September 1, 2026

August 31, 2026

OPEN THREAD: Monday, Monday.

Posted at 9:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds

MARK STEYN’S SONG OF THE WEEK: “I Will Always Love You.”

It is not many songs that can claim the affections of both Brazilian deaf-mute transgenders and the late Saddam Hussein, but “I Will Always Love You” is one of them.

Seriously. Obviously I have my differences with the late Iraqi dictator over torturing political opponents, gassing the Kurds and whatnot, but I had a certain respect for his taste in music. He was said to have had quite a collection of Sinatra LPs, mostly from the Capitol era — In the Wee Small Hours and Songs for Swingin’ Lovers. And at the end of his life Saddam was certainly swingin’.

But that was the dictator after hours, in his wee smalls, with a box of Quality Street and one of his many mistresses. For the public face of his musical tastes, he favored the Bodyguard soundtrack. From The Times of London, and their report on the 2002 Presidential “election” in Iraq:

Party officials have chosen the Whitney Houston song ‘I Will Always Love You’ as the campaign theme tune. The song accompanies the dawn-to-dusk election broadcasts on the three state-controlled television stations, which feature almost continuous footage of Saddam.

Amazing. All over Baghdad, folks were switching on the radio to find Whitney ululating “I will always love you-oo-oooaahooeauooooeeeuoaaaoooo…” And, also all over Baghdad, folks in the next apartment were sighing, “Terrific. Saddam’s got those Shi-ites at Number 23 wired up to the cattle prods again. Might as well forget about any sleep tonight.”

Needless to say, read the whole thing.

Posted at 8:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

MICHIGAN DEMOCRAT ABDUL EL-SAYED’S DELETED TWEETS ON SEPT. 11 ATTACKS INVITE SCRUTINY OF PAST REMARKS:

As the nation prepares to mark 25 years since Sept. 11, 2001, Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, may be facing the risk of renewed scrutiny and fresh political attack.

El-Sayed is a leader of a new crop of candidates from a wing of his party that opposed American wars and capitalized on anger over anti-Arab sentiment in a state with a robust and active Muslim community. But now he is attempting to adapt — and in some cases delete — past statements that may run afoul of a broad, general election audience.

As El-Sayed heads into the fall general election campaign against Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, El-Sayed, a former public health official, has already been forced to distance himself from the views of Hasan Piker, a popular Twitch streamer who has appeared at El-Sayed’s campaign events and who generated controversy for declaring that “America deserved 9/11” before later retracting the remark.

Meanwhile, El-Sayed’s past references to the deadly attacks have continued to surface, including two deleted social media posts verified by CBS News that have not been previously reported. In those posts, he calls for the American public to muster the same outrage for the COVID-19 death toll that they displayed after 9/11.

Norm Macdonald, call your office!

Posted at 8:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

YES:

Registration required but worth it.

Posted at 5:43 pm by Stephen Green

UNEXPECTEDLY: Supreme Court allows Trump’s White House ballroom construction to go on.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN):

The opinion is here.

Posted at 5:29 pm by Ed Driscoll

MAYOR COSPLAY: Mamdani’s free day care plan in chaos as cash-strapped centers warn they may not open.

The program is scheduled to begin Sept. 10, but some day care operators say they still have not received the funding needed for teachers, classroom supplies and furniture. Several have warned parents that their centers may not be able to open if the money does not arrive soon, reports the New York Times.

The delays have also affected city-backed bridge loans intended to help providers cover expenses while waiting for their contracts to be processed. Some operators say they have turned to personal loans, family members and their own savings to keep their businesses running.

“Yes, they have a 2-K program, but they didn’t set up the infrastructure to make it work,” said Nurita Love, who operates four Bronx day care centers preparing to offer four 2-K classes.

Promises are easy. Infrastructure is hard.

Posted at 4:50 pm by Stephen Green

THAT’S BECAUSE HE PALLED AROUND WITH TERRORISTS, AND ANYBODY WHO SPOKE THE TRUTH WAS PILLORIED FOR IT:

Posted at 4:34 pm by Stephen Green

MARRIAGE KEY TO HOUSING AFFORDABILITY: Most of the time when the public forums have discussion about the growing crisis in affordable housing, the focus tends to be on government measures designed to making it cheaper and faster to build new homes.

But a new analysis by the American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center and the Institute for Family Studies makes a strong data-driven case for the idea that reversing America’s declining marriage rate would go a long way to returning home ownership to its central role in the American drea,

Posted at 4:15 pm by Mark Tapscott

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD:

Posted at 3:32 pm by Stephen Green