I get Trump’s reticence in relation to military action against Iran. War is always incalculable in results. Once the guns go off, you never quite know how it will come out. Clearly, the Mullahs should never possess a nuclear weapon. The chances they’ll actually use one are low given Israel’s almost certain already existing nuclear deterrent, but the world can’t rely on Mullah reasonableness. Additionally, I have held since 1979 that the Iranian regime is a pestilence. And since the fall of the USSR, they have been the primary promoter of Islamist terrorism (good to remember that prior to the fall of the USSR, most Muslim terrorists officially adhered to some sort of Socialist program downplaying the Islamic element…but the only pay for it post 1991 has been Tehran, so the Socialism is muted and the Islamism emphasized). Bottom line, if the Mullah regime goes, the most likely outcome in the Middle East is a general peace settlement as there will be no one to pay for Islamist programs (another good thing to remember is that outside Iran and its proxies, Islamist propaganda these days is heavily suppressed in Muslim nations…sure, they’ll let you publish endless copies of Mein Kampf and anti-Semitism if the order of the day…but this “river to the sea” nonsense is kept under control). In my view, we should – if necessary – launch attacks to ensure Iran’s nuclear program is crippled (there is some doubt that Israel has a weapon – outside a nuke – which can reach the deepest buried elements).
But I’m going to trust Trump’s judgement on this. He does have access to a lot of information we don’t have and, very important, he has earned our trust. The man took a bullet for us. He’s reliable – even if he gets it wrong, the motivation will still be to do what is best for the USA. If he orders an attack, I support that – if he decides to hold off, I’ll support that.
Someone posted a video on X claiming to show an empty Los Angeles emergency room – with the narration claiming it is a horror as “our people” aren’t getting life-saving care. If true, what it means is that illegals aren’t using the ER as their primary care facility…which they routinely do, clogging up the system and costing everyone untold sums of money. If they’re refusing to do this out of fear of ICE, then that is what I voted for – illegals should be afraid to show their faces. They should live furtive lives in the shadows – impossible to rent a house, buy a car, get health care…because they aren’t supposed to be here. They can go back home and not have these problems.
We’re also getting more tear-jerker bits of propaganda about some of the deported – “she’s a grandma who has been here 30 years and she loves being in America”. Yeah, if she had the least bit of respect for America and Americans, she wouldn’t have come here illegally. We really need to get that across – illegally crossing our border is an insult. It is done by people with total contempt for the United States and our people.
And, guys, it has been a long time since the immigrant was a self-selected, hard-working person who wanted to build a better life. The floodgates were opened under Obama (and, really, even before that) and the word went out that the suckers in the USA would let you stay illegally and provide you housing, medical care, food and education…never asking you to contribute or develop any love for America. The people who flooded in – especially when Biden was in office – are leeches looking to live off the American people. They’re precisely the people who keep their home countries as dumps…voting for any conman who offers a free ride and cheering loudly each tin pot dictator in turn…and, of course, considering it a point of honor to help and protect criminal gangs. They all have to go.
ICE is reporting a 500% increase in assaults on their officers – all of this encouraged and orchestrated by the Democrats. They are all-in on illegals – this is insane but, really, they can’t do otherwise…an end to illegal immigration and the huge amounts of graft it begets is a death knell for the Democrat party. Already the DNC is being starved of funds…the more Trump does the less money the Democrats will have. And that’s just one of a score of problems here – each 750,000 illegals deported means one less Blue State House seat, even if the SC refuses to allow Trump to only count citizens in the census. They must fight like this and hope that some even turns the American people against Trump’s policies. I don’t see that happening – they probably don’t, either – but they’ll keep at it because they have no choice.
Blogs For Victory 
“Yeah, if she had the least bit of respect for America and Americans, she wouldn’t have come here illegally. “
Or, once here, started the process to legalize her status, once she realized she really did “like living here”. To be fair, the American government does bear some responsibility for this as it just looked the other way and tolerated this kind of scofflaw attitude. It was just too complicated to deal with, I guess.
I have known a lot of these people, good hard-working wonderful people who have just coasted along on the indifference of our government. And I don’t think they should be punished for it.
Back in Bush’s bogus “immigration reform” days, I suggested a plan which a lot of people, even a couple of the then-resident trolls, found acceptable. That was, and is, simple:
Establish a timeline for registration for people who have been here a certain number of years—let’s say ten. Registering would establish a legal status, allowing that person to legally remain here while being investigated. If there is a clean history, one of working and being responsible and not committing crimes, that person would then be given a long-term visa—-maybe 15 years. Maybe allow for it to be renewed one time. But when it expires, that person has to either have applied for permanent residency (after all, there would have been plenty of time to do this) or go back to his or her native country.
I think this acknowledges the complicity of the United States in letting this go on for so long, gives a lifeline to those who have respected this country (aside from the illegal entry, which to be fair was often a mere formality in past years) and acknowledges the responsibility of this country in the whole mess. There would be no “path to citizenship”. This would not be pure amnesty. There might be a fine associated with this. This would be a compromise.
Failure to register would call for immediate deportation. Those who took advantage of the Left’s open door policy would not be eligible. Sorry, and maybe it isn’t fair, but these people knew they were breaking the law and took advantage of a political calculation. Pay them $1000 for their trouble and for their transport back home and apologize for having put in office the kinds of people who use poor people in other countries to try to achieve political advantage.
To be fair, a huge amount of American corruption led us here…but, at bottom, the illegals still did what they did. If I wanted to go to another country, my first step is going to be finding out what is legally required for entry and then getting that done before I did so. Of course, someone who did go through your process post arrival would at least be showing some minimal respect for our country.
You are right, but I think it would be fair to make some accommodation for those who had tacit, if informal, approval to remain here for so long—especially if they have contributed to our society in some way, worked, paid taxes, and not committed crimes.
When you (we) make a mess, it is incumbent on us to try to fix it as well as we can, and when there is no clear or fair “fix” we have to compromise, and not let the perfect stand in the way of the good.
I am not talking about absolute amnesty. I am talking about making these people register, go through investigations, do paperwork, pay fines, and agree to a reduced and possibly temporary status to be able to remain here and continue with the lives they have been living. I am also talking about the messages this would send in the future, and to the younger family members.
“Why can’t Abuelo vote?” “Because when he came here he did so illegally, breaking the law, and there are penalties for breaking the law. Because he has been a good man while he is here this country is letting him stay, to be with us and continue the life he has been building here, but he can never become a citizen. There are always penalties for breaking the law and this is his.”
This is a GOOD message to send the children and grandchildren of these people.
You have argued against establishing these different levels of status when you have argued for a path to citizenship, but I think they are necessary to illustrate that there ARE consequences. For someone whose real crime was in the past, who has led a good life since then, and who has been led to believe that he is safe here because of decisions made by our leaders, I don’t think these consequences should be as severe as those for people who came here more recently, who knew there was a strong resistance to their illegal entries here and who knowingly, purposely, took advantage of a political situation to blatantly break our laws.
Legal and secure residence, the ability to work and remain with family and live the life of an American, is not a bad outcome for someone who broke our laws, even if he has the reduced status of an allowed visitor and not a citizen. But the reduced status would be a constant reminder (in notations on a drivers’ license, on the inability to vote, perhaps on tax filings, etc) that (1) he or she broke the law, and (2) that this is a fair and compassionate country that tries to fix its mistakes, even if it is sometimes rather erratic due to political agendas.
I just keep going back to my comments, starting years ago, that the oath of office should be binding, like an employment contract. That is, if the oath is to uphold the law and the Constitution and the judge/mayor/governor/legislator, et al, violates the law (or supports violation of the law) and/or the Constitution that person immediately loses his or her position (elected or appointed) and all its associated benefits.
No one here agreed with me. But it could be abused! (Because no other laws is ever abused.) But who would decide? (Who decides on crime now?) But how could it be implemented? Enforced?
And now I see played out, daily, the difference such a law would make if we had one. As official after official, even state legislators, openly defy federal laws and even vote to make laws to violate them I keep thinking of how much of this could be avoided if the oaths of office really meant something.
It wouldn’t be that complicated. Usually the problem is not if a crime has been committed, but who did it? With this, the “who?” is obvious, so the only issue would be if a violation occurred. So, is there a law requiring those here illegally to be deported? Yes or no. If the answer is yes and an official acts to thwart that law, after taking an oath to uphold the law, this would fall under the purview of the law enforcing the oath of office. Is there a law against harboring or shielding illegals from detection? Yes there is—so if someone harbors or shields from detection, or conspires with others to do so, the oath is violated. If a judge rules in contradiction of the Constitution, such as ruling that a court can control the Executive Branch and its decisions, he or she has violated the oath.
Just think about the current problems that would not exist if we had such a law making the oath of office a binding contract. No more “sanctuary” cities, no more official approval of violation of the law, no more judicial protections for violations of the law. Make these officials have some skin in the game. Now they can just posture and proclaim, with no consequences. Put some teeth into those oaths of office and see what a difference that would make.
Well, I’m back – sort of. Thanks to Amazona for the explanation of my absence in the previous thread. It’s been a long, tough slough – 8 days in the hospital and 8 more days in a rehab facility. What complicated the whole process was a fall in the hospital that damaged something in my right leg, which now does not work very well. Rehab helped, and I’m managing at home with a cane.
Glad to see you back!
Sucks getting old. Usually beats the alternative. Glad you are on the mends.
I’ll pose the same question to Mark and Cluster that I posed to Amazona. The Air Force deployed approximately a third of our B2 Bomber force from Whiteman AFB in Missouri to Diego Garcia in early April, supposedly as a show of force to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. As far as I’ve been able to ascertain, they’re still there – at least 6 of them And yet, every single news report I’ve seen/heard says “all eyes are on Whiteman AFB in Missouri where the B2 bomber force is based.” Whiteman is 7,000 miles from Iran; Diego Garcia is 3,000 miles from Iran. Maybe I’m trying to apply logic where none is needed/required, or maybe there’s something going on that we’re not privy to. The movement of the B2s in early April was in USA Today, so it’s not like it’s Top Secret. The only plausible explanation I can think of is that there are no MAPs in Diego Garcia, but that would seem to me to be extremely short-sighted on someone’s part. Any thoughts from our resident military historian?
Published on: June 21, 2025 at 12:37 PM
“Following a large number of tanker positioning movements over the previous few days, aviation enthusiasts have now confirmed the departure of B-2 Spirits from Whiteman AFB en route to Guam.
Two flights of B-2 Spirits, callsigns MYTEE 11 flight and MYTEE 21 flight, comprising an unknown number of aircraft departed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, in the early hours of Jun. 21, 2025. Their destination has been noted as Andersen Air Force Base, located on the Pacific island of Guam, rather than the Indo-Pacific outpost of Diego Garcia.
…………………..
KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling aircraft have been launched from a number of locations in the U.S. to provide fuel to the B-2s.
A movement of B-2s has been speculated to be imminent for several days as the U.S. government weighs its options in terms of the Israel-Iran conflict, and whether U.S. forces should directly join with Israeli airstrikes. The U.S. response began with a mass deployment of tankers to Europe, followed by F-22 Raptors which routed via the UK, but so far it has not included kinetic actions.
Among the B-2’s unique capabilities is the ability to carry the huge GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bomb, which is thought to be the only conventional weapon able to hit the most hardened of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Following a large number of tanker positioning movements over the previous few days, aviation enthusiasts have now confirmed the departure of B-2 Spirits from Whiteman AFB en route to Guam.
Two flights of B-2 Spirits, callsigns MYTEE 11 flight and MYTEE 21 flight, comprising an unknown number of aircraft departed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, in the early hours of Jun. 21, 2025. Their destination has been noted as Andersen Air Force Base, located on the Pacific island of Guam, rather than the Indo-Pacific outpost of Diego Garcia.
Following a large number of tanker positioning movements over the previous few days, aviation enthusiasts have now confirmed the departure of B-2 Spirits from Whiteman AFB en route to Guam.
KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling aircraft have been launched from a number of locations in the U.S. to provide fuel to the B-2s.
A movement of B-2s has been speculated to be imminent for several days as the U.S. government weighs its options in terms of the Israel-Iran conflict, and whether U.S. forces should directly join with Israeli airstrikes. The U.S. response began with a mass deployment of tankers to Europe, followed by F-22 Raptors which routed via the UK, but so far it has not included kinetic actions.
Among the B-2’s unique capabilities is the ability to carry the huge GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bunker buster bomb, which is thought to be the only conventional weapon able to hit the most hardened of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Whether the deployment to Guam is simply a stepping stone for a further deployment to Diego Garcia is yet to be seen. Theoretically, strikes could be launched directly from Guam, although as the aircraft would need to fly over other countries en route to Iran there is a greater possibility that operational security (OPSEC) could be compromised. From Diego Garcia, in comparison, a flight to Iran would in essence be a straight run over the ocean.
Satellite images analyzed Wednesday by @AP show the deployment of at least six B-2 bombers at Diego Garcia. Nearly a third of all the B-2s America has in its arsenal now at base, report says.
Nimitz Inbound
Joining the B-2s, F-22s, and tankers, the U.S. has also ordered the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Carrier Strike Group to the Middle East. Alongside the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), this will mean two active U.S. Navy CSGs in the U.S. 5th Fleet. The Nimitz was previously deployed to the Pacific, and is currently on what is expected to be the ship’s final major deployment before retirement.
Sounds like chess moves to me.
Welcome back!
And, could be…I’m kinda puzzled by the B-2 stuff – that bomber is a deep penetration, strategic bomber. It was designed with the USSR’s massive and sophisticated air defense system in mind. That is, it’s designed to be able to get thousands of miles into the USSR and drop a bomb no matter what the Russians had.
Right now, as far as I can tell, Iran hasn’t even hit an Israeli jet, let alone shot one down. That indicates total aerial supremacy…that Iran lacks any capability to defend its air space. So, why use a B-2? A B-52 could do it. Heck, the GBU-28 and GBU-72 “bunker busters” can be dropped from an F-15. This makes me think that we’re dealing with one of two things:
Trump just messing with Mullah heads on it.
or
While Iran’s air defense system is shredded, they have kept what they have left around their most crucial nuclear facilities…so, to be sure of hitting the target, we need something we know the Iranians won’t be able to see until bombs away.
I guess we’re going to find out!
We got our money’s worth out of the Nimitz – 50 years active service.
OT but….a few years ago I happened to be driving down a street in Fredericksburg, Texas. I knew nothing of the town or the area, but was stuck in Texas waiting for some veterinary health papers so I could move some horses to Colorado and a friend said I might be interested in visiting the Hill Country while on hold.
Anyway, I was driving down the street in this small Texas city and spotted, looming over the buildings on my left, obviously from the next block over, a submarine conning tower. It wasn’t what I expected in West Texas, so I went around the block to take a look, and found the Admiral Nimitz Museum. It turns out that Admiral Nimitz was a native of Fredericksburg, and the town honored him and his service with a very nice museum, including part of an actual submarine.
I remember this every time I see the name “Nimitz”.
When addressing Leftist hypocrisy we never know if we should list it alphabetically, chronologically, or just keep adding to the list without an effort to organize it.
Latest, in my mind, is the discovery that while some on the Left are quite upset (and rightfully so) about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, much of this in pursuit of more drilling for oil, the wildly and proudly Leftist state of California is one the biggest buyers of Amazon oil.
(T)wo events (a delegation of Indigenous leaders from Ecuador’s Amazon and the release of a groundbreaking report, Drilling Toward Disaster: Amazon Crude and Ecuador’s Oil Gamble) underscore the urgent links between Amazon rainforest destruction and California’s fossil fuel economy.
California’s role is one of the world’s top consumers of Amazon crude, with roughly half of all Amazonian oil exports ending up in the state
In other words, the state, while piously posturing as being dedicated to the alleged purity of ending fossil fuel use and “protecting the environment” is complicit in both the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and inhibiting cleaner and more environmentally sound (as well as economically beneficial to the impoverished state) oil and gas exploration and production in the state.
A witty commentary on Leftist lawfare:
This is a perfect opportunity to illustrate FAFO, as it would be possible to track the social media users and arrest and prosecute them for conspiracy to violate USC 1324:
(A)Any person who—
(iii)
knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation; or
(v)
(I)
engages in any conspiracy to commit any of the preceding acts, or
(II)
aids or abets the commission of any of the preceding acts,
shall be punished as provided in subparagraph (B).
Then the punishments range from fines to imprisonment, escalating if the alien then “causes serious bodily injury (as defined in section 1365 of title 18) to, or places in jeopardy the life of, any person”. If the protected or shielded alien then does anything “resulting in the death of any person, be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined under title 18, or both.”
“conspiracy and aiding and abetting” ought to catch several of these anti-American scofflaws, for a very dramatic FO
Earlier today:
Later:
From X:
I’m betting that there is a lot more cheering than handwringing around the world tonight.
in Arabic countries no less.
I’ve been looking all morning for evidence of international outrage and threats, but aside from “our” own side it seems pretty muted.
I mean, I think a lot of them are like ‘Dude, you were totally asking for it and I never liked you anyway”
There is also the awareness that if Iran got and used nukes it would be nuked in return, and these other countries are uncomfortably close to Iran, if it were nuked.
There is a performative aspect here:
1. Iran now knows that they aren’t off limits. Remember, in all our various conflicts, we’ve never struck inside Iran.
2. Iran also knows we can destroy any target we choose and they likely won’t know its happening until they hear the Earth-shattering Kaboom.
One of the very astonishing things is that we’ve treated Iran as if they were a Great Power – they are fourth rate. Only the USA is genuinely first rate…China, Russia, India, Japan are second…Germany, Britain, France are third rate powers. The most important thing is that fourth rate powers don’t get to argue with first rate powers. One thinks of the Congress of Berlin in 1878 called to settle the results of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 and while it most deeply concerned Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia those nations weren’t even consulted on the resolution…they were informed of what would happen when all the real work had been done. And it wasn’t even required that they sign the treaty…it was going into effect and would be considered binding on them no matter what their attitude was. The Great Powers had spoken. It has been bizarre make-believe world where Iran is even so much as consulted on what Iran will be required to do. Sure, we can be polite about it all – no need to overtly humiliate them – but at the end of the day, a genuine war between the USA and Iran has only one outcome, so spare us the trouble and just do as you’re told…and if you do make us go through the trouble, it’ll end up much worse than if you just obey your orders.
Trump is getting us back into the real world. Iran won’t like it. China and Russia are probably getting sick at their stomachs over it (we just showed both of them that the B-2 will get through…they probably weren’t certain about it but you can bet they both had tech and human assets monitoring us just for this…and nobody saw it coming until it was over). But life sucks. If you’re not American. Deal with it.
I understand that there are some people who think it isn’t “nice” to say Libs are nuts, or that Liberalism is a mental disorder. And I get that—we are trained from childhood to not make fun of the kids on the short bus.
But then they make it so hard to ignore, it’s like they are giving us permission to notice that they are simply batshit crazy.
Case in point:
Really, all you can do is shake your head and say “Bless your heart” and move on.
Which, in addition to being grade-A crazy
I heard a description the other day that was even more descriptive: “weapons-grade crazy.”
That seems accurate. But at least these crazies seem to be hanging out on their lanais swigging box wine and waiting for the “timeline to collapse” instead of howling on the streets or setting up their iPhones on the dashboards of their cars to record them playacting rage, terror or indignation.
https://x.com/i/status/1935109402744484096