ANY SERIOUS SCHOLAR KNOWS THIS: South Vietnam didn’t fall because it was beaten. It fell because it was betrayed.
May 2, 2026
THE LEFT AND THE MEDIA (BIRM) NEEDS TO STOP SILENCING THEM: Notes from Upstream: The World Must Hear Iranian Voices.
AND YET, THE WOUND REMAINS: History Friday: Recollections of Vietnam At a Distance.
SOCIALISM IS BAD AND HURTS PEOPLE: What’s going on in Washington State? Yeah, just the usual.
I THINK WE SHOULD REMOVE ABOUT HALF THE HOUSE REGULATIONS AND STOP THE CHARADE OF “AFFORDABLE HOUSING” DEMANDED OF BUILDERS: No country for young families. “Having a child is like having leprosy.” The dark side of senior housing projects.
MUCH BETTER THAN IGNORING IT: Dancing with Shadow.
LIMITED PRIME DEAL: C CUSHION LAB Deep Sleep Pillow. #CommissionEarned
AN EARTH-SHATTERING KABOOM: Trump drops a narco-trafficking nuclear bomb into Mexican politics. “Imagine if Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), both close partners of President Donald Trump, were suddenly indicted for taking huge bribes from an international drug cartel operating out of Texas. That’s essentially what just happened with the Justice Department indictments issued against the Sinaloa drug cartel on Wednesday.”
OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.
DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE:
Reminder that the NC May Day protesters were bused in by lavishly funded tax exempt entities aligned with the NC teachers union. pic.twitter.com/jpBsFIYfdV
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) May 1, 2026
JIM GERAGHTY: The Absurd Rise of Graham Platner.
Platner’s de facto primary win is dark, depressing, and sad. You can make a compelling argument that antisemitism was actually Platner’s biggest strength in the short-lived Democratic Senate primary:
On another occasion, he promoted a social media post from the neo-Nazi Holocaust denier Stew Peters, and he also sat for a lengthy interview with antisemitic conspiracy theorist Nate Cornacchia, claiming he was a longtime fan. He has also described the U.S.-Israel relationship as “shameful” and praised a violent Hamas attack on Israel in 2014.
Two years ago, nobody had ever heard of this guy. He’s not remarkably accomplished. (As the new NRSC ad illustrates, he actually comes from a privileged background; his dad bought him a house.) In his early appearances, it was clear he didn’t know how the Senate appropriations process works. Out of nowhere, seemingly apolitical magazines like Bon Appetit started publishing glowing soft-focus profiles about this guy.
But there’s also something absurd about the rapid rise of Platner after the revelation in October that he had a death’s-head tattoo of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) on his chest for 18 years.
“It was not until I started hearing from reporters and D.C. insiders that I realized this tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol,” Platner said when the controversy emerged. “I absolutely would not have gone through life having this on my chest if I knew that — and to insinuate that I did is disgusting.” That is not how all of Platner’s old acquaintances remember it, and his former political director said he had told her he had a “problematic” tattoo in the summer of last year.
His life has been one enormous kampf struggle:
Graham Platner claims to be "working class"
The reality? His dad bought him a house, sent him to the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut where where tuition runs $70,000+ a year, and sent him on a European backpacking trip after high school. https://t.co/7SrHpniW6K
— Sarah Gallagher (@sgallz_) April 30, 2026
UPDATE:
Dems when President Trump does literally anything:
"He's literally Hitler!"
Dems when a Democrat has an actual Nazi tattoo:
"People can change." 🫶 pic.twitter.com/tLXFfEwEAI
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) May 1, 2026
Struggled you say https://t.co/BQSIvDxsba pic.twitter.com/2f1RFh6HxP
— Dr. Richard Harambe (@Richard_Harambe) May 1, 2026
THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY: THEY DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY THERE:
And it was done deliberately https://t.co/69kMnJOkKt
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) May 1, 2026
MUCH MORE LIKE THIS, PLEASE:
Excellent news!
Donald Trump approved a pipeline that will take oil from Alberta, Canada to the US.
It will increase Canada's exports to the US by 12%.
It's all pretty much approved on the Canadian side as it will use some of the Keystone XL pipe.
It's a joint venture between… pic.twitter.com/m6PpA7rj4R
— Kirk Lubimov (@KirkLubimov) May 1, 2026
I BLAME THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE: UK Healthy Life Expectancy Has Fallen by More Than 2 Years, Study Warns.