Good Morning, this is the Commonwealth Report. News for the public, not the powerful.
Will Iran Surrender or Will This War Burn the World Down?
Donald Trump made it crystal clear Friday. There’s no deal, no negotiation, no off-ramp. He wants unconditional surrender from Iran. Full stop. In a Truth Social post, Trump said he won’t end the U.S. war against Iran without Iran waving the white flag completely and without conditions. Then, and only then, he promises to help Iran pick what he called “great and acceptable leaders” and rebuild its economy from the ground up. He even coined a brand new slogan for the occasion. “Make Iran Great Again.” MIGA. No, seriously. That is what the President of the United States wrote on social media while a war he started is actively burning. But here’s the thing. Unconditional surrender isn’t a peace plan. It’s a forever war plan. History tells us countries don’t just roll over and surrender on demand, especially not ones with deep religious and nationalist pride. So what Trump is really saying is this war doesn’t end until he decides it ends, on his terms, on his timetable. And the rest of us, working people, families, anyone filling a gas tank or paying a heating bill, are the ones who’ll pay the price while Trump plays general from his golf course.
“Some People Will Die.” That’s Your President.
When Time Magazine sat down with Trump and asked whether Americans should be worried about Iran striking U.S. soil, the leader of the free world said, “I guess.” That’s it. I guess. Iran had already struck the U.S. embassy in Kuwait earlier this week, killing six Americans. And when pressed on whether it could happen here at home, Trump told the interviewer that some people will die. When you go to war, that’s what happens. The reaction was swift and it was brutal. Former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger posted “Kewl bro” on X. Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote, “I guess. What a leader.” Jon Favreau, who worked in the Obama White House, pointed out that we still don’t even know what the goals of this war are. And Mehdi Hasan of Zeteo News said what a lot of people were thinking. It won’t be Trump or his family who die. It’ll be ordinary Americans who didn’t want this war, didn’t ask for it, and had no say in starting it. That casual shrug from the Oval Office should send a chill down every American’s spine. These are our sons and daughters. Our neighbors. Our kids.
Is $150 Oil About to Crush the Global Economy?
Qatar’s energy minister isn’t using diplomatic language right now and he isn’t sugarcoating a thing. Saad al-Kaabi told the Financial Times this week that oil could double from current levels to $150 a barrel, and if that happens, it won’t just sting. It’ll bring down economies worldwide. Oil is already up nearly 20 percent this week, its biggest weekly gain since 2022. Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that handles about a fifth of the world’s entire oil supply. Twenty-one million barrels a day flow through that 100-mile stretch. When it chokes, the whole world feels it. Gas prices are already climbing. Fixed energy tariffs are being yanked off the market. Analysts at the Resolution Foundation warn household energy bills could jump by $500 or more. Al-Kaabi says Gulf countries are likely to start declaring force majeure in the coming days, meaning they’ll stop being legally obligated to fulfill their energy contracts. That triggers factory shutdowns, product shortages, supply chain chaos. This isn’t some abstract Wall Street story. This is what hits your gas tank on Monday morning. This is what shows up on your heating bill next month. Wars have consequences, and working people always pay first and hardest.
Is This the Worst Jobs Report at the Worst Possible Time?
This morning’s U.S. payrolls report hit the markets like a bucket of cold water to the face. Fewer jobs added than expected. Last month’s numbers revised downward. Unemployment ticking up. And wage growth accelerating, which sounds good until you realize it means more inflation pressure is building in the pipeline at exactly the moment an energy shock is barreling toward the economy. Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, called it a “stonking quadruple whammy.” The Federal Reserve spent the last year and a half carefully cutting interest rates, bringing them down from 5.25 percent all the way to 3.75 percent, six cuts in total since August of 2024. Now the Fed is staring at a nightmare with no good options. Cut rates and you risk inflation spiraling out of control with oil prices exploding. Raise rates and you crush an economy that’s already showing real cracks. There’s no clean move on this chessboard. Futures markets were already weak heading into this morning’s report, and analysts say a serious selloff is firmly on the table, especially with more airstrikes expected this weekend and oil prices that seem to know only one direction right now. The economy didn’t start this war. But every American worker is going to feel it.
Kristi Noem Got Fired. Cricket the Dog Was Unavailable for Comment.
Kristi Noem is out as Homeland Security Secretary, and let’s be honest about her legacy. She won’t be remembered as a stateswoman or a security expert. She’ll be remembered as the woman who shot her own dog, wrote about it proudly in a book, and genuinely seemed to believe it made her look like leadership material. It made her look like she had the empathy of a parking ticket. Her entire tenure was a taxpayer-funded vanity project. Mount Rushmore photo shoots. A nearly quarter-million-dollar federal contract to an ad firm that turned out to be shadier than her spray tan. All while migrant children sat in filthy, overcrowded detention camps that would embarrass a third-world dictatorship. She expended more energy on her Instagram than on actually protecting anyone. When Trump finally showed her the door, he handed her the consolation prize title of “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” which sounds like something printed on a discount Halloween costume. Cricket the dog just wanted to chase birds and live her best life. Noem wanted fame, power, and a reality show career in public service. One of them had better instincts. And it definitely wasn’t the one holding the gun.
And that’s the way it is, Friday, March 6, 2026. I’m Thom Hartmann
