The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg ‘A Zipper to the Gates of Hell’ | Interview: Chris Stirewalt
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Mar 11, 2026 Chris Stirewalt, a political analyst and former Fox News digital politics editor, shares punditry and anecdotes. They riff on gallows humor, irony in journalism, and covering 9/11. Conversation jumps to Iran and military objectives, Trump’s public demeanor and fashion, Texas Senate politics, voter ID and electoral reform, and profiling Markwayne Mullin.
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Irony Functions As Essential Coping Mechanism
- Jonah Goldberg and Chris Stirewalt argue irony and gallows humor serve as essential coping tools for people routinely exposed to trauma.
- They caution irony becomes corrosive when it turns into sustained cruelty or cynicism that denies seriousness.
Flexible Objectives Let Leaders Retroactively Claim Victory
- Stirewalt analyzes Trump's flexible public rationale for military action, noting multiple, sometimes contradictory objectives allow retroactive claims of success.
- That strategy permits declaring victory based on markets or polls rather than clear military goals.
Local Strikes Could Unzip Regional Sectarian War
- Both discuss worst-case regional outcomes from intervention: Iran collapsing could spark broad Sunni-Shia conflict and an Iraq-style civil war across the Middle East.
- They stress short-term tactical wins could produce catastrophic strategic consequences.
