John Carlos Baez14h ago

It's a truly depressing day, waiting to see what will be the whims of a mad king whom we failed to stop in time. What would it be like to be in Iran now?

Erika Solomon and Sanam Mahoozi of the New York Times give a taste of it. I'll just quote:

With President Trump’s deadline to unleash mass destruction on Iran just hours away on Tuesday, Iranians faced the threats with a mix of indifference, defiance and bewilderment.

"The first thing that came to my mind is that I think Trump is under a lot of pressure, and that he has lost his mind,” said Lili, who works in the arts scene in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Lili said she and her family had made no contingency plans at all, and they were not planning to flee Tehran. They were not stocking up on goods, or bracing to hole up at home. “We need to continue with our lives,” she said, adding there was no clear haven to flee to: Attacking infrastructure meant almost anywhere could become a target.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/world/middleeast/iran-shock-defiance-trump-deadline-threat.html

Iranians Voice Shock and Defiance in Face of Trump’s Looming Deadline

President Trump has threatened devastating attacks if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Some Iranians questioned what had happened to American values.

The New York Times
Show threadMartin Escardo

@johncarlosbaez

“The government you elect is the government you deserve.”
― Thomas Jefferson

The problem is that the rest of the world didn't elect this person.

I don't think the rest of the world deserves that.

7:51pmWeb
Show threadJohn Carlos Baez10h ago
@MartinEscardo - The "you" in Jefferson's quote is a bit ambiguous - is it singular or plural? I don't believe that I personally deserve this government. I certainly didn't personally elect it: I fought against it, and warned everyone about what was coming, for years. So I hope it's plural. But it doesn't matter much whether I deserve it: that's that government I got, and that's what everyone has got.
Show threadMartin Escardo10h ago
@johncarlosbaez Maybe I was implicitly alluding to the fact that some people in one particular country elect somebody, and then this person causes havoc in that country and all countries in the world.
Show threadJohn Carlos Baez9h ago
@MartinEscardo - that's certainly true.
Show threadMr. ZER09h ago
@MartinEscardo @johncarlosbaez
First time seeing that quote, I don't necessarily agree on the "deserve" part lol, I personally didn't vote for that clown but "we" the american people are to a degree at fault for the havoc that Trump or the federal government of america does but at the same time, the american people voice or their vote has little influence over government actions. I believe the overwhelming majority are against this conflict with Iran and a lot of the BS america does
Show threadpolnasam4h ago
@MartinEscardo @johncarlosbaez Some of the rest-of-the-world elected others who condone this bully cogenocider either explicitly or implicitly, and either at the national or supranational level -my dear EU... So, blame would be spread after all. Not that I find any comfort on that.