As part of the ongoing project to catalog every awful thing the Trump Administration has done as a reference for future political arguments and whatever few posterity survives to see 2020, here’s everything awful the Trump Administration has done this week. 1580. Cancelled California's GI bill approval power 1581. Claimed a nuclear war would be winnable Trump's…
Category: Iran
The Palindrome Presidency
A mathematical phenomenon concludes in 3 days. Starting September 10, 2019 (9-10-19) thru September 19, 2019 (9-19-19) the numbers read the same backward and forward; the epitome of out of the ordinary. So is the nature of the White House, and its’ band of merry men and women. Surprise, surprise, another National Security Adviser is…
Reality TV President Trump Fires National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Trump shit-canned National Security Advisor John Bolton today: President Trump has fired national security adviser John Bolton, the lifelong proponent of American hard power, after months of division between the men over the direction of foreign and national security policy. Seems that Bolton and the orange ape didn’t get along. Bolton was Trump's third national…
We May Go to War For Spite [Update with BBC Report]
This story was posted in the Daily Mail today: Trump axed Iran deal to spite Obama: How the British ambassador called the President's actions 'diplomatic vandalism' fueled by 'personality reasons' – as revealed in more explosive cables that have sparked a free speech row while Iran tensions mount Now, we always knew Trump hates Obama’s…
Third Strike in the Middle East?
The Washington Post had an op-ed this morning — Our new Saddam Hussein — that got me to thinking about our insistence on repeating the same mistake in the Middle East, a region notoriously unforgiving of mistakes. In brief: We backed Shah Reza Pahlevi in Iran, he was a ruthless dictator, and he was overthrown…
Jacob Wohl says he'll enlist within 10 days if Trump starts war with Iran
Oh, no, no, no, no. The situation with Iran is precarious enough without sweetening the pot for the neocons. Professional fraud Jacob Wohl said in a recent Instagram message that he’ll join the military within 10 days if we go to war with Iran. My reaction: 1) No he won’t. 2) He’d also be fragged within 10…
How the press played along with Trump's Iran 'crisis' charade
Dubbed “the decider,” Donald Trump basked in lots of undeserved media glory last week after he invented a crisis with Iran, then claimed to have solved it by calling off a planned bombing raid on the country at the last minute. Largely missing from the tick-tick “crisis” storytelling was the media acknowledgement that the whole episode…
“Sanity” Prevails? Why Am I Not Reassured?
Jeez, it’s getting so that you don’t dare to sleep anymore. Every time you close your eyes, that damn little ditty from Wes Craven starts going through your head, One, two, Donnie’s coming for you! Three, four, better lock your door. On the other hand, you need a good nights sleep if you’re going to have to wake up to…
Trump reportedly 'pleased' with his performance last night
If this report is true, I feel really sorry for Melania. x A source told me 30 minutes ago that Trump was pleased with his own performance last night, loved being in command by ordering the strikes and by then ordering the stand-down. And the president just… tweeted it. https://t.co/tUPSym7inn — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June…
The “Everything Terrible Trump Has Done So Far” Omnibus (Week 126)
As part of the ongoing project to catalog every awful thing the Trump Administration has done as a reference for future political arguments and whatever few posterity survives to see 2020, here’s everything awful the Trump Administration has done this week. ____________________________________________________________________________ 1436. Failed to reimburse the government of Washington DC $7mn for the cost of…
Trump official doesn't know who has authority to declare war — Ted Lieu informs him
I can understand why a U.S. citizen wouldn’t know that the Constitution gives Congress, and not the president, authority to declare war. U.S. presidents have been pushing the envelope vis-à-vis military action for decades now. But Brian Hook is U.S. special representative for Iran and senior policy advisor to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — so in an…
Wrong-way Trump is on a one-way road to war with Iran
The United States was the world’s lone “hyperpower” when President George W. Bush launched his disastrous and unnecessary war with Iraq in 2003. An economic and military hegemon unchallenged by any single enemy or collection of rivals, the U.S. could and did act with impunity in swiftly toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime in Baghdad. But even…
The “Everything Terrible Trump Has Done So Far” Omnibus (Week 121)
As part of the ongoing project to catalog every awful thing the Trump Administration has done as a reference for future political arguments and whatever few posterity survives to see 2020, here’s everything awful the Trump Administration has done this week. ____________________________________________________________________________ 1380. Aggravated the trade war with China by implementing new tariffs 1381. Diverted an additional…
This is where it gets dangerous.
Anybody who has ever thrown a birthday party for a kid knows that there are two basic forms of entertainment. There are clowns, and then there are magicians. Donald Trump is a true cross over, a magician clown. He lumbers around the yard with his big flopping feet, knocking over the folding table with the…
Israel Appears To Be Launching A Major Operation In Syria
This evening — the same evening that Trump announced the termination of the Iran deal, and shortly after Netanyahu’s return from Moscow – Israel has started launching a wave of heavy missile strikes within Syria, in retaliation for an Iranian missile strike against Golan. What are they targeting? In addition to things that can fire into Golan, they’re…
Next year in Tehran?
As President Obama faced the looming re-election campaign in the spring of 2012, he issued a stern challenge to those critics of his approach to the Iranian nuclear program. “When I see some of these folks who have a lot of bluster and a lot of big talk but when you actually ask them specifically…
Unknown warplanes over Aleppo; explosion at Iranian base
This just coming in. Massive explosions are being heard from an Iranian weapons store at Jabal Ezzan / Azan Mount south of Aleppo, immediately after reports of unknown warplanes flying overhead. The Jerusalem Post is speculating that they’re Israeli jets, but the facts are not known right now. Casualties are reported. This is said to…
Trump announces plan to finally demolish the U.S.'s preeminent global standing
A good opening to a Paul Waldman column today: A quarter-century ago, a certain New York real estate investor took an interest in negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union over nuclear weapons. Apparently he believed that if he got in a room with the Russians, he could end the Cold War with…
Commander in chief Trump goes AWOL
“The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.” With that phrase, Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States ensures civilian control over—and accountability for—the American military. While the power to declare war rests with Congress, responsibility for America’s global vision, its foreign policy…
Trump's response to terror attack in Iran is disgraceful
“Gunmen dressed as women stormed Iran's parliament building on Wednesday while a suicide bomber targeted a shrine to the Islamic republic's founder in deadly twin attacks that were claimed by ISIS. At least 12 people were killed and 42 wounded, state media reported, citing the head of Iran's emergency department as saying.” In response,…
Lt. General of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps does bxt shxt crazy teevee. M Bachmann has a cousin?
No question, Iran has a number of very good generals. Their officers learned war fighting Saddam Hussein's army in the long war 1981-1989. The head of their Jerusalem/Quds Force, Major General Qassem Suleimani, is fairly credited with stopping the ISIS Islamist psychopaths from taking over Syria and taking and keeping the north and west of…
Does Netanyahu have a government ??? Housing corruption sets Shas against Kulanu
And there's more. United Torah Judaism put the Knesset's Finance Committee on the table, plus the health portfolio. That Finance Committee chairmanship is looking to have a potential to be a back breaker. Likud has no fewer than four interested parties lined up wanting it. Though to be fair, Kulanu is the only party saying…
Groking NeoCon propaganda: their “Iranium” documentary film. Damning Iran and Shia Islam everywhere
Netanyahu's speech. The vast network of American propaganda outlets devoting resources to demonizing Iran. Casting the Syrian and Iranian governments, Shi'ia Lebanese, Shi'ia anybody/anywhere as crazed mad men — where did it come from? – – Wonderful example of propaganda. Viewers are told that Iran provided “material support” for the terrorists who carried out the…
I got a ride in a Time Machine !! Back to when CIA re-pitched Iran as “Ming the Merciless”
CIA needed a substitute for Naziism and Communism. Wahhabi Islam, al-Qaida are financed out of Saudi/GCC. They wouldn't do. Even later as ISIS and all the lovely Muslim Brotherhood death squads… “Free Syrian Army”… wouldn't do. So of course, what else? Iran became the new monster state. Words from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the mechanic, became synonymous…
Ex-Mossad Chief Calls Netanyahu’s Iran Speech ‘Bullshit’
I don't bother reading the Times of Israel. As newspapers go, it's rather too right-wing for my taste. It isn't as harshly right-wing as some other Israeli publications, but a champion of the left it is not. For a left-of-center Israeli newspaper, one has to go with Haaretz. Nonetheless, I couldn't ignore this article when…
Israel kills more anti-Islamists in Syria. Boehner: “Thanks, Bibi. Come by for drinks.”
This is crazy stuff. The United States and Israel are on opposite sides in the ISIS War. Same time Jordan sends its Air Force in to pummel the Islamists, Israel under Bibi Netanyahu kills more of the Islamist's ground-war enemies. Then Boehner rewards this crap with a flood of nice words to Israel and his…