Governments don’t earn trust by asking people to stop asking questions. They earn it by telling the truth, especially when lives are on the line.
Concealing casualties, bypassing Congress, and attacking those who demand answers doesn’t strengthen democracy. It weakens the accountability that gives government its legitimacy in the first place.
Wars fought without transparency don’t just endanger soldiers. They undermine the democracy they are meant to defend.
Because a fucking moron obsessed with hatred for the black guy launched it, aided by his testosterone-obsessed wonder boy play-acting at being GI Joe, together with the Cuban twerp ordered to wear Florsheims 4 sizes too big to conceal his tiny feet and even tinier soul.
It's astonishing just how absurd, petty, falsified and ridiculous the entire premise for war was. No wonder it's turning to shit in their hands. No wonder they want us to stop talking about the whole thing.
And that's not including keeping silent about the war on American citizens, run by the disgusting nazi miller, which continues to rage with no end in sight.
Going after immigrants was the one issue that essentially elected this cabal.
It's their core. Their glue. Their shared purpose.
Trump didn't offer solutions. He offered scapegoats. And his followers fell in line because they needed someone to hate more than they needed solutions.
The hatred runs deep—immigrants as invaders, criminals, subhuman. Once you've dehumanized a group, violence against them becomes acceptable. Policy becomes irrelevant. You're not voting for a platform; you're voting for permission to hate.
That's what binds Trump's cult together. Not policy. Not principle. Hatred.
Once you've dehumanized one group it's much easier to dehumanize the next group and then other groups...
But most people who primarily voted against immigrants in 2024 were drawn to this issue not out of hate, but to reinforce their declining status. Many now realize that was wrong which is why this and everything else this regime does is so very unpopular.
Most people who are against immigrants don’t realize we are all immigrants here…if we go back far enough. The Native Americans are the only natives to this continent
LB, technically, Melania didn't falsify documents that got her into the U.S. I'm a little lazy, so I'll just quote DuckDuckGo's AI assistant: "Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent, sponsored Melania Trump's immigration to the United States by securing her an H-1B visa when she arrived in the mid-1990s."
Zampolli, himself an immigrant, now works for the Trump regime in a totally fabricated diplomatic job.
The latest U.S. military KIA was identified as EMANUEL SWINTON now listed as KIA when assigned to US. Army Space & Missile Defense Command & attempting to defuse unexploded "Iranian ordnance".
How many more things aren’t we supposed to talk about? They don’t want to talk about the Epstein files, they don’t want us to talk about the war and consequences, they don’t want us to talk about ICE, or lettuce.
The whole premise for this war was to get the Epstein files off the news cycle!
March 2025: Taylor Farms contributes $1 million to MAGA Inc., days after the FDA delays the Food Traceability Rule.
The FDA informs Taylor Farms that one of its iceberg lettuce products tested positive for cyclospora, prompting a voluntary recall.
During the cyclospora outbreak: NYT reports Taylor Farms hires a former Trump WH official.
Last week: Taylor Farms executives meet with WH and FDA officials, where the company challenges aspects of the govt’s outbreak conclusions.
Now: Taylor Farms says the FDA apologized, calling the positive test a false positive and stating no Taylor Farms product has tested positive for cyclospora.”
Kathy, this lettuce problem just reeks. The CEO is a partisan jerk and I read that he does not allow bathroom breaks for the pickers. Hmmm. Personally, I will never buy any Taylor Farm products and no supermarket lettuce. We shop at a place that is mainly organic in its produce. I am not even sure about their lettuce. I will buy mine at the Saturday Market the few times I need lettuce.
Hegseth ("Mr T") was on capitol Hill Hearing a few minutes requesting 1.5 Trillion for the Department of Continuos War (CW) which per General McCaffrey's analysis a few minutes ago LIVE on Katy Tur's Show INCLUDES 87 billion in supplemental funds for the current WAR in Iran including the prospective destruction of civilian infrastructure.
It was a crazy hearing. Hogsbreath knows nothing about war and said we should be praising trump for his great job. From there it went downhill. Some Dems asked or made good statements.
Exactly right, my friend. The war was born from grievance, vanity, and men performing toughness for television. Now the costs are real, the strategy is missing, and the architects are hiding behind secrecy and slogans. They wanted a quick spectacle of dominance. Instead, they created another bloody disaster and are furious that the public can still see the wreckage.
Late in life, McNamara admitted he didn't have a clue. There was NO Gulf of Tonkin incident. We got the same deal to leave as we had in 1968. There was no domino theory. Nixon was a traitor.
It's. I agree about the pettiness, etc. Love your descriptions of death star, the drunk, and shoe boy. Sometimes I feel like I am living in some surreal movie.
I'd love to give you a huge round of applause like I gave to ICTT, but my hands can't manage it. (okay, I actually mean my fingers. Too much typing of late, and Voltaren smeared digits slide off the keys and create typos. Sometimes of bad words. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it, because I rarely use those bad words.)
I've really been struggling as of late. The only "good" has been that I've greatly limited my Trump-news consumption, which has caused an increase in my creative endeavors. I so admire your verbal abilities!
Here in my Chicago suburb, FINALLY, the air quality rating is down into the green area. The temp today is predicted to top at 84, right about my favorite temps. My husband took the bold move of OPENING OUR WINDOWS, and the "sorority" (our four female cats) rejoice! For this, at least, I feel a sense of relief.
On his own Substack, ("That's Another Fine Mess") frequent commentor here, TCinLA, has been counting down the days to the midterms. That number dangled before me holds so much hope, and yet, I hold fear that those feelings will be dashed. I think of Mueller, Biden elected and putting in AG Garland who did nothing, Trump trials where the judge sat on his (BAD WORDS!) hands and didn't send him to jail, Stormy winning money, E. Jean trial, etc, etc, etc, etc.
Ally has advised "staggered breathing" which thank God there are those here in this choir who can, because I feel like I'm gasping.
Why HE started this "war"? Pretty obvious, I think. Epstein Files. Multiple credible accusations of sexual abuse. Corruption on a scale that would seem unbelievably silly in a novel or a movie. And absolute incompetence relative to the economy, infrastructure and global competitiveness. Why? To distract us from the grift, the theft, and the appalling damage of DOGE.
The rest of the world is moving rapidly forward with CHEAPER solar and wind using battery backup to sustain the flow of electricity at night or on calm days. About 25% of the vehicles sold on the planet are EVs. But American car makers are scaling back EV production. Echoes of the Japanese dominance in high quality small cars that we ignored? Ya just can't fix stupid hubris.
The bigger existential questions are: "Why are Republicans letting a sundowning, revenge driven, not really smart, diarrhea mouth, clumsy ass klutz run this country into the ground? Why are they allowing him to alienate the entire world (except Putin)?"
And why is he on the phone with Putin just before he meets with foreign leaders?
We can go back and forth about who is responsible. I'm calling out Congress for abdicating its Constitutional responsibility and authority. By now they should have sent Marshalls to the White House to arrest him along with Vance, Rubio, Miller, Vought and Hegseth.
We are "getting our asses kicked" by Iran for the same reason we lost the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan. There is no learning in the 47 White House. There is just an unloved demented child in an old man's body posting crap on social media as if the presidency was a video game.
We're currently watching "House of Dragons". The parallels are clear. The people, the soldiers respond to rousing rhetoric from kings and nobles - promises of fame, glory and riches. Then they charge the enemy and are slaughtered - or roasted by dragons. And it just keeps happening...
Exactly: The bigger existential questions are: "Why are Republicans letting a sundowning, revenge driven, not really smart, diarrhea mouth, clumsy ass klutz run this country into the ground? Why are they allowing him to alienate the entire world (except Putin)?"
“The things they had in there were crazy. They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox & Friends.
You're right Talia, we didn't start it, but we're all paying for it. Trump and Kegsbreath lost the war for us on day 1. Exactly, none of our allies (except Israel) knew about the attacks and they all have refused to join us in our illegal lethal folly.
Yesterday, Bill Kristol said that there is no saving ICE. The brownshirt Army must be dismantled and the functions delegated to other departments.
I don't disagree, BUT they're all run by Fascist morons at this point who lie, cheat and steal.
Hopefully, many of you are paying attention to what is happening in Russia right now. For the last 22 days Zelenskyy has been bombing Moscow, Crimea, St. Petersburg, and every major refinery in Russia. Two huge Amazon-like warehouses close to Moscow were destroyed by drones. All major roads and railroads in and out of Crimea have been disabled except one and most of Crimea is without power, running water, gasoline and other supplies. Ukraine has disabled over 185 oil tankers, tugs, cargo ships and military vessels in the last two weeks by air or by water by bombing the engine rooms or the propellors. This is just in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
And finally, there are protests in Russia against Putin who refuses to consider ending the war.
And who is Trump taking advice from about the war in Iran? Putin and Bibi. Yikes!
Just had to add Bibi although Israel has not participated in the resumption of hostilities. If the other Middle Eastern countries, er, sorry .... kingdoms, would defend their borders against Iran, this would have been over long ago. But no, can't stop bashing the only player in the Middle East who has our backs.
Blackdog, most of us make a serious effort not to indulge in name-calling or insulting other commenters, so I won't. However, a lot of names came to my mind when I read your comment.
Instead, I'll just stipulate that you have overturned an entire truckload of horse manure.
I agree with dismantling ICE, but exactly how are we to do that, other than elect a new president or get a large Democratic majority in Congress? Congress allocated many billions of dollars to them, well knowing they were funding a Gestapo that could come after American citizens as well as anyone else.
Nope, sorry, but ‘you’, as a nation, started it. As in the American military chose to launch an unprovoked, illegal first strike against a sovereign nation against the advice of all its intelligence agencies, at the whim of a man who is unfit for purpose. They could have declined but chose not to. It’s unfortunate, but there it is.
Sorry. The "American military" didn't decide anything. They were ordered into it by their commander-in-chief. And military people are sworn to obey legal orders. To do anything else is chaos.
I'm sorry, Bob, if I'm not up to speed. Are orders to make war on another nation without congressional authorization now considered legal?
I would judge that you've unintentionally put your finger on the problem: the current chaos we are witnessing is the result of "military people" obeying illegal orders.
The USian military did indeed decide this matter by succumbing to ChristoNazi infiltration, breaking its oath to defend the Constitution and becoming war criminals, der neu Führer's legions of death.
They may not be able to tell us why they started it - but it's mind-bogglingly obvious why we are getting our asses kicked. Far from telling us, they're trying to hide it.
The Trump administration attacked Iran to manipulate the oil markets. At which Trump's Taco (Trump always chickens out) and Nacho (Not a chance Hormuz opens) antics have succeeded remarkably.
The US is losing to Iran because unlike roided up T-maxxing moron Hegseth and self serving real estate brokers Kushner and Witkoff, the Iranian regime knows what it is doing. Its leaders are war hardened and strategic.
Soon after the first wave of US/Israeli strikes, secretary of state Marco Rubio told reporters that imminent Israeli strikes had prompted the US to join in the attacks fearing reprisals against US bases even if the US had not participated in the first wave. Trump later denied this and instead blamed his own advisers, Hegseth and Kushner, for persuading him to attack Iran. Later still, he claimed credit entirely for himself, claiming that he alone of US presidents was willing to take the steps necessary to prevent Iran from ever building or acquiring a nuclear weapon, even falsely suggesting that a former president had privately lauded his decision.
NYT reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan produced a lengthy article on 1 April backing the Rubio version of events, an account later covered in their book 'Regime Change'.
Always has to point back to Israel, a tiny country the size of NJ with about 16 million citizens and the only country in the Middle East that has our backs. A dupe believing liars.
So many explanations, coming out of the same mouths, for this disaster of a war. The Pentagon spokesliar, quoted by Professor Richardson, shows us that the only "transparency" exhibited by this administration is the transparency of its lies.
JohnC, that quote caught my eye and I intended to write the same comment.
"We'll see what happens" is a commonly used phrase in Donald's very limited lexicon. When he says it, he is confessing that he is utterly clueless about whatever the topic is.
Professor Richardson covered covered a lot of ground tonight in her well known historical context method with citations to relevant journalistic reports & documentation of repeated tactical errors by the no strategy, chaotic U.S. President who is triggering more U.S. deaths & wounded while planing to commit international war crimes.
My comment derives from a Reuters' report on the possible Red Sea Blockage & another oil "choke point" identified by Heather.
Reuters: "4 hours ago — Houthi Red Sea blockade [another choke point] would lift oil prices but, workarounds could limit impact. Oil prices could climb above $115-$120 should flows be ..."
My little daily calendar told me today that "You can be a warrior AND be full of grace and class." I don't see anyone in his Cabinet who meets the criteria for any of the three.
Check out the Parnas Report, followed by millions of people. Aaron Parnas follows the Epstein saga pretty much daily and writes about it here on Substack. Also Joel McPherson’s substack reports daily on Epstein.
The Dems let a big opportunity go by when questioning Blanche last week. But, smart and increasingly experienced people are still combing those files and they won't be silenced forever.
"The Dems let a big opportunity go by when questioning Blanche last week. But, smart and increasingly experienced people are still combing those files and they won't be silenced forever."
I know that "Dems let a big opportunity go" is a knee jerk reflex for some who never let an opportunity go to slam "the Dems."
Perhaps you might listen to Democrats at the hearing. And consider that some of those "smart and now experienced people" combing the files are Democratic staff members who are able to have access because the Democrats in Congress fought for access. And held numerous meetings with survivors - including providing public platforms to amplify their voices.
Attorney General Nominee Todd Blanche Testifies at Confirmation Hearing, Part 1 | Video | C-SPAN.org
Throughout the hearing, Democrats pressed Blanche on the DOJ’s previous handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, urging him to meet with victims, and questioned his defense of Trump’s pardoning of hundreds of convicted Jan. 6 rioters.
In less than 18 months at the Department of Justice, you have shown you’re still President Trump’s personal attorney. Your tenure can be summed up in the four words you said, ‘I love you, sir,’ to President Trump,” Durbin said, noting that was how Blanche said he would respond if Trump ever decided to fire him.
“This nation deserves an attorney general who loves the Constitution more than any single president.”
Schiff similarly dug into Blanche’s record at the Department of Justice (DOJ), asking, “What happened to the prosecutor people had respect for?”
That's true, and should not be lost side of. There remains a blatant "coverup". It seems to me that successful political protest keeps calling our attention back to the "normalized" injustice until we can't look away any more. Yet also, I think that successful protest keeps a pretty clear focus, and gives the core issue a clear priority. That is difficult when there is virtually a new source of outrage every day. The Epstein pedophilia and corruption is certainly part of that core, and while progress is resisted, we have to keep it in the limelight.
Correct, nobody knows, but intelligent strategic thinking has gamed out possible outcomes and identifies the one with the least risk/greatest benefit.. This fucking idiot, however, can’t think beyond the end of his nose. Every damned thing he does is like throwing spaghetti agains a wall to see if it sticks. “We’ll see what happens” is the only answer he can give because he doesn’t have a clue what could happen. He just does shit. Rex was right, he’s a fucking moron.
I have the impression (you can see more of it in early film of him) that Trump was born with a modest degree of intelligence, or at least cunning, but, as seems to be a hazard of being born to great wealth, his life strategy is built around the excessive deference we pay to that wealth and a passion to gain by shameless corruption. Trump breaks the rules, and breaks the law, but for the most part, he always gets away with it, and THAT, in his own mind, makes him "special". He does not need to study anything, he said so in his first term, he just makes something up, and it stands because he has power. More likely than not in the real world the kid who yelled "The emperor is naked!" wound be told to shut the hell up. Trump gets to be corrupt as hell because we have always tolerated some level of corruption in this country, and smiled on smarmy Reagan when he told us governance of, by and for the people was a joke and to let the rich take care of it for us; the lazy road to quasi-feudalism. How many of far-reaching, epic decisions are now imposed upon the rest of us by the very rich? The Roberts' Court was selected to legalize jaw dropping corruption by the standards of my youth.
We spent decades cleaning up our act after institutionalized racism, sexism, and other inherited sins from the past, as well as the abuses and graft of the "Gilded Age" and were conned into tearing out the guardrails that might have prevented such scenes as painful, useless wars of choice, the S&L crisis and "The Great Recession" and the artificially severe death toll from COVID, among other nasty things. Nixon actually wanted to protect the environment, as did Carter. Reagan and industry did not. What if we had continued to do so? What now? We the People need to get our collective act together; the antidote to despotism.
My guess: they started it because they want to keep Iran's fascist regime but replace the top with people who side with the US and against democracy everywhere.
"We" didn't start it -- they did. We have to make it clear that we will hold them responsible for these crimes. We The People will take this country back from their control and continue our quest for the rule of law equally under the law.
They told immediately why they started it. Marco Rubio said it immediately before being disappeared for a few weeks after admitting the reason to become the Generalismo of Venezuela and plan the invasion of Cuba.
He said, because Bibi KNOWS he leads Trumo around by the nose in the ME, that we had no choice. Israel was going in with or without our consents, KNOWING we’d have to join because our bases would be attacked. And because we defend Israel - NO QUESTIONS ASKED OR YOU’LL BE RUINED - we will now be in another “forever” war in the ME that the AMERICAN taxpayer will spend a trillion dollars we don’t have to give cover to Israel while they take over the West Bank as well as Gaza.
So that is the reason. Except we can’t say that in the US because too may pols on both sides will be targeted by AIPAC. so much for America first. Every single thing in the US is costing more now because of this. And the multiple BILLIONS just as of right now will be paid by our children IF they can find a job.
The nuclear weapon angle didn’t appear until AFTER the strikes. Remember….Trumo telling us months before he destroyed ALL their nuclear capabilities.
Looks like they DO have a nuclear weapon after all….the Starit of Hormuz and the giant bomb they’ve been able to dump on the world economy.
At the very best….dipshit 2.0 will end up with a worse deal than Obama negotiated.
Before Trumo started this…
- the Strait was open
- gas and fertilizer prices were lower. And not that he gives a shit…”groceries…what does that even mean!” Wer not as high and farmers weren’t declaring bankruptcy at the levels they are now.
Oh…and again…not that he gives a shit…young servicemen and women would be alive. One recent soldier MAY have lived long enough to enjoy a drink as a legal citizen on her 21st birthday at a local American bar dancing in a circle with her friends.
They started this war because they live in a video gamish existence. As long as your thumbs can bench press a control trigger fathers, you are the leading scorer. The bubble of a TV studio existence where some girl follows you around fixing your hair and man makeup.
They started this war bevause they care not at all about the long term fallout and they definitely do not see human life as a thing to factor even slightly into their strategy.
It’s easy to start a war that YOU don’t have to pay for, be held accountable for, and where you don’t value even slightly even AMERICAN life.
A million bucks when Trumo meets the dead, he makes it about himself.
We’re in this war not because the Israeli people begged for our help. We’re in this world because of greedy corrupt men who just wash the others back at the expense of the people they supposedly serve.
Two themes are at work in the MAGA remaking of the military.
Hegseth is lying about the casualties and rooting out professionalism and diversity in an effort to drive out women, minorities, members of the LGBTQ+ community. He has gone after members of Congress who have pointed out that the oath of service requires members of the military to refuse to obey illegal orders. It is meant to deter recruitment/re-enlistment of any thinking person who might question whether they want to risk being blown up on a mission to bolster the ego of a madman, or forced to commit war crimes.
At the same time, Hegseth is promoting increasing the "lethality" of US soldiers, even offering testosterone to help his recruits achieve the appropriate level of high-T "warrior ethos" while displaying his own Christo-Nationalist body art. The call isn't to defend America, it is to get to kill people and blow up shit.
The goal is to create a military that has been purged of anyone who might dissent and populated by those who would relish committing violence.
That is not a military that is meant to perform at peak efficiency and efficacy to protect America from foreign enemies. That is a goon squad being built to terrorize a civilian population. ICE is not sufficiently large, and they don't have tanks, at least not yet. Using the military against the civilian population is in the authoritarian handbook. We are not there yet, but we keep edging closer to the precipice, and what seemed impossible two years ago does not seem so far-fetched as the Trump regime gets more desperate to hold on to power and avoid accountability.
Hegseth has come a long way towards that goal in 18 months.
I wonder if this is impacting recruitment. Who in their right mind would sign up for the services with Hegseth at the helm. But then again, who are the idiots who are signing up to work for ICE.
Young people without college access sign up for the military so they can have a job. Consider that ICE currently pays about quadruple what the military pays a private in the Army, and you have your answer.
The truth is that there are still those signing up, but it would be my guess that many are not who we would like. If they come out of MAGA households they will do whatever they are told and not question those doing the telling. If they are signing up because the military offers them the opportunity to have more choices available to them later on, they will do what they are told to do, rather than risk those chances. Either way they will do the bidding of this sadistic, fascist government that controls them at this point in time. We should be very scared.
It has Carol. Kegsbreath has increased the age of enlistment to age 42 hoping to avoid bringing back the draft. And as Georgia says, they are offering testosterone to soldiers and are threatening to force military personnel over age 30 to have annual testosterone checks. Yeah, that's gonna work out well.
For years, the military has struggled to recruit qualified personnel and now they are firing or eliminating even more of the potential recruits. Why would ANY woman or LGBTQ+ person enlist right now? Plus, the soldiers can get leave the service and go straight to working for ICE where they can stay in the US and terrorize the populace.
Unfortunately, Georgia, you nailed it. The ‘unthinkable” of just a month ago is now “thinkable”. I hope it’s more than letters that will be used when the goons swarm over the polls on Election Day. Or drumph will call a national emergency and cancel the election. By then it will also be too late to challenge the maga monsters in court. Thank goodness mail in ballots are holding.
He can’t cancel elections; states run those. And state office are also on the ballot in November. It’s against the law (I know) to have police near polling places unless summoned. Finally, state election officials—even red state ones, I suspect—do those jobs because of their belief in the integrity of elections and have been prepared since Trump came back to office for whatever sh!t he may try to undertake.
All those guardrails rooted in law mean little to a regime that doesn't believe in or honor the rule of law, MLMinET. You've no doubt seen what Nicaragua did: say there will be no more elections in their country. How long will it take our president to try the same thing?
Oh, Lordy, I hope so, ML. (About a year ago when the SAVE act was first proposed and comments were being taken, I wrote a comment pointing out some of the reasons you state.)
I am disappointed at Hegseth's apparent success in purging the military of personnel who might have stood up for the Constitution. It seems like only retirees and former military in Congress or running for office feel free to criticize the regime.
Georgia...One of the earliest indications of what now obtains is the cessation of the draft.
Contrary to the myth popularized and maintained by the cult of mandatory optimism -- now as in 1776, USian propagandists literally have no peer (Goebbels is an amateur in comparison} -- the draft was [not] halted in an anomalous burst of humanitarianism; it was halted because our masters and the Original-Nazi war criminals who were their advisors and comrades at arms realized it was training the revolution.
Thus what [really] stopped Nixon's coup was recognition how the era's USian population, which was armed and trained, could respond. The Southrons and their Ku Klux kindred elsewhere would, of course, support the coup. But just as was proven by the Deacons for Defense and other identically purposed but lesser known self-defense groups, We the Progressive People would have both the knowledge and the equipment -- not to mention the active-duty military support -- to save the nation.
Thus too, I cannot doubt the [bipartisan] planning of the [long-intended] overthrow of USian democratic process included the choice of a date when the military had been thoroughly infiltrated by the ChristoNazis -- as it obviously has been -- and when most of us required-service-era veterans were either dead or disabled and when [all] the progressive populations -- i.e., the so-called Blue States -- were permanently disarmed. Voila! No [effective] resistance to Nazism ever again possible.
Loren, 13, in 1947, the only time I was in a real debate (training in my public high school), I argued FOR the draft. It puts everybody together—democracy! Whatever form of national service young Americans elect for two years (time we offered many), they will be the better for the mix with their fellow Americans. The country needs that mix. I found it as a Fulbright scholar, but that was luck.
My guess? Hegseth felt a rush of adrenaline when he heard Harris so forcefully say that she won't hesitate to use "lethal" force during her DNC speech. So now, he constantly uses the word himself.
Totally agree. ICE, in my opinion, is going to be “used” briefly for immigration and pivot quickly to the American population.
The genius of this movement is to identify the weakness and then burrow through it. The weakness was and it was weak…Biden p’s response to the border. It was a rookie mistake that a seasoned politician should have seen but Biden wasn’t up to up it.
Coming fresh off Covid where Americans lost A LOT, seeing an immigrant getting ANY aid was ripe to stoke even a mild mannered American. So it was easy to fool people to believe money they desperately needed was going to a newcomer. People suffered a lot. Most Americans are employed by small businesses that couldn’t even open. So hearing the economy was doing good and also knowing you’re not while seeing a flux of MORE people coming in was the perfect storm for Trumo 2.0.
But now, the reverse is happening. There is zero immigration, nursing homes are losing caretakers, businesses need the immigrant labor and at some point, ICE, which has the largest budget of any law enforcement will need to justify their funding.
I’m in shock the police unions aren’t raising hell about this. They’re about to be taken over by non union, untrained criminals to terrorize, not protect and serve their streets and communities.
So Hogsbreath needs to keep the information disclosed… Uh-huh. You can betcha if this war were a real success, the trump regime would be blaring it all over Faux News non-stop, no need for disclosure anymore then. The fact that they don’t, means even they themselves realize it’s a complete fuckup they can’t get out of. They are absolutely stunned that their Rambo “tactics” aren’t working. They just don’t want to tell you that.
Correct me if I'm misremembering, but didn't General Schwarzkopf give daily briefings during the Gulf War keeping us informed. The same has been true of every "skirmish" since then, up until now.
When is Congress going to fire Kegsbreath? He was confirmed by exactly 50 Republican Senators with Collins, Murkowski and McConnell voting against.
Any one Republican Senator could have sunk his nomination. And rumor has it that T. Blanche will be confirmed as Attorney General. To call him a piece of shit, is an insult to shit.
Furthermore, if vital intelligence information is ignored then the successful prosecution of the war is hindered. Trump has repeatedly ignored warnings from his intelligence services, for example, that Iran was likely to close the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran had rendered operational 31 out of 33 missile sites during the ceasefire and still possessed some 70% of its missile and drone capabilities.
Sending two real estate developers with financial interests in the region to conduct negotiations with this implacable regime was the height of stupidity and doomed those negotiations from the outset.
On the other hand, the Trump regime - in their deportation frenzy - is sharing vital personal data on Iranian asylum seekers in the US with Iranian authorities. But of course these are well educated asylum seekers who have resisted an authoritarian religious extremist regime, and some are members of the LGBTQ community. Although many of them are Christian, not the sort Republicans want here.
"A lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges that the Trump administration's immigration agencies have been sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, violating national immigration regulations and endangering countless Iranians, court filings argue.
The lawsuit depicts a coordinated campaign between the U.S. and Iranian governments to identify Iranians in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and pressure them to return to Iran — a marked departure from decades of diplomatic hostility between the two governments and an ongoing war."
"A newly filed lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration shared confidential information with Tehran about Iranian asylum seekers as it worked to deport them from the United States, putting them at risk of “persecution, torture, and death following their arrival in Iran.”
Trump admin shared confidential information on Iranian asylum seekers as it worked to deport them, lawsuit alleges | CNN Politics
"Court Filings Describe Ongoing Contact Between ICE and Iran on Deportations.
In a sworn declaration, a lawyer says an Iranian official reported receiving regular dossiers on Iranian detainees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement for months."
''The Most Transparent War Nobody Is Allowed to See''
Donald Trump has finally produced the government he always promised: loud, expensive, chaotic, and suddenly classified whenever the facts become embarrassing.
Since he launched the Iran War, 17 American service members have been killed and 427 wounded. Iranian missiles are striking U.S. bases, damaging helicopters, and slipping through air defenses with growing success. The Pentagon’s response has been simple: disclose as little as possible, attack the reporters, and announce that this is “the most transparent Department of War in history.”
That is like setting the records room on fire and bragging about the improved lighting.
There is no publicly explained military strategy, no congressional authorization, and no visible path out. There are, however, mounting casualties, gas above four dollars a gallon, crude inventories at a 45-year low, and a president who keeps insisting Iran has almost nothing left. Apparently, Iran’s nearly nonexistent arsenal remains healthy enough to keep hitting American bases.
While soldiers were dying, Trump attended the World Cup final and wandered onto the field beside Spain’s celebrating players as if executive privilege included a championship medal. The crowd booed. Trump lingered. FIFA’s president eventually led him away, possibly after explaining that he was neither a player nor the trophy.
The same culture of secrecy now governs immigration enforcement. ICE agents without body cameras have killed people who were not even the targets of their operations. Officials promise transparency after the shootings, equipment after the deaths, and accountability at some unspecified point after everyone stops paying attention.
Then came tariffs against Canada, partly justified by wildfire smoke crossing the border. Canada sent firefighters when America burned. Trump responded by threatening to raise prices on Canadian goods.
This is not government. It is grievance theater backed by missiles, masks, and press releases. The administration conceals casualties abroad, excuses violence at home, taxes the public for the resulting chaos, and calls anyone who notices a partisan hack.
The war may be hidden, but the consequences are arriving in plain sight.
“The first casualty when war comes is truth, and whenever there is a war, and whenever an individual nation seeks to coerce by force of arms another, it always acts and always insists that it acts under self-defense.” - Hiram Johnson (1866-1945) - Progressive Republican senator from California, he made this observation in 1917 during WW I. As a staunch isolationist, he was expressing his frustration over America's impending entry into World War I, pointing out that governments use propaganda and manipulation to justify conflicts.
Uh... "strengthen democracy"? The GOP has become a neofascist party. They strengthen fascist regimes abroad (Russia, China, Venezuela, ...) and try to WEAKEN democracies everywhere.
There are those who opine that we are already in a dictatorship. There is no check on what Trump does - not the Supreme Court, not the Congress. He has, or threatens to, assess a 50% tariff on Canadian goods and re-launches a war against Iran. There are no checks and balances in place. The Christian Fascists on the Supreme Court ceded absolute power to Trump while serving as POTUS and Congress' white Christian Nationalists, still barely in the majority, concur with Trump's every act. We're now in a dictatorship.
With regard to defending democracy, I don't believe this war is intended to do that. Trump doesn't care one iota about democracy; he cares only about power (and money).
In a week filled with delusional lies, inanities, the deepening gaslighting about our absurd, no-brained war in Iran and accompanying silence by the Pentagon on its true costs, and news about unrestrained psychopaths working for ICE killing people with impunity, the only bright spot was the televised booing of our idiot child-emperor at the last World Cup game.
The head Spanish player walked past him to shake Canadian Prime Minister Carney's hand. Might have had something to do with the fact he'd attacked, lashed out, and frothed at the mouth at Spain for no apparent reason earlier. The Spanish would not allow this bastard to bask in their glory and photoshopped him right out of the moment.
Small consolation, of course, but we'll take what we can get.
At least the CO of the Navy Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels) counted the comments of the Sect of the Navy & Kegsbreath by saying the beach fly by was extremely dangerous. He’ll never get selected for Flag Officer rank. I’ve run out of words to describe this buffoonery & have lost any remaining respect for the 37% of Americans that say “this behavior & leadership is fine by me”
Bots (esp. A.I. agents) these days can easily fill out a survey/poll. From a certain perspective, I dearly hope that the proportion of people represented by "37%" is actually much smaller.
Depending on who is asked and how the question is asked, the percentage fluctuates in the 30s. I think the 37% estimate is pretty close, based on the percentage of Americans who identify as evangelical (34%) by Pew Research. Pew doesn't differentiate between "ordinary" Catholics and conservative (Opus Dei) Catholics, but an additional 3% of U.S. population is a reasonable estimate. I figure the number of conservative christianists who have become disenchanted with Donald are offset by the number of unchurched who still think he's great.
Well, what would you call a group of people who seem to have experienced moral, and intellectual, and spiritual death? Seems to me that they’ve lost their humanity.
He's been bad mouthing the Spanish because they wouldn't let him use U.S. bases in Spain to attack Iran. And of course, none of the EU governments would join Trump in his war.
As dozens of experts have pointed out, NATO (not the EU) is a defensive military alliance that doesn't go around bombing other countries just for the hell of it. President Snarling Man-Baby hasn't the faintest idea about what NATO really is, much less its legal and military obligations.
"Trump appears to be becoming less and less relevant to actual governance." from Heather's letter today.
Ruth's husband, he never wanted to govern. He wanted to make money, to take revenge, to do enough for his handlers to keep them in his corner, to escape prison. Oh, and to hide the Epstein mess.
Lauriemcf, one of my mentors, Joe F. Brown, Jr., once asked me if I knew the difference between "ignorant" and "stupid." I replied in the negative. He went on to explain, "Ignorant is when you don't know. Stupid is when you can't know."
Donald is mentally challenged and has difficulty learning ... has been since birth. We would feel charitable toward him if he weren't also in possession of numerous malignant personality disorders. In short, he's an idiot with a mean streak.
On the world stage Trump ruined any vestige of respect left for Americans. To think a country could vote for such a moron. it will take decades to repair. The UK has just peacefully ridden the country of its Prime Minister, why can't we?
Maureen, I would go so far as to say our train has left the station of Disrespect and we are now traveling through the valley of animosity. If we don't soon find the switch and throw it so we can change tracks, we are headed for the destination where Death lives.
"On the world stage Trump ruined any vestige of respect left for Americans." No he didn't. So he looked silly. That's not news. I don't know what foreign newspapers you read, but your angst is misplaced.
I am familiar with her career, and her time in D.C. She is of average intelligence at best. In the world of lawyers, she's subpar. You may be confusing your liking of her politics with intelligence. She actually makes Trump seem articulate.
"but immigration enforcement scholar Austin Kocher noted that new records show arrests in early July hit 1,474 a day, a record high for the Trump administration." 1474 arrests a day. That is a lot. How come so many undocumented immigrants can live in America? Where are they from? How do they live? NYT could write a good report on the life of the undocumented immigrants in America.
Guardian caption: “Gianni Infantino carefully explains to Donald Trump that he is not part of the Spanish national team.” Thank you for including this—it cheered me up!
You wake up and think you were only having a bad dream. But quickly realize it’s no dream at all. How many times every day can one person do the wrong thing and create disruption for its own sake. The innate desire to destroy.
Against the backdrop of ICE killing people who've been here for years quietly working, paying local taxes and using money to send their kids to school is the larger cost of the Administration's deranged hatred for people with brown and black skin. People coming here to work hard for a small piece of the American dream now pick our crops, process our food, milk cows in Iowa when it's 20 below in the winter, and take care of our seniors in retirement communities, hospitals, rehab facilities, and assisted living centers across the land. Increasingly, this work force is disappearing, leaving, going underground, facing uncertainty, even terror every day they're here.
We're already paying the price for the lunacy of having elected the bastard who screamed about Haitians eating cats and dogs on national TV. Who does MAGA think is gonna take care of them when they go to their understaffed, overworked, Medicaid-funded nursing homes?
I asked how does one rape a country. And I don't eat breakfast, let alone cornflakes.
Like many here, when someone doesn't genuflect to your emotions of the day, you get all bent out of shape. Suggesting that this country has been raped is bizarre. Bui I guess he's in your little club so you don't notice it.
"Against the backdrop of ICE killing people who've been here for years" -- if they're illegal, what's the point? It they're legal, you need to review the facts and circumstances to evaluate. Suggestion, before you judge ICE, watch a few videos on YouTube of what it's like to be a cop who stops a driver for a quotidian infraction and ends up shot.
On I.C.E.,trump's version of a stronman's paramilitary force.😱
On Canada, what an absurd hypocrisy for a president who denies climate change to punish Canada for a direct consequence of the climate *change that its policies have accelerated.🖕
EDIT P.S., per the response my A. Kaufmann below, I have changed the wording on the second item from "Hitler's SS" to "a strongman's paramilitary force". To anyone else offended by that remark, please accept my apology for it.
Seriously. Do you know what the SS did? Does ICE hook babies with a bayonet and tss them in the air in front of their mothers? Does ICE grab infants by the legs and slam them against walls? Do they whip people with 50 lashes? Do they toss people into ditches filled with excrement?
You really desecrate the memory of those who truly suffered under Hitler and the SS. IF you can't think of a substantive way to address American law enforcement, of which ICE is a part ,why not read up on what your opining on.
And wha'ts the big deal about climate change? If there some secret solution the Democrats will have? Has China agreed to stop building 50 coal plants a year? Has India agreed to stop using coal? If not, then why not find something bad that can be cured, like cancer?
Well, I understand your anger. The comparison must seem *insensitive. The analogy I intended to make is that I.C.E. is like a para-military *'élite' for the trump Admin. Please accept my sincere apology.
so your fascist regime is now at the " normalizing" stage of murdering . Well done America on your "Own-goal" by electing this shitstain felon carpetbagger twice.
Even better: the orange toddler emperor does his utmost best to f*ck up the climate and then complains to the Canadians that the climate is f*cked… SMH
Vote Democrat! The old school Democrats are useless and the Progresives are nothing more than the MAGA of the far left. I've been voting Democrat all my life. Not anymore.
I agree with the moniker dumbocrats, when Obama put Geitner in charge of the $$ and the SC decided corporations were people with no restrictions on campaign contributions I wondered who I would vote for. I selected the lesser of two evils =democrats! They have not completely sold their souls.
I'm no fan of Geitner but he was the head of the NY Fed, so Obama felt he would have some expertise. That being said, the steps they took led to 9 years of job and wage growth and shrinking unemployment. Sure, he should have punished the bankers bla, bla, bla. But they did install regulations to the banks and create an agency that save the consumer billions.
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not disclose the strikes… citing the need to keep information about operations secure.”
Yeah, but did Pete LowT discuss it in a Signal chat with his wife?
And someone should tell Sean Parnell that until the name is legally changed by an act of Congress, calling the Department of Defense the “Department of War,” is obfuscation, not transparency.
They will snatch something else from somewhere else as Trump boasted he could do in his Access Hollywood tape, and Kegseth has been glad to emulate when sufficiently polluted. So much for the "Me Too" movement and accountability. Epstein files anyone? With a side of Man Juice or a replay of the Tates' "course" that Barron apparently found to be sound advice--porn for the incel culture?
That is another undercurrent that the regime's desperation authoritarianism is fertilizing--subservient women as the subjects of dominant/patriarchal males. One family, one vote is an idea Vance has floated as an accompaniment to "trad wife" family values. The flip side is the sexual abuse Tate and Epstein scenarios. Both are attempts to undermine/destroy women's political power. Trump indulges/signals his minions every time he disses a female reporter. Blanche does it with every action that continues to disrespect the Epstein survivors and his refusal to obey the Epstein Files Transparency Act with total impunity.
I don't know if it is unintentional outward manifestations of psychopathic/sociopathic misogyny or if there is someone like Miller actively planning/orchestrating/encouraging it. I am not sure the distinction matters. The consequences and the cure will be the same either way. Get them out of office and hold them accountable. Meanwhile, women live in ever more dangerous times.
The White House is trying to ignite a third Red Scare and is one stupid Oval Office address from tying “low-T” to a plot by the “godless communists” in China. In Doctor Strangelove, Jack Ripper believes public water fluoridation is a plot by communists to "sap and impurify" our “precious bodily fluids.” RFK Jr. has already urged the removal of fluoride from municipal water supplies, citing unfounded health concerns. Medical experts and agencies reject claims linking fluoridation to chronic illness.
Testosterone is a steroid. Don't people remember all the harm done by young athletes overdosing on steroids when that was newsworthy? Is that what we want our military to do? (I guess it's what Pete wants...)
The excessively powerful and unaccountable (the object of protest in the Declaration of Independence) want to play games with our governmental infrastructure and our people, viewed as toys in their toy box. Malignant narcissism.
Yup, name-calling certainly does not transmit adult-level gravity, but this is a casual political chat, not, a formal publication, or, God forbid, a presidential address.
Of course I read comments on left and right, and in the NYT , WSJ, WaPo and elsewhere. The ones here most resemble the reciprocal of the right wing versions. Name calling is a recurring feature on the right wing as well. I guess its what angry people do.
"did Pete LowT discuss it in a Signal chat with his wife?" No. Say ,can I license "Pete Low T" for a bumper sticker? So clever! You should be. middle school playground monitor, The kids would love you.
Kelli, thank you for vocalizing what so many of us are thinking. Imagine an unacknowledged wounded soldier who must feel invisible. The leader has already let you know that he is repulsed by amputee soldiers and now the Pentagon is disallowing your injuries.
ICE officers are being trained to become a nationwide militia run by the White House to rid our society of what is viewed by Trump, Miller et al, as not being in lockstep with the new Unitary Executive. They’re starting with immigrants, will move to those they strip of citizenship, and on to the rest of us. Sort of like the SS. We have to prevent this from happening if we don’t want heavily armed masked police showing up to our house and taking somebody they deem unfit to jail. No more habeas corpus.
"ICE officers are being trained to become a nationwide militia run by the White House to rid our society of what is viewed by Trump, Miller et al, as not being in lockstep with the new Unitary Executive. " What bumper sticker did you get that from?
The war I lived through was the Vietnam war. I can tell you that none of the information we received back here was true. The casualties always were displayed for the Vietnamese and they were usually in high numbers. The amount of soldiers that the US lost was always lower. Of course, after the war, we all learned the real truth.
This war is non-transparent. You must know that the soldiers who are injured are in serious shape. And it’s a shame that these dedicated volunteers are fighting an unjust war. My heart is broken.
After 2 weeks in Vietnam I realized something was terribly wrong about that war. My empathy for the civilians grew everyday. I didn't want to know about my fellow marines lives before the war. It was a lonely nightmare.
They are reporting the injuries in the same way that injuries were portrayed in John Wayne films. All the injured shipped home have a bandage on the arm in a sling, or a band aid on their head. Those that died just - died. Pouf! and they were gone. No pain, no nothing.
What has happened to our country? It feels like, in the span of just two years, everything has spiraled into something dark and unrecognizable. It’s as if we’ve watched our democracy slowly erode and slip into something that looks and sounds frighteningly close to fascism. The language coming from people like Miller and Rubio is terrifying; they openly label those of us on the left as “terrorists,” as if we are enemies of the state rather than fellow citizens with different views. That kind of rhetoric is dehumanizing and dangerous, and it only pushes us further apart, making it harder to see one another as neighbors, coworkers, and family members.
In moments like this, it’s hard not to feel that the only way anything could change would be through something drastic, like a coup d’état. But that path would almost certainly explode into violence, with people from both sides getting hurt or killed. The idea of Americans turning on each other in the streets, of neighbors fighting neighbors, is horrifying. It goes against everything many of us believe in, especially those who have seen the true cost of war and conflict.
As an active member of Veterans For Peace, the thought of violence is especially painful. It is completely at odds with what we stand for and what is written into our charter. We know, perhaps better than most, that once violence starts, no one controls where it ends or how many lives it destroys. We are supposed to be advocates for peace, for nonviolent solutions, for the hard work of dialogue and justice, not for bloodshed or coups.
Right now, I feel lost. I really don’t know what the answer is or how we can peacefully remove this administration from power and restore some sense of sanity and democracy. I wish I understood the path forward, some clear and lawful way out of this nightmare that doesn’t betray our values or lead to more suffering. All I know is that something is deeply wrong, and I’m scared for our country, for our future, and for what we might become if we don’t find a better way.
We need to find some way of getting republicans, even MAGA Republicans, to realise that it is NOT Democrats, or Liberals, or Progressives that are tearing this country apart - it is trump and his admin, and their billionaire backers.
"The idea of Americans turning on each other in the streets, of neighbors fighting neighbors, is horrifying. It goes against everything many of us believe in, especially those who have seen the true cost of war and conflict."
This is exactly what this administration is aiming for. Either capitulation to Fascism or civil war.
There is that. It certainly helps him feel macho to control what was once the finest and most powerful military in the world. But we are running out of bullets (Xi and Putin have noticed) and we don't seem to be accomplishing anything beyond killing people (theirs and ours).
No better friend of the United States has been Canada. It is heartbreaking to be part of a country that confronts so many countries and groups in a way that defies logic.
The range if emotions in reaction to Trump policies run from anger to sadness. We can do better.
Governments don’t earn trust by asking people to stop asking questions. They earn it by telling the truth, especially when lives are on the line.
Concealing casualties, bypassing Congress, and attacking those who demand answers doesn’t strengthen democracy. It weakens the accountability that gives government its legitimacy in the first place.
Wars fought without transparency don’t just endanger soldiers. They undermine the democracy they are meant to defend.
This war is so top secret, they can’t even tell us why we started it. Or why we’re getting our asses kicked..
Because a fucking moron obsessed with hatred for the black guy launched it, aided by his testosterone-obsessed wonder boy play-acting at being GI Joe, together with the Cuban twerp ordered to wear Florsheims 4 sizes too big to conceal his tiny feet and even tinier soul.
It's astonishing just how absurd, petty, falsified and ridiculous the entire premise for war was. No wonder it's turning to shit in their hands. No wonder they want us to stop talking about the whole thing.
And that's not including keeping silent about the war on American citizens, run by the disgusting nazi miller, which continues to rage with no end in sight.
Going after immigrants was the one issue that essentially elected this cabal.
It's their core. Their glue. Their shared purpose.
Trump didn't offer solutions. He offered scapegoats. And his followers fell in line because they needed someone to hate more than they needed solutions.
The hatred runs deep—immigrants as invaders, criminals, subhuman. Once you've dehumanized a group, violence against them becomes acceptable. Policy becomes irrelevant. You're not voting for a platform; you're voting for permission to hate.
That's what binds Trump's cult together. Not policy. Not principle. Hatred.
And it worked. Hatred elected them.
Once you've dehumanized one group it's much easier to dehumanize the next group and then other groups...
But most people who primarily voted against immigrants in 2024 were drawn to this issue not out of hate, but to reinforce their declining status. Many now realize that was wrong which is why this and everything else this regime does is so very unpopular.
First they came for the immigrants …
....reinforcing their declining status by hating/blaming the ever present scapegoats.
Think of it as pure ignorance!
Most people who are against immigrants don’t realize we are all immigrants here…if we go back far enough. The Native Americans are the only natives to this continent
True. And how do non haters respond to hate? By complaining bitterly about affordability.
... & taking effective legal action like CA's AG, ROB BONTA & at least 21 other AG's across the U.S.A.
Deport Stephen Miller first, then the rest of them
Isn't Melania an alien who falsified her visa papers?
LB, technically, Melania didn't falsify documents that got her into the U.S. I'm a little lazy, so I'll just quote DuckDuckGo's AI assistant: "Paolo Zampolli, a former modeling agent, sponsored Melania Trump's immigration to the United States by securing her an H-1B visa when she arrived in the mid-1990s."
Zampolli, himself an immigrant, now works for the Trump regime in a totally fabricated diplomatic job.
Penal colonies would be too good for scum like Miller!
The latest U.S. military KIA was identified as EMANUEL SWINTON now listed as KIA when assigned to US. Army Space & Missile Defense Command & attempting to defuse unexploded "Iranian ordnance".
How many more things aren’t we supposed to talk about? They don’t want to talk about the Epstein files, they don’t want us to talk about the war and consequences, they don’t want us to talk about ICE, or lettuce.
The whole premise for this war was to get the Epstein files off the news cycle!
And Republicans own it all!
… Meidas: 🥬
March 2025: Taylor Farms contributes $1 million to MAGA Inc., days after the FDA delays the Food Traceability Rule.
The FDA informs Taylor Farms that one of its iceberg lettuce products tested positive for cyclospora, prompting a voluntary recall.
During the cyclospora outbreak: NYT reports Taylor Farms hires a former Trump WH official.
Last week: Taylor Farms executives meet with WH and FDA officials, where the company challenges aspects of the govt’s outbreak conclusions.
Now: Taylor Farms says the FDA apologized, calling the positive test a false positive and stating no Taylor Farms product has tested positive for cyclospora.”
https://meidastouch.substack.com/p/today-in-politics-bulletin-422-72026?r=fqsxl&utm_medium=ios
Regardless, people are still getting the MAGA trots.
I have heard it called the "Trump Toilet Flu" which I'd REALLY like to see go viral!
I take no credit for that; I heard it on YouTube's "Belle of the Ranch"
Holy Moly!
Unholy Moly.
Kathy, this lettuce problem just reeks. The CEO is a partisan jerk and I read that he does not allow bathroom breaks for the pickers. Hmmm. Personally, I will never buy any Taylor Farm products and no supermarket lettuce. We shop at a place that is mainly organic in its produce. I am not even sure about their lettuce. I will buy mine at the Saturday Market the few times I need lettuce.
Taylor farm is in Salina’s California according to my news in the Bay Area.
Hegseth ("Mr T") was on capitol Hill Hearing a few minutes requesting 1.5 Trillion for the Department of Continuos War (CW) which per General McCaffrey's analysis a few minutes ago LIVE on Katy Tur's Show INCLUDES 87 billion in supplemental funds for the current WAR in Iran including the prospective destruction of civilian infrastructure.
It was a crazy hearing. Hogsbreath knows nothing about war and said we should be praising trump for his great job. From there it went downhill. Some Dems asked or made good statements.
Bryan, we just read that. OMG. And we are paying for all this destructiveness.
Exactly right, my friend. The war was born from grievance, vanity, and men performing toughness for television. Now the costs are real, the strategy is missing, and the architects are hiding behind secrecy and slogans. They wanted a quick spectacle of dominance. Instead, they created another bloody disaster and are furious that the public can still see the wreckage.
Vietnam on steroids.
This time, policy is made by the Worst and the Dumbest though.
JFK team.
Late in life, McNamara admitted he didn't have a clue. There was NO Gulf of Tonkin incident. We got the same deal to leave as we had in 1968. There was no domino theory. Nixon was a traitor.
Wow.....ICTT, I rather be your friend......I think the Cuban twerp would be in agreement with me 😅
He'll have to ask Norman Braman....
It's. I agree about the pettiness, etc. Love your descriptions of death star, the drunk, and shoe boy. Sometimes I feel like I am living in some surreal movie.
Oh, Michele! ME, TOO!
I'd love to give you a huge round of applause like I gave to ICTT, but my hands can't manage it. (okay, I actually mean my fingers. Too much typing of late, and Voltaren smeared digits slide off the keys and create typos. Sometimes of bad words. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it, because I rarely use those bad words.)
It's such a "tangled web".
Well, we could turn to headlines about the Epstein files for some more fun with their fragile egos...
ICTT?
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
(rests arthritic hands for a moment)
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I've really been struggling as of late. The only "good" has been that I've greatly limited my Trump-news consumption, which has caused an increase in my creative endeavors. I so admire your verbal abilities!
Here in my Chicago suburb, FINALLY, the air quality rating is down into the green area. The temp today is predicted to top at 84, right about my favorite temps. My husband took the bold move of OPENING OUR WINDOWS, and the "sorority" (our four female cats) rejoice! For this, at least, I feel a sense of relief.
On his own Substack, ("That's Another Fine Mess") frequent commentor here, TCinLA, has been counting down the days to the midterms. That number dangled before me holds so much hope, and yet, I hold fear that those feelings will be dashed. I think of Mueller, Biden elected and putting in AG Garland who did nothing, Trump trials where the judge sat on his (BAD WORDS!) hands and didn't send him to jail, Stormy winning money, E. Jean trial, etc, etc, etc, etc.
Ally has advised "staggered breathing" which thank God there are those here in this choir who can, because I feel like I'm gasping.
Washington's orange air seemed appropriate, but we're now back in flat-faced "moderate quality" yellow again. Hack-hack, cough-cough....
A small price to pay for corporate profit uber alles.
It's it pretty lucid metaphor for how we keep thing going, no?, because reality is both wonderful and staggering.
Dear "It's Come..."......You took the words right outta my mouth, only much more eloquently than I can muster at the moment.
Good point!
Why HE started this "war"? Pretty obvious, I think. Epstein Files. Multiple credible accusations of sexual abuse. Corruption on a scale that would seem unbelievably silly in a novel or a movie. And absolute incompetence relative to the economy, infrastructure and global competitiveness. Why? To distract us from the grift, the theft, and the appalling damage of DOGE.
The rest of the world is moving rapidly forward with CHEAPER solar and wind using battery backup to sustain the flow of electricity at night or on calm days. About 25% of the vehicles sold on the planet are EVs. But American car makers are scaling back EV production. Echoes of the Japanese dominance in high quality small cars that we ignored? Ya just can't fix stupid hubris.
The bigger existential questions are: "Why are Republicans letting a sundowning, revenge driven, not really smart, diarrhea mouth, clumsy ass klutz run this country into the ground? Why are they allowing him to alienate the entire world (except Putin)?"
And why is he on the phone with Putin just before he meets with foreign leaders?
We can go back and forth about who is responsible. I'm calling out Congress for abdicating its Constitutional responsibility and authority. By now they should have sent Marshalls to the White House to arrest him along with Vance, Rubio, Miller, Vought and Hegseth.
We are "getting our asses kicked" by Iran for the same reason we lost the wars in Vietnam and Afghanistan. There is no learning in the 47 White House. There is just an unloved demented child in an old man's body posting crap on social media as if the presidency was a video game.
We're currently watching "House of Dragons". The parallels are clear. The people, the soldiers respond to rousing rhetoric from kings and nobles - promises of fame, glory and riches. Then they charge the enemy and are slaughtered - or roasted by dragons. And it just keeps happening...
Exactly: The bigger existential questions are: "Why are Republicans letting a sundowning, revenge driven, not really smart, diarrhea mouth, clumsy ass klutz run this country into the ground? Why are they allowing him to alienate the entire world (except Putin)?"
Not Congress, but republicans......
Don't for get to add rapeist and pedophile!
This is what happens when billionaires run a country. It goes down fast and hard.
“The things they had in there were crazy. They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox & Friends.
donald j trump, 3-30-20
Bill-Do you think Obama or a woman would still be in office if he or she did any of the things you outline?
This is a clear demonstration of how white supremacy and patriarchy rule this nation.
Oh, hell no!
Nope. The impeachment hearings would have been launched instantly. Good point, indeed.
Simple: follow the $$$$
Well said, Bill.
Great analysis!!!
You nailed it, Bill. Thanks.
"We" didn't start it. "He" started it.
You're right Talia, we didn't start it, but we're all paying for it. Trump and Kegsbreath lost the war for us on day 1. Exactly, none of our allies (except Israel) knew about the attacks and they all have refused to join us in our illegal lethal folly.
Yesterday, Bill Kristol said that there is no saving ICE. The brownshirt Army must be dismantled and the functions delegated to other departments.
I don't disagree, BUT they're all run by Fascist morons at this point who lie, cheat and steal.
Hopefully, many of you are paying attention to what is happening in Russia right now. For the last 22 days Zelenskyy has been bombing Moscow, Crimea, St. Petersburg, and every major refinery in Russia. Two huge Amazon-like warehouses close to Moscow were destroyed by drones. All major roads and railroads in and out of Crimea have been disabled except one and most of Crimea is without power, running water, gasoline and other supplies. Ukraine has disabled over 185 oil tankers, tugs, cargo ships and military vessels in the last two weeks by air or by water by bombing the engine rooms or the propellors. This is just in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
And finally, there are protests in Russia against Putin who refuses to consider ending the war.
And who is Trump taking advice from about the war in Iran? Putin and Bibi. Yikes!
The three dangerous stooges. Heaven help us.
Can I get an Amen?
Amen!
Amen!
Just had to add Bibi although Israel has not participated in the resumption of hostilities. If the other Middle Eastern countries, er, sorry .... kingdoms, would defend their borders against Iran, this would have been over long ago. But no, can't stop bashing the only player in the Middle East who has our backs.
'Israel has not participated'
'only player who has our back'
The second statement would put the lie to the first. Don'tcha think?
Blackdog, most of us make a serious effort not to indulge in name-calling or insulting other commenters, so I won't. However, a lot of names came to my mind when I read your comment.
Instead, I'll just stipulate that you have overturned an entire truckload of horse manure.
Dale, nicely done.
Has our backs? Good god.
I agree with dismantling ICE, but exactly how are we to do that, other than elect a new president or get a large Democratic majority in Congress? Congress allocated many billions of dollars to them, well knowing they were funding a Gestapo that could come after American citizens as well as anyone else.
Husband of Ruth writing:
Nope, sorry, but ‘you’, as a nation, started it. As in the American military chose to launch an unprovoked, illegal first strike against a sovereign nation against the advice of all its intelligence agencies, at the whim of a man who is unfit for purpose. They could have declined but chose not to. It’s unfortunate, but there it is.
Sorry. The "American military" didn't decide anything. They were ordered into it by their commander-in-chief. And military people are sworn to obey legal orders. To do anything else is chaos.
I'm sorry, Bob, if I'm not up to speed. Are orders to make war on another nation without congressional authorization now considered legal?
I would judge that you've unintentionally put your finger on the problem: the current chaos we are witnessing is the result of "military people" obeying illegal orders.
The USian military did indeed decide this matter by succumbing to ChristoNazi infiltration, breaking its oath to defend the Constitution and becoming war criminals, der neu Führer's legions of death.
They may not be able to tell us why they started it - but it's mind-bogglingly obvious why we are getting our asses kicked. Far from telling us, they're trying to hide it.
U.S. has not won a war since WWII.
Just shows you the power of advertising. . .
The Trump administration attacked Iran to manipulate the oil markets. At which Trump's Taco (Trump always chickens out) and Nacho (Not a chance Hormuz opens) antics have succeeded remarkably.
The US is losing to Iran because unlike roided up T-maxxing moron Hegseth and self serving real estate brokers Kushner and Witkoff, the Iranian regime knows what it is doing. Its leaders are war hardened and strategic.
ThankYou Black Man Spy, Malcolm Nance.
substack.https://malcolmnance.substack.com/s/black-man-spy.
Soon after the first wave of US/Israeli strikes, secretary of state Marco Rubio told reporters that imminent Israeli strikes had prompted the US to join in the attacks fearing reprisals against US bases even if the US had not participated in the first wave. Trump later denied this and instead blamed his own advisers, Hegseth and Kushner, for persuading him to attack Iran. Later still, he claimed credit entirely for himself, claiming that he alone of US presidents was willing to take the steps necessary to prevent Iran from ever building or acquiring a nuclear weapon, even falsely suggesting that a former president had privately lauded his decision.
NYT reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan produced a lengthy article on 1 April backing the Rubio version of events, an account later covered in their book 'Regime Change'.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/politics/trump-iran-war.html
Always has to point back to Israel, a tiny country the size of NJ with about 16 million citizens and the only country in the Middle East that has our backs. A dupe believing liars.
So many explanations, coming out of the same mouths, for this disaster of a war. The Pentagon spokesliar, quoted by Professor Richardson, shows us that the only "transparency" exhibited by this administration is the transparency of its lies.
“So we’ll see what happens….” Stinking Diaper-speak for “I don’t have a clue what I’m doing here…..”
JohnC, that quote caught my eye and I intended to write the same comment.
"We'll see what happens" is a commonly used phrase in Donald's very limited lexicon. When he says it, he is confessing that he is utterly clueless about whatever the topic is.
" ... getting our asses kicked" physically & economically.
Professor Richardson covered covered a lot of ground tonight in her well known historical context method with citations to relevant journalistic reports & documentation of repeated tactical errors by the no strategy, chaotic U.S. President who is triggering more U.S. deaths & wounded while planing to commit international war crimes.
********************************************************************
My comment derives from a Reuters' report on the possible Red Sea Blockage & another oil "choke point" identified by Heather.
Reuters: "4 hours ago — Houthi Red Sea blockade [another choke point] would lift oil prices but, workarounds could limit impact. Oil prices could climb above $115-$120 should flows be ..."
See, https://www.reuters.com › business › energy › houthi-r...
There were concerns a few days ago that Iran might attack the Suez Canal.
My little daily calendar told me today that "You can be a warrior AND be full of grace and class." I don't see anyone in his Cabinet who meets the criteria for any of the three.
And now Iran has unexploded bunker busters and other US munitions to reverse-engineer for their future use.
To be fair, maybe nobody knows.
Husband of Ruth writing:
Maybe, but you’ll notice hardly anybody is talking about the Trump-Epstein Files any more.
Check out the Parnas Report, followed by millions of people. Aaron Parnas follows the Epstein saga pretty much daily and writes about it here on Substack. Also Joel McPherson’s substack reports daily on Epstein.
The Dems let a big opportunity go by when questioning Blanche last week. But, smart and increasingly experienced people are still combing those files and they won't be silenced forever.
"The Dems let a big opportunity go by when questioning Blanche last week. But, smart and increasingly experienced people are still combing those files and they won't be silenced forever."
I know that "Dems let a big opportunity go" is a knee jerk reflex for some who never let an opportunity go to slam "the Dems."
Perhaps you might listen to Democrats at the hearing. And consider that some of those "smart and now experienced people" combing the files are Democratic staff members who are able to have access because the Democrats in Congress fought for access. And held numerous meetings with survivors - including providing public platforms to amplify their voices.
Attorney General Nominee Todd Blanche Testifies at Confirmation Hearing, Part 1 | Video | C-SPAN.org
.https://www.c-span.org/program/senate-committee/attorney-general-nominee-todd-blanche-testifies-at-confirmation-hearing-part-1/681265.
Throughout the hearing, Democrats pressed Blanche on the DOJ’s previous handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, urging him to meet with victims, and questioned his defense of Trump’s pardoning of hundreds of convicted Jan. 6 rioters.
.https://www.kcra.com/article/todd-blanche-senate-doj/72044554.
In less than 18 months at the Department of Justice, you have shown you’re still President Trump’s personal attorney. Your tenure can be summed up in the four words you said, ‘I love you, sir,’ to President Trump,” Durbin said, noting that was how Blanche said he would respond if Trump ever decided to fire him.
“This nation deserves an attorney general who loves the Constitution more than any single president.”
Schiff similarly dug into Blanche’s record at the Department of Justice (DOJ), asking, “What happened to the prosecutor people had respect for?”
.https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5970491-blanche-ag-confirmation-cornyn-anti-weaponization/.
If the Dems take the House, they will no doubt issue some very terse statements and strongly worded letters.
If the correct Dems take the House, they will do far more than imitate Susan Collins. Notice, I avoided saying "the right".
who was it who called the attack on Iran Operation Epstein Distraction? To that extent, it has mainly worked.
Katie Phang is..... she is the one taking Blanche to task.
Katie Phang is one of those taking Blanche to task. Along with Joyce Vance and many of Blanche's former colleagues.
That's true, and should not be lost side of. There remains a blatant "coverup". It seems to me that successful political protest keeps calling our attention back to the "normalized" injustice until we can't look away any more. Yet also, I think that successful protest keeps a pretty clear focus, and gives the core issue a clear priority. That is difficult when there is virtually a new source of outrage every day. The Epstein pedophilia and corruption is certainly part of that core, and while progress is resisted, we have to keep it in the limelight.
Perhaps not every day, but go on punching.
Correct, nobody knows, but intelligent strategic thinking has gamed out possible outcomes and identifies the one with the least risk/greatest benefit.. This fucking idiot, however, can’t think beyond the end of his nose. Every damned thing he does is like throwing spaghetti agains a wall to see if it sticks. “We’ll see what happens” is the only answer he can give because he doesn’t have a clue what could happen. He just does shit. Rex was right, he’s a fucking moron.
I have the impression (you can see more of it in early film of him) that Trump was born with a modest degree of intelligence, or at least cunning, but, as seems to be a hazard of being born to great wealth, his life strategy is built around the excessive deference we pay to that wealth and a passion to gain by shameless corruption. Trump breaks the rules, and breaks the law, but for the most part, he always gets away with it, and THAT, in his own mind, makes him "special". He does not need to study anything, he said so in his first term, he just makes something up, and it stands because he has power. More likely than not in the real world the kid who yelled "The emperor is naked!" wound be told to shut the hell up. Trump gets to be corrupt as hell because we have always tolerated some level of corruption in this country, and smiled on smarmy Reagan when he told us governance of, by and for the people was a joke and to let the rich take care of it for us; the lazy road to quasi-feudalism. How many of far-reaching, epic decisions are now imposed upon the rest of us by the very rich? The Roberts' Court was selected to legalize jaw dropping corruption by the standards of my youth.
We spent decades cleaning up our act after institutionalized racism, sexism, and other inherited sins from the past, as well as the abuses and graft of the "Gilded Age" and were conned into tearing out the guardrails that might have prevented such scenes as painful, useless wars of choice, the S&L crisis and "The Great Recession" and the artificially severe death toll from COVID, among other nasty things. Nixon actually wanted to protect the environment, as did Carter. Reagan and industry did not. What if we had continued to do so? What now? We the People need to get our collective act together; the antidote to despotism.
Trump looking for excitement?
Nah, he'll just go and grab some, er.... You know.
It’s our “exceptionalism” (adolescent stupidity) that is being kicked, gwHornPlayer. We don’t understand history because we think WE can ignore it.
My guess: they started it because they want to keep Iran's fascist regime but replace the top with people who side with the US and against democracy everywhere.
I really think they thought they could pull off another Venezuela stunt.
They're not the brightest in the room, for sure. And Rubio may well be right (Israel took the initiative, without consulting the US).
Still, it IS what the neofascist ideologues behind the scenes want everywhere. And if it takes them a little longer in Iran, so what?
"We" didn't start it -- they did. We have to make it clear that we will hold them responsible for these crimes. We The People will take this country back from their control and continue our quest for the rule of law equally under the law.
They told immediately why they started it. Marco Rubio said it immediately before being disappeared for a few weeks after admitting the reason to become the Generalismo of Venezuela and plan the invasion of Cuba.
He said, because Bibi KNOWS he leads Trumo around by the nose in the ME, that we had no choice. Israel was going in with or without our consents, KNOWING we’d have to join because our bases would be attacked. And because we defend Israel - NO QUESTIONS ASKED OR YOU’LL BE RUINED - we will now be in another “forever” war in the ME that the AMERICAN taxpayer will spend a trillion dollars we don’t have to give cover to Israel while they take over the West Bank as well as Gaza.
So that is the reason. Except we can’t say that in the US because too may pols on both sides will be targeted by AIPAC. so much for America first. Every single thing in the US is costing more now because of this. And the multiple BILLIONS just as of right now will be paid by our children IF they can find a job.
The nuclear weapon angle didn’t appear until AFTER the strikes. Remember….Trumo telling us months before he destroyed ALL their nuclear capabilities.
Looks like they DO have a nuclear weapon after all….the Starit of Hormuz and the giant bomb they’ve been able to dump on the world economy.
At the very best….dipshit 2.0 will end up with a worse deal than Obama negotiated.
Before Trumo started this…
- the Strait was open
- gas and fertilizer prices were lower. And not that he gives a shit…”groceries…what does that even mean!” Wer not as high and farmers weren’t declaring bankruptcy at the levels they are now.
Oh…and again…not that he gives a shit…young servicemen and women would be alive. One recent soldier MAY have lived long enough to enjoy a drink as a legal citizen on her 21st birthday at a local American bar dancing in a circle with her friends.
They started this war because they live in a video gamish existence. As long as your thumbs can bench press a control trigger fathers, you are the leading scorer. The bubble of a TV studio existence where some girl follows you around fixing your hair and man makeup.
They started this war bevause they care not at all about the long term fallout and they definitely do not see human life as a thing to factor even slightly into their strategy.
It’s easy to start a war that YOU don’t have to pay for, be held accountable for, and where you don’t value even slightly even AMERICAN life.
A million bucks when Trumo meets the dead, he makes it about himself.
We’re in this war not because the Israeli people begged for our help. We’re in this world because of greedy corrupt men who just wash the others back at the expense of the people they supposedly serve.
Two themes are at work in the MAGA remaking of the military.
Hegseth is lying about the casualties and rooting out professionalism and diversity in an effort to drive out women, minorities, members of the LGBTQ+ community. He has gone after members of Congress who have pointed out that the oath of service requires members of the military to refuse to obey illegal orders. It is meant to deter recruitment/re-enlistment of any thinking person who might question whether they want to risk being blown up on a mission to bolster the ego of a madman, or forced to commit war crimes.
At the same time, Hegseth is promoting increasing the "lethality" of US soldiers, even offering testosterone to help his recruits achieve the appropriate level of high-T "warrior ethos" while displaying his own Christo-Nationalist body art. The call isn't to defend America, it is to get to kill people and blow up shit.
The goal is to create a military that has been purged of anyone who might dissent and populated by those who would relish committing violence.
That is not a military that is meant to perform at peak efficiency and efficacy to protect America from foreign enemies. That is a goon squad being built to terrorize a civilian population. ICE is not sufficiently large, and they don't have tanks, at least not yet. Using the military against the civilian population is in the authoritarian handbook. We are not there yet, but we keep edging closer to the precipice, and what seemed impossible two years ago does not seem so far-fetched as the Trump regime gets more desperate to hold on to power and avoid accountability.
Hegseth has come a long way towards that goal in 18 months.
I wonder if this is impacting recruitment. Who in their right mind would sign up for the services with Hegseth at the helm. But then again, who are the idiots who are signing up to work for ICE.
Young people without college access sign up for the military so they can have a job. Consider that ICE currently pays about quadruple what the military pays a private in the Army, and you have your answer.
The truth is that there are still those signing up, but it would be my guess that many are not who we would like. If they come out of MAGA households they will do whatever they are told and not question those doing the telling. If they are signing up because the military offers them the opportunity to have more choices available to them later on, they will do what they are told to do, rather than risk those chances. Either way they will do the bidding of this sadistic, fascist government that controls them at this point in time. We should be very scared.
It has Carol. Kegsbreath has increased the age of enlistment to age 42 hoping to avoid bringing back the draft. And as Georgia says, they are offering testosterone to soldiers and are threatening to force military personnel over age 30 to have annual testosterone checks. Yeah, that's gonna work out well.
https://www.the-express.com/news/politics/203081/army-increases-enlistment-age-iraq
For years, the military has struggled to recruit qualified personnel and now they are firing or eliminating even more of the potential recruits. Why would ANY woman or LGBTQ+ person enlist right now? Plus, the soldiers can get leave the service and go straight to working for ICE where they can stay in the US and terrorize the populace.
Those that love inflicting pain on others.
Unfortunately, Georgia, you nailed it. The ‘unthinkable” of just a month ago is now “thinkable”. I hope it’s more than letters that will be used when the goons swarm over the polls on Election Day. Or drumph will call a national emergency and cancel the election. By then it will also be too late to challenge the maga monsters in court. Thank goodness mail in ballots are holding.
He can’t cancel elections; states run those. And state office are also on the ballot in November. It’s against the law (I know) to have police near polling places unless summoned. Finally, state election officials—even red state ones, I suspect—do those jobs because of their belief in the integrity of elections and have been prepared since Trump came back to office for whatever sh!t he may try to undertake.
All those guardrails rooted in law mean little to a regime that doesn't believe in or honor the rule of law, MLMinET. You've no doubt seen what Nicaragua did: say there will be no more elections in their country. How long will it take our president to try the same thing?
Oh, Lordy, I hope so, ML. (About a year ago when the SAVE act was first proposed and comments were being taken, I wrote a comment pointing out some of the reasons you state.)
Vote early 🙏
I am disappointed at Hegseth's apparent success in purging the military of personnel who might have stood up for the Constitution. It seems like only retirees and former military in Congress or running for office feel free to criticize the regime.
Georgia...One of the earliest indications of what now obtains is the cessation of the draft.
Contrary to the myth popularized and maintained by the cult of mandatory optimism -- now as in 1776, USian propagandists literally have no peer (Goebbels is an amateur in comparison} -- the draft was [not] halted in an anomalous burst of humanitarianism; it was halted because our masters and the Original-Nazi war criminals who were their advisors and comrades at arms realized it was training the revolution.
Thus what [really] stopped Nixon's coup was recognition how the era's USian population, which was armed and trained, could respond. The Southrons and their Ku Klux kindred elsewhere would, of course, support the coup. But just as was proven by the Deacons for Defense and other identically purposed but lesser known self-defense groups, We the Progressive People would have both the knowledge and the equipment -- not to mention the active-duty military support -- to save the nation.
Thus too, I cannot doubt the [bipartisan] planning of the [long-intended] overthrow of USian democratic process included the choice of a date when the military had been thoroughly infiltrated by the ChristoNazis -- as it obviously has been -- and when most of us required-service-era veterans were either dead or disabled and when [all] the progressive populations -- i.e., the so-called Blue States -- were permanently disarmed. Voila! No [effective] resistance to Nazism ever again possible.
Loren, 13, in 1947, the only time I was in a real debate (training in my public high school), I argued FOR the draft. It puts everybody together—democracy! Whatever form of national service young Americans elect for two years (time we offered many), they will be the better for the mix with their fellow Americans. The country needs that mix. I found it as a Fulbright scholar, but that was luck.
Great book - Bring the War Home - Kilbrew
My guess? Hegseth felt a rush of adrenaline when he heard Harris so forcefully say that she won't hesitate to use "lethal" force during her DNC speech. So now, he constantly uses the word himself.
Such an insecure, incompetent man...
Totally agree. ICE, in my opinion, is going to be “used” briefly for immigration and pivot quickly to the American population.
The genius of this movement is to identify the weakness and then burrow through it. The weakness was and it was weak…Biden p’s response to the border. It was a rookie mistake that a seasoned politician should have seen but Biden wasn’t up to up it.
Coming fresh off Covid where Americans lost A LOT, seeing an immigrant getting ANY aid was ripe to stoke even a mild mannered American. So it was easy to fool people to believe money they desperately needed was going to a newcomer. People suffered a lot. Most Americans are employed by small businesses that couldn’t even open. So hearing the economy was doing good and also knowing you’re not while seeing a flux of MORE people coming in was the perfect storm for Trumo 2.0.
But now, the reverse is happening. There is zero immigration, nursing homes are losing caretakers, businesses need the immigrant labor and at some point, ICE, which has the largest budget of any law enforcement will need to justify their funding.
I’m in shock the police unions aren’t raising hell about this. They’re about to be taken over by non union, untrained criminals to terrorize, not protect and serve their streets and communities.
On target......
Unfortunately you are 💯 % right Georgia. And the worst is yet to come. 🫣
So Hogsbreath needs to keep the information disclosed… Uh-huh. You can betcha if this war were a real success, the trump regime would be blaring it all over Faux News non-stop, no need for disclosure anymore then. The fact that they don’t, means even they themselves realize it’s a complete fuckup they can’t get out of. They are absolutely stunned that their Rambo “tactics” aren’t working. They just don’t want to tell you that.
Correct me if I'm misremembering, but didn't General Schwarzkopf give daily briefings during the Gulf War keeping us informed. The same has been true of every "skirmish" since then, up until now.
When is Congress going to fire Kegsbreath? He was confirmed by exactly 50 Republican Senators with Collins, Murkowski and McConnell voting against.
Any one Republican Senator could have sunk his nomination. And rumor has it that T. Blanche will be confirmed as Attorney General. To call him a piece of shit, is an insult to shit.
It's time the military spoke up...
It's time they STOOD UP. With their backs to the SecDef.
O
GJ, first laugh of the day. Thank you🤭🤣🤣🤣🤣😴
Absolutely right, Gary. "We are the most transparent Department of War in history" is a lie on so many levels, it's hard to fathom.
Thank you, GJ.🤭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
You're welcome. 😎
You know when they refer to the DoD as the "most transparent in history," they're lying. It must be Opposite Day. 🙄
It's always Opposite Day for the trump regime...
Furthermore, if vital intelligence information is ignored then the successful prosecution of the war is hindered. Trump has repeatedly ignored warnings from his intelligence services, for example, that Iran was likely to close the Strait of Hormuz and that Iran had rendered operational 31 out of 33 missile sites during the ceasefire and still possessed some 70% of its missile and drone capabilities.
Sending two real estate developers with financial interests in the region to conduct negotiations with this implacable regime was the height of stupidity and doomed those negotiations from the outset.
On the other hand, the Trump regime - in their deportation frenzy - is sharing vital personal data on Iranian asylum seekers in the US with Iranian authorities. But of course these are well educated asylum seekers who have resisted an authoritarian religious extremist regime, and some are members of the LGBTQ community. Although many of them are Christian, not the sort Republicans want here.
"A lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges that the Trump administration's immigration agencies have been sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, violating national immigration regulations and endangering countless Iranians, court filings argue.
The lawsuit depicts a coordinated campaign between the U.S. and Iranian governments to identify Iranians in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and pressure them to return to Iran — a marked departure from decades of diplomatic hostility between the two governments and an ongoing war."
.https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/lawsuit-says-u-s-immigratoin-agencies-illegally-shared-confidential-information-on-iranian-asylum-seekers-with-iran.
"A newly filed lawsuit alleges that the Trump administration shared confidential information with Tehran about Iranian asylum seekers as it worked to deport them from the United States, putting them at risk of “persecution, torture, and death following their arrival in Iran.”
Trump admin shared confidential information on Iranian asylum seekers as it worked to deport them, lawsuit alleges | CNN Politics
.https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/07/politics/trump-admin-iran-asylum-seekers-lawsuit.
"Court Filings Describe Ongoing Contact Between ICE and Iran on Deportations.
In a sworn declaration, a lawyer says an Iranian official reported receiving regular dossiers on Iranian detainees from Immigration and Customs Enforcement for months."
.https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/15/us/politics/state-dept-ice-iran-deportation.html.
''The Most Transparent War Nobody Is Allowed to See''
Donald Trump has finally produced the government he always promised: loud, expensive, chaotic, and suddenly classified whenever the facts become embarrassing.
Since he launched the Iran War, 17 American service members have been killed and 427 wounded. Iranian missiles are striking U.S. bases, damaging helicopters, and slipping through air defenses with growing success. The Pentagon’s response has been simple: disclose as little as possible, attack the reporters, and announce that this is “the most transparent Department of War in history.”
That is like setting the records room on fire and bragging about the improved lighting.
There is no publicly explained military strategy, no congressional authorization, and no visible path out. There are, however, mounting casualties, gas above four dollars a gallon, crude inventories at a 45-year low, and a president who keeps insisting Iran has almost nothing left. Apparently, Iran’s nearly nonexistent arsenal remains healthy enough to keep hitting American bases.
While soldiers were dying, Trump attended the World Cup final and wandered onto the field beside Spain’s celebrating players as if executive privilege included a championship medal. The crowd booed. Trump lingered. FIFA’s president eventually led him away, possibly after explaining that he was neither a player nor the trophy.
The same culture of secrecy now governs immigration enforcement. ICE agents without body cameras have killed people who were not even the targets of their operations. Officials promise transparency after the shootings, equipment after the deaths, and accountability at some unspecified point after everyone stops paying attention.
Then came tariffs against Canada, partly justified by wildfire smoke crossing the border. Canada sent firefighters when America burned. Trump responded by threatening to raise prices on Canadian goods.
This is not government. It is grievance theater backed by missiles, masks, and press releases. The administration conceals casualties abroad, excuses violence at home, taxes the public for the resulting chaos, and calls anyone who notices a partisan hack.
The war may be hidden, but the consequences are arriving in plain sight.
“The first casualty when war comes is truth, and whenever there is a war, and whenever an individual nation seeks to coerce by force of arms another, it always acts and always insists that it acts under self-defense.” - Hiram Johnson (1866-1945) - Progressive Republican senator from California, he made this observation in 1917 during WW I. As a staunch isolationist, he was expressing his frustration over America's impending entry into World War I, pointing out that governments use propaganda and manipulation to justify conflicts.
Horhai, an isolationist Republican objecting to war, which is the stock in trade of Republicans ... the irony hasn't escaped me.
Can we just go back to the JCPOA?
That last sentence. Spot on. So is the first paragraph.
Thank you.
Uh... "strengthen democracy"? The GOP has become a neofascist party. They strengthen fascist regimes abroad (Russia, China, Venezuela, ...) and try to WEAKEN democracies everywhere.
Time to update your info.
There are those who opine that we are already in a dictatorship. There is no check on what Trump does - not the Supreme Court, not the Congress. He has, or threatens to, assess a 50% tariff on Canadian goods and re-launches a war against Iran. There are no checks and balances in place. The Christian Fascists on the Supreme Court ceded absolute power to Trump while serving as POTUS and Congress' white Christian Nationalists, still barely in the majority, concur with Trump's every act. We're now in a dictatorship.
But all of what you described is how a fascist government. And we've got one in America.
Trump is a lying liar. I agree that Trump is making us all unsafe.
No one in the US Gov. gives a damn what we think, feel, say about any of this. They have tuned us out. We don't matter.
Everything the Gov. is doing is against the rules of law, The Constitution, Human rights and they will just keep it up.
With regard to defending democracy, I don't believe this war is intended to do that. Trump doesn't care one iota about democracy; he cares only about power (and money).
Seems they don’t care about our trust or our democracy - it’s about fear and power. We’re in a very different land now. 🙁
In a week filled with delusional lies, inanities, the deepening gaslighting about our absurd, no-brained war in Iran and accompanying silence by the Pentagon on its true costs, and news about unrestrained psychopaths working for ICE killing people with impunity, the only bright spot was the televised booing of our idiot child-emperor at the last World Cup game.
The head Spanish player walked past him to shake Canadian Prime Minister Carney's hand. Might have had something to do with the fact he'd attacked, lashed out, and frothed at the mouth at Spain for no apparent reason earlier. The Spanish would not allow this bastard to bask in their glory and photoshopped him right out of the moment.
Small consolation, of course, but we'll take what we can get.
At least the CO of the Navy Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels) counted the comments of the Sect of the Navy & Kegsbreath by saying the beach fly by was extremely dangerous. He’ll never get selected for Flag Officer rank. I’ve run out of words to describe this buffoonery & have lost any remaining respect for the 37% of Americans that say “this behavior & leadership is fine by me”
TJB- This makes me wonder if the 37% are human beings.
Nancy, no matter how tempting it may be, we can't allow ourselves to fall into the same habits practiced by those we criticize.
Those 37% claim we aren't human. That dehumanization gives them permission to commit violence against us.
Bots (esp. A.I. agents) these days can easily fill out a survey/poll. From a certain perspective, I dearly hope that the proportion of people represented by "37%" is actually much smaller.
Depending on who is asked and how the question is asked, the percentage fluctuates in the 30s. I think the 37% estimate is pretty close, based on the percentage of Americans who identify as evangelical (34%) by Pew Research. Pew doesn't differentiate between "ordinary" Catholics and conservative (Opus Dei) Catholics, but an additional 3% of U.S. population is a reasonable estimate. I figure the number of conservative christianists who have become disenchanted with Donald are offset by the number of unchurched who still think he's great.
Thank you, Dale. I will check my
Amygdala at the door.
Well, what would you call a group of people who seem to have experienced moral, and intellectual, and spiritual death? Seems to me that they’ve lost their humanity.
I could call them any number of things. Depraved individuals who've lost their moral compass would be one example.
Not animals. Not vermin. Not scum. Not any of the other descriptors Donald uses in reference to people he doesn't like.
Technically, yes. Human beings devoid of humanity, compassion, and independent thought.
I was hoping the Spanish PM would have been present to receive the award from the buffoon.
He's been bad mouthing the Spanish because they wouldn't let him use U.S. bases in Spain to attack Iran. And of course, none of the EU governments would join Trump in his war.
As dozens of experts have pointed out, NATO (not the EU) is a defensive military alliance that doesn't go around bombing other countries just for the hell of it. President Snarling Man-Baby hasn't the faintest idea about what NATO really is, much less its legal and military obligations.
Husband of Ruth writing:
Well, to be fair, ICTT, he doesn’t apparently have the faintest idea of what his current job actually entails.
"Trump appears to be becoming less and less relevant to actual governance." from Heather's letter today.
Ruth's husband, he never wanted to govern. He wanted to make money, to take revenge, to do enough for his handlers to keep them in his corner, to escape prison. Oh, and to hide the Epstein mess.
Quite correct.
If he doesn't control it he's again' it.
and he has no interest in learning.
Lauriemcf, one of my mentors, Joe F. Brown, Jr., once asked me if I knew the difference between "ignorant" and "stupid." I replied in the negative. He went on to explain, "Ignorant is when you don't know. Stupid is when you can't know."
Donald is mentally challenged and has difficulty learning ... has been since birth. We would feel charitable toward him if he weren't also in possession of numerous malignant personality disorders. In short, he's an idiot with a mean streak.
He does know how to line his pockets.
Yes, he specifically wanted NATO to join his war, but he did whimper about a lack of cooperation from anyone in the EU.
On the world stage Trump ruined any vestige of respect left for Americans. To think a country could vote for such a moron. it will take decades to repair. The UK has just peacefully ridden the country of its Prime Minister, why can't we?
Maureen, I would go so far as to say our train has left the station of Disrespect and we are now traveling through the valley of animosity. If we don't soon find the switch and throw it so we can change tracks, we are headed for the destination where Death lives.
"On the world stage Trump ruined any vestige of respect left for Americans." No he didn't. So he looked silly. That's not news. I don't know what foreign newspapers you read, but your angst is misplaced.
"To think a country could vote for such a moron." True, either Trump or Harris. Two different versions.
Excuse me. Kamala Harris is light-
years away from being a moron. In fact, that was a moronic thing to say!
I am familiar with her career, and her time in D.C. She is of average intelligence at best. In the world of lawyers, she's subpar. You may be confusing your liking of her politics with intelligence. She actually makes Trump seem articulate.
Surprising that he didn't try to walk off with the World Cup - pathetic narcissist that he is.
Yeah, me too! 🤪
The fly on the lens.
"but immigration enforcement scholar Austin Kocher noted that new records show arrests in early July hit 1,474 a day, a record high for the Trump administration." 1474 arrests a day. That is a lot. How come so many undocumented immigrants can live in America? Where are they from? How do they live? NYT could write a good report on the life of the undocumented immigrants in America.
What makes you so sure they're all undocumented? or for that matter, that none of them are American citizens?
Did you read about the Hopis who were asked to produce their green cards?
Thanks for your comment. No, I have not read Hopis editorial. I was simply surprised the number ICE can find the undocumented.
Two aspirin, bed rest, you'll be fine in the morning.
Guardian caption: “Gianni Infantino carefully explains to Donald Trump that he is not part of the Spanish national team.” Thank you for including this—it cheered me up!
The important question I have is why did this piece of shit of a president have to live in my time?
You wake up and think you were only having a bad dream. But quickly realize it’s no dream at all. How many times every day can one person do the wrong thing and create disruption for its own sake. The innate desire to destroy.
He was expecting another "peace prize" maybe?
The understatement of the year:
‘Trump appears to be becoming less and less relevant to actual governance.’
The king was in the counting house, counterfeiting money...
Thank God. But I think that statement is a bit too optimistic. There will be a lot of damage done by him and his sycophants for next couple of years.
My take is that he sycophants, not the prez, are running the show.
Against the backdrop of ICE killing people who've been here for years quietly working, paying local taxes and using money to send their kids to school is the larger cost of the Administration's deranged hatred for people with brown and black skin. People coming here to work hard for a small piece of the American dream now pick our crops, process our food, milk cows in Iowa when it's 20 below in the winter, and take care of our seniors in retirement communities, hospitals, rehab facilities, and assisted living centers across the land. Increasingly, this work force is disappearing, leaving, going underground, facing uncertainty, even terror every day they're here.
We're already paying the price for the lunacy of having elected the bastard who screamed about Haitians eating cats and dogs on national TV. Who does MAGA think is gonna take care of them when they go to their understaffed, overworked, Medicaid-funded nursing homes?
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/us/immigration-trump-senior-living-staffing.html
We're all going to be eating cats and dogs once Trump and his enablers (which includes Democrats of all stripes) finish raping our country.
How does one "rape" a country? Is there a rape kit for that?
Who pissed in your corn flakes this morning? This applies to all of your comments that I’ve read here this morning.
I asked how does one rape a country. And I don't eat breakfast, let alone cornflakes.
Like many here, when someone doesn't genuflect to your emotions of the day, you get all bent out of shape. Suggesting that this country has been raped is bizarre. Bui I guess he's in your little club so you don't notice it.
I don't think most of them will live that long. Too much room on too many lampposts.
"Against the backdrop of ICE killing people who've been here for years" -- if they're illegal, what's the point? It they're legal, you need to review the facts and circumstances to evaluate. Suggestion, before you judge ICE, watch a few videos on YouTube of what it's like to be a cop who stops a driver for a quotidian infraction and ends up shot.
On Iran, mission creep of a creepy mission.😠
On I.C.E.,trump's version of a stronman's paramilitary force.😱
On Canada, what an absurd hypocrisy for a president who denies climate change to punish Canada for a direct consequence of the climate *change that its policies have accelerated.🖕
EDIT P.S., per the response my A. Kaufmann below, I have changed the wording on the second item from "Hitler's SS" to "a strongman's paramilitary force". To anyone else offended by that remark, please accept my apology for it.
Seriously. Do you know what the SS did? Does ICE hook babies with a bayonet and tss them in the air in front of their mothers? Does ICE grab infants by the legs and slam them against walls? Do they whip people with 50 lashes? Do they toss people into ditches filled with excrement?
You really desecrate the memory of those who truly suffered under Hitler and the SS. IF you can't think of a substantive way to address American law enforcement, of which ICE is a part ,why not read up on what your opining on.
And wha'ts the big deal about climate change? If there some secret solution the Democrats will have? Has China agreed to stop building 50 coal plants a year? Has India agreed to stop using coal? If not, then why not find something bad that can be cured, like cancer?
Well, I understand your anger. The comparison must seem *insensitive. The analogy I intended to make is that I.C.E. is like a para-military *'élite' for the trump Admin. Please accept my sincere apology.
so your fascist regime is now at the " normalizing" stage of murdering . Well done America on your "Own-goal" by electing this shitstain felon carpetbagger twice.
Even better: the orange toddler emperor does his utmost best to f*ck up the climate and then complains to the Canadians that the climate is f*cked… SMH
It's classic.
Apropos re-normalizing murder: https://www.laprogressive.com/racism/boycott-walmart-baby-kohen-wiley-killing
Many of us fought against it!
It is past time for Congress to assert its powers.
Congress is complicit doncha know. Vote democrat.
Vote Democrat! The old school Democrats are useless and the Progresives are nothing more than the MAGA of the far left. I've been voting Democrat all my life. Not anymore.
So, do you plan to vote for Republican candidates or just skip this election? Either way you're helping the current regime.
I agree with the moniker dumbocrats, when Obama put Geitner in charge of the $$ and the SC decided corporations were people with no restrictions on campaign contributions I wondered who I would vote for. I selected the lesser of two evils =democrats! They have not completely sold their souls.
I'm no fan of Geitner but he was the head of the NY Fed, so Obama felt he would have some expertise. That being said, the steps they took led to 9 years of job and wage growth and shrinking unemployment. Sure, he should have punished the bankers bla, bla, bla. But they did install regulations to the banks and create an agency that save the consumer billions.
You're part of the problem.
Like with Obama in Libya and Clinton in Serbia?
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not disclose the strikes… citing the need to keep information about operations secure.”
Yeah, but did Pete LowT discuss it in a Signal chat with his wife?
And someone should tell Sean Parnell that until the name is legally changed by an act of Congress, calling the Department of Defense the “Department of War,” is obfuscation, not transparency.
Pete Kegsbreath introduces...."Testosterone: God's Favorite Man Juice"
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1685805699363461
Those manly men will be able to leap tall buildings at a single bound and snatch those enemy drones right outta the sky!! 😃
They will snatch something else from somewhere else as Trump boasted he could do in his Access Hollywood tape, and Kegseth has been glad to emulate when sufficiently polluted. So much for the "Me Too" movement and accountability. Epstein files anyone? With a side of Man Juice or a replay of the Tates' "course" that Barron apparently found to be sound advice--porn for the incel culture?
That is another undercurrent that the regime's desperation authoritarianism is fertilizing--subservient women as the subjects of dominant/patriarchal males. One family, one vote is an idea Vance has floated as an accompaniment to "trad wife" family values. The flip side is the sexual abuse Tate and Epstein scenarios. Both are attempts to undermine/destroy women's political power. Trump indulges/signals his minions every time he disses a female reporter. Blanche does it with every action that continues to disrespect the Epstein survivors and his refusal to obey the Epstein Files Transparency Act with total impunity.
I don't know if it is unintentional outward manifestations of psychopathic/sociopathic misogyny or if there is someone like Miller actively planning/orchestrating/encouraging it. I am not sure the distinction matters. The consequences and the cure will be the same either way. Get them out of office and hold them accountable. Meanwhile, women live in ever more dangerous times.
Gotta preserve "precious essences".
There is something about Hegseth that reminds one of Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper.
The White House is trying to ignite a third Red Scare and is one stupid Oval Office address from tying “low-T” to a plot by the “godless communists” in China. In Doctor Strangelove, Jack Ripper believes public water fluoridation is a plot by communists to "sap and impurify" our “precious bodily fluids.” RFK Jr. has already urged the removal of fluoride from municipal water supplies, citing unfounded health concerns. Medical experts and agencies reject claims linking fluoridation to chronic illness.
He “can no longer sit back and allow communist infiltration… to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids!”
Testosterone is a steroid. Don't people remember all the harm done by young athletes overdosing on steroids when that was newsworthy? Is that what we want our military to do? (I guess it's what Pete wants...)
The excessively powerful and unaccountable (the object of protest in the Declaration of Independence) want to play games with our governmental infrastructure and our people, viewed as toys in their toy box. Malignant narcissism.
He looks here like he could use a shot of testosterone himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRTOe0_DHj0
"Pete Kegsbreath" Ooooo!! Clever!! I'll tell the little kids next door to try that at the playground.
Yup, name-calling certainly does not transmit adult-level gravity, but this is a casual political chat, not, a formal publication, or, God forbid, a presidential address.
Of course I read comments on left and right, and in the NYT , WSJ, WaPo and elsewhere. The ones here most resemble the reciprocal of the right wing versions. Name calling is a recurring feature on the right wing as well. I guess its what angry people do.
war is peace
"did Pete LowT discuss it in a Signal chat with his wife?" No. Say ,can I license "Pete Low T" for a bumper sticker? So clever! You should be. middle school playground monitor, The kids would love you.
And unlike half the administration I’m allowed within 500 feet of a school.
Yea.. There’s no Department of Defense (War) more transparent than one that shares information with journalists on Signal… What a shitshow…
What was outstanding was the photo of the World Cup winners Spain that photoshopped out the idiot-toddler-brat .. buen trabajo españa ..
He was even edited out of the official FIFA photos.
Outstanding..
Nice work indeed!
Kelli, thank you for vocalizing what so many of us are thinking. Imagine an unacknowledged wounded soldier who must feel invisible. The leader has already let you know that he is repulsed by amputee soldiers and now the Pentagon is disallowing your injuries.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-didnt-want-wounded-veterans-military-parade-report-2020-9&ved=2ahUKEwiynKm8iuOVAxXFk2oFHb_gBFkQ_r4PegoIAggACAAINRAw&opi=89978449&cd&psig=AOvVaw0sQZXT3J4Wyh7RfA4FOXmo&ust=1784699661954000
ICE officers are being trained to become a nationwide militia run by the White House to rid our society of what is viewed by Trump, Miller et al, as not being in lockstep with the new Unitary Executive. They’re starting with immigrants, will move to those they strip of citizenship, and on to the rest of us. Sort of like the SS. We have to prevent this from happening if we don’t want heavily armed masked police showing up to our house and taking somebody they deem unfit to jail. No more habeas corpus.
It doesn't seem to me that they're being trained properly at all for anything.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/17/ice-immigration-agents-backgrounds
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/09/nx-s1-5671120/homeland-security-expert-talks-about-ices-truncated-training-after-hiring-blitz
They aren't trained to any defensible standard for law enforcement.
"ICE officers are being trained to become a nationwide militia run by the White House to rid our society of what is viewed by Trump, Miller et al, as not being in lockstep with the new Unitary Executive. " What bumper sticker did you get that from?
The war I lived through was the Vietnam war. I can tell you that none of the information we received back here was true. The casualties always were displayed for the Vietnamese and they were usually in high numbers. The amount of soldiers that the US lost was always lower. Of course, after the war, we all learned the real truth.
This war is non-transparent. You must know that the soldiers who are injured are in serious shape. And it’s a shame that these dedicated volunteers are fighting an unjust war. My heart is broken.
After 2 weeks in Vietnam I realized something was terribly wrong about that war. My empathy for the civilians grew everyday. I didn't want to know about my fellow marines lives before the war. It was a lonely nightmare.
They are reporting the injuries in the same way that injuries were portrayed in John Wayne films. All the injured shipped home have a bandage on the arm in a sling, or a band aid on their head. Those that died just - died. Pouf! and they were gone. No pain, no nothing.
What has happened to our country? It feels like, in the span of just two years, everything has spiraled into something dark and unrecognizable. It’s as if we’ve watched our democracy slowly erode and slip into something that looks and sounds frighteningly close to fascism. The language coming from people like Miller and Rubio is terrifying; they openly label those of us on the left as “terrorists,” as if we are enemies of the state rather than fellow citizens with different views. That kind of rhetoric is dehumanizing and dangerous, and it only pushes us further apart, making it harder to see one another as neighbors, coworkers, and family members.
In moments like this, it’s hard not to feel that the only way anything could change would be through something drastic, like a coup d’état. But that path would almost certainly explode into violence, with people from both sides getting hurt or killed. The idea of Americans turning on each other in the streets, of neighbors fighting neighbors, is horrifying. It goes against everything many of us believe in, especially those who have seen the true cost of war and conflict.
As an active member of Veterans For Peace, the thought of violence is especially painful. It is completely at odds with what we stand for and what is written into our charter. We know, perhaps better than most, that once violence starts, no one controls where it ends or how many lives it destroys. We are supposed to be advocates for peace, for nonviolent solutions, for the hard work of dialogue and justice, not for bloodshed or coups.
Right now, I feel lost. I really don’t know what the answer is or how we can peacefully remove this administration from power and restore some sense of sanity and democracy. I wish I understood the path forward, some clear and lawful way out of this nightmare that doesn’t betray our values or lead to more suffering. All I know is that something is deeply wrong, and I’m scared for our country, for our future, and for what we might become if we don’t find a better way.
"Divide and conquer" is their mantra.
We need to find some way of getting republicans, even MAGA Republicans, to realise that it is NOT Democrats, or Liberals, or Progressives that are tearing this country apart - it is trump and his admin, and their billionaire backers.
Well said, Lady...
"The idea of Americans turning on each other in the streets, of neighbors fighting neighbors, is horrifying. It goes against everything many of us believe in, especially those who have seen the true cost of war and conflict."
This is exactly what this administration is aiming for. Either capitulation to Fascism or civil war.
People fear the violence of a coup d'tat. But the violence is already here.
The main reason (IMO) Trump started killing people was to distract the media from the Epstein files. Looks like it worked.
Or just a chance for playboy prez to shoot missiles.
There is that. It certainly helps him feel macho to control what was once the finest and most powerful military in the world. But we are running out of bullets (Xi and Putin have noticed) and we don't seem to be accomplishing anything beyond killing people (theirs and ours).
Sure worked on the Democrats in Congress.
Report in today's CNN indicates the Dems are trying but with the deaths of American service members, the issue is definitely on the back burner.
No better friend of the United States has been Canada. It is heartbreaking to be part of a country that confronts so many countries and groups in a way that defies logic.
The range if emotions in reaction to Trump policies run from anger to sadness. We can do better.