Bob’s Hailstone 7-15-25
Coalitions, Cults, and Career Skills
Bob’s Hailstone 7-15-25
By Jim Reynolds – www.reynolds.com
Grook of the Day
He who shouts and breaks the spell,
May find his echo hard to quell.
For truth once loosed from vault or dome,
Won’t always find its way back home.
Note: All stories referenced here come from the RealClearPolitics homepage. For full articles and original context, visit www.realclearpolitics.com.
Intro for July 15 Hailstone Summaries
The currents of July 15 swirl fast—beneath the headlines, old alliances crumble, auto-pens scribble pardons, and the CIA reboots the Zapruder franchise. While Democrats audit their lost coalition, Trump renovates his legacy with help from the hardware aisle. Meanwhile, radical chic opens a borough branch, Bethany Mandel issues an exit pass from woke homeroom, and natural gas earns its green card in Louisiana.
History leaks, zoning schemes bloom, and the AIpocalypse demands a fresh pair of coding shoes.
So hang on. If the present makes no sense, it’s because the future already started without you.
1. Coalition of the Unwilling
Trump made inroads with Hispanics and working-class voters across racial lines, while Democrats held tight to their identity-politics blanket and rolled off the electoral couch. Purity tests don’t pay rent.
Bob: The coalition’s fine. It just doesn’t like you anymore.
Leans: Racial Realignment Rumble
↳ Michael Baharaeen, Substack | “How Democrats Lost Core Parts of Their Coalition in '24”
2. The Pen Is Mightier Than the President
1,500 clemencies signed with Biden’s autopen? Sadler thinks the pardon stamp is now fully remote-controlled. Next up: Hunter’s charges commuted via ChatGPT.
Bob: Press X to forgive.
Leans: RoboPardon Redemption
↳ Kelly Sadler, Washington Times | “Biden's Fraudulent Pardons”
3. Free Mahmoud, Free the Narrative
The Nation calls Mahmoud Khalil’s case proof that Trump-era ICE weaponized silence—against dissent, against campuses, against democracy itself. Courts aren’t buying it. But Elie Mystal still is.
Bob: Somewhere, AOC is crocheting his face on a throw pillow.
Leans: Dean’s List Dystopia
↳ Elie Mystal, The Nation | “Will the U.S. Ever Do Right by Mahmoud Khalil?”
4. Home Depot Founder Endorses Rebuild
Ken Langone says Trump’s on a tear—economy, tariffs, borders, Iran. Could be top five ever, he claims. That’s quite the renovation.
Bob: From Never-Trump to Ever-Ready.
Leans: MAGA Management Material
↳ Ken Langone, CNBC | “Trump Has a Good Shot at Being One of Best Presidents Ever”
5. The Oswald Files, Again
New CIA docs show deeper Oswald ties through a Cuban student group. Was he a pawn? A plant? A patsy? All three? Conspiracy theorists: start your engines.
Bob: The grassy knoll just got a mezzanine.
Leans: Zapruder Zoom Redux
↳ Tom Jackman, Washington Post | “CIA Reveals More Connections to Lee Harvey Oswald”
6. Adam Schiff’s Property Portfolio
Katie Pavlich wants answers: two homes, two homestead exemptions, and possibly one fraudulent senator. Schiff, unsurprisingly, says move along.
Bob: I see no fraud, just creative zoning.
Leans: Duplex of Deceit
↳ Katie Pavlich, Townhall | “Did Schiff Commit Mortgage Fraud?”
7. Radical Chic Gets a Zip Code
NYC Mayor Eric Adams calls Zohran Mamdani the poster boy for anti-capitalist youth radicalization. He’s like AOC but without the bartending experience.
Bob: Now hiring: revolutionaries fluent in TikTok and resentment.
Leans: Borough of Bolsheviks
↳ Eric Adams, PBD Podcast | “Mamdani Is a Symbol of Radicalization”
8. Natural Gas Goes Green in Louisiana. Should PA Follow?
Louisiana rebranded natgas as “green energy.” Pennsylvania takes notes. Carbon is now eco-friendly if the check clears.
Bob: Drill, baby, rinse, repeat.
Leans: Frack to the Future
↳ Elizabeth Stelle, RealClearEnergy | “What Pennsylvania Can Learn From Louisiana”
9. SCOTUS Smokescreen Clears Path for Parents
Bethany Mandel urges parents to use a new Supreme Court precedent to pull kids from woke public schools. Think gender pronouns, but louder.
Bob: From Drag Queen Story Hour to Dad’s Legal Pad.
Leans: Cult Exit Strategy
↳ Bethany Mandel, New York Post | “Opting Kids Out of the Leftist Cult”
10. Skills for the AIpocalypse
Leigh Knight wants kids to be “economic decathletes”—nimble, cross-trained, and post-college-proof. Think apprenticeships with a side of Python.
Bob: Learn to code, or at least dodge.
Leans: Job Gymnastics 101
↳ Leigh Knight, Washington Monthly | “Giving Students Tools To Be Economic Decathletes”
End Note:
That’s the whistle-stop for today’s batch—ten stories, ten signs the seams are straining. Democrats are doing coalition yoga with a torn hamstring. Trump’s nailing trim like he owns the lumberyard. And somewhere, deep in the recesses of Langley, a new Oswald theory is being printed on CIA letterhead.
Still, it’s not all gloom. Parents are waking up. Students are leveling up. Even natural gas is getting a glow-up. Hope, like a rogue homestead exemption, finds a way.
And just when you think the day’s done, hold onto your hat—Barney’s headed down Main Street with one bullet and a head full of headlines.
See you on the front porch.
And now for a little extra.
Andy and Barney discuss the day’s news.
Hold on to your bullet…
[Interior – Mayberry Sheriff's Office. Andy leans back, polishing his badge. Barney paces with a newspaper clutched tight, face scrunched in righteous alarm.]
Barney:
Andy… it says here the president signed fifteen hundred pardons with a robot pen. A robot pen, Andy! What if it gets hacked? Next thing you know, it’s pardoning the Unabomber and my cousin Virgil.
Andy (deadpan):
Well, I reckon if that pen’s smarter than Virgil, it oughta be allowed a second term.
Barney (ignoring him):
And look at this! Some fella in New York wants to turn the whole city into a socialist playground. His name’s Mam-something. Mamdani. Like a Bond villain but with worse economic plans.
Andy:
Now Barn, not everyone with a college vocabulary’s a threat to the free world.
Barney:
He wants to get rid of billionaires, Andy! That’s one bank robbery away from full communism.
Andy (grinning):
Well, if Aunt Bee’s pie sales take off, you just might be next on his list.
Barney:
Don’t joke, Andy! Langone—that Home Depot feller—is sayin’ Trump might be one of the best presidents ever. I mean, wow. I never saw that comin’. I thought rich folks only liked wine and Wi-Fi.
Andy:
Some of ‘em like jobs and border walls, Barn. Turns out patriotism still sells in aisle four.
Barney (flipping page):
And what about this Oswald thing? CIA knew more than they told us! Andy, we’ve been livin’ in a mystery novel all this time, and I didn’t even get to be the gumshoe!
Andy:
Maybe that’s ‘cause you lose your magnifying glass every time you sneeze.
Barney (ignoring again):
And Schiff! Two homes, two tax breaks—Andy, that’s not double-dipping. That’s full-on buffet fraud.
Andy:
You ever claim your tent at Lake Myers as a second residence?
Barney (nervous):
That was a clerical error. And besides, I only slept in it on odd-numbered weekends.
Andy:
Mm-hmm.
Barney (now wound tight):
And this lady says parents are pullin’ their kids outta public schools ‘cause of leftist brainwashing. I told you Opie shouldn’t be learning his vowels from a drag queen named Miss Glitterpants!
Andy (chuckling):
Miss who?
Barney (flustered):
That’s not the point! We need school choice, fiscal sense, and a CIA that doesn’t hide secrets like Aunt Bee hides pickles in the shed.
Andy:
Well, Barn, the world sure is spinning faster than a Mayberry donut on the dashboard. But lucky for us, truth's got a way of catchin’ up—right about the time folks stop yellin’ and start votin’.
Barney (nodding):
I say we nip it, Andy. Nip it in the bud. From robot pens to radical mayors—we draw the line in the gravel.
Andy:
Fine, Barn. But let’s start by drawin’ your pants up. Your holster’s hangin’ like a hammock on a hot day.
Barney (blushing):
Just testing gravity, Andy.
[Fade to black. One bullet. Ten stories. Mayberry holds.]