The Spokane case goes to trial this week, May 18, 2026, and what happens in that courtroom matters well beyond eastern Washington. Nine defendants, the so-called Spokane 9, were originally charged with conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers after the June 11, 2025 protest outside ICE's Spokane facility, where a crowd blocked transport vehicles carrying two legal asylum seekers to a Tacoma detention center. Six of the nine have since pleaded guilty. Three — chose trial.

Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), aka AOC, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, graduated from Boston University cum laude, and then returned to the Bronx and worked as a bartender and waitress to help her mother fight foreclosure of their home. Nothing wrong with that, but her life experience apparently has taught her little. In some recent comments, she claimed that the very wealthy became that way not from salaried work but from investments.

On Saturday, incumbent U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) finished in a distant third place in the Louisiana Republican primary with only 24 percent of the vote. He missed the runoff, likely ending his political career. It was a stinging defeat for the longtime politician and two-term U.S. Senator. Of course, a motivating factor for Republicans was his vote to convict President Donald Trump of impeachment charges following the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol protests.

So why and how did millions of Americans begin to express hatred for Israel – and the Jews who support it? There are four converging fronts in this perfect storm. In the Middle East, free speech is found only in Israel – where criticism of one's own country, gender equity, and tolerance of gays are guaranteed – in marked contrast to all its neighbors. Yet today, for a Democrat or liberal to challenge hatred of Israel – and by extension, the Jews – is a career-ending death wish.

It's the time when Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) releases its annual "Congressional Pig Book Summary," exposing some of the most outrageous, ridiculous and in many cases unconstitutional spending one can imagine. I guarantee you won't be able to imagine most of it. According to CAGW, the number of earmarks, which is spending that avoids going through the normal appropriations process, "totaled 140,826, costing $484 billion."

President Donald Trump’s rapid rejection of Tehran’s ceasefire proposal signals that Washington may finally recognize the nature of the challenge. Iran’s demands – compensation for war damage, recognition of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions relief, an end to the naval blockade, and guarantees against future military action – reveal a regime seeking time to recover, regroup, and rearm. The West should resist that temptation.

Los Angeles is a broken city, facing huge problems made worse by corrupt politicians. It is overrun by homelessness, crime, blight, and the horrifying aftermath of the 2025 Palisades fire. In several weeks, Los Angeles voters will elect a new mayor. One candidate, former reality television star Spencer Pratt, is making a huge splash. He was previously known for his starring role on the MTV show The Hills from 2006 to 2010.

“People change,” the press “agent” of the front organization for the terrorist MEK wrote to me, trying to convince me – or himself – that he was not taking blood money for promoting these terror groups. In fact, there has been no history, ever, of an Islamic terrorist group “changing,” only using different tactics, titles, and the Islamic principle of taqiyya – lying to infidels. In my mind, the “agent” is a traitor of the U.S. and the West, selling out to make a buck.

Black conservatives face unrelenting attacks and slurs that they're "not really black" if they don't mindlessly vote Democrat. Not only that, they're tools of "White Racists" if they dissent from the NAACP's hard line. That's why there are 60 Democrat members in the Congressional Black Caucus – and the five black Republicans in Congress were refused membership when they tried to join the club. The Supreme Court decision this week to overturn racially gerrymandered Congressional Districts has "The Left" going nuts.

The Supreme Court striking down Democrat racism in the drawing of Congressional districts set off a predictable wave of panic across the Left, as the concept of having to make a case to voters who aren’t simply blindly loyal to the party began to sink in. While Democrats will happily sterilize or mutilate any pre-teen going through puberty confusion, they absolutely refuse to have a conversation with an American who will not bow down to their left-wing agenda. Why? Because they can’t.

Cole Allen’s leftism and his attempt to kill President Trump are not the least bit surprising to anyone who knows history and leftist philosophy. Violence, hatred, and lying are cardinal principles of leftist doctrine, but certainly not their only evils. If I were, in the title, to list every vile attribute the Left believes in and practices as part of their ideology, this column would only consist of one long title. Let’s look at the above three.

The Commonwealth initially resisted the genius of the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The republican gentry were not keen on swapping a tyrannical king for a tyrannical federal government. Virginia became the main battleground for the American Civil War. Virginia served as a major heartbeat for the United States of America, since many of the politicians serving in Congress have their second homes in the Old Dominion.

Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are a cornerstone of that continuum. Across Texas, SNFs provide critical post-acute care that helps patients transition safely from the hospital back to their homes or communities. These facilities deliver intensive medical services, rehabilitation, and ongoing monitoring that reduce complications, prevent unnecessary hospital readmissions, and ultimately lower overall healthcare costs.

In our federalist republic, states are often referred to as the “laboratories of democracy.” Policy ideas implemented in an individual state or multiple states can, depending on the results, inform and inspire other states and even our federal government to enact sound policy for the nation. This current state legislative season, the “experiment” in Kansas should be replicated in other laboratories across the nation and in our capital.

As we celebrate the Nation's 250th birthday, many speeches will be delivered this year about the Declaration of Independence. However, I think the greatest was just delivered by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on April 15th at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas, Austin. The force of Thomas' words does not just result from his deep understanding of what the United States is about, and how the Declaration of Independence defines it.

We need men of virtue in government.  As Madison wrote (The Federalist Papers, No. 57),  “The aim of every political constitution is, or ought to be, first to obtain for rulers men who possess most wisdom to discern, and most virtue to pursue, the common good of the society, and in the next place, to take the most effectual precautions for keeping them virtuous whilst they continue to hold their public trust.”  Elect people of virtue, and make sure they stay that way as long as they “hold their public trust.”

This is about spite. Pure, uncut, political spite. Let’s start with the basic, undeniable fact: President Trump’s “no tax on tips and overtime” policy applied to federal taxes. That’s it. Washington’s cut. The IRS’s reach. The federal government stepping back and letting working Americans keep more of what they earn. It did not touch state tax systems. It did not raid state budgets. It did not strip one single dime from Sacramento, Albany, Springfield, or wherever else these governors sit behind their polished desks.

The U.S. Navy is now interdicting vessels tied to Iranian ports, crippling their economy and costing an estimated $435 million dollars per day. It is also ending the special access China had quietly negotiated with Tehran. While Beijing sputters about a “dangerous and irresponsible act,” the move has already sent a crystal-clear message: America controls the chokepoints that matter, and we’re not afraid to use that leverage.

It’s always the people you most suspect… Everyone hates it when bad things happen to good people. In the case of the demise of Eric Swalwell, we’re lucky that isn’t the case. Swalwell is one of the dumbest and worst people to ever serve in the federal government, and I include all bureaucrats. The smug Californian was done in by his arrogance, and that’s worth laughing at. Democrat Eric Swalwell had a reputation for being a scumbag who slept around, cheating on his wife, and getting aggressive with young ladies.

The Left went crazy over President Trump's recent tweet warning that if the Iranian "Regime" didn't cease blocking the international Strait of Hormuz, he'd hit its dual military-civilian infrastructure, and promised that "a whole civilization will die tonight. On Monday, the Democrat & Media Borg was declaring Trump a savage & deranged maniac. But since the Left has called for investigations of War Crimes, by all means let them begin. They'd better be careful what they ask for.