"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."

"President Joe Biden has become the James Buchanan of the 21st century.

"Buchanan, the nation's 15th president, widely considered history's worst, sought to mollify everyone, yet in the end pleased no one. Under his rule, the nation drifted ever-closer to secession and Civil War.

"More than a century and a half later, the world is devolving into a global ideological World War III. Russia, China and their proxies are actively attacking U.S. interests.

"Yet Biden's National Security Strategy remains rooted in fighting 'something less than two simultaneous or overlapping major conflicts,' according to a January Congressional Research Service report entitled 'Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense.'"

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"Last week, the left and their paramours in the propaganda press paused momentarily from their near-continuous assault on Justice Clarence Thomas to set their sights on a new target: Justice Samuel Alito.

"Justice Alito, headlines barked, must recuse from the pending Supreme Court cases involving Jan. 6 defendants and Trump's appeal concerning presidential immunity because a 'Stop the Steal' symbol was displayed at his house in January 2021. Democrats quickly joined the choir screeching for Alito to recuse. But to borrow a line from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the idea that Alito violated any ethical rules, or that the Code of Conduct for the justices requires his recusal from those cases, is wrong six ways to Sunday."

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"Homeowners across the U.S. are seeing skyrocketing insurance rates, increased deductibles, excluded protections, and canceled policies.

"Insurers say that they're having to adjust to changing conditions to remain profitable. Among the problems they blame is inflation, rising construction costs, and costs associated with regulatory compliance. But many insurers are also blaming climate change for driving extreme weather events and increasing losses, and much of the media coverage is zooming in on this narrative.

"However, the data on weather trends shows little evidence that the frequency or intensity of storms are increasing, and critics say it's a symptom of a much larger issue with a lack of skepticism and curiosity in climate reporting."

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"I didn't expect debates in 2024. It seemed to me that there was too much risk involved for both Biden and Trump. Nor is there a mandate of heaven for presidential debates. But the two candidates calculate risk differently -- that's probably why they are presidents. In their view, the potential upside of watching your opponent melt down is greater than the risk of tripping up. If you do implode, you still will have two months where the other guy can mess up.

"Such logic shook up the race this week. It's why we are on track for a debate on June 27. And it's why I will be watching -- crouched in a fetal position and covering my eyes."

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"Americans can be forgiven for suffering from whiplash regarding law and order.

"In recent weeks the Biden administration and many news outlets, including USA Today and The Hill, have touted declines in violent crime statistics to argue that America is becoming a safer place.

"'Right now, with 2023 figures and early 2024, the trends are all pointing down, in a positive direction,' Jeff Asher, whose New Orleans-based AH Datalytics is developing his own 'Real-Time Crime Index,' told RealClearInvestigations.

"Conservative outlets, including City Journal and the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, assert that minor declines in headline grabbers like homicides fail to capture what is really happening in the U.S."

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"The United Nations cut its Gaza death toll figures by half, confirming that Hamas officials have been lying for months about the total number of casualties in statistics repeatedly cited by the U.N. and American government as proof Israel is harming civilians.

"The U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs drastically reduced its child fatality figures, dropping them to 7,796 on May 8 from 14,500 just the day before. It also revised the figures for the number of women killed, lowering them from 9,500 to 4,959.

"The U.N. has been citing artificially inflated figures for the last two months and says it relies on information published by the Hamas-controlled Government Media Office in Gaza. Israeli officials and regional experts have cast doubt on these figures since war broke out last year, saying that Hamas is known to artificially inflate casualty figures as part of its global media campaign to paint Israel as the aggressor."

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"Even for those of us who have long been critics of the 'hush money' case against Donald Trump and its dubious legal theory, it has been surprising to see that the prosecutors had no more evidence than we previously knew about.

"The assumption was that no rational prosecutor would base a major criminal case almost entirely on the testimony of Michael Cohen, who was recently denounced by a judge as a serial perjurer peddling 'perverse' theories in court.

"The calculus of Alvin Bragg is now obvious. He is counting on the jury convicting Trump regardless of the evidence.

"Which is also why Bragg likely fears that the judge, not the jury, will decide the case. After the government closes its evidence this week, the defense will move for a direct verdict by the judge on the basis that the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction."

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"Democrats and Republicans banded together to pass a bill on Tuesday aimed at blocking the Biden administration from banning everyday home appliances that run on natural gas.

"The Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, which passed 212 to 195, is one facet of a sweeping bill targeting the Department of Energy (DOE) introduced by Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz.

"Seven Democrats voted in favor of the bill, which received no Republican dissent."

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"The Federal Reserve must not make President Joe Biden's mistake when choosing between inflation and the economy.

"Three years ago, when confronted with this choice, the Biden administration chose economic growth at all costs -- literally, spending trillions to stoke the economy. The result has been (and continues to be) the inflation that won't go away, even as the economy now appears to be slowing rapidly.

"America now finds itself stuck between high inflation and low economic growth. The markets face evidence that inflation is continuing and the economy is slowing. Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that March's overall inflation measure came in too high again at 3.5%, a third consecutive monthly increase. Even excluding the more volatile items of food and energy, the core consumer price index rose 3.8% from a year ago."

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