Kicker

Some advice for Trump, the reality TV star, as he ponders whether to start a war with Iran, by way of a writing lesson:

When writing a screenplay, you use a three-act format. One description of this type of narrative structure is as follows.

Act One: You introduce the characters and set the scene. Let’s say there’s a monkey and a tiger in a meadow near a forest. The tiger chases the monkey through the meadow, almost catching him at the end of act one.

Act Two: Lots of action. The monkey barely escapes the tiger through various maneuvers until he is cornered near a very tall tree. By the end of the act, the monkey has climbed up the tree with no visible means of escape as the tiger circles below.

Act Three: Using his wiles, the monkey tricks the tiger into looking away while he scampers down the tree and into the forest. A wild chase ensues with the monkey barely eluding capture again and again. Finally, at the far edge of the forest, the tiger forces the monkey up an impossibly tall tree, one we can’t imagine the monkey ever getting down from. 

Now we’ve reached to the conclusion. You have to resolve this story somehow.

I sometimes use this example with students to make a simple point — you better know how the story will wrap up before you begin to write it.

Cut to Trump. If he is going to bomb Iran, he damn well better know how he will end that war before he starts it.

Otherwise it will turn into another tragic Middle East story that never ends.

***

(Thanks to Bill Berkowitz for quoting me in his article in Daily Kos about the L.A. police crackdown on journalists.)

HEADLINES:

• Israel threatens to kill Iran’s supreme leader after missile strikes (Al Jazeera)

• U.S.-Iran rhetoric escalates as Trump weighs strikes (WP)

• Fear grips Tehran as Israeli bombs fall and communicating grows harder (AP)

• Thousands of people were fleeing Tehran and other major cities, Iranian media reported, as Iran and Israel launched new missile strikes at each other despite President Donald Trump calling for Tehran's unconditional surrender. (Reuters)

• Iran warns U.S. military intervention would bring ‘irreparable damage’ (WP)

• A US strike on Iran could open a ‘Pandora’s box’ in the Middle East, experts warn (CNN)

• A Grudge Against Intelligence (Atlantic)

• The Trump Crackdown on Elected Officials (New Yorker)

• LAPD to Reporters and Photojournalists: Shut Up and Bleed (Daily Kos)

• Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee Ban on Transgender Care for Minors (NYT)

• Fed holds interest rates steady, brushing off Trump’s calls for big cuts (WP)

• House Policy Bill Would Add $3.4 Trillion to Debt, Swamping Economic Gains (NYT)

• The MAGA Coalition Has Turned on Itself (Atlantic)

• Trump says supporters ‘more in love’ with him than ever, as MAGA world splits over Iran (AP)

• Tucker Carlson clashed with GOP senator Ted Cruz after the lawmaker couldn't answer basic facts about Iran, a major issue dividing the MAGA base, with the two eventually shouting over each other in a teaser segment posted on social media. [HuffPost]

• Amazon CEO tells employees that AI will shrink its workforce (WP)

• No One Sure Why Kristi Noem Wearing Firefighter Helmet, Night-Vision Goggles, High Heels, Wet Suit (The Onion)