Foreign Affairs Archives

Has Anybody Actually Seen the Supreme Leader? Can’t Hide: John Thune Tees Up SAVE America Act—sans ‘Talking Filibuster.’ Edith Wilson Writes Memoir. Wait–It Was the OTHER One

Posted on March 12, 2026March 12, 2026 by Charlotte Hays

Oil prices are surging as two tankers are burning off the coast of Iraq, while “dire strait” referring to the Straight of Hormuz is today’s most popular pun. It is dire: seven ships have been attacked in the Persian Gulf. Israel is bombarding Beirut, and the terrorist organization Hezbollah is launching attacks on Israel.

Closer to home, we learn that, according to an FBI memo, Iran aspires to attack the coast of California with drones. The New York Post quotes a former Army intelligence officer on this threat. Oh, and nobody’s seen hide nor hair of the new Supreme Leader. Amit Segal of The Free Press has a theory on this (“Where in the World Is Mojtaba Khamenei?”):

The Iranian regime is trying to hide their new Supreme Leader while the IRGC is running the war.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon estimates that the Iran War has cost the American taxpayer $11 billion. To put that in perspective, it’s $2 billion more than low-end estimates of what Minnesota’s Somali welfare fraud cost the American taxpayer.

Oil prices are an immediate concern of the American taxpayer. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal (“America’s Strategic Oil Exports”) says that argues that thanks to former Speaker Paul Ryan’s 2015 deal U.S. crude is now helping the world. New York Post “On the Money” columnist Charles Gasparino acknowledges the problem the war has created but also blames hedge funds.

President Trump is constantly being implored to give the end date for the war and to better explain it. For my money, the Wall Street Journal’s Barton Swaim does an excellent job of explaining for Trump in a column headlined “Trump’s Old-Fashioned War.” It’s a simple explanation:

What’s driving both camps batty is that the only plausible motivation for his order to strike Iran is a judicious and honorable one: that the regime in Tehran constantly menaces America and its allies, and that its rulers can be counted on to continue their pursuit of a nuclear weapon. No bizarre ulterior motive necessary….

Mr. Trump’s logorrhea, together with his habit of describing whatever his administration does in superlative terms, led him on Monday to say the war is “very complete, pretty much.” Yet it goes on. He can change his mind about anything at any time, but Mr. Trump is too old-fashioned to think he can call his presidency a success if the U.S. comes to terms with a belligerent Iran.

Conservative London Telegraph columnist Alister Heath, noting what he calls the “ludicrously defeatist” commentary on the war urges President Trump not to cede victory to “drone-wielding barbarians.” The American Conservative (TAC) on the other hand worries about “The Iran Escalation Doom Loop.” An irony of Khamenei Senior’s tenure, according to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, is that he cemented the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. A Beirut journalist describes “the war Lebanon never wanted,” but I am going to quote a passage on the novelty of Lebanon—Beirut was once called “the Paris of the Middle East—in the region:

Lebanon is the only Arab country founded on a formal power-sharing system in which Christians serve not merely as a minority to be accommodated but as co-architects of the state. That delicate balance has been under pressure for decades. …

Lebanon’s Christian population was once central to the country’s political and economic life. But sustained waves of emigration—driven by insecurity, economic collapse and political marginalization—have shrunk that role. What was once a confident founding community has become increasingly cautious, reactive and demographically diminished.

Marvel at the viciousness and stupidity of this New York Times “analysis:” “How Hegseth Came to See Moral Purpose in War as Weakness.”

Senate Majority Leader, who unlike Khamenei Jr. is very much in evidence, has teed up the Trump-backed SAVE America Act, which would require an ID for voting, but will not allow the “talking filibuster” that many Republicans demand. The President’s endorsement of a GOP Senate candidate in Texas—Senator John Cornyn and Texas AG Ken Paxton are in a runoff—figures into his effort to pass the SAVE America Act. Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberley Strassel isn’t so sold on the “talking filibuster.” Townhall’s Kurt Schlichter isn’t sold on Cornyn but he says the incumbent has a better chance to beat “fake Christian Alfred E. Swaggert” (James Talarico). Meanwhile, Karl Rove says “don’t bank on Texas’s turning blue” but adds that the outcome of the Cornyn-Paxton GOP primary is crucial. Speaking of Talarico, the Dems’ latest ‘moderate,” the lad has reportedly been busy deleting names of more radical supporters from his website.

“UT Austin Strikes a Blow to Critical Theory” is a highly recommended City Journal story by John Masko that heralds a promising development in public higher education:

Big things are happening in higher education. Take the recent decision by Jim Davis, president of the University of Texas at Austin, to consolidate four academic departments—African and African Diaspora Studies; American Studies; Mexican American and Latina/Latino Studies; and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies—into a single new Department of Social and Cultural Analysis.

Davis’s move is about more than efficiency. University administrators know that the “studies” disciplines are really just one discipline—critical theory. Davis is announcing that the game is up. Other universities should follow UT Austin’s lead. …

Texas’s consolidation reflects the fact that the “studies” disciplines are not primarily about women, African Americans, America, or whatever their prefix happens to be. Rather, they are about the application to those topics of critical theory—“a lens,” in the words of Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay, “that detects power dynamics in every interaction, utterance, and cultural artifact—even when they aren’t obvious or real.”

Aside from disturbing reports that Russia was helping Iran target U.S. operations, the Brics Bloc (say that ten times fast) has been curiously quiet during the Iran war. According to Sadanand Dhumein the Wall Street Journal, that’s because the Brics Bloc is a house of cards. But don’t fall for the hype that China is going green, says Bjorn Lomborg.

“How You Know When Taxpayers Are Being Defrauded?” is the headline on James Freeman’s “Best of the Web” column. Freeman writes about CBS’ investigative report yesterday that shone a light on massive hospice fraud in California and picks up a memorable line from the CBS expose. There were concerns that …

High rates of terminally ill patients later discharged alive

Freeman explores other instances of taxpayers being cheated through large government programs, which should be a hotter topic than it is.

But I’m Betting There Won’t Be a No Kings Rally in Tehran. An LA Times contributor writes that it was a mistake for Iran’s rump government to shift to a hereditary dynasty in picking Khamenei Jr. to succeed his father. John Lott writes that the endgame for gun control is a completely disarmed population.

I have Iran on the brain this morning, but imagine how things might be different if dissident Iranians had access to guns.

Edith Wilson Memoir Discovered. Well, no, Former First Lady Jill Biden will publish a memoir in June. The New York Times says Mrs. Biden “will give her own account of her husband’s fraught re-election campaign and her views on his stunning decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.” It was stunning all right, but who thinks it was Joe’s decision?

I don’t want to put a damper on the former First Lady’s literary exertions. But there’s probably a better source of insider tales than you’ll find in Jill’s book. President Trump is declassifying a lot of stuff from the Biden administration. Julie Kelly explores this in her “Declassified with Julie Kelly” on Substack. The headline is “Denial of Executive Privilege is the Latest Karmic Episode for Democrats.” Jill, can you compete with this?

Network ReACTS: Iran Unfolding — What Americans Should Know

Posted on March 11, 2026March 11, 2026 by Meaghan Mobbs

On this episode of Network ReACTS, Meaghan Mobbs, Director for American Safety and Security, is joined by Ellie Cohanim, Senior Fellow at Independent Women, to discuss the ongoing situation in Iran and what it means for Americans.

Resources Mentioned:

Peace Through Strength: Independent Women Supports President Trump’s Decisive Iran Strikes

The Women Who Would Not Kneel

Trump owes fallen soldiers victory against murderous Iran regime

Control of Tiny Island Could Determine War. Khamenei Jr. Lacking in Charisma–but not Real Estate. Thune, Texas, ‘Talking Filibuster ‘& More

Posted on March 11, 2026March 11, 2026 by Charlotte Hays

All eyes are on the Strait of Hormuz, conduit to one fifth of the world’s energy supply. The New York Post suggests that the results of entire war may come down to control of one small island—Kharg Island—in the Persian Gulf:

An island one-third the size of Manhattan controls virtually all Iranian crude oil exports — and experts say its fate could be essential to President Trump’s endgame with Tehran.

Kharg Island is located about 16 miles off the Iranian coast in the Persian Gulf, making it difficult to defend and easier to isolate — reportedly drawing the attention of administration planners.

“Kharg Island handles roughly 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports. Take it out, and this means cutting off the military budget in addition to pulling the plug on the basic services that keep Iranian society functioning,” said Mohammed Soliman, a senior fellow at the DC-based Middle East Institute.

“Losing Kharg for even a few weeks will create a security and societal crisis in Iran at the same time. Tehran doesn’t get to choose which one to deal with first,” said Soliman, author of “West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East.”

Oil prices had dropped to around $80 a barrel early this morning, as the U.S walked back claims that an oil tanker had been escorted through the Strait. The Wall Street Journal highlights alleged differences between the U.S. and Israel as to when the war ends. Outraged Bernard-Henri Levy insists that the “notion that Benjamin Netanyahu is pulling the president’s strings is particularly absurd. … Anti-Semites will believe anything.”

Fog of War. National Review’s Andrew McCathy writes that President Trump is “preparing an off-ramp” and chides the President for what McCarthy sees as not making a stronger case for the war before launching it. Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal says that the President’s “intentional ambiguity” on Iran will not serve the GOP well in the midterms. To get really fogged in read the MSM: Mark Penn posts a string of headlines from recent coverage of the Iran War and reflects:

The press is a drumbeat of negativity favoring the Iran regime. It’s puzzling at this point how any success is buried. The reality is likely the regime is being pummeled on all sides and has no ability to provide for its people.

Politico reports that the White House is hoping that the war will end before real economic pain but is skeptical. NEPO-NOPO. Iran’s Supreme Leader Junior is being protected by a special killer squad known as NOPO. Junior, incidentally, has a superb portfolio of international real estate, including digs in London’s exclusive Kensington Square. Junior, till keeping a low profile, is said to have the “charisma of a boiled potato.” Not that the old guy was a charmer either. I’ve noticed a shift in pro-Iran war rhetoric—Laura Ingram last night was imploring the Iranian people, whose pleas for help did not fall on deaf ears, to rise up.

We need to say a few more words about the Iranian women’s soccer team. After years of watching pampered American athletes kneel for our national anthem, we saw the Iranian women’s soccer team show real courage. There are consequences for not singing the national anthem in a bloody totalitarian regime. This brings us to a question: Why isn’t motormouth Megan Rapinoe using her megaphone for Iran’s female soccer team?

CNN’s original story on the attack at Gracie Mansion by ISIS-loving alleged terrorists is one for the books. We must never forget it. It must be quoted:

“Two Pennsylvania teenagers crossed into New York City Saturday morning for what could’ve been a normal day enjoying the city during abnormally warm weather,” read the post. “But in less than an hour, their lives would drastically change as the pair would be arrested for throwing homemade bombs during an anti-Muslim protest outside of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s home. Here’s what we know so far.”

CNN removed the report and is “spinning like mad” to cover its “terrorist apologia.” CNN lamely tried to say that the original quote didn’t meet its high editorial standards. But it passed muster of editors, right, and was published. National Review says that the left can’t hide the truth about the Gracie Mansion attempted bombing. NR Editor Rich Lowry wittily demolished the attempted coverup yesterday. But New Yorkers can’t get enough of the brave policeman who foiled the bomb attack.

Meanwhile, a group of House Republicans this morning publishes an op-ed at Fox Digital accusing Senate Republicans of “twiddling their thumbs” instead of working to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require an ID to vote. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is coming under attack because he resists forcing the Democrats to engage in a “talking filibuster” on the SAVE America Act, arguing that “the votes still would not be there.” The Save America Act could factor into a Trump endorsement in the Texas Senate race (also here). An editorial in the Wall Street Journal calls the “talking filibuster” a “mirage:”

The reality is that Democratic Senators could take turns giving interminable speeches.

Texas’ Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico is being compared to Barack Obama. He’s running as a moderate (natch), but National Review says Talarico is “not, in fact, a moderate, unless “moderate” is now a synonym for “white man.” In Georgia, Trump-backed Clayton Fuller will face Democrat Shawn Harris the replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in the House.

Republic of Fraud. Minnesota’s multi-billion-dollar Somali fraud was just the beginning. Since learning about Minnesota’s welfare largesse, we’ve been assaulted by reports of mind-boggling fraud in other states, all seemingly involving government (i.e., taxpayer) money. Even when there is no fraud, expenditures are alarming. A front-page Wall Street Journal report on “the boom in autism therapy” doesn’t allege fraud, but shows how unevaluated Medicaid expenses can skyrocket:

Some companies have found lucrative opportunities to capitalize on a growing need, billing long hours and extracting payments as high as $800 an hour.

A CBS Investigation, meanwhile, is billed as “We visited “ground zero” for hospice fraud: Los Angeles, California:”

Medicare is federally administered, and hospices must be certified for reimbursements. But the state issues the licenses for hospices to operate.

Three years ago, California’s state auditor sounded the alarm that Los Angeles County had seen a 1,500% increase in hospice companies since 2010 – more than six times the national average relative to its elderly population.

Auditors estimated LA County hospices overbilled Medicare by $105 million in a single year. The report called out notable red flags – key warning signs of fraud.

Follow the Science. Joe Nocera has a piece headlined “Science Has a Major Fraud Problem” in The Free Press. Nocera follows “the murky world of fraudulent research, and the sleuths exposing dishonest science.” I’m betting that government money plays a big part in the story.

How smart is AI really? Kobe Yank-Jacobs argues that AI can do the work but asks if it can do the job. How smart is the Pentagon-Anthropic spat? A Wall Street Journal op-ed argues that the dust up is beneficial to China.

Brit transplant and Fox Contributor Steve Hilton, a Republican, appears to actually have a chance at being elected Governor of California. Hilton’s Rise Could Spare Dems from Disaster in California Gov’s Race” is the Politico headline:

Hilton, a Fox News commentator, leads the pack with 19 percent of likely voters in the latest UC Berkeley Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research-POLITICO poll. Behind him is a pile-up of virtually tied candidates — Democrat Tom Steyer at 13 percent and, with 11 percent each, Democrats Katie Porter and Eric Swalwell and Republican Chad Bianco.

Conservatives might be forgiven for thinking the catastrophe to be averted would be a continuation of current policies in California.

Who’s Winning Iran War? Nepo Supreme Leader Keeping Low Profile. Guess Who Came to Dinner at Gracie Mansion? Can Homilies Liberate Iran? More

Posted on March 10, 2026March 10, 2026 by Charlotte Hays

A New York Times headline writer observes that President Trump is sending “mixed” messages on when the Iran war will end. Hardly surprising in a ten-day old intervention. Meanwhile, President Trump’s advisers are said to be urging him to find an “exit ramp.”

But how is the war going? An editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which has strongly supported the war in its opinion pages, argues that right now Iran is “not winning” but that could change:

Is it time for President Trump to call off the bombing and declare victory in Iran? You’d think so judging by the panic in Washington as the price of oil spikes. That certainly is the fondest wish of the ayatollahs, who know they’re losing.

The reality inside Iran and the region is that the U.S. and Israel continue to make progress. The regime loses more of its military each day, along with the ability to hurt its neighbors. The Israelis estimate 70% to 75% of Iran’s missile launchers have been destroyed, and the U.S. has destroyed at least 43 Iranian ships.

On Monday the United Arab Emirates received only 18 drones, down from 126 a day over the past week. We’ll soon see if that was a blip or a meaningful decline….

President Trump said that the war will be over “soon,” but Iran’s rump regime pushed back against this assertion, and the President then vowed to hit ‘em harder. U.K.

There’s something new and different in the choice of Khamenei Jr. as Supreme Leader. “Mojtaba Khamenei Brings Monarchy Back to Iran” is the headline on a piece by Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh. They write:

Khamenei’s son and successor, the Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has neither his father’s experience nor Khomeini’s pedigree. His ascent marks the collapse of the last egalitarian pillar of the revolution, namely that the mullahs, unlike decadent Persian shahs, don’t do dynastic succession. With Mojtaba, the revolution has come full circle. Even without regime change, monarchy has returned to Iran….

In the turbulent politics of the Islamic Republic, violence and terror have always been a means of political control. But Mojtaba’s generation of militants has faced more popular insurrections as the revolution has lost much of its luster. Even in the context of Iran’s ruthless politics, this generation shows a particular attachment to terrorism. Violence is the mandatory response to those seeking to undermine the regime. The recent uprising demonstrated the lengths to which this generation will go to preserve God’s will manifested.

Mojtaba will continue his father’s search for foreign devils.

Mojtaba has been keeping a low profile. So much so that the Middle East Forum Observer speculated (flirting with a Babylon Bee parody!”) that “Elevating a Dead Man Would Be Far-Fetched, so Mojtaba Khamenei May Be Injured and in Hiding.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Global View columnist Walter Russell Mead explores three ways the war might end. The likeliest, he concludes, is that the U.S. largely clears the Gulf but that the current regime survives, solving nothing fundamental but preserving a fragile balance of power in a vital part of the world. This obviously is not the optimal scenario. Intriguing: Douglas Feith, a George W. Bush Defense Department official, says “Hold on tight. Trump is trying something new in Iran. Critics demanding a “day after” plan are confusing this presidency with that of George W. Bush.” Still, Mollie Hemingway indicates GOP voters will grow restive if this drags on too long.

One More Thing. The Iranian Women’s Soccer team. Australia has granted asylum to the “lionesses who roared with silence,” (by not singing the regime national anthem), and could face death if returned to Iran. This Just In: Khamenei Sr. said Jr. was not fit to lead. Oh, and he’s impotent.

“The N.Y. Terrorist Attack and DHS Funding” is the headline of a Wall Street Journal editorial. Because of the Iran war, this is a time of heightened concern over national security and public safety. Yet, according to the editorial, Democrats refuse to restore funding to the Department of Homeland Security:

Inflicting pain on the public is a bad negotiating tactic, and the DHS shutdown is being felt acutely at the nation’s airports, as the Transportation Security Administration deals with employees calling out of work. … The bigger worry, though, is that there might be a security lapse that makes this failure to fund DHS look in retrospect like the height of partisan recklessness. In addition to airport security screeners, DHS includes the Coast Guard (which has personnel who support the U.S. Navy in Bahrain), the Secret Service, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Democrats insist they won’t restore DHS funding without an overhaul of ICE, but they are running a big risk if there is a successful terror attack. After the attempt in Manhattan, the wisest move for Mr. Schumer would be to quit posturing and pass the bill.

Meet the Gracie Mansion ISIS-loving wannabe bombing suspects (via the New York Post):

Emir Balat, 18, and 19-year-old Ibrahim Kayumi, drove to Manhattan from their upscale Pennsylvania homes with the intent to cause mayhem and kill – all in the name of the Islamic State, according to the federal complaint against them….

When he arrived at an NYPD precinct, Balat allegedly asked cops for pen and paper – and scribbled a disturbing manifesto proclaiming his extremist beliefs.

“All praise is due to Allah lord of all worlds,” he allegedly wrote. “I pledge my allegiance [sic] to the Islamic State. Die in your rage yu [sic] kuffar.”

New York Mayor Mamdani has taken heat, as you know, for his response to the dueling protests (one anti-Muslim and the other pro-Isis) at Gracie Mansion. FYI: It was the Isis guys (who made today’s New York Post cover) who had the bomb.

Speaking of Gracie Mansion, guess who scored a coveted invitation to break the Ramadan fast there with New York’s first family? The Mayor hosted anti-Israel activist and accused Hamas sympathizer Mahmoud Khalil, and his familyfor dinner at Gracie Mansion for the holy month of Ramadan. The chitchat had to be interesting.

Highly Recommended. “The Moment Mass Immigration Started,” by Alicia Nieves, for Compact Magazine. Mass illegal immigration started before most of us were aware of the implications and with canny activists who knew how to exploit loopholes:

Violence, poverty, and political instability can explain why individuals want to leave their countries. But they do not explain why migration toward the United States accelerates suddenly at specific moments in time. …

What emerged beginning in 2014 was a massive surge of a new class of migrants—unaccompanied minors and families with children—who were taking advantage of an emergent process created by the gradual accumulative effect of various discretionary policies and legal precedents interacting with one another.

Illegal immigration is a safety issue of our time. The D.C. Examiner has a recommended piece about how Virginia’s Fairfax County’s sanctuary policies led to an illegal immigrant murdering an innocent woman. Mackerel Snapper News. Ms. Must was disheartened—but hardly surprised when Pope Leo XIV addressed the crowd in St. Peter’s Square Sunday after the Angelus and implicitly came out against U.S. policy in Iran. Bill McGurn gently takes the Holy Father to task in “Homilies Won’t Liberate Iran.” McGurn writes:

At the moment the Vatican is almost guaranteeing its wisdom will be ignored by those who need it most. “The net result of the churches’ concessions to the political left has been to take religious leaders out of serious conversation with policymakers on matters of war and peace, leaving them to lob minatory rhetorical grenades from the bleachers,” Catholic theologian George Weigel wrote in 2024. Nearly 40 years ago Mr. Weigel wrote his book “Tranquillitas Ordinis,” arguing that the real goal of war is an order rooted in justice and freedom.

This may sound harsh, but it’s necessary to say. The Catholic Church and its last few popes have understood only the destructive force of war. They appear to have given little thought to the terrible consequences for innocent people when soft words are offered as a substitute for tough but necessary action. …

New Supreme Leader. Mamdani Criticized for Response to Dueling Protests. Inevitable Happens: David French Falls for Talarico. More

Posted on March 9, 2026March 9, 2026 by Charlotte Hays

From Tehran to New York’s iconic Gracie Mansion, where there were dueling protests this weekend—one anti-Muslim and one pro-ISIS (!), it’s been an unquiet world.

Whether Iran’s despotic regime will fall soon is the question on everybody’s mind. The Free Press early this morning was leading with a possible energy crisis triggered by Iran.

Not surprisingly, Iran “projected defiance” by picking Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, son of the late Ayatollah, as Supreme Leader. President Trump finds the new Khamanei just bad as the other one.

Meanwhile, a U.K. Telegraph opinion column headline proclaims that Iran’s malevolent new Ayatollah shows the regime has learnt nothing. Tehran is fighting with jets dating back to the Vietnam era. War Secretary Pete Hegseth tells CBS that the U.S. will do whatever it takes to topple Iran’s regime:

“We’re willing to go as far as we need in order to be successful,” Hegseth told CBS News’s Major Garrett during a “60 Minutes” sit-down interview that aired Sunday night.

“We reserve the right. We would be completely unwise if we did not reserve the right to take any particular option, whether it included boots on the ground or not boots on the ground.”

There is a media divide over whether to support President Trump’s Iran intervention. The American Conservative [TAC] opposes the intervention and warns against arming the Kurds to fight in Iran (it is “madness” and will achieve nothing but instability and carnage”). The Wall Street Journal, whose opinion pages have supported the intervention, states the “risks” of arming the Kurds in an editorial:.

The greatest risk is that a Kurdish military front inside Iran could let the regime play to latent Iranian nationalism. So far the Iranian public hasn’t rallied to defend the regime even under relentless U.S. and Israeli bombing.

Allyssia Finley, also of the Wall Street Journal, writes that the United States’ oil and gas dominance has weakened Iran. The piece most supportive of the Trump administration’s Iran intervention this morning comes from Joshua Muravchik, also writing for the WSJ:

For years since the U.S. stumbled in Iraq and Afghanistan, we have been on our back foot, and the forces of anti-Americanism have been gaining strength and confidence. Iran and Cuba present Mr. Trump a chance to reverse that trend. It would be a valuable prize for the country and for him, an honor far nobler than the Nobel

Also an optimistic view, Israeli historian Benny Morris proposes that “the war with Iran is reshaping the entire Middle East from the Gulf States to Lebanon with surprising speed.” The Wall Street Journal’s Elliott Kaufman had a weekend interview with historian Ali M. Ansari who says that the Iranian regime is facing a crisis like never before in the current situation. What if the reactionary Iranian regime was being consumed by its own pathologies even before the Trump intervention? An intriguing notion, explored by Tim Black at Spiked On-line. Jonathan Rosen explores the fatwa—the Iranian weapon stronger than bombs—that might remain with us even if the regime falls.

Iran isn’t the only place having an issue with bombing this weekend. “Devil’s Work” scream the New York Post front-page headline.

Seem that demonstrators hurled an explosive known as the “Mother of Satan” in front of Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

It was a confusing double protest in front of Gracie Mansion: a protest against Muslim influence in New York followed by a pro-Muslim protest. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal attributed the explosive hurling to the wrong protest group:

Hoylman-Sigal issued a statement on X Saturday claiming, in part, “White Christian Nationalists led a roaming trail of Islamophobia and antisemitism today on Manhattan’s Upper East Side at Gracie Mansion where they targeted our mayor with an incendiary device.”

The borough president took down the statement before it was publicly revealed Sunday that two pro-Muslim demonstrators, identified as Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, were arrested in the incident. Federal authorities are working with the NYPD on the case.

The “Mother of Satan” hurlers are described as self-radicalized ISIS protesters. The original, anti-Muslim protest was lead by a right-wing agitator Jake Lang, reportedly a pardoned January 6 protestor. Miranda Devine argues in an impassioned column arguing that the New York Mayor’s response was telling:

Mayor Zohran Mamdani showed his true colors over the weekend when he responded to the attempted ISIS-inspired bombing of an anti-Muslim protest by first condemning “white supremacy” before getting around to saying “violence at a protest is never acceptable.”

That’s one way of putting it.

It took NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to issue her own statement for the full gravity of the attack to be officially acknowledged.

Indeed, the Mayor seems to have plumb forgotten the ISIS guys in his response. Adding to the heady mix—or maybe not adding to the mix because of social media shielding, the Mayor’s wife, Rama Duwaji’s apparent enthusiasm for the October 7 massacre of Israelis has come to light.

The mind-boggling, multi-billion-dollar welfare fraud in Minnesota appears to be just the beginning. A Wall Street Journal editorial on the “Medicaid Autism Racket” lays out just how easy it is to defraud government programs with vague behavioral therapy diagnoses:

Behavioral therapy is an especially ripe target for people looking to game Medicaid. Diagnostic standards can be elastic, and states provide little oversight of providers and pay claims without requiring verification of treatment or benefits. While insurers that administer Medicaid benefits have an incentive to police fraud, autism treatment has become a fee-for-service free-for-all.

Minnesota is a case study. According to a federal complaint, 27-year-old Abdinajib Hassan Yussuf set up a fly-by-night autism center claiming to provide one-on-one therapy for autistic children. He allegedly worked with medical professionals to have children diagnosed with autism and paid kickbacks to parents to enroll them in his center. … Prosecutors last fall brought charges against a 28-year-old Minnesotan woman in a similar scheme that included bilking the government for meals and transportation….

The welfare-state fraud story is turning out to be enormous. As the evidence emerges, keep in mind that the root problem isn’t fraudsters, who are always with us. It’s the programs that make it so easy for criminals to scam.

More on the American taxpayer spigot. Fox Digital has a report that non-U.S. citizens will no longer be able to access SBA loans. Ms. Must’s first reaction—you mean to tell me that non-citizens were receiving SBA loans?

New York Times “conservative” columnist David French has lost his heart to Texas senatorial aspirant James Talarico, the Democratic nominee and the Presbyterian seminarian who says that God is “non-binary” and there are six genders. More like Mr. French has lost his mind, writes The Federalist’s Chris Bray:

In a moment we should have seen coming, New York Times columnist David French has just gushed out a shameless celebration of Talarico’s insane nonsense, every word of which should qualify the worst op-ed prostitute in America for urgent psychiatric intervention. Here’s a whole paragraph: “Or, to put it another way, Talarico is one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian, and by acting like a Christian he reveals a profound contrast with so many members of the MAGA Christian movement that’s dominated American political life for 10 years.”

Speaking of Mr. Talarico… you remember his clever high jinks with Stephen Colbert, when the two claimed that incorrectly Talarico was being censored. Talarico was originally being denied airtime because of the intricacies of the “Equal Time” rule. An op-ed in the Wall Street Journal addresses the Talarico ruse and goes on to explain that the “Equal Time” rule is obsolete and should be ditched.

War Powers Resolution Fails. Another Loser: Pottery Barn Doctrine. Condoleezza Rice Speaks on Iran. The New Normal: Talarico. Jack Schlossberg’s Resume. And More

Posted on March 5, 2026March 5, 2026 by Charlotte Hays

“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 12^th 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.