5️⃣ Iran War Day 4: Holy War

The United States is four days into an unauthorized war against Iran and the numbers keep climbing — the actual American death toll may be far higher than the six the Pentagon has confirmed, with embassies in Riyadh and Kuwait City shuttered and no U.S. diplomatic presence left in the Middle East. Iran has retaliated against at least eight Arab states. But the most alarming development came from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which has now received over 200 complaints from service members reporting that commanders are telling troops this war is part of God’s plan to bring about Armageddon. Dean Blundell, who grew up in the evangelical church, read one of the complaint letters on air — an NCO describing how a senior officer told troops that “President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to start and cause Armageddon.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has crusader tattoos and “Deus Vult” inked on his body, truly believes he is ushering in the age of Christ with the world’s most powerful military. As Dean put it: “It’s ISIS in the West. That is what this regime is.”

4️⃣ AI Used to Bomb Iran Despite Ban

Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, refused to let the Pentagon use their technology for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons — so the Trump administration labeled them a “supply chain risk” and banned all federal agencies from using their products. Hours later, the Pentagon used Anthropic’s Claude AI to help select bombing targets in Iran anyway. Meanwhile, ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI agreed to provide the Department of Defense with surveillance access, prompting nearly 900 employees at Google and OpenAI to sign an open letter called “We Will Not Be Divided” demanding limits on military use of their technology. Dean canceled his ChatGPT subscription on air and called for a consumer boycott, arguing that everyone should be running to Anthropic — the company that actually drew a line.

3️⃣ Clinton Epstein Depositions Released

The House Oversight Committee released roughly nine hours of deposition footage from both Bill and Hillary Clinton testifying about their connections to Jeffrey Epstein — the first time a former president has been compelled to testify before Congress. Bill Clinton claimed he met Epstein in 2002, but Zev Shalev’s research into the Narativ archive of 83,000 documents shows the relationship goes back to the early 1990s, when Epstein made donations to the DNC and visited the White House at least 17 times. Hillary Clinton stormed out of her deposition after Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert secretly photographed her during testimony and leaked it online. Neither side, Zev argued, is asking the real questions — about the intelligence operation, the financial architecture, or the fact that Ken Starr prosecuted Clinton over Monica Lewinsky while simultaneously defending Epstein.

2️⃣ School Shooter’s Dad Found Guilty

A Georgia jury convicted Colin Gray — father of accused Apalachee High School shooter Colt Gray — of second-degree murder, the first time in American history a parent has been convicted of murder for a school shooting committed by their child. Gray gave his 14-year-old son an AR-style rifle as a Christmas gift and claimed he saw no warning signs. Dean offered a nuanced take, calling it a “sticky wicket” — acknowledging the precedent while asking the harder question: “Wouldn’t it just be easier to get common sense gun laws passed?” He called the focus on parental liability an NRA psyop designed to blame everything except the guns.

1️⃣ Texas Primary — Election Day

Voters went to the polls in what may be the most consequential Democratic primary of the 2026 cycle, with Rep. Jasmine Crockett facing state Rep. James Talarico for the Texas Senate nomination. Talarico outraised Crockett $20.7 million to $8.6 million and represents what Dean called “philosophical Jesus, not savior Jesus” — a Baptist who believes Christianity is about helping the vulnerable, not legislating biblical doctrine. Both hosts predicted Talarico would win, with Dean connecting the race back to the show’s opening theme: if Pete Hegseth is the model for what a Christian American looks like, maybe Talarico offers a different vision — one that could flip Texas.

An unauthorized holy war, an AI rebellion, presidential depositions, a historic verdict, and an election that could reshape the Democratic Party — all in one day. That’s the Fivestack.

The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.

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