Bluff And Bluster

No, Bluff & Bluster isn't the name of Trump's favorite law firm, and as easy as it might be to believe, it's not the GOP's Media Consulting Company. 

It is, however, pretty much 45*'s general approach to everything he tries to do.

He makes a big noise - he stomps and stumbles and wrecks the jungle - but it's almost always little more than display. All he wants to do is get people riled up enough that they do something they think he wanted them to do (or something they think will thwart whatever they think he's trying to get somebody to do), and then he makes a decision on which way to move after they've acted - so he can put himself in a position that best suits his own ambitions.

Get the other guy to commit, then counterpunch.

And always always always remember - the guy has no principles. Everything is fungible to him.

The first three words in 45*'s bible are GET THE MONEY.

But through it all, the one thing he's never wavered on is the question of What's Good For Vladimir Putin.

So I don't know what's up with the Iran thing, but what I think we can be dead solid sure about is that nobody in this total clusterfuck we call the US government right now is telling us the truth about much of anything.

WaPo:

The Trump administration has been on high alert in response to what military and intelligence officials have deemed specific and credible threats from Iran against U.S. personnel in the Middle East.

But President Trump is frustrated with some of his top advisers, who he thinks could rush the United States into a military confrontation with Iran and shatter his long-standing pledge to withdraw from costly foreign wars, according to several U.S. officials. Trump prefers a diplomatic approach to resolving tensions and wants to speak directly with Iran’s leaders.

Disagreements over assessing and responding to the recent intelligence — which includes a directive from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that some American officials interpret as a threat to U.S. personnel in the Middle East — are also fraying alliances with foreign allies, according to multiple officials in the United States and Europe.

So a coupla things:

• 45* is a chickenshit. As soon as he's assured that a couple of his buddies have a firm grip on him, he's the guy who makes a big show of "wanting to fight" while looking straight into the camera saying he could kill the guy if he wanted to, but not right now and blah blah blah.
• He can't commit until he knows more about what Putin wants, and even then he has to weigh it against what he can get from the Saudis &/or the Israelis in terms of money in his pockets.

This is strictly a private-enterprise WWE-type production - the ultimate reality show - dressed up to look like government.