October 18, 2026

NOW WILL THE FRENCH GET SERIOUS?

Posted at 6:46 pm by Stephen Green

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Read this before you buy the ‘blue tsunami’ hype.

The news is awash these days with poll-inspired expectations about Democrats winning big in next month’s midterm elections. USA Today declared the other day that “the expected blue wave could be even bigger than expected, and could not only give Democrats control of the House, but also the Senate.” Even more expansively, Huffington Post proclaimed: “Historic victories are seemingly within grasp” for Democrats.

And yet, solid reasons exist for treating such poll-based narratives cautiously, even warily, given that surveys are inherently fragile instruments for measuring an ephemeral electorate. As data journalist Nate Silver has noted, “It’s not unreasonable to approach election polls from a position of mild — maybe even more-than-mild — skepticism.”

This is not to say poll-driven expectations are bound for error. They might be accurate; the Democrats might enjoy a “blue tsunami” of electoral success next month.

But there are compelling reasons for tempering pre-election headiness — reasons that are rooted in polling’s checkered past. The following summary of recent shortcomings in election polling offers context and justification for tapping the brakes about poll-driven high hopes this year.

Read the whole thing – and don’t get cocky, to coin an Insta-phrase.

Earlier:

Posted at 6:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

POLITICS IN THE PULPIT: Let’s see, evangelical Christians (EC) make up one of the largest voting blocks in America, so folks with opposing values — think secular liberal Democrats — just might have advice that discourages ECs from voting. Something like this: “Paul never tried to change politics. Peter never tried to change politics. Nope, not even Jesus. The Christian walk is NOT about changing America. Jesus doesn’t want us getting caught up in fruitless endeavors.”

Who benefits if 40 million+ evangelicals heed that admonition and stay home on election day? Secular liberal Democrats, of course. Michael Clary, the Lead Pastor of Christ the King Church in Cinncinnati, offers a decisive Scripture and common sense-based refutation of such theological thinking and five things Christians should expect of their pastors concerning politics.

 

 

Posted at 4:34 pm by Mark Tapscott

IT’S CERTAINLY A TALE AS OLD AS THE DNC:

Posted at 3:22 pm by Stephen Green

ANNALS OF LEFTIST AUTOPHAGY: Euronews’ crew assaulted by masked individuals while covering protests in Paris.

Euronews correspondents in Paris covering the protests reported being targeted by masked individuals on Saturday’s major nationwide demonstrations following calls on social media to target media outlets and professionals to prevent coverage.

Euronews’ crew was assaulted by looters and rioters in Paris near the Place de la Republique on Saturday as they were covering the ongoing joint major protests organised by the so-called ‘Yellow Vests’ and student-led groups.

The crew was headed to another location from Place de la Republique – where the protests were being staged.

Shortly into their journey, they were confronted by masked looters robbing the nearby Intermarché Express supermarket on 14 Place Jacques Bonsergent, which diverges from Place de la Republique, and filmed it.

“We were standing on Boulevard de Magenta, where a supermarket was was being looted by young people, young adults, teenagers. When they saw we were filming, they started hitting my cameraman and attempted to take his microphone and they encircled us,” said Estelle Nilsson-Julien, Euronews’ correspondent in Paris.

These things tend to happen in war zones:

● TV News Crew Robbed At Gunpoint In San Francisco.

—Deadline, November 14th, 2023.

● “A Fox News reporter was pummeled and chased by protesters who had gathered outside the White House early Saturday as part of nationwide unrest following the death of George Floyd.”

—AP, May 30th, 2020.

● London riots: Sky, ITN and CNN reporters attacked.

—The Grauniad, August 9th, 2011.

Posted at 2:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

SALENA ZITO: The House Is Restless Again. It Has Been Before.

The voters have been telling the parties this directly. Among independents who lean Republican, according to Pew Research 55% say a major reason is that Democratic policies are harmful, while only 30% credit Republican policies. Among those who lean Democratic, 51% point to the harm done by Republicans, and only 34% to anything Democrats have done.

Those are the voters who decide who controls the House, and they lean away from one party more than toward the other.

Yet each new majority behaves as though it has been embraced. It grows the government it promised to restrain, spends money it promised to save, or pushes the agenda its base wants over the one swing voters were promised, confident the country is behind it. It isn’t. Those voters were never committed, and they take the keys back as quickly as they handed them over. That is why the next wave tends to come so soon.

That brings us back to what our restlessness says about us. Gilded Age voters were living through a transformation they didn’t fully understand, and they kept firing whoever was in charge because no one had yet shown them that the new economy had a place for them. We are living through another transformation. The future is again being built in Western Pennsylvania, on old mill sites and above old gas fields. Many voters still aren’t sure it’s being built for them.

In three weeks the House will tell us what we think, as it always has. Whoever wins should remember that the voters handed them the keys. They didn’t hand them their hearts.

As America’s Newspaper of Record reminds voters, choose wisely next month:

Posted at 1:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

FIRST ANDRZEJEWSKI SCHOLARSHIP WINNER: How many college kids do you know these days who would recognize the suffocatingly liberal dominance of campuses across the country and decide it’s time to start an independent, conservative school paper that demands transparency and accountability?

Meet Ben Rothove, a senior at the University of Madison-Wisconsin who recognized as a freshman that liberal censorship had to be challenged and he was the man to rally friends and allies to found and run their own independent student newspaper. This ought to give all of us hope for the survival of genuine journalism.

Posted at 1:32 pm by Mark Tapscott

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE HOPENCHANGE: Obama, Whose Own IRS Targeted the Right, Clutches Pearls Over Ilhan Omar Raid and Wow, That Was Dumb.

Posted at 1:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

THEY AREN’T IGNORANT…:

…it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so, the wise man once said.

Posted at 1:07 pm by Stephen Green

OUT ON A LIMB: Trump blames France violence on immigration.

Donald Trump said immigration had “shattered” France after protesters and looters ransacked Paris.

The US president blamed Saturday’s violence, which saw shops raided and government buildings set ablaze, on the country’s immigration policy.

In a Truth Social Post, Mr Trump said: “France is burning! The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country.

“Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!”

Earlier, JD Vance, the US vice-president, wrote on X: “Western liberals imported the Third World into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion. They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility.”

Vance added he hopes that “Americans are paying attention. This is the future congressional Democrats seek for your country.”

Meanwhile, the Israel War Room news aggregation account is having fun trolling les pouvoirs publics:

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll