It's Cartoon/Meme Time! #473f

Not Only Is Radical, Senile Maxine Waters Refusing to Retire at 87, She Could Chair Powerful Committee Come Next January

Rep. Maxine Waters, a Democrat from California, speaks as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies during a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2026. 

At 87 years old, California Rep. Maxine Waters isn’t just part of the Democratic gerontocracy the party is trying to fight against — she’s arguably its most visible face.

Thus, approaching the 2026 election, you’d think that she’d be considering retiring — and if not that, at least scaling back her role a bit. Pulling a Pelosi, if you will: take it a bit easy and let your stock portfolio do the work for you.

But, no. Not only does crazy old Auntie Maxine plan on running for her 19th term in office — which she’ll almost certainly succeed at, given her name recognition and how blue her district is — but she hopes to also take control of one of the most powerful committees in Congress.

“If you take a look at my energy and what I do — I am Auntie Maxine,” Waters told Politico in an interview about running again.

“I’m the one who popularized ‘reclaiming my time.’ … I don’t know who’s got more energy, more concern. And so, Maxine Waters seems to be doing alright.”

She’ll be doing more than alright, however, if the Democrats win the House this November. And, if history holds for midterm performance for a party out of power in the White House, they will. And thus, she confirmed, she expects to be the chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

This means, as Politico noted, that the “committee could soon have the oldest leader in its history as it grapples with technological shifts like cryptocurrency, and Democrats look to aggressively ramp up oversight of the president, his family business and his Wall Street regulators.”

There are some people looking to pump the brakes on this — some publicly, some privately.

Publicly, there’s Myla Rahman, her main challenger in the primary process. The nonprofit executive, who is in her mid-50s, said that constituents “are sick and tired of the same old thing” when she announced in February, according to Fox News.

“Time is of the essence,” she said last month. “Why wait when you can make an impactful change now?”

She reiterated that criticism, albeit in more moderate terms, in Politico’s “Auntie Maxine” puff piece.

“She’s done a lot of great work,” Rahman said. “But we’re saying, let’s pass the baton and let a new generation of leadership come have a seat at the table.”

Rahman, of course, has to be public. Most of the criticism of Waters that Politico got was private:

Waters’ grip on the role illustrates the entrenched power that many older members of Congress hold, despite growing scrutiny of elder politicians who show signs of decline while serving. Unlike Republicans, Democrats don’t have term limits for House committee leadership positions. But privately, some Democrats worry about the optics of having an octogenarian — and soon-to-be nonagenarian — in the seat… 

In Washington, Waters’ age isn’t the only focus for her critics. Over the years, some Democrats on House Financial Services have complained that she keeps the spotlight of committee activity on herself and doesn’t create enough opportunities for rank-and-file members to lead on issues.

A leader should “always take care of your troops first,” said one committee Democrat granted anonymity to speak candidly. “I think Maxine has a challenge with that.”

Maxine Waters has been in politics for longer than I’ve been alive, and in Congress since George H.W. Bush was president. The fact that some people are discovering that Maxine Waters is 100 percent about Maxine Waters now is one of the features, adorable and poisonous in equal measures, of the Democratic Party, one in which obvious personal flaws are obliquely acknowledged several decades too late.

Heck, this is a woman who unironically makes the statement “I am Auntie Maxine” as if this is some sort of great argument in her favor. One half expected her to adopt full-on Reggie Jackson illeism during the entire interview and start referring to herself only in the third person: “Auntie Maxine is going to be the chair of the House Financial Services Committee come January, and if any of these wet-behind-the-ears 50-somethings have a problem with Auntie Maxine, they should come tell it to Auntie Maxine’s face and not this Politicos AOL chatroom or whatever it is you’re running there.”

And yes, one gets that there’s an old 87 and a young 87, although once you’ve reached 80 it’s probably time to stop splitting (very gray) hairs in that department. But fine: Here’s your Auntie Maxine, Democrats. You make up your mind whether she’s still capable of running one of the most important committees in Washington:

I guess you could make the point that this is par for the course for Auntie Maxine. But then, that just makes the point that the Democrats should have reclaimed her time a few terms ago.

This is the invariable problem with the Democrats promising to take care of their establishment gerontocracy, only to back off when hard decisions have to be made. Waters is no asset and a heck of a liability, and at age 88 she could be ranting her radical, senescent keister as the head of a major House committee, and no elected official will go on record telling the woman to leave already.

And it’s not even the outrage of just slowly taking power away from the senile, entrenched, and corrupt: They’re giving her new powers, instead. It’s more proof that all that talk about making the Democratic Party younger and less establishmentarian was just that: talk.

https://www.westernjournal.com/not-radical-senile-maxine-waters-refusing-retire-87-chair-powerful-committee-come-next-january/

It's Cartoon/Meme Time! #473e

REPORT: Trump Expected to Endorse Ken Paxton in Texas Senate Runoff Against RINO John Cornyn

Attorney General Ken Paxton and Senator John Cornyn

After a strong showing of support for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton at CPAC in Dallas, Texas, this week, it is expected that Trump may finally make an endorsement in the Texas Republican Senate Primary runoff between Paxton and RINO incumbent John Cornyn.  

Paxton is the clear MAGA favorite, while Cornyn, backed by the RINO establishment, is depending on a Trump endorsement to even have a shot.

The two contenders advanced to a May 26 runoff after each received roughly 40% of the vote in the March 3 Primary. According to the final results, Rep. Wesley Hunt received 13.5% of the vote.

Over 50% of GOP primary voters voted against Cornyn.

And it appears the National Republican Senatorial Committee is abandoning Cornyn and is reportedly not providing him with strong financial backing as Trump weighs his options.

Per Politico:

MAGA world is taking a victory lap — and fresh comfort — in the receipts: A lack of significant spending and polling so far by not only Cornyn’s campaign, but also the NRSC and One Nation, the Senate Leadership Fund-aligned nonprofit. It amounts to a pattern the MAGA cohort reads as Washington making peace with a matchup between Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, their anointed candidate, and Texas Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.

Now, Trump may not give an endorsement at all. Or if he does, he may endorse Paxton after the SAVE Act debate in the Senate is over, three sources tell POLITICO.

“Nothing is dead,” said a source familiar with the president’s thinking. “It’s all just stasis at the moment.”

“It’s looking like he may not endorse at all,” another White House official said. “But it doesn’t seem like he has made up his mind.”

But the endorsement equation in Texas amid the SAVE Act saga is still very much vexing Trump, according to five Republicans in and around the White House. The president, who will not be in attendance at this year’s CPAC, is “being patient” and “trying to exact” a policy win, another person said.

The report further notes that Paxton was spotted speaking with Trump on Friday of last week, where the two discussed the runoff. “It was a positive meeting,” one source told Politico.

Additionally, the Washington Post reports that Trump stated over the weekend that the MAGA “base is with Paxton,” according to a source with knowledge of the comment.

This comes after Trump previously announced that he would be announcing his endorsement in the race and asking one of the candidates to drop out.

However, Paxton declared he would not drop out of the race even if Trump endorsed Cornyn, saying Cornyn “has not represented the people of Texas well.”

“I’m staying in this race. I owe it to the people of Texas,” Paxton said.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/03/report-trump-expected-endorse-ken-paxton-texas-senate/

It's Cartoon/Meme Time! #473d

Texas Man Lashes Out in Stabbing Attack After Hearing Bible Conversation

A conversation about the Bible on public transit in Austin, Texas, sent one man into a stabbing spree.

Rogerio Martinez, 54, was arrested on March 13 for the alleged attack.

A woman and her friend had reportedly been discussing the Bible on the No. 3 bus, which prompted Martinez to say “I’m tired of hearing your voice,” per a report from KEYE-TV.

He lunged at the woman’s friend with a kitchen knife he had been carrying.

An affidavit regarding the incident said that surveillance video captured Martinez stabbing a man in the back.

He then pulled out the knife and stabbed him thrice more, with the victim raising his hands in self-defense.

Another passenger pushed Martinez away, leading Martinez to allegedly stab him in the right leg.

Both victims survived, but the first victim was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center in critical condition.

Austin City Councilmember Vanessa Fuentes reacted to the incident by saying that safety improvements need to be made.

“And I will be working with our leaders of CapMetro, our transit authority to see where else we might be helpful,” she said, per KEYE.

CapMetro, the public transit agency for Austin, remarked in a statement that “since the launch of the CapMetro Transit Police Department in June 2025, the department has averaged about two calls for service for every 10,000 customers across the system.”

“About 67% of those calls are proactive, meaning officers are initiating activity through patrols, safety checks, and engagement with riders and staff to help promote safety and security,” the statement added.

Aidan Hearn, the fellow passenger who intervened and was stabbed in the leg, said in an interview with KXAN that he saw “somebody that was in pain and distress and there was no other decision to be made.”

“I looked up and I saw the man attacking the first victim,” Hearn said, per the outlet.

“The attacker and I struggled for maybe a minute, might have been two,” Hearn continued. “I end up kicking him in the chest to make sure he stays in the seat he was in, so he could not get up and pursue the guy, which is when he decided to lash out with the knife.”

Hearn is visually impaired, and in addition to the stab wounds in his leg, he sustained deep cuts on his hand.

“I went into shock for a little bit, but she was able to hold me and calm me and tell me everything is going to be okay,” Hearn continued.

“An incredibly kind gentleman helped me take my belt off and applied a tourniquet to my leg, which with a little bit of hindsight probably saved it.”

Martinez has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, per KEYE.

He was booked into the Travis County Correctional Complex, and he faces a cumulative $200,000 bond.

https://www.westernjournal.com/texas-man-lashes-stabbing-attack-hearing-bible-conversation/