THIS STUFF ACTUALLY HAPPENED:
Iran war gets considerably worse. There’s one reason above all never to start a Middle East war unless you have to: Developments can easily spin well beyond your control. That’s what is happening now in the Iran war President Trump launched in February.
Iran’s allies, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, have now seized terrain allowing them to threaten and essentially block cargo shipments through the narrow strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. That has become an important alternate route for oil exports from Saudi Arabia that can’t get through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. The Houthis also attacked Saudi oil infrastructure, knocking out a pipeline that has been a major conduit for Saudi oil since it lost access to Hormuz at the start of the war. The Houthis, longtime enemies of Saudi Arabia, seem to have decided to fully join Iran’s war against most Persian Gulf energy suppliers.
This gives Iran’s radical Muslim regime more leverage over global oil supplies than it has had since the early weeks of the war. Brent crude prices, which had dipped to nearly $70 in early July, have now soared back to $108. US gasoline prices are back up to $4.30. Diesel is at a record high of $6.05. Diesel is essential to food production and shipping, and the price spike will raise costs throughout the economy. Odds are now high the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the coming week, to tamp down the inflation Trump’s war is causing.
[Check out The Weekly Matterboard: What matters and what doesn’t]
Iran and the Houthi rebels it funds may be deliberately making life miserable for Trump (and the rest of us) by squeezing oil supplies hard in the weeks before the US midterm elections, to inflict maximum election losses on Trump’s Republican party. So the squeeze could be temporary. But Iran’s leaders and their Houthi cohorts must be astonished at the amount of pain they’re able to inflict, while the leader of the world’s so-called “superpower” doesn’t seem to do anything more than troll them with goofy AI cartoons.
Trump’s election desperation. Trump is so desperate for political support that he’s trying to buy it, with your money and mine. At the Republican “midterm convention,” he floated the idea of a $5,000 payment to every American if Republicans hold control of both houses of Congress. This won’t happen, because it’s an awful idea. If you want the details, here are some good ones. As a sign of Trump’s temperament, however, this sad plea tells us Trump thinks he’s likely to lose big in November, and we should be prepared for all manner of devious scheming.
More Mommy War$. The Trump administration is planning to change a child-care subsidy program so that stay-at-home parents—read Moms—get taxpayer money for taking care of their own kids. But you would only get the money if you stay at home—not if you work. Some working Moms might be thinking, hey, I have a job, AND I ALSO TAKE CARE OF THE KIDS WHEN I’M NOT WORKING. But I wouldn’t qualify? Yes, that’s right.
This daffy idea is supposedly the brainchild of Vice President JD Vance, who is trying to make some kind of statement about old-fashioned Puritanical values. It could actually happen, without Congressional action. Back to the kitchen, ladies!
9/11, a snoozer. At the Pentagon ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001, Trump fell asleep. He does this a few times a month in public, jaw drooping, shoulders sinking, head jerking every few seconds as some damaged neuron tries to snap him out of it. The media doesn’t cover Trump’s public napping very much, but the Internet sure does.
We know Trump is old and he doesn’t get a lot of sleep at night. We’re not letting him off the hook, though. Trump is obsessed with his public image and with the atmospherics of every event he appears at. Does he know how decrepit he looks with his eyes closed and his neck jerking around? We think Trump doesn’t realize he does this, and his aides are afraid to tell him. If Democrats were smart, they’d put Sleepy Trump on every billboard in America.
[See the dramatic story of the Pentagon on 9/11]
Kimmel goes underground. ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel interviewed James Talarico, the Democrat who’s running for the Senate in Texas and has a pretty good chance of winning. But the interview didn’t air on the show itself. While broadcasting on September 9, Kimmel said the Federal Communications Commission under Trump has threatened him, the show, the network, and the network’s affiliate stations, so it didn’t seem safe to broadcast the Talarico interview. Instead, it would air on YouTube the next day.
Clever! The FCC doesn’t have jurisdiction over YouTube, since it doesn’t broadcast over the airwaves. Most people viewing late-night TV do it online, anyway, the next day or when they see clips pop up on social media. So most people watching Kimmel’s Talarico interview saw it the same as they would had it aired on ABC first.
[It’s time to revise the American Dream]
Kimmel, meanwhile, generated tons of bonus media coverage over the “banned” interview, which of course made people want to watch it more. So while dinging Trump and his lackey at the FCC, Brendan Carr, Kimmel ginned up more attention than if the segment had aired with no controversy. Kimmel’s YouTube channel promotes it as “Jimmy Kimmel’s Interview with James Talarico That the FCC Doesn’t Want You To See.” Have a look! 👇
The YouTube interview has racked up 4 million views, 375,000 likes and 25,000 comments. As a TV segment, that’s a win. Polls show Talarico with a narrow lead over Trump-backed Ken Paxton, the former state attorney general involved in a slew of controversies. If Talarico pulls out a win in deep-red Texas, it would be a momentous development for Democrats, edging them closer to control of the Senate. Keep in mind, however, that Kimmel watchers aren’t necessarily swing voters in Texas.
Enjoy a cartoon.
You can order this cartoon👆 and play cartoon-themed puzzles and word games at CartoonStock.com.