Beware the scorpion!

A cliche too good to ignore.

You don’t want one of these in your foreign policy.

Didn’t we have a war to end all wars?

Yes we did, and there have been oodles big and small since then.

Now it’s Iran.

You must give Donald Trump credit. He certainly knows how to pick his targets. I don’t think anyone has liked Iran since about the 5^th Century BCE.

Oh, yeah, concerns have been expressed! All over the region! In response, the radicals of the Islamic world continue to build up enemies by blowing things up in response to the U.S. attack on Iran, which continues.

Surprised?

Neither am I. When the United States and Israel gas up the jets and zip off to drop bombs on anyone, there are always consequences. Just now, they seem to be landing on Israeli targets and dusting things up, with some loss of life, almost anywhere the U.S. has an installation in the Middle East.

Could be this war will be getting bigger.

Pray now for the innocent collateral damage.

There’s a cliché about the place that involves a scorpion trying to get a ride across the river on the back of a turtle. Many promises are made and the turtle, magnetically drawn to the benefits, agrees to give the scorpion a ride.

Halfway across the river, the scorpion stings the turtle and they both begin sinking to their deaths.

The turtle looks up and asks just what the the scorpion did that for.

“Because I am a fucking scorpion,” it replies.

In the political version, a good friend points out, the scorpion says, “Welcome to the Middle East.”

Then they both die.

What has this got to do with anything?

Damned if I know. It’s just a cliché that got stuck in my head somewhere over the past 76 years and it comes up during times of conflict. I guess it means you just can’t trust scorpions.

So it is with just about all the parties in this latest conflict.

Trump is waaaay too fat to be compared to a scorpion, a sleek thing that moves quickly and does its own dirty business. But he certainly is not a trustworthy man. I hope this isn’t just another stunt to pull attention away from “The Epstein files,” which is quickly becoming one of those self -supporting scandals that will lead to nothings.

It’s the Democrats version of the Hunter Biden laptop thing. The Republicans have squeezed every ounce of distraction from that one. Hopefully the Democrats are smart enough to sidestep that one and go right for Trump’s jugular.

He is, after all, waging war without the approval of Congress, which is required.

I’m sure that doesn’t bother him, He’s murdered more than a hundred people in little boats headed for the U.S. for reasons we are not sure about. Drug runners? Well, if you are a cop in the U.S., an honest cop who follows the rules, you don’t just drive by one of those drug corners and shoot the dealers.

There is a due process, you know?

We are headed down a dark road full of consequences. We don’t know what they will be. But our president and his Republican backers are so arrogant about the use of power, I doubt they would ever understand.

Charlie Madigan was a reporter, editor foreign correspondent and professor over a 40 year career. He lives in Evanston and votes Democratic.