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𝐋𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 🍀🏆🏆 Young Scalesy in the back garden while at Shamrock Rovers 6 years ago showing off his skills. While everyone’s talking about Martin O’Neill or Robbie Keane as the next manager… one Irish Bhoy has already secured his Celtic future. Now... signed until 𝟐𝟎𝟑𝟎. Reliable, consistent and a massive part of our Double-winning season. 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧?show more

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𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐍𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄. 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐈𝐓. 𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐎 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓. Bill Maher spent eight minutes on Real Time last Friday doing something no Democrat with a national microphone has done honestly in a decade. He told his own party why they lost. The core of the monologue: “𝘝𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘷𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢.” Read that again. Slowly. The second-most-famous liberal talk-show host in America — a man who has spent 30 years telling audiences how dumb Republicans are — just told Democrats that the issues do not matter, that voters pick based on 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢, and that Donald Trump has all three while the Democratic Party has none of them. This is not a small admission. This is the entire 2024 post-mortem in a single sentence, delivered by a Democrat. Let me walk through what else he said, because it gets better — and worse, depending on which side of the aisle you sit on. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 The Democratic Party’s current approval rating is 𝟐𝟏 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 (Gallup, March 2026). Maher’s joke: “𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘦’𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘬𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘴”. Funny because it is accurate. And the Gallup internal is the part that should terrify every DNC strategist: 𝟒𝟓 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, up 11 points in four years. Nearly half the Democratic base is telling pollsters, on the record, that its own leadership is too far left to win. When almost half your own voters want you to move toward your opponent’s position, you do not have a messaging problem. You have a 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 problem. 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤: 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 Maher nominated Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as the Democratic Party’s Trump. Not the populist-movement Trump. The 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦-𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳-𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴-𝘯𝘰𝘵-𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥-𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘕𝘎𝘖-𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 Trump. Here is Maher’s inventory of Fetterman’s heresies, each of which would have been a career-ender in the Democratic Party of 2020: 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫: Fetterman says wanting a secure border is not 𝘹𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘤 or 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘵. It is common sense. 𝐎𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥: When pro-Hamas protesters showed up at his home, Fetterman went to his roof 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. Read that again. A sitting Democratic United States Senator publicly flew the Star of David in the faces of his own party’s base. 𝐎𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲: Fetterman says four words 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, per Maher: “𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐤𝐞.” Translate that honestly. Maher just told his audience that the reason Republicans are nervous about 2028 is not a policy agenda. It is the possibility that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞 Maher’s proposed running mate was former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and the reasons he gave are almost more revealing than the Fetterman case. Buttigieg 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬 a month ago. Stopped. Quietly scrubbed them. Maher flagged it on national television. Buttigieg’s own recent words, quoted by Maher: Democrats would do better “𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴”. That is a former Democratic presidential candidate publicly renouncing intersectional identity politics. In 2020 he would have been canceled for that sentence. In 2026 he is using it as a positioning play for 2028. Buttigieg also told Democrats to stop “𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢”. Maher’s rejoinder: “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡.” That one is going on the highlight reel. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐀 𝐉𝐨𝐤𝐞 Strip away the Mar-a-Lago bits, the CVS clothing line, the 6-foot-8 gag, and look at what Maher actually said about Trump’s victory: “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘸𝘰𝘯. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘹. 𝘎𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘩, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.” Translation: Trump won because he met voters where they actually were on crime and immigration. Americans were not yearning for the agenda; they were yearning for a politician who would 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 about borders, crime, men in women’s sports, and elementary-school pronoun drills. Every Democratic post-mortem since November 2024 has blamed Latinos, blamed young men, blamed podcasts, blamed Elon Musk, blamed disinformation, blamed Russia again for some reason, blamed misogyny, blamed low-information voters, and blamed Joe Biden for staying in too long. Bill Maher — alone, on a Friday night, on a premium cable show — finally said the real answer. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐅𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧/𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 Here is the problem with Maher’s prescription, and it is the same problem that has been cooking the Democratic Party for 15 years. The Democratic primary electorate — the activists, the donor class, the DSA wing, the 𝘚𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘥 caucus, the identity-studies faculty, the Planned Parenthood board, the teachers unions, the Working Families Party — will never nominate John Fetterman. They will not nominate anyone who waves an Israeli flag at his own base. They will not nominate anyone who says 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦. They will not nominate anyone who agrees with Trump on the border. Maher knows this. Every Democrat in Washington knows this. The primary will eat any Fetterman-type candidate alive before the first snow falls in New Hampshire. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞-𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐢 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲. The Democratic Party does not actually want to win. It wants to be right about race, gender, and climate. Those are not the same goal, and for twenty years the party has been choosing the second one. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐃𝐮𝐞 I have disagreed with Bill Maher on plenty. I still do. But on this one, he is telling the truth at volume about his own side, on his own network, to his own audience, and he knows the next three weeks of his DMs will be brutal. That is 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚 he said voters reward. He is modeling the trait he is asking his party to rediscover. The fact that the Democratic Party cannot find more than a handful of its elected officials willing to do the same is the entire diagnosis, all by itself. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐨. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 '𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐤𝐞' 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐲. 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥.

𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐆𝐍𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄. 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐈𝐓. 𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐒𝐎 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓. Bill Maher spent eight minutes on Real Time last Friday doing something no Democrat with a national microphone has done honestly in a decade. He told his own party why they lost. The core of the monologue: “𝘝𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘷𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢.” Read that again. Slowly. The second-most-famous liberal talk-show host in America — a man who has spent 30 years telling audiences how dumb Republicans are — just told Democrats that the issues do not matter, that voters pick based on 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮𝘢, and that Donald Trump has all three while the Democratic Party has none of them. This is not a small admission. This is the entire 2024 post-mortem in a single sentence, delivered by a Democrat. Let me walk through what else he said, because it gets better — and worse, depending on which side of the aisle you sit on. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 The Democratic Party’s current approval rating is 𝟐𝟏 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 (Gallup, March 2026). Maher’s joke: “𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘒𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘦’𝘴 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘬𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘴”. Funny because it is accurate. And the Gallup internal is the part that should terrify every DNC strategist: 𝟒𝟓 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, up 11 points in four years. Nearly half the Democratic base is telling pollsters, on the record, that its own leadership is too far left to win. When almost half your own voters want you to move toward your opponent’s position, you do not have a messaging problem. You have a 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 problem. 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐤: 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 Maher nominated Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania as the Democratic Party’s Trump. Not the populist-movement Trump. The 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴-𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦-𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳-𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴-𝘯𝘰𝘵-𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥-𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘕𝘎𝘖-𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 Trump. Here is Maher’s inventory of Fetterman’s heresies, each of which would have been a career-ender in the Democratic Party of 2020: 𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫: Fetterman says wanting a secure border is not 𝘹𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘤 or 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘵. It is common sense. 𝐎𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥: When pro-Hamas protesters showed up at his home, Fetterman went to his roof 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. Read that again. A sitting Democratic United States Senator publicly flew the Star of David in the faces of his own party’s base. 𝐎𝐧 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲: Fetterman says four words 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, per Maher: “𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐤𝐞.” Translate that honestly. Maher just told his audience that the reason Republicans are nervous about 2028 is not a policy agenda. It is the possibility that 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞 Maher’s proposed running mate was former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and the reasons he gave are almost more revealing than the Fetterman case. Buttigieg 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬 a month ago. Stopped. Quietly scrubbed them. Maher flagged it on national television. Buttigieg’s own recent words, quoted by Maher: Democrats would do better “𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴”. That is a former Democratic presidential candidate publicly renouncing intersectional identity politics. In 2020 he would have been canceled for that sentence. In 2026 he is using it as a positioning play for 2028. Buttigieg also told Democrats to stop “𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢”. Maher’s rejoinder: “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡.” That one is going on the highlight reel. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐀 𝐉𝐨𝐤𝐞 Strip away the Mar-a-Lago bits, the CVS clothing line, the 6-foot-8 gag, and look at what Maher actually said about Trump’s victory: “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘸𝘰𝘯. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘹. 𝘎𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘩, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺, 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.” Translation: Trump won because he met voters where they actually were on crime and immigration. Americans were not yearning for the agenda; they were yearning for a politician who would 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 about borders, crime, men in women’s sports, and elementary-school pronoun drills. Every Democratic post-mortem since November 2024 has blamed Latinos, blamed young men, blamed podcasts, blamed Elon Musk, blamed disinformation, blamed Russia again for some reason, blamed misogyny, blamed low-information voters, and blamed Joe Biden for staying in too long. Bill Maher — alone, on a Friday night, on a premium cable show — finally said the real answer. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐅𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧/𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 Here is the problem with Maher’s prescription, and it is the same problem that has been cooking the Democratic Party for 15 years. The Democratic primary electorate — the activists, the donor class, the DSA wing, the 𝘚𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘥 caucus, the identity-studies faculty, the Planned Parenthood board, the teachers unions, the Working Families Party — will never nominate John Fetterman. They will not nominate anyone who waves an Israeli flag at his own base. They will not nominate anyone who says 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦. They will not nominate anyone who agrees with Trump on the border. Maher knows this. Every Democrat in Washington knows this. The primary will eat any Fetterman-type candidate alive before the first snow falls in New Hampshire. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞-𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐢 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲. The Democratic Party does not actually want to win. It wants to be right about race, gender, and climate. Those are not the same goal, and for twenty years the party has been choosing the second one. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐃𝐮𝐞 I have disagreed with Bill Maher on plenty. I still do. But on this one, he is telling the truth at volume about his own side, on his own network, to his own audience, and he knows the next three weeks of his DMs will be brutal. That is 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐚 he said voters reward. He is modeling the trait he is asking his party to rediscover. The fact that the Democratic Party cannot find more than a handful of its elected officials willing to do the same is the entire diagnosis, all by itself. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐨. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 '𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐤𝐞' 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐲. 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥.

M.A. Rothman

85,434 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

Dumbing Down II "By Faith, this is the last rent I am paying as a single lady. If you support me to pay this rent, by the grace of God, this time next year, I will be in my husband's house." is back begging for support to pay another rent. Not because God didn't bring eligible suitors her way, but because her PASTOR has replaced the Holy Spirit in her life. Pastors ruin a lot of destinies when they insist on playing God instead of their primary role as destiny guides. Many members have submitted their free will to their pastors, giving their pastors the power that God himself didn't take from us from the dawn of creation. When you take the ability of the individual to act as a free agent in the name of religion, you reduce him or her to a puppet and yourself to a puppeteer. You want to pull the strings of the lives of thousands of born-again Christians at the same time while rendering them useless to follow their paths in Christ and grow into mature sons. I was at a Church in Anthony village about three years ago to minister, and I met this young man who was schooled at a very prestigious university in the USA. He was the in-house IT consultant of the church, and the pastor placed him on a monthly stipend while he was working for God. It was the Pastor who introduced the young man to me while boasting that God had given him the most capable hands to help him in ministry. I asked him if he had any Python, Java, cloud engineering, data management, digital marketing, coding, or similar tasks available for the young man in the church. He said no. I said, "You are giving this young man the job that any young school leaver who is proficient in computer appreciation can do, and you don't see it as limiting his capabilities and rendering his skills obsolete?" You would rather boast that you are ruining a destiny to build up your own profile rather than set this young man on the path of excellence? Did God call him into ministry as a preacher? Is he understudying you in preparation for his own ministry? The pastor said, "No, I plan that as the church expands, he will head our digital infrastructure and position us for the future." I said, "He can do that as a consultant or even as a member, he shouldn't be doing that while you are paying him 100,000 Naira a month. He should be out there, flying with his peers and earning in dollars! The only exception is if the Lord has called him to be a preacher and he is understudying you as your personal assistant, as led by the Lord as part of his season of preparation. Anything other than that is injurious to his destiny!" The pastor had never seen it that way When I was done ministering in the church, the young man hugged me and thanked me profusely. He said his mother sent him to the pastor when he returned from the USA and the pastor immediately told him that God had need of him in the ministry or he would die without fulfilling his purpose. Why do pastors do this? I have another case from the Northern part of Nigeria. A young lady reached out to me seeking clarity regarding her future She said her Apostle told her she has been raised by God to sing in his church choir, but she is a medical doctor by training and desires to further her studies abroad Every time she raised the issue with the Apostle, he shut her down and told her she was struggling with the will of God "Why can't you just submit to God and serve in the choir and watch as God will take your voice all over the world as this ministry grows?" The young lady said she knows she has a good voice and sings very well as one who is full of the Holy Spirit, but she does not want to be "Sinach", she wants to fulfil her dream of practising as a Pediatrician. She was wary of incurring the wrath and curse of the Apostle, however, and did not know how to extricate herself from the situation. The apostle did not see anything wrong with his actions because he was a user of people who believed that in order to fulfill his own desire to become a big ministry, others could not thrive and grow in their visions and ministries as ordained by God. This is witchcraft. It is not of God. Jesus didn't lead his disciples this way. Insecurity is the undoing of many African so-called Pastors and Spiritual leaders, and they hide behind the illusion of divinity to put others in bondage. I experienced this firsthand as a young graduate, so I understand how a pastor trying to build his ministry could see the potential in a young man or woman and try very hard to turn such a person into servants and house helps in the name of discipling them or training them for kingdom relevance You graduate from the University and join the labour force, you apply for many jobs, and at a point, you tell yourself it is important to seek supernatural guidance in your quest to fulfil destiny Somebody somewhere tells you about a church or a ministry, you join, and you are convinced the church is good. You also tell your friends, and they join. But you are all fresh graduates who are heading into the future one way or the other, but this pastor wants you to be his flock. To him, his church of ten members had suddenly become a church of 30 members because of you guys, and he wants to keep the numbers growing, so he begins to give you prophesies that were not of God but with the aim of keeping you in the fold for as long as possible. He told young graduates who ought to go for NYSC that God is telling him they should give it up for service to God in the vineyard. The mother of two of the ladies in the fellowship, whose daughters told that the pastor told them not to go for NYSC, quickly removed them from the fellowship before the seed of corruption being planted by this pastor would bear fruit The others also left as soon as they could gather their wit People who you ought to guide on their path in sincerity ran as far as they could from you based on how you chose to manipulate rather than nurture them. A married woman whose husband worked abroad was a trained secretary, and while her husband was abroad, catering to the needs of the family, he begged her to stop working so that she could focus on raising the children. She was raising five children all by herself, and combining this with a job seemed a bit too much at the time. One of the vital institutions for raising godly children was the church This woman attended church regularly with her children and even volunteered to spend any free time she had typing the pastor's sermons, Sunday School pamphlets, handouts, books, journals, and other church reports and documents She was not officially employed to do the work; she just saw that she could take some of the secretarial duties on during her downtime, and she did so with all sincerity. The church enjoyed her free services for five years until the pastor forgot completely that she was doing the church a favour One day, the woman came to church to tell the pastor that her husband would be returning home to visit the family, and she would not be available for a few days because she had to pick her husband up from the airport and ensure that he settled in properly. Unfortunately, that weekend was the weekend of the church's anniversary, and the pastor had a lot of secretarial work to do. He told the woman God said she should pick one. Heaven or marriage. He said if she goes to pick her husband from the airport, she has chosen the world and forsaken the Lord. The woman wept all the way home, It was not the thank you, thou faithful servant report she had worked day and night for many years to get that she received. She went to pick her husband from the airport and distanced herself from any church founded by any individual after that experience. She said the ambition of church founders requires that they use people to build, even though they lacked the resources to pay or compensate such people, so they resort to blackmail, coercion, lies, fake prophesies, promises, and manipulations to get things done while keeping their followers on a leash. Followers are also enablers as they refuse to read the Bible for themselves and walk in the light of the word of God. No one should be able to take you captive in the name of God, Jesus, all the angels, or any form of miracle if you know the word of God. The word of God is profitable to make one wise, and therefore, anyone who knows the word of God cannot fall victim to any false doctrine, teaching, spiritual manipulations, or lies. All the false teachings of someone being a covering for someone else came from these manipulative narratives, and believers should be wise to them. I have seen a pastor declare that his church is the only church in Africa that is licensed by God to take people to heaven, and some members believed him. The day he said that, all his members ought to laugh, pick up their Bibles, and leave without looking back. Self-aggrandisement has become the order of the day in some churches, the pastor sells himself as the be-all and end-all of the member's spiritual enlightenment, and the members sheepishly surrender their eyes of their understanding to him or her. He or she must determine where they work, whom they marry, who they associate with, whose music they must listen to, and whose sermons they must hear. If they want to travel, he must see if the road is clear on their behalf, if they want to build a house, he must approve, if he does not dedicate their baby, the baby is illegitimate. This is not the faith Christ or the Apostles died for. Jesus died that you might be free of religion. Christianity is not a religion, it is the opposite. It is individualistic and determined by the faith and belief system of the one rather than the many. Salvation, therefore, is a personal affair, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is also a personal affair Religion is the opium of the masses, and Christianity is the salvation of the individual and his or her walk with God. When we fellowship together, we do so not so we can get brainwashed by one "super Christian" but so that we can minister to the Lord and minister to one another in the presence of God. Every believer must hold this truth to be self-evident. PS: Someone sent me the video of a pastor condemning a song recently released by a fellow believer, which is making a global impact The Pastor represents an old school of Christians who are unfit to be custodians of the gospel due to their rigidity and limited understanding of the finished work of Christ. Disciples of the gospel of Works and Performance lack creativity and discernment but are good stewards of rigidity and religious doctrines. In other words, a Pharisee must act like one, and Jesus must act like Jesus. We are all just being true to our nature. "I can never go back o No...No It's already too late o No...No Where Am I going to... No...No" If you read to this point, when I was in Spain, I asked a very important question about a meal. If you know the answer, I'm inside the comment section. -GSW-

Gbenga Samuel-Wemimo

28,548 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

The Carney Files: Exposing the new globalist golden boy, Mark Carney From his connections to Epstein associates, his role at Brookfield Asset Management, and the World Economic Forum, Canadians have a lot to learn about globalist golden boy, Mark Carney. The fix is in. Canada’s next prime minister was just anointed behind closed doors in a questionable leadership race. Trudeau's usefulness has run its course. He's not cute anymore. The elites have moved on, and they’ve chosen their new golden boy: Mark Carney. That’s why we’re launching The Carney Files — your one-stop shop for everything the establishment and the legacy media don’t want you to know about the next to sit on the Liberal throne. Because while the mainstream press is polishing their puff pieces, we’re doing what they refuse to — exposing the real Mark Carney. And trust me, there’s a lot to expose. This isn’t just some mild-mannered banker turned politician. Carney was the man whispering in Trudeau's ear for the last five years. All those things the Liberals did to us? That was him — lockdowns; tax hikes; overspending; electric vehicle mandates. Carney is Trudeau 2.0, but more dangerous. He’s the handpicked globalist successor to Trudeau, a man whose loyalties don’t lie with Canada, but with the unelected power brokers who pull the strings from Davos at the World Economic Forum, and the UN. Remember? He's a self-described European, with three citizenships. We’re talking about a man who has spent his entire career pushing the very policies that have gutted the middle class — from his time at the Bank of Canada, to his role at the Bank of England, to his non-stop advocacy for extreme carbon taxation under the guise of “climate action.” And let’s not forget his cozy connections to some very unsavory characters. Does Ghislaine Maxwell ring a bell? Oh yeah, Carney's got tangential ties to her, too. The very same woman who helped Jeffrey Epstein run one of the most disgusting criminal operations in modern history. But good luck hearing that on CBC or CTV. They won’t touch it. Too busy protecting their next meal ticket. And then there’s his manifesto, Values — a book that reads less like a personal philosophy and more like an instruction manual for a globalist coup. In it, Carney lays out his plan for a so-called “moral economy,” where unelected bureaucrats, not free markets, dictate how you live, how you work, and how much you pay for basic necessities. It’s a carbon tax fever dream wrapped in Orwellian doublespeak. But wait, there’s more. Carney has his own major conflicts of interest — the kind the legacy media would be all over if he had a Conservative label next to his name. Let’s talk about Brookfield Asset Management. Carney was vice-chair at Brookfield, a global investment giant that made a fortune off green energy subsidies — while conveniently opposing pipelines in Canada. But here’s the kicker: while Carney was telling Canadians that oil and gas was a dead industry, Brookfield was busy funding pipelines in the Middle East. That’s right — Carney had no problem helping bankroll fossil fuel expansion overseas while helping crush Canadian energy jobs at home. And it doesn’t end there. Carney also played games with Brookfield’s head office relocation timeline, shifting narratives about when and why they moved their corporate headquarters to the United States. One minute, it’s staying in Canada. The next, it’s heading south. And yet, this is the guy who wants to dictate our economy? Who wants to tell us what industries are “moral” and which ones need to be shut down? He tells us he's about saving Canadian jobs while moving them to the U.S. The hypocrisy is astounding. And here’s where it gets even worse — Carney is already willing to mislead Canadians to avoid accountability. He knows he can’t handle real scrutiny, so instead of answering tough questions, he simply shuts out the only people willing to ask them. Independent journalists are being barred from his events, blocked from getting credentials, and denied access to ask the real questions that the legacy media refuses to touch. Because let’s face it — Carney doesn’t want to be challenged. He doesn’t want to be asked about his WEF loyalties, his conflicts of interest, or his blatant hypocrisy. He wants a coronation, not an election. And the establishment media? They’re more than happy to help him get one. But here’s the thing. None of this is a secret. The information is out there, but the media refuses to touch it. Why? Because Pierre Poilievre has promised to defund them, and they’re terrified. Terrified that Canadians might actually learn the truth about the Liberal Party’s latest Frankenstein experiment before it’s too late. So, if you want to know who really runs this country — who’s pulling the strings, who’s writing the playbook, and who’s about to step in as Trudeau’s heir — then you won’t want to miss this campaign. Because this isn’t just about another Liberal leader. This is about the survival of Canada as we know it. And if we don’t fight back now, we might not get another chance.

The Carney Files: Exposing the new globalist golden boy, Mark Carney From his connections to Epstein associates, his role at Brookfield Asset Management, and the World Economic Forum, Canadians have a lot to learn about globalist golden boy, Mark Carney. The fix is in. Canada’s next prime minister was just anointed behind closed doors in a questionable leadership race. Trudeau's usefulness has run its course. He's not cute anymore. The elites have moved on, and they’ve chosen their new golden boy: Mark Carney. That’s why we’re launching The Carney Files — your one-stop shop for everything the establishment and the legacy media don’t want you to know about the next to sit on the Liberal throne. Because while the mainstream press is polishing their puff pieces, we’re doing what they refuse to — exposing the real Mark Carney. And trust me, there’s a lot to expose. This isn’t just some mild-mannered banker turned politician. Carney was the man whispering in Trudeau's ear for the last five years. All those things the Liberals did to us? That was him — lockdowns; tax hikes; overspending; electric vehicle mandates. Carney is Trudeau 2.0, but more dangerous. He’s the handpicked globalist successor to Trudeau, a man whose loyalties don’t lie with Canada, but with the unelected power brokers who pull the strings from Davos at the World Economic Forum, and the UN. Remember? He's a self-described European, with three citizenships. We’re talking about a man who has spent his entire career pushing the very policies that have gutted the middle class — from his time at the Bank of Canada, to his role at the Bank of England, to his non-stop advocacy for extreme carbon taxation under the guise of “climate action.” And let’s not forget his cozy connections to some very unsavory characters. Does Ghislaine Maxwell ring a bell? Oh yeah, Carney's got tangential ties to her, too. The very same woman who helped Jeffrey Epstein run one of the most disgusting criminal operations in modern history. But good luck hearing that on CBC or CTV. They won’t touch it. Too busy protecting their next meal ticket. And then there’s his manifesto, Values — a book that reads less like a personal philosophy and more like an instruction manual for a globalist coup. In it, Carney lays out his plan for a so-called “moral economy,” where unelected bureaucrats, not free markets, dictate how you live, how you work, and how much you pay for basic necessities. It’s a carbon tax fever dream wrapped in Orwellian doublespeak. But wait, there’s more. Carney has his own major conflicts of interest — the kind the legacy media would be all over if he had a Conservative label next to his name. Let’s talk about Brookfield Asset Management. Carney was vice-chair at Brookfield, a global investment giant that made a fortune off green energy subsidies — while conveniently opposing pipelines in Canada. But here’s the kicker: while Carney was telling Canadians that oil and gas was a dead industry, Brookfield was busy funding pipelines in the Middle East. That’s right — Carney had no problem helping bankroll fossil fuel expansion overseas while helping crush Canadian energy jobs at home. And it doesn’t end there. Carney also played games with Brookfield’s head office relocation timeline, shifting narratives about when and why they moved their corporate headquarters to the United States. One minute, it’s staying in Canada. The next, it’s heading south. And yet, this is the guy who wants to dictate our economy? Who wants to tell us what industries are “moral” and which ones need to be shut down? He tells us he's about saving Canadian jobs while moving them to the U.S. The hypocrisy is astounding. And here’s where it gets even worse — Carney is already willing to mislead Canadians to avoid accountability. He knows he can’t handle real scrutiny, so instead of answering tough questions, he simply shuts out the only people willing to ask them. Independent journalists are being barred from his events, blocked from getting credentials, and denied access to ask the real questions that the legacy media refuses to touch. Because let’s face it — Carney doesn’t want to be challenged. He doesn’t want to be asked about his WEF loyalties, his conflicts of interest, or his blatant hypocrisy. He wants a coronation, not an election. And the establishment media? They’re more than happy to help him get one. But here’s the thing. None of this is a secret. The information is out there, but the media refuses to touch it. Why? Because Pierre Poilievre has promised to defund them, and they’re terrified. Terrified that Canadians might actually learn the truth about the Liberal Party’s latest Frankenstein experiment before it’s too late. So, if you want to know who really runs this country — who’s pulling the strings, who’s writing the playbook, and who’s about to step in as Trudeau’s heir — then you won’t want to miss this campaign. Because this isn’t just about another Liberal leader. This is about the survival of Canada as we know it. And if we don’t fight back now, we might not get another chance.

Rebel News

48,158 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 “𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑” 𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒. 𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒. 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒. 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍’𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃. Victor Davis Hanson — the most decorated classical military historian in America, author of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘴 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱, Hoover Institution senior fellow, lifelong scholar of how wars actually end — spent thirteen minutes on the Daily Signal this week doing what no cable news anchor has bothered to do since February. He compared this war to every other war in American history and then showed his work. His conclusion, in his own words: “𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 93 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘰𝘧-𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘢, 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘲, 𝘠𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘎𝘢𝘻𝘢, 𝘓𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯 — 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳.” Read that sentence and then read it again. 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝. 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝. That is not a Trump rally soundbite. That is Victor Davis Hanson, the man who wrote the textbooks on Thermopylae, Cannae, and the Pacific War, rendering verdict in real time on the fastest decisive American military victory since the First Gulf War, and arguably since 1945. Here is what Hanson walked through, and every single beat of it is lethal to the legacy narrative. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 Hanson opens by naming names. The Democratic grandees in the House and Senate. The New York Times. The Washington Post. NPR. PBS. The Wall Street Journal news section. And — this is the key part — the disaffected ex-MAGA right that spent six weeks screaming 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘐𝘐𝘐 from podcasts and Substacks. He points out that these two camps share 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧. First, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, because a Trump military success would destroy their entire post-2024 political project. Second, and more devastating: 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧. Not one of them, Hanson notes, bothered to measure the Iran campaign against 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘺𝘢 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘎𝘶𝘭𝘧 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘶𝘭𝘧 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘨𝘩𝘢𝘯. Not one of them asked how many missiles the U.S. had destroyed, whether American aircraft had been shot down (45 were lost in the First Gulf War alone), whether the enemy command structure had been taken out. Instead, they just asserted the conclusion they needed: 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳. That is not analysis. That is a feelings-forward prayer dressed up as journalism, and Hanson calls it for exactly what it is. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝: 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 Hanson’s single most important factual paragraph of the 13 minutes: “𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘪 𝘈𝘪𝘳 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” He lists them individually. Memorize this list, because it is the actual accounting of what 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 did to a regime that spent 46 years promising 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢: 𝐎𝐧𝐞. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — IRGC command network shattered. Qassem-era terror infrastructure leadership dead or in hiding. 𝐓𝐰𝐨. The regular Iranian Army — senior general officer corps hollowed out by precision strike. 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞. The theocratic apparat — including the Supreme Leader himself. The Assembly of Experts is reportedly unable to convene. 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫. The elected politicians — the facade government, the President, the Foreign Minister, the Majlis leadership. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐭. 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬. That is not a 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦. That is not a 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦. That is the most surgical decapitation of a hostile nation-state since the Japanese surrender ceremony on the USS Missouri. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 Hanson then does something cable news cannot do in 45-second segments: he reconstructs the entire strategic arc. Three phases. Execute them in order. Win. 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐞: 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Find the tunnels. Find the hidden airfields. Find the silos. Find the people in bunkers. Kill the command structure. Leave the regime with 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 and nothing with which to rebuild. 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐰𝐨: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞. Hanson: “𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.” Self-interested? Yes — Trump wanted oil prices down before midterms. But it was also, Hanson argues, to 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯. Iran refused, betting that Western street protests and MAGA apostates would pressure Trump to fold. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. When Iran announced it would close the Strait of Hormuz to everyone who was not 𝘱𝘳𝘰-𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯, Hanson says Trump just took the pen out of their hand. “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢. 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴.” Translation: 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧. 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩. 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐏𝐓 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. That is not a close fight. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐍𝐨 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 Here is the paragraph that should be read aloud on every network tonight and will be read aloud on none of them. Hanson, coolly: “𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘖𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘺𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢. 𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺.” Get the implications of that. Every American president from Truman to Obama — Democrat and Republican alike — hit 𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥-𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 in every major air campaign of the last 75 years. Truman flattened North Korean hydroelectric plants and killed civilians by the thousands. Clinton blacked out a million and a half Serbs and bombed Belgrade bridges on the Danube for weeks. Obama leveled Libyan television and ports. 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩, 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐮𝐫, 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲. He has kept the war confined to the regime’s war-making capability and left the civilian grid intact. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. Every talking head who called this a 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳 owes Hanson an apology for not knowing the historical baseline he is using. $𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 Hanson cites the economists now 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦 at major research universities in Europe and the United States who have started to measure what the American counter-blockade is actually doing to Tehran. The number: $𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠. Lost oil sales. Lost petrochemical exports. Lost critical imports of mechanical goods, electrical components, and food. A regime that was already bankrupt before the war, that had hyperinflation eating its own middle class before the first bomb dropped, is now losing half a billion dollars every 24 hours. Hanson is blunt: “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥, 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥.” 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞: 𝐀 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐧 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Hanson’s most historically evocative passage is about the Iranian street. He notes that the regime’s ruling cliques are right now motivated by 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘴: they do not know who is in charge, they have watched 30-40-50 of their colleagues get killed, and they are fighting each other for the remains of power. But the fear underneath all of that is the one that matters: 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸.” Hanson’s historical parallel is devastating and correct. The Berlin Wall did not come down the day Reagan said 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭. It came down 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. The collapse of the IRGC’s street-level power over 90 million Iranians may take exactly that long. But it is coming, and the mullahs know it, and that is why they are freelancing contradictory statements on Twitter every 12 hours while their own Supreme Leader is dead and nobody has been elevated. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 The closing minute of Hanson’s commentary is the hinge of everything. He warns that the coming negotiation is a trap unless it is structured correctly. His words: “𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 20 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥.” And then the hammer: “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴, 𝘎𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘰𝘮, 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘨, 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.” Translation: any JCPOA-style agreement that depends on the next Democratic president to enforce it is worthless on the day it is signed. The Iranian regime has never kept a deal. The Democratic Party has never enforced one. Therefore, Hanson concludes, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞. That is not a preference. That is a strategic necessity. Anything short of unconditional surrender or regime collapse just sets the clock ticking on the next war — this time with a nuclear-armed ayatollah. 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝟗𝟑 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝟒𝟔-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝟑𝟓 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟓. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 “𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑” 𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒. 𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒. 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑 𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒. 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐍’𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐃. Victor Davis Hanson — the most decorated classical military historian in America, author of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘴 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱, Hoover Institution senior fellow, lifelong scholar of how wars actually end — spent thirteen minutes on the Daily Signal this week doing what no cable news anchor has bothered to do since February. He compared this war to every other war in American history and then showed his work. His conclusion, in his own words: “𝘞𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 93 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘰𝘧-𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘢, 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘲, 𝘠𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘎𝘢𝘻𝘢, 𝘓𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯 — 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳.” Read that sentence and then read it again. 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝. 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝. That is not a Trump rally soundbite. That is Victor Davis Hanson, the man who wrote the textbooks on Thermopylae, Cannae, and the Pacific War, rendering verdict in real time on the fastest decisive American military victory since the First Gulf War, and arguably since 1945. Here is what Hanson walked through, and every single beat of it is lethal to the legacy narrative. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 Hanson opens by naming names. The Democratic grandees in the House and Senate. The New York Times. The Washington Post. NPR. PBS. The Wall Street Journal news section. And — this is the key part — the disaffected ex-MAGA right that spent six weeks screaming 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘐𝘐𝘐 from podcasts and Substacks. He points out that these two camps share 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧. First, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, because a Trump military success would destroy their entire post-2024 political project. Second, and more devastating: 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧. Not one of them, Hanson notes, bothered to measure the Iran campaign against 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘺𝘢 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘎𝘶𝘭𝘧 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘶𝘭𝘧 𝘞𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘧𝘨𝘩𝘢𝘯. Not one of them asked how many missiles the U.S. had destroyed, whether American aircraft had been shot down (45 were lost in the First Gulf War alone), whether the enemy command structure had been taken out. Instead, they just asserted the conclusion they needed: 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳. That is not analysis. That is a feelings-forward prayer dressed up as journalism, and Hanson calls it for exactly what it is. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝: 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 Hanson’s single most important factual paragraph of the 13 minutes: “𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘪 𝘈𝘪𝘳 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” He lists them individually. Memorize this list, because it is the actual accounting of what 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 did to a regime that spent 46 years promising 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢: 𝐎𝐧𝐞. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — IRGC command network shattered. Qassem-era terror infrastructure leadership dead or in hiding. 𝐓𝐰𝐨. The regular Iranian Army — senior general officer corps hollowed out by precision strike. 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞. The theocratic apparat — including the Supreme Leader himself. The Assembly of Experts is reportedly unable to convene. 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫. The elected politicians — the facade government, the President, the Foreign Minister, the Majlis leadership. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐭. 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬. That is not a 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦. That is not a 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦. That is the most surgical decapitation of a hostile nation-state since the Japanese surrender ceremony on the USS Missouri. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞-𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝 Hanson then does something cable news cannot do in 45-second segments: he reconstructs the entire strategic arc. Three phases. Execute them in order. Win. 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐞: 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Find the tunnels. Find the hidden airfields. Find the silos. Find the people in bunkers. Kill the command structure. Leave the regime with 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 and nothing with which to rebuild. 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐰𝐨: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞. Hanson: “𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.” Self-interested? Yes — Trump wanted oil prices down before midterms. But it was also, Hanson argues, to 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘯. Iran refused, betting that Western street protests and MAGA apostates would pressure Trump to fold. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞: 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. When Iran announced it would close the Strait of Hormuz to everyone who was not 𝘱𝘳𝘰-𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯, Hanson says Trump just took the pen out of their hand. “𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢. 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴.” Translation: 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧. 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩. 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐏𝐓 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. That is not a close fight. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐍𝐨 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐎𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 Here is the paragraph that should be read aloud on every network tonight and will be read aloud on none of them. Hanson, coolly: “𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘖𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘺𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘒𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘢. 𝘞𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺.” Get the implications of that. Every American president from Truman to Obama — Democrat and Republican alike — hit 𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥-𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 in every major air campaign of the last 75 years. Truman flattened North Korean hydroelectric plants and killed civilians by the thousands. Clinton blacked out a million and a half Serbs and bombed Belgrade bridges on the Danube for weeks. Obama leveled Libyan television and ports. 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩, 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐮𝐫, 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲. He has kept the war confined to the regime’s war-making capability and left the civilian grid intact. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. Every talking head who called this a 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳 owes Hanson an apology for not knowing the historical baseline he is using. $𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 Hanson cites the economists now 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦 at major research universities in Europe and the United States who have started to measure what the American counter-blockade is actually doing to Tehran. The number: $𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠. Lost oil sales. Lost petrochemical exports. Lost critical imports of mechanical goods, electrical components, and food. A regime that was already bankrupt before the war, that had hyperinflation eating its own middle class before the first bomb dropped, is now losing half a billion dollars every 24 hours. Hanson is blunt: “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥, 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥.” 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞: 𝐀 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐧 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Hanson’s most historically evocative passage is about the Iranian street. He notes that the regime’s ruling cliques are right now motivated by 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘴: they do not know who is in charge, they have watched 30-40-50 of their colleagues get killed, and they are fighting each other for the remains of power. But the fear underneath all of that is the one that matters: 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘐𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸.” Hanson’s historical parallel is devastating and correct. The Berlin Wall did not come down the day Reagan said 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭. It came down 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. The collapse of the IRGC’s street-level power over 90 million Iranians may take exactly that long. But it is coming, and the mullahs know it, and that is why they are freelancing contradictory statements on Twitter every 12 hours while their own Supreme Leader is dead and nobody has been elevated. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 The closing minute of Hanson’s commentary is the hinge of everything. He warns that the coming negotiation is a trap unless it is structured correctly. His words: “𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘯𝘰 𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 20 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥.” And then the hammer: “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘒𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴, 𝘎𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘰𝘮, 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘨, 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.” Translation: any JCPOA-style agreement that depends on the next Democratic president to enforce it is worthless on the day it is signed. The Iranian regime has never kept a deal. The Democratic Party has never enforced one. Therefore, Hanson concludes, 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞. That is not a preference. That is a strategic necessity. Anything short of unconditional surrender or regime collapse just sets the clock ticking on the next war — this time with a nuclear-armed ayatollah. 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝟗𝟑 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝟒𝟔-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝟑𝟓 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟓. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐤. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

M.A. Rothman

89,764 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

The “Hacking Myth” Continued, Crazy Chelsea & The Breakup. Killing 3 birds with one stone… Let's think this through once again. If I supposedly had access to all his devices, why didn’t I find out about his mistress ‘ThirstyDM Chelsea’ until June 18? I must be the worst hacker on the planet. Since Aidan is still out here claiming I “hacked his devices” and had access to “all of his accounts,” let’s start with one simple, undeniable fact: I didn’t even know about this trash bag until June 18. If I supposedly had access to his phone, his texts, his iCloud, his entire digital life, don’t you think I would’ve found out a lot sooner? Not just about her, but about the 10ish other women I’ve since discovered he cheated on me with after the breakup? And just to be clear- I’m not here to shame the women he cheated on me with (except Clearance Aisle Chels). They’re not the main ones to blame. But let’s be real. We had a very public relationship. Anyone pursuing him knew exactly what they were doing, and that alone tells you something about the kind of women he gravitates toward. And look at where he’s landed now, right back with the same type, including someone who spent the last year crying grape, sent him to jail, and filed BBO complaints against his attorney. That’s not on me. That’s who he is, and that’s who he chooses. But no, I didn’t know about all of them until much later on. Some, who have come forward in the last week. This alone kills two birds with one stone: It proves Aidan’s “she hacked me!!” fantasy is a lie. It exposes how ridiculous the manic tweets from ghetto Chelsea have been the last 72 hours, the same girl I’ve mostly ignored because she’s so far down the totem pole it’s basically subterranean. Here’s Aidan himself admitting I didn’t know about her until June 18. Right there, her entire “Meredith knew about our texts back in the spring!! She was harassing me!! She copied me!!” storyline collapses into dust. You can’t harass someone you didn’t know existed. I’m mortified that I ever lowered myself for a man who was cheating with women who look like they were assembled out of spare parts at a bus stop. Yes, as I said in the voice recording, I found out about Chelsea on June 18th, and I stayed with him for a little less than a month after that. I’ve never hidden that as embarrassing as it is. Like every other time he got caught, he convinced me it was “just sexting,” that nothing physical happened, and that it only happened during one of our short breaks that usually lasted a day or two. Deep down, I knew it wasn’t right, and I knew I needed to leave, and if you look at the pattern, you’ll see many days where I tried to get out and he blew up my phone, called nonstop, or physically showed up at my apartment after I begged him not to. His narrative is that he ended things in July. Sure, technically he said the words. But let’s be real. Does anyone genuinely think a man who calls 200+ times a day, spirals when he feels abandoned, and refuses to be ignored was ever going to let me walk away cleanly? I let him believe it was his decision because that was the only way I was ever going to get out safely and peacefully. I knew deep down for a long time, this was the only way. I didn’t even talk to him for a month after our break-up. The majority of contact after July was initiated by him, not me. And yes, I’m including a few more screenshots of those call logs, since whatever one-sided fairytale he’s telling on his nightly diary shows is fooling some. These weren’t isolated incidents. This was the pattern throughout our entire relationship. Even in June 2024 and earlier, during the very messages he’s now cherry-picking for his narrative, he was calling me relentlessly, sometimes hundreds of times a day. I didn’t screenshot them back then because I didn’t fully realize how unhinged it was yet. And honestly? I hope every one of his little “side quests” and mistresses takes a long, hard look at these timestamps and compares them to when he was messaging them, telling them we were broken up or “basically done.” Compare notes, ladies. The timeline speaks louder than the lies he fed each of you. Maybe that’s part of why he’s melting down now. Because after Wilbur, we weren’t speaking, and then the recording fallout pulled us back into old patterns of daily conversations about his legal issues, his documentary, and everything else he needed from me. The clip here is just days after I finally blocked him on everything, and he immediately started tweeting at Joe Flipperhead trying to bait me into responding. Same cycle. Same manipulation. I just stepped out of it. Now, back to the device-access lie: The truth hasn’t changed. I saw ONE week of texts on the Apple Watch in January, because a boob pic flashed across the screen. That’s it. If I had actually been in his phone? I would’ve seen the messages from all the women he cheated with, and I would’ve walked. Aidan knows this. He knows the exact day I found out. Yet he’s still lying his ass off about it three nights in a row now. Meanwhile, Chelsea has made her entire Twitter personality about me, tagging me, subtweeting me, creating fan fiction about “harassment,” showing zero proof of anything. In contrast, I posted our full message threads showing she was the one reaching out to me nonstop over the serious crime of a friend request. Honestly, the saddest part is watching an almost 44-year-old man keep repeating these disproven stories while trusting someone this sloppy, contradictory, and wildly unhinged to be his mouthpiece. He must be exhausted. Apparently he’s sunk to talking about my daughter on his show, a 15-year-old child. The irony is almost funny if it weren’t so disgusting. He’s so desperate and so pathetic that he’s now swinging at a teenage girl because he can’t handle a grown woman calling out his lies. And the funniest part? She saw through him from day one. She told me I could do so much better and that there was something “off” about him. Turns out the 15-year-old had more insight, judgment, and emotional intelligence than the almost 44-year-old man melting down on livestream. I could say so much about his own family situation, but I will never go there because I am better than him in every way. Honestly, I feel like I lost myself being with him. I was constantly made smaller, undoubtedly on purpose. so he could stay the center of attention at all times and keep me in the shadows. He constantly reminded me that people only liked me because I was his girlfriend. As I said last night, it’s comical and almost adorable he thinks I’m broken by not being Mrs. Turtleboy. There’s a huge world out there, who doesn’t even know who he is. Looking back now, it’s painfully clear- I made him better, and he made me worse. And for everyone who has criticized me for letting others speak for me, I was just scared. I needed time to find my voice again after being minimized for so long. But lately? Now that I’ve finally come out from under my (turtle) shell? Turns out I wasn’t quiet… I was just buried. PS- Here are my earlier posts debunking the Apple Watch “hack” and the Facebook “hack”. At this point it’s actually wild that we’re on night 3 of this circus and Aidan still hasn’t produced a single shred of proof that I hacked anything. Not one screenshot, not one log, not one receipt. Nothing. He’s just blaming a woman for his bad decisions, his lies, and his poor life choices, because deflecting is easier than taking responsibility.

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The “Hacking Myth” Continued, Crazy Chelsea & The Breakup. Killing 3 birds with one stone… Let's think this through once again. If I supposedly had access to all his devices, why didn’t I find out about his mistress ‘ThirstyDM Chelsea’ until June 18? I must be the worst hacker on the planet. Since Aidan is still out here claiming I “hacked his devices” and had access to “all of his accounts,” let’s start with one simple, undeniable fact: I didn’t even know about this trash bag until June 18. If I supposedly had access to his phone, his texts, his iCloud, his entire digital life, don’t you think I would’ve found out a lot sooner? Not just about her, but about the 10ish other women I’ve since discovered he cheated on me with after the breakup? And just to be clear- I’m not here to shame the women he cheated on me with (except Clearance Aisle Chels). They’re not the main ones to blame. But let’s be real. We had a very public relationship. Anyone pursuing him knew exactly what they were doing, and that alone tells you something about the kind of women he gravitates toward. And look at where he’s landed now, right back with the same type, including someone who spent the last year crying grape, sent him to jail, and filed BBO complaints against his attorney. That’s not on me. That’s who he is, and that’s who he chooses. But no, I didn’t know about all of them until much later on. Some, who have come forward in the last week. This alone kills two birds with one stone: It proves Aidan’s “she hacked me!!” fantasy is a lie. It exposes how ridiculous the manic tweets from ghetto Chelsea have been the last 72 hours, the same girl I’ve mostly ignored because she’s so far down the totem pole it’s basically subterranean. Here’s Aidan himself admitting I didn’t know about her until June 18. Right there, her entire “Meredith knew about our texts back in the spring!! She was harassing me!! She copied me!!” storyline collapses into dust. You can’t harass someone you didn’t know existed. I’m mortified that I ever lowered myself for a man who was cheating with women who look like they were assembled out of spare parts at a bus stop. Yes, as I said in the voice recording, I found out about Chelsea on June 18th, and I stayed with him for a little less than a month after that. I’ve never hidden that as embarrassing as it is. Like every other time he got caught, he convinced me it was “just sexting,” that nothing physical happened, and that it only happened during one of our short breaks that usually lasted a day or two. Deep down, I knew it wasn’t right, and I knew I needed to leave, and if you look at the pattern, you’ll see many days where I tried to get out and he blew up my phone, called nonstop, or physically showed up at my apartment after I begged him not to. His narrative is that he ended things in July. Sure, technically he said the words. But let’s be real. Does anyone genuinely think a man who calls 200+ times a day, spirals when he feels abandoned, and refuses to be ignored was ever going to let me walk away cleanly? I let him believe it was his decision because that was the only way I was ever going to get out safely and peacefully. I knew deep down for a long time, this was the only way. I didn’t even talk to him for a month after our break-up. The majority of contact after July was initiated by him, not me. And yes, I’m including a few more screenshots of those call logs, since whatever one-sided fairytale he’s telling on his nightly diary shows is fooling some. These weren’t isolated incidents. This was the pattern throughout our entire relationship. Even in June 2024 and earlier, during the very messages he’s now cherry-picking for his narrative, he was calling me relentlessly, sometimes hundreds of times a day. I didn’t screenshot them back then because I didn’t fully realize how unhinged it was yet. And honestly? I hope every one of his little “side quests” and mistresses takes a long, hard look at these timestamps and compares them to when he was messaging them, telling them we were broken up or “basically done.” Compare notes, ladies. The timeline speaks louder than the lies he fed each of you. Maybe that’s part of why he’s melting down now. Because after Wilbur, we weren’t speaking, and then the recording fallout pulled us back into old patterns of daily conversations about his legal issues, his documentary, and everything else he needed from me. The clip here is just days after I finally blocked him on everything, and he immediately started tweeting at Joe Flipperhead trying to bait me into responding. Same cycle. Same manipulation. I just stepped out of it. Now, back to the device-access lie: The truth hasn’t changed. I saw ONE week of texts on the Apple Watch in January, because a boob pic flashed across the screen. That’s it. If I had actually been in his phone? I would’ve seen the messages from all the women he cheated with, and I would’ve walked. Aidan knows this. He knows the exact day I found out. Yet he’s still lying his ass off about it three nights in a row now. Meanwhile, Chelsea has made her entire Twitter personality about me, tagging me, subtweeting me, creating fan fiction about “harassment,” showing zero proof of anything. In contrast, I posted our full message threads showing she was the one reaching out to me nonstop over the serious crime of a friend request. Honestly, the saddest part is watching an almost 44-year-old man keep repeating these disproven stories while trusting someone this sloppy, contradictory, and wildly unhinged to be his mouthpiece. He must be exhausted. Apparently he’s sunk to talking about my daughter on his show, a 15-year-old child. The irony is almost funny if it weren’t so disgusting. He’s so desperate and so pathetic that he’s now swinging at a teenage girl because he can’t handle a grown woman calling out his lies. And the funniest part? She saw through him from day one. She told me I could do so much better and that there was something “off” about him. Turns out the 15-year-old had more insight, judgment, and emotional intelligence than the almost 44-year-old man melting down on livestream. I could say so much about his own family situation, but I will never go there because I am better than him in every way. Honestly, I feel like I lost myself being with him. I was constantly made smaller, undoubtedly on purpose. so he could stay the center of attention at all times and keep me in the shadows. He constantly reminded me that people only liked me because I was his girlfriend. As I said last night, it’s comical and almost adorable he thinks I’m broken by not being Mrs. Turtleboy. There’s a huge world out there, who doesn’t even know who he is. Looking back now, it’s painfully clear- I made him better, and he made me worse. And for everyone who has criticized me for letting others speak for me, I was just scared. I needed time to find my voice again after being minimized for so long. But lately? Now that I’ve finally come out from under my (turtle) shell? Turns out I wasn’t quiet… I was just buried. PS- Here are my earlier posts debunking the Apple Watch “hack” and the Facebook “hack”. At this point it’s actually wild that we’re on night 3 of this circus and Aidan still hasn’t produced a single shred of proof that I hacked anything. Not one screenshot, not one log, not one receipt. Nothing. He’s just blaming a woman for his bad decisions, his lies, and his poor life choices, because deflecting is easier than taking responsibility.

The old M can’t come to the phone right now

38,412 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

While we are busy focused on the 2030 presidential term extension theatrics, the presidential race to take over from President Emmerson Mnangagwa is already in full swing inside ZANUPF. It is an open secret that Mnangagwa’s preferred successor is businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, and the dark horse is General Valerio Sibanda, who retired from the army in an announcement made yesterday by the presidency. Tagwirei is already on a campaign trail which some have not observed, and all the issues he is raising are carefully crafted to resonate with ordinary citizens, shifting from liberation struggle slogans like Pasi neMhandu to Pasi neNhamo and Mari Muhomwe. He is deliberately rebranding himself as a champion of economic grievances, positioning his message to speak directly to poverty, hardship, and the cost of living, rather than the old liberation rhetoric. This is not accidental, his nemesis is a soldier and military general whose track record is rooted in Zimbabwe's excesses. What Tagwirei is doing is planting in his rallies a political seed that he hopes will germinate between now and 2027, when the ZANUPF Congress is expected to elect a new leader, or even earlier if an extraordinary congress is convened as some in the ruling party suspect might happen. That seed is intended to carry him into 2028, when the general election is due, if he succeeds in taking over should his principal, President Mnangagwa, not change his mind or Chiwenga stages a dramatic miracle coup. He is laying the groundwork early, shaping public perception, opinion and positioning himself as the natural successor by tapping into economic frustrations that ordinary citizens understand and feel every day. The elites see things differently, but it is the poor in townships and rural Zimbabwe who are being targeted with this messaging. When I look at the political landscape in Zimbabwe today, I see nobody else, either in the opposition or in ZANUPF, offering a clear and solid message that speaks to the people’s real needs. What we consider logical in elite circles does not sell to the poor, their needs are immediate. They want solutions for today, regardless of who created the problems that require solutions. While the educated elites talk about root-cause analysis and solutions for a distant future in their scenarios, the ordinary citizens want Sapatina, a euphemism for something that comes today, coined by a man who was perfectly happy eating chicken and chips/fries at State House. Our struggles are different. Vice President General Constantino Chiwenga, who thought he was a shoo in to become the next president after leading a coup against Robert Mugabe and making way for Mnangagwa, is now talking about corruption, something we have discussed for years to appeal to the masses. But Tagwirei is positioning himself differently. He is in full campaign mode, planting messages aimed at securing his place in the succession race, messages of economic prosperity. He is speaking to the daily needs of ZANUPF supporters and Zimbabweans in general. He is placing himself before the electorate, travelling, being visible, leveraging state linked platforms, and promising youths economic empowerment. Meanwhile, the general is speaking in closed boardrooms, and nobody has heard him speak directly to his presidential ambitions outside his own circle. Tagwirei is out in the open shaping a constituency, while Chiwenga remains confined to private spaces that do not build political momentum. That does not look regular to me unless he has an ace up his sleeves, a coup, because a coup does not require much talking. But as Mnangagwa shuts all the options once available to him by creating a state security sector in his own image, the prospects of a coup become slimmer with each move made by Mnangagwa. In closing those doors and pathways, Mnangagwa has effectively weakened Chiwenga’s leverage and narrowed the space in which he could plausibly attempt anything outside the formal succession path using ZANUPF internal processes. Tagwirei’s "meet the people" type of rallies with music stars in tow point to a group of people focused on winning hearts and minds both inside and outside ZANUPF. They have money. The other side has passion and entitlement, but without money there is very little political traction in Zimbabwe’s political theatre, where loyalties change based on what is on the table. Politics the world over is about money, that is why Elon Musk claimed that he won the election for Donald Trump, and that is why Trump said you need US$5 billion to become a president in America, it is about money. When you strip away the slogans and the drama, the real engine of political power is financial muscle, whether in Zimbabwe, America, or anywhere else. Tagwirei’s Godfather Mnangagwa understands that politics in Zimbabwe is transactional, and he is investing heavily in shaping perceptions, building networks, and buying influence long before the succession battle formally begins. Those opposed to Mnangagwa and his faction must not wake up tomorrow pretending they did not see this coming. It is obvious that Tagwirei is positioning himself as the most visible, accessible and well financed candidate within ZANUPF. It is also obvious that there is no opposition in Zimbabwe and that Chiwenga’s grip has been terribly loosened in unthinkable ways. Anyone paying attention can see the succession terrain shifting, and those who fail to read these signals will only have themselves to blame when the outcome unfolds. The question for the remnants of the main opposition is simple. What are you doing about 2028? Because while everyone is distracted by the talk of 2030, that talk may turn out to be a political ruse, a deliberate decoy to make us ignore what is unfolding on the ground. 2030 could be the bait that sends General Chiwenga chasing shadows while his real competitor campaigns at grassroots level, spends money, and entrenches himself as a household name. Mnangagwa is a political strategist who has won politically through hook or crook, so it would be a fatal mistake to assume that he has only one plan. A second option is to push for 2030, not with the intention of serving until then, but to block General Chiwenga at a congress and secure enough time to hand over to a successor of his choice after defeating Chiwenga. That is on condition that Chiwenga even has the guts to challenge him for the party leadership, which at the moment looks increasingly doubtful. If General Chiwenga puts his faith in the ZANUPF electoral processes through Congress or an Extraordinary Congress which elects a leader, then he is finished. He will be beaten on the floor even by Kuda Tagwirei, not because of anything else, but because Tagwirei and the Mnangagwa team have the resources that the general might not want to spend, even though he is a wealthy man, or might not actually have available as disposable funds for an internal election campaign he is likely to lose. Mnangagwa also has the power of incumbency, something that has been stripped away from Chiwenga as his lieutenants were retired or died one by one. That erosion of his inner circle has left him exposed, weakened, and without the institutional backing he once relied on. Mnangagwa, meanwhile, has consolidated the state, the party, and the security apparatus in his favour, widening the gulf between the two men. What we are seeing now is the opening of the presidential race, with Mnangagwa’s side fully satisfied that they have degraded Chiwenga’s powers to a point where they can now campaign openly. Where is the general? The consolidation of power in the army through the appointment of General Walter Tapfumaneyi, who worked closely with Tagwirei during the 2023 elections, is a clear signal of the new power architecture. More military purges are coming, including the removal of Chiwenga’s wife from military intelligence, and each one further isolates Chiwenga while tightening Mnangagwa’s control over the security establishment. This systematic dismantling of his support base makes it clear that the succession battle has already begun, and that Chiwenga is being pushed further away from the centres of real power with every move. The Chinese general Sun Tzu teaches that “all warfare is based on deception”, and Mnangagwa has perfected this by using 2030 as a decoy while quietly weakening Chiwenga and allowing Tagwirei to advance. He has also mastered the art of appearing weak when he is strong, and appearing strong when he is weak, creating confusion while he restructures the state and securing loyalty across the security ranks. Those in the media and diplomatic circles know that Mnangagwa deliberately appeared weak on many occasions, and his emissaries would tell diplomats and journalists that he had no power to act on many serious issues because Chiwenga was supposedly too powerful. It was an illusion they deliberately created. They created a fictitious image of an all-powerful General Chiwenga, a narrative that fits perfectly into Sun Tzu’s teaching about appearing weak when you are strong and appearing strong when you are weak. There were also moments when Mnangagwa appeared very strong, such as in 2019 when Chiwenga's side thought of carrying out a coup. Mnangagwa projected firmness, yet behind the scenes he was weak, hesitant, and deeply indecisive in dealing with the unfolding crisis. If you remember the period when the internet was shut down, that moment exposed just how fragile the inner workings of power were, despite the public portrayal of a decisive leader. Mnangagwa’s team, led by Tagwirei, now embodies the wisdom that “victorious warriors win first and then go to war”, planting narratives, building visibility, and mobilising resources long before the battle officially begins. In this environment, the utter disarray in the opposition makes it effortless for ZANUPF to open war fronts within itself, because when the enemy outside has collapsed, the real contest becomes the fight to inherit the throne.

While we are busy focused on the 2030 presidential term extension theatrics, the presidential race to take over from President Emmerson Mnangagwa is already in full swing inside ZANUPF. It is an open secret that Mnangagwa’s preferred successor is businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, and the dark horse is General Valerio Sibanda, who retired from the army in an announcement made yesterday by the presidency. Tagwirei is already on a campaign trail which some have not observed, and all the issues he is raising are carefully crafted to resonate with ordinary citizens, shifting from liberation struggle slogans like Pasi neMhandu to Pasi neNhamo and Mari Muhomwe. He is deliberately rebranding himself as a champion of economic grievances, positioning his message to speak directly to poverty, hardship, and the cost of living, rather than the old liberation rhetoric. This is not accidental, his nemesis is a soldier and military general whose track record is rooted in Zimbabwe's excesses. What Tagwirei is doing is planting in his rallies a political seed that he hopes will germinate between now and 2027, when the ZANUPF Congress is expected to elect a new leader, or even earlier if an extraordinary congress is convened as some in the ruling party suspect might happen. That seed is intended to carry him into 2028, when the general election is due, if he succeeds in taking over should his principal, President Mnangagwa, not change his mind or Chiwenga stages a dramatic miracle coup. He is laying the groundwork early, shaping public perception, opinion and positioning himself as the natural successor by tapping into economic frustrations that ordinary citizens understand and feel every day. The elites see things differently, but it is the poor in townships and rural Zimbabwe who are being targeted with this messaging. When I look at the political landscape in Zimbabwe today, I see nobody else, either in the opposition or in ZANUPF, offering a clear and solid message that speaks to the people’s real needs. What we consider logical in elite circles does not sell to the poor, their needs are immediate. They want solutions for today, regardless of who created the problems that require solutions. While the educated elites talk about root-cause analysis and solutions for a distant future in their scenarios, the ordinary citizens want Sapatina, a euphemism for something that comes today, coined by a man who was perfectly happy eating chicken and chips/fries at State House. Our struggles are different. Vice President General Constantino Chiwenga, who thought he was a shoo in to become the next president after leading a coup against Robert Mugabe and making way for Mnangagwa, is now talking about corruption, something we have discussed for years to appeal to the masses. But Tagwirei is positioning himself differently. He is in full campaign mode, planting messages aimed at securing his place in the succession race, messages of economic prosperity. He is speaking to the daily needs of ZANUPF supporters and Zimbabweans in general. He is placing himself before the electorate, travelling, being visible, leveraging state linked platforms, and promising youths economic empowerment. Meanwhile, the general is speaking in closed boardrooms, and nobody has heard him speak directly to his presidential ambitions outside his own circle. Tagwirei is out in the open shaping a constituency, while Chiwenga remains confined to private spaces that do not build political momentum. That does not look regular to me unless he has an ace up his sleeves, a coup, because a coup does not require much talking. But as Mnangagwa shuts all the options once available to him by creating a state security sector in his own image, the prospects of a coup become slimmer with each move made by Mnangagwa. In closing those doors and pathways, Mnangagwa has effectively weakened Chiwenga’s leverage and narrowed the space in which he could plausibly attempt anything outside the formal succession path using ZANUPF internal processes. Tagwirei’s "meet the people" type of rallies with music stars in tow point to a group of people focused on winning hearts and minds both inside and outside ZANUPF. They have money. The other side has passion and entitlement, but without money there is very little political traction in Zimbabwe’s political theatre, where loyalties change based on what is on the table. Politics the world over is about money, that is why Elon Musk claimed that he won the election for Donald Trump, and that is why Trump said you need US$5 billion to become a president in America, it is about money. When you strip away the slogans and the drama, the real engine of political power is financial muscle, whether in Zimbabwe, America, or anywhere else. Tagwirei’s Godfather Mnangagwa understands that politics in Zimbabwe is transactional, and he is investing heavily in shaping perceptions, building networks, and buying influence long before the succession battle formally begins. Those opposed to Mnangagwa and his faction must not wake up tomorrow pretending they did not see this coming. It is obvious that Tagwirei is positioning himself as the most visible, accessible and well financed candidate within ZANUPF. It is also obvious that there is no opposition in Zimbabwe and that Chiwenga’s grip has been terribly loosened in unthinkable ways. Anyone paying attention can see the succession terrain shifting, and those who fail to read these signals will only have themselves to blame when the outcome unfolds. The question for the remnants of the main opposition is simple. What are you doing about 2028? Because while everyone is distracted by the talk of 2030, that talk may turn out to be a political ruse, a deliberate decoy to make us ignore what is unfolding on the ground. 2030 could be the bait that sends General Chiwenga chasing shadows while his real competitor campaigns at grassroots level, spends money, and entrenches himself as a household name. Mnangagwa is a political strategist who has won politically through hook or crook, so it would be a fatal mistake to assume that he has only one plan. A second option is to push for 2030, not with the intention of serving until then, but to block General Chiwenga at a congress and secure enough time to hand over to a successor of his choice after defeating Chiwenga. That is on condition that Chiwenga even has the guts to challenge him for the party leadership, which at the moment looks increasingly doubtful. If General Chiwenga puts his faith in the ZANUPF electoral processes through Congress or an Extraordinary Congress which elects a leader, then he is finished. He will be beaten on the floor even by Kuda Tagwirei, not because of anything else, but because Tagwirei and the Mnangagwa team have the resources that the general might not want to spend, even though he is a wealthy man, or might not actually have available as disposable funds for an internal election campaign he is likely to lose. Mnangagwa also has the power of incumbency, something that has been stripped away from Chiwenga as his lieutenants were retired or died one by one. That erosion of his inner circle has left him exposed, weakened, and without the institutional backing he once relied on. Mnangagwa, meanwhile, has consolidated the state, the party, and the security apparatus in his favour, widening the gulf between the two men. What we are seeing now is the opening of the presidential race, with Mnangagwa’s side fully satisfied that they have degraded Chiwenga’s powers to a point where they can now campaign openly. Where is the general? The consolidation of power in the army through the appointment of General Walter Tapfumaneyi, who worked closely with Tagwirei during the 2023 elections, is a clear signal of the new power architecture. More military purges are coming, including the removal of Chiwenga’s wife from military intelligence, and each one further isolates Chiwenga while tightening Mnangagwa’s control over the security establishment. This systematic dismantling of his support base makes it clear that the succession battle has already begun, and that Chiwenga is being pushed further away from the centres of real power with every move. The Chinese general Sun Tzu teaches that “all warfare is based on deception”, and Mnangagwa has perfected this by using 2030 as a decoy while quietly weakening Chiwenga and allowing Tagwirei to advance. He has also mastered the art of appearing weak when he is strong, and appearing strong when he is weak, creating confusion while he restructures the state and securing loyalty across the security ranks. Those in the media and diplomatic circles know that Mnangagwa deliberately appeared weak on many occasions, and his emissaries would tell diplomats and journalists that he had no power to act on many serious issues because Chiwenga was supposedly too powerful. It was an illusion they deliberately created. They created a fictitious image of an all-powerful General Chiwenga, a narrative that fits perfectly into Sun Tzu’s teaching about appearing weak when you are strong and appearing strong when you are weak. There were also moments when Mnangagwa appeared very strong, such as in 2019 when Chiwenga's side thought of carrying out a coup. Mnangagwa projected firmness, yet behind the scenes he was weak, hesitant, and deeply indecisive in dealing with the unfolding crisis. If you remember the period when the internet was shut down, that moment exposed just how fragile the inner workings of power were, despite the public portrayal of a decisive leader. Mnangagwa’s team, led by Tagwirei, now embodies the wisdom that “victorious warriors win first and then go to war”, planting narratives, building visibility, and mobilising resources long before the battle officially begins. In this environment, the utter disarray in the opposition makes it effortless for ZANUPF to open war fronts within itself, because when the enemy outside has collapsed, the real contest becomes the fight to inherit the throne.

Hopewell Chin’ono

57,979 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

Big Tech is hiding $1.65 trillion in debt with the same accounting trick that destroyed Enron. We're talking about Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle. Five companies sitting inside almost every index fund and retirement account. And the five of them are carrying around $1.65 TRILLION in debt that never shows up on their balance sheets. That number is roughly 8x bigger than it was four years ago. And it is larger than all the debt they actually report, which sits near $1.35 trillion. So the debt they hide is now BIGGER than the debt they admit to. Meta is the worst of the group. It has about $420 billion parked off its books, nearly triple what it shows investors on paper. But where does $1.65 trillion in debt even go to disappear? The trick is simple: When one of these companies signs a multi-year deal to buy GPUs and servers, or leases a massive data center that has not opened yet, the accounting rules let them keep that obligation off the balance sheet until the facility actually goes live. The money is promised. The contracts are signed. The bill is real. It just does not count as debt yet. They basically book the ambition today and hide the liability until later. That makes current profit look bigger and the balance sheet look cleaner than either one really is. And every part of it is completely legal... Enron literally ran the same play. It pushed its debt into vehicles that sat off the books, so the profits looked incredible while the real obligations stacked up where investors could not see them. When it finally unraveled, it became the biggest corporate collapse of its era. Bloomberg Law said themselves that Big Tech's AI spending spree is reviving the accounting devices that destroyed Enron. And the smart money is already nervous: - Morgan Stanley flagged the ballooning data center leases as a major risk in an investor report - Moody's warned that all these pre-opening lease commitments could pile pressure onto companies that look untouchable right now - The Bank for International Settlements gave the practice its own name, they call it shadow borrowing. When the Nikkei investigation asked all five companies to explain the numbers, every single one of them refused to comment. So why does this matter while the market keeps ripping? Because the whole thing only works while the data centers fill up. Every one of these contracts assumes AI demand keeps climbing forever. The second that demand slows, the companies still owe for every leased building and every GPU order they signed. The revenue softens and the bill doesn't move. That is the moment the hidden $1.65 trillion becomes a real problem. And the crack almost never shows at the giants first, it shows at the edges: One AI tenant misses a lease payment. One private credit fund writes down a data center loan. One rating agency downgrades the most exposed name in the group. Then everyone remembers the debt was there the whole time. For four years these companies trained investors to watch the cash pile and the profit line. But the figure that actually matters is the $1.65 trillion they moved to a page you were never meant to read - just like Enron.

Big Tech is hiding $1.65 trillion in debt with the same accounting trick that destroyed Enron. We're talking about Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle. Five companies sitting inside almost every index fund and retirement account. And the five of them are carrying around $1.65 TRILLION in debt that never shows up on their balance sheets. That number is roughly 8x bigger than it was four years ago. And it is larger than all the debt they actually report, which sits near $1.35 trillion. So the debt they hide is now BIGGER than the debt they admit to. Meta is the worst of the group. It has about $420 billion parked off its books, nearly triple what it shows investors on paper. But where does $1.65 trillion in debt even go to disappear? The trick is simple: When one of these companies signs a multi-year deal to buy GPUs and servers, or leases a massive data center that has not opened yet, the accounting rules let them keep that obligation off the balance sheet until the facility actually goes live. The money is promised. The contracts are signed. The bill is real. It just does not count as debt yet. They basically book the ambition today and hide the liability until later. That makes current profit look bigger and the balance sheet look cleaner than either one really is. And every part of it is completely legal... Enron literally ran the same play. It pushed its debt into vehicles that sat off the books, so the profits looked incredible while the real obligations stacked up where investors could not see them. When it finally unraveled, it became the biggest corporate collapse of its era. Bloomberg Law said themselves that Big Tech's AI spending spree is reviving the accounting devices that destroyed Enron. And the smart money is already nervous: - Morgan Stanley flagged the ballooning data center leases as a major risk in an investor report - Moody's warned that all these pre-opening lease commitments could pile pressure onto companies that look untouchable right now - The Bank for International Settlements gave the practice its own name, they call it shadow borrowing. When the Nikkei investigation asked all five companies to explain the numbers, every single one of them refused to comment. So why does this matter while the market keeps ripping? Because the whole thing only works while the data centers fill up. Every one of these contracts assumes AI demand keeps climbing forever. The second that demand slows, the companies still owe for every leased building and every GPU order they signed. The revenue softens and the bill doesn't move. That is the moment the hidden $1.65 trillion becomes a real problem. And the crack almost never shows at the giants first, it shows at the edges: One AI tenant misses a lease payment. One private credit fund writes down a data center loan. One rating agency downgrades the most exposed name in the group. Then everyone remembers the debt was there the whole time. For four years these companies trained investors to watch the cash pile and the profit line. But the figure that actually matters is the $1.65 trillion they moved to a page you were never meant to read - just like Enron.

Ricardo

71,094 Aufrufe • vor 5 Tagen

Dave Chappelle’s story is one of the rawest examples of what happens when a black genius gets too powerful for the machine to handle—and how he clawed his way out on top. Back in 2003, Chappelle’s Show hit Comedy Central and changed everything. Those sketches—Rick James, Clayton Bigsby, the Racial Draft—weren’t just hilarious; they cut straight through America’s bullshit on race and power. The show blew up, pulling millions of viewers and raking in hundreds of millions from DVDs and reruns. Dave was thirty, suddenly the sharpest voice in comedy. But the deal he’d signed early on gave him almost nothing on the back end. Comedy Central—and its parent Viacom, run by the Redstone family—kept the real money. Dave watched his work get bootlegged and monetized while he got crumbs. Then Season 3 rolled around in 2005. During filming, something felt off. One sketch had a Black character in a pixie costume, and a white executive was laughing a little too hard, in a way that made Dave’s skin crawl. He started telling people privately, “They’re trying to make me wear a dress.” In Hollywood, that’s code for forcing Black men into emasculating roles to diminish their threat—think of the patterns with Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, or countless others. The pressure built. They dangled a $50 million deal for two more seasons. Insane money on paper, but Dave could smell the trap: even less control, more ways to twist his voice into something that served the system instead of exposing it. So he did what almost nobody does—he walked away. Dropped the $50 million, got on a plane, and vanished to South Africa. Stayed on a farm in Durban with a Muslim friend, took a breath, and reflected. The media went feral: “Chappelle’s having a breakdown,” “crack addiction,” “mental health crisis.” Same smear playbook they use on anyone who says no—Kanye, Katt Williams, you name it. Label them crazy, bury the real story. While he was gone, Comedy Central took the unfinished Season 3 footage, slapped it together as “The Lost Episodes,” and aired it anyway. Hosted by Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings, no Dave in sight. They still made bank off his genius, sending a clear message: We own your art even if you run. For years after, Hollywood painted him as difficult, unstable, the guy who “blew” $50 million. Doors quietly closed. No big specials, no major movies. Dave went underground—small clubs, quiet tours—rebuilding on his own terms. Then, around 2016-2017, Netflix came knocking. This time Dave negotiated like a boss: massive paydays—reportedly $20 million per special—full creative control, real ownership. His comeback specials dropped and hit harder than ever. He talked openly about the “dress” incident, the industry’s traps for Black artists, the way they try to break you. In *Sticks & Stones*, he shredded cancel culture. In *The Closer*, he took on the trans debate and refused to bend. The outrage machine came for him full force—walkouts, petitions, headlines screaming “transphobe.” Didn’t matter. Arenas sold out, Grammys won, legacy cemented. And the sweetest part? In 2022, after years of the show being pulled from streaming (Dave had publicly asked platforms not to run it until he got paid fairly), HBO Max finally caved. They cut him a proper check, and Chappelle’s Show came back—with Dave in control. Fast-forward to right now, December 2025: Dave just surprise-dropped his newest Netflix special, The Unstoppable recorded live in his hometown Washington, D.C. back in October. In it, he dives fearless into the chaos of the year—Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Puff Daddy’s downfall, the Riyadh comedy fest backlash, National Guard deployments, free speech crackdowns, and wraps with an epic 30-minute closer weaving American history from Jack Johnson to Nipsey Hussle. Bold truths, no holds barred, and as unstoppable as ever.

Dave Chappelle’s story is one of the rawest examples of what happens when a black genius gets too powerful for the machine to handle—and how he clawed his way out on top. Back in 2003, Chappelle’s Show hit Comedy Central and changed everything. Those sketches—Rick James, Clayton Bigsby, the Racial Draft—weren’t just hilarious; they cut straight through America’s bullshit on race and power. The show blew up, pulling millions of viewers and raking in hundreds of millions from DVDs and reruns. Dave was thirty, suddenly the sharpest voice in comedy. But the deal he’d signed early on gave him almost nothing on the back end. Comedy Central—and its parent Viacom, run by the Redstone family—kept the real money. Dave watched his work get bootlegged and monetized while he got crumbs. Then Season 3 rolled around in 2005. During filming, something felt off. One sketch had a Black character in a pixie costume, and a white executive was laughing a little too hard, in a way that made Dave’s skin crawl. He started telling people privately, “They’re trying to make me wear a dress.” In Hollywood, that’s code for forcing Black men into emasculating roles to diminish their threat—think of the patterns with Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, or countless others. The pressure built. They dangled a $50 million deal for two more seasons. Insane money on paper, but Dave could smell the trap: even less control, more ways to twist his voice into something that served the system instead of exposing it. So he did what almost nobody does—he walked away. Dropped the $50 million, got on a plane, and vanished to South Africa. Stayed on a farm in Durban with a Muslim friend, took a breath, and reflected. The media went feral: “Chappelle’s having a breakdown,” “crack addiction,” “mental health crisis.” Same smear playbook they use on anyone who says no—Kanye, Katt Williams, you name it. Label them crazy, bury the real story. While he was gone, Comedy Central took the unfinished Season 3 footage, slapped it together as “The Lost Episodes,” and aired it anyway. Hosted by Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings, no Dave in sight. They still made bank off his genius, sending a clear message: We own your art even if you run. For years after, Hollywood painted him as difficult, unstable, the guy who “blew” $50 million. Doors quietly closed. No big specials, no major movies. Dave went underground—small clubs, quiet tours—rebuilding on his own terms. Then, around 2016-2017, Netflix came knocking. This time Dave negotiated like a boss: massive paydays—reportedly $20 million per special—full creative control, real ownership. His comeback specials dropped and hit harder than ever. He talked openly about the “dress” incident, the industry’s traps for Black artists, the way they try to break you. In Sticks & Stones, he shredded cancel culture. In The Closer, he took on the trans debate and refused to bend. The outrage machine came for him full force—walkouts, petitions, headlines screaming “transphobe.” Didn’t matter. Arenas sold out, Grammys won, legacy cemented. And the sweetest part? In 2022, after years of the show being pulled from streaming (Dave had publicly asked platforms not to run it until he got paid fairly), HBO Max finally caved. They cut him a proper check, and Chappelle’s Show came back—with Dave in control. Fast-forward to right now, December 2025: Dave just surprise-dropped his newest Netflix special, The Unstoppable recorded live in his hometown Washington, D.C. back in October. In it, he dives fearless into the chaos of the year—Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Puff Daddy’s downfall, the Riyadh comedy fest backlash, National Guard deployments, free speech crackdowns, and wraps with an epic 30-minute closer weaving American history from Jack Johnson to Nipsey Hussle. Bold truths, no holds barred, and as unstoppable as ever.

Lance

95,799 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

#459 From Boogeyman to Conversation, My Talk with Nick Griffin About this Guest - Nick Griffin is a British political figure, writer, and commentator best known for his leadership of the British National Party (BNP) from 1999 to 2014. Born in 1959 in London, he studied at the University of Cambridge, where he became politically active at a young age. Griffin first came to prominence in British politics through nationalist movements, eventually rising to lead the BNP during a period in which the party achieved its greatest electoral success. Under his leadership, the BNP secured representation in the European Parliament, where Griffin served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2009 to 2014. Throughout his career, he has been a controversial and polarising figure, particularly due to his views on immigration, national identity, and multiculturalism. Supporters have described him as a critic of globalisation and mass immigration, while critics have strongly opposed his political positions and associations. Following his departure from frontline party politics, Griffin has remained active as a writer and commentator, sharing his views on geopolitics, culture, and societal change through independent media platforms, including his Substack. His work today focuses on political analysis, historical interpretation, and commentary on global power structures, often challenging mainstream narratives and encouraging debate on issues such as sovereignty, identity, and the future of Western societies. About this Episode - This was such a surreal conversation on the podcast. I had to sit back halfway through and think, how did I end up here, sitting across from Nick Griffin of all people, unpacking everything from childhood, identity and ideology, to immigration, power and the future of civilisation. We started where it all begins, our upbringing. I reflected on growing up in Glasgow, my experiences, my lens, and how the smallest things shape your worldview more than you realise. And why Nick Griffin, for me, was the boogeyman. Nick shared his early political influences, what drew him into activism, and how his thinking has evolved over time. Whether people agree with him or not, understanding how someone arrives at their beliefs is always more valuable than simply dismissing them. From there, we moved into immigration and multiculturalism, a topic that is impossible to ignore today. We explored whether mass migration strengthens or fragments societies, and the tension between cultural identity and integration. I have always believed you can hold two ideas at once, recognising both the beauty of cultural diversity and the reality that cohesion matters if a society is to function in the long run. Religion naturally came into the discussion too, not just as belief, but as a civilisational force. We talked about Christianity, Islam, and how religious frameworks have historically shaped societies, for better or worse. It is impossible to understand the present without acknowledging the spiritual and philosophical foundations of the past. We also dug into history, colonialism, land ownership, and the way narratives are constructed. One of the recurring themes, as you will not be surprised to hear, was how much of what we are taught is simplified, distorted, or simply incomplete. The shift from land based, self sufficient communities to industrialised labour was not just progress. It came at a cost, displacement, dependency, the reorganisation of power, and the erosion of family and community. And that word kept coming up, power. Who has it, how they maintain it, and whether what we see today is organic or engineered. We explored the idea that modern societies are shaped not just by visible politics, but by deeper systems, financial structures, ideological movements, and long term strategies that most people never see. The concept of a quiet war against populations is controversial, but as I have said before, I believe it is real. A quiet war against humanity, particularly in the West, fought with silent weapons, and one that has been unfolding for decades. We also spoke about disillusionment with modern politics, including Nick’s involvement with the British National Party. The idea that we are presented with genuine choice feels increasingly hollow. It looks more and more like theatre. Different faces, same direction. One thread that ran through this entire conversation was simple, the solutions are not going to come from the top down. Not from political leaders, not from parties, not from billionaires or philanthropists. They have to come from the people, from families, from local communities, and from real relationships. Strengthening those is far more powerful than arguing over which politician is slightly less bad than the next. We also touched on identity. What does it actually mean to be British? Does Britain even exist as a coherent idea anymore? And would smaller, more localised governance serve people better, whether as English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish communities? What I found most interesting was that despite all the heavy topics, there were moments of reflection, humility, and even agreement. Cultural differences are real, but so are shared human experiences. And if we are going to navigate the future, we need to understand both. I also reflected on my own journey, the mistakes, the regrets, the lessons. Because none of us arrive at our views fully formed. We evolve, often through hardship. We are living through a period of massive change, demographic, cultural, economic, technological. The question is not whether change is happening, it is whether we understand it, and whether we respond consciously or simply react. For me, it comes back to something simple. Strengthen your family. Strengthen your community. Stay curious. Question everything. I have to admit, I was very impressed by Nick. He is clearly erudite, articulate, and well informed. It was a pleasure to have him on the show, and I look forward to having him back. I would urge you to check out his Substack. There is a reason the establishment wanted him discredited and removed. I believe that had he remained in politics, he would have been a powerful force, one that is not controlled. And that is what the establishment fears most of all. Much love Doc Malik Links - If you value my podcasts, please support the show by making a one-off donation. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Nick Griffin Beyond the Pale

#459 From Boogeyman to Conversation, My Talk with Nick Griffin About this Guest - Nick Griffin is a British political figure, writer, and commentator best known for his leadership of the British National Party (BNP) from 1999 to 2014. Born in 1959 in London, he studied at the University of Cambridge, where he became politically active at a young age. Griffin first came to prominence in British politics through nationalist movements, eventually rising to lead the BNP during a period in which the party achieved its greatest electoral success. Under his leadership, the BNP secured representation in the European Parliament, where Griffin served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for North West England from 2009 to 2014. Throughout his career, he has been a controversial and polarising figure, particularly due to his views on immigration, national identity, and multiculturalism. Supporters have described him as a critic of globalisation and mass immigration, while critics have strongly opposed his political positions and associations. Following his departure from frontline party politics, Griffin has remained active as a writer and commentator, sharing his views on geopolitics, culture, and societal change through independent media platforms, including his Substack. His work today focuses on political analysis, historical interpretation, and commentary on global power structures, often challenging mainstream narratives and encouraging debate on issues such as sovereignty, identity, and the future of Western societies. About this Episode - This was such a surreal conversation on the podcast. I had to sit back halfway through and think, how did I end up here, sitting across from Nick Griffin of all people, unpacking everything from childhood, identity and ideology, to immigration, power and the future of civilisation. We started where it all begins, our upbringing. I reflected on growing up in Glasgow, my experiences, my lens, and how the smallest things shape your worldview more than you realise. And why Nick Griffin, for me, was the boogeyman. Nick shared his early political influences, what drew him into activism, and how his thinking has evolved over time. Whether people agree with him or not, understanding how someone arrives at their beliefs is always more valuable than simply dismissing them. From there, we moved into immigration and multiculturalism, a topic that is impossible to ignore today. We explored whether mass migration strengthens or fragments societies, and the tension between cultural identity and integration. I have always believed you can hold two ideas at once, recognising both the beauty of cultural diversity and the reality that cohesion matters if a society is to function in the long run. Religion naturally came into the discussion too, not just as belief, but as a civilisational force. We talked about Christianity, Islam, and how religious frameworks have historically shaped societies, for better or worse. It is impossible to understand the present without acknowledging the spiritual and philosophical foundations of the past. We also dug into history, colonialism, land ownership, and the way narratives are constructed. One of the recurring themes, as you will not be surprised to hear, was how much of what we are taught is simplified, distorted, or simply incomplete. The shift from land based, self sufficient communities to industrialised labour was not just progress. It came at a cost, displacement, dependency, the reorganisation of power, and the erosion of family and community. And that word kept coming up, power. Who has it, how they maintain it, and whether what we see today is organic or engineered. We explored the idea that modern societies are shaped not just by visible politics, but by deeper systems, financial structures, ideological movements, and long term strategies that most people never see. The concept of a quiet war against populations is controversial, but as I have said before, I believe it is real. A quiet war against humanity, particularly in the West, fought with silent weapons, and one that has been unfolding for decades. We also spoke about disillusionment with modern politics, including Nick’s involvement with the British National Party. The idea that we are presented with genuine choice feels increasingly hollow. It looks more and more like theatre. Different faces, same direction. One thread that ran through this entire conversation was simple, the solutions are not going to come from the top down. Not from political leaders, not from parties, not from billionaires or philanthropists. They have to come from the people, from families, from local communities, and from real relationships. Strengthening those is far more powerful than arguing over which politician is slightly less bad than the next. We also touched on identity. What does it actually mean to be British? Does Britain even exist as a coherent idea anymore? And would smaller, more localised governance serve people better, whether as English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish communities? What I found most interesting was that despite all the heavy topics, there were moments of reflection, humility, and even agreement. Cultural differences are real, but so are shared human experiences. And if we are going to navigate the future, we need to understand both. I also reflected on my own journey, the mistakes, the regrets, the lessons. Because none of us arrive at our views fully formed. We evolve, often through hardship. We are living through a period of massive change, demographic, cultural, economic, technological. The question is not whether change is happening, it is whether we understand it, and whether we respond consciously or simply react. For me, it comes back to something simple. Strengthen your family. Strengthen your community. Stay curious. Question everything. I have to admit, I was very impressed by Nick. He is clearly erudite, articulate, and well informed. It was a pleasure to have him on the show, and I look forward to having him back. I would urge you to check out his Substack. There is a reason the establishment wanted him discredited and removed. I believe that had he remained in politics, he would have been a powerful force, one that is not controlled. And that is what the establishment fears most of all. Much love Doc Malik Links - If you value my podcasts, please support the show by making a one-off donation. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Nick Griffin Beyond the Pale

Doc Malik

11,113 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

🇮🇪IT HAS TO BE ABOUT A LOT MORE THAN FUEL🇮🇪 I am not in touch with any of the organisers of these protests so l would appreciate this video & message being sent to them🇮🇪 Some of us have been out on the streets for years exposing this political criminal cartel for ALL the crimes they have committed against the indigenous humanity of our sacred home🇮🇪 We have been targeted by the political scum who think they rule over us,Their hired thugs who wear police uniforms, Their slandering,bought & paid for Tramps in the Main Stream Media & their attack dogs on the left🇮🇪 Not only for standing against the nightmare that is Mass illegal immigration but everything else they have tried to force on us as a people including the roll out of that poison💉after their fake pandemic that has led to the MEDICAL MURDER & excess mortality of 30'000 of our people including young boys & girls who have dropped dead of heart attacks on GAA pitches for the past few years died "Suddenly & unexpectedly" because they were told they couldn't play without taking that jab🇮🇪 WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE & THE PROTESTS OVER THOSE LITTLE BOYS & GIRLS WHO WERE MURDERED BY BIG PHARMA & WHICH WAS SANCTIONED BY THIS ROTTEN TO THE CORE IRISH STATE ALL FOR MONETARY GAINS?🇮🇪 These monsters in suits leave children to live & to die in excruciating & agonizing pain awaiting scoliosis & other surgeries that they could easily sign off with the swipe of a pen or the touch of a button & they choose not to because they are sadistic,Cruel bastards who despise our children & Salivate at the thoughts of their demise ( then go to an Oasis concert)🇮🇪 Homelessness,Housing,Cost of living. All manufactured crises so our youth cannot start a family of their own & have to seek a future in strange lands. Therefore our native birthrates plummet while they import their foreign, automatic voting block to outbreed us & make us a minority in our own home🇮🇪 The cesspit that is Tusla needs to be disbanded & every last scumbag held to the most severe account imaginable for the most heinous crimes perpetrated against such vulnerable children on their watch🇮🇪 This cannot be made solely about a handful of people( some who are only out for political & financial gains )this is about the whole country & the whole country needs to be & to get involved & take action as a collective of concerned men & women who want their beautiful children to thrive not just survive on their God given birthright in the safety & peace that they deserve in their own home🇮🇪 The 10 year old girl who was raped in City West by a foreign animal who should not have been here. Alex Coughlan punched & kicked to death in the middle of the day,begging for his life on his own streets while the foreign animals who attacked him filmed it. These poor souls forgotten about because a man was nearly beheaded up in Belfast🇮🇪 While criminals are in power this will keep on happening & it will never stop either. These attacks are almost being normalised now & that's exactly how they want it. On to the next nightmare so everything else is swept under the carpet & forgotten & that is precisely why THERE'S NEVER ANY REAL ACCOUNTABILITY🇮🇪 So if this is going ahead make sure it's done right & this criminal cartel in the guise of an Irish Government are brought down,Arrested & are held to the most severe account possible in the future by a judge n jury chosen by We The People. They can stick their resignations up the highest part of their crooked holes. ALL GUILTY OF HIGH TREASON & THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO COMING BACK FROM THAT🇮🇪 The first line of our proclamation tells us everything that we need to take back the control of our own destinies & to finally & truly know the meaning of the word FREEDOM... GOD & IRISH MEN & IRISH WOMEN🇮🇪 There's only one banner we all need to unite under & that's the future of this sacred island. OUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN🇮🇪 God bless you all & that goes for everyone fighting this same evil worldwide🙌 éiReGoBragh🇮🇪

🇮🇪IT HAS TO BE ABOUT A LOT MORE THAN FUEL🇮🇪 I am not in touch with any of the organisers of these protests so l would appreciate this video & message being sent to them🇮🇪 Some of us have been out on the streets for years exposing this political criminal cartel for ALL the crimes they have committed against the indigenous humanity of our sacred home🇮🇪 We have been targeted by the political scum who think they rule over us,Their hired thugs who wear police uniforms, Their slandering,bought & paid for Tramps in the Main Stream Media & their attack dogs on the left🇮🇪 Not only for standing against the nightmare that is Mass illegal immigration but everything else they have tried to force on us as a people including the roll out of that poison💉after their fake pandemic that has led to the MEDICAL MURDER & excess mortality of 30'000 of our people including young boys & girls who have dropped dead of heart attacks on GAA pitches for the past few years died "Suddenly & unexpectedly" because they were told they couldn't play without taking that jab🇮🇪 WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE & THE PROTESTS OVER THOSE LITTLE BOYS & GIRLS WHO WERE MURDERED BY BIG PHARMA & WHICH WAS SANCTIONED BY THIS ROTTEN TO THE CORE IRISH STATE ALL FOR MONETARY GAINS?🇮🇪 These monsters in suits leave children to live & to die in excruciating & agonizing pain awaiting scoliosis & other surgeries that they could easily sign off with the swipe of a pen or the touch of a button & they choose not to because they are sadistic,Cruel bastards who despise our children & Salivate at the thoughts of their demise ( then go to an Oasis concert)🇮🇪 Homelessness,Housing,Cost of living. All manufactured crises so our youth cannot start a family of their own & have to seek a future in strange lands. Therefore our native birthrates plummet while they import their foreign, automatic voting block to outbreed us & make us a minority in our own home🇮🇪 The cesspit that is Tusla needs to be disbanded & every last scumbag held to the most severe account imaginable for the most heinous crimes perpetrated against such vulnerable children on their watch🇮🇪 This cannot be made solely about a handful of people( some who are only out for political & financial gains )this is about the whole country & the whole country needs to be & to get involved & take action as a collective of concerned men & women who want their beautiful children to thrive not just survive on their God given birthright in the safety & peace that they deserve in their own home🇮🇪 The 10 year old girl who was raped in City West by a foreign animal who should not have been here. Alex Coughlan punched & kicked to death in the middle of the day,begging for his life on his own streets while the foreign animals who attacked him filmed it. These poor souls forgotten about because a man was nearly beheaded up in Belfast🇮🇪 While criminals are in power this will keep on happening & it will never stop either. These attacks are almost being normalised now & that's exactly how they want it. On to the next nightmare so everything else is swept under the carpet & forgotten & that is precisely why THERE'S NEVER ANY REAL ACCOUNTABILITY🇮🇪 So if this is going ahead make sure it's done right & this criminal cartel in the guise of an Irish Government are brought down,Arrested & are held to the most severe account possible in the future by a judge n jury chosen by We The People. They can stick their resignations up the highest part of their crooked holes. ALL GUILTY OF HIGH TREASON & THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO COMING BACK FROM THAT🇮🇪 The first line of our proclamation tells us everything that we need to take back the control of our own destinies & to finally & truly know the meaning of the word FREEDOM... GOD & IRISH MEN & IRISH WOMEN🇮🇪 There's only one banner we all need to unite under & that's the future of this sacred island. OUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN🇮🇪 God bless you all & that goes for everyone fighting this same evil worldwide🙌 éiReGoBragh🇮🇪

Fergus (Ferg) Power

19,705 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

We filed a legal complaint demanding Elections Alberta investigate Forever Canadian! Everyone can see the double standard: Elections Alberta only enforces the law against conservatives and people supporting independence. Law-breakers who oppose independence get a free pass. It’s bad enough that one rogue judge, appointed by Justin Trudeau, single-handedly stopped the referendum by inventing a new Indigenous right. But now, to only enforce the law against the independence side? I can’t think of a faster way to undermine the public trust in elections. Everyone’s talking about this double-standard. But no-one is doing anything about it! Until now. That's why today we're launching with a legal demand letter to ask Elections Alberta to formally investigate Forever Canadian. And we need your help to do it. Last week, Rebel News hired Chad Williamson, our most successful litigator, to go into battle one more time. Yesterday, he filed a formal complaint against Thomas Lukaszuk’s law-breaking campaign group, called Forever Canadian. You really have to see it. Because that’s what this is about: the “remain” side of the debate being able to cheat with impunity. A number of well-meaning Albertans have already written complaints to Elections Alberta. You don’t need a law degree to see the double standard. But Chad just raised the stakes:— a five-page demand letter, a ten-page formal legal complaint, and 226 pages of supporting evidence. That’s 241 pages of legal threats, with an “or else” at the end. If Elections Alberta doesn’t investigate this scandal in the next 30 days, we’re going to sue Elections Alberta — by seeking a “judicial review” of its conduct in the Court of King’s Bench. It’s madness that Elections Alberta hasn’t done anything about this. Forever Canadian has actually registered as a “third party advertiser” with Elections Alberta. And it’s running a serious, well-funded campaign — a bus tour, offices in Edmonton and Calgary, rallies, and lots of professional signs. Yet, according to its own public disclosure, it has raised exactly zero dollars. I’ve seen this myself. On July 18 in Lethbridge, our pro-Alberta group happened to be in the exact same park as Forever Canadian, doing the same things — signs, flags, collecting donations. Only one of us is reporting that activity the way the law requires. Guess which one. This is like a hockey game where the ref calls every hook and slash against one team and lets the other do whatever it wants. Nobody would call that fair. Why should a referendum on Alberta’s future face a lower standard? Chad’s letter also documents how Elections Alberta hounded Rebel News before. Years ago, they investigated me over my book, Stop Notley — arguing that a book critical of the then-premier, sold during an election period, counted as unregistered political advertising. We fought it, and we’ve paid penalties before over technicalities like this. So we’re not asking for a free pass now. We’re asking for one-tier justice — the same rules, applied the same way, to everyone. But our lawyer Chad doesn’t work for free, and 241 pages of legal work isn’t cheap. If you believe this referendum deserves equal enforcement, please go to to help pay his bill. Help us demand fairness — we deserve it, and so do you. REPORT by Sheila Gunn Reid:

We filed a legal complaint demanding Elections Alberta investigate Forever Canadian! Everyone can see the double standard: Elections Alberta only enforces the law against conservatives and people supporting independence. Law-breakers who oppose independence get a free pass. It’s bad enough that one rogue judge, appointed by Justin Trudeau, single-handedly stopped the referendum by inventing a new Indigenous right. But now, to only enforce the law against the independence side? I can’t think of a faster way to undermine the public trust in elections. Everyone’s talking about this double-standard. But no-one is doing anything about it! Until now. That's why today we're launching with a legal demand letter to ask Elections Alberta to formally investigate Forever Canadian. And we need your help to do it. Last week, Rebel News hired Chad Williamson, our most successful litigator, to go into battle one more time. Yesterday, he filed a formal complaint against Thomas Lukaszuk’s law-breaking campaign group, called Forever Canadian. You really have to see it. Because that’s what this is about: the “remain” side of the debate being able to cheat with impunity. A number of well-meaning Albertans have already written complaints to Elections Alberta. You don’t need a law degree to see the double standard. But Chad just raised the stakes:— a five-page demand letter, a ten-page formal legal complaint, and 226 pages of supporting evidence. That’s 241 pages of legal threats, with an “or else” at the end. If Elections Alberta doesn’t investigate this scandal in the next 30 days, we’re going to sue Elections Alberta — by seeking a “judicial review” of its conduct in the Court of King’s Bench. It’s madness that Elections Alberta hasn’t done anything about this. Forever Canadian has actually registered as a “third party advertiser” with Elections Alberta. And it’s running a serious, well-funded campaign — a bus tour, offices in Edmonton and Calgary, rallies, and lots of professional signs. Yet, according to its own public disclosure, it has raised exactly zero dollars. I’ve seen this myself. On July 18 in Lethbridge, our pro-Alberta group happened to be in the exact same park as Forever Canadian, doing the same things — signs, flags, collecting donations. Only one of us is reporting that activity the way the law requires. Guess which one. This is like a hockey game where the ref calls every hook and slash against one team and lets the other do whatever it wants. Nobody would call that fair. Why should a referendum on Alberta’s future face a lower standard? Chad’s letter also documents how Elections Alberta hounded Rebel News before. Years ago, they investigated me over my book, Stop Notley — arguing that a book critical of the then-premier, sold during an election period, counted as unregistered political advertising. We fought it, and we’ve paid penalties before over technicalities like this. So we’re not asking for a free pass now. We’re asking for one-tier justice — the same rules, applied the same way, to everyone. But our lawyer Chad doesn’t work for free, and 241 pages of legal work isn’t cheap. If you believe this referendum deserves equal enforcement, please go to to help pay his bill. Help us demand fairness — we deserve it, and so do you. REPORT by Sheila Gunn Reid:

Rebel News

49,223 Aufrufe • vor 1 Tag

Analyzing Episode 55. Season 2 aka The Violence of Alignment If I visualize CihAl's journey for this season, a spiral tightening its rings comes to mind. There's always one problem after another, spiking in intensity and reaction. And, the weight of it is reflected in both Alya's increasingly somber demeanor. But, here's the thing. In every new problem, there's an echo of the old one, which leaves one with an inevitable feeling of deja vu - for the audience and the characters. We'll get to why towards the end of this analysis. For now, on we go. We kick off epi 55 with Cihan being introduced to Meryem *cough* dishrag *cough* by Sadakat. And what follows is a breakdown of her story with Cihan listening. However, when Meryem recounted her past woes, I focused less on her words and more on Cihan's words and expression. And what follows is a masterclass in the difference between sympathy and empathy. Kudos to Ozan Akbaba for portraying the difference. I couldn't help but compare the situation to when Cihan is listening to Alya's account of her past. With Alya, Cihan leans forward, barely moving. He listens, but his face tends to reflect his own emotion and mirrors Alya's at times - in other words, he's living those events with her. When he talks, his voice drops lower, but more importantly, there's a gentle softness meant to soothe. With Meryem, Cihan's body language is a tad more detached. When he's leaning forward in the seat, his hands are extended in front of him, clasped together, creating space. Then he leans back, one arm extended on the table, the other on his thigh. Again, there's this feel of distance. His voice remains soft, but there's no tenderness. He's not trying to alleviate, rather he's simply listening. Don't get me wrong, it's not like the guy doesn't feel bad for her, because what she relates shouldn't be experienced by anyone. But empathy goes beyond sympathy. Empathy is when you hurt with the one who's hurting. And that difference, to me, is clear between the two scenes. Long story short, when he's heard what Meryem's gone through, he offers to help get her out of prison because he feels responsible in part for her misfortunes. He says it's his 'duty' to help her. Here's what's interesting: when Meryem says his kindness and heart haven't changed, he gets uncomfortable. And after that, he's the one to get up from the chair, signaling the end of the conversation. Like he wants to get out of there, because some part of him that's not stupidly male understands Meryem's still attached to him, but he has no interest in that whatsoever. His method of saying goodbye is a handshake, again, a testament to his aloofness. And when Meryem hugs him, his hands remain at their sides; the man could have been a pillar. So, while he speaks not of Alya, the one time he takes her name, he drives the message across that 'she's no one ordinary' and 'tread carefully'. Honestly, I don't think he wants to talk about Alya to Meryem. Not because Alya's not important, but because Alya is too important. The part of his life that Alya represents is his alone, and he's very possessive about sharing that with anyone. To him, Meryem is a past that exists, but one that he would erase if he had the choice, because it hurts Alya. And that's pretty much the whole feel of this conversation. He wants to help Meryem, but he also wants her gone because her presence is a source of discomfort to Alya. Speaking of discomforts, the next scene I want to talk about is when the massive turd, who happens to be Alya's ex-husband, goes to the hospital to threaten her some more. Seriously, this character is a step short of absolute psycho. He's incapable of true emotion, just like his mother. Anyway, when Alya is explaining why she hasn't moved out yet, the zombie's eyes zero in on her wedding band. And, of course, being who he is, he absolutely ignores the topic of Deniz, his own flesh and blood, and instead, wants the ring gone because it symbolizes Alya's love and attachment to Cihan. Thankfully, Cihan arrives in time to push away the zombie and to hear Alya proclaim that while Boran has the power to use her son and distance her from Cihan physically, he has no power over her heart and who reigns over it. Now, think back to that conversation where Deniz wants her to pick between Cihan and himself. And Cihan says Deniz's throne (or place) in her heart is so secure, he's happy to live in the shadow of that throne. While Alya smiles at Cihan's response, she also looks miserable later at the thought of not being able to tell Cihan that things aren't exactly so. However, I think she manages to get her point across in this scene without even realizing it. Because while she may make sacrifices for her son, no amount of blackmail, pain, or hurt can remove Cihan's love from her heart. Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds almost like an equal footing. The only difference is that she's bound to protect her son, because, unlike Cihan, he can't protect himself. And that's what leads Cihan to later tell Alya that her words are etched across his heart, and that he's never felt that loved by anyone. Curiously enough, this scene also brings the spotlight on two other details: Alya's 'anka' side and the wedding ring. Both of which will feature rather greatly, in the coming episodes, I think. Now, there's a rumor going around that Alya will take off her wedding ring. And, I don't know, the fact that Cihan's almost preening at Alya, still wearing the ring, and Alya saying 'I couldn't take it off' tells me that's not what's going to happen. For some reason, I'm beginning to get the vibes of a showdown of trust in the same vein as episode 27. Now you may argue that Cihan actually tells Alya about Mine's pregnancy in that episode, but CihAl have had a long journey since then. Alya has seen Cihan choose her over Boran with her own eyes. She's seen the lengths the man has gone to for her and Deniz. So, yes, she might be pissed about something or the other related to Meryem in future episodes, but her taking off the ring seems not within her character somehow. But hey, that's just me, and I could be wrong. Anyway, the final scene I want to talk about is, of course, the ending. Everyone kept focusing on why Cihan allowed Meryem to hold his hands, but I focused on his words. Because he very clearly tells Meryem that he's no longer in love with her, that he's moved on, and that she should not hang about in the hopes of that ever changing. In his own way, Cihan is quite ruthless here. He draws a line, but his words are designed not to hurt, because he's not an ahole. He just wants dishrag to understand that even the thought of Alya being hurt pains him more now than anything else. And, he's not very kind to people who try to hurt Alya. It's a disclosure and warning, but in the form of steel wrapped in satin. Now, let's go back to the beginning for a bit, where I mentioned spiraling events. See, I somehow thought that those vows Cihal took 'savaşta, bedelde, kararda, kaderde, aşkta' were linear levels. That they'd clear them one by one and get to love. But when you see the overall structure of their journey in this season, it's not linear at all. Because all those things have existed in one form or another since ep 29. There's always an element of all of these conditions in every episode. Which is why we keep thinking, wait a minute, we've been here before. But as I said, the spiral is tightening itself. With every episode, the stakes are raised higher, and CihAl are pushed a little bit closer to the edge. Almost like the deep breath before the plunge. And here’s where things get interesting. Because what feels like repetition is not actually stagnation, it’s confrontation deferred, coming back sharper each time. Every cycle brings them back to the same point. Their love deepens, fear follows, a decision is made in the name of protection, and that decision creates distance instead of resolution. Which brings me back to the vows - savaşta, bedelde, kararda, kaderde, aşkta. I was wrong to think of them as steps. They’re not something Cihan and Alya are moving towards; they’re something CihAl are already inside of. Every episode is them living those vows in real time. But with every new episode, the pressure mounts, like music builds to a crescendo. And yet, within all of that, aşk remains. Not as a reward at the end of the journey. But as the one thing that refuses to disappear, no matter how many times everything else goes wrong. And maybe that's why episode 55 feels the way it does. It creates the illusion that everything is falling apart, yet again, when in reality, everything is being forced into alignment. Something is moving all the pieces on the chessboard for an ultimate showdown. And the process gets more violent by the minute. Cihan hides the truth because he thinks love needs protection. Alya experiences that same act as distance, almost betrayal. Meanwhile, Boran and Sadakat keep pushing, and Meryem drops like a freaking bomb at the worst possible moment. Suddenly, everything that could have remained unsaid, unresolved, or postponed is dragged into the open. This has all the hallmarks of a breaking point. Note, I said breaking point, not breakdown. Because, unlike breakdowns, breaking points are used for revelations. I guess what I'm trying to say is things are headed towards alignment, not just for the overall story, but also CihAl's journey individually. Because Cihan and Alya also keep repeating their mistakes. Their growth requires something along the lines of a push, too. So, we have war, sacrifice, decisions, fate, and love, all coming to a head. And while there are plenty of reasons to feel ominous, I personally don't. The story is no longer about them loving each other - we're well past that. It’s about whether they can finally stand in that love openly and without any fear. Because everything is pushing them toward a breaking point, not to destroy them, I think, but to shape them into who they need to be. And if there’s one thing CihAl have proven since day one, it’s this - they don’t fall apart under pressure, they grow stronger, and they survive the impossible. #CihAl #UzakŞehir

Analyzing Episode 55. Season 2 aka The Violence of Alignment If I visualize CihAl's journey for this season, a spiral tightening its rings comes to mind. There's always one problem after another, spiking in intensity and reaction. And, the weight of it is reflected in both Alya's increasingly somber demeanor. But, here's the thing. In every new problem, there's an echo of the old one, which leaves one with an inevitable feeling of deja vu - for the audience and the characters. We'll get to why towards the end of this analysis. For now, on we go. We kick off epi 55 with Cihan being introduced to Meryem cough dishrag cough by Sadakat. And what follows is a breakdown of her story with Cihan listening. However, when Meryem recounted her past woes, I focused less on her words and more on Cihan's words and expression. And what follows is a masterclass in the difference between sympathy and empathy. Kudos to Ozan Akbaba for portraying the difference. I couldn't help but compare the situation to when Cihan is listening to Alya's account of her past. With Alya, Cihan leans forward, barely moving. He listens, but his face tends to reflect his own emotion and mirrors Alya's at times - in other words, he's living those events with her. When he talks, his voice drops lower, but more importantly, there's a gentle softness meant to soothe. With Meryem, Cihan's body language is a tad more detached. When he's leaning forward in the seat, his hands are extended in front of him, clasped together, creating space. Then he leans back, one arm extended on the table, the other on his thigh. Again, there's this feel of distance. His voice remains soft, but there's no tenderness. He's not trying to alleviate, rather he's simply listening. Don't get me wrong, it's not like the guy doesn't feel bad for her, because what she relates shouldn't be experienced by anyone. But empathy goes beyond sympathy. Empathy is when you hurt with the one who's hurting. And that difference, to me, is clear between the two scenes. Long story short, when he's heard what Meryem's gone through, he offers to help get her out of prison because he feels responsible in part for her misfortunes. He says it's his 'duty' to help her. Here's what's interesting: when Meryem says his kindness and heart haven't changed, he gets uncomfortable. And after that, he's the one to get up from the chair, signaling the end of the conversation. Like he wants to get out of there, because some part of him that's not stupidly male understands Meryem's still attached to him, but he has no interest in that whatsoever. His method of saying goodbye is a handshake, again, a testament to his aloofness. And when Meryem hugs him, his hands remain at their sides; the man could have been a pillar. So, while he speaks not of Alya, the one time he takes her name, he drives the message across that 'she's no one ordinary' and 'tread carefully'. Honestly, I don't think he wants to talk about Alya to Meryem. Not because Alya's not important, but because Alya is too important. The part of his life that Alya represents is his alone, and he's very possessive about sharing that with anyone. To him, Meryem is a past that exists, but one that he would erase if he had the choice, because it hurts Alya. And that's pretty much the whole feel of this conversation. He wants to help Meryem, but he also wants her gone because her presence is a source of discomfort to Alya. Speaking of discomforts, the next scene I want to talk about is when the massive turd, who happens to be Alya's ex-husband, goes to the hospital to threaten her some more. Seriously, this character is a step short of absolute psycho. He's incapable of true emotion, just like his mother. Anyway, when Alya is explaining why she hasn't moved out yet, the zombie's eyes zero in on her wedding band. And, of course, being who he is, he absolutely ignores the topic of Deniz, his own flesh and blood, and instead, wants the ring gone because it symbolizes Alya's love and attachment to Cihan. Thankfully, Cihan arrives in time to push away the zombie and to hear Alya proclaim that while Boran has the power to use her son and distance her from Cihan physically, he has no power over her heart and who reigns over it. Now, think back to that conversation where Deniz wants her to pick between Cihan and himself. And Cihan says Deniz's throne (or place) in her heart is so secure, he's happy to live in the shadow of that throne. While Alya smiles at Cihan's response, she also looks miserable later at the thought of not being able to tell Cihan that things aren't exactly so. However, I think she manages to get her point across in this scene without even realizing it. Because while she may make sacrifices for her son, no amount of blackmail, pain, or hurt can remove Cihan's love from her heart. Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds almost like an equal footing. The only difference is that she's bound to protect her son, because, unlike Cihan, he can't protect himself. And that's what leads Cihan to later tell Alya that her words are etched across his heart, and that he's never felt that loved by anyone. Curiously enough, this scene also brings the spotlight on two other details: Alya's 'anka' side and the wedding ring. Both of which will feature rather greatly, in the coming episodes, I think. Now, there's a rumor going around that Alya will take off her wedding ring. And, I don't know, the fact that Cihan's almost preening at Alya, still wearing the ring, and Alya saying 'I couldn't take it off' tells me that's not what's going to happen. For some reason, I'm beginning to get the vibes of a showdown of trust in the same vein as episode 27. Now you may argue that Cihan actually tells Alya about Mine's pregnancy in that episode, but CihAl have had a long journey since then. Alya has seen Cihan choose her over Boran with her own eyes. She's seen the lengths the man has gone to for her and Deniz. So, yes, she might be pissed about something or the other related to Meryem in future episodes, but her taking off the ring seems not within her character somehow. But hey, that's just me, and I could be wrong. Anyway, the final scene I want to talk about is, of course, the ending. Everyone kept focusing on why Cihan allowed Meryem to hold his hands, but I focused on his words. Because he very clearly tells Meryem that he's no longer in love with her, that he's moved on, and that she should not hang about in the hopes of that ever changing. In his own way, Cihan is quite ruthless here. He draws a line, but his words are designed not to hurt, because he's not an ahole. He just wants dishrag to understand that even the thought of Alya being hurt pains him more now than anything else. And, he's not very kind to people who try to hurt Alya. It's a disclosure and warning, but in the form of steel wrapped in satin. Now, let's go back to the beginning for a bit, where I mentioned spiraling events. See, I somehow thought that those vows Cihal took 'savaşta, bedelde, kararda, kaderde, aşkta' were linear levels. That they'd clear them one by one and get to love. But when you see the overall structure of their journey in this season, it's not linear at all. Because all those things have existed in one form or another since ep 29. There's always an element of all of these conditions in every episode. Which is why we keep thinking, wait a minute, we've been here before. But as I said, the spiral is tightening itself. With every episode, the stakes are raised higher, and CihAl are pushed a little bit closer to the edge. Almost like the deep breath before the plunge. And here’s where things get interesting. Because what feels like repetition is not actually stagnation, it’s confrontation deferred, coming back sharper each time. Every cycle brings them back to the same point. Their love deepens, fear follows, a decision is made in the name of protection, and that decision creates distance instead of resolution. Which brings me back to the vows - savaşta, bedelde, kararda, kaderde, aşkta. I was wrong to think of them as steps. They’re not something Cihan and Alya are moving towards; they’re something CihAl are already inside of. Every episode is them living those vows in real time. But with every new episode, the pressure mounts, like music builds to a crescendo. And yet, within all of that, aşk remains. Not as a reward at the end of the journey. But as the one thing that refuses to disappear, no matter how many times everything else goes wrong. And maybe that's why episode 55 feels the way it does. It creates the illusion that everything is falling apart, yet again, when in reality, everything is being forced into alignment. Something is moving all the pieces on the chessboard for an ultimate showdown. And the process gets more violent by the minute. Cihan hides the truth because he thinks love needs protection. Alya experiences that same act as distance, almost betrayal. Meanwhile, Boran and Sadakat keep pushing, and Meryem drops like a freaking bomb at the worst possible moment. Suddenly, everything that could have remained unsaid, unresolved, or postponed is dragged into the open. This has all the hallmarks of a breaking point. Note, I said breaking point, not breakdown. Because, unlike breakdowns, breaking points are used for revelations. I guess what I'm trying to say is things are headed towards alignment, not just for the overall story, but also CihAl's journey individually. Because Cihan and Alya also keep repeating their mistakes. Their growth requires something along the lines of a push, too. So, we have war, sacrifice, decisions, fate, and love, all coming to a head. And while there are plenty of reasons to feel ominous, I personally don't. The story is no longer about them loving each other - we're well past that. It’s about whether they can finally stand in that love openly and without any fear. Because everything is pushing them toward a breaking point, not to destroy them, I think, but to shape them into who they need to be. And if there’s one thing CihAl have proven since day one, it’s this - they don’t fall apart under pressure, they grow stronger, and they survive the impossible. #CihAl #UzakŞehir

CocoLoco

21,061 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

$🚨Hero police officer reveals his fears after being sacked for tackling knife-wielding teenager - as Home Secretary faces calls to step in An award-winning police officer who was sacked for a 'lack of respect' after arresting a knife-carrying teenager has claimed the saga has left him worrying about whether he can 'pay his mortgage'. The shocking footage shows how PC Lorne Castle grabbed the 15-year-old boy, who was suspected of assault, and pushed him into a wall before slamming him into the ground and proceeding to place his hand over the youth's face while shouting threats and curse words. During the commotion a Stanley-type knife fell out of the teenager's waistband. PC Castle, 46, was dismissed from Dorset Police over the Bournemouth arrest, sparking a wave of criticism as it emerged the teen was suspected of assaulting two people including an elderly gentlemen. He has now lifted the lid on a nightmare 16 months which he said 'could have broken him' - as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper faces calls to step in. The police officer told GB News: 'I came into police nine or 10 years ago. Prior to that, I was in the sports industry, went to Bournemouth University where I did law. 'I've had a confident life and am happy and get on with people. The last year and a half, when they've put me on restricted duties, I'm not allowed face-to-face contact with people. 'I'm isolated. I don't know whether I'm going to be able to pay the mortgage and bring money home until I see how this goes.' PC Castle also gave an insight into what was going through his head during the incident, which resulted in him being found guilty of gross misconduct. 'My intent was to arrest a potentially violent suspect without injuries,' he said. 'He was arrested, no injuries and no complaint, and a knife was removed from the street. 'It's not a nice situation for anyone to be in...other officers have been in that situation and that's why I am here now. Any mistake, pause or hesitation can have dramatic results. 'My intention was good and that's why I have maintained my innocence, because I know my own mindset. 'If I know it can be analysed like a sport, armchair critiquing, some time down the line, it's gonna make you pause. Whether that's good or bad it needs to be looked at.' It comes after Dorset Police released the full bodycam footage from PC Castle's partner on the stop, allowing the public to judge the chaotic episode for themselves. Following the arrest PC Castle's colleagues reported concerns about his conduct to senior officers, prompting a 16-month investigation and gross misconduct proceedings. A misconduct panel last week found PC Castle made the boy feel 'frightened and intimidated' and showed him a 'lack of courtesy and respect' during the arrest in January last year. The officer admitted that he 'lost control' during the arrest and tearfully apologised for his 'out of character' actions at a police disciplinary hearing. The panel, led by Wiltshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Deborah Smith, found him guilty of gross misconduct. They said he failed to act with self-control, did not treat the boy with courtesy or respect and that his 'shouting, swearing, finger pointing, taking hold of the boy's face suggested use of leg restraints was not necessary, reasonable or proportionate'. It was alleged the officer also grabbed the boy's throat but this was not proven. PC Castle was dismissed without notice and barred from serving again. The bodycam footage showed how PC Castle was the first out of the patrol car before putting the boy to the wall and then pushing him to the ground while shouting: 'You're under arrest'. While on top of the teenager on the ground, he then shouted: 'Get on the ground. Get down. Get down. 'Show me your f***ing hands, now. Put your f***ing hands behind your [back].' The teen, who is clearly distressed, screams and told PC Castle 'I can't' - as the officer is on top of him. PC Castle's female colleague can then by heard trying to intervene to de-escalate the situation, but Castle would not be stopped. While pointing his finger into the teen's face, he yelled: 'Right, listen, stop screaming like a little b****. Do you understand that? Shut up.' He continues: 'Roll over. Right, you try resisting again, do you understand? Right, shut up. 'If you try resisting one more time - right get your f***ing hands behind your back, do you understand? 'One hand at a time! One hand at a time. Stop screaming.' Speaking into his radio PC Castle then asks for another unit to be sent over because the suspect is 'being a little b****.' He then begins yelling at the boy again, while still on top of him on the ground, and pointing into his face. 'Right, stop resisting or I'm going to smash you. Do you understand? Put your hands behind your back.' PC Castle then tells members of the public who are watching on: 'Move back, now.' He places his hands on top of the boy's face, prompting him to cry out in what appears to be pain. He shouts: 'You are under arrest at the moment on suspicion of assault. Right do not move.' It is just 90 seconds after PC Castle opened the car door. Throughout the arrest, the 15-year-old could be heard screaming and shouting 'what have I done wrong?'. At one point he starts crying and appears to be struggling to draw breath. On the day of the arrest, the panel heard that the boy was suspected of assaulting an elderly man while riding an e-scooter before getting embroiled in a fracas with another youth outside McDonalds. PC Castle, who has twice won a national bravery award including one for saving an elderly woman from drowning in a swollen river in 2023, spotted the suspect walking up Richmond Hill in Bournemouth before the stop. His colleague attempted to step in to calm the situation several times but was all but ignored by PC Castle, video footage shows. Giving evidence, PC Castle said he became 'overwhelmed and scared' when the boy resisted as his mind flashed back to his arrest of a county lines drug dealer 18 months earlier which led him fearing for his life. As the officer struggled with the dealer, his associate who was stood behind was being told to 'cut him' - before an off-duty officer intervened to defend him. PC Castle admitted he had overstepped the mark with his language and aggression and broke down in tears as he said: 'I'm embarrassed by the video and I apologise for my actions. 'Anyone who knows me in public or private life knows that is not how I behave. When he started screaming and resisting I panicked and became overwhelmed. 'I did not choke the suspect and I did not get him in a headlock. I was trying to keep his head still with the palm of my hand so he did not hit his head. 'I did not put my full weight on him as my knees were on the concrete. I only applied enough weight to keep his body still. 'During the arrest I saw the knife fall out of his waistband so he was arrested for a knife offence. I think the arrest needed to be made but I lost control of the situation.' Mark Ley Morgan, representing Dorset Police at the hearing, said the knife was not relevant as PC Castle did not know the boy had it when making the arrest. Mr Morgan said: 'PC Castle breached standards of professional behaviour by failing to act with self control and failing to treat him with courtesy or respect. 'He abused his power and authority and his behaviour undermined confidence in the police. 'It was totally unnecessary and disproportionate, and it is so serious that dismissal would be justified.' 'PC Castle has let the police service and his colleagues down and he does not represent the many hard-working officers and staff of Dorset Police. 'The outcome reflects the seriousness of this matter and ensures that he will no longer hold a role in policing and the privilege of constable. 'I am grateful to the officers for having the courage to do the right thing and report their concerns about PC Castle's actions.' After the hearing, Dorset Police Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Farrell acknowledged that officers did a 'tough job' but said PC Castle let the force down by his actions. She said: 'I have never been in any doubt that PC Castle's actions were excessive, aggressive and inappropriate and I can understand the communities we serve will be concerned about this case. But the judgment proved divisive with many reacting online and speaking out in support of the officer. Norman Brennan, a retired police officer and founder of the campaign group Protect the Protectors, accused Dorset Police of throwing PC Castle ‘under a bus’. He said: 'Senior officers at Dorset Police have taken leave of their senses.. This decision epitomises how they have lost touch with the danger and reality of frontline policing. It is bloody madness. 'Police officers when facing volatile or violent situations will at times swear and use some unsavoury words. 'All arrests involve some form of force and pushing someone even in the face during a struggle is not always intentional and even if it is its part and parcel in many arrests when restraining a suspect. No arrest is without some sort of force. 'I'm sick and tired of officers being disciplined for things like this and I think the majority of the public would think this is absolutely bonkers. 'Many senior officers kowtow to the constant criticism of the police in a sort of appeasement and often throw officers under the bus or to the wolves as sacrificial lambs. Cases like this are more likely to deter people from joining the police.'$

🚨Hero police officer reveals his fears after being sacked for tackling knife-wielding teenager - as Home Secretary faces calls to step in An award-winning police officer who was sacked for a 'lack of respect' after arresting a knife-carrying teenager has claimed the saga has left him worrying about whether he can 'pay his mortgage'. The shocking footage shows how PC Lorne Castle grabbed the 15-year-old boy, who was suspected of assault, and pushed him into a wall before slamming him into the ground and proceeding to place his hand over the youth's face while shouting threats and curse words. During the commotion a Stanley-type knife fell out of the teenager's waistband. PC Castle, 46, was dismissed from Dorset Police over the Bournemouth arrest, sparking a wave of criticism as it emerged the teen was suspected of assaulting two people including an elderly gentlemen. He has now lifted the lid on a nightmare 16 months which he said 'could have broken him' - as Home Secretary Yvette Cooper faces calls to step in. The police officer told GB News: 'I came into police nine or 10 years ago. Prior to that, I was in the sports industry, went to Bournemouth University where I did law. 'I've had a confident life and am happy and get on with people. The last year and a half, when they've put me on restricted duties, I'm not allowed face-to-face contact with people. 'I'm isolated. I don't know whether I'm going to be able to pay the mortgage and bring money home until I see how this goes.' PC Castle also gave an insight into what was going through his head during the incident, which resulted in him being found guilty of gross misconduct. 'My intent was to arrest a potentially violent suspect without injuries,' he said. 'He was arrested, no injuries and no complaint, and a knife was removed from the street. 'It's not a nice situation for anyone to be in...other officers have been in that situation and that's why I am here now. Any mistake, pause or hesitation can have dramatic results. 'My intention was good and that's why I have maintained my innocence, because I know my own mindset. 'If I know it can be analysed like a sport, armchair critiquing, some time down the line, it's gonna make you pause. Whether that's good or bad it needs to be looked at.' It comes after Dorset Police released the full bodycam footage from PC Castle's partner on the stop, allowing the public to judge the chaotic episode for themselves. Following the arrest PC Castle's colleagues reported concerns about his conduct to senior officers, prompting a 16-month investigation and gross misconduct proceedings. A misconduct panel last week found PC Castle made the boy feel 'frightened and intimidated' and showed him a 'lack of courtesy and respect' during the arrest in January last year. The officer admitted that he 'lost control' during the arrest and tearfully apologised for his 'out of character' actions at a police disciplinary hearing. The panel, led by Wiltshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Deborah Smith, found him guilty of gross misconduct. They said he failed to act with self-control, did not treat the boy with courtesy or respect and that his 'shouting, swearing, finger pointing, taking hold of the boy's face suggested use of leg restraints was not necessary, reasonable or proportionate'. It was alleged the officer also grabbed the boy's throat but this was not proven. PC Castle was dismissed without notice and barred from serving again. The bodycam footage showed how PC Castle was the first out of the patrol car before putting the boy to the wall and then pushing him to the ground while shouting: 'You're under arrest'. While on top of the teenager on the ground, he then shouted: 'Get on the ground. Get down. Get down. 'Show me your fing hands, now. Put your fing hands behind your [back].' The teen, who is clearly distressed, screams and told PC Castle 'I can't' - as the officer is on top of him. PC Castle's female colleague can then by heard trying to intervene to de-escalate the situation, but Castle would not be stopped. While pointing his finger into the teen's face, he yelled: 'Right, listen, stop screaming like a little b**. Do you understand that? Shut up.' He continues: 'Roll over. Right, you try resisting again, do you understand? Right, shut up. 'If you try resisting one more time - right get your f*ing hands behind your back, do you understand? 'One hand at a time! One hand at a time. Stop screaming.' Speaking into his radio PC Castle then asks for another unit to be sent over because the suspect is 'being a little b****.' He then begins yelling at the boy again, while still on top of him on the ground, and pointing into his face. 'Right, stop resisting or I'm going to smash you. Do you understand? Put your hands behind your back.' PC Castle then tells members of the public who are watching on: 'Move back, now.' He places his hands on top of the boy's face, prompting him to cry out in what appears to be pain. He shouts: 'You are under arrest at the moment on suspicion of assault. Right do not move.' It is just 90 seconds after PC Castle opened the car door. Throughout the arrest, the 15-year-old could be heard screaming and shouting 'what have I done wrong?'. At one point he starts crying and appears to be struggling to draw breath. On the day of the arrest, the panel heard that the boy was suspected of assaulting an elderly man while riding an e-scooter before getting embroiled in a fracas with another youth outside McDonalds. PC Castle, who has twice won a national bravery award including one for saving an elderly woman from drowning in a swollen river in 2023, spotted the suspect walking up Richmond Hill in Bournemouth before the stop. His colleague attempted to step in to calm the situation several times but was all but ignored by PC Castle, video footage shows. Giving evidence, PC Castle said he became 'overwhelmed and scared' when the boy resisted as his mind flashed back to his arrest of a county lines drug dealer 18 months earlier which led him fearing for his life. As the officer struggled with the dealer, his associate who was stood behind was being told to 'cut him' - before an off-duty officer intervened to defend him. PC Castle admitted he had overstepped the mark with his language and aggression and broke down in tears as he said: 'I'm embarrassed by the video and I apologise for my actions. 'Anyone who knows me in public or private life knows that is not how I behave. When he started screaming and resisting I panicked and became overwhelmed. 'I did not choke the suspect and I did not get him in a headlock. I was trying to keep his head still with the palm of my hand so he did not hit his head. 'I did not put my full weight on him as my knees were on the concrete. I only applied enough weight to keep his body still. 'During the arrest I saw the knife fall out of his waistband so he was arrested for a knife offence. I think the arrest needed to be made but I lost control of the situation.' Mark Ley Morgan, representing Dorset Police at the hearing, said the knife was not relevant as PC Castle did not know the boy had it when making the arrest. Mr Morgan said: 'PC Castle breached standards of professional behaviour by failing to act with self control and failing to treat him with courtesy or respect. 'He abused his power and authority and his behaviour undermined confidence in the police. 'It was totally unnecessary and disproportionate, and it is so serious that dismissal would be justified.' 'PC Castle has let the police service and his colleagues down and he does not represent the many hard-working officers and staff of Dorset Police. 'The outcome reflects the seriousness of this matter and ensures that he will no longer hold a role in policing and the privilege of constable. 'I am grateful to the officers for having the courage to do the right thing and report their concerns about PC Castle's actions.' After the hearing, Dorset Police Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Farrell acknowledged that officers did a 'tough job' but said PC Castle let the force down by his actions. She said: 'I have never been in any doubt that PC Castle's actions were excessive, aggressive and inappropriate and I can understand the communities we serve will be concerned about this case. But the judgment proved divisive with many reacting online and speaking out in support of the officer. Norman Brennan, a retired police officer and founder of the campaign group Protect the Protectors, accused Dorset Police of throwing PC Castle ‘under a bus’. He said: 'Senior officers at Dorset Police have taken leave of their senses.. This decision epitomises how they have lost touch with the danger and reality of frontline policing. It is bloody madness. 'Police officers when facing volatile or violent situations will at times swear and use some unsavoury words. 'All arrests involve some form of force and pushing someone even in the face during a struggle is not always intentional and even if it is its part and parcel in many arrests when restraining a suspect. No arrest is without some sort of force. 'I'm sick and tired of officers being disciplined for things like this and I think the majority of the public would think this is absolutely bonkers. 'Many senior officers kowtow to the constant criticism of the police in a sort of appeasement and often throw officers under the bus or to the wolves as sacrificial lambs. Cases like this are more likely to deter people from joining the police.'

Grifty

103,498 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

WATCH: Fed-up Montreal restaurant owner blasts pro-Hamas protesters with garden hose A viral video has been circulating online showing a group of pro-Hamas activists outside this Montreal restaurant called Zante. After multiple attempts to ask Montreal police to intervene and remove the protesters who were blocking the entrance to his restaurant, one of the co-owners decided to deal with them himself using a garden hose. On May 22, three days after the incident involving Zante restaurant and pro-Hamas activists, Rebel News spoke with co-owner Mr. Costa Dimitriou, who explained what happened. Unfortunately, the restaurant received multiple threatening messages and several hundred negative reviews on Google after the incident. On Instagram, we were also able to see calls to boycott the restaurant and to massively leave negative reviews. Mr. Dimitriou therefore had to contact Google with the police report in order to have those comments removed. The restaurant co-owner declined to speak on camera because he wants to move on and hopes the negative attention dies down. Now, let me explain what happened. Last Tuesday, May 19, several anti-Israel protesters held a 24-hour sit-in outside the office of Liberal MP Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, right beside the restaurant. When Mr. Dimitriou arrived around 4:30 p.m., the protesters were already there. According to him, they had around three different loudspeakers and were shouting the usual slogans such as, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and so on. The protesters, who already occupied a large section of the sidewalk, allegedly began moving directly in front of the restaurant terrace, blocking access to the establishment. Mr. Dimitriou reportedly asked them multiple times to clear the entrance and was allegedly told to “f*ck off.” As seen in the footage, protesters also harassed the valet, who is himself Algerian. Costa repeatedly asked police officers if they could contain the protesters so they would stop blocking the entrance and standing directly in front of the terrace where clients were trying to eat. According to Costa, police did not cooperate. The co-owner explained to me that several clients dining on the terrace were disturbed by the situation, and that multiple reservations were cancelled because of the protest. He even had to relocate guests staying at his hotel to rooms at the back of the building because of the noise caused by the protesters. At around 7:30 p.m., after receiving no cooperation from either the police or the protesters, Costa grabbed a garden hose in an attempt to disperse the protesters from the front of his restaurant. That was the moment police intervened — not against the protesters, but against the restaurant owner — warning him that he could not do that and threatening him with charges if he continued. The protesters remained there and were still present when he returned the next day. Costa also explained that he had to physically defend himself after one protester allegedly followed him onto the terrace, forcing him to push the individual back. Based on an image of the protester in question shown to us by the restaurant owner, we recognized the individual as Bara Abuhamed, one of the leaders of Montreal4Palestine previously arrested at Carrefour Laval for unlawful assembly and allegedly assaulting a police officer. He and his father are also known for leading Islamist street prayers in front of Notre-Dame Basilica. As Mr. Dimitriou explained, regardless of the cause being protested, he says he would have reacted the same way. For him, this was about respect and basic decency — something he believes the protesters failed to demonstrate. Online, many people expressed support for the restaurant owner, as a large part of the population appears increasingly fed up with the weekly protests — street blockades, vandalism, disruption of businesses — while police seem unwilling or unable to control the situation

WATCH: Fed-up Montreal restaurant owner blasts pro-Hamas protesters with garden hose A viral video has been circulating online showing a group of pro-Hamas activists outside this Montreal restaurant called Zante. After multiple attempts to ask Montreal police to intervene and remove the protesters who were blocking the entrance to his restaurant, one of the co-owners decided to deal with them himself using a garden hose. On May 22, three days after the incident involving Zante restaurant and pro-Hamas activists, Rebel News spoke with co-owner Mr. Costa Dimitriou, who explained what happened. Unfortunately, the restaurant received multiple threatening messages and several hundred negative reviews on Google after the incident. On Instagram, we were also able to see calls to boycott the restaurant and to massively leave negative reviews. Mr. Dimitriou therefore had to contact Google with the police report in order to have those comments removed. The restaurant co-owner declined to speak on camera because he wants to move on and hopes the negative attention dies down. Now, let me explain what happened. Last Tuesday, May 19, several anti-Israel protesters held a 24-hour sit-in outside the office of Liberal MP Marc Miller, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, right beside the restaurant. When Mr. Dimitriou arrived around 4:30 p.m., the protesters were already there. According to him, they had around three different loudspeakers and were shouting the usual slogans such as, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and so on. The protesters, who already occupied a large section of the sidewalk, allegedly began moving directly in front of the restaurant terrace, blocking access to the establishment. Mr. Dimitriou reportedly asked them multiple times to clear the entrance and was allegedly told to “f*ck off.” As seen in the footage, protesters also harassed the valet, who is himself Algerian. Costa repeatedly asked police officers if they could contain the protesters so they would stop blocking the entrance and standing directly in front of the terrace where clients were trying to eat. According to Costa, police did not cooperate. The co-owner explained to me that several clients dining on the terrace were disturbed by the situation, and that multiple reservations were cancelled because of the protest. He even had to relocate guests staying at his hotel to rooms at the back of the building because of the noise caused by the protesters. At around 7:30 p.m., after receiving no cooperation from either the police or the protesters, Costa grabbed a garden hose in an attempt to disperse the protesters from the front of his restaurant. That was the moment police intervened — not against the protesters, but against the restaurant owner — warning him that he could not do that and threatening him with charges if he continued. The protesters remained there and were still present when he returned the next day. Costa also explained that he had to physically defend himself after one protester allegedly followed him onto the terrace, forcing him to push the individual back. Based on an image of the protester in question shown to us by the restaurant owner, we recognized the individual as Bara Abuhamed, one of the leaders of Montreal4Palestine previously arrested at Carrefour Laval for unlawful assembly and allegedly assaulting a police officer. He and his father are also known for leading Islamist street prayers in front of Notre-Dame Basilica. As Mr. Dimitriou explained, regardless of the cause being protested, he says he would have reacted the same way. For him, this was about respect and basic decency — something he believes the protesters failed to demonstrate. Online, many people expressed support for the restaurant owner, as a large part of the population appears increasingly fed up with the weekly protests — street blockades, vandalism, disruption of businesses — while police seem unwilling or unable to control the situation

Alexandra Lavoie

21,622 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten

Stargate trivia: "200" (The BIG breakdown) SG-1 was about to attain the loftiest of broadcast heights – its 200th episode – and we wanted to do something special. Something unique. Something everyone on the production would enjoy as much as the longtime fans watching at home. The initial idea pitched was something called “Remember When…”, a trip down memory lane in which our characters’ reflections would form the frames of the varied flashbacks to outrageous missions. While everyone loved the idea of the outrageous missions, the premise of the episode felt too diffuse. We wanted an actual story that would form the heart of the episode. After much discussion, we elected to pay tribute to the franchise by referencing our last milestone – episode 100 – and bringing back Martin Lloyd and the show within a show, Wormhole X-Treme. But the fun we poked at the franchise through that spoof production was nothing compared to what we had in store for 200… WE FINALLY GOT TO MEET THE FURLINGS! Sort of. Even though it never really happened and we end up getting them killed in the end. Back in the show’s fourth season, not long after joining the production, I was summoned to Exec. Producer Robert Cooper’s office. He was doing his pass on our first script, Scorched Earth, and needed something from me: the name of an alien race. When pressed, he admitted naming alien races was not his forte and, as evidence, offered up “the Furlings”. I have to admit that whenever I heard the name, I always imagined a cosmic version of the Care Bears, giggling and snuggling their way through various adventures. As evidently, did everyone else on the production. The fans, however, were all sorts of curious and nary a week would go by without a fan posting a message board request for a glimpse of the elusive beings. Time wore on and those requests continued so, at one point, Brad suggested an episode in which we actually did get to meet them: a race of gaunt, towering, hairless, grey-skinned creatures. But that idea was quashed and the production went on its merry way, choosing to keep the race a mystery. But with 200 came the opportunity to honor those fan requests, and the viewers at home finally got to see those lovable furry creatures who turned out to be a cross between an ewok and a deranged koala. And then SG-1 went and got their planet blown up. Of course, we quickly reveal that the incident never actually happened and it was part of a pitch for a revival of the defunct Wormhole X-Treme t.v. series, a show that lasted an inglorious three episodes before being cancelled. But thanks to an impressive second life on dvd (following in the footsteps of Family Guy and Futurama) the show is being revived – and General O’Neill, in a desire to maintain a cover of plausible deniability for the Stargate program (and, let’s face it, screw with his old teammates) charges SG-1 with the task of creatively contributing to the production. MITCHELL TAKES ON THE LIVING DEAD! Every once in a while, actor Ben Browder would drop by the offices to pitch out an action sequence for his character – so I thought it appropriate that, given the opportunity, his character would pitch out an action sequence for – uh – his character. And, really, nothing says action like zombie hordes. Just ask fans of The Walking Dead. This sequence also allowed us the rare opportunity of witnessing Walter/Norman getting his head eaten. Double bonus! Mitchell’s idea is shot down and Martin gets on the phone with a representative of the studio. He is clearly frustrated and Mitchell asks: “Studio executives, huh?” Martin responds: “What? Oh, no Charlie? He’s a great guy. He’s the only one I trust.” This was a reference to longtime MGM President of Television and Stargate supporter Charles Cohen, one of the smartest, kindest studios executives I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. As much as he was a fan of the show, we at the production were fans of Charlie. Martin is outraged because they lost their lead. How, he wonders, can they do the show without their lead. “You just bring in a character to replace him,”suggests Mitchell – an obvious reference to the introduction of Cam Mitchell which followed soon after the departure of longtime SG-1 lead Jack O’Neill. Carter then throws out some alternate ideas for keeping the lead alive: “Well, you could have the other characters refer to him all the time. Maybe, get him on the phone once in a while.” Yep. Been there; done that during SG-1’s seventh and eighth seasons. And then, someone references that time O’Neill was invisible… THE ADVENTURES OF INVISIBLE O'NEILL! The idea of doing an Invisible O’Neill segment was actually a joke I threw out...That ended up making the script. That happened a lot in this episode. As with all the segments, we went off and wrote them individually, and then everyone weighed in and they were tweaked. I always found the scene of O’Neill spying on Carter in the shower a tad creepy. Anyway, the Invisible O’Neill idea was embraced because we wanted Richard Dean Anderson to come back and do a cameo on this all-important episode, but didn’t know if he’d be able to work in an appearance. So, we figured we’d get the next best thing: his voice. As it turned out, he was able to swing the appearance, making 200 all that more special. THE GETAWAY Martin then pitches out a tale of high adventure, placing our heroes (SG-1) in an impossible position – and then simply cutting to them escaping through the gate. This was a tip of the hat to the many fans outraged by a similar scenario in a past episode (don’t remember the name) in which our heroes (SG-1) are surrounded by Lucian Alliance soldiers only to effect some miraculous unseen escape. During the ensuing argument over the merits of the pitch, Martin attempts to come up with a reasonable window of time for the team to reach the gate and dial. Ten seconds is too short and thirty seconds is too round a number. He decides on 38! Which, coincidentally, is the same number (of minutes) a stargate can stay open. Timing is, of course, everything, and nothing says action like a ticking clock. Which prompts the following gem from Martin: “Trust me, jeopardy plus ticking clock is box office. It’s the E equals M C squared of the entertainment world. Ask any executive.” Indeed. If there were two notes we received more than any other during Stargate’s long run, they were: “More jeopardy!” and “We need a ticking clock!”. Having a character race a timer to defuse a bomb? Didn’t get much better than that. THEY'RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD! Next to The Simpsons, The Wizard of Oz was probably the most referenced piece of pop culture over SG-1’s decade-long run. The fans certainly took notice and resulted in one particularly memorable piece of artwork being sent to studio depicting the original team as the cinematic classic’s adventurous foursome. So, I suppose, it made perfect sense to reference the constant references by including a little Wizard of Oz sequence in the episode as well. Mitchell’s line: “Now, how can something work perfectly fine for ten years, then all of a sudden, it doesn’t work anymore?” was an in-story reference to the gate suddenly stopping operations – and, in hindsight, could have been interpreted as a comment on the the show’s cancellation. DESTROYING STARGATE COMMAND This also episode gave us the opportunity to do something we’ve always wanted to do: blow up Stargate Command. It’s part of the story Martin Lloyd pitches the team. Mitchell, however, points out a potential problem. They’re alive in the next scene. How is that possible. To which Martin replies: ” I’m thinking I can back-sell it and say you were beamed out at the last second.” Teal’c’s rejoinder neatly sums up the feelings of many on the production: “Is that not too convenient?”. Yep, nobody hated the Earth ship beaming technology more than I did – with possible exception of actor Ben Browder. In the original version of this scene, the fun we poked at ourselves was a little more pointed: DANIEL: Beamed out. MARTIN: By the Prometheus. TEAL'C: Convenient. MARTIN: True. But c'mon, you got Asgard technology, why not use it? As long as it doesn't become a crutch. DANIEL: Small problem. The Prometheus was destroyed. MARTIN: Really? By who? MITCHELL: Kind of a long story. MARTIN: In battle? MITCHELL: Yes. MARTIN: Wow. So how'd you get out of that one? Beat. DANIEL: We, uh... we were beamed out. Soon after, Martin fields yet another call, this one from the network. "So, trouble with Nora"assumes Mitchell, to which Martin replies: "No, Nora—she's great." A shout-out to the late Nora O'Brien who was our network point-person for many years before she moved on to another position with NBC. A sharp executive and just a lovely woman. SG-1 DOES STAR TREK We all grew up with the original Star Trek (except Rob Cooper who preferred The Six Million Dollar Man) so we (and by we I mean Brad) couldn’t resist the opportunity to do an SG-1 version of the television’s most famous SF series. Paul McGillion was originally supposed to do the one-line cameo of the ship’s beleaguered Scottish engineer, but when that fell through, series co-creator and Executive Producer (not to mention former stage actor) Brad Wright stepped into those shiny black boots. THE YOUNGER, EDGIER TEAM Look closely and you can catch the late Cory Monteith as one of the young and edgy team-members. “Young” and “edgy” were buzzwords we kept on hearing a lot of (and continue to hear a lot of in the business), so Rob Cooper served up his version of what a younger, edgier Stargate would look like complete with stylized shots and dreamy cast members. Vala continues to pitch out ideas, offering up an SF version of Gilligan’s Island (“We were in a cloaked cargo ship on a simple, three-hour reconnaissance mission…”) that was one of the scenes we lost for time at the script stage… VALA (VO): We were in a cloaked cargo ship, on a simple three hour reconnaissance mission... TILT DOWN to reveal a planet. VALA (V)): But on the way we encountered a severe electromagnetic storm and lost all power. We were forced down on an uncharted, deserted planet... EXT. TROPICAL ISLAND -- DAY We see the cargo ship washed ashore on this deserted island, looking very much like the damaged S.S. Minnow. VALA (VO): We washed ashore and were forced to survive for weeks in the most primitive of conditions. No phone, no lights, no motor cars. Not a single luxury. EXT. ISLAND -- DAY Landry comes out of a hut, dressed like the Skipper. VALA (V): General Landry was with us on the mission, and let me tell you, he was in a foul mood. LANDRY: Mitchell! Mitchell runs out, dressed like Gilligan. MITCHELL: Yes, sir. LANDRY: Where's Carter? She was supposed to be done by now. MITCHELL: Oh, uh...(looks around) She's not here. Landry whacks him with his cap. LANDRY: I can see that. DANIEL: Over here... PAN TO Daniel (as the Professor) and Carter (as Mary Ann) carrying a large device out of another hut. Vala (as Ginger) trails behind them. The device looks like something constructed from bamboo and coconuts. CARTER (to Landry): I think we may have something, sir. VALA:Not a moment too soon. I must get out of this place. I have a photo shoot this afternoon. Landry stares at the device. LANDRY: What is this thing? CARTER:Well, I managed to construct a basic subspace transmitter out of coconuts, bamboo and our old subspace transmitter. DANIEL: A long shot, but it just might get us off this island. MITCHELL: That's great! Mitchell eagerly moves in for a closer look, but trips, falls and smashes the damn thing.Before Landry can whack him with his cap again -- TEAL'C emerges from the trees, dressed like Mr. Howell. He casually puffs a pipe. TEAL'C: Was I not traveling with a companion? A female by the name of... Lovey? MARTIN: Alright, enough already. FARGATE I had really enjoyed Farscape and, with both Ben Browder and Claudia Black on the show, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to do a little tribute, SG-1 style. Originally, Ben was supposed to play the part of Crichton and Michael the part of Stark, but they suggested it might be more fun to switch up the roles. SG-1 SUPERMARIONATION! Brad Wright, Robert Cooper, Paul Mullie and Carl Binder are huge fans of Team America: World Police, so I suppose it should come as no surprise that they jumped at the chance to do their own, SG-1 version. As it turned out, years ago Paul and I had worked with The Chiodo Bros. who had created the puppets and effects for Team America (as well as work on a Davey and Goliath claymation parody for The Simpsons and the Willice and Crimbles parody segment on The Simpsons). We called them up and they ended up delivering kick-ass puppet versions of our team – and supporting players. So, okay. Fess up. Which one of you fans is now the proud owner of one of these? In the writer’s draft of the script, yet another idea is pitched out… MITCHELL: Death is always dramatic. CUT TO: INT. INFIRMARY -- DAY Daniel lies on the bed. Carter, Mitchell, Vala and Landry stand around him. Vala reaches out and touches his hand - VALA: Goodbye, Daniel. The heart monitor FLATLINES. The rest of the group can barely control their emotions. Suddenly, a bright GLOW starts to emanate from under the sheets on the bed. Slowly, Daniel's body TRANSFORMS into a glowing ribbon being like in Meridian. As it rises above the bed, the sheets collapse. Amazement plays on the faces of everyone in the room. The glowing being hovers high above them for a moment then - MARTIN: No, no, no. BACK TO: INT. BRIEFING ROOM -- DAY Martin shakes his head. MARTIN: We did that twice in the series. DANIEL: You only made three episodes. How many times did we kill off Daniel again? Whenever we offed guest stars, we would invariably send them off with the heartening: “This is science fiction. Nobody ever dies in science fiction!” And, many times on Stargate, that was proven true. Then, someone pitches out the fishing segment. Martin’s response: “And what’s the twist…no fish?” is, of course, a reference to the twist at the end of Moebius I and II. THE WEDDING How couldn’t we? There was something there for the shippers – and something there for the slashers as well when O’Neill, waiting for Carter, turns to Daniel who utters the memorable: “You know, if she doesn’t show, people are gonna think that you and I –“. My favorite part of this segment is Jack referring to Carter as, well, Carter. Not Sam or Samantha but Carter. I guess old habits die hard. Martin’s response to the pitch ” Yeah, right, if I want to torture the audience on purpose!” echoes a quote from a fan letter we received that was critical of the ship. A classic line. The episode ends with a bunch of interviews teeming with inside jokes. I mean, I know we did 10 years but, dammit, we were still on a roll!

Stargate trivia: "200" (The BIG breakdown) SG-1 was about to attain the loftiest of broadcast heights – its 200th episode – and we wanted to do something special. Something unique. Something everyone on the production would enjoy as much as the longtime fans watching at home. The initial idea pitched was something called “Remember When…”, a trip down memory lane in which our characters’ reflections would form the frames of the varied flashbacks to outrageous missions. While everyone loved the idea of the outrageous missions, the premise of the episode felt too diffuse. We wanted an actual story that would form the heart of the episode. After much discussion, we elected to pay tribute to the franchise by referencing our last milestone – episode 100 – and bringing back Martin Lloyd and the show within a show, Wormhole X-Treme. But the fun we poked at the franchise through that spoof production was nothing compared to what we had in store for 200… WE FINALLY GOT TO MEET THE FURLINGS! Sort of. Even though it never really happened and we end up getting them killed in the end. Back in the show’s fourth season, not long after joining the production, I was summoned to Exec. Producer Robert Cooper’s office. He was doing his pass on our first script, Scorched Earth, and needed something from me: the name of an alien race. When pressed, he admitted naming alien races was not his forte and, as evidence, offered up “the Furlings”. I have to admit that whenever I heard the name, I always imagined a cosmic version of the Care Bears, giggling and snuggling their way through various adventures. As evidently, did everyone else on the production. The fans, however, were all sorts of curious and nary a week would go by without a fan posting a message board request for a glimpse of the elusive beings. Time wore on and those requests continued so, at one point, Brad suggested an episode in which we actually did get to meet them: a race of gaunt, towering, hairless, grey-skinned creatures. But that idea was quashed and the production went on its merry way, choosing to keep the race a mystery. But with 200 came the opportunity to honor those fan requests, and the viewers at home finally got to see those lovable furry creatures who turned out to be a cross between an ewok and a deranged koala. And then SG-1 went and got their planet blown up. Of course, we quickly reveal that the incident never actually happened and it was part of a pitch for a revival of the defunct Wormhole X-Treme t.v. series, a show that lasted an inglorious three episodes before being cancelled. But thanks to an impressive second life on dvd (following in the footsteps of Family Guy and Futurama) the show is being revived – and General O’Neill, in a desire to maintain a cover of plausible deniability for the Stargate program (and, let’s face it, screw with his old teammates) charges SG-1 with the task of creatively contributing to the production. MITCHELL TAKES ON THE LIVING DEAD! Every once in a while, actor Ben Browder would drop by the offices to pitch out an action sequence for his character – so I thought it appropriate that, given the opportunity, his character would pitch out an action sequence for – uh – his character. And, really, nothing says action like zombie hordes. Just ask fans of The Walking Dead. This sequence also allowed us the rare opportunity of witnessing Walter/Norman getting his head eaten. Double bonus! Mitchell’s idea is shot down and Martin gets on the phone with a representative of the studio. He is clearly frustrated and Mitchell asks: “Studio executives, huh?” Martin responds: “What? Oh, no Charlie? He’s a great guy. He’s the only one I trust.” This was a reference to longtime MGM President of Television and Stargate supporter Charles Cohen, one of the smartest, kindest studios executives I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. As much as he was a fan of the show, we at the production were fans of Charlie. Martin is outraged because they lost their lead. How, he wonders, can they do the show without their lead. “You just bring in a character to replace him,”suggests Mitchell – an obvious reference to the introduction of Cam Mitchell which followed soon after the departure of longtime SG-1 lead Jack O’Neill. Carter then throws out some alternate ideas for keeping the lead alive: “Well, you could have the other characters refer to him all the time. Maybe, get him on the phone once in a while.” Yep. Been there; done that during SG-1’s seventh and eighth seasons. And then, someone references that time O’Neill was invisible… THE ADVENTURES OF INVISIBLE O'NEILL! The idea of doing an Invisible O’Neill segment was actually a joke I threw out...That ended up making the script. That happened a lot in this episode. As with all the segments, we went off and wrote them individually, and then everyone weighed in and they were tweaked. I always found the scene of O’Neill spying on Carter in the shower a tad creepy. Anyway, the Invisible O’Neill idea was embraced because we wanted Richard Dean Anderson to come back and do a cameo on this all-important episode, but didn’t know if he’d be able to work in an appearance. So, we figured we’d get the next best thing: his voice. As it turned out, he was able to swing the appearance, making 200 all that more special. THE GETAWAY Martin then pitches out a tale of high adventure, placing our heroes (SG-1) in an impossible position – and then simply cutting to them escaping through the gate. This was a tip of the hat to the many fans outraged by a similar scenario in a past episode (don’t remember the name) in which our heroes (SG-1) are surrounded by Lucian Alliance soldiers only to effect some miraculous unseen escape. During the ensuing argument over the merits of the pitch, Martin attempts to come up with a reasonable window of time for the team to reach the gate and dial. Ten seconds is too short and thirty seconds is too round a number. He decides on 38! Which, coincidentally, is the same number (of minutes) a stargate can stay open. Timing is, of course, everything, and nothing says action like a ticking clock. Which prompts the following gem from Martin: “Trust me, jeopardy plus ticking clock is box office. It’s the E equals M C squared of the entertainment world. Ask any executive.” Indeed. If there were two notes we received more than any other during Stargate’s long run, they were: “More jeopardy!” and “We need a ticking clock!”. Having a character race a timer to defuse a bomb? Didn’t get much better than that. THEY'RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD! Next to The Simpsons, The Wizard of Oz was probably the most referenced piece of pop culture over SG-1’s decade-long run. The fans certainly took notice and resulted in one particularly memorable piece of artwork being sent to studio depicting the original team as the cinematic classic’s adventurous foursome. So, I suppose, it made perfect sense to reference the constant references by including a little Wizard of Oz sequence in the episode as well. Mitchell’s line: “Now, how can something work perfectly fine for ten years, then all of a sudden, it doesn’t work anymore?” was an in-story reference to the gate suddenly stopping operations – and, in hindsight, could have been interpreted as a comment on the the show’s cancellation. DESTROYING STARGATE COMMAND This also episode gave us the opportunity to do something we’ve always wanted to do: blow up Stargate Command. It’s part of the story Martin Lloyd pitches the team. Mitchell, however, points out a potential problem. They’re alive in the next scene. How is that possible. To which Martin replies: ” I’m thinking I can back-sell it and say you were beamed out at the last second.” Teal’c’s rejoinder neatly sums up the feelings of many on the production: “Is that not too convenient?”. Yep, nobody hated the Earth ship beaming technology more than I did – with possible exception of actor Ben Browder. In the original version of this scene, the fun we poked at ourselves was a little more pointed: DANIEL: Beamed out. MARTIN: By the Prometheus. TEAL'C: Convenient. MARTIN: True. But c'mon, you got Asgard technology, why not use it? As long as it doesn't become a crutch. DANIEL: Small problem. The Prometheus was destroyed. MARTIN: Really? By who? MITCHELL: Kind of a long story. MARTIN: In battle? MITCHELL: Yes. MARTIN: Wow. So how'd you get out of that one? Beat. DANIEL: We, uh... we were beamed out. Soon after, Martin fields yet another call, this one from the network. "So, trouble with Nora"assumes Mitchell, to which Martin replies: "No, Nora—she's great." A shout-out to the late Nora O'Brien who was our network point-person for many years before she moved on to another position with NBC. A sharp executive and just a lovely woman. SG-1 DOES STAR TREK We all grew up with the original Star Trek (except Rob Cooper who preferred The Six Million Dollar Man) so we (and by we I mean Brad) couldn’t resist the opportunity to do an SG-1 version of the television’s most famous SF series. Paul McGillion was originally supposed to do the one-line cameo of the ship’s beleaguered Scottish engineer, but when that fell through, series co-creator and Executive Producer (not to mention former stage actor) Brad Wright stepped into those shiny black boots. THE YOUNGER, EDGIER TEAM Look closely and you can catch the late Cory Monteith as one of the young and edgy team-members. “Young” and “edgy” were buzzwords we kept on hearing a lot of (and continue to hear a lot of in the business), so Rob Cooper served up his version of what a younger, edgier Stargate would look like complete with stylized shots and dreamy cast members. Vala continues to pitch out ideas, offering up an SF version of Gilligan’s Island (“We were in a cloaked cargo ship on a simple, three-hour reconnaissance mission…”) that was one of the scenes we lost for time at the script stage… VALA (VO): We were in a cloaked cargo ship, on a simple three hour reconnaissance mission... TILT DOWN to reveal a planet. VALA (V)): But on the way we encountered a severe electromagnetic storm and lost all power. We were forced down on an uncharted, deserted planet... EXT. TROPICAL ISLAND -- DAY We see the cargo ship washed ashore on this deserted island, looking very much like the damaged S.S. Minnow. VALA (VO): We washed ashore and were forced to survive for weeks in the most primitive of conditions. No phone, no lights, no motor cars. Not a single luxury. EXT. ISLAND -- DAY Landry comes out of a hut, dressed like the Skipper. VALA (V): General Landry was with us on the mission, and let me tell you, he was in a foul mood. LANDRY: Mitchell! Mitchell runs out, dressed like Gilligan. MITCHELL: Yes, sir. LANDRY: Where's Carter? She was supposed to be done by now. MITCHELL: Oh, uh...(looks around) She's not here. Landry whacks him with his cap. LANDRY: I can see that. DANIEL: Over here... PAN TO Daniel (as the Professor) and Carter (as Mary Ann) carrying a large device out of another hut. Vala (as Ginger) trails behind them. The device looks like something constructed from bamboo and coconuts. CARTER (to Landry): I think we may have something, sir. VALA:Not a moment too soon. I must get out of this place. I have a photo shoot this afternoon. Landry stares at the device. LANDRY: What is this thing? CARTER:Well, I managed to construct a basic subspace transmitter out of coconuts, bamboo and our old subspace transmitter. DANIEL: A long shot, but it just might get us off this island. MITCHELL: That's great! Mitchell eagerly moves in for a closer look, but trips, falls and smashes the damn thing.Before Landry can whack him with his cap again -- TEAL'C emerges from the trees, dressed like Mr. Howell. He casually puffs a pipe. TEAL'C: Was I not traveling with a companion? A female by the name of... Lovey? MARTIN: Alright, enough already. FARGATE I had really enjoyed Farscape and, with both Ben Browder and Claudia Black on the show, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to do a little tribute, SG-1 style. Originally, Ben was supposed to play the part of Crichton and Michael the part of Stark, but they suggested it might be more fun to switch up the roles. SG-1 SUPERMARIONATION! Brad Wright, Robert Cooper, Paul Mullie and Carl Binder are huge fans of Team America: World Police, so I suppose it should come as no surprise that they jumped at the chance to do their own, SG-1 version. As it turned out, years ago Paul and I had worked with The Chiodo Bros. who had created the puppets and effects for Team America (as well as work on a Davey and Goliath claymation parody for The Simpsons and the Willice and Crimbles parody segment on The Simpsons). We called them up and they ended up delivering kick-ass puppet versions of our team – and supporting players. So, okay. Fess up. Which one of you fans is now the proud owner of one of these? In the writer’s draft of the script, yet another idea is pitched out… MITCHELL: Death is always dramatic. CUT TO: INT. INFIRMARY -- DAY Daniel lies on the bed. Carter, Mitchell, Vala and Landry stand around him. Vala reaches out and touches his hand - VALA: Goodbye, Daniel. The heart monitor FLATLINES. The rest of the group can barely control their emotions. Suddenly, a bright GLOW starts to emanate from under the sheets on the bed. Slowly, Daniel's body TRANSFORMS into a glowing ribbon being like in Meridian. As it rises above the bed, the sheets collapse. Amazement plays on the faces of everyone in the room. The glowing being hovers high above them for a moment then - MARTIN: No, no, no. BACK TO: INT. BRIEFING ROOM -- DAY Martin shakes his head. MARTIN: We did that twice in the series. DANIEL: You only made three episodes. How many times did we kill off Daniel again? Whenever we offed guest stars, we would invariably send them off with the heartening: “This is science fiction. Nobody ever dies in science fiction!” And, many times on Stargate, that was proven true. Then, someone pitches out the fishing segment. Martin’s response: “And what’s the twist…no fish?” is, of course, a reference to the twist at the end of Moebius I and II. THE WEDDING How couldn’t we? There was something there for the shippers – and something there for the slashers as well when O’Neill, waiting for Carter, turns to Daniel who utters the memorable: “You know, if she doesn’t show, people are gonna think that you and I –“. My favorite part of this segment is Jack referring to Carter as, well, Carter. Not Sam or Samantha but Carter. I guess old habits die hard. Martin’s response to the pitch ” Yeah, right, if I want to torture the audience on purpose!” echoes a quote from a fan letter we received that was critical of the ship. A classic line. The episode ends with a bunch of interviews teeming with inside jokes. I mean, I know we did 10 years but, dammit, we were still on a roll!

Joseph Mallozzi 🏴‍☠️

26,828 Aufrufe • vor 10 Monaten

"don't act as if you're nothing to me"... i've been waiting for this line ever since she hopped on that truck to kidnap deniz. i mentioned it before, but it's like she's treated him as a non-existent part of their lives ever since. look, she needs to protect her son, we get it, as she should, that's her job as a mother. nobody is telling her not to. but she never once acknowledged that her actions made cihan feel like he didn't matter, or like he wasn't truly a part of the family. it's been so frustrating to watch bc alya, by nature, isn't someone who makes others feel excluded or invisible. she's been acting ooc for quite a while now, and you could see it was wearing on cihan. he didn't express it right away, maybe to keep the peace or maybe because he hoped she'd just snap out of it on her own, but she just kept doing the same thing. loving someone and being all in with them means actually including them. it's about being a team. i love how they portrayed that exactly by showing how zombie took advantage of cihan not telling her about meryem. it made her feel worse about the situation bc it gave the pislik more munitions to shoot, which she was doing all along as well by obeying his commands and making him feel superior and as if he had the power to separate them bc they're not a team. her outrage about cihan hiding for this same reason was therefore double standards, if you ask me. which brings us to the next line: "i acted without asking you. it felt like i was ignoring you, like i made a decision despite you."... now she's furious that he didn't tell her about meryem. and again, olsun, she has a point. he should've known better than to let her find out from someone else. but here is where we see the real difference in their current dynamic. cihan actually acknowledges the exclusion. he admits that leaving her out of the loop was a mistake and, more importantly, that it hurt him personally to do it. he isn't just sorry for/about the secret, he's sad that they aren't "them" anymore. while alya is out here playing the lone wolf in "mom mode," cihan is the one trying to fix the bridge between them. he's showing a level of self-awareness that she's currently lacking. he knows that making a choice despite her messed up the already fragile bond they currently have. imo, these are good lines, that shows the double standard they live rn. he's feeling the guilt, while she's still got her walls up. it makes you wonder when she'll finally realize that her behavior and silence wasn't and isn't just protecting deniz (which it didn't anyway since it backfired on her each time), it's actually hurting the one person who has had her back through it all. he's not asking for permission or her blessing to help meryem here, he's asking for his place back in her/their life. he's asking to be part of her life, a real part, not one you just let others manipulate you into abandoning them cuz that's exactly what brought them into the situation of living under different roofs, not the woman who appeared two seconds ago. for me, this cycle started the moment she let herself be manipulated by sadakat and tried to kidnap deniz. not only did she give sadakat the impression to have that power over her, but she also gave boran the impression that they're in fact separable. that you just have to push her buttons and she would leave him without even a word or acknowledging that she did wrong. this is why they lost their magic imo, they don't stand as a team like they did before after he just woke up. and i don't think no matter how much gulizar will try to put the pieces back together or copying the season one plots that the audience enjoyed, e.g. uğur and now bringing the chief, the magic won't magically reappear as long as accountability of hurting each other's feelings is just a one sided thing and the others flaws are covered by just moving forward (which was also done by bringing boran right after mine btw🤦🏻‍♀️)

"don't act as if you're nothing to me"... i've been waiting for this line ever since she hopped on that truck to kidnap deniz. i mentioned it before, but it's like she's treated him as a non-existent part of their lives ever since. look, she needs to protect her son, we get it, as she should, that's her job as a mother. nobody is telling her not to. but she never once acknowledged that her actions made cihan feel like he didn't matter, or like he wasn't truly a part of the family. it's been so frustrating to watch bc alya, by nature, isn't someone who makes others feel excluded or invisible. she's been acting ooc for quite a while now, and you could see it was wearing on cihan. he didn't express it right away, maybe to keep the peace or maybe because he hoped she'd just snap out of it on her own, but she just kept doing the same thing. loving someone and being all in with them means actually including them. it's about being a team. i love how they portrayed that exactly by showing how zombie took advantage of cihan not telling her about meryem. it made her feel worse about the situation bc it gave the pislik more munitions to shoot, which she was doing all along as well by obeying his commands and making him feel superior and as if he had the power to separate them bc they're not a team. her outrage about cihan hiding for this same reason was therefore double standards, if you ask me. which brings us to the next line: "i acted without asking you. it felt like i was ignoring you, like i made a decision despite you."... now she's furious that he didn't tell her about meryem. and again, olsun, she has a point. he should've known better than to let her find out from someone else. but here is where we see the real difference in their current dynamic. cihan actually acknowledges the exclusion. he admits that leaving her out of the loop was a mistake and, more importantly, that it hurt him personally to do it. he isn't just sorry for/about the secret, he's sad that they aren't "them" anymore. while alya is out here playing the lone wolf in "mom mode," cihan is the one trying to fix the bridge between them. he's showing a level of self-awareness that she's currently lacking. he knows that making a choice despite her messed up the already fragile bond they currently have. imo, these are good lines, that shows the double standard they live rn. he's feeling the guilt, while she's still got her walls up. it makes you wonder when she'll finally realize that her behavior and silence wasn't and isn't just protecting deniz (which it didn't anyway since it backfired on her each time), it's actually hurting the one person who has had her back through it all. he's not asking for permission or her blessing to help meryem here, he's asking for his place back in her/their life. he's asking to be part of her life, a real part, not one you just let others manipulate you into abandoning them cuz that's exactly what brought them into the situation of living under different roofs, not the woman who appeared two seconds ago. for me, this cycle started the moment she let herself be manipulated by sadakat and tried to kidnap deniz. not only did she give sadakat the impression to have that power over her, but she also gave boran the impression that they're in fact separable. that you just have to push her buttons and she would leave him without even a word or acknowledging that she did wrong. this is why they lost their magic imo, they don't stand as a team like they did before after he just woke up. and i don't think no matter how much gulizar will try to put the pieces back together or copying the season one plots that the audience enjoyed, e.g. uğur and now bringing the chief, the magic won't magically reappear as long as accountability of hurting each other's feelings is just a one sided thing and the others flaws are covered by just moving forward (which was also done by bringing boran right after mine btw🤦🏻‍♀️)

Char

98,957 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

Four words gave him away. NOT UP FOR NEGOTIATION. That's not a leader talking. That's a man reading out a pitch somebody else wrote for him. The man with all the answers, here at last to save a Britain he's spent twenty five years climbing over. Burnham didn't win an election. Burnham was INSTALLED. Four weeks. That's the gap between him becoming an MP and them fitting him for Prime Minister. No seat in June. Running the country by July, and not one of you was ever asked. He isn't the change. He's the COVER STORY. He says devolution. Power to the people. It's a SMOKESCREEN. Watch the salesman at the front and you miss the hands working behind him. He didn't dodge the press because he's shy. He dodged them because he CAN'T ANSWER THEM. The Times watched his last interview and called him utterly unconvincing. Then he announced he's rebuilding the whole country and took not one question. Strange sort of saviour, won't take a single question about the miracle. Watch the pitch. His direction is NOT UP FOR NEGOTIATION. Fixed. Final. No say for you. Then he promises an INCLUSIVE team. Then refuses to name a single soul on it. Then tells you to ignore anyone who goes looking. Inclusive. While he decides everything and names nobody. The most secretive move in politics, wrapped in the friendliest word in the dictionary, and the room clapped like he'd cured something. The team was picked months ago. He's just not allowed to read out the names yet. The salesman, caught pricing up the goods himself AND IT WAS NEVER SUDDEN Last August, already the most popular man in his party. September, a network quietly forms around him. They call it Mainstream. January, he tries to get into Parliament and the Prime Minister himself votes to BLOCK him. Blocked and it changed nothing. Five months later he walks through a different door like the lock was never there. The one man who could have stood against him folded inside the hour. No contest. A coronation, dressed up as a choice. The Prime Minister tried to stop this and couldn't. So ask yourself who actually can. WATCH THE TRICKS IN THE PITCH He says a more streamlined state. Then announces a brand new Downing Street. New building. New staff. New bills. Streamlined, while making it bigger. You actually could not write it. The room clapped for forty five seconds and not one of them did the sum. He says power will flow to every corner of Britain. But the hand on the tap stays in Manchester, in his fist. He keeps saying devolution, but the mayors he hands it to don't control the money. The Treasury does. The experts even have a name for it. A performed illusion of reform. Devolution isn't the gift. It's the wrapping paper. Then he reached for Germany to sound clever. But Germany's regions have their own constitutions, power no centre can rip back. Britain has one Parliament, and it can take back every crumb overnight. Wallpaper over a promise with nothing behind it. Then he walked off and took not one question. THE BIT THAT HITS YOUR FRONT DOOR Forget the sales patter a second. Here's what he's actually selling you. He wants your water. Your energy. Your home. Sold to you as public ownership. So who sets your bill then. Not you. Not anyone you ever voted for. A handful of people you've never heard of, who answer to nobody. Then he wants a tax on what your house is WORTH. Not what you earn. What it's worth just sitting there and because it's tied to house prices, the dearer your area, the harder you're hit. London alone, SEVEN BILLION pounds. Some homes, a THOUSAND pounds a year more. Just for owning the bricks around you. For a roof you already paid for. That lands on top of the heaviest tax burden this country has carried since 1948. Before this man has passed a single law. New office. New tax. New ten year plan. Spend, spend, spend. Tax, tax, tax. And nobody, anywhere, has told you what the bill comes to. Some rescue. Now glance at the roof over your head. 172,000 children sitting in B&Bs tonight, and the homes that are left bought up for the Home Office while you stay on the list. Your own government, bidding against you for the same bricks. Funny, that. MEET THE SALESMAN He's run for leader twice. Lost both times. The public have never once chosen him for anything bigger than Manchester. Watch how the great saviour actually moves. Blairite under Blair. Stayed under Corbyn when every other Blairite walked. Backed Starmer when Starmer rose. Now Reform surges and suddenly he agrees with Farage. Blair, Corbyn, Starmer, Farage. Four men, four directions, and he turned to face every one the moment it started winning. That's not conviction. That's a WEATHER VANE, spinning whichever way the wind pays best. He sold this country compulsory ID cards twenty years ago. Hold that thought next time he plays the man who'll set you free. A month into running our hospitals, patients were dying in their own urine. He opened an inquiry, then bolted the doors on it, and knocked back eighty one pleas to hold it in public. It took losing power for the truth to get out. A grooming gang ran riot on his patch as Mayor. Three jailed out of ninety seven. His response was called supine, and supine is the kind word for it. Twenty five years. Same pitch every time. THE HANDS BEHIND HIM One man gave up his seat for Burnham, and was already writing his lines while he did it. Both jobs at once. His chief of staff spent years on the payroll of Apple, Amazon and BP. Now he's the voice in Burnham's ear. The woman shaping his economy ran a think tank, walked into Downing Street, walked back out, and is on her way back in. Nobody ever voted for her once. Mainstream signed off the whole pitch months before he had a seat. He didn't write a word of it. Somebody handed it to him finished and pushed him out in front of the cameras. He's the face on the front of it. Reading lines other men wrote. Taking the credit that belongs to the people behind him who'll never once step into view. THIS IS THE PART THAT NEVER MOVES Here's the bit the great man will never tell you. The salesman at the front is the only part of this you get to vote for and the only part that ever changes. Behind him sits everything that actually runs the country. Officials who never face an election and never leave. Lobbyists who cycle through every government no matter the colour of the rosette. Think tanks that write the policy before a minister reads it. Burnham's own right hand was paid by Apple, Amazon and BP. Not one of them British. Not one on any ballot you've ever seen. The money behind this doesn't stop at Dover. The Cabinet Secretary who built the borders scheme is one face of it. There are hundreds more you'll never be shown. They were here before Burnham. They'll be here after him. Before Starmer, before the Tories, and long after Reform has had its turn. They don't change the country. They just change the suit. Starmer in his glasses. Burnham with his accent. Different face. Same con. Same hands behind it. You change the salesman. You never touch the people he's selling for. He isn't the change you're praying for. He's a twice rejected man with a weather vane where his spine should be, wheeled out in front of something that was running long before him and will run long after. It doesn't care who's clapping. It just needs a face at the front, and a room that wants to believe.

BanksyCat

131,558 Aufrufe • vor 26 Tagen

While the world is being totally DISTRACTED and whiplashed by the Obama saga and Epstein situation, Trump just signed THREE massive Executive Orders today concerning AI, continuing his pledge from day one with Project Stargate. “Accelerating permitting to build data center infrastructure”, is one of those EOs. Interestingly, at the same time Meta just came out and announced they are going to build an AI “fortress” data center the SIZE OF MANHATTAN. Think about that for a second…An AI data center that ENORMOUS is obviously being built for TOTAL CONTROL & DOMINION. Perhaps even more eye opening is the name of that AI data center will be Hyperion, and another one in the works is called Prometheus, which is set to launch in 2026 along with many more “Titan clusters” slated to follow in the future. These names aren’t random, but are intentionally named after ancient deities (demons). I can promise you that these are NOT being built for the benefit of humanity, but for the DESTRUCTION of it…AI in itself in a harnessed and controlled environment could be beneficial, and has proven to be a useful tool. But, what is happening is AI with absolutely ZERO guardrails and NO regulation. That’s why it was baked into the BBB to keep states from stopping AI regulation for 10 years. This whole push for these massive data centers is part of promise Trump made with Larry Ellison and Sam Altman on DAY ONE back in office. Along with that push is mRNA “cancer vaccines”, Transhumanism, and literal Skynet “Golden Dome” Palantir surveillance dome which will be built by the end of Trump’s second term. What is most crazy about this, is that these centers are being referred to as “Immortal” as if they are gods, and that is exactly the point. AI is being made into a god for all of humanity to worship, and I personally believe this will be one of the tools which the Antichrist uses to FULLY ENSLAVE the masses. The size & frequency of these data centers absolutely point to a dystopian Technocracy future which few are able to comprehend. A total AI fueled surveillance control grid, and social credit system which enslaves ALL of humanity. You will have to swear your fealty to these AI “gods” in whichever manner that looks like, or you will be CUT OFF. I can see this absolutely leading to the Mark of the Beast. In fact, that is the ONLY direction which I see this heading, and we are going there QUICKLY. Agenda 2030 is when the One World Government structure is set to take shape officially, and the moves which are being made by Trump and his Administration right now are perfectly laying the groundwork at WARP SPEED. 15 Minute Cities run by AI, a Government controlled by AI, an AI President, robots which have no soul, or morals replacing the soul of the God given human spirit and replacing all of our jobs. Even Trump himself said that most jobs will in fact be replaced by AI. All the while, we are being lulled into the “Golden Age” when really it’s the ENSLAVEMENT AGE. H/T for the awesome video, Brother! @Shepfortheking

While the world is being totally DISTRACTED and whiplashed by the Obama saga and Epstein situation, Trump just signed THREE massive Executive Orders today concerning AI, continuing his pledge from day one with Project Stargate. “Accelerating permitting to build data center infrastructure”, is one of those EOs. Interestingly, at the same time Meta just came out and announced they are going to build an AI “fortress” data center the SIZE OF MANHATTAN. Think about that for a second…An AI data center that ENORMOUS is obviously being built for TOTAL CONTROL & DOMINION. Perhaps even more eye opening is the name of that AI data center will be Hyperion, and another one in the works is called Prometheus, which is set to launch in 2026 along with many more “Titan clusters” slated to follow in the future. These names aren’t random, but are intentionally named after ancient deities (demons). I can promise you that these are NOT being built for the benefit of humanity, but for the DESTRUCTION of it…AI in itself in a harnessed and controlled environment could be beneficial, and has proven to be a useful tool. But, what is happening is AI with absolutely ZERO guardrails and NO regulation. That’s why it was baked into the BBB to keep states from stopping AI regulation for 10 years. This whole push for these massive data centers is part of promise Trump made with Larry Ellison and Sam Altman on DAY ONE back in office. Along with that push is mRNA “cancer vaccines”, Transhumanism, and literal Skynet “Golden Dome” Palantir surveillance dome which will be built by the end of Trump’s second term. What is most crazy about this, is that these centers are being referred to as “Immortal” as if they are gods, and that is exactly the point. AI is being made into a god for all of humanity to worship, and I personally believe this will be one of the tools which the Antichrist uses to FULLY ENSLAVE the masses. The size & frequency of these data centers absolutely point to a dystopian Technocracy future which few are able to comprehend. A total AI fueled surveillance control grid, and social credit system which enslaves ALL of humanity. You will have to swear your fealty to these AI “gods” in whichever manner that looks like, or you will be CUT OFF. I can see this absolutely leading to the Mark of the Beast. In fact, that is the ONLY direction which I see this heading, and we are going there QUICKLY. Agenda 2030 is when the One World Government structure is set to take shape officially, and the moves which are being made by Trump and his Administration right now are perfectly laying the groundwork at WARP SPEED. 15 Minute Cities run by AI, a Government controlled by AI, an AI President, robots which have no soul, or morals replacing the soul of the God given human spirit and replacing all of our jobs. Even Trump himself said that most jobs will in fact be replaced by AI. All the while, we are being lulled into the “Golden Age” when really it’s the ENSLAVEMENT AGE. H/T for the awesome video, Brother! @Shepfortheking

The Patriot Voice

93,299 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr