The more I understand the eternal conflicts in the Middle East, the more I wish my country would just leave, and tell countries like Israel or Iran or the Saudis...we will buy oil, we will trade, but we will not engage in forever wars, we are done.

Remember that old joke about the old Vermont farmer being asked directions to somewhere, and his response being" well, uh, I don't think you can get there from here"?
I don't think, with Trump and Hegseth running things, we can get to a place of peace and security for the US. Trump is too much of a Russian asset to get things done that works for all.

One fears that what is going on in Trump's noggin resembles the playacting of pro wrestling, or the brutality of these stupid fights where heavily muscled men beat each other to early dementia...shades of the Roman Coliseum times.

If Putin allows it in Russia...Trump will allow it here...for we are a falling Empire and...well, it is all because MAGA voted for a true fascist, twice...Trump and his family are walking ethic violations, heck Jared is King of that lab.

If the mobster doesn't personally get something profiting him, it is all on the chopping block. America is a falling empire, as the Soviet Union fell, and soon it will be too bankrupt to do much of anything, but hey, Trump and his gang will be as Putin and his oligarch gang are in Russia, absolute gods of the darkness.
Just ask the Pope if he thinks America is a safe country to speak one's truth to power....

People on that side of the Ocean clearly know fascism when they see it, and Trump and Orban together can only mean one thing, more for them, less for the people and their kids.

Good, this planet is clearly trying to support far more humans than it can safely support. Fewer people, slower rise in human caused global warming and overuse of resources.

NASA is us, the American people, and I wish we spent national treasure on NASA space travels, rather than those that glorify the billionaire caste.

Hmmm...who do I distrust more...the Trumpian mafiosa grifting their way to billionaire caste heaven, or the AI-Crypto-Tech Bros working to turn the future of the world into hell for ordinary humans competing with robots and intelligent software?
Neither can be trusted unless one is very reich...sorry, very rich and can bribe those who need bribing.

I remember decades ago, when I was a very young man and was introduced to drugs and the culture of taking risks in regards to mystery pills and liquids.
Now, I am an old man, and yeah, I barely trust anyone anywhere, including myself, but recognize RFK jr, as a BS artist of Trumpian caliber.

Negotiation? The last time the Iranians sat down and tried to figure out how to negotiate a treaty with Trump, he tricked them into thinking he was serious, and then he murdered over 80 of their leaders...like a mafia chieftain he rules the military for his own benefit.
So yeah, if it were me, I would negotiate...in Washington DC where he probably wouldn't be able to kill all of my negotiating team.

Prior to Putin's idiotic attack on Ukraine, he did what he could to weaken that government and people, including having an asset of Russia, Viktor Vanukovych become President and rule to let Russia dominate.
One wonders just what Putin's endgame is if indeed Trump were a useful idiot or otherwise an asset...and NATO is weakened...

So Ukraine is wrong because it had the guts to defend itself from an illegal Russian invasion? Vance is clearly a coward of the bend a knee to Trumpian blather kind. Ukraine is putting up one heroic defense, unlike people like Vance who rolled over and changed from hating Trump to serving him his breakfast...

There is absolutely no need for billionaires in America, and the presence of multibillionaires, weakens this country and its unity. Big money is corrupting our political system, and perhaps has killed it thanks to Citizens United.

On the tombstone of American democracy, when all is said and done:
HERE LIES THE BODY OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, STRANGLED IN THE NIGHT BY THE GREED OF BIG MONEY AND SMALL PEOPLE.

The ugly runs deep in the Trump clan, in Donald's case I doubt that there is any rumor one would disregard offhand.

A nightmare that never ends, thanks to the unending "support" of American bombs and bullets, thanks to the vision of those running Israel today of the death of all neighbors...all.

Some people really do rise to the occasion, and Zelensky has been a great patriotic leader for Ukraine. Trump is more what Yanukovych was for Ukraine, a President acting in the best interests of Putin and Russia.

And once again I feel compelled to thank those influences in my early life that caused me to walk out of church and become...a rational atheist who can look at people like Graham and know they are just greedy BS artists. Humans invented the god concept.

Trump hates poor people and certainly he hates people with Black or Brown skin the most, and if they are female...

If it were up to me, that prison would be demolished and in its place would be a park, with kiosks for food and places to sit and picnic...a positive influence on the city, rather than an icon elevating the lives of those who have committed major crimes.

It is all about votes...and has been pretty much from day one. If a group votes for Trump and his gang, they get funding no matter the idiocy they support, but if it is apparent that the members of that group are not MAGA, then Trump defunds them, or makes their lives miserable in other ways...he is not in service to America, he sees the Presidency as being CEO of a private company for his profit.

As the President of Portugal said, objectively, Trump is a Russian asset.

Translation: America is in thrall to Israeli interests, and this Iranian war is really Netanyahu's and AIPAC's war. You don't count if you need help as a senior, as a veteran, as a poor American.

Now here are a few wasted words: The President of the United States swears allegiance to the Constitution and the Republic, he is in service to we, the people, not the other way around. He is the worst President in American history, clearly in the control of murderous warmongers like Netanyahu and Miller and the rest. He has alienated us from our allies and divided us one from another, and yeah, the President of Portugal was right when he said that "objectively, Trump is a Russian asset".