Trump's Iran War Fever: A Deadly Cure for His Political Collapse? -- Thom Hartmann

[erronis]

https://hartmannreport.com/p/trumps-iran-war-fever-a-deadly-cure-bcf

War is the deadliest distraction in the authoritarian’s playbook…

Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war. — Mark Anthony in Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar

In the modern era, it was probably George W. Bush who first said it out loud and then acted on it: When you’re unpopular and losing politically, just start a little war that’s easily winnable and you’ll be back on top.

As he told his biographer, Mickey Herskowitz, in 1999 about his plans for an Iraq war as a strategy to get himself re-elected in 2004:

“One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of (Kuwait) and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade Iraq, if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency.”

It worked for Bush, although history hasn’t been kind to him as a result. Trump’s second presidency, meanwhile, has been an unmitigated disaster, both in real terms and politically as his approval ratings have slipped so far underwater they’re in late-years Nixon territory:

— Inflation is up and the tariffs aren’t bringing jobs home
— Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires bill is in trouble
— The GOP war on our schools and libraries is creating a huge backlash
— Women are dying — and furious — because of Red state abortion bans
— Armed thugs are kidnapping people off the streets without warrants or due process
— Those same immigration raids are causing food to rot in our fields
— Trump’s destruction of USAID has already killed an estimated 300,000 poor children and handed Africa and parts of Asia to Putin and Xi
— Despite Musk’s claims, the Epstein files are still hidden
— Nobody except billionaires wants Trump to sell off our public lands
— The housing crisis is worsening
— Trump’s cuts to Social Security and Medicare are creating havoc for people trying to sign up
— Putin has made a fool of Trump as he continues his murderous campaign against Ukraine
— Musk now knows every penny you’ve ever earned and every drug you’ve ever taken
— Republicans are on a national purge of voter rolls in Blue cities in Red states
— Between 5 and 10 million people showed up to protest Trump’s fascist policies

So, why not follow Bush’s advice and launch a “little war”? It worked for Reagan with Grenada and Bush with Iraq: What could possibly go wrong?

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