HMM: Democratic senator says GOP is trying to woo Fetterman.

Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego said Republicans are trying to pull John Fetterman to the right and argued Democrats should keep the Pennsylvania senator in their corner as he faces mounting questions over his health and shifting political persona.

“There needs to be space for Fetterman and for other senators in our caucus,” he said in an interview Saturday. “He still is a senator that fights for working-class people. We may not be 100 percent in agreement a lot of times in a lot of areas, but we don’t have to be.”

While some Democrats have distanced themselves from Fetterman, top Republicans have rallied around him in the wake of news reports that his current and former staffers are concerned about his mental and physical health. Several GOP senators, including Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), have come to Fetterman’s defense on social media.

“The radical left is smearing him with dishonest, vicious attacks because he’s pro-Israel and they only want reliable anti-Israel politicians,” Cotton said.

Asked if Republicans are trying to tug Fetterman to the GOP, Gallego said “of course.”

Except for Israel and the occasional show vote Trump nominee who was going to be confirmed regardless, Fetterman is a reliably lefty Democrat. I’m not sure if he’s woo-able or whether he could fit in at all.

Related: Republicans Trying to Woo Senator Fetterman To Join the GOP Are Wasting Their Time.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: My Favorite Thing About Trump Being President Is All the Trump Stuff. “It’s stunning to watch the tug of war between what Trump and his administration are doing in the real world and the alternative reality that the Democrats and the media are shrieking about. They so desperately want President Trump to fail that they’re hoping that the country falls apart.”

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO “EVERYONE GETS THEIR DAY IN COURT?” OH, RIGHT — DEMOCRATS:

…In prior years, Democratic groups unleashed a campaign to pressure firms to fire lawyers who represented Trump, the Republican Party, or conservative causes. It worked. I know lawyers who were told to drop Republican cases or else find new employment.

— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) May 12, 2025

BUT WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Justice Sotomayor Should Recuse Herself From Trump Cases After What She Just Said.

DECOUPLING:

This is great… the only problem is that there actually are – checks Bloomberg – exactly 53 ships headed for California's top ports, more than there were on this day one year ago. https://t.co/7uyg2tjI5c pic.twitter.com/lvwna4TWjy

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 10, 2025

Two possible takeaways from this one.

The first is that the “Stores will have empty shelves!” scare stories from last month might not amount to much. The other is that China very much — desperately? — needs to keep the export machine working overtime, even if they have to eat a substantial fraction of the tariffs. Maybe Beijing is kicking in? Or maybe US importers are counting on the super-high tariffs being temporary. Who knows.

Again, we’re early into this process and predictions are probably a fool’s game.

INDEED: Trump SHOULD NOT Recognize a ‘Palestinian State.’

THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR:  Behold the last exam that I will ever have to grade (as well as the last of the insanely meticulous charts I make when grading exams).   I figure I’ve done several thousands of these over the last 35 years.  By the end of today, I should have this one scored, all the exams tallied, and the grades recorded.

All five of the more conservative law professors who signed up for “phased retirement” are now finished at USD.  For the past several years, USD hasn’t exactly been the world’s most hospitable place.  On the other hand, for many years, this was the best job in the world, so I guess it all evens out.

Once I’m done with the book I’ve been working on, I plan to get a job with a think tank.  I also plan to stay on as a Commissioner at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (assuming it continues to exist).  Oh … and since I haven’t had a full day off (Christmas included) since 2019, I think I’ll take Memorial Day off to clean out my closets.  Maybe.

BOBOS IN THE PANTS AISLE: ‘Conservative’ David Brooks Wants Everyone to Know He Has Admired Joe Biden for a Long Time.

Of course — his trouser creases were almost as sharp as Obama’s!

LIMITED TIME DEAL: Filmgoo Window Privacy Film One Way Daytime Mirror Tint Treatments. #CommissionEarned

TYLER O’NEIL: Trump Finally Reverses Biden’s Travel Ban on Prominent Soros Critic.

An outspoken opponent of Hungarian American megadonor George Soros can finally visit the United States after the Biden administration banned him in 2021, accusing him of corruption.

Sali Berisha, former prime minister of Albania and head of the Albanian opposition party in an election Sunday, accused Soros and current Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama of conspiring with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to prevent him from visiting the U.S. When then-Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., pressed Blinken for evidence of Berisha’s alleged corruption, the State Department stonewalled him, Zeldin said.

Berisha, who served as Albania’s president from 1992 to 1997 and as prime minister from 2005 to 2013, originally welcomed Soros’ investments into Albania but has opposed Soros’ efforts for decades.

The full headline includes the question, “WAS SOROS INVOLVED?”

With a possible answer to that, here’s DataRepublican (small r) last week:

This question pops up in my comments a lot. The answer is simple: Republicans and Democrats work with him.

The references I found were not from some random academic journal. Over 30 direct mentions of Soros or his NGOs appeared in the Journal of Democracy. It’s the flagship journal of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the same organization featured prominently in that widely circulated “Uniparty NGO” network diagrams below.

NED is a U.S. government-funded outfit. It includes currently sitting members of Congress on its board… from both parties, not just former officials.

Soros’s involvement is deep. He has co-chaired NED conferences abroad and his Open Society NGOs regularly partner with NED operations, especially in countries undergoing “transitions” (read: regime change or soft power penetration). Together, Soros and US-backed NGOs have shaped funding pipelines, media narratives, and even foreign electoral strategies.

So when people ask, “Why isn’t Soros banned?” … they need to understand: he’s not an outsider. He’s part of our government. The Uniparty protects and partners with him, because he helps carry out a shared foreign policy vision… the same one that labels President Trump as a threat to democracy.

Much more at DR’s X thread.

TOTALLY WORTHLESS: GOP Controlled House and Senate Sent Fewer Bills to GOP President Than Any Congress in 70 Years.

THEY’RE FLAILING: MSNBC Bet Big on Jen Psaki’s New Prime-Time Show. They’re Losing.

ON SUNDAYS I DO A PROMO POST FOR (MOSTLY) INDIE AUTHORS: Book Promo And Vignettes By Luke, Mary Catelli and ‘Nother Mike.

There is also a fun vignette challenge but I MUST implore you not to run around giving people your plot bunnies. We have enough of our own, and we’re about to turn into plot Australia.

WHAT SHE SAID. I’D THINK THAT 10 YEAR OLD BOYS READING GOOD AND ACCESSIBLE THINGS WAS VERY MUCH NECESSARY:   “It’s for Ten-Year-Old Boys!” But What’s Wrong with That?

And if they’re good and accessible adults will enjoy them too.

LEARNING HISTORY AGAIN:  How Did This Building Figure in a Supreme Court Case?

THE VICTORY OF THE WEST WAS THE BEST OF THE OPTIONS:  Putting the week of VE Day commemoration into true perspective.

YOU’D THINK THIS WOULD MAKE THEM LEERY OF JUST FRAUDING PEOPLE IN:  Everybody Hates Fetterman.

But of course they have to keep doing that. it’s all they have.

VERY GOOD QUESTION:  Nine Years Later and, If You Ask Me, It’s Still Time to RICO the Rockefeller Enterprises. Why Isn’t It Happening?

AND LINKED IN THE ARTICLE:  Hawaii Sues Oil Industry for Causing Climate Change—But Spares State’s Largest Refiner Whose Executives Donate to Dems.

THE WAY THIS KEEPS HAPPENING IS ALMOST LIKE THEY’RE VERY BAD PEOPLE PROJECTING THEIR EVIL ON EVERYONE:  ICC Set Plan to Charge Netanyahu Just After Prosecutor Was Accused of Sexual Assault.

SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED:  Academics in space community scheme to continue their racist DEI policies.

My shocked face is getting pretty worn out.

YOU DON’T HATE THE PRESS NEARLY ENOUGH:  A coming shock to Star Tribune readers.

WELL, HE DID SAY HE WAS A COMMUNIST (OKAY, NATIONAL SOCIALIST BUT THAT WAS– WHAT?) AND HE’S OPERATING AS ALL COMMUNISTS DO:  Is Bernie Sanders’ Private Jet Use a Hypocritical Double Standard? [Video]

In every communist paradise, the happy people of Brutopia live like serfs so that Dear Leader can fly around in private jets…

NOTHING STOPS A VOLUNTARY INDUSTRY CONSORTIUM OR STANDARDS BODY CONTINUING THE PROGRAM:  Industry groups are not happy about the imminent demise of Energy Star.

There is no reason the government should be involved.

Oh, wait, the real reason the industry is salty. The government forced them to retool and chase ridiculously counterproductive goals all these decades. Now they don’t even know howt o research to improve, instead of impair their product. And they’re terrified their competitors will there there first.

OH, YEAH, THE NAZIS, FAMOUSLY KNOWN FOR PREVENTING THE JEWS FROM ENTERING GERMANY AND CLAIMING ALL SORTS OF WELFARE, RIGHT?  Mob of Leftist Protesters in NYC Compare ICE to Nazis.

I’d say these idiots should be ashamed to evoke the holocaust and the Nazis to fight against national sovereignty of the country that beat the Nazis. But they’d have to read history. And first they’d have to learn to read.

THE LATEST ABOMINATION LOOKS LIKE MICHELLE OBAMA IN A HOODIE:  Invasion of the Fem Godzillas.

And before the mentally vacant reeing about how we’re a culture in decline, or the equally pudding-headed reeing that this is because we don’t pay enough to artists, be real. This is the arts “establishment” which is mostly funded by various NGOs and “charitable” charities which are probably getting money from the government. It’s not our culture and it never was. if people liked these horrors, they’d freely pay for them out of pocket, without the government resorting to theft. As for artists, even if they were paid tomorrow for making pretty things most of them would be chasing the “significant” and “important” because they’ve been trained to chase the rinsed and spun government dollars.
Writing is still in similar straits despite the availability of indie.  We need indie for artists too, yes, and it’s coming as soon as the economy improves and materials are a little cheaper.

The rats put in our head by our overculture being captured by governmental cash and ultimately enemy propaganda that made oikophobia and uglification the thing to chase? That might only pass away when two more generations go to their graves, in the natural way of life.

But anything you can do to undermine is appreciate it. We don’t fight in vain, and even if victory comes fully only after we’re gone? In the end we win they lose. Because humans like beauty.