Kasie Hunt: Iran Launches Retaliatory Strikes Against Israel

"Iran fired hundreds of ballistic missiles toward Israel, according to state media, in response to Israel’s unprecedented strikes. CNN heard explosions in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem." 

Source:CNN with a look at Tel Aviv, Israel.

From CNN

So what is this Israeli-Iranian confrontation about? I'm not breaking any news when I say that the Islamic Republic of Iran wants to not just be a nuclear power, (they might already be there) but they want nuclear weapons as well, to guarantee the security of their Islamic State and regime. Sure, they might put some of that nuclear power in their economy, but this is about guaranteeing their indefinite survival of their Islamist government. Just like with North Korea that has nuclear weapons simply to preserve the indefinite survival of their Marxist-Communist State. 

And the State of Israel, along with the European Union and the United States, simply do not want Iran to have nuclear weapons, for obvious reasons: Iran is an Islamist terrorist state already. You allow them to have nuclear weapons and they become a much larger problem. 

But my main point here and I'm probably going to sound pretty partisan here, but the words and policies of every politician, especially the President of the United States, really matter... and when you promise "world peace", and claim to be the "peace candidate" and there won't be any wars on your watch, and you promise to end the Russian War in Ukraine on day 1 of becoming President and if anything that war has been escalated and Ukraine might even have the advantage now... all these things are really bad not just for Donald Trump, but his presidency, as well as the credibility of America. 

The President saying he can guarantee "world peace" and if anything there are more military conflicts on his watch. Plus, Ukraine which is an ally of America, not even sharing the fact that they were going to bomb Russia, inside of Russia and The White House not knowing about that until after the fact. All these military conflicts, make President Trump look very weak and out-of-touch, as far as what's going on in the world right now. Which is bad for America, not just him. 

You can follow me on Threads.

Ben Meiselas: Republican CROSS EXAM of Dem Govs BACKFIRES in HEARING

"MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on the disastrous Republican cross examination  of Democratic Governors they subpoenaed to a hearing to distract from their disastrous budget bill." 

Source:Meidas Touch with a look at U.S. Representative Marjorie T. Greene (MAGA, Georgia) & Governor Tim (please don't run for reelection) Walz (Democrat, Minnesota)

From the Meidas Touch

Just to clean up the record as far as what Ben Meiselas said and add to the record as far as what he left out, first and then I'll get into what I really want to talk about here. And hopefully I won't put too many people in a coma from reading what I have to say, first. (Ha, ha)

So these Democratic governors (Kathy Hochul, J.B. Pritzker, Tim Walz) were all in front of the House Governor Reform and Oversight Committee. All you got from Ben Meiselas was that they were testifying in front of "members of Congress", or "Congress members". But "member of Congress" or "Congress member", is a very broad term. You know, 535 members of Congress between the House and Senate and maybe 45 Congressional committees between both chambers. 

The Left likes to talk about all the time about how dumb MAGA members are when it comes to government, but if you listened to how leftists talked about our government, you would think we were in United Kingdom, India... some country that has a unicameral legislature, where the members of Congress or Parliament, only come from 1 chamber.

I mean, I learned in junior high school, if not before that, because my parents have always been pretty political, that the United States has always had a bicameral Congress, with a House of Representatives and Senate. And not only that, the Senate has always been the upper chamber. Which is 1 of the reasons why the Senate is a much harder place to get elected to, especially if it's a big, swing state, like Wisconsin, or Michigan. It's a lot harder than the House, where in most cases you probably just have to win your party's primary, to get elected to the U.S. House. But the Left talks like they don't seem to understand our form of government, while lecturing everyone else about how stupid MAGA is.

And if anyone is still awake after reading my little social studies lecture, I'll tell you what I really think about this House Oversight Committee hearing today. If not, I hope this is the best sleep that you've gotten in a long time. (Ha, ha)

So I again, talking about my generation: if you remember the 1990s, you remember the daytime, trash talk TV genre, which were all supposed daytime, syndicated talk shows. The Jerry Springer's, the Jenny Jones's, even Geraldo Rivera who was more serious than the others, but he would have segments and guests like that. 

So the show would bring on a bunch people, none of them were experts on anything, other than how to look and sound pissed off and piss other people off and they would be up there to talk about their problems and problems they're having with other people, on live, national TV. It was sort of like daytime soap opera, but in real life, where the acting was better and the shows were funnier. That's what a House MAGA committee hearing for me is... at least when the "witnesses" (who really just there for MAGA verbal target practice) are Democrats. 

So when you are a member of 1 of these Congressional committees and you are literally asking your own witness: "Are you laughing at me?" you know you are not making your point. Unless you are just there to gin up some social media views for yourself with your MAGA audience. 

I'm sure Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (MAGA, Georgia) wanted her "question time" to remembered as her telling Governor Kathy Hochul (Democrat, New York) how horrible of a person that she thinks she is. But when you interrupt yourself, to ask your own damn witness: "Are you laughing at me?" that's not the impression that you want to leave even with your own audience, or the broader audience. 

And the Nancy Mace thing: 

@Representative Nancy Mace: to Gov. Tim Walz aggressively grill Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz: "You guys are the party of violence and you're the party erasing women. You don't respect us. You' don't respect us. You're a bigot. You're a misogynist. You're a sexist."

@Kire Schneider: Nancy Mace is the party of 1... herself.

From C-SPAN

So again, MAGA is not in the business of Congressional oversight, or government oversight in general. When they do these hearings, they simply want their own base and constituents to know for damn sure, how much they hate Democrats. Not to inform anyone about what government is doing with their tax dollars, by asking real questions and getting real documents from government agencies, or from state officials, like governors. That's all we saw today. But they are very good at political "reality TV"... at least as far as entertaining the broader audience, including their own witnesses. 

You can follow me on Threads and Twitter.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Austin Bragg & Andrew Heaton: Washington Parade Fail

"The federal government's parade route becomes a parade rout.

Starring Austin Bragg and Andrew Heaton.

Parade footage generated by VideoGen from Envato." 

Source:Yahoo News giving us Reason to look at.

From Reason Magazine

So in case anyone who is just waking up from a coma, just as they're reading this, (talk about luck) or this is literally your first day in America, (perhaps you literally were born not yesterday, but today) the President of the United States is going to have a parade in Washington celebrating... (any guesses?) himself on Saturday. 

The Trump parade is advertised as a military parade, but it's really going to be a North Korean and Russian style parade honoring the dictator. Or in this case... the wannabe dictator. And with any luck, there will be enough rain in Washington on Saturday, not just to wash this authoritarian parade away, but Donald John Trump's world class, gigantic ego. We can always hope and pray. 

But this is not what this Reason video is about. From looking at that, this is about Social Security and Federal entitlement programs in general. The premise being that they're all headed for bankruptcy, unless Congress and the Administration prevents that. And they do that by showing all these different parade boats that are headed for lamp posts, if nothing is done to prevent those bankruptcies from happening. 

This Reason video is kind of funny, but the premise is hard to see, unless you are not already familiar with libertarian humor and Federal entitlements. Which tells me that the only audience that Reason Magazine (which has been around since 1968) still has, are just Libertarians, who are still 1 of the smallest voting blocs in America. 

You can follow me on Threads and Twitter.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

CBS News: Kristi Noem Says She Doesn't Know Senator Alex Padilla After He's Removed From Her News Conference

"A news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday in Los Angeles was interrupted by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California), who was then forcibly removed from the room. CBS News correspondent Carter Evans has more." 

Source:CBS News with a look at U.S. Senator Alex Padilla in Los Angeles.

From CBS News

Secretary Kristi Noem: "I don't even know the Senator. He did not even request a meeting with me or to speak with me. So when I leave here, I'll have a conversation with him and visit him and find out what his concerns were. I think everyone in America would agree that wasn't appropriate. That if you want to have a discussion, especially as a leader, a public official, that you would reach out and try to have a discussion." 

The far-left won't like what I have to say here (which is what only CNN would call breaking news) but from looking at the the Senator's office own video here, Senator Padilla was in the wrong simply by trying to walk up to the Secretary of Homeland Security and interrupt her as she was speaking. But as soon as he announced who he was to those security officers, that should've been the end to it. Maybe they ask him for his official ID showing that he's a U.S. Senator, the Senator shows them that and they politely escort him out of the building. 

But you don't take a U.S. Senator down, especially after he just announced himself and can prove that and treat him like a freakin criminal and take him to the ground. It's obvious that the Trump Administration doesn't like Congress, especially Congressional Democrats. That would explain most, if not all of President Trump's executive orders. But you don't treat representatives and senators like that, simply because they're trying to get answers to their constituents questions. 

Hopefully Senator Padilla will now get his meeting with Secretary Noem and they can talk about what he wanted to talk about at her press conference. And she might just answer a few of his questions (especially since she wouldn't be under oath and not in public) and maybe they'll resolve this issue.

You can follow me on Threads and Twitter.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

Larry Kudlow: The Trump Economy is Heading For a Midterm Sweep

"FOX Business host Larry Kudlow discusses the latest CPI report for May on 'Kudlow." 

Source:FOX Business DJT propagandist Larry Kudlow.

From FOX Business

Just for the record: Larry Kudlow is not a professional economist or political analyst. And if you bothered to see his video before reading my response to it, he makes it obvious that he's not an economist or political analyst. 

Mr. Kudlow claimed that America has created 500K since Donald Trump became President. Well let's say minus January, since DJT was only President for the last 2 weeks of that month, that's 125K month. But you subtract 59K jobs from the public sector, it's more like 440K in a little over 16 weeks. In 2024 alone, we created 2.2 million jobs. That's around 180K(give or take)  per month under President Biden in his last year. Which was a bad year for him politically, as well as the Democratic Party, but a good year for the American economy. 

Mr. Kudlow also claimed we now have the lowest inflation rate in the last 9 months. The inflation level for May, 2025, was 2.4%, 2.4% in August and September of 2024. Mr. Kudlow might think his audience is primarily just a bunch of drunken idiots, or meth-heads (I guess you could be both) who don't know the difference between the national debt and budget deficit. But from time to time, there are people who watch his videos, who are sober and know at least something about economics. 

So if you think about it and look at the job numbers, the growth numbers, look at inflation: job and economic growth is down today, from where it was in all of 24. And inflation is the same. And you can say that the Trump tariffs are the reason for that. But you won’t hear that from anyone who is paid to kiss Donald John Trump’s feet every night and day on TV.

According to Wikipedia about Larry Kudlow:

"He graduated from the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, with a bachelor's degree in history in 1969.[8] Although his academic qualifications and credentials pertaining to economics have been called into question as he completed only an undergraduate degree with a major in history (aside from his foreign policy coursework at Princeton), Kudlow claims that the particular history curriculum that he completed at Rochester dealt heavily with economic themes, especially pertinent to trade policy.[5][9]

In 1971, Kudlow enrolled in the master's program at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, but he left before completing his degree." 

From Wikipedia

Like a lot of other people and things that Donald John Trump has touched right before they died, (to paraphrase Rick Wilson) Larry Kudlow before Donald Trump took over the Republican Party and turned it into the MAGA Party... was a neoconservative, supply-side, business oriented and economics oriented, Northeast, country club, Republican and political commentator. But now he acts like Donald John Trump is God himself and backs everything that he does and goes out-of-his-way to make it 100% that he always backs The Don 100% of the time, regardless of what the President is doing and saying. 

The President could call for nationalizing private universities and banks because he doesn't like their politics and Kudlow would claim: "The President is standing up for real Americans". 

I would love to know who kidnapped Larry Kudlow and who they got to replace him. The guy on FOX Business looks like Kudlow, but he sure as hell no longer sounds like him.

You can follow me on Threads and Twitter. 

Chris Cillizza: How The Los Angeles Protests Made Gavin Newsom a 2028 Power Player

"In this video, Chris Cillizza breaks down how California Governor Gavin Newsom is using the ongoing protests in Los Angeles—sparked by Donald Trump’s deportation policies and the deployment of National Guard troops—as a political springboard for his likely 2028 presidential run. Cillizza argues that Newsom is positioning himself as the “leader of the opposition” to Trump, capitalizing on the media spotlight and leaning into direct conflict with the former president. Newsom’s viral messaging, including a defiant response to a Trump ally's suggestion he be arrested, has elevated his national profile.

While this benefits Newsom individually, Cillizza warns it could backfire on the broader Democratic Party if the unrest turns violent. He notes that images of chaos and law enforcement clashes typically help Trump politically, especially on immigration—a core strength of his. In sum, Cillizza sees this as a clear example of how political opportunity grows out of national crisis, with Newsom playing the moment skillfully, even if it's risky for Democrats overall." 

Source:Chris Cillizza with a look at LA Law & Order with Governor Gavin Newsom.

From Chris Cillizza

As The New Democrat said yesterday: Donald Trump is doing Gavin Newsom huge favor by making the California Democrat look like he's the 1 standing for the rule of law and Constitution. Why DJT plays Dictator Don.

From The New Democrat

As we posted yesterday on The New Democrat: 

President Donald John Trump: 

"Look, I like Gavin, he's a nice guy. But he's doing a terrible job... and then the President went on to talk about some building project in California that he's claims is very late and well over budget."

Ederik Schneider:  And then he claimed everything that he builds is always done under budget and finished early. 

From The New Democrat

As Kire Schneider wrote yesterday: 

"This is exactly what we're talking about. Let's say (God forbid) that Governor Newsom is the Democratic nominee for President in 2028... that's how Republicans are going to want to paint the Governor politically: some out-of-touch, California, hippie-leftist, who thinks the police are the real criminals, who wants the national government to run everyone's lives for them. But then you got President Trump coming in and threatening to arrest the Governor, because Newsom disagrees with how the President is responding to the Los Angeles protests. 

Democrats in 2026, 27, and 28, even 25, want to run against Donald Trump because they see him as a wannabe dictator and real threat to our Constitution, republic, our form of government, the rule of law, etc. And the President just made that job a helluva lot easier by making Governor Newsom look like the guy who is standing for our Constitution, checks and balances, and rule of law. That's the real point of this story. Not what Jesse Dollemore or some other left-wing commentator thinks about Gavin Newsom on social media." 

From The New Democrat

I think Chris Cillizza is really just stating the obvious here. I mean he starts off his video by saying: 

"National crisis's creates political opportunity. Always has, always will". Not what you would call a brilliant observation. 

I mean Jimmy Carter got elected President of the United States because of Watergate in the mid 1970s and the fact that he was an outsider Democrat, from Georgia, who also had strong record on civil rights and was popular with African-Americans, as well as rural Anglo-Saxons. And there many other examples like that. And this is not a brilliant observation on my part, but it makes my point. 

So why am I'm writing a blog post in response to what Chris Cillizz's  unenlightening video here? Because the weather is once again very warm, sunny, and gorgeous in Washington and it's a slow news day. And with all due respect to MSNBC: Gavin Newsom saying that Donald Trump is endangering American democracy, is not "breaking news". Unless you have nothing else to talk about and we want to keep the left-wing of the Democratic Party as part of your audience. Which is probably why they're saying that. 

But The New Democrat made this point on Monday and Chris Cilliza sort of backs up what we are saying here. Donald Trump is a political Christmas gift for Governor Newsom right now. And maybe privately Donald Trump and the rest of MAGA wants the Governor to be the Democratic nominee for President in 2028. Especially if the economy is crashing with the records deficits, debt, inflation, and interest rates (unless Republican change fiscal course here) because they think they can paint the Governor as some out-touch, hippie-leftist, elitist, California Democrat, who looks down at the rest of the country, especially Americans who live in the middle part of the country and Southeast. 

But, when you are threatening and just use the National Guard against protestors, simply because you don't think that people who disagree with you have a right to protest, (meaning you don't believe in the First Amendment) and then you also threaten to arrest people simply for disagreeing with you, especially the Governor of the most populated state in America, who happens to also be from the opposition party, you end up painting yourself as the out-of-touch extremist. And open the door for even a left-wing California Democrat, to come in looking like the champion of rule of law, the Constitution, and free speech in America. Which is the exact, unintentional, political favor, that Donald Trump has done for Gavin Newsom. 

You can follow me on Threads.

You can also see this post on WordPress.

William Alland: Look In Any Window (1961) Welcome To This Neighborhood

"Teen idol Paul Anka plays Craig Fowler, the troubled son of dysfunctional parents Jackie and Jay Fowler (Ruth Roman and Alex Nicol). When Jay loses his job as a aircraft mechanic, he goes on a drinking binge to end all, passing out on the floor in front of his bored and disappointed wife. Meanwhile, across the back fence, Betty Lowell (Carole Mathews) confronts her philandering playboy husband Gareth (Jack Cassidy) about his extracurricular activities at work - activities which she has conveniently rationalized, as his success has made them the envy of their neighbors. While the parents fight, Craig and Betty's daughter Eileen (Gigi Perreau) indulge in a growing interest in each other - but what role models do they have for "normal" behavior? And how long can Craig hide his dark secret: a compulsion which drives him to prowl the neighborhood's quiet streets at night and peep in windows? Cast members Jack Cassidy and George Dolenz both were fathers of future rock star sons, David Cassidy ("The Partridge Family") and Micky Dolenz ("The Monkees").—

Source:IMDB with a look at Jackie & Craig Fowler (played by Ruth Roman & Paul Anka)

From IMDB

Suburban Confidential: "Look in Any Window" is a cheap, sleazy exploitation film about the shenanigans going on behind the scenes in suburban America. While it could have been well made and intelligent, the filmmakers really just wanted sensationalism. However, despite being pretty crass, it is entertaining.

The film is like a soap opera and it consists of many different vignettes involving really screwed up people. The most obviously messed up person is Craig, played by Paul Anka. He is an out of work teen who loves peeking in windows. Eventually, his behavior escalates and the police are looking to find him. His father is emotionally and physically impotent and the film is trying to say this is why the young man is a creepy sex offender...which is a bit of a stretch. As for nearly all the adults in the film, they seem to love cheating on their spouses and are too wrapped up in themselves to notice that Craig is a real head case!

The film often features very broad acting that is anything but subtle. The worst of these is played by Alex Nicol, who is Craig's alcoholic father. Subtle, he is not! But none of the characters seemed subtle...not even the cops investigating the peeping Tom case! I am a bit surprised the film didn't cast Jayne Mansfield or Mamie Van Doren as well...they would have fit right in to the story. Overall, a bad but fun movie...the type you watch if you could use a laugh or if you like over-the-top stories." 

From IMDB

"Dad's Kinda Feeling Last Night's Booze Today. If you don't laugh when he falls down, I don't think we can be friends." 

Source:Kavin Lafferty with a look at The Fowler's. (Played by Alex Nicol & Ruth Roman)

From Kevin Lafferty

If you are familiar with the movie "Peyton Place", then that makes me feel a helluva lot younger and less lonelier because now I know I'm no longer the only classic film fan on social medial and in the blogosphere, who doesn't write for this blog... besides Turner Classic Movies and the other classic film and TV networks. But that's not really my point here.

Again, if you are familiar with "Peyton Place (1957)", this movie is sort of like that. Before the Cultural Revolution, before integration became mainstream and standard in America, later in the 1960s and really ever since, Americans had a stereotypical view of what it meant to be an American, (or as MAGA might say: a real American) and if you lived in or around a big city, (like Los Angeles) the goal and preference back then was to live in the suburbs, or at least in what people thought was a nice, clean, safe, well-educated, and middle to high-income community, in a big city, like Los Angeles. 

Well, "Look in Any Window", pretty much blows up the stereotypes of what it meant to live the American dream in the 1960s. I mean this film is just a raging soap opera, where you have 2 what looks like on the surface, successful couples living next door to each other, in Reseda, Los Angeles. But where the husbands are rarely home and don't know their kids very well: 

In 1 house, Garrett Lowell (played by Jack Cassidy) is a workaholic, who has his own car dealership, who is much happier at work, then being home with his wife and daughter... who sleeps with every woman who says hi to him... who is not his wife. (That's not an exaggeration)

And next door, you have Jay Fowler (played by Alex Nicol) who is a traveling airplane mechanic (whatever the hell that is) who gets fired, (which is probably the only reason why he gets home from Alaska) because he says he was laid off. But the man is an alcoholic, so unless his company is run and owned by alcoholics, safe bet his drinking (perhaps on the job) was at least 1 reason for his dismissal. 

And then you have 2 bored and lonely housewives... I mean homemakers,  (not really) Jackie Fowler and Betty Lowell (played by Ruth Roman & Carole Matthews) who are exactly that. Who take the attitude, "If I can't have my husband, I'll have the guy next door". 

And if all of this not enough for you, along with the fact that the beautiful, adorable, and curvy Ruth Roman, is wearing hot shorts in and outside of her house, for the entire film, the Fowler's son, Craig (played by Paul Anka) is a freakin peeping tom, who is essentially antisocial and doesn't know how to communicate with females... except Eileen Lowell. (Played by Gigi Perreau) 

I agree with this IMDB review: 

"Look in Any Window" is a cheap, sleazy exploitation film about the shenanigans going on behind the scenes in suburban America. While it could have been well made and intelligent, the filmmakers really just wanted sensationalism. However, despite being pretty crass, it is entertaining...

But it was close to July 4th, 2021, perhaps the night before and I was flipping around 1 night and ran into this film on TCM. And I've been watching it at least once every year ever since... saw it again last night, in anticipation of another slow news day in Washington. And this movie, is a great soap opera episode, or TV film... as far as the cast, and the story, the location, it's pretty funny... the fact that it really blows up what upper middle class life was like back in the 1950s and early 60s, at least for some people. That life back then, even for successful Americans, wasn't just an episode of Pleasantville, at least for some Americans, including European-Americans. 

You can follow me on Threads. 

You can also see this post on WordPress.