We all lived through COVID and we all watched Trump screw up the pandemic response. We watched ignorant Republicans politicize mask-wearing, social distancing, lockdowns and, later, vaccines.

We all watched Trump and Republicans rewrite history by concocting conspiratorial stories that paint Fauci as a dark, money-grubbing con man who manipulated the government to steal millions of taxpayer dollars and was responsible for the unnecessary deaths of thousands of Americans.

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Except, that’s exactly what Trump did during the pandemic and the type of behavior he has been engaged in ever since.

So many of these Republican senators who harassed Fauci today are responsible for COVID deaths in their own states because they were too irresponsible, politically motivated and emotionally immature to stop vilifying common-sense precautions like social distancing and masking—basic stuff that, for decades, you might do if you were immunocompromised and it was flu season. When it came to COVID, we were all immunocompromised and it was the worst of flu seasons.

Republicans didn’t even have the backbone to stand up against obvious misinformation campaigns about Ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasites in horses and intestinal worm infections in humans—not a virus like COVID.

Instead of having the courage to admit they screwed up, and that the imbecile they worship also screwed up, they doubled downed, tripled downed on a failure of intellect and on a devolution of moral character.

It’s what little kids do when they are caught doing something bad. Young children are supposed to behave that way and then, over time, we teach them how to be better. Under the tutelage of the fool in the White House, for well over a decade, Republican cowards in the Senate have learned to function as adult toddlers, completely beholden this ignorant vulgarian.

In desperate attempts to make someone other than Trump America’s villain, and to appease whatever is left of their weak-willed consciences, Republican Senators desperately continue to destroy Fauci.

That’s why Dr. Fauci pleaded the Fifth today. He’s done playing games.

After years of arguing with these idiots, after debunking conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory, Fauci simply stopped. In his opening statement he spoke of Senator Rand Paul’s obsession.

He said that Paul has an "obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution."

Then, Fauci suggested that there was no point in trying to reason with the unreasonable. No matter what he says, the crazies will twist, distort and contort his words into something that irrationally validates their conspiracy theories.

“The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote," Fauci said.

At times, Senate Republicans appeared visibly frustrated. That wanted yelling. They wanted screaming, chaos and fireworks. That didn’t happen. You can’t get into a screaming match with someone who won’t scream.

Fauci calmly repeated the same sentence, over and over, throughout the entire hearing. Its wasn’t that obviously guilty, typically nervous Fifth Amendment performance that we’re accoustomed to seeing. It was a clam, almost sarcastic, performance. It’s was as much an FU to Rand Paul as it was a mockery of an unserious, unintentionally transparent Kangaroo Court.

But don’t worry. Trump will try to give Senate Republicans something. He has to. His relationship with them is transactional, and he has to continuously purchase their loyalty.

In the days to come, expect the Department of Justice to announce a new criminal investigation as well as some type of harebrained effort to undo Fauci’s pardon. Also, look for Trump to start babbling on again about Biden and the autopen.

Thank so much!!!

Congratulations to RFK Jr., Donald Trump, and the anti-vax community. You did it!!! Woohoo!!! You should be so proud of yourselves. Thanks to your hard work and dedicated efforts, you've convinced enough Americans that their children should get measles. A disease eliminated from the nation 25 years ago has returned with a vengeance. In just six months, the U.S. has already exceeded last year's record-breaking viral overload with a staggering 2,318 verified cases. Come on, MAHA!!! You can do better than that!!! Let's keep those vaccination rates down and see if you can infect 6,000 innocent children before New Year's Day.

Trump probably lied about Putin and Xi:

If we don't get confirmation from Russia and China that Putin and Xi actually said these things, we can assume Donald is lying.

Trump claims Australia, the EU, Canada, Japan, and others violate forced labor standards. He imposes new tariffs.

You read that right. The lunatic president of a nation that pays illegal migrants pennies on the dollar to hand-pick its produce (while arresting, deporting, and killing them) claims that at least 60 of our trading partners are not adequately enforcing a ban on forced labor.

Back in February, the Supreme Court struck down most of Trump’s stupid tariffs. A lifelong loser who’s incapable of taking the “L,” Trump must have instructed his confederacy of buffoons to come up with a new pretense for imposing meaningless, yet incredibly inflationary, tariffs.

Although the political tone-deafness is staggering (just four months before the midterm elections), the stunning hypocrisy far exceeds it. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told NPR News, “If you compare our labor laws to the ones of the United States, I mean, we have, people have paid vacations, we have very good conditions, labor conditions, for our employees, so it’s not really grounded.”

Here in the U.S., our minimum wage is $7.25, millions work irregular schedules, paid vacation and sick leave are not federally guaranteed, and we offer no paid family leave after having a new baby.

House says Donald must stop the war. The Senate says keep going.

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution to stop the war with Iran. The anti-stupid-wars caucus prevailed in a 214-208 vote. Four Republicans defected from the Trump-is-better-than-Jesus side of the aisle to help Democrats exercise common sense.

Just a short time later, the U.S. Senate couldn't muster the same courage. Chickenshit GOP senators have yet to grow a full spine, handing Democrats a 49-47 loss in the Upper Chamber by rejecting their war powers resolution.

Democrats choose South Carolina as first primary election state for the 2028 presidential election.

That’s not completely accurate. The Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) Rules and Bylaws Committee voted Friday to approve it as the initial battleground. This is just a recommendation that has to go before a vote of the full DNC next month.

There’s no reason to expect things won’t go as planned, but there was also no reason to expect that former Vice Chairs Malcolm Kenyatta and David Hogg would get, essentially, tossed out of the DNC back in February 2025. We’ll have to see what happens.

Assuming the DNC goes with the recommendation, South Carolina will replace New Hampshire as the first-in-the-nation primary state. New Hampshire certainly doesn’t like this, but New Hampshire doesn’t look like most of America. New Hampshire is white. All of America, thankfully, is not. Approximately 24% of South Carolina’s residents are Black, while approximately 65% are white.

Although victory in the first primary state doesn’t guarantee a Democratic candidate will win the nomination, it can be a momentum driver. Also remember, in 2020 Joe Biden was getting clobbered by Bernie Sanders in primary after primary. Black women in South Carolina won the state for Biden and changed the outcome of the race.

Bernie won the New Hampshire primary.

But I’m not feeling the fear tonight, and I lay out why. My prediction: this speech is going to be two hours of incoherent rambling with zero credible evidence and zero actionable follow-through. Maybe a toothless threats to “look into” the voting machines. Maybe blustery talk of tariffs on China that would only fuel inflation and guarantee Republicans get wiped out in the midterms.

I could be completely wrong and I hope not. I don’t expect any real declarations —just psychopathic noise. Once Donald loses the thread of the teleprompter, unscripted riffing that gets worse from there.

The tell that matters most: AP reporting says none of the major networks — including Fox News — have committed to airing this live. We may be looking at a C-SPAN-only address, which would be its own kind of statement. If the timing works, I’ll be streaming along with it and fact-checking in real time.

My advice for tonight: watch it, be concerned, be ready a real assault on democracy but take some deep breaths. Look for the comedy and the absurdity in it. If the real horror shows up, we’ll deal with it then — but I don’t think that’s what we’re getting.

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He’s not.

In tonight’s live, I argued that the biggest story isn’t the latest round of bombing. It’s that Iran has been systematically manipulating Donald Trump from the very beginning of this conflict—and he keeps walking right into it.

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Trump sold this war as a way to stop Iran from becoming stronger and to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Instead, I believe he’s accomplished the exact opposite. Iran has emerged with greater strategic leverage, more influence in the Middle East, new economic opportunities, and perhaps the strongest political justification it’s ever had to pursue a nuclear deterrent. If your objective was to weaken Iran, this has been a spectacular failure.

But this goes beyond Iran.

I argued that the real problem is Donald Trump himself. Here is a man who, in my view, is emotionally unstable, intellectually out of his depth, increasingly detached from reality, and making decisions that could reshape the world. While he’s lashing out at NATO allies, confusing world leaders, and surrounding himself with people who have little business running American foreign policy, our adversaries are doing something much more effective: they’re studying him. They’re learning his weaknesses. And they’re exploiting them.

That led to what I think was the larger lesson of the evening. Iran isn’t the first country to figure Trump out. China did it during the trade war. Canada did it. Increasingly, other democracies are learning it too. The mistake many leaders make is believing they have to flatter Trump. I argued the opposite: he’s a classic bully who retreats when people stand up to him. Iran, perversely, has demonstrated that better than almost anyone.

That’s what makes this moment so dangerous. The bombs aren’t the biggest story. The biggest story is that the President of the United States believes he’s playing three-dimensional chess while, in my view, America’s adversaries are several moves ahead of him.

Moments ago the Washington Post reported that Graham Platner’s ex-girlfriend accused him of removing condoms during sex without her consent.

This isn’t the first time Platner’s ex told this to the Post. In an off-the-record interview back in June, she mentioned it. So, as far as I’m concerned, this can’t possibly be a question of credibility. She mentioned this before yesterday’s bombshell sexual abuse allegations.

America, I need to inform you that we have a problem. We still have men, on both sides of the political, ideological spectrum, who can’t seem to stop sexually assaulting women and running/serving in political office at the federal level.

This keeps happening, no matter how many times the sexual assaulters on the left get caught, humiliated and run out of office, or the sexually deviant abusers on the right get promoted and lionized for their crimes.

Why?

Donald Trump. That’s why.

Twice, America elected a sexual abuser who assaulted dozens of adult women and who almost certainly raped at least one underage Jeffrey Epstein victim. Now, it certainly seems like the freak in the White House can never be held accountable for his crimes.

That’s the lesson the United States of America has sent to all these men. Gentlemen, you’re free to rape whoever you like. Not only need you not worry about the consequences, but, if you run for office and play your cards right, you might just become the President.

We have to fix this. We have to course correct. We have to get the point across to all the rapists, sexual abusers, violent misogynists and sexually deviant creeps that this behavior will no longer be tolerated.

I think that starts with the President. We have to bring his history of sexual assault back into the limelight. We have to remind everyone that even the extremist right-wing Supreme Court, that almost always gives Trump what he wants, refused to hear his nonsocial appeal of his rape of E. Jean Carrol conviction.

We have to remind everyone that he’s credibly accused of sexually assaulting 27 women. And that Jeffrey Epstein emailed his confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, informing her that Donald spend hours alone with an underage victim.

Then, when there is a new President and a functioning Executive Branch, an Independent Department of Justice needs to investigate those allegations that could be federal crimes. State Attorneys General need to begin investigating local allegations now.

The only way to stop this profane madness is to hold the nation’s Chief Sexual Abuser to account.

The conversation explored the contrast between a traditional Independence Day celebration and what unfolded this year: extreme weather disrupting festivities, white nationalist groups marching openly in Washington, and the predictable attempts by pro-Trump media figures to explain away or deny uncomfortable realities. One example was the claim that white supremacists were actually “Antifa in disguise”—an argument presented as an illustration of how increasingly implausible narratives are being used to defend the indefensible.

From there, the discussion turned to what these reactions may signify politically. Rather than viewing them as signs of strength, the argument was that they reveal growing desperation among Trump allies and conservative media personalities who appear increasingly committed to preserving a narrative, even when it conflicts with observable reality. The stream also examined recent controversies surrounding the administration, media messaging, and even allegations of political interference in international sports, suggesting they all reflect the same underlying pattern.

The broader takeaway was one of cautious optimism for pro-democracy supporters. While acknowledging that authoritarian tendencies remain a serious concern, the discussion argued that recent political, economic, and electoral indicators increasingly point toward a weakening MAGA movement rather than a strengthening one. Instead of dwelling on fear over the 2026 midterm elections, the message encouraged viewers to focus on expanding pro-democracy victories rather than merely hoping to survive them.

Ultimately, today’s livestream served as a chance to reset after an exhausting holiday weekend—to step back from the daily chaos, recognize recurring patterns, and remember that even in turbulent political moments, perspective matters.

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A new interim report from Democrats on the House Committee on Natural Resources lays out how the White House allegedly hijacked the nation’s 250th birthday celebration and turned it into a grift. America250 — the independent committee Congress set up back in 2016 to plan this — reportedly refused to let the administration turn it into a campaign-style spectacle. So according to the report, they built a workaround: a shadow company called Freedom 250 LLC, tucked inside the National Park Foundation.

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I go through what the report alleges happened from there — donations meant for America250 rerouted to Freedom 250 without donors knowing, potential pay-for-access arrangements with corporations, and a $10 million taxpayer-funded grant that sent AI-equipped “Freedom Trucks” into schools pushing content from a Christian nationalist.

The details are what got me, honestly. An AI-generated George Washington saying things he never actually said. An exhibit the report says echoes antisemitic tropes about Jewish participation in the Revolutionary War. A false claim that Muhammad Ali disavowed Islam.

I also touch on the actual Freedom 250 event happening in DC this weekend, including why I think nobody should be standing out in that heat for it.

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I walk through the executive summary of this 40-page report line by line, including the AI-generated “George Washington” trailers pushing revisionist history to schoolkids, the $68 million in taxpayer money funneled to Trump-allied contractors, and corporate donors like Verizon buying access. I also play Jen Psaki’s breakdown of the janky Ferris wheel, crumbling arch replica, and evasive answers from the firm that ran Trump’s January 6th Ellipse rally — now running this too.

Beyond the Freedom 250 mess, I cover the DOJ’s latest stall tactic on releasing unredacted Epstein files, a troubling report that Russia may be testing NATO’s resolve against Poland, Pete Hegseth’s blocked plan to cut U.S. troops in Europe, and the genuinely dangerous heat conditions expected in DC for the July 4th celebrations — please, if you’re going, stay safe and hydrated.

As always, thanks for spending part of your day with me. Have a safe and healthy Fourth.

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The biggest headline was the Court’s decision preserving birthright citizenship. I believe that outcome prevented a dangerous constitutional and political precedent from taking hold. While many are celebrating the ruling—and they should—it also raises an uncomfortable question: Why was one of the clearest constitutional guarantees in American history ever this close to being undermined?

In today’s live, I explain why I see this as more than a legal victory. I argue that overturning birthright citizenship would have opened the door to a far broader effort to redefine who belongs in America and who doesn’t. From immigration policy to the politics of race and identity, I believe today’s decision halted a much more sweeping agenda before it could gain momentum.

I also examine the Court’s other major rulings, including its decision allowing states to restrict transgender athletes from competing according to their gender identity. While I disagree with that outcome, I discuss why I believe it reflects where public opinion currently stands—and why lasting change will require education, empathy, and time rather than courtroom victories alone.

Finally, I break down the individual justices’ opinions, discuss what today’s decisions reveal about the ideological divisions within the Court, and explain why this term should concern anyone who cares about constitutional rights, regardless of political affiliation.

Today’s rulings were not simply wins and losses. They were a reminder that democracy often survives by much narrower margins than we would like to believe—and that remaining engaged is more important than ever.

Today the Supreme Court handed down four major decisions, and for once, most of them landed on the right side of history. I want to be clear though: I’m not popping champagne. When “winning” just means preserving something that should have never been threatened in the first place, the celebration feels hollow.

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Let's start with the easy one. Today the Supreme Court declined to hear the E. Jean Carroll case, leaving the $5 million civil judgment against Trump for sexual assault and defamation exactly where it stands. The Court opted not to get involved. Trump's team pushed to get it there, and today they got their answer: no. That verdict is final. Whether Trump actually pays Carroll is a whole other conversation.

Then there was the Federal Reserve case — a genuine win. The Court blocked Trump’s attempt to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook on the back of a fabricated mortgage fraud claim cooked up by Bill Pulte. The independence of the Fed matters. Kavanaugh, of all people, put it plainly: gutting removal protections would shatter the Fed’s independence. The Court agreed, 5-4.

The mail-in ballot ruling was also the right call, but I struggle to frame it as a victory. The idea that we’re relieved the Supreme Court didn’t strip Americans of their right to have postmarked ballots counted is a damning statement about where we are as a country. Still — it takes one weapon out of Trump’s hands ahead of 2026.

Now the bad one: the 6-3 ruling giving Trump broad authority to fire members of independent federal agencies. Roberts wrote the majority opinion, and I’ll be direct — I think he’s a coward. This decision guts 90 years of precedent to hand Trump a power he’s already been abusing. The silver lining, if there is one, is that the next Democratic president can use this same authority to immediately clean out every Trump loyalist embedded across the federal government. But right now, in these hands, it’s dangerous.

Four decisions. A mixed bag. And three still coming tomorrow.

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Haiti is, by any honest measure, one of the most dangerous places on earth right now. There is no functioning government. Violent gangs control entire regions. People returning there — some of whom have been in the United States for a decade, built businesses, raised children — will be walking back into the path of the same violence they fled. The gangs will see them as targets: people who left, who may have money, who may be seen as disloyal. What happens next is not a mystery.

The six justices who signed onto this ruling — Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Roberts, Barrett — used convoluted legal logic to avoid confronting the obvious: this is a racially motivated policy. Trump’s own public statements going back years make that case. The lower courts saw it clearly. The Supreme Court chose not to.

I want to be direct about what that means. These justices, several of whom claim deep Christian conviction, voted to facilitate what will almost certainly result in murder, rape, and torture of innocent people. “Turning the other cheek” is not the same as closing your eyes while you send people to die.

There are still things we can do — supporting legal defense funds, applying political pressure, making this cost something for the people doing it. But we have to be honest: we cannot stop all of it. And that is a shameful thing to have to say as this country approaches its 250th birthday.

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This is where we are.

For anyone who hasn’t been following the reflecting pool saga, here’s the short version: Trump wanted to beautify Washington because he’s a “builder” and a “genius.” He handed a no-bid contract worth $14.2 billion to a pool company that worked on his Mar-a-Lago properties. They painted the pool blue, deployed some kind of bubbling system to kill the algae that didn’t work, then poured gallons of hydrogen peroxide in to kill off the massive, neon green bloom — which promptly peeled off all the blue paint. Rather than own the failure, the MAGA messaging machine swung into motion. What started as “vandals did it” escalated in real time: a 200-foot gash in the pool bottom became 250 feet, then 300, then 350, all within a single day. By now it’s Antifa with a chemical weapons lab.

But here’s what I really wanted to talk about today, because the reflecting pool is actually a useful metaphor. The incompetence, the cover-up, the escalating absurdity — it’s the same playbook Trump is running on the Iran ceasefire negotiations, just with catastrophic global stakes instead of a green puddle on the Mall.

Iran is coming out of this conflict dramatically stronger. The media is underselling it badly. The regime is on a path to becoming an economic powerhouse in the Middle East, well-funded enough to finance Hezbollah, the Houthis, and their own nuclear weapons program — with hundreds of billions in reconstruction money coming their way. The reflecting pool is embarrassing. Iran is dangerous. Same administration. Same pattern. Same outcome.

Most Americans have never heard of Pulte. Until recently, he was best known for overseeing federal housing finance programs and for his close alignment with Donald Trump. Now, he’s been handed temporary control of America’s intelligence apparatus—a position that oversees numerous intelligence agencies and plays a central role in national security.

I break down recent reporting on Pulte’s early actions, including allegations that he is already discussing large staffing cuts, seeking expanded privileges, and showing an unusual interest in issues far removed from traditional intelligence work. More importantly, I explore what this appointment may reveal about Trump’s priorities as the 2026 midterms approach.

The larger concern isn’t simply whether Pulte is qualified for the job. It’s whether intelligence agencies could be increasingly pressured to serve political objectives rather than national security interests. I discuss the growing pattern of loyalty-based appointments throughout the administration, the dangers of politicizing intelligence, and why many observers are raising red flags about the direction of these institutions.

At the same time, I offer an important counterpoint. While the risks are real, history has shown that incompetence, infighting, and judicial oversight have repeatedly limited the administration’s ability to carry out some of its most extreme ambitions. The people involved may be dangerous, but they are often remarkably ineffective.

This is a serious conversation about power, accountability, and the future of democratic institutions—but it’s also a reminder that fear alone is not a strategy. Understanding what’s happening, staying informed, and maintaining perspective remain our strongest tools.

One minute at a time. One hour at a time. One day at a time.

First: Pete Hegseth showed up at NATO and announced a six-month review — which he’s calling “NATO 3.0” — threatening allies that some of them will “fail” his big test.

Let that sink in. A former Fox News weekend host who ran two small veterans nonprofits into the ground is now grading the military readiness of nations whose leaders have forgotten more about defense strategy than he will ever know.

This comes one day after his boss effectively surrendered to Iran in the Islamabad MOU — a document that represents total capitulation, a complete strategic victory for Tehran, and the deaths of 13 American service members that this administration has nothing to show for.

Hegseth isn’t at NATO to lead. He’s there to put on a performance and deflect from a humiliating loss.

Second: The $14-plus million reflecting pool debacle. This thing is still green. And, now, there are blue chunks floating in it. American taxpayer dollars, handed to a pool company, produced an algae-filled monument to incompetence.

It would be funny if it wasn’t so on-the-nose as a metaphor for everything this administration touches.

And third — and pay attention to this one because it’s going to get louder: the Epstein story is back. Congressmen Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia visited Ghislaine Maxwell’s prison to ask questions about the reportedly preferential treatment she’s receiving. They got no answers, as expected. But the story is trending hard right now, and as the Iran news cycle cools down, this is the issue that has always been waiting in the wings. The Epstein files are never going away. They will follow this administration until its last day.

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Holy mackerel, this 14 point memorandum is far worse for Trump than I initially thought. Iran will indeed, receive $300 billion in funding to rebuild.

All frozen Iranian assets will be released at some point. Iran agrees to never make a nuclear weapon, which is old news.

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And there is be NO agreement at all regarding enriched uranium. The US, quite literally, achieves NOTHING in this document.

The only thing Iran does not appear to receive is the ability to charge tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, although I imagine that issue will be negotiated over the next 60 days.

There has been no regime change, and, based this document, there was no reason for the US to start the war in the first place. The Iranians stand to achieve a financial windfall, including fully restarting global, international oil sales.

This deal is a humiliating disaster for Donald Trump. It is close to total capitulation and an admission of failure. In essence, it amounts to a full and unconditional surrender.

Checkout the text of the memorandum is below. Please read it for yourself. If you disagree with my analysis, I would genuinely love to hear your argument. No judgment. I’m happy to be wrong on this one.

And if you agree with my assessment, I’d love to hear from you as well.

Comments are open and appreciated!!!

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, together with their allies in the current war, declare upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding an immediate and permanent end to the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, and undertake that from now on they will not launch any hostile action against each other, and will refrain from the threat or use of force against each other. The final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article and the remaining Articles.

2. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

3. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States undertake to negotiate and reach a final agreement within a maximum period of 60 days, extendable by mutual consent.

4. Immediately upon the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, the United States lift the naval blockade and prevent any interference or obstruction against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and restore traffic within a maximum of 30 days to its full capacity; the traffic of ships shall be proportional to the pre-war volume of traffic on the part of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States also undertakes to withdraw its forces from the surrounding areas within 30 days after the final agreement.

5. Upon signing this Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take steps to ensure that the movement of merchant ships from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa is resumed within 30 days to the pre-war volume, taking into account the need for the removal of technical obstacles and the neutralization of mines by Iran.

6. The United States undertakes, together with its regional partners, to create a comprehensive plan agreed upon by both parties for the rehabilitation and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, while ensuring financing of at least $300 billion. The implementation mechanism of this plan, as part of the final agreement, will be formulated within 60 days.
   

7. The United States commits to ending, on a schedule to be agreed upon as part of the final agreement, all types of sanctions currently facing the Islamic Republic of Iran, including resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, both primary and secondary.

8. The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates that it will never produce nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States have agreed that the fate of enriched material and the fate of all other mutually agreed nuclear-related issues, including Iran’s nuclear needs, will be adequately addressed in a final agreement; the final agreement will confirm the provisions of this Article.

9. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that, pending a final agreement, they will maintain the status quo: Iran will maintain the status quo on its nuclear program, and the United States will not impose new sanctions on Iran or strengthen its forces in the region.

10. The United States undertakes that immediately after the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and until the date of the lifting of sanctions, the United States Treasury Department will issue waivers for exports of Iranian crude oil, petrochemical products and their derivatives, and all related services, including banking, insurance, transportation, and the like.

11. The United States undertakes that, in light of the progress of negotiations towards a final agreement, frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be released and made fully available. These funds, whether held in the master account or transferred, will be used for any final beneficiary payment determined by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will be fully available for use. The United States undertakes to issue all necessary permits and licenses on this basis.

12. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States agree that an implementation mechanism will be established to oversee the successful implementation of and future commitment to the Final Agreement.

13. Following the signing of this Memorandum of Understanding, and upon receipt of assurances regarding the commencement of implementation of Articles 4, 5, 10, and 11 of this Memorandum of Understanding, and the continued implementation of these steps, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States will enter into negotiations for a Final Agreement solely with respect to the remaining Articles.

14. The final agreement will be approved through a binding resolution of the UN Security Council.

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My central argument is that the administration entered this conflict without fully understanding the consequences of its actions. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the economic fallout, and the political pressure that followed exposed what I see as a profound level of incompetence at the highest levels of government. The result was a White House scrambling for an exit while attempting to sell that retreat as a triumph.

But the conversation quickly expanded beyond Iran itself. Mainstream media continues to cover Donald Trump as though he were a conventional political actor. Too often, major outlets report his statements and claims without providing the necessary context about his long history of lies, contradictions, and misinformation. That style of reporting normalizes behavior that should be challenged and examined more aggressively.

I contrasted that approach with independent outlets like the Midas Touch Network, which spend more time connecting the dots between past reporting and current events, helping audiences understand not just what happened, but how we got here.

The discussion ultimately became a broader reflection on the future of journalism. Independent media is growing rapidly, but it still lacks the resources and infrastructure of legacy news organizations. As mainstream outlets struggle with corporate pressures, access journalism, and fear of political retaliation, the need for stronger independent reporting has never been greater.

The question isn’t whether the media is failing. The question is whether independent journalism can grow quickly enough to fill the void before the damage becomes irreversible.