Plan B 😱 ✡️🌻😱 🚀🚢 🧨

War not Peace: On Tuesday, the Pentagon launched major strikes at Iran in response to Tehran’s attacks on commercial ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time the US revoked the controversial authorization permitting Iranian oil sales. Iran responded by saying that they would once again target US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. This morning before leaving the NATO meeting in Ankara, Trump announced that the ceasefire is over calling the initial peace agreement with Iran dead.  He also called Iran’s leaders liars and sick people.  So much for that much trumpeted memorandum of understanding. The rocky path to peace is just that, rocky, especially given how well Iran is using its Strait of Hormuz trump card. Trump, who promised no wars, especially long ones, is learning the hard way that Iran is not Venezuela and why the presidents who preceded him resisted efforts to attack Iran despite all the trouble it caused. Oil prices are up again this morning and stock futures are down. As to those NATO meetings in Ankara, Trump behaved about as well as expected as in not well at all.  He cozied up to Turkey’s autocratic leader Erdogan while antagonizing the rest of the members of NATO including Italy’s Meloni who not so long ago was one of his BFFs.  He once again expressed his desire to takeover Greenland saying it should be controlled by the US rather than Denmark, while complaining about all the money the US spends to help Europe defend itself against Russia, again threatening to remove all US soldiers out of Europe. He also dissed Ukraine, probably something he promised to do on a call with Putin.

Maine Mess:  Graham Platner still hasn’t officially pulled out of the Senate race, but he will soon because despite his efforts to extract some kind of commitment to be replaced with a like-minded candidate few care what he thinks anymore. Worth noting that Platner wasn’t even the working-class hero he, or his handlers, portrayed him to be.  He came from an affluent family, attended private school, his father “lent” him the money to buy his home, and my favorite, his mother’s restaurant bought the oysters he farmed. Yesterday another one of his innumerable ex-girlfriends came forward, revealing that without her consent he had a habit of removing condoms during sex. It’s no wonder that Emily’s List, the organization that champions pro-choice women candidates never endorsed him. As to his replacement, a number of candidates have thrown their hats into the ring. The list includes Maine Secretary of State Shena Bellows who ran but lost in the Democratic gubernatorial primary; former president of the Maine Senate Troy Jackson who once threw a bottle at a female colleague; Nirav Shah, a former director of Maine’s public health agency; Jordan Wood, who had been an early candidate in the race but pivoted to and then lost a primary for the northern Maine House district currently represented by retiring Congressman Jared Golden; and Dan Kleban, the founder of Maine Beer Company who had also been an early candidate but dropped out and endorsed Governor Janet Mills. Golden’s representative said that he has no interest in running, not a surprise since he previously decided not to run for the Senate seat.  The Maine Democratic party is currently considering the best way to proceed with a selection process that may involve some kind of mini convention or caucus. Though Platner needs to officially withdraw by July 13, the party has until July 27 to pick a new Senate nominee. Last night on his program Lawrence O’Donnell said that though lots of his colleagues and competitors hosted Platner, he never had him on his program or had much to say about him because he never expected him to go the distance. He went on to talk about the importance of real vetting.  We need to pay more attention to the usually smart and experienced O’Donnell.  

Other 💩:  Senators John Thune and John Barrasso and CNN’s Republican abettor Scott Jennings all insist they’ve spoken with Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell.  Curiously, all their conversations lasted twenty minutes. If McConnell resigns or expires before August 3, Kentucky law no longer allows Kentucky’s Governor, in this case Democrat Andy Beshar, to appoint his replacement; instead, it requires that he be replaced by a special election. If he “leaves” after that date, his seat will remain vacant at least until the results of the November election.  Until the Mitch issue is “resolved,” Republicans remain down a Senate vote. In other news, the Trump administration appears poised to continue rewriting history, as in stripping references to slavery and anything else they determine to be DEI, by taking control of the Smithsonian.  On the election front, they are quietly and not so quietly waging a war against voting in Democratic strongholds.  To that end the DOJ plans to deploy federal election monitors to Detroit, Lansing, and East Lansing for Michigan's August 4 primary election. Add that to the administration’s efforts to get hold of and “cleanse” state voter rolls while also dredging up “proof” that Trump really won the 2020 election to see where all this is going.  Spoiler alert, it’s not going anywhere good.