Iranian schoolgirls

Quick Hits For A Wednesday


POST 1279

Cautionary Tale

Jamelle Bouie’s Sunday Piece, Trump’s Second Term Is a Cautionary Tale, caught my eye right away. We as a people are no longer imbued with caution regarding consequences, even those consequences attendant to dangerous actions. We riotously celebrate our stupidization by banning books, defunding education, defunding medical and scientific research, humiliating allies and step-by-step crushing of our government that used to be of the people, by the people and for the people. Instead, we are constructing short term, gargantuan enrichment of the rich as though there were no consequences for doing that.

Dear Leader has no use for caution and operates primarily from such drivers as chaos, corruption, craving, carelessness, catastrophe, covetousness, conspiracy, cheating – I’ve run out of “c” words. But you know this stuff. Add your “c” words in the Comments section below.

Meanwhile, these “c” words and far worse words represent the America we’ve allowed ourselves to become.

Cautionary tales are supposed to warn us about potential dangers, moral pitfalls, or negative consequences of specific actions. But we haven’t been paying attention or too many of us have resigned ourselves to terrible consequences. It’s time to un-resign. The very worst cautionary tale is the one we ignore.

From the Yeah-Really Department

The Strait of Hormuz is open to shipping.

The Strait of Hormuz is closed to shipping.

We’ve obliterated Iran’s missile capability.

Two Indian flagged vessels were hit by Iranian missiles.

Gas prices are way down.

Gas prices are high and will stay high for a very long time.

Those Iranian schoolgirls are still dead and other than one senator, John Kennedy (R-LA) no U.S. government official has so much as expressed empathy, much less apologized.

Allies are working to create new trade and defense networks that don’t include the U.S.

Trump is putting more effort into retribution against those who opposed him and his illegality than he is putting into life and death issues, like the Iran War and killing people in little boats on the high seas.

The Epstein cover up is alive and continuing to slither in the slime under DOJ rocks.

Feel free to add your own statements of our reality.

A Note To Eric Swalwell

Oh, Eric, such a disappointment,

First, to be fair, you have been accused, not convicted, and we have heard your denials. But what are we to make of this?

Open secrets are not secrets at all, so how did you manage to put yourself in such a position as though the rules of decency don’t apply to you?

You have been brave, standing up to tyrants and speaking truth to power. You are an eloquent voice in Congress and outside those walls. You are greatly skilled, but it appears that you have succumbed to hubris, a terminal disease that is avoided only with humility. Where has your humility gone?

Your future looks to be most difficult. If there are civil or criminal prosecutions in your future we wish only for proper justice. But in this time of constant vilification masquerading as patriotism, you can expect a lot of the nasty, especially from the far right self-righteous extremists. They will invoke your name as the evil they fight against, even as they do far worse to our country. If only they would be as quick to hold accountable the abusers in their midst, especially the greatest abuser.

This isn’t going to be pretty and it looks like you brought this on yourself. You’ve lost a career and who knows how much damage you’ve done to your family. And we’ve lost a much needed fighter.

Best Video So Far This Week

Watch Prof. Timothy Snyder’s explainer, Superpower Suicide.

Best Explainer of How To Reach Gen Zs

Read Why Democrats are failing to reach young voters like me by Ethan Norton.

Democrats: Are you listening?

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Copyright 2026 by Jack Altschuler
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