We must crush Iran now so it can't come back and spread terror

 Douglas Murray

"A great scholar of the Islamic world, Bernard Lewis, was once asked the main difference between the Islamist and Western mind. He replied that whereas we in the West think in two-year electoral cycles — four years at most — the Islamist mind sees a decade as the very shortest measure of time."I was reminded of that comment this week as a tentative cease-fire went into effect in the Middle East. It is too early to know whether the latest cease-fire will hold. But it is early enough to know that it should not. Not if America is going to achieve any of its objectives in the region.

One of the first stated objectives of this war has been the overthrow of the revolutionary Islamic government in Iran. That objective has not been achieved. It is true that one of the first strikes of this war killed the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But his foul Islamic regime, with its terrorist armies at home and abroad, remains in power. It is still able to terrorize the people of Iran, the region and indeed the world.

"The historic joint US-Israeli attack on the Iranian nuclear program has undoubtedly set that program back massively. But it has not completely destroyed it. All parties agree that the regime in Tehran still has stockpiles of enriched uranium.

"And while it looks like the majority of Iran’s stockpiles of ballistic missiles have been decimated, they have not been wiped out entirely." . . .More...

How to Tell If Any Singer Is Lip-Syncing

Slate

True strength speaks softly—Clint Walker proved that the greatest legacy isn't fame, but the quiet dignity of staying decent when no one is watching.

  Humanity - Quora  

"The studio learned what everyone who knew Clint already understood: his principles weren't negotiable."

"At 6'6", he was impossible to miss but it was his habit of thanking the caterers and remembering every crew member's name that made him unforgettable.

"They called him the Quiet Giant, and not because Clint Walker towered over nearly everyone in Hollywood. It was the way he carried that height—with humility, kindness, and a steadiness that made him larger than any screen could contain.

"Before the cameras, before the cowboy hat and the hero roles, Clint was just Norman Walker from Hartford, Illinois—a kid who grew up during the Depression learning that dignity wasn't about what you had, but how you treated people when you had nothing.

"He worked the jobs nobody writes movies about. Merchant marine. Oil fields. Construction sites. Boxcars on the railroad. His hands grew calloused, his back grew strong, and his character grew unshakable. Years later, when fame found him, he'd say: "You learn what matters when you've got blisters instead of headlines."

"Hollywood didn't come looking for Clint Walker. It stumbled into him by accident.

"1954. Las Vegas. Clint was working as a doorman and security guard at the Sands Hotel—just another job, another paycheck. But someone saw him standing there—that frame, that quiet confidence, that presence—and thought: That man belongs on screen.

"Within months, he was screen-testing. Within a year, he was Cheyenne Bodie—the stoic, justice-driven cowboy who'd anchor Warner Bros.' first hour-long Western series, Cheyenne (1955-1962).

"The show became a phenomenon. Clint Walker became a household name, his chiseled features and imposing presence defining what an American hero looked like to millions of viewers every week.

"But something unusual happened: fame didn't change him.

"While other stars demanded private trailers, personal assistants, and deference from everyone on set, Clint Walker showed up early, drove himself to the studio, and helped move equipment if the crew was short-handed.

"He learned every crew member's name—not just the director and producers, but the grips, the sound technicians, the craft services workers. He treated extras with the same respect he showed leading actors. After every meal, he thanked the caterers personally." . . . More...

The Four Horsemen of the new antisemitism

 Victor Davis Hanson   

Yet few of Israel's critics could ever explain exactly what the Jewish state was supposed to do after suffering mass murder in peacetime from an enemy that had abducted more than 240 hostages —to the cheers of most Gazans.

"Few predicted that blaming Israel and the Jews who support it would flare up in the early 21st century —and in America of all places, where there are nearly as many Jews as there are in Israel.

"After all, Israel is the only consensual society in the Middle East. It holds regular elections and maintains tripartite judicial, executive, and legislative checks and balances.

"Free speech is found in the Middle East only in Israel, where religious apostasy, criticism of one's own country, gender equity, and tolerance of gays are guaranteed in marked contrast to all its neighbors.

"It was once common knowledge that Israel had survived the huge numbers of its enemies because its tiny population was better educated, freer, more adept at Western technology, more tolerant of dissent —and because it enjoyed the goodwill and bipartisan support of the United States.

"True, the recent affluence of the Gulf States has presented a thin veneer of Westernism that has fooled many in the new anti-Israel media. But just because Qatar did not censor a celebrity newsman's broadcast from Doha does not mean Qatar is a free society. After all, no Western journalist would dare schedule a broadcast from Qatar with a Qatari who had condemned the regime for its intolerance or announced his religious apostasy from Islam.

"So why and how did millions of Americans begin to express hatred for Israel and, albeit more subtly, the Jews who support it?

"There are four converging fronts in this perfect storm.

"Demography

"First, in demographic terms, the US Muslim population is expanding exponentially, due almost entirely to recent immigration and higher birth rates than the American norm (e.g., 2.5 —8 versus 1.6 —1.7)." . . .More...

Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, a professor of classics emeritus at California State University at Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services.

Douglas Murray: The New York Times feeds anti-Jew hatred with a horrific lie   "In a piece that has already been widely debunked, Kristof claimed that Israeli prison guards routinely use rape as a method of torture on Palestinian prisoners. The piece portrayed Israeli prison guards and soldiers as rapists, sadists and akin to Nazi prison camp guards. Perhaps even worse.

"Kristof’s most grotesque claim is based on an anonymous source who is described as a “journalist” from Gaza. According to this source, while being held in an Israeli prison in 2024, the Gazan man was stripped naked, blindfolded and handcuffed. Then “a dog was summoned.” The dog’s handler — who we are helpfully told was speaking Hebrew — then encouraged the dog to “mount him.”

"The “source” goes on to claim that he “tried to dislodge the dog, but it penetrated him.” During this time, the Israeli guards were allegedly taking photos and filming the assault while laughing and “giggling.” . . .

"So here we get to the true question: Why would anyone make such a claim? And why would a purportedly serious newspaper publish it?

"The reasons are several-fold. The first is that the New York Times story landed just a day before an anticipated report on Hamas’ use of sexual violence on October 7, 2023." . . .

Variety Gets Wrecked for Attacking Critics of the 'Diverse' Cast of Nolan's Odyssey

Amy Curtis   

"It's not just a handful of online people, although they're easy targets on which Hollywood can deflect the blame for its failings. Audiences don't want these films because they are not good stories. They're thinly-veiled political messages wearing beloved IPs as a skin suit." 

 

                                 Siraj Hashmi posted: "Once we get this, we’ll call it even."

"Not too long ago, the Left was pulling its hair out over Hollywood casting. They argued that movies, TV shows, and even voice-over gigs had to have casting that was not only diverse but also reflected the characters, too. That is, if a character is gay or trans in the show or movie, the actor had to be gay or trans. A straight actor was no longer acceptable in those roles. In the same vein, only Black voice actors could voice Black characters, etc.

"Hollywood also instituted DEI rules for awards, meaning they didn't care about rewarding creativity, solid filmmaking, or excellent performances anymore. Instead, you would only get awards if your project checked all the right boxes. It's part of why Hollywood has been hemorrhaging cash at the box office and audiences are skipping the movie theatre.

"Director Christopher Nolan, who most recently won the Oscar for 'Oppenheimer,' is releasing an adaptation of Homer's 'The Odyssey' in July. The film has been a focus of controversy because Nolan is using a translation by British-American classicist Emily Wilson, which uses "contemporary language that strips away archaic, patriarchal interpretations of the original text." In short, a feminist-lens retelling of a man's epic journey.

"That's strike one.

"The casting is another problem, the revelation that Lupita Nyong'o would be playing Helen of Troy and her sister Clytemnestra. Helen of Troy, a Greek woman described as having white skin and blonde hair. Suddenly, it seems, representation no longer matters.

"But it's not the fault of the woke casting directors or Hollywood executives that the film is getting backlash. No, that blame lies with the audience for wanting a fair and accurate adaptation." . . .More...

Why many stopped calling them "Democratic", preferring the more soulless "Democrat"

 Why everyone hates the Democrats right now, explained in 3 charts  

"If there’s one thing a large majority of Americans have consistently agreed on this year, it’s that the Democratic Party sucks." . . .

Democrats Spit on Democracy, Midterm Voters Should be Scared

Kamala Harris Dials Up Democrats' Radical Assault on Rules of American Democracy   . . . "I've written often about the mounting radicalism of progressive plans to bulldoze central props of our constitutional order. . . " Then the paywall...

This Podcast Interview Only Reminds Us How Lucky We Are That Trump Beat Kamala Harris   

"Yeah, this is the mother lode of bad ideas. Also, as someone pointed out, this woman lost the popular vote to Donald Trump, so this Electoral College thing is a bit funny. She lost all seven swing states too, with 89 percent of all counties shifting toward the right in the last election. Lady, the nation heard you and rejected your candidacy outright."

They get crazier with every word - Silvio Canto, Jr.  About Jamelle Bouie, late of MSNBC:    . . . "So why is it always about race for Jamelle’s side?  I don’t know, but maybe it’s because they have nothing else to offer except telling black voters that only a black Democrat is capable of representing them.  And worse than that, they want The Supreme Court to guarantee that a black Democrat is going to have a seat in Congress.

"Memo to Jamelle:  You are out of touch with reality.  I guess that’s why I feel optimistic about the November elections, because Jamelle is not the only one saying these weird things on the other side." . . .

They get crazier with every word - American Thinker

A Society Without God Is a Society Without Truth

 The American Spectator  

"There is no better time than the run-up to America’s semiquincentennial — when we will celebrate the assertion of the self-evident truths that birthed the nation — to find Him once again. Frankly, America’s survival for another 250 years depends on it."

AI-generated image, ‘Ten Commandments, American society’ prompt, ChatGPT

"Next Thursday evening, Jews will celebrate the holiday of Shavuot. This holiday, which occurs seven weeks and one day after Passover (hence the name Shavuot, which literally means “weeks”), commemorates perhaps the most transformative event in all of human history: the revelation of the Word of God to the ancient Israelite nation. It was at Mount Sinai, congregated at the base of the smoking and trembling mountain, that God promised the Israelites they would be a “kingdom of princes and a holy nation” if they accepted and maintained fidelity to His covenant. In unison, before they had even received the Ten Commandments, the Israelites responded, “All that the Lord has spoken we shall do!”

"The Divine Revelation at Sinai fundamentally changed the relationship between mankind and truth. Before Sinai, mankind had understood truth as inherently subjective, subject to the ever-changing whims of the volatile gods. Now, after Sinai, there could be no such moral confusion. The one, true God — He who had created the universe and fashioned mankind in His image — had revealed His Will. Moral relativism and idolatry were now out. Moral objectivity and monotheism were now in. For the first time, there was a fixed barometer by which to judge man’s moral conduct, devise laws and political institutions, and live one’s day-to-day life more generally.

"Because of the breadth and depth of its impact and lasting influence, the Divine Revelation at Sinai was the logical starting point for what we now call Western civilization. Writing thousands of years later at another inflection point in human history, Alexander Hamilton wrote in The Federalist No. 31: “In disquisitions of every kind, there are certain primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasonings must depend.” In the United States specifically, and in Western civilization more generally, it was long obvious what those “primary truths” and “first principles” actually meant: the Word of God Himself. Such a properly anchored and oriented society is uniquely suited to improve mankind’s lot and advance human flourishing.

"Crucially, only such a properly anchored society can claim to comprehend the truth — let alone assert that certain truths are “self-evident,” as we recall every Independence Day. Because when God falls by the wayside, truth does as well. Recent events underscore the point.

"In a Washington Post op-ed earlier this month, Gregory Conti, a politics professor at perennially top-ranked Princeton University, lamented: “Several years ago, one of my colleagues at Princeton University hosted a lecture on religion and free speech. The talk didn’t seem to be landing with the students. Finally, he realized why: The speaker had made repeated reference to the Ten Commandments, and several students didn’t know what they were.” Conti noted that Princeton students are often smart and driven, but they lack basic religious literacy — even the difference between the Old and New Testaments. In short, many of America’s future leaders do not even recognize the “primary truths” and “first principles” upon which our civilization rests." . . .More...