HARSH, BUT FAIR: ‘$1.7 Billion In Unmarked Bills’: Ted Cruz Criticizes Former Obama Official Over Iran Strike.

THEY’RE NUTS: Check Out All the Unhinged Celebrity Reactions to Trump Defending our Embassy.

EVERYONE HAS A PLAN UNTIL THEY GET PUNCHED IN THE MOUTH: Iranian General Traveled With Impunity, Until American Drones Found Him.

IT LOOKS LIKE AN F-16 AND AN F-18 HAD A BABY JET: China’s L-15 Falcon: Cut-rate warfare on a budget.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO LIE ABOUT RAPE: Former Central Florida school employee faces charges, accused of lying about rape by football players.

THEY’RE BLUFFING: Will It Be War? Iran Officials Warn of ‘Major Escalation’.

GOOD: Trump Administration to Go After States Allowing Illegal Immigrants to Obtain Driver’s Licenses.

TREAT THE BOGUS CHARGES WITH ALL THE RESPECT THEY DESERVE: Senator Josh Hawley To Seek Dismissal of Impeachment Articles.

IT’S A MYSTERY: Washington Post Writer Can’t Figure Out Why Trump Supporters Won’t Talk To Her. “These outlets, and many others like them, offer such blatantly critical and condescending perspectives on conservative Americans and their values. This is palpable even in Dvorak’s article, which rather than attempting empathy for conservative women who don’t equate feminism with pro-choice politics, simply belittles them.”

Flashback: “Yeah, I’m in the media. Screw you.”

UH-HUH: Iraqi Militant Leader Warns Of ‘Upcoming Battle’ With US, Promises ‘Great Victory.’

Why not go ahead and organize that victory parade already? We’ll see you there.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Trump Fulfills His New Year Promise to Iran. “There isn’t a lot of ‘Thank Allah It’s Friday’ going around in Terroristland today. Several players from the terrorist game were removed from the board in rather swift fashion and the world is a better place because of it. OK, maybe Democrats don’t think that.”

Well, many don’t because Orange Man Bad.

“WOMAN-MAN?” “MAN-WOMAN?” “IT-THING?” Marvel to get first transgender superhero.

Superhero origin stories have been tired and worn out for years, even without a “T” twist. If this movie flops, however, it’ll be because we’re all awful people.

PRIVACY: Your smart TV is spying on you. Here are step-by-step instructions to stop it.

OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY: Sanders Raises Impressive $34.5 Million in 2019’s Final Quarter.

Socialism ain’t free, bub.

THE DEATH OF EXPERTISE: Trump economy defies critics – 2019 another year of the ‘experts’ getting it all wrong.

In January, the uber-liberal Huffington Post published a typically baseless piece titled “4 Signs Another Recession Is Coming ― And What It Means For You.” Vox published a similar fear-mongering prediction over the summer, arguing that Wall Street “is at a point where it can’t — or won’t — ignore President Donald Trump’s trade antics and Twitter tirades like it used to.”

And who could forget some of the most recent warnings that slam Trump’s trade policy, such as Investor’s Business Daily’s headline: “Stock Market Reaction To Tariffs: Wall Street Has Seen This Before; The End Is Not Good.”

Despite the doom and gloom, as 2019 came to an end, the president inched ever-closer to a revolutionary trade deal with China, completing negotiations on what has been called phase one of that agreement. The Trump administration also successfully campaigned to get the U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement approved by the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives, further instilling confidence and optimism in entrepreneurs that the ongoing economic renaissance is here to stay.

For me the biggest tell on how seriously the Democrats took their own impeachment effort was when they gave Trump everything he wanted on trade and on defense, as though he was going to remain POTUS for a good, long while.

TULSI GABBARD: Impeachment ‘Greatly Increased’ Chances of Trump Winning, GOP Taking Back House.

The Democrats’ anti-gun antics in Virginia have put that state in play for Trump, too.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: If You’re Going to Drain the Swamp, Mr. President, You’d Better Start with the FBI.

I suspect most people’s impression of the FBI was similar to mine, gleaned from countless movies. A mid-level mobster gets into some kind of jam, and goes to the FBI to enter Witness Protection in exchange for his testimony against the previously untouchable Big Boss. Or the plucky office worker accidentally uncovers evidence of a criminal conspiracy involving a multinational corporation and/or high-level government officials, and finds herself under the protective wing of a straightlaced FBI agent who just wants to do the right thing at any cost. Or the still-live victim of a serial killer, who could be saved if the mad geniuses of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit can unlock the mind of a madman in time.

That’s certainly the FBI we wanted, even if the day-to-day reality was a bit more mundane (and not always on the up-and-up) than we’d get from a Hollywood thriller. The essential truth remained the same though: The FBI was where you went when you needed protection.

But that’s not entirely true anymore, is it? Or as Captain Mal Reynolds might say of our all-too-postmodern FBI, “My days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.”

This one is for our VIP members, and that VODKAPUNDIT promo code is still good for a nice little discount, if you’ve been considering becoming a supporter.

WHAT IF THEY THREW A NUCLEAR WAR AND NOBODY CAME? 2004 DoD Climate Change Report Predicted Nuclear War by 2020.

YOU GET ONE GUESS: Why Is Fairfax County Schools Propping Up the Disturbing Trend of Child Activism?

UGH: New Offutt Air Force Base Commander Clamps Down on Private Guns.

The Facebook replies to the official announcement are blistering.

THE FARCE IS OVER… ALMOST: Senate Republican predicts impeachment trial ends by State of the Union. “The timeline outlined by Blunt would mean a Senate trial would last less than four weeks. The House doesn’t return to Washington until Jan. 7, making that the first day Pelosi could transmit the two articles of impeachment to the Senate and appoint the House managers.”

GET WOKE… YOU KNOW THE REST: TOMS Shoes Spent Millions Promoting Gun Control- Now Creditors Are Taking Over.

ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS: Killing Ourselves With Hate. “It was not too long ago that the black and Jewish communities were connected through friendship and solidarity, owing much to their shared involvement in the civil rights movement. It seems quite prescient now that those very sentiments were the focus of an in-depth television segment that I produced months ago focusing upon the rise of anti-Semitism in America.”

21ST CENTURY HEADLINES: US Army’s robot mule is ready for action. “The MUTT can be both unmanned and optionally manned, be able to carry 1,000 pounds and travel over 60 miles in 72 hours.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Dropout Julian Castro’s insufferably woke presidential campaign won’t be missed.

Castro’s only memorable contributions to the 2020 race are viral moments where he embarrassed himself.

For one, there was his cringey decision to randomly pronounce certain words with a Spanish accent during Democratic debates, despite not actually being a native Spanish speaker. Then there was his call for completely decriminalizing illegal border crossings, and attacks on other, slightly less terrible Democrats who declined to endorse his radical proposal.

Don’t forget the countless shudder-worthy instances where Castro pandered to the woke crowd with fact-free rants about “transgender women of color” being gunned down in the street in a supposed epidemic of anti-transgender hate crimes. Castro ignored the complete lack of evidence for this narrative, instead choosing to stir up bogus outrage for votes. His pandering even included a bizarre call for expanding abortion access to transgender women (aka biological males). Castro was also the first candidate to honor “International Pronouns Day” by putting his preferred pronouns, he and him, in his Twitter profile. This was, of course, a pure virtue-signal: Everyone already knew he was a man.

Did we though?