The Art of War

 

We have all had the experience. You have a friend or relative. He or she has a serious problem, such as booze, drugs, gambling, etc. Their life is going down the tubes. Everyone knows they should take a hard look in the mirror and change course. Instead, they double down, open another bottle, and head for the bottom.

Witness New York.

 

I Love Public Iranian Funerals

(Zero Hedge) Nothing screams ‘total victory’ quite like parading caskets through Tehran for commanders and scientists the IDF tagged like clay pigeons.”

And is the Ayatollah joining the ceremony, or is he still livestreaming courage from the Allahbunker?”

Hundreds of thousands of people are in the streets of Tehran on Saturday for a funeral procession honoring military commanders, nuclear scientists, as well as civilians killed in Israeli strikes earlier this month.

State television broadcast scenes of mourners dressed in black, waving Iranian flags, and holding photos of the deceased during the ceremony. It further involved Iranian flag-draped coffins and large displays of portraits depicting slain uniformed commanders in central Tehran.

I love the martyrdom of Hassan even more when they beat their heads with the flats of swords, but that’s just me enjoying a Tehran parade.

 

Middle East Wars and so Forth

I’ve had friends who thought that the most recent wars in the Middle East would trigger Jesus’ return, and they feel let down that it didn’t go like that – genocidal war, World War Three, and all that. They were disappointed in me that I didn’t buy into that narrative. Today isn’t Sunday, so there will be no sermonette today.

It’s been interesting to watch the reactions to Trump’s bombing of Iran, especially since there are very few things that we agree on as a nation. Our recent election results have all been within a handful of points of 50/50, and the job approval ceiling for the last several presidents appears to be right around 50%. In that context, you’d think the Twelve-Day War in Iran – assuming that the fighting is now over –would seem to be an extreme outlier, since there has rarely been such a one-sided modern battle.

Israel’s record victory in the Six-Day War in 1967 will likely never be topped. (One of my all-time favorite t-shirts is a white one with the blue Star of David on it, and the words, “Six Days, B*itch.”) And even the first Gulf War took a little over a month.

The speed of this victory, along with the moral lopsidedness of the combatants – no one but Iran’s ruling theocratic dictatorship and their terrorist clients could side with them – is also unusual in most conflicts among states. You would have to be a deranged lunatic to side with the mullahs over Israel and us. (Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… Keith Olbermann.)

There were Israel’s stunning successes against Iran before this war, and then during the lightning strikes and coordinated strategic destruction of military targets, along with decapitating the cream of the Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists. It’s amazing to think about how much they’ve accomplished in a year!

They decimated Hezbollah with the brilliant pager plot, along with targeted strikes on all of their top leaders, and did the same to Hamas with their relentless attacks on the terror forces of October 7th. They contributed to the weakening of the Assad regime in Syria by eliminating much of their navy and air force. When Assad fled to Russia, Israel wisely flew strikes that took out most of their remaining ships, planes, missiles, and chemical weapons so that they wouldn’t fall into the hands of Assad’s successors.

They also took out much of Iran’s air force over the last year, and in the early hours of their attacks this month, they took out the rest, along with the leaders who would have organized a military response and possible counterstrikes. Their successes meant that our bombing run against Iran’s nuke sites posed fewer risks than it otherwise would have.

All of this put the Democrats in a very tough position, partly because too many elite Dems and their activist base really dislike America, and partly because the successes of one party always make for bad politics for their competitors.

If Biden’s program – allowing millions of illegals into the country, spending like a meth addict with a trust fund, forcing dudes into girls’ sports and lockerrooms, imposing draconian covid mandates and lockdowns on healthy people – had succeeded, our election prospects last year would have been dismal.

It’s been entertaining to watch all of the hysterical reactions from Never Trumpers and the left during the lead-up to our bombing. Particular favorites in a crowded field were the articles and speeches of David Frum and Chuck-you Schumer, which aged like milk left out in the summer sun. Frum published an article in The Atlantic (motto: Wrong About Everything Since 1857) entitled, “What Iran Knows About Trump: The Mullahs of Iran Join the Bet that Trump Always Chickens Out.”

I’m going to see if I can get The Atlantic to publish my companion piece to Frum’s. I’m calling it, “What David Frum Knows About Trump… Could Fit in a Thimble.” Frum also tweeted that, “’ Two Weeks’ is what Trump says when he’s backing away from a commitment he did not mean.” What makes those even funnier? They both appeared on June 21st, the very day that Trump was rocking the Iranian Casbah (sing it with me, “Khameni don’t like it…”) instead of chickening out, as Frum-py knew he would. Schumer got in earlier, but just as stupidly. He put out a video a few weeks ago warning that Trump was going to fold to the mullahs and make a secret deal. “If Taco Trump is already folding, the American public should know about it,” he croaked. He sneered that Trump was “gonna sound tough in public and then negotiate a side deal that lets Iran get away with everything.” And give him credit, because he was half right: Trump did sound tough in public.

However, he then dropped the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, also known as the MOP. That is not gay slang, no matter how much it sounds like it.

I assume that everyone has noticed Schumer’s evident physical decline. He was briefly taken to the hospital a day ago for a breathing scare, but he was losing it long before that. He’s getting more and more hunched-over every time I see him; right now he’s got the posture of a jumbo shrimp, or possibly the letter “c,” and that gives him a creepy Nosferatu-ian vibe when he crouches over a podium and hollers at us while glaring from over the top of his glasses. Do any politicians ever retire anymore?

Unfortunately, Tucker Carlson has continued his precipitous slide from being a thoughtful and insightful guy into either a dumb hack or a dishonest one. Shortly before Trump gave the mullahs the MOP, Tucker was on Steve Bannon’s podcast raving about the apocalyptic consequences if Trump did anything to Iran. He said it would signal “the end of the American Empire” and of Trump’s presidency, and predicted that we’d lose thousands of soldiers in another Iraq situation. And he mocked the idea that the argument isn’t between those who want to use quick strikes to prevent Iran from getting nukes, and those who want to rely on drawn-out negotiations (which, spoiler alert, have been tried and failed miserably for the last several decades).

For Tucker, “The real divide is between those who casually encourage violence and those who seek to prevent it – between warmongers and peacemakers.” That sounds like something that Bernie Sanders, AOC, or the ghost of Howard Zinn could have written. Speaking of AOC (she of the juicy booty, according to her), she and half the Democrats in Congress ran to microphones or X. They immediately started calling for the impeachment of Trump (unexpectedly) and decrying his horrific, unconstitutional act of bombing without getting Congress’ permission first.

No one has told them that every president since HW Bush has done that, or that Obama dropped thousands of bombs without Congress’ permission in just the last several months of his reign of terror—I mean, administration.

The left is now waving Iranian flags as a symbol of their solidarity against President Trump (they still wave Mexican and Hamas flags but the Iranian flags are now more democrat – more of an ideal. Here is a modest sampling of illegal activities in Iran: apostasy (leaving Islam), blasphemy, homosexuality, and adultery can all get you the death penalty. You can’t criticize the ayatollah – God’s anointed on Earth, drink alcohol, or dissent online. Women can’t sing or dance in public or attend stadiums, and they are required to wear pup tents or beekeeper outfits. You can get up to 74 lashes for holding hands or kissing in public, and any same-sex relationships – even if, and I am quoting, they are “non-penetrative” – will get you lashes, prison, or worse.” (I’m no relationship-ologist, but if your sexual relationships are non-penetrative, I’m pretty sure you’re doing something wrong.) (But hey, you do you?) However, I didn’t even need to read about any of those laws, because they had me at #19: Dog ownership is banned because dogs are considered “unclean.” (They couldn’t possibly be referring to WSF’s loyal hound, Banner.)

I’ve seen those mullahs’ lice-y looking beards, and I’ve read about their goat brides – not to mention the goat chlamydia outbreaks that routinely sweep through the Iranian leadership – so I don’t think they should be throwing any stones about cleanliness from inside their glass mosques. Am I saying that the Iranians deserved a devastating bombing campaign because of the way they treat dogs? I’m saying we should have that conversation.

The mullahs have a lot in common with Dr. Fauci, who enjoyed experimenting on dogs for the joy of inflicting pain.

 

Brace for Monsoon Weather

The splash zone is identified in this graphic representation of coming UNPRECEDENTED weather because all weather these days is unprecedented.

The standard precipitation in Northern Arizona is usually divided equally between summer monsoon and winter snow. Standard or not, this year will be unparalleled as climate change (global warming and cooling) continues to plague us until we can resolve the issue of the weather tax.

 

Bullet Points:

** Tucker Carlson: “Jen Griffin is a liar, but also very liberal. A true Trump hater. To the point that I complained about her when I worked at Fox. It was emotional. She’s an idiot, she doesn’t tell the truth, she misleads the viewers, and she’s a screaming liberal.”

** North of Wickenburg (AZ), if you turn off 89 at Iron Springs Road, you will come to Skull Valley before arriving in Prescott. Once a train stop, it still has the general store building built in 1916, and gas pumps added later across the street. That building is now a restaurant. I haven’t eaten there yet, so I can’t rate it for you.

** If you have a nose ring, we all know who you’re voting for.

** Moderate elements within the Iranian regime may be using Supreme Leader and Ayatollah-for-life Ali Khamenei’s isolation during the Israel-Iran War to try to exert greater political influence. Four unspecified senior Iranian officials told the New York Times that senior Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, and Armed Forces General Staff Chief Major General Abdol Rahim Mousavi, are part of a faction that supports a pragmatic and diplomatic approach to the conflict with the United States and Israel. The New York Times report about pragmatic and hardline factions vying for decision-making authority follows earlier indications of internal fissures in the government.

** Music with MRSBRM.

** “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” ~Ray Bradbury

 

Define Fair Share

 

Goodbye, Chairman Xi?

Zhang Youxia, with whom Xi had a major falling out after helping Xi secure an unprecedented third five-year term, is now the de facto leader of the PLA.

The “un-naming” of Xi’s father’s mausoleum last month was unprecedented. The mausoleum, which Xi has built to honor his late father, was larger than the mausoleums of either Mao’s or Deng’s.

Rumors abound that Xi will be gone in August and replaced. Whether he’s retired or relegated to a ceremonial role remains to be seen. Some contend that his health is failing. That happens to Chinese dictators.

 

Identify the Aircraft

1

Peruvian livery – but it didn’t originate there.

 

2

 

3

 

Identify the Ship

4

Ok, it’s a fake Photoshop. I hope you had a moment…

 

End