BATTLES ALL AT ONCE: We've reached peak hatred, David French says!

MONDAY, MARCH 16, 2026

It's everywhere all at once: In his column in Sunday's New York Times, Nicholas Kristof voiced concern about the president's language. 

We can't exactly say that Kristof's concern is misguided. Headline included, here's part of what he wrote, with a bit of Hegseth thrown in:

Does Trump Risk Turning America Into a Rogue State? 

[...]

I worry that if Trump grows increasingly frustrated and exhausts the target lists, he may be tempted to strike dual-use civilian infrastructure, such as the electrical grid or highways and bridges, so as to punish Iran and inflict broader misery that might provoke unrest.

Indeed, the president and those close to him seem to be telegraphing such an approach.

“We will hit them so hard that it will not be possible for them or anybody else helping them to ever recover that section of the world, if they do anything,” Trump told reporters. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denounced “stupid rules of engagement” and dismantled the Pentagon office that sought to reduce civilian casualties in war. Senator Lindsey Graham boasted that “we’re going to blow the hell out of these people.”

On social media, Trump warned that if Iran obstructs the Strait of Hormuz, the United States “will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again—Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them” (his spelling and capitalization).

As Phillips O’Brien, an American scholar of military strategy, put it, “One might say he was threatening to commit one of the greatest war crimes in history.” 

Friend, can you imagine something like that? Can you imagine the sitting president engaging in conduct which would constitute "one of the greatest war crimes in history?” 

Everything can be imagined! But can you imagine that?

As readers may know, we've long suspected that the president may be in the grip of certain medical conditions—conditions the Blue American upper-end press has uniformly refused to discuss. 

We've also suggested this:  

Presumably, people who are (seriously) "mentally ill" never chose to be so afflicted. That doesn't mean that they may not end up heading down a profoundly unfortunate path. 

In the passage we've posted, Kristof included a dab of language from the Secretary of Defense. (He prefers to call himself the Secretary of War.) It seems to us that some of the secretary's language during last Friday's press event is worth recording here.

Here's some of what the secretary said. We work from the transcript provided by the invaluable Rev:

Pentagon Press Briefing for 3/13/26

Good morning. I'll start, as we often do here at the Department of War, with the bottom line upfront, for the world to hear and the press to actually admit—that the United States is decimating the radical Iranian regime's military in a way the world has never seen before.

[...]

Soon and very soon, all of Iran's defense companies will be destroyed...Iran's leadership is in no better shape. Desperate and hiding, they've gone underground. Cowering. That's what rats do. 

[...] 

With every passing hour, we know, and we know they know, that the military capabilities of their evil regime are crumbling. They can barely communicate, let alone coordinate. They're confused, and we know it. Our response? We will keep pressing, we will keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemies. 

Hegseth started with an insinuation about the dishonesty of "the press." When it comes to the "rats" in Iran, different people will have different reactions to the language in question. 

Also, some have said that the pledge to have "no quarter for our enemies" flirts on the border of war crimes. Presumably, others disagree with that. 

At that point, continuing directly, the secretary went after the group the sitting president has described as "the enemy within." Increasingly, the secretary doubles as a press critic—and a very harsh critic at that:

[continuing directly from above]
Yet some in this crew, in the press, just can't stop. Allow me to make a few suggestions. 

People look up at the TV and they see banners, they see headlines. I used to be in that business. And I know that everything is written intentionally. 

For example, a banner or a headline, "Mideast War Intensifies," splashing on the screen the last couple of days, alongside visuals of civilian or energy targets that Iran has hit because that's what they do. What should the banner read instead? How about "Iran Increasingly Desperate"? Because they are. They know it, and so do you. Admit it. 

Or more fake news from CNN: reports that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz. Patently ridiculous, of course. For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the strait hostage. 

CNN doesn't think we thought of that. It's a fundamentally unserious report. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better. 

Possibly in a bit of a lather, the secretary misrepresented what that CNN report had said. Later that day, the Wall Street Journal—a Murdoch org!—published this news report about this very same topic.

(Headline: "Trump Knew the Risk of Iran Blocking the Strait of Hormuz. He Still Went to War." According to the Journal's report, General Caine had warned the president about the likely closing of the strait—but the sitting president disregarded the general's warning.) 

Back to Hegseth's briefing! The secretary wasn't finished with his unusual formulations at the point where we left off. Still in his opening statement, he now offered these thoughts:

We will stop at nothing to win. War is hell, war is chaos.

This nation is planning to stop at nothing! That's what Hegseth said—and now, we'll voice our own points of concern:

We think there's room for concern when the ultimate decision makers start describing the enemy as "rats." 

Others will disagree with that assessment. At this site, we think there's room for concern. 

(We had a similar reaction to Rachel Maddow's recent speech in British Columbia. That's why we cited that speech in Friday afternoon's report.)

At this site, we don't have confidence in the emotional makeup of the two officials we've cited. Other people do have confidence in what they're proceeding to do.

We also don't have a lot of confidence in the capability of major Blue American elites. To cite one recent example, we'll show you, in tomorrow's report, what Jonathan Capehart recently said about the so-called SAVE Act.

Kristof voiced a startling concern in yesterday's New York Times column. David French voiced a related concern in his own most recent column:

Here in this nation, we've entered a state of peak loathing and hatred, he said. "We Have Reached End-Stage Polarization," the headline on his piece says. 

At present, the battles are everywhere all at once as these syndromes play themselves out. It's one tribal battle after another, pretty much all day long.

At this site, we have no way of knowing how the war in Iran will end up. But the loathing is everywhere all at once, especially, it seems to us, in an array of ill-advised programs aired by the Fox News Channel.

French didn't mention that "cable news" channel. David French, listen up! Turn on your TV set!

Tomorrow: In French's view, it's tribal hatred—and the resultant battles—everywhere all at once!