It's why I don't read Tolkien: I don't understand it. Oft Evil Will Shall Evil Mar
by Glenn Harlan Reynolds
The title to this essay is a line from Tolkien. But I'm also reminded of two distinct lines from Star Wars, paired:
If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
I dunno, I can imagine an awful lot.
Charlie Kirk was a powerful force. He went from campus to campus and he talked to people. Generally when he was debating, he would put his microphone down, to reassure his partner that he wasn’t going to talk over them. He was respectful, and he was highly effective. He played a major role in winning over Gen Z to the conservative side. That’s why he was killed — murdered. He was murdered not because he was “hateful,” or “extreme,” but because he was effective.
But now, even dead, he’s beating them, worse than he ever did when he was alive.
#1
I live here in AZ. On Sunday we met at TP USA and rode our bikes to the event, Rantburg was represented!!! The guy that organized the ride invited a few friends, about 30, over 500 bikes showed up. The local police saw this coming, hahaha, and was there in force. The closed the roads for us and escorted us on the freeways. Mom and pop riders were there, kids on sport bikes, Harley riders (mostly) and 3 patch groups. Everyone was friendly, we said a prayer and rode off. In my little section we had some, a couple, drivers flipping us off and driving into out group, no one was hit, but some hate was out there. Everyone pretty much ignored them and the ride was a good time. Out of the 500 or so bikes there were no accidents and things went smooth. When we got to US101, about 5 miles from the site the freeway was a parking lot. Thats where we turned off and headed back. I went to support but did not want to attend the event, I watched it on the freedom network at home. All in all it was a great gay!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/22/2025 11:23 Comments ||
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#2
This is the first time since Obama was elected that I've felt we were outright winning the culture wars.
Posted by: Matt ||
09/22/2025 11:50 Comments ||
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#3
IDK - The Right is Galvanized. But will they ride this wave into anything effective remains to be seen. They talk a big game, maybe they'll collect a scalp or two, but they always turn the other cheek when things go south instead of building the gallows and stringing the ropes with the ring leaders.
The Boss Fight has to happen. Final Level. Or it is all for naught. Everyone knows who the Boss is and he seems untouchable. So all this talk about a great awakening - wake me up when the title fight happens.
[X] We’ve all made jokes at Jimmy Kimmel’s expense. But Mr. Kimmel is a fellow artist, and I am in fact heartbroken to see the way he has been treated. I believe he is, in his heart of hearts, a good and decent fellow, devoid of malice and hate.
#1
Woods does that once a day. It is always funny.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2025 5:55 Comments ||
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#2
How to bitch slap via the interwebs. JW has to be listened to because he has had a more successful Hollywood career than Ms. Kimmel. That is the standard, isn't it?
On the internet the big story seems to be the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel by ABC. I confess to being somewhat at a disadvantage. The last time I looked at network television my set had four dials: on/off, vertical, and horizontal, volume, and channel. In this I’m not alone. Kimmel’s show had fewer viewers than a number of online podcasters, sponsors were fleeing, and local stations represented by affiliates Nexstar and Sinclair wanted out. The great Iowahawk nailed the flight from network television:
“Anyway, I see people debating who should replace Kimmel in the coveted late night talk chair, and it's like debating who should move into the empty Spencer Gifts at the abandoned Twin Pines Mall.”
A Little History of Democrats and Free Speech
Before discussing the specifics of Kimmel’s suspension, let’s review a little recent history about the Democrats and free speech. Do you remember when Roseanne Barr had her show cancelled by ABC on the false charge that a tweet she made linking Valerie Jarrett to Iran was “racist”? Did you know who was behind axing what was one of the most popular shows on ABC?
“In an interview with the Sunday Times Magazine in 2019, Barr revealed that Michelle Obama personally pressured ABC executives to axe her.
Former ABC president Channing Dungey, who carried out her firing, worked directly with the Obamas at Netflix.”
Roseanne was but one example of the Democrat cancel culture ruining the careers of anyone who disagreed with them.
This is a pattern of cancel culture. Conservatives have been targeted and canceled by the same leftist mob:
Gina Carano -- fired from The Mandalorian for “wrongthink.”
Megyn Kelly -- fired by NBC for Halloween costume commentary.
Dave Chappelle -- targeted by Netflix employees for “transphobia.”
Joe Rogan -- smeared and nearly canceled over COVID discussions.
Tucker Carlson -- taken off Fox News after advertiser pressure campaigns.
Parler -- wiped off the internet by Apple, Google, and Amazon.
J.K. Rowling -- blacklisted for defending women’s rights.
Mike Lindell -- banned from Twitter and retailers for supporting Trump.
The Gateway Pundit was banned on Google AdSense, Amazon Ads, and PayPal for reporting on election fraud and COVID.
And the list goes on.
Former congressional candidate Jack Lombardi also slammed Obama, reminding him that it was under his own presidency that the government waged direct war on the free press:
October 2009: The White House tried to exclude Fox News from a pooled interview -- other networks refused to participate until Fox was included.
May 2013: DOJ secretly seized two months of AP reporters’ phone records, an intrusion AP called “massive and unprecedented.”
May 2013: DOJ labeled Fox’s James Rosen a “co-conspirator” in a leak probe to obtain his emails and phone records.
Feb–Mar 2014: The FCC floated a “Critical Information Needs” newsroom study, later scrapped after a First Amendment backlash.
Even President Donald Trump’s voice was muzzled by Democratic action when Twitter threw him off the site.
Obama administration censorship was followed by the Biden version:
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin.
"Don't pet the shiny lizard" would be good advice here for the Russian Federation
[ColonelCassad] 1. Trump continues to demand that the Taliban give the United States Bagram Air Base. Including on the basis of the fact that "it was built by Americans". In fact, it was built in the 1950s with the support of the USSR. The USA simply used and exploited the air base built for them a long time ago.
2. The Taliban has already officially sent Trump with his wonderful demands far and wide. Just as with the demands, the US will return military equipment worth 8.5 billion dollars, which was once delivered to Afghanistan to arm 6 army corps of the puppet government of Afghanistan. In response, Trump has already openly threatened the Taliban that if he does not hand over the airbase, Afghanistan will be badly affected.
3. The Taliban do not need the USA on their territory now in any form, especially since the USA helped ISIS fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. In addition, the country has a huge hatred for the Americans after 20 years of occupation, and any concessions by the United States can seriously affect the current government, which came to power under the slogans of the complete expulsion of foreign invaders from Afghanistan and the prevention of the presence of foreign military forces and bases on the territory of Afghanistan.
4. In addition, Russia, Iran and China are not at all smiling to see the resumption of the US military presence in Afghanistan, which is fraught with the growth of regional problems.
The Taliban partly listens to the wishes of those countries from which it is primarily interested in receiving international recognition and legitimacy. In addition, Afghanistan expresses interest in joining the BRICS and the SCO.
5. At the same time, the USA has not returned to the Taliban the assets of the former puppet government of Ashraf Ghana, which are held in the USA.
Also, the USA has still not excluded the Taliban from the number of "terrorist organizations" (the last terrorist attacks by the Taliban were committed in 2021 against American puppets). In general, they behave hostilely and still issue ultimatums. But the Taliban are not European satellites of the United States, and they will not bend to Trump's wishes.
#2
Trump wants China out of Bagram. He thinks Joe should have kept it to prevent China from exploiting Afghanistan’s mineral deposits. That is the business man in him. Trump sees an opportunity there that MAGA populists like myself don’t really care about. We would like to see his Bagram gambit fail so that he might block the weekly money shipments to the Taliban/AQ conglomerate.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/22/2025 6:01 Comments ||
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#8
which antagonist is going to open their airspace for US flights in and out?
Whose defenses can reach that high, Skidmark, and who wants to catch Mad President Trump’s malign attention rather than have the chance to make a special deal with him afterward?
by Leonid Tsukanov
On September 19, Iran's Supreme National Security Council announced a second severance of relations with the IAEA. The decision was a response to Europe's "openly hostile policy" toward Tehran—specifically, its attempts to reinstate a "silent" sanctions regime against it at the UN level.
And while there are still loopholes in the dialogue between Iran and the agency, the situation requires more decisive action from Tehran.
And, in defending its interests, Iran is quite prepared to "scare" Europe properly. Even if it means earning a reputation as a bogeyman.
Unscheduled relapse
Relations between official Tehran and the IAEA have a complex history. As the Iranian nuclear dossier evolved, the two sides have alternately drawn closer together and drifted apart.
And after the "12-day war" between Iran and Israel in June 2025, the "blue vests" (as IAEA employees are called in Iran) found themselves in the lurch: they were accused of spying for Tel Aviv and expelled from the country with a ban on coming within cannon shot of Iranian nuclear facilities.
In practice, however, the ban was largely conditional. Despite the expulsion of some inspectors from Iran and the dismantling of their monitoring equipment at nuclear facilities, Tehran maintained working contacts with the IAEA and even allowed certain UN working groups to resume their activities.
However, even with this caveat, the IAEA had a rather vague idea of the changes at Iranian nuclear facilities after June 2025.
A real diplomatic breakthrough seemed to be in sight in the first ten days of September, when it became known that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with the mediation of Egypt, signed a final agreement on the modalities of the Agency's inspection activities under the new conditions.
Translated from diplomatic language, this means a package of international guarantees that data from the "blue vests" inspections will not be shared with Israel and the United States.
The agreement was intended, among other things, to demonstrate the Agency's openness and impartiality and to "allay concerns" surrounding Iran's "nuclear dossier."
However, this was not enough to restore trust to pre-war levels.
Response signal
Despite the Iranians' resounding slamming of the door in their dialogue with the IAEA, there was no complete break. At the very least, the Iranian Security Council left the Foreign Ministry open to continuing working consultations with the "blue vests" for a few more days, with the explanation "within the protection of national interests."
And given that Iran's Foreign Ministry was already de facto the only direct interlocutor for the "blue vests" (not counting separately authorized figures from among retired officials like former vice president and "architect" of the first nuclear agreement Mohammad Javad Zarif ), nothing much has changed in the configuration of forces.
This seemingly inconsistent decision is due to growing diplomatic pressure on Tehran at the UN. The EU3 (France, Germany, and the UK) continues to demand that the Iranians immediately return to the nuclear deal without any preconditions.
If Iran does not accept the ultimatum by September 27, the EU3 threatens to reinstate the previous UN Security Council sanctions—and has even launched a corresponding resolution (without the right to veto, which has excluded the possibility of its rejection by China and Russia).
Under these conditions, the break with the IAEA became Tehran's first signal that it would not back down and would stand its ground.
Escalation ladder
Less than a week remains until the deadline set by the EU3. Tehran needs to act more decisively on the international stage than it has so far to protect its national interests in the nuclear sector.
What can the country do to counter its opponents? At the very least, it can play the opposite and show Europeans the unpopular steps it has avoided recently.
In addition to breaking with the IAEA and creating maximum uncertainty around its nuclear program, Iran still has at least several more similarly damaging arguments up its sleeve.
The first is a dramatic leap in the development of its missile arsenals. For a long time, Iran, even though it was the regional leader in ballistic weapons, limited its missile range to 2,000 kilometers, citing that this range was sufficient to reach Israel and the United States.
However, on the night of September 18, observers suddenly spotted a contrail in the skies over Iran, characteristic of an intercontinental missile. The "elusive Iranian ICBM" that Tel Aviv had been threatening its neighbors with for the past several years had reached the testing stage.
Israeli "insider" information is readily confirmed by Iranian civilians (such as Mohsen Zanganeh ) and military officials ( Amir Pourdastan ), who claim that Tehran's capabilities are far greater than the world has become accustomed to thinking, and that Iran is redefining the "geography of enemies." In fact, Iran can now easily reach any European capital.
At the same time, the country's leadership is not commenting on the fact of a possible ICBM test, leaving the "European three" alone with speculation.
The second step is Iran's withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). A symbolic bill on withdrawal from the Treaty was prepared by the Iranian parliament back in June and is still pending. If absolutely necessary, Tehran could push it to the very top in a matter of days at most.
And afterward, it will no longer be bound by international obligations, meaning it will be able to develop a nuclear arsenal without regard for the IAEA and other observers. This promises significant, but not fatal, difficulties for the country. Especially since there are at least several countries, including North Korea, outside the Treaty's framework and continuing to exist and conduct business with the world.
Finally, the top flight of the escalation ladder is the development of its own nuclear bomb. Tehran will only take this step if the first two scare tactics fail to sway its interlocutors and the pressure on the country continues.
It's difficult to say exactly how many warheads Iran will be able to quickly produce (skeptics believe the country has accumulated enough raw materials to produce almost a thousand weapons, but this process will be significantly extended over time), but one thing is clear: if the ban on developing the arsenal is lifted, the security landscape in the Middle East will change irrevocably.
That is why the Iranians left this step as a “last resort.”
Space is getting smaller
However, despite its publicly expressed resolve, Iran is unlikely to risk moving too quickly up the escalation ladder. And a considerable period of time will pass between the break with the IAEA and other steps.
Tehran still hopes that Europe, fearing uncontrollable changes in the regional balance of power, will choose to remove the issue of a full restoration of sanctions against Iran from the agenda.
There remains a chance that Russia and China will be able to override the European resolution with an alternative document offering more flexible guarantees for Tehran. However, it is far from certain that Europe will agree to break the deadlock.
Regardless, diplomatic room for maneuver is shrinking. If the parties fail to reach a compromise by September 27 and the process of reinstating international sanctions against Iran at the UN level is set in motion, Tehran will have no choice but to respond with force.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
We’ve all made jokes at Jimmy Kimmel’s expense. But Mr. Kimmel is a fellow artist, and I am in fact heartbroken to see the way he has been treated. I believe he is, in his heart of hearts, a good and decent fellow, devoid of malice and hate.
