JD Vance to Israel as Hamas Continues Breaches of Ceasefire

The vice president is meeting up with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in an effort to salvage the peace deal that Hamas has already breached. New York Post: Vice President JD Vance is headed to Israel on Monday to help push forward the second phase of the historic Gaza peace deal. Vance plans to visit the Holy Land alongside Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff to discuss the progress of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan to effectively end the war in Gaza…. The terror group has returned the bodies of just 10 slain hostages so far, after having released the 20 remaining living captives Monday, The Jerusalem Post reported…. Despite signing on to the peace agreement, Hamas has put the deal on edge with a series of public executions and the apparent refusal to disarm. Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nazzal told Reuters of the terror group’s refusal to commit to disarmament, which Israel has demanded as part of any truce. Hamas’ arms could prove to be a major obstacle as both sides, with the help of the US, work to create lasting peace (New York Post). Israel is—understandably—upset, as Hamas killed two IDF soldiers this weekend (Fox News).

Court Win Gives Trump Green Light for National Guard in Portland

The 2-1 panel decision from the Ninth Circuit is a big win for the president’s effort to restore law and order to some of our nation’s blighted metropolitans. It could embolden his efforts in San Francisco as well. Newsweek: President Donald Trump landed a legal win on Monday after an appeals court ruled that he could send 200 National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, amid protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Newsweek via email on Monday: “As we have always maintained, President Trump is exercising his lawful authority to protect federal assets and personnel following violent riots that local leaders have refused to address. This ruling reaffirms that the lower court’s ruling was unlawful and incorrect.” The legal move marks a significant turn in the national debate over presidential powers and local control during periods of perceived civil unrest…. Oregon officials and the city of Portland can request a review by the full appeals court or appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court (Newsweek). Backgrounder from Susie Moore at Red State: … the administration may deploy the National Guard in Oregon as necessary while this all gets sorted out on the merits. Of course, the plaintiffs have already filed a motion for reconsideration and/or reconsideration en banc (roughly 12 minutes after the court issued its order), so we’ll have to see how it all plays out  (RedState).

Democrats Paying Price on Schumer Shutdown

The Democrats gambit on a government shutdown was two-fold: First: Hoping they could make the president pay the price in approval numbers as a result of the shutdown. Second: It is a naked effort to appease or appear as “fighters” for their neo-Marxist emerging leaders. On the first: It’s clearly backfiring. Harry Enten of CNN: This shutdown is a different world for Trump than the 2018-19 shutdown. He’s in a much better spot. His net approval is up slightly during this shutdown vs. dropping during 2018-19. Why? The % who blame him a great deal for the shutdown is down significantly now vs. 2018-19 (Enten). Nick Arama at RedState: The facts are very clear as to whose fault it is. Both Trump and the Congressional Republicans are hammering that truth home about the Schumer Shutdown. “This one isn’t hurting him at all,” Enten declared, saying there was no real reason, at least in terms of popular support, that he might want to get out of it. He’s getting less of the blame, Enten said. And he explained how Trump had learned from his first term how to get things done, despite intransigence from Congress. He’s signed 210 executive orders this year so far. Anchor John Berman had a great line, “He seems to be saying, ‘Congress you don’t want to do something?'” Enten finished his line, “I’ll do it.'” So if the Democrats thought that they had the leverage to force Trump to give them what they want, they don’t. And in embracing their radicals, they just made themselves look worse. Their popularity was already in the dumper, but, hey, it can always go lower (RedState).

Mamdani Under Scrutiny for Campaigning With World Trade Center Bombing Co-Conspirator

The Democrat nominee for mayor of New York City met with and posted photos with Imam Siraj Wahhaj. New York Post gives context: Wahhaj, 75, who also heads the Muslim Alliance in North America, was fingered by prosecutors as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the 1993 WTC bombing, which left six people dead, and has publicly defended the plotters of the attack against the FBI and CIA, whom he at the time dubbed the “real terrorists” (New York Post). Vice President Vance: I’ve been reliably informed that Democrats are opposed to any kind of political violence, so I look forward to them universally condemning Zohran Mamdani for campaigning with an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorist plot that killed 6 New Yorkers (Vance). David Strom: Wahhaj is very good at riding the line between expressing extremist views and explicit calls to violence. He makes his extremist views known and then throws in a line about not actually taking up arms (Hot Air).

DeSantis on New York’s Embrace of Mamdani: “What a slap in the face to the memories of those killed in both the 1993 and 2001 jihadist attacks on the World Trade Center”

The Florida Governor is connecting the dots in a way that more public figures ought to be doing: If you had told people after the 9/11 attacks on the WTC that, within a quarter century, NYC would elect a mayoral candidate who campaigns with an unindicted co-conspirator in the bombing of the WTC, you would have been considered to have a few screws loose. Yet, here it is.  From fighting jihad to embracing it. What a slap in the face to the memories of those killed in both the 1993 and 2001 jihadist attacks on the World Trade Center. (DeSantis).

Latest Polling in New York Mayoral Race: Mamdani: 43 percent, Non-Mamdani: 48 percent

The polling—if it were a two-person race—would make defeating Mamdani plausible. But, of course, it’s not. At least not yet. AARP: Mamdani, 43 percent; Cuomo, 29 percent; Sliwa, 19 percent—a 14 point lead for Islamist socialist (Real Clear). Polymarket is giving Mamdani a 93 percent chance of winning (Polymarket). Bethany Mandel joined Hugh Hewitt. She responded to a query on the willingness of New York Jews to support Mamdani: It’s suicidal empathy. It’s really, really wild to watch the American Jewish community commit suicide in this way. I hope that they listen to him. I hope that they care enough about themselves than their progressive politics, but Mamdani is an existential threat and the polling indicates that if Sliwa pulls out—which he has no chance at winning—if he pulls out, it’s a four point race between Cuomo and Mamdani. I’m not a lover of Cuomo, but it’s sure better than a communist running the financial capital of the country (Hewitt).

Bolivia Rejects Socialism: Right-of-Center Rodrigo Paz Elected President

The South American nation breaks with two decades of socialism under Bolivia’s Movement to Socialism, or MAS—led, most recently, by Luis Arce. Wall Street Journal: Bolivians elected Rodrigo Paz as president on Sunday, ending two decades of socialist rule after he pledged to strengthen ties with the U.S. and develop the nation’s vast mineral wealth. Paz, a 58-year-old centrist senator and son of a former president, took 55% of the votes, defeating his conservative opponent, former President Jorge Quiroga, according to the electoral tribunal…. “The fundamental reality is that Bolivia’s model has run out of road,” the IIF said in a recent report. “The question is not whether adjustment comes, but how fast and how disruptive it will be” (Wall Street Journal). So: South America is waking up from their infatuation with the socialist fever dream only to watch New York City smitten by the same ideology. Argentinian President Javier Milei: It is a historic day for Bolivia, leaving behind 20 years of the failed model of the “socialism of the 21st century” that has caused so much damage to our region…. This democratic journey reflects the region’s longing for freedom and progress. I wish the president-elect the greatest success in his administration. LONG LIVE FREEDOM, DAMN IT…!!! (Milei).

Governor Newsom Signs Law Banning Sale of Glock Handguns

Gun aficionados will know that Glocks are among the most popular handguns on the market. Newsom knows exactly what he’s doing. CBS News: Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that bans the sale of new Glock guns in California. At issue, the new Glock design allows the gun to be easily modified with a Lego-sized piece of plastic known as a “Glock Switch” that can be 3-D printed to turn it into a fully automatic weapon. Glock “switches” are already illegal, but Democratic lawmakers in California went one step further by passing a bill along party lines that outlaws the sale of any new gun with a Glock-like design. The new law does not ban possession of Glocks, nor does it ban reselling used Glocks in California (CBS News). Tom Knighton of Bearing Arms: This is basically guilt by design. While so-called assault weapons are supposedly dangerous in and of themselves, the Glock ban is about what third parties can do illegally to a Glock, with a device that’s illegal to obtain, all because Glock doesn’t want to change its proven design because of what criminals do. So it goes beyond the issues with AR-15s and other modern sporting rifles (Bearing Arms). Los Angeles Times: Gun rights organizations filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new California law that bans certain types of Glock-style semiautomatic firearms…. “Newsom and his gang of progressive politicians in California are continuing their crusade against constitutional rights,” John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement (Los Angeles Times).

Canadia’s Assisted Suicide Machine Gaining Momentum

The expansion of the MAID (Medical Aid in Dying) experiment is macabre. Dan Hitchens for Spectator: Overall, one in 20 Canadian deaths comes at the hands of MAID, with a total of 60,000 between 2016 and 2023. The horror stories, at first shocking, have become almost routine. Roger Foley, a disabled man, was told by hospital staff that his care would cost $1,500 a day and did he want to discuss MAID? Sathya Dhara Kovac, who couldn’t afford home-care services wrote, before the assisted death she chose as a result, that “ultimately it was not a genetic disease that took me out, it was a system.” Rosina Kamis, who told the assessing doctors that her suffering was physical but confessed to her two dozen YouTube subscribers that her real motive was loneliness (“I think if more people cared about me, I might be able to handle the suffering”) (Spectator). David Strom: It has been less than a decade since MAiD was legalized in Canada, and it took only 8 years to get from helping terminal patients to die to killing children, and mental health is the next frontier. How long until involuntary euthanasia is on the table? Especially given that MAiD patients are a great source of organs (Hot Air).

After 738 Days in Captivity, IDF Soldier: “I want to return to operational duty”

The hostage is Matan Angrest. Jerusalem Post gives a bit of background: Matan Angrest was physically abused by terrorists from the moment they pulled him limp from a tank in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Footage released from October 7 revealed invading terrorists kicking him and testimonies released from captivity have revealed that the abuse Angrest has suffered only increased once he was taken to Gaza. Angrest was abducted alongside the bodies of Itai Chen, Daniel Peretz, and Tomer Leibovitz, fellow soldiers in his tank unit. As a man and a soldier, the now-22-year-old was not released in previous deals despite being wounded…. During the violent interrogation sessions, Former hostage Ron Krivoi told N12 in April that Angrest was connected to batteries multiple times, including as his captors took him to Gaza (Jerusalem Post). After his release, Zamir is unflinching and clear: Matan Angrest told IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir that he was ready to return to the army. When Mr. Zamir suggested a training role, Mr. Angrest smiled and politely declined. “No,” he said. “I want to return to operational duty” (New York Sun).