Last Saturday, I wrote a column that contrasted today's events with the climate of 1975 when we all saw a movie named "Jaws." I thought it was pretty good. Well, all right, it was OK.

Then late Saturday, American air power mounted a massive attack on the nuclear bases in Iran. And it was time to scrap that column.

That is the way it is in the news business. Suddenly, the latest big thing makes the last big thing old news. Can anyone remember the ruthless details of the back and forth between the White House and its former DOGE honcho, Elon Musk? Nope, that is yesterday’s news. When news breaks, reporters and editors scramble.

Now, dear reader, don’t expect me to offer some half-brained analysis of the Iran strike. The dust is still settling over the trio of Iranian sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan after American B-2 flying wing bombers dropped a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on underground labs and submarines launched cruise missiles at others. No one knows the exact damages they inflicted upon the sites, except that it was a lot.

Will it be enough to stop Iran's nuclear bomb production? The president and his team jumped on the Sunday TV chat shows to trumpet their success at eliminating the Iran nuclear bomb programs. The president said that is the end, if the Iranian leaders come to the table to make a deal. If not, well, he said, there is more to come.

Some Republicans and their Democrat colleagues raised constitutional questions about the president's authority to make war without Congressional approval. Those questions will be sorted out later, if at all.

Before the attack, you saw some GOP/MAGA voices, including the leaders of the Proud Boys, urging POTUS to resist calls to bomb Iran. Will they continue to oppose him, now that he has pulled the trigger? I doubt it. My guess is they will all fall in line to back him.

Did we start a war? Whatever you call it, the fact is that the president has punched Iran in the nose. The next question is what will Iran and its allies do about it. Will they kow-tow to Uncle Sam and his friends in Israel? I seem to remember that the 86-year-old Iranian religious and secular leader praised the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel that started the latest round of Middle Eastern conflicts.

What can Iran do? My guess is that they are mad as heck and the answer is, a lot. They can fight back by attacking the region's American military bases. They could mine the Straits of Hormuz where some 20% of the world’s oil supply must pass to get to market. Maybe they could buy or borrow a nuke from North Korea. But one Iran expert said on a chat show that attacking the U.S. is akin to a suicide bomber. You can attack, but it does not end well for the attacker.

In any sense, we can all hope this is the end of the story. We can hope that all is well that ends well. But the answer to that will not be found in snarky internet political posts trying to shame or shade the other side. This is serious stuff.

The president was right when he said America is tired of fighting forever wars in foreign lands. On our utility poles, we can see the photos of our friends, neighbors and summer folk who served in World War II. There are other photos of others who served in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait. These veterans are true patriots who answered the nation’s call to serve. I bet none of them want us to be involved in another questionable war.

Saturday night, the president struck a blow at the Iranian nuke program. He says he hopes that is the end of the whole mess and he can return to his original plan for America and the world. I hope he is right.

But I have lived through a war and read a ton of history that makes me recall the words of boxer Mike Tyson: “Everyone has a plan til they get punched in the mouth.”

I hope the man sitting behind the Resolute desk has a Plan B and C. He, and we, may need them. I hope he and his team of loyalists are playing chess and not Russian roulette.