The Maturing of Defense Secretary Hegseth

 The Maturing of Defense Secretary Hegseth 

 More proof that to deter China, Russia must be defeated in Ukraine to give credence to a “peace through strength” American policy and posture. Actions not only speak louder than words, they are usually the only things adversaries understand.

"On May 31, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. This is the world’s highest profile international meeting of national security officials; and certainly the most watched, because it was the debut appearance of a key cabinet member of President Donald Trump’s second term. Hegseth’s appointment was controversial. He is a decorated combat veteran who stressed the “warrior ethos” against various “woke” notions that degraded the military profession. But as a Fox news anchor, he had expressed naïve strategic views that tended toward isolationism. His message in Singapore calmed these fears.

"His primary focus was on threats from China. “It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. We know. It's public that Xi has ordered his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027,” he warned. Then he pledged “Again, to be clear: any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. There's no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real.” Hegseth also pointed out that Beijing has ambitions across the region, from the Philippines to Japan.

"America is responding by increasing the forward deployment of forces in the region, not just the Navy which President Trump started to expand in his first term and is accelerating in his second with a trillion-dollar defense budget, but also with units from all the services. The Marines just deployed a new anti-ship missile battery in Luzon that not only protects the Philippines but would also reach a Chinese Taiwan invasion force. “We must ensure that China cannot dominate us -- or our allies and partners. Maintaining the status quo requires strength. That's just a rational, common-sense goal that all should be able to live with” declared Hegseth." . . . 

Pete Hegseth orders the Navy’s Harvey Milk to be renamed   "Would anyone ever suggest naming a ship after Alfred Kinsey? Jimmy Savile? (Well we wouldn’t, but leftists clearly would.) Then why Harvey Milk? Call me “old-fashioned” and “anti-progress” all you like, but naming ships after prolific pedophiles is always going to be a he** no for me.

"According to a report at Military.com, the U.S. Navy will be renaming the USNS Harvey Milk, an oiler ship that’s been sailing under the disgraceful name since the Obama years. Per the same report, the order is directly from Pete Hegseth, with the decision being “intentional” in its timing. It’s a fantastic message to the perverts who are used to “celebrating” this month as “Pride”: Your sexual perversions and your “icons” do not deserve recognition, honor, or memorialization.

. . ."Speaking of disturbed—back to Milk. Milk was a known predator and pederast who had a sexual appetite for young boys: at the age of 33, Milk was engaged in sexual relations with a young runaway teenager, who was just 16 or 17 years old at the time. If you’re like me, you consider that…rape." . . .  Olivia Murray

‘I’m Shocked! Shocked, I Say!’

 Issues & Insights  

. . ."Maybe parents arguing that boys ought not to be robbing their daughters of sporting opportunities might, sort of, have a point? Possibly letting any man who says ‘I’m a woman’ into the locker room with twelve-year-old girls could have a downside, after all?" . . .   

"Even Jill Biden’s press secretary is turning against the Bidens in indignation — now that it is safe and even fashionable."

"By now, you must know a book is coming out written by one of the components of the media hivemind revealing a “secret” that was no secret to anyone who was not a liberal, to wit, that Joe Biden did not have his wits about him. Essentially, he was witless.

"The CNN “journalist” who wrote the book states that the White House kept this “secret” from everyone, including the media hivemind, and he is shocked that it occurred. Shocked!

"Except that even before Biden became president, it was evident to anyone who was not a true believer that the man had dementia. He was just a sock puppet for the secret Politburo that was running the country. Each instance was suppressed (i.e., censored) by the media hivemind, a routine tactic.

"His numerous public lies during the presidency apparently were not lies, but rather things he thought in his dementia were true, like claims that he went to Israel during the Six Day War, that his grandfather was an All-American football player, the Mexican president was calling the shots in Gaza, that he was raised in a synagogue or a Puerto Rican community, that America has 54 states, etc. Equally ignored by the media — which now pretends to be indignant at being kept in the dark — were his frequent mumbling words in mid-sentence, his shaking hands with air.

"Then there was the time he walked off into the jungle after a speech.

"And even though they were from the hivemind, the White House staff was terrified to present him to reporters should one of them decide to become a real journalist (no worries there). Even though some of these disasters occurred in public, during ceremonies, the hivemind knew better than to report news.

"No wonder Biden spent 40% of his presidency on vacation.

"Nevertheless, well-deserved ridicule has been a result, both here and abroad. TikTok has been burning up with compilations of journalists and Democrats enthusiastically proclaiming the walking cadaver to be mentally sharp and involved in national and international matters.

"If there was something as disgraceful as to what the media hivemind did, it must be pointed out that Republican politicians said nothing. They all did what was easy instead of what was right." . . .

Israel Under Attack: Uncovering the TRUTH About the October 7th Attack;

The Israel Guys  How ridiculous when "skulls full of mush" think Jews trying to protect themselves from being annihilated are called "Nazis".

"Under the wings of Almighty the Jewish nation dwells. Surely He is their defender and is with the warriors when they go into battles against the enemies. The world has taken the side of the enemy, and will be punished for the hatred of Israel. And He is going to deliver the nation from those who come against it. The Holy Land has the Lord's signature over it, and He is the Sovereign." Comment to this post.

Washington Post corrects story claiming aid site shooting . . ."The newspaper has repeatedly faced accusations of bias and faulty reporting in its coverage of the war and the families of hostages. It has repeatedly been forced to issue corrections to high-profile stories accusing Israel of misconduct." . . .

The Boulder Attack Didn’t Come Out of Nowhere  

"When demonstrators wave the flags of terrorist organizations, wear headbands celebrating those same groups, and publicly commemorate the martyrdom of terrorist leaders such as Hamas’s Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, they’re not throwing the bomb, but their message can light the fuse."

What AOC And Omar Did After Attack On Jewish Community In California Is Appalling

New Titanic Discovery at 3800m Depth Changes Everything We Thought We Knew

The Secret   "For over one hundred years, the story of the Titanic seemed set in stone, a tragic tale carved into history, retold in movies, museums, and whispered legends. But in the icy darkness nearly four thousand meters below the Atlantic, a team of scientists has just changed the script. Using jaw-dropping three-dimensional scanning technology, they have created a complete digital twin of the Titanic’s wreck. What they found at those depths shatters what we thought we knew and reveals secrets that turn history upside down. If you thought every Titanic mystery had been solved, think again."

How the ‘Pravda-Like’ Press Distorts the News

 Victor Davis Hanson  "This is a pattern. And it won’t stop with this. And the result is you wonder why, whether when you look at liberal polls or liberal media, nobody has any confidence anymore, nobody trusts you."

. 

. . "So much has been said about the media, the mainstream media, the legacy media. There’s not really much to add because we all know that it’s not really a disinterested media but it’s kind of a Pravda-like propaganda organ. I’ll give you a few examples.

"More recently, when Cyril Ramaphosa came to the White House, the president of South Africa, did you see the word “ambush”? It was in every mainstream paper, every left-wing website, every radio—NPR, PBS, CBS, MSNBC. It’s like the Democratic operatives issue a Pravda-like order and then these mindless people just say, “Okay, today’s talking points are…”

"He met President Donald Trump. He wasn’t really surprised that Trump was going to confront him because he bragged that he was gonna confront Trump. There was no secret place. It wasn’t a sudden, unexpected attack from a secret place—the definition of an ambush. Yet, it was ”ambush,” “ambush,” “ambush,” “ambush.”

"And when some questions arose about the visit, it was just typical. The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, fielded a question from an NBC journalist. She was very angry because Donald Trump mentioned to President Ramaphosa, “See this picture of a thousand graves.” She said, “Well, he was lying. There weren’t graves.” And the press secretary replied back, “They were commemorations.” Each one of those crosses represents a dead South African who was murdered by virtue of his race. And she said, “Yes, but it’s not…”

Victor Davis Hanson, a senior contributor for The Daily Signal, is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and host of "The Victor Davis Hanson Show."

Eric Swalwell's Attempt to Troll Donald Trump Goes All Kinds of Wrong

 Bonchie; RedState   

In a very ill-advised TikTok video, Swalwell can be seen trying to troll President Donald Trump by eating a taco. I'll explain the background on that "joke" momentarily, but even without it, one can admire the sheer level of social awkwardness on display.

"Few things are more pathetic than an irrelevant House member desperately vying for attention, and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CALIFORNIA Emphasis mine, TD) painted his masterpiece of cringe on Monday while doing just that. 

"In a very ill-advised TikTok video, Swalwell can be seen trying to troll President Donald Trump by eating a taco. I'll explain the background on that "joke" momentarily, but even without it, one can admire the sheer level of social awkwardness on display. 

"Imagine being the staffer who had to film this."  (Warning: Language)

"Once again, we see a Congressional member who got the focus group memo that they need to cuss a lot to seem relatable and cool. That aside, though, when the person behind the camera asks, "Why the **** is Trump always chickening out on tariffs," Swawell tries to pick up his taco, but it sticks to the paper. After he works through that dilemma, he takes a large bite, at which point tomatoes start falling out of the backend. He then takes another bite, and the entire taco falls apart in his hands. All of this is set to weird 1950s-era sitcom music just to make sure it's as mock-worthy as possible. 

"So what's this about? There was a report that some Wall Street types were calling Trump "TACO" as an acronym for "Trump always chickens out" regarding tariffs. A reporter then asked the president about it, and he didn't appreciate the question, to put it lightly. 

"Regardless, I thought Democrats were against Trump's tariff regime? Shouldn't his taking down of the temperature in some of the negotiations make them happy? I mean, when Joe Biden folded on trying to use the Department of Education to force schools to let "transgender" athletes play against girls, I didn't think to make a TikTok video goading him about it. I was just glad he backed down." . . . 

Antisemitism uncondemned by Democrats morphs into domestic terrorism

 Just The News  And Democrats still cheer for these people! TD

"With college campuses becoming breeding grounds for antisemitism, attacks in the United States have surged 893% according to data released by the Anti-Defamation League, the highest level ever recorded by the civil rights organization."

“[Soliman]stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead.”

. . . "With pro-Palestine members of Congress on the Democrat side of the aisle, the party has been increasingly more hesitant to condemn the attacks, which has left some party supporters questioning what the future of their platform looks like.

 "Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., well-known for her anti-Israel views, avoided answering questions from reporters regarding the shooting of the two Israeli Embassy staffers. The next day, Omar said in a post on X that she was "appalled" by the shooting and said that violence is not welcome in the U.S. "I am appalled by the deadly shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum last night. Holding the victims, their families, and loved ones in my thoughts and prayers. Violence should have no place in our country."

"In 2024, Representatives known collectively as "The Squad," Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Cori Bush, D-Mo., all opposed House Resolution 1449, which calls on countries to counter anti-Semitism.

"In 2023, Squad member Rashida Tlaib was censured by the House after videotape of her chanting "From the river to the sea" at a pro-Palestinian rally came to light. The phrase is recognized as a call for the complete destruction of the Jewish State.

Not all Democrats 

"Prominent liberal and host of his Real Time TV show, Bill Maher, recently made this issue the focus of his monologue. On the May 9 edition of his HBO show, he told the audience that their [Democratic Party's] young people, their key constituency, not only don't like their own civilization, they like the wrong one. They actually think Hamas is a liberation movement." 

"At an AOC Bernie Sanders rally in Idaho last month, someone threw a Palestinian flag over an American flag, and the crowd erupted in approval. What should have happened after that is one of the adults on stage should have told their young loyal followers, this is not a symbol of freedom. This is," Maher said, as he showed an image of the American flag." . . . 

Merrick Garland: the choice of Obama and Biden

 

Trump DOJ uses footnote to rescind Merrick Garland memo targeting parents as 'domestic terrorists' | Just The News   . . ." 'We're immensely grateful that on Attorney General Bondi's first day in office, she did what Merrick Garland refused to do: rescinding DOJ's reprehensible 2021 memo directing federal law enforcement to devote its finite resources in pursuit of American parents,” Nicki Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, told Just The News. “For four years, families were chilled from participating in politics because of the Sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, so it's a tremendous relief that this sorry chapter is finally closed.' ". . .

DOJ Leader Removed After Bondi Saw Front Office Biden Portrait (1) . . ."“I went up on the seventh floor, which is the national security division. The entire floor is a SCIF, so no one can get in there,” Bondi said. “So I was able to get the code, open the door, and I look on the wall and see President Biden, Kamala Harris, and Merrick Garland’s paintings still hanging.”

“ 'I personally took all three photos down,” she added. “I put them in front of someone who said to me, ‘Oh well, maintenance is really slow here. I said, ‘well it took me about 30 seconds to get them off the wall.’” . . .

Pam Bondi Leaves Door Open to ‘Seeking Death Penalty’ in DC Shooting Case     

WaPo: Pam Bondi’s DOJ Plans to Remove Safeguards for Politically Motivated Prosecutions    "Unnamed sources in the Department of Justice (DOJ) are claiming the Trump administration is planning to gut safeguards that prevent politically motivated prosecutions — ironically, a safeguard that was not triggered by the prosecution of Donald Trump when he ran for president in 2024, supporters say.

"Reports this weekend by the Washington Post and the Daily Beast allege Attorney General Pam Bondi is considering removing a requirement that an internal department group called the Public Integrity Section (PIN) sign off on any prosecutions of public officials, such as lawmakers and other elected officials." . . .

The latest edition of ‘It’s different when we do it’: Cory Booker’s salute

Andrea Widburg  "I cannot repeat often enough that leftism is a narcissistic ideology, although I have no idea whether narcissists are drawn to leftism or if leftism creates narcissists. It’s probably a bit of both. Be that as it may, one of the core tenets of leftism is that “It’s different when I [the narcissist] do it.”

"The latest example of this is the response to Cory Booker for making a salute identical to the one that had Elon Musk castigated as a Hitler acolyte. I don’t need to explain. These side-by-side videos do it for me:

                pic.twitter.com/uXrpeX7b2P

— Politi_Rican 🇵🇷 𝕏 🇺🇸 (@TheRicanMemes) June 1, 2025

"To give a little context, Elon Musk grew up in an apartheid country and has been opposed to apartheid since he was a young man. He has never trafficked in racial issues. He is a creature of the mind, interested in ideas, not skin color.

"Meanwhile, the amazingly heterosexual Cory Booker belongs to a political party that has as one of their central tenets the notion that skin color is the single most important characteristic an individual brings to the table. It defines everything about him, including his status in the world. It’s also a hierarchical party that routinely denigrates white people.

"Back in 2019, when Booker thought he had a shot at the White House, he delivered an entire speech on “white supremacy” to a black audience. Race-obsessed? Yes. Divisive? Yes. Trying to ride race to political power? Yes." . . .

spectator.org

FACEBOOK threatens to ban Alpha News for cartoon showing one of the American fan clubs for Hamas

Alpha News  "The Alpha News Facebook page now has “reduced distribution and other restrictions” for publishing a cartoon from syndicated cartoonist A.F. Branco, whose political satire is shared widely by conservative outlets, including Fox News.

"Whether as ignorant useful idiots, reckless anti-Semites, or active terrorist sympathizers, some Western leftists cannot stop reciting anti-Israel and pro-Hamas propaganda talking points.  Within Congress, the loudest and most relentless apologists for the Gaza-based terror group is ‘the Squad,’ whose endless torrent of Israel-bashing assertions — while the people of Israel have been targeted by thousands of rockets intended to murder them, mind you — has been stomach-turning but instructive.  

"The Alpha News Facebook page is now “at risk of being unpublished” for sharing a cartoon that depicts the Squad cheering on Hamas. It appears that Facebook believes this cartoon violated its policy on “Dangerous Individuals and Organizations,” which prohibits content that “expresses support or praise for groups, leaders or individuals involved” in terrorist activity."

Attackers laughed as they raped and murdered a woman in Israel on October 7, witness says

 CNN; for all you campus designer-Hamas-scarf-wearing useful idiots "Attackers laughed as they raped and murdered a woman in Israel on October 7, witness says Raz Cohen, a survivor, witnessed the horrifying attack at the Nova music festival in Israel.

Five men captured a woman, raped her, and killed her with a knife. Cohen also saw another young woman shot in the head as he ran to hide. Israeli police are documenting cases of rape and sexual violence committed during the attacks. The UN Women released a statement condemning the gender-based atrocities and sexual violence. The witness, Cohen, recounted the horrific events, and the investigation is ongoing."

Their bodies tell their stories. They’re not alive to speak for themselves. 

"In one photo, a burned body appears to project anguish. In another, a woman lies naked from the waist down, her underwear hanging from her leg. In interviews, first responders haltingly describe finding naked female corpses tied to beds and survivors recount witnessing a gang rape at the music festival.

"All of this is part of a mounting body of evidence of the gender-based crimes carried out by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.

"Over the last several weeks, NBC News has reviewed five interrogations of captured Hamas fighters, an Arabic-language document that instructed Hamas how to pronounce “Take off your pants” in Hebrew, six images of naked or partially naked deceased female bodies, seven eyewitness accounts of sexual violence including both rape and mutilation, 11 testimonies of first responders, and two accounts from workers in morgues who handled the bodies of women after they were recovered from the massacre." . . .

“Reports of women raped — repeatedly raped — and their bodies being mutilated while still alive, of women’s corpses being desecrated, Hamas terrorists inflicting as much pain and suffering on women and girls as possible and then murdering them. It is appalling,” the president said." 

Israel reveals disturbing testimonies of Hamas rape on October 7 at UN  ..."An Israeli official told Ynet in this context, "We know why they are not returning them, and they know that we know."

"On Monday, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Mathew Miller confirmed the behind-the-scenes assertions by senior Israeli officials. "It seems one of the reasons they don't want to turn women over... and the reason this pause fell apart is they don't want those women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody," he told the press." . . .

Crossing the Rubicon: Dave Portnoy, Barstool and the breaking point for antisemitism  "Opinion: In a Philadelphia bar, a neon sign reading 'F*** the Jews' marked a chilling new low—until Barstool’s Dave Portnoy took a stand, offering a rare, unapologetic rebuke of antisemitism that could signal a cultural turning point."  Audio only.

Is It About the Jet, or Just About Trump?

The American Spectator; "If the concern is truly about foreign influence, then discuss gifts and donations made during the Clinton, Obama, and Biden administrations as well."

  "In 2011, the Clinton Foundation accepted a $1 million donation from Qatar while Hillary Clinton was serving as Secretary of State. That donation was not reported to the State Department, despite rules requiring such disclosures. Although the gift raised concerns, it received little media coverage and quickly faded from public view." . . .

"Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense received a Boeing 747-8 jet from the government of Qatar, valued at $400 million. The plane is now in San Antonio, where it will undergo about $1 billion in upgrades to become the next Air Force One.

"Although official statements have confirmed that the aircraft is not for Donald Trump’s personal use, some media reports have treated the gift as if it were. These articles describe it as an unusual and possibly unethical donation, ignoring both precedent and context. The truth, however, tells a completely different story.

"The jet will eventually be moved to Trump’s presidential library in 2029 after its use as an official government plane. Despite this, Democrats are framing the story to suggest Trump is personally benefiting from foreign gifts — a claim that overlooks similar past examples involving other presidents.

"This jet transfer fits into a much larger and long-standing pattern of deep financial ties between Qatar and various branches of the U.S. government — ties that existed long before Trump and have continued under Democratic and Republican administrations alike.

"One major example is the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest American military facility in the Middle East, located in Qatar. Qatar has invested over $8 billion into the base, which has supported U.S. military operations in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. In 2022, President Biden named Qatar a “Major Non-NATO Ally,” a status that strengthens military and diplomatic cooperation.

"That same year, Qatar Airways signed a $20 billion deal with Boeing, a move praised by Biden for supporting over 35,000 American jobs. In 2019 alone, U.S. exports to Qatar hit $6.5 billion, with Qatar purchasing more than $3 billion worth of American military equipment, including Apache helicopters and air defense systems." . . .

"The fixation over the Jet isn’t a debate over ethics — it’s a difference in how stories are told depending on the person involved."