What's next from and vis-a-vis Iran?

First, in the week ahead, we will find out whether President Masoud Pezeshkian or Iran's remaining top mullahs, even without an appointed successor to Grand Ayatollah and Supreme Leader Khamenei, have more control in the country, I do believe. That's in part as divisions seem to be arising between Pezeshkian and other avenues of leadership over targeting the Gulf Arab states. More on that here.

That said, Iran can target "Israel abroad," just as Israel has targeted "Iran abroad" in Hezbullah. Or the US abroad, and I don't mean US military bases in Gulf Arab states. It's done this, or tried this, all before, per the Atlantic. 

THAT said, would Trump really be dumb enough to send ground troops to Iran, after mocking Shrub Bush for Iraq, and starting the Afghanistan withdrawal process? Dumb enough or egotistical enough, he would. At a minimum, he's not ruled it out.

THAT that said, per Palestine Will Be Free, is Trump stupid enough to listen to junior grade Zionist neocons in Merikkka and the likes of Naftali Bennett, if not Bibi himself, and do something to Turkey? Speaking of, how craven will Turkish President for Life it seems Reccep Tayyip Erdogan look over the next week? 

What will NOT be next is Trump admitting any responsibility for killing at least 175 kids in a school bombing. What will also NOT be next is capitalists discontinuing betting on war. What will also also NOT be next is Trump admitting Netanyahu played him for a fool rather than him refusing to green-light an Israel-only attack. (The Dissident's Internet Archive link to a WaPost piece kept resending me to "captchas" time after time and never would load.)

Finally, in all of this, don't forget about Noam Chomsky as militarist. 

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Monday Morning additions:

First, Trump continues to show this war is as Netanyahu's lackey, saying Bibi will be in on on peace talks. 

Second, we have dueling UN resolutions as the Israeli-US lackeys among Gulf Arab states laughably expect Russia to also pick their side. 

Third, and huge, Ms. Unchristian, Karoline Leavitt, refuses to rule out a military draft. 

Fourth, with Ayatollah Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, elected to succeed him, and beyond the smears of Graeme Wood at the Atlantic (not linking) aside, it appears that President Pezeshkian has been shunted aside as far as having final say-so on attacking Gulf Arab states and that will actually ramp up.

As for Wood? Dishonest over Russia-Ukraine four years ago. When I got to the graywall-paywall on his piece about Khamenei fils, I was barfing. Nat-Sec Nutsacks™ scribe. The dood IS a member of the CFR.

Corpus Christi burns through most its water as local officials fiddle

Inside Climate News reports on how Corpus Christi may face a water emergency within months and run out of water within a year. We're going to see if the anti-environmental Proposition 4 is worth the paper it was written on, or if it's even ready to be implemented. The story notes that a full-scale version of the problem will affect refineries that make the jet fuel for Texas' airports.

How bad? Bad:

Depletion of this region’s reservoirs would lead to “controlled depression” for the local economy, “mass unemployment” and “industrial total shutdown,” according to a two-page report by Don Roach, former assistant general manager of the San Patricio Municipal Water District, which supplies many of the region’s large industrial water users.

He's not the only voice saying this. Here's the guy who used to run the port, and before that ran the port at Long Beach, California:

“The impacts are going to be felt tremendously through the state, if not internationally,” said Sean Strawbridge, former CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority, the nation’s top port for crude oil exports, in a 40-minute interview Thursday. “This should be no surprise to anybody. We were talking about this over a decade ago.”

Oh, he agrees with Roach. 

That said, per the old saying, Corpus Christi's problem is just the tip of the Texas iceberg:

“This waiting disaster is under the radar for the rest of the state,” said Roach, who worked 20 years at the water district and retired in 2014. “We hear nothing from the Texas politicians about the seriousness of the situation or any state plan to mitigate it.”

Ouch. 

Speaking of? Corpus' mayor and city manager both refused to talk to Inside Climate News. Their public information manager had an emailed statement about "five year drought" that itself refused to admit that climate change is part of that drought.

That city manager, Peter Zanoni, has been there since 2019, before the five-year drought, and apparently like an ostrich with his head in the sand, per a former city staffer:

James Dodson, a former director of Corpus Christi’s water department who retired this year as a private consultant and was involved in several of those projects, disagreed. He said residents and officials “are crazy not to be panicking.” 

“It’s the very worst scenario that I’ve ever seen,” said Dodson, who oversaw a historic expansion of Corpus Christi’s water supply in the 1990s. “It’s going to be an economic disaster.”

Speaking of the anti-environmental Prop 4? This, also from Dodson:

For years, he said, the city dismissed repeated opportunities to develop groundwater import projects as it maintained a singular and fruitless focus on desalination. That includes projects that the city only recently scrambled to get started. Dodson doubted any will materialize in time.

The story notes elsewhere that pursing desal nearly wrecked Corpus Christi financially.

It's not just the likes of Zanoni who are fiddling while Corpus burns (through its water). Over to you, Gov. Strangeabbott:

A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Andrew Mahaleris, didn’t address specific comments about an impending water catastrophe or disruption of the state economy. In an emailed statement, he said: “Corpus Christi is an important economic driver not only for Texas but also the nation. The State of Texas has made significant investments into ensuring the Corpus Christi area has the water resources it needs to serve citizens and industry alike.” He added that the governor “will continue working with the legislature to ensure Texans have a safe, reliable water supply for the next fifty years.”

You're full of shit. 

Read the whole thing. You should be getting more panicky yourself. (All of the above is just from the first half of the piece.)

The background to all of this is the city cutting blank water supply checks to the refineries, who remain immune from most emergency-declaration water throttling, whenever that might happen, and have done nothing in the way of prep on their own, like private desal plants. 

The Iran War so far — calling out both duopoly parties and the MSM

First, per Klippenstein, and contra many Democraps as well as Rethuglicans (he calls out both), it's a war.

Mondoweiss notes the lamestream media, whether calling it a war or not, is lining up as cheerleaders. It then doubled down, and said that even people who know about previous such cheerleading are shocked by how blatant it is this time.

As The Dissident notes, Iran was prepared for an attempt to force regime change by assassinating Ayatollah Khamenei and adds the likely backfiring effect in that this will increase the likelihood it builds a bomb.

Per another Klip? I said that Trump cut off both his balls, and gave one to Netanyahu and the Zionists and the other to the U.S. military version of the Deep State.  

Trump now wants to try to get Kurdish militias involved, which risks Iraq and/or Turkey attacking them. 

As for the results? Let's quote the dean of foreign policy realists, John Mearsheimer:

Remember that in the Vietnam War, the US won virtually every battle and lost the war.

Couldn't have said it better myself. 

Meanwhile, former Air Force Academy would-be flyboy Paul Skenes is a disgusting militarist. 

As for the Gulf Arab states getting attacked? As Palestine Will Be Free notes, they brought this on themselves, and Merikkka is going to hang them out to dry just as much as the Gulf Cooperation Council has hung out both Hamas and the rest of Gaza, and Abu Mazen and the rest of the West Bank, to dry. A new post there notes many of them are talking about yanking money from their sovereign wealth funds out of the US to pay for the economic damage Iran has already caused. If a quarter of what's threatened actually happens, it's recession time.

As for Merikkka's Zionist genocide enabling NATO toadies in the UK, France and Germany?

The leaders of France, Germany and the UK issued a joint statement Sunday that appeared to indicate they may get involved directly with the U.S.-Israeli war. “We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source,” they wrote. “We have agreed to work together with the US and allies in the region on this matter.“

Fuck 'em. 

That's even as Israel has now barred the Al-Aqsa Mosque, during Ramadan no less. 

Merikkkans on the street, meanwhile, are worried about high gas prices — prices that have jumped 50 cents a gallon in a matter of days. Dottering Donald the Zionist has staff, like chief of staff Susie Wiles, worried about the fallout even as they continue warmongering:

President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is telling his advisers to bring ideas to the Oval Office to lower gasoline prices in the wake of the U.S. attack on Iran, according to two energy industry executives familiar with the conversations. 

The White House is “looking under every rock for ideas on improving energy prices, especially gasoline prices,” said one of the executives, who was granted anonymity to describe internal administration discussions.

What's coming, coal gasification? The old Fischer-Tropsch process? Don't you laugh; somebody will surely mention it.

Meanwhile, per Bruce Schneier?  

Remember, both American Zionist fellators of Israel, and anti-Zionists as a caution note, if Israel can hack traffic cameras in Iran, just maybe it can do the same in Merikkka. 

Only 53 Democraps in the House voted against calling Iran the world's leading sponsor of state terrorism. ALL Rethuglicans except 3 non-voters voted yes, as did 157 Democraps.

The real answer, of course, is Merikkka is the world's leading sponsor of state terrorism. 

Update: Whether on accident or deliberately, Iran's Dena, sunk by the US sub, was taking part in a US-coordinated military exercise when it was off the coast of India. TNR notes the exercise required ships to be unarmed, so the start of the preceding sentence is purely rhetorical.

Update, March 10: Here's what might happen in days ahead. 

Texas primary initial takeaways

The first one is that polls are shit, especially as push polls in disguise. In the Democratic Senate primary, first, many late polls had Jasmine Crockett ahead, though a few tilted for James Talarico. And, Talarico won with room to spare. Said polls also showed Kenny Boy Paxton well ahead of Big John Cornyn, leading Kenny Boy to claim he could win outright. Rather, not only did he not win outright, Cornyn took a plurality.

Even worse, on the GOP side, all the most recent polls showed Sid Miller holding on to his Ag Commissioner seat vs Nate Sheets. In reality, Sheets topped him. 

The second reality is that media thin-outs continue to affect polling. The Trib's last piece on how Miller seemed to have a big lead was based on polling done before Strangeabbott, on top of all others, had endorsed Sheets. So, it was out of date. 

The third is that The Donald's coattails mean less and less. See "Miller, Sid."

The fourth is that even Strangeabbott's coattails, complete with maneuverings, aren't always so long. Look at the Dreamy Don Huffines crushing Kelly Hancock.

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Next, questions. 

Will Talarico continue his R.F. O'Rourke 2.0 strategery and go mosey to Muleshoe in the general? (Yes.)

(I do have to laugh, then call bullshit, with Shitheads on Shitter claiming "Bolsheviks and Marxists" are behind Talarico. No, they're not. But, identitarian politics is — and talking about transgender abortion needs when gender is not sex, and when you've previously claimed that Luke 1 and the Annunciation is about reproductive choice, indicates he'll double down on identitarian politics, especially when it ties to reproductive issues.)  

What will he say about Iran? Or Zionism? (As little as possible.) 

How much on board will Crockett be with any personal support? (She'll be mid.)

Cornyn or Paxton in the runoff? Does Kenny Boy finally get the kiss from The Donald? (I'd give 60-40 odds on Paxton winning, no idea on The Donald.)

Will the Trib or anybody else give any love to Greens and Libertarians in the general?

 

Texas Progressives - the rest of this week and non-primary items

Texas Progressives offer some recent news roundup insights while saluting the Iranian resistance to American imperialism, especially this Zionist-fueled portion of it. I am sure that I'm the only member of the Texas "Pergressuves" to fully oppose this war, and it's a war, Democraps as well as Rethuglicans who are lying.

As The Dissident notes, Iran was prepared for an attempt to force regime change by assassinating Ayatollah Khamenei and adds the likely backfiring effect in that this will increase the likelihood it builds a bomb. Trump now wants to try to get Kurdish militias involved, which risks Iraq and/or Turkey attacking them.

The Monthly interviews Jenny Lawson, aka "The Bloggess," whom I personally think is kind of "mid,"to use a young kids' social media word, about her latest book. 

Forest Wilder gets the Monthly up to speed in talking about Trump's truly stupid desire to run a section of border wall through Big Bend. Per my Monday roundup about primaries, Ag Commish Sid Vicious Miller is all in, of course.

The Barbed Wire takes a both serious and snarky look at White Date, a dating site that's for exactly who it sounds like it's for. 

Neil at the Houston Democracy Project said Republican Houston Councilmember Julian Ramirez left his Republican Party & himself off his list of top election security threats in Harris County.

Saraí Bejarano explains why they are fighting to protect Hispanic Serving Institutions in Texas.  

Tom Palladino and Linda Mais urge better support for caregivers.

The TSTA Blog wonders how the State Board of Education would handle the social studies curriculum standards post-Trump.

 

Texas Progressives offer pre-primary thoughts

Texas Progressives await primary election results and possible runoffs even as this leftist corner reminds you there are more than two political parties in Texas. 

Off the Kuff looks at the most recent pre-primary poll of the Democratic race for US Senate. 

SocraticGadfly asked rhetorically what HAVE Texas Republicans accomplished in the past 25 years?

Black on Black, old vs. young? The Observer dives into the 18th Congressional District primary between incumbent Al Green and Christian Menafee. Note to the Observer? I had no idea that Trump's 2025 pseudo-State of the Union happened in 2024.

Tying in with my piece Monday and his endorsements, the Observer, in "More Money than Greg," notes Abbott's massive war chest:

[I]s at this point a political clearinghouse combined with an investment firm. His campaign regularly invests donors’ contributions into U.S. Treasury notes and CDs from banks. (Yes, this is, per the state’s campaign finance laws, legal, so long as the funds are not converted for personal use.) In 2026, Abbott raised about $42 million and purchased more than $30 million in investments—mostly in T-bills. He also earned a return of over $40 million, campaign finance records show. Not bad for a public servant.

Is far far bigger than Dan Patrick's or anybody else's. The rest of the story is about the massive lack of political ethics rules and enforcement.