Lèse-Majesté

 

Friends, if the legions of protestors tomorrow are to be believed (a big "if"), then our country has already achieved the pinacle of perfection: we've made the great and glorious Donald J. Trump our King-Emperor, and thus we've left democracy in our regal dust.  Oh, if only it were so!  The powers of President Trump seem all too limited, from what I can tell.  He doesn't even command respect, let alone obedience.  Be that as it may, I wish the lefties a pleasant day of kvetching, which is surely their favorite pastime. 

 

Meanwhile, President Trump is trying to solve problems created by Democrats, as per usual.  He's ordered that TSA agents should be paid, despite the partial government shutdown.  Can he do that?  Probably not, since liberal judges won't let him do anything, but I applaud him for making the effort!

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/03/27/no-kings-protest-trump-iran/89331992007/ 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33l4j03kr3o 

Gloomy Gus

 

Friends, don't get me wrong: DJT is always a ray of sunshine, but I, on the other hand, sometimes get despondent about our country's future, especially when I consider the political resilience of the Democrats, who ought to have been consigned to the dustbin of history a long, long time ago.  Well, they haven't been.  In fact, they're prospering, thanks to the, uhh, resilence of TDS!  And that's the subject of my latest article.

 

Democrats Think They're Winning – and, Sadly, They're Right!

There's no question that the ongoing U.S./Israeli campaign against Iran has opened some fissures in the conservative/MAGA movement, and that in itself is something to concern those who wish President Trump well, but a more troubling and possibly long-lasting realignment is happening concurrently: leftists and Democrats are reviving, despite the fact that we left them for dead in the wake of the 2024 election. Their squabbles are long forgotten, as the Trump haters find common purpose in – what else? – hating Trump.

Witness, first of all, the steady drumbeat of anti-Trump coverage in the mainstream media and on social media, exemplified in uniquely horrifying fashion by the tendency of the talking heads to root openly for Iran in the present conflict, and to portray the noble efforts of President Trump and the U.S. military to bring down the mullahs as aggression, inhumanity, and pure stupidity. Whether this incessant calumny has any relationship to the facts or not, it is having a cumulative effect: Trump's approval ratings are drifting down, and the Democrats' advantage in generic ballot polls is gradually increasing. A point here and a point there may not seem like much, and the President's base remains broadly enthusiastic, but no one can question that Trump and Republicans are in a steadily weakening political position. The Left's lies, including its damned lies, are having an effect.

Second, it's getting increasingly hard to ignore the trend in special elections, which is almost uniformly favorable to Democrats, and not in a subtle way. Democrats routinely outperform the results they obtained in 2024 in these special elections by 15 or 20 points. That's a lot! Republicans even lost in Trump's “backyard”, as the Dems love to point out, in a race for a Florida House seat in an area that includes Mar-a-Lago. Ouch! Meanwhile, Republican-held state legislative seats in Texas, Iowa, Mississippi, Georgia, New Hampshire, and elsewhere have turned blue, and emphatically so. The Democrats think the momentum is on their side, and there's very little evidence in the results of these special elections to contradict them.

Lastly, money makes the world go 'round, and politics even more so. The Democrats and leftists aren't just taking to the streets in their millions, shaking their fists at “King Trump” – they're also putting their money where their big, obnoxious mouths are. Contributions are pouring into special election campaigns and into the coffers of liberal candidates running in the midterms. The Democrats have become, lest anyone forget, the party of the well-heeled, and they are, as a result, tapping into an almost inexhaustible reservoir of financial support. They have massively outspent us in most recent election cycles, and they may well do so again in 2026, especially when dark money is factored in.

It is worth remembering that President Trump and Republicans face these severe headwinds despite the fact that the U.S. economy is basically sound, inflation low, and the markets buoyant. What would happen if, say, the market tanked, or unemployment rose, or inflation heated up? How hard would it be to revive GOP fortunes then? An economic slowdown, moreover, is looking increasingly possible, according to economists.

The solutions to these challenges are by no means apparent, but one thing is for sure: the Democrats and leftists cannot be written off as perennial losers, and they cannot be depended on to sink their own ship. On the contrary, we should recognize that President Trump's victory in 2024 came despite the inherent and broad-based strength of the Democratic Party and the Left, with all their ingrained advantages and prodigious institutional and popular support. To hold on to the House of Representatives in November (not to mention the Senate, which is looking increasingly shaky), it will take wise decisions from the President and his top lieutenants, as well as a maximum effort from Republicans, conservatives, and the MAGA movement. Even then, we may fall short.

That's just the sad, unvarnished truth.

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is a history professor at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmakers show on WLEA/WYSL.

 

***

 

In other news, Senate Republicans are considering the use of another reconciliation bill to get the DHS funded, possibly pass a version of the SAVE Act, and otherwise advance the GOP agenda.  I think this is an excellent idea, as getting the dastardly Dems to support anything common sensical, or even vaguely sensical, is a lost cause.  Reconciliation bills only require a simple majority.  I say: get on with it!

 

https://rollcall.com/2026/03/24/in-the-senate-thune-resurrects-idea-of-reconciliation/ 

 

Finally, in a first for any U.S. president, Donald Trump's signature will soon be appearing on our paper money!  Wow.  Perhaps Trump believes this will cause all Americans to think of him with reverence and gratitude every time they spend money.  Fat chance of that!  Still, I have no problem with Trump's signature, likeness, or shoe size appearing on U.S. dollars, and we might also consider appending a short message mocking the Democrats on every bill too.  Why the heck not???

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz0el909yp3o 

Sue Their (Digital) Pants Off?

 

Friends, while I've not been among the biggest fans of social media empires like Meta and Google, I find today's ruling by a jury in Los Angeles troubling.  It found Instagram and YouTube liable for a young woman's mental illness, on the theory that the addictive nature of social media platforms is psychologically damaging.  Well, no doubt that's true, but the addictive nature of almost anything, from booze to BMWs to badminton to banana bread, can be damaging, if one indulges too much.  If you ask me, anyone who uses social media excessively has done injury to themselves, and personal responsibility ought to be the operative principle here, not entitlement and self-pity.  I suppose reasonable people might disagree about these matters, but consider this: if this ruling stands, it will be lawyers and judges who decide what the permissible parameters of social media will be, and do we really want THAT???

 

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2026/03/25/jury-finds-meta-and-google-negligent-in-landmark-social-media-addiction-trial/ 

 

In other news, the UN has voted to name the transatlantic slave trade as "the gravest crime against humanity".  A very timely decision, no?  I mean, otherwise, the slave trade could restart any day now!  Of course, the motivation for this ridiculous decision, which I'm happy to say that the United States opposed, was to justify open-ended reparations.  Luckily, resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly have no practical effect.  I must say, the sheer cheek in naming any one atrocity "the gravest" of all time is impressive.  As I understand it, the Afro-Middle Eastern slave trade actually took more lives, but who has even heard of it???  What an unseemly spectacle these efforts to monetize historical grievances are.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg06q36052o 

 

According to President Trump, Iran is about ready to pull a Venezuela and give us everything we want.  Well, I'll believe it when I see it...  The truth may be that, at this stage, no one is in firm control of Iran, and concessions granted by some could easily be undermined by others.  That is to say, our destabilization of the country may make a clean resolution to the present conflict difficult to achieve.  Always be careful what you wish for!

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/03/24/trump_new_leaders_of_iran_are_gonna_make_a_deal_they_gave_us_a_present_--_a_very_significant_prize.html 

 

Finally, those of us who support President Trump's efforts to facilitate regime change in Iran are understandably frustrated by the pro-Iranian propaganda that fills the mainstream media to overflowing.  Be that as it may, you can't deny that the Trump haters have had a certain measure of success in convincing the public that this operation has been a failure and that it endangers American lives, and the global economy, needlessly.  Trump's approval numbers have ticked down, and in fact they've been falling (gracefully) more or less since the outset of his second term.  This trend naturally does not reflect the quality of his leadership or the objective reality of political and economic conditions, so much as the accumulated weight of anti-Trump narratives in the media and social media.  We conservatives have utterly failed to intimidate our enemies, and we have also utterly failed to transform the media and social media landscape, by hook or by crook.  In short, we've left a giant machine in operation that wants nothing more (and nothing less) than to convince as many people as possible to hate, hate, hate Donald Trump all day, every day.  It's working, albeit not as much as the Left would like.  If we're not very careful, therefore, the second Trump Administration will follow much the same arc as the first, and the strains imposed by unpopularity will create something of a doom loop from which Trump and his top lieutenants will find it hard to escape.  I know this is a depressing way to look at it, and I would like nothing more than to be proven wrong, but this is where prevailing trends seem to be taking us, in my estimation.  And this, I hasten to add, is all within the context of an economy that is generally strong.  If the economy goes south, things get even bleaker!

 

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/approval-rating 

Victory is Nigh?

 

Friends, it's not easy to make sense of all the mixed signals coming out of the White House, but it appears that Trump and Co. are talking to...someone in Iran's government, and it appears we like what we're hearing.  Trump implies that forces in Iran are prepared to do business with us and achieve a sort of regime change by proxy, as we did in Venezuela (?).  That could be an ambiguous result to the present conflict, as indeed our achievement in Venezuela was and is, but it could also be a way out of the current impasse.  We've always known that we need the cooperation of elements of Iran's security forces and bureaucracy to, well, Make Iran Great Again.  What we don't want is to be hoodwinked by mullahs in sheep's clothing...  Stay tuned!

 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/03/23/trump_strait_of_hormuz_will_be_jointly_controlled_by_me_and_the_next_ayatollah_whoever_that_is.html 

 

In other news, Americans are growing more and more skeptical of the value of a college education, although the numbers of young people attending college are not exactly plummeting.  If you ask me, the skepticism is justified, but it's very hard to make generalizations about the value of higher ed, since every college is different, every major degree is different, and the shape of the job market is changing moment to moment.  I would say that anyone contemplating a college education should think long and hard about where, and how, and what is a reasonable price point.  Better yet, get rick quick and avoid the rat race!!!  That's the gold standard of career advice...

 

https://tippinsights.com/college-education-flunks-out-by-more-than-2-to-1-voters-say-its-not-worth-it-i-i-tipp-poll/ 

Winding Sideways?

 

Friends, President Trump is talking about "winding down" our offensive against Iran, at the same time as U.S. forces continue to pour into the region, threats between Trump and Iran are flying freely, and the regime of the mullahs shows no signs of evaporating.  It's hard to know what the future portends, but the economic impacts of the war will only increase with time.  A number of countries have signaled their willingness to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but only under favorable conditions, whatever those might be.  I say: good luck reading all these tea leaves, but listening in to this week's Newsmakers broadcast would certainly boost your global affairs I.Q. by 100% or more!

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-floats-winding-down-iran-war-as-strikes-continue/ar-AA1Z6E7m 

 

https://wysl.podbean.com/e/newsmakers-3-21-26/ 

 

In other news, Elon Musk has kindly offered to pay the salaries of TSA agents, who are being stiffed by the dastardly Dems, who refuse to fund DHS.  What a nice guy!  I would take him up on it, although I suppose making those despicable Democratic lawmakers wait in long lines at the airport would be a decent interim solution, too.

 

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2035306094281855336?s=46 

 

There's another "No Kings" day of rallies coming next Saturday, so prepare for anti-monarchists to pillage your town or city!  As you all know, I love Republicans, but I have no patience for republicans (scum, every one of them!!!).  Punctuation makes all the difference.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2026/03/22/video-robert-de-niro-pushes-no-kings-leftists-to-take-to-the-streets-against-mentally-ill-tyrant-trump/ 

Calculated Risk

 

Friends, let's be clear: Iran is retaliating against Israel and America's attacks mainly by striking back against...the whole world, not its battlefield foes.  What I mean is that Iran is doing its best, not just to pepper the whole region with missile and drone strikes, but also to close the Strait of Hormuz to all maritime traffic, thus dealing a body blow to the global economy.  And yet, somehow, most of the world doesn't mind at all.  In fact, it roots for Iran, just to spite the Zionists and MAGA!  Well, that's pretty dumb, but I would also like to draw your attention to an important fact: the Strait is not completely closed, and, to the extent it is, that is only because most of the world knows that, for weeks if not months, it can dispense with Gulf oil without serious consequence.  If the world was desperate for what the Middle East has to offer, after all, NATO, Japan, China, et al. would be helping us open the Strait.  I mean, it would be suicidal for them to do anything else.  The fact that they aren't tells us that all the handwringing over this "war" is mostly for show, at least at this stage.  I conclude that the Strait is only "closed" because, right now, no one minds greatly that it is.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4geg0eeyjeo 

 

Want more cogent analysis of our hostilities with Iran?  Listen in to the "Fourth Box" podcast, featuring Yours Truly as honored guest!

 

https://rumble.com/v770a3a-history-professor-nick-waddy-on-the-war-in-iran.html 

 

Finally, now that DJT has made us all rich (thanks to strong economic growth and a buoyant stock market), we can throw a bit of our filthy lucre at the upcoming Trump coin...in gold, no less!  Of course, any image of Trump has a value that's beyond price...

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwywxvgynr2o 

Degrading the Degraded

 

Friends, today our Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, assured us that, while the Iranian theocratic regime remains "intact", it has been "largely degraded" by the furious pace of Israeli and U.S. airstrikes.  Well, I should think so!  We're aiming, of course, not merely to degrade this odious dictatorship, but to overthrow it, and in that regard we have to be disappointed at this stage of the operation.  Regime opponents haven't risen up and seized control of even a small part of the country.  I remain hopeful that they will, but we have to face the possibility, even the probability, that, when we wind down our offensive, the mullahs will still be in power.  That would stink, but we can, and probably should, look on the bright side: Iran's capacity to be a regional nuisance (and worse!) will be substantially reduced, one way or another.  Perhaps this is why Trump supporters, conservatives, and Republicans remain broadly supportive of U.S. operations against Iran.  There is much talk in the mainstream media of MAGA fissures due to Trump's "aggression", but the reality is that Democrats are much more divided over the "war", if indeed we can call it that, than Republicans are.  Many Democrats are big supporters of Israel, and enemies of Islamic fundamentalism, so it's not surprising that they might be skeptical of the doomsaying going on in the media and in elite leftist circles.  Anyway, I expect the political impact of the fighting in the Middle East to be largely transitory.  A month from now, I feel confident that the airstrikes will be over, and either we'll be dealing with a new Iranian leadership, or we'll be dealing with the tottering remains of the old one.  Either way, the world, and America, and Trump, can get back to business as usual.  Of course, what is "normalcy" these days???

 

https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2026/03/18/dni-tulsi-gabbard-iranian-regime-appears-to-be-intact-but-largely-degraded/ 

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/17/tremendously-popular-polls-maga-gop-overwhelmingly-back-trumps-iran-op-epic-fury/ 

An Inferno of Their Own Making

 

Friends, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is pretty excited about the fact that it was able to set fire to two oil tankers transporting Iraqi oil, but it should think twice, in my humble opinion.  First, because the only reason Iraq is striking third parties, like Iraq and the Gulf States, is because its ability to kill Americans and Israelis, and to do serious damage to our militaries and infrastructure, is basically nil.  It's striking the only targets available to it, therefore.  The other reason why Iran should be careful what it wishes for, when it launches these scattershot attacks, is that, while the Western media may celebrate every time an Iranian missile finds its target, because our brave journalists hate Trump a whole lot more than any Ayatollah, the Iraqis, and the Qataris, and the Kuwaitis, and the Saudis feel rather differently.  They're the ones with missiles raining down on their heads!  The Iranians are doing a pretty fine job, therefore, of justifying our "aggression" against them.  What's more, as long as they keep firing missiles and drones, they oblige us to continue our efforts to suppress them, meaning no rest for the mullahs!  Ergo, I would advise the Iranian hardliners to enjoy the little fires they manage to light out in the Gulf, because they will be dwarfed by the massive conflagrations that we unleash in their backyard.  Take that! 

 

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2026/03/12/dramatic-explosions-as-iran-attacks-oil-tankers-in-persian-gulf/ 

Saving the SAVE Act?

 

Friends, John Cornyn, who is in the fight of his life to hang on to his Senate seat, has just made a big about-face: he's decided he will accept limits on the filibuster in order to get the SAVE Act passed, which would mandate voter ID throughout the country.  Will this dramatic turn of events save the SAVE Act?  Not necessarily, because overturning the filibuster is darn tough, but maybe the Republican Senate can finesse the issue, i.e. keep the filibuster but drill a few more holes in it?  We shall see.  One thing is fairly clear: Cornyn's real objective is to save himself...from Ken Paxton, his formidable challenger.  Paxton has cannily offered to concede the primary election to Cornyn if the SAVE Act gains Senate passage.  Now, would the bill have the sweeping implications for U.S. elections that Republicans and Democrats seem to assume it would?  I mean, the GOP acts as if the bill is a magic bullet that can eliminate fraud and basically kneecap the Democratic Party.  The Dems, by contrast, talk as though the bill will make it virtually impossible for women and minorities to vote.  Voter ID has done nothing of the kind anywhere that it's been passed, but no matter.  I suspect both parties are engaging in more than a little hyperbole, but the only way to know for sure is...to pass the bill!  Why not?  It would be a fun experiment!

 

https://nypost.com/2026/03/11/opinion/sen-cornyn-why-the-save-act-matters-more-than-the-filibuster/ 

The Supreme Leader is Dead -- Long Live the Supreme Leader!

 

Friends, I'm sure we all wish nothing but the best for Iran's new "Supreme Leader", Mojtaba Khamenei!  May his reign be as glorious as it is brief.  All kidding aside, U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran's leadership and high value military sites are going great, so much so that DJT claims that our "short-term excursion" there is nearly finished, but I must say what I haven't seen are mass demonstrations against the regime, OR any cities falling to the resistance, OR major elements of the security forces defecting to the opposition and pleding their fealty to the Shah, or Trump, or any figure of equivalent marvelousness.  Long story short: the regime of the mullahs remains very much intact, and so the time for gloating has not yet come.  President Trump, please take note!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwykdn0yn4wo 

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/09/trump-says-iran-war-is-nearly-complete/