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Tuesday’s Final Word – HotAir

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April 14, 2026
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Tuesday’s Final Word – HotAir

My honey my baby, don’t put my tabs up on no shelf …

Ed: In which Marc Caputo steals my Captain Louis Renault Award. That’s okay; I’m willing to license it, especially in this instance. Lots of reporters qualify for it, almost as many as those who qualified under the Sharp As A Tack™ story of Biden’s mental competence. 





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NY Post: The New York Times quietly swapped the headline on a contentious op-ed about Hasan Piker — the far-left Twitch streamer notorious for declaring “America deserved 9/11” — following backlash over a column that cast the pro-Palestinian firebrand as “not the enemy.”

Ezra Klein, a left-leaning opinion writer for the Gray Lady, penned a column on Sunday that was originally headlined: “Hasan Piker Is Not the Enemy.”

The Times then changed the headline, which as of Monday morning read: “This Is Why There’s No Liberal Joe Rogan.”

Ed: Looks like the Gray Lady recognized that its original headline was entirely inaccurate. The problem remains in the article itself, however, in which Ezra Klein bent over backwards to claim that Piker’s support for Hamas and China somehow doesn’t make him an opponent of American liberty … not to mention the Joooooos. 

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Ed: This is the problem with Democrats. They think radicals like Piker are cosplaying to pwn the Republicans just like they themselves do. Piker’s the real deal, and it’s telling that this only occurs to Favreau in this instance. Klein still thinks Piker is just posturing. 

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ABC News: The Treasury Department confirmed Tuesday that it would not renew the short-term authorization license waiving U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil already at sea. The sanctions will go back into effect on Sunday at 12:01 a.m. ET.

In a post on social media, the Treasury Department said that it was “moving aggressively with Economic Fury” to apply pressure to Iran and put financial institutions “on notice” that the department is prepared to implement secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions doing business with Iran.





Ed: This backstops the blockade and makes it more difficult for the IRGC to get its hands on hard currency. The US had previously waived some sanctions as a means of stabilizing rattled oil markets. Overall oil prices fell today, although Brent crude ticked up slightly; both are below $100 a barrel again. Trump must feel comfortable that alternative routes are enough to keep the market steady, and when the Strait of Hormuz returns to full operation, the lack of Iranian crude won’t matter much. 

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Ed: This was earlier in the day; crude was at $92.23 today at 4:30 ET, down about seven percent from $98 at the start of the trading day. The blockade isn’t frightening futures buyers. 

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CNBC: Stocks rose on Tuesday following a strong session in which traders shrugged off a breakdown in peace talks between the U.S. and Iran, yet were optimistic that a deal between the two countries was still possible.

The S&P 500 gained 1.18% and closed at 6,967.38. The broad market index now stands less than 1% below its 52-week high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 317.74 points, or 0.66%, to close at 48,535.99. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.96% and ended at 23,639.08.

Technology stocks supported the broader market for another day. Oracle, for example, rose 4.7%, building on the more than 12% gain it saw in the prior trading day. Nvidia and Palantir Technologies also notched a winning session.





Wall Street once again proved resilient in the face of increased geopolitical uncertainty. The major averages posted solid gains to start the week even after U.S.-Iran negotiations over the weekend broke down.

Ed: The S&P 500 is back to pre-war levels. The DJIA is getting close; it’s up 3500 points since the last days of March. 

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Ed: I mentioned this in my earlier post, but it’s worth including here for another round of laughter. France won’t go to the Strait of Hormuz, the Brits couldn’t even get to Cyprus, and the entire idea is predicated on an environment where no threat exists. It’s basically UNIFIL of the Seas, a useless “peacekeeping” force lacking any sort of will or ability to enforce maritime agreements. Europe’s navy is completely dependent on the US for anything other than coastal defense. 

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Conrad Black in RealClearPolitics: There is little that the voters of America like better than victory in a “splendid little war” at a low cost (Theodore Roosevelt on the Spanish-American War). This was the story of Presidents Polk in Mexico, McKinley in Cuba and the Philippines, and even, for a time, the Bushes in Iraq. In the aftermath of Iran’s refusal to concede the nuclear and terrorism issues, the United States and its allies will seize Kharg Island, close Iran as tightly by sea as it is by air, strangle it of the ability to support terrorism, and impose a permanent aerial arms embargo on nuclear military development; all at minimal cost to the United States and Israel in the lives of their servicemen. One or the other of these conclusions will be determined and imposed within a couple of weeks. At that point every stance on every side of this issue that the Democrats have adopted will have been debunked. Israel is about to agree with the Lebanese government on a joint plan to finish off Hezbollah.





Once Iranian aid to Hamas has been terminated permanently, Israel’s ability to end the violence in Gaza and open the era of reconstruction will have arrived. While these postwar objectives are being pushed into place, a post-Iran War America will enjoy a sharp reduction in gasoline and fuel prices and a resumed boom in economic growth.

All of this will be evident well before the midterm elections and the Democrats will have completed their capitulation to the left which was only half committed in the 2020 election when they adopted the catastrophic Sanders-AOC socialist program but in order not to frighten the voters, nominated the irresolute figurehead, President Biden, to front the far-left takeover while the Democratic dirty tricks division in and around the Justice Department set out to destroy Mr. Trump. As everyone knows, all of this failed, and now more than ever the only card they have is Trump-hate.

Ed: Hey, sounds great. But first, Trump has to stick the landing with Iran and actually win the war. I’m not saying that Black is wrong, but he does seem premature, especially as Trump keeps talking about cutting a deal with the IRGC and the US floats a JCPOA-esque 20-year freeze on enrichment rather than its complete end and the surrender of highly enriched uranium. Let’s not get back to that verification game with Iran’s regime again; let’s end the threat for good. 

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Ed: This picture is classic propaganda, and so is the argument. The image is well over a decade old, and the US has plenty of countermeasure options for shallow submarine threats, including from the air. Sonar is still a thing, yo.

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Noah Rothman at NRO: Leave aside the evils practiced by the Iranian regime. Forget that it wantonly slaughters tens of thousands of its own citizens merely for petitioning their government for redress. Ignore for now the state-sponsored practice of disfiguring and even blinding women for the offense of wearing the wrong clothes, the summary and public execution of homosexuals, the impressment of children to serve as cannon fodder in armed conflicts, and so on. Few would dispute that Iran represents not just a direct threat to American security but an ever-present threat.

The Iranian regime has killed hundreds of Americans over the decades. It executes plots on U.S. soil to kill its elected officials, civil servants, and foreign dignitaries. It sponsors Islamist terrorist activity all over the globe, the foremost design of which is to shed the blood of Americans and their allies and to undermine its geopolitical objectives (the sacrifice of which would put even more Americans at risk).

Is it inherently nobler to placidly await inevitable acts of murder before preempting the would-be murderer? Are Americans as a people immoral for demanding inquiries into the intelligence failures that lead to bloody catastrophes? Should they not accept their fates in anticipation of a belated response to their untimely deaths? …

I’m by no means qualified to opine on Catholic dogma, but it seems suboptimal that Americans or the citizens of its allies should have to meet their maker before the U.S. would act in their defense for such an action to be construed as morally righteous.





Ed: For those interested, here’s a link to a framework of St. Thomas Aquinas’ “Just War Doctrine.” This will answer some of Noah’s questions, but it doesn’t settle all of them. My frustration with this debate isn’t whether it applies to our military action against Iran – which is fair game for a debate – but that the Vatican refuses to even apply it at all. The last two pontificates have rejected Aquinas’ teaching and adopted the unscriptural and flabby moral posture of the pacifist in all circumstances. Aquinas knew better based on both the Old and New Testaments, and it’s frustrating to watch an entire establishment of the Church believe they can outsmart one of the most intelligent Church doctors in the Magisterium. 

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Ed: Almost all of the people lecturing us about listening to the Pope on the war are doing so from Planned Parenthood-paid soapboxes. 

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Politico: Vaccine skepticism among Americans is widespread, The POLITICO Poll found, indicating that one of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s animating priorities is gaining traction.

Results from the March poll of 3,851 U.S. adults conducted by Public First show that a plurality of Americans question the safety of vaccines, support reducing the number administered and believe that people’s right to decide what they put in their bodies is more important than preventing the spread of disease.

Ed: Can anyone guess why? Perhaps being subjected to The Science™ of COVID and The Science™ of trans ideology might have eroded confidence in the science bureaucracies. That’s a rational reaction to mask mandates, forced adoption of experimental vaccines, and the “choose between a son and live daughter” bullying by the science bureaucracy-establishment. Americans still love REAL science, as we all saw the past two weeks …





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Ed: This is a great way to wrap it up today. I defy you to not smile. 


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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