By Bob Gaydos

Marco Rubio, spilling the beans.

  So, it is Bibi’s war.

   Marco Rubio let the cat out of the bag. That’s the problem when you slip up and hire someone who hasn’t been a total putz his whole career — he sometimes slips up and tells the truth.

    Asked by reporters why the United States attacked Iran when negotiations were continuing about abandoning its nuclear weapons agenda and there was no apparent threat of an attack by Iran on the U.S., the secretary of state said in typical roundabout fashion that we had to attack first because soon after Iran was attacked by Israel, Iran would surely have attacked the U.S. as well as Israel.

   Well, of course.

   So, despite all the pretense of negotiations, Israel was going to attack Iran anyway. Netanyahu talked Trump, the peace president, into helping him in his battle for Israeli control of the region because …?

   Well that’s a good question.

   It’s clear the whole argument about nuclear weapons was a setup. Other negotiators from the region said a deal could have been made. So Trump quickly changed the stated goal to regime change. Kill the evil ayatollah and let long-suffering Iranians take back their country. Like this has ever worked anywhere. Trump himself has publicly said it doesn’t work and, by the way, the Iranian regime goes well beyond the will of an 86-year-old man, now deceased.

   Which brings it all back to Jeffrey Epstein.

  Of course.

   The reporting behind the reporting notes that Epstein worked for years as an asset of the Israeli Mossad, its intelligence agency. Part of his purpose was to get incriminating evidence of influential people in embarrassing, preferably illegal, situations. The object being blackmail.

   Like maybe a video of Donald Trump raping a 13-year-old girl.

   Bibi to Donald: “Look, big guy, I know you tore up the nuclear pact with Iran in your first term and I want to thank you for that for giving us an excuse to attack them again. And I know you got elected again by promising to be a peace president, not getting involved in protracted wars anywhere, not looking for regime change anywhere. But let’s be real here. I know you’d really like to set up a Trump resort on the Mediterranean in Gaza and I’m doing my best to make that happen, but we both know how difficult it is, especially with half the world digging around in them, to keep embarrassing information in the Epstein files secret. Heck, I wouldn’t put it past some intelligence agent somewhere from leaking stuff to the media. Some people would probably pay for it. I mean, videos of old men and young girls doing things they shouldn’t do together could really damage someone’s life, never mind reputation. I’d hate to see that happen to anyone.

  “By the way, we will be attacking Iran on the morning of February 28, if you care to join us. No holds barred. Let Hegseth rip his shirt off, drink beer and go crazy.

    “My people will be too busy fighting another war to throw me in jail. I’m sure you can identify with that. And you can get to say you killed the ayatollah. It’s a win-win.”

    That’s it, people. Maybe there’s another explanation for this insanity, but for now I’m going with the well-informed secretary of state’s explanation: It’s Bibi’s war. We’ve been kidnapped, in effect, and are paying the ransom with the blood of American soldiers.

By Bob Gaydos

The lucky Ladybug.

  Last Saturday turned out to be quite a day. I woke up to a much-needed warm, sunny day with snow melting everywhere, and wound up spending my afternoon writing about the dotard in the White House starting a war with Iran because people were talking about stuff in the Epstein files about him raping a 13-year-old girl.

   Bummer, right?

   But the universe has a way of trying to balance things out, I believe. You just have to pay attention.

    Later Saturday, I got together with a group of friends over coffee and good cheer to talk about anything other than war. In the midst of this fellowship, a ladybug suddenly appeared on the table right next to my arm. Out of nowhere. Inside, windows closed, no plants, ladybug.

     It stuck around. Pleasantly surprised, I said I was “pretty sure” it was a good omen. In my head, I was saying, “God, I sure hope it is“

     Well, hey, sometimes I get it right. Back home on the couch, I asked my assistant – Google AI – to check out the symbolism of the ladybug. It reported back, “Ladybugs are almost universally recognized as the symbols of good luck, protection and positive transformation. Their arrival is often seen as a sign that wishes are about to come true or that a period of prosperity is beginning.”

     Also, in some cultures they are seen as guardians that ward off negative energy, in others they represent personal growth and in many traditions, AI tells me, “the appearance of a ladybug suggests that true love is on its way or that current relationships will flourish.”

   Gotta love that last flourish. And I wouldn’t argue with that period of prosperity thing either. But I’d really like to cash in on that “wishes are about to come true” sign. For all of us.

   Realistically, I don’t think even a swarm of ladybugs could give the tin man in the White House a heart, but I gotta believe in enough of a swarm, perhaps accompanied by massive demonstrations and thousands of phone calls complaining about starting illegal wars and allegedly raping 13-year-old girls not being acceptable behavior by the titular head of this country, miraculously implanting a brain and some guts in cowardly Republican members of Congress to put a stop to the insanity. That’s my wish.

   They say you gotta believe. They also say you gotta grab a shovel or a hammer or a phone or a pen or whatever is necessary to kind of help out. C’mon, folks. I’d really hate to waste a good lady bug.