Greetings! Don’t read before bedtime:  Flame-throwing ultra-right-wing Townhall columnist Kurt Schlichter has a new novel coming out July 17.  American Apocalypse: The Second Civil War offers a fictional look at America after the president is assassinated and left-wingers take control of the government.  The promo copy on Amazon says the novel “unsparingly describes the hell awaiting at the bottom of America’s slippery slope”... Speaking of books, NY Times columnist David Brooks has a particularly perceptive column about When Novels Mattered.  His central thesis, and I completely agree with him, is that “literature plays a much smaller role in our national life.”  In case you’re wondering, I read about 25 books a year on my Kindle and about 10 are novels.  Haven’t read on paper in more than 15 years....New Podcast Alert: Oliver Darcy and Jon Passantino, the brains (and voices) behind the excellent Status newsletter, launched their new weekly podcast today. It’s called “Power Lines.” You can listen on Apple podcasts or Spotify, or watch here on YouTube.  They are among the best media reporters and wordsmiths working today...Weekend Watch: I’ve just finished the first part of the Netflix four-hour documentary Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers and I’m hooked.  This week marks the 20^th anniversary of the 2005 terrorist incident in London that claimed 52 lives and injured hundreds others.  The fast pace and relentless tension often makes the program feel  more like a Tom Cruise thriller than a sober-minded documentary.  But it reminds us that the threat of a terror attack remains a constant presence in our lives...If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard

Greetings! Guess which social media site got more visits in June: Trump’s Truth Social or the lefty-friendly upstart Bluesky? It’s Bluesky by a mile, according to data I gleaned from the audience measurement firm SimilarWeb. Bluesky generated almost 172 million visits last month; Truth Social had 39 million. In case you’re wondering, X attracted 4.4 billion visits.... More bad news for billionaire Elon Musk.  Blaze Media reports that Tesla dealerships are stuck with “EVs that no one wants to buy because of the elimination of the electric vehicle tax credit."  “Let’s not sugarcoat this,”  wrote journalist Lauren Fix. “EV incentives overwhelmingly benefit upper-middle-class and wealthy Americans” Don’t feel too bad for the moody Musk.  He’s almost half-way to becoming a trillionaire...Uh oh.  Left-leaning Monty Python fans aren’t going to like this.  Python alum Terry Gillian says that Trump saved us from humorless woke scolds, according to Hollywood in Toto...Dept. of Sticks & Stones: Lifezette called Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) “dumb”..The truth takes a hit: Newsmax reports that Logically, Britain’s largest disinformation monitor and fact-checker, has gone bankrupt...The National Review calls Trump’s new tariffs “reckless.” No argument from me on that assessment...Comedian Anthony Anderson is guesting hosting on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” this week and to the surprise of no one, Trump is the butt of many of his spot-on jokes.  For example, he mentioned the new movies that will be streaming on Trump’s Truth+ platform.  They include “Third Reich from the Sun,” “The Amazing Racist” and “Friday Night Whites.” NewsBusters is not laughing....If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard