Forget euphemism, Trump is using unabashed viciousness in his language against Iran

[babylonsister]

Forget euphemism, Trump is using unabashed viciousness in his language against Iran
Steven Poole
The Trump administration takes pleasure in deploying dysphemism to describe the killing of Iranians
Sat 4 Apr 2026 05.00 EDT

snip//

His favourite term is “lethality”; he loves telling the armed forces how “lethal” they are. “We are not defenders any more,” he announced gleefully. “We are warriors: trained to kill the enemy and break their will.” (It might seem excessive to break their will after killing them, but why settle for half measures?) He seemed to experience a sadistic pleasure in announcing the sinking of an Iranian warship by a US torpedo, enjoying the idea of the doomed crew’s “quiet death”.

This sort of unabashed viciousness is part of the appeal of the Maga administration for its fans, and might seem like a refreshing return to plain speaking. But you can, of course, speak plainly while lying. (“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity,” claimed George Orwell. Well, who is more insincere than Trump?) And Trump and Hegseth’s vivid wallowings in industrial ultraviolence are in reality no more honest than regular political dissembling.

After all, if your focus is on destruction as a virtue in itself, does it really matter what you blow up and who you kill? The goal, as Hegseth described it, is to “unleash” American “lethality”, not to “shackle” it, as though the US armed forces are a dangerous dog that deserves to roam free across the globe, pursuing its own savage instincts wherever it turns.

But while this maniacal, no-bullshit posturing, this chest-beating fiesta of blood and guts, takes centre stage, the real bullshit – of geopolitical miscalculation and cynical profiteering – seems to be simply swept under the carpet.

more...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/04/trump-using-dysphemism-language-against-iran

[yaesu]

1. Time for a serious intervention ? like millions of we the people showing up at the capital demanding his entire

fascist Russian backed regime dismantled and thrown in prison. Our three branches of government refuse to stop the shit show, No other advanced country on earth would let this go on this long.

Another even better option would be to do the same to the rich elite gated neighborhoods, businesses, the people behind and funding the shit show, the soft underbelly of fascism.

[spanone]

2. K&R

[malaise]

3. He and Bibi bombed another university

War criminals

[AloeVera]

4. Remember how all 16 of Gaza's universities were willfully destroyed?

One by one, with intent, most with controlled demolitions?

Same playbook?

Just who are the real "barbarians"?

[malaise]

5. Only they must have access to knowledge

This is deliberate. Kill their leaders, their scientists and their children.
Israel also bombed a hospital in Lebanon.

[David__77]

6. The irony is that through observing their crimes, people around the world ARE gaining knowledge