Iranian ‘Surprise Attack’ Thwarted. Senator Lindsey Graham’s Funeral. President Calls Graham ‘Giant of the Senate.’ Highlights. Fauci Testifies. Columnist: Mamdani Hates Us. Cabbie’s Tribute to Capitalism. More
Well, it doesn’t appear as if Iran’s leaders are up for a spot of diplomacy.
The U.S. thwarted an “attempted surprise attack” by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on U.S. troops. (More here.) Meanwhile, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia struck an Iran-backed group in Iraq. The Iran-backed group confirms that it sustained 20 deaths in the attack.
Suddenly President Trump is threatening to attack Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility, a site the United States previously left untouched:
Estimated to lie beneath at least 100 meters of rock near Iran’s damaged Natanz nuclear enrichment complex, Pickaxe was designed to replace an above-ground plant capable of assembling roughly 6,000 advanced centrifuges each year before it was destroyed in 2020.
[Trump’s] warning came after The Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved thousands of centrifuges into Pickaxe last fall. Trump said the transfer “may have” occurred but added that the United States did not have it “on record.”
For Senator Lindsey Graham’s “final summit” in Washington’s National Cathedral, leaders of the U.S., Israel and Ukraine “came together” to honor “a champion of all three.” The Wall Street Journal observes:
A bipartisan roster of lawmakers, world leaders, family and friends gathered in Washington on Tuesday to remember Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who died this month at 71 years old. Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Fox News host Sean Hannity were among those who eulogized Graham, painting the portrait of a senator known for his wit and hawkish views on foreign policy.
Selected as key moments: President Trump’s calling the late Senator a “giant of the Senate,” and the same eulogist joking about his early friction with Senator Graham. Hannity highlighted Senator Graham’s support for Israel and Ukraine and hailed as the Senator’s “finest hour” his impassioned defense of now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as the camera cut to the Justice and Ashley Kavanaugh. Ms. Must adds to the list of important moments remarks by Senator Graham’s niece (daughter of Senator Darline) and Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List reading the 46th Psalm.
Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York comments on President Trump’s rather jarring “‘He never saw a war that he didn’t like’.” (Otherwise, the president was unusually controlled and brief.) An editorial in the Wall Street Journal hailed “The Lindsey Graham Example,” asking, “Will anyone take his place as an advocate for freedom and U.S. interests abroad?” The Senate voted after the funeral to advance Russia sanctions bill in Graham’s name.
The marquee event today will be a much-tarnished Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the draconian response to Covid, testifying on Capitol Hill. Fauci is testifying courtesy of his nemesis Senator Rand Paul, who released Fauci’s diaries and is Fauci’s Inspector Javert when it comes to the origins of Covid. Senator Paul details at Fox Digital his case against Fauci and others in the science establishment who denied that the virus originated in the partially U.S. funded Wuhan lab, but in private communications said otherwise. Drew Holden writes at Substack that the “Legacy Media’s Fauci Love Affair Might’ve Buried COVID’s Origins.”
Will today’s Fauci hearing feature Senators posturing and fulminating, or will they ask questions aimed at extracting the truth? The Federalist has a handy list of questions designed to uncover alleged corruption and cover-up. A key issue is “gain of function” research, which Dr. Fauci dismisses. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, an eminent scientist, once dismissed as “fringe” by Fauci supporters, now head of the National Institutes of Health, has a Wall Street Journal op-ed today headlined “How NIH Will End Dangerous Gain-of-Function Research.” Subhead: “The U.S. acts to foster life-sciences experiments while minimizing the risk of a pandemic or other catastrophe.”
So, What Do You Really Think? “Mamdani is carving out a historic path — an NYC mayor who hates the city, its people and is trying to destroy both” is the headline on Michael Goodwin’s column this morning:
[T]o my knowledge, Zohran Mamdani is in a class of one. He is the first mayor in modern times who appears to hate the city and many of the 8 million people who call it home.
As he constantly makes clear, he is not here to fix things. He is here to smash the city as it is and build a socialist utopia in its place.
A troubling result is that seven months into his tenure, Mamdani remains in constant campaign mode. His appearances and public remarks are aimed exclusively at his supporters, here and in leftist outposts around America and the world.
Governing in the broad public interest of the people who actually live in the city does not appear to be part of his plan.
We mentioned yesterday Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s dangerous listing of names and addresses of New Yorkers whose taxes Mamdani wants to raise because they putatively have second homes in New York. Jarrett Stepman of the Daily Signal observes:
It should be no surprise that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani not only wants to tax the rich but dox them too.
Yet, as a Fox News report also noted, “critics argue the database goes well beyond traditional public records by compiling the names and addresses of affluent property owners into a single, easily searchable location, potentially creating new privacy and security risks.”
It’s a little hard to believe that this database was just created for the purpose of easy compliance.
Is it a stretch to think that public information about where wealthy people live won’t make some of them a target for vicious fanatics looking to make a name for themselves?
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Washington yesterday to attend the funeral of Senator Lindsey Graham, told Sean Hannity that he will not allow Mamdani’s threats to deter him from visiting New York:
“I’m definitely going there,” the Israeli prime minister continued. “I’m going to speak the truth in front of this, you know, hate-spewing elected official who’s pitting one group of New Yorkers against the others.”
Must Be Noted…
Ms. Must did a double take. The headline on Wall Street Journal’s dyed-in-the-wool liberal columnist William Galston today is: “Trump Has a Point About the Smithsonian.”
“The AI Future Is for Everyone” is the headline of Mark Zuckerberg’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. Good pitch:
It is surprising that the discourse from many of those who are developing artificial intelligence is so filled with doom. I don’t understand why anyone who believes that AI will eliminate most jobs and much of humanity’s relevance would rush to build that future. The notion that AI is so dangerous that the only safe path is an extreme concentration of power seems dangerous.
Historically, hoping that an absolute power will benevolently provide for humanity if sufficiently enlightened hasn’t led to safe or positive outcomes. …
Putting power in people’s hands to pursue their own aspirations is how humanity has made the most progress.
This is turning into a WSJ extravaganza. But I can resist one more: “Thank You for Your Success, He Said,” Rob Arnot’s account of a taxi ride:
When the call ended, the driver said something startling: “Thank you for your success.” I asked why my success made him grateful. He replied, “First, because of your success, you’re a paying customer for me. Second, you would not be successful unless you have a product that makes your customers happy, and that makes the world a better place.”
In a healthy capitalist system with strong rule of law and a light regulatory burden, success means producing something people value more than its price and are therefore happy to buy. J.K. Rowling is one of Europe’s wealthiest women because millions of families value her stories more than the cost of her books. Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk created superior products for millions of happy customers. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be centibillionaires….
Thirty years on, I still remember my driver’s insight. His wisdom wasn’t his gratitude for me; he didn’t know me. It was his rejection of resentment and his respect for those who succeed. Most success is earned by improving an ever-changing world. In a world awash in the politics of envy, he practiced a politics of gratitude. Instead of resenting success, can’t we be grateful when achievement is fairly earned?
