Commentary Culture Investigations

Flock cameras are becoming a controversial topic over whether they violate Americans’ civil liberties. With constant surveillance in public spaces and even homes, what are these companies doing with our information? (READ MORE: The Problem With Flock) 
The Spectacle Podcast hosts Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay address their concerns about public surveillance and the problems within its infrastructure. Melissa and Scott point to increased crime and less enforcement as the reason why more Flock cameras are being used, and how the anti-Flock discussion could be benefiting a police body-camera company, Axon. (RELATED: In Full Support of Flock Cameras… at the Wisconsin State Fair) 
Tune in to hear their discussion!

Listen to The Spectacle with Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay on Spotify.
Watch The Spectacle with Melissa Mackenzie and Scott McKay on Rumble.

College football officially kicks off this weekend after an offseason that made it seem like it was locked in a room with an angry leprechaun. To say it was loud and chaotic and anything resembling the game anyone grew up watching would be the understatement of the year.
It was, however, very entertaining.
The NCAA, in its boundless quest to prove it can always make a bad situation worse, rolled out a new “age‑based” eligibility policy this summer: Five years to play five seasons, starting at age 19 or when you enroll.
Simple? Never.
This is the NCAA.
Instead of assuaging the legal firestorm that has been simmering since 2024, the new rule triggered yet another avalanche of lawsuits from the freshman class of 2022. They sued and won an injunction. In turn, football programs spent July and August frantically adding eligible players like they were stocking up for a hurricane. (RELATED: College Football: CFP Punts on Expansion in 2026)
Plenty of programs went shopping in the “Fifth‑Year Senior” discount aisle. Meanwhile, the NCAA is still in court trying to reverse the eligibility of players who are already practicing. As we enter the season opener, nobody will admit they truly know who is actually allowed to play. (RELATED: Eligibility, International Intrigue and NCAA Drama)
For the second straight year, players can earn NIL money and revenue sharing money. The revenue sharing cap is supposedly $21 million across all sports, with loopholes big enough to drive an overweight booster’s yacht through. (RELATED: Chasing the NIL Mirage)
Third-party NIL deals have become the sport’s preferred avenue to pretend the cap exists while completely ignoring it. The College Sports Commission is still stuck in legal purgatory, unable to do anything except issue strongly worded statements nobody reads.
The results have been predictable. Multiple power conference football programs are rumored to be pushing $40 million payrolls.
And those numbers will only increase.
Last season’s coaching carousel wasn’t a carousel; it was a demolition derby. More than $100 million in buyouts underscored how athletic departments treat money like confetti except for when it comes to the media’s pregame meal.
UCLA dumped DeShaun Foster. Florida dumped Billy Napier. Penn State dumped James Franklin and handed him about $50 million as a parting gift. LSU fired Brian Kelly and wrote a check so large it probably required congressional approval. Then they hired Lane Kiffin, who left Ole Miss in the middle of a historic Playoff run because money is creed. (RELATED: Lane Kiffin to LSU Is a Massive Win for College Football)
Bob Chesney of Kulpmont, Pennsylvania, is running UCLA. Kiffin now leads LSU. Pete Golding takes over Ole Miss. Franklin landed at Virginia Tech. Matt Campbell slid into Penn State. Jon Sumrall is at Florida. Napier is at JMU.
Michigan fired Sherrone Moore, who was also charged and sentenced to 18 months’ probation in the most bizarre coaching story in a generation. Kyle Whittingham took over in Ann Arbor armed with a fire hose.
With roster costs exploding and buyouts reaching lottery numbers, programs need new revenue streams. Enter jersey patches because nothing says “tradition” like slapping a crypto logo on your jersey. Power conference programs jumped immediately. Others followed. Even Army got in on the action. The Big 12 went full NASCAR and signed a $20 million deal with Monster Energy.
College football is back.
It is messy, expensive, and litigious, making it an all-American must-watch.
READ MORE from Greg Maresca:
Lawrence W. Reed’s Born of Ideas Revisits the Principles That Forged America
Reagan, Gorbachev, and The Brink of War That Changed the World
America’s Population Crisis and the National Debt Time Bomb

The name game.
In the long ago, there was a rock song of that name by Shirley Ellis, an American singer.
There was a procedure to be followed to play the name game. Over there at Wikipedia, there is a description of how the game worked. There were rules. Like this…
Using the name Katie as an example, the song follows this pattern:
Katie, Katie, bo-batie,
Bonana-fanna fo-fatie
Fee fi mo-matie
Katie!
The long ago song of the name game comes to mind as Democrats and Canada’s ruling elites go off the rails at President Trump’s naming project, naming various geographic or historic sites.
He has, notably, added his name to the Kennedy Center in Washington. At the moment, Democrats are beside themselves at his renaming of Lake Ontario and changing it to (what else?) Lake America.
In December of 2025, the U.S. State Department issued this statement: “This morning, the State Department renamed the former Institute of Peace to reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history. Welcome to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. The best is yet to come.”
Down there in Palm Beach, where Trump has his famous Mar-a-Lago estate, the Palm Beach International Airport has been re-named the “PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP International Airport.” (Yes, capital letters in the original.) If you venture into Palm Beach, you can drive on “PRESIDENT DONALD J.TRUMP AVENUE.”
In need of a green card alternative for your wallet? There is the “Trump Gold Card.”
In the military? People reports:
In December 2025, the president — alongside then-Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — announced plans to build a new class of American-designed battleships that will be “the most lethal surface combatant ever constructed.”
Plans are for the $17 billion USS Defiant (BBG 1) to be the first “Trump class” battleship: triple the size of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer with “superior firepower, larger missile magazines, and the capability to launch Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic missiles and the Surface Launch Cruise Missile-Nuclear.
Over in the public health sector, you can go to a specific “discount drug platform.” That would be “TrumpRx”.
Want to financially provide for your children?
Again from People:
Launching on July 4, 2026, the Trump Accounts will be made available to every American child born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, with a $1,000 seed contribution to start. Contributions are voluntary and max out at $5,000 per year, with funds from the accounts “invested in a broad stock-market index.”
The child gains access to the fund upon their 18th birthday. “Withdrawals for eligible expenses like higher education or a first home would be taxed at ordinary income rates with no additional penalty.”
One could go on with examples of what might be called the Trumpification of America.
But in fact? The president, who comes out of a background of publicizing his private sector buildings and enterprises, is really not doing anything new. (RELATED: Spoils Must Be Taken, and With No Hesitation or Reservation)
The fact is that Washington, D.C. is, um, littered with public buildings named for presidents and other prominent public figures. Examples?
The State Department is named for President Harry Truman
The Old Executive Office Building that is part of the White House Complex is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Famously, the National Arts Center is named for President John F. Kennedy, a building that now also bears Trump’s name. (RELATED: The Trump-Kennedy Center Naming Kerfuffle, Part 2)
Move on up to Capitol Hill, and members of the U.S. Senate have their offices in one of three buildings named for Senator Richard Russell of Georgia, Philip Hart of Michigan, and Everett Dirksen of Illinois. On the House side, the offices for House members are named for former House members Sam Rayburn of Texas, Joseph Cannon of Illinois, Nicholas Longworth of Ohio, Thomas “Tip” O’Neill of Massachusetts, and Gerald Ford of Michigan. (RELATED: The Trump-Kennedy Center Kerfuffle)
On the Senate side, there is a Bell Tower named for Ohio Senator Robert Taft. There is that office building for President Ronald Reagan. And an island in the Potomac named for President Theodore Roosevelt.
And, of course, there are other buildings or locations named for the prominent. (Like the garden named for LBJ’s Lady Bird Johnson.)
In short, watching various Washington insiders/Democrats noisily gritting their teeth because President Trump’s name or the name of our country (Lake America) are being added to various geographical or architectural landmarks is little more than a hilarious game of double standards. History recalls they had no problem adding JFK’s name to the National Center for the Performing Arts. But they foamed at President Reagan’s name being added to Washington National Airport.
All of which is to say, the foaming from Democrats and various Washington elites at President Trump’s name — or the country’s!  being added to this or that Washington or other landmark is little short of hilarious.
Will it stop? When the critics are no longer amongst us, one suspects. But until then, their silliness — not to mention their double standards on the name game — is amusing to watch.
READ MORE from Jeffrey Lord:
Lindsay Clancy and America’s Death Culture
Ossoff Plays the Sexist Card
Todd Blanche and the Justice Department Independence

Think of Alice in Wonderland and the many great poems and stories in that classic book of children’s tales. No sooner than writing them (and others in its sequel, Through the Looking Glass), Lewis Carroll, the 19th-century author, read many of them aloud for the enjoyment of a 10-year-old girl named Alice.
In delving into one of his best-known stories, about the Walrus and the Oysters, we will go back in time to shed new light on current events. The Walrus invites the Oysters to go with him on “a pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,” along the “briny beach.” Though the eldest oyster shakes his “heavy head,” the younger ones pay no heed. They are hoping for a treat. Wave upon wave of them leave the oyster bed to join the giant sea creature on the shore. The poem is full of inspired nonsense … and deeply lurking menace. “The time has come,” the Walrus says –
To speak of many things
Of shoes – and ships – and sealing wax –
And cabbages – and kings –
And why the sea is boiling hot –
And whether pigs have wings.
And walk they do — a long way. “Now if you’re ready, Oyster dears,” the Walrus says in his final words to them. “We can begin to eat.” Overcome with hypocritical “tears and sobs,” but well prepared with pepper, vinegar, and a loaf of bread and butter, the Walrus and the Carpenter, a friend of his, eat every one of the great multitude of Oysters. They were too fat, and too exhausted, to run back to the sea.
That was an abrupt and stunning turnabout. Something like it is playing out today in the political news. But with one big difference. Here the small fry are targeting the big shots, and the young are circling and preying on the old. A far-left youth movement — the Democrats for Socialism in America, which is calling for the overthrow of capitalism and the dismantlement of the U.S. Constitution — is targeting some of the mighty Walruses in the Democratic Party. That means the party leaders and long-established incumbents in Congress and other legislative bodies at the local and state levels. (RELATED: From DSA to Fishback: Why Young Voters Feel Disenfranchised)
As described in a Wall Street Journal news article, young socialists who occupy national leadership in the movement “scarcely hide their disdain for the Democratic Party they view less as a partner than a hostile takeover target.” “We’re gonna take it over,” says one of them, the 24-year-old daughter of immigrant parents from Iraq and Indonesia. Neither she nor her DSA colleagues see America as an exemplar of the American dream.  To the contrary…
It’s not just the Democratic Party that the DSA wants to change. In its own words, it wants to “build a new society from the ground up” — believing the one we have now to be corrupt and fatally flawed. They want a radical and all-encompassing government. As if pigs could fly, it would provide free education from kindergarten through college, free healthcare, low-cost and rent-controlled housing, and plentiful jobs with bigger benefits — along with a shortened work week of no more than 32 hours. (RELATED: Why All Leftism Is Now Far Left)
The insurgent socialists look more like marauding barracudas than harmless shellfish.
This largesse would be funded in three ways. First, cutting public spending by defunding police and abolishing prisons, and gutting the U.S. Defense Budget. Second, an old favorite — raising taxes on personal wealth, inheritance, and the income of high-earners and profit-making companies. And third, a socialist government would empower itself to do whatever it wants “through public ownership of the largest corporations and essential industries.” That, too, is part of the DSA’s platform. One borrowed from Karl Marx. (RELATED: The Communist Warnings Conservatives Ignored for Years)
Do we exaggerate? You can see it with your own eyes. Everything in this summary may be found in the DSA’s 21-page platform, which is on public display in the organization’s “WORKERS DESERVE MORE!” website. You will also see that it wants to eliminate the Senate and put the Supreme Court under the supervision of Congress.
To those who look with pride at American history and accomplishments, there is, of course, a much different perspective — one of horror. To them, the insurgent socialists look more like marauding barracudas than harmless shellfish. As one of the Democratic Party’s Walruses [a high-ranking official in Bill Clinton’s two terms as president] said in the previously linked WSJ article: “The DSA poses a fundamental threat to the Democratic Party and the nation. Based on their own platform, they are working to undermine our society, our economy, and our form of government.”
Sudden Demise of an Anti-Socialist Consensus
Time was — not too long ago — when “socialism” was a taboo word, shunned by left-leaning or progressive leaders as counterproductive to their own cause. Something that most Americans would instantly reject as “un-American.” That’s no longer the case today. In this year’s mid-term elections, candidates endorsed by DSA won victories in nearly a dozen states (New York, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, George, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, and Vermont). That includes some notable victories against long-entrenched incumbents in local, state, and Congressional elections. (RELATED: Meet America’s New Un-Americans… the DSA)
Talk about momentum. Right now, the DSA movement seems to have plenty of it. Zohan Mamdani, who became the mayor of New York City in the Nov. 4, 2025, election, has won pop-star status as a leading national advocate of Democratic socialism. As the new mayor of the country’s biggest city, he hasn’t wasted any time in putting his words into action. He spearheaded the DSA charge in the primaries that led to a clean sweep in the three Congressional districts, and to additional victories in three out of four openings in the state legislature. Janeese Lewis George, another DSA-endorsed and self-described socialist, won the recently completed Democratic Party primary in the District of Columbia. She will be unopposed in the general election in November. She is expected to be sworn in as mayor of the country’s capital city on Jan. 2, 2027. (RELATED: Five Quick Things: Which One of These DSA Morons Is the Worst One?)
In summing up the impact of DSA victories in the recent primaries, the WSJ editorial board said: “This was a rout for the far left over the left … The socialist vision of class conflict and everything-for-everybody economics has ruined many countries. Sooner or later, socialism crashes into reality, but it can do plenty of damage before it does.”
What Happens Between Now and 2076?
There is one thing that may bring the new outbreak of popularity for socialism to a sudden halt, long before “we, the people” get ready to celebrate the nation’s 300th birthday. That is the good judgment of the American people. Winning mid-term elections is one thing; governing is another. If newly elected socialists were to succeed in turning an abundance of bad policies into the law of the land, it would surely come as a shocking surprise to many people.
Socialism takes a quintessential phrase in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address — written in the hope that government “of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth” — and stands it on its head. What we see now from DSA advocates like the New York City mayor is an unrelenting desire by government for bigger and more intrusive government. But the reality is that more government is the problem and not the solution. DSA leaders would say goodbye to free choice, an open and competitive marketplace, and voluntary exchange for mutual benefit.
That would be a terrible loss — for people here and around the world. It would rock the foundations of one of the oldest democracies — the country that created the most freedom, the widest opportunity, and the greatest prosperity that the world has ever seen. Still more, we would lose the will and the capacity to act as the leader of the free world in the 21st century. That is the role that the United States played in leading the free world to victory in three great wars during the 20th century (World War 1, World War 2, and — let’s not forget — the Cold War).
READ MORE:
Why All Leftism Is Now Far Left
The Marxist-Islamist Alliance Feeds On DSA Naïveté
Meet America’s New Un-Americans… the DSA

Aaron MacLean, Free Press If American weapons stockpiles are running low after just five months of war against Iran, the discouraging prognosis for fending off China ought to jolt us into…

Screenshot from YouTube

Jason DeFord – the country music singer known as “Jelly Roll” from when he was obese – guest-hosted Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show this week. He acted upset when people protested the hostile jokes about President Trump, and claimed they should have voted for Kamala Harris is they wanted Harris jokes. That ignores the entire late-night pattern of ritual Trump loathing.To discuss this and other issues, CNS News Managing Editor Craig Bannister and MRC Video content creator Nick Kangadis joined the show. Our Alex Christy did the math: Kamala was barely joked about on late-night shows in 2024, even during the “107 Days” she was the nominee. The disparity is huge: on Kimmel’s show, it was 1,694 Trump jokes, to ten for Harris (169 to1)! Seth Meyers show? 1,590 to 13. Colbert? 1,210 to 19. Jimmy Fallon? 746 to 18.  The rotating hosts of The Daily Show had a ratio of 740 to 32.In 2023, Biden was president, and he got 912 jokes – compared to 2,440 for Trump. Vice President Harris got 34. In 2023, there were 205 jokes for Mike Pence! These people can barely joke about Democrats, and then the jokes are “we kid because we love” humor. It’s as partisan as it gets.Does Jelly Roll really think this is good for his career? One headline underlined his daring his audience to leave: Jelly Roll Tells Fans to Stop Listening to His Music If They Dislike His ‘Kimmel Live!’ Trump Jokes: ‘Go Right Ahead!’ One of the jokes that drew attention was Jelly Roll joking he’d lost 300 pounds, an entire Trump, and joked that the president should lose weight if he would like to see his, er, genitals again. That’s Kimmel crass. Jimmy’s the guy who got out a collection of little orange Play-Doh-style penises to have Stormy Daniels tell everyone what Trump’s wiener looked like. Speaking of the male member, how about the duel of Jesse Watters vs. Abdul el-Sayed! The standout moment was his asking Jesse Watters if he was circumcised. It was deeply weird, but CNN’s Brian Stelter oozed Abdul “showed a keen understanding of Fox’s outrage machine.” This is always amusing, as if Stelter doesn’t think CNN can be characterized as operating an “outrage machine” against Trump. This week, Hasan Piker made some remarks that American Jews could spur violence against them by being too pro-Israel. This forced Abdul to semi-distance himself from Piker with a  half-hearted statement. At an event for Abdul, Democrat Rep. Debbie Dingell barked orders to reporters: “I am done! Don’t any reporter ask me again about Hasan Piker! It’s not what November is about. Republicans are trying to divide us!” Democrats never seek to divide people!? This caused us to turn to the weirdness of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, our northern neighbor’s PBS/NPR equivalent — with the same leftist tilt. In the Toronto Sun, Warren Kinsella identified the latest woke insanity: This week, I received a memo — presumably confidential — addressed to CBC News staff. It is authored by one Basem Boshra, who is the “Senior Director of Journalistic Standards and Public Trust at CBC News.” In Boshra’s memo, reporters are editors are told this: “Do not refer to the Sept. 11 attacks as terrorist attacks.” We concluded with the latest woke moment in the WNBA, when Natasha Cloud of the Chicago Sky stepped off the court to yell at Enes Kanter Freedom for wearing a T-shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female.” Reality is triggering! They promptly threw Mr. Kanter Freedom out for being threatening. Enjoy the podcast below. The audio is here.