Maybe Things Aren't That Bad š¤·
We are a few months away from permanently crippling our most violent enemy for the past 47 years.
Duty and obligationš: As a man who once forgot Motherās Day ā something you only do once ā itās my responsibility to remind all of you Sunday is Motherās Day.
šTo my mother ā I wrote a book about dad, but as he said, you are the power behind both of us
šTo my sister ā wow, on your first Motherās Day, itās been inspiring to see your love and dedication to Holt
šTo my mother-in-law ā thank you for raising such a kind, generous and beautiful daughter. I am so grateful for you welcoming me into your family and treating me like a son..
šTo my wife ā there is no dog luckier than Dutch to have you as his Mom. I donāt know what life will bring us but I am so lucky to be in it with you.
Editorās noteāļø: Over the past year, War Notes has gotten qualitatively and quantitatively better because of our new editor-in-chief Amanda Kinderman, who is spending this Motherās Day weekend with her mom
šTo my mom ā thank you for being my best friend and role model. Iām so grateful for everything you do. See you soon! ā Amanda
Mostly peaceful revolutionā¼ļø: Democratic fire brand (think Tucker Carlson of the Left) Hasan Piker says revolution is upon us
Piker: āThose who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitableā
What happenedš§āāļø: Virginiaās Supreme Court overturned the ballot initiative that gave Democrats five new congressional seats
Look forwardā¶ļø: Tonight, Rodney Hall joins us; heās an African American, Mississippi state representative who wants to redraw that stateās map and push out the January 6th committee chair Bennie Thompson
šNow some good news for the weekend :-)
š£ļøToday, Trump announced a three-day cease fire between Ukraine and Russia after significant Ukrainian gainsā¦
šA leaked CIA report shows two to four months of a continued blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and our enemy of a half century will be brought to its knees.
RealityšŖ: Sure, we are a long way from pots of gold at ends of rainbows but Vladimir Putin is weaker than ever
Look backš: We told you he faced a potential coup last week, The Wall Street Journal reports heās having more and more trouble at home, writing:
Remember whenš¤: President Joe Biden famously said Putin has to go ā what if he actually gets kicked out under Trumpās watch?
Conventional wisdomš: When you hear the same thing everywhere, itās usually wrong
šI keep hearing everyone cite a leaked CIA report to The Washington Post that Iran could hold out for another two to four months of the blockade
Seeš: Proof everyone says that Trump totally screwed everything up and is in deep trouble
šIf your wife had cancer and someone said itās going to be a rough two to four months but then she will be cured ā would you take that deal?
šIf someone said the next four months will suck but then you have your dream job ā would you do the hard work?
See what I am getting at:
Upside down worldš: We are two to four months away from permanently crippling our single most consistent and violent enemy for the past 47 years ā and people are complaining.
Zoom outš: Reasonable people can agree team Trump made and continues to make some bad mistakes
āThey didnāt sell the war before starting it
āThe lack of understanding of American pain even baffles Fox news anchors
āThey should have put the blockade in BEFORE starting the war or immediately after the war started
āThe White Houseās communication strategy on this is abysmal
Chanceš¤·: But all of the above doesnāt change the reality ā in two to four months, with little risk to American service members, we could send the IRGC packing ā why wouldnāt we take that deal?
Watch tonightšŗ: Our friend Congressman Adam Smith of Washington who will certainly have a different view.
Plusā: Weāll ask him if Trump will do to Putin, what Biden could not
š°A few good weekend reads:
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Closer But No UFO šø
š·Today, the Pentagon released more videos, photos and documents that show weird stuff flying around in space
Let downš¤¦: All I keep hearing is we are getting closer and closer to finding out what the government knows about UFOās ā but we never quite get there
The files date back to the Apollo missions
Look ā Maybe there was dust on the camera lens ā spooky, right?
What Iām thinkingš: If thereās aliens around, wouldnāt you think they would drop in and say hello?
Plusā: Do you really think Trump, who has been president for five years, has had the discipline to keep his mouth shut about aliens and UFOs?
Tonightšŗ: Dr. Seth Shostak on why has the government been holding on to this for so long ā doesnāt that just breed conspiracy theories?
Self-Inflicted Freak Outā¼ļø
ā½California is freaking out that they wonāt have enough jet fuel this summer ā and they want to blame it on the war in Iran.
šŗThis morning MS NOW did a whole segment on California being on the brink of an oil crisis
š¤¦Who would have ever thought ā an oil crisis in a state where the governor celebrated shutting down refineries
Look backš: High gas prices were once a feature of progressive policies to force the move to electric vehicles.
š„Talk about an arsonist yelling āfireā ā as weāve reported, Newsom and other Democratic governors refuse to do anything about their anti-fossil fuel agenda
Look backš: Democrats celebrated Bidenās day one move to ban all fossil fuel exploration ā now they are worried about gas prices
Standbyš: Todayās big jobās numbers paint an interesting picture ā
Not entirely good news for team Trump ā most of the gains came in health care
Watch tonightšŗ: Biden economist and our friend Ryan Cummings joins with whether the promised economic boom from increased investment and fewer illegal workers will deliver the wage growth team Trump promises.
Tea Party Redux?š
š£ļøThe right is having a field day with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez āyou canāt earn a billion dollarsā comment.
AOC: āYou canāt earn a billion dollars. You just canāt earn that. You can get market power, you can break rules, you can abuse labor laws, you can pay people less than what theyāre worth, but you canāt earn thatā
ā¼ļøMany Republicans call the āNo Kingsā rallies actors paid by Soros and others ā the same thing Democrats said in 2010 of the Tea Party ā allegedly paid by the Koch brothers
Watch outā ļø: Republicans are making an enormous mistake by laughing off the AOCs, El-Sayeds and Graham Platners of the world
Look backš: The Left laughed at the people in the tea bag hats during 2009 and 2010 as the āTea Partyā movement caught steam ā remember the freakout over Glenn Beckā¦in retrospect he looks so quiet
Resultā¼ļø: A shellacking for President Obama and Democrats in the midterms and Trump as president in 2016.
Letās compareš: In 2010, Obamaās approval rating was around 40%
Today, President Trumpās approval rating is at 36%
Tonightšŗ: Steve Cortes understood Trump and the Tea Party movement before most ā is the same thing happening on the left?