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Games Nations Play
https://www.kunstler.com/ ^ | Apr 10, 2026 | James Howard Kunstler

Posted on 04/10/2026 3:58:23 PM PDT by little jeremiah

“I am sick of serving in Congress with immoral freaks who abuse their office and bring dishonor to the institution.” —Rep Anna Paulina Luna

You have entered the season of chaos. Better get used to it. The center quit holding a long time ago, and now even the margins are quivering. Buckle up and batten down. It will probably get rougher and weirder. Struggle is everywhere.

Will Iran reopen Hormuz or not? They really only have days to stop playing games with the rest of the world. It will soon be clear whether they can negotiate in good faith. It doesn’t look good. Their theology of jihad contains a permission structure for lying to their enemies to accomplish their aim: which is, to annihilate the hated infidels (that’s us).

That is the reason for this conflict, by the way. They have promised over and over again to destroy us. Why not believe them? The thousand pounds of enriched uranium is still stashed somewhere in the country. It has only one purpose, to be made into bombs, and they’re not allowed to keep it. The message is pretty simple, but they don’t seem to get it. There are probably big fissures between the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), the secular government of President Masoud Pezeshkian, and the regular army (the Artesh). Are they even able to communicate with each other? You and I don’t know, though Mr. Trump and his people might know.

I doubt that Mr. Trump wanted to drop the hammer on Iran last Tuesday, as he vowed to do. But it might eventually be necessary to turn the lights off there if they don’t stop screwing around. Does Iran have an inexhaustible supply of missiles and drones, as some observers seem to believe? I doubt it. We blew up their factories. We have the option and the ability to track down whatever they’ve got left in storage and destroy it. One way or another, we are going to end Iran’s ability to be a problem for the rest of the world.

The American Left (the Democratic Party) would like nothing better than for Iran to thumb its nose at the rest of the world (at us especially), because the American Left has launched its own sort of Jihad. It has been waging war on the rest of us in America for ten years, and you can be sure that, as springtime blossoms over the land, they intend to ramp up the action.

Expect Act One on May Day. That is the day that the Left customarily celebrates socialism. It started off decades ago as a holiday for industrial workers. There are few enough of those left in the USA these days that they constitute less than a critical mass of all American workers. They have been replaced by grifters, fraudsters, and other parasites looking to get money-for-nothing from the rest of us without working at all. That is the Democratic Party’s raison d’être. They are now strictly a racketeering operation.

The Left will stage widespread demonstrations around the country on May Day. The several No Kings demos in cold weather were rehearsals for the spring and summer fun. You can expect the May Day action to turn into riots. Antifa is still very much at the Party’s beck and call for sparking that sort of thing. The idea behind it is to provoke the president into reacting forcefully to the Left’s riots so they can brand him “a tyrant.” If May Day is insufficient to accomplish that, wait until the extravaganzas around the Fourth of July when the USA ostensibly gets to celebrate our 250th birthday as a republic.

Considering that the Republican majority in Congress was unwilling to pass an election reform bill, it is also a fairly sure thing that sometime between May Day and July Fourth the president will have to issue an executive order setting out requirements for a free and fair election: voter ID, citizens only, highly restricted and tightly regulated mail-in voting, no electronic ballot-counting machines, etc. That alone will inflame the Left, who cannot win elections without ballot fraud.

Of course, Norm Eisen, Marc Elias, Mary McCord, and the lawfare ninjas will file lawsuits to negate any executive order on election procedures, and their select federal judges will issue injunctions against it. Which will provoke Mr. Trump, in turn, to go full Abe Lincoln on them and declare an insurgency requiring extraordinary executive powers to overcome the Left’s ploys — just as Mr. Lincoln had to overcome the traitorous Confederates of his time. That will get Mr. Trump branded “a super-tyrant.”

From that point, we’re really in uncharted territory. But, it being the nation’s 250th birthday and all, a great majority of US citizens may be in no mood by then for any further pranking and punking by the Left. They will be more than eager for trials, perhaps by military tribunals if the corrupt federal judiciary proves intractable.

This is the kind of thing we have to look forward to as 2026 keeps rolling out. But meanwhile, events might get even hotter over in Euroland. The joint is primed to blow. They’ve had enough jihad, too, and enough of the retarded political leadership that allowed it to be inflicted on the people of Europe. It’s already started. Ireland is about to go up in flames, a case of the government’s utter betrayal of the people. After Ireland, cue the United Kingdom. They’ve had enough of hostile Islam and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It’s going to be a long, hot summer. They don’t call this the Fourth Turning for nothing.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Government; Iran; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: annapaulinaluna; artesh; congress; iran; irgc; jameshowardkunstler; jhk; kunstler; lawfare; marcelias; marymccord; masoudpezeshkian; normeisen; straitofhormuz; voterid
Insurrection act, here we come!
1 posted on 04/10/2026 3:58:23 PM PDT by little jeremiah
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To: MtnClimber; Carriage Hill; GOPJ; Mama Shawna; notdownwidems; The FIGHTIN Illini; JZelle; ...

Another excellent Kunstler article.


2 posted on 04/10/2026 3:59:16 PM PDT by little jeremiah (SCARE: Social Chaos And Response Emergency)
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To: little jeremiah

Break out the water cannons! Ones with dyes with a 3 day life.


3 posted on 04/10/2026 4:47:14 PM PDT by golf lover (goingf)
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To: little jeremiah

Short version of this article, No, Iran cannot deal in good faith. Anything they say is either a lie, they will not keep their word if it does not suit them best.


4 posted on 04/10/2026 5:01:25 PM PDT by b4me (Pray, and let God change you. He knows better than you or anyone else, who He made you to be.)
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To: b4me

>they will not keep their word if it does not suit them best.

Personally I don’t think the fanatics would let them keep their word even if whomever is nominally in charge completely understood how Iran would benefit.

Besides the fanatics the PRC is/has always been in a cold war with us and having a ‘hot’ arm in Iran is a must-have for them. Not only do the oil and weapons flow back and forth but IRGC leaders know that if they make nice for real with the Americans the Chinese will make their displeasure known.

The ‘right’ and left media make much about the midterms but guess what? Good bad or indifferent after November Trump has two years. I, in his place, would be much less interested in chasing an April poll result than in doing what needs doing and can’t be done next year or in 2028.


5 posted on 04/10/2026 5:56:13 PM PDT by No.6
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To: little jeremiah

Iran will not behave. They never have.


6 posted on 04/10/2026 6:18:28 PM PDT by FlyingEagle
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To: sauropod

Bkmk


7 posted on 04/10/2026 6:37:55 PM PDT by sauropod
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To: b4me

The Iranian Muslim fantaical “Leaders” need to be removed (from the planet). Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah, has said he would be willing to step in and straighten things out for a year or two, and then elections. I read a general in the military supports him, and Iranian people have been chanting his name. They want him.


8 posted on 04/10/2026 8:23:45 PM PDT by little jeremiah (SCARE: Social Chaos And Response Emergency)
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To: FlyingEagle

Not since the Muslim fanatics took over 47 years ago. Iranians are not historically Muslim.


9 posted on 04/10/2026 8:24:26 PM PDT by little jeremiah (SCARE: Social Chaos And Response Emergency)
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To: little jeremiah
Insurrection act, here we come!


10 posted on 04/10/2026 9:29:43 PM PDT by MacNaughton
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To: MacNaughton

I keep this handy in documents on my computer, it’s very cheering! Not all the parts apply, but I’m sure in the not too distant future some definitely will.

https://policy.defense.gov/portals/11/documents/hdasa/references/insurrection_act.pdf

Insurrection Act
10 U.S.C. §§ 331-335

Sec. 331. Federal aid for State governments
Whenever there is an insurrections in any State against its government, the President
may, upon the request of its legislature or of its governor if the legislature cannot be
convened, call into Federal service such of the militia of the other States, in the number
requested by that State, and use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to
suppress the insurrection.

Sec. 332. Use of militia and armed forces to enforce Federal authority
Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations, or
assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States, make it impracticable
to enforce the laws of the United States in any State by the ordinary course of judicial
proceedings, he may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and use
such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those laws or to suppress
the rebellion.

Sec. 333. Interference with State and Federal law
The President, by using the militia or the armed forces, or both, or by any other means,
shall take such measures as he considers necessary to suppress, in a State, any
insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy, if it—

(1) so hinders the execution of the laws of that State, and of the United States
within the State, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege,
immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the
constituted authorities of that State are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right,
privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or

(2) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes
the course of justice under those laws.
In any situation covered by clause (1), the State shall be considered to have denied the
equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution.

Sec. 334. Proclamation to disperse
Whenever the President considers it necessary to use the militia or the armed forces under
this chapter, he shall, by proclamation, immediately order the insurgents or those
obstructing the enforcement of the laws to disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes
within a limited time.

And I like these as well:

https://law.justia.com/codes/us/1999/title18/parti/chap115/sec2383
SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES
Sec. 2383 - Rebellion or insurrection
§2383. Rebellion or insurrection
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.


11 posted on 04/11/2026 1:22:09 PM PDT by little jeremiah (SCARE: Social Chaos And Response Emergency)
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To: little jeremiah

Thanks for sharing that. Of course, given what we have seen from federal district judges over the past 5+ years, lawfare has become the new legal standard. This sesquicentennial year could become verrrry interesting, i.e., No-Kings + BLM + AntiFa + CAIR acting out. Prayers up!


12 posted on 04/11/2026 8:07:44 PM PDT by MacNaughton
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To: MacNaughton

I just LOVE reading the Insurrection Act.


13 posted on 04/11/2026 8:17:57 PM PDT by little jeremiah (SCARE: Social Chaos And Response Emergency)
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To: little jeremiah


4/19/1775 - Lexington Green, Lexington, MA -- memorial to Capt. John Parker, Lexington Company, Massachusetts Militia


1874: "The Minute Man" by Daniel Chester French, located in Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, MA.
That's the 1st stanza of "Concord Hymn" engraved on the pedestal of “The Minutemen” near the bridge at Concord.
4/19/1838: “Concord Hymn”, by Ralph Waldo Emerson
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.


14 posted on 04/11/2026 9:17:30 PM PDT by MacNaughton
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To: little jeremiah

15 posted on 04/11/2026 9:21:55 PM PDT by MacNaughton
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