Comments on: Open thread 3/2/2025

By: Selfy

Selfy — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:19:58 +0000

Before the Watergate tapes, “expletives” were called “swearing,” “dirty words,” “four letter words,” “foul language,” “profanity,” “poor language,” etc. Those were better days.

By: miguel cervantes

miguel cervantes — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 15:01:17 +0000

glenn beck called in the CRINK, China Russian Iran and North Korea, I don’t know if this a new coinage, seems to work off the BRIC alliance, it was his term for the the anti Western alliance, that operates in coordination if not collusion,

ah Jeffries, related to Leonard the Afro centric fmr?? CCNY professor,

discover the networks has the receipts,

much of the West has been paying jizda to the Iranian regime for two generations,

By: Art Deco

Art Deco — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 14:41:53 +0000

Maclin Horton’s been publishing on Substak
==
https://notliterature.substack.com/p/beethoven-string-quartet-13-opus

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 14:26:21 +0000

Freakin’ INSANE, eh?
Freakin’ BACK TO THE FUTURE, eh?

Well in that case…
Freakin’ J’accuse…
Eh?

By: Barry Meislin

Barry Meislin — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 14:24:49 +0000

No, not all “strongmen” are created equal. (Looks like it’s time to reread(?) Jeanne Kirkpatrick….)

By: om

om — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 05:26:12 +0000

If innocent’s in our country are not killed by a Muslim of some sort seeking to avenge the mullahs we will be very lucky.

It is what they do, or haven’t you noticed?

By: Niketas Choniates

Niketas Choniates — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 04:49:14 +0000

@Another Mike:What is your confidence level of finding a dedicated Muslim holy man who will actually keep his word. At no point did I say that the US should seek such a solution. I was describing something I thought is likely to happen, not advocating for it. If I had to deal with such people I would do so with the maxim "pour encourager les autres." That said, the US has quite a few Muslim allies. Some of them are helping fight Iran right now. They are in harm's way, and we are not, and we do well to remember that we here are free to advocate anything we like, and innocents in our country are very unlikely to die of the consequences, which is not so for those Muslim nations who have joined us against Iran.

By: Another Mike

Another Mike — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 02:47:02 +0000

Niketas– Your earlier solution (3/3, 3:32pm) — end game — had some level of mullah with hands on the wheel. What is your confidence level of finding a dedicated Muslim holy man who will actually keep his word. His religion says lying/dishonesty in dealing with infidels is allowed to further the progress of “the profit’s” program. I say this with the negotiations recently abandoned freshly in mind.

Anyone who was an adult when last there was some level of self-actualization in Iran is now somewhere near 70 years of age. There is no one, or very few, who lived in Iran in more recent times who has any idea, let alone experience, with self-governance. Would returning ex-pat be welcomed?

By: neo

neo — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 01:09:45 +0000

Niketas:

We might indeed still do it if we considered the danger great enough. But the “it” that we would do might be more like what we did last summer rather than what we’re doing now. We wouldn’t aim to decapitate the regime, just to defang it.

Perhaps.

By: Niketas Choniates

Niketas Choniates — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:41:45 +0000

@neo:I don’t know what principle you’re referring to.

The principle that Iran should end up mullah-free, or any kind of free at all. That they are no longer ruled by someone who threatens the United States, that’s the thing that matters.

It depends what they’re saying and doing vis a vis the US and our other allies, plus how vulnerable they are, and whether their people are supportive of them or not.

Right, we’re not disagreeing except maybe on that last one. If the people of Iran whole-heartedly supported the mullahs the way the Gazans seem to support Hamas, for example, I doubt it would make any difference except in our narratives for why we’re doing what we’re doing, but we’d still do it.