"From Shock And Awe To Shockingly Awful"

Steven Colbert uses his first monologue of 2020 to cover the march to war with Iran, with Cadet Bone Spurs tweeting the way:

Our "Top Un-Intelligence Official" Awaits Further Instructions

Steven Colbert covers the crisis in the Persian Gulf region, with America's "top un- intelligence official" awaiting instructions from a certain murderous Saudi:

"Funny How That Works" -- Trump's Iran War Tweets Edition

(click on image to enlarge)


(Source:  democraticunderground.com)

Monday Reading

As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

The National Rifle Rampage Association's multi- year grift continues to show signs of collapse:

The National Rifle Association spent growing sums on overhead in 2018 even as it cut money for core activities such as gun training and political efforts, ending the year deeper in debt, new financial documents show.

The gun rights group’s 2018 financial report, which was obtained by The Washington Post, portrays the longtime political powerhouse as spending faster than its revenue rose.

The records show that the NRA froze its pension plan for employees at the end of last year, a move that saved it close to $13 million, and obtained a $28 million line of credit by borrowing against its Virginia headquarters.

Despite that, the nonprofit group, four affiliated charities and its political committee together ended the year $10.8 million in the red. In 2017, the six groups ended the year with a $1.1 million shortfall.

Brian Mittendorf, an Ohio State University accounting professor who has studied nonprofits, including the NRA, and examined the 2018 report for The Post, said it depicted “a bad year for them financially.” He compared the NRA to a person living paycheck to paycheck, leaning on credit cards with very little cushion.

In addition to lavish spending on its scumbag chief executive Wayne LaPierre and some of its board of directors, the gun humper grifters were also spending a lot of time and money in court:

From 2017 to 2018, legal and audit spending jumped from $12.9 million to $33.5 million. Legal expenses for administrative purposes rose nearly 400 percent, accounting for the largest increase, from $4.6 million to $21.9 million, the records show.

The rise in legal fees came as the NRA was contending with congressional inquiries into its ties with Russia, as well as various state investigations.

Who could have imagined an organization so closely lashed to fraudster incompetent Donald "Rump" Trump and the rotted out Republican Party would be so full of incompetent fraudsters?

Spoiler alert: Trump still has no clue how trade works:

India will impose higher retaliatory tariffs on 28 U.S. products including almonds, apples and walnuts from Sunday, following Washington's withdrawal of key trade privileges for New Delhi.

The new duties take effect from Sunday, a government notification said, in the latest trade dispute since President Donald Trump took office in 2017 vowing to act against countries with which Washington has a large trade deficit.

From June 5, President Trump scrapped trade privileges under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for India, the biggest beneficiary of a scheme that allowed duty-free exports of up to $5.6 billion.

India termed that "unfortunate" and vowed to uphold its national interests.

It's almost as if he's working for a hostile foreign government to tank the U.S. economy.  Oh, wait...

The Trump regime's "Gulf of Trumpkin" (h/t Paul Krugman) incident is being received by our major allies with a large dose of skepticism:

While President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have been unequivocal in their assertion that Iran was responsible for the attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week, some of America’s closest allies are demanding more proof.

Both Japan and Germany have requested more concrete evidence to support the Trump administration’s insistence that Iran was behind the twin attacks on the Norwegian-owned Front Altar and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous near the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.

They try so hard, bless their shriveled, war- mongering, wag- the- dog hearts.

Back atcha:

I think the Democrats should incorporate this pledge from the 2016 Republican platform into their 2020 platform. pic.twitter.com/qaw54xZujb

— Steve Metz (@steven_metz) June 15, 2019

Following days of massive protests in Hong Kong, the pro- Beijing leadership backs down, a little.

Hong Kong's embattled leader on Saturday said a divisive bill that would allow extraditions to China would be "suspended" in a major climbdown from her government after a week of unprecedented protests.

The city's pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam has come under huge pressure to abandon the controversial legislation, including from her own political allies and advisers.

"The government has decided to suspend the legislative amendment exercise, restart our communication with all sectors of society, do more... work and listen to different views of society," Lam told reporters Saturday.

"Suspension" doesn't mean it's all good for residents of Hong Kong, who vow to continue to protest en masse until the bill is withdrawn.

We found the last piece in Infidel 753's link round- up, which could easily form the basis for our entire Monday reading -- but we're not that craven, yet!  Always worthwhile to see what he's found.

Pompeo Continues To Lay Groundwork For Iran War

In another instance of the Trump regime's fire, aim, ready approach to foreign relations, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo yesterday accused Iran of attacking two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, without any evidence provided.  One of the ships, the Kokuka Courageous, is Japanese- owned, which would make it a highly suspicious target, given the fact that Japanese Prime Minister Abe was visiting Iran in an effort to calm tensions. The owner of that tanker is also disputing Pompeo's accounts of the attack.

As with previous, curious attempts to damage ships in the Persian Gulf region a month ago, the Trump regime and its execrable Saudi and UAE allies are rushing to pin blame for the attacks on Iran, though it would seem Iran would have most to lose by having the lanes to its oil fields become a war zone.  Who has most to gain from Iran getting the blame?  See execrable regimes above.

We're no fans of the Iranian regime, but we've learned that inveterate liars like the Trumpers and Mohammad bin "Bone Saw" Salman are to be trusted even less.  This smells like a set up.

Infidel 753 writes,

There is a lesson from the Gulf of Tonkin incident and from all the other lies and deceptions fed to the public during that war.  It's the same lesson offered by the official hysterics and falsified evidence which were used to whip up support for the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  That lesson is:  when it comes to leading this country into war, the establishment lies. [snip]

The Iranian theocracy is evil, but it is not stupid.  It defies sanity to believe that Iran (which has not attacked another country in almost 200 years) would carry out shipping attacks calculated to provoke a war with the mighty United States right at the very moment when the Trump administration could direly use a pyrotechnic overseas distraction from its domestic woes with investigations, failed trade wars, flaccid poll numbers, and a wall which even the Trumpanzees are starting to realize will never get built.

Infidel notes a "wag the dog" element is also at play here, as it always seems to be with the chaotic, incompetent Trump regime desperate to keep attention off its latest debacle.

We shouldn't swallow it and, most importantly, neither should the media.

BONUS:  Adam Silverman at Balloon Juice takes a look at some of the oddities, including the immediate certainty of the Trumpists and the curious ineffectiveness of the attack.