Notadoctor

@JonahDispatch But if you think people are just electrically animated sacks of meat in a purely material existence, then your question doesn't follow. The flatness of our "elites' " lives would confound the ancients more than our technology.

When you listen to Trump talk about Taiwan (or many other topics) it’s the stuff he doesn’t say that is more revealing. Asked about Taiwan he blathers on about how big and strong China is, how tiny Taiwan is, about tariffs and dumb American presidents who didn’t use them. What doesn’t he talk about? Alliances, obligations, democracy, values, honor, etc. Keep in mind, if you don’t care whether Trump throws Taiwan under the bus, that wouldn’t be the only betrayal involved. We’d be screwing Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Australia too. I’m not saying we should get into a shooting war over Taiwan. I am saying Trump shouldn’t betray our allies, our values, and our national security and national honor just because he’s got a man crush on Xi.

Thank God for Bill Maher

@thedispatch This was essentially our Nork policy, which turned out well.

"We could have bribed them into dialing back their nuclear program at any time before the war, without firing a shot." | Nick Catoggio thedispatch.com/newsletter/boi…

@WarMonitor3 This is an absolute joke. Even if you could get a brigade or two into Isfahan, how are you getting them out? Either a one-way drop or the world's stupidest air assault mission.

US officials talking to the NYT proposed several US ground troop potential operations in Iran: -Deployment of special forces to the Isfahan site to seize enriched uranium, supported by the 82nd airborne setting up a perimeter -Deploying marines and ground forces to Kharg Island

@sentdefender There are many people who know about contingency planning, and some of them probably talk to the Times. There are very few people who know which plans are being seriously discussed at the political level, and none of them talk to the Times.

According to the New York Times, citing two Middle Eastern officials, the U.S. and Israel are preparing to possibly resume combat operations against Iran, possibly under a new name, as early as next week. Per the report, options for targeting include what one official called more aggressive strikes against both military and infrastructure targets. Additionally, another option on the table is to use special forces to go in and extract highly enriched uranium from inside Iran. However, per the report, this would need thousands of supporting troops and numerous other support elements to succeed and the risks of such an operation are extremely high.

No advance notice but within a few minutes, word spreads and the King brings Golders Green to a jubilant standstill - just yards from the scene of the April 28 attack. #kc3 #goldersgreen

@thehill If he apologized, you can delete allegedly.

Rand Paul’s son apologizes for allegedly hurling antisemitic attacks at Lawler at Capitol Hill bar thehill.com/homenews/house…

@VerminusM Because a critical historical account of the origins of Islam or of Muhammad will get you a death sentence. And because, ideologically, Islam is beyond critical analysis among the cultural and intellectual elite. Try to make an animated image of Muhammad and see what happens.

Islam is the world's second largest religion yet there are no Western mainstream shows or movies about the history and roots of Islam like we have with Christianity and Judaism. There's no Quran movie or a Hadith animated series. Why is that?

@mikepompeo They exist; they just don't apply to enemies of the people.

This is a disgrace. The editorial standards of the so-called paper of record are nonexistent. jewishinsider.com/2026/05/nick-k…

@JamesRHarrigan Millions of military vets with broken bodies have entered the chat.

Ben Shapiro has apparently never done a day of physical labor in his life.

@TheAtlantic @anneapplebaum That's more experience than many political appointees. The most effective ambassador I ever worked for had no experience other than political fundraising and she did better (in a NATO country) than most career ambassadors.

Kari Lake, Trump’s candidate for ambassador to Jamaica, has “no diplomatic or political preparation, other than the 14 months she has just spent running America’s foreign broadcasting agencies into the ground,” @anneapplebaum argues. theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/05/…

@WarMonitor3 Operation lipstick on a pig.

US military is considering renaming the war in Iran “Operation SledgeHammer” if the war continues-NBC

@Doveofwar @bopanc That's exactly what it means. It's one thing to prosecute officials after an administration leaves office, which is the current U.S model and is very common in kleptocracies around the world; it is quite another to prosecute powerful figures tied to the current government.

@bopanc So, every new high-level corruption case is just another proof that Ukraine is a law-abiding country?

Biggie but the probe doesn’t stop here. There was hardly any daylight between Zelensky and Yermak, who was often seen as acting as a vice president. Zelensky, of course, is immune to prosecution and direct investigation for the duration of his presidency

obviously true

And 62 days after that, the Soviet Union gave up.

@gbrew24 Not bonkers. Iraq is like an unindicted co-conspirator. They're not going to get the book thrown at them, but they have no rights anyone is going to respect on the street if they become inconvenient.

Bonkers story: Israel built a base inside Iraq just before the war with Iran. When Iraqi troops investigated, Israel launched air strikes against them. All with US knowledge. wsj.com/world/middle-e…

@hahussain It's an open secret that the kingdom's military is almost entirely cosmetic. Many officers are there as a sinecure and for prestige. They are incompetent and brutal toward subordinates. Rank and file are poorly trained and led and suffer an almost complete absence of morale.

By not responding to Iran attacks, Saudi Arabia foiled an ISRAELI scheme to start war between Riyadh and Tehran and destroy the region at the cost of thousands of Saudi lives, in a race in which the Saudis had no dog, according to the king's nephew and former intel chief and Amb to DC Turki al-Faisal. It was the stupid Arab voices in Western media that questioned the kingdom's brilliant policy of not responding to Iran, which Turki calls "this is how Muhammad Bin Salman [MBS} succeeded." Saudi losses are in the billions of dollars. Saudi oil facilities that Iran hit include: - SAMREF refinery in Yanbu - Khurais and Manifa oil-production facilities - Ju’aymah gas-processing - The East-West pipeline (Petroline) So Saudi Arabia sends its air force after a poor Yemenite called Aidarous al-Zubaidi for defying them, but cower in the corner when Iran beats the crap out of them, and blame "Arab voices in Western media" for being the evil people who are trying to make Saudi Arabia fall for the nefarious Israeli plan to destroy the region. This is not wise Saudi policy or leadership. This is cowardice and abandoning of responsibility, hoping that others will do Saudi Arabia's job for it.

@Osint613 Preemptive French surrender is the least surprising thing to happen in this conflict so far.

President Macron says France has “never considered” deploying warships to the Strait of Hormuz.

@Jerusalem_Post It's fine; most of them weren't using theirs.

Opinion: Calculations may be necessary for the political survival of leaders, but it’s important to remember that it also comes at the cost of losing their souls. jpost.com/opinion/articl…