Archive for July, 2026

WW E / III:  War Crimes R US (July 27, 2026)

Posted in Iran, Isreal, Middle East, War, War Crimes on July 27, 2026 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Trump proclaims that the U.S. intends to commit blatant war crimes as a matter of national policy.”

J          “At least he paused.  Something is sinking in.”

. . .

K          “More than half a century ago, one of the – if not the – greatest diplomatic historians of his time repeated over and over and over and over again that a nation must never lose sight of the limits to its power.”

J          “The two-year-old narcissist will never intellectually and emotionally accept any limits to his power.”

. . .

J          “And then there is Lindsey.” 

K          “The state funeral is tomorrow.”

J          “If you want a state funeral in America, first be a war criminal.”

K          “The war criminal – a true American hero.  And look who will be attending.”

J          “It’s a big club and you are not in it.” 

. . .

K          “Keep an ear to the ground.  Keep an eye on the 10-year Treasury.”

J          “I’ll stay grounded.  This might be the year.  The 10-year Treasury is the pulse, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation rolled into one number for assessing the health of the economy.  It appears to be rolling along, yet it is really on life support.  At some point, it may not roll along.”

. . .

[See “Only One Way Out for Trump” by Patrick Lawrence in Consortium News dated July 27, 2026 and “The 5% Line in the Sand: The Treasury Yield That Could Break the Fiat System” by Nick Giambruno at Financial Underground.]

[See the e-commentary about Lindsey Graham at Graham:  Lindsey and Platner.  Oh, And Happy Bastille Day! (July 13, 2026) and Lindsey Graham:  Recipient Of The Prestigious John McCain – Madeline Albright Rancid Vermin Award!  Oh, And Happy May / Law Day! (April 29, 2024) and on Treasuries at Holographic Treasury Rates?  The 500 Trillion Asset Steal?  And Then The Great Taking?  Oh, And Happy IRS Day! (April 14, 2025) and WW E / III:  TACO Or Zugzwang;  Trump Empire ˄: American Empire ˅; USA Squawking 7700? (May 18, 2026).]

Bumper Stickers of the Week: 

“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Given the current state of our democracy, voting seems to be the adult equivalent of writing to Santa Claus.

Dear Santa,

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Drowning In The Surveillance State: Boiling In Hot Water (July 20, 2026)

Posted in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Kleptocracy, Privacy, Surveillance State, Technology on July 20, 2026 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “In his graduation speech ‘This Is Water’, David Foster Wallace noted that we are often not aware of what surrounds us.  We are also not aware of the forces surrounding us that are drowning, consuming, and suffocating us.  This rising tide called the Surveillance State is devouring us little by little and step by step and day by day.  We may not realize it.”         

. . .

J          “The human organism is breathtakingly resilient and adaptable.  The problem may be that our resilience and adaptability may be killing us.  We are learning to tolerate and accept and live with what is killing us.  That which does not kill us may make us weaker.”

. . .

K          “The Palantir manifesto / screed is the updated high-tech version of the Powell Memorandum.  Powell charted the path for the Oligarchs/Kleptocrats to own everything.  Palantir outlined the course for the Oligarchs/Kleptocrats to control everyone.”

. . .

J          “With the ubiquity and ready acceptance of credit and debit cards, the transition to CBDCs will be seamless and uneventful.  Some may see it as inevitable and long overdue.”

K          “And probably foisted on us on a lazy Friday or over an idle weekend.  The issue with CBDCs is not whether they are in line to go online, but which Big Player among the competing Big Players will control them.”

J          “And control us.”

. . .

J          “The frog slowly boils in the water.  We are slowly being boiled.”

K          “We are not aware we are in water.  Boiling water.”

. .  .

[See the thoughtful and thought-provoking essay “The Great Normalization (Nobody Declared Martial Law—Yet America Began Looking Like It Anyway)” by Madge Waggy at madgewaggy.blogspot.com dated July 16, 2026.]

[See the e-commentary at CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies):  The End Of Freedom, Privacy, Dignity, Sovereignty And Humanity.  And What Happens When AI (Artificial Intelligence) Takes Over Control Of CBDCs?  (April 17, 2023), Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015), Holographic Treasury Rates?  The 500 Trillion Asset Steal?  And Then The Great Taking?  Oh, And Happy IRS Day! (April 14, 2025), Golden Anniversaries Abound: The [Lewis] Powell Memorandum And Attack On America (August 30, 2021) and Second Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 16, 2017) (recognizing the work of John W. Whitehead in protecting and advancing civil rights and civil liberties).]

Bumper Sticker of the Week: 

I wasn’t using my civil liberties anyway

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Graham:  Lindsey and Platner.  Oh, And Happy Bastille Day! (July 13, 2026)

Posted in Foreign Policy, Society, War on July 13, 2026 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “I could not respect him.  He is departed.  Let everyone review his record and determine his legacy.  In life, he was disdainful of diplomacy and a diehard cheerleader for death.”

. . .

K          “‘Respect’ is an admixture of ‘Fear’ and ‘Admiration’ of a person, thing, or institution.  Taking away the ‘Admiration’ leaves one not with ‘Respect’ but with the residual ‘Fear’.  I feared what Lindsey Graham could do and what he did, but I did not ‘admire’ him and thus . . . I did not ‘respect’ him.”

. . .

J          “And then there is the Platner caper.  Something is not copasetic.  From my perspective, neither L. Graham nor Graham P. were in imminent danger of being canonized.” 

K          “Whether Platner was right or wrong, the Ruling Class feared him and dispatched and disappeared him with alacrity.”

. . .

[See the piece “The Graham Platner Affair” by Thomas Neuburger in “God’s Spies” on July 10, 2026 and the comments to “The Graham Platner Affair” by Yves Smith, the recipient of the Seventh Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2022 (May 9, 2022), at “Naked Capitalism” on July 11, 2026; see “Well, At Least Lindsey Graham Is Dead” by Caitlin Johnstone, the recipient of the Fourth Annual Pushitzer Prize In Commentary For 2019 (April 15, 2019), at “Caitlin’s Newsletter” dated July 12, 2026 and “Lindsey Graham Bites the Dust” by Conor Gallagher in “Naked Capitalism” dated July 13, 2026.]

[See the e-commentary at Lindsey Graham:  Recipient Of The Prestigious John McCain – Madeline Albright Rancid Vermin Award!  Oh, And Happy May / Law Day! (April 29, 2024) and On Respect, Fear, Admiration and Irreverence (December 17, 2007) (“Respect (R) is a mix of Fear (Fe or F) and of Admiration (Au or A).  Marine Corps Drill Instructor:  R=Fe8Au1.  Minister:  R=Fe4Au4.  Den Mother:  R=Fe1Au8.  When the A evaporates, however, the residue is F.”)] 

Bumper Stickers of the Week: 

Respect (R) is a mix of Fear (Fe or F) and of Admiration (Au or A).  Marine Corps Drill Instructor:  R=Fe8Au1.  Minister:  R=Fe4Au4.  Den Mother:  R=Fe1Au8.  When the A evaporates, however, the residue is F.

“Well, At Least Lindsey Graham Is Dead” by Caitlin Johnstone:

Ever since the death of Graham’s dear friend John McCain, nobody on Capitol Hill has been able to match his gleeful enthusiasm for the shredding of human bodies using high-priced war machinery.  Wherever there was any debate about dropping bombs, launching missiles, toppling foreign governments, arming proxy forces, or imposing starvation sanctions, you could always count on Lindsey Graham to be the first and loudest voice arguing in favor of more death and destruction.

Graham has personally taken credit for persuading President Trump to begin the war with Iran.  In the months leading up to his unexpected demise, the senator had advocated for direct US military interventionism in Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, Yemen, Nigeria, Lebanon, and Palestine, and had just returned from a trip to Kyiv promoting the US proxy war against Russia.  He was literally pushing for more war and military expansionism until the very end of his life.

All the world’s worst people are publicly expressing their grief about the loss of their beloved war slut, from Trump to Benjamin Netanyahu to Itamar Ben-Gvir to Tom Cotton to Mike Huckabee.  Meanwhile, everyone who’s not a warmongering psychopath is having a splendid day.

Of course we’re seeing imperial narrative managers like Piers Morgan wagging their fingers and chiding their audiences not to speak ill of the dead, but the hell with them.  We’re not doing that.  Politeness is not more important than Lindsey Graham’s victims.  The liberal desire for propriety and nice feelings does not outweigh the importance of naming and shaming Graham’s frenetic scramble to murder as many human beings as he possibly could throughout his evil, miserable life.

Lindsey Graham is dead, and it is good that he is dead.  May his omnicidal ideology soon join him in the arms of the cold, cold ground.  May the insane, insatiable god he worshipped cease to gain recognition on this planet.

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WW E / III:  Percolating And Festering And Exploding (July 6, 2026)

Posted in Middle East, World War E, Ukraine, Propoganda, World War III on July 6, 2026 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J:       “Percolating in the Middle East and festering in Ukraine.”

K:       “Or percolating in Ukraine and festering in the Middle East.”

J:       “And exploding across the planet.”

. . .

J:       “No serious discussion of invoking the 25th Amendment.”

K:       “No serious discussion of much of anything.”

J:       “Propaganda, subterfuge, sleight of hand, smoke and mirrors, deceit, deception, and dishonesty.”

. . .

K:       “The ‘D’ division of the War and Wall Street Party is saying desperately little and doing even less to challenge the ‘R’ division of the War and Wall Street Party.”

J:       “The ‘Uniparty’ has two right wings.”

. . .

J:       “As a society, we’ve somehow decided that the price of a gallon of gas deserves to be posted on every street corner, while no one advertises the price of toilet paper or toothpaste.  Fuel prices have become a political lightning rod, even though they’re only one piece of a family’s budget.  Meanwhile, almost every other price is quietly creeping higher.”

K:       “We’re still waiting for what seems like an inevitable—if unenviable—economic reckoning.  Then again, I’ve been expecting it for sixteen years, so my timing hasn’t exactly inspired confidence.”

. . .

Bumper Stickers of the Week

“When you’re in a hole, stop digging.”

“Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.”  John Maynard Keynes

 

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