RedState Weekly Briefing: Algae, Activists, and Absolute Clowns

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Happy Sunday, and welcome to the RedState Weekly Briefing — where we take a quick look at the week’s most viewed stories in case you missed any of them. What do you suppose caught people's attention in yet another eventful week? Grab a cup of coffee (or something stronger if you're so inclined) and sit down with this 21st-century Weekend Edition of your favorite (online) publication.

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#1 - The Reaction to GEN Donahue's Firing Indicates Hegseth's Action Was Correct and Timely — by streiff

Donahue has become a convenient club with which to belabor Hegseth, no matter the circumstances.

The bottom line here is that there is nothing wrong with Pete Hegseth forcing a general officer into retirement. Even if you don't like Hegseth or like his reasoning, his right and duty to manage the corps of generals and admirals is unassailable.

The second part of the story is more conspiratorial. As I noted, current DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin put a hold on Donahue's promotion over Afghanistan. No one said jack ****. There was no mention of his accomplishments. There was no strictly heterosexual man-crush by leftist agitators.

#2 - More Reflecting Pool Arrests, and What a Local News Team Saw Raises Eyebrows — by Nick Arama

On top of that, the "pro-algae" brigade that my colleague Jennifer Oliver O'Connell reported on is still out, encouraging the algae. You can see in a video on X, one of the people yelling at National Guard members for standing guard over the Reflecting Pool. They were doing their best to ignore her ranting. Then there was another one, actually speaking to the algae, encouraging it, and cheering it on in this video on X. "Everybody is proud of you!" the activist said to the algae. "You are single-handedly doing more to fight fascism than any American has! Yeah, algae!" 

These "activists" don't seem to get the irony. They're yelling about Americans defending a national monument. But they're so obsessed with being against President Donald Trump that they're the ones doing this foolish stuff. Which one looks worse to most Americans? Hint: it isn't the National Guard. The activists don't seem to get that this is our Pool - we should all want it to be in good condition.

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#3 - 'Clown': Ro Khanna Picks a Fight With the Wrong Guy During House Select Committee on China Hearing — by Sister Toldjah

One of the Republican witnesses, State Armor founder and CEO Michael Lucci, was there to share his thoughts on, among other things, the dangers of birth tourism as it relates to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Khanna is the ranking member on this committee, and when it was his turn to question Lucci, he predictably trotted out the race card, digging up tweets on Lucci and pretending that the one below made him an anti-Chinese racist.

One of the problems with Khanna's accusation, as Lucci pointed out, was that not only is he married to a Chinese woman, but his four children are half Chinese, and his in-laws are both Chinese.

#4 - Spencer Pratt Lost the Election. City Hall May Have a Bigger Problem Now — by Ben Smith

Federal agents were seen interviewing people on Skid Row after allegations surfaced that homeless residents had been paid to sign voter registration forms and provide voter information. The Department of Justice confirmed federal agents were investigating a criminal matter but declined further comment. No charges connected to the mayoral race have been announced, and the allegations remain unproven. 

If the allegations are substantiated, this is no longer just a Spencer Pratt story. It becomes a story about whether Los Angeles' election system can survive serious scrutiny.

Pratt told the Post that California's election system has become a major reason voters are losing confidence in the process.

"I feel energized. The California voting system is absurd, and it's making voters check out, because, right or wrong, they don't trust the system," Pratt said. "There is a lot of evidence of fraud that needs to be investigated, but evidence is not the same thing as proof, so we must avoid drawing conclusions until we have proof of malfeasance."

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#5 - 'Poetica' Justice: What a Woke NYC Coffee Shop Told a Jewish Congressman Just Got the DOJ's Attention — by Sister Toldjah

As another example of the problems some Jewish Democrats like Goldman have faced in New York City as they try to walk the line on the Israel issue, the Williamsburg, Brooklyn location of the Poetica coffee shop posted a very public nastygram on Instagram and in a Facebook post to the congressman on Sunday after Goldman was spotted placing an order at their store. Their message: don't ever come back:

Hey Congressman Dan Goldman, we see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee. Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice? Or are you still having a hard time telling the difference?

See, here at Poetica, we don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers, or anyone in between. Too bad we didn’t recognize you right away, or we would have turned you away. We issued you a refund—we don’t need your money (it’s probably coming from AIPAC anyways). Enjoy your loss on Tuesday. Don’t ever come to Poetica.

Goldman responded by noting he was "sorry" to see the post but said that the "barista could not have been nicer to my 7-year-old daughter and me." He also wrote that he hoped the barista would be allowed to keep the tip he gave.

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