Jerome Powell Investigation. Why the ‘Keffiyeh Class’ Ignores Iran. Courageous Iranian Women vs. Radicalized Soccer Moms. Is Minneapolis Weimar? Groundhog News & More
Rumors abound in the swamp’s fetid air about the recently launched federal criminal investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Some Republicans are described as “stunned,” and they “fear blowback.” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is said to be “furious.” Or maybe more like “perturbed.” Axios reports:
A perturbed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told President Trump late Sunday that the federal investigation into the Federal Reserve chair “made a mess” and could be bad for financial markets, two sources familiar with the call told Axios.
Why it matters: Bessent’s worries about the financial fallout were somewhat realized Monday, when the dollar dropped as bond yields and the price of gold rose amid worries about political interference in the Fed.
The Wall Street Journal editorial this morning (“Lawfare for Dummies, Monetary Edition”) is hard-hitting:
In the annals of political lawfare there’s dumb, and then there’s the criminal subpoena federal prosecutors delivered Friday to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. President Trump would do himself and the country a big favor by firing those responsible for this fiasco.
The subpoena relates to testimony Mr. Powell gave to Congress in June concerning renovations to the Fed’s office buildings in Washington, D.C. Those renovations raised a brief ruckus over the summer after Administration officials such as Russ Vought of the Office of Management and Budget accused the Fed of running over budget on a needlessly grandiose project….
[President Trump’s] saner advisers are worried that Wall Street will view this as an attack on the Fed’s institutional independence, which it is. … This ploy may backfire on Mr. Trump’s plans for the Fed. Mr. Powell’s term as chairman ends in May, but his seat on the Board of Governors doesn’t expire until 2028. He issued a defiant statement about the subpoena Sunday night, describing it as a pretextual political assault on the Fed. …
Mr. Trump also is alienating Senators who will judge his nominees for confirmation. …
More potential for blowback, this development might hinder Trump in getting his choice to replace Powell confirmed.
A writer for the London Spectator dissents. “Lost in the hysterical media bleating about a new criminal investigation into Jerome Powell is any attempt to report fairly on his alleged transgressions,” writes Ben Cherkin. Cherkin argues that the DOJ believes Powell lied to Congress about the scope and cost of lavish, new headquarters for the Fed. Meanwhile, Larry Kudlow writes that Powell “is a terrible Fed Chair, but he’s not a criminal.”
Iran is on the brink. The government’s crackdown could still turn the tide, however. Hugh Hewitt writes that President Trump could secure his place in history with a well-aimed shove:
The difference between the illusion of power and its reality is the difference between Ayatollah Khamenei and President Donald Trump. Trump is on the cusp of joining the very small number of American presidents who reorder the world. Khamenei is on the cusp of history’s abyss reserved for murderous fanatics. If Trump tips Khamenei over that edge, the president’s place in history will be secure. He will have returned freedom to the great Persian people.
Where are the Western supporters of the brave Iranians who have taken to the streets? Wall Street Journal columnist Gerard Baker asks this question:
As the people of Iran brave another intensifying crackdown by their rulers after another effort to reclaim their basic rights from one of the world’s most repressive regimes, my question is: Where are the protests in the West? Specifically, where are all those defenders of persecuted Muslims who have been so active on the streets of New York, London, Sydney, Rome and elsewhere the past two years? Where are the demands for justice and freedom for the downtrodden victims of a brutally repressive state? …
Over the past two weeks, the clash between good and evil has seemed to be approaching a climax, and the brutality has escalated. Where are the student radicals disrupting classes? We all marveled at Queers for Palestine. …
It has something to do with politics. President Trump has led the way in diplomatically isolating Iran again—in both his first and second terms. He has gone much further, the first time around with the elimination of Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Quds force, and in this term with the attack on the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities. Washington’s leadership has clearly weakened Tehran’s grip. Some people no doubt would rather see Mr. Trump denied a foreign-policy success than see 90 million people liberated from tyranny.
While what Spiked-Online columnist Joanna Williams dubs the keffiyeh-clad class is indifferent to the struggle for freedom, Iran’s women have come to the fore. Their courage must be celebrated. Williams writes:
The presence of women at the heart of Iran’s uprising is significant. By protesting against laws mandating strict dress codes and compulsory wearing of the hijab, women are not just defying Iran’s Islamist dictatorship, but also the sexist and oppressive practices associated with Islam more broadly. Anti-hijab protests expose the myth, endlessly repeated by the BBC and other liberal news outlets, that the latest round of protests in Iran took off simply because of rising inflation and the spiralling cost of living.
Iran’s women are not taking to the streets meekly begging for food or asking for a little extra money. They are marching in defiance of a brutal regime that has terrorised all citizens. And they are burning hijabs, a hated symbol of women’s particular oppression.
The courageous women of Iran are a rebuke to those radicalized Western women. London Telegraph writer Michael Deacon calls the “brainwashed” women of the West. Deacon writes:
Take the woman interviewed at the impromptu memorial for Renee Good, the Minneapolis resident shot dead last week by an immigration agent. In footage widely shared online, the woman apologetically confessed that it felt “kind of wrong” for her to come and pay her respects – because “being a white woman, I have a lot of privilege”, and “I feel like white tears are not always something that’s helpful or necessary”.
Radicalized Soccer Moms! Kirsten Fleming reports in the New York Post that former soccer moms are now taking up a dangerous new hobby — becoming ICE saboteurs. Renee Good’s Minnesota ICE Watch group shares a manual detailing “how to fight arrests, launch ‘a micro-intifada’.” But let’s not forget aggressive, tough-guy progressivism as explicated by Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York. Mamdani in a Pantsuit: New York Governor Kathy Hochul has unveiled her radical agenda.
Today, the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the enormously consequential case of men competing in women’s sports. Brittany Bernstein of National Review writes that the media’s bias in favor of men in women’s sports is such that many will not be prepared if the Supreme Court delivers a reality check. The ruling will have a profound effect on men in women’s bathrooms and other issues.
Must Be Mentioned: An Unherd article is headlined “Weimar comes to Minneapolis.” Yikes. “Whatever the other consequences of Renee Good’s death in Minneapolis, one thing should be crystal clear: America is accelerating towards some sort of reckoning. In this, probably the most common historical analogy is to Germany’s Weimar Republic, with street fights between Left and Right finally leading to Hitler and the Nazis” writes Duncan Moench. … The U-Haul Index: “You’ve heard of voting with your feet. What about a referendum via U-Haul?” the piece leads off. … Find Out If You Are Caring: Take Greg Gutfeld’s empathy test in the privacy of your home. … Groundhog News: Alas, the state of New Jersey is running low on groundhogs: It started with the sad death of Milltown Mel, who consistently “dazzled Groundhog Day crowd.”
