Fox News<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0That normally raises my blood pressure, grabs my attention, and after a few minutes, has me considering throwing my phone out the car window.\u00a0\u00a0So I listened to Jesse Watters, the guy who took over the Tucker Carlson hour a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWatters chastised \u201cus Democrats\u201d, and, of course, the \u201cmainstream media\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0He demanded that we look at the achievements of President Trump in Iran.\u00a0\u00a0After all, the Iranian nuclear program was (obliterated, decimated, set back)<\/s> destroyed to nuclear \u201cdust\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The Iranian Navy (really, they had a Navy?) is at the bottom of the Persian Gulf.\u00a0\u00a0An entire generation of their leadership is dead; \u201cregime change\u201d achieved.\u00a0\u00a0Their missile production is (obliterated, decimated, set back)<\/s>\u00a0reduced.\u00a0\u00a0And, (as of that single moment on Friday night) the Strait of Hormuz was open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Watters told us to stop \u201cwringing our hands\u201d and do the right thing: say \u201cthank you, Mr. President\u201d, for solving the Iranian problem after forty-seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Watters, then followed up with the Republican candidate for Governor of Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy.\u00a0\u00a0The billionaire proceeded to tell me that \u201cus Democrats\u201d don\u2019t have any political goals, except to be \u201cagainst Trump\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, we can\u2019t come up with a solution to anything, other than to \u201csay no\u201d to Trump.\u00a0\u00a0Watters and Ramaswamy served their purpose well.\u00a0\u00a0I got home, safe and wide awake.\u00a0\u00a0And I still had the phone, barely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s Sunday morning.\u00a0\u00a0Iran fired on Indian tankers in the Strait.\u00a0\u00a0It is NOT open.\u00a0\u00a0And while gas prices dropped Friday (down to $3.66 a gallon here in Pataskala, thanks a lot Mr. Trump!), I bet they\u2019ll head back up again tomorrow morning.\u00a0\u00a0The victory that President Trump so longs for in the Persian Gulf still eludes him.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, his administration puts forth a schizophrenic series of foreign policies statements.\u00a0\u00a0Vice President Vance is going to Pakistan to negotiate.\u00a0\u00a0Wait, he\u2019s not.\u00a0\u00a0The Strait is open.\u00a0\u00a0Wait, it\u2019s not.\u00a0\u00a0The peace deal is done. No, the United States is going to bomb every power plant and bridge in Iran, a nation almost as big as Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And after all of the celebration in the deaths of the Iranian leadership; we find that an even more hard line son of an Ayatollah is now in charge.\u00a0\u00a0The nascent Iranian revolutionary movement that Trump hoped would rise up, is now making the choice between their religious leadership and the nation that threatens to destroy their civilization (Trump\u2019s words, not mine).\u00a0\u00a0The American attacks served to \u201cput down\u201d the resistance almost as well as the rumored 40,000 executed in the streets before the war began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Israel has a \u201cceasefire\u201d with Lebanon; though they reserve the continuing right to bomb who they want, when they want, and where they want.\u00a0\u00a0Netanyahu\u2019s strategy is more manic than schizophrenic.\u00a0\u00a0His goal seems to be to leave nothing but dust all around Israel, so that he can send settlers in to \u201ccivilize\u201d the Holy Land.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What can we be sure of?\u00a0\u00a0That, from the ashes of destruction, Iran is snatching a strategic victory.\u00a0\u00a0The American\/Israeli attacks led to Iranian exercise of control and even monetization of the Strait, now the \u201cQueen\u201d on the chessboard of Middle East strategy. (That was not even on the board before this \u201cexcursion\u201d in warfare).\u00a0\u00a0And now the man who made his \u201cliving\u201d as the ultimate deal maker, can\u2019t seem to find a way to close.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe he\u2019ll follow President Obama\u2019s lead, and release funds more of Iran’s frozen funds. Of course, Obama did get a nuclear deal, without war, and without shutting down twenty percent of the world\u2019s oil supply.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I need to add, it\u2019s sad to be an American right now.\u00a0\u00a0We have the greatest military in history, a force we are proud of.\u00a0\u00a0I know many who serve, and I have nothing but respect for their skills, their sacrifices, and their incredible effectiveness.\u00a0\u00a0To use the reasoning of Second Amendment advocates, it\u2019s not the weapon, it\u2019s the user.\u00a0\u00a0The user of this incredible war machine, the President of the United States, is acting recklessly and thoughtlessly.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s abusing his powers, and risking their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What happens next?\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s in the world\u2019s interest to recognize reality.\u00a0\u00a0Iran is NOT destroyed.\u00a0\u00a0But they want the attacks to end.\u00a0\u00a0The United States has not achieved regime change, but we need to \u201ccut our losses\u201d, \u201cdeclare victory\u201d, and get the Hell out of there.\u00a0\u00a0And someone, anyone, needs to stop Israel\u2019s aggression.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But just because it\u2019s the right thing to do, it doesn\u2019t mean that Donald Trump will do it.\u00a0\u00a0And that should be enough to keep us all awake, all the time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Fox News I was coming home from a track meet last Friday night and got a little sleepy at the wheel.\u00a0\u00a0My tactic for staying awake:\u00a0\u00a0switch over to Fox News.\u00a0\u00a0That normally raises my blood pressure, grabs my attention, and after a few minutes, has me considering throwing my phone out the car window.\u00a0\u00a0So I listened to … Continue reading “Sleepless”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Hard to sleep at night - when you don't know what world you'll wake up to in the morning.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSleepless : Our America - 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