August 11, 2026

JIM GERAGHTY: The DSA Has Slogans, but Isn’t Interested in Policies.

Near the end of the [New Yorker interview with David Remnick] — perhaps sensing that she had not come across as knowledgeable and thoughtful in her answers — [DSA co-chair Megan] Romer emphasized that she doesn’t really speak on behalf of the Democratic Socialists of America:

Romer: So, if you’re looking to me to be the one true arbiter of DSA thought, I am absolutely not. I come from a—

Remnick: Who is? Or that doesn’t exist, and never will?

Romer: DSA, it doesn’t exist. A convention, I guess, would be the closest to the one true arbiter of DSA, and it happens every two years.

Over on the DSA Reddit, you can find DSA enthusiasts calling Remnick “a member of the ‘elite New York intellectual class’” who “considers himself above regular fly over state working class people.” (I feel like I’ve heard that kind of knee-jerk snide dismissal before.) But recall which questions tripped up Romer:

  • “What does ‘taxing the hell out of them’ mean?”
  • “What does prison abolition mean to you? ”
  • “What does defunding the police mean, in your mind? ”
  • “How do you feel about [Russia’s invasion of Ukraine]? ”
  • “What is the position that DSA is headed toward here? Is it for a two-state solution, or is it a binational, one-state solution?”

Those are not trivia questions. He’s asking her what she thinks. In theory, there’s no wrong answer.

I could write that Romer is a shallow, uninformed moron, and that would be a lot of fun and probably go viral. But it probably wouldn’t dissuade anyone who feels positively about the DSA. Fans of the socialist movement will probably dig in their heels and conclude, like that Reddit commenter, that Remnick, you, and I are being smug elitists because Romer had troubling answering those questions and articulating what policies she wanted to see.

At Commentary, Seth Mandel adds that “facts are ruinous to anyone who wants to argue for the eradication of Israel. The DSA has rebranded itself as first and foremost an anti-Zionist organization supportive of the worst kind of violence. Knowledge of the important events in this conflict make taking such a position indefensible—which, of course, it is.”

Related:

Posted at 12:00 pm by Ed Driscoll

JONATHAN TURLEY: Sam Alito is Locked and Loaded . . . and He is Not Going Anywhere.

Even after overturning Roe v. Wade and other historic opinions, Alito still has unfinished business. An example can be found in two cases involving bans on semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15 that are now awaiting argument in the October term.

Many of us have been frustrated by the Court’s failure to address these laws barring AR-15s and other weapons. Just last year, the Supreme Court declined review of such a Maryland law. Alito and Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch indicated that they wanted to hear the case, falling just one vote short of granting certiorari.

Notably, the required fourth vote could have come from Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who called the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in Snopes v. Brown “questionable” and added that the Court “should and presumably will address the AR-15 issue soon, in the next Term or two.”

Now, it will.

This could end up a big term for civil rights — stay tuned.

Posted at 11:41 am by Stephen Green

HIS TRUE MOTIVE MAY NEVER BE KNOWN:

Next time, empty a magazine or two into him, fellas.

Posted at 11:25 am by Stephen Green

THE ABSURDITIES ARE HEIGHTENING: Trans Rep Sarah McBride Has a Sad but I Can’t Stop Laughing. “‘This strategy of cutting off conversation and even cutting off relationships, it was done from a good place,’ McBride claimed in the video, equating family-destroying temper tantrums with moral suasion.”

Posted at 11:10 am by Stephen Green

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: California sued over policy that could free serial killers as Laci Peterson’s friend sounds alarm.

Schubert singled out some high-profile prisoners serving life without parole:

Scott Peterson was convicted of killing his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn son after she vanished on Christmas Eve in 2002. Gang member David Hill fatally shot San Francisco Police Officer Isaac Espinoza in 2004 and wounded his partner. Darryl Lamar Collins was 24 when he killed two people in 1995 but was granted early release in 2017 thanks to changes in California’s youthful offender parole law — only to kill his girlfriend Fatima Johnson less than a year later. They are among thousands who could potentially benefit from the new regulations, Schubert said.

According to Schubert, the board exceeded its statutory authority by using the bureaucratic rulemaking process to create a resentencing and clemency review system for prisoners sentenced to life without parole, a plan that California’s Office of Administrative Law approved on July 9.

Exit quote: “The main primary arguments deal with the fact that one, they don’t have the legal authority to do this, that this is an administrative bureaucratic agency that’s trying to rewrite the legislature, that they’re trying to rewrite sentencing laws that came out of ballot initiative.”

But Muh Democracy™ or whatever.

Posted at 10:49 am by Stephen Green

DECOUPLING IS A STRATEGIC NECESSITY:

Posted at 10:23 am by Stephen Green

AOC: “WOKE ONE WAS CRAZY!” How crazy? This crazy:

 

Posted at 10:22 am by Ed Driscoll

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Rocket Critical To China’s Space Program Blows Up Just 85 Seconds After Launch.

According to Space News, China National Radio (CNR) published a report around the time of liftoff on what the mission was expected to accomplish, referring to the payload as Zhongxing-4B. The report now shows a 404 error.

The outlet reported that Zhongxing satellites are possibly used for military communications.

Monday’s launch marked China’s 56th orbital launch attempt of 2026 and its fourth failure of the year. Earlier setbacks included a Long March 3B failure and the failed debut of the Ceres-2 solid-fueled rocket in January, followed by the loss of the Tianlong-3 rocket during its maiden flight in early April, Space News reported.

The Long March 7A is not an experimental rocket making its first appearance. It debuted in March 2020, but the inaugural mission ended in failure as well after the rocket exploded, the outlet reported.

Space is hard. But China made a great leap forward, to coin a phrase, last month on one of the hardest parts: China catches its first reusable booster.

Posted at 9:37 am by Stephen Green

THE SUICIDE OF THE WEST (CONT’D):

Posted at 9:21 am by Stephen Green

SARAH HOYT’S SHOCKED FACE LEFT THE STATE YEARS AGO: Colorado’s one-party rulers enjoy a progressive press pass. “Unfortunately, the demographic and political realities of this state mean nothing about this will be changing any time soon. With most of the state’s politicians clustered in the blue Front Range, Democrats know that they don’t have to venture into parts of the state where they might face tough questions. They don’t have to appear on the media outlets that the red parts of the state watch and read. Why would they when there’s no penalty for it? No one will hear the complaints from outlets like Center Square over Weiser’s lack of transparency when he can easily shout any story down by talking to Colorado Public Radio.”

“Democrat operatives with bylines” remains as true as ever.

Posted at 8:35 am by Stephen Green

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE:

Posted at 8:35 am by Ed Driscoll

FLASHBACK:

Posted at 8:29 am by Glenn Reynolds

SOLID CONCLUSION, BUT I THINK HE MEANT “JUST EXPECTED” AT THE START:

Posted at 8:19 am by Stephen Green

ROBERT SPENCER: Romeo and WHO? “Next month, Riverside Studios, a trendy “arts centre” in London, is proudly (what else?) presenting Romeo and Hamed, which it describes as ‘a bold, provocative queer reimagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy from debut writer Scott Horgan.’ It is likely quite provocative, and queer it certainly is, both in the old and new senses of the word, but bold? Nah. The play, you see, was originally called Romeo and Mohammed, but the leftists at Riverside Studios allowed themselves enough “Islamophobia” to realize that a production with a title like that could get them all killed, and they decided to tone it down a bit.”

Where is James Talarico to explain that Mohammed was nonbinary?

Posted at 8:04 am by Stephen Green