Sunday, March 1, 2026
Here We Go Again: United States and Israel Bomb Iran With No Clear Immediate Justification and No Apparent Plan
This is what happens when people who are not well-versed in history elect right-wing authoritarian-messianic types who promise greater public safety, less taxes, and lower prices, and all they deliver are economic mayhem, division, persecution, and international chaos.
Early this morning, United States and Israeli forces, in an operation called Epic Fury, bombed Iran under the immediate justification that Iran posed an "imminent threat" by rebuilding its nuclear program and was days away from building a nuclear weapon.
Hold on a minute.
Just months ago, Trump and his Israelis sidekick or puppet master, depending on one's point of view, Benjamin Netanyahu, said they had obliterated Iran's nuclear program with bunker-busting bombs.
Which is it?
In his early morning remarks on Truth Social to the nation, while everyone was sleeping, Donald Trump also called for the overthrow of the Iranian Government, saying they were "a vicious group of very hard, terrible people."
That part is true.
The current Iranian sectarian government of Ayatollah theocrats has been a force of destruction and repression on its people and terrorist activities on other regional nations for decades.
Recently, they viciously put down internal protests against their regime, killing thousands according to news reports.
Iran has responded to the United States and Israellis bombings by launching retaliatory strikes against Israel and neighboring Arab states with no apparent serious damage.
The world would be a better place if the current Iranian leadership were gone and replaced by Democratic and Republic favoring elements.
But people have seen this movie before.
The above sentence was also said about Iraq over 20 years ago, and if taking out regimes that repressed their people were justifications for change, then the United States allies, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, should be on that list too. So should Israel, with its horrific intensification of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and repression of the people in Gaza.
Remember, the United States and a more extensive group of allies in 2003 attacked terrorist and repressive Iraq under the now disproven rationale that Iraq was on the brink of producing nuclear weapons and that the Iraqi people would treat the Americans and other international troops as liberators.
Look how well that turned out in Iraq and in Afghanistan, where American blood and treasure were wasted because of poor planning and a half-ass commitment to get the economic and political reconstruction of those two countries done.
It appears the United States and Israel are about to travel on that road again. The power vacuum, if not managed right this time, will lead to regional instability and terrorist reprisals by displaced Iranian elements, which will be reminiscent of or worse of what happened in Iraq shortly after the American occupation, and that resulted in the rise of ISIS/ISIL.
Arizona Senator and Iraq Military Veteran Ruben Gallego issued an immediate response to Trump's decision to bomb Iran with two social media posts.
In the first, he wrote:
"I lost friends in Iraq to an illegal war. Young working-class kids should not pay the ultimate price for regime change and a war that hasn’t been explained or justified to the American people. We can support the democracy movement and the Iranian people without sending our troops to die."
In the second, he posted:
Yesterday, in possible anticipation of where Trump was headed, Senator Gallego wrote:
"The Iranian people deserve freedom and dignity. But we cannot send our men and women to die at the whim of the President. The regime’s actions shouldn’t become an excuse for a wider war that punishes civilians and puts our troops at risk."
People who know how poorly Mr. Trump has managed the United States in his now over five years in office probably know where this road leads in the latest Middle East conflict. Unless there is a sudden surge in competence, historical literacy, and expertise, this is probably, based on history, not going to end well in the long term.
Remember that we probably would not even be here if Trump, with the prodding of Netanyahu, had not torn up the Obama-negotiated Iran nuclear agreement.
Those prices at that gas pump that may be about to go up because of today's bombings.
Donald Trump did that.
God save the United States and the people entrusted to protect it.
Representative Yassamin Ansari Calls Deposition of 2016 Presidential Popular Vote Winner Hillary Clinton "An Incredibly Unserious Clown Show"
It is deja vu back to the 1990's when Republicans' favorite political pastime was to fabricate fake scandals after fake scandals about Hillary and Bill Clinton.
In another sad day in the MAGA-Trumpists pursuit of retribution against their political enemies, House Republican Oversight Trump Lackeys convened a closed-door deposition of former First Lady, Secretary of State, and 2016 Popular Vote Winner Hilary Clinton, with regard to the Jeffrey Epstein sex scandal.
That no proof or credible documentation has surfaced showing either Clinton's complicity with any Epstein-related scandal seems to mean nothing to Republicans who see the former First Family as perennial political objects to continually torture with innuendo and baseless allegations.
MAGA Republicans can not even abide by their own rules for this deposition, with Lauren 'let's make out with my man, not my husband in a movie theater on Candid Camera' Boebert leaking photos of the former Secretary and 2016 Popular Vote Winner.
Justifiably annoyed, Clinton and her representatives called a temporary halt to the proceedings and demanded that the hearing become open to the press, as they have consistently demanded.
Republicans, worried about looking bad like when they did when the former Secretary and 2016 Popular Vote Winner testified for 11 hours straight at the Benghazi Hearing in 2013, did not want to repeat that mistake again.
House Democrats at the deposition registered their disapproval of this waste of time event during the break after the release of Boebert's photo.
Among the House Democrats at the hearing was Arizona Congressional District Three Representative Yassamin Ansari.
In her remarks, she called the deposition of former Secretary and 2016 Popular Vote Winner Clinton "An incredibly unserious clown show of a deposition where members of Congress and the Republican Party are more concerned about getting their photo-op of Secretary Clinton than actually getting to the truth and holding anyone accountable."
Furthermore, she said:
"Let's remind the country what we are actually talking about. Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and a list of many rich and powerful people from the United States and around the world abused and raped more than a thousand people who were children, many of whom were children at the time.
I also want to talk about the reporting from this week and the fact that we now know that the Department of Justice, in their ongoing cover-up, the most egregious cover-up in American history, intentionally seemed to have redacted more or withheld more than 50 pages of allegations from a minor against President Trump.
Do not forget that Kash Patel, when in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said under oath that the FBI had no credible allegations of any other people being involved in this child sex trafficking operation.
These documents of the Department of Justice intentionally has withheld from the American public in regard to the allegations against President Trump came from the FBI. The FBI had interviewed this witness four times. You do not do that if it is not serious.
So, Kash Patel needs to be immediately brought back before the Oversight Committee. He needs to answer these questions again, and we need answers immediately. Again, America is watching. Young people in this country are watching to see if powerful people will continue to protect other powerful people, and whether or not Congress will actually hold these perpetrators accountable."
Former President Clinton will go through his deposition tomorrow. He also wanted his testimony to be publicly aired, but Republicans, knowing how well the Forty Second President appears on television, have refused.
Representative Ansari released the below social media post following the deposition.
Representative Ansari is right.
This deposition is, in all likihood a complete farce and a waste of taxpayer money.
If a First Family needs to be deposed, it should be the current couple residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
They were mentioned much more in Epstein-related materials, and unlike the former Secretary and 2016 Popular Vote Winner, Melania Trump can be seen in photos having a good time with the infamous sex predators Epstein and Maxwell.
She will not be able to claim immunity if Democrats take back the House in 2027. The Supreme Court Ruling on Presidential Immunity does not extend to her.
For that matter, it does not extend to him because these events occurred prior to Mr. Trump winning the Presidency and do not rise to the level of official acts.
Watch Hillary Clinton's remarks after the hearing below. Please click at 8:42:20.
In a Victory for Innovation and Clean Energy Sustainabilty, New Electric Buses Debut in Phoenix
From Facebook
Chalk up another victory for the agents of modern innovation and clean energy sustainability in the Metro Phoenix area.
Last week, 12 electric public passenger buses, thanks in part to funding from the Biden/Harris Era Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, debuted on the streets of Phoenix, marking the continuation of Mayor Kate Gallego and the Phoenix City Council's efforts to shift the fifth-largest city in the nation's energy portfolio toward a cleaner, more modern one.
Earlier moves saw the city purchase hybrid public transport and natural gas vehicles, along with electric school buses.
Commenting on the premiere of the electric buses, Mayor Gallego posted the following social media video.
In the video, the Mayor said:
"I am on one of the Valley's new electric buses. Please check them out. They are operating now. They have zero emissions, so they're great for sustainability. Quiet service. It's much easier to hear people on the bus and great acceleration. So, please enjoy this innovative new technology."
Blog for Arizona reached out to Mayor Gallego's office to ask what the long term prospects were for the Valley Metro Electric Fleet.
The Mayor's Communication Director, Todd Zubatkin, provided the answers to the questions below.
How many electric buses are now operational?
"This is one of twelve (12) recently acquired buses made possible via a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grant. The buses are being operated on a pilot basis while the department also undertakes an infrastructure improvement project at one of its transit facilities (operating garage) in parallel."
What is the long-term goal for the number of buses?
"This will be partially determined by the performance of these first 12 electric buses. Of note is that the majority of Phoenix’s current transit fleet (two thirds of ~500 buses) operates on clean-burning natural gas, and the department’s current natural gas provider utilizes renewable natural gas processes in its production. The department has also incorporated hybrid-electric buses into its fleet in recent years."
What is the goal/number in reduced emissions stemming from the release of the new electric fleet?
"While the transit department doesn’t have a set goal for reducing emissions, such reductions can be estimated after the buses have been put into full service. The transit department also works with the city’s Office of Sustainability and Office of Environmental Programs on long-term fleet strategies as part of those offices’ citywide planning effort
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