The Economist’s Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom noted that Trump appears to be workshopping the causes for his attacks on Iran and his goals for the war by talking to journalists.
Down The Rabbit Hole And Into The Fox Hole we go......unwillingly and without a rational explanation...
No imminent threat --- ✓ No ICBMs --- ✓ Iran is not a week away from industrial grade uranium enrichment --- ✓ Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear agreement of July 2015 in the year 2018 --- ✓ Trump does not care about the people of Iran and their freedom --- ✓ Regime change is a joke --- ✓ (The Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps will not magically disappear) Senator Andy Kim in interview with HCR on 3/2/26 stated: "This is a regime that has been through and thought about succession for a long time because they have been under constant threat. So this is something they have prepared for."
Rachel Maddow ( video- 2/28/26) asks: "So QUI BONO? -- Who Benefits? Follow the money. Who wants Iran bombed off the map? Who are Iran's rivals and enemies?" Gulf Arab States... Qatar gave Trump a $400 million plane --- ✓ The UAE (United Arab Emirate) structured a crypto-financial transaction of $2 billion into Trump family's " otherwise worthless" crypto financial firm --- ✓ At the end of Trump's first term the Saudis gave Jared Kushner's equity firm $2 billion (Jared negotiates with Iran) --- ✓
One other motive ... Maddow points to 2011, 2012, and 2013 when Trump as citizen said many times ..." that Barak Obama was going to start a war with Iran in order to get re-elected and help the Democratic Party's political prospects." Is this illegal Iranian War......A War of Payback...or A Twisted Strategy for Re-Election ... Or Both with possible shades of Epstein File distraction and shades of an egomaniacal dysfunctional desire for attention and absolute power thrown in for good measure? Whatever the rationale may be, our pushback is now at critical mass and it must be loud and unrelenting...
NO. It is not. Trumpstein File anger is only growing. And growing fast.
This maniacal attack on Iran is just another layer on top of several layers of angry resentment festering across the nation. The repercussions from this insanity will be multiple and devastating. They will bring more and more chaos to an already disintegrating administration.
It's beginning to feel like a Peter Sellers movie.
I expect Susie Wiles to hold her own news conference soon. She will stand at the podium. Silent at first. Tears will fill her eyes. Then she will blurt it out: "WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP?!"
Next stop, Americans across the region trapped and possibly killed. Iran will seek vengeance on every level. And they have friends to help. Guess who helps Iran? China. Guess who absolutely loves this stupidity? Russia. Putin reads the headlines. "Hmm, Great. No news about Ukrainians freezing to death because I bombed their energy plants."
Gas prices to escalate. Is there a word that describes one of the greatest "backfires" in American history? And Captain Chaos is getting his direction from the punks on Fox News. This truly is material for a sequel to "Dr. Strange Love"...no wait. "Idiocracy" is just as appropriate.
Bill, I assume you refer to the Peter Sellers/Shirley MacLaine movie, "Being There" in which a learning-disabled gardener rises to a top-level government position by uttering nonsense phrases that are repeated as "wisdom" by stupid, wealthy, influential people. Because, I have been saying for some time that this timeline feels exactly like that movie.
Yes, that's the guy who was educated by an obsession with American television. Yet he walks on water, and the sky is the limit, due to a twisted cult like form of cognitive dissonance by those around him. Trump is a real life, but evil version, of simple-minded Chauncey Gardiner (Peter Sellers) with the wealth of business mogul Ben Rand (Melvyn Douglas) and becoming President as plotted by party insiders at the end of the movie. It was a comedy movie but staring Trump it is a Horror story.
The price of gas will jump in part because big Oil will see a chance to pile on and take advantage of the situation even if it is not yet experiencing bigger costs itself.
Bill put it perfectly: 'Captain Chaos takes his orders from the punks at Fox News.'
Little man, big toys. And consequences? There are none — not in his world. Everything runs on gut instinct and Roy Cohn's golden rule: no matter what happens, claim victory. Lives lost, economies disrupted, people stranded — not his problem. Does any of it make him look tough? In his own eyes, absolutely.
The real question is how we allowed a man this unhinged to have his finger on the most powerful military in human history. Nothing more than a formula for catastrophe
Susan, in Little Rock, Arkansas, gas prices jumped 35¢ a gallon from Saturday to Sunday. I haven't been in town since then, so I don't know whether prices have increased more.
Edit: I just checked the Gas Buddy app on my phone. Prices are now up 70¢ a gallon since last Friday.
Just to add a little background... the movie was based upon a remarkable novel by Jerzy Kosiński of the same title. He wrote several extraordinary short novels, at least one of which - "The Painted Bird" - also seems appropriate to reread because it is about war (WW2). It is never humanity's best use of our collective imagination and intellect
No joke! Putin read MAGA Americans and Dems like a book. He knew that MAGA would fall all over anything that Donnie said or did…until he screwed them over.
More like Operation Epic Deception, a Reichstag-Fire variant intended to produce a new 9/11-caliber frenzy of national hatefulness by positioning stranded USians for easy targeting by vengeful Iranian and/or Islamist death squads.
I wouldn't put it past this administration at all. It's difficult, when looking at Trump's inner circle, who the most incompetent among them might be. There is an ongoing battle among his sycophants for the top spot in mediocrity in uncontrolled crises. Rubio has proven that he may well be the most inept among them. From his failings in attending Senate committee hearings during 2016 to his shifting immigration stance, to his strategy concerning Venezuela, Rubio has done much to convince all of us that he is nothing more than a used-up water boy for Trump's malignant need for violence. And to suck up to one who derided him mercilessly during the 2015 campaign and then accept the Secretary of State position under Trump, says all one has to hear about Rubio's credibility.
Rubio, apparently, has so little self-worth. Does he have any clue what reliable knowledge is and how to use it properly? Obviously, he resides among the rest of the community of dangerous dunces and sycophants. I wonder if his wife and children are proud of this?
What really annoys me is that our foreign policy is being directed by Netanhayu and MBS - not by the American public or Congress (well, a few responsible ones in Congress exempted perhaps.)
Yes, it works. The front page never mentions the TrumpStein Pedo Files. Trump has twice in the first two months of 2026 unilaterally, thus unconstitutionally and criminally, used our military to commit acts of war against two countries on different sides of the Earth. This time he has done so in a powerful and explosive region that is known for endless conflict. Thus he has put the entire world at the risk of global war.
Now there is even much reported quibbling over the use of the word "War." It's all semantics, the branch of linguistics (scientific study of language and its structure), and logic concerned with meaning, and is all a planned diversion. It draws the front page, thus We the People, away from the true story in the above paragraph. The corporate press plays along...
My Memorandum to We the People discusses control of corporate press and is posted at UnitedWeAmend.org
"No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives.”
What a buffoon. He's a washed up Army Guard major who makes a living thumping his chest and scolding anyone who knows more than him (which is, of course, most of us).
Remember that cringingly embarrassing lecture he gave to general officers that was met with stone-faced silence?
Liverpool FCfan, I agree with your assessment of Pete Hegseth. However, I believe there is another element to the war that is being mostly overlooked. Pete Hegseth is a self -proclaimed christian nationalist as are others in the Trump regime. including some high-ranking officers in the military. For them, this is a holy war with the goal of bringing about the end times as they call it. Jonathan Larsen is one of the people covering this aspect of the attack on Iran. He published a piece last night titled "U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for "Armageddon", Return of Jesus." It's mind boggling, horrifying, and in my opinion well worth reading.
This has been along time coming! In NEO there was a building where someone had had painted a huge mural saying Jewish People Go Back to Israel. It took a long time the activists to get it taken down. Similar thinking but different from James Watts. One of my friends was raised by these this of the end is near Christians. She was sat down by her parents at age 12 or so told we believe the world will end soon. Not Jeanne Dixon fabrication - they believed. No one seems to have cared as the thinking grew and grew.
Agreed, Kamila. I've been "preaching" this for some time now. I was born into an evangelical household, and I would offer one nuanced correction. Evangelicals have believed for about the past 100 years that we are living in "the End Times."
Some evangelical cranks have predicted specific dates when "Jesus would return," even provoking some followers to sell their possessions and wait for Jesus on a hilltop. When Jesus didn't return, they concocted flimsy explanations and exhorted their followers to "keep watching. He'll be here any minute."
For those who've missed my previous comments, evangelicals misinterpret the biblical book of Revelation as prophecy. It is actually coded commentary on the Roman occupation of Israel. In the misinterpretation, Armageddon is battle to end all battles, to take place in the Middle East. This battle will "bind Satan forever," and usher in "The Millennium," a thousand years' reign of peace, during which Jesus will sit on the global throne. This myth is especially appealing to evangelicals because it foretells that Jesus will appoint his followers to positions of authority at all levels around the world. This lust for "divine power" is what animates Christian Nationalists' drive toward a Middle East conflagration.
"During Donald Trump's first presidency, Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran Pete Hegseth successfully lobbied for the pardons and clemency of several U.S. service members accused or convicted of war crimes. Hegseth, a vocal critic of the military justice system's treatment of these soldiers, used his platform to champion their cases directly to Trump."
I guess my question to anyone is: What is our government doing to hold these people accountable to the laws they violate. It's kind of rhetorical, I guess. But, c'mon! We do still have people we are paying to do a job.
Per AXIOS around midnight, at least 2 drones have hit the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
The Straight of Hormuz is closed. The U.S. State Department has warned Americans to leave the Mideast. As Heather posted, how do the stranded do that?
Per CAROL D. LEONNIG reported on 3/2/26 the FBI, specifically the beer guzzling Patel has recently gutted "CI 12" the FBI unit that could deal with this mess.
There is worse to come. The US apparently does not have an extraction plan to get Americans out of the whole area--State issued instructions to leave on your own when the airports are closed, but not by the usual official channels.
Brits are already extracting their nationals. I wonder if NATO allies will get US citizens out like Denmark got the US sailor off the nuclear sub off Greenland.
According to Al Jazeera, the embassy in Jordan has evacuated all of its personnel, which is incredibly unusual for an ally to do. Apparently there was a "threat."
“This is not how this is done. The State Department has very complex processes to notify Americans in these places that they need to leave. That hasn’t happened. It’s not official government policy, at least it doesn’t appear to be yet, because this isn’t how they announce official government policy,” Culhane added.
“It’s not quite clear what this means, and exactly how Americans could leave the entire Middle East since commercial traffic has been interrupted so much because of all of the missiles,” she said.
Just think about how many Americans are currently in 12 countries in the Middle East and need evacuation. Not just embassy personnel, and dependents but business people and tourists. IT IS NOT JUST AMERICAN MILITARY LIVES AT STAKE.
Doesn't anyone remember the Iran Hostage Crisis under Jimmy Carter 1979 and lasted until just after Ronald Reagan's inauguration. It took down Carter over 52 American hostages. How many American hostages do you think are going to be taken by Iranian proxies???
I remember the 1979 Iran hostage crisis well, and how the remaining hostages were released in the first days of the Regan administration. I also remember how the Canadians were instrumental in getting six American diplomats out of Iran, mainly by issuing fake Canadian Passports, teaching them to say "aboot" rather than "about" and coaching them re: their 'Canadian' identities. I wonder if something similar may be happening now - if only the Canadians and Europeans didn't hate us now...
What I remember learning is that during the campaign Carter had already made sure the hostages would be released, but Reagan interfered and persuaded the Iranians to hold the hostages until after the election. So Reagan could win the election based on Carter's "failure" to get the hostages released…
Sounds eerily familiar, doesn't it? I remember well how Reagan's team, headed, I suspect by his VP George Bush to make Carter look inept and Reagan look like God's Gift to America. Carter's own strength of character vindicated him in the end, and Reagan is remembered only as a senile old cowboy actor who happened to look good on camera and knew how to turn a pretty phrase. We don't even have that Hollywood aura with this latest incarnation.
Susan, as I have opined several times, Reagan was the GOP's "proof of concept," that an ignorant, malleable buffoon could be installed in the White House and manipulated by operators in the shadows. George W. Bush was the "crash test dummy" they used to work out the kinks. Now, Donald is the production model.
Yes. I remember that too. I knew a hostage. I also remember that Reagan paid the Iranians to keep the hostages until after he won the election against Carter.
Now Trump is paying Iranians to turn against their country. Malcolm Nance surmised that is how the entire navy was able to be destroyed because the person in charge gave up the fleet.
That is freaking awesome, Cinda. Thanks. Gallows humor, perhaps, but it was my first grin of the day. (Well, second. My cat did one of his "jump and overshoot target" approaches when leaping onto the couch and bounced of the back and rolled off the seat. He immediately groomed, so I knew there was "nothing to see here, lady".
Both chambers are expected to take up Iran‑related war powers measures mid‑week this week (the week of March 2–6, 2026); press guidance points to floor action likely on Wednesday–Thursday rather than today.
Below is the text of the Resolution that is on the House legislative calender for Wednesday or later of this week.
Short and to the point. Will it fly and pass? If it passes will tRump heed it? Not likely, as long as the distraction from the Epstein files is working. Nothing like a made up war to distract the public from the sexual and physical abuse of children. 😡
Well, our good pal Speaker Johnson has Congress in session for two days this week then vacation next week. We need a new Speaker and should pay Congress only when they are in session.
Exact numbers are unclear, but there are roughly hundreds of thousands of Americans living across the Middle East, which could put further strain on the limited available commercial travel. Most live in Israel, with 600,000 Americans there prior to Oct. 7, 2023, according to WaPo. Around 15,000 Americans lived in Qatar as of 2015, 30,00 in Kuwait as of 2020, 50,000 in the UAE as of 2015, 80,000 in Saudi Arabia as of 2022, and 43,000 in Lebanon as of 2023. At least 1,000 Americans and family members of Americans resided in and wished to depart Gaza in October 2023, according to a State Department briefing at the time, while around 45,000 to 60,000 Palestinian Americans lived in the West Bank, Reuters reported in July 2023. Another 60,000 live in Egypt, which has not been hit in attacks but is covered by the State Department’s security update.
(Obviously the war has already given the Iranians and their allies ample motive to attack the [conveniently abandoned and stranded] USians. In all probability, Trump and his habitually criminal Trumpstein Regime are hoping for a massacre that will provoke a post-9/11-caliber frenzy of hatefulness big enough to obscure the Epstein scandal and perhaps even facilitate passage of the SAVE [Subjugate All Voters Evermore) Act, thereby granting the ChristoNazi theocracy eternally irreversible tyranny over the failed United States.)
Loren, I agree with the possibilities you project; however, I am having hard time even wrapping my head around those possibilities. The notion that, even republicans in the Senate, would cave to passing the SAVE Act is mind boggling enough. Then again, what happened in the House may well happen in the Senate. I've already contacted my senators; they, however, are both democrats and writing to them was simply an exercise in assuring myself that they would vote down the SAVE Act. It's beyond clear that writing to those who do not represent me directly, has now become a necessity.
An uncle and his wife had been stationed in Iran until 8 months before the taking of the embassy and knew of another woman who had to basically walk out after the embassy was taken, I believe from Tehran to the Turkish border. I was teaching at the Space Systems Command and Control School at the time, and predicted the rescue attempt after hearing Mrs Timm answer a question about specific hostages that were held separately from those at the embassy, guessing that they had very current location information on all of them. A student who had come to the school from a Pentagon assignment said they had been in earlier (I think scouting for and setting up the landing area, but weren't planning to goat the time). The news broke the next morning.
I hadn't realized I had been asked to volunteer for that mission, but was the only instructor for the advanced course at the time and had been teaching both levels (12 hours a day) when the basic course instructor got sick while the others were all on leave on a hunting trip to Wyoming. I did meet the Forecaster who did the remote site weather satellite support for the mission about 30 years later when he was teaching at he college I worked at. Nobody else, including his assistant knew of his role as he had followed his non-disclosure agreement for 3 times the required time. I found out when he overheard me telling a friend I had guessed who the forecaster would be (one of the best in the Air Force), only to have him say he was the on location forecaster. When I asked where the one I thought of, we found out he was a the Air Force Weather Central unit at the Strategic Air Force Command at Offut AFB. My guesses were just a little off, but impressed the class the next day.
History keeps repeating and instead of learning anything it seems we just keep getting stupider. We clearly have more and better intel each time, but less and less thought about consequences. It’s like we aren’t getting smarter, we are just getting more emboldened. Pete Hegseth thinking that he’s the guy to solve a 47 year old problem is crazy. After all his failures he can’t possibly believe he is a great strategic thinker. I have known a lot of geniuses who had imposter syndome, but this is like the inverse, Imposters who think they really are geniuses.
Bingo! I was waiting for someone to post this fact, ronnie backstabbed Carter by holding talks with Iran before he took office! And like he did with the attack on the Marine base in Lebanon, he hid until the coast was clear!
I was there standing in the inaugural crowd and done one had a small transistor radio abd as soon as President Reagan became president the hostages were released. I thought that there had to be something going on but it was never discussed until last years. DC Report had an article on the background.
Some old reporting from 1991 from the NYTimes that even back then there were questions as to whether there were backchannel discussions between Reagan’s people and Iran ahead of his election.
I don't believe there was any question as to the backchannels going on during that period. I am not, nor ever was a Reagan fan; however, I was happy to see the hostages released regardless of who was responsible for their ultimate safety.
Riad, when the means are justified by the ends, longer-term consequences can and do occur - especially in international diplomacy. Reagan’s presidency was the beginning of the road to Trump. “Government is the problem,” “shrink the government until it is small enough to drown in a bathtub,” “welfare queens” (always Black women). I was just beginning a career working in human services and clearly remember the responses to answering the “what’s your job?”
I was bamboozled by the morning in America trope but not totally a Republican. I had been disappointed by President Carter for his maisle speech and he also didn’t have the Christmas Tree lights turned on. Coming from NEO the Nela Park connection was there and folks worked hard. As hard as Bob Hixon with his Christmas decorations for the WH. Looking back I didn’t see the whole picture for sure. The time with the hostages and again NEO was following because of Terry Anderson Lorain, Ohio journalist after the Vietnam War then the release of the POWs the baby air flights it was a long line of hardness in different ways.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee has some suggestions for Americans trying to get out of Israel. Take the Israeli tourist bus to Taba Egypt and you may be able to get a flight out from there or get to Cairo.
Quote of the day from Mike: "The U.S. Embassy cannot make any recommendation (for or against) the Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle. If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety," it added.
Gotta have priorities. That leaves just about as many hundred thousands of Americans stranded as yesterday.
Does anybody else remember the failed operation to rescue the Iranian hostages in 1983? The Department of War does. Yet here we are, in danger of the same thing happening again, with so, so many more potential hostage targets.
"Does anybody else remember the failed operation to rescue the Iranian hostages in 1983?" The "Eagle Claw" Iranian Rescue attempt was actually April 24, 1980.
The Marine barracks bombing was in Oct 1983 two days before Grenada was attacked (a convenient distraction but not as well executed as they would have people believe.
The Eagle Claw operation failure was attributed to difficult to identify dust storms (though the possibility of them was forecast), causing a reduction in the number of helicopters still flyable after landing at the Desert One site (or having turned back). There was also unexpected traffic on the road near the site that resulted in a bus load of people being detained and a fuel truck fire, as well as a vehicle escaping, which caused them to cancel the attempt, further complicated by a helicopter hitting the C-130 fuel carrier.
After learning of the dust cloud interference, and the May 17 eruption of Mt St. Helens less than a month later, I experimented with threshold settings on the DMSP (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) data 25 hours after the eruption, and was able to pull out the narrow temperature range differences to get the most contrast to make out the dust cloud curving to the southeast to the Amarillo Texas area before winds from the Gulf of Mexico curving to the northeast had taken over. I mentioned this to the Forecaster who briefed the intel officers who briefed the pilots, wishing i could have been there to do similar processing, but the time it took would have been too late for their takeoff time (and a bit too iffy as the first time something like that was tried). He did say the intel officers added the written part of the weather briefing as an addendum since the briefing was taking too long and not considered critical at the time.
Thank you for sharing that information and the correction, JIm. There are so many factors that can influence operations and decision-making. There are many “if only we had known” things identified in retrospect. But here we are with a regime that actively refuses to seek or listen to expertise.
What makes it especially dangerous is having a head of the Joint Chiefs who appears great at lining up massive forces for “well-defined” “one-and-done” ”in and outs” but now is in a full-on regional war involving, at this point, potentially operations in 16 countries and with who knows how many regional proxy groups who have a nearly a century’s worth of built-up antipathy.
Planning for first strikes versus planning for full-on war are different things. Just ask Putin in Ukraine, where the expectation that Kyiv would fall in a few days has turned into a few years. Makes me wonder why Putin didn’t warn Trump about that in their cozy nighttime chats.
The alleged state department is the immoral trump! The offices are empty, no planning, no care for American citizens in the Gulf area! Ah, but there is his latest grift ‘the peace board’!
The lack of extraction plan should not come as a surprise since we did not have that in Venezuela either, and after Trump abducted Maduro, gangs went throughout the country seeking people who might have assisted the US and tortured them. Not a good time to be an American in Venezuela, yet there was no extraction plan beforehand or after that I have heard of. I know that everyone else was making extraction plans before the US. That is how the US got the idea that it is something they should do when the Americans saw others getting evacuated they went to their embassies, and there was no one who knew what to do, but at least it came up.
I still think a concern in the US is going to be ongoing acts of terror from proxies in the US.
I read that people were paying private security to drive them 10 hours to get out of Iran or other countries, and then paying $350,000 to get on a private jet out of the region. That is a solution for the very wealthy and corporate heads where this can be afforded. The Epstein class. I know that Germany made a plan to extract people. They estimated around 30,000 were in the region, and they were taking old people, people who are sick or disabled and pregnant women first.
I posted the info for Americans abroad for OSAC which is the security advisory council for US organizations abroad with their latest detailed travel advisories on Heather’s letter today. I pu tin the full text for what to do if you are in Iran, but you can check out the situation in any country. More detailed than what is on the State department for regular travelers.
Trump's mental capacity is so diminished he can no longer BS his way out of this. Meanwhile, what EVERY tricking news outlet dubbed "the chaotic withdrawal" from Afghanistan looks well organized in retrospect.
Thousands of American citizens stranded around the Middle East and it will be even more American citizens that will die.
Has anyone asked Trump the rude and nasty question yet--"Are you going to send Barron, Tia and Tiffany to fight in Iran?" Obviously, they would come into the military as generals or admirals. /S
Because I was curious, I went to Google to ask it if any member of Trump's family had served in the military. Here's what it said: the whole Trump family, including his father Fred and his grandfather Friedrich, have avoided military service. And As we probably all know, Donald himself received 5 deferments during the Vietnam war for "bone spurs".
I think serving in the military is fine; however, serving in the military is not the only way one can serve their nation. I was lucky to have avoided the draft in the '68 and '69 as my birthday was listed in the 300's, leaving me little chance to have been drafted, I must admit though, I have at many times, starting in my 40's, felt the missed chance to serve in the military. My service revolved around education in the public schools teaching health with a curriculum that included conflict resolution and negotiation. It came from a curriculum titled Lifeskills. Regardless of what curriculum one uses in education, teachers inherently are called to teach one the arts of negotiation. This is different from "making a deal" as Trump would have us think it is the best way forward. Negotiation fills both voids of each adversary and works for equity; "making a deal" is the manipulation of one over the other to get a favorable result at the other's expense. In the end, it's a sure way to harbor resentment. No one wins.
I think your service was much more moral and more meaningful than shooting “gooks” and burning villages in an immoral war. I thank you for your service.
If memory serves, Trump has publicly bragged that one of his paternal ancestors -- perhaps his grandfather -- came to the US specifically to dodge the Kaiser's draft.
In fact, his grandfather refusing to do military service in Bavaria is what got him kicked out of German forever. If he had not been a draft dodger we would not have "Bone Spurs" as president. In fact, he probably would not exist.
There should be a law that requires every congress critter to send a family member to serve in harm's way of any war that they vote for - for 365 consecutive days - starting with a son or A daughter, then a spouse, then a brother or A sister, then a mom or a dad. I don't care how old they are. They need to be carrying a rifle at the front of the front line.
And if the congress critter has none of those, then he would be required to go himself for 730 days.
How many of those congress critters would find a diplomatic way to resolve disputes between countries? ALL OF THEM!
Jim Webb, democratic Senator from VA. in 2009, had a son who served in the Iraq war. At that time, I believe, he was the only congressman in either house who had a son serve in the military.
Well, their 4 sons all served in the military during WW2. James(1907-1991) USMC Navy Cross; Elliot(1910-1990)Army Air Corps reconnaisance Brig. Gen.; Franklin D. Jr. (1914-1988) USN Destroyer escort Atlantic; John A. (1916-1981) USN Bronze Star
On another 'stack, I wrote abut presidents in my lifetime with military service. Ike and GW Bush were Army, while Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter and GHW Bush were all Navy.
I suspect our next President will have military experience; I see some very good options in our recent/current cabinets and congress. Kegsbreath is not one of them.
GJ, I think the "# Send Barron" is trending. This is just a mess. I was listening to Malcolm Nance and Jacob Kaarsbo discussing the logistics and things sounded like such a mess for everyone involved that I had to stop listening. They are doing daily briefings. I hope members of Congress are listening too.
That was chilling to watch, Counselor. I played a concert last night, and watched that after I got home. Took all my good energy away and replaced it with dread.
Paul Krugman is the first that I have read that points out how much this war is costing us while the MAGAs cut SNAP, Medicaid and other health care benefits.
And, none of the targets have been nuclear. Instead they are killing civilians with impunity. I heard Malcolm Nance talk about bloody bodies in the center of Tehran, and we know one of the first places hit was a girls school that has a body count of something like 180. It is evil and cruel. All of the people backing it are evil and cruel. It is about terrorizing the Iranian people even after the Ayatollah and top leadership are removed.
When asked whether he has a plan for governing Iran, Trump says they killed all of the people they would have installed. So, if their intel was good enough to get these men, why is it not good enough to avoid a girls school. I personally think that having been called out for their Epstein shame of raping little girls, they are now getting off on just killing them directly. This is the Epstein Files war, and there are going to be a lot of women and girl victims, because these people are full on misogynists.
Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize. I think we should come up with some new prizes just for him. One I can think of "The Global Enshitification Prize." "Another is The Master Grifter Prize."
Yesterday, I expressed surprise about waking up to European leaders saying supportive things of Trump and some even going to send military help. It is crazy.
Shades of Putin expecting the Ukrainians to fold in a couple of days and here we are 4 years later.
I read several comments from Republican Congresscritters where they were praising their dear leader for wasting tens of billions of our taxpayer dollars for a still unexplained reason for bombing Iran.
Not only have the Fox war mongers been egging Trump on, but Saudi Prince bin Salman and Bibi.
This is a total disaster of Putin like proportions.
Well, according to Lev Parnas it is all benefitting Putin, whom he claims will rise up even worse than before as oil prices rise. This will fill his war coffers. Meanwhile Trump is using up all US weapons and expecting Europe to help him when they need to support Ukraine against Russia. It is crazy.
Still benefitting Putin with his wars on Venezuela and Iran. Oil prices rise and Putin is economically independent. Meanwhile American soldiers die to enrich Trump and his buddies in his Epstein Class Club, which Iran, Ukraine and the EU do not belong to.
I just saw a post re Spain refusing to allow U.S. military aircraft access to their facilities in order to attack Iran. Also head of European Congress denouncing attacks on Iran...
Yes. Sanchez is a good leader from what I can see. Of course I don't live in Spain, but he is refusing to be bossed around by Trump and he seems to have ethics.
On a related note: I listened to half of H Clinton’s “deposition” (silly Q&A session) yesterday. She expostulates a little much, but Nancy Mace is just ridiculous in her questioning. I’ve yet to hear Boebert.
You may be glad to know that Nancy Mace is under investigation by the House Ethics committee for overcharging expenses for her DC residence by uner $10k
The underlying inquiry into Nancy Mace’s expenses dates back to May 21, 2025, and the formal House Ethics Committee investigation based on that inquiry was triggered by a referral received on December 2, 2025 and publicly acknowledged in January–March 2026.
Key dates in the probe
May 21, 2025: According to reporting that cites the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC) report, the initial inquiry into Mace’s D.C. lodging reimbursements “began on May 21, 2025,” with Mace notified two days later.
November 18, 2025: The OCC board unanimously adopted its report and ordered it transmitted to the House Ethics Committee, laying out “substantial reason to believe” she engaged in improper reimbursement practices.
December 2, 2025: The House Ethics Committee received the OCC referral regarding Mace.
January 16, 2026: The Committee publicly stated that it had extended its review of the matter under House rules.
March 1–2, 2026: The Ethics Committee announced it would conduct a further review under Committee Rule 18(a)—effectively confirming a formal investigation— and media outlets reported that Mace was “under investigation” over alleged improper reimbursement of roughly $9,500 in excess lodging claims.
Mace is running for Governor in South Carolina, and leads in Republican primary polls at 23%. She is actively seeking Trump's endorsement, saying she is "Trump in high heels." She had initially came out against Trump after Jan 6.
Also in the Race are the State AG, lieutenant governor, a state senator and Rep. Ralph Norman with 12% support. He was pro-Trump, but broke with him over excessive spending in the OBBBA.
Rep. Corey Mills (R-FL) is also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for campaign finance violations, sexual misconduct, receiving special favors, and misusing congressional resources. He is running for re-election and has Trump's endorsement. Trump called him an American patriot on February 11, 2026 when he endorsed him.
Corey Mills attended Trump's trials to support him.
Birds of a feather...
Trump's memory seems to be really really good about certain things...
A friend was also listening and summarizing to me. I heard that there were no questions asked about Epstein. So, why is she there? More of the MAGA Misogyny Machine in action.
People should be asking "Where's Melania?". Let's hear from her. There is more heat there for sure. It's all cover-up. Trump is protecting Melania I think because she knows what Ghislaine knows... or something that rhymes with that.
I have it! He has a plan — he will start this huge conflagration and then he will magically stop it — and then he will get the Nobel Peace Prize! For bringing peace where there wouldn’t have been war except for him. He has it all figured out! That’s what it’s like when you believe that nothing is going on except yourself. D’you think the Swedes and Norwegians would rather give it to the Minneapolitans?
Yes. That sounds like something that would irk him. I am hoping that our No Kings Rally will too. Being in charge of organizing one is a great learning experience.
I am still trying to sort out what the European responses are, or even the various German responses are.
LInda- I went to this on your website and am reading it on the go.. thank you. Stepping back this connects to the need to grab the earth's resources as we overdevelop and overpopulate paying no heed to conservation and sustainability. It's suicidal, evil, so stupid - any words you can think of.. as Joyce Vance keeps saying, "we are all in this together" but so many just have no idea- it's -they think- survival of the fittest and THEY are the fittest in their stupidity and selfishness. This country has been taken over by this because we got trapped in getting and spending. We lost our way and we did not pay attention or were also guilty. We are paying. Batten down the hatches. Sorry- this is my mood at the moment. thanks for your long post with the clips.
HI Potter, that is why I agree with Paul Krugman that the EU is better off because it does not have the evil Epstein Class Tech Bros. My daughter is down on AI and Data Centers because she sees them both as bad for the environment.
I feel we are all doomed because of human nature. We are not evolving, not learning and then organizing from that fast enough with the goal of survival of the whole as necessary and morally ethical
How vulnerable we are to reverting back to civilization's past history allowing leaders to misuse religion and race to divide us so it's to the benefit of those amassing wealth and power.
"The Epstein Class" will be understood when we know or can see the whole story teased out, bit by bit. I don't think Europe is exempt. This revelation is bigger than Trump though he is a player that has conned us and is taking us on his trip....
No Europe is not exempt. We have already seen that. Only in Europe the scandal forces people to resign, and perhaps face the police. That is not happening here.
The Epstein class is deeply embedded in Europe with Andrew, but also with the Rothschilds and ministers in France and Scandinavian countries.
I think every part of the world's elite was connected to the Epstein class in some way. He was trading many things, including insider information, along with sex and drug trafficking, and money laundering.
Who would have thought that philanthropist Bill Gates, pictured so often playing bridge with his best bud Warren Buffett, would have been a part of it? Could Buffet, the epitome of an oligarch with simple tastes and solid values, be only one connection away from Epstein and not have somehow benefited from the information flow?
We will be unraveling this for decades. It will unravel first in the countries that still have strong democratic institutions and accountability. How the Epstein class is handled will be a marker for the strength of those institutions. Unfortunately, I think it will take the US a long, long time based on that criterion. .
Being in university one sees people just cheating all the time. We know there is lack of certain kinds of brain development for people relying on it. On the other hand, for people who cannot write, it is a helpful tool. The Generations after us inherit the planet that is getting rapidly destroyed by us, so she has every reason to be upset. She is aware that we don't need AI or date centers to survive. In fact, unless they change we may not be able to survive with them.
Linda-As we’ve seen the Epstein files include high ranking officials from many nations. God only knows how much “kompromat” might be out there for so many of them who don’t want to be exposed. This may be part of the explanation for the craziness.
When the best people the US can send to negotiate with Iranian diplomats in Geneva are two unknown real-estate developers from New York with no experience of conflict resolution, what did you expect? Especially when the President launches a surprise attack during the month of Ramadan, and during these weapon-control attacks. Where is the Board of Peace now? Will the starving people of Gaza love the US and the Israelis? Will Iran grovel at the feet of the US? Another Libya falling into a years-long civil war after regime change in 2014, while the US priorities move on .........
Just an out of control bully. It should be chilling to most or every American that we now figure into the new axis of evil, as purported by some, which include trump, netanyahu and putin. The most reckless, most ignorant, most callous, most incompetent, most unfit individual EVER in our government.
This pretty much sums it up, unfortunately. Plus: you elect a malevolent madman and this is what you get: senseless death and destruction. Will we ever get back to normal? Will we ever survive even this FIRST Trump year? Will democrats and SOME republicans see what needs to be done and do it or are we all doomed?
Perhaps the elections tomorrow will give us some much-needed inspiration to keep going. Senator Andy Kim, in his interview with HCR today, said this: "And so I believe that if we can have our voices heard, if we say loudly that this war is not what the American people want, that the President could retreat similar to how he did in Minnesota when he really felt the pressure. That was the first time I felt the President really felt the pressure of being on the wrong side of the American people, and I pray that he feels this again. But it requires all of us to have our voices heard."
It is definitely not America First! Let's send our people to a made-up reason for war. The price of helping the Gulf Arab States and Israel will be the blood of Americans and innocent people in Iran. But, hey, that's the price of war, per Trump.
Melania talks to the UN about children, what a bloody hypocrite, she is no better than the Pedophile in Chief. What does she think of her husband bombing a children's school in Iran, what has she said about that, she is as shallow as he is.
And trump and melania should go to go the Iran to negotiate the cease fire. They can bring jared and ivanka and the boys too. We can parachute them into the war zone. I will be EPIC
Fox writing the script or is Vlad providing input, seems that Frank Luntz is providing the patriotic logic as he did for W and Dickie. Fox remembers. As do I . Same bullschittery and slurp the koolaid is the goal. War makes the medicine go down.
The winged monkeys (not including JTarlov)at Fox News have kindled this war in the orange brain. It’s their script and the admin of misanthropes is their league of lolypop puppets.
What is being debated in the House is the War Powers Resolution that was introduced after the June 2025 bombings that "obliterated" the nuclear threat.
I kid you not. It was never brought to the floor for debate.
The irony is mind boggling!!!!
Here is the list of actions taken in the House on the Bill.
06/17/2025 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Action By: House of Representatives
06/17/2025 Submitted in House
Action By: House of Representatives
for Wednesday or later in the week:
Legislation that may be considered:
H. Con. Res. 38 – Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Sponsored by Rep. Massie / Foreign Affairs Committee)
Also on the schedule for Wednesday or Thursday in the House:
Legislation Considered Pursuant to a Rule:
H.R. 7744 – Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026 (Sponsored by Rep. Cole / Appropriations Committee)
The War Powers Resolution is insufficient. EVERY president has worked around the War Powers Resolution. Dems and Reps can create a stronger resolution where the executive must secure Congressional approval BEFORE any military action commences.
They could but what is below is what they proposed back last June after the “obliteration” of the nuclear program and never came out of the foreign affairs committee and what is being voted on potentially tomorrow afternoon according to Scalise’s agenda for the House. Presumably amendments could be proposed.
In the thread are more details on what was in previous resolutions and the original statement of purpose in the 1973 resolution that forms the basis. This doesn’t look like standard procedure because I am nor seeing information on it going though the House Rules Committee so this may be going through some expedited process. I have to research some more to figure that out.
The 2nd hour of yesterday's Nicolle Wallace's show featured Tom Nichols from The Atlantic. The discussion topics are all echoed in Prof Heather's letter. Poll results were discussed and the majority didn't support the attacks and about 25% "weren't sure" I also listened to the local NPR station (WXXI); they interviewed 2 Iranian Americans about the attacks, life in Iran, etc ... They supported the attacks and where pleased that the supreme leader was killed. I've said before, I'm no fan of the Islamic Republic of Iran. If I were polled and its just one question with only 3 answers (YES, NO, MAYBE), I'm not sure how I would answer. It it were "Do you agree with the attacks", followed by do you support the methods/strategy "the way its being carried out", My answers would be YES, NO. If I had the chance to speak to the 2 local Iranian Americans on the local NPR show, I'd ask them how do they think this ends? It was the CIA / American gov't that overthrew a legitimately elected Iranian prime minister and brought back the Shah in the late '50s. Can you really trust us again ? There's no nobility in this current US administration that shows these attacks are for the Iranian people, to lift the yoke of oppression, it about the "the radio station WITFM (What's in it For Me), what's in it for my donor base that supports me. And yes distraction, deception and not to mention stoking the "Nationalize Elections" rhetoric. Yes... agree with Congressman Crow, brave young men & women along with innocent Iranian citizens will make the ultimate sacrifice. I truly wish in my heart that trump 2.0 does want to put and end to the governing principles of The Islamic Republic of Iran and restore a democratically elected government. He doesn't seem to want that for us here in America, so again, how can be be trusted to bring it back to Iran.
You have it in a nutshell. Overthrowing a despot sounds great in the three word campaign slogan. How can Democrats disagree with that? If you disagree, you are supporting Islamic terrorists. It is the long term Republican playbook—polarize the electorate over one issue with oversimplification.
But that is not what is happening here. And I am sure Trump believed what was whispered in his ear that this also would only take a few bombing runs to kill the right 20 or so people in control in ran and he could declare victory.
No plan for how this ends is stupidity. No plan for how to get hundreds of thousands of US citizens in the 12 countries out of harm’s way is unconscionable negligence and total disregard for the American people.
The first Section of the 1973 War Powers Resolution is below, so you know what we are talking about. That link has all of the texts for the specific conditions and constraints on presidential actions and the authorizations by Congress for all subsequent resolutions that were used. Trump can veto a war powers resolution which can be overridden by a 2/3 majority in Congress.
Go look at the text and pick the war that affected you the most and see what Congress did, and what the President at the time agreed to.
SECTION 1. This joint resolution may be cited as the “War Powers Resolution”.
PURPOSE AND POLICY
SEC. 2. (a) It is the purpose of this joint resolution to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities or in such situations.
(b) Under article I, section 8, of the Constitution, it is specifically provided that the Congress shall have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution, not only its own powers but also all other powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
(c) The constitutional powers of the President as Commander‑in‑Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.
Note the 48-hour report requirement on Trump. Was a complete report provided to the gang of 8 within that time window?
Note the 60-day cut-off for action (+30 days for withdrawal) if Congress does not authorize the action, or declare war, or extend the action by law. So that appears to require an affirmative action by Congress to say "yes" to the war. Constitutional scholars, please weigh in!!!
The first mandatory report if Congress approves the actions is at 6 months , so end of August, right in prime election campaign season. Who can be "unpatriotic" ahead of an election?
That 60+30 day window gets us to the end of May, after 16 states have had their primaries:
States with 2026 state primaries on or before May 31 are:
Alabama – May 19
Arkansas – March 3
Georgia – May 19
Idaho – May 19
Illinois – March 17
Indiana – May 5
Kentucky – May 19 (congressional races; state‑level offices mostly in odd years)
Louisiana – May 16 (for 2026 congressional contests; state offices mostly in odd years)
Mississippi – March 10 (2026 congressional primary only)
Nebraska – May 12
North Carolina – March 3
Ohio – May 5
Oregon – May 19
Pennsylvania – May 19
Texas – March 3
West Virginia – May 12
******************************************************************************************************Consultation duty: “In every possible instance” the President must consult with Congress BEFORE introducing U.S. forces into hostilities or situations where hostilities are clearly imminent, and then CONSULT REGULARLY so long as forces remain in those situations.
48‑hour report: If U.S. forces are introduced into hostilities, into foreign territory/airspace/waters while equipped for combat (with limited logistical exceptions), or in numbers that substantially enlarge a combat force already abroad, the President must submit a written report to congressional leaders within 48 HOURS.
Report contents: That report must describe the circumstances, the claimed constitutional/statutory authority, and the ESTIMATED SCOPE AND DURATION of the hostilities or involvement.
Ongoing reports: While forces remain in such hostilities or situations, the President must report periodically on status, scope, and duration, at least EVERY SIX MONTHS.
60‑day clock: Within 60 DAYS after a report is submitted or required to be submitted, the President must TERMINATE the use of those forces unless CONGRESS has declared war, specifically authorized the operation, extended the period by law, or is physically unable to meet due to attack.
30‑day withdrawal extension: The President may extend for up to 30 ADDITIONAL DAYS, with a written certification, if “UNAVOIDABLE military necessity” requires continued use of forces solely to ENSURE THEIR SAFE WITHDRAWAL.
There is a difference with these two, at least Nancy had her astrologer. The only thing Melania has is an old man that trusts his gut! What could possibly go wrong there!?!
Right you are, Georgia! And thank you for your wise initial comment, which of course spurred the satirical spirit within me to put Andrew Lloyd Weber to a good use, for once!
I agree Slovakia along with Hungary, should be shit-canned from the EU.
She's from Slovenia, which is still anti-Putin. I thought it must have been Slovakia,, but fact-checked myself to be sure. I was very disappointed. LOL
But what got me was Melania's suit at the UN which was so close to an iconic Evita one (see links below for the images.) I think Melania may be a fan girl.
I wish I could feel sure about Melania not evolving into Evita, but with Trump we are in an age of "personalized diplomacy," with Trump's family members and cronies running the show by whispering in his ear. Her actually wielding the gavel at a UN Security Council meeting with the US holding the chair was a startling visual. Also a major diss of the UN.
Then there was Edith Wilson covering up Woodrow's stroke for a year while making decisions...
With this regime, every time I think something is implausible, "couldn't possibly happen here" it seems to start coming true.
I am sure that Amb. Mike Huckabee will tell you your faith in the Israeli Tourist buses will keep you safe and set you free…
He also made sure to ID potential targets for any Hamas operatives in Israel to locate groups of Americans to take as hostages, but hey they could wait for the buses to cross into Egypt.
We Spend Almost a Trillion Yearly on War. That’s Insane. *see link for full details
🦅 Better Ways To Spend Half a Trillion Dollars
So many life-changing policies would become possible if America halved its military budget. Here’s what $443 billion yearly could fund if directed fully toward each item:
1. Medicare for All — Most estimates put the net new federal cost at $300-400 billion/year (replacing premiums, copays, and deductibles currently paid privately).
2. End hunger — Making breakfast and lunch free at every school costs about $20 billion per year. $443 billion could end hunger in America.
3. Build millions of public housing units — At $443 billion/year, you could build 1.5 to 2 million new public housing units every single year.
4. Cancel all medical debt — You could eliminate every dollar of it in the first year and still have over $240 billion left for other health investments that same year.
5. Cancel all student debt — You could wipe it all out in about four years, then fund free public college permanently going forward with money to spare.
6. Make public college and trade school free— You could eliminate tuition, massively expand capacity, and fund living stipends for students.
7. Universal childcare and pre-K — $443 billion would fund a system where every family in America has access to free or near-free childcare from birth through age five, with well-paid unionized staff, and still leave $340+ billion on the table.
8. Green energy transition jobs program — You could retrofit every building in the country, build out renewable energy infrastructure nationwide, and fund union-wage jobs for every displaced fossil fuel worker many times over.
9. National high-speed rail network — $443 billion/year could build a comprehensive national network connecting every major metro area within a decade, something comparable to what China and Europe have built.
10. Repair all deteriorating infrastructure — $443 billion yearly covers that completely — every bridge, road, dam, water system, school building, and electrical grid — and leaves room for new construction.
11. Universal home and community-based care — $443 billion fully funds this with well-paid caregivers and eliminates every waitlist in the country.
12. Federal jobs guarantee — $443 billion lands right in that range, potentially employing 10-15 million people in public works, caregiving, environmental restoration, and community development.
13. Expand and strengthen Social Security— $443 billion/year could increase average benefits by roughly 35-40%, lower the retirement age, and extend the trust fund indefinitely. That would lift virtually every senior out of poverty.
14. Community health centers and mental health services — $443 billion could build out the entire system in a single year and fund operations for decades.
15. Weatherize and retrofit every home — $443 billion/year does the entire country in one year, cutting energy bills for tens of millions of families immediately — and reducing carbon emissions.
16. Universal paid family and medical leave— $443 billion funds this nearly six times over. You could offer six months of paid leave and still have hundreds of billions remaining.
17. Fully fund and transform veterans’ care— $443 billion a year could double VA healthcare staffing, eliminate every wait list, build state-of-the-art facilities in every region, fully fund mental health and suicide prevention programs, end veteran homelessness (roughly 35,000 veterans are unhoused on any given night), and guarantee every veteran world-class care without bureaucratic delays — all while keeping the existing VA public healthcare system rather than privatizing it.
✅ The staggering thing about this list is that even the most expensive items rarely exceed $443 billion individually. ✅ You could fund several of them simultaneously with half the military budget. My response is, first, that $443 billion a year is still a huge amount of money. Second, there’s a huge amount of fat that can be quickly and easily cut because military spending is rampant with waste, irrationality, and lack of financial accountability. Third, there is strong precedent for a massive military cut: military spending was cut in half from 1945 to 1946 in the wake of World War II.
✅ For context, the US spends more on its armed forces than the next nine countries combined.” *see link below for graphic.
I think Trump has created a bigger problem for us and our posterity then we can even grasp right now. Every time he opens that hateful hole in his face he digs us deeper and deeper into a credibility debt with the world's population. In my opinion maybe it would help to put a Trillion Yearly in a Peace Department that is mandated by law to work on uniting the people of the world. In my model Amendment language of my Memorandum to We the People I include a clause to elevate the Peace Corps to a U.S. Department and to promote peace among the diverse and plural population of the United States and between us and the people of the world. It is part of a comprehensive five section model amendment: strong medicine for our badly wounded Republic. I say “strong” because I have read the proposed amendment introduced by Senator Adam Schiff, et, al., intended to address Citizens United (2010) and find it to not be the rampart we need.
As I read the language by Senator Schiff, et, al., although I do not believe it to be their intention, I see a problem. The problem is that it uses legal terms of art such as “...may regulate and impose...”, “...may regulate and enact...”, and “...shall have power to implement...” The problem with such terms is that it allows Congress and the States to decide whether they “may” or “shall” not regulate, enact, or implement anything. Some people elected to Office may even read it as a way to profit from such decision making. I see those words as a gate which for a fee will be left wide open to mega-money in politics. Moreover, over the last 16 years since Citizens United the Court has continued to chip away at our constitution and no proposed amendment addresses these newer cases. My language does, and more posted at UnitedWeAmend.org
Albert, you should send Schiff your suggestion, when you recognize a weak point in their verbiage. If you’ve read the journalist Christopher Armitage on Substack here, he’s helping us write to key people in the Legislature all the time. ✊
“Influence only counts when it reaches somewhere new: a conversation with someone who doesn’t already agree, a message to someone with actual authority, a presence in a room where decisions get made. Plenty of us already know this. We’ve been doing it. And it can feel like shouting into a void that never answers back. Anyone who’s been doing this work knows that feeling. And the answer is not to stop. The answer is compound interest.”~Christopher Armitage
I have sent the explanation above and link to Senator Schiff and my other Federal and State legislators here in California. I learned in a "Public Interest Law" class that every revolution in history was the result of just two or sometimes three people who worked close together to rally a community. It would be best if people read the message of the Memorandum. Being informed of the sum of what we have lost and the type of amendment required to correct the damage is primary to all for the movement required to amend. The sum and remedy is what my Memorandum is about. It only takes two or three well inform people in each Congressional district to that. I will search to find Christopher Armitage. Thank you.
All militaries for as long as we have good archaeological evidence, have invested heavily in being ready to fight the last war. That has only worked when technological progress was so slow as to be nearly nonexistent, which has definitely not been the case since the the mid 16th century. The resulting waste has been consistent over the past four centuries. One item that never ceases to amaze me is the enormity of the reserves of saddles, blankets and supplies for taking care of cavalry horses that the U.S. Army had on hand after the end of WWI - stuff that had zero value during that conflict, even though there were some instances of idiotic officers sending mounted troops against gas and automatic weapon fire.
The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how terribly obsolete much of the current American arsenal really is. Some of the waste comes from inter-service rivalries, and some of it comes from mission nonsense.
Then there is the strategic risk. If one does too effective of a job of convincing an adversary that they cannot win using a conventional approach, and they are committed to being your enemy, then they adopt asymmetric strategies such as we experienced in 2001. Sadly, one of the things we are likely to reap from this illegal war is more of that.
Alas, I fear that passage in Exodus 20 understates reality by several orders of magnitude. The iniquities of DJT are likely to be visited upon us for centuries to come.
Actually, Craig, horses, mules, and donkeys were instrumental in WWI, being used for artillery, cavalry, and transport. Approximately 8 million of them died. There were even cavalry battles in WWII, but obviously, by then, mounted cavalry was obsolete.
I should add that while Pershing and his buddies traveled around in his staff cars (Dodges and at the end a Locomobile), and had used an armored car during his pursuit of Pancho Villa; and there were early tanks in use in the war, he and his staff showed zero understanding the of the emergence of mechanized tools for infantry. Compare that to what we are witnessing in Ukraine with a contest of which side can outwit the other with various electronics supplements to their ever evolving drones. Again, the WWI foolishness just amazes. The thinking was no different from several 14th century battles that saw knights in armor devastated by armies composed of relatively untrained peasants and tradesmen.
Trump wants $1.5 trillion for the 2027 defense budget, a massive increase from the roughly $901 billion projected for FY2026. Hegseth blusters on about the massive budget as a "message to the world" and a commitment to reestablishing U.S. military might.
If they can wrangle up an additional half a billion dollars for the next fiscal year defense budget then there's no reason another $ 500 million couldn't be scraped together to pay for one of those 17 things on that list, funding programs that would actually be beneficial to Americans. Or even better, slash the defense budget and pay for several of those things on that list.
Brainwashing. My long time friend, a sharp IT businesswoman, fell under the Trump spell years ago. She embodies just about everything that MAGA hates--unmarried, no kids, a sib whose lived off social networks for decades. She recently told me she hates all the Cabinet with the exception of Rubio--but she still loves Trump.
I keep working on her--gently. She is supportive of LGTBQ+ community, is pro-choice, and lives in a community with many Muslims. She's traveled the world. I just can't fathom this, so I don't give up on her.
If we are spending that much per year on the Military-we might as well put them to work. Ya know-it’s like all the construction guys standing over a hole, leaning on shovels, watching one guy dig the hole. They makin all dat money just standin round.
(I am being sarcastic, of course)
What we need are smart people willing to sit down and identify what’s gone wrong and come up with the solutions that the majority of We the People need. There needs to be deadlines set-and action taken. Democracy is an ongoing living breathing vital part of our America, therefore it requires our attention or it will die.
I know it is still considered early for the 2028 POTUS candidate to emerge, but considering how Trump never stopped campaigning 2020-2024, I'd like to see Democrats hammer together a platform and go to it MESSAGING it NOW--unify that message between all potential candidates.
What do I want to hear them say? Basic knowledge that translates into even the thickest of skulls!
Point out that you CANNOT lower any price more than 100%
Translate monetary units/concepts into TIME. Many people's brains shut off when you talk large numbers, but they understand TIME. I'd like them to pick the "average" American family income, and compare that sum to ONE MINUTE--then tell them how long it would take them to earn as much as that billionair.
I would like them to point out how population is decreasing and the GOP answer is for families to have more babies--which wouldn't impact the workforce for about twenty years. In my case, my father was one of 12 kids. He had five kids. Of us five, I had three, one sibling is childless, and the others each had two. WE NEED IMMIGRANTS to fill positions and help staff new businesses!
I would hammer home how ENORMOUS our military already is. I think people have this idea that China and Russia have us greatly overarmed. FALSE. That needs to be made crystal clear.
I'd make people understand the monetary costs of clean energy vs fuel, and how data centers are driving up OUR costs.
I would acknowledge that some immigrants are criminals, and that the normal police and court system was handling it, but how the vast majority of crime is committed by OUR OWN CITIZENS! Why isn't Trump addressing that?!?
And the fight against trans people--point out they comprise less than 0.5% of our population--and when Trump claims "they are stealing your kids and changing their gender"--ask people to really think: do they KNOW a single trans person? Is there any in their town? Point out that the REAL issues the majority face are not who is trans, but how the average person is going to fed, house and keep their family healthy.
"Concepts" are very hard to get across, which is one reason I think Biden lost. Nobody believed the economy was good when they saw the price of eggs skyrocket. Even explaining the avian flu didn't work. This is one reason I loved Katie Porter and her white boards!
In the years I've been reading HCR, I've read many thoughtful, heartfelt posts. Some enlighten, some inspire.
Your's today, JaKsaa has done them all. This is truly one of the best posts I've seen here, and I think those who post here set a ver high bar for peons like me.
I have no social media accounts, but if I did, I'd post your comment on all of them! Just imagine the world we COULD HAVE, if only we got our priorities right!!
Thanks Miselle, but my post came from Eric Blanc, and his Substack link has the full article which is even better than the condensed version I pasted here. Start with a free Substack subscription and you can upgrade to a paid subscription later. I always paste the link when I share an article that rocks the truth.
Thank you, that is excellent! I have an older sister who lacks a computer. I print out the LFAA daily. I just printed this to give her, also. She needs to be INFORMED!
Maybe they should have thought of a frickin’ plan first, indeed.
“To think clearly about Middle East wars, you need to hold multiple thoughts in your head at the same time. It’s a complicated, kaleidoscopic region where religion, oil, tribal politics and great power politics interweave in every major story. If you are looking for a black-and-white narrative, you might want to take up checkers..."
So writes Tom Friedman in today’s NY Times. He reminds those with short-term memory loss that the opposite of autocracy there is almost never ‘democracy’, but disorder. Reality trumps “slam dunks” while “we’ll be greeted as liberators” forms the miasma that prevents us from seeing the very things we refuse to believe could happen.
Trump, Netanyahu, Jared Kushner and Prince Mohammed bin Scissorhands have now upended just about everything in the Middle East. Whatever their relationship with one another, none of them give two hoots about democracy. Netanyahu seeks to escape criminal charges for corruption at home — and should Democrats regain a solid enough majority in both House and Senate in November, Trump will surely face something similar here.
Forget planning for the future, this regime can’t even tell us why it went to war two days ago. Through congressional surrogates, it spews idiocies (on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) about Tehran being 45 minutes away from being able to take out New York. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it’s about the “vile, evil” regime run by mullahs. When the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs told the President that a war could have significant American casualties, Trump twisted that around on “Truth Social” (nothing to do with truth, of course) to claim that a US victory would be easy. At a press conference, His Ugliness started talking about his beautiful golden drapes rather than about what comes next. Reports are surfacing that he felt empowered — “on a roll” after Venezuela — just like every dumb asshole in every casino in the world just certain he’ll outsmart the house with the next roll of the dice.
When someone won’t answer basic questions and keeps changing their story about why they did what they did, they’re either incompetent or lying (or both). When dishonest fuckups announce that ‘some of you are going to die and that’s ok by me’ as Lord Farquhar said in “Shrek” — you know they have no more understanding of the consequences of war than a 4-year-old.
The GOP will now try to co-opt patriotism itself, spinning bullshit like it was fine silk. Pierce through the not-ready-for-prime-time rhetoric and pay attention to who gains from all this. Watch what happens rather than what they insist you’re seeing. Expect oil prices to rise — and stay there a long time. Expect many more US soldiers to die for a cause nobody can explain. Expect instability across multiple countries.
And prepare for the “unknown unknowns.” Iran might well find itself run by kinder, gentler mullahs in the future unwilling (or unable) to murder their own people, export terror, destabilize neighbors, manufacture Shaheed missiles to kill Ukrainians, repress women or threaten Israel. But the nation could just as easily spin out of control, unraveling into fractured chaos. We don’t know what will happen. Neither do they.
So fasten your seat belts, ladies and germs. Our pilot is a duplicitous moron making shit up to appear competent and powerful. He dumped the navigator and smashed the plane’s radar system, flying blind, while a real pea-souper of a fog hangs over the night skies.
Thanks for the reminder, lauriemcf. Wisdom from HCR amid the chaos:
“Trump’s attack on Iran scorns the will of the people and their constitutional right to decide whether they want to pay for a war with their money and their lives. That disdain for democratic government reveals that Trump’s military adventure against Iran is also fundamentally an attack on the United States of America.”
He’s opened Pandora’s Box over there and doesn’t have a clue what’s to come. This fuckup will bite him in the ass in ways he’s never dreamed of. He’s really stepped in it this time, and I for one would not want to a part of his Secret Service detail going forward. And that he’s killing young American fighting women and men for his own personal satisfaction is beyond unspeakable. It almost makes you rooting for an Iranian hit job. Almost.
It’s worth examining this deep analysis from Haviv Rettig Gur. He argues that the main trigger for this war was geopolitical. Specifically, Haviv makes the point that America was not manipulated into "riding piggyback" on Israel’s conflict with Iran!
I disagree ArticStones - Your guy Haviv is not admitting that Trump thinks he can do a one-and-done like the puppet he played with Netanyahu last JUN 22 2025.
see Prof. John Mearsheimer : Is Trump’s War Beyond Control? (03/03/26)
Love how, ending, Heather quotes Jason Crow -- on practical things decent Americans want & need.
But of course the U.S. is ruled mainly by mad souls. For instance, what lesson from the Epstein scandal repeats itself in Donald’s war on Iran?
Simple – that unaccountable elites do as they like, flaunting illegalities, as Donald flaunts the U.S. Congress, to whom the Constitution reserves war-making powers.
Eff you, Donald says to Congress and to the American people, insulting all even further by presenting no rationale, no strategy for his war.
Strategy? What we should have – we the people – is schools with essay writing programs so the world’s youth learn to go beyond the ruling group-thinks instead to see individuals by their more nuanced and complicated cultures all inhabit.
The world has no such schools anywhere wherever our packaging elites rule. We have damages – from the 1200 underage girls and young women hurt by Donald’s many rich and unaccountable pals to the scores of girls now bombed and killed in their elementary school in southern Iran.
Chump proving to the world and to us that he can do as he wants, or as Rupert dictates. One wonders what is Vlad’s take on this. Betcha he has an end game. But chump may be weaving a scenario that will box him into the most complicated pretzel. Will Melania threaten nukes? WWVD. So many options. Tune in to Fox to read the tea leaves, or see the tea being brewed. Still Epstein rages.
Melania, wearing Evita-style couture, will be proclaimed Chairwoman for Life of the Board of Peace upon Trump's defenestration from the Presidency. She will subsequently wed Putin, and they will reign jointly as Co-Chairs of the Board of Peace over the world until Putin is bored of peace and knocks Melania off with some leftover poison from Navalny. A shrine will be built within the Kremlin with a glass sarcophagus like Lenin's, to honor her memory. The Russian Orthodox Church will grant her sainthood. Putin will then download his brain into an AI bot, and it will rule forever while he places himself in suspended animation to be available for emergency consultations or travel to Mars, whichever comes first at the end of the world.
Sorry for the dark humor, but we are in such deep shit at the moment that I feel like my head is going to explode. It relieves the pressure briefly.
President Trump’s Iran war briefing reads like he picked the rationale from a cereal box and then asked Fox hosts to back-solve the logic, as if foreign policy were a football pick-em sheet. One day it’s stopping missiles, the next it’s solving 1979, then maybe it’s about tariff walls or dangling shiny medals. He throws spaghetti at the map and hopes something sticks. Meanwhile, pundits who for decades cheered for a strike now act shocked that there’s no exit plan. It’s as though the war’s goal was never clarity but a press clip reel and applause lines. If history offers a messy finale, don’t be surprised. This was American grand strategy defined by cable reruns and impulse buys, not a map or mission.
The difference between kids on social media accepting everything they see and kids on social media being able to discern shit from shinola is critical thinking, developed by learning to write argumentative essays in school.
Critical thinking skills are not being taught in schools. If they were, we never would have gotten to this scenario.
Nowhere near to the degree it should be. And not just in schools. We live in a beneficial and dangerous world, we tilt the odds in our favor when we know what's what. critical thinking should be promoted as a social value.
Exactly! There seems to be an American cultural propensity to disbelieve experts (and ironically, at the same time believe the unsubstatiated claims of "celebrities" or "online personalities"). What ever happened to "Question Authority"? We (as Americans) accept what Big Daddy Trump tells us and we reject both the evidence of our eyes and the evidence of experts who have practiced these professions all their lives. The Europeans I live among are not like this. (Although I make no excuse for the farmers' party, but to be fair, they don't negate the data on nitrogen; they just don't want to have to change their processes because of it.) They don't just blindly follow authority. They argue. Boy do they argue! Sitting in university classes with them, I see teenagers making arguments I wouldn't have known how to make at their age. Why? Education. I went to good schools in the US and still couldn't make a decent argument until grad school!
Tom Nichols wrote *The Death of Expertise* to describe the discounting of information that comes from people who have thoroughly researched and studied a topic. Further, he describe the open hostility of (usually ignorant) persons against such experts. We see this daily under this regime, and from the diehard MAGAts.
Seems that every time things get hot re Epstein, Trump attacks.
In January, after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, five Republican senators—Rand Paul, Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Todd Young, and Josh Hawley (R-MO)—initially voted to advance a resolution to restrain military action.
But “...should the President determine that he needs to introduce US Armed Forces into hostilities in major military operation in Venezuela, he would seek congressional authorizations in advance (circumstances permitting),” Rubio told them and as a result, Young and Hawley switched their votes to oppose Trump.
We need to pressure them and Wicker and the other members of Armed Services and other Senate committees that deal with national security.
I think we all depend on the expertise of others for confidence in conclusions we can't entirely or even begin to verify ourselves. Not having a large hadron collider handy, or any more than a bare hint of what to do with it, I accept that it is highly likely that it's application confirmed the suspected existence of a "Higgs Boson"; although I assume it has not enabled the last word as to what a HIggs Boson is or seems to be. I trust that when I buy a quart of milk labeled "pasteurized", that the label is accurate (I leave the raw milk to fanatics). When I cross a bridge, I trust that it had been engineered well enough to hold to together.
And yet I DON"T trust expertise 100%, and evaluate, so far as I am able, from as much I can gather, of the logic and evidence underpinning it that resonates with my own accumulated understandings. Also, I think that not everything that matters can be proven; by I still look for points of congruence with what i find to be convincingly demonstrated, individually and collectively, as fruitful reporting of what our actual circumstance actually are.
Uncertainty, sometimes and to some degree, keeps the next moment discomforting and potentially dangerous, but also reveals what may be enlightening and engaging, and full of wonders. In other words, keeps us alert, which is, is it not, the opposite of the consequence of brain-death?
Kass, this cultural propensity and the fawning over celebrities and "online personalities" (I think they're called "influencers" now) is something my folks would have railed against. I have always looked at folks who devour everything these celebrity influencers spew as being "ain't right in the head" (my sister is one of those; thankfully she has a heart of gold and at least a bit of common sense).
For the life of me I have NEVER understood celebrity worship.
Me either, Ally. I mean, I adored Duran Duran back in the 1980s when I was a teenager. But I wouldn't faint dead away at a concert. I don't even think I had a poster of them in my bedroom.
I have enjoyed and, especially, when younger, I have appreciated and get o degree of ego hit, from some connection with some sort of celebrity, but it's mostly vicarious nonsense. I have seen otherwise seemingly reasonable people become rude or even belligerent defending a celebrity (especially an athlete) who does not know, except in aggregate, that they exist. The narcissist in me would still get a kick out of meeting certain people, though not so much the ones that stay in the news. I recall a photo of teen Greta Thunberg (who I do admire) shooting a laser hate-stare at nearby Donald Trump (who is just plain repellent). The OMG ecstatic thing, I mean I really, really, got that when I first stood at the South edge of the Grand Canyon, but am too misanthropic to do it on account of people.
The ad people, Ally, call their resource here subliminals.
That is, the celebrity, or the influencer, gets placed in settings where the background, interior design, brand names, accessories, cosmetics, and hair styles worn all radiate hidden messages. Energy. Power. Strength. Popular appeal. Marketability to wider audiences. It's a science -- a multi-billion-dollar, carefully designed industry.
What ever happened to "Question Everything" (Euripides) ? I don't mean lazy cynicism; the secret hiding in plain sight is that doubt is just the other side of curiosity; essentially you have to be ready to doubt to be open minded? No?
Basically certainly becomes probability, and comes in degrees. Certainty chokes off learning. Not that life does not demand commitments, to be or not to be; at some point, it's one or the other, but even Hamlet acknowledged the unknown. Edwin Land, the inventor of the "Polaroid instant camera) said "It's not that we need new ideas, but we need to stop having old ideas." It's not that we need new ideas, but we need to stop having old ideas." Perhaps it is more precise to say we should maneuver to use our old ideas as footholds, as often reliable stepping stones, into grasping present circumstances, but not let them get in the way. Doubt and supporting degrees of confidence liberate and empower us for perspicacity and reliance. No? what better tool for education to facilitate?
I question even the counsel of certified experts, and could provide some real-world examples of when that was wise; but I respect demonstrated expertise, and sometimes (as with the services of a physician) need to put my trust in other's expertise. That;s still an educated guess, which in the end is the best our nervous systems can manage, even when its product is admirably sound.
As for celebrity? It is simply sloppy thinking to suppose that acclaim in one area necessarily carries over to others, even for those who talents are broad. Commercialization cultivates it, but we would be wise to resist it. What if we looked at political campaigns as job interviews, based on evidence of specific and proven competence, not showy notoriety? If we are really to have a government of, by and for the people, we are stuck with a share of >adult< responsibilities for outcomes.
Agreed! After all, René Descartes said that all he could be certain of was that there was someone who was doubting everything. Not "I think, therefore I am" but "I doubt, therefore there must be someone doing the doubting."
I'm 75, so squarely in the "oldies" camp -- but neither I nor any of my similarly aged friends or family have been conned by this orange disaster. I don't think age is the key marker here for who follows this menace.
I don't know about the #1 cohort but my parents never had to learn critical thinking skills. They were trained to be good little coal miners and factory girls and not question authority.
Depends on whether your parents escaped or not, which in large part depended on luck. My dad was in the middle of 8 boys in western PA coal country/ hardscrabble farming. He was too sickly to go into the mines, so his mother sent him to high school, and wangled a college scholarship for him from the local coal baron. My dad became an actuary and helped pay for his younger brothers to become a priest, a teacher, and a lawyer. The older ones worked the mines or became factory workers.
My Hungarian grandparents met & married there, Georgia.
This was the Big Sandy river valley between Kentucky and West Virginia, below Pittsburgh. They then moved to Cleveland (East 125th St., off Buckeye Rd., St. Margaret's parish). My father was born there, 1918.
Sounds like my great-grandfather's kids in Anthracite PA: the older ones couldn't read or write and went into the mines, the younger ones went to school and became teachers. My father, by contrast, was intelligent and had great eyesight and when he graduated from high school in 1943, the Navy wanted to train him as a pilot and send him to uni for engineering. But when he tested 4F, all that was left to him was driving a truck for the coal company.
Right. Adherence to codes of conformity are emphasized in more rural and poor schools. Critical thinking training is typically reserved for the children of elites. Books on tracking in schools chronicled this decades ago (Jeannie Oakes and others); not much has changed.
A storm gathers over the White House as missiles fly and markets tremble. This is not just another foreign conflict. It is a test of leadership, restraint, and consequence. In Trump’s War: A Conflict as Unstable as He Is, we examine the best case, the worst case, and the dangerous uncertainty in between. https://essayx.substack.com/p/trumps-war-a-conflict-as-unstable
I thought ICTT was referring to Melania's UN appearance/speech, Phil, but because of how the threads go on and on and on, sometimes it's hard to know. which comment to ascribe a reply to.
Confusion as to who said what, donna, always has me mention name early on.
As you do here, too.
ICTT occupies a guaranteed hostility and cynicism here -- hates referencing humanities, and scorns higher standards for schools. Thinks it irresponsible ever to question standardized testers or corporate textbook packagers.
ICTT- I find many of your comments interesting and insightful, sometimes funny. But, your ongoing battle Phil is just tedious. Can’t you two just fight it out in direct messages?
Phil, I know that you are well-read far beyond me, but I want to offer a correction with respect and kindness. I'll let Merriam-Webster do the talking.
Hegseth said the United States under Trump "is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history." So why did they bomb the girls school in southern Iran in one of their first strikes, killing over 100 schoolgirls? "Surgical precision" as Hegseth phrased it would mean in this case monstrous barbarism.
Constance, I would posit that christian nationalism is the obverse of the Sharia coin. Females of the species are useful for only one thing: serving males. This service takes many forms, whether it's doing their laundry, cleaning their castles, cooking their meals, providing sexual pleasure or rearing the resulting children.
Currently, females outnumber males, and Mr. Kegsbreath would like to correct that imbalance.
Once upon a time there was a Queens real estate mob boss sundowning as president. Normally he governed using denial, doubt and delay, but Saturday was different. He received a call from a friend. “Iran is doing bad things again. You obliterated their nuclear abilities once, I need you to do it again.” And the prince known as the journalist killer hung up the phone supremely confident in his ability to rule the world in oil and crypto. Confused, the old conman turned to the little conman with a chip on his shoulder and a dome over his head. “Should I bomb Iran,” he asked? “No time like the present,” replied BB gun. “Congress is not in town and you know how cumbersome democracy is.” “ But what about the losers who love me?” whined the president as he imitated them flapping their arms. “They say please, Please, PLEASE, sir, remember America First!” BB looked at him askance. “You do remember all the cheap land and cheap labor I promised you for your resort in Gaza, yes?” THE END
An extraordinary conversation in this moment. Every member of Congress ought to listen. And every American, too.
A revelation (for me) on where we find ourselves, with a clearing in the path forward:
“[T]his is not some process tug of war between two branches of government. What we're really talking about is the fact that the American people's will right now is being subverted. That this war is being forced upon an American public that does not want it. And so, I think sometimes it gets very caught up as if we're saying, ‘Oh, well, you know, we need to do this because that's the process of what the legislature is able to do.’ That is not the full story. The full story is we're doing this because this is how we can ensure that the American people's voice is listened to. And I just think that voice is so much missing right now. And I think a lot of the American people don't feel like their voice is being heard.”
~ Senator Andy Kim
The Kaine-Paul Iran War Powers Resolution (S.J.Res.104) in the Senate and the Khanna-Massie Iran War Powers Resolution (H.Con.Res.38) in the House will be called for a vote this week. Let us make our voices heard!
Tonight, the Contrarian published an article written jointly by John Danforth (former R Senator from Missouri), Richard Gephardt, former D House Minority Leader, Judge Luttig and Norman Eisen laying out the illegality of this war. I count at least two new High Crimes and Misdemeanors…and counting.
the brilliant Mary Geddrey put Trump's motives this way: ""A belief that ... geopolitical 52-card pickup might somehow arrange itself into a winning hand."
Where you say "The Shah had his secret police," you might as easily say he had the U.S.'s secret police -- given that the notorious Savak were all U.S. "trained" and U.S. armed.
U.S. forces taught the Savak techniques in torture, disappearing persons, surveillance, and crowd control by indiscriminate shooting to kill.
One would think that a wise man in the Oval Office would give some thought to WHY presidents have for the past 45 years refrained from opening this can of worms. But then we have a moron who thinks he and the “ news readers” on Fauxnooz know better than all the former administrations put together.
Former paratrooper and Army Ranger Representative Jason Crow (D-CO) poignantly said this about the reality of war: "I learned, years ago, that when elites like Donald Trump bang the war drums and pound their chests in Washington, D.C., and talk about sending troops into the ground or into combat, he’s not talking about his kids. He’s not talking about all of his minions’ kids. He is talking about kids like me and the people that I grew up [with] in working-class areas, rural places around the country that have to pick up rifles, jump in the tanks or helicopters, and…do the tough work. Well, America is over it. America is over the three trillion dollars we’ve spent. The quagmires of failed nation building. The sending of our sons and daughters and brothers and sisters to enrich oil executives. America is over endless adventurism using our military. Because they want their infrastructure rebuilt. They want quality affordable healthcare. They want to be able to afford groceries. They want to be able to afford a home. They want to be able to send their kids to school.”
It was reminiscent of what Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler (1881-1940), had said after a distinguished career as a senior Marine Corps officer who fought in both the Mexican Revolution and World War I. In 1935, he wrote "War Is a Racket", where he described and criticized the workings of the United States in its foreign actions and wars, such as those in which he had been involved, including the American corporations and other imperialist motivations behind them.
"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives."
"A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."
General Butler was the most decorated Marine in U.S. history at the time of his death in 1940.
Yes there was a conspiracy plot to install retired Major General Smedley Butler as dictator of the United States in 1933, known now as the Business Plot in 1933. As a retired Marine Corps major general, Butler testified under oath that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization with him as its leader and use it in a coup d'état to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1934, Butler testified under oath before the United States House of Representatives Special Committee on Un-American Activities (the "McCormack–Dickstein Committee") on these revelations. Although no one was prosecuted, the congressional committee final report said, "there is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient."
It was soon after this experience with a fascist coup attempt and reflecting on his 33 years of military service that he wrote 'War is a Racket', Butler's 1935 expose on war profiteering and the folly of war.
Seems to me that Rupert is our de facto president. He rules from the Fox studios as the country reacts to the violence that ignorance and power spread worldwide. What could go wrong when the bull in the china shop has no restraint.
"He reminded the world, as he has time and time again…[i]f you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on Earth, we will hunt you down, without apology and without hesitation, and we will kill you.” So this means they are finally going to hunt down the killers of Nicole Good and Alex Pretti while Melania does her "Be Best" routine as her husband bombs another country!
No legal, no moral justification for expanding the attacks and implecating our Volunteer military in murdering innocent children and other civilians. We should be condemned by the UN.
Everything about this war is wrong. Killing Khamenei, evil leader within his own country, is wrong, even if you can justify it. But here is what irks me most. A bomb from us, whether Israel or the US, killed 175 school girls. They had no guns, no strategic value, and posed no threat. Do we name them? No, just the 6 American combat troops killed unnecessarily because we decided to bomb the innocent and the guilty. Let's keep in mind that all human life has equal value. The girls have equal value. It is the leaders on both sides that should end up in jail. Let the children live.
It still amazes me how the 'cowboy' became the symbol of rugged, powerful individualism when in reality, they were poor exploited workers who had no power or wealth and no independence. I guess because they worked outside in rural areas at a time when most Americans were working indoors increasingly in cities so that looked like 'freedom'? Regardless, it is one of the most harmful pieces of propaganda in history. Fuck Reagan! And all the harm he has done to our country and world.
The original "Cowboys" (as opposed to the more common term "cowhand" ) were a gang of outlaw thieves and cattle rustlers in Cochise County, Arizona in the 1870s.
The republicans, particularly this regime, are just reverting to type.
Even the whole 'wild west' with outlaws and bank robbers and such was romanticized into something it wasn't. It was a very short period after the Civil War. Just think about how devastating that war must have been for the country, a war entirely on US soil with @ 700,000 people dead (the equivalent of around 7 million with today's population). We are still experiencing the aftershocks of Covid and that had no where near the number of deaths and was not war. And then 2 million veterans trying to return to normal life after the war. We now know that in violent conflicts, it is inevitable that a certain percentage of combatants get PTSD. So we have a bunch of young men, many of them with PTSD and likely abusing alcohol and drugs, trying to reintegrate back into society. It is almost inevitable that some could not and would go to the places where the law had not yet been completely established yet. Not romantic at all, just kind of sad (especially when you consider the fate of the native americans during this period).
The one time I met my Wyoming cowboy grandfather, he was 82 years old, working in a sawmill and living in a one-room shack on the high prairie. Not a dime to his name, unable to qualify for SS and before Medicare. A real lesson in rugged individualism.
Is Melania going to be the new Evita?
Is Hegseth the new numerologist with the magic 47?
Starting to smell like Nancy and Ron in the good old Alzheimer days in the White House.
Down The Rabbit Hole And Into The Fox Hole we go......unwillingly and without a rational explanation...
No imminent threat --- ✓ No ICBMs --- ✓ Iran is not a week away from industrial grade uranium enrichment --- ✓ Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear agreement of July 2015 in the year 2018 --- ✓ Trump does not care about the people of Iran and their freedom --- ✓ Regime change is a joke --- ✓ (The Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps will not magically disappear) Senator Andy Kim in interview with HCR on 3/2/26 stated: "This is a regime that has been through and thought about succession for a long time because they have been under constant threat. So this is something they have prepared for."
Rachel Maddow ( video- 2/28/26) asks: "So QUI BONO? -- Who Benefits? Follow the money. Who wants Iran bombed off the map? Who are Iran's rivals and enemies?" Gulf Arab States... Qatar gave Trump a $400 million plane --- ✓ The UAE (United Arab Emirate) structured a crypto-financial transaction of $2 billion into Trump family's " otherwise worthless" crypto financial firm --- ✓ At the end of Trump's first term the Saudis gave Jared Kushner's equity firm $2 billion (Jared negotiates with Iran) --- ✓
One other motive ... Maddow points to 2011, 2012, and 2013 when Trump as citizen said many times ..." that Barak Obama was going to start a war with Iran in order to get re-elected and help the Democratic Party's political prospects." Is this illegal Iranian War......A War of Payback...or A Twisted Strategy for Re-Election ... Or Both with possible shades of Epstein File distraction and shades of an egomaniacal dysfunctional desire for attention and absolute power thrown in for good measure? Whatever the rationale may be, our pushback is now at critical mass and it must be loud and unrelenting...
It's called Operation Epic Distraction for good reasons.
Epic Miasma. Epic Fantasy. Operation Small Penis Compensation…
Oxymoronic Epic micropenis.
Operation Epstein Distraction ... is it working?
NO. It is not. Trumpstein File anger is only growing. And growing fast.
This maniacal attack on Iran is just another layer on top of several layers of angry resentment festering across the nation. The repercussions from this insanity will be multiple and devastating. They will bring more and more chaos to an already disintegrating administration.
It's beginning to feel like a Peter Sellers movie.
I expect Susie Wiles to hold her own news conference soon. She will stand at the podium. Silent at first. Tears will fill her eyes. Then she will blurt it out: "WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP?!"
Next stop, Americans across the region trapped and possibly killed. Iran will seek vengeance on every level. And they have friends to help. Guess who helps Iran? China. Guess who absolutely loves this stupidity? Russia. Putin reads the headlines. "Hmm, Great. No news about Ukrainians freezing to death because I bombed their energy plants."
Gas prices to escalate. Is there a word that describes one of the greatest "backfires" in American history? And Captain Chaos is getting his direction from the punks on Fox News. This truly is material for a sequel to "Dr. Strange Love"...no wait. "Idiocracy" is just as appropriate.
The other way Putin benefits is that the price of oil is going through the roof. He is laughing all the way to his war in Ukraine.
Bill, I assume you refer to the Peter Sellers/Shirley MacLaine movie, "Being There" in which a learning-disabled gardener rises to a top-level government position by uttering nonsense phrases that are repeated as "wisdom" by stupid, wealthy, influential people. Because, I have been saying for some time that this timeline feels exactly like that movie.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078841
You absolutely nailed the comparison. Great movie but disastrous in real life. Buckle up because the road ahead is going to get pretty rough.
Yes, that's the guy who was educated by an obsession with American television. Yet he walks on water, and the sky is the limit, due to a twisted cult like form of cognitive dissonance by those around him. Trump is a real life, but evil version, of simple-minded Chauncey Gardiner (Peter Sellers) with the wealth of business mogul Ben Rand (Melvyn Douglas) and becoming President as plotted by party insiders at the end of the movie. It was a comedy movie but staring Trump it is a Horror story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_There#/media/File:Original_movie_poster_for_Being_There.jpg
It's the lunatic asylum. Get Smart territory.
Like living in a Monty Python movie.
I would oh, so wish for the "cone of silence" to be lowered upon the entire Trump Administration
It's "Being There" with Peter Sellers. Trump is as obsessed watching TV as was Chauncey.
The price of gas will jump in part because big Oil will see a chance to pile on and take advantage of the situation even if it is not yet experiencing bigger costs itself.
Wouldn't surprise me, we see $10 per gallon.
Bill put it perfectly: 'Captain Chaos takes his orders from the punks at Fox News.'
Little man, big toys. And consequences? There are none — not in his world. Everything runs on gut instinct and Roy Cohn's golden rule: no matter what happens, claim victory. Lives lost, economies disrupted, people stranded — not his problem. Does any of it make him look tough? In his own eyes, absolutely.
The real question is how we allowed a man this unhinged to have his finger on the most powerful military in human history. Nothing more than a formula for catastrophe
"I like to watch, TV" said by Chauncey Gardiner (played by Peter Sellers) in "Being There", and said by Donald Trump while actually being there.
A friend reported yesterday morning that gas prices were already up.
Susan, in Little Rock, Arkansas, gas prices jumped 35¢ a gallon from Saturday to Sunday. I haven't been in town since then, so I don't know whether prices have increased more.
Edit: I just checked the Gas Buddy app on my phone. Prices are now up 70¢ a gallon since last Friday.
Patricia, And given that we are virtually fossil fuel self-sufficient, doesn’t that suggest that when we’re all distracted Big Oil can price gouge?
Twenty cents a gallon overnite in AZ
They jumped 20 cents overnight here.
Just to add a little background... the movie was based upon a remarkable novel by Jerzy Kosiński of the same title. He wrote several extraordinary short novels, at least one of which - "The Painted Bird" - also seems appropriate to reread because it is about war (WW2). It is never humanity's best use of our collective imagination and intellect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being_There
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Kosi%C5%84ski
These days I keep asking, have we learned nothing? HCR and Wikipedia may not yet be enough, though I pray that I am incorrect.
I had forgotten The Painted Bird. Thanks. Being There has been on my mind fur I guess whenever I saw
it and thought oh my this Coukd actually happen!
"Everything he touches...."
No joke! Putin read MAGA Americans and Dems like a book. He knew that MAGA would fall all over anything that Donnie said or did…until he screwed them over.
More like Operation Epic Deception, a Reichstag-Fire variant intended to produce a new 9/11-caliber frenzy of national hatefulness by positioning stranded USians for easy targeting by vengeful Iranian and/or Islamist death squads.
I wouldn't put it past this administration at all. It's difficult, when looking at Trump's inner circle, who the most incompetent among them might be. There is an ongoing battle among his sycophants for the top spot in mediocrity in uncontrolled crises. Rubio has proven that he may well be the most inept among them. From his failings in attending Senate committee hearings during 2016 to his shifting immigration stance, to his strategy concerning Venezuela, Rubio has done much to convince all of us that he is nothing more than a used-up water boy for Trump's malignant need for violence. And to suck up to one who derided him mercilessly during the 2015 campaign and then accept the Secretary of State position under Trump, says all one has to hear about Rubio's credibility.
Rubio is the immoral trump’s pet castrato! Selected for the post because ‘his’ source of courage never dropped in puberty!
Rubio, apparently, has so little self-worth. Does he have any clue what reliable knowledge is and how to use it properly? Obviously, he resides among the rest of the community of dangerous dunces and sycophants. I wonder if his wife and children are proud of this?
Marco Rubio, recipient of the No Bail Piece of 💩 Prize.
He also wants to become President of these United States of America.
Hegseth's experience more than qualified him to head the worlds greatest military. What's wrong with that?
What really annoys me is that our foreign policy is being directed by Netanhayu and MBS - not by the American public or Congress (well, a few responsible ones in Congress exempted perhaps.)
I want to scream at the whole Universe!
Also being directed by Fox News!!
Loren, that is something that crossed my mind yesterday as well.
Wait till they start hitting US at home, Loren.
As they surely will, Al. Given Iran's alliance with North Korea, my biggest concern is the nuclear threat.
Yes, it works. The front page never mentions the TrumpStein Pedo Files. Trump has twice in the first two months of 2026 unilaterally, thus unconstitutionally and criminally, used our military to commit acts of war against two countries on different sides of the Earth. This time he has done so in a powerful and explosive region that is known for endless conflict. Thus he has put the entire world at the risk of global war.
Now there is even much reported quibbling over the use of the word "War." It's all semantics, the branch of linguistics (scientific study of language and its structure), and logic concerned with meaning, and is all a planned diversion. It draws the front page, thus We the People, away from the true story in the above paragraph. The corporate press plays along...
My Memorandum to We the People discusses control of corporate press and is posted at UnitedWeAmend.org
‘If it bleeds, it leads.’ War headlines catch readers/watchers short attention spans. $$$$$$
"No stupid rules of engagement, no nation-building quagmire, no democracy-building exercise, no politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives.”
What a buffoon. He's a washed up Army Guard major who makes a living thumping his chest and scolding anyone who knows more than him (which is, of course, most of us).
Remember that cringingly embarrassing lecture he gave to general officers that was met with stone-faced silence?
Hegseth is just like Trump: no self-esteem so he overcompensates by banging his chest and exclaiming masculinity.
You know, the senators who confirmed him (& Kennedy, Bondi & Noem) are about as guilty.
Naa ... They're guilty, guilty of a weak conscience, mind, soul, lack of morals, etc ....
That, too.
Okay.., And?
I don’t know what you are asking.
Liverpool FCfan, I agree with your assessment of Pete Hegseth. However, I believe there is another element to the war that is being mostly overlooked. Pete Hegseth is a self -proclaimed christian nationalist as are others in the Trump regime. including some high-ranking officers in the military. For them, this is a holy war with the goal of bringing about the end times as they call it. Jonathan Larsen is one of the people covering this aspect of the attack on Iran. He published a piece last night titled "U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for "Armageddon", Return of Jesus." It's mind boggling, horrifying, and in my opinion well worth reading.
During his time at the podium, Hegseth also said he was praying for Biblical knowledge. I think that's it, at least. I found it chilling.
Connection, EssBee. I don't think it's hyperbole to say that Hegseth, Vought, and others are fanatics.
Those "Armageddon Christians" may be in for a rude awakening when the real End Times play out.
This has been along time coming! In NEO there was a building where someone had had painted a huge mural saying Jewish People Go Back to Israel. It took a long time the activists to get it taken down. Similar thinking but different from James Watts. One of my friends was raised by these this of the end is near Christians. She was sat down by her parents at age 12 or so told we believe the world will end soon. Not Jeanne Dixon fabrication - they believed. No one seems to have cared as the thinking grew and grew.
Agreed, Kamila. I've been "preaching" this for some time now. I was born into an evangelical household, and I would offer one nuanced correction. Evangelicals have believed for about the past 100 years that we are living in "the End Times."
Some evangelical cranks have predicted specific dates when "Jesus would return," even provoking some followers to sell their possessions and wait for Jesus on a hilltop. When Jesus didn't return, they concocted flimsy explanations and exhorted their followers to "keep watching. He'll be here any minute."
For those who've missed my previous comments, evangelicals misinterpret the biblical book of Revelation as prophecy. It is actually coded commentary on the Roman occupation of Israel. In the misinterpretation, Armageddon is battle to end all battles, to take place in the Middle East. This battle will "bind Satan forever," and usher in "The Millennium," a thousand years' reign of peace, during which Jesus will sit on the global throne. This myth is especially appealing to evangelicals because it foretells that Jesus will appoint his followers to positions of authority at all levels around the world. This lust for "divine power" is what animates Christian Nationalists' drive toward a Middle East conflagration.
Dale, thank you for this detailed explanation especially the use and misinterpretation of the book of Revelation. "Lust for 'divine power'."...eek.
Hi, Dale. Thanks for your reply. Recalling a conversation we had previously, I'm hoping all is well with you. Take good care.
Yeah, NOT a good guy at all.
"During Donald Trump's first presidency, Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran Pete Hegseth successfully lobbied for the pardons and clemency of several U.S. service members accused or convicted of war crimes. Hegseth, a vocal critic of the military justice system's treatment of these soldiers, used his platform to champion their cases directly to Trump."
If we don't find a quick way to resist these lunatics, we're going to suffer Hegseth's vision as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Hello, Walter. I agree.
And not only that, but his own service, if I recall, was marred by a lack of understanding of combat rules.
So.., tell me.., What have we done about this?
I guess my question to anyone is: What is our government doing to hold these people accountable to the laws they violate. It's kind of rhetorical, I guess. But, c'mon! We do still have people we are paying to do a job.
I've seen it called "Operation Epstein Fury" as well, as in "Pay no attention to the man on the plane with the minors".
Without wasting any more time the Nobel Committee must bestow trump a once-and-only-time award, the Nobel Piece of Sh*t Prize....
Per AXIOS around midnight, at least 2 drones have hit the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
The Straight of Hormuz is closed. The U.S. State Department has warned Americans to leave the Mideast. As Heather posted, how do the stranded do that?
Per CAROL D. LEONNIG reported on 3/2/26 the FBI, specifically the beer guzzling Patel has recently gutted "CI 12" the FBI unit that could deal with this mess.
I fear worse is to come.
There is worse to come. The US apparently does not have an extraction plan to get Americans out of the whole area--State issued instructions to leave on your own when the airports are closed, but not by the usual official channels.
Brits are already extracting their nationals. I wonder if NATO allies will get US citizens out like Denmark got the US sailor off the nuclear sub off Greenland.
According to Al Jazeera, the embassy in Jordan has evacuated all of its personnel, which is incredibly unusual for an ally to do. Apparently there was a "threat."
“This is not how this is done. The State Department has very complex processes to notify Americans in these places that they need to leave. That hasn’t happened. It’s not official government policy, at least it doesn’t appear to be yet, because this isn’t how they announce official government policy,” Culhane added.
“It’s not quite clear what this means, and exactly how Americans could leave the entire Middle East since commercial traffic has been interrupted so much because of all of the missiles,” she said.
Just think about how many Americans are currently in 12 countries in the Middle East and need evacuation. Not just embassy personnel, and dependents but business people and tourists. IT IS NOT JUST AMERICAN MILITARY LIVES AT STAKE.
Doesn't anyone remember the Iran Hostage Crisis under Jimmy Carter 1979 and lasted until just after Ronald Reagan's inauguration. It took down Carter over 52 American hostages. How many American hostages do you think are going to be taken by Iranian proxies???
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/3/us-urges-citizens-to-immediately-leave-over-a-dozen-middle-east-countries
I remember the 1979 Iran hostage crisis well, and how the remaining hostages were released in the first days of the Regan administration. I also remember how the Canadians were instrumental in getting six American diplomats out of Iran, mainly by issuing fake Canadian Passports, teaching them to say "aboot" rather than "about" and coaching them re: their 'Canadian' identities. I wonder if something similar may be happening now - if only the Canadians and Europeans didn't hate us now...
What I remember learning is that during the campaign Carter had already made sure the hostages would be released, but Reagan interfered and persuaded the Iranians to hold the hostages until after the election. So Reagan could win the election based on Carter's "failure" to get the hostages released…
Sounds eerily familiar, doesn't it? I remember well how Reagan's team, headed, I suspect by his VP George Bush to make Carter look inept and Reagan look like God's Gift to America. Carter's own strength of character vindicated him in the end, and Reagan is remembered only as a senile old cowboy actor who happened to look good on camera and knew how to turn a pretty phrase. We don't even have that Hollywood aura with this latest incarnation.
Susan, as I have opined several times, Reagan was the GOP's "proof of concept," that an ignorant, malleable buffoon could be installed in the White House and manipulated by operators in the shadows. George W. Bush was the "crash test dummy" they used to work out the kinks. Now, Donald is the production model.
Yes. I have read about Reagan's interference.
See the movie “Argo.”
Yes. I remember that too. I knew a hostage. I also remember that Reagan paid the Iranians to keep the hostages until after he won the election against Carter.
Now Trump is paying Iranians to turn against their country. Malcolm Nance surmised that is how the entire navy was able to be destroyed because the person in charge gave up the fleet.
No word from Congress in all this??? Maybe we need hearings like Benghazi...
Someone posted, "Thank God Congress is not alive to see this."
That is freaking awesome, Cinda. Thanks. Gallows humor, perhaps, but it was my first grin of the day. (Well, second. My cat did one of his "jump and overshoot target" approaches when leaping onto the couch and bounced of the back and rolled off the seat. He immediately groomed, so I knew there was "nothing to see here, lady".
Lol. Thanks for that!
I love this!
Both chambers are expected to take up Iran‑related war powers measures mid‑week this week (the week of March 2–6, 2026); press guidance points to floor action likely on Wednesday–Thursday rather than today.
Below is the text of the Resolution that is on the House legislative calender for Wednesday or later of this week.
https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hconres38/BILLS-119hconres38ih.pdf
Big deal. Trump has not followed the law—or Congress—this second go round.
I needed to see this thanks Georgia -- good for passing to people I know. Good also, to see who has stepped up from the House.
Thanks for that, Georgia. It looks so clean, sharp-pointed and inflexible.
I fear that the damage has already been done. trump is a world class monster and there will be payback.
Short and to the point. Will it fly and pass? If it passes will tRump heed it? Not likely, as long as the distraction from the Epstein files is working. Nothing like a made up war to distract the public from the sexual and physical abuse of children. 😡
Georgia, does this mean they are actually coming back into Session? Gosh, this war must be pretty serious!
Well, our good pal Speaker Johnson has Congress in session for two days this week then vacation next week. We need a new Speaker and should pay Congress only when they are in session.
From Time:
https://time.com/7382217/iran-us-middle-east-state-department-advisory-travel-safety-evacuate/
Exact numbers are unclear, but there are roughly hundreds of thousands of Americans living across the Middle East, which could put further strain on the limited available commercial travel. Most live in Israel, with 600,000 Americans there prior to Oct. 7, 2023, according to WaPo. Around 15,000 Americans lived in Qatar as of 2015, 30,00 in Kuwait as of 2020, 50,000 in the UAE as of 2015, 80,000 in Saudi Arabia as of 2022, and 43,000 in Lebanon as of 2023. At least 1,000 Americans and family members of Americans resided in and wished to depart Gaza in October 2023, according to a State Department briefing at the time, while around 45,000 to 60,000 Palestinian Americans lived in the West Bank, Reuters reported in July 2023. Another 60,000 live in Egypt, which has not been hit in attacks but is covered by the State Department’s security update.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/3/questions-over-minab-girls-school-strike-as-israel-us-deny-involvement
(Obviously the war has already given the Iranians and their allies ample motive to attack the [conveniently abandoned and stranded] USians. In all probability, Trump and his habitually criminal Trumpstein Regime are hoping for a massacre that will provoke a post-9/11-caliber frenzy of hatefulness big enough to obscure the Epstein scandal and perhaps even facilitate passage of the SAVE [Subjugate All Voters Evermore) Act, thereby granting the ChristoNazi theocracy eternally irreversible tyranny over the failed United States.)
Loren, I agree with the possibilities you project; however, I am having hard time even wrapping my head around those possibilities. The notion that, even republicans in the Senate, would cave to passing the SAVE Act is mind boggling enough. Then again, what happened in the House may well happen in the Senate. I've already contacted my senators; they, however, are both democrats and writing to them was simply an exercise in assuring myself that they would vote down the SAVE Act. It's beyond clear that writing to those who do not represent me directly, has now become a necessity.
It is paywalled if you’ve reached your limit of free articles.
An uncle and his wife had been stationed in Iran until 8 months before the taking of the embassy and knew of another woman who had to basically walk out after the embassy was taken, I believe from Tehran to the Turkish border. I was teaching at the Space Systems Command and Control School at the time, and predicted the rescue attempt after hearing Mrs Timm answer a question about specific hostages that were held separately from those at the embassy, guessing that they had very current location information on all of them. A student who had come to the school from a Pentagon assignment said they had been in earlier (I think scouting for and setting up the landing area, but weren't planning to goat the time). The news broke the next morning.
I hadn't realized I had been asked to volunteer for that mission, but was the only instructor for the advanced course at the time and had been teaching both levels (12 hours a day) when the basic course instructor got sick while the others were all on leave on a hunting trip to Wyoming. I did meet the Forecaster who did the remote site weather satellite support for the mission about 30 years later when he was teaching at he college I worked at. Nobody else, including his assistant knew of his role as he had followed his non-disclosure agreement for 3 times the required time. I found out when he overheard me telling a friend I had guessed who the forecaster would be (one of the best in the Air Force), only to have him say he was the on location forecaster. When I asked where the one I thought of, we found out he was a the Air Force Weather Central unit at the Strategic Air Force Command at Offut AFB. My guesses were just a little off, but impressed the class the next day.
History keeps repeating and instead of learning anything it seems we just keep getting stupider. We clearly have more and better intel each time, but less and less thought about consequences. It’s like we aren’t getting smarter, we are just getting more emboldened. Pete Hegseth thinking that he’s the guy to solve a 47 year old problem is crazy. After all his failures he can’t possibly believe he is a great strategic thinker. I have known a lot of geniuses who had imposter syndome, but this is like the inverse, Imposters who think they really are geniuses.
I was thinking of the hostages under Carter also today - and the calculated release as soon as Regan was elected.
He traded
Guns for hostages
It was a scandal
Another example of the GOP getting away with crimes
Bingo! I was waiting for someone to post this fact, ronnie backstabbed Carter by holding talks with Iran before he took office! And like he did with the attack on the Marine base in Lebanon, he hid until the coast was clear!
Hostages for guns for Iran for money for Nicaragua. Ollie North was convicted but the convictions were vacated over issues with witness testimony.
Oh, for the good old days when Republican corruption and backchannel diplomacy deals were only every six months or so rather than every 6 days.
I was there standing in the inaugural crowd and done one had a small transistor radio abd as soon as President Reagan became president the hostages were released. I thought that there had to be something going on but it was never discussed until last years. DC Report had an article on the background.
Some old reporting from 1991 from the NYTimes that even back then there were questions as to whether there were backchannel discussions between Reagan’s people and Iran ahead of his election.
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/15/world/new-reports-say-1980-reagan-campaign-tried-to-delay-hostage-release.html
At the time I was not reading the NYT! Too busy trying to manage work and motherhood. Thank you Georgia.
I don't believe there was any question as to the backchannels going on during that period. I am not, nor ever was a Reagan fan; however, I was happy to see the hostages released regardless of who was responsible for their ultimate safety.
Riad, when the means are justified by the ends, longer-term consequences can and do occur - especially in international diplomacy. Reagan’s presidency was the beginning of the road to Trump. “Government is the problem,” “shrink the government until it is small enough to drown in a bathtub,” “welfare queens” (always Black women). I was just beginning a career working in human services and clearly remember the responses to answering the “what’s your job?”
I was bamboozled by the morning in America trope but not totally a Republican. I had been disappointed by President Carter for his maisle speech and he also didn’t have the Christmas Tree lights turned on. Coming from NEO the Nela Park connection was there and folks worked hard. As hard as Bob Hixon with his Christmas decorations for the WH. Looking back I didn’t see the whole picture for sure. The time with the hostages and again NEO was following because of Terry Anderson Lorain, Ohio journalist after the Vietnam War then the release of the POWs the baby air flights it was a long line of hardness in different ways.
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/03/g-s1-112278/up-first-newsletter-iran-us-israel-middle-east-nc-texas-primaries-kristi-noem-bill-clinton
You all will be glad to know that we are extracting our diplomats from some of the embassies. Waiting for the photo ops.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/ambassador-huckabee-describes-best-option-americans-looking-flee-israel
Ambassador Mike Huckabee has some suggestions for Americans trying to get out of Israel. Take the Israeli tourist bus to Taba Egypt and you may be able to get a flight out from there or get to Cairo.
Quote of the day from Mike: "The U.S. Embassy cannot make any recommendation (for or against) the Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle. If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety," it added.
Gotta have priorities. That leaves just about as many hundred thousands of Americans stranded as yesterday.
Does anybody else remember the failed operation to rescue the Iranian hostages in 1983? The Department of War does. Yet here we are, in danger of the same thing happening again, with so, so many more potential hostage targets.
https://www.war.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/4166790/failed-iran-hostage-rescue-continues-to-teach-lessons-45-years-later/
"Does anybody else remember the failed operation to rescue the Iranian hostages in 1983?" The "Eagle Claw" Iranian Rescue attempt was actually April 24, 1980.
The Marine barracks bombing was in Oct 1983 two days before Grenada was attacked (a convenient distraction but not as well executed as they would have people believe.
The Eagle Claw operation failure was attributed to difficult to identify dust storms (though the possibility of them was forecast), causing a reduction in the number of helicopters still flyable after landing at the Desert One site (or having turned back). There was also unexpected traffic on the road near the site that resulted in a bus load of people being detained and a fuel truck fire, as well as a vehicle escaping, which caused them to cancel the attempt, further complicated by a helicopter hitting the C-130 fuel carrier.
After learning of the dust cloud interference, and the May 17 eruption of Mt St. Helens less than a month later, I experimented with threshold settings on the DMSP (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) data 25 hours after the eruption, and was able to pull out the narrow temperature range differences to get the most contrast to make out the dust cloud curving to the southeast to the Amarillo Texas area before winds from the Gulf of Mexico curving to the northeast had taken over. I mentioned this to the Forecaster who briefed the intel officers who briefed the pilots, wishing i could have been there to do similar processing, but the time it took would have been too late for their takeoff time (and a bit too iffy as the first time something like that was tried). He did say the intel officers added the written part of the weather briefing as an addendum since the briefing was taking too long and not considered critical at the time.
Thank you for sharing that information and the correction, JIm. There are so many factors that can influence operations and decision-making. There are many “if only we had known” things identified in retrospect. But here we are with a regime that actively refuses to seek or listen to expertise.
What makes it especially dangerous is having a head of the Joint Chiefs who appears great at lining up massive forces for “well-defined” “one-and-done” ”in and outs” but now is in a full-on regional war involving, at this point, potentially operations in 16 countries and with who knows how many regional proxy groups who have a nearly a century’s worth of built-up antipathy.
Planning for first strikes versus planning for full-on war are different things. Just ask Putin in Ukraine, where the expectation that Kyiv would fall in a few days has turned into a few years. Makes me wonder why Putin didn’t warn Trump about that in their cozy nighttime chats.
The alleged state department is the immoral trump! The offices are empty, no planning, no care for American citizens in the Gulf area! Ah, but there is his latest grift ‘the peace board’!
A very frightening and real concern.
The lack of extraction plan should not come as a surprise since we did not have that in Venezuela either, and after Trump abducted Maduro, gangs went throughout the country seeking people who might have assisted the US and tortured them. Not a good time to be an American in Venezuela, yet there was no extraction plan beforehand or after that I have heard of. I know that everyone else was making extraction plans before the US. That is how the US got the idea that it is something they should do when the Americans saw others getting evacuated they went to their embassies, and there was no one who knew what to do, but at least it came up.
I still think a concern in the US is going to be ongoing acts of terror from proxies in the US.
I read that people were paying private security to drive them 10 hours to get out of Iran or other countries, and then paying $350,000 to get on a private jet out of the region. That is a solution for the very wealthy and corporate heads where this can be afforded. The Epstein class. I know that Germany made a plan to extract people. They estimated around 30,000 were in the region, and they were taking old people, people who are sick or disabled and pregnant women first.
I posted the info for Americans abroad for OSAC which is the security advisory council for US organizations abroad with their latest detailed travel advisories on Heather’s letter today. I pu tin the full text for what to do if you are in Iran, but you can check out the situation in any country. More detailed than what is on the State department for regular travelers.
Would love to see your reaction.
Georgia, where did you post this text? I would love to see it. In one of my political chats someone stuck in Bahrain needs help.
Trump's mental capacity is so diminished he can no longer BS his way out of this. Meanwhile, what EVERY tricking news outlet dubbed "the chaotic withdrawal" from Afghanistan looks well organized in retrospect.
Thousands of American citizens stranded around the Middle East and it will be even more American citizens that will die.
Has anyone asked Trump the rude and nasty question yet--"Are you going to send Barron, Tia and Tiffany to fight in Iran?" Obviously, they would come into the military as generals or admirals. /S
Because I was curious, I went to Google to ask it if any member of Trump's family had served in the military. Here's what it said: the whole Trump family, including his father Fred and his grandfather Friedrich, have avoided military service. And As we probably all know, Donald himself received 5 deferments during the Vietnam war for "bone spurs".
I think serving in the military is fine; however, serving in the military is not the only way one can serve their nation. I was lucky to have avoided the draft in the '68 and '69 as my birthday was listed in the 300's, leaving me little chance to have been drafted, I must admit though, I have at many times, starting in my 40's, felt the missed chance to serve in the military. My service revolved around education in the public schools teaching health with a curriculum that included conflict resolution and negotiation. It came from a curriculum titled Lifeskills. Regardless of what curriculum one uses in education, teachers inherently are called to teach one the arts of negotiation. This is different from "making a deal" as Trump would have us think it is the best way forward. Negotiation fills both voids of each adversary and works for equity; "making a deal" is the manipulation of one over the other to get a favorable result at the other's expense. In the end, it's a sure way to harbor resentment. No one wins.
Sometimes one serves one's country best by being a conscientious objector.
I think your service was much more moral and more meaningful than shooting “gooks” and burning villages in an immoral war. I thank you for your service.
I don't recall where I read it, but I think his family has avoided military service in Germany for decades before coming to the US as well.
If memory serves, Trump has publicly bragged that one of his paternal ancestors -- perhaps his grandfather -- came to the US specifically to dodge the Kaiser's draft.
Yes. It is the story. Here is an old article recycled.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/21/trump-grandfather-friedrich-banished-germany-historian-royal-decree
In fact, his grandfather refusing to do military service in Bavaria is what got him kicked out of German forever. If he had not been a draft dodger we would not have "Bone Spurs" as president. In fact, he probably would not exist.
There should be a law that requires every congress critter to send a family member to serve in harm's way of any war that they vote for - for 365 consecutive days - starting with a son or A daughter, then a spouse, then a brother or A sister, then a mom or a dad. I don't care how old they are. They need to be carrying a rifle at the front of the front line.
And if the congress critter has none of those, then he would be required to go himself for 730 days.
How many of those congress critters would find a diplomatic way to resolve disputes between countries? ALL OF THEM!
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt lost 4 sons in WWII. No favors were granted to them or many of those who had sons between the age of 17 and 35.
Donald Trump should urge Barron, Tiffany and Tia to enlist in the armed forces. But every Trump is a coward who only cares about themselves.
Jim Webb, democratic Senator from VA. in 2009, had a son who served in the Iraq war. At that time, I believe, he was the only congressman in either house who had a son serve in the military.
Well, their 4 sons all served in the military during WW2. James(1907-1991) USMC Navy Cross; Elliot(1910-1990)Army Air Corps reconnaisance Brig. Gen.; Franklin D. Jr. (1914-1988) USN Destroyer escort Atlantic; John A. (1916-1981) USN Bronze Star
None were killed.
On another 'stack, I wrote abut presidents in my lifetime with military service. Ike and GW Bush were Army, while Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter and GHW Bush were all Navy.
I suspect our next President will have military experience; I see some very good options in our recent/current cabinets and congress. Kegsbreath is not one of them.
Tia?
Should be Kai; his oldest grandchild and daughter of Junior.
Oops, sorry I like Tia better Freudian slip I guess. Yes Kai. So hard to remember those three letter names -- NOT!
GJ, I think the "# Send Barron" is trending. This is just a mess. I was listening to Malcolm Nance and Jacob Kaarsbo discussing the logistics and things sounded like such a mess for everyone involved that I had to stop listening. They are doing daily briefings. I hope members of Congress are listening too.
Baron is too tall for the military. Better that he stay home and learn corruption at his daddy’s knee?
Magic 8 Ball replies: “how could you possibly have figured that out?”
And our ally shot down 3 USF-15s yesterday. So much for good planning and command and control. Thankful the men and women ejected and survived.
That was chilling to watch, Counselor. I played a concert last night, and watched that after I got home. Took all my good energy away and replaced it with dread.
Paul Krugman is the first that I have read that points out how much this war is costing us while the MAGAs cut SNAP, Medicaid and other health care benefits.
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/war-is-expensive-for-the-little-people/comments
'Good to hear you played the 'Back Row' big horn Sheriff. 🎶
I play again tonight! Two groups, on concert.
And, none of the targets have been nuclear. Instead they are killing civilians with impunity. I heard Malcolm Nance talk about bloody bodies in the center of Tehran, and we know one of the first places hit was a girls school that has a body count of something like 180. It is evil and cruel. All of the people backing it are evil and cruel. It is about terrorizing the Iranian people even after the Ayatollah and top leadership are removed.
When asked whether he has a plan for governing Iran, Trump says they killed all of the people they would have installed. So, if their intel was good enough to get these men, why is it not good enough to avoid a girls school. I personally think that having been called out for their Epstein shame of raping little girls, they are now getting off on just killing them directly. This is the Epstein Files war, and there are going to be a lot of women and girl victims, because these people are full on misogynists.
Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize. I think we should come up with some new prizes just for him. One I can think of "The Global Enshitification Prize." "Another is The Master Grifter Prize."
Yesterday, I expressed surprise about waking up to European leaders saying supportive things of Trump and some even going to send military help. It is crazy.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/the-epstein-class-and-the-war?r=f0qfn
Shades of Putin expecting the Ukrainians to fold in a couple of days and here we are 4 years later.
I read several comments from Republican Congresscritters where they were praising their dear leader for wasting tens of billions of our taxpayer dollars for a still unexplained reason for bombing Iran.
Not only have the Fox war mongers been egging Trump on, but Saudi Prince bin Salman and Bibi.
This is a total disaster of Putin like proportions.
Worse, by far, than Putin: for the truth of Trump, think Ted Bundy with the world's most powerful military as his murder weapon.
Well, according to Lev Parnas it is all benefitting Putin, whom he claims will rise up even worse than before as oil prices rise. This will fill his war coffers. Meanwhile Trump is using up all US weapons and expecting Europe to help him when they need to support Ukraine against Russia. It is crazy.
Ooo Lauren, you are so right. Although, I hate to say it, TB was smarter. Shudder.
Worse than Putin. And this will go on until we impeach and remove
Still benefitting Putin with his wars on Venezuela and Iran. Oil prices rise and Putin is economically independent. Meanwhile American soldiers die to enrich Trump and his buddies in his Epstein Class Club, which Iran, Ukraine and the EU do not belong to.
Yes. That is what I was saying yesterday GJ.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/the-epstein-class-and-the-war?r=f0qfn
I just saw a post re Spain refusing to allow U.S. military aircraft access to their facilities in order to attack Iran. Also head of European Congress denouncing attacks on Iran...
Yes. Sanchez is a good leader from what I can see. Of course I don't live in Spain, but he is refusing to be bossed around by Trump and he seems to have ethics.
Yes…ethics! Now, there's a concept for our times!
On a related note: I listened to half of H Clinton’s “deposition” (silly Q&A session) yesterday. She expostulates a little much, but Nancy Mace is just ridiculous in her questioning. I’ve yet to hear Boebert.
You may be glad to know that Nancy Mace is under investigation by the House Ethics committee for overcharging expenses for her DC residence by uner $10k
The underlying inquiry into Nancy Mace’s expenses dates back to May 21, 2025, and the formal House Ethics Committee investigation based on that inquiry was triggered by a referral received on December 2, 2025 and publicly acknowledged in January–March 2026.
Key dates in the probe
May 21, 2025: According to reporting that cites the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC) report, the initial inquiry into Mace’s D.C. lodging reimbursements “began on May 21, 2025,” with Mace notified two days later.
November 18, 2025: The OCC board unanimously adopted its report and ordered it transmitted to the House Ethics Committee, laying out “substantial reason to believe” she engaged in improper reimbursement practices.
December 2, 2025: The House Ethics Committee received the OCC referral regarding Mace.
January 16, 2026: The Committee publicly stated that it had extended its review of the matter under House rules.
March 1–2, 2026: The Ethics Committee announced it would conduct a further review under Committee Rule 18(a)—effectively confirming a formal investigation— and media outlets reported that Mace was “under investigation” over alleged improper reimbursement of roughly $9,500 in excess lodging claims.
Mace is running for Governor in South Carolina, and leads in Republican primary polls at 23%. She is actively seeking Trump's endorsement, saying she is "Trump in high heels." She had initially came out against Trump after Jan 6.
Also in the Race are the State AG, lieutenant governor, a state senator and Rep. Ralph Norman with 12% support. He was pro-Trump, but broke with him over excessive spending in the OBBBA.
Rep. Corey Mills (R-FL) is also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for campaign finance violations, sexual misconduct, receiving special favors, and misusing congressional resources. He is running for re-election and has Trump's endorsement. Trump called him an American patriot on February 11, 2026 when he endorsed him.
Corey Mills attended Trump's trials to support him.
Birds of a feather...
Trump's memory seems to be really really good about certain things...
Just sayin'
I have noticed that memory too. He is a pro at being a fascist.
A friend was also listening and summarizing to me. I heard that there were no questions asked about Epstein. So, why is she there? More of the MAGA Misogyny Machine in action.
People should be asking "Where's Melania?". Let's hear from her. There is more heat there for sure. It's all cover-up. Trump is protecting Melania I think because she knows what Ghislaine knows... or something that rhymes with that.
Good point.
How about the “ I’m a little nobody” prize? He’d really hate that…
I have it! He has a plan — he will start this huge conflagration and then he will magically stop it — and then he will get the Nobel Peace Prize! For bringing peace where there wouldn’t have been war except for him. He has it all figured out! That’s what it’s like when you believe that nothing is going on except yourself. D’you think the Swedes and Norwegians would rather give it to the Minneapolitans?
Yes. That sounds like something that would irk him. I am hoping that our No Kings Rally will too. Being in charge of organizing one is a great learning experience.
I am still trying to sort out what the European responses are, or even the various German responses are.
LInda- I went to this on your website and am reading it on the go.. thank you. Stepping back this connects to the need to grab the earth's resources as we overdevelop and overpopulate paying no heed to conservation and sustainability. It's suicidal, evil, so stupid - any words you can think of.. as Joyce Vance keeps saying, "we are all in this together" but so many just have no idea- it's -they think- survival of the fittest and THEY are the fittest in their stupidity and selfishness. This country has been taken over by this because we got trapped in getting and spending. We lost our way and we did not pay attention or were also guilty. We are paying. Batten down the hatches. Sorry- this is my mood at the moment. thanks for your long post with the clips.
HI Potter, that is why I agree with Paul Krugman that the EU is better off because it does not have the evil Epstein Class Tech Bros. My daughter is down on AI and Data Centers because she sees them both as bad for the environment.
I feel we are all doomed because of human nature. We are not evolving, not learning and then organizing from that fast enough with the goal of survival of the whole as necessary and morally ethical
How vulnerable we are to reverting back to civilization's past history allowing leaders to misuse religion and race to divide us so it's to the benefit of those amassing wealth and power.
"The Epstein Class" will be understood when we know or can see the whole story teased out, bit by bit. I don't think Europe is exempt. This revelation is bigger than Trump though he is a player that has conned us and is taking us on his trip....
No Europe is not exempt. We have already seen that. Only in Europe the scandal forces people to resign, and perhaps face the police. That is not happening here.
The Epstein class is deeply embedded in Europe with Andrew, but also with the Rothschilds and ministers in France and Scandinavian countries.
I think every part of the world's elite was connected to the Epstein class in some way. He was trading many things, including insider information, along with sex and drug trafficking, and money laundering.
Who would have thought that philanthropist Bill Gates, pictured so often playing bridge with his best bud Warren Buffett, would have been a part of it? Could Buffet, the epitome of an oligarch with simple tastes and solid values, be only one connection away from Epstein and not have somehow benefited from the information flow?
We will be unraveling this for decades. It will unravel first in the countries that still have strong democratic institutions and accountability. How the Epstein class is handled will be a marker for the strength of those institutions. Unfortunately, I think it will take the US a long, long time based on that criterion. .
https://www.ft.com/content/0d70b7d3-063d-43a0-812b-8b8b3e7c4c47
In many ways yes.
Re AI I have so far been pleased by how I have run into it being used. As with any tool...
As for the environment..plastic... microplastics.
We are headed for demise but we could slow it down..(or could have).
Being in university one sees people just cheating all the time. We know there is lack of certain kinds of brain development for people relying on it. On the other hand, for people who cannot write, it is a helpful tool. The Generations after us inherit the planet that is getting rapidly destroyed by us, so she has every reason to be upset. She is aware that we don't need AI or date centers to survive. In fact, unless they change we may not be able to survive with them.
Linda-As we’ve seen the Epstein files include high ranking officials from many nations. God only knows how much “kompromat” might be out there for so many of them who don’t want to be exposed. This may be part of the explanation for the craziness.
You could have added three words to the very beginning of your post: "The A**hole goes...." But you're a nicer person than me. :-P
When the best people the US can send to negotiate with Iranian diplomats in Geneva are two unknown real-estate developers from New York with no experience of conflict resolution, what did you expect? Especially when the President launches a surprise attack during the month of Ramadan, and during these weapon-control attacks. Where is the Board of Peace now? Will the starving people of Gaza love the US and the Israelis? Will Iran grovel at the feet of the US? Another Libya falling into a years-long civil war after regime change in 2014, while the US priorities move on .........
Just an out of control bully. It should be chilling to most or every American that we now figure into the new axis of evil, as purported by some, which include trump, netanyahu and putin. The most reckless, most ignorant, most callous, most incompetent, most unfit individual EVER in our government.
The descendants of Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchannan, and Andrew Johnson must be thrilled.
Indeed, they have been finally supplanted by someone whose tyranny is multiples of theirs combined.
This pretty much sums it up, unfortunately. Plus: you elect a malevolent madman and this is what you get: senseless death and destruction. Will we ever get back to normal? Will we ever survive even this FIRST Trump year? Will democrats and SOME republicans see what needs to be done and do it or are we all doomed?
Perhaps the elections tomorrow will give us some much-needed inspiration to keep going. Senator Andy Kim, in his interview with HCR today, said this: "And so I believe that if we can have our voices heard, if we say loudly that this war is not what the American people want, that the President could retreat similar to how he did in Minnesota when he really felt the pressure. That was the first time I felt the President really felt the pressure of being on the wrong side of the American people, and I pray that he feels this again. But it requires all of us to have our voices heard."
It is definitely not America First! Let's send our people to a made-up reason for war. The price of helping the Gulf Arab States and Israel will be the blood of Americans and innocent people in Iran. But, hey, that's the price of war, per Trump.
The cost,money-wise, will be off the charts.
Epic Corruption.
Spot on and well said!
Melania talks to the UN about children, what a bloody hypocrite, she is no better than the Pedophile in Chief. What does she think of her husband bombing a children's school in Iran, what has she said about that, she is as shallow as he is.
She is horrific. Not an ounce of empathy in her either. There should be calls for Barron to go to war.
And trump and melania should go to go the Iran to negotiate the cease fire. They can bring jared and ivanka and the boys too. We can parachute them into the war zone. I will be EPIC
Why would you expect any woman who was willing to marry Donald Trump to be a decent human being?
The oxygen level is very thin in the air space that this hi-heeled flotus occupies…
Fox writing the script or is Vlad providing input, seems that Frank Luntz is providing the patriotic logic as he did for W and Dickie. Fox remembers. As do I . Same bullschittery and slurp the koolaid is the goal. War makes the medicine go down.
The winged monkeys (not including JTarlov)at Fox News have kindled this war in the orange brain. It’s their script and the admin of misanthropes is their league of lolypop puppets.
US OF ZISRAEL!
Netanyahu has screwed Israel like chump has screwed us. They are guilty of a lot more than sexual rape
Yes. Both are staying in politics to stay out of prison!
The War Powers Resolution is on House calendar for floor action Wednesday or later of this week. Call/write your representatives in Congress TODAY.
Here is the full text of the House Version:
https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hconres38/BILLS-119hconres38ih.pdf
They are waiting till later this week? Where is their sense of urgency? Oh wait .... Mike Johnson has none.
What is being debated in the House is the War Powers Resolution that was introduced after the June 2025 bombings that "obliterated" the nuclear threat.
I kid you not. It was never brought to the floor for debate.
The irony is mind boggling!!!!
Here is the list of actions taken in the House on the Bill.
06/17/2025 Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Action By: House of Representatives
06/17/2025 Submitted in House
Action By: House of Representatives
for Wednesday or later in the week:
Legislation that may be considered:
H. Con. Res. 38 – Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Sponsored by Rep. Massie / Foreign Affairs Committee)
Also on the schedule for Wednesday or Thursday in the House:
Legislation Considered Pursuant to a Rule:
H.R. 7744 – Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026 (Sponsored by Rep. Cole / Appropriations Committee)
H. CON. RES. 38
Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution
to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities
in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 17, 2025
Mr. MASSIE (for himself, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. HOYLE of
Oregon, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. BEYER, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr.
CASAR, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms.
OMAR, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Mr. MCGOVERN)
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War
Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed
Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
2 concurring),
3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
4 Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Congress has the sole power to declare war
2 under article 1, section 8, clause 11 of the United
3 States Constitution.
4 (2) Congress has not declared war with respect
5 to, or provided a specific statutory authorization for,
6 hostilities involving United States Armed Forces
7 against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
8 (3) Section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution
9 (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)) states that ‘‘at any time that
10 United States Armed Forces are engaged in hos11 tilities outside the territory of the United States, its
12 possessions and territories without a declaration of
13 war or specific statutory authorization, such forces
14 shall be removed by the President if Congress so di15 rects.’’
16 SEC. 2. TERMINATION OF THE USE OF UNITED STATES
17 FORCES FOR HOSTILITIES AGAINST THE IS18 LAMIC REPUBLIC OR IRAN.
19 (a) TERMINATION.—Pursuant to section 5(c) of the
20 War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)), Congress
21 hereby directs the President to terminate the use of
22 United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the
23 Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government
24 or military, unless explicitly authorized by a declaration
1 of war or specific authorization for use of military force
2 against Iran.
3 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall be construed to prevent the United States from
5 defending itself from imminent attack.
6 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING INTEL7 LIGENCE SHARING.
8 Nothing in this joint resolution may be construed to
9 influence or disrupt any intelligence, counterintelligence,
10 or investigative activities relating to threats in or ema11 nating from Iran conducted by, or in conjunction with, the
12 United States Government involving—
13 (1) the collection of intelligence;
14 (2) the analysis of intelligence; or
15 (3) the sharing of intelligence between the
16 United States and any coalition partner if the Presi-
17 dent determines such sharing is appropriate and in
18 the national security interests of the United States.
19 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING NO AUTHOR20 IZATION FOR USE OF MILITARY FORCE.
21 Consistent with section 8(a)(1) of the War Powers
22 Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1547(a)(1)), nothing in this concur23 rent resolution may be construed as authorizing the use
24 of military force.
Note: the date is correct, The Resolution was not acted on after it was introduced after the US bombing to "obliterate" Iran's nuclear threat.
The numbers at the beginnings of the lines refer to the line number on the specific pages of the resolution.
The War Powers Resolution is insufficient. EVERY president has worked around the War Powers Resolution. Dems and Reps can create a stronger resolution where the executive must secure Congressional approval BEFORE any military action commences.
See: https://govfacts.org/policy-security/military/war-powers/how-the-war-powers-resolution-works-and-why-it-rarely-stops-presidents/
They could but what is below is what they proposed back last June after the “obliteration” of the nuclear program and never came out of the foreign affairs committee and what is being voted on potentially tomorrow afternoon according to Scalise’s agenda for the House. Presumably amendments could be proposed.
In the thread are more details on what was in previous resolutions and the original statement of purpose in the 1973 resolution that forms the basis. This doesn’t look like standard procedure because I am nor seeing information on it going though the House Rules Committee so this may be going through some expedited process. I have to research some more to figure that out.
http://Govfacts.org looks like a great resource. Thanks for posting!
The 2nd hour of yesterday's Nicolle Wallace's show featured Tom Nichols from The Atlantic. The discussion topics are all echoed in Prof Heather's letter. Poll results were discussed and the majority didn't support the attacks and about 25% "weren't sure" I also listened to the local NPR station (WXXI); they interviewed 2 Iranian Americans about the attacks, life in Iran, etc ... They supported the attacks and where pleased that the supreme leader was killed. I've said before, I'm no fan of the Islamic Republic of Iran. If I were polled and its just one question with only 3 answers (YES, NO, MAYBE), I'm not sure how I would answer. It it were "Do you agree with the attacks", followed by do you support the methods/strategy "the way its being carried out", My answers would be YES, NO. If I had the chance to speak to the 2 local Iranian Americans on the local NPR show, I'd ask them how do they think this ends? It was the CIA / American gov't that overthrew a legitimately elected Iranian prime minister and brought back the Shah in the late '50s. Can you really trust us again ? There's no nobility in this current US administration that shows these attacks are for the Iranian people, to lift the yoke of oppression, it about the "the radio station WITFM (What's in it For Me), what's in it for my donor base that supports me. And yes distraction, deception and not to mention stoking the "Nationalize Elections" rhetoric. Yes... agree with Congressman Crow, brave young men & women along with innocent Iranian citizens will make the ultimate sacrifice. I truly wish in my heart that trump 2.0 does want to put and end to the governing principles of The Islamic Republic of Iran and restore a democratically elected government. He doesn't seem to want that for us here in America, so again, how can be be trusted to bring it back to Iran.
You have it in a nutshell. Overthrowing a despot sounds great in the three word campaign slogan. How can Democrats disagree with that? If you disagree, you are supporting Islamic terrorists. It is the long term Republican playbook—polarize the electorate over one issue with oversimplification.
But that is not what is happening here. And I am sure Trump believed what was whispered in his ear that this also would only take a few bombing runs to kill the right 20 or so people in control in ran and he could declare victory.
No plan for how this ends is stupidity. No plan for how to get hundreds of thousands of US citizens in the 12 countries out of harm’s way is unconscionable negligence and total disregard for the American people.
The first Section of the 1973 War Powers Resolution is below, so you know what we are talking about. That link has all of the texts for the specific conditions and constraints on presidential actions and the authorizations by Congress for all subsequent resolutions that were used. Trump can veto a war powers resolution which can be overridden by a 2/3 majority in Congress.
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title50-section1541&num=0&edition=prelim
Go look at the text and pick the war that affected you the most and see what Congress did, and what the President at the time agreed to.
SECTION 1. This joint resolution may be cited as the “War Powers Resolution”.
PURPOSE AND POLICY
SEC. 2. (a) It is the purpose of this joint resolution to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities or in such situations.
(b) Under article I, section 8, of the Constitution, it is specifically provided that the Congress shall have the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution, not only its own powers but also all other powers vested by the Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
(c) The constitutional powers of the President as Commander‑in‑Chief to introduce United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances, are exercised only pursuant to (1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.
Here are the key presidential obligations under the War Powers Resolution from
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-87/pdf/STATUTE-87-Pg555.pdf
My emphasis is in CAPS
Note the 48-hour report requirement on Trump. Was a complete report provided to the gang of 8 within that time window?
Note the 60-day cut-off for action (+30 days for withdrawal) if Congress does not authorize the action, or declare war, or extend the action by law. So that appears to require an affirmative action by Congress to say "yes" to the war. Constitutional scholars, please weigh in!!!
The first mandatory report if Congress approves the actions is at 6 months , so end of August, right in prime election campaign season. Who can be "unpatriotic" ahead of an election?
That 60+30 day window gets us to the end of May, after 16 states have had their primaries:
States with 2026 state primaries on or before May 31 are:
Alabama – May 19
Arkansas – March 3
Georgia – May 19
Idaho – May 19
Illinois – March 17
Indiana – May 5
Kentucky – May 19 (congressional races; state‑level offices mostly in odd years)
Louisiana – May 16 (for 2026 congressional contests; state offices mostly in odd years)
Mississippi – March 10 (2026 congressional primary only)
Nebraska – May 12
North Carolina – March 3
Ohio – May 5
Oregon – May 19
Pennsylvania – May 19
Texas – March 3
West Virginia – May 12
******************************************************************************************************Consultation duty: “In every possible instance” the President must consult with Congress BEFORE introducing U.S. forces into hostilities or situations where hostilities are clearly imminent, and then CONSULT REGULARLY so long as forces remain in those situations.
48‑hour report: If U.S. forces are introduced into hostilities, into foreign territory/airspace/waters while equipped for combat (with limited logistical exceptions), or in numbers that substantially enlarge a combat force already abroad, the President must submit a written report to congressional leaders within 48 HOURS.
Report contents: That report must describe the circumstances, the claimed constitutional/statutory authority, and the ESTIMATED SCOPE AND DURATION of the hostilities or involvement.
Ongoing reports: While forces remain in such hostilities or situations, the President must report periodically on status, scope, and duration, at least EVERY SIX MONTHS.
60‑day clock: Within 60 DAYS after a report is submitted or required to be submitted, the President must TERMINATE the use of those forces unless CONGRESS has declared war, specifically authorized the operation, extended the period by law, or is physically unable to meet due to attack.
30‑day withdrawal extension: The President may extend for up to 30 ADDITIONAL DAYS, with a written certification, if “UNAVOIDABLE military necessity” requires continued use of forces solely to ENSURE THEIR SAFE WITHDRAWAL.
A big thank you very much to SCOTUS for putting us here.
There is a difference with these two, at least Nancy had her astrologer. The only thing Melania has is an old man that trusts his gut! What could possibly go wrong there!?!
"Is Melania going to be the new Evita?"
More like the new Elvira ("Mistress of the Dark")
🤣🤣🤣
It's much worse Georgia. Much much worse.
Don't cry for me now, Slovenia;
The truth is, I never left you;
All through my wild days, my Jeffrey party days;
I kept my promise,
Now keep your distance
Slovenia is in the pro-Ukraine camp in the EU, unlike Hungary and Slovokia which are pro-Putin., so I guess Melania would keep her distance. ;-)
Right you are, Georgia! And thank you for your wise initial comment, which of course spurred the satirical spirit within me to put Andrew Lloyd Weber to a good use, for once!
Keep up your good work!
I’m really having an issue with Melanie’s at the UN. 🤦🏼♀️
She eez learnink how to speak in public. And that gavel! wow!
No she is not. She cannot be. Not in the USA. Maybe in Slovakia, the Russian satellite state in the EU, which should be given the heave-ho.
I agree Slovakia along with Hungary, should be shit-canned from the EU.
She's from Slovenia, which is still anti-Putin. I thought it must have been Slovakia,, but fact-checked myself to be sure. I was very disappointed. LOL
But what got me was Melania's suit at the UN which was so close to an iconic Evita one (see links below for the images.) I think Melania may be a fan girl.
I wish I could feel sure about Melania not evolving into Evita, but with Trump we are in an age of "personalized diplomacy," with Trump's family members and cronies running the show by whispering in his ear. Her actually wielding the gavel at a UN Security Council meeting with the US holding the chair was a startling visual. Also a major diss of the UN.
Then there was Edith Wilson covering up Woodrow's stroke for a year while making decisions...
With this regime, every time I think something is implausible, "couldn't possibly happen here" it seems to start coming true.
Even the jokes...
https://wanderlustspanish.com/blog/eva-peron-a-remarkable-icon-in-argentine-history/
https://www.reuters.com/world/melania-trump-chair-meeting-un-security-council-white-house-says-2026-02-26/
https://nypost.com/2026/03/02/us-news/melania-trump-makes-history-presiding-over-un-security-council-acknowledges-challenging-times/
Imagine no religion. No Islam. No Judaism. No Christianity? No imbecile as president. No reason to start a war with Iran.
I am sure that Amb. Mike Huckabee will tell you your faith in the Israeli Tourist buses will keep you safe and set you free…
He also made sure to ID potential targets for any Hamas operatives in Israel to locate groups of Americans to take as hostages, but hey they could wait for the buses to cross into Egypt.
There is no “poor Melania!”
She is complicit.
Well... she's not so innocent herself in many ways, but I agree, she was used as a tool.
I’d sure rather it was Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama (heck I’d take the Mrs. Bushes) running it if I had to pick a First Lady…
What “poor Melania”? She’s letting herself be used.
Isn’t that the story of her life?
Melanie is a scammer like the rest of them
It is clear why she married Trump
She has her own crypto scams too
Why is she not called to testify about Epstein?
Hilary was and we do not have photos of her partying with Ghislaine and Epstein
There is nothing poor about melania! Historically I think there are a number of First Ladies who could lead the UN.
She is NOT Eleanor Roosevelt
She will, no doubt, be faultlessly elegantly dressed…and silently tolerated by the UN staff. What optics for the US…(cringe).
What was that jacket she wore? "I don't really care."
We Spend Almost a Trillion Yearly on War. That’s Insane. *see link for full details
🦅 Better Ways To Spend Half a Trillion Dollars
So many life-changing policies would become possible if America halved its military budget. Here’s what $443 billion yearly could fund if directed fully toward each item:
1. Medicare for All — Most estimates put the net new federal cost at $300-400 billion/year (replacing premiums, copays, and deductibles currently paid privately).
2. End hunger — Making breakfast and lunch free at every school costs about $20 billion per year. $443 billion could end hunger in America.
3. Build millions of public housing units — At $443 billion/year, you could build 1.5 to 2 million new public housing units every single year.
4. Cancel all medical debt — You could eliminate every dollar of it in the first year and still have over $240 billion left for other health investments that same year.
5. Cancel all student debt — You could wipe it all out in about four years, then fund free public college permanently going forward with money to spare.
6. Make public college and trade school free— You could eliminate tuition, massively expand capacity, and fund living stipends for students.
7. Universal childcare and pre-K — $443 billion would fund a system where every family in America has access to free or near-free childcare from birth through age five, with well-paid unionized staff, and still leave $340+ billion on the table.
8. Green energy transition jobs program — You could retrofit every building in the country, build out renewable energy infrastructure nationwide, and fund union-wage jobs for every displaced fossil fuel worker many times over.
9. National high-speed rail network — $443 billion/year could build a comprehensive national network connecting every major metro area within a decade, something comparable to what China and Europe have built.
10. Repair all deteriorating infrastructure — $443 billion yearly covers that completely — every bridge, road, dam, water system, school building, and electrical grid — and leaves room for new construction.
11. Universal home and community-based care — $443 billion fully funds this with well-paid caregivers and eliminates every waitlist in the country.
12. Federal jobs guarantee — $443 billion lands right in that range, potentially employing 10-15 million people in public works, caregiving, environmental restoration, and community development.
13. Expand and strengthen Social Security— $443 billion/year could increase average benefits by roughly 35-40%, lower the retirement age, and extend the trust fund indefinitely. That would lift virtually every senior out of poverty.
14. Community health centers and mental health services — $443 billion could build out the entire system in a single year and fund operations for decades.
15. Weatherize and retrofit every home — $443 billion/year does the entire country in one year, cutting energy bills for tens of millions of families immediately — and reducing carbon emissions.
16. Universal paid family and medical leave— $443 billion funds this nearly six times over. You could offer six months of paid leave and still have hundreds of billions remaining.
17. Fully fund and transform veterans’ care— $443 billion a year could double VA healthcare staffing, eliminate every wait list, build state-of-the-art facilities in every region, fully fund mental health and suicide prevention programs, end veteran homelessness (roughly 35,000 veterans are unhoused on any given night), and guarantee every veteran world-class care without bureaucratic delays — all while keeping the existing VA public healthcare system rather than privatizing it.
✅ The staggering thing about this list is that even the most expensive items rarely exceed $443 billion individually. ✅ You could fund several of them simultaneously with half the military budget. My response is, first, that $443 billion a year is still a huge amount of money. Second, there’s a huge amount of fat that can be quickly and easily cut because military spending is rampant with waste, irrationality, and lack of financial accountability. Third, there is strong precedent for a massive military cut: military spending was cut in half from 1945 to 1946 in the wake of World War II.
✅ For context, the US spends more on its armed forces than the next nine countries combined.” *see link below for graphic.
LABOR POLITICS by Eric Blanc
MAR 2 2026 | Substack
https://laborpolitics.substack.com/p/cut-the-military-budget-in-half?r=kxzps&utm_medium=ios
I think Trump has created a bigger problem for us and our posterity then we can even grasp right now. Every time he opens that hateful hole in his face he digs us deeper and deeper into a credibility debt with the world's population. In my opinion maybe it would help to put a Trillion Yearly in a Peace Department that is mandated by law to work on uniting the people of the world. In my model Amendment language of my Memorandum to We the People I include a clause to elevate the Peace Corps to a U.S. Department and to promote peace among the diverse and plural population of the United States and between us and the people of the world. It is part of a comprehensive five section model amendment: strong medicine for our badly wounded Republic. I say “strong” because I have read the proposed amendment introduced by Senator Adam Schiff, et, al., intended to address Citizens United (2010) and find it to not be the rampart we need.
As I read the language by Senator Schiff, et, al., although I do not believe it to be their intention, I see a problem. The problem is that it uses legal terms of art such as “...may regulate and impose...”, “...may regulate and enact...”, and “...shall have power to implement...” The problem with such terms is that it allows Congress and the States to decide whether they “may” or “shall” not regulate, enact, or implement anything. Some people elected to Office may even read it as a way to profit from such decision making. I see those words as a gate which for a fee will be left wide open to mega-money in politics. Moreover, over the last 16 years since Citizens United the Court has continued to chip away at our constitution and no proposed amendment addresses these newer cases. My language does, and more posted at UnitedWeAmend.org
Albert, you should send Schiff your suggestion, when you recognize a weak point in their verbiage. If you’ve read the journalist Christopher Armitage on Substack here, he’s helping us write to key people in the Legislature all the time. ✊
“Influence only counts when it reaches somewhere new: a conversation with someone who doesn’t already agree, a message to someone with actual authority, a presence in a room where decisions get made. Plenty of us already know this. We’ve been doing it. And it can feel like shouting into a void that never answers back. Anyone who’s been doing this work knows that feeling. And the answer is not to stop. The answer is compound interest.”~Christopher Armitage
I have sent the explanation above and link to Senator Schiff and my other Federal and State legislators here in California. I learned in a "Public Interest Law" class that every revolution in history was the result of just two or sometimes three people who worked close together to rally a community. It would be best if people read the message of the Memorandum. Being informed of the sum of what we have lost and the type of amendment required to correct the damage is primary to all for the movement required to amend. The sum and remedy is what my Memorandum is about. It only takes two or three well inform people in each Congressional district to that. I will search to find Christopher Armitage. Thank you.
I like the way you think.
Great ideas here- especially the messaging wording to whittle better. Also the other commenter JaKssa has great suggestions for u.
This is simply brilliant.
All militaries for as long as we have good archaeological evidence, have invested heavily in being ready to fight the last war. That has only worked when technological progress was so slow as to be nearly nonexistent, which has definitely not been the case since the the mid 16th century. The resulting waste has been consistent over the past four centuries. One item that never ceases to amaze me is the enormity of the reserves of saddles, blankets and supplies for taking care of cavalry horses that the U.S. Army had on hand after the end of WWI - stuff that had zero value during that conflict, even though there were some instances of idiotic officers sending mounted troops against gas and automatic weapon fire.
The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how terribly obsolete much of the current American arsenal really is. Some of the waste comes from inter-service rivalries, and some of it comes from mission nonsense.
Then there is the strategic risk. If one does too effective of a job of convincing an adversary that they cannot win using a conventional approach, and they are committed to being your enemy, then they adopt asymmetric strategies such as we experienced in 2001. Sadly, one of the things we are likely to reap from this illegal war is more of that.
Alas, I fear that passage in Exodus 20 understates reality by several orders of magnitude. The iniquities of DJT are likely to be visited upon us for centuries to come.
Actually, Craig, horses, mules, and donkeys were instrumental in WWI, being used for artillery, cavalry, and transport. Approximately 8 million of them died. There were even cavalry battles in WWII, but obviously, by then, mounted cavalry was obsolete.
We owe horses a lot.
Yes as logistics tools, but those charges?
I should add that while Pershing and his buddies traveled around in his staff cars (Dodges and at the end a Locomobile), and had used an armored car during his pursuit of Pancho Villa; and there were early tanks in use in the war, he and his staff showed zero understanding the of the emergence of mechanized tools for infantry. Compare that to what we are witnessing in Ukraine with a contest of which side can outwit the other with various electronics supplements to their ever evolving drones. Again, the WWI foolishness just amazes. The thinking was no different from several 14th century battles that saw knights in armor devastated by armies composed of relatively untrained peasants and tradesmen.
✊ right on Craig!
Trump wants $1.5 trillion for the 2027 defense budget, a massive increase from the roughly $901 billion projected for FY2026. Hegseth blusters on about the massive budget as a "message to the world" and a commitment to reestablishing U.S. military might.
https://www.cfr.org/articles/trumps-15-trillion-defense-budget-should-not-come-surprise
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5685814-hegseth-trump-defense-budget-request/
If they can wrangle up an additional half a billion dollars for the next fiscal year defense budget then there's no reason another $ 500 million couldn't be scraped together to pay for one of those 17 things on that list, funding programs that would actually be beneficial to Americans. Or even better, slash the defense budget and pay for several of those things on that list.
*sigh* It’s frustrating what an illiterate we have running the country, and corrupt SCOTUS and Republican slackers not earning their paychecks.
It frightens me to imagine what DT plans to do with the extra 1.5 trillion he wants for the military budget!!!🤬
Yes but what are Democrats track record on reducing the defense budget. It’s not just Rs.
One might be well justified in calling it the military-industrial-congressional complex (MICC).
Such a great analysis. Unfortunately, people will be led down the rabbit hole and vote against their own interests. I can’t fathom why.
Brainwashing. My long time friend, a sharp IT businesswoman, fell under the Trump spell years ago. She embodies just about everything that MAGA hates--unmarried, no kids, a sib whose lived off social networks for decades. She recently told me she hates all the Cabinet with the exception of Rubio--but she still loves Trump.
Good Grief!!
I keep working on her--gently. She is supportive of LGTBQ+ community, is pro-choice, and lives in a community with many Muslims. She's traveled the world. I just can't fathom this, so I don't give up on her.
If we are spending that much per year on the Military-we might as well put them to work. Ya know-it’s like all the construction guys standing over a hole, leaning on shovels, watching one guy dig the hole. They makin all dat money just standin round.
(I am being sarcastic, of course)
What we need are smart people willing to sit down and identify what’s gone wrong and come up with the solutions that the majority of We the People need. There needs to be deadlines set-and action taken. Democracy is an ongoing living breathing vital part of our America, therefore it requires our attention or it will die.
I know it is still considered early for the 2028 POTUS candidate to emerge, but considering how Trump never stopped campaigning 2020-2024, I'd like to see Democrats hammer together a platform and go to it MESSAGING it NOW--unify that message between all potential candidates.
What do I want to hear them say? Basic knowledge that translates into even the thickest of skulls!
Point out that you CANNOT lower any price more than 100%
Translate monetary units/concepts into TIME. Many people's brains shut off when you talk large numbers, but they understand TIME. I'd like them to pick the "average" American family income, and compare that sum to ONE MINUTE--then tell them how long it would take them to earn as much as that billionair.
I would like them to point out how population is decreasing and the GOP answer is for families to have more babies--which wouldn't impact the workforce for about twenty years. In my case, my father was one of 12 kids. He had five kids. Of us five, I had three, one sibling is childless, and the others each had two. WE NEED IMMIGRANTS to fill positions and help staff new businesses!
I would hammer home how ENORMOUS our military already is. I think people have this idea that China and Russia have us greatly overarmed. FALSE. That needs to be made crystal clear.
I'd make people understand the monetary costs of clean energy vs fuel, and how data centers are driving up OUR costs.
I would acknowledge that some immigrants are criminals, and that the normal police and court system was handling it, but how the vast majority of crime is committed by OUR OWN CITIZENS! Why isn't Trump addressing that?!?
And the fight against trans people--point out they comprise less than 0.5% of our population--and when Trump claims "they are stealing your kids and changing their gender"--ask people to really think: do they KNOW a single trans person? Is there any in their town? Point out that the REAL issues the majority face are not who is trans, but how the average person is going to fed, house and keep their family healthy.
"Concepts" are very hard to get across, which is one reason I think Biden lost. Nobody believed the economy was good when they saw the price of eggs skyrocket. Even explaining the avian flu didn't work. This is one reason I loved Katie Porter and her white boards!
Thank you for this.
In the years I've been reading HCR, I've read many thoughtful, heartfelt posts. Some enlighten, some inspire.
Your's today, JaKsaa has done them all. This is truly one of the best posts I've seen here, and I think those who post here set a ver high bar for peons like me.
I have no social media accounts, but if I did, I'd post your comment on all of them! Just imagine the world we COULD HAVE, if only we got our priorities right!!
Agreed!!
Thanks Miselle, but my post came from Eric Blanc, and his Substack link has the full article which is even better than the condensed version I pasted here. Start with a free Substack subscription and you can upgrade to a paid subscription later. I always paste the link when I share an article that rocks the truth.
LABOR POLITICS by Eric Blanc
MAR 2 2026 | Substack
https://laborpolitics.substack.com/p/cut-the-military-budget-in-half?r=kxzps&utm_medium=ios
Thank you, that is excellent! I have an older sister who lacks a computer. I print out the LFAA daily. I just printed this to give her, also. She needs to be INFORMED!
I want to live in the country you describe!
WOW!!!!
Yeah, Eric Blanc is pretty b*dass - there was so much great content in his Substack today that I tried to condense it as much as possible.
I like this comment so much that one hit on the "heart" isn't enough!!
🎯🎯🎯🎯💓💓💓💓‼️‼️‼️‼️
Amazing what Good money can do!! However, the immoral creature trump does NOT CARE about others especially the less fortunate! Thanks for the list!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see one of each of these alternatives on hundreds of billboards everywhere in the US? Especially in Red states!
AWESOME!!!
Thank you!
Excellent post! Stealing from protest signs from the Boomer Daze gone by:
We will live in peace when the Defense Department has to raise money at bake sales, and our education department is fully funded by the taxpayers!
Maybe they should have thought of a frickin’ plan first, indeed.
“To think clearly about Middle East wars, you need to hold multiple thoughts in your head at the same time. It’s a complicated, kaleidoscopic region where religion, oil, tribal politics and great power politics interweave in every major story. If you are looking for a black-and-white narrative, you might want to take up checkers..."
So writes Tom Friedman in today’s NY Times. He reminds those with short-term memory loss that the opposite of autocracy there is almost never ‘democracy’, but disorder. Reality trumps “slam dunks” while “we’ll be greeted as liberators” forms the miasma that prevents us from seeing the very things we refuse to believe could happen.
Trump, Netanyahu, Jared Kushner and Prince Mohammed bin Scissorhands have now upended just about everything in the Middle East. Whatever their relationship with one another, none of them give two hoots about democracy. Netanyahu seeks to escape criminal charges for corruption at home — and should Democrats regain a solid enough majority in both House and Senate in November, Trump will surely face something similar here.
Forget planning for the future, this regime can’t even tell us why it went to war two days ago. Through congressional surrogates, it spews idiocies (on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) about Tehran being 45 minutes away from being able to take out New York. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it’s about the “vile, evil” regime run by mullahs. When the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs told the President that a war could have significant American casualties, Trump twisted that around on “Truth Social” (nothing to do with truth, of course) to claim that a US victory would be easy. At a press conference, His Ugliness started talking about his beautiful golden drapes rather than about what comes next. Reports are surfacing that he felt empowered — “on a roll” after Venezuela — just like every dumb asshole in every casino in the world just certain he’ll outsmart the house with the next roll of the dice.
When someone won’t answer basic questions and keeps changing their story about why they did what they did, they’re either incompetent or lying (or both). When dishonest fuckups announce that ‘some of you are going to die and that’s ok by me’ as Lord Farquhar said in “Shrek” — you know they have no more understanding of the consequences of war than a 4-year-old.
The GOP will now try to co-opt patriotism itself, spinning bullshit like it was fine silk. Pierce through the not-ready-for-prime-time rhetoric and pay attention to who gains from all this. Watch what happens rather than what they insist you’re seeing. Expect oil prices to rise — and stay there a long time. Expect many more US soldiers to die for a cause nobody can explain. Expect instability across multiple countries.
And prepare for the “unknown unknowns.” Iran might well find itself run by kinder, gentler mullahs in the future unwilling (or unable) to murder their own people, export terror, destabilize neighbors, manufacture Shaheed missiles to kill Ukrainians, repress women or threaten Israel. But the nation could just as easily spin out of control, unraveling into fractured chaos. We don’t know what will happen. Neither do they.
So fasten your seat belts, ladies and germs. Our pilot is a duplicitous moron making shit up to appear competent and powerful. He dumped the navigator and smashed the plane’s radar system, flying blind, while a real pea-souper of a fog hangs over the night skies.
It’s going to be a long, bumpy flight…
As HCR wrote yesterday (I think it was yesterday) - this is just as much a war against the United States itself as it is against Iran.
Thanks for the reminder, lauriemcf. Wisdom from HCR amid the chaos:
“Trump’s attack on Iran scorns the will of the people and their constitutional right to decide whether they want to pay for a war with their money and their lives. That disdain for democratic government reveals that Trump’s military adventure against Iran is also fundamentally an attack on the United States of America.”
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-28-2026?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=f0pvk
''The GOP will now try to co-opt patriotism itself, spinning bullshit like it was fine silk.''
Quote of the day - brilliant.
He’s opened Pandora’s Box over there and doesn’t have a clue what’s to come. This fuckup will bite him in the ass in ways he’s never dreamed of. He’s really stepped in it this time, and I for one would not want to a part of his Secret Service detail going forward. And that he’s killing young American fighting women and men for his own personal satisfaction is beyond unspeakable. It almost makes you rooting for an Iranian hit job. Almost.
✊right on!
It’s worth examining this deep analysis from Haviv Rettig Gur. He argues that the main trigger for this war was geopolitical. Specifically, Haviv makes the point that America was not manipulated into "riding piggyback" on Israel’s conflict with Iran!
Keyword: China.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-94-americas-war-not-israels/id1794590850?i=1000752614732
You can also watch this on YouTube where there is a transcript.
https://www.youTube.com/watch?v=24ryHuOLVmQ
I disagree ArticStones - Your guy Haviv is not admitting that Trump thinks he can do a one-and-done like the puppet he played with Netanyahu last JUN 22 2025.
see Prof. John Mearsheimer : Is Trump’s War Beyond Control? (03/03/26)
https://www.youtube.com/live/LO7u5fibEiE?si=2ndcko1AnYwvsLCb
Nice rant.
And that pilot will be dropping excrement all over the American people as he depicted in an earlier post this year.
Love how, ending, Heather quotes Jason Crow -- on practical things decent Americans want & need.
But of course the U.S. is ruled mainly by mad souls. For instance, what lesson from the Epstein scandal repeats itself in Donald’s war on Iran?
Simple – that unaccountable elites do as they like, flaunting illegalities, as Donald flaunts the U.S. Congress, to whom the Constitution reserves war-making powers.
Eff you, Donald says to Congress and to the American people, insulting all even further by presenting no rationale, no strategy for his war.
Strategy? What we should have – we the people – is schools with essay writing programs so the world’s youth learn to go beyond the ruling group-thinks instead to see individuals by their more nuanced and complicated cultures all inhabit.
The world has no such schools anywhere wherever our packaging elites rule. We have damages – from the 1200 underage girls and young women hurt by Donald’s many rich and unaccountable pals to the scores of girls now bombed and killed in their elementary school in southern Iran.
Chump proving to the world and to us that he can do as he wants, or as Rupert dictates. One wonders what is Vlad’s take on this. Betcha he has an end game. But chump may be weaving a scenario that will box him into the most complicated pretzel. Will Melania threaten nukes? WWVD. So many options. Tune in to Fox to read the tea leaves, or see the tea being brewed. Still Epstein rages.
Melania, wearing Evita-style couture, will be proclaimed Chairwoman for Life of the Board of Peace upon Trump's defenestration from the Presidency. She will subsequently wed Putin, and they will reign jointly as Co-Chairs of the Board of Peace over the world until Putin is bored of peace and knocks Melania off with some leftover poison from Navalny. A shrine will be built within the Kremlin with a glass sarcophagus like Lenin's, to honor her memory. The Russian Orthodox Church will grant her sainthood. Putin will then download his brain into an AI bot, and it will rule forever while he places himself in suspended animation to be available for emergency consultations or travel to Mars, whichever comes first at the end of the world.
Sorry for the dark humor, but we are in such deep shit at the moment that I feel like my head is going to explode. It relieves the pressure briefly.
President Trump’s Iran war briefing reads like he picked the rationale from a cereal box and then asked Fox hosts to back-solve the logic, as if foreign policy were a football pick-em sheet. One day it’s stopping missiles, the next it’s solving 1979, then maybe it’s about tariff walls or dangling shiny medals. He throws spaghetti at the map and hopes something sticks. Meanwhile, pundits who for decades cheered for a strike now act shocked that there’s no exit plan. It’s as though the war’s goal was never clarity but a press clip reel and applause lines. If history offers a messy finale, don’t be surprised. This was American grand strategy defined by cable reruns and impulse buys, not a map or mission.
Yes, school essays will put a stop to this war for sure — AND prevent all other wars in the future, too. Why didn’t I think of that? 🤪
The difference between kids on social media accepting everything they see and kids on social media being able to discern shit from shinola is critical thinking, developed by learning to write argumentative essays in school.
Critical thinking skills are not being taught in schools. If they were, we never would have gotten to this scenario.
Nowhere near to the degree it should be. And not just in schools. We live in a beneficial and dangerous world, we tilt the odds in our favor when we know what's what. critical thinking should be promoted as a social value.
Exactly! There seems to be an American cultural propensity to disbelieve experts (and ironically, at the same time believe the unsubstatiated claims of "celebrities" or "online personalities"). What ever happened to "Question Authority"? We (as Americans) accept what Big Daddy Trump tells us and we reject both the evidence of our eyes and the evidence of experts who have practiced these professions all their lives. The Europeans I live among are not like this. (Although I make no excuse for the farmers' party, but to be fair, they don't negate the data on nitrogen; they just don't want to have to change their processes because of it.) They don't just blindly follow authority. They argue. Boy do they argue! Sitting in university classes with them, I see teenagers making arguments I wouldn't have known how to make at their age. Why? Education. I went to good schools in the US and still couldn't make a decent argument until grad school!
Tom Nichols wrote *The Death of Expertise* to describe the discounting of information that comes from people who have thoroughly researched and studied a topic. Further, he describe the open hostility of (usually ignorant) persons against such experts. We see this daily under this regime, and from the diehard MAGAts.
Seems that every time things get hot re Epstein, Trump attacks.
In January, after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, five Republican senators—Rand Paul, Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Todd Young, and Josh Hawley (R-MO)—initially voted to advance a resolution to restrain military action.
But “...should the President determine that he needs to introduce US Armed Forces into hostilities in major military operation in Venezuela, he would seek congressional authorizations in advance (circumstances permitting),” Rubio told them and as a result, Young and Hawley switched their votes to oppose Trump.
We need to pressure them and Wicker and the other members of Armed Services and other Senate committees that deal with national security.
I think we all depend on the expertise of others for confidence in conclusions we can't entirely or even begin to verify ourselves. Not having a large hadron collider handy, or any more than a bare hint of what to do with it, I accept that it is highly likely that it's application confirmed the suspected existence of a "Higgs Boson"; although I assume it has not enabled the last word as to what a HIggs Boson is or seems to be. I trust that when I buy a quart of milk labeled "pasteurized", that the label is accurate (I leave the raw milk to fanatics). When I cross a bridge, I trust that it had been engineered well enough to hold to together.
And yet I DON"T trust expertise 100%, and evaluate, so far as I am able, from as much I can gather, of the logic and evidence underpinning it that resonates with my own accumulated understandings. Also, I think that not everything that matters can be proven; by I still look for points of congruence with what i find to be convincingly demonstrated, individually and collectively, as fruitful reporting of what our actual circumstance actually are.
Uncertainty, sometimes and to some degree, keeps the next moment discomforting and potentially dangerous, but also reveals what may be enlightening and engaging, and full of wonders. In other words, keeps us alert, which is, is it not, the opposite of the consequence of brain-death?
Kass, this cultural propensity and the fawning over celebrities and "online personalities" (I think they're called "influencers" now) is something my folks would have railed against. I have always looked at folks who devour everything these celebrity influencers spew as being "ain't right in the head" (my sister is one of those; thankfully she has a heart of gold and at least a bit of common sense).
For the life of me I have NEVER understood celebrity worship.
Me either, Ally. I mean, I adored Duran Duran back in the 1980s when I was a teenager. But I wouldn't faint dead away at a concert. I don't even think I had a poster of them in my bedroom.
I have enjoyed and, especially, when younger, I have appreciated and get o degree of ego hit, from some connection with some sort of celebrity, but it's mostly vicarious nonsense. I have seen otherwise seemingly reasonable people become rude or even belligerent defending a celebrity (especially an athlete) who does not know, except in aggregate, that they exist. The narcissist in me would still get a kick out of meeting certain people, though not so much the ones that stay in the news. I recall a photo of teen Greta Thunberg (who I do admire) shooting a laser hate-stare at nearby Donald Trump (who is just plain repellent). The OMG ecstatic thing, I mean I really, really, got that when I first stood at the South edge of the Grand Canyon, but am too misanthropic to do it on account of people.
The ad people, Ally, call their resource here subliminals.
That is, the celebrity, or the influencer, gets placed in settings where the background, interior design, brand names, accessories, cosmetics, and hair styles worn all radiate hidden messages. Energy. Power. Strength. Popular appeal. Marketability to wider audiences. It's a science -- a multi-billion-dollar, carefully designed industry.
What ever happened to "Question Everything" (Euripides) ? I don't mean lazy cynicism; the secret hiding in plain sight is that doubt is just the other side of curiosity; essentially you have to be ready to doubt to be open minded? No?
Basically certainly becomes probability, and comes in degrees. Certainty chokes off learning. Not that life does not demand commitments, to be or not to be; at some point, it's one or the other, but even Hamlet acknowledged the unknown. Edwin Land, the inventor of the "Polaroid instant camera) said "It's not that we need new ideas, but we need to stop having old ideas." It's not that we need new ideas, but we need to stop having old ideas." Perhaps it is more precise to say we should maneuver to use our old ideas as footholds, as often reliable stepping stones, into grasping present circumstances, but not let them get in the way. Doubt and supporting degrees of confidence liberate and empower us for perspicacity and reliance. No? what better tool for education to facilitate?
https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/finland-has-been-world-leader-media-literacy-many-years-children-young-kindergarten-age-are
I question even the counsel of certified experts, and could provide some real-world examples of when that was wise; but I respect demonstrated expertise, and sometimes (as with the services of a physician) need to put my trust in other's expertise. That;s still an educated guess, which in the end is the best our nervous systems can manage, even when its product is admirably sound.
As for celebrity? It is simply sloppy thinking to suppose that acclaim in one area necessarily carries over to others, even for those who talents are broad. Commercialization cultivates it, but we would be wise to resist it. What if we looked at political campaigns as job interviews, based on evidence of specific and proven competence, not showy notoriety? If we are really to have a government of, by and for the people, we are stuck with a share of >adult< responsibilities for outcomes.
If not US, who?
Agreed! After all, René Descartes said that all he could be certain of was that there was someone who was doubting everything. Not "I think, therefore I am" but "I doubt, therefore there must be someone doing the doubting."
Aren't oldies the #1 cohort conned by Trump?
I'm 75, so squarely in the "oldies" camp -- but neither I nor any of my similarly aged friends or family have been conned by this orange disaster. I don't think age is the key marker here for who follows this menace.
You're also the ones who taught us (GenX) to "Question Authority"!
And I’m working on my granddaughter.
Nope. We're the ones you see holding protest signs at the rallies.
Exactly!!
I don't know about the #1 cohort but my parents never had to learn critical thinking skills. They were trained to be good little coal miners and factory girls and not question authority.
Depends on whether your parents escaped or not, which in large part depended on luck. My dad was in the middle of 8 boys in western PA coal country/ hardscrabble farming. He was too sickly to go into the mines, so his mother sent him to high school, and wangled a college scholarship for him from the local coal baron. My dad became an actuary and helped pay for his younger brothers to become a priest, a teacher, and a lawyer. The older ones worked the mines or became factory workers.
My Hungarian grandparents met & married there, Georgia.
This was the Big Sandy river valley between Kentucky and West Virginia, below Pittsburgh. They then moved to Cleveland (East 125th St., off Buckeye Rd., St. Margaret's parish). My father was born there, 1918.
Sounds like my great-grandfather's kids in Anthracite PA: the older ones couldn't read or write and went into the mines, the younger ones went to school and became teachers. My father, by contrast, was intelligent and had great eyesight and when he graduated from high school in 1943, the Navy wanted to train him as a pilot and send him to uni for engineering. But when he tested 4F, all that was left to him was driving a truck for the coal company.
Right. Adherence to codes of conformity are emphasized in more rural and poor schools. Critical thinking training is typically reserved for the children of elites. Books on tracking in schools chronicled this decades ago (Jeannie Oakes and others); not much has changed.
Thank you for that information, Signe. I'm not well formed on the authors on this subject and appreciate you naming them so I can read them.
"Can I submit a series of emojis instead?"
More likely a TikTok video.
A storm gathers over the White House as missiles fly and markets tremble. This is not just another foreign conflict. It is a test of leadership, restraint, and consequence. In Trump’s War: A Conflict as Unstable as He Is, we examine the best case, the worst case, and the dangerous uncertainty in between. https://essayx.substack.com/p/trumps-war-a-conflict-as-unstable
Your linked essay is sublime. Thank you.
I did not say what you ascribe to me, ICTT.
I thought ICTT was referring to Melania's UN appearance/speech, Phil, but because of how the threads go on and on and on, sometimes it's hard to know. which comment to ascribe a reply to.
Confusion as to who said what, donna, always has me mention name early on.
As you do here, too.
ICTT occupies a guaranteed hostility and cynicism here -- hates referencing humanities, and scorns higher standards for schools. Thinks it irresponsible ever to question standardized testers or corporate textbook packagers.
ICTT- I find many of your comments interesting and insightful, sometimes funny. But, your ongoing battle Phil is just tedious. Can’t you two just fight it out in direct messages?
Phil, I know that you are well-read far beyond me, but I want to offer a correction with respect and kindness. I'll let Merriam-Webster do the talking.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/is-it-wrong-to-confuse-flaunt-and-flout
Delicious, Dale.
Of course "flout" should have been my verb -- and of course, again, I erred in choosing "flaunt."
Eagerly I look forward to correct usage in the future. Thank you. (Can I get both verbs into one sentence?)
Phil, I'm sure that when you flout the odds of getting it wrong, you will flaunt your success at having gotten it right.
Hegseth said the United States under Trump "is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history." So why did they bomb the girls school in southern Iran in one of their first strikes, killing over 100 schoolgirls? "Surgical precision" as Hegseth phrased it would mean in this case monstrous barbarism.
You answered it. For Hegseth, bombing the girls school and kiling 100 schoolgirls was an example of surgical precision.
Constance, I would posit that christian nationalism is the obverse of the Sharia coin. Females of the species are useful for only one thing: serving males. This service takes many forms, whether it's doing their laundry, cleaning their castles, cooking their meals, providing sexual pleasure or rearing the resulting children.
Currently, females outnumber males, and Mr. Kegsbreath would like to correct that imbalance.
Once upon a time there was a Queens real estate mob boss sundowning as president. Normally he governed using denial, doubt and delay, but Saturday was different. He received a call from a friend. “Iran is doing bad things again. You obliterated their nuclear abilities once, I need you to do it again.” And the prince known as the journalist killer hung up the phone supremely confident in his ability to rule the world in oil and crypto. Confused, the old conman turned to the little conman with a chip on his shoulder and a dome over his head. “Should I bomb Iran,” he asked? “No time like the present,” replied BB gun. “Congress is not in town and you know how cumbersome democracy is.” “ But what about the losers who love me?” whined the president as he imitated them flapping their arms. “They say please, Please, PLEASE, sir, remember America First!” BB looked at him askance. “You do remember all the cheap land and cheap labor I promised you for your resort in Gaza, yes?” THE END
Make them an offer they can't refuse.
Bob Dylan said it in 1963 (selected lyrics from Masters of War):
Come you masters of war
You that build the big guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly...
You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you sit back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
While the young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud...
there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul...
It’s all over now baby blue may be next on the playlist.
Then we can have a round of With God on our Side for Hegseth…
Something else HCR gave us today:
“American Conversations: Senator Andy Kim”
Heather Cox Richardson and Senator Andy Kim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIk8up0RjSg&list=PL2dS6uX1RkUxb1-am5wUoHu4N-_9oCcQA&index=3&t=2s
An extraordinary conversation in this moment. Every member of Congress ought to listen. And every American, too.
A revelation (for me) on where we find ourselves, with a clearing in the path forward:
“[T]his is not some process tug of war between two branches of government. What we're really talking about is the fact that the American people's will right now is being subverted. That this war is being forced upon an American public that does not want it. And so, I think sometimes it gets very caught up as if we're saying, ‘Oh, well, you know, we need to do this because that's the process of what the legislature is able to do.’ That is not the full story. The full story is we're doing this because this is how we can ensure that the American people's voice is listened to. And I just think that voice is so much missing right now. And I think a lot of the American people don't feel like their voice is being heard.”
~ Senator Andy Kim
The Kaine-Paul Iran War Powers Resolution (S.J.Res.104) in the Senate and the Khanna-Massie Iran War Powers Resolution (H.Con.Res.38) in the House will be called for a vote this week. Let us make our voices heard!
Tonight, the Contrarian published an article written jointly by John Danforth (former R Senator from Missouri), Richard Gephardt, former D House Minority Leader, Judge Luttig and Norman Eisen laying out the illegality of this war. I count at least two new High Crimes and Misdemeanors…and counting.
https://contrarian.substack.com/p/trumps-war-on-iran-is-illegal?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true
the brilliant Mary Geddrey put Trump's motives this way: ""A belief that ... geopolitical 52-card pickup might somehow arrange itself into a winning hand."
We have not learned from history.
Instead of gaining insight from Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, we say this time will be different. It won’t be.
If the goal is for someone to step up and take over leadership in Iran, that is a hope, not a plan.
The Shah had his secret police, the Savak. Will another autocrat fill the void? Will we try to install our own?
We need to stop doing the bidding of Israel and Fox News. That is no way to have a foreign policy.
Attempting the same stupid move in anticipation of a different outcome is commonly considered the definition of insanity.
I'd change it a bit, fellow Phil.
Where you say "The Shah had his secret police," you might as easily say he had the U.S.'s secret police -- given that the notorious Savak were all U.S. "trained" and U.S. armed.
U.S. forces taught the Savak techniques in torture, disappearing persons, surveillance, and crowd control by indiscriminate shooting to kill.
What we did led to the Islamic Revolution. Now, we are interfering again.
One would think that a wise man in the Oval Office would give some thought to WHY presidents have for the past 45 years refrained from opening this can of worms. But then we have a moron who thinks he and the “ news readers” on Fauxnooz know better than all the former administrations put together.
Former paratrooper and Army Ranger Representative Jason Crow (D-CO) poignantly said this about the reality of war: "I learned, years ago, that when elites like Donald Trump bang the war drums and pound their chests in Washington, D.C., and talk about sending troops into the ground or into combat, he’s not talking about his kids. He’s not talking about all of his minions’ kids. He is talking about kids like me and the people that I grew up [with] in working-class areas, rural places around the country that have to pick up rifles, jump in the tanks or helicopters, and…do the tough work. Well, America is over it. America is over the three trillion dollars we’ve spent. The quagmires of failed nation building. The sending of our sons and daughters and brothers and sisters to enrich oil executives. America is over endless adventurism using our military. Because they want their infrastructure rebuilt. They want quality affordable healthcare. They want to be able to afford groceries. They want to be able to afford a home. They want to be able to send their kids to school.”
It was reminiscent of what Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler (1881-1940), had said after a distinguished career as a senior Marine Corps officer who fought in both the Mexican Revolution and World War I. In 1935, he wrote "War Is a Racket", where he described and criticized the workings of the United States in its foreign actions and wars, such as those in which he had been involved, including the American corporations and other imperialist motivations behind them.
"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives."
"A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."
General Butler was the most decorated Marine in U.S. history at the time of his death in 1940.
Wow. This is a very profound piece of history. Thanks for sharing it. This will stick with me. War is a racket.
Wasn’t Smedley the one who refused to be the face of the businessmen’s NAZI plot and blew the whistle on them?
Yes there was a conspiracy plot to install retired Major General Smedley Butler as dictator of the United States in 1933, known now as the Business Plot in 1933. As a retired Marine Corps major general, Butler testified under oath that wealthy businessmen were plotting to create a fascist veterans' organization with him as its leader and use it in a coup d'état to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1934, Butler testified under oath before the United States House of Representatives Special Committee on Un-American Activities (the "McCormack–Dickstein Committee") on these revelations. Although no one was prosecuted, the congressional committee final report said, "there is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient."
It was soon after this experience with a fascist coup attempt and reflecting on his 33 years of military service that he wrote 'War is a Racket', Butler's 1935 expose on war profiteering and the folly of war.
Seems to me that Rupert is our de facto president. He rules from the Fox studios as the country reacts to the violence that ignorance and power spread worldwide. What could go wrong when the bull in the china shop has no restraint.
"He reminded the world, as he has time and time again…[i]f you kill Americans, if you threaten Americans anywhere on Earth, we will hunt you down, without apology and without hesitation, and we will kill you.” So this means they are finally going to hunt down the killers of Nicole Good and Alex Pretti while Melania does her "Be Best" routine as her husband bombs another country!
No legal, no moral justification for expanding the attacks and implecating our Volunteer military in murdering innocent children and other civilians. We should be condemned by the UN.
Gas lines are back in style as of last night in Corpus Christi - which is usually the response to a y Storm or Hurricane threat.
Everything about this war is wrong. Killing Khamenei, evil leader within his own country, is wrong, even if you can justify it. But here is what irks me most. A bomb from us, whether Israel or the US, killed 175 school girls. They had no guns, no strategic value, and posed no threat. Do we name them? No, just the 6 American combat troops killed unnecessarily because we decided to bomb the innocent and the guilty. Let's keep in mind that all human life has equal value. The girls have equal value. It is the leaders on both sides that should end up in jail. Let the children live.
It still amazes me how the 'cowboy' became the symbol of rugged, powerful individualism when in reality, they were poor exploited workers who had no power or wealth and no independence. I guess because they worked outside in rural areas at a time when most Americans were working indoors increasingly in cities so that looked like 'freedom'? Regardless, it is one of the most harmful pieces of propaganda in history. Fuck Reagan! And all the harm he has done to our country and world.
The original "Cowboys" (as opposed to the more common term "cowhand" ) were a gang of outlaw thieves and cattle rustlers in Cochise County, Arizona in the 1870s.
The republicans, particularly this regime, are just reverting to type.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochise_County_Cowboys
Even the whole 'wild west' with outlaws and bank robbers and such was romanticized into something it wasn't. It was a very short period after the Civil War. Just think about how devastating that war must have been for the country, a war entirely on US soil with @ 700,000 people dead (the equivalent of around 7 million with today's population). We are still experiencing the aftershocks of Covid and that had no where near the number of deaths and was not war. And then 2 million veterans trying to return to normal life after the war. We now know that in violent conflicts, it is inevitable that a certain percentage of combatants get PTSD. So we have a bunch of young men, many of them with PTSD and likely abusing alcohol and drugs, trying to reintegrate back into society. It is almost inevitable that some could not and would go to the places where the law had not yet been completely established yet. Not romantic at all, just kind of sad (especially when you consider the fate of the native americans during this period).
The one time I met my Wyoming cowboy grandfather, he was 82 years old, working in a sawmill and living in a one-room shack on the high prairie. Not a dime to his name, unable to qualify for SS and before Medicare. A real lesson in rugged individualism.