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FAKE NEWS

On Monday, Donald Trump was a president with a 34% approval rating, mouthing off about how President Obama did “wire tapps” to him and former NSA Susan Rice did “unmasking” to his dearly beloved inner circle, all the while being under multiple investigations for colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 election. But all that existed in a pre-4/4 world, before Bashar al-Assad gassed and killed more than 70 people in Syria’s Idlib province. Of course, Assad has murdered eleventy million people, so that’s not new. Back in 2013, Assad was committing atrocities, and Donald Trump, then just a simple puss-grabbing reality TV star, was SQUARELY against U.S. intervention.

But this time, something was different! Now, perhaps Trump was just talking out of his ass about something he knew nothing about in years past (perish the thought), but suddenly this week, he realized real people, even children, are getting murdered, and he got the feels and started humming “Jesus loves the little children, even itty bitty brown babiiiieeeees who are gross” while he rained down bombs on a mostly abandoned airstrip in Syria a mere TWO DAYS LATER.

And why was the airstrip mostly abandoned? Well, because we let Russia know beforehand, and Russia and Assad are BFFs. Now, Trump sort of had to let the Russians know, because we’ve been adhering for several years to the myth that the U.S. and Russia are on “the same side” in this conflict, so we can’t let any “friendly” fire happen, heck nope! So Russia let its pals in Syria know ‘Murica was a-comin’ for its airstrip, so they got all their shit out and ghosted, and now we have fully delivered justice for those little bitty babies’ deaths, yeah? Sure, let’s go with that.

And now things are happening fast! Fox News’s Bret Baier says there is a Russian ship coming after the U.S. American Navy ships in the Mediterranean, the ones what did the bombs!

WHOA IF TRUE, ARE WE SUPPOSED TO BE A-SKEERED? Now, it could be just that we did a thing, and now Russia has to do a thing to show its pal Assad that it is doing a thing, and flexing Russia boat muscle in the Mediterranean is a good enough thing. Or maybe Russia is just posturing REALLY GOODLY, to see what Trump will do. Or maybe they are just playing their part, the same way we played our part by getting so mad about Assad using chemical weapons against his people for the millionth time ever, and started dropping bombs on an empty desert.

Oh hey, scoop from the AP:

Senior military officials say the U.S. is looking into whether Russia participated in Syria’s chemical weapons attack earlier this week.

The officials say Russia has failed to control the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons.

They say a drone belonging either to Russia or Syria was seen hovering over the site of the chemical weapons attack Tuesday after it happened. The drone returned late in the day as citizens were going to a nearby hospital for treatment. Shortly afterward, officials say the hospital was bombed.

First, that is fucked the f up. Second, did “senior military officials” say that, like common anonymous sources who demand anonymity? Well, if “senior military officials” are right, and the Russians helped gas Syrian beautiful little babies, then they DEFINITELY could not be in cahoots with Donald Trump, the good and pure American president they’ve never met, ever, and who is definitely not under multiple investigations for possibly colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 election. Also too, United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley said to the UN on Friday, “GRRRR RUSSIA” and “ARGH IRAN,” and “Fucked y’all up the one time, gon’ do it once again if y’all keep actin’ ugly!” Does that sound like an American administration that is in gay love with Russia?

And now the media is falling all over itself to cheer-lead for WAR WAR WAR, and Republican senators and congressmen who were 100% against the U.S. intervening in Syria when Obama was president are — hundreds of thousands of dead bodies later — suddenly singing “The Battle Hymn Of The Republic” and that shitty Lee Greenwood song, as they all fall in line behind their Dear Leader Trump.

Just … hmmmmm. Either this is just a very convenient confluence of events, or this is a well-choreographed dance that’s going off BIGLY.

What was Trump’s approval rating just before all this again? Oh yeah, 34%, like we said. And what country is the FBI investigating Trump for colluding with during the election? Oh that’s right, it is those Russian bastards. And what is everybody talking about now? Not that Trump Russia stuff!

We’re not saying Putin’s FSB helped Assad do a little chemical weapons attack in Syria to give Trump a chance to distance himself from Putin and ratchet up a little healthy (and make-believe) tension between America and Russia, but we’re not not saying it either.

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  • boyblue122
    • MynameisBlarney

      That’s a filthy lie!!

      It chipped the pavement pretty darn bad too!

      • boyblue122

        The dust around the area didnt know what hit it.

    • Mavenmaven

      Nothing for us, but it did plenty for Trump and co!

    • Monsieur_Grumpe

      Missed it by that much!

    • FukuiSanYesOta

      Something something hit a camel in the butt.

    • William
    • JohnBull

      $100 million. That’s nothing. Just kick a few thousand black kids off school lunch. It’s not like they’ll need science in jail anyway.

      • NastyBossetti

        How will they be able to make hooch? Science is important for everyone!

        • The Wanderer

          Actually, no. Fruit cup + water + a slice of bread for yeast = some good stuff after you strain it through a sock. Knew one fellow who flavored the result by dissolving a Jolly Rancher candy in it.

          • boyblue122

            prison liquor?

          • The Wanderer

            We call it buck here at the Bed & Breakfast.

          • NastyBossetti

            I still think science is important for everyone.

          • The Wanderer

            Of course it is! It’s just not quite as important to some.

    • Ryan Denniston

      Trump Demolition everyone! What’s the over-under on how long it stays in business?

    • ariel_gee_398

      And that won’t even register as the most wasteful administration expenditure this week.

    • Jesus. That’s a hundred days guarding the trump family.

  • gamera23

    Speaking of coverups, here’s Spicey demanding cameras O.F.F. at press kadoodle. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/115b0271b7d243314b063df44f92eb397dfb3c7fb424be251a2b95342f16d696.png

  • maxneanderthal

    Er, Yeeeahhh..

  • Roni Raven, Just Microwavin’

    A child could connect the dots here.

  • Monsieur_Grumpe

    I suppose tRump’s approval rating will go up a few points now. Don’t encourage him people!

  • William
    • FukuiSanYesOta

      “Yours is not to reason why, yours is but to do or die.”

      • whitroth

        They’re redshits. That’s “do and die”.

        • FukuiSanYesOta

          Best. Typo. Evar.

          • whitroth

            AAARRRGHGHGH!!!

            At cons, though, in the dealers’ room, I used to occasionally see ST red shirts. Looked right on the front… and there was a target on the back.

    • DerrickWildcat

      All those guy die on the away mission.

    • Ryan Denniston

      The blah ones always die first. Just watch Apocalypse Now.

    • Crystalclear12

      We are all redshirts today.

    • Ricky Gay

      “Who wants to prime my directive?”

      • Ryan Denniston

        V’Ger seeks the Creator dammit!

        • Ricky Gay

          “V’Ger?” Mmm, I’d grab that!

          • The Wanderer

            Persis Khambatta made bald-headed women dead sexy!

  • MynameisBlarney

    Imagine a circle.
    Then imagine a Venn Diagram on this topic.

    Yeah…
    No damn difference, eh?

  • DerrickWildcat

    The missiles were carrying the same model of Nanobots that are in chem trails. They don’t have a clue.

  • Ryan Denniston

    Oh God, from one of the last articles, I’ve been watching Friedman and Woodward on Morning Joe. Could a more unholy alliance exist?

  • Mehmeisterjr

    Huh, ya think?

    Putin still is working Trump like Shari Lewis worked Lambchop, only more roughly.

    • cmd resistor

      Lambchop would make a fine and presidential president.

      • Wild Cat

        Kukla, Fran, and Ollie will run the dirty ops . . . fuck over Mister Hand.

    • Wild Cat

      Lesbianism was very, very lonely in the 1940s and 1950s, I guess.

    • gamera23

      You’re the lambchop!

  • Crystalclear12

    Here is the problem with this tap dance routine. In makes Russia the bad guy again. So killing the investigation into Russian inference in the election will be harder to justify.

    • cmd resistor

      Too much like logic.

    • The Wanderer

      See, you’re making sense. That flies in the face of everything the Trump Regime stands for.

  • anon_the_great

    Bingo Evan, bingo.

    Problem is even if everything the Fat Fuck said was both heartfelt and true there is no reason in the world to believe him. This is the fundamental problem of this administration that will never, ever go away.

  • Mpeg

    Good work distracting us, Trump!
    Now who’s gonna fill in for *Meh*lania when next weekend’s annual White House Easter Egg Hung is supposed to be overseen by someone not in Mar-a-Lago or Manhattan? “Presided” over, shall we say? You’d best start distractin’ now for your no-shows later (Perhaps if First Lady Surrogate Ivanka steps in, Distraction will be achieved)~

    • Wild Cat

      “Now who’s gonna fill in for *Meh*lania”

      As per the usual, the lifeguard fills in the neo-nazi’s wives’ hoo-ha’s.

    • Bebecca

      wonder if Sean will be the easter bunny again.

  • FukuiSanYesOta

    Apparently this strike was “vital to US National security”, so didn’t need congressional approval.

    Mmmmmhmmmm.

    • Ryan Denniston

      The Muslin ban was vital to security too. Except to got stayed, and miraculously, we’re still here.

    • ariel_gee_398

      Senators are not entirely sure what the basis was. This is totally normal, don’t worry.
      https://twitter.com/lbarronlopez/status/850428028463316992

      • FukuiSanYesOta

        Fucking *cornyn* said that? Ha!

    • boyblue122

      Raytheon/Lockheed-Martin needed a couple more dollars in their pocket…very vital to them

    • The Wanderer

      That’s a wafer-thin rationale, considering we’re still not going to take in Syrian refugees. Pelosi is right – the House and Senate need to come back and debate an AUMF resolution.

      • Bebecca

        Come back? Whaaa, it’s almost Easter, what would jesus think?

        • The Wanderer

          He’d probably think that this guy Trump’s a confounded moron.

    • Bebecca

      What was the threat, they were going to send more refugees here?

    • sadboy

      We rocketed a secondary, seldom-used airfield. Unless there is a big follow-up, this won’t mean jack to the Assad regime.

    • puredog

      SUCH bullshit. An act of war against a sovereign nation requires Congressional approval, unless it is in genuine self-defense. (And he would have gotten the approval too; but just like the Muslim ban, the Gorsuch nom, etc etc, it has to be done in a “hot New York minute.”)

  • Robbertjan Brandenburg

    And why was the airstrip mostly abandoned? Well, because we let Russia know beforehand

    It was more a political action than a military one and I do agree with someone calling this action drawing a line towards Assad. As much as I hate to say it because no way Trump himself came up with this but his admin scored major points here.

    • Wild Cat

      It’s all kabuki.

      What are the Dutch news people saying?

      • Robbertjan Brandenburg

        Pretty much what I just posted. Speculating that Mattis and Maybe Tillerson are way more behind this decision than Trump.

        • Wild Cat

          Good. Hopefully all sane nations will end diplomacy with the US soon. But I doubt it because of $$$.

        • That’s what the economist is saying as well

    • FukuiSanYesOta

      Not sure about that. The True Believers on free republic are about 50/50 on this, which incidentally makes it a fecund trolling ground right now.

      • Little Lulu Ω

        I’m probably still locked out from posting there.

        • FukuiSanYesOta

          It’s a dark art to not get banned.

      • Yeah i was stunned to hear a variety of negative responses on NPR this morning – from wingnuts.

    • A_Changeling

      Maybe it’s a European point of view, but I pretty much see it the same way. Bigger heads than Trump planned this, they did the smallest thing possible that they could claim was proportionate, bombing the airstrip from where the attack was launched, careful not to hit Russians. Nobody loses face or has to retaliate. Russians and Assad keep doing what they’re doing, Trump can claim he’s done something. Status quo remains. Symbolic, political, inconsequential.

      • Robbertjan Brandenburg

        Exactly. Where are you from?

        • A_Changeling

          Finland. Am I an awful person when this seems like a welcome distraction from the Sweden news?
          ETA Not saying either news isn’t awful, it’s just that that’s all over the news here like this is in the US.

          • Robbertjan Brandenburg

            Sweden had this coming unfortunately. As a Dutchman I am waiting for something to happen like this but luckiliy we are now just looking at uur tulips and young cows while preparing for our natonal holiday, Kings’ day.

          • A_Changeling

            I’m also waiting for something to happen here sooner or later. I just hate that terrorists want attention and fear and we too often deliver. I hope Swedes will be mature enough to realize that keeping calm and carrying on is the best response.

  • Jennifer R
  • Pilotshark

    so making a SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess) here, that maybe the 11 missiles that did not make it to target must have been the 11 that was going to hit the run ways.

    • Ryan Denniston

      11 out of 59 failures for a Trump enterprise. My God, that’s fucking presidential for this guy!

      • Pilotshark

        11 out of 70 failures, which puts the whole mission a failure cause they did not hit the most and biggest target the run ways.

        • puredog

          I dunno. It doesn’t take much time or work or materials to restore a runway.

  • The Wanderer
    • TheFamilyThalamus

      I totally just cackled aloud at this. Thank you!

      • The Wanderer

        (bows) Then my work here is done!

  • Lance Thrustwell

    I think Trump had reason to do this even if it wasn’t worked out in advance with Putin. He’s at 34% in the polls. He was just about to face a social media landscape awash in images of gassed kids, and the conciliatory, Assad-supporting words of Tillerson would be echoing off the walls. All the red-line hawks would be calling him an indecisive old man. He would have seen his numbers drop to under thirty within the next four days.

    For Trump, those kinds of poll numbers are impossible.

    • Bebecca

      and besides, he’s been longing to blow something(s) up.

  • Master Contrail Program
    • TheFamilyThalamus

      Lol. The one to his left smizing the camera. Werk.

  • gamera23
  • janecita

    God, the fucking press sucks!!!!!! They really didn’t learn shit, from the last time that a Republican pulled this stun!

  • Beowoof14

    As I watched this shit unfold last night and as the reports started to come out that they hit a minor air field and missed the runway and then they missed all the Syrians and Russians at the base because they were forewarned, it became obvious that the public was being played as suckers again.

    • The Wanderer

      And the media lapped it up like semen – er, cream.

      • Jennifer R

        Like kittens under an udder.

      • Master Contrail Program

        The media Goebbels it up everytime with Chump.

        • Rotisserie Teal

          Nicely done.

    • Ryan Denniston

      Didn’t they blow up all the fuel? Cmon, give TRUMP A CHANCE!!

      • The Wanderer

        78 days in? Fuck that.

        • Ryan Denniston

          I kid. Trump is going for a win somewhere. Anywhere. He did the minimum, the bare minimum.

    • not_vh

      do you know if any one asked spicer in today’s presser what did all this achieve?

  • stankbait

    The murderers both Syrian and Russian were notified ahead of time.
    No reason to believe that Trump kisses Putins ass.

    • Robbertjan Brandenburg

      The fact that only half of the TLAM’s reached their target means mostly that the Tomahawk is and has always been a flawed weapon system. Just like the Patriot missile.

      • Ωbjectifier

        The Tomahawk has its uses. Destroying hardened airfields is not one of them.

        • FukuiSanYesOta

          Yes, this.

        • Robbertjan Brandenburg

          True but it is still flawed. Don;t get me wrong it was a hell of a system when devoloped in the 70’s but it needs a well needed update.

      • Persistent Demme

        Maybe this was also an opportunity to “test” this weapon system, and justify a bump in the budget.

        • Robbertjan Brandenburg

          I would applaud that. If you have such a weapon system make it work.

        • GHERKINS OF RESTIVENESS!

          For us? Or perhaps for the Russians, to test out their abilities to knock a few down.

  • tapp_my_wire,please

    It didn’t hurt to have the Chinese visitor be in the room to hear the military aide tell Donald ‘The birds have been released your excellency’.

    • janecita

      They don’t call him “your highness?” I’m surprised!

      • wavicles

        “Yes, your ‘Everythings Big and Longness’, as you wish.”

  • anwisok
    • Edith Prickly

      Babby goats are more fun than kittehs and puppies together.

      • janecita

        Better dressers also!

    • not_vh

      the little one up there in sweater, needs mittens and a cap too. and also a nice warm hug from daddy goat.

  • Robbertjan Brandenburg

    and see here the Russian reaction. This was way more a political action:

    https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/850392884314550272

    • The Wanderer

      At least we’re still talking.

  • BigCSouthside

    This whole thing is total bullshit

    America says “we’re staying the fuck out of your business” and THEN you gas a bunch of kids in a location of no strategic value to your efforts to suppress rebellion?

    Assad was winning already. Why use WMDs. He has an air force and has used conventional weapons with hardly a peep from the west.

    • not_vh

      interesting thought. yes. why gas civilians?

      • The Wanderer

        If I were Bashir Assad, and/or a totally amoral, unprincipled cowardbullycadandthief, I would emulate my daddy and gas the fuck out of these people because they don’t like me. It encourages the ones left behind to feel completely helpless and therefore more open to peace feelers on my terms.

        • DoILookAmused2u? Résistance☨

          Yep, you don’t even comprehend what I am capable of doing: message sent.

          • The Wanderer

            Precisely.

          • puredog

            This seems to be the consensus “explanation” for Bassad’s otherwise needless expansion of parameters.

    • janecita

      It sounds like a false flag to me. But then again, I’m totally against getting involved in Syria.

    • DoILookAmused2u? Résistance☨

      Actually, I disagree with your second point. There was strategic value in the target. And showing you are willing to disregard international norms displays the ruthlessness you are willing to employ. So there is strategic value in the method as well.

      The only weird thing is Russia pretending they didn’t know since they had personnel on the ground where that weapon was deployed from.

      • BigCSouthside

        That’s my point though. You basically get the green light from the west to fuck people up at will (as long as it’s normal weapons) and you immediately throw that opportunity away?

        He was not getting beaten. I could see such an attack as an act of desperation but he’s not there yet. He could have just bombed that area and it would have been 3rd page news

        • DoILookAmused2u? Résistance☨

          They still have a greenlight to kill people with conventional weapons.

          • BigCSouthside

            The only thing I could see is that Assad was gambling that the west would not intervene since he emptied his prisons to taint the rebellion with radical Islamists, and was like “fuck it, they said hands off. Let’s get crazy”

          • DoILookAmused2u? Résistance☨

            Maybe. Maybe it was a test.

            And if it was a test, they just found a minor boundary.

            And meanwhile, both sides collect data from the exercise, SIGINT, OSINT, HUMINT, etc.

            We damaged some aircraft and some hangars.

            Moscow still supports the regime, we are still staying out of the regime’s way so long as the let us fight ISIS for them, Trump gets to pretend he stood up to Putin without even remotely standing up to Putin.

          • BigCSouthside

            90 mil to make some holes in a desert. A publicity stunt

          • DoILookAmused2u? Résistance☨

            Well, no. Replace Trump with anybody reasonable, and I would have supported it just like I supported Obama’s order to bomb Libya in 2011.

            Will this change things significantly in terms of the Syrian civil war? No, but for the time being a message has been sent on the use of chemical weapons.

            Now Assad/Putin get to decide their moves.

        • Darrell Imaginarian

          He’s been using chlorine gas for years, with impunity without any repercussions. Maybe he finally got the sarin plant rebuilt after the Obama chemical deal The Pentagon is saying this is a “bracketed” operation… meaning it’s over and they don’t plan to go back. Even though the airfield is still operation…. runways jets and hangers intact, and reported carrying out further air strikes today. You’d have to think Assad loses sleep because a few grunts and a little hardware is destroyed hundreds of miles from his palace. Or because people on TV in the US say bad things about him. If he lost sleep over that, he would never sleep at all.

  • ltmcdies

    Keith boils it down and likely correct

    https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/850433152166359041

  • MynameisBlarney

    Meanwhilst, at the airbase turmp just ineffectually attacked in an attempt to deflect attention from his treason.

    https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/850425431899680768

  • Me not sure

    Shouldn’t that be ” “Unclear” combat toe to toe with the Russkies”? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/873d86ad95ac619dc2a5e5bdf37dea178131bfe0e034f42f2c6d91f12d07b58a.jpg

  • Bill D. Burger

    Well, somebody didn’t do a good job. Was McCain guiding the cruise missiles?

    [WORLD NEWS | Fri Apr 7, 2017 | 3:24pm EDT
    Syrian jets take off from air base U.S. missiles struck: Syrian Observatory

    Syrian warplanes took off from an air base which was hit by U.S. cruise missiles on Friday, and carried out air strikes on rebel-held areas in the eastern Homs countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.]

    http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-airport-idUSKBN1792XA

    http://i.imgur.com/rWWBlAV.gif

    • The Wanderer

      Bob Ueker voice: “Jussst a bit outside.”

      • Master Contrail Program

        Vince Mcmahon voice: “What a maneuver! He got him! Wait, no he didn’t.”

        • The Wanderer

          “Give him the chair! The chair!”

  • Me not sure

    Shouldn’t that be ” ‘unclear’ combat toe to toe with the Russkies”? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/873d86ad95ac619dc2a5e5bdf37dea178131bfe0e034f42f2c6d91f12d07b58a.jpg

  • Pilotshark

    “When you’re up to your neck in alligators, sometimes you forget that your mission is to drain the swamp.”

  • John Iwaniszek

    This is like a script for Pro Wrassl’n

  • sadboy

    Hey Bret, guess what? The Russians have a naval base in Syria. The American ships are probably in the way. Read a map, dumbass.

    • The Wanderer

      There may be a mutual and friendly exchange of middle fingers and bare buttocks as the ships pass each other.

    • Pilotshark

      makes it sound like the two American destroys are there all be them lonesome.

      as if we send destroys out with out aircraft carries as escorts.

      • FukuiSanYesOta

        Is this sarcasm?

        Bet your bippy there are a couple of 688s there though.

        • Farley Bot

          Maybe. Maybe not. You don’t know, do ya? (stoopid skimmer puke).

          • FukuiSanYesOta

            That being the point of ’em. Nice tubs.

          • Farley Bot

            Meanwhile, back at Rota…

      • Jennifer R

        Traditionally, it’s the aircraft carriers that need the escorts.

        • Pilotshark

          smiling yep, but the little gray hounds are the real darlings of the fleet.

          guess should have placed a /s on the end.

          • FukuiSanYesOta

            Ah, normally I get it here, but ya got me :)

        • Farley Bot

          snicker, and all this time I thought “plane guard” was to to give the birdfarms something to do

  • Amelia Resists and Persists

    The line between cynic and conspiracy theorist blurs further, and my head is pounding. It is, at the same time, so believable that Trump would bomb someone for the boost in popularity and SO UNSETTLING to agree that this country “elected” a man who would go along with a plan where the first step is “bomb children with deadly chemicals.”

    I want to scream.

  • Bill D. Burger

    Gawwd almighty! The fucking MSM and cable are treating this like he just won WW II all by himself. “…he’s presidential.” “…decisive.” “…now he is the president.” “…etc. ad nauseum…

    Oh…he’s sooo’ …oh…..

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4c593cfd64e0d1a317edca9b0aee1c45041e1ffd8ef3421b4b70c07e783e96c6.gif

    • yyyaz

      The difference? The LSM’s orgasm is real.

    • lucidamente

      I won’t have what they’re having.

  • Jennifer R
    • The Wanderer

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opT_JGssUVk
      I saw “The Situation” try to tell “jokes” at the Trump Roast. He should have been jailed as soon as his set was over.

    • Fartknocker

      I guess DOJ doesn’t use the Word auto-populate feature for a date because it’s off by one day. Team Sessions at work.

    • boyblue122

      At least they can still pump weights in prison

  • Bitter Scribe

    Wag the duh.

  • Master Contrail Program

    I hear Trump’s favorite military commander, General Mills, has already created something befitting such a momentous strategic victory. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/00b075676054dc35b7ecd94ff72d274d802c20a2ba535abeeaff492e07f397f7.jpg

    • Poorly Behaved Pérsistanista

      There goes the last simple-pleasure memory from my childhood.

  • Resistance Fighter Callyson

    Well, if “senior military officials” are right, and the Russians helped gas Syrian beautiful little babies, then they DEFINITELY could not be in cahoots with Donald Trump, the good and pure American president they’ve never met, ever, and who is definitely not under multiple investigations for possibly colluding with Russia to steal the 2016 election.

    Even if this were true, Deleted Commenters, Russia’s main goal is to destabilize the West, not just to promote Trump (see their interference in European elections for evidence.) Donald is merely their (temporary?) beneficiary of their purposes FFS…

    …oh, why am I even trying to explain this to the TrumpPenceZees?

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0c38ea987c81534676eb574e512735226fa040138f39af4b5e2fc2e07518992b.jpg

  • Jgb979

    Taking a self- imposed exile from most news coverage of this today because I’m tired of wiping the Brian Williams jizzspittle off of my television.

    But I assume the 183 Republicans who voted against doing this in 2013 still feel the same way now that a black man is not in charge right?

    • DoILookAmused2u? Résistance☨

      Mostly, no.

      But McConnell is still firmly against an AUMF because no need with a Republican President.

      So… interesting to see if Assad acts up again. Doubtful. Moscow may lose their Trump puppet.

      • RJ40

        I just read that Assad is bombing the hell out of his people this time using chlorine gas.This is being dropped by the planes that were suppose to be destroyed in last nights “raid”.

        • Thespian Pony Ron

          Link? Not because of disbelief, but because we’re now at the stage where the Real World is even more warped than the blackest sense of humour.

  • SKruetheratbassedarDs

    So, the Russkies are sendin’ a ship after our boats? Which ones? The Maddox and Turner Joy . . . ?

    • The Wanderer

      The USS Leeroy Jenkins and the USS Sacrificial Lamb.

      • Master Contrail Program

        They should go after the Mary Celeste to keep things on an even keel.

      • Nockular cavity

        According to the Pentagon, it’s the…lemme see…the Kobayashi Maru.

  • Nounverb911
  • MynameisBlarney

    Who knew turmp could see the future?

    https://www.democraticunderground.com/10028905826

  • Poorly Behaved Pérsistanista

    So we spent 90 million dollars or so to drop bombs on an evacuated air base, all part of what looks to b a sorta kinda choreographed man-dance with weapons? Hate is simply not a strong enough word.

  • gamera23

    BREAKING!!!1!: Icky girl sneaks into MarALago secret FoxNews TV party! Ew! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/076d5b0fa8c1685d6f224d874e025d0ea0cdd95d8dceb41732007950bf894876.png

    • Red Bird Ω

      Curb your enthusiasm. That’s a Kushner disciple.

      • Thespian Pony Ron

        … fuck, I need to slow my brain down, because I saw ‘Kushner disciple’ and instantly thought, what, is Donnie gonna declare his son-in-law to be the true Jewish Messiah?

    • MeerkatsRMammals

      I too wondered why they let a person with lady bits into the room. Then I noticed, Pence is suspiciously absent in this photo!

  • Carpe Vagenda
    • I thought the pundits all agreed he became president during the speech?
      He gets do overs?

      • The Wanderer

        They agreed that he’s become President three or four times since November.

        • Carpe Vagenda

          It’s sort of an eigenpresidency. He’s President and not-President inside the box until someone opens it.

          • vivian

            I wish somebody would open the fucking box already.

            (Especially if it’s Schroedinger’s catbox)

          • whitroth

            Yeah, with him replacing the poor cat.

          • whitroth

            The box is open, and he ain’t no President.

        • wavicles

          The best numbers!

      • vivian

        Well, he became President during the speech but then became un-President again after it with tweets and general buffoonery but then became President again after he bombed some airstrip warehouses after alerting the Russians (and hence Syrians) before doing so and NOT bombing the actual airstrip or useful aircraft. Oh, and he forget to check with Congress first. It’s simple!

        • wavicles

          Well, oiled.

          • Fun with Cthulhu

            …beef hooked.

      • Thespian Pony Ron

        Same as he does in golf.

      • GHERKINS OF RESTIVENESS!

        Maybe since President Bannon was forced to step down, Trump gets to be President again?

    • Darrell Imaginarian

      Of Rock and Roll.

  • Red Bird Ω

    Question for the wonkettesphere…….does the DOJ get involved in impeachment proceedings?

    • whitroth

      Only if there’s a Special Prosecutor appointed. The trial is in the House, presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supremes.

      Gee… and he was appointed by W, who *really* doesn’t like Trumpolini….

      • Red Bird Ω

        So, it depends on how much Roberts likes Trump? Trump has given enough lip service to John boy’s pet topics to be on his good side.

  • Rags

    Putin was happy to play patty-cake with Trumpistas to advance his cause – which was solely to prevent Hillz from getting elected. He doesn’t give two shits about Trump; he will use and discard him as needed.

    • Red Bird Ω

      Not true. Putin and company were helping Trump long before the primaries. They wanted him specifically to be elected.

      • Rags

        Well, I guess we will have to wait for the definitive answer from the House Intelligence Committee investigation! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

  • Red Bird Ω

    How on earth is using chemical weapons against your own citizens okay? Also, too, why in the name of God is it okay to destroy a hospital treating those people being attacked? And while I’m at it, why is it okay for foreign countries to use civilians as bargaining chips in their political agenda?

    • MeerkatsRMammals

      None of this is okay. None of this is normal :(

      • Red Bird Ω

        :(:(:(

    • Thespian Pony Ron

      Err… near as we can tell Up Here, the US has been using its OWN citizens as bargaining chips for its own political agenda.

  • MeerkatsRMammals

    Agreed! I speculated about this the other night (after fucked up gassing happened) & thought I might need to fashion myself a tin foil hat. Glad to know I’m not alone in my thinking this was all a set up by Putin. What I really don’t understand is Trump called his BFF’s in Russia to give them a heads-up, but did he get permission from Congress? Nyet. Agent Orange knows who his boss daddy is…

    • Vincent Ricola

      You’re in good company. I will share my tinfoil with you.

      • MeerkatsRMammals

        Why thank you :)

    • Thespian Pony Ron

      ‘Permission from Congress.’
      Thanks, I needed that laugh.

    • JustDon’tSayKingLeo

      My tinfoil futures are making me rich!

  • whitroth

    Y’know, I was on another blog, and there was a link to the google earth pics of the air base after the strike. They missed, mostly. They’re all up (north?) of the airfield, overwhelmingly. And scattered – don’t know if the kids that got killed were in military housing, or on a farm nearby.

    So either them laser-guided Incredibly Accurate Missiles mostly… missed, or….

    • Thespian Pony Ron

      It would seem the thing has a circular error probability of 80m, or in US English about one football field. Thus the question becomes, who fed the Navy the co-ordinates?

    • JustDon’tSayKingLeo

      I don’t think Tomahawks are laser guided; they’re all about GPS, inertial nav, and some electro-optical target matching. To do laser-guidance, something has to be in place to light up the target.

  • sgt. jmk of the résistance

    You may not be saying that this is a fake fight between Trump and Putin to “give Trump a chance to distance himself from Putin and ratchet up a little healthy (and make-believe) tension between America and Russia,” and to boost Trump’s approval rating and deflect attention from questions about all the treason… but I’M certainly saying it.

  • Thespian Pony Ron

    Look, America, the rest of us are getting seriously sick of this shit. Say the word and we’ll send in the blue helmets and clean out this nest of murderers and thieves and traitors, and maybe we’ll help out by showing you how to do things like elections properly and how to not let other countries run your foreign policy.
    How does that sound?

    • Vincent Ricola

      The word.

      • Darrell Imaginarian

        Seconded.

    • JustDon’tSayKingLeo

      I think that’ll work in the US about as well as it’s worked anywhere else. Why not fuckin Balkanize us while you’re at it?

    • VirginiaLady

      Please!!

    • MApispevooooiCaptainHowdy

      Yes.

  • MOG253

    Just the whole idea makes me tired.

  • Regigiygas

    The last paragraph is a bit too Tom Clancy for me, but all is forgiven because these are strange times where irrationality prevails and nothing seems entirely real so anything feels possible, no matter how bleak.

    Regardless of the who, what, when and where, if we could just avoid nuclear detonation long enough for me to see Trump ushered out of the Oval Office in soul-rending shame, I’m good with being annihilated. I just wanna go out on a high note, you know?

  • Paperless Tiger

    Why deploy a proscribed tactic on the eve of negotiations? That benefits the enemy. Makes no sense. Of course, anyone that takes war propaganda at face value may miss the point. In this case, we trust the enemy, which also makes no sense.

  • Me not sure

    According to Reuters, Russian supplied Su 22s took off today from the base that we attacked last night to hit rebel positions near Hom. Those planes survived, the runway was left intact, and Assad continues to fly missions at will. What was accomplished? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dc85b275263bf73589cc3f959b6877c0bbda109725628ddf1427ff5c692a6000.jpg

    • cmd resistor

      Wonder if all those idiot media people yapping about how great and decisive and manly Trump is will even notice these minor and unimportant details?

    • cmd resistor

      What was accomplished? MISSION, of course.

      • Me not sure

        There’s what looks like telephone video of one of the Sukhoi “fitters” taking off circulating on the internet. It looks like it could be legit, but who knows?

    • not_vh

      news cycle

  • Lefty Wright

    Personally, I think it was some new recruit that was told to round up a bomb and just went to the wrong place, or some base commander who lost a couple of sons to the rebels decided it was pay back time. I doubt the Syrian air force has top notch people, so mistakes or rogue officers can be expected. Although I do not rule out Assad taking the statement by Tillerson that the US did not think overthrowing Assad was important and decided to see how committed to that we were. Regardless, all these allies allies applauding will vanish as soon as we ask for a little help in military action in Syria. Just as the GOP members of congress and the Parliament in the UK did when Obama asked for help and approval to step up military action in Syria in 2013.

    • Ducksworthy

      The only caualties the $200 million cruise missile attack were several Kabuki costumes.

  • SadDemInTex
  • Everrett Fanuelli

    Basically my response when hearing about the PR stunt coordinated by Trump, Assad and Putin

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhbfyP578oc

  • MApispevooooiCaptainHowdy

    “It is worth noting that the hawks who now support Trump’s actions against the Assad regime after a chemical weapons attack that killed around 70 civilians were completely opposed to any similar military response by President Obama after a chemical weapons attack that killed around 1000 people in 2013. It’s also worth nothing that Trump made no pledge to take in more refugees.”
    http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2017/04/if-were-gonna-be-cops-then-lets-do.html

  • Keith Taylor

    For a head of state who’s doubtful about his approval ratings, and even about winning the next election, there is northing better than starting a war. You don’t change horses in midstream, and so forth. It’s especially good for a right wing head of state, and they are the most likely ones to do it. Reagan, Thatcher, Bush … now Trump.

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