Thursday’s Theme Music – Dealing

Ashland, southern Oregon — Wednesday, June 18, 2026.

We’re sitting in 72 F. Sun was out but clouds have moved in, murmuring about thunderstorms. One source said today’s high will be 98 F. Another said 91. I think the second one is correct.

We’re all abuzz about Trump’s deal. Fought a war — sorry, conflict — for it, and all we got is a lousy tee-shirt.

That’s the bottom line. Reviews on the left side of the political spectrum can be summarized, “Are you kidding me?” The right side is trying to rally to support Trump but I think the NY Post’s headline says it for many:

Trump’s Iran deal gives the Islamic Republic big wins up front — and America nothing

As part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL!, Trump’s Iran war did give Trump some respite from his failing economy, the Epstein files and Epstein ballroom, and the mounting court losses.

Overall, though, in a resume of bankruptcies and failures, this will go down as Trump’s biggest. The ‘Iran conflict’ will be the crown jewel in the write-ups about his ranking as ‘the worst president ever’.

Your Trump Quote of the Day:

Unfortunately for Trump, we have documents and videos from his speeches, texts, and interviews. They don’t align what his claim about getting 99.9% of what he set out to do.

What Trump Said He Wanted To Achieve in Iran War—And What He Says Now

It’s good to record what Trump is saying now and what he said a few months ago. Because in a while, perhaps a few months, perhaps a year, Trump will claim, I never said that. Because that’s what he consistently does.

Shaking my head, I was laughing to myself about Trump’s deal with Iran as I made breakfast. It’s like going in to get a pay raise and promotion and coming out agreeing to work more hours, with more responsibilities, with the same title and pay.

Spying on me, The Neurons broke out “Deal” in the morning mental music stream. The Grateful Dead tune is about being cautious about the deals you make.

Sample Lyrics:

Wait until that deal go ’round
Don’t you let that deal go down, oh no

Costs a lot to win
Even more to lose
You and me bound to spend some time
Wonderin’ what to choose

Trouble for Trump, he thinks he’s a military genius. He thought Iran would be a cakewalk. Once again, the truth — Trump is a liar and con man, and not a genius — has been revealed.

I hope you make better deals for yourself than Trump did for the nation. May peace and grace carry you today and every day.

Cheers

Is It Over?

Is Trump’s war with Iran over?

Maybe. Documents have been signed. Proclamations have been made.

Was Trump’s war with Iran worth it? Many are saying no. Personnelente shared a good image (originally on NewsThump, a satire site) demonstrating the differences between before and after:

Yes, that kind of winning is like scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter with two minutes remaining when your team is down by four touchdowns and the other team has pulled half its starters.

Regime change wasn’t affected. The nuclear program, while degraded, exists. Many Iranians were killed and injured, which probably will be a negative point for our nation; Iranians will look at the destruction and think of the dead and remember, the US did this to us. I hope they amend that with, Trump did this to us.

I always viewed the war through a prism. Trump needed something to boost his approval ratings and thought bombing Iran was a path. Experienced generals and diplomats had been removed and a blowhard was installed as the Defense Secretary, so there were no guardrails. Likewise, a Congress led by weak Republicans wasn’t going to stand in the way of ‘their’ POTUS.

Two, Trump needed distractions from failures stacking and the Epstein files. The war was launched as part of Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! to distract us from his character and the evidence that exists that reveals his past.

The third reason is that this is Trump. He wanted to do it to prove he could do it. He’s excited to have all that power and wanted to flex it, to ‘show the world’ who he is. He thinks that’s manly. ‘Bad ass’.

The world already understood who he was; Trump cemented our understanding of him as a shallow thinker who thinks he can bully and bluster his way through a situation. Trump has shown that when things go bad in business, he blusters and walks away. Usually fails upward in business and personal relationships.

But war and running the Federal government are not like running a business. Trump, MAGA, and even many GOP don’t understand it. The consequences of being wrong when bombs are dropped and missiles are launched are much larger. The ripples of failing last longer and have much greater consequences.

Trump’s Iran war might not be over, though. While never admitting it, Trump will feel the sting of this limp victory and smell the stench of the critiques. It’s possible as he hurtles through more losses that he’ll use cover of any small provocations to drop more bombs on Iran.

Distracting, glorifying himself, and covering his ass is what his second term is all about.

It’s called Operation Enduring LOOK — SQUIRREL!

Operation Epic LOOK — SQUIRREL! was just a small part of it, to distract us from the Epstein files.

Operation Enduring LOOK — SQUIRREL! will probably offer a lot more distractions and claims in the very near future.

Like, say, a reflecting pool?

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