Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Cope
Something has made Lindsey Graham call off his armed coup!
A Most Excellent Victory, Sir
I know the usual refrain is "what if this was a Democratic president..." but actually this goes beyond that. This really is WHAT IF THIS WAS ANY PRESIDENT BUT TRUMP?
The "foreign policy" community, the blob, the bipartisan collection of arms dealers, former generals, spooks, ex spooks, journalist assets, Harvard educated State Department psychos, tough guy politicians, corrupt "think tanks," and all their easily manipulated (willing to be) journalists would be having an absolute shit fit. Ted Koppel would start a new nightly TV show.Since the signing of the interim agreement last week, the Americans have said that money will be released to Iran as the country hits certain benchmarks – that the US will unfreeze certain funds and give access to the international banking system and international markets.
But what has happened over the last 24-48 hours has been hugely significant because it is a reversal of US policy – sanctions on the Iranian oil industry.
For many, many years, the Iranians managed to sell the oil despite the sanctions, but at a huge discount. That’s because countries were concerned about being on the wrong side of US sanctions.
Now, Iran can sell the oil at full price, which will bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Iranian economy. This is a huge change, but the Americans insist the Iranians still have to meet those benchmarks if other sanctions are to be lifted.
I know you don't have to hand it to Trump, but managing to pull off effectively surrendering to Iran without Lindsey Graham personally leading an armed coup against him requires skills of some sort.
Can't Stop Won't Stop
It doesn't much matter if Iran "cares" about Lebanon or sees Israel's actions as providing a useful opportunity for them for other issues, but as long as they stick to those concerns, Bibi is going to keep doing this until someone makes him stop.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah says Israeli forces opened fire on civilians with assault weapons in southern Lebanon calling the deadly attack a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.
What Are You Going To Do About It
WASHINGTON — New photos of the Kennedy Center show President Donald Trump’s name has been taken down from the building’s facade after a monthslong court battle and the recent addition of a tarp blocking public viewing of the removed signage.
I suspect they've had communications with the Supremos who informed them they have to play along, some, or they'd revoke some of the permission slips. That implies they feel they need to listen to the Supremos, of course, but when mom and dad let you do 90% of what you want, it's smart to overlook the other 10% instead of throwing a tantrum.
We Can't Say Who It is, HOWEVER...
The writers do keep coming up with new plotlines. I'll give them that.
WASHINGTON — Millions of Americans with obesity are eagerly awaiting a powerful new drug from Eli Lilly called retatrutide, which has demonstrated bariatric-surgery levels of weight loss. Some aren’t even waiting for approval from the Food and Drug Administration, instead racing to acquire it through sketchy means.
But STAT has learned that Eli Lilly and the FDA have allowed one person to gain access to the drug through the FDA’s “compassionate use” program, a pathway that gives patients with serious and immediately life-threatening medical issues access to experimental treatments.
This person was a 79-year-old man at the time the request was made in April, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Those sources, who requested anonymity due to fear of reprisals, said it drew the interest of top health officials, suggesting the person receiving this drug was well connected.
Hopefully this unapproved drug doesn't have any unfortunate side effects, like toxic flatulence, criminal stupidity, or sudden agonizing death syndrome.
Monday, June 22, 2026
Team Marco/Team Vance
We do get very few pleasures these days, and one is knowing that everybody hates Vance. Even the people who "should" like Vance hate him.
I don't think there really is a Team Vance.
Foundations
The Iran deal is almost done, just waiting for the final agreements on every important issue.
The Committee To Save The World
My favorite Alan Greenspan (RIP) moment was when as soon as Clinton got close to doing what people like Alan told him to do - stop running a deficit - Alan said haha, just kidding, the world economy requires shitloads of constant American bond issues to function, so this is a perfect time for some (Bush) tax cuts.
PM Down
Keir Starmer, a ridiculous and malevolent figure, will step down as PM.
Nothing will improve in Britain as long as the people currently around him retain their positions of power, and there is little reason to think they won't.
I have my occasional problems with The Democrats, but I'll take the worst of them over any of the right wing of the Labour Party, which is most of the Labour Party now.
Sunday, June 21, 2026
Sure Why Not
"President Trump told Fox News the US may take over the strait in the future if they have to & collect tolls. The president described this as the US being the guardian angel of the Strait of Hormuz & Middle East. He said that would involve the US taking 20% of the oil that passes through the strait"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 21 June 2026 at 09:23
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It Is Very Very Funny
Netanyahu (and American lunatics) has been pushing for war against Iran for years, and now Iran has an effective veto over Israeli actions.
