If you went to bed waiting on Alaska, you may be waiting a while. Right now Sen. Dan Sullivan leads Mary Peltola 48.5% to 47.7% with about three-quarters of the vote counted. Alaska's Division of Elections says ranked-choice results won't be available until Nov. 18, after every eligible ballot is counted, and the state accepts ballots mailed from overseas for 15 days after Election Day. In 2024, AP didn't call Alaska's only House race until Nov. 20. California counts mail ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrive up to seven days later, and counties have up to 30 days to finish. Maine's ranked-choice count usually takes about a week. I'd rather see results on election night, the way Florida manages it. But until the rules change, let's watch every step closely and let every legal ballot be counted. #Midterms2026# #ElectionIntegrity# #Alaska#

On this day in 1979, a mob of militant students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage. Fifty-two of them would be held for 444 days. They were blindfolded, paraded before crowds, beaten and threatened with execution. A rescue attempt in April 1980 ended in the desert with eight American servicemen dead. Back home, Walter Cronkite ended his newscast each night with the number of days they'd been held. Then, exactly one year after the embassy fell, on Nov. 4, 1980, Ronald Reagan won the presidency in a landslide. The hostages were released minutes after he took the oath on Jan. 20, 1981. For me, the lesson is simple. Weakness invites hostage-takers. Strength brings people home. 🇺🇸 #OnThisDay# #History# #Reagan#

Glad to see the VETO hat back. With a new Democrat majority, the only real check left on a flood of new spending, tax hikes, and expanded government programs is the presidential veto. I hope President Trump uses it whenever a bill tries to move the country further toward higher taxes, more regulation, and less individual choice. The founders gave us this power for exactly these moments.

Good Wednesday morning, 𝕏 friends! I won't pretend this morning feels easy. Last night didn't go the way a lot of us hoped and prayed for, and if your heart is heavy, mine is too. It's okay to be disappointed. It's not okay to quit. Here's what I keep coming back to. Our hope was never in a party or a majority. The same God who was on His throne yesterday is on His throne today. And America has come back from tougher nights than this one. Conservatives were written off in 1964, and sixteen years later Reagan carried 44 states. So today I'm going to pray, hug my family, and get back to work. The next election starts this morning. 🇺🇸🙏 #WednesdayWisdom# #Midterms2026# #NeverGiveUp#

Texas just broke its midterm early-voting record, and I couldn't be prouder of my state. More than 7.7 million Texans voted early, according to preliminary Secretary of State data reported by the Texas Tribune. That's 40.5% of registered voters, passing the modern high mark set in 2018. Back in 2022, about 5.5 million Texans voted early. And more than 19 million Texans are now registered, up 2.2% from 2024. The ballot is loaded. Gov. Greg Abbott is running for a historic fourth term, and Ken Paxton is in a tight Senate race with James Talarico. The experts are right that early numbers don't tell us who people voted for. So if you haven't voted yet, Tuesday is your day, Texas. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. 🇺🇸 #Texas# #EarlyVoting# #Midterms2026#

I love my hibiscus flowers! Hibiscus flowers open in the morning and fade by night. The plants just keep making more beautiful flowers. Pink ones like this usually mean tenderness and quiet admiration. Red is passion. Yellow is joy. Across cultures they’re a national or state flower, a signal worn behind the ear in Hawaii, and the tart ruby tea in your cup. For me, hibiscus flowers are just a natural beauty! I am so happy that they thrive in my yard!

Ranchers have been stuck selling through a handful of giant packers for decades. Trump signed an order yesterday aimed at changing that. The order says that small, mid-size, and large producers can process meat and sell it more directly, including across state lines, instead of living at the mercy of the Big Four. It’s not a free-for-all. Commercial sales still have to meet food-safety rules. What it does is push USDA to open more interstate paths for state-inspected plants, cut red tape on smaller processors, and put money toward regional capacity. It sounds to me as though President Trump is once again putting American citizens first. This is how you help a rancher!

Yet they demonize us for unvaxxing our babies?! Infants are more likely to end up with vaccine related illnesses or die from SIDS than they are to actually contract the disease the vaccine is said to eradicate. But sure, let's keep trusting evil people who profit from lies.

Watching Ben and Zara dance always makes me smile. It’s heartwarming to see a dad fully engaged, matching his daughter’s energy, and prioritizing the moment. In a world pulling families in many directions, these clips remind us that the best memories are simple, where someone is fully present and all-in with their child. This connection shapes a daughter’s self-view and a father’s priorities. Hope this one puts a smile on your face too.

April 4, 1975. A giant C-5 Galaxy lifts off from Saigon with hundreds of Vietnamese orphans on board. Babies in cardboard boxes. Toddlers strapped to the floor. Nurses and volunteers holding as many as they can. Twelve minutes later the rear cargo door blows open at 23,000 feet. Explosive decompression. Control cables shredded. The pilots fight for every second of flight and try to limp back to the runway. They don’t make it. The plane cartwheels into a rice paddy and breaks into pieces. 138 people die — 78 of them children. But 176 survive. Flight nurses with broken bones drag babies from the burning wreckage. Air Force crew members ignore their own injuries and keep going until they collapse. Despite the horror of the first flight, Operation Babylift continued. In the final days of the war, more than 2,500 children were flown out of Vietnam to new lives in America and beyond. One of the darkest days in Air Force history… and still one of the most remarkable rescues of the entire war. Would you have climbed on that plane knowing the risk? Disclaimer:This is a historical account of Operation Babylift (April 1975). The images do not depict real individuals or the actual crash victims. Respect to all who were lost and all who survived.