When the Justice Department is used to seek Trump’s revenge rather than justice, the US is not a strong democracy.
“The Justice Department has removed the career Miami federal prosecutor leading the investigation into John Brennan, after she resisted pressure to quickly bring charges against the former CIA director and prominent critic of President Donald Trump, according to people briefed on the matter.
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The investigation into Brennan is focused on one of the president’s longest standing political grievances — the 2017 intelligence assessment that found Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help him.
Trump’s demands have taken on more urgency for the Justice Department after Trump fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi, in part because of dissatisfaction at the slow pace of cases he wants brought. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has redoubled efforts to satisfy the president’s demands as he seeks to keep the job after Bondi’s ouster.”
Thanks to the US having weaker relationships with our allies due to Trump’s bullying, and Trump’s, so far, failed war in Iran, and Trump’s failure to contain Russia or China…US military spending is going to be much higher. Trump’s attempts at saving money by getting allies to pay more has backfired.
Trump’s pressure on Mexico to fight the drug cartels, including threatening American military strikes, have been convincing Mexico to fight harder against the cartels. Whether this produces any long term success is yet to be known.
“Attorneys representing immigrants held at the “Alligator Alcatraz” detention site alleged Friday in federal court that guards beat and pepper-sprayed detainees after a protest over lost phone access — allegations they argue show state and federal officials defying a recent court order protecting detainees’ civil rights.”
ICE whistleblower claims that the massive wave of ICE recruits are not being trained properly, and Homeland Security is lying about the extent of their training.
The ships and crews that Trump is blockading are not just Iranian ships and crews. Is the US going to steal or sink foreign ships? What if Pakistani or Chinese military vessels escort their ships? Will the US start a war with these countries to enforce the blockade? Ships’ crews can lock themselves in the bridge and engine rooms, which will stop boarders from controlling the ship, what will the US do then?
Trump may have gotten the US into a trap. He left the deal Obama made with Japan, and similar ones were on the offer, but he rejected them and instead chose war. Now the US may be stuck between either a massive ground invasion of Iran or Iran as a new great power.
Big Trump supporters ignored a lot of bad things about Trump, but then when they get into fights with him, they are suddenly open to criticisms of Trump and start voicing them. They say something like ‘I just have to say the truth here’ as if they regularly do not tell the truth, which seems to be the case.
“the Strait of Hormuz hasn’t actually reopened yet — and there are serious doubts about what “reopening” means exactly (not to mention how long it might last).
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Assuming the Strait of Hormuz does fully reopen sometime soon — a big assumption given all the diplomatic challenges ahead — experts say prices at the pump still won’t plunge to their prewar level.
“There’s an old expression: Gas prices go up like a rocket and come down like a feather,” one independent oil analyst told CNN.
In the case of Iran, five factors will continue to pad the price of gas even after the end of the war.
First, oil production has largely ground to a halt across the Persian Gulf over the past six weeks — partly because the region’s oil infrastructure suffered damage and partly because countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and Saudi Arabia (the world’s largest oil exporter) ran out of storage space. An estimated 7.5 million barrels of production per day were shut down in March, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Global supply will continue to suffer while these countries play catch up — a process that could take years, experts say.
Second, exporting oil from the Gulf will get more expensive if Iran charges a toll, and that added cost — an estimated $1 per barrel, according to CNN — is likely to be passed on to consumers.
Third, insurance for ships that cross the Strait of Hormuz will likely cost more as well — another expense that could make gas and other petroleum products pricier for Americans.
Fourth, “traders will want some premium to compensate for [the] risk” that the “ceasefire breaks,” according to Zandi. That’s why oil futures are still above prewar levels through the end of 2026.
Finally, retail gas station owners set their prices based on the wholesale price of gas. When oil gets more expensive, that price goes up — but gas stations tend to accept a smaller profit margin on each gallon they sell in order to stay competitive. Then, when the cost of oil starts to fall, they typically try to even things out by hanging onto higher gas prices for as long as possible.”