Photo: News Diaries
You can see the issue this morning—and why Miles is sitting in Melissa’s seat at the north end of the Conference table.

There’s a vortex of feminine power in motion today, and he’s content to watch it steered from our side by the senior women. That would be Melissa and Holly on Daily production, which also explains why Splash was standing between them, holding the image: a smoldering Persian woman lighting a filter cigarette from a bright color print of Supreme Leader Khamenei.

Holly rolled out the image string arriving from Iran—material we were using to sketch a potential target list, should some belligerent nation decide to take dramatic action to alter the ruling system of a Middle Eastern regional power before, say, late this afternoon.

We’re fortunate to have deep seats on the diversity and equity bench, which means we don’t need to perform concern. A reasonable distribution of ages, genders, and fashions tends to handle that on its own.

Which is why the argument over imagery matters. It’s the same struggle that has rocked Iran since the Islamic Republic was declared forty-seven years ago.

The Boomers remember it well. The Shah was deposed in part for permitting women to dress as they pleased at the Pahlavi Court. Or to smoke in public. Or to appear without an appropriate hijab.

That same enforcement logic led to the detention and death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022—an event still reverberating through Tehran’s streets today.

And perhaps into conversations on this side of the Big River as well.

© 2026 Vic Socotra

www.vicsocotra.com