March 2

 Welcome to March and, for some, the beginning of Spring. I generally wait until the Equinox later this month and even then expect Winter to put up a fight. In my planting zone the safe planting date is mid May, usually. By that time I will see if any of the plants from last year survived. That is always a surprise.

And welcome to the third day of the "what ever they want to call it" against Iran. A couple of the talking heads (Republican variety) tied them into linguistic pretzels avoiding the word "war." A lot of other things were ignored. Some of the commentators noticed a lot of crowing over the ability of the U.S. to project force half way around the world. However, they also noticed that the interviewees didn't address whether that force SHOULD have been projected. Capability but no ethical considerations.

Corbin Trent makes a number of good points about the Trump administration's choice of war and use of the word "evil." I have seen too much labeled as "evil" and seen the discussion dissolve. Almost no one ever asked "evil by what definition?" Trent also does a good job of summarizing the history of the U.S.-Iran relations. And he notices how the initiation of war-like operations in Iran has swallowed any discussion of our other problems for which Trump really has no solutions. I noticed that this morning with the news before I turned on a Harry Potter marathon which doesn't address our national problems but is at least entertaining even though we have seen it often.

Don Moynahan posted a good run down on the various rationales the administration has cycled through trying to hit on one that will resonate with American voters. One sure tell that someone is lying is how they shift story to justify their actions. Lucky for Trump's minions and party supporters, but not for us, most aren't looking for supporting evidence or facts. They aren't even trying to manufacture evidence like George H. did to get us into attacking Iraq. They don't have to.

Stray thought while reading that our Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz, when asked about mess in the Middle East, said "Freedom is never free." At least he has a record of military service but tell me where are Don Jr., Eric, and Baron whose daddy evaded the draft with questionable bone spurs. I get tired of people who parrot the same sentiments Waltz expressed but don't pay any of the price themselves.