Greetings! Word of the day: Trumparrhea. On his Substack, former Toronto radio shock jock Dean Blundell describes Trumparrhea as “the explosive diarrhea parasite ravaging America that MAGA built after Trump and RFK fired the entire U.S. Diarrhea Department.” That’s quite a word salad but the gist is that Blundell blames the massive cyclosporiasis outbreak on our Big Mac-munching MAGA leader and his wacky MAHA buddy...Another thing to worry about: An op-ed in the NY Times over the weekend warned that mankind is in a battle against ticks and the ticks are winning.  Here’s a description of the lone star tick that will keep me out of the woods this summer: “With its aggressive approach to hunting and unusually long, barbed mouthparts designed to anchor into our flesh, it resembles a miniature version of the alien in the 'Predator' movies,” writes Jonathan Mingle. “Unlike most other ticks, which take a let’s-see-what-comes-along approach, the lone star will pursue you for several yards. It’s fast, able to crawl up a leg in seconds.”... One of the surprise movie hits of the summer has been “Young Washington," which has been embraced by right-wing media for stirring patriotic fervor. So what does Boston-area independent Democrat Howard Sholkin think of the film?  He calls it gripping in his review... Mitch “MIA” McConnell, the doddering, barely alive 84-year-old Republican senator from Kentucky, shouldn’t expect a get well card from the conservative Victory Girls blog.  The site’s Deanna Fisher called his one-month absence “unacceptable.” Furthermore, she writes, “(W)e would be better off if politicians made better judgments about their physical capacity, and decided to exit the stage with dignity, instead of losing the plot while still in the middle of the play.” For once, I agree with Victory Girls...If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard

Greetings! Conspiracy theorists, start your engines: It was only two days ago that Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) camp released a proof-of-life photo of the infirm senator in bed after almost four weeks of radio silence. The conspiracy theories almost immediately percolated led (predictably) by wacky Laura Loomer’s post on X that McConnell is “officially brain dead,” per her White House source.  The celebrity news site TMZ published a roundup of theories with most doubting the authenticity of the image of McConnell in bed. “It looks like McConnell has the print edition of Sunday's Washington Post sports section on his lap,” the editors note. “But people are pointing to a strange fold in the page beneath his index finger.” Hmmmm. Seems like a job for Kash Patel. Worth noting: Speaking of conspiracy theories, the Washington Free Beacon just published a satire claiming that that “Israel – a.k.a. ‘The Jews’” were responsible for the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham. “Conservatively speaking, it is by far the most plausible explanation. Mossad was feeling cocky after planting the rape accusation against Platner and watching an innocent man stand trial for Kirk's murder. They knew Graham was flirting with Hamas and the Iranians”...Piggy: Trump just had to stick his snout into the issue of who replaces Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died suddenly Saturday night.  Trump’s choice was the late senator’s sister Darline Graham Nordone. So naturally, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster appointed Nordone to the temporary position until the end of Graham’s term in January. (Associated Press)...Bad news for right-wing news websites. TheRighting just released its exclusive research about traffic to right-wing news websites and found that visits were down significantly at the top twenty outlets for the second straight month.  Trump’s Truth Social cratered almost 50%...If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard