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Friday’s Final Word – HotAir

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May 29, 2026
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Friday's Final Word – HotAir

Put your sweet tabs a little closer on the phone, let’s pretend that we’re a-browsing all alone …





Ed: That’s gonna leave a mark. Kinda like a tattoo, in fact. 

===

John Nolte at Breitbart: After buying Colbert’s former timeslot from CBS, Byron Allen will keep the proceeds from whatever advertising he sells. This means that whatever money he takes in above the $15 million license fee and the costs involved to produce Comics Unleashed (which must be a pittance) is pure profit.

“We’re proud to partner with Byron Allen on a new business and programming model for late night that… was cost-prohibitive to continue,” a statement from CBS read. “With this ‘time buy’ model, we have shifted an hour that was losing roughly $40 million annually to $15 million in profit — a $55 million swing.” …

Last week, a rich, white guy named Stephen Colbert required $40 million in affirmative action from CBS to remain on the air.

This week, a self-made black billionaire named Byron Allen is paying his own way for the same time slot.

Ed: The CBS statement is a big middle finger to Colbert and his apologists. The network and Paramount will literally get the last laugh on Colbert after his months-long victim campaign – underwritten by CBS! – and it may be the first honest laugh in years for this timeslot.  

===

Ed: This is hilarious. Pratt did a good job last night on Gutfeld too; I expected that to be more awkward than it was. 

===

NY Times: A federal judge in Washington ordered on Friday that the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts remove President Trump’s name from the building’s facade and all official branding, finding that the board’s decision to do so was unlawful.

Judge Christopher R. Cooper of the Federal District Court in Washington wrote in a 94-page order that the law Congress passed to establish the performing arts center made “crystal clear” that the institution was to be named for President Kennedy.





“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge wrote.

Ed: I’ve always been skeptical about Trump’s ability to change the name of the center. Congress named in via statute, and that means that an EO can’t override it, and neither can the Kennedy Center board. It’s a pointless and vain exercise anyway, and a distraction from more important fights. Such as …

===

Ed: Come on, man. We don’t put pictures of living leaders on our currency, unlike the British Commonwealth. We reserve those honors for reflecting on the complete contributions of Americans after they have passed. On the other hand …

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Andrew C. McCarthy at NRO: While I believe their collusion allegation is undeniable, it is unclear to me that Congress has not authorized the Anti-Weaponization Fund — which is not to say lawmakers had specific knowledge of it.

That is, the money is to be drawn from what’s known as the “judgment fund,” a permanent, indefinite appropriation, pursuant to Section 1304 of Title 31, U.S. Code. Congress replenishes the judgment fund as needed to enable the executive branch to pay legal settlements and awards (among other things) — assuming that this authority will not be abused. While Democrats are currently livid over Trump’s machinations, most of them were quite fond of the judgment fund’s opacity when President Obama raided it to pay Iran well over a billion dollars to seal his deeply flawed nuclear deal with the mullahs — without a specific congressional authorization, much less a treaty. …





To repeat what I’ve argued, while the establishment of the Anti-Weaponization Fund is a gross abuse of power, I don’t believe court challenges will succeed. For example, the president could have directed the DOJ to set up the fund in the absence of any legal case — to my mind, he only brought a collusive lawsuit against the IRS in an attempt to give the funding scheme a patina of judicial approval; he then dropped the case when it became clear that Judge Williams, an Obama appointee, was not going to play along. Since a lawsuit is not a necessary precondition for a claim on the judgment fund, I don’t see how Trump’s bringing (then dropping) a lawsuit one can prevent him from using the judgment fund to pay claims.

And again, since Congress, however imprudently, has authorized the executive branch to control a limitless judgment fund, I don’t see how private litigants who object to the settlement on policy grounds, but suffer no concrete harm themselves, can sue. That doesn’t mean they’re wrong; it means that not all wrongs are judicially redressable.

Ed: I was not happy with this fund either when Trump first announced it as part of a settlement with the IRS. However, if Andy’s correct, then Trump didn’t need to bother with the lawsuit at all, and apparently has constituted it within this (unlimited!) Section 1304 fund, or will shortly if necessary. If so, then he’s correct; the federal court will almost certainly dismiss this challenge or declare it moot if Trump moves it more explicitly under Section 1304. 

===





Ed: Republicans are always seizing and pouncing™ on stupid things Democrats say, according to the Protection Racket Media. Maybe the real story is that Democrats keep saying stupid things, and debating public statements and positions is what we call “politics” and “campaigning.” Maybe reporters ought to familiarize themselves with the concepts. 

===

Robby Soave at MSN: Look, if you have mixed feelings about the flag, maybe you shouldn’t be running for political office. And if you have mixed feelings about the cross, maybe you shouldn’t portray yourself as the one true Christian in the race.  





===

Ed: Maybe if the mainstream media quit running interference for them, they would? Also just a thought. 

===

Ed: Yet another way in which Talarico has no idea how to campaign for statewide office in Texas. School vouchers are very popular here … outside of Austin. The idea that vouchers and homeschooling are markers of “Christian nationalism” will sound absurd to Texas voters, because it IS absurd. 

===

Newt Gingrich on Truth Social: If this were a unilateral American campaign I could enthusiastically support a more aggressive kinetic campaign. However it is also clear it would shatter the coalition because our Arab allies are convinced Iran could still do enormous damage to their oil fields and infrastructure. Coalitions are inherently slower than unilateral campaigns. However coalitions ultimately bring vastly more power to the fight. I am as frustrated as everyone else by the pace of talking with the dictatorship but having reviewed the correlation of forces and the options available to the coalition on one side and the Iranian religiously motivated dictatorship on the other I am prepared to assert that President Trump’s coalition leadership (something almost none of his critics want to acknowledge) is within reach of an enormous historic victory. And if the Iranian dictatorship ultimately  proves it is hopelessly  committed to a suicidal position there will be plenty of time for a kinetic campaign of enormous power and effectiveness. Either way we are on the edge of an astonishing victory for our values and for a safer Middle East.





Ed: Yes, this has been part of the reason why Trump has not reverted back to kinetic action, but there should be a limit to that as well. The IRGC wants to drag this out as long as possible, and that has consequences for the threats that Iran poses to the GCC states, too. The first ceasefire was premature, and the continued attempts to engage the IRGC only helps Vahidi maintain his position within Iran. 

===

Jim Geraghty at NRO: Former first lady Jill Biden told CBS Sunday Morning that she never, ever saw any signs of her husband falling into cognitive decline, and even contends that it is “not true” that people met him and said he “wasn’t the same Joe Biden” that they were used to seeing.

She’s lying. We know she’s lying, and she likely knows that we know she’s lying. But she lies anyway. …

It is the same dynamic as during his presidency. If Joe Biden were well — mentally and physically — we would be seeing him and hearing from him much more often. He is not.

Ed: Exactly, and I made this point yesterday, too. If Biden were well, he’d have written this book and made media appearances to support it, not Jill. And that’s been true about Joe Biden since the 2020 campaign, too. Go back to the final debate in that campaign and watch how Biden sundowned in the final 30 minutes. It was almost as bad as the debate in June 2024. Biden appeared to do it again during his interview with George Stephanopoulos after the Kabul bug-out in August 2021. 

===

Ed: Take the L, my dude. 

===





“And people will have watch parties for the birthday concert? Kinda like a reality show dedicated to him?”

“No!”

“Will there be cake?”

“I hate you.”

Ed: Maybe they’re just celebrating how they have crowned him emperor of their minds over the past eleven years. 

===

Ed: John’s a far better act than any of those who have spent the last two days weaseling out of their commitments to this celebration. 

===

Last night’s lyric: “Lost in Love” by Air Supply.


Editor’s note: If we thought our job in pushing back against the Academia/media/Democrat censorship complex was over with the election, think again. This is going to be a long fight. If you’re digging these Final Word posts and want to join the conversation in the comments — and support independent platforms — why not join our VIP Membership program? Choose VIP to support Hot Air and access our premium content, VIP Gold to extend your access to all Townhall Media platforms and participate in this show, or VIP Platinum to get access to even more content and discounts on merchandise. Use the promo code FIGHT to join or to upgrade your existing membership level today, and get 60% off!





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