“TRUMP MAKES HIS MOVE”
When Trump made the decision to bomb Iran on Saturday evening, he told only Republican legislators, leaving the Democrats out of the process until after the bombing was done. We don’t yet know the extent of the damage, and we don’t yet know what Iran’s response will be, though I am guessing that the Iranians had contingency plans in place, which are likely being put into action as I write. We all tremble as this step for US involvement in attacking yet another Middle East country is underway. We also await the response of Russia and China.
I watched Trump’s short press statement on Saturday night, with his lackeys Vance, Hegseth and Rubio close at hand. He worked hard to project an image as the almighty leader, the one who is in control not only of the United States, but of the world as well. It is the image that he has always cultivated, the image that drove him to seek the presidency in the first place. And now, thanks to Israel’s Nazi-like approach to the Palestinians, Trump has been given the opportunity to make his mark as the leader of the world. For the time being, he has control of the United States, with the Supreme Court virtually turning him loose with its presidential immunity rulings. The Congress is exceedingly weak, with the slim Republican majority currently holding together, though Thomas Harris and even Marjorie Taylor Greene withholding support on this latest foray.
Trump has been driven to prove that his father was wrong about him, that he is not a weakling who must be sent to military school to be toughened up. I wonder if Trump has a shrine to his father in his White House bedroom, a shrine in which he counts up the evidence daily to demonstrate to his father that he is indeed the strong son. He has now made his move to show that he is invincible, that he is indeed the most powerful man in the world – the Supreme Court cannot stop him, the Congress cannot stop him, the American people cannot stop him. And now, the bad, old Iranians have felt his wrath. Meanwhile, his ICE officers now wear masks to demonstrate the powerful, unstoppable, unknowable force that can arrest U.S. Senators, City of New York Comptrollers, and whoever else might dare to get in his way.
It is a daunting situation for us in the USA who believe in peace, justice, and equity. Yet, the “No Kings” marches revealed a deeper truth: millions upon millions marched against Trump in over 1500 towns and cities across the country on June 14, while only a few thousand showed up for Trump’s birthday parade in DC. The opposition is deep and powerful to Trump and his policies, and we must be vigilant and active in expressing that opposition, pointing toward a Democratic takeover of Congress in the 2026 elections.
I’m also remembering another Republican president who attacked a country in the Middle East – the invasion of Iraq by George Bush and the “coalition of the willing” in March, 2002, because Sadaam Hussein and his buddies in Iraq had WMD’s, the weapons of mass destruction. I remember seeing President Bush land on the USS Abraham Lincoln in his aviator jacket, declaring “mission accomplished.” And, of course, no WMD’s ever found in Iraq. The war in Iraq would prove long and costly, with Barack Obama pulling most US troops out of Iraq in 2011, with no regime change, no real changes made. Iraq is now mainly controlled by militias, including some loyal to Iran.
We should note that Iran in 2025 is not Iraq in 2002, but the similarities in American arrogance in both cases is striking. None of us knows where the Saturday night massacre will lead, but right now it is both scary and sobering. The dictatorship of Donald Trump has begun – he has made his move. Currently there seem to be no forces capable of checking him, but his foray into the Middle East will prove more difficult than he or his puppets can imagine. In that unpredictability may lie our greatest hope for restoration at home. Bush was immensely popular when he invaded Iraq, but by the time that he left office, he and his Republican party were so unpopular that white people in America were willing to vote for a Black man for president. Trump is currently underwater in popularity, and I don’t think that will change any time soon. The Joker has made his move, and it is now up to us to counter that move with force, dedication, love, justice, and actions in the street. As Bob Dylan put it in the ending to his famous apocalyptic song “All Along the Watchtower”:
Outside, in the distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
The wind began to howl