Conservatively Speaking

Monday, March 16, 2026

Working Their Way Down the Target List: Israel Strikes Late Ayatollah's Aircraft

In another interesting development out of the ongoing Operation Epic Fury, or, as our Israeli allies call it, Operation Roaring Lion, the Israel Air Force (IAF) has destroyed an aircraft that was employed by the late Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to coordinate with proxy groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. While the late, unlamented Ayatollah is coordinating with nothing more than six feet of Iranian soil now, there was always the possibility that this aircraft could have been put to some nefarious purpose, like spiriting regime loyalists out of harm's way.

No longer. Now the airplane has been reduced to scattered wreckage.

The Israeli Air Force said Monday that it had destroyed a plane belonging to Iran’s former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that the Jewish state claimed was used to convey messages and coordinate with the Islamic Republic’s terror proxies.

Translation:

The Air Force destroyed the plane of the leader of the Iranian terror regime at the "Mehrabad" airport in Tehran - the plane was used by Ali Khamenei, leader of the Iranian terror regime, additional senior officials from the terror regime, and elements in the Iranian military, to advance military procurement and manage relations with Axis countries through domestic and international flights.
The destruction of the plane impairs the ability to coordinate between the leadership of the Iranian terror regime and Axis countries, in building military power, and in the regime's rehabilitation capability. Thus, another strategic asset has been removed from the Iranian regime.

This would seem to indicate that Israel and the United States are working their way down the target list a ways; this airplane isn't so much a military asset as a regime asset, and the use for which it was put has been precluded. It's hard for Iran to coordinate with proxy groups when Iran's military infrastructure is being systematically destroyed by American and Israeli explosives, and the remaining regime members are scurrying around like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

It's Fake: Trump Accuses Iran of Using AI to Consistently Fool America’s 'No Credibility' Liberal Press

We still don't know where the new goblin is, or what kind of shape he's in.

The plane strike took place amid fevered speculation about the health status of Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is believed to have been severely wounded in the Feb. 28 Israeli strike that killed his father and other family members.
Monday’s attack was confirmed one day after a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces told CNN the military was planning for three more weeks of combat operations against Iran — with “deeper plans” for another three weeks beyond that, if deemed necessary.
“We have thousand of targets ahead,” Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said told the outlet. “We are ready, in coordination with our US allies, with plans through at least the Jewish holiday of Passover, about three weeks from now [ending at sundown April 9]. And we have deeper plans for even three weeks beyond that.”

Three weeks isn't that long a time in the grand scheme of things, and if this is what it takes to put an end to the rule of Iran by a gang of vicious 7th-century thugs, so be it. They've been causing trouble in the region and around the globe long enough.

https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/03/16/working-their-way-down-the-target-list-israel-strikes-late-ayatollahs-aircraft-n2200266

Oops: Newsom's Revisionist Tour Hits Snag When He Makes a Florida Claim That DeSantis Won't Let Stand

The closer Gavin Newsom gets to announcing an expected 2028 presidential run, the more he tries to revise history on his disastrous career as a California politico, which started in 1997 when he became a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

For instance, Newsom has been vowing since almost day one to eradicate homelessness in his home city and state. But 30 years later, after being an SF supervisor, the mayor of SF, California's lieutenant governor, and now the governor, it remains one of the state's most persistent problems - and is, in fact, worse. And what does Gov. Newsom do? Act as if he had nothing to do with it.

"This July, California counties will receive $1 BILLION under Prop 1 to expand affordable housing and provide vital services for those experiencing homelessness and living with behavioral health challenges," Newsom announced in early March. "No more excuses. Let's see these tax dollars put to work."

Newsom's latest foray into fantastical revisionism is to claim that red states like Texas and Florida are the "real high-tax states," not California:

"We have the most progressive tax rates in America. Texas, the most regressive. Texas taxes poor folks more than we tax our richest. The question for you is who is the higher tax state: California or Texas? Who are you for? Are you just for the one percent or are you for the 99?
[...]
Florida is the other regressive tax state. Your middle class pays more taxes in Texas than our middle class in California."

It's a false claim Newsom has made before - probably because he knows that on the campaign trail in 2028, he's going to have to answer for the mass exodus that has taken place in the Golden State on his watch - not just among rich folks but middle-class Americans who are fed up with the high cost of living there - and who make bee lines to states like Texas and Florida.

The Sunshine State's governor, Ron DeSantis, was having none of it and responded accordingly:

Grok also rode to the rescue with some inconvenient facts for Gov. HairGel:

Relatedly - and as DeSantis also pointed out in the November 2023 debate with Newsom, where his "First Partner" refused to let him participate for longer than the allotted time because he got trounced so badly - Newsom's own in-laws prefer Florida to California:

"So I was talking to a fella who had made the move from California to Florida, and he was telling me that Florida is much better governed, safer, better budget, lower taxes, all this stuff. He's really happy with the quality of life, and then he paused and he said, "You know, by the way, I'm Gavin Newsom's father-in-law." So we do count Gavin's in-laws as some of the people that have fled California and come to the state of Florida."

Last but not least, in June 2018, Gavin Newsom declared that if "the next governor" didn't address the homeless crisis in a "meaningful way," then he should be considered a failure:

Newsom was, in fact, elected as the state's next governor later that year, and, by his own standards, he's been an abject failure as governor - not just on homelessness, but on jobs, taxes, the economy, crime, illegal immigration, women's safety, the list goes on and on.

Don't go away mad, Gavin. Just go away.

https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2026/03/16/newsoms-revisionist-tour-hits-snag-when-he-makes-a-florida-claim-that-desantis-wont-let-stand-n2200267

Expect a Mass Exodus From NYC If Mamdani's New Estate Tax Proposal Becomes a Reality

The Democrats always campaign on taxing the rich, until they realize there aren't enough wealthy people to support their massive spending programs, and that wealthy people have the means to flee high-tax states. That invariably leads to Democrats taxing everyone, including the working class, which doesn't have the ability to fight back or flee.

In New York, Zohran Mamdani — who campaigned on targeting the rich — is now proposing an insane change to the state's estate tax, and it's one that would rob a lot of New Yorkers of generational wealth.

Mamdani, along with Governor Kathy Hochul, is looking at jacking up the estate tax to 50 percent and lowering the threshold for when it kicks in to a much lower number: from $7 million to $750,000.

Here's more:

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to slash New York state’s estate tax exemption threshold by almost 90%, from a more than $7 million limit to $750,000, and raise the top estate tax rate from 16% to 50%.
The proposal was included among nearly a dozen potential revenue-raising ideas Mamdani’s office circulated in a memo in recent weeks to state lawmakers negotiating the state budget. Mamdani is facing a $5.4 billion city budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1, and is seeking help from the state legislature in raising money to close the gap.
The change Mamdani is supporting would be significant. New York is already one of a dozen states that impose separate state-level estate taxes on top of federal estate taxes. If the change were enacted, New York’s estate tax exemption threshold would be the lowest in the US.

That's a 90 percent reduction in the estate tax threshold.

Yep. Pay up.

So are Florida and Texas.

You'll own nothing and you'll like it.

Collapsing the value of property and abolishing private homeownership are goals of Cea Weaver, Mamdani's housing advisor. This will do it.

Look at those greedy rich people.

"And you're greedy if you want to leave your house and wealth to your kids."

No one is going to buy a house in NYC knowing they'll lose half of it in taxes when they die. Which is the plan.

That's what communists always do. The working and middle classes are an obstacle to their communist agenda.

You are always richer than someone else.

Check out all the mansions.

That's the low end of the goal. They'd take 100 percent of what you make if they knew they could get away with it.

And stop electing Democrats into power. This won't stop in New York. Democrats think everything you earn and own belongs to them, and they'll stop at nothing to take it from you.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2026/03/16/mamdani-insane-estate-tax-n2672891

Obama Center Seeks Skilled Unpaid Volunteers While CEO Valerie Jarrett’s Salary Is $740K

The Obama Presidential Center has put out a call for unpaid volunteers for its Chicago location when it opens later this year, though it’s chief executive will be handsomely compensated with a $740,000 salary, according to news reports.

From 75 to 100 volunteers known as “ambassadors” will be hired to greet visitors and guide guests around the facility, as well as perform other tasks, once it launches in June, according to news release and the center’s volunteer application web page.

“The Obama Presidential Center is a place where the world meets the best of the city of Chicago, and our volunteers will help bring that vision to life every day,” said Valerie Jarrett, CEO of The Obama Foundation.

Work continues on the Obama Presidential Center on Jan. 13, 2026, in Chicago.

The volunteers “will create a welcoming and inclusive experience for visitors while representing the strength, resilience, and leadership of this community,” she said, concluding, “Together, we are building something that inspires service, connection, and action far beyond our walls.”

Meanwhile, Jarrett, a longtime Obama advisor, as well as other center officials, are being compensated with six-figure salaries to run the 19.3-acre campus in Chicago’s Jackson Park, several news outlets reported.

According to Fox News Digital:

Federal filings viewed by Fox News Digital show Jarrett made $740,000 in 2024, 2023 and 2022, while several former Obama White House officials have collected six-figure salaries as foundation executives.
Total salaries and benefits at the foundation climbed from $18.5 million in 2018 to $43.7 million in 2024 as staffing expanded to 337 employees and annual revenue reached nearly $210 million, according to the filings. The foundation’s main office is located in Chicago’s Hyde Park, where it runs leadership and community programs in the U.S. and abroad.

Volunteers are often used in the world of nonprofits. Libraries, museums and cultural institutions frequently use volunteer programs to assist visitors and support operations.

The Obama foundation appears to believe that volunteers are a way to build an attitude of service.

The two-term president is quoted on the application, saying, “I’m calling on all Americans to make volunteering and community service part of your daily life and the life of this nation.”

The foundation stated in its news release:

Volunteerism has been central to President Obama’s vision of civic life since his earliest days as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side. His presidential campaign mobilized 2.2 million grassroots volunteers, and his administration expanded national service through landmark initiatives including the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act and United We Serve. The Obama Foundation Volunteer Program extends that tradition, channeling the energy and dedication of community members into the daily life of the Center.

The recruitment effort seeks volunteers who are “adaptable and able to follow directions,” “reliable and enthusiastic,” “possess good communication skills” and are “able to use computerized online scheduling system,” the application web page stated.

The Obama Presidential Center, located on the city’s south side, is presented in its promotional materials as a campus designed to serve as a museum, community hub, public gathering space and a “global hub for change.”

As Breitbart News reported last year, it was originally estimated to cost $300 million, before the budget was revised upward to $500 million in 2017, and then further up to $700 million in 2021. The final cost of the campus with its mammoth grey monolith building has been reported to be $850 million.

The center is scheduled to open on Juneteenth, the federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2026/03/15/32340306obama-center-seeks-skilled-unpaid-volunteers-while-ceo-valerie-jarretts-salary-is-740k/

JUST IN: US Intelligence Suggests Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is Gay – Trump Reportedly Burst Into Laughter When Briefed by Intelligence Officials

In a stunning turn of events, it appears that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, who was chosen by Iran’s clerical establishment following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is likely a homosexual.

According to a report by the New York Post, this, along with an “impotency problem” and inability to find a wife, drew concern about his leadership capability from the elder Khamenei before his assassination.

The Post reports that US spy agencies believe Khamenei had a long-term sexual relationship with his childhood tutor, according to a tip from “one of the most protected sources that the [Iranian] government has.”

Trump is said to have laughed out loud when briefed by officials.

Others in the room found it “hilarious,” according to the Post’s source, and one senior intelligence official was laughing “for days.”

Steven Nelson writes for the Post:

The allegation of homosexuality was alluded to in a CBS News report on Sunday that said the elder Khamanei, who had ruled Iran since 1989, preferred a different successor in part because of unspecified “issues” in Mojtaba’s “personal life.”
“His father and others suspected he was gay and that was something that people were spreading to try to stop his ascension,” one of The Post’s sources explained.

Homosexuality is illegal in Iran, with sodomy carrying a death sentence.

Meanwhile, it’s still not even clear if the younger Khamenei is still alive.

President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth have confirmed that Khamenei is likely seriously injured, with Hegseth stating last week that he is “wounded and likely disfigured.”

This comes after the newly chosen leader issued a lengthy written statement, which was read out by Iranian state TV. Notably, he did not make a televised appearance, as reports suggest that he's in bad shape from US strikes.

“He is understood to have lost at least one leg in the incident and is believed to have sustained severe internal injuries, possibly to his stomach or liver,” GBN reports, noting that he may even be in a coma, according to sources.

Some reports suggest that he doesn't even know he's the Supreme Leader of Iran because of his current state.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/03/just-us-intelligence-suggests-iranian-supreme-leader-mojtaba/