the-pi-guy said:
I am usually more pessimistic personally. This just feels like the admin doesn't have a plan, and is not smart enough to understand any other lever other than attacking someone. They don't actually seem to be smart enough to know how to attack someone, considering they lost a few jets for basically no reason. Actually using diplomacy would probably be the best option. But even ignoring things like diplomacy, there are still other options. At one point, the government is believed to have used a virus to destroy a portion of Iran's nuclear capabilities: Stuxnet The administration just seems so stupid and antagonistic that they're likely just going to get people killed. And it does seem fortunate right now, that this is something that most conservatives even seem to be pushing back on. Hopefully that continues. |
I'm still pessimistic on that score. The Senate just voted, 47-53, almost entirely along party lines - Fetterman joined the Republicans in the vote - to refuse to review Trump's war powers, which means he has carte blanche to do what he wants. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins didn't even bother to make their usual concerned noises this time before they voted with the party. And too many of my Republican acquaintances are not just accepting of the war, they're absolutely ecstatic, with at least a couple of them expressing joy that the U.S. is bombing Iran. No goals, mention of nuclear weapons, or anything like that - they're just happy that Iran is getting attacked. To them, it's justified punishment for Iran for the sacking of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, which was nearly half a century ago, and continuing to defy the United States. It's going to be difficult to get a 50/50 split in the Senate, and there is no road to the 67-33 majority that would be needed to convict Trump or any other member of his administraiton in an impeachment trial, which again means he's pretty much got a blank checkbook for cruelty.
The few bright spots I've seen are the more enthusiastic response to James Talarico in Texas compared to Cornyn vs. Paxton, Roy Cooper in North Carolina versus Michael Whatley, and polling in my own state that suggests that my governor, Katie Hobbs holds an advantage over her likely challenger, Andy Biggs, who is the front-runner over David Schweikert on the GOP side. Trump's favorite, Karrin Taylor-Robson, dropped out.
I'm really worried about the local elections this year because Hobbs, AG Kris Mayes, and SoS Adrian Fontes, have really helped shelter Arizona from the worse excesses of the Trump administration. Despite Arizona having the second longest border with Mexico after Texas, there have been no major ICE surges here, and Mayes has been a strong leader among blue state AGs in pushing back against the Trump administration. I absolutely shudder to think of what would be happening here if we had Kari Lake, Abe Hamadeh, and Mark Finchem in those positions instead. I spent 2023-2024 in Oklahoma to help my sister out, and noped the hell out of there by the end of 2024 because it is absolutely insane there. I don't want to see that insanity come to my home state.
Last edited by SanAndreasX - on 05 March 2026
