Strait out of nowhere | In Georgia: ad wars & a micrositing

Nothing like settling into the recliner Sunday evening to be rattled by the reality that the Trump White House should’ve known – prior to launching warfare on Iran – that the Strait of Hormuz ought to have been war-gamed (it has been, before) for becoming a deadly “choke point.” That’s what a⁠ 13-minute ’60 Minutes’ segment⁠ (yeah, on CBS, still) enlightened its audience to Sunday.

Former Biden transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg – ⁠on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ Sunday⁠ – calling it “amateur hour.”

Joining Ron to discuss, CBS News national security advisor Dr. Jeff McCausland (44:30)

Oh, and even before 20% of the world’ oil supply got choked off, it turns out the late ⁠2025 economic data was revised downward⁠ (and it wasn’t good before that). So. Much. Winning.

Maybe that explains why Trump’s trying everything possible to will the economy into the black and of the red, by threatening (⁠and failing, legally⁠) Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

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The TV flame war between Rick Jackson and Burt Jones is so one-sided it’s almost bringing about some … pity? … for Burt. Almost. There’s ⁠Jackson’s attacks on Jones⁠, with Jones opting to ⁠cast Jackson as a pro-Planned Parenthood businessman⁠. That put Jackson on the defensive before putting out an ad featuring – get this – Burt Jones lauding Jackson just last fall. Oof.

Meanwhile, as Ron noted last week, the AJC’s ⁠Greg Bluestein noted the race for ‘runner-up’ in the Democratic gubernatorial primary⁠ is afoot. After the dust-up at the Stonecrest, Ga., forum between Geoff Duncan and Jason Esteves, the Esteves camp rolled out a ⁠Duncan-targeted microsite ⁠with a vast array of screen grabs of Duncan’s past press clippings and social media posts. It’s effective – for those who’ll go to it (but how many people will that even be?)