Unholy Week

Plus A Defense of New York Mets Announcers

Easter week in St. Louis began with me being perplexed that the fish fry season would continue on Good Friday. The Friday before easter is supposed to be a day of somber reflection and not a day for St. Louisans to gather over school cafeteria level fish and beer with their pals. On Easter a local St. Louis area church had their services interrupted by a man wearing a hoodie with the word “infidel” on it screaming profanities at churchgoers for their support of progressive causes. I’m sure the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri will be on this case as the Trump Justice Department has promised to go after those interrupting church services. After that I’m sure they’ll go after the armed men in Texas who have been standing outside of mosques seeking to intimidate worshippers.

Rest assured the President was in a more devout mood. On Easter morning he woke up, threatened Iran with great harm in a post filled with profanities, and topped it all with praising Allah. Has Trump converted to Islam? His threat to obliterate Iran not the rantings of a narcissistic old man with dictatorial impulses and a cult following? Rather, Trump is upon the dawah now and pledging to wipe out the rafidah from their Persian perch? The more likely scenario is Trump was watching old Mike Tyson fights.

My prayers are for peace between Iran and all of her neighbors in the region and against warmongers. Trump has threatened to “end Iranian civilization” this evening if they don’t comply to his demands. What this means is anyone’s guess. Committing war crimes by taking out Iranian civilian infrastructure? Nukes? We don’t know. What we do know is that Trump, Pete Hegseth, and the gang have no commitment to international law or American post-war norms. We can also now categorically say that anyone who encouraged Muslims to vote for the likes of Jill Stein is a complete idiot and should never be taken seriously again.

Iran is home to a great and historic civilization which cannot be destroyed by rogues like Trump or anyone else. That this war was ever about “liberating” Iran or in solidarity with the human-rights efforts of Iranian protesters becomes even more laughable with these threats from Trump.

I have been a critic of Iran and their negative influence on the region. Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, and others have legitimate grievances and security concerns with regards to Iran. Yet Trump and Netanyahu are offering nothing of substance in terms of achieving regional peace and stability. What Trump is promising is essentially state-collapse. What happened in Syria, Libya, and Iraq after such collapses (with Iran played a negative role in all)? Civil conflicts and the rise of ISIS. What is the track-record of US involvement? Have we left places better or worse off? I can’t think of any example of us leaving a place better off. Trump had promised to keep us out of such conflicts and when he ran for President largely did so criticizing the Iraq War and the role of George W. Bush. Americans are often immune to these negative consequences of our foreign disasters. The Real Housewives, sports, and social media will continue to consume us while regional neighbors will be flooded with refugees and security concerns that will even extend into Europe. We can obliterate Iran and only a minority of Americans would care. High gas prices, inflation. and American casualties are what Americans care about, and we may very well be headed for all three.

Trouble at Home

I’m also troubled by the hateful and violent rhetoric coming from many Iranian diaspora groups in the US. Even mild criticism of Pahlavi or the war in Iran elicits a hateful response. My friend Muhammad Ali Mojarradi has faced a constant campaign of hate and harassment for speaking out against the war. I suggest you support his free speech by buying his book on Persian poetry.

The unhinged behavior of the Los Angeles based Iranian diaspora was highlighted this week when an Iranian “model” filmed herself committing a hate crime against a man dressed in the clothing of a Shia cleric (some believe the event may have been staged). If this event was real, and not a skit, she should be prosecuted.

My suggestion for the Tehrangeles crowd is to show as much enthusiasm for joining the US military or forming a US-backed militia to actually fight, and not just post unhinged content on social media, as you do for nose jobs, cosmetic surgery, developing the “OnlyFans Chic” look, and leasing a white BMW.

St. Louis Empty

There is nothing more triggering and offensive to St. Louisans as the truth. While in town to play the Cardinals announcers for the New York Mets, including former Cardinals player Todd Zeile, remarked that the streets of downtown St. Louis were always empty. Of course, this obvious truth, outraged St. Louisans. Local commenters and media outlets said the remarks were “bizarre”. If you want to know why there is never any progress in St. Louis, its precisely this attitude. If there isn’t a game, a convention, or a special event then the streets of downtown are dead. On most blocks there is close to no pedestrian traffic. That’s not bizarre, that’s reality. The road to improvement begins with recognition of the present condition. That condition is we have a sleepy downtown and efforts at revitalization have largely failed. There is good news in some St. Louis neighborhoods, but downtown, like much of our region, is struggling. Media outlets can play dumb to make St. Louisans feel good about ourselves; but our eyes don’t lie.