By Bob Gaydos

Trump drops an F bomb on Israel and Iran on the White House lawn for making him look bad.

Ok, let’s start with what we know.

— We know that the U.S.  dropped several “bunker-busting” bombs and also launched a bunch of missiles from submarines, targeting three nuclear weapons facilities in Iran.

— Trump did not consult with Congress,as required by law, before he ordered the attack.

That’s it.

We know this not only because Donald Trump said so, but because Iran and Congress confirmed it.

What we don’t know could fill thousands of inches of newspaper copy, untold hours of TV and podcast time and millions of hours on social media. In fact, it has. In fact, that’s why I stopped making a list of what we don’t know as I started writing this column, realizing that, with Donald Trump, you just never know.

That’s because with Trump, he never knows. It’s always about the show. Looking strong. Looking decisive. Looking important. Looking like he knows what he’s doing. Kind of the exact opposite of that sorry military parade he threw for his birthday.

Trump has always wanted to drop some bombs. After all, why be president if you can’t do that? His aides likely stopped him from doing it the first time around. This time, he’s loaded with incompetent sycophants. Bombs away!

But Israel had already softened up Iran when Trump sent B2 bombers in for the kill. Except that we don’t know that they actually killed Iran’s nuclear weapons program. It’s likely they wounded it badly, but no one really knows where that weapons grade uranium is except the Iranians.

Then we had all that nonsense with both countries continuing to attack each other after Trump announced a ceasefire on his social media account, which is apparently where all important presidential decisions will be announced in the near future. In all caps.

Apparently, Israel and Iran had started some military activity against each other and couldn’t just stop because Trump said so. I mean, they have some pride, too. And why waste the ammo?

Who knows? Not us. We do know this embarrassed Trump so, since he was apparently still in attack mode, he dropped an F-bomb on both countries in public, not his social media account. Used the presidential “F” word. They didn’t know what they were ##**+! doing, he said of two adversaries who have been doing it for a long time.

But the optics were bad for Trump. He had bombed Iran into peace, at least temporarily, but missiles were still flying. Don’t they read his posts?

At any rate, at this moment, which is all we have with Trump’s actions, there is apparently a ceasefire and no new war in the Middle East. That, of course, is always open to change. Trump may have blundered into a qualified success by dropping bombs on a universally hated country, since Iran is the leading supporter of terrorism on the planet.

Yes, there is that little matter of Congress not authorizing the attack and his Intelligence Director saying Iran posed no immediate threat to the U.S. because it wasn’t developing nuclear weapons. A couple of more things we know.

OK, a couple of things we don’t know: (1) How long Republicans in Congress will continue to abide this reckless, unlawful behavior and (2) how long MAGA will excuse their proclaimed “peace president” for putting their sons and daughters and maybe the world in peril just for the headlines.

Meanwhile, as he heads to a NATO meeting just full of new opportunity for grandstanding and bluster and also embarrassment, who knows where ICE will be kidnapping dark-skinned people off the streets and what program to help the elderly, the infirm, the addicted, the cash-poor will be eliminated? Where will he call out the National Guard to create chaos and fear?

You never know with Trump because he doesn’t know, or care. He’s got a flagpole to put up on the White House lawn.

It’s always about the show.

By Gretchen Gibbs
To me the question is not why we connect in times of trouble, but why we stop. Why can’t we hold on to the glow?

After Hurricane Irene swept through our area, I began to receive calls and emails from friends and family, asking how I had fared. Personally I was fine, though the tenant in my rental house in downtown Warwick had to be rescued by boat and the amount of damage to her possessions and to the house was severe.

I was touched by people’s concern, and it led me to think about disasters and how we respond to them.

I’ve done some research on disasters, their emotional impact, and how to mitigate it. Trauma often takes a great psychological cost, depending on factors like how much terror and horror was experienced, how great the losses were, and vulnerability to the experience because of past trauma. Even factors like gender, age, and social class may affect the consequences of disaster.

Support from others can play a major part in recovery. And usually others do provide support. I remember after the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, some reporter called me for a quote, wanting to know why people had donated so much money to the relief efforts. “Why does it need explaining,” I said, “given that this is the most deadly tsunami in history?” It seems a natural response to want to help others in need.

It is now the tenth year anniversary of September 11th. That first week or so afterwards, wasn’t that our finest hour? People from all over the country converged on New York to help, exposing themselves to toxic dust and toxic sights and experiences. Commerce seemed forgotten in the sense of togetherness. Many businesses closed down temporarily. Restaurants and businesses provided free food and services for the workers at Ground Zero. The sky was still and blue without the planes and their vapor trails. I had such hopes for our country. I thought we could build on the connections, see things from outsiders’ points of view, broaden our perspective.

And then in no time at all, we had war and freedom fries. The sense of community gave way to vengeance and isolationism. I don’t know what happened, but I suspect it was fear. Terrorism is well-named; it is hugely frightening, and to protect ourselves we put up barriers and defenses against other people and ideas. Disasters bring out our best, and they can also bring out our worst. Something to reflect on as we mark the anniversary of the events of 9/11.

gretchen@zestoforange.com