Before we get to the meat of the turkey, our thoughts and prayers are with the two West Virginia National Guardsmen who were cowardly ambushed by an Afghanistan immigrant yesterday afternoon. Hopefully, this Thanksgiving Eve tragedy will turn into a Thanksgiving Day miracle — and the Guardsmen will recover in time to spend the rest of the holidays with their families.
After all, they’ve already cheated death once. In the immediate chaos and confusion, Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R-W. Va.) feared the worst:
It is with great sorrow that we can confirm both members of the West Virginia National Guard who were shot earlier today in Washington, DC have passed away from their injuries. These brave West Virginians lost their lives in the service of their country. We are in ongoing contact…
— Governor Patrick Morrisey (@wvgovernor) November 26, 2025
He later cleared that up:
We are now receiving conflicting reports about the condition of our two Guard members and will provide additional updates once we receive more complete information.
— Governor Patrick Morrisey (@wvgovernor) November 26, 2025
Our prayers are with these brave service members, their families, and the entire Guard community.
As of this writing, both Guardsmen remain in critical condition.
While I’m sure Gov. Morrisey meant no ill intent and was only relying on what he was told, it would’ve been wiser for him to wait for a more-comprehensive “confirmation” than whatever he received. Sometimes, the race to be first isn’t worth what you sacrifice in accuracy — especially in a fast-breaking story. It must’ve been hell for the National Guardsmen’s families.
Which just goes to show, sometimes politicians ought to err on the side of caution when it comes to texting, tweeting, and making statements on social media.
And this takes us to Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), the bearded, JD Vance-looking Democrat who’s mired in a texting scandal of his own. Apparently, he’s not a big fan of his party’s aesthetics.
From People magazine: “Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego Groans His Party Doesn’t Allow ‘Women to Be Hot’ in Leaked Texts: ‘Dem Women Look Like Dem Men.’”
Gallego's friend [...] shared an insulting meme, writing, "This is how the world views many [Democrats]..." The meme featured a photo of Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut, reading, "If erectile dysfunction had a face."
"They aren't wrong!" Gallego replied.
In follow-up messages, he elaborated: "We look like the not fun party. Always telling and correcting people. Not allowing men to be men. Women to be hot. We used to be the party of sec [sic] drugs and rock and roll."
Gallego also wrote, "Now Dem women look like Dem men and Dem men look like women."
Why, I believe Donald Trump had a name for this kind of thing: “locker room talk.” (But I’m sure all the liberals who extended such grace and understanding to the president will be just as forgiving to Gallego.)
Still, the leftist scolds would be wise to consider Gallego’s critique: I’m Gen X and missed out on the free-lovin’ 1960s. Instead, I came of age in the 1980s — when AIDS was the talk of the town. (A significant drop-off, me thinks.)
But if I was alive in the 1960s, yeah, I might’ve voted with the squares — but I would’ve loved to party with the hippies! Looks like fun!
And today’s Democratic Party doesn’t.
Throughout “Flyover Country,” the Democratic Party is now considered Ground Zero for angry, bitter, gender-confused weirdos in unisex haircuts. Nobody looks at the Dems and thinks, “Wow, these people sure know how to have a good time! Sign me up!”
The opposite is true: They’re sad, miserable people. They’re mad at masculinity, mad at femininity, mad at America, and mad at the world. Which is why the Republican Party has gained over one million more voters than the Democratic Party since 2024: Nobody wants to join a Misery Party.
A colonoscopy would be more fun.
Gallego’s crudeness will capture the headlines, but he’s accurately pinpointed his party’s true Achilles heel. If you’re a Millennial or a Zoomer, you don’t associate the 2025 Democratic Party with the “sec [sic], drugs, and rock and roll” of the 1960s any more than they associate the 2025 Republican Party with Abraham Lincoln and the 1860s: It happened too many decades before they were born.
We’ve discussed how the mainstream media had, for many, many years, branded the two parties:
Republicans were the stodgy old farts in “Footloose,” and the Democrats were the cool kids who simply wanted to dance, dance, dance.
That’s how it was for a very long time.
Those were the long-established brand identities, pushed and promoted by Hollywood propaganda. In the 1972 rom-com Butterflies Are Free, Goldie Hawn quipped, “I joined the Young Republicans. Another mistake. There’s no such thing as a young Republican.”
It was a funny line with more than a kernel of truth.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party branded itself as the one-stop shop for young people with big hearts — the party of people with compassion and empathy. The Donkeys were the dreamers, thinkers, lovers, and optimists. Whereas Republicans were bitter, unimaginative, stuck-in-the-past realists, the Democrats led with love.
It was showcased in their sloganeering: Make love, not war! Love conquers hate! Keep hope alive! Give peace a chance! Putting people first! The man from Hope! Yes we can!
Yet today, their top slogans are: Globalize the Intifada! From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! No Kings! Defund the police! The future is female! No justice, no peace! Smash the patriarchy! #Resist!
It’s a far different call to action. Instead of appealing to our sense of optimism or anything positive, its current tone is aggressive, angry, and ugly.
And, according to Sen. Gallego, full of ugly people.