These travesties are being committed with our resources: our tax dollars, our military might, our people, and our name.
These craven, corrupt posers are trying to assure their positions by consigning us to the role of mere spectators in a “game” that appeals to the worst instincts of our species.
We have to act in every way, at every opportunity to stop these criminals who kill in our name.
And it’s not about the uncontested evil of the Iranian regime. It’s about the clarity and courage of the American people to speak up and to act at this critical moment.
I do not use X. My news about the United States comes from PBS and from our national broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. That distance is useful; it removes the theatre and leaves the facts.
The usual suspects are well known, and by now their arguments are exhausted. Vladimir Putin at least had the bluntness to be overt about his territorial ambitions. Israel’s conduct in South Lebanon is more opaque, but the underlying logic is familiar: territory, pressure, and faits accomplis. The playbook is not new.
Could any of this have been avoided through diplomacy? Perhaps. But that question can only be answered honestly by those who chose escalation over negotiation.
And now we arrive at the political residue of all this: two ageing leaders attempting to outrun legal and moral accountability. What happens next is not for commentators to decide. It is for voters.
In the United States, the approaching midterm elections will speak. In Israel, the question is simpler: when do the voters get their say?
"Israel’s conduct in South Lebanon is more opaque, but the underlying logic is familiar: territory, pressure, and faits accomplis. The playbook is not new."
You're wrong. Israel is responding in a completely justifiable way to Iran's proxy terror force, Hezbollah, which has been waging unconstrained war on it for years, and is actively doing so at present. No matter what you think of the current overall conflict, this piece of it is without alternative so long as the terrorists are unchecked.
Lebanon has been a failed state for years in thrall to Hezbollah which has been so ineffective that it would have died out if ignored. Name one positive result Hezbollah has achieved in Lebanon. And how much damage it has done to Israel. If Israel can attack Iran it can defend itself against Lebanon with ease. There is no justification for this latest collaboration between Trump and Netanyahu and the American public is not in favor. Not the ones who are not taken in by gamifying propaganda.
I’ve recently read a news comment (forget where) to the effect that the Lebanese govt was NOT happy with the recent Hezbollah actions & hadn’t been for some time.
Hezbollah "has been so ineffective that it would have died out if ignored"?! What do rely on to support that wild assertion? Something like 60K Israelis were forced to evacuate their homes in Northern Israel on account of shelling by Hezbollah, which was said to have !00,000 rockets thanks to Iran. Hezbollah has offered zero prospect of a peace with Israel.
You're pretty cavalier with respect to Israel's security issues vis-a-vis Hezbollah. The same vis-a-vis Hamas and the Houtis, two of Iran's other terrorist proxies? Or you just think Israel should take whatever they deal out? (BTW, what cause has Iran had for the past 47 years to direct existential threats without let up against the "Little Satan," that is the Jewish State, or you think those too ought not be taken seriously.
Do you know that among other hostile acts, Iran is generally credited with killing 85 Jews at a community center in Argentina?
whatever the justification for war or lack thereof, it's highly likely that the proxies will live or die by the status of funds and armaments flowing from Iran. They'll all take a serious hit from this action
In the next stage of its inhumanity, this regime will sell tickets for snuff events such as "Bloodbath in the Mosque" or "Genocide Live."
Trump and his gang of murderers have an astonishingly casual attitude toward mass murder. These people have no conscience. And they are not likely to develop one.
This regime craves violence. Don't be seduced by it.
Yes it’s really really sad Here we are sitting warm and cozy in our homes with food on the table. We choose to ignore what’s going on. The trauma inflicted on those families who are facing this everyday. It’s really really sad. Thank you for being brave to bring this to light. They are HUMAN too!
Elliot, thank you (and Bishop Cupuch) for elucidating the muddy mess that this administration has created in Iran. I'd like to think that those of us with more than two brain cells are horrified at the sheer audacity that this so-called president thinks he can rule the entire world at his whim.
I also believe that "it" is not a human being because a human would have planned more carefully for such actikn and followed the proper course of declaring war, vetting it with congressional input and plain logic.
But being the insatiable, self-serving despot that "it" is, we are simply dragged along while "it" runs roughshod over whatever it may be that "it" doesn't find to "its" liking, people, property, and consequences be damned.
What a sad, sad world "it" has created - for the entire hunan race. 😢 We can only hope "it" can be stopped before we're all just gone in a puff of smoke.
I very much appreciate the Cardinal’s public condemnation, not just of our.current political leadership, but also the culture in which all of us are either active participants or more likely, passive “handwringers.” This is one part of the culture that needs to be “cancelled.”
We must vote each and every republican out of office at every level of government. No exceptions. If they never spoke out against Trump then they support him. It is that simple. Release the TRUMP-Epstein files.
High minded prose is not saving us, Elliot, nor are inspired homilies from Cardinal Cupich or Pope Leo. I think the most disturbing event was Trump and his advisors greeting the returning coffins not that silly AI created collage. Which I haven’t seen but I will take your word. After that ceremony he flew off to Florida for a weekend of golf and rest. The families on that airfield went home with the coffins. I don’t think MAGA voted for this war either.
Are we better than this? Who is standing up to stop this??? What the hell is wrong with our elected leaders? Lindsey Graham, Mike Johnson, Pete Hegseth??? When will the rest of congress stand up and stop this shit???
I think this is probably the happiest trump has been in a long long time if not ever. Bombs going off , fires,, people suffering and death everywhere, whole neighborhoods being destroyed.yes this is his joy, power and ego the world be dammed!
This should be on the front page of every newspaper. This war is real and is hurting real people. Thank you for sharing the Archbishop’s words.
So true! And one of the pathways to ‘dehumanization’ … I have long believed :
“Cyber-dehumanization: Violent video game play diminishes our humanity
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103111002526
Highlights
► Playing violent video games reduces self-perceived humanity.
► Players dehumanize their opponents when they are the targets of violence.
► The findings provide a novel perspective on the adverse effects of violent games.”
Trump & Hegseth are ‘gaming’ this out to appeal to their base’s baser instincts.
— They both belong back on Fox ‘news’ or some other silly reality TV shows.
Don't call it "War: The American Way" call it war...the trump way.
And the GOP way.
These travesties are being committed with our resources: our tax dollars, our military might, our people, and our name.
These craven, corrupt posers are trying to assure their positions by consigning us to the role of mere spectators in a “game” that appeals to the worst instincts of our species.
We have to act in every way, at every opportunity to stop these criminals who kill in our name.
And it’s not about the uncontested evil of the Iranian regime. It’s about the clarity and courage of the American people to speak up and to act at this critical moment.
Beautifully stated as always. Thank you, Paula.
I do not use X. My news about the United States comes from PBS and from our national broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. That distance is useful; it removes the theatre and leaves the facts.
The usual suspects are well known, and by now their arguments are exhausted. Vladimir Putin at least had the bluntness to be overt about his territorial ambitions. Israel’s conduct in South Lebanon is more opaque, but the underlying logic is familiar: territory, pressure, and faits accomplis. The playbook is not new.
Could any of this have been avoided through diplomacy? Perhaps. But that question can only be answered honestly by those who chose escalation over negotiation.
And now we arrive at the political residue of all this: two ageing leaders attempting to outrun legal and moral accountability. What happens next is not for commentators to decide. It is for voters.
In the United States, the approaching midterm elections will speak. In Israel, the question is simpler: when do the voters get their say?
"Israel’s conduct in South Lebanon is more opaque, but the underlying logic is familiar: territory, pressure, and faits accomplis. The playbook is not new."
You're wrong. Israel is responding in a completely justifiable way to Iran's proxy terror force, Hezbollah, which has been waging unconstrained war on it for years, and is actively doing so at present. No matter what you think of the current overall conflict, this piece of it is without alternative so long as the terrorists are unchecked.
Lebanon has been a failed state for years in thrall to Hezbollah which has been so ineffective that it would have died out if ignored. Name one positive result Hezbollah has achieved in Lebanon. And how much damage it has done to Israel. If Israel can attack Iran it can defend itself against Lebanon with ease. There is no justification for this latest collaboration between Trump and Netanyahu and the American public is not in favor. Not the ones who are not taken in by gamifying propaganda.
I’ve recently read a news comment (forget where) to the effect that the Lebanese govt was NOT happy with the recent Hezbollah actions & hadn’t been for some time.
Hezbollah "has been so ineffective that it would have died out if ignored"?! What do rely on to support that wild assertion? Something like 60K Israelis were forced to evacuate their homes in Northern Israel on account of shelling by Hezbollah, which was said to have !00,000 rockets thanks to Iran. Hezbollah has offered zero prospect of a peace with Israel.
You're pretty cavalier with respect to Israel's security issues vis-a-vis Hezbollah. The same vis-a-vis Hamas and the Houtis, two of Iran's other terrorist proxies? Or you just think Israel should take whatever they deal out? (BTW, what cause has Iran had for the past 47 years to direct existential threats without let up against the "Little Satan," that is the Jewish State, or you think those too ought not be taken seriously.
Do you know that among other hostile acts, Iran is generally credited with killing 85 Jews at a community center in Argentina?
whatever the justification for war or lack thereof, it's highly likely that the proxies will live or die by the status of funds and armaments flowing from Iran. They'll all take a serious hit from this action
In this war or in previous years ?
Hezbollah has been attacking Israel since 10/8/23 with thousands of missiles.
In the next stage of its inhumanity, this regime will sell tickets for snuff events such as "Bloodbath in the Mosque" or "Genocide Live."
Trump and his gang of murderers have an astonishingly casual attitude toward mass murder. These people have no conscience. And they are not likely to develop one.
This regime craves violence. Don't be seduced by it.
Or MMA on the White House lawn on July 4th🎆🎇🧨
Yes it’s really really sad Here we are sitting warm and cozy in our homes with food on the table. We choose to ignore what’s going on. The trauma inflicted on those families who are facing this everyday. It’s really really sad. Thank you for being brave to bring this to light. They are HUMAN too!
Elliot, thank you (and Bishop Cupuch) for elucidating the muddy mess that this administration has created in Iran. I'd like to think that those of us with more than two brain cells are horrified at the sheer audacity that this so-called president thinks he can rule the entire world at his whim.
I also believe that "it" is not a human being because a human would have planned more carefully for such actikn and followed the proper course of declaring war, vetting it with congressional input and plain logic.
But being the insatiable, self-serving despot that "it" is, we are simply dragged along while "it" runs roughshod over whatever it may be that "it" doesn't find to "its" liking, people, property, and consequences be damned.
What a sad, sad world "it" has created - for the entire hunan race. 😢 We can only hope "it" can be stopped before we're all just gone in a puff of smoke.
I very much appreciate the Cardinal’s public condemnation, not just of our.current political leadership, but also the culture in which all of us are either active participants or more likely, passive “handwringers.” This is one part of the culture that needs to be “cancelled.”
I couldn’t agree more with the Cardinal. What the press is calling gamification is beyond sickening.
We must vote each and every republican out of office at every level of government. No exceptions. If they never spoke out against Trump then they support him. It is that simple. Release the TRUMP-Epstein files.
High minded prose is not saving us, Elliot, nor are inspired homilies from Cardinal Cupich or Pope Leo. I think the most disturbing event was Trump and his advisors greeting the returning coffins not that silly AI created collage. Which I haven’t seen but I will take your word. After that ceremony he flew off to Florida for a weekend of golf and rest. The families on that airfield went home with the coffins. I don’t think MAGA voted for this war either.
Hate to say it but I see nothing that supports the statement that “Americans are better than this”. Some are but clearly not enough of us.
Are we better than this? Who is standing up to stop this??? What the hell is wrong with our elected leaders? Lindsey Graham, Mike Johnson, Pete Hegseth??? When will the rest of congress stand up and stop this shit???
I think we should all REFUSE TO PAY TAXES !
. . . war$.
I think this is probably the happiest trump has been in a long long time if not ever. Bombs going off , fires,, people suffering and death everywhere, whole neighborhoods being destroyed.yes this is his joy, power and ego the world be dammed!