I know I keep complaining about this, but I continue to be depressed and shocked at how many people I admire and respect are taking to social media to virtue-signal—as if sounding like an ignorant fool is ever virtuous—about participating in the weekend’s beyond moronic No Kings rallies. The ones who most disappoint me are the lawyers. If you boil down what little of substance there is in the bill of particulars offered by these lobotomized citizens, the residue at the bottom of the pan is “we think law enforcement is cruel.” Really? Gee, my definition of “cruel” is letting poor, desperate, ignorant people over the border in defiance of our laws while giving them the impression that it’s okay and there will never be any negative consequences as long as they keep their heads down, work for pathetic wages at menial jobs and don’t rape anyone (and heck, maybe even if they do.) These people were lied to when Joe Biden and the Democrats said, “Come on over! You’re welcome!” The Democrats really thought that with their weaponizing of the justice system against political opponents and undermining election integrity, there would never again be an administration that didn’t want the country flooded with illegals. They also thought, with some justification, that the gates had been flung open for so long that an illegal immigration crackdown and reckoning would be logistically and politically impossible. As for that miscalculation, I call on Nelson Muntz to say…

Assholes.

I did love the White House comment when asked about the demonstrations. “Who cares?” But I do care. I care that so many of my friends are leaking IQ points out their ears….

Meanwhile…

1. Speaking of the dumb No Kings protest...There was much in the conservative news media focus on the proliferation of protesters in silly inflatable costumes, presenting themselves a frogs, chickens, unicorns and dinosaurs. The explanation given was that this was a rebuke to Republicans portraying the events as “hate America” rallies and the Trump administration’s claims that blue cities like Chicago and Portland are riddled with crime. (Note: They are riddled with crime.) ‘The silliness is the point,’ said Mike Nellis, a Democratic strategist. “All these MAGA guys are out there going, ‘These cities are lawless, they’re dangerous.’ … It’s like you’re matching the absurdity of it.” Oh. What? The protests were silly and desperate, and the deliberate effort to look silly while protesting just underscored the point. These people are just not serious or willing to deal with reality. The rallies swelled their numbers with people who enjoy being in mobs and are just having a good time hanging out with other frustrated leftists. “No Kings” was essentially a Bluesky meet and greet. What I got out of the Post article is that Democratic strategists are incompetent…but we already knew that, didn’t we, Kamala?

2. By the way, many of the Left-addled do hate America. Here’s far-Left Salon’s resident crazy, Amanda Marcotte, railing against the fact that Turning Point USA announced that it will offer an alternative, patriotic half-time show (The All-American Half-Time Show) during the Super Bowl for those who don’t care to watch an all-Spanish performance by a cross-dressing, U.S.-hating, often obscene rapper who actively promotes resistance to I.C.E. “The event doesn’t have a lineup or even a location yet. But what the far-right organization, co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, does have is a groundswell of racist rage about the real Super Bowl halftime show, which will feature reggaeton star Bad Bunny,” wrote Marcotte. Racist rage. Gimme a break. Fans of pro football have every reason to be ticked off that the NFL decided to politicize what has always been a unifying cultural event (even if it is unified over cheering young men as they damage their brains) and hired an overtly anti-American figure, pro-illegal immigrant figure whose songs most viewers won’t understand and would recoil at if they did.

3. The return of “Let’s Go Brandon!” In this contentious Ethics Quiz, I defended the banning of Charley Kirk T-shirts (“Freedom”) in a public school while citing the banning of “Let’s Go Brandon” shirts in other school systems. My point: it is what the shirt symbolizes that makes it disruptive, not the specific words on the shirt. This week, in a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled against two Michigan brothers who wore “Let’s Go Brandon” apparel to school. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the national nonprofit that defends free speech now that the ACLU is completely partisan, represented the two students and will appeal.

4. Today’s “Nah there’s no mainstream media bias!” note: I love this! New York Times opinion columnist Michelle Goldberg (EA dossier here) spoke on October 16 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the annual Doft Lecture of Harvard University’s Center for Jewish Studies. The event, “Authoritarianism, Antisemitism, and the Future of America,” attracted about 30 people and was sponsored by the Alan and Elisabeth Doft Lecture and Publication Fund. Asked why the Times has exactly no conservative pundits who support President Trump, Goldberg answered that the Times had been unable to find qualified opinion writers who are “pro-Trump, honest, and not racist.” “There’s not that many people in the middle of that Venn diagram,” Goldberg said.

Funny, nobody at the Times has asked me...

5. Headline of the Week (NYT): “Sharks apologize for scoreboard message praising ICE on night celebrating Hispanic heritage.” The message was shown during the first intermission of the NHL game between the Sharks and the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, and read, “SJ SHARKS FANS LOVE ICE !! GET ‘EM BOYZ !” The team’s grovel: “During the first intermission of tonight’s game, an offensively worded message which had been externally submitted was inadvertently displayed on the in-arena scoreboard. Sharks Sports & Entertainment deeply regrets that this message, which does not meet our organization’s values, was not detected during our standard review process. The Sharks organization sincerely apologizes for this oversight, and we are actively working to determine the origin of the message.”

And which “values” would those be?