CSotD: Wars and Rumors of Peace
Skip to comments
Ramirez captures the administration’s decision-making system, which is that there is no system and it all depends on how Dear Leader is feeling at the moment.
It certainly seems like an odd way to run a country, but, then, it would be an odd way to run a casino or an airline or a university, and would likely result in bankruptcy for any enterprise that wasn’t empowered to print its own money.
However, as head of government, you can always declare victory, particularly if you don’t allow the press access to the Defense Department and, in the midst of war, choose not to offer any updates for more than a week.
Unlike the couple in Stahler’s cartoon, I knew where the Strait of Hormuz is because my son was boarding and inspecting ships there a quarter century ago, which makes it hard to believe that the Navy didn’t remember how narrow that passage is and how the Iranian Revolutionary Guard harassed our ships.
A decade later, two Navy small craft were intercepted by the Guard, and there was much uproar about this photo. However, my son shrugged it off because it is the normal posture that people — American or Iranian — are ordered to assume until they’ve been searched for weapons.
Again, for all the hoo-hah that emerged over that incident, it seems odd that a decade later we didn’t know the Iranian coastal waters were a potential danger zone.
Unless we were being directed by numbskulls who don’t ask questions and don’t listen to advice.
Juxtaposition of the Day
I suppose not asking questions or listening to advice could lead, for instance, to bragging about how you have no intention of following rules of engagement or other aspects of the Geneva Convention. Not only could a Minister of War, or whatever he’s calling himself, make such bold announcements, but the president himself could threaten to obliterate civilian infrastructure, which is also a war crime.
But, hey, we’re winning the war, probably. As said, there isn’t much news coming out of the Pentagon, but the president has assured us that he’s calling the shots, and he’s demanding that they agree to the treaty that Obama signed with them and that he tore up. Brown shows the tough bargaining position he has put the mullahs in.
It’s called the “Art of the Deal” and, as Kallaugher notes, Dear Leader is the expert in making tough bargains to our advantage.
Though Morland suggests that perhaps Trump and Hegseth are the sorts of people who learn best by experience, which brings to mind Mike Tyson’s famous explanation of tactics: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
Our fearless leaders are offering to get punched in the mouth so they can perfect their plan, but, of course, the reason they can be fearless is that they aren’t the ones who will actually take those punches.
Hudson mocks their braggadocio and bold statements about putting boots on the ground, but Brian Stelter made what seems a reasonable request of the press in yesterday’s Reliable Sources:
Can members of the media think twice before using the term “boots on the ground” in every other sentence about the war? Those boots belong to people. We’re talking about American service members in harm’s way.
I know reporters and editors aren’t thinking too deeply about it when they use the phrase, but it really does abstract people into objects and soften the very serious stakes of warfare. It’s euphemistic when we need to be direct.
Juxtaposition of the Day #2
And, by the by, it’s not as if our little adventure in the Gulf only affects us and Iran and Israel and whatever Middle Eastern countries find themselves under fire. The interruption of oil supplies has worldwide consequences, and this pair of Australian cartoonists examine how it’s going in their country.
Katauskas is not content with a little “I built this!” sticker but wants something more visible, and who can blame her? The government has temporarily cut the excise tax in half to make petrol slightly more affordable, but, Hudson asks, how long can they expect to maintain that discount?
You might also ask how come we can’t do something similar here with taxes, but maybe high prices are part of our need to get punched in the mouth so we give up whatever plan put these folks in power.
And Now For Something Completely Different
Vero, the teacher in La Cucaracha, ponders how to mark March 31, and how to explain it to her students.
I’ve seen a few people question how we can condemn Chavez without a trial, which I think says less about their respect for due process than it indicates that they haven’t read the NY Times piece that lays out the evidence against him.
And, after all, removing statues, painting over murals and changing street names isn’t the same as jailing a person. We could decide not to honor Columbus based on the historical record, though, again, if you don’t ever read, you might never figure that out either.
One solution, as both Branch and Vero suggest, is renaming things for Dolores Huerta, who was also a key figure in the Farmworkers’ Movement. But with all respect to her contribution, and full faith that she’ll always be viewed with honor, I’m not a fan of the Great Man (Person) School of History.
Naming things for people ignores the influence that major things like societal changes and scientific advances play in history. It suggests — implausibly — that, if the Great Man, Columbus, hadn’t sailed to America, John Glenn would have been the first white person to see the New World as he orbited over it.
Alcaraz answers Vero’s dilemma, and I agree with his choice: Honoring Farmworkers honors all the people who worked for justice in the fields, as well as all the people who have worked in those fields.
Rather than suggesting that this or that great individual made justice happen, it suggests, rather, that the people, united, will never be defeated.
And that, in the fields or elsewhere, si, se puede.
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
Comments 4
Comments are closed.