Twenty-two years ago, Colin Powell stood before the United Nations Security Council and sold the world a war based on lies. We watched it unfold in real-time. A respected general, this man of apparent integrity, pointing at blurry satellite images and vials of fake anthrax, making the case for an invasion that would ultimately kill hundreds of thousands and destabilize an entire region. With the unconvincing props, it was hardly a masterclass in deception; however, it was delivered with the gravitas of a statesman who was able to sell the bullshit. To some, at least.

Fast forward to June 25, 2025, and we’re treated to Marco Rubio’s bargain-basement, gravitas-deficient version of this tragic mistake.

There he stood at the NATO summit in the Netherlands, this small, pasty man puffed up with unearned confidence, declaring America’s strike on Iran had delivered a “fatal blow” to their nuclear program. His voice rising to that familiar shrill pitch we’ve come to associate with men compensating for intellectual inadequacy. The exaggerated swagger. The artificial certainty. The complete disregard for contradictory intelligence reports that had already leaked to the press. And under the watchful eye of his panicked boss, who has angrily parroted the same certainty since the announcement of the attack.

What makes this particularly infuriating isn’t just the blatant lies. This administration has been lying since day one. (The same day he promised to end the war Russia waged against Ukraine).  It’s the shameless recycling of a strategy that has already failed catastrophically. Powell’s UN presentation led to a war that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, destabilized the Middle East, cost trillions of dollars, and destroyed America’s moral standing in the world, coupled with torture at Abu Ghraib reframed as enhanced interrogation. For weapons of mass destruction that never fucking existed.

At least Powell had the decency to express regret later, calling that presentation a “blot” on his record. Rubio lacks the emotional and intellectual capacity for that kind of self-reflection. The weight of lost credibility doesn’t burden him because he never had any to begin with.

The contrast between these two men is stark and revealing. Colin Powell was a respected public figure who compromised his principles and used his hard-earned credibility and stature to sell a lie. Rubio is an obsequious farce, bitterly trading the remnants of his morality for power with the diplomatic sophistication of Conor McGregor in an Ibiza nightclub.

International nuclear experts are urging caution. Department of Defense intelligence reports contradict the claims. History screams warnings. And yet there they stood, these three fucking liars Rubio, Trump and the compromised, unqualified Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, demanding the world to trust America again on matters of war in the Middle East. It would be laughable if it weren’t so fucking dangerous. Especially since the price of believing these lies would be to lower our guard and function under a false sense of security when everything we know suggests otherwise. The only thing more dangerous than a lie dressed as truth is the fools telling it so often that they start to believe it themselves.

Rubio’s red-faced performance in the Netherlands wasn’t a failure of one man. It’s part of a systemic failure. It’s a reflection of an administration that values loyalty over competence, certainty over accuracy, political expediency over human lives and optics over truth. It’s what happens when we elect leaders who view diplomacy as weakness and nuance as indecision.

Powell’s UN presentation will forever be a stain on his legacy. A moment when a man with genuine accomplishments betrayed his principles and his country. Rubio’s NATO performance won’t even rise to the level of a shitstain. It’s just another predictable scene in an administration that treats governance like a bitchy, tawdry reality show.

History doesn’t just repeat. It degrades. It becomes more absurd, more dangerous, and more insulting to our collective intelligence with each iteration. From Powell to Rubio isn’t merely a decline in America’s credibility. It’s a collapse of the very concept that truth matters in public discourse.