King Donald's War, Part 2. Just a few Marines. . .

 

U.S. Marines land at Da Nang, March 8, 1965.  It was just a few. . and then some airmen. . . and then the perimeter had to be protected. . . and soon, 50,000 U.S. troops were dead.

March 31, 2026

King Donny can't figure out how to get out of his war. The Iranians can't and won't surrender.  The Iranians won't leave the Straits of Hormuz  alone.  The NATO countries, several of which have been threatened by King Donny with the use of military force, have replied to his request for naval assistance with variants of "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" and are perfectly happy to watch the US, which they don't like under Trump, and Israel, which they generally don't like, stew in the fat of Donald's juices.

Faced with this, the more rah rah, let's engage in a Protestant Crusade against Islam crowed, and the more sober military minds who have read history, are causing Marines to be deployed.  Chances are, they aren't equally enthusiastic about deploying them, as the results of that will be a full scale and even more illegal war than the one we're currently in.

The economy, meanwhile, is turning to a steaming pile of shit, like everything else Donald touches.  The stock market is supposedly the only thing the legacy seeking King Donny pays attention to, which probably means that his oligarchic connections are being hurt and calling him up on his cell phone telling him to get out before the wreckage matches that of the East Wing.  King Donny, meanwhile, probably doesn't want to be remembered as the idiot who got 20,000 ground troops or more killed.  So, as of yesterday, he's thinking of surrendering by simply pulling out.

Overnight, the Iranians targeted Diego Garcia with missiles but not reached their targets for one reason or another, including their being intercepted.  Diego Garcia was not previously thought to be within range of Iranian missiles, and it still might not be, given that they didn't hit.  Or it may be, or it may be that Iran has improved the capabilities of their missiles over the last couple of weeks.

Iran is busy destroying Middle Eastern oil infrastructure.  The economic impacts will last for years.

March 21, 2026, cont:

Iran and the US/Israel exchanged attack nuclear facilities today.

March 22, 2026

Trump announced that if Iran does not open the Straits of Hormuz within 48 hours the US will commit a war crime and start to destroy power plants.

This would be flat out an illegal at, it serves no military purpose whatsoever.

March 23, 2026

King Donny claimed this morning that the US and Iran were in productive talks, so he was suspending offensive operations for several day.

Iran called BS on the claim.

Nobody really knows what's going on, but my guess, and it would guess, is that King Donny is going to claim there was a secret deal to end the war and call it over.  My additional guess is that somebody got to him.  Maybe the military, maybe the top (lap) dogs in the GOP, or maybe another oligarch, but somebody.

cont:

Israel Thought It Could Spur Rebellion Inside Iran. That Hasn’t Happened.

President Trump’s hopes that an Israeli plan to ignite an internal uprising against Iran’s theocratic government could bring the war to a swift end have so far been dashed.

cont:

Listening to the weekend shows makes it plaint how much trouble Trump is really in.  None of the people you'd expect to be present on all three were present on the two I listened to.  Scott Bessant was on Meet the Press sounding like a complete fool.  Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy drew the short stick for This Week and sounded like he regretted it.

Bessant was downright insulting to the host, even if he sounded like a buffoon doing it.

What's increasingly clear is that sometime yesterday somebody or something got to Trump.  The war isn't going the way he believed it would, and now he want out.  He's just looking for a cover story to get out.  The problem he faces is that none of the cover stories for getting into it will square with that, so he's in a bind.  The strategy being tested is the claim that he made a deal, even if the Iranians are denying  that they're close to making a deal.

Believing that lie won't be too much to ask diehard Trump fans to do.  They'll believe anything.  But it is too much for independents and some not wholly convinced Republicans to do.  The next part of the problem will be that petroleum prices will take months or even years to go down.  That showed up on Meet the Press in which a Trump voter called Trump "a worthless piece of shit".

cont:

Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up. You said, 'Let's do it.'

Trump.

Pete is now the designated fall guy.  He better start looking for a new job.

March 24, 2026

In spite of King Donny's declaration that the United States was in talks with Iran, which Iran denies, as Donny is an outrageous liar, the war continued on yesterday, unabated.

Cont:

According to the NYT, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is pushing Trump to continue the war.

We seem to just be regional suckers to the Middle East.

March 25, 2026

In addition to the Marines already deployed to the Middle East, 1,000 troops of the 82nd Airborne are being deployed to the region, all for a war that King Donny claims was won several days ago.

Pakistan, which it self as been at war recently with Afghanistan, volunteered to host talks between the U.S. and Iran.  The U.S. has agreed to attend, Iran, has not.

Trump claimed yesterday that Iran gave the United States a very big oil related present, but he wasn't going to say what it is.

Um. . . . 

March 27, 2026

King Donny extended his deadline in which for the US to commit an additional war crime by destroying electrical power sites.  He claims negotiations are going well.

Some negotiations probably really are occurring, but it's not clear at all what they are.  As they won't result in an end to an Iranian nuclear program, effectively what the US is doing is looking for a way out a la Paris Peace Accords.

On the other hand, Tehran increased its grip on the Straits of Hormuz yesterday, so the entire story of Iran negotiating may just be another Trump lie.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a real president, visited the Middle East yesterday as his country is helping several Middle Eastern countries counter Iranian drones.

March 28, 2026

The Houthis entered the war by firing ballistic missiles at Israel.

Donald Trump is now babbling on this topic nearly every day, and not making a lick of sense any time he does so.  As if that's not enough, his cabinet lavishes praise on him in a way that will quite frankly be used against their reputations, and that of the country that they purport to serve, forever.

March 30, 2026

The illegitimate administration sent Iran the same list of 15 demands in the form of demands to be accepted to end the war.  Iran told the U.S. to stuff it, and presented its own demands, also pointing out that it doesn't trust the US enough to enter negotiations.

Listening to the weekend shows and other soundings out there, it's increasingly clear that Republicans feel uneasy about the situation developing with King Donny.  A common theme now is, "well, we should have done this years ago, um, and are now, um, and well, we have to see it through".

None of those things are anywhere near true and they know it.

We are getting increasingly close to the commitment of ground troops.  Even some of the stalwarts that apologize for Trump's dementia on a nearly daily basis re now saying that requires Congressional approval.  Well, Trump isn't going to ask for approval.  He's just going to do it, if he does, and he probably is going to.

This is an election season, and those in Congress in the GOP should be made to answer for this illegal delegation of force to a demented octogenarian.

cont:

Reports hold that Russia shared satellite images of Prince Sultan US base in Saudi Arabia with Iran right before their attack that injured our troops. Ukrainian intelligence has confirmed it.

And Trump. . . well he's letting a ship of Russian oil offload in Cuba, which is otherwise being embargoed (blockaded?) by the U.S.

Odd, eh?

March 31, 2026

Iran hit a fully laden Kuwait oil tanker in port in Dubai.

Trump yesterday indicated that he might just abandon the Persian Gulf with the Straits of Hormuz closed.

Republicans desperate to excuse a war that's not going to end soon, and which right now looks as if it'll either require a decades long American ground presence in an illegal war, or an inglorious American retreat, either of which feature a major recession, if not depression, in the near term, are parading a series of bs excuses for what demented Don did.

The reality of it is quite simple.  Bibi wanted to take Iran out while the US could be duped into going along with it.  Only Bibi and Vlad seem to have any pull over King Donny, although for different unknown reasons.  Anyhow, this is a war for Israel, that's what it's for.

The current line is that we've been fighting Iran for 47 years.  No, we haven't been.  Iran has been a bad actor for 47 years, but we haven't been fighting them for nearly five decades.  Moreover, most of Iran's anger with us, as illegitimate and wrong as it is, is vicarious anger over US support for Israel.

I'm not saying that US support for Israel is wholly wrong, but it has frankly been often beyond what it likely should have been, and that's been the case since Israel became a country.  It has a right to exist, but it doesn't have a right to unqualified US support, and support that has not involved American Allies that are in the region, to the the extent which it has.  Anyhow, Iran's hatred of the US is largely due to US support of Israel, which is 100% what this war is about.  Netanyahu saw a chance to take out, he thought, a decades long enemy, and took it.  Unfortunately for him, he forgot about what an unreliable ally the US really is and that Trump's thoughts tend to be farts in windstorms.

The other major claim is that Iran was going to turn into a nuclear power and we needed to stop it.  If that's the case, that was clearly going to involve a ground invasion.  You can't bomb nuclear material into non existence.  Trump may stupidly have thought he could cause the Iranian regime to fall in this fashion, which if so was flat out dumb, but he's not a very advanced thinker and his experience is in real estate, not realpolitik.  He didn't cause an Iranian uprising and he didn't even get the Kurds to move on the government.  

So here we are.

Concluding this war successfully will require a Vietnam War level of military participation and two decades to complete.  At some point Congress will have to get involved.  As Americans have no stomach for such an enterprise, what's much more likely to happen is a largescale conventional invasion of the country after a series of aerial war crimes, followed by substantial US troop deaths, followed by an inglorious withdrawal and retreat.

In other words, we're likely to lose the war.

Not before it expands into the US however.

We have every reason to believe that Iran has sleeper cells in the US. What hasn't happened that much yet, however, are proxy attacks here.  That's coming, and it'll come in more than one form.  We aren't ready for it, and we're not going to get ready for it.  Further, both China and Russia will assist Iran on this where they can get away with it.

Along with that, we're going to see inflation and a recession within the next few months at a level we have no experienced since the 1970s.  We'll be lucky, quite frankly, if we don't experience a depression.

So, welcome to King Donald's Forever War.

cont:

The maximum level of outright stupidity that is constantly demonstrated by this illegitimate administration is really on display today with Pete Hegseth. For example:

The president was clear this morning in his Truth that there are countries around the world who ought to be prepared to step up on this critical waterway as well. Last time I checked there was supposed to be a big bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that.

This is an illegal war on the part of the US, dumbass, and you don't get to declare war for other countries.

As far as President Trump and boots on the ground, I don't understand why the base wouldn't have faith in his ability to execute on this. Look at his track record.

Seriously? Where to begin.  Cutting spending. . . nope, didn't happen.  Avoid wars. . . nope, didn't happen.  Make America Great Again. . . more like sending it into the dumpster.

What he's shown himself to be really good at is not getting the Epstein files released, although even there, there are enough cracks to raise the question if he was one of the rich men raping teenagers.  It's not proven, but there's enough there to wonder.

cont:

I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the US, we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,'

'You'll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won't be there to help you anymore, just like you weren't there for us.'

And so, the TACO signals he's retreating.  

Iran, apparently, will be the victor.  People died for nothing whatsoever.  Those serving in the military were made suckers.

As we all were. Everything is more expensive, people are dead.

Last edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2026. Part 5. Trump's forever war. King Donald's War, Part 1.

Chiles v. Salazar.

A victory for free speech, rational thought, and science.

Only one dissenting vote.

Only the synopsis is provided.

Pope Leo XIV on Palm Sunday

Dear brothers and sisters,

As Jesus walks the Way of the Cross, we place ourselves behind him, following in his footsteps. As we walk with him, we contemplate his passion for the sake of humanity, his broken heart, and his life as a gift of love.

We turn our gaze to Jesus, who reveals himself as King of Peace, even as war looms around him. He remains steadfast in meekness, while others are stirring up violence. He offers himself to embrace humanity, even as others raise swords and clubs. He is the light of the world, though darkness is about to engulf the earth. He came to bring life, even as plans unfold to condemn him to death.

King of Peace. Jesus’ desire is to bring the world into the Father’s arms, tearing down every barrier that separates us from God and from our neighbor, for “He is our peace” (Eph 2:14).

King of Peace. Jesus enters into Jerusalem not upon a horse, but upon a donkey, fulfilling the ancient prophecy that calls for rejoicing at the arrival of the Messiah: “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations” (Zech 9:9–10).

King of Peace. When one of his disciples drew his sword to defend him and struck the high priest’s servant, Jesus immediately stopped him, saying: “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Mt 26:52).

King of Peace. While he was burdened with our sufferings and pierced for our sins, Jesus “did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent” (Is 53:7). He did not arm himself, or defend himself, or fight any war. He revealed the gentle face of God, who always rejects violence. Rather than saving himself, he allowed himself to be nailed to the cross, embracing every cross borne in every time and place throughout human history.

Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: “Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood” (Is 1:15).

our gaze upon him who was crucified for us, we can see a crucified humanity. In his wounds, we see the hurts of so many women and men today. In his last cry to the Father, we hear the weeping of those who are crushed, who have no hope, who are sick and who are alone. Above all, we hear the painful groans of all those who are oppressed by violence and are victims of war.

Christ, King of Peace, cries out again from his cross: God is love! Have mercy! Lay down your weapons! Remember that you are brothers and sisters!

In the words of the Servant of God, Bishop Tonino Bello, I would like to entrust this cry to Mary Most Holy, who stands beneath the cross of her Son and weeps also at the feet of those who are crucified today:

“Holy Mary, woman of the third day, grant us the certainty that, in spite of all, death will no longer hold sway over us; that the injustices of peoples are numbered; that the flashes of war are fading into the twilight; that the sufferings of the poor are breathing their last. And grant, finally, that the tears of all the victims of violence and pain will soon be dried up like frost beneath the spring sun” (Maria, donna dei nostri giorni).

Pope Leo XIV, Palm Sunday homily.

Christians need to hear this.  More than that, those who claim to be Christian, like Pete Hegseth, but belong to some diluted form of Christianity, need to hear it.  Hegseth has tattooed himself with the symbols of a Faith that would have found him to be abhorrent at the time of their origin, which which recoil from them now.

Wars change everything.

Maybe one thing it will change in the human heart in people who listen to the likes of Franklin Graham and Paula White, when they should be listening to the full deposit of the Faith  

The Pleasure Principle. Wars for fun cannot be won

 

The Pleasure Principle

Wars for fun cannot be won

Wednesday, March 31, 1976. Karen Ann Quinlan.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that Karen Ann Quinlan, suffering from irreversible brain damage, could be disconnected from the ventilator that had been keeping her alive since April 15, 1975. She had been found unresponsive after she consumed Valium along with alcohol while on a crash diet and lapsed into a coma. A Catholic, her parents had appealed to Catholic moral theology arguing that extraordinary means not be required to preserve her life.

She'd live for an additional nine years.

She had been trying to lose weight to fit into a bikini.

This is one of those events I can personally recall.  It was a major news story at the time.

The UN Security Council found South Africa liable for an act of aggression against Angola, a fairly dubious Security Council conviction given that what South Africa really did is intervene in a civil war that other powers were likewise involved in.

The slam dunk was restored as a legal college basketball feature.

Last edition:

Wednesday, March 24, 1976. Passing of Field Marshal Montgomery.

Labels: 1970s, 1976, Argentina, Australia, Bernard Law Montgomery, British Army, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, United Kingdom, World War Two

Sunday, March 31, 1946. Arresting Nazis, Russia pays up, you have to wonder about Дональд, Field Marshall Gort passes.

7,000 Allied soldiers served warrants on Nazi officials.  Ausgezeichnet!

The first Greek elections since 1936 took place, with the Communist Party of Greece refusing to participate.  

Russia, as a political subdivision of the USSR, paid its U.N. dues of $1,725,000, under the thesis that the USSR had multiple representation in the UN.

Trump would probably support an effort of Russia not to pay, which was feared at the time, sending the leader of the nation a Я люблю тебя, Дональд note, like he does in an implied way to the current leader of Russia constantly.

What's up with that?

Field Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort became yet another World War Two senior officer to die following the war, albeit his death was due to liver cancer.

He was a recipient of the Victoria Cross in World War One.

Last edition:

Monday, January 14, 1946. Wartime and Post War foodstuffs.

Labels: 1940s, 1946, Army, Cartoons, Iran, J.R. Williams, Mountain Troops, Personalities, The Cold War, U.S. Navy, United States, USSR, World War Two

Friday, March 31, 1911. Viva Zapata!

Emiliano Zapata led a group of armed men in commandeering a police station in Villa de Ayala.  They then enlisted 100 townsmen in their revolutionary army.

The Mayor of Jerusalem, Raghib al-Nashashibi, and 150 prominent Arabs in Palestine sent a cable to the Turkish parliament, urging the Ottoman nation to stop further sales of land in Palestine to Jewish immigrants.

A prominent Palestinian figure, he would figure in successive regimes, and his second wife would be Jewish, and from France.

Perhaps love conquered all.

He died at age 71 in 1951.

A common sight in cities at one time:

Cleveland Mounted Police.  Note the cut of the great coats.

Last edition:

Wednesday, March 29, 1911. The adoption of the M1911.

Labels: 1910s, 1911, 1913, Army, Disaster, John Browning, Military, New York (Albany), U.S. Navy Reserve, United States Marine Corps, Weapons

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 3. The Wharton Way.

 

 "The Wharton Way"

Our strategic plan guiding us towards greater influence, innovation, and engagement for the advancement of business, education, and society at large.

Wharton School of Business website.

Donald J. Trump, who fancies himself a Wile E. Coyote level genius, is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business.

It certainly doesn't show, or Wharton isn't all it has been cracked up to be.

Having gotten the United States into an illegal war as Bibi Netanyahu talked him into it, Donny appears to have been taken off guard that Iran could and would close the Straits of Hormuz, hit tankers, and hit oil and gas facilities throughout the Middle East.

Why wouldn't they?

Perhaps if Melania lets Barron go see his father over Spring Break, assuming they're not perusing travel brochures entitled "where we can go to live after Don dies where people won't know we're Trumps", and assuming that Barron isn't doing the right thing and enlisting in the United States Marine Corps, they can break out some hex and counter games and play Naval based Superpower v. Land based regional power" and see how that works out.

Anyhow, Donny Trump (did we mention that he fancies himself a Wile E. Coyote level genius?) has lifted sanctions on already loaded oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, which means that Iran now has a source of cash it didn't before the war started.

So, we didn't wipe out their nuclear capabilities in the Twelve Day War, their government hasn't fallen in this one, people have not risen up to toss out the Iranian government, the Straits of Hormuz are closed, we didn't stockpile oil before the war, the price of oil has skyrocketed, and now the Iranians can legally transport some oil

Assuming that Trump isn't secretly trying to destroy the American economy and benefit Iran (and Russia), it's hard to see the smarts in any of that.

March 23, 2026

Even the best-case scenario for energy markets is disastrous

Whatever happens, high prices will outlive the Iran war 

March 24, 2026

Petroleum is back up over $100/bbl, basically because King Donny is a liar.

March 26, 2026

And the war inflation hits packages:

U.S. Postal Service Announces Transportation-Related, Time-Limited Price Change

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service filed notice today with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) regarding a time-limited price change to better align its costs of transportation with the market. This temporary price adjustment will provide needed flexibility for the Postal Service by helping to ensure that the actual costs of doing business are covered, as required by Congress.

While this price increase is a time-limited adjustment, it will provide a necessary bridge to a permanent mechanism to reflect market conditions in prices for competitive products that can support the Postal Service’s ability to achieve the universal service obligation in a more financially sustainable manner going forward.

The planned price change, which was approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on March 24, is an 8 percent increase that would affect base postage prices on the following retail and commercial domestic competitive products: Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select. No other products or services would be affected, including First-Class Stamps. Pending favorable review by the PRC, the price change would go into effect at midnight Central Time on April 26 and would remain in place until midnight Central Time on Jan. 17, 2027. At that time, the Postal Service can determine if a different long-term approach is needed.

Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges. We have steadfastly avoided surcharges and this charge is less than one-third of what our competitors charge for fuel alone, so even with this change, the Postal Service continues to offer great value in shipping with some of the lowest rates in the industrialized world.

The time-limited price change is consistent with industry practices and will support the Postal Service’s ability to continue achieving its public service mission — providing a nationwide, integrated network for the delivery of mail and packages at least six days a week — in a cost-effective and financially sustainable manner over the long term, just as the U.S. Congress has intended.

The PRC will review the proposed price change before it is scheduled to take effect on April 26. Complete USPS price filings, with prices for all products, can be found on the PRC website’s Daily Listings section at prc.arkcase.com/portal/filings. Price tables are also available on the Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com/PriceChange/Index.

# # #

The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to more than 170 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is celebrating its 250th year of service to customers amidst a network modernization plan aimed at restoring long-term financial sustainability, improving service, and maintaining the organization as one of America’s most valued and trusted brands.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

For USPS media resources, including broadcast-quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter; Instagram; Pinterest; Threads; and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube Channel and like us on Facebook. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.

March 27, 2026

More than 90% of new renewable power projects worldwide in 2024 were cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

Guess they aren't as woke as Chuck and demented Don would claim.

And this two years ago before the tin pot dictator decided to destroy the world's oil importation system.

March 30, 2026

West Texas is at $100/bbl this morning. Brent is at $115/bbl.

With the Houthis now in the war, there's a fairly good chance the Red Sea will be effectively closed, massively widening the war, and propelling the world into a King Donny causes severe recession.

March 31, 2026

Brent is at $114.88.  West Texas at $104.

The price of almost everything is rising.

This is your economy at war.  An undeclared war by a demented octogenarian.

Last edition:

Subsidiarity Economics 2026. The Times more or less locally, Part 2. The "War, what's it good for?" edition.

Labels: Economics, Petroleum, Trump War Inflation, United States and Israel v. Iran, Wyoming, Wyoming's boom and bust economy

Lex Anteinternet: The 2026 Election, 6th Edition, Campaigning before defeats.

 

March 20, 2026

The Oil City News has put up its updating election tracker, something we've done here as well, although theirs is an article that updates over time whereas we have to update blog entries, which is getting dicey due to some glitch on Blogger.

Anyhow, a good place to check on who is running, without, of course, our brilliant and amusing running commentary.

2026 Election Tracker: Who is running for office in Wyoming?

March 21, 2026

Former Casper Vice Mayor and City Councilor Shawn Johnson announced this wee that he is seeking the Libertarian Party of Wyoming’s nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The House race has been very active, due to one term Representative Harriet Hageman taking aim at the Senate.  The current candidates are:

U.S. House of Representatives

GOP

Jillian Balow

Chuck Gray.  On our don't vote for list.

Reid Rasner. On our don't vote for list.

David Giralt

Bo Biteman   On our don't vote for list.

Kevin Christensen On our don't vote for list.

Independent

Daniel Workman.

Libertarian

Shawn Johnson

As an aside, we heard a public radio discussion of Christensen the other day, which was neutral, but which makes it plain he's sucked on the government tit pretty much his whole life and now comes in as a far right figure.  These sorts of campaigns, of which there seem to be a lot this year, are much like a new high school graduate being an expert on parenting as he's lived at home for 18 years.

We better list the Senate as well.

U.S. Senate

GOP

Harriet Hageman. On our don't vote for list.

Jimmy Skovgard.

Skovgard has so far failed to impress, unfortunately.  For awhile I subscribed to one of his two blogs which I gave up on as it might be kindly described as blather.  Hopefully some other Republican will announce for this position, as I will vote for him in the primary when I'd rather not, as Hageman is a no/go..

Democratic Party

James Byrd

And the Governor's race:

Governor

GOP

Eric Barlow:  At least so far, Barlow seems to be by far the best choice for this office.  I'm seeing some of his signs around.

Brent Bien. On our don't vote for list.

Meggan Degenfelder. On our don't vote for list.  Degenfelder is from the relatively hard right and has been tarred with the brush of a Trump endorsement, which she really doesn't seem fully comfortable with.  She may be aware that it's problematic.

Democratic Party

Gabriel Green:  Green is associated with the DINO movement, so while he's running as a Democrat, it's "in name only". Indeed, he founded the state's DINO movement, and he might be the only person to run under that banner.  He's aggressive in this strategy, and is nearly as hard on the Democrats as he is the Republicans.

Constitution Party

Joseph Kibler.  On our don't vote for list.

Kibler announced as a Republican, switched to being an independent and is now in the Constitution Party..

Kibler is a carpetbagger and has the typical carpetbagger "I just moved here from California for all your freedom and now I'm going to run things". 

Wyoming State Superintendent

Tom Kelly

Wyoming Secretary of State

GOP

Robert Short

Rachel Williams.  Williams, formerly Rodriguez-Williams, is on the don't vote for list.  She's the chairperson of the Freedom Caucus.

A carpetbagger from California, she always used a hyphenated name up until filing for this office.  The WFC is packed with far right Evangelicals and generally MAGA has a strong New Apostolic Reformation element that is anti-Catholic as well as anti Hispanic.  She is Hispanic and Catholic and in the category of people that is abandoning MAGA like crazy.  She isn't, but she may instead have wanted to camouflage her Hispanic ethnicity a bit.  I don't know that, but it's pretty odd that she suddenly changed her name for the campaign.

As a politician, she's had all the WFC views.

Democratic Party

Bryan McCarty

Wyoming State Auditor

GOP

Kristi Racines

Apparently State Auditor is too boring to bring very many candidates out to run for it.

Some interesting State House races.

House District 37

GOP

Steve Harshaman

Ross Schriftman

Democratic Party

Betsy Erickson

HD 37 is an interesting race as Harshman is one of the best legislators in the House, and yet he's drawing opposition. 

Schriftman, who apparently attended Casper City Council meetings frequently, is running as a "constitutional conservative" which makes him a no/go, as that uniformly means that they don't grasp the constitution whatsoever.

Erickson is a young Democrat whose already adopted the seas of blood stance of the Democratic Party.

House District 57

GOP

Julie Jarvis 

Jeanette Ward  On our don't vote for list.

Jarvis took out Ward in the 2024 race and Ward, who is an extreme Freedom Caucuser, wants the seat back.

House District 58

GOP

Peter Boyer

Bill Allemand.  On our don't vote for list.

Allemand, who is facing legal trouble for drunk driving, is one of the worst members of the legislature in our view and needs to go.  Boyer is the Mayor of Bar Nunn.

March 24, 2026

Reid Rasner Sues A Fifth Person For Defamation

Reading the article, it's easy to see why Rasner is upset, but suing people during a campaign is a questionable tactic, although Rasner may figure he has no other vehicle to clear his name.

March 25, 2026

A special election was held in Florida for the Florida house district in which King Donny claims residency.

A steadfast opponent of voting by mail, Donald voted by mail.

The Democrat took the seat, flipping it from the GOP.

I'm sure MAGA has some explanation why their beloved gets to vote by mail even though he declares it to be hideous, and why the people of his state House District just said no to the GOP.  But it will be delusional.

A good essay on an election closer to home.

The case for deep Wyoming roots

Chad Auer, a senior policy advisor to Governor Mark Gordon, announced his bid for Superintendent of Public Instruction.  Legislator Tom Kelly announced earlier.  Neither candidate has very deep roots in the state, both being recent transplants.

Rasner and Gray's contest, and of course they're only two of the candidates in that race, has turned out to be surprisingly interesting recently as Rasner has been pointing out Gray's hypocrisy on wind projects he claims are "woke", but which he voted for.  Both candidates oppose wind power, because they love oil and global warming is a fib in their minds, but Gray is exposed on this.  Gray's struggling to respond and has resorted to blaming his votes on Governor Gordon.

March 26, 2026

Another carpetbagger, one Frank Chapman, a lawyer from out of state who moved to Moran about a decade agon and is now some sort of rancher and outfitter, has announced for the House race.

Like every other Republican, he's running on the government is mean to me ticket.  He's self declared MAGA.

In other news:

Hageman Endorses Degenfelder For Governor Of Wyoming

That's a pretty good reason not to vote for Degenfelder.

Must Be Campaign Season: Rasner, Gray Blast Each Other

March 27, 2026

An amusing story about the real Wyoming Frank Chapman and the Floridian carpetbagger:

And yet another Republican enters the race, this being former Cheyenne legislator John Romero-Martinez.  He's running as "100% America first", whatever that means.

He's not on our don't vote for yet list, but frankly, he may be headed there.

March 31, 2026

The Tribune has an article on Chuck Gray's offices avoidance of a Wyoming Public Records Act request on Chuck's blatantly illegal turning of Wyoming voting records over to the Trump illegitimate administration.

There's no doubt whatsoever that what Gray did is illegal.  He should be impeached.

Last edition:

Lex Anteinternet: The 2026 Election, 5th Edition, part two: The Saddle Up Edition

Labels: 2026 Election, Brent Bien, Chuck Gray, Curt Meier, Daniel Workman, David Giralt, Eric Barlow, Harriet Hageman, Jillian Balow, Jimmy Skovgard, Megan Degenfelder, Politics, Reid Rasner

Surprise Biscuit (1911) on Sandwiches of History

 

Donald Trump. Flagellum Dei?

A man who has conquered others, should conquer himself

Pope Leo the Great to Atilla the Hun.  He never did.  He died following drinking too much on his wedding night.

Some evangelical Christians excuse Trump's lack of Christian adherence by casting him as Cyrus the Vance, the Persian Emperor who was not Jewish, but who regarded himself as appointed by God and whom advanced the cause of the  the Jews.  In their minds, the non believer Trump is advancing the cause of (Protestant) Christianity.

More of his Christian loyalists, however, come from a certain Christian worldview that's very strong in the US, but only in the US, the comforting, but completely false, "once saved, always saved" view of Christianity.

It's expressed here in the misunderstood posting of one Franklin Graham.

Graham is the son of the late Billy Graham, the famous Evangelical pastor beloved by many American Protestants.  I never grasped his popularity, and perhaps things like this are why.  What Graham posts here, and what has been widely misunderstood by those shocked by the comments, is in fact absurd.  Graham espouses the minority Protestant view that you can never lose your salvation.  Believe in Christ as your savior once, and you are good to go thereafter no matter what.

This sort of view explains why so many people who attend mega churches live in such flagrant disregard for the basic tenants of Christianity, particularly the sexual tenants.  And the belief, taken from and misinterpreted from one single line in the New Testament, is completely condemned by the whole of the Gospel.  St. Paul, who specifically spoke of people losing their salvation after their conversions, would be appalled.

But for somebody as lazy intellectually as Trump, it's no doubt comforting, assuming he worried about the afterlife at all.  He's lived a life of moral dissipation but, hey, he's okay.

The belief on Trump's part is no doubt not only comforting to him, but it probably emboldens him as well.  Compared to Cyrus, backed up by the intellectually think "once saved" theology and pastors who repeatedly assure him he's on a Devine mission, and with people like Pete Hegseth in his cabinet, what could go wrong?

Well, everything, in fact.  And indeed, everything is going wrong.

And therefore, we might legitimately raise this question.  What if Trump's place in Salvation History is  not that of Cyrus the Great, but rather Atilla the Hun?

It sounds absurd, but frankly its not less absurd that he being a Cyrus the Great, and certainly no less absurd than the claims he's a "Godly man" that some of his supporters make. 

Attila the Hung, during his lifetime, was called the Flagellum Dei, the Scourge of God.  The thought was that Rome having became so sinful was being served by being whipped by Atilla by license of God.

The modern US is certainly no less sinful that Rome was from 434 to 453, the reign of Atilla.  The country still practices infanticide, something that only became legal anywhere in the US in 1970 (Hawaii).  The country has the reputation of being deeply religious but the Playboy Culture that came in starting in 1953 has lead to rampant sexual immorality and indeed sexual confusion.  The materialistic culture that started to come in during the 1950s has converted a class dominated culturally and economically by the middle class to one controlled by and for the extremely rich elite, the pinnacle of which was on display on Epstein Island.  Closeted homosexuals in office pretend they hold family virtues.  Office holders who maintain their deep love of family espouse divorce and contracept to avoid having one.  Money is everything.  We are willing to fight and die for oil rather than address the damage that it causes.  We go so far as to excuse our lifestyles and occupations, no matter what they are, surely endorsed by God, effectively mocking him.

All along, we pretend we are a devout people.

Vice President Vance, who is a National Conservative, lectures the Europeans about their losing their culture while the American Civil Religion is such a washed out version of Christianity that it must shock the listeners.  He has a point, to be sure, the West in general had engaged in massive moral decline with a life made easy after the recovery from World War Two.  But it's hard the case that the United States can look ti itself as a champion of Western values.

Which leads back to this.  

The Protestant  Reformation brought in the modern world.  It's dying before our eyes.  The United States is a Protestant country, and the United States as a great power is over.  It started to take blows when fallen away Methodist Hugh Hefner started to prostitute the image of  young women in a particularly harmful way.  As the culture became steeped in immorality, the mainline Protestant churches adopted it rather than offend.  And off in the corners some Evangelical Churches took a more radical view, with those views now expressed in the MAGA movement.

Closely related, although not appreciated to be, a culture that fell into lust naturally fell into greed.  No decent society, let alone a Christian one, would allow the wealthy the leeway they have in our society, nor would it seek to allow their unabated accumulation of wealth.  Greed and lust are, in fact, the two primary attributes of American culture.  The fact that we don't seem to realize that is because a third deadly sin has become manifestly American as well,. pride.  To state that Trump is a prideful man, and that MAGA is prideful movement, is to state the blatantly obvious.

And while we are at it, we might note that envy has now uniquely entered the picture  We evny what Denmark has in Greenland, and what Venezuela has it itself.

And look at Trump, and consider sloth. , , 

And finally, listen to Trump, on anything, and consider wrath.

These would be bad enough in one man, but when that man is elevated to the leader of a nation, that nation has endorsed it.  We, as a nation, have adopted all seven of the deadly sins as our primary national virtues.

So why wouldn't we invite a scourging, if only by our own conduct.

Nobody knows whether Donald Trump is going to Hell after his death.  That is not for us to know. Franklin Graham doesn't know. What we do know is that the Presbyterian raised Trump has lead a strongly immoral life in multiple ways even without examining the worst accusations against him, which in fact now deserve to be examined.  But the same is true of many supposedly "devout" Christians.  Indeed, the number of Christians attempting to be Christian, of all branches of the faith, is likely a tiny percentage of Christians in the U.S. overall.

What Trump is serving to do is to bring forward the hypocrisy of the American civil religion, the easy Christianity where the rules are made up and the points don't matter.

Sincere devout Protestant Christians have been deeply distressed by Trump.  They should be.  But there's another emotion in some quarters as well, a sort of principled schadenfreude.  I.e., knowing that everything is collapsing and taking a sort of delight in it.

That may sound deeply odd, but perhaps it isn't as much as it might seem.  The moral draft that's been going on has been going on for decades, and its been an obvious problem. The sort of worship of money that divests the middle class and which exalts economic activity above everything, including the happiness of average people and the environment, has been going on for decades as well.  The profligate use of American armed force is not new. The hypocrisy of our ruling class, now at an all time high, has been developing for quite some time.  Some times it takes a crisis for people to wake up. If they don't, they just perish and somebody less dense takes over.

Will Americans wake up?

I think they might, but when they wake up it's not going to be morning in America.  That country has died.  It was already ill, and had been very ill since the 2010s, but Trump came in like the batshit crazy anti vaxers that are part of his overall movement and administered a lethal does of ignorance and stupidity.  The country they wake up to may, in fact, be more like an old one, hopefully.  One less powerful on the international stage, and less willing to throw its weight around without the cooperation of others.

In other ways, it's going to be something entirely new.  Far right Evangelical Protestantism will not survive Donald Trump.  People like Franklin Graham and Paula White are going to be regarded as ignorant fools.  The big box mega churches will be exposed for what they are, worship service centers think on the hard lessons of Christianity.

Faith won't die, and it hasn't anywhere.  The Ancient Faith has started to revive in France, the Eldest Daughter of the Church.  The Apostolic Faiths in North America are growing as the young turn their back on the American Civil Religion and Americanism in general, seeking the real.  The Protestant Reformation was already dying, but now that death will accelerate, even if the Protestant faiths, particular those of the early Reformation, will live on, particularly in their most conservative, and frankly Catholic, forms.

Holy Week started yesterday.  We live in interesting times.