US May or May Not Attack Iran This Weekend - The Thursday AM Quickie 6/19/25
Thanks to the power of ketamine and hate, MAGA oligarch Elon Musk continues to make strides in rocket science. Now his Starships blow up before they even leave the launch pad! "There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities," SpaceX claims. Translation: look out, Texas. - Corey
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6/19: The guest will be... well, honestly, I'm not yet sure.
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Today you'll read about the Supreme Court's odious anti-trans ruling, the latest Republican lies about the health of Social Security, and how a State Department cable mandating social media surveillance has opened up a new front in the fight for free speech.
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THE BIG NEWS
On the Verge of War with Iran, May the TACO Rule Stand
According to the Wall Street Journal and CBS News, Donald Trump has already approved Pentagon plans to attack Iran – and the only thing holding him back from giving the order to launch another lawless, costly, and ill-advised American war in the Middle East is whether Tehran bows to his demand to abandon its civilian nuclear program. "I like to make the final decision one second before it's due, because things change, especially with war," Trump said. "I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do." Reassuring!
"Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance," the Iranian government said in a statement issued by its United Nations Mission. "No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House." In a recorded speech yesterday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his country "will not surrender," adding that "the Americans should know that any US military engagement will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage."
US military forces from around the globe are already on their way to the Middle East. Bloomberg News reports the US may attack Iran as soon as this weekend. The State Department yesterday began evacuating staff from the US embassy in Israel. Israel and Iran continue to trade missile strikes, leaving hundreds dead and thousands wounded, mostly in Iran, and mostly among civilians. An Iranian missile struck an Israeli hospital yesterday, as Israel followed through on its threat to strike an Iranian nuclear reactor.
Britain, Germany, and France have dispatched top diplomats to meet with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland. Russia's Aspiring Tsar Vladimir Putin, an ally of both Israel and Iran, has offered to mediate.
Polls show Americans oppose a US attack on Iran by 45 percent to 25 percent, with more than half of Trump voters unsure or opposed. "We can't do this again. We'll tear the country apart. We can't have another Iraq," Trump adviser and broken clock Steve Bannon says. As with the prelude to the US invasion of Iraq, Democrats are not exactly standing firm. But warmongering Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman seems to be in a minority with his position of giving a blank check both to Israel and to Trump – who, like Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu, could use a war to cement his power despite his weakness and unpopularity. And unlike George W. Bush, Trump is not even bothering to make a case for war.