Saturday Report 2/28/26 — Did Trump Illegally Ignite a Middle East War to Set the Stage for Emergency Election Powers?

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— Trump has illegally, unconstitutionally attacked Iran in collaboration with his fellow felon Netanyahu. Acting without the congressional authorization the Constitution requires, Trump has attacked Iran and tried to assassinate its senior leadership. Our Arab allies in the region are now under attack from Iranian missiles and are furious, as are several Democratic and Republican elected officials. The chance also now exists that this could spiral into something much larger, which might even include Russia or China believing we’re overstretched and thus taking the opportunity to launch attacks against Eastern Europe or Taiwan. Trump also went on a rant about how Iran helped “steal an election” from him in 2020; this may be preparation for his declaring a state of emergency and locking down our elections this fall. He’s been clearly looking for such an excuse. The situation is fluid and developing.

— Will this finally get Epstein off the front page and give Trump his excuse to declare an emergency to rig the elections? People across the Middle East freaked out yesterday when the Trump regime issued a rare travel advisory telling American citizens in Israel to “consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available.” Israeli political analyst David Fuchs posted in Hebrew, “Good luck to us all,” reflecting the widespread concern that a sinking economy, revelations that Trump may have raped a 13-year-old girl, and that his people are looking for an “emergency” to seize our elections this November could all be coming together with this strike on Iran.
Trump is increasingly feeling cornered and knows the kind of damage any meaningful, subpoena-based investigation of his corrupt business deals, his exploitation of the presidency, and his history as a proud, bragging rapist can cause. Republicans back in the ’90s squealed that Bill Clinton was “wagging the dog” when he ordered airstrikes to protect civilians in Bosnia, but if you want to make that argument about presidential military action, what Trump’s now pulling off is a much stronger case. And one that could spiral out of control far more easily. This is exactly why the Founders and Framers explicitly took the power to make war away from the president and vested it exclusively with Congress. But don’t try explaining that to cult-obsessed Republicans like John Thune; you’ll just get a blank stare.

— Speaking of panicked Republicans, after they stripped Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) subsidies from millions of Americans, causing insurance bills to double and triple, they’re facing a wave of outrage. So, predictably, the GOP is falling back on their old saw of offering people “more choice” in the marketplace by proposing to lower the price on some ACA plans. The catch, of course, is that they want the deductible — the amount you pay out-of-pocket before insurance starts picking up the bills — to rise to $31,000 for a family of two. Democrats have been proposing a national healthcare plan for America — like literally every other developed democracy in the world has — since the Truman administration in the 1940s, but Republicans have always proclaimed their loyalty to their insurance industry donors over average working people. If it wasn’t for that history, this new proposal would be shocking; instead, it’s just another example of how the GOP always has and always will put wealthy interests above those of average people. As a result, an estimated 50,000 Americans die every year from lack of healthcare, and a half-million families go bankrupt because of healthcare expenses.

— Does the arrest of a Columbia University Student show that we’ve lost our civil society? ICE thugs lied their way into a Columbia University student housing complex, saying they were New York City police looking for a missing 5-year-old girl. Once the building’s superintendent let them in, they grabbed a 29-year-old student and dragged her off to one of their notorious detention centers. New York police are furious; this is exactly the kind of behavior that destroys people’s trust in the cops and, without that trust, policing becomes not just difficult but downright dangerous. But Trump’s secret police thugs don’t care; they’re trying to meet quotas for imprisoned brown-skinned people and don’t give a rat’s ass about the damage they’re doing to civil society in the process. They took away the student, by the way, without an arrest warrant signed by a judge as required by the Fourth Amendment. New York Governor Hochul made an outraged statement, but so far we’ve seen no indication that the state is actually going to do anything about this (other than Mayor Mamdani interceding with Trump to get the woman temporarily released).

— Is CNN the new CBS? Trustfund baby David Ellison looks like he’s used daddy’s money to seal the purchase of Warner Brothers Discovery, handing CNN over to the rightwing billionaire family that already now owns CBS. Panic is spreading through the CNN newsroom after what the Ellisons did to CBS News, putting a rightwing crank with zero TV experience in charge, firing Stephen Colbert, and censoring 60 Minutes. This is exactly what both Putin and Orbán did when they flipped Russia and Hungary from democracy to dictatorship by first having friendly billionaires take over all the major news outlets. Facebook, Twitter/X, Washington Post, LA Times, NY Post, Wall Street Journal, Fox “News,” TikTok, CBS, several minor television networks, or 200 television stations, 1500 radio stations, and now CNN are all under the control of rightwing billionaires more than willing to use their “news” outlets to promote Trump’s fascist regime. What’s next? My prediction is MSNOW, since NBC has spun it off, moved their studios, and essentially prepared the network for sale. Stay tuned.

— Trump’s inflation heats up from tariffs. The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand climbed at an annualized rate of 6% last month (0.5% for January) as companies are starting to pass along their tariff costs to their customers. Trump has also overseen a 9% collapse in the value of the dollar since he took office, prompting the massive bank UBS to downgrade their prospects for the American stock market. Meanwhile, the housing market is softening and Trump is again pursuing student loan borrowers with a vengeance. Ten of the last eleven recessions have occurred during Republican presidencies for this very reason: conservative economic policies shift wealth to the very top while screwing average working people, resulting in a loss of the consumer demand that drives economies. Here we go again…

— Bowing to chemical industry donations, Trump officials are killing off the system that protects families and communities from chemical disasters like explosions, spills, and fires at chemical facilities. Saying it’s “too expensive” to protect Americans from the next Bhopal disaster that could kill hundreds and leave thousands with lifelong cancer risks, the Trump EPA is destroying altogether the prevention and remediation program. As The Guardian reports, “The US experienced a chemical accident that harmed humans or the environment every other day on average between 2004-2025. Among recent high-profile incidents are a Clairton, Pennsylvania steel plant explosion that injured 10, and a Roseland, Louisiana oil facility explosion that caused oil to splatter onto homes as far as 20 miles away.” If you live near one of these sites get ready to run, as that may be the only option you’ll have left.

— Crazy Alert! Trump viewed Noem’s shooting her puppy in the face as an asset. A new book by NBC reporter Julia Ainsley explains that Trump thought Noem’s sociopathic delight in killing her puppy named Cricket made her perfect for the job of overseeing his violent secret police force. In the little dog’s memory, here’s Louise’s “Ballad of Cricket”: