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Thursday, July 9, 2026

Graham Platner Ends Senate Race; ‘We are suspending campaign operations’

At the 7:00 minute mark in his 11:00 minute video: And for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations. This is incredibly difficult because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt and it most certainly is not. We’re not doing it because of the allegations. We’re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power. And I also feel an immense amount of responsibility to everyone who has worked so hard to get us to where we are. We went toe to toe with one of the most entrenched political systems in the history of the world and we won…. My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine. And on November 3rd, it needs to belong to the people of Maine (Platner). Hugh Hewitt: The Checkers Speech, 74 years later —except RN was innocent of the charge and didn’t quit (Hewitt). Reminder and context: On September 23, 1952 President Nixon delivered his “checkers” speech responding to the Watergate allegations (American Rhetoric).

Confirmed: Platner Maneuvering to Select Alternate Candidate

You had to assume this sort of thing was going on. Now you know. Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson: The integrity of this process is just as important as the outcome, and we are committed to ensuring that Democrats across our state can have confidence in both. Unfortunately, Graham Plattner’s team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like. We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Plattner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the US Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like. We have also reiterated that Graham Platner must drop out of this race so that Democrats in Maine can focus on defeating Susan Collins this November (Maine Democrats). The Maine Democrats are putting out press releases: Today, the Maine Democratic Party held a meeting with over 100 state committee members who voted to hold a nominating convention to choose a new nominee if there is a vacancy to fill. We will announce the full timeline, details for how the nomination process will move forward, information about how to participate, and requirements for candidates soon. We will keep the public informed throughout the process – transparency is of the utmost importance (Maine Democrats).

Trump on Ceasefire: ‘As far as I’m concerned, it’s over’

From the president before he left the NATO meeting in Turkey: There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over…. They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time. They’re a bunch of lying guys. My whole life, that’s all I do is deals. My whole life is, that’s how I became president, I guess. That’s a deal too, right? But I made a lot of money. I had a lot of great success. Tremendous success. Everything I did, I was successful. And I deal with these guys and I say, this is from a different school. They’re liars, they’re cheats, they’re sick people. They’ve hurt their people. They killed 54,000 people as of now that were protesting. When people say, how come they haven’t taken over? They can’t take over because they’re dead. They killed them. Nobody’s going to take over. They have no guns and the other side has machine guns and they’re killing them. The press doesn’t report it. But they’re bad people. They’re bad people. And frankly, I don’t want to waste my time with them.… I don’t like these people. You know that? (David).

US Conducts Second Night of Strikes in Iran; ‘This is in retribution’

President Trump: This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse! (Truth). CENTCOM: At the direction of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway (CENTCOM). Barak Ravid: The U.S. military bombed two railway bridges in northeastern Iran as part of the strikes on Wednesday, a U.S. official told Axios. This marks the first time the U.S. has struck Iranian infrastructure since the April 8 ceasefire. The U.S. military launched cruise missiles at the bridges, per the U.S. official (Axios).

Trump Ditches New Air Force One for Old Air Force One for Return Home

Trump had arrived in Turkey via the new jet—gifted from the Qataris. The abrupt shift raised a lot of questions. New York Post: President Trump abruptly announced Wednesday that he would not fly out of Turkey aboard his luxurious new Air Force One — stoking speculation that the Qatar-donated jet may be vulnerable to Iranian fire as the war resumes. Trump instead departed the annual NATO summit using the older model of Air Force One, which he had stopped using last week in favor of the $400 million “palace on wings” that he has proudly boasted about acquiring. The president claimed on social media the plane switch was so that US troops in England could “tour” the upgrade — but speculation swirled after he spent the day repeatedly mentioning Iran’s interest in killing him (New York Post). Megan Messerly of Politico: We are wheels up from Ankara as of 8:43 p.m. We have been advised to keep our window shades in the press cabin closed. See you on the other side (WHPPR). Nathaniel Reed of Scripps: Old AF1 back in service, amid apparent concerns over use of the new, Qatar-gifted jet’s security during the ongoing conflict with Iran (Reed).

New York City Council Approves Massive Pay Raise for Mamdani and Themselves

I guess we can understand it in socialist terms: The privileged bureaucratic elite have a pattern of treating themselves quite well. Mamdani’s raise would be $47,000 a year. New York Sun: The bill, which follows a recommendation from the three-member Quadrennial Advisory Commission, would raise the mayor’s salary to $305,800 from $258,750. City Council members would see a rise to $175,500 from $148,500, and the council’s speaker would earn $194,400, up from the current $164,500…. Despite being eligible for a raise, both Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council speaker, Julie Menin, said they would not accept one. “The mayor has committed to not taking a pay raise during his first term,” said a Mamdani spokesman, Dora Pekec. A spokesperson for Ms. Menin confirmed that the full Council “expects to take up the issue with a vote later this summer” (New York Sun). If the raise is approved, watch closely to see if, in fact, Mamdani does not take advantage of it.

Surprise: Michigan Senatorial Candidate El-Sayed Scapegoats Jews in Debate

Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens—the two candidates vying for the Democratic nomination—debated on Tuesday night on WOOD-TV8 in Grand Rapids (FreeP). Free Beacon: Asked whether “we need to regulate AI,” El-Sayed claimed he was “being outspent 30-to-1 in this race” and “that money is coming in from the [American Israel Public Affairs Committee].” “That money is coming in from AIPAC. Their goal is to make sure that our money is sent abroad to kill other people rather than kept here to invest here,” said El-Sayed. “Now, the question you might be asking is, what does it have to do with a question about AI? Government will continue to work for the people who buy off government, so long as we allow people to buy off government. It is that simple.” In response to another question about the national debt, El-Sayed said the United States needs to “end stupid wars we shouldn’t be fighting at the behest of foreign governments.” And he repeatedly blamed Israel for luring the United States into war in Iran. “I think it’s worth asking why we got into this war in the first place. There is one man who’s been wanting this war fought, and that is the prime minister of Israel,” he said. “Why is it that we are paying $5 gas? Why is it that we can’t seem to get out of this quagmire? It’s because for too long our foreign policy has been handed to us by the likes of the State of Israel and AIPAC, who has made sure that Democrats and Republicans are doing their bidding,” he added (Free Beacon). Full video: (WoodTV).

Finnish Parliamentarian Convicted Over Christian Speech Prevented From Travel via Heathrow

First for context: Päivi Räsänen is a long-serving Finnish parliamentarian who has been convicted for “hate speech” over something nothing more than the expression of biblical Christianity (Räsänen). She’s been defending herself in court for seven years (ADF). Author and columnist Rod Dreher was attending a conference that Räsänen was also participating in. Dreher: I arrived at this conference yesterday, too late to hear Päivi’s talk. In it, I was told, that Päivi was told on her flight here from Finland that she cannot go through London’s Heathrow airport on the flight back. Why? Because she’s a convicted hate criminal! The UK has determined that her presence in Britain — even simply making a connecting flight in the airport! — is unwelcome. Can you believe it? …. someone as innocent and gentle as this Finnish granny has been forbidden by the British government even for setting foot in their international airport (which isn’t technically UK territory)…. Päivi Räsänen, an elected European lawmaker, cannot travel through Heathrow Airport on the way back home, on orders of His Majesty’s government. Why? Because she is a convicted hate-speech criminal, for quoting the Bible in public. That’s where we are (Dreher).

JK Rowling Weighs in on Transgender Vibe Shift: ‘But did you have to say it that way?’

As the conversation shifts on the transgender myth, a number of voices who knew better are coming around to seeing the harm of the whole enterprise. Their complaint, essentially is, why did you have to be so mean? J.K. Rowling: As the vibe shifts, and a lot of people in the elite professions start trying to reposition themselves, the obvious place to start is, ‘it’s not that I couldn’t see your point, but did you have to say it that way?’ We dissenters were supposed to find a way of questioning the chemical castration of children while calling it ‘gender affirming care.’ We were meant to defend the rights of vulnerable women while also using female pronouns for male rapists. We should have found a way to discuss fairness for women and girls in sport, while pretending that the ineradicable physical advantage men have over women doesn’t exist…. The alternative to being ‘blunt’ – using accurate, factual language to describe what was going on – was to surrender freedom of speech and espouse ideological jargon that obfuscated the issues and the harms caused. We’ve always needed blunt people, but we need them most of all when being asked to bow down to a naked emperor (Rowling). More from David Strom at Hot Air: it’s clear that the tide has turned for society as a whole, and now there are many people who are formulating their excuses for why they participated in the madness, even though they knew the critics were right (Hot Air).

10.

Trump Sends Another Warning on Communism in the United States

President Trump responding to Iris Tao of American-based Chinese outlet NTD: Communism’s easy to sell…. You’ve got free rent for the rest of your life. What they don’t say is that you’ll be living in squalor in 12 months. You’ve got a free house. Would anybody like to have a free house? We’ll take it away from somebody. We’ll give it to you. You’ll have murders all over the place. Communism’s a disaster. It’s been proven to be for thousands of years under different names, but same thing…. It’s never worked and it’s not going to work. What is working is the United States. So, think of it, we have more jobs than we’ve ever had. People are making more money than they’ve ever made. I’m talking about workers now, talking about workers. They’re making higher salaries than they’ve ever made before. It’s just the best system and it’s got flaws, but everything’s going to have a little flaw, but it’s been amazing. I think this country with this thing that’s going around is in more danger than it was during World War I, World War II. If you talk about September 11th, if you talk about Pearl Harbor, that was big danger. I think the concept of us going communist—because one thing that happens when you go communist, you never come back. Never comes back. You die in squalor. You die a horrible death. You die in squalor and it gets very evil and very nasty (Tao).

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