Chris Weigant
Maybe we should call Donald Trump's war of choice against Iran the "On-Again/Off-Again War"? That's what it feels like, at any rate, as Trump and Iran both stumble along, taking potshots at each other, with absolutely no end in sight. Trump in particular seems to have no idea what he's doing, no...
smoothiex12
... in summer. They say it is Madrid. This might as well be Paris or Rome. And you all know by now what is happening in Ceuta. Here it is. In Spain they voted for that. This is civilization in a process of decomposition and it cannot be changed. In France it cannot be changed because a huge...
Chris Weigant
The war between the U.S. and Iran has now become nothing more than a classic war of attrition. The key question is: which side will run out of missiles first? Nobody knows the answer to that, but every day that Iran and the U.S. trade attacks with each other brings the answer closer and makes it...
Chris Weigant
We have now entered the sprint phase of the 2026 midterm election season, with fewer than 100 days left on the calendar until Election Day. While nothing is guaranteed, up until now it has seemed that the Democratic Party has had the wind at its back, heading into the crucial part of the...
smoothiex12
... doesn't produce an impression of a very bright man. This is not to say that his distinction of graduating from Virginia Military Institute with honors counts for nothing, but he is a product of a subpar US military education and, naturally, he migrated into the classic pro-Israel camp and then...
Chris Weigant
Donald Trump has ramped up his war of choice once again, bombing Iran on a nightly basis while Iran launches missiles at U.S. military installations and other targets in the region. Sadly, four more American soldiers lost their lives as a result of all this crossfire. And the war seems to be...
Chris Weigant
As the M.O.U. crumbles, the price of gas is going back up again. That's where America stands with Donald Trump's on-again/off-again war of choice with Iran. The Memorandum Of Understanding that both sides signed less than a month ago now lies in tatters, Trump just announced that U.S. military...
Chris Weigant
Last week, we warned everyone that July was going to be a sketchy month for us, in terms of our ability to write these Friday columns. So we begin today with a program update. Today's offering is not a complete Friday Talking Points column. It is bare-bones, at best. We're not even really...
Chris Weigant
Rahm Emanuel just launched his 2028 presidential campaign -- in Israel. He did so by giving what might be called a "Sister Souljah moment" speech in Tel Aviv, where he delicately tried to thread the needle of addressing the relationship between the U.S. and Israel in a realistic fashion without...
Chris Weigant
If anyone needed any further proof that everything that Donald Trump touches turns to schlock (or worse), this week's opening of the Great American State Fair certainly provided some. The initial idea wasn't too bad a concept -- have all 50 states send an exhibit to the National Mall, and it...
Chris Weigant
It's pretty easy to see who won Donald Trump's war of choice with Iran -- and who lost. All you have to do is look at the deal both sides just signed, which is obviously heavily tilted in Iran's favor. In fact, it is pretty much impossible to claim otherwise -- to claim that somehow the U.S. won...
Chris Weigant
The reviews are starting to come in, and they're... not good. Not good at all. Donald Trump's "Memorandum Of Understanding" with Iran is not exactly a big hit with anyone, it seems. The emerging consensus is that Trump pretty much threw away any advantage we had gained over the course of his...
Steve Saideman
It does not take an IR scholar or an historian to note the significance of Donald Trump signing onto a "deal" with Iran while he's at Versailles, site of the treaty that temporarily ended WW1 and set up WW2. I have a few thoughts to add to this perfect illustration of how dumb and tragic this war...
Chris Weigant
The text of the "Memorandum Of Understanding" between the U.S. and Iran was finally made public today, and it's pretty easy to see why Donald Trump wanted to keep the whole thing under wraps for as long as possible. The deal is incredibly tilted towards Iran's objectives, while America's...
Chris Weigant
I feel like the world is now living a real-life Jerry Seinfeld routine: "What's the deal... with the deal?!?" Over the weekend, Donald Trump apparently reached a deal with the Iranians. But as of now, it is raising more questions than it is answering. To begin with: Was the deal electronically...
Chris Weigant
We start today with some good news, for a change. The first is time-sensitive, so check it out now -- a livestream of workers removing Donald Trump's name from the outside wall of what will once again be known as simply The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts. As of this...
Chris Weigant
Donald Trump just can't help himself, it seems. He keeps right on providing prime fodder for Democratic campaign ads in the midterms. Today was no different. After the official inflation rate was revealed today to have shot up to 4.2 percent, Trump was asked about it by a reporter. Here's what...
Chris Weigant
There's a political cartoon out there just waiting to be drawn. Picture a coat-check window, with a line of people in front of it. But instead of coats, the sign says "Spinal Check." The person behind the counter is handing the person they're waiting on a full spine, while saying: "Here you go,...
Chris Weigant
It's an old joke, but it's still funny: "The Republicans are revolting!" Amusing wordplay aside, it is rather shocking (and heartening) to see how at least some Republicans in Congress are increasingly in open revolt against Donald Trump's agenda. At first a few cracks appeared in the dam, but...
Chris Weigant
There's been a rather extraordinary shift coming from the White House over the past week or so, as Donald Trump has been repeatedly forced to back down. This isn't normal for him, of course, which is why it is so notable a development. It has happened on big issues and small, and may signal a...
Chris Weigant
Welcome back, to this weeklong edition of "Deal, Or No Deal?" We're all anxiously awaiting word whether a short-term deal will be agreed to by both Donald Trump and the leaders of Iran, while the world's economy hangs in the balance. Will Trump agree? Will his own hawkish Republicans go...
Chris Weigant
Does the emerging Senate "YOLO caucus" now have a new member? For those of you too out-of-touch to know, "YOLO" stands for "You Only Live Once." It is a slogan designed to urge people to do things they maybe normally wouldn't (for whatever reason). But now the term has been applied to a certain...
Chris Weigant
Today America memorializes 250 years of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country. Since America is currently at war once again, the question on my mind is how many of these brave Americans died in stupid wars? And which one was the stupidest? Perhaps that's too harsh....
Chris Weigant
The most startling development in the political world this week was that Republicans in Congress (some of them, at least) seem to be waking up to the fact that Donald Trump's poll numbers are sinking like a stone and that the only thing he cares about is building his palatial ballroom and wreaking...
Chris Weigant
This Wednesday, we will hit a political milestone which is rather grim for me to contemplate (please read this as a trigger warning: this is going to be a very dismal column, so please stop reading now if you aren't in the mood for that sort of thing). On May 20th, Donald Trump will have been in...
Chris Weigant
We began writing this column series lo these many years ago to help tongue-tied Democrats formulate snappy lines to use when being interviewed on television and/or to use in their campaign ads. These days, however, we have to wonder whether we should just pack it in and not even bother. We say...
Chris Weigant
Donald Trump is stuck in a trap of his own making, it seems. He has finally met his match in stubbornness. And we're all paying the price for it. But Trump doesn't care -- which he will even flat-out admit, as he did today. Trump was asked by a reporter to what extent "Americans' financial...
Chris Weigant
The political highlight of this week was supposed to be Donald Trump flying to China to meet with Xi Jinping. Now there are doubts whether this will even happen, or whether it will be postponed yet again. This summit meeting was initially scheduled for the middle of last month, but it had to be...
Chris Weigant
As Donald Trump's war of choice stumbles and staggers into its third month, you'll be happy to hear that not everyone has been economically hit hard by the rise in prices it has caused. That's right -- there is one clear winner in all of this disruption. This headline sums it up: "Shell Reports...
Chris Weigant
The Washington Post has done an exemplary job this week exposing the lies that the American public has been getting from Donald Trump and his administration over the progress and success of his war of choice with Iran. Yesterday we learned that Iran's attacks on the U.S. military have been a lot...
Chris Weigant
The Washington Post today released what might normally be called a "bombshell report," but should more literally be called a "missile and drone report." It shows that Iran has been far more successful in its attacks on U.S. military bases in the Gulf region than anyone in the administration of...
Chris Weigant
Is Donald Trump about to become a lame duck? Well, that's probably optimistic, but the possibility that people will shortly begin using the term about him does actually exist, and tonight's Republican primary election returns in Indiana will give some sort of indication as to the likeliness of it...
Chris Weigant
As we enter our third month of what might be called "war by impulse," it's pretty easy to see that Donald Trump is flailing around and grasping at straws. He gets a bee in his bonnet, rants about it on social media for a while and then makes an ill-prepared stab at implementing it, only to change...
Chris Weigant
The term "shell shock" was initially used to describe what is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.). It was created in World War I, to describe how the soldiers engaged in trench warfare felt from being continually bombarded by artillery fire and the sometimes long-lasting mental...
Chris Weigant
"A buck-and-a-half per gallon." That is the phrase that should now be on the lips of every Democrat, whenever they are interviewed about any subject. Because today we hit another grim milestone as the quagmire/stalemate with Iran continues with no end in sight. As of this writing (the prices...
Chris Weigant
[Program Note: I do realize that bigger news was made this weekend, but I find that I don't really have much to say about it that hasn't already been said -- except to note in passing that the mainstream media haven't really pointed out (at least not to the extent I would expect) that John...
Chris Weigant
Donald Trump's war of choice with Iran ground to a stalemate this week, and it doesn't seem like progress will be made any time soon. One week ago, Iran announced (as a goodwill gesture, most likely) that the Strait of Hormuz was open once again. Trump then made a slew of sweeping announcements...
Chris Weigant
The more Donald Trump's war of choice goes on, the worse things get for him. And even if the war were to be wrapped up inside of a week, the aftereffects are going to stick around for a long time to come -- meaning things probably won't improve for Trump in time to have much political effect on...
Chris Weigant
Welcome back to TACO Tuesday! Once again, "Trump Always Chickens Out" rules the day.... I shouldn't be so snarky, I suppose. Because in this case, Donald Trump chickening out is a very good thing indeed. As the world waited with baited breath to see whether the two-week ceasefire between Iran...
Chris Weigant
I think my zone is now officially flooded. I don't quite know how else to put it, really. Trying to keep up with political events when every headline seems like it could be just as easily have read "More Chaos Ensues" is a downright daunting task. Donald Trump's "flood the zone" strategy is...
Chris Weigant
Last week, Donald Trump threatened to wipe out "a whole civilization" which has been around for thousands of years. This week, he not only picked a fight with the Pope, but for good measure also posted a picture of himself depicted as Jesus Christ. That Nobel Peace Prize should be a cinch for...
Chris Weigant
There have been numerous developments since the last time I wrote about Trump's war of choice in Iran, so I decided today would be a good day to review them all. First and foremost, the two-week ceasefire is now half over, and as originally scheduled is due to expire next Tuesday. High-ranking...
Chris Weigant
Human beings set a record this week for reaching the farthest distance away from Earth ever, as Artemis II looped around the far side of the moon. Hopefully the astronauts will safely splash down in the Pacific Ocean later today. The whole space mission was a bright spot in the news this week --...
Chris Weigant
The citizens of the Republic of Ireland have a saying about what happened to them after their successful revolution over 100 years ago. They say: "We won the war, but we lost the peace." Without getting into the details too much, what they mean by this is that after they had won their war of...
Chris Weigant
Today the entire world is waiting to see whether the ceasefire announced last night with Iran is going to prove to be meaningful and lasting or not. So far it seems to be shaky, at best. Will the Strait of Hormuz reopen to oil tankers or not? Is Israel going to undermine the ceasefire? Only...
Chris Weigant
It's pretty clear by now that Donald Trump sees war as nothing more than a video game. Having avoided going to war as a young man (by paying a doctor to lie about his non-existent "bone spurs"), he has no concept of what a real war is like. Nor is he interested in finding out. His daily...
Chris Weigant
It was a very busy week in politics and we've got a lot to get to, but let's start out on a happy note for once, shall we? NASA's Artemis II mission is on its way to circle the moon, the first time humans have done so in over 50 years. So check out some awesome photos the astronauts took of...
Chris Weigant
This is going to be a much shorter column than I had expected to write. Because last night, Donald Trump appeared on television to America and said basically nothing. He spoke for 20 minutes and didn't manage to say anything new or informative at all during the entire time. He essentially just...
Chris Weigant
Last year on this date, Donald Trump wanted to proclaim his "Liberation Day" tariffs to the world. Saner heads prevailed at the White House, and Trump was talked into postponing his announcement for a day. This year, those saner heads obviously weren't available, so Trump is going to address the...
Chris Weigant
The national average of the price of a gallon of gasoline now stands at $4.05. It broke through the $4-a-gallon barrier today after spending roughly a week hovering just below it. This isn't really a major change for consumers (it is only the difference of a few pennies), but it is a big...