Kamala: Some People Say I Was the Most Qualified Candidate for President in History

Has Kamala been hitting the bottle? Or does “some people” just mean her husband and step-daughter? Who knows? In any case, Kamala was doing a Q&A on her wildly popular book tour, and was discussing her resume with the moderator. The back and forth was quite something. Kamala Harris:  MODERATOR: That is a decent, that is a decent resume. But go ahead. HARRIS: But there, well, some people have actually said, I’m, I was the most qualified candidate ever to run for president. Um, I like your, I like the, some people say very nice, but go ahead. I’m just speaking of fact. Yeah. Um. (Kamala Harris on X) “Some people” is doing an awful lot of work in that sentence.

Shutdown Politics Discombobulating Democrats

Democrats don’t seem to have thought through their shutdown strategy, and have been taken aback by Donald Trump’s moves to keep paying the military, law enforcement, and SNAP benefits. They dislike the moves, but are boxed in by the politics. Axios: Democrats in Congress say President Trump’s methods for paying military service members and funding food stamps for vulnerable communities are clearly illegal. But they’re not keen to fight him on it. Why it matters: It’s a rare instance where Trump is going mostly unchallenged as he ignores Congress’ constitutional role in controlling federal spending. Driving the news: The administration is planning to divert $8 billion in previously appropriated funds for military research and development to pay the troops after Oct. 15, according to Reuters and Politico. Trump said Saturday in a post on Truth Social: “I am using my authority, as Commander in Chief, to direct our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th.” The White House also plans to use tariff revenue to pay for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), Axios reported last week… Progressive and moderate House Democrats alike also told Axios not to expect much pushback on Trump’s plans. Himes said he expects litigation against Trump’s moves — but that he doesn’t “know who the plaintiffs will be” because “it is politically tricky.” “This is what we would’ve wanted to do anyway. We would’ve voted for it if it came up [in Congress],” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.), a progressive member of the House Appropriations Committee, said of Trump’s plans. Said Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio): “Yes it’s chaotic and yes it’s illegal, but … you don’t want to see anyone get hurt. Speaking personally, yes, they should find a way to pay folks.”  (Axios)

Spanberger Endorses Medical Murder and Forcing Doctors to Perform It Despite Moral or Religious Objections

Abigail Spanberger is running as a moderate Democrat, but all the positions she takes are at the extreme left of the political spectrum. She has already defended allowing sex offenders to prowl girls’ locker rooms, and she just endorsed medical murder with no religious or moral exemptions for medical providers. David Strom: If you listen to Spanberger’s argument, her position is quite radical on the issue. She endorses forcing doctors with moral or religious objections to kill patients, and mentions no limits to the practice other than the desire of the patient to die. She says nothing about imminent death, for instance. It seems, from her answer, that the only criteria is an expressed desire to die, and Catholic hospitals and doctors will be forced to kill the patient. (Hot Air) (Abigail Spanberger on X)

Trump and CENTCOM Warn Hamas to Quit Rampaging in Gaza

Both CENTCOM (the US Central Command) and now President Trump have warned Hamas that it must stick to the letter of the ceasefire terms or face real and permanent consequences. Ed Morrissey: “They know I’m not playing games,” Trump declared. But did they? Hamas and Fatah have both played games with previous American administrations, and they have a long track record of success in manipulating other Western governments. Iran found out the hard way in June that Trump doesn’t play those games, but Hamas may not quite have internalized that reality yet. It might take another demonstration of “the hard way” to let in fully sink in. The Israelis are delivering a lesson on that in the diplomatic sense. Hamas wants to push into the second phase of the Trump agreement immediately after the return of the living hostages, as that phase will involve further retreat by the IDF, including the reopening of the Rafah crossing into Egypt. That is not just a major aid crossing, but also a source of resupply for Hamas that has been lost for almost a year. The Israelis contradicted a WSJ report today that Phase 2 talks had begun: A senior Israeli official denies a report in The Wall Street Journal that Israel and Hamas have begun negotiating the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal. “We are still in the first phase,” says the official. “We will talk about the second phase when we complete the first one.” This is why Hamas had refused to release the living hostages up front in earlier proposals. They have no leverage now over the Israelis. Hamas had counted on Trump pushing Netanyahu for ad-hoc concessions along the way anyway to keep his historic achievement in place, but Trump is far more interested in the ends than the means in this situation. The ends that Trump seeks are the end of Hamas as an armed force at a minimum, their removal from power, and a plan in place for a Gaza that seeks peaceful co-existence with Israel in the long term. Trump’s not interested in waving a piece of paper around in a Neville Chamberlain-esque fashion; he wants real peace as a legacy. (Hot Air)

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Voting Rights Act Racial Redistricting Case

One of the unintended consequences of the Voting Rights Act was the creation of legislative districts by race, which clearly violates the Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court heard a case today that challenges the practice of drawing Congressional Districts by race. New York Times: The Supreme Court appeared poised on Wednesday to weaken a key provision of a landmark civil rights law by sharply limiting the ability of lawmakers to use race as a factor in drawing voting maps, which could lead to widespread redistricting efforts. If the justices determine that lawmakers cannot consider race when drawing districts, the consequences for the country’s political balance could be sweeping. The decision could end the practice, endorsed by the court for decades, of crafting congressional districts with the purpose of helping minority voters elect the candidates of their choice. (New York Times)

Liberal Judge Gives No Jail Time to Edward ‘Big Balls’ Coristine’s Assaulters

Normally, the news that a liberal judge gave light, non-custodial sentences to teens who viciously beat a victim would not make national news. But when the victim works for the president, and he expresses outrage, it gets noticed. Washington Post: Two teens arrested in connection with the attempted carjacking of a former U.S. DOGE Service staffer in August — an attack that captured the attention of President Donald Trump and in part ignited his sweeping crime crackdown on the nation’s capital — were sentenced Tuesday to probation, avoiding incarceration. The decision spurred swift condemnation from the president and administration officials, reviving their ongoing criticism that young people who commit crimes in D.C. are treated too leniently. “That’s terrible,” Trump said Wednesday afternoon, adding that “the judge should be ashamed.”  (Washington Post) The case gets special attention after the very light sentencing of the assassin who tried to kill Judge Kavanaugh, sparking outrage. Robby Starbuck: This sure makes it feel like violence against any prominent conservative is all but legal in cities that the Democrats run. In no sane world would criminals avoid prison for such a violent act. (Robby Starbuck on X)

Trade War With China Getting Hot

President Trump made clear that the cold trade war with China has gone hot, now that China is officially restricting the export of rare earth products that are vital to modern technological production. President Trump: JUST IN: President Trump declares the United States is in a TRADE WAR with China “We’re in one now!” “We have 100% tariffs.” “If we didn’t have tariffs, we would have no defense. They’ve used tariffs on us.” (X) Scott Bessant: “If some in the Chinese government want to slow down the global economy through disappointing actions and through economic coercion, the Chinese economy will be hurt the most — and make no mistake: this is China vs. the world.” (Rapid Response 47)

Democratic Electoral Prospects Looking Grim

President Trump’s approval numbers are not in the stratosphere compared to where they could be, and that gave Democrats hope that they could make gains this November and in the midterm elections. But things aren’t looking so good right now for the donks. The Virginia governor’s race still looks solid, but New Jersey is slipping away, and the current polling for the midterms is looking grim. Harry Enten: Democrats’ chance of taking the House in 2026 have plummeted, while GOP chances have skyrocketed over the last 6 months…Why? 1. Dems aren’t keeping up with the pace they set in 2017 on the generic ballot. 2. GOP may be looking at big gains from mid-decade redistricting. (Harry Enten on X) Click the link and watch the video if you need a morning pick-me-up.

Department of War Living Up to Its Name in Feud With Media

Pete Hegseth is trading fire with media outlets—mostly but not solely liberal ones—over his new rules for how credentialed media journalists may interact with Pentagon employees. They can no longer wander the halls and poke their heads in where they don’t belong, and tensions are running high. Brad Slager: The media covering the Department of Defense (soon to be Department of War) is having a conniption and banding together to oppose the new restrictions that have been placed on their newsgathering. The end result of this defiance will be granting Secretary Pete Hegseth precisely what he wants. There has been a long-simmering feud at the Pentagon since Hegseth stepped in as Secretary of War, and it reached a roiling boil this week. After a series of initial moves that saw longtime outlets displaced from the press room and other non-traditional changes, this has escalated during the past month with the release of a new set of press parameters. After much barking last month upon the initial set of rule changes, there were meetings between the press office and a number of outlets. This resulted in a new batch of regulations which, while admittedly less restrictive than before, were still greeted as unacceptable by many correspondents and outlets. However, the Pentagon remained inflexible on the current policy issued. Secretary Hegseth is insistent on restricting some of the access that had been granted inside the building, as well as tightening requirements for press credentialing, and threatening that these credentials could be revoked should an outlet dispense information not officially approved by the administration.  This move has rankled most outlets on site, resulting in a collective snit fit witnessed from almost all of the news sites covering the Pentagon. There has been a parade of outlets, including right-leaning sources like Fox News and Newsmax, that have posted their official statements declaring they refuse to sign off on the new standards. The first dose of amusement is that these are not folks operating from the standpoint of strength. The posturing seen from the news sources is meant to sound bold and defiant, but they are not exactly going to see Hegseth buckle under pressure. As Streiff pointed out Tuesday, the Secretary of War who wants to curtail leaking will be rather satisfied when faced with outlets declaring they will walk away. (RedState)

Federal Firing During Shutdown May Reach 10,000

Be careful what you wish for, Democrats. The longer the shutdown goes on, the more damage that will be done to the Democratic Party’s base of government workers. Axios: OMB director Russell Vought said Wednesday that more than 10,000 federal workers could end up getting fired during the shutdown. Why it matters: That’s more than twice as many terminations as the White House said it was conducting just last week in court filings. Catch up quick: In court filings last week, the White House said it planned to lay off at least 4,100 federal workers. Where it stands: “Much of the reporting has been based on kind of court snapshots,” Vought said Wednesday on the Charlie Kirk Show, broadcast from the White House. “I think it’ll get much higher,” he added. “I think we’ll probably end up being somewhere north of 10,000.” (Axios) At this rate, Democrats will get all their most reliable voters fired before the government opens again. Too bad, so sad.