Syndrome Rules

 

A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.

--Donald J. Trump, April 7, 2026 

 

 

He really has become a 'toon, hasn't he? A mad tyrant or boy genius who got too big for his breeches, essentially the creation of paint, lighting, and gall. If we can see through the pathetic affectation of his pose, surely the Iranians can. And are laughing.

 

Also probably wondering, "Would he really do it?" -- along with some of the rest of us! It might occur to us that this time he boxed himself in so tight, delivering such dire ultimatums that can't be retracted without the great risk of looking like ... well, a 'toon.

 

If he does tonight what he promised this morning, it will be the end of him. The people of the United States are not going to tolerate it, finally -- Trump's final solution -- and the world will rise up in horror and condemnation. Arrest warrants from the World Court. That kind of thing. Talk about being boxed in! But he was never going to follow through on the threat. The threat was as empty as he is.

 

Another possibility -- and quite an attractive one for Trump, because he's a cold-blooded liar -- would be to claim some concession from the Iranians, whether one exists or not, and forestall hell on earth through some fiction that at least sounds plausible. Even MAGA true believers might heave a sigh of relief, while the liberals will all be slapping their knees and chortling "TACO!"

 

And finally, the remote possibility that the Iranians actually cave, because they haven't seen enough Hollywood endings.

Congressman Lists Addresses Where He Hopes Protesters Won't Show Up. Oops

 

Photo 828NewsNOW

 

 

Last November, Progressive activist Leslie Boyd of Asheville called for a boycott of Congressman Chuck Edwards's McDonald's restaurants because of his voting record:

“He says he stands for us, but he voted to reduce the availability of health care and food assistance for millions of Americans, including his own constituents,” Leslie Boyd said, speaking as a leader of Asheville Fights Back Network and calling for a walking picket at an Edwards McDonald's in Hendersonville. “He also voted for the torment of immigrants we’re seeing in the streets of North Carolina right now. That looks to me like he is the enemy.”

On March 31st, Boyd published on Facebook that she'd gotten a letter banning her for life from Edwards's McDonald's restaurants:

OK, this is freaking hilarious!!!!

My "representative " in Congress, Chuck Edwards, sent me a certified letter banning me from all his McDonald's restaurants.

First of all, I haven't eaten at a McDonald's in more than 25 years, so that's really no skin off my nose.

But here's the best part: He has hidden all their [McDonald's] addresses in real estate holding companies, so I couldn't figure out which ones were his.

Well, now I know, and now, so do you.

The letter:

 

Cost/Benefit for the Better Educated

 

I always have my doubts about hot-news social science research ("Being liberal extends your life!"), but this research below seems solidly based in math (econ) and matches the impression I've had after some 64 years of inhabiting various college and university campuses and hanging at numerous coffee pots to hear the gossip. So for what it's worth: 

The Postsecondary Education & Economics Research Center at American University, using research from the Yale Tobin Center for Economic Policy "found that graduate degrees in medicine, law and pharmacy generally have the highest return on investment. By contrast, degrees in popular fields such as social work, psychology, and curriculum and instruction may actually have a zero to negative return after factoring in the full cost." (WashPost)

Yikes.