Gut Check for America
MAR 21, 2026
Here’s the lede at NBC News this morning:
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Trump weighing several options for U.S. troops inside Iran
Discussions about possible ground troops have focused on missions aimed at escalating the war in attempt to end it, sources say, but no decisions have been made.
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Somebody please explain to me how committing ground troops to Iran and escalating the war is in any way a sane method of deescalating the war.
The Trump administration is out-Orwelling George Orwell. Rather than a sobering warning, Orwell’s “1984” has become a user’s manual for autocrats like Trump and Hegseth, where war is waged in the name of peace and escalation is deescalation.
Meanwhile, Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, told us that it’s not America’s 18 (!) intelligence agencies that determine whether we face an “imminent threat.” No—only the president can make that determination.
Can somebody please tell me why we have 18 intelligence agencies that we spend scores of billions on? All we really need is the president’s gut. I suggest we eliminate America’s entire intelligence “community” and replace it with Trump’s intestines.
If Trump has any sense left in his gut, he should declare victory and end this colossal mistake of a war.
Bracing Views 
[Adapted (slightly) from my entry on Substack]
“Rather than a sobering warning, Orwell’s “1984” has become a user’s manual for autocrats like Trump and Hegseth…”
I don’t wish to submit everyone here to a(nother) harangue from me, suffice it to say I wish WordPress would allow emojis in the comment section, I’d simply put in two of my favorites, one labeled “loco” with a little figure twirling his index finger in circles while pointed at his head, the other labeled “thud,” the character looking astounded and then falling face first on the ground. ‘Nuf said.
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Principled, respectable adults don’t communicate with emojis.
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Three “likes” on the Substack entry plus the one here show that at least four other people hold to the adage that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
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The irrational character of Trump is evident in his pretense that he alone determines the course of this war, that the Iranians will be forced to humble themselves before him and beg for an end to being attacked. Megalomania pure and simple.
Today I was out as usual on the street only now my emphasis is opposition to the war for Israel. I am flying an upside-down American flag. I encountered the same indifference of the great majority of my fellow Americans. Also, as usual, those who stop to talk to me are rarely white. I suspect white Americans are primarily concerned with gasoline prices, but Trump will not be forgiven for starting another war on his own.
I saw in the news that the US is dismantling THAAD batteries in South Korea to take them to defend Israel. What will the US not do to protect ethnic cleansing?
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