[This is a slightly different kind of podcast, a news summary - and will have its own podcast feed eventually]
Every Fourth Turning, at least since the founding of America, has been defined by a great war: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War II. When I began this Substack a few years back, the world war we might be fighting would be Iran, Russia, and China against the United States and its allies, including Israel.
It made sense then. Not so much now. That was before Putin invaded Ukraine, before October 7th, before the United States government pursued Trump like he was a war criminal, before his attempted assassination, and his second win.
Steve Bannon says we’re already fighting World War III.
Now, as Trump declares “unconditional surrender, " everyone wonders, is this it? Is this our great war?
Iran doesn’t appear to have an ally in Russia or China at the moment. Trump just met with his security advisers and will address the nation later this afternoon.
It does feel a little like the post 9/11 drumbeat for war, and we’re all still wary and fearful that it might turn into “regime change” rather than a negotiated peace. We will know what their plans are soon enough. The neocons like Lindsey Graham are prepared to go all the way.
Earlier today, Tammy Bruce spoke to the press from the State Department:
She mentions that Trump has made the same warning, that Iran can never have a nuke, over 40 times, going back to 2011. Here is that video:
Dealing with Iran has been one of the main conflicts between Trump and Barack Obama, so it’s easier to see how it started and how it’s going.
Trump’s administration is not the Bush administration. If the 2008 Wall Street meltdown was the crisis that sparked the Fourth Turning and the mission is, as Steve Bannon says, to dismantle the Deep State that took us to the $700 billion bailout, then a big war in the Middle East would fracture the MAGA coalition.
For his part, Benjamin Netanyu has said he believes Iran threatens America too, and indeed, they’ve been trying to assassinate Trump. If there is a graceful way to end the threat without getting into war, that’s the path Trump will want to take.
A MAGA Divided Cannot Stand.
MAGA is split over whether or not to aid Israel in its fight against Iran. Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones, and Marjorie Taylor-Greene are locking arms with Dave Smith and Glenn Greenwald to push back against any involvement.
Breitbart reports that members of the Squad have now joined Thomas Massie to limit Trump’s power on Iran:
From Breitbart:
While he remains the sole Republican backing such a legislative effort, several top Democrats from the far-left of the Democratic Party, including “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), have indicated they are signing on to the Massie proposal.
Alex Jones is opposed to any help or aid in Israel’s war, writing:
Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon discussed our involvement, with Bannon urging Trump and MAGA to keep their eye on the ball. He means to go after and dismantle the Deep State:
Raheem Kassam sums up the internal conflict well:
Ice Raids Paused, Then Unpaused
The Iran conflict is not the only dividing issue in MAGA. There is a split between those who want to support farms and hotels with their large immigrant staff, many of whom are undocumented and have worked for the companies for decades.
Versus the opposing side, who insist Trump must not back off even an inch when it comes to mass deportations. Trump listened to them and retreated from his original plan to offer a potential middle ground.
Federal Agents Arrest NYC Comptroller & Mayoral Candidate Brad Lander At Immigration Court
According to the Left, Lander was arrested for asking to see a warrant. But the truth is, he was arrested for assault, per a Fox report:
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested by Department of Homeland Security(DHS) agents on Tuesday after allegedly assaulting a federal officer.
The article quoted a DHS spokesperson,"Our heroic ICE law enforcement officers face a 413% increase in assaults against them—it is wrong that politicians seeking higher office undermine law enforcement safety to get a viral moment, no one is above the law, and if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences."
Letitia James said:
"This is profoundly unacceptable. Arresting Comptroller Lander for the simple act of standing up for immigrants and their civil rights is a shocking abuse of power. No one should face fear and intimidation in a courthouse, and this is a grotesque escalation of tensions. The administration’s rampant targeting of New Yorkers only makes our communities less safe."
The Democrats had four years of the Biden administration to do something about the border. They didn’t. Instead, they encouraged millions to flood in, many of them unvetted. Yet, because the migrants represent an oppressed group, the Democrats can’t turn away.
They are choosing this as one of their base issues because it feeds their ongoing delusion that they are living under a fascist dictator.
No Kings vs. Army’s 250th Anniversary
The coverage of the No Kings protest was amplified to look like a grassroots movement, even though it was well-funded and populated by the same people who had protested in the “Hands Off” event not long before. It reached roughly the same number of participants, around 5 million. This will be their playbook for the next five years.
The legacy media muted the coverage of the Army’s parade, and if they covered it at all, they covered it as militaristic, fascist-like, and compared it to North Korea.
Here is a balanced report by Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turrentine on 2Way:
Assassination Nation
The Democrats will not let the crisis of the recent shootings of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota go to waste and are currently calling the shooter the “MAGA assassin.”
On the list of targets were 45 Democrats, “including dozens of Minnesota lawmakers and members of Congress such as Rep. Angie Craig, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and Sen. Tina Smith. It also included members of Planned Parenthood, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, who has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the organization, and several healthcare centers across the Midwest,” according to Fox9.
As usual, the reaction to the shootings, horrific and tragic though they are, is far less than we saw for the assassination of the healthcare CEO Brian Thompson by Luigi Mangione, who has been turned into a martyr and a hero by the Left. Both assassination attempts against President Trump were not treated the same way by the legacy media, and coverage was muted.
Again, we turn to 2way to hear balanced coverage.
If you think we’re living through crazy times, you would be right. Every Fourth Turning feels transformational in good and bad ways. Change is all around us. These are just a few pressure points we are currently hitting as a country.
Let me know if you like this format. Until next time.
[I hope to turn this into video but I ran out of time to do it today. Next time].