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Northern Ireland26785 Posts
On March 04 2026 10:19 Falling wrote:Reporter: Thousands of Americans are stranded. Why wasn't there an evacuation plan? Trump: Show nested quote +Well, because it happened all very quickly, we thought, and I thought maybe more so than most, I could ask Marco, but I thought we were going to have a situation where we were going to be attacked. They were getting ready to attack Israel. They were getting ready to attack others. You're seeing that right now. And a lot of those missiles that are hitting in those are stationary. Those were aimed there for a long period of time at these other countries. So I think I was right about that. We attacked first, and if we didn't, it could have been, you know, look, we're really decimating them. They're being decimated. And if we didn't, if we didn't, and by the way, we have massive amounts of ammunition. We have the high end a lot of it was given away stupidly by Biden, very stupidly for free. And I'm all for Ukraine, but they gave away a lot. As you know, when I give away ammunition, everybody pays for it. The European Union is paying for it, they can do what they want with it, but they are giving it, let's say, to Ukraine, and it's okay, but we gave away a lot of high end but we have plenty. But we have unlimited middle and upper ammunition, which is really what we're using in this war. And we have an, really an unlimited supply. We also have a lot of the very high end stored in different countries throughout the world. Wit this, we're literally storing it there, which is actually something I insisted on in my first term. I rebuilt the military. In my first term, the military is great. A lot of, not unbelievable, amount of ammunition, or munitions, as they say, were given away to you know, the Wall Street Journal incorrectly covered the story when they said that it was given away to the Middle East, not to the Middle East was given away to Ukraine. Very little was given to the Middle East. Middle East would buy a lot. And some of the nations, because they're rich, they have a lot, but it was given away to Ukraine, and it just should have been done. Look, it's a war that should have never happened. If I were president, that war would never happened. But we have a tremendous amount of munitions, ammunition at the upper level, middle and upper level, all of which is really powerful stuff. How worried are you that the rising prices for gas and oil damaging the American economy, and also sure this is, of course, damaging our economies. This is true for the oil prices, and this is true for the gas prices as well. So that's the reason why we all hope that this war will come to an end as soon as possible. And we are hoping that the Israeli and the American army are doing the right things to bring this to an end and to have really a new government in place who was coming back to peace and freedom? Yeah something had to be done. And it's been 47 years. They've been killing people all over the world for a long time. They were the kings and fathers of the roadside bomb, Soleimani. We killed him last time. If we didn't, I think it might be a different story today. They would have been much stronger and smarter than they are, but they did the roadside bombs. 95% of the people lost their legs arms, had their face wiped out, just wiped out. I've seen some young people that it's so sad to watch, and that was all. Almost all. 95% comes from Iran, and with Soleimani Solomon, he loved his favorite weapon. He loved the roadside bomb. And when you see people walking around with no legs and no arms and a face that's been blown to hell, these people what they have to go and the way they have to live, this is, this is Iran. When you look at the barracks, the famous barracks, when you look at the hostages, when you look at a lot of hostages, when you look at all of the problems, they were really a purveyor of terror all over the world for many, many years. And it's something that had to be done something. And I believe that if we didn't because I see where Congress, you know, if I didn't do this, guys like Schumer, who are losers, the Democrats, they're losers. That's why they're not here. Guys like Schumer would say, well, you should have done this. In other words, if I did it, it's no good. If I didn't do it, they would have said the opposite, that you should have done this. But most people feel, I tell you what, I have never had more compliments than something they did. People felt it's something that had to be done. MAGA: The weave! The weave! He did the weave! Teacher: You didn't prepare for your presentation, did you? Behold, your leader! Honest Don, who tells it like it is. A modicum of coherence from our Dear Leader would be nice... And folks had issues with Biden’s mental actuity? Fooking hell. I especially enjoyed ‘when you see people walking around with no legs…’
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Donald J. Trump has saved the world again! He is saving 4% of the world's oil supply!
It is now just so plain and simple the motives behind attacking Iran.
#1. Nukes ain't got nuttin to do with it. There is zero chance the USA could ever be attacked by Iran. Intercontinental ballistic missiles are just a dream. #2. Neutralize the drone armada aimed at Israel. For Iran to spend every rocket and missile they have. Eliminate Iran's Navy. #3. Bring Iran oil back to into the mainstream OPEC umbrella with no special deals for China #4. Insure Saudi Arabia remains the #1 oil supplier by keeping prices of Iran oil high. #5. With no special deals for China or other countries this increases the world wide price of oil.
There is no strategy here, there is no fancy play book. The reasons for attacking Iran are what everyone sees right in front of them this minute. Crush even the tiniest of Iranian military opposition and control the price of the oil Iran sells. They don't care who gets the money for the oil.... they'll probably give the people of Iran a cut of it just like Canada gets a cut of its oil. Once Iran's oil price is controlled Saudi Arabia becomes the unquestioned dominant, power in the region.
Today is "Liberation Day" for Iran's Oil!
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On March 04 2026 21:25 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Donald J. Trump has saved the world again! He is saving 4% of the world's oil supply! It is now just so plain and simple the motives behind attacking Iran. #1. Nukes ain't got nuttin to do with it. There is zero chance the USA could ever be attacked by Iran. Intercontinental ballistic missiles are just a dream. #2. Neutralize the drone armada aimed at Israel. For Iran to spend every rocket and missile they have. Eliminate Iran's Navy. #3. Bring Iran oil back to into the mainstream OPEC umbrella with no special deals for China #4. Insure Saudi Arabia remains the #1 oil supplier by keeping prices of Iran oil high. #5. With no special deals for China or other countries this increases the world wide price of oil. There is no strategy here, there is no fancy play book. The reasons for attacking Iran are what everyone sees right in front of them this minute. Crush even the tiniest of Iranian military opposition and control the price of the oil Iran sells. They don't care who gets the money for the oil.... they'll probably give the people of Iran a cut of it just like Canada gets a cut of its oil. Once Iran's oil price is controlled Saudi Arabia becomes the unquestioned dominant, power in the region. Today is "Liberation Day" for Iran's Oil!  Operation Iraqi Iranian Liberation.
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Northern Ireland26785 Posts
Jimmy are you trying to outdo boomers on the internet at their own game or what?
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On March 04 2026 22:05 WombaT wrote: Jimmy are you trying to outdo boomers on the internet at their own game or what? i am pointing out the absurdity of Netanyahu's 30+ years of fear mongering. its fucking hilarious. Leveraging the nuclear holocaust boogeyman stretches way further back than just the 30 years whatshisface has been doing it.
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Northern Ireland26785 Posts
On March 04 2026 21:33 MJG wrote:Show nested quote +On March 04 2026 21:25 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Donald J. Trump has saved the world again! He is saving 4% of the world's oil supply! It is now just so plain and simple the motives behind attacking Iran. #1. Nukes ain't got nuttin to do with it. There is zero chance the USA could ever be attacked by Iran. Intercontinental ballistic missiles are just a dream. #2. Neutralize the drone armada aimed at Israel. For Iran to spend every rocket and missile they have. Eliminate Iran's Navy. #3. Bring Iran oil back to into the mainstream OPEC umbrella with no special deals for China #4. Insure Saudi Arabia remains the #1 oil supplier by keeping prices of Iran oil high. #5. With no special deals for China or other countries this increases the world wide price of oil. There is no strategy here, there is no fancy play book. The reasons for attacking Iran are what everyone sees right in front of them this minute. Crush even the tiniest of Iranian military opposition and control the price of the oil Iran sells. They don't care who gets the money for the oil.... they'll probably give the people of Iran a cut of it just like Canada gets a cut of its oil. Once Iran's oil price is controlled Saudi Arabia becomes the unquestioned dominant, power in the region. Today is "Liberation Day" for Iran's Oil!  Operation Iraqi Iranian Liberation. My sensibilities would prefer that, it’s an understandable motivation regardless of the moral particulars.
And hey, there were absolutely self-aggrandising parties there, there were also believers and an effort to nation-build.
This? Feels like a couple of people talked Trump into it and lo and behold!
The messaging is hideously inconsistent thru incoherent at times.
Shouldn’t need said, but to clarify, young WombaT was at protests prior to the Iraq war, and me position hasn’t really shifted over the years. This is no defence of Iraq but at least with that you had a political direction of travel, of momentum leading in. There were a lot of people rolling that wheel, and discussing it and what have you.
This admin just does stuff, seemingly with little planning themselves, much less with allies who aren’t Israel.
It’s this tendency that worries me, because it’s shifted the safety valves for something truly heinous to what capricious whims decide to do, versus process and oversight.
At least thus far, this conflict is pretty damn limited and the civilian casualty churn is quite low, so that’s a good thing obviously. What about the next time something comes up though?
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Northern Ireland26785 Posts
On March 04 2026 22:10 JimmyJRaynor wrote:Show nested quote +On March 04 2026 22:05 WombaT wrote: Jimmy are you trying to outdo boomers on the internet at their own game or what? i am pointing out the absurdity of Netanyahu's 30+ years of fear mongering. its fucking hilarious. Leveraging the nuclear holocaust boogeyman stretches way further back than just the 30 years whatshisface has been doing it. It’s a thing he’s exploited for his own political ends, perhaps mendaciously at times, that doesn’t make it absurd necessarily.
Iran frequently attack Israel, they sponsor others who do the same, they’d quite like to have nuclear weapons. I mean that’s not massively in dispute, and if that’s the case a certain degree of worry and caution is pretty logical.
You seem as far as I’m aware to just completely dismiss nuclear weapons entirely as baseless scaremongering, to the degree you use the ‘allegedly’ disclaimer on the Hiroshima and Nagasaki combo.
On that topic, wow have you seen this?!  [Video link that’s an hour long]
You know I’ve always said this. Some people should be feeling pretty stupid right now 
Do you remember the scene where Monica and Chandler first got together?
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United States43987 Posts
I just don’t see the relevance of that to the miracle on ice. Please elaborate.
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Northern Ireland26785 Posts
On March 04 2026 23:01 KwarK wrote:I just don’t see the relevance of that to the miracle on ice. Please elaborate. It does track with Cool Runnings though
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If any messaging from Trump and others is widely deemed bullshit, then the media and others should be direct about the reasons they think are real. Especially if there is no specific ideology or rationale in the actual reasoning. It is a waste of time to repeatedly analyse and dissect something that is just a cover for getting rid of opposition or those labelled as enemies. Venezuela and Iran are considered enemies, so it is okay to eliminate them. Hegseth was very direct about this with his comment about rules of engagement.
Dealing with these people will be much easier when they are recognised as similar to past absolutist monarchs who believed in divine mandate. Instead of divine, simple superiority is enough for them to have a mandate. You can't change their view on their superiority in a meaningful timeframe. You need to actively stop them to undermine their delusion of superiority. It will make them angry, but they are already doing whatever they want.
Later, there needs to be a wider push for accountability to avoid anyone else with a delusion of superiority from causing massive damage. Epstein files are just the tip of the iceberg for some people getting away with everything.
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On March 04 2026 21:51 JimmyJRaynor wrote:This could escalate into WW3 guys! Until victory is complete, every one get in your bomb shelters! Here is the Bomb Shelter episode from Happy Days I mentioned earlier. This is such epic Hollywood propaganda. "Happy Days" is supposed to be a cheerful show. Here is the intro to the show. That is director Ron Howard playing "Richie Cunningham". He actually had hair. Richie's best friend is begging for a spot in the Cunningham family's new bomb shelter.
Okay come on, you're trolling, right? There's no way you wrote all this unironically.
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Northern Ireland26785 Posts
On March 04 2026 23:20 Legan wrote: If any messaging from Trump and others is widely deemed bullshit, then the media and others should be direct about the reasons they think are real. Especially if there is no specific ideology or rationale in the actual reasoning. It is a waste of time to repeatedly analyse and dissect something that is just a cover for getting rid of opposition or those labelled as enemies. Venezuela and Iran are considered enemies, so it is okay to eliminate them. Hegseth was very direct about this with his comment about rules of engagement.
Dealing with these people will be much easier when they are recognised as similar to past absolutist monarchs who believed in divine mandate. Instead of divine, simple superiority is enough for them to have a mandate. You can't change their view on their superiority in a meaningful timeframe. You need to actively stop them to undermine their delusion of superiority. It will make them angry, but they are already doing whatever they want.
Later, there needs to be a wider push for accountability to avoid anyone else with a delusion of superiority from causing massive damage. Epstein files are just the tip of the iceberg for some people getting away with everything. Ideally you could just publicly shoot some of them. In a sanctioned manner, not via vigilantism. If one’s society shows there aren’t consequences for x y and z behaviours, I mean the next bloke or blokette will just do the same.
It feels to me the yardstick has shifted somewhat for the ruling class or the billionaires orbiting them doing largely what they want, with some propriety and limits, to being completely left to their own devices. They’re not afraid of being restricted any why would they be?
Edit - OK perhaps public shootings are a bit extreme
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On March 05 2026 00:42 WombaT wrote:Show nested quote +On March 04 2026 23:20 Legan wrote: If any messaging from Trump and others is widely deemed bullshit, then the media and others should be direct about the reasons they think are real. Especially if there is no specific ideology or rationale in the actual reasoning. It is a waste of time to repeatedly analyse and dissect something that is just a cover for getting rid of opposition or those labelled as enemies. Venezuela and Iran are considered enemies, so it is okay to eliminate them. Hegseth was very direct about this with his comment about rules of engagement.
Dealing with these people will be much easier when they are recognised as similar to past absolutist monarchs who believed in divine mandate. Instead of divine, simple superiority is enough for them to have a mandate. You can't change their view on their superiority in a meaningful timeframe. You need to actively stop them to undermine their delusion of superiority. It will make them angry, but they are already doing whatever they want.
Later, there needs to be a wider push for accountability to avoid anyone else with a delusion of superiority from causing massive damage. Epstein files are just the tip of the iceberg for some people getting away with everything. Ideally you could just publicly shoot some of them. In a sanctioned manner, not via vigilantism. If one’s society shows there aren’t consequences for x y and z behaviours, I mean the next bloke or blokette will just do the same. It feels to me the yardstick has shifted somewhat for the ruling class or the billionaires orbiting them doing largely what they want, with some propriety and limits, to being completely left to their own devices. They’re not afraid of being restricted any why would they be? Edit - OK perhaps public shootings are a bit extreme
It really seems like others following the example of not giving a shit about laws, treaties, rules, morals, and ethics could be the avenue to get people interested in following them again. You could call them regime changes, counterterrorism, war on drugs, countering sex trafficking, etc., to make things easier to swallow. In the case that there is no renewed interest, you would still likely get away with stuff that would normally be considered atrocious. For example, making sure that tech companies have pro-EU CEOs would be beneficial either way.
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United States43987 Posts
On March 05 2026 00:42 WombaT wrote:Show nested quote +On March 04 2026 23:20 Legan wrote: If any messaging from Trump and others is widely deemed bullshit, then the media and others should be direct about the reasons they think are real. Especially if there is no specific ideology or rationale in the actual reasoning. It is a waste of time to repeatedly analyse and dissect something that is just a cover for getting rid of opposition or those labelled as enemies. Venezuela and Iran are considered enemies, so it is okay to eliminate them. Hegseth was very direct about this with his comment about rules of engagement.
Dealing with these people will be much easier when they are recognised as similar to past absolutist monarchs who believed in divine mandate. Instead of divine, simple superiority is enough for them to have a mandate. You can't change their view on their superiority in a meaningful timeframe. You need to actively stop them to undermine their delusion of superiority. It will make them angry, but they are already doing whatever they want.
Later, there needs to be a wider push for accountability to avoid anyone else with a delusion of superiority from causing massive damage. Epstein files are just the tip of the iceberg for some people getting away with everything. Ideally you could just publicly shoot some of them. In a sanctioned manner, not via vigilantism. If one’s society shows there aren’t consequences for x y and z behaviours, I mean the next bloke or blokette will just do the same. It feels to me the yardstick has shifted somewhat for the ruling class or the billionaires orbiting them doing largely what they want, with some propriety and limits, to being completely left to their own devices. They’re not afraid of being restricted any why would they be? Edit - OK perhaps public shootings are a bit extreme Rope. Hang Hesgeth in the town square. He knows that he needs Congress to authorize a war and yet he doesn’t care.
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I read how Mike Johnson said that "I don't think its a more, maybe an operation". Special military operation perhaps?
These guys are so scared to say anything because they have no idea what trump is going to say next and how they are going to have to pivot to agree with that new thing.
Having a child king run your country is a disaster.
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On March 04 2026 14:43 Falling wrote: What I see in oBlade is not centrism. I see the Ends Justify the Means: Republican Congress and Senate can't get anything done, so let Trump do whatever he wants with the Executive branch. And to me, that's not Left vs Right, rather it's constitutional vs anti-constitutional and authoritarian vs limited government (Yes, you still need a warrant. Even if that makes things 'hard'). "Congress and Senate" is not a thing.
It's "Congress."
Or "House and Senate."
Maybe parliamentary-sourced humans have trouble grasping what any graduate of US elementary civics understands. The point of the US is 3 equal branches. They each get their own beautiful article in the Constitution. They are independent and check each other. The president isn't just a guy there to answer phones for the all-powerful legislature. By design.
Why can't Congress get anything done? Weak. Congress is weak in one way, and they are not weak in two ways. They retain the same power they have always had. They use this power very effectively, and have for the last 20-30 years, to entrench their and their cronies' influence to perform a massive forward sale on US taxpayers via budget deficits that have ballooned the national debt. In that role, they are quite strong. They are only weak in the sense of being effective for the people who represented them in a virtuous way. Unfortunately that assumes that's their goal, which it may not be. But institutionally Congress has the same power regardless of whether they apply it or not, or regardless of what they actually use it for. Has nothing to do with party. No Congress can get anything done, period, no need to specify Republican. They could, but they won't. It's willful dysfunction due to the historical accident of where politics has gone culturally at the moment.
Now as weak as Congress appears due to inaction, their actual powers nonetheless not having changed whatsoever, the president and the entire executive branch he runs are not obligated to dumb down their power to maintain a parity of intentional weakness. The solution is also a strong Congress not a weak everybody.
The Constitution DOES in many ways guarantee limits around the federal government, but it doesn't mandate a lack of strength within those limits.
Your bifurcation of "authoritarian vs limited government" makes a fascinating assumption that government itself is authoritarian. What about this, the opposite of "limited government" is "government." What if Trump as the president actually is allowed to do whatever he wants that's in the president's power? Ever thought about what the president's power is? Think of 5 things that aren't synergized with the other branches (like not pardoning which checks the judiciary, vetoing which checks the legislature). If you can't think of any, that's a problem that goes some way to explaining why we're here.
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On March 04 2026 23:20 Legan wrote: If any messaging from Trump and others is widely deemed bullshit, then the media and others should be direct about the reasons they think are real. Especially if there is no specific ideology or rationale in the actual reasoning. It is a waste of time to repeatedly analyse and dissect something that is just a cover for getting rid of opposition or those labelled as enemies. Venezuela and Iran are considered enemies, so it is okay to eliminate them. Hegseth was very direct about this with his comment about rules of engagement.
Dealing with these people will be much easier when they are recognised as similar to past absolutist monarchs who believed in divine mandate. Instead of divine, simple superiority is enough for them to have a mandate. You can't change their view on their superiority in a meaningful timeframe. You need to actively stop them to undermine their delusion of superiority. It will make them angry, but they are already doing whatever they want.
Later, there needs to be a wider push for accountability to avoid anyone else with a delusion of superiority from causing massive damage. Epstein files are just the tip of the iceberg for some people getting away with everything.
A core problem with this administration is that a lot of the stuff they do seems kind of irrational and vibe-based. Everyone wants people to be rational actors, even if they are their enemy. Because you can understand what rational people do, and why. You can even sometimes plan with it.
These people often seem to just do stuff, and figure out why afterwards. That is just incredibly hard to accept for people with so much power.
And the problem here is escalation. The super rich have been getting away with everything for ages now. Remember the panama papers, and how absolutely nothing came from that? They are convinced that they are beyond the law, and they are probably correct. When you do a small crime, and get away with it, you may do a bigger crime afterwards. If you and all of your mates are getting away with literally anything they can think off, you will eventually get the impression that laws don't apply to you.
And the Epstein files seem to be going in the same direction.
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Northern Ireland26785 Posts
On March 05 2026 02:37 Simberto wrote:Show nested quote +On March 04 2026 23:20 Legan wrote: If any messaging from Trump and others is widely deemed bullshit, then the media and others should be direct about the reasons they think are real. Especially if there is no specific ideology or rationale in the actual reasoning. It is a waste of time to repeatedly analyse and dissect something that is just a cover for getting rid of opposition or those labelled as enemies. Venezuela and Iran are considered enemies, so it is okay to eliminate them. Hegseth was very direct about this with his comment about rules of engagement.
Dealing with these people will be much easier when they are recognised as similar to past absolutist monarchs who believed in divine mandate. Instead of divine, simple superiority is enough for them to have a mandate. You can't change their view on their superiority in a meaningful timeframe. You need to actively stop them to undermine their delusion of superiority. It will make them angry, but they are already doing whatever they want.
Later, there needs to be a wider push for accountability to avoid anyone else with a delusion of superiority from causing massive damage. Epstein files are just the tip of the iceberg for some people getting away with everything. A core problem with this administration is that a lot of the stuff they do seems kind of irrational and vibe-based. Everyone wants people to be rational actors, even if they are their enemy. Because you can understand what rational people do, and why. You can even sometimes plan with it. These people often seem to just do stuff, and figure out why afterwards. That is just incredibly hard to accept for people with so much power. And the problem here is escalation. The super rich have been getting away with everything for ages now. Remember the panama papers, and how absolutely nothing came from that? They are convinced that they are beyond the law, and they are probably correct. When you do a small crime, and get away with it, you may do a bigger crime afterwards. If you and all of your mates are getting away with literally anything they can think off, you will eventually get the impression that laws don't apply to you. And the Epstein files seem to be going in the same direction. It probably didn’t help that the Panama papers didn’t massively capture the public imagination, which I find utterly bizarre but hey. Perhaps people just expect the powerful to be largely immune and apathetically shrug, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
On the bolded, 100%. Even if one broadly agrees with what this administration does, the way they do it should be of some concern
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