My heart goes out to the families of the young men and women in the armed services today. My prayers go up for the safety of our young soldiers who were just thrust into an illegal war and harm’s way at the order of a lunatic president. And my upmost sorrow and sympathy reach out to the families of our lost soldiers and the 150+ schoolgirls and staff who lost their lives as a result of our missile strike on their school. War is hell. And this war is the result of the untethered ego of Trump and Netanyahu to protect their personal interests. So how did we get here?
It took me a while, but I just finished reading Kamala Harris’ book, “107 Days” which details her campaign for president. Like Kamala and those around her, I really thought she was going to win. She was more qualified, more likable, more articulate, more decent, more educated, less selfish, and actually had a vision for the nation that would improve our economy, expand educational opportunities and healthcare, protect the environment, and stabilize our international relationships. Like everyone who fought hard for her, I was not only distraught that Americans “seemingly” decided Trump was a better choice, but I was genuinely scared for the wellbeing of our nation.
Trump had shown us that he could not be trusted and that he lacked morals, was a cruel bully, was indecent, made lying and fraud his way of life, and was essentially lawless, ignoring the Constitution. He was a convicted felon who would have been behind bars had senate Republicans convicted him and Attorney General Merrick Garland not sat on his hands for too long. All the evidence of his wrongdoing was there and yet these men in high places failed to hold one of their own accountable. And with a cowardly Republican majority, there was no mechanism to enact Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment that clearly disqualifies an insurrectionist from holding elected office. Even the Supreme Court wouldn’t allow individual states to keep him off their ballot in line with the Constitution. They decided that Congress had to do it, ignoring the reality that Congress had been usurped by a violent MAGA cult. And other Republicans refused, deciding they preferred power over country.
That left the decision to the American people and we failed. Trump won this election by only 1.5% of the vote, a very narrow win. I continue to take solace (like Kamala Harris) in the fact that two-thirds of the voting citizenry did not vote for him. However, it is the third that neglected to vote that I blame the most for putting us in this situation. I believe more Americans are decent and somewhat reasonable than are the complete degenerates or gullible folks who voted for Trump. Elections have consequences and I’m hopeful that those who now understand that their vote matters will vote this November. That said, Trump started this war in Iran (without Congressional approval), breaking yet another of his promises to his base. And for what? I really don’t know because his administration keeps changing the reasons and have been unable to deliver a coherent rationale for why they started a war with Iran.
In fact, they are so ridiculous that they are now saying that Iran started the war when they took U.S. hostages some 47 years ago in 1979. They never go further back to the fact that our CIA helped Britain overthrow Iran’s democratically elected prime minister in 1953 and returned that puppet monarch, The Shah of Iran, to power to restore outside control and profits from Iran’s oil. The Shah’s brutal authoritarian rule backed by Western powers led to the 1979 Revolution where the Shah was removed and a new government, the “Islamic Republic” was established where religious authoritarianism, hostile to Western culture, took over has been harsh for many Iranian people. Of course they blame us. Iran has been angry at us for good reason. We have meddled in and destabilized their country and did a world of damage to them. We have tried to sanction them into economic ruin. And once again, we claim to be the righteous victims who have no idea why we have enemies. They say Iran can’t have nuclear bombs because they will be a threat to the world. But aren’t we and Russian and China and every other nation that has nuclear weapons a threat to them and to the world? The problem is that we are afraid Iran will take vengeance on the nations that exploited their oil, ruined their economy with sanctions and meddled in their political affairs since 1953. Let’s not forget that Trump tore up the nuclear agreement Obama had with Iran simply because it was Obama’s agreement.
This war is a short-sighted distraction. There was no immediate threat to our homeland. The Iranians are nowhere near gaining a nuclear weapon. The haste of this war reveals the incompetence and lack of planning in its execution. Americans being stuck as bombs fall around them is what happens when you gut the State Department and rush into war. It’s no coincidence that Trump is further implicated in the Epstein files and that he wants us worried about Iran and not paying attention to his sexual crimes against young girls. We already knew he was a creepy sexual predator, but crimes against young girls might prove to be a bridge too far for his MAGA base. In large part, I believe that is what this war is about.
I pray that the war ends quickly. I pray that our troops and innocent lives are safe. I also pray that every eligible voter shows up for the midterms and votes those cowardly Republicans out of office at every level of government. A gift for our 250th anniversary would be to chart our nation on a course for greater freedom, greater democracy, and stronger institutions to safeguard against an authoritarian leader like Donald J. Trump. A man like Trump is the exact reason our nation was established in the first place.