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Wednesday’s Final Word – HotAir

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March 4, 2026
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Wednesday’s Final Word – HotAir

Tabs to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am …





Ed: Good. Congress had its chance to weigh in on the strikes and voted down the bill. That debate should now be over. Under the War Powers Act, Trump has 60 days to report back to Congress on the status of the conflict. John Fetterman and Rand Paul swapped sides on this, by the way. 

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Axios: Progressive groups are preparing to primary any House Democrat who votes against a war powers resolution constraining the Trump administration from carrying out military operations in Iran, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The threat raises the stakes of a highly charged Thursday vote, which has split a group of hawkish Democratic centrists from the rest of their party.

“Any Democrat voting against this resolution is really voting against the base of the party, and it will be a very politically perilous vote,” a senior progressive House Democrat told Axios.

Ed: The failed Senate vote makes this moot, however. Plus, it still wouldn’t stop Trump. This kind of bill is privileged in the Senate, meaning the filibuster doesn’t apply, but presidents can still veto such bills. Both chambers would have to get a two-thirds majority to override the veto and force an end to the conflict. This is just posturing, as we’ll see more clearly in a moment. 

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Ed: That’s not the only message that China has heard this week, either. My essay on that will (finally) go up tomorrow, the good Lord willin’ and the war-news crick don’t rise … again. 

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CBS News: Even if both chambers were to eventually approve a war powers resolution on Iran, the outcome would be largely symbolic, since the president could veto it. A two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate would be needed to override his veto. 





In a call with reporters Sunday, Kaine acknowledged that the renewed effort was unlikely to go anywhere, but said it’s important for members of Congress to go on the record about the war with Iran. 

“If you don’t have the guts to vote yes or no on a war vote, how dare you send our sons and daughters into war where they risk their lives,” Kaine said. 

Ed: This is the definition of ankle-biting, especially since Kaine apparently didn’t give a damn – by his definition here – about the sons and daughters that Obama sent into war against Libya in 2011. That went on for seven months, involved over 23,000 NATO sorties, and more than a dozen US Navy ships. 

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Ed: I see the oppo research has begun into Talarico. There’s plenty more to find. It’s interesting that Talarico hasn’t scrubbed his social media feeds before now.

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Gil Troy at the Jerusalem Post: Aren’t you ashamed that many leading Democrats condemned this long-justified war, while some so-called Progressives even defend Iran? Aren’t you ashamed to see Saudi Arabia and Qatar now demonstrating more moral clarity and courage than you do?

Beware: Too many of you are on the wrong side of history.

When Kamala Harris opposes “a regime-change war in Iran,” branding it “Trump’s war of choice,” you should shout hallelujah – that she isn’t running foreign policy, even if you detest Donald Trump. … 

Compounding your insensitivity to Iranian suffering, your hypocrisy is comical. Congressional leaders and experts pressuring Trump to seek congressional authorization forget Bill Clinton’s 78-day air campaign in Kosovo – defying the House of Representatives’ refusal to vote “yes.” Similarly, Barack Obama bombed Libya without Congress, while Joe Biden attacked Houthis and Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.





Ed: Troy doesn’t limit his disgust to just the American Left. Keir Starmer gets a dishonorable mention, for instance. I’d forgotten that Clinton’s Kosovo adventure went without congressional approval, too. Biden’s actions fit within the AUMF covering al-Qaeda and affiliated terror networks, however. 

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Ed: I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a few of these in the Final Word posts the next few days … 

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Francis Beckwith and Josh Blackman in The Free Press: Every hearing held by the RLC passed without incident. Except for this one.

Instead of engaging with the powerful testimonies of Jewish leaders, Commissioner Carrie Prejean Boller used the occasion to derail proceedings, by interrogating witnesses about matters of theology and geopolitics that had no relevance to discussions of religious discrimination. Boller, who converted to Catholicism just last year, distorted her newfound faith in a number of ways.

Like a medieval inquisitor, Boller pressed the Jewish witnesses to confess their views on a variety of issues, including whether it is antisemitic to speak out “about what many Americans view as a genocide in Gaza” and whether anti-Zionism is necessarily antisemitic. It is beyond the pale to ask any one Jew to speak on behalf of millions of Jews nationwide, though Boller apparently felt qualified to profess church doctrine on behalf of a billion Catholics. Two days later, she was removed from the RLC, but not before the damage was done.

Ed: Francis is a friend of mine and a Catholic scholar who was appointed by Trump to work with the Religious Liberty Commission. This is an excellent essay, and a reminder that we need to police our own side as well as criticize the extremists on the other. 





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Ed: On the other hand, we won’t have Jasmine Crockett to kick around anymore. Dammit. 

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Daily Mail: CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss is ‘fuming’ over a viral video that appears to show a CBS Austin reporter being instructed to downplay coverage of a pro-Israel-US protest then occurring behind him, it is claimed. 

Weiss, 41, saw the footage and wants a network-wide crackdown as a result, a well-placed source told the Daily Mail. …

‘From what I hear, Bari is going to take an even more hands-on approach to be sure that the CBS brand isn’t tarnished by the affiliates.          

‘This is a bad look, and it reinforces everything that she wants to avoid,’ the source said.

‘So there will be a lot more directives going out to affiliates.’ 

Ed: Good. They clearly need more directives to cover news as it actually happens rather than perform narrative hygiene. Let’s hope Weiss promotes Vinny Martorano to the national newsroom. 

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Ed: It’s not exactly rocket science. Is it worth the risk to dump a safe incumbent with lots of funding in favor of a challenger with tons of personal and professional baggage, just to maybe change one or two votes over the next six years?  In a cycle where control of the Senate is clearly at risk?





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i24 News (France): An official from the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan (CPFIK) says Kurdish armed groups based in Iraq have already begun a military offensive against Iranian regime forces.

According to the official, Kurdish fighters affiliated with the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) began taking combat positions inside Iranian territory on Monday, March 2. 

“The ground military movements by Kurdish forces against Iran have already started since the midnight of March 2,” the official told i24NEWS.

He said Iranian forces evacuated the border city of Mariwan on March 3 and began establishing defensive positions in and around the area.

Ed: Take this with a large grain of salt. This may be a psyops effort to spook the IRGC and Basij into shifting resources to confront the Kurds or to pull back and focus on preventing an uprising from spreading. The time is not yet ripe for this kind of action, and the Kurds would do better to arm Iranians rather than provoke Turkey and Syria with action of their own. 

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I try to be a nice person to everyone, but if you come at me with this kind of pro-Iran crap, you’re going to get some AMERICA FIRST truth 🇺🇸

Ed: Missed this yesterday. Let’s see how long you last listening to this idiot. 

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Times of Israel: Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, has halted construction work at new units of Iran’s nuclear power plant in the port city of Bushehr because of the US-Israeli air assault on Iran, its chief Alexei Likhachev said Tuesday.





Likhachev had earlier warned of the threat posed by strikes near Iranian nuclear facilities, and said explosions could be heard “just kilometers away” from the plant, although the facility itself was not being targeted.

Work has been stopped at the construction sites of the second and third units of the plant, he told journalists.

Ed: The Russians can hardly complain about bombs near nuclear plants after their attacks in Zaporizhzhia. This does show, though, that the US and Israel may be able to neutralize the  Bushehr facility by forcing the Russians to leave with attacks on lines of communication to the nuclear site. One has to wonder whether the US and/or Israel might have a plan to seize the plant in the event of a Russian evacuation with the intent to force a permanent shutdown. 

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Iran has enormous stockpiles of missiles and one-way attack drones and the industrial capacity to continue to expand its arsenal. If the Iranian regime were allowed to continue developing ballistic missiles, it would soon be able to shield its nuclear facilities by threatening a grave and immediate response to any attack.

Iran is also the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism. It has spent nearly half a century attacking Americans directly and through terrorist proxies, beginning with the 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran that resulted in 66 Americans being held hostage for 444 days and continuing with the numerous devastating attacks against American service members and civilians in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and more. In the October 7, 2023, massacre, Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people, including 46 Americans, in what was the deadliest single day for the Jewish community since the Holocaust. The list of the Iranian regime’s crimes against America and our allies goes on and on.

The Constitution gives Congress an essential role in matters of war and peace. Sustained combat operations require full engagement with Congress. The Administration has adhered to the provisions of the War Powers Act that require notification to Congress within 48 hours of hostilities commencing, and it has provided numerous classified briefings to Congress.

Passing this resolution now would send the wrong message to Iran and to our troops. At this juncture, providing unequivocal support to our service members is critically important, as is ongoing consultation by the Administration with Congress.





Ed: Exactly. Now let’s finish the job.

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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!





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