I'm amending the previous headline to concede Mickster's point: It's not that they hate America (entirely), they just hate Trump more

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“I’m ashamed of my country”

Yesterday, reader Cilisi reposted this from X:

CONNECTICUT: Petty Politics Over Patriotism: Connecticut Democrats Snub America’s 250th — and the Heroes, Innovators, and Traditions That Define Us

In a display of small-minded political spite, Connecticut’s Democratic leadership, including Governor Ned Lamont, refused to fund and then rejected a generous private offer to fully underwrite a proper Connecticut booth or pavilion at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall. This 16-day event, running through mid-July 2026, is a centerpiece of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Officials cited “resources” and costs estimated at $100,000 or more for staffing a multi-week exhibition. When retired businessman RP Scelzo organized $100,000 in private donations from 10 anonymous donors to cover every penny, the administration’s response was blunt: “It’s a genuinely kind offer, but it’s too late.” Too late to celebrate what, exactly?

Connecticut, the once great Constitution State, has one of the richest and most diverse legacies in American history. We are the state that gave birth to the very idea of written constitutional government with the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in 1639, a direct forerunner to our national founding documents. Connecticut delegates, including Roger Sherman of New Haven, were central to the creation of the U.S. Constitution itself, helping craft the Great Compromise that saved the Constitutional Convention and shaped the Senate we still have today.

We gave the Revolution one of its most iconic martyrs: Nathan Hale, born in Coventry, Connecticut. The young schoolteacher turned spy for George Washington famously declared before his execution by the British in 1776: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” His courage and sacrifice remain a symbol of selfless patriotism.

Connecticut also became the cradle of American innovation and industry. Eli Whitney, who studied at Yale in New Haven, pioneered the system of interchangeable parts at his armory in Hamden, Connecticut, laying the foundation for modern mass production that powered America’s industrial rise. Samuel Colt, born in Hartford, revolutionized firearms with his revolving-cylinder pistol and built one of the nation’s great industrial empires right here in Connecticut, employing thousands and helping define the American System of manufacturing.

In aviation, Igor Sikorsky established his company in Stratford and developed the world’s first practical helicopters in Connecticut. Technology that transformed both military power and civilian life.

…… A Connecticut booth at the Great American State Fair could have proudly showcased Nathan Hale’s story; Eli Whitney’s manufacturing revolution; Samuel Colt’s industrial legacy; Igor Sikorsky’s helicopters; the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Groton’s submarine heritage; Prudence Crandall’s courage; Martin Luther King Jr.’s formative experience in Simsbury; Ella Grasso’s historic governorship; New Haven’s pizza legacy; the Fundamental Orders; and so much more.

Instead, Lamont’s team chose to sit it out.

The official excuse was money. But when private citizens removed that obstacle entirely, the door was still slammed shut. This was never really about budgets. It was about politics. Democrats' reflexive refusal to participate in a national celebration associated with the current Republican president, even when it meant honoring Connecticut’s own heroes, innovators, pioneers, and cultural traditions. ….

Pennsylvania, too suffers from the presence of a partisan, hateful Democrat governor, yet things turned out differently there. Why? We have Murphy and Blumenthal, Pennsylvania has (D) Fetterman and (R) McCormick. We’ve chosen poorly.

SALENA ZITO: The spirit of ’76 lives on as Pennsylvania rallies for America’s birthday.

Two days ago, Beth Ann Bossio woke up to the news that Pennsylvania would not have a booth at the Great American State Fair, the Fourth of July celebration underway on the National Mall in Washington.

The decision was made by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA), who told the New Republic he would not send a delegation to the fair in honor of America 250 after his administration said it canvassed opinions among Pennsylvania businesses and told the reporter, “None of them were interested.”

Shapiro said their disinterest “reflects the sad state of affairs that we find ourselves in that the president politicized this to a degree that businesses don’t want to participate.”

Spoilsport.

More:

Her reaction wasn’t alone. Sens. David McCormick (R-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) were on the phone at the crack of dawn Saturday as soon as the New Republic Shapiro interview became public.

Within hours, McCormick and Fetterman were working the phones, reaching out to the Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, PennAg, and scores of businesses, urging them to step up. Most Pennsylvania businesses answered the call.

So far, Crayola, the Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, Core Natural Resources, Quandel Construction, Schlouch Construction, Utz, Orvis Hill Country, GNC, MSA, The Safety Company, Vitro Glass, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the Neighbor Helping Neighbor Food Bank, and Camp Susque are all donating displays, manpower, carpentry expertise, or donations.

Volunteer firefighters from across the state offered to staff the booth. So did the owner of a pest control company in Montgomery County. They are just a few examples of the people, small-business owners, and large companies now clamoring to make Pennsylvania’s booth reflect the state’s cultural and economic influence, past and present.

Looking at this picture, it's obvious that Trump's on the right track; or put another way, if our Rosa’s against it, I’m for it

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Under a 400-plus-page Office of Management and Budget planset to take effect Oct. 1, all federal grants -- from cancer research to vaccination campaigns to bridge repairs -- would be overseen by political appointees. Projects getting extra scrutiny would be any grants relating to gender, race and climate change, or anything found “inconsistent with program goals or agency priorities.” 

“We've seen funding for solid science withdrawn because of how topics are perceived through a political lens,” Rich said. “That uncertainty is already determining what questions we feel safe asking, and this doesn't just affect individual specific projects.. it reshapes the behavior of the system.”

“Overseen by political appointees” — rather than unelected, woke bureaucrats spending taxpayers’ money on researching the social life of transvestite gerbils. Go, Donald.

It was always thus

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‘You’re Next!’: Democrats Discover the Mob has a Mind of its Own

“You’re next!”

This chant, at the victory celebration of the Democratic Socialists this week, was a message not for the oligarchs or the billionaires, but for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and the Democratic establishment. They were threatening that Jeffries would be the next to lose his House seat to a socialist candidate.

It was a scene that has recurred throughout history, as establishment leaders are overtaken by the very mobs they sought to use for their own purposes.

For years, Jeffries has joined other Democrats in fueling the rage on the left in the hopes of becoming the next House Speaker. Whether calling for supporters to “fight in the streets,” denouncing the Supreme Court as “illegitimate” or posting an image of himself brandishing a baseball bat, Jeffries sought to portray himself as a class warrior worthy of the mob’s support.

Other Democratic leaders followed suit — especially Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. It was Schumer who yelled threats at conservative Supreme Court justices in front of the court. A deranged man triggered by such rhetoric in the media later attempted to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Schumer and others portrayed their opponents as Nazis who threaten the very existence of democracy, and they stoked class conflict to inspire resentment for the wealthy.

[snip]

In my book Rage and the Republic, I discuss how these Democratic leaders are following the same self-destructive pattern of prior establishment figures in history who thought that they could use mobs against their opponents while hoping that they would be overlooked.

The American and French Revolutions were contemporary movements based on Enlightenment principles. But whereas our Revolution went on to become the world’s oldest and most stable republic, the French Revolution became the blood-soaked Terror. The French Revolution was not some spontaneous uprising of the proletariat or underclass. It was led by relatively affluent figures on the left, from aristocrats to journalists to lawyers. Maximilien Robespierre, who would later declare terror a virtue, was a lawyer who helped organize the revolutionary Jacobins.

These educated and affluent figures turned to working-class radicals as their muscle to terrorize their opponents. And not long after executing aristocrats and clergy, the radicals turned on the Jacobins themselves. “Moderates” were sent to the guillotine by Robespierre and his henchmen as they clung to power. But eventually, the mob came for them, too.

After the Terror, French writer Jacques Mallet du Pan wrote, “Like Saturn, the Revolution devours its children.”

After candidates endorsed by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani easily swept aside the establishment candidates in Jeffries and Schumer’s backyard, politicians and pundits began to panic. They never imagined the mob would turn on them.

Full article here

How many Greenwich Greens will be eschewing their air conditioning this weekend to save the planet?

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Connecticut's most dangerous heat of the year could challenge records this week

Surely our local Greens, francophiles all, will want to follow the hard-left climate policies of their idols across the sea, mais non?

“Installing air conditioning everywhere just means making the damage worse,” declared Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left la France Insoumise. “You mustn’t do that under any circumstances.”

And not to worry, dears, there’ll be a/c awaiting you in heaven; your reward for being so virtuous here on earth:

“But no worries, mate”, you say, “we have solar power at our mansions’. Not so fast:

Not a good day for the Republic

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The Supreme Court Just Californicated Our Elections

5-4, with Roberts and Barrett joining the enemy, again

Matt Margolis, PJMedia:

Here’s what makes this ruling so infuriating: We've already seen what this kind of system produces. Look at the recent Los Angeles mayoral race, where Spencer Pratt held a comfortable second-place finish, putting him on track for a November runoff against Karen Bass. Then the mail-in ballots kept trickling in, Nithya Raman posted a mathematically improbable surge, Pratt's lead evaporated, and two Democrats walked into the runoff instead. That's not an accident. That's what happens when "Election Day" becomes a suggestion instead of a deadline.

More than a dozen other states have laws just like Mississippi's, which means this ruling isn't a one-state curiosity. It's a green light. Expect more late-arriving ballot drops, more "improbable surges," and more races that get decided long after voters went home thinking it was over. This case may have started in Mississippi, but it is going to make elections in America look a lot like California’s.

Assumption of risk: gentlemen, drop your towels and start your engines

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Minneapolis (of Course) Revives Sex Dens Once Shut Down Over AIDS Crisis

Democrat Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey celebrated pride month by reversing a 38-year ban on adult bathhouses and sex venues that were closed during the 1980s AIDS epidemic.

Frey officially repealed the ban on Sunday after the Minneapolis City Council voted to repeal the ban on venues that allowed primarily gay adults to engage in sexual activity. The council repealed the ban in a 9-2 vote on Thursday, and Frey gave his stamp of approval days later, calling it the “best Pride weekend yet!!”

AIDS, MonkeyPox, what could possibly go wrong? But for once, I agree: their bodies, their choice; although this time, let’s not spend a whole lot of pubic public money addressing and panicking over the next “public health crisis”that hits these intrepid explorers.