Happy
Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy beginning of Spring, happy, happy, happy. Find something to be happy about today, this Easter Sunday of the year 2026 in the Christian Era. My first plan would be: don’t turn on the news. Get on with whatever holiday preparations you need to do.
There is definitely one reason to be happy today. The “WIZZO”, the back seat weapons specialist officer in the US F-15 shot down over Iran, has been rescued. After a couple of days of escape and evasion, and a massive effort that included the loss of three other aircraft (an A-10, and two HC-130’s) but no other casualties; the officer is back in US hands. Glad the “Wizzo”, and everyone else involved is safe. Total cost for the four lost planes, almost a quarter Billion dollars. That, by the way, is in addition to the Billion dollars a day Trump’s “excursion” to Iran is costing us.
And while we’re on this subject, what are Americans thinking? There was a “betting line” on the prediction market on how long it would take for the rescue? People were betting on this officer’s life!! And then there was the “private rescue” guy on streaming news from “Grey Bull” (the company that got Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado out). He wanted to go into the graphic details of what happens to Americans turned hostages. We all know; and somewhere out there in America, there’s a father and a mother and a family who didn’t need a vision to be reminded about the risks their child was facing. It felt like the “Grey Bull” guy was being “honest”; mostly to drum up future business.
Dollars to Debt
President Trump is feeling the financial pressure. Last week he questioned how the Federal government could pay for things like daycare and Medicaid, when he has a war to fight. The United States now has a total debt of $39 Trillion, up $3 Trillion from the day Trump took office. What’s the point? Twenty percent of the Federal budget is now going to pay interest on the debt. It’s like the first few years of a thirty-year mortgage: it seems all you do is pay interest and the principal remains the same. For the US, it’s a Trillion dollars a year, just to stay even.
Whoops: Happy is the order of the day. I was happy Friday, I managed to get gas at $3.67 a gallon. Remember the “Thank You Joe Biden” campaign, with stickers on the gas pumps about the high gas prices. Now it’s “Thank you Donald Trump (may I have another?)”. It’s not just the President and Congress paying the price of the Iran War. Americans are “sharing sacrifice”, with higher gas prices, and rising prices for everything that comes from oil. That includes fertilizer for crops and transportation for food.
Unlike other Presidents, I don’t remember Donald Trump asking us to “join in” for the “greater good”. In fact, it feels like he just assumed America would go along with his expensive “excursion”. Even his prime time speech last week wasn’t a “Win one for the Gipper” address. It was just a rambling mash of Trump’s Truth Social tweets from the past month.
Take Some Advice
My advice to the President: You’re supposed the “Art of the Deal” guy. So, make a deal with Iran. It could be: they won’t build a nuclear bomb (the deal Obama made a decade ago), and leave the Strait of Hormuz alone; and we’ll stop bombing and call off our Israeli attack dog. Declare victory, Mr. President. Then have a big parade down Pennsylvania Avenue for our victorious forces. It’s another thing you’re supposed to enjoy.
Meanwhile, have a Happy holiday Sunday. I’m excited: there’s a ham to be smoked. I’m a sucker for smoked spiral sliced ham with all of the trimmings. So I’ll stop my rant here, and start “smokin’”!!!!!
