Fighting Through the Noise: Saturday Political Soap Box 182

At this point, the U.S. strike seems somewhat limited.  It appears that the last semi-sane official in Washington, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, may have talked Trump down from a larger strike.  It's still not clear how militarily significant the strike was. Plenty of notice was given to the Russians, Iranians, and Syrians to move people and stuff out of harm's way.  So much for the theory that Trump will never telegraph his military moves.

Syria continues to be a very messy problem, compounded by the actions of many nations, including us.  I don't have any magic answers.  I always think diplomacy is vital, as is accurate intelligence.  Sometimes, rarely, the judicious use of force is required.  Was it required here?  I'm not sure. 

What is required is for the international community to provide as much humanitarian aid as possible. That includes the need to take on Syrian refugees, to remove as many innocents from harm as we can, especially children.  I have never been more ashamed of our country as when the Trump administration bucked at receiving any Syrian refugees.  It is a low point in our nation's history. 

Well. low point may be an adept description of the entire Trump administration.

There is the whole question of Congressional authority.  They are supposed to have the power to declare war.  But that is an authority that has eroded in recent decades.  President Obama sought authority to act more directly in Syria, and Congress denied it to him.  I'm not sure about a targeted strike, but sustained action would definitely need to be authorized.  Whether it will be or not is a different story.

Did he do this to distract from his other mounting problems?  I don't know.  I'm sure it had an influence, but I don't know how great.  He'll be upset if he's not showered with praise for doing it.  I don't know how didn't understand how much criticism any President is in for, especially one as uninformed and incompetent and corrupt as he is.  He has the thinnest skin of anyone who has ever served in that office.

But beyond the noise and fury surrounding Trump, mostly of his own making, we need to stay grasped on some important things -

The climate is being degraded and global warming accelerated by the actions of the EPA and the administration.

The tax reform package has created a humongous additional deficit that Republicans will attempt to balance by reducing or eliminating programs aimed at the working poor and the middle class, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

College expenses are still out of control, getting further and further out of reach of most Americans, unless they are willing to acquire Student Loans at increasingly higher rates of interest.

Medical expenses are also out of control, with Obamacare under attack, and fewer and fewer people able to afford insurance, and the nightmare of the medical system before Obamacare returning worse than ever.  It is unconscionable that we leave so many with inadequate care, and allow so many to go bankrupt just trying to provide healthcare for their families.  

The number one concern shouldn't be the stock market, but providing a living wage.   

These are just a few of the problems we lose track of when we focus our concern on what the latest tweet from the Mad King says, or who is sleeping with which Kardashian.

I don't mean Syria is a problem that should be ignored.  Diplomacy and humanitarian aid are vital, and the judicious use of military force should not be ruled out.

But it can't ever be used as cover or distraction.  Never that.

Let's pray that General Mattis sticks around.