Iran has once again violated the terms of the temporary ceasefire. They struck three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in recent days. In response to this “unwarranted aggression,” President Trump ordered renewed military strikes. More than 80 Iranian targets were hit Tuesday. Iran responded by attacking its Arab neighbors Bahrain and Kuwait.
 
Speaking to reporters at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, President Trump did not attempt to hide his frustration. Referring to the ceasefire, Trump said, “I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum.” He blasted the mullahs as “liars,” “cheats” and “sick people.”
 
President Trump said there would be additional military strikes against Iran. The administration also revoked its authorization allowing Iranian oil sales on the global market. Predictably, the stock market fell sharply yesterday. Oil prices spiked, meaning gas prices will go up as we get closer to the election.
 
Speaking of the election, I would not want to be Iran’s radical mullahs on Wednesday, November 4th, as any election-related restraints will be gone. The elections will be over, and President Trump will approach this conflict without any concerns about whether Marxists and socialists are controlling Congress. If the Iranians are smart, they will make a deal before then.
 
 
 
The Problem With Platner
 
Graham Platner is obviously a bum. The cumulative weight of all his baggage is extraordinary. Yet, he is refusing to go quietly. He is reportedly demanding the right to decide who replaces him on the ballot.
 
And that’s really the bottom line: Whoever is named to replace him as the Democrat Senate candidate will be committed to the same Marxist, anti-American, anti-freedom policies that Platner is committed to.
 
That’s why these midterm elections are so important and unlike any other midterm election in modern memory. The Democrat Party has gone crazy. Marxists and Islamists have taken over, and the party is embracing insane ideas like open borders, defunding the police and pregnant men.
 
Even if you clean Platner up—take away his Nazi tattoo; turn him into Don Juan, who woos women rather than rapes them; get rid of all the bizarre and disgusting social media posts—he would still be a dangerous candidate. And so will anyone else the Democrats choose to replace him.
 
That’s why I have always felt that simply pointing out a candidate’s character flaws isn’t enough to win elections. The problem with Platner is that he’s a Marxist, just like much of the Democrat base.
 
 
 
The Palmer Raids
 
Some say history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme. A little over 100 years ago, we faced another socialist threat in America. There was a national Socialist Party run by Eugene Debs. There was a growing anarchist movement as well. An anarchist assassinated President William McKinley in 1901.
 
After World War I, President Woodrow Wilson ordered a massive crackdown on the growing socialist and anarchist movements. That effort was led by Attorney General Mitchell Palmer and became known as the “Palmer Raids.” Thousands of anarchists and socialists were arrested across the country. More than 550 people were deported.
 
Ironically, the American Civil Liberties Union was born out of the concerns over civil rights violations that occurred during the Palmer Raids. But it wasn’t just the government cracking down on a political movement or party. What is often left out of many history books is the full extent of the left-wing violence that was taking place across the country.
 
In 1919 and 1920, anarchists and communists carried out a series of terrorist attacks against high-profile political and business figures. One bombing on Wall Street killed 38 people. One of the political targets was Attorney General Palmer. In the summer of 1919, a bomb destroyed the front of Palmer’s house in Washington, D.C.
 
This left-wing violence was also happening in the middle of the communist revolution in Russia, which saw the tsar and his family brutally murdered. There were violent communist uprisings across Europe. Many Americans feared that revolution would be exported to the United States.
 
Socialism and Marxism are growing in the United States today. The hearings taking place this week for Charlie Kirk’s assassin remind us of the intolerance and violence that permeates the Left and always seeks to silence dissent. Now add radical Islam to this volatile mix.
 
That’s the real danger to democracy in America, not Donald Trump.
 
 
 
An Ancient Evil
 
Stories keep popping up revealing just how deep the ancient evil of antisemitism runs in today’s Democrat Party. The latest example comes from Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT), who told CNN about her experience at a recent Capitol Hill meeting of the bipartisan House Antisemitism Task Force.
 
Balint said one of her Democrat colleagues at the meeting remarked, “I didn’t really think there was any antisemitism anymore, because all the Jews are rich.” She was shocked by the blatant display of antisemitism right there during a meeting on combating antisemitism.
 
Just to be clear, Balint is an open lesbian and far-left “progressive” Democrat. But she fears a “day of reckoning” is coming for her politically in liberal Vermont. Why? Because Balint is Jewish and is being attacked by some of her constituents who hate Israel. Balint said:
 
“There will be people, I think some of my own supporters, who will turn on me, because I still believe in a two-state solution… I still believe that Israel should be safe and secure. I believe that the Palestinians … deserve a safe and secure homeland. I do not believe Israel should be dismantled.”
 
She wants a Palestinian state but adds that Israel should not be dismantled. Balint is acknowledging that when leftist chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” they’re not talking about two states living side-by-side in peace. They’re talking about the destruction of the state of Israel.
 
Nobody at our elite universities is demanding a two-state solution. The communists winning Democrat primaries who were out in the streets supporting Hamas on October 8, 2023, are not advocating a two-state solution. The Democrat Senate candidate who “struggles” with the existence of Israel as a Jewish state is not advocating a two-state solution.
 
When we say that groups in the United States are calling for a second Holocaust—a second mass genocide of the Jews—we’re not exaggerating. Does anybody seriously think 8 million Jews are going to voluntarily leave Israel? Of course, not. They’re talking about killing the Jews and creating a make-believe country called “Palestine.” That is what has infected the Democrat Party.
 
 
 
Celebrating America At 250
 
Not a heatwave, violent thunderstorms, or the naysaying of the socialist Left could prevent the American people from celebrating the glorious 250th birthday of America. Millions of us gathered in our great cities and small towns to thank God and our heroes for the blessing of living in America. Read more in my latest public policy update for the James Dobson Family Institute.