Tuesday's Final Word

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Ed: Keep an eye on RedState for more from Jen. She's been following this for a while, and she has some interesting receipts. The Newsoms are attempting to spin this as a political attack, but the DoJ has been probing them for several years now. 

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Mary Rooke at the Daily Caller: However, it seems he’s forgotten a very important fact: the investigations originated in 2025 under the Biden administration.

The DOJ investigations stem from whistleblower complaints submitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in California’s Eastern District in 2025, before Trump returned to office. Sources told outlets including the AP, Politico, and the Sacramento Bee that the activity traces to whistleblower complaints from within the California government. ...

Despite Newsom’s claims, it seems this is less political prosecution and more a proper use of federal investigatory powers. Whistleblower complaints came from within his own government, which provided a sufficient basis for federal prosecutors to look more closely into how his inner circle, including his wife, does business. But, of course, Newsom will attempt to deflect blame onto Trump, and many on the left will hear this and ignore any evidence produced against him.

Ed: I'm not sure about the timing of the specific probe of Newsom's wife. However, when investigations get prompted by whistleblowers from within your administration, you can't really complain about the timing. 

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Ed: There is some context for these numbers, but I'm not sure it really helps. See below.

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Ed: It's fair to "normalize" arrest statistics on population, so the recalculation from Nurbaev is worth considering. However, the only way this changes the original takeaway is to notice how repressive Alexander Lukashenko is in Belarus. I don't think it improves matters for Starmer for the UK to get the silver medal in speech repression while Russia and China end up off the medal stand altogether. 

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City Journal: Adam Hamawy has a checkered past. He once interned for a foundation that allegedly served as an Al Qaeda front. He’s been accused of lying in court to protect Omar Abdel Rahman, a.k.a. the “Blind Sheikh”—a terrorist who inspired the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Nonetheless, in November, he will almost certainly be elected to represent New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District in the House of Representatives.

Had the Egypt-born, South Brunswick-located doctor run in one of Congress’s ever-fewer competitive districts, this record might have brought him down. But NJ-12 is a deep-blue congressional seat, which means Hamawy’s victory in the June 2 Democratic primary effectively secured his election to Congress—and therefore gave his ideas and sympathies new currency in the Democratic caucus.

His victory came courtesy of a $2 million intervention from a pro-Palestine Super PAC. By contrast, there was zero organized effort to oppose Hamawy. That so little opposition materialized against a candidate whose record would trouble many Americans says something about the state of the Democratic Party and about the relative strength of groups that might have opposed Hamawy.

The lack of organized opposition to Hamawy is especially puzzling because his race was not an impossible one to influence.

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Ed: I don't think we can assume that this was just an oversight, especially not with Herr Totenkopf/Der Oysterführer in Maine and Abdul el-Sayed in Michigan, not to mention Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, and Zohran Mamdani. The Democrat Party sees anti-Israel and anti-Semitism as a feature to embrace, not a bug. 

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Ed: Maybe a few years ago, we'd be complaining about machine politics. These days, we may regret when the Bob Bradys leave the stage and the DSA activists take over completely. 

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Brendan O'Neill at The Spectator: “Can we get a ‘Free Palestine’?” the streamer asked as he shoved his mic towards Seinfeld’s mouth. Seinfeld smirked. He held his tongue. No “Free Palestine” passed his lips.

It gets better. He then proceeded to shut down his chirpy interrogator with three words. “It doesn’t exist”, he said. He was talking about Palestine. Cue fury from the Gazaholics. This was “racist rhetoric”, cried the cranks at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Oh keep your burqas on. He wasn’t being racist – he was showing the world that even in an age of crushing conformity it is possible to stand your ground.

There was something heroic in Seinfeld’s smiling refusal to speak on command. By resisting the pressure to parrot the slogans of the self-righteous, he struck a blow for freedom of conscience. He resisted the trap of compelled speech, preferring the company of his own supposedly blasphemous thoughts. What a relief to discover there are celebrities out there who decline to bow to the passing fads of correct-think.

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The backlash over his Palestine heresy was fast and furious. Social media is awash with Jerry hate. “Racist,” “apartheid lover,” “psycho” – those barbs and others have been hurled his way. Mehdi Hasan called him a “disgusting and proud racist” and said he will never again watch an episode of Seinfeld. I bet Jerry’s gutted. Perhaps he’ll take comfort in the millions of dollars he still rakes in from Seinfeld every year, courtesy of viewers who aren’t big babies and don’t switch off TV shows in a pique of infantile rage when they discover they disagree with the people who made them.

Ed: I had that clip in a recent Final Word, with only the comment, "Epic." It is no surprise at all that the Left freaked out over Seinfeld's comment, which is not just consistent for him personally but also true. Even if he ws wrong, though, the Left's reaction isn't to debate him, but to silence him like a heretic. Hasan is a clown anyway. 

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Ed: I'm genuinely surprised. And heartened. 

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Matt Taibbi: Once upon a time Northeast liberals just didn’t know why people liked NASCAR or the WWE. Now they’ve moved all the way from, “I don’t know it and I don’t get it, but whatever,” to “That shit I’ve never watched and don’t understand must be somewhere between porn and lynching!” Here’s Substack’s own Cox Richardson comparing the UFC bash to “the impulse that really pushed lynching in the late 19th century”... 

You have to be mad as a March hare to equate the UFC with lynching, but that’s where we are, I guess.

Ed: Well, that's where the Left is now. There are a lot of crazies in the progressive commentariat, and not just on Substack or on Jim Acosta's podcast. For instance ...

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Ed: Look, I get it that some people don't like UFC or violent sports more generally. That's totally reasonable. However, millions of people DO like it, and Trump happens to be one of them. The Biden Regency had topless transvestites on the White House lawn, which looks a lot more like "decline." Maybe the best thing to do is to get a grip and live your own life. 

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Scott Johnson at Power Line: United States Attorney for Minnesota Dan Rosen announced the unsealing of the indictment of 15 members of Minnesota’s Antifa brigade — members of Direct Action and Black Cat Worker’s Collective — at the press conference I attended this morning. Twelve were arrested this morning. Law enforcement is looking out for two more. One was already in custody.

Dan took pains from the outset to distinguish legal protest from the criminal misconduct charged in the indictment. Indeed, he emphasized that defendants concealed themselves among legal protesters. ...

Dan invited me to meet with him in his office following the press conference. We talked about cabbages and kings. What I took from the press conference as well as our conversation afterwards is Dan’s belief in equal treatment under the law. He is committed to charging the illegal misconduct of federal law enforcement officers as well as that of the fascist Antifa types among us.

At the conslusion of the press conference the National Lawyers Guild — the old Communist front group — announced a press conference to be held outside the courthouse while I was meeting with Dan. I thought it was news that the NLG is still alive.

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Ed: Mitch wrote about this for us, but be sure to read this post from Scott as well. Minnesota's media is, with the exception of Alpha News and a couple of the TV stations, thoroughly in the tank for radical-progressive groups and causes. 

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Ed: Be sure to read Mitch's post about this confrontation. 

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Semafor: Vice President JD Vance has become the main face selling the Trump administration’s US-Iran deal, but just as notable is who isn’t out promoting it: Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rubio, though widely seen as one of Trump’s best communicators — and a potential 2028 Vance running mate or even top-of-the-ticket contender — has been largely quiet on Iran. Some of that is likely due to circumstance; Vance was already set for a TV network sprint to talk about his new book, while Rubio is in France with Trump for the G7. But Rubio’s absence could also be intentional, given he was skeptical about the deal as it came together.

Ed: I am not a big believer in coincidences.

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Ed: I admit it, I laughed. I bet Graham Platner didn't.

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While working on this album, I came across lyrics Mac had written for something he called “Sleepy Song” and immediately thought of John.

It’s a wonderful concept Mac had, his diary speaking to him at night, urging him to, “Let your thoughts pour out.”

I sent John pages of lyrics and a short piano piece that Mac had recorded. John embraced the idea and helped transform those journal pages into a beautiful song. Most of the lyrics come directly from Mac, with John adding some great touches here and there including the touching line, "And if you miss me, I am never gone." 

As a father, it's hard to put into words what it means to hear Mac's creativity come to life in this way. I don't think he ever imagined these lyrics would become a song shared with the world.

Listen to “Sleepy Song” by Mac Sinise and John Ondrasik now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdv65f9oG10

Ed: It's beautiful. Click through and listen to it all. 

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Last night's lyric: "Memphis" by Chuck Berry, later covered by Johnny Rivers. Here's both.

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