Allow me to preface this column with a word of personal advice to all the armed citizens among my readers.

Pay attention: if someone starts shooting at you, it’s dangerous to shoot back because you might provoke them to continue shooting at you.

I’ve been inspired to offer this word of caution by reactions to the drone strike that just canceled General Qassem Suleimani birth certificate. On the one hand we read that “Suleimani was a ruthless and cynical fomenter of lethal violence against western interests, and played a part in mass killings of civilians at the height of Syria’s civil war.” (The Guardian). More: “As leader of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and puppet-master of militias and terrorist groups across the Middle East, he had the blood of hundreds of thousands on his hands: Syrians, Iraqis, Yemenis, Lebanese, Palestinians, Israelis, Americans and fellow-Iranians, among others.” (Bobby Ghosh, Bloomberg Opinion.) And More: “Soleimani was a murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of Americans.” (Elizabeth Warren, tweeting). Still more: “Soleimani was an enemy of the United States. That’s not a question.” (Chris Murphy). And also: “Soleimani has the deaths of hundreds of Americans on his hands.” (Heather Hurlburt, Intelligencer. Finally: “Suleimani died in just the kind of covert operation that he orchestrated against the United States so often, over so many years, with such deadly success.” (Robin Wright, New Yorker).

As this sampling discloses we have a more or less comprehensive consensus that Americans have no reason the regret the cancellation of Q. Suleimani birth certificate and serious reasons to welcome it. But there are problems. Tucker Carlson stands out for his reservations because of his conservative affiliations. He can’t bring himself to attack Trump directly so his scorn is directed against Washington – not George Washington, but the mythical beast that snorts and growls and paws the ground around the White House. For some reason he has personified his fury with John Bolton, a national security advisor Trump recently dismissed. In Tucker’s view Bolton is the evil man we should fear, not Mr. QudsForce.

Hollywoods’ leading foreign policy experts seem to agree that Suleimani is mean but the insist that the evilest man in this drama resides in the White House. Actress Rose McGowan tweeted that even though Soleimani wasn’t nice, that didn’t excuse Trump’s airstrike. ”Of course,” she tweeted, “#Soleimani was an evil evil man who did evil evil things. But that at this moment is not the final point.”

“I loathe the Clintons. I hate Trump.” she went on, “I will not vote Republican, but I cannot vote Democrat,’ she tweeted. ‘I’d rather know what evil I’m getting, so I’ll go Republican. This is about WWIII, so none of that s**t matters anyway. #TeamStayAlive #RoseArmy.’ She later clarified with a tweet that read: ‘I will never vote Republican. I want the Democrats to win because we are less likely to die. I am a conscientious objector to the USA, it’s policies, lies, corruption, nationalism, racism, and deep misogyny. It is our right and duty as citizens to dissent.”

Will and Grace star Debra Messing also shared a tweet in which she called Trump a ‘national security threat.’ Actress Alyssa Milano sneered at him as a hypocrite. Will and Grace star Debra Messing called Trump a ‘national security threat.’ Actor Cusack, who knows a lot of things, told the public that “Trump in full fascist 101 mode-,steal and lie – until there’s nothing left and start a war – He’s so idiotic he doesn’t know he just attacked Iran And that’s not like anywhere else.’

Kathy Griffin, who may know more things than Cusack declared that the commander-in-chief had violated several treaties. Actress Rosanna Arquette compared Trump to Hitler. Former talk show host Rosie O’Donnell referred to Trump as a traitor. “’Donald Trump has put every American, all over the world, in grave danger by this incredibly ignorant and thoughtless act of war,’ she wrote. ‘Solemani [sic] deserved to die. That doesn’t mean we can violate the Geneva Convention. Do you really think he was an immediate threat?’

There’s nothing novel or shocking or informative about this celebrity babble. It’s only interesting because it provokes no corrections or objections among educated and articulate left-lurchers.

Sen. Warren (D-Mass.) Reacted in a slightly more restrained and nuanced style than the excitable Hollywood types. “Soleimani was a murderer, responsible for the deaths of thousands, including hundreds of Americans, she said,” 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.” This response did not satisfy the far-far-far left tweety-troops. “Why is it necessary to parrot Trump’s rationale for the assassination?” as one critic objected. “We’re on the verge of a major war. This weak *hit that acquiesces to Trump doesn’t help at all and it would’ve been much better if you had said nothing at all.”

Bernie Sanders did a better job. “Trump’s dangerous escalation,” he tweeted, “brings us closer to another disastrous war in the Middle East that could cost countless lives and trillions more dollars.” Seeing the danger of appearing to be excessively moderate, Warren produced a sharper, leftier tweet: “We’re on the brink of yet another war in the Middle East – one that would be devastating in terms of lives lost and resources wasted. We’re not here by accident. We’re here because a reckless president, his allies, and his administration have spent years pushing us here.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will enhance the fears of the cringing Americans by vows of vengeance. “With his departure and with God’s power,” he promised “his work and path will not cease, and severe revenge awaits those criminals who have tainted their filthy hands with his blood and the blood of the other martyrs … .”

John Frary of Farmington, the GOP candidate for U.S. Congress in 2008, is a retired history professor, an emeritus Board Member of Maine Taxpayers United, a Maine Citizen’s Coalition Board member, and publisher of FraryHomeCompanion.com. He can be reached at jfrary8070