War Powers Resolution Fails. Another Loser: Pottery Barn Doctrine. Condoleezza Rice Speaks on Iran. The New Normal: Talarico. Jack Schlossberg’s Resume. And More
“Next Step in the War: Iran Wants ‘Blood’; Trump Says US Can Fight ‘Forever’” is a USA TODAY headline. Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister called the torpedoing of an Iranian ship in the Indian Ocean by a U.S. Navy submarine “an atrocity.”
Submarine? Aren’t they relics of World War II? Apparently, the U.S. has been developing a secret new line of subs. The Iran war is also proving that President Trump was right on space force (via National Review):
The U.S. military’s dominance in space, primarily through the U.S. Space Force, the National Reconnaissance Office, and associated assets under U.S. Space Command played a pivotal role in the success of the early strikes against Iran, encompassing a network of satellites for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), Global Positioning System (GPS), communications, electronic warfare, and missile-warning systems.
The Democrat-led effort to curtail the President’s ability to conduct strikes by passing a War Powers Resolution failed in the Senate, by a 53-47 vote along party lines against taking up the measure. Berkeley law professor John Yoo writes that, despite what his congressional critics say, Trump’s actions in Iran are in line with the Framers’ views of presidential power. “A savvier party would have waited before lashing out against the attack on Iran,” the Wall Street Journal’s Barton Swaim argues. “Now they’ll benefit only if America fails,” he writes.
Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke about Iran on Fox’s Special Report with Bret Baier yesterday:
Joining “Special Report” Wednesday, Rice praised U.S.-Israeli joint strikes against Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while emphasizing the operation does not mark the beginning of a new war.
“Iran has been at war with us for at least 47 years,” she explained. “If you ask people about Iraq, what was the source of many of our casualties in Iraq, you’ll get estimates as high as 75 or 80% of them were due to Iranian-made roadside bombs.” …
“If you can render Iran essentially incapable of military action against us and against our allies, that’s worthy,” Rice told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier. “And I think what they’re trying to do is to neuter Iran as a military power in the region.”
Just No Nation Building, Please. That’s according to J. Peder Zane, who writes at Real Clear Politics that it’s time to retire the “Pottery Barn Doctrine:”
Articulated by Secretary of State Colin Powell in the run-up to the Iraq War, it holds that when you break something – in this case, a nation, rather than a vase – you own it.
As Trump plans for next steps in Iran, cold-eyed pragmatists – whether they favored or opposed this latest U.S. military action – should hope he ignores Powell’s high-minded yet wrong-headed formulation that inspired decades of failed and costly attempts at nation-building in the Middle East.
It might sound callous, but the United States has no obligation to the Iranian people. When the bombs stop falling, America will share none of the blame if repressive forces continue to rule in Tehran. The country was broken before our military action. It was that brokenness that necessitated the attack.
The Free Beacon’s Andrew Stiles writes that the results of the Democratic Senate primary in Texas were just what the party’s elites (who poured lots of money into the contest) wanted:
Journalists and other Democratic elites fawned over [James] Talarico, a state lawmaker with the looks and demeanor of a fifth-grade boy giving an oral report for extra credit. They adored his “aw shucks, why can’t we all just get along?” routine. In glowing profile after glowing profile, they marveled at his Christianity-themed rhetoric. (He once declared that “God is non-binary” while arguing that men should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.)
Former president Barack Obama called him a “terrific, talented young man.” He was Beto O’Rourke 2.0—a new and improved version of the liberal darling who could “finally turn Texas blue” by appealing to normal Americans.
Charles C.W. Cooke, meanwhile, has unearthed creepy old Talarico tweets on having “white skin.” You decide how normal they are.
The three-candidate GOP primary did not yield a clear winner, and incumbent Senator John Cornyn and Texas AG Ken Paxton will face each other in a runoff. Hugh Hewitt urges the President to endorse Cornyn over longtime ally Paxton:
On May 26, 2026, the second half of President Donald Trump’s second term may be on the ballot.
Texas Senator John Cornyn held off Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to lead in the first round of the 2026 race for the Texas Senate seat, but since Congressman Wesley Hunt drew more than 13% of the primary vote, a run-off between Cornyn and Paxton will be held on May 26.
Senator Cornyn is a stalwart conservative, a former Texas State Supreme Court justice and a strong supporter of President Donald Trump. Attorney General Paxton is a fixture of the often black-and-blue brawling of the Lone Star State’s internal combinations.
Paxton was impeached by the overwhelmingly GOP-dominated state legislature on 16 counts of alleged wrongdoing in 2023. Paxton survived his trial in the Texas State Senate and was acquitted, but should he somehow catch and pass Cornyn in the run-off, the safe GOP seat in deep-red Texas suddenly becomes very winnable for the Democrats who have nominated boy-band-look alike James Talarico. Cornyn will roll over the young man. Paxton is likely to get rolled by him.
“The Supreme Court Restores Parents to Their Proper Place” is the headline on Ilya Shapiro’s City Journal piece about the Court’s decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta, which blocks California’s gender-transition secrecy rules. Shapiro writes:
The Supreme Court’s decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta marks a turning point in the fight over whether public schools may socially transition gender-dysphoric children without informing their parents. In lifting the Ninth Circuit’s stay of a district court injunction against California’s parental-exclusion policies, the Court has signaled that parents are more than just bystanders in the upbringing of their own children…
Though it’s an abbreviated ruling at the interim-relief stage, the broader significance of Mirabelli is profound: we may in retrospect call this moment Mirabelli dictu. Across the country, school districts have adopted policies that treat parents as obstacles rather than partners in education. Some educators insist that concealing a child’s gender transition is necessary for the child’s safety. But the Constitution doesn’t permit the state to displace parents’ moral and medical authority based on ideological disagreement.
The tide is turning, the constitutional questions are converging, and the Court appears increasingly prepared to provide clarity.
The tide is not turning for New York AG Letitia James, however:
Letitia James seems to think we’re still living in 2021.
Last week, the New York Attorney General sent a strongly worded warning to NYU Langone Hospital, which recently axed its “transgender youth health program” after President Trump threatened to pull funding late last year.
In the letter, she demanded that hospital reinstate services within 10 days or face “further action.”
The rap against Ivory Tower politicians is that they have “never made a payroll.” Meet a politician who’s never even been on a payroll: “Kennedy Scion Jack Schlossberg Had No ‘Earned Income’ in 2025 But Has Four Trust Funds, Disclosures Show” is a Washington Free Beacon headline. Schlossberg is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for New York’s 12th congressional seat.
In case you missed it Fox supplies the “five wildest moments” in Governor Tim Walz’s Hill testimony yesterday. The subject was massive fraud in Minnesota. … Powerline’s Bill Glahn has an intriguing take on Minnesota AG Keith Ellison’s appearance at the same hearing. … “ ‘Centrist’ Spanberger Doubles Down on Sanctuary Extremism” is Guy Benson on the Virginia Governor who ran as a moderate. … We hear a lot about the loneliness of young Americans. “Loneliness Is For Cowards” says Emma Camp. Nobody’s stopping you from throwing a party.
Ms. Must is off tomorrow. See you Monday.
