After polishing off Syria’s Assad, US has open road to Iranian regime change.

 

After polishing off Syria’s Assad, US has open road to Iranian regime change.

 

After the 911 attacks the US war party responded by declaring all out regime change on Middle East countries it deemed a threat to the Homeland.

 

Their coveted prize was the despised Iran, a potential hegemon rival to America’s revered allay Israel. America couldn’t realistically start off attacking large, powerful Iran or change out its hated regime. So it embarked on a multi country regime change tour, saving Iran for best and last.

 

America kicked off its Excellent Regime Change Tour by invading Afghanistan shortly after the September, 2001 attacks. The Taliban fell within weeks, But 20 years, several trillion in US treasure, 2,400 US soldiers killed and tens of thousands of injured later, the Taliban marched back to power after a humiliating US exit.

 

Next up was Iraq, invaded in March, 2003 under false pretenses that would have made Hitler proud. But the entire US media went along with this grotesque made up war which killed hundreds thousands including over 4,500 Americans.

 

Don’t forget America’s grisly regime change imposed on Libya’s strongman Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The US led a NATO offensive (from an ostensibly defensive alliance) to depose the hated Gaddafi. When Gaddafi was sodomized with a bayonet, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laughingly gloried ‘We came, we saw…he died.” All the US accomplished was turning Libya into a chaotic, failed state for the past 13 years.

 

In 2017 US General Wesley Clark, who led the US destruction of Serbia in the 90's, summarized a Pentagon meeting on regime change thusly:

“This is a memo that describes how we’re going to take out seven countries in five years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.”

 

It’s taking a tad longer than the US war party promised, but with Syria handed over to Jihadist terrorist Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the final regime change prize of Iran is in sight.

 

Incoming President Trump is a dedicated Iran hater who nearly stumbled into war with Iran during his presidency. Drafting his war cabinet from the ‘Get Iran’ farm team is not a hopeful sign for peace next year. But saving America’s most powerful Middle East regime change target could backfire spectacularly as Iran poses an immense threat to thousands of US troops in the region.

 

The US war party may be ecstatic about adding Iran to its regime change belt, but should ponder that wise aphorism, ‘Be careful what you covet… you just might get it.’

With no real enemies, US poised to spend $1.8 trillion for national security in 2025

 

With no real enemies, US poised to spend $1.8 trillion for national security in 2025

Not one of the other 194 countries poses the slightest threat to the US Homeland. Yet the US foolishly provokes confrontation with Russia and China, the first and third most nuclear armed states.

With no enemies lurking near our borders, the US plans to spend $1.8 trillion next year to promote not defense, but US adventurism abroad.

750 bases in 80 countries overseas billeting 160,000 soldiers does not come cheap. Additionally, the US has squandered upwards of $200 billion to destroy Ukraine in our proxy war against Russia, and obliterate Gaza by our Middle East aircraft carrier Israel.

That helps explain why Congress is about to pass an $895.2 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to fund discretionary activities of our Defense Department. Adding in mandatory defense spending of $25.8 billion swells the Pentagon’s budget to a cool $921 billion.

But don’t forget nuclear weapons programs, Homeland Security, cost to treat vets from America’s forever wars and miscellaneous foreign adventures. These add another $796.8 billion, making a national security grand total for 2025 a staggering $1,776,800,000. A far distant second in defense spending is China at less than a quarter trillion.

How can this be in the hyped ‘greatest democracy on Earth’? Simple. The administration, Congress, presidential candidates, the media offer not one word of discussion, much less protest about this monstrous squandering of US treasure to get millions killed, injured, starved, sick and homeless in countries America has no business meddling in.

America’s national security budget may as well be planned and passed on Mars, far from the radar of America’s 155,000,200 clueless voters having no say in this monstrosity whatsoever.

Of course, with the US war party crossing Russian red lines like it’s in a demolition derby, nuclear war becomes more likely than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis 62 years ago. If that happens, any important discussion of our $1.8 trillion national security budget will be moot.

Good thing Mayor Johnson doesn't have Mayor Daley' s City Council

Good thing Mayor Johnson doesn't have Mayor Daley' s City Council

 

From his first election in 1955 till his death in 1976, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley (Richard I) had a City Council to live for. With virtually no opposition except Independent 5th Ward Alderman Leon Despres, Daily ruled over Chicag0 like a Soviet style Politburo Chief. Whatever budget Daley wanted he got. Fortunately he was determined to keeping property taxes manageable .

 

Forty-eight years on Mayor Brandon Johnson enjoys not a compliant City Council, but one determined to protect beleaguered Chicago taxpayers from profligate spender Johnson. Instead of making large, sensible cuts to a vastly bloated city payroll, he proposed a huge $300 million tax increase to help close the near billion dollar initial budget gap. But over half the Council forced Johnson to pair back his proposed increase to $150 billion, then to $68.5 million, finally to no tax hike at all

 

Bravo City Council and raspberries for you Mayor Johnson. On Day One as mayor, Johnson's Job One was to assess a massively overstaffed City Hall weighed down by a 30% increase in full time employees since just before COVID hit. Those new hires were financed by the US American Rescue Plan Act. That dough is gone but the excess employees are still there exploding Chicago’s budget deficit.

 

When Daley could count on 49 votes to make ‘Chacaga the greatest city in the world’, being mayor sure was lots of fun. Not so for Mayor Johnson who can’t even muster 26 of 50 votes to pass his confiscatory budget.

 

Mayor Johnson means well with his progressive agenda to uplift Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. All Chicagoans of good will support that effort. But Johnson must not forget Joe Taxpayer whose needs must also be considered. Johnson has yet to learn the lesson that governance is the art of the possible…not the impossible.