Iran May Be Nearing New Phase. Latest Way To Signal White House Bid: Freezing Your Eggs. Columnist: Socialism Is Gateway Drug. Bigotry: Enes Kanter Freedom May Be Denied WNBA Pick. More
President Trump is indicating a new phase of o the Iran War: semi-negotiating.
The U.S. is only “semi-negotiating” with Iran. That’s the term President Trump used in an Axios interview, in which the president also said the U.S. is “low-keying it with Iran.” Meanwhile, Iran is high-keying its demands:
But that scaled-back objective became more difficult when Iran insisted Saturday on its highest price yet for permitting the free flow of traffic in the waterway, seeking billions of dollars in U.S. payments, the removal of American troops from the region and an end of the U.S. naval blockade, among other things.
According to CNBC, President Trump is “signaling” that the U.S. will shift to economic pressure as Iran hardens its stance over the Strait of Hormuz. CNBC adds that the U.S. “has affirmed its grip on Hormuz”:
The U.S. military redirected 20 more commercial vessels away from Iranian ports last week under its naval blockade, signaling no let-up in maritime pressure as a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz stayed out of reach.
U.S. Central Command said American forces had redirected 55 commercial vessels as of Sunday, up from 35 as of Aug. 2. American forces have also disabled 2 ships and boarded 2 to endure compliance, according to the statement on Sunday.
Hormuz is not President Trump’s only headache in the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rejecting President Trump’s plan for Gaza. “Israel does not accept the 15-point document,” Netanyahu said.
Rich Lowry writes that Iran has made our most urgent national-security priority painfully clear: it’s our munitions supply. Defense expert Seth B. Jones also warns that America’s military is dangerously exposed:
Congress should boost the Pentagon’s facilities sustainment, restoration and modernization funds to address these gaps—and the Pentagon should spend it quickly. The U.S. has already paid a huge price for being unprepared in a world where drones and missiles are ubiquitous. Will the U.S. military learn before the price escalates? The Chinese, Iranians, North Koreans and Russians are waiting to see.
Is Iran’s Supreme Leader ready for his close-up? Iran released a picture of the Supreme Leader, long absent from the public eye, on Sunday. It is not at all certain that the Supreme Leader is still alive.
New Sign You Might Be Running for President: you’re freezing your eggs. That’s what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is doing, as she mulls a run for the White House in 2028:
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York posted a series of video clips on social media Saturday night saying that she would freeze her eggs despite what she called a “political risk” for sharing her decision.
“There is very strangely a political risk, or a political tax, that comes with sharing this info,” she said of her decision to freeze her eggs. She added that she had shared the information “to show more depictions of women having full lives in every context and every choice.” The announcement further fueled speculation on social media that she is gearing up for a presidential run.
Francesca Hong, described in a Wall Street Journal editorial as “the socialists’ next hope,” is the frontrunner in the Democratic primary for Governor of Wisconsin. The primary is tomorrow. The editors say forget her nutty tweets (she’s the one who wants to abolish Thanksgiving) and concentrate on her agenda:
She’d offer illegal migrants state IDs, while using sanctuary policies to “protect Wisconsinites of all documentation status from secret police.” She’d raise the minimum wage to $20, legalize marijuana, and pass a “binding clean electricity standard similar to Michigan’s, which requires 60% renewable power by 2030.” And don’t worry about the power bill: She wants to cap utility costs “at 2% of income for energy-burdened households.”
Her “Tax the Rich” agenda includes “a new tax bracket for millionaires and large corporations.” How high would Ms. Hong raise rates on wealthy Wisconsinites? In a recent debate, she suggested a top rate near 8.65%, up about one percentage point. Yet she has sponsored legislation to create a top rate of over 17%. And her campaign is floating the idea that “if millionaires and corporations chip in 17 cents out of every dollar earned after that first million, it could lower all our property taxes by 44%.”
Even a fraction of this agenda would be ruinous. That’s what the GOP’s presumptive gubernatorial nominee, Rep. Tom Tiffany, will tell voters if their other option in November is Ms. Hong, and he will be correct.
In “Viva la DSA Revolution!” Wall Street Journal columnist Andy Kessler writes that abolishing the Senate and the Presidency are only a few things the Democratic Socialists want to do:
Socialism is a gateway drug. Mr. Fetterman worries Democrats are “drifting firmly into communism.” Drifting? Let’s ask the horse’s mouth: A top DSA leader, David Jenkins, said the quiet part out loud, “Our goal is liberation. Our goal is communism.” The socialist candidate for Wisconsin governor who wants to cancel Thanksgiving, Francesca Hong, raised money with “influencer” Hasan Piker, who likes to dress as Chairman Mao. That’s pretty black and white, and red all over. Where is sanity?
Since the Democratic National Committee is financially broke, the Dems have a weaker bulwark against the socialists. Rolling Stone magazine is, predictably, head over heels in love with Hasan Piker, the radical streamer, who campaigned with Michigan’s senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed. “Why is everyone scared of a progressive streamer?” Rolling Stone asks. See above. Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich, bolstering Ms. Must’s belief that many “establishment” Dems are on the spectrum, refers to the Moronic Bullshit of the “Third Way.” The Third Way Democrats champion moderate policies.
The DSA’s poster boy, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, is testing the limits of the law to push his agenda, according to John Ketcham in the New York Post:
Mayor Zohran Mamdani may be an ideologue, but he’s also what Niccolò Machiavelli deemed “a sensible man”: One who will “will base his power on what he controls.”
And he’s using his time in office to exert greater control over city institutions — sometimes even testing the bounds of the law — to build a political machine that can persist beyond his tenure.
And now for a sad story about prejudice:
Bigotry Rears Ugly Head as WNBA Refuses to Allow This Stunning, Beautiful Woman into League
Okay, okay—the headline is from the (barely) satirical Babylon Bee. Enes Kanter Freedom declaring for the 2027 WNBA draft. Kanter’s jest shows the folly and unfairness of men playing competitive sports with women. Riley Gaines called the move “genius.” PJ Media’s Tim O’Brien praises Kanton (and another athlete who joined him): “Looks Like the WNBA’s Absurdity Is About to Sink the Entire Transgender Movement.”
Anyway, “Where Did Gender Identity Come From?” Leor Sapir highlights a new book on the development of gender identity:
A new book by UCLA sociologist Rogers Brubaker, Gender Identity: The Career of a Category, tries to make sense of how this concept became so embedded in our lives and why it has become such a cultural flashpoint. As Brubaker clarifies at the outset, he is not interested in “the philosophical question of what gender identity really is” but rather in “how the category works” in the social world. He offers a sophisticated analysis.
Something else for Your Library Shelf. “A Revealing Book by Mamdani’s Father” is discussed by the great Theodore Dalrymple in City Journal:
Mahmood Mamdani’s 1983 Imperialism and Fascism in Uganda offers insight into the worldview that has shaped his son’s thinking.
Prince William said something the other day about how we should not blame the homeless for their predicament. Sentimental and counterproductive. The New York Post reports on a story, according to which half of NYC homeless deaths are tied to drug overdoses or alcohol abuse.
** a previous version of this post incorrectly spelled Enes Kantor Freedom’s last name as Freeman. We sincerely apologize for the mistake.
