The Trump Presidency 2.0

[Lathum]

I just heard a sound byte of Tillis completely ripping Noem in her hearing today and honestly it pissed me off. So many, if not majority, of the GOP know just how deranged and unhinged Trump is but they are willing to support it so their insane MAGA base doesn't primary them. They only grow a spine when they decide they have had enough and don't seek reelection.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

The US Embassy in Israel is telling every American to leave, but the only help they can provide is the name of the bus going to Jordan.

Well that didn't work. Now non-essential personnel are being told to evacuate Jordan. Maybe there's a bus to Malta?

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Is it? What defines the President's authority?

And if you say the Constitution and the laws then you have not been paying attention as to how useless that document and those laws actually are.

Oh, they'll get away with it because laws only matter if one of the other two branches wants them to matter, but the idea that this was defensive is nonsense.

[RainMaker]

Watching Rubio have to go on TV and tell everyone that he didn't say what he said yesterday because his masters got mad is really funny.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I just heard a sound byte of Tillis completely ripping Noem in her hearing today and honestly it pissed me off. So many, if not majority, of the GOP know just how deranged and unhinged Trump is but they are willing to support it so their insane MAGA base doesn't primary them. They only grow a spine when they decide they have had enough and don't seek reelection.

And im sure most dems knew Biden was losing his faculties but said nothing. This is something both parties are largely guilty of though it has a bigger effect from maga since Trump is so far out there

[JPhillips]

We're arming the Kurds in Iran and they are expected to start operations soon. That should really tamp things down, I'm sure Turkey will be cool with that.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Danny

And im sure most dems knew Biden was losing his faculties but said nothing. This is something both parties are largely guilty of though it has a bigger effect from maga since Trump is so far out there

I'm sure they did. He didn't start any major conflicts though, their silence just fucked us in to having an unelectable candidate who lost to trump of all people.

Maybe I am being an optimist, but I think had he bowed out after midterms and the dems had a proper primary we currently have President Shapiro or someone.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I just heard a sound byte of Tillis completely ripping Noem in her hearing today and honestly it pissed me off. So many, if not majority, of the GOP know just how deranged and unhinged Trump is but they are willing to support it so their insane MAGA base doesn't primary them. They only grow a spine when they decide they have had enough and don't seek reelection.

This is one of the rare areas where everyone can engage in bothsides-ism and everyone would be right. I would argue with the idea that Tillis or any other Congressperson growing a spine when they are no longer seeking re-election. I see it more as them getting things right with their Maker, the family, friends, business opportunities etc.

[GrantDawg]

They are confirming the use of B-52's in the attacks on Iran, and that is just wild. Old airframe like the B-52, A-10, F-4's are still being used after decades. B-52's have been flying for 73 years, and the military has plans to keep them flying until 1040.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

We're arming the Kurds in Iran and they are expected to start operations soon. That should really tamp things down, I'm sure Turkey will be cool with that.

Turkey is already being planned as the next target.

Also I am sure we won't fuck over the Kurds for the millionth time.

[GrantDawg]

Another aerial combat note. The F-15's that were shot down over Kuwait were taken out by a single Kuwaiti F/A 18C. A F-15 has never been shot down in air to air combat before, of course these pilots didn't think they were in combat until it was too late.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Another aerial combat note. The F-15's that were shot down over Kuwait were taken out by a single Kuwaiti F/A 18C. A F-15 has never been shot down in air to air combat before, of course these pilots didn't think they were in combat until it was too late.

This has to he a bullshit excuse. They always lie about why planes go down to not give enemies a strategic advantage. I am guessing it is one of those new drone MANPADs from Russia. Either that or the Kuwaiti pilot is the greatest we have ever seen.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

This has to he a bullshit excuse. They always lie about why planes go down to not give enemies a strategic advantage. I am guessing it is one of those new drone MANPADs from Russia. Either that or the Kuwaiti pilot is the greatest we have ever seen.

He really isn't. Firing at loaded down planes in a safe zone at a close enough range to not allow them time to evade isn't exactly high skill. If it were a made up story, then you say it was ground to air defenses which would be less surprising. The fact these pilots had their pants down that bad and lost their jets is pretty embarrassing.

[GrantDawg]

Turkish defense minister says NATO defensive batteries shot down a ballistic missile from Iran heading into Turkish airspace. Iran would be crazy to shoot at Turkey.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

He really isn't. Firing at loaded down planes in a safe zone at a close enough range to not allow them time to evade isn't exactly high skill. If it were a made up story, then you say it was ground to air defenses which would be less surprising. The fact these pilots had their pants down that bad and lost their jets is pretty embarrassing.

I'm just saying that the U.S. (and most countries) give bullshit excuses when their planes go down. We were famously doing this during Vietnam and the first Gulf War. It technically could have gone down that way but it would be one hell of a fuckup. No reason those pilots should have felt safe even over Kuwaiti air space. Remember their first excuse was anti-air missile from the ground but a Boeing exec probably got mad about that.

I guess an IFF screw up is plausible but man, that is one hell of a mistake. The kind of mistake that should result in people being relieved of duty immediately.

[RainMaker]

Other news from the war.

UAE seems to be getting hit incredibly hard.

Tehran is being razed. Can't imagine the death toll.

U.S. is considering ground troops (well until someone shows them a map of Iran)

The 6 U.S. soldiers killed were in a makeshift trailer. No real defense.

We are helping a few Americans leave

Iranian strategy seems to be letting the U.S. run out of interceptors and then fire their good stuff. They can't win with firepower but likely can outlast and make it very expensive.

We are insuring ships going through Hormuz. So much for the "this is 4D chess to hurt China".

[Atocep]

Iran knows they can't just go toe to toe with us and win and they're just not going to win a war by traditional measurements. What they're going to do is deplete our interceptors as much as possible (as you mentioned) and put pressure on us through our allies by disrupting the global economy and causing havoc.

They're not going to win, but they're going to try to take us and everyone else down with them as much as they can. If nothing else, they're highlighting to the world that we're a terrible ally.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Atocep

If nothing else, they're highlighting to the world that we're a terrible ally.

No need, we already are well aware.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Iran knows they can't just go toe to toe with us and win and they're just not going to win a war by traditional measurements. What they're going to do is deplete our interceptors as much as possible (as you mentioned) and put pressure on us through our allies by disrupting the global economy and causing havoc.

They're not going to win, but they're going to try to take us and everyone else down with them as much as they can. If nothing else, they're highlighting to the world that we're a terrible ally.

The Taliban won. But I guess it comes down to what your definition of winning is. Turning the country into Syria seems like the plan.

[RainMaker]

Well the drone that hit Cyprus apparently didn't come from Iran. Wonder who could have done that to draw the UK into the war.......maybe the same folks blowing up a Saudi oilfield....

BREAKING: A "Shahed-like drone" which targeted an RAF base in Cyprus was not launched from Iran, says a Ministry of Defence spokesperson.

Iran latest �� https://t.co/MSOfDN6aRq

�� Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/HaFKmugFU6

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 4, 2026

[Ksyrup]

DOJ having an issue with its lawyers refusing to do illegal things for fear of putting their licenses in jeopardy? Here's the fix!

Review of State Bar Complaints and Allegations Against Department of Justice Attorneys

We won't see the substance of the rule until tomorrow, but it's not difficult to figure out what it's going to say. Fucking insane.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I guess an IFF screw up is plausible but man, that is one hell of a mistake. The kind of mistake that should result in people being relieved of duty immediately.

It probably will. The problem with this being some cover up is there are about 5 countries with active radar in that area. Everyone can see what happened. Not to mention it was daylight/dusk and there are videos everywhere. You can lie about an action in a hidden part of a landscape during a hot battle, but not when you are basically visible to all. So if they could have gotten away with saying it was a surface weapon they would have. Why Boeing or any anti-air company would be mad is weird, because it would only show the effectiveness of their weapons. It was always going to be human error (unless it was AI error, and that would be another thing all together). None of these weapons go off without an operator.
The video evidence shows the planes where hit in there rear exhausts, which suggest heat seeking missiles, and the fact there wasn't extensive damage to the planes suggest something with a small warhead. Short range sidewinders. These F-15E where coming back into Kuwait but had not turned on their radars and transponders like they are supposed to when back in friendly air. The Kuwaiti pilot was sent up to deal with incoming drones and mistook these three as he targets. I think the blame (and embarrassment) is going to fall on the American pilots.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

DOJ having an issue with its lawyers refusing to do illegal things for fear of putting their licenses in jeopardy? Here's the fix!

Review of State Bar Complaints and Allegations Against Department of Justice Attorneys

We won't see the substance of the rule until tomorrow, but it's not difficult to figure out what it's going to say. Fucking insane.

Care to dumb it down for us non lawyers?

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Well the drone that hit Cyprus apparently didn't come from Iran. Wonder who could have done that to draw the UK into the war.......maybe the same folks blowing up a Saudi oilfield....

Other articles are saying this was launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Well the drone that hit Cyprus apparently didn't come from Iran. Wonder who could have done that to draw the UK into the war.......maybe the same folks blowing up a Saudi oilfield....





Yes, it was launched from Lebanon. They said that from the beginning. Nothing like a misleading head line.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Care to dumb it down for us non lawyers?

I'm presuming the DOJ is going to attempt to take the position that it has the authority to prevent state bars from reviewing ethics complaints against DOJ attorneys. Now, given that attorneys are licensed by states, I don't know how this could stand, but hey, if you've got enough attorneys barred in red states, maybe those state bars don't fight this so hard, you know?

[GrantDawg]

The conspiracy people saying it was Israel that launched a drone at the Saudi oil fields. Maybe it was the Saudi's themselves.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...arabia-israel/

[GrantDawg]

One thing Rainmaker said that I think he is right about. I think the plan here is to turn Iran into Syria. The arming of the Kurds is the first step. They want to arm other groups to start breaking the country apart. If they can't get a friendly dictator to work with them, then they will downgrade the power of the current leadership by making them concentrate inward. I doubt it will work, though. Iran is not set up like Syria, leadership wise. It is more a many headed snake than a single dictator.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Yes, it was launched from Lebanon. They said that from the beginning. Nothing like a misleading head line.

It could be but it would be an incredible feat for one of the shitty Hezbollah Shahed drones (I don't even think they have 136's to use) to penetrate one of the most sophisticated air defense systems in the world. They can be snuck through on occasion, but it usually requires a cluster of them to go out and overwhelm the defense system. There is no confirmation of that. These are not difficult to take out.

So either an insanely embarrassing fuckup again or that wasn't from Hezbollah.

They also said "Shahed-like" drone in reports. There is of course the LUCAS which is similar but has much better avoidance capabilities.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

One thing Rainmaker said that I think he is right about. I think the plan here is to turn Iran into Syria. The arming of the Kurds is the first step. They want to arm other groups to start breaking the country apart. If they can't get a friendly dictator to work with them, then they will downgrade the power of the current leadership by making them concentrate inward. I doubt it will work, though. Iran is not set up like Syria, leadership wise. It is more a many headed snake than a single dictator.

I think they just need chaos there. Iran is a thorn in the side for greater expansion. There is no need to control Iran, just make sure they can't help resistance in Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt when lands get annexed.

[JPhillips]

Looks like Trump is going to pull the rug out from under Paxton and endorse Cornyn.

[Ksyrup]

That's surprising, although I admit I haven't watched this kind of stuff closely. Paxton seems like the kind of clown Trump gravitates to. Perhaps this is an example of him realizing things aren't going so well.

[JPhillips]

What's the point of blowing up an Iranian ship in Sri Lanka?

[Danny]

He is worried about losing Texas

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

That's surprising, although I admit I haven't watched this kind of stuff closely. Paxton seems like the kind of clown Trump gravitates to. Perhaps this is an example of him realizing things aren't going so well.

There's nobody who has sucked up to Trump more than Paxton and Trump is going to knife him without any care. This is just who he is.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

It could be but it would be an incredible feat for one of the shitty Hezbollah Shahed drones (I don't even think they have 136's to use) to penetrate one of the most sophisticated air defense systems in the world. They can be snuck through on occasion, but it usually requires a cluster of them to go out and overwhelm the defense system. There is no confirmation of that. These are not difficult to take out.

So either an insanely embarrassing fuckup again or that wasn't from Hezbollah.

They also said "Shahed-like" drone in reports. There is of course the LUCAS which is similar but has much better avoidance capabilities.

They can identify pieces to tell country of orgin. If it were a LUCAS that would be pretty stupid.
Second ballistic missile intercepted at the Turkey/Syrian border. Turkey and Azerbaijan.both have a border with Iran. Pull them in and a land invasion becomes much more likely.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

B-52's have been flying for 73 years, and the military has plans to keep them flying until 1040.

They'll easily be the deciding factor in the Norman Conquest, then.

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

What's the point of blowing up an Iranian ship in Sri Lanka?

To fuck with the T20 world cup.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

They can identify pieces to tell country of orgin. If it were a LUCAS that would be pretty stupid.
Second ballistic missile intercepted at the Turkey/Syrian border. Turkey and Azerbaijan.both have a border with Iran. Pull them in and a land invasion becomes much more likely.

Israel is openly threatening Turkey and is the next target after Iran. They are not going to join.

[RainMaker]

Weird story out of Iraq. Seems special operations are taking place there too. Have to hit translate to read.

Ø*صري... إنزال جوي لقوات أجنبية Ù�ÙŠ العراق | اندبندنت عربية

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Weird story out of Iraq. Seems special operations are taking place there too. Have to hit translate to read.

Ø*صري... إنزال جوي لقوات أجنبية Ù�ÙŠ العراق | اندبندنت عربية

I saw earlier reports,of a clash between Iraqi troops and American forces thwt had landed there.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Israel is openly threatening Turkey and is the next target after Iran. They are not going to join.

Turkey involving itself would not be for the benefit of Isreal. Turkey has its own security, both border and energy security, that it will have to consider. Actually a threat from Isreal makes Turkey wanting to secure it's interest in Iran even more likely.

[JPhillips]

MT Sen. Daines says he won't run for re-election and MT Sen. Sheehy goes crazy and helps break the arm of a protester in his Marine uniform.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Weird story out of Iraq. Seems special operations are taking place there too. Have to hit translate to read.

Ø*صري... إنزال جوي لقوات أجنبية Ù�ÙŠ العراق | اندبندنت عربية

Let me take a guess at this the more I have thought about it. They are too far south to helping with the Kurds. We have other bases still active in Iraq, so why station a makeshift camp somewhere else? I am guessing they are trying yo stage special forces raids somewhere outside of the normal areas that are constantly watched. Possibly targeting nuclear facilities or command and control that can't easily be bombed.

[RainMaker]

Well we have an answer on who gets credit for the assassination.

Sen Reed: If regime change was not the military objective, why was the first objective in the campaign the attack and death of Khamenei and key leaders of the regime?
Colby: Those were Israeli operations. pic.twitter.com/u23sGo3uCF

— Ken Moriyasu (@kenmoriyasu) March 4, 2026

[AlexB]

Apparently Iran was days away from developing a nuclear bomb

I’m so old I remember when Trump destroyed Iran’s capacity to develop nuclear weapons…

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by AlexB

Apparently Iran was days away from developing a nuclear bomb

I’m so old I remember when Trump destroyed Iran’s capacity to develop nuclear weapons…

I'm old enough to remember when they were "days away" 25 years ago.

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I'm old enough to remember when they were "days away" 25 years ago.

They've been an IMMINENT threat for 50 years

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Well we have an answer on who gets credit for the assassination.

It was never a question. They have already told the exact munitions that were used. Israel has largely been responsible for all attacks on Tehran and the north area of Iran, and the US has been hitting the central and southern area. I'm sure there has been some occasional overlap, but the easiest way not to have unintentional friendly fire incidents is to divide the theater.
Azerbaijan has mobilized its army and moved them to the Iranian border. They also had a drone strike inside a residential area that they blame Iran for. That attack and the ballistic missiles shot at Turkey just seem suspect. I can't think of any way you can fake a trajectory of a ballistic missile, so that one had to be true, though why? Drones on the other hand could be a false flag, but before someone says "Israel!", you can't fake out the willing. Azerbaijan had already moved their troops forward and fully mobilized before the drone happened. They seem to be itching to get into the sector of northern Iran that holds many of their ethnic kinsmen. I get the same feeling from Turkey. They want to public claim neutrality, but they hate the Iranians as well as fear a well armed Kurdish force on their border that could cause them future problems. They will want to secure them along with their border as Iran weakens. They just need a strong excuse.

[JPhillips]

Trump says that he gets to pick Iran's leader. I'm sure the Shia followers of the world are cool with that.