Conservative Blogger
Sunday, May 10, 2026
The History of Mother’s Day: From Global Peace to Greeting Cards
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Mother’s Day in the United States has a history all its own—and it’s more complicated than greeting cards might lead you to believe. There were repeated efforts to establish a Mother’s Day holiday and conflicting ideas about what it should stand for and how it should be observed. From a call for women to improve global policymaking and seek peace to a day to honor women’s work and role in the family, the history of the holiday reveals multiple insights into how mothers shape the world. Julia Ward Howe, best known as the author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” was an abolitionist, a women’s rights advocate, and a peace activist. In 1870, horrified by the death and destruction she had witnessed during the Civil War and concerned by the Franco-Prussian war unfolding abroad, Howe issued what has come to be known as her “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” originally called an “Appeal to womanhood throughout the world.” In it, Howe urged the creation of an international body of women who could find ways to avoid war and bloodshed: “I earnestly ask that a general congress of women, without limit of nationality, may be appointed … to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.” When that didn’t happen, Howe sought to establish an annual Mother’s Day for Peace, to be celebrated in June. That did happen in a few places, for a while. The version of Mother’s Day celebrated today is more directly rooted in the work of Ann Jarvis and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, who established the holiday to honor her mother. Frustratingly for the younger Jarvis, most people don’t celebrate it today the way she intended. Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis (1832–1905) bore more than a dozen children. Most of the children died from diseases such as diphtheria or measles, which were common during her day in the Appalachian area of Virginia (later West Virginia) where she lived. Jarvis worked hard in her community to try to help other mothers and families avoid the tragedies she had suffered. Part of a national public health movement populated in large part by women reformers, Jarvis organized “Mothers’ Work Clubs” and promoted special “Mother’s Work Days,” when women would collaboratively collect trash and undertake other projects to improve local environmental conditions and their neighbors’ understanding of hygiene. The focus of Jarvis’ work changed when war struck. Her region was deeply divided by the Civil War. Local soldiers fought on both sides of the conflict, and guerilla warfare was rampant. Jarvis insisted that the women’s groups she organized help both Confederate and Union troops who were sick or wounded, and she worked to promote peace and unity following the war. In 1868, despite threats of violence, she organized a “Mother’s Friendship Day” to bring families from both sides of the war together to try to restore a sense of community. It’s possible that Howe’s proclamation two years later was inspired by Jarvis; the two knew each other. At the very least, Jarvis and Howe shared the belief that women—and especially mothers—were best suited to bring people together with a goal of peace. After Ann Jarvis’ death, her daughter, Anna Jarvis (1864–1948), set out to honor her mother’s legacy by establishing a national Mothers’ Day on the second Sunday in May, the day her mother had died. Anna, who never married or had children of her own, did not focus the holiday on peace activism but on the idea of honoring one’s own mother. She chose white carnations as an emblem and urged people to write heartfelt letters of gratitude to their mothers (in Anna Jarvis’ eyes, sending a pre-printed card didn’t count). Anna succeeded in her quest for official recognition, and President Wilson issued a proclamation of the first national Mother’s Day just before the start of World War I in 1914. Anna Jarvis, however, soon grew discontented as she noted increasing commercialization of the celebration. What she had wanted to be an earnest “holy day” had become, in her eyes, a crass holiday benefitting florists and greeting card companies more than honoring the mothering work done by women. Anna was so distraught over the way Americans observed the holiday she had worked hard to establish that she started a petition to have it recalled in 1943. Five years later she died penniless in a sanitarium where her bills were paid by the same greeting card companies and florists she despised. Mother’s Day provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on and honor the role of mothers in our own families and in the rich and complicated history of our nation. |
Iran Ceasefire Tested as Cargo Ship Catches Fire and Kuwait Reports Drone Attack
The United Arab Emirates said Sunday it intercepted two Iranian drones in its airspace in the latest test of a shaky ceasefire. The Defense Ministry in the oil-rich nation said there were no reports of casualties. It comes the same day a drone strike started a small blaze aboard a commercial ship off the coast of Qatar and Kuwait said it fended off a drone attack. Earlier story: The shaky ceasefire in the Iran war was tested again on Sunday when a cargo ship caught fire after being hit by an unknown projectile off Qatar’s coast, and Kuwait's military reported an attack by drones, without specifying where they came from. The attacks were the latest threats to a month-old ceasefire, which the Trump administration says remains in effect. It has faced difficulties, with Iran restricting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway key to the global flow of oil, and the U.S. imposing a blockade of Iranian ports. Washington has been awaiting Iran’s response to a new proposal for a deal to end the war, reopen the strait to shipping and roll back Iran’s nuclear program. One of the main sticking points in the negotiations is the fate of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The U.N. nuclear agency says Iran has more than 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. In an interview with Iranian state media, a spokesman for the Iranian military said that forces were on “full readiness” to protect nuclear sites where the uranium is stored. “We considered it possible that they might intend to steal it through infiltration operations or heliborne operations,” Brig. Gen. Akrami Nia told the IRNA news agency late Saturday. He didn’t offer further details. The majority of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is likely still at its Isfahan nuclear complex, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi told The Associated Press last month. The Isfahan facility was bombarded by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war last year, and faced less intense attacks in this year’s war. In Sunday’s naval attack, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said that the strike caused a small fire on the ship, which was extinguished. The attack happened 23 nautical miles (43 kilometers) northeast of Qatar’s capital, Doha, the UKMTO said. There were no reported casualties, it said. It gave no details on the owner or origin of the ship, and there was no claim of responsibility. But there have been several attacks against ships in the Persian Gulf over the past week. On Friday, the U.S. struck two Iranian oil tankers after it said that the vessels were trying to breach its blockade of Iran’s ports. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard navy on Sunday reiterated its warning that any attack on Iranian oil tankers or commercial vessels would be met with a “heavy assault” on one of the U.S. bases in the region and enemy ships. In Kuwait, Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al Otaibi said that hostile drones entered Kuwait’s airspace early Sunday, and that forces responded “in accordance with established procedures.” There were no immediate reports of casualties. President Donald Trump has reiterated threats to resume full-scale bombing, if Iran doesn’t accept an agreement to reopen the strait and roll back its nuclear program. Iran has mostly blocked the critical waterway for global energy since joint strikes on Feb. 28 by the U.S. and Israel launched the war, which has caused a global spike in fuel prices and rattled world markets. |
Surprise, Surprise: Company Handling Gavin Newsom's Diaper Boondoggle Has Link to First Partner Jennifer
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On Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom preened and glowed as he announced his latest "affordability" initiative: through a partnership with the non-profit Baby2Baby, California hospitals will supply free diapers to parents of newborns.
The press release from the Office of the California Governor was positively ecstatic:
And the glossy press conference was over the top. WATCH: It is ironic that the state that rushed to codify abortion into its
constitution and pushed through $90 million in "emergency funding" for
California Planned Parenthood, now cares about what happens when an
actual birth is allowed to occur. Newsom is thirsty to appear
presidential, and to cover up his failed governance of the past eight years. He also takes every opportunity to try and one-up President Donald Trump (CalRX? Seriously?!), who is touring the nation ahead of the midterms to tout the benefits of his economic agenda. So, Newsom is pretending that he actually cares about affordability in one of the most expensive and overtaxed states in the union. Now, the governor has found something else on which to waste the taxpayers' money, which he has less to play with thanks to the exodus of people who actually earn and pay taxes rather than depend on government largesse. Media Research Center (MRC) Video's Managing Editor, Brittany Hughes, broke down exactly how much of a waste this program will be.
Where have we seen this before? Oh, yes, with the California Cannabis Tax Fund shell game which CalDOGE exposed. As RedState reported:
Of course, those purported community organizations which received grants were merely fronts for Democrat and progressive causes. Newsom loves to do this, and it appears Baby2Baby is uniquely positioned to handle this latest boondoggle. Read More: With CALDOGE's Exposure of Newsom's Cannabis Fraud, Steve Hilton Could Sail Right Into Governorship California's High-Speed Rail Project Says 'Hold My Beer,' Manages to Get Horribly, Comically Worse But
it goes deeper. Peering under the hood of this partnership with
Baby2Baby is revealing, to say the least. Norah Weinstein, the co-CEO of
Baby2Baby, just happens to be on the board of The California Partners
Project, one of First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom's It's the grift that keeps on giving.
Dive Deeper: Yikes: Jennifer Newsom Goes Full Angry AWFL on Female Reporters; Even Gavin Seemed Embarrassed Jennifer Siebel Newsom's Sermon on Respecting Women in Media Ignores Some Inconvenient Facts Yet another conflict of interest that gets bypassed because hey, it's Gavin and Jen. Peter B also does the math on this scheme, which he rightly deems as "peak government stupidity."
We must ensure that this corrupt pair never gets anywhere near the White House. |
BACKUS: They're Telling You Exactly What They'll Do but Is Anyone Listening?
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James Carville has always been known for many things, but being subtle isn’t one of them. The Democratic strategist responsible for putting Bill Clinton in the White House is now telling Democrats to cut past the faux-moderate messaging and just downright commit to their radical agenda. Maybe he thought he was just whispering into their ears, but conservatives heard it, and if they’re smart, they could use this as the most honest campaign ad they’ll ever get for completely free of charge. On a recent episode of the Politicon podcast, Carville laid out the Democratic power agenda straight out for the hosts. What came next was a confession not even AOC, Bernie Sanders, or Zohran Mamdani would dare say out loud on a debate stage. Carville’s message to the Democrats on the ballot in 2026: a progressive fantasy that your friends voting for Obama in 2008 would tell you “not to worry about.” If Democrats retake Congress and the White House, he said, they should move immediately to grant statehood to Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, adding four reliably Democrat Senate seats overnight. Pack the Supreme Court from nine justices to thirteen, installing four more left-wing activists in lifetime appointments. And reopen the southern border while granting blanket amnesty to every single person who entered this country illegally. “Don’t run on it. Don’t talk about it,” said Carville. “Just do it.” Carville isn’t some Keith Olbermann, left-wing carnival barker posting to X. This isn’t a right-wing fever dream; we’re talking about one of the most connected, most influential strategists in politics yesterday and today literally telling his colleagues in the Democratic Party to act and say whatever is necessary to win at the ballot box. RELATED: The Great Leftist Pivot to the Center Is Upon Us — and It's All a Lie Watch: Speaker Exposes Dems’ Deadly Priorities - Illegals First Court-packing, for one, isn’t a reform; it’s a hostile takeover. A branch even Democrats today say needs to be insulated from political winds is their direct target. During Kamala Harris’s own presidential campaign, she would not publicly state whether or not she would pack the SCOTUS, and her silence was enough for millions of Americans to make a choice on that issue alone. The moment you can simply add justices until you get the rulings you want, the rule of law ceases to exist. It becomes rule by whoever holds power, and the Democrats are telling you, in plain English, that's exactly the point. Statehood for D.C. and Puerto Rico is a smokescreen hiding behind the banner of “representation” too. If it were truly about representation, Democrats would have been screaming about it for decades regardless of the political math. This is about engineering a permanent Senate majority. It's about making elections a formality. It's about locking in control so that no matter how the country votes, the outcome is already decided. And the border? We've lived that nightmare. We watched it unfold in real time. Carville and his allies want to codify it, not just reopen it, erasing any legal distinction between citizenship and illegal entry. Mass amnesty isn't compassion. Here's what makes my blood boil: There are people on our side, self-described conservatives, who are out there right now telling voters to sit this one out. Whether it's frustration with the party, a primary grudge, or some other performative measure, the message is the same: Don't bother voting in the midterms. I have a message for them: You don't get to stay home, hand them the keys to the kingdom, and then act outraged when they use them. Carville himself meant it as a blueprint, not a warning. I've spent my career in newsrooms, on campaigns, and in the boardrooms of organizations fighting for this country's future. I have never, not once, seen a moment where the stakes were laid out clearly and openly by the other side. The only question left is whether conservatives are paying attention. Michelle Backus is the Spokesperson for Citizens Alliance.
You can follow her @MichelleBackus_ on X. |
Too Many Democrats Are a Special Kind of Stupid
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Poor Democrats, learning the hard way (and very late in life) that actions have consequences and you can’t always get what you want…no matter how loudly you scream about it or demand it. The modern left has morphed into a never-ending drum circle of hatred and contempt for their fellow human beings who do not wish to be assimilated into the progressive collective of blind obedience. Democrats are learning a lesson they should have learned after losing the Civil War: people don’t want to be slaves. But Democrats have never learned that lesson; they view people as groups they own the votes of and can manipulate in order to achieve their political goals. It has worked for a very long time, but it’s working less and less now. Part of the reason for their “coalition” fracture is that their policies are catching up to them. You can only promise to make things better for so long before people realize they’ve been getting steadily worse because of you, even Democrat voters. A bigger reason, however, is just how insane the party has gotten. Even stupid people will eventually realize you’re spitting in their faces while lecturing them about the rain. Many voters are reaching that point. How can anyone take seriously a party with a pundit like Harry Sisson,
who, after the Virginia Supreme Court beat the dreams of Democrats creating new House seats like it was their redheaded stepchild, tweeted, “If Virginia can’t have their maps, then other blue states need to step up. Eliminate all of the Republican seats like they’re doing to us.” Yes, genius, burn tens of millions more dollars trying to redraw deeper blue districts in New England, as the place where your control is absolute had gerrymandered everything decades ago. The only reason Republicans still have states they could gerrymander, and Democrats don’t, is because the GOP has been stupidly playing nice. No longer. Democrats brought this on themselves. I know they like to pretend “Texas started this!” But you have to have been denied oxygen in the birth canal to be that stupid. New England exists. New York’s redistricting exists; what California has been doing exists. Honestly, it’s about damn time Republicans stopped taking punches to the face and asking if the Democrats’ knuckles are OK and started hitting back. They can no longer segregate people into congressional districts, and they’re acting like it’s a return to Jim Crow. They know that’s not true; they were the creators of Jim Crow and know exactly what it was like then…and they want it back. More Black Members of Congress represent majority-white districts than don’t, but Democrats still insist the country is racist and merit will lead to a “lack of representation.” Sorry, but you don’t need to be represented by someone who looks like you; it’s much more important that you be represented by someone who thinks as you do. Democrats have been working diligently for decades to make sure that doesn’t happen. And they’re losing. But identity politics will not die easily; too much of the infrastructure of the left-wing industrial complex is built on it. Democrat U.S. Senate candidate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed — who famously fretted that people in my old neighborhood in Dearborn were very upset that the Ayatollah had been killed (instead of killing people) — is playing the “I’m Muslim” and “Jews are bad” cards in his campaign against candidates running on the “I’m a woman!” platform. Weird how liberal women can’t tell you what a woman is in any other aspect of life except where it benefits them, isn’t it? El-Sayed’s campaign is so desperate to mine that little bit of gold from the Democratic Party’s hatred of Jews and Israel that he put out a press release condemning alleged “dark money” for being spent through an ad-buying agency that apparently contracted with AIPAC – the American pro-Israel group – at some point. His press release read, in part, “The Center for Democratic Priorities bought the airtime via Waterfront Strategies, an agency that AIPAC-affiliated Super PACs, such as United Democracy Project, have worked with in the past.” Are you now, or have you ever been, to a restaurant that served matzo ball soup?
While it’s important to remember just how broken these people are, you have to keep in mind that their leadership is not stupid; they’re evil. They know what they’re doing and why: it benefits them. The voters who go along with it, even after everything we’ve seen and Democrats themselves have shown, are the special kind of stupid who need to be grateful breathing is a reflex, as they would forget how to do it otherwise and suffocate on the streets. Wise up already. |
Russian President Putin Says Russia-Ukraine War Is 'Coming to an End'
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Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters that he thinks the Russia-Ukraine war “is coming to an end.” The war started in February 2022. On Friday, President Donald Trump announced a three-day cease-fire. Roughly 1.8 million people have died in the war.
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Duffys fire back after Pete Buttigieg, husband attack new road trip TV series: 'Radical, miserable left'
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his wife, "Fox & Friends" co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, fired back on Friday after former Sec. Pete Buttigieg and his husband launched a barrage of attacks against the Duffys' upcoming "Great American Road Trip" reality TV series. The feud ignited Friday after the couple announced the new show on "Fox & Friends." Chasten Glezman Buttigieg quickly took to X to bash the project, accusing the Duffys of taking a "multi-month, taxpayer-funded family road trip" while gas and grocery prices soar due to "Trump's war of choice." He went on to call the couple "unfocused, unserious, and out of touch," and aired old grievances about the Duffys' past criticism of Pete Buttigieg working from his son's ICU bedside. Pete Buttigieg joined in on the attack on X, adding, "I love a good road trip, but this is brutally out of touch: a Trump Cabinet member making a documentary about himself while regular families can’t afford road trips anymore, because Trump and his war put gas prices through the roof." Rachel Campos-Duffy replied to Chasten Buttigieg's post, telling him to "stand down," and clarifying the production was funded entirely by a nonprofit, The Great American Road Trip, Inc. She said her family participated for free to celebrate America's 250th birthday and noted the series was filmed in short one- and two-day stops over seven months. "You and I both know that my husband has done more in one year to transform the DOT and ATC than your husband did in over 4 years on the job," Campos-Duffy said. Sean Duffy waited until Saturday to deliver a blistering response, claiming the "radical, miserable left" hates the series because it is "too wholesome," "too patriotic" and "too joyful." He confirmed career ethics and budget officials at the Department of Transportation fully reviewed and cleared his participation in accordance with federal rules, emphasized zero taxpayer dollars were used, and said filming took place strictly during short windows like weekends and his children's spring break. DOT CRACKS DOWN ON THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCKERS, AS AGENCY LOOKS TO HOLIDAY TRAVEL: DUFFY He also defended his fast-paced record at the DOT, highlighting modernized air traffic control, the removal of illegal truck drivers and a 20% annual increase in hiring controllers compared to his predecessor. Following the Duffys' corrections, Chasten Buttigieg pivoted his line of attack, reposting multiple creators on X Saturday who took aim at the road trip's corporate sponsors, which include DOT-regulated entities like Boeing, United Airlines, Toyota and Shell. The reposted critics alleged a conflict of interest, claiming the companies funded an "extended vacation" for the secretary. The posts also attempted to tie the sponsorships to claims that Duffy has halted safety standards, pardoned airlines that violated consumer laws, and hasn't fined a single airline in over a year.  Despite the political mudslinging and moving goalposts from critics, the Duffys continue encouraging families to ignore the "haters" and explore America's national parks and monuments ahead of the nation's 250th birthday. "Our message is really simple: to love America is to see America," Sec. Duffy said. "So put the phone down, hit the open road, and rediscover what makes America great." Alexandra Koch is a Fox News Digital journalist who covers breaking news, with a focus on high-impact events that shape national conversation. She has covered major national crises, including the L.A. wildfires, Potomac and Hudson River aviation disasters, Boulder terror attack, and Texas Hill Country floods |
Taxpayer-Only Spaces: Grand Prairie's Eid Event Sparks Controversy
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Taxpayers in Grand Prairie woke up to a jaw-dropping example of entitlement when a flyer for a private Eid celebration at the city-owned Epic Waters Indoor Waterpark circulated online proclaiming the event was “For Muslims only” and listing modest swimwear,
halal food and a private prayer area. That wasn’t a rumor or a partisan meme — the promotional material explicitly used exclusionary language before being quietly changed after backlash. This kind of sectarian carve-out at a taxpayer-funded facility is exactly why Americans are fed up with public officials who lose sight of the public interest. The event organizer, Aminah Knight, claimed the original wording was a private flyer that was never intended to shut anyone out and said she has since reworded the promotion to emphasize a “modest dress-only” policy and to welcome visitors who follow that code. Local reporting confirmed Knight’s explanation and noted she started the DFW Epic Eid two years ago as a family-centered gathering that previously rented the park for private, modestly dressed crowds. Whether you buy that explanation or not, the initial choice of words set off a legitimate debate about who public spaces belong to. Governor Greg Abbott
acted quickly and rightly, warning the city that it would lose roughly $530,000 in state public safety grants if officials did not cancel or properly revise the event by his May 11th deadline — a firm reminder that publicly funded facilities are not private enclaves for religious exclusivity. Officials scrambled to change the flyer to “all are welcome” while maintaining a dress code, and a number of outlets reported the event’s promotional material was altered amid mounting pressure. Elected leaders have to treat every taxpayer dollar as sacred, not hand public property to private factions. Conservatives should applaud anyone who draws a clear line: public parks, pools and waterparks belong to every taxpayer, period. Allowing closed, faith-based takeovers of government-owned venues sets a dangerous precedent where public dollars underwrite private religious preferences and carve out de facto no-go zones for other Americans. If left unchecked, this incremental privatization of public space will erode both fairness and the secular neutrality that keeps our diverse communities functioning. There’s also an uncomfortable double standard at play. Grassroots and church groups routinely rent municipal facilities without drawing threats about funding, which is exactly the point made by local officials who pushed back on the governor’s intervention — equal treatment and transparency should be the rule, not selective outrage. The right demand is simple: apply the same rules to everyone, enforce clear, religion-neutral policies for public rentals, and stop letting political theater decide who gets access to taxpayer-funded amenities. Grand Prairie’s leaders now face a choice: defend the commons for all citizens or allow special-interest carve-outs to become the new normal. Patriots who pay the bills must insist on openness, accountability and equal access — not backroom deals and ambiguous flyers that only get corrected after a national uproar. If our elected officials won’t protect neutral public spaces, voters must, and they’ll remember which officials stood for the people and which stood with special privileges. |
Dana White Stands Firm Against Media Pressure in Trump Defense
When Dana White sat down with Charlamagne tha God on The Breakfast Club this week, the conversation was predictable but revealing — Charlamagne tried to bully the UFC boss into denouncing President Trump, and White refused to play the media’s game. White calmly reminded listeners that Trump is the president and that friendship does not require public crucifixion, pushing back against the culture of performative outrage. The clip laid bare the tension between pop-media virtue signaling and real-world loyalty.
Conservatives should cheer White for refusing to be a political convenience for the left’s narrative factory; too often powerful men cave to the mob and pretend they were never friends with people the left dislikes. Charlamagne’s grilling was little more than a gotcha audition dressed as journalism — he wanted a soundbite, not nuance, and he got a straight answer instead. White’s posture was not blind adoration but blunt realism: he sees a bigger picture than cable-news catechism allows.
More than rhetoric was at stake: White told listeners he believes history will vindicate Trump’s presidency, and that some accomplishments aren’t obvious until later. That perspective matters because White has influence over millions of Americans who watch UFC, and he’s using that platform to push back against one-sided media coverage. The two men are even collaborating on high-profile events, including a planned UFC Fight Night on the White House lawn, signaling that conservative ideas are not confined to think tanks but live in popular culture.
Let’s be honest — the left’s response to any defense of Trump is reflexive hostility, and Charlamagne’s line of attack leaned on talking points about gas prices and foreign policy to shame loyalty into silence. Real patriots know that robust debate is healthy, but manufactured shaming from celebs and influencers is not the same as holding leaders accountable; it’s theater. If Charlamagne truly cared about working-class fans who love UFC, he’d sit down for an honest exchange of policy specifics instead of grandstanding.
This clash isn’t just about two personalities; it’s a snapshot of a larger cultural war where conservatives are finally refusing to be silenced by celebrity moralism. Dana White’s refusal to be a “yes man” to partisan pressure is a reminder that loyalty and principle can coexist — and that refusing to play the mob’s game is itself a brave act. Hardworking Americans should take note: culture and politics are converging in new ways, and leaders who stand their ground deserve support, not sneers.
Saturday, May 9, 2026
IRGC Tightens Grip, Imperiling Iran Peace Talks
Efforts to secure a broader peace deal between the United States and Iran are increasingly being complicated by the growing influence of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Analysts, diplomats, and even some U.S. officials have said that the militia group has emerged as the chief obstacle to meaningful negotiations. While Iranian civilian officials and some regime insiders have signaled interest in a negotiated settlement with Washington after weeks of military confrontation and economic turmoil, the IRGC appears determined to maintain a hard-line posture that preserves its power and regional leverage, according to reporting Friday by the New York Post. The Post reported that the paramilitary force — long considered the regime’s most powerful institution — has continued exerting decisive influence over Tehran’s strategy even as U.S. and Iranian intermediaries inch toward a tentative cease-fire framework. Secretary of State Marco Rubio
said Friday the Trump administration was still awaiting Iran’s formal response to the latest peace proposal, which has been shuttled between the sides through Pakistani mediators. Rubio told reporters the White House hoped Tehran would “seriously engage” with the framework despite continued military incidents in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to The Guardian. According to multiple reports, negotiators are working from a proposed 14-point framework that would establish a temporary 30- to 60-day cease-fire, reopen portions of the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, impose new limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment activities and create a path toward phased sanctions relief. The New York Post reported that discussions also include provisions addressing the fate of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, U.S. naval operations in the Gulf and possible international monitoring mechanisms intended to prevent renewed attacks on shipping traffic. But the truce underpinning the negotiations has repeatedly shown signs of strain. The Guardian reported Friday that exchanges of fire in the Strait of Hormuz this week again raised fears the cease-fire could collapse before a final agreement is reached. The Washington Post separately reported that U.S. forces struck two Iranian-flagged tankers accused of attempting to breach the American naval blockade, while Iran accused Washington of sabotaging diplomacy through continued military action. Iranian missile and drone attacks targeting the United Arab Emirates earlier this week also underscored how volatile the situation remains despite ongoing negotiations, according to reporting from The War Zone. President Donald Trump has insisted the cease-fire remains intact
even after Iranian forces launched attacks on three U.S. Navy destroyers
in the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week.
Trump dismissed the incident as “a love tap” because no American ships were damaged and no U.S. personnel were killed, according to the New York Post.
Still, critics and foreign policy analysts argued the attacks demonstrated how fragile the truce has become and how easily hard-line factions inside Iran could derail the negotiations. But analysts say the IRGC has little incentive to support rapid normalization with Washington because prolonged confrontation enhances the organization’s political standing, economic influence and security authority inside Iran. “The IRGC benefits from a siege environment,” Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said in analysis cited by the New York Post. Vaez argued that the war and Hormuz crisis effectively handed Tehran “a weapon of mass disruption” through its ability to threaten global shipping lanes. Reuters, in background reporting on the Revolutionary Guard’s expanding role, has described the organization as a “state within a state” that exercises sweeping influence over Iran’s military, economy and political system, in some cases eclipsing the country’s clerical establishment. The internal power struggle inside Tehran appears to have intensified after the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei earlier this year and the rise of his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, amid wartime turmoil. Analysts cited in multiple reports have argued the succession crisis accelerated IRGC consolidation behind hard-line commanders and security elites. Güney Yıldız, writing in Forbes and cited in broader reporting on the conflict’s aftermath, said Mojtaba Khamenei’s elevation appeared to reflect “IRGC consolidation behind a pliant figurehead.” The Guard’s influence has also complicated attempts by outside mediators to stabilize the region after months of clashes involving the U.S., Israel and Iranian-backed proxy groups. The Guardian reported Friday that diplomats and mediators remain concerned hard-liners inside Tehran could undermine any tentative cease-fire arrangement by provoking fresh confrontations in the Strait of Hormuz or through proxy attacks elsewhere in the Middle East. Trump has maintained pressure on Tehran while also signaling openness to a negotiated outcome. The president recently said Iran appeared prepared to discuss restrictions on its nuclear ambitions while warning military strikes could resume if Tehran abandons diplomacy, according to The Guardian. Even so, several analysts warned that any agreement reached with civilian Iranian negotiators could still face resistance from IRGC commanders who view reconciliation with Washington as a direct threat to their authority. Navid Kermani, a scholar cited in reporting on the conflict’s impact inside Iran, argued the war did not weaken the regime so much as make it “more brutal,” with security institutions emerging even stronger amid the crisis. That assessment has fueled growing concern among Western diplomats that Iran’s internal power balance may now favor factions more interested in preserving permanent confrontation than achieving a durable peace settlement. © 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved. |
If You Want to See How Cowardly Liberals Can Be, Here's Starmer's Reaction to His Party's Massive Loss
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The Labour Party just suffered a massive loss; so far, the count has shown them losing a ton of seats in the local elections in the United Kingdom.
What was even better was who won, as we reported, referencing some harsh cope from the New York Times:
READ MORE: The Left Got Absolutely Destroyed in Thursday's UK Elections, but Who Won Is Even Better News Funny how people don't like unchecked immigration and the problems that come with that, among the other problems that the leftist Labour Party and Prime Minister Keir Starmer embraced. Labour lost even in places that had traditionally been their strongholds, which indicates they've lost the workers. The mess in the U.K. is where we could be heading if we had continued along the Democrat path and elected Kamala Harris instead of Donald Trump. So if you're Prime Minister Keir Starmer, what you would traditionally do is resign, and someone more in line with what the people want would emerge. But instead of doing
that, listen as Starmer indicates he's not resigning and he's just
going to double down on what has already failed.
He's going to "lay out the steps" for the change that people want. You know that he and his party haven't delivered during the time they've already been in office. Don't worry, they really mean it this time. Starmer is too cowardly to do the right thing. He's more concerned with his own power. We've already seen how feckless Starmer is in relation to his response on Iran, failing to stand with us properly to deal with a terrorist regime. READ MORE: Pure Gold: Watch Starmer Concede They Finally Have to Do Something About Strait But if he stays, he's likely to make Labour even weaker. Starmer was ratioed for being so clueless and cowardly. Rightly so. |
Iran Seizes a Tanker and Suffers New Problem - What's Hilarious Is Who That Cargo Belongs To
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Iran took an action on Friday that had a lot of people scratching their heads because it didn't make a lot of sense. They announced that they had seized a tanker.
Wow, that sounds pretty bold. Except for one thing. It's a tanker, sanctioned by the U.S., carrying Iranian oil. Tehran said the tanker was "exploiting regional conditions." Their state media said the tanker had been turned over to judicial authorities. This may be one of the funniest things the Iranians have done so far. So it appears that either they seized a tanker shipping their own oil in the wake of the U.S. attacks on them on Thursday, to appear tough and make it look like they were doing something. Or someone running their oil even believed he could get over on the regime by moving stuff against what Iranian leadership wanted. Take your pick. Either way, it's hilarious. And are they stepping on the Chinese in the process, since it's reportedly "Chinese-managed"? They made what would appear to be a big boo-boo earlier in the week, firing on a Chinese tanker, which couldn't have made the Chinese happy. READ MORE: Iran Attacks Our Ships, and U.S. Makes the Regime Regret It Chinese-Owned Tanker Attacked, Set on Fire Near Hormuz Amid Iran Conflict Then, too, there was another report that may indicate a big problem for the Iranian regime.
More details on the problem:
One expert speculated there may have been an issue as the regime tries to use floating storage to not shut down or damaging their system.
Others speculated the regime might be releasing oil into the Gulf to avoid having to shut down the system. If that's true, they are really at the point of being up a creek without a paddle. |
Oh, So That's Why a Utah Supreme Court Judge Resigned
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You know the axiom: Perception is reality in politics. Whether something is based on fact or fiction, if people think you’re corrupt or if your overall image looks bad, it could be your downfall. For Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen, the lesson was learned the hard way, as she resigned from the bench following accusations of an improper relationship with an attorney who was involved in this case that led to a pro-Democrat congressional map getting approved
Hagen Letter of Resignation by Robert Gehrke I mean, you could’ve done that, lady, if you weren’t sleeping around…allegedly. Backstory: a local judge, Dianna Gibson, ordered new maps to be drawn after nullifying one created by the Republican legislature. The same judge then approved another map proposed by the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, which the legislature appealed, claiming that Judge Gibson exceeded her authority. The Utah Supreme Court rejected the appeal in February, allowing this map to be used in the 2026 midterms. And now-former Utah Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen voted in favor. |
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