“I think on the Democratic side, we’re almost completely unified—with the exception of Senator Fetterman—that this war is both illegal and deeply foolish.”
JD Vance said the accomplishment he was most proud of was cutting aid to Ukraine. He boosted Viktor Orban. I hope the Iran deal is the last nail in this turd’s coffin, and that that is only the beginning for this travesty of a government.
MOU or Treaty? Does it even matter? Who cares if Congress ratifies it?
The Constitution says that Congress must ratify treaties for them to take effect. That was back in the days when we considered a treaty a serious obligation for our country. How woke it that! Trump ignores treaties and just does stuff, even treaties he previously negotiated. And our supine Congress is fine with that. The problem is that other countries now view a treaty with the US as basically worthless. Regardless of what the MOU (or treaty or whatever) says, Iran will do whatever they want to do. They will impose "fees" for sailing through the straight of Hormuz. They will build nuclear weapons. They will support agents of chaos in the region and perhaps beyond. They may do some of this in secret, or not. What they will not do is act like whatever is written on this piece of paper constrains them in any way. And the rest of the world will understand their position.
It will be a generation, at least, before the US can negotiate a treaty that other countries consider binding.
James Donald Bowman. James David Hamel. James David Vance. JD Vance.
Evangelical Protestant. Ayn Rand atheist. Reactionary Catholic (introduced to his faith mentor by Rod Dreher, a former Methodist who had once converted to Roman Catholicism but later converted to Eastern Orthodoxy--could the Eastern Rite be JD's next calling?)
Best-selling basher of the low morals and cultural standards of the drugged-up white working class. Vice presidential working man's hero, booster of the morals and culture of the white working class as epitomized by the glorious UFC cage match on the White House lawn.
Anti-Trump Republican JD, warning in dire terms that Trump could be America's Hitler. Pro-Trump Republican JD, insisting that his opposition from Trump was purely skin-deep and came, evidently, from trying to get liberals to like him. Now he doesn't care what they think, so there. If anyone's the Hitler, YOU'RE the Hitler, not Donald.
Anti-Iran war "voice of reason." Iran war apologist. Iran war fall guy.
What next, whatever next? Perhaps he will wake up to find he has been transformed into a giant insect, and a brilliant but tormented author will write about him.
Not sure this is totally in line, however what you are describing seems to be similar to Trump, constantly changing positions, views, etc. w/o the charisma/showmanship POTUS expouses. Without that M.O. Vance would seem to be toast moving forward.
For some people, it's always too late and the best has always been behind us. Some people are just built that way, and some cultures end up that way, as well. America used to think it was different, with no past baggage to carry around with us (or much less than those Old World countries, at least), and nothing but open road in front of us. But, just like Gatsby's green light and that "fresh green breast of the new world," a lot of that was illusory, and there was always a tide pulling us backwards, no matter how hard we rowed. MAGA has been backwards-looking from Day One; that was its whole attraction for fat old white guys who thought their own glory days and the country's glory days were somewhere in the rear-view mirror. Decline is a choice. It's easier than putting in the hard work of improvement and maintenance.
"Or talk to Kamala Harris, whose role as “border czar” for Joe Biden was widely misunderstood (she was tasked with dealing with the roots of migration not the physical entry points into the country) but nevertheless effectively deployed against her in 2024."
This was going to be my talking point until you stole it.
Holland is a historian attempting to show off his subject expertise vis-à-vis the unwashed. We all know the type. Of course, anyone who seriously thinks about it knows there are too many social and technological divergences between Rome and the United States for any parallel to be indisputably true, given that more than 15 centuries have passed since Rome’s fall. But saying the US isn’t like Rome (thereby implying we are NOT declining and falling) doesn’t mean the sequence of events we have experienced since the invasion of Iraq, a dysfunction accelerated by Trump and his goons, do not portend the decline and fall of America.
And if one is looking for a historical parallel, why not the USSR? A country claiming to be the freest on earth while running a corrupt, authoritarian kleptocracy, run by geriatric leaders, and possessing a bloated, expensive military that is ineffectual at actually winning wars. Could their Afghanistan be our Iran?
Ninetey-genairian Grassley, is so demented that he didn't realize he poured cement into Shadey's boots with his comment about the Veep working so hard for the last two months on getting to this MoU.
Maybe Grassley is doing his part to hang this massive strategic military failure on Vance. Why not? It would save his icon, the Donald, from ignominy. And he won’t live to pay the price.
That was my take. It’s like when Kennedy grilled Kristi Noem about the airplane. I’ll never believe that was his idea - I’m sure someone in the White House (Trump himself? Susie Wiles?) put that in his ear to provide a reason to get rid of her (and, by extension, Lewandowski). Not that they didn’t have plenty of good reasons already, but they didn’t want it to look as if the Democrats had taken her out.
Thanks for introducing me to Tom Holland the historian (and for clarifying to which Tom Holland you were referring!) - I had never heard of him and I read in the comments that he has a podcast too! I loved your clever mention on JVL in this too - when I started reading and you mentioned the Bane comparison, my first thought was that JVL had made the same comparison, I think more than once.
One of the funniest Bulwark subheds of 2026 😭
Seriously. Always love a good Bane quote.
Joe's writing never fails to make me laugh, no matter what's going on - today's column was particularly brilliant!
“I think on the Democratic side, we’re almost completely unified—with the exception of Senator Fetterman—that this war is both illegal and deeply foolish.”
Another darkly hilarious moment.
What is a Republican Senator at this point if not a Democrat with half their brain missing?
JD Vance said the accomplishment he was most proud of was cutting aid to Ukraine. He boosted Viktor Orban. I hope the Iran deal is the last nail in this turd’s coffin, and that that is only the beginning for this travesty of a government.
Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy. He’s cuttin’ you loose, JD!
The lead photo for this article is 👌.
MOU or Treaty? Does it even matter? Who cares if Congress ratifies it?
The Constitution says that Congress must ratify treaties for them to take effect. That was back in the days when we considered a treaty a serious obligation for our country. How woke it that! Trump ignores treaties and just does stuff, even treaties he previously negotiated. And our supine Congress is fine with that. The problem is that other countries now view a treaty with the US as basically worthless. Regardless of what the MOU (or treaty or whatever) says, Iran will do whatever they want to do. They will impose "fees" for sailing through the straight of Hormuz. They will build nuclear weapons. They will support agents of chaos in the region and perhaps beyond. They may do some of this in secret, or not. What they will not do is act like whatever is written on this piece of paper constrains them in any way. And the rest of the world will understand their position.
It will be a generation, at least, before the US can negotiate a treaty that other countries consider binding.
Reading this article made me very very sad.
...why?
Why bother setting him up?
The kind of people who will believe this is all JD's fault, will believe it if Trump just declares it.
James Donald Bowman. James David Hamel. James David Vance. JD Vance.
Evangelical Protestant. Ayn Rand atheist. Reactionary Catholic (introduced to his faith mentor by Rod Dreher, a former Methodist who had once converted to Roman Catholicism but later converted to Eastern Orthodoxy--could the Eastern Rite be JD's next calling?)
Best-selling basher of the low morals and cultural standards of the drugged-up white working class. Vice presidential working man's hero, booster of the morals and culture of the white working class as epitomized by the glorious UFC cage match on the White House lawn.
Anti-Trump Republican JD, warning in dire terms that Trump could be America's Hitler. Pro-Trump Republican JD, insisting that his opposition from Trump was purely skin-deep and came, evidently, from trying to get liberals to like him. Now he doesn't care what they think, so there. If anyone's the Hitler, YOU'RE the Hitler, not Donald.
Anti-Iran war "voice of reason." Iran war apologist. Iran war fall guy.
What next, whatever next? Perhaps he will wake up to find he has been transformed into a giant insect, and a brilliant but tormented author will write about him.
Really enjoyed that summary, willoughby! Especially the last sentence.
Not sure this is totally in line, however what you are describing seems to be similar to Trump, constantly changing positions, views, etc. w/o the charisma/showmanship POTUS expouses. Without that M.O. Vance would seem to be toast moving forward.
For some people, it's always too late and the best has always been behind us. Some people are just built that way, and some cultures end up that way, as well. America used to think it was different, with no past baggage to carry around with us (or much less than those Old World countries, at least), and nothing but open road in front of us. But, just like Gatsby's green light and that "fresh green breast of the new world," a lot of that was illusory, and there was always a tide pulling us backwards, no matter how hard we rowed. MAGA has been backwards-looking from Day One; that was its whole attraction for fat old white guys who thought their own glory days and the country's glory days were somewhere in the rear-view mirror. Decline is a choice. It's easier than putting in the hard work of improvement and maintenance.
"Or talk to Kamala Harris, whose role as “border czar” for Joe Biden was widely misunderstood (she was tasked with dealing with the roots of migration not the physical entry points into the country) but nevertheless effectively deployed against her in 2024."
This was going to be my talking point until you stole it.
One of your best pieces, Joe. Lots of info, lots of humor. We'll done!
Vance, after lecturing Leo XIV on theology, is now Trump’s obvious fall guy for his thoughtless Iranian military ‘excursion.’
While Trump pontificates about his marvelous negotiation wins, Vance is shuttled off to Switzerland to sign a leaky Memorandum of Understanding.
JD, guess who Trump will blame, when the MOU unravels? As an observer I consider the Iranians somewhat more credible in negotiations than Trump.
As I sketch a box score of who seems to be winning I find Iran 5 against Trump’s 1/2. His deuces in the hole don’t beat the straight of Hormuz.
As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
Holland is a historian attempting to show off his subject expertise vis-à-vis the unwashed. We all know the type. Of course, anyone who seriously thinks about it knows there are too many social and technological divergences between Rome and the United States for any parallel to be indisputably true, given that more than 15 centuries have passed since Rome’s fall. But saying the US isn’t like Rome (thereby implying we are NOT declining and falling) doesn’t mean the sequence of events we have experienced since the invasion of Iraq, a dysfunction accelerated by Trump and his goons, do not portend the decline and fall of America.
And if one is looking for a historical parallel, why not the USSR? A country claiming to be the freest on earth while running a corrupt, authoritarian kleptocracy, run by geriatric leaders, and possessing a bloated, expensive military that is ineffectual at actually winning wars. Could their Afghanistan be our Iran?
Ninetey-genairian Grassley, is so demented that he didn't realize he poured cement into Shadey's boots with his comment about the Veep working so hard for the last two months on getting to this MoU.
Maybe Grassley is doing his part to hang this massive strategic military failure on Vance. Why not? It would save his icon, the Donald, from ignominy. And he won’t live to pay the price.
That was my take. It’s like when Kennedy grilled Kristi Noem about the airplane. I’ll never believe that was his idea - I’m sure someone in the White House (Trump himself? Susie Wiles?) put that in his ear to provide a reason to get rid of her (and, by extension, Lewandowski). Not that they didn’t have plenty of good reasons already, but they didn’t want it to look as if the Democrats had taken her out.
Thanks for introducing me to Tom Holland the historian (and for clarifying to which Tom Holland you were referring!) - I had never heard of him and I read in the comments that he has a podcast too! I loved your clever mention on JVL in this too - when I started reading and you mentioned the Bane comparison, my first thought was that JVL had made the same comparison, I think more than once.