Remembering
James Robison

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The Brew: Trump Is Whipsawing His Base, Sending Contradictory Signals

By John Zmirak Published on July 11, 2025

Classical scholar and top-notch political analyst Victor Davis Hanson says it better than I can: President Donald Trump is providing first-rate leadership on many issues, and is off-the-charts superior to the GOP establishment that colluded with Democrats to destroy him. But he’s also all over the map, showing signs of caving to pressure from entrenched financial interests and disappointing his most devoted supporters on emotionally resonant issues.

This shouldn’t be surprising. George Washington frustrated patriots, Abraham Lincoln disappointed abolitionists, and Ronald Reagan shocked anti-Communists. What you campaign on will never translate perfectly into the messy, horse-trading business of actually governing a country. You have to pick and choose, decide which hills to fight on and which to concede to the enemy.

But is Trump picking the right battles? Is he giving up territory that will demoralize his supporters and serve as blood in the water to those who wish to cripple his administration and sterilize his legacy? Why is he endorsing anti-MAGA candidates in GOP primaries where he could easily remain neutral?

Hanson poses those questions. A few choice quotes will illustrate:

Despite a winning streak for Trump on various fronts, particularly in courts, trade, and diplomatic actions, it’s been a tough few weeks for MAGA diehards: The administration has repeatedly floated some sort of amnesty for illegal aliens in the agricultural and hospitality sectors; backed off from releasing significant information on the Jeffrey Epstein case; and renewed U.S. involvement in the Middle East and Ukraine War.

We’ve been treated to leaks and presidential statements, angry public reactions by conservatives, and presidential corrections. On the question of whether sweatshop hotels and farms will be given a pass on immigration enforcement, we still have no clear idea of where Trump’s decisions will come down — a topic I’ve flagged as crucial both to his electoral base and the future of our country. If there’s to be no official “amnesty,” will we see a de facto suspension of law enforcement to satisfy Big Agriculture and Big Hospitality? It’s totally unclear.

Trump famously asserted that he would release the Epstein client list if elected, though days became weeks and the release stalled. Documents from the Department of Justice that became public on Monday, however, asserted that the DOJ had found no evidence of a master client list or that Epstein had engaged in blackmail operations on a grand scale.

The apparent climb-down on the matter has many MAGA stalwarts, already disillusioned with Attorney General Pam Bondi, to call for her firing or resignation. Bondi previously made an attempt at releasing largely public data to a handful of influencers earlier in Trump’s term, though the episode became a PR disaster after those figures purportedly realized there was no materially new information in the binders they received.

It doesn’t help public trust in Bondi’s and Trump’s public statements to hear from trustworthy figures such as Alan Dershowitz, who claim to have seen the very lists we’re now told don’t exist:

What about America First and avoiding stupid wars? Hanson writes:

Trump has, in recent weeks, appeared to backpedal on his opposition to foreign conflicts, in particular, coordinating with Israel bombing strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and promising to renew weapons shipments to Ukraine. Trump confirmed during a state dinner on Monday that he would send more weapons to the country, saying “they have to be able to defend themselves … defensive weapons primarily.” …

“The White House just announced they are going to send more weapons to Ukraine. They are also considering an amnesty plan for illegals. And it turns out the Epstein files were just an urban legend. I did not vote for this,” wrote radio host Todd Starnes.

Many of Trump’s supporters still “trust the plan,” confident that he is doing the best job possible of navigating the storm of conflicting interests that batter any White House. Let’s keep praying that the president receives the gifts of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance — the virtues each person needs, but which are indispensable for a leader.

And to those who are getting angry, I like to suggest that given our national sins, Donald Trump is actually a better leader than we deserve. If we got our just deserts, we’d have George W. Bush all over again. Kyrie eleison.

Election integrity hero David Clements offers some perspective:

New Hampshire Judge Flips Trump’s SCOTUS Victory on Anchor Babies

NBC News reports:

A federal judge in New Hampshire granted class-action status Thursday to a lawsuit seeking to protect babies who would be denied birthright citizenship by the Trump administration and granted a temporary block of the president’s order restricting birthright citizenship from going into effect throughout the country.

The suit was brought on behalf of a pregnant immigrant, immigrant parents and their infants, and had sought class-action status for all babies and their parents around the country who would be affected by the executive order. …

After the hearing, the Department of Justice referred NBC News to a previous statement from Attorney General Pam Bondi last week that followed another judge’s order in a separate immigration case, saying a “rogue district court judge is already trying to circumvent the Supreme Court’s recent ruling against nationwide injunctions.” Bondi added in that statement, “the American people see right through this” and that Department of Justice attorneys will continue to fight for Trump’s agenda to secure the U.S. border.

That statement from Bondi on July 2 was in reference to a judge in Washington, D.C. blocking Trump’s asylum ban at the U.S.-Mexico border last week, saying the president had exceeded his authority.

Last week, another judge claimed the power to overrule Congress and its constitutional power of the purse by ordering funding restored to abortion behemoth Planned Parenthood. It is long past time for the Trump administration to start defying and ignoring such lawless orders … or else just give up and admit that we’re a dictatorship run by judges. See how many Americans enlist in a military dedicated to propping up such a regime.

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The Justice Department Targets Groomers and Child Mutilators

At least the DOJ is going after some wealthy deviants who prey on children, The Daily Caller reports:

The Justice Department has issued nearly 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics involved in performing transgender medical procedures on children, a DOJ official announced on Wednesday.

The Justice Department’s Chad Mizelle made the announcement during the Federal Trade Commission’s workshop on the “Dangers of ‘Gender Affirming-Care’ For Minors” in Washington, D.C. Mizelle shared that DOJ has issued nearly 20 subpoenas against clinics who are engaged in transgender transition attempts, noting that the DOJ’s investigations include healthcare fraud, false statements, and more.

The Federal Trade Commission sponsored a day-long workshop on the dangers the depraved transgenderism industry poses to America’s children:

Catholic Bishops Exempt Illegals from Sabbath Obligation to Help them Evade the Law

Left-leaning Axios reports:

At least two Catholic dioceses in the U.S. say immigrants fearful of detentions from ongoing immigration raids are not required to attend Sunday Mass.

The rare dispensations from the dioceses of Nashville and San Bernardino, California, signal how some local Catholic officials are responding to the growing panic that immigrants feel from the Trump administration’s intensified immigration enforcement.

The Diocese of San Bernardino announced Tuesday that immigrants who had a “genuine fear” about getting caught in immigration raids were dispensed from the weekly obligation of Sunday Mass.

“In issuing this decree, I’m guided by the Church’s mission to care for the spiritual welfare of all entrusted under my care, particularly those who face fear or hardship,” San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas and Vicar General Gerard M. Lopez wrote.

The diocese east of Los Angeles is the sixth-largest in the U.S. and serves around 1 million Catholics, according to its website.

The Diocese of Nashville issued a similar decree in May after officials noticed a significant decline in attendance at Spanish-speaking Mass services, per local media.

Officially, the Catholic Church teaches that nations have the right to regulate immigration, and that immigrants are obliged to obey host countries’ laws. De facto, that same church relies on taxpayer funding to collect billions for resettling immigrants, and on a constant influx of new sheep from Latin America to fill the pews — given the loss of 40% of native-born Catholics, according to Pew Research.

Along The Stream…

Later this morning, Life Today hosts James and Betty Robison show how contaminated drinking water devastates people around the world and how together we can give them the gift of life.

Wondering how AI affects the human brain? We’re all a bit unsettled by the explosion of computer-driven plagiarism of human-authored content. At noon, read essayist Joachim Oster’s thoughts on how relying on such machines might actually rot the brain.

 

John Zmirak is a senior editor at The Stream and author or coauthor of 14 books, including The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism. His newest book is No Second Amendment, No First.