August 19, 2026

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— Chicago Cubs warn Crosstown Classic attendees about behavior after fight breaks out in bleachers.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-cubs-white-sox-game-today-north-side-team-warns-fans-disruptive-behavior-will-not-tolerated-fight-breaks/19699019/
— 7 teens shot, 1 fatally, in separate shootings across Chicago.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-shooting-7-teens-shot-1-fatally-separate-shootings-city-tuesday-night-wednesday-morning/19701723/

CBS2
— Pentagon orders “research security audit” at University of Illinois, 29 other schools.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/department-of-defense-research-security-audit-university-of-illinois-urbana-champaign/

WGN9
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://wgnradio.com/lisa-dent/senator-tammy-duckworth-ice-has-been-detaining-military-and-military-spouses/

WBEZ
— Should colleges and universities require standardized test scores for admission? DD: UIC would not have accepted me in 1966 if my ACT score had not been 24 and I had not graduated in the upper 20% of my class.
https://www.wbez.org/say-more-with-mary-dixon-patrick-smith/2026/08/18/should-colleges-and-universities-require-standardized-test-scores-for-admission

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— CTU sues Illinois Policy Institute, Liberty Justice Center, alleging ‘ongoing smear campaign.’
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/18/ctu-sues-illinois-policy-institute/
— 3 arrested at Wrigley Field during City Series, but none related to viral brawl in bleachers.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/18/man-arrested-wrigley-field-fight/
— Free Illinois tollways? Show us the math, Darren Bailey. But keep the conversation going.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/19/editorial-free-illinois-tollways-show-us-the-math-darren-bailey-but-keep-the-conversation-going/
— The growing political isolation of the Chicago Teachers Union.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/19/editorial-chicago-teachers-union-stacy-davis-gates-illinois-policy-institute/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Pritzker pours $65M into his campaign fund ahead of November elections. While speculation is rampant about whether he will run for president in 2028, the Democratic governor cannot transfer funds from his state campaign fund to run for federal office.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2026/08/17/gov-jb-pritzker-pours-65m-into-his-campaign-fund-ahead-of-november-elections
— A ‘black book’ lists 34 people banned from Illinois casinos. It’s rarely updated and likely missing names. Answering to Gov. JB Pritzker, the Illinois Gaming Board has added just a dozen names to its “involuntary exclusion” list, as the black book is formally known, in his seven-plus years in office. Why certain nefarious characters are banned while others get a pass is a mystery.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/08/18/illinois-gaming-board-governor-jb-pritzker-involuntary-exclusion-list-marcus-fruchter-casinos
— Pumpkins, pensions, and the CTU’s ‘cooked’ books. A Chicago Teachers Union lawsuit shines a light on Illinois Policy Institute accusations. Is that smart?
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2026/08/18/chicago-teachers-union-defamation-lawsuit-illinois-policy-institute-cooked-books

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Giannoulias calls for $22 minimum wage. DD: I did not start earning $20.87/hour in today’s dollars until I was 20 in 1968 and had worked for the Park Forest Post Office for 2 years and I had completed many undergraduate courses at UIC. Before that, I worked for the minimum wage washing dishes 1964-1966. I today’s dollars, it was $13.47/hour.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics-policy/ccb-alexi-giannoulias-minimum-wage-20260818/

CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— Del Mar charges Pritzker has ill-served public.
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/jim-dey-gop-candidate-charges-pritzker-has-ill-served-public/article_c80c1df4-abf4-481a-9151-4c6b2037691b.html

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN
— Is the American dream still within reach for young Americans? DD: What did you do to achieve the American Dream? I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.nbc26.com/politics/economy/is-the-american-dream-still-within-reach-for-young-americans

VERMILION COUNTY FIRST
— Del Mar Encourages Republicans all Over the State to GET OUT TO VOTE, and BE PROUD. DD: What is your Republican Precinct Committeeman going to do to get out the vote? As the Republican Precinct Committeeman for DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton, I will hand-deliver to the 400 residences in my precinct that have at least one Republican or one Independent registered voter a copy of the sample ballot, campaign literature from all the candidates who provide their literature to the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO), and a MTRO voter guide. I have obtained a PDF file from the DuPage County Election Division mailing with labels for the 660 Republican and Independent registered voters in my precinct. I have printed out those labels, affixed them to envelopes provided by MTRO, and put them into five batches. I am now putting them in walk order. I will be stuffing those envelopes with MTRO’s voter guide, literature that candidates provided MTRO, and the sample ballot. The Republican candidates on the ballot in my precinct are: Tracy, Bailey/Del Mar, Fioretti, Harris, Drew, Soloman, Oakley, Lewis, Vrankovich, Grasso, Noonan, Schiappa, Henry, Eckhoff, Michaud, Schultz, Quirk, and Helland.
https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/2026/08/18/gop-lt-governor-candidate-aaron-del-mar-encourages-republicans-all-over-the-state-to-get-out-to-vote-and-be-proud/

NPR ILLINOIS
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2026-08-18/families-struggle-with-the-financial-impact-of-fighting-trumps-deportation-campaign
https://www.nprillinois.org/2026-08-19/groups-sue-trump-administration-over-new-foreign-student-visa-rule

CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS
— With $65M infusion, Pritzker has now self-funded $439M since 2018 campaign launch.
https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/with-65m-infusion-pritzker-has-now-self-funded-439m-since-2018-campaign-launch/

HINSDALE PATCH
— Hinsdale Conservative Kristina McCloy Claims Role In Bailey Campaign; Campaign Won’t Say. She has denounced Black people, “Mexican parades,” Muslims and the LGBTQ community.
https://patch.com/illinois/hinsdale/hinsdale-conservative-claims-role-bailey-campaign-which-wont-say

WHEATON PATCH
— The Wheaton Concours Car Show will bring exotic cars, super cars, classic coupes and other unique vehicles to Memorial Park on Aug. 22. The family-friendly event will also feature live DJ music and food vendors. Proceeds benefit Special Olympics Illinois.
https://patch.com/illinois/wheaton/see-exotic-cars-classic-coupes-more-wheaton-concours-car-show

POLITICO ILLINOIS
— The breakfast Durbin built.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/08/19/the-breakfast-durbin-built-01041282

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/19/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-794/
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/18/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-581/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WIREPOINTS
— Glennon guest on AM560 with Chris Krok discussing CTU lawsuit against Illinois Policy Institute.
https://wirepoints.org/wirepoints-mark-glennon-guest-on-am560-with-chris-krok-discussing-ctu-lawsuit-agains-illinois-policy-and-more/

GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— Ever-increasingly, to vote for Democrats is to replace capitalism first with socialist and then with communism. How strongly are the Republican candidates on the November 3, 2026 ballot in your precinct stressing that? On the Democrat road first to socialism and then to communism, Democrat elected officials ever-increasingly promote more dependency on government. They ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that to advance under Democrats, all you need to do is to be a Democrat. None of my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO coworkers came close to doing what I did to advance. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license. All my coworkers who my Democrat superiors promoted over me a) were Democrats who had less education than I had, had less work experience than I had, had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had and/or b) were minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or had ancestors who had not been in America for a long time. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com

ILLINOIS FAMILY ACTION
— The Clean Face of a Dirty Business.
https://illinoisfamilyaction.org/2026/08/the-clean-face-of-a-dirty-business/

ILLINOIS REVIEW
— Pritzker Dumps Another $65 Million Into Campaign as Self-Funding Tops $326 Million.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2026/08/pritzker-dumps-another-65-million-into-campaign-as-self-funding-tops-326-million.html
— $42M-Backed PAC Shuts Down With No Statewide Wins After $1.1M Paid to Proft’s Consulting Firm.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2026/08/42m-backed-pac-shuts-down-with-no-statewide-wins-after-1-1m-paid-to-profts-consulting-firm.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— The World War II Memorial still has a lesson for us. The Greatest Generation was as varied as the country it saved.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/17/world-war-ii-memorial-still-lesson-us/
— Young Democratic Socialists of America members: Unemployed, but maybe not so educated. Given universities’ long decline, don’t be fooled by survey findings.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/18/young-democratic-socialists-america-members-unemployed-maybe-not/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Trump’s Iran struggle comes through on campaign stump.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-memo/4692031/trump-iran-struggle-campaign-stump-speeches-teleprompter/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— ICE may pay for liability insurance for police who help with immigration.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/4690981/ice-may-pay-liability-insurance-for-police-who-help-immigration-report/
— DSA chapter plans ‘Riots and Uprisings’ reading club to study ‘how people struggled.’
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/4691311/dsa-dc-chapter-riots-and-uprisings-reading-club/

NEW YORK POST
— UC Berkeley’s ban on standardized tests produces failure — as predicted. DD: My Democrat IRS and GAO superiors were furious when I passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and I passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981 because my Democrat coworkers who they wanted to promote over me either a) failed/refused to take the examinations or b) failed to pass them.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/18/opinion/uc-berkeleys-ban-on-standardized-tests-produces-failure-as-predicted/

AMAC
— Democratic Socialist Plan to Reshape the American Left Through Labor Unions. A DSA pamphlet titled “Why Socialists Should Become Teachers” urges members to take jobs in schools, logistics and health care to push unions further left.
https://amac.us/newsline/the-little-known-democratic-socialist-plan-to-reshape-the-american-left-through-labor-unions

BREITBART
— Moskowitz: My District Has People Who ‘Escaped Socialism’, They Reject DSA. DD: Private sector employers look down on public sector employees. The longer that you work in the public sector, the harder it is to get a job in the private sector. My having been a public sector employee for almost 3 years harmed my efforts to get good job in the private sector after I earned a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU when I was 21 in 1970. In anticipation of that, as a fallback, I took and passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination before I graduated. I would not have become an IRS employee when I was 22 a) if my Firestone Store boss had not rudely fired me because I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile and b) if Oldsmobile had not withdrawn that offer because it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. Because I refused to become a Democrat, starting in when I was 25, my Democrat IRS superiors did everything they could to get rid of me. They disallowed my travel vouchers when I was 25. They ignored/dismissed/belittled my earning an MBA when I was 27. They disallowed my education deductions when I was 29. They ignored/dismissed/belittled my passing the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. They ever-increasing made it clear that they would never promote me to GS-13. Of course, the aforesaid made it ever-increasingly impossible for me to get any kind of job anywhere. Because of the aforesaid, to get promoted to GS-13, I had to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer to GAO. My Democrat GAO superiors did promote me to GS-13, but not until I was 38. They would never had promoted me a) if I had not earned a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31, b) if I had not passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32, c) if I had not became a licensed CPA when I was 32, and d) if the GAO manager who had arranged my transfer had not gotten back into power.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/08/18/moskowitz-my-district-has-people-who-escaped-socialism-they-reject-dsa/

CREATORS SYNDICATE
— Socialism in the Open and on the Right.
https://www.creators.com/read/daily-editorials/08/26/socialism-in-the-open-and-on-the-right-30a47

DAILY WIRE
— VERY SAD IF NOT TRAGIC: Trump has again endorsed a Republican congresswoman leading the fight for amnesty on the Right. DD: Unlike Trump, because my parents lacked money, I had to compete against noncitizens for jobs. All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. I did yard work 1962-1964. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivering mail 1966-1969. I worked on an automotive assembly line in 1970. I sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971. I pumped more gasoline 1971-1972. I collected delinquent federal taxes 1971-1980. I audited federal agencies 1980-1997.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-endorses-congresswoman-at-center-of-amnesty-fight

DISPATCH
— Affordability and the Problem With Populist Pandering. Lessons from Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump. DD: What did you do to afford things? I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://thedispatch.com/article/affordability-trump-mamdani-populism/

FOX BUSINESS
— New York City rent freeze squeezes landlords while DSA targets Gen Z to fuel rise of socialism.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6403656155112

FOX NEWS
— Socialist candidates can delete old posts, but they can’t erase their radicalism.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/socialist-candidates-delete-old-posts-cant-erase-radicalism

NATIONAL REVIEW
— Adam Smith’s Warning for America’s New Socialists.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/08/adam-smiths-warning-for-americas-new-socialists/

NEWSMAX
— An Unexpected Win for Socialist Dems in Florida Senate Primary. DD: Anticipate/expect that wherever Republicans create prosperity and safety, Democrats will move in and create poverty and crime.
https://www.newsmax.com/john-gizzi/vindman-florida-angie-nixon/2026/08/18/id/1266575/
— Colo. Sheriffs, NRA Push Back on New Semiautomatic Gun Law.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/colorado-jared-polis-steven-nowlin/2026/08/18/id/1266556/

PJ MEDIA
— The Democrats’ ‘Big Tent’ With Socialists Is Doomed. Here’s Why.
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/08/18/the-democrats-big-tent-with-socialists-is-doomed-heres-why-n4956262

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

THE HILL
— Trump-endorsed Lauf loses GOP primary for open Donalds seat in Florida.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6033754-catalina-lauf-loses-florida-house-primary/
— Democratic socialist notches surprise win in Florida Senate primary. DD: Anticipate/expect that wherever Republicans create prosperity and safety, Democrats will move in and create poverty and crime.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6036787-nixon-vindman-peltola-primaries/

ABC NEWS
— Push to punish parents for ‘teen takeovers’ after brawl at DC Chipotle. DD: What is your municipality doing to stop Democrat teen takeovers?
https://abcnews.com/video/133100696/

CBS NEWS
— DD: Democrats ever-increasingly promote DEI. To promote DEI is to get rid of those who are conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dei-policies-company-stock-performance-study/

NEWSWEEK
— Trump-Backed Catalina Lauf Loses Florida Primary Race.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-backed-catalina-lauf-loses-florida-primary-race-12340239

REUTERS
— Trump approval falls to 33%, lowest of his presidency. DD: What is your approval rating? My critics/opponents have always done everything they could to lower my approval rating. They have had their operatives and their dupes take many big adverse actions against me.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-approval-falls-33-lowest-his-presidency-reutersipsos-poll-finds-2026-08-17/

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
— What Is the Average American Net Worth by Age? DD: My net worth is dramatically less because my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/what-is-the-average-american-net-worth-by-age

AOL
— DD: When you met your wife, what impressed you about her? Things that impressed me about my outstanding wife included that her first job after high school was working for the FBI. She soon became the Corporate Secretary of the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. She did much to help elect Big Jim Thompson governor in 1976. After we got married in 1978, she earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from DePaul in 1986.
https://www.aol.com/articles/m-letting-jesus-handle-65-050103000.html

NEW YORK TIMES
— Florida Primary Underscores State’s New Identity as a Republican Juggernaut. Republicans hold every statewide elected office and have drastically swung voter registration in the state. A newly gerrymandered congressional map has added four Republican-leaning seats.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/us/politics/florida-primary-republican-dominance.html
— Yes, Woke 1.0 Was Crazy. Now Where’s the Accountability?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/opinion/woke-liberals-restitution.html
— Google Just Made It Easier for Campaigns to Send You Fund-Raising Emails. DD: I should write about how Google has treated my GOPUSA ILLINOIS website and emails.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/18/us/politics/google-political-campaigns-email-spam.html

WASHINGTON POST
— DD: Noncitizens vote for Democrats because Democrats give noncitizens tremendous benefits.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/18/trump-revives-unverified-claims-noncitizen-voting-2020/
— Key witness in Trump impeachment trial loses to democratic socialist in Florida Senate primary. DD: Anticipate/expect that wherever Republicans create prosperity and safety, Democrats will move in and create poverty and crime.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/results/2026/08/18/florida-us-senate-special-primary-election-results-2026-live-updates/

USA TODAY
— Florida Senate primary winner Angie Nixon is a Democratic Socialist. DD: Anticipate/expect that wherever Republicans create prosperity and safety, Democrats will move in and create poverty and crime.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/19/angie-nixon-dsa-democratic-socialist-florida-election/91364091007/

SCRIPPS NEWS
— Young Americans redefine the American dream as costs rise and priorities shift. DD: What did you do to achieve the American Dream? I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.scrippsnews.com/politics/economy/young-americans-redefine-the-american-dream-as-costs-rise-and-priorities-shift

NEWS24
— Democratic Socialists of America’s biggest success comes from high-income districts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB3FyQS29tk
— Radical left wants to ‘burn it all down’ amid Democratic Socialists’ rise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on1AX4_idnE
— Privileged Democratic Socialists try to tell voters the system is rigged.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGI3iQug0-o

WEEKLY TIMES NOW
— Democratic socialists trying to tear down the system that has given them success.
https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/national/democratic-socialists-trying-to-tear-down-the-system-that-has-given-them-success/video/0717f51c1258201dc3bc238c0ad08fa5

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— How Radical Will the Democrats Get? Frustration with the economy is fueling the rise of the DSA, and it may not fade by 2028.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-radical-will-the-democrats-get-8381ee72
— Key Florida Takeaways: A Socialist Upset and Far-Right Flops. In other contests, scandal sinks Cory Mills while Byron Donalds stays on track to make history. DD: My critics/opponents have always demonized me, denigrated me, and condemned me as being far right. My critics/opponents reject some, many, most, virtually all, if not all conservative principles and planks in the Republican Party platform. I should write about my critics/opponents and the conservative principles and planks they reject.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/key-florida-takeaways-a-socialist-upset-and-far-right-flops-51c25c75
— The Young MAGA Socialists Are Here. Many conservatives in Generation Z think the American Dream is gone. Some of us are building it.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-young-maga-socialists-are-here-8c941877

FORBES
— Trump’s Approval Rating Drops 8 Points Among Republicans. More than half of voters said they are worse off financially since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. DD: I have been worse off financially big time since I was 49 in 1997 when my Democrat GAO superiors succeeded in forcing me to retire. In today’s dollars, my GAO salary was $154,684/year, but my Civil Service Retirement System pension has only been $68,640/year in today’s dollars since then, or 56% less.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2026/08/18/trump-approval-rating-reaches-second-term-low-in-latest-poll-as-80-think-iran-war-will-drag-on/

MARKET WATCH
— Here’s the net worth you need to start getting ahead in your 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond in the U.S.  About three-fourths of Americans lack the wealth needed to prosper in today’s economy, according to a new benchmark developed by the Aspen Institute. DD: My net worth is dramatically less because my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-the-net-worth-you-need-to-start-getting-ahead-in-your-20s-30s-40s-and-beyond-in-the-u-s-520c8d72

KIPLINGER
— What Is the Magic Number to Retire Comfortably? The amount you need might surprise you. Are you on track? DD: My net worth is dramatically less because my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/magic-number-to-retire-comfortably

USA FACTS
— Average wage in Illinois is $63,180/year. DD: In today’s dollars, my IRS salary was $56,409/year in 1971, $68,999/year in 1972, $83,482/year in 1973, and $100,059/year in 1974. I had earned a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU in 1970 and I had started taking four graduate evening business courses a year at Loyola in January of 1972. According to my critics/opponents, I was grossly overpaid.
https://usafacts.org/answers/what-is-the-average-wage-in-the-us/state/illinois/

FEDWEEK
— Guidance Recommends Messaging to Employees about Forced Ratings Distribution. DD: The Democrats who run the federal government use the subjectivity in their rating systems to waste the careers of and to get rid of their employees who are conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/guidance-recommends-messaging-to-employees-about-forced-ratings-distribution/
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/forced-distributions-will-apply-to-current-ratings-cycle-says-opm/
— Job Candidate Vetting Process at USPS Improved but Still Has Gaps, Says IG. DD: If I had not earned a high school diploma and passed the postal employment test, the Democrats who ran the Post Office would not have hired me in 1966. The Democrats who ran the Post Office in 1966, IRS in 1971, and GAO in 1980 hired me because they could not find a qualified Democrat, minority, female, younger person, or veteran who would take the job.
https://www.fedweek.com/fedweek/job-candidate-vetting-process-at-usps-improved-but-still-has-gaps-says-ig/

FED SMITH
— Is Your Federal Retirement on Track? DD: Until just before their early retirement “offer” expired on September 30, 1997, my Democrat GAO superiors falsely led me to believe that they were going to let me work until I could take regular retirement when I was 55 in 2003.
https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/08/18/is-your-federal-retirement-on-track-a-comprehensive-planning-guide/

NEW YORKER
— Why Millennial Professionals Are Embracing Socialism.  DD: I avoided Democrat indoctrination by majoring in business, accounting, and finance.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/how-i-became-a-subaru-socialist
— How I Became a Subaru Socialist. By the time Bernie Sanders ran for President, in 2015, I was financially secure. But the previous decade had left a mark. DD: If I had become a Democrat, the Democrats who ran the federal government would have promoted me into their Senior Executive Service, currently $197,200/year, long before I was 40 in 1988. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, and/or veteran. I am none of the aforesaid. To get rid of me, my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors punished me a) for my not becoming a Democrat, b) for my avoiding the Vietnam War draft, c) for my complaining about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation, and d) for my being an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with the aforesaid. Unions provide some protection. But GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized when I transferred from IRS to GAO when I was 31 in 1980, my Democrat GAO superiors might not have been able to take the many big adverse actions against me that they did including forcing me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/how-i-became-a-subaru-socialist

CHALKBEAT
— How American higher education helps the rich get richer. DD: My parents were not rich. I worked my way through college. I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree. I earned three job-related master’s degrees. I earned six job-related professional certifications. I earned a job-related professional license.
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2026/08/18/selective-colleges-have-funding-advantage-study-finds/

INSIDE HIGHER EDUCATION
— Students’ Roommates. DD: I spent three semesters at University Plaza dormitory ( https://www.uplaza.com/ ) in DeKalb 1969-1970. I should write about the impact that my roommates who University Plaza assigned me had on me.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/free-speech/2026/08/19/students-choices-fueling-polarization-higher-ed

August 17, 2026 Evening Edition

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— New recruits joining military in big numbers, but not for reason Hegseth says. The economy is driving young Americans’ enlistments, according to Pentagon data.
https://abc7chicago.com/story/us-military-news-new-recruits-enlisting-big-numbers-not-reason-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-says/19693144/
— Dramatic decline in people becoming new citizens in Chicago area this year. DD: Democrat leaders give tremendous benefits to noncitizens.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-area-naturalizations-drop-dramatically-more-80-2026-federal-citizenship-data-shows/19599022/
— Bailey calls for ending tolls; Pritzker questions funding plan. Toll revenues fund construction projects.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/republican-illinois-governor-candidate-darren-bailey-calls-ending-tolls-gov-jb-pritzker-questions-funding-plan/19694196/

NBC5
— Wheaton ZIP code 60187 named among America’s hottest housing markets for 2026.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/suburban-chicago-zip-code-named-among-americas-hottest-housing-markets-for-2026/3976579/

CBS2
— Some NIPSCO customers in northwest Indiana frustrated after nearly week without power. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/northwest-indiana-power-outage-nipsco/

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Illinois spent big during COVID and the migrant crisis. Who was watching the bills?
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/17/favorite-staffing-covid-migrants-contractor-chris-meister/
— Northwest Indiana communities frustrated with extended NIPSCO outages. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/17/northwest-indiana-frustrated-extended-nipsco-outages/
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/17/ice-legal-insurance-local-officers/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Thousands of Gary residents still without power after last week’s deadly storms. As of Monday afternoon, more than 100,000 Indiana residents were without electricity, according to utility company NIPSCO, after over 300,000 people lost power because of the storms. DD: The more that overhead lines bring power to your home, the more that those lines are near trees, the more that I recommend getting a whole-house backup electric generator.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/weather/2026/08/17/gary-indiana-residents-without-power-deadly-storms
— DD: To get more votes from Blacks, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly shout at non-Whites that Republicans cause all the problems that non-Whites have.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/2026/08/17/anti-dei-trump-chicago-cps-firefighters-black-brown-equity-donathan-brown

DAILY HERALD
— Geneva’s annual Concours d’Elegance returns Aug. 23 with 200 vintage cars.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260817/submitted-content/genevas-annual-concours-delegance-returns-aug-23-with-over-200-vintage-cars/

SAUK VALLEY
— Tri-County GOP candidates’ meet-and-greet event set for 3 counties at 3 locations at 3 times Sept. 24.
https://www.shawlocal.com/sauk-valley/2026/08/17/tri-county-gop-candidates-meet-and-greet-event-set-for-3-counties-at-3-locations-at-3-times-sept-24/

BURR RIDGE PATCH
— Burr Ridge Park District Bars Patricia Kladis-Schiappa’s Event. The candidate is asking the agency to reconsider. She says she cannot accept “the suppression or cancellation” of a community discussion.
https://patch.com/illinois/burrridge/burr-ridge-agency-wont-allow-local-politicians-event

IPM NEWS
— Bailey on SAFE-T Act, budget, and Illinois schools.
https://ipmnewsroom.org/republican-gubernatorial-candidate-darren-bailey-on-safe-t-act-budget-and-illinois-schools/

CAPITOL FAX
—  Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/08/17/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-580/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— What is your Republican Precinct Committeeman going to do to get out the vote? As the Republican Precinct Committeeman for DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton, I will hand-deliver to the 400 residences in my precinct that have at least one Republican or one Independent registered voter a copy of the sample ballot, campaign literature from all the candidates who provide their literature to the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO), and a MTRO voter guide. I have obtained a PDF file from the DuPage County Election Division mailing with labels for the 660 Republican and Independent registered voters in my precinct. I have printed out those labels and I am in the process of affixing them to envelopes provided by MTRO and putting them into five batches in walk order. I will be stuffing those envelopes with MTRO’s voter guide, literature that candidates provided MTRO, and the sample ballot. The Republican candidates on the ballot in my precinct are: Tracy, Bailey/Del Mar, Fioretti, Harris, Drew, Soloman, Oakley, Lewis, Vrankovich, Grasso, Noonan, Schiappa, Henry, Eckhoff, Michaud, Schultz, Quirk, and Helland. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— New Law Allows Veterans Second Set of Special License Plates
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/08/15/new-law-veterans-second-set-of-special-license-plates/
— State Believes It Can Create and Preserve Affordable Housing
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/08/15/state-believes-it-can-create-and-preserve-affordable-housing/
— Steve Willson’s Letter Blasting Proposed Rockford-Chicago Passenger Trains Make Front Page of Rockford Register-Star Email
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/08/15/steve-willsons-letter-blasting-proposed-rockford-chicago-passenger-trains-make-front-page-of-rockford-register-star-email/
— Running for Chicago Mayor, Mike Quigley Willing to Risk His Future to Save Chicago, Is Trump Willing to Do the Same to Beat Iran?
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/08/15/running-for-chicago-mayor-mike-quigley-willing-to-risk-his-future-to-save-chicago-is-trump-willing-to-do-the-same-to-beat-iran/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote voters who are anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-Christian, anti-German American, and/or anti-those who have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. That is, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote the Democrat Party’s base.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/aug/17/catholic-league-warns-massachusetts-legislation-would-give/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Democrats are embracing socialism. Americans aren’t.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4687755/democrats-embracing-socialism-polling/

NEW YORK POST
— Shoplifting isn’t need, it’s just plain greed.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/17/opinion/hey-progressives-shoplifting-isnt-need-its-just-plain-greed/

DAILY SIGNAL
— The DSA Has a Diversity Problem.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/08/17/the-dsa-has-a-diversity-problem-dsa/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

FLORIDA POLITICS
— Millions were spent in CD 19 GOP Primary, but will a late Donald Trump endorsement decide the race?
https://floridapolitics.com/archives/814362-millions-were-spent-in-cd-19-gop-primary-but-will-a-late-donald-trump-endorsement-decide-the-race/

PEW RESEARCH
— Refugee admissions to the U.S. are dropping sharply in Trump’s second term.
https://www.pewresearch.org/publications/

FROM OTHER SOURCES

REALTOR
— FOR SALE IN MY WHEATON PRECINCT:
25W451 Plamondon Road – $3,300,000
25W471 Plamondon Road – $2,400,000
1021 Greenwood Drive – $1,000,000
1160 Midwest Lane – $1,000,000
1028 Lodalia Court (lot) – $415,000
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/60189/sby-2

HOMES
— FOR SALE IN MY WHEATON PRECINCT: 25W328 Plamondon Road (lot) – $299,900
https://www.homes.com/property/25w328-plamondon-rd-wheaton-il/n6npjnwsm9jnz/

July 24, 2026

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2026/07/24/chaotic-crowded-chicago-immigration-mega-court-hearings-are-fueling-record-deportation-orders

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Journalists discuss free press challenges. DD: According to my critics/opponents, I am not a journalist a) because I do not have a degree in journalism, b) because no one pays me for what I do as the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, c) because all the money needed for my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters and for my www.gopillinois.com website comes from my Civil Service Retirement System pension, my Social Security, and my retirement savings, d) because either my newsletters nor my website contain any advertising or donation requests, e) because I do not claim to be nonpartisan, f) because I state that and because I am conservative Republican, and g) because I state that and because I am an elected Republican Precinct Committeeman. My critics/opponents ignore/dismiss/belittle the fact a) that I worked for GAO as an Analyst for almost 18 years 1980-1997, b) that what GAO Analysts do is very similar to what journalists do, and c) that during my last 11 years at GAO, my salary increased from $118,984/year to $154,682/year in today’s dollars.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/24/journalists-discuss-free-press-challenges/

FOX32
— Chicago crime: 5 killed, 4 wounded in 6 shootings from Thursday into Friday.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-crime-5-killed-4-shootings-thursday-friday

WTTW
— What Happened to the American Dream? DD: What did you do to achieve the American Dream? I worked my way through college and earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://news.wttw.com/2026/07/23/what-happened-american-dream-new-documentary-asks-1000-people-across-50-states

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Democrats to finalize their 2028 presidential nominating calendar, led by more diverse states. DD: The Democrat Party ever-increasingly moves further to the left.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/politics/ap-democrats-to-finalize-their-2028-presidential-nominating-calendar-led-by-more-diverse-states/

ADVANTAGE NEWS
— Illinois election integrity advocate Carol Davis says Trump’s allegations mirror concerns raised by state watchdogs.
https://www.advantagenews.com/news/local/illinois-election-integrity-advocate-says-trumps-allegations-mirror-concerns-raised-by-state-watchdogs/article_d4d50eef-73ed-4ff2-9418-c13f0bf500a2.html

CWB CHICAGO
— Robbery suspect caught trying to cut off ankle monitor with bolt cutters at Home Depot.
https://cwbchicago.com/2026/07/robbery-suspect-caught-trying-to-cut-off-ankle-monitor-with-bolt-cutters-at-home-depot.html

POLITICO ILLINOIS
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/07/24/illinois-sexual-harassment-harry-benton-01010509

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/07/24/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-777/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— What’s Happening to Illinois Ex-Pats Running for Congress in Florida?
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/23/whats-happening-to-illinois-ex-pats-running-for-congress-in-florida/

ILLINOIS REVIEW
— It’s Time for the DOJ Civil Rights Division to Investigate Speaker Chris Welch and Illinois House Democratic Leadership.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2026/07/its-time-for-the-doj-civil-rights-division-to-investigate-speaker-chris-welch-and-illinois-house-democratic-leadership.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Sitting judge posts ‘F*** ICE’: The shocking double standard of Illinois courts.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4659330/judge-ramirez-f-ice-post-double-standard-illinois-courts/
— DHS has issued $84 billion in fines to illegal immigrants who won’t go home.
DHS Announces More Than $84 Billion in Civil Fines Issued to Illegal Aliens

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Racial quota reckoning: Merit just got a deadline. DD: Since the 1960s, everyone above me has been under ever-increasing pressure to give more preference to those who do not share my demographics, that is, they have been under ever-increasing pressure to discriminate against those who share my demographics.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4660403/racial-quota-reckoning-federal-contracting/
— Establishment Democrats risk extinction as socialism rises.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/4660428/establishment-democrats-risk-extinction-socialism-rises-joe-concha/
— Will Democrats pick Harris or a socialist? Primary calendar may give early clue.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/presidential/4659947/harris-socialist-democrats-2028-primary-calendar/

AMERICAN THINKER
— Socialism goes mainstream in America, and no one is stopping it. It was bad enough when they’d crept into all the American institutions. Now they’re getting elected to national office.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/07/socialism-goes-mainstream-in-america-and-no-one-is-stopping-it/

DAILY SIGNAL
— ‘They Don’t Know What It’s Like’: Communism Survivors Question Why Americans Like Marxism.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/07/23/communism-survivors-question/
— Trump Axes Regulations Pushing Race-Based School Discipline.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/07/23/education-department-strikes-regulations-requiring-racial-quotas-in-school-discipline/

DAILY WIRE
— New Republican Amnesty Bill Ignites Ire Of Immigration Hardliners. “Vote every single one of them out in a massive wave, and replace them with real immigration hawks.”
https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-republican-amnesty-bill-ignites-ire-of-immigration-hardliners

FEDERALIST
— Every American Needs To Know That Socialism Is Slavery.
https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/23/every-american-needs-to-know-that-socialism-is-slavery/
— Congress Spotlights American Bar Association’s Dance With The DEI Devil.
https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/23/congress-spotlights-american-bar-associations-dance-with-the-dei-devil/

FOX BUSINESS
— How America reached a political tipping point for socialism. The storm began with the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/how-america-reached-political-tipping-point-socialism.amp

FOX NEWS
— Laura Ingraham: They KNOW socialism is anti-American.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6401968228112
— Partisan divide on capitalism and socialism. DD: To destroy Trump, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6401934457112
— Democratic Party’s socialist wing gains ground. DD: To destroy Trump, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6401954225112
— Trump heads back to correspondents’ dinner months after gunfire forced evacuation. The WHCA will honor Secret Service Officer Gonzales for his role in stopping the armed suspect at the Washington Hilton.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-heads-back-correspondents-dinner-months-after-gunfire-forced-evacuation

HOMELAND SECURITY
— DHS Announces More Than $84 Billion in Civil Fines Issued to Illegal Aliens.
https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/07/23/dhs-announces-more-84-billion-civil-fines-issued-illegal-aliens

PJ MEDIA
— Communism-Socialism, Islam: How to Meet the Threats?
https://pjmedia.com/eric-florack/2026/07/23/communismsocialism-islam-how-to-meet-the-threats-n4955364

POST MILLENNIAL
— Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson aims to give ‘reparations’ to illegal immigrants, residents impacted by ICE.
https://thepostmillennial.com/chicago-mayor-brandon-johnson-aims-to-give-reparations-to-illegal-immigrants-residents-impacted-by-ice
— Brandon Gill, Jim Banks draft bill to classify birth tourists as ‘invaders,’ prevent automatic citizenship. The legislation comes as Justice Kavanaugh left the door open for Congress to adjust who is not eligible for birthright citizenship.
https://thepostmillennial.com/brandon-gill-jim-banks-draft-bill-to-classify-birth-tourists-as-invaders-prevent-automatic-citizenship

REAL CLEAR POLITICS
— Trump on Democratic Socialists: “They’re Highly Educated, But Doing Very Poorly; In Other Words, They’re Losers”
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/07/23/trump_on_democratic_socialists_theyre_highly_educated_but_doing_very_poorly_in_other_words_theyre_losers.html
— Trump: Communists Promise “Free Rent, Free House,” But Deliver “Squalor, Poverty, Death, And Destruction”
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/07/23/trump_communists_promise_a_free_house_but_they_deliver_absolute_squalor_poverty_death_and_destruction.html

STATES TOP LEADING NEWS
— 9.5 Million Student Loan Defaults: Systemic Failure or Personal Choice? DD: What percent of those who took out student loans had no intent of paying those loans back? I never sought a student loan or got a student loan. I worked my way through college. Because of that, my GPA suffered. That harmed my job searches. Students who took out student loan should be expected to have much higher GPAs than those who had to work their way through college.
https://www.stl.news/9-5-million-student-loan-defaults/

U.S. HOUSE
— DEI Erodes Integrity of Law Schools and the Legal Profession.
https://oversight.house.gov/release/hearing-wrap-up-dei-erodes-integrity-of-law-schools-and-the-legal-profession/

TOWNHALL
— Chicago Is Broke, but the Mayor Is Floating Another Plan for Reparations.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2026/07/23/brandon-johnson-reparations-for-ice-n2679998
— The Democratic Socialists of America vs. the United States of America.
https://townhall.com/columnists/christalgo/2026/07/24/the-democratic-socialists-of-america-vs-the-united-states-of-america-n2679963

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CNN
— DD: To destroy Trump, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/23/politics/republicans-capitalism-socialism-poll

AOL
— Voters should take Democratic Socialists at their word.
https://www.aol.com/articles/voters-democratic-socialists-word-opinion-090848000.html

CBS NEWS
— Career limiting decisions. DD: What were the biggest decisions that you made that limited your career? I spent far too many hours working to earn money to buy new cars instead of studying. I avoided the Vietnam War draft with draft deferments. I majored in management instead of accounting. I did not start taking graduate accounting courses until I was 27. I did not take and pass the CPA examination on my first attempt until I was 30. I did not earn a master’s degree in accounting until I was 31. I did not take and pass on my first attempt the Certified Internal Auditor examination until I was 32. I did not become a licensed CPA until I was 32. When I became federal employee when I was 18, I refused to become a Democrat and I never became a Democrat. I ever-increasingly complained about my Democrat superiors’ political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination. I became an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with the aforesaid discrimination when I was 40.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-career-limiting-mistakes-to-avoid/

NEW YORK TIMES
— To Win Their Races, Black Politicians Confront a New Landscape. With the Voting Rights Act weakened, Black representation will depend less on Black voters and more on broad, multiracial appeal or on ideological outsider campaigns. As majority-Black districts are blown up one by one, the future of Black representation in Congress could look something like Yorkville, Ill., where Representative Lauren Underwood joined the town parade on the Fourth of July. The congresswoman and her parents were among the few Black people in a sea of white faces along the mile-long route.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/us/politics/black-representation-voting-rights-act.html
— Did Liberal Feminism Ruin the Workplace? DD: While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997, they ever-increasingly a) assigned me to work for their female employees, b) stressed to them that I opposed gender base preference giving, and/or c) had them waste my career and get rid of me. During my last 8 years that I worked for GAO all my superiors were females. They always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance and they forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997. I should write about that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/opinion/women-workplace-feminism-conservative.html
— Google Is Building an A.I. Fence Around the Internet It Once Championed. As Google incorporates more artificial intelligence into search, people are spending more time on Google. Some website operators are crying foul. DD: The Democrats who run Google ever-increasingly a) steer everyone to websites that promote liberal principles and the Democrat Party platform and b) steer everyone away from websites that promote conservative principles and the Republican Party platform.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/technology/google-ai-open-web.html
— Biking to work: Tips to get started, stay safe and look presentable when you arrive. DD: I walked to/from work and evening classes 1974-1978. I first walked to/from my Outer Drive East studio condo and then my ODE one bedroom condo to my IRS job in the Loop and first to graduate evening business classes at Loyola and then to graduate evening accounting classes at DePaul.
https://www.newstimes.com/living/article/biking-to-work-tips-to-get-started-stay-safe-22357001.php

NEW YORK SUN
— The Socialists Await the Gullible. The leftist surge in America is shadowed by the incompatibility of Marxism and civil liberties.
https://www.nysun.com/article/the-socialists-await-the-gullible

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— The ‘Bernie Bros’ Could Spoil Democrats’ Midterms. Republicans will make even moderate opponents answer for the radical views of DSA candidates.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-bernie-bros-could-spoil-democrats-midterms-0e6e6289
— How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, by JD Vance. His online minions attack me fiercely over last week’s column. They should hear what my kids call me. DD: I should write about my critics/opponents who have had their operatives and their dupes take the most/biggest adverse actions against me since 2000 because of my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-to-lose-friends-and-alienate-people-by-jd-vance-a6a1d5fe
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Over many years of writing pieces critical of politicians, my Republican targets mostly took the beatings like men, many going so far as to acknowledge—if only in confidence—that they probably deserved it. Not so Vice President JD Vance, and his dreary band of online enforcers. This egotism—or rather, insecurity—is worth analyzing. This column reported last week on the bitterness Mr. Vance’s congressional colleagues are feeling over his continual absence. In recent administrations, governing majorities have come to rely on the vice president—who is ex officio Senate president—to act as primary liaison between the White House and Congress. Mr. Vance has blown off this important if unsung duty, preferring to stay in the spotlight. Tempers hit a boil last week when—at a pivotal legislative moment—Mr. Vance canceled a planned Tuesday House meeting in favor of appearing on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” where he bashed Congress. Republicans have mostly held their tongues on Mr. Vance out of deference. But the vice president has shown a lot of lefty leg lately: undermining Israel, panning free markets, touting a Christian-themed big-government agenda. That’s in addition to what many Republicans view as Mr. Vance’s naive approach to Iran. That elected Republicans were joining conservative commentators in a Vance rethink was worthy of reporting. And most readers would have seen the column for what it was: part of a growing GOP debate over who should lead the party in 2028. Team Vance saw it as it sees any slight: an all-hands call to delegitimize a critic—to brand her a RINO, “establishment,” a liar, a captive tool, or part of some anti-JD “op.” The Vance press team contacted my editors to demand corrections. They wanted a mea culpa for what I didn’t write—namely that Mr. Vance had showed up to the House . . . on Wednesday. Never mind that Congress’s anger stemmed from Mr. Vance’s decision to ditch them for Mr. Rogan’s program. They claimed that wasn’t “the reason” for canceling, though they didn’t provide an alternative explanation. What else was Mr. Vance doing in Austin, Texas? Their final complaint was a hair-splitting gotcha: I wrote that “lawmakers can count on a few fingers the times former Sen. Vance has set foot in the Capitol.” That’s what lawmakers told me. Mr. Vance’s spokesman insisted the vice president had been there more than two dozen times since taking office. The phrase obviously referred to the infrequency with which Mr. Vance huddled with members of Congress to solve problems and wasn’t a literal count of the number of times he was physically present to attend a speech or break a tie. Mr. Vance’s real bully-boy strength shows up with his online army, where a retinue of “influencers” and “journalists” stand ready with an arsenal of labels, whataboutisms and falsehoods. The tactics aren’t new. They are straight-up Saul Alinsky—pick the target, freeze it, personalize and polarize it—long practiced by the left. I wrote a whole book about that, “The Intimidation Game.” What is new is for the right to use such means in an effort to shut down conservative dissent.)
— Biden officials predicted 17,000 arbitration disputes a year under the No Surprises Act. In 2026 there were 2.6 million. DD: I have been a FINRA arbitrator since 1998.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/surprise-billing-act-health-insurance-providers-15c1eadb
— For Sale: The Childhood Home of Conservative Commentator William F. Buckley Jr.  The historic Connecticut property, which dates back to 1812, was visited by influential figures like Ronald Reagan, Henry Kissinger and Sylvia Plath.
https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/luxury-homes/william-buckley-jr-childhood-home-connecticut-cc241ca2

BLOOMBERG
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly glorify and praise everything that is foreign.
https://www.bloomberg.com/sessions/2026-07-28/live-q-amp-a-is-the-american-dream-fading-for-international-students

FORBES
— Women Don’t Have A Merit Problem. They Have A Sponsor Problem. DD: My Democrat IRS superiors got rid of the IRS manager who had promoted me when I was 23 in 1972, 23, and 25. My Democrat GAO superiors got rid of the GAO manager who had arranged my transfer from IRS to GAO when I was 31 and was finally able to assign me to audits of IRS and to promote me when I was 38. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, younger, or a veteran. All the women who my Democrat IRS and GAO superiors promoted over me a) had less education than I had, b) had less work experience than I had, c) had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or d) had no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/shaheenajanjuhajivrajeurope/2026/07/24/women-dont-have-a-merit-problem-they-have-a-sponsor-problem/

MOTLEY FOOL
— Why COLAs Have Lost Retirees 14% of Their Buying Power Since 2016. DD: My critics/opponents were, are, and will always be furious a) that I got COLAs when I was a federal employee 1966-1969 and 1971-1997 and b) that I have gotten COLAs as a federal retiree since 1997 and as a Social Security recipient since 2010.
https://www.aol.com/articles/why-colas-lost-retirees-14-152000000.html

HARVARD CRIMSON
— Students Still Want Public Service. They Just Don’t Want Washington Right Now. Students and faculty say the traditional pipeline from the school into the federal government has narrowed — and with it, the assumption that a degree from the school leads directly to a career in Washington. DD: I worked for GAO 1980-1997. While Charles Bowsher ran GAO 1981-1996, he did everything that he could to get rid the agency’s employees who had degrees in business, accounting, and finance and to replace them with employees who had degrees in public administration from Ivy league  universities. That rendered worthless a) my having earned an MBA in 1976, b) my having passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, c) my earning a master’s degree in accounting in 1980, d) my passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981, e) my becoming a licensed CPA in 1981, f) my earning four more job-related professional certifications in 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997, g) and my earning a master’s degree in finance in 1997.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/6/hks-public-service/

WEST CENTRAL TRIBUNE
— Cal Thomas: Who are our domestic enemies? “The ignorant and sometimes deliberate voters who support the DSA agenda should be careful what they wish for.”
https://www.wctrib.com/opinion/columns/cal-thomas-who-are-our-domestic-enemies

TRILL MAGAZINE
— The American Dream Is Expensive. Is Democratic Socialism the Answer? Rising costs and changing expectations are driving a new generation of Americans to rethink the future of the American Dream. DD: What did you do to achieve the American Dream? I worked my way through college and earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://www.trillmag.com/news/politics/the-american-dream-is-expensive-is-democratic-socialism-the-answer/

JD SUPRA
— What Employers Need to Know About the EEOC’s Rescission of Affirmative Action Guidelines and Enforcement Priorities. DD: Since the 1960s, Democrats and RINOs have used Affirmative Action to get rid of Republicans who are White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/what-employers-need-to-know-about-the-2097270/

NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE
— Affordability For All: It’s Time To Rescue The American Dream. DD: What did you do to achieve the American Dream? I worked my way through college and earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://nul.org/news/affordability-all-its-time-rescue-american-dream

July 22, 2026

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— FRONT PAGE WITH PHOTO: DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/21/ice-arrests-chicago-public-schools-employee/
— Why the US should consider making voting compulsory.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/22/opinion-compulsory-voting-us-democracy-polarization/

NAPERVILLE SUN
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURE: Lots of changes at the DuPage County Fair.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/21/dupage-county-fair-wheaton/

NPR ILLINOIS
— Trump has campaigned more so far in 2026 midterms than he did at this point in 2018.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2026-07-22/trump-has-campaigned-more-so-far-in-2026-midterms-than-he-did-at-this-point-in-2018

CAPITOL CITY NOW
— Governor candidate Aaron Del Mar. Del Mar says while Bailey knows “south of I-80” in Illinois, he knows about the Chicagoland area. DD: I lived south of I-80 1948-1976.
https://capitolcitynow.com/podcasts/illinois-republican-lieutenant-governor-candidate-aaron-del-mar/

CAPITOL NEWS ILLINOIS
— My critics/opponents have always wanted me to leave the Republican Party and to join the Conservative Party. My critics/opponents reject some, many, most, virtually all, if not all the planks in the Republican Party platform. Most commonly, they reject the personal responsibility, traditional marriage and family, right to life, immigration, anti-vice, Second Amendment, equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) planks. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on those who are/were a) leaders of the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Illinois Republican Party, b) Republican leaders of Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois, c) Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct and their political consultants, major donors, fundraisers, pollsters, campaign managers, campaign staff members, and campaign volunteers, d) conservative leaders, and e) religious leaders.
https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/independent-collin-corbett-to-remain-on-ballot-after-bailey-camp-withdraws-objection/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: In 2018, former Republican state Sen. Sam McCann captured 4.23% running under the Conservative Party banner. And in 2010, Scott Lee Cohen won 3.64% running as an independent after his withdrawal as the Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial nominee.)

CHICAGO PARENT
— These are the 10 best places to live in DuPage County.
https://www.chicagoparent.com/how-do-i/these-are-the-10-best-places-to-live-in-dupage-county-ff1a4447

ILLINOIS
— Illinois Electric Vehicle Rebate Program Application Cycle to Open August 1. DD: Shockingly, last year, Pritzker gave me a $4,000 rebate for my 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T EV.
https://www.illinois.gov/news/release.html?releaseid=32735

POLITICO ILLINOIS
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/07/22/data-boom-meets-boundaries-01007090

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

JOHN KASS
— Hatred Has Become a Greater Driver Than the Opposite.
https://johnkassnews.com/hatred-has-become-a-greater-driver-than-the-opposite/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Cal Thomas: The lure of socialism. DD: Under socialism, to advance, all you need to do is be a socialist. Under Democrats, to advance, all you need to do is be a Democrat. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, disabled, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. All of my coworkers who my Democrat superiors in the federal government promoted over me were Democrats who a) were minority, female, younger than me, and/or veteran and b) had less education than I had, had less work experience than I had, had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had. My Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997 and gave my job and my preferred corner office to my Black Democrat subordinate. He had less education than I had. He had less work experience than I had. He had one professional certification while I had six. He had no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/21/lure-socialism/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— For America 250, reject Mamdani’s narrative of American oppression. DD: All my ancestors immigrated from what is now Germany during the 1840s and 1850s. They always lived in northeast Illinois. They never were in a position to oppress anyone and they never did oppress anyone.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4636240/america-250-reject-mamdani-narrative-american-oppression/
— Republicans can save elections and defund Planned Parenthood. So why aren’t they?
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4655987/republicans-can-save-elections-defund-planned-parenthood
— Mike Lindell proposes six-month amnesty for illegal immigrants if elected Minnesota governor. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. My critics/opponents cannot say that because they had wealthy parents. Noncitizens work for less money and they are easier to exploit.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/state/4658121/mike-lindell-six-month-amnesty-illegal-immigrants-minnesota-governor//

NEW YORK POST
— DOJ opens probe into Harvard’s financial aid for discrimination against American students. DD: Even though no one thought I was college material, I took college preparatory courses, I got an ACT score of 24, I graduated in the upper 20% of my high school class, I got accepted by UIC, I worked my way through college, and I graduated debt-free from NIU in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in business and owning a 1969 Dodge Charger SE.
https://nypost.com/2026/07/21/us-news/doj-opens-probe-into-harvards-financial-aid-for-alleged-discrimination-against-american-students/

BIZ PAC REVIEW
— Is DHS caving to corporatocracy’s demand for cheap ‘illegal’ labor?
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2026/07/21/is-dhs-caving-to-corporatocracys-demand-for-cheap-illegal-labor-1651472/

BREITBART
— Duckworth on Punishing Iran for Troops’ Deaths: It’s Trump’s Fault.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/07/21/duckworth-on-punishing-iran-for-troops-deaths-its-trumps-fault/
— GOP Rep. Maria Salazar: Americans Need Illegal Migrants to Defend the USA.
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2026/07/21/rep-maria-salazar-americans-need-migrants-defend-usa/
— Rand Paul: Need Hundreds of Thousands of Troops to Secure Strait, Iran Knows We Won’t Do That.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/07/21/rand-paul-need-hundreds-of-thousands-of-troops-to-secure-strait-iran-knows-we-wont-do-that/
— Darline Graham Says a Focus on Domestic Economic Issues Would Differentiate Her from Her Brother.
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/07/21/darline-graham-says-a-focus-on-domestic-economic-issues-would-differentiate-her-from-her-brother/

CAMPUS REFORM
— Students value qualifications, bucking anti-merit trend in higher ed.
https://www.campusreform.org/article/students-value-qualifications-bucking-anti-merit-trend-higher-ed-watch/30286

CHRISTIAN POST
— Members of Congress spar over radicalism at US History Museum.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/members-of-congress-spar-over-radicalism-at-us-history-museum.html

COLLEGE FIX
— UCSD med school favored black, Hispanic applicants over more qualified white, Asian ones.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/doj-ucsd-med-school-favored-black-hispanic-applicants-over-more-qualified-white-asian-ones/

DAILY CALLER
— Trump Promises To Investigate GOP Bill Offering Amnesty To Illegal Farmworkers.
https://dailycaller.com/2026/07/21/trump-investigate-gop-bill-amnesty-illegal-farmworkers-visas/
— Republicans Promised To Put America First, Instead They’ve Betrayed Everyone For Money From Massive Agriculture Donors.
https://dailycaller.com/2026/07/21/republicans-america-first-massive-agriculture-donors-legislation-amnesty-glenn-thompson-corporations-corruption/

DAILY CITIZEN
— What is Democratic Socialism? Here’s What You Need to Know.
https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/what-is-democratic-socialism-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

FEDERALIST
— Republicans Will Do Anything To Illegals Except Deport Them.
https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/21/republicans-will-do-anything-to-illegals-except-deport-them/
— 47 Republicans Are Pushing Amnesty For Illegal Alien Agriculture Workers.
https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/20/47-republicans-are-pushing-amnesty-for-illegal-alien-agriculture-workers/
— Rather Than Back Down, Trump Must Escalate His Campaign For Mass Deportations.
https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/17/rather-than-back-down-trump-must-escalate-his-campaign-for-mass-deportations/

FOX NEWS
— California county approves reparations plan as neighboring school district ‘Black Thriving’ effort stalls. DD: Affirmative Action and DEI are reparations. Since the 1960s, America has given Blacks many trillions of dollars in reparations.
https://www.aol.com/articles/california-county-approves-reparations-plan-110028000.html

PJ MEDIA
— Teachers’ Union Brags About Fighting Trump’s Plan to Eliminate Racism and Bias in Universities.
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2026/07/21/teachers-union-brags-about-fighting-trump-plan-to-ax-racism-bias-in-universities-n4955274
— House GOP divided over immigration bill that would allow illegal immigrant farm workers to remain in US.
https://thepostmillennial.com/no-amnesty-house-gop-divided-over-immigration-bill-that-would-allow-illegal-immigrant-farm-workers-to-remain-in-us

TOWNHALL
— The Questions Illinois Never Asked.
https://townhall.com/columnists/joe-abraham/2026/07/22/the-questions-illinois-never-asked-n2679879
— Here’s an Update on How the ICE Deportations Are Going.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2026/07/21/heres-an-update-on-how-the-ice-deportations-are-going-n2679891
— Party’s Over for Foreigners at College.
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnandandyschlafly/2026/07/22/partys-over-for-foreigners-at-college-n2679890

WHITE HOUSE
— Democrat “Glitch” Registers Thousands of Noncitizens to Vote: Another Reason to Pass the SAVE America Act.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/07/democrat-glitch-registers-thousands-of-noncitizens-to-vote-another-reason-to-pass-the-save-america-act/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

MSN
— DOJ warns California to drop Glock ban or face lawsuit. DD: How soon will Pritzker officially move to abolish the Second Amendment and confiscate all firearms and ammunition from Republicans?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/insight/doj-warns-california-to-drop-glock-ban-or-face-lawsuit/gm-GMCC215DC8
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly destroy traditional marriage and family.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/other/11-reasons-why-more-women-are-walking-away-from-men-and-marriage/ss-AA1YvbfS

NEW YORK TIMES
— America Has Eight Political Tribes. Which One Do You Belong to? DD: My critics/opponents demonize me, denigrate me, and condemn me as being a bad member of the Loyal Right.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/opinion/voters-political-parties-coalitions.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The Loyal Right remains enthusiastic about Mr. Trump and ready to turn out for Republicans in this year’s midterms, but its size — 18 percent of the electorate — makes it insufficient, on its own, for retaining a Republican majority. In lower-turnout elections like the ones this year and the partisan primaries we will have in 2028, the Loyal Left and the Loyal Right will be at their most powerful. Those voters show up when the others stay home. If you’re wondering why parties nominate candidates who are out on the extremes, it is often because of the voters who reliably participate in the process. Folks who are closer to the center will keep feeling let down or left out if they don’t throw their weight around, turning out in primaries as often as their more ideologically predictable peers. There’s nothing wrong, of course, with being a party loyalist, but it’s worth reminding ourselves that most of us don’t line up neatly with the platform of either of America’s two major parties. It’s also worth keeping in mind that there’s a reason Democrats range from the aforementioned democratic socialist Representative Ocasio-Cortez to the centrist Senator Elissa Slotkin. And why Republicans range from the moderate Senator Lisa Murkowski to the populist Representative Anna Paulina Luna. It may be more useful to think of our two parties as two coalitions. For now, at least, both have to accept some level of ideological incoherence in order to cobble together a majority.)

ASPEN DAILY NEWS
— Rethinking our definitions of success. DD: My critics/opponents a) attribute their successes to meritocracy and b) attribute my successes to my benefitting tremendously from tremendous discrimination against those who do not share my demographics.
https://www.aspendailynews.com/opinion/growing-community-rethinking-our-definitions-of-success-cb8c2696

KOMO NEWS
— Washington approves low-income toll discounts, though some urge relief for all drivers. DD: I started paying tolls when I was 20 in January of 1969 when I commuted in my 1969 Dodge Charger SE weekends to/from NIU and my parents’ home in Crete to keep my part-time Park Forest Post Office job.
https://komonews.com/news/local/washington-weighs-low-income-toll-discounts-fueling-debate-over-who-should-pay-road-highway-driving-commute-transit-income-economy-taxes-discount-program-family-paycheck-services

BREEZE COURIER
— The Limits of Merit.  DD: My critics/opponents a) attribute their successes to meritocracy and b) attribute my successes to my benefitting tremendously from tremendous discrimination against those who do not share my demographics.
https://www.breezecourier.com/editorials/the-limits-of-merit-11a70117

CORTLAND STANDARD
— Get out the vote. DD: What is your Republican Precinct Committeeman going to do to get out the vote? As the Republican Precinct Committeeman for DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton, I will hand-deliver to the 400 residences in my precinct that have at least one Republican or one Independent registered voter a copy of the sample ballot, campaign literature from all the candidates who provide their literature to the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO), and a MTRO election guide. The Republican candidates on the ballot in my precinct are: Tracy, Bailey/Del Mar, Fioretti, Harris, Drew, Soloman, Oakley, Lewis, Vrankovich, Grasso, Noonan, Schiappa, Henry, Eckhoff, Michaud, Schultz, Quirk, and Helland.
https://www.cortlandstandard.com/opinion/get-out-the-vote/article_df8017df-98cb-4481-94c7-735a07510cde.html

JACOBIN
— Working class. DD: I was a member of the working class 1964-1997, that is, I was a wage earner 1964-1997. My critics/opponents look down on the working class, that is, they look down on wage earners.
https://jacobin.com/2026/07/class-definition-socioeconomic-status-discourse

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— New Jersey Removes Thousands of Noncitizens From Voter Rolls. State says software error led to noncitizens being mistakenly registered to vote when they applied for driver’s licenses and ID cards.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/new-jersey-removes-6-600-noncitizens-from-voter-rolls-after-software-error-9acc2492
— Socialism and the Young. Students discuss why DSA candidates perform well in their age cohort. DD: Under socialism, to advance, all you need to do is be a socialist. Under Democrats, to advance, all you need to do is be a Democrat. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, disabled, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. All of my coworkers who my Democrat superiors in the federal government promoted over me were Democrats who a) were minority, female, younger than me, and/or veteran and b) had less education than I had, had less work experience than I had, had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had. My Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997 and gave my job and my preferred corner office to my Black Democrat subordinate. He had less education than I had. He had less work experience than I had. He had one professional certification while I had six. He had no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/socialism-and-the-young-d32844a2
— China vs. India Isn’t as Simple as Merit vs. Caste Quotas. The Indian economy’s lag behind its neighbor can’t be explained by the practice of reservations. DD: What Caste were you born into? Neither of my parents attended college. My father was only the first of my ancestors to earn a high school diploma. He never earned more than $50,000/year in today’s dollars. He almost always worked second jobs to pay the family’s bills. He died suddenly when he was 47 and I was 21, My mother never attended high school. All my grandparent spoke German. I had to work my way through college. Nevertheless, my critics/opponents have always outrageously, disgustingly, falsely, and unethically painted my parents as having been filthy rich. They have always known full-well that I did yard work 1962-1964, delivered newspapers 1962-1966, washed dishes 1964-1966, cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, delivered mail 1966-1969, worked on an automotive assemble line in 1970, sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, pumped more gasoline 1971-1972, collected delinquent taxes 1971-1980, and audited federal agencies 1980-1997. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on those whose parents were wealthy.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/china-vs-india-isnt-as-simple-as-merit-vs-caste-quotas-a704033f

FED SMITH
— The Grass Isn’t Always Greener But Is Federal Salary Really That Bad?  Before assuming a private sector salary is usually better, look beyond your federal salary. Federal retirement, FEHB, and job security make a big difference. DD: Ever since I became a federal employee when I was 18 in 1966, my critics/opponents have demonized me, denigrated me, and condemned me as being overpaid and getting employment benefits that are far too generous. Ever since I became a federal retiree when I was 49 in 1997, my critics/opponents have demonized me, denigrated me, and condemned me as getting a Civil Service Retirement System pension that is far too generous. Ever since I became a federal employee when I was 18 in 1966 and ever since I got married in 1978, my critics/opponents have demonized me, denigrated me, and condemned me for me and my wife getting a 72% health insurance premium subsidy. In my defense, I planned to work in the private sector, the automotive industry to be exact. But my high school friend asked me to join him to take the postal employment test in 1966. Because I passed, I was a part-time postal employee while I attended UIC 1966-1968 and NIU in 1969. I graduated from NIU in 1970 and accepted the only job offer that I got, to be the Retail Sales Manager in a Firestone Store, a job that not really require a college degree. I accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile in 1971, but Oldsmobile withdrew that offer saying it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. My Firestone Store boss rudely fired me because I had accepted that offer. Because I had to have a job, I accepted a job offer that I got from IRS. I had taken and passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination while I was a NIU student. Potential employers saw me as being draft bait. They did not believe that my application for a financial hardship draft deferment to help support my mother and brother would be approved.
https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/07/15/are-federal-employees-underpaid/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: According to the Federal Salary Council’s FY 2024 analysis using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, General Schedule employees earned an estimated 24.72% less than private-sector workers in comparable occupations. That’s an improvement from the previous year’s estimated 27.54% gap, thanks in part to larger pay raises in 2023 and 2024, but it is still a significant difference. . .Salary is only one part of what employers provide. Federal employees also receive retirement benefits, health insurance, paid leave, and workplace protections that have real financial value—even though they do not appear on an earnings statement. When economists compare total compensation rather than salary alone, the gap between federal and private employment often narrows considerably. . .Consider a GS-13 Step 10 employee in the Washington, DC area earning roughly $158,322 who retires after 30 years of service. That employee could receive a substantial lifetime pension, continue Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) coverage into retirement if eligible, receive the FERS retirement supplement before becoming eligible for Social Security, and continue drawing income from a well-funded TSP account. Someone leaving federal service midway through a career may receive a much smaller deferred pension and may need substantially higher private-sector earnings to replace the long-term value of those retirement benefits.)

LAW & LIBERTY
— What Is the Government Good For? DD: For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, disabled, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/what-is-the-government-good-for/

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

DAILY OBSERVER
— Civil service promotions in Bangladesh draw criticism over alleged bias and vetting gaps. DD: Federal employees in America who are the following have no Civil Service protections: conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-veteran, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Unions provide some protection. But GAO did not unionize until 2007. If GAO had been unionized when I transferred from IRS in 1980, my Democrat GAO superiors might not have been able to take the many big adverse actions against me that they did. My Democrat GAO superiors a) forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997, b) always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, c) delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13, and d) forced me to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980. But even though I was a union member at the time, a) my Democrat IRS superiors never promoted me beyond GS-12, disallowed my education deductions in 1978, and disallowed my travel vouchers in 1974 and b) my Democrat Post Office superiors forced me to resign in 1969 and disallowed my sick leave requests in 1969 and 1968. That was because I was not a Democrat, minority, female, and/or veteran. For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. Virtually all federal employees are Democrats who are one, many, most, if not virtually all of the aforesaid. All of my coworkers who my Democrat superiors in the federal government promoted over me were Democrats who a) had less education than I had, had less work experience than I had, had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had and/or b) were minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or had ancestors who had not been in America for a long time.
https://observerbd.com/news/584450

July 21, 2026

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation. All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. My critics/opponents cannot say that because they had wealthy parents. Noncitizens work for less money and they are easier to exploit.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/21/midway-blitz-metro-surge-operation-metro-surge-operation-midway-blitz-ice-minneapolis-chicago-immigration/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: DD: Under the Democrats and under the RINOs, soon, everyone will be a) handing out welfare and/or b) receiving welfare. To get more votes, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly flood America with those who have demographics that vote for Democrats, that is, those who want/need/demand massive government assistance. To get more cheap labor, RINO leaders ever-increasingly flood America with those who will work for less money.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/21/snap-illinois-costs/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— City Council joins chorus demanding Boutros’ resignation as U.S. attorney.  DD: I dealt with Patrick Fitzgerald’s U.S. attorney office in Chicago extensively 2000-2005 while I pursued Diersen v. GAO pro se. SEE: https://gopillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DiersenGAOFifthAmendedComplaint.pdf  I should write about that.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2026/07/15/city-council-resolution-demanding-andrew-boutros-resignation-us-attorney

DAILY HERALD
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation. All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. My critics/opponents cannot say that because they had wealthy parents. Noncitizens work for less money and they are easier to exploit.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260720/nation-and-world-politics/advocates-say-immigrant-community-afraid-amid-uptick-in-ice-activity-in-lake-county/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURE: The last one-room schoolhouse to operate in Illinois finds a new purpose after $1.6M restoration. DD; My mother, who was born in 1924, never attended high school. She walked to/from a one-room school house and the farm she was born on in Grant Park along the Indiana border.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260720/news/the-last-one-room-schoolhouse-to-operate-in-illinois-finds-a-new-purpose-after-1-6m-restoration/
— Standardized tests. DD: My critics/opponents have always attributed my success in passing standardized tests to my benefitting tremendously from tremendous discrimination against those who share their demographics. I passed all the tests needed to earn a) a job-related bachelor’s degree, b) three job-related master’s degrees, c) six job-related professional certifications, and d) a job-related professional license. The Democrats who ran the Post Office in 1966, IRS in 1971, and GAO in 1980 hired me because they could not find a qualified Democrat, minority, female, younger person, or veteran who would take the job. I would not have survived as a federal employee for almost 30 years if I had not a) passed the postal employment test when I was 17 in 1966, b) passed the Federal Entrance Examination when I was 21, c) earned a bachelor’s degree in business when I was 21, d) earned an MBA when I was 27, e) passed the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30, f) earned a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31, g) passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32, h) became a licensed CPA when I was 32, i) earned four more job-related professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48, and j) earned a master’s degree in finance when I was 48. Overwhelmingly those who took and passed tests with me were White males.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260721/syndicated-columnists/the-limits-of-merit/

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly push more pot.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/cannabis/ccb-illinois-cannabis-sales-20260721/

CAPITOL CITY NOW
— Top of IL GOP ticket: Pocketbook issues, not social issues. DD: The more that you follow conservative principles, the fewer pocketbook issues that you will have. The more that you follow liberal principles, the more pocketbook issues that you will have.
https://capitolcitynow.com/news/248842-top-of-il-gop-ticket-pocketbook-issues-not-social-issues/

POLITICO ILLINOIS
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/07/21/chicagos-new-sports-era-taking-shape-01005616

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/07/21/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-774/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE
— Pritzker spends over $12 million on national politics.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pritzker-spends-over-12-million-on-national-politics/
— Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state lawmakers have increased lawmaker pay while approving budgets that raised taxes on Illinoisans.
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-lawmaker-salaries-rise-33-faster-than-their-constituents-paychecks-under-pritzker/

GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— The more that you follow conservative principles, the fewer pocketbook issues that you will have. The more that you follow liberal principles, the more pocketbook issues that you will have. If I had followed liberal principles, I would not have been able to a) buy new cars when I was 17, 19, 20, 23, 25, 29, etc., b) earn a bachelor’s degree in management when I was 21, c) buy real estate when I was 24, 25, 27, 29, 35, etc. d) earn an MBA when I was 27, e) get married when I was 29, f) pass the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30, g) earn a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31, h) pass the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32, or i) become a licensed CPA when I was 32.- Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— What motivates you to donate money to Republican candidates? For me, it includes their demonstrated commitment and ability to defend and advance the Republican Party platform including its personal responsibility, traditional marriage and family, right to life, immigration, anti-vice, Second Amendment, equal opportunity (no race or gender based preference giving) planks. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Who do you know that has served as the chairman of a political organization? It is a thankless job. I know. I served as the chairman of TAPROOT Republican of Illinois 2005-2012. I agree with Illinois Republican Party (IRP) chairman Bob Grogan who told the Chicago Sun-Times “You get blamed for everything and credit for nothing” and that Trump has the “hardest job in the world, and I probably have the second hardest job in the world, being chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.” While served as the TAPROOT chairman, my critics/opponents ever-increasingly blamed me and blamed my GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters for all the defeats suffered by Republican candidates on ballots in my DuPage County Milton Township precinct in Wheaton. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on past and present a) leaders of the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and IRP, b) Republican leaders of Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois, c) Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct and their political consultants, major donors, fundraisers, pollsters, campaign managers, campaign staff members, and campaign volunteers, d) conservative leaders, and e) religious leaders. What do you have in common with Grogan? Grogan and I are both long-time DuPage County residents, Republican Precinct Committeemen, licensed CPAs, Certified Fraud Examiners, and members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and Illinois CPA Society. Grogan represented me on the IRP State Central Committee 2018-2022. I worked hard to elect Grogan and to reelect Grogan as DuPage County Auditor in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024.
— What is your Republican Precinct Committeeman going to do to get out the vote? As the Republican Precinct Committeeman for DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton, I will hand-deliver to the 400 residences in my precinct that have at least one Republican or one Independent registered voter a copy of the sample ballot, campaign literature from all the candidates who provide it to the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO), and a MTRO election guide. The Republican candidates on the ballot in my precinct are: Tracy, Bailey/Del Mar, Fioretti, Harris, Drew, Soloman, Oakley, Lewis, Vrankovich, Grasso, Noonan, Schiappa, Henry, Eckhoff, Michaud, Schultz, Quirk, and Helland. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— What motivates your critics/opponents to take adverse actions against you? The following motivates my critics/opponents to have their operatives and their dupe take adverse actions against me: a) my sending out GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters, b) my promoting in those newsletters conservative principles and Republican Party platform planks that they reject, and/or c) my refusing to be manipulated or dominated by them, my refusing to glorify or praise them, my refusing to pander to them, my refusing to serve as one of their operatives or dupes, my refusing to cover up their wrong doing, and/or my refusing to give them money. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— ‘Assault weapons’ bans are on their way to the Supreme Court.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/supreme-court/4655258/assault-weapons-bans-on-their-way-to-supreme-court/
— Socialism and Marxism is spreading like a malignant tumor. DD: To advance under socialism, you have to be a socialist. To advance in the Democrat-run federal government, you have to be a Democrat. Working in the Democrat public sector when I was 49 in 1997, my salary was only $154,682/year in today’s dollars. My critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that if I had worked in the private sector, I never would have earned that much. In my defense, I had earned three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/finance-and-economy/4655809/socialism-marxism-spreading-tumor-joe-concha/

BREITBART
— Baby Abandoned at Illinois Tourism Spot, Parents Fled U.S.
https://www.breitbart.com/local/2026/07/20/baby-abandoned-illinois-tourism-spot-parents-fled-u-s/amp/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Police responded to the Cahokia Mounds parking lot on the evening of June 7 after receiving reports that a baby had been abandoned in the parking lot and left in a car seat, News Nation reported. The child was transported to a local hospital for evaluation, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has since taken custody.)

CHRISTIAN POST
— Why the ‘Woke Right’ is more dangerous than conservatives admit. DD: My critics/opponents are woke, that is, they blame all problems on those who are conservative, Republican, White, male, older, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time.
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/why-the-woke-right-is-more-dangerous-than-conservatives-admit.html

COLLEGE FIX
— California medical schools ditch required social justice courses ‘filled with propaganda.’ DD: I avoided liberal indoctrination by majoring in business, accounting, and finance.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/california-medical-schools-ditch-required-social-justice-courses-filled-with-propaganda/

DAILY SIGNAL
— The Left Isn’t Building a Working-Class Movement—It’s Building a New Elite.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/07/20/the-left-isnt-building-a-working-class-movement-its-building-a-new-elite-left/

FOX NEWS
— Birth tourism fight shifts to US ‘tropical maternity ward’ with history of Chinese exploitation. Rep Morgan Griffith says Congress can amend statutes granting automatic citizenship in U.S. territories.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/birth-tourism-fight-shifts-us-tropical-maternity-ward-history-chinese-exploitation
— California county approves bombshell reparations plan despite budget crisis.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6401644206112
— Democrat group says reparations are owed Blacks because Black median wealth is nearly 15 times less than White median wealth. DD: To get even more votes from Blacks, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly shout at Blacks that Republicans who are the following like me cause all their problems: conservative, White, male, older, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. I should write about the successes and the failures that my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors had doing that with my many Black superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-far-left-group-claims-reparations-owed-blacks-median-wealth-nearly-15-times-less-whites

TOWNHALL
— Democrats Launch Renewed Attack on School Choice. DD: My parents sending me to Missouri Synod Lutheran grade schools put me on track to earn a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2026/07/20/wes-moore-school-choice-attack-n2679747

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

THE HILL
— Students need education, not indoctrination. DD: I avoided liberal indoctrination by majoring in business, accounting, and finance.
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/5974887-education-quality-civil-rights/
— DD: To get more votes, Democrat leaders ever-increasingly flood America with those who have demographics that vote for Democrats, that is, those who want/need/demand massive government assistance. To get more cheap labor, RINO leaders ever-increasingly flood America with those who will work for less money.
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/supreme-court/5975518-birthright-citizenship-scotus-challenge/

CNN
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/20/politics/democratic-socialist-candidates-polling

MSN
— Why young grads are struggling to get hired. DD: The more of the following that you are, the less likely that Democrat and RINO employers will hire you: conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, heterosexual, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. The more of the following that you are, the more likely that Democrat and RINO employers will hire you: liberal/moderate, Democrat, RINO, noncitizen, minority, female, younger, LGBTQ, poor, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/why-young-grads-are-struggling-to-get-hired/ss-AA28evKu

NEW YORK TIMES
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/opinion/democrats-capitalism-socialism.html
— The Hunt for a Job Has Never Been Worse. DD: What was your post-graduate success? When I earned a bachelor’s degree in management from NIU when I was 21 in 1970, I had to have a job. Potential employers saw me as being draft bait. I had applied for a financial hardship draft deferment to help support my mother and brother, but potential employers did not believe it would be granted. So I accepted the only job offer that I got. It was being the Retail Sales Manager for the Firestone Store in Chicago Heights. But the job did not really require a college degree. To “learn the business,” I was required to dismount, mount, and balance many tires, pump lots of gasoline, change lots of engine oil and filters, change batteries, deliver major appliances to homes, etc. My Chicago Heights store boss would never had hired me, but his boss had assigned me to him. He did not have a college degree. He refused to let me start until after I passed a 2-week probationary period in the Firestone Store in Gary, Indiana. He disapproved of my avoiding the Vietnam War draft. He disapproved of my being Protestant, my being German American, my having ancestors who had been in America since 1844, and my living in Crete. Under him, I saw that my Firestone career was bleak if not nonexistent. Consequently, I accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile. But Oldsmobile withdrew that offer saying it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. He rudely if not violently fired me because I had accepted that offer. I had to have a job. So I accepted the only job offer that I got. It was to be an IRS Revenue Officer. Then, oddly, puzzlingly, he then offered me a job working part-time pumping gasoline which I accepted until he “asked” me to resign at the end of 1972. The money I earned helped me a) buy a new Corvette in 1971, b) pay for four graduate evening business courses at Loyola in 1972, and c) buy a new townhome in University Park in 1972.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/opinion/job-market-ai-employees.html

BALTIMORE SUN
— The Democratic Part is being defined by its far-left flank.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2026/07/20/democratic-socialists-party-flank/

NEWS HERALD
— Cal Thomas: Who are our domestic enemies?
https://www.news-herald.com/2026/07/20/cal-thomas-who-are-our-domestic-enemies/

BOZEMAN DAILY CHRONICLE
— A district court judge in Helena has narrowed the scope of a lawsuit seeking to invalidate sections of the Montana Republican Party’s bylaws that require loyalty oaths and allows the state central committee to remove members as will, according to plaintiffs. DD: I should write about the following who have worked the hardest to get rid of me since 2000: past and present a) leaders of the Milton Township Republican Organization, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Illinois Republican Party, b) Republican leaders of Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois, c) Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct and their political consultants, major donors, fundraisers, pollsters, campaign managers, campaign staff members, and campaign volunteers, d) conservative leaders, and e) religious leaders.
https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/judge-narrows-focus-of-lawsuit-against-state-gop-bylaws/article_59e82f0b-f7e3-4349-a679-1cfac0042b8b.html

SUMMIT DAILY
— Let’s get out the vote. DD: As the Republican Precinct Committeeman for DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton, I will hand-deliver to the 400 residences in my precinct that have at least one Republican or one Independent registered voter a copy of the sample ballot, campaign literature from all the candidates who provide it to the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO), and a MTRO election guide. The Republican candidates on the ballot in my precinct are: Tracy, Bailey/Del Mar, Fioretti, Harris, Drew, Soloman, Oakley, Lewis, Vrankovich, Grasso, Noonan, Schiappa, Henry, Eckhoff, Michaud, Schultz, Quirk, and Helland.
https://www.summitdaily.com/opinion/letter-to-the-editor-lets-get-out-the-vote-and-participate-in-democracy/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— A $55 Billion Safety Net? Government Tab to Prop Up American Farms Is Rising. DD: Democrats and RINOs despise/hate farms, farming, and farmers. Just look at how Democrats and RINOs are treating Bailey. My great grandparents on my father’s side were farmers. My grandparents on my mother’s side were farmers. During the 1950s, I spent lots of time at their farm in Grant Park along the Indiana border.
Trump’s latest request extends run of interventions supporting nation’s agricultural economy
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/a-55-billion-safety-net-government-tab-to-prop-up-american-farms-is-rising-67dc6634
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: The Man Who Runs the IRS Spied on Colleagues When He Worked at JPMorgan. DD: I worked for the Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years. Federal employees should assume that their Democrat superiors can see their 1040s if they want to and that they will use the information in those 1040s against their subordinates if they want to.
https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/irs-bisignano-spying-jpmorgan-6cd1ddf0

BARRON’S
— Career success. DD: What did you do to get promoted? I earned an MBA from Loyola when I was 27 in 1976. I passed the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. I earned a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul when I was 31. I passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32. I became a licensed CPA when I was 32. I earned four more job-related professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48. I earned a master’s degree in finance when I was 48. My critics/opponents use the aforesaid against me stressing that notwithstanding the aforesaid, I never earned more than $154,682/year in today’s dollars.
https://www.barrons.com/advisor/articles/merrill-financial-advisor-corina-davis-afcfb78c

BUSINESS INSIDER
— Family reunions. DD: Since 1847, all my ancestors were Missouri Synod Lutherans. But family reunions on both my father’s and mother’s sides died in the 1960s because Wisconsin Synod Lutherans defeated Missouri Synod Lutherans in Crete and in Grant Park. That had a tremendous impact on me. To stay with the Missouri Synod, my parents took me out of eight grade at Trinity Lutheran Grade School in Crete in 1961 and transferred me to a newly formed very small eight grade at Hope Lutheran in Park Forest.
https://www.businessinsider.com/annual-family-reunion-kids-impact-2026-4

BLOOMBERG LAW
— DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. My critics/opponents cannot say that because they had wealthy parents. Noncitizens work for less money and they are easier to exploit.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/dhs-restores-30-day-rule-for-asylum-seekers-work-authorization

SMILE HUB
— Illinois Is 2026’s 8th Best State for People in Poverty. DD: Illinois Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) invite to Illinois those who want/need/demand massive government assistance and b) drive out of Illinois those who are productive members of society.
https://smilehub.org/blog/states-most-supportive-of-people-in-poverty/144

FED SMITH
— What Recent Court Decisions Mean for Federal Employee Job Security. DD: Because Democrats run the federal government, federal employees who are the following have no Civil Service protections: conservative, Republican, White, male, older, nonveteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Have adverse actions been taken against you “for cause?” My critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that GAO forced me to retire “for cause” when I was 49 in 1997. They stress the adverse actions that my GAO superiors had taken against me previously. They had always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance. They had delayed my promotions and never promoted me beyond GS-13. They had forced me to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980. Previously, my IRS superiors had never promoted me beyond GS-12, disallowed my education deductions in 1978, and disallowed my travel vouchers in 1974. Previously, my Post Office superiors had forced me to resign in 1969 and disallowed my sick leave requests in 1969 and 1968. My critics/opponents have always ignored/dismissed/belittled the fact a) that Democrats run GAO, Democrats despise/hate Republicans, and I have always been a Republican, b) that all my GAO, IRS, and Post Office superiors who took the aforesaid actions against me were Democrats, c) that I had been an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation since 1988, and d) that I had ever-increasingly complained about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation. My critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that I must have been guilty of “gross malfeasance or negligence” or even worse things because the many big aforesaid adverse actions were taken against me even though I had a) earned job-related professional certifications in 1997, 1996, 1994, 1990, 1981, and 1979, b) earned job-related master’s degrees in 1997, 1981, and 1976, and c) earned a job-related professional license in 1981.
https://www.fedsmith.com/2026/07/20/court-decisions-federal-employee-job-security/

July 20, 2026 Evening Edition

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— Trump slaps additional 50% tariff on certain Canadian goods.
https://abc7chicago.com/story/trump-slaps-additional-50-tariff-certain-canadian-goods/19545803/

FOX32
— The 117th NAACP National Convention is underway at McCormick Place.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/fmc-2rc416w94qkzvszx

WGN9
— Where are Darren Bailey and the Illinois GOP?
https://wgntv.com/politics-3/where-is-darren-bailey-and-the-illinois-gop/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: A sexual harassment scandal. Crime concerns. There is no shortage of issues Illinois republicans could pounce on; but other than fanning the flames on social media and issuing press releases, they’ve been fairly quiet. Republican candidate for governor Darren Bailey hasn’t held a press conference in more than a month in the Chicago region. His team posted a picture of a meet-and-greet at a Pilsen restaurant last week that featured 12 people in the frame. We’re a little more than three months before the election. “I do think people are making these points; but they’re making them in the silos,” said Richard Porter, a former Republican National Committeeman from Illinois. “I think there’s a mistake people make. We’re online so much. You’re connecting with people all over the state and it’s really cool; but I think the thing we need to realize is the algorithm drives us to meet the people that think the way we think. “They’re not introducing us to people who are undecided or unaware of what our issues are.” The stealth approach to campaigning is also surprising given that Bailey’s opponent — billionaire incumbent Gov. JB Pritzker — has a campaign war chest of more than $25 million compared to Bailey’s less than $1 million raised.  Traditionally, candidates who are low on money clamor for the publicity of photo ops and interviews with local media. Bailey’s campaign said the farmer-turned-politician is currently focusing on energizing supporters downstate and will spend ample time in the Chicago region soon. The campaign contends voters aren’t yet paying attention to the November race. Bailey lost to Pritzker by nearly 13 points in 2022.  Analysts said his past strategy of focusing on downstate voters and appealing to Trump supporters, put simply, couldn’t overcome the democratic vote in Northeast Illinois. They suggested that he needs to win over swing suburban voters. Previously, Bailey said he got the message this time around. He made it known that he and his wife were renting a condo in Chicago. He showed up to make an appeal to city voters during the public comments section of a City Council meeting in May, where he apologized for previously referring to Chicago as a “hellhole.” Bailey has also downplayed his previous support of Trump and acknowledged his pro-life beliefs won’t change state abortion laws. His running mate, Aaron Del Mar, is from Cook County and frequently makes media appearances. Bailey has said he would work to repeal the SAFE-T Act if elected governor. However, it’s unclear how he would do that, given Democrats hold super-majorities in both chambers of the legislature. He’s also repeatedly criticized Democrats — and judges — for being too lenient on people accused of committing crimes. But Bailey hasn’t driven that message home — and distinguished GOP and democratic strategies — with news conferences and photo ops at crime scenes. Porter sees that as a missed opportunity: “There is, on the left, there is sometimes an excusing for this violence that we on the right reject,” Porter told WGN-TV. “The people who are the subject of the violence, they don’t want to — they share the view — they’re available to us [as voters] to understand crime has to stop. We should not have a laissez-faire attitude toward criminals.”)

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— A Northwestern University professor files a federal lawsuit alleging retaliation for his pro-Palestinian activism and on-campus speech. DD: All my ancestors immigrated from what is now Germany during the 1840s and 1850s. In their defense, my grandfather on my father’s side fought the Germans in WWI and my uncles on my mother’s side fought the Germans in WWII.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/20/northwestern-university-professor-files-federal-lawsuit/

DAILY HERALD
— DuPage County Fair kicks off July 23. DD: Democrats and RINOs despise/hate farms, farming, and farmers. Just look at how Democrats and RINOs are treating Bailey. My great grandparents on my father’s side were farmers. My grandparents on my mother’s side were farmers. During the 1950s, I spent lots of time at their farm in Grant Park along the Indiana border.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260720/entertainment/dupage-county-fair-kicks-off-july-23-with-first-4-h-alumni-day/
— DD: Under the Democrats and under the RINOs, soon, everyone will be a) handing out welfare and/or b) receiving welfare.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260720/news/hunger-doesnt-look-just-one-way-how-loaves-fishes-helps-families-get-back-on-solid-ground/
— DD: Overwhelmingly, my critics/opponents are/were entrepreneurs. Overwhelmingly, they look down on wage earners like I was 1964-1997.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260720/business/kane-county-area-leaders-relaunch-entrepreneurship-center-for-those-impacted-by-criminal-legal-syste/
— Facing 30% toll hike, truckers warn of fallout for the industry, consumers and roads. DD: While I worked for IRS’s Collection Division during the early 1970s, some of the delinquent taxes I collected were delinquent Federal Highway Use Taxes.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260719/transportation/facing-30-toll-hike-truckers-warn-of-fallout-for-the-industry-consumers-and-roads/

WGN RADIO
— When education becomes indoctrination. DD: I avoided liberal indoctrination by majoring in business, accounting, and finance.
https://wgnradio.com/wgn-plus/thechicagoway/chicago-way-w-john-kass-when-education-becomes-indoctrination/

CHICAGO DEFENDER
— Family reunions. DD: Since 1847, all my ancestors were Missouri Synod Lutherans. But family reunions on both my father’s and mother’s sides died in the 1960s because Wisconsin Synod Lutherans defeated Missouri Synod Lutherans in Crete and in Grant Park. That had a tremendous impact on me. To stay with the Missouri Synod, my parents took me out eight grade at Trinity Lutheran Grade School in Crete in 1961 and transferred me to a newly formed very small eight grade at Hope Lutheran in Park Forest.
https://chicagocrusader.com/dr-ione-d-vargus-family-reunions-matter/

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— DD: Democrat leaders encourage assaults against ICE officers.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/law/ccb-operation-midway-blitz-andrew-boutros-nyt-20260720/

VANDALIA RADIO
— Big Crowd comes out to meet & greet Republican candidate for Governor at “Bailey Fest 2”
https://www.vandaliaradio.com/2026/07/20/big-crowd-comes-out-to-meet-greet-republican-candidate-for-governor-at-bailey-fest-2/

CAPITOL CITY NOW
— Top of IL GOP ticket: Pocketbook issues, not social issues. Del Mar: Bailey and I know what it’s like to be working Illinoisans. DD: The more that you follow conservative principles, the fewer pocketbook issues that you will have. The more that you follow liberal principles, the more pocketbook issues that you will have.
https://capitolcitynow.com/news/248842-top-of-il-gop-ticket-pocketbook-issues-not-social-issues/
— GOP secretary of state hopeful wants to bring customer service back. Diane Harris says Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign war chest does not scare her.
https://capitolcitynow.com/news/248842-gop-secretary-of-state-hopeful-wants-to-bring-customer-service-back/
— Illinois Secretary of State candidate Diane Harris. Harris has been a Joliet-area politician and small business owner.
https://capitolcitynow.com/podcasts/illinois-secretary-of-state-candidate-diane-harris/

AUDACY
— DD: Under the Democrats and under the RINOs, soon, everyone will be a) handing out welfare and/or b) receiving welfare.
https://www.audacy.com/wxrt/news/local/block-party-slated-for-naperville

CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/07/20/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-559/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WIREPOINTS
— Another Fox In The Hen House: The Chicago Teachers Union’s New Media Bargaining Guild.
https://wirepoints.org/fox-enters-hen-house-the-chicago-teachers-unions-new-media-bargaining-guild-wirepoints/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Republicans flood Congress with bills to confront Supreme Court on birthright citizenship.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/20/republicans-flood-congress-bills-confront-supreme-court-birthright/
— Trump signs order to make U.S. supply chains more secure, less reliant on foreign nations.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/20/donald-trump-signs-order-make-us-supply-chains-secure-less-reliant/
— Money, policy wed Democrats to anti-American socialists. The Democratic Party, DSA are increasingly inseparable.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/20/money-policy-wed-democrats-anti-american-socialists/
— Democratic Socialists of America declare war on the Constitution. Platform reveals a movement hostile to America’s founding design.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/20/democratic-socialists-america-declare-war-constitution/

NEW YORK POST
— No to ‘reparations’ in California, a ‘free state’ since 1850.
https://nypost.com/2026/07/20/opinion/no-to-cash-reparations-in-california-a-free-state-since-1850/

FEDERALIST
— Democrats Can’t Explain Their Hatred Of Voter ID. Unfortunately, Republicans Won’t Make Them.
https://thefederalist.com/2026/07/20/democrats-cant-explain-their-hatred-of-voter-id-unfortunately-republicans-wont-make-them/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

MSN
— Pritzker baselessly claims Republicans ‘cheat’ in elections.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/jb-pritzker-baselessly-claims-republicans-cheat-in-elections/ar-AA28iVLz

NEW YORK TIMES
— Failed Immigration Cases Leave Chicago Prosecutor’s Office Reeling. Prosecutors have fled the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, angry about the cases they’ve been told to bring against protesters and immigrants. DD: I dealt with the  U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago extensively 2000-2005 while I pursued Diersen v. GAO pro se. SEE: https://gopillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DiersenGAOFifthAmendedComplaint.pdf  I should write about that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/us/immigration-chicago-prosecutors.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago is among the most prestigious in the country, known for winning ambitious cases against everyone from Al Capone to the former Illinois governor Rod R. Blagojevich.)

FROM OTHER SOURCES

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
— 40 Under 40. DD: Thanks to my parents and thanks to my teachers, I was able to accomplish the following by the time I was 40: Get promoted by GAO to GS-13, currently $118,984/year when I was 38. Become a licensed CPA when I was 32. Pass the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32. Earn a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul when I was 31. Pass the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. Earn an MBA from Loyola when I was 27.
https://www.autonews.com/awards/retail-40-under-40/

July 20, 2026

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Illinois Republican Party chair Bob Grogan aims to shake off ‘Stockholm syndrome’ of struggling state GOP. Shut out of statewide office for a decade, the new face of the Illinois GOP is appealing to a suburban base that has evaporated under President Donald Trump.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2026/07/20/bob-grogan-illinois-republican-party-new-chairperson-dupage-county-auditor
(FROM THE ARTICLE: It doesn’t take a professional auditor to conclude the Illinois Republican Party is stuck in a rut, but the state GOP is hoping one can get them back on the path to relevance. Nearly 12 years removed from their last statewide election victory and long relegated to super-minority status in Springfield, Republicans have tapped former DuPage County Auditor Bob Grogan to chair the state party, aiming to revitalize the suburban base that has largely abandoned the GOP under President Donald Trump. Grogan spent 12 years as an elected watchdog keeping tabs on various arms of the county government, and he has no misconceptions about his new volunteer post recruiting candidates, fundraising and, most importantly, attempting to unite a fractured party. “You get blamed for everything and credit for nothing,” Grogan told the Sun-Times. “I’m not in it for the glory. I like to say professionally, what I do is I fix broken things. And that’s my audit background, where you find problems, and you don’t play ‘gotcha.’ You just say, ‘Here’s a list of solutions. Let’s try to go out and do it.’” He’ll need a long list in the wake of his predecessor, Kathy Salvi, who wasn’t able to make many statewide inroads before Grogan unseated her in a May vote by the Republican State Central Committee. “She was more aspirational, and I’m more operational,” said Grogan, who doesn’t embrace Trump quite as enthusiastically as Salvi did. Grogan compared the president to an “elephant in the china shop.” “We share a lot of the same goals. We definitely don’t share a style,” the Downers Grove resident said, referring to Trump. “I come from a totally different background. I’m a boring CPA. He’s a reality TV show, New York real estate developer … But he’s got the hardest job in the world, and I probably have the second hardest job in the world, being chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.” Trump has certainly complicated matters for the state party in the suburbs, which provided the lifeblood of the Illinois GOP for generations. Former President Joe Biden won DuPage County by 18 percentage points in 2024. Grogan contends the “evolution in the suburbs” started under former President Barack Obama. But he acknowledges the headwinds the MAGA movement has brought to suburbs that used to be reliably red. “[Trump] brought in blue-collar voters that weren’t ours before, and that’s a good thing and it’s a challenging thing,” Grogan said. “Blue-collar voters need to be enticed a little bit more. They need to be excited a little bit more.” Grogan doesn’t push Trump’s false conspiracy theory of widespread voter fraud costing him the 2020 presidential election, and Grogan says his party needs to embrace mail voting the president has sowed doubt about. But the new chair is quick to note “no system is zero-fraud and zero-error” — including the one in DuPage County that saw him lose his bid for a third term as auditor. “In 2020, I lost by 76 votes out of a half a million, and I will tell you that the error rate was probably north of that, because we threw out over 800 ballots,” Grogan said. “People should know that every vote does count, and we want to count every vote accurately.” As for abortion rights that remain popular and important to many suburban voters, Grogan, who calls himself pro-life, decried Illinois as “an abortion destination state, and I don’t think that’s what the average suburban, pro-choice person really wants. “They don’t want late-term abortions. They don’t want taxpayer-funded abortions for folks that aren’t even citizens,” Grogan said. “Abortion tourism is not something that they would really endorse.” And he’s undaunted by the odds playing on heavily gerrymandered, Democratic-drawn maps. “Voter patterns change, and they evolve. I have optimism … that eventually governance matters, and I think that the governance of the state of Illinois, and city of Chicago, leaves a lot to be desired,” Grogan said. “That old definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.” But Republicans are running Darren Bailey again this November against Gov. JB Pritzker, four years after the southern Illinois farmer got trounced by the billionaire governor who’s now heavily favored to win a third term. Grogan backed Ted Dabrowski in the GOP primary and now says Bailey “has definitely come back at it with a different approach … We have structural problems. But if you only believed polls, Hillary Clinton would be president.” More importantly, Grogan said, “There is definitely a lot more JB fatigue than there was six years ago. “You bring up the governor’s name, and there’s a grimace. Where they were giving the benefit of the doubt a couple cycles ago, they’re not so happy,” he said, pointing to COVID-19 business restrictions under Pritzker early in the pandemic and the governor’s potential White House ambitions in 2028. “A lot of people are getting the impression he’s looking over the person’s shoulder at New Hampshire, and the recipe for New Hampshire and Iowa is not the recipe for Illinois,” said Grogan, who’s tasked with working up a fundraising rebound, too. The Democratic Party of Illinois’ $1.2 million cash on hand at the end of June roughly quadrupled the state GOP’s total. Meanwhile, Bailey entered the summer with about $128,000 in his campaign fund compared to more than $3 million for Pritzker, who can cut another massive check anytime he pleases. “We’ve had an over-reliance on one or two donors on the Republican side, which means that we’ve been lazy on developing infrastructure for small-dollar donors and such that really should be our bedrock,” Grogan said, referencing the likes of conservative megadonor Richard Uihlein. A lot of it will take basic leg work and candidate recruitment. “Even if they aren’t going to win someplace, and obviously some … districts are really hard, I think that a well-crafted dialogue with voters has up-ticket and down-ticket effects,” Grogan said. “The first step is they have to meet us, and then they’ve got to hear us, and then they’ll like us. And you can’t do that just by listening to the screamers on Facebook.” It’s also about changing the mindset of Republicans who “kind of suffer from almost a Stockholm syndrome, that they’ve been so long outside of power that they no longer identify [with] what it’s like … to get power,” Grogan said. “So we argue about how many angels dance on the head of a pin, as opposed to how to most advantageously take back a House seat,” he said. “Fratricide is not a great campaign strategy.” “We are in the super minority, and we’ve been there for a long time. We haven’t held statewide office for quite a few years now. But the same was said 40 years ago — like the governor’s mansion was ours exclusively,” Grogan said. “There’s no magic flipping of a switch … We actually have to not fight about things that aren’t really as determinative to the average person trying to make their mortgage payment or their rent payment,” Grogan said. “We have prescriptions for many of the ills. At some point, I think the voters are going to stop digging deeper and look out of the hole that they’ve dug themselves into.”)

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly use the Patriot Front against Republicans. Of course, the Patriot Front knows that. What does that say about the Patriot Front?
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/20/column-patriot-front-washington-white-supremacy-donald-trump-page/
— First-generation professionals. DD: Thanks to my parents and to my teachers, I not only became first generation bachelor’s degree holder in 1970 when I was 21, but a first-generation MBA holder when I was 27, a first-generation CPA when I was 30, a first-generation master’s accounting degree holder when I was 31, a first-generation Certified Internal Auditor and licensed CPA when I was 32, a first-generation holder of four more job-related professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48, and a first-generation master’s in finance degree holder when I was 48.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/20/opinion-chicago-first-generation-business-professionals/

DAILY HERALD
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH PICTURE: Facing 30% toll hike, truckers warn of fallout for the industry, consumers and roads. DD: I first started paying tolls when I was 20 in 1969 when I commuted in my 1969 Dodge Charger SE weekends to/from NIU and my parents’ home in Crete to keep my part-time Park Forest Post Office job.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260719/transportation/facing-30-toll-hike-truckers-warn-of-fallout-for-the-industry-consumers-and-roads/

VERMILLION COUNTY FIRST
— Bailey Tells Vermilion County GOP “Bring Out the Voters.” DD: As the Republican Precinct Committeeman for DuPage County Milton Township Precinct 59 in Wheaton, I will hand-deliver to the 400 residences in my precinct that have at least one Republican or one Independent registered voter a copy of the sample ballot, campaign literature from all the candidates who provide it to the Milton Township Republican Organization (MTRO), and a MTRO election guide. The Republican candidates on the ballot in my precinct are: Tracy, Bailey/Del Mar, Fioretti, Harris, Drew, Soloman, Oakley, Lewis, Vrankovich, Grasso, Noonan, Schiappa, Henry, Eckhoff, Michaud, Schultz, Quirk, and Helland.
https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/2026/07/19/bailey-tells-vermilion-county-gop-bring-out-the-voters/

HOMEWOOD FLOSSMOOR CHRONICLE
— Cook County Board passes Miller’s resolution to place millionaire tax on November ballot.
https://www.hfchronicle.com/2026/07/18/cook-county-board-passes-millers-resolution-to-place-millionaire-tax-on-november-ballot/

POLITICO ILLINOIS
— Benton case reopens questions about reform.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/07/20/benton-case-reopens-questions-about-reform-01004642
(FROM THE NEWSLETTER: THE GOVERNOR’s RACE is beginning to take shape, and both Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and Republican challenger Darren Bailey are looking to the latest headlines to sharpen their attacks. Urban love: Bailey last week continued working to make inroads with Chicago voters, hosting a meet-and-greet in Pilsen just weeks after moving into an apartment on the city’s Near South Side. The event, held at The Frida Room, was part of an effort by the downstate Republican to broaden his appeal beyond his rural base and connect with urban voters on issues such as affordability, housing costs and civil liberties. The appearance drew criticism from Team Pritzker, which sees it as an attempt by Bailey to rebrand himself after attacking Chicago, saying Bailey “is the same extreme” candidate he was in 2022. The exchange comes as both campaigns increasingly look for opportunities to turn news events into political ammunition. Bailey used the July 4 arrest of a man accused of jumping a fence at Pritzker’s Gold Coast residence to criticize the governor’s leadership on public safety. “If a criminal out on electronic monitoring can break into the Governor’s own home, we have a problem,” he says in a fundraising ad. Pritzker’s camp accused Bailey of exploiting a security incident, via the Tribune. The back-and-forth shows the race is likely to focus heavily on public safety, the economy and how the two men operate in Chicago. For Bailey, the challenge is convincing city and suburban voters that he can appeal beyond his conservative downstate base. For Pritzker, the task is tying Bailey to the positions and rhetoric that made him a polarizing figure during his unsuccessful 2022 gubernatorial bid. Election Day is 106 days away.)

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS
— More IL Tax Subsidies Wasted On Chinese Battery Production.
https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2026/07/19/more-il-tax-subsidies-wasted-on-chinese-battery-production

CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Illinois state Sen. Chris Balkema said True Value’s decision to move its headquarters from Chicago to Fort Wayne, Indiana, is another example of businesses seeking relief from what he described as Illinois’ costly regulatory and tax environment.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_ff44c6d1-447f-4610-920c-85b24341f408.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Socialists’ agenda takes hold in America’s cities and towns, while their foothold grows in Congress.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/19/socialists-agenda-takes-hold-americas-cities-towns-foothold-grows/
— The Democratic Socialists of America flexes its muscles in the Democratic Party. DSA can bamboozle useful idiots because of ignorance.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/19/democratic-socialists-america-flexes-muscles-democratic-party/
— U.S. must not ignore radical Islam’s cultural threat.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/19/us-must-not-ignore-radical-islams-cultural-threat/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Some ICE officers take issue with Trump approach to immigration enforcement.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/immigration/4653698/ice-melting-under-trump-expectations/
— Cognitive dissonance is fueling the socialist surge.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/4648378/cognitive-dissonance-is-fueling-the-socialist-surge-disgruntled-democrats/
— Nurses and teachers unions bankroll leftist candidates and causes.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4654207/nurses-teachers-unions-bankroll-leftist-candidates-causes/

NEW YORK POST
— Revoke trucking licenses for illegal immigrants — and punish states that don’t comply.
https://nypost.com/2026/07/19/opinion/revoke-trucking-licenses-for-illegal-immigrants-and-punish-states-that-dont-comply/

AMERICAN THINKER
— JD Vance’s real political cause: JD Vance. A provocative essay from Lee Smith makes the case that Vance, having been humiliated over Iran, is finding scapegoats, including Israel and Trump himself. DD: My Democrat superiors who were veterans blamed Republicans like me for America losing the Vietnam War. They especially blamed me because I was 1-A for the Vietnam War draft and I because I avoided the Vietnam War draft with four student deferments and a financial hardship draft deferment. They knew full-well that I was 1-A for the draft even though I could not run because I had an inherited bone disease, my eyesight could not be corrected to 20/20, and I had partial red/green color blindness. They stressed that if I had not avoided the Vietnam War draft, I would not have been sent into combat and that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a disgusting unmitigated hypocritical lying coward. I should write about my Democrat superiors who were veterans.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/07/jd-vance-s-real-political-cause-jd-vance/

CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES
— H-1B – Designed for Cheap Labor. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have. My critics/opponents cannot say that because they had wealthy parents. Noncitizens work for less money and they are easier to exploit.
https://cis.org/Miano/H1B-Designed-Cheap-Labor

DAILY SIGNAL
— DSA’s Dark Triumph: Socialism Surges as America Turns 250.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/07/19/dsas-socialism-america-turns-250/
— American Psychological Association Pushes Bias on College Campuses.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/07/19/the-american-psychological/

FOX NEWS
— Tom Homan slams Mamdani over sanctuary city policies, ICE criticism.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6401560708112
— Tom Homan warns ICE surge coming to New York City as Mamdani boasts about sanctuary status. The border czar said he won’t reveal operational details to avoid tipping off groups that could interfere with enforcement.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/tom-homan-warns-ice-surge-coming-new-york-city-mamdani-boasts-sanctuary-status
— Major appeals court declares New Jersey AR-15 ban unconstitutional in landmark Second Amendment ruling. The NRA called the ruling a ‘historic victory’ in a case it has litigated since 2018.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/major-appeals-court-declares-new-jersey-ar-15-ban-unconstitutional-landmark-second-amendment-ruling
— Communists have captured socialist groups. The Democratic Party is next.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-dsa-member-alleges-communists-captured-socialist-group-warns-democratic-party-next.amp

JONATHAN TURLEY
— University of California Suspends Move to Restore Standardized Testing. DD: My critics/opponents have always attributed my success in passing standardized tests to my benefitting tremendously from tremendous discrimination against those who share their demographics.
https://jonathanturley.org/2026/07/15/university-of-california-suspends-move-to-restore-standardized-testing/

LEGAL INSURRECTION
— Trinity College Offering Course to Teach Students to ‘Unsettle’ the ‘White Gaze.’  “White supremacy and racial capitalism structure our world, setting in motion the systems of domination.” DD: I avoided liberal indoctrination by majoring in business, accounting, and finance.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/07/trinity-college-offering-course-to-teach-students-to-unsettle-the-white-gaze/

TOWNHALL
— AOC, Sanders Rally for Democratic Socialist El-Sayed in Senate Primary Fight.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/scott-mcclallen/2026/07/19/aoc-sanders-rally-for-democratic-socialist-el-sayed-in-senate-primary-fight-n2679721

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CBS NEWS
— Democratic socialists the new political force in the nation.
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/democratic-socialists-grace-mausser-the-point-with-marcia-kramer/

REUTERS
— US to revive public charge rule that could deny green cards to immigrants using public benefits.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/us-to-revive-rule-that-could-deny-green-cards-to-immigrants-using-public-benefits/ar-AA284VmA
— DD: Illegals know full-well that Democrat leaders encouraged/invited them to come to America illegally and to stay in America illegally. Illegals know full-well that Democrat leaders want them to use their false identifications to register to vote and to vote. Democrats run elections in America.
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/trump-claims-voting-by-noncitizens-is-rampant-america-numbers-tell-another-story-2026-07-19/

MSN
— Strengthen your resume. DD: What did you do to strengthen your resume? I earned a bachelor’s degree in business when I was 21. I earned an MBA when I was 27. I passed the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. I earned a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31. I passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32. I became a licensed CPA when I was 32. I earned four more job-related professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48. I earned a master’s degree in finance when I was 48. My critics/opponents stress that notwithstanding the aforesaid, I never earned more than $154,682/year in today’s dollars.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/top-10-skills-that-instantly-strengthen-any-resume/ss-AA25SdWD
— Mastering high school for college success. DD: When I was a Crete-Monee High School (CMHS) student 1962-1966, no one saw me as being college material. At best, they thought that Prairie State Community College in Chicago Heights might accept me. Neither of my parents had attended college. My father was only the first of my ancestors to earn a high school diploma. My mother never attended high school. I did not even try to get a student loan because I could not have gotten one. But nevertheless, I got accepted by UIC by taking college preparatory courses, by getting an ACT score of 24, and by graduating in the upper 20% of my class. I had to work my way through college. To buy a new car to commute to/from my parents’ home in Crete and classes at UIC, I washed dishes 28 hours a week during my junior and senior years at CMHS and 40 hours a week during the summer in between. I delivering mail for the Park Forest Post Office part-time while UIC was in session 1966-1968 and full-time during the summers of 1967, 1968, and 1969. My critics/opponents stress that college expenses were much lower back then and that my parents provided me with room and board while I took classes at UIC 1966-1968, weekends during my first semester at NIU in 1969, and the summer of 1969. I graduated debt-free from NIU in August of 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in business and owning a 1969 Dodge Charger SE.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/mastering-high-school-for-college-success/ss-AA27oyIb

NEW YORK TIMES
— States Rush to Fill Graduate Loan Gap Opened by G.O.P. Budget Bill. DD: What were the reasons why you earned a master’s degree? For me, the main reason was my IRS employee manual which encouraged taking graduate courses in business and accounting. IRS had hired me when I was 22 in 1971. I started taking graduate evening business courses at Loyola in 1972. Because I took only one course at a time, I did not earn an MBA from Loyola until 1976. By then, it was too late. Nevertheless, I then started taking graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul in 1976. Because I took only one course at a time, I did not earn a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul until 1980. By then, it was too late. Nevertheless, I started taking graduate evening finance courses at IIT in 1992. Because I took only one course at a time, I did not earn a master’s degree in financial markets and trading from IIT until 1997. By then, it was too late. I earned the degree from IIT because my GAO superior wanted all her subordinates to have a master’s degrees in finance.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/your-money/states-graduate-loans-us-government.html
— DD: My critics/opponents have always attributed my success in passing standardized tests to my benefitting tremendously from tremendous discrimination against those who share their demographics.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/opinion/new-york-high-school-test-racism.html

WASHINGTON POST
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly fight personal responsibility and traditional marriage.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/02/25/success-sequence-bills-classrooms/
— Trump loomed over the World Cup, up until the awkward trophy ceremony. The president was loudly booed as he entered the field after Spain’s win, waving to people as he made his way to the stage. DD: What percent of soccer fans hate America, hate Americans, and hate Whites?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/19/trump-loomed-over-world-cup-up-until-awkward-trophy-ceremony/

USA TODAY
— Vacations. DD: My Democrat IRS and GAO superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates became ever-increasingly furious as I ever-increasingly benefitted from my wife’s job as the Corporate Secretary for the U.S. League of Savings Institutions. I went with her on her four annual business trips to luxury resorts across America 1978-1992. We almost always followed her business meetings with trips to national parks. According to my Democrat IRS and GAO superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates, they were grossly underpaid. They decried the time and money they spent raising their children. They decried their wives having little or no income. They ever-increasingly demonized, denigrated, and condemned my wife and I as being selfish disgustingly rich DINKs. Previously, my Democrat Park Forest Post Office superiors who were veterans were furious when I took vacation days for a spring break in 1969 and drove to Daytona Beach with three of my female NIU classmates in my 1969 Dodge Charger SE. In 1970, I repeated the aforesaid. My Democrat Firestone Store boss who was a veteran was furious that I went on a student package trip to the Bahamas while I was taking a graduate evening business course at UIC in the spring of 1971. My aforesaid Democrat veteran superiors and bosses were furious that I took the aforesaid vacations because I had avoided the Vietnam War draft with student deferments and with a financial hardship deferment at a time when my peers were dying in Vietnam. They blamed Republicans like me for America losing the Vietnam War. Further, while I worked for IRS 1971-1980, many, most, and at times virtually all my of superiors and supervisors were Democrat veterans who also especially blamed Republicans for America losing the Vietnam War. They were furious when I took vacations in 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1976. For them, the federal government existed to hire, to retain, and to promote Democrat veterans. In defense of the four vacations that I took to the Bahamas, Hawaii, Mexico, and Jamacia with my IRS coworker 1973-1976, they were all budget packages offered by the National Treasury Employees Union.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2026/07/06/summer-travel-too-expensive-trump-inflation/90771431007/

SEATTLE TIMES
— DD: To get more votes, Democrats ever-increasingly flood America with those who have demographics that vote for Democrats, that is, those who want/need/demand massive government assistance. To get more cheap labor, RINOs ever-increasingly flood America with those who will work for less money.
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/birthright-citizenship-challenges-have-always-failed-but-they-persist/

SHORE NEWS NETWORK
— DD: Anticipate/expect that Democrat leaders will ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that Jesus is a socialist and that he condemns capitalists.
https://www.shorenewsnetwork.com/aoc-draws-criticism-after-comparing-jesus-to-socialism-at-memphis-campaign-rally/

DALLAS EXPRESS
— Duty To Disobey. DD: For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, disabled, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. While I worked for the Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years, I never disobeyed any order that they gave me, including their ever-increasing orders to give more and more and more preference to my Democrat subordinates who were the aforesaid and/or had performance problems. All of those who they assigned me to supervise were many, most, if not virtually all of the aforesaid. But that was not enough for my Democrat superiors. When I was 49 in 1997, they forced me to retire and gave my Black subordinate my job and my preferred corner office. He had less education than I had. He had less work experience than I had. He had one professional certification while I had six. He had no professional license like the one I had.
https://dallasexpress.com/opinion/opinion-duty-to-disobey/

FORBES
— Reasons Why You Should Get A College Degree. DD: What were the reasons why you earned a college degree? For me, the main reason was my father’s often decrying his not having one. He had brittle type 1 diabetes from childhood. His doctors discouraged him from seeking a college degree because of the stress that would cause him. He often decried his being passed over for promotions. He often decried his not being able to keep up with Jones. He died suddenly in 1969 when he was 47 and I was 21. He never earned more than $50,000/year in today’s dollars.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2021/07/31/even-more-reasons-you-should-get-a-college-degree/
— Timing Is Everything: What To Consider When Seeking Career Growth. DD: I earned an MBA from Loyola when I was 27 in 1976. But by then, it was too late. I passed the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. But by then, it was too late. I earned a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul when I was 31. But by then, it was too late. I passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt and became a licensed CPA when I was 32. But by then, it was too late. I earned four more job-related professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48. But by then, it was too late. I earned a master’s degree in finance from IIT when I was 48. But by then, it was too late. The aforesaid would not have been too late if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, and or veteran.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2019/02/28/timing-is-everything-what-to-consider-when-seeking-career-growth/

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
— What is a good job? DD: Because I refused to become a Democrat, my Democrat Post Office, IRS, and GAO superiors made working for the federal government a bod job for me. Nevertheless, to advance, I earned a bachelor’s degree in business when I was 21. I earned an MBA when I was 27. I passed the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. I earned a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31. I passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32. I became a licensed CPA when I was 32. I earned four more job-related professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48. I earned a master’s degree in finance when I was 48. I would have earned the aforesaid master’s degrees much soon if I had taken more than one course at a time. But that was all I could afford and my focus was my IRS and GAO job duties.
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/wiener/programs/economy/our-work/reimagining-economy-blog/daniel-schneider-defines-a-good-job

FAST COMPANY
— How much are you worth? Estimate your employability and earning potential. DD: What did you do to increase your employability and earning potential? I passed the postal employment test when I was 17 in 1966. I passed the Federal Entrance Examination when I was 21. I earned a bachelor’s degree in business when I was 21. I earned an MBA when I was 27. I passed the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. I earned a master’s degree in accounting when I was 31. I passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32. I became a licensed CPA when I was 32. I earned four more job-related professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48. I earned a master’s degree in finance when I was 48. My critics/opponents stress that notwithstanding the aforesaid, I never earned more than $154,682/year in today’s dollars.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91505244/how-much-you-worth

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS JOURNALS
— Good Jobs versus Bad Jobs. DD: My critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that all the jobs I had were bad jobs that they would never stoop to take. I delivered newspapers 1962-1966. I washed dishes 1964-1966. I cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966. I delivering mail 1966-1969. I worked on an automotive assembly line in 1970. I sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971. I pumped more gasoline 1971-1972. I collected delinquent taxes 1971-1980. I audited federal agencies 1980-1997. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on those whose parents were the wealthiest.
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/209978

INSIDE HIGHER EDUCATION
— Young Men’s Perceptions of Higher Ed. DD: What were the reasons why you earned a master’s degree? For me, the main reason was my IRS employee manual which encouraged taking graduate courses in business and accounting. IRS had hired me when I was 22 in 1971. I started taking graduate evening business courses at Loyola in 1972. Because I took only one course at a time, I did not earn an MBA from Loyola until 1976. By then, it was too late. Nevertheless, I then started taking graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul in 1976. Because I took only one course at a time, I did not earn a master’s degree in accounting from DePaul until 1980. By then, it was too late. Nevertheless, I started taking graduate evening finance courses at IIT in 1992. Because I took only one course at a time, I did not earn a master’s degree in financial markets and trading from IIT until 1997. By then, it was too late. I earned the degree from IIT because my GAO superior wanted all her subordinates to have a master’s degrees in finance.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/07/20/young-mens-perceptions-higher-ed

July 15, 2026

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Graham Platner’s implosion should be a dire warning to Democrats. Is the party listening?
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/15/editorial-graham-platners-implosion-should-be-a-dire-warning-to-democrats-is-the-party-listening/
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism. How soon will the Democrat Party officially change its name to the Socialist Party? For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/15/column-socialist-democrats-center-majority-washington/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2026/07/14/maine-ice-shooting-man-killed/4e1a0ba8-7f8f-11f1-8a16-393bd03340b0_story.html
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/14/ice-suspends-most-vehicle-stops/

ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
— DOJ threatens to prosecute election officials over noncitizen voting
https://www.rrstar.com/story/news/state/2026/07/15/doj-threatens-state-officials-with-prosecution-over-noncitizen-votes/90701312007/

EVANSTON NOW
— Mayor Daniel Biss Monday night defended an Evanston pro-Palestine group’s participation in the 4th of July parade against claims by members of a Jewish group that it should have been banned. DD: I should write about my critics/opponents who have done the most since 1978 to diminish/stop Republican participation in Wheaton Independence Day parades.
https://evanstonnow.com/biss-defends-parade-free-speech/

STATE LINE
— Pritzker signs Certificate of Innocence Act to expand Illinois restitution laws. DD: My critics/opponents have taken many big adverse actions against me. Should I try to get exonerated?
https://www.mystateline.com/news/gov-pritzker-signs-certificate-of-innocence-act-to-expand-illinois-restitution-laws/

WBEZ
— Mayor Johnson’s controversial plan to crack down on ICE agents now faces City Council scrutiny
https://www.wbez.org/politics/2026/07/15/brandon-johnson-city-council-ice-immigration-midway-blitz

POLITICO ILLINOIS
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/07/15/pritzker-hochul-diverge-on-data-centers-00997971

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Illinois Second in Loss of Millionaires from 2010 thru 2022
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/14/illinois-second-in-loss-of-millionaires-from-2010-thru-2022/

BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS
— Ammons Indictment Exposes the Useless NGO Spending in the IL Budget
https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2026/07/13/ammons-indictment-exposes-the-useless-ngo-spending-in-the-il-budget

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— The New York Times stumped for Stalin. Now it’s mooning over Mamdani.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/4645547/new-york-times-mooning-over-mamdani-socialism/

NEW YORK POST
— Maine socialists try again — with another he-man fake to sub for Graham Platner.
https://nypost.com/2026/07/14/opinion/maine-socialists-boost-another-he-man-fake-after-graham-platner/
— DD: LGBTQ advocates destroy those who do not advocate LGBTQ.
https://nypost.com/2026/07/14/us-news/west-hollywoods-lindsey-graham-tribute-sparks-debate-over-his-lgbtq-record/

BIZ PAC REVIEW
— The birthright citizenship battle is back.
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2026/07/14/the-birthright-citizenship-battle-is-back-and-the-left-is-nervous-1650502/
— CNBC mocked for list of top 10 worst states to live – they are ALL red.
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2026/07/14/cnbc-mocked-for-list-of-top-10-worst-states-to-live-they-are-all-red-1650489/

BLAZE
— CNBC’s ‘worst states’ ranking under fire for scoring conservative policies as negatives.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/cnbcs-worst-states-ranking-under-fire-for-scoring-conservative-policies-as-negatives

BRITBART
— Socialists Will ‘Absolutely Rip Apart’ the Democrat Party.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/07/14/gop-rep-gill-socialists-will-absolutely-rip-apart-the-democrat-party/

DAILY CALLER
— Deranged American Rich Kids Are America’s Greatest Threat.
https://dailycaller.com/2026/07/14/ingersoll-deranged-american-rich-kids-leftists-marxism-education/

DAILY SIGNAL
— New York Times Countersues Trump Admin in DEI Hiring Case. DD: The Democrats who ran the Post Office in 1966, IRS in 1971, and GAO in 1980 hired me because they could not find a qualified Democrat, minority, female, younger person, or veteran who would take the job.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/07/14/new-york-times-countersues-dei/

FOX BUSINESS
— Democratic socialists erupt over 2028 endorsement.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6401119900112

FOX NEWS
— College students reveal political ignorance on Trump, Iran and socialism.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6401116345112

NEW AMERICAN
— DSA’s New Plan: Abolish Senate, Amnesty for Illegals — Deliver Madison’s “Tyranny”
https://thenewamerican.com/uncategorised/dsas-new-plan-abolish-senate-amnesty-for-illegals-deliver-madisons-tyranny/

U.S. HOUSE
— DEI is Discriminatory and Illegal. DD: Since the 1960s, my critics/opponents have used Affirmative Action and DEI against me.
https://oversight.house.gov/release/hearing-wrap-up-dei-is-discriminatory-and-illegal/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

YAHOO
— Johnson warns of socialist, communist, ‘barbarians in the gate,’ during GOP briefing.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/johnson-warns-socialist-communist-barbarians-210303192.html

NEW YORK TIMES
— DD: All of my coworkers who my Democrat superiors in the federal government promoted over me were Democrats who a) had less education than I had, had less work experience than I had, had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had and/or b) were minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or had ancestors who had not been in America for a long time.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/us/hegseth-blocks-navy-promotions.html

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Federal Hiring. If I had not earned a high school diploma and passed the employment test, the Democrats who ran the Post Office would not have hired me in 1966. If I had not earned a bachelor’s degree in business, Firestone Stores would not have hired me in 1970. If I had not passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination, the Democrats who ran IRS would not have hired me in 1971. If I have not been taking graduate evening business courses at Loyola, my Democrat IRS superiors would not have promoted me in 1972, 1973, and 1974. If I had not earned an MBA from Loyola and passed the CPA examination on my first attempt, the Democrats who ran GAO would not have hired me in 1980.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/federal-hiring-isnt-a-one-test-fits-all-box-350cc742

DESERET NEWS
— The socialists trying to reshape the Democratic Party. Is communism making a comeback?
https://www.deseret.com/politics/2026/07/14/are-democratic-socialists-of-america-communists-like-president-trump-says/

DALLAS EXPRESS
— What The Democratic Socialists Of America Want.
https://dallasexpress.com/national/democratic-socialists-of-americas-plan-to-remake-america/

INTER NEWS GROUP
— JD Vance’s New Neighbors Are Furious About His Arrival. DD: Those who have demographics that vote for Democrats do not want those who have demographics that vote for Republicans to be their neighbors. I base that on my having been the Republican Committeeman for my precinct since 1999. Since then, about 4 out of every 5 times when a Republican home is sold in my precinct, Democrats buy it. Since Trump got elected in 2016, things have gotten ever-increasingly worse. Democrat homebuyers especially do not want Republican neighbors who share Trump’s demographics: conservative, Republican, White, male, older, draft avoider, Protestant, German American, and have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Because I share all of the aforesaid demographics with Trump and because I am their Republican Precinct Committeeman, I am ever-increasingly unpopular in my precinct, if not persona non grata, if not despised/hated. The hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters in my precinct ever-increasingly take their hatred against Trump out on me. It is caller displaced aggression. Should I write about that? Should I wear a body camera when I go door-to-door delivering Republican campaign literature for my self-defense?
https://internewsgroup.com/2026/07/jd-vances-new-neighbors-are-furious-about-his-arrival/

FORBES
— Meritocracy. DD: All of my coworkers who my Democrat superiors in the federal government promoted over me were Democrats who a) had less education than I had, had less work experience than I had, had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had and/or b) were minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or had ancestors who had not been in America for a long time.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2026/05/19/the-myth-of-meritocracy-and-other-outdated-beliefs-women-are-told-at-work/

CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS
— Lessons In Vetting: Don’t Just Google Your Candidate. Before you agree to work for a political candidate make sure you do more than a Google search. This article lays out the key rules for vetting candidates. DD: Far too many run for offices as Republicans and get elected as Republicans who have far too much baggage, that is, far too many skeletons in their closets. I should write about candidates on ballots in my precinct since 2000 who ran as Republicans, but had far too much baggage, that is, far too many skeletons in their closets. I would focus on those who had their political consultants, major donors, pollsters, campaign managers, campaign staff members, and campaign volunteers destroy me because I refused to cover up their wrongdoing.
https://campaignsandelections.com/industry-news/lessons-in-vetting-don-t-just-google-your-candidate/

NEW REPUBLIC
— The ICE agent who shot and killed a 26-year-old Colombian immigrant in Biddeford, Maine, Monday morning had been with the agency for just a few short months. DD: The first 6 months that I worked for IRS in 1971 was in classroom training.
https://newrepublic.com/post/213081/new-details-ice-agent-fatal-maine-shooting

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

STANDARD
— Meritocracy: The foundation of strong institutions and national prosperity. DD: All of my coworkers who my Democrat superiors in the federal government promoted over me were Democrats who a) had less education than I had, had less work experience than I had, had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had and/or b) were minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or had ancestors who had not been in America for a long time.
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/amp/opinion/article/2001552327/meritocracy-the-foundation-of-strong-institutions-and-national-prosperity

July 14, 2026

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Growing downstate Illinois secessionist movement deserves more than smirks from Chicagoland.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/14/new-illinois-illinois-separation-downstate-secession-illinois/
— Do elected officials owe their constituents health reports?
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/14/editorial-do-elected-officials-owe-their-constituents-health-reports/

POLITICO ILLINOIS
— Pritzker’s high school years. DD: What did you do during your junior and senior years in high school? While I was a Crete-Monee High School junior and senior 1964-1966, I washed dishes for the minimum wage in the basement of the SS Kresge in Chicago Heights for 28 hours a week during the school years and for 40 hours a week during the summer of 1965. I got to/from my parents’ home in Crete and that job with a 1958 Chevrolet BelAir that I bought with money I had earned doing yard work and delivering newspapers. I used the money I earned washing dishes buy a new 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint ( https://over-drive-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/1965-12-CD-1966-Pontiac-Tempest-Sprint-Test-1-4.pdf ) in May of 1966 to use to commute to/from my parent’s home and UIC. Even though I spent far too many hours washing dishes instead or studying, I got an ACT score of 24 and I graduated in the upper 20% of my class, but only just barely, and I got accepted by UIC. Because of my dishwashing, my interaction with my classmates was very limited.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2026/07/14/summer-break-not-quite-00995832
(FROM THE NEWSLETTER: OPPO MEETS NOSTALGIA: Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey appears to have gone digging through Gov. JB Pritzker‘s high school yearbook, posting images and comments from it and demanding answers about phrases including, “funny things on your knees” and “drugged for drugs.” Pritzker didn’t exactly take the bait. Instead, the governor responded as though he were signing the yearbook all over again: “This was a great year. Thanks for the reminder, Darren.” Here’s the post)

CAPITAL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2026/07/14/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-769/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

NEW YORK POST
— New revelation about Muslim ‘grooming gangs’ is yet one more way progressives have let women down.
https://nypost.com/2026/06/18/world-news/progressives-continue-to-let-women-down-with-victim-hierarchy/

1819 NEWS
— Combatting the rise of socialism in America.
https://1819news.com/news/item/kristin-landers-combatting-the-rise-of-socialism-in-america

FOX NEWS
— Democratic socialists erupt over 2028 endorsement as AOC speculation grows.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democratic-socialist-party-infighting-erupts-pick-president-aoc-rumors-loom-dangerous-path

FOX BUSINESS
—  Lack of leadership allowed socialism’s influence to grow.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6401066135112
— Destructive socialist policies.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6401067182112

HERITAGE FOUNDATION
— The Case for Capitalism. DD: To advance under socialism, you have to be a socialist. To advance in the Democrat-run federal government, you have to be a Democrat. When I was 49 in 1997, my salary was only $154,682/year in today’s dollars working in the Democrat public sector. My critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that if I had worked in the private sector, I never would have earned that much. In my defense, I had earned three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. If I had been a Democrat, my GAO salary when I was 49 in 1997 would have been $197,200/year in today’s dollars.
https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/commentary/the-case-capitalism

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

MSN
— 2027 Social Security COLA forecast rises on inflation surge. DD: My critics/opponents were, are, and will always be furious a) that I got COLAs when I was a federal employee 1966-1969 and 1971-1997 and b) that I have gotten COLAs as a federal retiree since 1997 and as a Social Security recipient since 2010.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/insight/2027-social-security-cola-forecast-rises-on-inflation-surge/gm-GM56D67C7D

NEW YORK TIMES
— Tension Emerges Among Democratic Socialists Over 2028 Endorsement.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/nyregion/dsa-endorsement-aoc-new-york.html
— Our Never-Ending Race to the Bottom. Something is wrong if vice is all on their side and virtue is all on yours. DD: Far too many run for offices as Republicans and get elected as Republicans who have far too much baggage, that is, far too many skeletons in their closets. I should write about candidates on ballots in my precinct since 2000 who ran as Republicans, but had far too much baggage, that is, far too many skeletons in their closets. I would focus on those who had their political consultants, major donors, pollsters, campaign managers, campaign staff members, and campaign volunteers destroy me because I refused to cover up their wrongdoing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/opinion/paxton-talarico-platner-trump.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: This brings me to three of my least favorite politicians: Donald Trump, Ken Paxton and Graham Platner. Why have so many people so vigorously supported such deeply flawed men? Why are their supporters so loyal, so vociferous, even after scandal after scandal?
And why are their supporters often such raging hypocrites — gleefully pointing out the sins and flaws in others while ignoring or rationalizing their own candidate’s profound faults?)

WASHINGTON POST
— DD: For Democrats, the federal government exists to hire, retain, and promote Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. Virtually all federal employees are Democrats who are one or more of the aforesaid. All of my coworkers who my Democrat superiors in the federal government promoted over me were Democrats who a) had less education than I had, had less work experience than I had, had no professional certification or fewer than I had, and/or had no professional license like the one I had and/or b) were minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or had ancestors who had not been in America for a long time.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/13/colorblind-constitution-concept-underlies-key-supreme-court-rulings/

USA TODAY
— Leaving for a better job. DD: I had to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO when I was 31 in 1980 even though I had earned an MBA in 1976 and I had passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979. My IRS supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were furious about the precedent
that the aforesaid pay cut set for them. I would stress to my Democrat IRS superiors, coworkers, and subordinates a) that none of them came to my defense when my Democrat IRS superiors disallowed my travel vouchers in 1974, disallowed my education deductions in 1978, and never promoted me beyond GS-12 and b) that was why I had to take the aforesaid pay cut to transfer.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2026/07/07/is-it-disloyal-to-leave-supportive-company-job/90820006007/
— DD: Communism is taking over the Democrat Party.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/07/01/trump-communism-democrat-socialists-midterms/90752688007/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG GRAPHIC: Democrat leaders crow about their success in driving Trump’s approval rating down.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/07/12/trump-approval-rates-fall-rural-white-working-class-voters/90864576007/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Capitalism Gets a Bum Rap. DD: Do/did you work in the private sector or the public sector? I planned to work in the private sector, the automotive industry to be exact. But my high school friend asked me to join him to take the postal employment test. Because I passed, I was a part-time postal employee while I attended UIC 1966-1968 and NIU in 1969. I graduated from NIU in 1970 and accepted the only job offer that I got, to be the Retail Sales Manager in a Firestone Store, a job that not really require a college degree. I accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile in 1971, but Oldsmobile withdrew that offer saying it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. My Firestone Store boss rudely fired me because I had accepted that offer. Because I had to have a job, I accepted a job offer that I got from IRS. I had taken and passed the Federal Service Entrance Examination while I was a NIU student. Potential employers saw me as being draft bait. They did not believe that my application for a financial hardship draft deferment to help support my mother and brother would be approved.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/free-expression/capitalism-gets-a-bum-rap-c36d1cdf
— Mick Jagger Doesn’t Love Us Anymore. The Rolling Stones’ new song ‘Ringing Hollow’ knocks Trump and the country that elected him. DD: The more demographics that you share with Trump, the more that hate-filled Trump-hating Trump-haters promote hatred against you.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/mick-jagger-doesnt-love-us-anymore-fea5c9cc
— Jewish Democrats have found their loyalty to the party isn’t being returned. DD: Democrat leaders are ever-increasingly antisemitic. My Democrat superiors in the federal government had my many Jewish superiors and supervisors take many big adverse actions against me.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/schumers-tragedyand-ours-39091bf2
— Why White-Collar Men Are Obsessed With the Perfect Lawn. DD: I am one of the few who continue to mow and edge their lawn, trim bushes, kill yard weeds and insects, rake leaves, shovel snow, etc.
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/why-white-collar-men-are-obsessed-with-the-perfect-lawn-d2c0487d
— More U.S. Workers Are Testing Positive for Marijuana. Fewer Employers Are Concerned. DD: Pot is poison. Democrat leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Sooner or later, Democrat pot will destroy America. I never used pot and I never will. If I had used pot, the Post Office would not have hired me in 1966. Firestone Stores would not have hired me in 1970. IRS would not have hired me in 1971. GAO would not have hired me in 1980. I would not have been able to earn a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license.
https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/more-u-s-workers-are-testing-positive-for-marijuana-fewer-employers-are-concerned-550bf186
— Chicago’s Coming Pension ‘Pneumonia.’ The Illinois comptroller warns of big trouble in a stock-market downturn.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/susana-mendoza-chicago-pensions-stock-market-aaa2f9c6?st=1szpdx&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

FORBES
— Getting promoted. DD: What did you do to get promoted? I focused on my job duties and I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. What delayed/stopped your promotions? For me, it was my refusal to become a Democrat. Then it was my complaining about political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination. Then it was my becoming an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged my superiors with the aforesaid when I was 40 in 1988.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/10/24/16-mistakes-employees-make-when-trying-to-get-a-promotion/
— Workplace Favoritism. DD: My Democrat and RINO superiors have always favored those who are liberal/moderate, Democrat, RINO, minority, female, younger, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or non-citizen.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2025/04/23/workplace-favoritism-one-in-10-are-quitting-over-it/

NPR
— How Lindsey Graham tried to stay ‘relevant.’ DD: I try to stay relevant in the Republican Party by continuing on as the GOPUSA Illinois Editor and as a Republican Precinct Committeeman.
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/13/nx-s1-5891751/how-lindsey-graham-tried-to-stay-relevant

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
— Veterans and the GI Bill. DD: My initial plan was to enlist and to earn a bachelor’s degree with the GI Bill. But then I saw that my high school neighbor friend in Crete was on track to get accepted by UIC and to commute to/from classes at UIC from his parents’ home. I adopted that plan, I took college preparatory classes, got an ACT score of 24, and I graduated in the upper 20% of my 1966 Crete-Monee High School class. My high school neighbor friend commuted in a new 1965 base Chevelle that his father bought for him. I commuted in a new 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint that I paid for with money that I earned washing dishes for 28 hours a week during my junior and senior years 1964-1966 and for 40 hours a week during the summer of 1965.
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2014/08/back-to-school-veterans-and-the-gi-bill/

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

ECONOMIC TIMES
— DINKs. DD: My Democrat GAO superiors 1980-1997 a) decried the time and money that they spent raising their children and b) decried the little or no income that their spouses had. They used against me big time a) my wife and I giving up trying to have children without trying IVF, our not adopting, and our not becoming foster parents and b) my wife’s good job. According to them, were it not for the aforesaid, we would not have been able to buy two new cars and a home in Wheaton in when we got married in 1978 and I would not have been able a) to pass the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, b) to take a $23,699/year (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980, c) to earn a master’s degree in accounting in 1980, d) to pass the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981, e) to become a licensed CPA in 1981, or f) to have a home built in Wheaton in 1984. My Democrat GAO superiors ever-increasingly demonized, denigrated, and condemned my wife and I as being disgusting selfish rich DINKs. I should write about my Democrat GAO superiors?
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/canada/psychology-explains-why-modern-couples-prefer-being-dinks-instead-of-having-children/articleshow/132106673.cms

THE WORLD
— India’s Caste system persists across the globe. DD: What Caste were you born into? Neither of my parents attended college. My father was only the first of my ancestors to earn a high school diploma. He never earned more than $50,000/year in today’s dollars. He almost always worked second jobs to pay the family’s bills. He died suddenly when he was 47 and I was 21, My mother never attended high school. All my grandparent spoke German. I had to work my way through college. Nevertheless, my critics/opponents have always outrageously, disgustingly, falsely, and unethically painted my parents as having been filthy rich. They have always known full-well that I did yard work 1962-1964, delivered newspapers 1962-1966, washed dishes 1964-1966, cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, delivered mail 1966-1969, worked on an automotive assemble line in 1970, sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, pumped more gasoline 1971-1972, collected delinquent taxes 1971-1980, and audited federal agencies 1980-1997. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on those whose parents were wealthy.
https://theworld.org/segments/2026/07/13/how-indias-caste-system-persists-across-the-globe

July 13, 2026 Evening Edition

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— At least 27 shot, 3 fatally, in weekend gun violence across Chicago.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-shootings-weekend-least-21-shot-3-fatally-gun-violence-city-police-department-says/19493170/
— Darline Graham Nordone, sister of Lindsey Graham, picked to fulfill remainder of his US Senate term.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/who-could-replace-lindsey-graham-south-carolinas-steps-senators-death/19498038/

CHICAGO TRINUNE
— DD: Democrat leaders say Trump acted in bad faith. My Democrat superiors in the federal government acted in bad faith.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/13/trump-irs-lawsuit/
— Regulators issue new guidance on bank lending risk tied to borrowers living illegally in US.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/07/13/bank-lending/

DAILY HERALD
— Pay raises demonstrate lawmakers’ corruption.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260713/letters-to-the-editor/pay-raises-demonstrate-lawmakers-corruption/

STATELINE
— Felon on pretrial release arrested in JB Pritzker’s backyard.
https://www.mystateline.com/news/felon-on-pretrial-release-arrested-in-jb-pritzkers-backyard/amp/

WGLT
— How Lindsey Graham tried to stay ‘relevant’ in the Republican Party. DD: I try to stay relevant in the Republican Party by continuing on as the GOPUSA Illinois Editor and as a Republican Precinct Committeeman.
https://www.wglt.org/2026-07-13/how-lindsey-graham-tried-to-stay-relevant

WCIA
— U of I program aims to help veterans transition to college. DD: My initial plan was to enlist and to earn a bachelor’s degree with the GI Bill. But then I saw that my high school neighbor friend in Crete was on track to getting accepted by UIC and commuting to/from classes at UIC from his parents’ home. I adopted that plan, I took college preparatory classes, got an ACT score of 24, and I graduated in the upper 20% of my 1966 Crete-Monee High School class. My high school neighbor friend commuted in a new 1965 base Chevelle that his father bought for him. I commuted in a new 1966 Pontiac Tempest Sprint that I paid for with money that I earned washing dishes for 28 hours a week during my junior and senior years 1964-1966 and for 40 hours a week during the summer of 1965.
https://www.wcia.com/news/champaign-county/u-of-i-program-aims-to-help-veterans-transition-to-college/

JOLET PATCH
— $316,000 For Black Lives Matter Will County, Money For 4 Other Organizations.
https://patch.com/illinois/joliet/316-000-black-lives-matter-will-county-money-4-other-organizations-revealed-senator

CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2026/07/13/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-554/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Tollway Issues Press Release with Headline to Minimize Interest, Public Hearings on Toll Tax Hikes Listed
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/13/tollway-issues-press-release-with-headline-to-minimize-interest-public-hearings-on-toll-tax-hikes-listed/
— Pritzker Signs Bills Allowing School Debt to Increase without Referendums
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/08/pritzker-signs-bills-allowing-school-debt-to-increase-without-referendums/
— Animal Welfare Advocates Take on Ogle County
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/08/animal-welfare-advocates-take-on-ogle-county/
— State Trade Association Features District 155 Finance Guy Kevin Werner, Constituent Comments
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/08/state-trade-association-features-district-155-finance-guy-kevin-werner-constituent-comments/
— Corbett Points to Two Democratic Party State Representees’ Behavior as Demonstration of How Broken Illinois Government Is
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/08/20981/
— Disgraced Democratic Party State Rep. Resigned from the House, But Remains Wheatland Township Highway Commissioner, Where Loran Underwood Lives
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/08/disgraced-democratic-party-state-rep-resigned-from-the-house-but-remains-wheatland-township-highway-commissioner-where-loran-underwood-lives/
— Still Another Big Company–True Value–Taking Leave of Illinois
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/08/still-another-big-company-true-value-taking-leave-of-illinois/
— Governor Pritzker to the Future: All You Need Is Love
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/09/governor-pritzker-to-the-future-all-you-need-is-love/
— Tollway’s Fifteen Year Plan Ignores Jordan Tollway
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/09/tollways-fifteen-year-plan-ignores-jordan-tollway/
— Democrats Replace “Mother” with “Birthing Persons” in Press Release Announcing Midwives Eligible for Medicaid Coverage
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/09/democrats-replace-mother-with-birthing-persons-in-press-release-announcing-midwives-eligible-for-medicaid-coverage/
— County Continues Campaign to Convict Drug Sellers Whose Customers Die
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/09/county-continues-campaign-to-convict-drug-sellers-whose-customers-die/
— Jim Marter Challenges Democratic Party Opponent Lauren Underwood to Call for Harry Benton Benton’s Resignation from Wheatland Township Road Commissioner
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/09/jim-marter-challenges-democratic-party-opponent-lauren-underwood-to-call-for-harry-benton-bentons-resignation-from-wheatland-township-road-commissioner/
— ICE Asks Pritzker Not to Release Illegal Alien from Kane County Jail
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/09/ice-asks-pritzker-not-to-release-illegal-alien-from-kane-county-jail/
— Illegal Alien Arrested for Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault, Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse, and Sexual Exploitation of a Child (Pingrey Grove 8 Years Old)
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2026/07/10/illegal-alien-arrested-for-predatory-criminal-sexual-assault-aggravated-criminal-sexual-abuse-and-sexual-exploitation-of-a-child-8-years-old/

ILLINOIS REVIEW
— Illinois Politicians Stack Salaries, Benefits and Pensions – On Your Dime. DD: My critics/opponents are furious that I have gotten a Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) pension since 1997 and Social Security since 2010. But I paid 7% of my federal salary into CSRS for almost 30 years and I paid into Social Security for 10 years.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2026/07/illinois-politicians-stack-salaries-benefits-and-pensions-on-your-dime.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Bernie Sanders’ revenge. The Democratic Socialists of America’s takeover of the Democratic Party.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/13/bernie-sanders-revenge/
— Freedom Caucus presses House leadership for a vote to make Trump’s border policies law.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/13/freedom-caucus-presses-speaker-mike-johnson-vote-make-donald-trumps/
— America cannot survive without moral boundaries. No guardrails, no freedom, no civil society.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/jul/13/america-cannot-survive-without-moral-boundaries/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Marxists, socialists, and the ‘Red Star’: Here are the DSA’s most prominent caucuses.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4646135/six-democratic-socialists-america-most-prominent-caucuses/

BREITBART
— 15 Shot During Seven Hour Timeframe in Gun-Controlled Chicago.
https://www.breitbart.com/2nd-amendment/2026/07/13/15-shot-during-seven-hour-timeframe-in-gun-controlled-chicago/amp/
— ICE Arrests Illegals Convicted of Murder, Manslaughter, Child Rape.
https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2026/07/13/exclusive-ice-arrests-illegal-aliens-convicted-of-murder-manslaughter-child-rape/amp/

FOX BUSINESS
— Democratic socialists expand influence, push radical agenda.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6401048687112

REAL CLEAR POLITICS
— The Media Is “Soft Peddling Socialists, Who Want To Deconstruct Our Society.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GumkNaGjSUA

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

NEWSWEEK
— DD: Democrat leaders rank Republican states to be the worst states to live in. He who sets the ranking criteria determines the outcome.
https://www.newsweek.com/ranking-10-worst-states-to-live-is-entirely-republican-sparks-backlash-12187925

NEW YORK TIMES
— DD: Democrat leaders crow about their success in getting younger voters to propel the Democratic Socialist Surge in New York.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/12/nyregion/dsa-young-voters-primary-ny.html

WASHINGTON POST
— The DSA can’t hide its extremism. Its leaders may deny it, but this group has designs far beyond the social safety net.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/07/10/democratic-socialists-america-cant-hide-its-extremism/

WCBM
— ‘Now We’re in Congress:’ Rashida Tlaib Lays Out the Socialist Agenda in Rage-Filled Rant.
https://wcbm.com/national-headline/now-were-in-congress-rashida-tlaib-lays-out-the-socialist-agenda-in-rage-filled-rant/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Lindsey Graham’s Sister Named to Fill His Senate Seat.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/lindsey-graham-trump-replacement-sister-ed58d06d?mod=djemwhatsnews
— DD: Democrat leaders say Trump acted in bad faith. My Democrat superiors in the federal government acted in bad faith.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/judge-excoriates-trumps-irs-lawsuit-that-led-to-1-8-billion-fund-3a3c94fe
— Student loans. DD: I could not have gotten a student loan if I had tried. My ACT score was only 24. I only just barely made it into the upper 20% of my high school class. Therefore, to pay for my UIC and then NIU college expenses and to pay for new cars to drive to/from my parents’ home in Crete to classes at UIC and then NIU, I spent far too many hours washing dishes during my junior and senior years at Crete-Monee, during my first 2 years at UIC and my first semester at NIU. Therefore, my ACT score and my GPAs were lower. Therefore, when I graduated, the only job offer I got did not really require a college degree. I acknowledge that my wanting new cars resulted in a) my working more hours and b) my ACT score and GPAs being lower.
https://www.wsj.com/buyside/personal-finance/student-loans/best-private-student-loans

HR DRIVE
— DD: My Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997 because I was an active member in class action lawsuit that charged them with reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation.
https://www.hrdive.com/news/white-employee-lawsuit-equity-mindset-requirement-survives/825048/