The whangdoodles are at it again — raging on X, posting grainy photos of World War II soldiers, and proclaiming, “Grandpa was Antifa!”
Because, you see, Grandpa fought Hitler. Or Hirohito. Or Mussolini. They were fascists, Grandpa was anti-fascist, and since “anti-fascist” shortens to “Antifa,” presto — Grandpa was Antifa.
What these self-styled internet historians are doing is a digital form of stolen valor. ... Grandpa would be appalled.
Right.
Before scourging the ignorant cockwombles pounding keyboards across the internet, let’s define what fascism actually meant.
Beyond the obvious militarism of Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and Hirohito’s Japan, the fascist regimes of the 20th century shared three defining traits. First, a top-down command economy controlled by a central planning body. Second, an integrated industrial and banking system. Third, a relatively homogeneous population under rigid state control.
Now ask yourself: Does the United States fit that mold? No central economic planning agency, no state-directed industrial-banking complex (ask the Fed and the Securities and Exchange Commission), and certainly no single, homogeneous racial population.
What we do have is an ever-multiplying swarm of willfully obtuse, historically illiterate useful idiots eager to join whatever digital mob happens to be trending this week.
The kind who think “being a furry” is a lifestyle choice worth defending.
You know — morons.
Among them are the smug keyboard warriors who post their grandfather’s old war photo without knowing a thing about his unit, his history, or the weapon he lugged across Europe — a Thompson M1A1 submachine gun chambered in .45 ACP.
These same people casually toss Grandpa’s honorable service into the same slime bucket as the modern-day anarcho-communists who call themselves “Antifa.” They hijack his image to dignify an extremist movement that despises everything he swore to defend.
Grandpa honored and fought under the American flag. Antifa burns it. They literally call it a “fascist symbol.”
Grandpa didn’t fight for a slogan. He fought for the Constitution. He raised his right hand and swore an oath — to protect and defend the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. If that meant bombing Tojo’s Japan, invading Hitler’s Germany, or crushing Mussolini’s Italy, so be it.
RELATED: Antifa isn’t ‘anti-fascist’ — it’s anti-freedom and anti-God
Generations after him have sworn the same oath. Those men fought communism in Korea and Vietnam, and later took the fight to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and, after 9/11, to al-Qaeda and ISIS across the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa.
What these self-styled internet historians are doing is a digital form of stolen valor. They wrap themselves in the virtue of men who actually faced fire, men who earned their medals the hard way — not with a post and a hashtag.
Grandpa would be appalled at his grandkids’ ignorance.
But give it time. Some nimrod, eager for another viral hit, will post a photo of his dad in Afghanistan with the caption: “Dad was intersectional.”
And the whangdoodles will cheer — none the wiser, and none the braver.
For the first time in years, the Republican Party has momentum with America’s youth.
Charlie Kirk’s assassination jolted young voters into the political fight. Many students and teenagers first encountered politics through Kirk’s viral debate clips or the wave of conservative influencer content that followed.
The political landscape shifts as fast as internet memes. The era when a campaign could hire an intern to post twice a day is over.
Figures like Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and even Alex Jones command more attention from Gen Z than most senators ever could. Ask a teenager about Mike Johnson or Ron Johnson and you’ll likely get a blank stare. Ask them about Charlie Kirk, and they can quote his videos word-for-word. Kirk was not only a cultural giant but also the leader of a network of influencers who connected conservatives with a rising generation.
Conservative politicians often struggle to overlap with their influencer counterparts. Donald Trump proved it can be done. His mastery of social media carried him to victory in 2024. Trump’s rapid-fire posts and fluency in internet culture convinced young voters he understood them.
Democrats tried their own version of “youth outreach” — with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz attempting to meme their way into relevance. The result? Cringe. Young voters walked away.
If Republicans want to sustain their surge, they must keep building para-social relationships. For Gen Z, politics is less about white papers and more about viral clips. Students rallied to Trump and Kirk because they were captivating, funny, and relatable. That matters more than policy minutiae.
Vice President JD Vance may be the heir to Trump’s social media throne. He combines political stamina with influencer wit — a rare skill set.
Vance’s Yale Law pedigree and mastery of policy shine in debates and press conferences. He speaks clearly, with bold ideas on foreign aid and criminal justice. But Gen Z doesn’t tune in for long speeches. They want punchlines. Trump understood this. He may be the only president with “Funniest Moments” compilations on YouTube. Vance seems to get it, too.
When Kirk was assassinated, Vance was the first to host his show. That was no accident. A hole opened in the conservative influencer space, and Vance moved to fill it. By stepping into that role, he told young voters that Charlie’s vision of connecting with Gen Z didn’t die with him.
Kirk’s efforts helped Trump retake the presidency in 2024. His legacy may yet help Vance win in 2028. Vance has built his own digital reputation: His tweets mix humor and insight, his football posts feel genuine (unlike Walz’s forced fandom), and he has leaned into memes at his own expense. That kind of self-deprecation resonates with an online generation allergic to pretension.
RELATED: Holy defiance: Why Erika Kirk terrifies the feminist elite
But Trump’s legacy is more than jokes. He delivers. He has nearly wiped out illegal immigration, shut down USAID, and pushed DEI out of government and corporate life. Winning has become a habit. Gen Z notices.
This generation didn’t grow up with the lethargic Republican Party of the 1990s and 2000s. Their political world began when Trump rode down his golden escalator in 2015. They expect leaders to win, not just talk.
If Republicans want to dominate the future, they must keep MAGA’s high-octane energy alive. The political landscape shifts as fast as internet memes. The era when a campaign could hire an intern to post twice a day is over.
Charlie Kirk understood it. Donald Trump proved it. If JD Vance keeps pace, he could lock down the youth vote for the next generation.
An appeals court on Wednesday overturned the felony conviction of a pro-Trump social media influencer who was facing prison time for posting satirical memes on Twitter.
Douglass Mackey, also previously known online as Ricky Vaughn, joined "The Glenn Beck Program" on Thursday to share his reaction to the recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
'Unfortunately, it's not part of the sweeping constitutional ruling that we wanted, but nevertheless, it's a great victory.'
After battling the charges for four and a half years and facing a seven-month prison sentence, Mackey told Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, "Only faith can get you through it."
— (@)
During the 2016 election, Mackey posted memes on his Twitter account, which he told Beck had about 10,000 followers. He noted that he previously had an account with over 60,000 followers, but it was suspended before he made the posts referenced in the Biden Department of Justice's case against him.
"Save time," the posts read. "Avoid the line."
It included instructions on how to "vote from home" for then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton via text message.
The posts received only about 100 likes, according to Mackey.
Beck stated, "You have to be a nincompoop to believe this [meme is real]."
RELATED: Appeals court tosses out Biden-era conviction of social media troll for election interference
Despite what some would argue was a clear satirical post, Mackey was convicted in 2023 of conspiracy against rights for attempting to interfere with Americans' right to vote in the 2016 election.
Mackey shared the details of his arrest with Beck.
"Four FBI agents knocked on my door at 7 a.m., and that was seven days after Joe Biden was inaugurated," he said. "They said, 'Are you Douglass Mackey? We have a warrant for your arrest.' The first words out of my mouth were, 'For what?'"
"At the time, I wasn't even on Twitter. But back in the 2016 election cycle, I tweeted thousands of times. So I had no idea. But I did know that once they make you an enemy that it's like, 'Show me the man, and I'll show you the crime,'" Mackey continued. "I was very curious to see what they had cooked up."
Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston, one of the three judges on the appeals court panel, found that prosecutors' evidence was "inadequate to show his knowing participation in a conspiracy."
While prosecutors claimed that 4,900 unique phone numbers texted the number provided in Mackey's meme, 98% received an automated reply informing them that Clinton's campaign was not affiliated with the post, Livingston noted.
"The government presented no evidence at trial that Mackey's tweets tricked anyone into failing properly to vote," the judge wrote.
Mackey called the case "a total humiliation" for the Biden DOJ.
He expressed some disappointment that the appeals court's decision was not a "sweeping" constitutional victory.
"These appellate courts, once they come to a conclusion on, let's say, one of the grounds, they don't rule on all the other grounds," Mackey explained. "Unfortunately, it's not part of the sweeping constitutional ruling that we wanted, but nevertheless, it's a great victory."
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A popular social media troll who was prosecuted for meme-based election interference had his conviction tossed out for lack of evidence.
Douglass Mackey ran a popular right-wing account on social media that posted memes in 2016 telling supporters of then-candidate Hillary Clinton that they could vote for her by sending a text message on their phones. Prosecutors alleged that the posts constituted election interference.
There was a lack of evidence that Mackey communicated directly with other accounts that conspired to deprive others of their voting privilege.
Two days after Biden was inaugurated in 2021, Mackey was indicted for the scheme, and a jury later found him guilty in 2023. He was sentenced to seven months in prison.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the conviction on the basis that there was not enough evidence to support the allegation.
“The jury’s verdict and the resulting judgment of conviction must be set aside,” Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston wrote.
Among the evidence shown to the jury was a meme of a black woman in front of a sign for African-Americans supporting Clinton. The text on the meme read, “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” and “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925," as well as, “Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.”
Prosecutors said that thousands of texts were sent to the number, ostensibly from those fooled by memes like the one posted by Mackey. His account had 58,000 followers at the time and was considered one of the more influential accounts in the election.
However, the appeals court found that no evidence showed that any voter was influenced by the memes that Mackey posted to his account. The court also said there was a lack of evidence that Mackey communicated directly with other accounts that conspired to deprive others of their voting privilege.
RELATED: Trump-supporting social media figure convicted of election interference, conspiracy over 2016 tweets
"Praise God. God is good. Now we sue,” Mackey responded in a series of posts on social media.
Mackey was accused of posting racist and anti-Semitic messages in his campaign to support then-candidate Donald Trump's first presidential campaign. His account had a profile image of "Ricky Vaughn," the fictional Cleveland Indians pitcher from the "Major League" movie franchise.
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Many of us just celebrated Independence Day, that most American of holidays, with fireworks, parades, picnics, and backyard cookouts.
Although patriotism is apparently declining in the U.S., even the haters likely enjoyed their hot dogs and day off from work. (See this thoughtful piece about why there’s still much to celebrate despite the downturn in patriotism.)
There's also the limited-edition "President Donald J. Trump Signature Edition" Bible, which will run you a cool $1,000.
As we take down our stars-and-stripes decor, it seems a good time to review how patriotism and Christianity should not be conflated — and how when that happens, it harms the cause of Christ.
Here are a few examples of that confusion.
In my general neck of the woods, we have a big church that goes all out for July Fourth, so much that celebrating America takes over the entire worship service the week before.
Dr. Robert Jeffress and First Baptist Dallas are no doubt very patriotic, and "Freedom Sunday" looks like a heck of a show, but this isn't what church is about.
I believe this church — and others that do a “Freedom Sunday” — usually preach Christ, but why take the focus off Him for even one Sunday? It’s glorifying America; is it glorifying God?
Let’s say I’m visiting Canada and I’ve found what I believe to be a solid church that I can attend while visiting. But the Sunday I’m there is right before Canada Day, and instead of worship focused on God, Canadian Mounties ride their horses through the building as the choir sings “O Canada” and sprays everyone with red and white paper maple leaves. It’s glorifying Canada; is it glorifying God?
(Hint: The answer is no, both times.)
Since every secular media outlet now labels all Christians in America Christian nationalists, we need to understand what real Christian nationalists are after.
Misunderstanding the Great Commission, they seek to impose a Christian government, from the top down — in effect “Christianizing” America. Here’s a brief clip from Christian nationalist Joel Webbon's podcast, in which he and his co-hosts discuss how great it would be for the government to forcibly redistribute property from bad churches to “good” churches.
Note their glee at the thought of Big Brother sending soldiers into the street to raid churches.
And lest you be tempted to think any part of that is a good idea, consider that a proudly self-identifying Christian nationalist recently told me I’m going straight to hell because I appreciate John MacArthur’s teaching. So apparently his church would also be forcibly raided, along with most others, since (thankfully) there are not a lot of churches on board with this nonsense.
RELATED: 9 reasons we (still) love America — and you should too
Critiquing the whole movement is beyond our scope today; it’s enough for now to point out the obvious upside-down thinking that leads these men to think Christianity in any way benefits from forcing it on a population. This is the opposite of how we are to approach our neighbors, and this wrongheaded movement is now actively driving people away from Christianity. It’s utterly antithetical to the faith.
Say it with me, louder for the ones in back: This is not what followers of Jesus are here to do.
Other bad ideas are less Stalin-esque but equally damaging to the faith, and here’s an especially egregious example. Meet the "God Bless the USA Bible."
For just $99.99, you can have your very own "Patriot Edition" of the King James Version Bible, its cover "custom embossed" with the statement: "We are one people united by a common destiny and a shared purpose to love one another and the United States of America," followed by "God Bless the USA" and an image of a billowing American flag.
This is a Bible, but it’s not for everyone, is it? It’s for Americans who love the U.S.
Hey, I’m an American who loves the U.S., but this Bible is a bad idea. Why would we ever tamper with the word of God this way?
And speaking of tampering, according to the product description, this Bible also includes:
With the exception of Greenwood’s contribution, these are all important, worthy documents.
But they don’t belong in the Bible. Putting them there implies that they are somehow equivalent with the word of God. That’s not just wrong; it’s heretical.
But wait — there's more!
Other editions on offer include the "Presidential Edition," the "First Lady Edition," and the "Vice Presidential Edition," each embossed with the respective office's seal.
I think these folks are a great improvement over the last administration, but are any of them actually Bible-believing Christians? What are they doing on the cover of a Bible?
There's also the limited edition "President Donald J. Trump Signature Edition," which will run you a cool $1,000.
Someone is making bank.
Did it just get a little “den of thieves-ish” in here? Might be time for some table-flippin’ again.
I’ve no intention of buying one of those Bibles to find out, but I suspect they might feature the kind of biblical-patriotic imagery that litters our social media feeds in the days leading up to July 4.
For example, a picture of an American flag overlaid with the passage from 2 Chronicles 7:14: "Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."
The Christian nationalist guys like this verse, I’m sure, but "my people" here refers to Israel. This is not a promise for America or any other nation.
So it is with another popular meme, which puts Psalm 33:12 over Old Glory: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage."
Nope, Israel again. The psalmist was talking about Israel.
The Christian nationalists think they can create a theocracy where this would apply, but they can’t because that is not what God has ordained for us. We can only win people to Jesus, loving them one at a time.
Then there's the image of a stern bald eagle (posing in front of the Stars and Stripes) glowering at us to do our duty as citizens and ponder the accompanying verse from Galatians 5:1: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
Do not submit to sin. The slavery referred to here is to sin. Hardly the message the eagle with an attitude is giving off, though. And our freedom in Christ has literally nothing to do with our freedom as American citizens.
Ditto for another meme that splashes Galatians 5:13-14 across an American flag: "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Ditto. You were called to be free — from sin. See above. I love this particular passage so much, and I hate to see it “USA-ized.”
Almost 10 years ago, writer Michelle Lesley wrote about this conflation of American imagery with Bible verses, and I can’t sum it up any better:
It is good to thank God for the blessing of liberty. It is right to be patriotic and celebrate our nation’s founding. It is evangelistic to use Independence Day as a springboard for explaining to people how they can find real freedom in Christ. And with that freedom — our freedom in Christ and our freedom as American citizens — comes great responsibility. Namely, the responsibility not to throw all of those things into the Cuisinart at once and turn them into an Americhristian smoothie with red, white, and blue sprinkles.
Yes, let’s skip that smoothie. While we should be thankful for our blessings as American citizens — which, let's face it, are always under threat — we should be even more thankful for true freedom, which is forever and found only in Christ.
And let’s not diminish Him or His word by conflating the two.
There’s room between ceding ground to the left that need not be ceded and pretending like the decades-long campaign to alienate and ostracize conservatives is not pushing some people into dark corners.
MAGA better run and hide. Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom is mocking Donald Trump on the internet! That’s a real narrative that Democrats and the dying news media are trying to push this week in what is another naked attempt at giving that corpse of a political party some semblance of life. CNN: “Gavin Newsom […]
Though his arrest came just days after Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, the investigation and groundwork for the case were carried out by Trump appointees.
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