- Voltaire
Like everyone else, I have no idea what is going to happen in the next few hours, or days.
In general, I never had any faith in the man who now occupies the Oval Office. He seemed like a scam artist back in the 1980's, when I first learned about him. And while my opinion on a lot of things had been altered since then, that impression of that particular man has remained constant. To me, he still feels like a snake oil salesman, a master con artist. It seems obvious that he is completely unqualified for the position which the American people entrusted him with - twice now.
There is literally no one else in the world who has as well-documented a history of being completely and totally dishonest, and unworthy of public trust. To me, he was the person I pictured - and still largely picture - whenever I hear the phrase "Med decade" in reference to the 1980's. In fact, I was rather shocked to learn that the fictional Gordon Gekko (from the movie "Wall Street") was not modeled on Trump. You know, the guy who infamously says, "Greed is good. Greed works." Nor do I think I am the only one who was surprised to find out that the fictional Gekko was not inspired (if that is the word) by the real-life Trump. Remember, after all, Trump kicked off his presidential campaign back in the summer of 2015 by admitting that he was "greedy, greedy" and grabbed all of the money that he could. But now, he said, he wanted to do for the country what he did for himself. To be greedy for the country, in other words.
Indeed, greed has been back in fashion since Trump's political rise. So has dishonesty (and not just restricted to him or his administration). So has deceitful political gimmicks and the equivalent of political scams.
Once a con artist, always a con artist.
Sometimes, I still have a tough time actually believing that the country, collectively, could not see through him. Other times, however, I am reminded that he is the epitome of another side of the collective American character. The darker side, the underbelly, if you will. And then it becomes a whole lot easier to believe.
Frankly, however, I still have a difficult time believing that as many Americans actually believe and support this man as the numbers suggest. Even now, after literally months of headlines screaming that his approval ratings have plummeted to the point where you can no longer ignore it, his approval ratings (depending on the poll) still show him somewhere in the thirties, between the low-thirties to the upper thirties. That means that despite everything, despite the obvious lies and the literal craziness that he brings, almost one in three Americans (allegedly) still support this man. That seems hard to believe, until I see some nutcase driving a pickup truck adorned with all sorts of flags, including, of course, a Trump flag, and covered in part with pro-Trump bumper stickers. I just saw an old man a few days ago proudly wearing a MAGA hat when I went for a visit to a medical facility. And of course, there are people I know who are still pro-MAGA, and alter their rationales for supporting what seems obvious, to me, to be completely and entirely unsupportable, both intellectually and morally.
At those times, it becomes a bit easier to believe.
All of that said, we Americans are collectively responsible for this. He is a world problem now, and we brought him to this position where the rest of the world has to worry about him. That is on us, and we have to take ownership. While I never supported him, I understand and sympathize with the combined mixture hostility and distrust and mockery which the United States has "earned" since Trump's political rise to power. Frankly, it is deserved.
However, many of us - tens of millions of us - never supported this man. To me, the main people responsible for this travesty are those who enabled Trump by voting for him. Yes, I detest Trump, but I cannot claim to be entirely shocked by the level of irresponsibility and fraud which he displays regularly as the most disgraceful, pathetic president in American history. Frankly, that was only as much as I expected from him, based on who he always was, always has been. But he is just one man. It's the people who refused to look beyond what they wanted to believe about him, the people who dismissed (and in far too many cases, literally laughed at) all of the warnings about who this man really is, and always has been, whom I hold responsible. It makes me angry, and frankly, they are not forgiven. Nor will any of this be forgotten.
One of the major travesties which came along with this whole Trump nightmare was also, in a sense, predictable. And that is that Americans (both liberal and conservative, in this case) severely undermining just how serious the crimes (yes, I used the word crimes) and the blatant corruption and other horrors that now seem to define this country. Our democracy, if not entirely extinguished, is seemingly on life support now. Our reputation the world over is severely compromised. This is not something which will be quickly or easily fixed, much less forgotten. The reputation of the United States has been so severely tainted that this era of Trump will very likely define us for decades to come. There are only two ways which I can see where it does not define us, and neither of them are good. One: we get someone even worse than Trump, or two, as a world destroy ourselves (most likely with Trump or some other MAGA "leader" being largely responsible, which is related to the first prediction).
That's it. Otherwise, he will be the "leader" which people will automatically associate the United States, and Americans, with for many, many decades to come. I do not necessarily like Hitler comparisons, but in this regard, it is apt. Germany still often struggles to get out of the shadow that Hitler cast for them. The Russians still struggle to get out of the shadow of Stalin. Iraq is still often defined by Saddam. And this political era will be regarded as a modern travesty, when a country went mad. And the leader of the country during this period is Trump, and he himself is quite clearly a madman. If there were any doubts, his increasingly unhinged behavior is removing all doubts.
So that is why I do not know what is going to happen. His deadline for Iran is set for 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time tonight. He apparently is threatening that a 'whole civilization will die tonight' if a deal with Iran isn't reached. Does that sound like someone who is rationale and sensible to you? This whole war with Iran feels like a "Wag the Dog" tactic which has grown completely out of hand. And crazy as it sounds, I'm not sure that this is not all just to distract from the Epstein Files.
The strangest paradox is this: the Straight of Hormuz was open until Trump started this war. It was closed off once he launched his attacks on Iran. Despite his lack of rational thought, he apparently thought it too politically risky for American warships to go and forcibly open it up, and so he urged allies to do it. They refused. So now, he has been over the top with his threats to force them to open it, or apparently to wipe out an entire country - an entire civilization, in his own words - for not complying with his order. A part of me almost hopes that maybe this is some brilliant strategy, as MAGA supports insist. But the more rationale part of me understands that he is hardly the "very stable genius" which he pretends to be. I hope that I am wrong, but my suspicion is that Trump himself backed himself into a corner where now he feels that he has to take drastic action, and so tonight, he very well may do just that. If so, the world might change dramatically by what happens tonight. Or perhaps he is bluffing, or perhaps even there is a breakthrough. Again, I cannot pretend to know what is about to happen.
Regardless, I would not put it past this lunatic to actually do something drastic tonight. To do something which the world will forever remember - and associate with us Americans. Again, this likely would define us for the foreseeable future, and not in a good way.
It's weird. I remember wondering how it must have felt when Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. Then September 11th happened, and it felt like we all got a taste of what it must have been like. Similarly, I always wondered what it must have been like during the Cuban Missile Crisis a little over a year before Kennedy was assassinated. Now, once again, I think that we are all getting a bit of a taste for it.
Again, I do not know what is going to happen. But one thought which I did not fully understand, or perhaps even fully believe, when younger has come to make more and more sense to me. This is it:
Tomorrow is not promised.
Trump warns a 'whole civilization will die tonight' if a deal with Iran isn't reached by PBS, World Updated on Apr 7, 2026 9:49 AM EDT — Published on Apr 7, 2026 9:05 AM EDT:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/trump-warns-a-whole-civilization-will-die-tonight-if-a-deal-with-iran-isnt-reached
Trump warns a 'whole civilization will die tonight' if a deal with Iran isn't reached | PBS News
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