Diogenes-Light: Wednesday, April 2, 2025

April 2, 2025

Good morning,

Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

GOP candidates win both Florida elections, overcoming vast fundraising deficits . . . Trump-backed Republicans swept a pair of special congressional elections in deep-red Florida districts, overcoming strong fundraising from their Democratic rivals and giving the House GOP much-needed reinforcements on Capitol Hill. Republican state Sen. Randy Fine defeated Democrat Josh Weil, a teacher, in the 6th Congressional District in northeastern Florida. And Jimmy Patronis, the state's chief financial officer, got the better of Democrat Gay Valimont, a gun control activist, in the 1st Congressional District on the Florida Panhandle. Washington Times

Democrats are trying to turn this into some kind of victory because the GOP candidates didn't slaughter their opponents, but they won easily - each by about 14 points - after being outspent vastly.

Progressives Keep Wisconsin Supreme Court; More Democrat US House Seats Likely . . . Wisconsin residents voted on Tuesday to elect Susan Crawford as the next member of their state supreme court, according to the Associated Press, which declared Crawford the winner. The vote will put the liberals in charge of the state's highest court during a time when the court's decisions on congressional redistricting in the state could very well lead to more House seats for Democrats. Daily Signal

The estimate is two to three seats will go Democrat. Musk spent millions on the race and declared a Democratic victory would mean the end of Western civilization. All of that might have backfired.

Wisconsin voters approve adding ID requirement to state constitution

Politics

JD Vance Calls on Americans to Have 'Courage to Live the Truth' . . . "I think there's anything that sort of ties the first Trump administration to the second Trump administration and the president's entire political career, is that this is a guy with incredible courage," the vice president said. "He just doesn't care what other people say about him. He doesn't care what the media writes about him. He's going to do what he thinks is right." Daily Signal

Be Careful What You Wish For: Biden's Firing of a Trump Appointee Boomerangs Big Time

Newsom's California Has Sent Nearly $18 Million in Taxpayer Funds to Soros-Backed Tides Center . . . California has doled out nearly $18 million in taxpayer funding to the left-wing Tides Center since Gavin Newsom (D.) became governor in 2019, a Washington Free Beacon review of state spending records found. Thanks to the way the dark money behemoth operates, it's a mystery whether the money goes to any of the far-left groups it supports. That setup allows the state to obscure which group actually gets taxpayer dollars after it awards contracts or grants to the Tides Center. Washington Free Beacon

The conservative press has been exposing how liberals in power at the federal and state level funnel taxpayer money to leftist organizations as part of a gruesome, corrupt symbiosis.

Obama was working against Kamala Harris behind the scenes, didn't think she could win . . . Reporter and author Jonathan Allen said Tuesday that former President Barack Obama was working against former Vice President Kamala Harris after former President Joe Biden dropped out, advocating for an open primary because he didn't think Harris could win. "President Obama absolutely did not think that Joe Biden should continue, according to our sources close to President Obama," Allen told MSNBC. "And he also didn't want Kamala Harris to be the replacement for Biden. Fox News

Trump Admin Gives DC Health Bureaucrats A Choice: Move To Alaska Or Resign

How about resign and move to Alaska?

Frustration grows with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick: 'Loose cannon with half-baked ideas' . . . Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has become the focus of exasperation inside the Trump administration with one saying the sentiment is so prevalent, it is "like being a mosquito at a nudist colony — where do you even start?" Lutnick has rubbed colleagues the wrong way on matters of both substance and style — with critics venting about his recent proclamation that a tariff-induced recession would be "worth it," his call for the public to buy Tesla stock and his practice of inserting himself into policy discussions. New York Post

Cory Booker breaks record for longest Senate speech after more than 24 hours . . . Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) made Senate history Tuesday evening after speaking for more than 24 hours on the chamber floor, eclipsing the previous record for the longest Senate speech held since 1957 by the late Sen. Strom Thurmond. At 7:19 p.m., Booker set the new record with a marathon speech of 24 hours and 19 minutes that first began Monday at 7 p.m. in a symbolic protest of President Donald Trump's second term. Washington Examiner

Anybody who listened to any part of this speech will know that it will be used for years to come by dictators around the world to torture political prisoners.

Culture

Can Virginia Republicans Halt Extreme Abortion-Until-Birth Amendment? . . . Conservatives want to block House Joint Resolution 1, or as they call it, "the abortion amendment." HJ 1 would enshrine in the Virginia Constitution the "right" to abort a baby right up until it is about to be born. One delegate was heard saying that "it used to be the second trimester, now it's the second contraction." Given the unanimity that supporters of the amendment in the Democratic Party have, the GOP needs to take the majority in the House of Delegates in this fall's Virginia General Assembly elections to have any hope of blocking it. Daily Signal

Planned Parenthood applies its abortion playbook to push for transgender rights in California . . . California reproductive health care advocates are moving to extend their playbook for abortion protections to transgender care in the wake of federal funding cuts and moves to reverse trans rights under the Trump administration. In a state legislative package first shared with POLITICO, Planned Parenthood is backing six bills that touch on access to medication abortion, STI testing, Medi-Cal funding and privacy protections for patients and providers who work in gender-affirming care. Politico

Your tax dollars at work.

National Security

NYC sees dramatic reduction in murders, shootings in 2025 under NYPD boss Jessica Tisch's leadership . . . Violent crime in New York City took a nosedive in the early months of 2025 under NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch's no-nonsense leadership. Tisch took over the department at the end of last year and immediately cleaned house of allegedly corrupt top officials as she introduced new policies to improve New Yorkers' quality of life and cut down on repeat offenders. As the first quarter of the year concluded, finalized crime statistics exclusively shared with The Post reflected her efforts. New York Post

Money

Trump to unveil sweeping tariffs . . . A 39% tariff on American beef going to Japan. Canadian levies exceeding 200% on American dairy. A 150% tariff on American alcohol sold in India. These levies, plus a host of tariffs and value-added taxes that make U.S. goods more expensive in Europe, make President Trump angry. The president will seek revenge Wednesday with a "Liberation Day" plan to impose tariffs on any nation that taxes U.S. goods or establishes other trade barriers. Washington Times

The goal is not so much to punish others as it is to reestablish a US industrial base and shore up Middle America, which carries the torch of our culture now that the elite have abandoned it.

You should also know

AG Pam Bondi Seeks Death Penalty for UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder Suspect Luigi Mangione . . . Luigi Mangione's murder of Brian Thompson—an innocent man and father of two young children—was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America," Bondi said in a statement. "After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump's agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again." Washington Free Beacon

Yes, please.

Val Kilmer, 'Top Gun' and Batman star with an intense approach, dies at 65 . . . Val Kilmer, the brooding, versatile actor who played fan favorite Iceman in "Top Gun," donned a voluminous cape as Batman in "Batman Forever" and portrayed Jim Morrison in "The Doors," has died. He was 65. Kilmer died Tuesday night in Los Angeles, surrounded by family and friends, his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, said in an email to The Associated Press. Val Kilmer died from pneumonia. He had recovered after a 2014 throat cancer diagnosis that required two tracheotomies. Associated Press

Man Arrested for Allegedly Tossing Nails and Screws in Driveways of Trump Supporters . . . A 63-year-old man in Bucks County, Pennsylvania was arrested for allegedly throwing screws and nails in the driveways of Trump supporters. Alaric Dalberg was arrested on charges of "harassment, disorderly conduct, and related offenses on allegations that claim on several occasions he threw nails and screws around parked vehicles belonging to individuals who voiced or showed support for President Donald Trump," reports NBC Philadelphia. Breitbart

Guilty Pleasures

The Curse of Tim Walz: Minnesota Twins Go 0-4 After Loser VP Candidate Predicts Undefeated Season . . . The Minnesota governor, best known for being briefly adored by mainstream journalists after Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate, keeps spreading his loser vibes wherever he goes. Walz cheered on the Minnesota Twins at their opening game versus the St. Louis Cardinals, and predicted his team would go undefeated. The Twins lost that game and the next two as the Cardinals swept the three-game series. The humiliation continued on Monday. Washington Free Beacon

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