Ossoff: "The WH put out a video depicting this war as a video game. When service members are returning in flag-draped coffins, & even more have lost limbs or suffered brain injuries or are fighting for their lives, this WH treats war like a game. It's a disgrace. And it speaks to a moral rot."
It’s quite obvious what is happening here. bsky.app/profile/seth...
In the 1920s, there was an enormous Klan-aligned caucus in the House of Representatives that passed an immigration restriction bill designed to keep out Catholics and Jews because they supposedly posed an existential threat to American civilization. 100 years later, here we are.
War abroad can become power at home. As Trump links the Iran attack to election interference claims, the real risk is a “national security” pretext to reshape voting rules before the 2026 midterms. Democracies erode when war is used to justify control over the ballot.
The Pentagon Cut Its Civilian Safeguards Before the Iran War
Atlantic Gift Article
As the civilian toll in Iran mounts look to Pete Hegseth’s hostility to battlefield restraint
He couldn't eliminate the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence created by law so he cut it by 90%
bit.ly/3PxjJte
War on Truth…
Political theory already has the parts: kakistocracy rule by the worst, kleptocracy rule by thieves, plutocracy rule by wealth, oligarchy power held by a few. When they fuse, the problem is not vocabulary. It is a system where public office becomes private extraction.
My thoughts about the shitshow. Thanks, @jricole.bsky.social
“.. When past presidents balked at the possibility of war with Iran, they weren’t just dodging a hard choice; they were deterred by all of the obvious reasons a conflict could perilously spiral. Nobody should be shocked that the expected is now coming to pass.”
www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
Reminder: Although the US and Iran have been adversaries for 47 years and tensions have been extremely high, there is a reason the US has never actually launched a war with Iran. It’s not that we haven’t thought about it before. In fact…it’s because we actually used to think before we acted.
Thank you for a welcome break from the current chaos. Wonderful words, great pix. I am fortunate to live in the nearby community of Lyle and deeply appreciate the area.
The world is being set on fire by a 79 year old with a ten year old’s vocabulary whose adult advisors interact with him like he’s a hangry toddler who skipped his nap.
For the war on Iran, there is only morally serious option: "Trump resigns or is impeached, the war is halted, and actual peace negotiations begin."
The other outcomes range from bad to catastrophic.
Must read from @qasimrashid.com
www.qasimrashid.com/p/the-war-on...
“We’re not starting a war, we’re ending one” was a Russian talking point on Ukraine — four years ago.
That seems like a serious undercount given what we know about Lebanon.
An important watch:
Washington claims a strike is needed to stop nuclear blackmail, yet the world already lives with nuclear powers capable of hitting American cities. The argument isn’t strategy; it’s marketing for escalation. Propaganda reframes aggression as defense.
Arming conflicts while asking for assurances about civilian safety is the oldest contradiction in war policy. Weapons change hands, promises fade, and civilians pay the price. Accountability cannot be outsourced once the shipments leave the dock.
Gullible, Cynical America
The trouble with believing anything and nothing at the same time
by Adam Serwer
Atlantic Gift Article
Believing vaccines are unsafe, cryptolords and gambling companies
Rejecting empiricism makes selling falsehoods easier and contradicting them harder
Wow
bit.ly/4rhO3W1
The US/Israelis reportedly hit another oil depot, this time on Qeshm Island, where they also attacked a water desalination plant. They are covering the country in toxic gas. As someone else observed, this is chemical warfare.
This is what ecocide looks like.
And we are spending more than $1 BILLION a day on this Netanyahu and Trump/GOP war. When has Israel become the 51st state? No more war funding. Just imagine if we spend a small portion of that money to fund healthcare, job creation, …., inside the USA🇺🇸?
'Intentional Chemical Warfare': Toxic Black Rain Falls on Tehran After US-Israel Bomb Oil Facilities | "The consequences of this environmental and humanitarian catastrophe will not be confined within Iran's borders. These strikes constitute war crimes."
CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen says black, oil-contaminated rain is falling over Tehran after strikes on oil facilities by U.S./Israeli airstrikes.
Fire flows through gutters meant to carry water to trees in Tehran.
Death flows where life once did.
May God forgive us.
(Video has been geoconfirmed.)
Iran’s people were facing a horrible shortage of water before the war began. If we are destroying desalination plants and setting fire to Teheran we are committing unfathomable crimes.
I can’t believe how stupid everything is
As US/Israel continues to pound Tehran worth knowing how earthquake prone the city is. The US has promised to unleash 1000 & 2000 pound bombs. It may be doing it already. How those attacks might impact the 60+ fault lines running under Tehran is terrifying to imagine www.stimson.org/2023/tehran-...
A man with psychopathic symptoms, wielding more destructive power than any human ever has, is wreaking unjustified death and ruination across an expanding chunk of the globe - all in our name, as we watch helplessly in horror and despair.
