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Friday’s Final Word – HotAir

April 17, 2026
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Friday's Final Word – HotAir
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‘Cause I’m back on the track, and I’m beatin’ the flack, nobody’s gonna get me on another tab …





So where did all that investigative energy go now? 

Why is nobody in the media demanding answers about Gallego and the questions surrounding campaign money tied to his Puerto Rico wedding. 

Why is nobody asking about his shoes allegedly appearing in the leaked Swalwell video.

Funny how the accountability crowd turns into deaf mutes the second another prominent Democrat who just happens to be close with Swalwell lands in the spotlight. 

The silence is so loud it should be its own scandal.

Ed: It already is. The Swalwell video allegedly depicts Eric the Pred aggressively kissing a purported sex worker, where at least one other man can be seen briefly. Some have speculated that it’s Gallego, but he denies it. Maybe reporters will cover this story in 2031.

===

Fox News: McCasland’s disappearance is one of 10 recent cases involving scientists tied to U.S. military and government research that have drawn attention, including at the White House, where officials said they are looking into the matter after being asked about a potential pattern.

“I hope it’s random, but we’re going to know in the next week and a half,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “I just left a meeting on that subject.” 

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) told Fox News Digital it is looking into the matter.

“NNSA is aware of reports related to employees of our labs, plants, and sites and is looking into the matter.”

Ed: We could stand a little more reporting on this story, too, especially considering its proximity to the war with Iran. Is the IRGC targeting our nuclear program experts in retaliation? Or could there be a reason why they chose to disappear?

===





Ed: I proposed this as a potential scenario yesterday, and it’s still a valid hypothesis. Trump has been using ambiguity and misdirection for strategic purposes since before the war began. However, Trump probably doesn’t need to engineer the internecine war that will erupt in the Iranian regime when the obvious loss becomes apparent. It’s the Michael Collins conundrum, multiplied exponentially by the regime’s belief in its infallibility. A century ago, we called it the Stab In The Back Theory, and that got ugly fast in Germany. It’s the reason FDR and Truman demanded unconditional surrender in World War II. 

===

Telegraph (UK): Iranian officials are confronting mounting public frustration over their refusal to explain why the country reopened the Strait of Hormuz, with state-affiliated media demanding transparency.

The semi-official Fars news agency, which has close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), published an unusual series of statements criticising the government’s silence after Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said the key oil artery would be “completely open”.

“Iranian society has fallen into a haze of confusion” following Mr Araghchi’s announcement and Donald Trump’s subsequent claims of diplomatic victory, Fars said. 

“What worries people inside the country more than anything is the absolute and strange silence of the supreme national security council and the negotiating team.”

Ed: Even the IRGC outlets are beginning to ask questions about the competency of the regime and its claims of victory over the US and Israel. A crisis in confidence may be just a “malaise” speech in the US, but for brittle dictatorships based on divine grants of authority, it can become a fatal cascade. The regime stepped up its propaganda to prevent that, but all that does is raise expectations unrealistically and make the eventual disillusionment even worse. Hence … 





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… and will show no leniency in implementing measures necessary to protect its national interests and rights.”

Ed: The dead-enders will go down hard, but they will go down. As long as these threats continue, the US Navy will continue strangling the IRGC’s economy with a full blockade. Best guess: this is the last gasp for leverage in the talks this weekend in Islamabad before the Iranians capitulate. They’re out of time and they are out of options. 

===

AFP via Times of Israel: “We are confident that we will save Lebanon… we have reclaimed Lebanon and Lebanon’s decision-making power for the first time in nearly half a century,” Aoun said in his first speech to the nation since the truce, adding: “Today, we negotiate for ourselves… we are no longer a pawn in anyone’s game, nor an arena for anyone’s wars, and we never will be again”.

“Now, we all stand before a new phase,” Aoun says. “It is the phase of transition from working on a ceasefire to working on permanent agreements that preserve the rights of our people, the unity of our land, and the sovereignty of our nation.”

He adds that direct talks with Israel are “not a sign of weakness nor a concession… negotiations do not mean, and will never mean, giving up any right, conceding any principle, or compromising the sovereignty of this nation.”

Ed: This has two meanings, and the Lebanese people will quickly grasp both. First, Aoun is making clear that he has no intention of ceding any part of the sub-Litani to Israel, as some have suggested. Mostly, though, this is Aoun’s declaration of liberation from Iran and its Hezbollah proxies. The point of these talks is to coordinate Israeli and American power into the expulsion of the mullahtoadies that have plagued Lebanon for nearly a half-century. 





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Ed: Let’s see what Iran says in Islamabad. Right now, they’re saying whatever gets them through the night for public consumption. If true, and if verifiable and enforceable, then Hezbollah is absolutely toast. If not, then Trump is going to have fun watching the IRGC eat itself alive over these leaks. 

===

Axios: Why it matters: The possibility of a prolonged disruption to the supply of crude oil, liquefied natural gas, fertilizer and other commodities looks to be off the table.

The Trump administration’s strategic move from last weekend — matching Iran’s strait blockade for ships that don’t pay a toll with a U.S. blockade — seems to have worked, at least for now. …

What they’re saying: “The US is being very smart about the blockade,” Robin Brooks, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote Thursday on X.

“It dangles prospects of peace to markets, which caps oil prices,” he adds. “That defangs Iran’s main negotiating leverage, which is to cause panic and push oil prices higher. The mullahs are getting pushed into a corner.”

Ed: The Protection Racket Media seems to be begrudgingly realizing that Trump knew what he was doing all along. Brookings is hardly a pro-MAGA think tank. If they’re crediting Trump with outplaying the mullahs, it must finally be dawning on the great multitude of the analyst establishment. Speaking of which …

===

Ed: I have been arguing this for two decades. Energy production provides strategic advantages. We could take action against Iran now because we could limit the economic damage of an interruption of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians still thought it was 1979, or possibly 2015, when the US was hamstrung by stupidly self-imposed production limits to appease the radical-enviro lobbies of their times. Trump just proved that strategic advantage, and now the rest of the world has now awoken to America as a superpower … again. 





===

Politico: Many of the countries that are most severely affected by the war say they recognize the benefits of transitioning faster to renewable energy to avoid future shocks related to oil disruptions. Others remain bullish on fossil fuels, including the United States — whose Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, applauded America’s rising oil and gas production, and called for fewer climate policies.

The U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran and subsequent stifling of oil supplies from the Middle East “will redraw the global energy map,” Fatih Birol, chief of the International Energy Agency, said at an event Tuesday. Then he delivered a word of caution: “We are not going back to where we were.” …

To some, that meant switching shipping routes away from the Persian Gulf. To others, it meant finding oil and gas outside the Middle East. Or harvesting local coal reserves. Or perhaps restarting mothballed nuclear power plants. In many cases, it means expanding renewable energy to curb reliance on other nations in an increasingly fractured, volatile world.

“History shows us that a crisis of this magnitude is also a catalyst,” Masato Kanda, president of the Asian Development Bank, told a gathering at the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday.

Ed: Yeah, this isn’t going to be a catalyst for more investment in “renewable energy.” This has been an object lesson on the need for scalable and reliable energy sources, for domestic and foreign policy. This is the end of Green New Deals and zero-carbon prioritization. It’s probably the end of the Strait of Hormuz as a key passage for commercial shipping in the long run, at least as long as this regime remains in Iran. The IRGC just woke everyone up to that risk, and now pipelines will carry oil and gas to other seaways. 

===





Ed: What in the actual f*** is wrong with her? Obsession much?

===

KSL: Utah’s governor, Senate president and House speaker are launching an investigation into Supreme Court Justice Diana Hagen and allegations that she had a relationship with an attorney arguing cases before the high court.

Those allegations are detailed in a complaint submitted late last year to both Chief Justice Matthew Durrant and the Judicial Conduct Commission.

The complaint, which was obtained exclusively by KSL through a public records request, came from a Provo-based attorney who said Hagen’s ex-husband told him the justice had exchanged “inappropriate” text messages with David Reymann, one of the attorneys involved in a case about redistricting, which led to Utah getting a new congressional map.

Ed: Holy mother of pearl! The case got adjudicated by a unanimous decision, so any conflict of interest wouldn’t have necessarily changed the outcome of the ruling. That doesn’t make an undisclosed relationship to one of the parties in the case acceptable, though. Hagen could be heading for impeachment and removal, and perhaps disbarment, if these allegations prove true. 

===

Ed: The latter. In very small words, possibly with the use of flash cards and sock puppets. 

===

Ed: Indeed. But short of a massive, Operation Downfall-scale invasion and occupation, we have done about all that can be done toward liberation. The people of Iran need to take the initiative and those final steps. 

===





Ed: What a great run for a great song, and a man of great talent and great moral courage. 


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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