How many of us grew up playing the board game, Risk? That game has the goal of global domination by controlling your military to eliminate all opponents by randomly attacking all other countries.
I’m asking because I’m wondering if anyone else thinks this administration is playing an actual board game of Risk in their War Room in an effort to figure out how to strategize taking over the world. I envision Trump and Hegseth rolling the red dice of the attacker while the defender gets to roll his limited blue dice, which were intentionally limited by the American toymaker to tilt the odds in favor of the attacker. How American. But even with that advantage, this administration has not been able to agree on a single reason or strategy for their unprovoked attack on a sovereign country, constantly contradicting one another since they sent the first missile.
Does the right hand of this administration even know what the left hand is doing? It’s obvious the right hand doesn’t even know what the right hand is doing. This administration mistakenly concentrates on operational risk, which focuses only on individual battles and tactical short-term actions. The game of Risk focuses on strategic risk, which threatens the overall outcome of the war and national survival. Hopefully, Trump and Hegseth can learn about strategic risk, and quickly before our economy blows up.
I’m also pretty sure that Trump got the idea that Greenland should be his from the game of Risk. On the game board, it’s part of North America. Surely they know the game’s not reality, right? This quote, probably incorrectly attributed to Mark Twain sums it up: “Sometimes I wonder if the world is being run by smart people putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”
R. Demilo
Arroyo Grande
This article appears in March 26 – April 2, 2026.
Not one word about Democrats, through our former Commander in Chief and Democrat, Joe Biden, providing MLRS rockets to their favorite dictator, Zylenski. Who was then firing them deep into Russian territory, inching closer to moscow. Russia is a nuclear armed nation. This is even .ore insane than unlawfully invading Iran, Iran doesn’t have nukes and can’t threaten to end all life on earth. This was no more than two years ago. I had to show my wife and stepson where a nearby concrete tunnel was they could run to if Russia decided to nuke the US for being a party to that war and providing that scumbag, Zylenski, MLRS rockets that we clandestinely operated and provided the targeting data for. We also gave the Zylenski regime roughly 350 billion dollars worth of “assistance.” Our laughable Secretary of War, Pete hegseth, wants an additional 200 billion dollars for the Iran invasion on top of a proposed 1.5 trillion dollar regular defense budget. This will all be paid for with debt which in turn will require higher interest rates and the end of social spending. Ladies and gentlemen, banks are shareholders are running this country, not politicians. Politicians are the screen they hide behind.
Our healthcare system is a joke. Social security is insolvent. Medicare is ending. We live under complete fascism and both parties are in on it. Stop blaming Trump.
I blame Trump for caving to the neocons. He ran on a platform opposing endless wars, but I guess when there are too many weapons stockpiled, they have to be used so more can be made. Even Steve Bannon-style populism would better than delusions of empire. Trump is getting his fat ass handed to him, and it will take generations if the US ever recovers.
Looks like you’ll get your wish, Mr. Fly. Russia is poised for a spring offensive and, bolstered by additional funds from increased oil prices because of the war in Iran, should overwhelm Ukraine within the next year or so. The Russians have already lost one million soldiers and guessing Mr. Putin will not blink at sacrificing another million to achieve his goal of reincarnating the Russian Empire.
The $60 billion the US sent to Ukraine will pale in comparison to the Iran war which will probably cost three times that much or more.
And if you were worried about nuclear holocaust when Biden was president, consider that Trump’s dislike for NATO and his bullying of European allies has caused Germany to spend over $100 billion on building up its military in case Russia gets ideas about the Baltic states or the Balkans or Poland. Sound familiar. Ever since the Teutonic Knights were driven out of Russia by Alexander Nevsky, the two nations have hated each other. Combine that with a nuclear France and UK and I suggest you begin building a fallout shelter.
Russia hasn’t lost one million troops, whereas your favorite thug, Zylenski, is literally snatching men and boys from cafes and throwing them in vans to immediately die at the front. That’s desperation. Russia has to turn volunteers away they have so many troops. I’d be curious to know how much of our tax money Zylenski and his clique has squirrelled away in offshore accounts. Zylenski has shut down opposition press, cancelled election, and outlawed the Russian language. He’s probably going to either fly away to a villa on the coast of France or get shot when his joke of a government gets toppled when Russians crush what’s left of his army. They’re all dead, lol. Reminds me of the fall of Saigon.
Excuse me, 1.2 million casualties, 325,000 dead. As ridiculously bad as the generals were at the start of WWII because of Stalinist purges, Putin’s generals must be the worst ever, considering most analysts believed the war would be over in two weeks after the initial invasion.
But now, of course, our president has gifted his BFF, Mr. Putin, about $7 billion in oil revenues, and counting, because of the ill defined war against Iran. I wonder if Trump was more motivated by distracting from the Epstein files or paying back Putin for helping him get elected in 2016?
And, by the way, you do realize “your favorite thug” Mr. Putin is sharing intelligence with Iran in targeting U.S. installations and service members across the Middle East.
The basic problem with Iran is actially much more simple than any board game, although solving the problem is far more difficult. It also transcends our political leadership, and afflicts us regardless of who is in office. They are trying to develop nuclear weapons, and currently have enough highly enriched uranium for roughly 10 bombs. Iran is run by an aggressive and brutal theocracy of questionable sanity which has engaged in reckless armed adventures throughout the Middle East. Do we want to allow such a group to have a weapon which can destroy entire cities? It is like giving a loaded pistol to a 2 year old having a meltdown. Our prior diplomatic efforts to stop them merely paused their efforts, allowing them to quickly resume their program, while eliminating the sanctions which provided the only non-military option to inhibit them. If we don’t effectively stop them now, when?
We have our own theocracy and 2-year-old to deal with.
And that eliminates the threat, how?
By replacing unqualified, apocalyptic-minded sycophants like Hegseth with trained professionals who can restart the heretofore successful negotiations.
We negotiated with them for 25 years. How’d that work? They just used the delay to buy time to develop their bomb. Ukraine negotiated an agreement with Russia to guarantee them territorial security in return for giving up Soviet nukes. How’d that work out for them?
Though initially opposed I now pray everyday that this air campaign, a spectacular success, by all reports, will bring the Iranian regime to its knees and they will relinquish their nuclear ambitions. I fear, however, the regime is even more entrenched with its back against the wall and that only a ground invasion will ensure such an outcome. I hope that doesn’t happen and it seems the administration is now identifying other goals that are more achievable.
That they have moved the goal posts from the original arguments for regime change and a nuclear free Iran clearly demonstrate that Mr. Trump really had no idea what he was doing in the first place. If he does choose ground troops, then my only response is to say “God bless our troops” and to go to church each day to pray that as many as possible return home.
End NATO.
Excellent observations. I agree, and have been thinking the same thing since this second term of this narcissistic socio-psychopath. The most dangerous psychological condition. That is the way DJT thinks.
We can hear him say, “Everything is mine, mine, mine;” and if he can’t have, he will destroy it, and everything in sight.
Since he had the Navy off the San Diego Coast firing live artillery rounds at California, I thought that he had just declared war on America.
Then his ICE/DHS masked terrorists in our Cities and on our Streets, like a banana republic, not America.
This regime is operating much like the the Game of Risk.
The added danger is that Trump is working for, and is the puppet of, both Putin and Netanyahu. And the latter of the two is who conned Don the con Trump into helping him start Netanyahu’s dream war in Iran.
Putin and Melania think of Trump, in KGB terms, as their “useful idiot.”
We and the Whole World have Big Trouble.
It appears these three narcissistic authoritarian dictators would like to burn the Whole World down…
Scott:
Without your generation hoovering up and locking up the wealth your parents created winning WWII, none of this would even be imaginable. Why would it? We would have factories producing things and Americans would employed. Instead, you’ve stolen our patrimony, debased the dollar, and now send our sons to die (again) in the middle east. So please, don’t tell me this is about “nukes.” Do you really think the public is that stupid? Do you enjoy paying for a trillion dollar defence budget? Do you want your grandkids to live in cardboard boxes? You know what a college degree gets you nowadays? A job at starbucks. You people are self absorbed buffoons. Any of you even been in the military? If you’re so gung ho about attacking Iran (just like Lindsey Graham), perhaps you should pick up an M-16 and go to the front line with the sons and daughters of this country’s working poor. If you aren’t willing to do that, maybe you could write a check for their college tuition. After all, that’s what many enlist for (it’s why I did). Unlike your entire generation, college isn’t free anymore. Do you not see the disparity? Your generation did this, not a political party. We, not you, are reaping what you traitors sewed.
One reason WWII started, some argue, is the amount of war reparations imposed on Germany after WWII. Germany had to print money to pay it and as such, caused hyperinflation in Germany. Desperate Germans voted for a person who promised to bring prosperity back by among other things, putting people back to work in armament factories.
America is in a similar position. Getting off the gold standard in 1971 and having exported our factories in the 80s and 90s for a quick buck, Americans were given credit cards in their stead and cheap money by debasing the dollar through running the money printer, it’s become impossible to pay off. Desperate Americans are saddled with war reparations too, class war reparations and it is the average (uneducated) American who lost. Let’s which vile character will be presented to us the next election cycle.
Factoid: The Nazi party gave out free house paint to Germans to spruce up their houses. It made them believe good times were back and the Nazi party would do it. I’m guessing we will be given $25 Amazon gift cards this time.
*Edit: war reparations after WWI.