NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
Dodging bullets: You may have heard about the churchgoing Republican being left at the altar because he did not support BLM.
- No, seriously – it happened on the reality show “Love is Blind.”
- Contestants decide to get married without “seeing each other.”
- Thought bubble: “I’ll accept you with warts, but not as a Republican.”
- Watch tonight: Ben Mezzenga from the hit show joins us with his life after love.
Canada: We don’t want you.
- For all the talk of Canada becoming the 51st state – it’s a colossally bad idea – Canada would have more electoral votes than California.
- Thought bubble: Could we turn them into Puerto Rico?
- Watch tonight: 1 in 10 Canadians want to become part of America – one of the movement’s key leaders, Ryan Hemsley, joins us.
- Tweet de jure: Flagged by our producer Hartley Carter:
- British Columbian Premier David Eby on Trump: “He has no regard for the chaos that he has been causing because we feel this is part of his strategy to hurt the Canadian economy and to force us into his vision of annexation to the United States of America, redrawing our borders and access to our water.”
- Trump’s ability to get into people’s heads never ceases to amaze me
- British Columbian Premier David Eby on Trump: “He has no regard for the chaos that he has been causing because we feel this is part of his strategy to hurt the Canadian economy and to force us into his vision of annexation to the United States of America, redrawing our borders and access to our water.”
- Tweet de jure: Flagged by our producer Hartley Carter:
We told you for months leading up to the election that the next president would be a wartime president – we just didn’t know how many wars there would be!
- Ukraine: And now maybe with Putin – continue reading below for more.
- Israel/Gaza: This conflict is going to heat up soon.
- Iran: There are already threats of military action between the U.S. and Iran.
- Trade: New tariffs on wine, of all things, prove that President Trump is escalating without an off-ramp.
- Trump says he’s not going to bend.
- Paycheck to paycheck: As our friend Erick Erickson points out, the media now realizes Americans are in rough shape – and yes, they told us everything was fine under Biden.
- But that doesn’t make them wrong now.
- “CNN Poll: Optimism about the economy sags as 55% say cuts to federal programs will cause harm,” headlines CNN.
- “Consumer Angst Is Striking All Income Levels,” writes The Wall Street Journal.
- But that doesn’t make them wrong now.
Trump needs to start talking like this is wartime – Americans will endure great hardship if called to arms.
- Americans have had to deal with hard things before – a cable news report from Guadalcanal or the Battle of the Bulge would have given no reason for hope.
- The president needs to explain what’s ahead and why it’s important.
- Trump should do it before things get worse.
- Short-term pain for long-term gain.
- As Bill O’Reilly suggested the other night, let’s get some charts out.
- The president needs to explain what’s ahead and why it’s important.
Putin Playing Chess
As Ambassador John Bolton predicted last night, Putin accepted the Ukraine “ceasefire” in principle and will now drag things out.
- Quote de jure: What’s mine is mine, and what’s yours, we can negotiate over.
- Question de jure: Our Robert Sherman nailed it today in the Oval Office:
- Sherman: “Mr. President, some of our allies have said that they’re worried that they could be the next to be attacked by Russia. You’ve spoken directly with the Russian president. Do you think those fears are justified?”
- President Trump: “No, I don’t. I think when this gets done, it’s done. They’re going to all want to go home and rest. I don’t see it happening, no, I don’t see it happening. And we’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. It’s not going to happen, but we’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.”
- Really? How is that?
- Once KGB, always KGB: Too often, we forget where Vladamir Putin comes from – the KGB.
- They recruit sociopaths and preach a hybrid warfare doctrine that escalates to deescalate.
- Moscow rules: A Russian ship captain rammed into a U.S. tanker last week, sparking a massive blaze and destroying jet fuel for American and NATO forces in Europe.
- Must read: CNN’s write-up on the collision:
- “Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the nearby Port of Grimsby East, had expressed disbelief that such a crash could have happened, given the sophistication of modern shipping technology.
- “‘It seems a mystery, really, because all the vessels now have very highly sophisticated technical equipment to plot courses and to look at any obstacles or anything they’ve got to avoid,’ Boyers told CNN on Monday.”
- Does anybody believe this was really an accident?
- Must read: CNN’s write-up on the collision:
- Moscow rules: A Russian ship captain rammed into a U.S. tanker last week, sparking a massive blaze and destroying jet fuel for American and NATO forces in Europe.
- They recruit sociopaths and preach a hybrid warfare doctrine that escalates to deescalate.
- Art of the deal: Putin continues to embarrass Trump, whether Trump wants to admit it or not – at some point, Putin must be taught a lesson.
Perplexing Democrats
Democrats appear broken by Trump – the man they said would destroy our republic has instead destroyed them.
- Must read: “Hey Democrats, wake the f—k up,” by SFGATE columnist Drew Magary.
- “The sky is falling. The United States federal government is being illegally dissolved before your very eyes. The workers you rely on to ensure that you don’t eat ground beef tainted with paint chips are being laid off en masse. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided your office last week and asked for your papers, even though you were born in Fremont. A fire tornado is due to touch down in your backyard next Tuesday. Your parents are terrified to board an airplane. Your gay nephew is terrified to go to school. Your 401(k) is in the toilet. MEASLES. Measles have returned and want to eat your baby. Every day you look at the news, and you’re told that the president would like to bring back cockfighting. You and I need reassurance. You and I need to know that someone out there is trying to put an end to all this madness. Instead, we get this.”
- The article then shows a picture of Democrats with their bingo paddles during Trump’s joint address to Congress.
- I would add a picture of Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, holding up his cane.
- Note: I didn’t say “pimp cane” as Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said.
- I would add a picture of Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, holding up his cane.
- The article then shows a picture of Democrats with their bingo paddles during Trump’s joint address to Congress.
- “The sky is falling. The United States federal government is being illegally dissolved before your very eyes. The workers you rely on to ensure that you don’t eat ground beef tainted with paint chips are being laid off en masse. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided your office last week and asked for your papers, even though you were born in Fremont. A fire tornado is due to touch down in your backyard next Tuesday. Your parents are terrified to board an airplane. Your gay nephew is terrified to go to school. Your 401(k) is in the toilet. MEASLES. Measles have returned and want to eat your baby. Every day you look at the news, and you’re told that the president would like to bring back cockfighting. You and I need reassurance. You and I need to know that someone out there is trying to put an end to all this madness. Instead, we get this.”
But seriously.
- At the same time Democrats tell us federal workers are akin to an endangered species that must be saved at all costs, they vote to leave many of them without a paycheck.
- Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., described it as burning down the village to save it.
- Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg says he won’t run for Senate in Michigan – if America is under attack, shouldn’t everybody be running for office?
- Democrats allow themselves to be defined by the dumbest among them – aka Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and her crew.
- They are giving Republicans ready-made attack ads.
- Democrats are now rallying to stop the deportation of a pro-Hamas Syrian and remain eerily silent on the hostages in Gaza.
- Not a single Senate Democrat voted to ban boys in girls sports – an issue that polls nearly 80/20.
Honestly – what are the Democrats doing?
Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.