How to Argue with Trump Loons About Iran, plus Some Bastille Groveling
And also, why sharing is caring!
My subscription model is based on the one used by public broadcasting. I make my articles available for free, and hope you like them enough to toss me some coin.
My comment area will always remain free, too, unless I can’t manage the trolls. So far, so good. I usually delete their comments before anybody sees them, then they get the banhammer.
I don’t enjoy promoting my work. But I’ve been told by several readers that this newsletter should be enjoying a much larger subscription base, paid or free, than it does. Who am I to argue with that?
There’s a lot of variety here. There’s fiction, satire, rants, deep dives. This isn’t the usual “I hate Trump” newsletter, although I happily engage in a lot of that, too, because, well, I hate him more than all the cancer cells in the world. He is a scourge against humanity. I long for the day when I never write about that dying orange pustule of human waste ever again.
Between rants against him, I try to include periodic heavyweight articles like the one I did yesterday, which I feel is very important. It’s a long read, so it will never gain a lot of traction, but we needed to change the narrative on Iran before the war, and those of us who tried were ignored.
So I did it again with a headline that Trumpers use in their pro-war arguments, then I explain just how full of troll excrement the argument is:
The U.S. Needed to Bomb Iran Because They’ve Been Attacking Us for 47 Years!
Recently, someone in a Substack comment area made a plea to me that went something like this: “Please tell me how to handle the pro-war arguments made by people like Florida Senator Rick Scott, who says Iran has been attacking us for 47 years.”
If you haven’t read it yet, I really think you should. Bookmark it, restack it, share it.
It’s a history lesson. MAGA lives in a world of stick figures and crayons, so they’ll never read it, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be putting this stuff out there.
Last night, JD Vance stumbled out of a meeting with Iranian negotiators looking like he had just seen a ghost. Today, the conniving minstrel of malfeasance announced that the U.S. will impose a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz. We are living in a nation whose head of state has a broken brain.
The ridiculous timeline of this war is bad enough, but more people will die soon unless the idiot in the oval decides to just declare victory and move on, which is very possible.
But just know that if he does, he’ll create a new crisis that same day.
No matter what his broken brain instructs him to do about Iran, the damage is done. Europe and Canada hate us, and if you think those of us who didn’t vote for him get a pass, well, bless your hearts, but the anger is toward all of us, not just him.
So I agree with readers who say my posts should have a wider audience, but not because I’m trying to grab people’s money. I genuinely think we need to change the narrative that led us to this point.
If funds are tight, then I encourage you to hit the restack button if you like something. Restacking = information dissemination. When you restack a post, that’s almost as good as becoming a paid subscriber.
Restack, restack, restack
Thank you to those who do so regularly. You know who you are. I appreciate it more than I take time to say. The real reason we restack, though, is not to reward a writer. It’s to disseminate information.
Oh, did I show you this? I can’t remember:
I think I did. Sorry.
If you’re a social media maven, maybe grab a few of your fellow doomscrollers and get an even bigger discount (30%):
Hate subscriptions? Me, too, to be honest. There’s a solution for that, though:
Or, just restack until your finger falls off!
Here are a few things that might be worth disseminating.
This post gathered 39 different crimes Trump has committed against the American people in one place, from his rapes to his grift. Check it out. It’s appalling:
The People vs. Donald J. Trump
On behalf of all decent Americans, I am calling for a citizen’s arrest.
Did you miss my Easter vampire short story?
A Song for Vampires
Atticus hated the dust in this place. In this part of the world, the dry air was softened only by the ocean salt, but that wasn’t reaching him here. He longed for the humid air of Thessaloniki.
How about this first Ruminato movie production announcement?
Or this reminder that, sorry, folks, climate change is still killing us:
Remember When We Used to Care About Climate Change?
“The situation is so frightening it’s hard to describe. Smoke has covered the entire city. I have severe shortness of breath and burning in my eyes and throat, and many others feel the same. But people still have to go outside because they have no choice. Many places reopened today, but closed again because it’s impossible to stay outdoors.”
Sometimes I drop an excerpt from works in progress, like this alternative history novel about an African empire rising in Carolina’s Low Country:
Restive Souls Excerpt: Moriarty's Tale
This is the final sneak peek into my upcoming novel, Restive Souls, an alternative history novel about an African empire that rises in the Carolina Low Country. This excerpt will be removed in the near future. The story takes place early during the short war during the British attack on Charleston.
I also did a deep dive recently into President Krasnov:
Is Trump Intentionally Trying to Destroy the United States?
We hear stuff like this all the time in one form or another: “He’s destroying the country!”
Sometimes I put on the old software engineering hat and try to offer a primer on stuff like AI:
This Is the One to Read If You’re Feeling Really Dumb About AI
Note: I wrote this from the perspective of a software engineer (mostly retired), but I tried to keep it relatable for those who know nothing about software. If you see terminology you aren’t familiar with, hover over or click the footnote next to the offending term.
Speaking of AI, I was even a very naughty boy and used it to help me create a song about Trump. I wrote the lyrics, and Suno did the rest.
Trump Is Obsessed with AI, So I Used AI to Create a New MAGA Anthem
Many of my readers know about my objections to the use of AI in the creative field. I’m working on a longish piece about AI that is a bit more objective than my ususal diatribes, since I know some of my writing friends use AI for some of their work. It’s here to stay in one form or another, bubble or no. That should be ready in a couple of days.
There’s also occasional bits of humorous fiction, like this:
That Time God Sent a Galaxy-Sized Fireball to Earth
I’ve spent the last couple of days moving, so, luckily for me, I’ve missed most of the news. Instead of sorting through it all and then researching so I can blather on about one of the awful things you probably saw in your news feed, I wrote something that requires no real research. I’ve also been working on a longish AI article, but that’s not ready.
There’s even an origin story about my little substack hedgehog:
Princess Time Slut Visits Costco
Princess Time Slut had to travel to the future 432 times before she was declared Queen of America. But she didn’t want to be a queen, so she told the media that she insisted on remaining a princess.
For history buffs, I wrote a guide to U.S. presidents that you probably won’t see Heather Cox Richardson (who I also read every night) post:
Charles Bastille's Guide to U.S. Presidents
I love history, don’t you? Let’s have a quick rundown of all our presidents for President’s Day. But let’s start with a public admonition to all the men who refused to vote for this woman:
Fun for the whole family!
There’s something for everyone. Explore the website if you are feeling adventurous.
And most of all, thank you for reading!
Hey, did I remember to include this?
Oh, yeah, I think you did. Have a fantastic Sunday.





![[SATIRE] Ruminato Announces its First Movie Production: Ghost](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4nfk!,w_1300,h_650,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F75439dcc-1693-4ed3-bb11-f56a440283e8_1070x1500.jpeg)








The giant wood troll sculpture sent me down a rabbit hole. I didn’t find a hedgehog, but I did find Danish artist Thomas Dambo.
So many inside to read, all each better than the one before, can’t stop reading, as my laundry climbs towards the ceiling !😵💫