I read Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters from an American" every morning. Her May 25th post has been haunting me a bit. I highly recommend reading this entire post to get the full story.
In it, she goes into some detail about Trump's weekend negotiations over the Iran situation - the WAR. He posted that an agreement had been "largely negotiated". Iran posted that that wasn't true. I had to sit with this paragraph for some time -
But Iran’s state media immediately posted that Trump’s claim that the strait would reopen as it was before the war was “not true,” adding that “it should be noted that American officials have acknowledged in multiple messages to Iran that Trump’s tweets are primarily for promotional purposes and media consumption within the United States, and they have recommended that no attention be paid to these statements.”
Meanwhile a journalist from Al-Jazeera posted some details from the proposed deal and noted “This would be a total U.S. surrender.”
Before Trump started this whole mess, the US had agreed to a very carefully negotiated agreement which we will likely not be able to get to again for some time. They no longer trust us to honor our agreements.
As disturbing as that is, there is something else from the post that keeps nagging at me.
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| Roger Wicker |
Roger Wicker, a Republican senator from Mississippi and Chair of the Armed Services Committee, condemned the supposed deal. Here's another snippet from HCR's post -
He [Wicker] told reporters it “would be a disaster. Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught.” Wicker urged Trump to “allow America’s skilled armed forces to finish the destruction of Iran’s conventional military capabilities and reopen the strait. Further pursuit of an agreement with Iran’s Islamist regime risks a perception of weakness. We must finish what we started. It is past time for action.”
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| Roger Wicker and his wife, Gayle |
Roger Wicker was born July 5, 1951. He was a former Air Force officer, so he's no stranger to the military. He was married in 1975. He has 3 children - Margaret, Caroline, and McDaniel and 9 grandchildren. I wonder if any of them would be involved in the fight with Iran. He is supposedly quite religious, but doesn't seem to have much empathy when it comes to how he votes.
I looked up his net worth and the answers varied widely. One source said he was one of the richest politicians with a net worth of around 5 million in 1923. In the area where it lists how he made his money, it said "politician". That seems about right. Another source said he was worth around 10 million in 2025. That source also said he is a co-owner of a minor league baseball team, the Mississippi Braves and serves on the board of directors for several companies, including Trustmark Corporation and Sanderson Farms. Yet another source said he claims his liabilities exceed his assets.
He's one of the larger recipients of donations from Israel lobbies according to Track AIPAC. This page on Open Secrets provides a bit more detail about some of his donors. His cash on hand seems quite large. This page on Who Bought My Rep is quite enlightening as well. The CONNECT THE DOTS section was particularly interesting. It connects Industry donations to votes on related bills.
Wicker voted against releasing the Epstein files. His constituents were apparently not happy with that. This article from Mississippi Free Press talks a bit about that.
This article on Medium might have been the most "interesting" of all - The Wicker War Machine: How a Mississippi Senator Built an Empire on War and Betrayed His Own Veterans. I didn't have time to find multiple sources on ALL the information in this article, but I fact checked several claims and they check out. I should be shocked or surprised or something, but I've become far too jaded. These days I'm only shocked when a politician turns out to be decent.
WHO TO CONTACT
Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) 425 Russell S.O.B.Washington, DC 20510202-224-6253
Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS)
425 Russell S.O.B.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-6253
You might also want to contact others on the Armed Services Committees.