Throughout the course of the day, you most likely found yourself embroiled with some discussion about the events over the past 24 hours.. President Donald Trump, lampooned by the media since his inauguration, he suddenly been transformed into a war hero for launching 59 missiles at an Assad target in Syria. The event came after days of media attention to a purported chemical attack on a village in that nation. We were told by the collective media that Bashir Assad launched a sarin gas attack on his people. Russia said the opposite, that military flights bombed a munitions factory, allowing the escape of chemical weapons.
Regardless of cause, the rush into a strike back began. Bannon, out at the National Security Council, had no more say.. Jared Kushner behind the scenes, texting to Morning Joe while Ivanca did media tours, began to take charge.. Mad Dog’s plan of attack greenlighted.. Trump struck by surprise.. While the Chinese Prime Minister was tucked into his bed at Mar-a-Lago, the United States military was ordered to launch the cruise missiles for an air base reportedly used by Bashir’s army to load chemical weapons onto planes.
We were told throughout the day that intelligence agencies–all of them–converged on the fact that Assad was the culprit. Despite the misgivings so many Democrats had about intelligence agencies in the 2000s proclaiming they knew were WMD in Iraq were, there was no time, this time, to debate. Trump acted ‘decisively’ the media says. Suddenly, MSNBC’s correspondents stopped calling him Mr. Trump and started saying ‘The President.” He was the Commander in Chief, upset by seeing children die a horrid death on TV and given credit, finally, as being the leader of America.
Positive coverage abounds..
A small chorus of just about none, along with Rand Paul, said that maybe Congress needs to be consulted. John McCain was cool with it. So was his friend Lindsay.
The media poo-poohs that nation. Flags waved today. Footage from the Pentagon of missiles launching were all the rage.
America is back.
But the repercussions? So many.
For Trump, it was immediate! Many supporters online decided that this was not what they voted for, that his promises to NOT intervene in Syria were violated.. that he flipped on a major issue. Intervention!? That’s not what rural red states bought in to! They wanted less war! More jobs! The jobs numbers came out today. They were not stellar.
Russia is enraged, maybe. Some proclaim back room conspiracies.. dark smoke filled offices of ambassadors behind the scenes playing the chess game out.. But others, including the media, seem celebratory that Trump–the Russian agent days ago–is rejecting any friendship with Pootie Poot.
China.. They like Syria.. Chinese power players are meeting with Trump as he launches missiles.. A power play taking place.
North Korea.. News tonight that they may be on the target list next for the newfound Commander in Chief. NBC NEWS is reporting tonight that the National Security Council has presented President Trump with options to respond to North Korea’s nuclear program — including putting American nukes in South Korea or killing dictator Kim Jong-un, multiple top-ranking intelligence and military officials told NBC News…
And on the world.
I have written too many times to count on my hands about how I loathe war.. loathe the awful things humans can do to each other.. despise violence and hatred, and ponder how in the 21st century we still so often act as unchained animals in the wild. We ruin safe spaces. We harm innocent lives. We kill the living. And we destroy beautiful places, all to gain territory and solidify power.
We are powerless to that. We are not able to stop the freight train of history .. even if we tried.
So often I think about the one lone protester in Tiannamen Square in China last century. He stood against oppressive evil. And he lost.
Because these big battles, the ones involving large scale country-chess games, just happen. Power brokers behind closed doors set the agenda.. the mission. In the chess games, the pawns so often don’t know what the back row is doing.
In life, we just exist. For the most part, we try living our lives.. we try protecting our children.. we attempt to have normal relationships .. and we close one eye while watching the news.
I will close two every now and then.
I wrote about Mr. Leeds before. If you have the time, please go and read those articles. While they are showing their age due to the dates they were written, the words ring true now.. Like this:
Despite it being one of the lowest rated movies of M. Night Shyamalan’s career, I loved LADY IN THE WATER. There is one character in particular who reminds me of so many people in our current time.. His name was “Mr. Leeds” played by actor Bill Irwin. He is one of the tenants in the apartment building where a magical fairy tale will soon ensue.. but until it does, he is busy daily watching his television set of the latest scenes of chaos, strife, warfare and murder across the planet. Shyamalan presents him as a stoic man, someone who seemingly watches in a silent agony as the chilling news broadcasts play out 24/7 in his living room. And really, isn’t that all of us? The silent majority, not condemning the atrocities across the earth but instead attempting to live our lives as though they aren’t happening? Traveling to work in heavy traffic, consumed by radio interfering with our souls, standing around a water cooler with mindless dribble spewing? That is us.. We are good at heart.. But scared of the consequences of speaking out
