Laird Hepburn

I sure do appreciate all of the clueless posts from Europeans, Australians, and the rest of the world. Thank you so much @infantrydort and @CynicalPublius for setting them straight

It’s exactly what he said. Not good guys.

Food for thought. Trump, Hormuz and the End of the Free Ride For half a century, Western strategists have known that the Strait of Hormuz is the acute point where energy, sea power and political will intersect. That knowledge is not in dispute. What is new in this war with Iran is that the United States, under Donald Trump, has chosen not to rush to “solve” the problem. In Hegelian terms, he is refusing an easy synthesis in order to force the underlying contradiction to the surface. The old thesis was simple: the US guarantees open sea lanes in the Gulf, and everyone else structures their economies and politics around that free insurance. Europe and the UK embraced ambitious green policies, ran down hard‑power capabilities and lectured Washington on multilateral virtue, secure in the assumption that American carriers would always appear off Hormuz. The political class behaved as if the American security guarantee were a law of nature, not a contingent choice. Their conduct today is closer to Chamberlain than Churchill: temporising, issuing statements, hoping the storm will pass without a fundamental reordering of their responsibilities. Trump’s antithesis is to withhold the automatic guarantee at the moment of maximum stress. Militarily, the US can break Iran’s residual ability to contest the Strait; that is not the binding constraint. The point is to delay that act. By allowing a closure or semi‑closure to bite, Trump ensures that the immediate pain is concentrated in exactly the jurisdictions that have most conspicuously free‑ridden on US power: the EU and the UK. Their industries, consumers and energy‑transition assumptions are exposed. In that context, his reported blunt message to European and British leaders, you need the oil out of the Strait more than we do; why don’t you go and take it? Is not a throwaway line. It is the verbalisation of the antithesis. It openly reverses the traditional presumption that America will carry the burden while its allies emote from the sidelines. In this dialectic, the prize is not simply the reopening of a chokepoint. The prize is a reordered system in which the United States effectively arbitrages and controls the global flow of oil. A world in which US‑aligned production in the Americas plus a discretionary capability to secure,or not secure, Hormuz places Washington at the centre of the hydrocarbon chessboard. For that strategic end, a rapid restoration of the old status quo would be counterproductive. A quick, surgical “fix” of Hormuz would short‑circuit the dialectic. If Trump rapidly crushed Iran’s remaining coastal capabilities, swept the mines and escorted tankers back through the Strait, Europe and the UK would heave a sigh of relief and return to business as usual: underfunded militaries, maximalist green posturing and performative disdain for US power, all underwritten by that same power. The contradiction between their dependence and their posture would remain latent. By declining to supply the synthesis on demand, and by explicitly telling London and Brussels to “go and take it” themselves, Trump forces a reckoning. European and British leaders must confront the fact that their energy systems, their industrial bases and their geopolitical sermons all rest on an American hard‑power foundation they neither finance nor politically respect. The longer the contradiction is allowed to unfold, the stronger the eventual synthesis can be: a new order in which access to secure flows, Hormuz, Venezuela and beyond, is explicitly conditional on real contributions, not assumed as a right. In that sense, the delay in “taking” the Strait, and the challenge issued to US allies to do it themselves, is not indecision. It is the negative moment Hegel insisted was necessary for history to move. Only by withholding the old guarantee, and by saying so out loud to those who depended on it, can Trump hope to end the free ride.

If you are a non-elected member of the US federal government (i.e., civilian GS employee, career SES, contractor, military) and you are “resisting” or “slow-rolling” lawful initiatives of the Trump Administration, let me tell you what you are actually doing. You are not “resisting” Trump. You are not “resisting” Cabinet secretaries (Pete Hegseth, e.g.) You are not “resisting” a policy you find politically unpalatable. NO. You are not “resisting” any of that. Instead, you are resisting THE CONSTITUTIONAL WILL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE EXPRESSED VIA THEIR ELECTORAL CHOICES. You claim to value democracy, yet you resist democracy. You claim to value institutions and standards, yet you resist those institutions and standards when the American people chose a path you disagree with. HOW DARE YOU? How dare you place your own ego over the will of THE PEOPLE? (You know, those big letters at the top of the Constitution?) Who, exactly, do you think you are? THE PEOPLE are the sovereign in this nation, you are not. If you cannot accept this and gladly internalize it, you should resign or be fired. (This also goes for four-star generals and admirals.)

I think that’s an excellent fight. It has nothing to do with the party affiliation of the justices. It has to do with the separation of powers. We may not always like the separation of powers and the outcomes that it leads to.

Here’s the thing:if you favor birthright citizenship, that’s an opinion you’re allowed to hold. It’s a free country. It means you support ignoring the United States Constitution, which very clearly and explicitly says anyone born in America, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, is a citizen. But pretending the U.S. Constitution doesn’t say that, just because you don’t like it, is a dangerous position that undermines our democracy.

@SGTWipper1Each 🤣🤣🤣

Department of Defense Announcement Today we introduce the Distinguished Consideration Medal for civilians who seriously thought about joining the military but chose a different path. Criteria: Watched a recruiting commercial, filled out partial paperwork, or told a veteran 'I almost enlisted.' Wear it proudly at barbecues. Your service (almost) is appreciated.

Oh, I've slipped the surly bonds of earth
And hovered out of ground effect on semi-rigid blades;
Earthward I've auto'ed and met the rising brush of non-paved terrain 
And done a thousand things you would never care to
Skidded and dropped and flared
Low in the heat soaked roar.
Confined there, I've chased the earthbound traffic
And lost the race to insignificant headwinds;
Forward and up a little in ground effect
I've topped the General's hedge with drooping turns
Where never Skyhawk or even Phantom flew.
Shaking and pulling collective, 
I've lumbered The low untresspassed halls of victor airways,
Put out my hand and touched a tree.

Spoken like a true government operative. Governments don’t create good jobs and governments. Don’t make anything cost less. Government simply spend taxpayer money, print money, and make things cost more. Based upon your position in here, you should just quit and go home. We don’t need more of that.

It’s time to pass the SAVE America Act The lobbyists won’t clamor for it—because it makes them no money The news-media won’t reward anyone for championing it—because it advances no radical, leftist cause But Americans want it—overwhelmingly—with good reason Let’s do it!

Oxford University researchers have discovered the densest element yet known to science... The new element, Governmentium (symbol=Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called pillocks. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to complete. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2 to 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganisation in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganisation will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as a critical morass. When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium (symbol=Ad), an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many pillocks but twice as many morons.

As if he wants that. Only people suffering from severe TDS think this way.

I'm confused by this, Mr. Speaker. It's the NC legislature that requires county property evaluations at least once every 8 years, because it's the LAW. And, some counties are allowed to do it more often-many do it every 4 years. North Carolina General Statute § 105-286. You can repeal the law anytime!

🎯🎯🎯

Dude. You’re the federal government.

It was a stunning run as governor. The Old North State would have been completely stuck if we hadn’t had a strong general assembly to override many of those vetoes. @TeamCooperNc is a disaster.

WE in the HOUSE should AMEND the Senate Bill, ADD VOTER ID AND FORCE A VOTE IN THE SENATE. 🇺🇸🫡 The Democrats will steal the elections if we don’t!!!

Dear @SpeakerJohnson, if this truly appropriate anger is backed up with radical action to confront your GOP leadership colleagues in the Senate, you could become one of the most consequential Speakers in history saving the Republic. Now is the time to go fully into the breach.

REPLACE THUNE! RT IF YOU AGREE 👍🏻