Happy Sunday, and welcome to the RedState Weekly Briefing — where we take a quick look at the week’s most viewed stories in case you missed any of them. What do you suppose caught people's attention in yet another eventful week? Grab a cup of coffee (or something stronger if you're so inclined), and sit down with this 21st Century Weekend Edition of your favorite (online) publication.
#1 - Iran Seizes a Tanker and Suffers New Problem - What's Hilarious Is Who That Cargo Belongs To — by Nick Arama
This may be one of the funniest things the Iranians have done so far. So it appears that either they seized a tanker shipping their own oil in the wake of the U.S. attacks on them on Thursday, to appear tough and make it look like they were doing something. Or someone running their oil even believed he could get over on the regime by moving stuff against what Iranian leadership wanted. Take your pick. Either way, it's hilarious. And are they stepping on the Chinese in the process, since it's reportedly "Chinese-managed"? They made what would appear to be a big boo-boo earlier in the week, firing on a Chinese tanker, which couldn't have made the Chinese happy.
#2 - Iran Responds to Trump’s Strait Move - He Finishes Them With One Reply — by Nick Arama
What Iran is likely to do is run a lot of small boats at a ship all at the same time, as they have done in the past. If they do that, the U.S. might take them out from the air just like they do with the narco-boats. If Iran starts firing missiles at the ships of other countries, that would not go well for them, and that would prompt more countries against them.
Meanwhile, the blockade and Operation Economic Fury continue to choke them. So they can throw all the tantrums they want, but they still have that crushing them, big time.
Oh, and Trump posted shortly after Azizi did. The response was simple. Click on for the full picture.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 3, 2026
#3 - New: Sen. John Kennedy Sums Up the Iranian Regime's Current Predicament... in His Own Unique Way — by Becca Lower
We "have Iran by the ying-yang," Sen. Kennedy said. But he didn't stop there. He then brought the receipts:
"There's nothing going in, and there's nothing coming out. The only source of revenue that Iran has is the sale of oil, and they can't sell a drop.
"They have to continue producing because if they shut down their wells - as they may have to - because of the low pressure, they'll never get them started again."
The senator said "another two to three weeks" of the blockade will force the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guard "to have an epiphany, and be born again "
#4 - If You Want to See How Cowardly Liberals Can Be, Here's Starmer's Reaction to His Party's Massive Loss — by Nick Arama
The mess in the U.K. is where we could be heading if we had continued along the Democrat path and elected Kamala Harris instead of Donald Trump.
So if you're Prime Minister Keir Starmer, what you would traditionally do is resign, and someone more in line with what the people want would emerge.
But instead of doing that, listen as Starmer indicates he's not resigning and he's just going to double down on what has already failed.
#5 - Judge Apologizes to Would-Be Trump Assassin, Sparks Outrage — by Ward Clark
Granted, even an alleged attempted presidential assassin has constitutional rights, including the right to confront his accusers, to a speedy trial by a jury of his peers, and to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment. But this apology is beyond the pale; this just plain reeks of excessive sympathy for the accused. These complaints by the defense team, which involve what we might presume were normal practices for an inmate on suicide watch, should have been addressed by a curt, non-apologetic order from the judge for the Department of Corrections to look into it.
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