Roundup, roundup, roundup
Some days the news just calls out for a roundup. So here it is.
(1) This was overdue. But better late than never:
“I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” Trump wrote. “I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
A White House official told CNN, “This is just one of many actions the president will take to address left wing organizations that fuel political violence.”
It’s been obvious for a long time that Antifa is funded by groups with deep pockets. The name, of course, signifies “anti-Fascist,” but in the best leftist/anarchist tradition the name is the opposite of what the group actually is.
(2) Jimmy Kimmel, buh-bye:
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely,” a Disney spokesperson said.
Nexstar Media Group, which owns hundreds of television stations, announced earlier it would preempt Kimmel’s show on its ABC affiliates starting Wednesday night “for the foreseeable future” and would replace it with other programming over his comments about alleged Charlie Kirk assassin Tyler Robinson.
“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views or values of the local communities in which we are located,” Nexstar’s broadcasting chief, Andrew Alford, said in a press release.
“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
Kimmel was singularly unentertaining prior to this, and his ratings weren’t good. I think that Nexstar was probably not planning to renew him even prior to this, and so this represents something that would have already happened in a little while.
As so many have pointed out, free speech doesn’t mean everyone has to give you a job and a platform. And those who shrieked against “misinformation” (much of which, like the origins of COVID, turned out to be true after all) seem to be massive purveyors of misinformation when it suits their political purposes; Kimmel was pushing the idea the Kirk’s killer was MAGA.
(3) Here’s a nefarious group that wasn’t previously on my radar screen. It’s called the 764 network:
Leonidas Varagiannis, also known as “War,” 21, a citizen of the United States residing in Thessaloniki, Greece, and Prasan Nepal, also known as “Trippy,” 20, of North Carolina, were arrested and charged for operating an international child exploitation enterprise known as “764,” a nihilistic violent extremist (NVE) network. Varagiannis was arrested yesterday in Greece; Nepal was arrested on April 22, 2025, in North Carolina and had a court appearance. Court hearings in Washington, D.C. are pending for both defendants. …
According to the affidavit in the District of Columbia, 764 is a network of nihilistic violent extremists who engage in criminal conduct in the United States and abroad, seeking to destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors. The 764 network’s accelerationist goals include social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the United States Government.
What a lovely bunch of people.
This seems relevant, considering recent events:
Using online and gaming platforms like X, Roblox, and Discord, members of the group befriend teenagers and coerce them to commit and document sexually-charged and violent behavior: graphic pornography, harming family pets, cutting themselves with sharp objects, and even committing suicide.
The internet broadens the reach of such groups – unfortunately.
(4) From Jim Treacher – I was wrong about Kirk:
I never paid that much attention to Charlie Kirk when he was alive. I knew who he was, what a prodigy he seemed to be, and that more and more people on the right were listening to him. But I’m not his target audience: young. So I just said, “Okay, good luck,” and went on with my day.
But years ago, Kirk figured out something that most media figures on the right hadn’t grasped yet: Young people aren’t reading National Review. They aren’t reading Substacks by obscure, marginally employable shut-ins with nothing better to do. (Ahem.) They aren’t reading much of anything.1
No, they’re listening to podcasts. They’re scrolling TikTok.2 They’re going to big crowded conferences full of other young people they might get a chance to spend some private time with. So that’s how he reached out to them.
And, as I’m learning, he was a terrific messenger: young, articulate, knowledgable, rational, calm, focused. Every debate video I’ve watched so far has been very impressive. He was masterful at what he did. …
But I regret not paying more attention to him when he was alive. I’m not MAGA, and a lot of MAGA people hate me for criticizing Trump when I think he’s wrong. So, I figured Kirk was akin to those clowns: “You’re owned, cry about it, cuck,” etc. Anger, resentment, spite. A thirst for humiliation. Some call it “Trumpism.” I put him in that category, if not the worst offender. Alex Jones Lite.
Now I know it wasn’t Kirk’s approach at all, and I wish it hadn’t taken his assassination for me to learn that.
Maybe you’re not listening to MAGA very well, either.
(5) The Brits are champs at pomp and circumstance, and they’ve pulled out all the stops for Trump’s state visit.
To quote the meme:
Apology for poor english
When were you when antifa dies?
I was sat at home when read newneo say
“antifa is kill”
Yes
@neo: Kimmel was singularly unentertaining prior to this, and his ratings weren’t good. I think that Nexstar was probably not planning to enew him even prior to this, and so this represents something that would have already happened in a little while.
Quite.
Some have argued, and I would agree, that Kimmel, knowing his show was going to get the chop, planned to devote the remainder of his tenure to even more extreme demagoguery.
So that when his show was discontinued, he could play the first amendment victim of the cruel, fascist Trump.
Jimmy got his wish, but I don’t believe it’s going to play out as he expected.
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Who wants yesterday’s papers
Nobody in the world
–Rolling Stones, “Yesterday’s Papers”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMCYOYVidKc
Very ironic that these clowns want their words to be taken serious enough to influence policy or alter course of history, yet the moment they slip up, they hide behind ‘it was just a joke.’ You can’t demand to be taken as gospel and then ask for a lower standard just to save your behind.
they defame you with blatant lies then invoke free speech and accuse you who is merely defending yourself against their libels tyrant. you can’t cheer for the murder of someone exercising his free speech then invoke free speech to escape from deserving consequences. free speech advocates have no duty to defend those using their speech to destroy free speech.
”I am designating ANTIFA…AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION”
Great. So after watching Democrats defend MS-13, Venezuelan drug lords, and political assassinations, we can now watch them defend Antifa. It’s already happening. There’s something very sick, twisted, and sinister going on over on that side of the aisle.
There has been some action on the deportation of the pro Hamas terrorist, Mahmoud Khalil. An immigration judge in Louisiana has ordered that he be deported. This sets up a conflict with the Massachusetts Obama judge who stayed his deportation. Immigration judges are part of DHS. Appeals of the immigration judge’s decision go to the fifth circuit, which is much more conservative than whatever circuit hears Massachusetts appeals. The 5th circuit appeal will be turned down rapidly so things could be interesting fast.
If Disney had any sense of humor at all they’d offer Gavin McGuiness the late night slot. Don’t hold breath on it.
#2
To be sure, ABC or Disney (or whatever) did NOT say that Kimmel blatantly (and “merrily”) lied in that odious tour de force, which is to say that ABC, Disney (or whatever) were likewise dishonest…not that one should expect anything less of ABC, Disney (or whatever).
#5
Hope DJT brought a whom team of tasters with him.
(Is that part of the job description of the Secret Service?)
#6
Says. It. All.
…about conservatism.
(IOW, it quotes Roger Scruton.)
“The Nihilism of Andrew Roberts”—
https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-nihilism-of-andrew-roberts/
H/T Powerline blog.
I’m inclined to agree with Abe Greenwald of Commentary. On any other day he would cheer Kimmel’s show being pulled. Kimmel stinks and his show is unwatcheable. Ah but pulled because of a threat from the FCC?
“Charlie Kirk was an advocate for debate, not silencing. And he was right. We’ve been deprived of watching Kimmel try to squirm out of his lie as public pressure mounted. And we’ll never know whether audience rejection and corporate standards would have, in time, gotten him yanked off the air—without government coercion.”
yeah its an odd turn for Roberts, specially when you consider the NICE (ht CS Lewis) disposition of the NHS, something that Mark Steyn has gone on at length about, same with Daniel Hannan, a representative of the Tories in Brussels,
the problem is what ABC considers debate is Miss Farah of the view, who betrayed her own father, when he was targeted by Mueller, and had an embolism, or Chris Christie, who accepted every morsel of lawfare as if it was an eclair,
not this again
https://x.com/L0m3z/status/1968788391392079982
The Senate used the new block confirmation rule to confirm 48 nominees today.
“The party-line vote of 51-47 confirms a slew of Trump picks for sub-Cabinet positions and ambassadors. They include former Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., as undersecretary of energy for nuclear security, former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece and Callista Gingrich, wife of the former House speaker, as ambassador to both Switzerland and Liechtenstein.”
NBC news
Don’t know which Republicans did not vote.
Here’s the legal statute which likely was behind the network decision to suspend Kimmel’s show:
_____________________________________
Under 47 CFR § 73.1217 — also known as the broadcast hoaxes rule — TV networks and radio stations are prohibited from airing false information about crimes or catastrophes if they know it’s false.
§ 73.1217 Broadcast hoaxes.
(a) No licensee or permittee of any broadcast station shall broadcast false information concerning a crime or a catastrophe if:
(1) The licensee knows this information is false;
(2) It is foreseeable that broadcast of the information will cause substantial public harm, and
(3) Broadcast of the information does in fact directly cause substantial public harm.
Authorities had confirmed multiple times before Kimmel’s Monday broadcast that Tyler Robinson, the man who assassinated Charlie Kirk, was a radicalized leftist. There was no excuse for Kimmel to promote this blatant lie. This meant that ABC had a major problem on its hands
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/09/18/the-real-reason-jimmy-kimmel-was-suspended-n4943857
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There’s nothing stopping Kimmel from expressing his views on Substack or wearing a sandwich board on the street.
@Bob Wilson: Mrs. Gingrich serving in both Switzerland andLiechtenstein?! Sounds like she’s going to be one busy lady.
@Philip Sells:Mrs. Gingrich serving in both Switzerland andLiechtenstein?!
I have always wanted to visit Lichtenstein but the ratio of the cost to stay near there to what you can see when you are there, has so far been too high. If I knew I was going to be in Switzerland for some other reason I would definitely go visit Lichtenstein. If Mrs Gingrich doesn’t want to go or can’t find the time I volunteer to go on her behalf.
Fun facts:
Even Switzerland isn’t sure where exactly where the border with Lichtenstein is and their military violates it all the time and apologizes.
Prince Hans-Adam II seems to be the only constitutional monarch to be awarded MORE power in a free and fair election; presumably there is something he does right. He’s been described as an absolute monarch but I think this is an exaggeration.
Every year, he hosts a party for everyone in Lichtenstein who turned 18 that year, typically around 300 people.
I looked up Lichtenstein on Wikipedia and it’s an interesting place. Recently it’s been doing very well as a tax haven.
“By the late 1970s, Liechtenstein used its low corporate tax rates to draw many companies and became one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Liechtenstein is one of the few countries in Europe (along with Monaco and San Marino) not to have a tax treaty with the United States, and efforts towards one seem to have stalled.[53][54]
As of September 2019 the Prince of Liechtenstein is the world’s fifth wealthiest monarch, with an estimated wealth of US$3.5 billion.[55] The country’s population enjoys one of the world’s highest standards of living.”
The Trump administration will not last forever. Someday, a non-Trump President will be in the White House, who may be angry about what a right wing comedian says about the President’s political party, and may well decide that “truth” demands that comedian’s show be cancelled. Are you really sure you want to give the federal government that particular precedent?
@Bj:Are you really sure you want to give the federal government that particular precedent?
Roseanne Barr thinks that would be terrible.
Hey, I just remembered, my horses got stolen last week so I better go lock the barn door.
BJ, you mean like BO and Biden have already done.
Re: Liechtenstein, an interesting country
Bob Wilson, likewise!
Liechtenstein has a population of ~40,000, a solid economy based on finance, dental tech and precision tools. The country is very stable, financially sound and — get this — almost zero national debt!
___________________________
Government debt as percent of GDP: 0.5%
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Liechtenstein/Government_debt/
___________________________
If only Liechtenstein could bottle and market its secret sauce, but it probably wouldn’t scale well.
@huxley:If only Liechtenstein could bottle and market its secret sauce, but it probably wouldn’t scale well.
The secret it that it is full of Liechtensteiners; they’re all relatives and they’ve been living in that valley, doing things their way, for a thousand years. The reigning dynasty never even visited it for the first 130 years they held it.
Neighboring Switzerland has an analogous secret, in that it’s full of Swiss.
The more I read about Liechtenstein the more it sounds like a little slice of utopia hidden in plain sight.
They want to keep it that way. It usually takes 30 years to naturalize. Or ten years if you marry a Liechtensteiner and are voted in by local referendum!
What would it be like to grow up in Liechtenstein? There’s a story here or even a quirky film or TV series.
Newsmax briefly interviews And Ngo and a Cato Institute scholar on far Left reaction to people’s reaction to Kirk’s assassination.
Andy reports that Oregon Antifa is afraid. They fear the mass Right Wing unity currently manifest. People can now SEE the sociopathy gripping the Left — amounting to an assassination culture.
Good stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2XWZFkYb8Q
In re Mr Kimmel:
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2025/09/18/the-kimmel-nose-under-the-tent/
From one late-night host to another —
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/09/18/greg-gutfeld-tears-down-medias-self-serving-spin-on-kimmel-n4943881
Some Democrats can see the pixels on the wall, but I didn’t have this on my bingo card.
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/09/18/chris-cuomo-schools-the-left-on-kimmels-suspension-n4943882
And even the smaller venues are getting with the program: excusing murderers, as is the wont of the Left, is not acceptable anymore.
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/09/18/dems-cant-stop-county-fair-boots-dem-booth-for-pro-murder-buttons-n4943883
I’ve spent a night or two in Luxembourg, but not set a toe in Lichtenstein. Nor Andorra.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Can you get to Freedonia from Lichtenstein by rail?
The Trump administration will not last forever. Someday, a non-Trump President will be in the White House, who may be angry about what a right wing comedian says about the President’s political party, and may well decide that “truth” demands that comedian’s show be cancelled. Are you really sure you want to give the federal government that particular precedent?
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That’s not the precedent.
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Mr. Kimmel’s audience is in numbers less than 1/4 of Mr. Leno’s 15 years ago. The cost structure would have to be radically altered to make it a going concern. He was facing complaints from affiliates as it was and faced more complaints when he lied on the air and refused to retract his lies. Whether Mr. Trump likes him or not, he’s a liability.
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The technology being what it is, it may be that late night programs are no longer profitable without regard to the host.
Related to #3 and maybe more worthy of attention is the Socialist Rifle Association.
https://pjmedia.com/michaelcantrell/2025/09/18/leninist-transgender-group-linked-to-rash-of-violent-attacks-n4943861
So what a facist is comes into focus. Anyone who’s not a socialist. Antifascist Action and Socialist Rifle Association. Seems pretty clear to me.
Q: What a fascist is?
A: Anyone. Anyone or any group the left wants eliminated or obstructs the left’s pursuit of power.