If you want to be scared (it is almost Halloween after all), then simply Google the National Debt Clock. Here’s the link:

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

There are several ways to look at this clock, and all you have to do is focus on the various debts that are shown. One of my favorites in the “Waste, Fraud and Abuse” Clock. It shows a current number (although the number changes every second) of almost $268 Billion.

Another one of my favorites is the clock that shows the deficit for the current year. This deficit shows the total amount spent by Congress and the total revenues received by the IRS up to the current moment. That number is riding at a little over a cool $2 Trillion.

However, my favorite numbers are the total National Debt and its relation to our country’s total Gross Domestic Product. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the value of the final goods and services produced in the United States. That means EVERYTHING that America churns out in one year. It does not include imports, just what we make.

That number sits a little under $33 Trillion. Our total Federal Debt exceeds $40 Trillion. What this means is that our Federal Debt is 123 % of our GDP.

Therefore, if every penny of all the goods and services produced in America were used to pay down the Federal Debt, we would still owe over $7 Trillion.

Bear in mind, that in 1946, after the defeat of Germany and Japan in World War Two, the Federal Debt was 106 % of the nation’s GDP. Destroying fascism was certainly worth incurring such debt. By the way, that 106 % shrank to 23 % by 1974, and that despite our war in Vietnam.

As ludicrous as it seems, our current president wants to add another $1.4 Trillion to our debt by promising to send $5,000.00 to every American adult, but only if the Republicans control both houses of congress in the mid-term elections. Is he buying votes? Probably, but the real mind-boggler is the patent disregard for the untenable debt that he (and Congress) are heaping upon future generations of Americans.

This is not just a fiscal problem, but a national security one. When that first domino falls, the chain reaction in our country and the reverberations around the globe will be tsunamic.

The Elephant in the Room. He is there no matter how much we pretend he is not. He is just waiting to lift a front foot and stomp on the fiscal heart of America. No amount of CPR will save our ailing country. We will go from GPD to DOA.

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His latest man crush on Vladimir Putin is senseless and a betrayal of our support for Ukraine and Europe on the whole.

Besides agreeing to buy billions of diesel fuel from Russia (to help lower prices here, a specious argument), Mr. Trump has denuded the Lindsay Graham sanctions bill that was passed with overwhelming bi-partisan support in Congress.

With a stroke of the pen, according to the Wall Street Journal, Trump has waived “…new sanctions on Russian political and military officials, government entities, financial institutions, the energy industry and the shadow fleet Moscow uses for sanctions evasion and other nefarious purposes.”

Now we hear rumblings about a tri-partite meeting next month between Trump, Putin and China’s President Xi to negotiate an end to the war. Conspicuously missing on the dance card is Mr. Zelensky, who has been harping about US curbing Ukraine’s ability to use Musk’s Starshield satellite service in its war against Russia.

At the same time, Trump called for a cease fire on bombing each country’s energy infrastructure, only to see Putin launch the biggest attack on Ukraine’s energy site, and yet somehow blame Zelensky.

Meanwhile, little Marco and J.D Vance keep carrying the water bucket for these insane policy decisions.

Listening to the Five Day Wonder Press secretary (another blond babe) in her first press conference would have made Joseph Goebbels proud. Her list of how wonderful the Ship of State was, thanks to “The Donald”, smacked of authoritarian propaganda. It was a list of “Big Lies” with an apparent belief that the man behind the curtain had not been discovered.

Where this will all end is anybody’s guess, but I think it’s safe to say, nowhere good for America or its allies. Imagine if FDR had met with Hitler while Winston Churchill was urging Britons to fight for their very existence as the Nazi Luftwaffe mercilessly bombed London.

Indeed, it is time to get serious about Mr. Trump’s cognition. Is he merely a psychopathic narcissist, or something even more sinister?

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It is extremely unlikely that the war with Iran will end right after the midterms as President Trump has promised. The Iranians have made it very clear that they will not be bullied. Assuming they remain steadfast in their position of not giving up their nuclear program, then unless Mr. Trump capitulates, this war will likely continue, and the oil crisis will not abate.

So what are we New Englanders supposed to do in this coming winter? A friend of mine told me he just had 200 gallons of home heating oil delivered, and it cost him $900.00.

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I fear that many Americans in the northern parts of the country will be left with very hard decisions between food and shelter. I don’t think this is the “golden age” we were promised.

I don’t want to get into the blame game here. I just want to point out that it’s going to be a very difficult winter for many of my fellow Americans. Perhaps the strong El Nino will help, but that doesn’t bode well for many parts of the country.

Seems to me that most of my fellow Americans have been left behind while a select few are reaping massive profits and wealth accumulation. When that wealth accumulation is centered around Washington D.C. and the moguls who patronize our politicians, it’s very easy to become disillusioned and angry.

To paraphrase Marie Antoinette, “Let them burn their furniture”.

Let’s see. $5,000.00 to every adult American (citizens only or resident aliens as well?) would cost about $1Trillion. Since only Congress can raise revenues, Trump’s pledge is pretty hollow since there is no way Congress would ever approve such a plan.

Like so many of Trump’s ideas, this one is simple hucksterism, something that Trump is shamelessly adept at. But for the stupidity and gullibility of the average American, he ideas would be laughed out of town.

To sweeten the pot, Trump says that the money would have to be spent in the US. I have no idea how such a restriction could be enforcd, but Trump never deals with reality details.

Even sillier is Trump’s suggestion that the funds could come from tariffs. You know, that illegal tax that Trump tried to enforce until the Supreme Court told him he had no authority to do so.

Is it time to start an inquiry into Trump’s mental competence?

He’s also telling the people that the war in Iran will be over right after the mid-term elections. This statement is patently absurd and frankly outrageous.

Can America withstand two more years of Mr. Bluster? (he makes George Steinbrenner look like the Dali Lama). How far we have fallen in our choices for the Leader of the Free World. Not only are we to be concerned, but our western allies as well may start looking for somewhere else in which to place their faith and security.

The Cold War may have ended in 1989, but the prospects of a Hot War are ramping up.

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Well, we all know that these tariffs have raised the price of imported goods, especially from China. Tariffs get paid to the US government. The idea was to reduce the amount of goods exported by China to the US. Trump even suggested his tariffs would render mute our income taxes.

Seems like this plan, like so many of Mr. Trump’s endeavors, has backfired.

Through Augsut of this year, China has a trade surplus of $805 Billion. At this pace, it will at least equal the $1.2 Trillion trade surplus that it attained in 2025.

What’s more, China realized a 130% increase in its export of semi-conductor chips in August, attributed to the frenzied AI market demand.

Most disturbing is the 34.3% increase of Chinese exports TO AMERICA, despite an average tariff rate of 23% on Chinese goods. That 23% is more than three times the tariff rate of other major trading partners.

Coupling this bad development is the disastrous war with Iran, and its depletion of US armaments and soaring fuel costs, which trickle through the entire supply chain causing resistant inflation.

The “Art of the Deal”? Looks more like a first grader’s finger painting.

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Until November 8, 2026, the new law states that up until THE MOMENT OF BIRTH, “no abortion may be performed except by a physician, and only if in the best medical judgement of the physician it is: (i) necessary to preserve the life of the patient; (ii) necessary to preserve the patient’s physical or mental health; (iii) warranted because of a lethal fetal anomaly or diagnosis; or (iv) warranted because of a grave fetal diagnosis that indicates that the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside of the uterus without extraordinary medical interventions”.

The starting November 8, 2026, the new law states that up until THE MOMENT OF BIRTH, “An abortion may be performed by a physician based upon the professional judgment of the physician”.

Section 12N 1/2 then states that, “No medical review process shall override the professional judgment of a treating physician and a patient or the patient’s health care proxy to provide an abortion consistent with section 12N.

There you have it. No guidelines limiting the performance of an abortion up to the moment of birth. Simply the professional judgment of the physician. I presume that this caveat applies to physicians who work at abortion clinics. In other words, it need not be the patient’s primary care physician, just an abortion clinic physician.

Can anyone argue that Massachusetts has gone off the rails? Is this new law not a total and absolute disregard for the innocent life of a baby whose birth is imminent?

Those supporting the law will argue that all physicians will do everything possible to avoid aborting a fully developed fetus, but is that realistic? After all, Section 12N 1/2 states there will be no medical review of the physician and patient’s decision.

I see this as an incredibly sad day for all of us as the sanctity of human life has taken another blow. A fully formed fetus is not an appendix. It’s not a tumor. It is a human being capable of living outside of the womb.

How we have reached this point in our society is beyond me. Heaven help us!

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Wait a minute! This article appeared today as part of a piece about Trump’s threat to bomb our ally, Oman, for suspicion that Oman is actually helping Iran in the ongoing negotiations to end the war. Gee. Oman helping Iran rather than the US? Who’d a thunk it?

However, the real juice in this article is the idea that Trump would declare he has blocked Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon and the war won if Iran would just open the strait of Hormuz.

Of course, Iran would never have closed this strait, thereby halting the flow of oil to the global economies, had not Mr. Trump decided to start this ill advised war.

Joe Biden was cognitively compromised while president of the United States. His condition caused him to misremeber things and have a somewhat occluded view of reality.

Donald Trump distorts reality with the specific intention of bullshitting everyone. Does he believe the inane things he says? I hope not. It is pathetic enough that he plays fast and loose with the truth in his unquenching need to never be wrong. There is ALWAYS someone else at fault.

If this war ends simply because Iran opens the strait, then Trump will have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It will go down as the most embarrassing foreign policy endeavor in our nation’s glorious history.

Can Trump’s fragile ego handle this kind of humiliation? Not likely, but he will spin it in his own mind that he is the victor.

This scenario is frightening because Emperor Trump may really believe the people admire his new clothes.

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It boasts 120,000 members as of July, 2026, and that number makes it the largest socialist organization in US history.

The DSA issued its 2026 platform, titled “Workers Deserve More,” in July 2026. This platform advocates the follwing policies:

1. Abolishing the U.S. Senate, replacing the presidency and Supreme Court with bodies subordinate to Congress.

2. Drafting a new constitution to establish a single federal legislature.

3. Transferring power from corporations to the working class through public ownership of major industries, universal healthcare, free higher education, and a 32-hour workweek.

4. Replacing the Electoral College with a national popular vote.

5. Granting voting rights to noncitizens and people with criminal convictions.

6. Abolishing ICE and the prison system.

7. Imposing wealth taxes on the rich.

8. Canceling all student debt.

9. Universal rent control.

10. Reparations for slavery.

11. Terminating all U.S. military aid to Israel

12. Making large reductions in the military budget.

TALK ABOUT THE “DIRTY dOZEN”!

These policies would absolutely transform America, which, after all, has been the aim of the progressives for quite a while now, starting most blatantly with Barack Obama’s pledge to “fundamentally change” America.

I am aghast that some of these socialist candidates have been winning democrat primary elections, not to mention the fact that an avowed socialist is the Mayor of New York City. How the hell did we get to this point?

The prevailing theory is that this movement is born of antipathy for all things Trump, much like the Tea Party arose in response to Obama. This kind of political pendulumism used to be ascribed to Banana Republics, not America.

How long can our country stay afloat with this kind of sea changes every four years?

Thankfully, the Wisconsin democrat governor’s primary went to a more centrist candidate, despite the polls that showed his socialist competitor in the lead.

This internal struggle within the democrat party may save the day for Republicans this November, but not if Mr. Trump stays on his current unstable path. The war in Iran and inflation, along with growing income disparity, may be too much for the Republicans to survive.

Both parties are a mess, and We the People, can only watch and hope that the damage to everyday Americans won’t be too harsh. That’s a far cry from the vision of the Founding Fathers for our Constitutional Republc.

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The recent Iranian strikes on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan killed three U.S. soldiers and damaged airfield hangars and other infrastructure. In Qatar, the U.S. Combined Air Operations Center has sustained severe damage. Iranian strikes wounded U.S. personnel and damaged aircraft in Saudi Arabia. In Bahrain, Iran hit the headquarters of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, radar, satellite communications dishes and warehouses. Iran also targeted U.S. aircraft hangars and satellite communications systems in Kuwait. In addition, Iran and its partner forces targeted the U.S. Embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq, as well as the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, among others.”

The above excerpt is from a Wall Street Journal article about the need for America to upgrade its military to catch up to the changing face of warfare where missiles and drones are used to devestating effect.

I won’t argue the point about what needs to be done or whether America is over-extended as the world’s policeman. I also won’t discuss the fretting expressed in the article about China and North Korea salivating at the prospect of attacking out forces in Southeast Asia.

My ire is focused on the fact that I never knew the extent to which our forces have been damaged by the Iranians. All we hear from the White House is America’s total vanquishment of the Iranian ability to conduct war. Clearly, that has not happened.

I thought we learned from Vietnam that exaggeration of American battlefield succes or downplay of enemy success, is no way to bring war news to the American people. As bad as Lyndon Johnson was at covering up the true state of affairs in Vietnam, Donald Trump has done a total Houdini with the truth.

He now faces an embarrassing Hobson’ Choice in the war with Iran. Does he deploy ground troops or does he capitulate on trying to achieve his two goals of destroying Iran’s nuclear ambitions and regime change?

It is indeed possible, if not likely, that he will fail in both regards as well as empower Iran to realize even greater control over the global flow of oil.

Time will tell, but the prognosis remains guarded.

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The Board of Peace is just another manifestation of Trump’s massive ego. As always, he touted his peace deal as historic, when in reality it is built on a house of cards, just like 99% of everything he clamors about.

Is there anything Trump has done that’s gone well, other than immigration? Please don’t quote me the stock market, as he has manipulated that to score billions in his own wealth growth, just as he did with his silly meme crypto coins as he promised to make America the crypto capial of the world.

I agree with Bebe. Take care of your own people and nation. If Trump pulls the plug on supporting Israel, that would be an historic mistake, especially if he does it out of spite.

Perhaps Bebe thinks if the dems get in, Israel is screwed anyway, so why not raise the stakes now.

Trump’s Board of Peace has no members from our major western allies despite his invitation for them to join. Perhaps that’s because Trump and his descendants have ultimate control of the Board. Apparently, Trump believes he can treat an international organization for peace as his own peronal property, subject to his own estate planning. Talk about ego!

Israel should never withdraw from Gaza unless Hamas is totally disarmed. Hamas has to be completely neutered, both militarily and politically. Without that, there will never be peace in this troubled region.

It’s frightening to see our president so obsessed with his own peronal powers, powers which exist only in his jumbled mind.

Stay strong Bebe. I don’t believe America would ever leave Israel high and dry.

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Perhaps more distressing is the fact that over the past year, we have averaged monthly job gains of an anemic 34,000. I say anemic becaue the last year of the Biden presidency saw a monthly job gain average of 103,000. Hmmm.

The unemployment rate has actually gone down this past year from 4.3% to 4.1%. The reason for this decrease is simply the number of American who have left the work force, and are no longer employed or actively looking for employment.

It would seem there are three factors at work here. First, the last of the Baby Boomers are now aged 62 and eligible for Social Security. As that generation has aged, record numbers of American have left the work force.

The second factor is AI. While the eventual impact of AI isn’t amenablke to precise prediction, it is safe to say that AI will increase productivity with a concomitant decline in the need for workers. Also, there will be a lag between workers getting up to speed with AI and actual implementation of this new technology in the workplace.

Moreover, it seems say to assume that AI techonlogy will continue to morph at an ever increasing rate, thereby necessitating more training, while simultaneously increasing productivity with a proportionate drop in human labor needs.

Lastly, the dramatic cut in illegal immigration and the various deportation tactics employed by the Trump administration, have reduced the labor force. How this plays out will depend upon the next administration and its views on our borders. For that reason, it is encumbent upon Congress to actually pass new immigration legislation so that the ping pong opening and closing of the border can stop. However, I suspect those cows will come home before Congress does anything about this mess.

Ironically, the employment numbers would be even worse but for all the construction jobs that have been added to help the build-out of Date Centers, which are needed to support the AI revolution. I wonder when those jobs will be lost to robots who don’t take vacations, need a lunch break, get hurt or ask for raises?

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It’s a new dawn in America, I think. However, as my mother used to say, the darkest hour always comes just before the dawn.

I think both of these sayings sum up where our president finds himself these days. With typical American naivete, Mr. Trump launched his attack on Iran believing it would bring the Mullahs to their knees in a matter of weeks.

I thought about our Civil War and the way each side believed it would be over in a matter of months.

It’s a peculiar trait of political leaders to over-estimate their powers, both of perception and military might. Emboldened by the swift dispatch of Venezeula’s president in what was described as a “law enforcement action”, Mr. Trump figured dispatching the Iranian leaders, supposedly toppling from domestic dissent, would be a walk in the park.

The sad truth is that Mr. Trump has found himself in a rather untenable position. I am not talking about the elections in November because I detest how every issue these days is dissected by its impact on the political landscape, never in the context of what’s good for America.

I think it’s pretty evident by now that the Mullahs will remain in power and that we will never recover their enriched uranium reserves. It is also unlikely that we will put an end to their nuclear ambitions in any permanent sense.

So what has been gained? Well, the stock market remains at Mount Everest levels and, thanks to AI, the economy seems resilient. Of course, what part Mr. Trump plays in these economic conditions is subject to question. Like all presidents, he takes credit for any good happenstance regardless of it nexus to his policies.

Meanwhile, our inflation, especially when it comes to energy costs, are through the roof. I shudder to think what it will cost to fill my oil tank this winter. Our military readiness against China and other global enemies has been depleted with our barrage against Iran, who despite all prognostications, remains a stubborn adversary capable of its own infliction of death and destruction.

Of course, with his vascillating war strategy that fluctuates from wiping out the Iranian civilization to characterizing the new Mullahs as reasonable guys, Mr. Trump has not so coincidentally amassed new wealth in the billions. When your every proclamation moves the price of energy and the stock market’s reaction to it, even the Village Idiot could make a killing.

Mr. Trump needs a reality check. He sees himself as the greatest president ever, but I sense that he will be more likely lumped in with the likes of Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter, as well as James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, who dithered as America slid towards civil war.

Once the democrats gain control of the House this November, impeachment will become our next fixation. While a two thirds vote for conviction in the Senate, even with a Democrat majority, is highly unlikely, I fear the backlash from Mr. Trump that may materialize.

He is a loose cannon, a narcissist who has a very cold relationship with facts and the truth. He is an exaggerator nonpareil, a real feat in the world of politics.

America deserves better, but then again, perhaps we don’t. After all, it is We the People who keep electing these unsavory characters to office. If we want to see who is responsible for the State of the Union, we need only look in the mirror.

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This is not a trick question. You may be surprised (or maybe not) to learn that the illegal immigrant gets a lower tuition cost.

Well, it seems that this craziness may be on the way out. A federal court in Illinois has just ruled that a federal law pre-empts the Illinois law that allowed this kind of disparate treatment of US citizens and illegal immigrants.

Unfortunately, this court decision will not prevent states from still providing lower tuitions costs to illegal immigrants or prevent them from going to college in taxpayer funded universities.

States can still give illegal immigtants reduced tuition rates just as long as they give the same rates to out of state US citizens.

It will be interesting to see if the several states who give reduced rates to illegals will offer the same rate to out of state US citizens. My bet is that somehow the taxpayers will get the shaft in the long run.

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When interpreting legal language, in this case, the 14th Amendment, the general rule is that when there is doubt about the intent of that language, court’s look at any legislative history surrounding the formulation of that language.

While some will argue that the 14th Amendment is clear on its face, I do believe historical context is essential in determing the intent of those who passed the 14th Amendment. That includes Congress and three fourths of the states.

The 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868 shortly after the Civil War, and was done so in order to grant citizenship to Black Americans who had been freed from slavery. The 13th Amendment freed them, but there was still a court decision that had ruled they were not citizens. The 14th Amendment corrected this status.

The 15th Amendment gave the right to vote to Black Americans.

The disputed language in the 14th Amendment is: “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”. That is, the jurisdiction of the United States. A person born in the United States, even to illegal immigrants or foreigners vactioning in America, are deemed citizens according to the recent Supreme Court decision, because they are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. Pretty simple, huh?

Not so fast. “The full languge of the 14th Amendment reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” This language contemplates some semblance of permanance, especially when it talks about the “…states wherein they reside.”

I doubt that members of Congress or the American people who ratified this amendment ever thought that this granting of citizenship would apply to people visiting the United States or coming into the country as illigal immigrants. In 1868, travel was nowhere near as fluid as it is in the 21st century.

However, the historical context and the unlikely intent of Congress and the America people to have intended such a broad grant of citizenship, are not the only reason the Supreme Court decision is flawed. Even the basis that the court used in rendering its decision fails to support its ruling.

As I read the decision, the court relied upon English Common Law, which is the basis of our own common law. Common Law is the law the emanates from court decisions, as opposed to statutory law which is made by legislatures.

In English Common Law, birthright citizenship was recognized because any person born in England was deemed to automatically owe allegaiance to the King of England. In exchange for that allegiance, the King would protect such person. This relationship was essential to citizenship, not just the fact of birth on English soil or being “subject to” English jurisdiction.

It is ironic that the Supreme Court used this outdated English Common Law to interpret the 14th Amendment, since in 1981 the English Parliament ridded itself of Birthright Citizenship.

In the United Kingdom, the British Nationality Act of 1981 abandoned territorial birthright citizenship in favor of parentage based citizenship. In other words, one’s citizenship is based upon the citizenship of one’s parents.

This concept would seem axiomatic. Is a child born in the United States to parents merely visiting America, or to parents who entered the country illegally, really going to assume the kind of allegiance to the US that was expected to the King? Would not any such child also be able to secure citizenship in the country of his or her parents?

In time of war, such child could readily go to his parents’ own country as a citizen of that country and avoid US military service. That child could have access to all kinds of services available to citizens of that country, be they financial or otherwise. That child could easily go to and from America and his or her “home” country with little, if any, screening by our immigration officials.

Just as in the case of Obama Care, this decision is bizarre. Chief Justice Roberts seems to have a penchant for ascribing surprising meaning to the language of the law.

I am an originalist when it comes to the Constitution. Being an originalist does not mean looking at the language of the Constitution with total disregard for the legislative and historical context of the law that was written.

By extending birthright citizens ship to essentially everyone born in America, the Supreme Court has created a constitional right as an unintended consquence. Congress needs to begin the amendment process to correct this egregiuos mistake rendered by the Court.

It is a lengthy process, so let’s get started and let the America people decide the issue. Our territorial integrity and national security are at stake. Just ask the British.

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My analysis is not grounded in my interpretation of evenets, but the actual pronouncements by the Commander-in-Chief as this war has dragged on for months. Please do not accept the administration’s characterization of the situation in this theater of war as a cease fire.

On January 13th Trump posted, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price. I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!”

On February 28th, Trump posted, “Finally, to the great, proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don't leave your home. It's very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere. When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations….America is backing you with overwhelming strength and devastating force.”

At a June 17th news conference at the G-7 meeting in France, Trump told the world, ‘“They have a new group of leaders. ..I think they’re very smart. I think they’re far less radicalized. ..I think they’re really good. They love their country…Their one set of leaders is all gone, their second set of leaders is all gone. Their third set of leaders, a little bit gone. …Frankly, I think that’s regime change. I think they are going to behave much different.”

Talk about a 180! The fact of the matter is, the Iranian new boss is the same as the old boss, and by many accounts, even worse. His was severly damaged in the bombing that took out his father and other family members. Do we really think he isn’t holding a personal animus toward the US along with the Islamic drive to kill every American and Israeli?

Recent reports state that executions (by hanging) of political prisoners has ramped up during this “ceasefire”. These are the same leaders who Trump has said are “really good” and “far less radicalized”. Like everyting in Trump’s world, he shapes events not based on the facts or reality, but upon his “wishin’ and hopin”.

Regarding Iran’s nuclear program, we were told a year ago that it had been “obliterated”. Clearly, that was never the case. Otherwise there would have been no need to start this war. As it stands, after destroying much of Iran’s military apparatis, Trump has decided to let Iran sell its oil again and escape from much of the economic sanctions that had crippled its economy.

Trump did this without any concessions from Iran regarding its nuclear program. Why would he do that? Simple. He is afraid of the inflation that he caused by starting this war. He severly underestimated the resolve and ingenuity of the Iranians, and as a result, has been hoisted upon his own political petard.

On March 6th Trump posted, “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER! After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”

At the June 17th press conference Trump changed his tune. 'The one thing I didn't want to see is I didn't want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened. But all I know is every time we talked about the possibility of peace, the stock market shot up like a rocket ship.'

Hmmmm. What happened to “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER”

Lastly, what do we make of Iran’s support of its proxies in the region? Again, let’s check our Mr. Trump’s own words on his February 28th post. “We're going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated. We're going to annihilate their navy. We're going to ensure that the region's terrorist proxies can no longer destabilize the region or the world and attack our forces.”

At the June 17th press conference, Trump’s tone completely shifted. “They have to have [missiles] because other people have some… Missiles aren't the problem...They hurt a little location, but they don't blow up the planet….We'll talk also about the terrorist proxies that they have, that we don’t want that to happen.”

Talk about channeling Nevile Chamberlain!

Mission accomplished? For whom?

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On that show, a deal wasn’t made until the contestant chose which door he or she though had the best deal. Once decided, there was no equivocating.

In sharp contrast stands the many predictions of a deal between the US and Iran. It’s a daily mantra from Mr. Trump that a deal is imminent, only to be called off the next day, or even hour. This behavior by Mr. Trump should not be surprising since he is the quintessential master of bullshit.

He makes Monty Hall look like Mr. Rogers.

The last iteration of “the deal” looks like anything but a good deal for America and/or Israel. There will be no capure of Iran’s enriched uranium, but only an aggreement to talk about it down the road. That would be like asking Hitler to consider making Hanukah a national holiday.

There will also be no regime change despite Mr. Trump’s killing purge of Iran’s top leaders. If anything, the new Mullahs are even more hard line.

The Straight of Hormuz will be open for business and the blockade of Iran’s oil exporting ports will terminate. There may even be some some thawing of Iran’s frozen assets. In other words, it will be a return to the prior status quo, only now thousands of people are dead and we have depleted much of our military hardware.

Relations between the US and Israel are strained and nearing a breaking point. Israel will have its hands tied when dealing with attacks from Iran’s proxies, like Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, on the home front, Americans have been suffering with inflation, now at a CPI annual rate of 4.20%, with an even higher Producer Price Index of over 6.00%.

This past week, the Treasury sold billions more in Notes and Bills to pay off maturing debt, and in the process increased our national debt by $59 Billion. That increase has nothing to do with the interest running amok on the debt, but don’t worry my fellow Americans.

Mr. Trump is all in on the UFC birthday bash at the White House for the 80th annivesary of his birth. Oh, it also happens to be Flag Day in the US, which shares June with Pride Month and Juneteenth as well.

Let the Festivus begin. I just wonder if Mr. Trump is taking fiddle lessons on the sly. It might explain some things.

Meanwhile, I’ll take Door Number 1…. an all expense trip to the shit hole country of your choice.

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Manufacturing jobs are still sluggish, and we have seen massive layoffs in the tech sector attributable to Artificial Intelligence. For the time being, the building of data centers has spurred a job growth in the construction of those centers.

The biggest gains in jobs have been in health care and social assistance (47,000 new jobs), as well as leisure and hospitality (70,000 new jobs). The retail, information and finance sectors lost jobs in May. Local government hiring surged, with 55,000 new jobs, the biggest monthly gain in over two years.

These figures tell me one thing. The Baby Boomer generation is aging and as it does, the need for healthcare and social assistance, as well as local government services.

Likewise, it is the Baby Boomers who can afford the time and money to enage in leisure and hospitality activities.

Our economy is not going to revert to manufacturig. Those days are gone for ever.

We are a service economy, and with AI gaining momentum at a dizzying rate, many of those services will be performed by non-human actors.

So what’s a young person to do? Simple. To paraphrase Horace Greeley, “Go AI, Young Man.”

Hitch yourself to a continuing regimen of AI training as it will surely continiue to morph in ever faster rates. And sadly, expect the job market to dwindle as the Boomers die off, their final and perhaps most lasting impact upon America.

This gift will be left to you, wrapped in a $39 Trillion national debt. I don’t know where this will all end, but I surely do not have a warm and fuzzy feeling.

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In any event, it’s an exceedingly importnt position. His job as lead diplomat for America is weighty to say the least. In many ways, he is the most important person in any administration after the president. His words carry gravitas.

Recently, Marco took to the podium in the White House press room to regale the press corps with his boyish charms, while at the same time being a mensch for the president. He was explaining why Mr. Trump can conduct warfare without the approval of Congress.

My first question is at one point does military action constitutes warfare? We were told that our incursion into Venezuala was a “law enforcement” action. I doubt that even Trump, the King of Bullshit, would dare to call our military actions upon Iran as law enforcement. Clearly, we are engaged in warfare in Iran.

You may have heard of the War Powers Act which gives a president power to use our military against a foreign adversary. There are specific conditions under the act before troops can be deployed. The one pertinent to Iran is the condition that a national emergency has been created by an attack upon the United States, its territories, or its armed forces.

I assume that it has been Iran’s proxy attacks on US forces that meets this criterion. However, that is not the point of this article. The point of this article is Marco Rubio’s assertion that the War Powers Act, passed during the Nixon Adminstration despite his veto (remember Vietnam?), is totally unconstitutional. On that, I agree with Marco. (I’m sure he’s relieved).

Where Marco and I diverge is his assertion that the presient has the authority to go to war on his own because he is the Commander-in Chief under the Constitution. As such, according to Marco, any presdient can commit US forces anywhere for any reason because he commands US forces.

Now, Marco is not alone in this absurd position. It’s typical for those in the executive branch of government to exalt their powers over those of Congress. We have seen a steady drift in this regard over the past several administrations. I suggest the “No Kings” movement should focus on this trend and its unconstitutionality rather than their hatred of Trump.

Nevertheless, Marco is either being stupid ot duplicitous. I vote for the latter. Surely he knows that the Constitution gives the power to go to war exclusively to Congress. There is a very important reason for this Congressional authority.

Going to war is the most significant decision a country can make. It does not belong in the hands on one person. It belongs in the collective hands of the People, who, after all, will be the ones doing the fighting and dying.

Under our Constituion, the will of the People is expressed by Congress since we have a representative form of government. A purely democratic way to decide if a country should go to war would be a national referendum. That is currently too unwieldly. Rather, the People’s representatives make the decison ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE.

The Commander-in-Chief’s powers come into play only once the People have decided to go to war. Marco and others are saying that, as Commander-in-Chief, the presient can make that decision alone. Talk about a King!

So Little Marco is not above playing the American People for idiots. A myriad of politicians have been doing that for a long time. His little nose is up someone’s butt as he carves out his own presidential ambitions.

Meanwhile, one man has taken a course of action that you may or may not agree with. All I ask is that you not give up the constitutional restraints upon executive power, regardless of who is occupying the Oval Office. Don’t allow a Constitituioanl Republic to dissemble into a Banana Republic. That scenatrio is definitley not apeeling.

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If you want to ruin your day, and I mean any day, go to this link. It’s the official United States Debt Clock. It will show you that our national debt is comfortably in excess of $39 Trillion.

For those of you who flunked 6th grade math, that’s $39,000 Billion or $39,000,000 Million. I’ll stop there becaue my typing fingers are getting tired and math wasn’t my best subject either.

Under the current administration, the government will be adding another $1.9 Trillion to the debt. Each taxpayer in America owes $357,070.00 of that debt.

Donald Trump wants to submit a new budget this year that will increase our defense spending from roughly $1 Trillion to $1.5 Trillion. It is unlikely that this increase will be offset by $500.00 Billion in spending cuts.

Oh, let’s not forget Mr. Trump’s tariffs fiasco. His herky jerky imposition of tariffs pursuant to questionable constitutional authority was a disaster in waiting, as any lawyer worth his salt knew. Either Trump’s lawyers were really dumb or they were afraid to tell the emperor the truth about his new clothes.

The erstwhile Pulitzer Peace Prize wannabee has engaged in yet another foreign war in the Middle East. With the assitance of that war machine juggernaut, Israel, Mr. Trump has laid waste to a totally over matched opponent.

Yet, despite the “obliteration” of so much of Iran’s military, the recalcitrant Mullahs keep fighting, both in actions and words. They may be on the ropes and doing a Mohammad Ali “rope a dope” dance that would make the former champ pround, but they are still standing.

Even Trump’s maniacal threat to wipe of the Iranian civilization has not cowed the Iranians. Rather, that statement has added fuel to the building fire that Trump may be unfit to govern. After all, what do we say about a leader of the free world who engages in a fight with the Pope and then posts a rendition of himself as Jesus Christ.

He is the master of bluster, exaggeration and duplicity, yet displays remarkable naivete when it comes to international relations. He has aliented and embittered our European allies with see-saw tariffs and threats to blow up NATO, which he wants to replace by some cockamamie Board of Peace that is completely under his thumb and those of his heirs.

We don’t know how this war will end, but unless there is an unequivocal dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, Mr. Trump will have failed. He will have also depleted much of our munitions while vainly trying to win a war solely by an air campaign.

Worse yet, Mr. Trump will have exhibited for the world to see America’s military capabilities, something the Chinese, Russians and North Koreans will feast upon in their own war rooms.

Meanwhile, inflation has risen and will likely worsen as the impact of the disruption of oil from the Middle East wends its way through the global economies, including ours.

Lastly, the interest we pay on our national debt currently exceeds our entire defense budget. Perhaps that’s why Trump wants to jack up that budget to $1.5 Trillion. Nevertheless, as it now stands, for every $7.00 the government spends, $1.00 goes toward paying the interest on our debt.

Our national debt has probably grown by a million dollars or more while you have read this article. It now stands at 122% of our gross domestic product, which means that if every dollar produced from the sale of products and services emanating from America were applied to the debt, we would still be in the hole for several trillion more.

None of this is sustainable, but headlong toward fiscal calamity our leaders are taking us. Have a nice day, but be sure to check out that Debt Clock.

https://www.usdebtclock.org/

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Of course, I am talking about our current president, Donald J. Trump; he who promised to end two wars on his first day in office. We all know how that has worked out.

While Hamas has quieted down, it still rules Palestine and is reconstituting itself as I write this.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah, Iran’s other Israel hating proxy, fights with the Jewish State, although a cease fire has allegely just been put in place.

Ukraine and Russia continue to batter each other with no end in sight. Trump’s peace efforts were nothing but Mr. Putin playing Mr. Trump for the narcissist that he is. Putin is a dictator, but he is no fool. He is also a narcissist, but understands the limits to his own persona when it comes to warfare.

Our Prince of Peace, Mr. Trump, has no such governor on his self-perception. Surrounding himself with sycophants who bear either family relationship or past business dealings (or his achillie’s heel, a pretty face), The Donald has no qualms testing daily the limits of his power mandated by that very inconvenient document we call the Constitution.

Ironically, it is the Supreme Court that he has constituted with three justices of his own choice, that has saved him and America from permanent damage to our Constitutional Republic. The dynamic of three CO-EQUAL branches of government established by our Founders has protected us from a total erosian of individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.

What has not been so immune from erosian is the growth of centralized power by the federal government. The proliferation of executive orders is anathema to our system of representative government. The change to the election of United States senators from representatives in each state house to a popular vote likewise contravened the original intent of the Founders, who understood that members of the United States Senate were to represent the interests of the individual states qua state.

Tariffs have been an overreach by the president, causing only economic uncertainty, inflation and now the conundrum of how to refund those confiscated billions of dollars. Moreover, increased domestic manufacturing and boasts of foreign investments have not materialized.

We all know that politicians exaggerate their achievements, but The Donald has set a very high standard for his successors to follow. His accumulation of wealth since the election, including his own cryptocoins, has shredded any semblance of adherence to conflict of interest norms. He brazenly does his thing and the billions keep rolling into the various Trump entities.

His disregard for conventional decorum and respect for others is no better exhibited than his social media post saying that he was glad Robert Muller had died. Perhaps eclipsing that was the recent post of him appearing as Jesus Christ. The man has no limits.

I suggest that Trump make nice with Pope Leo and ask for his prayers. Both he and the Republican party will need divine intervention to avoid being crucified in November. Let’s just hope he doesn’t drag the rest of America down with him into Gehenna.

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