Is this a 'John Q' moment?
One of my favorite movies stars Denzel Washington as John Q. Archibald, and his beautiful wife Denise, is played by Kimberly Elise.
They have a nine-year-old son who was in need of a serious lifesaving heart surgical procedure. John Q. struggles all his life to make ends meet, like most Americans today, so when his son suddenly went into heart failure, it was clear he was miles away from the money needed to green light the surgery.
Every day for the past year, his wife had been telling John Q. that he must do more. While his son lay in the hospital close to death, his wife, with tears in her eyes, loudly proclaims, 'Do Something!' It was then that John Q. realizes that he needed to do something radical. He decides that he would storm the hospital, kidnap the doctors and make them perform the procedure.
This is the story of our failing Republic today. America is at a crossroads and its leadership is betraying its citizenry in a major way. They are laying off thousands of people that are lifelong employees of the government. They have had no due process. They are not being advised of a reduction in staff.
They are not being let go because they under performed, have days and weeks of unfinished work, or a threat to their fellow employees or our democracy. A sharp bladed knife is being swung at them from on high. It has taken many of them years to obtain America's iconic middle class status only to be within days of losing it due to no fault of their own.
The average American is only 60 days away from financial ruin. So while we are early in the process of layoffs by mid May, if not before, you are going to see thousands of protesters take to the streets and demand of their governments to come to their aid and give their jobs back. Then the republic will begin to feel the weight of its citizens that have been tossed aside.
If you think those that stormed the capital on January 6th were something, wait until you witness the calculated attacks of a 15-20 year government veteran employee who knows how to wield a computer and a protest banner.
I am here to tell you that each one of them will find each other and when they do, the devil will have to pay the tax for the horrible way that each of these employees have been treated. Dare I say that this attack will look different than any that we have seen since the inner struggles of the new republic of the late 1700's.
These folks will be armed with families that are being impacted by their recent downgrade from middle class to new recipients of unemployment checks and welfare benefits such as food stamps. They will be mostly white and middle aged men and women.
Their protests will be treated differently as most black folks will stay home because, quite frankly, how we endure hardship and coalesce around troubled times is different. Sadly, we have been let down by America so much that it has lost its sting. From segregation, Jim Crow, the erosion of Affirmative Action, to being the main participants in the school to prison pipeline that plagues our children, we are used to being let down by America.
All we have ever wanted is for America to love us as we love it. We need to stop this snow storm now before the avalanche comes.
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USA Today
40 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump was right to bomb Iran. Even Democrats will be safer because of it.
The fact that progressives can't give President Trump this win − a win that will give us a safer world − is yet another indicator of why the Democratic Party continues to devolve into irrelevance. While the Middle East slept early on June 22, the Islamic Republic of Iran discovered that the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts have an end date. With a planned and precise show of controlled force, the U.S. military "obliterated" three of Iran's major nuclear sites. In a June 22 news conference, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dispelled any notion that the strike on Iran was ad hoc or done to goad Iran into a full-blown war with the United States. "The order we received from our commander in chief was focused, it was powerful and it was clear," Hegseth said. "We devastated the Iranian nuclear program." That is good news for the United States and its allies. The fact that progressives can't give President Donald Trump this win − a win that will give us a safer, more stable world − is yet another indicator of why the Democratic Party continues to devolve into irrelevance. With 'Operation Midnight Hammer,' Trump sent Iran a message Trump is already receiving extraordinary criticism for this attack on Iran. Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have called for his impeachment because Trump, like other presidents before him, launched the attack without congressional approval. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said Trump's decision displayed "horrible judgment." Yet, there is ample precedent of presidents, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, ordering targeted military strikes without prior congressional approval under the War Powers Act. Did Congress approve Iran bombing? AOC howls about impeaching Trump. But president had the authority to bomb Iran. | Opinion Reactionary and partisan criticism from the left detracts from the success of this mission, which anyone, regardless of party affiliation, should appreciate. It appears that Operation Midnight Hammer was an incredible show of the U.S. military's strength and precision. "The scope and scale of what occurred last night would take the breath away of almost any American if you had an opportunity to watch it in real time," Hegseth said June 22 at the Pentagon. He noted that America's B-2 Spirit stealth bombers "went in and out ... without the world knowing at all. In that way it was historic." Iran's nuclear capabilities were a threat Concerns about retaliation from Iran are serious, of course, and U.S. forces are braced for it. But the threat of Iran, a country that has long bankrolled terrorism in the Middle East and around the world, building nuclear weapons shouldn't be minimized. That fact has nothing do with political ideology or partisan politics. Hegseth reminded reporters the morning after the attack that Trump was "fully committed to the peace process" and gave Iran "plenty of time to continue to come to the table and give up enrichment" of nuclear materials. Iran has a long history of attacking Americans, including holding more than 50 U.S. Embassy workers hostage in 1979 for more than a year. It's accused of bankrolling the 1983 bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 241 American service members. Now, the Iranian regime has orchestrated attacks against American interests and allies through its terrorist proxies. Opinion: Trump must back Israel against Iran. 'Kooky' Carlson is wrong about nuclear threat. Despite these facts, it seems that liberals hate Trump so much that they are loathe to acknowledge that this president has now done what other presidents have done − act boldly to protect our nation and its citizens. Trump is a different president in many ways than any who have come before him. But like other presidents, he has shown he will do what is needed to protect America and our allies and to secure long-term peace. For that, all Americans should be thankful. Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
How Iran could retaliate after the U.S. strikes on its nuclear program
DUBAI — Iran has spent decades building multi-tiered military capabilities at home and across the region that were at least partly aimed at deterring the United States from attacking it. By entering Israel's war, the U.S. may have removed the last rationale for holding them in reserve. That could mean a wave of attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East, an attempt to close a key bottleneck for global oil supplies, or a dash to develop a nuclear weapon with what remains of Iran's disputed program after American strikes on three key sites. A decision to retaliate against the U.S. and its regional allies would give Iran a far larger target bank and one that is much closer than Israel, allowing it to potentially use its missiles and drones to greater effect. The U.S. and Israel have far superior capabilities, but those haven't always proved decisive in America's recent history of military interventions in the region. Ever since Israel started the war with a surprise bombardment of Iran's military and nuclear sites June 13, Iranian officials from the supreme leader on down have warned the U.S. to stay out, saying that direct American involvement would have dire consequences for the entire region. It should soon be clear whether those were merely threats or a grim forecast. Here's a look at what Iran's next move might be. The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which some 20% of all oil traded globally passes, and at its narrowest point it is just 21 miles wide. Any disruption there could send oil prices soaring worldwide and hit American pocketbooks. Iran boasts a fleet of fast-attack boats and thousands of naval mines that could potentially make the strait impassable, at least for a time. It could also fire missiles from its long Persian Gulf shore, as its allies, Yemen's Houthi rebels, have done in the Red Sea. The U.S., with its 5th Fleet stationed in nearby Bahrain, has long pledged to uphold freedom of navigation in the strait and would respond with far superior forces. But even a relatively brief battle could paralyze shipping traffic and spook investors, causing oil prices to spike and generating international pressure for a ceasefire. The U.S. has tens of thousands of troops stationed in the region, including at permanent bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — Arab Gulf countries just across the Persian Gulf from Iran — and much closer than Israel. Those bases have the same kinds of sophisticated air defenses as Israel's, but would have much less warning time before waves of missiles or swarms of armed drones. And even Israel, which is several hundred miles farther away, has been unable to stop all of the incoming fire. Iran could also choose to attack key oil and gas facilities in those countries with the goal of exacting a higher price for U.S. involvement in the war. A drone attack on two major oil sites in Saudi Arabia in 2019 — claimed by the Houthis but widely blamed on Iran — briefly cut the kingdom's oil production in half. Iran's so-called 'Axis of Resistance' — a network of militant groups across the Middle East — is a shadow of what it was before the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel out of the Gaza Strip, but it still has some formidable capabilities. Israel's 20-month war in Gaza has severely diminished the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups, and Israel decimated Lebanon's Hezbollah last fall, killing most of its top leadership and devastating much of southern Lebanon, making its involvement unlikely. But Iran could still call on the Houthis, who had threatened to resume their attacks in the Red Sea if the U.S. entered the war, and allied militias in Iraq. Both have drone and missile capabilities that would allow them to target the United States and its allies. Iran could also seek to respond through militant attacks farther afield, as it is widely accused of doing in the 1990s with an attack on a Jewish community center in Argentina that was blamed on Tehran and Hezbollah. It could be days or weeks before the full impact of the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites is known. But experts have long warned that even joint U.S. and Israeli strikes would only delay Iran's ability to develop a weapon, not eliminate it. That's because Iran has dispersed its program across the country to several sites, including hardened, underground facilities. Iran would probably struggle to repair or reconstitute its nuclear program while Israeli and U.S. warplanes are circling overhead. But it could still decide to fully end its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and abandon the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. North Korea announced its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003 and tested a nuclear weapon three years later, but it had the freedom to develop its program without punishing airstrikes. Iran contends that its program is peaceful, though it is the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. U.S. intelligence agencies and the IAEA assess Iran hasn't had an organized military nuclear program since 2003. Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East but does not acknowledge having such weapons. Krauss and Gambrell write for the Associated Press.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Iranian protesters wave ‘down with the USA' flags on streets of Tehran — as president joins in
Iranians waving flags with anti-American slogans have taken to the streets of the capital in the wake of the US strikes on the country's nuclear sites on Saturday. Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was pictured with students at an anti-US rally today in Tehran, according to the Iranian government-affiliated Mehr news agency. Pro-government supporters holding banners reading 'down with the USA' and 'We are ready for the big battle' were seen during Sunday's protests. 3 A crowd of Iranians protesting the US airstrikes on nuclear facilities in in Enghelab Square in Tehran on June 22, 2025. Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images 3 Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian was at the rally. AP Photo/Vahid Salemi 3 Iranians holding a flag that reads 'down with USA' in Tehran. Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images Other protesters held up portraits of the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has not spoken publicly since the strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities.
