Firehose #184: It’s Friday, I’m in War

Also: Ana Kasparian’s goyim revolt

It’s always in the wee, small hours of a Friday night, innit? Have been trained at this point to not write these things until morning has broken on the Sabbath….

Why have we launched yet another undeclared war in the Middle East? (One that has reportedly already killed the once-supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.) Probably the most accurate explanation uttered by President Donald Trump in his pre-dawn, white-hatted bombing announcement was (after a recitation of historical crimes), “We’re not going to put up with it any longer.” Other specific justifications:

Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime….Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world. […]

Iran is the world’s number one state sponsor of terror, and just recently killed tens of thousands of its own citizens on the street as they protested. It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon.

Having urged the Iranian opposition six weeks ago to “KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!... HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” only to see the Islamic Republic mow down untold thousands of dissidents just after, Trump is now telling rebels to carpe the diem:

[T]o the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.

For many years, you have asked for America’s help. But you never got it. No president was willing to do what I am willing to do tonight. Now you have a president who is giving you what you want. So let’s see how you respond. America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny, and to unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach. This is the moment for action. Do not let it pass.

Trump added in a morning phone call with the Washington Post, “All I want is freedom for the people.”

If the progression of those justifications/emphases seems familiar, it is. What starts as (mostly) unilateral enforcement of nuclear nonproliferation progresses to a broader brief about stanching the export of regional terror, then expands to full-on regime change in the name of freedom. Trump thinks he can accomplish these tasks on the comparative cheap: Vice President J.D. Vance told the Washington Post Thursday that, “The idea that we’re going to be in a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sight — there is no chance that will happen.” But as the presidency of Delcy Rodriguez, the post-Gadaffi implosion of Libya, and the ongoing misrule of the Taliban all illustrate, war tends to generate unforeseen consequences.

We will no doubt be yakking about this war in the immediate future. Some reactions from selected recent guests, ranked in reverse chronological order of their appearances:

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D—Mich.), guest on this week’s #546:

President Trump hasn’t made his case to the American people. He hasn’t laid out the goals or the imminent threat posed by Iran that justifies risking a wider regional war. And he hasn’t followed the Constitution and brought this issue before Congress before committing our nation to war.

Here’s a clip from our YouTube page of Slotkin on that subject:

John Bolton (#544):

Launching military strikes to effect regime change in Tehran is the most consequential decision of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Trump has every right to eliminate threats from the ayatollahs, the IRGC, and Iran’s nuclear-weapons program. This mission is completely justifiable and necessary. The regime must fall, and the opposition needs the support of the West.

The Iranian regime has killed thousands of Americans and chanted “Death to America” for decades. It’s beyond a shadow of a doubt that regime change in Iran is in America’s best interests.

Sen. Rand Paul (R—Ky.) [Members Only #301]:

The Constitution conferred the power to declare or initiate war to Congress for a reason, to make war less likely.

Madison wrote that “the Executive Branch is the branch most prone to war, therefore, the Constitution, with studied care, delegated the war power to the legislature.”

As with all war, my first and purest instinct is wish Americans soldiers safety and success in their mission.

But my oath of office is to the Constitution, so with studied care, I must oppose another Presidential war.

No specific reaction yet from Ana Kasparian (M.O. #295), though the Young Turk did distinguish herself this week by tweeting, “Hey, bitch, the goyim are waking the fuck up. Deal with it,” and then responding to the ensuing furor by pinning to her feed:

I do not regret this comment. I don’t apologize.

Israel is evil, genocidal and has destroyed our country. They’re about to drag us into another war and all we hear from Israelis and their braindead supporters is “ANTISEMITE” if you disagree with Israel’s agenda. They smear you to silence you and all the Jewish individuals who don’t subscribe to their disgusting behavior.

Israel loves to play victim as they bomb 7 countries, steal land and openly air their genocidal intentions. THEY are the immoral ones. It is a stain on our country that we consider them allies.

It will be fascinating to see the responses from people who have positioned themselves as being both pro-Trump and critical of Israel….

* We talked near the end of #546 about the administration’s belligerence toward Anthropic, which has since devolved into Trump ordering all federal agencies to cease work with the A.I. company. Here’s a clip:

* For those who can remember that far back, we had a State of the Union Address this past Tuesday, before which I wrote a piece for Reason talking about the cruel math of the presidential Six-Year Itch, and making this accurate if obvious prediction:

So: a laundry list of exaggerated and misstated accomplishments, particularly about the economy; a dog’s breakfast of micromeasures that would use the heavy hand of the federal government to force down some prices, punctuated by potshots at the Supreme Court, some semiquincentennial pep talks, and a 12-minute standing ovation for the gold medal–winning U.S. hockey team. Trump may not get his Nobel Peace Prize, but he has at least a 50–50 chance of breaking his own all-time record for minutes spent babbling from the throne.

* Speaking of sixth-year SOTUs, don’t sleep on the Middle East democracy promotion of 2006 George W. Bush:

Abroad, our Nation is committed to an historic, long-term goal: We seek the end of tyranny in our world. Some dismiss that goal as misguided idealism. In reality, the future security of America depends on it. On September the 11th, 2001, we found that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state 7,000 miles away could bring murder and destruction to our country. Dictatorships shelter terrorists, and feed resentment and radicalism, and seek weapons of mass destruction. Democracies replace resentment with hope, respect the rights of their citizens and their neighbors, and join the fight against terror. Every step toward freedom in the world makes our country safer, so we will act boldly in freedom’s cause.

* Marrying the subjects of SOTU and Iran was Friday’s edition of the Tangle News podcast Suspension of the Rules, which included familiar Fifdom fave Eli Lake (#52, #65, #141, #174, Special Dispatch #51, #326, #368, #407, M.O. #184, M.O. #244):

* My Reason colleague Nick Gillespie (S.D. #72, #379, M.O. #251) had on his podcast this week none other than former transportation secretary and current maybe-sorta presidential wannabe Pete Buttigieg:

* For those of you non-paying subscribers who cannot enjoy our ongoing miniseries, “The Revolutionaries,” here’s a taste of what you missed out on this week’s episode w/ Ken Layne:

* Time for Producer Jason’s Video Vault!

Possibly the only thing worse than the stress of trying to keep your shit together during an aerial bombardment is the addition of a fucking haunting to the mix. That’s the scenario of Babek Anvari’s Under the Shadow. Set in 1980s Tehran during the Iran-Iraq war, the film is an exercise in psychological terror that blends real world war trauma with the supernatural. After her husband is called into military service, Shideh (played by Narges Rashidi) and her daughter Dorsa remain in Tehran despite the intensifying conflict, which soon hits home quite literally. While other families wisely abandon the apartment complex, Shideh and Dorsa remain – partially because the child refuses to leave without her beloved doll … which she believes is – somehow – in an upper level of the bombed-out building. From there, shit gets weird. Be sure to set the audio to the original Persian language and not the grating Amercian-English dubbed version! Trailer:

* Comment of the Week comes from deejaybee:

I’m a fan of those ‘60s/’70s Italian exploitation films often collectively known as “Giallo,” or, if it’s more of a cops ’n’ robbers crime flick, then “Poliziotteschi.” Henry Silva was in many of those, and my personal fave is one called Cry of a Prostitute from 1974. It is one of those films that would never get made today, even as an indie, given its unrelenting glorification of the bad guys doing bad things. I won’t describe what Silva’s character does here, except to hint that one such scene involves a reluctant woman and a pig carcass — let your imagination take it from there. It’s genuinely compelling and well made. I try to see them all even though I expect them to almost always disappoint, but Cry of a Prostitute was one of the few that checked all the salacious and sordid boxes. Recommend!

Sendoff goes to one of the creamiest voices in the history of rock & pop. A hard-working Brooklyn son-of-a-Mordechai, he fronted (and wrote songs for) a high school doo-wop group, dated Carole King (hence the song), wrote hits for Connie Francis & others out of the Brill Building, achieved solo stardom, got blown to smithereens by Beatlemania, then mounted a stirring comeback in the early ‘70s with the help of Elton John. A concert-quality pianist, prolific (500+) songwriter, and by all accounts just a very nice man. My favorite song of his is “Laughter in the Rain,” but this one is in the top 5, and has the added benefit of being described by none other than Darby Crash as having “all of punk right there -- you just had to get high and play that pure rock and roll just like that.” Here in 2007 with the dudes from Fountains of Wayne is the late, great Neil Sedaka: