Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.

NOTE:  The Allied Forces were in a pickle during the Battle of the Bulge.  They needed clear skies to fly bombing missions behind enemy lines.  Patton wrote this prayer for fair weather.  Patton’s prayer was answered; the rest is history.–The Artful Dilettante

As Americans observe Memorial Day 2025, Dallas joins the nation in honoring the men and women who gave their lives in service to the United States.

Unlike Veterans Day, which celebrates all who served, Memorial Day is reserved for those who never returned home — those who paid the ultimate price so others could live free.

The Origins of Remembrance

First observed after the Civil War as Decoration Day, the holiday was created to honor Union soldiers by decorating their graves with flowers. Over time, it expanded to include fallen service members from all American wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a federal holiday, to be observed on the last Monday in May.

Today, the day is marked with parades, flag displays, cemetery visits, and memorial ceremonies, along with two national observances:

• 11:00 a.m. – A designated time for prayer and reflection

• 3:00 p.m. – The official National Moment of Remembrance

A Texas Landmark of Honor

In North Texas, that spirit of remembrance is embodied at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, established in 2000 as the sixth national cemetery in Texas and the 118th in the national system.

The cemetery spans 638 acres, with 152 acres developed to date, offering more than 85,778 casketed burial sites and 31,918 niches for cremated remains. When fully developed, it will hold up to 280,000 veterans and eligible family members.

Its Memorial Walkway features more than 50 monuments, many commemorating campaigns and divisions from the 20th century. Each Memorial Day, volunteers place flags at every grave — a powerful visual reminder of the sacrifice made by so many.

A Lone Star State of Service

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Texas is home to more than 1.53 million veterans, one of the largest veteran populations in the country. Over 323,000 of those veterans reside in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Texas also leads the nation in active-duty military installations, reinforcing its deeply rooted connection to military service. From the beaches of Normandy to the streets of Baghdad, Texans have fought — and fallen — in every major U.S. conflict.

Memorial Day Ceremony at DFW National Cemetery

This Memorial Day, Dallas-area residents can attend the official Memorial Day Ceremony at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, scheduled for Monday, May 26, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The event is open to the public, and attendees are encouraged to arrive early to ensure seating and parking.

This solemn observance is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ nationwide effort to ensure that America never forgets those who gave all.

More Than a Day Off

The phrase “All gave some, but some gave all.” is more than a slogan — it’s a national creed. It reminds us that the freedoms we enjoy today were secured by those who gave up their tomorrows.

So whether it’s a moment of silence, a visit to a local cemetery, or simply teaching the next generation what this day truly means — let Dallas remember rightly.

Dallas Express

Memorial Day, observed on the last Monday of May, is more than a long weekend or the unofficial start of summer. It is a solemn tribute to the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation’s freedom. As we gather for barbecues and beach trips, it’s critical—especially for young Americans—to pause and reflect on the true meaning of this day and why remembering it matters.

The origins of Memorial Day trace back to the Civil War, a conflict that claimed over 600,000 lives. In 1868, General John A. Logan established Decoration Day to honor the fallen by decorating their graves, a tradition that evolved into the national holiday we observe today.

Over time, Memorial Day expanded to commemorate all American service members who died in every war, from World War I to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. These sacrifices secured the liberties we often take for granted—freedom of speech, the right to vote, and the pursuit of happiness.

For young people, Memorial Day can feel distant. The wars of the past may seem like history lessons, and the names on memorials may not resonate personally. Yet, the freedoms we enjoy today—whether it’s posting on social media, chasing career dreams, or living without fear of oppression—are rooted in the courage of those who fought and died. Every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine who gave their life did so for a future they would never see, a future that belongs to us.

Why must the younger generation remember? Because memory is a bridge between the past and the present. When we forget the cost of freedom, we risk becoming complacent, assuming these liberties are guaranteed. They are not.

The world is not always kind, and history shows that freedom is fragile. By honoring the fallen, young Americans can cultivate gratitude and a sense of duty to protect what was so dearly won. This doesn’t necessarily mean enlisting in the military—though we honor those who do—but rather engaging as active citizens: voting, staying informed, and fostering unity in a divided world.

There are simple, meaningful ways to keep Memorial Day’s spirit alive. Visit a local veterans’ cemetery and place flowers or flags on graves. Attend a Memorial Day ceremony in your community; many towns host parades or moments of silence. Learn about a fallen hero—perhaps through organizations like the Veterans Legacy Memorial, which shares stories of service members. Even a quiet moment of reflection at 3:00 p.m. local time, during the National Moment of Remembrance, can ground us in gratitude.

Social media, a platform young people know well, can also amplify this message. Share a story of a fallen hero, post about a local Memorial Day event, or use hashtags like #HonorTheFallen to spark conversations. These small acts remind us that patriotism isn’t just waving a flag—it’s recognizing the human cost behind it.

To the youth of America: Memorial Day is your day, too. The sacrifices of the past were made for you, for your future. By remembering, you ensure their legacy endures. You show that their lives were not lost in vain.

Today, let’s commit to more than a day off. Let’s honor the fallen by living lives worthy of their sacrifice—bold, free, and grateful.

Publius

President Donald Trump threatened to redirect billions of dollars in federal grants, originally targeted for Harvard, to U.S. trade schools.

A judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, a move that ratcheted up White House efforts to conform practices in academia to Trump’s policies.

The president and his administration have withheld federal funding to schools due to their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and on-campus anti-Israel protests.

I am considering taking Three Billion Dollars of Grant Money away from a very antisemitic Harvard, and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS all across our land. What a great investment that would be for the USA, and so badly needed!!!” Trump posted Monday morning on Truth Social.

A few minutes later, Trump wrote that Harvard has not supplied his administration with foreign student lists.

“We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,” Trump wrote.

“Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents, and probably for good reason! The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best Judge (for them!) – But have no fear, the Government will, in the end, WIN!”

Reuters contributed to this story.

Charlie McCarthy ✉

Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.

President Donald Trump on Sunday blasted Harvard’s secrecy when it comes to the university’s large number of students from foreign countries.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “Why isn’t Harvard saying that almost 31% of their students are from FOREIGN LANDS, and yet those countries, some not at all friendly to the United States, pay NOTHING toward their student’s education, nor do they ever intend to. Nobody told us that!

“We want to know who those foreign students are, a reasonable request since we give Harvard BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, but Harvard isn’t exactly forthcoming. We want those names and countries.

The president concluded: “Harvard has $52,000,000, use it, and stop asking for the Federal Government to continue GRANTING money to you!”

As WorldNetDaily reported, Harvard has sued the federal government to keep the privilege of enrolling foreign students, a lucrative source of revenue for the college as well, additionally, a path to international influence.

The Trump administration had revoked the school’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a dispute over Harvard’s decision to refuse to cooperate with the government on issues including student protests, anti-Semitism and even cooperation with China, explodes.

Is the news we hear every day actually broadcasting messages from God? The answer is an absolute yes! Find out how!

The administration has explained Harvard has refused to comply with a list of demands sent to the school in April regarding student protests, many being anti-Israel and pro-Hamas, the anti-Semitism present on campus and allegations that the school has allowed infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party.

Republicans on the House Select Committee on China and the House Committee on Education and Workforce have begun investigating what links there may be between the school and the CCP.

Harvard, in the latest lawsuit it has brought against the Trump administration, is claiming the ending of its certification is a “blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Administrative Procedure Act.”

A federal judge in Harvard’s back yard immediately came to the school’s aid, temporarily blocking the administration decision to cancel the program for foreign students.

The order came from Allison Burroughs, a judge in Boston.

The administration move left the campus in disarray only days before graduation this year, the school claimed, as foreign students now are deciding whether to transfer or risk staying, and possibly losing legal status to remain in the U.S.

A report from the Washington Examiner said Alan Garber, the school chief, claimed the withdrawal of the privilege of enrolling foreign students, “imperils the futures of thousands of students and scholars across Harvard and serves as a warning to countless others at colleges and universities throughout the country who have come to America to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams.”

The end of that certification, in fact, would mean many students at Harvard would have to transfer to another school. Estimates are that about one fourth of the student population there is foreign.

Harvard’s filing claimed, “It is the latest act by the government in clear retaliation for Harvard exercising its First Amendment rights to reject the government’s demands to control Harvard’s governance, curriculum, and the ‘ideology’ of its faculty and students.”

The school also has lost an estimated $2.7 billion in government grants because of its agenda, following decisions byi federal officials with end those payments.

The foreign students are a lucrative source of cash for the school, which already has a $53 billion endowment.

The report said, “Most international students at Harvard pay full tuition, which is $59,320 for the 2024-25 academic year. Room and Board on campus and other mandatory fees amount to an additional $27,606 per student. The total for an international student to attend Harvard is $86,926 per year.”

WorldNetDaily reported when the decision to withdraw Harvard’s permission to enroll foreigners was announced.

The Department of Homeland Security said Harvard has created “an unsafe campus environment” by allowing “anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators” to assault Jewish students on campus.

Homeland Security reports have confirmed how Jewish students report discrimination and bias on campus.

A Breitbart report elaborated on the new moves, explaining DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said, “This administration is holding Harvard accountable for fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party on its campus.

“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments to help pad their multibillion-dollar endowments. Harvard had plenty of opportunity to do the right thing. It refused. They have lost their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification as a result of their failure to adhere to the law. Let this serve as a warning to all universities and academic institutions across the country.”

Joe Kovacs, WND News Center

The first four months of President Donald Trump’s second term has been a whirlwind of historic progress. From his executive actions to his reciprocal tariffs to his determination to bring peace to the world, President Trump has acted quickly to implement the Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda.

In the  mission to undo the damage done by the last presidential administration, no cabinet member has been more instrumental than Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The 2016 GOP presidential candidate, who opposed Trump in the nomination campaign, and the former U.S. Senator from Florida, was unanimously confirmed by his Senate colleagues.

After witnessing Rubio’s bold moves as Secretary of State, some Democratic Senators regret their confirmation vote. At a contentious hearing last week, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) told Rubio, “I have to tell you directly and personally that I regret voting for you as Secretary of State.” In response, Rubio said that his regret “confirms I’m doing a good job.”

Van Hollen is upset that Rubio is implementing the agenda the American people supported in the last election. He specifically criticized Rubio for revoking student visas, reducing foreign aid, dismantling United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programs, and deporting illegal aliens, such as Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the so-called “Maryland Man,” to El Salvador.

Despite a Supreme Court ruling that the Trump administration “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia to the United States, Rubio correctly noted “No judge in the judicial branch can tell me or the president how to conduct foreign policy.” Rubio informed Van Hollen that Abrego Garcia is a “human trafficker” and a “gang banger.” He also castigated Van Hollen for having “a margarita with” Abrego Garcia during his El Salvador junket.

Along with fiercely defending the President’s agenda in congressional hearings, media interviews and in negotiations with leaders of foreign countries, Rubio has been adding to his already significant responsibilities. Currently, Rubio may be the one person holding more jobs than billionaire Elon Musk.

As his spokesperson Tammy Bruce said, Rubio “has worn several hats from day one.” Along with his primary position as Secretary of State, Rubio is serving as the interim National Security Advisor and supervises both the National Archives and USAID.

Regarding USAID, Rubio announced that 83% of its programs were being canceled. In addition, he testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that only 12% of USAID funds were delivered to needy recipients. The rest of it was “pocketed by third parties” such as non-governmental organizations (NGO’s).

Rubio told committee members “We’re going to find more efficient ways to deliver aid to people directly, and it’s going to be directed by our regional bureaus, and it’s going to sponsor programs that make a difference, and it’s going to be part of a holistic approach to our foreign policy.”

Despite criticism from Democrats that the State Department was assuming the few legitimate activities of USAID, Rubio claimed that the United States still gives “more humanitarian support than the next 10 countries combined.”

In contrast, Rubio stated that America’s foremost adversary, China, has “zero record of doing humanitarian aid in the world.” Their program is “predatory lending, that’s what (the) Belt and Road Initiative is.”

Rubio is not only right, but he is also capable. When President Trump faces a problem, he calls Rubio because “he gets it solved.” This is why Trump has assigned Rubio the dual positions of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor.

While Rubio may only possess these additional responsibilities on an interim basis, Politico is reporting that the President plans to give him both titles permanently. The last person to hold both powerful positions was Henry Kissinger from 1973-1975, during the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Rubio was entrusted with those positions because he knows that his role is to implement the President’s foreign policy. At a recent cabinet meeting, he said,  “This president inherited 30 years of foreign policy that was built around what was good for the world. Under President Trump, we’re making a foreign policy now that’s — was it good for America? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America safer? And does it make America richer?”

With Rubio in control of the National Security Council (NSC), members not loyal to the President’s agenda are being removed. On Friday afternoon, the latest NSC layoffs were implemented as 100 “career officials” and “political appointees” were placed on “administrative leave” according to CNN.

Emails were sent at 4:20 p.m. ET by Brian McCormick, NSC Chief of Staff, just after “senior directors were summoned to a meeting with Rubio.”

When President Trump discussed previous NSC terminations in April, he said, “We’re always going to let go of people – people we don’t like or people that take advantage of or people that may have loyalties to someone else.”

As the President’s faith in Rubio grows, he will continue to exert considerable influence in the administration and fiercely defend the Trump agenda. The latest example occurred Saturday night in a filing to Biden appointed U.S. District Court Judge Brian Murphy, based in Massachusetts.

Murphy had previously ruled that the Trump administration’s deportation of eight illegal aliens to South Sudan “violated a prior preliminary injunction.” As noted by John Binder of Breitbart, these illegal aliens included “five convicted murderers, one convicted robber, one convicted child sex predator, and one convicted rapist. Several of the illegal aliens were also convicted of assault, and one was convicted of kidnapping in addition to his murder conviction.”

In his filing, Rubio claimed that the judge’s ruling would cause “significant and irreparable harm to United States foreign policy.” He continued, “This requirement has already had, and will continue to have, negative consequences to important U.S. strategic interests, including in Libya, South Sudan, and Djibouti.”

Whether it is confronting Democrats in congressional hearings, challenging liberal reporters, cleaning house at the NSC or defending the Trump agenda against rogue judges, it is Marco Rubio to the rescue.

Jeff Crouere

TCM has been showing movies in honor of Memorial Day since this past Friday evening. Its Memorial Day Marathon continues through this evening until early tomorrow morning. It kicked off its observance on Friday with the showing of The Best Years of Our Lives.

Jack Fowler writes about the marathon in “Making Memorial Day with movies.” Peggy Noonan singled out The Best Years of Our Lives in her Wall Street Journal column “Memorial Day and the Best Movies of Our Lives.” I want to draw from my previously posted comments on the movie to recall it briefly with a little background provided by Mark Harris.

Harris tells the highly improbable story behind the making of the film in Five Came Back, his terrific account of the prominent directors who volunteered to use their filmmaking skills in the armed forces during the World War II (John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens). Harris’s account of The Best Years of Our Lives offers a sort of capstone to the story.

The film tells the story of three veterans returning from the war. The idea for the film was Samuel Goldwyn’s; he commissioned MacKinlay Kantor to write a screenplay. Instead Kantor turned in a treatment in blank verse.

Goldwyn somehow thought to solicit playwright and Roosevelt confidant Robert Sherwood to draft a screenplay based on Kantor’s treatment. Sherwood declined, but Goldwyn persisted. Goldwyn also turned to William Wyler — one of the five who came back in Harris’s telling — to direct. Wyler enlisted the great cinematographer Gregg Toland to film it, and Toland’s contribution was invaluable.

Wyler had virtually lost his hearing while serving on the Memphis Belle in Europe during the war. TCM showed Wyler’s 1944 documentary The Memphis Belle in its marathon yesterday. It is posted here on YouTube.

Wyler jumped at Goldwyn’s offer and worked with Sherwood to shape the screenplay. Indeed, as Harris demonstrates, Wyler poured himself into the film and each of its three leading characters. “As they collaborated,” Harris writes, “The Best Years of Our Lives gradually evolved into Wyler’s own story.”

If you’ve seen the film, you haven’t forgotten the performance of Harold Russell. While serving as an Army instructor, Russell had lost his hands handling explosives in a training accident. In the film his efforts to return to his prewar life hold a special challenge.

Goldwyn doubted that they would be able to find an amputee to play the role and said so in his pungent style: “You can’t have a Jew playing a Jew, it wouldn’t work on screen.” The disabled veterans visited by Wyler in search of the right man to play the part shared Goldwyn’s skepticism.

Wyler found Russell in a documentary made during the war. The documentary is posted online here. Harris quotes Russell’s words in the documentary: “I got [my injury] on D-Day, all right, but it was in North Carolina when half a pound of TNT exploded ahead of schedule. I didn’t have a German scalp hanging from my belt. I didn’t have a Purple Heart. I didn’t even have an overseas ribbon. All I had was no hands.” It wasn’t long before he had an Academy Award (actually, two of them) for his performance in the film, which swept the Oscars for 1946.

Russell lived a long life, dying in 2002. Here is his New York Times obituary.

Below is a clip depicting former bombardier Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) confronting his demons. Like Wyler, Fred flew B17s in the war. They didn’t have a word for PTSD at the time, but Fred was wrestling with it.

Over the weekend I confessed to Jack Fowler that I’ve seen the movie over and over and it still chokes me up. Jack let me know he has me beat: “I’ve seen Best Years probably 40 times.” He added: “I think Frederic March plays the best non-comic drunk in any movie. The mom choking up when she sees her son’s hands…yeah, I choke up then too. Every time. Every scene is great…I love when Teresa Wright’s hat falls of at the end — she was in the moment.”

When I walked in to Spaulding Auditorium to see the film as a college student, I had never heard of The Best Years of Our Lives. When I left the auditorium a few hours later, I couldn’t believe I had never heard of it. If you haven’t seen the film, I hope this may incite your interest. If you’ve seen the film, I hope this may add a bit to your appreciation.

Scott Johnson, Powerline

Originally formed in 1919, the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the highest level of the Soviet government. Various dictators held power, most notably Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, but the Politburo was the executive council, from its formation to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which led to the Politburo’s disbanding in November 1991.

And now, in one of history’s funny little ironies, we learned on Friday that the shadowy group of Biden administration officials who were running the country while old Joe was drooling into a pudding cup was called “the Politburo.” And now we know who they are.

A small, tight-knit group in former President Joe Biden’s inner circle was running the White House like a “politburo,” and they were the “ultimate decision-makers” as Biden’s health and cognitive function continued to decline, according to the authors of a bombshell new book.

This group, dubbed the “politburo,” included a coterie of seasoned political veterans, including Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti and Bruce Reed — but also family members such as first lady Jill Biden and the president’s son Hunter, the authors of “Original Sin” claim.

Hunter. What a shock. The President of the United States was non compos mentis, and his ne’er-do-well druggy son was part of the cabal that was running the country. At least he wasn’t the only one:

In terms of who was running the White House, it’s a small group of people that have been around,” “Original Sin” author Alex Thompson told PBS’ “Washington Week” on Friday. “Some people within the administration called them the Politburo. That’s the term we used in the book.”

Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain was at times part of the “politburo,” as was former senior adviser to the president Annie Tomasini. Also on the “politburo” was the first lady’s former top adviser and “work husband,” Anthony Bernal, whom The Post previously reported created a toxic workplace environment.

Anthony Bernal has been accused of sexual harassment, among other things. Charming fellow, and he was the former first lady’s “work husband?” Some things just don’t bear too much close scrutiny, and that relationship is surely one of those things.

Here’s the part I find questionable:

“And Joe Biden himself also is part of this. Joe Biden is not like — it’s not ‘Weekend at Bernie’s,’ right?” said co-author and CNN anchor Jake Tapper, referring to the movie about a dead guy who is wheeled around as part of an elaborate ruse.

“He has some purchase here. He has some agency. And he’s aware of some of what’s going on.”

Tapper added: “He’s aware of the fact that they are keeping the cabinet away from him, they are keeping some White House staffers away from him.”

Maybe he had some agency at the beginning. Maybe he had some agency when they loaded him up with whatever cocktail of pharmaceuticals they were using to make him lucid enough for a brief appearance or to deliver a brief, rambling address. But by the end, I think we all know what kind of shape Joe Biden was in.

This is, without a doubt, the greatest political scandal of the 21st century, so far, anyway. We are talking about the president of the United States of America, the commander-in-chief of all our armed forces, the head of the executive branch of the federal government, the man with nuclear weapons release authority. Now we know that not only was he incapable, not only that the administration also tried, unsuccessfully, to hide that incapacity from the American people, and we know who they are.

Now the rats are fleeing that sinking ship. “Original Sin” won’t be the last book to come out on this topic – bet on it. And that’s the one good thing to come out of all this; the American people deserve some answers, we deserve to know how this happened, we deserve to know how a man so clearly incapacitated managed to stay in office, and how the people around him collaborated, for reasons of their own, to keep him there. And in that knowing, perhaps, we will have the insight, as a nation, to never let this happen again.

AUTHOR

Ward Clark hails from Alaska’s Susitna Valley, where he maintains his rural household in one of America’s last free places.  Ward is a twelve-year veteran of the U.S. Army, including service in Operation Desert Storm and (in Germany in support of) Operation Joint Endeavor, and today is a staunch minarchist libertarian, along with being an author, novelist, self-employed small businessman, woods bum, and semi-professional bad influence. You can see some of Ward’s fiction writing here, and be sure to follow Ward on Rumble!

Follow Ward on Twitter and Truth Social at @TheGreatLander.

There may be no diplomatic solution that will end the war in Gaza, because Hamas is the “ultimate death cult,” former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie said on Newsmax Sunday. 

“It’s been financed by the Iranians, and it’s one that sees no peace, no co-existence with Israel,” Wilkie told Newsmax’s “Wake Up America Weekend.”

In addition, there is no solution with the United Nations, Wilkie said. 

“In the last 10 years, the General Assembly has had 154 resolutions dealing with conflict or dealing with other countries, and 90% of those have been about Israel,” he said. “If Israel didn’t exist, the United Nations would go out of business.”

In the current case, Wilkie added, the U.N. talked about genocide. 

“If Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to commit genocide, he wouldn’t have put one Israeli soldier in danger,” he said. “He would have just flattened Gaza. He put his soldiers’ lives at risk because there is a moral component to the Israeli fight that is almost nowhere on the planet, and it is rooted in 3,000 years of biblical history and truth.”

Israel must finish the fight, Wilkie said, as it has already “finished off Hezbollah. They finish off Hamas, and then they turn their attention probably to the Houthis and the Iranians.”

Meanwhile, the Iranian and U.S. delegations finished their fifth round of talks Friday on Iran’s nuclear intentions, but Wilkie said he does not expect a deal to be reached soon. 

“The only way that the Iranian mullahs think that they can survive is if they have some sort of nuclear capability,” he said. “They are surrounded by nations that hate them because of their own actions … I don’t think for a moment they want to get a deal on uranium enrichment because to do that would probably mean the end of their regime sometime in the future.”

Wilkie also on Sunday expressed doubts about a negotiated ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Sandy Fitzgerald ✉

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which brands mainstream conservative and Christian organizations as “hate groups,” placing them on a map with chapters of the Ku Klux Klan, added a slew of parental rights organizations to that “hate map” for 2022 and labeled them “antigovernment groups.”

“Schools, especially, have been on the receiving end of ramped-up and coordinated hard-right attacks, frequently through the guise of ‘parents’ rights’ groups,” the SPLC’s “Year in Hate and Extremism” report claims.

“These groups were, in part, spurred by the right-wing backlash to COVID-19 public safety measures in schools,” the SPLC report says. “But they have grown into an anti-student inclusion movement that targets any inclusive curriculum that contains discussions of race, discrimination and LGBTQ identities.”

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“At the forefront of this mobilization is Moms for Liberty, a Florida-based group with vast connections to the GOP that this year the SPLC designated as an extremist group,” the report notes. “They can be spotted at school board meetings across the country wearing shirts and carrying signs that declare, ‘We do NOT CO-PARENT with the GOVERNMENT.’”

The SPLC report does not once mention the Left’s aggressive promotion of sexualized material for children in schools and at other venues. It does not mention the “Drag Queen Story Hour” movement or the fact that many of the books which parents demand removed from school libraries include pornographic content. It does not mention how many on the Left champion the idea that children should be able to identify with a gender opposite their biological sex, hide that identity from their parents, and even obtain life-altering drugs without parental consent. Instead, it acts as though the parental rights movement emerged in a vacuum, or worse, is motivated by hatred.

The SPLC has demonized conservative Christian groups such as Alliance Defending Freedom as “anti-LGBT hate groups,” national security groups such as the Center for Security Policy as “anti-Muslim hate groups,” and immigration groups such as the Center for Immigration Studies as “anti-immigrant hate groups.”

The SPLC’s 2022 report—released Tuesday—includes a new designation: the “antigovernment movement.”

“Hate and antigovernment groups make up the extreme edge of America’s hard right, an inherently antidemocratic movement that rejects pluralism and equity,” the SPLC report states. “The movement instead strives to build a society dominated by hierarchy, where people whom far rightists deem lesser or threatening—women, Black and Brown people, LGBTQ people, non-Christians and others—are socially and politically subjugated. The hard right has the advantage of building on already existing structural white supremacy, as well as its persistent and regular manifestations in everyday life and in politics.”

The SPLC report includes 523 “hate groups” and 702 “antigovernment extremist groups,” for a total of 1,225 organizations.

The list of “hate groups” names numerous parental rights organizations, including 230 chapters of Moms for Liberty, No Left Turn in Education (based in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania), 12 chapters of Parental Rights in Education, and many state-based chapters of Parents Involved in Education.

Virginia, the state in which Glenn Youngkin won a gubernatorial election by running on parental involvement in education, includes many such groups. Parents Against Critical Race Theory in Ashburn; Parents Defending Education in Arlington; Virginia Moms for America; and Virginia Parents Involved in Education all appear on the SPLC’s new list of “antigovernment extremist groups.”

Militia organizations such as III Percenters also appear in the same SPLC category, as do many chapters of Eagle Forum, a conservative women’s group headquarted in Alton, Illinois.

The SPLC revealed a focus on parental rights groups in April, when the organization’s Maya Henson Carey compared parental rights advocates to the “Uptown Klans” of white Southerners trying to maintain segregation after the Supreme Court’s landmark 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.

Writing in “State of Black America,” an annual report from the National Urban League, Carey warned that “groups like Moms for Liberty, Parents Defending Education, and Parents Against CRT work diligently with politicians, right-wing celebrities, and extremist groups to spread their messages of hate, lobbying for anti-CRT and anti-LGBTQ legislation and making sweeping changes by influencing school boards to fire superintendents, constrain diverse curricula and ban books.”

Notably, the SPLC kept many organizations on its “hate group” list, including Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, and the Foundation for American Immigration Reform.

As I explain in my book, “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center,” the SPLC’s accusation against the Family Research Council inspired a terrorist attack in 2012. A shooter targeted the council’s Washington, D.C., office, using the “hate map.” He intended to kill everyone in the building, but a brave security guard prevented him. The shooter is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.

The SPLC also kept the Dustin Inman Society on the list. The society’s founder and president, D.A. King, filed a defamation lawsuit against the SPLC, specifically challenging its “hate group” accusation. His lawsuit became the first such lawsuit to reach the discovery stage earlier this year. D. James Kennedy Ministries, a Christian nonprofit that previously sued the SPLC for defamation and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, also remains on the list.

The SPLC has faced numerous scandals and hits to its credibility. In 2019, it fired its co-founder, Morris Dees, amid accusations of racial discrimination and sexual harassment tracing back decades. Amid that scandal, a former employee came forward as having been “part of the con.” He wrote that the SPLC’s hate accusations are a “highly profitable scam.”

Parental rights groups slammed the SPLC attack in comments to The Daily Signal.

Parents Defending Education President Nicole Neily called the SPLC attacks “as malicious as they are ridiculous.”

“At PDE, we have fought alongside parents of every background to end government-sponsored segregation programs, because no student should be treated differently because of his or her skin color or ethnicity,” Neily told The Daily Signal. “SPLC and its designations are as malicious as they are ridiculous. No partisan PR stunt from a dishonest scam group like SPLC will impede our important work for America’s students.”

“Two-thirds of Americans think the public education system is on the wrong track today,” Moms for Liberty Co-Founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich told The Daily Signal. “That is why our organization is devoted to empowering parents to be a part of their child’s public school education.”

“That is our fundamental goal, which began just two years ago when teacher’s unions locked students out of schools during the pandemic,” Justice and Descovich added. “Empowering parents continues to be our mission today and that has fueled our organization’s growth – like wildfire to now 45 states in the country.”

“Name-calling parents who want to be a part of their child’s education as ‘hate groups’ or ‘bigoted’ just further exposes what this battle is all about: Who fundamentally gets to decide what is taught to our kids in school – parents or government employees? We believe that parental rights do not stop at the classroom door and no amount of hate from groups like this is going to stop that,” they concluded.

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Tyler O’Neil

Senior Editor

Tyler O’Neil is senior editor at The Daily Signal and the author of two books: “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center,” and “The Woketopus: The Dark Money Cabal Manipulating the Federal Government.”