Happy St. Paddy’s Day!
Homer Simpson: "To alcohol! The cause of — and solution to — all of life’s problems."
Speaking of which, there’s a certain phenomenon that alcoholics call a “moment of clarity.” It refers to the sudden realization that their drinking is out of control — and instead of being a harmless vice, they’re now suffering from a full-blown addiction.
For many alcoholics, it’s a necessary step before they receive the help they need.
But “moments of clarity” can happen in the news business, too: It’s when the mainstream media realizes that they have completely — and embarrassingly — misjudged a political leader. After selling audiences one narrative, the anchors and pundits learn that the exact opposite was true.
Last night on CNN, Erin Burnett had a “moment of clarity” about President Trump and Iran.
Because, ever since June 16, 2015, CNN has told audiences that Donald Trump was a fool. A moron. An arrogant, uninformed ignoramus.
A blithering idiot who knows nothing about the outside world.
When President Trump shared info from a satire site about Obamacare, CNN didn’t assume it was an innocent error. Instead, the network assumed Trump was stupid.
“Stupid people don’t know how stupid they are, because they’re so stupid,” CNN’s super-genius anchor, Jake Tapper, informed us.
(Of course, Tapper said this in November of 2025 — roughly six months after his book about the Biden administration, Original Sin, was released, where he admitted to being bamboozled by Biden’s cognitive decline. How a super-genius like Tapper was tricked by Biden’s senility remains unclear.)
This anti-Trump narrative was extended to the War in Iran, where CNN’s bias was obvious:
CNN: Does Trump Even Know What’s Happening in Iran?
CNN: ‘Trump Is in Danger of Looking Pretty Stupid’ Over Strait of Hormuz
CNN: Trump Advisors Work to Mitigate a Political Nightmare on Iran as President Fuels Messaging Chaos
CNN: Trump Can’t ‘TACO’ on Iran
CNN: Iran War ‘Unnecessary,’ Risks Spirally Out of Control
CNN: Trump’s Iran War Drags the World Into His Tear-It-Down Politics
CNN: The Rationale for Striking Iran Was Already a Mess. Trump Just Made It Worse.
CNN: Trump Is Really Pressing His Luck on Foreign Interventions
CNN: ‘This Is Clearly Amateur Hour at the Pentagon and the White House’
CNN: ‘Get Used to It’: Jake Tapper Responds to Trump Admin’s Criticism of Iran War Coverage
The common themes? The Iran War was poorly planned and poorly executed — mostly because President Trump knows nothing about the rest of the world. He didn’t do his homework, and now we’re all paying a bloody price for his ignorance.
Take, for example, how CNN described the ongoing chaos in the Strait of Hormuz:
The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
President Donald Trump’s national security team failed to fully account for the potential consequences of what some officials have described as a worst-case scenario now facing the administration, the sources said.
[…]
The reality in the strait has left diplomatic counterparts, former US economic and energy officials and industry executives who spoke with CNN in a state of confusion and disbelief.
“Planning around preventing this exact scenario — impossible as it has long seemed — has been a bedrock principle of US national security policy for decades,” a former US official who served in Republican and Democratic administrations said. “I’m dumbfounded.”
Those ignorant fools! If only President Trump had spent the last 40 years studying Iran’s geography and economy!
Actually, it turns out that he has — and when CNN anchor Erin Burnett realized it on Monday, her stunned expression told the whole story:
Burnett: Trump today said that the U.S. has literally destroyed everything on Kharg Island, except for those oil facilities. But he’s left open the door for the future, and in fact — this is amazing — he has been talking about seizing Kharg Island since at least 1988! Alright: 1988! It’s incredible! He — he knew where it was and was talking about seizing it in an interview with The Guardian. He was promoting his book, The Art of the Deal, and he said, [in] 1988, quote, “I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look like a bunch of fools. One bullet shot at one of our men or ships and I’d do a number on Kharg Island. I’d go in and take it.”
…This has been on his mind, this specific island, Kharg Island, that he knew by name, since 1988!
There it was: A moment of clarity — the sudden realization that Donald Trump just might be a helluva lot smarter, wiser, and better informed than CNN has told its audience.
If you’re curious about Trump’s 1988 interview with The Guardian, here’s a link:
It is said [that Trump] once said: ‘If I want to be President, then I’ll be President.’
He is beginning now to sound approximately like a politician. What would his platform be? ‘Respect,’ he says and pauses heavily. ‘Respect.’ He sounds like the Godfather. ‘We’re a second rate economic power, a debtor nation. We’re getting kicked around.’ I try to imagine the kind of deals he would make with Gorbachev, and fail. I choose an issue. What would he do about Iran, for instance? ‘I’d be harsh on Iran. They’ve been beating us psychologically, making us look a bunch of fools. One bullet shot at one of our men or ships and I’d do a number on Kharg Island. I’d go in and take it. Iran can’t even beat Iraq, yet they push the United States around. It’d be good for the world to take them on.’ [emphasis added]
Turns out that President Trump knows more about the world than CNN knows about President Trump.
One Last Thing: 2026 is a critical year for America First: It began with Mayor Mamdani declaring war on “rugged individualism” and will reach a crescendo with the midterm elections. Nothing less than the fate of the America First movement teeters in the balance.
Never before have the political battlelines been so clearly defined. Win or lose, 2026 will transform our country.
We need your help to succeed!
As a PJ Media VIP member, you’ll receive exclusive access to our behind-the-paywall content, commentating privileges, and an ad-free experience. VIP Gold gets you the same level of “insider access” across our entire family of sites (PJ Media, Townhall, RedState, twitchy, Hot Air, and Bearing Arms). That means: 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.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member