted that this role was essential to their vocation, we would regard the Department of Education as being as superfluous as, say, the Department of Making Dinner or the Department of Taking the Kids to Church. In other words, these things—preparing dinner, going to church, teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic—are properly the provenance of Mother and Father, not Uncle Sam.

Of course, the defenders of the Department of Education admit no such thing. By their lights, education is not a function of parenting but a specialized skill. When I hear people snicker at Secretary of Education Linda McMahon for her peculiar qualifications for the job—she is the spouse of wrestling impresario Vince McMahon—I am reminded of the resistance my parents faced when they told some friends and family of their choice to homeschool my brother and me. Once, not long after our homeschooling adventure began, one relative asked my mother, sarcastically, “So you’re the teacher, huh?” With her great reserves of dignity, my mother would have shrugged off such a jab, but the assumption that she was somehow not up to teaching her sons must have pained her; I know the comment stayed with her.

This week, as I celebrate the diminishment of the federal government’s Department of Education, I honor the good works done by my own Department of Education—my mom and dad.

The post My Department of Education appeared first on The American Conservative.

Politics

The Real Meaning of the State Department RIF

Bloat has been a chronic problem at Foggy Bottom. This is a start.

Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

RIP—er, RIF, State Department as we knew you.

One of my early duties during my over two and a half decades working for the State Department was to “support” Secretary of State James Baker’s official visit to London.

I read up on current policy, made sure I had my passwords and combinations in hand in case they needed crucial documents from the embassy after hours, and shined my shoes. Baker traveled with a large party, taking up a whole floor in a very nice central London hotel. Then I got a taste of real Foreign Service life: My first task was to make sure every TV in all the rooms worked. After Baker arrived, I was to get the required wake-up time for each member of the staff and, at the conclusion of my overnight shift the next morning, call each to summon them to breakfast, despite the hotel having a very nice complimentary service that did just that same thing. Later I became known as “Ambassador to Harrod’s” after having to escort so many Mrs. Important Somebodies shopping while hubby was on a diplomatic business trip to the UK.

While there were of course better days, and things may have changed since I left, I can’t guarantee you that a Foreign Service officer (FSO; no doubt a “special assistant”) isn’t right now walking two steps behind some assistant secretary, carrying his briefcase for him. So you’ll forgive me if I don’t shed too many tears alongside those who claim recent staff cuts at State are the end of diplomacy or ceding territory to the Chinese or any such nonsense.

State is a bloated, corpulent, insular, risk-averse, academically inbred, stifling, overly bureaucratic, back-stabbing, stodgy, mid-20th century institution that lost its mojo after the Cold War ended; everyone who worked there would admit it if they weren’t afraid of the “corridor reputation” that drives promotions, assignments, and retirement gigs at think tanks and universities. In Senate testimony, the current Secretary of State Marco Rubio complained the State Department decision-making process was far too cumbersome. He described receiving a memo requiring 40 people to approve before it landed on his desk. “We can’t move at that pace in this world,” Rubio said.

The staff cuts give State perhaps its last chance to become useful in the foreign affairs community, or to forever watch the big flexes continue to go to the CIA, NSC, or military, while State is lucky to be assigned to check to see whether the TVs work in all the adults’ hotel rooms.

The history of this last chance began many institutions ago, as post–Cold War secretary after secretary would come into office ordering a third-party efficiency study, which was quickly ignored. They then added vertical stacks of offices designed to service pet projects and find new purpose. (Hillary was the worst, with whole sections of the building filled with offices frantic about women’s rights, LGBT stuff, and tin stoves for Africa, all mostly designed to provide B-roll footage for her upcoming presidential campaign.) Secretary Colin Powell arrived from the Pentagon aghast at the slowness of getting things done in Foggy Bottom, but was quickly consumed by the bureaucracy before he abandoned State in the worst pet project of all: staffing up the Iraq War reconstruction effort and Embassy Baghdad, then the world’s largest mission.

The more recent history starts in February of this year, when some 2,000 DOGE-adjacent RIF notices were sent out to domestic State employees. Those State employees, alongside people in nearly two dozen other agencies sued, claimed President Trump had no constitutional authority to fire Executive Branch employees like that. The cases found a sympathetic judge (on the West Coast, of course) who issued a nationwide injunction (of course) reprieving the workers for a few months.

Meanwhile, there were budget cuts. A hiring freeze. A freeze on the infamous FSO intake exam. About 1,400 employees resigned or retired “voluntarily.” State rewrote its own rules for issuing RIFs to allow it to eliminate employees by job title and work area, making it easier for the department to pick and choose which people would get the axe. Then, earlier this month, the constitutional case made its way to the Supreme Court, where 8–1 (Kentanji Brown Jackson dissenting—of course!), issued a decision saying Trump indeed did have the authority to fire. The RIFs followed three days later, on July 11.

A reported 1,107 local Washington-area civil service employees were RIFed, in addition to nearly 246 Foreign Service Officers currently on domestic assignments. Including semi-voluntary retirements and resignations, the total workforce reduction at State since Trump took office is about 3,000 people, some 15 percent of the total. “Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found from centralization or consolidation of functions and responsibilities,” the department said in a notice to staff.

Though State provided no statistical breakdowns, talk suggests impacted offices include the Bureau of Cyberspace and Policy, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of Energy Resources, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Multilateral Trade Affairs Office, Office of Agriculture Policy, Global (Climate) Change, and others, for a total of 132 offices within bureaus. It does not appear many RIFs—if any—touched one of State’s largest internal organizations, the Bureau of Consular Affairs. Consular controls the issuance and revocation of visas worldwide, as well as U.S. passports, both now firmly in line with Trump’s America First agenda.

Sources indicate personnel affected seem to have been pulled from all levels of experience, as the RIF was largely based on the job someone unfortunately held as of the cut-off of May 29. It is said on the FSO side high ranking as well as senior Foreign Service officers were included, and at least one domestically assigned ambassador and one person who was headed out to be a Deputy Chief of Mission abroad. State has signaled no further domestic reductions are planned at present, and has been coy about any serious plans to cut back diplomatic staffing abroad. (The latter is probably a mistake if cutting waste is the goal; see here. Domestic changes without changes overseas are little more than rearranging the deck chairs on the ship of State.)

Some employees seeking to retain their jobs will reach out to the Merit Systems Protection Board, a three-person panel that hears appeals to firings and other disciplinary actions the federal government takes against civil servants and FSOs. The problem is that the board has so far this year already received 11,166 appeals, about twice its typical workload. The board is also not fully staffed, ensuring a years-long backlog. Another Hail-Mary pass: The federal judge who first blocked Trump from implementing mass layoffs before the Supreme Court intervened said she plans to litigate the legality of individual agency workforce reduction plans. The FSO employees’ association created a defense fund for those headed to court to somehow try to reverse the RIF.

Back here on earth, it is best to ignore the Democratic crybabies saying this RIF will damage the U.S. on the world stage. There is still plenty of work to be done for real change at Foggy Bottom and meanwhile there are still plenty of State Department employees at work in line with the department’s new America First orientation, as opposed to its grasp-at-relevance purple-haired global orientation. No one likes to see decent people lose their jobs because they were inadvertently caught up in something bigger than themselves, but the changes at State are long overdue and very necessary if the institution is to survive as anything but America’s concierge abroad.

The post The Real Meaning of the State Department RIF appeared first on The American Conservative.

Foreign Affairs

After Iran, Will Egypt Be Next?

Growing Egyptian security concerns show the need for a new regional accord.

Israel’s direct conflict with Iran marks its first outright war with a nation-state since the Yom Kippur War with Egypt in 1973. Despite Iran’s nuclear program or the ideology of its leadership, the stated reasons for this war, it is essential to acknowledge the deeper issues at play that have persisted since 1973. The failure to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, combined with the ongoing efforts of regional powers to assert dominance through military strength instead of pursuing integration and peace, are the underlying factors that have kept this conflict alive and expanding.

Before the latest episode with Iran, Israel operated in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen against non-state actors. The escalation signifies a new phase that may enhance its engagements with regional nation-states. Consequently, the question now is not only when and how the war between Israel and Iran will reignite, but also which country might be next.

An Israeli journalist jokingly remarked that after facing Iran, Israel would meet Turkey in the final match, using a football tournament analogy. When confronted about this comment, he minimized its significance—by claiming he could have mentioned Egypt as well. This journalist’s remarks are indicative of Israel’s current desire to assert its strength in pursuing its regional agenda. Such ambition is likely to increase instability in a region that is not looking to replace Iranian dominance with Israeli dominance. This desire had drawn the attention of those in Egypt well before the war with Iran began.

For the first time in decades, Egypt and Israel are on the brink of a standoff. The ongoing, increasingly pointless Israeli assault on Gaza—with a death toll exceeding 55,000, alongside the now public testimonies of hungry Palestinians deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli soldiers while seeking aid—are alarming signs for Egypt. They indicate that Netanyahu’s extremist cabinet has no limits and will not respect the redlines that Cairo repeatedly emphasized. This situation has prompted Egypt’s military to prepare for potential actions if the Israeli government keeps up the pressure in Gaza to displace the Palestinians into Sinai. The displacement scenario is consistently circulated by radical ministers within the Israeli cabinet and got further currency with President Donald Trump’s “Riviera” proposal. One sitting minister took it a step further and called for the conquest of Sinai.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff already identified Egypt as a “flashpoint” in an interview with Tucker Carlson. He warns that the ongoing Gaza War could result in the loss of Egypt as a key ally due to the country’s severe economic challenges and the potential for government collapse. Witkoff is correct in his assessment. Egypt indeed presents a greater challenge for the United States than Iran if it pivots away from its long-term alliance with America. But tying the potential loss of Egypt to a collapse of its government due to economic failure overlooks the fact that Egypt could pivot away from the United States without a change in government. This shift could occur if the Egyptians feel threatened by an unhinged Israeli government that continues to receive unconditional American support.

For Egyptians, the situation in Gaza and the incendiary comments by Israeli officials pose a significant threat not only to the Palestinian cause, which they have long supported, but also to their own territorial integrity. As a result, the historically resilient and successful peace treaty between Israel and Egypt is now under more strain than ever. This situation has contributed to the increasing narrative in Egypt that is suggesting it may be the next target after Iran. This perspective explains the significant official and public support for Iran during the conflict, as well as the heightened military presence in Sinai.

Israel has expressed growing concern over the increasing military presence in Sinai, viewing it as a violation of the peace treaty. Egypt, on the other hand, maintains that its actions are defensive. Israeli analysts warn of possible underlying intentions, raising tensions in the region. The freezing of diplomatic appointments signifies an unprecedented low point in relations. 

Egypt is in a vulnerable economic position and is reluctant to go to war. Still, if national security is compromised—such as by displacing Palestinians into Sinai—the government may feel compelled to act. In that case, the Egyptian military could not afford to back down without risking its cohesion. This nightmare scenario of Netanyahu’s extremist government on the brink of war against Egypt will not only stoke instability regionally but also globally.

In preparation for a potential military confrontation with Israel, Egypt has recently increased its military cooperation with China. Last April, Egypt and China conducted their first joint military exercise,“Eagles of Civilization 2025,” focused on air force drills. These drills followed reports of Egypt purchasing Chinese J-10C fighter jets last October. The effectiveness of Chinese weapons, demonstrated by the recent conflict between India and Pakistan, prompted Cairo to pursue the purchase of the J-35, the Chinese equivalent of the American F-35. This adds a new geopolitical dimension to the regional conflict, taking it back to the days of the Cold War.

With the U.S. providing almost unwavering support for Israel, the current regional conflict risks evolving into a proxy battleground for global powers. As China adopts a global perspective in its national security doctrine, there is a significant likelihood of an arms race and potential superpower proxy wars in the Middle East resembling those of the Cold War era. This tendency is particularly evident in recent events; Beijing was the first destination for the Iranian defense minister after the ceasefire with Israel. The recently announced state visit of Xi Jinping to Cairo is likely to herald further cooperation with Beijing. The only way to scale back on such a devastating trajectory is to immediately start working on a full-scale regional pact that replaces confrontation with integration.

Just as after the Yom Kippur War, the region now needs a significant peace treaty to prevent a resurgence of hostilities between Israel and Iran, or a potential military confrontation with Egypt or other regional countries. All regional players must recognize that the Middle East will not tolerate the emergence of a hegemon. The parties involved must learn to coexist without relying on the support of any superpower to prevent the region from becoming a battlefield in the larger conflict between the U.S. and China. More importantly, this pact needs to genuinely tackle the root of the conflict, which is the Palestinian issue.To achieve lasting peace, the upcoming peace pact must address the shortcomings of both the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel and the Abraham Accords. Instead of merely reaching a ceasefire in Gaza or giving lip-service to Palestinian interests, as some recent reports of discussions have indicated, any new agreement should focus on resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in line with United Nations resolutions. It should swiftly alleviate any fears of displacement for all populations in the region and aim to bring economic prosperity to everyone involved by promoting inclusivity and fostering a just and secure peace for all. Needless to say, achieving this pact will set its broker on an undeniable path to a Nobel Peace Prize.

The post After Iran, Will Egypt Be Next? appeared first on The American Conservative.

The ‘Late Show’ with Stephen Colbert failed for two simple reasons. First, Colbert used the show as nothing more than a vehicle for his own personal and pathological hatred of Trump. This caused lots of people to stop watching and in turn, advertisers began pulling away from the show. As a result, the show started bleeding money for CBS, to the tune of $40 million a year.

In other words, this was not about politics, just simple math.

If CBS reduced Colbert’s salary from $20m to $0, the show would still be losing $20m per year. How in the hell was he not let go earlier?

— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) July 18, 2025

In response to the show’s cancellation, Democrats are pushing conspiracy theories that the show was pulled for criticizing Trump. If that was true, the show would have been axed years ago.

Democrats are also heaping praise on Colbert, inadvertently proving that the show ultimately failed because it became a mouthpiece for their party.

Look at these ridiculous tweets:

Thank you Stephen Colbert for your willingness to speak truth to power.

Staying far from timid.

And never bending the knee to a wannabe king. pic.twitter.com/L9EzYzU5IE

— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) July 19, 2025

Stephen Colbert is the best in the business. He always told truth to power and pulled no punches. We need more of that, not less. pic.twitter.com/nFMnbwfhWR

— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) July 19, 2025

The news of Stephen Colbert’s late-night show cancellation is disheartening. I’ve been fortunate to appear on @colbertlateshow four different times. Each time, Stephen asked important questions and made sure to make us laugh. pic.twitter.com/ChXjVtblvn

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) July 18, 2025

Stephen Colbert is a brilliant host and an even better person. I always loved being on The Late Show, and our most difficult and memorable interview was broadcast live from the Capitol the night of Jan. 6. pic.twitter.com/xRmuCNiPJC

— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) July 18, 2025

And the conspiracy theories continue:

CBS’s billionaire owners pay Trump $16 million to settle a bogus lawsuit while trying to sell the network to Skydance.

Stephen Colbert, an extraordinary talent and the most popular late night host, slams the deal. Days later, he’s fired.

Do I think this is a coincidence? NO.

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 18, 2025

If you refuse to see what is happening, the cancellation of the Colbert show should open your eyes.

I want to explain to you what a censorship state looks like – where a corrupt government gives favors to media that suppresses criticism of the regime. pic.twitter.com/qxWJ7hqBsE

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) July 19, 2025

I’ve been investigating Paramount’s deal with Trump. Here’s what we know:

– Trump sued CBS
– CBS called the lawsuit “meritless”
– Paramount (owner of CBS) still settled, handing $16 MILLION+ to Trump’s library
– Paramount has a billion-dollar deal that needs Trump’s approval https://t.co/GRxxKFzkII

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 18, 2025

They are simply unable or unwilling to face reality. No one ‘forced’ Colbert off the air. He did this to himself through a series of deliberate decisions that made the show unprofitable. In doing so, he not only ended his own job, he killed the legacy of David Letterman and the Late Show.

The post Democrats Keep Praising Stephen Colbert, Not Realizing They’re Proving Why the ‘Late Show’ Failed appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Journalist Matt Taibbi used to be a man of the left, but was pushed away from the progressive side in the age of the crazy woke. He is not a conservative, but he has a much more realistic outlook than most of his former fellow travelers.

Now that NPR and PBS have been defunded, Taibbi asked Twitter users if they could remind him of the craziest stories they remember seeing or hearing on National Public Radio.

People did not disappoint him. He was flooded with examples of insane woke journalism featured on NPR over the years.

Here’s Taibbi’s tweet:

What’s everyone’s favorite ridiculous NPR story?

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) July 17, 2025

Here are some of the responses he got:

This one of many. pic.twitter.com/E7ONVvdXMZ

— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) July 17, 2025

Easy:
Elderly Trump Critics Await Mueller’s Report — Sometimes Until Their Last Breathhttps://t.co/7UUxj3enNN

— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) July 17, 2025

I’ll never forget this one. Soon as I saw it, I used black emojis for months and a black friend used white emojis. Just ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/wSzJZj5hOb

— Joe Hidin’ (@joehyden) July 17, 2025

pic.twitter.com/W1VNbuPheb

— David Hines (@hradzka) July 18, 2025

So many to choose from, but this is one that never got much attraction. NPR did “realtime fact-checking” of one of Trump’s SOTU addresses, and it was… quite bad.https://t.co/UwVpjQaxg9

— pragmatometer (@pragmatometer) July 19, 2025

pic.twitter.com/aVHK47gXsk

— Cogent Curmudgeon (@1HonestLiar) July 17, 2025

It’s this one https://t.co/9sumobglgv pic.twitter.com/f6XDLDeA98

— Flappr (@flapprdotnet) July 19, 2025

https://t.co/C4Ssi1DF4m pic.twitter.com/15poMeGyjQ

— Matthew Shaw (@matthewshaw1111) July 19, 2025

https://t.co/RpW4QlslH3 pic.twitter.com/PqW4HSU8l6

— PerryPrius (@PerryPrius) July 18, 2025

The Saturday before 9-11, @NPR ran a glowing interview with Bill Ayers, the original Pentagon bomber. When Ayers’ association with Obama became a campaign issue in 2008, Fresh Air brought Ayers in for another love-fest. He’s like the NPR Terrorist In Residence. https://t.co/YSRqzTOOry

— Brad Todd (@BradOnMessage) July 17, 2025

So so many. “Baking for justice” comes to mind. But for me I think it was when there was no pushback and perhaps even an mmmm of agreement when a guest asserted as fact that “black people are being hunted by police.” https://t.co/ddVPiiDBQ7

— Peter Moskos (@PeterMoskos) July 17, 2025

Basically everything Trump pee tape related. They so wanted it to be real and covered like hard news, while 100% knowing it was completed fabricated. https://t.co/Yxl586Ug9g

— Not Big Lon (@NotBigLon) July 19, 2025

This interview. pic.twitter.com/BL3R99gQaQ

— Alyosha (@W_Nelson) July 17, 2025

It’s just amazing to think that all of this was funded in part by tax dollars. Why did we put up with it for as long as we did?

The post Journalist Asks Twitter/X Users for the Most Insane NPR Stories They Remember and People Deliver the Goods appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Felix Baumgartner, a record-breaking skydiver who jumped from the edge of space, died in a paragliding accident on July 17th. He was 56 years old.

The accident occurred on the eastern coast of Italy in the city of Porto Sant Elpidio. According to firefighters, Baumgartner crashed into the edge of a swimming pool. His death was confirmed by the local mayor.

According to the Associated Press, a few of the locals had heard a loud noise and saw the paraglider spinning out of control. Mayor Ciarpella also told the Associated Press that Baumgarter was there on vacation.

Baumgartner was originally from Austria and started skydiving at a young age. He was also in the Austrian military, which CBS News said was information from his personal website.

He started working with Red Bull in 1988. The space jump in 2012 was the result of five years of training. He went on to break the previous record of 102,000 feet by Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger in 1960. Baumgartner’s height record was also eventually broken two years later by a Google executive named Alan Eustace at 135,890 feet.

CBS News reported:

Felix Baumgartner, the daredevil who made a record-breaking parachute jump from the stratosphere in 2012, died Thursday in a paragliding accident in Italy, a local mayor confirmed. Firefighters who responded to the scene said they found a paraglider that had crashed into the side of a swimming pool in the city of Porto Sant Elpidio, on central Italy’s eastern coast.

“Our community is deeply affected by the tragic disappearance of Felix Baumgartner, a figure of global prominence, a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flight,” the town’s mayor, Massimiliano Ciarpella, said on Facebook. Ciarpella told The Associated Press that the extreme athlete had been in the area on vacation.

Baumgartner, 56, made global headlines in 2012 when he was lifted into the stratosphere, about 24 miles up, in a capsule carried by a helium balloon, and then parachuted down to a landing in New Mexico. During the jump, he broke the record for fastest free fall, descending at about 843.6 mph and becoming the first human to break the sound barrier without the assistance of a vehicle.

Baumgartner’s jump was from approximately 24 miles above the Earth. He wore a pressurized suit to protect him and, reached a record breaking freefall speed of 843.6 miles per hour, which is Mach 1.25. He was the first person to break the sound barrier without any mechanical assistance by the freefall alone. The freefall lasted about four minutes and twenty seconds. Summary video posted here.

Watch:

TGP previously reported the incredible feat of the space jump that took place in 2012. Red Bull had great success with marketing the jump with Baumgartner safely landing after the risky stunt.

The post Felix Baumgartner, Daredevil Who Once Jumped From Space, Dies in Paragliding Accident appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Shaniqua McClendon runs ‘Crooked Media’ the organization behind the ‘Pod Save America’ podcast, which features the former Obama staffers known as the ‘Obama Bros.’

She recently appeared on MSNBC and suggested that Obama should be more active and vocal as a former president. She went so far as to suggest that Obama should hold a press conference and respond every time that President Trump says or does something ‘crazy.’

McClendon may not realize it but her comments demonstrate how utterly lost the Democrats are as a party. Obama has been out of office for almost a decade, and here she is pleading with him to step in with a virtual shadow presidency to save them from Trump. In ten years, Democrats have been unable to produce a leader who can command attention from the media or the public as Obama did.

Instead of recognizing this as one of the main problems for their party, McClendon and other Democrats simply want to turn back the clock and go back to the days when Obama led them.

Jason Cohen of the Daily Caller captured this moment on Twitter/X and pulls some of her quotes in the segment:

“I think if we are in a moment of crisis — and if you’ve ever led this country — you should still care about this country enough to be out there.”

“I’ve had this crazy thought that if every time Donald Trump did something crazy or said something crazy, Barack Obama should have like a press conference or something.”

“Most Democrats are not Barack Obama. They can’t command attention the way he can.”

“We are in a really dire situation.”

If you watch the entire clip below, you will notice that at one point, McClendon says: “Our rights are being taken away every day.” Really? Which rights are being taken away? That is exactly the kind of insane rhetoric that the left spouts constantly with zero pushback from the media.

Watch:

NEW: MSNBC Panelist Shaniqua McClendon says Dems so *DESPERATE* that Obama should step up and be in the spotlight non-stop

“I think if we are in a moment of crisis — and if you’ve ever led this country — you should still care about this country enough to be out there.”… pic.twitter.com/SiRkpfVUoN

— Jason Cohen (@JasonJournoDC) July 19, 2025

Obama is not going to save them. Neither is Michelle, who has made it quite clear that she has no intention of running for office. If Democrats are serious, they need to move on and find new leadership.

The post MSNBC Guest Suggests Obama Should Hold a Press Conference Every Time President Trump Says or Does Something ‘Crazy’ (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Barack Obama appeared on his wife Michelle’s failing podcast this week to give some advice to young men.

Obama encouraged young men to enjoy theater, let women pick up the bill at dinner, and said they need gay men for guidance.

“And that’s one of the things that I think a lot of times boys need, is, not just exposure to one guy, one dad, no matter how good the dad. He can’t be everything. And that boy may need somebody to give the boy some perspective on the dad right?” Obama said on the “IMO” podcast this week.

“You need that, to show empathy and kindness. And by the way, you need that person in your friend group, so that if you then have a boy who is gay or non-binary or whatever, they have somebody that they can go, ‘Okay, I’m not alone in this,’ right? So that, I think, is creating that community. I know it’s corny, but that’s what they need,” Obama said.

Barack Obama recalled one of his favorite professors, a gay man who helped shape his life.

WATCH:

Larry Sinclair says he had a night of crack cocaine-fueled sex with Barack Obama and appeared on Tucker’s show speak about it in detail.

WATCH:

Ep. 22 Larry Sinclair says he had a night of crack cocaine-fueled sex with Barack Obama, and that Obama came back for more the next day. Assess for yourself. Here’s our interview. pic.twitter.com/R6CXwKv6gs

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 6, 2023

Even Obama’s brother said Barack is gay.

Malik Obama previously said his brother Barack Obama is “definitely gay” in response to the former president’s statement on banning porn books for children.

Today, some of the books that shaped my life—and the lives of so many others—are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives. And librarians are on the front lines, fighting every day to make the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and… pic.twitter.com/txhCTfH3Gh

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 17, 2023

Obama was referring to sexually explicit books such as “Gender Queer” – a book filled with pornographic photos.

One of the books that shaped Barack Obama’s life, apparently: https://t.co/5Y1xjBCim7 pic.twitter.com/unLIlMR7HW

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 17, 2023

Malik Obama reacted to Barack Obama’s tweet.

“This man is definitely gay,” Malik Obama said in a since-deleted tweet.

Video and partial transcription courtesy of Fox News.

The post Barack Obama Says Boys Need Gay Friends and Mentors (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that military bases would be used to temporarily house illegal aliens.

The Department of Defense shared with Fox News that a section of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which is in New Jersey, will be one of the bases, along with Camp Atterbury, which is in Indiana.

New Jersey Democrats, not surprisingly, were upset with the Defense Department’s decision to house illegals on local military bases. They claimed it would affect military preparedness, which is a little difficult to believe considering the Democrat party’s respect for the institution in the previous four years under crooked Joe Biden.

The Democrats had no problem using the same bases in 2021 to house refugees from Afghanistan after the disastrous withdrawal which cost lives and weakened the US on the world stage.

Fox News Reported:

Military bases in both New Jersey and Indiana will soon be used by Homeland Security to house illegal immigrants, drawing a furious response from Democratic lawmakers.

Parts of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey and Camp Atterbury in Indiana will be repurposed and used as “temporary soft-sided holding facilities,” the Defense Department told Fox News Digital, citing a decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

New Jersey Democrats blasted the decision, warning it would harm military readiness and urging Republicans to join them in helping reverse it. Both bases were previously used to house thousands of Afghan refugees following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

“It is unclear when either site will open and a decision will depend on operational requirements and coordination with Homeland Security, the Defense Department said,” Fox News reported.

Homeland security is housing numerous illegal aliens in detention centers that are waiting to be deported from the United States.

According to NJ Spotlight News, the Defense Secretary’s letter to New Jersey Rep Herb Conaway said that military operations will not be affected by the decision to house illegals on base.

Under the Biden Regime an estimated 20 million illegals invaded the United States because of Joe Biden’s dangerous open border policies.

The post Democrats Fume After Secretary Hegseth Says Military Bases in New Jersey and Indiana will Temporarily House Illegal Aliens appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.