America, this is your president

 

The Trump administration is incompetent

 But this is not incompetence.  It's intentional.

[S]even of the defendants listed on two 2019 documents released in the [Epstein] files were either cooperating with federal prosecutors or seeking to do so.

And in fact, several of the men whose names appeared with that phrase on the internal documents did cooperate, after talking to prosecutors in what are known as proffer sessions at 500 Pearl Street, the address of the federal district courthouse in Manhattan.

By failing to redact the names of those seven people, who were being held at the Manhattan jail where Mr. Epstein was awaiting trial, the government may have put them in harm’s way. The disclosure of the names could also send a chilling message to anyone else considering whether to cooperate with the authorities.

  NYT

And that is the intention.

When initially informed that the names had been included in the Epstein Files, the Justice Department did not redact the documents further or remove them from the online database. A spokeswoman said that the word proffer “did not necessarily mean cooperator.”

So leave their names out there as a cautionary tale.

But after The New York Times confirmed that at least three of the seven people had in fact cooperated with the government, and then informed the department, agency officials took down the files. They then restored them with the names and notations redacted.

Damage done. Mission accomplished.

Even if the people in question had not cooperated, legal experts said, the phrase could indicate that they had attempted to do so, which would still have put them in harm’s way by signaling to co-defendants and criminal associates that they were willing to provide information to prosecutors.

[...]

On some [documents], all of the information was concealed; on others, only prisoners’ names were redacted, leaving other potentially identifying information visible.

[...]

The agency also released dozens of unredacted nude images on its website, showing young women or possibly minors, and re-exposed the names and identifying information of women who have accused Mr. Epstein.

We can only hope

 

Assuming we're going to make it to mid-terms.

Courts are finally getting sick of Trump ignoring their rulings

 

Let's see if anyone cares.

Attack on Iran

 

Yes, people, he is a god.

Or maybe not.

UPDATE 05:34 pm:  Word is going around that Khamenei is dead.

And also over 100 students and other innocent people.  And many more to come.  

Can this possibly be real...

The country has been very much destroyed and even obliterated.  So what are they pinpoint and heavily bombing?  Bombing to bring peace, no less!  

WTAF?

Does that matter?

There goes your cheap gas.

And, how convenient for Israel to smash what's left of Gaza.

At approximately 9:40 a.m. local time in Iran, President Donald Trump launched what he bluntly characterized as a regime change war aimed at eliminating the Iranian leadership, destroying the country’s missile system and naval forces, and calling on Iranians to rise up and seize control in the aftermath of the attacks.
  Dropsite News

Just fucking brilliant!

In what has now become a signature component of Trump’s approach to Iran, the U.S. constructed a false veneer of continuing diplomatic negotiations, only to turn around and launch a major attack.

Despicable.

Technical negotiations on the nuclear file were scheduled for Monday in Vienna, and the Omani foreign minister—who had been mediating the talks—had just concluded a visit to the U.S. where he met with Vice President JD Vance and proclaimed that a diplomatic agreement was within reach.

America is an uncontrollable monster on the planet. Or at least uncontrolled.

It was the precise tactic Trump employed last June when the U.S. and Israel initiated a 12-day bombing campaign targeting Iranian nuclear facilities and killing more than 1,000 Iranians in the process.

So, I guess, as the saying goes, "fool me twice, shame on me." Let's hope that's the last time any country buys Trump's shit.

“Once again, diplomacy has been reduced to an instrument of deception, and international law has been openly disregarded by the United States. The assassination or elimination of Iranian political and military officials will have no impact on the continuity and authority of the Iranian system,” a senior Iranian official told Drop Site on the condition of anonymity because he was not officially authorized to speak. “We had anticipated that unlawful and aggressive attacks by the United States and Israel were far more probable than the acceptance of a fair and effective agreement. For this very reason, the military and political posture of the country had been carefully planned and structured for precisely such circumstances.”

[...]

[Trump] called on members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) to lay down their weapons and surrender. “ I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or in the alternative, face certain death,” Trump said. “You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death.”

And they can, you know, trust him.

In contrast with previous attacks by the U.S. and Israel, within hours of bombs hitting cities across Iran, Tehran unleashed a series of ballistic missile and drone strikes aimed at Israel and U.S. military facilities across the Persian Gulf, as well as in Jordan. Iran targeted U.S. assets in Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq.

I guess that's their answer.

UPDATE 06:28 pm:

Pathetic.

So much for Mark Carney being the voice of reason.

Also pathetic.

UPDATE 03/01/2026:

Here we go

 Has it been two weeks? I guess they didn't make the "deal" Trump wanted.

Fuck Congress, yeah?

Iran isn't allowing this second attack to go unanswered.

Plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the U.S. base here Saturday after Iranian forces said they targeted the headquarters of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.

Shortly after the U.S. announced major combat operations in Iran this morning, military personnel and residents were warned about an incoming missile attack. Within minutes, explosions could be heard across the city.

The attacks have continued for hours.

[...]

No U.S. casualties have been reported, a U.S. official said at about 1:45 p.m. Bahrain time on Saturday, roughly two hours after the strikes began.

  Stars and Stripes

Yeah, it's early yet. And do we expect the US to tell us the truth? And is that all we care about?

The full extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

And we'll be accruing damage for years to come. The whole world will.

Air raid sirens and missile warnings went out across the region Saturday after the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran. U.S. embassies in Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Israel advised Americans to shelter in place.

Sure. No advance evacuation. Sacrificial lambs.*

President Donald Trump said in a video posted to social media shortly after strikes began that the mission, dubbed Operation Epic Fury, would raze Iran’s missile industry to the ground and annihilate its navy.

Operation Epic Fury. JFC.

He also acknowledged that the U.S. may experience casualties.

“I do not make this statement lightly: the Iranian regime seeks to kill,” Trump said.

Why on earth would they want to do that???

“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war. But we’re doing this, not for now, we’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission.”

FFS.

The U.S. has numerous installations across the Middle East that could be targets for Iranian strikes. In addition to Bahrain and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, home to thousands of American troops and their family members, there also are large bases in Kuwait and other locations where U.S. forces operate in Iraq.

[...]

The Pentagon has also surged military assets into Jordan and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.

The buildup for the attack on Iran has also involved European locations such as Greece, where the Navy’s installation at Souda Bay has seen increased U.S. military activity.

I guess if you were there and didn't read the tea leaves, you only have yourself to blame.

Iran, China, Venezuela...everybody but Russia.

And, by the way...

Well, not in my lifetime.  I'm old.  But true enough.  

UPDATE 01:19 pm:

Do we have any information on the justification for these attacks?

*UPDATE 07:11 pm:  I was wrong.  The embassy employees were told to get themselves out yesterday.

The war room was in Mar-a-Lago because Trump had a grift dinner to host in the evening.

UPDATE 03/01/2026:

Jesus Christ, these people are running the country

 And this cretin is in charge of the military.

Christian naionalism is not Christian.  

We have a bunch of Nazis in charge.  

Gee, I wonder what the outcome will be

 

Kudos to Jared Huffman

 I missed this from a month ago.

Amen.

In a nutshell

 

Raffi! on Bluesky