Wag the Dog. Again. And Again. And Again.

There is a whole lot to unpack this week. I had planned to write about the State of the Union and, by extension, women's sports, but like SNL's original thoughts about this week's opening, that's ain't happening. Like everyone else, I am stuck on Iran, the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia....and, on the side, why the hell President Felon spent the weekend dancing at a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago instead of in Washington DC.  But that begs a different kind of question. We'll get to that, too. 

There are a whole lotta questions that need to be asked for which I'm not seeing satisfactory questions...much less answers. 

Question #1: Is this attack even legal?

Without consulting Congress, this administration attacked yet another country. Board of Peace, my ass, He doesn't give a shit about the Constitution or the role of Congressional governance/oversight as continually made clear with each new attack. And what's possibly worse, is that when he gets bored he turns his back on the victims of his machinations. Just ask Ukraine how he's working out for them. All hat, no cattle, as the saying goes. He's abandoned Ukraine, just like he ultimately signed the death warrant for Afghanistan. He signed off on the plan, then walked away, leaving the Biden Administration to try to sort out and clean up the mess.

President Felon already describes this action as a "war" in his announcement to We, the People, on Saturday

The Iranian regime seeks to kill. The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties. That often happens in war, but we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission.

Yet, this is an undeclared "war" which is forbidden by the Constitution as it explicitly states only Congress can declare war. Article I, Section 8, Clause 11:

[The Congress shall have Power . . . ] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; . . .

In other words, this is yet another case of President Felon exercising power that are specifically NOT granted to a sitting president. 

Former Federal prosecutor at the DoJ, Ankush Kardori writes in Politico:

The Trump administration’s war also cannot be squared with the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which allows the president to initiate hostilities abroad “only” when there has been “(1) a declaration of war, (2) specific statutory authorization, or (3) a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces.” Trump did not even attempt to argue that any of these conditions had been met, probably because he could not seriously do so. 

As for international law, the attack on Iran goes much further than the Trump administration’s military campaign to oust and arrest Maduro, which itself ran afoul of multiple domestic and international legal prohibitions.  

The U.N. Charter —which was overwhelmingly passed by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Harry Truman in 1945 — prohibits the use of force “against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” The U.N. Security Council can authorize the use of force in support of a party’s “right of self-defence,” but that did not happen here. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has already condemned the strikes as a violation of the U.N. Charter.

In other words, the short answer is "NO," this is not legal on any level...but we already know he doesn't give a shit. 

Question #2: Does anyone really have a plan for what happens next?

While there is no question about the need for regime change in Iran, and the removal of the mullahs as rulers, there is also a long history of what happens when the US takes a sitting government down. One needs only look at the long term chaos in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan. and most recently Gaza to understand that if no plan for what happens next is in place, these places are unable to suddenly produce a functional government to lead. Same thing with the Arab Spring. Lots of slogans but not a leader in sight to unify any of the toppled governments...and now, it's  back to business as usual. Economies pretty much collapsed in the wake of these optimistic revolutions. And Gaza? President Felon is too busy lining his own pockets to pay attention to the spiraling of Gaza.

Back in the 80s when Iran fell the first time, the underlying reason why that revolution actually succeeded was because there was already a shadow government in Paris ready to go. That was the one that gave Iran the first ayatollah, Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini. These guys had a plan and they executed it almost flawlessly. Does Pahlavi and his friends have a government in exile ready to step into the breach? If they don't, the current dead ayatollah, Ali Khamenei, was known to be in ill health and it's believed his succession had already been laid out. You can bet if that's the case, it's already moving forward to consolidate their position as the legitimate rulers of Iran. 

Still, I listened carefully to former former crown prince Reza Pahlavi on 60 Minutes talk about how he wants to lead the transition to democracy, saying he did not want to be king or president or prime minister...but rather the guy who shepherds them into a functioning government. Very well spoken, but does he have a shadow government in place waiting to step in? That wasn't clear. If the voice of the Iranian Diaspora is any indication, he can, with their backing, begin the long process of going home which, if you listen closely, is what they want. Just like the Jewish Diaspora, they long to return to their home, and gee, I don't blame them one bit. 

Question #3: Why now? Why at just this moment?

Anyone remember the movie WAG THE DOG with Dustin Hoffman? IMDB sums it up rather succinctly: 

Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.

If you haven't seen it. you should watch it. It's out there on all sorts of platforms. It's pretty funny. Of course, the name EPSTEIN is never mentioned....but in the here and now, every time a new Epstein scandal rises over the horizon, this presidential Fruit Loop creates a crisis to take it off the front page. And usually he succeeds...for a moment. 

It's no secret that President Felon has not been totally exonerated in the Epstein files. Yes, I know he keeps saying that, but that's part of the fantasy he's spewing. But the newest allegations are seriously horrifying should they turn out to have been intentionally removed from the files. According to an investigation conducted by NPR:

The Justice Department has withheld some Epstein files related to allegations that President Trump sexually abused a minor, an NPR investigation finds. It also removed some documents from the public database where accusations against Jeffrey Epstein also mention Trump.

Some files have not been made public despite a law mandating their release. These include what appear to be more than 50 pages of FBI interviews, as well as notes from conversations with a woman who accused Trump of sexual abuse decades ago when she was a minor.

NPR reviewed multiple sets of unique serial numbers appearing before and after the pages in question, stamped onto documents in the Epstein files database, FBI case records, emails and discovery document logs in the latest tranche of documents published at the end of January. NPR's investigation found dozens of pages that appear to be catalogued by the Justice Department but not shared publicly. 

But there is so much more to this timing that any Jewish kid can tell you about: PURIM.

Let's pretend you actually have read the bible, specifically the Book of Esther. It's an interesting book to be in the canon since it never mentions G-d in any way, shape or form. What it does talk about is a guy named Haman. Here's the short version:  King Achashverosh, the king of Persia, deposed his queen, Vashti, and needed a new one. A contest was held to find a new queen and a guy named Mordechai sent his niece Esther to try out. She wins and becomes the new Queen. Meanwhile his prime minister hates Mordechai and the Jews and plots to destroy them. To make a long story short, Esther intervenes, Haman is hanged on his own gallows, and the Jews stop the attacks. In other words, like so many of our holidays, they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat. Kids dress up in costumes, but instead of trick-or-treat, we go around giving shalach manot,  gifts of food and sweets (often in secret) to our friends and neighbors. 

Tonight, Purim begins at sundown. We will gather to read the Megillah. Every time Haman's name is mentioned, it will be drown out with graggers, boos, and hisses. Kids dress up in costumes as Esther, Mordechai, even Haman, but instead of trick-or-treat, we go around giving shalach manot,  gifts of food and sweets (often in secret) to our friends and neighbors. We will sing and dance and have plays to tell the story as we celebrate the destruction of Haman and the saving of the Jews of Persia.

Perhaps you missed this....Israel and Persia have been allies for a thousand years. After the exile, Persia helped us to return to our land and helped rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Persians are not our enemies. They sheltered Jews during World War II. Jewish communities in Persia/Iran thrived...until the ayatollahs took over. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the Iranian Diaspora turned to Israel for help. 

But did they get the help they needed from the US....or were they played to wag the dog? To provide yet more smoke and mirrors to hide a sexual predator from prosecution as he wages an illegal war?

Question #4: Will Israel be blamed for it all?

Funny, all those pro-Gaza people shouting to free Palestine and now decrying the bombing of Iran. Don't they realize that Iran is the moneyman for Hamas and the terrorist? Where were their voices as thousands of Iranians were being slaughtered by their government? Why were they silent to those pleas for help? 

Oh. There were no Jews involved. 

Well, now there are. I do worry about not just the timing, but the preparedness of the Iranians to take back their country. We can only hope there really is a government in exile waiting in the wings to step up. 

I should probably mention there are already those who claim Netanyahu conned President Felon into attacking Iran, especially at this time of year. They already claim the US is being used as a proxy by Israel...and Saudi Arabia. They will espouse the ol' Jewish Cabal theory of world domination. Never mind that President Felon is a loyal disciple of the Christofascist Brigade.

If you are asking my opinion here, I will tell you that I truly believe Khamenei had to go, that Iran needed to be free. But I am not convinced that the actions of President Felon are warranted without the backing on Congress and adherence to the law of the United States. Unless someone knows there is a plan and a government waiting to go, this is doomed. As for Netanyahu,  getting deeper into bed with that sexual predator just means he's got the fucking of his life. Israel does not deserve that. They deserved a plan and a plan, not this rogue cowboy shit that's going down. Feckless Felon says it can last 4-5 weeks....as Ukraine about that. I do not trust him to wage this action. It's all about him and his pockets and how much the Saudi royal family is paying him. It' all about the baksheesh.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....

I'm trying to get this thing done so I can go don my costume for Megillah reading with the kiddies tonight. They don't know I'm wearing a costume, but I am. I'm going as Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great, and often said to be the mother of Achashverosh. Or so some legends claim. In other words, I'm going as Esther's mother-in-law. Once upon a time, I wrote a midrash for her: QUEEN 101: Intro to Queenship. I always had a soft spot for Vasti and I do like Atossa. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

The lingering cold in my nose kept me from 

the annual rush of baking and sending out

hamantashen. 

Next year, I'll do better.