Paul sounds so negative about Operation Epstein Fury! What could possibly go wrong?
The plan, as near as I can tell from Trump's statements is to drop bombs until something happens. What is that something? Nobody knows. How might we recognize that something has happened? Also unknown. And what will we do if that something happens? Who knows and who cares?
We're just going to keep dropping bombs until people leave poor Donald alone about this Epstein stuff, I guess.
“A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer.
From Saturday morning through Monday night, more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the military had been logged by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). The complaints came from more than 40 different units spread across at least 30 military installations.
The NCO wrote to the MRFF that their commander “urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.”
Insanity existed over the past 58 years by voting for Republicans since 1968. For 58 years, Republicans have caused tragic suffering in America and the world with wars and poor affordability based on stealing wealth from 99% of Americans, transferring the wealth to the top 1%, and justifying the suffering with extensive lying.
Republican objectives include trying to win the midterms by falsely claiming the war with Iran is protecting American national security. There was no imminent threat to the US.
Krugman correctly said, “the Trump administration, which hasn’t provided any coherent rationale for the war, is hardly bothering to pretend that it has anything to do with national security.”
Krugman also said, “Replacing those three jets shot down over Kuwait — each of them, remember, with a price tag of $97 million — will cost about as much as providing 125,000 Americans with crucial food aid or providing healthcare to 100,000 American children.”
The Iraq war cost an estimated $1.8 trillion to $3 trillion. The Iraq war resulted in about 4500 US military deaths and 32,000 injuries. Total war deaths including Iraq civilians exceeded 200,000.
and the eldest Kennedy child (Joseph) was killed when the remote-controlled B-24 he was preparing to abandon exploded prematurely. His brother John was commanding PT boats in the Pacific theater.
Right. All of FDR's sons went overseas, and I believe at least one flew combat missions with the AAF. So did Hollywood stars like Gable and Jimmy Stewart. We're talking a different caliber of people, compared to the Trumps.
Hello Jon... TR, Jr., was the 1st American General to put his Boots on the Sand in Normandy.... He was terminally ill, and lied about his Health to get there... As a son of a former POTUS, TR, Jr, could have stayed home... JFK lied about his Age, and Health to serve in Harms-Way...
Yep, all true. If I remember correctly, Normandy was the third landing for T.R. jr. He was in Operation Torch (North Africa) and Husky (Sicily) as well.
Lt. Quentin Roosevelt, one of Teddy Roosevelt's sons, died in World War I in June of 1918. He was a pilot who was shot down behind enemy lines during the second battle of the Marne. He was 20 years old.
Second Marne was fought in July 1918. I think Quentin was flying over the battlefield of the German Aisne-Marne offensive of May-June, which preceded the second Marne.
They get cut out of the will if they do that. Seriously, trump put in Marla Maples pre-nup if Tiffany ever enlisted in so much as the Peace Corp, she would get no monetary support.
God is pissed that she ever let us loose on her Earth…maybe that’s the endgame…only it’s about Gia and stewardship. Climate change isn't a good idea for real estate developments.
According to the Pew Research Center, in 2021, roughly 24% of U.S. citizens identified themselves as fundamental Christians. It's reasonable to assume that at least that percentage of military personnel do.
Some of the greatest military disasters in history were predicated on the claim "that the Gods are with us" or "this is the will of god" or "we must destroy the heretics in the name of god". Of the actions that were not disasters, most are recorded as atrocities. Given the idiocy at the top of this FUBAR it is likely to be "all of the above".
I had read this. The Bible is not a military strategy handbook. We have had a Dominionist and white Christian Nationalist contingent in the military for some time, and some officers have been proselytizing their service members for some time. This goes back to well before the Iraq war. Mikey Weinstein and MRFF have done great work to combat the stealth proselytizing in the military, which violates the First Amendment. I have heard him speak twice, and he’s well worth listening to.
I've been writing about Dominionism for over a year. It's only a matter of time before the U.S. as we know it is "obliterated" and replaced with the same theocratic regime Trump just assassinated, only ours will be Christian of course.
It’s also a rotten idea, the only thing it will do is to turn people totally against religion. Some of us are religious and Christian, but we believe in the First Amendment and do not believe the state should be publicly endorsing one form of religion over another. We are also opposed to Dominionism (Rousas Rushdoony’s biblically constructed state) and to white Christian Nationalism.
It IS a rotten idea. I don't think the theocratic fascists have considered a few, crucial points:
1) Women outnumber men and we aren't going to sit quietly, because men.
2) Those identifying as non-Christian outnumber Christians in the U.S. and world-wide, and aren't going to live under a theocratic fascist regime.
3) Most of us in the U.S. like multiculturalism and equality for all. We like our entertainment, our arts, our communities, our (disappearing) societal progress of acceptance and kindness.
4) POC aren't going to just "go away" and Americans, Christian and otherwise, aren't going to tolerate throwing them in concentration camps.
And to your best point, millions of Christians believe just as you do and are opposed to Dominionism, and they aren't going to fall in line, and many who will not turn against their faith, will absolutely turn against those exerting dominance over it.
If you look at X through http://nitter.space, you can see all the bots and trolls praising Trump and Kegseth’s idiotic move to the skies and assuring themselves it corresponds to their peculiar interpretation of scripture and regime change is inevitable. They utterly fail to realize there is no strategy or planning in evidence here. I can’t fathom cheering on the deaths of 20 million or any number of people. To me, it’s obscene to do that.
The acting secretary of the Air Force, Michael L. Dominguez, appointed the panel on May 2 after more than a year of complaints about religious coercion. The complaints culminated with a report sent to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State that documented accusations of coercion. A chaplain at the academy, Capt. Melinda Morton, made public last month accusations that the religious problem at the academy was "pervasive." Captain Morton had been on a team asked to draw up a program to promote religious tolerance. On Tuesday, she resigned from the Air Force saying that she did not believe her superiors genuinely wanted her to stay on to help resolve the problem.
Thank you for the gift link. My understanding is that Capt. Morton resigned because the Air Force Academy leadership was more interested in sweeping the problem under the rug than on working to correct it.
Here is a link to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation that gives her biography:
I just read the article the link references; and, wow, as if I didn't have enough to scare me! It's not just that the whole Christian Nationalist thing is nothing more than a vat of half-digested medieval moose drool - it's that so many crackpot U.S. military commanders, the same commanders who control guys in Kansas silos with the keys to launch nuclear weapons - actually have operational control over some incredibly destructive stuff. So Trump et. al. are making it possible for General Jack D. Ripper to actually become a thing. But instead of blowing up the world to protect our "purity of essence", Trump's latter day Ripper, or Rippers, will do it to herald the second coming of history's second most unpleasant fictional character, Jesus Christ.
It's very uncomfortable realizing that the world is now much closer than ever to being destroyed for the sake of a mass delusion! I guess that's why folks say ignorance is bliss.
Stanley Kubrick got uncomfortably close to the truth with Dr. Strangelove. Except that the current admin is far stupider than anything anyone predicted.
The problem is that the people in charge don't practice "christianity" if if they espouse it and no offense, they wouldn't recognize Jesus Christ if he did return.
Ah yes, Huckabee, the pedo defender, the guy who helped hide Josh Duggar's crimes molesting his sisters, by introducing him to a State trooper for 'counseling' him (on how not to get caught) which didn't work because they are both in jail for CSAM. What a coincidence he just happened to know a pedophile to help Josh.
Remember Vietnam and Afghanistan. USA lost. And they were "boots on the ground". Trump sees nothing stupid about bombing Iranians without having a plan of what to do after that .
The drumbeat of war goes on. Gas and energy prices are spiking (we filled up yesterday). Higher gas prices will likely hurt Trump's staunchest supporters the most. There's a lyric from an old Eagles song that perfectly describes the Trump Adm.
"You can see the stars but still can't see the light"--Don Henley/Glenn Frey (Already Gone)
A rise in oil prices of $10/barrel usually means a rise in gasoline prices of $.25/gallon. As of noon yesterday, prices (currently within a few cents of $2.65/gallon) had not increased in central New Jersey.
The United States may not be badly hurt as far as natural gas is concerned, but we do import a fair amount from Canada, which country is not best pleased with us at the moment. European nations are likely to be hurt worse than the U.S., since they switched from using Russian natural gas to gas imported from the middle east a few years ago.
Natural gas is a separate commodity than oil. I expect little change in North American natural gas prices as the North American produces more gas than we use. This will probably affect the price of LNG however and I think that is what Europe imports.
As for oil only time will tell how much this affects prices.
LNG is Liquified Natural Gas. If natural gas is sold on the global market (as oil is), natural gas prices will go up in the U.S. as it will everywhere else. If not, it won't.
Well, oil is sold on the global market, which means U.S. companies will sell to the buyer who offers the most money. Many of them have long-term contracts (such as those with the airlines). I wouldn't put it past Trump to issue an executive order to forbid U.S. oil companies from selling outside the country, but I doubt that it would have any effect.
It's propaganda sponsored by the gun/munitions companies. They are war profiteers. My guess is the Trumpenstein Crime Syndicate invested before they went to war.
🤣 Actually, the Ukrainians now have a mobile laser that's been tested in the field where the laser wavelength is outside the visible spectrum. One of the defense contractors in the US has also tested this technology but it cost the US taxpayers 4 times as much and took twice as long as it did Ukraine. Necessity really is the mother of invention.
Sorry. This according to Stolkholm International Peace Research Institute. And France is only 9.6%. Scary China 5.9%. Remember that book The Ugly American 🙄?
'Matt Gertz of Media Matters noted today that Trump, who watches the Fox News Channel consistently, appears to have shaped his attack on Iran in response to encouragement from FNC hosts. Gertz recalled that for decades, the FNC hosts Trump trusts the most have called for military strikes on Iran.
Last June, FNC personalities Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Brian Kilmeade urged Trump to bomb Iran and then lavished praise on him when he did. Hannity said the bombing would “go down in history as one of the great military victories.”
In the past weeks, Gertz wrote, the same figures have been urging Trump to attack. But their goal appeared to be the bombing itself. They expected an easy victory, without defining what that might look like. According to Kilmeade, the U.S. would “lose credibility forever” if it didn’t hit Iran. On Friday morning, Kilmeade said: “I hope the president chooses to go at it. We have been looking at these headlines for 47 years, and we have an opportunity to end it. And this president likes to make history.”'
It will be an easy victory . . . provided you never define what "victory" is and you keep moving the goalposts fast enough to generate Cherenkov radiation.
Reminds me of a manager for whom I worked in the dark ages. He bragged that he had never missed a delivery date. Any time his group got behind schedule, he would move the delivery date. He appeared to be perfectly serious.
It’s the kids and grandkids and great grandkids who will be paying for Trump’s wars because members of Congress refuse to say no to him. I hop everybody thinks about how much he is hurting their offspring’s future when they go to vote.
I wish they would, but they won’t. Most Americans simply do not think that way and exhibit little desire to. It’s no different than making even small changes to one’s own life to help fight the climate crisis. People don’t want to. They seem to be happy to continually kick the can, but it’s coming for all of us. I have zero doubt I will see catastrophe, so I am sure my kids will be living in a Mad Max world.
I wish we had all been taught from young childhood that we are borrowing this world from future generations, not inheriting it from past ones. If that was an intrinsic understanding and value, maybe things would look different.
It’s not that folks don’t care. More likely that Americans are so beaten down by this dystopian, callous regime forcing an allocation of energy merely to survive.
I don't think we're any different than our short-sighted ancestors. It's against human nature to accommodate the future. Anytime there's sacrifice involved most people kick the can down the road. In many cases it's because the future is a luxury they can't afford. But there's hope for the carrot approach and technology that makes the economics downhill with respect to climate change at least. Too bad it's too late for the world we have now and grew up with.
Yeah, but what’s sad is that with all of the wealth and advancements and such, we *should* be able to think this way. Instead, America especially does an abysmal and shameful job at redistribution and putting that wealth back into a healthy, educated population rather than the wealthy’s pockets. So people do still have to think in the here and now, today because who knows what tomorrow will bring.
It's more than an unwarranted expense. It's a huge, uncontrolled, unwarranted expense. Compare $200 billion spent on war and $200 billion spent on Medicare.
Spend $200 billion on Medicare and 300 million Americans will be watching to see that every dollar is actually (though maybe not efficiently) spent on improving the health of Americans.
Spend $200 billion on war: how do you check that $200 billion was efficiently spent on improving the safety and security of Americans? The evidence is now ash.
You are picking up the tab for helping Trump to 'inflate his ego', what else. Although there may be a side-serve of justification for interfering with elections. And possibly boosting the value of investments in military suppliers.
but supplies of 13-year-olds are scarce and come with hidden delayed costs. Of course, at Trump's age, any delay in the costs will probably be more than adequate.
I think the emphasis is on justifying the interference in the coming elections! He’s been talking about ways to stop the election or the voting. No TACO here.
The Saudis, Emiratis, and Qataris have already massively bribed Trump, and those in his "cabinet" like Jared K. and Witkoff. Add to that list AIPAC and the pro-Bibi crowd, all of whom want Iran sixed for various reasons, and you've got yourself a war.
I'm predicting Donald will TACO once prices at the pump start rapidly climbing.
Sadly, in this case it didn't even start with Trump; the Saudis are dug into Official Washington like ticks, and it's largely because they throw petrodollars around everywhere. Likewise AIPAC, though it's not so much a money thing there.
On the contrary: AIPAC spends millions trying to elect Members of Congress who will continue to fund Israel's rape of Gaza and annexation of the West Bank.
Oh, they both spend money, but there's a lot more to AIPAC than that.
If Saudi groupies were sending out mass texts saying "be careful! My political opponent has been linked to Saudi opposition groups! A vote for him is a vote to destroy Saudi Arabia!" the way AIPAC texts me seemingly at every primary election, everybody would just laugh in their face. Because no normal American, including most Muslim ones, gives a shit what happens to the Saudi government. Which is why it never happens. AIPAC, however, does get away with it, because there's a gigantic reservoir of sympathy for Israel in this country for largely ideological reasons. It may have begun to sour, but that's pretty recent and nowhere near universal.
With the Saudis, it's ALL about the money. Leo's line from The West Wing is still true: "to sweep all fifty states, the President would only have to do two things. Blow the king's brains out in Times Square, then walk across the street to Nathan's to buy a hot dog." Nobody here is predisposed in their favor. It really is all $$$.
No, it's both parties. ANY member of the House or Senate who says anything deemed anti-Israel, will see their opponents in the next primary funded with millions--even tens of millions--of dollars. Which is why Gaza is still occupied and the slow starvation of its surviving residents continues. And they're not even required to register as a foreign lobbying organization.
What's even worse is that AIPAC's blind support of the Netanyahu government's conduct of Gaza--as distinct to their operations in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen--has severely damaged Israel's diplomatic standing, and done more to foster antisemitism, than anything in my lifetime. J-Street is the only viable choice now for American Jews who love Israel.
Or maybe an actual transgression against Americans in, say, Mt. Home AFB Idaho where Qatar is establishing a permanent training facility; Saudi has 1700 students enrolled in military schools; UAE trains at Luke AFB. You know, Other.
Well, Iran has attacked all of them. If any pressured Trump for a war, they may be regretting that now. From the Independent - "Retaliatory strikes have seen several nations, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, hit following the attacks, as Iran has threatened its 'most intense offensive operation' against US bases."
I took a look at the Kuwaiti Times this morning, and it was full of support for the war. Of course, the media over there probably wouldn't be allowed to print anything that contradicts the leadership. Yesterday, I saw video of crowds cheering the Iranian missile strikes in Bahrain; it was like watching crowds at a holiday fireworks display ("Wow! That was a good one!"). Reuters reports that there were crowds attacking U.S. embassies in the region; notably in Pakistan and Turkey.
Dwight David Eisenhower: ""Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."
DEMS had also asked him to be their candidate! This was in the 'good old days' where many GOPers supported the ideas, concepts and programs of the New Deal too.
True, but the fact that he gave it in his *farewell* address after a near-decade of cheerfully feeding the Cold War machine *specifically* its corporate connections (overthrow Mossadegh for the oil companies, overthrow Arbenz for United Fruit Company, overthrow Lumumba for the mining companies...) always kind of made it an eyeroller for me, as well.
It's kind of like George Washington freeing his slaves... on his deathbed. "Hi guys, this is a problem I've been contributing to all my life, I'm *aware* that it's a problem, and I'm actually okay with it being addressed, just... only now, when it doesn't affect me anymore."
Don't mean to give Eisenhower a pass. Have real issues with what he did in Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam, etc. However, he actually does reduce spending on defense. DoD spending never falls below 50% of federal budget, but he does curb spending by 20%+ in real dollar amount. Whether the linked policies of nuclear expansion and massive retaliation were good ideas is another discussion
Well, after the Korean War came to a stalemate in 1953, there wasn't the need for as much military spending. A lot of the stuff being used for Vietnam was leftover munition from earlier wars.
True. I think decreased spending had to do more with a greater reliance on nuclear weapons and the threat of massive retaliation as a means to get more bang for your buck (in contrast to NSC-68). Not sure those were good ideas, but it did decrease spending.
Voters put those people in Congress. And voters elected the presidents and U.S. senators who chose and confirmed the Supreme Court justices. We do need to think about what we as a country want to be, what are our priorities.
It’s the Republican Party. They don’t need the excuse of war to not spend money on the little people. They have always found ways to not spend money on helping us.
I am not understanding this part: shouldn’t Congress play a role in any of this? Why are we not hearing what’s going on there, in the news? Also what are the US allies doing?
Starmer has offered to allow U.S. military aircraft to operate from UK bases but states that not UK personnel will participate. That's all I've heard (and that's from the BBC).
I spoke with a nurse from Idaho a few years ago who was opposed to food stamps because she saw women using them to buy junk food for their kids. She objected to "her tax money" being used that way. Interestingly enough, her salary is paid by her county government.
A depleted military is the opening Ji needed for Taiwan. And if he moves this year and succeeds… does Trump understand the implications of a disruption in computer chips? Not just for civilians, but it would make rebuilding those missile systems all but impossible.
In terms of Trump’s understanding of the financial implications of the war, in his personal and professional life bankruptcy has been the “get out of jail free” card. I believe he projects the same for America, with no understanding that a county’s finances do not operate the same as personal finance. There is no bankruptcy court for a country.
If China goes after Taiwan, the entire globe will be plunged into crisis. Think America is a pariah now? “We” will be to blame for a true worldwide catastrophe. Taiwanese chips are the absolute central keystone for nearly every aspect of modern life. Given how the ultra wealthy actually maintain “accounts” and fund their lifestyles, they will also be directly affected. It is mind boggling how idiotic everyone is to let Trump and this administration continue to shatter the law, grossly abusing power at home and abroad, and all we get from anyone with any real “authority” to check (ARREST!) him is handwringing and platitudes. The only question one has to ask is “what would be happening if this was a democratic president?”, and we know the answer. The hypocrisy is staggering, and now it is also incredibly dangerous, cruel, tragic, and so on.
I have the lingering feeling that 'we the little people' are letting things happen that should have tripped multiple alarms long ago. A lot of hats are being hung on the midterms being at least somewhat effective in righting the course. I hope that is the case but it is not a certainty by any means. What is Plan B?
I'm doubtful that trump will do more than make noises if China attacks Taiwan. Taiwan is outside trump's self-defined sphere of influence, and there aren't many (any?) Christian or Jewish Nationalists or Islamic interests to protect in that potential conflict.
Iran has requested that China send them one or two of their experimental "carrier killer" missiles. China might welcome the chance to field-test it. If it works well in the middle east, Taiwan might as well give up.
When this occurred to me, I thought I might find it already here. This name change can be actualized so easily. for the reasons listed here and elsewhere.
I was looking today at G.Newsom's interview where they mention the homelessness issue in S. Francisco. Now with those 3 jets you could probably build prefab homes for all the homeless of S. Francisco. With the amount spent on this war I think US could solve the issue for the whole country....crazy!
I feel burning anger towards the US and its destruction. All this from insecure children who want to feel masculine. I find it difficult to handle a righteous anger and properly separate that from an anger against Americans as individuals, but we must disentangle ourselves from the US.
The world needs to be less dependent on America and less in awe of its (ill-distributed) wealth. But we can not, in good conscience, abandon the innocents of the country to the "robber barons" of Trump's new "gilded age".
The robber baron problem can only be solved by the USA. They have the tools in Anti-Trust laws. They just will not use them. Not much the rest of the world can do.
I'm in the UK. I hope we can summon some of your urgency. I'm not certain the average person here really feels it enough to act on it. By urgency, I mean more just than turning up to vote mildly peeved every couple of years.
Everyone seems to be puzzling out why Donald attacked Iran.
Well in the last day or two, Secretary of State Rubio said that the United States attacked Iran because Israel was going to attack Iran. I did not make this up.
The problem is that the American electorate decided to commit national suicide. and to achieve that goal they elected Donald to a second term. Many members of the American media and public are easily misled, divided, distracted, deluded, and so forth.
Netanyahu engineered all of this. Putin is pretty good at manipulating Trump, but no one does it like Bibi. And now we are in a new world where it's somehow acceptable for super-power states to assassinate political leaders of "lesser countries." It's the very definition of why self-righteousness is the passageway to mortal sin.
The most striking thing to me is that while America screams AFFORDABILITY at Trump, he simply shrugs and says the economy is great. Then, "hey bubba, watch this" and attacks a sovereign country with approval of neither the UN or the American Congress. The American people were promised lower prices. Instead, he forces gas prices up with yet another Middle Eastern war. And the spineless Republicans in Congress look at each other and do nothing. Each has sworn an oath to the Constitution. I guess their oath to Trump trumps that.
Republicans can shrug and repeat Trump war propaganda justifying the war. They are off the hook for actually taking a vote and putting Americans in harms way. They get to keep their jobs. No blood on their hands. Good deal for them.
Is that true? As I recall, most of the people in the upper ranks of the Nazi Party were hideously corrupt on top of all their other bad qualities. But I don't recall whether Old Scramblebrains himself was like that.
Germany also wasn't the highest god in his pantheon; the whole "Hitler In His Bunker" phase of the war was largely him damning his country for having been too weak to be worthy of him.
If you mean that he Improved the economy before starting the war, then sure he made everyday life better.
However since the cost of that and the war were inherently unsustainable and war was used to fund the country and it’s war machine creating a constant need for war spoils, made everyday life worst. So it was probably a net negative.
Paul sounds so negative about Operation Epstein Fury! What could possibly go wrong?
The plan, as near as I can tell from Trump's statements is to drop bombs until something happens. What is that something? Nobody knows. How might we recognize that something has happened? Also unknown. And what will we do if that something happens? Who knows and who cares?
We're just going to keep dropping bombs until people leave poor Donald alone about this Epstein stuff, I guess.
This seems to be the plan:
“A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer.
From Saturday morning through Monday night, more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the military had been logged by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). The complaints came from more than 40 different units spread across at least 30 military installations.
The NCO wrote to the MRFF that their commander “urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.”
https://jonathanlarsen.substack.com/p/us-troops-were-told-iran-war-is-for?r=1lmb6&utm_medium=ios
So;
- the US Army pledges loyalty to the Constitution,
- Trump demands the Army to be loyal to him, and
- Hegseth calls this 'a crusade', and demands the Army to be loyal to ... the Bible?
... Jeez. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
It isn't waiting to happen - it's already happening.
Insanity.
Insanity existed over the past 58 years by voting for Republicans since 1968. For 58 years, Republicans have caused tragic suffering in America and the world with wars and poor affordability based on stealing wealth from 99% of Americans, transferring the wealth to the top 1%, and justifying the suffering with extensive lying.
Republican objectives include trying to win the midterms by falsely claiming the war with Iran is protecting American national security. There was no imminent threat to the US.
Krugman correctly said, “the Trump administration, which hasn’t provided any coherent rationale for the war, is hardly bothering to pretend that it has anything to do with national security.”
Krugman also said, “Replacing those three jets shot down over Kuwait — each of them, remember, with a price tag of $97 million — will cost about as much as providing 125,000 Americans with crucial food aid or providing healthcare to 100,000 American children.”
The Iraq war cost an estimated $1.8 trillion to $3 trillion. The Iraq war resulted in about 4500 US military deaths and 32,000 injuries. Total war deaths including Iraq civilians exceeded 200,000.
FDR lost 4 FIGHTING in WWII. Time for Barron, Tiffany and Tia to do what no other Trump has ever done--show some patriotism and bravery.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha..... That ain't gonna happen.
FDR didn't lose any, although 4 served. His distant cousin, one of Teddy's sons, died in France in 1944.
and the eldest Kennedy child (Joseph) was killed when the remote-controlled B-24 he was preparing to abandon exploded prematurely. His brother John was commanding PT boats in the Pacific theater.
Absolutely. The Kennedys have their own problems, but of course they stand head and shoulders above lowlifes like you-know-who.
My bad Jon. Thanks for the correction. But, at least they served as did the sons of many in Congress.
Right. All of FDR's sons went overseas, and I believe at least one flew combat missions with the AAF. So did Hollywood stars like Gable and Jimmy Stewart. We're talking a different caliber of people, compared to the Trumps.
Hello Jon... TR, Jr., was the 1st American General to put his Boots on the Sand in Normandy.... He was terminally ill, and lied about his Health to get there... As a son of a former POTUS, TR, Jr, could have stayed home... JFK lied about his Age, and Health to serve in Harms-Way...
Yep, all true. If I remember correctly, Normandy was the third landing for T.R. jr. He was in Operation Torch (North Africa) and Husky (Sicily) as well.
Lt. Quentin Roosevelt, one of Teddy Roosevelt's sons, died in World War I in June of 1918. He was a pilot who was shot down behind enemy lines during the second battle of the Marne. He was 20 years old.
Second Marne was fought in July 1918. I think Quentin was flying over the battlefield of the German Aisne-Marne offensive of May-June, which preceded the second Marne.
and don jr and eric - jared is prepared he has his bespoke flak jacket
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/reuters-jared-kushner-had-undisclosed-contact-russian-envoy-say-sources/
Baron, at 6' 9" is too tall for the army, which has a height limit of 6'8". People who are too tall do not fit into the equipment.
His father would cut him out of his will, if he went in the military, that will never be an issue.
They get cut out of the will if they do that. Seriously, trump put in Marla Maples pre-nup if Tiffany ever enlisted in so much as the Peace Corp, she would get no monetary support.
Ready. Fire. Aim.
Don't worry. The right god is on our side.
God is pissed that she ever let us loose on her Earth…maybe that’s the endgame…only it’s about Gia and stewardship. Climate change isn't a good idea for real estate developments.
Nothing makes more friends in the Mideast than charging in, waving cross and star of David banners, yelling about crusades.
No, it’s a disaster that has already happened.
Is a Disaster Happening... Help!!
Too late!
Sleeper cells of religious fanatics in the military? Makes sense in this dystopian time.
Religious fanaticism started in the first D administration and is a well thought plan to make the military Christian nationalist centric.
I can't like this, but I can say that it is quite true.
According to the Pew Research Center, in 2021, roughly 24% of U.S. citizens identified themselves as fundamental Christians. It's reasonable to assume that at least that percentage of military personnel do.
Some of the greatest military disasters in history were predicated on the claim "that the Gods are with us" or "this is the will of god" or "we must destroy the heretics in the name of god". Of the actions that were not disasters, most are recorded as atrocities. Given the idiocy at the top of this FUBAR it is likely to be "all of the above".
I know some people find it odd,
But what I do, I do for God.
He tells me if I take your treasure
He'll reward me in full measure.
He tells me to enslave your wife,
And from you to take your life.
He says to kill your kids today
By Him it's really just okay.
But I really think it can't be true
That your god says the same to you!
Can I get an amen?
I had read this. The Bible is not a military strategy handbook. We have had a Dominionist and white Christian Nationalist contingent in the military for some time, and some officers have been proselytizing their service members for some time. This goes back to well before the Iraq war. Mikey Weinstein and MRFF have done great work to combat the stealth proselytizing in the military, which violates the First Amendment. I have heard him speak twice, and he’s well worth listening to.
I've been writing about Dominionism for over a year. It's only a matter of time before the U.S. as we know it is "obliterated" and replaced with the same theocratic regime Trump just assassinated, only ours will be Christian of course.
You forgot the scare quotes on "Christian". CINO.
CINO. "Christian In Name Only". (I despise acronyms).
It’s also a rotten idea, the only thing it will do is to turn people totally against religion. Some of us are religious and Christian, but we believe in the First Amendment and do not believe the state should be publicly endorsing one form of religion over another. We are also opposed to Dominionism (Rousas Rushdoony’s biblically constructed state) and to white Christian Nationalism.
It IS a rotten idea. I don't think the theocratic fascists have considered a few, crucial points:
1) Women outnumber men and we aren't going to sit quietly, because men.
2) Those identifying as non-Christian outnumber Christians in the U.S. and world-wide, and aren't going to live under a theocratic fascist regime.
3) Most of us in the U.S. like multiculturalism and equality for all. We like our entertainment, our arts, our communities, our (disappearing) societal progress of acceptance and kindness.
4) POC aren't going to just "go away" and Americans, Christian and otherwise, aren't going to tolerate throwing them in concentration camps.
And to your best point, millions of Christians believe just as you do and are opposed to Dominionism, and they aren't going to fall in line, and many who will not turn against their faith, will absolutely turn against those exerting dominance over it.
99% of all species on earth have gone extinct. Homo sapiens are just blazing a novel way to do extinction. Or is it novel? 🤔
In many parts of the US women have lost the right to make decisions regarding their own body.
Needed foreign workers/business owners are not issued the Green Cards they need to legally live/work here. Have not been for the past 30 years.
The camps are already happening.
Another bloody acronym. "POC". I'm going to guess that POC in your context stands for People of Colour. What an antiquated term.
But the Biblical God kills up to 20 million people.
https://moneyshark.co.uk/how-many-people-did-god-kill-in-the-bible/
So, it's ok for Trump to kill people because it's all for a good cause. /S
If you look at X through http://nitter.space, you can see all the bots and trolls praising Trump and Kegseth’s idiotic move to the skies and assuring themselves it corresponds to their peculiar interpretation of scripture and regime change is inevitable. They utterly fail to realize there is no strategy or planning in evidence here. I can’t fathom cheering on the deaths of 20 million or any number of people. To me, it’s obscene to do that.
It’s gobsmackingly stupid of them to take this callous and cruel position, but they do anyway.
I seem to recall that there was a major scandal over this at the Air Force Academy, perhaps about 20 years ago?
There was an investigation in 2005. I don't have a NYT subscription, so I cannot read the story, but here is a link for those of you who can.
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/politics/air-force-academy-staff-found-promoting-religion.html
Here is a link so you can read the article:
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.
NYTimes Gift Article: Air Force Academy Staff Found Promoting Religion -
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/23/politics/air-force-academy-staff-found-promoting-religion.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Q1A.fBsk.EIOFPzIX1p3D&smid=nytcore-ios-share
The acting secretary of the Air Force, Michael L. Dominguez, appointed the panel on May 2 after more than a year of complaints about religious coercion. The complaints culminated with a report sent to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld by Americans United for the Separation of Church and State that documented accusations of coercion. A chaplain at the academy, Capt. Melinda Morton, made public last month accusations that the religious problem at the academy was "pervasive." Captain Morton had been on a team asked to draw up a program to promote religious tolerance. On Tuesday, she resigned from the Air Force saying that she did not believe her superiors genuinely wanted her to stay on to help resolve the problem.
Thank you for the gift link. My understanding is that Capt. Morton resigned because the Air Force Academy leadership was more interested in sweeping the problem under the rug than on working to correct it.
Here is a link to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation that gives her biography:
https://www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org/foundation-voices/reverend-melinda-morton/#:~:text=MeLinda%20Morton%20is%20an%20ordained,United%20States%20Air%20Force%20Academy.
I think there was.
Yes, the fundamentalist Evangelicals have infiltrated it. That's why they push overbreeding, all those kids are for cannon fodder.
Sounds very much like ISIS
It's always been professional jealousy on the part of the white christian Nationalists.
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Good Lord. Gobsmacked
I just read the article the link references; and, wow, as if I didn't have enough to scare me! It's not just that the whole Christian Nationalist thing is nothing more than a vat of half-digested medieval moose drool - it's that so many crackpot U.S. military commanders, the same commanders who control guys in Kansas silos with the keys to launch nuclear weapons - actually have operational control over some incredibly destructive stuff. So Trump et. al. are making it possible for General Jack D. Ripper to actually become a thing. But instead of blowing up the world to protect our "purity of essence", Trump's latter day Ripper, or Rippers, will do it to herald the second coming of history's second most unpleasant fictional character, Jesus Christ.
It's very uncomfortable realizing that the world is now much closer than ever to being destroyed for the sake of a mass delusion! I guess that's why folks say ignorance is bliss.
Stanley Kubrick got uncomfortably close to the truth with Dr. Strangelove. Except that the current admin is far stupider than anything anyone predicted.
The problem is that the people in charge don't practice "christianity" if if they espouse it and no offense, they wouldn't recognize Jesus Christ if he did return.
They'd probably shoot him as an insurgent.
Fyodor Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor pretty much covered the response of authorities to the return of Jesus.
This is disturbing, but not surprising.
Got to love those end-times people. And I believe our current ambassador to Israel is one of them. Can anyone spell d-e-l-u-s-i-o-n-a-l?
Ah yes, Huckabee, the pedo defender, the guy who helped hide Josh Duggar's crimes molesting his sisters, by introducing him to a State trooper for 'counseling' him (on how not to get caught) which didn't work because they are both in jail for CSAM. What a coincidence he just happened to know a pedophile to help Josh.
ick
Fucking lunatics. At least an NCO had the balls to report it
does that make Trump the antichrist?
There are so many antichrists. The big error was assuming there was only one.
point taken
This idea that one planet out of billions has power over the entire universe is nonsense.
Humanity has had about 3000 or so Gods throughout its history. We, all of us, can be proud of the fact we have abandoned 2999 of them.
Way to go humanity.
Now, just one more and we are all free to live lives as humans without a celestial dictator!
Epstein Fury! Love it!
Also, FYI rumors on Reddit are that the feds are interfering with the state of NM search of zorro ranch where the bodies might be buried.
I hate this but it is probably true.
He can run but he can't hide. It will follow him wherever he goes till he goes into the ground. Epstein! Epstein! Epstein!
And what will the US and allies do once the heads are cut (if they ever are..)? See Iraq and Syria... and Afghanistan...
Remember Vietnam and Afghanistan. USA lost. And they were "boots on the ground". Trump sees nothing stupid about bombing Iranians without having a plan of what to do after that .
Korea too. The undeclared by Congress wars are losers from the gate.
The drumbeat of war goes on. Gas and energy prices are spiking (we filled up yesterday). Higher gas prices will likely hurt Trump's staunchest supporters the most. There's a lyric from an old Eagles song that perfectly describes the Trump Adm.
"You can see the stars but still can't see the light"--Don Henley/Glenn Frey (Already Gone)
A rise in oil prices of $10/barrel usually means a rise in gasoline prices of $.25/gallon. As of noon yesterday, prices (currently within a few cents of $2.65/gallon) had not increased in central New Jersey.
The United States may not be badly hurt as far as natural gas is concerned, but we do import a fair amount from Canada, which country is not best pleased with us at the moment. European nations are likely to be hurt worse than the U.S., since they switched from using Russian natural gas to gas imported from the middle east a few years ago.
Update: As of 4:00 PM today, one local station was charging $3.11/gallon. That's a big hike in a little more than one day.
$3.49 per gallon for the middle grade fuel in north-central Indiana today around 1:30 p.m.
I should have said. My figures are for the lowest grade gasoline.
Natural gas is a separate commodity than oil. I expect little change in North American natural gas prices as the North American produces more gas than we use. This will probably affect the price of LNG however and I think that is what Europe imports.
As for oil only time will tell how much this affects prices.
LNG is Liquified Natural Gas. If natural gas is sold on the global market (as oil is), natural gas prices will go up in the U.S. as it will everywhere else. If not, it won't.
Remember how Trump told companies to "Eat the tariffs?" I'd bet he's telling his Big Oil benefactors to "Eat the War!!"
Well, oil is sold on the global market, which means U.S. companies will sell to the buyer who offers the most money. Many of them have long-term contracts (such as those with the airlines). I wouldn't put it past Trump to issue an executive order to forbid U.S. oil companies from selling outside the country, but I doubt that it would have any effect.
The fact that the only thing the average voter notices about US foreign policy is gas prices is a stunning indictment of US democracy.
Derelict-- Sounds like you are describing Putin's plan for the Ukraine, er, military exercises.
The problem is, we are tooled for a war time economy, so how long will it take for us to build up our munitions.
How embarrassing to not have enough bombs, missiles, drones, etc. when we spend a fucking trillion dollars a year on defense.
Maybe we could retrofit a few thousand nukes that we will never use.
Over at the WSJ, at the article on lack of weapons, the top comments were people saying the article couldn’t possibly be true.
Lots of MAGA there. These people are literally delusional.
It's propaganda sponsored by the gun/munitions companies. They are war profiteers. My guess is the Trumpenstein Crime Syndicate invested before they went to war.
The Trump probably did invest. I’m not so sure the article is just gun companies material though.
There was another article this morning discussing how quickly the Gulf nations were burning through their supply of missile interceptors.
Ah. Another acronym. Yay. WSJ. Wall Street Journal.
sounds like you need to get with the times.... ;)
Our new and improved manly warfighting warfighters don't need bombs or missiles! They'll just flex in full view of the enemy and win that way!
🤣 Actually, the Ukrainians now have a mobile laser that's been tested in the field where the laser wavelength is outside the visible spectrum. One of the defense contractors in the US has also tested this technology but it cost the US taxpayers 4 times as much and took twice as long as it did Ukraine. Necessity really is the mother of invention.
Necessity is certainly a mother.
The US is number 1 arms exporter to the world. 43%? More nuclear bombs Macron of France comes in 2nd...less than 20%.
Sorry. This according to Stolkholm International Peace Research Institute. And France is only 9.6%. Scary China 5.9%. Remember that book The Ugly American 🙄?
Why are our supplies so low if we are the #1 exporter of arms do you think?
It's almost as if we have been selling off our stuff, to some country perpetually bombing others.
Other countries are keeping their stuff for themselves?
From Heather Cox Richardson -
'Matt Gertz of Media Matters noted today that Trump, who watches the Fox News Channel consistently, appears to have shaped his attack on Iran in response to encouragement from FNC hosts. Gertz recalled that for decades, the FNC hosts Trump trusts the most have called for military strikes on Iran.
Last June, FNC personalities Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Brian Kilmeade urged Trump to bomb Iran and then lavished praise on him when he did. Hannity said the bombing would “go down in history as one of the great military victories.”
In the past weeks, Gertz wrote, the same figures have been urging Trump to attack. But their goal appeared to be the bombing itself. They expected an easy victory, without defining what that might look like. According to Kilmeade, the U.S. would “lose credibility forever” if it didn’t hit Iran. On Friday morning, Kilmeade said: “I hope the president chooses to go at it. We have been looking at these headlines for 47 years, and we have an opportunity to end it. And this president likes to make history.”'
This is a horrific reason to start a war and sadly all too believable.
It will be an easy victory . . . provided you never define what "victory" is and you keep moving the goalposts fast enough to generate Cherenkov radiation.
Reminds me of a manager for whom I worked in the dark ages. He bragged that he had never missed a delivery date. Any time his group got behind schedule, he would move the delivery date. He appeared to be perfectly serious.
Epstein had ties there, as did Bob Maxwell, Ghislaine's father. He managed to get a burial plot in one of the most exclusive spots in Israel.
Hello Derelict... Just another Operation for the 5X Bankrupt, 2X Impeached Fraudster-In-Chief....
Go, Derelict, go!
Thanks for calling the operation by its proper name, Operation Epstein Fury!
Bingo!
Exactly. War is an unwarranted expense, paid for by those who never asked for it.
It’s the kids and grandkids and great grandkids who will be paying for Trump’s wars because members of Congress refuse to say no to him. I hop everybody thinks about how much he is hurting their offspring’s future when they go to vote.
I wish they would, but they won’t. Most Americans simply do not think that way and exhibit little desire to. It’s no different than making even small changes to one’s own life to help fight the climate crisis. People don’t want to. They seem to be happy to continually kick the can, but it’s coming for all of us. I have zero doubt I will see catastrophe, so I am sure my kids will be living in a Mad Max world.
I wish we had all been taught from young childhood that we are borrowing this world from future generations, not inheriting it from past ones. If that was an intrinsic understanding and value, maybe things would look different.
Come what may, thanks, HCinKC, for making that point of paramount importance.
It’s not that folks don’t care. More likely that Americans are so beaten down by this dystopian, callous regime forcing an allocation of energy merely to survive.
Often there’s not a hell of a lot left over.
I don't think we're any different than our short-sighted ancestors. It's against human nature to accommodate the future. Anytime there's sacrifice involved most people kick the can down the road. In many cases it's because the future is a luxury they can't afford. But there's hope for the carrot approach and technology that makes the economics downhill with respect to climate change at least. Too bad it's too late for the world we have now and grew up with.
Yeah, but what’s sad is that with all of the wealth and advancements and such, we *should* be able to think this way. Instead, America especially does an abysmal and shameful job at redistribution and putting that wealth back into a healthy, educated population rather than the wealthy’s pockets. So people do still have to think in the here and now, today because who knows what tomorrow will bring.
I don’t have children and I think about this!
Trump didn't ask Congress.
It's more than an unwarranted expense. It's a huge, uncontrolled, unwarranted expense. Compare $200 billion spent on war and $200 billion spent on Medicare.
Spend $200 billion on Medicare and 300 million Americans will be watching to see that every dollar is actually (though maybe not efficiently) spent on improving the health of Americans.
Spend $200 billion on war: how do you check that $200 billion was efficiently spent on improving the safety and security of Americans? The evidence is now ash.
Uncontrolled, unwarranted…and ILLEGAL
medicare is very efficient compared to private insurance
"Sensing a lack of strategy and feeling that (the public who never asked for or wanted war) will bear the financial burden"...
there is NO strategy....this is a bombing campaign without any goals
the strategy is Bibi's who convinced trump to do it. Many calls in the last few months to the WH.
The US is the zionists whore
Has anyone asked trump if he thinks USA bankruptcy is a possible outcome?
Bankruptcy is his special area of expertise
Good one!
"War is an unwarranted expense, paid for by those who never asked for it."
There, you see, that's the source of your confusion right there.
Lots of people, including little people, crave war. Why else would they vote for leaders to take us into war?
You are picking up the tab for helping Trump to 'inflate his ego', what else. Although there may be a side-serve of justification for interfering with elections. And possibly boosting the value of investments in military suppliers.
Little blue pills are cheaper
but supplies of 13-year-olds are scarce and come with hidden delayed costs. Of course, at Trump's age, any delay in the costs will probably be more than adequate.
That dude is long past playing hide the button mushroom, even Viagra can only do so much.
I think the emphasis is on justifying the interference in the coming elections! He’s been talking about ways to stop the election or the voting. No TACO here.
👆🎯
The Saudis, Emiratis, and Qataris have already massively bribed Trump, and those in his "cabinet" like Jared K. and Witkoff. Add to that list AIPAC and the pro-Bibi crowd, all of whom want Iran sixed for various reasons, and you've got yourself a war.
I'm predicting Donald will TACO once prices at the pump start rapidly climbing.
Sadly, in this case it didn't even start with Trump; the Saudis are dug into Official Washington like ticks, and it's largely because they throw petrodollars around everywhere. Likewise AIPAC, though it's not so much a money thing there.
On the contrary: AIPAC spends millions trying to elect Members of Congress who will continue to fund Israel's rape of Gaza and annexation of the West Bank.
Oh, they both spend money, but there's a lot more to AIPAC than that.
If Saudi groupies were sending out mass texts saying "be careful! My political opponent has been linked to Saudi opposition groups! A vote for him is a vote to destroy Saudi Arabia!" the way AIPAC texts me seemingly at every primary election, everybody would just laugh in their face. Because no normal American, including most Muslim ones, gives a shit what happens to the Saudi government. Which is why it never happens. AIPAC, however, does get away with it, because there's a gigantic reservoir of sympathy for Israel in this country for largely ideological reasons. It may have begun to sour, but that's pretty recent and nowhere near universal.
With the Saudis, it's ALL about the money. Leo's line from The West Wing is still true: "to sweep all fifty states, the President would only have to do two things. Blow the king's brains out in Times Square, then walk across the street to Nathan's to buy a hot dog." Nobody here is predisposed in their favor. It really is all $$$.
and they spy on us.
AIPAC runs US congress mainly GOP
No, it's both parties. ANY member of the House or Senate who says anything deemed anti-Israel, will see their opponents in the next primary funded with millions--even tens of millions--of dollars. Which is why Gaza is still occupied and the slow starvation of its surviving residents continues. And they're not even required to register as a foreign lobbying organization.
What's even worse is that AIPAC's blind support of the Netanyahu government's conduct of Gaza--as distinct to their operations in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen--has severely damaged Israel's diplomatic standing, and done more to foster antisemitism, than anything in my lifetime. J-Street is the only viable choice now for American Jews who love Israel.
also part of reason why voters stayed home for harris
I'm not sure he can TACO on this "war" that he started. It seems, historically, that wars might be easy to start but very difficult to leave/end.
Wars begin when you will, but they do not end when you please.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Agreed, he can't just TACO his way out of this. I wish he could.
Chump has an advantage prior presidents didn't have-he can just announce victory regardless of the circumstances....
And his base will repeat it with glazed over eyes, same as they always do.
I’ll bet Bibi played Trump’s narcissism to the hilt.
And he has already TOFUed multiple times. (Trump Only Fucks Up)
I'm with you on that call.
In your multiple choice question, you left out the usual last question/choice: "All of the above" (and more). God, this is sick beyond measure.
Or maybe an actual transgression against Americans in, say, Mt. Home AFB Idaho where Qatar is establishing a permanent training facility; Saudi has 1700 students enrolled in military schools; UAE trains at Luke AFB. You know, Other.
the saudis flew on 9-11 and many left the US before the FBI could interiew them, coincidence? I think not!
All of the above .
Well, Iran has attacked all of them. If any pressured Trump for a war, they may be regretting that now. From the Independent - "Retaliatory strikes have seen several nations, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Oman, hit following the attacks, as Iran has threatened its 'most intense offensive operation' against US bases."
I took a look at the Kuwaiti Times this morning, and it was full of support for the war. Of course, the media over there probably wouldn't be allowed to print anything that contradicts the leadership. Yesterday, I saw video of crowds cheering the Iranian missile strikes in Bahrain; it was like watching crowds at a holiday fireworks display ("Wow! That was a good one!"). Reuters reports that there were crowds attacking U.S. embassies in the region; notably in Pakistan and Turkey.
Qatar paid with a 400 million $ jet for trump
Dwight David Eisenhower: ""Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children."
But it is not taking anything from the truly, obscenely, rich. You should ask your congress to impose a "war tax" on every billionaire and above.
Not as many obscenely rich in Eisenhower’s day. Many tax cuts since then.
Heck, I just want the über wealthy taxed more in general!
draft them to be cannon fodder on the front lines of Teheran
Came here to share this very quote; it popped into my head immediately! I figured it must have also occurred to others, and thank you for sharing it.
Not so dumb, for a Republican!
DEMS had also asked him to be their candidate! This was in the 'good old days' where many GOPers supported the ideas, concepts and programs of the New Deal too.
It's from Ike's farewell address where he warns about the dangers of the military-industrial complex. Give the whole address a read. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-dwight-d-eisenhowers-farewell-address
My favorite farewell address by a president after Washington's.
True, but the fact that he gave it in his *farewell* address after a near-decade of cheerfully feeding the Cold War machine *specifically* its corporate connections (overthrow Mossadegh for the oil companies, overthrow Arbenz for United Fruit Company, overthrow Lumumba for the mining companies...) always kind of made it an eyeroller for me, as well.
It's kind of like George Washington freeing his slaves... on his deathbed. "Hi guys, this is a problem I've been contributing to all my life, I'm *aware* that it's a problem, and I'm actually okay with it being addressed, just... only now, when it doesn't affect me anymore."
Didn't Martha renege on that freeing promise?
Don't mean to give Eisenhower a pass. Have real issues with what he did in Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam, etc. However, he actually does reduce spending on defense. DoD spending never falls below 50% of federal budget, but he does curb spending by 20%+ in real dollar amount. Whether the linked policies of nuclear expansion and massive retaliation were good ideas is another discussion
Well, after the Korean War came to a stalemate in 1953, there wasn't the need for as much military spending. A lot of the stuff being used for Vietnam was leftover munition from earlier wars.
True. I think decreased spending had to do more with a greater reliance on nuclear weapons and the threat of massive retaliation as a means to get more bang for your buck (in contrast to NSC-68). Not sure those were good ideas, but it did decrease spending.
My favorite farewell address will be Trump's.
Major LOL!
Imagine if all that money was spent on free healthcare. This country needs to get its priorities straight.
It's not the country. It's the fools in Congress and the Supreme Court.
Voters put those people in Congress. And voters elected the presidents and U.S. senators who chose and confirmed the Supreme Court justices. We do need to think about what we as a country want to be, what are our priorities.
Someone runs for Congress with a promise to cut defense spending in half.
Their opponent says, "My opponent doesn't support defending the country!"
Voters vote for the guy who promises to spend more.
That's how it works. Every time.
It’s the Republican Party. They don’t need the excuse of war to not spend money on the little people. They have always found ways to not spend money on helping us.
The billionaires will never let them do it.
I am not understanding this part: shouldn’t Congress play a role in any of this? Why are we not hearing what’s going on there, in the news? Also what are the US allies doing?
what allies....we burned that bridge
Apparently Europe is being (verbally) supportive, hoping to stave off more tariffs, etc.
putin is consoling iran, a breech in putin-trump friendship?
I hadn’t read about that but it wouldn’t surprise me. Autocrats stick together (to some extent).
France isn’t.
OK.
No more targeted tariffs. EU has no spine
The EU wasn’t friendly with Iran.
Because Mike Johnson.
trump is giving his congressional cronies cover since this war is NOT popular
Why should US allies do anything? It’s not like they can stop Trump and any attempt will just make them a target.
Starmer has offered to allow U.S. military aircraft to operate from UK bases but states that not UK personnel will participate. That's all I've heard (and that's from the BBC).
Yes. The Constitution requires that the President obtain permission from Congress before instituting military action.
I spoke with a nurse from Idaho a few years ago who was opposed to food stamps because she saw women using them to buy junk food for their kids. She objected to "her tax money" being used that way. Interestingly enough, her salary is paid by her county government.
But she did not buy junk food for her children with that money.
Wow, that’s crazy.
No, that's Idaho.
A depleted military is the opening Ji needed for Taiwan. And if he moves this year and succeeds… does Trump understand the implications of a disruption in computer chips? Not just for civilians, but it would make rebuilding those missile systems all but impossible.
In terms of Trump’s understanding of the financial implications of the war, in his personal and professional life bankruptcy has been the “get out of jail free” card. I believe he projects the same for America, with no understanding that a county’s finances do not operate the same as personal finance. There is no bankruptcy court for a country.
“Trump’s understanding” is an oxymoron.
It seems that Trump has also been massively affected by Fox News, who’ve been pushing Iran attack for years.
https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/iran-most-consequential-test-fox-trump-feedback-loop-yet
as has bibi, there is a super cut
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzmtdwsef8s
Yes, definitely,
If China goes after Taiwan, the entire globe will be plunged into crisis. Think America is a pariah now? “We” will be to blame for a true worldwide catastrophe. Taiwanese chips are the absolute central keystone for nearly every aspect of modern life. Given how the ultra wealthy actually maintain “accounts” and fund their lifestyles, they will also be directly affected. It is mind boggling how idiotic everyone is to let Trump and this administration continue to shatter the law, grossly abusing power at home and abroad, and all we get from anyone with any real “authority” to check (ARREST!) him is handwringing and platitudes. The only question one has to ask is “what would be happening if this was a democratic president?”, and we know the answer. The hypocrisy is staggering, and now it is also incredibly dangerous, cruel, tragic, and so on.
The consequences are going to be generational.
I said this about Bush 2.
I have the lingering feeling that 'we the little people' are letting things happen that should have tripped multiple alarms long ago. A lot of hats are being hung on the midterms being at least somewhat effective in righting the course. I hope that is the case but it is not a certainty by any means. What is Plan B?
I'm doubtful that trump will do more than make noises if China attacks Taiwan. Taiwan is outside trump's self-defined sphere of influence, and there aren't many (any?) Christian or Jewish Nationalists or Islamic interests to protect in that potential conflict.
The thing is you know, the mid terms might not happen... for a variety of reasons. Trump and his administration can be creative..
We would still have chip, just not the best ones and we would be unable to make them indefinitely.
That’s one “oxy” too many.
I’m already gasping.
Iran has requested that China send them one or two of their experimental "carrier killer" missiles. China might welcome the chance to field-test it. If it works well in the middle east, Taiwan might as well give up.
Exactly!
I guess if you can’t afford anything then Trump has solved the affordability problem.
Right. He said the Republicans had "lifted" families off of food stamps by killing the program.
Operation Epstein Fury
Operation Epic Fail
#SendBarron
Calling this a kakistocracy is unfair to incompetents.
Funny
When this occurred to me, I thought I might find it already here. This name change can be actualized so easily. for the reasons listed here and elsewhere.
Rule by the worst among us.
I expect the etymology is similar.
its origin is ancient and refers to shit not "bad" and is used as such in many languages
kakka- is the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root for the verb "to defecate"
For anyone looking for more on this, I recommend the Costs of War project at https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/. This piece on how US war financing widens inequality is just one piece there that helps show how war screws low and middle income people: https://costsofwar.watson.brown.edu/sites/default/files/papers/CappellaZielinski-War-Financing-and-Inequality.pdf
Thank you. Time to revive the Creedence Clearwater song “FortunateOne.”
https://youtu.be/ZWijx_AgPiA?si=W4QNhoofHACDXXkD
Thank you! Sad that this is coming around again.
life is a rollercoaster, goes up and down and repeats itself in varying details, but I think similar patterns
You are correct but we didn’t want to see this again.
never wanted to see this again I agree Carol.
I was looking today at G.Newsom's interview where they mention the homelessness issue in S. Francisco. Now with those 3 jets you could probably build prefab homes for all the homeless of S. Francisco. With the amount spent on this war I think US could solve the issue for the whole country....crazy!
I feel burning anger towards the US and its destruction. All this from insecure children who want to feel masculine. I find it difficult to handle a righteous anger and properly separate that from an anger against Americans as individuals, but we must disentangle ourselves from the US.
The world needs to be less dependent on America and less in awe of its (ill-distributed) wealth. But we can not, in good conscience, abandon the innocents of the country to the "robber barons" of Trump's new "gilded age".
gilded refers to a thin coating of gold - it masks base metal
The robber baron problem can only be solved by the USA. They have the tools in Anti-Trust laws. They just will not use them. Not much the rest of the world can do.
I would think boycotting their companies would help, a lot.
Already done. Year 17 for facebook. 10 years for Microsoft. Most others at least a year.
Where are you? I’m in Canada and we’re trying.
I'm in the UK. I hope we can summon some of your urgency. I'm not certain the average person here really feels it enough to act on it. By urgency, I mean more just than turning up to vote mildly peeved every couple of years.
It’s really impacted Canada. Most of the population is not far from the border.
It’s not proximity to the border that makes the impact more so the integration in economic and trade.
That and the threats.
Have you forgotten threats to make Canada the 51st state?
Although you are correct about economics and trade.
I did say threats I just didn’t specify mention it.
I see many videos claiming a great deal of success there, but I don't know which sources are trustworthy. Can you suggest one or two?
Not really. There are stories on free sites like CBC.
Thanks.
Rich man's war. Poor person's plight.
Everyone seems to be puzzling out why Donald attacked Iran.
Well in the last day or two, Secretary of State Rubio said that the United States attacked Iran because Israel was going to attack Iran. I did not make this up.
The problem is that the American electorate decided to commit national suicide. and to achieve that goal they elected Donald to a second term. Many members of the American media and public are easily misled, divided, distracted, deluded, and so forth.
Best wishes.
Netanyahu engineered all of this. Putin is pretty good at manipulating Trump, but no one does it like Bibi. And now we are in a new world where it's somehow acceptable for super-power states to assassinate political leaders of "lesser countries." It's the very definition of why self-righteousness is the passageway to mortal sin.
the media is owned by those who abjured journalism to support trump
See also here:
https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/iran-most-consequential-test-fox-trump-feedback-loop-yet
The most striking thing to me is that while America screams AFFORDABILITY at Trump, he simply shrugs and says the economy is great. Then, "hey bubba, watch this" and attacks a sovereign country with approval of neither the UN or the American Congress. The American people were promised lower prices. Instead, he forces gas prices up with yet another Middle Eastern war. And the spineless Republicans in Congress look at each other and do nothing. Each has sworn an oath to the Constitution. I guess their oath to Trump trumps that.
A politician's sense of "yellow-streaked", self-preservation trumps everything.
Republicans can shrug and repeat Trump war propaganda justifying the war. They are off the hook for actually taking a vote and putting Americans in harms way. They get to keep their jobs. No blood on their hands. Good deal for them.
I suggest that we call this war operation epic stupidity.
It certainly is an apt name for it.
We really need a more descriptive adjective than "epic". Any suggestions?
A Thesaurus.
Sorry. I could resist.
War or health care? Such a difficult choice!
What economists call revealed preferences.
I call it "Epic Fuhrer".
Hitler for all his faults and failures, was motivated to improve Germany; not enlarge his personal wealth.
Is that true? As I recall, most of the people in the upper ranks of the Nazi Party were hideously corrupt on top of all their other bad qualities. But I don't recall whether Old Scramblebrains himself was like that.
Germany also wasn't the highest god in his pantheon; the whole "Hitler In His Bunker" phase of the war was largely him damning his country for having been too weak to be worthy of him.
If you mean that he Improved the economy before starting the war, then sure he made everyday life better.
However since the cost of that and the war were inherently unsustainable and war was used to fund the country and it’s war machine creating a constant need for war spoils, made everyday life worst. So it was probably a net negative.
sure let's improve germany by attacking its neighbors ending in total defeat , death of 50 million, and decades of recovery