Somewhere between my third cup of tar black coffee and scrolling through TikTok videos of dancing cats this morning, I saw the headlines. The United States just turned parts of Syria into ISIS group therapy sessions. Fighter jets, attack helicopters, and enough precision munitions to make a Michael Bay movie jealous rained down on terrorist strongholds like karma with impeccable aim. Let me be clear, folks, we didn't just poke the bear. We ripped the bear’s arms off and used them to beat its face in. And people wonder why I sleep better knowing certain folks are no longer in charge of America's snack pantry, let alone its military.

I remember 2014, okay. The year ISIS swaggered around Iraq and Syria like they owned the place. Beheading journalists, burning prisoners alive, and live streaming terror like it was a Twitch stream. And what did the previous administration do? Held press conferences. Leaked anonymous concerns to the New York Times. Dropped a few bombs some days if the weather was nice. Fast forward to yesterday. Two American heroes—Sgt. Edgar Torres Tovar and Sgt. William Howard—along with a civilian interpreter whose name we’ll likely never know because media priorities—got ambushed near Palmyra. ISIS pulled the trigger, thinking no one would notice. Wrong.

Within days—days!—President Trump greenlit a symphony of destruction so thorough, ISIS members probably started drafting apologies to their ancestors. Over 70 targets annihilated. Aircraft from Jordan (you know, actual regional allies) joining the fray. 100 precision strikes turning terrorist clubhouses into abstract art. And here's the part making me laugh harder than a toddler discovering bubble wrap. Left leaning pundits are arguing over whether the response was “proportional.” Proportional? Honey, when someone kills Americans, “proportional” left the chat when we stopped writing letters of complaint to the Hague.

The best part. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth didn’t mince words. “This isn't the beginning of a war. It's a declaration of vengeance.” Mic drop. Air guitar solo. National anthem playing in the background. Remember when Biden’s team spent three weeks debating whether to call a terrorist a terrorist? Now we’ve got leaders speaking in fireworks and action verbs. Progress tastes like jet fuel in the morning.

But let's not overlook the quiet miracle here. Syria—yes, that Syria, the one still crawling out of a decade long civil war—publicly backed the strikes. Their new president, Ahmed al Sharaa, who makes Bashar al Assad look like a washed up theater kid, met Trump at the White House just last year. You don't think that handshake had anything to do with yesterday'smilitary math? Please. Diplomacy isn't just fancy dinners and awkward photo ops. Sometimes it's staring down a dictator turned ally and saying, “Hey, you wanna stop getting invaded by jihadists? Help us light their camps on fire.”

Let me tell you why this matters beyond spicy Twitter takes. Those two soldiers didn’t die in vain. That interpreter—probably making less than a Capitol Hill intern—gave everything so our intel stays sharp. Their sacrifice triggered a domino effect of dead terrorists. People who would've killed more Americans. More Iraqis. More Syrians just trying to rebuild their bombed out bakeries. That's the human impact the beltway bubble forgets. Real people. Real graves. Real closure for families who can now sleep knowing justice wasn't just served, it was deep fried.

Now let's address the elephant wearing a CNN press badge in the room. Where’s the outrage? The prime time specials? The somber Anderson Cooper voice overs about military overreach? If this strike happened under a different president, we’d have panel discussions debating whether the bombs hurt ISIS' feelings enough. But because it’s Trump adjacent? Crickets. Maybe a two minute segment between updates on celebrity divorce drama.

I call it selective moral amnesia. When certain politicians send troops overseas, it’s “brave diplomacy.” When others do it, it’s “reckless cowboy behavior.” Spare me the hypocrisy. Dead terrorists don't have party affiliations. These double standards are why my trust in mainstream media crumbles faster than a stale cookie. Speaking of which, five ISIS operatives confirmed dead, including a drone cell leader? That's not a news cycle. That’s a Tuesday at the range for America.

Even the UN admits ISIS still has 5,000 to 7,000 fighters hiding in Iraq and Syria like roaches waiting for lights out. Roaches get the boot. Every. Single. Time. And under this renewed strategy? America's not playing whack a mole. We're paving the mole tunnels with concrete. Peace through superior firepower isn’t just a meme. It’s foreign policy that works.

So yeah. While blue checkmarks clutch pearls over decorum, I’ll be over here celebrating the fact that for once, our response to terrorism wasn’t a sternly worded tweet from some under secretary of whatever. It was bullets. Lots of bullets. And if ISIS didn’t get the message, well, I’m sure the next delivery will be even louder.

In closing, pour one out for the fallen. Cheer for those still fighting. And maybe, just maybe, admit that decisive action beats performative handwringing every time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go register voters. Democracy isn't going to save itself.