New Orleans      Famously, in George Orwell’s 1984, we were indelibly introduced to the concept of governmental, autocratic doublespeak.  Simply speaking, it was the art of fabricating language as a more palatable shell for people to swallow despite it containing terrible truths.  No one contends that the book was not a powerful work of fiction, but it was also a political warning at the time about where governments were going.  Our problem today is what to do when doublespeak is not wrapped in the covers of a book, but part of our daily life.  What do we do when it’s not fiction, but very real?

Take Trump’s war with Iran as the best example.  He says the war is over.  If that were true, what are we doing in the Strait of Hormuz?  For one day, we were supposedly escorting ships through the strait, while sinking Iranian gunboats.  The big talk evaporated quickly, as the Iran sent missiles flying across the Middle East in response.  Even if we were still supposedly negotiating, how is that not war?

Secretary of Defense Hegseth almost out does Trump in doublespeak.  Testifying before Congress, he claims no authorization is needed by that body after 60-days, as required by law.  Now get this, he says that is because the war clock stopped when Trump declared a ceasefire, even as hostilities and threats continued.  The fact that these guys are just making it up as they go doesn’t change the fact that their whole mission is about doublespeak, saying one thing, and doing another.

Hegseth seems simply unhinged.  Past reason, he claims the US is winning this war, despite terrible and abundant facts that Iran has pretty much taken every punch delivered by the US and Israel, and is still standing.  Not just standing, but controlling much of the narrative and holding the world by the throat by continuing to successfully block 1500 tankers with 20,000 on board from delivering oil through the strait.  For Hegseth, this is the holy war of his dreams.  His sanctimonious attempt to wrap violence and death in prayers earned revulsion by almost 70% of the American public according to a Washington Post poll, which I guess is better than the 87% condemnation of Trump presenting himself as Jesus Christ, but it’s all still gaslighting.

Hegseth claims the war only cost $25 billion in its first month, while exhausting almost half of our heavy arsenal.  He thinks that’s not much, because Congress has made his piggy bank so huge, but that same amount if deployed in service to the America people at home would have been huge.  It would have been equal to the level of subsidies this year under the Affordable Care Act.  Without the money, literally millions have been priced out of health insurance in the US, and that’s just one example.  That’s real life, not make believe.

If there’s no war and everything is hunky-dory, please explain why the price of gas at the pump has risen 50% since Trump’s war began and is now averaging over $4.20 per gallon.  Next, I guess they are going to tell us to stop noticing, because at least we have gas, as opposed to huge millions in countries around the world who can’t access what they need.

The cause of this crisis is because there is a war.  The same war that Trump claims is over and doesn’t exist.  The same war where bombs are still flying and ships are not moving.  Who can we believe?  It’s not Trump and Hegseth on Iran, and that’s for sure.