Will President Ripper order Wing Attack Plan R?
Unconfirmed reports are coming in that Iranians are forming human chains (human shields) around some of the power plants Donald “whole civilization will die tonight” Trump threatens to destroy beginning at 8 p.m. tonight. Already Tuesday, he’s launched over 90 strikes against Iran’s oil export hub at Kharg Island. Tehran’s calls for “young people to form human chains around power plants and other potential targets” have been supported by videos. One depicts
Iranians standing in a chain in front of the Kazeroon power plant, waving the Iranian flag. Fortune could not independently verify the videos. Independent news website DropSite News also reported that protestors were standing in front of Ahvaz and Dezful bridges and the Rajaee, Bisotun, and Tabriz power plants.
But no video or photos of the latter.
The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is still too polite in speaking about Trump’s “mental instability.” But he’s concerned enough to suggest top military brass consider how to respond to a madman’s order to deploy nukes(?). He suggests that cabinet members be prepared to invoke the 25th Amendment before Trump issues that directive. (They won’t, before or after, but it’s that bad.)
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Trump is in madman territory. Even if he relishes playing reality TV host, hyping tonight’s episode, and keeping the entire world in suspense. Alternatively, writes David Frum, these are the kind of escalatory threats Trump issues even as he’s losing his nerve: “The more brutally Trump speaks, the more frantic he looks.” But then by definition, frantic madmen are not thinking clearly and can do incredibly stupid things.
Pariah States of America
Less noticed as Trump’s 8 p.m. ET “eve of destruction” deadline looms is the fact that he’s already destroyed the reputation of the United States of America.
This clip from a speech by U.S. Ambassador to UN Mike Waltz is Exhibit A. Observers begin shouting “WAR CRIMINAL” and “WHAT PEACE?” and (mockingly) “Is the Dow above 50,000?”
Meanwhile in Hungary
“Trump is threatening war crimes in Iran, and Vance is in Hungary campaigning with a wannabe dictator,” tweets Mike Nellis. “These people are insane. Remove them both.”
“We want a world,” Vance told a Viktor Orbán campaign rally, “where oil and gas is flowing freely, where people can afford to heat their homes and cool their homes, where they can afford to transport themselves to work.”
In essence, Trump and Vance want the world that existed before Trump attacked Iran on Feb. 28 and in response Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz. Orbán’s authoritarian-friendly audience did not mock Vance like Waltz’s did. A pity.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tells MS Now regarding Trump’s increasingly frequent use of the U.S. military, “His appetite grew with his eating.”
God help us all.