Donald John Trump is an irresistible, unstoppable force. There are a lot of people out there…like me…who hold quite a bit of disdain for his personal habits, but wholly embrace the overwhelming majority of his policies. Alas, the simple fact is that he makes it just … so … damn … difficult to look past one in order to support the other. And…he is not going to change. His first term taught him some important lessons in the administration of the Executive Branch; but it taught him nothing in terms of his personal behavior. Trump is gonna be Trump. Take him or leave him. That appears to be the terms that people not only choose when assessing the man; they are the terms that he demands he be assessed by. It is the classic love/hate dynamic; there is no middle ground with this man.
There
is no shortage of essential, critical issues that the Trump Administration must
deal with these days. But the lynch pin
for continued and positive progress in all of them resides in the Middle
East. We all know that the point of
critical mass is approaching for the Iran conflict; we just do not know when
that critical mass will arrive. While
trying to make the final call in this crisis, Trump has multiple balls in the air that he
must juggle.
Regime
change
appears
to be unobtainable without putting American boots on the ground. That seems to be off the table. Figuring out exactly who to negotiate with in Iran
is proving perhaps to be
insurmountable. What good is a deal if you are only negotiating with a faction of your
adversary? In lieu of regime change,
the reality is that at some point, America must depart from the region and
leave someone in charge of Iran. That
someone must ultimately be determined by the Iranian people themselves.
It
certainly appears inevitable that given the past track record of deceit, lying,
and unreliability exhibited by Iran in past agreements…decisive military action will be
required to achieve the goal of effectively destroying…to the greatest extent possible…Iran’s
nuclear capability, Iran’s military capacity, Iran’s exportation of global
terrorism, and Iran’s fantasy of claiming international waters as their
own. The plan on how, where, and when those
military actions take place are without a doubt being finalized at this
time. That military action must strike a
balance between achieving the stated goals of containment…while preserving
the potential revival of economic viability for the Iranian people. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22563/iran-deal-mistake
When the current overpowering American military
presence withdraws from the region, the environment must be in place to allow a
coalescing of the Middle Eastern countries in some type of shared existence
that can provide peace, prosperity, and stability for the region. I believe the key to this dynamic is an
expansion of the Abraham Accords. But
whatever the setting might be, it must be
in place to continue with a reasonably positive prospect of success…and
without America being the constant mediator in all things.
While there is clearly a global political/military aspect
to this conflict’s ultimate settlement whose nexus is NATO; there is no denying
there is also a domestic political aspect for Trump whose nexus is the
approaching midterm elections. The
simple fact is that if the Trump Administration has any hope whatsoever of
governing with its desired policies and agenda, it must first and foremost
preserve the Republican majority in the Senate.
And if it hopes to make any reasonable progress towards effectively
implementing those preferred policies; it must also preserve the Republican
majority in the House. The prospect for
success in these areas involves the art of balancing the patience of the
American people to allow the time necessary to gain a positive Iran outcome,
while simultaneously dealing with the economic/political upheaval that the
conflict is creating. Trump
is no doubt facing the conceivable dilemma of reaching a historically
significant Iranian conclusion against the risk of effectively losing any
chance of policy/agenda success in the last half of his second term.
Although
some reasonable people might disagree, I believe the preservation of the
American/Israel alliance is essential to the future security of our nation. Given their form of government and their
supreme, battle tested military capabilities…there is no stronger military and
political partner available to our nation.
If America is ever going to be in a foxhole, we want to have Israel in
that foxhole with us. Therefore, a
remedy to the existential threat that Iran and their proxy Hezbollah pose to
Israel must be part and parcel of any final conclusion to the Iran conflict;
either officially or unofficially: https://newsletter.amitsegal.net/p/its-noon-in-israel-the-un-a-wretched
.
The
rise of anti-Semitic fervor in America and across the world is something I
simply cannot understand. No nation on
this planet faces the daily…and
unreasonable…challenges to its existence that Israel faces: https://freebeacon.com/national-security/exclusive-us-probe-of-embattled-un-gaza-relief-agency-expands-to-1500-staffers-suspected-of-hamas-ties-unrwa-could-soon-be-labeled-a-foreign-terrorist-organization/
; not
even Ukraine.
All
of these balls are in the air and being carefully caught and tossed by our
President. At some point soon, the juggling
act will come to an end. We can only
hope and pray that it will be a good, solid, constructive, enduring, and
promising end.
President
Trump recently scolded his critics about their incessant observations regarding
the Iran conflict. Some of this
criticism is valid and well reasoned; while some of it is foolish and
irresponsible rhetoric fueled by Trump Derangement Syndrome. Either way, it’s presence in this issue makes
it that much more difficult to patiently and effectively arrive at an end
point. Trump has referred to this
ongoing conversation as chirping: https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/donald-trump-iran-negotiations/2026/06/01/id/1258118/
. Given the seriousness and complexities
of the dynamics involved, one can easily appreciate his frustration with much
of the dissonance.
But
if Trump wishes to have the space to manage this crisis as he sees fit…which is certainly a reasonable expectation,
then he must in turn cease his own constant chirping about the status of
ongoing developments. His persistent
give and take with the mainstream media and his all too frequent postings on social media do nothing but fuel the
fanatical obsession that exists about all aspects of this conflict. Yes…he certainly needs to be transparent
about his actions and keep the media and American public informed about where
it stands. But his tendency to grace
these crisis moments with play by play commentary does nothing but encourage
the emotional and unhinged treatment that surrounds them. He is encouraging the press to misbehave. One of Trump’s more unfortunate personal
traits is to make EVERYTHING about
himself.
He
is our elected leader and the world’s foremost international advocate for
freedom and liberty…but it would greatly
improve his prospects for political and diplomatic success if he could somehow
learn to subjugate his ego to the aura of his elected office. If he continues to sabotage Republican
prospects for midterm election success, he will condemn himself to two final
years in office that will be saturated with conflict and irrelevance. He must somehow come to terms with the
understanding that this whole political deal is much larger…and more critical…than
him always being the center of the universe.
Trump
cannot have it both ways. If he wants
respect… he must give respect. If he
wants patience…he must give patience. If
he wants restraint…he must show restraint.
His apparent policy of “chirping for me, but no chirping for you” is neither
reasonable nor fair.
The weight of the world is literally upon the shoulders of our President
today. He deserves the support and
patience of the American public…and our
Congress…as he grapples with the Iran conflict. But if he is going to demand that support and
patience while juggling the myriad dynamics of this conflict, then he must in
turn find within himself a greater sense of statesmanship and personal
character. A bit of accommodation on both
sides of this issue would go a long ways towards leading to a satisfactory and
positive conclusion.
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Education…Education…Education
https://jamesgmartin.center/2026/05/education-as-an-afterthought/
https://www.nationalreview.com/2026/06/universities-have-sellers-remorse/
https://jamesgmartin.center/2026/05/bachelors-degrees-arent-cool-anymore/
Our
government has historically committed the unwise practice of micromanaging the
US economy. While there is clearly a
civics role for our elected officials in this area; they persist in gumming up
the works by clinging to the illusion that they can somehow manipulate this
spontaneous, complex, and ever evolving phenomenon that we call the American
economy and bend it to their desires. Not.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/05/economic-security-is-national-security.php\
All
things political: midterms…presidential nominations…voting processes…
https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/29/why-the-save-act-matters/
https://americanmind.org/salvo/can-anyone-stop-jd-vance-in-2028/
I have the same advice for the
Bidens that I have for the Obamas…JUST GO AWAY: https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/jill-bidens-unbelievable-debate-stroke-story/
Four
quick hits on the way out the door…
The mainstream media has lost its
claim to credibility. It should be…and
must be…reclaimed. America needs it.
https://americanmind.org/salvo/against-the-imperial-press/
Our nation was designed to be a
union of independent states…not a community of lesser members to be ruled by an
autocratic federal behemoth.
https://reason.com/2026/05/29/for-americas-250th-birthday-give-us-the-gift-of-renewed-federalism/
Congress has the power and authority
to deal effectively with rogue federal judges who are abusing their
positions. They need to act.
https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/31/congress-should-not-turn-away-from-judges-behaving-badly/
California, Minnesota, Illinois,
Maryland and many other states need to dramatically change their attitudes
regarding national immigration policy.
https://www.city-journal.org/article/cbo-illegal-immigration-border-laws-trump
