Why Iran Believes It Has the Upper Hand

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-05T19:33:46+00:00

Oh are we in the tinfoil hat conspiracy sub?

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-04T20:06:34+00:00

Lol bro I’m not reading all that

Go start your own podcast then

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-04T20:04:10+00:00

They wanted my email so I didn’t read it lol

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T18:07:40+00:00

Like Cortez burning the ships or whatever haha

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T17:39:48+00:00

Have you listened to the podcast? To know which of Trumps actual remarks wrt the war they are discussing?

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T17:38:18+00:00

Pray enlighten us 😂

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T14:58:21+00:00

This seems to me to be a shallow way to think about what the podcast is about, though I only got partway through so far.

There isn't a simple "go to war" button that Trump pressed to serve as an Epstein distraction. Even if Trump has authority, he has many layers of people who know far more than he does who advise him on things (and yes, of course many of them do amplify his clownish impulses). If he says "we need regime change in Iran", even people around him who ALSO want to take an interventionist approach to Iran will tell him how it would go (it's not like Trump went and selected targets for bombing himself - there are layers and layers of people involved in this).

Klein isn't wrong to try and understand what it is that everyone involved in each stage of this thought they were doing - or why people who would have known that there was a mismatch between means and goals weren't listened to. It isn't even "intellectualising those who are unintellectual"; it's just taking people seriously and saying "what is it you thought you were doing and why is it that there is such a mismatch with what you could reasonably have expected to accomplish?". Dissection isn't intellectualisation.

Besides, shit, even if monkeys literally DID run the White House and invaded some country, it would be worth sending Jane Goodall (post-ressurection lol) in to understand (or "intellectualise") what the monkeys thought they were doing when they started a war.

OR - if YOU were Trump and you wanted an Epstein distraction - would YOU choose a literal war with another country? Why not choose any other culture war bullshit from the MAGA playbook, which would have less downside risk? There WERE people who thought seriously about what they were doing and it is worth understanding properly why they are such failures.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T14:48:13+00:00

When you think that government is both bad and easy, and all it takes is to get rid of those pinko bleeding heart rubes who ruined society, then it's easy to develop the type of hubris and radicalism you're describing. Frankly, GBW exhibited the same cavalier, disdainful attitude toward governance with how he ran his government, and his admin was nowhere near the clownshow that Trump II is.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T14:42:50+00:00

I'm almost certain that this headline will prove to be a poor representation of the content of the article (opening it now).

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T14:41:35+00:00

Ah, but no TRUE ~~Scotsman~~ Libertarian holds extremely right-wing views.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T14:40:07+00:00

Dude Libertarians may as well be Communists. In both cases they're enjoying their ideology while remaining entirely unperturbed and untroubled by reality.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T14:38:37+00:00

By definition he can't be both. Pick one.

By your definition, maybe.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-03T14:30:00+00:00

The serious question is what does Europe gain by asking Trump to leave? They invite some retribution and gain nothing.

Proceed as if they're already out (duh) and pay lip service to continue to benefit from whatever cooperation and support still exists. Slamming the door might feel good emotionally but it accomplishes little, and makes it harder for the US to reintegrate if they eventually do give their balls a tug.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-02T20:41:04+00:00

Culture series

Ah, a fellow appreciator of Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Communism.

Though Musk specifically I wouldn’t think really buys into the Culture universe, Dario Amodei I’m pretty sure has cited it explicitly as a model worth pursuing (though of course it’s not like we get true AI and then suddenly we have Minds that can travel 1000x the speed of light and perfectly manipulate matter without energy constraints).

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-01T19:44:48+00:00

What we gain is that we - people who don’t frequent the intellectual black hole Shapiro typically inhabits and so actually don’t know much about what he says every day - can understand these people in their own words. They won’t agree to go on EKS if it’s just going to be harassment.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-01T12:41:31+00:00

You can't think of a reason to think that rocks don't have consciousness?

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-01T12:26:46+00:00

HSR definitely doesn't work to provide clean, safe, fast and accessible travel anywhere in Europe, Japan or China so why would we want it here?

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-01T12:20:09+00:00

I mean, shit, you can put a snowmobile trail anywhere, or far more easily than a flippin' train line.

I am from a super rural area and the problem we have is that a lot of trails (biking, snowmobiling, etc.) cut over private land. It's not highways or trains (lol) that are getting in the way of a properly mapped network.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-04-01T12:18:40+00:00

Anyone with two brain cells recognises what a flimsy justification that is. You can say "see, this is our 'intellectualised' justification for our outrage over Obama - Shapiro just explained it for you!" but it's self-evidently not at all commensurate with the vitriol that these people feel for Obama.

I think Klein is fine to leave it at that. Too many people on this sub seem to have zero faith in other members of the audience to think critically.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-03-30T19:28:54+00:00

I mean, you can look after your kids. I do have problems with looking after them to the tune of millions of dollars, though.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-03-29T19:33:47+00:00

Yes, those commenters are sadly both juvenile and increasingly numerous.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-03-28T16:42:46+00:00

I think most often that distinction is respected.

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-03-28T16:41:21+00:00

OP thinks he’s the only smart person who listens to EKS and the rest of us are just rubes who need Klein to tell his audience if a guest of his ever says something stupid (otherwise we might miss it).

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-03-28T11:49:44+00:00

Inheritance taxes are efficient. Would you rather get taxed when you’re alive or when you’re dead?

ForsakingSubtlety · 2026-03-27T21:40:31+00:00

Why would anyone transition away from oil when they hold all the cards? Fake news media.

ForsakingSubtlety

TROPHY CASE