This week, Gavin Newsom made his latest pitch to the mob by proclaiming himself “an established insurgent.” It was vintage Newsom in trying to be everything to everyone, part of the establishment and part of the revolution. Like a violent pacifist or a preservation arsonist, it makes no sense to anyone else. However, with the victory of radicals across the country, Newsom is trying to join other armchair revolutionaries in seeking to lead the far-left mob. He believes that he can use a class war that will spare him while destroying his enemies. Call it the Danton delusion.
In my book Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution, I discuss the French Revolution and its decline into what the Framers called a mobocracy. What became known as “The Terror” was started not by the working class, but by educated lawyers, journalists, and even aristocrats as part of the Jacobin movement. One of the central figures was a lawyer named Georges Jacques Danton, a gifted orator and writer.
Danton would become the Justice Minister and later a member of the infamous Committee of Public Safety. The more he facilitated the rage, the more he found himself captured by it. Achieving power at the head of a mob, Danton fed the bloodlust of revolution, sending thousands to the guillotine and allegedly masterminding atrocities such as the September Massacres. Danton secured power by declaring others to be dangerous reactionaries, declaring, “The bell we are about to ring . . . sounds the charge on the enemies of our country.”
Danton struggled to stay ahead of the mob by feeding victims into the grinder of a class war. Eventually, however, the mob had finished off the aristocrats, clergy, and merchants. The most radical Jacobins, led by his ally Maximilien Robespierre, then turned on their fellow Jacobins, including Danton.
Before his fall, it was dawning on Danton that there would be no end to the killings. When one supporter excitedly told him of more executions of moderates as guilty of “factionalism,” Danton remarks, “We’re all factious. If they deserve to be guillotined, we all deserve so. Those men in Paris will guillotine the entire Republic.”
And so they did. Danton himself would stand before the “national razor” on April 5, 1794.
Notably, the radicals today are also calling for purges of the Democratic Party of moderates and denouncing dissenters as “factionalism.” Yet, Newsom still hopes that he can use the mob for his own ambitions, ignoring Danton’s warning, “Woe betide those who would provoke revolutions.”
Newsom wants to be one of the red aristocrats of the new Democratic Party. By calling for radical changes to our constitutional system, he is hoping that the socialists will ignore his own wealth and privilege. The same is true for Ro Khanna, who is also offering to trash our institutions. He hopes to secure the socialist vote despite being reportedly worth roughly half a billion dollars thanks to his wife’s inheritance.
In Newsom’s case, the proletarian pitch still comes off as more French Laundry than French Revolution. He is trailing in the polls, with some showing him falling behind former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has been promising his own radical changes to our system while campaigning with controversial figures such as Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan.
The loss of DSA candidate Francesca Hong this week will not change the calculation for Newsom. What he saw was an extremist who came within less than one percentage point of winning the nomination for Wisconsin governor. The far-left gubernatorial candidate Peggy Flanagan did win the primary handily in Minnesota. Other leaders like Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (who previously praised the violent group Antifa) celebrated the infusion of socialists into the party.
After the Hong defeat, socialist influencer and virulent anti-Semite Hasan Piker lashed out against the establishment Democrats and the media, declaring that they are trying to destroy the socialist movement and that “the knives will be out.”
Newsom believes that there is a pocket of delusional free-market Marxists who are longing for his leadership. If so, they do not live in New Hampshire, where Newsom is being trounced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Voters can spot the real thing; AOC is authentically bananas. That is better than a Newsom banana split that is part establishment and part insurgency.
As Harris and Buttigieg make their own plays for the radical wing, Newsom will likely need to find another institution to offer up other than the Supreme Court. Packing the Supreme Court has become the mere starting ante in the game. Radicals are looking for bona fides of true believers with some calling for the scrapping of the Constitution entirely.
Newsom — “the established insurgent” — is desperately trying to be the next leader rather than the next trophy of the mob. History is not on their side. Well-coiffed hair and a hip podcast are not likely to be enough to keep the mob at bay. From New York to Colorado, the far left is taking establishment heads. In the end, Danton yielded one last time to feed the desire of the mob. When he was finally taken to the guillotine, Danton told the executioner, “Show the people my head. It is well worth seeing.”
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the New York Times best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
The crazed Israeli settlers and IDF thugs made Ro Kanna into a hero when they detained him in the West Bank illegally. What an outrage the Israelis are. I wonder are the Israel-firsters really active here these days? The Levin radio show fans? At least he’s amusing unlike that creepy young fellow with the heavy eyebrows and kippah. Cant recall his name. Creepy! — Sal Sar
Information about Social Democrats for you non-MAGAs out there:
” A recent article in The Bulwark helpfully identified two different “flavors” of the DSA.
In Group A, it placed the people who want to move America closer to the Scandinavian model, with universal health care, subsidized college tuition, beefed-up regulation of big business, and more power for organized labor. What Group B wants is something very different–a robust safety net, but also undoing America’s ties to Israel, “defunding” police, and blowing up what they call “the uniparty.”
Group A fits pretty well with the Democratic party. Group B sees the Democratic party as an enemy indistinguishable from the Republicans…
DSA Group A represents a chance for the Democratic party to road-test new ideas and evolve. DSA Group B wants to do to the Democratic party what MAGA did to Republicans.
The challenge is that the amorphous DSA catch-all makes it hard to signal the difference between Groups A and B.
Those in Group A, like AOC, Ro Khanna, and Mamdani, are actually social democrats; their policies put them rather firmly in the European tradition, and it would be extremely helpful if they explicitly distanced themselves from the priorities of Group B, although it probably wouldn’t change the name-calling.”
MAGA media calls them all “communists, Marxists” and other scary names. It all boils down to who gets to benefit from government assistance: individuals and families or big business, big corporations, big insurance, corporate agri business and Big Pharma. MAGA and Republicans have no problem with subsidies and tax breaks for big corporations, big insurance, agri business and Big Pharma—and those government benefits ARE socialist, and they all help the wealthiest stay wealthy. Democrats, OTOH, prefer subsidized universal health care, college tuition assistance, regulation of big business, with consumer and environmental protections and protection for workers.
Group A is a bunch of pussies. They let the fascist group B of the party take control. Group A is also a party that doesn’t have ideas that maintain individual freedom and the government’s bank account.
Group A wants money transferred from one group to another, and it isn’t only the rich. It involves the poorest who don’t go to college yet have to support those who do and therefore get more money and advancements.
Group A wants to support criminal activities involving social services and healthcare. They prefer a system that costs at least twice as much as necessary so they can have a space in line for care.
Group A wants drug prices controlled, but the last program to reduce drug prices, Part D Medicare, caused prices to rise dramatically.
What qualifies a MAGA like you to speak for the goals of a political group you don’t belong to?
Scandinavian countries that have the more-robust social safety net that Democrat Socialists want don’t have the problems you claim. They also don’t have the tax breaks, corporate bailouts, subsidies for big business and socialistic spending that Republicans and MAGA support.
“The loss of DSA candidate Francesca Hong . . .” (JT)
Guess what that loon blamed for her loss. Yep — racism.
I’m sure D. voters will be happy to know that they’re racists — who voted for a black candidate.
To its core, the D. party is tribalistic.
Racism eh? And you know for a fact that it’s not about racism, but you then state that the voters are glad they’re racists. Geeezzz… A graduate of the Dustoff School for the mentality impaired.
They also apparently voted for that half-white guy. obama.
But these lady candidates remind every democrat of their Hilary and Kam-a-la defeats so no-go.
Besides, “the best woman is a man” according to the entire left so chalk her defeat up as a win for feminism.
Go ‘Women’!
The dem/libs can’t win without cheating!
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ANOTHER DEMOCRAT BALLOT SCANDAL: Former NJ Mayor Gina LaPlaca and Husband Hit With New Criminal Charges for Forging Signatures to Fraudulently Get on Democratic Primary Ballot.
Love it, just love it…
So you’re saying they were convicted of cheating? Anyone can be charged, but the LaPlacas have not been convicted. Can’t be cheater if not convicted of heating. You stupid old man.
You can look this up. They just got caught.
Nice try cry baby
Hey man, let me restate what the others wrote: BEING CAUGHT IS NOT A CONVICTION. Do you get that? Anyone, politician or person, dem or rep, can be charged,with a voting issue or irregularity, i.e., Trump on Georgia in 2020. You really don’t understand what a charge and is conviction is do you? Its a nothingburger.
You got the brains of a 5 year old Dustoff.
Cheating? What about the conviction? Any news on that?
Well here is one thought on Gavin Newsom. It has been said that serial killers are often good looking because they ‘appear to be harmless’ because of their looks. They appear more trustworthy. Well, I don’t know if that is factually true and while we know Gavin is NOT a serial killer, I do think that he says the ridiculous so often that he is in the ‘serial’ category. He is polished and good looking but put him up against real thinkers like JD Vance or Rubio on issues and he falls very short intellectually. Looks have carried him far — and if he goes further in politics it is might prove the theory of ‘looks over brains’. The future is dimming because politicians aren’t challenged on the veracity of their opinions or just maybe, the public is getting so dumbed down they can’t discern truth from fiction.
What a sick and stupid comment. This is the voice of MAGA speaking.
Ahhhh, now you understand the lowering of educational standards and the point of gaslighting. The psychological aspect of flooding the populace with lies that make them question everything of their own reality. Bigfoot, Mermaids, Megladon, Aliens….yeah.
Don’t believe your lying eyes!
Gavin Newscum is a vile lying, crooked, cheating snake-oil salesman and first class con-man. Never believe a word that comes out of that scum-bag’s mouth.
So, in other words, you never met him.
You can always remove him. You have the law on your side (hint: he doesn’t), you have the 2nd Amendment militia (hint: you don’t as required to guarantee a commie phony never grabs power) and TURD you have fallen for the bread & circus act your leaders know all too well when you TRUST them.
Why while I’m reading this, does images of, “The Killing Fields” flow through my mind. The Khmer Rouge barbarians riding the tank with captured soldiers driving it. Newsom is not on the command position.
Not on command position? You mean the governor of California , right? So says the anon worm.
Comment in the A.M. while the trolls are sleeping.
Billionaires must be thanked by Congress and exempted from any and all taxation.
Exempted? Billionaires should be given even more billions directly deposited by the US Treasury into offshore accounts.
Stop the foolishness.
Democrats Excluded From Defense Briefings
The Pentagon is shutting congressional Democrats out of classified briefings — and even Republicans are shocked by the brazen partisanship.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth trekked to Capitol Hill at least twice in recent weeks to make closed-door pitches for his record $1.5 trillion defense budget. But lawmakers in both parties say he followed an increasingly familiar pattern of excluding Democrats.
Blowing off Democratic lawmakers could doom Hegseth’s push to enact President Donald Trump’s unprecedented Pentagon budget increase, which worries Republicans who are largely supportive of it. Without Democratic support in the Senate, the effort could fail this fall.
A former defense official, who has knowledge of the situation and was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic, said banishing Democrats from classified briefings was a stark departure from years of established norms.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/12/hegseth-pentagon-classified-briefings-no-democrats-01035467
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Hegseth wants $1.5 trillion for Defense yet he somehow figures Democrats don’t need to know where that money would go. This is the mob mentality that Turley writes about.
Democrats MUST be excluded from America with extreme prejudice.
The American Founders were conservative with a capital “C.”
Yeah, those ‘conservative’ revolutionaries were careful not to shake the status quo. ..Not..!
Technically Hegseth doesn’t want anyone to know where the money goes. The $500B uptick is earmarked for Trump.
It could be that Hegseth doesn’t want Democrats to see how much money is earmarked for Trump’s useless battleships.
The Dems have wrought this upon themselves. Can they ever have a conversation without Trump’s name in it? It has been an ongoing battle to diminish him even when he might do or has done well. And now, because they are so against Trump, they are losing to the DSA members of their party. Gone will be Schumer and the more moderates of the Democrat party because they have no backbone to stand up for our Constitution. I hope one day they understand the gravity of what their appeasement has done to our Country. You don’t have to like Trump personally but he has done some good things — and that should have been acknowledged. That balance would have been noteworthy. Why would Trump invite them ‘in’ when they can’t be trusted? The hate exhibited over the years has been exhausting and destructive. The Dems have given away the Party to the DSA to ‘save’ their power but it will be lost for them. And, in turn we will all suffer.
PS And as a footnote — The Democrat Party is not the ‘Democratic’ Party — grammatically and politically.
“Can they ever have a conversation without Trump’s name in it?”
Can Trump ever have a conversation without making it all about himself? Can any of his minions engage in public discourse without constantly giving thanks and praise for their demi-god’s wisdom and grace in breathing life into their lumpen forms of clay, and his ability to walk on water – except of course for the water of the Reflecting Pool where he had to drive in a motorcade then find innocent people whom he could blame for the damage?
Ah…, the truth hurts.
and you said zip when biden was sending money galore to Ukraine.
democrats are all bought by china. no intel for them. sorry commie.
ridiculous. i come here about once a week and each time the comments section falls deeper into maga delusions
–3 time Trump voter “Disappointed”