Tag: George W. Bush

Broken, but Still Defiant

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

By this time, you have probably seen Donald Trump’s recent address to the American public and the world on the situation in the Middle East. If you haven’t, watch it here.

I only watched the first half of this, about nine minutes, then I turned it off. I couldn’t take any more. I actually felt compassion for the man, which is something different for me, because I have never had anything but contempt for him before this.

Trump is broken. He’s done. He walked in as if he was about ready to collapse, head down, without any life in his step. During the time I watched, he never let go of the lectern and never took his eyes off the auto-prompt, reading everything on it in a mechanical manner quite unlike his usual self. Eyes straight ahead, monotone voice. Body language defying everything he said. None of the usual bombastic, flamboyant behavior. Even when he took credit for all the “good” things which have happened, it was as if coming from a robot.

I’m not surprised. After all, the Word promises that those who exalt themselves shall be humbled, and there is no question about Trump exalting himself. “I’m the president. I can do anything I want. The only limit I recognize is my own mind, my own will, my own morality. Look at me. Look at me. Look. Look. Look.”

Trump is broken. He’s run up against something which he can’t control and it has done him in. This is probably the first time in his life where he experienced something like this, with negative repercussions directly and visibly in front of him and no way to avoid the accounting, which is disastrous. No matter which way he turns, no matter what he does, he loses. Loses, loses bigly. He is in uncharted territory.

I could easily expound on the Iran war, but that is not necessary. There are more than enough pundits eager and willing to analyze and write about that. Instead, I’m going to psychoanalyze Mr. Trump’s position and his mentality, from a distance, of course, as I have never met the man and I have never had any training in the profession, but I have had a lot of experience from life.

Trump is in a very bad position, between Iran and a hard place.1 If he withdraws from the battle because it is beginning to cost too much, then he will be seen as a loser, a quitter, someone who can’t stand being punched in the nose. If he stays in the fight, he has to escalate in order to “win”, a subjective perception which might or might not play well at home with his fan base. If he escalates, he runs the risk of generating even greater losses than already incurred, i.e., the lives of hundreds or thousands of American servicemen/women which will not play well at home. If this war drags on very much longer, it runs the risk of becoming a Viet Nam type engagement, which will not play well at home. If he resorts to the use of nuclear weapons (or consents to the use of Israeli nuclear weapons), he runs the risk of world-wide condemnation, including from his home base. He can’t quit and he can’t continue. Is it any wonder that he appeared as he did last night in the speech he presented? Old, broken, and unwilling to admit failure and defeat.

God, please, please have mercy on that man. He needs it.

  1. Pardon the pun. George W. Bush was in the same predicament more than 20 years ago. Caught between Iraq and a hard place. The saying goes, “caught between a rock and a hard place”, in other words, in a position where everything you do turns out badly because you made a stupid, a really stupid mistake to start with. ↩︎

Wars begin. And they end.

Roger Mitchell1 Comment

Ho hum! Yawn! Another week of killing them over there so we don’t have to kill them over here.

It’s beginning to look like The Man, Mr. Donald J. Trump himself, is desperate and flailing about for any means of extricating the US from this ill-conceived and extremely stupid conflict he got himself into. Reading alternative news sources (not the Major Media Machine) gives me the understanding that the war is not going at all the way it was intended to when Trump and Older Brother Benjamin started it. A quick in-and-done result is long gone and Iran sounds resolute about not stopping until the menace of future attacks is completely obliterated and never to be attempted again.

Never is a very long time.

  • Strait of Hormuz passage subject to Iranian consent, none given to ships with US and/or Israeli ties.
  • Despite very public “begging”, many EU members have refused to join Trump’s “coalition of the willing” to reopen the Strait. Coalition of the Willing, of course, is a throwback to George H.W. Bush’s drive to wreak havoc on Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.
  • Why have 5000 Marines been ordered into the region? Boots on the ground? But, to effect a successful ground invasion would require multiple times that pitifully small number, perhaps on the order of 500, 000, which the American public will not tolerate without just cause, such as, a mushroom cloud rising over an American city. Shades of the Iraq war in 2003 under Bush’s son, Dubya.
  • US Navy ships pulling back beyond the range of Iran’s missiles for no apparent reason, although rumor has it that one aircraft carrier has been struck.
  • Oil refineries throughout the region burning. Oil prices spiking daily. The world is beginning to feel the effects as evidenced by Denmark’s driving population encouraged to stop driving. Just stop, will you?
  • Trump sounding more and more erratic, not only in speech, but also on his own Truth Social.
  • Scott Bessent summoned abruptly to the Oval Office while in the middle of an interview, returning two hours later appearing very shaken and incoherent. One possible reason why:
  • Rumors flying around that Netanyahu has been killed in the heat of battle. Brought down by a random shot. No official confirmation at this time, but speculation is growing. If this proves to be true, that would be reminiscent of another of Israel’s leaders being taken out in the same manner, but 3500 years or so earlier: Ahab.

Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” The battle increased that day; and the king was propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of the chariot. Then, as the sun was going down, a shout went throughout the army, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his own country!” So the king died… (1 Kings 22:34-37a)

History, it is said, does not repeat but rhymes, and it would be ironic (and rhythmic) if the war was ended because Dear Leader Bibi was indeed killed. Which brings us to the quote by Machiavelli seen at the top. Wars start whenever at the discretion of the leaders. They end when they end and usually for reasons unknown, unforeseen, and unanticipated at the initiation of the action.

When the first shot of battle is fired, the plan goes out the window.