Before Trump began rage posting his way into genocide charges the Strait was open & gas was 40% less.
As Jamelle Bouie put it recently “Forcing others to submit through the indiscriminate use of force does not really sound like war. That does sound like something else. It sounds like rape.” Trump & Hegseth MO is “the ideology of the rapist.”
Resist MAGA gangster grifter authoritarianism! Vote Sane. #VoteBlue!
Just because it turned out to be TACO Tuesday, didn't mean the whole situation isn't LOCO and FUBAR every day, Tuesdays included.
A reminder to us all...dementia is a progressive disease. Is there some small thing out there over the age of 6 who thinks this -- or something like it, or worse -- won't happen again?
Our Reality TV actor, playing POTUS on a set that mimics the White House sans the East Wing, got to beat his almighty chest and make barbaric threats to entertain the whole world. WOW! We got to watch "full civilization abuse" upfront.
I guess for the "MAGA masses still yearning to be free" it was great entertainment. They think the saw Iran finally get the avenging spanking it deserves.
For the rest of Americans and most of humanity it was appalling and humiliating.
Let's hope Trump's next episodes focus on things like AI regulation and Crypto, the health benefits of a paelo diet and golf courses. They are all bad, but limited.🙏
Trump is a psychopath and for all of these years, the media just REFUSES to treat him like one. He is no different than Manson or Bundy or Gacy. He was just born rich so his crimes look different.
But because he is simply stupid and easily manipulated, he is quite useful to the Oligarch-backed Heritage Foundation types. He gets his libertarian oligarch-friendly government and they get their vision of Gilead - a match made in Hell!
Bingo!! Trump is a symptom, not the disease. Yes, he needs to go, but unless the whole Heritage Foundation/Project 2025/Techbro oligarch infrastructure goes with him, we’ll be right back here again in a few more years.
He's been a cash cow for the media and social influencers right and left. Maybe they can make money as all the crimes are uncovered over the next twenty years.
Trump attacked Iran, and Israel attacked Lebanon and Iran, with no justification under international law. Now Trump is saying that the 10 articles for a ceasefire that Iran proposed earlier, which he had rejected, are a good basis for negotiations. He could have simply continued negotiations in February, but according to the New York Times, Netanyahu convinced him that victory, whatever Bibi meant by that, would be "easy." Past time to invoke the 25th amendment for Trump, and as for his advisors who went along, shame on you. The American people will remember.
Thanks, so far you are the only person to even mention Israel’s part in this. If one only read Jennifer Rubin’s columns from the past several days, one wouldn’t know Israel was involved at all.
Here is the gaping, glaring omission in Rubin’s otherwise accurate list today:
“This is what happens when the US openly and proudly gives crucial, pivotal and bipartisan support to an ongoing genocide of an already ruthlessly oppressed people, while demanding not only no accountability whatsoever for those responsible, but demanding punishment for anyone who condemned this terror, from local level activists to ICC judges and UN representatives.”
It is impossible for someone as smart and informed as Jennifer Rubin to simply overlook this obvious fact.
He has surrounded himself by sycophants, who include anyone who has the ability to invoke Article 25. The system was woefully unprepared for someone like Trump.
Of all the people who helped put this lunatic into office twice, I resent the so-called Evangelical Christians most. How can they be so blind that he's as far from a messianic figure as a person can get? How can they ignore the fact he's failed in literally every business he's touched and has only maintained his wealth through juking banks and investors out of money by declaring bankruptcies and pulling off "pump and dump" schemes? How can they ignore the fact he's a sexual predator, an incurious buffoon, totally without empathy, and most recently, not well? Second behind this block of voters in my pecking order for resentment is Mitch McConnell in particularl and the gutless Republican Congress in general. They have all betrayed their oaths of office by allowing Trump to do as he pleases. And that makes them traitors. When the Democrats restore order, and they will, many of these people need to end up behind bars. I hope Trump's trial at the Hague is epic.
As a fitting end to this administration, there needs to be a Nuremberg II series of trials. War crimes and crimes against humanity need to have consequences.
I’ve said for decades that if a person has given up critical thinking for “faith”, they are easily lead to any belief. That’s the reason “faith” leaders and politicians banded together in the 70’s to create the “religious right”. And one enough “persons” get on board, it’s GROUP THINK time! Nothing like good old tribal warfare to diminish a shred of critical thinking. It’s not surprising at ALL to me.
I will still claim myself as a Christian. Oh, not one of those hand-raising, "glory to God" types. Not at all. After a childhood and early adult years of being brainwashed into believing I had to turn my monies over to them and I had to drop everything to be at a certain building, at a certain time, on a certain day, I have been saved. I am the type of Christian who practices her faith by being kind, helpful, soothing, mindful of others, caring, loving, and always putting others before myself. THAT is what I believe a real Christian should be. No Bible stomping. No constant religious metaphors. Just plain old "being" Christian. Helping one's neighbors. Treating others the way they would want to be treated. Etc. I do not trust anyone who claims to be an Evangelical Christian. I do not trust anyone who blatantly lies on a minute-by-minute basis. I do not trust our current administration to do the right thing, no matter what time of day or day of week it is. DT is an insane psychopath and needs to be removed from office, as well as his VP and all the other minions he has placed in positions of authority. This total idiocy has to stop NOW!!!!
The DJT "christians" are sullying the world of faith, making it a joke, a threat, a hideous concept to be reviled. I know that Pope Leo gets it. I'm not Catholic, but I read what he has said and continues saying. Then, there are pastors whom, if it is to be believed, support the idea of DJT as sent from God. They aren't just sullying the idea of Christianity; they are making it a seriously damaged concept. And this supposed gift from God taunts Iran by saying "Praise be to Allah," or maybe he's a secret convert. I'd believe any madness at this point.
I would suggest reading some of the material of the Poor People's Campaign, led by Rev. William Barber. He leads "moral mondays", and he and his team talk cogently about how the ChristoNazis are not Christians at all; they have been co-opted by power. Barber talks about how to engage faith according to its true foundational principles. What is occurring now is immoral and we can thank (in part) the fundamentalists who are very un-christian in their attitudes and practices -- such as being anti-women, anti-immigrant, racist, bigots.
We knew long ago that he is a psychopath with no empathy whatsoever for others in his inexorable quest for unlimited power to dominate others. Psychopaths do not get better. They must be stopped by a force greater than they act with. So many people whose job it is to protect the American people from tyranny have failed and this will be noted in the history books.
Why do the legacy media outlets talk about the U.S. acceptance of Iran’s 10-point plan as if it were a negotiated settlement, when in fact it was a capitulation to Iran’s demands? The only place I have seen a summary of the 10 points we agreed to, was in The Irish Times! I was appalled to see that the U.S. agreed to leave the Strait of Hormuz in Iran’s control, allow Iran to continue working to enrich uranium, end sanctions on Iran, and in other ways bend to Iran’s desires. How can anyone see Trump as anything but an insane destroyer of our civilization?
Why have the legacy media outlets not yet published the actual agreement that both sides (allegedly) accepted? The US and Iran are both disputing what terms their 'agreement' included.
The fact is that the Strait of Hormuz is in Iran's *control* by default. The closing of the strait occurred as a direct result of Trump/Hegseth's failure to consider the consequences of starting a unilateral war with Iran. They were using the tools they had to bring pressure on the US to stop. This was not only foreseeable, but had been known for decades. Under the circumstances, it was bound to happen. Any continued negotiations will have to recognize it as a given. Other nations have aleady begun that process. But Trump, being Trump, had to make it a big fucking deal by flexing muscles he doesn't have. He always leaves an out, though. I was able to breath a little when he included the word "maybe" near the end of his blustering. And I knew that behind the scenes there would be an onslought of rational people trying to talk him down. Thanks god they succeeded. I admit I chuckled when I heard of the "two-week" standdown. Of course it is two weeks. If I were a betting person, I would bet that Hegseth will be on the way out during that period. I hope so.
I think that the White House Press Office is attempting to suppress the true story of the pilot's rescue to respect Trump’s modesty.
The rumors being circulated around the White House are that Trump was secretly parachuted into the parched and baren mountains of Iran with the aid of a handful of 82nd Airborne troops to discretely extract the downed pilot before the savage Iranian army could get to him.
Laden down with grenades and with a bayonette in his mouth, Trump slung the pilot over his back and grabbed onto a rope lowered by an Army helicopter to spirit both of them away to safety.
Due to Trump’s almost fanatical modesty, his heroism is being cloaked in secrecy so as not to embarrass and demean what the U.S. Army division in the region should have done on their own. Fortunately, our President set an example to them.
This singular act of heroism by our President warrants the construction of a prominent (gold encrusted) monument to his valor that can be admired and worshipped throughout the country.
It should not go unnoticed that had our President not have a bone spur in his foot, which prevented his military service during the Vietnam war, he would have personally carried the fallen pilot on foot across the border to safety.
Let us all thank and praise whoever in the White House Press office leaked this true account of Trump’s bravery.
This is very funny and I would normally be laughing hysterically but today my sense of humor, actually most of my emotions, are a bit blunted. That this evil little man can wield so much power is truly terrifying.
Thank you. What will be left of our country when Trump and his supporters finish with it? The Iran disaster is not the end, but a harbinger of things yet to come unless America wakes up.
Thank you for this. Bob Dylan was right, 'You're gonna have to serve somebody.' And Jesus said 'You can't serve two masters.' Trump serves power and money and sex. Anyone following him, sadly, is doing the same.
It’s mind boggling that the most appallingly dangerous demented president cannot be removed by either impeachment or 25A. Both of those remedies require a functioning government of people with integrity, and we don’t have that.
What Jen describes but fails to conclude is that we are where we are today due to moral rot in america the last 20 years. "Rules for thee and not for me" is the root of maga, 30% of america morally bankrupt. Two supreme court judges take regular bribes while 3 supreme court judges lied about settle law during senate confirmation hearings... i am tired of living in an episode of the Twilight Zone!
Their goal is a society and leadership like Viktor Orban in Hungary which is why jd vance was there campaigning. Ever see a us vice president campaign for a foreigner before and yet he complains about outside election interference in america???
How much more insanity are we going to put up with? Past time for a general strike if congress won't act.
Jen, your words are so powerful and accurate. Again, I ask, what else can we as humans living under these conditions do to help this along? Many of us are willing to do much more than protest but don't know what. Thanks
Understand your frustration.!! Unfortunately our ability to effect change is far less than the horror show around us. But keep writing those cards, making those calls, signing those petitions, donating and marching, whenever you can, talking sense to MAGAS (if they let you), putting big signs in your yard, and boycotting Trump supporters like Amazon, Walmart, Marshall's, Home Depot, etc. And of course, vote if you're allowed! (Another issue, alas.)
It hurts at first, but you can actually survive without seeing everything on Prime, and you can get your stuff from the original source and even (gasp!) wait a week or so for it. The fact is that each of our efforts, however small, can make a difference -- together, they do add up. If there's a more dramatic solution, I suspect it will require further dismantlement of our country. Otherwise I fear our patience and faith is required.
Before Trump began rage posting his way into genocide charges the Strait was open & gas was 40% less.
As Jamelle Bouie put it recently “Forcing others to submit through the indiscriminate use of force does not really sound like war. That does sound like something else. It sounds like rape.” Trump & Hegseth MO is “the ideology of the rapist.”
Resist MAGA gangster grifter authoritarianism! Vote Sane. #VoteBlue!
Turned into another TACO Tuesday. 2 week reprieve.
As I type, oil prices dropped 14% since last night.
The magic word is still EPSTEIN.
No question, this is Trump's way of distracting everyone from Epstein.
The Epstein coverup is still waiting in the wings for the encore. It will happen.
Just because it turned out to be TACO Tuesday, didn't mean the whole situation isn't LOCO and FUBAR every day, Tuesdays included.
A reminder to us all...dementia is a progressive disease. Is there some small thing out there over the age of 6 who thinks this -- or something like it, or worse -- won't happen again?
You bet!
Interesting that both the president and the SecDef have been charge with rape even in their pre-WH days.
It’s a feature, not a bug.
So is telling fantastic lies and throwing tantrums.
I've been thinking the same thing. I can see a book, "The Art of Mind F*cking."
Our Reality TV actor, playing POTUS on a set that mimics the White House sans the East Wing, got to beat his almighty chest and make barbaric threats to entertain the whole world. WOW! We got to watch "full civilization abuse" upfront.
I guess for the "MAGA masses still yearning to be free" it was great entertainment. They think the saw Iran finally get the avenging spanking it deserves.
For the rest of Americans and most of humanity it was appalling and humiliating.
Let's hope Trump's next episodes focus on things like AI regulation and Crypto, the health benefits of a paelo diet and golf courses. They are all bad, but limited.🙏
I agree. Entertainment for MAGA masses, yes. For the rest of us. No.
Nice. I miss Mr. Bouie since I lost faith in the NYT.
Trump is a psychopath and for all of these years, the media just REFUSES to treat him like one. He is no different than Manson or Bundy or Gacy. He was just born rich so his crimes look different.
Check him out on the Hare list for psychopathy just using what we all have as public knowledge. It's fairly defining.
But because he is simply stupid and easily manipulated, he is quite useful to the Oligarch-backed Heritage Foundation types. He gets his libertarian oligarch-friendly government and they get their vision of Gilead - a match made in Hell!
Bingo!! Trump is a symptom, not the disease. Yes, he needs to go, but unless the whole Heritage Foundation/Project 2025/Techbro oligarch infrastructure goes with him, we’ll be right back here again in a few more years.
He's been a cash cow for the media and social influencers right and left. Maybe they can make money as all the crimes are uncovered over the next twenty years.
Trump attacked Iran, and Israel attacked Lebanon and Iran, with no justification under international law. Now Trump is saying that the 10 articles for a ceasefire that Iran proposed earlier, which he had rejected, are a good basis for negotiations. He could have simply continued negotiations in February, but according to the New York Times, Netanyahu convinced him that victory, whatever Bibi meant by that, would be "easy." Past time to invoke the 25th amendment for Trump, and as for his advisors who went along, shame on you. The American people will remember.
Thanks, so far you are the only person to even mention Israel’s part in this. If one only read Jennifer Rubin’s columns from the past several days, one wouldn’t know Israel was involved at all.
Here is the gaping, glaring omission in Rubin’s otherwise accurate list today:
“This is what happens when the US openly and proudly gives crucial, pivotal and bipartisan support to an ongoing genocide of an already ruthlessly oppressed people, while demanding not only no accountability whatsoever for those responsible, but demanding punishment for anyone who condemned this terror, from local level activists to ICC judges and UN representatives.”
It is impossible for someone as smart and informed as Jennifer Rubin to simply overlook this obvious fact.
And unfortunately, the Iranian people (or at least, the terrorists among them) will also remember. This "war" will go on for a looooong time.
Also the Crown Prince's and Saudi Arabia's role in this war:
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/iran-war-saudi-arabia-trump/#
He has surrounded himself by sycophants, who include anyone who has the ability to invoke Article 25. The system was woefully unprepared for someone like Trump.
Of all the people who helped put this lunatic into office twice, I resent the so-called Evangelical Christians most. How can they be so blind that he's as far from a messianic figure as a person can get? How can they ignore the fact he's failed in literally every business he's touched and has only maintained his wealth through juking banks and investors out of money by declaring bankruptcies and pulling off "pump and dump" schemes? How can they ignore the fact he's a sexual predator, an incurious buffoon, totally without empathy, and most recently, not well? Second behind this block of voters in my pecking order for resentment is Mitch McConnell in particularl and the gutless Republican Congress in general. They have all betrayed their oaths of office by allowing Trump to do as he pleases. And that makes them traitors. When the Democrats restore order, and they will, many of these people need to end up behind bars. I hope Trump's trial at the Hague is epic.
As a fitting end to this administration, there needs to be a Nuremberg II series of trials. War crimes and crimes against humanity need to have consequences.
I’ve said for decades that if a person has given up critical thinking for “faith”, they are easily lead to any belief. That’s the reason “faith” leaders and politicians banded together in the 70’s to create the “religious right”. And one enough “persons” get on board, it’s GROUP THINK time! Nothing like good old tribal warfare to diminish a shred of critical thinking. It’s not surprising at ALL to me.
I will still claim myself as a Christian. Oh, not one of those hand-raising, "glory to God" types. Not at all. After a childhood and early adult years of being brainwashed into believing I had to turn my monies over to them and I had to drop everything to be at a certain building, at a certain time, on a certain day, I have been saved. I am the type of Christian who practices her faith by being kind, helpful, soothing, mindful of others, caring, loving, and always putting others before myself. THAT is what I believe a real Christian should be. No Bible stomping. No constant religious metaphors. Just plain old "being" Christian. Helping one's neighbors. Treating others the way they would want to be treated. Etc. I do not trust anyone who claims to be an Evangelical Christian. I do not trust anyone who blatantly lies on a minute-by-minute basis. I do not trust our current administration to do the right thing, no matter what time of day or day of week it is. DT is an insane psychopath and needs to be removed from office, as well as his VP and all the other minions he has placed in positions of authority. This total idiocy has to stop NOW!!!!
The DJT "christians" are sullying the world of faith, making it a joke, a threat, a hideous concept to be reviled. I know that Pope Leo gets it. I'm not Catholic, but I read what he has said and continues saying. Then, there are pastors whom, if it is to be believed, support the idea of DJT as sent from God. They aren't just sullying the idea of Christianity; they are making it a seriously damaged concept. And this supposed gift from God taunts Iran by saying "Praise be to Allah," or maybe he's a secret convert. I'd believe any madness at this point.
fret not, religion has been a joke and scam for millennia
YES.
I would suggest reading some of the material of the Poor People's Campaign, led by Rev. William Barber. He leads "moral mondays", and he and his team talk cogently about how the ChristoNazis are not Christians at all; they have been co-opted by power. Barber talks about how to engage faith according to its true foundational principles. What is occurring now is immoral and we can thank (in part) the fundamentalists who are very un-christian in their attitudes and practices -- such as being anti-women, anti-immigrant, racist, bigots.
the only similarity of trump and Jesus is that they both have messy hair...
There are too many enablers, on both sides of the aisle, to name but we the people cannot wait any longer for impeachment NOW!!!
We knew long ago that he is a psychopath with no empathy whatsoever for others in his inexorable quest for unlimited power to dominate others. Psychopaths do not get better. They must be stopped by a force greater than they act with. So many people whose job it is to protect the American people from tyranny have failed and this will be noted in the history books.
Looking at you, McConnell and Roberts.
What history books? Or even, what books?
Why do the legacy media outlets talk about the U.S. acceptance of Iran’s 10-point plan as if it were a negotiated settlement, when in fact it was a capitulation to Iran’s demands? The only place I have seen a summary of the 10 points we agreed to, was in The Irish Times! I was appalled to see that the U.S. agreed to leave the Strait of Hormuz in Iran’s control, allow Iran to continue working to enrich uranium, end sanctions on Iran, and in other ways bend to Iran’s desires. How can anyone see Trump as anything but an insane destroyer of our civilization?
Why have the legacy media outlets not yet published the actual agreement that both sides (allegedly) accepted? The US and Iran are both disputing what terms their 'agreement' included.
Thanks to The Irish Times for its reporting!
I agree. The reporting makes it all seem normal. If we want straight, non-sane washing reporting, tune in to Rachel or Lawrence.
The fact is that the Strait of Hormuz is in Iran's *control* by default. The closing of the strait occurred as a direct result of Trump/Hegseth's failure to consider the consequences of starting a unilateral war with Iran. They were using the tools they had to bring pressure on the US to stop. This was not only foreseeable, but had been known for decades. Under the circumstances, it was bound to happen. Any continued negotiations will have to recognize it as a given. Other nations have aleady begun that process. But Trump, being Trump, had to make it a big fucking deal by flexing muscles he doesn't have. He always leaves an out, though. I was able to breath a little when he included the word "maybe" near the end of his blustering. And I knew that behind the scenes there would be an onslought of rational people trying to talk him down. Thanks god they succeeded. I admit I chuckled when I heard of the "two-week" standdown. Of course it is two weeks. If I were a betting person, I would bet that Hegseth will be on the way out during that period. I hope so.
THE TRUE STORY OF THE RESCUE OF OUR PILOT IN IRAN
I think that the White House Press Office is attempting to suppress the true story of the pilot's rescue to respect Trump’s modesty.
The rumors being circulated around the White House are that Trump was secretly parachuted into the parched and baren mountains of Iran with the aid of a handful of 82nd Airborne troops to discretely extract the downed pilot before the savage Iranian army could get to him.
Laden down with grenades and with a bayonette in his mouth, Trump slung the pilot over his back and grabbed onto a rope lowered by an Army helicopter to spirit both of them away to safety.
Due to Trump’s almost fanatical modesty, his heroism is being cloaked in secrecy so as not to embarrass and demean what the U.S. Army division in the region should have done on their own. Fortunately, our President set an example to them.
This singular act of heroism by our President warrants the construction of a prominent (gold encrusted) monument to his valor that can be admired and worshipped throughout the country.
It should not go unnoticed that had our President not have a bone spur in his foot, which prevented his military service during the Vietnam war, he would have personally carried the fallen pilot on foot across the border to safety.
Let us all thank and praise whoever in the White House Press office leaked this true account of Trump’s bravery.
This is very funny and I would normally be laughing hysterically but today my sense of humor, actually most of my emotions, are a bit blunted. That this evil little man can wield so much power is truly terrifying.
Thanks Franca. You're so right.
I hope the WH doesn’t adopt this noble tale without due acknowledgement of your wit.
Thanks Susan.
This was posted somewhere before, but is worth reading again. It's great satire.
Thanks Steve. Yes, I also posted it on other Substacks.
All in spite of those life threatening bone spurs!
Yes. It's amazing, isn't it?
Be careful what you write. Before you know it, the mainstream media will pick it up. I can hear it now: Sources say..... (with a serious tone)
At last, an article about the President of the United States that sparks gaiety and laughter.
Thank you. What will be left of our country when Trump and his supporters finish with it? The Iran disaster is not the end, but a harbinger of things yet to come unless America wakes up.
Excellent article, Jen-thank you!
Encouraging news! Susan Collins is reportedly "concerned". /s
And said with furrowed brow, I'm sure....
Aww!
Thank you for this. Bob Dylan was right, 'You're gonna have to serve somebody.' And Jesus said 'You can't serve two masters.' Trump serves power and money and sex. Anyone following him, sadly, is doing the same.
It’s mind boggling that the most appallingly dangerous demented president cannot be removed by either impeachment or 25A. Both of those remedies require a functioning government of people with integrity, and we don’t have that.
Exactly.
What Jen describes but fails to conclude is that we are where we are today due to moral rot in america the last 20 years. "Rules for thee and not for me" is the root of maga, 30% of america morally bankrupt. Two supreme court judges take regular bribes while 3 supreme court judges lied about settle law during senate confirmation hearings... i am tired of living in an episode of the Twilight Zone!
Their goal is a society and leadership like Viktor Orban in Hungary which is why jd vance was there campaigning. Ever see a us vice president campaign for a foreigner before and yet he complains about outside election interference in america???
How much more insanity are we going to put up with? Past time for a general strike if congress won't act.
Can we make this a mandatory read for all please?
"Trump’s religious zealotry advocating war crimes is the inevitable result”
Trump’s only religion and his only zealotry is Trump. The rest is all for show. He would have been the first one tossed out of the temple.
Jen, your words are so powerful and accurate. Again, I ask, what else can we as humans living under these conditions do to help this along? Many of us are willing to do much more than protest but don't know what. Thanks
I'm with you, I crave action that will have impact beyond protests, phone calls, and postcards. What in the world to do?
Understand your frustration.!! Unfortunately our ability to effect change is far less than the horror show around us. But keep writing those cards, making those calls, signing those petitions, donating and marching, whenever you can, talking sense to MAGAS (if they let you), putting big signs in your yard, and boycotting Trump supporters like Amazon, Walmart, Marshall's, Home Depot, etc. And of course, vote if you're allowed! (Another issue, alas.)
It hurts at first, but you can actually survive without seeing everything on Prime, and you can get your stuff from the original source and even (gasp!) wait a week or so for it. The fact is that each of our efforts, however small, can make a difference -- together, they do add up. If there's a more dramatic solution, I suspect it will require further dismantlement of our country. Otherwise I fear our patience and faith is required.
Critical thinking is also a requirement. Acceptance is acquiescence.
This is a terrific, albeit grim, summary of where we are and how we got here. How do we get this out beyond the echo chamber?