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Try to simplify it for me.
Does Iran have a superior military, or are its leaders simply smarter than ours?

TH: Our military is far superior. Explain how it matters. Our leaders are incredibly stupid. Relative levels of intelligence are critically important.

Or is it something else?

TH: It is something else. The primary purpose of a war is to achieve an objective. Piggy started this war with no goal. Prevent Iran from getting nukes? Regime change? Degrade their military? Unconditional surrender?
We are at the point where victory is opening the strait, which was opened before the war.

Is the US politically incapable of forcing Iran to yield?

TH: Yes.

Is the rest of the world simply going to have to accept Iran's control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz?

TH: Yes

#47 | Posted by BillJohnson

Piggy can do nothing to force Iran to do what he wants.

christ this ---- is so freaking obvious

1. he has no objective
2. He has amateurs negotiating against seasoned, intelligent knowledgeable people. Vance Witkoff and Kushner don't know the first thing about nuclear weapons as an example.
3. There are no viable military options beyond bombing, which WILL NOT WORK
4. An invasion is completely utterly out of the question. We had numerous allies when we invaded Iraq. We have none now. We do not have the military capability to invade Iran. Iran is far larger than Iraq with NO access points. Through Iraq? HA Hussein couldn't do it against a country undergoing a revolution. From the Sea? HA operational dead end due to geography-mountains. From Pakistan? from Russia? Those are your options

ALL Iran has to do is threaten shipping and shipping stops. You understand that right? What will keep Iran from doing that?

People far smarter than understood this months ago.

Immigrants are and have been a net plus to the US economy for decades.

"Benefits of Immigration Outweigh the Costs"

www.bushcenter.org

"Immigrants are a fiscal boon to the U.S. In a new report released by the Cato Institute, the authors update a model created by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to examine the impacts of immigrants on the U.S. government's budget.

Their findings are clear:

In each year from 1994 to 2023, across all levels of government, immigrants paid more in taxes than they received in benefits.

This resulted in a cumulative fiscal surplus of $14.5 trillion in real 2024 U.S. dollars over that period, including savings on interest payments on the national debt."

more

www.brookings.edu

Trumpers don't need no stinking Facts!

Ron DeSatan, "An Officer and a Gentleman Schmuck": He's no Zack Mayo

In 2020, this troglodyte with a double Ivy League education was slammed as 'stupidest Governor in America' when he lifted all Covid-19 restrictions on Florida restaurants.

Are you saying Iran will simply refuse to agree to any of Trump's terms and win?
And as long as Iran refuses to capitulate, you believe it can maintain control of the Strait of Hormuz...for now...or perhaps indefinitely?
Just dig in their heals and that's all they'll need to do?

#22 | Posted by BillJohnson

Yes, that is correct.

You don't get it Bill; Iran controls the strait. There is no going back. Even in best of circumstances all they have to do is threaten action and poof traffic stops

You fail to understand that we lost. Iran won.

It is one of the most lopsided strategic victories in a long time.

Try, real hard, to put yourself in Iran's shoes.

3 times Piggy has backed out of an agreement, the second two times with violence

The last time with a cowardly sneak attack.

We murdered their leader with a cowardly bombing.

We murdered the more centrist elements of the regime

Piggy threatened to murder their negotiators

Piggy threatened to end their civilization.

Why would ANYONE agree to ANYTHING with Piggy.

Let alone give up something with the value of controlling the strait and with zero upside.

Seriously, what is the upside for Iran to agree to anything with Piggy?

The ONLY card Piggy has is to cease bombing

But if Iran gives up control of the strait, nothing prevents Piggy from coming back and bombing them months or years from now

And, ----, just this week Piggy showed he acts at the whims of the ME dictators who told him in no uncertain terms he isn't putting a toll on the strait

You need to wrap your head around the fact that we lost, unequivocably

And we deserve to suffer

This is the new normal. Get used to it.

OK, a most serious song ...

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms (1985)
www.youtube.com

Lyrics excerpt ...

genius.com

...
[Verse 1]
These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

[Verse 2]
Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed your suffering
As the battle raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

...

[Verse 3]
Now the sun's gone to hell
And the moon riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it's written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms
...




Actually, a Lot of DSA Members Are Communists
Trump's characterization of the group prompted media dismissals, but a majority of the Democratic Socialists of America's leadership identifies with Marxist ideology.
www.city-journal.org

#7 | Posted by oneironaut

Your "source" provided almost ZERO proof of anything marxist. Except maybe this: "comments point to the Trotskyist concept of entryism, in which individuals join an organization with a defined ideological aim and work to change it from within. " which sounds exactly like the way maga is trying to change the election system, and the entire federal government from democracy to fascism.

www.milwaukeeindependent.com

"Authoritarianism rarely begins with a coup. It starts quietly, in the meetings of local boards and councils that most citizens overlook.

In the United States, the far-right movement aligned with Donald Trump has spent years burrowing into small institutions like school boards, library commissions, election offices, and county governments to undermine democratic norms from the ground up.

The strategy is deliberate, drawing on the same gradualist playbook that defined the early stages of other authoritarian movements across history, to delegitimize expertise, discredit neutral institutions, and replace procedural fairness with ideological loyalty.

Across the country, school board meetings once devoted to textbook purchases or safety protocols have turned into spectacles of political rage. Organized networks like Moms for Liberty and various "parents' rights" groups, many with documented ties to conservative think tanks and dark-money donors, have weaponized local governance by flooding meetings with misinformation about race, gender, and public health.

Their goal is not to improve education but to remake it in the image of partisan grievance. In some states, coordinated campaigns have succeeded in banning books, silencing teachers, and forcing resignations of experienced administrators. These disruptions weaken communities' ability to trust their institutions, creating the very cynicism that anti-democratic movements depend on.

Election offices have also become prime targets. Since 2020, Trump-aligned activists have attempted to seize control of county clerk positions and local election boards, often under the banner of "election integrity."

I guess maga is marxist then right?

More: According to the joint task force, all National Guard members who come to D.C. have been deputized as special police by the U.S. Marshals Service and issued a firearm, which is rare for a domestic National Guard deployment. Guard troops are not authorized to make arrests, although they can detain someone until arresting officers arrive.

The troops in D.C. are largely performing what are called "presence patrols," walking in small groups around popular areas of the city to act as a deterrent for crime and allow law enforcement to focus on other areas.

But two different studies " including one out this week by the progressive Center for American Progress " have both found that the National Guard presence in D.C. has had little to no effect on violent crime and that the recent drop in crime would have likely happened regardless of the troops.

"These trends have been going on since before the deployment, since before Trump's second inauguration even. It should tell people that actually this is not part of the solution," says Chandler Hall, associate director on the public safety team at CAP and lead researcher of the study.

---

As the length of the deployment, as well as the size, increases, so does the cost to taxpayers. With the current summer surge, the cost per day is hovering around $3 million, according to an estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Using that number, the Project on Government Oversight, an independent nonpartisan watchdog, estimates the deployment with this new 2029 extension will cost somewhere between $2.5 billion and $3.4 billion in total, depending on how many troops remain in the city.

This, folks, is the President of the United States:

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Oil is flowing like never before, thanks to the awesome Power of the United States Military. A special salute to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, and Commander of the United States Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper. Because of them, and all members of the Most Powerful Military anywhere in the World, BY FAR, the Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran " and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION. We will therefore have a FULL Blockade, but only on Ships coming to and from Iranian ports, or carrying anything have to do with Iranian cargo. Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States. Those Investments will be MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future. As everyone is aware, we have the largest Dollar Investment into the United States, of any Country in History, but these new Investments will make that Number even larger, and we will see Factories, Plants, and Equipment pour into the United States at Historic levels, which will create additional millions of High Paying AMERICAN Jobs! America is WINNING again, winning like never before. The days of Iran killing hundreds of thousands of people, including 52,000 protestors, are OVER and, most importantly, IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP
https:
//truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116918941071241802

There, problem solved.

Good account from the photographer - see also www.theguardian.com - who's line about being an Army photographer is classic.

As for the bison, really hard to overstate: they are EXTREMELY dangerous, easily riled, fast, and can turn on a dime. The bearded guy seemed to be doing about what he could. The buffalo appeared to have staked out that table, perhaps as a feeding area? Anyway, when in places like Yellowstone it helps for perspective's sake to bear in mind you've crossed over the wall between your world and theirs. Think of it kind of like Jurassic Park. Or Florida.

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