Charlie, I would like to ask a question about your statement, "The world would be a vastly better and safer place if Iran does not have a nuclear weapon." My question is: Why?
I have my answer, without an American viewpoint. The underlying assumption is that America can be trusted not to use them capriciously. But those (true) crazies in Iran might push the button at a moment's notice! I don't believe it anymore.
I used to. During the amazingly abundant post-WW2 period so did we all in the "Western" world; the democracies. We operated assuming America would do the right thing. America would be the responsible overseer whilst becoming richer and more powerful.
In exchange we flourished too under America's economy & rules, America's security blanket, and America's cultural dominance. It was a great tradeoff. Because we deemed America trustworthy.
Oh, there were deviations. Lies about wars and war crimes, colluding with "their sons of bitches" in nasty neighbourhoods, and diverting wealth upward. All while bearing rampant racism and persistent corruption (with uneven attempts to combat). Still, America was trusted. Because it was seen to be always trying to do better.
That's punctured, and will bleed more. America is increasingly not seen in soft focus as the self-interested yet benevolent first among equals. It's today seen in sharp focus as it always was: a self-interested actor willing to bully its way around. T'was always thus, really. But the days of "We're all in it together" are expiring.
Nuclear bomb history to date leans towards nations acquiring them becoming more restrained when conflicts arise (e.g. India/Pakistan). America is the only user of these weapons in anger. Twice. When coming up to bat, who's more likely to hit?
So, who says "The world would be a vastly better and safer place if Iran does not have a nuclear weapon?" Not me. And more and more, I suspect, not the rest of the world.
In the past America's order to do or not do something mattered. Not so much going forward. We'll no doubt pay a price too. It will be a tough adjustment for Americans. But they'll have to get used to it.
Watching Trump out on the White House lawn with the workers putting up his most important flagpoles is like watching Grandpa going out to check on the work being done in the lawn
Isn’t there more pressing things that the president of the United States needs to be doing?
Doesn’t the president of United States usually have a busy schedule?
In watching Trump yesterday out on the lawn of the White House with the workers that are putting up the “very important flagpoles “ all organized behind him…. He looked horrible and he talked nonsense.
Trumps words :
“ Iran’s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate and I say, why didn’t you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction why didn’t you negotiate I said to people why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago you could have done fine you would’ve had a country …..
Unconditional surrender that means I’ve had it I’ve had it I give up go no more we go blow up all the nuclear stuff that’s all over the place
Nothing‘s finished until it’s finished you know war is a very complex a lot of bad things can happen
A lot of terms are made. I don’t know I wouldn’t say we want anything yet but i would say we sure as hell made a lot of progress we’ll see the next week is gonna be very big maybe less than a week maybe less than a week”
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ???
So tired of listening to just this type of ramble instead of something serious, presidential, informed and intelligent .
It’s like mafia talk and thuggery.
That’s all we’ve heard is this type of talk and in these tweets that he’s put out which are only meant to create fear intimidation ,threats, gaslighting to create heightened fear into submission.
This is not how the United States is supposed to handle anything, especially with such a sensitive matter as Iran.
First of all before anybody invades any country they need congressional approval
Everything is not his final decision.
He was always working with Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran .
Neither one of them want to follow any type of democracy or rules or norms.
Auggie's got the right idea for the whole Iran mess. Where's a highly qualified and eminent psychiatrist when you really need one. Trump's desire for controversy and publicity never ceases
We have a history of military action that is never declared a war - getting militarily involved in Latin America - for generations, then after WWII trying to avoid the post -WWI mistakes that caused the rise of Hitler by becoming involved in Europe.
Korea was not technically a war - it was a police action sponsored by the United Nations. Vietnam was never voted a war. It started out as advisors helping out one side of the Vietnamese civil war, then we needed more troops to support the advisors, then troops to support the troops, until we had 500,000 fighting in not-a-war.
I don’t think Congress has voted for a war since WWII. But the dead are dead. The permanently injured remain injured. And PTSD is still PTSD.
Trump's childish and petulant approach ("I've had it...) didn't work in the far simpler world of real estate...yet he is now employing the same approach in one of the most complex foreign policy environments that exists on earth. This should go well.
Any move toward war is terrifying. But when there are no serious, principled, or skilled people making the decision - when the decision might well be based on how Trump is feeling from one hour to the next - the fallout will condemn our children to years of chaos.
Good question. He demoralized the troops so much by that, he'd never be able to declare war if it wasn't fought now with tech robots. Where's Mr. Musk on this?
Any piece that includes “dipsomaniacal chode” gets an automatic thumbs up. 👍🏻
This is all so very grave and dreadful no matter which way you look at it. I don’t even know what to say. the future of the country and possibly the world is in the hands of someone who just learned the word groceries last month and can’t stay awake for his own birthday party.
Charlie, I would like to ask a question about your statement, "The world would be a vastly better and safer place if Iran does not have a nuclear weapon." My question is: Why?
I have my answer, without an American viewpoint. The underlying assumption is that America can be trusted not to use them capriciously. But those (true) crazies in Iran might push the button at a moment's notice! I don't believe it anymore.
I used to. During the amazingly abundant post-WW2 period so did we all in the "Western" world; the democracies. We operated assuming America would do the right thing. America would be the responsible overseer whilst becoming richer and more powerful.
In exchange we flourished too under America's economy & rules, America's security blanket, and America's cultural dominance. It was a great tradeoff. Because we deemed America trustworthy.
Oh, there were deviations. Lies about wars and war crimes, colluding with "their sons of bitches" in nasty neighbourhoods, and diverting wealth upward. All while bearing rampant racism and persistent corruption (with uneven attempts to combat). Still, America was trusted. Because it was seen to be always trying to do better.
That's punctured, and will bleed more. America is increasingly not seen in soft focus as the self-interested yet benevolent first among equals. It's today seen in sharp focus as it always was: a self-interested actor willing to bully its way around. T'was always thus, really. But the days of "We're all in it together" are expiring.
Nuclear bomb history to date leans towards nations acquiring them becoming more restrained when conflicts arise (e.g. India/Pakistan). America is the only user of these weapons in anger. Twice. When coming up to bat, who's more likely to hit?
So, who says "The world would be a vastly better and safer place if Iran does not have a nuclear weapon?" Not me. And more and more, I suspect, not the rest of the world.
In the past America's order to do or not do something mattered. Not so much going forward. We'll no doubt pay a price too. It will be a tough adjustment for Americans. But they'll have to get used to it.
Thank you, Mr. Sykes. Auggie has great form. The U.S., on the other hand, does not.
Watching Trump out on the White House lawn with the workers putting up his most important flagpoles is like watching Grandpa going out to check on the work being done in the lawn
Isn’t there more pressing things that the president of the United States needs to be doing?
Doesn’t the president of United States usually have a busy schedule?
CRAZY
Why is it that I'm rarely able to watch him doing something without
having some Freudian 'overcompensation' stuff coming into mind??
Those flagpoles...
I’ve had your book
“Dumbing Down our Kids” since you first, put it out
You must write a book and title it
“Dumbing Down America”
Because that is the process that has happened with Trump and Maga
The emotional and the intellectual damage that has been done is profound
We are at the lowest level ever and the lowest common denominator in this country .
In watching Trump yesterday out on the lawn of the White House with the workers that are putting up the “very important flagpoles “ all organized behind him…. He looked horrible and he talked nonsense.
Trumps words :
“ Iran’s got a lot of trouble and they want to negotiate and I say, why didn’t you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction why didn’t you negotiate I said to people why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago you could have done fine you would’ve had a country …..
Unconditional surrender that means I’ve had it I’ve had it I give up go no more we go blow up all the nuclear stuff that’s all over the place
Nothing‘s finished until it’s finished you know war is a very complex a lot of bad things can happen
A lot of terms are made. I don’t know I wouldn’t say we want anything yet but i would say we sure as hell made a lot of progress we’ll see the next week is gonna be very big maybe less than a week maybe less than a week”
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ???
So tired of listening to just this type of ramble instead of something serious, presidential, informed and intelligent .
It’s like mafia talk and thuggery.
That’s all we’ve heard is this type of talk and in these tweets that he’s put out which are only meant to create fear intimidation ,threats, gaslighting to create heightened fear into submission.
This is not how the United States is supposed to handle anything, especially with such a sensitive matter as Iran.
First of all before anybody invades any country they need congressional approval
Everything is not his final decision.
He was always working with Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran .
Neither one of them want to follow any type of democracy or rules or norms.
Where are the Republicans in Congress?
Good summary!
Everyone must catch Denver Riggleman, talking about Tucker and Cruz !
https://open.substack.com/pub/denverriggleman926601/p/tucker-carlson-v-ted-cruz?r=eit6y&utm_medium=ios
Auggie's got the right idea for the whole Iran mess. Where's a highly qualified and eminent psychiatrist when you really need one. Trump's desire for controversy and publicity never ceases
All that time at Harvard Law apparently didn't serve Cruz very well.
The real tragedy of the MAGA-spat is that the American people are the losers, regardless of who wins.
Auggie is pure joy. That's all I will say except "thanks" for counterpointing that with the Trump Nightmare.
Real swift - dismantling our intelligence capabilities while taunting Iran.
Excuse me. But if he wants to take us into that war, doesn’t Congress have to declare war? Or is that a silly question?
As Charlie says Congress is now a potted plant.
We have a history of military action that is never declared a war - getting militarily involved in Latin America - for generations, then after WWII trying to avoid the post -WWI mistakes that caused the rise of Hitler by becoming involved in Europe.
Korea was not technically a war - it was a police action sponsored by the United Nations. Vietnam was never voted a war. It started out as advisors helping out one side of the Vietnamese civil war, then we needed more troops to support the advisors, then troops to support the troops, until we had 500,000 fighting in not-a-war.
I don’t think Congress has voted for a war since WWII. But the dead are dead. The permanently injured remain injured. And PTSD is still PTSD.
Thank you for enlightening me.
Trump's childish and petulant approach ("I've had it...) didn't work in the far simpler world of real estate...yet he is now employing the same approach in one of the most complex foreign policy environments that exists on earth. This should go well.
Any move toward war is terrifying. But when there are no serious, principled, or skilled people making the decision - when the decision might well be based on how Trump is feeling from one hour to the next - the fallout will condemn our children to years of chaos.
When there is no declared war, to whom is one supposed to surrender unconditionally? Just asking.
How are they going to defend us if they couldn’t organize a parade on our own streets.
Good question. He demoralized the troops so much by that, he'd never be able to declare war if it wasn't fought now with tech robots. Where's Mr. Musk on this?
Any piece that includes “dipsomaniacal chode” gets an automatic thumbs up. 👍🏻
This is all so very grave and dreadful no matter which way you look at it. I don’t even know what to say. the future of the country and possibly the world is in the hands of someone who just learned the word groceries last month and can’t stay awake for his own birthday party.