Donald Trump...The anti-icon

An icon, when referring to an individual, is a person who is a widely recognized symbol of a specific set of beliefs, era, or lifestyle, embodying traits like consistency, influence, and uniqueness. They are looked up to with admiration for their accomplishments, someone with integrity. They have cultural impact, affecting how people think. Although some of this ideology, like widely recognized, specific beliefs, even influence, can be attributed to Donald Trump, we completely lose Dufus Rump when it comes to integrity.

Still, there is no doubt Trump has an effect on how certain people think, a sordid group of double-digits who can't think for themselves, nor do they have the ingenuity to act as a responsible individual. A group this country can do without. There is some of this gang who are turning against the Oval Office lunatic, as well as many congressional Republicans. And, when you are cornered with no other way out, you resort to any desperate moves you can make. Glenn Kirschner, a former federal prosecutor said...

it was “highly likely” Trump, 79, will exercise his pardon power to protect himself and his close circle from scrutiny.

“And then you know what our challenge will be, and I hope we’re up to the challenge,” Kirschner said. “We have to go into court, and we have to fight corruptly delivered pardons.”

Robert Davis says Trump is "sweating" over a new legal Epstein settlement...

"Bank of America is reportedly in talks with victims of disgraced financier Jeffrey 

Epstein to settle claims concerning the bank's connection to Epstein's sex trafficking operation."

Dufus Rump is still reeling from the testimony given by a victim who apparently bit his penis when he tried to force her to do oral sex. B of A is apparently trying to reach a settlement regarding it liability. Legal expert Joyce Vance says,,,

"That settlement should "raise the temperature" in the Trump White House because it shows the investigation is moving one step closer to shining a light on whatever it is Trump wants to hide."

And, as all these events occur and are covered in detail daily by the media, Donald Trump, completely lost in his thoughts of power and corruption, once again turns maliciously on the press as he proceeds with the Iran war. Margaret Sullivan in the Guardian says, "There’s nothing completely new in Donald Trump’s latest attacks on reporters." Adding...

"But they’re more extreme now and ever more indicative of what he wants: a docile press that provides propaganda – not factual journalism – for everything he does, including for his misguided war in Iran.

"He even suggested this week that news organizations could be charged with treason for, as he baselessly sees it, spreading false information and thus helping America’s enemies."

Trump isn't alone. Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, " threatened that media companies could lose their licenses if they didn’t get in line." This reeks of George Orwell's 1984 which...

"portrays media as a totalitarian tool used by Big Brother to enforce conformity, rewrite history, and manipulate reality via telescreens."

Do we really want to go down this road? And the answer from a sane population is obviously no. This all is somewhat diminished when we return to the White House maniac's Iran war. And although Dufus Rump has regularly tried to promote his war against the Iranians, at the same time minimizing its disastrous effect on Americans, as well as Middle Easterners, the Daily Beast says experts are warning...

"that President Donald Trump’s war in Iran could rattle the energy market for months to come because of a strike on a critical facility in the Middle East.

"An Iranian missile hit Ras Laffan in Qatar, home to the largest liquefied natural gas, or LNG, export facility in the world. In total, Ras Laffan supplies about a fifth of the world’s supply."

As a measure of reference, Ras Laffan has extensive damage and took three decades to complete. Gas prices in the U.S. and Europe have skyrocketed and could climb even more. 

Just recently Sen. Mark Kelly from Arizona revealed that Trump is selling ‘private’ national security briefings and presented receipts to confirm his charge. United States Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Director of the Central Intelligence Agency John Ratcliffe were questioned about the Iran war, reported by Mary Sue. And then the subject was turned to Donald Trump’s corrupt practices in government. Followed by this...

"A particular moment that has been gaining significant attention online, especially on X (formerly Twitter), involves Senator Mark Kelly asking Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe to confirm whether they had seen the circular Trump sent to his donors, promising them access to classified briefings."

Both said they had not. while at the same time defending their boss over something they were supposedly unaware of. The whole thing escalated when both Ratcliffe and Gabbard further denied that Trump had even done what they were accusing him of. Kelly said that the document had been made public six days earlier and offered to provide a copy. The question was never answered whether Dufus Rump should profit from offering classified briefings to donors.

 

Trump supporters don't want Iran war. Why does he?

Trump-Pompeo-Bolton- The 3 perpetrators

Trump_Pompeo_BoltonDonald Trump supporters loved it when he castigated "Washington’s regime-change wars and nation-building crusades." Republicans didn't like it, but he went on to slam Bush for the Iraq War and Afghanistan. Everyone in this country was sick of wars--except John Bolton, of course--with a peaceful outlook in the future. But not to be when T-rump starts sword rattling against Iran. Vox has 9 reasons, with John Bolton, even Mike Pompeo, expressing hate for Iran.

The Daily Beast reports...

"Three U.S. government officials familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that officials in multiple U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Iran’s new, threatening activity–which the administration points to in justifying its military presence in the Persian Gulf–is in response to the administration’s aggressive steps over the last two months."

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers say...

"that Tehran’s aggressive moves—reportedly planning attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Iraq and loading missiles on fishing boats in the Gulf—appear to be in response to Washington’s moves to press the Islamic Republic and its leadership. The Trump administration’s decisions to tighten oil sanctions and to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group, particularly provocative"

In my recollection, the nuclear treaty negotiated by former President Barack
Obama, while certainly not perfect, was at least progressing. Here's what National Security Adviser John Bolton previously said...

"the administration’s aggressive efforts aim to squeeze Iran 'until its leaders decide to change their destructive behavior, respect the rights of the Iranian people, and return to the negotiating table.' But the policy doesn’t appear to have put leaders there in a mood to make concessions."

The World Report gives a good documentation of human rights in Iran, and that is part of what the Trump administration is pissed off about. That and nuclear proliferation. The question is the correlation in Iran's aggressiveness and that of the United States. A British general said of Iran, “there’s been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces” in the region. Expounding further...

“We monitor them along with a whole range of others because that’s the environment we’re in,” said Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika, speaking via video from Baghdad. “If the threat level seems to go up then we’ll raise our force protection measures accordingly.”

 The U.S. Central Command issued a statement just hours later disputing Ghika’s comments repeating...

"John Bolton’s unsubstantiated claim that American intelligence has 'identified credible threats' from 'Iranian-backed forces' in Iraq and Syria."

Folks, I call your attention to the key word in the above, "unsubstantiated."