I am not totally surprised about the Cesar Chavez bombshell

If you haven't heard, it's statements he committed some sort of child sexual abuse, and also adult sexual assault, including raping Dolores Huerta:

“The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to,” Huerta said in a statement published online. “The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”

Wow. 

That NBC piece and others ultimately refer to an in-depth New York Times story. 

Two other women say they were molested as girls, one of them raped, more than once. It's bad, if you've not read.

Why am I not surprised? Though not even hinting at something like this, a critical bio of Chavez written about 15 years ago, "The Crusades of Cesar Chavez," referenced his authoritarian leadership and other problems.

On Huerta, as for why not earlier? She addressed that; and of course, corporate farm owners would have exploited this, and police certainly would have.

As for why now? She's clearing the slate of life at age 95. 

As for why not later than the 1970s but earlier than now? The UFW and la familia:

A handful of Mr. Chavez’s relatives and former U.F.W. leaders have been aware for years about various allegations of sexual misconduct, but there is no evidence that they made efforts to fully investigate the accusations, acknowledge the victims or apologize to them. Instead, many of the women say they were discouraged from speaking out in order to preserve Mr. Chavez’s public image.

There you go.

Chavez has long been dead, but his legacy has to be preserved. The book is rated at under 4 stars on Goodreads, probably in part for that reason. 

That said, the NYT notes that Pawel's "Crusades" and one other bio referenced other sex issues of Chavez:

Elements of Mr. Chavez’s extramarital affairs with adult women were chronicled in at least two biographies, Matt Garcia’s “From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement,” published in 2012, and Miriam Pawel’s “The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography,” published in 2014.

And, the Times went beyond that: 

While Mr. Chavez had eight children with his wife, Helen Chavez, the Times investigation showed that he also fathered at least four children with three other women. Two of these children and other family members were interviewed and confirmed the relationship. Additionally, 23andMe match results were reviewed for the four children, and they confirmed Mr. Chavez’s biological ties in each case.

That's why it was low-rated. 

And, while Huerta's allegations have not been verified, Ana Murguia and Debra Rojas have both talked to multiple people over a period of years. 

And, reportedly, one of Huerta's kids with Chavez came from that rape of her. 

Basically, Chavez' La Paz site came off to me in Pawel's book as a quasi-Jonestown. (Chavez, when wearing the aviator shades, even looks a bit like a Hispanic Jim Jones.) The book even notes, as does Garcia's, that he borrowed tools from Synanon.

As for the fears of reaction? Yeah, with Strangeabbott officially saying the state will not observe March 31 this year as Cesar Chavez Day and he would ask next year's Lege to permanently kill it, that's why. 

Texas Progressives talk Leqaa Kordia and more

A third federal judge has ordered Leqaa Kordia released on bond. And she is FREE. Remember, Kuff and Aquino among Tex-ass "Pergressuves" probably don't even know her name. 

Off the Kuff says that if the number of primary votes cast in a Congressional district is indicative of that district's leanings, the Republicans may be in for a rude surprise in November. 

SocraticGadfly offers up a roundup of environmental news, including methane undercounts.

Lula won't allow a Trump neo-Nazi envoy to enter Brasil. 

Texas now faces its second lawsuit over excluding Islamic schools from the vouchers program. 

Neil at Houston Democracy Project posted that Houston No Kings organizers made clear they don’t work with HPD & that there are many 3/28 No Kings protests across the Houston-region. 

The Texas Observer tells of the Abilene high school librarian who fought back against Moms for Liberty.

The Current previews John Cornyn's latest attack ad against Ken Paxton.

The Barbed Wire checks in with some Asian-American business owners to see how things are going.

Deceleration would like for Stephen Miller to be the next Trump flunky to go. 

D Magazine checks in on the state of play for sports betting in Texas.

Law Dork documents the latest Justice Department atrocities.

Qahim Rashid says the Democratic Party "war" is not progressives vs moderates but youth vs gerontocracy. 

Unpacking Joe Kent's resignation

The big news, seen via The Dissident?

Joe Kent has resigned as Trump's head of counterintelligence, the guy who runs the National Counterterrorism Center. 

Several thoughts.

First,  per the Tweet/Shit on Shitter by Kent, that link above, even Looney Laura Loomer has enough brains on this one to dig up an old Shit and show him to be more than a bit of a hypocrite, arguably. Go read all the responses; it’s the old chimps eating a human face.

In the letter he does claim "Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation." He says that the US had essentially neutralized Iran since Trump's 2020 assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. Loomer calls up a September 2024 Shit of his, after the domestic assassination attempt on Trump, in which Kent says:

Iran has been after Trump since January of 2020, when he ordered the targeted killing of the terrorist Qasem Soleimani.

Dead to rights. 

Well, not totally human.

Per his Wikipedia page, Kent is kind of a political whore. If he had really had integrity and less whoredom for political office, whether elective or appointive, he would never have taken the counterterrorism job in the first place. But, he decided to whore himself out.

And, he's obviously not well-read, either. Per James Bamford, Israhell was very much behind Trump's 2016 election, and his 2020 bid for re-election, too. (And surely, 2024, though Bamford's book came out in 2023.) I'm sorry your wife was killed in an arguably stupid war — setting aside whether it was "Israel-manufactured" or not —, but you had five-plus years since then to be reflective, and you still took this job.

And, you still stayed on this job after the start of the war. (That said, contra the Blue Anon yappers, you quit before anybody quit Team Biden after Oct. 7, 2023 and his blank checks to Israel.) 

Now, in terms of the war, pivoting from him to Demented Donald? How does he spin this one? Not very well, I'm sure. 

And, our answer came in quickly. Like Demented Don's wont, it involved no pause for actual thought. 

Before we get to Trump's response, let us note Kent claimed that Trump had been duped by a "misinformation campaign." No mention of names, but we all know he's talking about Satanyahu, the person formerly known on Shitter as Netanyahu, as he did mention "high-ranking Israeli officials." I love it, and am stealing it, while also being pissed I didn't think of it myself. (But, it also includes the self-inflicted wounds mentioned above.)

Now, Demento Don:

Trump later told reporters "it’s a good thing that he’s out because he said Iran was not a threat. Every country recognized Iran was a threat."

Shock me. Actually fairly low on his bluster scale. (And, per Loony Laura Loomer, Joe Kent claimed Iran was a threat 18 months or so ago, and presumably felt the same way when taking Trump's job offer.)

Meanwhile, at Vox, Zack Beauchamp says we shouldn't align ourselves with other claims in Kent's letter to Trump, either. And, for this, you have to look at Bamford, you have to look at Kent's own background, and take this all in.

You also have to look at what came in Kent's letter after "high-ranking Israeli officials," which was:

[I]nfluential members of the American media ...

Now, that's not necessarily accusing them of being all Zionist. And, it's not antisemitic. Nonetheless, that, plus the other things I mention, lead us to Beauchamp. 

Here's Beauchamp:

In fact, Trump has been hawkish on Iran for decades. Back in the 1980s, he called for troop deployments to the country and a US-led campaign to seize control over Iranian oil. In his first term, he tore up a nuclear deal designed to prevent war and assassinated a top Iranian military leader. 

Moreover, Israeli leaders have lobbied every president in the 21st century to go to war in Iran; Trump is the only one who said yes. This suggests the key variable is less Israeli power over US foreign policy generally than the specific preference set and worldview of this president.

I think he protests a bit too much. But maybe not too too much.

Beauchamp then reminds us that we were in Syria in 2019 when Shannon Kent was killed was under President Trump.

I think a Candace Owens running with this letter is indeed antisemitic. I think that there may be some people already crafting a "framing story" for when the finale of this war indeed turns stupid. I know Kent has himself flirted with white nationalists.

But, I don't think this is all about antisemitism in Republican opposition to the war. Also, whether Kent is right or wrong on his framing, one can say that intervention in Syria was, if not "manufactured" by Israel, then at least "pushed" by it and not be antisemitic. 

Beyond that, Syria under the Assads was long seen as an ally of Iran and a conduit for Iran to work with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Beauchamp either knows that and is protesting too much, or doesn't know that and should shut up. That's rhetorical; I know he knows this. So, why is he doing something that is gaslighting, or at least halfway there? 

The Dissident, in his second piece about Kent's resignation yesterday, in large part focusing on Beauchamp, reminded us of what Seth Harp said in the must-read "The Fort Bragg Cartel": 

Washington’s efforts to overthrow Assad, who, like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Qaddafi, was an outspoken and belligerent foe of Israel, redoubled amid the Arab Spring protests. One of the most expensive CIA programs in history, a billion-dollar fiasco code-named Timber Sycamore, plowed thousands of tons of guns and ammo fresh from German and American factories into Syria. ... Chief among the Sunni extremist groups that benefited from the instability in Syria and the flood of black-market arms into the country was the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, known by the acronym ISIS.

There's that. 

Also undercutting Beauchamp? Klippenstein weighs in. Re the current war?

It is true that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agitated for war, but the Israeli military is operating more and more of one mind with the U.S. military. The two countries have shared a common war plan against Iran since the Biden administration. That level of cooperation has solidified under Trump, driven more by a true affinity and affection for the technologically and operationally sophisticated friend than anything Donald Trump (or Benjamin Netanyahu) has ordered.

There you go. He doesn't mention what Kent says on Syria, or Kent's odious personal background, but talks about larger objections to the war in both parties.

He does agree with me that this is inside baseball. On that? How Kemp phrases the letter? 

Finally, was this a smear attempt? Max Blumenthal indicates so, noting that Beauchamp was once co-president of "Brown Students for Israel," an avowedly Zionist organization:

Brown Students for Israel aims to be a big-tent community united by the belief in Israel’s right to exist as a state for the Jewish people in all or part of their ancestral homeland. By hosting Israeli cultural events, organizing political programming that reflects a range of pro-Israel perspectives, and commemorating Israeli days of significance, BSI aims to create a place for Zionists — and those curious about Zionism — to connect, celebrate, and engage with one another.

Also, Zack was an intern for Andrew Sullivan (yeah, that guy) when Sully was still at The Daily Beast. Was he forced to intern for him? Probably not. 

As for where Beauchamp stands? Per his own essay at Vox, it would be as a liberal Zionist, I think. But, even before Oct. 7, 2023, one-time liberal Zionists like Peter Beinart realized that modern Israel — and not just Bibi — had narrowed the grounds for that so much as to make it purely aspirational. Beauchamp, assuming he identifies with his essay, obviously doesn't agree, all the more so since it was written after the attacks.

Here's a good critique of his piece, and how unrealistic the idea is given current Israel, not just the middle-aged and older ruling class, but even more, younger Israelis. 

The real, real issue was raised by Beauchamp but not pursued more fully by him — the idea that Trump is an empty vessel.

This is a tool to allow MAGA loyalists, Trumptards, whatever, to maintain allegiance to Trump while calling out specific actions of him. It doesn't have to be Israel who's called out. It could next be Volodymyr Zelensky and the nation of Ukraine, if Trump asks for big new defense spending. It could be the prime minister of Denmark or the EU's Ursula von der Leyen if Trump formally agrees to take his hands off Greenland. 

In other words, you have members of a cult enabling Trump, or the idea of Trump, or the eikon or idol of Trump, because they're still afraid of Trump, and the rest of the cult. 

That said, even Klippenstein may have "bit" a little, or at least not questioned someone else advancing that same idea:

“For a Hegseth who only wants the ‘warrior’ answer, Israeli swagger and combat competence is catnip,” the officer says. 

The source adds that while Trump loves a winner, and he loves action, it is Hegseth and his “impetuousness” that pushes the relentless destroy-the-target, no-rules. no-quarter style of warfare that has unfolded.

Isn't that doing what Kent did? I mean, we all know that "impetuous" is Trump's middle name. Trump has no rules, but will give quarter if you punch back enough and others don't support him. And that's where we are right now.

Is Kent a rat deserting a sinking ship? As of March 11, 17 percent of Republicans said Trump was prioritizing Israeli interests over American ones. Per the Beeb, and other polling a day or two later, 90 percent of self-professed MAGAts were still backing the war.

I otherwise quote from the AP about the reality of what this means:

A special forces combat veteran with ties to right-wing extremists, Kent was considered as much of a loyalist as Trump could have in the government’s top counterterrorism post.

That's about right. Nobody on the left should be running Joe Kent up the flagpole and saluting him. He's a 2020 election "truther," palled around with white nationalists and is a COVID semi-denialist or worse.

Would China really buy yuan-denominationed Iranian oil?

The possibility of that is the claim by European Business Magazine, seen via The Bulwark.

A senior Iranian official has told CNN that Tehran is considering allowing a limited number of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz — but only if cargo is traded in Chinese yuan, not US dollars. The condition, if formalised, would represent the most significant challenge to the petrodollar system in its fifty-two-year history, striking at the financial architecture that underpins American global power rather than at US military assets.

Color me HIGHLY skeptical of China actually doing this. For 20 years now, it’s run like hell from any situation, event, or financial control or stipulation that would put the yuan “on the spot” as anything close to a backup global reserve currency. President Xi Jinping may be indulging the Iranians in talk but that is likely all.

It's true, per EBN, that sanctioned Russian oil is denominated in yuan when not in rubles, but that's the exception that doesn't challenge the rule.

On the other hand? This:

Since 28 February, between 11.7 and 16.5 million barrels of Iranian crude have transited the Strait to China via shadow fleet under IRGC protection while every other nation’s shipping is locked out. China pays in yuan. China’s tankers move freely. X The architecture for a parallel yuan-denominated energy corridor already exists and is already operating.

On the third hand, that's why Trump is talking about attacking Kharg Island. I doubt Xi wants directly involved in the middle of that.

In any case, EBN caveats the piece at the end by noting China's financial system isn't ready yet to fully eat this whale anyway. That said, though, if anything close to this happened? Or even if some version of the current situation continues — as we see now what the help is that Trump is begging for from Xi, and he doesn't get it? Yes, it would be the biggest dollar erosion since Vietnam and post-Vietnam inflation mingled with the US going off the gold standard.

German Greens as neo-Nazi kamerads

Per Moss Robeson on Substack?

Don’t let US and Israel Zionazis attack on Iran distract you from Germany above all, with the US and the rest of NATO continuing to coddle Ukrainian neo-Nazis of Azov and other groups. Also note the number of Germans, many of them German Greens, volunteering for service in Ukraine. 

The Munich Security Conference drew many of "the usual suspects" from outside Germany, like David Betrayus Petraeus, Chrystia "no, my Ukrainian ancestors weren't like that" Freeland and Killary Clinton, even, were there.

But, the biggie? This:

Sergei Sumlenny is a German information warrior from Russia who “fights” for Ukraine, and now the “Azov Lobby.” Like many Azov supporters in Germany, he is linked to the Green Party. Last year, Sumlenny arranged a trip to the German parliament for Valery Horishny, a neo-Nazi pagan senior sergeant in the Azov Corps who has written poetry dedicated to Adolf Hitler.

Green parties in Europe in general, as well as Elizabeth May and her one-person band of Canadian Greens, have long been in the tank for Ukraine. (Many of them have been half-squishes on Gaza, even.)

But, the German Greens? I suspect something völkish is part of what we have here. Per Horishny, neo-völkish is indeed a deal. It's usually in the far right, like the original pre-World War I movement in Germany. But, sometimes, that old horseshoe theory is indeed real.

Let's not stop there:

At 11am, a junior sergeant in the 1st Azov Corps and lieutenant from the 2nd Khartia Corps spoke with the Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany and German MP Jeanne Dillschneider (from the Green Party) about “Defining the European way of drone warfare – Lessons from Ukraine for NATO and Europe.”

So, it's official party position. 

Iran War early fallout, plus fearmongering and handwaving

The world currently produces 100 million barrels of oil per day.

Let us say that the Iran War shuts the spigots on 10 percent of that, or 10 million barrels per day.

Trump's release of 172 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve in the US, plus the International Energy Administration's announcement of 400 million barrels of release from global reserves, detailed here, is 57 days of relief. (That's if the two releases are separate; if not, 40 days.)  More on the IEA move here; if you're wondering, that would be one-third of its reserve. If Iranian damage to Gulf Arab refineries is severe enough, that won't be easily replenished. The US reserve has about 415 million barrels, per CNBC. So, this would be about 45 percent.

Is Trump still hoping he can force Iran's ruling regime to collapse? Won't happen. 

The end of the month until the US can escort tankers? That 10 million barrels of damage by Iran might be small. 

UPDATE: The actual amount of oil going through Hormuz is about 20 million barrels of day. Currently, trans-Arabia pipelines, beyond what they already carry, cannot handle more than about 6 million additional barrels at best. See here for more. 

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 "Iranian drones could strike California!" Change "Iranian" to "Japanese," "drones" to "submarines," and we're right back in 1942. Only this is surely Trump Admin rumor-mongering with even less basis in fact, targeting California cuz California.

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As for the fallout? It's more than oil prices, at least in Merikkka. How direct the connection is, I don't know, but mortgage rates are going up in Middle America. Homeowners will notice that soon after gas prices. 

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Since Sen. Mark Kelly has beat the rap on his unlawful orders comment, due to this thing called the First Amendment, does he think Trump has issued unlawful orders to start the Iran war? You're pretty quiet, Mark. Well, you did say something about how the Senate needs to return to Washington and do its duty, but you're otherwise quiet. 

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Meanwhile, the car ramming of the Dearborn synagogue? Without condoning it? Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. Blowback, even when indirect, is still blowback. Non-Zionist Jews as well as goys have been warning against this since Oct. 7, 2023.