As Trump Supporters Scramble for Arguments and Become Like the Liberals They Criticized, The Iran War Continues
With distractions from the disaster that is the Iran war starting to emerge, from disclosures of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) to the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship from Argentina to the Canary Islands, American citizens are quietly paying the added tax on their gas that trickles down to the cost of goods at the grocery store and beyond. As one-fifth of the world’s oil in the market is being strangled by Iran’s blockade and the United States’ blockade against a blockade, we prepare for a prolonged conflict that does not appear to have an end in sight. Even if a majority of the people oppose what is happening in the Middle East right now, the ardent supporters of President Donald Trump are out in full force on social media spreading the pro-war rhetoric and giving praise to their dear leader, all the while contradicting their previous stances on the centralization of power and government.
We have experienced a relative period of calm since the ceasefire agreement went into effect and the last article that I wrote about on the Iran war, but we did have a day last month where Trump supporters were bragging about a one-day reopening of the Strait of Hormuz that turned into an empty promise to keep the oil flowing freely (we the “panicans” were wrong, according to the cultists, because the great one forced Iran to open the strait, only to find out the next day that we were right back in the same position that we had been in two days prior). Of course, if we had never started the war in Iran, there would be no need to even try to reopen the straight because it would never have been closed in the first place, but tell that to the war hawks who keep trying to sell us the line that we have been at war with Iran for forty-seven years. Of course, they also tell us that this is a military operation and not a war (in order to justify violating Article I Section 8 of the Constitution), and they conveniently leave out the part where American intervention in Iran in 1953 led directly to the 1979 Islamic Revolution (the coup and installment of a brutal dictator caused discontent that united secularists and religious fanatics alike).
Even after the failed strait reopening campaign, both sides were violating the ceasefire by keeping their respective blockades in place. One such action was the Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS Spruance’s seizure of an Iranian cargo ship (piracy on the open seas) after Iran supposedly fired on American ships to enforce the blockade. Then, Iran claimed that the United States bombed the port city of Bandar Abbas and the nearby island of Qeshm, as well as two oil tankers (one of which was Iranian), and this led to Iran firing at three American naval destroyers (American media and Central Command, or CENTCOM, skipped over the first claim and went straight to the rhetoric that Iran attacked American ships “unprovoked”). After President Trump launched his “Project Freedom” to open the strait that was never closed prior to the hostilities, Iran began shooting at ships passing through, leaving only two successful vessels transiting the waterway before the operation was shut down. Iran also hit oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which had struck Iran’s Lavan Island back in April and has received several Iranian missiles since the war began. Iran maintains that the toll of $2 million holds, and Kuwait and the UAE have reported drones over their airspace, while Qatar has had a ship hit as well.
The war is very much still ongoing, and Secretary of Defense (War) Pete Hegseth would keep up its blockade of a blockade “for as long as it takes,” while President Trump declined Iran’s peace proposal by calling it “totally unacceptable.” This comes as Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were called off from travelling to Pakistan for peace negotiations, and President Trump put out a new proposal that he knew Iran would never accept (dismantling nuclear facilities and shipping and transfer of Iran’s highly enriched uranium to the United States for storing). So, when Iran countered (asking for an end to the blockade and the war and the lifting of economic sanctions, as well as the storing of nuclear materials in a neutral country), it was pretty much guaranteed that nothing productive would come out of it.
Both sides are not actually willing to concede anything that is of value to the other side, and when the president said that the ceasefire was on “life support,” we pretty much already knew that. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of the war, “It’s not over, because there’s still nuclear material – enriched uranium – that has to be taken out of Iran. There’s still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled.” Since we the people allow our politicians and officials to cater to Israel, if Israel says that the war should continue, you know what is going to happen (the United States has lost its sovereignty to a nation roughly the size of New Jersey in both population and area, but luckily Netanyahu wants to “wean” off of welfare checks and tributes from American taxpayers). The strange thing about this logic is that President Trump has bragged that he destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities last June and has further degraded them and the Iranian military, so if that is the case, what are we still fighting over (he must be lying)?
Plus, if Iran was really an imminent threat to American cities, why is Trump declaring a ceasefire and not trying everything in his power to eliminate the Iranian government completely? Instead, he is dragging his feet and pretending to be a peacemaker by putting forth proposals that he knows will never be accepted, all the while making empty threats to destroy the country’s infrastructure and civilization. Even the corporate media is pointing out that the Iran war is depleting the United States’ missile supply, and it will take time to replenish it, while we sit vulnerable to enemy attacks in our homeland because of the stupidity that is the Trump administration’s foreign policy.
Iran appears to not be taking this war very seriously either, as we have seen more Lego rap propaganda videos than we have bombs (“your government is run by pedophiles – they ordered you to die for Israel” is a fun one). Did the people not get the memo that the powers that be are pushing the war for their own agendas and that the leadership on both sides are willingly playing the game knowing that it is just that?
The last part of this is the rhetoric that you hear coming from the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement and the cultists that still worship at the altar of the president. Many of these same people had a problem with President Joe Biden and Democrats exerting and abusing executive power, violating the Constitution, engaging in cancel culture, and using our tax dollars to pay for programs and agendas that we cannot afford; and yet, Trump supporters are doing all of those things now that they have power. As is human nature, when you approach them about the hypocrisy, they get defensive and either call you names or shut down the conversation, and they do not have the critical thinking skills to actually debate on the subject and cordially exchange ideas (it is like they must wait until they receive their talking points from Fox News, Mark Levin, or Ben Shapiro before they can engage). Trump is perfect and right, and there is nothing that you can ever do to convince them otherwise.
President Trump never once asked for a declaration of war, as Article I Section 8 of the Constitution requires. Our founding fathers wrote about how that was a necessity before engaging in military conflict, and that principle has been watered down so much that the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which was supposed to be a limit on presidential power, has become nothing more than a blank check for the executive to do whatever he wants overseas and in whatever timeframe (you do not like sixty days, push it to ninety, and then, we will see from there). Trump supporters used to care about the Constitution and limiting executive power (including when governors were implementing COVID-19 restrictions), but that all changed when Trump came into power. He is the exception to the rule, and he can have the power to dispatch troops into our streets and across the world, but if a Democrat were to do that, that would be a no-no. When liberals violate the Constitution to push their agendas, that is bad, but when Trump does it, we have to trust that he is violating our supreme law for some benevolent purpose.
Republicans are supposed to be fiscally conservative and not spend money that we do not have, but when Trump is in power, we can just throw that principle out the door because our spending is better and more appropriate than what Democrats do. The financial cost of the war has been estimated at $29 billion so far, and the Department of Defense (War) is running toward its budget and needs more money to maintain the Iran operations (money that could be allocated to more meaningful budget items). President Trump campaigned on lower prices, and that is why a lot of people voted for him, but when he decides that costs need to rise because we need to get rid of the new boogeyman, we all must sacrifice for the greater good. Do not be a whiny little Democrat and just pay higher gas and food prices without complaining. It is just temporary, even though he keeps prolonging any negotiations to end the war.
It is funny because conservatives would complain that liberals were collectivists, and yet, Trump supporters have become exactly that. Republicans also advocate for lowering taxes, and yet, to pay for war, you need to increase them. Plus, causing prices to rise because of the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is a tax in of itself (hidden inflation tax caused by government intervention).
And now, President Trump wants to label those who say that the United States is not winning the war in Iran (clearly, we are not) as “treasonous.” It is only a matter of time before this becomes enforceable and free speech is further eroded in the United States, and if you speak out against Israel, Mark Levin will call you a “Woke Reich fascist.” Who is engaging in cancel culture now? Levin specifically said that he wants critics of Trump to be deplatformed, like conservatives were under the Biden administration. He will argue that companies can freely ban people, but the problem with that argument is that that was exactly what liberals said as they were using the government to pressure social media corporations to take down posts. These Trump supporters do not believe in the First Amendment or the free exchange of ideas, and they would like to censor or imprison anyone who speaks out against their agenda. They are no different than the liberals and Democrats that they used to oppose.
The government propaganda regarding the war in Iran has been nothing but unclear, and the president cannot articulate the purpose, scope, and duration. It is all on a whim, and in the meantime, Americans are suffering from high prices. There have been no checks and balances on the power of Trump to wage his war that he promised on the campaign trail that he would not even start. We the people need to demand an end to this pointless conflict and bring the troops home. As the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches, we must ask ourselves if we want to continue living under a King George III-type figure who dispatches troops anywhere he wants without any government body being able to stop him. The choice is ours, and so far, we have not done a good job at voicing our concerns.
I will leave you with a quote from George Washington:
Thank you for reading, and please check out my book, The Global Bully, and website.