War .... WAR .... WAR!!

In 1981  malicious trends gained ground detrimental to the citizenry.

First, in the supposedly coequal government, Presidents began usurping power by breaking the law with impunity.  While also engaging in Union busting.

Ronald Reagan:

Reagan’s main union-busting action was his response to the 1981 PATCO strike.

In August 1981, Ronald Reagan confronted a strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), a federal employees’ union.

PATCO controllers wanted:

    A shorter, 32-hour workweek
    Higher pay—roughly a $10,000 raise
    Better retirement benefits and working conditions
    Changes to staffing and scheduling, which they said were necessary for safety

The strike began at 7 a.m. on August 3, 1981. Federal law prohibited government employees from striking, and controllers had signed an oath promising not to do so. Reagan declared the strike illegal and gave the workers 48 hours to return to work, warning that those who stayed out would lose their jobs.  Most did not return. On August 5, Reagan fired approximately 11,345 striking controllers and barred them from federal employment. PATCO was later decertified as a union. The Federal Aviation Administration kept air travel operating by sharply reducing flights and using supervisors, non-striking controllers, military personnel, and newly hired replacements. About 7,000 flights were canceled, but the system did not collapse.

The episode was politically significant for several reasons. PATCO had endorsed Reagan during the 1980 presidential campaign, so his decision disappointed a group that had supported him. But Reagan viewed the strike primarily as a violation of federal law and a threat to public safety. His firm response became an early symbol of his presidency and was widely interpreted as a warning that his administration would confront organized labor rather than compromise with it.

The long-term consequences were substantial. The FAA took years to rebuild its controller workforce, and many replacement workers later joined the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, established in 1987. President Bill Clinton lifted the lifetime federal-employment ban on the remaining strikers in 1993, although relatively few were eventually rehired. The strike is often viewed as a turning point that weakened organized labor and encouraged some private employers to take a harder line against strikes.

Election Manipulation:

In a deal with Iran before the 1980 election  known as the “October Surprise”.  People connected to Reagan’s campaign, especially campaign manager William Casey, privately encouraged Iran not to release the 52 American hostages before the election. In exchange, Iran was allegedly promised favorable treatment or arms after Reagan won. The hostages were released on January 20, 1981, shortly after Reagan took the oath of office.

The major law-breaking scandal associated with Reagan was Iran–Contra:

George H.W. Bush:

Iran–Contra pardons: As Reagan’s vice president, Bush had been involved in and briefed about aspects of the Iran–Contra operation. In December 1992, President Bush pardoned six people connected to the scandal, including former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who was awaiting trial for misleading Congress. Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh argued that the pardons stopped the investigation from fully examining Bush’s own knowledge and role. Bush was never charged with a crime.

Savings-and-loan crisis: The collapse of hundreds of savings-and-loan institutions occurred during Bush’s term and required a huge federal bailout. The crisis began before he took office, so it was not solely a Bush administration scandal, but his administration faced criticism over the cost, regulation, and handling of the cleanup.

Charles Keating, head of Lincoln Savings and loan had contributed to Bush's election campaign.  When the company collapsed in 1989, about 23,000 investors suffered losses, and the federal cleanup cost roughly $3.4 billion. Keating was later convicted of fraud and racketeering-related offenses and served prison time. Senators Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, John Glenn, John McCain, and Donald Riegle, had received campaign contributions from Keating and met with federal regulators in 1987 to oppose or slow regulatory action against Lincoln Savings. The Senate Ethics Committee found that Cranston, DeConcini, and Riegle had improperly interfered; Glenn and McCain were criticized for poor judgment but were not found to have acted improperly.

Bush’s administration did respond to the broader crisis by signing the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, which reorganized the savings-and-loan regulatory system and created the Resolution Trust Corporation to handle failed institutions. 

George W. Bush:  

Lies leading to attacking Iraq.

Bush officials did not merely make accidental intelligence errors; they ignored or suppressed intelligence stating there was NO WMD, or components, then presented uncertain or disputed information as established fact. This transformed a “war of choice” into what the public was led to believe was an urgent act of self-defense.

The Bush administration’s conduct was deliberate dishonesty.   Prewar claims about Iraqi WMD and an Iraq–al-Qaeda alliance were substantially stronger than the underlying intelligence justified, and subsequent investigations found that those claims were false or seriously misleading.

Barack Obama:  

Obama's "War on Terror" management was a mixed bag.

Obama reined in some of the Bush-era “War on Terror,” but he did not end it.

• He ended U.S. combat operations in Iraq: He withdrew most U.S. troops by the end of 2011, though American forces returned in 2014 to fight ISIS.
• Surged the war in Afghanistan: He temporarily increased U.S. troop levels, then began a gradual drawdown. The war continued throughout his presidency.
• Banned torture: Early in his administration, Obama ordered U.S. personnel to follow the Army Field Manual and prohibited the CIA’s Bush-era interrogation methods. However, his administration generally did not prosecute Bush-era officials for torture.
• Tried to close Guantánamo Bay: He ordered the prison closed, transferred many detainees, and sought to move some trials to U.S. courts. Congress restricted transfers and blocked closure, so Guantánamo remained open.
• Expanded drone warfare: Obama greatly increased drone and special-forces strikes in places including Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia. His administration created procedures for target selection and congressional notification, but the strikes killed civilians and raised serious legal and due-process concerns.
• Authorized the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki: In 2011, a U.S. drone strike killed al-Awlaki, an American citizen and al-Qaeda official in Yemen. This became a major constitutional controversy because he was targeted without a conventional criminal trial.
• Killed Osama bin Laden: U.S. special operations forces killed bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011.
• Continued broad war powers: Obama continued relying on the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, originally passed after 9/11. His administration interpreted it as covering operations against groups such as al-Qaeda affiliates and, later, ISIS, even though ISIS had become separate from al-Qaeda.
• Expanded or maintained surveillance programs: His administration retained much of the national-security and intelligence infrastructure inherited from Bush, although it supported some reforms and greater oversight.
• Eventually, by 2026, the Federal government, aided by Big-Tech is spying on the nations citizens.

Donald J. Trump:

Trump’s stated reasons for attacking Iran included several claims:

• Iran’s violent crackdown on protesters.
• Iran’s nuclear program and the claim that it was close to developing nuclear weapons.
• Iran’s ballistic missiles, which Trump said could eventually reach the United States.
• Iran’s support for proxy groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.
• Threats to U.S. forces and allies in the Middle East.

Trump said on March 31, 2026, that U.S. military action could end within “two or three weeks,” with or without a deal with Iran.   The U.S.-Israeli attack began on February 28, 2026. By early September 2026, it had lasted approximately six months and a few days—about 187 days if measured to September 3, 2026. That refers to the broader conflict, which continued after the initial operation and ceasefires. The initial U.S. operation, called Operation Epic Fury, officially ran from February 28 to May 5, but fighting and related military action continued afterward.

Traffic and oil exports plunged. Shipping remained heavily constrained, with an estimated 5.7 million barrels of oil per day shut off through the end of 2026. Brent crude rose above $100 per barrel in September, while normal traffic was not expected to return until at least the second quarter of 2027.

The disruption spread beyond Hormuz. Ships rerouted around the region, and the Iran-backed Houthis expanded their control near Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, threatening another major oil and shipping route.

Hormuz was not simply “closed” in a formal, universally recognized sense, but it became a de facto conflict zone and severely restricted waterway. The fighting turned a route that normally carries about a fifth of global crude oil and natural-gas supplies into a major bottleneck, raising fuel prices for American Citizens and threatening international trade.  

War .... WAR ....  WAR!!

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