Recently in the Iran war: Trump has declared the mission complete, or nearly complete, or maybe complete in a few more weeks, but even if it’s complete now, he’s thinking of bombing them some more just for fun. Also, he’s asking all the American “allies” he has insulted with tariffs this past year for help clearing the Strait of Hormuz, and they have declined or not responded, while dolts like Newt Gingrich suggest using nuclear bombs to clear a new pathway that avoids the Strait. These people are clueless.
Thus.
Paul Krugman, 16 Mar 2026: No, America is Not Respected, subtitled “Thanks to Trump, we’re held in contempt even by our closest allies”
There’s a real Baghdad Bob feel to pronouncements from the Trump administration these days. The war is going great! We’ve been totally victorious! Also, other countries — including China! — must immediately send ships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, which the U.S. Navy isn’t doing because it’s too dangerous.
But this has been the pattern ever since Trump returned to power. Despite repeated failures to deliver on his campaign promises — remember how he was going to cut energy prices in half? — he and his minions have continually insisted that everything is wonderful, that everything they do is a triumphant success story. And he’s still doing it. On Thursday he told a rally that
Inflation is plummeting, incomes are rising, the economy is roaring back and America is respected again.
As I and others have documented ad nauseam, none of those economic assertions are true. Today, however, I want to focus on the bolded claim. Trump constantly insists, in speeches and social media posts, that he took over a weak, despised nation and restored its international reputation. This is clearly something that matters a lot to him and his sense of self-worth.
It’s also the total opposite of the truth.
While Trump’s fans know only what they see on Fox News. MAGA exists in a bubble unaware of what the rest of the world thinks of them.
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Also from Paul today: In Front of Trump’s Nose, subtitled “How George Orwell foresaw the Iran debacle”
A 5-minute video.
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Robert Reich, 16 Mar 2026: Trump’s Stupidest Cabinet Member, subtitled “A hard call, but there’s a clear winner”
At a press briefing on Friday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth complained about a CNN report that the Trump administration had underestimated Iran’s ability to disrupt global oil traffic by closing the Strait of Hormuz.
“Patently ridiculous,” Hegseth told reporters, adding — even as the strait’s blockage was proving to be Iran’s most powerful leverage in the war — we “don’t need to worry about it.” He also denied that the U.S. bombed the school where some 175 children were killed. Hegseth added that, as to CNN, “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”
These remarks are remarkably stupid, on several levels.
As Reich goes on to explain.
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Hegseth seems not to understand the point of “rules of engagement” in war, and apparently he doesn’t understand “no quarter” either.
Axios, 15 Mar 2026: Hegseth’s “no quarter” Iran talk alarms legal experts
Via JMG, which quotes Sen. Mark Kelly:
“No quarter” isn’t some wanna be tough guy line – it means something. An order to give no quarter would mean to take no prisoners and kill them instead. That would violate the law of armed conflict. It would be an illegal order.
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Briefly noted.
- Looney tunes. The Daily Best, 15 Mar 2026: Trumpy Billionaire Challenges Pope With Secret Antichrist Meetings Near Vatican
- The Bulwark, Jonathan Cohn, 15 Mar 2026: Meet the Horrified Grandparents Fighting for Vaccines, subtitled “They remember what diseases like measles are really like—and want the rest of America to know before it’s too late.”
- Yes or no, have you stopped beating your wife? The Bulwark, Angus S King, Jr, 15 Mar 2026: The Voter Fraud Fraud, subtitled “There just isn’t evidence of significant election cheating — but that won’t stop the GOP from pushing its dangerous SAVE America Act.” Because if you don’t support this pointless act (actual voter fraud is minuscule), you must be wanting to commit voter fraud, right?
- John Pavlovitz, 15 Mar 2026: Conservative Christians are Deporting Jesus, Killing the Church, and Making Atheists. Black and white thinking: believers will be saved, everyone else are eternally doomed and condemned by God. They’re not helping their cause.
- We all told you this would happen. NY Times, 15 Mar 2026: To Address Farm Labor Shortage, Trump Administration Turns to Migrant Workers, subtitled “As the president’s immigration policies squeeze an already tight supply of farm labor, the Trump administration is making it cheaper to hire foreign farmworkers.”
- And cruel. The idiots cutting all government grants that ChatGPT identified as DEI. JMG, 15 Mar 2026: DOGE Bros Gleefully Testify About Cutting “DEI Grants”. From ABC News, worth quoting:
“You don’t regret that people might have lost important income … to support their lives?” an attorney asked Cavanaugh about the grant cancellations.
“No. I think it was more important to reduce the federal deficit from $2 trillion to close to zero,” Cavanaugh said.
“Did you reduce the federal deficit?” the attorney asked.
“No, we didn’t,” Cavanaugh said.
