Yesterday I worried when I saw that Pete Hegseth would be delivering an address today. I feared he would be announcing his withdrawal from the administration. I guess he still might do that but it's more likely he was announcing...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Democrats announced on Monday that they now have a clear mandate from voters to do all the crazy stuff they never mentioned in their campaigns.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Outgoing Congressman Thomas Massie took to the media yesterday to make one final push for a job as an MS NOW anchor.

George Will cautions against "giddiness" in the wake of the midterms, concluding with a warning we should heed that the President is not well.

The whole thing is worth a read, but Will fleshes out a point I merely noted in passing yesterday: that Elon Musk's waste of hundreds of millions in Texas political spending is a a great counterexample to the idea that we should limit political spending by individuals. (We set aside for the moment the fact that such bans should be opposed as violations of individual rights.):

The importance of money in politics is more asserted and deplored than measured. In Texas, Elon Musk, the most overrated dabbler in U.S. politics, perhaps did something useful with his estimated $224 million money geyser for Republicans. He unintentionally demonstrated that there is a point at which the utility of political dollars not only declines steeply, but actually becomes negative. Senator-elect James Talarico prospered politically while saying, "Texas is not for sale."

Furthermore, all political spending funds, directly or indirectly, the dissemination of political speech. Those who have nothing intelligent, interesting, pertinent or plausible to say will injure themselves by lavish spending that makes this absence obvious. Vivek Ramaswamy will not be Ohio's governor (or a Republican presidential candidate again), in part because of a campaign ad (featuring his opponent's mother) that will live in political lore as a spectacular act of self-harm. [bold added]

Yes, again, just dumping money into political ads still depends on those ads persuading voters. But I had not considered the second case: If someone is a big enough ass, it can be a good thing that he is well able to get the word out before he comes to power.

The 2026 midterms way well have been a victory for freedom of speech, even if an accidental one.

-- CAV