Fighting Truth and Nail
On Fox News, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained that “Nobody knows what it means to accomplish peace through strength better than President Trump. He is the one who came up with that motto and that foreign policy doctrine.” Of course, peace through strength doesn’t actually mean bombing other countries, it means not having to. And though it will surely shock many Fox News viewers, Trump didn’t invent the doctrine or the motto. Roman Emperor Hadrian seems to have first dibs around 1900 years ago. In America, the doctrine of peace through strength has been around since George Washington was delivering his state of the union addresses, and the phrase peace through strength has been an Air Force motto since 1944, was a core message of Barry Goldwater’s 1964 campaign, is on the side of a US aircraft carrier, has been used as a book title, and was most famously deployed by Ronald Reagan (who was also the first presidential candidate with the campaign slogan, Let’s Make America Great Again). This is all a long way of saying that this administration is addicted to lying—whether that means relatively small lies about who came up with a doctrine or a slogan or really big lies across just about every policy issue. The constant lying makes it even more difficult—especially in the short term—to analyze the causes and effects of the massive decision to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Was Iran really that close to a nuclear weapon? (US intel said no, Trump said yes.) Were the nuclear facilities in Iran really obliterated? (Trump says yes, but he started doing so way before it would have possible to make such an assessment). Exactly how much damage did we do to Iran’s nuclear program? (Trump said Iran’s nuclear sites were ‘obliterated,’ but questions remain about enriched uranium.) Is America just focused on a one and done strike to the nuclear sites or are we after regime change? (The top figures in the administration hit all the Sunday talk shows to insist that regime change wasn’t a goal and then a few hours later, Trump said that maybe it was.) And these are the relatively simple questions. The bigger more complex ones will depend on how Iran responds and how America responds to that response and so on. And trying to understand and apply broader meaning to these realities on the ground will be made even more difficult by the fog of war layered beneath of the fog of misinformation that comes out of this administration every time they speak. Here’s what we know for sure. The plans to use US bombers and bunker busters to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities has been in place for years, across several administrations. The next part of the plan is up to the team Trump has assembled. If I said we had a good idea of what that will look like, then I’d be lying, too.
+ “I find that rational people have trouble accepting this absence of forethought. Everyone wants to believe in the existence of a three-dimensional chess game in which the American president has some secret long-term strategy. But he never does.” Anne Applebaum: Trump has no strategy.
+ David Frum thinks the bombing campaign was the right move (and given Iran’s current weakness after decades of terror sponsorship, region-destabilizing, and a determination to destroy Israel, it’s not difficult to make that argument). But that doesn’t mean the right move was made by the right person. The Atlantic (Gift Article): Right Move, Wrong Team. “Trump did the right thing, but he did that right thing in the wrongest possible way: without Congress, without competent leadership in place to defend the United States against terrorism, and while waging a culture war at home against half the nation. Trump has not put U.S. boots on the ground to fight Iran, but he has put U.S. troops on the ground for an uninvited military occupation of California.”
+ Frank Bruni in the NYT: Trump Goes to War. And These Are His Advisers? “When an American president makes an especially weighty decision, there’s some small comfort in knowing that seasoned, steady aides were in the mix, complementing the commander in chief’s instincts with their expertise. President Trump dropped 15-ton bombs on uranium enrichment sites in Iran with Tulsi Gabbard as his director of national intelligence and Pete Hegseth as his defense secretary.”
+ Iran has fired missiles at US bases in Qatar. So far, there are no reports of casualties. Is this the start of a wider effort or just a limited response to save face? That answer will be key to how things play out in the near term. The Iran of today is a far different country and threat than it was just a few months ago. See today’s second item for more. Here’s the latest from CNN, Times of Israel, and BBC.
Domino Effect
“In the end, the October 7 massacre Sinwar ordered did not cause the destruction of Israel but instead led to the dismantling of its enemies. Hamas is largely destroyed, and most of its leaders, including Sinwar, are dead, assassinated by Israel. Hezbollah, in Lebanon, is comprehensively weakened. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s main Arab ally, is in exile in Moscow, his country now led by Sunni Muslims hostile to Iran’s leaders. Iran’s skies are under the control of the Israeli Air Force, and its $500 billion nuclear program appears to be, at least partially, rubble and dust.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Sinwar’s March of Folly. “What is certain is that the conventional components of the Axis of Resistance are in dismal shape. The demolition of this axis happened because Israel, after the humiliation on October 7, reconstituted its fighting and intelligence capabilities in remarkably effective (and severely uncompromising) ways, and because Sinwar and his allies fundamentally misunderstood their enemy.”
+ “Even though leading members of Netanyahu’s military and defense establishment have resigned or apologized for their roles in the tragedy of October 7th, he has so far dodged any real accounting, rebuffed any inquiry. As a result, for the first year after the attacks, his poll numbers were dreadful. Political observers in Israel across the ideological spectrum talked about when, not if, Netanyahu would finally fall from power.” Things may have changed. The New Yorker: With His Eyes on History, Benjamin Netanyahu Aims for Political Resurrection.
Protein Age Wasteland
“Apparently protein shakes and protein bars don’t cut it anymore. Americans are so obsessed with protein that even an Arnold Palmer comes infused with it. Perhaps protein iced tea was inevitable … But even compared with other food trends, the protein situation has gotten out of hand. Just last week, Starbucks announced that it’s piloting a high-protein, banana-flavored cold foam. There is protein water, Kardashian-branded protein popcorn, and “macho” protein pasta sauce. If you want to get drunk while bulking up, consider a protein-fortified pale ale or a “Swoleberry” spiked protein seltzer. Nothing is safe from the protein pandemonium. Name a food, and the protein version of it probably exists.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Protein Madness Is Just Getting Started. The article doesn’t really mention it, but one of the drivers of the protein craze is the prevalence of people with high blood sugar using monitors to track their levels. Adding protein (and fiber) to a meal that features carbs can somewhat limit the associated sugar spike. All that said, when protein’s popularity hits its inevitable peak, you know we’re gonna find out how terrible it is for us…
Thunder Rode
“Denigrated and dismissed by a basketballing commentariat who’ve spent much of this season ruing the modern NBA’s dearth of charisma, Oklahoma City and Indiana played as if stung by the laugh lines, launching from both ends of the court with a kind of mad, symphonic intensity.” The NBA Finals were great. The final game, and the win by the OKC Thunder, was somewhat muted by the devastating injury to Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, but still capped a remarkable season by a remarkably young and likable team. Thunder’s thrilling nerd juggernaut ushers in NBA’s nice guy era. “With their love of group interviews, relentless positivity, and unfortunate penchant for barking, this vintage of the Oklahoma City Thunder often seems more like an a cappella troupe than a basketball team, a band of barber shop Harlem Globetrotters ready to pop up on the campus of our collective psyche at any moment and begin a relentless assault of harmonization and good vibes. Head coach Mark Daigneault is fond of describing them as an “uncommon” team – but what may be most uncommon about them is how supremely, relatably dorky they are.” (Now that they’re champions, I’m pretty sure fans of other teams will find a way to hate them!)
+ “Even if Haliburton isn’t on the court next season, the Pacers’ influence should still be seen in ways that stretch from subtle to overt. There are no moral victories in the NBA Finals, but this was a special team. And right now, even as they suffer through the pangs of regret and what could’ve been, the Pacers should take pride in knowing that, in a copycat league, there’s a good chance no team will motivate more stylistic plagiarism over the next few years than these Indiana Pacers will.” The NBA Won’t Forget About the 2024-25 Pacers.
Extra, Extra
The Other War: One big question about the widening of the war on Iran is how it will impact the defense of Ukraine. On one hand, Iran has been supplying Russia with a lot of drones and that could be interrupted. On the other hand, America, NATO, and the rest of the world are distracted at a moment when Zelensky needs their attention. Russian attacks on Ukraine kill at least 14 people.
+ Data Center Centralization: “Last month, Sam Altman, the chief executive of the artificial intelligence company OpenAI, donned a helmet, work boots and a luminescent high-visibility vest to visit the construction site of the company’s new data center project in Texas. Bigger than New York’s Central Park, the estimated $60 billion project, which has its own natural gas plant, will be one of the most powerful computing hubs ever created when completed as soon as next year. Around the same time as Mr. Altman’s visit to Texas, Nicolás Wolovick, a computer science professor at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina, was running what counts as one of his country’s most advanced A.I. computing hubs. It was in a converted room at the university, where wires snaked between aging A.I. chips and server computers.” NYT (Gift Article): The Global A.I. Divide.
+ Imitator Tots: “Words like ‘prowess’ and ‘tapestry,’ which are favored by ChatGPT, are creeping into our vocabulary, while words like ‘bolster,’ ‘unearth,’ and ‘nuance,’ words less favored by ChatGPT, have declined in use. Researchers are already documenting shifts in the way we speak and communicate as a result of ChatGPT — and they see this linguistic influence accelerating into something much larger.” The Verge: You sound like ChatGPT.
+ Meatpacking Byproducts: “For decades, this old railroad hub was stuck. Some employers departed, Union Pacific cut rail-yard positions and young people fled. Now, officials are pinning their hopes on a slaughterhouse, which promises an economic jolt but represents a risky bet and a crucial question: Will Americans work there?” WSJ (Gift Article): A New Meatpacking Plant’s Novel Pitch to Attract American Workers.
+ He Delivered: “Smith once told The Associated Press that he came up with the name Federal Express because he wanted the company to sound big and important when in fact it was a start-up operation with a future far from assured.” His company definitely grew into its name. FedEx founder Fred Smith, who revolutionized package delivery, dies at 80.
+ Moby Slick: “Killer whales have been observed mutually grooming each other with a type of seaweed, the first known instance of a marine animal using tools in a way that was previously thought to be the preserve of primates such as humans.”
Bottom of the News
“Firefighters had to rescue a man who got stuck in the chimney of a Connecticut parks building while trying to retrieve his dog from a bathroom when the doors automatically locked for the night.” (The man was arrested. The dog was like, “Why’d you wake me up?”)
