Imminent: about to happen, impending, at hand, close, near, approaching, fast approaching, coming, forthcoming, on the way, about to happen, upon us

Wow. We keep descending into greater depths of absurdity. Mike Turner, on “Face the Nation,” urged listeners to step away from a truth-based reality and join with him in an alternative reality — Trump world — where the truth is whatever the leader declares it to be.

In his February 28 speech initiating this war, President Trump said, “Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”

The word “imminent” has an accepted meaning and Margaret Brennan’s first question to Congressman Turner was: “Were you informed of a specific and imminent threat to the United States?”

What proceeded in the interview was sad, and alarming. Sad to see an intelligent, mature man, at this point in his life,  demeaning himself so. Alarming, because more and more it is clear that Trump is establishing authoritarian control — demonstrated here by having a mature congressman from Ohio act ridiculous by defending the un-defendable.

The truthful answer to Margaret’s question would have been: No— there was no specific or imminent threat — not if “imminent” means “about to happen.”

Turner’s answer required an alternative definition. He said,

“Imminent, here, really is that the Iranian regime continues to be a sponsor of terrorism and an amassing of missiles and inventory where they have declared themselves, an enemy of the United States and of our allies.”

Turner, in this interview, criticized Obama and the “Democrat side” for having an attitude that “imminent” is “where people have their hand almost on the button with something that has been completely assembled.” He praised Trump: “This administration has declared that they had information, an imminent aspect of that — that um Iran was a threat both to us and to um to Israel, our our ally, and had the opportunity to take an action to eliminate that threat. That’s important. We don’t have wait. We don’t have to wait.”

He is saying that unlike the Democrats, who would wait to attack Iran, until an attack might be justified, Trump doesn’t have to wait. He can do whatever he wants to do and can change the meaning of words as needed

“Imminent,” here, is defined by Turner as anything that is a threat — even if it is a threat only in the long-term. In his State of the Union address, Trump claimed the Iranians were a threat because they were “working on missiles that will soon reach the United States.” What is “soon”? The best guess is the Iranians would need almost ten years — to 2035.

Margaret Brennan: Which threat?

Mike Turner: We don’t have to wait

Margaret. Brennan: The president said the nuclear threat was obliterated and none of the nuclear sites …

Mike Turner: (speaking over) No no he said that at those sites that we had taken action to eliminate, the nuclear enrichment sites, that we had obliterated those sites. But they had continued to amass missile technology and missile inventory. They had continued, as has had been declared, to um pursue um their intention of nuclear uh enrichment. They had continued …

Margaret Brennan: Rubio said they weren’t enriching.

Mike Turner: They had continued their intention to pursue nuclear enrichment. They had had said and declared that they were going to do that. Their programs had not been completely abolished and their intention had not been abolished.

Again, WOW. Turner, by sanctioning Trumps’ unconstitutional attack, is stooping to new levels of absurdity. He admits that the nuclear program was obliterated and that they had stopped enriching, but,  he maintains, regardless, America was justified in attacking Iran because we don’t like Iran’s intentions — “their intention had not been abolished.” This sounds like a comedy routine. Mike Turner must realize that this makes no sense.

Turner has no objection to Trump starting a war without congressional approval.
He vigorously defends, to the point of absurdity, the spending of tons of money to attack a sovereign nation, an attack he knows breaks international law, killing hundreds and probably thousands. What he says makes no sense.

Here are the most significant words in Trump’s February 28 address:

This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces. I built and rebuilt our military in my first administration, and there is no military on earth even close to its power, strength or sophistication

Heaven help us. What have we done? How could we have given such power to this man? How could congress — How could Mike Turner — be so irresponsible and fail so miserably to uphold and defend the constitution?

I’ve got to think that if we could look deep enough and understand with clarity what is actually motivating this attack on Iran, we’d find the true motive driving Trump to make this attack is what always drives Trump — his lust for personal wealth.  $4 billion in the first year is a pretty good start.  It’s a good bet that there is some angle in pushing this war of choice where, somehow, Trump will gain $ Billions. This government is more and more like a mafia family. Lots of pay-offs. Turner seems to be trying awfully hard to please his boss.

Turner prepared for this interview — and this is what he came up with. He followed the rule for a standard Republican opening — start by blaming or trashing the Democrats, however nonsensical. He then demonstrated that, like so many others, he was happy to enter an alternative world, Trump world,  — where the truth is whatever the leader declares it to be, where everyone knows the party line, and where America is so great, we can do what we want. International law does not apply to us.

This interview adds to the already strong evidence that Ohio’s tenth congressional district badly needs new representation in the US House.

 

Face The Nation

Margaret Brennan We’re joined now by Ohio Republican Congressman Mike Turner. Uh,Congressman, you are on the Armed Services Committee. I know you’ve been in contact with the administration to understand what is going on. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, was briefed by Secretary Rubio, and he is calling this, Warner is, a war of choice. He said there was no evidence of imminent harm to Americans or an imminent threat to our country. Were you informed of a specific and imminent threat to the United States?

Mike Turner: Well, this issue of of imminent is really this fallacy of the really that comes from the Obama administration’s nuclear weapons, nuclear enrichment negotiations where the Obama administration and the JCPOA set up this fallacy that we were just going to set up um you know cameras and watch Iran do this nuclear enrichment until they got all the way to a nuclear weapon and then they were going to kick to the next administration whether or not there was going to be a military conflict which is what we’ve come down to

Margaret Brennan: It was a detailed international accord with stages there were parts were to sunset um …but…

Mike Turner: (interrupting) But this this concept of imminent I mean as we just saw

Margaret Brennan: But That’s definitely apart from the from meaning of imminent as a threat to justify US military

Mike Turner: No but it’s not because it goes to really this, this inherent policy that we see — that has you know, a thread that’s come through the Democrat side, that we still see from the Democratic Obama administration’s policies of what is imminent. Imminent, here, really is that the um Iranian regime continues to be a a sponsor of uh terrorism and an amassing of um missiles and inventory uh where they have declared themselves, an enemy of the United States and of our allies.

Margaret Brennan: Yes.

Mike Turner: where they’ve committed themselves to nuclear enrichment and refused to declare themselves as not pursuing a nuclear weapon

Margaret Brennan: They said they were not

Mike Turner: Well actually they have they have not

Margaret Brennan: they have.. ( garbled )

Mike Turner: we have seen even just last year we had the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency saying that they were just mere months away from being able to have several nuclear warheads.

Margaret Brennan: But they didn’t have enough material …

Mike Turner: So this — this imminent issue this imminent this imminent issue is one where people want to to have them you know be you know with their hand almost on the button to to something that has been completely assembled. In this instance, the administration has declared that they had information, an imminent aspect of that — that um Iran was a threat both to us and to um to Israel, our our ally, and had the opportunity to take an action to eliminate that threat.That’s important. We don’t have wait. We con’t have to wait …

Margaret Brennan: Which threat?

Mike Turner: We don’t have to wait

Margaret Brennan: The president said the nuclear threat was obliterated and none of the nuclear sites …

Mike Turner: (speaking over) No no he said that at those sites that we had taken action to eliminate, where their nuclear enrichment sites, that we had obliterated those sites. But they had continued to amass missile technology and missile inventory. They had continued, as has had been declared, to um pursue um their intention of nuclear uh enrichment. They had continued …

Margaret Brennan: Rubio said they weren’t enriching.

Mike Turner: They had continued their intention to pursue nuclear enrichment. They had had said and declared that they were going to do that. Their programs had not been completely abolished and their intention had not been abolished.
They remained a threat and the fact that we had the ability um to to intervene that imminence is incredibly important. This this this standard of what is imminent.

Margaret Brennan: Well, people want to know why. Why now?
That’s that’s why I’m asking

Mike Turner: Because the opportunity is there to eliminate an imminent threat that is a imminent threat to the United States and our operations and and in the area and our ally.

….

Margaret Brennan: Um, can I ask you in that targeting of the Supreme Leader uh that secret thatSenator Cotton talked about, did the US carry out that strike?

Mike Turner: Well,I think this is very important. Um, the what’s what’s very clear here and and I think this is important to discuss. You know, the president of the United States indicated that we were targeting uh the military, military infrastructure um and and not the regime and not regime change. And yesterday when I had the opportunity to talk to uh Secretary Rubio, you know, I asked that question and he was very clear in the answer that we did not um target um uh Khamenei and um the and we were not targeting um the uh the leadership uh in Iran. Uh so the the aspect of that the United States was not undertaking regime change is very important. Our aspect of what the president of the United States has undertaken was this imminent threat that he described in his announcement and and that um I think um his response and his statement to the United States is is an important aspect.

Margaret Brennan: But you just to be clear, you’re not saying that Israel carried out that strike without the US permission, green-lighting, buy in.

Mike Turner: you know, the fact that that um Khamenei has been a murderous authoritarian who has killed an unbelievable number of uh Israelis, uh they have an absolutely uh I think a strong basis in which to to do so. I think it certainly shows that if you’re a murderous authoritarian and you are and you um that you you’re at risk and you it’s better to be a friend of the United States than a murderous authoritarian. You know, it’s also interesting that that Putin just said that he lost dictator that he lost a friend in in um in losing Khamenei. And uh we we certainly didn’t see Khamenei as a friend.

Margaret Brennan: We will leave it there. Congressman Turner, we’ll be back in a moment with more Face the Nation.