"There are many ways a country can decline. It can become poorer and weaker or lose its alliances or its technological edge.
But there is another, more insidious form of decline: a country can become stupider.
That is what has happened to American policymaking under Donald Trump."
~ Julie Roginsky
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism
/1
https://saltypolitics.substack.com/p/the-stupidification-of-american-policy
"This is a very stupid man who imagines he can—not just bully enemies as military strategy—but abuse allies and they’ll keep coming back for more.
Consider: Poor Donald Trump got a no from the UK’s Kier Starmer about joining the initial strikes on Iran and hesitated sending aircraft carriers to the region."
Steven Beschloss
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism
/2
"This very stupid man in the White House decided to make a public show of his contempt toward a historic ally who acted in the interests of his own nation."
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism
/3
"It turns out that Trump’s 'feeling' he could pull it off was baseless, perhaps a function of untreated malignant narcissism."
~ Jennifer Rubin
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism
/4
https://www.contrariannews.org/p/trumps-war-is-the-worst-conceived
"It’s difficult to select one of Trump’s Cabinet members as the stupidest. But Pete Hegseth stands out for sheer boneheaded ignorance.
Pray for America and the world."
~ Robert Reich
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #MalignantNarcissism #ignorance #BonheadedIgnorance
/5
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/trumps-stupidest-cabinet-member
"In the span of only sixty weeks, the military and economic alliances that shaped the 20th century, ensured relative* peace in the world, and signaled the arrival of a superpower unlike any the world had ever seen have been, functionally, broken."
~ Sam Osterhout
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/6
https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/winners-and-losers-small-men-want
"A stunning poll from Politico — just released, but taken last month — confirms what I and other observers strongly suspected: America is now widely despised, despised like nobody has ever been despised before.
I don’t mean that we’re disliked, although that too."
~ Paul Krugman
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/8
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/no-america-is-not-respected
"But this isn’t a case of oderint dum metuant — let them hate so long as they fear. Instead, the world increasingly holds America in contempt. ...
What’s especially depressing about that Politico poll is that it was taken a month ago. That is, it reflects international attitudes before the debacle in Iran."
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/9
"The response to the Trump’s trial balloon of a global coation to provide escorts was decidedly negative. ...
Trump is just beginning to understand the ramifications of trash-talking our allies for the last year. Having been dismissed and demeaned, they are in no hurry to help the US fix the crisis that Trump created."
~ Robert B. Hubbell
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/10
"Donald Trump drew a backlash on Sunday for suggesting US efforts to protect the Strait of Hormuz were unnecessary – and that 'maybe we shouldn’t even be there at all' because his country has plenty of oil of its own."
~ Richard Luscombe
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/12
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/16/trump-backlash-iran-war
"The president made the contradictory comment to reporters on Air Force One after pleading with European and Nato allies to enter the war in Iran to help the US secure the strait amid the largest oil supply disruption in history."
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/13
UPDATE ON THE HORMUZ COALITION (Mon, March 16):
🇫🇷 France: REJECTED
🇬🇧 UK: REJECTED
🇮🇹 Italy: REJECTED
🇪🇸 Spain: REJECTED
🇯🇵 Japan: REJECTED
🇳🇴 Norway: REJECTED
🇨🇦 Canada: REJECTED
🇦🇺 Australia: REJECTED
🇩🇪 Germany: REJECTED
🇨🇳 China: NO RESPONSE
🇳🇱 Netherlands: NO RESPONSE
🇰🇷 South Korea: NO CONFIRMATION
~ News Eye
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #NATO #Canada #allies
/14
https://bsky.app/profile/newseye.bsky.social/post/3mh63vwfodc2m
UPDATE ON THE HORMUZ COALITION (Mon, March 16): 🇫🇷 France: REJECTED 🇬🇧 UK: REJECTED 🇮🇹 Italy: REJECTED 🇪🇸 Spain: REJECTED 🇯🇵 Japan: REJECTED 🇳🇴 Norway: REJECTED 🇨🇦 Canada: REJECTED 🇦🇺 Australia: REJECTED 🇩🇪 Germany: REJECTED 🇨🇳 China: NO RESPONSE 🇳🇱 Netherlands: NO RESPONSE 🇰🇷 South Korea: NO CONFIRMATION
"Today, as the country enters its third week of war against Iran, President Donald J. Trump was on the golf course, illustrating the observation of journalist E.J. Dionne in the New York Times that 'from the very beginning of this war, we got a sense that there wasn’t a great deal of serious thought put into it'" (continued in /16)
~ Heather Cox Richardson
(continued from /15)
"'by the president of the United States about how it might end, what our objectives were, what needed to be done to protect Americans who are in the Middle East, what might happen to oil in the Strait of Hormuz.'”
"According to the Daily Beast and NBC4, family members of Tech Sgt. Tyler Simmons, one of six U.S. airmen killed when a refueling aircraft crashed during operations tied to the Iran war, criticized the conflict as unnecessary and said his death could have been prevented. ...
Their comments came as President Donald Trump spent the weekend golfing…."
~ Aaron Parnas
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity
/17
https://aaronparnas.substack.com/p/major-update-family-of-fallen-service
Good evening everyone.
"A SUNDAY NIGHT CRASHOUT: Trump put up more than 1,600 words across multiple posts on Truth Social last night, all of them furious."
~ Jack Blanchard and Dasha Burns
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity
/18
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2026/03/16/trumps-sunday-night-crashout-00829461
"The President appears to be having some kind of a mental breakdown tonight, which is what you want from a Commander-in-Chief during war."
~ Jon Favreau
"The foolery reached new heights over the weekend as President Trump veritably begged other nations, including rival China, to rescue him from his self-own in the Strait of Hormuz. …
The headlines are almost comical:
WaPo: Trump urges world to help open Strait of Hormuz
Politico: Trump demands ‘about 7′ countries join coalition to police Iran’s Strait of Hormuz"
~ David Kurtz
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #Canada #NATO #allies
/20
https://morningmemo.talkingpointsmemo.com/p/desperate-trump-begs-for-help-to
"WSJ: White House Tries to Build Coalition on Iran to Address Energy Crisis
Bloomberg: Trump Floats Xi Summit Delay If China Doesn’t Help in Hormuz
NYT: Nations Respond With Caution to Trump’s Call to Send Warships to Strait of Hormuz
While accurate, the headlines don’t quite do justice the mix of magical thinking, narcissistic indignation, and pseudo-economics Trump spent the weekend trafficking in."
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #Canada #NATO #allies
/21
"Two brutal lessons from the Strait of Hormuz crisis:
1. No matter how powerful your navy or how big your superpower status, if geography isn’t in your favour, you’re stuck.
2. Treat your allies with respect."
~ Brown Reporter
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #Canada #NATO #allies
/22
https://www.threads.com/@brownreporterofficial/post/DV7fBrGDHzv
Two brutal lessons from the Strait of Hormuz crisis: 1. No matter how powerful your navy or how big your superpower status, if geography isn’t in your favour, you’re stuck. 2. Treat your allies with respect. Because when you’ve spent years bullying and humiliating them, pulling out of alliances, slapping tariffs, threatening to abandon NATO and then one day you desperately need them to help you open a 33km strait, don’t be surprised when nobody is in a rush to answer your call.
"Because when you’ve spent years bullying and humiliating them, pulling out of alliances, slapping tariffs, threatening to abandon NATO and then one day you desperately need them to help you open a 33km strait, don’t be surprised when nobody is in a rush to answer your call."
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #Canada #NATO #allies
/23
“'Demand their participation'? 'Calling upon the world to take care of this problem'? Mike Waltz’s dumb boss (and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu) decided to do this dumb shit. The rest of the world does not have to be dragged because after they dove into this without consulting them, Leroy Jenkins-style."
~ Michael Mora
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity #Europe #Canada #NATO #allies
/24
https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-idiots-demand-worlds-help-winning
"Major media aren’t paying enough attention to how Israel’s Bibi Netanyahu manipulated Trump into the war. Early on, WaPo had a strong story about Netanyahu’s prodding, and the NYT has addressed the risks of the U.S.-Israel war alliance. But more must be written."
~ Mark Jacob
#Trump #Hegseth #Netanyahu #Bibi #Iran #war #stupidity #media
/25
https://www.stopthepresses.news/p/trump-cant-handle-the-truth-about
"I have been saying since the beginning that America is playing checkers while Iran plays chess, but it’s worse than that. American leadership is utterly incoherent: We won, but we need help. We hate our allies; but will our adversaries please come bail us out?"
Jonathan V. Last
"Meanwhile Iranian leadership survived a transition of power in the midst of war, achieved its strategic objective in closing the strait, and is now looking to leverage China’s rising economic ambitions against the United States."
"Iran’s actions are what’s known as a 'horizontal' escalation, meaning a widening of the war to involve more parties and more pain for all.
Now comes the Hobson’s choice: Trump can double down on the war by escalating U.S. attacks and committing us to even greater military involvement. Or he can cut our losses sooner and admit political defeat.
~ Jay Kuo
#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #stupidity
/28
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/trump-faces-a-hobsons-choice-in-iran
"So, guess what Trump has “chosen” to do?
Trump has elected to escalate the war in Iran over the coming weeks. …
The only true choice Trump has is to withdraw U.S. forces from the region, whether he does it sooner or much later. …
Trump’s problem, and therefore ours too, is his own pride and ego."
Trump and Hegseth do not even seem to understand that their *action* in last june, without follow up, did, in fact, allow Iran government to understand that *this* would happen, and organize its defense to be able to still fight, even after killing all the leaders
in fact, june 2025 was *stupid*, because "Forewarned is forearmed" 🤔
Also: asymmetric warfare will explicitly take advantage of your weaknesses. You will always have weaknesses, large and small to be exploited.
@wdlindsy
RE
#narcissistic indignation, and pseudo #economics #Trump spent the weekend trafficking in
damn strait !
I heard on #MSNOW that #Iran will not interfere with oil tankers if the currency payment is #RMB (renminbi) commonly called #Yuan
Actually the leftwing news reports (past few days) oil IS PASSING #Hormuz if going to China and the rightwing news says total blockage
The History of Why Oil Is Sold in Dollars
https://www.faf.ae/home/2026/3/16/why-iran-wants-oil-paid-in-chinese-currency-at-the-worlds-most-critical-oil-passage-beginners-guide-to-petrodollars-and-the-hormuz-strategy
Executive Summary In March 2026, Iran said it might let oil tanker ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz — one of the most important sea passages in the world — but only if the oil is paid for in Chinese yuan, not US dollar. This is a huge deal. For about 50 years, almost all oil in the world h
Maybe they'll soon trot out "police action" instead of "war"!
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