If you don’t appreciate President Trump’s latest blunder, embroiling the country in a no-win war in the hellacious Middle East, you can exercise your displeasure by taking part in a protest Saturday at the Washington County Courthouse.
Only Congress has a right to take us into war, but, as with other violations of the Constitution, our president made a unilateral decision to drop thousands of bombs on Iran.
I disagree with almost all of Trump’s decisions, but I did support his raid a month ago that took out a big part of Iran’s nuclear capabilities. The Mullahs of Iran are a zealous enemy of the United States, and Trump is right that we cannot allow those religious extremists to have a finger on the red button of nuclear warfare.
A nationwide protest against Trump’s march toward authoritarianism Saturday could be the largest of its kind in the history of this country. The previous big demonstration in West Bend was Oct. 18 and drew 1300 local protestors carrying homemade signs. The central theme was “No Kings.” It was a display by local people of their fundamental beliefs in the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.
The October demonstrations, organized by a group called Indivisible, drew seven million people in communities all over the country. It was an amazing show of support for democracy and for our system of checks and balances among three branches of government.
Saturday’s protest will gain energy because of Trump’s newly developed proclivity for military action in Venezuela and Iran. Is Cuba next?
Recent polls have shown his soaring disapproval ratings. Americans are upset not only with the new war with how he is handling the economy, inflation, the Epstein files and the thuggery of his ICE agents in cities like Minneapolis.
A recent yougov.com poll found a 39% negative spread, 63% disapproving of Trump’s handling of the Iran war vs. 24% approval.
Even some MAGA supporters have to be turned off by his war in Iran and the likelihood that it will get worse before it gets better. MAGA believers are often isolationists who oppose U.S. entry into foreign wars.
Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed so far, and more body bags will be coming home if he puts boots on the Iranian ground. Several thousand Marines are on ships off the coast of Iran, and Trump may get desperate and send them ashore.
Our commander has violated many best-practice litmus tests for going to war. In addition to neutering Congress and failing to develop support from the American people, he did not form a coalition of allies before launching. After the fact, he is criticizing them for not stepping up. Any sane commander organizes his forces before, not after, the initial battle.
Neither he, nor anyone in his family has ever served in the military. Nor is he a student of history. No surprise then that he is obtuse about what it takes to win a war.
None of the analysts I have read know how to bring this debacle to an end. The dogs of war have been released and are out of control.
Our president is also out of control, and it’s a tall order to get him to change his never-admit-a-mistake personality to change course. The nationwide protests next Saturday might help.
In addition, a $4 gas price caused by the war will motivate some voters who were previously on the sidelines.
So will the monstrous $200 billion budget for the war that the White House is seeking.
Note that the GOP members of Congress backed Trump when he cut off the $40 billion in annual support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia, a real threat to the U.S.
This ill-conceived, under-planned war against Iran could be Trump’s Waterloo.
