With the record of lies told by elected officials and the intelligence community, why should I believe them when I’m told Iran-backed militia were responsible for killing an American contractor, which is what ostensibly started it all?

Could’ve been … I don’t know … ISIS … or a CIA assassin … or maybe the contractor’s ex-wife was pissed off about missed alimony payments.

According to four-star General Wesley Clark, we’ve had official plans to carry out regime change in Iran since at least 2001. This is how it usually works: someone gets killed (whether or not we make that happen), we blame the convenient target, the war and the overthrow begin.

Meanwhile, our pro-war crowd (lots of media, lots of elected officials, and a president) sounds like a mega-bully in a schoolyard who bellows while beating his chest: I can do whatever I want because I have more, bigger and better slingshots than you. And I can claim moral superiority because I have more, bigger and better slingshots than you AND because the evangelicals say so.

Yes, this is the current state of the world with America in charge.

Bottom line: If we transition off of fossil fuel with a green new deal, we could:

·         Recreate the failing infrastructure throughout this country (have you seen the NYC subway system? It’s on my list of American embarrassments).

·         Initiate a training program that would eradicate unemployment by providing every able-bodied person with a well-paying job - from engineers to administrators to highly skilled technical workers. Just make sure they’re all unionized.

·         Guarantee a thriving existence for humanity on this planet for centuries to come.

·         END THE IMPORTANCE, WEALTH AND POWER OF PESKY OIL-PRODUCING COUNTRIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST!!!!

Let’s be real: if it hadn’t been for oil and greed (cleverly masquerading as corporate crony capitalism), we wouldn’t have mucked up the Middle East in the first place. We wouldn’t have terrorist gangs and oil-rich religious crazies hating us, we wouldn’t be arming and training the other terrorist gangs and hypocritically labeling them moderate rebels, nor would we have smarmy alliances with the other oil-rich religious crazies (still yet, another American embarrassment). And let’s not even get into the cost of all this.

Did anyone ask how we would pay for a war with Iran?

Yup, they would all move back into the deserts from which they emerged when the first commercial quantities of oil were first discovered (1938).

I’m not saying these pesky oil-producing countries wouldn’t have strategic importance. I’m not saying they don’t make worthwhile cultural contributions (hint, hint). I’m not saying Sunnis and Shiites shouldn’t - Allah willing - achieve stability and harmony. But can you imagine the shift?

Did anyone say win-win? So let's do it.