On the third day of his illegal war with Iran, the bedraggled Donald Trump harrumphed in front of an overmatched podium in the East Room of a White House that is already under siege from this wrecking ball of a man.
Instead of formally and somberly addressing the terrible, needless deaths of four of our troops in this unnecessary war, and honoring their shattered families, this foul-mouthed, ill-bred coward spent his time castigating the gathered press, bragging about a ballroom that would allegedly grow from his rubble, and battering Democrats just for sport.
By this afternoon the U.S. death toll had marched to six.
Only hours before Trump spoke at the White House, not one … not two … but THREE American fighter jets were somehow shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses during an alleged "friendly fire incident” that leaves far more serious questions than answers, such as this one: How in the hell could this have possibly happened?
It really is incomprehensible, but everything connected with Trump often is.
It was an abhorrent display on the world stage, even by Trump’s dirt-low standards, and so I’ll ask another question: WHEN will Republicans stand on the side of decency and finally stop supporting this wreck of a man and his crusade to treat us all to the nonstop madness that bangs around his broken mind?
I will be brief this evening, but want to type with precision about the greatest danger that is most assuredly coming at us in the days and weeks ahead: more and more dangerous lies and accusations, and incoherent messaging that will contradict themselves by the hour.
The pollutants coming from Trump and his ghastly regime are sure to manufacture a fog of war so thick that anybody with eyes or ears will choke from being in their general vicinity.
Nothing can be believed by a serial liar, who from Day 1 of his disastrous presidency has worked tirelessly to drag our armed forces down to his pathetic level.
He will continue to deploy our troops in abhorrent ways that will benefit only him and not our country.
His Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is a stupid, loud man, who confuses screaming at people with leadership and clarity. He has no answers or manners, so he berates those who dare to ask him questions, and challenge his qualifications to lead our armed forces into needless battles.
I promise you that fully three-quarters of the military and civilian personnel inside our cavernous Pentagon, view him as a terrible joke without a clever punchline. He is a man without substance, who wears his ignorance on his sleeve. He is the perfect power tool for his mess of a boss to plug in and use however he sees fit.
Our military public affairs staffs deployed here and abroad, who are taught on the first day of their defense information training to deliver battlefield updates with “maximum disclosure and minimum delay” will be under siege, as they are instructed to forget everything they learned about the truth, by an administration that does nothing but tell lies.
I promise you that in the days and weeks ahead, as this war drags on to and fro throughout the most volatile region in the world, and takes more and more of our troops, the one common theme you will hear over and over again is the lack of any coherent message.
Hegseth will say one thing, his public affairs staff will say another, and the Lord of the Lies will contradict both.
And when the only thing achieved is chaos, death, and yet more instability, at some point they will all declare victory, and move onto stirring up trouble elsewhere always making sure to keep everybody terrified and on edge.
Whatever the terrible end looks like, you can count on it being every bit as chaotic as the beginning.
The truth will be nowhere to be seen ...
D. Earl Stephens is the author of “Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump’s Very Important Letters” and finished up a 30-year career in journalism as the Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes. You can find all his work here.