Trump admits he ‘doesn’t care’ about ending war with Iran – Capitol Hill Blue
Donald Trump, America’s has-been president, a wannabe fascist dictator losing even the support of his Republican MAGA cult-like followers, now admits that he “doesn’t care” about what Iran does in responding to his unconstitutional and illegal war against their Islamic republic.
““I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement,” Trump said in a post on his money-losing and failing social media website. ““I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing. They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?”
Iran also couldn’t care less about Trump or his faltering military–struggling with depleted stocks of missiles and other tools of war under control of racist Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, tossed out of the National Guard for his Nazi tattoos and too busy firing military leaders of color and generals and admirals who are fed up with his stupid and dangerous antics as a self-declared “secretary of war.”
Reports Erica L. Greene in The New York Times:
But despite Mr. Trump’s combative words, Iran is making clear that it has leverage, as well. Six months into the conflict — which Mr. Trump had predicted would be over in a matter of weeks — there is no real end in sight. Iran has fired on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, severely curbing the ability of U.S. allies to export oil and gas.
Mr. Trump is also feeling the political price at home, in terms of the toll on the American economy and his party’s chances in the midterm elections. He is reluctant to resume an all-out bombardment, even though he issues regular threats, including one on Tuesday night announcing that the United States was hitting Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
“If the failed Nation of Iran retaliates for this very justified attack,” he wrote, “they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level, but it will not be the biggest attack of them all, that is waiting in the wings and, when it is over, there will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran!”
Mr. Trump has tried to squeeze Iran economically by enforcing a naval blockade on Iranian ports and increasing sanctions on Tehran. But China remains a lifeline for Iran, buying its oil and supplying it with raw materials and technology that support its economy and military. And the United States has shown little appetite for opening another economic front with China.
On MS Now, Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall says Hegseth’s antics are creating an “unhealthy climate in the Pentagon.:
On Hegseth’s racism, Fred Kaplan of Slate writes:
It’s been clear from his first days as secretary of defense that Pete Hegseth sees little place in the military’s senior officer corps for Black people and women. Recently, he’s only stiffened that impression.
In recent weeks, he blocked the promotion of eight Navy captains to the rank of admiral, three of whom were women, two of whom were Black. Of the 22 Navy officers promoted to admiral since Hegseth took the Pentagon’s helm, none have been women.
Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, condemned Hegseth’s actions, accusing him of “hollowing out the military’s bench of experienced and highest-performing senior officers while making young officers”—especially Black and female officers—“wonder if they should continue to serve.”
Hegseth’s recent actions fit a pattern. Among his first actions after the Senate just barely confirmed him, thanks to a tiebreaking vote by Vice President J.D. Vance, Hegseth fired the Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, and the Navy’s first-ever female top officer, Adm. Lisa Franchetti—neither for any cause related to merit.
As a former Fox News host and retired Army major, Hegseth had loudly bemoaned the rise of “woke” politics and what he saw as affirmative-action promotions within the military. In one of his books, he raised questions about Brown’s promotion to chairman under President Joe Biden. “Was it because of his skin color? Or his skill?” Hegseth asked. “We’ll never know, but always doubt.”
It’s one thing to oppose affirmative action, but Hegseth seems to follow a policy of negative action. He assumes that just because top-ranking officers are Black or women, they got their job because of some quota.
Hegseth did not mention, either when he wrote his book or when he later fired him, that Gen. Brown, an F-16 pilot, had racked up 3,000 flight hours, 130 of them in combat, or that he’d served as commander of U.S. Air Forces in the Pacific and the Middle East, rising to deputy commander of U.S. Central Command—or that he’d been named Air Force chief of staff in March 2020, to no objection from the president at the time, Donald Trump.
On Yahoo News, Howard Koplowitz reports:
A top House Democrat sharply criticized Pete Hegseth, accusing the defense secretary of being a “racist, misogynistic guy” over his blocking promotions for minority and female naval officers.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and a leading Trump administration critic, was asked Tuesday what he makes of Hegseth blocking the promotions.
“Well, that Hegseth is a straight-up racist, misogynistic guy,” Raskin told the MeidasTouch network.
The Maryland Democrat then suggested that Hegseth, who has railed against DEI policies, hasn’t lived up to the promise that he would not take another sip of alcohol, which Hegseth made during his confirmation hearings amid concerns of excessive drinking.
“I don’t know why we never really followed up on his promise that he would stop drinking because that seems rather dubious at this point,” Raskin said.
“He’s a racist, a sexist, misogynistic and anti-immigrant bigot and a would-be theocrat,” the Maryland congressman continued. “He’s denigrating and degrading our armed forces.”
The New York Times reported last month that Hegseth went against the recommendation of a board of Navy admirals to promote nine officers to one-star admirals, including three women and two Black men.
After Hegseth’s intervention, the Times reported, “no female officers were included on the new one-star list, which was released publicly in late May, despite the fact that women make up about 21 percent of the active-duty Navy. The list appears to include only two nonwhite officers, even though sailors who identify as racial minorities make up about 38 percent of the active-duty Navy.”
Current and former Defense Department officials told the Times that Hegseth striking the female and Black nominees from the list was “highly unusual”
“According to Pentagon rules,” the Times reported, “the defense secretary is supposed to pull officers from the list only for moral, mental, physical or professional failings that raise questions about the officers’ fitness to lead.”
Hegseth’s heavy drinking became an issue during hearings on his fitness after Trump nominated him for the Pentagon post. He promised to quit drinking. Use of alcohol is also an issue that arose from the behavior of FBI Director appointee Kash Patel.
The Atlantic, in an investigation, focused on what they call his alcohol-fueled actions during filmed reports of the World Cup, frequent absences during working hours and oversleeping and arriving late at work.
MS Now reports:
About what we have learned to expect from the many questionable appointments by America’s convicted felon president.
