There is a moment in every war, somewhere between the first triumphant press conference and the first encounter with reality, when the slogans begin to turn rancid.
Television panels flash maps. Talking heads bloviate. Officials insist that everything is proceeding according to plan. But you can’t outrun the truth forever. The central lie on which the war rested begins to collapse under the crushing weight of events.
Thomas Jefferson warned us more than two centuries ago: 'Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.' That remains the sanest policy available.
No one should sugarcoat what has happened: America has been defeated by a lesser regional power.
I was horrified when the war began. I said then that if the initial strikes failed to decapitate the Iranian government and cause the regime to fall, Iran had already won. I am no deep geopolitical expert and no Nostradamus, but anyone with modest knowledge of the region could see where this was headed.
Because of a geographic accident, a backward theocracy can threaten one of the most important arteries in the world economy. Roughly 20% of global energy supply moves through the Strait of Hormuz. If that flow is disrupted, the result is economic catastrophe. The problem is not just oil. Fertilizer, liquefied natural gas, petrochemicals, and dozens of inputs that make modern life possible move through the same system.
Meanwhile, because Iran has endured decades of sanctions, it is less exposed to some of the pressures now wrecking others. As oil prices spike, Tehran profits.
These facts do not require affection for the Iranian regime. Tehran’s record on political repression, censorship, regional adventurism, and support for militant proxies is horrific. The question was never whether one approves of the regime. The question was whether war would accomplish the objectives announced in its name.
Washington’s understanding of Iran has repeatedly proven shallower than policymakers imagine. Talk to Iranians who are not nostalgic for the shah, and they will often describe a much more complicated country than the bloodthirsty totalitarian caricature presented by much of the media. Many may hate the ayatollahs. But they also fear the alternative: a failed state like Syria or Libya.
Iran is an ancient civilization. Civilizations, unlike a school full of girls, cannot be destroyed from the air.
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What did victory even mean? Iran has nearly 100 million people, a territory almost three times the size of Texas, some of the most forbidding terrain on earth, and a population with deep nationalist feeling tied to 4,000 years of history. Short of reinstituting the draft and landing half a million soldiers, how exactly did anyone expect Iran simply to surrender?
One of the most disconcerting aspects of this war has been the relative failure of the American military when faced with weapons that will define the 21st century: drones and missiles. Reports of damaged bases, lost aircraft and multimillion-dollar drones, evacuated facilities, and strained air defenses should alarm every serious person in Washington.
One of our carriers, the $13 billion Gerald R. Ford, has been knocked out of commission for years because of an unexplained laundry fire that burned for 30 hours and almost sank the ship.
Whatever the final accounting shows, Iran and the war in Ukraine have made one thing clear: The future of warfare does not belong to giant military bases and aircraft carriers alone. It belongs increasingly to cheap, plentiful, highly effective drones.
The Shahed may go down as one of the most important military innovations of our time. It is effectively a low-cost cruise missile with a meaningful payload, long range, and a flight path that can be programmed in advance. It can be stored in a garage, launched from a truck, and produced at a fraction of the cost of the systems designed to stop it. And Iran has nearly 100,000 of them.
The age of drone warfare is here, and America looks flat-footed. Getting into an arrow war with the Persians was a mistake for Rome at Carrhae. We should have remembered the lesson.
Lies and disinformation can survive only so long against reality. We were never going to win this war. The Iranian people were never going to rise up and install a pro-LGBTQ democracy. Iran’s navy was never destroyed in any meaningful strategic sense. And whatever one believes about the nuclear question, airstrikes were never a substitute for a durable political settlement.
Now we are on the verge of a global economic crisis that could endanger some of our most important allies, including Japan and South Korea. Gulf Arab countries that spent the last 15 years stamping out radical Islamic movements and pledging trillions in economic partnerships with the United States have been ravaged by the conflict. When grocery prices explode, when fertilizer costs flow through to food prices, when filling up a car eats through family savings, ordinary Americans will ask obvious questions.
Who started this war? And why?
Iran will end the war bloodied but standing. It will retain enormous leverage over one of the world’s most important commercial arteries. It may enjoy windfall profits as oil prices rise, sanctions loosen, and frozen assets return. It may emerge with more, not less, power on the world stage.
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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
That could have been avoided. But you cannot tweet your way to victory.
America has depleted its interceptor missiles. Billions of dollars in regional defense infrastructure will need rebuilding. Bases have been evacuated. Brave Americans have died. Who will pay to rebuild the system? Certainly not Arab states that watched Washington prioritize Israel’s security over theirs.
Iran remains. Its people remain. Its national identity remains. The need for diplomacy remains. The need for political solutions remains.
What has disappeared is the illusion that these realities could be bombed away.
We should have learned that lesson in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. We did not. Now we must take the deal, walk away, and admit that the American empire can no longer rule the world by force of will.
Thomas Jefferson warned us more than two centuries ago: “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.” That remains the sanest policy available.
New York City is finished.
Actor-comedian Billy Crystal shared a stage in Santa Monica with Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) to help raise funds for the Democrats as they prepare for the mid-term elections later this year.
The post Actor Billy Crystal Teams with Adam Schiff to Help Democrats Raise Campaign Cash Ahead of Midterms appeared first on Breitbart.
Comedian, Seinfeld co-creator and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Larry David is no supporter of President Donald Trump‘s spectacular recent UFC fight at the White House. To say the least.
The post Video: Larry David Says Trump’s UFC Fight at White House Left Him ‘Embarrassed to Be an American’ appeared first on Breitbart.
UPS is planning to cut 525 jobs in Belgium, more than half of its entire workforce in the country, the Christian trade Union ACV denounced to local outlets.
The post UPS to Slash 500+ Jobs in Belgium, Local Union Says appeared first on Breitbart.
A Detroit man is accused of a horrific string of child sex assaults after being released on bond for similar accusations in 2025.
33-year-old Denzielle Burt was released in June 2025, about a month after the initial child sex charges, according to a WJBK-TV report.
'The court does find you to be a danger to those witnesses, and you have cases also pending find you’re a danger to the community.'
He had been charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and posted 10% of the $250,000 bond.
Burt then raped his then-girlfriend's daughters, ages 8 and 9 years old, over a period of six months, according to prosecutors.
"The allegations are very serious. They’re multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct against 8- and 9-year-old complaining witnesses," said Magistrate Delphia Burton of the 36th District Court.
"Based upon those allegations, the court does find you to be a danger to those witnesses, and you have cases also pending find you’re a danger to the community," she added.
Court records indicate Burt was arrested on Thursday and charged with first-degree felony criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13.
No bond was recorded at that time.
Prosecutors said the two victims reportedly told the same story in forensic interviews.
WJBK said Burt pleaded not guilty.
There is little information known about the suspect apart from his job as a line cook and also that he has children of his own.
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Burton remanded Burt to jail during his arraignment, and he is due for another hearing on Thursday.
He will remain in jail throughout the criminal court process.
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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday said she feels "struck" by her recent spat with President Donald Trump but affirmed she does not intend to continue "fueling" the dispute.
The post Meloni Feels ‘Struck’ by Trump Exchange but Wants to Move On, Says Politics Not Like ‘Temptation Island’ appeared first on Breitbart.
Shortly after its $14 million renovation, the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was allegedly vandalized, with issues like algae blooms, peeling blue lining, and reported gashes and chemical damage. President Trump blamed the issue on vandals, prompting U.S. Park Police to arrest at least five people and issue citations to others.
67-year-old former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn was one of those arrested. On Friday, June 19, Hearn was detained by U.S. Park Police after he touched a piece of the peeling blue liner. He was charged with misdemeanor destruction of government property — which he denies, saying he caused no damage — was held for about five hours, and is scheduled to appear in court next month.
Pat Gray and co-hosts Keith Malinak and Jeffy are horrified by the vandalism on a cherished American memorial.
“I’d like to put that canoe paddle somewhere where it doesn’t belong, and it isn’t in the Reflecting Pool,” quips Jeffy.
Keith then brings up another layer of the story.
“A National Park Service employee was cleaning the algae and some freakish radical leftist went up to her and ripped the hose out of her hands,” he says.
Some social media accounts claimed an older man, whom the Washington Post and other outlets identified as Hearn, grabbed or ripped the hose from a National Park Service worker who was cleaning algae — an allegation Hearn denies.
While the verdict on Hearn’s alleged vandalism remains to be seen, Keith is certain about one thing: “These people have [Trump derangement syndrome] beyond description.”
“Time to put them in a mental institution,” says Pat. “They’re just sick in the head.”
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When I first heard Hollywood was making a new He-Man movie, I posted on X: “No one ever at any time: We need a movie about the origins of He-Man.”
Having now seen it, I owe He-Man an apology.
Unlike Skeletor, who openly embraces being the bad guy, the petty tyrants of institutional DEI culture believe they are heroes. That self-righteousness makes them funny.
What I did not realize was that America did not need another superhero origin story. It needed a movie willing to mock woke HR departments, DEI workshops, and the corporate language-police culture that has made millions of office workers stare quietly at the clock while wondering what a lobotomy feels like.
On that front, He-Man delivers.
If that were all the movie did, it would deserve some recognition. For years, Americans have been subjected to endless lectures about privilege, bias, microaggressions, decolonization, anti-racism, allyship, and whatever new buzzword somebody invented during a three-day corporate leadership retreat. Entire industries sprang up around teaching normal people how dangerous normal people are.
For years, almost nobody was allowed to make fun of it.
Then along came He-Man.
“Masters of the Universe” gave me flashbacks to the glory days of “The Office,” when Michael Scott stumbled through diversity training sessions while desperately trying to impress Mr. Brown. Back then, workplace comedy could still recognize that HR departments were ridiculous.
In the two decades since “The Office” debuted, much of that humor disappeared. The joke was no longer that corporate bureaucracy was absurd. The joke became us.
Employees learned to speak in carefully rehearsed phrases. Meetings became exercises in virtue-signaling. Every disagreement became a “learning opportunity.” Every awkward interaction became a possible microaggression. White men were told they were simultaneously responsible for every historical injustice and forbidden from speaking too much during discussions about them.
Then enters Adam.
Yes, He-Man himself.
A blond, tanned, muscular hero — the kind of character Hollywood spent years assuring us could never again carry a movie without apologizing for existing.
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Uwe Boll Films
The movie also does something modern writers often seem incapable of doing: It gives us a villain who admits he is a villain.
At one point, Adam offers Skeletor what modern audiences have come to expect: an opportunity to explain his evil through childhood trauma, systemic oppression, bullying, or some tragic backstory.
Skeletor’s response is essentially: Nope. I’m just bad.
Imagine that.
A bad guy who does not blame society. A villain who does not attribute his choices to historical forces, generational trauma, or someone else’s privilege. Just an old-fashioned villain who enjoys being evil.
Hollywood has not given us many of those lately, maybe not since Edmund in “King Lear.” Sorry. I could not help myself.
But the funniest parts of the movie are not the battles. They are Adam’s experiences working in HR.
One scene features Adam listening to a woman explain that “her truth” conflicts with another person’s “truth.” Adam’s solution is the vague, therapeutic language now standard in modern workplaces: less talking, more listening.
Anyone who has survived mandatory workplace training recognizes the environment immediately.
Then we meet Suzie.
Suzie is Adam’s boss on Earth, and she may be the most accurate movie villain of the past decade.
On the surface, she is cheerful, supportive, and endlessly concerned about feelings. Beneath that surface, she is manipulative, controlling, and ruthless.
We first see her leading what appears to be a DEI-style workshop about consensual listening and emotional safety. Like Adam, the audience immediately begins fighting off sleep.
Later, after catching him looking for his magical sword online during work hours, she summons him to her office.
Not asks. Commands.
During their conversation, she speaks to him with the patronizing tone many corporate managers have perfected. Everything is framed around feelings. Conflict makes her uncomfortable. The workplace must be safe. Communication matters.
Then, for a brief moment, the mask slips. The threat appears. Power reveals itself.
Almost immediately, it disappears beneath another avalanche of therapeutic jargon.
Anyone who has worked in a large corporation, government office, or university has met some version of Suzie.
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Scott Kowalchyk/CBS/Getty Images
Most of us have never fought a skeleton warrior bent on conquering the universe. Many of us, however, have sat through meetings where nonsense slogans are presented as profound wisdom. We have endured meetings where employees are told not to judge people by race while being instructed to interpret every interaction through race and blame it all on “whiteness.” We have watched everyone pretend the emperor’s new DEI initiative is fully clothed.
What makes these scenes work is that they expose something deeper than bureaucratic absurdity: hypocrisy.
Unlike Skeletor, who openly embraces being the bad guy, the petty tyrants of institutional DEI culture believe they are heroes. They imagine themselves correcting history, advancing justice, and educating the unenlightened through mandatory workshops, safe-space discussions, and land acknowledgments.
That self-righteousness makes them funny.
A philosophical essay can explain why hypocrisy is dangerous. A policy paper can document its effects. Comedy can do something neither can accomplish.
Comedy teaches people to laugh at it with scorn.
And once people start laughing, the spell begins to break.
The movie ends with what appears to be a setup for a sequel. Fine. Give us “He-Man 2.”
But let’s hope America never gets a sequel to the DEI-decolonization-anti-racism regime that dominated so much of public life over the last decade.
Let’s laugh it into history.
And then, if there is time, let’s talk about how the entire He-Man story is really just another version of the mono-myth hero’s journey.
Sorry. That is the religious studies professor in me.
On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) argued that Brad Lander’s primary win over Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) “is fundamentally about Gaza.” And that Zohran Mamdani’s (D) electoral victory to become New York City Mayor “was partly
The post Khanna: Lander’s Win ‘Fundamentally About Gaza’ appeared first on Breitbart.
On Tuesday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) said that even if Iran does end up buying billions of dollars of American food, “we’re going to still have to help the farmers out” with some sort
The post GOP Sen. Marshall: We’ll Still Need More Farm Aid Even if Iran Buys Agriculture appeared first on Breitbart.