Last fall I was selected to participate in the Southwest Florida honor flight. It was an incredible experience. We flew from Sarasota Airport to Dulles Airport, near Washington D.C. We were taken to all the famous memorials in D.C. and then returned home. When arriving back in Sarasota, I, along with the other veterans on that flight, were shocked at the enormous crowd that had gathered there to greet us. They filled the entire terminal and loudly applauded us. It was the welcome home I never received when returning home from Vietnam after having flown on over 300 combat missions.  Upon arriving at Los Angeles International Airport, I was greeted by some hippy looking jerks who spat on me and called me a war criminal. Welcome home.

But I am reminded that even these wonderful flights and the stunning Vietnam Memorial Wall, are no substitute for what matters. Abraham Lincoln said it best during the Gettysburg Address:

“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

The only way to truly honor those who died protecting this country is to dedicate ourselves to staying the course until victory is achieved. I stood by that wall, filled with emotion, holding my hand over the names of friends who flew with me in Vietnam, but were killed in combat and never returned home. I realized that the only way to truly honor them is to confront the reality of what really happened.

Despite constant attempts by Democrats to undermine him, Richard Nixon led us to victory in that war; the North Vietnamese had surrendered and signed a peace treaty. But Democrats and their fawning supporters in the MSM hated Richard Nixon. They ultimately succeeded in forcing him out of office. Then, when Gerald Ford replaced him, Democrats in congress cut off all funding for the war and even refused to provide any military aid to South Vietnam. The result was inevitable.

Today, Democrats in congress and their fawning supporters in the MSM are filled with hatred of Donald Trump and working overtime to undermine his ability to defeat Iran. They are doing this because hating Donald Trump is far more important to them than protecting our national security.

Iran is gambling that they can snatch victory from defeat the same way North Vietnam did in 1975. North Vietnam didn’t win that war on the battlefield. They won when they saw the anti-war protests in the U.S. and knew that they didn’t need to win, they just needed to wait long enough, and the U.S. would defeat itself and quit. That is exactly what happened.  

If Democrats and their supporters in the MSM have their way, they will gladly repeat the mistake of Vietnam. Hating Donald Trump has blinded them to reality. Iran, under control of the IRGC, is the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world. It will never stop until it obtains a nuclear weapon. A nuclear weapon they are almost certain to use against Israel, against our European allies, and potentially against us. If that happens the result will be a nuclear catastrophe that cannot be overstated. Iran knows it cannot defeat the U.S. militarily. But if they can drag things out long enough, Democrats will undermine the President, Donald Trump, and once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

What makes this even more appalling is that they stupidly pretend this is honoring our troops. It is not. The only real way to honor those who fought, and particularly those who died, defending this country is to listen to Abraham Lincoln. Once again, we need to dedicate ourselves to the cause for which so many gave the last full measure of devotion. There is not, and never will be, any substitute for victory.

TDM

If you listen to the Democrat Party and the MSM, George Floyd was a classic example of an innocent black man murdered by a racist white cop for no reason. These same people are now arguing that the conviction of Karmelo Anthony of murder for stabbing Austin Metcalf to death  was another example of an innocent black man deprived of his rights by a racist white prosecutor and jury.

Most of us who have paid the least amount of attention to either case know that these assumptions are based on a blatantly false narrative, repeated over and over again, with zero consideration for the facts and evidence.

In the case of George Floyd, it has been proven that he was high on drugs and it is quite possible he would have died with or without police intervention. Here is what is reported on this day in history:

George Floyd is killed by a police officer, igniting historic protests | HISTORY

Note that police were called because Floyd had tried to cash a $20 counterfeit bill. That is true, but not the whole story.

Here is the transcript of the actual 911 call:

“Caller: Um someone comes our store and give us fake bills and we realize it before he left the store, and we ran back outside, they was sitting on their car. We tell them to give us their phone, put their (inaudible) thing back and everything and he was also drunk and everything and return to give us our cigarettes back and so he can, so he can go home but he doesn’t want to do that, and he’s sitting on his car cause he is awfully drunk and he’s not in control of himself.”

Police tried to get control of Floyd for several minutes, but when they tried to get him to get in the police car, he started to violently resist. That is when he was forced to the ground.  Have you ever watched any police video where a white suspect resists arrest? The exact same thing happens to them.

Most people believe the video shows officer Chauvin leaning on George Floyd’s neck, suffocating him. But other views show him with his knee on Floyd’s shoulder, as he had been trained to do. By this time protestors were surrounding police, pointing cameras at them and screaming insults.

At some point, Floyd because unconscious. The autopsy by the county reported “cardiopulmonary arrest “complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression: and lists underlying heart disease plus fentanyl and methamphetamine as other significant conditions.”

The media immediately accused Chauvin of murdering Floyd and demanded prosecution.

Karmelo Anthony entered a tent where he was not permitted. He was asked to leave. Apparently, Austin Metcalf and him got into an argument and allegedly Metcalf put his hands on Anthony while forcing him to leave. Anthony pulled a knife, stabbed Metcalf in the heart and killed him.

Now one can and should argue whether Chauvin did everything right. But there is little evidence that he intended on killed Floyd. One may argue that Metcalf should have avoided the confrontation with Anthony, but that does not justify Anthony stabbing him in the heart.

But that is not the real point. The point is simply this. If Chauvin had been black and Floyd had been White, all of the rioting would have been in support of Chauvin. If Metcalf had been black and Anthony had been white, all of the anger would have been directed toward Anthony. The motivation in both cases was definitely racism, but not necessarily white racism against blacks but rather black racism against whites. Many prominent blacks interviewed demanded that Chauvin be tried and convicted of murder. The same prominent blacks now complain that Anthony should never have been convicted. The reasoning in both cases is because Floyd was black and Anthony is black they must be given the benefit of the doubt and the white person must be assumed to be responsible. To the loud black voices filled with rage nothing else matters.

But they should seriously consider this. If white people cannot trust black people to treat them fairly how can they really expect white people to trust them if the situation was reversed. The obvious answer is they can’t. If you are black you are assumed innocent. If you are white, you are assumed guilty. There is no gray area, no middle ground. This is the very definition of racism and if smarter and wiser black people do not push back on this racist agenda, there is a serious risk that much of the real progress made against systemic racism in this country will be reversed. What, exactly, do they expect? Do they assume every white person will assume guilt because of the color of their skin? That is absurd.

These are dangerous times. They will become even more dangerous if this continues. This is the polar opposite of fighting racism, it is instead fueling it in the worst possible way.

TDM

We lived in California for over 35 years. We had a beautiful home, in a great town, with a wonderful climate. Except for one thing. In recent years Democrats have totally run California. The results ultimately resulted in us making the decision to move to Florida.

The triggering factor, for us, was the way California handled COVID 19. We were required to wear masks everywhere, including shopping at Costco. If you tried to enter Costco without wearing a mask, you would be confronted by security demanding you leave immediately. We all know now, as many of us knew then, that masks had almost no positive effect in preventing the spread of disease. It was just a silly rule, not based on real science, enforced rigorously by people in power who did not care and did not listen. The only thing they cared about was retaining their personal power.

To those of you who do not have experience with the California election fiasco, let us explain. When we first moved to California, they never checked id, but we did go to a local precinct, where people verified our names and address, and has us sign the register. That was a shock to us having moved from Michigan, where you had to provide ID to vote.

In California, anyone can apply for a drivers’ license with no requirement to verify legal residency. There are millions of people in this country illegally, residing in California, who have drivers’ licenses. When you get a drivers’ license in California, you are automatically registered to vote. The last time we voted in California we brought our ballots to a registered voting site. When we tried to show ID, they waived us away. When we tried to confirm our address, they just laughed. They just pointed to a ballot box and told us to drop our ballots there.

Then California had a problem. Since the California DMV made zero attempts to verify legal residency, the California drivers’ license was not considered a real ID. As a result, if you wanted to fly on a commercial airliner, you had to either have a passport, or present documentation verifying your residency and citizenship to get a “Real ID.” This is when we realized that not only didn’t California bother to check legal residency, but there was also no method to reconcile the California DMV database with the federal citizen registry. They couldn’t have matched their voter database with federal records, if they tried, and they didn’t try. It was only after California offered a real ID that this changed.

Then they changed the law to allow ballot harvesting. Let me explain. 18 states allow anyone chosen by the owner to return a ballot on the voters’ behalf. 16 states allow anyone with certain relationships to the voter to return the voters ballot. 4 states only allow voters to return the voters ballot, with certain restrictions. 2 states require voters to return their ballots by mail. 10 states and the District of Columbia do not specify who can return ballots.

Ballot collection laws by state – Ballotpedia

In California there are people who go out and collect ballots from a wide range of people and then just drop them off at a ballot box. The ballot box may not be monitored. It is difficult to have any confidence that California verifies anything. While other states manage to report results in about 24 hours, in California this can take weeks. Typically, if a Republican is ahead by a small margin, additional ballot drops will start showing up with the vast majority of them favoring the Democrat.

So, if you do show up with ID in California considered acceptable, what do you think that would require? The answer is a “Gym membership card,” “Employer ID card,” “Credit or debit card,” “Prescription drug label,” or an “Insurance card.” It is important to remember that California provides free health coverage to undocumented immigrants.

When you mail in a ballot, California claims to verify the signature. During the recent election several people, all conservative Republicans, had their ballots returned and their vote rejected. In some cases, these people had voted for decades without this happening. Coincidence?

Keep this in mind when the DNC and members of the MSM show outrage at the mere suggestion that some of this would create at least a small potential for election fraud. How unthinkable. How undemocratic. Do you really think politicians in California are so desperate for power that they would willingly ignore commons sense voter laws. Don’t people realize that the reason every statewide office and every major elected official in major cities are always Democrats is that people in these areas are too smart for vote for Republicans? In California statewide elections, the people getting the top two number of votes in the primary go into a run-off. In most cases, no Republican is even on the ballot.

In 2016 Kamala Harris ran for the Senate from California. Her only opponent on the ballot was Loretta Sanchez, also a Democrat. Would it be a shock for you to learn that in statewide elections few Republicans bother to vote, because it is a choice between two bad options?

Some of you may wonder why Joe Biden selected Kamala Harris as his VP. The answer is that he publicly committed to choosing a black female and the choice was down between Kamala Harris and Karen Bass. Yes, that Karen Bass.

But there is good news. This time California may have finally jumped the shark. The 2026 primary election is a total fiasco. They are still counting votes, with each ballot drop showing miraculous results for the Democrat. But something has changed. There are federal prosecutors monitoring this and don’t be surprised to see some shocking arrests for blatant election fraud. The stench of fraud is so obvious that even CNN showed signs of detecting the odor.

Democrats are in complete control in Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Assembly, the Senate, and every statewide office, including Governor. Nothing, I repeat nothing, has improved. Taxes are sky high. Homeless people are everywhere. Gas prices are the highest in the country. Roads and bridges are in poor repair. Traffic is unbearable. People are leaving California in droves. Let’s just hope that some of the people leaving are democrats, as long as they avoid Florida.

The result is that the Mayors race in Los Angeles is now down to Karen Bass and Nithya Raman. Karen Bass visited Cuba several times, gloated over the fantastic job being done by Fidel Castro. She traveled with the Venceremos Brigade. Here is some interesting information about that organization:

The Cuban regime’s American sympathizers -Capital Research Center

See any problem here? CNN and the rest of the MSM sure didn’t.

Nithya Raman is the first South Asian and Asian American woman on the LA City Counsel. She supports reducing bureaucratic barriers, streamline permitting process and implementing “gentle density” in single-family neighborhoods to increase housing supply and affordability. She champions a homelessness-first approach, focusing on housing placements, social services, and long-term solutions rather than relying exclusively on law enforcement responses.

Anyone want to move to LA. The weather is great.

TDM

What do you think of when you hear “Hush Puppies.” For me it was a shoe company located in Rockford, Michigan. The company was “Woverine World Wide,” which made Wolverine Work boots. The company was founded in 1882 as a small leather shop in Grand Rapids, Michigan. People, like me, who lived in Grand Rapids, understood why they were called “Wolverine Shoes.” The University of Michigan sports team are the “Michigan Wolverines.” I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and some locals claimed to have actually seen a real live wolverine. Officially they were last seen in Michigan during the 1700s and 1800s. In February 2004, some coyote hunters in Ubly, Michigan, about 90 miles north of Detroit, claimed to have seen a real live wolverine. Arnie Karr, a Michigan Department of Natural Resources saw the wolverine for himself and took some pictures of it. It was the first confirmed wolverine sighting in Michigan in over 200 years. Wolverines in Michigan were considered an endangered species until the late 1990s, when the wolverine was removed from the endangered species list because no one expected to ever see one again, at least in Michigan.

First Michigan wolverine spotted in 200 years

This explains why the Michigan football team has weird yellow stripes on its helmets. Those are theoretically supposed to represent wolverines. The wolverine was the unofficial state nickname. I never quite understood the enthusiasm for choosing a creature that hadn’t been seen in over 200 years. But I lived in the Upper Peninsula until I was a Sophomore in high school, and I knew several people who claimed to have seen a wolverine in the wild.  The self-righteous snobs in the Lower Peninsula remained skeptical.

In 1958, the Wolverine Shoe Company, known for its work boots, introduced Hush Puppies as a line of comfortable casual shoes. They became very popular and are still available today.

Other people, thought “Hush Puppies” referred to corn meal dumplings popular in the South. Some thought “Hush Puppies” came from slaves tossing corn meal to the dogs to shut them up. Others blamed confederate soldiers for doing the same thing during the Civil War to quiet dogs. Either makes more sense that a spin-off of work boots based on an animal believed to be extinct.

But today, “Hush Puppies” takes on a whole new meaning. I view it as the few remaining democrats with surviving brain cells calling out the professional loud mouths who have been extremely vocal in their support of lost causes. Classic examples are left-wing Democrats who support issues like “defund the police”, “Open borders”, and my favorite, “Transgender males competing with females and winning sporting events.”  These people have been very loud and obnoxious, but lately even some Democrats are throwing corn at them in a desperate attempt to shut them up. It turns out that running political campaigns based on ideas opposed by about 80% of the people is not actually a winning strategy. I mean it definitely is a winning strategy, if one is trying to win a Democrat primary. But spouting nonsense, which worked in gerrymandered blue districts, is not necessarily a good strategy for someone trying to be elected to the U.S. senate.

There are, of course, exceptions in places like New Jersey and Virginia where left-wing liberal Democrat women won races for governor by pretending they were normal people. Few people, who bought this and voted for these clowns are overly thrilled with the results.   

Perhaps it is wise to remember that while “corn” was used to hush loud puppies, a different kind of corn is being used to silence the liberal left-wing puppies on a regular basis. The best example of this is Spence Pratt, who is running for Mayor of Los Angeles. He regularly makes corn (jokes) about Karen Bass, the current LA mayor, and even if he loses, he has definitely helped quiet her down at least temporarily.

To those of you unfamiliar with Karen Bass, she was one of the final two choices when Joe Biden promised to pick a black female Vice President. Karen Bass was famous for taking trips to Cuba and raving about the world’s greatest humanitarian, Fidel Castro. This may explain why Joe Biden ultimately chose Kamala Harris, with predictable results. Many people were unimpressed with Joe Biden, but few dreamed of President Kamala Harris. Incredibly even Kamala Harris looks good in comparison to someone like Karen Bass.

Democrats have been winning elections with some pathetic candidates but that may be changing. The candidate for Senator in Maine is oyster farmer Graham Platner, who had or has a Nazi Tattoo and thought insulting veterans who were wounded in battle was inspiring. Or James Talarico, running for the Senate from Texas, who thinks there are six genders and “God the Father” is non-binary. The ladies on the view think this is adorable, people living in Texas, not so much.

I think both candidates are going to get trounced in the November elections. Susan Collins in Maine and Ken Paxton are not necessarily great candidates themselves, but they were gifted with these two opponents. Only in this case there is no need to throw corn mean dumplings to shut up their puppy opponents. The louder these clowns bark, and the more people realize what they believe, the better the odds of a Republican landslide.

Hush puppies, whether wonderful shoes or silenced political hounds, are fun to watch.

TDM

It is extremely challenging for the average person in the U.S. to understand the challenges in dealing with Iran. For a long time, this was simple. The Ayatollah was in charge. He hated Israel. He hated the U.S. He was a Muslim extremist. More importantly, he was tied to the doctrine of Velayat-e Faqih. This is sometimes referred to as “Mahdism.” It is unlikely that many Americans understand the significance of this. But it is crucial to understanding what is at stake regarding negotiations with Iran.

To make a long story short, the Sh’ia Muslims in Iran believe in the 12^th Iman. Muhammad al-Mahdi is the twelfth and final Iman. They believe he is alive and in hiding since 868, in a state of “occultation” meaning that Allah miraculously caused him to disappear. He is waiting to return and usher in the takeover of the Muslim, and ultimately, the entire world.

True believers believe it is their duty to pave the way for the return of the Mahdi by eradicating Israel and Zionism. The following article in the Middle East Forum explains:

  Mahdism: The Apocalyptic Ideology Behind Iran’s Nuclear Program – Middle East Forum

More recently, however, the existence of Israel is being viewed and understood as the ‘greatest barrier’ to the reappearance of the 12th Imam. According to the doctrine of Mahdism, part of preparing for the reappearance of the 12th Imam is removing all obstacles and barriers to his return.

This helps explain the IRGC’s demand for a nuclear weapon. The key factor here is described as follows:

For nations whose leaders and upcoming leaders have been systematically indoctrinated into believing that the greatest good is to usher in a “rightly guided” figure from Islamic legend — no matter the cost, including to that nation itself — the implications are nothing short of apocalyptic.

Nations with nuclear weapons hesitate to use them because of the automatic massive destruction in the event of a nuclear war. This is sometimes described as
Mutually Assured Destruction (“MAD”). If one side uses a nuclear weapon the other side would retaliate, resulting in massive destruction of everyone involved. This has worked since no nuclear weapon has been used since the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. In effect, using a nuclear weapon would be an act of suicide.

This is the essential problem. Some people who believe in Mahdism are not only unafraid of the automatic self-destruction expected from a nuclear war, but they may also welcome it, because they believe it paves the way for the 12^th Iman to resurface and conquer the world for Islam. Losing millions of their own people is not even considered to be a problem. It is impossible to overstate the risk of allowing people with this world view to have a nuclear weapon. They would be far more likely to use it, without regard to the consequences.

A problem that should not be ignored is that these same people have overseen the education system in Iran and there are reports that youths have been taught Mahdism and are firm believers. This is why just killing the Ayatollah and the leadership of the IRGC may do little to solve the problem. The real question is what do the people of Iran want and odds are a substantial number of them want to see the destruction of Israel and the great Satan, the U.S.

During and prior to World War II Japan was dominated by militarists. There are numerous examples of Japanese soldiers choosing annihilation over surrender. Yet following the war, a different group of leaders took over, who had a very different view, and they changed the Japanese culture.

The point is that negotiating a peace treaty designed to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is only part of the problem. Prior to the 1979 revolution, Iran was a vastly different place. It is not enough to just physically stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. The long-term solution requires recognizing the danger of Mahdism and finding a way to change people from an apocalyptic attitude to one where it is possible to transform into a peaceful society.

It is too bad that Democrats, more focused on Trump Derangement Syndrome than reality, do not understand something. We only have one President at a time, and if we undermine that President, we undermine the entire country. Democrats do not care, their obsession with TDS makes it impossible to even consider supporting the President of the United States. Hatred of Donald Trump overwhelms everything else.

We all better hope and pray that Donald Trump succeeds in stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. What, exactly, could be more important?

TDM

Each day another AI generated video slamming Trump appears. Most of these are absolute nonsense. Typically, they take a real event and then completely distort what Trump said and did and then present this as proof positive that he is mentally deficient. This, of course, if when they run out of reasons to declare him a pedophile, rapist, racist, nazi, criminal and threat to Democracy. Most of these are absurd, yet many people buy this nonsense. I personally find it astonishing that anyone would question Trump’s mental acuity after ignoring the brain fart pretending to be Joe Biden. The same people who call Trump a serial liar apparently never listened to Joe Biden. While Trump does exaggerate, like most politicians, Biden told lies that were impossible to defend. This is similar to how Hillary Clinton claimed she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, because of him being the first to successfully climb Mt. Everest. Hillary was born on October 26, 1947, and Hillary climbed Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953. Yet she told this story for decades until someone pointed out the obvious.

Despite the attempts to spin the narrative, the recent elections show that this is not working. All over the country RINO Republicans were not only beat in primary elections, but they were also humiliated. In Georgia, the liberal left-wing Democrats running for the Supreme Court, endorsed by Kamala Harris and Barack Obama, funded by the ACL and Planned Parenthood, were also trounced.

In California there just may be two Republicans in a run-off for governor. It is far from certain that the next mayor of Los Angeles will be a Democrat. Regardless of all the polls from places like CNN, while left-wing wackos are the face of the Democrat Party, actual election results show people showing up in droves to support conservatives. Since there are no conservatives left in the Democrat Party, that means they are voting for Republicans.

The usual suspects have been wrong on almost every projection. They thought Massey would win. Massey thought Massey would win. Instead, he got trounced. There was a massive amount of money spent by both sides, but ultimately Massey lost because, well, he is Massey.

If you watch videos of people like Hakeem Jeffries, Cory Booker, and Chuck Schumer, they are all screaming in outrage. But the louder you scream, the harder it is for people to take you seriously. We don’t know what will happen in November, but we know who is panicking, who is screaming, and who is working overtime to get things done.

In addition, despite the loud shrieking, more evidence is coming out about the 2020 election, and Donald Trump’s complaints about election fraud are being sustained, while the Democrat arguments that this election was as pure as the driven snow are rapidly evaporating. There is increasing evidence of fraud and, surprise, surprise, most of the culprits are, gasp, democrats. Now to the MSM this is coming as a huge shock. But to those of us paying attention, what exactly did they expect from places like Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia etc., with a history of election fraud dating back decades if not longer.

Did you really think 70% of the people in California are liberal Democrats. Perhaps that is true, somewhere. But it certainly isn’t true where we lived in California. Much of the state doesn’t vote Democrat. But the volume of one-sided votes from places like LA and San Francisco makes the rest of the state irrelevant. Is this because 70% of the people who live there are liberal Democrats. Not necessarily. Any place where the winner is likely to get 70 or 80% of the vote is probably a communist dictatorship or a Democrat controlled city. Coincidence?

But this time Democrats have a fundamental problem. Although much of the MSM still falls in line, people no longer rely on the MSM for information. In addition, the AI so-called documentaries, all negative about Donald Trump, are being discredited at the speed of light. One of the problems is that Trump is on TV, all the time, answering questions. You may not like him or like what he says, but the contrast with Joe Biden is night and day. In addition, if you actually listen to what he says, it seldom resembles what is reported by the MSM. So, are we to believe our lying eyes or CBS? The lying eyes have it.

One can never be optimistic regarding an election when the amount of fraud is taken into consideration. How else can you explain Senators Adam Schiff and Kamala Harris. Are the people in California really that dumb? Or, as Joe Biden once said, it doesn’t matter who votes, the only thing that matters is who counts the votes.

If that has changed, then a Republican landslide is at least possible. Democrats may take an unprecedented shellacking in November. Abraham Lincoln famously said, “You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” In 1864, few expected Abraham Lincoln to be re-elected. Even Senators in his own party were hesitant to endorse him. But two things happened that changed history. One is that ordinary citizens united behind Lincoln. The other was that, for the first time, soldiers in the Union Army were allowed to vote. They voted overwhelmingly for Lincoln.

TDM

The real war in Iran is not with the U.S. and Israel. It is rather between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”) and everyone else. This makes it difficult if not impossible to even figure out who is capable to making a deal with the U.S. and enforcing it. History shows that groups like the IRGC do not seek compromise. These are hard core Islamic fundamentalists who simply cannot comprehend the possibility of compromising with the Great Satan and/or Israel. If there was anyone with an ounce of common sense in charge in Iran the war would have been over long ago. This is made more difficult by the fact that the IRGC has all the guns, and it has proven more than willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone to stay in power. These are people who will gladly put women and children in harms way since they have little or no concern about what happens to them.

This is the classic ways hostage takers always operate. They take a hostage that matters more to their opponent than to them. They will not hesitate to kill a hostage. They rely on the belief that the other side will be willing to make almost any compromise to spare the hostage. This is why wise governments refuse to negotiate with hostage takers, regardless of the cost. Winston Churchill said this best when he advised that “the most unethical thing he could do would be to lose to Adolph Hitler.”  Just ask the people in Coventry how that works. Most leaders would have spared Coventry and tried to win in other ways. Churchill knew that he could not afford to fall into that trap. He allowed the firebombing of Coventry go ahead because he knew it was more important to defeat Hitler. Most of us would never want to be confronted with that kind of decision.

But this is exactly the challenge that President Trump is dealing with today. The IRGC will do ANYTHING to stay in power. Trump knows that there is no potential for a permanent peace if he allows that to happen.

The problem with groups like the IRGC is that if people start to believe they can be defeated, then they may be confronted with a rebellion, there isn’t enough guns to control. The people in Iran are facing an economy in full meltdown. The blockade enforced by the U.S. Navy is making it impossible for the Iran economy to survive. This is becoming more obvious every day. Among other things, the local police, who are not necessarily part of the IRGC, also have guns and they aren’t being paid. John Kennedy once said that “victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” Regardless of what you hear on CNN or read in the New York Times; Iran has been defeated. At some point everyone, even people in the IRGC, will begin to demand payment. So far, the IRGC has prevented nationwide uprisings because the IRGC has responded to previous demonstrations with extreme violence. In addition, there is no internet, so people have serious challenges figuring out what is happening and what to do about it. But it is as simple as this. Governments like the IRGC and communist countries rely on violence and suppression to stay in power. But at some point, as Margaret Thatcher pointed out, “they run out of other people’s money.” Once that happens it is impossible for any government to remain in control.

This is already happening in Iran. The only question is when will the people revolt, if for no other reason than that there is no real alternative. We seem to be nearly there. Time will tell, and in this case, time is moving extremely fast.

TDM

Last night the entire country got to observe the consequences of the irresponsible behavior of the Democrat Party and its fawning supporters in the Mainstream Media. The White House Correspondents dinner is theoretically designed to be a place where people who don’t necessarily agree with each other can gather and celebrate the greatness of America together. For a short period of time, this appeared to be working. But then, an armed gunman tried to shoot his way past the Secret Service on a mission to shoot as many administration people as possible.

Those of us watching TV were shocked by the developments. The speed at which the Secret Service responded was incredible. VP J.D. Vance was grabbed by a Secret Service agent and pushed out of the room. President Trump was immediately surrounded by Secret Service personnel who shielded him with their own bodies until they could safely escort him out of the room. Other Secret Service agents rushed down the main aisle and quickly escorted other administration personnel out of danger.

Even though the person who caused all this shot a Secret Service agent, he did not kill him because the agent was wearing a bullet proof vest. Then several agents pounced on this man and quickly disarmed him. They defused this situation in an incredibly short period of time.

Although Donald Trump wanted the dinner to resume, that was impossible. This attack came as a surprise to everyone, so it was impossible to be certain he was the only one involved.

Although the MSM pretended they didn’t know the motive of this shooter, it was beyond obvious. He quickly admitted he was trying to shoot as many administration personnel as possible. Why? The answer can be found among members of the Press sitting in that audience. Some even had silly handkerchiefs in their suit pockets complaining about the attacks on the press. But the fact is that no journalist has been even threatened by this administration for trashing the President and other members of this administration. No one. They have been confronted with telling deliberate and dangers lies. Enormous difference. Freedom of the Press is not an excuse for lies and deliberate distortions designed to encourage violence.

Donald Trump has now been the target of three assassination attempts. Anyone remember all those assignation attempts on Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden? Nope. There were and are a lot of people who despised Bill Clinton and thought he was a threat to our national security. Many felt the same way about George W. Bush, although Democrats united behind him, for almost 30 seconds, after 9-11. There were and are a lot of people who believe Barack Obama was a threat to Democracy. He is the President who did  weaponize the IRS, the DOJ, and the FBI. After leaving office, He orchestrated an attempt to use the intelligence agencies, the DOJ, and the FBI to prevent Donald Trump from governing effectively during his first term.

It is increasingly obvious. Democrats accuse Republicans of doing what they did and are going. Then they self-righteously thrust out their chests screaming moral outrage. They routinely refer to Donald Trump as a threat to Democracy. They have even compared him to Hitler. There were reports that several members of the White House Press corps were planning on walking out when President Trump got a chance to speak. Others, like Jake Tapper, would merely continue clutching their anti-Trump handkerchiefs.

Then they complain about all the violence generated by the “MAGA” movement hate speech. I have searched for evidence of this violence. All the transgender people getting beat up for being transgender. This may have happened, but I am not aware of that. I searched for violence by MAGA on anyone. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence of that either. But if you are looking for violence, look for anyone or anything the liberal left doesn’t like and prepare for battle.

Last night this was put on full display to the entire nation. The MSM started by pretending they didn’t know the motive behind this gunman, but most people recognize that is absurd. In contrast, Trump gave a short news conference,  and he looked and acted Presidential. He praised the Secret Service and the other personnel who took control and protected everyone. The contrast with the people who trash him on a daily (no, hourly) basis could not be more obvious. I noticed this and my hunch is so did most people watching.

Then we learn this individual left a manifest, full of lies and distortions routines portrayed as beyond dispute by the MSM. He clearly believed this nonsense. Believed it enough that his plan was to kill people and to die trying to kill more. Yet the MSM cannot seem to grasp what does and does not cause violent behavior. Perhaps because they either believe the liberal left lies and distortions or they hate Donald Trump too much to care. Which is better, malice or mere incompetence?

Hopefully, but not likely, at least some of the worst offenders will consider the purchase of a mirror. But then, they are incapable of even seeing themselves. They have encased themselves in a full mental jacket. But we see them, a lot of people see them.

TDM

Few people, if there are any, have managed to be so irredeemable pathetic as Eric Swalwell. Almost on cue, there he was, arrogantly slamming Donald Trump, seldom armed with factual information, but always absolutely certain he was right. The problems with Swalwell seemed beyond obvious but ignored. His relationship with the spy, Fang Fang, defies explanation. Yet Democrats and their fawning supporters in the MSM loved Swalwell because he was always one of the first to run toward any microphone to trash Donald Trump.

Incredibly, Swalwell went from being the Democrat front runner in the race for Governor of California, to dropping out of the race and resigning from congress in what seems like a couple of hours. Suddenly a woman; no wait, two women; no wait, three women; no wait, four women; no wait, five women have come forward to accuse Swalwell of sexual assault including rape. Things are so bad that even Alvin Bragg, yes THAT Alvin Bragg is allegedly pursuing filing criminal charges against Swalwell. He was staying in the house of a fat cat Democrat billionaire donor, who promptly evicted him, said he wants his money back, and then announced he is switching from Democrat to Libertarian.

Billionaire kicks Eric Swalwell out of his mansion and wants $1M back after heinous sex allegations – AOL

Hollywood celebrities like Jimmy Kimmel, who adored Swalwell a few days ago, are now having trouble remembering his name. Perhaps even Swalwell is trying to distance himself from Swalwell, because no one seems to know where he is now. He sure isn’t staying in the Livermore House he claims as his California residence.

Right now, Swalwell couldn’t find work at McDonalds. No one, and I mean no one, wants anything to do with him. No one is even pretending to defend him. My hunch is he may be looking for a one-way ticket to some place cheap without an extradition treaty with the U.S. I really can’t remember anyone with a faster fall from the top of the heap, with the possible exception of O.J. Simpson.

This begs the question, why? One obvious reason is that Democrats were terrified he would come in third in the California Governor’s race, which would have put the election between two, gasp, Republicans. But this is so sudden and so harsh and so complete that one suspects there must be more. Perhaps I am wrong, but I suspect Democrats are starting to get terrified regarding the 2026 mid-term elections. While Democrats loudly predict they will trounce Republicans, which is what usually happens, they aren’t exactly brimming with confidence. One problem is that they have candidates who are beyond awful. Perhaps none more so than Eric Swalwell.

Swalwell is not exactly a person used to public humiliation. He was still arrogantly denying everything just a few days ago. He isn’t threatening anyone now. That begs the question, what comes next. The least likely outcome is that he will just accept his fate and move on. That would be so unlike him. He may not consider suicide to be a great option, but one suspects a whole list of people would not consider that to be the worse case scenario. The only good news for Democrats is that even if he tried to wiggle out of this by trashing fellow Democrats, who would believe him?

The biggest question for Democrats is not why they have turned on Swalwell, but rather why they ever considered him to be a good idea. In retrospect this looks beyond bad. What was so obvious to most of us, they not only pretended not to see, but they also pretended to adore him.

This is now so bad that one is almost tempted to feel sorry for Swalwell. Ok, you can stop laughing now. I’m sorry, but for me that ship sailed a long time ago. In fact, it is hard to watch this and suppress the giggles.

TDM

While John Fetterman was running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in May, 2022, he suffered a stroke. This was attributed to a blood clot, which affected his speech and auditory processing. Incredibly, he still managed to win, defeating Dr. Mehmet Oz. I suspect few people were disappointed in seeing Dr. Oz lose, but Fetterman sure didn’t appear up to the job.

Now, four years later, Fetterman is emerging as one of the few Democrats willing to take on both the usual suspects and the DNC by resorting to common sense and logic. This is beyond astonishing. Fetterman, who remains a strong Democrat, supports Trump regarding key issues like controlling the border, deporting illegals, and Operation Epic Fury. What’s more is that he is a frequent guest on Fox News and is absolutely eloquent in explaining his positions. I doubt that anyone remotely familiar with the 2022 Pennsylvania Senate Race could have predicted this result.

This comes during a time when some top Democrats are literally embarrassing themselves with ridiculous clown acts in response to any decision by Donald Trump. Every President for about 40 years has stated that Iran cannot get a nuclear weapon. Yet, by all accounts, that is exactly what was being predicted. And not in five years or even five months, but rather a few days or weeks. In addition, Iran had built up a supply of ballistic missiles and drones. If Iran had gotten a nuclear weapon, the best-case scenario is that they would have held the world hostage with the threat of massive annihilation. At a minimum they would have threatened to destroy Israel. When someone threatens to kill you, believe them. Iran chanted Death to Israel and Death to America. It sponsored terrorist attacks all around the world. Sadly, Iran just might have been willing to deploy a nuclear weapon without regard to the consequences. In fact, some of the people in charge may have welcomed that.

Every U.S. President from Clinton to Biden warned about the threat from Iran. But Donald Trump did more than that. He took decisive action. Our military has inflicted massive damage on Iran, and so far, they have accidently shot down two U.S. aircraft. Now there is a report of a 2-week ceasefire that has at least the potential for the U.S. to seize Iran’s nuclear weapon material and permanently open the straits of Hormuz. Democrats responded, as expected, by first calling Trump a deranged war criminal, and then, when he announced a cease fire deal, a chicken. Unbelievable.

Enter John Fetterman, who pointed out the obvious and ignored the ridiculous. He was close to, if not the only voice of reason in the entire Democrat Party. If one looks at John Fetterman who was Lieutenant  Governor of Pennsylvania or the Senate Candidate who could barely speak, this result was beyond the realm of possibility. Yet here we are. If this is what happens when Democrat Politicians suffer a severe, nearly fatal stroke, then anything is possible. Sometimes GOD works in mysterious ways.

As for me, every time I see or hear John Fetterman, this sure looks like a stroke of genius. It is nearly impossible to reconcile the person we see now with the candidate who could barely speak while running for the U.S. Senate.

Fetterman is still a liberal Democrat, and we would almost certainly disagree on many serious issues. But more importantly, he is an American  and he is willing to put aside political differences aside and work together for the common good, particularly when discussing national security. What make this more incredible is the inability of so many high-ranking Democrats to understand this vital principle. There was a time when both parties would unite behind a President during a time of crisis.

That changed dramatically when Nixon became President. Democrats worked to remove him from office, without regard to the consequences. The consequences were that after Nixon brilliantly won the war and secured a peace agreement with North Vietnam, he was removed from office because he helped covered up a silly burglary at the DNC headquarters in the Watergate Hotel.  Once Nixon was forced to resign, the Democrat controlled congress acted to not only prevent President Gerald Ford from expanding the war effort, but they also prevented him from preserving the peace treaty and they even denied giving South Vietnam any support other than humanitarian. Democrats chose politics over country before, at the worst possible time, in the worst conceivable way. It should not be surprising that they are choosing to do so today for the same reason. They hated Richard Nixon and they hate Donald Trump.

Hopefully, somewhere, a Democrat in office will listen to Mr. Fetterman and pay attention. But that, I fear, would require something like the stroke of genius that made Fetterman the man he is today.

TDM