The Morning Briefing: Israel Surgically Delivers Multiple Packages of 'FO' to Iran

Top O' the Briefing

Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. The Sine Qua Non Sequitur is at an Ayahuasca-infused "Pet Sounds" appreciation weekend in memory of Brian Wilson's passing.

It is safe to say that Thursday was most definitely not a slow news day. We began with all of the Los Angeles madness that's been at the top of the charts since the weekend. We got to branch out, though, when California Senator Alex Padilla decided to make a fool of himself. Just when I thought that's what I would be leading off with this morning, Israel unloaded on Iran, which Catherine covered:

The Israel Defense Forces [IDF] confirmed that it has bombed Iran's nuclear assets in a preemptive strike against the Islamic regime that has vowed to wipe Israel off the map.
The Israeli Air Force launched its attack, dubbed "Operation Rising Lion," late Thursday on Iran’s nuclear program. According to The Times of Israel. “Home Front Command spokesman says Israel could experience ‘heavy missile attack’ in coming hours, but no fire from Iran as yet and no need to go to bomb shelter."

There are always a lot of moving parts in situations like this. By the time you read this there will probably be a lot more information. I'll give you a few things here without much commentary from me, then move on to the Mailbag of Magnificence.

It wasn't a total surprise, of course. Mr. Green gave us a bit of a heads-up on Wednesday. Then there's this:

Reminder that on April 12th, Trump publicly gave the Islamic Republic 60 days to seriously come to the table on dismantling their nuclear program or face military consequences.

Today was day 61…. pic.twitter.com/Z8FN4tLvnl
— AG (@AGHamilton29) June 13, 2025

My Townhall colleague Rebecca Downs covered Secretary of State Marco Rubio's response to the attacks:

"Tonight, Israel took unilateral action against Iran. We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region. Israel advised us that they believe this action was necessary for its self-defense. President Trump and the Administration have taken all necessary steps to protect our forces and remain in close contact with our regional partners," the secretary said. "Let me be clear: Iran should not target U.S. interests or personnel."

Iran is retaliating, but it's a little short-staffed while doing so:

We can now confirm that the Chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Commander of the IRGC and the Commander of Iran’s Emergency Command were all eliminated in the Israeli strikes across Iran by more than 200 fighter jets.

These are three ruthless mass murderers with…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 13, 2025

As Katie Pavlich wrote over at Townhall, Israel is just getting started. That probably doesn't bode well for Iran's defiance:

Well, not voluntarily. https://t.co/wz9U0bP5Cm
— SFK (@stephenkruiser) June 13, 2025

There were a lot of people on X looking for some gray area in the news, but there isn't any. When Islamic terrorists — and those who bankroll them — are involved, sane people know who the bad guys are. The fewer terrorists on the planet, the better off the planet is. It's pretty cut and dried.

Godspeed, Israel.

Contributions to the Mailbag of Magnificence can be sent to [email protected]

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The Mailbag of Magnificence

I think I forgot to do the Mailbag last Friday. Or I just didn't want to. That was so long ago.

We'll begin with this from Chris:

Stephen,
Loved the “puppets on a sinking ship” phrase. It immediately inspired an image: Instead of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, these mental and emotional midgets are piling them up and settling fire to them, running around them in glee as they protest the sinking, orgasmically pleased with with their bravely speaking truth to Power.
Keep up the great work!

(This is in reference to a line from the column I wrote on Wednesday.)

Thank you, Chris! That's some excellent imagery there. With any luck, their ship will be sinking quicker than I originally thought it would.

Jack writes:

Good morning, Mr. Kruiser, We may need Joe Biden to settle the Trump/Musk dustup. I suggest Sleepy Joe invite both battling billionaires to join him behind the gym.

Thankfully, it looks like we won't have to resort to desperate measures like enlisting the help of legendary tough guy Joey Scranton. The mess in Los Angeles looks like it may have helped Trump and Musk get back on the same page.

This is from John:

Greta Thunberg...Where is Jeffery Epstein when we need him?

Ouch, and I hope I don't get fired for that.

My good friend Susan (who I never call "Susan") writes:

Hey SFK! Great MB today, as usual. I especially like the hypothetical question about finding middle ground with someone who just wants to shiv you when you get close — I had never thought of it that way. It makes sense, though, seems the Dems' idea of "middle ground" is Republicans capitulating and giving them what they want.

I think you missed an opportunity with the Everything Isn't Awful video selection, though. You (correctly) hypothesized that the media would have been just as unhappy with Trump after his visit to Fort Bragg if he had brought a petting zoo with baby goats. I think sharing a video of baby goats jumping around for no reason whatsoever would have been a great tie in at the end. The cat greeting his owner was sweet, but baby goats would have been better for this particular article. Regardless of video choice, I always love your work and look forward to starting my day with the briefing. Thanks for your insight and humor!

I can't believe I missed a baby goats opportunity, given how much I love them. I wonder if goat fostering is a thing? If I ever stop traveling, I think we know what's taking over the yard. Also, I think the president should consider the petting zoo idea for his next speech at a military base, just to test my theory.

We will finish with this from Andrew:

Stephen,

I theorize that the midwest is going through a very similar political change to the one that the south went through during the 80s and 90s. The working class is waking up and realizing that the Dem party doesn't stand with them anymore. The reasons are not exactly the same, but they are similar and culturally based. This spread to my native state of WV and into KY, then OH. Now it seems to be taking hold in PA and MI. Even WI is up for grabs after a false start during the Walker years. I think, and hopefully not wish casting here, that going forward, it will be much harder for a Dem to win in these states. That of course makes the electoral math virtually impossible for them. That said, they would be wise to switch their focus to TX, where they have the big city votes and can more easily swing suburbs. I think the midwest is largely out of their reach.

Andrew, I think you're spot-on here. For years I've been saying that I can't believe that the traditional Dems in Flyover Country — the Midwest — are on board with the radical antics of the coastal Dems. Right now, the same Democrats who didn't get that they were losing last year think that what's going on in California is good for Gavin Newsom and the party. I think it's just reinforcing all that you mentioned. Great points.

Good stuff this week! Thanks to everyone who digitally dropped me a line!

Everything Isn't Awful

You're a credit to porcupines everywhere, Rico.

Happy National Corn Day from Rico the porcupine!! 🌽 pic.twitter.com/v0wrS1j78H
— Cincinnati Zoo (@CincinnatiZoo) June 11, 2025

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Dance #artbots #chagall pic.twitter.com/o7HDn4Fx4g
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