Saturday's Final Word – HotAir

You’re as cold as ice – you’re willing to sacrifice our tabs

Ed: That’s a pretty interesting escalation. Reportedly, the White House is still trying to work with Senate Democrats to end the shutdown at DHS. Using ICE in airports would make this standoff a lot more interesting, and might force Democrats to choose between allowing people to fly and enforcing immigration violations where it matters.

===

Ed: I’d rather Musk put his capital to use in his pursuit of meaningful innovations. However, it’s still a generous offer, made necessary by the determination of Senate Democrats to defund law enforcement by holding the country’s domestic security hostage during a war. John wrote more about this earlier today

===

Axios: The CIA, Mossad and other intelligence agencies around the world were watching during Nowruz on Friday to see whether Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei would follow his father’s tradition and give a new year’s address.

The intrigue: When the holiday passed with only a written statement from Mojtaba, the mystery around his physical condition, whereabouts and role in Iran’s war effort deepened. …

The U.S. and Israel have intelligence that suggests Mojtaba remains alive — for example, evidence of Iranian officials trying to schedule in-person meetings with him (unsuccessfully, due to security concerns).

Ed: I don’t buy it for a second. If Nepo Babytollah were alive and in charge, the Iranian regime would put video out of Mojtaba in action, even if he’s disabled. The IRGC won’t schedule meetings with him because he’s a Carboardatollah, and that’s all the ayatollah they want at the moment. 

===

Ed: This. Was. CNN. In fact, it probably still is. Lefties really need their victim narrative, and are willing to bogart the massacre of 32,000 or more Iranians at the hands of their regime in order to apply the same status to two activists who actively interfered in law-enforcement actions and suffered the consequences. ‘Despicable’ may not cover this. 

===

WSJ: Three weeks into the war, the Iranian regime is signaling that it believes it is winning and has the power to impose a settlement on Washington that entrenches Tehran’s dominance of Middle East energy resources for decades to come.

This attitude may prove to be a dangerous misreading of President Trump’s determination, or of Israel’s capacity to inflict strategic blows on the Islamic Republic’s surviving leadership and military capabilities. …

“The Iranians aren’t ready to end the war because they have learned an important lesson: They can, comparatively easily and cheaply, cause a lot of damage and disruption. They now want the whole world to learn that lesson, too,” said Dina Esfandiary, an analyst on Iran and author of a book on Iran’s foreign relations.

Ed: There is no accounting for delusional thinking, unfortunately. Hitler thought he’d win the war from the bunker too by forcing the US and the UK into a military confrontation with the USSR. In the end, he spent weeks ordering phantom units on his imaginary map, while the smarter senior officers found ways to surrender and defect, mainly on the Western front. This theocracy may die a hard death too, but that would have to come at the hands of the Iranian people. 

===

===

Ed: Hey, at least morale would be high! (Via Twitchy.)

===

Mediaite: Former special prosecutor Robert Mueller has died at age 81 after a battle with Parkinson’s, his family confirmed on Saturday.

MS NOW reporters Carol Leonnig and Clarissa-Jan Lim broke the Mueller news in a Saturday report, citing two people familiar with the matter. His family revealed a Parkinson’s diagnosis last year. MS NOW reported that the cause of death for Mueller was not immediately clear.

Ed: Rest in peace. Mueller served his country as a prosecutor and FBI director for many years. Even in his final role as special counsel, Mueller made the hard call to finally shut down the Russia-collusion hoax. He’s not above criticism for his actions in that chapter, but we should at least acknowledge his other service to the US on his passing. Pray for his family and friends.

===

Ed: Saying nothing was always an option. Trump won. What was the point of this response? It only made him look smaller. Eyes on the prize, man. 

===

Josh Kaplan at The Free Press: When I was a younger, more impressionable man, I was obsessed, like millions of boys before me, with novelty rap songs. “Amish Paradise” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, The Lonely Island, the entire oeuvre of Lil Dicky—I loved them all. But the king of this genre of funny rap songs was undoubtedly a Los Angeles rapper called Joseph Edgar Foreman, known and beloved by his fans as Afroman. I was fixated on his magnum opus—“Because I Got High”—a meandering, fun song that became part of the soundtrack to an infinite number of days with my friends doing nothing and having the time of our lives. I have a vivid memory of sitting around a fire at a summer camp in upstate New York with my best friends in the world and an acoustic guitar, riffing on another incredible Afroman hit—widely known as “Colt 45”—just guys being, you know, dudes.

Now in my 30s, I haven’t thought much about Afroman lately. So this week it was an unexpected joy seeing his triumph in a defamation suit brought against him by members of an Ohio sheriff’s department in what can only be described as a tremendous victory for both the American justice system and the First Amendment. Let me explain.

Ed: I’d never heard of him before this case came up, but Kaplan pretty much nails this. Charlie Hurt interviewed him on Fox News last night, and he was pretty charming and entertaining in explaining the case. Time for some lemon pound cake to celebrate?

===

Ed: The four years of Protection Racket Media collaboration with the Biden Regency is a kill shot at all times. 

===

Jerusalem Post: US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace has presented Hamas with a written proposal on how it could lay down its weapons, two sources said, a step the Palestinian terrorists have thus far refused to take as the US president pushes on with his plan for Gaza’s future.

The proposal, first reported by NPR, was submitted to Hamas during meetings in Cairo over the past week, one of the sources said.

“The idea itself that Hamas would disarm is not out of the question,” Robert Danin, a former senior US State Department and White House official specializing in the Middle East, told NPR at the time. “The question is, when and under what circumstances and at what price?”

Ed: Hamas has been veeeeeeery quiet during this war, except for the rebuke they issued to Tehran for targeting other Gulf states. Hamas may end up being checkmated by this war, not just because the Iranians won’t be able to support them but also because the Qataris may be done dealing with them as well. 

===

Ed: That’s where I’m at with this, too. This is the original Iranian position. May as well keep targeting more of their resources, and perhaps speed up the seizing of Kharg Island, too. 

===

Editor’s note: If we thought our job in pushing back against the Academia/media/Democrat censorship complex was over with the election, think again. This is going to be a long fight. If you’re digging these Final Word posts and want to join the conversation in the comments — and support independent platforms — why not join our VIP Membership program? Choose VIP to support Hot Air and access our premium content, VIP Gold to extend your access to all Townhall Media platforms and participate in this show, or VIP Platinum to get access to even more content and discounts on merchandise. Use the promo code FIGHT to join or to upgrade your existing membership level today, and get 60% off!

You May Also Like

Avatar fans go wild as favorite character returns and ‘steals the show’

By OLIVIA SALAMONE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM Published: 16:46 EDT, 28 July 2025 |…

Courteney Cox says late ‘Friends’ co-star Matthew Perry still ‘visits’ her after death

He’s still there for her. Courteney Cox got sentimental about her late…

Uni student Maddie, 19, felt something unusual on her neck – then a quick Google search led to the unthinkable

Maddie King was a healthy 19-year-old university student preparing for the adventure of…

Jason Kelce chokes up remembering night he met wife Kylie: ‘I knew right away’

Jason Kelce broke down in tears when recalling the first time he…