Flotsam and Jetsam - US Navy Fires On, Captures Iranian Blockade Runner

Dave Manney at PJM, Iran Pushes Too Far in Hormuz, and the U.S. Pushes Back. Nick Ballasy at JTN reports Trump says US has ‘full custody’ of Iranian-flagged ship, ‘seeing what’s on board’ ""The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engineroom,” Trump wrote." Sundance at CTH sees President Trump Angered by Ongoing Military Fire from IRGC into Strait of Hormuz. Nick Arama at RedState, More Brave Cruise Ships Just Thumbed Their Noses at the IRGC in the Strait of Hormuz. Four cruise ships trapped in the Gulf by the war, escaped around the Omani side, at least one may have been fired on.

Shamim Mafi

At News Wax, Rick Scott: Trump Has Authority to Act Against Iran Threats. Richard Pollock looks at The Democrats Fading Credibility On Iran. "Donald Trump has been underestimated by Tehran and by the Democrats." Nick Arama notices Stefanik Shreds Liberal Media Host in Heated Exchange Over 'Genocide' in Iran and Viral Trump Post, JakeTapper. A Hat Hair vid calls out Democrats Playing Politics With National Security. Siaxares سیاکسارِس @siaxares, "Speaking as someone inside Iran who stayed connected through Starlink during the total internet blackout, I want to say this loud and clear: President Trump’s recent video on Truth Social — showing Iranian protesters writing “President Trump please help” on walls, waving Lion and Sun flags alongside American flags, replaying raw footage of the revolution and saying “I’m with you, I will fight for you and I will win for you” — is music to our ears. The flames of the Lion and Sun uprising have not died down. They are simply waiting for the right moment to roar again. It was @realDonaldTrump, alongside @netanyahu and @PahlaviReza who told us to stay in our homes, stay safe, and wait until help arrives and Operation Epic Fury is complete. That’s exactly what millions of us have been doing..." Cathy Salgado at PJM reports U.S. Arrests Iranian Arms Trafficker at Los Angeles Airport "Shamim Mafi became a lawful permanent resident of our country back in 2016, but since our immigration system has long been broken and many foreign criminals and terrorists have slipped through the cracks, it is not entirely shocking to find out she remained loyal to the dictatorial regime she escaped instead of the free country that took her in. First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli shared the news of her arrest April 19 and some details about Mafi’s case."

Da Mail, Pope Leo says 'tyrant' remarks were not aimed at Donald Trump after President hit out at Catholic leader. Sarah Hoyt at Insty, THE REMARKS WERE PREPARED TWO WEEKS AGO, AND WERE IN CAMEROON WHERE I HEAR THROUGH MY CONTACTS, HIS APPEARANCE IS THOUGHT TO HAVE DONE A LOT OF GOOD: Pope Leo says remarks about world being ‘ravaged by a ​handful of tyrants’ were not aimed at Trump: report. Vice President Vance later thanked the pope for clearing the record and MOSTLY BECAUSE THEY DID: "’60 Minutes’ accused of using left-leaning Cardinals to bait Trump into feud with Vatican. Raymond Arroyo labeled the media strategy ‘pope-a-doping,’ saying it was designed to provoke a White House-Vatican clash." Northern Barbarian @xnoesbueno, "I'd like to know how they got to him. It's not just that, being from Chicago, he suddenly remembered all Chicago pols are rat bastards. They got to him. Something subtle. Can't have been the Catholic Charities thing, that predated Pope Leo XIV's inauguration as a Chicago pol. What was it. Whatever it was, Trump did it the Chicago way." Quote JD Vance @JDVance "I am grateful to Pope Leo for saying this. While the media narrative constantly gins up conflict–and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen–the reality is often much more complicated. Pope Leo preaches the gospel, as he should, and that will inevitably mean he offers his opinions on the moral issues of the day. The President–and the entire administration–work to apply those moral principles in a messy world. He will be in our prayers, and I hope that we'll be in his." NYPo, A clash between the pope and Trump was inevitable — but let us not choose between the heart and the head.

Ars Technica shocked Trump picks qualified, normal health leader to head CDC; experts still cautious. Hat Hair's Salena Zito is pleased to reports Kash Patel and Sen. David McCormick Team Up to Fight Fentanyl in Pennsylvania. 

Francis Sempka at Am Spec, examines Trumpian Geoeconomics and Indo-Pacific Geopolitics, "Trump has actually — as opposed to rhetorically — pivoted to Asia." VodkaPundit at Insty IS HONESTLY FLABBERGASTED THE ECONOMIST REPORTED A TRUTH: Drew Pavlou @DrewPavlou, "The Economist went from condemning Trump’s Venezuela policy to praising it in 3 months. January 10: “THE DONROE DELUSION.” April 16: “Donald Trump has made Venezuela a better place.”" No Pasaran! remembers In the Beginning, America's Democrats and the Europeans Alike Strongly Supported Israel; What Happened? The Jews Had the Gall to Stop Acting Like Communists.

Althouse notices What does an arch mean? If Trump, fascism. If Mamdani, warmth and friendliness.

Twitchy, Property Punishment: Mayor Zohran Mamdani Is Giddy Over Plan to Tax the Homes Away From Home of the Rich. Gooder and harder. Victory Girls object to Wheels On The Marxist Bus: Obama And Mamdani Meet Using Toddlers As Props. Lousy props; they're too wiggly. John Stossell at Hat Hair, Little Kids, Big Government. CJ calls NYC the Unresilient City "Even as the economy risks recession, New York keeps piling on spending that will be hard to cut." Libs of TikTok @libsoftiktok, "The dude with the nazi tattoo is now doing nazi salutes?? Where’s the outrage from @CNN @MSNBC @nytimes @AP?? The media were more upset at @elonmusk doing a hand gesture from his heart than they are at this."Tom Shattuck @tomshattuc, "Liz Warren runs through a parade of elected Socialists, culminating with Maine’s National Socialist contender."

Don Surber observes Even electricity is leaving blues states "Reddy Kilowatt packed its power plant and headed for Texas, which welcomes gas-powered electric plants. The company that owns two-thirds of that plant is hauling away the equipment that will generate 900 megawatts of power for Texans. This is the reaction to the 2021 Climate & Equitable Jobs Act, which the Chicago Tribune called “one of Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature accomplishments, requires Illinois to phase out the burning of fossil fuels for electricity by 2045 and sets an earlier 2030 deadline for closing certain gas-fired plants.” Industry goes where it's valued.

Hat Hair's Larry Elder asks about The Implosion of Eric Swalwell: What Was He Thinking? I reject the assumption he was thinking. Matt Vespa at TownHall knows Politico Had Swalwell Dead to Rights in 2019. What Happened? But you really know what happened, they decided they couldn't hurt the Democrats.

Tom Knighton at BA is amazed at a Gun Control Activist Calling on Fellow Travelers to Say Quiet Part Out Loud. "Murray makes it clear that the term "gun control" puts more on the table for her and her allies, which probably means things like gun confiscation and gun bans, to say nothing of gun registration and other incredibly problematic things that most gun-grabbers have spent years trying to distance themselves from, at least publicly."

Margot Cleveland @ProfMJCleveland, "The fact that you who are reading this care as much as you do about prospective SCOTUS vacancies is an indictment of how far afield our Constitutional system has strayed. There was a time when the Republic did not wait with bated breath every summer to learn whether a justice would retire, or ghoulishly check the actuarial tables against the justices’ ages. That was when the Court restricted itself to the proper (if somewhat dull) task of applying the law made by others. But somewhere along the way justices (Thomas and Alito are notable exceptions) discovered that it is far more exciting to make up your own laws. You can even remake society in your own image! So the next time you check SCOTUS retirement rumors, take a moment to remember WHY you are checking — whereas finding out the identity of the next justice as contemplated by the Founders might be interesting, finding out your next tyrant-in-robes is life-changing." Josh Blackmun at The Volokh Conspiracy wants Roberts to resign as Chief Justice, but not as Justice, The Chief Justice Behind The Curtains "why would I tell Roberts--someone I agreed with about 90% of the time--to step down? The answer was a failure of leadership that was visible through publicly available information." Gene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy, "Unserious Leaders Are Unsafe," Opines a Federal Judge About RFK, Jr. " I'm not knowledgeable enough on the substance to speak to the administrative law issues here, I'm no fan of Kennedy, and it would certainly not surprise me that the Administration's actions here were inconsistent with federal law. But my tentative sense is that, whatever one might personally think about Kennedy's seriousness, judges' decisions are more credible when those decisions focus solely on the law, rather than deciding which of our leaders are serious."

Shipwreckedcrew reports Former D.C. U.S. Attorney Joe diGenova Takes Over Leadership of "Grand Conspiracy" Investigation in Florida -- Why That Is Necessary. "DOJ lacks numbers in a certain demographic of federal prosecutors - conservatives between 45 and 60 with wear on the tires but a wealth of experience gained in building big cases in the past." From Sundance, AAG Todd Blanche Moves diGenova and DeLorenz to South Florida Group Assisting USAO Jason Reding Quiñones and on Sunday Talks – Maria Bartiromo Questions FBI Director Kash Patel About Ongoing Issues. Matt Margolis want to know Will This Atlantic Hit Piece Be the Final Straw? Accuses Patel of being a drunk.

At Shooting News Week, The DOJ Has Warned Virginia About Its Anti-Gun Jihad. From Fox, DOJ sues six states for refusing to turn over voter registration rolls, warns ‘open defiance’ of federal law. "Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington accused of violating federal election laws."

MassDailyNews, Pressley blasted for making up statistic that 20% of healthcare workers are Haitian — the actual number is 0.6% That's fair; after all 95% of all statistics are made up.