March 16, 2026

A SURPRISINGLY CLEAR-EYED ANALYSIS, FROM AL-JAZEERA, NO LESS: “The US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why.”

“When you look at what has actually happened to Iran’s principal instruments of power – its ballistic missile arsenal, its nuclear infrastructure, its air defences, its navy and its proxy command architecture – the picture is not one of US failure. It is one of systematic, phased degradation of a threat that previous administrations allowed to grow for four decades.”

 

Posted at 6:54 pm by Charles Glasser

SPRINGTIME FOR PLATNER:

“Roger, did you have a chance to read ‘Springtime for Hitler?’” “Did you know, I never knew that the Third Reich meant Germany. I mean it’s just drenched with historical goodies like that!”

Posted at 6:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

SAY ANYTHING:

● Shot:

● Chaser: Sen. Markey, Reps. Espaillat, Clarke Announce Legislation to Ban U.S. Fossil Fuel Exports.

—Markey’s Website, May 18th, 2023.

● Hangover: Senator Markey and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez Introduce Green New Deal Resolution.

—Markey’s Website, February 7th, 2019.

AOC and Markey’s 2019 Green Nude Eel sought to ban pretty much everything, so it’s good to see Trump using Cuba as a small test case before implementing their proposals here: Cuba Becomes The First Country To Reach Net Zero. Shouldn’t We Be Celebrating?

UPDATE: Greta Thunberg calls for oil tankers to be sent to Cuba as nation suffers complete blackout. 

Posted at 6:25 pm by Ed Driscoll

THIS IS NO TIME TO GO WOBBLY:

Posted at 5:43 pm by Stephen Green

SUPREMELY PROGRESSIVE: Iran Becomes First Nation in World History Led by Gay Amputee.

Credit where credit is due: Iran appears to have scored a remarkable victory for inclusive representation on the global stage. The U.S. intelligence community recently assessed that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the dearly departed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is “probably gay,” the New York Post revealed on Monday. The news comes amid reports that “one or two” of the younger Khamenei’s legs were amputated after he suffered severe injuries last month in the U.S.-Israeli airstrike that killed his father.

Assuming the reports are true, Mojtaba Khamenei would be the first-ever LGBT amputee to lead a sovereign nation. Iran’s monumental achievement is certain to invigorate the American progressives who mourned the elder Khamenei’s demise. Many were already inclined to take the rogue nation’s side in its ongoing conflict with the United States and Israel. Democratic activists have long championed the view that inclusive representation—elevating members of historically marginalized groups to positions of power—is inherently meaningful and morally necessary.

Iran could even be in the process of super-sizing its supreme progressivism: “While it’s illegal to be gay in Iran, the government does allow sex changes to spare gay men from criminal punishment (such as, er, the death penalty). Cockburn hears rumors that Mojtaba is currently undergoing secret treatment in a Russian hospital. Could this regime-change war bring Iran not only its first gayatollah, but a female supreme leader?”

Posted at 5:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

CHRISTIAN TOTO: ‘SNL’ Mocks Tucker Carlson, Gets Pundit 100 Percent Wrong.

“SNL” scribes don’t even know who Carlson is in 2026. He went from a firebrand Fox News star to a raging Israel hater who promotes conspiracy theorists and skewers the U.S. Military.

The show’s obvious lack of ideological diversity behind the scenes allowed this limp sketch to flower. It missed its target by a wide margin.

Culhane’s impression nailed some of Carlson’s catch phrases and his maniacal laugh, but it missed who the pundit has become over the last two years.

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 4:50 pm by Stephen Green

SOMEHOW TRUMP’S TODDLER-TANTRUMING IS DOING A BETTER JOB THAN DECADES OF “EXPERT” DIPLOMACY:

Maybe he’s not actually a toddler throwing tantrums?

Related: The Coming Revolution Down South.

Posted at 4:13 pm by Glenn Reynolds

NOT THE COMPANY IT ONCE WAS: Adobe Fined, CEO Steps Down, Stock Tanks. AI? “Just about every creator using Abode figured the ludicrously overbroad terms and conditions were designed to let Adobe train their AIs on creator’s work, and make them pay for the privilege of doing so to boot.”

Posted at 3:48 pm by Stephen Green

HMM: Sen. Mike Lee: We’ve ‘Turned Kind Of A Corner’ On The Save Act.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) now thinks the SAVE America Act may finally be getting somewhere. Lee, the lead sponsor of the legislation, posted a video update on Friday announcing that he believes we’ve “turned kind of a corner” on the SAVE Act.

After weeks of uncertainty about procedure, Lee said he and Thune have been working through options that could bring the bill to the floor for real debate – not just a choreographed vote designed to fail.

“Okay, important update on the Save America Act and the effort to get it passed,” Lee said in the video. “Look, I am guardedly optimistic. We’ve turned kind of a corner. Over the last few days, there’s been some uncertainty about exactly what procedure we will be and will not be using. In the end, we’ve been working closely with Leader Thune and his staff, and they’ve been great to work with. What we’re coming up with is something that I think is best described as a hybrid version of the talking filibuster.”

Well, stay tuned.

Posted at 2:46 pm by Stephen Green

DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT (RECENT) HISTORY:

Amy Alkon in the replies: “Actors used to have publicists to follow them around with a muzzle and swiftly strap it on whenever they seemed on the verge of uttering words in the presence of a reporter.”

Actors used to be run by the studios, which used to know what they were doing.

Posted at 1:59 pm by Stephen Green

GAMING THE SYSTEM ON SYLLABUS TRANSPARENCY? There are reasonable arguments both for and against requiring public university syllabi to be open to public view. There’s no argument for pretending they are open while they’re not really, unless you want to make state legislators morally certain you’re hiding something awful.

Posted at 1:54 pm by Robert Shibley

WELL, YES: US could take Iran’s main oil export hub ‘at a time of our choosing,’ Jack Keane says.“We can take Kharg Island at a time of our choosing, and we choose not to take that now,” Keane told “Sunday Morning Futures.”

“Would we take it in the future? Those options are there for the president, likely towards the end of this? Because, if we take Kharg Island, either we occupy it or blockade it, there’s a number of things that we can do.”

Keane said such a move would effectively put the Iranian regime in “checkmate,” given how heavily its economy depends on the island.

“Now we [would] own all of their major assets. It’s 50% of their budget, 60% of the revenue, 80, 90% of the distribution points for their oil,” he said.

The real question is how long we’d stay there, with American fingers around the neck of a sizable fraction of China’s oil supplies.

Related: It’s all about China: Trump’s seemingly chaotic global policy all makes sense.

Marines are reportedly on the way.

Posted at 1:44 pm by Stephen Green