"Experts:" Just Because the Combined US and Israeli Forces Are Having Their Way with the Iranian Regime Like Jodie Foster on a Pinball Machine Doesn't Mean We're Winning

This has been a running narrative in the Leftwing Joke Media for the entire month.

But the Theater Kids Media is really wedded to the idea that by killing the entire top two or three echelons of Islamic Occupation Army command, we've actually strengthened Iran.

Are you stupid? Are you people actually retarded? Have you replaced all your editors with the free version of ChatGPT from 2023? How could you possibly run something this ridiculous.

The US and Israel have complete air superiority over Iran and have been bombing it nonstop for…
— Daniel Friedman (@DanFriedman81) March 31, 2026

To the platinum credentialed Expert, such a decisive military success being presided over by consensus idiot Donald Trump is completely inconceivable; so they will carry on strutting mindlessly, like a chicken which has been relieved of its head.
— Stranger Ranger (@couragemerry) March 30, 2026

In the below list, real media headlines have been hidden among the fake ones.

Give yourself five Burger King Kids Club Clue Crew points for each one you find.

.Analysts Warn That Loss of Mojtaba Khamenei's Leg Will Just Make Him 'More Resolved,' Open Up 'Sick Parking Opportunities' Outside of Pinkberry

After suffering two fatal wounds to his head and heart, General Custer is said to be preparing for a "rebuilding season"

AP: Israel Is Rapidly Killing Iran's Top Leaders. Experts Warn This Strategy Could Backfire.

The Loss of "Deadweight Cities" Hiroshima and Nagasaki Just Might Be the Boost Japan Needs

NBC: Israel killed another Iranian leader, but experts say that doesn't mean it's winning the war

Foreign Policy: D-Day More Like Flea Day Amirite

Hitler's Masterstroke: Furher's Brilliant Suicide Maneuver Stuns Jewish Capitalist Conspiracy by "Flipping the Script" and Taking the Polarizing Leader Out of the Equation

CNN: How Israel killing leaders in Iran could complicate Trump's search for an endgame

How many of the real headlines did you spot, Burger King Kids Club Clue Crew?

Posted by: Disinformation Expert Ace at 05:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Top 5!

Posted by: Crusader at April 01, 2026 05:30 PM (TN0g+)

2 Even read some of the content!

Posted by: Crusader at April 01, 2026 05:31 PM (TN0g+)

3 H

Posted by: Thanatopsis at April 01, 2026 05:32 PM (LdBR/)

4 Hola

Posted by: Thanatopsis at April 01, 2026 05:32 PM (LdBR/)

5 "D-Day could be seen by Nazis as an escalation"

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 05:32 PM (8avO+)

6 Why are You People raw dogging the air?!

Wear a mask! Two masks!!!

Posted by: EXPERTS! at April 01, 2026 05:33 PM (ULPxl)

7 "Shame on Donald Trump for funding the ballroom addition to the White House. It could end up costing millions."

?

Posted by: tcn in AK at April 01, 2026 05:34 PM (DwqWV)

8 Just Because the Combined US and Israeli Forces Are Having Their Way with the Iranian Regime Like Jodie Foster on a Pinball Machine Doesn't Mean We're Winning

Ace you cruel bastard I almost peed myself laughing at this.

Posted by: Never change, ace. Never change. at April 01, 2026 05:35 PM (TbWk/)

9 The establishment is trying awfully hard to keep their assessment of the real world of foreign policy alive, even though the emerging facts are screaming the experts are just a bunch of big dummies.

Posted by: Black JEM at April 01, 2026 05:35 PM (GZYu7)

10 Brb. Busy picturing 1995 Jodie Foster on a pinball machine...

Posted by: Not Enough Lampposts at April 01, 2026 05:36 PM (AkKZw)

11 I dunno ace, this is a tough quiz. They're all so... equal!

Posted by: RandomDave at April 01, 2026 05:36 PM (aJQbY)

12 what i'm most proud of here is --

Burger King Kids Club Clue Crew

I made this up (I think)

Posted by: ace at April 01, 2026 05:36 PM (1wjle)

13 With all these "experts" in town, Holiday Inn Express must be fully booked.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 01, 2026 05:36 PM (ESVrU)

14 The establishment is trying awfully hard to keep their assessment of the real world of foreign policy alive, even though the emerging facts are screaming the experts are just a bunch of big dummies.
Posted by: Black JEM at April 01, 2026 05:35 PM (GZYu7)

The emerging facts of the last decade or so also has shown that most all of the experts are big dummies.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 05:37 PM (8avO+)

15 Oops. Didn't realize that was an actual movie scene! You film nerds.

Posted by: Not Enough Lampposts at April 01, 2026 05:37 PM (AkKZw)

16 Just Because the Combined US and Israeli Forces Are Having Their Way with the Iranian Regime Like Jodie Foster on a Pinball Machine Doesn't Mean We're Winning

There are not too many zingers that will make me go 'Fuck' but that is one.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 01, 2026 05:37 PM (zZu0s)

17 They don't want blaming Trump ("Piss be upon him") to fall off too much.

Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 05:38 PM (Fi81e)

18
The media, and the left, (BIRM) are retards. I guess that makes this post a three-peat?

Posted by: BifBewalski - at April 01, 2026 05:38 PM (QVmho)

19 Brb. Busy picturing 1995 Jodie Foster on a pinball machine...
Posted by: Not Enough Lampposts at April 01, 2026 05:36 PM (AkKZw)

It wasn't the fun time pinball machine.

It was the rapey pinball machine.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 01, 2026 05:38 PM (zZu0s)

20 "Jodie Foster on a pinball machine!" is my new go-to for skirting the Third Commandment.

Posted by: SloPitch Whiffer at April 01, 2026 05:39 PM (NYInA)

21 There has never, in recorded history, been a war wherein one side lost its entire chain of command—including its supreme political and religious leader—on the first day of fighting. In response to this, the entire foreign policy establishment has suffered a psychotic break.
-
Some of that's Trump hate.

A lot of that is the notion that the 'special' people were off limits in war. A king might be captured and subject to some humiliation, but unless there was some bad blood involved, he'd be sworn to serve the victor rather than killed outright. There are exceptions (see most of the Old Testament, as God doesn't seem concerned with status).

What Trump and Israel have shown is that unspoken rule no longer applies. If anyone causes enough trouble to justify war, we'll start by killing the decision makers who caused the problem. And it would seem that targets like the ayatollahs are less command and control than those who give ideological support for the enemy's cause.

In the event of US Civil War 2.0 that is likely to include the entire 'expert' class. And they are just smart enough to have figured that out.

Posted by: Methos at April 01, 2026 05:39 PM (vSvIl)

22 9 The establishment is trying awfully hard to keep their assessment of the real world of foreign policy alive, even though the emerging facts are screaming the experts are just a bunch of big dummies.
Posted by: Black JEM
==========
That is because of domestic politics and the feeling by most of the ruling class that they are all one big Globo Homo family even the dysfunctional and evil regimes like Iran, North Korea, etc.

Remember Clinton S. of State Albright's awful jig and clapping at some hideous Nork meeting.

Loathsome critters.

Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 05:39 PM (E4rtv)

23 I saw a video where they showed what modern leftists would have been like with WW2, its so disturbing to watch.

And there are some on the right who pile on, because they were raised on War on Terror and think that is the ONY way anything can ever turn out. Its so ludicrous and almost painful to watch.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 05:39 PM (El6/E)

24 I suspect very soon the left will be making Colin Powell's argument from the WoT that we "caused a mess" in destroying the Mullahs and so we have to send 100K American boys to make sure they get democracy or something.

Well, f*ck that.

Kill your enemies and keep killing them. When they are ready to surrender I don't care if they get a new Mullah, a General, or some collection of dipshits ruling parts of Iran as long as they are all still afraid to screw with the US

Posted by: 18-1 at April 01, 2026 05:39 PM (sKqQm)

25 I'm still worried about the 60-day clock.

We've got plenty of assholes in Congress for whom it could almost be their favorite accomplishment to tell Trump "we told you so".

Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 05:40 PM (Fi81e)

26 To the platinum credentialed Expert, such a decisive military success being presided over by consensus idiot Donald Trump is completely inconceivable; so they will carry on strutting mindlessly, like a chicken which has been relieved of its head.

I mean, they could declare Netanyahu to be a military genius, I suppose.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at April 01, 2026 05:40 PM (ExV1e)

27 Jodie Foster on a pinball machine? Holy Crap but that's a cruel pop cultural reference. Could have been written by Joss himself

Posted by: Seagrams and sprite at April 01, 2026 05:40 PM (PYrt4)

28 Is this where I bring up the cruise ship again? Because holy cheese, we live in stupid times.

Posted by: Piper at April 01, 2026 05:40 PM (Wmg4n)

29 If you have ever been chased by a headless chicken, it can be quite traumatic, especially if you're a toddler. They want payback.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM (m5cxz)

30 After watching his wife get split like a stick of stove-wood by a series of bulls with penises that would make the average horse jealous, David French emerges more secure in his marriage than ever.

Posted by: ballistic at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM (oqH4h)

31 So, you're telling me there's a chance?

Posted by: huerfano at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM (98kQX)

32 Last night I told my father, who is the left of Karl Marx, that if he's having trouble understanding how totally we are winning, I could give him an example.

Imagine it is mid-January 1942 and US has already killed Hitler, Himmler, Goering, Rommel, Manstein, and every field marshal. The Kriegsmarine has been sunk, and the Luftwaffe wiped out. Our aircraft dominate the skies so completely over Germany that they can't even fire flak against the B-17s.

Our casualties include some mid-air collisions and an incident were an inexperienced Allied pilot shot down three of our fighters, but the pilots were rescued and are now back in the fight.

This is world-historical dominance.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM (ZOv7s)

33 France has more resolve against Hitler than ever, after Paris falls in 1940.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM (0U5gm)

34 That is because of domestic politics and the feeling by most of the ruling class that they are all one big Globo Homo family even the dysfunctional and evil regimes like Iran, North Korea, etc.

Remember Clinton S. of State Albright's awful jig and clapping at some hideous Nork meeting.

Loathsome critters.
Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 05:39 PM (E4rtv)
---
Yep. They don't look at their diplomatic counterparts as "enemies" or even "adversaries."

At most, they are "brothers/sisters from a different mother/father."

The diplomatic political class really are a bunch of loathsome toads.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM (ESVrU)

35 i'd like to take credit but the Jodie Foster Pinball Machine joke is so old that I guess it's new again.

Posted by: ace at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM (1wjle)

36 LOL, Ace. I LOVE THIS!

I was 6yrs old when I found out the South lost the Civil War. So this is similar mentality.

We were on a trip to DC, in the back of my parents Cadillac. [This was almost Civil War times, Morons and 'ettes, or the early'60's] The AC had two plastic things on each end of the back window.

Bro and I had our Rebel and Yankee plastic warriors and I was, of course, a Rebel. I'd say, "Start the war!" and we'd fight and I'd win.

My father spoke up while driving and informed me the South lost. Really? I was crushed and my brother was thrilled. It took a while to accept this crushing defeat but I eventually did.

It did not help that in Gatlinburg, TN we were drafted into the Confederate Army and rode a train. My brother got a grey uniform and wore it everywhere when we got home.

I was too young to be bothered by him, as his main problem was being carsick on every trip, which was gross.

Posted by: ChristyBlinkyTheGreat at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM (WONhk)

37 NBC: Israel killed another Iranian leader, but experts say that doesn't mean it's winning the war

This is a real headline because it's NBC.

Posted by: dantesed at April 01, 2026 05:42 PM (Oy/m2)

38 In the media's defense, it IS, LIKE DAY 32!!!!

Posted by: Stateless - Day 13 of 14 or so - extreme dog care at April 01, 2026 05:42 PM (Sco7b)

39 Foreign Policy: D-Day More Like Flea Day Amirite

Hitler's Masterstroke: Furher's Brilliant Suicide Maneuver Stuns Jewish Capitalist Conspiracy by "Flipping the Script" and Taking the Polarizing Leader Out of the Equation

===

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2026 05:42 PM (GD0B3)

40 Halp!!

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2026 05:42 PM (GD0B3)

41 In the media's defense, it IS, LIKE DAY 32!!!!
Posted by: Stateless - Day 13 of 14 or so - extreme dog care at April 01, 2026 05:42 PM (Sco7b)

Another grim milestone....the sun rising.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (8avO+)

42 I'm still worried about the 60-day clock.

We've got plenty of assholes in Congress for whom it could almost be their favorite accomplishment to tell Trump "we told you so".
Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 05:40 PM (Fi81e)
---
It's meaningless. We had a no-fly zone over Iraq for 12 years. How is this different?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (ZOv7s)

43 14 The establishment is trying awfully hard to keep their assessment of the real world of foreign policy alive, even though the emerging facts are screaming the experts are just a bunch of big dummies.
Posted by: Black JEM at April 01, 2026 05:35 PM (GZYu7)

The emerging facts of the last decade or so also has shown that most all of the experts are big dummies.
Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 05:37 PM (8avO+)
------
The old-school Cold War-era "foreign policy establishment" haven't been right about a DAMN thing in the last 35ish years.

Posted by: ballistic at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (oqH4h)

44 >> Brb. Busy picturing 1995 Jodie Foster on a pinball machine...
Posted by: Not Enough Lampposts at April 01, 2026 05:36 PM (AkKZw)

It wasn't the fun time pinball machine.

It was the rapey pinball machine.

I am almost ashamed that I don't know which Pinball Machine she was raped on in that Movie.

Which is odd, because there should have been a callout or two during that rape scene.

Posted by: garrett at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (0CqYd)

45 Doesn't saying, as your fucking headline says, that "Iran could emerge from the war stronger and more dangerous than ever" mean that they were a danger to begin with?

The fucking media, man....

Posted by: SSBN 656 (G) at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (dmDsy)

46 “I knew I was a Chad when I hit on a dozen girls at the club and they all told me ‘get lost, creep.’”

— Basement Dwelling Incel

Posted by: Elric the Blade at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (jB7fc)

47 I mean, they could declare Netanyahu to be a military genius, I suppose.
-
Yah, but Jew.

Posted by: Methos at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (vSvIl)

48 Best Ace headline ever

Posted by: John Hinckley Jr. at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (CNl8/)

49 i'd like to take credit but the Jodie Foster Pinball Machine joke is so old that I guess it's new again.
Posted by: ace at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM
-----------

Must've missed it first time around, but I still laughed.

Posted by: olddog in mo at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (bQ4nt)

50 How many of the real headlines did you spot, Burger King Kids Club Clue Crew?
---
All of them are real.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (ZOv7s)

51
T - 45 minutes till launch. They've got the FTS problem fixed, but now a problem with a battery on the launch abort system has popped up. The temperature of one of those batteries is out of allowed range. This will be a show-stopped if not fixed.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (w6EFb)

52 I would be more inclined to believe these were actual headlines if they had Masturbatin' Pete in the byline. As it is, you almost got me with a good April Fool's joke, Ace! But no one is dumb enough to believe these!

Posted by: Wally at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (zG4BR)

53 Is the meaning of "expert" now equivalent to "lying idiot"?

Asking for CNN.

Posted by: Eeyore at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (AlhUl)

54 So now that the House has given in and agreed to the Senate's bill with ICE/CBP removed is that a win or a loss for our side? And whatever Ace write's about it I hereby disagree and request to have this rebuttal prominently placed within Ace's own post as is the new blog tradition.

Respectfully Yours,

Posted by: banana Dream CBP - Charlie Brown's Prostate? at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (3uBP9)

55 No one cares if we're "winning" acey girl.
Neocons started another middle east war and lost the America First coalition.

This resulted in a large portion of MAGA, MAHA, youth, and moderate voters largely peeled off and almost ensuring a complete loss in the midterms, 2028, and a return to Leftist rule.

This hangs on you and your pretty little war mongering heads.

Posted by: Clark at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (M8DlM)

56 I do have one concern in the back of my mind.
Bombing cannot win a war. But it does shape the battlespace for success for the ground forces. Whether those ground forces are military troops, or locals set to finally overthrow the last of the regime remains to be seen. At some point, somebody somewhere needs to walk into what remains of the IRGC HQs and say, "We are now in charge."

Posted by: Diogenes at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (2WIwB)

57 The diplomatic political class really are a bunch of loathsome toads.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

Well said.
=========
Retief, a fictional diplomat appearing in books by Keith Laumer's is about the only diplomat worthy of praise in recent memory. Rubio though is climbing up the charts.

Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (E4rtv)

58 Ron White was right, 'If you have a thought, just let it go.'. The MSM really should just stop.

Posted by: Gmac-WTF did you think was going to happen? at April 01, 2026 05:45 PM (Q/FnY)

59 no Iran post is complete without a pic of the Cardboard Cocksucker

Posted by: Drink Like Vikings at April 01, 2026 05:45 PM (/4uPc)

60 Dear grok....

No specific named pinball machine is identified in the 1988 film The Accused, where Jodie Foster plays Sarah Tobias, who is gang-raped on a generic pinball machine in a bar's game room.

The scene uses a standard pinball machine (with artwork on the headboard/backglass showing a scantily clad woman in a basketball hoop theme), but it has no branded title or model name mentioned in the movie, credits, or production details. The prop was chosen to replace an original script idea of a pool table for legal reasons.

The film is a dramatization inspired by a real 1983 case but altered for the story

Posted by: Stateless - Day 13 of 14 or so - extreme dog care at April 01, 2026 05:45 PM (Sco7b)

61 Is the meaning of "expert" now equivalent to "lying idiot"?

It means "dude who said something I like in a DM" to journalists.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 05:46 PM (El6/E)

62 The media is holding up Iran like the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 01, 2026 05:46 PM (6ydKt)

63 I'm still worried about the 60-day clock.

Epic Fury, day 59: Trump: We've completed Operation Epic Fury and our military is standing down.

Two days later...

Trump: We begun Operation Awesome Annoyance and shall be bombing Iran.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at April 01, 2026 05:46 PM (ExV1e)

64 Iran is proving to be resilient. The Islamic regime will survive to spite Trump. It will eventually rebuild, and become a greater threat than ever out of vengeance.

Posted by: Sid at April 01, 2026 05:47 PM (hOdBU)

65 The old-school Cold War-era "foreign policy establishment" haven't been right about a DAMN thing in the last 35ish years.
Posted by: ballistic at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (oqH4h)
---
All the retired flag officers are going nuts because they realized they now look like dogshit, which they always were. All their motivational speaking gigs, prestigious board seats - gone. Losers who got our boys killed and lost 2 wars.

Oh, and were insubordinate and completely crooked. Mattis is among the worst.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:47 PM (ZOv7s)

66
TDS is all consuming, and completely fatal. There is no cure. It begins in the brain stem and works its way through all faculties. It encompasses everything.

Posted by: Frank Barone at April 01, 2026 05:47 PM (IifOV)

67 In other news:

"Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia) is suing the California Department of Transportation for making her pay for two seats on the bus."

Posted by: Orson at April 01, 2026 05:48 PM (dIske)

68 Aha, the USAID/Trust the Science, Yay Brussels! fools think there might be an opening.

Posted by: Trying to Fuhgeddaboudit at April 01, 2026 05:48 PM (NFX2v)

69 Guess to an extent it depends on how you define winning. In two years, more or less, Trump will be out of power. If the same bunch, more or less, is still running Iran, who exactly wins? I know you're not supposed to ask such questions in some circles, but the questions remain.

Posted by: Ex Rex Reeder at April 01, 2026 05:49 PM (QaH55)

70 At some point, somebody somewhere needs to walk into what remains of the IRGC HQs and say, "We are now in charge."

My take is that if this is some currently midlevel guy in the leadership who has spoken to us and said "you win, no more terrorism" and has the means to make us believe him that's fine

While the Shah coming in and recreating Iran before the Mullahs would be good, it isn't necessary

Posted by: 18-1 at April 01, 2026 05:49 PM (sKqQm)

71 Neocons started another middle east war and lost the America First coalition.
-
Bill Kristol is opposed to it, retard.

Posted by: Methos at April 01, 2026 05:49 PM (vSvIl)

72 I am unfamiliar with the pinball machine and Jodie Foster.

Is this the moment she turned lesbo?

At least she doesn't act as gross as Ellen DeGenerate and others. She's a good actress and I try to ignore the lesbo stuff when she's kissing a man. Of course, kissing Gere might turn me lesbo thinking about the gerbil. If he farhted I'd probably faint.

Posted by: ChristyBlinkyTheGreat at April 01, 2026 05:49 PM (WONhk)

73 All the retired flag officers are going nuts because they realized they now look like dogshit, which they always were.

Yeah they are beating down the doors of reporters trying to get interviews and get their word in to say how bad everything is and how they would do it better. If this works out as Trump intends every single one of those SOBs who ran the War on Terror will look like Monty in WW2

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 05:49 PM (El6/E)

74 >>I am unfamiliar with the pinball machine and Jodie Foster.

Is this the moment she turned lesbo?

'The Accused' was the Movie.

Posted by: garrett at April 01, 2026 05:49 PM (0CqYd)

75 Our casualties include some mid-air collisions and an incident were an inexperienced Allied pilot shot down three of our fighters, but the pilots were rescued and are now back in the fight.

This is world-historical dominance.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:41 PM (ZOv7s)

The only anecdote that comes close that I remember is during the Civil Wars when an army from Pontus declared against Caesar and he detached a few legions, marched to Zela in Asia Minor with a forced march and caught the unprepared army and routed it. He reported home to Rome the famous "Veni, Vidi, Vici" - I came, I saw, I conquered.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (8avO+)

76 willowed:
IF they approached the speed of light, time would have "slowed down" on earth, I think. Or sped up for the travelers ... relativity and all that stuff. But getting to that speed requires more and more power, infinite power to actually reach the speed of life (as I recall the theory). But SciFi has to ignore much of real science I suppose.

Posted by: illiniwek at April 01, 2026 05:32 PM (vbXSk)

A YouTuber went into this problem of time dilation and other issues with Project Hail Mary here:

https://youtu.be/8FT-oz9aZU4
'Time Dilation Visualized' by The Overview Effekt

Apparently it would take 32 years and three months to travel to the edge of the observable universe (46.5 billion light years) at steady acceleration near light speed.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (6ydKt)

77 Strike hard!

Posted by: Diogenes at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (2WIwB)

78 Kill all they send, until they send no more.

But we're up against real fanatics with these moslem assholes. They seem perfectly happy to keep marching right into the buzzsaw. I mean, sooner or later we will have bombed everything there is to bomb over there. But we have to kill their spirit, their will to continue. I don't know if we're even close to that. Fanatics are very hard to dislodge.

Posted by: Don Black at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (ZxPkt)

79 The leftwing media’s narrative about a ‘stronger’ Iran is built entirely on the idea that Iran has the power to close the Strait and only allow its allies or those paying a hefty ‘toll’ to cross.

These are people who never heard of the Strait until a few weeks ago, and still can’t locate it on a map. I’ll bet money that some truly retarded idiots are confusing the Strait with the Panama Canal.

Regardless, it’s all built on a lie. Iran doesn’t have the power to close a toilet seat, the Strait was never ‘closed’ in any real sense, and judging from maritime traffic reports the Strait is not almost totally back to normal.

Posted by: Elric the Blade at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (jB7fc)

80 The old-school Cold War-era "foreign policy establishment" haven't been right about a DAMN thing in the last 35ish years.
Posted by: ballistic at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (oqH4h)

81 years. They haven't gotten anything right since Japan surrendered.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (ExV1e)

81 Dude! The war's over, Iran is defeated, the US has absolutely dominated them. Get over it already, sheesh...

Posted by: Teruo Nakamura at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (3uBP9)

82 No bastard ever won a war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. He won it by listening to poor dumb bastard Abby Phillips and CNN!
- General Patton

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (ndZc7)

83 "Israel killed another Iranian leader, but experts say that doesn't mean it's winning the war."

If you read that in the voice of a 5-year-old who just struck out for the 10th straight time -- in tee-ball -- you can sense the hot tears of NBC and smell the appetizing, well-seasoned soupiness of them.

Posted by: SloPitch Whiffer at April 01, 2026 05:51 PM (NYInA)

84 Before America, we did not know that a sophisticated constitutional republic could be eventually be ruined by the net effect of opportunistic politics.

Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 05:51 PM (Fi81e)

85 I am unfamiliar with the pinball machine and Jodie Foster.

ITs a reenactment of a court case in which a trashy woman went to a bar, got drunk as hell then acted like she wanted every man there to chain her like an Only Fans girl then got upset when they took her up on the offer.

This is not to defend the men: she said "no" and that's when you lay off and leave her alone. They raped her and no matter how she was behaving, you don't do that. But she acted like the rake she stomped on was unthinkable when it hit her face.

Pro Tip: don't act like that, girls. Bad men will take you seriously.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 05:51 PM (El6/E)

86 But we're up against real fanatics with these moslem assholes. They seem perfectly happy to keep marching right into the buzzsaw. I mean, sooner or later we will have bombed everything there is to bomb over there. But we have to kill their spirit, their will to continue. I don't know if we're even close to that. Fanatics are very hard to dislodge.
Posted by: Don Black at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (ZxPkt)
---
Trump anticipated that. They have a limited time offer before them. If they don't act, he's going to turn out the lights. Bomb all the power plants. At that point, welcome back to Ancient Persia, losers.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:51 PM (ZOv7s)

87 Bonk bonk on tha head

Posted by: Dr. Varno at April 01, 2026 05:51 PM (nDXEV)

88 I do have one concern in the back of my mind.
Bombing cannot win a war. But it does shape the battlespace for success for the ground forces. Whether those ground forces are military troops, or locals set to finally overthrow the last of the regime remains to be seen. At some point, somebody somewhere needs to walk into what remains of the IRGC HQs and say, "We are now in charge."
Posted by: Diogenes at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (2WIwB)

It took about a year of protests and ...other stuff for Carter, France and the rest of the idiots to remove the Shah. Israel estimated 2-3 years for "regime change". I think this was after the original 12 day War. I've seen the reports from people inside Iran, Basiji/IRGC checkpoints abandoned and manned by rag tag motly crews of overweight arabs and youths from who know where. Not regulars. So, the bombing and decapitations is just the beginning. May not take a year.

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2026 05:52 PM (GD0B3)

89 Jodie Foster? Sure, that's one way to go

Posted by: Ned Beatty yearnfully holding a banjo at April 01, 2026 05:52 PM (w/O5Q)

90 He called ace a girl!

You forgot to mention 'gay' dude.

You did not even pick particularly girlish ace. You should have jumped on when he was talking about not understanding power tools or giggling on the back of a Vespa garret was driving.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 01, 2026 05:52 PM (zZu0s)

91 rule of thumb:

whenever someone uses the term

'EXPERTS SAY"
they confirm that they themselves have NO EXPERTISE!

Posted by: avi at April 01, 2026 05:52 PM (ieodf)

92 Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo was a devastating blow to England's prestige.

Posted by: dantesed at April 01, 2026 05:52 PM (Oy/m2)

93
The IRGC knows that the media along with the democrats will be able to eventually break the will of the USA appetite for war. Short term gas price hikes, and 401K ups and downs, along with an uphill election year will eventually force an end to it. After the midterms it will be Impeachmentpalooza and endless House investigations and the rest of the Trump administration will be a composite of V: The Final Battle and Scanners.

Posted by: Frank Barone at April 01, 2026 05:52 PM (IifOV)

94 Foster was in a whole lot of movies when she was young and based on what we know about hollywood I'm sure she was abused a lot. I don't know how anyone comes out of that business normal.

Posted by: banana Dream at April 01, 2026 05:53 PM (3uBP9)

95 Before America, we did not know that a sophisticated constitutional republic could be eventually be ruined by the net effect of opportunistic politics.
Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 05:51 PM (Fi81e)

De Tocqueville in his "Democracy in America" knew that in 1835.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 05:53 PM (8avO+)

96 Bill Kristol is opposed to it, retard.

His twitter timeline is glorious.

He was trashing Trump for being a pus and not attaching Iran until he did...

Then he was calling Trump a madman for attacking Iran

Posted by: 18-1 at April 01, 2026 05:53 PM (sKqQm)

97 Bill Kristol is opposed to it, retard.
Posted by: Methos at April 01, 2026 05:49 PM (vSvIl)
---
Only because Orangeman is bad.

Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 05:53 PM (Fi81e)

98

Y'know honestly, it really doesn't matter what happens in Iran in the longer term. The goal and target of this operation is China, and they are bleeding out from an arterial every day that this goes on. But these so called foreign policy experts can't even begin to get their head around that sort of strategic thinking. The price of gold has plummeted because all of the governments that were stockpiling it are now paying exorbitant amounts of money for basic energy. China's manufacturing base is crippled for the foreseeable future until the war resolves

Posted by: imp at April 01, 2026 05:54 PM (g6TN6)

99 Foster was in a whole lot of movies when she was young and based on what we know about hollywood I'm sure she was abused a lot. I don't know how anyone comes out of that business normal.
Posted by: banana Dream at April 01, 2026 05:53 PM (3uBP9)
---
It's still going on. Look at Ellen Page.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:54 PM (ZOv7s)

100 His twitter timeline is glorious.

yeah the guy's entire worldview is "oppose Trump". That's it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 05:54 PM (El6/E)

101 The old-school Cold War-era "foreign policy establishment" haven't been right about a DAMN thing in the last 35ish years.
Posted by: ballistic at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (oqH4h)

They can't seem to grasp that the world changed and kept on changing, and refuse to adapt to the facts as they are now. I see this sort of ossification among Boomers quite a bit which contributes to intergenerational friction.

Posted by: Soviet Union is gone, get over it at April 01, 2026 05:54 PM (TbWk/)

102 54 So now that the House has given in and agreed to the Senate's bill with ICE/CBP removed is that a win or a loss for our side? And whatever Ace write's about it I hereby disagree and request to have this rebuttal prominently placed within Ace's own post as is the new blog tradition.

Respectfully Yours,
Posted by: banana Dream CBP

Reconciliation means only a majority vote needed in the Senate but precludes due to the Byrd rule, adding on other non budgetary items like most of the SAVE act.

House is shaky on the majority but the special election for Marjorie Traitor Greene's seat is April 7th and the GOP is favored to win that one last time I checked. Dems are likely to gain a seat in NJ that was Jackie Sherrill's (D) seat. Then the other two vacancies don't matter much as LaMalfa (R) seat won't be filled until August.

217 Republicans, 1 Independent that caucuses with the GOP, and 214 Democrats. 3 vacancies with one Dem and one GOP seat likely to added by mid April. And one possible expulsion of a Dem for Ethics depending on the Dems as it takes 2/3rds to expel.

Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 05:55 PM (E4rtv)

103 >>We had a no-fly zone over Iraq for 12 years.

Two, actually.

Posted by: one hour sober at April 01, 2026 05:55 PM (Y1sOo)

104 Hello? Mr. Hallet, I know this is you because everyone else is at the football game this afternoon. I think I should warn you that the police are watching our house right this very minute, Mr. Hallet.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (nDXEV)

105 His twitter timeline is glorious.

yeah the guy's entire worldview is "oppose Trump". That's it.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 05:54 PM (El6/E)
---
Do what opposes Trump shall be the whole of the Law.

Posted by: Updated Political Aleister Crowly at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (Fi81e)

106 Foster was in a whole lot of movies when she was young and based on what we know about hollywood I'm sure she was abused a lot

Yeah I think she spent her first 20 years being casually molested and raped by Hollywood like a lot of those starlets. You can practically list their names off the top of your head like Drew Barrymore, Ellen Page, etc. The girls who are a mess, the ones who were on drugs young, the ones who turned lesbian.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (El6/E)

107 Regardless, it’s all built on a lie. Iran doesn’t have the power to close a toilet seat, the Strait was never ‘closed’ in any real sense, and judging from maritime traffic reports the Strait is not almost totally back to normal.
Posted by: Elric the Blade at April 01, 2026 05:50 PM (jB7fc)

The Brits refusing insurance for ships in the straits did far more to block trade than anything Iran has done.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (8avO+)

108
IRan. IRan so far away.

Posted by: Flock of Seagulls at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (IifOV)

109 94 Foster was in a whole lot of movies when she was young and based on what we know about hollywood I'm sure she was abused a lot. I don't know how anyone comes out of that business normal.
Posted by: banana Dream
======
She was a child actress at Disney and for films like Taxi Driver. Semi closeted lesbian probably due to sexual abuse as a kid.

Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (E4rtv)

110 We had a no-fly zone over Iraq for 12 years.

"Except helicopters, I mean how can that go wrong?"
--Norman Schwartzkopf

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (El6/E)

111 87 Bonk bonk on tha head
Posted by: Dr. Varno at April 01, 2026 05:51 PM (nDXEV

With 3000 cc saline boobs?

Sorry, that was so 25 hours ago.

Posted by: Stateless - Day 13 of 14 or so - extreme dog care at April 01, 2026 05:57 PM (Sco7b)

112 The IRGC knows that the media along with the democrats will be able to eventually break the will of the USA appetite for war. Short term gas price hikes, and 401K ups and downs, along with an uphill election year will eventually force an end to it. After the midterms it will be Impeachmentpalooza and endless House investigations and the rest of the Trump administration will be a composite of V: The Final Battle and Scanners.
Posted by: Frank Barone at April 01, 2026 05:52 PM (IifOV)
---
It's April. How many of them will even be alive by May?

The upper tier guys aren't "austere scholars," they are second-generation spoiled brats with connections and gold toilet seats. The whole gig was that they could kill Americans with impunity. That is now gone.

Oh, and people have already flipped. Where do you think we're getting the targeting data?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:57 PM (ZOv7s)

113
Financial Times: October 1942

Japan could emerge from the war stronger and more dangerous

Posted by: Frank Barone at April 01, 2026 05:58 PM (IifOV)

114 I am almost ashamed that I don't know which Pinball Machine she was raped on in that Movie.

Which is odd, because there should have been a callout or two during that rape scene.
Posted by: garrett at April 01, 2026 05:43 PM (0CqYd)

Having never seen the movie, I looked it up. According to Brave AI, "the machine had a headboard depicting a scantily clad woman half-plopped in a basketball hoop," which "does not correspond to a known, commercially released pinball machine." Further, "It is widely believed that the machine used in the film was a custom-built prop created specifically for the production. This was likely done to achieve the specific visual required for the scene and to avoid any potential legal issues associated with using a real machine, especially given the film's sensitive subject matter and its basis on a real-life incident (which originally involved a pool table)."

Posted by: SciVo at April 01, 2026 05:58 PM (Sy6m/)

115 The upper tier guys aren't "austere scholars," they are second-generation spoiled brats with connections and gold toilet seats. The whole gig was that they could kill Americans with impunity. That is now gone.

Oh, and people have already flipped. Where do you think we're getting the targeting data?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:57 PM (ZOv7s)

more like they could order other idiots to kill Americans using American Tax Dollars.

Most of that is shut down for good now.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 05:58 PM (8avO+)

116 >ITs a reenactment of a court case in which a trashy woman went to a bar, got drunk as hell then acted like she wanted every man there to chain her like an Only Fans girl then got upset when they took her up on the offer.
----

so, she was asking for it?

Posted by: Don Black at April 01, 2026 05:58 PM (ZxPkt)

117 The Brits refusing insurance for ships in the straits did far more to block trade than anything Iran has done.
Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (8avO+)
---
Yes, Starmer has tried to undermine us at every turn.

We're the ones closing the Gulf, though. It's deliberate. We're pretending it's Iran, but it's us. This is about letting China who controls the oil spigot. If they want to invade Taiwan, they better fit their warships with sales and build solar-powered jets, because they ain't getting oil.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:59 PM (ZOv7s)

118 Iran nukes Paris and London.

"Experts praise Iran for helping Europe reach their Kyoto target emmissions!"

Posted by: Stateless - Day 13 of 14 or so - extreme dog care at April 01, 2026 05:59 PM (Sco7b)

119 I mean, sooner or later we will have bombed everything there is to bomb over there. But we have to kill their spirit, their will to continue. I don't know if we're even close to that. Fanatics are very hard to dislodge.
-
That's my one concern, too. You probably can't get the fanatics to surrender. By the end of the day, someone has to kill all of them. And while there are rumors that Israel's been working on the 'security forces' it seems to me like we've been mostly bombing launchers and supplies. I have no idea if it's true, but I saw somewhere recently that Iran has ~4 or 5k KIA, which doesn't seem like much given the size of the country (the breakdown on IRGC specifically was something like 20%, which doesn't seem like enough if we're serious about giving the currently unarmed Iranians the opportunity to overthrow them).

Posted by: Methos at April 01, 2026 05:59 PM (vSvIl)

120 sails!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:00 PM (ZOv7s)

121 Daniel Friedman replies to idiots at the FT:

"The US and Israel have complete air superiority over Iran and have been bombing it nonstop for six weeks. Over 10,000 targets have been struck. Iran’s Air Force is gone. Its navy is gone. Most of its top military and intelligence leadership is dead. At least half and possibly as much as 90% of Iran’s ballistic missiles are exhausted or destroyed. "
====

I wonder what the "Experts" have to say about the Russian and PRC air defense systems that were sold to Iran?

Perhaps the "Experts" should also interview the surviving members of Maduro's security team on matters concerning the US Department War's force-projection capability.

Posted by: mrp at April 01, 2026 06:00 PM (rj6Yv)

122 so, she was asking for it?
Posted by: Don Black at April 01, 2026 05:58 PM (ZxPkt)

Fuck I was about to do the bit from Airplane 2 with the dad: 'They're all asking for it all the time!'

This place is a bad influence on me.

Posted by: Aetius451AD work phone at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (zZu0s)

123 The upper tier guys aren't "austere scholars," they are second-generation spoiled brats with connections and gold toilet seats. The whole gig was that they could kill Americans with impunity. That is now gone.

Yeah, that reads right. Guys who were not big on the faith but loved the benefits of being in charge of it. Second generation rich brats.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (El6/E)

124
Battery problem is resolved -- it was an instrument issue -- bad reading. Closeout crew has left the pad. 26 minutes to go.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (w6EFb)

125 We're the ones closing the Gulf, though. It's deliberate. We're pretending it's Iran, but it's us. This is about letting China who controls the oil spigot. If they want to invade Taiwan, they better fit their warships with sales and build solar-powered jets, because they ain't getting oil.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:59 PM (ZOv7s)

The smart thing for China to do is to send some light ships to run tankers through the strait. They probably have more than the EU.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (8avO+)

126 so, she was asking for it?

Initially yes and probably she was hoping she'd loop one of the guys she liked. But she did NOT want the whole bar to rape her on the pinball machine and clearly told them no and screamed for them to stop, so in that sense, no she was not.

I mean I did say that very clearly in the post you quoted, but maybe you didn't read that far down.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (El6/E)

127 9 The establishment is trying awfully hard to keep their assessment of the real world of foreign policy alive, even though the emerging facts are screaming the experts are just a bunch of big dummies.
Posted by: Black JEM
---

Trump is going to speak to everyone in the world,
who has brain enough to listen, tonight.
Anticipating much subtext below the bombast and congratulations to our men and women in service.

Posted by: Braenyard - some Absent Friends are more equal than others _ at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (9L6d7)

128 Winning is not having Trump involved in the matter, for them.

Posted by: tubal at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (pDt9x)

129 I wonder what the "Experts" have to say about the Russian and PRC air defense systems that were sold to Iran?

Perhaps the "Experts" should also interview the surviving members of Maduro's security team on matters concerning the US Department War's force-projection capability.
Posted by: mrp at April 01, 2026 06:00 PM (rj6Yv)
---
Xi Jinping is now purging all the defense firms that made the gear of their top scientists. The guy who did primary work on the J-20 has expired.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (ZOv7s)

130 Oh, and people have already flipped. Where do you think we're getting the targeting data?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 05:57 PM

I seem to remember a lot of Iraqis running around with purple thumbs ensuring we had changed things in Iraq and it was glorious. I am cautiously optimistic that the Iranians will step up and finish of their theocratic boots on their necks. Cautiously optimistic.

Posted by: Frank Barone at April 01, 2026 06:02 PM (IifOV)

131 Feeling all the bumpers
Always playing clean

Posted by: Dr. Varno at April 01, 2026 06:02 PM (nDXEV)

132 Genghis Khan's continued rape campaign across Asia casts doubt on his genetic legacy

Posted by: Another headline at April 01, 2026 06:02 PM (TbWk/)

133 101 The old-school Cold War-era "foreign policy establishment" haven't been right about a DAMN thing in the last 35ish years.
Posted by: ballistic

They can't seem to grasp that the world changed and kept on changing, and refuse to adapt to the facts as they are now. I see this sort of ossification among Boomers quite a bit which contributes to intergenerational friction.
Posted by: Soviet Union
=====
History never stands still. Nations that were once great decline, nations that were never great rise, and you have religion, culture, wealth, resources, and linguistic cleavages that make a one world government a fantasy only fools would consider possible.

As mentioned above, NATO existed to repel Soviet invasion of Western Europe, the Warsaw Pact was Soviet response to build in defensive space and to enable resource stripping of its bloc. Neither are relevant today except NATO is still around.

After NATO, the US went on a spree with all sorts of new treaties like SEATO (SE Asia Treaty Organization), ANZUS (at least until New Zealand decided our nuclear ships were declasse), CENTO aka Baghdad Pact centered on the Middle East anchored by Turkey. That world is dead.

Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 06:02 PM (E4rtv)

134 The upper tier guys aren't "austere scholars," they are second-generation spoiled brats with connections and gold toilet seats. The whole gig was that they could kill Americans with impunity. That is now gone.

Yeah, that reads right. Guys who were not big on the faith but loved the benefits of being in charge of it. Second generation rich brats.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (El6/E)

Ironically the same description could be levied on the current day "Expert" class who took over as the Cold War generation retired in about the 1990 timeframe.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:02 PM (8avO+)

135 Rome destroying Carthage salting the ground and leaving no two stones together could backfire on them.

Posted by: Archer at April 01, 2026 06:03 PM (wvc0i)

136 >>> The guy who did primary work on the J-20 has expired.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:01 PM (ZOv7s)

He's pining for the fjords.

Posted by: banana Dream - Look at the plumage! at April 01, 2026 06:03 PM (3uBP9)

137

Lloyd, China has a significant stockpile of petroleum, and no moron politicians who drain it for short term political game like the Crypt Keeper Biden. If they actually went to War for Taiwan, one would assume that they would be expecting to be fucked for the next 6 months to a year economically and would have prepared accordingly, but absent that war footing, they're going to have a hell of a time keeping their population in line throughout the running of energy austerity measures

Posted by: imp at April 01, 2026 06:03 PM (g6TN6)

138 The media now has lost more credibility during this Iran war than the medical establishment lost during Covid.

And that’s saying a lot.

Posted by: nurse ratched at April 01, 2026 06:03 PM (A5RD0)

139 I watch the war pron nightly on youtube, pounding them so bad we are basically running out of military targets, and have moved on to industrial targets.

Without resupply Iran will run out of missiles and drones eventually that they have stashed all over the country

The price of one egg in Tehran is $100, if you can find one, which basically means nobody is selling.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at April 01, 2026 06:03 PM (n5tGW)

140 Marxists don't want us to win over their alliance with Muslims

Posted by: Skip at April 01, 2026 06:04 PM (Ia/+0)

141 NYT, 1945

Experts say that Emperor Hirohito's surrender on September 2nd, 1945 will create more Kamikaze pilots!!

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2026 06:04 PM (GD0B3)

142 I seem to remember a lot of Iraqis running around with purple thumbs ensuring we had changed things in Iraq and it was glorious. I am cautiously optimistic that the Iranians will step up and finish of their theocratic boots on their necks. Cautiously optimistic.
Posted by: Frank Barone at April 01, 2026 06:02 PM (IifOV)
---
Iran is not Iraq. Iraq was a colonial construct with zero common history. It's a mish-mash of Kurds and two bunches of Arabs who hate each other.

Iran is a cohesive nation with a sophisticated and ancient civilization that was hijacked by bearded whackos with the help of Jimmy Carter.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:05 PM (ZOv7s)

143 getting ready to fight the previous war

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at April 01, 2026 06:05 PM (tcsrY)

144 IRGC: "Let me talk to your leader"
IRGC: " Then let me talk to his deputy."
IRGC: "What, him too?"
IRGC: " Is everybody dead?"
IRGC: " No, I won't talk to a female secretary."

Posted by: JM in Illinois at April 01, 2026 06:06 PM (6voJQ)

145 >I mean I did say that very clearly in the post you quoted, but maybe you didn't read that far down.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor
---
No, I read the whole post

Posted by: Don Black at April 01, 2026 06:06 PM (ZxPkt)

146 She was a child actress at Disney and for films like Taxi Driver. Semi closeted lesbian probably due to sexual abuse as a kid.
Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (E4rtv)

Incredibly sad for all child actors.

I guess I paid attention when Mel Gibson and others alluded to child trafficking,etc. The rape of Natalie Wood. The parents? Turned a blind eye vs murdering them like I would have. For money.

Posted by: ChristyBlinkyTheGreat at April 01, 2026 06:06 PM (WONhk)

147 The IRGC is currently in charge.

If they are not replaced by Pahlavi or some currently non-existent civilian alternative, do you think the IRGC will give up its support of terrorism in the region and against the US?

Do you think China will not help rebuild Iran, in exchange for tons of absurdly cheap oil?

Do you think Eurocrats will not help in exchange for less cheap oil?

Do you think Democrats will not help in exchange for votes, election interference, and virtue signaling points?

In such a scenario, how has the war, which began in 1979, been "won"?

There will merely be a delay of 10, maybe 20, years during which the IRGC rebuilds and rearms, and then it starts all over again.

The Confederates won the Battle of Bull Run. They did not win the war.

Posted by: Sam at April 01, 2026 06:06 PM (7jMef)

148 Iran is a cohesive nation with a sophisticated and ancient civilization that was hijacked by bearded whackos with the help of Jimmy Carter.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:05 PM (ZOv7s)

And the various ethnic opposition groups released a joint statement that they wanted to be part of a unified Iran, just not under the mullahs.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at April 01, 2026 06:06 PM (ExV1e)

149 Rome destroying Carthage salting the ground and leaving no two stones together could backfire on them.
Posted by: Archer at April 01, 2026 06:03 PM (wvc0i)

It kinda did. In about 100 years, the city was rebuilt and made a Roman colony. As Rome decline, the Vandal alliance invaded North Africa and set up shop there and built a fleet that sacked Rome in 455 AD.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:06 PM (8avO+)

150 Marxists don't want us to win over their alliance with Muslims
Posted by: Skip at April 01, 2026 06:04 PM (Ia/+0)
---
Marxists only want those systems where people can own stuff to decline.

Posted by: Updated Political Aleister Crowly at April 01, 2026 06:07 PM (Fi81e)

151 Ironically the same description could be levied on the current day "Expert" class who took over as the Cold War generation retired in about the 1990 timeframe.
Posted by: Oldcat

True enough but the US had the GWOT on Terror which in some ways damaged our national defense outlook and strategies just as much as Vietnam did.

Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 06:07 PM (E4rtv)

152 Lloyd, China has a significant stockpile of petroleum, and no moron politicians who drain it for short term political game like the Crypt Keeper Biden. If they actually went to War for Taiwan, one would assume that they would be expecting to be fucked for the next 6 months to a year economically and would have prepared accordingly, but absent that war footing, they're going to have a hell of a time keeping their population in line throughout the running of energy austerity measures
Posted by: imp at April 01, 2026 06:03 PM (g6TN6)
---
Do they? Are you sure? The CCP has completely given up on socialism or any form of ideology and is now just a theft ring that pays each other off. There are stories that their strategic missiles have water in their fuel tanks. Everything is a rip-off. Bridges collapse on a weekly basis.

Why would anyone assume that the people in charge of their reserve is NOT selling that oil right now and getting ready to hide behind their anchor baby in the US with the proceeds?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:08 PM (ZOv7s)

153 is Sam a troll ? let me know , because I don't comment on trolls' garbage

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2026 06:08 PM (GD0B3)

154

Somewhere in Geneva, a lot of Swiss Bank accounts have become orphans

Posted by: imp at April 01, 2026 06:08 PM (g6TN6)

155 They are checking out a glitch on Artemis escape rocket system

Posted by: Don Black at April 01, 2026 06:08 PM (ZxPkt)

156 I'm guessing israelis have intelligence on personal residences, safe houses, and other good targets. They're not quite at the point of just making the rubble bounce

Posted by: JM in Illinois at April 01, 2026 06:09 PM (6voJQ)

157 Ironically the same description could be levied on the current day "Expert" class who took over as the Cold War generation retired in about the 1990 timeframe.

This, too, is the story of Bill Kristol

True enough but the US had the GWOT on Terror which in some ways damaged our national defense outlook and strategies just as much as Vietnam did.

Which is sad because Schwartzkopf's book makes it clear that his entire view of the military and war was shaped around the mistakes of Vietnam.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 06:09 PM (El6/E)

158 Ironically the same description could be levied on the current day "Expert" class who took over as the Cold War generation retired in about the 1990 timeframe.
Posted by: Oldcat
---
What Eisenhower actually warned us of in his farewell speech is the Expert class taking over a republic of laymen.

Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 06:10 PM (Fi81e)

159 { In Ciampino's Memory }

NASA - Artemis II Launch
Kennedy Space Center, Launch Pad 39B
Launch Date: April 1, 2026
Launch Time: 18:24 (6:24 PM) EDT / 15:24 (3:24 PM) PDT

https://youtu.be/m3kR2KK8TEs

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at April 01, 2026 06:10 PM (O7YUW)

160 >> They are checking out a glitch on Artemis escape rocket system

Of one of two of the batteries for that system was showing out of range temperature, highly out of range. They are confident it's a sensor problem. They aren't 100% sure, but they think that's what it is. Temperature is just too crazy to be real. So, they're going ahead. It's a risk but they are confident.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at April 01, 2026 06:10 PM (w6EFb)

161 It looks like Artemis 2 may be good to go. I have a brother who is a huge moon landing denier. I think we probably went to the moon, but sadly I no longer laugh at his ideas.

Posted by: Max Power at April 01, 2026 06:10 PM (q177U)

162 The IRGC is currently in charge.

-- doubtful. Most are dead, everyone else has their head down.

If they are not replaced by Pahlavi or some currently non-existent civilian alternative, do you think the IRGC will give up its support of terrorism in the region and against the US?

If we quit sending them billions to support terror, they will have trouble getting money.

Do you think China will not help rebuild Iran, in exchange for tons of absurdly cheap oil?

They only have cheap oil for sale because of our sanctions. And they won't have a free hand, any more than the current Venezuelan government does.

Do you think Eurocrats will not help in exchange for less cheap oil?

They have no money or means to rebuild anything either.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:10 PM (8avO+)

163 is Sam a troll ? let me know , because I don't comment on trolls' garbage
Posted by: runner at April 01, 2026 06:08 PM (GD0B3)
---
I'm going to say a troll. Never seen him before, immediately black pills, and does so in a particularly retarded way.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:11 PM (ZOv7s)

164 "Experts" and their "expertise" are locked into their assinged political narrative. If anything is apparent, it should be that every narrative has a sell-by date, because "events", dear boy.

Time for a "new" narrative? Then it's time for "new" "Experts".

Posted by: mrp at April 01, 2026 06:11 PM (rj6Yv)

165
Terminal count is coming up. That's when the automated system takes over. They can stop it afterwards, but it's harder to restart.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at April 01, 2026 06:11 PM (w6EFb)

166 Question for the black-pillers: how does the EU get Iran's oil?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:11 PM (ZOv7s)

167 Say what you will about Justice Jackson, her wallet stealing analogy makes a lot of sense. I mean, look at the Somalis in Minnesota.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Damn It Feels Good to Be a Trumpster! at April 01, 2026 06:11 PM (ndZc7)

168 I'm going to say a troll. Never seen him before, immediately black pills, and does so in a particularly retarded way.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:11 PM (ZOv7s)

good enough for me!

Posted by: runner at April 01, 2026 06:12 PM (GD0B3)

169 Sam's use of rhetorical questions is trollish, but at least he doesn't finish with "just sayin'".

Posted by: gKWVE at April 01, 2026 06:12 PM (gKWVE)

170

I think we are vehemently agreeing, but my point is that they probably have enough to invade, but not enough to hold Taiwan. The message is crystal clear though, China has feet of clay because of its reliance on sanction oil. So much for the end of the petrodollar.

Posted by: imp at April 01, 2026 06:12 PM (g6TN6)

171 It looks like Artemis 2 may be good to go. I have a brother who is a huge moon landing denier. I think we probably went to the moon, but sadly I no longer laugh at his ideas.
Posted by: Max Power at April 01, 2026 06:10 PM (q177U)

The lunar missions put a laser reflector out on the landing sites. You can today aim a laser at the moon from an observatory, see a 'huge' return signal when aimed at a landing site and see nothing when moved off any distance.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:12 PM (8avO+)

172 >So, they're going ahead. It's a risk but they are confident.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley
----

whew! it's good that the guys on the ground are fine with it

Posted by: Don Black at April 01, 2026 06:13 PM (ZxPkt)

173 Of one of two of the batteries for that system was showing out of range temperature, highly out of range. They are confident it's a sensor problem. They aren't 100% sure, but they think that's what it is. Temperature is just too crazy to be real. So, they're going ahead. It's a risk but they are confident.
Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at April 01, 2026 06:10 PM (w6EFb)

IIRC, when the problems started at Three Mile Island they were dismissed because the readings were just too crazy to be real.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at April 01, 2026 06:13 PM (ExV1e)

174 153 is Sam a troll ? let me know , because I don't comment on trolls' garbage
Posted by: runner
======
Very possible. Likely a groyper and/or mASSIE fan.

And ignoring the elephant in the room which is enough enriched uranium to make 10-11 nuclear weapons--first one in about a week if the enough centrifuges still exist somewhere. Those plus missiles and like horseshoes, you only have to get close with a nuke for a nightmare scenario.

Whether the mullahs regime dies is up to the Iranian people but we simply cannot allow them to have nuclear weapons. Their attack everyone around them including allies like Oman and Qatar indicates a basic derangement in their war strategy made into nightmare fuel with nukes.

Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 06:13 PM (E4rtv)

175 Sam's use of rhetorical questions is trollish, but at least he doesn't finish with "just sayin'".
Posted by: gKWVE at April 01, 2026 06:12 PM (gKWVE)
---
It's basically begging every single question, with crap Civil War analogy thrown in.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:13 PM (ZOv7s)

176 Sam's use of rhetorical questions is trollish, but at least he doesn't finish with "just sayin'".

Posted by: gKWVE at April 01, 2026 06:12 PM (gKWVE)
---
I've rarely and perhaps never seen a troll raise that many cogent points.

Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 06:14 PM (Fi81e)

177 Just for the record, the Brits, between the wars, pretty much controlled Iraq with just the RAF.

Posted by: Eeyore at April 01, 2026 06:14 PM (AlhUl)

178 I think people can disagree or say things we find mistaken without being a troll. Trolling is a post deliberately meant to cause trouble and get angry responses, not just disagreement.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 06:15 PM (El6/E)

179 I think we are vehemently agreeing, but my point is that they probably have enough to invade, but not enough to hold Taiwan. The message is crystal clear though, China has feet of clay because of its reliance on sanction oil. So much for the end of the petrodollar.
Posted by: imp at April 01, 2026 06:12 PM (g6TN6)

Xi seems to be getting mired down in internal purges and the like these days. This makes huge military risks very very uncertain, especially given the demonstrated ability of the navy to break things.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:15 PM (8avO+)

180 The lunar missions put a laser reflector out on the landing sites.

The "soft" (or, fallback) form of lunar-landing denial is that the landings were real, but robotic. The human footage was done on a stage by Kubrick.

Posted by: gKWVE at April 01, 2026 06:15 PM (gKWVE)

181 The lunar missions put a laser reflector out on the landing sites. You can today aim a laser at the moon from an observatory, see a 'huge' return signal when aimed at a landing site and see nothing when moved off any distance.
Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:12 PM (8avO+)

CGI man.

* I am not a moon landing denier.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at April 01, 2026 06:15 PM (ExV1e)

182 I think we are vehemently agreeing, but my point is that they probably have enough to invade, but not enough to hold Taiwan. The message is crystal clear though, China has feet of clay because of its reliance on sanction oil. So much for the end of the petrodollar.
Posted by: imp at April 01, 2026 06:12 PM (g6TN6)
---
Any PLA troops that reach Taiwan will be either corpses or trying to surrender.

There is no way China can pull off a landing over rougher seas and multiple times farther than the English Channel in the face of Taiwan and Japan. The Japs have just moved long-range anti-ship missiles and SAMs to cover Taiwan.

Their sub fleet will chew the Chicoms up as well.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:16 PM (ZOv7s)

183 149 Rome destroying Carthage salting the ground and leaving no two stones together could backfire on them.
Posted by: Archer at April 01, 2026 06:03 PM (wvc0i)

It kinda did. In about 100 years, the city was rebuilt and made a Roman colony. As Rome decline, the Vandal alliance invaded North Africa and set up shop there and built a fleet that sacked Rome in 455 AD.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:06 PM (8avO+)

There was at least one big tribe on the move that was stomped so hard it went back to where it started and has remained there ever since. The Helvetii. Never heard of them? Today they are called the Swiss. In 58 BC, Caesar stopped them from 'migrating' from what is now Switzerland to their objective of what is now SE France.

Posted by: Gref at April 01, 2026 06:16 PM (5rh/l)

184 The lunar missions put a laser reflector out on the landing sites.

The "soft" (or, fallback) form of lunar-landing denial is that the landings were real, but robotic. The human footage was done on a stage by Kubrick.
Posted by: gKWVE at April 01, 2026 06:15 PM (gKWVE)

Lol. Making the robotics would be harder than the missions. Don't they know how "computers" worked back then?

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:17 PM (8avO+)

185 so they will carry on strutting mindlessly, like a chicken which has been relieved of its head.

My mom grew up in a family with all girls, so it fell on her and her sisters to do the chicken beheading. She still tells tales of her and my aunts being freaked out by headless chickens running around. Different times, man.

Posted by: Delurker at April 01, 2026 06:17 PM (gtcuf)

186 MOON NOOD!!!!

Posted by: Max Power at April 01, 2026 06:18 PM (q177U)

187 There was at least one big tribe on the move that was stomped so hard it went back to where it started and has remained there ever since. The Helvetii. Never heard of them? Today they are called the Swiss. In 58 BC, Caesar stopped them from 'migrating' from what is now Switzerland to their objective of what is now SE France.
Posted by: Gref at April 01, 2026 06:16 PM (5rh/l)

The ones that weren't scattered and smashed went back, about a third of the total according to JC. And he had to be a bit careful as every family in Rome had contacts in the army so he had to play it pretty straight.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:18 PM (8avO+)

188
Launch clock on hold at 10 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/live/m3kR2KK8TEs

Posted by: BifBewalski - at April 01, 2026 06:19 PM (QVmho)

189 Saw lauch was on YouTube live but just looked lkke guys takkng outvthe garbage

Posted by: Skip at April 01, 2026 06:19 PM (Ia/+0)

190 106 Foster was in a whole lot of movies when she was young and based on what we know about hollywood I'm sure she was abused a lot

Yeah I think she spent her first 20 years being casually molested and raped by Hollywood like a lot of those starlets. You can practically list their names off the top of your head like Drew Barrymore, Ellen Page, etc. The girls who are a mess, the ones who were on drugs young, the ones who turned lesbian.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at April 01, 2026 05:56 PM (El6/E)

I take shaved heads as a tell that there's an element of bait-and-switch, where they went into it thinking they knew the score, expecting to just get used like a living blow-up doll, and ended up getting yanked around like it was a WWE match with a championship belt on the line. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Posted by: SciVo at April 01, 2026 06:19 PM (Sy6m/)

191 It kinda did. In about 100 years, the city was rebuilt and made a Roman colony. As Rome decline, the Vandal alliance invaded North Africa and set up shop there and built a fleet that sacked Rome in 455 AD.
Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:06 PM (8avO+)
---
No. The Carthaginians were completely wiped out. The predations of the Vandals were a completely different and unrelated event.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:19 PM (ZOv7s)

192
The earth is flat anyway. It's all a hoax.......

Check out some of those crazy flat-earth X feeds for a laugh about this -- they're going crazy with Artemis and the moon trip.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at April 01, 2026 06:19 PM (w6EFb)

193 There was at least one big tribe on the move that was stomped so hard it went back to where it started and has remained there ever since. The Helvetii.
---
So you're saying their popularity of their font is part of an elaborate revenge plot against Times Roman?

Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 06:19 PM (Fi81e)

194 It has always been okay at the,HQ to have a difference of opinion, often quite a difference. The response to the rejoinder to that opinion is one way of judging trollishness, for me. Another is the no response by the divergent opinion maker. See - Ass. He never engages.

Posted by: tubal at April 01, 2026 06:19 PM (pDt9x)

195
Final go/no-go poll afoot.

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at April 01, 2026 06:20 PM (w6EFb)

196 There was at least one big tribe on the move that was stomped so hard it went back to where it started and has remained there ever since. The Helvetii.
---
So you're saying their popularity of their font is part of an elaborate revenge plot against Times Roman?
Posted by: Axeman at April 01, 2026 06:19 PM (Fi81e)

The Serifs in the legions were a devastating shock to the Sans Serif Helvetii

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:20 PM (8avO+)

197 "Relieved of the burden of managing vast expanses of territory to the East, a resurgent Germany directs its newfound zeal to an ambitious plan to defend Berlin"

Posted by: Experts Say ca. 1945 at April 01, 2026 06:21 PM (JkO4W)

198
DId Gene Kranz ever feel the need to speechify during a go/n-go poll?

Posted by: publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb) at April 01, 2026 06:21 PM (w6EFb)

199 It kinda did. In about 100 years, the city was rebuilt and made a Roman colony. As Rome decline, the Vandal alliance invaded North Africa and set up shop there and built a fleet that sacked Rome in 455 AD.
Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:06 PM (8avO+)
---
No. The Carthaginians were completely wiped out. The predations of the Vandals were a completely different and unrelated event.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 01, 2026 06:19 PM (ZOv7s)

City was rebuilt as a Roman colony in between, as I said. Also called Carthage.

Posted by: Oldcat at April 01, 2026 06:21 PM (8avO+)

200 ... on a Pinball Machine Doesn't Mean We're Winning

9/10 Thinking - Edemic just before CLOVERFIELD happens.

Posted by: MANFRED the Heat Seeking OBOE at April 01, 2026 06:25 PM (K9ch3)

201 Looks like they've resumed the countdown at ten minutes

Posted by: Methos at April 01, 2026 06:25 PM (vSvIl)

202 Incredibly, I heard some TV news readers yesterday and early today call the spacecraft "OH-ree-on."

Posted by: Gref at April 01, 2026 06:26 PM (5rh/l)

203 T minus 9 minutes for Artemis II.

Posted by: Lincolntf at April 01, 2026 06:27 PM (vV6n9)

204 Foster was in a whole lot of movies when she was young and based on what we know about hollywood I'm sure she was abused a lot. I don't know how anyone comes out of that business normal.
Posted by: banana Dream at April 01, 2026 05:53 PM (3uBP9)

After her parents divorced, she was raised by her mother and HER female partner.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at April 01, 2026 06:27 PM (5xuJ/)

205 T minus 5 minutes to launch.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at April 01, 2026 06:30 PM (5xuJ/)

206 Worried about the address tonight (it's tonight, right?), if he simply says "We win, we will be winding down, all goals achieved."

With the Straight effectively still under Iranian control or at least under threat...the energy markets will still be pressured and US gas prices will likely remain elevated....that's what will put the Senate in play if fuel prices at home remain elevated through the midterms.

Positivity here, maybe tonight he says for the Persians to come out of hiding and begin revolution. Doubt it, but that would my preferred path.

Either way, rocky times ahead.

Posted by: GigantorX at April 01, 2026 06:40 PM (F2sSv)

207 The diplomatic political class really are a bunch of loathsome toads.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

Well said.
=========
Retief, a fictional diplomat appearing in books by Keith Laumer's is about the only diplomat worthy of praise in recent memory. Rubio though is climbing up the charts.
Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 05:44 PM (E4rtv)

Keith Laumer, the creator of Retief, was a member of the U.S. State Department. I'm pretty certain that Retief was a thinly disguised roman a' clef.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at April 01, 2026 06:44 PM (ksbjf)

208 202 Incredibly, I heard some TV news readers yesterday and early today call the spacecraft "OH-ree-on."
____

Kids don't know anything about anything these days.

Now, get off my lawn!

Posted by: Chuck Martel at April 01, 2026 06:46 PM (Dv3i1)

209 Orange Man Bad has screwed things up so bad I'm trying to brush up on my Farsi on Duo Lingo even as I write this.

Posted by: Minuteman at April 01, 2026 06:46 PM (47/pr)

210 My cousin played the douche boyfriend who let Jodi down.

Posted by: connected and litigious at April 01, 2026 06:52 PM (cS1cw)

211 Keith Laumer, the creator of Retief, was a member of the U.S. State Department. I'm pretty certain that Retief was a thinly disguised roman a' clef.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop
======
Yep. Stationed in Burma for part of his gig. Wrote a thinly disguised and coded obscene book about it. Sound out the character names phonetically.

Posted by: whig at April 01, 2026 06:52 PM (E4rtv)

212 24 I suspect very soon the left will be making Colin Powell's argument from the WoT that we "caused a mess" in destroying the Mullahs and so we have to send 100K American boys to make sure they get democracy or something.

That was Colin Powell's "Pottery Barn" Doctrine of when you go to War "if you break it you bought it."

That's retarded, sir.

Trump has the "Don't make me take my belt off" doctrine which leads to the Trump doctrine of "Rubble don't make trouble" and "Lather, Rinse, Repeat."

Posted by: Minuteman at April 01, 2026 06:56 PM (47/pr)

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