CRUEL & STUPID!
It’s been a while, and a lot has happened. Too much to cover! For this piece, I landed on a theme for this administration and these times, a theme that had been swirling around in my head for a while as I watched shitty events unfold at a manic pace: cruel & stupid.
There’s four topics covered in this article, each attempting to tie into that theme: the attempted remaking and politicization of the military, the odd debate around the political assassinations in Minnesota, the ongoing immigration crackdown, and last but certainly not least, WAR.
Enjoy!!!!
There’s four topics covered in this article, each attempting to tie into that theme: the attempted remaking and politicization of the military, the odd debate around the political assassinations in Minnesota, the ongoing immigration crackdown, and last but certainly not least, WAR.
Enjoy!!!!

WITH COMPETENT LEADERSHIP, THERE’S NOTHING TO FEAR IN TURBULENT TIMES! AND ISN’T THAT A COMFORT?
Well, we’re some five months into this administration, and it’s been over three months since the last Finagler update. Months seem to move like years with this regime, so a truly insane amount of noise has been generated in that time. Issues, stories, controversies, people come and go, here and out front one day and then gone seemingly into oblivion the next, though not really of course - usually they remain lurking in the shadows doing their dastardly deeds, but just successfully out of sight and out of mind, replaced by the next flashy thing…
Now, why is that? Is it because the administration is just doing so much? Is it just a general sense of chaos amongst the media and the populace? Orrrrr, perhaps, is the bug a feature - incessant cacophony by design, designed to overwhelm and stymie any potential for concerted and meaningful response or counter-action?
STEVE BANNON LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, talking about Trump World strategy against the media:
“All we have to do is flood the zone. Every day, we hit them with three things. They'll bite on one, and we'll get all of our stuff done, bang, bang, bang. These guys will never be able to recover, but we got to start with muzzle velocities.”
Right… so as has become characteristic for The Finagler’s coverage of this administration, there will be no attempt to catch up on all events that have occurred or to cover every topic - there will be no fervent and disoriented chasing of phantoms and specters in the night mist. No, there will instead be choice selection of stories to highlight the absurdity and egregious flailing about of this regime, along with commentary to try to capture the essence of these times… and so for this issue, that essence is:
CRUEL AND STUPID! Cruelty and stupidity. You know, there’s kind and smart, lovely; there’s kind and stupid, generally harmless; there’s cruel and smart, extremely dangerous but useful in some circumstances perhaps; and then there’s… cruel and stupid. No redeeming qualities. Just malicious and inept. A blunt object being swung about with aimless disdain. And isn’t that a real pleasure?
So here we go…
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From the Associated Press: HEGSETH DIRECTS 20% CUT TO TOP MILITARY LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
Also, from CBS News: HEGSETH ORDERS MAKEUP STUDIO INSTALLED AT PENTAGON
It’s good to finally have a real warfighter at the head of the Pentagon, no?
If this juxtaposition rubs you the wrong way, as the latter CBS News article felt it may with “the price tag for the project was several thousand dollars, according to two of the sources, at a time when the administration is searching for cost-cutting measures,” fear not! Hegseth is laser-focused on frugality and lethality, for as a defense official told CBS News, “Hegseth is doing his own makeup ahead of TV appearances, not paying for a makeup artist.” Well, that settles that then. My mind and soul are at ease. Cut the brass and let our Secretary of Defense apply his own warpaint before appearing on daytime television, GODDAMMIT, this is THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE!
Brave, indeed. Bravo, Secretary Hegseth, for defying gender norms. You know, when the administration rolled out its ban on transgender troops, I thought there might be some kind of REGRESSIVE POLICY developing! But now when I see Secretary Hegseth’s admirably progressive positions on cisgendered men not only wearing, but doing their own makeup, I feel reassured. I can rest easy on the issue of gender equality in our war fighting apparatus. Which is of course in the first place, the primary issue on most Americans’ minds when it comes to questions of WAR AND PEACE.
Certainly more in the forefront of the nation’s mind than such lesser moves as Hegseth’s recent direction for the military to cut 20% of its four-star general officers, 10% of its general and flag officers, and 20% of top National Guard positions. Efficiency! Don’t you get it? Cuts automatically lead to efficiency, because there are less people SIPHONING OFF OUR VALUABLE TAX DOLLARS, and so the remaining people simply have to operate BETTER to pick up the slack! This always works well in the corporate world, no? Do all workers not love this?
“Well, Barry, see, we’re downsizing.”
“Am I being fired?”
“What!?” insincere laughter. “No, Barry, no - but we have had to let 64% of your team go.”
“So who’s going to do their work?”
“Well, Barry, that’s why I called you in here. Think of this as an opportunity to excel.”
“… Will I be compensated for taking on these additional roles?”
Sincere laughter. “Ha! Barry, oh Barry, you are funny. I knew I liked you; that’s why you’re still here. Barry, be glad you have a job. Say, you mind stepping out and we can pick this up later? I’m getting a call…”
Barry returns to his desk and, with a fire burning passionately in his heart and a deep feeling of gratitude bubbling up deep within, he begins to OPTIMIZE and shortly thereafter is working at 600% of his prior efficiency, with 1000% the satisfaction!
Right! And while this is now the plight of countless federal workers across multiple agencies thanks to DOGE & Vought et al, it comes with particular potential for a much darker undertone in the military, because once we get past the clear stupidity in the fallacy in thinking that cuts must lead to efficiency, there is the question of - just which officers are going to be fired? Is it just going to be more black and women officers, as has already been done under the guise of eliminating those who have benefited from and/or support DEI policies? Is it going to be a random smattering to meet the arbitrary quota? Or is it going to be any and all who are deemed as insufficiently loyal to Donald Trump the Man, the issue arising with the potential for their being hung up on such outdated and annoying concepts as the military oath, the Constitution, and the potential legality and morality of orders?
More succinctly: is this just going to be an attempted purge of those who are seen as possibly valuing Country over Man? Of those who the administration believes may be tempted to resist illegal and immoral orders due to their having a moral compass? Or, as the administration will likely put it… those who aren’t REAL WARFIGHTERS!!? After all, Trump’s love for “real warfighters” is what began Hegseth’s path to being Secretary of Defense.
I do not want to digress too far into the past, but it’s worth a brief review here to provide concrete examples of the points in question. Who will be dismissed from the military brass? Who will be promoted? How are these moves meant to shift the ethos of the military? Who do Trump and Hegseth see as “real warfighters”? Well, back during Trump 1.0, when Hegseth was a prestigious co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, we find a few interesting scenarios…
Army Lieutenant Clint Lorance suspected a group of unarmed Afghan civilians of being insurgents and ordered his soldiers to open fire during a military operation in 2012. He was subsequently convicted in a military court for the murder of two of these Afghan men. He served six years of a 19-year sentence before being pardoned by Trump in 2019. Hegseth had lobbied for the pardon.
Army Green Beret Major Mathew Golsteyn was charged with murdering an unarmed Afghan man. He believed the man was a Taliban bomb-maker responsible for killing U.S. troops when he killed him in 2010, admitted to killing him and burning the body during a CIA interview in 2011, was subsequently investigated by the Army, and was finally not charged due to insufficient evidence, though his medal was stripped and he was removed from the special forces… then, however, during a 2016 interview on Fox News, Golsteyn again admitted to killing the man. The Army went on to open another investigation and ultimately charged him with premeditated murder in December 2018. Shortly thereafter, Trump tweeted, “At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a “U.S. Military hero,” Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas.” He tagged Hegseth and Fox News at the end of the Tweet. Hegseth later interviewed Golsteyn on his show in February 2019. Trump pardoned Golsteyn in November 2019.
Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher was charged by the Navy for crimes including shooting civilians in Iraq, killing a teenage Islamic State prisoner with a knife, and threatening to kill fellow SEALs if they reported him. Hegseth lobbied for Gallagher, interviewing Gallagher’s brother on his Fox show in November 2018. Gallagher’s brother asked Trump to review the case during that interview. Gallagher was ultimately acquitted of murder by a military jury but found guilty of posing for photographs with the deceased body. The Navy subsequently demoted him as punishment. Trump reversed the demotion. The Navy then moved to start the process of taking away Gallagher’s Trident pin and expelling him from the SEALs. Trump again intervened, tweeting, “The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!” Gallagher kept his pin and reposted Trump’s tweet on Instagram with the caption “Boom” followed by a series of explosion, flag, and applause emojis…
BOOM BOOM BOOM BITCHES! REAL MUHFUKN WARFIGHTERS!!! AIN’T NOBODY FUKN W OUR MUHFUKN COUNTRY BOIIIIIIII 😤😤🦅💥🇺🇸👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻 - a press release from the Department of Defense, soon, probably.
Now look, I understand that war is awful and complex and extremely gray, gray in ways that neither I or my very extensive staff here at The Finagler can fully comprehend as we have not been in war. Accordingly, I understand there is an argument that perhaps these three men were pursued unfairly, or at least overzealously. There are dark things that need to be done in war, and impossible decisions that have to be made in impossible situations - it’s hard to pass judgment on those decisions from the comfort of an armchair. And I understand that the President as Commander in Chief has ultimate authority over the military. Yes, real and necessary disclaimers.
But then, there are two primary questions - first, should the military not be left to pursue its own military justice amongst its members, through its own internal processes and procedures? Isn’t that why the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the court martial exist? Back in 2019, then Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy argued pardoning the three men would undermine the military code of justice and would serve as a bad example to other troops in the field. Which leads to the second and larger question we’ve already been pondering…
Just who do Trump, Hegseth, and their compatriots see as the “real warfighters” - is it those that “get it done”, no matter what? Those that won’t get hung up on petty affairs like legality and morality, extrajudicial killings and civilian casualties? Those that can make the split second decisions with an emphasis on LETHALITY above all? FUCK RED TAPE and those who try to enforce it! See, we shouldn’t tie the hands of the REAL WARRIORS; we must let them do WHATEVER they need to do, HOWEVER they need to do it! Now let’s purge the brass of those fucking pansies who have any objections and make sure only the REAL TOUGH ONES remain for the wars to come!!! REAL WARFIGHTER MENTALITY!!!
A true change in ethos has to start at the top, after all. Policy for the rank and file trickles down and disseminates out from leadership. Hegseth and Trump are now remaking the military leadership, of course with themselves at the top as Secretary of Defense and Commander in Chief. And Hegseth and Trump have let us know quite clearly what kind of leaders they are…
HEAVY, MAN! And since writing the above in late May and early June, we have some highly relevant PRIME EXEMPLARS of the fast-paced overwhelming nature with which events unfold under this administration. There is the National Guard and Marines deployment to Los Angeles in response to anti-ICE protests, thus far a delicate dance of questionable legality with troops being responsible for protecting federal buildings, not civilian law enforcement. There was also a fascinating episode at Fort Bragg where the Army selected a crowd of soldiers to attend Trump’s speech based on partisan allegiance and physical appearance so they could cheer on the President enthusiastically and even buy MERCH! It really is all about merch sales at the end of the day, no? And then of course, most recently, Trump’s military parade in DC… the analyses are still rolling in, but it’s largely been deemed a semi-to-full flop, and in my personal opinion, this is primarily because the Army went their own direction with the spectacle - more Army history, a rolling museum to celebrate the branch’s 250th birthday, than ULTIMATE FANFARE to celebrate the DEAR LEADER on his 79th birthday.
And so, we can see the attempted politicization of the military unfolding before our eyes - this administration does not hold anything sacred, and certainly not the lofty idea of a professional apolitical military, answerable to and under the command of the President as Commander in Chief, but with an ultimate oath to the Constitution - to higher, foundational ideals. Certainly not the idea that a Commander in Chief should not force them to choose between the two, for moral reasons, sure, but also for the simple fact that the Commander in Chief - the President - is also upholding the Constitution. No, it seems the administration would prefer a military of REAL WARFIGHTERS that is loyal to them rather than the country. And to do so, I suspect this administration would like to bring that potential rift between that high end of the chain of command and the greater oath to the forefront, to deepen it and tear it further, to erode longstanding traditions and force the issue to make the military at large choose to follow orders over oath, to make the concept of morality incompatible with REAL WARFIGHTING.
Well, we’ll see. It’s not all doom and gloom as I tend to doubt that the military will just roll over to any egregious attempt to force it down a road it has no desire to traverse, but the direction that the administration is attempting to lead in is itself deeply concerning.
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Well, what else? Most recently, we have the terror in Minnesota - targeted political assassinations. State representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark were shot and killed; state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette were shot multiple times and survived. These were not actions taken in public, a high-powered rifle from a covert vantage point at a high-profile event on a public roster, horrific but not unknown in our country. No, the killer, Vance Luther Boelter, disguised himself as a police officer and attacked the victims in their homes in the dead of night. It’s a different kind of political violence than we’re used to in America, and it’s an extremely dark turn for the country.
While the full details of it all aren’t publicly available yet, both politicians were members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and information suggests the killer was extremely anti-abortion and anti-LGBT. At this point, it appears the killer was a Trump supporter and some kind of security company employee who had previously preached in the Democratic Republic of Congo, shouting in that distinct evangelical preacher style about the horrors of the LGBT phenomenon. Police found a list in his hastily abandoned knockoff cop car with some 70 targets that included other Democratic politicians and doctors who provided abortions. Oh, and let’s not forget that his wife was detained during the manhunt, headed north with three relatives, a weapon, ammunition, cash, and passports. Are we getting the picture of his political and ideological motivations?
The killer had also been previously appointed by democratic Minnesota governor and former VP candidate Tim Walz to a state workforce development board. This board is a mundane governmental advisory board created by Minnesota law… let’s see, their mission is to “analyze and recommend workforce development policies to the governor and legislature toward talent development, resource alignment and system effectiveness to ensure a globally competitive workforce for Minnesota.” There are 41 board members appointed by the governor along with two state representatives and two state senators. Right. Has this paragraph fascinated and enthralled? NO!? Well, you’re clearly missing the OBVIOUS INSIDIOUS IMPLICATIONS!!
A (state workforce development board) WALZ APPOINTEE!!!! A DEMOCRATIC OPERATIVE!!!! A FAR LEFT LUNATIC!!!! Don’t you see? He was a PLANT - THIS WAS A FALSE FLAG!! That old video of him preaching anti-LGBT shit in Africa?? YEARS LONG PSY OP BABY! Or maybe a deepfake… whatever, the details don’t matter. Just ask our disgraced former Certainly Not Our President Elon Musk, who chose to respond to a tweet saying the left was responsible for these killings and the left had become a full blown domestic terrorist organization with, “The far left is murderously violent.” Or Utah senator Mike Lee! Lee offered a condemnation of violence and prayers from his official Twitter account, then let his real thoughts be known from the personal account, tweeting a picture of the killer and “This is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way.” Or how about Trump himself, who also offered an official condemnation before moving on to call governor Walz “a terrible governor” and “a grossly incompetent person” adding “I may call him, I may call other people too.” Nice! And then of course there is the general internet discourse, the shit you find sifting through comments on Twitter and other similar locales, what’s loose in the ~ether~… a large portion of MAGA world has decided the killer is a leftist, facts be damned. And that is the story.
Stupid, and callous to the point of cruelty. And, really more so than any debate as to the killer’s ideological motivations, we should really just be concerned with the act itself - this is political violence. This is political murder due to extreme polarization. This man, the killer, was convinced that those politicians were others, rather than fellow countrymen from a different political faction. It’s an isolated event, sure, but it’s severe enough that its impact should be universally chilling… that kind of thinking is what leads to the breakdown of civil society and functioning government - it’s what leads to civil war. Instead, the murders are almost brushed aside as just another gruesome event in this wild land, an occurrence rather than an act, and the debate around them becomes another flashpoint… Why did he do it? And emphatically not, what does it mean? And, how did we end up here?
THINGS ARE GETTING HOT, HOT, HOT!! And no one in power really seems to care. The culture continues to embrace hustle and grind, own the other side, FUCK EM, GET YOURS, AT ANY COST! You feel your blood start to boil!? Let your emotions run HIGH and then let them guide you completely - it’s all just based on a feeling. There is nothing else. It’s all just down to the basest of feelings and notions, turbulent emotions. And why not? If we finally have all agreed to admit this thing of ours is one big rat race, well, there’s no room for honor in that is there?
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Well, what else? We must touch on immigration, no? In our last article we talked about Mahmoud Khalil and executive order 14188 targeting foreign students with visas, though certainly not based on their speech! So much has occurred since then as the administration has made the immigration crackdown one of their biggest policy priorities. ICE raids have become a constant occurrence - we’ve seen ICE agents snatch immigrants from courthouses; we’ve seen the arrest of judges accused of aiding some of those immigrants or obstructing their arrests. We see ICE agents in plain clothes and masks, no warrant, no identification, snatching people off the street and carting them away to difficult-to-trace detention facilities. We’ve seen the deportation of immigrants to El Salvador to be housed in the dystopian mega-prison that President Bukele built for his draconian gang crackdown. We’ve seen some of those people wrongfully deported; we’ve seen court battles; we’ve seen court orders delayed and ignored by the administration. The detentions and deportations have been extensive enough that BIG BUSINESS has started to complain about labor shortages, the farm and hospitality lobbies in particular - Trump promised exceptions, but then reneged just as quickly. We’ve seen agents detain and arrest democratic politicians who have the audacity to question them or demand entry to detainment facilities. We have Stephen Miller, the mastermind of the cruelty portion of the whole crackdown, suggest that the administration is looking at suspending habeas corpus. That’s right. And accordingly, we have Trump continuing to flirt with the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act and bringing the whole untethered weight of the federal government and military down on all those who oppose - what used to be the fantasized final boss battle for a certain type of conservative has now become a kind of sick wet dream for those converted MAGA hardliners… “As long as it’s not me getting fucked, I’d love to watch!” Yeah, I bet.
It’s too much to cover here. So instead, let’s look at a couple instances where the administration has doubled down after a loss or a setback, instances that highlight the vindictive nature of this immigration crackdown - punitive actions that are cruel by definition, and stupid by sheer amount of resources expended to pursue an end that does not serve the national interest.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was the main story for a period of time - he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador where he was imprisoned, and his legal battle made it all the way to the Supreme Court, where the justices ruled that the administration must facilitate his return. The administration had refused to do so all along, and even then they stonewalled and delayed. Garcia was first detained by ICE on March 12th, deported a few days later, and not returned to the US until June 6th. During that time, the story went from the top headline to a distant back burner, showing the short attention span of the press and the inundation of new stories that the administration brings on. And during that time, the administration openly challenged and defied multiple judges and the Supreme Court, though Trump danced carefully with his language there, and it all went unanswered. But what I specifically want to highlight here - when the administration finally obeyed the Supreme Court order and brought Garcia back to the country, they immediately charged him with transporting undocumented people, continued to accuse him of being a member of MS-13, and are still keeping him in custody. The charges are of questionable merit - based on a traffic stop in 2022 that was never followed up on until now.
So the administration has dug as deep as they can to find something to charge this man with - this random El Salvadoran man that had been living in Maryland. The entire weight of the United States Justice Department is being thrown onto him because the administration is embarrassed and angry. The administration fucked up, talked big shit, and then had to climb down. They hate that - it’s a petty, vindictive emotion. Embarrassment becomes anger; petulance arises when they’re told what to do; Trump feels betrayed by what he sees as his own Supreme Court Justices. And so we get a spurious case backed by extensive federal government resources being thrown against a man that, in reality, poses no threat to the average American or to this country. It’s a vendetta, and honestly, even if Garcia was transporting undocumented people, I don’t think most people really give a shit - certainly not to the extent to justify the fucking federal government to pursue this random immigrant so doggedly. That in and of itself is stupid, and yes, cruel.
Mahmoud Khalil was finally released from detention - he was held from March 8th to June 20th, during which time his baby was born. Land of the free! If you’ll recall, Khalil had his legal residency revoked because he had led pro-Palestinian and anti-war protests at Columbia University. He was taken into custody by ICE and carted away to Louisiana for detention, a place where an immigration judge may have an approach a bit more in line with the administration’s. Well, fortunately for Khalil, his attorneys had filed his habeas corpus petition while he was still detained in New Jersey, and the case was transferred to a federal judge there, Judge Farbiarz. The administration, naturally, requested to move the habeas corpus case to Louisiana or dismiss it, a request that Judge Farbiarz denied. Now, confusingly, while the habeas corpus petition was being considered in New Jersey, Khalil’s immigration case was being considered by a separate entity in Louisiana - by an immigration judge, Judge Comans. Note that immigration judges are actually employees of the executive branch and not the judiciary. So essentially, Judge Farbiarz was considering the constitutionality of the government’s case, while Judge Comans was only focused on whether Khalil could be legally removed from the United States.
Right, so remember, Khalil had not actually been charged with a crime - the government had revoked his residency and was attempting to deport him based solely on the assertion that his "presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” So, for good measure, shortly after the habeas corpus petition was assigned to Judge Farbiarz, the government asserted that Khalil had willfully failed to disclose material information when he had applied for a green card in 2024. BOOM! CRIME!
Now did Khalil withhold information at that time? I’m not sure, and as with Garcia driving a van full of undocumented immigrants in 2022, I don’t really care. Why not? Because I do not support the federal government bringing its entire weight and vast resources down upon people that have not committed any serious crime. It’s like an arrest for jaywalking. Is it technically illegal? Yes. Does it actually matter? No. Does the average person care at all or want the government to use resources to go after it? No. But hardliners can use it to pursue, persecute, and prosecute people that they aren’t capable of “getting” otherwise. “We couldn’t catch you doing the thing we accused you of, so we’re just gonna grab ya for something else bub.” It’s disingenuous and malicious.
From there, things become legally complex… First, the immigration side. In essence, skipping a lot of finer legal points that are murky to those of us who aren’t lawyers, Judge Comans denied an asylum request by Khalil and has ruled that Khalil can be deported from the United States based on the government’s allegations of immigration fraud. Khalil can now appeal within the immigration system. A couple highlights from the immigration court side of things include the government submitting a memo stating that Khalil should be deported due to "past, current, or expected beliefs, statements, or associations that are otherwise lawful", and the assertion that Khalil’s being uncooperative with ICE agents during his initial detainment gave them reason to believe that he would escape, creating an exigent circumstance, allowing them to arrest him without a warrant. So how’s that? “He didn’t break the law, but he said some things that we didn’t like, and then when we went to arrest him without a warrant, he wasn’t stoked, so that gave us reason to arrest him.”
From the habeas corpus side, Judge Farbiarz ruled that the section of the Immigration and Nationality Act under which the government sought to deport Khalil is likely unconstitutional, did not rule on whether the government had infringed on Khalil’s First Amendment rights, and said that Khalil’s lawyers had not provided sufficient information to refute the government’s allegations of withholding information on his green card application, though he gave them additional time to address that charge. There was some wrangling over his continuing to be held over those withholding information charges, but Judge Farbiarz ultimately ordered on June 20th that Khalil be released. He had to surrender his passport and limit his travel to a handful of pre-approved states.
Farbiarz has said, “There is at least something to the underlying claim that there is an effort to use the immigration charge here to punish Mr. Khalil, and of course that would be unconstitutional,” and has additionally called the government’s efforts to continue to detain Khalil, “highly, highly, highly unusual.”
The administration has said, "There is no basis for a local federal judge in New Jersey —who lacks jurisdiction — to order Khalil’s release from a detention facility in Louisiana. We expect to be vindicated on appeal.” A tactic seen with Garcia - snatch and grab, rendition the person to some other place that better suits, then claim the judge back wherever ordering release has no jurisdiction based on the person’s current location!
So, after over three months, Khalil is finally out of detention, but the legal battles continue, and deportation still hangs over his head. The administration arrested him without a warrant for what is clearly his right to free speech, transported him to Louisiana, and entered into deportation proceedings. When a legal challenge was filed, they brought spurious immigration fraud charges against him. Let’s break that down one last time here - the administration asserted the absolute right to revoke Khalil’s residency and deport him based on his potential to have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” They beat their chest about it. But then, as soon as they were challenged on this, they finagled some immigration fraud charges into the picture, and stated that’s why they were continuing to hold and seek the deportation of Khalil. See, it’s personal and vindictive and so the only point is to punish and get rid of Khalil by making any argument necessary. It’s not about principle; it’s not about serving the interests of the country or prosecuting crime. The administration doesn’t like the guy and what he stands for, so they’re throwing shit at the wall and seeing what will stick.
Is that how we want our government to operate? Petty, punitive, contradictory… using any vague and forgotten statute possible to achieve its aims, arguing vigorously against the right to free speech after lambasting those who oppose free speech, rolling out sleazy tactics and justifications to arrest without a warrant, to rendition people into remote jurisdictions that better suit their goals, fighting hard to prevent a man from attending the birth of his child, and of course, expending vast time and resources to do it all. Extremely cruel, and almost impressively stupid. An administration and a government willing to do whatever it takes to achieve some hyper-focused vindictive end game on individuals who stand in opposition to them… they’re just tired of our rights standing in their way.
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Alright, ONE MORE TOPIC for this article! And it’s a real joy. Something new and never seen before. Something ORIGINAL and EXCITING!! Something we’re all gonna love!!
WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!!!! WOOOOO!!! WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!!! That’s right, WMDZ BABY! A ROGUE REGIME, AN AXIS OF EVIL PERHAPS??? MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ANYONE??? RUN IT BACKKKKK BITCHES!!! For who doesn’t love a sequel after all? Especially when the original was such a universal resounding hit. Why not continue THE FUN??

Well, there’s some 55,000 people dead in Gaza. Hamas committed an atrocity when they attacked Israel in October 2023. And of course Israel has a right to respond. But uh… 55,000?? The place is a field of rubble and the people are starving and getting shot and killed while they’re lining up for food… because they’re starving. To death. Amidst the rubble. From the bombs.
Right, and during this war, Israel has destroyed much of Hamas’ leadership and offensive capabilities. After some missile exchanges with Hezbollah, they decapitated its leadership and destroyed much of the Lebanese militia’s capabilities. Meanwhile, the Assad regime in Syria finally fell and a rebel coalition took over the country, generally broadcasting a message that they didn’t want to interfere with the outside world and don’t want the outside world to interfere with them. The Houthis continued to occasionally enter the fray from Yemen, and then finally there were some exchanges with Iran directly. Well, it turns out that in those exchanges, Israel apparently destroyed large portions of Iranian aerial defense systems.
The Iranian regime’s so-called axis of resistance had been severely degraded, with portions essentially neutered completely. Their land bridge from Iran to the Israeli border, ironically aided years ago by the United States installation of a Shiite government in Iraq, was broken when the Assad regime fell. Missile movements through that bridge to Hezbollah operatives in Syria and then Lebanon had been one of their greatest strategic advantages, and one of the greatest threats to Israel.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration was apparently attempting to negotiate some kind of nuclear deal with Iran. Shockingly, sufficient progress on an Iran nuclear deal was not being made by the administration that had blown up… the Iran nuclear deal, during Trump 1.0.
Well, with all this as the backdrop, Israel decided to attack Iran. The Israeli government claimed that Iran was extremely close to being able to produce a nuclear bomb. American intelligence did not agree, but Trump disregarded this, choosing to side with Netanyahu.
So then came the will-he-won’t-he debate - will Trump get in this thing? Netanyahu, ever the politician, crafted his messaging to the President with PRECISION-GUIDANCE, striking a tone that ranged from patriotic to sycophantic, which is of course Donald Trump’s love language. Trump issued contradictory statements as he loves to do; we weren’t involved in Israeli strikes, but we were informed, and now maybe we’ll do it, maybe not, possibly, gotta feel out the vibes, I’ll decide later…
And then, on June 21st, just in time to kick us off for a HOT HOT HOT SUMMER, he made the decision and we bombed Iran. Nice! Using B-2 stealth bombers equipped with massive ordnance penetrators and submarines launching Tomahawk missiles, we bombed three nuclear sites. Iran did not return fire, likely because they were unable to. And there we have it; and here we are.
Let’s begin with a portion of Trump’s announcement on Truth Social: “A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
A FULL PAYLOAD OF BOMBS WAS DROPPED! ~stop~ NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!
Isn’t that a beautiful juxtaposition? Isn’t that just the very essence of the foreign policy way of the American hawk, of the military industrial complex that brought us Afghanistan and Iraq? WAR EAGLE BABY! WE’RE GONNA BOMB YA, AND THEN YER GONNA LOVE US!!! HEARTS N MINDS!
But wait - what’s this? Trump via Tweet in 2013, “Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly-not skilled!”
Oh no!
Trump campaigned heavily on no more foreign wars - no more unnecessary military adventurism causing the loss of American blood and treasure, as they say. Trump and the majority of Republicans, at least MAGA-aligned and adjacent Republicans, had long decried American support to Ukraine, equivocating Russian invasion with Ukrainian resistance and saying simply that the war needed to end. There’s too much risk of a wider conflict, of a nuke going off, of World War 3! Well, ok. Let’s just accept that for a moment. We have a supposed anti-war candidate and anti-war movement ~ AMERICA FIRST ~ saying we need to focus on our own interests. No more involvement in these myriad overseas disputes.
Right, well, here we are again. It seems Trump just couldn’t resist the temptation in the end - Netanyahu said he could change history! Iran kept talking shit! The military parade was a flop! And those planes and subs and bombs… they’re just so cool. Just so ~~badass~~~ ;) ;)
In watching the news coverage today, the day after what has been dubbed OPERATION MIDNIGHT HAMMER, this seems to be a common theme: it’s just so badass. The news channels are putting up stats and infographics about the raid, and the pundits are emphasizing the impressive amount of machinery that took part: 125 aircraft! Seven stealth bombers! Multiple fighter jets! Dozens of air refueling tankers! SUBMARINES!! 75 PRECISION-GUIDED BOMBS!!! FOURTEEN MASSIVE ORDNANCE PENETRATORS!!!!! THE FIRST-EVER OPERATIONAL USE OF THIS WEAPONNNNNNNN FUUUUUCCCKKKKKKK AHHHHHH
Salivation. Meanwhile, Iran and Israel continue to exchange fire, and the administration is messaging to Iran that they had better not strike at American interests, or things will be much worse. And why would they? As the administration is now telling us repeatedly, this was a limited strike. As JD Vance said this morning, “We are not at war with Iran. We are at war with Iran’s nuclear program.”
And isn’t that a nice distinction. Of course, it remains to be seen if the country that was bombed agrees with the sentiment. That’s the thing about military action and escalation - you can’t control the response. And if the response causes a certain amount of death or damage, the government will feel that it requires another response. And so on and so forth, and then you have a war that neither side really wanted. And then you have death and destruction for the people. Generally speaking, all those decision makers that directed all those responses will be just fine. It’s the ordinary people that suffer and die.
Well, we’ll see what happens. Iran of course knows their limitations in a military conflict with the U.S., so it’s unclear what course they’ll really take, despite the harsh rhetoric coming from the regime. But I think the point right now is in the hypocrisy of it all - the hypocrisy of Trump and his administration to run as anti-war, to criticize the Ukraine war as having the potential to drag us into a major war, and then to so quickly take a completely voluntary risk that could thrust us into… a major war. The hypocrisy of the Israeli government and our government to begin bombing a sovereign nation, justified or not, and then tell that nation that they had better chill the fuck out or there will be consequences. It’s punching somebody in the face and then telling them they had better calm down or there will be a fight. We can keep debating the strategic objectives and the intelligence, but the whole thing is hypocritical and disingenuous, and as usual, the government and the media are rallying around the flag and the irresistible idea of military prowess - WHAT AN IMPRESSIVE OPERATION! WHAT A BADASS MILITARY! WHAT A HIT ON THE BAD GUYS!
Sure. I have no love for the Iranian regime, for a repressive and radical theocracy, and Israel certainly has a case to make when that regime repeatedly calls for their annihilation. But I think the American people are overwhelmingly tired of becoming involved in foreign wars, in wars that benefit the elites and not the people, and I know Trump ran on that sentiment. So what the fuck are we doing? As of now, there is very clearly insufficient proof that this is in our interest. The military industrial complex, the foreign policy hawks, the Israeli lobby, yeah - but The American People? I’m not seeing it.
And to close this topic, in classic fashion, after a day of administration officials, including the Vice President, making the media rounds with a carefully crafted message - “These were limited strikes! This is only about the nuclear program! This is not about regime change! We do not seek a wider war! Iran, it is therefore in your interests to NOT strike back!” We have our Dear Leader, taking to his Truth Social, with this profound statement:
“It’s not politically correct to use the term ‘Regime Change,’ but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!”
Sensational. Cruel, and at its very core, stupid.
EDITOR’S NOTE!!! Later in the evening (Monday, June 23rd) after finishing and posting this article, Trump took to Truth Social once again, this time to suddenly announce that a ceasefire deal had been reached and would begin in about six hours, after Israel and Iran had completed their in progress final missions… he dubbed their war “THE 12 DAY WAR”, said it would be officially over after 24 hours of the ceasefire, and threw around a lot of superlatives and God Blesses. Well, alright. If the hostilities end that’s a good thing - the people in Iran, Israel, and here in America don’t need another war. Of course questions remain - will both sides keep to the ceasefire? Was Iran’s enriched uranium and capacity to enrich further and obtain a nuclear bomb actually destroyed? Time will tell. But in closing, I think this is worth asking: if you and your friends start a problem, and then you all solve it, is that really an accomplishment? Better than the alternative, sure - the problem is over… but what if you all had just avoided starting the problem in the first place?
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Honorable mentions for topics not covered:
- Democrats’ continued inaction and ineptitude
- Trump’s manipulation of the entire stock market with tariff announcements and pauses
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Elon Musk’s departure from government and subsequent feud with Trump
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Palantir’s tentacles spreading through the government and military
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The dystopian Army promotion of a group of tech execs to Lieutenant Colonels
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THE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL and all the bullshit packed in there
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The proposed sale of public lands
- The administration’s wider attempts to stifle the power of the judiciary and checks and balances at large