Locked and Loaded:President Trump is moving toward blaming Iran for the attacks that crippled Saudi Arabian oil production.  “It’s looking that way,” he said. “That’s being checked out right now.” 

  Trump boasted of the ferocity of American military power but also said he doesn’t want to jump to use it against Iran. “I know they want to make a deal,” he said. “At some point it will work out.”

  The devices used in the oil attacks have variously been described as “drones,” “rockets,” and just plain “weapons,” but Saudi Arabia says whatever it was is Iranian.

  Houthi rebels in Yemen, who’ve been the target of a Saudi bombing campaign, claim they were responsible but everyone else says there’s’ no evidence the attacks came from Yemen. Nevertheless, Iran is a close ally of the Houthi.

  If the Saudis decide Iran is responsible, they may have to be restrained by the US. Turki al-Hamad, a prominent Saudi political analyst and novelist, told The NY Times, “What is required is nothing more than the destruction of Iran’s oil installations, and if there is a capacity, nuclear facilities and military bases as well.” 

  It’s impossible to get a hint of what Trump will do because he says things and then denies he said them. Trump has declared — it’s on video — that he will talk to the Iranians with no pre-conditions. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has confirmed that. But now Trump says that’s a product of “the fake news.”

  Trump also said the US is “locked and loaded,” a suggestion that he’s ready to hit whoever is responsible for the attacks in Saudi Arabia. But now the White House is trying to wiggle out of that. Vice President Mike Pence’s spokesman Marc Short said, “I think that ‘locked and loaded’ is a broad term and talks about the realities that we’re all far safer and more secure domestically from energy independence.”

  No, that is not at all what it means. It has nothing to do with energy independence. “Locked and loaded” is a term going all the way back to flintlocks that means your rifle is ready to fire and kill someone. 

No Time for Errors: The New York Times published a correction to its story based on a book about Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh noting that a woman who may have been sexually abused by Kavanaugh at a Yale party doesn’t remember the incident. Witnesses evidently do remember and the book, The Education of Brett Kavanaugh written by two Times reporters, acknowledges that the woman didn’t want to talk. That left a huge hole for President Trump to tweet through saying, “I call for the Resignation of everybody at The New York Times involved in the Kavanaugh SMEAR story, and while you’re at it, the Russian Witch Hunt Hoax, which is just as phony!”

The Obit Page:Broadway actress and singer Phyliss Newman has died at age 86.

 Newman won a Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Musical in 1962 for her portrayal of Martha Vail in the musical Subways Are For Sleeping, and received a Tony nomination for her part in Neil Simon’s 1986 Broadway Bound.  She was also in the Broadway productions of The Apple Tree, On the Town, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, and Awake and Sing. 

  Newman had roles in many movies and television shows, but she probably became familiar to most Americans at the time appearing onthe Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carsonshows.

The News Roundup: Twenty-six people were killed today in northern Afghanistan by a suicide bomber at a rally for President Ashraf Ghani. The president was not injured. — NBC’sSaturday Night Live has fired its new cast member Shane Gillis after the revelation that he made racist jokes about Asians. — President Trump said his administration has reached a tentative trade agreement that will give American exporters better access to Japanese markets. It’s a narrow agreement involving mostly beef and chicken that does not eliminate Trump’s threat of high tariffs on cars. — Former Trump aide Corey Lewandowski has been cleared to testify before a House committee investigating potential obstruction of justice, but the White House has blocked two others from appearing. — A newly constructed building for people with disabilities in Farmington, Maine was obliterated by a gas explosion. A fire captain was killed. — In California, a seventh person has been reported to have died as a result of vaping-related illness.

How Far They Fall:Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who used to dance around the facts, made his debut on Dancing With the Stars last night in tight white pants and a ruffly lime green flamenco dancer’s shirt. The outfit matched his taste in suits.

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