You can hardly blame President Donald Trump and his Republican Party for thinking they can get away with and do pretty much anything they want. After all, they control all three branches of government. The media are compliant. It’s not like anyone is protesting in the streets. If you were them, you’d probably do whatever you wanted, too.
July 4th will see the second “No Kings” protests across the U.S. against Trump and his haughty style of governance. Once again, the soft American Left forgets the lessons of the 1960s and indulges in a performative series of demonstrations with no chance of striking fear in the hearts of the ruling class. Effective protest movements are sustained, happening frequently, even daily, while inconveniencing and terrorizing the rich and powerful with the fear that nonviolence might give way to real disruption. Gathering every few weeks, on a Saturday or national holiday when businesses and government offices are closed, while promising to remain peaceful, is a sad misdirection of organization and energy that ought instead to be directed into building a real Left opposition.
Trump ran for president in large part on a platform of economic nationalism that put America First while deprioritizing the interventionism that defined the Republican Party under Bush and the neocons. Now, however, he appears to be backing away from that pledge despite its importance to his electoral base. Not only has he enthusiastically supported Israel’s war against the Gazans and bombed Iran on Israel’s behalf, he is ensuring that NATO continues to provoke confrontation with Russia by requiring European nations to pay 5% of their GDP into the military alliance.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told Congress that the U.S. intelligence community had concluded that Iran had not developed nuclear weapons nor did it intend to do so. Then, without explanation, Trump said he agreed with Israel that Iran was weeks away from doing so. Next, the U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear research sites, which the U.S. claimed had been totally destroyed. But a leaked DIA report indicated that damage was minimal, Iran’s enriched uranium had been removed, and the airstrike had only set Iran back by a few months. Finally, Trump denied the DIA report too, announced Iran’s nuclear program dead, and signaled a willingness to negotiate with Iran about normalization. Who can follow all this? Certainly not Netanyahu, who seems to have been conned by Trump into having to state that Iran no longer poses a threat.
ICE agents are despised for their brutal treatment of migrants and anyone who crosses them, acting like spineless cowards by hiding their identities. Who takes such a vile job? Someone obsessed with cash, clearly prioritizing their salaries over basic human decency.
A preemptive military attack is permitted under international law only if an attack is imminent. Iran has not attacked or threatened Israel, yet Israel initiated a war against Iran. Logically, there is always a possibility that someone might attack you, but this does not grant the right to target anyone at will.
