Pete Hegseth Just Watched America Burn a Drone With a Laser and Everything Is About to Change

 Deplorable Daily  

The Pentagon has simultaneously awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin and nLight worth up to $847 million for the Joint Laser Weapon System – targeting cruise missile defense for Trump's Golden Dome – with systems scaling from 150 kilowatts up to 500 kilowatts.

   The Army is on the verge of fielding its first operational laser weapon system — a directed-energy platform designed to shoot down enemy drones at the speed of light without burning through expensive interceptors.

The service is nearing a contract award for the enduring high… pic.twitter.com/Yl3Ukspxsh

— Fox News Politics (@foxnewspolitics) August 6, 2026

"Pete Hegseth stood at White Sands and watched a laser weapon kill a target.

No defense secretary had ever done that before – and China has been doing it for years.

Now the Army is weeks away from the contract that gives US soldiers their first operational laser weapon in history.

Obama and Biden Burned Billions and Got Nothing

The Pentagon has been chasing laser weapons since the 1970s.

Every decade brought a new program.

Every program brought the same result: canceled before fielding, billions burned, nothing in soldiers' hands.

The Airborne Laser – killed.

The Self-Protect High Energy Laser for fighter jets – killed.

The Air Force's High-Energy Laser Weapon System – years of Air Force testing, then scrapped without a fielding commitment.

More...

A Defense of the President’s Strategy in Iran

  The American Mind

"The Iranian regime’s strategy today is simple. Fight a war of attrition against the United States. Maintain strategic, military, and economic relationships with Communist China and Russia to keep the economy afloat and the arsenal of drones and missiles replenished. And wait for the day when President Trump is out of office, trusting that his successor will lack his resolve. The mullahs believe time is on their side. Every American president before President Trump taught them to believe it."

. . . "To understand the war, one must first understand the Iranian regime.

"'The mullahs who rule Iran look on the Iranian people—whose attendance at Friday mosque services ranges from a high of 12% to perhaps as low as 1.0%, the lowest in the Middle East—with contempt. They regard themselves as the faithful remnant, determined to fulfill an apocalyptic worldview, whatever the cost to the nation they rule. The Iranian people are expendable instruments of that destiny.

"Herein lies our central challenge: we Americans value human life. We do not wish to kill the Iranian people, the vast majority of whom do not share the anti-Western fanaticism of the Islamic Republic. But because the Iranian people do not have guns, they are poor candidates to overthrow the regime that oppresses them. Any serious effort at regime change would require continued economic warfare, the arming of various factions within the country, and the separation of the Iranian military from the theocratic leadership. These are not quick or easy steps, and no one should pretend otherwise.

"Let us be clear: in this war we play by different rules than our enemy. If Iran had the capability to launch an array of thermonuclear weapons against the United States—whether from long-range ballistic missiles or from medium-range, ship-launched ballistic missiles, the latter delivery system well within their capability—they might well do so. It would not matter to them that the response would be the nuclear annihilation of Iran. For the mullahs, such a cataclysm would fulfill their apocalyptic worldview. A regime that hates its own people will not be deterred by the promise of their destruction.

"This is the reason President Trump believes Iran cannot have nuclear weapons. It is not a position he arrived at recently, nor one supplied to him by the so-called Israel Lobby or the military-industrial complex. He has held this view for more than a quarter century, as I’ve previously argued." . . .More...

Fresh Humiliation for Abigail Spanberger As Fiddlers' Convention Boos Her Off the Stage

 RedState

"If the Democrat Party cares at all about rural voters, they might want to think twice about the possibility of Abigail Spanberger being a vice presidential contender for their '28 ticket. If this is how a so-called "moderate" Democrat is treated when she tries to mingle with rural Virginians, imagine how well that sales pitch is going to play in small towns and rural communities across the rest of America."

"Whatever in the world possessed Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger's staff to think this was a good idea? For some inexplicable reason, they scheduled the Democrat to appear at a Saturday fiddlers convention in rural southwest Virginia. 

"Needless to say, this was not her crowd, and they let her know it." . . .

. . . "It's the latest in a long line of humiliations for Spanberger, who garnered the lowest early-term approval ratings of any Virginia governor in recent memory, got slapped down in her party's aggressive gerrymandering push (for which she put her smiling mug front and center), and watched her gun grab agenda get kneecapped by the courts before she could turn her party's anti-gun wish list loose on the rest of Virginia." . . . More...

BREAKING: Netanyahu Rejects Trump’s Board of Peace 15-Point Gaza Plan: ‘No Withdrawal Until Hamas Fully Disarms’

 Gateway Hispanic

"Israeli PM also vows no Palestinian state in Gaza or West Bank while he is in office

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday firmly rejected a 15-point plan for Gaza put forward by President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, declaring that the Israeli military will not make “any withdrawal” from Palestinian territory until Hamas is completely and genuinely disarmed.

"Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu made Israel's position crystal clear: "Israel rejects the 15-point Gaza document proposed by the Board of Peace. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed."

"He stressed that any disarmament must be real—covering heavy weapons, lighter weapons and all weapons—not a “fictitious” arrangement. Israeli forces will continue to act against threats to soldiers and civilians, he added.

"Netanyahu went further on the question of a future Palestinian state, stating: "As long as I am prime minister, there will be no Palestinian state, not in Gaza and not in Judea and Samaria. Neither 'Fatahstan' nor 'Hamastan.'"

"The Israeli leader noted that talks with the Trump administration are ongoing.

“'They have ideas, some of which are acceptable to us and some of which are not, and we know how to stand up to these things,” he said. “We have proven this in the past and we are proving it today.” . . .

. . . "Separately, long-running claims that Israel “funded Hamas” refer mainly to earlier Israeli coordination of Qatari cash transfers into Gaza for civilian salaries, fuel and humanitarian needs under Hamas rule.

"Critics have argued that those transfers ultimately strengthened Hamas. Israeli officials, however, maintained that the money was intended to prevent the collapse of Gaza's civilian infrastructure and maintain calm, while Hamas's primary military support came from Iran and other sources" . . .  More...

Media Fawning of Senate Candidate Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed Begins

The Last Refuge  

"Extreme leftists and white, female, overeducated, urban communists have one primary prism: how Obama-ish is their candidate? 

"Both El-Sayed and Barack Obama are supported by the Muslim Brotherhood directly. Both El-Sayed and Barack Obama campaigned for Senate in the mid-term election (BO ’06, ES ’26), and both Barack Obama and El-Sayed planned to run for higher office in 2nd year of their freshman term as senator.

"The media now begin their fawning endeavor as the Muslim Brotherhood backed Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed tries to moderate himself in the image of Barack Hussein Obama.  I find it a little revealing that El-Sayed’s wife is a doctor who refuses to treat Medicare and Medicaid patients (cash only), as El-Sayed campaigns on Medicare for all.  Of course, don’t look for the media to point this out during questioning.

"Notice also the Middle East nations that El-Sayed criticizes (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan) are the Mid-East nations who have pushed back or banned the Muslim Brotherhood.  This is very revealing for those who walk the political deep weeds.  By the way, he’s a paper doctor; a Phd, not an MD.  WATCH:" .  . .More...

UPDATED: Abdul El-Sayed Is an American Tragedy – PJ Media

. . . "If El-Sayed really wants to "change the world," the place to start is Cairo, Khartoum or Damascus, not Ann Arbor. As the writer Hussain Abdul Hussain retorted, changing America is "a nightmare, one that I left behind and came to America to live the American Dream, as a proud Arab who believes in America, not in changing it." . . .

The impeachment elephant in the room

"There’s absolutely no question RINOs will impeach Trump if given the House. None. Zero. They will do it.  But that’s not even sufficiently cynical" ...

 M. Walter - American Thinker   

"And Thune would loooove to shiv Trump.  Trump has been increasingly brutal on him, and I don’t think he’s done.  I think it’s going to get worse: . . ." 

"Byron York has a piece at the Washington Examiner titled “What if Republicans Lose Both the House and the Senate?” which was good, as far as it went, but it didn’t go far enough.

"He writes:

…What if Democrats win? Although there is some internal party debate on this question, there’s a real possibility that a new Democratic majority in the House would impeach Trump for a third time.

"Mr. York is likely referring to some postural grumblings the Democrats would like us to think are “debate,” but there is really no debate at all.  

"There’s absolutely no question they will impeach Trump if given the House. None. Zero. They will do it.  But that’s not even where he was insufficiently cynical.

"Let’s continue. York also writes:Losing the Senate, on the other hand, would be damaging to Trump…

"Aaayup. 100%.  But why?  Why does Mr. York believe it would be damaging?

… because he needs to have his nominees — for the courts and his administration — confirmed. A united Democratic majority in the Senate could stop all that cold, and probably would, given the state of today’s politics." . . .

M. Walter blogs at www.mwalterwriter.com where you can find The Lunatic Left Series, a daily snapshot of Democrat words and deeds so you can see what they’re up to without having to go hip-deep in their toxic brew. You’re welcome 

Abdul El-Sayed and Barack Hussein team up?

Abdul El-Sayed says he hopes to campaign with Obama after phone call to discuss campaign  

"El-Sayed also drew scrutiny for his friendship and campaign appearances with progressive media figures like Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who previously said on a livestream that “America deserved 9/11.” Piker has since apologized for the remark."

"Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan, on Sunday confirmed that he spoke to former President Barack Obama following his primary victory last week, adding that he hopes the former president joins him on the campaign trail this fall.

“'It was a really warm and inspiring conversation,” El-Sayed told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” about his call with the former president.

“'I was grateful for his advice,” he added. “It was very warm, very inviting, and I know that he knows the critical role that Michigan is going to play in holding [President Donald] Trump accountable, in winning back the Senate, and in building forward the future that we need.”

"Asked by “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker whether the former president plans to join El-Sayed on the campaign trail this fall, the Democratic Senate nominee said, “I really hope so.” . . .

Ted Cruz Exposes The Muslim Brotherhood - American Thinker   "The Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Sunni organization established in the early 20th century, has had America in its crosshairs along with the rest of the Western world. It’s never deviated from its goal of a global caliphate.

"In the years since 9/11, instead of retreating, it’s consolidated its strength and power within our country. Sen. Ted Cruz (R. TX), to his great credit, has the courage to speak out about it, without bowing down before the screams of outrage from the left." . . .

While The World Watches War, Tehran Hangs Its Young – Issues & Insights

. . . "Washington speaks frequently about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, missile program and regional proxies. Those concerns matter enormously. Yet every discussion of centrifuges and uranium enrichment seems accompanied by remarkable restraint when confronting the regime’s industrial-scale execution of political prisoners." . . .

Martina Navratilova publicly calls out Megan Rapinoe

 The Spun  "Megan Rapinoe isn't happy with Sophie Cunningham."

The former U.S. women's national team star called out Cunningham for taking a photo with former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who has been extremely anti-transgender athletes in women's sports.

"'I don't know Sophie, so I can only project what I see about her beliefs based on her action. Seeing a picture of her with Riley Gaines after the [Fever's game against the Minnesota Lynx] told me everything I need to know about what's happening. Riley Gaines has made it her life's mission to exclude trans people from public life," Rapinoe said.

"'She's directly tied to the Heritage Foundation, the authors of Project 2025 and, now, 2026, who have now published a report that suggests that they want to repeal Title IX. The very piece of legislation that allowed athletes like Sophie and myself to compete in sports. Sophie has claimed both to love trans people and support Title IX, and this is where the accountability with having a major platform is extremely important."

"Cunningham, who stars for the Indiana Fever, told ESPN that she wanted to “protect young girls in the locker room” and that “they shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”

“I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense,” Cunningham said to reporters. “And I think I’ll always believe in that. I think it’s really important to protect children, and that’s little girls who are also involved in that category. I stand on what I said.”

"Meanwhile, a women's tennis legend has publicly questioned Rapinoe.

"Martina Navratilova has publicly called out Rapinoe.". . . More...

Does the WNBA know what a woman is?  

The WNBA might also start featuring and appreciating Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark. The fans like them, and they have the advantage of actually being women. 

. . . "Considering Engelbert’s oh-so-inclusive and wishy-washy announcement about talking about talking about trans in the WNBA, when they haven’t even gotten around to deciding what a woman is even though they are—ostensibly—women, White had better not hold his breath.

"Kanter is 6’8” and 250 pounds, and White is 6’8’ and 270 pounds. Wilt Chamberlain once scored 100 points in a single game.  Kanter and White could easily score that much every game and badly injure female players without trying to harm them. They don’t really think they’re trans. Like Travis, and Gaines, they’re calling the WNBA’s bluff in ways that can’t be ignored or explained away.

"Will a WNBA team agree to play a boys’ high school state title team with ten million on the line? Of course not. They’d be crushed, and every sane WNBA player, coach, and functionary knows it. Will the WNBA draft Kanter or White? Of course not. That would make a mockery of people richly deserving of mockery. Will the WNBA sell a franchise to the Nashville Balls? Absolutely not. They’d win every game and every championship, and after the initial novelty wore off—people can’t tear their eyes away from bloody car wrecks—that would be the end of the WNBA."

Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong Redefining Politics in Wisconsin

Although Hong is likely to win the Democratic primary, the general election may be a different story.

The American Spectator | USA News and Politics  

"Hong’s open embrace of socialism has also led Tiffany to comment that he is not approaching this race in terms of Republican versus Democrat, but in terms of “crazy versus common sense”. 

"Francesca Hong — the 37-year-old Democratic Socialist — is leading the Democratic primary for governor in Wisconsin by double digits as of recent polling. If elected, she would be both the state’s first female governor and the first Democratic socialist in history to hold the office of governor.

"Her career began not in politics, as one might imagine, but in the restaurant industry. Outside of her work as a chef, she also came up in local politics through actively participating in community organizing for the DSA. In 2020, she was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, which operates alongside the Governor of Wisconsin to create laws and form a budget for the state. 

"Hong has committed to some rather grand promises, including implementing universal childcare and paid leave for all, fully funded public schools, and more affordable healthcare. Hong’s campaign message is centered on making the lives of the American class “better.” Hong said in a campaign ad, “We can fix a rigged system that puts oligarchs over workers and small businesses.”

"Hong has been an active and fervent member of the DSA since 2020. When she was asked on Fox if she would defund the police, she said she would not, contrary to her previous X posts where she called for their abolition. In May, she came under the scrutiny of her own party after commenting that her “perfect world would be a world without prisons,” although she clarified that she made that statement describing an ideal. 

"Additionally, despite serving with the Wisconsin State Assembly, she has called for the abolition of the Senate on X in 2021, although she has since stated she does not remember posting any such claim. 

"With the primary election less than a  week away, a poll from Marquette University Law School puts Hong in the lead at 38 percent, leaving David Crowley, Kelda Roys, and Joel Brennan in the final stretch of the race. Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes dropped out of the race, leaving Hong with a strong edge over her competition." . . .  More...

An Israeli survivor of the Hamas’ Oct. 7th attack has reportedly taken his own life on the grave of his girlfriend who was murdered by the Hamas terrorists

TRAGIC!

NY Post (h/t Thereza B) The body of Bar Asraf, 30, was found on Saturday evening at the burial site of his slain girlfriend Liron Barda, almost three years after her death at the Nova Festival massacre, according to Israeli news site JFeed.

"You fought to save everyone, you knew you wouldn’t come out of it
alive and you kept going, until your last breath,”

"NY Post The traumatized survivor shared a goodbye message on his Instagram page prior to the grisly immolation — describing the pain and loss he has felt since the massacre that took his partner.

“I’m truly sorry. I can’t bear this pain any longer,” Shalev said in a heartbreaking message to Instagram Friday, the outlet reported. “I’m burning inside, and I can’t contain it anymore. “Never in my life have I felt such pain and suffering — deep, burning, eating me from within. I just want this suffering to end. I’m alive — but inside, I’m already dead.”

"On Oct. 7, 2023, Shalev was wounded during the Hamas attack on the Nova festival near Re’im, which he attended with his girlfriend 25-year-old Mapal Adam, according to The Times of Israel. They hid under a truck and played dead for hours as blood-soaked chaos raged around them — until one terrorist fatally shot Adam at close range. Shalev was shot twice while attempting to protect his girlfriend but survived.

"In a 2024 Youtube interview, Shalev recounted the horrific day. Shalev said he and Adam said “I love you” and closed their eyes to play dead just minutes before a Hamas militant approached and shot each of them. “They disappeared and I opened my eyes — Mapal is next to me in a pool of blood. She get bullet in her heart.”

"Just days after the Oct. 7 massacre, Shalev’s mother committed suicide, also setting her car on fire, according to Israeli public broadcaster KAN.' . . .

Nov 2023: Full List of Democrats Who Refused To Condemn Hamas Supporters

Thomas Massie, a Republican for Kentucky. He said of his decision to vote no that there was no agreed definition of antisemitism, adding: "Free speech means protecting speech you don't like, not just speech you do like."

The Piker-Pink Axis of Influence

 Lloyd Billingsley  

"The progressives of the left, Arthur Koestler noted in Arrow in the Blue (1952), repeat “every single error of the past,” and “this time there will be no pardon.'”

Meet the far-left streamer who is stirring up controversy and dividing Democrats

 “Prominent far-left figures, including livestream influencer Hasan Piker, are rallying around a pro-China media outlet within the sprawling network bankrolled by communist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham,” Fox News reports, “casting recent congressional subpoenas as leading a ‘McCarthy-style’ witch hunt against the left.” For some readers the “witch hunt” reference may be unfamiliar and others might wonder how the far-left Piker wields his influence.

A search for books, essays, and articles written by Hasan Piker turns up nothing. As it turns out, the influencer, aged 35, doesn’t write books, but there is a book about him: Hasan Piker: The Radical Voice Shaping the Future of Politics – Voice of the Left, Leader of the Digital Age, by Laurence K. Kennedy. As the book’s Amazon profile reads:

Step into the world of Hasan Piker, the outspoken political commentator reshaping modern discourse. Known for his bold left-wing views and unapologetic stance on social justice, Piker has become the voice of a new generation, challenging the status quo and driving the conversation on critical issues like universal healthcare, economic equality, and global justice.

"And so on. According to Wikipedia, the voice of a new generation was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to Turkish parents but raised in Istanbul as a Muslim. So far, his bold views include nothing on the Turks’ massacre of Christian Armenians, as Peter Balakian described in The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response. The Turkish government denies the genocide and the CIA considers the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) a terrorist group.

"Piker is a big fan of actual terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah, and charges that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The livestream influencer also believes that the United States deserved the attack of Sept. 11, 2001, and that’s not all. He is a big fan of Mao Zedong and his Little Red Book. According to The Black Book of Communism, China’s Communist regime is responsible for 60 million murders, outpacing both Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.

"Piker also supports Cuba’s white Stalinist regime, and fails to support any of their black political prisoners.

"The Communist Party USA, founded and funded by the Soviet Union, achieved considerable influence in the U.S. government and movie industry. “Moscow gold” funded the massive post-war strikes in Hollywood and bankrolled the party’s newspapers on both coasts. As I showed in my book Hollywood Party: Stalinist Adventures in the American Movie Industry, the Soviets channeled the money to Hollywood through union boss Harry Bridges, whose goons joined the fight for control of the dream factories. “Communist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham,” shapes up as a modern equivalent to Bridges.

"Singham married CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans in 2017. According to Fox News, Singham money also flows to The People’s Forum and Tricontinental:" . . .  More...

Japan Thought USS Yorktown Was Gone—Then It Appeared at Midway

World War Legacy and 6 more "In May 1942, the USS Yorktown limped into Pearl Harbor after being bombed at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Japanese intelligence declared her sunk. Senior American officers said she would need three months in drydock to be ready again.

Admiral Chester Nimitz gave the shipyard seventy-two hours. This is the story of how fourteen hundred workers — welders, electricians, shipfitters, and exhausted men who had already lived through December 7 — performed one of the most impossible repairs in naval history so that a "dead" carrier could sail to Midway and help change the course of the Pacific War. From the flooded drydock where Yorktown was patched with scabs of steel and runway cement, to the skies above the Japanese fleet where dive bombers arrived at the exact moment history demanded it, this is how ordinary Americans refused to accept what the enemy believed was impossible."