The Saturday Night announcement was excellent. Trump was spot on. Vance, Rubio and Hegseth were perfect examples of FAFO. I am so impressed with Rubio.
Vance/Rubio is my plan to make MAGA ongoing. Do you really think PDJT will retire to Mar a Lago? Pretty sure he’ll be on the campaign trail or at the very least raising money.
That's a big IF, and if anyone reading any of this stuff knows, keeping MAGA and the numerous state-county campaign machines uncontaminated and motivated IS the hardest job of all.
Many fringe voters for MAGA-Trump were single issue voters. We have seen in the last four days how easily MAGA can be splintered. Today's post illustrates some of that fragmenting coming from long-committed MAGA politicians. The core/pure MAGA platform is still firming up and needs to become solidified to hold the fringe voters that are essential to winning elections.
You gotta agree they're getting a lot of help from the lunatic left. The fallout from the weekend is a wondrous thing to behold. The lightbringer hardest hit.
Rubio has always been smart and articulate, but was not ready for prime time earlier in his career. Remember his brain lock and meltdown in the presidential debate. He still occasionally gets out over his skis when talking , but I have always been a fan of him and his life story is compelling.
Rubio has a well matched position where he can accomplish things and have influence on outcome. The VP “job” doesn’t allow for that mission driven workload. Vance won’t have much in the any of accomplishments on his resume. Sect of State could have been designed particularly for Rubio.
06/23/25: My guess is that Rubio would never agree to being #2 (a veep). If he likes being SecState, why not stay there? Why not permanently stop this parade of asses (Kerry, TRAITOR), assh*les & megalomaniac thieves (H.R. Clinton), and broken-down donkeys (Blinken) by continuing along with solid, intelligent, honest public servants?
Sure, there is nothing wrong about him staying - more experience will make him even better than his high performance today. I just thought he'd want to capstone his career at the top spot in 2036.
06/23/25: Wow. 2036 is a long way off. (do remember that the "vaccine"-poison hasn't killed off all of its victims so far). In the meantime, he's got to stop with the comb-over. Yes, that's a ridiculous concern. However, granted that this is an idiotic situation, these things do matter.
06/23/25: What's really been impressive about Rubio is that he hasn't been campaigning for anything --- what we see is a normal person responding naturally with native intelligence, zero PR b*llsh*t --- without asking for votes or a reward in return. Which ensures that he'll receive them down the line, at the same time that today, he's not doing what he's doing in order to impress anyone.
Could Reagan have pushed aside the CIA/deep state George H W Bush and lived to talk about it on CNN?? Plus Bush was the VP heir-apparent, another tradition usually followed.
Yes, whenever he's interviewed he has his facts ready, and he won't take any guff from those mostly hostile interviewers. I'm glad he and Trump got past the "Little Marco" stage.
06/23/25: Superb perception. He was a robot for so long. A McKinsey acolyte/nightmare. And a sitting duck for people with sharp minds and swift tongues. Then he came to his senses. In fact, this reminds me of how long it took me to get my S together.
(not sure its true but, perhaps Tucker was bored with his oldcurrent audience?)
We have been at war with Iran since the 70's. Western civilizations been at war with Islam since the nation's founding & before that.
An ARMY of State Dept 'diplomats' made great-long careers shuffling from plane to table (took insults) got on plane with papers, and blabbed junk to the media which garbled it for us. Diplomats got paid, westerners still die in numerous annual attacks. SoS, different deaths.
The heavy-metal band Megadeth summed it up in a 1985 song: "Peace Sells, but Who's Buyin?"
I discussed this Metal Band's message to my highly educated Israeli neighbor when I lived in Michigan, He was gobsmacked that a guy from Flint listened to heavy metal. We became very close friends.
An easy read. Likely still available on Amazon; The Idiot's Guide to the Middle East Conflict".
A few better reads: To "Jerusalem and Back", "Exodus" (NOT the movie), and "The Haj".
Holding Open Houses (as a Realtor) in snooty neighborhoods gave me time to view other people's libraries. An instructive exercise in any capacity.
The scariest book: Tom Clancy's, "The Sum of ALL Fears". DO NOT reference the stupid movie version. READ the novel. It brings home the whole sleeper cell problem and the diplomatic idiocy of the Clinton-'till Trump presidencies. It was a prescient novel when published, it could still happen now because we allow idiots to hold numerous elective offices. This book was published in 1991.
I'm glad President Trump bombed their asses. Pricks had it coming.
Actually the western world has been at war with Islam for some 1300 years. This is why Trump is absolutely right in vetting whomever wants to come or study in this country, and making their stay conditional on good behavior. If you want to see the destructive potential of mass-Islamic immigration, check what's been going on across the Atlantic.
One historian I read, about Islam in the Iberian peninsula, blamed the many centuries of fighting between the Spanish Christians and the Muslims -- until the last of the Muslims left, as late as the 15th century -- for the consistent differences between North and South America in developing stable political systems. The way he figured, the Spanish and Portuguese had not had the opportunity to develop such systems while still fighting the Muslims, so when just a few years after the Muslims' departure, the Age of Exploration started (in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue!), they didn't have the benefit of many centuries of developing government institutions and of the writings of homegrown political philosophers -- like the British and other north European peoples had. Hence the Latin American pattern that persists till today, where authoritarians keep taking over by seducing the population into the next revolution ...
Why everyone loved Clancy - his “fiction” was accurate analysis of alternative futures. His research was great . Why what people either never knew or have forgotten, that THE HUNT FIR RED OCTOBER was published by the Naval Institute Press due its believability .
Why apologize? Excellent post! Speaking of winners:
--- "STET, Damnit! The Misanthrope's Corner, 1991 to 2002, The Complete, Unabridged Collection," Florence King [1936-2016], "Jacket and book design by Luba Myts"; National Review Books (2003 hardcover).
Superlative "grouchy humor," as she herself describes the texture of her magazine columns in this anthology [published long before the National Review went south]. Her sense of honor and humor is second to none.
--- "A Life In Movies," Michael Powell [1905-1990]; Alfred A. Knopf [William Heinemann Ltd London 1986]) (1986 hardcover)
Superb memoir. I only rarely see new / used copies for sale on Internet book sellers' websites. Avoid the DOA sequel, "Million Dollar Movie," winner of a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for its portrayal of the Sahara desert (posthumously published. Exhibit A, movie directors / editors stick to your craft! Hire professional writers and editors).
--- "Genius In Disguise," Harold Ross [1892-1951] of The New Yorker [magazine], Thomas Kunkel [1955- ]; Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc. (1995 hardcover)
A unique and irreplaceable biography of the co-founder and first editor of the magazine, back when adults were in charge of The New Yorker.
Ross: A fascinating man. Also highly recommended: "Letters From The Editor, The New Yorker's Harold Ross [1892-1951]," Thomas Kunkel [1955- ], Ed.; Random House (2000 hardcover TNY). Ross's sense of humor had me falling out of bed.
In 2015, Kunkel ruined his reputation with his "Man In Profile," an expensive, stupid and unforgivable biography of TNY writer Joe Mitchell.
As a college president (2000-2015), Kunkel's prolonged exposure to the noxious fumes of DEI regime-memos probably ruined his brain cells.
--- Laurie Lee [1914-1997], "The Well-loved Stranger," Valerie Grove [a/k/a Valerie Jenkins; 1946- ]; Viking [The Penguin Group] (1999 hardcover)
The lives of Laurie Lee and Patrick Lee Fermor (both UK) are equally fascinating, if only to discover how irresistible personal charm allied with unmistakable talent can create artistic, personal masterpieces.
Avoid at all costs Artemis Cooper's coma-inducing PLF bio (2012); likewise, a clod by the name of Sisman ruined the PLF "Letters" book (2014).
DO read "In Tearing Haste" (2008), the letters exchanged between Deborah Devonshire and PLF to each other, which are alive with spirit, love and mischief.
Henry Kissinger once said, “An Iranian moderate is one who has run out of ammunition.” After these raids, and the many Israeli attacks that led up to them, all of Iran is out of ammunition.🎵So if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces’. Real men don’t mutilate their females.
I had a number of conservative friends say they didn’t know how they felt about us taking out the Iranian nukes. My answer was we had no choice. The Iranians were going to lie about their goals even if they signed a non nuke deal. I’ll go a step further. If you’d wanted to save the most lives going back 30 years we should have taken out Iran not Iraq. Ultimately, Jimmy Carter’s weakness brought us yesterday’s attack.
You are totally correct, we literally had no choice. Because the Iranians already DID indeed "lie about their goals even if they signed a non nuke deal". The Iranians began violating the last "non-nuke deal" they signed before the ink was even dry. And they only signed the deal because the verification provisions were laughably weak.
North Korea played the same game with Bill Clinton and won--pretending they would comply, and getting the $$$ Clinton gave them, and then brazenly going ahead full speed with their nuclear program. Bill Clinton is primarily responsible for allowing North Korea to now be a nuclear power. The Democrats are also primarily responsible for allowing Iran to proceed basically unimpeded towards nuclear weapons, with mega-financial support from money given to them by Obama and Biden.
Clinton, Obama, and Biden--and the Democratic Party--chumps.
"...with mega-financial support from money given to them by Obama and Biden." - $1.7 billion wrapped up and placed on pallets, if I remember. Israel didn't get a sou from Obama and Biden.
Imagine North Korea if Nixon had done some damage to their ports after the Pueblo was taken. It might have weakened them enough to fear us. Hind sight is 20/20 of course.
(Now, permanently ditch "a number of," the worst, innocently-contributed element in bad writing / verbosity that I've encountered since, say, 1960. ANY phrase containing an "of" is automatically suspect.)
06/23/25: Carter was so incompetent, he couldn't even stay #1 as the worst! I'm somehow STILL pissed and embarrassed about that half-assed, bone-headed helicopter rescue attempt that ended up stranded in the desert (1979?).
My supervisor was pulled to Washington to run communications on this end. He said that receiving, decoding and having to inform the superiors was the hardest thing he ever did. He was an old school Morris code operator. His career started before Pearl Harbor and ended with Enduring Freedom.
When he reported for Enduring Freedom, they instructed him to work in civies because nobody would believe an 85 year old man was serving.
06/23/25: Good story! Try H. Allen Smith's "Desert Island Decameron" (1945), a comedy anthology that I found surprisingly good recently.
I recommend it because there's a great story in about a Morse code operator who specialized in baseball games. He arrives in town and then the town misfit who everyone was picking on and mocking suddenly becomes the town VIP!
AbeBooks will have a reasonably priced copy, go with the hardcover. The rest of it is quite good, as well, which is quite rare for any anthology of any category. And from there, go to H.A.S.'s Low Man On The Totem Pole (1941), which is a SCREAM!
I’d like to hear Jasmine Crock say “centrifuge“ in a sentence with the word Constitution thrown in for a tongue twister. My favorite complaints I’ve been hearing is about Pete Hegseth congratulating those “boys” for doing a great job flying those bombers, and the dems whining about there must’ve been a girl in the pilot’s seat. Trump does such a great of twisting these idjits into blue-faced screaming meemies…every day’s a holiday with Trump in the driver’s seat!
I always laugh when I think about how tribes of dirty - literally dirty - desert bedouins walked into instant wealth from oil and were unable to leverage that money into becoming modern nations, instead falling back on their historical tribal hatreds and pissing it all away. Real poverty is not a poverty of THINGS; it's a poverty of spirit. I've seen it time and time again, right here in West-by-God Virginia. Dump money on those folks and what you have are poor people with a brand-new F-250.
Nowadays most of the Arab Middle East is a wasteland of piled-up rubble. Where the mistake was made was when oil was first discovered in the Middle East and American oil companies just dumped a bunch of money on the tribal chief instead of insisting that 2/3 of it go to infrastructure and western style schools. It's the Jack Whittaker syndrome. Instant wealth more than 95% of the time destroys the person. Case in point.
I read an article several years ago written by a woman who was trying to teach muslim women how to use modern kitchen appliances. She said that these women would crap and piss right in the kitchen like cattle. They had no idea how to use a bathroom or wipe their asses, didn't even bother to squat.
If I recall correctly, she was dealing with refugees arriving in England, not venturing to shitholistan.
I collect interesting political cartoons. One of my favorites was posted in the 'eighties, right after we had sold F-111s to the Saudis and were trying (mostly in vain) to teach them how to fly jets. One Einstein had lost control right after takeoff and ejected at about fifteen feet altitude. The problem is that the F-111 ejects out the BOTTOM of the airplane. You get the idea.
This particular cartoon came right after that. It shows an Arab dragging a camel by the bridle - UP the stairs - to a U.S. military plane. The marine at the door salutes and says, "This-here is the door, sir."
"The problem is that the F-111 ejects out the BOTTOM of the airplane." The F-104 "Starfighter" had the same problem. The pilots of the West German Luftwaffe learned quickly not to eject at low altitude.
"Instant wealth more than 95% of the time destroys the person." - like the lottery. I read an article in the New York Post some years ago. The Post held a survey asking people who won lottery jackpots more than $100,000 if they were happier or worse off after they won. Over 67 percent said that they were worse off. But then, maybe a lot of the winners were happier and didn't bother to answer the survey.
As an America First'er it is appealing (superficially logical) to take the position that MTG describes. Especially when you consider that she is a (young) GenXer and, more importantly, has kids in the military age range of 18 - 30. Given the deadly incompetence shown by the last 50 years of American administrations, I understand her perspective.
However. They aren't Trump.
First of all, Trump campaigned on preventing the Iranians from getting nuclear weapons. His efforts are not something he dreamed up last week (just like he campaigned on raising tariffs and lowering taxes and so on and so forth).
Second of all, the last few weeks have created an amazingly good opportunity to push Iran hard which culminated in the bombing run. Israel has done all the "dirty work" of making Iran defenseless to air attack. And continues to do so. Israel would probably be more than happy to tie up any loose ends that the Midnight Hammer (edit, used wrong name) didn't.
Trump has said no troops on the ground and I believe him. He has also said no regime change and I believe this too - however, he has created the opportunity for such if the Iranians want it bad enough.
The Abraham Accords that Trump engineered were a minor miracle. Neither they nor he were given the deserved accolades. I look forward to the next phase of those accords.
The msm/dem/bedwetting pubbies just are not ready for A Patriotic business man turned politician who says what he means and means what he says. Thank the Lord for sending and saving PDJT to try and salvage what once was a moral nation and thank you Poca-Man for the rallying .
Outstanding. This is what I was waiting for to begin the week and summer. It's a HOOT to hear the 'news' wrt the opines of the 'intellectual heavyweights' like Cheesey Chuckles, MTG, jasmine crock-full-of nuts. Re the poll, kind of a twister. While 'all the above' are losers and good choices, Ayatollah Too-many got my vote.
A very good friend of mine; super conservative; author of survival novels; a decorated veteran and who also posts his opinions but not here or on Substack said this yesterday: "This was a big mistake by Trump. Oil will go to $450 a barrel and WWIII will happen. The Iranians have 10,000 ballistic missiles and more drones and the Iron Dome has failed. And Israel is out of weaponry". I wonder what he has been eating or drinking. When I pointed out that we don't need the Iranian oil; that we have the biggest reserves in the world and all we have to do is not export oil and gas, he had no answer. I am still puzzled by his analysis.
Don’t agree with your friend’s conclusion, but neither do I agree with your comments. Oil is a commodity priced in world markets ( with local prices impacted by availability and transportation costs and refining capacity - think CA gasoline prices as an example) , an attempt to put price controls on our energy would only marginally work and send the wrong price signals to our produces.
All good points; it is a complex issue. I am glad that I don't drive as much as I used to; nor take any significant road trips anymore. I will, however, be renting a car in Colorado and Wyoming in a few weeks to visit relatives, kids, grandkids, and college roommates. It will be interesting to see what the fuel costs are up that way. At Costco where we live "regular gas" was 2.59 yesterday. My buddy (the friend I referred to is predicting $10 per gallon gas at a minimum. Again-- I only state this because people see things from all angles. His is a bit obtuse; my humble opinion. Thanks for writing.
Local 76 station on the California Central Coast still at Democrat’s $5.49. A lot of it is added on tax slipped through by Newsom’s legislature. Another .65 begins in July. This one was a total surprise to me. Doubt it will decrease with summer tourism.
It’ll be good to hear what prices are in the more sane states.
Just paid $3.049 per gallon in Prescott, AZ. If I had driven across town to Costco it would have been $.45 per gallon less. But I would have driven 20 miles back and forth and spent time in traffic; etc. If I had another errand to inside Costco, I would have gassed up there. 8 gallons is what my car needed.
Gonna close the strait? Perhaps a couple of bunker busters could widen it a bit. Factoid: the majority of Iran's oil exports, estimated at over 90%, currently go to China'. If our [prices go up, its b/c of Big Oil, doncha' think? Didn't MSM tell you that?
The Saturday Night announcement was excellent. Trump was spot on. Vance, Rubio and Hegseth were perfect examples of FAFO. I am so impressed with Rubio.
Thinking of 2028, Rubio will be a strong contender for POTUS vs Vance the apparent heir.
Can anything be stronger than a Vance Rubio ticket?
That's a potential 16 years running for MAGA if they keep it pure and uncontaminated.
Vance top of ticket with Rubio in line for heir to POTUS after 2036
I like it. Rubio has gone from Rep to exemplary statesman
Both would annihilate their opponent in a debate against any Dem I can think of as a possible candidate.
Nah. The Libs and their automatons don't understand facts or truth. They run on pure emotion. Like children.
You are unfair to children.
I thought he was a Senator.
agree 100%......Vance Rubio ticket, yes!!
Vance/Rubio is my plan to make MAGA ongoing. Do you really think PDJT will retire to Mar a Lago? Pretty sure he’ll be on the campaign trail or at the very least raising money.
senator.
That's a big IF, and if anyone reading any of this stuff knows, keeping MAGA and the numerous state-county campaign machines uncontaminated and motivated IS the hardest job of all.
Excellent point BTW.
Sounds remotely like ‘A Republic if you can keep it’ don’t it! How’s that working out for us!
As you suggest, the devil is in the IF.
Many fringe voters for MAGA-Trump were single issue voters. We have seen in the last four days how easily MAGA can be splintered. Today's post illustrates some of that fragmenting coming from long-committed MAGA politicians. The core/pure MAGA platform is still firming up and needs to become solidified to hold the fringe voters that are essential to winning elections.
You gotta agree they're getting a lot of help from the lunatic left. The fallout from the weekend is a wondrous thing to behold. The lightbringer hardest hit.
MAGA being splintered by the more Foreign Wars switcheroo. Nothing else.
Rubio has always been smart and articulate, but was not ready for prime time earlier in his career. Remember his brain lock and meltdown in the presidential debate. He still occasionally gets out over his skis when talking , but I have always been a fan of him and his life story is compelling.
Rubio has a well matched position where he can accomplish things and have influence on outcome. The VP “job” doesn’t allow for that mission driven workload. Vance won’t have much in the any of accomplishments on his resume. Sect of State could have been designed particularly for Rubio.
Actually President Trump has given VP Vance several significant assignments already, such as major speeches overseas.
06/23/25: My guess is that Rubio would never agree to being #2 (a veep). If he likes being SecState, why not stay there? Why not permanently stop this parade of asses (Kerry, TRAITOR), assh*les & megalomaniac thieves (H.R. Clinton), and broken-down donkeys (Blinken) by continuing along with solid, intelligent, honest public servants?
Sure, there is nothing wrong about him staying - more experience will make him even better than his high performance today. I just thought he'd want to capstone his career at the top spot in 2036.
06/23/25: Wow. 2036 is a long way off. (do remember that the "vaccine"-poison hasn't killed off all of its victims so far). In the meantime, he's got to stop with the comb-over. Yes, that's a ridiculous concern. However, granted that this is an idiotic situation, these things do matter.
Never thought of him having a comb over. He has a decent head of hair. Is his part too low?
06/23/25: What's really been impressive about Rubio is that he hasn't been campaigning for anything --- what we see is a normal person responding naturally with native intelligence, zero PR b*llsh*t --- without asking for votes or a reward in return. Which ensures that he'll receive them down the line, at the same time that today, he's not doing what he's doing in order to impress anyone.
He’s finally allowed to be authentic. Himself.
That’s my plan.
With you bro.
Imagine if Reagan had endorsed Jack Kemp instead.
06/23/25: Please, don't remind me. Reagan's inept Bush Sr led to the even more mentally discombobulated Dan Quayle and doom.
Interesting history reflection from 1988.
Could Reagan have pushed aside the CIA/deep state George H W Bush and lived to talk about it on CNN?? Plus Bush was the VP heir-apparent, another tradition usually followed.
06/23/25: Thank God that garbage stopped --- after McCain ("It's my turn") f*cked things up so completely, Trump came to the plate.
Yes, whenever he's interviewed he has his facts ready, and he won't take any guff from those mostly hostile interviewers. I'm glad he and Trump got past the "Little Marco" stage.
Yeah, where has THIS Rubio been hiding all these years?
I think Trump has a way of picking out the best people for the job
He finally got rid of the Mcstain mindset.
06/23/25: Superb perception. He was a robot for so long. A McKinsey acolyte/nightmare. And a sitting duck for people with sharp minds and swift tongues. Then he came to his senses. In fact, this reminds me of how long it took me to get my S together.
I’m 69 and it is still taking too long to get my S together. Please write a book (thin and easy to read) for folks like me.
06/23/25: The following is thin --- I hate authors who blow past the STOP sign on page 300 at 100 mph --- easy to read, and might just entertain you.
Proceed to YouTube by clicking on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdUm0Sq81IY&lc=UgwRv7jnm8uHELwP0ol4AaABAg.9JgkF5OAe9tAJgHpP4f0Wm
Watch the video (I know that's entertaining) ---
Then scroll down until you see this; open it up and read:
"@waremblem3405
"THANK YOU! "Contestant #3" was Fred Reed, my father..."
After you're done with that, the replies might be interesting.
Scroll down to:
@sixtythreekraft2608
"Thank you for posting that comment. You should write a book..."
@waremblem3405
"Thank you! Ah, but if only I could..."
And have a pleasant evening!
Watched the show and saw your dad and read the comments. Very fun episode, Waremblem3405!
06/23/25: Rubio has blossomed into a superstar. It is amazing to watch TV and hear someone make sense.
Indeed and Trump’s chiefs are all young! Going to be around to see MAGA flourish.
Yeah, the kid has grown up well.
Full disclosure: I haven’t even read the article, but the title alone just made me snicker!
It is sooo true! The Democrats have become downright farcical, a veritable parody of themselves!
Just look at some of the memes: “District court judge orders Trump to put Iran’s nuclear program back together again.”
I mean, seriously folks, these people just never know when to stop digging.
Now, on to read the article….
No American who believes in God and his will-DJT-will ever become a progressive, much less a democrat.
As posted by someone on X:
"Tucker Qatarlson"
(not sure its true but, perhaps Tucker was bored with his oldcurrent audience?)
We have been at war with Iran since the 70's. Western civilizations been at war with Islam since the nation's founding & before that.
An ARMY of State Dept 'diplomats' made great-long careers shuffling from plane to table (took insults) got on plane with papers, and blabbed junk to the media which garbled it for us. Diplomats got paid, westerners still die in numerous annual attacks. SoS, different deaths.
The heavy-metal band Megadeth summed it up in a 1985 song: "Peace Sells, but Who's Buyin?"
I discussed this Metal Band's message to my highly educated Israeli neighbor when I lived in Michigan, He was gobsmacked that a guy from Flint listened to heavy metal. We became very close friends.
An easy read. Likely still available on Amazon; The Idiot's Guide to the Middle East Conflict".
A few better reads: To "Jerusalem and Back", "Exodus" (NOT the movie), and "The Haj".
Holding Open Houses (as a Realtor) in snooty neighborhoods gave me time to view other people's libraries. An instructive exercise in any capacity.
The scariest book: Tom Clancy's, "The Sum of ALL Fears". DO NOT reference the stupid movie version. READ the novel. It brings home the whole sleeper cell problem and the diplomatic idiocy of the Clinton-'till Trump presidencies. It was a prescient novel when published, it could still happen now because we allow idiots to hold numerous elective offices. This book was published in 1991.
I'm glad President Trump bombed their asses. Pricks had it coming.
My apologies for rambling.
Actually the western world has been at war with Islam for some 1300 years. This is why Trump is absolutely right in vetting whomever wants to come or study in this country, and making their stay conditional on good behavior. If you want to see the destructive potential of mass-Islamic immigration, check what's been going on across the Atlantic.
Todays mis-educators conveniently omit history and the Crusades.
One historian I read, about Islam in the Iberian peninsula, blamed the many centuries of fighting between the Spanish Christians and the Muslims -- until the last of the Muslims left, as late as the 15th century -- for the consistent differences between North and South America in developing stable political systems. The way he figured, the Spanish and Portuguese had not had the opportunity to develop such systems while still fighting the Muslims, so when just a few years after the Muslims' departure, the Age of Exploration started (in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue!), they didn't have the benefit of many centuries of developing government institutions and of the writings of homegrown political philosophers -- like the British and other north European peoples had. Hence the Latin American pattern that persists till today, where authoritarians keep taking over by seducing the population into the next revolution ...
Why everyone loved Clancy - his “fiction” was accurate analysis of alternative futures. His research was great . Why what people either never knew or have forgotten, that THE HUNT FIR RED OCTOBER was published by the Naval Institute Press due its believability .
Why apologize? Excellent post! Speaking of winners:
--- "STET, Damnit! The Misanthrope's Corner, 1991 to 2002, The Complete, Unabridged Collection," Florence King [1936-2016], "Jacket and book design by Luba Myts"; National Review Books (2003 hardcover).
Superlative "grouchy humor," as she herself describes the texture of her magazine columns in this anthology [published long before the National Review went south]. Her sense of honor and humor is second to none.
--- "A Life In Movies," Michael Powell [1905-1990]; Alfred A. Knopf [William Heinemann Ltd London 1986]) (1986 hardcover)
Superb memoir. I only rarely see new / used copies for sale on Internet book sellers' websites. Avoid the DOA sequel, "Million Dollar Movie," winner of a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for its portrayal of the Sahara desert (posthumously published. Exhibit A, movie directors / editors stick to your craft! Hire professional writers and editors).
--- "Genius In Disguise," Harold Ross [1892-1951] of The New Yorker [magazine], Thomas Kunkel [1955- ]; Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc. (1995 hardcover)
A unique and irreplaceable biography of the co-founder and first editor of the magazine, back when adults were in charge of The New Yorker.
Ross: A fascinating man. Also highly recommended: "Letters From The Editor, The New Yorker's Harold Ross [1892-1951]," Thomas Kunkel [1955- ], Ed.; Random House (2000 hardcover TNY). Ross's sense of humor had me falling out of bed.
In 2015, Kunkel ruined his reputation with his "Man In Profile," an expensive, stupid and unforgivable biography of TNY writer Joe Mitchell.
As a college president (2000-2015), Kunkel's prolonged exposure to the noxious fumes of DEI regime-memos probably ruined his brain cells.
--- Laurie Lee [1914-1997], "The Well-loved Stranger," Valerie Grove [a/k/a Valerie Jenkins; 1946- ]; Viking [The Penguin Group] (1999 hardcover)
The lives of Laurie Lee and Patrick Lee Fermor (both UK) are equally fascinating, if only to discover how irresistible personal charm allied with unmistakable talent can create artistic, personal masterpieces.
Avoid at all costs Artemis Cooper's coma-inducing PLF bio (2012); likewise, a clod by the name of Sisman ruined the PLF "Letters" book (2014).
DO read "In Tearing Haste" (2008), the letters exchanged between Deborah Devonshire and PLF to each other, which are alive with spirit, love and mischief.
Be well!
“The only generals left for Iran may be the ones who worked for Mossad.”
Classic! And quite possibly true.
Henry Kissinger once said, “An Iranian moderate is one who has run out of ammunition.” After these raids, and the many Israeli attacks that led up to them, all of Iran is out of ammunition.🎵So if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces’. Real men don’t mutilate their females.
You can substitute muslin for Iran
I had a number of conservative friends say they didn’t know how they felt about us taking out the Iranian nukes. My answer was we had no choice. The Iranians were going to lie about their goals even if they signed a non nuke deal. I’ll go a step further. If you’d wanted to save the most lives going back 30 years we should have taken out Iran not Iraq. Ultimately, Jimmy Carter’s weakness brought us yesterday’s attack.
You are totally correct, we literally had no choice. Because the Iranians already DID indeed "lie about their goals even if they signed a non nuke deal". The Iranians began violating the last "non-nuke deal" they signed before the ink was even dry. And they only signed the deal because the verification provisions were laughably weak.
North Korea played the same game with Bill Clinton and won--pretending they would comply, and getting the $$$ Clinton gave them, and then brazenly going ahead full speed with their nuclear program. Bill Clinton is primarily responsible for allowing North Korea to now be a nuclear power. The Democrats are also primarily responsible for allowing Iran to proceed basically unimpeded towards nuclear weapons, with mega-financial support from money given to them by Obama and Biden.
Clinton, Obama, and Biden--and the Democratic Party--chumps.
"...with mega-financial support from money given to them by Obama and Biden." - $1.7 billion wrapped up and placed on pallets, if I remember. Israel didn't get a sou from Obama and Biden.
Imagine North Korea if Nixon had done some damage to their ports after the Pueblo was taken. It might have weakened them enough to fear us. Hind sight is 20/20 of course.
Arrogant Wienies, poseurs
"Ultimately, Jimmy Carter’s weakness brought us yesterday’s attack."
Weakness = gullible stupidity to leftist utopian dreams only found in myths and the NYT.
Excellent!
(Now, permanently ditch "a number of," the worst, innocently-contributed element in bad writing / verbosity that I've encountered since, say, 1960. ANY phrase containing an "of" is automatically suspect.)
Ultimately, Jimmy Carter’s antisemitism brought us yesterday’s attack. FIFY.
06/23/25: The man was so dreadful in so many respects, it's debatable if his antisemitism was among his five "worst" characteristics!
Hard to believe he got pushed down to third place on the All time worst presidents list.
I thought he would hold the #1 spot forever.
06/23/25: Carter was so incompetent, he couldn't even stay #1 as the worst! I'm somehow STILL pissed and embarrassed about that half-assed, bone-headed helicopter rescue attempt that ended up stranded in the desert (1979?).
My supervisor was pulled to Washington to run communications on this end. He said that receiving, decoding and having to inform the superiors was the hardest thing he ever did. He was an old school Morris code operator. His career started before Pearl Harbor and ended with Enduring Freedom.
When he reported for Enduring Freedom, they instructed him to work in civies because nobody would believe an 85 year old man was serving.
06/23/25: Good story! Try H. Allen Smith's "Desert Island Decameron" (1945), a comedy anthology that I found surprisingly good recently.
I recommend it because there's a great story in about a Morse code operator who specialized in baseball games. He arrives in town and then the town misfit who everyone was picking on and mocking suddenly becomes the town VIP!
AbeBooks will have a reasonably priced copy, go with the hardcover. The rest of it is quite good, as well, which is quite rare for any anthology of any category. And from there, go to H.A.S.'s Low Man On The Totem Pole (1941), which is a SCREAM!
Democrats always seem to exceed the moron hat they looted in the mostly peaceful riots staged by donors and supporters.
06/23/25 (3 pm EDT): Things will definitely be "poppin' off" tonight. Might have already started (Qatar).
The attacks on Qatar and in Iraq were coordinated through the Qatari government. It allowed Iran to save face and not escalate the situation.
New TACO-Trump Always Considers Obliteration
Trump Always Crushes Opposition !!!
Bravo!
I’d like to hear Jasmine Crock say “centrifuge“ in a sentence with the word Constitution thrown in for a tongue twister. My favorite complaints I’ve been hearing is about Pete Hegseth congratulating those “boys” for doing a great job flying those bombers, and the dems whining about there must’ve been a girl in the pilot’s seat. Trump does such a great of twisting these idjits into blue-faced screaming meemies…every day’s a holiday with Trump in the driver’s seat!
I disagree... I don't want to hear Jasmine Crockofshit say anything. She is simply a dope.
Not a bad-looking one, though. And I hate to sound prejudiced, but all black women politicians seem to lack both sense and a brake on their mouths.
But, come to think of it -- I wonder if Marjorie Taylor Green has been trying to emulate them.
Nah , she's good folks .
NONE of these progressive blacks ever read Dick Gregory?
They can read? Wha...?
No they can’t read…
I always laugh when I think about how tribes of dirty - literally dirty - desert bedouins walked into instant wealth from oil and were unable to leverage that money into becoming modern nations, instead falling back on their historical tribal hatreds and pissing it all away. Real poverty is not a poverty of THINGS; it's a poverty of spirit. I've seen it time and time again, right here in West-by-God Virginia. Dump money on those folks and what you have are poor people with a brand-new F-250.
Nowadays most of the Arab Middle East is a wasteland of piled-up rubble. Where the mistake was made was when oil was first discovered in the Middle East and American oil companies just dumped a bunch of money on the tribal chief instead of insisting that 2/3 of it go to infrastructure and western style schools. It's the Jack Whittaker syndrome. Instant wealth more than 95% of the time destroys the person. Case in point.
I read an article several years ago written by a woman who was trying to teach muslim women how to use modern kitchen appliances. She said that these women would crap and piss right in the kitchen like cattle. They had no idea how to use a bathroom or wipe their asses, didn't even bother to squat.
If I recall correctly, she was dealing with refugees arriving in England, not venturing to shitholistan.
Dirty desert bedouins indeed.
I collect interesting political cartoons. One of my favorites was posted in the 'eighties, right after we had sold F-111s to the Saudis and were trying (mostly in vain) to teach them how to fly jets. One Einstein had lost control right after takeoff and ejected at about fifteen feet altitude. The problem is that the F-111 ejects out the BOTTOM of the airplane. You get the idea.
This particular cartoon came right after that. It shows an Arab dragging a camel by the bridle - UP the stairs - to a U.S. military plane. The marine at the door salutes and says, "This-here is the door, sir."
"The problem is that the F-111 ejects out the BOTTOM of the airplane." The F-104 "Starfighter" had the same problem. The pilots of the West German Luftwaffe learned quickly not to eject at low altitude.
Those former camel jockeys play the long game very well. As do the Chi-coms, former Soviets, and any censorious statists of Europe.
Mark Steyn said it best: "You can take the girl out of East Germany, but you can't take the East Germany out of the girl".
"Instant wealth more than 95% of the time destroys the person." - like the lottery. I read an article in the New York Post some years ago. The Post held a survey asking people who won lottery jackpots more than $100,000 if they were happier or worse off after they won. Over 67 percent said that they were worse off. But then, maybe a lot of the winners were happier and didn't bother to answer the survey.
Take a few minutes and look up Jack Whittaker, from West Virginia. He was a successful businessman, married and happy. And then he won the lottery.
Yeeow - Holy Moley - that man's life went to Hell: robbed several times, his daughter murdered, among other horrible events.
As an America First'er it is appealing (superficially logical) to take the position that MTG describes. Especially when you consider that she is a (young) GenXer and, more importantly, has kids in the military age range of 18 - 30. Given the deadly incompetence shown by the last 50 years of American administrations, I understand her perspective.
However. They aren't Trump.
First of all, Trump campaigned on preventing the Iranians from getting nuclear weapons. His efforts are not something he dreamed up last week (just like he campaigned on raising tariffs and lowering taxes and so on and so forth).
Second of all, the last few weeks have created an amazingly good opportunity to push Iran hard which culminated in the bombing run. Israel has done all the "dirty work" of making Iran defenseless to air attack. And continues to do so. Israel would probably be more than happy to tie up any loose ends that the Midnight Hammer (edit, used wrong name) didn't.
Trump has said no troops on the ground and I believe him. He has also said no regime change and I believe this too - however, he has created the opportunity for such if the Iranians want it bad enough.
The Abraham Accords that Trump engineered were a minor miracle. Neither they nor he were given the deserved accolades. I look forward to the next phase of those accords.
However they aren't Trump
Exactly
Interesting that they left from Missouri, isn’t that the ‘Show Me’ State?
He showed ‘em!
Fyi, the B2s are based in Missouri. They have the range to get there and refuel on the trip home. Awesome aircraft.
You could have quit and declared victory after the opening meme/cartoon. But then we would have missed the Rubio quote and everything else.
The msm/dem/bedwetting pubbies just are not ready for A Patriotic business man turned politician who says what he means and means what he says. Thank the Lord for sending and saving PDJT to try and salvage what once was a moral nation and thank you Poca-Man for the rallying .
Outstanding. This is what I was waiting for to begin the week and summer. It's a HOOT to hear the 'news' wrt the opines of the 'intellectual heavyweights' like Cheesey Chuckles, MTG, jasmine crock-full-of nuts. Re the poll, kind of a twister. While 'all the above' are losers and good choices, Ayatollah Too-many got my vote.
Thanks for the jolt of caffeine for the soul.
THIS is what I voted for.
America is Back.
Fool Around Find Out.
A very good friend of mine; super conservative; author of survival novels; a decorated veteran and who also posts his opinions but not here or on Substack said this yesterday: "This was a big mistake by Trump. Oil will go to $450 a barrel and WWIII will happen. The Iranians have 10,000 ballistic missiles and more drones and the Iron Dome has failed. And Israel is out of weaponry". I wonder what he has been eating or drinking. When I pointed out that we don't need the Iranian oil; that we have the biggest reserves in the world and all we have to do is not export oil and gas, he had no answer. I am still puzzled by his analysis.
Don’t agree with your friend’s conclusion, but neither do I agree with your comments. Oil is a commodity priced in world markets ( with local prices impacted by availability and transportation costs and refining capacity - think CA gasoline prices as an example) , an attempt to put price controls on our energy would only marginally work and send the wrong price signals to our produces.
All good points; it is a complex issue. I am glad that I don't drive as much as I used to; nor take any significant road trips anymore. I will, however, be renting a car in Colorado and Wyoming in a few weeks to visit relatives, kids, grandkids, and college roommates. It will be interesting to see what the fuel costs are up that way. At Costco where we live "regular gas" was 2.59 yesterday. My buddy (the friend I referred to is predicting $10 per gallon gas at a minimum. Again-- I only state this because people see things from all angles. His is a bit obtuse; my humble opinion. Thanks for writing.
Local 76 station on the California Central Coast still at Democrat’s $5.49. A lot of it is added on tax slipped through by Newsom’s legislature. Another .65 begins in July. This one was a total surprise to me. Doubt it will decrease with summer tourism.
It’ll be good to hear what prices are in the more sane states.
Just paid $3.049 per gallon in Prescott, AZ. If I had driven across town to Costco it would have been $.45 per gallon less. But I would have driven 20 miles back and forth and spent time in traffic; etc. If I had another errand to inside Costco, I would have gassed up there. 8 gallons is what my car needed.
My kids go to Costco. I’ll ask them what it is out here. It’s abt 8-10 miles from us…we’re all pretty close to each other.
$2.59 in E Tx
I can’t remember the last time I saw that!
Gonna close the strait? Perhaps a couple of bunker busters could widen it a bit. Factoid: the majority of Iran's oil exports, estimated at over 90%, currently go to China'. If our [prices go up, its b/c of Big Oil, doncha' think? Didn't MSM tell you that?