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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026

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By all accounts the protests are smaller than in past years (way back in 2009 the opposition could draw out half a million people at a single march!) but much more violent. No real prospect of overthrowing the regime and I can't really think of an explanation for the way the protesters are acting except to conclude that they're being intentionally lured by Mossad to be slaughtered in order to bait Trump into doing their dirty work.

This seems to be Israel's preferred strategy under Trump: pick a fight you can't win alone, get people killed and then hope that Trump will stumble onto the escalation ladder and win the fight for you. Unlike some of their other decisions this one is at least rational since their domination of the American political system is unlikely to last much longer and they could well be faced with an indifferent if not hostile administration by 2029.

No real prospect of overthrowing the regime

Weird that the regime has taken the nationwide comms blackout to a new level and been gunning people down then.

I can't really think of an explanation for the way the protesters are acting except to conclude that they're being intentionally lured by Mossad

Ah yes, your inability to reason clearly about a fairly straightforward incentive structure is better explained by the Iranians being fooled by the crafty Jews.

The Iranians know the score. The regime has been in power for nearly 50 years. Nobody doesn't know the risks.

Ah yes, your inability to reason clearly about a fairly straightforward incentive structure is better explained by the Iranians being fooled by the crafty Jews.

You're being fairly uncharitable here. Mike Pompeo and the Jerusalem post have both made claims that the Mossad is involved in the protests, with Mike specifically wishing the Mossad agents marching alongside the protesters a happy new year and the Mossad explicitly sending a message in Farsi talking about how they were with the protesters and supporting them.

Weird that the regime has taken the nationwide comms blackout to a new level and been gunning people down then.

Not that weird, if they were actually on the verge of overthrowing the regime then they would be the ones seizing control of communications and gunning down the IRGC instead of the reverse.