The names are far less interesting than the hairstyles. My high school yearbook features some doozies, although mine was relatively sedate:
The Socialist cuckoos and the Democrats
I think this is a good analogy:
So, will they wear out their welcome and be just a passing phase? Maybe, but I absolutely wouldn’t count on it. Another phrase occurs to me:
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
I’ve quoted the poem many times over the years. But it now occurs to me that the first part isn’t correct. In other words, do “the best lack all conviction”? Not in the least. If they’re “the best,” they have plenty of conviction and principles and are serious about them. The real question is whether those convictions are a match for the obvious “passionate intensity” of the far left.
Note also that “the worst” are riding almost entirely on emotional intensity; reason really doesn’t enter into it for them. Thus we have today’s cuckoos, who – although they talk academic theory gobbledygook – are full of such passionate intensity that I don’t doubt they would “cut down every law” to get their way.
Another relevant quote occurs to me, and it’s this one from Orwell in Nineteen Eighty-Four, uttered by O’Brien to Winston Smith as he’s being interrogated and tortured:
The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?
In another cuckoo-like move, however, the Party pretends to be interested in the good of others. Perhaps certain members even think they are interested in that. But the gleaming attraction of power is tantamount (true of many politicians, by the way).
Plus, also from Orwell:
There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always— do not forget this, Winston— always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever.
Forever? Well, maybe not, but once these things get going they are difficult to reverse. Most Democrat politicians of the more “moderate” sort are loathe to condemn the Democratic Socialists, who already seem to have a lot of power in blue areas. The old-time Democrats seem to think the crocodile will eat them last. Hakeem Jeffries doesn’t have that luxury (although he refuses to address it); the chant at some of the NY primary victory get-togethers, when Jeffreys’ face appeared on the screen for a moment, was “You’re next!”
As that article says:
“To be shouting ‘you’re next’ — a majority white audience to a Black man — just harkens back to some dark times in history,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who endorsed Valdez’s opponent Antonio Reynoso. …
In interviews with the New York Times and CNN, New York Attorney General Letitia James spoke about “hurt feelings” in communities of color. She said she was disappointed by Mamdani’s lack of understanding about race and class issues in the city.
“Some of the candidates that he has supported are individuals who do not understand the politics of New York City, the cultural differences from district to district, who have not been part of the history and the struggle of some of these districts …
So there’s a very interesting racial aspect to all of this, and it seems to be the case – from an analysis of the results in different areas of New York – that the main DSA support comes from affluent and highly educated white people rather than black or Hispanic voters. But the overall voting turnout was very very low, reported variously as between 10% and 15%. That makes it somewhat more difficult to analyze.
Why is turnout so low in these primaries? I don’t know. If I lived in NY, I’d be strongly motivated to vote. I think that, in many deep blue enclaves, it’s a foregone conclusion that the Democrat nominee will win the regular election, and that all Democrats are at least somewhat alike. Therefore, people who aren’t political junkies and aren’t paying a whole lot of attention don’t realize what’s actually happening here and who these candidates are and how much they differ. So the 10% or 15% who do turn out and vote are the ones filled with that “passionate intensity” of the far-left fanatic. That’s the best I can do for an explanation for such tremendous voting apathy on the part of most people there.
One of the few Democrats speaking out against the DSA is James Carville, of all people. But he’s an old fossil [emphasis mine]:
True to form, Carville lit into the party crashers with his colorful “Ragin’ Cajun” rhetoric. Focusing on Chevalier, he said that she “has attacked interracial relationships and the American flag. Lady, I ain’t in the same party as you. I’m sorry, I’m just not.”
He then revealed how very serious he considered the situation to be by calling for his own party to do something drastic: “And I actually do think it’s time for Democrats to talk the S word: schism. I really do.”
“Everybody’s always said, ‘No, no, we’re a coalition, we’re a big tent,’” Carville went on, but there’s “just some s**t that I can’t be in the same tent with.” …
“But, and understand, these people do not like Democrats; not only are they not Democrats, they wish Democrats poorly. …
“I am totally comfortable in a political party that spends time questioning the policies of the government of Israel. In fact, I’m enthusiastic about that,” Carville clarified, but “I don’t want to be in a political party that denies the right of the state of Israel to exist. That’s just not — I just can’t do that. I’m sorry. It’s just not doable.”
But Carville is an outlier on this. Must Democrat politicians seem to be finding it very doable indeed – so far.
Newark renaissance?
This article very much surprised me. Newark is a city that’s been in decline for my entire adult life. One branch of my family had been there since the mid-19th century, and the older people still lived there in my youth; I remember visiting them in an old apartment building with very high ceilings.
Then all of them moved away as it became more and more dangerous to live there.
In 2020 I wrote this lengthy piece on Newark, describing its decline. But now I read – in a British paper, of all places – that things are looking up in Newark:
A New Jersey city once known as the car theft capital of the world has transformed itself over the last three decades from a blighted crime metropolis to one of the hottest real estate opportunities on the East Coast.
Located just 30 minutes from Manhattan, Newark has been ranked as the most competitive housing market in the nation, according to a spring market report from Redfin.
Real estate values have surged as criminal activity has fallen in Newark, with violent crime down by 19 percent last year, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.
Money talks:
“Newark has been rediscovered,” real estate broker Michael Rosa told HousingWire, who said a wave of luxury apartment construction has helped revive the city. “More recently, there’s just been so much investment going on over here.”
I have to say I read the article with a great deal of skepticism. Is this some sort of delusional Newark boosterism? The commenters there seem to think so; the article is regarded as a sick joke, and lots of people assert that Newark is basically a cesspool. Then again, are they correct?
When I searched, I found a great many articles about improvements in the Newark airport’s on-time record, which apparently had been abysmal. It also seems that, for whatever reason, in 2024 there started to be articles such as this one describing an increase in investment:
There’s the ongoing $190 million capital investment project at Newark Penn Station; the $570 million AirTrain Newark Replacement, with construction slated for 2025 through 2029; the $110 million “High Line”-like Pedestrian Bridge traversing McCarter Highway to Newark Penn Station; and, of course, Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport.
“People who haven’t been here or turned their backs on Newark are missing out on the most amazing urban transformation,” says Vincent Baglivo, executive director of the Ironbound Business Improvement District and Board Member for the Greater Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Deputy Mayor Allison Ladd, director of the Department of Economic and Housing Development, says following the COVID-19 pandemic, investors and developers are still bold and bullish on growth in Newark.
Though largely focused on arts, health, and wellness, Newark’s incredible transformation is now attracting hundreds of new tech startups and higher-income residents.
Who knows? I’m not travelling there to find out, either. But I like to think it’s true. Once a city declines it’s very difficult to reverse the process, but I wish Newark well.
Years ago I also wrote about Newark’s extremely leftist mayor, Ras Baraka. It was in 2014, when he was first elected. At the time, he was one of the most “progressive” (that is, far left) mayors in the US. Well, guess what? To my surprise, he’s still the mayor there, serving his fourth 4-year term. From that Wiki page:
Politico has described Baraka as “one of the most progressive Democrats in New Jersey, and possibly the nation”.
During his tenure as mayor, Baraka has earned praise for improving Newark’s economic prospects.
Make of it what you will. Also this:
The city has now achieved a historic 60-year low in violence.
Violence has gone down in a lot of cities. But a 60-year low might actually mean something – although relatively speaking, violence isn’t actually low there. Some statistics from a 2025 discussion:
Many people still ask, “is Newark NJ safe?” The answer depends on where you go and when. While some neighborhoods have made notable progress, others continue to face persistent challenges.
The article goes on to get very specific about that.
You may ask, why am I writing about Newark? Basically I have a soft spot in my heart for it and I’d like to see it improve.
Lastly I’ll point to this comment in a Reddit thread about Newark’s declining crime rate:
Sticking to police reform was huge. The community policing element put former gang members in direct contact with at-risk youth in tough neighborhoods to get to them before they got in trouble or entered the cycle of retaliation.
The city’s population has gone up quite a bit. So there’s way less vacant housing that can be used for criminal activity.
This is the part that everyone ignores. The city has actually gentrified more than people think; it’s just middle class minorities doing it. If you go to parts of the West and South Wards, you’ll find Black people who had been priced out of Harlem, Bed-Stuy, and Crown Heights are becoming homeowners, which basically added a middle-class to poor neighborhoods. This is the reason why Downtown Newark has like 5 expensive African restaurants/nightclubs now.
The national trends have been helpful too. Crime is down pretty much everywhere, despite the fear-mongering.
Again, make of it what you will.
[NOTE: I wrote another post about Baraka in 2025, focusing on his arrest for causing a brouhaha around ICE.
And by the way, Baraka’s father is Leroi Jones.]
Open thread 6/26/2026
Today’s date: a whole lot of sixes and a whole lot of twos.
And then there’s that lonely zero.
Update on the Venezuela earthquake
We’re nowhere near knowing the true toll. But here’s an update:
At least 188 people have died and more than 1,500 are injured …
Many people are missing or still trapped beneath rubble as rescue efforts stretch into Thursday night. Many residents have nowhere to go after their homes were flattened in the port city of La Guaira, the capital Caracas and surrounding areas. …
The US is deploying elite rescue teams to Venezuela, though it’s not yet clear when they’ll arrive, and pledges of foreign aid are pouring in. Venezuelans living abroad are anxiously awaiting updates from loved ones.
There’s more news at the link.
Here’s an interesting changer – actually, two interesting changers
When I first saw an excerpt from this guy’s message, I thought he might not be for real. I tend now to think he is for real, although I’m not 100% sure. At any rate, his point is a good one.
The commentary on what he’s saying is by Amala Ekpunobi, a woman whose own political change experience happened a couple of years ago. I’ve watched quite a few of her videos, and I think she’s quite good.
On immigration and the law: SCOTUS decides that “temporary” means temporary and that the Trump orders were not based on race
Here’s the ruling, in a 6-3 opinion with Alito authoring:
In these cases, we consider whether respondents, who challenge the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for aliens from Syria and Haiti, are entitled to orders postponing the terminations during litigation. We hold that they are not.
The TPS statute plainly bars consideration of respondents’ non-constitutional claims. It allows “no judicial review of any determination . . . with respect to the . . . termination” of a TPS designation. 8 U. S. C. §1254a(b)(5)(A). The term “determination” can be used to describe either an individual decision or the whole process leading to a final decision, and under either understanding of the term, §1254a(b)(5)(A) squarely bars all of respondents’ non-constitutional claims.
The sole constitutional claim before us will likely fail. Citing statements made by President Trump and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, one set of respondents advances an equal protection claim that Haiti’s TPS designation was terminated because of the racial makeup of that country’s population. But, ironically, one of respondents’ other arguments undermines the equal protection claim by offering a strong, race-neutral explanation for Haiti’s termination: namely, that the current administration, which has terminated every TPS designation that has come up for renewal, simply opposes the TPS program, at least as it has been implemented in the past. For these reasons, the District Courts erred in granting interim relief.
The opinion points out that these “temporary” exceptions often last for many decades.
NOTE: SCOTUS should be issuing a ruling on birthright citizenship soon. If I had to guess, I’d say they will uphold the present interpretation of how it functions. But I simply don’t know. Personally, I think the arguments against the current construction of the law are strong. But there’s room for ambiguity and it would be such a big change to make it more restrictive that I don’t think it will happen.
Democratic Socialism: workers of the blue cities, unite!
Yesterday I wrote a post about the socialist victories in New York’s primaries on Tuesday. In it, I quoted from this City Journal article about the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America), as follows:
Earlier this month, the Democratic Socialists of America’s top leadership met for an in-person meeting of their National Political Committee (NPC), the DSA’s governing authority. The result of the meeting was “Workers Deserve More!”, a rebooted platform for the organization featuring a host of radical proposals. The document commits DSA to scrapping the U.S. Senate, “abolishing the carceral forces of the capitalist state,” defunding the Department of War, amnesty for all immigrants, and “replac[ing] the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.”
That’s not all they want, but it’s a start. It also gives you a hint about why they call themselves democratic socialists: they use what they call “democracy” as a tool. First it’s just the ordinary “democracy” we have today – that is, a republican form of government with checks and balances. The most “democratic” organ of the legislature is the House, because the Senate gives power to states as entities rather than by population numbers. Leftists are angry that in the Senate low-population states like South Dakota (which tend to be red) count for as much as the populous blue enclaves of New York or California. They plan to remedy that flaw. And then they plan to make other branches of government subordinate to the House, which would reign supreme.
Of course, this is at present a dream. But look how far they’ve come in just a few short years.
Also, the whole thing would fall down if the House ends up taken over by the right. If these Democratic Socialists ever get sufficient in numbers, however, they plan to make that impossible any way they can. Whether or not elections are “rigged” or outright fraudulent in blue cities and states, if you don’t believe the left wants to do it and will do it if possible, you don’t understand their drive for power.
This triumph of “democracy” – “our democracy” – is the process part of it. The content is indeed things like the abolition of prisons (except perhaps for their political prisoners), open borders (the better to get more third-world denizens here), hatred of Israel and Jews (and probably for those Christians who aren’t with the DSA program) – and the destruction of Western Civilization.
You think I made that last part up? I did not; see this:
The socialist backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who won Tuesday night’s primary election in New York’s 13th Congressional District founded a group in college that called for the total destruction of the West.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32, a Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress who made career out of “community organizing,” wrote in her biography for an opinion piece in independent news outlet The Electronic Intifada that she “helped launch the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign Columbia University Apartheid Divest.”
“We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization,” the group said in a now-deleted 2024 Instagram post.
In May 2024, eight years after she graduated from Columbia, Chevalier was back on campus advocating alongside the group she founded, known as CUAD, wearing a keffiyeh and a t-shirt emblazoned with the group’s name.
This isn’t ancient history for Chevalier.
She co-founded Columbia University Apartheid and Divest (CUAD), an organization that did not merely oppose the state of Israel but also celebrated terrorism outright. After the death of Yahya Sinwar, CUAD’s Substack published a glowing eulogy of the Hamas terrorist who masterminded the October 7 attack on Israelis. CUAD hailed him as a “hero of the revolution” guided by “pragmatic optimism.” The group called on its followers to “reflect on how we can make ourselves more like him.”
Avila Chevalier was also involved with the related group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which explicitly celebrated the October 7th terrorist attack as a “historic win.”
We cannot count on the people of New York to stop her from becoming a member of the House of Representatives. After all, she’s got a “D” after her name now as the official Democrat nominee in the 13th District:
She wants to abolish not just the police but the very concept of policing entirely. For good measure, she views interracial relationships with suspicion, thought COVID-19 originated in France, and thinks white people are not hygienic.
In an interview with The New York Editorial Board from earlier this month, Avila Chevalier declined to walk back her most controversial statements. She refused to say, for instance, that murderers belong in prison.
There are two ways in which the right is reacting to Chevalier and the other Democratic Socialists who won their primaries recently (it’s not only in NYC). The first way is to be happy, because this signals that the left has gone too far and will be rejected. The second – and I’m in this camp – is to take it as an extremely serious sign, and to believe that they will not fade away in some natural fashion. Too many people in the US now – too many voters – are ignorant of history, economics, and common sense. Too many live in a la-la land where ideas like abolishing the police are not seen as lunatic. Too many think socialism would be just peachy keen. Too many have succumbed to the poisonous virus of Jew-hatred, especially when couched in the language of anti-Zionism backed up by lies about apartheid and genocide.
Way too many.
NOTE:
I know that some of you objected last time I posted a Ruthless podcast video, because they use the f-word a lot. This session also contains language of that sort. Don’t listen if that bothers you too much; I don’t consider it any sort of deal-breaker, because their content is good. They have a lot to say about the Democratic Socialists, and I think it’s well worth listening to:
[ADDENDUM:
And although I think this is totally obvious and goes without saying, it’s still refreshing to hear someone like New York City DSA cochair Gustavo Gordillo be so honest about methods and goals:
“We’re using the Democratic Party as a ballot-access vehicle, not because we share its goals,” Gordillo boldly stated. “We build our own organization, get elected under the Democratic label, caucus with Democrats when it’s useful, and push our own agenda from the inside.”
Here’s the kicker — the line that should have House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries losing sleep at night and/or wetting himself: “We see the Democratic establishment as an obstacle, not a home.”
As I said, this has been quite obvious for some time.
Also, the NY DSA is coming for Kathy Hochul, who is obviously not radical enough.]
Open thread 6/25/2026
I’ve cued up a clip about two and a half minutes long. It contains some facts I probably ought to have realized but never knew till I listened to the video:
Magnitude 7.5 earthquake in Venezuela near Caracas
That’s big, and it is feared that the damage and loss of life is great. What’s even worse is that it wasn’t just one earthquake; it was two about a minute apart, the first at 7.1 and the second at 7.5. The only good thing about it was that people had a little bit of time to evacuate:
The earthquakes struck shortly after 6 p.m. local time. People evacuated swaying buildings in Caracas and remained outside, many visibly shocked as they saw entire walls that had collapsed, making furniture visible from the street. Dust columns could also be seen in two neighborhoods of the capital, where restaurants and other businesses are typically busy. People remained on the streets after sunset. Some sat on the ground hugging their pets as dust gathered around them.
“It started off gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses, go outside and gather together,” Caracas resident Hector Ricci said.
I wonder how many of the buildings in Caracas are designed to withstand quakes. This was apparently the biggest one there in about a century. My guess is that the buildings aren’t designed for a big one, and this is why:
Strong earthquakes are unusual in Venezuela.
While the country sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.
It was felt in Colombia and parts of the Caribbean. I very much hope the death toll isn’t high, but I fear it is.
[NOTE: I wasn’t at my computer or on my phone when the first news came, so I just heard about it close to 9:30 PM. But earlier today I had heard the news of a thankfully-much-smaller earthquake near the Fort Bragg area of California: a magnitude 5.6, which was the biggest in that area of California in the last forty years. It’s a beautiful place I know well, and I have relatives and friends all over the state.
I’ve been to California at least 75 times in the last 50 years, and have probably been in five or six earthquakes there myself. However, mercifully, I’ve never been in a very serious one – although a person doesn’t know that at the time until it’s over. I’ve been in ones that are gentle and ones that begin with a harsh jolt, ones that seem to be over quickly and ones that seem to go on for quite some time. They are always frightening, every single one of them.
Northern California and Caracas are very far from each other and on different tectonic plates, and so these earthquakes on the same day were almost certainly coincidental. But if it’s a coincidence, it’s certainly an eerie one.]
Foreign visitors ♥ America
You can see the videos all over the internet: foreign visitors for the World Cup, enjoying the US – especially the food, the free refills on soda, and the friendliness.
You can read a description here, and YouTube is filled with reports such as this one, a compilation which I’ve chosen pretty much at random:
One theme that repeats itself is shock and wonder at the sheer size of America. Similar clips have been on YouTube for years, featuring foreign tourists reacting – mostly positively – to trips to the US. So it’s not just something about the World Cup visitors.
But I’ve noticed one topic lately that I’ve never seen before in this genre of videos. It’s about seeing yellow school buses:
Tucker Carlson announces something that was already clear: he’s not a Republican
And he does it with his usual narcissistic flair:
Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson says he’s “out” of the Republican Party moving forward, arguing the GOP no longer reflects his views. …
“And if I’m out, then I think a lot of other people are out.”
He fancies himself a thought leader. And you know what? He most definitely does have followers and a huge digital audience. The question is about the composition and range of that audience. There is some evidence that a large number of them live abroad, particularly in Pakistan, and that many are of the bot persuasion. But I happen to think that a significant number are real live voting-age Americans, although I’ve read extremely variable estimates of their numbers
Whatever Tucker’s influence, I’d wager many of his followers left the GOP long ago.
I’ve written a great many posts on Carlson in the last year or two, ever since he left Fox and began his very visible political “turn.” I’ve described it in some depth, especially in this, which is the first part of a three-part series I wrote, and contains links to parts two and three of the series.
This political change of Carlson’s resulted in – among other things – his current emphasis on Israel and Jews as the source of most of the world’s problems. It’s an old story, but everything old is new again.
From his recent farewell to the GOP:
Carlson said, adding that the GOP has “betrayed” voters by prioritizing Israel’s national security over America’s.
I think this short clip is a good analysis of some of Carlson’s rhetorical tricks:
Carlson also says he “is unsure how he’ll vote moving forward” but that he’s not a Democrat.
But Tucker already has been supporting Democrats by allying with them in being obsessed with the unique evil he – and they – think Israel is. He also supports Democrats by having worked to split the right for several years now, first on Ukraine but especially after 10/7 and escalating much more after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. He would not have dared had Kirk been alive.
I also believe that Tucker knows pretty much what he’ll do “moving forward.” The question is not how he’ll vote; he’s just one vote, after all. It’s whom he will endorse, whom he’ll choose to interview and about what, and whether he’ll run for office himself. He doesn’t have to do the latter to split the party by endorsing some third-party candidate, either, which he might do.
Or maybe it’s Vance he’ll focus on and support, depending on whether Vance is truly allied with some of Tucker’s worst impulses or whether Vance is just pretending to be Tucker-adjacent the better to keep the party together for 2028. I don’t know which it is and I can’t read Vance’s mind.