Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy beginning of Spring, happy, happy, happy.\u00a0\u00a0Find something to be happy about today, this Easter Sunday of the year 2026 in the Christian Era.\u00a0\u00a0My first plan would be:\u00a0\u00a0don\u2019t turn on the news.\u00a0\u00a0Get on with whatever holiday preparations you need to do.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is definitely one reason to be happy today.\u00a0\u00a0The \u201cWIZZO\u201d, the back seat weapons specialist officer in the US F-15 shot down over Iran, has been rescued.\u00a0\u00a0After 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\u2019s) but no other casualties; the officer is back in US hands.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Glad the \u201cWizzo\u201d, and everyone else involved is safe.\u00a0\u00a0Total cost for the four lost planes, almost a quarter Billion dollars.\u00a0\u00a0That, by the way, is in addition to the\u00a0Billion dollars a day\u00a0Trump\u2019s \u201cexcursion\u201d to Iran is costing us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And while we\u2019re on this subject, what are Americans thinking?\u00a0\u00a0There was a \u201cbetting line\u201d on the prediction market on how long it would take for the rescue?\u00a0\u00a0People were betting on this officer\u2019s life!!\u00a0\u00a0And then there was the \u201cprivate rescue\u201d guy\u00a0\u00a0on streaming news from \u201cGrey Bull\u201d (the company that got Venezuelan\u00a0opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado out). He wanted to go into the graphic details of what happens to Americans turned hostages.\u00a0\u00a0We all know; and somewhere out there in America, there\u2019s a father and a mother and a family who didn\u2019t need a vision to be reminded about the risks their child was facing.\u00a0\u00a0It felt like the \u201cGrey Bull\u201d guy was being \u201chonest\u201d; mostly to drum up future business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Trump is feeling the financial pressure.\u00a0\u00a0Last week he questioned how the Federal government could pay for things like daycare and Medicaid, when he has a war to fight.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The United States now has a total debt of $39 Trillion, up $3 Trillion from the day Trump took office.\u00a0\u00a0What\u2019s the point?\u00a0\u00a0Twenty percent of the Federal budget is now going to pay interest on the debt.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s like the first few years of a thirty-year mortgage:\u00a0\u00a0it seems all you do is pay interest and the principal remains the same.\u00a0\u00a0For the US, it\u2019s a Trillion dollars a year, just to stay even.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whoops:\u00a0\u00a0Happy is the order of the day.\u00a0\u00a0I was happy Friday, I managed to get gas at $3.67 a gallon.\u00a0\u00a0Remember the \u201cThank You Joe Biden\u201d campaign, with stickers on the gas pumps about the high gas prices.\u00a0\u00a0Now it\u2019s\u00a0\u201cThank you Donald Trump (may I have another?)\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not just the President and Congress paying the price of the Iran War.\u00a0 Americans are \u201csharing\u00a0\u00a0sacrifice\u201d, with higher gas prices, and rising prices for everything that comes from oil.\u00a0\u00a0That includes fertilizer for crops and transportation for food.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike other Presidents, I don\u2019t remember Donald Trump asking us to \u201cjoin in\u201d for the \u201cgreater good\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, it feels like he just assumed America would go along with his expensive \u201cexcursion\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Even his prime time speech last week\u00a0\u00a0wasn\u2019t a \u201cWin one for the Gipper\u201d address.\u00a0\u00a0It was just a rambling mash of Trump\u2019s Truth Social tweets from the past month.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My advice to the President:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You\u2019re supposed the \u201cArt of the Deal\u201d guy.\u00a0\u00a0So, make a deal with Iran.\u00a0\u00a0It could be:\u00a0\u00a0they won\u2019t build a nuclear bomb (the deal Obama made a decade ago), and leave the Strait of Hormuz alone; and we\u2019ll stop bombing and call off our Israeli attack dog.\u00a0\u00a0Declare victory, Mr. President. Then have a big parade down Pennsylvania Avenue for our victorious forces.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s another thing you\u2019re supposed to enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, have a Happy holiday Sunday. I\u2019m excited: there\u2019s a ham to be smoked. I\u2019m a sucker for smoked spiral sliced ham with all of the trimmings. So I\u2019ll stop my rant here, and start \u201csmokin\u2019\u201d!!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"