This Carbon Based Life

By David Glenn Cox

It’s open! It’s closed! A tit for tat struggle is playing out on the world stage. Iran wanted Lebanon and Israel included in the ceasefire deal. And as soon as Trumpo complied. Iran declared the Strait open for business! Trumpo refuses to call off his blockade on Iranian ports. (until our deal is 100% complete) Better known as You put your gun down and I’ll keep mine pointed at you, thank you. Revolutionary Guards again close the strait.

Does the left hand not know what the right hand is doing? Remember, according to informed sources, the military campaign has been extremely effective and obliterated the Iranian facilities. So why blockade them? Trumpo said it would take Iran twenty years to repair the damage. So why blockade? Why not continue down the path of accommodation? They take a step back, and we take a step back. They open the strait, and we call off the blockade. Doing otherwise would be perceived as a hostile act and not being serious about wanting peace.

In Trumpo world, anything is possible. A defense secretary could wake from a twelve-hour bender in a lazy z boy chair in a sweaty, soiled shirt and rumpled tie. As his vision begins to clear as his head pounds while Fox News is playing on the big screen. Something about a possible peace deal? Like hell, Marco! Not on my watch! The State Department wants peace, and the War Department wants? Well, if you specifically call yourself the War Department, it’s obvious what they want. Maybe that’s not what happened at all. Somebody big and important in the War Department might not have been asked for his opinion first.

As long as we’re in a “war” situation, Peckerhead Pete Hegseth is a golden child and an important teacher’s pet. But first, let’s all listen to what Pete says! But once the situation returns to normal, whatever “normal” could mean in Trumpo world. Then party Pete is relegated back to the far end of the table again, and little Marco holds sway. Little Marco has the king’s ear most of the time. 86 proof Pete only has that attention sometimes. Somewhere there’s been a malfunction, the government is supposed to work together as a team. SNAFU – Situation normal, all fucked up!

Each cabinet office its own fiefdom. I don’t have to listen to you! You’re not the boss of me! The blockade stays! National security! The sign of a weak and vacillating king agreeing with whoever is in the room at the time. “Yes, we must open up the strait, but we must also be firm with our inferiors, as well. Yes, I’ll ask Pete to lift the blockade, but no promises. Pete might say no!

Then there is a possibility we’ve reached the fruit cocktail stage. A president with the cognitive skills of a can of fruit cocktail. Mr. Trumpo likes playing at Commander and Chief with the military, it’s fun! It lets the draft dodger in you, revel in faux military splendor. Peckerhead Pete is special and delusional Donald is satiated in his military authority and tough talk show. Now, somehow, little Marco must try to sway and talk Trumpo back into the house.

Playing for every advantage and crossing their fingers when they make promises to do something or saying jinx under their breath. The Iranian side says the US is untrustworthy and doesn’t deal in good faith. So, of course, not dealing in good faith is a poor start. So, if one side calls off its closure of the strait, it would seem obvious to anyone even moderately interested in peace that the other side would call off its blockade. But then, Pete couldn’t be special anymore. Donald Trump would return to his role as an insane President of the United States, rather than an insane worldwide warlord, Jabba the Trump. Which hat is Trumpo wearing today? Napoleon or Napoleon Dynamite?

Peace is at hand or could be at hand. Just follow the steps of accommodation and resisting verbal threats and bombast, and maybe we can resolve this matter? A blockade is considered an act of war under international law. (I know this regime doesn’t give a damn about law, international or otherwise.) But realistically, it’s hard to say that you’re working towards peace while imposing the terms of war on the enemy.

The administration will try to win through negotiation and prevarication what they could not win with billions of dollars in munitions and destruction. Not really interested in peace at all, but just interested in a more peaceful form of war. A more tolerable form of war with fewer headlines and flag-draped coffins. Who couldn’t see what would happen if Trumpo kept the blockade in place? So what were the other steps taken towards peace before pulling the rug out from under it?

Do you see the cross-purposes angle here? Diplomats are negotiating middling hard, and just as they reach a tentative agreement, the Trumpo administration kicks the props out from under it. I’m certain they discussed the issue of the Iranian ports before they acted. “If we open the strait to traffic. Will the US end its blockade of Iranian ports?” Surprise! The answer is no! The US demands the right to continue hostile operations while under a flag of truce.

Why should the Iranians even bother to negotiate? In twelve or twenty-four hours the Trumpo team will announce they are lifting the blockade. In a grand gesture of kindliness and magnanimity towards the Iranians. The administration can’t appear to be weak. And they look weak, and the war is unpopular. The administration must push war success to the max. Even if there isn’t any success. It is ultimately important to convince the American people Trumpo is winning the war. If the American people ever discover Trump has lost this war, there could be trouble, but if they find out Trumpo has lost the peace as well, posing as the warlord playing for the cameras when it might look ill-advised.

I understand the administration is trying to fix a hole in the dam they themselves created. This is the largest problem the administration has ever faced, and dealing with it in an honest and straightforward way isn’t exactly the Trumpo administration’s strong suit. Two steps forward and three steps back!

“Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,