Good morning and welcome to Sunday, April 12, 2026. Alexa tells me it is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. It’s also Easter in the Orthodox Church. It’s also World Holocaust Remembrance Day.
1606 England adopts the Union Flag, replaced in 1801 by the current Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack.
1709 Richard Steele’s British literary and society journal The Tatler is first published, establishing a new type of journalism featuring essays on contemporary manners, and becoming one of the first “social influencers.”
1861 Fort Sumter in South Carolina is attacked by the Confederacy, beginning the American Civil War.
1862 James Andrews steals a Confederate train (The General) at Kennesaw, Ga., inspiring Buster Keaton’s 1926 film.
1900 The U.S. Congress passes the Foraker Act, establishing Puerto Rico as an unincorporated territory (effective May 1).
1909 Philadelphia’s Shibe Park (later Connie Mack Stadium), baseball’s first steel-and-concrete stadium, opens; the Athletics win 8–1 against the Boston Red Sox.
1934 The second-highest ever wind speed of 372 km/h (231 mph) is recorded on Mount Washington.
1945 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies in office, and Vice President Harry Truman is sworn in as the 33rd U.S. President.
1951 The Israeli Knesset officially designates April 13 as Holocaust Day.
1954 Atlantic Records releases “Big” Joe Turner’s single “Shake, Rattle and Roll”; it tops the R&B charts and reaches No. 22 on the pop charts, before being covered by Bill Haley, who also recorded “Rock Around the Clock” the same year.
1955 The polio vaccine tested by Jonas Salk is announced to be “safe and effective” and is given full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
1961 General Douglas MacArthur declines an offer to become baseball commissioner.
1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human to travel into space and orbit Earth aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.
1963 The Beatles’ third single, “From Me to You,” is released in the U.K.
1979 The Australian film Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson and directed by George Miller, is released.
Birthdays today include: Henry Clay, American politician known as “The Great Compromiser,” speaker of the House, senator, and secretary of State (1825–29); Lily Pons, French-American coloratura soprano opera singer (Metropolitan Opera, 1931–60); Chief Thundercloud (Victor Daniels), Cherokee actor (The Lone Ranger; Colt .45); Helen Forrest (Fogel), American big band, pop, and swing jazz singer (Artie Shaw; Benny Goodman; Harry James); Tiny Tim, American singer and ukulele player (“Tiptoe Through the Tulips”); Herbie Hancock, American jazz and funk pianist and composer; John Hagee, American pastor and televangelist; John Kay (Joachim Krauledat), German-born Canadian rock singer (Steppenwolf); Ed O’Neill, American comedian and actor (Married… with Children); David Letterman, talk show host; Tom Clancy, author; Lois Reeves, American singer (Martha and the Vandellas, 1969–72); David Cassidy, American singer (“I Think I Love You”) and actor (The Partridge Family); Vince Gill, country music great; and Shannen Doherty, American actress (Little House on the Prairie, Beverly Hills 90210, Charmed).
If it’s also your day, live it up. You only get so many of these.
* * *
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) April 11, 2026
The article, which is lengthy by X standards, doesn’t clip well, so I’ll do it manually:
The context is everything, and the context is the 2026 California gubernatorial election. It’s still primary season, and California has this crazy thing called a “jungle primary” in which all candidates in all political parties are tossed into a single primary election, and the two candidates who emerge with the highest percentage of the primary vote advance to the general election. The purpose of this process is to ensure that it will always be two Democrats in the general election, and no Republican can ever even get in the way as a general election candidate. (Great “democracy” they have there in the Golden State, isn’t it?)
Well guess what? They ended up with eight Democrat candidates and two GOP candidates in the primary, and depending on what poll you consult, it is possible that two Republican candidates might emerge as the two top primary winners, guaranteeing a Republican governor emerges in the general election. In other words, the distorted, undemocratic system installed in California by the Democrat majority is backfiring on them, and now they are scrambling to save themselves—and the only way to do that is to dilute or eliminate the support to one of the leading Democrat candidates, thereby kicking that support to another Democrat, thereby guaranteeing that at least one Democrat is on the ballot in November for the two-candidate general election.And Eric Swalwell is the designated fall guy.
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Look, as with my discussion on Cosby last month, this discussion is not about guilt or innocence, but rather about the sudden and desperate nature of the attacks on him. The sudden and unified change of attitude by the Democrats toward him (given his predilections have been well known for a long time now) is telling. Two things emerge, the first being:
Flashback. https://t.co/cevacEkPh1 pic.twitter.com/8RQW3ngaEV
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) April 10, 2026
So, he’s been caught out. Not because he’s guilty particularly, but because the Democrats needed a wedge to remain in power in California. Swalwell makes a handy lever toward that end.
Related: The Real Reason Democrats Are Calling for Swalwell to End His Campaign and Rep. Eric Swalwell Denies Accusations of Sexual Misconduct. Just Ask the Chinese Spy He Slept With.
How do I know that’s what the real story is? Because of what the Dems are not doing. That’s the second point, which is that the Democrats screaming for him to be removed from the governor’s race are not also demanding he be removed from Congress. The reason, obviously, is that removing him from his congressional seat would also be counterproductive to the goals of the Democrats, because there would be one less vote on the left. That’s interesting because he was preying on House staffers, a point which has been well known (and complained about) for years now.
The logical conclusion to draw is that, as Cynical Publius suggests, this move is to ensure that at least one Democrat makes it to the final round in California. Given Swalwell’s history, he was a convenient fall guy to make that happen.
Oh, by all means, if it is found that the charges against Swalwell are true (and for the record, I suspect and will suppose they are), then he doesn’t deserve to be running for the state house in California. Then again, neither does he deserve the seat he now holds. In my view, House Republicans should be moving to expel the man. They have the votes, I believe. Indeed, I’m seeing calls from various congress critters for just that, as our Matt Margolis mentioned yesterday.
Funny how people like Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democrat Whip Katherine Clark haven’t come to that conclusion. All of which means this sudden shift is not about justice, nor is it about protecting and believing victims, but merely a political move designed to maintain Democrat power in the California state house while not losing a vote in Congress.
And far as I can see, Swalwell is a victim of his own positioning on the subject. Observe:
There’s nothing political or partisan about acting decisively to end the scourge of domestic violence and sexual assault. That’s why I’m voting to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. #VAWA pic.twitter.com/uRgAzFbpe3
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) March 17, 2021
For his wife, he says? How the bleep he’s still married is something of a mystery.
Remember Fang Fang, the Chinese spy he was sleeping with? I’ll bet his wife does.
The Chinese don’t tend to operate on folks they know are untouchable. They knew Swalwell would take the bait, which explains Fang Fang. If the Chinese knew of his habits, it’s a lock-sure bet that the Democrats did as well. This has been going on for years, and it’s pretty obvious that the Dems have been sweeping this stuff under their prayer rugs for a long time. There’s a paper trail here that needs exposing. Swalwell was on the front of the mob demanding the release of the Epstein files. I’m all for fairness, so I’m going to get a step ahead of the game here: Release the Swalwell Files!
Thought of the day:
Political correctness is tyranny with manners. — Charlton Heston
Take care today. I’ll see you here tomorrow.
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