Letters from an American

September 30, 2026
After more than two decades, the deaths of countless Iraqi civilians and more than 4,500 US troops, the wounding of more than 30,000 US military personnel, and a cost of more than $2.8 trillion, the US has pulled out the last of its forces from Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq, A small contingent of advisors had remained after the US and Iraq agreed to a withdrawal plan in 2024, At that time, Iran seemed to be on the ropes, but Trump’s war on Iran has strengthened the country’s hand in the region, The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was based on the belief that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein was destabilizing the Middle East, Although Saddam had not been involved in the 9/11 attack, officials from the George W Bush administration pushed the idea that the terrorists were affiliated with Iraq, The administration warned that Saddam Hussein was amassing weapons of mass destruction and when Secretary of State Colin Powell warned in a speech at the UN that Iraq had chemical WMDs and the resources to create nuclear weapons, people were convinced it was true. Later the evidence was discredited, but enough countries backed an invasion that in March 2003 American troops invaded with the intention of overthrowing the government, Saddam’s forces crumbled and by May the US had set up a transitional government and Bush had declared “Mission Accomplished,” But it wasn’t, Now the United States is entering the eighth month of a war on Iran that Trump apparently began with the same cowboy mentality as Bush carried into the war in Iraq, And Pete Hegseth is celebrating his transformation of the military and its “patriotic cowboys.” 
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September 29, 2026
At a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Jack Smith was questioned about the case charging Trump with using fraud and deceit to overturn the 2020 election results, The courts have interpreted the language in the Constitution that protects speech in Congress broadly, Republicans have used that protection to make outrageous accusations and to spread disinformation, Smith was appointed special counsel by former attorney general Merrick Garland on November 18, 2022, In June 2023 a grand jury indicted Trump on 37 counts but after Trump was reelected Smith dropped Trump from the case, Today’s hearing focused on charges by a federal grand jury in August 2023, Trump challenged the indictment and the Supreme Court largely agreed with him in its Trump v United States decision that gave a president absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions performed as part of his official duties and Smith dismissed the case after Trump was reelected, Today's hearing seems to have been an appeal to either Trump or the MAGA base, Sen Eric Schmitt presented a conspiracy theory which was based on incorrect information, The right wing media ran with his story nonetheless, Smith’s opening statement at the hearing focused on his commitment to facts and the rule of law and emphasized that his actions were based on evidence, He expressed his belief that the rule of law faces extraordinary challenges but also his confidence that the rule of law will endure despite the pressures being put upon it.
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September 28, 2026
Trump posted a video ad on television with the words “Paid for by the U.S. Government,”  The backlash was immediate, Social media users and lawyers alike asked why the US government was paying for a poilitical ad, The government paying for Trump’s vanity ads while at the same time announcing it is refusing to spend money on programs intended to help people was yet another headache for Republicans hoping to retain control of Congress after the midterm elections, Trump’s job approval numbers are collapsing, falling most sharply among voters who identify themselves as Republicans, Trump’s tariffs are eroding his support in the agricultural areas that used to be the backbone of his support, Republicans in battleground states are on the defense as voters turn against ICE agents conducting raids in their states, The skyrocketing price of diesel is pushing Republican candidates to call for an end to the war in Iran, Certain candidates are in the news for all the wrong reasons: Susan Collins in Maine because her campaign accepted an illegal contribution, Bo French in Texas for his inflammatory and racist posts, and Roger Marshall in Kansas for suing his patients for outstanding bills, many of them for as little as $101, Markwayne Mullins and Pete Hegseth are increasingly unpopular, And mentions of Trump’s name have dropped nearly 70% since before the 2024 election. 
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September 26, 2026
Last night, the White House would not allow reporters from CNN on Air Force One as part of the press pool, With bad news plaguing the administration, Trump has reasons for wanting to control the press, A key prosecutor in the case of the Broadview Six resigned, in a scathing letter, The cases against the Broadview Six fell apart because of prosecutorial misconduct, The term of Andrew Boutros, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois has been problematic, Whistleblowers who worked at the Kennedy Center claim that $1.4 million that had been allocated to make repairs to the building’s roof was redirected to painting the building’s columns, While 69% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war in Iran, Trump has told aides that he is planning to resume bombing Iran after the midterms, Trump told heads of state at the UN that his administration is seeking a “fundamental change” in the government of Cuba, Marco Rubio told reporters that Trump has invited Vladimir Putin to the meeting of the G20 in December, but 14 senators have urged Trump to rescind the invitation, The US and Russia worked together to weaken a UN plan to regulate AI weapons, The administration is refusing to spend $810 million approved by Congress for research, but the Constitution places the power of the purse in Congress and such “pocket rescissions” are illegal, Director of OMB, Russell Vought, claims otherwise, And while opposition to his moves continues to grow, Trump is considering hosting a Major League Baseball game at a national park.
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September 25, 2026
September 25 is Dolly Parton Day and also National Lobster Day, National Lobster Day honors the cultural and economic history of the lobster industry, Lobsters have been vital to Maine’s coastal communities, but were once scorned as poor man’s food, It was fish that were central to the English settlement of North America, Scholars have called the discovery of fish in the Atlantic and the trade it sparked, the “Fish Revolution,” Fishing meant big money and British fishermen fished the Grand Banks and had moved into the Gulf of Maine by 1600, European fishermen brought diseases for which the Indigenous populations had no immunities and tribes were wiped out, The fish trade was so important to New Englanders that access to fishing grounds was written into the third article of the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War.
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