The Warmth of Trump's Collectivism

We are fast becoming Leninism 2.0, what with Mayor Mamdami promising a $30 million dollar city-owned supermarket in East Harlem, not far from a capitalist Aldi store that probably cost about $10 million. How will that work out? (The Babylon Bee suggests that, if you need a loaf of bread, you'd better get in line right now.)

Meanwhile, in DC, President Trump is thinking of buying Spirit Airlines. What could possibly go wrong with a federally-owned budget carrier? Not to worry! Unlike New York's Bolshevik mayor, our president doesn't plan to run Spirit for the long run. "We'd be getting it virtually debt free," he explains. "They have some good aircraft, some good assets, and when the price of oil goes down, we'll sell it for a profit."

When Lenin eased off on the Bolshevism, he called it the New Economic Program, and the NEP actually worked for a time. Then came the warmth of Stalin: if you didn't work, you didn't eat, and the workers didn't eat much because the shelves were usually empty. Let's hope the price of oil comes down soon!

Hungary is back in Europe

Victor Orban was trounced today by a guy name Magyar, which is kind of neat because "magyar" means -- Hungarian. Not only that, but his party, founded just a couple years ago, seems to have won two-thirds of the seats in parliament. Since Hungary is still a democracy, despite 16 years of Orban's rule and his sly changes to the government, Prime Minister Magyar should be able to do just about anything he wants. Let's hope that means distancing himself and his country from Moscow, warming up to Ukraine next door, and quit taking advantage of the EU's and NATO's effective veto, which Orban has been using on Putin's behalf.

A one-sided cease-fire

What's a cease-fire when only one side ceases fire, and how does it differ from a surrender?

A cease-fire is not a victory

Messrs Trump and Hegseth will no doubt spin it as a dazzling victory, but I'm sure the New York Times and CNN will not, and the mullahs in Tehran have their own spin upon the events of Tuesday. Note that "enrichment" means purifying uranium to the state where it can be made into nuclear bombs. I've boldfaced that and a few other notable claims:

"Iran has achieved a great victory and forced the criminal United States to accept its ten-point plan.

"In this plan, the United States has, in principle, committed to non-aggression; the continuation of Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz; acceptance of enrichment; the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions; the termination of all United Nations Security Council and Board of Governors resolutions; compensation to Iran; the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region; and the cessation of war on all fronts, including against the heroic Islamic resistance in Lebanon. We congratulate all the people of Iran on this victory and emphasize that until the details of this victory are finalized, continued resilience and prudence by officials, and the preservation of unity and solidarity among the Iranian people, remain necessary."

A brilliant, brave, and heartening rescue

The New York Times has a mostly wonderful account this morning about the "Wizzo" colonel snatched from his hiding place in a rocky crevice atop a 7000-foot ridge in Iran. Like the kidnapping of Venezuela's dictator three months ago, it was a masterpiece of high-tech special ops. More than that, it was a tribute to the American military pledge to "leave no man behind." (Once a boast of the US Marines, it has since spread service-wide.) Bravo to the unnamed weapons system officer, to the US Air Force, to our special operations teams, to the CIA, and yes, to Donald Trump and his so-called War Department.

But the NYT, being what it is these days, then concluded its spellbinding story with four paragraphs ranting against Trump and the war. Come on, Timespersons! Couldn't you have celebrated an American feat of arms, just this once?

Cheap at the price

Our pundits keep whining about how much money we're spending to punish Iran, with the latest being the loss of two special-ops aircraft that cost about $115 million each. They were destroyed on the ground during the mission to rescue an American airman shot down 36 hours earlier. Cheap at the price!

The C-130J Commando is an extraordinary update of the four-engine Lockheed Hercules transport. It can be refueled in flight, and in turn can refuel helicopters and other aircraft on the rescue mission. It's armed with Hellfire missiles and a rapid-firing 30mm cannon, can deploy parachute troops at high and low altitude, and is able to land and take off from a short runway. That we would expend two of them to rescue one man speaks well of us.

Back to the moon

With a properly diverse crew aboard, and a perhaps symbolic Roman numeral after her name, the moonship Artemis launched yesterday on a grand figure-eight that, if nothing goes wrong, will take her crew farther into space than humans have ever gone before, looping around the far side of the moon. The last time we set out in that direction, in the 1960s, we were in a race with Soviet Russia; today the great competitor is China. Artemis is an all-of-enterprise spacecraft, with contributions by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northop Grumman, and Airbus. Godspeed to her and her crew!

An American dies in Lebanon

Moshe Katz was born and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. He emigrated to Israel, enlisted in the IDF's Parachute Brigade, and was sent to Lebanon to help stop Hezbollah rockets from raining upon his adopted country. On Sunday the IDF announced that Moshe had been killed in action, one of 930 Israeli soldiers KIA in the war following the Hamas atrocities of October 2023. He was 22 years old. RIP, young Sergeant Katz!