Trump to Iran: You Mess with me...

...I'm gonna mess with you. 

So Trump assassinates General Qassem Soleimani (already recognized by spell check) follows that up with another strike and then rhetorically scorches the ayatollahs, warning them if they retaliate he'll hit fifty-two targets, one for each American embassy hostage. 

The usual suspects criticize, but they don't see what Trump is doing. First off, no one speaks to Tehran this way, no one. This is quite a change and we don't think the ayatollahs know how to handle it. Trump did the same thing with Kim. Second, Trump harkens back to the Iranian Hostage Crisis. This blog hates to break it to the foreign policy elites and Soleimani Sympathizers in the media, but Iran's been at war with us for 40 years. 

This bog doesn't mean to bluster. We await Iran's reaction with great fear and trepidation. Our hope is that with the Soleimani assassination, Trump has established deterrence.

Trump is handling the Iranians like a New Yorker, anyone who doesn't think foreign policy doesn't, at some point, come down to, 'What are you going to do about it?' never read a history book.

The New 20's

Ace points out that we finally 'have a decade with a name' and says we're at the end of a 20 year decade. This seems right and also seems like a common occurrence.  The first two decades of the 20th century pretty much feel the same historically, it all has the same grainy historical footage, everyone is wearing button upped collars. One can even do the trick with the 19th century. Throughout the second decade of the 19th century a founding father was president, the first five years were dominated by our relationship with Britain. Heck fashions didn't even change that much.

Ace nails the feel of the last 20 years perfectly. 'Culturally' he says the long decade begins on 9/11. From there we have war, more war, economic stagnation, cultural rift, technological wonders, the decline of film, the rise of TV drama, the death of comedy.

Over at Legal Insurrection, Leslie Eastman marks the 'Return of the Roaring 20's'. Heh. For younger reader(s), growing up in the 70's and 80's the 20's kinda sorta felt like the modern world. Thinking about our own grandfather's childhood, in the 20's he had everything we had in the 80's just less modern versions of it. Cars, movies, radios, baseball, electricity. The only thing we had that he didn't was TV. Otherwise...

Reader(s) should click on through and read the rest.

Just think Generation-X, in ten years the 20's won't refer to Flappers and Prohibition but whatever is about to happen in this decade.

Make them pay the Social Cost

America's Cold Civil War threatens to turn hot.

We've already seen several editorials arguing that it's ok to harass a Trump official at dinner.

The harassment of decent folks by hostile and deviant progs is only going to get worse. 

We've spent a lot of time thinking about how one can fight back against violent lefties without having to make a jailhouse phone call to Mrs. Stroock.

One idea, and we're stealing this from William Jacobson at Legal Insurrection, is to stop being polite.

Every conservative knows this situation. You're at some social occasion - work, formal, informal - when someone makes an unnecessary crack about Trump, or conservatives. Becuase you don't want to be a jerk or be like this jerk who just made the crack, you laugh along or just keep quiet. Don't make trouble.

Personally, our patience has run out. Time to 'Get in their faces' as Barry Soetoro used to say.

We'll use an example. Last summer we were at the Mavis Tire in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The TV in waiting room was tuned to Fox News. We weren't really paying attention. Then a woman walks in and loudly proclaims, 'Oh no, Fox News, no thankyou,' really makes a show of herself and tries to change the channel. This is lefty Virtue Signaling. At this point we said, 'What you want to put it on CNN, some of that fake news?' This woman was taken aback and stammered something about, 'Well that's your opinion.' We kept on going and said, 'Yeah, you got a fake Senator here too right? Fake Indian. Me white man, trade big wampum!' to which this woman replied, 'There's no need to be offensive.' We said, 'Whose offended? She ain't and Indian.' 

Stop being nice people. Stop being polite. Liberals have to see there is a social price for their actions.

The Amazon Cunundrum

Amazon controls the universe, mine anyway.

Every book or eBook I sell goes through Amazon.

I am also a registered vendor with Amazon, meaning that if someone buys something through one of the Amazon links on this blog I get a very small kickback.

A lot of blogs pay their operating costs via the Amazon sellers program, including one we like very much, Legal Insurrection. Well Legal Insurrection tells us that Amazon has cancelled their program with the site:

On Saturday morning, April 28, 2018, I woke up to an email in my inbox from Amazon Associates telling me our participation in the program was terminated, our account closed, that the decision was final and there was no appeal. On top of that, Amazon was holding back any accumulated money it owed us.

We strongly suggest clicking over to read about the saga in its entirety. There's really no good explanation for what Amazon has done. Basically, we think someone at Amazon decided they didn't like LI. Gee wonder how that someone voted?

For myself I really don't care about the seller program, I've made a tiny amount from it.

But the book selling aspect, well, that's my whole business model. Without Amazon I could not do what I do. Amazon has been very, very good to and for me.

If Amazon ever gets mad at me, I'm out of business and looking for a real job.