Thursday, October 1, 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
Oh Yes, He Went There: Hegseth Torches Pentagon's Focus on Woke in Speech Leftists Will Hate
Some may take issue with his wording, but the secretary is right on the core issue: woke has no place in the military. The War Department has a job to do: defend the United States and neutralize our enemies. Experimenting with social justice policies, DEI, and focusing on radical gender ideas does not help our soldiers fight more effectively in Iran — or anyplace else.
'Not Trying to Be Dramatic': Sophie Cunningham Masterfully Trolls WNBA Player Who Flipped Out on Fan
Sophie's choice of timing makes her jab at A'ja Wilson even better. Indiana and Las Vegas are tied 1-1 in their best-of-three first-round series, meaning Cunningham just tossed a little social-media gasoline onto the matchup before a winner-take-all Game 3.
Troy Jackson Sticks a Fork in His Campaign With Jewish Mainers Remark and Bizarre Dr. Evil Ad
I've felt that ever since I saw her opponent, Democrat Troy Jackson, and got a sense of his record. That was even before the story about having kids with his (second) cousin. I'm not sure you could pick a less inspiring guy than this character. He has all the bad leftist policies of Graham Platner, plus no charisma.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Bearing Arms — Residents Outraged After Sheriff Declines to Charge Armed Citizen
No wonder we have such an issue with criminality among teenagers. Entire communities will defend the indefensible, which is precisely what we have here.
HotAir — Hmmm: Another Botched Execution in Tennessee
According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI), the historical rate of "flawed" executions is around three percent, but most of those still resulted in the inmates' deaths. If so, the odds of it happening twice would be 0.09%, and Tennessee didn't do 100 executions, either. Something is very clearly wrong with this system, its mechanisms, its personnel, or all three.
One of the key points to take away from the debate interchange below, besides the fact that Democrats are going to have to cheat egregiously to boost an obviously sour and disconnected Becerra, is that Democrats are never content with targeting billionaires.
Townhall — Why the Dem-Friendly Polls May Be Way Wrong
But my gut, for what it’s worth, feels like the Democrats have peaked. This is when Republicans start coming home. By the time the election rolls around, they will be ready to roll out and vote red. Is this all just wishful thinking? You bet it is. I certainly wish my hypothesis is true. And right now, I think it is.
Let's hope California wakes TF up.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
The Senate's winding down ahead of the midterms, but not without some critical votes that had Democrats curiously blocking measures with broad bipartisan support. Thanks, Chuck?
Senate Democrats Tank Popular Stock Ban to Halt Voter ID
New Midterms Flashpoint: Dems Block Electricity Cost Bill
Meanwhile, there are a couple of hearings/meetings set for Thursday:
- Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs — Hearings to examine the nominations of Jeremy Wiggins, of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Matthew Jones, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and David Slade, of Florida, to be First Vice President, and Michael Rigas, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Board of Directors, both of the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
- Senate Foreign Relations — To receive a closed briefing on an update on Venezuela.
White House What's Up
President Trump’s Thursday schedule includes:
- 8:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time — The White House
- 11:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Policy Meeting — Oval Office
- 3:05 PM CDT — THE PRESIDENT departs the White House en route to Denton, Texas — The White House
- — THE PRESIDENT arrives in Denton, Texas — Denton, Texas
- — THE PRESIDENT participates in a Site Visit — Peterbilt Motors Company
- — THE PRESIDENT departs Denton, Texas en route to Durant, Oklahoma — Denton, Texas
- — THE PRESIDENT arrives in Durant, Oklahoma — Durant, Oklahoma
- 6:00 PM CDT — THE PRESIDENT delivers Remarks — Choctaw Event Center
- — THE PRESIDENT departs Durant, Oklahoma en route to Dallas, Texas — Durant, Oklahoma
- — THE PRESIDENT arrives in Dallas, Texas — Dallas, Texas
- — THE PRESIDENT departs Dallas, Texas en route to the White House — Dallas, Texas
- — THE PRESIDENT arrives at the White House — The White House
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. Transportation - Sean Duffy — Duffy is lobbying heavily for the Modern Skies Act in an effort to upgrade America's flight infrastructure.
The message from the aviation industry is unified and clear:
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) September 30, 2026
Pass the Modern Skies Act NOW ‼️
Thank you @SenEricSchmitt for leading the charge to upgrade America’s flight infrastructure
Time for Congress to act👇 pic.twitter.com/Xq0tx6b0Xg
Full Court Press...
There were a few court decisions of note on Wednesday, but I'm playing a bit of catch-up on those and will have to summarize those tomorrow, though there is this one:
- ❌ In Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts, et al. v. Bessent, et al. (IRS sharing for immigration enforcement), Judge Indira Talwani (Massachusetts) DENIES (substantially) admin’s motion to dismiss a challenge to the sharing of noncitizens’ taxpayer and Social Security information with immigration authorities, allowing plaintiffs’ APA, First Amendment Petition Clause, and agency-regulation claims to proceed while dismissing duplicative ultra vires claim.
In the meantime, I've been attempting to wrap up the Supreme Court's 2025 term with daily Skinny on SCOTUS installments.
Skinny on SCOTUS: Green Cards, Government Strings, and ‘See You in Court, Commies!’
Look for another later today.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
President Trump, as noted above, is rallying in Oklahoma today. He'll be in Alabama on Friday.
The Supreme Court's 2026 term starts up next Monday.
MORNING MUSING
Wednesday morning, as the story regarding the harrowing attempted hijacking/crashing of Flydubai Flight FZ1073 was unfolding, one thing became abundantly clear: that the incident didn't end horrifically required a series of miracles:
A series of open miracles on the flydubai flight that very nearly went down with a plane full of passengers.
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) September 30, 2026
Miracle 1: A plane full of people survived an attempt by the copilot to crash their aircraft. Passengers and crew broke into the cockpit and subdued the attacker after he…
A series of open miracles on the flydubai flight that very nearly went down with a plane full of passengers.
Miracle 1: A plane full of people survived an attempt by the copilot to crash their aircraft. Passengers and crew broke into the cockpit and subdued the attacker after he stabbed the captain.
Miracle 2: Two off-duty flydubai pilots happened to be on board. They took control of the plunging aircraft and landed it safely.
Miracle 3: The plane plummeted and spun out of control - spiraling some 17,000 feet. It ultimately touched down with a chunk of its rudder missing.
Miracle 4: They landed in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Yet when an aircraft carrying Israelis was in mortal danger, Saudi Arabia became their refuge. Saudi authorities received them, kept them safe, and got them onto a replacement aircraft that flew them directly from Saudi soil to Tel Aviv.
For all the reasons to despair about the Middle East, don't miss what happened today.
And for all that is wrong in the world today, don't forget that God is good.
LIGHTER FARE
It's a ruff and tumble world out there...
Puppy: Look mom, what I can do..🐶😅 pic.twitter.com/ulH7cf0gWB
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) September 30, 2026
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