The Patriot Post® · Thursday Executive News Summary
Talarico “hates Christianity”
Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico is a leftist radical who has disingenuously painted himself as a moderate. The latest instance exposing his deeply held leftism comes via a recently resurfaced podcast interview from 2021 in which he told the “nonbinary, transgender”-identifying host, Roberto Che Espinoza, “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.” He then explained, “I always get drawn back into it because nowhere else, in no other political philosophy and no other economic theory do I find anything nearly as truly radical or revolutionary as the teachings of that barefoot Rabbi.” Later in the interview, Talarico erroneously claims that the teachings of Jesus are similar to “the teachings of the Buddha and other mystical traditions.” Apparently, Talarico sees Christianity as primarily a tool for political power and social change. David French, call your office.
War powers resolution shift
Following a lunch meeting yesterday between President Donald Trump and Republican senators, the Senate rejected a measure that a number of Republicans, who sided with Democrats the day prior, had voted to advance. The measure was an effort spearheaded by Democrat Tim Kaine to restrict Trump’s war powers regarding Iran. (A separate measure has passed the House.) Kaine’s measure would have required the commander-in-chief to “remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities within or against Iran.” It also would have required Trump’s signature, which he obviously would not provide, making the effort merely a political virtue signal. Nevertheless, Trump expressed his frustration with those Republicans who went along with the scheme, noting that it only weakens his peace deal negotiations with Iran. Trump thanked Republicans after the measure was voted down, saying it “puts Iran on notice.”
The legacy media’s Reflecting Pool obsession
Most Americans have probably now heard far more about Washington’s Reflecting Pool than they ever expected or wanted. It’s a fairly unimportant story, albeit one that is not going the way President Trump hoped. Renovations to the pool were intended to produce clean, blue water but were overtaken by an algae bloom that turned it green. Since Trump wanted it blue, the Leftmedia has spent much of the last week examining every aspect of this “failed” renovation in minute detail. From June 14-22, CNN spent 215 minutes on the story. MS Now dedicated 160 minutes. ABC, CBS, and NBC spent only 35 minutes, but with only 2.5 hours of straight news in a day, that’s actually a larger proportion than the 24-hour news channels. More important stories like the UK’s Rape Gang Inquiry Report have not been covered at all.
Dems introduce bill to cap out-of-pocket spending for Medicare enrollees
Economics is a difficult subject, but it’s unfortunate that the entire Democrat Party apparently flunked out. Sen. Ron Wyden and 14 Democrat cosponsors will introduce a bill Thursday to cap out-of-pocket Medicare expenses for beneficiaries. Wyden wants to cap the 20% of medical costs that Medicare beneficiaries are on the hook for at $5,000, with taxpayers picking up the rest. No one wants the elderly to spend their life savings on medical care, of course. It’s not only expensive, but the people most in need of it are the elderly. However, as long as people believe the government can solve every problem, the national debt will continue to skyrocket.
Dems balk at USPS monitoring mail-in ballots
During a hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Democrat lawmakers blasted Postmaster General David Steiner over the Trump administration’s mandate (struck down by a federal court this morning) requiring states to provide a list of voters who receive mailed ballots, lest the USPS not deliver ballots in those states. Democrat Sen. Gary Peters decried the policy as an effort to “nationalize elections” and set an “incredibly dangerous precedent.” Steiner rejected Peters’s characterization, noting that the USPS is still sending all mail, including ballots, in accordance with regulations, adding that he doesn’t “have to direct the Postal Service to do that because we do that every day.”
Chatbots are politically biased
In yet another example proving the adage “garbage in, garbage out,” the leading artificial intelligence chatbots are being found to produce a pronounced politically leftist bias. The AI models behind ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Claude, and several others are “learning” from left-leaning media sources, such as Wikipedia. The leftist bias of these AI chatbots is so pronounced that even the leftist Washington Post admits it, noting that all the leading chatbots are skewed to the political left, with the worst being OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which produces roughly 80% left-leaning-only responses. Elon Musk’s Grok, which offers the highest percentage of right-leaning-only responses (33%), still provides a higher percentage of left-leaning-only responses (40%). Google’s Gemini was found to produce the highest percentage of responses from both sides at 93%.
Mandatory military flu shots
Medical freedom is well and good, and vaccines should not be mandated for American citizens en masse. However, there is a reason that vaccinations have been mandatory in the military for hundreds of years, and Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland just demonstrated why. In the military, with large numbers of men bunking together, eating together, and working together daily, the spread of disease can debilitate or even kill large numbers very quickly. Historically, disease was the chief danger to armies even beyond engagements with the enemy. Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, a boot camp, currently has almost 300 confirmed influenza cases. At the same time, and coincidentally, according to Pentagon spokesmen, the War Department has reinstated mandatory flu vaccines for military recruits at all boot camps.
The Heritage Foundation’s Culture Index
“The picture is grim,” says Heritage Foundation VP Roger Severino, describing Heritage’s new index of American culture. The index measures many cultural “tells” that signal the health of American society. Marriage and fertility are among the most important cultural tells, and neither number looks good. Some 40% of American children were born to unmarried parents in 2021, up from 5% in 1960. In 2024, 310 babies were murdered by abortion for every 1,000 babies born alive, the highest ratio since 2002. In 2023, the total fertility rate fell to just 1.62 children per woman, well below the replacement rate. The index gives data on suicide, drug addiction, homelessness, and influx of immigrants, with the current estimate for the Biden presidency at 11.7 million illegals. Certain measures, such as rising school choice and high volunteerism, give some reason for hope.
The “new” Democrat Party
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is the new Democrat Party, and there’s nothing democratic or new about it. New York’s three Zohran Mamdani-backed DSA candidates won their primaries Tuesday night, and another so-called Democratic Socialist won the Washington, DC, mayoral primary. All of them are invoking Mamdani’s Marxist playbook: “free” stuff, tax the rich, and hate capitalism. The DSA’s platform is long and includes utopian ideals such as Medicare for All, with no copays or deductibles; free public higher education; canceling all student loan debt; universal rent control; free universal childcare; demilitarizing police forces; and amnesty for all illegal aliens. According to the DSA, the Democrat Party is “center-right” and “controlled by its elite donor class.” All of the candidates who won vow to abolish ICE, stand firmly with the trans crowd, and are anti-Israel. The DSA is gaining momentum.
Headlines
SCOTUS shoots down requiring permission to carry handgun in public accommodations (Daily Signal)
U.S. Army’s commanding general of forces in Europe, Africa stepping down at Hegseth’s request (NY Post)
U.S. eliminates senior ISIS leader in Syria (Daily Caller)
Venezuela’s death toll from earthquake is surging (Not the Bee)
The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.