The Washington Stand (2026)

04/08/2026

As political candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) continue to win elections and gain increasing national prominence, a key factor in their success appears to be the growing influence and money provided by far-left American socialists and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sympathizers who are operating from within China.

On Sunday, The Free Press published a profile of Eric Hovagim, a video producer who “helped film or edit three primary campaign videos” for Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who won New York City’s mayoral race in November 2025. Hovagim, who also helped produce a documentary about communist apologist Hasan Piker’s goodwill trip to Cuba in March, has amassed over three million online followers as a “geopolitical commentator.” As noted by The Free Press, his commentaries “echo positions of the Democratic Socialists of America and often hinge on three themes: conspiracy, anti-Americanism, and glorifying political violence, often connecting all three.”

These views include seeing America as “the fourth Reich” and Israel as “the most dangerous threat to humanity.” While claiming that he is “against ... violence of any kind,” Hovagim also displays a hypocritical penchant for violence. He called Elon Musk “a valid military target,” called the New York City street where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered “hallowed ground,” and affectionately referred to Thompson’s accused killer, Luigi Mangione, as a “bis*xual sweetheart” who did it on behalf of “all working-class Americans.”

Perhaps most telling about the underlying goals and ultimate direction of the DSA is Hovagim’s unabashed enthusiasm and defense of Xi Jinping’s communist regime. He moved to Shanghai following Mamdani’s NYC mayoral victory in order to “enjoy the fruits of socialism firsthand,” according to a social media post. As highlighted by The Free Press, his social media accounts are full of him posing with paintings of former dictator Mao Zedong, whose policies directly led to the deaths of 70 million of his own people. As one historian noted, “At least 45 million people were worked, starved or beaten to death in China” during Mao’s four-year “Great Leap Forward” from 1958 to 1962.

But Hovagim can’t be bothered with such inconvenient historical facts. He also dismisses the CCP’s mass incarceration and extermination of the Uyghur minority as “CIA propaganda.” This way of thinking lines up with many prominent DSA members such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who act as apologists for communist regimes like Cuba.

As influential as Hovagim has become, another far-left socialist American also living in Shanghai has even more clout: billionaire financier Neville Roy Singham. During “Washington Watch” last month, Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) Co-Founder Joel Finkelstein chronicled how Singham has became a tycoon of far-left communism.

“[H]e shares a building with a Chinese owned company called Mako Media,” he explained. “This is a CCP asset which is responsible for laundering China’s reputation in the global south and facilitating propaganda across the world about China’s bright future. This mogul has sold his business for … nearly $1 billion and now work[s] closely … with Chinese executives and leadership in the CCP. He regularly commits … over $200 million to 501(c)(3) [organizations] across the United States. Now, these not-for-profit organizations have been responsible for some of the most disruptive behavior in recent protests history in the United States — confrontation with law enforcement, shutting down bridges such that emergency vehicles can’t pass, invading Columbia [University], locking up janitors in closets, tearing down American flags. This kind of activity I think our legal system has formally corroborated as being criminal, and so it’s quite strange to see it now formally labeled as charitable and worthy of tax deductions.”

NCRI has also “linked Singham’s network to content defending the Iranian regime, North Korea, and Chinese state policy in Xinjiang and Taiwan.”

The DSA’s support for communist China is now becoming increasingly public, with over a dozen high-ranking members recently pledging to “support the People’s Republic of China and to promote understanding of Chinese socialism,” according to a report from The Times last week.

In addition, CCP officials are now reaching out to the DSA to organize trips for members to visit China, according to the report. “A five-person delegation of DSA members to China last year is understood to have been organised and co-ordinated by the office of foreign affairs of Guizhou, a province in southwest China,” it noted. After a 2024 trip to China, New York City DSA member Dee Knight wrote, “The provincial foreign affairs department staff called us ‘VIPs’ and treated us royally … There is a serene and comfortable spirit of confidence and conviviality among our Chinese hosts.”

Knight went on to dismiss the widespread and verified reports of the CCP’s enslavement and forced organ harvesting of the Uyghur population after visiting the Xinjiang region, describing the reports as “scandal stories” and insisting he “found nothing to support western accusations of slave labour.”

Experts like Alexander Reid Ross, a Portland State University professor specializing in radicalism, told The Times that the CCP’s efforts to work with the DSA are part of its far-reaching plan to undermine the U.S.

“While these seem like quirky activist trips to get people to like China, they’re treated as extraordinarily important vehicles to change the western perception of China by the Chinese Communist Party,” he emphasized. “They exhibit fingerprints of extraordinarily high-level co-ordination by the People’s Republic of China.”

𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝐷𝑎𝑛 𝐻𝑎𝑟𝑡.

04/08/2026

Who is Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombia's newly elected president?

Yoe Suarez reports that the president-elect aligns with the “New Right,” combining social conservatism with support for free-market economics.

04/08/2026

Despite its Christian background, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services has adopted and advocated for a health care model that unquestioningly promotes LGBT lifestyles.

Using the “Find a Clinician” function on the Pine Rest website, The Washington Stand counted 25 providers listed under the treatment category “LGBTQ+ Affirming Care." When TWS further specified “LGBTQ+ Affirming Care” as the treatment category and the patient’s age as “Child,” TWS counted seven providers in the Pine Rest system.

More details at the link below. 👇

04/08/2026

Poll: Voters Embrace Conservative Positions on Cultural Issues before Midterms

04/08/2026

How much can a stuffed teddy bear teach about timeless truths? In the classic children’s story “Corduroy” (1968), the answer happens to be: quite a lot. Parenting toddlers has forced me to refamiliarize myself with children’s literature, and Corduroy stands out not for its storytelling, but for its gospel allegory. I would even argue that (much like “Pilgrim’s Progress”) “Corduroy” makes more sense as a gospel allegory than as an actual story.

There are no spoilers to a 58-year-old plot. Corduroy is a teddy bear in a multi-level department store with unspoken but innate desires. When a little girl asks her mother to take him home, her mother says no, pleading both a lack of funds and the missing button on Corduroy’s overalls.

Corduroy did not realize his button was missing but resolves to search for it that night. He accidentally rides up an escalator, which he takes to be a mountain, to the furniture department, which he takes to be a palace. He wants to encounter mountains and palaces, but he still needs to find his button. He tries to pull off a button that is sewn onto a mattress. But he only succeeds in knocking down a floor lamp, which alerts the night watchman. Corduroy tries to hide, but the watchman finds him and returns him to his place in the toy department — still without a button.

The next day, the little girl returns, pays her own money for Corduroy, and takes him home. She runs up four flights of stairs to show Corduroy his own bed in her own room. She expresses her pleasure with Corduroy, but she also sews on a new button in the place of the one he lost. Corduroy realizes that, while “mountains” and “palaces” might be fun and exciting, what he really longed for was a home and a friend.

As with most children’s books, this one requires the reader (and young audience) to suspend certain elements of disbelief. The main character is a stuffed bear with an active thought life and the ability to walk around a department store on his own. Such a thing is impossible in real life, but we can accept the premise and enjoy the fictional story all the same.

Yet that story presents us with even more problems. First, there are plot holes. Why did a booming department store let a bedraggled bear remain on its shelf? Why did the night watchman, after searching for an intruder, simply give up the search to carry a toy back to a different floor?

But second, and more seriously, almost the entire plot does not matter at all. Corduroy goes on a thrilling nighttime adventure, but there is no development, no reward, no consequence. He simply ends up right back where he started. If the story only said that a girl wanted to buy a bear, her mother said no, but the next day she came back and bought the bear with her own money, it would have the same ending.

The reason for this, according to Wikipedia, seems to be that the author, Don Freeman (d. 1978), merely wanted to write a book about a character in a department store at night. And he did so, even if the plot is forced.

Yet there must be more to this story. I do not know what more Freeman may have intended, but inferior stories do not become classics, as “Corduroy” has become. I suggest that Corduroy has endured because, whether intentionally or not, it points to the greatest story — that of the Christian’s redemption and salvation in Jesus Christ. When read in this way, what were flaws in the narrative become crucial pieces of the book’s overall message.

The bear represents the Christian, and his journey begins first with the realization that something is wrong with him. This realization comes through revelation from the mother and daughter, who represent the Father and the Son. Corduroy’s missing button represents the Christian’s sin, and this status of imperfection acts as an obstacle keeping him from fellowship with God.

Corduroy’s midnight adventure stands for his futile attempt to fix himself through his own effort. Although largely directionless, he accidentally stumbles into the path of self-improvement (represented by his escalator ride) that leads him to a place of apparent success (the department so lavishly furnished he mistakes it for a palace). But this journey did nothing to fix his fundamental problem: his button is still missing. Corduroy tries to take a button and make it fit, but he only makes things worse by harming a mattress and knocking over a lamp. The night watchman represents God’s law, who arrests Corduroy’s ill-fated adventure and returns him right back to where he started. All Corduroy’s efforts to fix himself accomplished exactly nothing.

Then the girl returns. Like Christ, she pays the price to redeem Corduroy. Like Christ, she has prepared a place for him to dwell with her. Like Christ, she calls him friend and takes him home with great joy. Like Christ, she loves him even in his buttonless condition, but she does not let him stay in that condition; she makes him perfect again. Corduroy’s final state is much better than anything he achieved on his own; his button is fixed, he finds the home he didn’t know he longed for, and he ascends four stories instead of just one.

Like all allegories, of course, this one has its limits and ought not be stretched too far. For instance, if the mother stands in the place of God the Father, we should not suggest that he is too poor to redeem the Christian because she is poor. Nor should Corduroy’s exclusive relationship with the girl convince us that the Christian does not need to follow Jesus in fellowship with other believers.

But the story does effectively show that Corduroy cannot do what it takes to fix himself or redeem himself. For that, he must rely on another. In this way, it points to the Christian’s relationship with Christ, creating the categories in their young minds even before they can understand the gospel. These are the elements of the story I now stress when reading this children’s classic to my own children. And I would encourage those readers with occasion to crack open this book to do the same.

𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝐽𝑜𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑎 𝐴𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑑. 𝑃𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑.

03/08/2026

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche has rescinded an order establishing a controversial "anti-weaponization" fund, paving the way for his confirmation ahead of a key Senate committee vote on Tuesday.

Republican Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina had held up Blanche's attorney general nomination while seeking written assurances that the Justice Department would not move forward with the fund, which critics have derided as a slush fund for Trump's supporters.

Comment "FUND" for more details.

01/08/2026

France’s recent social media ban for minors under 15 has reignited the conversation of whether the U.S. should follow suit. America’s hesitancy is surprising from the perspective of someone who was that age not too long ago.

The debate surrounding a ban on social media has largely moved past questioning whether social platforms are positive, negative, or neutral tools. Studies abound demonstrating the addictive properties of social media and their correlation to sleeplessness, self-image issues, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts — especially among minors. The surgeon general even issued a statement recommending health warnings on social media platforms, akin to those required for to***co companies, and limiting minors’ access. By 2026, most people don’t need convincing that social media has its problems.

Moreover, research shows that the benefits of social media largely only exist because a majority of teenagers use it. The Pew Research Center finds over half of U.S. teens use YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, placing those who forgo the platforms in the minority. Consequently, Pew found teenagers who choose to join the trend of social media use it because it makes them feel more accepted and connected with their fellow platform-using peers. This desire to fit in with peers, or “fear of missing out” (FOMO), would be a nonfactor if social media platforms were removed from teenage demographics entirely.

Moderates often try to walk the line between seeing social media as harmful and helpful by describing it as a neutral “tool” — but it is not the neutral tool many think. Social media algorithms are designed to spark engagement, often by rewarding controversial or inflammatory content. Earlier this year, whistleblowers inside Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, even reported receiving instructions to allow more misogynistic, violent, and conspiratorial content when stock prices were down so engagement would go up. As a result, children are exposed to more radical political and religious perspectives than they likely ever would in their in-person lives — all without the knowledge or oversight of their parents.

As children engage with this content, social media algorithms are designed to reward their engagement with more similar content, creating an echo-chamber effect. Uncoincidentally, radicalism on both sides of the political spectrum has increased among younger demographics. Polls show a quarter of young liberals now justify violence against their political opponents and almost two-thirds support socialist policies, all while young conservatives line up behind problematic voices like Nick Fuentes and Candace Owens. The echo chamber validates these extreme perspectives, places children in communities of millions of others who validate the views, and demonizes opponents — all while ensuring users never have to see or hear neutral, humble, or different points of view.

Anecdotally and academically, we know social media is harmful for our kids. And, though cellphone bans are recent and data is scarce, we have reason to believe less screen time is a positive.

State bans on cellphones in high schools give a hint at what the impact of a teenage demographic without social media could look like. A study released in April 2026 by the National Bureau of Economic Research examined 43,000 middle and high school students affected by cellphone bans in 26 U.S. states. Their findings discovered a brief adjustment period, followed by significant drops in cellphone usage and increases in student well-being.

So, other problems with French politics aside, why is the U.S. so reluctant to follow in their footsteps?

According to some conservative experts and parental rights advocates, concern stems from the idea that a widespread federal ban on student social media would replace parental authority with federal regulation.

And perhaps the concern is warranted. In the past, other areas of parental involvement, like s*x education, have resulted in harmful ideology and federal regulation worming its way in and undermining parental influence. Just last month, the Trump administration announced over $67 million in Teen Pregnancy Prevention program cuts to remove explicit content, abortion ads, and LGBTQ+ ideology from what was meant to be practical, objective health education.

But are parents up for the challenge of social media?

The numbers suggest maybe not. Pew Research data shows that Gen X and Baby Boomers use top social media platforms drastically less than younger generations, suggesting parents are unfamiliar with the functions, dangers, or tools available on each platform, not to mention the frequent new updates. And even if parents are up-to-date, children in public school or out-of-the-house activities spend hours a day away from their parents using a myriad of social-capable devices — personal cellphones, laptops, e-readers, school computers, smartwatches, and even video gaming consoles. It is presumptuous for parents to think they can be aware of — let alone control — all the ways their children access the internet.

Plus, in my experience, when it comes to social media, even the most proactive parent can be undermined by determined children. In high school, when friends would have their cellphones taken away or parental controls added, they would just access their accounts through another friend’s device at school or, believe it or not, buy a pre-paid burner phone online without their parents’ knowledge (Amazon has a whole category for it). Several friends used burner phones for years, all while their parents were thinking their devices were safely protected.

In contrast, the U.S. has a long precedent of restricting dangerous content at its source for the sake of children, and largely for the best. Consider alcohol, or to***co, or po*******hy. Imagine a child could walk into a bar and order a drink, and the bartender could serve him or her because a parent was not around. Such an interaction is unthinkable — not to mention illegal — in today’s society. Instead, the bartender is required to check ID, maintain a valid liquor license, and prevent the customer from drinking or driving irresponsibly. Failure to do so means heavy legal consequences for a bar — so why not hold social media companies to the same standard?

The Bible is clear that children are the charge of parents (Deuteronomy 6:6-7), and that parents are responsible for raising children up in the way they should go (Proverbs 22:6). Such authority should never be ceded to a government body. But the Bible also prescribes law and biblical authority to government to protect families from greater societal threats.

Whether it’s alcohol or social media, parents should always guide the conversation for how their children approach tricky topics. But with addiction, mental health crises, and radicalism on the rise, perhaps it’s time to consider that social media companies can access children in more ways than parents can protect them.

In the end, a social media ban would not mean parents give up on protecting or teaching their children — it just means parents can do it best with a little help.

𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝐽𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑎ℎ 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑘. 𝑃𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑.

31/07/2026

Hawaii Lieutenant Governor indicted on 12 counts, including criminal conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery by a public servant

31/07/2026

The WBNA’s Seattle Storm fined its own co-owner, Celeste Keaton, and suspended her from attending the next five home games after Keaton confronted and cursed at teenage fans of a visiting team’s player on Tuesday. The fans cheered Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham with a courtside sign reading, “Thank you, Sophie, for speaking up for girls.” Cunningham said last week, “young girls in sport … shouldn’t have to go against biological men.” For one owner of a female sports team, even the idea of teenage girls endorsing this message was too much to handle.

“We hadn’t said anything to anyone else, we were being super respectful, we were just holding our signs and cheering for both teams, and this lady comes up to us,” one of the girls told independent journalist Brandi Kruse. The girls did not know Keaton, nor did they learn that she was a co-owner of the Seattle Storm until later.

Keaton proceeded to berate the girls, calling them “f****** insane” for their pro-woman signs. “I’ve never been yelled at like that,” the girl said. “I mean, I’ve had people hate me on the internet, but like it doesn’t really affect me as much because it’s just people online. But that just took me by surprise because I thought she was going to be nice and then she starts like screaming at us and cussing at us.”

Kruse, who was present, noted that one of the girls held in her emotions until halftime, when she broke out in “sobbing.”

The internet generation understands that dehumanizing cruelty is relatively easy when directed against an impersonal screen from the relative anonymity of a keyboard, but it is much more difficult when confronting someone face-to-face. The internet generation might not understand the reason behind this: the conscience God implanted in each person innately recognizes the inherent dignity of the image of God in others.

But Keaton’s tirade was not deterred by the girls’ personal proximity. Nor was she deterred by Climate Pledge Arena’s official prohibition on abusive or obscene language. Kruse pressed security to confront the woman, saying later, “Had this been any other fan under any other circumstances who swore at and called some teenage girls ‘f****** insane’ until they cried, they would’ve been ejected.”

“Truly embarrassing of the co-owner,” Cunningham responded. “Unfortunately shows the type of leader she is.”

Unfortunately, Keaton was not alone in venting her spite on the girls, although her disgraceful display and prominent position surely encouraged similar behavior from others. Two adult women sitting nearby (“grown-up” seems inapt, given their behavior) tried to trip the girls as they walked past. In an unintentional self-own, an adult man who confronted the teen girls after the game called for arena staff to “take the trash out.” Even the Storm players themselves made thumbs-down gestures at the girls. What are they, in middle school?

The intimidation and mockery did have its effect. “The girls put their signs away because of what happened with Celeste, and they just felt so scared and uncomfortable, they decided not to hold them anymore,” Kruse recorded. Although the girls could hide their signs, they could not hide their shirts, which displayed the chromosome pairs “XX” and “XY” with a solid line between them. After that, biology itself received its own share of abuse and scorn.

Curious readers may wonder how two teens drew so much attention for a fairly innocuous sign, and how reporter Brandi Kruse was perfectly positioned to cover it all. Such curiosity would often go unsatisfied, but on this occasion, there is a ready answer. Kruse “helped organize the event and went into the game to accompany the girls during portions of the night,” according to OutKick Sports. That would explain how two teenagers could afford courtside seats.

In other words, the teenage girls were the focus of a deliberately planned demonstration to show support for Cunningham and her stand for women’s sports in the very eye of the Storm. Kruse wore three hats, playing the role of Jim Cantore, his intrepid cameraman, and — if necessary — a safety protective umbrella.

The Seattle Storm acknowledged that it was made aware of the demonstration beforehand and was “tracking it closely.” Prior knowledge of the demonstration appears to be widespread, as other attendees held counter-signs. Video footage of the teens shows another woman sitting courtside, one seat removed from them, with a sign that read, “No hate in these United States.”

Such prior knowledge only makes Keaton’s outburst so much more inexcusable. In this instance, “the heat of the moment” provides no defense. Others knew, disagreed, and still kept a civil tongue.

Keaton’s outburst also revealed something deeper. Most adults would pay very little heed to the opinions of a random teenager. They usually have more education and experience, so adults are most likely to respond, “they’ll learn,” or “dumb kids” — if they pay any attention at all. On rare occasions, adults might feel the need to refute a teen’s argument (and more so if the teen is one they know personally). But adults should never have to scream and curse at a teen merely for holding a different opinion. Doing so betrays astonishing insecurity.

This insecurity becomes even more astonishing when considering the message that threatened it. There is nothing offensive about teen girls praising a female athlete for “standing up for girls.” Yet Keaton’s foul language suggests that the teen’s sign triggered her on an emotional level.

Why would “standing up for girls” enrage a part-owner of a women’s basketball team?

Of course, the sign cannot be divorced from its context. The “standing up for girls” in question was Sophie Cunningham’s assertion that “truth” requires a recognition of the biological differences between men and women, so as to protect women in sports and locker rooms. This message directly contradicts the assertion of transgender ideology, which claims that male and female bodies are interchangeable. Cunningham’s message threatens this assertion because what she said is self-evidently true, while transgender ideology is built upon a self-evident fiction.

Thus, what triggered Keaton was not the girls’ inoffensive sign. It was her own allegiance to an ideology so false that the pretense can only be maintained by stifling all dissent. Her insecurity was caused by the insecurity of the ideology. Transgenderism stands on a foundation so rickety that even the faith of adults can be shaken by four words on a teenager’s sign. That’s an ideology so insecure it can get a co-owner suspended for five games by her own team.

Seattle Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder issued a formal apology Wednesday. “We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night’s game. We apologize that this happened. Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, and we remain committed to creating an inclusive environment where every fan is treated with respect.”

In this statement, Gilder at least responds to the team’s financial incentives. For years (decades?), the WNBA has complained about having less sponsorship money and fewer fans than men’s basketball. If the WNBA wants more recognition, it should start by celebrating every fan who chooses to watch or attend — as Gilder did — not berating them over self-destructive ideological litmus tests — as Keaton did.

In fact, sports often find the greatest following when they avoid politics altogether, since fans often view sports as a temporary escape from politics. The Indiana Fever recognizes this same reality. So, when head coach Stephanie White was asked at a press conference about a rally organized to support Cunningham’s stand, a PR representative cut in, “Neither our organization nor Sophie had any knowledge of this demonstration and no contact with its organizers.” The representative said the Fever is united around winning games and building its fan base before directing reporters back to basketball.

That PR representative deserves a big thank you, because women’s basketball is brutal enough without politics intruding.

Alas, on the issue of women’s sports, transgender ideology has caused politics to intrude to the point that female athletes must at least stand up for themselves, as Cunningham has done. And athletes courageous enough to do so deserve the support of fans courageous enough to join them. “Bravo to those girls for standing up for what they believe,” Cunningham responded. “You’ll be hearing from me soon.”

𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝐽𝑜𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑎 𝐴𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑑. 𝑃𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑.

30/07/2026

Socialism and capitalism are buzzwords thrown about — but here's what they really mean.

"Fundamentally, it revolves around the question of how do you view ownership of property."

See the full conversation with veteran reporter Mark Tapscott and host of the Outstanding podcast, Casey Harper, in the link in the comments.

The Washington Stand

04/08/2026

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