Victor Davis Hanson, Eli Lake, and Elliott Abrams on the war. Plus: The Supreme Court weighs in on birthright citizenship. Do we really need presidential libraries? And more.
Why is the Artemis II flight treated with so little interest? I actually wrote an email to the FP, with no response yet: “ Why has there not been a single article on Artemis II in The Free Press? I still remember the excitement in Dec.1968 when we were taken to our high school hall in Belgrade, Yugoslavia to watch the first view of Earth from the Moon’s orbit, live from Apollo 8! At home we used to plot the progress of the spacecraft on millimeter paper, the sizes of Earth, Moon and distance all in the right proportion. We felt elated by the progress humankind had made. Today - almost nothing. What has happened to our civilization?”
Believe me, it is with much more pleasure that I look forward to hearing about the Trans-Lunar Injection which is supposed to happen at 8:00 p.m. EDT (3 a.m. April 3, IDT) , than I am looking forward to the next alert of an incoming Iranian missile. With Artemis II - finally a good use of missiles!
Thanks President Trump! Higher gas prices and food prices are exactly the reasons your were elected you mendacious grifter. Hey at least you have made billions as well as your cronies and you still have most of your brainless cult on your side until they lose their jobs and can't blame Biden for that!
The war in Iran threatens to raise grocery bills in the U.S just months before a critical U.S. election.
The war and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran have rocked the global economy. Oil and gasoline prices have soared, fertilizer costs have spiked and markets have plummeted.
Those factors are likely to lead to higher costs for consumers, economists warn.
the orange imbecile and his master and senior partner continue their failed war and highly successful campaign to cause a global recession. Trump published a national security doctrine last year iran was barely mentioned. but as this menace operates on a whim sure go bomb iran it will be easy and quick? hopefully we get 200 dollar oil, 6 dollar gas and even maga fanatics get the message about this fools mendacity. or not.
Your problem is, you have never seen a war waged to win. What you have seen is long wars directed by the Dems to bring the other side to the negotiating table. I assume you are smart enough to know those wars failed miserably. I will also point, that Obama and biden both tried to micro management the military during the wars they ruled over. Why does that matter? Trump was told it could take up to 5 years to get rid of ISIS, the military said they could do it in months and he set them free to do what we pay them to do. And low and behold, it worked. Compare that to Biden's rejecting the counsel of his generals in Afghanistan and the totally unnecessary deaths he is directly responsible for. Meanwhile joe and barack made decisions by politics and polls, forever wars with increased and very unnecessary death and destruction.
So your ID is true. You know nothing because you have never seen what is going on and rely on your outdated dinosaur "knowledge" which has no relevance to today.
But that is OK. Because we have seen the nay sayers of the Dems proven wrong time and time again in the last year. The base of a party elects no one. Independants, and in the Dems case, the members they pushed out of the party do. And, true to form you will poo poo this post and become contribute to the Dems becoming permanent losers.
As for all the local recent elections the Dems have won, the best thing to happen to the Repubs locally is, Spanbeger compared to Trumps wins the next three years. Mamdani and the other socialist/communist that get elected and screw things up royally. Because the Dems do not have the foundation to support their failed policies, well actually non existent policies, and their house will soon fall. The Repubs already went through it. And I much prefer a party that has diverse views and we see them publicly than the Dems who are locked in a circle with their so called leaders all being pivot men and women. That would be biological men and women.
What the Dems really offer is vengeful litigation, raising taxes so they give back all the money taken away by Trump, and add even more to it. Yep, Schumer said that. And no policies to solve any problems. How was it the biden said he cut child poverty by 40% but never went any further? He could have eliminated child poverty but was more concerned with castrating and with double mastectomies for 8 year old little girls. All while forcing his own daughter to take nude showers together which, as she said, made her uncomfortable for life. We could go on. But quite frankly, posting to partisans is a massive waste of a person's valuable time.
Eventually Chicago is going to need more jails, so yes, we do need presidential libraries to turn the Obama Library into a jail.....sooner rather than later.
The architecture and design scream "Put me to better use!"
Agreed, but if you’ve seen the Obamas’ presidential portraits, you’ll find a DEI trend that is more important than artistic talent, sorta like their term in office.
I still can't get over he didn't build it in Europe or Africa. Much nicer places that could use the money infusion and educational material for those who can't read.
At the 1941 dedication of his presidential library, the first, Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “To bring together the records of the past and to house them in buildings where they will be preserved for the use of men and women in the future, a nation must believe in three things. It must believe in the past. It must believe in the future. It must, above all, believe in the capacity of its own people so to learn from the past that they can gain in judgment in creating their own future.”
Do the National Archives not serve that purpose? I guess in the long run, I'm not bothered by presidential libraries (no matter how unpresidential a president may be) as long as the taxpayer isn't footing the bill.
According to Wikipedia, at the start of Bush's second term, Abrams was promoted to be his Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, in charge of promoting Bush's strategy of "advancing democracy abroad."
Yeah, that worked out so well... I wouldn't give Elliott Abrams the time of day.
President Trump made the case plainly: this is about dismantling Iran’s military-industrial and terror infrastructure, stopping their nuclear ambitions, and removing their ability to threaten the region. Every prior president kicked the can down the road. He didn’t.
There are only four words we should be saying: “thank you” to Trump and our amazing military—and “fuck you” to the Democrats, European leaders, Tucker Carlson, Mearsheimer, Greenwald, Kelly, Owens, and the other conspiracy-laced anti-American isolationists.
So we’re in the bottom of the ninth, we need a slugger, and Coach Trump, with Sauer, subs in someone who washed out of t-ball.
Allen Guelzo is one of our country’s greatest living historians. On Tuesday, he wrote a piece in the Washington Monthly that argued, in essence, the administration’s EO is going down. He concluded with this: “The Civil War overturned Dred Scott and slavery, but in its abolition of slavery, Washington faced the hostility of the old slave-owning class, and their determination to keep political equality forever from Black hands by denying (like Chief Justice Taney) that African Americans could ever be citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment changed that for good: no matter what one’s status had been before 1868, birth on American soil made one a citizen. To lay a finger on the Fourteenth Amendment—however narrowly, through the jurisdiction phrase, however plausibly, through the possibility of abuse—desecrates the amendment and the fight to end slavery.”
He’s right on the facts, and likely the outcome. But this lofty closing is dead wrong. What was the legislative intent of the 14th? The authors of the Amendment knew the U.S. needed to right a horrible wrong perpetrated against a single race of people. This was their intent. To say, as Guelzo has, that trying to stop flagrant abuse of this noble amendment somehow desecrates the “fight to end slavery” is pretzel logic. Shame on Sauer for not making the case that every tourist baby, every baby born on our soil to sperm donors and baby mammas who chant “Death to America” is an affront to this legacy.
Unfortunately, the solution to this mess wrought by more than a century of case law running headlong into the Biden-Harris immigration disaster rests with Congress. If our Constitution is being abused, then it is up to our esteemed legislators to defend and protect it. Fat chance.
Democrats have no motivation to change it, since they are the proponents of giving immigrants (illegal or otherwise) a free hand out of *everything*, knowing that will encourage the receivers to vote Dem in order to secure more 'free'.
I saw a FB meme that said Democrats would close *EVERY* possible loophole if Trump offered them citizenship in return for becoming Republicans and you KNOW that would be the case.
Our President just isn't great at this type of talk where messaging is critical and the key goal ( or maybe that wasn't the goal but should have been ).
His asset is that he goes off teleprompter often. His liability is that he goes off teleprompter often.
Oh... and I voted for DT three times but I think it's still important to be critical when needed.
Have voted for him three times (and will do so again when he runs in 2028 ... snark) - but I find it painful listening to him.
Please DJT ... just stick to the script ... limit the lies that every politician uses (no, inflation was not 'gone) ... and try to limit the phrase 'no one has ever seen anything like it before' to a minimum of three mentions.
Who can control Donald Trump’s mouth? Other New Yorkers are his worst critics and they can’t control their own mouths (Schumer). At least there is a functioning brain inside his cranium, and, yes, Octogenarians do repeat themselves.
Jeff, I often quip NOT to be an idealist - especially in the realm of politics. DJT doesn’t read or write, and of course is unable to string up a sentence, much less a para in a speech. BIG BUT! Look at the options. You voted correctly, as did I. I can live with his personality - well, sort of - by simply not watching or listening to him speak, but rather what he does. He’s simply man-child. But, I’d vote for him 100 times out of a hundred against ANY Democrat
Have you listened to Kamala Harris *ever*? Or KJB?? They both make Trump look like a literary genius.
He's a New Yorker, and has probably forgotten more than most of us (especially the likes of Harris, KJB, AOC, etc.) will ever know. After all, he is 80.
Agreed! Our military budget overshadows the social programs for our own citizens. Europe rode our military coattails and eschewed paying their fair share when NATO benefited them more than us. Since they didn’t prioritize NATO, why should we? Wake up call for grifters!
On birthright citizenship. From a political standpoint ( I am leaving the legal and constitutional analysis to Prof Rubenfeld and others ) there should be little doubt this is about open borders (OB) . My strong OPINION is that those who want the border to be open ( the vast majority of those wanting ICE eliminated, whether in Congress, media, Hollywood, campuses, no.kings rallies and the streets of Minneapolis, NY and so forth) will support "whatever it takes" to allow pretty much h all illegals to remain here and to facilitate more coming in, predominantly for purposes of raw politics and political power. Their actions and words make this crystal clear and lets include all those OB judges who are more about politics than the rule of law.
Now let's assume the Supremes rule on a very tight constitutional analysis that all anchor babies are to be deemed American citizens. Such a ruling applies to the kid not the mother. The mother has no right to stay. Will the loving mother want to take her baby if she is deported. It is HER CHOICE ALONE. And those OB zealots should be asked what would you do: take your baby or leave the baby behind? Such questions crystallized the questions about OB and if the mother was just in the wrong place at the wrong time or intentionally was trying to squeeze within a legal loophole that they were encouraged to use by... the OB zealots.
The ultimate issue here is a subtopic of the larger issue of American sovereignty. Which most of the OB zealots want to weaken substantially
As I noted the other day : like gnats in your face as you are riding a bike. They never give up. They never go away. They count on the rest of us giving up the fight because our objectives ( live and enjoy one's life) are vastly different than theirs
Why is the Artemis II flight treated with so little interest? I actually wrote an email to the FP, with no response yet: “ Why has there not been a single article on Artemis II in The Free Press? I still remember the excitement in Dec.1968 when we were taken to our high school hall in Belgrade, Yugoslavia to watch the first view of Earth from the Moon’s orbit, live from Apollo 8! At home we used to plot the progress of the spacecraft on millimeter paper, the sizes of Earth, Moon and distance all in the right proportion. We felt elated by the progress humankind had made. Today - almost nothing. What has happened to our civilization?”
Believe me, it is with much more pleasure that I look forward to hearing about the Trans-Lunar Injection which is supposed to happen at 8:00 p.m. EDT (3 a.m. April 3, IDT) , than I am looking forward to the next alert of an incoming Iranian missile. With Artemis II - finally a good use of missiles!
https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/artemis-ii-missionmap.png
Thanks President Trump! Higher gas prices and food prices are exactly the reasons your were elected you mendacious grifter. Hey at least you have made billions as well as your cronies and you still have most of your brainless cult on your side until they lose their jobs and can't blame Biden for that!
The war in Iran threatens to raise grocery bills in the U.S just months before a critical U.S. election.
The war and subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran have rocked the global economy. Oil and gasoline prices have soared, fertilizer costs have spiked and markets have plummeted.
Those factors are likely to lead to higher costs for consumers, economists warn.
Yawn.
Absolutely amazing that anybody could find what he said to be inspirational or even newsworthy. He must pay you for this garbage.
the orange imbecile and his master and senior partner continue their failed war and highly successful campaign to cause a global recession. Trump published a national security doctrine last year iran was barely mentioned. but as this menace operates on a whim sure go bomb iran it will be easy and quick? hopefully we get 200 dollar oil, 6 dollar gas and even maga fanatics get the message about this fools mendacity. or not.
Your problem is, you have never seen a war waged to win. What you have seen is long wars directed by the Dems to bring the other side to the negotiating table. I assume you are smart enough to know those wars failed miserably. I will also point, that Obama and biden both tried to micro management the military during the wars they ruled over. Why does that matter? Trump was told it could take up to 5 years to get rid of ISIS, the military said they could do it in months and he set them free to do what we pay them to do. And low and behold, it worked. Compare that to Biden's rejecting the counsel of his generals in Afghanistan and the totally unnecessary deaths he is directly responsible for. Meanwhile joe and barack made decisions by politics and polls, forever wars with increased and very unnecessary death and destruction.
So your ID is true. You know nothing because you have never seen what is going on and rely on your outdated dinosaur "knowledge" which has no relevance to today.
But that is OK. Because we have seen the nay sayers of the Dems proven wrong time and time again in the last year. The base of a party elects no one. Independants, and in the Dems case, the members they pushed out of the party do. And, true to form you will poo poo this post and become contribute to the Dems becoming permanent losers.
As for all the local recent elections the Dems have won, the best thing to happen to the Repubs locally is, Spanbeger compared to Trumps wins the next three years. Mamdani and the other socialist/communist that get elected and screw things up royally. Because the Dems do not have the foundation to support their failed policies, well actually non existent policies, and their house will soon fall. The Repubs already went through it. And I much prefer a party that has diverse views and we see them publicly than the Dems who are locked in a circle with their so called leaders all being pivot men and women. That would be biological men and women.
What the Dems really offer is vengeful litigation, raising taxes so they give back all the money taken away by Trump, and add even more to it. Yep, Schumer said that. And no policies to solve any problems. How was it the biden said he cut child poverty by 40% but never went any further? He could have eliminated child poverty but was more concerned with castrating and with double mastectomies for 8 year old little girls. All while forcing his own daughter to take nude showers together which, as she said, made her uncomfortable for life. We could go on. But quite frankly, posting to partisans is a massive waste of a person's valuable time.
"the orange imbecile..."
If only there was a way to get you to post 24/7, the Republicans might stand a snowball's chance in Hell come November.
Eventually Chicago is going to need more jails, so yes, we do need presidential libraries to turn the Obama Library into a jail.....sooner rather than later.
The architecture and design scream "Put me to better use!"
Agreed, but if you’ve seen the Obamas’ presidential portraits, you’ll find a DEI trend that is more important than artistic talent, sorta like their term in office.
234 please do not respond to this jerk.
Let him rant.
Nothing like an insane Progressive to give Independents pause.
I still can't get over he didn't build it in Europe or Africa. Much nicer places that could use the money infusion and educational material for those who can't read.
we can add you to that jail or one for the mentally ill or insane
At the 1941 dedication of his presidential library, the first, Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “To bring together the records of the past and to house them in buildings where they will be preserved for the use of men and women in the future, a nation must believe in three things. It must believe in the past. It must believe in the future. It must, above all, believe in the capacity of its own people so to learn from the past that they can gain in judgment in creating their own future.”
Do the National Archives not serve that purpose? I guess in the long run, I'm not bothered by presidential libraries (no matter how unpresidential a president may be) as long as the taxpayer isn't footing the bill.
"...as long as the taxpayer isn't footing the bill."
EXACTLY!
Trump spoke for just 19 minutes?? Man I bet the over. That barely gives CNN enough material to trash for the weekend.
"That barely gives CNN enough material to trash for the weekend."
I'm betting somehow they'll make it work.
😉
According to Wikipedia, at the start of Bush's second term, Abrams was promoted to be his Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, in charge of promoting Bush's strategy of "advancing democracy abroad."
Yeah, that worked out so well... I wouldn't give Elliott Abrams the time of day.
President Trump made the case plainly: this is about dismantling Iran’s military-industrial and terror infrastructure, stopping their nuclear ambitions, and removing their ability to threaten the region. Every prior president kicked the can down the road. He didn’t.
There are only four words we should be saying: “thank you” to Trump and our amazing military—and “fuck you” to the Democrats, European leaders, Tucker Carlson, Mearsheimer, Greenwald, Kelly, Owens, and the other conspiracy-laced anti-American isolationists.
So we’re in the bottom of the ninth, we need a slugger, and Coach Trump, with Sauer, subs in someone who washed out of t-ball.
Allen Guelzo is one of our country’s greatest living historians. On Tuesday, he wrote a piece in the Washington Monthly that argued, in essence, the administration’s EO is going down. He concluded with this: “The Civil War overturned Dred Scott and slavery, but in its abolition of slavery, Washington faced the hostility of the old slave-owning class, and their determination to keep political equality forever from Black hands by denying (like Chief Justice Taney) that African Americans could ever be citizens. The Fourteenth Amendment changed that for good: no matter what one’s status had been before 1868, birth on American soil made one a citizen. To lay a finger on the Fourteenth Amendment—however narrowly, through the jurisdiction phrase, however plausibly, through the possibility of abuse—desecrates the amendment and the fight to end slavery.”
He’s right on the facts, and likely the outcome. But this lofty closing is dead wrong. What was the legislative intent of the 14th? The authors of the Amendment knew the U.S. needed to right a horrible wrong perpetrated against a single race of people. This was their intent. To say, as Guelzo has, that trying to stop flagrant abuse of this noble amendment somehow desecrates the “fight to end slavery” is pretzel logic. Shame on Sauer for not making the case that every tourist baby, every baby born on our soil to sperm donors and baby mammas who chant “Death to America” is an affront to this legacy.
Unfortunately, the solution to this mess wrought by more than a century of case law running headlong into the Biden-Harris immigration disaster rests with Congress. If our Constitution is being abused, then it is up to our esteemed legislators to defend and protect it. Fat chance.
Democrats have no motivation to change it, since they are the proponents of giving immigrants (illegal or otherwise) a free hand out of *everything*, knowing that will encourage the receivers to vote Dem in order to secure more 'free'.
I saw a FB meme that said Democrats would close *EVERY* possible loophole if Trump offered them citizenship in return for becoming Republicans and you KNOW that would be the case.
We should all move to Minnesota and gain Somali citizenship.
Brilliant!!
After last night
Scott Johnson
Apr. 2 2026
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/04/after-last-night-68.php
And many here will remember they are merely starmers with a different accent
That was one of the worst Prime Time
Presidential speeches I have ever seen.
Our President just isn't great at this type of talk where messaging is critical and the key goal ( or maybe that wasn't the goal but should have been ).
His asset is that he goes off teleprompter often. His liability is that he goes off teleprompter often.
Oh... and I voted for DT three times but I think it's still important to be critical when needed.
If one takes words more important than actions, they are barking up the wrong tree.
The words I love are the questions from the MSM at his innumerable talking to the press. god those people are stupid!!!! Entertaining, but stupid.
Agreed on all counts.
Have voted for him three times (and will do so again when he runs in 2028 ... snark) - but I find it painful listening to him.
Please DJT ... just stick to the script ... limit the lies that every politician uses (no, inflation was not 'gone) ... and try to limit the phrase 'no one has ever seen anything like it before' to a minimum of three mentions.
I liked your comment, especially about 2028. Just for fun, I have a Trump 2028 hat in the closet.
Who can control Donald Trump’s mouth? Other New Yorkers are his worst critics and they can’t control their own mouths (Schumer). At least there is a functioning brain inside his cranium, and, yes, Octogenarians do repeat themselves.
Could not agree more.
No idea why the speech was given.
Jeff, I often quip NOT to be an idealist - especially in the realm of politics. DJT doesn’t read or write, and of course is unable to string up a sentence, much less a para in a speech. BIG BUT! Look at the options. You voted correctly, as did I. I can live with his personality - well, sort of - by simply not watching or listening to him speak, but rather what he does. He’s simply man-child. But, I’d vote for him 100 times out of a hundred against ANY Democrat
' ... unable to string a sentence... '
Have you listened to Kamala Harris *ever*? Or KJB?? They both make Trump look like a literary genius.
He's a New Yorker, and has probably forgotten more than most of us (especially the likes of Harris, KJB, AOC, etc.) will ever know. After all, he is 80.
And yes, I would definitely vote for him again.
As I told Jeff above...
I could not agree more.
So a columnist at TFP can tell me what Trump is thinking. Sure.
FAILURE TO LAUNCH
The best thing that could happen to Europe would be for the U.S. to withdraw from NATO.
Like a kid still living in his parents' basement, Europeans have failed to grow-up and stand on their own two feet.
Agreed! Our military budget overshadows the social programs for our own citizens. Europe rode our military coattails and eschewed paying their fair share when NATO benefited them more than us. Since they didn’t prioritize NATO, why should we? Wake up call for grifters!
With motivation from Trump. The EU is starting it's own military to protect themselves. Which will certainly make us obsolete to help them.
Works for me.
And learn how to sprechenze russian.
On birthright citizenship. From a political standpoint ( I am leaving the legal and constitutional analysis to Prof Rubenfeld and others ) there should be little doubt this is about open borders (OB) . My strong OPINION is that those who want the border to be open ( the vast majority of those wanting ICE eliminated, whether in Congress, media, Hollywood, campuses, no.kings rallies and the streets of Minneapolis, NY and so forth) will support "whatever it takes" to allow pretty much h all illegals to remain here and to facilitate more coming in, predominantly for purposes of raw politics and political power. Their actions and words make this crystal clear and lets include all those OB judges who are more about politics than the rule of law.
Now let's assume the Supremes rule on a very tight constitutional analysis that all anchor babies are to be deemed American citizens. Such a ruling applies to the kid not the mother. The mother has no right to stay. Will the loving mother want to take her baby if she is deported. It is HER CHOICE ALONE. And those OB zealots should be asked what would you do: take your baby or leave the baby behind? Such questions crystallized the questions about OB and if the mother was just in the wrong place at the wrong time or intentionally was trying to squeeze within a legal loophole that they were encouraged to use by... the OB zealots.
The ultimate issue here is a subtopic of the larger issue of American sovereignty. Which most of the OB zealots want to weaken substantially
"...there should be little doubt this is about open borders (OB)"
I give the Left great credit.
They are relentless in pursuit of their objectives.
We might take a lesson or two from them.
As I noted the other day : like gnats in your face as you are riding a bike. They never give up. They never go away. They count on the rest of us giving up the fight because our objectives ( live and enjoy one's life) are vastly different than theirs