141 Comments
User's avatar
imkitty's avatar

Laugh du jour: "...the deadest thing this weekend was the WHCA dinner. Trump picked the right funeral to attend."

Thank you, Don :)

Expand full comment
Lynette's avatar

Pure Surber Gold!

Expand full comment
Don Reed's avatar

04/28/25: Time magazine still exists? Impossible!

"AP sued and won. Fine, said Trump. He facilitated the judge’s order and withdrew those special plane and Oval Office privileges to rival wire liar news agencies Bloomberg and Reuters as well. "

Bonus: Bloomberg and Reuters no doubt erupted in anger --- AT AP! Imagine the cat-fight going on in that padded cell!

Expand full comment
Don Reed's avatar

04/28/25: Julie Pace, AP executive editor: May she enjoy the same degree of success that her predecessor did (the hapless Sally Buzbee, WaPo ExEd, thrown from her keyboard-steed and never heard from again).

"In 2014 [Pace] married Michael Ferenczy, a viral researcher at the National Institutes of Health" (Pace's Wikipedia profile 04/28/25).

Oh. Say, how objective during the Long Emergency (the Covid Inquisition) was AP's reporting about the NIH Biden-Beehive of Fauci Corruption?

Just askin' for a felon, who appreciates her style (flat-out lying about AP not having a corporate owner).

Expand full comment
Don Reed's avatar

04/28/25: Also see, "Media pays for getting Trump wrong," by Don Surber JUN 04, 2024.

Expand full comment
James Wills's avatar

The whole purpose of these crazy exercises of flying helicopters amid jet traffic AT NIGHT was to practice evacuating CongressCritters in an emergency. I've been flying for over forty years, DCA (Reagan) is not where you need to be doing such foolishness even during the day, when you can see, let alone at night.

And of course the elephant in the room was that they let a female pilot with insufficient experience and training fly the whirlybird because EQUALITY! Safety be damned. If you can't maintain altitude within about 40' near an airport like Reagan - that's two ticks on a standard altimeter - you shouldn't be there, and I'll guarantee you the military's equipment is better than that. Why would you fly with a pilot that can't park a car?

Expand full comment
Greg's avatar
Apr 28Edited

That NYTmes “article” is bullshit. Again, 2 people who have never sat in the left seat of an aircraft writing a crap piece about a subject they nothing.

This of how I see the media: I am an active pilot. I know more about what was going on in that cockpit then these 2 clowns will hope to know. So I know all the errors in this article. Yet a layman will believe the lies and innuendos in this piece and think that air travel is unsafe or the executive in the white house caused it. I KNOW ITS WRONG.

Now apply that to every article written today and you see that these kids know nothing and the media is full of crap. Unless you observed it, it didn’t happen. You have to rely on other people’s interpretations. And they will lie, ignore facts or add embellishments.

So they suck.

There. I got that off my chest.

Expand full comment
David Thompson's avatar

I was shocked to see one article say she had 45 flight hours. I dunno if that meant on the particular bird she was flying or what, but 45 hours is nothing! Night exercises are for people familiar with the equipment, not newbies – especially newbies who think they can ignore their instructor.

Expand full comment
Greg's avatar

One only needs 40 hrs to get a Private Cert. If she has only 45 hr total time, she is a new pilot and NEVER should have been in that situation.

Expand full comment
EODMom's avatar

I’ve read both 450 and 45 hrs. I thought the 45 hr ref was a typo. Even 450 hrs is slim. But also - pilots in none of the services is flying much outside of missions and qualification. Budgets for actual flying are cut substantially. Maintaining qualification if you’re not in an operating unit is hard to get. She made a choice to go management when she went to the white house.

Expand full comment
Steve (recovering lawyer)'s avatar

Your comment provides a perfect example of both the "Dunning-Kruger Effect," and the "Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect." First, the female pilot suffered from Dunning-Kruger in that she apparently believed she possessed a superior knowledge of helicopter piloting, and so ignored the advice from her instructor, causing the catastrophic result. And when you read the NYT article, your actual expertise in helicopter piloting enabled you to see that the authors of the article were completely lacking in that area, thus exhibiting the first component of Gell-Mann Amnesia. But since you astutely cautioned against believing anything else published in the NYT, you have obviously succeeded in avoiding the second stage of G-M Amnesia. Would that everyone would be so successful. Cheers!

Expand full comment
Greg's avatar

Actually, she never heard it. It never registered.

It was nighttime. It is extremely hard to identify a moving air target at night in a cityscape.

It was extremely windy. It is difficult for an experienced pilot to maintain level flight in highly turbulent conditions.

She had 45 hrs in the seat. She was a newb. She was white knuckling that flight. She had total tunnel vision on maintaining the helo straight and level.

She never heard the Instructor. As a brand new pilot, even though she was the Pilot in Command, she was relying on the CFI to take control of the aircraft if an unsafe condition occurred. That purported maneuver at the last second may in fact have been the instructor taking the stick.

She was way over her head in this scenario.

Expand full comment
Marlan Hoerer's avatar

I like your analysis of this incident,fair and very plausible.

Expand full comment
LuAnn's avatar

I totally believe that scenario, Greg. I never liked flying and I like it less when I hear this.

Expand full comment
Brian LeMay's avatar

Agree ; helicopters are extremely difficult to fly , especially at night .

Expand full comment
James Wills's avatar

Excellent analysis. Tunnel vision, white-knuckling, didn't hear, counting on instructor to take over. Perfect.

Expand full comment
LuAnn's avatar

We can't hate the MSM enough.

Expand full comment
NNTX's avatar

AND the bureaucrats whose mantra of DEI put this woman in the pilot seat, to kill 67 people.

For shame.

Expand full comment
EODMom's avatar

It had all the earmarks of a routine qualifying flight the pilot needed to retain flight status (and pay.) She’d been admin in the white house and needed to get hours and didn’t have a lot of them when she went to the White House. Speculating: she was cranky about it and cranky about having a warrant officer doing the assessment and just wasn’t paying attention to him. Who knows what other corrections or instructions he gave her since they took off? Qualifying assessments have rubrics and some don’t take well to it.

Expand full comment
OldeArtiste's avatar

Seems like that "pilot" was freakin' entitled: "I'm a COMMISSIONED officer; I served at the WHITE HOUSE! I don't have to listen to some warrant officer." So, she crashed her helicopter into an airliner, killing her, the warrant officer trying to help her, and ALL THE PASSENGERS AND CREW on the airliner.

Expand full comment
Reddog's avatar

Agree. Why the DoD has to use a route so close to the approach/departure to Reagan just floors me. Yes, its a shorter route for them alright but there are other ways to get to the pentagon. The problem has always been there, and it’s one of flying to the pentagon low over residential areas. People whine about it. I live very close to the Potomac between Ft Belvoir and Reagan. That route along the river is one issue. But the Anacostia Naval base is a bigger issue with it being the repair facility for rotary wing aircraft including the ones used by the WH. Just too many aircraft far too close to a major commercial airport. This is a congress problem. They wanted Reagan kept open all these decades and this crash is what happens when you reach the tipping point. And now, Reagan AP just finished a brand new additional terminal. Time for military traffic to be curtailed.

Expand full comment
Mitchell Moore's avatar

The AP - All Propaganda - is pathetic. Disdain is too nice a word for what I think of them and the rest of the legacy media.

I spend hours each day reading various news sites and news aggregators to stay informed, and then Don Surber puts it together succinctly, cogently, wittily, and with historical background. Glorious.

Expand full comment
LuAnn's avatar

The first take by the MSM is almost always or always fake news.

Expand full comment
Marlan Hoerer's avatar

Spot on M.M. !!

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

ActBlue-Started imploding two months ago when most of the top leadership suddenly resigned. Rats fleeing the sinking rotting ship. Appears it was just a laundry machine. Cut off their pipelines and all the Rats will disappear. USAID was just the tip of the spear.

Expand full comment
Shrugged's avatar

USAID showed the world that if you put the payment records in front of responsible, honest people, the money trail is the treasure map to the corruption. It sometimes gets people arrested.

DOGE'S money trail was like switching on the light to make the roaches flee.

Expand full comment
OldeArtiste's avatar

Too bad when there weren't roach exterminators present when the lights came on...

Expand full comment
Steve Boggs's avatar

Trump’s enemies are our enemies.

Big Media (or BM)- Surber’s been hip to their BS for 50 yrs. Worse, he remembers all, forgets nothing.

Expand full comment
Shrugged's avatar

And, strikes them with a well-placed right hook when deserved.

Expand full comment
William Coulter's avatar

Whatever Trump does the Dems and the lame stream media are against it.

Trump wants, as does most Americans, to deport illegal aliens. The Dems and the lamers are against it. “Lack of due process “ they claim.

Where was the “due process” when these millions came here illegally?

Maybe these aliens supports ought to go to any other country,raise hell, demand free stuff and “their rights” and see what happens to their “due process” there.

Expand full comment
Andrew Gase's avatar

I think Don you’ve recovered fully from your cataract surgery. You certainly have Crystal Clear vision. Thanks so much for your wickedly clear insight.

Expand full comment
Don Surber's avatar

Thanks

After 71 years, the right eye is now stronger than the left. Those Lazy Eye patches in the 1960s didn't work

Expand full comment
Jim Murray's avatar

Fiction, meet reality. In 1957, Ayn Rand gave us John Galt. In 2024, Americans gave themselves Donald John Trump. Today's Democrats match every trait of the soulless characters Rand created in Atlas Shrugged. Like John Galt, Trump assembled a cadre of fellow thinkers possessing the talents to build anew. The team is razing the Left's soulless world and building new structures based on merit, honesty and American self-interest. He is restoring the gold standard of conduct and purpose to government and military. We are watching Trump rewrite Atlas Shrugged, a new take on the thriller theme, in real time.

Expand full comment
TeaPartyGal's avatar

Yes, yes, yes!

Atlas Shrugged was a masterpiece. Some people called it the "Bible" of the Tea Party. Back in about 2008, I was giving away copies of Atlas Shrugged, at least 15-20 copies to people who seemed ripe for red-pilling (although we didn't call it that then). Most of the folks were people I only was acquainted with briefly, so I don't know the degree to which it influenced them. But the people I gave it to whom I saw regularly LOVED it and took it to heart--and became solid and wide-awake members of The Right.

But what Trump is doing far exceeds anything anyone (including Ayn Rand) could have ever imagined. Trump is hitting the ball out of the park every day--it is spectacular. The planet Earth does not have an award high enough to give him--even the Presidential Medal of Freedom or a Nobel prize is not adequate to recognize Trump's incredible effectiveness even just 100 days in.

And I do believe the Democratic Party is not "coming back" from the pit it has descended into. They have embraced and become permeated with treason and RICO-level fraud. It has been exposed to half the country, and the other half is gradually waking up to it.

Expand full comment
Jim Murray's avatar

Team Trump I and II are very different. An enemy not recognized as such was able to blunt and ultimately defeat version one. It seems version two came into office having read Atlas Shrugged. The enemy is in sharp focus now. The enemy's assets are being scrapped from the landscape with bulldozers. Your gifts bestowed similar focus to receptive minds. Kudos to you.

Expand full comment
TeaPartyGal's avatar

Yes-- although we have been intimidated, impressed with, and discouraged by the Left, the Left made most of its gains by operating in stealth--like you said, they were "an enemy not recognized as such".

So the Left reached it's peak of power when it exercised rampant fraud in the 2020 election and installed a grotesque puppet as President. But the Left's very success also marked the Beginning Of The End of their power--because now that they had power, we could see them-- see their real agenda, and see the incredible destructiveness of their every move (bringing in millions of dangerous illegals; bankrupting the country; demonizing the half of the country that opposed them; trying to imprison our Leader, etc.).

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

The mask was shredded when they decided that 'some are above the law'.

Expand full comment
Wim de Vriend's avatar

I was quite taken with Ayn Rand when I first read her, but the many years since then taught me that her philosophy has no chance of being implemented in this world. That doesn't mean I advocate surrender, but coping with reality by using reality.

Expand full comment
TeaPartyGal's avatar

True. Ayn Rand made a real contribution, but she was not a paragon of virtue in her personal life. All of us humans have our strengths and our weaknesses. Her greatest strength was her ability to lay out in crystalline clarity the arguments of the Communist point of view and decimate them.

Expand full comment
Shrugged's avatar

Ayn Rand's expression of her philosophy of Objectivism was always directed at the government and politicians in her novels because it was the clearest illustration of it's application. It was the skilled inventors-entrepreneurs (producers) vs the takers and users (the government). Elon Musk is the best example of Hank Rearden.

The unfortunate side of Objectivism - and Ayn Rand's belief - was her strong commitment as an avowed atheist. Atheism wasn't just a personal life-choice with no connection to Objectivism. It was a large component of its operation and practice. The 'producer' heroes in her novels performed their successes without an inkling of Godly influence or acknowledgement.

I love the way she demolished the "takers" while showcasing the producers, but I could never fully accept the fact that it was done without a higher purpose to it all.

I have been 'shrugging' for many years especially during the Biden years, but always with an eye toward a God who provides the ultimate 'objectivism'.

Expand full comment
TeaPartyGal's avatar

And a PS--I've always assumed your moniker "Shrugged" is taken from the title "Atlas Shrugged"; is that right?

Expand full comment
TeaPartyGal's avatar

Very interesting, Shrugged, and fuel for further pondering. You put your finger on it--her forte was the clear depiction of the producer vs. the taker mindset. The atheism bothered me too--it takes her otherwise stellar work and casts it in a flat tone. She missed out big in that area.

Expand full comment
Brian LeMay's avatar

Agree , they will embrace the Horde next .

Expand full comment
TeaPartyGal's avatar

The Horde? Didn't understand.

Expand full comment
Brian LeMay's avatar

Muslim Horde

Expand full comment
VICKI's avatar

My concern is these "judges" who decide they will screw up whatever Trump has ordered. Who gave them any jurisdiction over the President of the United States????

Expand full comment
Jim Murray's avatar

Your concern is valid. For now, Trump is demonstrating enormous restraint in the interest of furthering the goal of reestablishing the Founder's goal of having a country subject to the rule of law. At the same time, he is giving notice that he will not obey lawless judges for much longer. Courts lack the means to enforce their will. Compliance with court orders is voluntary. See anyone who has obtained a restraining order for details. If the President chooses to exercise the powers vested in him by the Constitution without regard to what rogue judges order, the judicial branch will lose that fight. It will lose, not because it is right but because of gutless RINO justices like Roberts. Watch for Trump to push SCOTUS to the wall.

Expand full comment
Brian LeMay's avatar

Their time is coming .

Expand full comment
LuAnn's avatar

Yes to that, Jim.

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

Analogy's spot on.

Expand full comment
Danimal28's avatar

Winters, Bartiromo, Crowley vs. Maddow, Reid, Mika...

Brains AND babeliciousness vs. Ugly and demented.

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

' Dr. Oz Uncovers Billions in Medicare and Medicaid Fraud, Waste, and Abuse. If You Thought USAID was a Problem, This Will Bring a Little Shiver to You’

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

In 2024, Indigenous Peoples Day and Columbus Day fell on Monday, Oct. 14. Both holidays occur annually on the second Monday of October Ever wonder why Native Americans are called Indians? Me neither. Christopher Columbus, by mistake, thought he had landed on one of the islands east of India called the Indies (or East Indies). It is NOT a slur. Our DJT has picked many hills to die on. ‘I'm bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes’. The left is exhausted.

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

DJT-Up yours, Democrats. 'I'm bringing Columbus day back from the ashes. The Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus his reputation. and all of the Italians that love him so much They tore down his statues and put up nothing but 'woke' or even worse, nothing at all. But you'll be happy to know Christopher is going to make a major comeback. I am hereby reinstating Columbus Day under the same rules, dates, and locations as it has been for all of the many decades before!!'

Expand full comment
CactusMatt32's avatar

Indians b/c it is in AP style book. Subsection asks - ‘is it a ‘dot’ Indian, a Clevelander, or a Tomahawk chopper?’

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

' To believe anything in AP' style book is to believe in the tooth fairy'. PM.

Expand full comment
Don Reed's avatar

04/28/25: My PTF (Personal Tooth Fairy) resents that remark.

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

Apologies to your tooth fairy.

Expand full comment
Don Reed's avatar

Tooooooolate! He revoked the quarter underneath my pillow, and also confiscated the tooth I've been using every three months or so, the one found in that charming pawn shop in the legendary tourist trap, Viroqua, Wisconsin, in 2012...

How to get back on his good side hmmm...

Expand full comment
CactusMatt32's avatar

Our daughter had lost a few teeth, and one night the TF acted too soon b4 she was out cold…next day the question was put to my wife….?Mom….if the TF is Dad…..what about……Santa…reply…’Do you want to go there?’…maybe not….’Those that believe….receive’….nuf said….

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

😁

Expand full comment
Don Reed's avatar

04/28/25: The Clevelander is a legendary horror-flick motel in Miami. We had the memorable (and how!) experience of staying there one night (having been assured by a friend that it was located within the recognized boundaries of a civilization) --- and ONLY one night because at 4:59 a.m. my wife dragged us out of there so fast, we re-enacted the panicked flight of the Golden Pheasants in Paris in 1940 (re-re-enacted in Berlin in 1945).

Mets 19, WDC 5. And not a single batter stepped on first base. Umpire repeatedly distracted.

Expand full comment
Charles Scott's avatar

How do I say it gently? The Barr Justice Department caused the near loss of this country, and created this new goldlen age of America. Think about it.

Expand full comment
Sophie's avatar

About the Black Hawk collision: “She did not turn left.”

I think she turned CRAZY left a long, long time ago. Sad she took so many innocents with her, though.

Expand full comment
Adorable Deplorable's avatar

Gee, Pam Bondi is "...attempting to seize reporters' phone records in order to smoke our leakers." WOW, that'll fix 'em!!

Surprised she has time to do any actual work in-between getting all gussied up for her daily FOX appearance.

Looks like she is trying to catch up to Bill Barr disappointment levels. She's getting close.

Expand full comment
Douglas Baringer's avatar

AG Bondi has certainly been a disappointment. Perhaps she will start producing soon. I hope.

Expand full comment
Epstein Did Not Kill Himself's avatar

Don't get your hopes up too high. That just makes for a bigger letdown.

Expand full comment
Wim de Vriend's avatar

Trying to catch leakers could be useful, since the Trump regime faces so much opposition, legitimate as well as illegal. But can you list some specific things you would like Pam Bondi to do?

Expand full comment
Dutchmn007's avatar

Wish Noem would quit cosplaying as a field agent; she’s an administrator not a door kicker. She looks ridiculous in field gear toting a weapon.

Expand full comment
Don Surber's avatar

Leadership involves theater

MacArthur wading ashore at 64 for "I shall return" is an example

Expand full comment
Dutchmn007's avatar

Agreed but he wasn’t in battle dress wielding a weapon. He would’ve looked ridiculous.

Expand full comment
TeaPartyGal's avatar

I actually like Noem out in the field and dressed for the field. To me, it says that Noem is not an out-of-touch desk jockey, but is taking seriously the need to understand intimately the nitty-gritty of the Homeland Security function. That makes her the very best type of manager.

Plus, she's setting a great example of a woman "kicking butt". You go, girl!

Expand full comment
Shrugged's avatar

Politely disagree.

Her dressing like a soldier is ostentatious and demeaning to those who have the job. It detracts from her authenticity. She is NOT and never will be a Pete Hegseth.

There was a photo published recently of her with a few others in SWAT suits holding high powered rifles. She wasn't holding the rifle correctly for safety and it lit up social media with distraction and criticism. She gains nothing by doing it.

The uniform means nothing when we know she has zero experience in the role. She needs to do her job as HHS Secretary by leading her organization so they can do their job.

Expand full comment
TeaPartyGal's avatar

Interesting take on it. Will have to agree to disagree. Wouldn't you want someone leading an organization to care enough to participate in and learn and understand what the day-to-day operations are?

Did you ever watch any episodes of the TV show "Undercover Boss"? There were some really excellent episodes. It was always a Good Thing for the boss to be onsite and get first-hand knowledge of the situation the employees dealt with daily.

Expand full comment
PM's avatar

Agree, Gal-also: A Patriot-DJT and I approve this message: Lauren Boebert for Congress: Congresswoman & candidate for CO-04. Professional RINO Hunter. Raising my boys to be MEN before liberals teach them to be women!

Expand full comment
Shrugged's avatar

I am SO glad you said it as I have been rolling my eyes over it since she showed up in SWAT gear looking like the female Secret Service agents protecting Trump in Butler, PA.

The uniform is earned. It is not a stage prop.

Expand full comment
BubblePuppy7's avatar

There may have been some untrainable dogs in the vicinity. Can’t be too careful, y’know?

Expand full comment
Brian LeMay's avatar

Well , that was not a good look . Poor choice of topics for someone running for office . Dogs are like people , the same methods of training don't produce the same results in all dogs .

Expand full comment
Skinnydip's avatar

I suspect she wouldn't be doing that if Trump hadn't approved (encouraged?) it.

Expand full comment
Dutchmn007's avatar

Hope he isn’t; it’s not a good look.

Expand full comment
BubblePuppy7's avatar

Nah, I’m with you, brother. I’m sure it did a lot for morale to have the SecDef out there at 0-dark-thirty doing morning PT with you. And Gabbard is Army…and there’s just something about a heavily-armed woman that…inspires…me. But Noem? Cute the first time.

Expand full comment
BubblePuppy7's avatar

Gotta agree with you on this one. It works with Hegseth. It’s phenomenal with Gabbard. But Noem…not so much. The first appearance was OK just for the PR. Now, get back in the office and carry on.

Expand full comment
Dutchmn007's avatar

Well it’s different because he was a door kicker - an infantryman.

Expand full comment
Shrugged's avatar

Trump could use some advice along those lines too. Politics is the art of perception not play acting.

Noem looks like a kid with a cap gun.

Expand full comment
TeaPartyGal's avatar

I think she looks like a brave and committed Secretary of Homeland Security.

Expand full comment