I love when Bill writes in Trump's voice. Just love it! The only problem is that Bill can't write incoherently enough to accurately portray Trump. You're just too good a writer, Bill!
Kass… I agree . We have been trained to expect a few word salads . Gotta mention the east wing and some out of context Biden bashing… and some windmills for extra credit and the big beautiful bill.
Unfortunately, BillTrump has laid out a winning strategy for Trump and MAGA will snap back into compliance. As far as economic consequences, he'll let anti-Israel influencers lay the blame on Israel in some way, without him having to say it. Best of both worlds, again.
There is much to be concerned about in our conduct of this war/non-war (whichever they are calling it today). But the lack of value for human life by our regime is increasingly appalling to me. Hegseth in particular talks like he is a teenager enthusiastically playing a video game, bragging about our ability to bomb and destroy and kill like a child with a new toy on Christmas Day. Leavitt is not far behind in her all-in paid endorsement of our conduct, entertaining no dissent and no deviation from the plan. The right side of Congress seems indifferent as long as one man is pleased. And That Man of course has never cared about anyone but himself anyway. The more they talk, the more impersonal this whole operation becomes and the less objective about loss of human life, destruction of property, and terrorizing of people having nothing to do with the described mission, whatever the mission really is -- again, whatever they are calling it today.
(By the way, did they ever account for that missile strike on a school that killed scores of little girls? I hear nothing about that, to the point that I wonder if I misheard it or it ever actually happened.)
Apparently all truly is fair in love and war, and loving war, with our current regime. Lobbing missiles is fun. Blowing things up is cool. If real human beings beyond the Iranian bad men are harmed, no matter which nation we are talking about now, well, that's their problem. We're good at the video game, so, hey, let's celebrate. Are we happy to be Americans with such non-empathetic people, of questionable competency, in charge of our weaponry and reveling in their capacity to kill and destroy at will, all day, every day, with a widening circle of impact?
I'm not feeling it. Your mileage may vary. But I hope not.
That is the thread that holds all of the parts together.
No restrictions on forever chemicals. Climate change is a hoax. Integrate AI into military strikes (even if the engineers say the technology is unreliable). Vaccines are not necessary. Warrior ethic meaning no ethics.
The crazy thing is the number of Americans that do not get it applies to them also.
Apparently they didn't even have an exit strategy in place for Americans located there as they planned and began to execute the war/non-war. It is very uncomfortable to think that the regime's indifference to human life includes a significant number of people who empower them, with their votes and their taxpayer dollars. What might that mean for the rest of us, too, later on as they assess their priorities and best interests?
Shrug- you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Why would people indifferent to human life give a thought to American humans stuck there with no means of egress because the airports in the region are being bombed?
I guess I've got too much of a heart and soul for the situation. Beyond thinking of our Americans stranded for days there and scared to death, and other people who are not part of the conflict but suffering the consequences, I think of a cat that we just adopted a couple of months ago. He is a rescue kitty, from Kuwait, flown here along with others in the hope of a better life in our relative safety and security. I think of other cats there now, likewise looking for a good home, that cannot be transported here for the foreseeable future due to the closed airspace, and the very unsafe future that they face when not wanted by their Kuwaiti owners. Our cat is a beautiful, loving animal. We shudder to think of what will happen to others there like him, now without this lifeline. As opposed to Hegseth, whom I easily can envision saying, "Who cares about a stinkin' cat? We are warriors!". My own heart aches and breaks.
That is the part that has bothered me the most. I do NOT believe that this all came up so fast that there was no time to have an evacuation plan. And if that is the case, they are even more incompetent than I thought!
That is absolutely right. All the talk of no rules of engagement, no restraint, etc is just the philosophy of the first person shooter (gotta kill them all!).
We need government officials who are into Hideo Kojima’s stealth action games, where you lose points if you kill someone…
Actually so do I, but my gaming activity (such as it is) is very much shaped by Kojima. Which can have very strange results when playing more conventional games, because I try to find alternate routes to avoid fights, instead of charging into them.
I always kind of preferred that type of game. One of my favorites was Dishonored. You could only get the best ending of the game if you avoided killing all of the major bad guys and minimized any other killing you did. The more you killed the worse the ending was.
Off subject a tad, DM, but I think we should deploy the entire boots on the ground Homeland Security Force into Iran. I mean after all, they have the masks to avoid chemical gases, they have the arms, at ready, all the uniforms and boots for the ground. A win win situation. We can send Kristi and Corey to lead them, I mean, what could go wrong. We can evacuate our stranded embassy staff by using their planes for the return trip home. Whatch think?
I'm all for what obliges the people who make choices that impact us to share in the consequences of their actions. Then maybe they will understand what the rest of us are feeling and why our collective moral compass has been so badly damaged under their leadership. As I often say, I wish that I could live long enough to see how the history books of the future will assess this era and those people. I strongly suspect that it will not be kind. Nor should it be.
NPR was reporting on the school strike yesterday. Good info from satellite photography showing that something like 7-9 buildings were hit with precision in same small area that did contain military targets. Israel says the conducted no operations in that general area. US says it is investigating and does not target civilian buildings. It seems to me like the school may have been targeted by a precision munition mistakenly.
Thanks for the update. I fervently hope that our media push this topic and demand accountability. We need to know how and why it happened, and that there are consequences for such mistakes, when we know going in that anytime we press red buttons, such bad things can happen. Based on his words, Hegseth seems particularly incapable of processing this fundamental tenet of exercising caution and maintaining some measure of restraint with the capacity to kill and maim from far away.
Agreed. What could ever be said to the children and their families? Or to the person flying the aircraft or manning the ship that launched a bomb at that school? It's a poisonous attitude for any of us to accept that without wanting to understand what happened in detail and prevent it happening again.
Hesgeth IS the equivalent of too many people I have seen in the gaming world, only he is acting out in real life and he is not in the line of fire, himself. I see waaaaay to many uber macho types who think that gaming somehow has turned them into something that they actually aren't.
Few of them seem to be interested in doing the real thing. That requires work, sacrifice and real danger. Bet they (and all of the other Real American Men on social media) aren't lining up at the recruiting offices to do their bit.
It is scary that this (basically) teen-aged gamer type guy is actually SecDef.
And few, if any, of these people actually give a shit about anyone but themselves--or about human life. Kind of reminded of all the people oohing and awwwing over the video stuff from Desert Storm at the time.
It was all fun and games until you got to see the footage of the bodies being carried away and the screaming/crying women and children.
Dude you just watched a bunch of hapless (and basically helpless) people get smoked and you are.... cheering? It's not a football game or a movie or TV show.
I have been out of the military for a long time, but I was an e-6, department leading NCO (RL division on a fast attack). His "career" path reads like the path of somebody who was incompetent and was kept out of the way.
here is a take from a veteran on reddit--not necessarily a great source, but it reads right to me as someone who was a NCO once upon a time and dealt with and trained a lot of jr officers:
"Let’s start with his military career. He was an infantry platoon leader for a time. Then it appears he was tasked at the S-9 (Civil Affairs). Then it appears he volunteered to teach COIN in Kabul. Then IRR. Then ARNG in DC.
Let’s unpack this. He’s an infantry officer. But he didn’t complete Ranger School, Airborne School, or Air Assault School – and he was assigned to the 101st. Why not? I spent the vast majority of my time in the Army in the heavy side of things (1AD/1CD/18ABN), and as a medical service officer, I completed both Airborne and Air Assault. I struggled to think of a single infantry officer who I’ve met that hasn’t completed at least one of the three – and I could only think of one.
Any junior officer that’s ever served in a BCT can tell you the #1 captain, if not in command, is the AS3. The lower performing folks are put in charge of made up shops – Civil Affairs being an ‘imaginary’ shop in most battalions. Our battalion’s S-9 was staffed by a never-going-to-get-promoted fat Captain and a SFC with DUI and EO problems. Speaking to former peers, that’s the general consensus – the folks in the ‘made up’ shops are the lowest performers. Why was LT/CPT Hegseth put in that position?
Then it appears that CPT Hegseth volunteered to be an instructor of some sort at the COIN academy in Kabul where he taught one class. Again, these classes are typically taught by post-command Captains/early Majors and Master Sergeants. Why would someone with no real experience in COIN be teaching COIN at a theater level? Why would a Captain be working at theater-level if not to keep him out of trouble or because no one would pick him for their team?
Those are the things we know about. Let’s talk about some things that are missing. His highest level of leadership experience appears to be Platoon Leader. His most impactful job appears to be a battalion-level Civil Affairs OIC/AOIC position."
I would not consider myself to be qualified as SecDef on the basis of my military experience. I do not remotely consider Hesgeth to be qualified to be SecDef on the basis of his career or displayed character and behavior--in fact I consider myself to be better qualified than him.
I have at least studied war and military history for a few decades and am not an alcoholic douchebag. Also not a religious extremist.
He comes across as a toxic asshat they picked up out of a CoD lobby.
It's really the same lack of empathy, from Minnesota to Iran. These people don't care who they kill as long as Trump's ego is satisfied. The truly scary part isn't Trump -- he's an idiot -- it's the fact that he's surrounded by sociopaths (Hegseth and Noem) and fools (Gabbard and Patel). With no brakes, this truck is going to keep careening out of control and smashing everything and everyone in its way.
I had a beer with some friends last night and we were all struck dumb by this realization: this is only year one. We still have nearly three years to go of this presidency.
I was listening to BBC radio in my car yesterday. In their top of the hour news roundup Hegseth's speech/press conference was characterized as "chest thumping" and then played the clip where he talks about the torpedoing of the Iranian ship off the coast of Sri Lanka. I gathered the writers at the BBC were not impressed by this adolescent behavior.
Listening to Hegseth enthusiastically describing the destruction being rained down on Iran is like hearing SCTV's Billy Sol Hurok exclaiming "It blowed up. It blowed up *real* good!"
When Hegseth spoke of "Silent Death" in relation to the sinking of the Dena off Sri Lanks, it was almost as if he was discussing a new tattoo with his tattoo artist. Horrible.
I came across someone on X that claims to be there in Iran (Iranian citizen) who first apologized for the lack of info but the internet had been out and then went on to talk about a number of things, including the girls school bombing. The claim from this person is that it was Iran themselves possibly as a false flag to blame Israel.
Who knows because X is now a shit-hole of misinformation
Maybe so. I certainly do not know. But my gut reaction is to think that such a thing would require quite a bit of advance preparation, and the fact that it happened almost immediately as the war/non-war operation commenced seems incompatible with that. One also reasonably wonders why anyone with a beating heart would willingly kill dozens to hundreds of little children, just like their own, to make such a statement. That feels like a bridge too far to me, even under the circumstances. I'm just applying common sense to the issue, which sadly may not be the best of ideas.
"(By the way, did they ever account for that missile strike on a school that killed scores of little girls? I hear nothing about that, to the point that I wonder if I misheard it or it ever actually happened.)"
I suspect the Administration's response would be something along the lines of Rep. Tony Gonzales' response regarding his affair: "We take full responsibility for the war, but it's not our fault those children died."
Re: what is going on in that old orange whore's head, "Man, woman, bombs! Pete stupid, Kristi stupid, me smart!!! Like always!!! Camera, television, Diet Coke-time...."
I was married to a Trump level narcissist. They are absolute agents of chaos. There is no plan or direction for anything. Take credit for the positive; place blame for the negative…
It is amazing how so many Christians use the whole "God forgives me" as an excuse to not seek forgiveness from the actual people who were harmed. As long as fellow religionists forgive him, who gives a damn about the victims?
Tangentially reminds me of a comic I saw. Mouse falls off bike and breaks his leg, and lies there yelling for help. Woodchuck comes by, sees Mouse. Woodchuck kneels and prays for Mouse, then walks away saying "I feel better already!".
Nah, his huevos are in a vise. He's got the widower's texts proving his adultery and what it did to his poor wife. Then he's got 6 young kids and a maybe an unhappy wife that would need a lot of child support. He may think God forgave him, maybe even his wife, but she she won't forget.
God may have forgiven Mr. Gonzales, but the attorney that will represent Ms. Santos-Aviles' widower ain't God neither is the divorce attorney that will represent Gonzales' wife. I wonder if local law enforcement is investigating Santos-Aviles' death.
There are certainly questions regarding whether Gonzales is both civilly and criminally liable for Ms. Santos-Aviles' death. A wrongful death lawsuit could be on the horizon for Gonzales.
Anybody else spoken to God lately? 'Cos I had a LONG conversation with Him this morning - and He told ME that he "hadn't forgiven Gonzales, and won't until he truly repents and makes reparation." He suggested that maybe Gonzales going to work as a ward orderly in a Gaza hospital might do it - or maybe somewhere else in the ME. Until such time "He's headed for Hell. . . "
I am glad he can read God's mind. Many of these people seem to be able to do so quite readily and easily.
Well that is always the escape hatch for these people. They get caught in whatever vile shit they are doing, pray for forgiveness, maybe a few tears and lamentations about how horrible they feel now and how powerfully they were tempted and how weak they were in the moment--then a bried pause to let things cool and off we go again. And as Ben Gruder notes, they are relieved of having to apologize to or do anything for the victims.
It's the reveal into why they so fervently defend God. God is their conscience. And you know what, he's fine with it, because I said I was sorry in my head.
Now let's hurt some more people. God doesn't mind. I asked.
That's a bit shocking to me because I thought we'd all disapprove completely of this, but I guess Trump and company are maybe (depressingly) onto something with the smash grab type attacks they did on Venezuela.
You know, I feel the best about myself and the world I live in when I acknowledge the struggle(s) of a fellow human being. We are all, well most of us, are just trying to get from one day to the next. Giving 5 or 10 bucks to the guy on the street corner, holding the door open for someone else. Writing a check to a favorite charity. Acknowledging, just simply acknowledging that I am not the only one on the this planet does wonders for my outlook. Why? Because I feel connected. Empathy is not a sign of weakness. It is a gift of strength.
I agree with this! I've been reading up on Simone Weil and her philosophy around the ethics of attention and the importance of compassion and community to reduce the harm of Affliction, which is the sort of systemic moral/psychological injury I think we might be suffering in excess right now:
>>"Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating."
>>"No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this apparatus and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others."
Because to an average American, something that doesn't directly affect them may as well not be happening, for all they care. For most, the rise in gas prices for a couple weeks (until they get used to the new level) is all they'll notice. But if it continues on, eventually many non-military families will begin to have friends or acquaintances from military member families begin expressing worries, or telling them of their service member who had a casualty in their unit from a missle attack on their base. It may be more prevalent an attitude in the US because we're so large and spread out, as opposed to much smaller or more integrated European countries with a national history of territorial invasions. But it seems consistent with previous generations of Americans who also had majorities that just ignored whatever was occurring overseas and went on with their daily lives until things began to directly affect those lives.
Exactly. The majority of Americans have never and likely will never care what is happening outside of America, including things that America is actually doing. Because America is blessed by geography and two giant ocenas. The only reason people in this country knew Afghanistan even existed was because Bin Laden managed to successfully attack us from there. Hard to ignore a multi pronged bombing that killed 3000+ people in your own country. People care about every day prices, local crime (which they seem to want the national government to fix somehow) and how much they pay in taxes. That's it. If what happens in the Middle East didn't directly impact gas prices there would be something like 100 people in this country who would even know where Iran actually is.
It comes down to *winning*. Which is more about impressions, vibes and feelings. If it goes for a week and we look strong, bumped off the ayatollah with little loss of American life, that’s *winning*. At 2 months we are past *winning* territory and we are into the war and consequences phase which means more American deaths, higher gas prices and the chance of boots on the ground — not *winning*.. It’s not the art of war, but rather the staged theater of war. *Winning* requires short happy episodes, we don’t long drawn out dramas. Tolstoy is not the public’s pick.
I'm not surprised. The Iranian regime's been at the top of the "People You Love to Hate" since 1979. So, I can see where most folks would be on board with that...the challenge, of course, it that real life is not simple. We could have done this decades ago, but choose not to do so. Too many people equate "doing something" (beneficial or not) is more important than "doing the right/smart/intelligent/best thing".
"“I think the ridiculousness of this and the tabloids that you are quoting and referencing are insane,” Noem said later. “You say conservative women are stupid or sluts. I am neither.”"
Is she telling on herself? What's so hard about saying 'no, I'm most certainly not knocking boots in the sky with corey'. You feeling stupid and slutty, kristi?
Rumor has it the next ruler of Iran might be Ayatollah Khamenei's son. If so, and if he's been brought up worshipping martyrs, "ending" this war may prove much more difficult than starting it -- whatever Trump might want. After all, in war, as they say, "the enemy gets a vote too."
The lady doth protest too much. Kristi Noem, we have established who and what you are. Your appearances before Congress were merely about the details. You did not go get Mar-a-Lago face to appeal to the priest at Sunday mass.
Tim Miller said it best about Mar-a-Lago face, they look like they're impersonating drag queens - huge eyes, huge lips, huge hair, overdone make-up. I wish someone would ask them, "Why did you change your face to look like a drag queen?"
(edit added) - I think Tim said, "Women impersonating men impersonating women."
Thanks Lynn - for the education (I'm a no nothing about last 15 years pop culture) and thanks for the much needed teehee (which felt guilty in these atrocious times - but don't you think we need?). I went to educate myself and watched him 3 years ago on Jimmy Kimmel voicing Biden, Trump, and Bob Dylan (all of whom I've heard of). Gracias!
I’m afraid Bill has it about right. And it will probably work. Trump is stupid about almost everything but he is a genius at manipulating the media. They will swallow his “move fast, break things, and get out” narrative with gusto. Especially if there is video.
I don't think Trump is a genius at manipulating the media. For some reason, the media has decided to simply take Trump at face value, probably because it involves fewer lawsuits.
They know he's lying. They just won't say or print that they know he's lying.
The reporting I’ve seen indicates the vessel insurance issue for the strait of Hormuz will not go away quickly and that the navy has already told folks they can’t provide escorts. I can see Pete Hegseth waiving his hand up frantically offering to put boots on the Iranian side of the strait and clear out all Iranian threats to shipping.
On the other hand, the declare victory and leave with the region in flames would be so much karma for the Saudis, UAE and Qatar. You helped make this bed…….
I loved the full quote of Trump in Richardson's newsletter this morning. It was horrifying, scary, and laughable all at once, that the President of the United States could dribble out that incoherent mess all at once. There is no bottom...
Oh God, yes! Wasn't that absolutely painful to read? My brain kept slipping off. I love that she quoted him verbatim because it shows how very incoherent he is and how ludicrous it is that no one is having him committed.
That was delightful and terrifying all at the same time! I think DJT often thinks like that, but I truly believe he’s scared to death that he can’t get out of this horrible war. We all are!
From Heather Richardson: "...and by the way, we have massive amounts of ammunition. We have the high end. A lot of it was given away stupidly by Biden, very stupidly, for free. And I’m all for Ukraine, but they gave away a lot. As you know, when I give away ammunition, everybody pays for it. The European Union is paying for it, then they can do what they want with it, but they are giving it, let’s say, to Ukraine, and it’s okay, but we gave away a lot of high end but we have plenty. But we have unlimited middle and upper ammunition, which is really what we’re using in this war. And we have an, really an unlimited supply."
Knowing that Orange cannot tell the truth what do you think our weapon supply is?
I think the costs of this will start to soak in eventually. I think we're going to be paying more for fuel and the region is going to be more unstable for a long time. The cost of the lives lost, and the money spent will weigh start to weigh more heavily against the admin when there is little or negative progress in the region in the future.
I had to click on the link because I thought he couldn’t possibly be referring to Heather. I don’t clock her as a lefty, but I guess Trump would because anyone who states the truth is a radical far left lunatic.
I love when Bill writes in Trump's voice. Just love it! The only problem is that Bill can't write incoherently enough to accurately portray Trump. You're just too good a writer, Bill!
Kass… I agree . We have been trained to expect a few word salads . Gotta mention the east wing and some out of context Biden bashing… and some windmills for extra credit and the big beautiful bill.
...and how 'bout those drapes!
Unfortunately, BillTrump has laid out a winning strategy for Trump and MAGA will snap back into compliance. As far as economic consequences, he'll let anti-Israel influencers lay the blame on Israel in some way, without him having to say it. Best of both worlds, again.
Not enough RANDOM Capitalization either. Much too Coherent. Thank you for your attention to this MATTER!
There is much to be concerned about in our conduct of this war/non-war (whichever they are calling it today). But the lack of value for human life by our regime is increasingly appalling to me. Hegseth in particular talks like he is a teenager enthusiastically playing a video game, bragging about our ability to bomb and destroy and kill like a child with a new toy on Christmas Day. Leavitt is not far behind in her all-in paid endorsement of our conduct, entertaining no dissent and no deviation from the plan. The right side of Congress seems indifferent as long as one man is pleased. And That Man of course has never cared about anyone but himself anyway. The more they talk, the more impersonal this whole operation becomes and the less objective about loss of human life, destruction of property, and terrorizing of people having nothing to do with the described mission, whatever the mission really is -- again, whatever they are calling it today.
(By the way, did they ever account for that missile strike on a school that killed scores of little girls? I hear nothing about that, to the point that I wonder if I misheard it or it ever actually happened.)
Apparently all truly is fair in love and war, and loving war, with our current regime. Lobbing missiles is fun. Blowing things up is cool. If real human beings beyond the Iranian bad men are harmed, no matter which nation we are talking about now, well, that's their problem. We're good at the video game, so, hey, let's celebrate. Are we happy to be Americans with such non-empathetic people, of questionable competency, in charge of our weaponry and reveling in their capacity to kill and destroy at will, all day, every day, with a widening circle of impact?
I'm not feeling it. Your mileage may vary. But I hope not.
“lack of value of human life”
That is the thread that holds all of the parts together.
No restrictions on forever chemicals. Climate change is a hoax. Integrate AI into military strikes (even if the engineers say the technology is unreliable). Vaccines are not necessary. Warrior ethic meaning no ethics.
The crazy thing is the number of Americans that do not get it applies to them also.
Yeah but they’re owning the libs. That’s more important than anything!
With only 41% approval of his "war," doesn't seem to be "owning the Libs.
That will happen when his administration will blame the carnage on Libs for that will ensue after the Mad King declares victory and leaves.
Or, many American's are egging on "End Times!".
They’re waiting for the Rapture.
Waiting!? They're firing it up!
Too many Americans: it’s only a movie, it’s only a movie…
Apparently they didn't even have an exit strategy in place for Americans located there as they planned and began to execute the war/non-war. It is very uncomfortable to think that the regime's indifference to human life includes a significant number of people who empower them, with their votes and their taxpayer dollars. What might that mean for the rest of us, too, later on as they assess their priorities and best interests?
They don’t seem to have a strategy or concern for anything…
Yep. Painstaking planning to the last detail (while negotiating in bad faith), but not a thought to Americans' safety.
Shrug- you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Why would people indifferent to human life give a thought to American humans stuck there with no means of egress because the airports in the region are being bombed?
I guess I've got too much of a heart and soul for the situation. Beyond thinking of our Americans stranded for days there and scared to death, and other people who are not part of the conflict but suffering the consequences, I think of a cat that we just adopted a couple of months ago. He is a rescue kitty, from Kuwait, flown here along with others in the hope of a better life in our relative safety and security. I think of other cats there now, likewise looking for a good home, that cannot be transported here for the foreseeable future due to the closed airspace, and the very unsafe future that they face when not wanted by their Kuwaiti owners. Our cat is a beautiful, loving animal. We shudder to think of what will happen to others there like him, now without this lifeline. As opposed to Hegseth, whom I easily can envision saying, "Who cares about a stinkin' cat? We are warriors!". My own heart aches and breaks.
That is the part that has bothered me the most. I do NOT believe that this all came up so fast that there was no time to have an evacuation plan. And if that is the case, they are even more incompetent than I thought!
Or it’s only a game.
Until someone shoots an eye...ah damn. We're there already.
This is so spot on. All I kept thinking is listening to Hegseth is like listening to my nephew play video games and wipe out NPCs
That is absolutely right. All the talk of no rules of engagement, no restraint, etc is just the philosophy of the first person shooter (gotta kill them all!).
We need government officials who are into Hideo Kojima’s stealth action games, where you lose points if you kill someone…
thanks for the education - know nothing about video games (instead I hide my nose in a frivolous book to calm down)
Actually so do I, but my gaming activity (such as it is) is very much shaped by Kojima. Which can have very strange results when playing more conventional games, because I try to find alternate routes to avoid fights, instead of charging into them.
I always kind of preferred that type of game. One of my favorites was Dishonored. You could only get the best ending of the game if you avoided killing all of the major bad guys and minimized any other killing you did. The more you killed the worse the ending was.
Off subject a tad, DM, but I think we should deploy the entire boots on the ground Homeland Security Force into Iran. I mean after all, they have the masks to avoid chemical gases, they have the arms, at ready, all the uniforms and boots for the ground. A win win situation. We can send Kristi and Corey to lead them, I mean, what could go wrong. We can evacuate our stranded embassy staff by using their planes for the return trip home. Whatch think?
I'm all for what obliges the people who make choices that impact us to share in the consequences of their actions. Then maybe they will understand what the rest of us are feeling and why our collective moral compass has been so badly damaged under their leadership. As I often say, I wish that I could live long enough to see how the history books of the future will assess this era and those people. I strongly suspect that it will not be kind. Nor should it be.
Gravy seals to the rescue?
NPR was reporting on the school strike yesterday. Good info from satellite photography showing that something like 7-9 buildings were hit with precision in same small area that did contain military targets. Israel says the conducted no operations in that general area. US says it is investigating and does not target civilian buildings. It seems to me like the school may have been targeted by a precision munition mistakenly.
Thanks for the update. I fervently hope that our media push this topic and demand accountability. We need to know how and why it happened, and that there are consequences for such mistakes, when we know going in that anytime we press red buttons, such bad things can happen. Based on his words, Hegseth seems particularly incapable of processing this fundamental tenet of exercising caution and maintaining some measure of restraint with the capacity to kill and maim from far away.
Truly depraved indifference.
Agreed. What could ever be said to the children and their families? Or to the person flying the aircraft or manning the ship that launched a bomb at that school? It's a poisonous attitude for any of us to accept that without wanting to understand what happened in detail and prevent it happening again.
I’m not sure I believe anything that is said in defense of the school bombing.
Hegseth is acting like he isn't drinking alcohol anymore, but has replaced it with a large stash of old fashioned 80s cocaine.
He does seem high on something, and not just himself.
Hesgeth IS the equivalent of too many people I have seen in the gaming world, only he is acting out in real life and he is not in the line of fire, himself. I see waaaaay to many uber macho types who think that gaming somehow has turned them into something that they actually aren't.
Few of them seem to be interested in doing the real thing. That requires work, sacrifice and real danger. Bet they (and all of the other Real American Men on social media) aren't lining up at the recruiting offices to do their bit.
It is scary that this (basically) teen-aged gamer type guy is actually SecDef.
And few, if any, of these people actually give a shit about anyone but themselves--or about human life. Kind of reminded of all the people oohing and awwwing over the video stuff from Desert Storm at the time.
It was all fun and games until you got to see the footage of the bodies being carried away and the screaming/crying women and children.
Dude you just watched a bunch of hapless (and basically helpless) people get smoked and you are.... cheering? It's not a football game or a movie or TV show.
To be fair, he was a platoon leader in Iraq. It would be interesting to hear from some of those who were under him.
I have been out of the military for a long time, but I was an e-6, department leading NCO (RL division on a fast attack). His "career" path reads like the path of somebody who was incompetent and was kept out of the way.
here is a take from a veteran on reddit--not necessarily a great source, but it reads right to me as someone who was a NCO once upon a time and dealt with and trained a lot of jr officers:
"Let’s start with his military career. He was an infantry platoon leader for a time. Then it appears he was tasked at the S-9 (Civil Affairs). Then it appears he volunteered to teach COIN in Kabul. Then IRR. Then ARNG in DC.
Let’s unpack this. He’s an infantry officer. But he didn’t complete Ranger School, Airborne School, or Air Assault School – and he was assigned to the 101st. Why not? I spent the vast majority of my time in the Army in the heavy side of things (1AD/1CD/18ABN), and as a medical service officer, I completed both Airborne and Air Assault. I struggled to think of a single infantry officer who I’ve met that hasn’t completed at least one of the three – and I could only think of one.
Any junior officer that’s ever served in a BCT can tell you the #1 captain, if not in command, is the AS3. The lower performing folks are put in charge of made up shops – Civil Affairs being an ‘imaginary’ shop in most battalions. Our battalion’s S-9 was staffed by a never-going-to-get-promoted fat Captain and a SFC with DUI and EO problems. Speaking to former peers, that’s the general consensus – the folks in the ‘made up’ shops are the lowest performers. Why was LT/CPT Hegseth put in that position?
Then it appears that CPT Hegseth volunteered to be an instructor of some sort at the COIN academy in Kabul where he taught one class. Again, these classes are typically taught by post-command Captains/early Majors and Master Sergeants. Why would someone with no real experience in COIN be teaching COIN at a theater level? Why would a Captain be working at theater-level if not to keep him out of trouble or because no one would pick him for their team?
Those are the things we know about. Let’s talk about some things that are missing. His highest level of leadership experience appears to be Platoon Leader. His most impactful job appears to be a battalion-level Civil Affairs OIC/AOIC position."
I would not consider myself to be qualified as SecDef on the basis of my military experience. I do not remotely consider Hesgeth to be qualified to be SecDef on the basis of his career or displayed character and behavior--in fact I consider myself to be better qualified than him.
I have at least studied war and military history for a few decades and am not an alcoholic douchebag. Also not a religious extremist.
He comes across as a toxic asshat they picked up out of a CoD lobby.
That is nowhere near the experience needed for the job that he is totally bungling.
I suggest that you listen to the new bulwark program that has the retired military person on it
I told teenage gamer type guy is the secretary of defense.
He has no morals or ethics
It's really the same lack of empathy, from Minnesota to Iran. These people don't care who they kill as long as Trump's ego is satisfied. The truly scary part isn't Trump -- he's an idiot -- it's the fact that he's surrounded by sociopaths (Hegseth and Noem) and fools (Gabbard and Patel). With no brakes, this truck is going to keep careening out of control and smashing everything and everyone in its way.
I had a beer with some friends last night and we were all struck dumb by this realization: this is only year one. We still have nearly three years to go of this presidency.
Only a beer? After verbalizing the realization that we’re just over the first year did you switch to something stronger?
Lol, it was a weeknight...
I was listening to BBC radio in my car yesterday. In their top of the hour news roundup Hegseth's speech/press conference was characterized as "chest thumping" and then played the clip where he talks about the torpedoing of the Iranian ship off the coast of Sri Lanka. I gathered the writers at the BBC were not impressed by this adolescent behavior.
Listening to Hegseth enthusiastically describing the destruction being rained down on Iran is like hearing SCTV's Billy Sol Hurok exclaiming "It blowed up. It blowed up *real* good!"
I am with you. I am disgusted every minute.
When Hegseth spoke of "Silent Death" in relation to the sinking of the Dena off Sri Lanks, it was almost as if he was discussing a new tattoo with his tattoo artist. Horrible.
I came across someone on X that claims to be there in Iran (Iranian citizen) who first apologized for the lack of info but the internet had been out and then went on to talk about a number of things, including the girls school bombing. The claim from this person is that it was Iran themselves possibly as a false flag to blame Israel.
Who knows because X is now a shit-hole of misinformation
Maybe so. I certainly do not know. But my gut reaction is to think that such a thing would require quite a bit of advance preparation, and the fact that it happened almost immediately as the war/non-war operation commenced seems incompatible with that. One also reasonably wonders why anyone with a beating heart would willingly kill dozens to hundreds of little children, just like their own, to make such a statement. That feels like a bridge too far to me, even under the circumstances. I'm just applying common sense to the issue, which sadly may not be the best of ideas.
Solid point. Occam's Razor
"(By the way, did they ever account for that missile strike on a school that killed scores of little girls? I hear nothing about that, to the point that I wonder if I misheard it or it ever actually happened.)"
I suspect the Administration's response would be something along the lines of Rep. Tony Gonzales' response regarding his affair: "We take full responsibility for the war, but it's not our fault those children died."
Act today. Get around to planning, or at least developing a concept of a plan, first thing tomorrow.
I think Noem is out by the weekend.
Trump needs to do something to distract from the Iran war distraction from the Epstein files.
Nixon "I am not a crook!"
Noem: "I am not a slut!"
Just a pet dog killer. (Which is worse and why, in 100 words or less.)
I would say that Noem was being honest in claiming she's not a slut...it's just Kristi being Kristi.
If she was a man taking advantage of a female subordinate, it would be fine! /s
I think she claimed she was not a "stupid slut".
Everything Trump does is to distract from everything else Trump does.
The human Möbius strip, with a question mark by "human"?
Re: what is going on in that old orange whore's head, "Man, woman, bombs! Pete stupid, Kristi stupid, me smart!!! Like always!!! Camera, television, Diet Coke-time...."
I was married to a Trump level narcissist. They are absolute agents of chaos. There is no plan or direction for anything. Take credit for the positive; place blame for the negative…
that had to be horrible
Took me as low as it’s possible to go. Ten years of hell. All is well now!
Not to mention the endless lies.
TRUMP SMASH! (Forgive me Stan Lee, may he rest in peace!)
Gonzales: “I’ve asked God to forgive me, which he has.”
I have so many jokes, but they’re all in terrible taste, and I’m not sure I’d be able to forgive MYSELF if I wrote them.
It is amazing how so many Christians use the whole "God forgives me" as an excuse to not seek forgiveness from the actual people who were harmed. As long as fellow religionists forgive him, who gives a damn about the victims?
Tangentially reminds me of a comic I saw. Mouse falls off bike and breaks his leg, and lies there yelling for help. Woodchuck comes by, sees Mouse. Woodchuck kneels and prays for Mouse, then walks away saying "I feel better already!".
So Gonzales is hearing voices and his guilt is imagining that it is God forgiving him?
I think he's flat out lying...but that's just me. ;)
Hey, if you ask g-d for forgiveness, he *has* to give it to you, even if you fully plan to repeat the same behaviour.
You missed the bit about "Repent and repay."
Otherwise it's just "sorry about that. . ." till next time.
Well yeah. But lying in that way that pious people do and blame it on God.
Nah, his huevos are in a vise. He's got the widower's texts proving his adultery and what it did to his poor wife. Then he's got 6 young kids and a maybe an unhappy wife that would need a lot of child support. He may think God forgave him, maybe even his wife, but she she won't forget.
A woman scorned and all that...
Hope rises!
I just keep thinking about that poor woman. Why end her life in that horrible way? Poor poor woman!
God may have forgiven Mr. Gonzales, but the attorney that will represent Ms. Santos-Aviles' widower ain't God neither is the divorce attorney that will represent Gonzales' wife. I wonder if local law enforcement is investigating Santos-Aviles' death.
Yes!
I'm thinking gonzales is hoping that God's forgiveness gets him off the hook. He's forgetting about all the people on earth he's wronged.
Hopefully, Mr. Aviles will keep pushing on law enforcement. This was sexual harassment in the workplace.
There are certainly questions regarding whether Gonzales is both civilly and criminally liable for Ms. Santos-Aviles' death. A wrongful death lawsuit could be on the horizon for Gonzales.
Well, it was verbal slight of hand. It's "god" not God, who forgave him: DJT.
Anybody else spoken to God lately? 'Cos I had a LONG conversation with Him this morning - and He told ME that he "hadn't forgiven Gonzales, and won't until he truly repents and makes reparation." He suggested that maybe Gonzales going to work as a ward orderly in a Gaza hospital might do it - or maybe somewhere else in the ME. Until such time "He's headed for Hell. . . "
I'm pretty sure he will have a rude awakening on the other side about this.
Confession because you got caught isn't repentance.
No show of remorse isn't repentance.
Lack of restitution in some form isn't repentance.
No, I'm fairly confident he hasn't been forgiven from above. But I'm not God so I shouldn't judge.
Lying about it in the first place with no remorse or thought for his victims - I'm sure that God is giving him the stink eye.
I am glad he can read God's mind. Many of these people seem to be able to do so quite readily and easily.
Well that is always the escape hatch for these people. They get caught in whatever vile shit they are doing, pray for forgiveness, maybe a few tears and lamentations about how horrible they feel now and how powerfully they were tempted and how weak they were in the moment--then a bried pause to let things cool and off we go again. And as Ben Gruder notes, they are relieved of having to apologize to or do anything for the victims.
I call it the prey, pray, prey cycle.
And the "Good Christians" around them buy into it
It's the reveal into why they so fervently defend God. God is their conscience. And you know what, he's fine with it, because I said I was sorry in my head.
Now let's hurt some more people. God doesn't mind. I asked.
I was shocked to see a recent YouGov poll where the responses split based on how long the war goes on.
If it lasts a week, it has a plurality of support (47% approve vs 28% disapprove vs 25% unsure). https://yougov.com/en-us/daily-results/20260305-0bb30-2
But once it goes into 2 months, support flips (27% approve vs 51% disapprove vs 22% unsure). https://yougov.com/en-us/daily-results/20260305-0bb30-3
That's a bit shocking to me because I thought we'd all disapprove completely of this, but I guess Trump and company are maybe (depressingly) onto something with the smash grab type attacks they did on Venezuela.
You know, I feel the best about myself and the world I live in when I acknowledge the struggle(s) of a fellow human being. We are all, well most of us, are just trying to get from one day to the next. Giving 5 or 10 bucks to the guy on the street corner, holding the door open for someone else. Writing a check to a favorite charity. Acknowledging, just simply acknowledging that I am not the only one on the this planet does wonders for my outlook. Why? Because I feel connected. Empathy is not a sign of weakness. It is a gift of strength.
I agree with this! I've been reading up on Simone Weil and her philosophy around the ethics of attention and the importance of compassion and community to reduce the harm of Affliction, which is the sort of systemic moral/psychological injury I think we might be suffering in excess right now:
https://www.philosopheasy.com/p/the-ethics-of-attention-in-simone
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/18395.Simone_Weil
>>"Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating."
>>"No matter what the circumstances, the worst betrayal will always be to subordinate ourselves to this apparatus and to trample underfoot, in its service, all human values in ourselves and in others."
We are the United States of Amnesia, as Gore Vidal put it so well.
Because to an average American, something that doesn't directly affect them may as well not be happening, for all they care. For most, the rise in gas prices for a couple weeks (until they get used to the new level) is all they'll notice. But if it continues on, eventually many non-military families will begin to have friends or acquaintances from military member families begin expressing worries, or telling them of their service member who had a casualty in their unit from a missle attack on their base. It may be more prevalent an attitude in the US because we're so large and spread out, as opposed to much smaller or more integrated European countries with a national history of territorial invasions. But it seems consistent with previous generations of Americans who also had majorities that just ignored whatever was occurring overseas and went on with their daily lives until things began to directly affect those lives.
Exactly. The majority of Americans have never and likely will never care what is happening outside of America, including things that America is actually doing. Because America is blessed by geography and two giant ocenas. The only reason people in this country knew Afghanistan even existed was because Bin Laden managed to successfully attack us from there. Hard to ignore a multi pronged bombing that killed 3000+ people in your own country. People care about every day prices, local crime (which they seem to want the national government to fix somehow) and how much they pay in taxes. That's it. If what happens in the Middle East didn't directly impact gas prices there would be something like 100 people in this country who would even know where Iran actually is.
Wouldn’t we love to have a chat with the “unsure” crowd? Boggles the mind.
They're the "I don't watch the news." crowd. They actively do not watch the news too...
It comes down to *winning*. Which is more about impressions, vibes and feelings. If it goes for a week and we look strong, bumped off the ayatollah with little loss of American life, that’s *winning*. At 2 months we are past *winning* territory and we are into the war and consequences phase which means more American deaths, higher gas prices and the chance of boots on the ground — not *winning*.. It’s not the art of war, but rather the staged theater of war. *Winning* requires short happy episodes, we don’t long drawn out dramas. Tolstoy is not the public’s pick.
The shorter it is, the quicker it can be forgotten. And shame on those who immediately thought of the Felon's....
Unfortunately for all of us, and to our shame, not all the Felon’s conquests have been so easily forgotten.
I'm not surprised. The Iranian regime's been at the top of the "People You Love to Hate" since 1979. So, I can see where most folks would be on board with that...the challenge, of course, it that real life is not simple. We could have done this decades ago, but choose not to do so. Too many people equate "doing something" (beneficial or not) is more important than "doing the right/smart/intelligent/best thing".
YouGov? Pshaw pshaw, what’s the line on Polymarket? I’m sad that I even have to ask this question…
"“I think the ridiculousness of this and the tabloids that you are quoting and referencing are insane,” Noem said later. “You say conservative women are stupid or sluts. I am neither.”"
Noem is a conservative woman?
< Tim bursts out into hysterical laughter >
Best laugh I've had this shitty week.
What happens in a taxpayer-funded luxury jet at 30,000 feet stays in the taxpayer-funded luxury jet at 30,000 feet.
Well, there's no standards like no standards, Justin. :)
The first rule of Mile-High Club is you do not talk about Mile-High Club.
"I am neither." Definitely open for debate.
Amen to that!
Is she telling on herself? What's so hard about saying 'no, I'm most certainly not knocking boots in the sky with corey'. You feeling stupid and slutty, kristi?
Rumor has it the next ruler of Iran might be Ayatollah Khamenei's son. If so, and if he's been brought up worshipping martyrs, "ending" this war may prove much more difficult than starting it -- whatever Trump might want. After all, in war, as they say, "the enemy gets a vote too."
Is FIIFA ready for a recount on that peace prize yet?
The lady doth protest too much. Kristi Noem, we have established who and what you are. Your appearances before Congress were merely about the details. You did not go get Mar-a-Lago face to appeal to the priest at Sunday mass.
Tim Miller said it best about Mar-a-Lago face, they look like they're impersonating drag queens - huge eyes, huge lips, huge hair, overdone make-up. I wish someone would ask them, "Why did you change your face to look like a drag queen?"
(edit added) - I think Tim said, "Women impersonating men impersonating women."
Well, Donald has always had a slight fondness for drag and its related accoutrements.
Anyone else hear James Austin Johnson's voice when reading Bill's piece?
Thanks Lynn - for the education (I'm a no nothing about last 15 years pop culture) and thanks for the much needed teehee (which felt guilty in these atrocious times - but don't you think we need?). I went to educate myself and watched him 3 years ago on Jimmy Kimmel voicing Biden, Trump, and Bob Dylan (all of whom I've heard of). Gracias!
I’m afraid Bill has it about right. And it will probably work. Trump is stupid about almost everything but he is a genius at manipulating the media. They will swallow his “move fast, break things, and get out” narrative with gusto. Especially if there is video.
I don't think Trump is a genius at manipulating the media. For some reason, the media has decided to simply take Trump at face value, probably because it involves fewer lawsuits.
They know he's lying. They just won't say or print that they know he's lying.
Well, they’ve made it easy for him.
“Disruption” is the most powerful myth of the last ten years.
The reporting I’ve seen indicates the vessel insurance issue for the strait of Hormuz will not go away quickly and that the navy has already told folks they can’t provide escorts. I can see Pete Hegseth waiving his hand up frantically offering to put boots on the Iranian side of the strait and clear out all Iranian threats to shipping.
On the other hand, the declare victory and leave with the region in flames would be so much karma for the Saudis, UAE and Qatar. You helped make this bed…….
I loved the full quote of Trump in Richardson's newsletter this morning. It was horrifying, scary, and laughable all at once, that the President of the United States could dribble out that incoherent mess all at once. There is no bottom...
Oh God, yes! Wasn't that absolutely painful to read? My brain kept slipping off. I love that she quoted him verbatim because it shows how very incoherent he is and how ludicrous it is that no one is having him committed.
What's more horrifying, in a way, is that some educated, well-spoken people are committed to ascribing exceptional wisdom to him.
He constantly rambles on endlessly like some drunk uncle. It's obvious that the boy ain't right.
He’s probably just repeating his inner monologue.
I'm sure that's right.
That was delightful and terrifying all at the same time! I think DJT often thinks like that, but I truly believe he’s scared to death that he can’t get out of this horrible war. We all are!
From Heather Richardson: "...and by the way, we have massive amounts of ammunition. We have the high end. A lot of it was given away stupidly by Biden, very stupidly, for free. And I’m all for Ukraine, but they gave away a lot. As you know, when I give away ammunition, everybody pays for it. The European Union is paying for it, then they can do what they want with it, but they are giving it, let’s say, to Ukraine, and it’s okay, but we gave away a lot of high end but we have plenty. But we have unlimited middle and upper ammunition, which is really what we’re using in this war. And we have an, really an unlimited supply."
Knowing that Orange cannot tell the truth what do you think our weapon supply is?
As soon as Trump began ranting about having plenty of ammunition...I knew that we didn't.
It pretty much is that simple with him.
It's like Superman and Bizarro, i.e. tariffs good ergo tariffs are bad, immigrants bad ergo ...
I think the costs of this will start to soak in eventually. I think we're going to be paying more for fuel and the region is going to be more unstable for a long time. The cost of the lives lost, and the money spent will weigh start to weigh more heavily against the admin when there is little or negative progress in the region in the future.
That's who Bill was referring to when he wrote, "You know that lefty historian the libs all like?"
Could you believe that entire rant she quoted? If that had been Biden...
I had to click on the link because I thought he couldn’t possibly be referring to Heather. I don’t clock her as a lefty, but I guess Trump would because anyone who states the truth is a radical far left lunatic.
I only knew b/c I'd just finished reading her newsletter for today, and b/c of the word "historian."
He knows we are low on munitions - the General has informed him and it’s not a secret. So he just makes shit up, as usual.
He has a gift.