Iran proposas naval bases in Syria and Yemen: now what, Mr. Trump?

Now what ya gonna do, Mr. Trump, now you ain't got Obama to guide you?  

Do ya look to Mr. Tamborine Man for answers?  

You say Russia's your friend, your only friend, and Iran's Russia's friend, it's only friend, and Iran's feeling' mighty good with you at the helm. 

 You  think you can bomb Iran, after all of Israel's military brass tell you not to?  After a Treaty is signed with Iran and us and China and Russia and England and France and Germany?  

Think hard.  It won't be as fun as campaigning.  You'll be blamed on the Right and Left whatever  you do or don't do.  Think again.  Keep on thinking 'til you channel  the inner Obama.  

Go to him now.  You can't refuse.You're invisible, you got no secrets to conceal.

Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone,
slightly emended

Can H. L. Mencken possibly has it right:

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

Thanks, Tom, for the quotation. 

 Noticed that you added "narcissist" 

to the lisst.  

"Paranoid" also 

is in the running.

Manchen died in 1956.  Since then we have had one president who staged coups against democratically-elected heads of state and we still suffer from it; a vice-president who was a crook who resigned in disgrace; a president who was a vulgar crook who resigned in disgrace,; a president who was slick as ice but was no fool.  And we survived them all.

We have not, however, had a moron in the oval office in my memory.
  Guess we'll see now what that's like.  I suspect we'll survive  it too, and maybe the better for it..  And maybe Mr. Trump'll pull it off.  

I' ain't a-holdin' my breath.

Face The Nation CBSN

AP November 26, 2016, 5:48 PM

Iran considers naval bases in Syria, Yemen 

Iranian Revolutionary Guards drive speedboats during a ceremony to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the downing of Iran Air Flight 655 by the U.S. Navy, at the port of Bandar Abbas on July 2, 2012.  ATTA KENARE/AFP/GETTYIMAGES

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran’s chief of staff of the armed forces said Saturday that Tehran may be interested in setting up naval bases in both Syria and Yemen, the semi-official Tasnim reported. 

“Maybe, at some point we will need bases on the shores of Yemen and Syria,” the report by Tasnim quoted Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri as saying.

“Having naval bases in remote distances is not less than nuclear power,” he said. “It is ten times more important and creates deterrence.” 

Gen. Bagheri added that setting up naval platforms off the shores of those countries requires “infrastructures there first.” He said Iran is also able to set up permanent platforms for military purposes in the Persian Gulf and roving ones in other places. 

Gen. Bagheri did not elaborate, but said: “When two thirds of the world’s population lives near shores and the world economy depends on the sea, we have to take measures. Though there is a need for the time for these (steps).” 

This is the first time that an Iranian military official has spoken of setting up naval bases in another country in the region. No Middle Eastern country is known to have a formal naval base in another Mideast country. 

Iran regularly sends its warships to the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy. It also conducts occasional naval maneuvers in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Iran’s warships regularly visit seaports of friendly countries, including a recent visit to the South African port of Durban. 

Iran’s Supreme Leader has repeatedly supported increasing the power of the country’s navy, last year describing the sea as the scene of “powerful confrontation with enemies” and saying the future of power is based on powerful presence in the seas. 

The country has dozens of warships and light and Kilo-class submarines. It has hundreds of speed boats too, four of which harassed a U.S. warship earlier this year.

Iran is currently helping the Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen [sic: Saudi propaganda] and the Syrian government in their fights against the extremist [sic] Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. [ISIS is no more extreme in its brutality than many another whom we call "friend.]