War! What is it good for?

In case any self-aware life-form wondered why Iran suddenly became a threat to The American Way of Life last week, "Mitch McConnell...informed Republicans on Tuesday that he planned to move forward with President Trump's impeachment trial without committing to additional witnesses or admitting new evidence, over the objections of Democrats who are insisting on both."  (The New York Times)

That's why a man most Americans had never heard of suddenly became "worse than Hitler," as Poppy Bush once said of Saddam Hussein.  (If Hitler had never lived, who would liars invoke?  Genghis Khan?  Jack the Ripper?)  War covers all crimes in a warm blanket of patriotism.  War turns the page and causes political amnesia.  Remember how Chicolini's trial is abruptly abandoned because "Freedonia's gone to war!"?  Like that.

Since nobody believes Trump anyway, those who endured his irrational rationale this morning mostly concentrated on further evidence of physical and mental deterioration.   What exactly does Adderall do to a 73-year-old brain when inhaled, frequently?  How did they get him out of bed and into his Homer Simpson pants before noon?  Is 58 sniffs a record for a half-hour, robotic Teleprompter reading?  How did Lincoln get through the Gettysburg Address without blaming the Civil War on James Buchanan?  Should we even bother to fact-check this drivel?  Did an auto paint shop apply that makeup?  What's up with the tongue?

Again, Ukraine.  Pompeo was on his way there to...well, use your imagination.  He decided to visit Kazakhstan instead.   It's lovely in January and closer to Iran.  A 737 operated by Ukraine International Airlines crashed a mile from the runway in Tehran; let the conspiracy theories begin.

I have an awful feeling Iran is not going to be satisfied with a (deliberately?) harmless missile strike which produced no American casualties.  A nation that old knows how to wait, to pick its moment.  And we don't seem to have any policy or strategy beyond crazy impulse.  What a year.