April 26, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Assassination Attempt No. 3: First Thoughts

Featured image Last night I did a segment on the Outsiders program on Sky News Australia. The assassination attempt hit the news just as my interview was beginning, and for a while they showed me and the Washington Hilton ballroom in split screen. They haven’t posted my interview, and they may well have pre-empted it for coverage of the assassination. But this morning at 5:10 I was on James Macpherson’s prime time »
April 26, 2026 — Scott Johnson

The fire this time

Featured imageThe USA Today video below compiles grainy security camera footage of the shooter seeking to break into the White House Correspondents Dinner last night with the contemporaneous scene inside the dinner followed up by an excerpt of the indomitable President Trump’s subsequent late-night press conference back at the White House. The New York Post fills in the story behind the security camera footage here. We dodged another bullet last night. »
April 26, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Sunday morning coming down

Featured imageIt may not feel right to take a break from the news today, but what the heck. Turn the television on low for a few minutes and take in some historic covers of Merle Haggard songs by popular artists expressing their respect for his work. This past Sunday we dipped into covers by country artists. Too late for my use last week, the April 21 BGS Weekly Dispatch email rounded »
April 26, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Chuck Chalberg: Revolution today

Featured imageJohn C. “Chuck” Chalberg, is retired professor of history at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the author of Rickey and Robinson: The Preacher, the Player, and America’s Game as well as Emma Goldman: American Individualist. Here Professor Chalberg responds to the recent Star Tribune op-ed column (linked below) by former Star Tribune reporter, former Minneapolis Mayor, and current Minneapolis Foundation CEO R.T. Rybak. For some reason or other »
April 25, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Shooter Identified?

Featured imageThe would-be assassin has allegedly been identified as a California public school teacher: UPDATE: Confirmed. It's him. pic.twitter.com/NRx68sPSTo — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 26, 2026 If that is true it is not surprising, unfortunately. At this point it looks like another Democratic Party-inspired assassination attempt, but we will know more soon. »
April 25, 2026 — Bill Glahn

Defunding the Secret Service

Featured imageI’d like to take this opportunity to point out that the U.S. Secret Service has been unfunded by Senate Democrats for more than two months now as it is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Every one focuses on ICE and Border Patrol, also part of DHS, but already funded through separate legislation. DHS includes a host of other agencies, including the Secret Service and the Coast »
April 25, 2026 — Bill Glahn

The Keith Ellison fraud files

Featured imageFrom the Washington Examiner, How Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is embroiled in the Feeding Our Future scandal. The Examiner reports, Members of the GOP-led Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee continued to examine Ellison’s entanglement in the Feeding Our Future scandal at a hearing this week, which Ellison skipped. The Examiner goes on to perform a public service by undertaking a comprehensive re-reporting of the »
April 25, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Omar’s whinery

Featured imageI am more familiar with Ilhan Omar’s whinery than her winery, or her former winery. Her whinery is a permanent feature. I recently quoted my close encounter with it in the Washington Free Beacon column “Yes, Ilhan Omar married her brother.” To adapt the lyrics of the old blues song, she’s the whinin’ girl, don’t you deny her name. As for the winery, the New York Post covers the story »
April 25, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Highlight of the week

Featured imagePittsburgh Pirates left fielder Jake Mangum is having a good season. When I first saw the video featuring his throw to a young fan on the second deck at PNC Park, I loved it but wasn’t sure what was going on. The ABC News clip below fills in the story told by Sherri Unfiltered™ on X. Mangum has perfect touch on his throw — what a great thing to be »
April 24, 2026 — Bill Glahn

A real-life Somali pirate

Featured imageAnd captured in Minnesota, no less. I wrote about the case of Said Jama Ahmed on Wednesday as he made his initial appearance in federal court in Minnesota. It turns out that Jama is a bona fide Somali pirate. The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) posted on Twitter (X) earlier today. DHS goes on to recount, This [2012] threat occurred during an encounter when the U.S.S. Halsey responded to »
April 24, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Electing Communists

Featured imageI’m so old, I can remember when it would have been unthinkable to run for office as a Communist or a socialist. Were those the good old days, or what? Exhibit A is Karen Bass, the Mayor of Los Angeles. I always took her for a total incompetent, but there is more going on than that: I am going to keep repeating this until people understand this. Karen Bass was »
April 25, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Shots Fired [Updated]

Featured imageReportedly, the White House Correspondents Dinner is effectively over because shots were fired inside the venue. President Trump, Melania Trump, Speaker Johnson and others at the head table have been hustled out, and as I write everyone is being cleared out of the room. The shooter reportedly has been arrested or shot, it isn’t clear which. This is a shocking event, because normally the White House correspondents try to kill »
April 25, 2026 — John Hinderaker

Trump Better Have a Rabbit In That Hat

Featured imageThe New York Times trumpets: “Disapproval of Trump Hits Highest Level of His Second Term,” at 58%. It isn’t hard to see why. Rasmussen finds that “less than half of American voters view the six-week military campaign against the Tehran regime as successful.” The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 42% of Likely U.S. Voters believe the war against Iran has been successful, including 24% who »
April 25, 2026 — Scott Johnson

Quote of the day

Featured imageJames Meigs is one of my favorite writers. He is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of MI’s City Journal. I met Mr. Meigs at a Manhattan Institute dinner in 2024. He is a learned and delightful gentleman. As the editor of Popular Mechanics in years gone by, he made the magazine a major voice on technological issues of the day. Most recently, he has »
April 25, 2026 — Steven Hayward

The Week in Pictures: Frauds All the Way Down

Featured imageLooks to be a race on to see whose assets shrink fastest: Ilhan Omar from “better accounting,” or the Southern Poverty Law Center from criminal prosecution, fines, and more lawsuits to come. (By the way, why hasn’t Omar or someone ever launched the Northern Poverty Law Center? Is there something extra special about southern poverty?) Move over turtles: It’s frauds all the way down. (Plus, did you know that pickleball »
April 24, 2026 — Bill Glahn

To the moon!

Featured imageFrom CNBC, S&P 500, Nasdaq close at records, boosted by Intel, as investors hope for a restart to U.S.-Iran talks. The S&P 5oo index closed at a new record high of 7,165, just below the new record intra-day high of 7,168. The index was up for the day and the week and is up about 4 1/2 percent for 2026 year to date. Not everyone is enamored of capitalism these »
April 24, 2026 — Bill Glahn

A tough week for Ilhan Omar

Featured imageIt all began to unravel last Friday (April 17), when the Wall Street Journal reported that the Minnesota congresswoman’s net worth had plummeted in less than a year from as much as $30 million to less than $100,000. Oof. On Monday, the Journal followed up on their news item with an opinion piece. On Tuesday, Rep. Omar had a much-reported-on run-in with a reporter in the hallway in Congress. Also »