Following that sleazy little Benghazi redux act, President Trump came down like a slaying angel on terrorists across the Middle East, fat comfortable ones who'd always gotten away with what they've always gotten away with, counting on U.S. fear and appeasement to Iran. Ace of Spades has a magnificent list of how many turned into grease spots on the desert floor. In the ruins of the air strikes, the terrorists now know that when Trump said "this is not a warning, it is a threat," it meant their best course of action was to run screaming for the hills, not thumb their noses, posture for the press about being unafraid, and plot another one. The other message they took from the glowing rubble is that the era of Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama is over.

Too bad Democrats don't know that, because Trump's wingspan is wider than they think.

Via Axios, here's the kind of nonsense they're spouting:

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.): "Soleimani was an enemy of the United States. That’s not a question. The question is this — as reports suggest, did America just assassinate, without any congressional authorization, the second most powerful person in Iran, knowingly setting off a potential massive regional war?"

...and...

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.): "Trump Admin owes a full explanation of airstrike reports—all the facts—to Congress&the American people. The present authorizations for use of military force in no way cover starting a possible new war. This step could bring the most consequential military confrontation in decades. My immediate concern is for our brave Americans serving in harm’s way."

Here are a couple more, from Ace:

Soleimani was a murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of Americans. But this reckless move escalates the situation with Iran and increases the likelihood of more deaths and new Middle East conflict. Our priority must be to avoid another costly war. — Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 3, 2020

Trump may have just started a war with no congressional debate. I really hope the worst case scenario doesn’t happen but everything about this situation suggests serious escalation to come. — Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) January 3, 2020

What we see here with these miserable tweets is a Congress (and in the case of Ben Rhodes, a former Obama official) that is upset about how Trump doesn't do things the way Carter and Obama did them. They wanted appeasement. They wanted dialogue. They wanted congressional consultations. They wanted talks. You'd think Trump's moving of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem after all the doom-and-gloom howls would have been a clue to them that Trump plays hardball without their permission. But they're not a particularly serious or creative bunch. All they can see now is that Trump doesn't kowtow to them. Worse still, what have they been focused on as all the monster planning for this operation has been going on? Trump's tweets, especially on the useless impeachment Kabuki, which they run to like cats to a laser pointer.

Some, such as Rep. Ilhan Omar, are even worse, openly cheering the terrorists. The press, too, has its share of same-old blather about "instability."

But for all of them, Trump is a master of surprise. He's been distracting them, and they have been running from Trump tweet to Trump tweet, while, like a whale under the water surface, the monster planning for these coordinated air strikes was going on, Trump fully cognizant and commanding of them. He didn't even tell Congress, of course, not wanting Rep. Adam Schiff to leak the matter to CNN. That's quite a vote of no-confidence in them as they now seethe, stamp their feet, and wag their fingers.

It wasn't just Qassem Soleimani, the mastermind of Iranian terror for decades, or the beast's creepy sidekicks, or that terrorist in Lebanon, who were put out of their misery. Looks as if Trump's domestic enemies are taking a hit, too. The more they talk about their longing for the status quo, the stranger they sound. Iranians and Iraqis, after all, are dancing in the streets in thanksgiving for Trump.

Image credit: Photo illustration by Monica Showalter.