Trump's Second Term

[acbytesla]

Incidentally, from a quick perusal of Wikipedia I can find no indication that it was ever known as "the Iranian Empire".
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Achaemenid Empire
Seleucid Empire
Parthian Empire
Sasanian Empire
Seljuk Empire
Khwarazmian Empire
Safavid Empire
Afsharid Empire

What i noticed when I attended college was thar the Iranian students identified themselves as Persian, never Iranian.

 

[johnny karate]

As questionable as I find this particular action, and its timing, and its motivations, and as much as I dislike Trump and think he's a wicked idiot....I don't think this was something he actually wanted to do. I think he got pushed into it and, in typical Trump fashion, tries to claim credit for what he imagines is a credit-worthy thing. Love this attack or hate it, it doesn't seem very Trumplike to me. His style is to make threats and not carry them out. I think he really wanted two weeks plus to look tough, not to actually carry out risky action that might backfire spectacularly not only in themselves but also for the political consequences to himself. Trump's risk-averse when it comes to his own popularity, isn't he?

I think it was people around him who pushed him into this, and I don't think it was his weirdo crypto Nazi cronies -- they strike me as much more interested domestically than internationally. I think it was remaining Bush-like warhawks who pushed for this now, the "old school" that's still managed to hang in there.

It’s been made abundantly clear that Trump is not in the driver’s seat, so there isn’t really anything coming from this administration that can be directly attributed to Trump.

However, saying he didn’t want this gives him too much credit. He’s a narcissistic sociopath with rapidly diminishing cognition.

To the degree that he’s even aware of what’s going on, he doesn’t care.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Who's "we", anyway? Does anyone --including Vance-- actually think Vance was involved in this decision? Or even knew about it until afterward?

I'm guessing that Vance isn't allowed make the choice on what socks he wears of a day.

 

[Mojo]

Not a cult

Q: The DNI concluded in March that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon. So what new intelligence does the US have since then that Iran changed its position?

HEGSETH: The president has made it very clear that he's looked at all the intelligence and come to the conclusion that the Iranian nuclear program is a threat

 

[P.J. Denyer]

What i noticed when I attended college was thar the Iranian students identified themselves as Persian, never Iranian.

I used to have a manager who's family had fled Iran, she referred to herself as Persian.

 

[P.J. Denyer]

I'm guessing that Vance isn't allowed make the choice on what socks he wears of a day.

Just give him a treat.. and keep him off the sofa.

 

[newyorkguy]

I heard this song playing today in a fast food restaurant: "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," by Tears For Fears.

Everybody Wants To Rule the World, LINK

Seemed oddly appropriate for right now.

♫Welcome to your life
There's no turning back...
Help me make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world♫

 

[Mojo]

Those dumb previous presidients.

.Vance: I empathize with Americans who are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East. I understand the concern, but the difference is that back then we had dumb presidents

...and now we have dumb vice-presidents as well.

 

[Mojo]

What you say makes sense. I think Trump is genuinely anti-war, he would just see it as a waste of money.

No, he doesn't care about wasting money as long as it isn't his, and he'd be entirely in favour of a war if he thought it would make him look good. He wouldn't care about the "losers" who would die in it.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Incidentally, from a quick perusal of Wikipedia I can find no indication that it was ever known as "the Iranian Empire".
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Achaemenid Empire
Seleucid Empire
Parthian Empire
Sasanian Empire
Seljuk Empire
Khwarazmian Empire
Safavid Empire
Afsharid Empire

Iranshahr was what the Sasanians called themselves. And I believe that a variation on that term goes back at least as far as the Achaemenid era.

 

[Resume]

I heard this song playing today in a fast food restaurant: "Everybody Wants To Rule The World," by Tears For Fears.

Everybody Wants To Rule the World, LINK

Seemed oddly appropriate for right now.

♫Welcome to your life
There's no turning back...
Help me make the most
Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world♫

Poor man wanna be rich
Rich man wanna be king
King ain't satisfied
'Til he rules everything

 

[grunion]

Not a cult

Q: The DNI concluded in March that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon. So what new intelligence does the US have since then that Iran changed its position?

HEGSETH: The president has made it very clear that he's looked at all the intelligence and come to the conclusion that the Iranian nuclear program is a threat

https://twitter.com/x/status/1936764279090245889

Sounds like plausible deniability to me.

 

[shemp]

I used to have a manager who's family had fled Iran, she referred to herself as Persian.

By a strange coincidence, I have a Persian rug! It doesn't like being called Iranian!

 

[shemp]

https://bsky.app/profile/marisakabas.bsky.social%2Fpost%2F3ls76jui4as2j

 

[newyorkguy]

Love it!

"Now is not the time for listening to your idiotic constituents drone on about what’s happening to their precious democracy. This is the time for getting down on all fours and groveling.” The Onion

 

[acbytesla]

Out of curiosity, are any countries outside of Israel responding positively to Trump's attacks on Iran?

 

[William Parcher]

What airbase did the bombers fly from?

 

[zooterkin]

What airbase did the bombers fly from?

Following the fuel: how the world tracked the B-2 diversion flights | Flightradar24 Blog

The most tracked flights on Flightradar24 during 21 June were US Air Force tankers taking part in a diversion as other B-2s also flew east to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

www.flightradar24.com

 

[Planigale]

I used to have a manager who's family had fled Iran, she referred to herself as Persian.

Persian is a particular ethnicity. My guess is it is a bit like the difference between being British and English. If we insisted on calling all persons from Britain (Iranian), English (Persian), the Welsh and Irish and Scots would be upset. Most Iranians are Persians and Farsi speakers and Shia but not all. There are different ethnic minorities, religious minorities (Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians are recognised religious minorities with protected rights and political representation), and linguistic minorities (mainly Azeri Turkish and Kurdish) who may be more or less discriminated against. Both Azeri and Kurdish rights groups have been 'infiltrated' by Mossad.

 

[Mojo]

Sounds like plausible deniability to me.

It doesn't even need to be plausible.