Monday's Final Word

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She had me reading tabs and a-shoutin' out loud, a click of her link and I was walking on a cloud ...

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Ed: The El-Sayed campaign has been attempting to distance itself from the DSA, at least nominally. This won’t help. The problem with these radicals isn’t the label but what it means. If Omar endorses anyone, it’s certain that they will be radical leftists with or without the Darializer Chevalier track record on communism and Stalinist socialism. That just doesn’t play in purple states like Michigan. 

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Politico: Outgoing Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) endorsed Rep. Haley Stevens on Monday in the contentious primary to replace him.

Stevens and progressive former public health official Abdul El-Sayed are facing off in the Aug. 4 primary, after state Sen. Mallory McMorrow suspended her campaign earlier this month. ...

“Haley began her service to Michigan as a critical part of our team as President Obama and I fought to save 200,000 jobs — rescuing and helping the auto industry come roaring back. I’m proud that Haley was recognized as the most effective Michigan Democrat in Congress,” Peters said in a statement.

The race between El-Sayed and Stevens is perhaps the biggest ideological battle in the party this year. Stevens has support from mainstream Democrats — including the tacit backing of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — and has seen outside support from the pro-Israel group AIPAC.

Ed: This is setting up as the proxy war that Schumer and the establishment lost in Maine. Of course, that ‘victory’ for the DSA radicals blew up in their faces when Graham Platner’s past emerged more fully after the primary vote. The Democrats got Mallory McMorrow to pull out last week to ensure that the Michigan primary would be a two-person fight, and we can expect more establishment figures to back Stevens before the August 4 primary. 

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"Actually, I'm just kind of like devastated right now," she said, declining to speak further about the potential appointment

Darline is a constituent of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who also told me: "I have faith in Gov. McMaster that he will make the right decision, but I would support the president's recommendation"

Ed: It’s unfortunate that this needs to be settled so quickly, but it does. Hopefully, Darline Graham Nordone will be able to meet the moment. I’m sure she will appreciate everyone’s prayers at this time no matter what she chooses. 

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Ed: Graham's campaign posted this just a month ago. It’s a bittersweet twist on an already difficult moment. 

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Ed: Old-school politics still means a lot. Graham Nordone can take some comfort in immersing herself in these tasks in the next six months, as Republicans in South Carolina prepare to transition smoothly to Graham’s ultimate successor. 

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Jonathan Turley: On July 4, 1916, Iva Ikuko Toguri was born in Los Angeles — 25 years before she would go to Japan and become known as the infamous Tokyo Rose during World War II.

Roughly one hundred years later, Calla Walsh, 21, has stepped forward as a type of Tehran Rose, cutting propaganda films for one of the most blood-soaked regimes in the world. Walsh appeared at the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and praised him as the “greatest anti-imperialist leader.”

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Walsh is not alone. Other young Americans have rallied to the anti-American cause. That includes Jackson Hinkle, who appeared on a stage in Tehran, cheering on a crowd chanting “Down with America.” It also includes Max Blumenthal, 48, the son of Sidney Blumenthal, the columnist who became notorious as the “attack dog” for Bill and Hillary Clinton.

While supporting a regime that denies free speech and other human rights to its citizens, they are protected in the U.S. in voicing unpopular views, including denouncing their own nation. The question is where the line is between that and criminal conduct.

Ed: I’ve wondered about this, too. The clearest analogue to this is Jane Fonda manning the AA gun in North Vietnam. Many people believe to this day that she should have been charged with treason; the Nixon administration didn’t follow through for whatever reason. We haven’t formally declared war on Iran, which is also a parallel to the Fonda incident, but that’s not an explicit legal necessity for the charge. These idiots have a lot less political cover than Henry Fonda’s idiot daughter had at that time, and Trump is much more likely to make an example of them … I hope.

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Ed: I am somewhat surprised at how prevalent this remains, especially after data has repeatedly shown how ineffective it is. Even before COVID, I’d notice travelers from Asia wearing masks in airports and on planes, so it’s not necessarily unknown outside of the pandemic. I see people wearing them occasionally in public too, but it’s possible that those are examples of people wearing masks while experiencing colds and coughs. 

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The Hollywood Reporter: Paramount is reportedly considering leaving California as the Golden State and others are said to be preparing a lawsuit over its planned $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.

On Sunday, Semafor reported that “friends and advisers” to Paramount chief David Ellison have been urging him to consider relocating his corporate headquarters out of the state. The news comes as California and other states are “preparing to file” a lawsuit to block the merger, according to The New York Times.

Citing “people familiar with the discussions,” Semafor reported that Ellison is being “pushed” to consider relocating out of state, which would also move $30 million in planned spending out of California, if Attorney General Rob Bonta sues to block the deal.

Ed: There are plenty of other places where Paramount can produce content and run their HQ with local labor. If California wants to act in a hostile manner, Ellison should definitely respond to those disincentives and move their jobs to a state that will appreciate them more. And then the people who lose those jobs can hold their elected officials accountable for it.

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Ed: The first rule of Graft Club is that you do not talk about Graft Club. And the second rule of Graft Club is … Otherwise, this is actually good advice, insofar as we’re talking about GOTV and grassroots infrastructure. If Talarico isn’t reaching out to those resources, that’s a measure of incompetence in the campaign. I’m not so sure that Talarico thinks he’ll get a positive response to any outreach at this point, though, after Jasmine Crockett’s accusation that the Dem primary was “racist.” 

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NOTUS, via Raw Story and Memorandum: On New Year’s Day, Rapper Boosie Badazz received a call from his lawyer that he’d been given a second chance. Two men, whom Boosie paid $600,000 about three months earlier, had said in a phone call with his lawyer that they secured for him a pardon signed by President Donald Trump.

The act of clemency would have wiped away his federal rap sheet and saved him from an imminent sentencing hearing for possessing a firearm as a felon.

But that pardon never materialized. Now, Boosie, whose legal name is Torence Hatch, is taking legal action against Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, two far-right political operatives and lobbyists at JM Burkman & Associates, to recoup half of Boosie’s payment, as stipulated in a contract NOTUS reviewed.

Ed: NOTUS and Raw Story frame this as a “MAGA mess” and “MAGA fiasco,” but it’s difficult to see what this has to do with MAGA or Trump. If anything, it shows that the White House isn’t selling access to pardons, and that Badazz got fleeced, legally or not. That’s not on MAGA or the White House. As P.T. Barnum put it long before MAGA, there’s a sucker born every minute. 

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Ed: Amnesty changed itself into an anti-Israel NGO years ago. They are utterly worthless and have been for at least a couple of decdes. I’m glad to see Cleese call them out for their other hobby, which is selling out to the radical Left on trans issues. 

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Mark Halperin at The Free Press: It was the rise of Platner, far more than the downfall, that tells us much about the energy in the Democratic Party today, which has also been exemplified by the success of Zohran Mamdani and other socialists and super progressives in mayoral, House, and Senate races. These candidates’ platforms can almost be summed up by those four piquant words from the closing paragraph of the ousted oysterman’s letter Friday giving up the Senate nomination he had so easily won, which I now repeat because, my goodness, who ends a campaign that way: “F*ck ICE. Free Palestine.”

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That wave among the Democrats points to the two biggest questions facing Democrats in Maine: Will the party back another Senate candidate from its radical, populist wing? And could a candidate like that take out the popular incumbent, GOP senator Susan Collins?

The political world is overflowing with confident answers. Almost overnight, the consensus within the commentariat became that Democrats escaped disaster when Platner dropped out, and that their odds of winning the seat increased with him gone. But when virtually everyone inside Washington reaches the same conclusion within 24 hours, there’s a decent chance reality is more complicated.

Ed: Halperin’s point should stick hard with Democrats. The DSA revolution is not just approaching; it may have arrived and won already. And that has some pretty dire implications for Democrats when it comes to general elections. 

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Ed: More than a few conspiracy mongers accused Jennings of lying about his contact with Mitch McConnell. I do think McConnell is more aware of online chatter than Jennings thinks, though. He jumped all over the “Cocaine Mitch” meme when it hit. Anyway, Scott’s doing a little vindication lap, and he’s earned it. 

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Axios: Josh Shapiro says the 2028 presidential race should be a once-in-a-generation battle over the Democratic Party's core identity. But so far, he isn't picking up his sword to fight.

As progressives and socialists have won primary after primary in recent weeks, the more moderate Shapiro often has been gun-shy about criticizing the left, taking more of a we're-all-in-this-together approach.

Why it matters: Many center-left Democrats are looking for a national leader to go toe to toe with the party's rising socialist wing. For now at least, that's not Shapiro.

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Ed: Does anyone wonder why? The minor reason is that Shapiro isn’t all THAT much more moderate. But the real reason is that Shapiro knows his status as a Jewish politician will quickly become the flashpoint if he leads that fight. He may end up being more of a kingmaker in this cycle as a result. 

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Ed: Let’s keep smiling for Lindsey. 

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Saturday's lyric: "You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive.

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