Greetings!  Dept. of Health: The office of Sen. Mitch “MIA” McConnell (R-KY) released its second proof of life photo of the infirm 84-year-old politician sitting up in what appears to be a hospital bed with his wife standing next to him. That did nothing to quell conspiracy theories that he had died and the image was AI slop (USA Today). Memo to Mitch: Time to make a public appearance of some kind that shows you are a  functioning public servant. All this secrecy suggests that you are no longer capable of holding office. And it does nothing except reinforce the perception that Congress is a wobbly gerontocracy which does no party any favors...Fresh from being insulted by President Trump at Friday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins held her head high and showed up Monday night on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” Host Jon Stewart’s first questions nailed it: “So how was your weekend? Do anything fun?”  The 20-minute interview was a bit awkward as Collins exhibited both nervousness and incredible poise. She provided mostly boilerplate answers to Stewart’s playful questions but nonetheless managed to burnish her reputation as a solid journalist who shows class and dignity in her cringy encounters with Trump. Worth noting: Blaze Media called Trump’s insult of Collins, in which he compared her to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, “a perfect joke.” Blaze editors concluded that Trump “destroyed” the CNN anchor...Question of the Day: Why are Ukrainian officials granting interviews to wacky far-right influencer Laura Loomer? It’s because they believe that her new-found support for Ukraine will influence President Trump, according to this BBC news report...If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard

Greetings! Tweeter-in-Chief: In a manic, one-hour spurt this morning, Trump churned out more than 40 Truth Social posts. From observing his social media activity on a daily basis, I conclude that he must view posting on Truth Social as one of his most important job functions...Over the weekend, Maine Democrats selected former logger Troy Jackson as their representative to oppose incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins in the November election.  He replaces Graham Platner whose campaign went up in flames after rape allegations.  But Jackson has a history of anger management issues and is probably proficient with a chain saw. What could go wrong?... Dept. of Awful Ideas: The Daily Wire urges Elon Musk to fund Mel Gibson directing a feature film about the Roman poet Virgil’s Aeneid.  The epic poem is about a Trojan who travels to Italy following the fall of Troy. Yawn...The Washington Free Beacon reports that the work of Davis Winkie, CNN’s just-hired nuclear beat reporter, is funded in part by the Outrider Foundation, which the Beacon describes as a charity that opposes nuclear weapons. “The situation shows the double standard when it comes to press bias,” the Beacon’s Ira Stoll writes. “It’s highly situational, and illuminating, which nonprofit organizations are able to get away with these sorts of deals without generating an uproar from what remains of the journalistic ‘ethics’ priesthood. If a low-tax nonprofit wanted to sponsor CNN’s tax reporter, or a pro-Israel nonprofit wanted to sponsor CNN’s Gaza reporting, it’d almost certainly be a nonstarter”...2028 Crystal Balling: Kurt Schlichter, Townhall’s fire-breathing columnist, has already issued his prediction about who will be the final Republican and Democratic candidates squaring off in the race for the White House. His forecast: Kamala Harris against JD Vance...If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard