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There have been plenty of political pundits telling you what they think Zohran Mamdani’s election as the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor means for the overall Democratic Party. The prevailing narrative is that the mainstream Democratic Party is losing ground to the Bernie Sanders wing, and that within a few years, the party will be fully run by its far-left flank. I don’t believe that’s true. In fact, Mamdani’s win doesn’t say much about the party’s future – it only reflects the here and now.

On June 15, 2021, then–Attorney General Merrick Garland delivered remarks pointing to White Supremacy as the nation’s top domestic terror threat. At the time, we knew this was not true. However, the Biden Administration, as well as their allies like the Anti-Defamation League, insisted that White Supremacy indeed posed the largest domestic terrorist threat in the country. The ADL went so far as to keep a running count of right-wing extremist terrorism in the United States because, presumably, either left-wing terrorism does not exist, or the ADL is okay with it.

Since Joe Biden has left the White House, we have seen a steady stream of politicians and media pundits who had previously denied Biden’s mental health decline—at best—come to the realization that they had been duped, and at worst, now have to answer for a cover-up. Of course, any sane person who had seen Biden speak over the course of his presidency, and certainly over the last year and a half of it, could tell that the man was not the same mentally. There was a reason he never spoke to the press. There was a reason he was done working every day by 6 p.m. There was a reason he looked horrible during his debate with Donald Trump. And obviously, this wasn’t because he had a bad night. It was because he was having a bad four years.

New York City is in trouble. And that’s because of the upcoming 2025 mayoral election. Let’s face the obvious truth first and foremost: Eric Adams is done. He is currently polling at 7%, which puts him in fourth place among Democrats. Adams’ high-profile legal troubles, combined with his fealty to President Trump for getting him out of said legal troubles, makes him a non-factor—so much so that he is not even running as a Democrat, but as an Independent.

It has been a rough few years for the academics and professionals collectively known as “The Experts.” For as long as I can remember, “experts say” was a phrase used by newscasters to discuss a topic without the viewer being able to challenge the authority of whatever they were about to report. “The Experts” was a catch-all for a group of unnamed people who know more about a topic than you do. Why should you try a new diet? Experts say it can lower your cholesterol. Why should you invest with this particular strategy? Experts told you to do so. How should you organize your daily schedule? Trust The Experts.

 Well, this is the Purim issue of the QJL. Instead of going with the classic parody or satire I have utilized in years past, I am going to take this opportunity to direct three questions at the so-called Hebrew Hammer, Ben Shapiro. The realization has set in over the last few years that I will likely never be able to have a sit-down with him. I have never attended one of his speeches, so I can’t ask him a question there. And my podcast ended over two years ago, so I don’t even have a medium to host him anymore.