Well, after Putin told him to quit disrupting the regime in Iran, Trump will now have to go and create some shock and awe somewhere else to distract the American public from his further roll out of federalized troops in our homeland, and the fact that nothing he has promised to do to help the American people has happened, and he can’t be trusted to effectuate anything at all that he says.
He’s now got different factions of MAGA fighting with him and one another, so he’s getting pretty scared.
(I'm bringing up a comment I made separately below)
Witkoff has been engaged in shadow diplomacy with both Iran and Putin.
And please recall that Putin and Iran are closely allied. Remember all these Shahed drones they’ve been providing him (for one thing.)
How do you suppose that Iran managed to relocate most (if not all) of that 60% enriched uranium *out* of those bunkers before the B-2's got there?
Latest US intel is now confirming this I believe: You know - that stuff from DIA etc. etc. that Trump totally *ignores* because he knows better. He has "a feeling," so who needs a National Security Advisor?
Meanwhile Trump is engaged in his own personal theatre using his own tweets along with the nonsense he's spouting to the TV news media.
It's all to distract from what he *doesn't* want the American public to see and be paying attention to.
Exactly David, doddering 79 year old career criminals, sans compassion, or empathy care for nothing and no one but themselves. Coupled with his low IQ and drug addled brain, this republic is in serious trouble!
tRump couldn't keep his fat little fingers off his SM keyboard, telegraphing the upcoming moves to Iran, and bursting at the seams trying to control his self-promotion and self-congratulatory postings.
But now, a major letdown by the MSM, the DIA, and anyone else not named Hegseth or Leavitt. He's mad and pouting...major ketch-up damage coming up.
Well, Zurcher of the BBC opined that the US may have escaped getting tied down in Iran. DonnyJon is infamous for never admitting he was wrong about anything, so he may refuse to fire another shot at Iran. Because all this talk about our bombs not destroying Iran's nuclear programs must be "fake news."
Well, yes, he telegraphed his plan rather well and gave Iran time to act before the bombings. But why would we not expect foolish behavior from a fool who thinks his SecDef is fine even after he used an open app to discuss highly classified secrets?
What's the use in classifying information as "TOP SECRET" if Trump is going to blast it out on Truth Social? Probably half of his subscribers on his platform are the enemies of our country. They get real-time updates on our security issues.
One comedian reported his grand insight that Trump is an entertainer, like himself. That explained his obsession with crowd size and the attendance at his first inauguration.
He was being scandalised by Carter and his partner Kurt Andersen who were getting all this great UK-style satire out in their then "Spy" magazine about what a boob he was (and still is of course)
Reports in Israel state there’s intel that Trump “notified “ Iran of the bombings 2 days before they occurred. How? Trump told Putin to get his people out of Iran, and Putin told Iran (its ally).
Anyone believe that didn’t happen exactly like that?
The Iranians may be fanatically "religious," but they're not stupid. They must have had a plan in place to preserve their capability in case of attack & those Israeli planes swarming Iranian airspace had to be a give away that their contingency plan should be activated.
Meanwhile, Trump just secured a major diplomatic victory at NATO by urging other allies—though not the U.S.—to raise their defense spending to over 5% of GDP.
We must face reality: Trump's recent actions have had a positive effect in consolidating his power.
The crime-enabling GENIUS Act is very likely to pass, financial regulations are being drastically rolled back, and Musk's Robotaxi is becoming increasingly unregulated.
Which one has a better track record - the IAEA or ISIS? Because the International Atomic Energy Agency AND the Defense Intellgence Agency both stated that the effect of our attack on Iran was negligible.
NATO was already set to increase defense spending but not because of Trump's urging - they were going to increase it in order to compensate for our refusal of further assistance to Ukraine.
NATO is going to increase defense spending. It's also virtually certain that multiple NATO and pacific countries are going to buy or make their own nuclear weapons, probably soon. How this helps the US completely eludes me, as nobody in the administration, or congress, has indicated that the process of increasing NATO defense spending leads to a decrease in US defense spending. So a policy of trashing an alliance system that has worked pretty well since 1946 leads to higher defense spending all around, with higher instability.
These countries have no choice but to increase their spending to increase their preparedness. They understand that they cannot depend on the current administration. Trump flip-flops almost as much as Lindsey Graham, who is famous for it in SC where I live.
"Urging" is not a result, so "victory" seems to be a stretch.
The Europeans have been increasing defense spending since Jan. 20. They don't trust Trump to defend Ukraine, or them, so the EU and UK are going their separate ways from the US. Trump can seek to take credit but this already happened.
Putin and Iran are not closely allied. Russia is building its own Shaheed drones with parts from China. Russia, along with everyone else anywhere near Iran, does not want Iran to have nuclear weapons.
A fantasy: Trump has a major ischemic stroke while posting self-serving, dangerous lies and other nonsense in the wee hours, and dies, face planting on his keyboard, which reads out an endless stream of Xes.
You mean J.D., Edgelord of the Opus Dei, beloved by the few, hated by the many--Oh He of Many Conflicting Opinions and Erratic, Cringeworthy Actions in Public? That Vance?
Yes. Vance is the chosen one. I imagine Thiel etc. are wishing Trump will keel over ASAP, so Vance can take over. Either way, I wouldn’t count on a 2026 election unless the public literally goes on a prolonged strike.
I think that’s a great indication of a turning tide, but I remain sceptical of there being 2026/28 elections. I suspect Trump is depraved enough to do everything in his power to prevent democracy having its voice heard.
He would need to keel over during a Fox interview, otherwise his conspiracy cult members won’t believe he’s actually mortal and truly died. If not, Vance and company could pull an Edith Wilson without any pushback.
I suspect the Edith Wilson is a once and done, historically speaking. Or maybe once and a half, given, um, the Bidens. But we would definitely be all over any such attempt at obfuscation.
100%. Expect a pivot to something even more outrageous. Rinse & repeat.
“ when the people can be left, uncertain, by the manufacturer of crisis, their emotions and behavior can be managed and directed.” - Solkov, former political adviser to Putin.
Considering Iran made their retaliatory strikes, number and locations known, true Julie. However, Israel’s continued deadly attacks on Iran have killed and injured many!!
Simple, from what I can tell Bibi thought he could con combover Caligula, into financing, and going all in to their goal of regime change in Iran, Bibi's been yelling about it for over twenty years.
While you travel, we’ll - Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some “good trouble” ❤️🩹🤍💙
This is just one more case of Trump acting to feed his ego, projecting, and failing miserably. Then lying about it. Unfortunately, when this happened, I was hoping that, even though the reasoning was suspect, the country would benefit from his actions.
This is not proven to be the case. Once again, Trump has made himself look like a caricature, big bully with no plan. He continues to be the laughing stock for the rest of the world and even worse for the United States he’s trampling any credible with the country has remaining!
Donald thinks of being President the same way that he thought about being a businessperson on The Apprentice. We have The Apprentice Presidency. Donald wants to announce great success in Iran, perfect economy here at home, obedient immigrants who are being deported or, indeed, some are self-deporting. Everything is perfect with good press and PR and flattering photos.
Anyone who does not see this picture is called a "commie" "radical" "nutjob" and so forth.
Donald greatest success as a businessperson was as a pretend businessperson on The Apprentice.
But I doubt that he can pull off being a pretend President. Presidents can't avoid dealing with real problems and situations. Unlike on The Apprentice, there is not a director to tell him when to fire someone.
well, he managed to be re-elected after a disastrous first term in office ... so I guess his reviews were good enough for a plurality of voters. OTOH a lot of crappy TV shows went into multiple seasons too...
"But I doubt that he can pull off being a pretend President."
I profoundly hope that you are right, Aubrey.
But I fear that there will always be a willing victim, prepared for blame acceptance in exchange for a tweet mention, or, dare they hope, a tweet nickname or tweet firing!
They will never likely NOT be there, thrown as chum into the West Wing hallways, proud to play even a small part in the destruction of a once great nation as instructed by their GAWD-DADDY-DONAKD.
I am told that there are lots of people who think that Donald was really running a real business on The Apprentice. And there are many people who get all of their news from FOX or other right-wing media. So, there is a high level of misinformation and fuzzy thinking in the country.
My thinking is that if a clown like Donald can be elected President not once but twice, how can we avoid the conclusion that America is in serious decline at least at the national level and in much of the country. Pockets of mental and economic activity might continue in some isolated blue states. China will supplant the U.S. as the leading economic and tech power. I hate to think of this, but it looks like it could happen.
Unfortunately, it’s probably only a matter of time before we get an authoritarian who is charming and clever. That’s when the real trouble will start. We’re sadly ripe for the picking these days.
Yes, but we had intelligent enough people running things, so we could protect them from themselves. We also had a decent educational system, until the republicans started gutting it by "death of a thousand cuts"
Ah, but we have to be careful here. Intelligent people running things has all too often meant cunning people running things. That hasn't always given us equitable results.
I was wondering if the set of people who believe that WWE is real overlaps to any extent with the set of people who believe that Donald was really a successful businessman either during his business life or on The Apprentice.
I tend to think that there is probably a good bit of overlap particularly in the MAGA base.
I read an interview in the '70s with one of the big stars there. He said that, of course it's all fake. These are big men in the ring and they're very strong. If they actually fought, the loser would be in the hospital for months. None of them can afford that. This wrestler said that there had been only one real "grudge match" in the 70s, and the loser was out of action for 7 months with a broken leg.
China is already supplanting the US in tech creativity and catching up on the military side, because the government is making sure that research and development are properly funded and conducted by outstanding scientists formed abroad. China doesn’t suffer from a nitwit bent on destroying science and technology innovation at all levels. They don’t suffer from a delusional « health » freak who wants to let children die from diseases that were quasi eradicated and they don’t let fanatics interfere with the Oath of Hippocrates and let thousands of women die therefore.
So, yes, America is on the decline : it’s not the US where I lived, studied (on scholarship) and admired 😭.
To me, it's more evidence of near-constant brainwashing thanks to the internet, aided daily by Fox "News"... I'm not sure whether the typical Trump voter felt engaged in the politics before the Charlatan Trump came along, but his blistering bombasity has filled that void. Sadly, I have several friends who have fallen under his spell. They insist that he's the only President to have been a fantastically successful businessman, and that he knows how to talk to the common man. They blame Democrats for every ill in our society, real or imagined. I don't know if the U.S. is in a true decline, but when I see our local weatherman refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," a chill runs down my spine!!
My bad, the word is "bombasticity" -- although words fail me anymore when it comes to Trump. Actively denying the U.S. intelligence regarding the strike in Iran-- in front of the ENTIRE WORLD today.. there is no low he won't go!!
Can I cancel my subscription to this season of his reality show? Or at least have guest hosts like Bernie Sanders and Jasmine Crockett to fill in? I’d watch that show.
I continue to be gobsmacked by his recent comment about Jerome Powell. "I've called him every name in the book and he doesn't change." As if bullying is the best persuasion. But for a bully, I suppose it's the only tool in his pathetically small toolbox.
What Heather Cox Richardson reports this morning indicates that Trump is raving insanely. I sent her report to The New York Times in the quixotic hope that it will stop pretending that things are normal. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-24-2025
I read Heather’s piece this morning. If I imagine a dot plot and enter all these events, I get a line sloping down and the right and ending at the horizontal axis. “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop” (Herbert Stein) But then what?
Thank you for your service, but the NYT (or the Vichy Times as I prefer to call them) always reminds me of that old quote attributed to Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it,"
Quote: “ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES”
I read you all the time during those years. As a British ex-pat, it wasn’t the first time I’d watch a people lied into a war. We Brits had the Falkland War in the early 80’s where Thatcher used a military conflict to win her second term. As for Rump, he’s lied so often and poorly that we’re incapable of believing him on anything.
I no fan of Thatcher but she was right to liberate the Falkland islands from Argentina's despotic dictatorship. You are correct though she probably would not have had a second term if it wasn't for the Falkland's war.
My point was mostly that it was a jingoistic effort to use war for political gain. Prior to the war, Britain actually negotiated to give back the Falklands because it was an expensive colonial property thousands of miles from Britain. I won’t forgive Thatcher for sinking the Belgrano which was sailing away from the islands at the time (she lied about that) and killing over 300 conscripts who would be around my age now. I don’t disagree that protecting the British subjects on the Falklands wasn’t important, but the war was largely for show, a reminder that Britain was a military power after our “little Vietnam” in the Suez which had embarrassed us globally.
You are correct that Britain was considering transferring sovereignty to Argentina in the 1970s, as the were considered burdensome and impoverished. Had Argentina not foolishly invaded in 1982 they would probably now own them. But Argentina's invasion was the last desperate act of a brutal dictatorship which had slaughtered 30 000 people in its 'dirty war' (and yes, Thatcher shamefully defended neighbouring Pinochet, like I say I'm no fan of her) The deaths of the Belgrano lay squarely at the hands of the junta. The Falkland islanders overwhelmingly wish to remain British, and their self determination must be respected against Argentina's colonial aspirations. Just like Greenland's rights must be respected against Trump's colonial aspirations.
You are wrong, and wrong again. The Falklands War was an act of self-defence (which is permitted under the UN Charter) after a British overseas territory was invaded.
The fact that it helped Thatcher politically was an unintended consequence.
As for the sinking of ARA General Belgrano (C-4) she was a real and imminent threat to the task force. She was a legitimate target, as her commanding officer agreed later.
How do I know this? Because I was there! I was the navigator and operations officer on a Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ship.
The rules of engagement (on the day that the Belgrano was sunk) meant that she was a legitimate target. I can send you a summary of the rules of engagement, as they changed during the conflict, if you are interested.
Today, the Falklands is thriving, and the population has doubled since the War.
Until now, I’ve been focused on Trump’s foolish decisions regarding the economy and civil rights. The fact that this unstable and easily manipulated Caligula has the ability to start WW III has been too terrifying to contemplate.
I take comfort in the probability China is letting the US self destruct without needing to fire a shot. For the first time in my life, a foreign attack seems less likely thanks to the barrage of internally destructive actions undertaken by the Trump regime. Other nations can also follow Napoleon’s prescription to never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
It's obvious that Trump is becoming more desperate by the day, if not by the hour. I don't think there is anything we can predict about what he'll do next other than to say it will be a disaster, if not for him then for us.
I wonder if Donald will last until the end of his term. He seems more erratic and seems angry most of the time. He is always lashing out at someone. He seems mentally unstable (as in some type of dementia).
"Erratic" is a gross understatement, as is "mentally unstable." He is raving mad, and as is evident from Heather Cox Richardson's Substack this morning. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-24-2025. He could blow up the world today, while Republicans in Congress worry that if they say anything he'll have them primaried.
I agree that he is unstable, probably mentally incompetent, and on the verge of some kind of breakdown/mental episode. I don't agree that he can blow us all up, at least not yet, since he has to go thru one or more layers of military who still retain at least some semblance of a regard for mankind's future.
His mental and physical health do seem to be deteriorating but since all we get from any medical people are lies it's impossible to tell. Heck, they may even Weekend at Bernie's him to keep Vance from taking over.
It seems unlikely that the current level of chaos and incompetence can continue for another 6 months, much less 3.5 years, without some sort of catastrophe. He doesn't "seem" mentally unstable, he clearly is. The GOP is whistling past the graveyard on this issue. It's been obvious for quite a while that Trump's basically incoherent much of the time, trending toward all of the time.
Beyond the lies about the rational for the attack, a truly appalling factor was the timing. Iran was bombed coincident with formal negotiations taking place with the US about Iran’s nuclear program. This is the sort of thing that makes Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbour look at least vaguely honorable. It's inconceivable that any government will engage in any diplomatic negotiations in good faith with the Trump administration, as it's clear that the administration can't be trusted, at all. This is probably a new low in US international credibility.
I think our international credibility tanked as soon as Dump was reelected. Unlike here, where a good portion of the media makes a very determined effort to portray this lunatic president as anything other than a failure, the rest of the world saw him for what he is during his first term. I'm sure the international community looked at the recent election results and determined that we must be fools to reelect this clown.
Thanks Dr. Krugman, and this dawg doesn't wag either!
What are they doing? What they said they'd do ... flooding the zone so we would be distracted by the new squirrel and not ICE, civil unrest, National Guard in LA, or the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Bill (sincerest apologies to Judith Viorst and her lovely and timeless children's tale).
My eyes are firmly locked on the root cause of the issues at hand, our feckless, spineless Congress. Only a few need to find their spine, remember their oath of office and DO Their Job to defend the Constitution and We the People!
But alas, due to Cirizens United they are owned fully by special interests ... and it lies with us to Hound them put of office at every level, in every city and state and above.
We need to ressurect the old Uncle Sam Wants You posters and ads ... Uncle Sam Needs You to Act when your Congress does not! Vote the feckless incumbents out of office, help the challengers get their word out, post and repost and Resist every day, every way you can.
A Canadian left-wing writer at the time of the build-up to the invasion of Iraq called the New York Times (and other MSM, not a term used in those days, there being no other streams) "voluntary TASS": as close to the official government line as to show no daylight between them, but not, as in the Soviet Union, under government compulsion.
Nowadays Trump uses actual compulsion to get the media to toe the line, and most do, alas.
Trump and the Republicans are reaping what they've sowed. Having made no effort to try to win anyone over to their worldview who already didn't share it in the first place, they now have 50-60% or more against them when they attempt something like this bombing. Since this could result in entanglement in foreign countries, they also risk losing those few supporters who actually have policy positions rather than cult membership. The Apprentice Goes To War will not end well for all Americans. You can rest assured he will find a way to make money off it.
How are you going to get young men to fight wars when they see how we treat the men that used to be young who fought the last war? The record of this country and how we treat our veterans is horrible. I always remember the WWI veterans protesting for their benefits across from the White House. The general that lead the charge to dismantle their protest was Douglas MacArthur.
I read yesterday of a former Marine whose wife just gave birth to their third child. ICE grabbed her shortly after she left the hospital. He's trying to take care of a newborn.
Wrong tense - "has pervaded" is more correct. Also consider that her presence may not be unlawful. They're grabbing anyone who looks Hispanic. My brother-in-law is Greek and my sister-in-law is Costa-Rican. Both are naturalized. You can imagine what my daughter-in-law (who was born here) looks like. My grand-daughter looks even more Hispanic.
They're planning a trip to Mexico this Fall to celebrate her birthday. We're praying.
She was brought here by her mother as a minor and her mom missed dates with CBP. That is unlawful presence. She could have been eligible for DACA. Which was not requested obviously. Apparently she left her mother's home as a teenager. A waiver would have remedied the situation - basically a letter stating all is forgiven because she married a US citizen.
This should not have happened and we hear about too many cases that should not have happened. And as many US citizens apparently think so - when did you all become powerless?
The attacks appear to have failed to destroy Iran's nuclear program. Iran tried diplomacy, but Trump and Netanyahu have destroyed that option.
Likely Iran will quietly continue their nuclear program and about a year from now conduct an unànnounced underground nuclear test and then declare they have nukes to fit their existing missiles, so don't attack Iran or Tel Aviv and Jerusalum may become nuclear targets.
Trump and Netanyahu's arrogance and war crimes will have brought disaster.
The cost of the attack is a rounding error compared to the trillions of dollars the US has already wasted in the Mideast, and the approximately $250billion/yr of the defense budget still wasted in the region now. It is amazing that the US taxpayer puts up with this. The day the cold war ended, the US should have packed up and left the region.
This is really Israel’s war to remove an ominous threat, and not Trump’s. Israelis won’t care whether Trump’s poll went up or down. For Israel the stakes are much higher.
Iran wasn't an "ominous threat" to Israel - after all, Israel has had nuclear weapons (at least 90 warheads) for decades. And there is zero evidence that Iran was working to develop nuclear weapons, although now they might decide to do so. Donald was stupid to dump the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in his first term; Israel was stupid to encourage him to do so, as they had been stupid to encourage Junior Bush's War.
For Bebe, he has been facing potential vote of no confidence and party change. This little feint was concocted by two despots to keep Bebe in power. Neither mental midget was able to think far enough to consider the reaction of Russia, China or N Korea.
And I am a bit stunned that planning was several months in the making yet no reports to Congress to this very minute have been made ... and in fact delayed to later this week. Congressional response ... meh.
And now I know why a National Guard coworker has been called up Iraq for an indeterminate period of time.
Well, after Putin told him to quit disrupting the regime in Iran, Trump will now have to go and create some shock and awe somewhere else to distract the American public from his further roll out of federalized troops in our homeland, and the fact that nothing he has promised to do to help the American people has happened, and he can’t be trusted to effectuate anything at all that he says.
He’s now got different factions of MAGA fighting with him and one another, so he’s getting pretty scared.
This is very worrying indeed
(I'm bringing up a comment I made separately below)
Witkoff has been engaged in shadow diplomacy with both Iran and Putin.
And please recall that Putin and Iran are closely allied. Remember all these Shahed drones they’ve been providing him (for one thing.)
How do you suppose that Iran managed to relocate most (if not all) of that 60% enriched uranium *out* of those bunkers before the B-2's got there?
Latest US intel is now confirming this I believe: You know - that stuff from DIA etc. etc. that Trump totally *ignores* because he knows better. He has "a feeling," so who needs a National Security Advisor?
Meanwhile Trump is engaged in his own personal theatre using his own tweets along with the nonsense he's spouting to the TV news media.
It's all to distract from what he *doesn't* want the American public to see and be paying attention to.
At least this explains why he nominated Tulsi to a national intelligence post. He knows she's a fool, but he never intended to listen to her.
He enlisted her because she is also in step with Putin, if not on the payroll.
True dat Leon!!
Exactly David, doddering 79 year old career criminals, sans compassion, or empathy care for nothing and no one but themselves. Coupled with his low IQ and drug addled brain, this republic is in serious trouble!
Trump will leave the US a has-been power.
What's the American counterpart to "Rule, Britannia!"?
So much for a patriotic demise!!
tRump couldn't keep his fat little fingers off his SM keyboard, telegraphing the upcoming moves to Iran, and bursting at the seams trying to control his self-promotion and self-congratulatory postings.
But now, a major letdown by the MSM, the DIA, and anyone else not named Hegseth or Leavitt. He's mad and pouting...major ketch-up damage coming up.
Well, Zurcher of the BBC opined that the US may have escaped getting tied down in Iran. DonnyJon is infamous for never admitting he was wrong about anything, so he may refuse to fire another shot at Iran. Because all this talk about our bombs not destroying Iran's nuclear programs must be "fake news."
Let's hope Zurcher is right.
Well, yes, he telegraphed his plan rather well and gave Iran time to act before the bombings. But why would we not expect foolish behavior from a fool who thinks his SecDef is fine even after he used an open app to discuss highly classified secrets?
What's the use in classifying information as "TOP SECRET" if Trump is going to blast it out on Truth Social? Probably half of his subscribers on his platform are the enemies of our country. They get real-time updates on our security issues.
Lance,
Ah yes: The "short-fingered vulgarian" just can't help his sociopathic need for attention.
(cf. Graydon Carter, and his truly fabulous Vanity Fair article:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/03/how-donald-trump-became-the-short-fingered-vulgarian
[Amusing, no?, that DJT became defensive about his short fingers, but apparently was untroubled by being labeled a vulgarian.]
One thing that Trump just can't stand, is being *ignored*
But even worse is to be ridiculed publicly, and laughed at.
British tabloid style invective - in the form of lampoon and other mockery, is very effective at letting the gas out of gas-bags :)
One comedian reported his grand insight that Trump is an entertainer, like himself. That explained his obsession with crowd size and the attendance at his first inauguration.
Oh no Sally, I think Trump hated it *all*
He was being scandalised by Carter and his partner Kurt Andersen who were getting all this great UK-style satire out in their then "Spy" magazine about what a boob he was (and still is of course)
He didn't know what it meant~!
Reports in Israel state there’s intel that Trump “notified “ Iran of the bombings 2 days before they occurred. How? Trump told Putin to get his people out of Iran, and Putin told Iran (its ally).
Anyone believe that didn’t happen exactly like that?
It's a sad day when an incompetent like Gabbard is ignored at our peril.
Iran's Supreme Leader is of course twice as smart as Trump, but who isn't? They know they can play him any day, and twice on Sunday, and did.
Both my dogs are smarter than Trump. To be fair, we have a Border Collie and a Sheltie. But still... 😆
But still....you're right.
The Iranians may be fanatically "religious," but they're not stupid. They must have had a plan in place to preserve their capability in case of attack & those Israeli planes swarming Iranian airspace had to be a give away that their contingency plan should be activated.
Also, the 'two week' was a give away - they knew better.
The ISIS report states that the attack caused massive damage to Iran's nuclear program, significantly setting it back.
https://isis-online.org/isis-reports/post-attack-assessment-of-the-first-12-days-of-israeli-strikes-on-iranian-nuclear-facilities
Meanwhile, Trump just secured a major diplomatic victory at NATO by urging other allies—though not the U.S.—to raise their defense spending to over 5% of GDP.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/06/25/us/trump-nato-news#heres-the-latest
We must face reality: Trump's recent actions have had a positive effect in consolidating his power.
The crime-enabling GENIUS Act is very likely to pass, financial regulations are being drastically rolled back, and Musk's Robotaxi is becoming increasingly unregulated.
https://youtu.be/3eqDIc8j1f0?si=EI_yLJ4y3Lgcyz8b
Which one has a better track record - the IAEA or ISIS? Because the International Atomic Energy Agency AND the Defense Intellgence Agency both stated that the effect of our attack on Iran was negligible.
NATO was already set to increase defense spending but not because of Trump's urging - they were going to increase it in order to compensate for our refusal of further assistance to Ukraine.
NATO is going to increase defense spending. It's also virtually certain that multiple NATO and pacific countries are going to buy or make their own nuclear weapons, probably soon. How this helps the US completely eludes me, as nobody in the administration, or congress, has indicated that the process of increasing NATO defense spending leads to a decrease in US defense spending. So a policy of trashing an alliance system that has worked pretty well since 1946 leads to higher defense spending all around, with higher instability.
These countries have no choice but to increase their spending to increase their preparedness. They understand that they cannot depend on the current administration. Trump flip-flops almost as much as Lindsey Graham, who is famous for it in SC where I live.
Trump flip flops like a perch on a hot dock.
ISIS (Institute for Science and International Security) has a solid reputation.
David Albright, president of ISIS, had an interview in Nature two days ago.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01992-2
Thank you for the link and the referral to ISIS.
Thank you for that reference. I just read it.
IMO there is little difference among the reports.
The extent of damage is simply not known.
"Massive" is over-stating, per Albright's interview in Nature.
Maybe time will tell.
"Urging" is not a result, so "victory" seems to be a stretch.
The Europeans have been increasing defense spending since Jan. 20. They don't trust Trump to defend Ukraine, or them, so the EU and UK are going their separate ways from the US. Trump can seek to take credit but this already happened.
Also . . . ISIS? The Islamic State?
My bad, ISIS here is Institute for Science and International Security
At one point Russia way buying weapons from Iran. Maybe they’re making more of their own now (I saw that reported.)
Putin and Iran are not closely allied. Russia is building its own Shaheed drones with parts from China. Russia, along with everyone else anywhere near Iran, does not want Iran to have nuclear weapons.
No, it's all good. More internal chaos - "don't interrupt the enemy when he's busy ..."
Ah yes: Napoleon's remark?
"Don't distract the enemy when he's busy destroying himself"
Highly a propos!
A fantasy: Trump has a major ischemic stroke while posting self-serving, dangerous lies and other nonsense in the wee hours, and dies, face planting on his keyboard, which reads out an endless stream of Xes.
I'm with you on this in the abstract,
But then, enter Darth Vance, serving at the high altar of Lord Thiel.
This is when the Clown Show probably ends :(
You mean J.D., Edgelord of the Opus Dei, beloved by the few, hated by the many--Oh He of Many Conflicting Opinions and Erratic, Cringeworthy Actions in Public? That Vance?
Just so. And my, what exquisite and incisive language you have my dear :)
I try.
Future headline: JD Vance - our smuggest president ever.
And most squirrel-cheeked and scruffy.
The couch fu..er.
God, I'd repressed that. Ergh.
Yes. Vance is the chosen one. I imagine Thiel etc. are wishing Trump will keel over ASAP, so Vance can take over. Either way, I wouldn’t count on a 2026 election unless the public literally goes on a prolonged strike.
I don't think they 'wish' as much as they 'tinker.' We're in full Machiavelli mode, here.
But as for 2026--Mandami just aced the NYC primary. How to you view that?
I think that’s a great indication of a turning tide, but I remain sceptical of there being 2026/28 elections. I suspect Trump is depraved enough to do everything in his power to prevent democracy having its voice heard.
It is indeed a sad, sad day when continuing the Clown Show is the best of the available options.
Yes, and it's all designed to hide what is *really* going on in Trump's agenda.
He's using all this nonsense (this real-time reality TV show) as misdirection to distract everyone he can from an autocratic agenda here in the US.
If you're not aware of how this kind of thing works, I strongly encourage you to look up Naomi Klein.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Klein
She has a great book: The Shock Doctrine, that describes very clearly the modus operandi that we can see Trump et. al. using right now.
She also speaks regularly about all of this, and has a Substack:
https://substack.com/@naomiklein/notes
I do not expect him to be around a year from now. Just a guess, but the guy is fading fast.
I wake up every morning wishing for/expecting this news !!
You aren't the only one looking for that front-page obituary.
He would need to keel over during a Fox interview, otherwise his conspiracy cult members won’t believe he’s actually mortal and truly died. If not, Vance and company could pull an Edith Wilson without any pushback.
You mean, like Weekend at Bernie's? Wheel him out on the Sunday talk shows with strings attached, and speak thru an AI voice simulator?
I suspect the Edith Wilson is a once and done, historically speaking. Or maybe once and a half, given, um, the Bidens. But we would definitely be all over any such attempt at obfuscation.
And the Reagans
Wonderful thoughts for the day Leigh!!
😁👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏I always pictured him going out twitting while on the toilet.
100%. Expect a pivot to something even more outrageous. Rinse & repeat.
“ when the people can be left, uncertain, by the manufacturer of crisis, their emotions and behavior can be managed and directed.” - Solkov, former political adviser to Putin.
A cornered animal is the most dangerous.
This may end up being Trumps Afghanistan withdrawal. But we shall see. Thank God no Americans (or apparently Iranians) were killed.
Considering Iran made their retaliatory strikes, number and locations known, true Julie. However, Israel’s continued deadly attacks on Iran have killed and injured many!!
Yeah im really unclear what the point of all of this was from the Israeli side other than they saw an opportunity to strike iran and took it.
Simple, from what I can tell Bibi thought he could con combover Caligula, into financing, and going all in to their goal of regime change in Iran, Bibi's been yelling about it for over twenty years.
Travel safely 💙
While you travel, we’ll - Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Use/share this spreadsheet as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Reach out to those in your own state, as well as those in others. Use your voice and make some “good trouble” ❤️🩹🤍💙
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk
This is just one more case of Trump acting to feed his ego, projecting, and failing miserably. Then lying about it. Unfortunately, when this happened, I was hoping that, even though the reasoning was suspect, the country would benefit from his actions.
This is not proven to be the case. Once again, Trump has made himself look like a caricature, big bully with no plan. He continues to be the laughing stock for the rest of the world and even worse for the United States he’s trampling any credible with the country has remaining!
He will continue to claim unadulterated success and bring a large percent of the electorate along in that belief because it feels so good.
Big Lie is his go to. Works for him most of the time - “who you gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes all day long on 1/6/21?”
You hit the nail on the head. The Big Lie is his go to. And I would add: he never, ever admits a mistake or shows remorse for anything.
Which will make it difficult to convince the electorate that troop commitment is necessary when he turns out to have been wrong. One hopes, at least.
THANKS for the spreadsheet!!!
You’re welcome! Thanks for speaking up right now!
Thank you, Megan. SOLIDARITY 💙
You’re welcome! Yes! Together!
Awesome spreadsheet! Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome! Whatever makes it easier right now for us to be extra loud!
This spreadsheet is wonderful, Megan. Thank you for sharing!
"Nothing bothers Trump as much as poor ratings."
Donald thinks of being President the same way that he thought about being a businessperson on The Apprentice. We have The Apprentice Presidency. Donald wants to announce great success in Iran, perfect economy here at home, obedient immigrants who are being deported or, indeed, some are self-deporting. Everything is perfect with good press and PR and flattering photos.
Anyone who does not see this picture is called a "commie" "radical" "nutjob" and so forth.
Donald greatest success as a businessperson was as a pretend businessperson on The Apprentice.
But I doubt that he can pull off being a pretend President. Presidents can't avoid dealing with real problems and situations. Unlike on The Apprentice, there is not a director to tell him when to fire someone.
well, he managed to be re-elected after a disastrous first term in office ... so I guess his reviews were good enough for a plurality of voters. OTOH a lot of crappy TV shows went into multiple seasons too...
So-called "Reality TV" is a cancer, it seems to dumb-down those who watch it.
He has Russell Vought and the execrable Stephen Miller to handle firings and governing.
Not governing so much as malgovernance.
Good use of the word “execrable”. Or, maybe not. Millie’s stuck way up there pretty tight. Is “inexecrable” a word? Wait wait, don’t tell me.
Constipation is the word you're looking for.
Both thoroughly execrable...
He was a game show host on the Apprentice.
"But I doubt that he can pull off being a pretend President."
I profoundly hope that you are right, Aubrey.
But I fear that there will always be a willing victim, prepared for blame acceptance in exchange for a tweet mention, or, dare they hope, a tweet nickname or tweet firing!
They will never likely NOT be there, thrown as chum into the West Wing hallways, proud to play even a small part in the destruction of a once great nation as instructed by their GAWD-DADDY-DONAKD.
I am told that there are lots of people who think that Donald was really running a real business on The Apprentice. And there are many people who get all of their news from FOX or other right-wing media. So, there is a high level of misinformation and fuzzy thinking in the country.
My thinking is that if a clown like Donald can be elected President not once but twice, how can we avoid the conclusion that America is in serious decline at least at the national level and in much of the country. Pockets of mental and economic activity might continue in some isolated blue states. China will supplant the U.S. as the leading economic and tech power. I hate to think of this, but it looks like it could happen.
"...how can we avoid the conclusion that America is in serious decline..."
We're not in decline. This might not be of much comfort, but the sad truth is, we've always had idiots here.
Yes, but rarely with such backing.
True, but being idiots as such, they will blunder their way into oblivion. It's inevitable.
Unfortunately, it’s probably only a matter of time before we get an authoritarian who is charming and clever. That’s when the real trouble will start. We’re sadly ripe for the picking these days.
Yeah but it's what happens between now & their oblivion that is so uncomfortably alarming
I hope that you are right.
Yes, but we had intelligent enough people running things, so we could protect them from themselves. We also had a decent educational system, until the republicans started gutting it by "death of a thousand cuts"
Ah, but we have to be careful here. Intelligent people running things has all too often meant cunning people running things. That hasn't always given us equitable results.
There are a lot of people that believe WWE isn’t fake as well.
I was wondering if the set of people who believe that WWE is real overlaps to any extent with the set of people who believe that Donald was really a successful businessman either during his business life or on The Apprentice.
I tend to think that there is probably a good bit of overlap particularly in the MAGA base.
It's a Venn diagram that is nearly a circle.
I read an interview in the '70s with one of the big stars there. He said that, of course it's all fake. These are big men in the ring and they're very strong. If they actually fought, the loser would be in the hospital for months. None of them can afford that. This wrestler said that there had been only one real "grudge match" in the 70s, and the loser was out of action for 7 months with a broken leg.
They still take a beating, just from the extremes they go to in the performance. Choreographed just like Trump’s act.
China is already supplanting the US in tech creativity and catching up on the military side, because the government is making sure that research and development are properly funded and conducted by outstanding scientists formed abroad. China doesn’t suffer from a nitwit bent on destroying science and technology innovation at all levels. They don’t suffer from a delusional « health » freak who wants to let children die from diseases that were quasi eradicated and they don’t let fanatics interfere with the Oath of Hippocrates and let thousands of women die therefore.
So, yes, America is on the decline : it’s not the US where I lived, studied (on scholarship) and admired 😭.
Even when in decline, people have rarely been this suicidal.
Right?
To me, it's more evidence of near-constant brainwashing thanks to the internet, aided daily by Fox "News"... I'm not sure whether the typical Trump voter felt engaged in the politics before the Charlatan Trump came along, but his blistering bombasity has filled that void. Sadly, I have several friends who have fallen under his spell. They insist that he's the only President to have been a fantastically successful businessman, and that he knows how to talk to the common man. They blame Democrats for every ill in our society, real or imagined. I don't know if the U.S. is in a true decline, but when I see our local weatherman refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," a chill runs down my spine!!
My bad, the word is "bombasticity" -- although words fail me anymore when it comes to Trump. Actively denying the U.S. intelligence regarding the strike in Iran-- in front of the ENTIRE WORLD today.. there is no low he won't go!!
Reagan taught us, "It takes an actor".
Can I cancel my subscription to this season of his reality show? Or at least have guest hosts like Bernie Sanders and Jasmine Crockett to fill in? I’d watch that show.
I continue to be gobsmacked by his recent comment about Jerome Powell. "I've called him every name in the book and he doesn't change." As if bullying is the best persuasion. But for a bully, I suppose it's the only tool in his pathetically small toolbox.
He’s likely going to replace Powell. His term expires next year.
Yes, he will replace Powell then. But meanwhile he will castigate and torment him.
Of course.
He’s still got lots of fans, unfortunately.
What Heather Cox Richardson reports this morning indicates that Trump is raving insanely. I sent her report to The New York Times in the quixotic hope that it will stop pretending that things are normal. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-24-2025
That was an excellent report.
I read Heather’s piece this morning. If I imagine a dot plot and enter all these events, I get a line sloping down and the right and ending at the horizontal axis. “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop” (Herbert Stein) But then what?
Thank you for your service, but the NYT (or the Vichy Times as I prefer to call them) always reminds me of that old quote attributed to Upton Sinclair: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it,"
Quote: “ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly “Plane Wave” to Iran. Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect! Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES”
I read you all the time during those years. As a British ex-pat, it wasn’t the first time I’d watch a people lied into a war. We Brits had the Falkland War in the early 80’s where Thatcher used a military conflict to win her second term. As for Rump, he’s lied so often and poorly that we’re incapable of believing him on anything.
I no fan of Thatcher but she was right to liberate the Falkland islands from Argentina's despotic dictatorship. You are correct though she probably would not have had a second term if it wasn't for the Falkland's war.
My point was mostly that it was a jingoistic effort to use war for political gain. Prior to the war, Britain actually negotiated to give back the Falklands because it was an expensive colonial property thousands of miles from Britain. I won’t forgive Thatcher for sinking the Belgrano which was sailing away from the islands at the time (she lied about that) and killing over 300 conscripts who would be around my age now. I don’t disagree that protecting the British subjects on the Falklands wasn’t important, but the war was largely for show, a reminder that Britain was a military power after our “little Vietnam” in the Suez which had embarrassed us globally.
You are correct that Britain was considering transferring sovereignty to Argentina in the 1970s, as the were considered burdensome and impoverished. Had Argentina not foolishly invaded in 1982 they would probably now own them. But Argentina's invasion was the last desperate act of a brutal dictatorship which had slaughtered 30 000 people in its 'dirty war' (and yes, Thatcher shamefully defended neighbouring Pinochet, like I say I'm no fan of her) The deaths of the Belgrano lay squarely at the hands of the junta. The Falkland islanders overwhelmingly wish to remain British, and their self determination must be respected against Argentina's colonial aspirations. Just like Greenland's rights must be respected against Trump's colonial aspirations.
You are wrong, and wrong again. The Falklands War was an act of self-defence (which is permitted under the UN Charter) after a British overseas territory was invaded.
The fact that it helped Thatcher politically was an unintended consequence.
As for the sinking of ARA General Belgrano (C-4) she was a real and imminent threat to the task force. She was a legitimate target, as her commanding officer agreed later.
How do I know this? Because I was there! I was the navigator and operations officer on a Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ship.
The rules of engagement (on the day that the Belgrano was sunk) meant that she was a legitimate target. I can send you a summary of the rules of engagement, as they changed during the conflict, if you are interested.
Today, the Falklands is thriving, and the population has doubled since the War.
Except, they do believe Trump. God help us, they do.
Until now, I’ve been focused on Trump’s foolish decisions regarding the economy and civil rights. The fact that this unstable and easily manipulated Caligula has the ability to start WW III has been too terrifying to contemplate.
I take comfort in the probability China is letting the US self destruct without needing to fire a shot. For the first time in my life, a foreign attack seems less likely thanks to the barrage of internally destructive actions undertaken by the Trump regime. Other nations can also follow Napoleon’s prescription to never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.
It's obvious that Trump is becoming more desperate by the day, if not by the hour. I don't think there is anything we can predict about what he'll do next other than to say it will be a disaster, if not for him then for us.
I wonder if Donald will last until the end of his term. He seems more erratic and seems angry most of the time. He is always lashing out at someone. He seems mentally unstable (as in some type of dementia).
"Erratic" is a gross understatement, as is "mentally unstable." He is raving mad, and as is evident from Heather Cox Richardson's Substack this morning. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-24-2025. He could blow up the world today, while Republicans in Congress worry that if they say anything he'll have them primaried.
I agree that he is unstable, probably mentally incompetent, and on the verge of some kind of breakdown/mental episode. I don't agree that he can blow us all up, at least not yet, since he has to go thru one or more layers of military who still retain at least some semblance of a regard for mankind's future.
Doesn't he?
His mental and physical health do seem to be deteriorating but since all we get from any medical people are lies it's impossible to tell. Heck, they may even Weekend at Bernie's him to keep Vance from taking over.
It seems unlikely that the current level of chaos and incompetence can continue for another 6 months, much less 3.5 years, without some sort of catastrophe. He doesn't "seem" mentally unstable, he clearly is. The GOP is whistling past the graveyard on this issue. It's been obvious for quite a while that Trump's basically incoherent much of the time, trending toward all of the time.
Many have pointed out that J D Vance has "that lean and hungry look", and the 25th amendment is just sitting there waiting to be used.
They've also got him on Ozempic or some equivalent so he looks taller and more "presidential to fascists, anyway.
Beyond the lies about the rational for the attack, a truly appalling factor was the timing. Iran was bombed coincident with formal negotiations taking place with the US about Iran’s nuclear program. This is the sort of thing that makes Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbour look at least vaguely honorable. It's inconceivable that any government will engage in any diplomatic negotiations in good faith with the Trump administration, as it's clear that the administration can't be trusted, at all. This is probably a new low in US international credibility.
I think our international credibility tanked as soon as Dump was reelected. Unlike here, where a good portion of the media makes a very determined effort to portray this lunatic president as anything other than a failure, the rest of the world saw him for what he is during his first term. I'm sure the international community looked at the recent election results and determined that we must be fools to reelect this clown.
True, Trump 47 is about strike 4. There was GW Bush and the Iraq fiasco, the Global Financial Crisis, and Trump 45 before. All in about 25 years.
Thanks Dr. Krugman, and this dawg doesn't wag either!
What are they doing? What they said they'd do ... flooding the zone so we would be distracted by the new squirrel and not ICE, civil unrest, National Guard in LA, or the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Bill (sincerest apologies to Judith Viorst and her lovely and timeless children's tale).
My eyes are firmly locked on the root cause of the issues at hand, our feckless, spineless Congress. Only a few need to find their spine, remember their oath of office and DO Their Job to defend the Constitution and We the People!
But alas, due to Cirizens United they are owned fully by special interests ... and it lies with us to Hound them put of office at every level, in every city and state and above.
We need to ressurect the old Uncle Sam Wants You posters and ads ... Uncle Sam Needs You to Act when your Congress does not! Vote the feckless incumbents out of office, help the challengers get their word out, post and repost and Resist every day, every way you can.
Not to mention, of course, our Supreme Court (of what, we're no longer very clear)
I remember your clear-eyed opposition, Paul.
I took my young son to Washington for one of the biggest antiwar demonstrations in US history against Bush's war of choice.
A demonstration of over 350,000 totally ignored by the Press at the time. I wouldn't mind an introspective piece in the Times about that one.
A Canadian left-wing writer at the time of the build-up to the invasion of Iraq called the New York Times (and other MSM, not a term used in those days, there being no other streams) "voluntary TASS": as close to the official government line as to show no daylight between them, but not, as in the Soviet Union, under government compulsion.
Nowadays Trump uses actual compulsion to get the media to toe the line, and most do, alas.
Trump and the Republicans are reaping what they've sowed. Having made no effort to try to win anyone over to their worldview who already didn't share it in the first place, they now have 50-60% or more against them when they attempt something like this bombing. Since this could result in entanglement in foreign countries, they also risk losing those few supporters who actually have policy positions rather than cult membership. The Apprentice Goes To War will not end well for all Americans. You can rest assured he will find a way to make money off it.
'The apprentice goes to war' you just know Donny would love to make that.
How are you going to get young men to fight wars when they see how we treat the men that used to be young who fought the last war? The record of this country and how we treat our veterans is horrible. I always remember the WWI veterans protesting for their benefits across from the White House. The general that lead the charge to dismantle their protest was Douglas MacArthur.
Every veteran I've had a chance to speak to is pissed off as hell. Even my son and his cohorts still in service.
And Eisenhower. And Patton.
Thanks for the update. I reread the account of the event and Eisenhower, who was then an aid to MacArthur tried to talk them out of it.
OK, I'm That Person: 'lead' is a heavy metal; 'led' is the past tense of 'to lead.'
Bowing out now, gathering up my little bag of Pet Peeves, and running for my life
I read yesterday of a former Marine whose wife just gave birth to their third child. ICE grabbed her shortly after she left the hospital. He's trying to take care of a newborn.
In the past they probably would have gotten a waiver for her unlawful presence.
Something evil is pervading this country.
Wrong tense - "has pervaded" is more correct. Also consider that her presence may not be unlawful. They're grabbing anyone who looks Hispanic. My brother-in-law is Greek and my sister-in-law is Costa-Rican. Both are naturalized. You can imagine what my daughter-in-law (who was born here) looks like. My grand-daughter looks even more Hispanic.
They're planning a trip to Mexico this Fall to celebrate her birthday. We're praying.
She was brought here by her mother as a minor and her mom missed dates with CBP. That is unlawful presence. She could have been eligible for DACA. Which was not requested obviously. Apparently she left her mother's home as a teenager. A waiver would have remedied the situation - basically a letter stating all is forgiven because she married a US citizen.
This should not have happened and we hear about too many cases that should not have happened. And as many US citizens apparently think so - when did you all become powerless?
👆🎯
The attacks appear to have failed to destroy Iran's nuclear program. Iran tried diplomacy, but Trump and Netanyahu have destroyed that option.
Likely Iran will quietly continue their nuclear program and about a year from now conduct an unànnounced underground nuclear test and then declare they have nukes to fit their existing missiles, so don't attack Iran or Tel Aviv and Jerusalum may become nuclear targets.
Trump and Netanyahu's arrogance and war crimes will have brought disaster.
Or even a small "tactical" nuke could take out one of our aircraft carriers in the Gulf.
Yes, it doesn't have to be long range or huge size to be a real threat.
Ah, again with the 'tactical nukes.' They scare me the most (in the nuclear ring of the 3-ring circus)
He just wants the Nobel Peace Prize like Obama
Giving him the Peace Prize for bombing Iran would be like giving Hirohito the Peace Prize for Pearl Harbor.
What I haven't seen discussed anywhere is the cost of the attack on Iran in terms of US tax dollars -- does anyone know?
The cost of the attack is a rounding error compared to the trillions of dollars the US has already wasted in the Mideast, and the approximately $250billion/yr of the defense budget still wasted in the region now. It is amazing that the US taxpayer puts up with this. The day the cold war ended, the US should have packed up and left the region.
Too many interests making too much money.
Iran will pay it
This is really Israel’s war to remove an ominous threat, and not Trump’s. Israelis won’t care whether Trump’s poll went up or down. For Israel the stakes are much higher.
Iran wasn't an "ominous threat" to Israel - after all, Israel has had nuclear weapons (at least 90 warheads) for decades. And there is zero evidence that Iran was working to develop nuclear weapons, although now they might decide to do so. Donald was stupid to dump the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in his first term; Israel was stupid to encourage him to do so, as they had been stupid to encourage Junior Bush's War.
No stupidity overseas. Bibi knows that he will wind up in prison if he doesn't keep wars going in the region.
For Bebe, he has been facing potential vote of no confidence and party change. This little feint was concocted by two despots to keep Bebe in power. Neither mental midget was able to think far enough to consider the reaction of Russia, China or N Korea.
And I am a bit stunned that planning was several months in the making yet no reports to Congress to this very minute have been made ... and in fact delayed to later this week. Congressional response ... meh.
And now I know why a National Guard coworker has been called up Iraq for an indeterminate period of time.
I think Netanyahu’s nickname is “Bibi”.
Bb's gunnin' fer ya!