Tag: Iran

End of the Ceasefire: Reality Approaches

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

Wednesday, April 22, 2026. Today is the end of the two-week ceasefire in the war between Iran and the US conglomerate. Presumably, this was entered into to give the warring parties time to work out a satisfactory solution but because each came to the table with unconditional demands about which they would not compromise, nothing was accomplished. However, just the other day, Donald Trump unilaterally extended the “ceasefire” by an indefinite amount of time while issuing blustering threats about what would happen if Iran did not come to its senses and knuckle under, which really amounted to just another unconditional demand which was rejected immediately. No diplomacy there, no genuine desire to see the war ended, just more pompous, bully-pulpit Truth Social thundering denunciations and proclamations.

In the meantime, the Strait of Hormuz is still off limits to free passage by ships carrying oil, natural gas, urea, and multiple other products, all of which are essential to the continued health, wealth, and well-being of the entire world and may result in economic depression on a scale never before seen, eclipsing even that of the Great Depression of the 1930’s. Whether this happens or not remains to be seen, but it is virtually certain that there will be very serious repercussions and consequences which may not be apparent now but will be evident in the near future.

“When disruptions strike the deepest layers of the global economy, their consequences do not arrive with spectacle but with delay. The most destabilizing feature of a systemic shock is often not its immediate violence but the deceptive calm that follows it. Cargo vessels already underway continue to reach their destinations, warehouses continue to dispatch inventory manufactured months earlier, and supermarket shelves remain stocked with goods produced in a previous season under conditions that no longer exist. This temporal inertia creates an illusion of stability at precisely the moment when the foundations of that stability are eroding. In the case of escalating conflict affecting energy infrastructure across the Gulf and maritime passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the world is experiencing this quiet interval between cause and consequence, a period in which daily life appears normal while the logistical arteries of the global system are progressively constricted.” — https://billkloss.law.blog/2026/04/20/the-global-economy-is-closer-to-collapse-than-anyone-wants-to-admit/

It is not my intention to try to predict how the war will progress. There are more than enough experts and pundits who will do that. I can only guess (and am often wrong) as to what Trump, Netanyahu, & Co. will do next and can only speculate how the IRGC, Mullah, Inc. will respond, but I am certain of one thing. Like the Covid regime fraud and catastrophe which recently occurred (you haven’t forgotten that already, have you?), this instance of force and violence will not simply revert back to normal once the “dogs of war” are leashed and kenneled again. The consequences will be with us for a long time and it is simply foolish and naive to believe and act in a Pollyanna-like fashion. The future IS going to be different from what we are accustomed to and we should be focusing our attention, not on who wins the next election, but on getting our own personal affairs in order because we know that there’s a bad moon rising.

In the parable of the ten virgins, five wise and five foolish (Matthew 25: 1-13), Jesus gave fair warning that we should be alert, ready, and prepared for the eventual arrival of the bridegroom. This is taken by many people as a reference to His second coming and (presumed) Rapture of the Church before, during, or after all Hell breaks loose on Earth, which I will admit can be seen that way if you lean toward that theology. However, there is another interpretation which has nothing to do with that, but is extremely relevant to our situation: the “coming” mentioned in v. 13 can be seen as the natural and logical progression of events as seen from the perspective of a courtroom trial in which judgment is declared on actions already taken, guilt or innocence pronounced, and a sentence rendered on those found guilty. It is not necessary for the “bridegroom” to be physically present at all, but does promote the truth that there will be severe consequences for those who refuse to accept the truth that “…your sin will find you out…” and that we can live any way we like without dire repercussion. Put more simply, if you do this, that will happen. The Law of sowing and reaping cannot be ignored nor circumvented forever.

As individuals, cultures, societies, and nations, we have become accustomed to “falling asleep” and allowing situations to drift while we dreamed, more concerned with the promise of future benefits than with the reality of present-day living which guaranteed that devastating conditions would arise because of our preoccupation with the “good life” and worship of a System which proposed to give us anything we wanted if we would bow down and worship it. Which we did, for years, decades, and centuries. That System is now crumbling and will, in all probability, be replaced by something which may be far worse.

The upshot of this is that we cannot view this parable exclusively from a pie-in-the-sky sense of spirituality, but must consider what it means in the here-and-now. As a world, we have spent our time, treasure, and wealth, trying to gain power and control over others, regardless what it cost, and are now finding out that the verdict is not going to be issued in our favor. Everything we have done to build a McMansion for ourselves, a Tower of Babel from which we can never be dislodged, a prosperous future based on a sea of lies, is now collapsing into a quagmire of quicksand which is threatening to suck us under and there is nothing we can do about it, except to be personally prepared for it, filling our reservoir of “oil” so that we will not be caught flat-footed nor absent when the full effect of the sentence imposed falls on us.

Jesus is not coming back to snatch us out of the sinful mess which we have created for ourselves. There is not going to be any supernatural “rescue” of those who hold to a particular religious ideology and viewpoint. We are going to experience the full weight and consequences of our own rebellious actions against the Word of God which compels us to love our neighbors and our enemies as much as we love ourselves. Because we have refused this order, Judgement Day is upon us and what is coming is going to hurt. It is going to be painful It is going to cause enormous difficulty to our preconceived notions of what it means to be Christian and we can either submit to it in faith and trust, believing that our Father, Who administers the “spanking” has our best interests at heart OR we can continue to believe that a rich “daddy” will bail us out of any conceivable disaster which we have brought upon ourselves.

We can bear the suffering and change our ways OR we can fight back and resist which will only result in a more severe beating. This is the choice before us and we will make a decision–one way or the other. Choose wisely.

Destroying the Village to Save It: Modern Version

Roger Mitchell1 Comment

In just a few days, the two week cease-fire in the Iran war will come to an end. What happens then is anybody’s guess, that is, if you’re not politically or militarily connected to the power-brokers who call the shots. What is certain, however, is that all the warring parties have been feverishly restocking their depleted stores of bombs, missiles, drones, planes, and other assorted war-waging materiel just in case the shooting starts all over again. I am quite sure it will. This time around, if it does, I would expect an all-out, no holds barred, assault on Iran and a reciprocal fire aimed at Israel, the GCC, and any US assets in the region.

Whatever happens, shoot or go home, there is one serious side-effect to this war which is not going to go away anytime soon, i.e., the shortage of oil around the world which has been caused by the Hormuz Strait closure and which will not be restored to any former sense of normalcy for months, at the very least. Larry Johnson sums it up quite well in this interview with Danny Davis. Donald Trump might put it like this, if he was to think about it.

“Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz which was open before the war cannot be tolerated. It was closed by Iran because we attacked them and now we’re going to attack them again to force it open. This war has already caused immense financial and social damage world-wide, but we have to continue it because Iran is at war with us.”

In other words, we have to wreck the world economy to save the world. Shades of Viet Nam.

The Strait was closed to traffic at the start of the war and, except for a few isolated instances, no oil tankers have transited it since then. Now, assume that a fully loaded tanker leaves the Strait headed for China or Japan, a voyage of 6500 +/- miles and travels at an average speed of 15 miles per hour, 24 hours per day. The voyage would take 433.33 hours or about 3 weeks to complete the trip. This means that all the tankers which left the Strait at the start of the war have already reached their port destination and unloaded the cargo. Plan a week to offload and another three weeks to make the return voyage means that a round trip could be made in seven weeks, or just about the length of time of the war so far.

The problem, under this scenario, is that there are no more tankers en route with cargo since none are allowed through the Strait and, even if these tankers could reload and ship out immediately, say another week to turn around, it would mean four more weeks before they arrive again in China or Japan. This means at least two months with no oil shipping from the Persian Gulf which will be absolutely disastrous to these countries (and all others dependent) and the effects will be felt around the world, including the US which (supposedly) is self-sufficient in oil. Not exactly true, but that’s another story. For a good description of how this affects the societies on the ground around the world, see here. Even if the Strait was fully opened immediately, there would still be that time lapse when no oil moved and the consequences of that will linger for a long time. If the active shooting restarts, the problem will only get worse.

Net result: cost of oil going through the roof and everything else which is derived from it rising in lockstep. We may very well see gasoline at $10 or $12 per gallon before this is done, which will basically cut the foundation from under the world economy and it will fall like a stone. A very large stone. Recall the lyrics which John Fogerty of CCR sang in the classic, “I see a bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way.”

Well done, Mr. Trump.

Massive dislocations in society, both public and private, are coming, like the predicted return of Jesus by so many people, soon, real soon. Those changes will probably get here first and will result in major alterations in the way the average person lives. They will drive the switch in thinking from “What can I buy which will make me feel better about myself?” to “How can I stay alive and feed my family today?”. In short, a paradigm change in the consideration of what is truly important. We need to be ready for that, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and the best place to start our preparations is found in this. 

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart 
And do not lean on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths."
-- Proverbs 3:5-6

Weekly Wrap-up: War, Peace, Church Tradition, and Pure Speculation

Roger Mitchell4 Comments

The ongoing war between US/Israel and Iran, with all the permutations and angles this possesses (Hezbollah, Strait of Hormuz closure, potential Bab el Mandeb closure, etc.) is set to resume on Monday after the temporary two-week “cease-fire” expires. I hope that it will not and that the belligerents involved will be able to talk through their differences, but I expect that they will pick up their guns and begin firing again, this time with all-out fervor until one of them knuckles under and cries, “Uncle!”.

Col. Douglas McGregor lays it out quite plainly in this 30 minute video. See here.

Tucker Carlson has a lengthy video out concerning Donald Trump and his blatant mockery of Jesus Christ, Christianity, and Islam. I watched the first fifteen minutes, then shut it off to work on this post, however, I am in complete agreement, at least, so far, with his argument. Like I said, I only watched fifteen minutes. See here. For good measure, read my recent post on the same subject.

For the last few days, I have been reading Immanuel Velikovsky’s book, “Worlds in Collision”, in which he posits that the planet we know today as Venus was once a comet which nearly collided with Earth and was then captured by the sun’s gravity. He claims this occurred near the same time as the Biblical story of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt and the conquest of the “promised land” about 1500 years before Christ. It is fascinating reading and for serious scholars (unlike myself) is heavily footnoted. His argument is compelling and, even though I am only about a third of the way through, I intend to finish it. It explains a lot in a logical manner (sometimes it appears to be quite far-fetched) about past happenings which we tend to disregard as myths and pooh-pooh as ancient religious beliefs.

Traditional religion and modern science ridicule his hypothesis as bunk, delusional, and unscriptural, but the question remains. What if he is correct and everyone else is wrong? After all, the saying, “Athanasius contra mundum.”, originated because a leader in the early Christian Church stood virtually alone in his defense of the divinity of Jesus Christ against the doctrines and beliefs of the Arian teaching. Athanasius was eventually vindicated and his teaching accepted as truth.

Just because you’re the only one doesn’t mean you’re wrong.

If you’re interested, download a free .pdf copy here.

Just war? What exactly is just war? Is there such a thing as a “just” war? Apparently, according to the recently anointed Pope, Leo XIV, this is open for discussion. And some hate him for bringing up the subject.

“God does not bless any conflict. Anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs. Military action will not create space for freedom or times of #Peace, which comes only from the patient promotion of coexistence and dialogue among peoples.” — https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2042588417578668338

This does not sit well with some Catholics, however, who prefer tradition, interpretation, and doctrine over the actual teachings of Jesus, who spoke very plainly about the need to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us. Instead, we prefer to “do unto others, but do it to them first”.

Notice that the author of the article linked to, Matthew McCusker, leans quite heavily on Old Testament scripture to reinforce his position, but when he shifts to a discussion of the topic according to the New Covenant, there is absolutely no New Testament scripture quoted. Instead, he resorts to a history of the Catholic Church calling for wars and blessing wars in the name of the Christ. For instance,

‘The Sacred Scriptures, which are divinely revealed and free from all error, make it clear that (i) God commands war, (ii) war can be justified by reference to God’s commands and revelation, and (iii) He listens to the prayers of those who wage war.

Indeed, the waging of war at God’s command, and with His blessing, is one of the major themes of the Old Testament. Throughout the history of Israel and Judah, from the time of Moses down to the Maccabean revolt of the second century BC, God blessed those who fought in His name and He answered their prayers.”

And, without any reference to New Testament approval or blessing,

“The Church has also shown that God approves of fighting and leading just wars by repeatedly canonizing soldiers and military commanders.”

God approves of wars and fighting because the Church has repeatedly canonized soldiers and military commanders. I mean, my goodness, if this is the way to life then, by all means, let’s kill them all and let God sort them out. The problem for McCusker is that we do not live under the Old Covenant and are not obligated to its demands, but a New Covenant which has different rules of living. There is no such thing as a “just” war. Wars always result in the deaths and sufferings of innocent individuals, many of them women and children, who have done nothing to deserve what they are getting. McCusker needs to come up with a better defense of war than church tradition and papal bulls.

I am not Catholic and never will be, but I have to say that I think the Pope is on the right track and, given that he is on Donald Trump’s “naughty” list, makes me even more convinced that he is worth supporting in this.

“Tradition, tradition!” “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth!” “That way, the whole world will be blind and toothless.” — from the musical, Fiddler on the Roof

Don’t Cross These Red Lines

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

From an article on Zero Hedge:

Trump’s 6 Red Lines

Fox News reports that Vice President Vance’s final offer delivered to the Iranian delegation in Islamabad includes the following “red lines.”

  1. End all uranium enrichment
  2. Dismantle all major nuclear enrichment facilities 
  3. Retrieve highly enriched uranium 
  4. Accept a broader peace, security and de-escalation framework that includes regional allies
  5. End funding for terrorist proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis
  6. Fully open the Strait of Hormuz, charging no tolls for passage

Needless to say, Iran refused to agree. 

Oh-kay! Translation below.

Trump: “End all uranium enrichment.” Iran: “Not acceptable, not negotiable.”

Trump: “Dismantle all major nuclear enrichment facilities.” Iran: “Not acceptable, not negotiable. Besides, we don’t have any nuclear enrichment facilities anymore since you “obliterated” them last year in the 12-day war. Remember? Do we need to play the clips?”

Trump: “Retrieve Surrender highly enriched uranium.” Iran: “Not acceptable, not negotiable.”

Trump: “Accept a broader peace, security and de-escalation framework that includes regional allies.” Iran: “We have already proposed this as a condition, but that will have to include Israel as well. Without Israel, this is not acceptable, not negotiable.”

Trump: “End funding for terrorist proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.” Iran: “What funding is this? We can’t even afford to pay our own people since our currency is worthless. We know this because you are always bragging about destroying it.”

Trump: “Fully open the Strait of Hormuz, charging no tolls for passage.” Iran: “Not acceptable, not negotiable. That is our trump card (pardon the pun) and we intend to play it to the max. Someone is going to pay for this war and if you refuse to pony up for the damages caused, then the rest of the world will. Besides, and we hate to belabor the point, but before we were attacked, the Strait was fully and freely open to anyone who wanted to transit it. We did not start this trouble, but we are going to finish it.”

Needless to say, Team Trump got up and walked out.

Next move: Donald Trump. “Blockade the blockade.”

Resumption of War: Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead

Roger Mitchell1 Comment

There was, supposedly, a two-week ceasefire in the war between Iran and the US/Israel tag team for the purpose of “negotiating” an end to the shooting. I say supposedly because the shooting never really stopped completely, but was only diminished to a fairly low degree. The negotiations (if you can call them that) occurred between the US and Iran because Israel refused point-blank to participate and, if an actual ceasefire had been adopted, probably would have refused to cooperate.

Nevertheless, the US team (led by vice-president J. D. Vance and his “minders”, Witkoff and Kushner) apparently could only stick it out for less than 24 hours before they determined that the talks were fruitless and walked out. This tells me that they came into the arena with a pre-determined set of demands (as did the Iranians) which they were unwilling to alter for any reason (as were the Iranians). However, since US/Israel were the aggressors in this conflict and had unilaterally attacked Iran, without warning, it seems logical and fair that they should have been the ones to soften their stance first. Since this didn’t happen, the only way to look at the situation is that the ceasefire was implemented, not out of a sincere desire to arrive at a resolution, but for strategic purposes, that is, to allow time for a breather and an opportunity to re-arm in preparation for Round #3.

The war will resume and continue until one side or the other has had enough and calls it quits:

  • Israel will not do this, continuing to the very end, fighting with everything it has, up to and including the use of nuclear weapons if it is deemed necessary, which will probably be its death knell. No matter, suicide is better than being beaten to death.
  • Iran is in an existential position. Defeat for it means submission to and subjection under the heel of the US hegemon, the destruction of its society, and the loss of control over its resources, similar to other countries within living memory: Iraq, Libya, Serbia, Syria, Somalia, etc. It is not likely that Iran will capitulate and surrender, until or unless surrender becomes preferable to death. In this, Iran is more reasonable than Israel.
  • This leaves the US as the only possible dropout, with serious international repercussions and harm to its unipolar status and empire, not to mention personal humiliation to the pride of Donald Trump who cannot admit wrong in anything. However, American wars since Korea have not produced anything approximating a clear and sustainable victory, virtually guaranteeing that this one will be no different and the longer it drags on, the more resistance it will generate at home, perhaps even culminating in a vigorous anti-war movement a la the Vietnam era.

As I said, the war will resume and continue, probably escalate into a region-wide conflict far beyond the current locations, and may very well result in the large powers (US, Russia, China, EU) flinging nuclear tipped missiles at each other, threatening not only each other but the entire planet.

Why do we have wars? Why can human beings not live without trying to kill each other? Why does destruction of “others” hold so much fascination for us? What would it take for this tendency to be eliminated from our pattern of living? Why are we not willing to attain that?

This morning, I replied to a comment on the Unz Review in which the commenter took exception to the conclusion of the article which sought to explore the reasons for war, basically arriving at the conclusion that money (profit, interest, financial gain) was behind all wars. The commenter in question disagreed with that, stating that most wars, the large majority, were due to differences in tribal identity, ethnic interests, and religious viewpoints. While I cannot argue that these contribute to the hostility between people, they are, in my opinion, symptoms of the disease and not the cause of it. I concluded my comment with this thought.

“The winner takes it all. Gain (call it profit) is all that counts. In animals, this is instinctual and they can do nothing about it. In humans, it is a spiritual matter (call it greed, covetousness, selfishness, hatred, etc.), springing from the depths of the personal soul and it can be countered, overcome, and changed for the better of everyone. It must be conquered if we are to survive.”

https://www.unz.com/article/all-wars-are-bankers-wars-iran-and-the-bankers-endgame/#comment-7579938

There is only one solution to war. It has nothing to do with money, power, the “greater good”, better and more destructive armaments, political savvy and machinations. Instead, it begins within the individual human soul, the admission that the hatred, anger, selfishness, greed, covetousness, and desire to see others harmed, is not beneficial to oneself and is to be repented of. The absence of war might be achieved by states, powers, and societies temporarily, but the absence of war is not equivalent to the “peace which passes all understanding” and which can only be gained by the admission of sin in one’s soul, the humbling of personal pride, the earnest request for help, and the alteration of the way a person thinks about his relationship to God, to himself, and to those around him. Without this spiritual level paradigm shift, there simply is no peace and, as a consequence, wars arise, not because one person can create wars, but due to the fact that societies and cultures are built by the agglomeration of individuals, many of whom have not made that shift and who seek power for its own sake, using all the techniques known to sinful man in the process.

If you would change the world, change yourself.

Whose Voice Will You Hear? And Follow?

Roger Mitchell2 Comments

News Flash: There may have been a negotiated cease-fire in the war. According to this, Iran, the US, and Israel agreed to stop shooting at each other for a period of two weeks and Iran agreed to open the Strait of Hormuz for the same two weeks. Whether this will hold or not is debatable, but if the destruction and killing ends, even temporarily, that will be a good thing.

https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/power-politics-the-iran-war-john-j-mearsheimer/

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

I may have read Donald Trump wrong the other day when I said he was a madman. After a few days of reading other commentary and thinking about it, his childish, foul eruption on Truth Social may have been because he was simply irate with the way things were going on the ground in Iran. In other words, angry and raging. Mad man! Not necessarily insane nor off his rocker (that possibility still exists, BTW), but definitely upset. His antics resemble those of a pampered, spoiled child who has been told that he cannot have the thing he wanted and has thrown a hissy fit.

What appears to have set him off was the horrible loss of aircraft taken in the (supposed) mission mounted to rescue the second airman who was stranded in Iran after his plane, an F-15E was shot down. Speculation is rife that the official story is a smokescreen and was designed to mask the real operation–a bold attempt to grab the enriched uranium stored near Isfahan by Special Forces, which, if successful, would have been a major victory for the Trump administration. Unfortunately, for him, it was not and resulted in a major disaster.

This is reminiscent of the hapless military maneuver ordered by Jimmy Carter in 1980 to rescue the 53 kidnapped hostages from the American embassy following the revolution which ousted the Shah and replaced him with Ayatollah Khomeini. Carter’s reputation took an immense hit over the incident and he lost the presidential election to Ronald Reagan by a landslide. It is interesting that the Iranian regime released the hostages almost immediately after Reagan took office.

To be sure, Donald Trump’s outbursts are important as they help to shape and manipulate the world situation and have extraordinary power to mold events and happenings in real time. What is more important, however, is how we perceive, not the message, but the messenger. Do we see him as The Answer to all our troubles? A messiah who will correct America’s problems and reverse her downward course? Are we consumed with the concept of American Exceptionalism which teaches that we are better than the rest of the world? Is Trump our Glorious Hope and constant Source of Strength? Are we trying, perhaps without even realizing it, to live vicariously through him?

Questions like these matter greatly because they shine a brilliant light on the faith in our lives, where we actually live and what we actually believe to be true. As Christians, professed believers in Jesus the Christ, the Prince of Peace, we have to make a decision as to the course we will follow and will be held responsible for any deviation from the truth. Consequently, when our man Trump makes a declaration or takes an action which is contrary to the teachings of Jesus, we are put into a position of decision: Which version of truth will I hold to and whose word will I follow?

Thinking about it this way brings the Gospel message home, personally close, and we simply cannot avoid it. Attempting to shove it under the rug, to make excuses, to justify our actions only creates confusion and controversy. In the end, we must admit that the Gospel reigns supreme or a political paradigm based on violent force and selfishness does. There is no middle ground here, no neutrality, no fence-straddling. It is either one or the other.

As a lifelong skeptic, I am forced to concede that neither of these positions may be true and that both may be false, however, it is certain that both cannot be right. Either the Gospel is correct or…it is not. Either Trump’s method of “kill, steal, and destroy” is the way to go…or it is not. Either of these might be right, both might be wrong, but both cannot be right. It is my responsibility as a son of God, Who is Truth, to determine which of these two is proper and to forsake all others or, if in deciding that both are wrong, to find something else to pursue. In the event that you hold to neither philosophy, then it is up to you to point the rest of us in a different direction, because without that, your version of truth is worthless, null, and void.

This holds significant authority in the lives of modern-day American Christians who are instructed constantly to live like Christ, to exemplify His pattern on Earth, yet still worship and exalt the religion of violent power. How can this be? Jesus, love him or hate him, spoke constantly about sacrificing one’s own life so that others would benefit, yet, today there are many who claim to believe in this way of life who do not hesitate to loudly and persistently seek to rain death and destruction on others so that they might personally benefit from the loss that others experience.

I cannot tolerate that.

If you proclaim your faith in Jesus, this is for you. You have a choice to make. You can follow the message of the Gospel of Peace, learning what it means to love your neighbor AND your enemy at least as much as you love yourself, OR, you can follow the path of violence, vengeance, and hatred toward others that you don’t even know.

The status of your eternal future depends on the way you respond.

Easter Morning Message of Death and Destruction

Roger Mitchell5 Comments

“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116351998782539414

“Praise be to Allah.” ???? Just two days ago, Trump gave glory to God in posting about his ultimatum to Iran over the Hormuz Strait. Either he can’t make up his mind which god he worships or else he’s covering all the bases. Which god does he actually represent? Certainly not Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who teaches us to love our enemies, not kill them.

I am not a psychologist but I can read into this. Things are going horribly wrong and Donald Trump is at his wit’s end, pulling his hair out, over this Iran debacle which he foolishly injected himself and America into. No, wait! Let’s make that, himself and the United States1, not America, because the two no longer are synonymous. The vast majority of America is against this conflict and wants him to pull out–win or lose. Just get out!

Back to the point.

No one, including US presidents who can do whatever they want, who have no restraints placed on their power and will except their own mind, would talk like that if things were going their way. If Trump was getting everything he wanted out of this war to destroy Iran for the sake of Israel and Bibi Netanyahu, then he would not make threats and demands in such strident and crass language. These are not the words of a diplomat making attempts to resolve a critical situation. Instead, they reflect an understanding in his soul that his wants and desires are being thwarted and that his vision of a speedy victory of accomplishment is rapidly receding into the rear-view mirror. They are the words of a passionate madman, an extremely dangerous madman, and all of us should be concerned because of, not so much the words themselves, but the irrational, incoherent actions, orders, and consequences which they foretell, a potential Armageddon, so to speak. If you think I’m being too hard on the man, see these responses from far more prominent and powerful persons than I will ever be.

Consider one of these Armageddon scenarios, as mentioned in Ryan McMaken’s thoughtful article on Lew Rockwell.

“We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets for our air force. Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: “Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.” I consider it all hopeless at this point. We shall have to try to prevent things from coming to that, if at all possible. Our armed forces, however, are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that that will happen before Israel goes under.’” — Martin van Creveld, a prominent Israeli military historian who spoke these words in 2003.

In layman’s terms, this is called the Samson Option.

“Strategic literature has long discussed what is sometimes referred to as the “Samson Option” — the idea that Israel could resort to nuclear weapons if faced with defeat. Whether or not such a doctrine formally exists, the logic behind it is clear. If a state genuinely believes its existence is threatened, the pressure to escalate dramatically becomes far greater.”

In van Creveld’s quote above, he referenced Moshe Dayan. “Israel must be like a mad dog…” Today, we can clearly see that Donald Trump is talking and acting like a mad person, virtually foaming at the mouth in his insane remarks and, considering the close relationship he has with the string-pullers who support and back Israel, it is not far-fetched to expect that the world will soon be bitten and savaged by this “mad dog” mentality. In the real world, rabies (the official term) is treated by a vaccine before the symptoms appear. In the political world, especially one in which Congress refuses to act as any kind of restraint on Trump’s behavior, it may be too late to “inoculate” the victim, which only leaves two options: remove him from office via the 25th Amendment or allow him to continue “biting” in a furious rage until everyone who is affected (the entire world) meets a logical, horrible end.

It’s the end of the world as we knew it and tomorrow will not be the same as yesterday.

Clearly, the most obvious rational move would be for JD Vance and Trump’s cabinet members to declare him unfit to rule and depose him with the assent of Congress. In this, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth would also have to be shown the door, shaking up the entire power structure and ushering in a new dynamic which might, actually might, restore a sense of balance to foreign policy.

However, being that this is Washington, DC, all bets are off and there is nothing to do except make noise, hope for the best, and wait to see what comes out of it.

  1. Defined as the entire government structure, the military-industrial complex, the mass media, the neo-con warmongers like Lindsey Graham, the major banks and money-changers, and the sycophantic, delusional believers in Christian Zionism. ↩︎

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. ↩︎

America’s Moral Obligation to Defend the World and Attack Iran

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

I can remember discussions with my father when I was young and learning to form and assert my own opinions. In one of those, he brought out the argument that America had a responsibility to police the world because the US was the premier power of righteous morality (or something to that effect) and if we didn’t keep things in order, the world would soon end up in a chaotic maelstrom of Communist rule, headquartered in Moscow, Russia. At the time, as I recall, the Viet Nam war (Domino Theory) was still in full swing and, due to his experiences during WW21, it is understandable why he might be of that opinion.

Just the other day, a local chat group I participate in blew up into an intense, mildly rancorous debate because one of the members said that Donald Trump had to attack Iran and the main reason given for the “required” action was that 40, 000 Iranian citizens had been killed in the recent street protests. Needless to say, his viewpoint was severely questioned and the argument raged for some time with no clear resolution of the issue. Given that “Jeff” is a conservative Christian Zionist, it is understandable why he might think that way.

The US had a responsibility to make the world safe. The US had to attack Iran to stop the government there from killing its own citizens. These are nearly identical positions which bespeak that America has some (nebulous, unproven) God-given duty to ensure that the rest of the world behaves itself and to “straighten it out” if necessary, like a young boy facing a whipping for some misbehavior. Fifty years apart, they only prove that deeply held beliefs across a wide spectrum of society take a long time to change.

That line of thinking is dying out in America and it is fairly evident that most of the rest of the world has kicked it to the curb. Today, the US is widely seen, not as a shining knight on a white steed administering justice, liberty, and the American way, but as an overbearing, monstrous, murderous bully, intent only on getting its way, pushing its way into arguments which do not concern it, and beating the living daylights out of small, weak countries. Because, we can. Because, as Donald Trump famously said when asked if there were any limits on his actions as President, “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me. I don’t need international law.” Because, his Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth openly states about the war, “Death and destruction from the sky all day long…This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.” Because, as Michael Ledeen put it twenty some years ago, “Every now and again the United States has to pick up a crappy little country and throw it against a wall just to prove we are serious.”

“I define my own limits.” “Kick them while they’re down.” “Beat up somebody smaller and weaker than you are so others will notice.” These are the attitudes which rule American foreign policy today. Morally righteous behavior has nothing to do with it. God-given authority has nothing to do with it. In fact, the current administration has made it quite clear that it will no longer be held accountable by the standards and norms (internationally accepted) which ruled the interactions between countries. Supposedly ruled, I should say, since strong countries like the US have always forced the issues and never hesitated to use violent force whenever it was deemed “necessary”. From here on out, it’s the Law of the Jungle, and woe betide anyone who gets in the way of the rampaging 800 pound gorilla. Power exercised for the sake of power, and the collateral benefit is that great wealth is gained thereby.

As professing Christians, believers in the gospel of Jesus the Christ, disciples of His teachings, obligated to follow and obey His commands, it should be apparent that waging war by an ungodly State (US) goes against everything we are expected to adhere to, especially when said war is in the “service” of an anti-Christian, atheistic, murderous regime (Israel) which is absolutely opposed to Christian belief and actively persecutes those Christians (along with believers in other religious orders) who live within its jurisdiction. There is nothing Christian at all with the popular policy that “We have to kill them over there, so that we don’t have to kill them over here.”

For those who would disagree with this (and they are legion), I ask this. Where is it written that we MUST employ violent force to destroy anyone who gets in the way of “national interests”? Where is it written that “service” to our country overrides our obligation to the Prince of Peace? Where is it written that we are given the option between the way of the world and the narrow way to life? Where is it written that the US is an exceptional nation simply because we have been blessed materially with a scope of riches and power which history has never seen before? Where is it written that we can, like Donald Trump said, do whatever we want. Where is it written that we will never be called out for our behavior and reap the consequences of our actions?

In the current situation, there is a blatant hypocrisy which causes extreme discomfort and cognitive dissonance in those who refuse to face the truth. Enormous outrage is vented against Iran for killing 40, 0002 people, its own citizens, and action is demanded to impose “justice”. Yet, nary a peep is heard from these same people about the ongoing genocide in Gaza which has demonstrably and visibly slaughtered at least 75, 000 persons, most of them women and children. In addition, nothing is ever mentioned about the “sanctions” imposed on the Palestinians (Iraqis, Cubans, etc.) which have (and will) result in the deaths of many, many more due to lack of food, good water, and adequate health care. In fact, many of those who express anger at the Iranians for their “crimes against humanity” often, at the same time, profess to believe that the State of Israel, as the chosen people of God must be supported, idolized, and excused without restriction or accountability.

The teaching of Jesus simply does not matter in our world and can be relegated and confined to the weekly show known as “church” which passes for holiness today. “Thou shalt not kill” is relative. “Love your enemies” is conditional on how we feel about them. “Do good to those who hate you” means that we do “good” to them, but do it first. Kick them while they’re down.

Where is the concept of sacrifice for others out of a spirit of love, as exemplified by Christ and taught in the New Testament? How can we square the order of the true Commander-in-Chief3 with the way we live according to our own word? When will this change to better conform with what we profess to believe? Why do we continue to hold onto this contradiction and refuse to acknowledge it, except that we, again like Donald Trump, cannot bring ourselves to admit we are wrong and to repent of our sins?

Think about it.

  1. He was stationed on a light cruiser, USS Helena, which was sunk somewhere in the South Pacific. Incidentally, he and all four of his brothers were in active combat operations and all of them came home without serious injury. I take that as a REAL blessing of God. ↩︎
  2. This is an unproven claim which has been broadcast widely by the mainstream news, but is almost certainly inflated from the real number. It has been reported that many of the deaths which occurred, both civilian and law enforcement, were due to random sniper fire at riots which may have been orchestrated by Israeli (Mossad) and US (CIA) intelligence. ↩︎
  3. Not Donald Trump, BTW, who only holds that title as relates to the military. It does not transfer over to civilians. ↩︎

Trump’s War: Escalate or TACO

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

Can Iran actually sink a US aircraft carrier? Well, maybe. Simplicius says no and explains why here. Fifteen minutes of detailed information to make his case. This video, on the other hand, lays out a different viewpoint. An interesting thirteen minutes why we might be finding out soon which theory is correct, and who loses the most.

https://youtu.be/Gr5DMqDPCQk

What really connected with me are the multiple references in the video to the US striking Teheran’s power generation system which would plunge the city of ten million people into darkness for weeks, perhaps months, with many more times the number of deaths due to the outage than from the original strike. Yet, this is exactly what the West has constantly lectured Russia about with respect to Ukraine’s power system, calling the Russian strikes on the grid vicious and barbaric, designed to starve and freeze the civilian population into surrender. We don’t wage war on civilians, do we? Now, we are in the same boat and…crickets.

Why does this matter so greatly? Because Donald Trump is caught between a rock and a hard place1, where every move he makes is going to be wrong. He can’t bomb Teheran’s power grid into “obliteration” without risking the destruction of the USS Gerald R. Ford and the loss of 5000+ personnel. He can’t back down because that will be seen by the Irani leadership and the rest of the world as capitulation to threats. If the carrier is sunk, he would have to choose between all-out war with the potential use of nukes and the risk of Russia and China becoming directly involved or calling off his dogs of war and slinking home with his tail between his legs. Either way, no matter which way, Trump loses. There is no “Art of the Deal” here. It is highly unlikely that he has never been in this position before in his entire life.

Which explains why he appears to be increasingly rattled and unhinged.

Oh, did I mention that he postponed the long-scheduled meeting in China with Xi Jinping for a month? Seems he needs to be in Washington to administer the war, his war, which was originally slated to last for only two days–between the stock market close on Friday and its opening bell the following Monday. Now he’s telling us that it will go on for at least another 30 days.

Hmmmmm. The best laid plans of mice and men…

I’ve given up trying to guess what he’s going to do next. I don’t think anyone knows for sure. Probably he doesn’t. Whatever it is, though, I am sure that it is not going to be good and pleasant for either America or the rest of the world. When I wrote a year ago that Trump was an orange-haired wrecking machine, I was putting it mildly. Today, it’s not looking quite as nice, neat, and tidy and, if I was to rewrite that article, it would have considerably more bite.

  1. His situation is even worse than George W. (Dubya) Bush’s war in the same region, when he was caught between Iraq and a hard place, and the US spent more than a decade trying to figure out how to escape the situation. ↩︎

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.

With a Flick of the Wrist

Roger Mitchell5 Comments

In the movie, The Three Musketeers (1993), starring Chris O’Donnell as D’Artagnan, there is a scene in which Cardinal Richelieu (Tim Curry) made a pass at his beautiful, but seductive spy, Milady de Winter (Rebecca de Mornay) and, when she responded by pressing a dagger point into his ample girth, he made a comment. “With a snap of my fingers, I could put you back where you were before I rescued you.” Or something to that effect. Her immediate response, which he nervously laughed off, was far more sinister. “With a flick of my wrist, I can change your religion.”

Ah, yes. A simple flick of the wrist. In an instant.

“Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.” (Revelation 18:10b)

Did you get that? Flick of the wrist! In one hour the entire world system has been overturned. How close are we to that actually happening?

I am American, born and raised in the United States of America. Most of the people who read this article will be in the same situation. We are Americans. I have lived my entire life in the dominance and sway of the American way and, if I believed the narrative pumped into everyone from nursery school onward, I would not understand why things are as they are. WTF is the matter with the rest of the world anyway? Can’t they see that our way, the American way, is so much more superior than everything else? And, why do they not embrace it wholeheartedly as an improvement on what they now hold to be true? How in the world can anything be any better? WTF is the matter with them, those heathens, those unbelievers, anyway?

Unfortunately, this attitude is prideful and arrogant and goes against the Spirit of God, which stresses humility before God and service to others as the only proper method of operation. America is not good at this, no matter the propaganda. God opposes the proud (James 4:6)1 and is the REAL kingmaker (Daniel 2:21, Daniel 4:17, Psalm 75:7, Romans 13:1). Donald Trump, contrary to his opinions and beliefs, is nothing more than a tool in His hand.

I look at Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu as modern-day, real life clones of the villainous cardinal in Alexandre Dumas’ novel, The Three Musketeers. Out of pure hubris, arrogance, and a lifetime of exercising power to get whatever they want, they are basically saying to anyone who opposes them, “We can send you back where you came from, back to the Stone Age2, or, even better for us, to Hell itself.”

Iran is basically saying, “With a flick of my wrist…”

Now, if only it were that simple. We laugh at the incident and move on to the next scene. But God…3 God is the one who decides how the situation works out and it is quite possible, increasingly likely, that events unfold in which we see the current political and financial world system upended and destroyed almost instantly, virtually overnight, in one day, so to speak. If that happens, there will be millions and billions of people who will be shocked and in despair at the speed of the implosion.4

“Alas! Alas! Oh, Babylon, Babylon, where art thou?”

And many will have to change their religion because the Beast they worshipped is no more.

  1. I wrote about this just a few days ago. See here. ↩︎
  2. Without saying so, they are following the example set by Richard Armitage, a top official at the State Dept. during George W. Bush’s run-up to the Afghanistan invasion. Armitage is alleged to have told Pakistan’s president, Pervez Musharraf, that the country would be “bombed back to the Stone Age” if Musharraf didn’t get with the program and allow the US access. Armitage, of course, denied that he ever made the threat. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2006/09/paki-s27.html ↩︎
  3. Used in conjunction, this is one of the most profound and powerful phrases in the English language. ↩︎
  4. To get the full impact of this, read Revelation 18: 9-24, then use your wildest imagination. ↩︎

Note to readers: I have reached a milestone at Poor Roger’s Almanac. This article is #300 in a line of posts stretching back to 2012. I have made a lot of progress–spiritual, emotional, and literary in that time. Nothing is denied, held back, nor paywalled. It never will be. This is my mission in life and I am grateful to have the opportunity to share it with you.

God! What Do I Do Now?

Roger Mitchell3 Comments

This is a recent photo taken at the White House which has been spread far and wide in the also-recent revelation that members of the military have been subjected to “religious” persuasions and pressures from superior officers, presumably following the example and advice of the Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth. It reminded me of the painting which showed George Washington and Abraham Lincoln praying over George W. Bush while laying their hands on him. But, I guess that’s what warmongers do for each other.

The controversy began after an anonymous non-commissioned officer contacted the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) on behalf of several soldiers in a unit stationed outside the Iran combat zone. The individual wrote that a commander urged personnel to view the war as “all part of God’s divine plan,” while citing passages from the Book of Revelation. According to the complaint, the officer told troops that “President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth.” — The Cradle

I am not concerned whether this is true, although it certainly would be in keeping with the character of the head honchos who have visited the latest military destruction on Iran. Understanding so-called Biblical “prophecy”1 from a Zionist, evangelical, and dispensational point of view, it is not hard to believe that Earth is indeed “in the last days” as foretold by Revelation, just prior to the return of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who will rule and reign from Jerusalem for 1000 years, forcing everyone to bow and scrape to His authority on pain of being bopped by a Rod of Iron for disobedience, rebellion, and disbelief. Days of peace, indeed!

If, a big IF, Donald Trump has been set up in the Presidency by God Himself to usher in Armageddon and “light the signal fire” so that Jesus can find His way here, then he is certainly holding up his end of the responsibility. It makes me wonder, however, if this isn’t the wrong way to look at the situation. More than likely, instead of showing Jesus the way, Trump, his coterie of sycophantic yes-men and women, Lindsey Graham and his neoconservative ilk, and the world’s foremost arch-criminal, James Moriarty Benjamin Netanyahu and the entire leadership structure of Israel, are manipulating the actual sequence of events, literally forcing an appearance by Jesus to put an end to the fighting lest all mankind be killed and the Earth destroyed forever. And, if Jesus should somehow not show up, well, they win by default and take His place.

Shall we do evil so that good may come? Yeah, for sure, as long as the good comes to me.

Of course, that might be a little too far-fetched, so I’ll rescind the assertion and apologize to anyone whose feelings were hurt and whose beliefs were bruised. It is far more plausible to see things as Alexander Dugin explains in a well-written expose of Zionist thought.

“…Zionism is Judaism’s heretical rebellion where Jews declare themselves God, seize the Holy Land by force, and plunge tradition into apocalyptic upheaval.“

Well, Donald Trump hasn’t yet declared himself God, but he thinks of himself as The Supreme One. It wasn’t long ago that, in answer to a question about restraints on his behavior, he replied,

“…Trump insisted, just “one thing” that can curtail his desire for global supremacy: “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.” — from an article on People

Add to that, his statement that, as President of the US, he can do whatever he wants, and you get the idea that he really thinks he is above the law, not just international law, but the Law Itself. The Highest Law. The one which says, “Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not lie, unless you’re on the campaign trail or at war.”

All this is to raise a question, however. Who or what were those people, including Donald Trump, praying to as shown in the photo above? If he cannot be stopped by anyone once his mind is made up and if he can act in any manner he wants, then why does he feel the need to seek guidance from a “higher” authority? Considering that he also is rumored to have said that he is not a Christian, that he hates his enemies, and that he has no compunction nor regrets about destroying others for his own sake (unarmed, hard-working fishermen in the Caribbean, e.g.), I am confident in stating2 that he does not worship the same Prince of Peace that I (and millions of other Americans) do. Maybe he recognizes and serves some other nefarious character who encourages him to indulge his god-like powers, you know, kill, steal, and destroy. I’d be willing to bet that all of the people in that photo think of only one thing–power and how to gain more of it, which is about as far from true Christianity, selfless sacrifice in the service of others, as anyone can get.

One of the ironies of the American War between the States, the War of Northern Aggression, the Civil War as some call it, is that the people on both sides of the conflict, both Union and Confederacy, believed that they were right, that their cause was just, and they prayed to the same God to give them victory over their enemies–the others, those over there. The same god, the same religion, the same belief structure, yet they expected God to pick and choose sides, to favor one while hurling lightening bolts at the other. Kind of like the internecine wars the Greek gods on Mount Olympus would involve themselves in and with just about the same results–a lot of dead people and widespread destruction.

Since, as human beings created in the Image of God, aren’t we all one big family? Brothers and sisters? Related to each other? Yet, in this current war which Trump and Netanyahu deliberately started, whose god is going to triumph? The stronger side? The more resilient force? The ones who don’t run out of ammunition first? The one who punched first or the other who punched back? Far be it from me to predict how God is going to act, but I am sure of this.

“God resists the proud…” (James 4:6)

Interestingly, I typed this exact phrase into my Brave browser which produced this response.

God resists the proud — a declaration rooted in Scripture, most directly found in James 4:6, which states, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The Greek word used, antitasso, conveys a military image of deliberate, strategic opposition — God actively arranges circumstances to confront and humble those who exalt themselves. 

This resistance is not arbitrary but a response to pride rooted in self-reliance, arrogance, and a refusal to acknowledge God’s sovereignty.  As seen in Proverbs 3:34 (quoted in James), pride leads to divine opposition because it excludes God from one’s life. Psalm 10:4 describes the proud as those who “make no room for God,” and their self-sufficiency blocks true relationship with Him. 

Yet, the message is not only warning — it is an invitation. God’s resistance is not final rejection, but a call to humility.  Those who humble themselves, acknowledging their dependence on God, receive His grace. As James 4:7-10 urges: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” 

In essence, God opposes the proud to bring them to humility, so they may receive His grace and be restored.

Not bad for AI. Wouldn’t it be ironic if Iran was playing the role of antitasso?

  1. I have a close friend who calls it profit-cy, which, for those who make money off other’s misery, fits far better. ↩︎
  2. “By their fruits you will know them.” — Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:20) ↩︎

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream: A Modern Parable

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

“These were the visions of my head while on my bed:

I was looking, and behold,
A tree in the midst of the earth,
And its height was great.
The tree grew and became strong;
Its height reached to the heavens,
And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.
Its leaves were lovely,
Its fruit abundant,
And in it was food for all.
The beasts of the field found shade under it,
The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches,
And all flesh was fed from it.”
(Daniel 4:10-12)

Sounds great, right? Such a nice dream to have. Peace, prosperity, and plenty for everyone. “Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies…” But, wait, as the TV commercials blare incessantly, there’s more.

“I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.
He cried aloud and said thus:

Chop down the tree and cut off its branches,
Strip off its leaves and scatter its fruits.
Let the beasts get out from under it,
and the birds from the branches.
Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth,
Bound with a band of iron and bronze.”
(Daniel 4:13-15a)

Whoa! Wait a minute! What happened to the nice, pleasant picture I was seeing? This is ugly and I don’t like it.

“In the tender grass of the field,
Let it be wet with the dew of heaven,
And let him graze with the beasts
On the grass of the earth.
Let his heart be changed from that of a man,
Let him be given the heart of a beast,
And let seven times pass over him.”
(Daniel 4:15b-16)

Him? Who’s him? And what has he done to deserve this? Well, I’m glad you asked.

“All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying,

‘Is not this great Babylon,
That I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power
And for the honor of my majesty?‘”
(Daniel 4:28-30)

And, boom! Just like that, in fact, as the next verse says, “While the word was still in the king’s mouth…”,

The entire chapter tells the story. You’ll have to read it yourself to get the full report, but, in a nutshell, Nebuchadnezzar apparently went crazy insane and, within an hour, he was driven out of the palace, away from the city and civilization into the open fields where he spent the next seven years without any of the comforts of home, eating grass like an ox, completely senseless. The good part, however, is that after his ordeal, his right mind was restored, he gave credit where it was due, and he returned to his throne and picked up the affairs of the kingdom where he had left off seven years earlier.

“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor
the King of heaven, all of
whose works are truth, and
His ways justice. And those
who walk in pride He is
able to put down.”
(Daniel 4:37)

Now, I’m going to take this at face value. I see this as an historical account of an event that actually happened. I’ll leave it up to the scholars, historians, and argumentative skeptics to sort it out as to whether there’s more to the story than is recorded here. However, actual or imaginary, the lesson remains: proud, arrogant men (and women) can be taken down and humbled. This speaks volumes to the current phenomenon known as Donald John Trump, President of the United States, who, like Nebuchadnezzar, cannot resist bragging about himself and lifting himself higher and higher on the pedestal of his own vanity. I fear for him. If the story of Nebuchadnezzar is true and given to us as a lesson and a warning not to get too big for our britches, then The Don is skating on very thin ice.

When Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind, the world continued on as before with other leaders stepping in to fill his place. This would, of course, happen if Trump was taken out. The continuity of succession guarantees that JD Vance immediately becomes president and the system carries on. However, unfortunately for the rest of us, Americans and the rest of the world, Trump has access to weapons which Nebuchadnezzar could not have even dreamed about and may have the same mentality as Israel does with its Samson Option–if we’re going to lose, we do it bigly, no matter who or what we have to destroy. Suicidal madness is not restricted to “lone wolf” gunmen who shoot up schools, rock concerts, or nightclubs. It might be, just possibly might be, that Trump would resist the humbling process so strongly that nuclear weapons would be unleashed with devastating, world-wide consequences. All to avoid having to admit making a mistake and confessing to a sin of pride.

On the other hand, perhaps all this is the result of my own fevered imagination, by reading too much into the situation, and by taking too much Scripture on too much faith to mean that it means what it says. For instance:

“I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a native green tree. Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.” (Psalm 37:35-36)

“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)1

Try as much as I can, I am unable to call to mind anyone at present who does not spread himself more than Donald Trump. When it comes to calling attention to himself, he has no equal. In his world, there is only One and He knows it. Reminds me of Nebuchadnezzar, who was also compared to a tree and was cut down to size. See Daniel 4 for the story.2

The war against Iran which Trump and Netanyahu have unleashed may well become the straw which finally breaks the camel’s back. We would be wise to contemplate the possibility. Selah. Pause. Consider.

  1. See also–Isaiah 14 and Genesis 11 for similar pronouncements ↩︎
  2. https://poorrogersalmanac.com/2025/07/10/officially-confirmed-epstein-didnt-kill-himself/ ↩︎

When Johnny Goes Marching Off to War, Hurrah! Hurrah!

Roger Mitchell7 Comments

The title for this article is derived from the old song longing hopefully for the safe return of soldiers from the carnage of the American War between the States1 (1861-1865). What is usually not mentioned nor remembered is the fervor and celebration of just a few years earlier with which Johnny marched off to war and his family and friends, both North and South, cheered him on, gave parades in his honor, showered him with adulation, flowers, and kisses. “Hurrah! Hurrah! We’ll teach those scoundrels (Yankees, Rebs) something they won’t ever forget! Go get’m, Johnny! We’re behind you all the way.”

This, as I recall, was the atmosphere in America immediately after 9/11. It seemed that everyone couldn’t wait to go out and kick some a$$ for the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001, and, to be perfectly honest, it didn’t really matter whether the actual perpetrators were brought to “justice” or not, as long as someone paid. The administration, George W. Bush presiding, took full advantage of the situation and launched two wars, Afghanistan and Iraq, which were only ended years later, without ever resolving the question of “whodunit?”. Not that it mattered too much, anyway. The American public is driven by emotion rather than common sense and Congress is repeatedly admonished to “Don’t just sit there, do something.”, with the unspoken implication that it is better to do anything, even if it is wrong, than to contemplate their actions, consider the consequences, and make good choices.

Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, the “day which will last in infamy”, was no different, except that there was no question about who had initiated the attack: Japan, the Rising Sun empire, and America lost no time in ramping up to a wartime footing in a massive spirit of revenge and retaliation, intent only on the destruction of those who dared to slap the face of Uncle Sam. Nothing was held back by the public, no sacrifice was too great, no cost was too much to bear for The Cause of total victory.

That was then, this is now.

Today, even as I write this, the tension in the Middle East is at a fever-pitch and rapidly escalating. The US may have already attacked Iran by the time you read this. Donald Trump is ramping up his threats and bullying tactics against Iran, demanding that the government undergo a regime change, that it Cease and Desist from any nuclear program, and that it immediately disarm by getting rid of its long range missiles. Basically, complete and abject surrender on Trump’s terms which, of course, the mullahs who lead Iran have rejected without any equivocation. What is Trump going to do if Iran doesn’t bow and scrape? Sign the order to attack? Or, TACO? We’ll know soon.

It seems to me (and polls regularly bear this out) that the mood of the country is against starting another war, especially one in the Middle East. People are genuinely tired of the “forever wars” and Trump capitalized on that sentiment when he was on the campaign trail, promising to end them. Political reality reigns supreme, however, as he conveniently forgot what he had promised to the voters only a short time earlier and started aggressively going after other countries, all smaller and weaker than the US. To date, in the first year of his second term, he has literally bombed ten countries, more than any of his predecessors. One of those was Iran at the end of the 12-day war with Israel last summer when he supposedly destroyed (obliterated was the word he used) Iran’s nuclear capabilities completely. I say supposedly, because, if that was the case, then why is there so much concern about Iran’s current nuclear program? Something doesn’t add up here and can be seen for what it is–a bald-faced lie.

Events like this which have occurred over the years wherein The Powers That Be have run roughshod over the interests of the common people do not build trust within society. Without that trust, institutions fail and when a society’s institutions fail, the society collapses. The ongoing Epstein scandal and the recent Covid scam have created an enormous (and growing) distrust among the populace which will not be reversed if Trump goes to war against Iran and gets the pants beaten off him. The only reason that trust and faith might be restored would be if he achieves complete and total victory immediately, without question, for the whole world to see and understand. Of course, once the victory laps, backslapping, and grandstanding were done, we’d be off to the next conquest, the next enemy which needed to be taken out as a matter of “national security”. Any guesses as to which one that would be? You get three and the first two don’t count, but I’ll give you a hint. It starts with an R, ends in A, and has six letters.

God help us!

If he is not immediately successful and Iran closes the strait of Hormuz to shipping, the price of oil will go through the roof, the financial Jenga tower known as derivatives will collapse, the Federal Reserve printing presses will be pushed to the limit resulting in hyper-inflation, and the world-wide system of fiat money will be scrapped in favor of a different one–the Great Reset, which we’ve all heard about. Probably something along this line of thinking will happen, that is, if Trump does not achieve complete and total victory with the first strike. Probably. It might happen if he does succeed. I’m only speculating.

Or, perhaps that has been the plan all along. Who knows?

In an article posted on Forum Geopolitica, Scott Ritter had this to say about the situation.

“A war on Iran will result in a disaster for all parties involved. There is no guarantee of success on the part of the United States and Israel, or failure on the part of Iran. There is a huge risk that this war will result in massive disruption of critical energy production capability in one of the most critical energy production regions in the world, triggering a massive energy security crisis that could collapse regional and global economies.

So, the key question is why Donald Trump, a man who ran on a platform of peace, willing to risk losing his political base on the eve of critical mid-term elections by betting on the successful execution of a short war with Iran that achieves the regime change outcome desired?

The simple answer is because he simply has no choice.”

Ritter goes on to explain why he thinks Trump has no choice and I can’t say that he’s wrong. The extremely high sunk costs of the military buildup almost guarantee that an action of some type will be taken, if for no other reason than to recoup some of the expense incurred. The greater reason, though, is that Trump’s ego, prestige, and reputation will take an enormous hit if he “chickens out” this time. Given the polling numbers on his sinking approval rating, it would likely lead to a loss by the Republican Party to the Democrats in November, virtually ensuring that impeachment hearings would be resurrected, this time with a fairly good chance of “throwing the rascal out”. Of course, if he does initiate the war and loses, the same scenario presents itself. In short, Trump is caught in a lose/lose situation. Heads I lose, tails you win, and there’s not much that he can do about it.

If Trump wins, he will be insufferable. If he loses, watch out. Either way, the American public will pay the price and my guess is that cheering Johnny as he marches off to war will become a highly unpopular act. As it should. Wars have a nasty habit of biting the hands which feed them.

  1. Technically speaking, not a civil war as the Confederate States were not trying to take over the existing government, but wanted to split from it and set up a separate one. It should more properly be called a secessionist movement which was put down by force. ↩︎

Colonel Bombast: “He Shouldn’t Have Said That.”

Roger Mitchell4 Comments

“AND I’M GOING TO SLAP HIM SILLY BECAUSE HE DID!”

On Friday, August 1, Donald Trump stated that he had ordered two US nuclear submarines to be “repositioned in the appropriate areas” as a response to a statement made by Dimitry Medvedev, one of Vlad Putin’s close advisors and a former president of the Russian state.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-nuclear-submarines-repositioned-medvedev-f8e9b870fa107f6b6209e7a22f8ada43

This is high-stakes theater at its most hilarious, or it would be if it wasn’t also extremely dangerous for the entire world.

So, really what did Medvedev say and why did Trump feel the need to respond so forcefully, not only with his rhetoric but also with the action described above?

“Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10… He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war,” –Dimitry Medvedev

To which, of course Trump couldn’t resist answering.


“…tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!” — Donald Trump

All this culminated with his announcement that he had ordered the subs into position. What a joke! What a farce! What a circus! The comedy of this exceeds even that of the recent 12-day “war” with Iran which ended with the US strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities and Iran’s subsequent strike on al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, all of which were given advance notice so as to not let the situation escalate out of hand. Blow for show, in other words, akin to the ridiculous “sport” known as professional wrestling.

The only problem is that we might all be blown to smithereens if something goes horribly wrong.

  1. Trump ordered two nuclear subs into the “appropriate area”, just in case. Well, just in case, what exactly?
  2. Are these subs nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed? This is a big difference and highly crucial. Nuclear-powered subs with conventional weapons are not the same as nuclear-armed subs which can take out an entire country with one salvo.
  3. Did the Pentagon actually send these subs to their new coordinates or was this “order” simply ignored because wiser heads decided not to follow it and only played along with the game, stroking Trump’s ego so he could feel like he’s really in control?
  4. Has Russia responded to Trump’s “repositioning” by doing some of their own? Did they already have subs in position somewhere off the eastern seaboard of the Atlantic Ocean, say, 500 miles east of New Jersey, ready at a moment’s notice to take out Washington, D.C., New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston? Is this a legitimate possibility?

Trump, for all the good he has done in educating the average American about the dangers of being subservient to the Deep State, sounds like he has taken his own words to heart, believing that all he has to do is issue ultimatums, threats, and veiled insinuations at which everyone else, including his own closest enemies, will repent of their sins with fear and trembling. “B’God, those pesky Russians, especially Medvedev, had better shut their potty mouths and start listening to me. Or else!”

The major problem with this is that he has offered up so much bullshit in the past that he has no credibility left on the world stage when he speaks. Remember that he promised to end the Ukraine War in twenty-four hours once he had gained the Oval Office? Yeah, well, things aren’t quite as simple as they appeared when he was playing to throngs of adoring audiences on the campaign trail.

Trump, in my opinion, is increasingly seen as someone who can be ignored and sidelined. He is not consistent, does not act diplomatically, refuses to hold to his word even when it hurts, bluffs constantly, and does not hesitate to change course politically if he thinks it will benefit him. Compared to this, Vladimir Putin comes across as reasonable, calm, logical, unmoving, and steadfast.

But, then, what should I expect? After all, I did compare Trump to a wrecking ball, appointed only to destroy what already is to clear the way for what will be. With all due respect to that, I am not disappointed. It is happening. In real time. And we get to watch it unfold.

Hang on to your life. Trump isn’t going to.

Victimization: Running Out of Steam

Roger MitchellLeave a comment

I like to think of myself as caring and compassionate, especially toward those who are beaten down and needy through no fault of their own. I have no problem with slipping a Benjamin into the hand of an elderly widow or young mother who I am certain is not able to pay her electric bill. Yet, there are some things which simply cause me to rebel, to resist. One of these is the claim by some that they are eternal victims and that everyone must excuse their behavior because…

Well, you know.

Blacks in America are pretty good at this. They (or their ancestors, or perhaps only some) were made slaves by white people centuries ago and, due to that unfortunate tidbit of history, ought to have everything handed to them on a silver or gold platter today. Never mind that the ones who enslaved them (or their ancestors, or perhaps only some of them) were probably also black. Never mind that the term, Slav, which classifies a middle-European race, likely sprang from the fact that white people from that region were probably also “slaves”. Never mind that the black ancestors who were enslaved have long been dead, as have been their “masters”, and that there is no connection between myself and a black man in San Francisco or Atlanta as a result of that specific situation. Everyone knows they are victims and must be compensated.

Enough of that! Let’s get to the real meat here.

Earlier today, I watched a short “news” brief by ABC on the retaliation by Iran because of the Israeli strikes on that country on June 13. Friday the 13th. Exactly sixty-one days after President Donald (Cap’n Warp Speed) Trump had told the Iranians they had sixty days to conform and comply with his nuclear “negotiations”. If they didn’t, well, at least he warned them of the terror and suffering that was to come.

Anyway, ABC had a reporter on the ground in Bet Yam, a community which had received numerous missile strikes from the Iranians. (Where the heck is Iron Dome when you need it?) One of the complaints was that children, at least two, had been killed. Let’s be real clear about this, at least two Israeli children had been killed from the missile strikes and, for that, we ought to be outraged. Yet, there was not a word about the thousands of Palestinian children who have been coldly slaughtered in the name of “security” and “Greater Israel”, even though it is (and can be) completely documented. Nothing said at all about the Iranian children who died as a result of Israel’s aggressive action.

No! NO, NO, NO! Our children are dying!! Ours, not theirs. We ought to be the ones who are sympathized with, pitied, and something must be done about it!!!

Pat Benatar had something to sing about this. “I’m going to harden my heart…”

Truth is, I have trouble with ginning up any sympathy for the Israeli claim, because I know that the Israeli State is killing, has killed, an untold number of Palestinian or Iranian children. I can have pity for them, but…that’s about as far as it goes. The problem is that they have been claiming to be “victims of circumstance” for as long as I can remember, at least since the “oppression” in Egypt during the time of Moses, some 3500 years ago. How long does one have to be a victim before it becomes embedded into the DNA and bloodline?

Remember Pinnochio? The fox and the cat?

Is this wrong? Do I have a bad attitude? Am I in need of a readjustment in some camp somewhere?

I can, and do, feel sadness at the violent deaths of two Israeli children, but I also recognize and understand that this is payment received for the evil, violent, murderous behavior exhibited, pursued, and acted upon, by decades of Israeli leadership and society, which knew (know) only one thing: violence for the sake of power is to be pursued to the ultimate end, which is death. All that matters is that we win, no matter how much it costs, nor how many others have to die so that we can achieve our goal, our end. If some of those who die are our own, well…collateral damage.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” — Jesus Christ, as recorded in Luke 6:38.