Friday, October 16, 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
Elon Musk Unveils Prototype of Flying Tesla Roadster, and It Is Absolutely Insane
There’s a popular statement going around that goes something like this: “People alive today have seen more technological change than in all of human history combined.” We can split hairs and argue whether that’s 100 percent accurate, but I think we can agree on a modified version: “People alive today are experiencing technological change at a pace unmatched in human history.”
Trump Goes Scorched Earth: Cornyn and His ‘Liddle Buddy’ Karl Rove Trying to Hand TX to a Democrat
Cornyn and his "liddle buddy" need to get a grip. Abandoning your entire life's morals by helping out a freak like this in Texas is abhorrent.
In Bellwether PA-7, Bob Brooks' Working-Class Pitch Runs Into His Troubling Financial History
This race sort of reminds me of what happened in this very same district in 1998. Then, Democrat State Senate Roy Afflerbach ran against a credentialed businessman named Pat Toomey. Afflerbach largely ran as a regular working man against an unknown egghead. It didn’t work.
Trending Across Townhall Media
Bearing Arms — California Cops Find Mini-14 Stashed in Guitar Case
Moral of this story, boys and girls? Don't be a freaking idiot.
HotAir — Good Guy With a Gun Stops School Shooting in 'Gun-Free Zone'; Four Others Dead
Thank God for this unnamed "community member" in Oregon. Perhaps this school district and others will start considering teachers and staff as members of the same community and allow them the means for effective self-defense.
PJ Media — So Long, and Thanks for All the Learing Centers
Goodbye, Gov. Walz — you won't be missed.
Townhall — What Might Have Saved Gaza
In sum, disproportionality is a fact of war. Usually, the more disproportionate the use of force, the more likely one is to bring about a quick end to the war.
And this brutal, eternal truth of disproportionality especially applies to aggressors who start hostilities and are deemed unlikely to desist until they have suffered disproportionate losses. It serves as a warning to cease their aggression and so avoid even greater lethal asymmetries in the future.
What was once science fiction is now science fact. Thanks, Elon.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say I actually miss the critters being on/about the Hill, but it can be interesting — even entertaining, at times — to keep tabs on all the hearings and whatnot. I do miss that. But...of course, it's election time. So we're left with focusing on what the congressional candidates are up to. And oh my word, indeed...(hey — what ever happened to that lobster dude?)
Oh My Word: Troy Jackson Badly Self-Destructs During Debate at Pivotal Moment in Maine Senate Race
More Damaging Details Surface of Sermon on 'White Privilege' by Kansas Dem Senate Nominee
White House What's Up
President Trump’s Friday schedule includes:
- 8:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time — The White House
- 10:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT receives his Intelligence Briefing — The White House
- 2:45 PM — THE PRESIDENT departs the White House en route to Dalton, Georgia — The White House
- — THE PRESIDENT arrives in Dalton, Georgia — Dalton, Georgia
- — THE PRESIDENT delivers Remarks — Dalton Municipal Airport
- — THE PRESIDENT departs Dalton, Georgia en route to Palm Beach, Florida — Dalton, Georgia
- 7:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT arrives in Palm Beach, Florida — Palm Beach, Florida
- — THE PRESIDENT participates in an RNC Event — Palm Beach, Florida
Then on Saturday:
- 8:00 AM — THE PRESIDENT participates in Executive Time — Palm Beach, Florida
- 2:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT departs Palm Beach, Florida en route to Highland Heights, Kentucky — Palm Beach, Florida
- — THE PRESIDENT arrives in Highland Heights, Kentucky — Highland Heights, Kentucky
- — THE PRESIDENT delivers Remarks — Truist Arena
- — THE PRESIDENT departs Highland Heights, Kentucky en route to Palm Beach, Florida — Highland Heights, Kentucky
- 7:00 PM — THE PRESIDENT arrives in Palm Beach, Florida — Palm Beach, Florida
- — THE PRESIDENT participates in a MAGA Inc. Meeting — Palm Beach, Florida
- 7:30 PM — THE PRESIDENT participates in a MAGA Inc. Candlelight Dinner — Palm Beach, Florida
Keeping Up With the Cabinet
Sec. State - Marco Rubio — On Thursday, Rubio sanctioned a Cuban bank linked to Iranian terror.
For too long, Communist Cuba has been allowed to operate as an outpost for malign actors and terror groups – including the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism – to target the United States. Today, I designated BICSA, a Cuban financial institution which has been providing financial services to sanctioned Iranian entities. Let me be absolutely clear: the Trump Administration will not tolerate a rogue state hosting hostile foreign military, intelligence and terror operations less than a hundred miles from our homeland. https://t.co/MMEgob7I1V
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) October 15, 2026
Full Court Press...
The courts have been busy lately:
- ❌ In United States v. City of New York (sanctuary city policy), Judge Ramón Reyes (Eastern District of New York) DISMISSES DOJ's challenge to NYC's sanctuary policies.
- ❌ In Fairfax County School Board v. McMahon (challenging "High Risk Status" for Dept. funds over Title IX violations), 4th Circuit VACATES the dismissal of lawsuits challenging the ED's Title IX enforcement actions against two VA school districts over transgender students' access to sex-segregated facilities.
- ❌ In L.T. v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (immigration detention centers), 9th Circuit DENIES the government's request for an administrative stay of revisions to a preliminary injunction addressing conditions at California's Adelanto ICE Processing Center, finding that the government's month-long delay in seeking relief undermines its claim of urgency.
Sidebar: 4th Circuit Revives Virginia School Districts' Lawsuits Over Transgender Bathroom Policies
Inject Into My Veins: Female Republican Judges Level NC Paper Over Telling Judicial Race Omission
COMING ATTRACTIONS
President Trump is set to travel to the Philippines and China in mid-November.
The next round of oral arguments at the Supreme Court starts the week of November 2.
MORNING MUSING
I shared this observation on X Thursday afternoon:
Sure seems like publicity-seeking lawyers cause a lot of the drama we're subjected to these days. (Says the no-longer-practicing-yet-still-licensed lawyer who's now in media, as she listens to a fascinatingly timed podcast about Michael Avenatti...)
That musing was actually prompted by a different situation than the one that later prompted me to muse:
Not that it matters one whit, but I have a confession to make: As someone who obtained a JD and subsequently passed the bar and was licensed to practice law in two states, and who did, in fact, practice law for nearly 30 years, I never once knew/thought there to be a meaningful distinction between "lawyer" and "attorney" other than the latter sounds fancier. We used them interchangeably. Make of that what you will, all ye parsers of the universe. 🤷♀️
That second one really took off overnight — currently has north of 13,000 views — because right now, with everything else going on in the world, one of the key bones of contention is whether there's a meaningful distinction between the terms "lawyer" and "attorney." YMMV, but I can simply share what my own experience was, and that is that there is not. "Attorney" sounds marginally fancier, but I've got "lawyer" in my X bio because it's two fewer characters and who cares?
But with all of the distinctions some are insistent on drawing, it did make me wonder who exactly William Shakespeare had in mind when he had Dick the Butcher propose "The first thing we do..." in "Henry VI, Part 2" — was it only the ones who were licensed? 🤔
LIGHTER FARE
Nothing but love.
Happy pupper face..🐶😊❤️ https://t.co/1JnAcCKXFJ
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) October 16, 2026
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