Indeed. If Donnie W Bush hadn't pulled us out of the JCPOA, we wouldn't be in this mess. But that wouldn't have satisfied Bibi, who's been banging the drum for a regime change war in Iran for 30 years. Looks like he finally found a president stupid enough to help him.
Yup. George Conway has the best summary so far: "A smart and evil man manipulated a stupid and evil man into a war against a fanatical and evil régime."
Both Yahoo & trump will do ANYTHING to save themselves... from going to prison for crimes against humanity & dt's basic financial, fraud, & crimes against the American public.
Jane in NC got it right. I would suggest, though, that "cunning", not smart, is the applicable term here. They all think they are, but only one actually is, and he still is unable to grasp what the consequences will be. None of them do.
I think it's convenient to blame Trump's actions on any foreign leader. We have arrived here as a result of our own complacency and naivety, assisted by a Republican party heavily invested in creating a Christian Oligarchy, and a Democratic party that is largely focused on keeping their jobs.
I wish I had something positive to add, but I'm all out this morning.
It's not convenient, EFS, it's the truth. Donald Trump isn't a smart man, and his narcissism makes him highly susceptible to manipulation. There may be many causes for the fact that he's back in power when he never should have been, but the proximate cause of our involvement in Iran is Trump being manipulated by Netanyahu. The christian nationalism of the yes men surrounding him, only made it more likely that manipulation would work. That said, Trump gave the order. He's responsible for that and everything that comes after it.
It *is* appropriate to blame others for Trump's actions. He is a dunce and an incredibly insecure individual who is being manipulated from all quarters.
But who are the complacent and naïve "we" in your statement? I refuse to blame myself. I did all in my power to support the Harris ticket, I write postcards to voters in other states to support their statewide elections, I make phone calls, I discuss events with others, etc. etc.
Just flagging that it was actually Trump, during his first reign of terror, that pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018. It was negotiated by Obama in 2015, long after W left office. I'm not sure what you meant by Donnie W Bush, so you may be talking about the current piece of shit in the Oval Office, but wanted to clarify just in case.
And that is what is most frightening is that foreigners buy our elections and determine whether or not we go to war. This is what I wrote yesterday after learning about the bombings. I cannot believe it was only last night that I learned about it.
Donnie fancies himself the best negotiator of all time thus he felt compelled to end the JCPOA and negotiate an even better arrangement which has brought us to this illegal war. Not much of a negotiator.
Hitching his wagon to Israel's successes, and probably emboldened by his Kim Jong-Un style parade, he's been itching to prove his chops as some great war-time commander in chief.
If Iran had *completed* their bomb program, and then staged a parade - just like North Korea - would Khamenei have joined the list of Trump-admired "strong" men?
Good question. It's quite possible that other bad actors around the world will conclude that countries that have nukes are safer than those that don't.
Indeed! Compare how countries with nukes like Israel & North Korea have fared next to countries which either voluntarily gave up their nukes or nuclear program like Ukraine & Libya, or whose nuclear facilities potentially capable of developing bombs were destroyed like Syria & Iran.
Right- a really cool deal Ukraine was talked into to induce it to voluntarily scuttle its nuclear facilities. How IS that “we’ll defend you agreement” working out???
He is so amazingly delusional. That whole blurb about all the things he's done and didn't get a Nobel price for... it would be laughable if it weren't so serious
Just asking, not that I believe it, but what if FOTUS is right and Iran’s nuclear capabilities have successfully been destroyed? Is there any scenario in which he is the hero?
No. Trump will never be a hero. He is a poseur. The Iranians are not dumb. This conversation has been out there for a while. If there is any truth to the idea that they had nuclear capabilities, they would make sure the stuff is not where we thought it was. And the people whose job it is to know these things and who are most likely to catch the fallout (sorry, unintentional but fitting pun) are the people who keep telling him publicly, over and over and over, that THERE IS NO Iranian nuclear threat. Now why would they keep doing that if there were evidence to the contrary. Nope, Trump is like the jr hi bully who thinks he is invincible because there is no threat, and thus, in his mind, no consequences.. There will be, of some kind. And so we are holding our breath, waiting to see where the shit lands.
Were we talking about the repression of women? I'll just drop this here, then: the culture we live in, founded by descendants of Europieans, has been repressing women for hundreds of years. They refused to allow women to participate in politics. That doesn't mean that women had no influence, and it doesn't mean that the men who wrote the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were stupid. They just had to become a little more enlightened. Women accomplished that, though there is much left to do. Better get to work. BTW, many of the indigenous nations were structured in such a way that The Council of Women had to approve any action being proposed. They had the ultimate say. Our separation of powers was based on the structure of the Iriquois Nations, but our founders weren't ready for a Council of Women as ultimate leaders yet. So we are infiltrating, and gradually getting closer.
oh i'm no fan of the Saudi government either, it'll be interesting if there's a clash between Iran and SA as the two have been mortal enemies since basically forever.
He's the peace president, they said. Trump will end war, they said.
All conflicts have gotten worse on his watch. What could be dumber than bombing someone while you are having peace negotiations with them?
We have a mentally unstable president. I remember the old days when Presidents followed the Constitution and obtained Congressional authorization before starting a stupid war. Congress must immediately impeach Trump!
They told me if I voted for Harris we'd end up a needless war. Well, I voted for her, Trump won and guess what... 🙄
This "Don't blame me, I voted for her" hat goes everywhere with me now 👇
And the fact that a nightmare like this was so predictable — and predicted — were he put back in the Oval raises the horror of it by a factor of a million, at least for me. The treachery of it, the insanity of it. It’s incomprehensible even as we suffer its consequences.
If Israel decided to attack Iran, that is on Israel. Trump took the bait for the same reason Netanyahu launched the attack - in order to consolidate power. They are both criminals who are willing to do anything to stay in power, even compromise their own countries.
Don’t forget Netanyahu’s continued genocide against the Palestinians. Or Biden’s absolute support of that genocide.
We can’t forget his horrific war crimes (deliberately killing people at aid stations, snipers using starving people for target practice are war crimes) in Gaza while he attempts to distract us by starting another war.
We've seen this movie before; we know how it ends. A not-very-bright president gets rolled by janky intel from unreliable sources, goes to war without authorization from congress for the use of military force, and launches a 'preemptive war' with little initial planning, no clear military objective, no definition of what success looks like. Welcome to Bush III.
Carrying out a war, and make no mistake we're in one now, requires patience, planning, and knowledgeable decision making. The current president has the attention span of a gnat, little knowledge or curiosity about foreign affairs, and is surrounded by a bunch of yes men. Worse yet, he's alienated every country that would normally be an ally. He's made sure that in this war with Iran we're on our own. Meet the new Bush, same as the old Bush.
However, in this case, all intel pointed to no nukes, and it was all Bibi all the time pushing the demented fool...no need for a Colin Powell at the UN flourishing nonsensical "WMD evidence", tRump just did it, anything to lose the TACO-man appellation.
Just like the Iraq war when the IAEA said Iraq wasn't producing WMD, but the Bush admin wouldn't listen. Our own intel agencies said Iran wasn't producing nukes, DonnieWBush didn't listen, either.
Absolutely right, Luana. For years, Netanyahu linked Iraq and Iran, pushing for regime change in both. It's astonishing to me, after seeing what a regime change war in Iraq looked like, Trump and his republican flying monkeys are ready to do it again. Some fools never learn.
Nobody in charge in the WH or anybody left in charge at the Pentagon after Trump's purges has the knowledge, expertise, or temperament to manage a war. None of them will tell Trump the truth about operations because nobody wants to upset him with inconvenient facts. So we will continuously get lied to about what happened and what didn't happen. Trump is already claiming an unprecedented success when no such thing has been confirmed or has likely occurred.
Lies upon lies will be coming out of the WH and Pentagon. MAGAts will believe anything and Dems in Congress will write scathing letters. We're fu@ked.
The Pentagon is already walking back DonnieW's claims about total success. The problem here is the same one we faced with Bush II and Iraq - they only listen to the intel that supports their preconceived position.
Not yet. Trump has backed himself into a corner, and he may have some problems backing out of it. No NATO, no allies, and he's just provided more reason for our trade partners to put less military and more fiscal distance between them and the US.
Yeah, it'll mess up our economy, but that was going to happen anyway. If We the People keep up the resistance, with the support of the politicians who already support us that the addition of certain politicians who start seeing their positions at risk,. the result may be ridding ourselves of 47 sooner than we thought, along with his debate team.
Tulsi Gabbdid, I’ve read tell him that Iran want not near weaponization of fossil material. He refused to listen snd she’s now persona non gratta in Trump’s orbit.
That's one of my concerns. I suspect they will bring it to our soil and at this point, we have no allies. By the way, Putin is pro Iran, so he's not going to help us.
YES! And the republicans complaining and blaming the Democratic president for everything he or she has to do to clean up the mess. Just like they dumped on President Biden for the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
I'm not sure who said this first but no one can deny its truth and infinite wisdom... "Don't start nothin', won't be nothin'."
Trump screwed up big time by trashing Obama's sanctions etc. with Iran (which were working, BTW), so to compound his error, he bombs them. Typical. He should have stuck with bankrupting casinos. The world can burn and he still won't care as long as he makes bank.
Jay, tomorrow, would you please expand on the last paragraph in today's post? It hints at a way forward. Please say more.
Thank you for your clarity warmth and humor. You help this old woman keep protesting. Old songs from Holly Near are helping, too. Her song for the Kent State memorial gives me fortitude. "It could have been me, but in stead it was you, so I'll keep doing the work you were doing as if I were two. If you can fight for freedom . . . I can too."
I am going to carry this with me. Thank you. (And not just for this, but all your writings! Stepped up and become a subscriber this week. Your work is too important for me not to.)
Actually, the parade was pretty cool (I watched on tape). Neat and cleverly presented history on parade, but what made it were all the subtle (and some not-so-subtle) gibes that the military worked into the parade. Some were clever, but there some real barbs there too. Trump (and Hegspeth) looked pretty bent our of shape, but what could they do? Trump said he was going to be hands off where the parade was concerned. He just wanted to add some big tanks (I understand that the military nixed some items because they would really trash the streets). But the show was the military personnel who created and performed in the parade. It really was worth watching. I doubt the parade was the proximate cause of his decision to go ahead with the bombing. It was more the toddler thing: the grown-ups telling him not to do something, so he went ahead and did it anyway.
Isn’t this also a distraction from the horrors of the ICE kidnappings, the budget cruelty, and Trump appointment tech bros into the military at a high rank where they can steal classified information to use in their business dealings?
Thanks!! I didn’t get that far in your piece when I wrote this. Do you know about the military appointments of tech bros? Politics Girl wrote about it and it’s almost as scary as US boots on the ground in the Middle East.
I genuinely don't think Trump and his toadies are smart enough to realise what they've done with this attack. They've thrown themselves into a war as unprovoked aggressors working off nothing but the old-enough-to-drink lies of an abject monster. Nobody in the international community will ever trust them again. It won't matter if Trump and Vance died tomorrow; the GOP is forever tainted. All party unity is going to die over the next few weeks, maybe the next few days.
And if they try to drag us Aussies into another long-term conflict on abject lies, they're going to find that the Labor party is very, very different from Scotty from Marketing and Dicksucking Dutton.
Yeah, the damage done to the U.S.'s reputation and credibility is set in stone at this point. There is absolutely no way that any of our traditional allies will take our side now — which is completely rational, I wouldn't trust the U.S. on anything and I'm (sadly) an American.
It will be interesting to see what MTG does. She's got photos of Trump plastered over all 4 of her bedroom walls (unconfirmed) and was blathering yesterday about how an attack would be a big mistake.
Not that I put any stock in what an insane person says, but she's fairly representative of the MAGA mindset.
History has shown that anyone who speaks against a president during a time of war is labeled a traitor, and I'm guessing that includes Carlson and Bannon, MTG. -Trump is their oxygen and their road to riches. If Trump calls and tells them to shut up - they shut up.
Add to the first point that Trump speaks in hyperbole all the time and it's almost never true. His statement of complete success is undoubtedly bullshit
😒🥺You and we all know where the money comes from: "the serfs and little people" as Leona Helmsley once referred to the non-1%. It will come from every safety net program that benefits us and that the 1% don't need: SS, Medicare, Medicaid, esp. long term care and senior programs for the Boomers. The money will come from public education, programs for the disabled, child care, low cost health care programs, Federal workers' salaries and benefits, mass transportation improvements, public lands, green energy and public works initiatives: all of the same programs that MAGA are destroying now.
The money will come, willingly, from war profiteers. The war will cost more and more and more because of tariffs and our not being able to control Steel, and on and on in favor of private equity, tech bros, oligarchs.
And God help us if AI controlled weapons run amok and hallucinate.
More and more men will be needed for the war effort: the war will become their trade schools and women will not be taken into the efforts: white women will be pressed into service to make babies that cannot be aborted or supported monetarily by families and government programs, and women of color forced to work to help them at poverty-making hourly wage menial but necessary jobs without benefits.
Jay, all the Iranians have to do is conduct cyberattacks. They don't have to launch one missile to do it. And as you say, expect a lot more terrorist attacks, just as Trump has downsized the TSA, the FAA, and all sorts of other organizations meant to protect us. He has sealed our fate for many decades and ruined our future. And BTW, expect Iranians in this country to be persecuted too. Thanks a lot, Merrick Garland, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito, for all your lovely gifts. Oh, and a huge round of applause for the 90 million people who didn't vote last year.
Here’s the thing about asymmetrical warfare: everyone is tut-tutting with worry about our bases in the Middle East. Iran is just as likely to retaliate in Little Rock, Arkansas. That’s the way it works.
"Yet this morning, the Pentagon is already sounding a more cautious note. "
Upon further inspection, we have concluded that we should have stuck with inspections.
Indeed. If Donnie W Bush hadn't pulled us out of the JCPOA, we wouldn't be in this mess. But that wouldn't have satisfied Bibi, who's been banging the drum for a regime change war in Iran for 30 years. Looks like he finally found a president stupid enough to help him.
Yup. George Conway has the best summary so far: "A smart and evil man manipulated a stupid and evil man into a war against a fanatical and evil régime."
LOL...what am I missing?? Just WHO is the "smart" one in this crazy scenario??
Bibi. The guy's evil, but he's not stupid. He knows exactly what he's doing.
I'm afraid I'm not giving him ANY credit for being "smart" -- Evil fits....unless you're counting him just trying to save himself, like T has done.
Acknowledging that he's not a stupid man like Trump isn't giving him credit.
Both Yahoo & trump will do ANYTHING to save themselves... from going to prison for crimes against humanity & dt's basic financial, fraud, & crimes against the American public.
Jane in NC got it right. I would suggest, though, that "cunning", not smart, is the applicable term here. They all think they are, but only one actually is, and he still is unable to grasp what the consequences will be. None of them do.
"Fanatical" could apply to any of the three.
Netenyahu.
That's brilliant! Just spot on!
Yes, pts, excellent summary.
I think it's convenient to blame Trump's actions on any foreign leader. We have arrived here as a result of our own complacency and naivety, assisted by a Republican party heavily invested in creating a Christian Oligarchy, and a Democratic party that is largely focused on keeping their jobs.
I wish I had something positive to add, but I'm all out this morning.
It's not convenient, EFS, it's the truth. Donald Trump isn't a smart man, and his narcissism makes him highly susceptible to manipulation. There may be many causes for the fact that he's back in power when he never should have been, but the proximate cause of our involvement in Iran is Trump being manipulated by Netanyahu. The christian nationalism of the yes men surrounding him, only made it more likely that manipulation would work. That said, Trump gave the order. He's responsible for that and everything that comes after it.
Looking at Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest standing stoically behind him at the podium - it was all I could do to keep from gagging.
I think you - EFS & Jane in NC -
are correct. Thanks for your posts.
It’s okay to not feel positive EFS. There’s nothing positive about this mess. Whatever sustains you - I hope you can draw on it. I wish you well.
If you google the term malignant narcissist, you will see this totally describes him and his personality, which is absolutely scary as hell!
Stephen Miller is running this country
I think he's mostly handling domestic 'policy.'
Stephen Miller may be running ICE and other domestic policy but BibiNetanyahu is still running the country’s foreign policy in the ME.
Yes, Trump gave the order and is responsible. Aside from that, we disagree.
It *is* appropriate to blame others for Trump's actions. He is a dunce and an incredibly insecure individual who is being manipulated from all quarters.
But who are the complacent and naïve "we" in your statement? I refuse to blame myself. I did all in my power to support the Harris ticket, I write postcards to voters in other states to support their statewide elections, I make phone calls, I discuss events with others, etc. etc.
And "we" are the readers of this substack…
Okay
Just flagging that it was actually Trump, during his first reign of terror, that pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018. It was negotiated by Obama in 2015, long after W left office. I'm not sure what you meant by Donnie W Bush, so you may be talking about the current piece of shit in the Oval Office, but wanted to clarify just in case.
Yes, as I said above. I'm calling him Donnie W Bush because his excuses for taking us into a war with Iran follow the Shrub's in every respect.
And that is what is most frightening is that foreigners buy our elections and determine whether or not we go to war. This is what I wrote yesterday after learning about the bombings. I cannot believe it was only last night that I learned about it.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/we-are-at-war-with-iran?r=f0qfn
Donnie fancies himself the best negotiator of all time thus he felt compelled to end the JCPOA and negotiate an even better arrangement which has brought us to this illegal war. Not much of a negotiator.
Hitching his wagon to Israel's successes, and probably emboldened by his Kim Jong-Un style parade, he's been itching to prove his chops as some great war-time commander in chief.
If Iran had *completed* their bomb program, and then staged a parade - just like North Korea - would Khamenei have joined the list of Trump-admired "strong" men?
Good question. It's quite possible that other bad actors around the world will conclude that countries that have nukes are safer than those that don't.
Indeed! Compare how countries with nukes like Israel & North Korea have fared next to countries which either voluntarily gave up their nukes or nuclear program like Ukraine & Libya, or whose nuclear facilities potentially capable of developing bombs were destroyed like Syria & Iran.
Right- a really cool deal Ukraine was talked into to induce it to voluntarily scuttle its nuclear facilities. How IS that “we’ll defend you agreement” working out???
He is so amazingly delusional. That whole blurb about all the things he's done and didn't get a Nobel price for... it would be laughable if it weren't so serious
In middle or high school when they make a mistake, they say, "My bad!" This seems like another Trump administration "whoopsies!"
Just asking, not that I believe it, but what if FOTUS is right and Iran’s nuclear capabilities have successfully been destroyed? Is there any scenario in which he is the hero?
No. Trump will never be a hero. He is a poseur. The Iranians are not dumb. This conversation has been out there for a while. If there is any truth to the idea that they had nuclear capabilities, they would make sure the stuff is not where we thought it was. And the people whose job it is to know these things and who are most likely to catch the fallout (sorry, unintentional but fitting pun) are the people who keep telling him publicly, over and over and over, that THERE IS NO Iranian nuclear threat. Now why would they keep doing that if there were evidence to the contrary. Nope, Trump is like the jr hi bully who thinks he is invincible because there is no threat, and thus, in his mind, no consequences.. There will be, of some kind. And so we are holding our breath, waiting to see where the shit lands.
their leadership is very stupid for how they've been repressing women for almost half a century.
Were we talking about the repression of women? I'll just drop this here, then: the culture we live in, founded by descendants of Europieans, has been repressing women for hundreds of years. They refused to allow women to participate in politics. That doesn't mean that women had no influence, and it doesn't mean that the men who wrote the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were stupid. They just had to become a little more enlightened. Women accomplished that, though there is much left to do. Better get to work. BTW, many of the indigenous nations were structured in such a way that The Council of Women had to approve any action being proposed. They had the ultimate say. Our separation of powers was based on the structure of the Iriquois Nations, but our founders weren't ready for a Council of Women as ultimate leaders yet. So we are infiltrating, and gradually getting closer.
Oh I don't disagree there, but it really sucks that the revolution of 1979 fucked over women big time in Iran.
If you want to talk about the oppression of women just take a look at Saudi Arabia. I
oh i'm no fan of the Saudi government either, it'll be interesting if there's a clash between Iran and SA as the two have been mortal enemies since basically forever.
It's horrifying. Absolutely horrifying what Don Taco is doing to our country - and the world!!!
He's the peace president, they said. Trump will end war, they said.
All conflicts have gotten worse on his watch. What could be dumber than bombing someone while you are having peace negotiations with them?
We have a mentally unstable president. I remember the old days when Presidents followed the Constitution and obtained Congressional authorization before starting a stupid war. Congress must immediately impeach Trump!
They told me if I voted for Harris we'd end up a needless war. Well, I voted for her, Trump won and guess what... 🙄
This "Don't blame me, I voted for her" hat goes everywhere with me now 👇
https://libtees.dashery.com/products/74030236-dont-blame-me-i-voted-for-harris-hat
And Jay could have written his Pride article....
The bombing while negotiating peace is similar to what happened on December 7, 1941. That didn’t end well for Japan.
And the fact that a nightmare like this was so predictable — and predicted — were he put back in the Oval raises the horror of it by a factor of a million, at least for me. The treachery of it, the insanity of it. It’s incomprehensible even as we suffer its consequences.
Exactly! And for what? To distracted from all his failures and to cling to power!
If Israel decided to attack Iran, that is on Israel. Trump took the bait for the same reason Netanyahu launched the attack - in order to consolidate power. They are both criminals who are willing to do anything to stay in power, even compromise their own countries.
Don’t forget Netanyahu’s continued genocide against the Palestinians. Or Biden’s absolute support of that genocide.
We can’t forget his horrific war crimes (deliberately killing people at aid stations, snipers using starving people for target practice are war crimes) in Gaza while he attempts to distract us by starting another war.
We've seen this movie before; we know how it ends. A not-very-bright president gets rolled by janky intel from unreliable sources, goes to war without authorization from congress for the use of military force, and launches a 'preemptive war' with little initial planning, no clear military objective, no definition of what success looks like. Welcome to Bush III.
Carrying out a war, and make no mistake we're in one now, requires patience, planning, and knowledgeable decision making. The current president has the attention span of a gnat, little knowledge or curiosity about foreign affairs, and is surrounded by a bunch of yes men. Worse yet, he's alienated every country that would normally be an ally. He's made sure that in this war with Iran we're on our own. Meet the new Bush, same as the old Bush.
However, in this case, all intel pointed to no nukes, and it was all Bibi all the time pushing the demented fool...no need for a Colin Powell at the UN flourishing nonsensical "WMD evidence", tRump just did it, anything to lose the TACO-man appellation.
Just like the Iraq war when the IAEA said Iraq wasn't producing WMD, but the Bush admin wouldn't listen. Our own intel agencies said Iran wasn't producing nukes, DonnieWBush didn't listen, either.
Netanyahu was a big player in the Iraq war too remember; he’s everywhere in the ME , an area he eants Israel to control. Next up ?!!!
Absolutely right, Luana. For years, Netanyahu linked Iraq and Iran, pushing for regime change in both. It's astonishing to me, after seeing what a regime change war in Iraq looked like, Trump and his republican flying monkeys are ready to do it again. Some fools never learn.
Yup! Netanyahu just had to jingle his keys at Trump, same way he got Trump to spike the nuclear deal with Iran.
Nobody in charge in the WH or anybody left in charge at the Pentagon after Trump's purges has the knowledge, expertise, or temperament to manage a war. None of them will tell Trump the truth about operations because nobody wants to upset him with inconvenient facts. So we will continuously get lied to about what happened and what didn't happen. Trump is already claiming an unprecedented success when no such thing has been confirmed or has likely occurred.
Lies upon lies will be coming out of the WH and Pentagon. MAGAts will believe anything and Dems in Congress will write scathing letters. We're fu@ked.
The Pentagon is already walking back DonnieW's claims about total success. The problem here is the same one we faced with Bush II and Iraq - they only listen to the intel that supports their preconceived position.
Not yet. Trump has backed himself into a corner, and he may have some problems backing out of it. No NATO, no allies, and he's just provided more reason for our trade partners to put less military and more fiscal distance between them and the US.
Yeah, it'll mess up our economy, but that was going to happen anyway. If We the People keep up the resistance, with the support of the politicians who already support us that the addition of certain politicians who start seeing their positions at risk,. the result may be ridding ourselves of 47 sooner than we thought, along with his debate team.
Tulsi Gabbdid, I’ve read tell him that Iran want not near weaponization of fossil material. He refused to listen snd she’s now persona non gratta in Trump’s orbit.
Sorry - Tulsi Gabbard,
That's one of my concerns. I suspect they will bring it to our soil and at this point, we have no allies. By the way, Putin is pro Iran, so he's not going to help us.
Putin also wants the US distracted from helping Ukraine, so he's likely glad to see us occupied with Iran instead.
That's exactly what I've been wondering!
Exactly. Same as Bibi wants with Gaza.
Followed by dumping the aftermath on the next Democratic president.
YES! And the republicans complaining and blaming the Democratic president for everything he or she has to do to clean up the mess. Just like they dumped on President Biden for the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
I'm not sure who said this first but no one can deny its truth and infinite wisdom... "Don't start nothin', won't be nothin'."
Trump screwed up big time by trashing Obama's sanctions etc. with Iran (which were working, BTW), so to compound his error, he bombs them. Typical. He should have stuck with bankrupting casinos. The world can burn and he still won't care as long as he makes bank.
Thank you for your calm. Or at least the appearance of calm. I despair.
The difference between despair and resolve is a narrow path of hope, lit by knowledge.
Which is why I read your newsletter first this morning. The hope and knowledge there helped settle me enough to move forward.
I wasn't going to read anything today, but now I'm glad I have read Jay, feeling better already.
Jay, tomorrow, would you please expand on the last paragraph in today's post? It hints at a way forward. Please say more.
Thank you for your clarity warmth and humor. You help this old woman keep protesting. Old songs from Holly Near are helping, too. Her song for the Kent State memorial gives me fortitude. "It could have been me, but in stead it was you, so I'll keep doing the work you were doing as if I were two. If you can fight for freedom . . . I can too."
I am going to carry this with me. Thank you. (And not just for this, but all your writings! Stepped up and become a subscriber this week. Your work is too important for me not to.)
I think his little ego was hurt by his dismal birthday parade so he had to use the biggest bomb, that only the US has, to make himself feel better.
Big ego, little brain. (I recognize your use of little was sarcasm)
Actually, the parade was pretty cool (I watched on tape). Neat and cleverly presented history on parade, but what made it were all the subtle (and some not-so-subtle) gibes that the military worked into the parade. Some were clever, but there some real barbs there too. Trump (and Hegspeth) looked pretty bent our of shape, but what could they do? Trump said he was going to be hands off where the parade was concerned. He just wanted to add some big tanks (I understand that the military nixed some items because they would really trash the streets). But the show was the military personnel who created and performed in the parade. It really was worth watching. I doubt the parade was the proximate cause of his decision to go ahead with the bombing. It was more the toddler thing: the grown-ups telling him not to do something, so he went ahead and did it anyway.
Isn’t this also a distraction from the horrors of the ICE kidnappings, the budget cruelty, and Trump appointment tech bros into the military at a high rank where they can steal classified information to use in their business dealings?
Yes, as my piece mentions, it’s very possibly an
Instinctual distraction.
Thanks!! I didn’t get that far in your piece when I wrote this. Do you know about the military appointments of tech bros? Politics Girl wrote about it and it’s almost as scary as US boots on the ground in the Middle East.
I am beside myself with anger at the techbros being given military ranks and access to military intel. This is astonishingly corrupt.
I genuinely don't think Trump and his toadies are smart enough to realise what they've done with this attack. They've thrown themselves into a war as unprovoked aggressors working off nothing but the old-enough-to-drink lies of an abject monster. Nobody in the international community will ever trust them again. It won't matter if Trump and Vance died tomorrow; the GOP is forever tainted. All party unity is going to die over the next few weeks, maybe the next few days.
And if they try to drag us Aussies into another long-term conflict on abject lies, they're going to find that the Labor party is very, very different from Scotty from Marketing and Dicksucking Dutton.
Yeah, the damage done to the U.S.'s reputation and credibility is set in stone at this point. There is absolutely no way that any of our traditional allies will take our side now — which is completely rational, I wouldn't trust the U.S. on anything and I'm (sadly) an American.
It will be interesting to see what MTG does. She's got photos of Trump plastered over all 4 of her bedroom walls (unconfirmed) and was blathering yesterday about how an attack would be a big mistake.
Not that I put any stock in what an insane person says, but she's fairly representative of the MAGA mindset.
History has shown that anyone who speaks against a president during a time of war is labeled a traitor, and I'm guessing that includes Carlson and Bannon, MTG. -Trump is their oxygen and their road to riches. If Trump calls and tells them to shut up - they shut up.
--->>> "As a practiced con artist..." <<<---
Add to the first point that Trump speaks in hyperbole all the time and it's almost never true. His statement of complete success is undoubtedly bullshit
Where is Trump going to steal the money to pay for this war?
Medicaid, the VA, and Social Security.
And Medicare cuts.
😒🥺You and we all know where the money comes from: "the serfs and little people" as Leona Helmsley once referred to the non-1%. It will come from every safety net program that benefits us and that the 1% don't need: SS, Medicare, Medicaid, esp. long term care and senior programs for the Boomers. The money will come from public education, programs for the disabled, child care, low cost health care programs, Federal workers' salaries and benefits, mass transportation improvements, public lands, green energy and public works initiatives: all of the same programs that MAGA are destroying now.
The money will come, willingly, from war profiteers. The war will cost more and more and more because of tariffs and our not being able to control Steel, and on and on in favor of private equity, tech bros, oligarchs.
And God help us if AI controlled weapons run amok and hallucinate.
More and more men will be needed for the war effort: the war will become their trade schools and women will not be taken into the efforts: white women will be pressed into service to make babies that cannot be aborted or supported monetarily by families and government programs, and women of color forced to work to help them at poverty-making hourly wage menial but necessary jobs without benefits.
That was my question,, as well. I guess the MAGA cult will just run up more
debt. Have to keep those tax cut s for the elites.
And cutting off Ukraine entirely. Handy little way to appease Putin for bombing Putin's ally.
From us.
Jay, all the Iranians have to do is conduct cyberattacks. They don't have to launch one missile to do it. And as you say, expect a lot more terrorist attacks, just as Trump has downsized the TSA, the FAA, and all sorts of other organizations meant to protect us. He has sealed our fate for many decades and ruined our future. And BTW, expect Iranians in this country to be persecuted too. Thanks a lot, Merrick Garland, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito, for all your lovely gifts. Oh, and a huge round of applause for the 90 million people who didn't vote last year.
Donnie and his incompetents strike again.
Here’s the thing about asymmetrical warfare: everyone is tut-tutting with worry about our bases in the Middle East. Iran is just as likely to retaliate in Little Rock, Arkansas. That’s the way it works.
I actually worry about southeast Houston because of the oil refineries there.... :(