When you have credibility with the audience, you’re halfway there.
—Arn Anderson, the “Enforcer” of the Four Horsemen
Arn Anderson’s real name isn’t Arn Anderson. It’s Martin Anthony Lunde. But because he kinda-sorta looked like fellow pro wrestler Ole Anderson, he “became” an Anderson in the weird, wacky world of wrestling. (Of course, Ole Anderson wasn’t really an Anderson either: In the 1960s, Alan Robert Rogowski “became” Ole Anderson, when he was teamed with “brothers” Gene Anderson and Lars Anderson… a.k.a. Larry Heiniemi.) Out of the four Andersons, only one was authentic.
Which is why it worked: A 4-1 ratio is all you need to sell a lie.
If everything you say is untrue, nobody will listen to you. A Devil who only told lies would collect zero souls. There needs to be an anchor — something real and tangible for you to exploit.
The overwhelming majority of political pundits — from the biggest stars on Fox News to the lowliest “influencers” on social media — simply aren’t smart enough to offer new insights and thoughtful, original analysis of fast-breaking events. And that’s a problem, because their livelihood depends on their minds and their mouths: If they aren’t saying something different than the next guy, then what’s the point in paying ‘em for their opinions? These pundits work, after all, in an attention-driven marketplace.
Unfortunately, this incentivizes media “experts” to greatly exaggerate their “expertise.”
Think about it: Five years ago, these people were all viral pathology experts, telling us “the truth” about COVID vaccinations. (“Take your shots. They’re totally safe. And the virus was definitely not from a lab leak, you tin hat-wearing nutjob.”) Today, they’re all geologists and/or military explosive experts, telling you “the real story” about Trump’s decision to bomb the bejeezus out of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Aren’t they versatile? That’s an astonishing depth of knowledge! Why, it’s almost like being an evolutionary expert in viral pathology — and being able to deduce the damage from U.S. bunker-busting bombs via aerial reconnaissance — are two entirely different specialties.
But unless you’ve been living under a rock (which now includes large swaths of Tehran), that’s the story du jour: Trump’s bombing campaign against Iran was a failure. It accomplished nothing.
So says the “experts”:
CNN: Exclusive: Early US intel assessment suggests strikes on Iran did not destroy nuclear sites, sources say
Reuters: US strikes failed to destroy Iran’s nuclear site, intelligence report says
NBC News: Strikes on Iran set back its nuclear program only several months, sources say
Washington Post: U.S. initial damage report: Iran nuclear program set back by months, not obliterated
Newsweek: Did Donald Trump’s Bombing of Iran Fail? What We Know
ABC News: Early US intel assessment finds Trump-ordered strikes set back Iran’s nuclear program only by months
The Independent: Trump strikes on Iran did not destroy nuclear sites, intel assessment suggests
The Guardian: US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites only set program back by months, Pentagon report says
Business Today: US failed to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities, finds report
For the next several weeks, these people will be making the podcast rounds, sharing their enlightened wisdom and expertise with us lowly, knuckle-dragging plebeians: “Here’s why Trump’s decision to bomb Iran was such a disaster…”
I hope the Trump administration is ready. The race to define the post-bombing narrative is now underway — and one side is determined to discredit American action. For this side, it’s “by any means necessary.” They’ll lie, cheat, and exaggerate.
And they’re comprised of three main audiences:
The first are the rabid, hardcore anti-Trump people. Their knee-jerk opposition to all things MAGA is defined by a simple calculus: “If Trump is for it, I’m against it!” (Even when it comes to disarming a nuke-wielding Iran.)
The second are the pro-Iran and pro-Russia people. All regimes have their media apologists, and the Mullahs and/or Rooskies are no exception. (Same goes for Qatar.) Ever since the fall of Syria, Russia’s foothold in the Middle East has been tenuous at best; should the Iranian regime also collapse, Russia’s sphere of influence would be scarcely the size of a crop circle. Meanwhile, Iran has its own reasons for exaggerating its resiliency — which could lead to the Mother of All Ironies. (More on that in a sec.)
The third are the MAGA-friendly voices — i.e. the Tucker Carlson crowd — who staked their credibility on their passionate, unrelenting opposition to ANY military action against Iran. That’s what was so disappointing: It would’ve been one thing to have had a measured, nuanced discussion about the pros and cons of U.S. military intervention. Reasonable people could certainly reach different conclusions.
Were that the case, no complaints. Robust, good-faith debate is healthy. Without it, a movement cannot grow. For MAGA to gain permanency, it must evolve with its audience, and that requires grown-up discourse between grown-up leaders.
That’s not what Tucker Carlson (and friends) sought to do. Instead, they went ridiculously over-the-top in their rhetoric: An Iranian attack would lead to World War III! Thousands of Americans would surely die! And if you disagree with them, why, you’re a Neocon warmonger!
(And if you’re a Jewish Republican, we know who you’re REALLY in league with, you anti-American traitor. We can’t trust people like you.)
It was so unbelievably mean-spirited, condescending, and disingenuous, Tucker Carlson actually resorted to calling his opponents… gay:
Why are so many neocons closeted gay Republicans? pic.twitter.com/WBYO6vHClr
— Tucker Carlson Network (@TCNetwork) May 2, 2025
This wasn’t a good-faith attempt at thoughtful, reasonable political discourse. It was out-and-out character assassination from a YouTube “influencer” who wanted win at any cost.
Curious course of action for a “peacemaker,” eh?
Related: Excising the Ghosts of Iraq: America Is Winning Again — Get Used to It!
MAGA must defend itself from those attempting to divide our movement. The mainstream media certainly won’t do it for us. The burden is ours.
It falls on all of us.
Redefining Trump’s actions as a colossal failure might allow certain “influencers” to recoup their credibility, because very clearly, this DID NOT lead to World War III. Thousands of Americans DID NOT die. And believing it’d be a bad idea for Iran to obtain a nuclear bomb DOES NOT make you a “warmonger.”
Anyone who says otherwise is lying to you.
Tucker Carlson has more strawmen than an Iowa farmer. It would be foolish of us to expect him to be honest post-bombing when he was so dishonest in the lead-up. As such, he’ll be using his platform to double down on his false claims. Don’t expect him to issue a mea culpa for being so spectacularly wrong.
The truth is, determining the extent of subterranean bombing from aerial reconnaissance is an inexact science. If someone is determined to reach an anti-Trump conclusion, there are ways to reconstruct the data so it says exactly that. That’s the PR beauty of ambiguity.
It’s something dishonest men can exploit.
But ever since the dark day of October 7, 2023, the hallmark of Israeli action has been its astonishingly high level of intelligence. From the “Grim Beeper” operation in Hezbollah to the decapitation of Iranian scientists and/or military commanders, Israel had successfully infiltrated its enemy’s inner sanctum. Even Ian Fleming would be impressed.
It stands to reason that they infiltrated the Iranian nuclear program, too.
Israel assassinated some Iranian scientists. Others likely defected. And I wouldn’t be surprised at all if some were kidnapped. If Israel viewed Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat — the Holocaust, Part II — they wouldn’t stop until they learned everything they possibly could!
So what do you trust? The sum-total of American and Israeli intelligence? Or do you trust this anonymously-leaked “source” who says the world’s most powerful bunker-busting bombs were all duds?
The same people who swore Iran didn’t have a nuclear weapons program are now swearing it wasn’t destroyed.
It’s possible that future intelligence assessments will differ. When the facts on the ground change, so should our conclusions. But the idea that the media already KNOWS Trump’s strikes failed is absolutely, positively, 100% ludicrous. Even the Iranians don’t know the extent of the damage, because it’s all buried beneath thousands of tons of dirt, rock, cement, and debris!
Between Israel’s “eyes on the ground,” America’s surveillance in the sky, and our internal research on our bombs’ output, I trust Trump’s conclusion much more than an anonymous leaker.
Speaking of which, it’s interesting to note the contrast in Trump’s pre-strikes plans and these post-strike media leaks. For the former, the info was airtight: There were zero leaks whatsoever; operational security was perfect. But once the Pentagon was brought in, there were leaks within 24-hours!
Hmm…
Certain voices will be incentivized to lie to you — and convince you that these strikes were failures. Don’t fall for it.
The Mother of All Ironies is, Iran is one of the voices that’s incentivized to lie. It’s not just Tucker Carlson and the anti-Trump left; it’s Iran as well. This is why Newsweek wrote last night, “Iranian president claims US failed to destroy nuclear facilities.” Iran wants to look tough and save face, so it couldn’t resist the impulse to say, “Nyeah, nyeah! Didn’t hurt! Missed me, missed me!”
What’s so ironic is, that’s the same calculation Saddam Hussein made in Iraq. Just like today’s Iranian mullahs, Saddam thought pretending his WMD program was still intact would somehow make him safer. Turns out the exact opposite was true. It led to war, destruction, and lots of people dying.
Is history about to repeat itself?
Only if we listen to these idiotic anti-Trump voices. Based on what we know so far, tune ‘em out. They’re not being honest.
One Last Thing: The Democrats are on the ropes, but make no mistake: The donkeys are still dangerous. 2025 will either go down in history as the year we finally Made America Great Again — or the year it all slipped through our fingers. We need your help to succeed! As a VIP member, you’ll receive exclusive access to all our family of sites (PJ Media, Townhall, RedState, twitchy, Hot Air, Bearing Arms): More stories, more videos, more content, more fun, more conservatism, more EVERYTHING! And if you CLICK HERE and use the promo code FIGHT you’ll receive a Trumpian 60% discount!
Thank you for your consideration!
