Ray Williams

@gerardtbaker Trump's critics - always too sophisticated to see the obvious - still don't understand his communication style: he opens with extreme positions, negotiates, gets positive (and sane) results, the world doesn't end. You needn't enjoy it but by now should understand it.

@StephenKing Crude futures are dropping like a rock - stay tuned.

In February, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in the United States was $2.91. Now it’s $4.22 . That's what you get when you elect an idiot the president of the United States, allow him to start a war without congressional approval.

@ggreenwald How about this: list everything that you complained about in the last 15 months (ICE, tariffs, Venezuela, Iran, everything) - I LOVE ALL OF THAT AND COULDN'T BE HAPPIER.

You won't hear a better 55-second description of MAGA and Trump than this: in terms of the perspective of any minimally honest MAGA supporter:

@ggreenwald Ooh - dramatic shadow!

@lisamurkowski Did he do it? Are the Iranians all dead? Are *we* all dead? Or did you fill your diaper unnecessarily?

The President’s threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight” cannot be excused away as an attempt to gain leverage in negotiations with Iran. This type of rhetoric is an affront to the ideals our nation has sought to uphold and promote around the world for nearly 250 years. It undermines our long-standing role as a global beacon of freedom and directly endangers Americans both abroad and at home. The oppressive, terror-spreading regime of the Islamic Republic must be distinguished from the people and the civilization of Iran. Everyone involved—especially the President and Iran’s leaders—must de-escalate their unprecedented saber-rattling before it is too late.

@StephenKing For years I've looked down on those who pushed the Trump-Stillson thing as having not read or understood the novel, but you know the difference and are selling out your own art in service of TDS. Hate Trump if you must, but have at least a little pride in your work FFS!

I predicted someone like Trump many years ago, in THE DEAD ZONE. So now I'm saying this--in the next 12-16 months, we're going to find out if the two machines for the removal of a man unable to fulfill his duties actually work. They are impeachment and the 25th amendment. He is deeply unwell .

@SuitablePolitic 24 hours ago, the other side was the one worrying about literal meanings of phrases...we need not be the same as them.

"A workable basis for negotiations" The literal meaning of this phrase is a basis upon which we can negotiate that is not great, but is something that can possibly be made to work. It's not even an above average basis for negotiating!

@SuitablePolitic It's definitely not the end of anything, but it's silly to claim nothing has changed when the Iranian leadership Trump would've negotiated with 6 weeks ago is dead.

I just think it's a mistake to view this as any other Trump negotiation. Other Trump negotiations don't end up in 5.5 week military operations lol. If Iran was ready to negotiate, we could've avoided 6 weeks of bombing them senseless. And there is quite literally zero public evidence to suggest that any of this has changed. This isn't me coming down on Trump. He didn't agree to anything real. But I think people are making a mistake in their analysis if they think this is the end or the beginning of the end. There's another shoe that's gonna drop, almost certainly.

@SuitablePolitic Might this not be just another Trump info-gathering step? See who's in charge, who lies, who tells the truth, who relaxes and holds meetings, resume blasting when called for. 24 hours ago, the left (and half the right) raged over his words; we don't need to be the same.

- Iran went through a very productive regime change - Iran is still bombing the hell out of Kuwait - the United States is going to tariff anyone at 50% that provides any military support to the new "very productive regime" that is gonna help us grab the uranium Huh? Lol

@VickyRichterUSA Trump accepted none of this - are you stupid or lying?

“Mission Accomplished: How to Lose a War and Call It Leverage” There is losing—and then there is announcing victory while handing your opponent a checklist of everything they wanted. Enter Donald Trump and the now-famous “not regime change, but somehow still regime change” doctrine. A masterclass in semantics. A disaster in outcomes. Iran’s Terms, America’s Signature Let’s briefly review the scoreboard. Before the war, Iran faced: •Sanctions •International pressure •Limited leverage After the war, Iran walks away with: •De facto control over the Strait of Hormuz •Sanctions relief on the table •Uranium enrichment accepted •International oversight weakened •U.S. forces expected to step back And, as a small bonus, a ceasefire package stretching conveniently across the region. Not bad for a country that was supposedly “contained.” The Art of Strategic Backwards Progress Washington’s achievement? Reopening a shipping route that was already open before things escalated. It takes a certain level of confidence to break the global energy system and then celebrate restoring it to its original condition. That is not strategy. That is renovation by demolition. Meanwhile, the Real Winners Take Notes While victory speeches echo, others are quietly recalculating: •Iran emerges stronger, more relevant, and far less isolated •China benefits from instability and shifting energy dependencies •Regional tensions expand rather than contract Even allies are left wondering whether they are part of a plan—or simply part of the collateral. Strength, Rebranded as Messaging The most remarkable element is not the outcome. It is the insistence on describing it as success. Claims of dominance meet reports of operational gaps. Declarations of control meet realities of escalation. And somewhere in between, the narrative adjusts—just enough to keep the word “win” in circulation. Conclusion: The Victory That Changed Everything—Except Reality So here we are: A war that strengthened the very forces it aimed to weaken. A negotiation that delivered more than it demanded. A “victory” that looks suspiciously like strategic retreat with better branding. Or, put simply: If this is what winning looks like— one hesitates to ask what losing would have been.

@JamesMelville Not *this* MAGA 😄

I was no fan of Joe Biden as President, but if he had conducted the Iran war in exactly the same manner as Donald Trump has done, the MAGA supporters would be wholeheartedly condemning him. The hypocrisy of blind tribalism.

@MarioNawfal @SolLunix Ooooooooh!

@SolLunix Trump’s deadline And Iran is not folding

Tomorrow is gonna be a very ugly day for humanity

@MarioNawfal I mean, we can hope.

@anneapplebaum Did Vance baselessly claim the sun rose in the east as well?

While interfering in Hungary's election, Vance baselessly accuses other people of interfering in Hungary's election

@WarMonitor3 Meetings: Europe's bread and butter.

French President Emmanuel Macron to convene a defence council meeting early tomorrow morning. Something is up...

@TRHLofficial If Iran announced “a whole civilization dies tonight, God bless the American people”, we’d laugh at them.

“Civilization” includes, its people, art, history, culture, the society as a whole. If Iran announced “a whole civilization dies tonight, God bless the American people”, we’d glass them.

Can we all at least agree that “a whole civilization will die tonight” was far too broad a choice in words, and maybe “a whole regime” would have fit his intention better, or are we too deep into doublethink.

@EYakoby You missed DA JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZ

Tucker Carlson's current politics: Churchill chief villain of WWII. Stalin was pretty cool. North Korea having nuclear weapons is a good thing. Ukraine was the aggressor against Russia. Trump is the antichrist. Did I miss anything?

@DefiantLs When it's not enough for America to just do *most* of the work.

"Trump is constantly threatening NATO to get help." Italy Meloni: “My primary duty is to safeguard our national interest and this is not our war. I can't support it.”

The more he threatens the more comfortable I feel.

You fail to understand the difference between— so I’ll explain it, since you chose to be courteous instead of insulting. First, Argentina wasn’t a threat to the whole of NATO. The UK to my knowledge didn’t invoke Article 5 either. And i dont recall is PM Thatcher actually requested Reagan’s help, or not. Second, retaking the Falklands wasn’t a territorial dispute, not a matter of National Security. I say that tongue in cheek b/c the US would go to war to retake the Aleutian Islands. But losing the Falklands to Argentina didn’t threaten sea trade routes or the UK’s security. It pissed off the UK, & rightly so. Third, the Iranian regime has missiles tgat can reach all of Europe & some intelligence estimates I’ve seen claim they had the ability to hit the United States. Especially from their IRGC bases in Venezuela with ballistic missiles. That is a real, & verified national security threat. Fourth, Iran was three to four weeks (one short enrichment cycle) from assembling nuclear weapons. They had everything else necessary, including a known tested design they purchased from Pakistan’s AK Khan network. A confirmed imminent National Security Threat— to America, & Europe. And you chose to not just ‘sit this one out’, but ACTIVELY INTERFERE with us ending that threat. That wont be forgotten. YOU might be willing to sacrifice a european city to nuclear terrorism, but America isnt willing to sacrifice one of ours. THAT’s the difference.

@TRHLofficial At what point did parsing a statement of Trump's strike you as a productive way to spend your time?