CBS is no longer useful to the citizenry

 

FUBAR

 

One week ago:

Changing excuses continue...

Strait of Hormuz blocked, half a dozen refueling aircraft destroyed, at least 7 soldiers dead and about 150 wounded, and the drone and missile detection system in Baghdad destroyed.  Iran is kicking our ass.

But, MAGA thinks we're winning bigly.

No one could have foreseen.  Am I right, Condi?

Before the U.S. went to war, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told President Trump that an American attack could prompt Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Caine said in several briefings that U.S. officials had long believed Iran would deploy mines, drones and missiles to close the world’s most vital shipping lane, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

Trump acknowledged the risk, these people said, but moved forward with the most consequential foreign-policy decision of his two presidencies. He told his team that Tehran would likely capitulate before closing the strait—and even if Iran tried, the U.S. military could handle it.

[...]

Behind Trump’s rationale for war was a deep confidence in the capabilities of the U.S. military to deliver a swift, decisive victory, according to administration officials and others familiar with the matter. The president’s trust in Caine was buoyed by the successful U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites last year and the January raid that captured Venezuela’s autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro.

  WSJ

Trump is high on his own supply.

Before the president approved the operation, he and his advisers discussed options to force the reopening of the strait and use the U.S. Navy to escort tankers through the waterway.

[...]

“The Pentagon has been planning for Iran’s desperate and reckless closure of the Strait of Hormuz for decades, and it has been part of the Trump administration’s planning well before Operation Epic Fury was ever launched,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

The U.S. operation to wipe out Iran’s military capability “is quite literally intended to deprive them of their ability to close the Strait,” Leavitt said.

How'd that turn out?

U.S. military officials said the conflict would likely last a few more weeks, at least.

"At least."

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that Iran’s decision to block the strait was a sign of “sheer desperation,” adding “we have been dealing with it, and don’t need to worry about it.”

Sure, Jan.

Typically, war preparations include weeks or months of classified deliberations, written planning documents, the airing of dissenting views from diplomats and intelligence officials, and National Security Council meetings with cabinet members to make the most informed decision.

Only a small group was looped into the preparations for Iran—including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Hegseth.

A brilliant crew.

The White House and the Pentagon have launched an aggressive messaging campaign built around U.S. invincibility, mirroring Trump’s own conviction that American military superiority can overcome and outlast Iran’s retaliation. U.S. government accounts have posted stylized videos of strikes, some interspersed with movie or videogame footage.

The U.S. is “winning decisively, devastatingly and without mercy,” Hegseth said, an effort to reassure Americans that the conflict remains firmly under control.

[...]

Some Trump allies who have grown skeptical of the operation have coordinated behind the scenes to schedule appearances on Fox News and other TV networks watched by the president to sound a note of caution and warn against a deeper U.S. commitment.

They have to go on Fox News in order to reach the president.

The president’s advisers say the military operation has unfolded as they hoped it would. The military has launched strikes on roughly 6,000 Iranian targets, heavily damaging Iran’s navy and weapons arsenals, which has weakened the regime’s ability to project power throughout the Middle East and harm Americans in the region.

Yes, we see.

Iran’s new hard-line Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei—who was appointed to replace his father—has vowed to keep ships from the Strait of Hormuz. The regime remains firmly in control and is unlikely to fall soon, according to U.S. and Israeli intelligence.

[...]

Americans have been caught in danger, as well. The State Department didn’t urge U.S. citizens to depart countries in the region or evacuate some embassies until after the war began. By then, commercial airspace was already closed, leaving tens of thousands of Americans stranded in the Middle East and U.S. diplomats at some embassies in harm’s way.

[...]

In the U.S., volatility in gas prices and the oil market have led to the largest-ever oil release from global strategic reserves, sparking anger from oil companies seeking fewer price fluctuations.

[...]

Trump told reporters this week the war would end “very soon.” Just a handful of targets are left, he said. On Friday, Trump said he would end the war when he feels it “in his bones.”

Provide your own punch line.

UPDATE 12:06 pm: 

Oh, I don't know, Kevin.  How about this...

It will.  And most all of the harm will be felt by the middle and lower classes.  

Sure, Jan.

UPDATE 12:47 pm:

Besides ignorance and greed, no one in Trump 2.0 has an ounce of self-respect.

Keen to start a nuclear war in the Middle East

 UPDATE 02/24/2026:

I have yet to see what kind of "Deal" he wants to make, but I'm guessing it has to do with allowing him to build a Trump tower there, or something as personally enriching, but if they want to pretend it has to do with nuclear armaments, Barack Obama already had a deal in place, and Trump tore it up.

America

 

Ten days - "Special security"

Ten days is a very long time for a major airport to be closed.  WTF is going on?

UPDATE 08:36 am:

WTF?  Was it a typo meant to read 10 hours?  Was somebody being blackmailed or extorted by Trump and they caved?

From the AP:

I still think blackmail or extortion makes more sense.

UPDATE 09:03 am:  From an El Paso City Council Representative...

The FAA is said to have been worried about DOD (DOW?) counter-drone testing.  A high energy laser that could be used against drones was to be tested at a military base (Fort Bliss) near the airport.  I'm vaguely recalling an incident where some government agency was testing some weaponry near a parade??? So, yeah, I can see why the FAA would be concerned about high energy lasers being tested in the airspace over an airport.  JFC.  Pete Hegseth at his best.

UPDATE 09:19 am: Speaking of lack of communication...

LOL.  Bullshit.  These people are great with the off-the-cuff bullshit.

It's Sunday

 

Every accusation is a confession

 

Time to turn in your neighbors

 How can you be shocked at this point?  These are Trump's Gestapo.

The Nazis are taking over.

With full Nazi propaganda...

Trump doesn't listen to the CIA

 

Here's a tip regarding AI...

 

The fine print

 

You'll be surprised: Trump's goons lied

Senator Chris Murphy sent [a letter] Friday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about a horrifying incident that unfolded during Trump’s occupation of Chicago. A federal agent shot a woman multiple times after she allegedly menaced the agents with her car. Marimar Martinez, who didn’t have life-threatening injuries, is a U.S. citizen.

[...]

In particular, just after the shooting, DHS put out a statement claiming that the agents in question had been “boxed in by 10 cars” and that Martinez’s vehicle “rammed” theirs. The statement also suggests she threatened the agents with a “semi-automatic weapon.” All this “forced” an agent to shoot Martinez, who then “drove herself to the hospital.” DHS added that she’d previously doxed agents online. In short, the shooting was wholly justified: The victim was the one doing the terrorizing—of law enforcement.

Yet these claims are undermined by the criminal complaint against Martinez. It only mentions two cars menacing the agents, not 10. It doesn’t mention her gun, let alone her threatening of the agents with one. It says she was taken to the hospital by ambulance. And as the Chicago Sun-Times reports, Martinez’s lawyer says body-cam footage even contradicts the claim that she directly threatened the officers with her vehicle and shows that the agent said, “Do something, bitch,” before opening fire.

[...]

Now, to be clear, it’s possible that Martinez did commit serious crimes. She has been indicted for attempted murder, though the judge has released her and another man involved from custody for now. It’s possible she will be convicted. A jury should decide the matter.

But none of that justifies the level of official deception we’ve seen around this incident.

[...]

[T]he public is unaware of just how atrophied the mechanisms of accountability have become for DHS agents, at a time when the war they’re waging in U.S. cities—sometimes against Americans—is boiling over daily.

[...]

The people are awash in propaganda and lies about what their own government is doing to them, with Congress utterly checked out of the fact-finding business and increasing signs that the free press is retreating in the face of the authoritarian onslaught.

  New Republic

Those last two paragaphs are nothing new. Not in my lifetime, and I'd be willing to bet never in American history. It's just getting worse.

UPDATE 11/14/2025:  Simply evil.

An excellent suggestion

Republicans won't, because of the very reason suggested.  But the rest of us should.  Just like they won't say No Kings protests, but instead call it hate America rallies.

You may need this statistic

 

ICE detainees shot at Dallas facility

Two of the three people shot at a Dallas ICE field office this morning are dead, an ICE spokesperson said. The third person is in the hospital.

The three people shot do not include the shooter, who is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

All three people shot were detainees at the facility, and no ICE agents were shot or hurt.

[...]

The ICE building where Wednesday's gunfire erupted had recently received a bomb threat, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said on Fox News.

Investigators will be looking into how long the shooter might have been planning this attack, McLaughlin added.

The DHS official did not disclose how close the shooter got to the ICE field office, but stressed this was not a detention center.

  NBC

What else do you call a facility where arrested people are held?

In a social media post, Vice President JD Vance called the shooting at a Dallas ICE facility this morning an "obsessive attack on law enforcement" that "must stop."

On law enforcement?

UPDATE 01:57 pm:

Oh, FFS!  It's amateur hour at the DOJ. I'd like to see that in a ranking of the most obvious plants in law enforcement history. One of the unspent shells just happened to be amongst those that hadn't yet been fired after killing several people, including the shooter, with a sharpie (favorite tool of DJT) message on it.  

This shooter didn't target the officers!  He targeted the detainees.  Or he was the worst gunman in the world.

The long and the short of it...

UPDATE 09/25/2025:

Spin harder.

Dictatorship in America on the way

 

The only way we're going to get any news of what's being done in this administration will be from insider leaks.

The only amendment they're concerned with is the Second, and they certainly don't care about whether something is legal.