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Debt Rattle April 23 2026

Apr 232026
 
 April 23, 2026  Posted by at 9:44 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,  47 Responses »


Edward Hopper Railroad sunset 1929


• Trump Extends Ceasefire with Iran Pending Internal Regime Discussions (CTH)
• Trump Extends Iran Ceasefire and Forces Tehran to Make the Next Move (Manney)
• IRGC Leader Takes Control of Iran’s Military As US Tensions Rise (Fox)
• President Trump Didn’t Just Win. He Revived the Warrior Poet (David Manney)
• Trump Spooked Over Iran War Crimes – Larry Klayman (USAW)
• Trump’s “Sock Puppet” (Philip Marey)
• Bongino’s Ominous Warning About the Kash Patel Smear (Margolis)
• A Crazy Lefty Lady Learns What Kamala and Hillary Said About Iran (Green)
• Southern Poverty Law Center Charged With Fraud Over Hate Ratings (JTN)
• Democrats Lose A Vital Propaganda Machine With The Fall Of The SPLC (ZH)
• There Is Simply Too Much Schadenfreude in This New York Times Profile (Thorne)
• The California Bar Bags a Trump Lawyer and Leaves Troubling Questions (Turley)

 


 

 


 


“50,000 extremist clerics and IRGC members are holding 90 million people as hostages ..”

• Trump Extends Ceasefire with Iran Pending Internal Regime Discussions (CTH)

The issue inside Iran is essentially: 50,000 extremist clerics and IRGC members are holding 90 million people as hostages to a fanatical religious regime. Hopefully the economic oil embargo will eventually begin to fray this Gordian Knot.


In the last two weeks, President Trump has forcefully and publicly been pushing back against the aggressive posture of Israel. While the Arab partners in the region are aligned with Trump on the issue of “extremism” and radicalism, thereby supporting the confrontation with Iranian religious extremists – those same regional partners also consider Israeli conduct in Gaza and Lebanon as religious “extremism.”

STATEMENT OF PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP:

“Based on the fact that the Government of Iran is seriously fractured, not unexpectedly so and, upon the request of Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, of Pakistan, we have been asked to hold our Attack on the Country of Iran until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal. I have therefore directed our Military to continue the Blockade and, in all other respects, remain ready and able, and will therefore extend the Ceasefire until such time as their proposal is submitted, and discussions are concluded, one way or the other.” ~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

The totality of the intelligence chatter must be overwhelming.

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Only now do we find out who’s in charge there. That in itself is a negotiating tactic.

• Trump Extends Iran Ceasefire and Forces Tehran to Make the Next Move (Manney)

President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran as the original two-week truce neared its end. He made the decision after a request from Pakistani officials while he waits for a unified proposal from Tehran. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he is extending the ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan’s request while awaiting a “unified proposal” from Tehran, even as the U.S. military maintains its blockade of Iranian ports. The move comes as the White House put on hold Vice President JD Vance’s planned trip to Pakistan for a second round of truce talks with Iran, which has balked at further discussions. The extension keeps negotiations alive and avoids further loss of life on both sides.


Trump made clear that the United States will maintain its blockade of Iranian ports, stating that the military remains ready to act if Iran rejects a fair agreement. The extension doesn’t signal weakness; it reflects a deliberate choice to keep pressure in place while giving negotiations time to produce results. Trump explained that the pause allows a path toward a lasting resolution without immediate resolution. Iranian leaders rejected earlier ceasefire terms and demanded permanent guarantees. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi leads that response and continues to push for concessions that favor Tehran. Iran has also warned of a swift reaction to any new U.S. action. Trump declined to rush into additional conflict, using the extension to force Iran to decide between continued resistance and meaningful negotiation.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz addressed Iran’s claim that it controls the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting that position and stating that no country holds exclusive authority over that waterway. Waltz said, “Well, you saw real confusion on the Iranian’s part. I think that shows the discord within their ranks after devastating attacks on their leadership. The foreign minister says it’s open, the IRGC says that it’s closed. Regardless, it’s the U.S. Navy and President Trump as the commander in chief that decides what ultimately comes in and comes out, and I think the bigger picture here is that the Iranian regime cannot hold the entire world’s economy hostage.

They cannot mete out collective punishment because of a dispute over its nuclear program. It’s something that will not stand. It’s something in the United Nations that record 135 countries joined us and joined our gulf Arab allies in condemning including Iran’s attacks on ports, airport, roads, bridges, hotels, you name it. Even civilian neighborhoods with their drones and with their missiles. So Iran is increasingly isolated diplomatically. It’s struggling economically with its currency and foreign currency reserves tanking and at the end of the day they do not have the cards and they’re coming back to the table for a deal.”

He added, “The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway unlike what the Iranians are trying to claim. They moved the goalpost and they’re claiming it is a waterway of theirs which is a violation of international law. Ultimately it’s the U.S. navy and President Trump that decides what comes in and what comes out.”

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Support for iGRC is not very broad.

• IRGC Leader Takes Control of Iran’s Military As US Tensions Rise (Fox)

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of the Iranian armed forces, has blocked President Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidential appointments and erected what sources described as a security cordon around Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, a report published Tuesday by Iran International said. The IRGC effectively has assumed control over key state functions, the report claimed. “It was always a matter of when, not if, the IRGC was going to step forward even more than it has in the last three decades,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.


Pezeshkian has reached a “complete political deadlock” as tensions between his administration and the military leadership deepen, according to the report. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, has blocked President Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidential appointments, a new report says. (John Lamparski/Getty Images) The reported shift could have major consequences far beyond Iran. Analysts say a more powerful IRGC likely would mean a more confrontational Iran, less willing to compromise in talks with Washington and more inclined to continue military escalation across the region.

With U.S.-Iran negotiations already faltering and uncertainty growing over whether Tehran will even send negotiators to the next round of talks, the rise of the Revolutionary Guard raises fresh doubts about who actually is making decisions in Iran and whether any civilian official can still speak for the regime. “But it’s a mistake to assume this is some sort of coup,” Ben Taleblu said. “This has been the process in Iran for years now, as the regime has chosen conflict over cooperation and emboldened its security forces at every juncture.”

Pezeshkian’s recent effort to appoint a new intelligence minister collapsed after direct pressure from IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi, sources told Iran International, arguing that all proposed candidates, including former Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, were rejected. Vahidi reportedly insisted that under wartime conditions, all critical and sensitive positions must be chosen and managed directly by the Revolutionary Guard until further notice.

“By any standard, Vahidi is considered a radical even within the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the shots,” Lisa Daftari, foreign policy analyst and journalist, told Fox News Digital. Under Iran’s system, the president traditionally nominates an intelligence minister only after securing approval from the supreme leader. But with the condition and whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei unclear in recent weeks, the IRGC appears to be increasingly acting without civilian oversight.

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I want what he’s smoking.

• President Trump Didn’t Just Win. He Revived the Warrior Poet (David Manney)

A warrior poet fights with courage and speaks with lasting truth, an idea that stretches back through history. Warriors defend their people with strength, while poets shape words that move hearts and clarify purpose. When those traits come together, action and vision reinforce each other. King David embodied that union by defeating Goliath in battle and later wrote the Psalms that still guide millions. Samurai in feudal Japan trained with the sword and composed haiku that reflected discipline and honor. Medieval knights followed codes of chivalry while studying philosophy and faith. History shows that strength and expression can live in the same man.


President Donald Trump reflects that tradition in a modern setting as he fights for American workers and national security with a direct approach. He imposed tariffs to rebalance trade and bring leverage back to the United States.nHe authorized strikes when threats emerged in key waterways, pushed military readiness, and demanded clear outcomes from allies and adversaries, and he doesn’t step back when pressure builds. That posture mirrors the role of a warrior who protects what belongs to his people.

Trump also communicates with clarity that reaches beyond policy language, using short, direct phrases that people remember and repeat. “Make America Great Again” became a national message that carries emotion and direction. His rallies draw large crowds and create a shared sense of purpose. His speeches simplify complex issues without losing focus, a style that connects with people who want leaders to speak in terms they can understand. It echoes the role of a poet who turns ideas into language that lasts.

Trump’s tone has been criticized as blunt, but critics miss the function behind it. Warrior poets never softened every edge. King David wrote about conflict and victory in the same breath. Samurai poets described the cost of battle alongside moments of reflection. Trump addresses border security, trade imbalance, and national defense in terms that leave no ambiguity. He states the problem and moves forward toward action, a pattern that aligns with leaders who combine force with message.

The United States benefits when leadership blends resolve with vision. Trump has faced elections, investigations, and constant opposition while remaining focused on policy goals and public messaging at the same time. Trump’s administration reduced taxes, expanded domestic production, and reinforced border enforcement as he engaged foreign adversaries from a position of strength and pursued agreements that shifted regional dynamics.

Alongside those actions, he offered a consistent message about national pride and shared identity, a balance that reflects the core of the warrior poet idea.Opponents challenge his methods and dismiss his language, overlooking how that language reaches people who feel unheard. His speeches energize audiences and translate policy into a clear direction, speaking to workers, families, and communities that want protection and opportunity. That connection resembles the historical role of leaders who defended their people and gave voice to their experience.

Americans recognize the combination. Trump leads with determination and communicates with impact, protecting national interests and framing that effort in words that stay with the public. King David secured his nation and wrote songs that endured. Trump secures American priorities and delivers a message that resonates across the country. The warrior poet tradition continues through that blend of action and expression.

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Love Larry, but he’s wrong here. Trump does not fear the International Criminal Court.

• Trump Spooked Over Iran War Crimes – Larry Klayman (USAW)

Renowned Attorney Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and later Freedom Watch USA, weighs in on a variety of legal subjects. Top on the list is Iran cancels peace talks in Pakistan, and then President Trump “unilaterally extends ceasefire” until Iran can “come up with a unified proposal.” Trump says the Iran government is “seriously fractured.” What happened to Trump’s threat of bombing power plants and bridges if the talks broke down? The last time talks failed, Iran put women and children around power plants and on bridges. Would a country that reportedly murdered more than 40,000 of its own citizens a few months ago do that again?


Klayman says, “First of all, I have a lot of experience with Iran. I have represented many families who have had their sons tortured and killed by the Iranian regime. I have represented Gold Star families of special ops (military) that died in a helicopter crash in the Tangi Valley (Afghanistan) that was caused by the Taliban because of bounties on their heads by Iran. . .. President Trump has lost his credibility because he has said time and again, if you don’t do X, I’ll do Y. It looks like he’s getting down on his knees and begging for peace. The reason he’s doing that is he’s worried he’s going to cost the Republicans the Mid-term elections. . .. He should have bit the bullet and taken out the regime. You can’t leave them there. . .. The President now looks weak. He had victory in his grasp, and now he’s getting down on his knees, and I am really sad about that.”

There is another thing that Klayman says might be holding President Trump back. Klayman says, “The threat of war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC) scared Trump. It’s not a war crime when you have to bomb something that has a dual use as in military and civilian. We did it in World War II, and others have done it elsewhere. . .. It’s not a war crime, but I think the President is spooked, and that’s the bottom line. . .. Pinochet (President of Chile from 1973 to 1990) was indicted and convicted by the ICC. If he had not died, they would have arrested him. Netanyahu (PM Israel) can’t travel to Europe or any place the ICC has jurisdiction. He will be arrested. If Trump was to go to Europe and he was indicted and convicted (for war crimes), they would arrest him.”

Klayman adds, “What I am saying here is tough love. If you really care about somebody, you tell them the truth. You don’t pussyfoot around. If the President is going to get himself out of this and if there is any chance of him winning the Mid-terms and keeping control of Congress and stop him from being subjected to all this lawfare, which will be vicious, then he needs to end this war quickly on our terms with unconditional surrender like Winston Churchill, not Neville Chamberlain. . .. I love the President, don’t get me wrong. I am trying to get him to do the right thing for his own good.”

Klayman also weighs in on the fight over voter fraud and the Department of Justice suing 29 states to get access to the voter rolls. The DOJ wants to enforce voter integrity. With the states complying and not fighting the DOJ, they found 350,000 dead people still on the voter rolls. Klayman says, “The American people have a right to know about the fraud that goes on, and it’s not just dead people, it’s illegal aliens. . .. this is a very serous matter. This will end up in the Supreme Court. The question is will this go up soon enough to help in the Mid-term elections in November?”


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It’s not hard to do a better job than Jay Powell.

• Trump’s “Sock Puppet” (Philip Marey)

The confirmation hearing of Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh by the Senate Banking Committee was a very partisan affair. In his prepared remarks, Warsh stressed that monetary policy independence is essential, but he does not believe that the operational independence of monetary policy is particularly threatened when elected officials state their views on interest rates. Warsh thinks the Fed must stay in its lane and avoid straying into fiscal and social policies. Warsh was walking a tightrope between convincing the Senate Banking Committee that he is going to be an independent Fed Chair and staying loyal to President Trump.


Meanwhile, there was as much interest in Warsh’s personal balance sheet as in the Fed’s balance sheet. Obviously, there were several questions about Fed independence and whether Warsh had promised President Trump to cut rates in order to get the nomination. Of course, he denied. Warsh repeatedly said that interest rates rather than the balance sheet should be the dominant tool of monetary policy. He did not have a specific target for the balance sheet in mind, and eased fears of a rapid change. Warsh wants a robust reform of the inflation framework and improve the data to assess the underlying inflation trend.

First Democratic senator Warren called nominee Warsh president Trump’s sock puppet. Then Republican senator Kennedy tried to settle the issue by asking: “Mr Warsh, are you going to be the president’s human sock puppet?” “Absolutely not,” said Warsh. This was clearly a very partisan confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh and near the end of the 2.5 hour session one of the more empathetic senators asked him why he would want this job. This was a big change from 20 years ago when Warsh was confirmed as Fed Governor with bipartisan support. Warren gave him a couple of litmus tests of his independence by asking whether Trump lost the election of 2021 and if Warsh could name one aspect of Trump’s policies that he disagreed with. Warsh gave evasive answers and the tone for the hearing was set. Warsh was walking a tightrope between convincing the Senate Banking Committee that he is going to be an independent Fed Chair and staying loyal to President Trump.

Meanwhile, there was as much interest in Warsh’s personal balance sheet as in the Fed’s balance sheet. Warsh said he had made an agreement with relevant authorities to divest his assets before sworn in (or within 90 days of his confirmation), but that answer did not seem satisfactory to several (Democratic) senators. Ironically, Senator Tillis (Rep) – who wants to hold up the confirmation until the case against Powell is dropped – had to come to the rescue by stressing that Warsh was not out of compliance.

Warsh wants the Fed to stay in its lane
Warsh did not read the full text of his prepared remarks that were published a day before the hearing, as Chairman Scott tried to keep the meeting on schedule. In his speech, he stressed that monetary policy independence is essential, but he does not believe that the operational independence of monetary policy is particularly threatened when elected officials – presidents, senators, or member of the House – state their views on interest rates. He said that Fed independence is largely up to the Fed. He highlighted three important implications.

First, Congress has tasked the Fed with price stability and that means that low inflation is the Fed’s plot armor (against criticism). Second, Fed independence is at its peak in the operational conduct of monetary policy, but that does not mean that the central bank has the same degree of independence in other areas, such as regulation and supervision. Third, the Fed must stay in its lane and avoid straying into fiscal and social policies. In response to the opening question by Chairman Tim Scott (Rep), Warsh said that he wanted a new inflation framework, that he preferred the interest rate tool over the balance sheet tool, and that he wanted a new communications approach. For a more detailed discussion of the nominee’s ideas, we refer to The Warsh Regime

Rates and independence
Obviously, there were several questions about Fed independence and whether Warsh had promised President Trump to cut rates in order to get the nomination. When Senator Reed (Dem) asked him about Fed independence, Warsh said that presidents (in general, not just Trump) want lower rates, but that independence is up to the Fed. In an answer to Senator Kennedy (Rep), Warsh said that the president never asked him to pre-commit on any interest rate decision. It got really heated when Senator Gallego asked Warsh whether it was his sworn testimony that the President had not asked him to commit to cutting rates. When Warsh confirmed, Gallego (Dem) concluded that either Warsh or Trump was lying, referring to an article in the Wall Street Journal on December 12. In response, Warsh said that these reporters needed better sources and that he took independence very seriously: “the President never asked me and I would never do so.”

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“You’re gonna find out, as they say in the South, right quick about why they need him out..”

• Bongino’s Ominous Warning About the Kash Patel Smear (Margolis)

Something is coming. That’s the message Dan Bongino delivered to his audience this week, and if you’ve been paying attention, the pieces are already falling into place. As PJ Media previously reported, The Atlantic dropped a lengthy smear job against FBI Director Kash Patel last week, painting him as an erratic, hard-drinking paranoid who allegedly “panicked” and “freaked out” after a routine computer login glitch — convinced, supposedly, that he’d been fired. According to the story, the access issue turned out to be a technical error that was quickly resolved.


Patel’s attorney sent a letter to the magazine before publication, warning that the allegations it planned to run were false and that printing them would trigger a defamation lawsuit. The Atlantic ran the piece anyway. Now Patel is suing for $250 million, calling it a “sweeping, malicious, and defamatory hit piece” designed to “destroy Director Patel’s reputation and drive him from office.” And right on cue, the left-wing machinery started moving the moment the Atlantic piece went live.

Democrats started calling for investigations, and left-wing groups went all in, too. Democracy Forward — a progressive lawfare outfit that spends its days litigating against DEI rollbacks, immigration enforcement, and abortion restrictions — fired off a 16-page FOIA request to the Justice Department. They want Patel’s calendars, schedules, text messages, communications with staff, and — get this — any records related to a request for “breaching equipment” allegedly made by his security detail. The Atlantic hit piece planted that allegation. Democracy Forward immediately took the bait.

But Bongino isn’t just calling it a mere hit piece. He’s saying there’s something much bigger going on here, and the reason why will become clear very soon.”The hit on Kash Patel, the bullshit hit by The Atlantic, which I addressed yesterday, is gonna make a lot more sense in the coming weeks and months,” Bongino explained. “I can’t give you a definitive timeline. I’m on the outside now. However, I can tell you what I know is going on because I started a lot of it.” He didn’t stop there.

“Look me in the eye, and I’m telling you, I promise this thing is gonna make a whole lot of sense. You’re gonna find out, as they say in the South, right quick about why they need him out, like, now. It’s got nothing to do with that story being even remotely true. Remember this. Bookmark it.” Make no mistake about it, he’s not speculating. He’s someone who knows something, and we should believe him. This is what the left does: they manufacture a narrative, find a publication to run with it, and then use it as the pretext for discovery-style records requests aimed at forcing Patel out.

Now, ask yourself why Democrats want to force him out so badly. The Atlantic published a lie. Democrats pounced on it immediately. The entire response feels bizarrely coordinated. Now, Bongino is telling you point-blank that the left is doing this for a reason. It’s panic. And we’ll all understand why soon.

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“Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.” Except that, you know, up until that moment, Oceania had been allied with Eastasia in a war against Eurasia. Things change.”

• A Crazy Lefty Lady Learns What Kamala and Hillary Said About Iran (Green)

“The past was alterable. The past never had been altered,” George Orwell wrote in 1984. “Oceania was at war with Eastasia. Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.” Except that, you know, up until that moment, Oceania had been allied with Eastasia in a war against Eurasia. Things change. So does the propaganda — so smoothly that you wonder if Orwell got his ideas for Big Brother from time-traveling modern-day Democrats. Case in point: The crazy lady in the video below.


If the U.S. hasn’t exactly always been at war with the Islamic Republic, the Islamic Republic has always been at war with the U.S. The regime was born in an act of war against us — storming sovereign U.S. territory and taking 52 hostages for 444 days. In the 47 years since, the regime has directly committed or financed countless acts of terrorism against the U.S. and our interests. During the Iraq War, it was largely Tehran that waged the IED campaign that killed and wounded so many of our troops. The Islamic Republic is responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Americans. And by its own boast to Trump administration negotiators, it was on the verge of having nearly a dozen nuclear bombs.

So after nearly five decades, 1,200 deaths, and a lot of tough talk from every American president since Ronald Reagan, President Donald Trump took action — action that would have been applauded by previous incarnations of Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and American lefties. In an epic (and justifiably expletive-filled) X rant, L.H. Grey noted that Reagan called out the Islamic Republic as “the epicenter of terrorism,” and that “Bush, Clinton, Bush II, Obama… all of them, without exception, treated the mullahs as a strategic cancer requiring sanctions, isolation, or the occasional kinetic reminder that [effing] with America has consequences.

“”Kamala Harris herself, as Vice President, stood in front of microphones and labeled Iran the United States’ greatest adversary.” The consensus against the Islamic Republic is both decades old and bipartisan — until the Bad Orange Man took the first meaningful action against it. Which brings us to the lefty activist in Monday’s delightful gotcha video.

Watching the “nice lady” grasp at one straw after another… that’s exactly the schadenfreude I enjoy with my morning coffee. She isn’t the only one, of course. “Donald Trump is dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want,” is what Harris said at the start of Epic Fury, and then called it “a dangerous and unnecessary gamble.” This month, Harris escalated her criticism, claiming that Trump had been “pulled into” the war by Bibi Netanyahu and that Epic Fury was “a feeble attempt to distract from the Epstein files.”

The needs of the Party are subject to change, comrades. But Orwell’s deeper warning wasn’t that the Party could rewrite history at a moment’s notice — it was that the people would eagerly go along. “There was, of course, no admission that any change had taken place. Merely it became known, with extreme suddenness and everywhere at once, that Eastasia and not Eurasia was the enemy… Without words said, a wave of understanding rippled through the crowd. Oceania was at war with Eastasia!” And always had been.

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USAID is long gone, and now the SPLC. No coincidence in sight. Both are (were) Democratic money dispensers.

• Southern Poverty Law Center Charged With Fraud Over Hate Ratings (JTN)

A federal grand jury in Alabama on Tuesday indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts of wire and bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, as the Justice Department accused the group that rose to fame during the 1960s Civil Rights movement of paying members of 21st century extremist groups to stoke hatred. “The SPLC is a nonprofit entity that purports to fight white supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups and conducting research to inform law enforcement groups with the goal of dismantling these groups,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a news conference attended by CBS News. “The SPLC was not dismantling these groups. It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.”


Blanche said the group was charged with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He said that the SPLC had paid at least $3 million to eight members of these extremist groups. Among the groups whose members received funds were the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Aryan Nations, and the Nationalist Socialist Party of American Nazis. The SPLC is a nonprofit that tracks white supremacist and other hate groups across the U.S., and has been a frequent target of President Donald Trump’s allies. It is best known for its work investigating the Ku Klux Klan.

The group has acknowledged using such informants to infiltrate extremist groups and gather intelligence on their operations, which it shared with local and federal law enforcement, according to the Associated Press. The Justice Department had no immediate comment, the wire service also said.Bryan Fair, CEO of the SPLC, said that the organization doesn’t know all the details, but the Trump administration has launched an investigation, which may lead to charges. Fair said the SPLC worked with informants during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, when violence against activists was running high. He said the SPLC will “vigorously defend” themselves.

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As in: “yet another” Vital Propaganda Machine..

• Democrats Lose A Vital Propaganda Machine With The Fall Of The SPLC (ZH)

When creating a short list of nefarious NGOs that manipulate government policy and socially engineer public opinion, the Southern Poverty Law Center is usually near the top. The group has been fading in influence due to excessive exposure, with new and less visible left wing NGOs taking it’s place. However, it remains a key pillar of the Democratic Party’s propaganda machine and a poisonous cloud looming over grassroots conservative organization. News from the Trump FBI and DOJ indicates that this reign of political terror may finally be coming to an end. The Southern Poverty Law Center has been indicted on federal fraud charges that accuse it of illegally raising millions of dollars to pay informants in white supremacist and other extremist groups.


Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the SPLC used paid operatives within extremist circles to incite and intensify racial tensions, arguing the group fostered the very threats it claimed to fight. But why was an NGO allowed to operate like a covert federal agency for so long? These operations were essentially endorsed by the Democratic Party (as well as some Neo-Cons). One could say that the SPLC had two missions: First, to drum up hysteria among weak minded liberals and make them believe that there are malicious “hate groups” under every rock and behind every tree. Second, to make conservatives paranoid about informants when seeking to build political opposition movements.

Sadly, to this day, the SPLC was rather successful in achieving both goals. The NGO’s efforts to create a false model of “hate networks” (especially during the Obama years) was a primary impetus for the eventual rise of the woke activist movement from around 2012 onward. In other words, the insane cult obsessed with race and identity that plagues America today found its roots within the SPLC and their alliance with the Democratic Party. SPLC “informants” were a constant nuisance among conservative activist and protest groups as well as preparedness groups. Nothing these conservatives did was actually illegal, but, the SPLC had a knack for making it sound as if they were engaging in criminality.

Far too many right wingers were frightened into refusing to engage in basic meetings and public discussions, simply on the possibility that SPLC informants might be present. No such infiltration was used to target left wing extremist groups like Antifa, which have carried out numerous criminal attacks, riots, sabotage and acts of intimidation against their political opponents. But, times change and the truth cannot be suppressed forever. Conservative and nationalist movements grew exponentially, even if they still suck at organizing formally. And today, the SPLC is a widely known and rightfully despised entity.

The SPLC was specifically integral to the Obama and Biden Administrations, including a direct information sharing relationship with the DHS and FBI. The majority of anti-conservative policy papers published by the federal government during this time were crafted using SPLC propaganda. The 2009 DHS Rightwing Extremism Report, a unclassified assessment warning of potential “surges” in right-wing extremism, drew input extensively from SPLC info. The report targeted militia groups as potential homegrown terrorists and was partially withdrawn because of political backlash.

A separate 2009 state-level fusion center report – the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) “Modern Militia Movement” report – linked supposedly dangerous militia members to “3rd party political groups” and “supporters of Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr.” The report flagged symbols like the Gadsden Flag, as well as anti-government, anti-new world order and anti-martial law discussion as potential indicators of homegrown terrorism. The SPLC was a key participant in the formation of the MIAC report.

SPLC President Richard Cohen served on Secretary Janet Napolitano’s CVE Working Group in 2010. Cohen and an SPLC colleague acted as subject-matter experts on right-wing extremism in the DHS Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Working Group. Their purpose was to shift federal law enforcement focus almost entirely from Islamic-based terrorism over to right wing extremism.

Under Biden, the SPLC was highly active in shaping public narratives surrounding the J6 trials. SPLC staff provided training to DOJ prosecutors and SPLC leaders/staff visited the White House at least 11 times. President Biden personally met with SPLC representatives at least 6 times.

With the fall of the SPLC, the Democrats lose a vital tool in their social engineering arsenal. If the accusations turn out to be true and SPLC leaders are convicted, their activities should be considered as treason against the American people. Any and all NGOs participating in social engineering operations against the US populace must eventually be indicted and erased if the country is ever going to rebuild the public trust, but bringing down the SPLC is a good start.

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Typical example: “She made $175,000 a year. That was Jan. 28, 2025. Today Amy Uccello and her husband, who also lost his job when U.S.A.I.D. funding for his nonprofit dried up, rely on food stamps ..”

• There Is Simply Too Much Schadenfreude in This New York Times Profile (Thorne)

I am 100% for sure going to hell for enjoying this New York Times article as much as I am. There but for the grace of God go I, I remind myself. But then, I would never have put myself in that position, devoting my professional life to making six figures off the taxpayer to work on “nice-to-haves” rather than creating actual, useful products that must survive in the marketplace. Anyhoo, the article that is bringing me so much guilty pleasure is entitled “A Year After U.S.A.I.D.’s Death, Fired Workers Find Few Jobs and Much Loss.” The subtitle tells the tale: “People have plowed through savings, cashed out retirement funds and moved in with relatives. Former U.S.A.I.D. workers estimate that less than half have found full-time work.”


Why, it’s almost as if no one would hire them to ply their trade, so they must force taxpayers to subsidize it. There follow over 2,000 words of dignified profiles of the victims of DOGE, punctuated by beautifully photographed portraiture of the stolid world-savers as they cope with the loss of their raison d’être. Sadly, this masterpiece of turned tables is behind a paywall, but fear not: I can provide some tasty quotes here (although the entire piece is almost worth subscribing to the NY Times for). As you read, perhaps you, like me, will recall the bad old days of the Obama regime, when this very variety of elitist Ivy League do-gooders swarmed the capital and NOVA to turn traditional energy workers out of their jobs.

“Learn to code,” they sneered at the coal miners and rig workers and their families whose lives they upended. To them, I say, Sucks when it’s you, don’t it? Let’s dive into the first profile: She was fired by email while on maternity leave, given 24 hours to clear out her desk and left with three days of health insurance and no severance pay. She had worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development or related groups for more than two decades. She made $175,000 a year. That was Jan. 28, 2025. Today Amy Uccello and her husband, who also lost his job when U.S.A.I.D. funding for his nonprofit dried up, rely on food stamps, Medicaid and a supplemental nutrition program for women and children that helps with their now 19-month-old daughter.

The mortgage on their home in Washington was until recently in forbearance, meaning they negotiated to pay less than they owed each month. But the bank has now cut them off and suggested they apply for a low-income mortgage program. “We don’t know if we’ll qualify,” Ms. Uccello said. She and her husband have applied for more than 100 jobs with no luck. Most of their friends don’t have jobs either. And, look, I feel awful when that happens to anyone. But this couple was raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars, much of it paid by Americans poorer than they, to go meddle in the lives of people in other parts of the world. And we all know how leftist USAID and related NGOs — “soft power” — worked in developing nations:

They only granted aid to countries that agreed to import the entire suite of first-world progressive virtues, such as abortion-on-demand, same-sex “marriage,” and forgoing effective, reliable fossil fuel in favor of “green” energy contraptions that came nowhere close to facilitating a modern lifestyle. These are the same people who denied effective mosquito control methods to poor nations, leaving tens of millions of black and brown babies to die of malaria, while raising their own precious child in the pinnacle of Western healthcare.

“When the Trump administration dismantled the sprawling global aid agency last year, it wiped out virtually an entire industry — international development — that had been based in Washington since U.S.A.I.D.’s creation in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy,” the Times reminds us. “Nearly all of the agency’s 16,000 employees were laid off. An estimated 280,000 contractors, partners and local hires worldwide lost their jobs as well.”

And, “Former U.S.A.I.D. workers who have done informal surveys estimate that less than half have found full-time work, with many making less than before. An estimated third are unemployed. Others are in part-time work.” That’s rough. I left my corporate life behind because I couldn’t betray my conscience and my faith, and pretend the man with whom I had worked for two years was suddenly a woman on Monday. I couldn’t stomach the corporate cop-bashing; I live in a law enforcement family. I didn’t want to spend my entire life under soul-crushing pressure to stifle myself. Did I take a pay cut and part-time work? You bet I did. So whatever, wokesters.

“The District of Columbia currently has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 6.7 percent, in large part because of major reductions in the federal work force, including U.S.A.I.D., and cuts to government grants and contracts,” the Times mourns. To this, I say, Thank you, President Trump! Countries whose governments grow too big and employ too large a percentage of the population tend to fail. The few former U.S.A.I.D. workers who have landed similar or better jobs don’t like to talk about it in front of unemployed friends.

“I feel guilty, honestly, that of all my colleagues who I know are still unemployed, I’m the one who found something,” said Sara Miner, 42, who was a senior adviser in the agency’s H.I.V.-AIDS office and previously ran health programs in Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Now she helps manage health and human service programs for Fairfax County, Va.

Jobs are also gone at the many nonprofits and partner agencies once funded by U.S.A.I.D. “Everyone I know is also up the creek, all my bosses, my mentors, the people you would normally go to, the people providing me references,” said Catherine Baker, 36, who, as a contractor, made $127,000 a year recruiting staff and helping to start up U.S.A.I.D. projects. Ms. Baker now volunteers as a manager for OneAid, which helps former U.S.A.I.D. workers, and works nine hours a week as a companion for two elderly women.

And yet, there are still enough of them in the NOVA area to vote the otherwise conservative state of Virginia into gerrymandered left-wing tyranny. (And for the record, I have plenty of friends who work as aides to the elderly. It is honorable and worthwhile work, and it can provide a decent living, too — maybe not what these taxpayer-funded fancy folk are used to, but not impoverishment, either.)

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“.. Eastman is being punished for a different reason: He helped to develop Trump’s legal argument for blocking the election certification.”

If Eastman were a Democrat lawyer, he’d still have a job.

• The California Bar Bags a Trump Lawyer and Leaves Troubling Questions (Turley)

Last week, the California Supreme Court upheld the disbarment of John Eastman. It is a decision that will prevent Eastman from practicing law – the most serious punishment the California State Bar can deliver. Eastman is the former dean of the law school at Chapman University in California. He represented President Donald Trump in some of his election challenges in 2020. In 2020, I publicly disagreed with Eastman’s legal theory that Congress could block the certification of President Joe Biden. However, Eastman’s disbarment should be a concern for everyone who values the rule of law and free speech. After the election, various legal advisers told Trump that there wasn’t enough evidence of fraud to overturn the election –– as some of us in the media also said.


But Eastman and other lawyers believed there were still arguable grounds to challenge the certification. In the past, Democrats in Congress had moved to block the certification of Republican presidents, and Eastman believed that their playbook was legal, or at least defensible.nElection disputes are often difficult to resolve in court because time is quite limited. As the date for the 2020 certification approached, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and others made sensational claims about voting machines and other conspiracies that they later admitted were not supported by evidence.bThe courts uniformly rejected these challenges.

Eastman is being punished for a different reason: He helped to develop Trump’s legal argument for blocking the election certification. He admitted that there were few cases to cite as precedent, and acknowledged that he and the Trump legal team were advancing novel theories. But that is not unusual in controversial cases. Public interest attorneys often advance novel legal arguments, challenging existing precedent and the status quo. Even longstanding precedents, like Roe v. Wade, have been overturned after years of litigation.California State Bar officials failed to address the implications that disbarring Eastman would have on other cases in which new legal theories are tested.

The animus of the California State Bar was also evident in the original charges against Eastman. He was ultimately found guilty on 10 of 11 charges of egregious and deceitful conduct. The lower court’s decision placed great emphasis on Eastman’s public remarks on Jan. 6, 2021, at Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally. The court dismissed his claims that his speech was protected by the First Amendment. Democratic Party election lawyers have been punished by courts and accused of meritless or unsupported claims. However, bar associations in “blue” states have not moved to disbar them, and I would not support such an effort. Take Democrat attorney Marc Elias. He was a critical player in the infamous Steele dossier on “Russia collusion,” and helped push the false Alfa Bank conspiracy.

The animus of the California State Bar was also evident in the original charges against Eastman. He was ultimately found guilty on 10 of 11 charges of egregious and deceitful conduct. In Maryland, Elias’s team filed in support of an abusive gerrymandering of the election districts that a court found not only violated Maryland law, but also the state constitution’s equal protection, free speech and free elections clauses. The court found that the map “subverts the will of those governed.” In 2024, the chief judge of the Western District of Wisconsin not only rejected but ridiculed the Elias Law Group for one of its challenges. Judge James Peterson (an Obama appointee) said that the argument “simply does not make any sense.”

Elias has been sanctioned in court. However, neither he nor associates were, of course, disbarred over prior challenges. The California Bar and the California Supreme Court insist that they are merely imposing minimal standards of conduct in disbarring Eastman. However, the record in this matter shows more distemper than deliberation on critical points. The California State Bar has created new problems, rather than clarifying standards. Even as someone who disagreed with John Eastman, I am not sure what the standard is for zealous advocacy by attorneys. While Eastman was giving bad advice, he was not committing a crime or, in my view, committing an offense that deserved disbarment.= There cannot be a different standard for different candidates, or different clients.

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