Welcome to the RedState Weekly Briefing — where we take a quick look at the week’s most viewed stories in case you missed any of them. What do you suppose caught people’s attention in this latest whirlwind week? Grab a cup of coffee (or something stronger if you’re so inclined), and sit down with this 21st Century Weekend Edition of your favorite (online) publication — here we go!
#1 – LOOSE LIPS: Eric Swalwell Discusses Capitol Hill Sex Parties, Ivanka Trump’s Looks During Lobbyist Dinner — by Jennifer Van Laar
However, Swalwell shouldn’t be engaging in the behavior he brags about, let alone loudly discussing it in public with people he just met. It’s not as if unflattering videos of politicians are a new thing; we can go all the way back to 2010 when video of then-Rep. Bobby Etheridge (D-NC) assaulting a college student (who’d stopped him on a sidewalk near Capitol Hill to ask him if he supported the Obama agenda) and yelling, “Who are you?” arguably cost him re-election to know that members of Congress need to have their guard up at all times in public.
Obviously, the things Swalwell was discussing with not just his dinner companions but random people in the restaurant are even worse; hopefully, we’ll be able to hear the audio.
#2 – NPS Staffers Hang Upside-Down Flag in Yosemite to Protest Firings — They Don’t Get Reaction They Expect — by Nick Arama
One might also note that wasn’t it the left who attacked such use of the flag when it came to the flag hanging at Justice Samuel Alito’s home?
Now I get that losing a job is not a happy thing. But we’re also over $35 trillion in debt and need to get our house in order. We’ve needed someone to come in with an axe for some time, to care about spending and get things under control. In the private sector, no one has a guaranteed job, but somehow people in the federal government seem to think they do. There are also people who seem to think that the vast unelected bureaucracy gets to tell the duly elected president what to do, rather than the other way around.
That’s not the way our constitutional system works.
#3 – Stephen Miller Crushes It: Many ‘Remarkable and Disturbing’ Things Zelensky Said That Led to Epic Blowup — by Bob Hoge
What a day—I don’t recall ever seeing anything like that in my lifetime. I almost—don’t slam me, I said almost—felt sorry for Zelensky as he made a complete fool of himself. He looked entitled, ungrateful, and narcissistic, but he also looked somewhat shocked that he was taken to task. Remember, he’s used to dealing with Joe Biden and the Euroweenies who simply nod when he makes demands and give him what he wants with seemingly no strings attached. He seemed completely unprepared for the force of Trump and JD Vance.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how this plays out. This Russia-Ukraine war is an ugly and tragic thing and needs to be ended yesterday, and Putin is no friend of the USA, but Trump is right that it’s not going to happen if one of the key players is uninterested in negotiating a peace.
#4 – WHOA: Fox Reporter’s Backstory on Trump-Zelensky Meeting Shows Just How Mad Trump Was — by Nick Arama
Wow. Zelensky really blew it with that ungrateful attitude. If they’re giving away his lunch to the press office staffers, how mad they must be with how he behaved? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it. They would be toast without us, but he didn’t seem to have any gratitude at all in the meeting.
But it sounds like they’re already backpedaling, knowing this was a very bad move by Zelensky. They better get their act together if they hope to salvage this at all, because Trump is not going to put up with this kind of behavior, he’s not Joe Biden
#5 – Chuck Todd Slams Bret Baier; the Fox News Host Delivers a Savage Response — by Bonchie
The sheer lack of self-awareness in Todd’s criticism is a sight to behold. This is a man who spent years running cover for Joe Biden, including the then-president’s severe cognitive and physical decline. It wasn’t until after the former president’s disastrous debate performance that it became safe for the former NBC News personality to tell the truth. That he finally spoke out about what the rest of us had been reporting on for years wasn’t brave. It was convenient. Todd, like his left-wing colleagues, wanted Biden to step aside to try to stop Trump from winning. He hadn’t finally discovered journalist ethics.
I’m repeating myself, though, as I’ve made that point several times recently. When Baier was asked about Todd’s sleight on Thursday, he delivered a characteristically polite yet savage response.
