Greetings! Dept. of Sticks & Stones: FrontPage has called California Governor Gavin Newsom’s controversial wife “Barbie Bigot.” Jennifer Newsom has been the target of vicious attacks by the right-wing press in recent weeks. And the attacks seem to be picking up steam....Low blow? The Bulwark’s Tim Miller criticized Melania Trump's English after her defensive-sounding public comments yesterday denying substantial ties to Jeffrey Epstein. “Why can’t the First Lady speak English?” he wrote on X. “It’s been 10 years since her husband ran for president. “Consider getting a tutor.” As much as I find Melania’s voice and accent grating, it’s worth noting that she reportedly speaks at least six languages: Slovenian, English, French, Italian, German, and Serbian. I’m not sure whether I should be cheering Miller’s tweet or condemning it...And speaking of grating voices, one reader responded snarkily to yesterday’s item about RFK Jr’s pending podcast. He wrote that RFK’s fans would be “better off listening to a gravel truck making deliveries.” I think that podcasts may not be the best platform for the wacko head of the HHS...Weekend Watch: I’m a sucker for the literature of survival, that’s why I’m hooked on the current season of Alone (season 11).  The Netflix show drops 10 rugged contestants in a remote location – in this season it's above the Arctic Circle in Northern Canada – with only a few items like fishing hooks, several arrows and a tarp.  The winning contestant gets $500,000 assuming he or she can survive the longest without “tapping out.” At times, the show seems like a metaphor for our desire to escape from the relentless grip of the age of Trump...If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard

Greetings! If you missed yesterday morning’s 45-minute press briefing by SecDef Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, you can watch it on YouTube. The jittery Hegseth looked and acted especially oily, like he slathered on an extra application of hair gel. He oozed arrogant false bravado. While crowing about the dominance of the U.S. military in the conflict, he said, “God deserves all the glory,” which made me wince.  His counterpart, Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, projected calmness and sanity. However, after reading Tuesday’s superb investigative NY Times article about how Trump took the U.S. to War in February, the General came off as wishy washy and unable to advocate a position for or against going to war...RFK Jr. is getting into the podcast game. Yesterday afternoon, the head of the Dept. of Health and Human Services announced on X that his program will be launching soon. Its name: “The Secretary Kennedy Podcast.” Yawn. Little was disclosed about the focus of the program...NewsNation anchor Chris Cuomo and guest Bill O’Reilly got into a heated on-air exchange last night regarding Iran’s nuclear capability.  Cuomo ended the scuffle by reminding the disgraced former Fox News anchor that it was his show and he could take a hike if he didn’t like it. My question: why is Cuomo even legitimizing O’Reilly by having him on his prime time program? The NY Post has more details...Amanda Carpenter, former staffer for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), revealed on X yesterday that she read the novel American Psycho. “Imagine my surprise to find that the lead sociopathic character idolizes Donald Trump,” she wrote. “The book mentions Trump dozens of times.” Not a surprise to me!...If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard