“If Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to be believed, Israel basically buffaloed the Trump administration into starting a war with Iran. ‘We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,’ he told reporters recently. ‘Obviously, we were aware of Israeli intentions and understood what that would mean for us, and we had to be prepared to act as a result of it.’ That doesn’t excuse Trump’s decision, of course, but it is a plausible read of the situation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu basically said as much: ‘This coalition of forces allows us to do what I have yearned to do for 40 years.’ And as I have previously written, only an Israeli goal of turning Iran into a failed state can explain their repeated assassination of any figure who could possibly consolidate the reins of power.” (03/05/26)
“A bipartisan resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war in Iran has failed in the US Senate, as the strikes continue. The war powers measure was rejected in a 53-47 vote largely along party lines. It would have halted US military action in Iran without congressional approval. Democrats argue that Trump has sidelined Congress and offered shifting reasons for the war. Most Republicans blocked the resolution, but some said they could change course if the war expands in the coming weeks.” [editor’s note: The Senate had two constitutionally legitimate options: Either vote to declare war and ask the House to agree, or ask the House to vote articles of impeachment. Without a declaration of war, the war is illegal (either way, it’s evil and stupid, but that’s a different subject) – TLK] (03/04/26)
“The Iran war’s disruption of Middle East oil and gas supplies and soaring prices are strengthening Russia’s ability to profit from its energy exports, a pillar of the Kremlin’s budget and a key to paying for its own war in Ukraine. Prices for Russia’s oil exports have risen from under $40 per barrel as recently as December to about $62 per barrel — first on fears of war and then due to interruption of almost all tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for some 20% of the world’s oil consumption. Russian oil still trades at a considerable discount to international benchmark Brent crude …. However, Russian crude is now above the benchmark of $59 per barrel that was assumed in the Russian Finance Ministry’s budget plan for 2026. Oil and gas tax revenues account for up to 30% of the Russian federal budget.” (03/04/26)
“President Donald Trump has shown a willingness to overthrow foreign leaders not seen since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in Iraq more than two decades ago, but he has yet to try to occupy and pacify another country militarily on that scale. That is why so far, none of Trump’s military actions have spiraled out of control like Iraq did, which raises questions about whether he can continue this pattern in Iran. It’s the occupation that turns a swift military action into a forever war. Trump tends to strike decisively and then quit while he is ahead, as evidenced by last year’s Operation Midnight Hammer strikes on Iran, the toppling of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, and the bombing of Syria.” (03/03/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Iran is better than the United States. The United States is worse than Iran. This is true not because Iran is especially good, but because the United States is especially evil. Iran isn’t blanketing a major metropolis with military explosives, killing over a thousand people including hundreds of children. The United States is doing this with its partner in crime Israel. Iran isn’t continuously bombing and invading countries around the world, toppling governments, circling the globe with hundreds of military bases, targeting civilian populations with siege warfare and brandishing nuclear weapons at its enemies in the name of securing planetary domination. Only the United States is. The US empire is the single most murderous and tyrannical power structure on earth, by an extremely massive margin. No one else comes anywhere remotely close.” (03/04/26)
“On March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson delivered his inaugural address as our third president. Here is part of what he said: ‘Enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which by all its dispensations proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter. With all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens: a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned …'” (03/04/26)
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Michelle Ellner
“On International Working Women’s Day in 2025, Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, read a poem she wrote highlighting the historic role played by Latin American women in the fight against imperialism: ‘We’re not flowers the wind can pluck, / we’re roots of rebel and loyal land, / we’re grandmothers, mothers, daughters, granddaughters; / we are woman. / Our blood pulses with the Manuelas, / Luisas, Josefas, Juanas, Cecilias, / Apacuanas, Bartolinas, Eulalias, / Martas, Anas Marías, Barbaritas / and so many others who legacy inspires, / commits, and strengthens us / to continue walking and traveling our path. / And in our hands and chests / a light is on that nobody will ever turn off: / love, peace and liberty.’ One year later, she languishes in a cell in New York City, having been dragged out of her room and kidnapped by US forces on the January 3 attack on Venezuela.” (03/04/26)
“In proclaiming ‘a golden age of America’ in his State of the Union address, President Trump correctly focused on his initiatives to fix the problems perpetrated by the Bush, Obama and Biden administrations that undermine the physical and economic security of the United States. One of those initiatives is Trump’s war on fraud, which, according to the president, is intended to root out and remedy the ‘corruption that shreds the fabric’ of our nation. … Trump’s war will be waged aggressively. As the president put it, ‘We are not playing games.’ But to win the war against fraud, the Trump administration must force the uniparty institutionalists at the Justice Department to change course and protect a key ally in the war on fraud: whistleblowers.” (03/04/26)
“Eleven-term Veteran Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, and newly minted Rep. Christian Menefee [D-TX] will face off again after neither Democrat captured over 50% of the vote on Tuesday evening in their bids to represent Texas'[s] 18th Congressional District. Under Texas law, if no candidate has captured a majority of the vote, the race will head to a runoff election. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that Menefee received 46% of votes and Green 44.2%. Green has served in Congress since 2005, representing the Lone Star State’s 9th Congressional District. This year, because of redistricting changes advanced by Republicans, Green announced he would pursue reelection in the state’s 18th Congressional District, putting him on a collision course with Menefee. Menefee won election to the House of Representatives in a January special election to fill the seat of Rep. Sylvester Turner, who died in office last March.” (03/04/26)
“Months before overturning the scientific determination behind federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin restated his plans for the agency at an auto dealership in Indiana, saying, ‘The Trump EPA is proposing to end 16 years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers’. The reality is that the Trump EPA has abdicated responsibility for the agency’s quintessential mandate of protecting human health and the environment. The EPA has elected not to contest climate science, instead relying on legal arguments that appear to be tweaked versions of what the Supreme Court rejected in its landmark 2007 ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA. ‘To state the obvious, this White House doesn’t give a damn about clean air or clean water,’ Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) said in an interview with the Prospect.” (03/04/26)
