Sanity Clause

Who says there ain't no Sanity Clause?

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

They say if you don't remember history, you're doomed to repeat it. But we do remember it. There are 24 hour documentary channels. There are museums. Even books. Remembering is not the problem.

[Political Punk @actingliketommy]

@emmma_camp_ @RachelBitecofer @WSJFreeEx I like the variety of homeless people waiting outside the grocery store, trying to get a nibble. That’s the real capitalist flourish that pushes us over the edge

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

If you give a monkey enough time, eventually he will write Shakespeare. But I think somewhere around year six billion you should consider whether writing is really his thing.

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

@BjornLomborg As land in Africa gets converted into roads, farms, and settlements, frequent, low-intensity grass fires have decreased, making global avg lower. Meanwhile, high-intensity, destructive fires are expanding across forests in North America, Europe...

[Paul 🇨🇦🍺🏌🏼‍♀️🏒🇺🇦 @Paulintoronto47]

@GaryPetersonUSA This works for me.

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

The denialist comments to Corbyn's tweet 3 years ago aged like unrefrigerated milk.
Global climate tracking from Berkeley Earth's Temperature Report and NOAA had 2023, 2024, and 2025 as the warmest years ever directly measured.
#climatechange #GreenNewDeal

[Jeremy Corbyn @jeremycorbyn]

We cannot balance the books on a planet devastated by floods, droughts and wildfires.

A Green New Deal would transform our economy, create millions of unionised green jobs and invest in the future of our children.

This is a climate emergency — we need systemic change, now.

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

@chasedownleads Coke is fine as a daily tonic for adults, but you may wish to consider an un-cola alternative during a child's formative years. #healthyKids

[Kyle Brittain @BadWeatherKyle]

"Just put the fires out!"

Ever seen a boreal wildfire? I have. I used to fight them.

When fire behaviour becomes extreme, you're not getting close to them.

The radiant heat from a crown fire is face-melting from hundreds of metres away.

All attempts at direct attack will fail, because dropping water on it becomes akin to trying to spit on a campfire...it evaporates before it even hits the flames.

Additionally, reduced visibility, high winds, and turbulence makes aerial attack hazardous.

As a wildland firefighter, I've been extracted off of wildfires twice as our fires blew up, both times having our gear burned over. We returned to find firehoses and metal melted into the ash.

I've seen fireballs launched hundreds of feet high, and fires intense enough to produce lightning, influencing the weather around them. I've seen wildfires grow to the size of a major city in a short period of time.

So no, we can't just put the fire out.

Not being able to stop such a natural process is a truly humbling feeling.

[Gary Marcus @GaryMarcus]

Imagine if i had a business that gave you $20 bills for $10 bills.

As word spread, my customer base would grow. My revenue (how many $10 bills I collected) would grow.

And I would continue to lose money.

But, man, you could make some awesome charts about how my business was taking off.

[Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine]

Corporate profits are at their highest level in modern history.

They're bleeding us dry, and unless working people take this country back they'll leave us with nothing.

[Brett Erickson @BrettErickson28]

Trump now finds himself in an entirely new situation with the War in Iran.

He doesn't hold the cards. He has no notable leverage. And he can't simply declare bankruptcy for the seventh time and move on.

And it shows.

Donald Trump is not a statesman. He is not a diplomat. And I think, in many ways, this is what endeared him initially to many of his voters. He was businessman that accumulated billions of dollars of personal wealth through casino's, real estate, television, golf courses, and a multitude of endeavors.

You can say what you will, but at the end of the day, you don't accrue a net worth well beyond a billion, or even hundreds of millions of dollars, without being "successful", so let's put that partisan argument to the side for now.

But all throughout Trump's life, he's held the upper hand. He grew up wealthy. He received significant financial assistance from his father. And he had an effectively unlimited financial safety net in the event of failure. These are not points meant to be political hits, nor are they able to be refuted. They are simply the facts. Reality.

As a result, Donald Trump always had the leverage. He was a trust fund baby. Again, this is simply the truth. It is reported that Fred Trump left his children around a billion dollars when he passed away in 1999. Trust me, if you know beyond a shadow of a doubt you are set for life regardless, you live life differently.

What this means is that Donald Trump, throughout his business career which WAS hyper-successful, never HAD to succeed. He could also walk away if a deal was not in his favor. He, by definition, always held the cards. Generational wealth.

And don't get me wrong, President Trump was savvy in his exploitation of this reality. You'd be a fool to enter a deal you didn't think was highly beneficial to you if you didn't have to make a gamble. That'd be stupid.

In every transaction, every business dealing, it was either in his favor, or he walked.

Because. He. Could.

And when business endeavors failed to pan out? Bankruptcy could be declared. Again, save me the partisan takes, Donald Trump declared bankruptcies on his businesses six times. And he was RIGHT to do so. That's the correct financial decision... but it's an off-ramp. A quick fix.

These same realities - holding all the cards, being able to walk away, having a legal escape valve - do not exist in the quagmire he finds himself in with the Iran War.

The reality facing Donald Trump is one that he has never had to navigate before. Iran does not care that he is wealthy. It's irrelevant. Trump can't simply walk away because Iran would retain control of the Strait of Hormuz and it would destroy Trump's legacy. There is no emergency "bankruptcy-equivalent" escape valve here.

Now, Donald Trump has to sit on the other side of the table at a time when the stakes are the highest they have ever been in his entire life. No training wheels. No safety net. Trump's been thrown right into the deep end with perhaps the most savvy negotiators in the world.

President Trump holds effectively zero leverage with Iran.

There is not a modicum of domestic American support for this war. It was never sold to the American people. Many see this as Israel's war that is not "putting America first". The goals and objectives have changed by the day. For this reason, alongside the unlikely chance of success in the first place, a large-scale ground invasion is not a serious suggestion being put for by anyone with an above room temperature IQ.

Iran holds insurmountable "escalation dominance". If the United States targets Iran's energy infrastructure? Iran will retaliate massively across the Gulf. GCC countries have already made it abundantly clear to Trump that they fear Iran. That they don't trust the US-bought military equipment to protect their infrastructure or civilians. Iran can cut undersea cables. Iran could close the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and further cripple maritime shipping. Anything the US can do to hurt Iran, Iran can do tenfold to hurt the global economy.

Reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force? We tried that under Operation Freedom, and it was so ridiculous and stupid that it was canceled within 48 hours. Some are suggesting we try again, but seem to entirely misunderstand reality (as they have throughout the entire conflict). What? Is the United States supposed to effectively occupy the Strait of Hormuz until the end of time? How many vessels per day would be able to navigate the Strait of Hormuz with US naval escorts? What would the costs of this be? Can we adequately protect our sailors? Why wouldn't Iran, again, utilize their escalation dominance and shut down the Bab al-Mandeb or strike Gulf infrastructure? It. Doesn't Work.

The unfortunate reality is that President Trump holds no cards. He has no meaningful leverage. His ONLY option is making concessions at the negotiating table...

Is this something Trump is even capable of navigating in the first place though? A President, one who has made perhaps the gravest mistake in the history of American foreign policy, one who has never experienced these constraints before, one who has a litany of allies ready to turn their backs on him the second he capitulates... A man who's entire legacy will not be, "Trump the Businessman", nor will it be "Trump the President". It will eternally become, "Trump the Failure".

But it's his only choice. The Iran Hawks and Israeli Lobby that surrounds him, and they do, are prepared to claw him to shreds on Fox News and Newsmax. We saw this exact situation play out just this past weekend when initial terms of a potential Memorandum of Understanding was leaked. His so called "allies" in the United States turned their back on him immediately, leaving him with almost nobody remaining. Not after the Epstein Files. Not after this Iran War debacle.

Donald Trump now finds himself in an entirely unfamiliar situation. He doesn't hold the cards. He has no escape valve. And there is no realistic scenario where he can credibly claim victory... The only path forward is the one that will permanently destroy his legacy.

But it's the only way to end this war.

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

@JackJarico @ItsEthanRay The actual fraudsters in MN got put in jail. Ellison meeting with groups under federal investigation was a huge bad decision on his part, probably ruined his future political career, but still not a conspiracy or treason.

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

@Ra72879Ras @ItsEthanRay You can’t indict AGs based simply on whether a Twitter user thinks their vocal tone feels corrupt. If Hawley had actual evidence of a conspiracy, he should pass it to a prosecutor instead of staging 5-minute fundraising sideshow

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

@tonyd_53 @ItsEthanRay The poster boards, props, "treason" hysteria were all from a hearing months ago. Hawley accomplished nothing except grandstanding.
If there was actual indictable evidence against Ellison, the Trump DOJ wouldn’t be staging committee hearings they’d be issuing arrest warrants.

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

@VerminSupreme Few things bug me more than @VerminSupreme devotees! His schtick had its 15 minutes when I was 51, but now that Trump and Musk have made real life too stupid for parody, he should change his name, trim the beard, lose the boot hat, and run for president!!!

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

The jury did not decide whether OpenAI betrayed its founding mission. It merely decided Musk was too late to yell “You betrayed our founding mission!” from inside his competing AI company.
https://t.co/2yqV11pSiW

[Donhammed Trumpistan @TheRealDon85]

If high gas prices upset you, remember it’s a small price to pay for a nuke that didn’t exist and a Strait that was already open

[Sanity Clause @maskedevangel]

@AaronRegunberg

[Prof Zenkus @anthonyzenkus]

The schools that had the most prevalent protests - including Columbia where I work - either suspended or expelled most of the students protesting Israel's genocide of Gaza. One of my former students has a 3 year (!!!) suspension.

Then, the schools enacted rules making protest nearly impossible. And the very people who pressured the schools to do this are now saying "Where are all the protests?".

Idiots.