Tapp into the Truth
Politics • News
Is There More to Democrat Support of Iranian Theocracy Than Bad Policy?
January 04, 2024

  In 2009, then-President Barack Obama chose to ignore the pleas for support from the Iranian people as they were protesting in the streets against the Human-Rights violating, theocratic, despotic Iranian regime. Obama's excuse for not offering even some level of verbal support to people who were quickly "dealt with" by order of the Ayatollah was his concern that American intervention of any kind would serve as a rallying cause for the regime. This was, of course, accepted by left-leaning geopolitical "experts" as reasonable and heavily criticized by more conservative voices operating in the realm of foreign affairs policy. 

   The decision by the Obama administration not to speak up on behalf of the Iranian people who wished to see a return of freedom to their nation led to a swift ending of the protests. The regime did not need any other motivation to squash the movement than the visible challenge to their authority. At the time, many deemed this to be an error on the part of the administration or an inherent "softness" on the international stage. However, later actions brought that assessment into question.

   While not supporting "democracy" for Iran, Obama was personally very verbally supportive of the Arab Spring throughout 2010 and 2011 and, especially, the Muslim Brotherhood's short-term take-over of Eygpt in 2012 (as well as expressing disappointment at the quick ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood shortly after that). At that point, Obama was not concerned about the perception of American intervention in the region. Nor was he concerned about the will of Arabs or Persians and their "right to self-determination." It looked very much like he wished to promote the "right kind" of Muslim, not Islam in general, but a specific Islamic ideology. Still, many refused to make that connection, and the stage was set for the so-called Iran Nuclear Deal.

   The Iran Nuclear Deal was touted as a significant diplomatic victory for the Obama administration. It was officially announced on July 15th, 2015, and was sold as a way to stop Iran's nuclear weapon ambitions. It allowed Iran to continue to work on their "nuclear energy" program, plus sent a minimum of $400 million in cash (and a release of frozen assets estimated on the low end to be worth $150 billion) to Tehran along with the promise of relief of sanctions leveled against the regime, individuals in the government, and high ranking members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Many conservatives pointed out at the time that Iran's nuclear energy program was little more than a front for their weapons program, so even if you could trust the Iranian government's promises (given their open ambitions, not a wise thing to do), all that had been accomplished was slowing down the development of weapons. It was also pointed out at the time that money is fungible. Sending millions of dollars to the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism certainly did not seem to be in America's best interest or, the interest of our allies, or even just stability in the region.

   Those on the political left would have you believe that it is merely a coincidence that after the arrival of the "pallets of cash" from the Bank of Obama, the sophistication of weaponry in the hands of Hezbollah and the Houthis (who first rose to prominence in Yemen during the aforementioned Arab Spring) improved exponentially from what they had before; and that the Hamas terror tunnels morphed into a marvel of modern engineering. But the rest of us were saying a collective, unhappy, "We told you so." It was an easily predictable outcome.

   During the Trump administration, Iran continued to foster influence in the region by fighting a proxy war against Saudi Arabia through the Houthis, who currently control North Yemen, by supporting Hezbollah in their frequent attacks on Israel's northern towns and financing the development and planning of what culminated in the October 7th attack of Hamas on Israel. Iran also continued to hold sway in Syria as well, but Russia had a much more significant direct role in Syria going back into the late Obama administration, so it is rarely mentioned by commentators these days. Iran went about their business as low-key as possible during Trump's presidency. They still had to project power in the region, but other than a bit of saber-rattling after Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was killed in Iraq during a meeting with local militants that were targeting Americans, Iran went about the spreading of terrorism through their proxies. Iran was not as overt, out of respect, fear, or just the perceived unpredictability of Donald Trump.

   The Trump administration withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal, worked on re-establishing U.S. and international sanctions against the Mullahs, and in a move that would have won a Nobel Peace Prize for anyone else on the planet, they worked behind the scenes to join Arab nations and Israel together in what is known as the Abraham Accords. (The timing of the Hamas attack on Israel is widely believed to have been an effort to prevent Saudi Arabia from joining the Abraham Accords.)

   All of this is the past. A pattern of American acquiescence to the will of the Ayatollah emerged during the Obama years, including a "kissing of the ring" when two United States Navy riverine command boats were seized by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard. The projection of American strength returned under Trump, and the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab nations like the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Egypt, and Jordan brought the first realistic chance of peace in the Middle East. Now is the present, and we have the Biden Administration, a.k.a. Obama's third term.

   Since January 20th, 2021, Joe Biden has been on a mission to undo everything Donald Trump did. That includes getting Iran to enter an agreement similar to Obama's deal with them. Tehran, however, sensing Biden's politically motivated desperation, refused to even meet with representatives of the U.S. directly. After two meetings on the topic, where other nations negotiated on behalf of the Biden administration, it became clear that Iran had no intention of ever giving Biden anything. (Biden did manage to give Iran $6 billion to secure the release of 5 Americans who were being held by the Islamic theocracy during this timeframe. A move that had even some Democrats angered as it sent the message that this government is willing to pay if citizens are taken prisoner.)    

   On September 16th, 2022, a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, died in the detention of Iran's Morality Police. They had beaten and detained for an alleged transgression of the women's dress codes before her death (failure to wear her hijab correctly). This event set off widespread pro-women's rights and pro-democracy protests within Iran. These protests, in many cases, were also calling for the end of Iran's theocratic regime. Things are different this time; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard has engaged in their customary brutal tactics but, to this point, has been unable to end the protests. The harder they push, the stronger the resolve of the Iranian people has become. The Biden administration has barely commented on the situation, and the mainstream legacy media has stopped reporting on it. The newsroom editors act as if this is not a worthy story to share. Still, it seems far more likely that if the American people were to know the full extent to which the Ayatollah has gone to crush his people, they would be outraged at the continued Barbery and would, at the very least, demand the Biden administration do something in support of the oppressed people of Iran.     

   On October 7th, 2023, the most brutal attack on the Jewish people since the holocaust was carried out by Hamas. Israel had withdrawn from Gaza back in 2005. The people of Gaza elected Hamas to be their elected government in 2006. A ceasefire between the people of Gaza and Israel had been in effect since that 2005 withdrawal, with some skirmishes along the border fence that Hamas had orchestrated. After the inhuman actions of the Hamas terrorists on October 7th, Israel declared war on Hamas. At first, Biden said all the right things. Unquestioned support for our alley Israel, which looked suspiciously like Biden thought it would be a great excuse to divert more tax dollars to Ukraine while we were sending aid to Israel, but Biden's support quickly started to wane after both the Republicans refused to sign a blank check for Biden's pet projects tied to aid for Israel and the far-left activists started chanting, "from the river to the sea" in American cities, on college campuses and even in front of the White House.

   Naturally, no one was surprised when multiple members of "The Squad" came out in support of Hamas. Rashida Tlaib calls herself a Palestinian American; Ilhan Omar has, on numerous occasions, made antisemitic comments publicly; and don't get me started on the things that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is willing to say. (This matters in the context of my question because Hamas is a proxy for Iran against Israel. Support of these terrorists is support of Iran in the region.) But others in the Democratic party have been protective of Iran and their proxies in ways that work against American interests and often against the platforms that the Democratic party claims to represent.

   Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Sen. Cardin has recently made it clear that his committee will not be moving forward with the MAHSA Act, named after the aforementioned victim of Iranian violence against women, Mahsa Amini. The MAHSA Act was passed in the House overwhelmingly back in September 2023. It would impose sanctions on the Supreme Leader of Iran and the President of Iran and their respective offices for human rights abuses and support for terrorism. It calls out the actions of the Iranian security forces during their violent crackdown. Actions named specifically include mass arrests, well-documented beating of protestors, throttling of the internet and telecommunications services, and shooting protestors with live ammunition. Iranian security forces have reportedly killed hundreds of protestors and other civilians, including women and children. Why kill the bill?

   This may seem like a lot of different, barely - if at all - related events. But when seen together, it shows a long-running pattern by members of America's political left elevating Iran's status in the Middle East at the expense of the U.S. and our allies. I have heard some on the left suggest that this is an effort to get the U.S. out of politics in the region altogether. The idea being that a stronger Iran would serve as a counterbalance to Saudi Arabia and Israel, negating the need for U.S. influence in that part of the world. If true, that plan completely ignores the intentions of the Iranian regime and the hopes of Russia and China to further extend their influence in the natural resource-rich region. It is, at best, an incredibly naive and short-sighted idea. However, suppose the "counterbalance" idea is not the motivation. In that case, we really need to get to the bottom of why so many Democrats, since Obama was first in the White House, are working harder for the Ayatollah than for the American people.

   This question becomes even more critical now, with three recent events. Iran has moved a warship into the Red Sea, seemingly as a response to the U.S. military destroying three boats belonging to the Iran-backed Houthis. An Iranian with jihad terrorist ties was caught after he had illegally entered the U.S. near Niagara Falls, New York. And a pair of explosions killed nearly 100 people at a ceremony in Iran to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of General Qassem Soleimani, where the Iranian government has called it terrorism, blamed both Israel and the U.S. and promised "swift justice" for the perpetrators. If not handled properly, America and its allies may find themselves in a situation that never had to be. So, I'll ask again. Is there more to Democrat support of Iranian Theocracy than bad policy? 

community logo
Join the Tapp into the Truth Community
To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today
0
What else you may like…
Videos
Posts
Articles
Why is There Antisemitism?

Clip from the Feb. 6th Tapp into the Truth Rumble Live Stream featuring Kenneth Abramowitz, author of The Multifront War: Defending America From Political Islam, China, Russia, Pandemics, and Racial Strife and founder of Save The West, a website dedicated to saving Western Civilization.

Watch the full video at:

00:01:00
placeholder
Deportation Is A Family Affair & Agroterrorism

Federal authorities arrested two Chinese nationals after they were accused of attempting to smuggle a potential bioweapon into the United States. Senior Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that trans-identifying prisoners should continue to get "trans-treatments" on the tax-payer dime. And more.

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/deportation-is-a-family-affair-agroterrorism--66389169

The Truly Starving Are Not in Gaza

The New York Times has just published a photo essay and article about starving Gazans. Take a look at these numbers.

https://jihadwatch.org/2025/06/the-truly-starving-are-not-in-gaza

Real Men Don’t Go Woke

You have probably seen, heard, or read Dr. Gilda since she has been everywhere, from MTV’s “Love Doc” to the “30-Second Therapist” column for the Today Show to the “Ask Dr. Gilda” column for Match.com, and she was the therapist in HBO’s, “Telling Nicholas.” Dr. Gilda Carle is a Spokesperson for the International Council of Men and Boys and the author of 19 books, including her most recent, “Real Men Don’t Go Woke.” Dr. Gilda joined me to discuss the International Council of Men and Boys and why she wrote “Real Men Don’t Go Woke.”

Due to a technical glitch, Marc Beckman couldn’t join us, but you can check out his book, “Some Future Day: How AI Is Going to Change Everything.” And we will work to reschedule him.

I discussed with Ron Edwards, host of The Ron Edwards American Experience talk show, the Supreme Court’s decision that cleared the way for the Trump administration to revoke the temporary protected status for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, ...

March 18, 2025
post photo preview
Artificial Colors Banned by 2029

   Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has issued a broad ban of “artificial colors by the end of his term in 2029 or face government intervention.”  While the new directive was focused toward the biggest companies in the food industry like PepsiCo North America, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Tyson Foods, WK Kellogg, and JM Smucker (whom RFK, Jr. had meetings with the CEOs as well as representatives from the Consumer Brands Association), it is clear that all food manufactures and processors are expected to follow the edict.
   It is reported that RFK, Jr. told the executives that “removing artificial dyes is an urgent priority,” but he left what happens if the companies fail to comply intentionally vague. This ominous, open-ended threat was enough to make the markets react as stock for the food giants all dipped at a sharper rate than the S&P 500 in general (which was on a downward vector) pointing to investors’ concern about how the new directive will affect the bottom-line. (But to be fair, whenever the government gets involved to this extent, investors tend to get nervous, at least until they have a better idea of what the actual fallout will be.)
   How will the “removal of food dyes” policy affect the bottom line for food companies? Ultimately,, it is impossible to fully evaluate the question without knowing the ramificationsof non-compliance. After all, from a financial standpoint, it may be better to take the governmental penalty hit than a sales loss if the food is suddenly visually unappealing. People eat with their eyes, a,nd the U.S. market i,s not accustom,ed to seeing food that hasn’t been “dressed up” a bit to better meet an expected look. Add into the equation that there are surprisingly few “natural” food dyes that are as effective in coloring food items, and most are sourced in ways that are, shall we say, less than appetizing if you know the source. 
   This is a moment in time, however, where financial concerns may be overcome by both the true and the perceived health concerns that the dyes may present. The “Make America Healthy Again” movement has been picking up steam for years, well before it got its shiny new branding to fall inline with the Trump 2.0 administration. The American consumer has never been more conscious of what goes into their food and what the effects could be. This could put the food companies at more considerable risk of losses if the public believed that they were happy to risk your children’s health to pocket a little extra coin per unit sold. Especially given that companies like PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, General Mills, WK Kellogg, and JM Smucker have different formulations, without many of the food dyes, that they have been selling in Europe for decades. 
   Further evidence of the moment we find ourselves in (regarding food colors and safety) is the fact that many states did not wait for the RFK, Jr. ultimatum to begin taking action. California has outlawed Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, and Green 3 in school meals. West Virginia is moving forward with bipartisan legislation that would ban a wide range of dyes and additives from all food products sold in the state. Removing harmful additives from our food supply seems to be one of the few truly bipartisan issues in our current political chaos.
  As impactful as removing food dyes from our diets will be, RFK Jr. has his sights set on a much bigger target, the GRAS system. That is the FDA’s “Generally Recognized As Safe” program that gives food manufacturers great latitude in using ingredients based on claims that an ingredient has been safe in other applications as scientific grounds to claim without the FDA officially, independently approving the ingredient for use in the manner the food company is intending. But that is a different topic for another day; just keep it on your radar.
   The question now isn’t, “does the American consumer want healthier options,” that has been made clear, and the answer is a resounding YES. The question is how those same consumers will react when they get what they are asking for. Will steak and ground beef sales hold steady when all the beef looks grey instead of red? Will they be as drawn to that banana pudding that is a natural off-white color instead of the yellow we all think of when we think banana? Well, we certainly can get used to these things if we have enough time. The US consumer, however, is notoriously impatient and very vocal during this kind of transition. So expect grumbling from the public and a bumpy ride for the food companies (in fact, some of the smaller companies may not survive to change. 
   Will MAHA succeed? It all depends on your definition of success, but time will tell.    

Read full Article
January 16, 2025
Losing At Chutes & Ladders

   I recently wrote about how Iran has effectively captured Venezuela as a proxy state in an article / op-ed that you can find at BizPac Review or here at locals. Iran has been "gifted" a large amount of land in Venezuela; It has entered into a 20-year "partnership agreement," and it has built (and is operating) a military drone factory at a Venezuelan military base, plus providing training on how to use the multiple attack UAVs that are being built there. While this is a reason to be concerned, things escalated a bit over the weekend and have been significantly downplayed by the legacy media to the point that next to no one is even talking about it.

   This past Saturday (January 11th, 2025), during Venezuela's "International Anti-Fascist Festival" in Caracas, the socialist dictator and Iranian lapdog Nicolás Maduro threatened to invade Puerto Rico, saying,  "Just as in the north they have a colonization agenda, we have a liberation agenda." and then adding, "The freedom of Puerto Rico is pending, and we will achieve it with Brazilian troops." No matter how serious you may take this threat - sabar rattling by someone looking to position himself in the eyes of the rest of South America, impress his Iranian, Russian, and Chinese "friends," just a big mouth who had a little too much to drink before taking the stage - whatever you may think, it s a clear, open threat against an American territory. (Kudos by the way to Jenniffer González-Colón, the current governor of Puerto Rico, who had the sense to skip reaching out to the (technically-still-in-charge) Biden/Haris White House and directly wrote Trump asking the in-coming administration to "to respond to the dictator's threat."

   Meanwhile, in Western Europe, China is looking to increase its influence in Germany. Chinese officials are working on a deal that would see Chinese automakers move into German automotive factories slated for closure and are particularly interested in Volkswagen's sites. Germany has previously been greatly dependent on Russia for energy (and reports vary as to the reality of how much that has actually changed since the Ukraine conflict), but taking the word of the German government about it, Germany can ill afford to trade that out the Russian influence for Chinese influence on what is (at least for now) the largest economy in the European Union.

   The pieces continue to be moved around the board by the Axis. And while the CCP and Iran lay the groundwork for what both believe will eventually end with them individually dominating the world, the Biden/Harris administration (either by incompetence or by design) continues to make it easier for what's left of the Free World to fall. January 20th, 2025, can't get here fast enough. Say what you will about Donald Trump, but at least he is not losing a game of Chutes & Ladders when the adversaries of the United States are playing 3-D chess.

Read full Article
January 14, 2025
post photo preview
Iran's Military Presence in Venezuela is Expanding
A New Proxy State Thanks To Joe Biden

   The Islamic Republic of Iran has been a disruptive force in the Middle East since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Since the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a.k.a. the last Shah of Iran, Khomeini and his Mullahs set Iran on a course of destruction for both the modern Persian society that existed there at the time and their neighbors who did not subscribe to the Twelver Ja'afari Shia Islam imposed by Khomeini. This remains the path the theocratic Iranian regime follows today. Sunni Muslims, Christians, Jews, and anyone who exemplifies the concepts of Western Civilization remain a target of Iran or their proxies, either by open attack or terrorism.

   In recent years, Iran has decided to extend its influence beyond the Middle East, where it orchestrated attacks on Israel and Saudi Arabia and financed terror in Western Europe and piracy throughout the region. This expansion was born out of Russia's war with Ukraine. Russia found itself unable or unwilling to end the conflict quickly. Once the U.S. and most of Europe started sending "aid" and sanctioning Russia, Putin found himself in need of help from friends and frenemies alike. A new Axis (Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela) was formed as a result. An Axis that was, at least on the surface, allying with Russia against the U.S., NATO, and the Western World. Iran had been a long-standing ally of Russia, so it made sense that it would be part of this new Axis.

   A global financial partnership to end the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency, known as the BRIC nation bloc (named for its founding members: Brazil, Russia, India, and China) was formed in 2006, had its first summit in 2009, and South Africa joined the group in 2010 leading to an official name change to BRICS. However, this group of countries was largely unsuccessful and generally ignored by the world's financial powers as it was widely seen as a not-so-veiled effort by China to become the world's dominant economy. That changed in 2024 when China and Russia (two founding members) reached out to other nations that had issues with the various disastrous foreign policies enacted by the Biden/Haris administration, and a unified global financial force was born by expanding the group to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran (not to mention a long list of countries who have expressed interest in joining: Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.) You will notice that some of these countries have been enemies for a very long time and, despite joining this group, remain adversarial, even hostile toward one another. Only the bungling of Joe Biden on the international stage brought some of these people together to work against the interests of the United States. So, "Let's Go Brandon!"

   It makes sense that Russia would want Iran to be a part of everything they are doing. As I pointed out before, they have been long-time allies due in large part to the amount of oil and lack of refining capacity in Iran. There are other reasons, but the sweetheart deal they worked out so long ago to refine oil for Iran made Russia an indispensable partner in the eyes of Mullahs and both sides rich. However, since the 1980s, there is another reason why Iran has become a valued ally of Russia. What most people don't know, despite the best efforts of people like myself who have been telling anyone who would listen for years now, is that Iran has been developing drone technology since the 1980s and is one of, if not the world leader in drone production (especially military drone production). Much of Russia's drone capabilities is a direct result of Iran.

   That takes us to the latest threat that Iran now poses. The other members of the Axis have developed an appreciation of the Iranian drone. So much so that Venezuela opened its borders to the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah, not only allowing them to operate within Venezuela but to actually "oversee" elections in some regions of the country since about 2017. Then, in 2022, Venezuela provided Iran with 1,000,000 hectares of "farmland for cultivation." Nicolás Maduro visited Tehran that year, where he signed a 20-year partnership agreement "on cooperation with Iran in various fields." It seems clear that what Iran has been "cultivating" is a new poxy state similar to Syria before the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime, only this time, it's within striking distance of the United States. The IDF even warned everyone in March of 2024 that Iran was arming Venezuela with weapons that were "very capable of hitting the U.S."

   Maria Villarroel, writing for the Latin Times, revealed in her January 11, 2025, article that Iran had built a drone development factory and was training Venezuelan military personnel at the El Libertador air base in Venezuela. One of the wide range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) being produced there is the ZAMORA V-1, used for one-way attack missions. (And by the way, Iran has indicated that it intends to sell UAVs to other countries in the region, a practice that could - and most likely will - destabilize the geopolitical landscape in Latin America.)

   Iran developed its drone technology and is still developing its nuclear capabilities, making it extremely dangerous to Israel, all the Sunni Muslims, Christians, and anyone who does not share their belief in the Twelver Ja'afari Shia tradition within its reach. Iran has strengthened the so-called Red-Green Axis, as it serves its purpose of advancing their belief in the eventual worldwide caliphate. And Iran has harnessed Venezuela as a proxy under the ruthless and illegitimate rule of Nicolás Maduro. All of this happened under the watch of Joe Biden, who, instead of working to prevent it, actually helped Iran to pay for it all. That includes an additional 10 billion dollars in sanctions relief issued three days after the 2024 Presidential election. So, thanks Joe, and one more time on your way out the door, "Let's Go Brandon!"

Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals