When War Is Justified and Diplomacy Has Failed

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No one wants war. At least, people will use diplomacy as a means to avoid war. And we have witnessed in history, within the last one hundred years, that appeasement, disguised as diplomacy, has been used several times to avoid war.

But in the end, when one country tries to use diplomacy (or appeasement) to negotiate with an unwilling adversary, the end result always ends up with a war.

History is replete with examples of this. In just the last one hundred twenty-six years, diplomacy, or appeasement, has resulted in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War on Terror, and finally, the Iran War. 

These are just the wars the United States has involved itself. There were other wars, certainly, including the Six Day War, the Sino-Russian War, the Yom Kippur War, the Boer War, the Indo-Pakistani War, countless border skirmishes, and so many others. 

And every one began with diplomacy and negotiations. Which ultimately failed because one side had no intention of negotiating honestly.

Thus, we are witnessing this very same scenario played out now. The United States and Israel have tried all means of diplomacy with the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop the terror it foments throughout the Middle East with its proxies; has actually bribed Iran to stop developing its nuclear capabilities; has actually bombed the nuclear proliferation sites to convince them to cease and desist; and finally, ran unending bombing raids to destroy its entire military structure for six weeks, until a ceasefire was unilaterally declared. By the United States.

Yet, the Islamic Republic (or what is left of it) refuses to back down, even as it is being economically destroyed, and even as its supporters and allies have tried to reason with them that it is a lost cause. The current leadership is deaf to it all.

Instead, they are blinded by the mantra which was part of the DNA which created the Islamic Republic  forty-seven years ago. They believe that “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” are noble causes with which to fight.

The Iranian people, for forty-seven years, have dealt with this regime and are eager to return to an Iran which existed under the Pahlavi dynasty, when they actually enjoyed a westernized society and religious freedoms to worship. Iran was once a secular country, similar to Turkey or Morocco. 

They are exhausted from the brutality they have lived under, and actually hoped that with the recent war with the US and Israel leading the way, the days of oppression by the occupying force would be gone for good. But, the regime has been determined to stay in power at all costs. And a sense of despair has come into focus again.

It is time for the US and Israel to make a final play, by providing weapons to the citizenry to take the battle to overthrow the regime. The desire is there, but the weapons, which are desperately needed, have not yet been made available. It is now overdue to move to that next level.

Once the overthrow of the regime has been accomplished by the Iranians, and a free government determined by the Iranian citizens, the expectation and hope is for Iran to be a civil and decent country going forward. But until then, it behooves the US to help the Iranians in their quest to achieve that goal. It has been a promise they have relied on.

And it is our responsibility to keep that promise until we hear the words: Long Live a Free Iran!

It is not diplomacy at play here; it is finally ending a war which has been forty-seven years in the making.

It Is Time to End Election Fraud, Starting In California

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Will we bear witness to another election fraud, this time in California? This is a state which allows for a “jungle primary”, where party identities don’t matter, and the highest two winners of the primary will face off in the general election.

This allows for two people from the same party (generally Democrats) to ultimately give voters actually no choice in November. Kinda like a Soviet-style election between the choice between two Communists.

In addition, the California election process can take up to ninety days to count the votes. Mail-in ballots are valid provided they are post-marked by Election or Primary Day, are received by seven days AFTER the election, can be harvested for up to thirty days BEFORE Election Day and finally, allow the State Secretary of State THIRTY-EIGHT DAYS AFTER Election Day to certify the votes.

This allows fraud to permeate the system.

Why is this an important issue? Well, a flood of late-counted ballots has turned the race on its head, shrinking Spencer Pratt’s lead day after day and suddenly putting a Bass-Raman runoff on the table after Pratt appeared destined for November just days ago.

The latest ballot update on Saturday delivered another major boost for Socialist Nithya Raman in the race to unseat incumbent failure, Mayor Karen Bass. 

New election results show Pratt’s lead over Raman shrinking to just 7,494 votes, down from more than 20,000 votes one day earlier.

Raman picked up 23,514 votes in the latest ballot count, more than double Pratt’s gain of 10,336 votes.

And ironically, Republican Steve Hilton, who led on Primary night with 28% to Democrat Xavier Becerra 25%, is now in danger of being eliminated by billionaire Tom Steyer, who had 20% of the vote when the polls closed. Becerra has been declared the top vote-getter and according to the Associated Press, will advance to the November election. Hilton is now in second place with Steyer hot on his heels.

Nico Ruderman, a former state Senate candidate and Venice Neighborhood Council member, said many voters are struggling to reconcile the latest results with what they saw on election night.

“It’s like being teased with hope and then having it ripped away,” said Ruderman 

Ruderman said the prolonged count is creating anxiety regardless of who ultimately advances.

“People need to believe in their elections,” he said. “The perception of integrity is just as important as the integrity itself.”

Public trust in the whole election process is being eroded in California, and in other Democrat-controlled states and cities. It came to light during the 2020 election, and subsequently, when certain activities in  Democrat areas were ultimately proven to be illegal.

And of course, there is the matter of allowing non-citizens and dead people voting in the same Democrat cities and states. This is why 84% of all Americans WANT voter ID AND restrictive mail-in voting. Both Texas and Florida have models which have proven effective. In fact, in Florida, there is now, effective July 1. an indicator of citizenship status highlighted on new, renewed and replacement driver licenses.

It is beyond time to eliminate the preponderance of fraud in ALL ELECTIONS, Federal AND State.

The New Democrat Party

​One can only look at the Democrat campaign for Senator from Maine and wonder how the leadership of the Democrat Party sponsor a Nazi to represent them. Oh, wait! The Party also sponsors Socialists and Communists.

But not people who actually love America.

Currently, Graham Platner, an avowed Nazi and misogynist, has received $10,000 in the form of two $5,000 donations from Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's leadership PAC, according to Federal Election Commission Records.

Whitehouse has been among Platner’s most constant supporters among lawmakers in the US Senate, calling the controversial candidate "wonderfully appealing" in an interview with Politico. In addition, other Democrats have spoken highly of Platner in support of his campaign, including Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Both are Jewish who seem to support this Nazi.

These are the same people who supported Zohran Mamdani, a Socialist - Communist for Mayor, Alexandria Ocascio-Cortes, a true, dedicated Socialist for Congress, as well as, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush and Shri Thanedar, all of whom serve or served in the House of Representatives.

And all profess decidedly anti-American, anti-Semitic, and pro-Communist views.

If you recall, Whitehouse was one of the more vocal opponents to Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, accusing him of many falsehoods, including a “rape” of a woman which was proven never to have happened. 

Yet, he stands by Platner who has admitted to sexting, rape fantasies and other abhorrent attitudes and behavior.

“He’s off to a really strong start and has a wonderfully appealing local background and story," Whitehouse said.

Whitehouse has remained supportive of Platner even as troubling details have emerged of Platner’s past web history, views and personal conduct. 

All this to get a majority of Democrats to control the Senate. Pretty sick, yes?

Although Whitehouse’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the donations show the high degree of confidence lawmakers like Whitehouse and others have in Platner's ability to unseat the moderate Republican incumbent, Susan Collins (R-ME), currently holding office in a blue-leaning state.

And while Collins is considered a RINO by most reasonable people, she understands her state and votes accordingly, while still believing in traditional, American ideals. She is NOT a Nazi or Socialist by any gauge.

So there you have it. A New Democrat Party which has no relation at all to the one which JFK, Truman or even FDR would recognize, but Hitler and Castro would.

A Commentary vs a News Piece Defined

​There is a fine line between a news story and an op-ed piece. As we were taught in Journalism 101, the definitions of journalism center on its role as the systematic investigation, verification, and dissemination of information regarding contemporary affairs. Academics view it as an active practice, a democratic pillar, and an evolving institution that supplies society with fact-based, relevant news

An editorial, analysis or Op-Ed piece is a media piece, typically a newspaper or magazine article, that expresses the opinion of the publication's editors, publisher, or owner rather than an objective news report. It reflects an institution's or writer’s stance on current events or societal issues.

The problem with today’s Main Stream Media, or is is LAME Stream Media, is that most “journalists” have blurred the difference in those definitions. They have made the distinction opaque.

For those of us who write blogs, or commentaries, we understand the difference. We are sharing an OPINION on a current news story, NOT the news itself. For me, I share the highlights of the article and share my own opinion on it.

Most media outlets, Left and Right, no longer make that distinction. In years past, news outlets would separate a news story from an opinion piece. A newspaper would have a section dedicated to opinions, while reporters would report only the news.

TV anchors would segregate the news story, and then, indicate that the next piece was an opinion or commentary, breaking it out from the the nightly news. 

And over time, cable news which began with this premise, as well, by reporting the news during the day and sharing opinions at night, began to blur the differences. You can’t really tell the difference any longer. 

Over the years, this breach of journalistic integrity has also pervaded even 60 Minutes, 20/20 and other news magazine shows.

My commentaries are not reporting news but rather, my opinion. Your opinions are welcomed and are yours. I will not denigrate, comment, nor criticize them. 

Thank you for your years of readership and loyalty.

When a Journalist Finds Out It Is NOT About HIM

​When 60 Minutes debuted back on September 24, 1968, Mike Wallace and Harry Reasoner, who were highly respected seasoned journalists with impeccable credentials, were the first hosts. Don Hewitt was the creator and its first executive producer. 

No one knew where their political leanings lay nor who they voted for. It was truly a modicum of journalist integrity.

In recent years, no one could make the same claim with a straight face and not see how biased the news magazine had become.

This became evident over the last few weeks, as Bari Weiss, Editor-In-Chief of CBS News since October, 2025, has moved CBS News to a more unbiased, centrist news organization, by not renewing contracts of those “journalists” who have allowed their own political views to filter into their reporting.

It finally erupted last week when Ms Weiss fired 60 Minutes correspondents Sharyn Alfonso and Cecilia Vega, along with executive producer Tanya Simon and other producers last week.

Subsequently, during a staff meeting with new executive producer Nick Bilton, Scott Pelley, on Monday during a meet-and-greet with staffers, called out the boss’s lack of TV experience, challenging his vision and telling him he would “never be welcomed here.”

“What did he accomplish?” one CBS source said of Pelley’s explosive attack. “He embarrassed the company and the leadership.”

Another witness agreed that Pelley’s tactics were “problematic,” noting that the correspondent should have met with Weiss or Bilton to at least hear them out.

“That grandstanding thing is insane. It’s third-grade, playground bullying stuff,” the source said. “This is not the way you conduct yourself.”

And yesterday, newly appointed 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton blasted Pelley in informing him he was fired “for cause, effective immediately.”

“[Y]ou hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,” Bilton wrote, referring to Monday’s heated face-off between the journo and his boss.

Had Pelley privately disagreed with Weiss and Bilton with the moves being made, rather than being so vocal in his apparent abusive tirade in the presence of others, the outcome may have been different. But he left no latitude by management for any other response.

This morning, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss addressed the firing of Scott Pelley during a staff meeting Wednesday morning, telling employees that the network had no choice but to part ways with the veteran correspondent following his public confrontation with management.

“The foundation [of trust and mutual respect] was broken,” Weiss said during the network’s daily 9AM editorial call.

“Despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelley and to find a way back, unfortunately we weren’t able to do so, and so we had to part ways,” Weiss told staff.

CBS News president Tom Cibrowski echoed Weiss’s remarks, calling Pelley “an integral part of ‘60 Minutes,’ the ‘CBS Evening News’ and this entire news organization for decades.”

Pelley’s whiny response? “I have been in combat in Afghanistan. I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.”

Hey Scott… you received a check for that work. Your self-pity-party alligator tears don’t work with people who make less than you, and who do much harder work, including your colleagues.

Pelley’s remarks also sparked widespread mockery on social media, where critics derided what they viewed as his self-importance and rejected comparisons between journalists and military personnel.

Perhaps, he will learn there are consequences when one takes on his boss in a public setting. It never would be tolerated in another private industry.

Journalists, generally, should learn that they are there to REPORT the story, rather than to be PART OF the story. A lesson Scott Pelley learned the hard way, when he thought he was more important than the company he worked for.

It Is Time to End the Islamic Regime

​Today is June 1 and three full months have elapsed since the start of Operation Epic Fury. Since April 8, there has been a ceasefire in place in order to come to terms with ending the war, by negotiating a means for the Islamic Republic to save face and return to a semblance of normalcy in the world.

But did Iran or its IRGC faction do any of that?

No… Instead it used this time to deceive, delay and commit Taqiyya to advance its stated goals: to destroy Israel, the US, and any nation which  aligns with them.

It was revealed that Iran has dug out a majority of the entrances to its underground middle bases that were buried by joint US-Israeli strikes during the height of the war, satellite images show. 

A recent probe of eighteen missile facilities hit during the war shows that at least 50 out of 69 tunnel entrances have been reopened since the cease-fire went into effect in April.

The fast work indicates that Iran would be poised to fire a lot more long-range missiles across the Middle East if the war restarts amid tense peace negotiations. 

Satellite images captured the rigorous work Tehran has accomplished in just seven weeks across various missile bases, with digging equipment and large trucks seen excavating the tunnel entrances.

Iran has already started rebuilding its military capabilities, including restarting its drone production and replacing destroyed missile launchers, according to US intelligence.

This is what the current Iran government has focused its energies doing, along with the massacre and executions of those who dared to protest its illegitimate, occupying  regime. Not peace.

It is apparent that the occupying forces of Iran and its barbaric henchmen are not interested in any peace agreement. And the countries of Pakistan and Turkey were either duped into believing this was Iran!s intentions or they were complicit in aiding and abetting Iran’s deceit.

The longer the US and Israel take to eliminate the Islamic Regime, the IRGC, and all of the weaponry available to them, the harder it will be to bring a legitimate, peace-loving government back to the forefront in Iran. It is time to end their existence. NOW!

Then, we may bear witness to a long-lasting Middle East peace, with many more countries signing on to the Abraham Accords.

What One Woman’s Goal Could Achieve For All

​Tomorrow is the sixty-second Israel Day Parade, which began in 1964 to celebrate the bind between American Jewishness and the State of Israel.

The parade was launched to achieve a few specific goals:

• Community Solidarity: Modeled after other ethnic pride parades in Manhattan, it was designed as a highly visible, public display of support and celebration for Israel.
• Global Unity: It provides a platform to celebrate the spirit of the Israeli people and honor Jewish heritage in New York.
• Historical Commemoration: It serves as an annual tribute to the creation of the State of Israel, which was established in 1948.

It is now enjoyed by many Americans, Christians and Jews alike, to foster better relations by people of all faiths. And this year, a brave Muslim activist, who has devoted her life to promoting religious freedom and denouncing violent extremism is vowing to lead the first Muslim group ever to march in the Israel on Fifth Parade in spite of threats to “wear a bulletproof vest.,”  Anila Ali, a Pakistan native turned fearless DC-based civil rights activist.

The 58-year-old powerhouse founder of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council said she plans to march with a few dozen Muslim supporters, including an imam and children, despite a barrage of intimidation tactics from “nefarious forces” for daring to show solidarity with Israel. 

For her and her supporters, this is a display what religious harmony can bring when hate, by a extreme few, is silenced by those who would rather live in peace and with respect for others of different beliefs.

Showing up now in the wake of unprecedented anti-Semitism in the Big Apple sends a strong message, said Ali, who added she’s been targeted by the Islamic regime for her interfaith work, which has included taking groups of Muslims, including the first Pakistani delegation, to Israel. 

“I want to show I’m a proud Muslim. I try not to think about the threat, but about what we’re doing, standing with Israel’s right to exist,” Ali said in the wake of accusations of being an “Islamonazi” and a “grifter” cashing in on Jewish money.

Ali, who has lived in the US for 30 years and found support in the Jewish community after 9/11, blasted Mayor Zohran Mamdani for being a no-show at the Sunday parade, the first ever mayor to skip the festivities since its 1962 inception. 

She called out the “dangerous” Democratic socialist for “empowering radicals” who target the Jewish community.

Perhaps other Muslims will find the courage to support Jewish issues, as Anila Ali and her group have. The City, the Country and the World  would be better off than what a small, radicalized minority constantly tries to wield.

And this may be the first step in achieving the peace and respect we all yearn to enjoy.