Monday, October 12, 2026
Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. Consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
TOP O' THE MORNIN'
Red-Hot at RedState
Watch: Talarico Personally Responds on Why He Was Missing, and the Lindner Center Weighs In
The big story this week has been why Democrat Texas Senate candidate James Talarico has been missing since September 30, when he appeared on a Zoom call, and then did not show up until appearing at the Austin City Limits Festival on Friday, October 9.
'Shot to Death With Musketry.' A Look at the Last Firing Squad Execution by the US Army
Given all the facts and that Hasan admitted to the killings at his trial, acted as his own counsel, and refused to call witnesses, it is hard to see how a habeas appeal gets much traction.
Watch: Bessent Has More Fun With Elizabeth Warren, Delivers a Brutal Schooling on Economy
Bessent said he always likes to include a handwritten note, and since it was close to Columbus Day, he thought it was appropriate. In another little jab at Warren, he noted that while he has high cheekbones like others, that doesn't make him an indigenous person.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Bearing Arms — New Scam Offers 'Nationwide' Concealed Carry Permit
If these scammers are spending millions of dollars promoting their schemes, they're probably making millions more.
HotAir — Too Weird to NOT Check First: Did Talarico Have a Mental Health Crisis?
It's not a HIPAA violation to demand accountability from politicians who disappear in the middle of a job. Better to get that now than to wait until Talarico disappears for months while supposedly representing Texas.
PJ Media — Talarico FINALLY Speaks, and I Think He Just Made Things Worse
This interview makes it clear that Talarico’s team has tweaked and fine-tuned its cover story. The trouble is that everyone watched the tuning happen in real time.
When his fellow semihumans see him shot, they may think he’s a martyr, but they’ll also think we’re serious. They will see that we once again have the strength to take our own side, to fight, and to put an Islamist traitor into the ground.
Twitchy — Lindner City of Hope Twitter/X Account Weighs in on Whether They Treated James Talarico
Perhaps in the next day or two, things will sort out, but right now, we don’t know. It's frustrating, but it is reality.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
The critters are campaigning — but not refraining from making plenty of noise and buzz. Of course, the hottest story of the moment is the news that Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar's (MN-05) D.C. home was raided early this morning by Homeland Security Investigations. I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty more about that in the coming hours/days.
There's also:
Liberal Anchor Drops a Clownish Line About Communists. House Majority Whip Steamrolls Him on Air.
GOP Opponent Stuns Cory Booker in Debate With Amazing Answer on Iran
White House What's Up
President Trump’s Monday schedule includes:
- 8:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time — The White House
- 7:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT departs the White House en route to Youngstown, Ohio — The White House
- — THE PRESIDENT arrives in Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown, Ohio
- — THE PRESIDENT delivers Remarks — Youngstown, Ohio
- — THE PRESIDENT departs Youngstown, Ohio en route to the White House — Youngstown, Ohio
- — THE PRESIDENT arrives at the White House — The White House
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Dir. Federal Bureau of Investigation - Kash Patel — Patel is touting the successes of Operation Blackout as the bureau cracks down on scam center fraud.
OPERATION BLACKOUT: This FBI’s global crackdown on scam center fraud continues to deliver outstanding results in Ghana. Operation Blackout totals so far: Roughly $17 BILLION seized Hundreds of alleged scammers arrested Thousands of trafficked workers freed 10,000+ Americans warned before losing their money $670 MILLION in estimated losses prevented
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) October 11, 2026
Full Court Press...
Courts are closed Monday, it being Columbus Day, but some notable court decisions landed on Friday (and there were a couple more over the weekend we'll be reporting on shortly):
✅ In American Association of People with Disabilities v. Bisignano (changes to SSA), Judge Amit Mehta (D.C.) GRANTS admin’s motion to dismiss a challenge to the Social Security Administration’s workforce reduction, finding that plaintiffs have standing and the court has jurisdiction but that they failed to plausibly allege disability-based disparate impact or arbitrary and capricious agency action.
❌ In Immigrant Defenders Law Center v. Mullin (Remain in Mexico), Judge Jesús Bernal (Central District of California) GRANTS plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and DENIES admin’s cross-motion, ruling that the Migrant Protection Protocols violated the Administrative Procedure Act and plaintiffs’ statutory and constitutional rights; VACATES the policies and directives implementing the original Remain in Mexico program.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
The Supreme Court will be back on Tuesday and Wednesday to hear oral argument in two more cases.
President Trump will head to the Philippines and China in mid-November.
MORNING MUSING
I'm sure I've shared this with our readers at some point, but I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and today being Indigenous Peoples Day (in addition to Columbus Day), it only seems right to acknowledge that debt. You see, it's because of Warren's insistence on her indigenous heritage (and her ultimate disclosure that a DNA test confirmed that she is something on the order of 1/1024th Native American) that prompted me to do my own DNA sleuthing (initially via 23andMe, later via Ancestry), which confirmed that I have roughly twice as much indigenous DNA as Warren.
I'm being facetious, of course, but in all seriousness, had she not been so ridiculous about her claims, I might never have been sufficiently motivated to test them out myself. And doing so ultimately led me to a pastime I genuinely enjoy. It's fascinating digging into one's ancestry and, in a roundabout way, I owe at least a sliver of that to good ol' Liz. So...thank you, Sen. Warren!
LIGHTER FARE
Moomies! (H/t to the Handsome Beau for this one.)
Zoomies.. 😊 https://t.co/ZeNB07MY5m
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) October 10, 2026
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