It’s no time to be nice. Freedom is on the line, as never before. If you want to survive and live in prosperity and with liberty, you had better root for Donald Trump. Everyone else is morally weak, paid off or on the side of the bad guys.

You are looking at our last, best hope. GET OVER IT.

Iran is in it to win it. Fox News and others report they are trying to disrupt or paralyze the flow of oil to Western civilization. That will affect all of us, including purple haired, fat, ugly socialists screaming for freebies. An American military plane has gone down over Iraq. I wonder who Iran’s allies are in America? The Democratic Party and leftist billionaires? Might they give aid, comfort and support to our enemies? I believe they absolutely would, because Democrats and leftists hate America and freedom with the same intensity as Iran does. I am also wondering: Might President Trump go nuclear? We would never have defeated Japan without that step. Iran is not as strong, but its regime is as irrational and anti-life as just about any force in human history, to my knowledge. And they have friends in America, and friends with lots of money. I believe it may get to that point, because the mullahs will never, ever surrender unconditionally. I trust President Trump. I believe he will do whatever has to be done, in the end.

Amusing sidenote:

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt demanded Thursday that ABC News retract a story claiming that the FBI has officially warned Iran may try to attack California with drones.

Why would Iran attack California? California’s regime is as hostile to the U.S., its Bill of Rights and to freedom as the Iranian regime is. California is the last place a mortal enemy of the United States would attack.

Michael J. Hurd, Daily Dose of Reason

This chart shows manufacturing production growth (6-month average vs. a year ago). After spending most of 2022–2024 in contraction, output has surged since mid-2025 and is now approaching +2% — the strongest growth since the post-COVID rebound.

So why isn’t anyone talking about it?

Partly because it’s invisible in the jobs data. Manufacturing payrolls have been declining. If you only look at employment, you’d think the sector is still struggling.

But flat jobs + rising output = productivity growth. The sector is producing significantly more with fewer workers.

This is one more piece of evidence that the productivity acceleration story is real and broadening beyond tech. The gains are showing up in hard, measurable output, but not in headcount.

Source: Federal Reserve Board

Derek Hunter https://platform.twitter.com/widgets/follow_button.2f70fb173b9000da126c79afe2098f02.en.html#dnt=false&id=twitter-widget-0&lang=en&screen_name=derekahunter&show_count=false&show_screen_name=false&size=m&time=1773766899743 | Mar 17, 2026

I’m not one of those people tapping their foot saying, “When is the war going to end? It’s been dragging on and is a disaster!” No, those people are idiots actively hoping the United States is damaged because of who the President of the United States is. Nor do I think the Iranian regime didn’t deserve to be wiped out – those who used to be in charge (and alive) were evil and them no longer existing is a great thing for humanity. But what comes next isn’t up to us, it’s up to the people of Iran to act. And there is still an open question about what it is they want, so we have to consider the possibility that most of them simply don’t want to be “free.”

The theory of the Bush administration was that the people of Iraq would greet us as liberators when we took out Saddam Hussein, which they actually did. But after that, rather than embrace their newfound freedoms, they simply reverted back to centuries old tribal warfare with each other. 

How could that happen? Because they didn’t have any concept of freedom, or they simply would’ve liked to be the ones forcing their will on others, rather than having the will of others forced on them. Kind of like Democrats here.

If you’ve never experienced liberty before, you don’t know what it is. It’s not the natural state of humanity. Most of human history is riddled with oppression. Not in the way a leftist would have you think, but in a raceless way of there being a leadership that tells everyone else what and how to be. The idea of voting existed in some places, but it was often ignored or tossed when it went against the wishes of the leaders, like Democrats here when they lose a referendum and sue.

We’ve had the concept of liberty in this country for almost 250 years, but another way to look at this is we’ve had the concept of liberty in this country for only almost 250 years. Human beings have been around a lot longer than that, and most of them never experienced anything like we have today.

In Afghanistan, as oppressive as the Taliban is, most Afghans are either down with because they share their oppressive religious beliefs, or they live in such remote, unconnected places that whatever government they have in Kabul doesn’t matter to them either way. We thought they were oppressed, they thought they were living how they’ve always lived. We were both right and they didn’t care to change.

All you can do is give people the opportunity to step up for themselves, you can’t make them take it. 

Iran is slightly different in that before the radical Islamists took over, the country was very modern. There are a lot of people alive who remember what it was like to not have to cover women or fear their government murdering them because they’ve somehow offended religious sensibilities. They’ve likely told stories of what it was like before the fascists overthrew the Shah, so the concept isn’t foreign. But maybe it’s not wanted?

It’s clear there was a desire for ridding itself of the fascist Ayatollah, which brought hundreds of thousands of Iranians to the streets in protest. But maybe that was all they were willing to do – march in protest hoping their government would change? 

Revolutions are rarely bloodless, but to conduct one you must be willing to fight to the point of death, either to you or your opponent. The regime has proven time and again, from its founding, that it has the appetite to kill for power. The people who oppose it have not shown that. 

Every few years, the Iranian people would rise up in the streets, then their government would quash them. A bunch of people would get killed, the world would condemn it, lather, rinse, repeat. Nothing would come of it.

We thought it was because the people didn’t have arms and the government did. Maybe that was part of it, but maybe it was also that protesting was about as far as anyone was willing to go? The regime had no problem killing, but average people do. Without that last step, failure was the only option as regime collapse wasn’t going to happen with nothing there to cast it aside.

Iran just slaughtered anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000 of its own people for protesting, the remaining people are probably a little hesitant to step out again, understandably so. There’s also the possibility that the people willing to do what is necessary to overthrow their government were those people killed. It only takes a few to spark something, but a fuse doesn’t light itself. If the people with the fire are gone…

Or maybe they’re just waiting for the US to tell them it’s go-time, I don’t know. Personally, I think what happens to Iran is up to the Iranian people, so if a military guy is allowed to seize power and dominate, if the religious monsters stay in, or the people take over and implement something better is not my concern. I don’t want them to have a nuclear program, to fund terrorism or have any influence over shipping. The rest is up to them.

The actions the Trump administration have taken are helping on those points, what comes after, or even if there is a change, is up to the Iranian people. There will come a point ever soon where they will have a chance, probably their only chance, to overthrow their despotic oppressors. That is, however, only if they want to. A fish doesn’t know it’s wet, some people don’t know they’re oppressed. All you can do is give them the opportunity to take care of themselves, you can’t make them take advantage of it. I hope they do, because they’ll never have a better one.

How worried should the US be about Iran? We asked an expert.

WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is trashing “ignorant” far-left New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for her “tone-deaf” approach to Israel — and predicted she won’t challenge Big Apple Dem Sen. Chuck Schumer in 2028.

“To accuse Israel [of] genocide, and you’re sitting in Germany, like, can you talk about tone deaf and just ignorant to the history?” Fetterman told podcast host Sean Hannity, referring to AOC’s disastrous gaffe-prone foreign-policy outing in Munich last month.

“I mean, more than 6 million Jews [were massacred] — you know the Holocaust — and now to accuse Israel during that just war for genocide,’’ he said in the interview, set to air Tuesday.

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“That’s my issue, not because her answer wasn’t great,’’ Fetterman told Fox News Media’s “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” in a nod to the Democratic Socialist rep’s bungling of her appearance at the time.

Ocasio-Cortez’s participation in the panel at the Munich Security Conference was widely interpreted as a test of her foreign-policy bona fides amid speculation over her 2028 aspirations.

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Ultimately, her fumbles, such as erroneously claiming that Venezuela sits below the equator, fueled criticism from her detractors that she wasn’t ready for prime time.

The 36-year-old rep, who majored in international relations, has fired back at her critics by contending that she was demonstrating the importance of thinking before speaking.

Fetterman, who revealed that Senate Minority Leader Schumer leans on him, predicted that Ocasio-Cortez won’t challenge his buddy.

“She would never run,” Fetterman said when Hannity predicted that Ocasio-Cortez would crush Schumer in a 2028 primary.

“Either she’ll run for president, or she’ll just kind of continue to rise in” the House of Representatives, the Keystone State senator added.

During another portion of their conversation, Fetterman ripped into Democratic former Vice President Kamala Harris for calling President Trump a fascist.

What do you think? Post a comment.

“That’s just not true, and … that forces people to [be] like, ‘Hey, you must be a fascist, too, because you want’” him to win,” Fetterman said of Trump supporters.

“That makes it more difficult to have a better way forward.”

“That’s why I always refuse” to go there, Fetterman said.

Neither reps Ocasio-Cortez nor Harris responded Monday to Post requests for comment.

Architect of the nuclear program and a former senior commander in the IRGC, was considered the most extreme and influential figure regarding the survival of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The IDF confirmed on Tuesday that the Israeli Air Force, acting on IDF intelligence, and through the integration of unique operational capabilities, conducted a precise strike on Monday that eliminated Ali Larijani, the Secretary of Iranian Supreme National Security Council, who operated as the de facto leader of the Iranian terror regime. The strike was conducted while he was located near Tehran.

Throughout the years, Larijani was considered one of the most veteran and senior figures within the Iranian regime leadership and was a close associate of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Following the elimination of Khamenei, Larijani consolidated his status as the de facto leader of the Iranian regime and led the combat efforts against the State of Israel and countries across the region.

As a part of his role, Larijani led the regime’s national-security coordination and directed its international activity, including engagement with members of the axis.

During the most recent wave of protests against the Iranian terror regime, Larijani advanced violent enforcement measures and repression operations, and personally oversaw the massacre that was carried out against Iranian protestors.

The IDF noted that Larijani’s elimination adds to the elimination of dozens of senior commanders and leaders of the Iranian terror regime, who were eliminated by the IDF during Operation Roaring Lion, and constitutes a further blow to the Iranian regime’s abilities to manage and coordinate hostile activity against the State of Israel.

In his role, he served as a key figure in shaping national security policy, including direct involvement in strategic issues such as the nuclear program.

Following reports of his elimination, Larijani’s official Telegram account said that he would be releasing a statement shortly. A short time later, the account published a handwritten note written for the funeral of the Iranian Navy casualties. The account did not refer to the reports of his assassination and provided no proof that he is alive.

When the U.S. started firing Tomahawk missiles at Iran late last month, many of President Donald Trump’s allies hoped it would be a quick, surgical operation, similar to last year’s strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities or the ouster of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January.

Though uneasy, they were reassured by the belief that Trump’s open-ended objectives gave him the flexibility to declare victory whenever he saw fit.

Now, more than two weeks into the campaign, some of those allies believe the president no longer controls how, or when, the war ends. They fear Iran’s attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, which have rattled global crude markets and threaten broader economic distress, are boxing Trump into a situation where escalating the conflict — potentially even putting American boots on the ground — becomes the only way to credibly claim victory.

“We clearly just kicked [Iran’s] ass in the field, but, to a large extent, they hold the cards now,” said one person close to the White House, who like others in this story was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the war. “They decide how long we’re involved — and they decide if we put boots on the ground. And it doesn’t seem to me that there’s a way around that, if we want to save face.”

The concern among some Trump allies is that ensuring the free flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz could require securing parts of Iran’s shoreline, a step that would almost certainly mean putting American troops on Iranian soil.

“The terms have changed,” said a second person familiar with the U.S. operation in Iran. “The off-ramps don’t work anymore because Iran is driving the asymmetric action.”

The dynamic is fueling anxiety among the president’s “America First” allies, who worry he is drifting toward the kind of open-ended Middle East conflict he has long railed against. With Iran able to disrupt global oil supplies and drive up gas prices at the pump, some Republicans fear the conflict could soon become a political liability for a White House already grappling with voter frustration over affordability ahead of the midterm elections.

Oil prices have surged since the conflict began, increasing from less than $70 per barrel to roughly $100 per barrel, while the national average price for gasoline has climbed to $3.70, up about 25 percent from a month ago, according to AAA.

“For the White House, now the only easy day was yesterday,” the person familiar added. “They need to worry about an unraveling.”

White House aides continue to argue the war is not just going as planned but is a “tremendous success,” with Iranian ballistic missile attacks down 90 percent and drone attacks down 95 percent. The operation, they say, will continue until the president determines his goals have been achieved.

“Thanks to a detailed planning process, the entire administration is and was prepared for any potential action taken by the terrorist Iranian regime,” said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly. “President Trump knew full well that Iran would try to stop the freedom of navigation and free flow of energy, and he has already taken action to destroy over 30 minelaying vessels.”

The president has also been clear that any disruptions to energy are temporary and will result in a massive benefit to our country and the global economy in the long-term,” she added.

The allies’ concerns have only been heightened by the U.S. moving additional forces into the region, including the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, which is carrying the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. The deployment places roughly 2,000 Marines and their aircraft within striking distance of the war, capable of seizing ports, protecting shipping lanes and launching limited ground operations.

Watch: The Conversation

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In recent days, Trump has oscillated on the war’s trajectory, at times suggesting the fighting could end soon while also warning that the U.S. is prepared to escalate if Iran continues targeting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices fell below $95 per barrel on Monday as Trump said he would soon announce which countries have agreed to help secure the strait.

Some of Trump’s most vocal “America First” allies are urging the White House not to rush toward a ground war, arguing the U.S. still has multiple ways to pressure Iran without sending troops ashore. Still, they acknowledge that the president’s alternatives narrow with each additional escalatory step the U.S. takes.

The campaign has so far focused on air and missile strikes targeting Iranian military facilities and leaders, a strategy designed to weaken Tehran’s ability to retaliate without committing large numbers of American troops.

Trump ally Jack Posobiec, appearing on former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s show Monday morning, listed a series of ways in which the U.S. could still ratchet up pressure without ground troops — by stopping oil tankers, launching cyberattacks, targeting Iranian financial assets and leaning on allied navies, like Israel’s.

“This also increases the level of escalation, but doesn’t necessarily require boots on the ground,” Posobiec said. “There are people who are deeply and seriously agitating … for the president to put boots on the ground because they realize once he has done so that the mission creep will be so far in that this then could explode into a full-fledged war, and they deeply want that.”

Iran’s strategy has centered on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil shipments. With its conventional forces taking heavy hits, Tehran has leaned into a tactic military planners have long feared, threatening commercial shipping through one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.

Some Trump allies say the scale of the U.S.’s opening strikes — which killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with dozens of senior commanders and members of his family — may make it harder for the regime to back down.

“You’ve killed one guy, the next guy up is even more radical. You killed his dad and his wife,” said a third person close to the White House, referring to Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late leader. “Do you think he’s gonna be more — or less — reasonable?”

The person added that putting boots on the ground isn’t Trump’s “instinct” — and suggested doing so would tank Trump’s approval ratings to those of former President Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal. Trump’s approval rating is hovering around 40 percent, down from above 50 percent at the start of his term; Nixon’s approval rating when he resigned was about 25 percent.

“He’s seen that story before,” the person said, “and I think he knows how that plays out politically.”

Dasha Burns contributed to this report.

Collectivism and socialism lead to pain, shortages, deprivation and misery — for most people. But the rulers (always comfortable, and armed) get to feel warm and fuzzy because miserable people are much easier to control. And control is what sociopaths like Mamdani and really all of our career politicians are after. They are twisted, sick and evil tyrants who exploit the low self-esteem and ignorance of average people. The people voting for socialism are flashing a green light for their own destruction–and all of our destruction.

*******

Bill Maher suggests President Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize for liberating Venezuela, Cuba and Iran, if it all works out. Leftists, of course, are shrieking. To Democrats and leftists, toppling dictatorships is not “peace”. To them, peace means the absence of dissension, and complete control over everything and everyone–control by THEM.

Leftists totally relate to and support dictatorship–because they ARE dictators.

*******

According to the NRA, Democrat representatives and officials in Virginia are exempting themselves from the draconian, brazenly unconstitutional gun ban in their state. “Gun control for thee, but not for me.”

It’s hard for me to fathom why the state of Virginia is not on fire over this. Even the 19th Century French had the spine to rise up (temporarily) against tyranny. And Virginia was once the intellectual center of liberty in America. Now it’s the center of the totalitarian sweep Democrats have planned for us when and if they carry the national elections of 2026 and 2028. If Virginians roll over and accept this without overt rebellion, then we can expect the same lawless measures in many other parts of the country. Totalitarianism with a sneer isn’t just for California and New York anymore. America’s fascists are coming for all of us, because they assume we will tolerate and take ANYTHING.

*******

“The truth does not require your participation in order to exist. Bullshit does.”

— Terence McKenna

Former Obama Campaign Managers Warn Democratic Party Is a Mess

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Elizabeth Weibel

15 Mar 20261,163

2:33

Two former campaign managers for former President Barack Obama warned that the Democratic Party is a mess ahead of the 2028 presidential election, due to not knowing what they stand for.

Jim Messina explained to Axios that while Democrats are planning to rely on voters’ frustrations with President Donald Trump and his administration to pick up additional seats in the upcoming midterm elections, that is not enough to win the presidency.

Meanwhile, David Plouffe warned that Democrats are not ready to win “in what are now red states in neutral and even challenging environments.”

“The midterms are going to be 85-90% driven by voter opposition to Trump and maybe 10-15% based on what Dems stand for,” Messina, who served as the campaign manager for Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign, said.

Plouffe, who served as Obama’s campaign manager for his 2008 presidential campaign, stated: “Democrats for the next decade have to be able to win elections in what are now red states in neutral and even challenging environments. That is the test.”

“Anyone who thinks we are ready to do that is spending too much time inhabiting a political world that does not exist,” Plouffe added.

Per the outlet, the comments from Messina and Plouffe come as a recent poll from NBC found that 52 percent “of voters see the Democratic Party negatively,” compared to 30 percent who “view it positively”:

• 52% of voters see the Democratic Party negatively, while only 30% view it positively, according to a recent NBC survey — worse ratings than they give the GOP, which is also unpopular.

• The same poll found voters trust Republicans more than Democrats to deal with border security, crime and immigration. On the economy, Democrats didn’t have an advantage despite Americans’ anger over continuing high prices under Trump. Voters were split on which party would do a better job handling it.

A previously released poll from the Trafalgar Group, which surveyed 1,084 likely general election voters between February 24-25, showed that 47.1 percent of respondents “strongly approve” of the job Trump is doing, while 39.1 percent of respondents “strongly disapprove.”

Another 3.7 percent of respondents said they approve of the job Trump is doing, while 8.5 percent said they disapprove.

CHAPPAQUA, NY — With TSA suffering severe staffing shortages amid a halt in pay, former President Bill Clinton has volunteered to lend a hand patting down passengers.

A smiling Clinton arrived early for his shift at JFK International, telling TSA agents to focus on checking bags and leaving the pat-downs to him.

“It’s the least I can do,” said Clinton. “When I heard there were thousands of bodies that needed to be felt, I simply answered the call. Does that make me a hero? Well, step into my line here, and I’ll let you be the judge.”

According to airport officials, no one has ever seen a happier, more willing TSA agent than Clinton. “He was born for this,” said local man Roger McCabe. “It’s like Clinton has been doing this his whole life. No one even had to train him. He just stepped right in and got to patting.”

At publishing time, Clinton had asked if there were any TSA agents who might be willing to handle patting down “the uggos.”

Babylon Bee