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Debt Rattle April 27 2026

Apr 272026
 
 April 27, 2026  Posted by at 8:52 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,  36 Responses »


Jusepe de Ribera A philosopher holding a mirror 1630


• Unhinged Conspiracy Theory About WHCA Dinner Trump Murder Attempt (Margolis)
• Trump Dodges Another Gunman, Unbowed But Grounded: Not Going To Deter Me (JTN)
• Assassin Identified as Cole Tomas Allen (31), from Torrance, California (CTH)
• President Trump Holds a Press Conference Following Another Murder Attempt (CTH)
• We Now Know Who the WHCA Dinner Shooter Was Targeting (Margolis)
• ‘You’re Horrible People’: President Trump Torches Norah O’Donnell (Margolis)
• After 2027 There Will Be No Going Back – Elon Musk (X)
• Macron Laments That US Is Not A Reliable Partner (RT)
• How The US Engineered Its Own Failure In Cuba (RT)
• US Failed To Extract Iran’s Enriched Uranium – Analyst To RT (RT)
• Zelensky Likely ‘Directly Involved In Corruption’ – EU-Funded Anti-Graft NGO (RT)
• NYC Mayor Mamdani Attempts To Defuse Info War Against Ken Griffin (ZH)
• RFK Jr. Blasts “Abhorrent” Assisted Suicide (MN)

 


 

https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2048121842402013298?s=20 https://twitter.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2048128724512473142?s=20 https://twitter.com/WellsJorda89710/status/2048188693278576717?s=20 https://twitter.com/_Qstormrider/status/2048026069282746699?s=20

 


 


Yeah, we know people want him dead, and/or don’t believe a word he says.

Then you got all these people who simply deny that it was real. And that, I don’t get.

Who say that the Trump people just made it all up. That they did that in 2024 just like now.

Their idea is Trump is so unpopular today that me must make up fake assassination attempts just so people will like him.

And that, I don’t get.

• Unhinged Conspiracy Theory About WHCA Dinner Trump Murder Attempt (Margolis)

On Saturday night, a gunman opened fire in the Washington Hilton just as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner was underway. A Secret Service agent was struck but protected by body armor. Thankfully, no attendees were reported injured. Secret Service agents quickly evacuated President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and House Speaker Mike Johnson to safety. The shooter was neutralized and detained. Before the smoke even cleared, the left was trying to push a politically convenient narrative.

https://twitter.com/SarahIronside6/status/2048204632288084107

The shooter has been identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., and he has confessed to authorities that his intended target was Trump administration officials.

Yup. This is what they’re running with. By their estimation, the Trump administration recruited some California leftist with a paper trail to stage a fake assassination attempt to boost his approval ratings and to use it as a pretext to justify the White House ballroom that is already being built. None of this is new, of course. The same strategy was used after the 2024 Butler, Pa., assassination attempt. Many on the left believe it was staged to help Trump win reelection.

Calling it staged is the easiest escape hatch. It lets them skip the uncomfortable conversation about what years of dehumanizing rhetoric against Trump and his allies actually produce. That’s what this conspiracy theory is really about. The left would rather invent an elaborate White House psyop than ask themselves a simple, honest question about the world they’ve helped create.

Read more …

Very long article. Get your background!

• Trump Dodges Another Gunman, Unbowed But Grounded: Not Going To Deter Me (JTN)

President Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 election, and Saturday night he was whisked away again from another lethal threat when a heavily armed gunman briefly breached a security checkpoint at one of Washington’s most famous black-tie galas and exchanged gunfire before being subdued by the Secret Service. bBut Trump would not recoil. First he wanted to return to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner before it was canceled, hoping to send a signal to a nation gripped by political vitriol and shaken by recent assassinations — from Charlie Kirk to Minnesota legislators – that “sick people” cannot “change the fabric” of the United States.


Then he quickly posted on social media a photo of the gunman – a 31-year-old from California armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives. The image showed him handcuffed and stripped to his waist after his attack was foiled. There was no accident in the message: a failed shooter laid prostate, face-down and now harmless on the ground. “This thug that attacked our Constitution, they seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too” Trump said. “My impression is he was a lone wolf, whack job. … These are crazy people, and they have to be dealt with.”

Prosecutors within hours had already charged the man with multiple federal felonies as they tore through every aspect of his life, trying to figure how he got from Torrance, Calif., to the nation’s capital and booked a room at the glitzy hotel and what motivated him. Being president “is a very dangerous profession. … I can’t imagine that there is any profession that is more dangerous,” a matter-of-fact Trump told reporters at an extraordinary White House news conference where he and reporters were still clad in their tuxedos and gowns from the interrupted gala. Having cheated death more than once, Trump wants America to know he is unbowed and that the best way to react to harrowing political violence is to repudiate it, punish it and then stay the course.

“I want to live because I want to make this country great,” the president said at one point, brushing away a question about personal safety. At another point, he added: “It’s not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran.” bThe incident left a Secret Service officer injured, shot at point-blank range with a bullet that remarkably embedded in his protective vest. And it left journalists normally antagonistic to the president thankful that everyone left the abbreviated gala alive.=President Donald Trump survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 election, and Saturday night he was whisked away again from another lethal threat when a heavily armed gunman briefly breached a security checkpoint at one of Washington’s most famous black-tie galas and exchanged gunfire before being subdued by the Secret Service.

But Trump would not recoil. First he wanted to return to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner before it was canceled, hoping to send a signal to a nation gripped by political vitriol and shaken by recent assassinations — from Charlie Kirk to Minnesota legislators – that “sick people” cannot “change the fabric” of the United States.= Then he quickly posted on social media a photo of the gunman – a 31-year-old from California armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives. The image showed him handcuffed and stripped to his waist after his attack was foiled. There was no accident in the message: a failed shooter laid prostate, face-down and now harmless on the ground.

“This thug that attacked our Constitution, they seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too” Trump said. “My impression is he was a lone wolf, whack job. … These are crazy people, and they have to be dealt with.” Prosecutors within hours had already charged the man with multiple federal felonies as they tore through every aspect of his life, trying to figure how he got from Torrance, Calif., to the nation’s capital and booked a room at the glitzy hotel and what motivated him.

Being president “is a very dangerous profession. … I can’t imagine that there is any profession that is more dangerous,” a matter-of-fact Trump told reporters at an extraordinary White House news conference where he and reporters were still clad in their tuxedos and gowns from the interrupted gala. bHaving cheated death more than once, Trump wants America to know he is unbowed and that the best way to react to harrowing political violence is to repudiate it, punish it and then stay the course. “I want to live because I want to make this country great,” the president said at one point, brushing away a question about personal safety. At another point, he added: “It’s not going to deter me from winning the war in Iran.”

Read more …

Assassin? But nobody died!

• Assassin Identified as Cole Tomas Allen (31), from Torrance, California (CTH)

The gunman who attempted to gain entry to the White House Correspondents Association dinner has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a schoolteacher from Torrance, California. A registered Democrat who donated to Kamala Harris campaign.Cole Tomas Allen Engineering at Cal Tech 2013 – 2017, a master’s degree in computer science 2025.


Early reports suggest the shooter was a guest of the Washington hotel and assembled a long rifle prior to making entry to the venue. According to local police, the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and several knives. The suspect was not struck by gunfire. One of the Secret Service Agents was shot during the gunfire.

Avriana F. Allen, 27, of Washington, D.C., is the sister of Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old Torrance, California teacher identified by authorities as the suspect in the April 25, 2026, shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Public records confirm the sibling relationship through shared mother Kathleen A. Allen and prior family address in Torrance. {source} Full press briefing from law enforcement is below.


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Pick one.

• President Trump Holds a Press Conference Following Another Murder Attempt (CTH)

President Trump will be holding a press briefing from the Brady Room following another failed assassination attempt in Washington DC. The shooter is in custody.

Read more …


Not from this article we don’t, but we do know.

The suspect has a Master’s in computer something, so he’s no fool.

Ergo1, if he says he wanted someone anyone from the entourage, he wouldn’t have tried it at the Dinner.

Because it’s so much harder to do anytinng that Trump is at, Secret Service numbers are crazy.

Ergo2: he was after Trump.

• We Now Know Who the WHCA Dinner Shooter Was Targeting (Margolis)

Almost immediately after the shooting during Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton, the left was trying to spin a narrative. The implication spread quickly: Trump’s rhetoric against the media had poisoned the atmosphere, and one of his supporters must have shown up to target journalists. It was an absurd theory, but they went with it.


The shooter has now been identified as 31-year-old schoolteacher Cole Allen of Torrance, Calif., who sprinted past security checkpoints inside the hotel armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and two knives. He never made it into the ballroom. Gunfire was exchanged during the incident, but Allen was not hit, and police arrested him. A Secret Service agent was struck but was wearing protective gear. No other injuries were confirmed among the attendees. The media, on the other hand, seemed almost reluctant to state the obvious: that this was another assassination attempt.

That kind of studied ambiguity has a purpose — it keeps a preferred storyline alive just long enough to spread on social media to undermine the facts. Anyone with common sense could see where the evidence was pointing. The president and his entire cabinet were at that dinner. The shooter rushed the entrance armed to the teeth. Sure enough, subsequent law enforcement leaks and reporting confirmed what common sense already suggested. Cole Allen told law enforcement he intended to target Trump administration officials at the event.

Cole Allen, the suspect in the shooting outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, told law enforcement following his arrest that he wanted to shoot Trump administration officials, two sources told CBS News. The suspect didn’t specifically say he was targeting President Trump, just “administration officials,” a law enforcement source said.Others reported the same thing. The liberal media’s reluctance to accept this was telling. Every hedge, every “we shouldn’t assume,” every pivot to Trump’s media rhetoric served the same function — to delay the truth long enough for the desired narrative to calcify in the public mind.

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The attention is on the perp, not the president.

• ‘You’re Horrible People’: President Trump Torches Norah O’Donnell (Margolis)

President Donald Trump sat down with Norah O’Donnell for a 60 Minutes interview… and let’s just say that things got really uncomfortable for O’Donnell when the subject of the manifesto written by the man who attempted to assassinate Trump and other administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner Saturday night came up. O’Donnell read aloud from the document, citing the shooter’s apparent motive: “Administration officials, they are targets.” Then she kept going, reading the gunman’s claim that he was “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.” She asked Trump for his reaction.


He had one. “Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re — you’re horrible people. Horrible people,” Trump said. Trump didn’t flinch. He looked straight at her and said what a lot of people watching were probably thinking — that a major news anchor choosing to amplify a would-be assassin’s smears against the sitting president on national television is, at minimum, a choice worth examining. O’Donnell pressed forward anyway, asking whether Trump believed the manifesto’s insults were directed at him personally. “I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.” She tried to interject. He kept going, saying: “I’m not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person. I got associated with old stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated.”

Then Trump turned the tables in a way that O’Donnell wasn’t prepared for. He noted that the people most associated with Jeffrey Epstein aren’t exactly on his side of the aisle. “Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, Epstein or other things. But I said to myself, ‘You know, I’ll do this interview, and they’ll probably…’ I read the manifesto. You know, he’s a sick person. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that, because I’m not any of those things.” O’Donnell tried to justify it, arguing these were simply “the gunman’s words.” Trump cut through that framing without missing a beat. “You shouldn’t be reading that on 60 Minutes,” he said. “You’re a disgrace, but go ahead. Let’s finish the interview.”

She pushed on anyway, starting to reference something else from the manifesto. Trump stopped her again: “You’re disgraceful.” A man just tried to kill the president — and several other administration officials — at what’s supposed to be a lighthearted Washington tradition. And 60 Minutes’ idea of journalism in the aftermath is to have its anchor read the shooter’s unhinged accusations against Trump on air, word for word, and ask him to respond to them. It doesn’t shock me at all that Trump knew O’Donnell would go there because the mainstream media and the Democratic Party are the source of all the lies and bogus allegations that radicalized the shooter to do what he did in the first place. Whether CBS considers that good television or good journalism is, at this point, a distinction without much of a difference.

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“.. the generation born after 2000 has an attention span of just eight seconds. Musk called this cultural Alzheimer’s.“

• After 2027 There Will Be No Going Back – Elon Musk (X)

In an interview with Lex Friedman, Musk said that after 2027 there would be no going back. When the reporter clarified what he meant, Musk paused for almost a minute, then added: “It’s not a catastrophe, it’s a transition.” Analysts have identified three themes that he has been particularly vocal about: autonomous intelligence, loss of meaning, and energy dependency. Everything he predicted is already happening.


The first sign is the collapse of attention. Musk said that people will stop thinking long-term. The planning horizon has shrunk from 30 years to three; people don’t build, they just innovate. MIT research shows that the generation born after 2000 has an attention span of just eight seconds. Musk called this cultural Alzheimer’s. The second sign is artificial intelligence, which will no longer be subordinate. Musk said: “When the system starts correcting the person, and not the other way around, linear logic will end.” Algorithms already control our attention, choice of partners, food and thoughts. This will not be a revolt of machines, but a silent loss of freedom of choice.

The third sign is the energy dependence of civilization. People are increasingly unable to survive without electricity for even a single day. When energy becomes currency, its control will become power. Musk believes that by 2027, the relationship between people and energy will surpass everything, and everything that is not autonomous will disappear. There is only one way out: a return to meaning. “Technology is stronger than us, but not smarter. As long as we have goals, we are not algorithms,” Musk repeated. He added: “We must learn to be human before systems start doing everything for us and controlling us.

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“The international order is “jeopardized” by the larger global powers, the French president has said..” He lost to Le Pen, he’s a goner. But he’s a Rothschild goner.

• Macron Laments That US Is Not A Reliable Partner (RT)

US allies are no longer sure that Washington is a “reliable” partner, French President Emmanuel Macron has said. Speaking during an informal summit in Athens on Friday alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron was asked whether Europe was “becoming a bit irrelevant” given the various conflicts around the globe, including the war against Iran. “Everybody sees that the number one power, the US, could be an ally for certain countries, but this ally is not so much certain… and nobody is totally sure if this alliance is reliable,” the French president said, arguing that this makes the EU appear as a more stable alternative.


“We used to live in an international order, and this international order is jeopardized by the two big powers,” he added. The growing divide between European NATO nations and Washington has worsened since the US and Israeli attacked Iran in late February, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly criticizing bloc members over their reluctance to join the war. Tensions were already elevated due to Trump’s continued threats to annex Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark. Differing visions for the future of the Ukraine conflict have further widened the transatlantic rift.

Since returning to the White House in 2025, Trump has launched a broad diplomatic initiative to end the hostilities and has insisted that European nations take on the full financial and military burden of supporting Kiev. However, the UK and the EU have consistently attempted to torpedo the peace talks by injecting proposals which Moscow has condemned as deliberately unacceptable. Washington is trying to shift the burden of “containing Russia” onto its allies in Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week. The broader Western goal is to “preserve and renew their hegemony,” but as their relative power on the international stage declines, internal frictions in the West are intensifying, he added.

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60-odd years ago.

• How The US Engineered Its Own Failure In Cuba (RT)

Special operations can fail for many reasons – from a tragic accident to a lack of information or a hasty decision. And the costs of such mistakes range from the sullen faces of officials and predatory reporters at the door, to the worst outcome – hundreds of victims. There is an old proverb that all intelligence agents should be taught: “For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost.”


The moral is that the smallest omissions can lead to fatal consequences. But the most common reason why military operations fail – the phrase that should be etched above the gates of hell – might well be the motto, “That’s good enough.” Plans based on the assumption that the enemy is deaf, blind, and stupid fail time and time again, yet intelligence agencies continue to build their strategies upon this shaky foundation.

One of the textbook examples of such a failure was the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961. This CIA-initiated attempt to swiftly eliminate the communist regime in Cuba turned into a bloody disaster on the battlefield and a complete political failure.

The end of a client state
On January 1, 1959, socialist rebels led by Fidel Castro overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba. The subsequent reality of life in Cuba proved difficult, and opinions on Castro’s rule were decidedly mixed. However, in 1959, the revolution signified liberation from a hated, deeply corrupt, brutal dictatorship that treated its citizens with disdain. Few mourned the departure of Batista, who fled the country with $300 million.

Initially, Castro didn’t intend to engage in a hostile confrontation with the West. However, his reforms took on a distinctly socialist character. He casually confiscated assets belonging to American and other Western citizens and nationalized land, industries, and enterprises. The Cuban Electric Company owned by an American holding company was seized, as was property belonging to the United Fruit Company, an American agricultural giant.

Under Batista, the United States had dominated the Cuban economy and owned nearly all industries. Politically, the American ambassador wielded as much, if not more, power than the official leader of Cuba. The island effectively functioned as a colony; the companies owned everything but bore no responsibility for anything. Batista, ruling the country with their blessing and support, cared only for his own comfort and wealth, and even collaborated directly with the mafia and engaged in gambling enterprises.

By the time relations between the US and Cuba soured completely, Castro had nationalized over 500 American private companies. Astute US politicians recognized the underlying issues; in a speech addressing the Cuban crisis, John F. Kennedy bluntly acknowledged that the puppet regime had driven Cubans to the brink. The primary cause of the Cuban revolution, he argued, was the dictator and his cohorts, whose actions ricocheted back against the US as the nation that had armed and politically supported Batista.

Castro frequently reminded the public of Washington’s dark role in the affair, but the United States could not restore relations with Cuba after the widespread confiscation of American assets. Castro’s attempts to establish relations with the US failed. Then US President Dwight Eisenhower refused to meet with him, while then Vice President Richard Nixon seemed more interested in testing the waters than seriously negotiating with Castro.

Meanwhile, the US had a track record of orchestrating coups in countries it deemed unfriendly. For example, in 1954, with help from United Fruit, a coup was carried out in Guatemala; following it, a dictatorship was established there. A similar strategy was being considered for Cuba.

The shadow war begins
Initially, the Americans sought to weaken Cuba through a trade embargo that began with oil and later expanded to sugar. In response, Castro initiated yet another wave of expropriations of American-owned businesses. The Eisenhower administration retaliated by banning all exports to Cuba. In turn, Castro nationalized everything he could, offering compensation in the form of Cuban bonds.

At the same time, a secret struggle between intelligence services unfolded, which quickly turned brutal. In March 1960, the cargo ship La Coubre, carrying weapons and ammunition purchased from Belgium, exploded in Havana’s port, causing massive casualties. The explosion occurred inside the ship and is believed to have been an act of sabotage. Unsurprisingly, Castro blamed the US for this incident, and the CIA’s involvement remains plausible. In effect, these actions pushed Cuba to align with the USSR, and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev eagerly offered support to Cuba.

As tensions mounted, it became clear that backing from Moscow would be essential. Cuba was already subjected to bombings from light aircraft piloted by Cuban exiles. They flew out of Florida and targeted Cuban plantations and businesses. However, the US didn’t intend to stop at that.

CIA Director Allen Dulles began planning for Castro’s physical elimination and the overthrow of the Cuban government. His deputy, CIA officer Richard Bissell, took on the direct management of the operation aimed at replacing Castro with a “more acceptable” regime. The details were being developed by the same team that had orchestrated the Guatemalan coup. One key condition set by Eisenhower was “plausible deniability” – concealing America’s role in the operation.

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Good story. Is there proof?

• US Failed To Extract Iran’s Enriched Uranium – Analyst To RT (RT)

The US rescue operation inside Iran earlier this month was actually a botched attempt by Washington to seize Tehran’s enriched uranium, geostrategic analyst Christopher Helali has said. He gave an exclusive interview to RT on Saturday from a site outside the city of Isfahan where the Iranian authorities displayed the wreckage of American aircraft destroyed in the area on April 3-5. Washington confirmed the loss of two MC-130J Hercules transport planes, four MH-6 Little Bird helicopters, an A-10 Thunderbolt and an MQ-9 Reaper drone during what US President Donald Trump called “one of the most daring Search and Rescue Operations in US History” to recover the pilot of an F-15E Strike Eagle, which had been downed by Iran.


Helali insisted that the rescue mission was just a cover up for “an enrichment uranium extraction operation by the US special forces.”“ The scale of destruction of all of the equipment left behind showed that this was a major operation – probably weeks and months in planning – and clearly it absolutely failed,” he said.Another proof that the Americans were after the enriched uranium is that “a passport of a mechanical engineer specializing in nuclear technology… capable of dealing with radioactive material” was found within the wreckage, the analyst added.

He filmed himself with the debris of the US aircraft, which he said included “multiple parts of different MC-130s… and the Little Birds – those small helicopters that are used in special operations.” Judging by the footage, the display attracted thousands of visitors, who carried Iranian national flags and chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans. “The people have gathered here to celebrate the defeat of the US in this operation and overall Iran’s victory so far in this ongoing war of aggression,” Helali said. Among those who gathered, “the feeling is one of energy, one of resilience, one of dignity, and clearly the people are coming out in full force to show their support for their country,” he stressed.

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I tells ya, they want to give him a Nobel prize.

And they will. It’s about the only power Europe has left.

• Zelensky Likely ‘Directly Involved In Corruption’ – EU-Funded Anti-Graft NGO (RT)

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has likely participated in embezzlement involving the country’s top officials, Daria Kaleniuk, executive director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), has claimed. Kiev has been rocked by several corruption scandals in the last few years, with the most notable occurring in November 2025 when anti-graft agencies uncovered a $100 million kickback scheme at the state nuclear operator Energoatom.


The investigation implicated Timur Mindich, a close associate of Zelensky, as the mastermind of the criminal operation. The scandal led to the resignations of several high-ranking officials, including the Ukrainian leader’s influential chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, and Energy Minister German Galushchenko, who was later arrested. In her interview with Ukrainska Pravda last week, Kaleniuk said that there is “a high probability” that Zelensky was “directly involved” in corruption, despite him repeatedly denying any knowledge of any schemes by members of his government.

“All of his closest friends and most likely he himself built homes for themselves” since he came to power, the head of the Ukrainian NGO, which has been around since 2012 and receives funding from the EU and US, stressed. She also warned that Zelensky could be planning another attack on the Western-backed National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) in an attempt to shield himself from a possible investigation.

“The anti-corruption bodies that are doing their job can stop doing their job at any moment,” Kaleniuk warned. The Ukrainian leader already tried putting NABU and SAPO under his control last summer, but was forced to reverse course after backlash from Kiev’s foreign backers and protests in the streets. Despite the ongoing corruption scandals, the EU approved another €90 billion ($106 billion) for Ukraine on Thursday, with the European Council saying that it would begin disbursements “as soon as possible” in the second quarter of 2026.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov insisted previously that the US and EU, which “coddled” Zelensky, should share the responsibility for the corruption in Ukraine. She suggested separately that the Ukrainian leader uses the “corrupt deal” that he has with Western politicians to “blackmail” them into continuing support for Kiev in the conflict with Moscow.

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“.. pulling back or even halting a $6 billion redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, which would create “6,000 highly paid construction jobs and support the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in Midtown New York.”

• NYC Mayor Mamdani Attempts To Defuse Info War Against Ken Griffin (ZH)

Citadel’s Ken Griffin should have absolutely zero tolerance for far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. In a recent promotional video, Mamdani attempted to turn the billionaire’s Manhattan penthouse into political ammunition for his tax-the-wealthy, anti-capitalist crusade to fund socialist experiments through a proposed pied-à-terre tax. For Griffin and Citadel, alarm bells should be ringing because these unhinged Marxists in City Hall will attempt to ruin the Citadel brand through an information war and create years of political headaches.


An internal message from Citadel’s COO to employees, likely leaked to The Wall Street Journal earlier last week, appears to have been a warning shot to Mamdani and his Marxist pals that Griffin has had enough of their political games. In a true ‘FAFO’ moment, CCO Gerald Beeson bashed Mamdani for the political stunt: “It is shameful that he used Ken’s name as the example of those who supposedly aren’t carrying their fair share of the burdens associated with New York City’s often costly and wasteful spending.” Beeson warned that further political games risk Citadel pulling back or even halting a $6 billion redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, which would create “6,000 highly paid construction jobs and support the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in Midtown New York.”

Why Mamdani’s team of socialists decided to launch an info war operation against Griffin and Citadel is a very good question, and it appears not to have been well thought out. Griffin holds some unique cards. He can easily cancel the 350 Park Avenue redevelopment plan and stage a Chicago-style exodus, much like he did several years ago when Citadel moved to Florida. This move would certaintly rattle Wall Street. This reality is likely dawning on Mamdani’s team, as the mayor on Friday insisted his push for a new tax on pricey second homes isn’t “motivated by any one individual.”

Bloomberg described Mamdani’s action on Friday as “trying to defuse” the “Griffin blowback” that went viral earlier in the week. Another outlet, Crain’s New York Business, also pointed out, “The mayor is now softening his tone and says he is open to meeting with the Florida billionaire.” Griffin should have zero tolerance for NYC’s Marxist mayor. The risk has already materialized that these unhinged politicians would wage an information war to ruin the Citadel brand, which could easily escalate into paid protests and fuel broader public hostility. So why take the abuse, Ken? Remember how easy it was to leave Chicago for Florida?

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“.. turning a once-free nation into a cautionary tale ..”

• RFK Jr. Blasts “Abhorrent” Assisted Suicide (MN)

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a blunt warning to lawmakers this week: Canada’s rush to expand assisted suicide is turning a once-free nation into a cautionary tale the United States must reject outright. Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee and Senate HELP Committee, Kennedy forcefully condemned the program known as Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). “I think those laws are abhorrent,” he said. Pointing directly to the results north of the border, he added, “And we just see in Canada today, I think the number one cause of death is assisted suicide.”


Kennedy made clear the policy doesn’t stop at personal choice. “And as you say, it targets people with disabilities and people who are struggling in their lives,” he stated. He tied the issue to America’s broader standing in the world: “I don’t think we can be a moral society; we can’t be a moral authority around the globe if that becomes institutionalized throughout our society.”

https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2047024285139534134

The comments come as Canada’s experiment spirals. The country is on track to surpass 100,000 assisted deaths before MAID’s 10th anniversary this summer, as noted in a recent New York Post report. As of 2024, the total already stood at 76,475 — more Canadians killed through the program than died in World War II. Government-assisted suicide is also spreading like wildfire across the West, often sold as compassion but delivering cost-cutting convenience for cash-strapped socialist healthcare systems. In the Netherlands, euthanasia now accounts for 6 percent of all deaths and the share is rising every year. I

n 2025 alone, 10,341 people died by euthanasia. While most were over 70 with physical illnesses like cancer or heart disease, the cases included 499 dementia patients and 278 listed under vague “other reasons.” One case involved a patient aged between 12-18. Dutch experts are now urging caution for anyone under 25, warning that young brains are still developing and highly susceptible to external pressure and online influence. Canada’s program began in 2016 limited to terminal cases. Within a year, officials were openly discussing how it could save over $130 million annually in medical costs. Expansions followed: mental illness is scheduled to qualify starting in 2027, and discussions continue about “mature minors” as young as 12.

https://twitter.com/RMXnews/status/2036921678337384776

Belgium and the Netherlands already allow child euthanasia. England, Wales, and Scotland are now pushing similar legislation modeled on Canada’s original law. The results speak for themselves. In Canada, one in every 20 deaths is now government-assisted suicide. Proponents promised rare, tightly controlled cases. Reality delivered a bureaucratic death machine that quietly expanded to the disabled, the depressed, and the financially burdensome. Kennedy offered lawmakers a clear path forward. “I am happy to work with you in whatever way we can,” he said, signaling openness to bipartisan efforts to protect vulnerable Americans from the same slope.

Another recent case captured the human cost in Spain, where a 25-year-old woman paralyzed after a horrific gang rape was euthanized despite her parents’ desperate legal fight: Spanish bishops called it what it is: “Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not medical acts, but deliberate interruptions of the bond of care, and represent a social defeat when presented as a response to human suffering.”They stressed that “the dignity of the human person does not depend on their state of health… but rather is an intrinsic value that must be recognized, protected and helped in all circumstances.”The message is simple: when life hurts, the answer is not state-sponsored death but real care, real treatment, and real hope. Canada and Europe are showing the West what happens when governments treat citizens as budget line items rather than sacred individuals.

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Debt Rattle April 26 2026

Apr 262026
 
 April 26, 2026  Posted by at 9:06 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,  20 Responses »


Paul Klee Sicilian Landscape1924


• Shots Fired at Correspondents Dinner, Shooter Dead, Trump Evacuated (Salgado)
• Trump Says WHCD Shooting Was Another Assassination Attempt (Margolis)
• Secret Service Agent Shot but in Good Condition (Salgado)
• Something’s Changed: Trump Explains Why People Want to Kill Him (Tim O’Brien)
• “We Have All The Cards”: Trump Cancels Witkoff-Kushner Trip To Pakistan (ZH)
• Chaos in Iran, Trump Drops the Hammer on Talks (Robert Spencer)
• The EU ‘Democracy Shield’ Is The End of Freedom In Europe (Kwasniewski)
• DOJ Quietly Retracts John Brennan Subpoenas, Offers No Explanation (AP)
• Great News – Subpoenas for Brennan Grand Jury Testimony are Withdrawn (CTH)
• Iranian Prince in Exile Reza Pahlavi Delivers a Brutal Message (CTH)
• The United States of America v. John Roberts (A.J. Christopher)
• Trump Plans an Ambush at White House Correspondents’ Dinner (Pinsker)

 


 

https://twitter.com/CharlieK_news/status/2047813345948885350?s=20 https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/2047798246852964628?s=20 https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/2047877294476116184?s=20

 


 


If you don’t see by now that Donald Trump is a very brave man, good luck.

• Shots Fired at Correspondents Dinner, Shooter Dead, Trump Evacuated (Salgado)

UPDATE. 12:15 a.m. Eastern: Apparently, the shooter has been identified:


UPDATE, 9:26 p.m. Eastern: President Donald Trump issued a statement on Truth Social:

UPDATE, 9:20 p.m. Eastern: Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich is reporting that the would-be shooter tried to get into the hotel with a gun, but the “counter assault team did their job.”

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro says Interim Chief of Police of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Jeffrey Carroll is heading over to take charge of the investigation and that Mayor Muriel Bowser is also coming.

Original story:

The shooter who fired off multiple rounds at the White House correspondents’ dinner Saturday evening is reportedly dead, and Secret Service agents successfully took President Donald Trump off the stage to safety. Fox News announced around 9 p.m. EDT that Trump was going to return, and the dinner could go on as planned.

CNN’s Scott Jennings relayed the report from his network’s chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, who confirmed that the shooter is dead. Jennings also shared video footage of the stage and Secret Service rushing Trump out after the shots went off. Fox News’ Bret Baier, who was at the dinner, just reported live that the threat is neutralized, and people are exiting the building. Fox News, however, said that the shooter might have been detained rather than shot.

https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/2048202135880265878

The shooter seemingly did not fire in the main area where the dinner was happening. Baier said he thought the shots came from a “light box” in a sort of entrance area. It is not clear what that means. Baier did not confirm that the shooter was dead and said that information was still sparse. Security was searching room to room. The mainstream media have, of course, been encouraging violent hatred against President Trump for years with their extreme rhetoric framing him as worse than Hitler and the KKK. Perhaps they will be less extreme in their language now that they themselves faced such a potentially deadly situation. An announcement made live on stage, streamed by Fox News at about 9 p.m. EDT, indicated that the press is not being told to leave the building.

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Yep. And he just wanted to continue, Every day has this threat level.

• Trump Says WHCD Shooting Was Another Assassination Attempt (Margolis)

During the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, an as-yet-unidentified shooter fired multiple rounds in an entrance area near the event at the Washington Hilton, prompting Secret Service agents to evacuate President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and other officials, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, to safety. There have been conflicting reports, but it appears that the shooter was neutralized and detained, and a Secret Service agent was shot, but was wearing protective gear. No injuries were confirmed among attendees, who sheltered under tables amid chaos.


President Trump had wanted to resume the dinner, but the event was ultimately canceled. But Trump did give a press conference soon after returning to the White House. Flanked by FBI Director Kash Patel and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Trump began by quipping that what happened was “very unexpected” but also “ incredibly acted upon by Secret Service and law enforcement.” “And this was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press,” he continued. “And in a certain way it did, because the fact that they just unified… I saw a room that was just totally unified. It was, in one way, very beautiful. A very beautiful thing to see.”

He then offered details about what happened. “A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons, and he was taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service, and they acted very quickly.” Trump wasted little time before announcing he had ordered surveillance footage of the attack released publicly, a move consistent with his administration’s stated commitment to transparency. “And I’ve just released, for purposes of transparency, clarity, I’ve ordered it to be put out. You probably have it by now, put out on Truth, and put out on many other platforms. A tape showing the violence of this thug that attacked our Constitution, and also showing how quickly Secret Service and law enforcement acted on our country’s behalf.”

As for the Secret Service agent who took a bullet, Trump revealed he had spoken with the agent directly. “Really did a great job. One officer was shot, but saved by the fact that he was wearing, obviously, a very good bulletproof vest. He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job. I just spoke to the officer, and he’s doing great. He’s great shape. He has very high spirits, and we told him we love him and respect him, and he’s a very proud guy. He’s very proud of what he does, Secret Service agent.” Trump also used the moment to point out that the incident is further proof that the White House ballroom project is very much needed.

“I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House. It’s actually a larger room, and it’s much more secure. It’s drone-proof, it’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it.” He pressed the point further: “They’ve wanted the ballroom for 150 years for lots of different reasons. But today’s, uh, a little bit different because today we need levels of security that probably nobody’s ever seen before.” Trump made that abundantly clear without being subtle about it, that the Washington Hilton isn’t secure enough. “It’s not a particularly secure building.”

From there, Trump made it clear that he saw this as another assassination attempt. “So, as you know, this is not the first time in the past couple of years that our republic has been attacked by a would-be assassin who sought to kill. In Butler, Pennsylvania, less than two years ago, you know, all know that story. And in Palm Beach, Florida, a few months after that, we came close. We really had, again, we had some great work done by law enforcement.” Trump then issued what amounted to a direct appeal to the country.

“But in light of this evening’s events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully. We have to, we have to resolve our differences. I will say, you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals and progressives. Those words are interchangeable perhaps, but maybe they’re not. But yet everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd. There was a record-setting group of people, and there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together. I watched. I watched, and I was very, very impressed by that.”

He also confirmed that he, Melania, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were all evacuated quickly, crediting the speed and professionalism of the Secret Service response. When it came to Hegseth, Trump couldn’t resist a jab wrapped in a compliment.

https://twitter.com/RichSementa/status/2048231706960843079?s=20

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“This is why we need the ballroom…”

• Secret Service Agent Shot but in Good Condition (Salgado)

The shooter at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday evening did hit a Secret Service agent who will survive thanks to his body armor, Fox News confirmed a little before 10 p.m. EDT.


The Secret Service agent received treatment and is in good condition, Fox News reported. Many of the mainstream media talking heads who were at the dinner tonight have deliberately fueled violent hatred against Donald Trump with extreme rhetoric, calling Trump a Nazi and a racist and a threat to democracy. They put the lives of Trump, his Secret Service, and everyone around them in danger. Notably, the Democrat-induced partial government funding shutdown has left Secret Service without paychecks for weeks now as the Dems hold up Department of Homeland Security funding.

Poor Erika Kirk was present and extremely traumatized by the event, a person present at the dinner who spoke to Fox News stated. It must feel as if she is reliving the nightmare of her husband Charlie’s assassination. Trump posted at one point on Truth Social, “Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON’ but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again.”

Fox News sources reported that the president was pushing hard to return to the stage and continue with the dinner as planned but that everyone around him, both security and family, were urging him not to do so. They felt they could not guarantee his safety as the situation was at that time. nApparently, the Secret Service won out, because Trump followed up with the following message on Truth Social:

Law Enforcement has requested that we leave the premises, consistent with protocol, which we will do, immediately. I will be giving a press conference in 30 minutes from the White House Press Briefing Room. The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition. We will be speaking to you in a half an hour. I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said that Interim Chief of Police of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, Jeffrey Carroll, was heading over to take charge of the investigation and that Mayor Muriel Bowser was also coming. Of course, D.C. Democrat officials are absolutely part of the problem in fueling violent hatred against Trump, just as the mainstream media is.

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“It comes with the territory. If you want to do a great job, I really believe that….It doesn’t happen to people that don’t do anything..”

“Tonight was the first time they got to experience for themselves the real danger Trump faces every day. They not only got to watch how he handles it, but because they were witnessing this as they tried to hide under tables, they could feel it, too.”

• Something’s Changed: Trump Explains Why People Want to Kill Him (Tim O’Brien)

In President Donald Trump’s press briefing following the latest attempt on his life by a would-be assassin, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, sitting in the front row in the White House Press Briefing Room, still in the gown she wore to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, asked Trump if he thought he was the intended target of the gunman. This question came within a couple of hours of when the shooter attempted to breach security and shot a Secret Service agent, who survived thanks to a bulletproof vest, before being subdued. Trump said he was intercepted at the outer layer of his protection detail — the “first line of defense.”


Since the shooter did not get anywhere close to the president, Collins’ question is a fair one, even though it seems pretty likely the president was the target. After two earlier overt attempts on his life and the steady number of death threats he receives, he appears to have been the obvious subject of the shooter’s plans. But what Trump said in response is worth noting. The magnanimous Trump, still wearing his tuxedo, respectfully told Collins that he wasn’t sure if he was the target, but he added that he has studied a lot of assassinations. I’m going to go out on a limb and say his interest in the subject really piqued after July 13, 2024, when a would-be assassin shot and struck Trump’s ear at a rally in Butler, Pa.

Trump told Collins, more humbly than is characteristic for him in this room, that he could have been the target because his presidency has been “impactful.” He said that with presidencies that aren’t impactful, “they leave you alone.” But in his case, he said, just look at “the list.” He said it backs up his claim, and he’s right. Not all of the most impactful presidents experienced direct attempts on their lives while sitting in the White House, but most who have been the target of attempted assassinations were, to varying degrees, consequential in some way. He reiterated that point later in the briefing while commenting on the fortitude of his administration in its continued pursuit of his agenda.

https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2048237808695812607

“It comes with the territory. If you want to do a great job, I really believe that….It doesn’t happen to people that don’t do anything,” he said, shortly before wrapping up the briefing and exiting the room. In addition to Trump, other presidents who were targeted for assassination include Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, Ronald Reagan, Andrew Jackson, Harry Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, George W. Bush, and Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt famously continued speaking after being shot, pausing briefly before insisting on finishing his speech.

This is not to say that all of these men were equally “impactful” on the trajectory of the country, but Trump has a point. If you do nothing, they do leave you alone. Trump has done quite a bit. He’s been impactful. He is being impactful, and it seems that long before this latest attempt on his life, he made peace with the risks he was taking in order to achieve what he wants to achieve. This was self-evident.

Trump is rarely described as “selfless.” As for the people who were in the room with him, most of them hated him before they walked into that room. Tonight was the first time they got to experience for themselves the real danger Trump faces every day. They not only got to watch how he handles it, but because they were witnessing this as they tried to hide under tables, they could feel it, too. Nothing is more persuasive than feeling it. As a result, they could no longer ignore or downplay the simple fact that he accepts the risks because he is trying to leave the country better than the way he found it. One word for this is “courage,” but don’t tell the legacy media I told you that.

On hand at the dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., was a crowd of 2,700 that included members of the news media and their “plus ones.” It’s impossible to speculate on what effect this event had on all of them, or if anything will change. Experience tells me nothing material will change in Trump’s relationship with the media. But one person stands out in my mind: the chair of the event, Weijia Jiang of CBS News and the current president of the White House Correspondents’ Association. She was on the dais with Trump when the shooting happened. Before the shooting, you can see on video how relaxed she was.

After the shooting and once the room settled down, Jiang had to take to the podium and tell the room the event would continue at another time. In this video, you can see she was still visibly shaken by the evening’s events.

And later in the briefing with Trump, hers was the first question he took, and it was as conciliatory as it gets in that room. But take note of Jiang’s demeanor as Trump responds to her question. It appears, at least to me, that regardless of how she may have felt about Trump before the evening, something had changed by this point.

For those few members of the media who are open to it, maybe just a handful allowed themselves to see Trump as human for a change. I’m not getting my hopes up, but I’d be remiss not to mention this. Meanwhile, Trump may have just punctuated his presidency in a way that he himself never anticipated, and the timing of his statements in this particular briefing may be just the thing to make sure his framing of an “impactful” presidency sticks for the rest of his term. Trump has been and will be impactful, and as long as he lives, nothing will stop him.

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Strike 1 to Iran. This kind of delay is over. Let’s move to the next one. This is methodical.

Trump’s tactic is giving them a chance at everything, though he knows what that means. So, a chance, but only once.

Don’t forget, this could lead to a serious war, with many victims. Lots of people would hold that against Trump.

He’s covering his bets. Trump might not have hit Iran on his own, but he doesn’t mind having done it. He grew up with the images of the 1970s.

He did it now because Bibi said he’d nuke Tehran if he didn’t, and Trump did not want to take that risk.

• “We Have All The Cards”: Trump Cancels Witkoff-Kushner Trip To Pakistan (ZH)

In a sharp reversal first reported by Fox News, President Trump has personally canceled the planned trip of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan. Trump told the outlet that he halted the delegation just as they were preparing to leave: “I’ve told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18 hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18 hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.’”


Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has reportedly already left Islamabad, Pakistan, following Saturday talks with the country’s prime minister. So much for that “cautious optimism” that Pakistani officials were citing as a sign of progress. The Pakistan-mediated channel is now in clear stalemate, with the Trump administration signaling it sees no value in further shuttle diplomacy on Iran’s current terms.

***

Iran Foreign Ministry Insists ‘No Meeting is Planned’ Even With US Delegation En Route
Not too much that’s new or bombshell happened overnight, with a second round of US-Iran negotiations still in limbo, but with the US delegation led by Witkoff-Kushner said to be departing Saturday or else en route. A small Iranian team has already been there since Friday, engaging the Pakistanis, also amid reports that they will submit a written presentation of their conditions for ceasefire and where things stand from Tehran’s point of view.

Iran has denied that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s trip to Pakistan will include new talks with Washington, rejecting reports that President Trump is sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to actually restart negotiations. So once the US side arrives, it would be interesting to see what happens next. Potentially they could start in separate rooms with messages delivered, and thus the interaction would be indirect.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a post on X early Saturday that “no meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the US” during the visit and that Tehran’s positions will instead be conveyed to Pakistan. Araghchi said earlier he is undertaking a “timely tour” of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow to “closely coordinate” with partners on bilateral issues and consult on regional developments. Iranian state media said the three-leg trip forms part of Tehran’s ongoing diplomatic push to secure an end to US-Israeli aggression.

Reports of ‘Optimism’ amid ‘Stalemate’ in Talks
At the moment there’s no direct contact between Tehran in Washington on the diplomatic front. The Pakistanis have been back at the center of shuttling messages back and forth between US and Iranian officials. Al Jazeera has presented commentary Saturday citing “optimism” but also an ongoing stalemated situation: So we are still in that stalemate, but Pakistani officials are telling us that their presence here and the Americans coming is an indication that behind-the-scenes diplomacy is working.

There’s been shuttle diplomacy, and as one diplomat said, it’s been relentless diplomacy that has been put forward by Pakistan from all sides. There’s been, in the last 24 hours, conversations that have been held not just between the Pakistanis and Iranians, but also between the Pakistanis and the Russians – Russia is going to be one more stop when the Iranian foreign minister leaves. An important overnight headline: Sources close to Pakistan-Iran talks say negotiations are progressing through “Iranian concessions” in exchange for “American flexibility regarding the issue of frozen funds,” according to Al Hadath. And also this: Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Islamabad said Pakistani mediators are “cautiously optimistic” regarding Iran-US talks.

Iran Military: Ready & Waiting To Fight
Iran’s military warned the United States it will face the “reaction of Iran’s powerful armed forces” if the blockade of Iranian ports continues, according to Tasnim News Agency.The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the armed forces possess “greater power and readiness than before to defend sovereignty, territory, and national interests, which the country’s army experienced part of this power and offensive capability during the Third Imposed War.” This is actually consistent with what even Trump predicted – that the ceasefire has been used by Iran to regroup, rearm, and reposition its forces. Currently the only regional fighting remains in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, despite there technically being a Trump-backed three week Lebanon ceasefire:

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“.. you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing’.”

• Chaos in Iran, Trump Drops the Hammer on Talks (Robert Spencer)

Shortly before noon on Saturday, Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie reported that President Donald Trump “just told me over the phone he has unilaterally cancelled Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Pakistan to meet with the Iranians.” Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been carrying on the on-again-off-again negotiations with what remains of the Islamic Republic’s leadership, in hopes of striking some deal that would definitively end the mullahs’ nuclear threat. Hasnie’s assertion that Trump called off the talks “unilaterally” is a bit of a stretch, as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had already left Islamabad before Witkoff and Kushner had been scheduled to arrive. And so in calling off their trip, Trump was simply recognizing reality.


The president explained: “I’ve told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing’.” Shortly thereafter, Trump added: “I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going is Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their “leadership.” Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” President DONALD J. TRUMP

All this follows Trump’s announcement from last Tuesday, when he postponed the resumption of military action until the talks could run their course: “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 latest call-off of the talks does not, of course, necessarily mean that a resumption of military action is imminent, or even in the offing at all. The situation at the moment is extremely volatile, as it is not even clear who exactly is in charge in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and there seem to be at least two factions: fanatics from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who want to pursue war with the U.S. and Israel even if it means the fiery destruction of the nation, and a more pragmatic group that appears to include Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and others among the most prominent survivors from the prewar regime.

Behind both factions is the mysterious figure of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late supreme leader and his putative successor. Mojtaba, however, still has not actually been seen or heard since he was made supreme leader, and was reportedly left disfigured and crippled from the airstrike that killed his father. It is also possible, given this regime’s long record of duplicity, that Mojtaba Khamenei is actually dead, and that regime officials are pretending that he is still alive and directing the nation’s affairs from his hospital bed because he gives them some claim to legitimacy, however tenuous.

Trump likely continues to hold out hope that the Iranians will return to the negotiating table. As recently as last Tuesday, he asserted that “Iran can get themselves at a very good footing. If they make a deal, they can make themselves into a strong nation again, a wonderful nation again.”

Yet even after the Iranian leadership and military has taken a severe pounding, there is no indication whatsoever that if the Islamic Republic of Iran becomes “a strong nation again, a wonderful nation again,” it will also be a friend to the United States. If the current regime, whoever is actually in charge of it, remains in power, it will simply be a strong and wonderful jihadi rogue state.

That orientation is fundamentally anti-American. It should not be forgotten that in a nationally televised address in November 2023, the late Khamenei explained, “The situation between America and Iran is this: When you chant ‘Death to America!’ it is not just a slogan – it is a policy. I have stated the reasons previously. For many years, from the 1940s to the 1970s – that is 30 years – the Americans did everything they could do against the Iranian nation. They hit Iran in any way they could – financially, economically, politically, scientifically, and morally.”

Despite the fact that this was not true then and isn’t true even now, the Islamic Republic remains determined to hit us back, one way or another, in any way that the opportunity arises to do so. The Iranian leadership will keep looking for that opportunity.

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Europe’s “leaders” are all hugely impopular. They need to hide that.

• The EU ‘Democracy Shield’ Is The End of Freedom In Europe (Kwasniewski)

Mass censorship is coming to Europe, and it is being labeled the Democracy Shield. Jerzy Kwasniewski, head of the board of the Ordo Iuris Institute, writes: “Under the banner of protecting democracy, the European Union is rolling out a web of regulations that critics say will curb free expression, sideline conservative voices, and reshape the public sphere through opaque moderation, labeling, and algorithmic controls, Remix News provides the full article here below:


The year 2026 will go down in the history of European integration as a special moment. The European Union, under the banner of protecting democracy, has begun systematically restricting freedom of speech and real political pluralism. Thus, it embarks on the well-trodden historical paths of every authoritarian regime, resorting to violence and censorship as public support wanes. A report recently published by the Ordo Iuris Institute leaves no doubt: we are dealing with a project for a profound overhaul of the public sphere that will primarily target conservative communities, including Catholics.

The new EU mechanisms, ironically referred to as the “Democracy Shield,” are not a single piece of legislation. This is a coordinated regulatory system—from the Digital Services Act (DSA), through codes of conduct on “hate speech” and “disinformation,” to the regulation on political advertising. Their common denominator is the now-official departure from the European cult of free speech and its replacement with a system of preventive restrictions, in the name of… true freedom and democracy.

The European Commission claims that its aim is to create a “safe” information space in which “reliable” messages are meant to dominate, that is, in practice, narratives aligned with the liberal consensus . The problem is that the criteria for the EU’s “credibility,” for what is considered prohibited “disinformation,” and—what is particularly harmful—”divisive speech” are extremely vague and prone to ideological interpretation. As a result, it will not even be independent courts, but online platforms cooperating with non-governmental organizations selected by Brussels that will decide what content may reach citizens of the European Union. Including Polish citizens.

This system is multi-stage. First—mechanisms for reporting and removing content that, in practice, incentivize rapid takedowns, even at the expense of freedom of expression. Secondly—a labeling system under which statements labeled as “unverified,” “misleading,” or “political” are subject to mandatory restrictions on platforms such as Facebook or X. Thirdly—there is to be algorithmic intervention that limits the reach of content deemed problematic.

It is worth emphasizing the role of so-called trusted flaggers and fact-checker networks. It is precisely these entities, often financed with public funds from the European Union or the Member States and ideologically uniform, that gain a privileged position in the content moderation process. In practice, this means cleverly delegating censorship to entities that are not subject to any democratic oversight.

Even more troubling are the regulations concerning political advertising. The definition of “political speech” has been framed so broadly that it encompasses not only the activities of political parties but also public awareness campaigns concerning the protection of life, the family, or national identity. This means that Catholic pro-life organizations or movements defending marriage as the union between a woman and a man may be subjected to restrictive requirements and even sanctions. Even now, our own Ordo Iuris Institute and Center for Life and Family, as well as our friends from Polonia Christiana’s PCH24 news portal and their editorial team should start preparing to implement a “replacement language.” The censorship game, well known here in Poland from the communist era, is making a comeback.

At the same time, restrictions on the targeting and funding of political messages make it much more difficult to reach voters. In practice, the largest platforms, such as Facebook, have already stopped running “political” ads to avoid legal risk. It is no longer possible to freely promote petitions opposing abortion or same-sex unions there.

The Polish political context cannot be ignored. The introduction of these instruments specifically in 2026, just before the crucial parliamentary campaign in Poland, is no coincidence. Restricting the reach of conservative speech, making it harder to organize public-interest campaigns, and selectively labeling content as “problematic” will have a real impact on election results.

From the perspective of socially engaged Catholics, this is particularly dangerous. Unequivocal assessments concerning the protection of life from conception, the indissolubility of marriage, the condemnation of the aberrations of gender ideology, and even clear support for national sovereignty within the European Union will increasingly be classified as “controversial” or “divisive.” In the new regulatory model, such content may be restricted not directly—through a ban—but through invisible mechanisms of reach reduction and stigmatization.

This does not, of course, mean that the state has no right to combat crimes online or to protect citizens from real threats. The problem is that the European Union has crossed the line between protection and control, between security and social engineering.

Therefore today, more than ever, courage is needed to defend freedom and the right to publicly proclaim one’s faith. Not as a privilege for the select few, but as the foundation of a healthy society. If we allow, under the pretext of combating “disinformation,” the voices of those who defend life, the family, and sovereignty to be curtailed, democracy will quickly become a grim dictatorship hidden behind a facade of apparent diversity and tolerance.

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To go after the larger threat.

• DOJ Quietly Retracts John Brennan Subpoenas, Offers No Explanation (AP)

Greasy Deep State eel in a human skinsuit, John Brennan, may have slipped the proverbial noose once again. In what appears to be now standard operating procedure for the administration, the Department of Justice assigned Trump ally Joseph diGenova to serve as the special prosecutor for the ongoing case regarding former Obama-appointed head of the CIA Brennan and his alleged role in the criminal conspiracy to frame then-president-elect Trump as a Russian asset in 2016. Now, the DOJ, according to internal sources, with stunning parallels to the botched James Comey prosecution, has withdrawn its subpoenas of individuals associated with Brennan, opting instead for “voluntary interview” requests.


Via Associated Press (emphasis added): “The Justice Department has withdrawn subpoenas issued in the investigation of former CIA Director John Brennan, with officials asking for voluntary interviews instead of testimony before a grand jury, two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. A small handful of subpoenas were known to have been issued over the weekend for witnesses to appear before a grand jury in Washington. But investigators on Monday evening informed lawyers that the subpoenas were being withdrawn in favor of requests for voluntary interviews, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press to discuss developments in an ongoing investigation. The reason for the reversal in course was not immediately known.”

I’m sure Brennan, his comrades, and their respective teams of $1,000/hr lawyers will jump at the “voluntary interview” invite. They’re here to assist the government in any way possible in the furtherance of justice.These are red-blooded patriots, after all. They just want what’s best for America. Speaking of true-blue, red-blooded Americana, here is John Brennan in 2021, immediately after the Jan 6 fedsurrection, having transitioned into a “journalist” at MSNBC, joining an entire lineup of “retired” spooks speaking truth to power for the masses on the network, declaring a war on “an unholy alliance of religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots, racists, nativists, even libertarians” — a war that the Biden administration went on to wage with all the weight of the federal government:

“[The Biden intelligence services] are moving in laser-like fashion to try to uncover as much as they can about what looks very similar to insurgency movements that we’ve seen overseas… It brings together an unholy alliance of religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots, racists, nativists, even libertarians. And unfortunately I think there’s been this momentum that generated as a result of unfortunately the demagogic rhetoric of people that’s just departed government, but also those who continue in the halls of Congress. And so I really do think that the law enforcement, homeland security, intelligence, and even the defense officials are doing everything possible to root out what seems to be a very very serious and insidious threat to our democracy and our republic.”

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“I suspect, well, let’s consider, Ciaramella has been given the opportunity to cooperate as a witness in the 2017 Brennan case; perhaps in exchange for something like limited immunity in the 2019 impeachment issue. The timeline tracks.”

• Great News – Subpoenas for Brennan Grand Jury Testimony are Withdrawn (CTH)

Several people have inquired about the Washington DC subpoenas for former CIA Director John Brennan being withdrawn, and what does that mean. I intentionally did not write about it at the time because I wanted to look closely at the fact pattern. The DOJ is still planning to send requests for voluntary interviews and grand jury testimony according to media reports.From my perspective, this is a good sign. Potentially a very good sign. The issues around the CIA targeting President Trump are extensive, attached to numerous individuals and entities, and generally complex. Normally, an investigation of this scope would begin with questions to the outer perimeter individuals who were carrying out the instructions of those above them.


It is from those types of lower-level interviews that material is gathered for use in examining the truthfulness of those who organized and directed the operations. In the example of John Brennan’s false statements to congress surrounding the ICA (Intelligence Community Assessment), or the inclusion of the Steele Dossier in the analytical material, there are key people within the Directorate of Analysis, National Security Agency and National Intelligence Council who can give first-hand statements about Brennan’s instructions. Those types of interviews are just as important as questioning John Brennan himself, and for obvious reasons those interviews should come first.

Here is where it becomes important to remember a key thing that happened between the time the investigation of Brennan began and the arrival of investigative Asst to the AG, Joe DiGenova. Do you remember the recent criminal referral by DNI Tulsi Gabbard for former CIA Analyst Eric Ciaramella?

BACKGROUND: Former CIA Director John Brennan was being investigated during the time that DNI Tulsi Gabbard was working on retrieving and declassifying the material surrounding the first impeachment effort against President Trump. CIA Analyst Eric Ciaramella was the “anonymous whistleblower” that triggered the report to Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson that started the impeachment operation. This same CIA Analyst Eric Ciaramella was also involved in the fabrication of the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment, which is at the heart of the false testimony to congress that John Brennan is being investigated for.

Eric Ciaramella was criminally referred by DNI Gabbard for his actions in relation to the impeachment operation. This sets the DOJ up with the potential for a plea agreement with Ciaramella on his impeachment conduct, in exchange for testimony against Brennan on the ICA construct. Suddenly we see reports of DOJ Brennan subpoenas being withdrawn immediately after the DOJ criminal referral for Eric Ciaramella is introduced. **nudge-nudge* *wink-wink** See the dynamic? I’m not saying this is happening, but the timing is awfully coincidental, no?

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has withdrawn subpoenas issued in the investigation of former CIA Director John Brennan, with officials asking for voluntary interviews instead of testimony before a grand jury, two people familiar with the matter said Tuesday. A small handful of subpoenas were known to have been issued over the weekend for witnesses to appear before a grand jury in Washington. But investigators on Monday evening informed lawyers that the subpoenas were being withdrawn in favor of requests for voluntary interviews, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press to discuss developments in an ongoing investigation.

The reason for the reversal in course was not immediately known. The months-old Brennan investigation is one of several criminal probes the Justice Department has opened over the last year against President Donald Trump’s perceived adversaries. It centers on one of the Republican president’s chief grievances — a U.S. intelligence community finding that Russia interfered on his behalf during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. TIMELINE:
Aug – Nov 2025: CTH emphasizes need for ICIG Atkinson material to get to Ciaramella/Brennan
December 2025 – Brennan attorney notified he is under investigation.
Jan – March 2026 – DNI gains access to Atkinson transcript from HPSCI
March 2026 – DNI assembled ICIG Atkinson material from Ciaramella report and investigation.
March 25 – HPSCI releases transcript to DNI.
April 13 – HPSCI released ICIG declassified transcript / DNI releases ICIG Ciaramella report.
April 15 – Eric Ciaramella criminal referral.
April 21 – Brennan witness subpoenas withdrawn.

Hopefully the timeline helps people to understand what is likely happening in the background. I suspect, well, let’s consider, Ciaramella has been given the opportunity to cooperate as a witness in the 2017 Brennan case; perhaps in exchange for something like limited immunity in the 2019 impeachment issue. The timeline tracks.

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Is he really a prince?

• Iranian Prince in Exile Reza Pahlavi Delivers a Brutal Message (CTH)

Two years after the Russia-Ukraine war began, people kept wondering why I continued to ask why no western media were boots on the ground in Ukraine delivering news of the conflict. I called it “world war reddit” for a reason. That question loomed even bigger given the relentless on-the-ground reporting over the U.S-Iran conflict. Why were/are international journalists almost immediately embedded in Iran to cover the details of the conflict, yet that same approach never took place in Ukraine. For Ukraine there was no daily reports on the fighting; no frontline reports with journalists in helmets and flak jackets; no live interviews or reports of the back-and-forth battles between Russia and Ukraine; no ‘coming to you live from Kiev‘ tonight, nothing. However, as soon as military conflict breaks out in Iran – all the familiar war/conflict reporting surfaced again.


But I see the Ukraine war reported on Telegram, some say. True, but really? What you “see” is through a social media prism that is structurally controlled by Western intelligence operations. World War Reddit! For additional context, when the U.S. went to war in Iraq/Afghanistan, how did it impact your daily life? That’s analogous the same impact within Russia that I experienced in 2024 (3 months) and 2025 (1 month). All recognizable impact is sanctions related. One of the reasons I traveled from Western Russia to Poland -specifically driving across Ukraine- was to see for myself. I shared that story before. The reality of the Ukraine conflict, World War Reddit, is entirely against the interests of those who are constructing the false impression of it.

In reality the Eastern Donbas region is very pro-Russian and when the Russian Federation took over towns and geography, driving back the Ukraine military, Russian troops were factually greeted as liberators. Now, there is a slow-grinding stalemate, and the losses on the Ukraine side are well beyond what has been reported by government officials. I provide this context of reality -vs- media presentation because Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi is strongly calling attention to the bias and willful blindness of European media. WATCH:

“I want to speak directly to the people of Europe. In the past two weeks I have had two major press conferences — one in Stockholm, one in Berlin. Between them 150 journalists attended. We spent more than two hours together.” Not a single one of those 150 journalists asked about the 40,000 Iranians slaughtered on the streets of my country on January 8th and 9th! Not a single one of the 150 journalists asked me about the 19 political prisoners executed in the last two weeks.

When I told them 20 more are currently sentenced to death, nothing. Not a single one of the 150 journalists asked me about them. When I stood next to a mother and next to a father who lost their sons on January 8th and 9th, and asked them to hear their stories, not a single one of the 150 journalists asked them a question.

[…] It is clear to me that my 40,000 brave, innocent compatriots who were slaughtered in the fight for liberty are of little interest to these journalists. They seem more interested in criticizing America and asking why the United States and Israel killed the dictator that has slaughtered our people for 47 YEARS — than criticizing the regime doing the slaughtering. They seem more interested asking questions about Iran’s past and history than about what is happening in Iran today; or about the democratic future Iranians are seeking. One member of parliament even told me they didn’t think Iranians are ready for democracy. To that member of Parliament, to those journalists, I remind you: Iranians aren’t just “ready” for democracy. 40,000 people just gave their lives for it, and I won’t let that be in vain.”

So know this, whether or not Europe stands with us; whether or not your journalists do their jobs; whether or not your politicians demonstrate their courage to act, I will fight for my people and my country. Even if we have to do this alone – we will fight until Iran is free”! I don’t know if this guy is the right one to lead the charge to bring a more politically democratic outcome for the people in Iran, but what he is saying about the willful blindness of western media is absolutely correct.

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“There is also the behavior of the three leftist judges, which is shockingly juvenile for persons occupying such prestigious positions.”

• The United States of America v. John Roberts (A.J. Christopher)

The Supreme Court is under attack. It has been under attack for years, almost exclusively from the left. And by “under attack,” I don’t mean the peaceful criticism. I mean everything from challenges to its legitimacy to outright ignoring its rulings to death threats against conservative justices. This began years ago. Chief Justice John Roberts initially responded by trying to stay apolitical and by trying to ignore the criticism. When President Barack Obama called him out during his 2010 State of the Union address, Roberts called the stunt “very troubling.” In the last two decades, that has been the entire extent of his pushback against the left.


In the last couple years, leftist district judges and leftist federal judges issue decrees and stays that directly contradict recent rulings from the Supreme Court itself. Last August, Justices Brett Kavanaugh Neil Gorsuch also publicly rebuked lower courts for having to reverse orders from lower courts regarding issues that the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) had already addressed. But not by Roberts. Last September, a group of anonymous federal judges criticized recent emergency stays that SCOTUS granted. In interviews with NBC News, these judges said such rulings imply that the lower courts are doing shoddy work (yes, that’s the point). One judge quipped, “It’s inexcusable. They don’t have our backs.” Far be it from me to explain to this judge that the job of SCOTUS is not to “have their backs.”

It’s John Roberts’ job to explain this to them. And yet, nary a peep. District Judge Brian Murphy has twice openly flouted SCOTUS decisions. For his obstinacy, Justice Elena Kagan, of all people, publicly rebuked him. But still nothing from Roberts. Then there is the internal drama. It burst into the open with the Dobbs decision, which the liberal justices deliberately slow-rolled in an attempt to stave off the inevitable. The problem arises because no SCOTUS decision is binding until the justices’ opinions are finalized and publicized. If a justice happens to die in the interim, then that justice’s vote is nullified.

This rule applies even if a justice dies from assassination. Like, you know, what almost happened to Brett Kavanaugh in June 2022. An armed suspect showed up outside his home, and his presence was made known to the authorities only because the suspect got cold feet and called the police and turned himself in. The would-be assassin was upset the upcoming (and, at that time, unreleased) Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and helped decodify legalized infanticide. But how did he know about the upcoming Dobbs decision? Because one of the justices’ staffers unprecedentedly leaked it to the press. This has never happened before on the Supreme Court. It happened on Roberts’ watch.

Who was the leaker? Who knows? Roberts refused to let the FBI investigate, and instead handed the investigation to federal marshals. There is speculation that Roberts did so to prevent the executive branch from encroaching on his turf. As a result, to this day we have no idea who the leaker was.

There is also the behavior of the three leftist judges, which is shockingly juvenile for persons occupying such prestigious positions. There is Justice Elena Kagan, who screamed “so loudly” at fellow liberal Justice Stephen Breyer that the “wall was shaking.” Why was she screaming? Because Breyer disapproved of Kagan’s tactic of slow-rolling the Dobbs decision because of the threats to the lives of his conservative friends on the bench. Breyer was that rare liberal that put the value of human life above his personal opinion, and he supported publishing the Dobbs dissent quickly to diffuse the threats. Kagan, on the other hand, was perfectly willing to risk the murder of her fellow justices in order to possibly skew the decision.

This is the Roberts’ court. Then there is the “wise” Latina, who thinks that colorblind, impartial justice requires one to consider race and upbringing while trying to excuse why the law should be applied unequally upon the citizenry. Regarding a disagreement on a recent immigration ruling, Sotomayor told the Lawrence Journal-World that her colleague Brett Kavanaugh is “a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour.”

Continuing, she quipped that “There are some people who can’t understand our experiences, even when you tell them.” I’m confident that Sotomayor wouldn’t understand the “experiences” of Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, or Sheridan Gorman, even if they told her. But they can’t tell her. Because the very illegals for whom Sotomayor so passionately fights murdered them. If this is the left’s definition of what it means to be “wise,” then I’m glad they consider me “deplorable.” Sotomayor issued a hand-in-the-cookie-jar apology, but the fact remains is that this sort of backstabbing culture is being allowed to fester within the hallowed walls of SCOTUS.

This is the Roberts’ court.

And finally, we have that morbid disaster of a flaming clown car, more commonly known as Ketanji Brown Jackson. In a recent speech at Yale, she called the judicial rulings of her conservative colleagues “utterly irrational.” This from the person who couldn’t give a definition of a woman. Back in August, she blasted her colleagues for “lawmaking” from the bench, impervious to the fact that this is exactly what the lower courts have been doing since Jan. 20, 2025.

This is the Roberts court.

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Where people go to show us they’re not funny. Did Colbert ever make that clear. The whole Jon Stewart clan once witnout Jon Stewart did.

In hindsight, an unfortunate headline…

• Trump Plans an Ambush at White House Correspondents’ Dinner (Pinsker)

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner’s featured entertainer, Oz Pearlman, is worth spelunking down the YouTube rabbit hole to learn more about. Pearlman was born in Israel and worked briefly at Merrill Lynch before launching his second career as a mentalist. Currently, he’s the biggest, most sought-after mentalist on the planet. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear he was psychic. He “guessed” Joe Rogan’s ATM PIN in an interview. (Rogan’s shocked response: “Yeah… that’s weird. Yeah, I don’t like that.”) He’s baffled all the top news and entertainment TV shows. With clockwork precision, he plucks your deepest, darkest secrets straight out of your brain. It’s spooky: Like a scholar reads books, he reads minds.


Only he doesn’t: Pearlman openly admits he doesn’t have any psychic ability. These are all tricks, based on his understanding of body language, psychology, and social behavior. There’s absolutely nothing “psychic” about him. But because he’s so thoroughly mastered his craft, you’d swear otherwise: Somehow, he’s always a step ahead. Remind you of anyone? Of course, it helps when your audience is predictable. The more predictable an audience, the easier it is to know what it’ll do next. If an audience is predictable enough, you could probably anticipate its every move. Remind you of anyone else? That’s our segue for today’s story: Saturday, April 25 is the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — which will be attended by, for his very first time as president, Donald J. Trump.

He attended a few dinners as a private citizen, most notably in 2011, when then-president Barack Obama taunted him from the podium. Since then, he hasn’t been back. So many are wondering… why now? Why tonight? The audience, after all — and the event itself — are predictably predictable. Every (non-Trumpian) year for the past 20 years, it’s been the exact same thing: If the president is a Democrat, he’s met with kid gloves and fawning praise. If he’s a Republican, he’s vilified, mocked, and personally insulted. And if he’s Donald Trump — a.k.a. “literally Hitler” and the terrible, evil Orange Monster — he’s excoriated unmercifully. This is an audience that hates his frickin’ guts. Yet now he’s attending.

Ex-emcee Stephen Colbert will be skipping the dinner. So is the HuffPost. Hundreds of journalists have signed an open letter, asking their colleagues to “forcefully demonstrate opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample freedom of the press.” In their evenhanded, completely unbiased opinions, “these are not normal times, and this cannot be business as usual with the press standing up to applaud the man who attacks them on a daily basis.” Many journalists will be wearing special hankies to protest the man they’re paid to cover (“without fear or favor!”). In the goofiest, lamest, most cringeworthy example of virtue-signaling yet… well, CNN’s Jake Tapper will explain:

So why would Trump waste his time by spending an evening with a gaggle of journalists who plot his demise? Why would he help his enemies publicize their complaints, lies, and political grievances? Some speculate that the choice of Oz Pearlman as emcee was a factor: He’s not a partisan comedian, but a mentalist — which minimizes chances it’ll devolve into yet another anti-Trump roast. That was surely something the White House considered before signing up: In 2006, Stephen Colbert’s vicious mockery of President George W. Bush skyrocketed his career. If you’re a comedian, attacking Republican presidents is very good for business. Pearlman probably won’t do that. Being a partisan hack isn’t his business model.

But I suspect it’s more than just Pearlman’s inclusion. From the White House’s perspective, one of two things will likely happen tonight — and either outcome plays into the president’s hands. First, there’s a chance it won’t be a complete and total anti-Trump rally. Not a GREAT chance, but a chance. I’d give it a very low probability. Because Pearlman won’t be the only speaker, and the ballroom will be filled with journalists, many of the biggest names in their industry. Like it or not, journalists have a vested interest in drawing attention to themselves: eyeballs = success.mShamelessness is their signature trait. It’s what they do best.

All Trump can reasonably hope for is that their attacks will be muted. Because almost certainly, some left-wing journalist will seize the opportunity to give “literally Hitler” a piece of his mind. But if the Trump-bashing is kept to a minimum, the president comes across as magnanimous, courageous, and confident, jumping right into the lion’s den and charming all the lions.= The second outcome expects things will go haywire: The media can’t resist the urge to draw its daggers and attack. Despite Pearlman emceeing the event, one way or another, left-wing agitators will hijack the dinner. This is, I suspect, what President Trump is counting on. Nothing rallies a people, a party, and/or a movement like a common enemy. Furthermore, if you’re a Republican, few institutions are more detestable than the mainstream media.

I think Trump wants the media to make jackarses of themselves and attack him tonight — so he’ll have an excuse to counterpunch ‘em right back! Because it would be an excellent opportunity to unite Red America by reminding us who our real enemies are: a dishonest media that propagandizes anti-Americanism, secularism, and deep state leftism.Expecting D.C.’s journalists to act “fair and balanced” is a fool’s errand. Decades of experience virtually guarantees it won’t happen. Which means, tonight’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner is obviously an ambush — so why the heck is Trump walking into it? Most likely explanation: He’s planning an ambush of his own.

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https://twitter.com/GustBrian/status/2047864908524773756?s=20

 

 

 

 

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