Wednesday, July 22, 2026

It’s The “Historically Accurate” Part…

... that makes it laughable. 😹

Whichever part does he mean to render historically accurately? The Scylla? The Charybdis! The Cyclops? Circe? Athena? Poseidon?

If Grok does it with Lego figures, would that be more “historically accurate”? Or less?

Nobody tell Elmo that Grendel’s mother isn’t described as looking anything like Angelina Jolie.
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Chicken Entrails And Paper Tigers

Republicans are helpless, and doomed:
Republicans are now bracing for the "unthinkable" scenario that Trump could trigger a "full-scale war" that will still be raging when voters go to the polls in November, Politico's Dasha Burns reported Wednesday.

With 104 days until the midterms, contests in Iowa, Alaska and Ohio — along with House districts Trump carried by double digits — are now firmly in play, according to Politico.

"We're preparing for the bottom to fall out," a GOP operative working on midterm races told Politico.

"Republicans are running out of runway here to improve their political fortunes before November," the operative added.
(They aren’t “running out of runway.” The GOP sold out to MAGA, which means they sold out to Trump. These are the consequences.)

Or, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel:
In the 10 days since the United States resumed its air strikes against Iran, neither President Trump nor any other senior administration official has publicly addressed the campaign," said the report. "U.S. forces began by striking Iranian military facilities but later expanded to attacking civilian infrastructure that the administration says is being used for military purposes."

Congress has "yet to receive classified briefings on the latest phase of the war."

Meanwhile, Trump, who initially bragged about how well the war was going when the fighting first erupted, has tried to shift the conversation back to his election conspiracy theories.

The president "expected a quick victory, and so the military didn’t prepare for a prolonged conflict," according to the report.

And as the administration failed to adequately build up forces, it set off further problems for the U.S. military.

"Although the military surged additional forces into the region, many assets — particularly Navy ships — were diverted from other war theaters rather than trained for this conflict," The Atlantic reported. "The Pentagon has since extended the deployments of nearly half of those ships, further taxing an already-strapped force."*
But let’s hedge our bets, and say the light could be a train:
According to two sources who spoke to The Atlantic, "Trump may at some point consider," a clean break from the war to cut losses, stop gas prices from rising further, and try to prevent more damage to the GOP in the polls. "But for now, despite the growing costs, he is continuing the fight."

"While sitting next to the leader of Lebanon in the Oval Office today, the president seemed to commit himself to the type of forever war he once derided: 'We’re not finished at all,' Trump told reporters. 'We’re not leaving right now,'" said the report — and Trump further vowed "to bomb Pickaxe Mountain on the suspicion that it houses part of Iran’s nuclear program."
*”an already strapped fighting force.” Anyone else starting to get late Roman Empire vibes if too much territory (Europe; Middle East; Chinese coastal waters) and not nearly enough military power? The money seems to be going to weapons systems we can’t afford to use because they’re ineffective except against technology Russia really doesn’t have. We’re in deep with million dollar missiles, while the world is going to cheap drones, or short range missiles we have a g he hard time countering. 

This is the greatest military in the world? This is what it means to be a hyperpower? This needs another $1.5 trillion, or we’re done for?
Rome dominated Europe and northern Africa, but reached its limit with Scotland and Ireland. And then the whole enterprise became too big and too expensive and even the greatest military might in the world wasn’t enough. We’re not an empire, and we’re not facing that kind of collapse. But: is this the vaunted military we’ve been paying for? I can blame the poor management of Hegseth and Trump, but damn! We sure look like a paper tiger. We certainly look like we’ve overextended ourselves, something we were assured was not going to happen. But right now, if China decided to stir some shit, we’d be hard pressed to respond. And we were assured there were plans for things like that. Did those plans include this scenario?

No, we shouldn’t have started this war, but: what would the difference be if Congress had authorized it? Bush had an AUMF, and excuses like WMD, and militarily Iraq was a rout, but the results? Our military is good at nation destruction, but we’ve spent no time considering nation building. 

And then there was Afghanistan, where we found a graveyard for our empire. 

Is this what our military-industrial complex is buying us? An ineffective military and no money for healthcare and education? It’s Vietnam all over again. “Greatest military in the world,” and we couldn’t defeat “the little brown men in black pajamas.” All my life I’ve been told it’s just a matter of having the will, or the “support of the American people,” or the strategy, or a clear goal, or an “exit ramp/strategy/plan”… and it’s all bullshit. It’s all the same wars as the 17th and 18th century European wars of monarchy that the American colonists were so determined to not establish here.

And then FDR built the Pentagon,,which he meant to turn into a records storage facility after the war (the only reason it survived 9/11 the way it did.). But then came the Commies, and Korea, which begat the domino theory, which begat the military-industrial complex, the Red Scare, and the Cold War…

And here we are.
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No Shit, Sherlock

Not just him. Answer came there none.

πŸ¦—πŸ¦—πŸ¦—
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🀷‍♂️

The Strait of Hormuz was this generation’s Pearl Harbor? Most of the American casualties have been at military bases in the region, some where failure to adequately protect has been documented. "THAT’S WHAT PEOPLE DO!” (They die.) The multi-verse is real! Because she’s clearly from an alternative timeline.
LIEU: How many US troops have been wounded in the Iran war?

WALTZ: My understanding is over 100

LIEU: That number is wrong. It's actually 482. It's not surprising to me you didn't know the answer to that. The reason you are here today is because you were fired by the president from your former position as National Security Adviser. You disclosed classified information that harmed American pilots and put them at risk!
He can no more reveal the real number than he can admit Biden win in 2020. Trump put a bomb in his brain and will push the button…

…or, he’s just MAGA.
That doesn’t count? 🀷‍♂️
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Mushroom πŸ„‍🟫

The White House staff is keeping Trump in the dark, and feeding him shit. But he clearly wants it that way.

The people with the powers to relieve a deranged person of the high office (at least temporarily), are the same people feeding him shit. Even if on-third of the Senate goes full Democratic in November, there won’t be two-thirds to remove Trump from office. Although with any luck the next Congress will take its Article I duties more seriously:
CNBC: Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution says Congress holds the sole power to declare war, raise and support and armed forces, and fund military operations. When do you think we would not be in a position of complying with that?

REP. BRYAN STEIL: I think we're clearly inside the war powers act
We live in hope. Sometimes, that’s all we can do.
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Thanks To Trump’s War

"Affordability" is a hoax.
Oil prices were about 4% higher on Wednesday morning following the eleventh consecutive round of U.S. strikes against Iran overnight, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz remains a sticking point between the two sides.

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, traded about 4% higher at $94.76. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 3.9% to trade at $87.61.
But we can affird war crimes:
Trump: "From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP"
What Amnesty International said about this threat in March is still relevant 4 months later:
International “Intentionally attacking civilian infrastructure such as power plants is generally prohibited. Even in the limited cases that they qualify as military targets, a party still cannot attack power plants if this may cause disproportionate harm to civilians. Given that such power plants are essential for meeting the basic needs and livelihoods of tens of millions of civilians, attacking them would be disproportionate and thus unlawful under international humanitarian law, and could amount to a war crime.

“By threatening such strikes, the USA is effectively indicating its willingness to plunge an entire country into darkness, and to potentially deprive its people of their human rights to life, water, food, healthcare and adequate standard of living, and to subject them to severe pain and suffering.

“When power plants collapse, horrific consequences cascade instantly. Water pumping stations would stop functioning, clean water would become scarce, and preventable diseases would spread. Hospitals would lose electricity and fuel, forcing surgeries to be cancelled and life-support machines to shut down. Food production and distribution networks would collapse, deepening hunger and causing widespread food scarcity. Many businesses would also shut down with devastating economic consequences including mass unemployment.

“Causing catastrophic harm to the civilian electrical capacity – at a time when the Iranian authorities’ deliberate prolonged internet shutdown has already left Iran’s population isolated – would sever people’s last remaining connection to the outside world, including access to satellite television, at a time of extreme danger.

“President Trump must immediately retract these dangerous threats and commit the US to upholding international humanitarian law.”
Trump is working hard to cement that international pariah status for America.
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I Blame Biden

 Clearly he started this:

That official and others from DHS told local officials that Border Patrol typically guarded the southern border and thought of themselves as a last line of defense, and they were used to getting away with a lot, so they feared things would get ugly, according to Tapper.

"The HSI agent’s fears about the unprecedented surge of DHS personnel proved prophetic," wrote Tapper. "The deaths of Renee Good on Wednesday, January 7, and Alex Pretti on Saturday, January 24, at the hands of federal immigration agents, followed soon after."

After Good's death, prosecutors were reportedly alarmed by a call with then-Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino.

Bovino ranted against them for failing to bring charges against protestors he claimed had been assaulting federal officers, but investigators said those complaints turned out to be false once they looked at the evidence, according to the report.

"The immigration agents, the prosecutors concluded, were lying," Tapper reported. "A lot."

Prosecutors were alarmed that the shooting death of the 37-year-old Good, a mother of three, had pushed Bovino to become even more aggressive in his crackdown, the report stated.

“These people are wackos,” Bovino told them. “The sh-t is getting ready to come. We’re not putting up with anything in this city. It’s coming. We’re not going to calm it down, we’re going to put it down.”

“You’ve got 3,000 law enforcement agents that are fixin’ to lock this city down,” Bovino added. “If it doesn’t work, we’re gonna bring 4,000 more. It doesn’t matter to me. We’re going to pacify this place, we’re going to roll ‘em up. We’re not going to wait on the local PD, we’re not going to p--- with it.”

Bovino threatened to occupy the city and made antisemitic remarks about Daniel Rosen, the U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota, and they wondered after the call ended whether the Border Patrol commander had been purposefully sent to Minneapolis to spark a riot.

“They’re going to kill someone else,” said one prosecutor on the call, and others agreed.

Days later, two Border Patrol agents shot and killed Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse.
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Are These Positions Abbott Thinks Blacks Support?

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Old Times There Are Not Forgotten

Plantation owner says what?
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Tuesday, July 21, 2026

BREAKING NEWS! Laura Loomer Keeps A Mouse In Her Pocket! 🐭

Just experienced my first air raid in Ukraine.

Sirens blaring.

This is everyday for every Ukrainian.

I feel like such an asshole for minimizing the struggle of Ukrainians for the last 5 years. I often said I don’t care. Looking back, that wasn’t very nice of me to say.

There are people in Ukraine who have to run to a bomb shelter everyday and some of us had the audacity to say Russia wasn’t wrong because we believed the lie that Ukraine is a country full of Nazi sympathizers.

We have been so propagandized by Russia and we don’t even realize it.

Air sirens could very well be the future of America if we don’t start demanding our lawmakers crack down on communism and multipolarity.

We won’t have Trump forever and the axis of evil is moving fast.
"We have been so propagandized by Russia and we don’t even realize it."

Um…..😐 
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Smooth Operator

Ken Paxton panics and refuses to answer multiple questions from reporters, forcing his handler to intervene:

Q: James Talarico is calling you out for owning 15 homes on a government salary, can you respond?

Paxton: *dodges question*

Q: Will you answer a question about your alleged voter fraud?

Handler: We’re going to get out of here
Brave, brave Sir Robin πŸ“
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Attention Anyone On Any Prescription Drug

Trump: Effective August 1st, 2026, all Generic Drugs being brought into the United States will continue to have a TARIFF of ZERO PERCENT for a two year period of time, after which the TARIFF will be raised to 100% for a one year period of time, and 200% thereafter.

This is done in order to RESHORE Generic Pharmaceutical Production into America, with a penalty to those Companies that decide not to build Plant and Equipment within the stated period of time given to them. The objective of this Policy is to protect the people of the United States. The Policy on Patented, Branded, or Innovative Drugs, which has been so successful, will remain as is. Pharmaceutical Facilities are being built, at a level never seen before, all over the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Grab your ankles.

Does Trump have the authority to do this? Who da fuck knows? Who da fuck cares?* Just vote “Republican” in November, and hope for the best.

Trump is as looney as a shithouse rat.

*My sincere opinion is: “No. Hell no. And whaddayou think?” But OCICBW.
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Kegsbreath Is Not Helping At All

"Obliterated” doesn’t mean what we all think it means.
GIllibrand: You also said that you made the missile program “destroyed and made combat ineffective.” So why are there missiles left to hit Jordan and and result in the loss of life of our brave men and women?

Hegseth: They've spent 47 years trying to hide their missiles under mountains, just like. They're just like their nuclear capabilities.
Nasty, sneaky Bagginses, precious!
Baldwin: I met with soldiers who were injured in that attack. What they told me confirmed what other soldiers have said publicly that most of these soldiers injured in the attack did not receive proper medical care in Kuwait, in Germany, or during their initial days back in the U.S. The U.S. Military has been fighting wars in the middle East for 25 years. Why was proper medical care not immediately available to these injured soldiers, and why were they not immediately screened for traumatic brain injuries?
Because Trump doesn’t give a shit? “We feel very badly, but…”
Ossoff: On day 14 of this conflict, you stated that Iran's military had been, “destroyed and, quote, made combat ineffective.” Was that an accurate statement?

Hegseth: Iran's ability to challenge the United States of America, at the level at which we're capable of—

Ossoff: That’s not what I asked you. Will you answer the question?
OSSOFF: Three weeks later, you declared victory. That was now nearly four months ago. You said Iran's military had been rendered, “combat ineffective for years to come.” Were those accurate statements?

HEGSETH: It certainly was a historic victory.

OSSOFF: Had Iran’s Military been rendered combat ineffective for years to come?
Watch it! I think that’s a trick question! The Senator didn’t ask how long this war was going to last. Didn’t we do that a year ago? Not a real thing. Sort of like declaring yourself the Secretary of War, and the DOD the DOW.
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I Would Say The Senate Is Finding Its Spine…

...but that would be too much. (Sen. Leghorn wants something he can spin as a “straight answer.”) Didn’t Maria Bartiromo ask that question? Sen. Murray is more satisfied with non-straight answers; because she knows Kegsbreath looks like a fool.
Reed: Your fallback to the Biden administration is just a very obvious excuse for what I think is probably gross negligence. You did not fully inform the president that you would be in a situation where the Strait of Hormuz could be effectively closed.

Hegseth: The fact that those contingencies all were part of the possibility, and we understood that is all the more reason why president trump deserves the kind of praise he should get.

Reed: He should be praised for starting war without authority, creating a situation in which the world economy is suffering tremendously?
See? It’s rope-a-dope.
HEGSETH: I appreciate as much as anyone winning a war, but I sit in front of a committee that wants to talk about winning a war that's been going for four years, and talks about strategic defeat in a conflict that's been going on for four months to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb

SHAHEEN: I don't want to hear your speech
Something Obama accomplished without starting a war, depleting our military resources, losing control of the Strait of Hormuz, and endangering the world economy. The CIA started it 73 years ago, genius. The Shah was so oppressive Khomeini looked like a better bet 26 years later.
Hegseth keeps saying that the goal of the war is to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon ... and yet, Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon is UNCHANGED since last summer, when the US joined Israel in attacking Iran's nuclear program. Our current military strikes are focused almost exclusively on preventing Iran from closing the Straits of Hormuz -- not destroying Iran's nuclear program.

Hegseth is straight up lying. It would be nice if Senate Democrats pointed that out.
Fair point. Although I wouldn’t say this is helping: Yeah, Kegsbreath is not helping, either.
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"Welcome to the Republicans' White Pride rally disguised as a congressional hearing.”

 Some days there isn’t enough to write about. Other days…

The broadside came moments after Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) accused the Smithsonian of pushing "a racial narrative that divides Americans by their skin color and by guilt."

"Is that what you care about?" Boebert demanded. "Just racism and making people feel guilty?"

"Welcome to the Republicans' White Pride rally disguised as a congressional hearing," Crockett told the subcommittee.

"It might be uncomfortable for some people on this committee… but facts are facts," she continued. "And it's a fact that there is a violent, exclusionary, discriminatory, sexist, and racist part of American history."

She then ticked through what that history looked like — indigenous populations forcibly displaced from their land, thousands of Black people unjustly lynched, Black voters denied the ballot, and four little Black girls murdered by the Ku Klux Klan at Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963.

"Attacks on the Smithsonian or any other institution that's willing to tell the true history of America is not only an attempt to rewrite history," Crockett said. "It's an attempt to erase history."

"I don't understand this fetish that these white guys with fragile egos have with trying to feel oppressed," she added.
I read that right after reading this:
Revert Louisiana to territorial status, we've suffered enough.
That set me thinking about New Orleans which, after the Civil War, tried to delete racism by encouraging “interracial” marriages, which would produce children neither “black” nor “white,” and begin to erase racial barriers. Instead it created legal terms for “mulatto” and “quadroon” and “octaroon,” as well as the “one drop rule” and the extra legal but widely applied “paper bag test.”

The “racial narrative that divides Americans by their skin color and by guilt” is as American as violence and cherry pie. And we have to teach it so that we see it clearly.

250 years of racist imbeciles is enough. I mean, they breed like rabbits, you know?


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Zeus’ Golden Rule Was: Don’t Piss Off Zeus

I've heard enough to know that one of the first Republican-fascists to slam the movie [“The Odyssey”] got the character that Eliot Page was playing wrong, didn't seem to know that all of the characters in the thing were fictional, didn't seem to know the difference between the two Homeric poems, etc. I did hear some rumor to the effect that this one has an underlying theme comparing the bronze-age collapse to the current collapse of th liberal democratic order - and reportedly for the same abandonment of the morality of the golden rule (I must have missed that when I tried to trudge through Latimore's Homer, the whining of the warriors and their being pretty much 12 is what I mostly remember) which might make this worth watching to discuss that. But, like you, I'm allergic to long movies. I don't like wasting more than about 50 minutes if it turns out to be a waste of time.

 Yeah, this is weird:

“The Odyssey” movie is hung up Zeus’ law, defined as the idea that anyone could be a god in disguise, so you must be welcoming. This is how the suitors get away with camping out at Ithaca for years.

But the trust and respect goes both ways. So, the Greek soldiers break with Zeus’ law when they hide inside the horse, meant to be a gift for the city, and sack Troy. Odysseus thinks this rupture has led to the breakdown of civilization.

Christensen says he thought it was “strange” that Zeus’ law came down to “do unto others and you would have them to unto you.”

“I guess it would be too hard to explain that hospitality in the ancient world isn’t the same as like the Christian ideal,” Christensen says.
I’m reading The Odyssey, and Athena does show up often early on, usually in the guise of someone else. And there is a strong emphasis on hospitality, which almost coincides with the fact the host is entertaining a goddess, albeit unknowingly. But it’s more like Abraham at the oaks of Mambre than the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. For one thing, the Greek gods expect animal sacrifice and libations on a regular basis (feasts are good, too. When the poem opens and Athena is trying to get Zeus to help Odysseus escape Calypso, it helps that Poseidon, who won’t let Odysseus reach Ithaca, is being feted in Ethiopia, and so is both far away, and otherwise occupied.) So there is a “common sense” hospitality, as Abraham showed the three strangers (who were God; but not a Trinity. Mysteries abound.). Never hurts to show that to a disguised god, long as you don’t forget the sacrifice and ritual libations. But there’s no sense of the justice (well beyond hospitality) advocated in Matthew 25. For one thing, the Greek gods would never identify with the slaves and servants of the kings Odysseus hangs with. And a “golden rule”? The golden rule is: don’t piss off the Greek gods.

If you think there’s anything akin to the Hebraic “golden rule,” you need to read Euripides’ Medea. She’s not Greek, so she doesn’t count among the Greeks. She kills her father so Jason can escape the kingdom, goes with him and even bears his children, but when Jason gets back to Greece and has a chance to marry the king’s daughter, Medea’s status is suddenly somewhere below slave. Jason assures her he’ll take care of her, but the kids are his, and she’s not his wife. She’s literally a barbarian, a word derived from the Greek as an onomatopoeia for the babbling sound of non-Greek; to the Greeks.

Even the law of Moses tells Israel to take care of the alien among them. Medea is all about refusing to respect the alien.

Euripides is not a contemporary of Homer, but the Greek culture isn’t Christianized until centuries later.

So the “golden rule” might resonate with modern audiences, but it would be damned peculiar to Homer’s audience. There is a point in the Odyssey where Odysseus is a guest and one of the young men begins to taunt him to join in the games (wrestling; track events) which are part of the feast for the guest. Odysseus demurs; he’s still tired, he doesn’t feel the like it. The young man is relentless and mocks Odysseus until the old man straightens up, throws off his cloak, and shows the smart ass punk how it’s done, throwing the discus almost double the distance the best player threw, and doing the same with the javelin. The young man is abashed and later, at the direction of the king playing host, apologizes, which Odysseus accepts with a “next time watch your mouth, punk,” air. Not exactly Christian humility, IOW.

The point being, Odysseus has behaved correctly, in Homer’s ethic. He teaches no “golden rule,” nor does he “turn the other cheek.” Either of which would be overtly Christian in any modern action movie, and probably wildly out of place in that context. If that scene is in the movie, I doubt anyone is left wondering why Oddyseus didn’t teach “do unto others” right there.

I prefer my literary classics non-bowdlerized, in other words. Tolkien is not wrong that the version of “Beowulf” we have is a Christianized one, but Beowulf still rips Grendel’s arm off and beats him with it. And “The Dream of the Rood” presents a Christ who is a Viking warrior who practically nails himself to the cross as a noble warrior’s sacrifice for his clan. Odd interpretations of Xian doctrine abound without importing them into non-Christian settings. 

I bemoaned the recent film version of “Gawain and the Green Knight” because it butchered one of my favorite poems. I don’t have as much affection for Homer’s work, but I think I’ll be very happy to wait until this one’s on streaming.  If I’m interested then.
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Laser Focused On The Economy

Can you afford the unlimited pasta at Olive Garden?

I have a constitutional right to vote. I don’t have a constitutional right to unlimited pasta,  or air travel. If the states that don’t require ID to vote are rife with insecurities, show your work. Otherwise, explain what this has to do with the price of eggs.
Run out of culture war material, did you?
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Not Enough Body Bags

Shrub didn’t just bomb Iraq. He sent in troops.

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Cleopatra Didn’t Have Violet Eyes?

I skipped Oppenheimer because of the hype. I also don’t like long movies anymore. I can’t sit that long, especially if I’m drinking…anything while watching the movie.

I’m not going to see the new one just to spite Elmo.

But it is funnier that “Cleopatra” was about an historical figure, and Helen of Troy is as fictional as Odysseus.

These things that pass for knowledge I don’t understand.
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Just Wondering…

With this TRUTH, I hereby order Federal Suspension and Debarment Officials to review this conduct. Our Taxpayers should not be funding Climate Fraud, and Judges should never have relied upon it.
... if this has gotten underway yet.
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Trump Is Ready To Invade Iran

Or… not.
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Monday, July 20, 2026

Ain’t That America?πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ

So when two unmarked cars with no light bars or dash lights chase you down and work to trap you, just pull over and let them take your car.

Because where Tom Homan is concerned, your 4th and 5th amendment rights don’t mean shit.
Just remember, the POTUS is entitled to the Administration he wants, and the Congress can’t do anything but let him have it. And give it to we, the people, good and hard.

After all, the Sinister Six say the Constitution protects the President; and then the President protects those of us who are rich enough to buy his attention.

“We feel very badly, but…”
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This Sounds About Right

The man who can’t leave the stage where he shouldn’t be in the first place: Is not a man with a strategy. He’s just a person with a black hole of need where his soul should be.

Or a particularly clueless 5 year old.

This sounds about right, too:
"There was a point late in Biden’s term when Democrats came to realize that whatever his accomplishments, he was no longer capable of being an effective spokesperson for his own cause. Trump has reached that same point. He can still command attention, but he can no longer convince anyone who isn’t part of his cult of anything — not that the Iran war is a great victory, not that the economy is better than ever, not that we’re respected around the world, and not that when Republicans lose this election, it was stolen from them. And the fact that he has lost whatever power of persuasion he once had will go a long way to keep the election safe from his attempts to undermine it."
Same thing he did in Georgia in 2020. He complained the elections were rigged; and MAGA listened. Which is why Georgia currently has 2 Democratic Senators.

And whatever happened to those Fulton County ballots? Why do I suspect Trump got Cyber-Ninjaed there?
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The Long Shadow Of Covid-19

Biden dug the economy out of the pit Trump and Covid-19 put us in. It wasn’t enough.

And now Trump has MAGAed the economy, and the GOP, and GOP officeholders are surprised this isn’t going to end well for them, and are reportedly blaming Trump.

I should read up on the history of the Spanish Flu epidemic, and what it did to the national economy and psyche. 

I think a lot of this should be seen as the long , slow crawl out from under the catastrophe that was Covid-19. It ain’t over ‘til it’s over; and it ain’t over.
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Monday Morning, Bright And Early…At Midday

Earlier that same day: Last night: Earlier that day: Last Saturday:
BREAKING: U.S. Central Command says two U.S. service members were killed in action in Jordan on July 17 while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.

CENTCOM also says one service member is currently missing in action.

Four additional American service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals and have since been discharged, while others treated for minor injuries have returned to duty.

These are the casualties confirmed by CENTCOM as of now. We will continue to monitor for any additional official updates.
FOX on Troop Deaths: The White House called a lid, meaning we do not expect to see or hear from the president in any public appearances for the rest of the day.

I have met some people here in Bridgewater who say they are attending a black-tie summer bash at Bedminster. It’s worth noting that the president does hold fundraisers on different weekends at his facilities.
"We feel very badly, but….”
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Sunday, July 19, 2026

Diplomacy

 The President of Mexico:

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has come to an end. It was a grand celebration of joy, excitement, and unity among peoples, where sport once again demonstrated its power to bring nations together.

Congratulations to all Mexicans for making Mexico the best host and to our National Team for the outstanding role it played, raising high the name of our country with dedication, talent, and pride.

Congratulations to Spain for deservedly winning the championship.

The three host countries—Canada, the United States, and Mexico—have shown that, when we work together, we are capable of turning great projects into reality and leaving a legacy of cooperation, friendship, and hope for the world.

Trump:

Also Trump: But we couldn’t elect a woman as President. We just couldn’t.

Hooray for us.
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“With this TRUTH, I hereby order….”

Trump: The National Academy of Sciences has historically published analytical Scientific Manuals expressly for our Federal Judiciary. Of course, the Academy has been run by Radical Left Dumocrats who, it turns out, published fraudulent, biased, and misleading Manuals on Climate Change. These bogus Manuals were used by Judges to decide massive "Climate Change" Cases, and have created huge losses across our Country. These Manuals have been totally DISCREDITED. Our Nation's Federal Judges deserve Facts and Science, not Political Fraud and False Science on Climate.

With this TRUTH, I hereby order Federal Suspension and Debarment Officials to review this conduct. Our Taxpayers should not be funding Climate Fraud, and Judges should never have relied upon it.
"Federal Suspension and Debarment Officials"? Who do they work for?

And a “TRUTH” is not an executive order. Not that he can order State Bars to do anything, anyway. Maybe he thinks the American Bar Association is a federal agency and Bar Organization.  But it’s neither.

And “false, misleading manuals on Climate Change”? So the burning of Canada and the unprecedented heatwave in the northeast and Midwest and Europe are just…summer? I think the last bulb in his chandelier is beginning to flicker out.

All this complaining is kind of pointless because he has no idea how courtroom evidence works, nor that expert witnesses don’t read from “analytical Scientific Manuals.” And neither do trial judges.

Basically, this is just blithering nonsense. And yes, if Biden had done it….
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O My Dear, Sweet Lord

Okay, now I feel better. 😈 We live in hope.
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I Can’t Do This In A Comment

It’s complicated.
At some point we have to approach the idea that *so* much of our lives- this blog, its comments, my online banking and that neat little mapping function in my brother's new car, actually lives in a "data center" somewhere and we have to make some distinctions and set some priorities. My personal take is "information" > "AI" > "cryptocurrency mining" but even that isn't as simple as I'd like it to be.
Garland was not appointed until February of Biden’s term. He started the investigation soon after, but that began with evidence gathering, which engaged the “due process of law” guaranteed by the 5th and 14th amendments (until the Roberts Court gets to them). And that meant court hearings in order to access information people had, on their phones and such.

That investigation proceeded and convinced Garland it needed a dedicated, i.e, “special prosecutor,” assigned to it.  And then John Roberts decided a GOP president needed to be protected from legal process. That slowed things down for months while the Sinister Six pondered how to package their lunacy; and let’s not overlook Aileen Cannon, who really should have been more strictly overseen by the 11th Circuit.

I appreciate the fans of TeeVee justice, who think it should all be wrapped up in an hour, but IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY! To go really old school, Perry Mason won every case in the preliminary hearing. It doesn’t work that way in real life because no prosecutor ever (well, before Trump’s DOJ) brings a case so weak it can be disassembled there. And for some reason, Hamilton Burger never took a murder charge to a grand jury.

BTW, the one case Perry Raymond Burr Mason ever lost, was a jury trial.  THAT’S real life.

Merrick Garland had to contend with reality, an out of control Supreme Court, and an electorate that didn’t give a shit, and (really) simply didn’t want a woman President.

Dese are de conditions dat prevail. Were it not for Aileen Cannon and the electorate, Trump would be appealing his D.C. criminal conviction by now, and defending himself in a Florida court, probably with a new judge.

Credit where credit is due. Nothing is as simple as we’d like it to be. Not even the subject of “data centers.”
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Still Fighting WWII

Why did POTUS suddenly pivot from "unconditional surrender" to a deal at any cost in Iran?

TL/DR it's the interceptors, stupid.

- it takes Lockheed >two years and $5-15m to make a missile interceptor
- i.e., $10k drones take a $5m missile to defeat
- our forecast was that a) the population was going to rebel and b) we’d quickly take out the missile launchers
- But: Iran murdered 50k protesting citizens before our forces were in place; we didn’t defeat the launch capability as fast as expected
- we were facing down dwindling interceptor supplies
- 50% of patriots are gone and 80% of Thaad interceptors are gone. They cannot be replaced in a relevant timeframe
- if we actually ran out of defenses, US and allies in the region would be slaughtered— and the US would be facing a historic defeat
- we're already rationing interceptors, which is why our soldiers died in Jordan last night and why there are no more Patriots in Ukraine.
- in this context we try to make any deal you can — regardless of cost. Pretend it’s about gas prices if we must.

So we are losing this war. Badly. And what really lost the war was the fucked up defense supply chain that can’t make munitions in a relevant cost or timeframe
— and we have no technology that defeats the enemy in an economically sustainable way.

This is why advanced anti drone and advanced missile defense is so critical. Personally I am bullish on directed energy intercept, particularly space-based directed energy.

Regardless of specific technology, we must be able to build interceptors faster and cheaper than any enemy can build offensive weapons.

Against China right now we lose. Badly. It isn’t even close.

Fortunately we are learning this lesson against Iran not against China—and there is still time to pivot and fix the US industrial base, but only barely.
The U.S. industrial base defeated Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, two industrial powers. It was, honestly, a stunning industrial victory.

McNamara used the lessons of postwar recovery in Vietnam. We bombed the bejeesus out if them, had superior weaponry and technology, all of it cheaper and easier to produce than modern interceptors, and…

Well, the rest is history. We invaded Iran, smashed it up, sent pallets of cash (literally) and then … left.

We invaded Afghanistan with superior technology. They didn’t even have drones. And we… left.

The reason interceptor are expensive is that they have to do a complicated job. Drones will always be cheaper. Anti-aircraft guns in WWII were effective. But planes were plentiful, and got through anyway. Defensive systems can always be overwhelmed by numbers. Armies have relied on that simple tactic for millennia.

“Regardless of specific technology, we must be able to build interceptors faster and cheaper than any enemy can build offensive weapons.”

Wish in one hand, piss in the other. Which fills up faster? So the solution is to weaponize space and use “directed energy weapons”? Which we pinky swear will only be used defensively? Even if we start the war, as we did in Iran?

Sure. That’ll work. Magical thinking will always overcome reality, right?
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πŸ€–

Colorado is a desert. The state relies on snow melt from the Rockies for the bulk of its water supply. Despite what the governor implies, AI doesn’t produce water as a byproduct. It doesn’t even produce snow.

And AI centers that produce their own electricity, lower consumer rates how, exactly? Isn’t that like saying rooftop solar panels make more electricity available to everyone else, and that supply lowers prices? Anybody who sold solar panels that way would be guilty of fraud. πŸ€”

Similarly, much of Texas relies on aquifers for water, aquifers which are not replenishing as fast as urban areas and agriculture are taking water out. But AI is necessary because….reasons.

Trickle down economics: the owners of AI get the oats; the residents of the arid West get what trickles down from the back end of the horse. In this case, whatever trickle of water is left behind.
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“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”

Orwell:
The point is that we are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield.
And even then....
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Gee, I Wonder Why?

 Gee, I wonder why?

According to reporting by The New York Times, Jordan has rapidly emerged as a new focal point in the U.S.-Iran conflict, with U.S. officials saying Iranian forces have attacked American troops there four times in the past five days including last night's attacks that killed two U.S. service members, left another missing, wounded dozens more, and damaged multiple helicopters.

U.S. officials told the Times the pace and effectiveness of the strikes suggest Iran not only retains substantial missile inventories, but is becoming increasingly effective at penetrating U.S. and allied air defenses.

The Times also reports that Jordan's strategic importance has grown significantly as the U.S. shifted forces there from Bahrain, Qatar, and the UAE ahead of the conflict, while some regional partners have placed greater restrictions on U.S. military operations from their territory. According to U.S. officials, Jordan has become one of Washington's most important operating hubs in the region.
Their intelligence is pretty good, too:
According to new reporting from the Wall Street Journal, multiple U.S. manned and unmanned aircraft were reportedly damaged in Iran's attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, which also killed two U.S. service members and wounded several others. Hundreds of U.S. personnel and dozens of aircraft have been temporarily stationed at the base for strikes on Iran. The strike reflects an increasing focus on targeting U.S. air assets as the conflict continues to escalate.
Trump still couldn’t care less.
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They Won’t

They won’t. Anyone expect Tillis to vote against Blanche now? 55 years ago. Where has the political violence in America come from since?

And yet, as the midterms bear down, reporters insist GOP officeholders in D.C. confess privately that Trump is a disaster. Which somehow proves Tillis or Cornyn might not pull a Collins and vote the way everyone expects them to?

The GOP are cultists. And they aren’t neutered. They’re believers. Every last damned one of them. They got rid of the last of the non-cultists in 2024.
War is peace. Lindsey Graham’s death from natural causes shall not be in vain!
Tim Dillon: “They’re in the White House. They have the Congress. They have the Senate. They have the Supreme Court. It is now them. I don’t want to hear about the Deep State anymore. You’re playing everyone for a fool. You have to be one of the stupidest people in the world to fall for this shit at this point”
Or to think the Republicans are just scared of Trump.
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Saturday, July 18, 2026

Breaking The System

Putin

Last night Donald Trump released a declassified document that says his own intelligence community identified Putin as personally running an operation to defeat my father in 2020, built around a fake Burisma corruption scandal centered around me and executed through prominent Americans.

Trump tasked his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to fly to Kyiv and meet a known Russian agent.

The Americans who ran, laundered, and legitimized the operation:

Donald Trump. Rudy Giuliani. John Solomon. Joe DiGenova. Victoria Toensing. Lev Parnas. Igor Fruman. Chanel Rion. Sean Hannity. Steve Bannon. Miranda Devine. Ken Vogel. Ron Johnson. Chuck Grassley. James Comer. Jim Jordan.

To name a few.

An operation formally sanctioned by Trump's own Treasury Department on September 10, 2020, and expanded to include more named actors on January 11, 2021.

Oh, and don't forget the Russian-linked FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who later pleaded guilty to making the entire Burisma bribery story up.

The record exists and we have all the receipts, and more.
I spent the last few months talking to people across the political spectrum, and to people who want nothing to do with politics at all. Here is what I learned.

We are not a divided country. We are a country being divided, on purpose, by an American oligarchy that profits from the fight. They’ve captured our government, denied our healthcare, looted our treasury, and saddled us with crippling debt.

I believe in a New New Deal. Healthcare as a human right. The right of every family to a decent home, and an end to endless wars.

And a dividend paid to every American from the AI economy, because these machines were built on the whole of human inheritance. That inheritance belongs to all of us, and not just to the handful of men playing God with our very existence.

And none of it happens if we just move on. Donald Trump, his family, and his administration are robbing us blind, not just of our money, but of our faith in one another, and they have to answer for it. Truth and reconciliation, not revenge. Then we break the system that let them do it.

The question is not whether we will lose our democracy. The question is whether we will fight to take back what has already been stolen.

I learned in recovery that you can’t heal what you won’t name. Neither can a country.
Truth and reconciliation. We were doing that the only way America does it: in criminal court. (We still haven’t reconciled over slavery or what we did to the natives.) We can do it again. Trump can’t run for office again. But he can be prosecuted for new crimes.

The AI economy is no more inevitable than slavery in America was. It isn’t just being built on our heritage; it’s being built by offloading costs on the public.  It’s the post-13th form of slavery: make the poor carry the weight, let the rich reap the money.

That’s part of the system we need to break.
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