Children in charge

There's a lot that gets me wound up about this completely unnecessary war with Iran. You can start with convicted felon president Donald Trump first, because he can't construct a clear, incisive yet simple sentence together without sounding like a 12-year-old seventh grader trying to deliver a report for school.

And I don't mean to insult seventh graders. Sorry.

But the war briefs we are getting from him are absurd propaganda and you get a sense that they are lies anyway. That could have something to do with the character he's shown us the past decade or so (Epstein files, adjudicated rapist, fraudster).

Rght now one of the worst is Pete Hegseth, a graduate of both Princeton University and Harvard Law School (pretty elitist there for somebody who often disparages the elite set), as well as a major in the Minnesota National Guard who served as a counter insurgency instructor in Afghanistan for eight months.

Last year he was appointed by Trump to be the Secretary of Defense, but Hegseth, in all of his misguided arrogance, has renamed his office the U.S. Department of War with himself as the Secretary of War (methinks you need Congressional approval to do that, but this administration seems to think the Constitution is a list of half-baked suggestions instead of actual law.

In Hegseth's latest press briefing from the Pentagon on Thursday, he sounded like an entitled child. Six American soldiers have died in the conflict, three American F-15 fighter jets (at $90 million apiece) were lost to friendly fire, and put us in a conflict that is costing this country – get this – a million dollars a day.

Sorry, but we have no money for health care. Check back later. 

Since hostilities began, the Straight of Hormuz has been closed, through which 20 percent of the world's oil passes. We are seeing the results at the pump, where gas at one local station jumped to $3.09 (from $2.79) in the morning and then to $3.19 in the afternoon.

At least a dozen nations have been attacked by Iran in response to Trump's war as the conflict spreads. Did the administration see that coming? Oops.

Meanwhile, Hegseth burped, "The dumb, politically correct wars of the past were the opposite of what we're doing here. They had vague objectives with restrictive, minimalist rules of engagement. No more. Our authorities are maxed out. Our capabilities are overwhelming and gathering still, as are those of our Islraeli partners. Our munitions are full up and our will is ironclad, which means our timeline is ours alone to control as long as it takes..."

Holy crap.

First off, what is a politically correct war? Seems to me Vietnam started off as a politically correct war, and look how that turned out with 58,000 American lives lost. And what exactly was accomplished other than seeding doubt in our own government. Were the two Gulf wars politically correct? Was Afghanistan?

One wag suggested the use of "politically correct" and "war" in the same breath were oxymorons, delivered by a moron.  

Secondly, what is the objective of a war with Iran? To stop its nuclear capability? I thought we did that last June. To effect regime change? I thought we didn't do regime change. Now Trump wants to be able to pick Iran's next leaders?

And what does Hegseth mean when he says "No more" to "restrictive" rules of engagement? No rules of engagement? So it's OK to commit war crimes? I guess that makes blowing up a girls' elementary school early in the conflict nothing more than collateral damage. Surely it's not a war crime.

Clearly, Hegseth is trying to control the narrative.

"When a few drones get through or tragic things happen, it's front-page news," said Hegseth. "I get it. The press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality. The terms of this war will be set by us at every step." 

Here we go again. Blame the press. But Hegseth's statement is highly offensive to the families of the six service members who died. In fact, it's pretty offensive to any service member who's died in any conflict. Somehow, Trump has managed to make this conflict about himself because the deaths make him look bad.

Like wearing a stupid baseball cap during the dignified return of the bodies. 

This is a souless administration that lacks dignity. Or compassion. Or intelligence.