The events of the last week or so have been very consequential and I want to record them but am not sure where to start.
Saturday night June 21 US bombers left Missouri and dropped large bombs on sites in Iran where uranium was being stored in bunkers and possibly being prepared to make nuclear weapons. President Trump praised the brave military personnel and said that Iran’s sites were “obliterated.” And that particular word is important because some say that the uranium was moved ahead of time and that there was damage but the process may have been delayed by a matter of months not obliterated.
The first question was how would Iran respond and would this all escalate into a Middle East war? Iran gave notice that they would bomb a US military site in Qatar so that there were no lives lost. President Trump thanked them for their limited response and said it was time for peace.
We breathed a sigh of some relief. But it is not over. There are some defending Trump’s bombing a country that had not actually instigated any damage to the US—even though there were long standing cheers of “Death to the US” and “Death to Israel.” Others are wondering how a president who said he would not get involved in any wars as he campaigned found it necessary to bomb Iran at this time.
I find myself being thankful there is no draft and our grandsons are not in danger of being called into war. I pray for peace nightly but the world situation is precarious and I fear that our leaders are impulsive. Loyalty to Trump is the prime prerequisite for jobs in the Cabinet and even in spite of the praise Hegseth (Defense) and Gabbard (Intelligence) pour on Trump, their jobs may be in jeopardy. The pundits tonight on Washington Week (our Friday night staple) praised the measured response of the Chief of Staff Caine in contrast.
I also want to comment on how ashamed I am of our country’s treatment of immigrants. Stories come out daily of ICE personnel in masks arresting undocumented immigrants who are not criminals and putting them in detention. A nursing mother is taken from her three month old baby, a pregnant woman gives birth to a stillborn child after being held on a cement floor and then chained to her hospital bed, a child with leukemia is taken without parents. How can we permit such cruelty? ICE has its quotas. Farmers are having a hard time getting in their crops without their workers.
Last week Saturday there were protests across our country with millions marching under the theme of No King! The latest polls show Trump’s approval ratings are “underwater” in other words below 50 %. Maybe there will be changes. I pray for Trump’s change of heart nightly—a heart that can find some compassion and not his calls for revenge and retribution. I try not to despair when I think that we have 3 1/2 more years of his presidency left.
July 2 Congress may pass Trump’s “big beautiful bill” this week that extends tax breaks for the wealthy in our country and cuts back Medicaid and SNAP programs for those who live close or in poverty. It is so evil. The ironic thing is that now Trump and Musk are feuding with Musk saying he will finance anyone who runs against those who vote for this bill. A few weeks ago they were bros! I wrote my representatives in Congress but the NJ folks are good people who would vote against this—Democrats! Not Republicans who are bullied by Trump.
July 4 Trump signed his bill today and I am having a hard time celebrating America today! It won’t hurt us personally but it will hurt so many who need help with medical care and food. Plus all those who fear ICE and detention—in his Alligator Alcatraz which his press secretary boasts will be a natural deterrent from escape. There is so much cruelty in this administration and sadly the evangelical Christians who supported this man.