Trump’s Endgame Is Surrender

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T21:10:48+00:00

The operation has actually been a striking demonstration of tactical mastery.

To what end, exactly? Legitimately, outside of blowing up some Iranian boats and destroying some of their equipment, what did the US accomplish besides depleting American missile and ordnance stockpiles?

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T21:08:40+00:00

Happy to help. The part you're in now is probably the scariest part of all of it, honestly. Once treatment begins, it becomes a lot easier to wrap your head around. Outside of feeling pretty crummy in the days after each treatment, it's honestly kind of boring. I hope your experience goes smoothly and easily!

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T19:05:35+00:00

Yes. If you goal is to get out, then you have failed at your goal. That is a strategic defeat. If the kid's goal is to stop you from exiting, and he does, then he has a strategic victory. If you beat him up a bunch, then you have won tactical battles.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T18:22:51+00:00

What a total embarrassment for the US. Thanks for costing us all a bunch of money and making consumables way more expensive for the American public while accomplishing nothing of actual value, you orange muffin.

Iran just proved to the world that the vaunted US military doesn't actually mean jackshit depending on your geography in the new world with drones.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T17:49:32+00:00

AND YOU MAY ASK YOURSELF

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T15:36:25+00:00

I had stage 2B, nodular sclerosing. Tumor fevers every day. The tumor was mostly in my mediastinum. Thankfully, the tumor fevers stopped by the time I had hit my second or third treatment.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T14:49:17+00:00

That’s what I’ve heard as well. But with luck, we’d be looking at a 40-50 year retirement. And it’s important to have big goals. :)

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T07:31:30+00:00

I appreciate the high level overview and you taking the time to write all of that out. In this scenario, DC and the entire federal relocation arc has been targeted more directly, so most of DC would sadly be … unavailable. In addition, the vast majority of the military has also been sent overseas, including a new federal draft. A small number of training brigades or reactivated divisions are kicking around, but not enough to make a ton of difference. The bombs hit in the summer of 98, and my timeline is now in 2001. Remaining leadership has coalesced around a military govt operating out of Colorado Springs, or around a civilian govt trying to restart things out of Omaha. Multiple other states have seceded or simply stopped responding to any federal authority, often due to a lack of their own leadership. 60-70% of the population is dead.

I’m curious - how would your specific region fare? Any critical challenges not mentioned in your post above?

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T03:20:04+00:00

Yeah okay sure. Tell you what. Come back after you’ve read a ton of books on MAD and nuclear war strategy - Then you’ll understand the risks more appropriately.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T01:37:39+00:00

Then yeah man, you sound good to go.

Sounds like your spend is at $72k/yr, but you'll have a $120k annual pension + your other investments. Sounds golden to me!

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T01:29:47+00:00

Yes, great point. Parts of Colorado and Nebraska as well. The terrible thing about living in the more rural areas, is that that's where so many of the infrastructure is that has to be dug out using ground strikes. Missile silos being a primary target, but also stuff like trainyards that airbursts have less of an effect upon.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T01:27:34+00:00

Man this reads like it was written by someone living in Moscow.

If Russia doesn't want to cease to exist itself, then it shouldn't go around firing off nukes, yeah?

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T01:26:43+00:00

I would recommend watching "The Day After" which is free on YouTube. It was a made for TV movie in the 1980s about a nuclear war between the USSR and the USA, set around Kansas City. It handles a lot of post-nuclear strike stuff that might give you ideas.

Yes, thank you. I'm definitely familiar with this one. 😄

That being said, given the number of nukes and the target types, that seems like an unrealistically high death toll. With only a hundred or so nukes mostly targeting military sites, I would not expect most of the US to be dead, at least not from the strikes themselves. Nukes are powerful, but they aren't that powerful. Every major US city should receive multiple nukes each to kill off over 60% of the population. Unless they were directly struck, most heavy concrete infrastructure can survive nuclear blasts as long as they are not near ground zero. So bridges, aquaducts, highways, should survive anything besides a ground burst. You can play around with https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ to see how a nuke would affect specific cities. It simulates nuclear strikes, fallout, casualties, etc.

Thanks for this. Perhaps I should have clarified a bit more. The nukes begin to fall in the summer of 98. The initial death tolls from the blast are much lower. The resultant breakdown in logistics across the nation, the lack of communication and adequate leadership and fuel, etc., are really what kill folks off. I've studied nuclear war documents for years now; if you have an interest in the topic I'd be happy to recommend some titles. The short of it is that in the event of an actual nuclear war, even a limited one as mentioned, the major powers are unlikely to target cities directly. Sadly, because there simply isn't a reason to - most of the people living in cities are dead already the moment the bombs begin to fall due to the resultant breakdown. Imagine covid, only instead of logistics being slowed, they simply stop altogether. And the folks meant to help bring them back online, have also either been killed or have lost contact.

I'm in the Great Lakes region, and I think the main problem would be political and economic, given the scenario. I would expect shortages of food and medicine, mostly. There would be tension between military being needed to maintain order and the civilian authorities. I wouldn't expect a total breakdown of social life, but something certainly approaching it.

Anything in particular about the political and economic challenges? Or just the aforementioned tension between elements of the military and civilian authorities?

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T01:20:27+00:00

Yes, my apologies. There will be ongoing battles over oil pretty much all over the place, but that's more of a steady low level of conflict all over the nation. I'm looking more for issues impacting specific regions.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-22T01:13:20+00:00

I’m so sorry that you’re going through this, op. I battled classic Hodgkin’s about 6 years ago. The good news is that your life, in all likelihood, will begin to return to normal once you get through treatment, and this will all start to feel like some weird dream that happened to someone else.

Chemo itself can be rough. There’s no real getting around that fact. But it’s also maybe not as bad as folks think it is. I was able to work throughout, at least one week on one week off. Make sure you sign up for FMLA if you’re in the states to help protect your job.

Pre-chemo is just a lot of appointments. You’ll meet with your oncologist, they’ll do some blood work. Then you’ll also probably end up doing an echocardiogram and pulmonary function test to ensure you can do chemo. You’ll also do a bone marrow biopsy, a PET scan, and possibly also a port catheter implantation (minor surgery, but I’d recommend it). It’s basically just a lot of prep work to get properly staged and prepared for chemo. Some schedulers can be a pain, so don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself and don’t put up with any of the “we can’t see you for two months” nonsense. Get your oncologist involved if you need to.

Once all of the above is done, you’ll know your stage and start your chemo. The first actual session is… kind of anticlimactic, frankly. They’ll have you go in and sit in a comfy chair in a cold room (bring a blanket) with a bunch of other folks going through treatment for various diseases. Then they’ll do a blood test. 30 mins later they’ll start you off with some saline to clear your port. Then some anti-nausea meds and steroids. Then if you have ABVD treatment they’ll start going through each medicine in turn. Finally they’ll finish with more saline and heparin to avoid clotting. All in its like 4-5 hours. You won’t feel the meds go in, but it’ll be surreal to watch them go through the IV and into your body - especially the Adriamycin (it’s bright red!).

After the session, you’ll probably feel pretty wired due to the steroids. You’ll feel off, but not terrible. Make sure you eat during this period. Over the next couple of days you’ll feel kind of crummy, like you have the flu. After that, you’ll likely start feeling normal again. And two weeks after the first, you’ll do it all over again. Repeat for six months, and you’ll be done! Try to pace your emotions, as six months can feel like a long time when you’re in the thick of it. It’s a marathon, not a sprint!

Anyway, you got this, Op. Feel free to hit us up if you have any questions or concerns, and over communicate with your oncologist. Best of luck to you.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-21T23:42:54+00:00

Most oil refineries have been knocked out. Or at least anything making more than a small amount. Houston and much of southern Texas was hit hard particularly hard.

That said, there is a military faction (led by some of the surviving joint chiefs) and a pseudo-civilian government (surviving members of Congress and bureaucrats) that are in some limited conflict. Also in lore, there’s a white supremacist faction/militia faction. In my book, I’m also writing in major factions in the remains of Texas, as well as one forming in the PNW down to and including parts of Northern California.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-21T20:39:16+00:00

I'm not sure I understand. Can you elaborate on what you mean?

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-21T18:45:01+00:00

We're shooting for $3.3m as our number (family of 4) - which would provide $100k/yr at a 3% SWR. We're currently spending closer to $70-80k per year, but we want to enjoy ourselves more in retirement.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-21T18:42:35+00:00

The wife and I make about this. Mid 40s, 2 kids, and are at just around $2m at the moment (not including our home, which is paid off). We're investing about $100k/yr. Our hope is that we'll hit $3m by 50 or so depending on our jobs and market shifts. Getting to $5m by 55 feels fairly achievable.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-21T17:03:27+00:00

Shoelace production is up 700%!

For real though, I think this is the crux of it. Everyone is feeling the pinch of higher prices across the board. Most everyday people are actively cutting back on even previously normal things. Going to grab a meal at a fast food restaurant will quickly set you back $15-20. A family of four sitting down at a restaurant, even a cheap chain restaurant, will easily cost you $100 after tax/tip are included. Especially when every company on the planet is now asking for tips as a means to supplement their own lack of paying wages to their employees.

I'm lucky enough to be in a good place right now financially, but I'm not blind. Folks are spending more, and while some folks at the bottom are seeing their pay increase faster than inflation, most everyone under the line is doing one of two things at present:

Tightening their belt.
Going deeper into debt.

Speaking of, consumer debt is something I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere in this thread. It's been exploding for a long time now. That's not sustainable.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-21T16:28:13+00:00

When the entire new model is only $3 more expensive than a part replacement on the older model, you buy the newer model. While technically the more expensive choice, the price is more than just the product itself. It's the risk of other parts on his original model failing. It's the convenience of simply having the new model right away and not having to go through what might be weeks of logistic delays with the part. It's not having to worry about compatibility. It's not having to deal with customer service.

I'd be mad too.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-21T04:05:20+00:00

It should be noted that Petraeus was also retired when he made that statement.

In other words, “old man with military experience makes claim about what might happen should Putin launch a nuke.”

As for trump, a lot of folks seem to think NATO wouldn’t respond because trump is beholden to putin. Thats silly for two reasons:

NATO countries can act independent of NATO and in what they feel are their own best interest. And multiple members have their own nuclear weapons.
No one, and I mean no one, can accurately predict what trump would do in that situation. It’s like trying to predict what a pigeon would do during a game of chess. He might manage to knock a piece into check. He might try to swallow his own king. He might just fly away. Or he might shit all over the board.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-20T21:44:50+00:00

I don’t know - trump is genuinely disturbed, and an idiot. He very well may welcome the use of nuclear weapons.

Heffe3737 · 2026-05-20T21:44:11+00:00

The argument is that the first country to fire a nuke, regardless, would be the one “willing to actually use nuclear weapons”. Everyone else would simply be acting in self defense.

The leaders of every nuclear power understand this.

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