Iran: A Rogue Regime

Funny, that.

State of The Onion

On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, I had the distinct pleasure of being on-air with radio legend and historian, Thom Hartmann. I contacted him to discuss the vomitous, Beavis-and-Butthead, burlesque State of the Onion address by Donald “Smitty” Trump the night before. Hartmann and I share little in terms of worldview or politics; yet, our reliance on basic decency and intellect neutralizes the former to the point of being highly irrelevant. Intelligence always Trumps indoctrination and inculcation. I trust the reader will pardon the shameless pun.

And the State of The Onion wudn’t no typo.

Peeling Back The Layers

Back when students were actually taught science the first thing dissected in biology was…an onion. The lesson wasn’t about vegetables; it was about learning to see. Before you can understand life, you must understand structure. Before you can understand a society, you must understand its layers. The onion taught us that truth is rarely visible from across the room. You have to stain it, slide it, and bring it into focus. Public life today offers the opposite: everything loud, nothing clear.

Onions make you cry. Not because they are some cruel botanical Satan, but because they are the epitome of natural unmitigated honesty. They remind you that clarity sometimes stings.

Ergo, when I spoke with Mr. Hartmann (three days before the “US” launched a senseless, brutal and murderous war on Iran), I knew it was coming. In fact, I referenced Smitty’s State of The Onion Address and hearkened back to a lesson my father drilled (almost literally) into my head as a child: “Listen carefully to what a man says, but listen even more carefully to what he does not say.” Smitty Trump’s State of The Onion telegraphed what has now become a reality that will kill thousands at home, and abroad. His silence told the tale and was as subtle as a locomotive.

Here is my conversation with Mr. Hartmann:

A Rogue Regime

As I observe Amerikans being once again duped by “weapons of mass destruction” and “state sponsor of terrorism” they are, in unison, referencing a “rogue regime.” Like the onion, the same love that makes you laugh, will make you cry. Donald “Smitty” Trump has signed the death warrant for innocent people all over the world and, particularly, in the “US.” Just think about what happened in Austin, Texas last night.

Uh oh…and the alleged perpetrator is a spook that ain’t spooked by the real spooks that traded in their white pajamas with pillow cases over their heads for the Red Badge of white supremacist/inferiorist hegemonic cowardice. Same shit, different smell of a rotten onion. https://www.kxan.com/news/austin-mass-shooting/gunman-in-austin-mass-shooting-became-citizen-in-2013-had-address-in-pflugerville-in-2017/

But, as usual, I digresseth back to the rogue regime.

Iran’s literacy rate is approximately 94%–97% for young adults (15–24) as comparable to developed nations, with 99% literacy for young women. The “US” literacy rate (mind you according to its own statistics) in a recent study from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is approximately 75% of young adults (ages 16–24) that are considered literate, while 25% are classified as "functionally illiterate.” Imagine having a dollar that is only worth 75 cents…at best.

Here these people are with a 99% literacy rate for young women, while the exceptional people wail about women in hijabs and “women’s rights” as their little girls go to Epstein’s Fantasy Island. Okay, cool. If I have to wear a hijab over my head, or a white pillowcase with eyeholes cut out, to be literate instead of a fucking illiterate idiot a hijab I’ll be-a-wearing with the white pillow case on top of it; and I’m a Black dude.

Damn that rogue regime.

Iran has a universal health insurance system that covers over 90% of its population, primarily driven by the Health Transformation Plan (HTP) initiated in 2014. More than 90% of residents are covered by various health insurance funds, such as the Social Security Organization, Health Insurance, and Armed Forces Insurance. The Universal Public Health Insurance (UPHI) covers a significant portion of inpatient (up to 90%) and outpatient (around 70%) costs, including hospital stays, doctor visits, and medication. If things could be even stranger, for strangers, Iran is one of the few countries that provides public health insurance (UPHI) to refugees, offering them similar coverage to nationals.

Damn that rogue regime.

Conversely, as you know, the United States does not have a universal healthcare system, making it a significant outlier (a rogue, so to speak) unique among developed nations. Millions of Amerikans remain uninsured and that number is increasing. Tragically, the U.S. spends far more per capita on healthcare than other high-income nations yet has lower life expectancy and higher rates of treatable, avoidable deaths. Approximately 66.5% of all personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are tied to medical expenses. In contrast, medical bankruptcy is nearly non-existent in countries with universal systems.

Damn that rogue regime.

Iran “suppresses” free speech and is guilty of “human rights violations.” As is every single other “rogue regime.” Be it China, Alkebulanian nations, Cuba, Venezuela, Afghanistan or anywhere else the white boy minority isn’t running things. Always, and forevermore, by abject violence but the violence will stop. One way or another.

However, It could be saliently argued that the “US” is the world’s top human rights violator and, frankly, I’d be a potent advocate for the prosecution were such a humanistic trial be conducted. And, it will. One way or another.

The “US” human rights violations are perpetual and not limited to:

• Police Brutality and Criminal Justice: Reports indicate excessive use of force, racial profiling, and high rates of incarceration.

• Systemic Racism: Inequality in education, health, housing, and voting rights.

• Treatment of Migrants: Criticism over asylum policies and family separations at the border.

• Foreign Policy and War: Documented involvement in torture, civilian deaths from drone strikes, and providing military assistance to regimes with poor human rights records.

Damn that rogue regime.

I will, now, exercise mercy upon the reader because dolts don’t read my columns. I trust I have made my point (at least in the instant case) and I could have gone on for many days with statistics. So, I will leave thee with this.

One of my favorite movies was a 1989 film titled War of The Roses featuring Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. It is a dark tale about divorce in a wealthy family (I will refrain from explicating my Kathleen Turner issue). DeVito is the lawyer handling the divorce and he is deeply compromised on several levels. He is as jaded as anyone that handles family law.

Because of the intense stress of high-conflict caseloads, family lawyers have almost a three times higher suicide rate than others. If you read this newsletter regularly you already are looking for the subtexts, the puzzles and the innuendo. I do not do this intentionally, it just happens and that is what this publication is: LookingNWords.

In any event, at some point DeVito tells them both pertinent to the impending litigious doom they face, as their greed becomes both toxic and deadly, “There is no winning, there are only degrees of losing.”

Damn that rogue regime.

Maybe someone ought bomb the shit out of it and it’s people “rise up” for the sake of regime change.

FITFO.