Gary Tyler

[Scott Horton @scotthortonshow]

Government: You love it so much.

[Shanaka Anslem Perera ⚡ @shanaka86]

The USS Gerald R. Ford is not parked near Iran. It is parked off Israel. And nobody is asking the only question that matters: why.

The $13.3 billion crown jewel of the US Navy, the largest warship ever constructed, just positioned itself off Haifa. Not in the Arabian Sea where the Lincoln sits 850 kilometers from Iranian shores loaded for offensive operations. Not in the Gulf where strike range is optimal. Off Israel. Defending Israel.

This is not redundancy. This is architecture.

Two carriers. Two missions. Two entirely different strategic functions. The Lincoln is the sword, positioned to launch strike packages into Iranian airspace within hours of an order. The Ford is the shield, its Aegis missile defense systems creating an umbrella over Israeli population centers against the retaliation that follows the first Tomahawk.

America just split its carrier doctrine into offense and defense simultaneously. That has not happened since the Pacific theater in 1945.

But the positioning reveals something deeper than tactics. When Iran retaliates, and every wargame says Iran retaliates, its missiles and drones fly toward Israel. They will fly through the same airspace where a US carrier strike group is now stationed. Every Iranian missile aimed at Tel Aviv or Haifa must traverse the Ford’s defensive envelope. Shooting at Israel means shooting at, around, and through an American carrier group.

Iran cannot retaliate against Israel without engaging American naval assets. The Ford’s position makes that physically impossible. The carrier is not defending Israel as a favor. It is positioned so that any Iranian response to American strikes automatically becomes an attack on American forces, triggering the full unrestrained weight of US military response without a single additional political decision required.

This is escalation insurance written in steel and seawater. If the campaign goes longer than planned, if munitions run thin in 7 to 10 days, if allies hesitate, the Ford’s position ensures that Iranian retaliation does the political work Washington cannot do alone: it transforms a limited American strike into an act of self-defense that no ally can refuse to support.

You do not park a $13.3 billion carrier where the enemy’s return fire will hit it unless you want the enemy’s return fire to hit it.

The Ford is not there to prevent escalation. The Ford is there to guarantee that if escalation comes, it comes on terms that make American restraint politically impossible and allied participation politically unavoidable.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ https://t.co/BrzGRrU3VW

[Jarvis @jarvis_best]

Taylor Swift radio silence on the NFL playoffs.

Makes you wonder if she was ever a real football fan at all.

[Thomas Massie @RepThomasMassie]

i ain’t reading all that
im happy for u tho
or sorry that happened

[Jarvis @jarvis_best]

Gene Steratore sitting at home in his underwear not watching any of the games and just saying he agrees with the call.

[Geiger Capital @Geiger_Capital]

Friendly Reminder:

If your income has not risen by at least 26% since Covid hit, you are now poorer.

And that is using the government’s own data. The real number is likely 40% plus.

[Spike Cohen @RealSpikeCohen]

Without government, who would steal your life savings and then make you fight to prove that they shouldn't have stolen it from you?

[Dissident Media @DissidentMedia]

Imagine how riddled with propaganda someone’s brain must be to refuse to believe that the same company that had $6.5b in lawsuits from one product alone which had asbestos in talcum powder that was giving women ovarian cancer, might also make a few other poison products.

[Michael Malice @michaelmalice]

I am delighted ABC is letting Jimma Kimma back on the air

The lesson he'll have learned is to be even more strident and political, and then everyone gets to watch him get fired again but for real

[Liam McCollum @MLiamMcCollum]

And just like that, Democrats are anti-war again and Republicans are pro-war again

And us libertarians have been anti-war the whole time

[Clint Russell @LibertyLockPod]

The richest man in America. A guy who builds spaceships and robots and underground tunnels and brain chips and AI superintelligence, couldn't reform the government. He couldn't cut any spending

In fact, we are on track to spend more this year than any year EVER

We're in trouble

[zerohedge @zerohedge]

Some time in late 2022, the US started issuing ~$1 trillion in debt every 100 days. Here's why

This is also the "miracle" behind Bidenomics in 2023 and 2024. Fixing this will be brutal, but is absolutely necessary

[Sean Davis @seanmdav]

Trump very much wanted a peace deal he could sign this week. The entire mood at the White House yesterday was one of excitement and anticipation.

You could feel it in the room during the Trump/Starmer press conference. And it was clear that Trump worked very hard to come to an agreement with the U.K. government yesterday ahead of today’s meeting with Zelensky.

Anyone who claims Trump and Vance ambushed or set up Zelensky to make him look bad or to torpedo a deal is either brain dead or lying. Maybe both. Trump badly wanted a deal, which is what makes Zelensky’s behavior even more shocking and pathetic. In fact, it’s clear it was Zelensky who sabotaged the entire meeting with his antics.

Why? It could be pure incompetence and arrogance. Or the reason could be far
more cynical: Zelensky can remain in power indefinitely as long as the war goes on forever. Because once it’s over, Ukraine has to hold elections, and Zelensky knows he’s done once that happens.

[Viva Frei @thevivafrei]

If you stand with Ukraine, go stand with Ukraine in Ukraine.

If you want to support Ukraine, go fight for the army that can’t find any more people to send to the slaughter.

If you are a politician in any country other than Ukraine flying the Ukrainian flag in your profile, resign and go to Ukraine.

And if you’re not prepared to do that, shut your filthy virtue-signaling mouth, and let Ukraine and Russia figure it out.

And had you shut your ignorant traps from day one instead of being a bunch of virtue-signaling politically-ignorant useful idiots on the Internet, you might have actually saved 100,000+ people’s lives.

But hey, they weren’t your kids.

So go ahead and stand with Ukraine.

idiots.

[Dave Smith @ComicDaveSmith]

What Zelensky did today has got to be the greatest political strategic blunder that I’ve ever witnessed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great. I just can’t get over how profoundly stupid that was. Cocaine is a helluva drug.

[Clint Russell @LibertyLockPod]

If everyone upset with Trump and Vance were to send Ukraine $100 tonight then Zelensky would have adequate funding to continue the endless war

You won't, though. Because you don't care and you never really did.

[Jeffrey A Tucker @jeffreytucker]

"Great to be CEO. Can I have a look at the financial books and payment records now?"

"Sorry, we don't allow that. For 80 years, only a small group of people are allowed access and neither the CEO nor any appointees of the CEO are allowed to see them."

"That's odd but I have a solution. Let's get third-party auditors in to look at the books and give a report on possible improvements and cost savings."

"Sir, that won't be possible. They might steal the data. In fact, you are an authoritarian for suggesting this."

"I'm starting to have my doubts about this company. How much money have you burned through over 80 years, just ballpark?"

"About $193 trillion."

[Scott Horton @scotthortonshow]

The entire American empire is a massive money laundering operation

[Jenin Younes @JeninYounesEsq]

No congressman, it’s not DHS’s job to protect Americans from “antisemitism” or “racism” or “Islamophobia” or “transphobia.” If people commit crimes, prosecute them. Otherwise, leave us alone— our thoughts, speech and ideas aren’t the government’s purview

[Dissident Media @DissidentMedia]

It turns out that taking insane amounts of tax money from your citizens so they cannot afford to protect their own lands, and then spending that money on DEI initiatives and random climate warfare instead of forestry and fire protection, is not a good way to run a state.