April 16, 2026

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Dems Still Trying to Ditch Stage 5 Clinger Kamala Harris. “All of the above, mixed with the leftist permanent state of aggrievement gives Harris a toxic sense of entitlement. Like Hillary Clinton before her, Harris believes that God, the world, and the American electorate owe her.”

Posted at 9:08 am by Stephen Green

WHY CAN’T WE DO THIS?

Posted at 8:52 am by Stephen Green

THE ANSWER IS, YOU’VE BEEN AT WAR FOR FOUR-PLUS YEARS WITH NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT BUT 1.3 MILLION CASUALTIES, SANCTIONS, AND A BUSTED SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND: Putin Demands Answers as Russia’s Economy Undershoots Expectations.

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday demanded explanations from the government and Central Bank over why Russia’s economy is performing worse than expected this year, calling for urgent measures to revive growth in his second public complaint about economic weakness in a month.

According to the Economic Development Ministry, GDP in January and February was 1.8% lower than in the same period last year. The Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Economic Forecasting (INP) estimated a 1.5% year-on-year contraction for the first quarter, while the Central Bank had previously forecast GDP growth of 1.6% over the same period.

The ministry attributed part of the decline to calendar effects, noting that January had two fewer working days and February one fewer than a year earlier. Adjusted for this, GDP was flat year-on-year in January and rose 0.3% in February.

Putin dismissed the explanation as insufficient.

Well, it is insufficient. But since he won’t end the war and keeps silencing his critics, it’s the best answer he’s going to get.

Posted at 8:37 am by Stephen Green

RUPE DEBATE:  On Friday, I’ll be at Harvard Law School arguing that disparate impact liability is unconstitutional.  We’ll see if I persuade anyone.  I understand the event will be live streamed, but I don’t have a link for that yet.

If you’re interested in the subject, here’s a link to the article I wrote about disparate impact liability a few years ago.

If you have time and the inclination, by all means join me (assuming I eventually can get the link for you).

Posted at 8:19 am by Gail Heriot

IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: The Trump Doctrine, Defined. “What is the Trump Doctrine? My columns and essays in recent weeks have poked at it, hinted at it, but I never pulled it all together in one place — and not even President Donald Trump has fully explained it. So let’s do that now while the pieces still fall into place.”

Posted at 8:06 am by Stephen Green

FRAUD ISN’T AN UNFORTUNATE ASPECT OF THE SYSTEM. IT IS THE SYSTEM. THE PURPOSE OF A SYSTEM IS WHAT IT DOES.

Posted at 7:51 am by Glenn Reynolds

THE FALLOUT FROM BIDEN’S BORDER CRISIS CONTINUES:

Posted at 7:50 am by Stephen Green

CHANGE? Hungary’s prime minister-elect vows to suspend ‘propaganda machine’ state media.

Péter Magyar, whose landslide election victory on Sunday brought an end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power, detailed his plans for the suspension as he gave two tense interviews to public radio and television on Wednesday.

The appearances marked his first invitation to take part in state media in 18 months, Magyar said, in sharp contrast to Orbán’s regular appearances.

The incoming leader used the interviews to confront the outlets over their coverage, accusing them of spreading fear and lies and comparing their coverage to propaganda from North Korea and Nazi-era Germany. “Every Hungarian deserves a public service media that broadcasts the truth,” Magyar told Kossuth state radio.

He said his government would pass a new press law and create a media authority with the aim of allowing state media “to actually do what it is meant to do”.

Better just to abolish it.

Posted at 7:35 am by Stephen Green

THEY ARE FED A STEADY DIET OF LIES:

Posted at 7:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

ON PRE-ORDER FOR RELEASE ON THE 23rd: FROM SARAH A. HOYT:  Witch’s Daughter.

#CommissionEarned

Some letters come from the living. Some come from the dead. This one comes with a formula that turns a rowboat into a miracle.

Seventeen-year-old Lord Michael Ainsling — youngest brother of the Duke of Darkwater, builder of mechanical marvels, survivor of fairyland — receives a letter from a man sixteen years dead. The inventor Tristram Blakley has not perished; he has been imprisoned by his own genius and begs the one mind in all of Avalon brilliant enough to understand his work to set him free. All Michael has to do is find seven missing brothers first and walk a magical path..

Fifteen-year-old Albinia Blakley has spent her whole life under her mother’s iron thumb — and her mother is a witch. The day Al finally escapes down a rope of knotted sheets, she lands in a world she doesn’t recognize, with no money, no magic kit, and no idea that the stranger who catches her is about to become her greatest ally.

Together, a girl with more secrets than she knows and a boy who builds machines that try to murder him must outwit a sorceress, navigate the treacherous courts of Fairyland, and unravel an enchantment years in the making — before a family is lost for good.

Witch’s Daughter is a gaslamp fantasy brimming with wit, warmth, and wonder, for readers who love their magic wrapped in velvet and their adventures served with morning tea.

Posted at 7:01 am by Sarah Hoyt

WHEN DEMOCRATS TALK ABOUT MORALITY, LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS. AND SONS. AND WALLETS. AND DOG.

Related, from America’s paper of record:

Posted at 7:00 am by Glenn Reynolds

CONGRESS MUST COME CLEAN: Swalwell scandal spotlights the depth of hidden corruption that has plagued Congress for decades. It’s time to shine the cleansing light of transparency, beginning with making public all of the heretofore secret settlements and associated hush fund protecting others like Swalwell, past and present. Check out my new column on PJ Media.

Posted at 6:40 am by Mark Tapscott