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It is because the man in charge is defective
It is because the man in charge is defective cuts to the anatomical heart of political decay. Systems fail not because their designs are inherently unsound, but because the human element—the moral and psychological quality of the one wielding authority—is corrupt. The structure magnifies the defect. A defective leader is not merely imperfect; he is misaligned with the ethical and cognitive demands of power. His judgment is warped by insecurity, vanity, or malice. He cannot d
john raymond
Oct 211 min read


Unlearning the Myth of the Last Person
The persistence of the “last person in the room” myth speaks to a deeper failure in how political observers still misunderstand President Trump. They treat him as if he were merely a narcissist buffeted by the winds of proximity—susceptible to whoever flatters or frightens him most recently. This view is comfortable because it implies that Trump is weak, easily swayed, and perhaps redeemable through better counsel. But that is wishful thinking, not analysis. Trump is not mall
john raymond
Oct 202 min read


Trump’s Escalation Against Venezuela: A Failing Attempt to Cut China-Bound Oil
The United States’ intensifying military operations against Venezuela—ostensibly a drug-interdiction campaign—have failed to achieve Trump’s true strategic objective: constraining Venezuelan oil shipments to China. My earlier assessment that President Trump would be able to use U.S. military assets to interdict or halt those flows was incorrect. The U.S. military has either refused unlawful orders to attack oil tankers directly or has not yet received such directives in execu
john raymond
Oct 164 min read


Trump Is Not Incompetent, He Is Simply More Malicious Than People Want to Believe
The argument that President Trump’s economic policies—especially his tariffs—stem from incompetence is intellectually untenable once one examines their systemic pattern and cumulative effects. Incompetence implies randomness, inconsistency, and accidental self-harm. What we observe instead is precision: a steady sequence of actions that weaken U.S. alliances, fracture supply chains, embolden adversaries, and concentrate domestic pain in precisely those sectors essential to lo
john raymond
Oct 162 min read


When It Comes to Gaza Diplomacy, Trump’s Role Is Less Important Than He Pretends
This month’s hostage releases and Gaza ceasefire illustrate a bitter truth: offering grand statements and theater is not what ends wars. Credible pressure—economic, legal, strategic—is what bends reluctant regimes. In this instance, Europe drove the coercive weight. President Trump inserted himself late, claimed credit, and left many of the hard levers untouched. The result is a spectacle of victory more than a demonstration of force. The Contrast Between Theater and Coercion
john raymond
Oct 163 min read


Power Is Cost Imposed Over Time—Rutte’s Minimization Is Strategic Error
When Mark Rutte dismisses Russian airspace violations with lines like “let’s not take the Russians too seriously,” he signals the opposite of deterrence. In war, power is the ability to do harm over time. Moscow’s pattern of probes—drones and manned jets—harms NATO’s cohesion and undermines the rules of engagement. Brushing these off reduces the perceived cost of further tests and invites more. The correct posture is to impose predictable, ratcheting costs on Russia for every
john raymond
Oct 164 min read


Paul Warburg Shows He Understands That Power Is the Ability to Do Harm over Time
A Prefatory Aside: Belarus Is Cooked. Let us dispense with preliminaries. Readers of my prior work will know that I have already written at length that the war in Ukraine will not end until Belarus —the last satellite holding Putin’s western flank together—surrenders, either politically or militarily, to the Ukrainians. Paul Warburg, to his credit, arrives at the same destination. He may differ in route, but his conclusion is identical: Belarus is cooked. The regime sits in
john raymond
Oct 163 min read


Evidence of Imminent Collapse: Trump’s Pre-Defection and the Prince Andrew Signal
The signals emerging from President Trump and Prince Andrew are not random moral stumbles or isolated PR blunders. They are structurally similar expressions of the same underlying reality: the Epstein network of elites entangled in power, money, and exploitation has entered a pre-defection phase. President Trump’s public self-absolution (“I don’t think I’m heaven-bound”) and the parallel pressure on Prince Andrew to leave the United Kingdom both function as early indicators
john raymond
Oct 133 min read


The Role of the Blue Wizards...
Understanding my job—that is the job of all Blue Wizards—is simple. It is to take the outrage of this moment and forge from it tools of renewal. The rage that so many feel today is not warrentless; it is the natural reaction of a citizenry betrayed by the oligarchic machinery that delivered us President Trump, not once but twice. The same system that hollowed out the middle class, commodified truth, and replaced civic virtue with televised spectacle now finds itself cracking
john raymond
Oct 132 min read


A Warning to Federal Agents: Just Following Orders Will Not Save You
The Trump administration is approaching terminal velocity. Political gravity—like its physical counterpart—cannot be cheated forever, even by a man as skilled in blackmail and menace as Donald Trump. The implosion is not a question of if but when . Those who have hitched their careers, consciences, and pensions to this collapsing star would be wise to take note: when it goes, it will take you with it. No uniform, badge, or clearance will protect those who break the law on be
john raymond
Oct 132 min read


The Discipline of Signal: Why NATO’s Secretary General Must Stop Chasing Headlines
Mark Rutte’s recent mockery of a disabled Russian submarine was not the act of a strategist but of a man still learning the difference between leadership and performance . His comment may have played well on television — a NATO chief quipping about a “lone and broken Russian submarine limping home” — but in the long arc of asymmetric warfare, such jabs are not strategy. They are noise. When the submarine returns to port, the episode will vanish from the news cycle, and the
john raymond
Oct 133 min read
A Resolution
A Resolution Impeaching the President of the United States and the Vice President of the United States for high crimes and misdemeanors....
john raymond
Oct 115 min read


Tomahawks? When Dealing with a Known Traitor and Liar Like Trump, Trust Actions, Not Words
In an environment of systematic deception, words lose their meaning. Promises, declarations, supposed chatter, verbal commitments—they...
john raymond
Oct 113 min read


Dear GOP Congresspeople, Quit Wringing Your Hands and Do Something
The time for polite dissent and finger-wagging press releases is over. The United States is now governed by an executive actively...
john raymond
Oct 103 min read


The End of the Useful Idiot: Chris Hayes and the Collapse of the “Nobel” Illusion
Chris Hayes declared that it was “incredibly useful” that President Trump wanted a Nobel Peace Prize. He mistook pathological vanity for...
john raymond
Oct 103 min read


Phase 0 As Option Value: What ISW Should Have Said—and Why Vexler Is Right
The only analytically coherent way to read “Phase 0” is as optionality : Russia is deliberately withholding actions that would foreclose...
john raymond
Oct 103 min read


If Swalwell Is Right, the Implications Could Be Staggering
If Representative Eric Swalwell’s warnings about an impending “Epstein bomb” are grounded in fact—not political theater—then we may be...
john raymond
Oct 93 min read


In Four Days, the U.S. Military Will Go from Disrespected to Disenfranchised
The insults came first. At Quantico, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth convened the nation’s senior officers, not to honor them, but...
john raymond
Oct 92 min read


Cognitive Dissonance: From Free Speech to the Epstein Files, Even the Dumbest MAGA Can See the Truth
Once, MAGA called itself the movement of free speech absolutists. They railed against “cancel culture,” swore to defend every voice, and...
john raymond
Oct 92 min read


The Senate Republicans Are Stupid Shit Eaters and That Isn’t a Good Thing
Pam Bondi sat before the Senate today and did what she does best—excrete partisan nonsense with a smile. It wasn’t just the stench of bad...
john raymond
Oct 72 min read
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