Friday's Final Word

Masquerading as a tab with a reason, my website is the event of the season ...
In tweets, he repeatedly took aim at the nuclear family home writing, “F**k isolation and the nuclear family domicile,” calling the nuclear-family home an “isolating, individualistic, violent way of organizing society.” “I don’t want to be part of that,” he wrote. Lawrence…— Andrew Kaczynski (@KFILE) September 4, 2026
Ed: I wrote about this for our VIP members earlier today. Democrats have lost their minds, but in this case, they may have had a push from Republicans who remembered the lesson of Todd Akin 14 years ago.
David Mamet at NRO: This is a time of terrifying change — I will amend that, a time of change terrifying to the old, and particularly so to those of us who have grown past a strength sufficient for both the challenges of action and the analgesic of outrage.
A contemporary remarked that, perhaps, “the pendulum will swing back,” and that reason, courtesy, and patriotism will reemerge. But he was wrong. For he could only imagine their reemergence in those (our contemporaries) who understood these attributes as essential for a functional and prosperous society.
But to the young, the American Century is a disgrace, and the American Dream a shuck. Histories may be debated, but the irreducible core must be verifiable fact, and what if Fact is determined only by Big Brother?
I don’t know if the United States will survive in a form recognizable to my generation.
Ed: A number of us feel this in our bones, too. The Left succeeded in its Long March through Academia in the 1970s and 1980s, and we now have multiple generations formed in Marxist thought and radicalized against Western civilization. Perhaps Trump and his Dept of Ed can turn that around, but it's tough to feel optimistic. Also, Mamet is a national treasure.
Stephen A. Smith says he would consider voting for Marco Rubio in 2028 and that Rubio would be a stronger candidate than JD is “an individual that tries to be too like Trump,” he told @ to #TheConversation: /OH9VM1zCha— POLITICO (@politico) September 4, 2026
Ed: Interesting. Smith has hinted at presidential ambitions, so making these observations is somewhat acting against self-interest. Smith makes a very good argument for Rubio and DeSantis, but also makes another good point, which is that anyone attempting to be the next Trump is doomed to failure. Authenticity matters – and it's what Trump has as well.
Russell Smith at Townhall: I know the man the Washington Post tried to smear. The yellow "journalist" at the formerly reputable Post does not.
When the Post published its fabrication claiming the Pentagon had "secretly installed military influencers in civilian roles," it was not reporting a scandal. It was manufacturing one. Kurt's column on Townhall tore it apart: the misspelled name, the loaded headline, the anonymous sources, the refusal to mention the actual work or the qualifications of the people doing it. He called it "a hit piece that hits like a girl." He was being kind. He let them off easy.
If Democracy dies in the darkness, the Post has died under the bright light of truth.
In the 1980s, living in California, I subscribed to the Post's weekly compilation of op-eds. In the 1990s, stationed at the Pentagon, I read the Post every morning. I enjoyed it most of the time. It was imperfect, but it felt like a newspaper rather than partisan advocacy masquerading as reporting. Today I would not potty-train a new puppy with the Post.
Ed: Be sure to read it all. The Post and Dan Lamothe picked a very stupid fight with Kurt Schlichter and two other veterans this past week, and don't expect Kurt to let it slide ...
.@RASmith9 has been my friend for over 30 years, and I appreciate him and so many other people having my back and jumping in the foxhole with me after this obnoxious attack on my integrity.I will never back down, back off or retreat. Ever. Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 4, 2026
Ed: The Post wouldn't recognize integrity even if it walked up and shook its collective hand. The only real question now is whether Jeff Bezos has integrity. And speaking of integrity ...
So disloyal. He gave you jobs and opportunities and advanced your careers and you publicly turn on him and set up an X account to attack him? Honorable thing, if you disagree, is to resign quietly and work for someone else you prefer. You are pathetic. Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) September 4, 2026
Ed: Yes, we're all totes impressed by staffers who stab their bosses in the back for Teh Clikz. Especially anonymously. Real Profiles in Courage moment here. Bear in mind that Fetterman votes with his caucus almost 90% of the time, so it's not as though he's gone rogue and turned into a crypto-MAGA Senator. He just refuses to blame Jews for Islamist terrorism or support the coming Marxist revolution.
USA Today: Cathy Engelbert is stepping down as WNBA commissioner, ending a polarizing tenure that saw the league grow exponentially under her watch but also raised questions about her ability to lead it through its era of increased scrutiny and attention.
Engelbert has informed the league of her decision to retire, effective at the end of this year, it was announced today by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. ...
But, Engelbert's tenure has not been without controversy, especially with the increased attention brought to the league with the arrival of Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in 2024. In May, when asked about her future with the WNBA, Engelbert sidestepped the inquiry before asking if the question would have been asked if she were a man. Engelbert later added there was "nothing else to report" and said there wouldn't be any "story" about her future.
"I do crack up how everybody's focused on me, and you should be focused on the hundreds of amazing women and thousands of women who run this league outside of myself," Engelbert said. "I appreciate that you're focused on me as well. I wonder if you would ask that of a man, by the way, but I realize as women we get asked different questions than men do."
Ed: Say, I guess Engelbert finally figured out the definition of 'women' after all! Maybe she can make that clear before she leaves at the end of the year when it comes to players on the court. In the meantime ... what a hypocrite.
Sad: Kathy Hochul Tries To Warn People Republicans Will Take Away Women's Rights, But Her Mouth Is Covered By Hijab The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) September 3, 2026
Ed: Yes, hypocrisy keeps getting progressively more ... AWFL.
Matt Calkins: Today began the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup, which features Caitlin Clark as the A+ among A-listers. I’m not sure any American athlete has sparked more discussion or controversy over the past three years as the Fever point guard has. I’ll admit — I’m a fan. But I also get why she’s not for everybody. Here are my eight thoughts on Cait. ...
3. The WNBA has still done her wrong. Actually, it goes beyond just the league. As sports writers such as Ethan Strauss and Dan Wetzel have pointed out, Nike didn’t drop Clark’s shoe until June of this year. Strauss wrote earlier that the company felt like they had to roll out Wilson’s sneaker before Clark’s despite Wilson being fifth in WNBA jersey sales to Clark’s first. No doubt Wilson is gifted, but she doesn’t play a brand of basketball that has transformational appeal. That’s OK. Neither did Tim Duncan, who I believe to be the best NBA player of his generation. But lagging on Caitlin in favor of A’ja was blatantly bad business for a brand whose stock price had declined significantly over the previous four years.
The WNBA often seems similarly neglectful of their golden goose. To the league’s credit, all of Caitlin’s games have been nationally televised this season. But there have been a number of times in which other Fever players have been highlighted in pre-game promotions despite Clark being the most popular player in league history. Add that several players have treated Caitlin as a human piñata throughout her three years, and you wonder how much her value is appreciated. Jealousy? That’s probably the main thing. But...
Ed: There's more to it than that, and Matt explains it at length. It's semi-paywalled in that you need to enter your email address to unlock it. Again, though, Matt's standing up to the progressive elite that keeps trying to silence such points of view, and he can use some support.
I'm old enough to remember when Brett Kavanaugh being upset at the blatant character assassination and lies made him "emotionally unfit" for the Supreme -Sayed has a temper. He's unfit for the Senate. Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) September 4, 2026
Ed: As RNC Research went on to note, El-Sayed now tells that story without the bottle smash. Even he realizes it makes him look unhinged. Unfortunately, it's hardly the only way in which El-Sayed looks like a lunatic.
Sally Satel: The trial of Lindsay Marie Clancy is over, and unresolved. After 21 days of testimony and seven days of deliberation, a Massachusetts jury could not agree on whether the 36-year-old former nurse was criminally responsible for strangling her children—Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months—or not guilty by reason of insanity. The judge declared a mistrial.
I had been hoping for an acquittal and commitment to a mental facility because, in my clinical opinion as a psychiatrist, psychosis drove Clancy to kill. ...
Whatever comes next, the case is a reminder about the hazards of addressing mental illness challenges in the courtroom, the need for legal and psychiatric reforms, and the urgency of educating doctors as well as patients about psychosis in general and postpartum psychosis in particular. If Clancy is retried, here is why I hope the next jury will find her not criminally responsible.
Ed: This is not a medical question. It is a legal question. Even if psychosis drove the decision to kill, Clancy appeared to recognize the wrongness of the killings and took rational steps to delay any intervention. I think everyone understands that mass killers of every kind have a screw loose, but that doesn't mean they're not accountable for their crimes. The common distinction in the US is what used to be known as the M'Naughton Rule: for an insanity plea to work, the defense has to show that the perpetrator had no concept of right or wrong or of awareness of a crime. Clancy misdirected her husband to prevent him from stopping her, showing both premeditation and rational action. I agree with Satel that the track record of Clancy's medical support was terrible, but that doesn't mean she should get a NGBRI either.
Jury nullification was good until it became inconvenient I guess /Q2V7h0GDYE— Enguerrand VII de Coucy (@ingelramdecoucy) September 4, 2026
Ed: Funny how that works, eh?
Matt Taibbi: Once, the American political divide created a nervous stasis. Conservatives stumped for economic freedom, liberals for personal autonomy; liberal candidates won cheers demanding the state keep out of the bedroom, conservatives demanded government keep paws off the economy. Since left and right had to appeal to the Constitution to protect their respective visions of freedom, each side had to begrudgingly recognize the rights of the other, at least from time to time.
Those days are over. Now “freedom” itself is a bad word, synonymous with Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and not much else, despite the fact that the biggest critics of the free market are leftist podcasters who are just erotophobe cousins of OnlyFans capitalists. It’s tempting to lay this absurd situation at the feet of academia or media dingbats like Jemele Hill, but it’s not their fault alone. If it happens, the downfall of capitalism — the rise of DSA-type politicians makes it a real possibility — will be be the fault of executives and politicians who made a choice to trade freedom for cash ...
All the cheating and rigging of the last decades has gone on with so little regard for the broad population that political movements challenging “capitalism” became inevitable. In a logical world, though, the expectation would be anticapitalist sentiment rising from working-class victims.
That’s not where the movement is coming from. In classic idiotic American fashion, our new anticapitalist fad is being nurtured by the sons and daughters of the same neoliberal jackasses who created the initial mess. These are professional-class scions who made conscious choices to study in fields with low earnings potential — sociology, journalism, art history — emerged to find few jobs available, and responded to the betrayal by jumping in front of microphones to argue for a complete junking of the American economy. Talarico, who studied education policy and divinity, is part of the loony death cult linking climate change, white supremacy, and capitalism, a bugbear he wants to “dismantle”[.]
Ed: There is more truth in this rant than many on either side of the aisle would probably want to admit. As always, Taibbi sets up a very good argument that's worth reading, even if you don't agree with all of it.
there going to be intimacy between Godzilla and Kong? Because I want to see them fight monsters and knock buildings down, not cuddle. John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) September 4, 2026
Ed: Don't ask, don't tell. Why do we need announcements of "intimacy coordinator" hirings in the first place? Are they going to become the next class of celebrities in Hollywood?
Never RT'd a video so fast in my life Siraj Hashmi (@SirajAHashmi) September 4, 2026
Last night's lyric: "Dreaming" by Blondie. I've never heard the live version before. It shows how solid the band was, and this song in particular.
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