General Discussion

though this one was one of the first that I asked as well.

Blockading makes absolutely no difference. It highlights Trump's impotence at this, since the Iranians have essentially ALREADY blockaded the Straits in the first place; they control access for ships going into and out of the Persian Gulf, they've mined the straits, and they are shooting missiles at any American military ship that gets too close. What's more - for Iran, this is territorial waters; they are defending themselves. It highlights that America has not only completely failed in its objective to keeping the Persian Gulf open, but it also has put them into a position where ships transiting are under Iranian protection, paying rates that are high but not out of line with insurance.

The only thing that it does (and that not well) is that it is a minor distraction from Melania's Epstein connections and the fact that Orban was run out of town on rails in Hungary today. I also am inclined to suspect that the Navy is going to slow walk (slow ship) their way into position - (damn, looks like engine failure, we'll have to repair it, may be down for weeks). The military brass is NOT happy with either Trump or Hegseth right now.