Plus: Baseball has never seen quite the likes of Shohei Ohtani.
• Just wait till they see his plans to turn the Ellipse into a pitch and putt.
• Earlier this week, President Trump began demolishing the White House East Wing to replace it with a $250 million ballroom. But judging by the morose and hysterical rhetoric that has emanated from the Democratic Party and its ideological allies during the past couple of days, one might have thought that Trump had announced his intention to send a squadron of B-2 bombers across the Potomac to completely level Washington, D.C. California Governor Gavin Newsom complained that Trump is “literally destroying the White House,” while Hillary Clinton groaned that “it’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.” Of all the reasons to criticize Trump, however, this must count as the silliest. The president is simply replacing a handful of 1940s-era office buildings with a ballroom. As a general matter, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with a president making changes to the White House. Over the years, presidents of both parties and of all leadership styles have done precisely that, and in no cases have these changes implied incipient fascism, betrayed an inappropriate sense of permanent ownership, or justified tears and outrage from political critics. Certainly, one may quibble with Trump’s often gaudy design preferences. But, objectively, the White House lacks sufficiently robust entertainment spaces, and the addition of a new facility will clearly help to alleviate that problem. The justification for this is so obvious that the idea was first proposed by President Harrison—back in 1891. Altering a modern part of the executive branch’s headquarters is not akin to “destroying” the White House. Good grief, people. Pull yourselves together.
• The Middle East peace deal that Trump brokered earlier this month is reaching a precarious phase, with multiple violations of the agreement by Hamas having triggered a response by Israel. In several statements, Trump has said Hamas must turn over all the bodies of deceased hostages and to disarm—or it will be forced to. The president’s patience is being tested, as he has warned Hamas. “There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right,” Trump posted on social media. “If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL!” Palestinian terrorists have for decades played a masterful game of pacifying Western leaders with toothless overtures while pursuing their agenda of violence and barbarism. If Hamas continues to violate the terms of the deal, Trump must follow through on his warnings.
• Maine’s 2026 Senate race has long promised to be a barn-burner: Incumbent Republican Susan Collins is running for reelection in the final campaign of her career, during a midterm climate that looks to be increasingly unfavorable for Republicans in blue states. And on the Democratic side all the buzz in the race has been about Graham Platner, a young and unknown progressive who announced his candidacy in August with an emphasis on his working-class authenticity as an oysterman and former Marine. Once incumbent Democratic Governor Janet Mills entered the race, however, the opposition researchers began to bite, most notably by revealing a totenkopf tattoo on Platner’s chest (the death’s-head insignia that was most famously worn by the German SS). Platner’s excuse for emblazoning a universally known symbol of Nazi Germany’s most sadistic killers rings false—though it does serve as a healthy reminder to be careful when drinking in Croatia. But what is even more surprising is that he may win Maine’s Democratic Senate nomination anyway. Although the race is eight months away, a recent University of New Hampshire poll of state Democrats found Platner more than doubling up Governor Mills with a shocking margin of 58–24. Perhaps that will narrow now that revelations about his sordid history are emerging, but it more likely suggests that progressives are in no mood for arguments from “age and experience”—just ask Andrew Cuomo how well his bid in New York City is currently doing.
• Zohran Mamdani has a commanding and growing lead in every major poll in the New York City mayoral race and an enthused base of voters — many of them young people and working families struggling with the city’s cost of living. Voters rate him highest on trust, empathy, and the ability to deliver needed change. His ascent is bringing prestige to the left wing of his party; his endorsers and champions include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. But it is also a nerve-wracking election for many of the city’s residents. Mamdani has implied that he does not want pro-Israel voters in his coalition, objecting to those who are “progressive except Palestine.” That’s an extravagant stance to take given that the mayor of New York has no official role in the Middle East, though he does have a serious one in safeguarding the more than a million Jewish residents of his city, who are already disproportionately the victims of hate crimes. Mamdani won’t have pro-Israel people in his coalition, but he does accept the support of Imam Siraj Wahhaj, who has defended Islamist governance. Former Governor Andrew Cuomo has lamely tried to publicize the imam’s anti-gay comments. But far more troubling is his consistent apology for jihad and barbarism. With Mamdani’s election all but certain, New York City should brace for a perilous new era.
• Well, it could have been worse. The White House announced what the president described as a “pro-life” policy to encourage in vitro fertilization. And although Trump health official Dr. Mehmet Oz predicted an upcoming “Trump babies” boom, there were no mandates and no subsidies included. The Oval Office press conference heralded a trade deal making for cheaper drugs, but employers are only encouraged to offer fertility plans, which can include IVF or alternatives that address the root causes of infertility. The crucial point neglected at the White House is that IVF typically involves the deliberate destruction of many “excess” human embryos — a point that pro-lifers have their work cut out for them in publicizing.
• Former Congressman George Santos may not be the worst recipient of a pardon or commutation from Trump, but he may be the least defensible. There is no question of Santos’s guilt. He pleaded guilty to fraud charges of the sort that customarily carry a substantial prison sentence. There is no case that Santos is an otherwise upstanding citizen who made a single mistake: It is almost certain that the crime to which Santos pleaded guilty — campaign finance fraud aimed at scamming public funding for his congressional race, then blowing a chunk of the money not on the campaign but on OnlyFans subscriptions, Botox, and spa treatments — is only a subset of the crimes. There is little reason to think that Santos was singled out for prosecution, given that the authorities had been after him in the past for check-kiting. There is no argument that Santos has been punished enough or has reformed in prison; the habitual liar was sprung from jail after serving just 84 days of his 87-month sentence. He holds no great accomplishments to his name that could offset his crimes. Trump gave away the game in announcing that “at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” Swing-seat New York Republicans, who were left to clean up Santos’s mess (including in his now Democratic-held district), have been rightly dismayed that this is bad politics in addition to being worse justice.
• As dawn broke over Paris on October 19, thieves robbed the Louvre of eight pieces of priceless Napoleonic-era jewelry. A ninth object — Empress Eugénie’s gold crown with more than 1,000 diamonds — was dropped in the course of the escape and recovered outside the museum. According to authorities, the burglars posed as construction workers and ascended a truck-mounted ladder, used power tools to break into a second-floor window, and then entered the Galerie d’Apollon. Inside, they intimidated the guards by brandishing their angle grinders, smashed two display cases, and grabbed the jewelry. They exited by going down the ladder and then sped off on scooters with two accomplices who were standing by. The heist lasted less than ten minutes, according to authorities. At present, more than 60 investigators are working on the case. Très embarrassant.
• Baseball has never seen quite the likes of Shohei Ohtani. The two-way star for the Los Angeles Dodgers, via Japan, outdid himself in Game 4 of the NLCS when the juggernaut Dodgers completed a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers. Ohtani pitched six scoreless innings with ten strikeouts, a notable performance in this era when complete games are a distant memory. But he also went 3–3 with three home runs, a historic night at the plate (only twelve players have hit three home runs in a postseason game). Combine what he did on the mound with what he did in the batter’s box, and it almost defies description. The home runs weren’t cheap shots, by the way, but mammoth blasts, including one that exited Dodger Stadium. The only comparison is with Babe Ruth, who pitched to a 9–5 record with the Red Sox in 1919 while leading the league in home runs, RBIs, and OPS. But when Ruth entered his offensive prime with the Yankees, he wasn’t pitching anymore. Ohtani has done both at a high level throughout his career. It’s so rare that, in football terms, it isn’t like playing both wide receiver and cornerback but like being an excellent quarterback and a talented edge rusher. Cooperstown should prepare for him to ascend bodily into the Hall of Fame.
• In the 1970s, the explosive theatrics and painted faces of KISS revolutionized rock and roll stagecraft. But one member of the band also had a profound musical influence on the genre: Ace Frehley, the Bronx-born lead guitarist. With his scorching solos, melodic riffs, and effortlessly inventive licks, he inspired generations of future stars in rock, metal, and pop. Frehley performed with the group from 1973 to 1982, then again from 1996 to 2002. An entirely self-taught musician, Frehley joined KISS when he answered an advertisement in the Village Voice: “Lead guitarist wanted with flash and ability.” No two qualities better defined his work. Onstage, he rigged his guitar to shoot fireworks from its head and emit smoke from its body. He wore a black and silver costume decorated with glitter, which reflected his love of science fiction. Each member of KISS adopted a persona, and Frehley deemed himself the “Spaceman” or “Space Ace.” He said he was an alien from the planet “Jendell,” which helped explain his many personal quirks. He struggled to walk in a straight line, laughed in a birdlike cackle, and once claimed to have been punched in the face by a ghost. These idiosyncrasies made him an often hilarious presence in interviews, but addictions to drugs and alcohol amplified many of his eccentricities. In 2006, he conquered these demons and remained sober until his death. That was perhaps a greater achievement than any of the awards he earned throughout his life, most recently a place in the 2025 Kennedy Center Honors scheduled to take place this December. Dead at 74. R.I.P., Spaceman.
• Jeffrey Meldrum was a respected professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University. He was an expert on foot morphology and bipedal locomotion in primates — a very specialized subfield, which of course made it all the more interesting that this otherwise mainstream academic decided to attempt to apply rigorous scientific research methods to the search for Bigfoot. He began his academic inquiries in the late Nineties after he examined a set of 15-inch footprints near Walla Walla, Wash. His lab at Idaho State later held hundreds of artifacts including foot casts, hair samples, and scat. In his 2007 book, Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science, Meldrum argued that there were good scientific, anatomical reasons to think that whatever it was that appeared in the famous Patterson-Gimlin “Bigfoot” film, it was likely not a man in an ape suit. The book was, shall we say, controversial among his academic peers. But it received a respectful hearing from Jane Goodall, who said she had an open mind about Sasquatch and appreciated Meldrum’s efforts to bring “a much needed level of scientific analysis” to the question. Dr. Meldrum died of cancer at 67. But the search will go on. R.I.P.
• William Murchison was a Texan. His father and grandfather were both mayors of Corsicana. But instead of pursuing office, Murchison took to his pen. For 25 years, he was a conservative columnist for the Dallas Morning News. (A former editor of that newspaper once described Murchison as Dallas’s William F. Buckley.) After retirement, Murchison taught journalism at Baylor. He thought deeply about how America could recover traditional morality and became a senior editor at the Human Life Review. Devoted to faith, family, and the country he loved, Bill Murchison has died at 83. R.I.P.