“There are plenty of ways to practice mortification! Just patiently endure cold, heat, sickness, troubles, people, happenings, and so forth.”
— Saint John Bosco.
The Left cries “War is not the answer!” To which The Observations replies, “It depends upon the question”. Because sometimes, peace is gained through sheer force.
“In that first meeting, both the Iranian negotiators said to us directly, with no shame, that they controlled 460 kilograms of 60% and they’re aware that that could make 11 nuclear bombs, and that was the beginning of their negotiating stance. So that’s – they were proud of it. They were proud that they had evaded all sorts of oversight protocols to get to a place where they could deliver 11 nuclear bombs.”
–Trump Administration Iran negotiator Steve Witkoff.
There goes the Leftist/Democrat narrative that Iran did not pose an imminent threat, and that negotiations were the proper path to peace.
“The reason that we had to act now is because they were. After we hit their nuclear sites and their ballistic missile program, you’d think they learned a lesson, but they didn’t because they’re unreformable. They’re totally fanatical about this—about the goal of destroying America. So they started building new sites, new places, underground bunkers that would make their ballistic missile program and their atomic bomb program immune within months. If no action was taken now, no action could be taken in the future. And then they could target America. They could blackmail America. They could threaten us and threaten everyone in between. So action had to be taken. And you needed a resolute president like Donald J. Trump to take that action.”
–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Every Iranian naval ship in the Gulf of Oman has been sunk by American and Israeli forces. WINNING!
“If Iran had begun to fire all of their missile arsenal – short and mid-range missiles – at our personnel and our assets and our installations, we would have suffered staggering losses, and if we had waited to respond before acting first, then those losses would have been far greater than if we had done what we did. That was their decision.”
–Speaker Mike Johnson (R. La.), supporting President Trump’s decision to attack Iran.
What would the Trump Administration’s opponents have said had he not acted, and allowed Iran to launch preemptive attacks against U.S. military assets? You know the answer to that question.
“The American people, again, are not interested in their taxpayer dollars being spent for another failed regime change war. And that’s why the power was given explicitly to the House and to the Senate. And Donald Trump chose intentionally not to come before Congress, which is why we’re going to force this vote on a War Powers Resolution and make sure that we do everything we can to constrain him at this point in time.”
–Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D. N.Y.), consigning American military operations to “fail[ure], even as American soldiers are engaged in combat.
What patriotism! And statesmanship, trying to “constrain” the Commander in Chief even as the military is engaged in hostilities with the largest state sponsor of terrorism on Earth.
“As Trump now refuses to rule out sending ground troops to Iran, I believe we must do everything in our power to stop this horrific war of choice before more Americans are killed. That is why this week, I am forcing a vote in the House of Representatives on a bipartisan resolution with my Republican colleague, Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, to end this illegal and unconstitutional conflict. These families are in my thoughts and prayers. But we also owe our fallen soldiers’ families and every military family with sons and daughters still in harm’s way a debate and vote in Congress.
–Representative Ro Khanna (D. Ca.).”
Oh, where to start? First, the President is not acting unconstitutionally. He does not need Congress’s permission to use the military, of which he is the Commander in Chief. President Trump acted appropriately to defend the nation. If Congress wishes to stop the President, it can cut off all military funding. But it will not. Because Congress as a whole is too cowardly to interfere while troops are in harm’s way.
Second, the President is not acting illegally. Representative Khanna is referencing the War Powers Act. While it has never been challenged in court, the Act is unconstitutional. But let us assume otherwise. The War Powers Act is predicated on the fact that the President will initiate hostilities with a foreign power with Congressional authorization. If that happens, then Congress can act or not. But it acknowledges the President’s Constitutional ability to act unilaterally. Perhaps Representative Khanna should read the actual law.
Today Representative Nancy Pelosi (D. Ca.) condemns President Trump’s actions against Iran. But it was a very different story in 2011, when President Obama unilaterally took military action against Libya. Then, Representative Pelosi vigorously defended President Obama’s authority to launch military strikes. Hypocrite!
“Both the U.S. and genocidal Israel doesn’t care about the laws. This is who they are.”
–Representative Rashida Tlaib (D. Mi.), condemning the attacks upon Iran.
“[T]hey”? “This is who they are”? Rashida Tlaib is a member of the United States Congress. She was born in Michigan. But just like Representative Ihan Omar (D. Mn.), her loyalties lie with foreign terrorists. She is an enemy of the United States.
“The U.S. action for regime change in Iran is not sufficient to produce regional tranquility. It is, however, a necessity for beginning to reestablish a precondition for a more peaceable world: the credibility of U.S. deterrence.”
—Washington Post columnist George Will.
Wow! For George Will to write something nice about President Trump . . . unbelievable!
The United States Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling, and blocked California’s law requiring public school teachers to keep a student’s gender transitioning or identity secret from their parents. Common sense.
The United States Supreme Court also overturned a New York Supreme Court ruling that New York City’s only Republican congressional district must be immediately redrawn, because it was unfair to black and brown people. It was not unfair to black and brown people. It just elected a Republican, which is an anathema to New York Democrats.
Governor Tampon Tim (D. Mn.) weighed on the side of Iran’s ayatollahs. Go figure.
Cincinnati, Ohio is considering the implementation of a reparations program. Because it would be racist not to be racist.
Governor Kathy Hochul (D. N.Y.) is in a panic, warning that energy prices in her State could soar if State law mandating “green” energy policies go into effect. Huh. These are laws that the Governor supported, and signed into law. Interesting.
A mosque in Manassas, Virginia posted on social media mourning the “martyred” Ayatollah Khamenei, and pledging their eternal loyalty to him as their leader. Good grief!
Governor Abigail Spanberger (D. Va.) ordered flags flown at half staff in honor of “Reverend” Jesse Jackson. Why?
Former Governor and Senate hopeful Roy Cooper (D. N.C.) is running from his soft on crime policies. Literally. When the subject came up at a news conference the other day, Mr. Cooper abruptly left the stage. When confronted by reporters in the building’s hallways, he took up a slow trot to escape the questions. Coward!
The New York Times reports that Cuba is almost at the point of Net Zero Carbon Emissions. You would think that the Times would be thrilled at this achievement, but it is not. It is terribly upset that the United States is choking off Cuba’s oil and gas supplies.
Why are the “climate change” scolds not lining up to make Cuba the shining example of modern life under Net Zero? Why are they not raising funds to slap up solar panels everywhere in Cuba? If solar power worked anywhere, one would think it would work on an island in the sunny Caribbean. Why are they not raising funds to run up a bunch of offshore wind turbines, to catch those lovely warm trade winds off the Caribbean? If wind power worked anywhere, one would think it would work on an island in the breezy Caribbean. Why are the scolds not calling for this? Because it won’t work, and they know it won’t work. It’s not about the planet. It’s not about the climate. It’s about control. It’s always about control.
Our NATO allies are being less than helpful in operations against Iran. Spain denied the U.S. permission to use its airbases to launch attacks against Iran. Turkey lamented Ayatollah Khamenei’s death, and insisted that no NATO bases in that country would be used against Iran. The surrender monkeys in France called for the cessation of hostilities. Great Britain initially denied the U.S. use of airbases on British territory, but finally relented, reluctantly, and only after an Iranian drone strike on a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus. Oh, how wonderful are our NATO allies whom we have defended for 81 years.
The irony of our NATO allies’ response is that they are all in the crosshairs of Iran’s missiles. Do they really think that their groveling would save them?
An Iranian drone strike struck the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia, causing the structure to catch on fire. Other targets were hit in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter.
Iran decided to indiscriminately target all commercial traffic in the Gulf of Oman. The very 1st tanker its missiles struck was an Iranian flagged oil tanker.
GFK
Observations From The Fifth Estate 