Greetings! Meh. That was my reaction to Donald Trump’s primetime pitch for his war with Iran.  It was a rehash of conflicting statements on the conflict's goals and when it’s going to end, sprinkled with his usual boasts and empty promises. Even worse, he broke into prime time TV with his 19-minute sales speech....Dept. of Sticks & Stones: Looks like Bruce Springsteen’s anti-Trump onstage diatribes during the Minneapolis kickoff of his “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour are getting to the prickly POTUS. This morning, Trump posted on Truth Social that Springsteen looks like “a dried up prune who has suffered greatly from the work of a really bad plastic surgeon.” Hollywood in Toto joins The Boss bashing, although the pub’s publisher Christian Toto attacks Springsteen’s politics, not his appearance. “He spent the last year criticizing President Donald Trump from various concert stages. His current tour is like ‘No Kings’ central, a chance to bloviate on a nightly basis,” writes Toto. “If you’d rather hear him just sing, better luck next tour. Except at 76, how many tours does The Boss still have in him?”....Watch your back, Gavin Newsom: The Daily Signal has opened a California bureau and assigned three reporters and an editor to keep an eye on the Golden State Governor with presidential ambitions. The Daily Signal also has bureaus in Virginia and Ohio...Belated Happy Birthday: Apple turned 50 yesterday. I rank Apple’s iPhone as the most significant technological achievement in the last  half century. The Computer History Museum has an excellent online recap of Apple’s enormous contributions including the sleek MacBook laptop where my fingers dance across the keyboard every morning happily churning out this newsletter....If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard

Greetings! Wednesday Watch: Trump addresses the nation tonight at 9 ET about his excursion in Iran...Somehow, the vibe around Kristi Noem got weirder. Noem, as you may recall, is the former wacko head of the Dept. of Homeland Security who, among her many sins, favored wearing tight clothes while peacocking in front of helpless, incarcerated young men of color. It always struck me as sadistic posturing. Her husband was outed yesterday by The Daily Mail as a cross dresser fond of posting images of himself as a “busty bimbo.” Noem’s marriage had already hit the rocks. Her alleged romantic partner is Trump advisor and DHS subordinate Corey Lewandowski. Worth noting: I did not see any mentions in the right-wing press about Noem’s husband this morning... Book news: J.D. Vance has a new book coming out June 16.  Communion is described as a spiritual book about how Vance regained his faith. Worth noting: Vance’s mega-best-seller, Hillbilly Elegy was published a  decade ago on June 2016 and launched his national profile. As much as I don’t like Vance as Veep, I’m a big fan of the book (AP)... Gag alert: Trump has released a 100-second video of an artist’s rendering of his proposed Trump Presidential Library, situated in Miami.  The video shows many scenes of the proposed library including a 747 airplane in the lobby, a gift to Trump from the government of Qatar. Worth noting: I did not see a single image of a book in the video of the library. Also worth noting: The U.S. flag depicted at the 28-second mark in the video has 56 stars. The United States flag that I salute has 50 stars, one for each state in the union...If you keep reading, I’ll keep Righting. Howard