"DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE; FIRE BURN AND CALDRON BUBBLE..." - Macbeth

..."Round about the caldron go: in the poisoned entrails throw...."

Shakespeare's Macbeth's "Witches Chant" comes to mind as the Capitol Hill "brew" becomes more and more a creature of "entrails", "tongue of Newt", and "toad toes."  "Double, double, toil and trouble.... fire burn and caldron bubble", as the chant goes.... And, these lines could not be more appropriate for what is usually a quiet press period - the Congressional August recess.  Members of the House and Senate are at home for the month and, because of repairs being made at the White House, our President is - again - on the golf course in New Jersey. You would think that Congress - distracted with Town Hall meetings in which they are being verbally assaulted because of votes on health care, and with the President playing his 50th day of golf in the last 7 months - that things would be quiet on the Beltway front.  But.... the "cauldron" continues to bubble over with a generous helping of jalapeno tweets from the Donald.  Manafort.... North Korea.... Putin.... McConnell....  quite the menu... and the ship of state seems headed for multiple icebergs, shoals, and rocky shores.... especially, if you live on Guam.....

DATELINE:  NORTH KOREA....

"Danger, Will Robinson!!!!!" OK.... so, we are not "Lost in Space." But, if this goes much further, we may have to seek shelter out there somewhere..... (is there really a "Planet B?")  Kim Jong-un and our own "leader", Donald Trump have been playing a very dangerous game of one-upsmanship for the past 2 weeks.  Threatening each other with nuclear attack and homeland destruction has become a sort of "mine is bigger than yours" 3rd grade argument. "My daddy can beat up your daddy" may be a thing of the past for the rest of us, but to these two, it appears that "small hands" just cannot help to threaten, embellish, brag, and boast about who has the bigger "missiles", with the objective of making the opponent back down.  The ultimate "Trumpcard", of course, is actually taking military action.  But, wait just one minute... this is not a game of "Risk" or some virtual combat game on a video screen.  "Fire and fury" will rain down on North Korea, said President Trump.... "the likes of which the world has never seen before." WOW!  Somehow, I do not think that he means tons of jelly beans dropped on the capital of North Korea.....  Can these two really be threatening South-east Asia and the Pacific Region - if not the entire globe - with THERMONUCLEAR WAR?

 And, when challenged as to the appropriateness of his public statements by other leaders in the region, Trump's response is to step on the super-charged accelerator!  "Maybe I didn't go far enough!"  And, just today, he signaled that the US military is "locked and loaded", ready to obliterate North Korea.  And, then - who will be King of the Hill, huh?  Never-mind the hundreds of thousands or millions of bodies that will be left behind in the aftermath.....  It seems that tweeting threats, uncontrolled escalation of a deteriorating situation, and bringing the world ever closer to an outbreak of war - conventional or nuclear - seems to be a rational path for our own Donald to take. To "Art of the Deal" Trump, who is never wrong and always right.... who always wins (whether he wins or not, he declares victory and moves on).... and who cannot stand being bested by a chubby child-leader with a funny haircut and Dennis Rodman as an advisor, winning is everything - regardless of how many may have to be sacrificed on the altar of Trump.  A dangerous game.... indeed.....

As his popularity and approval rates rapidly shrink - even among his base supporters who have begun to question his competence and his ability to implement the agenda that he ran on and the issues that attracted enough votes in just the right places that made him the President  - one has to wonder whether or not Trump understands that the nation throughout history has always rallied in support of a War President. Is it possible that the Donald, who surrounded himself with generals from the start, intends to push us into a new conflict?  No, not the Bush/Obama wars in Afghanistan or Syria, but one that is clearly his own - North Korea. Can it be that he really WANTS to be a "War-time President", surrounded by saluting, gun-bearing and medal-wearing military personnel and bathed in cheering crowds that shower him in ticker-tape on lower Broadway in New York City?  And, maybe then, the NYC literati will stop laughing at him behind his back - as they did all those years ago......

April 30, 2011: At the White House Correspondent's Club Annual Dinner, President Obama "roasted" Donald Trump in front of the DC Press Corps and the movers and shakers of DC - including Senate and House members, the media, stars of stage and screen, and top corporate leaders. Several thousand power-folk assembled laughed non-stop at Donald Trump... and all he could do was to sit there and sizzle.  Just last June, President Trump declared in a Rose garden speech that, "foreign leaders won't be laughing at us anymore."  Since then, he has been the butt of jokes in capitals around the world.

The Donald HATES being dismissed and laughed at.  But, will he take us into war and risk the deaths of millions - not to mention the treasure that would be wasted - in bringing about global carnage.... just so people would stop laughing and take him seriously?  Would he and his legions of "believers" actually initiate rebellion in the streets of America should the Special Counsel bring charges against him, his family, and his close supporters and advisors? Is Charlottesville just the start? Just how far would Trump take his personal "game of thrones?"  Only, time will tell...

Meanwhile, just where was that bomb shelter?????      

 Stand Up!  Speak Out!  March On!    Bobby J