Ashley Elizabeth Miller

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News reports tell us: Iran and Israel’s ceasefire deal is on shaky standing a day after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed peace in the region.

But is ceasefire the right word, considering Israel struck Iran first and has killed some 600 people? Might be a question for another day. For our purposes — let’s turn our eyes to Mr. Trump.

Should we be surprised the man who promised to end wars in Ukraine and Gaza overnight went off and started a new one?

America hit Iran with 30,000-pound bombs — or as cable news calls them, “bunker-busting bombs” — over the weekend. Trump tried to be sneaky pursuing military action, telling the world it would take him two weeks to decide if the U.S. would strike.

Before Congress was informed of intelligence on Iran or voted to approve military action in the Middle East, Trump went ahead and authorized a highly tactical operation using warplanes originating from Missouri (they’re the only ones able to carry such heavy bombs).

AOC has called for an impeachment hearing over Trump’s military action in Iran — which, as I laid out, was done without congressional approval. But this is a highly unlikely scenario in a Republican-controlled Congress.

One Republican is standing up to the oppressive aging overlord on the right, and that man is Thomas Massie, a congressman from Kentucky, who — after condemning the U.S. strikes against Iran over the weekend — was chastised by Trump on social media, in posts warning that Massie would be ousted in the next election by a yet-to-be-named contender of Trump’s choosing.

It’s a classic move by an authoritarian — trying to scare the dissenter straight. But it will not work on Massie. He has what JFK would call courage — standing firm on his principles, above any party affiliation but the compass in his heart.

In response to Trump’s threats online, Massie coolly reacted by saying Trump had declared so much war on him that it, too, would require an act of Congress. Now that’s what I call a burn.

Massie is by no means a left-leaning Republican. He is, however, a man set on defending the Constitution and his constituents at every turn, especially when it comes to farmers and gun owners. But he is vehemently against America’s involvement in foreign wars — which is where he’s running into friction with the big, bad, orange man.

Is that political slander? Big, bad, orange man? I mean it as a compliment, Trump, if you’re listening.