(click on images to enlarge)
(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com, Canada)
(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)
(Jeff Koterba, gocomics.com)
(Paul Duginski, caglecartoons.com)
(Gary Markstein, Creators.com)
(Monte Wolverton, caglecartoons.com)
(Jeff Stahler, gocomics.com)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Paul Noth, @paulnoth)
"You are where you are today because you stand on somebody's shoulders. And wherever you are heading, you cannot get there by yourself. If you stand on the shoulders of others, you have a reciprocal responsibility to live your life so that others may stand on your shoulders. It's the quid pro quo of life. We exist temporarily through what we take, but we live forever through what we give." -- Civil rights leader, director of the National Urban League Vernon Jordan (8/15/1935 - 3/1/2021) addressing students at Howard University in 2002. Jordan was highly influential, with access to top leaders in business, and the Government, advocating for minority rights and economic opportunity.
"...You can't fool all of the people all of the time."
A YouGov snap poll fielded Saturday — the day of the strikes — found 34% of Americans approve of the U.S. attacks on Iran, with 44% disapproving and 22% unsure. The partisan breakdown reflects strong polarization in opinion: Republicans approve 69–12, Democrats disapprove 70–10, and independents lean heavily against — 52% disapprove, 20% approve.
This level of support for a foreign war is incredibly low. In comparison, a Gallup poll in November 2001 found 92% of Americans approved of military action in Afghanistan. And a Pew poll in late March 2003 found 71% supported the decision to use force in Iraq. The YouGov snap poll from Saturday puts approval of the Iran strikes at 34%.
(click on image to enlarge)
In the meantime, opposition to the strikes is likely to increase if this scenario comes to pass:
Oil markets are bracing for a possible supply shock after U.S. strikes on Iran over the weekend reignited fears that flows through the Strait of Hormuz could be disrupted.
While analysts expect an immediate “knee-jerk” reaction to oil prices when trading resumes in New York on Sunday evening, the bigger question is whether tensions could escalate into a sustained interruption of Gulf exports.
“At this point, it seems we are looking at a full-scale military conflict between the U.S. and Iran, which would be unprecedented and the trajectory impossible to assess,” said Vandana Hari, CEO of energy research firm Vanda Insights.
“If it carries on for days with Iran and its proxies retaliating to the fullest extent, we are looking at the worst-case scenarios for oil, including a major disruption of oil flows through the Middle East,” Hari told CNBC. This is unless the U.S. is able to pre-emptively disarm the Iranian navy and military, as well as ensure tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continues to flow normally... (our emphasis)
Hundreds of tankers are already dropping anchor rather than enter the Persian Gulf. The cost of the MF's diversionary war will be hitting Americans' wallets sooner rather than later. Then the MF's voyage to the bottom of the polls may really accelerate (we can only hope).
UPDATE: The support for the strikes is even less (27% approve/ 43% disapprove) in a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
Christopher S. Chivvis, director of the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writing in The Guardian about the corrupt and depraved Malignant Fascist's deadly adventure in Iran:
"Having torn up the Iran nuclear deal and escalated pressure, the president has now initiated a military campaign explicitly aimed at regime collapse. Yet there has been no serious public reckoning with the risks, much less the plausibility of the political end state he claims to seek. By weaponising the military for the sake of the attention economy, Washington has traded grand strategy for the immediate gratification of the news cycle.
This is because the outcome of the war is less important to Trump than violent conflict with America’s enemy and the performative use of US power.
Trump’s foreign policy is not guided by a coherent theory of order, deterrence or alliance management. It is driven instead by the demonstration of dominance, the creation of spectacle and the command of the news cycle. Military force, in this framework, is not a tool subordinated to strategy. It is the strategy.
His escalation against Iran comes as he faces mounting domestic pressure, for attacking the civil rights of US citizens in Minneapolis, amid renewed scrutiny surrounding the Epstein files, and just days after the US supreme court struck down the legal justification for his global tariff policy. In this light, the strikes function as a classic “diversionary war” – an attempt to hijack the global narrative and drown out domestic scandal with the thunder of cruise missiles." (our emphasis)
In his middle of the night announcement that the U.S. had attacked Iran, the MF, who dodged the draft during the war in Vietnam with a bogus case of "bone spurs," brushed off the likelihood that American lives may be lost in what seems likely to be a wider war (3 are already dead as of this posting). If we do lose our military personnel, in the MF's thinking, that's all part of the performative nature of things (plus, they're all "suckers" and "losers" to him). They'd be used as props in a warped "patriotic" call to rally around the MF. Just watch.
(photo: Always a silly cap for messaging. So Presidential)
"... Absolutely nothing Distracting from the Epstein files." In last night's SNL cold open, the Malignant Fascist (the pitch-perfect James Austin Johnson) and DUI hire Secretary of Defense War "Whiskey Pete" Hegseth (Colin Jost) address America after the MF-Netanyahu strikes on Iran.
(click on images to enlarge)
(Dennis Goris, @dennisgoris)
(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian (reprise))
(Paul Duginski, caglecartoons.com)
(Jesse Duquette, @misterjesseduquette)
(Marian Kamensky, caglecartoons.com, Austria)
(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)
(Dave Granlund, politicalcartoons.com; context here)
(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)
(Jeff Danziger, The Rutland Herald, VT)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Pia Guerra, @pia.guerra, Canada)
War with Iran: one helluva distraction from the Epstein - Trump files edition --
Killing Iranians through unprovoked missile strikes is a hell of way to distract everyone from the #EpsteinFiles.
— Simon Rosenberg (@simonrosenberg.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 4:16 AM
[image or embed]
Operation Epstein Fury
— Benjamin Dreyer (@bcdreyer.social) February 28, 2026 at 5:51 AM
π¨ Donald Trump after launching war on Iran: The lives of American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war.
— Prem Thakker γ (@premthakker.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 3:00 AM
[image or embed]
It’s the least important thing, but I can’t believe our pedophile president just declared an illegal war at 3am in this fuckass hat.
— Nick (derogatory) ✨ (@slothropsmap.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 3:03 AM
[image or embed]
— Judd Legum (@juddlegum.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 7:47 AM
During his campaign for president Donald J. Trump repeatedly said he would not start any new wars. He specifically said he wouldn't start another never ending war in the Middle East. I guess he lied or didn't really mean it.
— Decoding Fox News (@decodingfoxnews.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 7:50 AM
[image or embed]
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 8:04 AM
Reckless leaders do not understand how small wars become big wars or the law of unintended consequences.
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 4:52 AM
BREAKING The headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet has been struck by an Islamic Republic missile.
— Yashar Ali π (@yasharali.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 4:31 AM
[image or embed]
US military base in Bahrain is currently under attack by Shahed kamikaze drones.
— π¦Special Kherson CatππΊπ¦ (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 7:48 AM
[image or embed]
On this day in history. Use bleach, he advised, and hundreds of thousands died --
This Day in History... February 28, 2020: After a warning about the severity of the Coronavirus pandemic by his National Security Advisor, President Trump says... "They tried the impeachment hoax...They tried anything, they tried it over and over. … And this is their new hoax.”
— Bob Geiger (@bobgeiger.bsky.social) February 28, 2026 at 9:38 AM
[image or embed]
“Has President Trump learned nothing from decades of U.S. meddling in Iran and forever wars in the Middle East? Is he too mentally incapacitated to realize that we had a diplomatic agreement with Iran that was keeping its nuclear program in check, until he ripped it up during his first term?
“For months, I have raised hell about the fact that the
American people want lower prices, not more war—especially wars that
aren’t authorized by Congress, as required by the Constitution, and
don’t have a clear objective. These strikes are a colossal mistake, and I
pray they do not cost our sons and daughters in uniform and at
embassies throughout the region their lives. The Senate should
immediately return to session and vote on my War Powers Resolution to
block the use of U.S. forces in hostilities against Iran. Every single
Senator needs to go on the record about this dangerous, unnecessary, and
idiotic action.” --Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) this morning, commenting on the Malignant Fascist's unauthorized attack on Iran. Of course, that was a rhetorical question Kaine posed in the first sentence. The Malignant Fascist knows nothing and can learn nothing, and is solely governed by his narcissistic id.
____________________
"Most things in international relations are complicated. This one is not; the war was fully avoidable and President Trump is wholly responsible for failing to avoid it." -- Dr. Robert Farley, Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, University of Kentucky; also a founder and contributor to the Lawyers, Guns and Money blog.
After the Malignant Fascist and his Israeli counterpart Netanyahu launched a much-anticipated attack this morning on Iran's regime (see post below), a number of allies have expressed worries that the attack will prompt a broader, more deadly war in the region. Some sample reactions that the Associated Press has collected:
France's Emmanuel Macron: “The escalation underway is dangerous for everyone. It must stop. The outbreak of war among the United States, Israel and Iran has serious consequences for peace and international security.″
The U.K.'s Keir Starmer (through a spokesperson): “We do not want to see further escalation into a wider regional conflict.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President AntΓ³nio Costa:“We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law."
None have defended the cruel and unpopular Iranian regime, although the MF's friends in Moscow condemned the attack as a “pre-planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent U.N. member state," language similar to that used in condemning the MF's attack on Venezuela and seizure of its dictator Nicolas Maduro.
Germany and the U.K. are holding emergency meetings with their relevant ministries, and France has called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. Apparently little or no warning of the attack was provided to our allies, who have personnel and facilities in the region that could be attacked by Iran. A recurring theme among them is that the MF's unilateral action may also violate international law, something the MF is assuredly not concerned with any more than he is with U.S. laws.
The mother of all distractions was launched early this morning by the Malignant Fascist and Bibi "Bomb Bomb" Netanyahu:
The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on targets across Iran on Saturday.
U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranians to take cover during the strikes, but then: “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.” It was an extraordinary appeal that suggested the allies could be seeking to end of the country’s theocracy after decades of tensions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed that sweeping goal. “Our joint operation will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands,” Netanyahu said.
In a video posted on social media, Trump claimed Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program and plans to develop missiles to reach the U.S.
The first strikes of the attack appeared to target the compound home to Iran’s 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in downtown Tehran. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was there at the time. Smoke could be seen rising from the Iranian capital.
The attack quickly expanded beyond Iran. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it responded by launching a “first wave” of drones and missiles targeting Israel, where a nationwide warning was issued as the military said it bring down Iranian fire.
The rationale that Iran was continuing to develop its nuclear program (months after the Malignant Fascist claimed it was "completely and totally obliterated" by US strikes in June 2025) was quickly undercut by the moron himself in one of his manic social media posts at 4:35 this morning:
The source for his latest rationale for attacking Iran?
... JusttheNews.com, which the Media Bias/Fact Check website rated as having a far-right bias and low credibility because it traffics in conspiracy theories, propaganda and failed fact checks.
The MF's desperation and brain rot that's been increasingly evident has now meshed his favorite election conspiracy theory into a justification for going to war.
The pressure to release the millions of pages of Epstein-Trump files being covered up by the Malignant Fascist's complicit "Justice" Department must have reached the point where it became necessary to put American lives in danger, risk a major war in the volatile Middle East, and end up in another blood-soaked quagmire whose consequences could be far-reaching and damaging to US national security. This from the one who ran on ending "endless wars." Another MF flim-flam with somewhat more importance that Trump University.
Here's a map, via AP of where the US/Israeli strikes have taken place so far:
It should go without saying that Iran's regime is one of the worst, most despicable in the world. But regime change through the Malignant Fascist's (and Netanyahu's) preferred method can only lead to more death and instability in the region and the world (see: Bush, George "Dumbya", Iraq War).
BONUS: Also being undercut? Support from "America First" MAGAts.
(Photo: explosion in Tehran this morning / AP photo)
(click on images to enlarge)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Christopher Weyant, Boston Globe)
(Paul Duginski, caglecartoons.com)
(Dave Granlund, politicalcartoons.com)
(Luo Jie, China Daily, Beijing)
(Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News)
(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)
(R.J. Matson, caglecartoons.com)
(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)
(Steve Sack, stevesack.substack.com)
(Ellis Rosen, @ellisjrosen)
Several union leaders have reached out to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to urge him to withdraw his support for Maine Gov. Janet Mills' run for the Maine Senate seat against meek Trump supporter Sen. Susan Collins. The unions -- including the United Auto Workers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the Machinist Union -- say that Graham Platner, who's ahead of Mills in the polls, is more pro-union than Mills, and more electable. From NBC News:
"Union leaders in recent days have urged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to end their support for Gov. Janet Mills in Maine’s Senate primary, pointing to what they see as her weaker record with labor.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain had a conversation with Schumer this month to discuss the race, among other topics, two people familiar with the call told NBC News. The UAW is supporting Mills’ opponent, Democrat Graham Platner, while Schumer and the DSCC are supporting Mills. [snip]
The Maine race is perhaps Democrats’ best opportunity to flip a Republican-held Senate seat this fall, and it’s a must-win for them to have any chance of taking over the chamber. While the national Democratic establishment has thrown its support behind Mills, labor’s push highlights some of the base’s discontent with that decision — and the resiliency of Platner, who has weathered controversies.
Platner announced his candidacy in August, and Mills jumped in two months later, sparking a primary that embodies Democrats’ generational and ideological divides." [snip]
A University of New Hampshire poll conducted in mid-February found Platner with a 38-point lead over Mills among likely Democratic primary voters, well beyond the survey’s margin of error. The Mills campaign disputed the survey in a memo, pointing to other recent misses the survey had in Maine and arguing that the sample, which skewed much younger than past Maine electorates, did not accurately reflect the state." (our emphasis)
Platner also has the endorsements of progressive stalwarts Sens. Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, and Sheldon Whitehouse. Platner has weathered a controversy over a tattoo that he had removed that contained a symbol associated with Nazis, which he's said he had no idea about. Interestingly much of his extended family is Jewish. Platner, 41, is a veteran of the Marine Corps and is an oysterman and harbor master by profession. He would seem to be the ideal Dem candidate: Iraq war veteran, union-backed progressive, small business owner, and a generational symbol contrasting with the plodding, ossified Dem leadership exemplified by Chuck Schumer et al. It's no surprise that fumbling Schumer's support for Mills runs counter to that, and to the polls.
(photo: Graham for Senate campaign)
The Epstein-Trump files coverup/ Lutnick on Epstein island/ get into court! --
Wow jmail.world/drive
— Molly Jong-Fast (@mollyjongfast.bsky.social) February 26, 2026 at 10:39 PM
[image or embed]
How do we go about having a judge determine the appropriateness of the Epstein files withholdings and redactions the way a judge determined Bill Barr’s Mueller report redactions were inappropriate?
— Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) February 27, 2026 at 12:09 AM
HRC on Comer's bizarre "Save Trump from Epstein" clown circus --
Hillary Clinton: "It then got quite unusual because I started being asked about UFOs and Pizzagate"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 26, 2026 at 6:25 PM
[image or embed]
Trump's domestic terrorist organization --
NEW: We obtained 911 audio from the Texas detention center housing hundreds of immigrant kids and their parents. Since mid-September, EMS crews have been dispatched to Dilley at least 11 times to treat children in medical distress. Burning fevers. Low oxygen. Seizures. A broken leg. My report:
— Mike Hixenbaugh (@mikehixenbaugh.com) February 27, 2026 at 8:01 AM
[image or embed]
Columbia President with NEW details: 5 DHS agents entered a residency with no warrant. They said they were police looking for a missing kid. Security camera even captures them showing pictures of the "kid." A campus officer asked for a warrant & their boss. They ignored him & took the student.
— Prem Thakker γ (@premthakker.bsky.social) February 26, 2026 at 7:56 PM
[image or embed]
"He's lying" --
Interviewer: "What's your take on how he's framing the economy?" Me: "It's that he's lying."
— Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) February 26, 2026 at 8:46 PM
[image or embed]
Trump says this is not happening. Which is why he spent his State of the Union speech honoring sports teams and awarding military medals.
— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 9:13 AM
[image or embed]
Broligarchs and media control --
The richest man owns X. The second and third richest men control Google. The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post. And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros. See the problem here?
— Robert Reich (@rbreich.bsky.social) February 26, 2026 at 6:40 PM
[image or embed]
UK PM Starmer's "dildo strategy" goes down in flames in by-election --
Gorton and Denton by-election result: GRN: 40.7% (+27.5) REF: 28.7% (+14.7) LAB: 25.4% (-25.3) CON: 1.9% (-6.0) LDEM: 1.8% (-2.1) Green GAIN from Labour.
— Britain Elects (@britainelects.com) February 26, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Watch now as Starmer's Labour bleeds itself dry of progressive left-wing voters to the Greens and concludes that the correct response is to double down on the current strategy of serving as a xenophobic dildo to Reform's full-blown racist orgy
— WG Saraband π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώπ΅πΉ (@wgsaraband.bsky.social) February 27, 2026 at 7:28 AM
Trump and Netanyahu did this π--
American sympathies in the Middle East have shifted dramatically toward the Palestinians, according to new Gallup polling, after decades of overwhelming support for the Israelis.
— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) February 27, 2026 at 6:27 AM
[image or embed]
McSweeney's Trump SOTU (Happy Friday!) --
"My fellow Americans, we’re no longer going to have to pay taxes. You will, still. You’ll have to pay a lot of taxes, actually. But not me and my guys. We’re done with taxes. We beat taxes. Taxes lost very badly, and now we don’t have to deal with them—you do."
— McSweeney's (@mcsweeneys.net) February 26, 2026 at 10:00 PM
[image or embed]
American musical icon Johnny Cash was born on February 26 in 1932. "The Man in Black," as he was known, wrote and performed music spanning rockabilly, country, gospel, blues, and folk genres (he's in the Rock and Roll, Country, and Gospel halls of fame). We're featuring two belated birthday songs from his early days recording at Sun Records: 1956's "I Walk The Line" (his first #1 hit and signature song) and 1958's "Guess Things Happen That Way." Hope you enjoy.
As tensions increase following the end of negotiations between Iran and inept, craven U.S. negotiators Steve "Witless" Witkoff and the Malignant Fascist's corrupt son-in-law Jared Kushner, the U.S. embassy in Israel has urged its staff to consider leaving as an attack on Iran appears likely. From NBC News:
"The United States on Friday told some embassy staff that they could leave Israel — and that those who want to must do so quickly — as fears of an American attack on Iran fueled alarm throughout the region.
The message, conveyed in an email from Ambassador Mike Huckabee that was sent to the U.S. mission, instructed those wishing to leave to 'do so TODAY.' NBC News has seen the email, which was first reported by The New York Times.
The guidance was issued out of 'an abundance of caution' after meetings and calls through the night, including conversations with the State Department, Huckabee said in the email.
'There is no need to panic,' the email read. 'For those desiring to leave, it’s important to make plans to depart sooner rather than later.'
He also urged anyone intending to leave to go ahead and book flights, citing the likely surge in demand out of Israel after the embassy's move." (our emphasis)
If war with Iran were to break out, Israel would be immediate targets of Iran's weapons and its surrogate forces in the region. The MF's threats against Iran, backed up by a massive shift of arms and personnel to the region, come as he has yet to explain the goal for a war, particularly after he bragged about having totally destroyed their nuclear facilities last year. The MF's regime likely sees the widespread unrest in Iran in the past months as a sign that regime change might be possible. One can't discount the fact that the chaotic bluster from the MF would to be a distraction from his problems at home: growing interest in the Epstein - Trump files and his 38,000+ mentions, his failed tariffs, his dropping poll numbers, etc. We'll see whether Huckabee's "no need to panic" is based in reality or not.
