AMERICA DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE August 14, 2026

Donald Trump’s wars on Iran and vaccines evidence the president again taking this nation down the rabbit hole.

I detest Iran’s ayatollahs and the Iranian Republican Guard Corps—vicious theocrats and corrupt power mongers. I also despise life-threatening diseases. 

But Trump’s lack of common sense—a value of which he incessantly boasts—has destabilized the Middle East and put Americans’ health at risk.

As to Iran, the U.S. joined Israel in bombing that country on February 28. Rationale: Keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Yet according to Trump, three of Iran’s key nuclear facilities had been “obliterated” in June 2025.

“Obliterated” was, to put it mildly, an overstatement.

Common sense tells me to know what you’re getting into when you start a war, including goals and inherent risks. Also, what entails “victory.” We’re winning big according to Trump and Defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Yet the Strait of Hormuz, through which twenty percent of the world’s oil passes, was open to shipping prior to February 28. The flow became a trickle.

Two days ago, Trump claimed the U.S. has “total control” over the strait. Iran sees things differently. The trickle remains. Trump questions the data. Truth intrudes on his delusions. 

Oh, and Yemen’s Houthi rebels are now choking the Bab el-Mandab strait which provides shipping access to the Red Sea and Suez Canal. 

A lack of common sense in the Oval Office? Trump took America to war because he trusts his prodigious gut. Media reports indicate that his senior military and security advisors warned against the operation. But Trump knows more than “his” generals and admirals. His uncommon common sense trumps all.

Take disease prevention. Trump signed an executive order to separate children’s two sets of MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) vaccinations into six individual shots. (The executive order is not binding; states make public health decisions.) Trump fears that kids get too many shots. So go from two MMR injections to six shots? He also claims that MMR vaccination leads to autism. How does Trump know? Common sense.

How inconvenient that numerous scientific studies have demonstrated that autism rates are the same in children who receive MMR vaccinations and those who don’t. But Trump turns to other sources for enlightenment. “Some people say” that the MMR shots aren’t safe. Who might those “some people” be? Trump never says.

Moreover, Trump wants to protect children from receiving a quantity of vaccination fluid that fills up a soda bottle. Really? The vaccine occupies less than a teaspoon.

When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I weighed the options laid out by my board-certified urologist. In Trump circles, his bona fides disqualify him. Bottom line: I’m cured. 

Still, Trump turns to his White House doctor, other physicians and Walter Reed Hospital for medical care. Wouldn’t common sense say, “Eat an extra Big Mac with fries daily, and let’s see what happens?”

With our air-defense systems greatly depleted, war expenditures nearing $100 billion and the Strait of Hormuz choked off, American lives, treasure and consumer purchasing power are being squandered. Common sense offers us wisdom: Start turning things around by electing Democrats in November’s midterms. 

Sadly, a significant sector of Americans remains loyal to a president whose nonsensical ravings reveal detachment from reality. 

Americans—and Iranians held hostage in an evil theocracy—deserve better. 

Enjoy a great read about America’s 20th-century flirtation with authoritarianism in my novel RIDE THE TYGER. Order from Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, iuniverse.com, or your favorite bookstore.