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the widening gyre

friday, june 13th, 2025

Do you hear those alarm bells ringing? Looks like June is bustin’ out all over, as the old Broadway ditty goes. Bedlam is in the air, and in more varieties than Heinz has pickles. Take your pick: civil war blooming in France and the UK, maybe even Germany — if it can shake off its psychotic stupor. World War III flutters over the continent like an answered prayer coming in for a landing. And here in the USA, genuine insurrection ripens with the summer’s peaches. The Caliphate looms; it is inevitable, and the road to its gates is paved with the skulls of English children.

The Champs Elysees was a battlefield Saturday night as a soccer celebration went all Jihad, leaving two rioters dead and hundreds arrested (unreported inThe New York Times, of course, because. . . reasons). The two Alexanders at The Duran report that a plot is underway in London to deep-six (not eighty-six) Labour PM Sir Keir Starmer, who enjoys the lowest poll ratings in the history of British polling. Ol’ Keir likes to throw grannies in jail for rude Facebook posts while Islamic rape gangs do their thing and knife attacks multiply on the indigenous population. Not a good look. Perennial nationalist irritant Tommy Robinson was released from prison the other day, too, and you can expect fury arising around him, and at him, as the sceptered isle day-by-day disappears under a burqa.

Starmer, Macron, new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, plus the unelected EU apparatus under Ursula von der Leyen all seem to be avid for war with Russia. They are insane, of course, and not just because their combined militaries are a joke. They stirred the pot badly over the weekend, helping Ukraine carry out drone attacks against Russian air defense bases as far afield as Siberia and outside Murmansk, way up north on the Barents Sea. The bold attack was apparently carried out after a year-and-a-half of planning, using tractor-trailer trucks to transport concealed drones in on-board shipping containers deep into Russia. The drones took out Russian aircraft enabled to launch cruise missiles and long-range radar detection planes, all tolled estimated at $7-billion damage. The gambit would have required NATO satellite targeting assistance. Go where you are celebrated, not just tolerated.

You might recall a week ago, Chancellor Merz declared that Germany gave Ukraine “permission” to carry out long-range strikes into Russia. Smooth move, Friedrich. He is, apparently, unaware that in so-doing he automatically gave Russia permission to strike deep into Germany as well, which Russia has not yet done. Instead, it replied with missile strikes against Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kyiv, little more than a routine smack-back, but perhaps an ominous prelude to worse in the offing.

You understand that things are escalating steeply now in this conflict. A lot of high ranking officials in Russia have lost patience with Mr. Putin’s slow-moving, on-the-ground grind and refusal so far to inflict more serious damage on the Ukrainian capital, which he could turn into an ashtray on a half-hour’s notice, if required. You might suppose he has sought strategically to avoid the total destruction of this cousin-country so that it would not be a failed state in the aftermath of war. It would be to Russia’s advantage if Ukraine could function as a neutralized, sovereign, self-supporting buffer state rather than an ungovernable basket-case / money pit region harboring non-state terrorists of various stripes. The former outcome is surely still preferable to the latter, despite the most recent provocations.

All of this puts Mr. Trump in a bind. His efforts to negotiate peace are on-the-rocks for now, as is his (America’s) ability to control the maniac globalist warmongers of NATO. Many in the US, and Mr. Trump himself, make noises about backing off the big mess altogether and dissociating from a NATO alliance that has lost its purpose and meaning, becoming, in fact, a menace to our interests.

Against all this expanding havoc, peace talks are still scheduled for Istanbul today. Ukraine and Russia have both exchanged ceasefire proposals. Mr. Trump reportedly conferred with President Putin about it. The finalized memorandum said, “Russia is ready to work with Ukraine on a memorandum on a possible future peace treaty defining a number of positions." Take-away? Russia wants to conclude this war. Mr. Trump wants to end it, too. Mr. Zelenskyy, maybe not so much, since his fate is only secure as long as the war keeps going and he is not overthrown by his own wing-men.

Neither the US nor the NATO / EU axis will participate in the Istanbul peace talks directly, but you can suppose that Merz, Macron, Starmer, and von der Leyen are looking to stir-the-pot in the background. You might conclude that war is all they’ve got left as summer draws near and each of them face a European population primed to explode at its feckless, noxious, incompetent leadership. I would expect much more fighting in the streets of the European capitals going forward, and falling governments. It could prove hard to put these Humpty-dumpties back together, with years of political chaos following.

Things are heating up in the USA, too, as an Egyptian national torched a crowd of pro-Israel marchers with a home-made flamethrower in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday, while “Trans-tifa,” as it styled itself, went to work on Christians assembled in a Seattle park last week. The Democratic Party — like the EU’s warmonger parties — has nothing left but violence against anything that looks like nationalism and traditional values. It’s so bad, and Democratic leadership is so demented, that they are liable to turn Donald Trump into another Abe Lincoln.

A Day In The Life.

Up at 8:30a on Friday, I made coffee, aspirin for rib pain, fired-up the Win-7 Pentium HP Desktop to let 32 million lines of code load, had a couple smokes in the garage and checked the leftover errands list. Today and next week are clear, but I have a few condo chores here, to get done today. I scanned the news and weather, tuned into the "CP Show LIVE" from 9-12, and quickly got sick and tired of the "Trump vs Musk" spat, on every news website. A hot 74°F and climbing temps, white sky, t-storm clouds moving this way, a muggy 30% humidity morning. And, this heading our way, on the local WGAL-8 Weather and on Accuweather.com, too:

★★★ SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT ★★★

• AN AREA OF STRONG TO POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF PENNSYLVANIA LATE THIS MORNING THROUGH THE MID AFTERNOON HOURS.
• Strong, potentially severe thunderstorms will develop in advance of a slow moving cold front over Northwestern PA and an upper level disturbance moving out of Ohio.
• These storms will be moving east at around 25 mph and will affect the Laurel Highlands, including Somerset and Johnstown between 945 AM and 1045 AM, the Interstate 99 corridor including State College, Altoona and Bedford between 11 AM and 1215 PM.
• The storms will likely intensify as they approach and impact the Middle Susquehanna Valley and Interstate 81 corridor between 1 and 3 pm. * Wind gusts up to 55 MPH. * Frequent, dangerous cloud to ground lightning * Hail up to nickel size possible in a few locations. * Very heavy rainfall of between one half and three quarters of an inch in just 20 minutes.
• If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building until the storms pass to protect yourself again occasional, dangerous cloud to ground lightning, hail and falling tree limbs from gusty winds.
• The storms will likely gradually intensify late this morning and early this afternoon, so be certain to monitor local radio stations and available television stations for additional information and possible warnings from your National Weather Service.

Heh, by 1:15p, temps had climbed to 93° and the humidity was nasty, as I observed the t-storms coming from the west, from the back patio. A ***FLOOD WATCH*** is also posted for this area. Swell. By 3p, it looked like 8:30p outside, as black clouds overswept the York area, and the heavy rain began. I tuned into some nice Sleeping Sounds, and had a nice 90min nap on the LR couch. I had dinner, watched the evening news, and switched to Discovery's "Gold Rush" until 11, and switched back to FNC for news. Lights out.

Up at 7a on Saturday, another overcast, white sky, wildfire smoky, 71° and very humid, morning. I made coffee, scanned the news and weather, rain and t-storms forecast, and I had two documents which needed continued work: "The Document" and the Mt Rose Proposal. Damn, I'm so sick of the "Big Beautiful Bill" and "Trump v Musk" crap. So I don't read the garbage articles. C'mon Trump and Musk: grow-up!

After a late breakfast, I worked on condo chores much of the afternoon, checking and rechecking the news, as anti-ICE riots broke out in LA and NYC, with the shit-for-brains leftists media calling them "organic". I say, SHOOT THE RIOTERS! And shoot the demonKKKrat legislators who disagree with ICE deportations. They're treasonous, subhuman scum.

By 6p, I'd gotten 3 of 5 chores done, had some dinner, and settled into the evening news, switching to History's "Ancient Aliens" until 1a, and unplugged.

The fires in California are not the beginning of chaos—they are the end of illusion. The mask is off. The rebellion is real. And soon, so will be the response.

Up at 8:30a on Sunday, another heavily overcast day, with t-storms moving-in from the west. I made coffee, had a smoke and scanned the news and weather. We're beyond mere "protests" now; we're into full-blown riots pretty soon. Remember the "Summer of Love" nationwide riots, in 2020? Coming soon enough to many major US cities.

After a light breakfast, I did a couple small condo chores, and went up to shave and grab a shower. Shaving went fine, but no shower today. A "sponge bath" worked just fine. The 2008 RUUD 'Eco Sense" Tankless Water -- one of the first in the region -- went south and wouldn't give me even a warm shower. I called the yORK plumbing company, who also sewrviced my Ol' Garden Center & Nursery's 12 wells and pumps, and who installed it in 2009, for a callback tomorrow, to get it replaced. Meh. The rain arrived around 11a, just as I was moving the garbage bag and recycle bin outside, and had Creamed Chipped Beef Over Toast, w/ Peas for lunch.

After a load of laundry, and some other niggling things, Sherry stopped by around 4p, on her way back from her Daughter's shop in nearby Hallam, to visit for 2hrs. We had a wonderful time together, as usual. After she left, I made some dinner, and watched FNC's coverage of the anti-ICE LA Riots, then switched to MT's "Chasing Classic Cars" until 11p. Lights out, early tonite.

Up at 9a on Monday, a heavily overcast, muggy, warm 68° with major t-storms forecast for this evening. I like the storms and rain. I made Kona Coffee, scanned the weather and news, and had to laugh at the riots in LA. Running late, I skipped breakfast and left for 4 errands down south of York, at 12:30p. Traffic was very heavy, so I made lousy time, and on the 4th stop at Rite Aid Pharmacy, I saw the sign in the drive-up window: "Closing permanently on Monday, June 23rd. All prescriptions, unless otherwise arranged for, will be transferred to CVS, on Edgewood Rd." Now I had a 5th errand to do: get to WEIS Pharmacy, just 3 miles from my condo, and get all my Rxs transferred. That took 35mins, and I left with a new, yellow Phalenopsis Orchid.

Finally back at 2:45p, I unloaded a lot of stuff, had a leftover mug of Kona Coffee, and relaxed at my Office-Sunroom desk. While re-scanning the news sites, I found this leftist, demonKKKrat garbage website, touting this Saturday (June 14th) for many hundreds of 'sleeper cells' to act out and riot. This site explains a lot, so spend a few minutes there. I have plenty of 5.56mm, 2.23mm and .45cal ACP mags loaded, and LOTS of extra ammo.

For much of the afternoon, I was watching FNC's coverage of the Anti-ICE LA Riots, which is now spreading to other US Cities, including NYC. I had a BLT Fried Egg-&-Cheese Sandwich for a late lunch, watched the evening news, and continued with the coverage of the Left Coast Riots. My cleaning lady's in at 8:30a, tomorrow. By 1:30a, I'd had enough, and unplugged. The rain began.

Up at 6a (with the alarm) on Tuesday, a rainy, 65° morning, and a forecast of more of the same, all day. I made coffee, had a couple smokes in the now-open garage, and a fast-moving t-storm TORRENTIAL DELUGE/ DOWNPOUR hit the area, flooding the condo complex' roof gutters and streets. Beautiful! A ***FLOOD WATCH*** went up on all local news and weather websites. I scanned the latest Riot News, had a quick breakfast, JoAnne arrived at 8:30 and got to work, and I tuned into the "CP Show LIVE", before hitting the LR couch for a short nap, since getting-up way too early.

Just then, the lawnmower crews showed-up, to make even more noise and annoy me, for much of the afternoon. Meh; I do like the fresh-mown grass smell. After a 2hr snooze, I scanned the news and watched more FNC coverage of the Anti-ICE LA Riots. I had dinner, watched the evening news, and switched to History's "Secret of Skinwalker Ranch" and "Beyond Skinwalker Ranch" series, until 1a. Busy day tomorrow. Lights out.

Up at 6a on Wednesday, a sunny, high wildfire smoke, milky white sky, poor air quality again, cool 61°, morning. I made coffee, had a couple smokes in the garage, fed the birds, tuned into the "CS Show LIVE", scanned the news and weather, and relaxed with the Kona Coffee. I have a tech from RE Sanders HVAC coming to look at and get the Point-of-Use Water Heater replacement started, a delivery from WEIS Market, and need to get to the full-service car wash to get the Jeep cleaned out and up. I listened to the 3hr "CP Show LIVE", and the Josh The Tech from RE Sanders arrived, diagnosed the water heater's problem, and could get an in-stock unit replacement done in ~1 day.

The Anti-ICE LA Riots continued, and have spread to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Chicago, Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, SF, San Jose and over a dozen more. Get ready for "The Summer of 2020" Redux. I listened to the 3hr "CP Show LIVE" for just over an hour, and left for the car wash, in light traffic. They did a beautiful job ($44), and I put the Jeep away from the birds, in the condo's garage. The WEIS Market delivery came around 1:15p, and after get all 37 items put away, and bags recycled, I took a break for a few minutes, listening to the morning's missed "CP Show", on the iHeart.com Podcast.

I gave up trying to get a nap; just too much bright light coming thru 2 of 4 skylights over the LR couch, plus 3 seperate package deliveries and signing a work contract ($4,400) for the new tankless WH, scheduled for Monday installation. By 6p, I'd missed the FNC news, but caught-up on NEWSMAX, and switched over to History's "American Pickers" to around 1a. Good night, Irene.

Awake and up at 3:56a (!) on Wednesday a perfectly fine example of 0-DARK-TIRTY, at 63° and quiet as Lunch Bucket Joe's last EEG brain scan, I made coffee, and had a couple smokes inside te warm garage. Today's forecast is for a typical Mid-Atlantic Summer's "3 Hs": Hazy, Hot and Humidb Summer weather (nay 'Climate Change'). Natch. I scanned the weeather and news sites: 90° and humid, hszy from the Canadian Wildfire smoke once again. Yuk.

After making coffee, I laid down on the LR couch to catch-up on a few hours of sleep, and when I woke at 8a, I'd have sworn it was evening. Everything felt weird. I poured out the coffee, started to make some dinner, turned on the 82" Samsung TV to get the day's news, andlo and behold, IT WAS MORNING. I felt like I'd missed the day, and had slept thru it. This has NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. I was freaked out, and called Sherry to confirm what was happening. I left a voicemail. Weird, weird, weird. She called back later, and helped me rationalizing (possibly) what had happened.

I had breakfast around 10a, scanned the newsa and weather -- forecast to hit the mid-90s w/ very high humidity -- got some things done and ready for Sherry at 12 noon. We called-in a big order to a very good Chinese Restaurant in Shrewsbury, drove down south to get it, and went to the The Amish Markets at Shrewsbury to do some fresh food shopping. Then back to my place for a while, and she left for home around 5p. I had some Chinese for dinner, watched the news,thru the evening, due to a new development in the ME. By 11, I was nodding off, and unplugged for the night.

Tomorrow starts a new week, here in the "Journal", and I have a new tankless water heater going in on Monday, and a Dr's appt, midweek. Sherry and I will make some plans over the weekend, after she gets her schedule worked out.

California Dreamin'.

And pretty soon, expect action in a dozen other states, you can be sure, because just as it was in the scorpion’s nature to sting the frog crossing the river in the old parable, it is likewise in the Party of Chaos’s nature to sow chaos in an American summer.

The operation to cue riots over the removal of illegal immigrants has been well-planned in advance. Chief lawfare artists Norm Eisen and Mary McCord have engineered the legal strategy to oppose enforcement of US immigration law. They will clog the courts with lawsuits to prevent it and enlist their allied federal judges to issue injunction after injunction paralyzing the deportation process. They will work day and night to get their violent street cadres out of jail, just as they did in the 2020 George Floyd riots, so that these mutts can go back into the streets to loot and burn some more.

It is, of course, the most cynical operation imaginable. The Democratic Party hustled XX-millions of border-jumpers into the country under the authority of their phantom president, “Joe Biden” for one purpose: to flood the swing election precincts with enough new voters to keep the Party of Chaos in power permanently. Now that the illegals are here, the party will do anything it can to foil their removal. All the hand-wringing and crocodile tears over “fearful families and communities” is just stage-business to dress-up the CNN videos.

The ultimate goal of this operation is to goad President Trump into declaring some kind of national emergency to put down the violence, and the objective of that is to point at him and holler, “Behold the fascist tyrant!” That’s the game. The catch is, the Democrats are mistaken in thinking they can replay the George Floyd hustle.

This time around, more than 70-percent of the American public is not-insane. They are not fooled by the term “undocumented” — as if some mysterious clerical error was made by the federal bureaucracy in processing these millions. The actual error was allowing them to stroll freely across the border in the first place, with massive assistance from NGOs that provided smart phones loaded with helpful apps, plus free plane and bus tickets, plus freshly-minted debit cards for walking-around-money, plus posh hotel reservations.

You can blame former Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas — since “Joe Biden” was demonstrably non compos mentis during his term in office — for what was a patently treasonous act. How is it possible that Mr. Mayorkas remains unindicted? By the way, before he was sworn in as Secretary of Homeland Security, he was a board member of one of the most aggressive NGOs actively assisting the recent massive wave of illegal immigrants: the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). The org, founded in 1881 under very different circumstances, has been enlisted to serve the Democratic Party’s program for flooding the voter rolls — just as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center have been transformed into attack dogs against the Democratic Party’s political opponents.

So, you watch now as the streets of Los Angeles fill with violent mobs waving Mexican and Palestinian flags burn cars, fling missiles and fireworks at police, and interfere with the deportation process of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. They are coming close to presenting themselves as a foreign enemy army and, as such, would invite a response from the defending US military.

It has the odor, at least, of insurrection, while Democratic Party politicians pretend that this is all just “peaceful protest.” LA Mayor Karen Bass skates at the edge of sedition as she orders her city’s law officers to “not cooperate” with federal authorities who seek to find-and-deport illegal immigrants. In her youth as a leftist activist, Ms. Bass joined the Cuba-sponsored Venceremos Brigade. She traveled to Cuba eight times in the 1970s for training in regime change operations. (She claims it was only to do “humanitarian work.”) Ms. Bass is also alleged to have been affiliated in the 1980s with the Oakland-based Maoist organization Line of March, in the 1980s.

California Governor Gavin Newsom appears to be just recklessly grandstanding, looking for a kayfabe fight with Donald Trump as he primps for his party’s 2028 nomination. You have to wonder whether the citizens of California — that is, documented citizens with bona fide US birth certificates — have noticed how Governor Newsom managed to wreck the state during his terms-in-office (and before that, as Mayor of San Francisco). By now, even the steadfast, Woked-up Democratic voters of Pacific Palisades must be a little bit suspicious that Governor Newsom does not really have their best interests at heart as he blusters at the president.

There’s another angle on the current violence, you understand. As the old song goes, Summer’s here / and the time is right / for dancing in the streets. Or fighting in the streets, as the Rolling Stones famously updated the idea in December 1968 — after the riots at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in August that year. Street fighting is one of the capital amusements of the sore-beset Gen Z, stuck with unpayable college loans, faced with a daunting job market, reduced to living in Mom’s basement, addled with sexual bamboozlement, and jacked-up on prescription drugs and other mind-altering substances.

All of that feeds a lack of purpose and meaning, one of the more baleful plights of the human condition, in turn, feeding mass delusion, mob violence, and social upheaval. But it’s also party time, an opportunity to get outside in nice weather and consort with your peers, Z’s among fellow Z’s, illegal immigrants with fellow illegals. It affords opportunities for intrepid acts of daring-do — taunting the cops, flinging bricks, doing wheelies and “donuts” with motor vehicles — in order to impress potential sex partners. In other words, looking for fun and excitement, as youth will.

Alas, none of this works too well in an era of profound boundary problems — exploited very deliberately by the Democratic Party, which has erased the moral boundaries between decent behavior and crime, just as it tried to erase the boundary between the United States and Mexico. All of that needs to be fixed. Mr. Trump is aiming to fix it. It is liable to be a heck of a struggle, perhaps even as bad as a new civil war.

Democrats Are The Party Of Mentally Unstable Nutjobs.

A recently released study that’s making the rounds in political circles confirms what’s been apparent for years: A significant percentage of leftists are mentally ill.

Conducted by researchers from Tufts and Yale Universities, the study published April 30 found that conservatives self-reported having higher rates of “positive” mental health than their liberal counterparts. According to a graphic summarizing the data released by left-wing election statistician Nate Silver, 51 percent of conservatives described themselves as having “excellent” mental heath, while only 20 percent of liberals said the same.

A similar dynamic also exists among those who self-reported having bad mental health. A whopping 45 percent of self-described liberal respondents described their mental well-being as “poor,” while just 19 percent of self-described conservatives offered the same response.

The data “comes from the 2022 and 2023 Cooperative Election Study (CES) surveys,” according to the analysis.

The study’s authors noted, “While conservatives report much higher mental health ratings, asking instead about overall mood eliminated the gap between liberals and conservatives.” They offered multiple explanations for this, saying “that rather than a genuine mental health divide, conservatives may inflate their mental health ratings when asked, due to stigma surrounding the term,” and “that ideological differences persist for some aspects of mental well-being, but not others.”

The authors acknowledge, however, that “overall mood” and “mental health” are “not synonymous,” and that the former is “a more short-term state.”

“It is possible, then, that overall mood, given its shorter term nature, can be influenced by daily stressors and emotional fluctuations that are less tied to ideology,” the study reads. “Asking an individual about their ‘overall mood’ might capture a more immediate response to an individual’s life events, or current state of being. ‘Mental health,’ given its longer term nature, might reflect an individual’s ability to cope with these daily stressors.”

The self-reported numbers aren’t exactly shocking. A quick glance at the current state of the Democrat Party reveals anything but a mentally sound political movement whose members are in touch with reality.

Consider leftists’ unhinged obsession with chemically and surgically castrating minors and allowing female-identifying men to compete in women’s sports. Or their addiction to blaming “racism” on any disparity between white and non-white Americans, the latter of whom they view as “oppressed.” Or their willingness to vilify traditional forms of masculine behavior as “toxic” and tout feminists’ “girl boss” attitude.

Under this “social justice warrior” lifestyle, the “cause” takes precedence above all else.

Contrast that with conservatives, many of whom prioritize their religion, family, and communities. Especially for conservative Christians, faith in Christ is a major blessing when confronted with challenging moments and provides a broader perspective on life itself.

Despite their insistence to the contrary, leftists’ dedication to a worldview built on lies is a recipe for personal disaster. They are a people in desperate need of spiritual revival, and hopefully, one day they receive it.

What Movie Is This?

In this age of info overload, when everybody’s brain has become a memory hole, we’ll see how long anyone remembers Elon Musk’s epic tantrum. The latest news is that Mr. Trump and Wonderboy have scheduled a phone convo for today, Friday, supposedly to “make-up.”

The whole psychodrama looks like an episode out of the Batman movie that America has become. You could see the current plot twist from a thousand miles away. Even back in the summer, Elon’s spastic cavortings on the campaign trail looked suspiciously drug-edged. He’s reported to use ketamine, which induces mood changes from euphoria to anxiety and agitation, as well as slurred speech. Also, altered judgment and disinhibition that might provoke risky behavior. You just have to kind of wonder.

Meanwhile, the fabled Fourth Turning enters full churn. Western Civ, of which we are part, continues to go sideways into history. In case you are distracted by Mr. Musk’s histrionics, we are on a path toward World War, political crack-up, and global bankruptcy.

Among the strange doings, note former CIA Director Mike Pompeo showing up a week ago at a “Black Sea Security Forum” in Odessa, Ukraine, where — say, what? —he called for called for a "complete victory" over Russia, and advocated for Crimea to be recognized as part of Ukraine (which is not in the folder labeled “Reality”).

A call for “victory” implies that we’re at war with Russia, or seek to enter such a war. Granted, the US neocon-intel-blob sparked the Ukraine-Russia War, starting in 2014, when State Department Cookie Monster Victoria Nuland set off the Maidan color revolution. And “Joe Biden” kept stoking the conflict with cash and ammo — and inflammatory rhetoric. But Mr. Trump has been working this year to put out the fire, difficult as that is, with the EU and the rest of NATO beating war drums offstage.

What was Mike Pompeo up to in Odessa? You can make the case that he was violating the Logan Act: attempting to make freelance foreign policy outside government, and in a rather dangerous way, calling for war, however obliquely. And then you have Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal flying to Kiev to confab with the unelected coke-head running Ukraine’s war machine. . . and alakazam, the next day Ukraine pulls off its long-distance bombing prank deep into Russia, destroying some of its strategic nuclear force. Surely, the purpose of that was to provoke a response that could amount to a cassus belli for the EU to launch its (insane and suicidal) longed-for war against Russia.

Why were Pompeo, Lindsey Graham, and Blumenthal not arrested when they flew back to the USA? Everything they were up to in Ukraine had the odor of serious mischief. Mr. Patel of the FBI, a former US attorney who knows how to manage such things, should have personally hauled all three of them into a windowless room for depositions. Who, exactly, does Mike Pompeo purport to represent these days? Who paid for his trip to Odessa, and who went with him? And why isn’t anybody asking these questions?

Elon Musk’s bout of intemperance was supposedly provoked by his disgust over the “big beautiful bill” before Congress, not a budget, really, but a mandatory spending reconciliation package with lots of bells, whistles, and kazoos attached. Of course, you have to ask: what legislation coming out of that animal farm is not a monstrosity? Maybe it takes a monster to fight a monster.

Maybe America needs to transition out of its Batman phase into something like King Kong versus Godzilla. The multitude of little folk underfoot are getting trampled, anyway. And the bankruptcy of America is already presenting itself as a sort of systemic sepsis driving ordinary people and small businesses to ruin, even while the stock and bond markets manage to levitate. No one can feel comfortable in the present situation.

The Democratic Party played the Joker the past ten Batman years, working overtime to throw the country into chaos. That movie’s over. Now, strange to relate, it’s looking more and more like the USA (King Kong) against Europe (Godzilla). Russia is the lady in peril down among the ferns watching the brutes roar at each other. China is something like Ming-the-Merciless from a distant planet (and another movie), waiting off-stage to see what happens.

Europe has a death wish. Its economy is cratering. It’s sacrificing two-thousand years of culture to a new barbarian invasion. The governments of the UK, France, and Germany, have gone full Orwell against their own citizens. The unelected EU has turned into a tyrannical machine grinding up anything that looks like enterprise. And the war drums they’re beating can only bring on a hard rain of Russian hypersonic “hazelnuts,” destroying the only thing they have left: their once-charming cities. If that’s not enough to finish Europe off, wait for the banking and bond market implosion.

Mr. Trump knows that Godzilla is fixing to fall off a cliff. He’s more inclined to take up with that lady down in the ferns and march back into the humid, welcoming jungle. If you really want to rescue what’s left of Western Civ, Russia in its current form, would be your natural ally, not your opponent. Nobody knows how we will get through this movie, but time does not stand still and some day we will be back in a world of nations that have given up acting like monsters. . . and maybe the next movie is something light-hearted like Carey Grant and Kate Hepburn with a pet leopard.