I was just about to write a post about the egregious abridgment of our First Amendment rights implicit in the current administration’s attack on Free Speech by demanding to know the identity of an anti-Trump Twitter account.  Twitter has sued to block the efforts.

And then, I got a message from a friend:

Trump has ordered a strike on Syria.

Good God almighty.  I’m scrambling to figure out what this will mean to the people of Syria, already war-ravaged and persecuted.  What will this do to the men and women of our Armed Forces?  And for what?  Is this a reasoned, rational, intelligent, well-planned move?

I understand that the president felt constrained to act when he heard stories of children being killed by chemical warfare.  But did this move take into consideration the whiplash effect of attacking Syria?  Will the people of Syria suffer more heinous retaliation after the dust settles?  Will this launch America into a full-fledged military effort?  What of the UN?  Were UN officials consulted?

USA Today reports that:

“The attack essentially follows the plan that the Pentagon had set in September 2013, according to a senior Defense official not authorized to speak publicly about the operation. That plan was devised after President Obama had set a “red line” on the use of chemical weapons. Syrian President Bashar Assad had used the weapons that killed 1,400 civilians, but Obama did not order an attack. Instead, Assad agreed to turnover his stockpiles of chemical weapons, a pledge he obviously reneged on in light of Tuesday’s use of what experts believe was sarin gas on civilians.”

USA Today, 06 April 2017.   So, hear this:

Syria kills 1,400 civilians and Obama makes a plan, and uses the existence of that plan to broker a deal.  Then Syria reneges on the plan four years later, killing 27 children.  Trump responds within twenty-four hours by launching a military strike.

Is this well-advised?

This strike apparently happened shortly after Trump’s friend Putin in Russia threatened retaliation against us if we did just that.  My head spins — what has happened — now we have launched a military strike, tomorrow we will be defending ourselves from an invasion by Russia.  Does anyone in Washington have the presence of mind to devise a comprehensive plan for our international relations?

We sit here fearing the loss of our individual rights. . .

. . .while Trump hobknobs with the Chinese president at his personal luxury resort in Florida, and the Senate goes nuclear to force us to accept Trump’s Supreme Court pick after stalling for a year to avoid appointing Obama’s nominee, and the Trump kids sashay all over the globe making decisions for Daddy. . .

. . . and the beat goes on.