May 31, 2026

HAPPY SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL FROM AMERICA’S SOCIALISTS!

Tweet concludes, “Trump is president so life must suck. If concert held, people might think Trump not bad.”

Democrats in 1976 knew they had to muster some patriotic spirit to celebrate the Bicentennial. It helped that Gerald Ford was the last liberal go-along to get-along Republican president to date (unless you were worked on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, where he was viewed as the Antichrist).

More on that from a post I wrote last week:  The Past is a Foreign Country; They Sell Cola Differently There.

UPDATE:

Tweet continues, “There is this Gen Z misconception that the ’70s and early ’80s were some sort of economic golden age of readily available, well-paying jobs, low cost housing and an all around sense of prosperity. WRONG. Google ‘Stagflation.’ Google ‘gas lines.’ Google ‘mortgage interest rates in the 1980s.’ Our economy today is a golden age by comparison, without exaggeration. Yet somehow in 1976 we could gleefully celebrate our nation’s birthday without Democrats turning it into a Howard Zinn-inspired anti-history hatefest.”

Posted at 1:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

AS ORWELL NEVER SAID, PEOPLE SLEEP PEACEABLY IN THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT ONLY BECAUSE ROUGH MEN STAND READY TO DO VIOLENCE ON THEIR BEHALF:

Posted at 1:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

RIOTS FOR THEE, BUT NOT FOR ME:

UPDATE: Metaphor alert:

(Classical reference in headline.)

Posted at 12:55 pm by Ed Driscoll

DIE WERTENTWICKLUNG IN DER VERGANGENHEIT IST KEINE GARANTIE FÜR ZUKÜNFTIGE ERGEBNISSE:

Related: What Other Skeletons Are Lurking in Graham Platner’s Closet? “These new stories are primarily coming from (and being confirmed by) Genevieve McDonald, Platner’s former political director, who resigned in October. McDonald was the person charged with doing ‘internal oppo’ on Platner — the normal vetting process whereby a campaign frankly assesses all of their candidate’s potential personal and political weaknesses. And as all of these stories about Platner’s personal rottenness drip forth, all with immaculate sourcing and ironclad claims, I begin to ask myself: What remaining skeletons could possibly be hiding in Graham Platner’s closet that would make McDonald not only quit his campaign, but also potentially dynamite her own career in order to tell the truth about him? What are we about to find out next about Graham Platner?”

More: Graham Platner’s Senate Campaign Is Finished. Platner is “the man Maine Democrats chose over Gov. Janet Mills, who was an experienced, vetted, credible candidate who might have actually given Collins a real race. Instead, they went with an unvetted newcomer whose past was a minefield and whose judgment, apparently, never improved. They wanted fresh and exciting. They got this.”

Posted at 12:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

QUESTION ASKED: Is Music Industry’s Blacklist Worse than Hollywood’s Version?

The gala promised a grand day of music on the National Mall July 4.

Yet some of the artists teased to appear quickly backtracked once the list went public.

A few claimed the event was too political and divisive, citing vague statements to allegedly back up the claim. Others, like Bret Michaels, said violent threats made them quit the tour.

“Concerns have also been raised regarding the safety of my fans, band, crew, family and myself, including threats that are completely unfounded and unforgivable.”

With about a month to go, what are Trump’s options?

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

COME SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE LEFTISM:

Posted at 9:48 am by Stephen Green

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO SCREW UP THEIR WHOLE STRATEGY?

Posted at 9:10 am by Stephen Green

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Was Marcel Duchamp’s notorious ‘Fountain’ even his own work?

Collectors clamored for more paintings, but he was obsessed with his “readymades,” of which the most celebrated remains “Fountain.” It was a urinal he reputedly bought from a plumbing suppliers and signed “R. Mutt 1917.” He submitted it to the Society of Independent Artists, which was supposed to show any artist who paid $5 in annual dues and a $1 entry fee. So “Fountain” was duly entered – and rejected. Duchamp had it photographed by Alfred Stieglitz and that was the last anyone saw of it. The original no longer exists. Nevertheless, it has often been recreated for Duchamp exhibitions.

John Strausbaugh floats the interesting theory that “Fountain” was not actually the work of Duchamp at all but of Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. She was a well known German eccentric, “unhampered by sanity,” who turned up in New York in 1913, aged 39. She worked as a life model at the Art Students League and looked extraordinary: “Her lips were painted black, her face powder was yellow. She wore the top of a coal scuttle for a hat.” She lusted after Duchamp and wrote him a poem – “Marcel, Marcel, I love you like hell, Marcel” – but he would have none of her because she stank like a skunk. But they were good friends, so it is significant that Duchamp wrote to his sister the day after the Independent Artists’ exhibition opened: “One of my female friends under a masculine pseudonym, Richard Mutt, sent in a porcelain urinal as a sculpture.” And also that he did not claim “Fountain” as his own until 1934, after the Baroness died.

* * * * * * * * *

[Duchamp died of a heart attack in 1969.] The Village Voice obituary pronounced him “the most influential artist of our time… A mainspring, a wellspring, a genius.” And his importance has, if anything, increased since. Last year Jeff Koons declared that “Duchamp is as relevant today as in his own time” and Ai Weiwei said: “Marcel Duchamp’s influence remains profound – not only today but well into the future.”

Though there are certainly limits to his influence: Money Down The Toilet In Afghanistan. That time when progressive US colonialists tried to enlighten Afghans by teaching them about the glories of Dadaist art. “Cockburn dredges up something so horrible and hilarious that it’s straight out of a Monty Python sketch. In it, the American occupiers attempt to enlighten a group of Afghan women by showing them Marcel Duchamp’s famous urinal-as-museum-piece, and telling them that it’s important art. Cockburn says watch to the 31-second point and see the moment when America failed in Afghanistan:”

Posted at 8:45 am by Ed Driscoll

PARTHIAN SHOT: CBS Torches Stephen Colbert After His Exit. “So in axing Colbert, the network turned the whole slot profitable. It sure sounds like CBS has now been unburdened by what has been.”

Posted at 8:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

LEFTIST FANS OF BIG GOVERNMENT ARE CURIOUSLY EAGER TO PROVOKE IT:

Evergreen:

Posted at 8:14 am by Ed Driscoll

IS PARIS BURNING? Hundreds Arrested as Riots and Looting Break Out After Paris Saint-Germain Victory in Champions League Final.

Riots immediately erupted in the French capital following Paris Saint-Germain’s victory over London’s Arsenal Football Club in the Champions League Final on Saturday.

UPDATE 5/31 0145: Hundreds of arrests across France

According to updated figures from Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, at least 416 people have been arrested throughout France on Sunday, including 283 in Paris. At least seven police officers were injured during the rioting, including one seriously, Le Figaro reported.

In addition to clashes with police and setting fires, Minister Nuñez said that 15 cities across the country experienced looting, including multiple instances in cities such as Grenoble, Strasbourg, and Rennes.

Despite the chaos, the government minister said that plans to hold a victory celebration at the Champ de Mars on Sunday are still set to go ahead.

Wow, and I thought Eagles and Raiders fans were a bit overenthusiastic:

Posted at 7:45 am by Ed Driscoll