Fallout....Political, for Sure, But Do We Need Fallout Shelters?

With no policy and no plan, dropping bombs with no declaration leaves us all compromised

We still are waiting for assessments of any sort to know what damage we did to Iran’s nuclear aspirations. It seems that we dropped a whole lot of bombs on known sites and yet we know nothing of the impact (ouch) on what it means vis-a-vis Iran’s ability to build a bomb. Even more problematic is whether Russia or North Korean might provide the Iranians with a nuclear warhead that could be used immediately. (Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev wrote after the attack that “A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads.”) Truth be told none of us know how this decision was made, but it has the earmarks of a very visceral decision on the part of Fearless Leader.

What we should all be screaming “WTF” about is with respect to the fact that the Felon pretty much created this scenario. The initial exposure of Iran’s nuclear program led to efforts, negotiations and inspections, that culminated in an international agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) under President Obama in 2015, which was led by the United States, in which Iran was permanently prohibited from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran also agreed to be subject to certain restrictions and additional monitoring indefinitely. Like many complex negotiations, nobody gets everything they want, and there was no exception here as the deal was criticized as inadequate (especially by Israel). In 2018, during his first term, the Liar in Chief terminated the JCPOA and claimed he would negotiate a better one (probably in two weeks, as he claims he can do everything, except golf, that is every weekend). He hated that the quid pro quo for the JCPOA was the release of billions of dollars to Iran that had been embargoed by the West. Needless to say, the Felon did nothing towards his promised “better deal.”

Since sometime in April of this, his second term, the Felon’s team began negotiating over Iran’s nuclear program. At the time of Israel’s attack on Iran on June 12, a sixth round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran was scheduled to begin just two days later, in Oman. So what happened? Was the US’s move on Saturday a negotiating ploy to garner more concessions at the bargaining table? My goodness, this is not a mafia movie where the heavies tell the factory owner that he either allows the union or his factory will have a terrible disaster. Could this be the model under which the twice impeached President actually proceeded?! I would make a reference to David and Goliath, but that’s a biblical reference and I am quite sure the Felon has no biblical knowledge whatsoever (don’t forget on his first go-around when questioned as to whether he had a favorite book or passage in the Bible, he simply said “I like them all”). Perhaps he might understand the concept of stirring up a hornet’s nest, but unless there is one on a golf course, I’m not sure he would get that reference either.

After Trump announced the strikes, Senator Chris Murphy posted: “I was briefed on the intelligence last week. Iran posed no imminent threat of attack to the United States. Iran was not close to building a deliverable nuclear weapon. The negotiations Israel scuttled with their strikes held the potential for success.” He added: “We know—for certain—there is a diplomatic path to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. The Obama agreement was working. And as late as a week ago, Iran was back at the table again. Which makes this attack—with all its enormous risks—so reckless.” So, if Senators are getting briefed on a seemingly workable plan, but suddenly diplomacy is cast aside in favor of a reckless act of war, where are we as a nation? Yes, we are at another road stop on the way to the authoritarian regime expressed in Project 2025.

There are Democrats, of course, but even some Republicans that have expressed concern over the Felon’s actions. But Representative Ronny Jackson, the former physician to the President, told Maria Bartiromo of the Fox News Channel that Trump did not have to notify Congress because “[w]e do not have trustworthy people in Congress especially on the left side of the aisle.” If you give information to Democrats and those Republicans who oppose the president, he said, “you might as well put the [ayatollah] on the phone as well.” That is the level of idiocy with which we must all deal. We cannot allow war to be a party line issue; the decision to take action must be done with the advise and consent authority of the Congress.

The actions taken on Saturday are creating a situation that's deeply destabilizing. Iran said it launched a military attack on an American base in Qatar, the largest U.S. military installation in the Middle East, according to a statement by the country’s armed forces. The base, which serves as the forward headquarters for the U.S. Central Command, was considered a prime potential target should Iran retaliate over American strikes on its nuclear installations over the weekend. Let’s hope that the base was on high alert and that we suffered no injuries.

Might Iran move to push its proxies in Gaza and Lebanon, for example, to increase actions against Israelis, given that the entire attack on Iran seems based on supporting Israel’s recent attacks? Might shipping lanes be shut down, slowing the flow of oil, thereby pushing the price of gas and all the related products upwards? Very likely, yes. Will the Houthis become more active? There are more questions than answers and that is the part that really frightens me. While I hope that before the first strikes were ordered that a contingency plan for all the potential fallout had been studied and systems engaged to deal with the changes wrought by the Felon, I just don’t see it. Sadly, and notwithstanding that I am a pathological optimist, this is one of those situations where even I see the glass as empty; not half full, but empty.

Back in 2011 and continuing throughout Obama’s presidency, Trump attacked Obama claiming Obama would start a war with Iran to get reelected. Then in Obama’s second term he said there would be war because Obama is not a skilled negotiator. Now, with EO’s being challenged, the Big Beautiful Boondoggle being assaulted in the Senate (chief among the assaults being the Parliamentarian cutting out huge chunks of the proposed boondoggle, as is her authority in the reconciliation procedure that the ever so sharp Republicans pushed as a means to get to a 50%, rather than 60% approval requirement), the great negotiator has elected to use war to increase his approval ratings. You see, for a man who doesn’t read and only watches television (yes, FOX News, for sure, and anywhere else that spends air time kissing the Felon’s prodigious ass) the only thing that matters is ratings.

There has been chatter about a cease fire (not to mention one of the Felon’s ALL CAPS claims) but nothing yet confirmed by Israel. Iran mentioned a cease fire with Israel but it seems rockets are still being volleyed at Israel. Perhaps Israel and Iran can find some peace, but again, when one nation has declared a holy war against another, we will just have to wait and see.

The fundamental problem before us is that Trump’s war with Iran will enable him to embrace the fear of foreign terrorism (caused by him), to claim a national emergency thereby giving him added executive power, and a war he started to further suppress dissent, narrow freedom of speech and expression, make warrantless searches and arrests of Americans, imprison opponents, and put more military onto our streets. He can supercharge the immigration enforcement to a level that makes the current assault on our Republic seem like cops writing jaywalking tickets.

We as a nation are faced with the challenge of fighting a multi-front war in our own country. We have to fight the authoritarian bent of this administration. We have to fight to protect the rule of law. We have to fight to protect free speech, assembly and religion as if the First Amendment didn’t really count. Multi front wars are almost never won, but this is a fight we must all take on and we must be organized with the voice that like Howard Beale in Network cries out "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Finally, in his closing on Saturday, the Felon had a hard time saying God; it was almost as if even he feared using the name in vain, but I’m certain he has no concept of that principle. If he had any sense of religiosity he might look to Leviticus 19:33-34 which commands that foreigners residing in the land should be treated with the same respect and love as native-born citizens. The vast majority of the undocumented people in our country are here to work, to be safe and to provide better opportunities for their families, yet this administration that seeks a Christian nation, does not heed the teaching of Jesus that emphasized treating foreigners with the same love and compassion as one would treat their neighbor or even oneself (Matthew 22:39 love your neighbor as yourself). Oh, the hypocrisy!

Get up. Stand up.