Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Sets Sights on Iran's Power, Bridges and Oil

Until now, the military action in Iran has focused on the Iranian leadership, with attacks carried out mostly by Israel, and their military capabilities, largely with US Forces, leaving the civilian infrastructure of power, transport and revenue generation (oil) largely alone, hoping that if and when a suitable government of Iran emerges it won't be left with a country without the ability to take care of itself. Now, Trump is threatening to start dismantling the underpinnings of the regime further, by targeting power plants, bridges and oil production if the IRGC does not open the Straits of Hormuz to international traffic. Jim Hanson @JimHansonDC, "It doesn't get more straightforward than this from President Trump. The gloves come off Tuesday against the Ayatollahs." Althouse has the vapours over his use of the curse word, "Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah." "That's the way our President speaks...Hard to believe, but there it is." Sundance at CTH, President Trump Fills in Remarkable Background Details – Deal Tomorrow or U.S. Begins Systematic Destruction of Iranian Infrastructure. OutspokenSamantha @Outspoken_Sam, "Yes, I did in fact vote for a President who would call our enemies "crazy bastards" and threaten to send them to hell if they didn't take us seriously. What's actually embarrassing is voting for someone to send them money."

Of course, most of yesterday's digits were spilled on the rescue of the weapons system operator of the F15 that was shot down over Iran. It appears the airman, injured in the incident, evaded capture, and climbed a 7,000 ft mountain to wedge himself into a hidey-hole to await rescue. Reports are the US built a runway to land rescue planes in the desert, rescued the WSO, and had to ditch two C-130s in place due to mechanical issues, blowing them up to prevent their secrets from being revealed. It is also reported that Irani resistance slowed the IRGC search, and the CIA promoted a hoax to mislead the IRGC as to where the man was hiding. I'm not so sure of the first, and I expect the CIA to lie at every available opportunity, especially to make themselves look important. Stacy McCain calls it an Easter Miracle: U.S. Rescues Second Crewman From Downed F-15E in Iran. Streiff at RedState explains How the Amazing Rescue of Two American Airmen Unfolded. Althouse has the NYT take, "The rescue followed a life-or-death race between U.S. and Iranian forces that stretched over two days to reach the injured airman, a weapon systems officer, officials said." ""The operation took commandos deep inside Iran and involved hundreds of special operations troops. There were no U.S. casualties among the rescue team, Mr. Trump said. The rescued officer had 'sustained injuries, but he will be just fine,' Mr. Trump added..." From "Iran War Live Updates: U.S. Rescues Officer From Downed Fighter Jet in Iran, Trump Says" (NYT)." From Sundance, President Trump Announces, F-15 Crew Member Rescued in Daring Raid and Former CENTCOM Commander Frank McKenzie Discusses U.S. Rescue Operation in Iran. RedState's Nick Arama thinks the Former CENTCOM Commander Delivers the Perfect Comment on the Rescue of Officer From Iran. wretchardthecat @wretchardthecat, "The most interesting aspect of the weapons officer rescue in Iran was CENTCOM's ability to use so many disparate personnel and capabilities in such a rapid and integrated way. They were making it up as they went along with complex tools and time critical sequences...A lot of the news focus is naturally on the machines, because that is what you can see. But someone told me years ago that air forces are not made out of planes. They are made up of people, and that is what we glimpsed here." Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh, "BREAKING: Former CENTCOM commander Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie just said it PERFECTLY “It takes a year to build an aircraft — and it takes 200 YEARS to build a military tradition where you don't leave anybody behind!”" Insty at his substack, The Iran Operation, "Was the secret weapon AI staff work?" Ace cites Tousi TV: Second F-15 Pilot Rescued as Iranian Civilians Aid American Operation to Rescue Him. Morse Report @MorseReport, "BREAKING: The rescued F-15 pilot downed over Iran survived entirely ON HIS OWN inside a mountain crevice: “Completely invisible to the enemy.”" Stephen Green @VodkaPundit, "U.S. engineers were repairing and even building new airfields on Okinawa while the battle for the island was still ongoing." Quote Kingofnowhere @Kingofnowher_e, "A French general at Trump’s plan to build a runway inside Iran to fly out uranium under active bombing: “American officials should stop snorting cocaine between meetings.”" cdrsalamander @cdrsalamander, "It isn't so much that Iranians are that bad, it is just that Americans are that good." Quote C Schmitz @chrisschmitz "That location confirmed by @andynovy is just 50km from the City Centre of Isfahan, a city with about 2.2m Inhabitants. The IRGC cant prevent an enemy ad-hoc Airfield half an hour drive from one of the largest cities in country. x.com/andynovy/statu…" Driscoll at Insty, “FIGHTING US TROOPS ISN’T LIKE BEATING TEENAGE GIRLS:” Nioh Berg @NiohBerg, "Hearing a bunch of dumb regime loyalists also got killed last night because they wanted the $60k bounty and climbed up the mountain only to realise fighting US troops isn't like beating teenage girls. Good riddance really." Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "OK. To recap. In the last 24 hours: 1) American military set up a base within enemy territory to rescue a downed flier, defying the ill-wishes of countless lefty douchebags plus fulfilling the shahadat jones of untold IRCG and Basij. 2) Americans reclaimed their indigenous rights to the Moon, declared it the 51st state, named it Trump, that our crazy orange president may moon his adversaries and nattering naysayers unto eternity. This will be most fun during those periods when the celestial orb formerly known as the Moon appears in an orange-ish hue. The phenomenon formerly known as a blood moon will henceforth be called a more Trumpy Trump. 3) Canadians, feeling the sting of American mockery, got pissed off. 4) King Charles III affirmed his allegiance to Islam, in an act of the kind of obtuse regal boneheadedness that traditionally has preceded the downfall of kings. 5) France douchebaggedly asserted its Frenchness on the international stage, in an act of the kind of obtuse French boneheadedness that is likely to bite France in the ass. 6) America, Fuck Yeah (Also, American astronauts, with a Canadian along for the ride, unclogged a space toilet enroute to Trump, the celestial object formerly known as the Moon)." And, Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "The phrase that comes to mind is, "America, Fuck Yeah." Quote RiverOaksGuy @Bowtiedplayer, "Imagine being Iran's leadership right now You once were the feared boogie man of the Middle East. Instead, you get the complete shit kicked out of you for 5 weeks straight, your entire navy sunk, your supreme leader killed, and you FINALLY shoot down 1 plane." At Calling All Rush-Babes, *About that rescue of a downed pilot inside Iran. America Wins! A Driscolly post at Insty, “IT’S A TESTAMENT TO THE U.S. MILITARY THAT NO AMOUNT OF EQUIPMENT IS MORE VALUABLE THAN A SINGLE AIRMAN’S LIFE:” Peter Meijer @PeterMeijer, "Between January’s Maduro extradition and today’s F-15 WSO rescue, President Trump is demonstrating an exceptionally high risk tolerance for military operations in his second term. Not a great time to be an adversary of the US!" Quote RedDevil @Snakeeater36 "SOF elements made a flying ORP and went and got dude in the dead of night….possibly dismounted, then BIP’ed the plane, and left. I think we have entered a time where our military is allowed to take bolder risks than we have seen in a long time."

While progressives aren't yet so obtuse as to actually express their anger at the military's (and by extension, Trump's) victory in this rescue, they have begun to counterattack by highlighting the cost of the incident, four airplanes lost (the F15, an A10 Warthog, and two C-130s). Bad Hombre @Badhombre, "Trump orders two transport planes blown up so Iranians don’t steal and reverse-engineer our technology after a wildly successful rescue mission of two American pilots deep inside Iranian territory. Biden leaves behind $85 billion in military equipment to the Taliban and over 100 military K9s abandoned at Kabul airport during a disastrous withdrawal that killed 13 service members. Take a guess which one Democrats are calling a success. InfantryDort @infantrydort, "America, please don’t listen to the new narrative that we wasted so much equipment to save one life. There’s a reason recruiting is through the roof. And it’s because we don’t leave your sons and daughters behind enemy lines because it’s financially convenient." Lee (Greater) @shortmagsmle, "I’m noticing a lot of foreigners who seem to not understand why we’d risk hundreds of lives, spend millions of dollars, and sacrifice several aircraft to rescue one guy. And the reason they don’t understand is also the reason people can’t be made American by a piece of paper." Quote Daniel Foubert @Arrogance_0024 "Lose all this to rescue 1 pilot and call it your greatest military success of all time." Varad Mehta @varadmehta, "Can't wait to hear tomorrow about how the US being able to conduct a massive search and rescue op inside Iran, find the missing airman while killing a bunch of Irani goons, and then escape more or less unscathed, is a defeat for America and makes the mullahs stronger than ever." Rabbi Linda Goldstein @realrabbilinda, "Imaging losing 1 plane for every 13,000 strike missions and thinking that America is winning the war in Iran. At this rate, Iran can absorb 52,000,000 strikes to down the remaining 4,000 US strike aircraft. America will lose." From Twitchy, T. Becket Adams Nails the Moment: Europe Disappointed U.S. Actually Saved Its Pilot in Iran. Kama @Kama_Kamilia, "Im beginning to understand, why Americans feel the way they do about us. Incomprehensibly difficult operation to save the finest America has to offer. And all morons can scream about is “what about the money?” while incessantly lying." Quote Robin Monotti @robinmonotti "We are witnessing the greatest humiliation of the US military since Vietnam, and this will be Trump's legacy! Another hundreds of millions fighter plane downed by Iran:" Stelios Panagiotou @Panagiotou90St, "People underestimate how much third worldist anti-westerners have infiltrated western discourse. After a while, there are no excuses for not getting this. The demoralisation and destabilisation op didn’t start yesterday." wretchardthecat @wretchardthecat, "How long before the theory emerges that the US deliberately ordered the F-15 crew to bail out over Iran so they could rescue them dramatically."

Lee (Greater) @shortmagsmle, "Everyone cried about the press losing their normal ability to freely roam the pentagon soliciting leaks, but notice how the military just pulled off an incredible top secret rescue operation without any Bolshevik subversion gumming things up." Bryan O'Nolan @BryanONolan, "Moonshot. Soldier rescued. NYT doesn’t know what NATO stands for. Glorious few days we’ve had." Althouse and her NYT, A NYT column refers to "Fuck around and find out" as "the unofficial Proud Boys motto.", "I'm reading "America Is Used to Hiding Its Wars. Trump Is Doing the Opposite" by Charles Homans..."

Stacy McCain astonished by the Lifestyles of the Rich and Shameless: The Family Had ‘Great Satan’ Green Cards. Fugitive Caesar @ThomBrady5, "I was considering this from the American perspective, but from the Arabic, Iranian, and Muslim perspective this is a huge propaganda coup for the American government. These photos completely discredit Iran, at a moment when Iranian soldiers are deserting and demoralized." Quote Secretary Marco Rubio @SecRubio, "Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States. Afshar is the niece of deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on..."

Tom Kratman @TKratman, "From Martin Iles, reposted: Having lived in the USA for nearly two years, I've realised something. The USA and the remainder of the Western world are no longer aligned. We all laugh and mock when the Americans say, "Freedom!" because we truly think we're as free as they are. Wrong. We're not. Not even close. The laws, the mindset, and the behaviour, is totally different in this regard..." Eric S. Raymond @esrtweet, "Hello, Europeans. The first thing you need to understand about the rant I'm about to utter is that I'm not MAGA, not a Trumpite, but a libertarian who has in the past nevertheless been strongly supportive of US military presence overseas. Because I want the wars that defend this country to be fought in somebody else's country, as far away from me as possible with a nice big ocean in the way. Also relevant: I have a history of having lived in Europe and traveled there extensively. I was at one time bilingual in English and Spanish, and have been passably fluent in Italian and French as well. I could probably still find my way around London and Rome and central Paris reasonably well. So if you're tempted to tell yourselves that I'm some kind of parochial American hick, abandon that hope. All that was set-up. So that, when I tell you that almost the entirety of the US electorate, not just Trump supporters, is increasingly fed up with your shit, take me seriously. We've been cleaning up your messes and keeping the sea lanes open since 1917. And that was for you, not us - we, being very close to resource self-sufficient, don't need that investment so much. We've spent enormous amounts of blood and treasure on keeping you safe. We risked nuclear hellfire on our own cities for nearly 50 years to keep Soviet tanks from rolling through the Fulda Gap..." John Ʌ Konrad V @johnkonrad, "NATO is in far bigger danger than anyone realizes. And the reason has nothing to do with defense budgets. The real danger is psychological. It’s cultural. Europeans didn’t just free-ride on American security for 80 years. They built an entire identity around the idea that they evolved past the Americans protecting them. That identity is now the single biggest obstacle to Western survival. And the darkest irony is: we helped build it..." At TownHall, Alan Joseph Bauer says Allahu Akbar, Europe! "Europe is lost as a Christian continent, and its demise is self-inflicted." Dave Manney at PJM thinks Macron’s Latest Comments Show France Hasn’t Learned a Thing. Why would he, he hasn't suffered much, yet. At WUWT, Miliband Expected to Block North Sea Oil Drilling. At RCE, If Washington Wants Lower Gas Prices, It Should Get Out of the Way. It should, but it won't. Its power comes from meddling.

At NYPo, California’s fraud problem is so bad the DOJ will ‘never have enough’ prosecutors to fight it. Really his a few hard, and it will make many of the rest look for safer grifts. Mike Solana @micsolana, "glad we're mainstreaming a conversation on california's rail disaster, as it's the gateway to understanding why america can't build anymore. but the msm is still afraid to spell it out: the purpose was never to build rail, but to buy union votes. in this, the dems succeeded." Quote 60 Minutes @60Minutes, "An ambitious state-run high-speed rail project linking Los Angeles and San Francisco hasn’t stayed on track. 60 Minutes reports on the costly struggle to bring high-speed rail to the United States, Sunday. http://60Minutes.com."

From the Free Bacon, Maine Democrat Graham Platner Called Jesus a 'Zombie' and the Virgin Mary 'a Skank' in Unearthed Reddit Post "'I've been about as crudely atheist as one can be,' Senate candidate wrote." At Althouse, "Candidates and incumbents should center each day on content creation.... creating output tailored specifically for TikTok or Instagram or YouTube." ""It means several hours a day filming in campaign offices — even candidates’ homes.... Successful candidates understand they are putting on a permanent show...Writes David Plouffe, in "Always Be Posting: The New Rules for Democratic Candidates" (NYT)."

Wall Street Apes @WallStreetApes, "A company was paid more than 6 figures to bring in trucks and setup the No Kings Day protest at the Capitol in St Paul, Minnesota “We provided the stage, the sound, the lighting and contracted in all the generators and infrastructure and video towers and set them up for the No Kings three rally at the Capitol” “We brought in, oh, about about a hundred speakers, which are kind of over here and all the electrical infrastructure — it had to have been 30 different trucks worth of stuff that came” The company was Slamhammer Sound & Roadcase Co, they talk about the logistics and equipment used during the 'No Kings' protest in St Paul, Minnesota on March 28, 2026 It’s always paid and highly organized." DataRepublican (small r) @DataRepublican, "As fun as it is to see ActBlue exposed, one must always ask the motives when legacy media seemingly puts crosshairs on its own. It’s long been a goal of the “democracy” camp to overturn Citizens United and ban PAC money. Here’s the catch: they want to replace it with union money and taxpayer-funded money schemes much like the NGO gaming of subsidized campaigns which allowed Mamdani to win in NYC. They more or less are moving towards a total monopoly on campaign funds for Democrats. Yes, let’s enjoy the collapse of ActBlue. But beware." Quote Peter Schweizer @peterschweizer, "NYTimes report on Dark Money in politics: "In the 2024 election cycle, over 40 percent of the nearly $2 billion raised by the largest Democratic super PACs came from entities that did not disclose their donors, according to the Times analysis. That was twice the rate of the largest Republican super PACs that cycle."

Sundance seems concerned that Asst Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon Campaigns Hard to Replace Pam Bondi.

Erick Florack at PJM goes there, The Islamic Immigrant Problem. AG @AGHamilton29, "A+ dad. Lowlife antisemite decided to randomly threaten a dad and two kids because they were Jewish. The dad rightly pulled out his gun and held him at gunpoint until the police got there and arrested the aggressor. Also will note this as a good example of why it’s good to live in a place like Florida. There are definitely some states/cities where the dad would have been the one arrested." Quote Unlimited L's @unlimited_ls, "NEW: Muslim man arrested after calling a Jewish family “dirty people” at a Miami Beach park and then claiming he had First Amendment rights Ahmad Zeeshan, 32, reportedly asked, "Are you guys Jewish?" and after confirmation yelled, "Get the fk out of here, you fking dirty people." Zeeshan allegedly threatened to attack the father, who pulled a gun after feeling his and his children’s safety was at risk. Both men called police. Zeeshan said the father threatened him with a gun, while the father said Zeeshan was yelling anti-Semitic slurs."

Driscoll calls it a GENIUS MOVE: Did ICE Just Use the DMV as Bait to Lure Illegal Alien Truck Drivers? The Drunk Republican @DrunkRepub, “Now have ICE operate the DMVs.” PJM's Cathy Salgado, Dem Senator Mourns Criminal ‘Asylum Seeker’ Who Caused Big Pileup While Fleeing ICE. "Democrat Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is shedding crocodile tears over an “asylum seeker” who was “driving to work” when “he was rear-ended by an ICE vehicle.” The real story? He was an illegal alien with a years-old final deportation order who caused a massive vehicle pile-up while fleeing immigration officers. And the illegal alien caused severe injuries to immigration officers, too." Behold my Senator. Bill Melugin @BillMelugin_, "BREAKING: DHS tells @FoxNews that this “asylum seeker” is actually a Honduran illegal alien who has had a final deportation order since 2018, & when ICE targeted him in Baltimore, he fled in his vehicle at high speeds, slammed on his brakes and caused a multi car pileup, then he bailed out and ran away on foot before being chased down and arrested. DHS says two ICE agents were hospitalized as a result of the crash, and they are accusing Sen. Van Hollen (D-MD) of misrepresenting what happened here." Quote Senator Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollen, " Ever Alvarenga, an asylum seeker, was driving to work Thursday morning when he was rear-ended by an ICE vehicle. He is still in the hospital after suffering significant injuries to his head, chest, back, & hands. After the accident, he was detained & ICE now refuses to allow his attorneys to meet with him privately, a clear denial of the due process rights afforded to all under our Constitution. ICE tactics are endangering our communities & violating the Constitution."

AG @AGHamilton29, "In the 1970’s, the KGB put together an operational plan for undermining America via informational warfare and ideological subversion: “To change the perception of reality of every American to such an extent that no one is able to come to sensible conclusions in the interest of defending themselves, their family, their community, and their country” That same strategy has been actively deployed by America’s enemies with the assistance of some people at home now..." Quote, Jamie Weinstein @Jamie_Weinstein, "What’s incredible about the response to this tweet is a bunch of prominent figures just openly admitting, “yea, we are rooting against America in Iran.” Saying essentially Iran has the moral high ground." At Twitchy, SHOUT IT! Gene Simmons Taking on HORDE of Angry, Mouth-Breathing, Anti-American Trolls Is GLORIOUS and Stephen King Sweeps the Bad Timing Awards With an EPIC Fail About Trump's Situation Room.

Kyle Becker @kylenabecker, "This is all intentional. Race relations were actually improving until the second term of Obama. Then the propaganda media activated the Ferguson/BLM playbook — straight out of Critical Race Theory — and it's been downhill ever since." Quote The Rabbit Hole @TheRabbitHole, "In the 2010s: - Focus on Race up, - Race Relations down."

Jonathan Turley sees Poison Ivey: Chicago Bulls Release Forward After He Speaks Out Against Pride Month "This week, the Chicago Bulls waived guard Jaden Ivey for “conduct detrimental to the team.” No, Ivey did not assault anyone or gamble on games. He did not call for violence. Ivey expressed his opposing religious beliefs, including criticizing the NBA’s Pride Month celebrations."