The new Iranian hostage crisis

On the surface, Donald Trump and Jimmy Carter wouldn't seem to have a great deal in common, at all. Trump is a billionaire showman, Carter was a farmer and engineer. Of course both became President, but, otherwuse, rather different types indeed. But, they have come to have something significant in common. They both have gotten on the wrong side of the Iranians, and, if there is one thing the last half century has taught us, it's that getting on the wrong side of the Iranians, is a very bad idea, indeed. Look what happened to the Shah, to Jimmy Carter, to Saddam Hussein, to George Bush Junior? They crossed the Iranians, and they were finished, politically, or actually, and existentially. And, it does appear, exactly the same thing is happening again to Donald Trump, and quite possibly, to Benjamin Netanyahu, as well. The Iranian hostage crisis in the late 1970's was a brilliant masterstroke of political theatre that brought down President Jimmy Carter. As it happens, that wasn't such a great idea for the Iranians, since it resulted in the invasion and occupation of much of Iran by Saddam Hussein for years, and the election victory of conservative President Ronald Reagan, in the 1980's. However, even that kind of worked out for Iran, since Reagan brought down their enemy, the Soviet Union, and the defeated Saddam Hussein, all by themselves. Now, Iran has brought about a new hostage crisis, due to Donald Trump's most imprudent repeated attacks on Iran, and murders of their leaders. Iran has, quite literally taken the entire Persian Gulf hostage. As a result, Donald Trump must beg the Israelis to cease their attacks in Lebanon, lest Iran stop talking to him. As a result, Iranian backed Iraqi militias are unifying with the Iraqi government itself, as Iraq pivots towards Iran.