HOW LOW CAN HE GO: President Trump is the most unpopular President since polling began in 1940, second only to Richard Nixon, according to the latest numbers.

  Trump’s overall job approval is 37 percent and disapproval is 60 percent, according the latest polls. Among the more respected polls, his approval rating has ranged from 30 to 40 percent.

  A recent CNN poll says 74 percent of Americans — including about 43 percent of Republicans — said the war in Iran had not been worth the cost in expense or American casualties.

   Political commentators note that numbers like this would cause panic and a change of direction for any other administration, but not for Trump who, if he doesn’t like rain simply denies that it’s raining. Earlier this year after the publication of dismal poll numbers Trump posted, “MY REAL POLL NUMBERS ARE THE HIGHEST THEY HAVE EVER BEEN.”

THE WAR ROOM: President Trump said he called off major attacks on Iran Saturday because there has been progress on the “perimeters of a deal” that would include “the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran’s nuclear threat.”

  We assume the word sought by the man who aces his cognitive tests is “parameters.”

  Trump said he backed off at the request of Iran and other Middle East Countries. Iran said today that no talks are planned.

  The President also blustered that, “The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II.” He has made draconian threats before and failed to follow through. Trump is stymied in his threats to destroy Iranian power and water facilities because the Gulf states tell him Iran would respond in kind to neighboring countries.

  The war has interrupted oil flow through the Persian Gulf, caused turmoil in the world economy, and threatened to spread into a wider conflict. In a column about the new movie “The Odyssey” comparing Trump to the wandering and destructive Greek hero Odysseus, The NY Times’s Ezra Klein writes that, “The world now looks at America and sees us as the barbarians: the country obliterating the global order, the country that takes what it wants and demands tribute from those who cannot resist.”

ON REFELCTION: The President is in a snit because the Justice Department determined that the peeling bottom coating in the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool was the result of botched work, not vandals.

  Although the pool was examined by an FBI forensic team and the chief prosecutor said she was misled by the Interior Department, Trump posted over the weekend that, “I disagree 100% with Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, on the Reflecting Pool,” and  “To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM, that included the grass, which had a big 86 47 emblazoned in giant letters on it, and other elements of the surrounding area.” 

BIG BURN: Raging fires outside Spokane have levelled homes and other buildings in the largest natural disaster in Spokane County history. More than 5,000 ACRES have burned and firefighters have achieved no containment.

INFINITE SCROLL: 

— Attempting to save his appointment as attorney general, Todd Blanche confirmed in writing that he will kill the element of President Trump’s legal settlement with the IRS that would create a $1.8 billion compensation fund for people who believe they were victims of political prosecution by the Biden Justice Department. Lame duck Republican senators John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina had made killing the fund a condition of granting their vote for Blanche.

— At least seven states have reported cyberattacks that interrupted their water or wastewater operations this week in attacks that are suspected to have come from Iran. The attacks have hit computers commonly used to monitor and adjust water quality, including chemical-treatment levels, and water pressure. 

THE OBIT PAGE: Vincent Pastore, the actor who played the traitorous mobster “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero who met his fate in the second season of the HBO series “The Sopranos,” was found dead at his home in the Bronx. He was 80.

  A former nightclub owner with an imposing physicality who had a successful career in television and movies playing mob characters, Pastore created a character for “The Sopranos” that was remembered long after he was killed out of the series that had six seasons and 86 episodes.

  “Big Pussy,” a member of Tony Sopranos inner circle, was also an FBI informant. The Soprano crew literally took him out to sea. David Chase, the creator of “The Sopranos,” said, “Nobody wanted him to go because Vinny brought true nobility to his role.” 

THE SPIN RACK:  Three people were killed and seven others wounded by a gunman Saturday at an In-N-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho. The shooter, who killed himself, was confronted by an off-duty state trooper and a private citizen who returned fire. — Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno broke his silence and said his former son-in-law, Rep. Max Miller, used to abuse Moreno’s daughter and should not be re-elected to Congress. Emily Moreno has accused Miller of abusing her and their 2-year-old daughter. Sen. Moreno wrote on Twitter/X that, “If there are any basic standards of character required to hold elected office, Max Miller fails them.” Miller denies it. —  The Washington Post reports that “rogue” police officers have been caught using the license plate reading system Flock and other similar systems used by law enforcement to track spouses, ex-spouses, girlfriends, and even women they would just like to meet. At least 50 law enforcement officers have been charged with misusing the systems.

BELOW THE FOLD: Researchers at a UCLA-affiliated marmot research lab launched an OnlyFans account for posting videos of marmots to help generate funding for their work, replacing federal cuts. They call it “OnlyMarms” and for those interested, the marmots are all naked.

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