Badlands Brief
Blondie's Ouster, Peters Sentence, & Several Foreign Ops
The Badlands Brief is your daily drop of Badlands’ takes on the narratives dominating the info war. Read on, and join the conversation in the comments section.
Rumors of Pam Bondi’s Imminent Ouster Confirmed With Trump Statement, Following Noem Model
Donald Trump issued a statement on Truth Social confirming the change in Pam Bondi’s status:
“Pam Bondi is a Great American Patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my Attorney General over the past year. Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900. We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future, and our Deputy Attorney General, and a very talented and respected Legal Mind, Todd Blanche, will step in to serve as Acting Attorney General. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Burning Bright: Are the Badlands hosts allowed to question whether or not Trump’s cabinet members are actually read in on the plan, active opponents to it, or simply superfluous, or do we have to wait for a few more retroactive decodes?
(This remains the only media outlet and group of minds that have actively questioned the loyalty and standing of said characters, while also defending Trump’s plan, since those are not mutually exclusive positions, while much of the Truth community went all in on every one of them being secret white hats that cannot be questioned despite often coming off as unqualified baffoons much of the time.)
Shout out to Chris Paul for being first, as usual.
People wonder why we adopt the tone we do.
Chris has been called a doomer for two years for saying the TV characters in Trump’s cabinet are exactly that, and may be active opponents to his agenda.
Trump continues to humiliate and soft fire them one by one, while the same people attempt to convince us they’re being promoted, all while we continue to defend Trump himself as the core architect of a plan it is increasingly clear none of said cabinet members are read in on.
They may be good. They may be bad. They may (in all likelihood,) simply serve as narrative shields for Trump as he advances his true agenda behind the scenes.
I suspect Pam Bondi (and most others in said cabinet, however temporarily) matter much less on an Actual level ... and perhaps only slightly more on a Narrative one.
And a good deal of how you feel about any of Trump’s personnel moves likely has to do with whether you believe Trump is in office to reform the System, or gut it from the inside out.
The trick is in remembering that you don’t have to wait for permission to pass judgment on any of them, which so, so many have forgotten.
Alas, the end won’t be for everyone.
Nor will the awakening.
Iraq Revives Syria Land Corridor For Oil Exports to Europe
Iraq is working to reopen a land corridor through Syria to export oil to Europe following Syria’s regime change. The route would provide an alternative to maritime shipments, including those passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The plan involves transporting Iraqi crude across Syrian territory to Mediterranean ports for export. The corridor had been largely inactive due to years of conflict and instability in Syria.
The move comes amid heightened regional tensions and concerns over energy supply disruptions tied to the Iran war.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: Interesting timeline of events:
March 19: Netanyahu puts out statement suggesting that all oil pipelines from the Iraqi/Arab side of the Persian Gulf be run to Israel. (Many subsequently accuse Netanyahu of starting the Iran War to create the need for this solution.)
March 31: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly al-Jolani) during a visit to Germany suggests that all pipelines from the Persian Gulf be run to Syrian ports. (Some already exist but have been abandoned.)
April 2: Iraq announces that it has restarted shipments of oil via pipeline to Syria after decades long hiatus, citing unique circumstances created by the Syrian Civil War and the Israeli-Iran War.
It is critical to remember that President al-Sharaa (formerly al-Jolani) was installed by President Erdogan, President Putin, and the Iranians—via the Astana Accords—with President Trump clearly playing a pivotal role in normalizing al-Sharaa as a legitimate world leader. Trump clearly stated in numerous Truth Social posts that Erdogan is responsible for toppling Assad, and that al-Sharaa is his guy.
We must also remember that the Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called for al-Sharaa’s assassination—following the Syrian President’s refusal to comply with Israeli demands concerning Syrian sovereignty and territorial control.
Remember two months ago when President Trump was attacking Iraq’s new government on Truth Social? Specifically Al-Malika, who is/was the favorite to emerge as Prime Minister?
It’s been over four months since the conclusion of the Iraqi Parliamentary elections in November, and a government still hasn’t been formed by the winners. President Trump’s attacks on Al-Malika appears to have had the opposite intended effect, as the Iraqi rallies around who they perceive to be the adversary of the Zionist West. According to reports, Al-Malika is rumored to be running much of the government despite not having formal authority. A month ago, he publicly described al-Sharaa as “a brother,” and offered to restore ties with Syria after years of no diplomacy, due to the Syrian Civil War.
Now Iraq is suddenly cooperating with Syria, and in doing so are side-stepping Netanyahu’s ploy to make Israel the regional gatekeeper of oil.
And if you needed any more evidence of a clandestine Sovereign Alliance plan, buried in the source article reporting this development is a footnote saying that Iraq is also sending oil to Turkey via the BTC pipeline.
This means that Erdogan and Iraq are working together, indicating that President Trump’s public aggression toward Iraq is kayfabe.
CO Appeals Court Upholds Peters’ Conviction But Overturns Sentence
A Colorado appellate court ordered that former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters be resentenced, finding her original sentencing violated her constitutionally protected speech under the First Amendment.
Peters was convicted in 2024 of three felony counts of attempting to influence a public official and one felony count of conspiracy to influence a public official, and three misdemeanor counts of professional conduct violations. The appeals court upheld Peters’ convictions, but overturned her sentence and remanded to the trial court for resentencing.
Ashe in America: “To some, Peters is a villain … a threat to democracy … a criminal that got what she deserved. To others, she is a hero … a canary in the coal mine … a political prisoner … a victim of weaponized government and asymmetrical justice. She’s something else, too: a sick, septuagenarian woman spending the holidays in prison because, as she tells it, she believed that her sworn duty mattered more than the personal consequences.”
I wrote that in my Christmas column about Tina Peters, and it holds up in light of Thursday’s decision. You guys should all feel well informed, though:
“The undisputed evidence showed that, before the Build, Brown had already made several backups of the election records. In addition, at Peters’s behest, Hayes had created a forensic image of the voting equipment server before the Build. And Peters was not charged for any crimes arising out of either of those acts. In other words, she had fulfilled her duty as Clerk and Recorder to preserve the election records days before the Build. Thus, Peters’s statutory duty to retain and preserve election records and her actions fulfilling that duty had no bearing on whether she engaged in the illegal conduct for which she was charged.”
Damn near every iteration of every narrative from every perspective assumes the opposite of that finding – “Peters was not charged for any crimes arising out of either of those acts” – by the court of review.
“She tampered with elections!”
Every faction assumes some version of the “election meddling” story.
But, no. She didn’t meddle in an election.
Remember that whole “oathbreaking insurrectionist” thing in 2023-2024?
Same vibe. Also, same people. #rockymountainhigh
CannCon and I have been saying this since we covered the trial. This case – the facts, the evidence, and the law – was never about elections.
That’s just storytelling.
There is some stuff to celebrate in this decision. There are also some puzzling and frustrating bits. I read the decision a couple times, and I broke down my thoughts over on my Substack in greater detail than appropriate in the Brief. Read it here.
We will also discuss tonight on Why We Vote.
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Iran War Drives Oil Spike and Global Economic Pressure
Oil prices rose above ~$110/barrel amid concerns about disruption to Middle East supply routes, including the Strait of Hormuz. Global markets repriced for a prolonged conflict, with rising bond yields and a stronger US dollar. Higher energy costs are feeding into inflation and fuel price increases globally, including reported fuel hikes in Pakistan.
US mortgage rates increased to ~6.46% as Treasury yields rose on inflation concerns tied to the conflict. US jobless claims fell to ~202,000, indicating low layoffs despite broader economic pressures.
Economists cited risks to hiring and growth from higher oil prices and market volatility.
Burning Bright: Second-order effects from the Strait of Hormuz closure are already hammering energy prices, consumer goods, global stocks, logistics chains and the fragile economic agreements that were not so long ago sold as ironclad anchors of stability.
Headlines scream panic, markets lurch, and the breathless narrative insists that we’re all in this together, sinking in the same engineered storm Donald Trump kicked into motion.
And yet, when you take a closer look at the data, the flows, the geopolitical repositioning tells a very different story: the United States stands best positioned to weather—and ultimately weaponize—these shocks, while the Collectorate finds itself summarily exposed on every front, from the economic and geopolitical to the kinetic.
The Collectorate isn’t just being exposed as Paper Tigers, though that label fits the hollowed-out military posturing and the endless parade of joint statements that dissolve the moment real pressure hits.
No. The true revelation on the back of Trump’s engineered Kobayashi Maru runs deeper, and cuts to the core of said Collectorate. Or rather, the story that has made it up.
These are no longer coherent nation-states in any meaningful sense of the word, but vassal entities unwilling, and increasingly unable to accept the new masters of the Sovereign Alliance they once presumed to lord over through the abstract power projection of a Petrodollar architecture now being methodically dismantled, and the ultimate actual power projection of a US Military Industrial Complex firmly under Trump’s command, breathless headlines and panicked editorials be damned.
The result?
A full-spectrum exposure delivered simultaneously to every layer of the Collective Mind: the underlying fragility of a System of Systems that was marketed, enforced and mythologized as the very opposite of weakness.
Globalism was peddled on the promise of collective strength—interlinked economies, shared defense pacts, mutual resilience that would render old notions of sovereignty obsolete.
Yet what the Age of Trump has delivered, from the Covid-era supply chain revelations through the engineered (and mutual, in my estimation) Trade Wars with China, and now this precision untangling of the Iranian Knot is total inversion: fragility, interdependence and mutual exhaustion in the places where sovereign strength and independent power projection were supposed to reside.
The EU bloc is collapsing in real time, with the geopolitical dominoes toppling in capitals from Berlin to London to Madrid as the old guard fractures under the weight of self-inflicted energy and defensive dependence, not to mention the cultural rot coming on the back of porous borders and funded invasions masquerading as enrichment.
And I feel fine.
Putin Signals Russia Role in Middle East Stabilization Talks With Saudi Arabia
Vladimir Putin held discussions with Mohammed bin Salman regarding the Middle East crisis. Putin stated Russia is prepared to take steps to help “stabilize” the region.
The communication comes amid escalating tensions tied to the Iran conflict. Russia positioned itself as a potential diplomatic and strategic actor in regional de-escalation efforts.
Saudi Arabia remains a central player in regional energy markets and conflict dynamics.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: Here’s your regular reminder that the Sovereign Alliance is still very much in play and seemingly in control of the situation.
We are constantly getting stories about these various countries (namely Russia and Saudi Arabia) “monitoring” the situation in the Middle East, while clearly having direct and indirect control over specific events and entities. It is noteworthy that none of these counties have directly engaged (militarily) in the Iran War, though they have a deep and vested interest in its outcome.
It is reasonable and logical to assume that they have been working backchannels to steer outcomes, which begs the question: why is this necessary? Against whom are they scheming?
Well, the one country that has exchanged harsh criticism with all of the Sovereign Alliance is Israel.
All of Russia’s top leaders have been warning Israel, or exposing their malevolence, for months now, particularly in the past few weeks.
Sergey Lavrov explains how the Abraham Accords have been used to subvert the Saudi Peace Initiative of 2002 (which required a two-state solution).
Maria Zakharova (on behalf of Putin and the Kremlin) demanded that Israel stop attacking Iran immediately.
Dmitry Peskov warning that Israel’s attacks on the Bushehr nuclear power plant (which was constructed and is maintained by Russia) could have irrevocable consequences.
Meanwhile, things in Israel are deteriorating fast.
Fox News is finally reporting that Israel is getting pounded, and the attacks by Iran are said to be intensifying everyday. Here we see 12 interceptors fail to stop a single hypersonic missile. (It appears the Iranians are deploying more sophisticated tech.)
The Israelis are growing restless, and now are assembling at the homes of Netanyahu’s cabinet members, blaming them for the constant missile attacks.
This video was posted by Yoav Kisch—Netanyahu’s Education Minister—with commentary that called the upset Israeli citizens “deranged criminals.”
Though this guy is Likud (Netanyahu’s party) he is the Education Minister. Obviously he has no authority over the military, and yet he is still blamed for the war.
This is a sign of escalation between citizen and state in Israel—as missiles are falling on Israel unchecked.
Meaning the situation is deteriorating.
French Mayors Remove EU Symbols In Local Protest Actions
Several mayors in France, primarily from right-leaning parties, have removed European Union flags from municipal buildings. The actions are described by participating officials as a protest against EU policies and authority.
Some mayors characterized the EU flag as a symbol not mandated for display on local government buildings. The moves are part of broader political tensions between local officials and EU institutions.
French national authorities have not uniformly required EU flag display at all municipal buildings.
GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: As President Trump and his cabinet threaten to withdraw from NATO (which would surely lead to its collapse), the EU is now facing a popular uprising from the mayors of small towns in France, who refuse to fly the EU flag or recognize its sovereignty over the land.
This is the beginning (or continuing) of the end for the EU. The brushfires of liberty are being stoked in the hearts of men, and that is always when tyrants are overthrown.
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Slightly off-topic (though some may not think so - those who recognize the enemy behind the enemy):
My understanding of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the way days were marked by the Jews in circa 30 AD (as we now mark years) accepts that Jesus' body would be in the tomb of the rich man on this day of that week (the 6th day). And that Jesus Himself would be fulfilling the type declared in Lev.16:20-22 when all off the sins of all of the people are laid upon the "goat of removal" (scapegoat) and sent into a solitary place to dispose of those sins and iniquities. (Tradition holds that the man who was appointed to lead the scapegoat out would take it to a steep cliff, an abyss.) Paul explains that Jesus BECAME sin by taking on all the sins that were or are ever committed (though He knew no sins Himself). That doing so resulted in the Father turning His face from Jesus - a miracle so profound we can hardly relate to it.
Over the next two days that fulfillment will result in His justification by the Father (He knew no sin!) and in Him, thereby conquering, the second death - for which the Father will raise Him from the first death. After which He will be seen, will ascend to the Father (the first time) to deliver His sinless blood to the real Mercy Seat in heaven, before showing Himself to His disciples and revealing His wounds from which no blood was present - for He is now flesh and bone!
He is Risen! The Messiah fulfilled the Law and inaugurated the New Covenant - with its purpose and commands that will bring us to His return!! Take Joy!!!