The US already has a wealth tax. It’s called inflation. If you don’t spend your money this year it will have lower buying power next year. The government gains by paying its debt with cheaper money.
I really don’t give a flying f**what Eli Lake thinks. Seriously, it’s always the same underlying take, now becoming boring, predictable, and trite. I feel similarly about most of the TFP “journalists.” When I peruse the headlines in the daily email, it occurs to me that TFP is not really a news organization—every “lead” story is opinion. Not interested. I was an early subscriber to TFP, and initially subscribed because Bari Weiss pledged to report the news in an independent, balanced manner. The stories at first held promise, but as the organization grew, the anti-conservative bias crept in and now appears to have taken firm hold. TFP has failed in its mission—I can find liberal bias in so-called news organizations in more places than I care to count (ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, NYT, WaPo to name a few). As I’ve said before, if I could cancel my subscription twice, I would.
On Friday, I flew into Israel with my 17-year-old son—likely on one of the last flights before the airspace closed.
At security, sweet Israelis tried to warn me about the balagan that was about to begin.
“I know,” I said. “Yihye tov.”
They smiled and answered: “Yihye tov.”
My son almost freaked out.
So I asked him:
If we had the chance to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall, would we stay away?
This time, I couldn’t argue the way I do in synagogues. I couldn’t tell him that Emunah precedes logic. But the truth is, Emunah (faith) has been my compass since October 7.
With absolute certainty—not a shred of doubt—I have said it hundreds of times, even before skeptical crowds in Israel and around the world:
Israel will prevail.
The so-called “Axis of Resistance” committed suicide on October 7.
They are already smoke—they just don’t know it yet.
And with that same certainty, I say: the fantasy called “Palestine” will not survive this war.
Do I bet my money on it?
I am here. In Israel. With my only son.
Not theorizing from Europe.
May my fate be that of Israel.
Our lives are not more precious than yours.
I grew up in Lebanon. For eighteen years, I lived through war. We didn’t have a shelter.
My mother was convinced we were “safe” in the pantry, where I slept on a mattress behind the washing machine, head to toe with my sister.
Every time a missile struck nearby, she would wet herself in her sleep. We would wake in the middle of the night, washing her with cold water as explosions echoed outside.
So when I am accused of being indifferent to the suffering of children in Gaza, my blood boils—especially when lectured by those who have never experienced war.
War is ugly and sometimes inevitable.
Diplomacy does not soften the hearts of genocidal leaders. I hope the West finally understands.
I don’t even know how many wars we survived. And yet, we are alive. Because our time was not up.
In Arabic, there is a saying: ‘ala barakat Allah’ — by God’s grace.
Does this war with Iran scare me?
Not even a little.
But how do I explain that to my son? To someone I raised without faith? To people who don’t know me?
How do you explain certainty without Emunah?
I believe in God. In good. In miracles.
I have seen the impossible happen—again and again—against all odds. Surviving wars is nothing compared to that.
One of those miracles hangs around my neck.
A Star of David.
If Israel is not one of the most astonishing miracles in human history, I don’t know what is.
After two thousand years of exile—pushed east and west, north and south—after repeated attempts to erase them from history; enslaved, expelled, tortured, forcibly converted; after Kishinev, after Hebron, after the Holocaust…
For Israel to rise in spite of that history is nothing short of extraordinary.
#Israel #amisraelchai
From A Syrian expat ex muslim living in Germany @RawaneOsmane on X
I'm really starting to tire of the TFP trope of "tearing MAGA apart". It's beginning to seem like Liz & Dick in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe"! Do you suspect that anyone there sees MAGA as a wider social movement that rebels against the past excesses of the Democrat ruling class? The problem with centering reporters in NYC is that they interpret everything as a stage play.
Actually, I agree with him. I don’t support Tucker’s policies. If JD is of the same ilk, I will not be voting for him. It’s on JD to earn our vote for President but telling us who he is and what he believes.
"In an unsigned 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court blocked a California policy that largely barred school employees from telling parents if their children were changing their names, taking on new pronouns, or otherwise transitioning genders."
Was Iran an imminent threat to America to invoke the War Powers Act? I think this war in Iran is more about keeping China oil-less, more than the imminent threat of Iran to America, but also with the hope that the Iranians will revolt against the mullahs.
But, that said, what if…and it’s a big what if for a population that AI says was about 99% Muslim in the 2010s, predominantly Shia– but what if Iran threw off the mullah chains, returning to their Zoroastrianism roots – which more closely mirrors Jesus’s commandments to love God and love others, and follow the Golden Rule, and then joined the Abraham Accords?
Then, all the funding for terrorism would be over, so all those ISIS type terrorists in the ME and Africa would have no more funding, thus, basically vaporize that type of terrorism.
Maybe then, the ME would begin to thrive and the more people thrive, living well, they would no longer be a have/have not type of society that invokes anger and terrorism amongst the poor.
Could it be possible to have ME peace in our lifetime?
While the Islamic Republic of Iran is no doubt the largest sponsor of terrorism in the Mideast, it is not the only one. The 9/11 hijackers were mostly Saudis. Palestinian terrorism started in the early '70s, years before the Iranian revolution. Its a nice fantasy that there could be peace in the Mideast, like I thought could be the case after the Oslo Accords in 1993. We all know how that turned out.
I'm 65.5. I watched the American Embassy in Tehran fall. I had a friend who's uncle was one of the captives.
This shyte has been going on for 47 YEARS. And now, thanks to Clinton, Obama, and Biden, this fanatical group of idiots has come close to having nuclear capabilities. A group of people whose main goal in life is the eradication of America. Every president - Every Single ONE - has been trying to appease the leaders of this cult for decades.
Ask AI a slightly different question: how many Iranians self-identified as Muslim? The number is much lower, believed to be 40% (although the accuracy is difficult to ascertain when you have an official, state-imposed religion that everyone must be - hence the 99%). As Hirsh Ali writes today, there's a massive secret Christian movement in the country. Also many young Persians online embrace older, indigenous traditions like Zoroastrianism. I think we will see a very mixed, secular religious society in Iran going forward.
Oh look everyone!!!! Eli Lake has his "flying fickle finger of fate" pointing at ANOTHER schism deep inside either The Republicans, or Trump's Inner Circle or MAGA or The Right Wing Coalition or (fill in the blank). And Jessica Tarlov dug deep in her purse and found ANOTHER poll showing Americans are very much opposed to this WAR. What are we to DO? Oooo Oooo... and Bebe is MAKING Trump do this cos he has EPSTEIN stuff.
At the end of the day we all know that what the Democrats did, do and will continue to do, if in charge , will unite almost all Republicans when they go to vote. Democrats want to create the illusion there is a divide that will drive independents and Republicans to vote Democrat and that we won't unit against the Democrats and their agenda, is their pipe dream. They left a cognitively impaired man in charge. . .
Democrats like AOC, Mamdani. Spanberger, Walz, Pritzker, and the fact Democrats have no good candidate for the next Presidential election, gives me high hopes. Oh, and they learned nothing from the last election. Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom for President would be a gift to Republicans.
It is ok for people within the Republican party to have different opinions, in fact, I welcome it as it gives way to better ideas and solutions. It is the left that doesn't allow different opinions. They all have to march to the same drum, right over the cliff!
Exactly Wendy. That's why I am happy to be in an ACTUAL big tent party. We can disagree, discuss and crack a beer by the end of it. We aren't in lockstep all day, every day. We don't have a Bat Signal to give us our daily narrative. Since the formation in 1854, and the coalition of Northern Whigs, anti-slavery Democrats, Free Soilers, and abolitionists, we have had disagreements and brawls. Yet we are the Party of Freedom and civil rights, ultimately. It couldn't be more clear than the present. We have also had past loudmouths like Gnarlson. And it's ok that he and JD are friends. By example: my brother is and always has been a rock ribbed conservative free marketer. Imagine my surprise when he declared he is pro abortion (under certain circumstances). Forty five years and I had no idea. He is all about the SCOTUS decision making it a matter for the states. Yet, we went fishing the next day and had a delicious pizza afterwards. Dems, on the other hand, would shun a dissenter like the Amish do.
What's the 'WOKE Right' again? From what I can tell, it seems to be a pejorative used by any right leaning person to label another right leaning person with an opinion that differs from theirs as the enemy. The ones claiming the Woke Right are a threat seem to be the ones that are actually using 20th-century Marxist tactics. It's a word game like 'Black Lives Matter'. To me, it has zero meaning other than I don't like your opinion so let me do everything I can to alienate, publicly shame you, and cancel you. This bullshit of 'we must oust' and 'they will go the way of the Dems' is intellectually weak and pathetic.
See….I don’t ‘categorize’ them. They’re all individuals. They have their own opinions. Some of those opinions are going to be right and some of them are wrong in peoples eyes. It’s like asking how do I ‘categorize’ Bill Maher. He’s a total lefty, but Ive agreed with a lot of what he has said. It’s really pretty simple IMHO.
But when they all mouth the same talking points, platform one another and undermine Trump at this time - they most certainly can and should be categorized
Each person is legally entitled to opine however they choose
However when an opinion is not based on reality and facts then it is imperative that those opinions are called out as illegitimate- this is the case for against the transing of minors cabal as well as for those who opine that Trump is controlled by Israel
““Trump and JD just couldn’t say no to Bibi, so they were forced into the war” is such a garbage take.
Rubio just said that Israel was about to attack without us, meaning they are capable. So why not let them do it? Oh, our troops in the region would be attacked… umm… so bring them home, yeah that's not going to happen, so you joined the war willingly.”
And all of this is your opinion. Others have opinions that differ. While we’re calling out ‘opinion that is not based on reality and facts’ perhaps we can revisit a some expert opinions who turned out to be completely wrong over the past decade or two. Should we do that exercise? I’ll start with Dick Cheney, stating that the incursion into Iraq will only last weeks based on military expert facts. Ok….your turn.
The US already has a wealth tax. It’s called inflation. If you don’t spend your money this year it will have lower buying power next year. The government gains by paying its debt with cheaper money.
It’s quite something to watch IRGC attacking Qatar and vice versa
Allahuakbar
I really don’t give a flying f**what Eli Lake thinks. Seriously, it’s always the same underlying take, now becoming boring, predictable, and trite. I feel similarly about most of the TFP “journalists.” When I peruse the headlines in the daily email, it occurs to me that TFP is not really a news organization—every “lead” story is opinion. Not interested. I was an early subscriber to TFP, and initially subscribed because Bari Weiss pledged to report the news in an independent, balanced manner. The stories at first held promise, but as the organization grew, the anti-conservative bias crept in and now appears to have taken firm hold. TFP has failed in its mission—I can find liberal bias in so-called news organizations in more places than I care to count (ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, NYT, WaPo to name a few). As I’ve said before, if I could cancel my subscription twice, I would.
Go Bernie!
The Republicans have nothing to worry about if this proposal does indeed become a litmus test for Democrats.
On Friday, I flew into Israel with my 17-year-old son—likely on one of the last flights before the airspace closed.
At security, sweet Israelis tried to warn me about the balagan that was about to begin.
“I know,” I said. “Yihye tov.”
They smiled and answered: “Yihye tov.”
My son almost freaked out.
So I asked him:
If we had the chance to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall, would we stay away?
This time, I couldn’t argue the way I do in synagogues. I couldn’t tell him that Emunah precedes logic. But the truth is, Emunah (faith) has been my compass since October 7.
With absolute certainty—not a shred of doubt—I have said it hundreds of times, even before skeptical crowds in Israel and around the world:
Israel will prevail.
The so-called “Axis of Resistance” committed suicide on October 7.
They are already smoke—they just don’t know it yet.
And with that same certainty, I say: the fantasy called “Palestine” will not survive this war.
Do I bet my money on it?
I am here. In Israel. With my only son.
Not theorizing from Europe.
May my fate be that of Israel.
Our lives are not more precious than yours.
I grew up in Lebanon. For eighteen years, I lived through war. We didn’t have a shelter.
My mother was convinced we were “safe” in the pantry, where I slept on a mattress behind the washing machine, head to toe with my sister.
Every time a missile struck nearby, she would wet herself in her sleep. We would wake in the middle of the night, washing her with cold water as explosions echoed outside.
So when I am accused of being indifferent to the suffering of children in Gaza, my blood boils—especially when lectured by those who have never experienced war.
War is ugly and sometimes inevitable.
Diplomacy does not soften the hearts of genocidal leaders. I hope the West finally understands.
I don’t even know how many wars we survived. And yet, we are alive. Because our time was not up.
In Arabic, there is a saying: ‘ala barakat Allah’ — by God’s grace.
Does this war with Iran scare me?
Not even a little.
But how do I explain that to my son? To someone I raised without faith? To people who don’t know me?
How do you explain certainty without Emunah?
I believe in God. In good. In miracles.
I have seen the impossible happen—again and again—against all odds. Surviving wars is nothing compared to that.
One of those miracles hangs around my neck.
A Star of David.
If Israel is not one of the most astonishing miracles in human history, I don’t know what is.
After two thousand years of exile—pushed east and west, north and south—after repeated attempts to erase them from history; enslaved, expelled, tortured, forcibly converted; after Kishinev, after Hebron, after the Holocaust…
For Israel to rise in spite of that history is nothing short of extraordinary.
#Israel #amisraelchai
From A Syrian expat ex muslim living in Germany @RawaneOsmane on X
From a Syrian Expat(
Lives in Germany) ex Muslim
I'm really starting to tire of the TFP trope of "tearing MAGA apart". It's beginning to seem like Liz & Dick in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe"! Do you suspect that anyone there sees MAGA as a wider social movement that rebels against the past excesses of the Democrat ruling class? The problem with centering reporters in NYC is that they interpret everything as a stage play.
Such comforting news. France has decided to up their nuke game just as Islamists are poised to take over their government.
Eli’s piece is a sad joke.
“It’s what JD HASN’T SAID!”
Who believes that nonsense? Insulting to anyone with a brain.
I’ve reached the point where I don’t even read Eli Lake. He’s a political hack for the left.
Actually, I agree with him. I don’t support Tucker’s policies. If JD is of the same ilk, I will not be voting for him. It’s on JD to earn our vote for President but telling us who he is and what he believes.
"In an unsigned 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court blocked a California policy that largely barred school employees from telling parents if their children were changing their names, taking on new pronouns, or otherwise transitioning genders."
Now there's a welcome bit of sanity...
MAGA influencer/spokesperson has some.....ideas?
https://www.reddit.com/r/therewasanattempt/s/v7nk41tKKp
"But first: The war with Iran shows no sign of slowing ."For crying out loud, it just started.
I don’t understand why America First precludes preemptive military action.
Because the 'media' needs for it too.
Was Iran an imminent threat to America to invoke the War Powers Act? I think this war in Iran is more about keeping China oil-less, more than the imminent threat of Iran to America, but also with the hope that the Iranians will revolt against the mullahs.
But, that said, what if…and it’s a big what if for a population that AI says was about 99% Muslim in the 2010s, predominantly Shia– but what if Iran threw off the mullah chains, returning to their Zoroastrianism roots – which more closely mirrors Jesus’s commandments to love God and love others, and follow the Golden Rule, and then joined the Abraham Accords?
Then, all the funding for terrorism would be over, so all those ISIS type terrorists in the ME and Africa would have no more funding, thus, basically vaporize that type of terrorism.
Maybe then, the ME would begin to thrive and the more people thrive, living well, they would no longer be a have/have not type of society that invokes anger and terrorism amongst the poor.
Could it be possible to have ME peace in our lifetime?
While the Islamic Republic of Iran is no doubt the largest sponsor of terrorism in the Mideast, it is not the only one. The 9/11 hijackers were mostly Saudis. Palestinian terrorism started in the early '70s, years before the Iranian revolution. Its a nice fantasy that there could be peace in the Mideast, like I thought could be the case after the Oslo Accords in 1993. We all know how that turned out.
I'm 65.5. I watched the American Embassy in Tehran fall. I had a friend who's uncle was one of the captives.
This shyte has been going on for 47 YEARS. And now, thanks to Clinton, Obama, and Biden, this fanatical group of idiots has come close to having nuclear capabilities. A group of people whose main goal in life is the eradication of America. Every president - Every Single ONE - has been trying to appease the leaders of this cult for decades.
Trump is done. Thank God.
Ask AI a slightly different question: how many Iranians self-identified as Muslim? The number is much lower, believed to be 40% (although the accuracy is difficult to ascertain when you have an official, state-imposed religion that everyone must be - hence the 99%). As Hirsh Ali writes today, there's a massive secret Christian movement in the country. Also many young Persians online embrace older, indigenous traditions like Zoroastrianism. I think we will see a very mixed, secular religious society in Iran going forward.
Good point. And I sure hope so!!!
Depending on your age- yes.
Oh look everyone!!!! Eli Lake has his "flying fickle finger of fate" pointing at ANOTHER schism deep inside either The Republicans, or Trump's Inner Circle or MAGA or The Right Wing Coalition or (fill in the blank). And Jessica Tarlov dug deep in her purse and found ANOTHER poll showing Americans are very much opposed to this WAR. What are we to DO? Oooo Oooo... and Bebe is MAKING Trump do this cos he has EPSTEIN stuff.
I'm soooo scared.
Why does Eli feel the need to share his onanistic fever-dreams?
Anyone who tosses out an excellent nickel word as my respect.
Apparently Eli uses us as his therapist
Wow! What a great word. Thanks for the vocabulary lesson here.
Glad I am not the only one who had to look that word up lol.
At the end of the day we all know that what the Democrats did, do and will continue to do, if in charge , will unite almost all Republicans when they go to vote. Democrats want to create the illusion there is a divide that will drive independents and Republicans to vote Democrat and that we won't unit against the Democrats and their agenda, is their pipe dream. They left a cognitively impaired man in charge. . .
Democrats like AOC, Mamdani. Spanberger, Walz, Pritzker, and the fact Democrats have no good candidate for the next Presidential election, gives me high hopes. Oh, and they learned nothing from the last election. Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom for President would be a gift to Republicans.
It is ok for people within the Republican party to have different opinions, in fact, I welcome it as it gives way to better ideas and solutions. It is the left that doesn't allow different opinions. They all have to march to the same drum, right over the cliff!
Exactly Wendy. That's why I am happy to be in an ACTUAL big tent party. We can disagree, discuss and crack a beer by the end of it. We aren't in lockstep all day, every day. We don't have a Bat Signal to give us our daily narrative. Since the formation in 1854, and the coalition of Northern Whigs, anti-slavery Democrats, Free Soilers, and abolitionists, we have had disagreements and brawls. Yet we are the Party of Freedom and civil rights, ultimately. It couldn't be more clear than the present. We have also had past loudmouths like Gnarlson. And it's ok that he and JD are friends. By example: my brother is and always has been a rock ribbed conservative free marketer. Imagine my surprise when he declared he is pro abortion (under certain circumstances). Forty five years and I had no idea. He is all about the SCOTUS decision making it a matter for the states. Yet, we went fishing the next day and had a delicious pizza afterwards. Dems, on the other hand, would shun a dissenter like the Amish do.
'It is ok for people within the Republican party to have different opinions, in fact, I welcome it as it gives way to better ideas and solutions'
Bravo. Careful though......you might get labeled as 'Woke Right'.
You can't see me but I'm clutching my pearls.
Or even dumber, a RINO.
My favorite line....'shows no sign on slowing'. Um, it's 3 days old, Eli.
America 2 party politics is not serving us well
The Dems abandoned American values in recent years -fully embracing Islamo communist ideology
They have embraced evil
The Republicans are our last hope but they must oust the WOKE Right or they will go the way of the Dems
What's the 'WOKE Right' again? From what I can tell, it seems to be a pejorative used by any right leaning person to label another right leaning person with an opinion that differs from theirs as the enemy. The ones claiming the Woke Right are a threat seem to be the ones that are actually using 20th-century Marxist tactics. It's a word game like 'Black Lives Matter'. To me, it has zero meaning other than I don't like your opinion so let me do everything I can to alienate, publicly shame you, and cancel you. This bullshit of 'we must oust' and 'they will go the way of the Dems' is intellectually weak and pathetic.
How do you categorize Tucker ,Kelly, Brannon, Fuentes, Kevin Robert’s and those who subscribe to their views ?
Excepting Megyn Kelly..l`d categorize them as nut-cases. Shameless, narcissistic self-promoters.
Her recent turn to defend Tucker and Dege erase Greenwald etc is why I put her on the list
It’s a shame
But she chose
See….I don’t ‘categorize’ them. They’re all individuals. They have their own opinions. Some of those opinions are going to be right and some of them are wrong in peoples eyes. It’s like asking how do I ‘categorize’ Bill Maher. He’s a total lefty, but Ive agreed with a lot of what he has said. It’s really pretty simple IMHO.
I too agree with Maher on some issues and disagree on others
He speakers out forcefully against the Israel bashers including yo their faces on his show
The Tucker Kelly crew has taken to platforming only one another to amplify their non fact based opinions ( just asking g questions approach)
I call each issue as I see it blind loyalty to any party or politician is dangerous
They are individual persons sure
But when they all mouth the same talking points, platform one another and undermine Trump at this time - they most certainly can and should be categorized
Each person is legally entitled to opine however they choose
However when an opinion is not based on reality and facts then it is imperative that those opinions are called out as illegitimate- this is the case for against the transing of minors cabal as well as for those who opine that Trump is controlled by Israel
““Trump and JD just couldn’t say no to Bibi, so they were forced into the war” is such a garbage take.
Rubio just said that Israel was about to attack without us, meaning they are capable. So why not let them do it? Oh, our troops in the region would be attacked… umm… so bring them home, yeah that's not going to happen, so you joined the war willingly.”
And all of this is your opinion. Others have opinions that differ. While we’re calling out ‘opinion that is not based on reality and facts’ perhaps we can revisit a some expert opinions who turned out to be completely wrong over the past decade or two. Should we do that exercise? I’ll start with Dick Cheney, stating that the incursion into Iraq will only last weeks based on military expert facts. Ok….your turn.
Exactly. The war at home will need to be fought before the eventual war with China.