August 12, 2026

ASIDE FROM HARDCORE STATISTS, IS THERE ANY TRADITIONAL DEMOCRAT CONSTITUENCY HE DOESN’T HATE?

Make him the face of today’s Democrat party — because he is.

Posted at 10:55 am by Stephen Green

DISPATCHES FROM THE OCCUPIED ZONES: Manhattan rents reach all-time high of $6,655/month amid Mamdani’s rent freeze and pied-a-terre tax threat. “That’s a brutal 10% jump from a year ago, and real estate pros are pointing straight at Mayor Mamdani’s incoming rent freeze on stabilized units as one of the culprits, along with a looming pied-a-terre tax that brokers say is only going to squeeze the market harder. The pain is compounded by a record-low number of vacant apartments across the city, leaving desperate renters with almost nowhere to turn.”

As foretold by the prophets:

Posted at 10:40 am by Stephen Green

JIM GERAGHTY: Francesca Hong’s Bad Night.

Back in 2017, before he became the kind of guy who checks under his bed every night for Israelis, soon-to-be-former Kentucky GOP Representative Thomas Massie observed about President Trump’s rise in the Republican Party:

I thought they were voting for libertarian Republicans. But after some soul-searching, I realized when they voted for Rand [Paul] and Ron [Paul] and me in these primaries, they weren’t voting for libertarian ideas — they were voting for the craziest son of a b**** in the race.

It’s an easily forgotten facet of American politics that parties aren’t required to nominate the craziest son-of-a-b**** in the race. You can nominate the second-craziest, or the third-craziest, or if you’re really willing to be daring, nominate a candidate who doesn’t seem crazy at all.

Yesterday, faced with a potential gubernatorial nominee who hates a bunch of American holidays, Wisconsin Democrats pulled it together and got just enough votes to nominate Milwaukee County executive David Crowley instead of the DSA candidate, Francesca Hong. As of this writing, Crowley has a bit more than 313,000 votes, and Hong has a bit more than 310,000. The Associated Press called Crowley the winner at 2:34 a.m. local time.

Ed Morrissey adds, “Stunner in WI: Hong Goes Wrong As Night Goes Long:” “The party got what it wanted, but in the worst possible way. Their rescue of the hapless David Crowley and his own inept campaign will stick in the craw of DSA and progressive activists. The narrowness of the loss makes the establishment intervention even more obvious and (in their minds) egregious. Hong still got over 310,000 votes in the primary, and a significant part of that electorate will walk away and may not come back in time for the November election, in a state where no one wins with dramatic leads, and again, in a state Trump won two years ago. Also, the establishment may have won by beating Hong, but their prize is a candidate who couldn’t run a competent campaign on his own and who only returned when the party co-opted it as a desperate last resort.”

UPDATE:

Posted at 10:35 am by Ed Driscoll

SPOILER: THEY GET QUITE A LOT FOR THEIR MONEY.

Posted at 10:24 am by Stephen Green

JUST ADDED TO THE EVER-EXPANDING KINDLE LIST:

Original post reads in full: “Many of the loser children of my wealthy friends who see no way to emulate the success of their parents, have gravitated toward Mamdani-ism and found community and a sense of purpose by rejecting capitalism as a way to cope with their own failure. Please note they have nor however rejected their trust funds or living subsidies while pursuing their ‘passions’ in NGOs, dabbling in the arts or trying to invest their parents money in ‘VC.’

Posted at 9:53 am by Stephen Green

“ANSWERED” IS A FAR CRY FROM “HANDLED”: New Orleans Using AI to to Make Sure 911 Calls are Answered is a Good Thing… Isn’t It? “They system, of course, isn’t perfect. It had difficulty during training with accents, intonation and inflection. The New Orleans folks say they’ve worked on that and ironed out the bugs. But with AI, other possibilities can come into play that might delay a response.”

I’ve found AI helpful in all kinds of ways, but for customer service or tech calls, it’s usually an aggravating time-waster at best.

Posted at 9:38 am by Stephen Green

THEY DON’T HAVE TO FALL IN LOVE, THEY JUST HAVE TO FALL IN LINE:

Maybe not ha-ha funny.

Posted at 9:22 am by Stephen Green

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Cute Couple — Tucker Carlson and Hunter Biden Find Each Other. “If Carlson really does want to run for president, his pathological hatred for Israel pretty much obligates him to run as a Democrat. He’s going to need to start working on his commie bona fides if he wants to get any cred with them. Don’t be surprised to see him brunching with Hasan Piker soon.”

Posted at 9:07 am by Stephen Green

CHANGE (IT BACK): Pentagon’s top policy official outlines new ‘realism’ approach to China.

Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of defense for policy, said during a speech in the Philippines that U.S. defense leaders will not call out states engaged in efforts to bully regional allies or seeking to control large areas of the region.

Instead, the new Pentagon policy calls for quiet and respectful relations — while also bolstering American military defenses along a chain of islands off the coast of China known as the first island chain.

Mr. Colby’s 4,000-word speech to a think tank in Manila made no specific reference to China, but it was clear from the context of the speech and earlier comments that he was referring to Beijing.

The new policy will seek to be strong and clear but quiet, Mr. Colby said, noting it reflects President Theodore Roosevelt’s maxim of speaking softly and carrying a big stick.

That was obvious by the second graf, but these days, even an undersecretary of defense for policy has to whack people over the head with the point.

Posted at 8:36 am by Stephen Green

I WOULDN’T WORRY ABOUT IT THOUGH; IT’S NOT LIKE DETROIT IS A BIG NFL TOWN:

(Classical allusion in headline.)

Posted at 8:22 am by Ed Driscoll

I’VE BEEN SAYING THIS ALL ALONG:

Posted at 8:20 am by Glenn Reynolds

TAPPER, LOL II:

Posted at 8:20 am by Stephen Green