Five Quick Things: The Hill They’ve Died On – The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator

I almost didn’t write a Five Quick Things this week.

That isn’t to say I almost didn’t post anything in this space. I was certainly going to do that. But it was nearly a regular column.

Why? Well, yesterday, I had a piece which did this…

Beating JD Vance at the top of RCP is nice, but…Robert Reich?

Come on, guys.

Anyway, yesterday’s column was about the masochism of the Democrats and the Left and how that has metastasized into what seems like a commitment to infuriate the largest number of ordinary Americans. (RELATED: The Masochistic Democrats Hate You — And Beg You to Hate Them Back)

One of the entries into evidence in that column was the Kilmar Garcia saga, and the bizarre choice of Democrat politicians and media talking heads to turn him into some sort of All-American Mr. Smith who went to suburban Washington to become a “Maryland Dad” worthy of advocacy.

Except Garcia’s story is not as wholesome as that advocacy might warrant.

For one thing, he’s every bit the MS-13 gangster the Trump administration says he is. For another, the multiple incidences of credible domestic abuse allegations make him the least female-friendly left-wing dad since…well, Doug Emhoff.

And then there is this…

1. How Do You Say Blowback in Salvadoran?

Just a couple of hours after yesterday’s column went to the editors, the Tennessee Star dropped a MOAB on the hill the Democrats are committed to die on…

The Tennessee Star learned on Wednesday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an alleged member of the Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) who was deported to El Salvador under President Donald Trump amid legal action claiming the removal was by mistake, was suspected of being engaged in human trafficking by a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officer who detained him in December 2022, leading the THP to contact the FBI for guidance. Within two hours, the FBI ultimately requested the THP release Garcia and the passengers in his vehicle. THP complied with the request.

The Star learned from sources familiar with the incident that Abrego Garcia was stopped for an unknown reason on December 6, 2022, and that the THP officer responsible for the stop immediately discovered Abrego Garcia was transporting seven passengers, with eight individuals inside the vehicle.

During a nearly two-hour traffic stop, the THP officer determined that Abrego Garcia (pictured above) was operating the vehicle without a valid driver’s license and began searching for information about him.

Something about the traffic stop caused concern in the mind of the THP officer that other law enforcement agencies should be alerted. One source told The Star that THP ultimately discovered Abrego Garcia was on a terrorist watch list, but could not locate Abrego Garcia on a deportation list. Another source told The Star that THP did not discover Abrego Garcia on a terrorist watch list but that another one of the seven passengers in the vehicle may have been on a terrorist watch list.

THP subsequently called the FBI, which was then led by former Director Christopher Wray under the Biden administration. The FBI instructed the THP officers at the scene to capture photographs of all eight people in the vehicle and document its contents.

Once the photographs were captured, this source told The Star that the FBI requested THP release all eight individuals and that the THP officers complied with this request.

The Star learned that the circumstances of the stop made the THP officer responsible for the stop concerned that Abrego Garcia was engaged in human trafficking, but that Abrego Garcia and his passengers were nonetheless released at the request of the FBI.

I’m not sure I’ve even got to say anything to this.

It’s almost like the Trump administration chased the Democrats onto Mt. Kilmar so they could be leak-bombed to smithereens.

How do you think Chris Van Hollen, the handsome doofus senator from Maryland, who traveled to San Salvador to see his “constituent,” feels?

2. Hate to Tell You, but Your Tax Dollars Paid for This

Van Hollen’s trip might have been one of the most ineffectual self-owns in recent American politics. It was entirely foreseeable that President Bukele of El Salvador, who had made it very plain that his position was that Kilmar Garcia belonged in prison and not in Maryland, wouldn’t see Van Hollen.

But Kilmar didn’t see him, either.

Which led to this…

Whoops, sorry. I meant this…

And this…

Good grief, what a disaster.

Van Hollen might have flown to El Salvador on his own dime, but it would be very surprising if you didn’t have to cover the bill for staffers and/or security to join him.

I’m tempted to say it was money well spent to see the Masochist Party humiliate itself to such an entertaining extent.

Update:

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the “death camps” & “torture”, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!🍹 pic.twitter.com/r6VWc6Fjtn

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 18, 2025

3. The Defunding of the Woke Indoctrination Factories Is Underway

I could do a whole column about the Trump administration’s stripping funding from the Harvards and Columbias of the world, but those are everywhere, and most of them are better than what I could whip up on short notice. (RELATED: The Fall of Harvard: How America’s Oldest University Became Its Most Expensive Liability)

So instead, I’ll just show you this…

My favorite part about the Trump Administration’s letter to Harvard is the demand that “all existing and prospective faculty shall be reviewed for plagiarism.” Twisting the knife. pic.twitter.com/30sQOldldA

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) April 17, 2025

The bit about plagiarism is utterly brutal. Forcing Harvard to choose between admitting the truth about so many of its faculty — and particularly those DEI hires like Claudine Gay, who found her way into the president’s office for no particularly good reason — or keeping the billions of dollars in federal grants the school pulls down is a checkmate.

It’s good stuff. More, please.

4. Pigs Get Fat. Hogs Get Slaughtered.

I’ve always loved that old saw about the ultimate poor wages of gluttony, and it struck me a while ago that sooner or later it would apply to the Democrats’ tactic of judicial warfare against the Trump administration. The clearly illegitimate injunctions and other judicial actions coming from the pens of Obama and Biden judges, as part of a coordinated campaign of lawsuits by Soros nonprofits, were always coming to a bad end. (RELATED: Shooting Blanks From the Bench)

And that end is now in sight…

Once again, left-wingers, be it politicians or judges, can’t help themselves.

This never would have even come up had the politicization of the courts these past three months not been so blatant. Now, they’ll lose their power. https://t.co/WbPDV35o3T

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) April 18, 2025

This has happened before, you know. Remember when Harry Reid killed the filibuster for judicial nominees? That was a pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered moment. This is another.

Our system wasn’t made for the kind of bad faith shenanigans the Democrats have committed themselves to. But of course, as I said yesterday, they don’t like our system, and they certainly don’t like us. (RELATED: Law Schools, Court Supremacy, and the Real Constitution)

That feeling is mutual, if the polls are any indication. It’s going to be interesting to see the public reaction when, or if, the Supreme Court slaps away the lawfare campaign once and for all by blowing up the concept of national injunctions from federal district courts.

5. Let’s Not Be So Hard on Chris Van Hollen. It Could Have Been Worse…

…he could have “be-clowned” himself like this guy did.

Poor start.

Karmelo’s first presser they decide to go after Austin’s father on grounds of “disrespect” instead of speaking on Karmelo’s defense

This kid will be in prison for 25 to life

pic.twitter.com/BDvqAxZ8Oi

— 🪶Native Patriot 🇺🇸 (@LaNativePatriot) April 17, 2025

That’s Dominique Alexander, the less-than-savory “minister” who is running point for the Karmelo Anthony family’s PR efforts, and not exactly building a resume in textbook fashion.

What set him off was that the father of Austin Metcalf, the white high school track athlete that Anthony stabbed through the heart with a knife, showed up to haunt the Anthony press avail.

Using the word “disrespect” is an especially dumb idea. Pretty much everybody knows that Anthony killed (I’d say, allegedly, except Anthony told the police he’d stabbed Metcalf) his victim because he was “disrespected.”

“Touch me and see what happens,” was what he said. And when Metcalf pushed him, he retrieved his knife from his bag and did the deed.

Accusing the father of “disrespect” because he showed up to a press conference where you’re going to make excuses for the murder of his son?

Really?

Exactly what respect is due here, again?

I don’t know how that question could possibly be answered.

READ MORE from Scott McKay:

The Masochistic Democrats Hate You — And Beg You to Hate Them Back

The Glorious Impending Death of Temu?

Five Quick Things: And ‘Showerers’ Across the Fruited Plain Rejoiced