"The news cycle hasn’t just moved on [from Epstein]: we are now deep into the testosterone zone, the fizzing, almost sexual excitement of war. This is what the early stages of all wars look like. …

AI, like war, is a hyper-masculine fantasy of God-like power."

~ Carole Cadwalladr

#Trump #LindseyGraham #PeteHegseth #Iran #war #AI #broligarchy #PerformativeMasculinity
/23

thenerve.news/p/carole-cadwall…

Hooked on dopamine, fuelled by testosterone, powered by AI: this is the broligarchs’ war

Three weeks ago, briefly, the world was focused on Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of women and girls. Now, as conflict rages, the tide of hyper-masculinity has risen again, writes Carole Cadwalladr

^{Carole Cadwalladr (The Nerve)}

"With new evidence emerging that the United States was responsible for the strike on a school in southern Iran than killed scores of children, President Trump baselessly blamed Iran for the attack."

~ David Kurtz

#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #WarriorEthos #PerformativeMasculinity #lies #disinformation #propaganda
/17

morningmemo.talkingpointsmemo.…

Inside the DHS Campaign Against US Citizens

INSIDE: Abrego Garcia ... Kari Lake ... Enrique Tarrio

^{David Kurtz (Morning Memo)}

"He’s even stated explicitly that this should be going how it did in Venezuela, where the next in command steps forward and agrees to an indefinite period of vassalhood under not so much the U.S. but Donald Trump himself. What remains of the Iranian state leadership does not seem interested in that."

#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #WarriorEthos #PerformativeMasculinity
/16

"Trump started this war as part of the international acting-out he’s been at for the last few months, a way of compensating for reverses at home. If we look at his statements and U.S. actions leading up to the beginning of the war, the impulse or the goal seems simply to be in charge, for Iran to do what Trump says."

~ Josh Marshall

#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #WarriorEthos #PerformativeMasculinity
/15

talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/i…

Iran: It’s Hard to Know How to Exit When You Don’t Know Why You’re There

In discussions of modern wars, Americans obsess about “exit strategies”. How do you avoid getting “bogged down?” How do you know when the mission is finished?

^{Josh Marshall (TPM - Talking Points Memo)}

"House Intelligence Committee Chair Rick Crawford on Fox: 'We have been at war with Iran since 1947.'

… The Republican talking point is to claim that Iran has been at war with us for 47 years, so Trump’s bombings are just a continuation of that and are being done in self defense. But Crawford got it a little confused trying to follow the script."

~ Ron Filipkowski

#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #WarriorEthos #PerformativeMasculinity
/14

meidasplus.com/p/this-weekend-…

This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 323.

… Trump was widely criticized for wearing a campaign hat he’s selling on his website for $55 during the dignified transfer ceremony for the soldiers killed during his Iran War.

^{Ron Filipkowski (Meidas+)}

"The situation is scary. And what’s even scarier is that the 'warrior ethos' gang in the Trump administration seem to have been caught completely off-guard by the fallout from their adventure, even though the military and the intelligence community tried to warn them about the risks."

~ Paul Krugman

#Trump #Hegseth #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #PerformativeMasculinity #WarriorEthos
/12

paulkrugman.substack.com/p/dir…

Dire Strait

Oil wells that end badly?

^{Paul Krugman}

"Trump sees war as 'blowing things up.' Dealing with the bodies of soldiers he sent to war is—for Trump—an annoyance that delayed his weekend golf by a day, to Sunday, when he wore the same golf hat that he wore during the dignified transfer."

~ Robert B. Hubbell

#Trump #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #PerformativeMasculinity
/11

roberthubbell.substack.com/p/n…

Nine days of war take their toll. We can reverse the damage, if we act now.

March 9, 2026

^{Robert B. Hubbell (Today's Edition Newsletter)}

"Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago excoriated the clip, pointing out that
a real war with real death and real suffering [is] being treated like it's a video game … It's sickening.'”

#Trump #CardinalCupich #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #PerformativeMasculinity
/7

"The Trump regime certainly frames the war in Iran as a particularly boneheaded and un-nuanced Hollywood film along the lines of 'Rambo' (1985). ... Perhaps even more tellingly, the White House X account posted a video collage of clips from the war intercut with footage from Hollywood action, war, and superhero films."

#Trump #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #PerformativeMasculinity
/6

"The US has a longstanding tendency to see wars as one-sided affairs, with American protagonists, American victims, and a cast of disreputable and/or sympathetic non-American side characters. This is perhaps most obvious in the mass of Hollywod Vietnam war films, of which only rare exceptions include a non-American main character."

~ Noah Berlatsky

#Trump #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #PerformativeMasculinity
/5

publicnotice.co/p/iran-element…

The bombing of Iranian children is an unforgivable crime

America has blood on its hands.

^{Noah Berlatsky (Public Notice)}

"On Friday, Trump promised Latin American soccer players that he was going to overthrow Cuba in 'a couple of weeks.'”

~ Marcie Jones

#Trump #LindseyGraham #Iran #Cuba #war #death #destruction #violence #PerformativeMasculinity
/4

wonkette.com/p/the-finest-fune…

The Finest Funerary Trucker Cap: Tabs, Mon., March 9, 2026

News and things to read and watch!

^{Marcie Jones (Wonkette)}

“'Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon, by the way,' Trump told CNN Friday. 'I’m going to put Marco over there and we’ll see how that works out. We’re really focused on this one right now.'”

~ Andrew Egger

#Trump #LindseyGraham #Iran #Cuba #war #death #destruction #violence #PerformativeMasculinity
/3

thebulwark.com/p/trump-confoun…

Trump Confounded by the War He Started

It’s now clear: There was no plan.

^{Andrew Egger (The Bulwark)}

"Karl answered that 'nobody questions the success of the military operation, the concern is what happens next.'

'Forget about next,' Trump answered. 'They are decimated for a 10-year period before they could build it back.'

'We’re marching through the world,' Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) told a laughing Maria Bartiromo of the Fox News Channel this morning."

#Trump #LindseyGraham #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #PerformativeMasculinity
/2

"WE'RE" MARCHING THROUGH THE WORLD! HOW DO YOU LIKE THE PERFORMANCE?

"Last Thursday, March 5, Trump talked to ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl about the war. 'I hope you are impressed,' he said. 'How do you like the performance? I mean, Venezuela is obvious. This might be even better. How do you like the performance?'"

~ Heather Cox Richardson

#Trump #LindseyGraham #Iran #war #death #destruction #violence #PerformativeMasculinity
/1

heathercoxrichardson.substack.…

March 8, 2026

Yesterday, President Donald J.

^{Heather Cox Richardson (Letters from an American)}

"Hegseth wants maximum lethality with minimum legality or no legality That’s a recipe for disaster. I don’t know if he’s too stupid. or too reckless to understand any of that. But Hegseth comes across like a 14-year-old punk trying to be a strong man.”

~ Glenn Kirschner

#Trump #Republicans #Hegseth #Iran #Israel #war #wargasm #PerformativeMasculinity #masculinity
/5

deanobeidallah.substack.com/p/…

Glenn Kirschner on Trump's illegal war and war crimes!!

A recording from Dean Obeidallah's live video

^{Dean Obeidallah (The Dean's Report by Dean Obeidallah)}