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Thursday, October 2, 2025

Chuck Schumer Owns the Government Shutdown

And the voters see it that way. Ed Morrissey of Hot Air: Bad news indeed, although you may not glean that from the spin coming from the New York Times. It’s not all great news for Republicans either, which one would expect from Siena, and which the NYT has no trouble covering…. Alex Thompson looked past the spin and pegged the story from the numbers: “Views on whether the Democrats should or should not shut down the government if their demands are not met: 27 % responding ‘should;’ 65 percent responding ‘should not’” (Hot Air). Hugh Hewitt: So Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have done it: The minority leaders in both the Senate and the House and have rallied their Democrat colleagues to not support a Continuing Resolution that would keep the government running…. John Thune had said to Democrats, clearly and unequivocally: “Here’s my offer.” They’ve done it dozens of times in the past where you’ve just got to get to the appropriations process and get that done. But Chuck Schumer chose a shutdown and that’s why it’s called the Schumer shutdown. As a matter of principle, this is also a Seinfeld shutdown, because—like a Seinfeld episode—it’s really about nothing. And: It’s episode that the American people did not ask for. Democrats should end the Schumer shutdown episode now (Townhall Review).

Schumer’s High Stakes Gamble May Well Backfire

It’s a risky move for Democrats—and none more so than Schumer himself, who took a beating from his base in the last shutdown. Matthew Continetti: Schumer’s pose as an MMA fighter may backfire spectacularly, with Democrats taking the blame for a shutdown, federal workers fired, and no policy gains to show for it…. Suddenly Schumer has discovered his inner Rocky Balboa. He’s taking a much different approach to this pending fiscal cliff. In exchange for votes to keep the government open, Democrats are demanding a renewal of Obamacare subsidies, more money for Medicaid, and a reversal of spending cuts. And the party is sticking together—for now. Democrats believe, with reason, that some Republicans would also like to extend the Obamacare subsidies. They’re committed to the same posturing as Schumer. Rather than work with Republicans, they seek to appease progressives lurching to the left… Whatever happens, when the history of this spending fight is written, it will be seen less as a substantive policy dispute than another stage in the Democrats’ evolution into a socialist party (Free Press).

Big Winner in Government Shutdown May Well be DOGE

Russ Vought—our OMB Director—has advised agency heads to be prepared to terminate certain employees, as opposed to placing them on leave. Larry Kudlow: This shutdown provides an opportunity to reduce the size and scope of government. And when that door opens, it’s important to walk through it. What’s more, the quarterback of this opportunity is Russ Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director. I can’t think of a better person to be in that exact spot at exactly this moment. Russ had been working hard on these issues for many years. And because he’s been working on these issues in and out of government for many years, he is ready to take the opportunity with an action plan…. “We have the authority to make permanent change to the bureaucracy here in government. And I think that the takeaway for the American people is that we are on the brink of a government shutdown that is caused entirely by Democrats based on their outrageous demands of about $1.5 trillion. And so we’re not going to be held hostage to these kinds of insane, ridiculous demands by the Democrats.” Pretty clear to me (New York Sun).

Stephen Miller on Crime Crackdown in Memphis: “This isn’t just a task force. This is an all-of-government, unlimited support operation”

More from the president’s senior advisor: To the Memphis Police Department, to the officers that I see sitting in front of me, we are about to provide you with a level of support you cannot even imagine. This isn’t just a task force. This is an all-of-government, unlimited support operation. ATF, DEA, FBI, ICE, Department of War, every resource we have. And they’re not going to be sitting behind a desk at a keyboard. We are sending in real cops with guns and badges to go out with you on the street every single night making arrests…. All we ask from you is to show up at roll call every single night with your brothers and sisters in the federal government, and to go out and get the criminals off the street. And if you do that, I pledge to you, we will liberate this city from the criminal element that has plagued it for generations…. The idea that there is a square INCH of block in this city where a citizen doesn’t feel safe is unacceptable. This is Memphis. This is the United States of America—and all that bulls*** is done. It’s over. It’s finished (X). TIME: Unlike most of the other cities where Trump has deployed the National Guard—or threatened to do so—Tennessee’s Republican leaders have shown support for the federal crackdown in Memphis. Along with Lee, Tennessee Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty showed their support in the Oval Office when the President announced the creation of the Memphis Safe Task Force to address crime in the city through a state and federal collaboration (TIME).

All Eyes on Hamas

As the terrorist group feels the pressure from the U.S. and Arab leaders to accept the offer to end the war or—in Trump’s words—“pay in hell.” Scott Jennings turned to Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter—getting his thoughts on whether or not the terror group would accept: It’s very difficult to estimate what Hamas is going to do. They’re a terrorist organization and within Hamas we’re seeing that there’s divisions. There are those who now want to accommodate the peace proposal that the president made that we’ve accepted. But there are those that are still in the orbit of Iran and Iran is still a bad actor in the region. They’re still trying to flex their muscles and they’re trying to encourage their proxies, the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas to maintain a violent and terrorist position vis-a-vis Israel trying to ignite all sorts of problems in the Middle East. So, we certainly hope that Hamas will accept the proposal, but we’re waiting to see…. The president’s made it very clear, and it’s actually in the proposal that if they don’t accommodate this peace proposal, we’re going to have to finish the job militarily (Salem Podcast Network).

Islamists Feeling the Pressure

Israel has systematically weakened or destroyed the Islamist groups in the region—while dealing a formidable blow (with the U.S.) to Iran which has been the head of the octopus. Financial Times: The Islamists are isolated at home and regionally: in Gaza many blame Hamas for bringing down on them the destructive might of Israel’s military machine. The group’s leaders are also being pressured by Arab and Muslim states, including the more friendly Qatar and Turkey, to accept Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire and post war plan for Gaza…. Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza now based in Cairo, said the consequences of rejection “will be devastating to Hamas and the Palestinians”. One Arab diplomat put it bluntly: “There is huge pressure on Hamas to come to the table and agree to this plan, no matter how bad they think the terms are. “Who knows what will happen if Hamas rejects something the Arabs have presented to them as the only way out? They could lose support and they know it” (Financial Times).

IDF Forces Have Gaza City Encircled

As the world awaits word from Hamas, IDF forces are keeping the pressure on: Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that the IDF is close to encircling Gaza City and that residents have a “last opportunity” to flee but will need to go through Israeli checkpoints, as Hamas was set to respond to a US ceasefire proposal that Israel agreed to. Katz’s ultimatum came as medical sources in Hamas-run Gaza reported at least 35 people killed by Israeli fire across the enclave. Israel, which is seeking to conquer Gaza City, on Wednesday announced the closure of a road leading to the city, while the Red Cross said the fighting forced it to temporarily suspend operations there…. The IDF later announced it had achieved “operational control” over the Netzarim Corridor’s western portion, preventing Palestinians from returning to Gaza City. The vast majority of the city’s roughly 1 million residents have fled, according to a military assessment. In the past day, the 99th Division began a ground operation aimed at “strengthening and maintaining operational control over the Netzarim Corridor,” added the military. “The troops operated to disrupt the operational capabilities of the Hamas terror organization in the area and to expand operational control in the sector” (Times of Israel).

Qatar Recruiting Jihadi Fighters in Afghanistan

The unemployment rate in Afghanistan is “dire.” Qatar is using the desperation of locals to recruit fighters for a regional terror force. MEMRI: Dari-language posts on Facebook in July 2025 stated that the Qatari labor recruitment campaign is actually an effort by Qatar to take advantage of Afghanistan’s dire unemployment rate to recruit jihadi fighters for a new Qatar-backed jihadi militia that will establish Qatar’s influence in the region and serve its interests “in the long run.” These militias, according to the posts, might be organized like others operating in the region, such as the Iran-backed Fatemiyoun Brigade or ISIS. Qatar, they said, was already issuing visas for new recruits. This information is in line with other trends in Qatari military growth, especially the rapid development of the Qatar Air Force. See MEMRI Qatar Air Force Monitor Project Parts I, II, and III (MEMRI). Gregg Roman of the Middle East Forum sums up Qatar’s game: For decades, the Qatari regime has perfected a cynical and dangerous double game. It hosts the Al Udeid Air Base, giving it the veneer of being a Western ally while it serves as the world’s most significant financier of the Muslim Brotherhood and its terrorist offshoots…. Qatar’s aggression is not limited to terror financing. It has waged a patient, multibillion-dollar war of ideas against the West, using its state-funded narrative machine Al Jazeera to spread antisemitic and anti-American propaganda (MEF).

Our Brave New World: “Scientists make embryos from human skin DNA for first time”

That’s the headline from BBC. From the story: US scientists have, for the first time, made early-stage human embryos by manipulating DNA taken from people’s skin cells and then fertilising it with sperm. The technique could overcome infertility due to old age or disease, by using almost any cell in the body as the starting point for life. It could even allow same-sex couples to have a genetically related child…. Experts said it was an impressive breakthrough, but there needed to be an open discussion with the public about what science was making possible. Reproduction used to be a simple story of man’s sperm meets woman’s egg. They fuse to make an embryo, and nine months later a baby is born. Now scientists are changing the rules. This latest experiment starts with human skin (BBC). Americans face an urgent call to get more conversant on human dignity, what it means to be human and the “games” we ought not be playing with embryos.

10.

Reading Is at Risk

And that’s no understatement. Screen culture and attention spans eroded by social media and the general devaluing of the value of the written word have left young people struggling to read. The Economist describes students trying to explain two paragraphs from Dickens: How hard could it be? Very, it turns out. The students were flummoxed by legal language and baffled by metaphor. A Dickensian description of fog left them totally fogged. They could not grasp basic vocabulary: one student thought that when a man was said to have “whiskers” it meant he was “in a room with an animal I think…A cat?” The problem was less that these students of literature were not literary and more that they were barely even literate…. it is not merely that distractions have increased: the sheer desire to read seems to have declined…. There will be other losses from a reading decline. Few engines of social mobility are more effective than reading: just ask the Scottish shepherds. Rich children may do it more, but reading is an egalitarian invention. No one—not your nanny, not your tutor, your friends or your posh school—can impel you to devour a book except you. Reading is not merely a tool: it is also one of life’s great pleasures, as Dickens knew well (Economist). Thank you for reading.

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