Richard Pollock

Do Democracies or Dictatorships Win Wars? richardpollock.substack.com/p/do-democraci…

Do Democracies or Dictatorships Win Wars? The Autocratic Mullahs Are Fighting American and Israeli Democracies - Who Are. Likely To Win? richardpollock.substack.com

An interesting question for our timess: Do Democracies or Dictatorships Win Wars?richardpollock.substack.com/publish/posts/…

Is the Iranian Regime Close To Collapse? All indications shows the surviving leadership is erratic, publicly executing dissidents, alienating fellow Muslim states and deeply divided on negotiating with Trump. These are signs of weakness, not strength. richardpollock.substack.com/p/is-the-irani…

Help Wootton Students Return to Normal - Sign the Petition! c.org/ccJ6bnHThn via @Change

@TuckerCarlson Your father reached out to me once when I was at the Daily Caller. He put me onto a story of rising Islamic Jihadists who were building independent enclaves in the Balkans, impervious to local government control. It was exactly a Dick Carlson story. I’m so sorry for your loss.

Obituary for my father. Richard Warner Carlson died at 84 on March 24, 2025 at home in Boca Grande, Florida after six weeks of illness. He refused all painkillers to the end and left this world with dignity and clarity, holding the hands of his children with his dogs at his feet. He was born February 10, 1941 at Massachusetts General Hospital to a 15-year-old Swedish-speaking girl and placed in the Home for Little Wanderers in Boston, where he developed rickets from malnutrition. His legs were bent for the rest of his life. After years in foster homes, he was placed with the Carlson family in Norwood, Mass. His adoptive father, a tannery manager, died when he was 12 and he stopped attending school regularly. At 17, he was jailed for car theft, thrown out of high school for the second time, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. In 1962, in search of adventure, he drove to California. He spent a year as a merchant seaman on the SS Washington Bear, transporting cargo to ports in the Orient, and then became a reporter. Over the next decade, he was a copy boy at the LA Times, a wire service reporter for UPI and an investigative reporter and anchor for ABC News, covering the upheaval of the period. He knew virtually every compelling figure of the time, including Jim Jones, Patty Hearst, Eric Hoffer, Jerry Garcia, as well as Mafia leaders and members of the Manson Family. In 1965, he was badly injured reporting from the Watts riots in Los Angeles. By 1975, he was married with two small boys, when his wife departed for Europe and didn’t return. He threw himself into raising his boys, whom he often brought with him on reporting trips. At home, he educated them during three-hour dinners on topics that ranged from the French Revolution to Bolshevik Russia, PG Wodehouse, the history of the American Indian and, always, the eternal and unchanging nature of people. He was a free thinker and a compulsive book reader, including at red lights. He left a library of thousands of books, most dog-eared and filled with marginalia. His reading and life experiences convinced him that God is real. He had an outlaw spirit tempered by decency. In 1979, he married the love of his life, Patricia Swanson. They were together for 44 years, all of them happy. She died sixteen months before he did and he mourned her every day. In 1985, he moved to Washington to work for the Reagan Administration. He spent five years as the director of the Voice of America, and then moved to the Seychelles as the US ambassador. In 1992, he became the CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and later ran a division of King World television. The last 25 years of his life were spent in work whose details were never completely clear to his family, but that was clearly interesting. He worked in dozens of countries and breakaway republics around the world, and was involved in countless intrigues. He knew a number of colorful national leaders, including Rafic Hariri of Lebanon, Aslan Abashidze of Adjara, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, and whomever runs Somaliland. He was a fundamentally nonjudgmental person who was impossible to shock, and he described them all with amused affection. He spoke to his sons every day and had lunch with them once a week for thirty years at the Metropolitan Club in Washington, always prefaced by a dice game. Throughout his life he fervently loved dogs. Richard W. Carlson is survived by his sons, Tucker and Buckley, his beloved daughter-in-law Susie, and five grandchildren. He was the toughest human being anyone in his family ever knew, and also the kindest and most loyal. RIP.

@MaxAbrahms @Heritage Roberts has done irreparable harm to one of the conservative world’s most intellectually honest institutions. He either steps down or he will find himself the leader of a foundation reduced to political irrelevance - or worse a wrecking ball of the conservative movement.

Politics aside, it’s extremely stupid for @Heritage to retain the president. He has squandered the think tank’s reputation. This will be first thing people think of when they think of the storied think tank. Now, Heritage has signaled a measure of endorsement when it’s wholely unacceptable. Yes, some offenses are terminal for leadership.

Suddenly, Pro-Palestinian Militants Oppose a Ceasefire open.substack.com/pub/richardpol…

@awbitcoin @LionsOfZion_ORG Only a moral society would do this.

@LionsOfZion_ORG What’s the Hannibal directive?

Hundreds of special forces, backed by thousands more, entered Gaza’s valley of death last night to recover 2 bodies of their kidnapped brothers—knowing they might not return, just to bring back the fallen. A one-of-a-kind army for a one-of-a-kind people.

@EYakoby Beautiful.

Hundreds of Christians in Munich, Germany formed a human chain around a synagogue to protect it from an Islamist demonstration that aimed to intimidate the local Jewish community.

@AmichaiChikli @vueling Why are we surprised? They are waging an Islamic Juhadi war in all arenas.

It’s now official: @vueling Airlines has confirmed that the captain of the flight during the severe antisemitic incident was Iván Chirivella, a native of the Canary Islands. In addition to his role as a captain, Chirivella also serves as a senior instructor at an independent flight school. As previously reported, Chirivella was the flight instructor of two of the terrorists who carried out the horrific 9/11 attacks.

Israel's Extraordinary Spy Teams Inside Iran. Israel's undercover operations inside Iran are courageous and astounding and they are making military history. Click here to see what we know so far. open.substack.com/pub/richardpol…

@Awesome_Jew_ Regretfully, this is just the beginning…

🚨 BREAKING: Multiple antisemitic attacks rocked the predominantly Orthodox Jewish community of the Five Towns in Long Island early this morning around 3 a.m., with Avi’s Auto Repair Shop torched, windows smashed at ASAP Restoration, and a banner bearing the message “50K Dead Gazan Kids” hung on the gate of the Israel Chessed Center.

@netanyahu I was fortunate to have met Michael and Barbara on numerous occasions. Michael was an intellectual giant, a merciless opponent of tyranny, and a merciful angel to those fighting oppression, tyranny and injustice. He will be missed. May his memory be a blessing.

Sara and I were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Michael Ledeen, yesterday. I got to know Michael when I came to Washington on a diplomatic mission and he was a guest scholar. He understood a basic truth that many seek to ignore: You must understand the cultures and values of the people driving current affairs to correctly assess the threats and opportunities they present. Michael's understanding of the American people and the Jewish people formed the basis of his abiding faith in the future of America and Israel and in our enduring alliance and friendship. Likewise, his deep familiarity with the Iranian people convinced him that the ayatollahs who oppress them must be prevented at all costs from developing nuclear weapons and that a free Iranian people will be a great ally and friend to America and Israel. Everyone who knew Michael was better for knowing him. I know that I was. Sara and I send our deepest condolences to Barbara, Simone, Gabe and Daniel for their loss, which is also our loss. May his memory be a blessing.

Biden's Attempt to Ouster Netanyahu After October 7 open.substack.com/pub/richardpol…

@PopBase This attack on a Jewish governor occurred on the first night Passover and people fingers at MAGA and not pro-Palestinian, antisemitic radicals? Amazing. I’m not a MAGA person but this is demented thinking.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s house was set on fire last night by an alleged arsonist. His family was evacuated and there were no injuries.

@GovernorShapiro Were there were no motion detectors or cameras on the grounds of the Governor’s mansion? Is this another Secret Service-style security screwup on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover? Clearly a hate crime by - by pro-Palestinian/antisemitic advocates. @ADL

Last night at about 2AM, my family and I woke up to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg. The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was on the scene and while they worked to put out the fire, we were evacuated from the Residence safely by Pennsylvania State Police and assisted by Capitol Police. Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished. Every day, we stand with the law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger to protect our communities. Last night, they did so for our family – and Lori and I are eternally grateful to them for keeping us safe. @PAStatePolice is on the scene leading this investigation and will keep the public updated.

@MarinaMedvin What’s the name of the group that compiled this list? I may want to interview them.

A great think tank has compiled a report on the 150 groups involved in the dangerous pro-Palestinian movement in the US. These are a mix of Islamists, communists, and anarchists who share a common interest of Jew-hatred, anti-Americanism, and sparking a revolutionary uprising. Some of these groups have tax exempt status with the IRS. Will the Trump admin starts revoking tax exempt status for terror supporting organizations?

@DerrickEvans4WV Yes, hiring Clinton press secretary George Stephanopoulis as the anchor for the network’s two “objective” news interview shows never truly helped its image of neutrality. ABC now is doomed along with other legacy media.

🚨BREAKING: ABC news is preparing for mass layoffs.