The Lonely Liberal

Hormuz Shuts Again, Trump Posts Himself as Jesus, and RFK's Dead Raccoon

Week 8 of the Iran war, and the wheels are coming off. Iran re-closes the Strait of Hormuz just 24 hours after reopening it, gunboats fire on Indian tankers, and gas hits $4.12/gallon — while Russ Vought tells Congress he has no idea what any of this is costing taxpayers. The House war powers resolution fails by a single vote. Trump picks a fight with the Pope, posts an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus healing the sick, and cancels $11 million to Catholic Charities in the middle of it. Pete Hegseth quotes a Pulp Fiction monologue as real scripture at a Pentagon sermon. The Atlantic drops a bombshell alleging FBI Director Kash Patel is drunk on the job and unreachable behind locked doors. RFK Jr. launches a taxpayer-funded podcast the same week a new book reveals he once pulled over on I-684 to cut the penis off a dead raccoon while his kids waited in the car. Plus: Analilia Mejia blows out NJ-11 by 20 points in yet another Dem special election overperformance, Swalwell and Tony Gonzales both resign over sexual misconduct on the same day, 10 House Republicans defy Trump to extend Haitian TPS, and Kamala Harris says she's "thinking about" running again in 2028. A week where institutional pushback finally showed up — from the Pope, the courts, the voters, and the Republicans Trump can't count on anymore.
 

Iran Stalemate, Orbán Falls, and Swalwell Implodes

Rick's out sick, so Nick is flying solo with a quick-hit roundup of the biggest stories of the week. Six weeks into the Iran war, Trump threatened to bomb power plants on Easter Sunday, Vance flew to Islamabad for peace talks and came home empty-handed, Israel killed 300+ in Lebanon in a single day, and the Pope told everyone to knock it off. Then Vance hopped over to Hungary to campaign for Trump's favorite authoritarian — and voters threw Orbán out anyway. Plus: Melania held a press conference nobody asked for, Swalwell's gubernatorial campaign is in freefall after sexual assault allegations, Trump wants a triumphal arch next to Arlington (for himself), ICE arrested a soldier's spouse on an Army base, and inflation is back up. A lot happened. Let's get into it.

Did America Just Lose the Iran War?

Trump threatened to destroy an entire civilization. Iran held firm. Two hours before his own deadline, Trump blinked — and called it a victory. This week, Nick breaks down what actually happened with the Iran ceasefire: what's in the deal, how it compares to what Iran was offering the day before the war started, and why the country that pushed America into this war just bombed Beirut hours after the ceasefire was announced. Plus: why the only people who stopped a potential genocide weren't in Congress.

Bondi Fired, U.S. Jets Shot Down, Trump’s Easter Ultimatum

Trump had one of the most chaotic weeks of his presidency — and that's saying something. He gave his first primetime address on the Iran war 33 days in, claiming total air dominance over a country that then shot down two of our jets within 48 hours. He fired his Attorney General for not being ruthless enough. He told a room full of Saudi investors that MBS better "be nice to him." And he dropped an f-bomb on Easter Sunday while threatening to bomb a country back to the stone ages. Oh, and NASA launched the first humans to the Moon in 53 years — which somehow got lost in the chaos.
Nick and Rick break down Trump's contradictory Iran war speech and what the downed F-15 means for the conflict, the firing of Pam Bondi and what it tells us about the DOJ under Trump, the bizarre FII summit speech, the Supreme Court's skeptical reception of Trump's birthright citizenship case, Hegseth firing the Army Chief of Staff mid-war, the $1.5 trillion defense budget, 100% pharma tariffs, and a new executive order on elections that experts are already calling unconstitutional.

How the U.S. Is Strangling Cuba

Cuba's power grid has collapsed. Hospitals are postponing surgeries. The government is telling people to cook with wood. And the United States is the reason.
In this episode, Nick breaks down how Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign has effectively blockaded Cuba — cutting off its oil supply, intercepting tankers, and threatening any country that tries to help. It's the same playbook used on Venezuela, now applied 90 miles from Florida. And it's working, in the worst possible way.
Plus: why Trump's Iran timeline probably isn't what he says it is — and why Cuba's crisis doesn't need Iran to end before it gets worse.

No Kings Protests, Iran Escalates, and TSA

The Iran war hits one month — and the numbers don't add up. Trump says the U.S. is "way ahead of schedule," but his own intelligence community says only a third of Iran's missiles have been destroyed. Fifteen Americans are dead, 300+ wounded, oil is at $112 a barrel, and the Strait of Hormuz is still closed. Meanwhile, Bannon says out loud that ICE at airports is a "test run" for the 2026 midterms, the DOJ is sharing voter data with DHS, and Trump's signature is going on the dollar bill for the first time in American history. And today — record-breaking No Kings protests erupted in all 50 states, with organizers claiming 8 million participants and calling it the largest protest day in U.S. history. We cover all of it.

When Did Starting a War Last Actually Work?

Germany. Japan. Vietnam. Afghanistan. Iraq. Russia. Gaza. The country that starts a major war almost never wins it — and the pattern is so consistent it's basically a law of modern warfare. In this episode, Nick walks through the historical record, breaks down why aggressors keep failing, and then takes on the counterarguments head-on. What about Venezuela? What about Crimea? What about Gulf War 1? Spoiler: those examples don't hold up the way you think they do. And with Trump already eyeing Cuba as his next target, this conversation couldn't be more urgent.

$200B Iran War Bill, Pearl Harbor Joke, and a Fake Hearing

It's week four of the Iran war, and the only thing Trump doesn't have is an exit strategy. This week Nick and Rick break down a stacked news cycle: the Pentagon is asking Congress for $200 billion to fund a war nobody authorized, Trump insulted Japan's Prime Minister to her face by joking about Pearl Harbor, and Attorney General Pam Bondi held a "briefing" on the Epstein files so evasive that Democrats walked out halfway through.
Plus: the Pentagon quietly plans to keep the National Guard in DC through 2029, two FBI agents sue Kash Patel for firing them because they investigated Trump, the DHS shutdown hits day 35 as TSA workers quit and airport security lines stretch two hours, and Trump's Board of Peace puts a disarmament proposal on the table for Hamas — while Hamas sits back and waits to see how the Iran war plays out first.

Five Things America Could Have Fixed Instead of This War

The U.S. has spent at least $12 billion on the Iran War in under three weeks. Trump’s Pentagon wants $50 billion more. Meanwhile: 15 million Americans just lost Medicaid. 4 million lost food stamps. 759 rural hospitals are about to close. This week, Nick runs the numbers — five things America could have paid for instead. The math is damning. America First? Here’s the receipts.

Trump Admits Putin Is Helping Iran and Doesn't Care

The Iran war is two weeks old and spinning out of control. Nick and Rick break down Iran's new supreme leader vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut, the Pentagon confirming the U.S. struck an Iranian girls' school killing 165+ children, and the war's $11.3 billion price tag — in just six days. Plus: Trump says the war will end "when I feel it in my bones," admits Putin is probably helping Iran, and claims rising gas prices are actually good for you. Then: a Michigan synagogue attack linked directly to the war, Trump holding Congress hostage over a voter suppression bill he says will guarantee Republicans win "for 50 years," and a bipartisan housing bill that passed 89-10 and may be dead on arrival anyway. Also: UFC fighters training FBI agents, Jim Clyburn running for his 18th term at 85, and China's AI video trolling Trump's "Shield of the Americas."