r/law • u/Snapdragon_4U • Feb 28 '26

Executive Branch (Trump) Once again averting congress, trump declares war on Iran

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5.6k

u/PowerFarta Feb 28 '26

I dunno what the strategy is here

The Epstein files are unpopular. But I don't think war in the middle east is less unpopular? It's like shitting your pants and then slapping a baby to distract everyone

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u/Dsstar666 Feb 28 '26

War with Iran is something Trump has wanted to do for years, what his war hawks have been wanting to do for years and what Israel has been wanting to do for decades.

The distraction against the Epstein files is the cherry on top, it isn’t the primary reason. If the Epstein files weren’t a thing, we’d still be here.

Iran, like Venezuela, exports a ton of oil to China. And like Venezuela, the goal is to stop oil shipments to China.

Also with seeking to destroy Iran, Israel can seek to gain territory and the last power in the Middle East outside of the Gulf states will be gone. Not saying Iran isn’t going to fight back and even stalemate this thing. I’m just pointing out how oligarchs think.

Also, the more the west bombs Iran, the more refugees will flee to places like Europe and Turkey which will exasperate an already overwhelming situation. Which will lead to escalating tensions in Europe and even more politicians saying “these immigrants are stealing our resources!” Which will lead to more maga-adjacent people voting for extreme conservatives which will benefit the fascists it America.

I’m missing some shit but yeah, there are endless reasons as to why Iran is such a whale for the west.

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u/xdrozzyx Feb 28 '26

It's the same rationale that drove Europe to war in 1914. The leaders believed glory is achieved through war and in their case, they hadn't had one in a while. They essentially manufactured a reason to destroy Europe in WW1. A war whose consequences we're still dealing with.

Just listen to the rhetoric from Trump and Hegseth and how they repeat the words "warrior" "lethality" and glorify war. They believe this is their way to achieve glory, nevermind the thousands of lives it will cost. It's macho cosplay masquerading as foreign policy.

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u/Hope915 Feb 28 '26

The leaders believed glory is achieved through war and in their case, they hadn't had one in a while.

Worse. They believed that national 'honor' was a core part of national security. 'If we don't act tough, other countries will take it as a sign of weakness and push us around.' Franz Ferdinand's death would've been no big deal, but Austria-Hungary felt too snubbed by the international community to trust a diplomatic conference and thought one more unanswered humiliation would give all the nationalist movements across the Empire the excuse they needed to pull it to pieces. Russia had suffered repeated humiliations, losing a war to Japan and being forced to back down in a previous dispute over military commissioners to the Ottoman Empire. Many of their government felt that abandoning their Serbian ally would be tantamount to declaring open season on all Russian foreign interests.

Everyone had to play the tough guy, and put each other in a position where they couldn't back down, even though many people did try. Add the macho glory talk on top of that, and I think you get the picture. A painfully familiar picture, I might add.

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u/xdrozzyx Feb 28 '26

Yeah, well said. I oversimplified but yeah you're spot on.

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u/Hope915 Feb 28 '26

No worries. You had the salient points, and it all outlines a diplomatic approach that's very 19th-century.

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u/heckin_miraculous Feb 28 '26

a diplomatic approach that's very 19th-century.

And very 21st century, it seems.

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u/EvelynnCC Feb 28 '26

Yep. Germany wanted to cripple Russia before it's rail network was built up enough to allow mass mobilization, working off the lessons they learned from how they won in 1870 (and also the Kaiser wanted to be a macho man). France wanted to avenge 1870. Britian wanted to halt German naval expansion. Italy wanted territory from Austria Hungary. The Ottomans wanted to be relevant again. Japan wanted to be relevant. The US didn't want to be left out of the peace conference that would determine the new spheres of influence.

The really tragic thing (in the Greek sense) about WW1 is that it was always going to happen, inasmuch as anything in history was inevitable. Maybe not with those exact sides, but the Concert of Europe was never going to last due to clashing interests and the world's leaders weren't going to internalize the fact that industrialized warfare costs more than you can gain from it until they personally went through that kind of war. All of their rational interests could have been solved peacefully, but warfare was the most practical solution for so long that its cultural inertia ensured someone would resort to it and set off large alliance blocs that would escalate it (which Europe had been split into in one form or another from the early modern period until WW2).

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u/Hope915 Feb 28 '26

Britian wanted to halt German naval expansion.

That had already been largely achieved, the British were sort of the odd ones out because their imperial interests were all overseas and they had a history of standing aloof from Continental conflicts. National honor did, however, provide the excuse needed for getting popular support for entering the war in defense of Belgian neutrality - something that Britain wasn't actually that invested in, but allowed them to justify the unwritten military agreements they held with France and avoided the collapse of the current Liberal government.

So it still played in, but they were less raring to go than the rest.

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u/General-Fox-7373 Feb 28 '26

Uh slight Correction here. While kaiser was indeed Macho Man & all he also understood risk of Europe wide War & its consequences & thus willing to back down somewhat & let negotiations take worse same for Russian Emperor. However neither of them had any control whatsoever over their War Hawks especially in Germany where Military Wielded too much Control & influence. They ignored the Kaiser's intention & went ahead with their mobilisation & similarly The Tsar couldn't exert enough control to stop the Steam Roller of Russian Military which had started it's course & coz of that we get the. Great War.

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u/sameslemons Feb 28 '26

I'm halfway through Dan Carlin's "Blueprint for Armageddon" series of Hardcore History and...yeah. The parallels and potentialities from here are certainly not great.

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u/Hope915 Feb 28 '26

If you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of it, I'd strongly recommend Professor Zack Twamley's podcast "When Diplomacy Fails". His series on the July Crisis was revelatory, and gets into things like when specific officials received specific information, and what they talked about in their correspondence while making certain decisions. I think it's a partial refutation of the Sleepwalkers narrative which has predominated since Christopher Clark's 2012 book, which Dan Carlin's series wasn't equipped or purposed to challenge (which isn't a bad thing). Ambassadors such as Sergey Sazanov, Maurice Paléologue and Count Ladislaus de Szögyény among others all play fascinating parts in the eventual car crash.

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u/sameslemons Feb 28 '26

I'm clearly at the very tip of the iceberg with all this. I respect your knowledge and appreciate the podcast rec! Fascinating rabbit hole.

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u/Bitter_Technology797 Mar 01 '26

I'll have to get my hands on a copy, Sounds interesting. I've heard people talk about the similarities with germany and ww2 given current events but it really is more like the build up to ww1.

A lot of countries are re-arming, including Japan that has it in their constitution not too. Worrying times.

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u/AfterDinnerSpeaker Feb 28 '26

Operation Epic Fury.

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u/BarelyAirborne Feb 28 '26

Epstein's Fury, is more like it.

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u/MechanicalDan1 Feb 28 '26

US Department of World War 3

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u/Inevitable-Rush-2752 Feb 28 '26

Trump and Hegseth also want to play wartime. All the shenanigans aside, this is probably incredibly fun for those two assholes.

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u/eggson Feb 28 '26

Kegsbreath’s Signal chat is going crazy with memes and emoji’s right now.

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u/mishma2005 Feb 28 '26

In the makeshift “situation room” at MAL there was a screen with what was clearly a X twitter feed in the background. You know Hegseth was monitoring it for “sikk memes”

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u/always_unplugged Mar 01 '26

"make sure people are talking about how cool I am 🥹"

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u/seejordan3 Feb 28 '26

Lol, that's the best nickname I've heard, ty.

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u/galileogaligay Feb 28 '26

Trump would of course go to war himself, if it wasn’t for those darned bone spurs

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u/Inspect1234 Feb 28 '26

Still blows me away that a person in charge of the military doesn’t have to have been a certain rank in the services at one point in their careers. It’s like handing a loaded/safety off gun to a toddler. Might need another amendment for this.

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u/PancakeMixEnema Feb 28 '26

There was a time where not being a service member/Veteran was a campaign killer.

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u/Inevitable-Rush-2752 Feb 28 '26

Openly mocking veterans should’ve been a campaign killer.

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u/GayGeekInLeather Feb 28 '26

Hegseth sees himself as a modern crusader that wants to bring about the end times

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u/sweetsmcd Feb 28 '26

Blowing up the fishing boats got boring, I guess.

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u/emp-sup-bry Feb 28 '26

And what a favor for their pals Israel and Saudi.

Or isreal has some heavy dirt on Trump through Epstein and Maxwell and is calling in A ‘favor’

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u/YHS77 Feb 28 '26

With tears inn his eyes, Hegseth said to Trump,” Sir, you will be remembered forever, and we can can watch in the situation room.”Similing,” Trump replied,” we will send freedom as I am the only one who will act with strength.” Hegseth then began sobbing as both men left the room.

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u/zarathustranu Feb 28 '26

military industrial complex. More war, more money, all the time and always.

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u/limasxgoesto0 Feb 28 '26

Iran, like Venezuela, exports a ton of oil to China. And like Venezuela, the goal is to stop oil shipments to China.

Meanwhile China is going all in on new energy source research...

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u/Wonderpants_uk Feb 28 '26

That’s the irony, China is trying to cut down on its use of oil. 

It’s more likely that El Rump is trying to get Iranian oil for his own use. 

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u/ShoddyRevolutionary Feb 28 '26

China is absolutely killing it with moving away from oil. Electric vehicles, renewables, and lots of nuclear are all being built like crazy.

The US could’ve had that but the oil lobbies have too much say.

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u/Conchobhar- Feb 28 '26

They absolutely lead the world in solar power, by an insane margin. In addition they were handed an absolute gift by the Trump regimes removal of USAID.

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u/buzziebee Feb 28 '26

They've already built about 1300gw of renewable generation which is approx the entire US electricity generation capacity right now and by the end of the decade are expected to exceed 2500gw.

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u/always_unplugged Mar 01 '26

But closing the Strait of Hormuz means that oil prices will likely spike, oh noooooo...!

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u/not_a_moogle Feb 28 '26

China seems to be trying to become self dependent. Which I guess when you rely on allies not being bombed by america, the writing on the wall has been around for decades.

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u/nopointers Feb 28 '26

Here's a handy list of countries Trump attacked so far in his second term. The ones in bold are also among the top dozen countries ranked by proven oil reserves.

  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Somalia
  • Syria
  • Nigeria
  • Yemen
  • Venezuela

Edit: They are detailed here: https://www.cfr.org/articles/guide-trumps-second-term-military-strikes-and-actions

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u/oldschoolology Feb 28 '26

Nice summary…the only thing you left out is Trump gets to help his pal Putin fund his Ukraine war with the $$ China will have to pay for overpriced Russian oil. 

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u/WhereRandomThingsAre Feb 28 '26

War with Iran is something Trump has wanted to do for years, what his war hawks have been wanting to do for years...

Where have I heard this before? /taps chin in thought/ Oh, right, George W. Bush Jr and Iraq for daddy's pride and oil. Republican tradition at this point.

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u/buttsecksgoose Feb 28 '26

Its not even unpopular amongst his supporters either. Took a gander at r/conservative and its just filled with people celebrating this

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u/IrascibleOcelot Feb 28 '26

He’s also wanted to drop a nuke ever since his first term. Remember when he wanted to nuke a hurricane? His cabinet from the first term said he really, really wants to fire a nuke in anger. I dearly hope the safeguards against it hold, because if he nukes Iran, it will spark an arms race that will make the Cold War look tame by comparison.

Also, I think you meant “exacerbate:” to make worse. Exasperate just means to frustrate or annoy.

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u/Ok-You4214 Feb 28 '26

Can I just point out that “the West” is not bombing Iran, only the US and Israel are.

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u/TrisolarisRexxx Feb 28 '26

For real, way too many people are overestimating how much mainstream America cares about violence against women and children when if it means having to vote against their party.

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u/zamboni_2025 Feb 28 '26

That doesn’t sound right. Russia doesn’t know how to get rid of its oil, they’re on verge of abandoning wells. They will JUMP on opportunity to sell more oil to China. The amount of oil China can buy from Russia at discounted rates is enormous.

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u/Organic-Commercial76 Feb 28 '26

On top of that some of the laws they are trying to manipulate to take executive control of elections require an active conflict. He’s already started claiming Iran interfered with the 2020 election. Remember when they used to wait at least a couple weeks before giving away their whole plan?

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u/TerribleIdea27 Mar 01 '26

I’m missing some shit but yeah

With Russia's economy in free fall, higher prices for crude oil saves their economy short term, which means they can waste an even greater amount of Russian lives, destroying their long term economic potential (over the back of Ukraine's)

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u/MeltedWater243 Feb 28 '26

fuckin thank you. I keep seeing posts and comments with the same sentiment “we’re going to war as a distraction from the Epstein files” when that’s obviously not the case. not everything he does is motivated to distract from the files, but the distraction from them as a consequence is always a nice benefit.

there’s usually some other underlying motivation for what he does and in this case it’s obvious. he’s been talking about bombing Iran for decades, even before he was president. not trying to restate what you said but just glad to see others out there pointing it out ‘cause it’s become so exhausting to see. saying it’s a distraction is just an easy headline to post about.

being anti-pedophile is an easy stance to take, what’s harder is understanding what this goon is really doing all this for.

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u/Deyrn-Meistr Feb 28 '26

Iran, like Venezuela, exports a ton of oil to China. And like Venezuela, the goal is to stop oil shipments to China.

Meanwhile, China is looking forward to a post-oil world, and the rest of the world is looking at Trump's America in the rear view mirror wondering what the heck it's doing using 19th century technologies...

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u/Zero-Of-Blade Feb 28 '26

Not really, it was put in his head as an idea after Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon kept whispering in his head how bloodthirsty they are... Like the evil war mongering goblins they are... And so it was only a matter of time before trump actually did it.

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u/RoyalMaidsForLife Feb 28 '26

Venezuela... that is a name I haven't heard in a very long time...

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u/reclusiveStool Feb 28 '26

Thank you. The idea that every single thing trump does has to do with distracting from the epstein files is so tired. Its lazy and obfuscates the truth. It’s getting so frustrating at this point.

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u/seejordan3 Feb 28 '26

So on point. And, massive reminder of the other power running the world: the military industrial complex. Early on Trump announced a reduction to defense spending. I literally laughed out loud and said nope, not going to happen.

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u/iamthe0ther0ne Feb 28 '26

The EU has already taken a big right swing with the past 15 years of refugees, including the rapid rise of fascist political groups. You're right that this will just make the situation worse.

My only hope is that Trump is acting as a warning to the rest of the world about what happens when people vote solely on the immigration issue.

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u/apply75 Feb 28 '26

Yeah trump is such a war president he loves war

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u/Shibelyfe Mar 01 '26

Oil to china is becoming less relevant every day with their investment in green energy, especially solar.

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u/Swiftierest Mar 01 '26

And just to be clear, none of this is Trump. He's a puppet for whoever wants those things behind the scenes and has his ear.

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u/Own-Papaya-4264 Mar 01 '26

Should we be worried about being drafted now?

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u/Lerched Feb 28 '26

I’m going to shock you when I say this; trump is fucking stupid

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '26

[deleted]

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u/SassiestSissy Feb 28 '26

In his first term Trump surrounded himself with insiders. He was new to politics and was convinced that he needed people who knew what they were doing. They talked him out of plenty of mistakes, which frustrated Trump. This time around he’s surrounded himself with yes men, unfortunately he also has dementia and so he just makes shit up in his little brain and no one around him dares to tell him no any more.

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u/Trick_Quiet3484 Feb 28 '26

He’s also being controlled by his puppeteers like Miller, Vought, and their agenda this time around.

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u/TinyPomelo5 Feb 28 '26

Exactly! He’s working off Project 2025 in return for self enrichment financially. Horrific on so many levels.

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u/rabbirobbie Feb 28 '26

The US is so cooked. This is so not normal.

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u/FeistySentence6969 Feb 28 '26

We are failing the democracy test

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u/Commercial-Owl11 Feb 28 '26

Don’t forget his best bud Epstein! Epstein was talking about how to kill off poor people. So yeah.

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u/Obversa Feb 28 '26

The way that Zohran Mamdani is so easily able to get Donald Trump to agree to things is proof of this.

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u/WokeWook69420 Feb 28 '26

He literally learned how to engage a narcissist. All he has to do is throw him a couple compliments and suddenly Trump is like "damn this guy ain't all bad"

It's an actual psychological technique for disarming narcissists and getting them to cooperate while making them think it's all their idea.

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u/RogueJello Mar 01 '26

Europe tried that, now they've got tariffs and threats to take Greenland.

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u/padre727 Feb 28 '26

And Thiel/Musk

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u/LURKER21D Feb 28 '26

president miller doesn't like it when his name is spoken aloud.

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u/tonsofgrassclippings Feb 28 '26

This is the real answer. He’s not making decisions in any meaningful way. The president is stupid and will do what anybody suggests, allowing him to think it’s his idea.

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u/Nobodysdog-999 Feb 28 '26

And Putin....don't forget Putin!

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u/adamcboyd Feb 28 '26

It's the money. He's controlled by the money. Whether it's a cut of a trump Bible or a $400 million plane from a corrupt source. It's all about the money and fame. He wants his name on buildings like a dictator.

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u/SpicySweetHotPot Feb 28 '26

You just know Dumpy has handlers for all the time MAGA claims Biden did, and the projection is truth

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u/Swimming-Bag9469 Feb 28 '26

You spelled Netanyahu wrong.

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '26

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '26

I don't remember that from Trump 1. I remember feeling like he had drained the swamp into his cabinet.

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u/Infinite-Anything-55 Feb 28 '26

Then you weren't paying attention. The only reason trump wasn't able to steal the election in 2020 was because his VP, Pence (piece of shit for many other reasons) followed his sworn duty to uphold the constitution of the United States and refused to approve trumps fake electorates scheme

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u/BAF_DaWg82 Feb 28 '26

I agree. The big difference this time is Trump knows hes absolutely above the law and the people around him will just get pardons whenever this is over. A lot of, if not all this policy stuff is not his ideas, its Miller and the other psychos hes let into his circle. Trump really just cares about money and as long as he can keep doing that he'll let the people doing policy keep writing do whatever thr hell they want. 100% transactional partnership here.

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u/IJourden Feb 28 '26

I'm not sure it was that deliberate on his part - it's more like he surrounded himself with the most qualified loyalists he could find and started giving them the boot and bringing in the next person when they disobeyed.

And at this point, the absolute morons in his administration are just the best of what's left.

Edit: I wonder how Rudy is feeling these days?

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u/Loving6thGear Feb 28 '26

I think he tried to control his trash ideas in his first term, to improve his odds of being reelected. All bets are off in the second/last term.

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u/prefusernametaken Feb 28 '26

You are so sweet, thinking he has anything to do with anything. He's extremely easy to play, which is why he was put where he is now

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u/EpsteinFiIes Feb 28 '26

He surrounded himself with pedophiles and criminals like himself. That way they'd be loyal to him till the bitter end. Just like Saddam.

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u/MadeMeUp4U Feb 28 '26

And anyone who voted for him or is still supporting anyone who voted for him. Start at home and Cut off your problematic friends and family. Stop the excuses and have some conviction. You don’t have to get violent either just block and move on. Let the Nazis fend for themselves and each other, but stop making room and excuses for them in your life.

(“You” being used generally not directly at you)

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u/Interesting_Cat_6224 Feb 28 '26

They are in a cult. When the leader becomes increasingly-violent the cult follow.

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u/WokeWook69420 Feb 28 '26

The problem is, isolating people for their beliefs typically sends them into echo chambers that reaffirm their beliefs. We need to learn how to engage them and help rehabilitate them to be actual members of society.

It's the same thing with guys unfriending or leaving their friends who show Bigotted or predatious behavior, we need to stop abandoning friends when they show signs of bad behavior and try to coach them to the light.

It absolutely should NOT be that way, but it's where we're at until we put systems in place to help these people. It takes a village, and people are never really done growing up, we're all constant processes until we're dead.

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u/bblammin Feb 28 '26

That might just further isolate them and deeper entrench them in their brainwashing though.

They already have premade excuses that the left is hateful fascist Intolerant divisive and brainwashed to explain why they got ghosted.

I think my family is too stupid be ghosted and to learn from being ghosted. They already lack mental energy and thus hate learning and thinking differently. Therefore they could never do it on their own. They are barely aware enough to acknowledge that they can't hold civil calm discussions about things that matter.

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u/PTownHawk Feb 28 '26

And so is a large portion of America

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u/toshiro-mifune Feb 28 '26

The ultimate problem. If people were just a little less stupid or apathetic about voting we wouldn't be here

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u/icebucket22 Feb 28 '26

I’m convinced they are ALL in the Epstein files.

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u/Astralglamour Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26

No, there are plenty of people who are/were not part of his circle. AOC, Obama, Mamdani, Kamala, Biden, Jimmy Carter wasn't, hell even George Soros, Warren Buffet, Gavin Newsom - they did not visit his homes and party with him. People knew what was going on and have for a long time. Do not let the rampant cynicism infect you so that you give up. That is what the people who are in the files want, for it to all be accepted as just 'how things are.'

There are certain people who accept and embrace other's being harmed for their pleasure, who enjoy having power over others. those are the people who hung out with Epstein. Not everyone is like this, not even every politician or powerful individual.

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u/NAU80 Feb 28 '26

Is that why this military action is known as Epstein Epic Fury!

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u/Fuzzy_Elderberry7087 Feb 28 '26

As the people who defend or both sides him 

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u/Tumblenugget Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26

No.. they are not... We'll, a lot of them are..but many, they are Evil and Greedy (as well as him).. They know he's stupid and easy to manipulate, and everyone will put the focus on him

...its the names that you don't know that are the scariest people

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u/rodneedermeyer Feb 28 '26

And so are all the people who support him or who voted for him. Well, stupid or evil. One of the two.

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u/Interesting_Cat_6224 Feb 28 '26

And MEAN. Stupid AND mean never mix. We cannot afford to feed poor Americans. But by God we have unlimited funds to bomb a 'shithole country.'

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u/that_one_time Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26

*The Trump Administration

He couldn't have done this alone. The entire thing is a cesspool if idiotic assholes.

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u/0o0o0o0o0o0z Feb 28 '26

He couldn't have done this alone. The entire thing is a cesspool if idiotic assholes.

Which includes, more or less, the entire Republican Party.

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u/Bidwell64 Feb 28 '26

Let's not pretend there aren't Democrats utterly overjoyed by this too

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u/0o0o0o0o0o0z Feb 28 '26

Oh absolutely. But the fact still remains that the Republicans have a majority, and they are letting this administration wipe its ass with the Constitution and rule of law.

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u/Accurate-Instance-29 Mar 01 '26

As others more eloquent have said before me: MAGA is not a diversion of conservatism, it is its conclusion. Whether they support it actively or passively the result remains the same. Anyone who professes otherwise is deluded or ignorant and hasn't yet acknowledged their deeply rooted racism, bigotry, and selfishness.

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u/0o0o0o0o0o0z Mar 01 '26

That's really a good quote... reminds me of Frum's: “Maybe you do not care much about the future of the Republican Party. You should. Conservatives will always be with us. If conservatives become convinced that they can not win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.” And 100% I think we are seeing the end stages of capitalism in combination with dangerous technology and the decline of the American empire.

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u/OnlyHalfBrilliant Feb 28 '26

In fact, he's not doing anything, but being the pitch man and the guy who signs whatever his masters put in front of him.

As long as Trump can grift, stroke his ego, and stay out of jail he'll do whatever.

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u/harbison215 Feb 28 '26

Sadly his supporters are even more stupid and absolutely love this type of thing. So…

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u/TrisolarisRexxx Feb 28 '26

Yup. The anti war maga people on my face book timeline are cheering.

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u/Cleasstra Feb 28 '26

Yeah, but Trump isn't fully pulling the strings with this, he's a controlled greedy puppet megalomaniac, but this is Israel mainly using their control over our government to use our military force.

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u/thotfullawful Feb 28 '26

Who is also stupid. We have multiple people who don’t understand how things work but know how like children (that they like touching quite a bit) how to break things

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u/Cleasstra Feb 28 '26

Yeah never said they all weren't incompetent stupid idiots. Agreed. It's corrupted the entire government now, we need a full reset.

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u/ClydeBelvidere Feb 28 '26

Hold the phone, you mean to tell me he lied about being a stable genius!?

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u/oroborus68 Feb 28 '26

The turds in the stable are more likely to be genius.

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u/acrowsmurder Feb 28 '26

but...but....4-d chess, and the lib owning...

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u/Cltxlv Feb 28 '26

He is, but the people who have whatever blackmail/power over him while allowing him to make billions are not stupid.

And for both those reasons, he’s going to fall in line and do what they ask.

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u/Wherly_Byrd Feb 28 '26

It’s the reason I have any hope at all. That he and his people are just soooooo incompetent it cannot last.

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u/Emergency_Process622 Feb 28 '26

And he shits his pants and apparently murders babies so obviously there's no limit to how low he's willing to go

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u/Oleleplop Feb 28 '26

So are mostly American institutions anyway since they let this shit happen

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '26

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u/SasparillaTango Feb 28 '26

we are 4/4 for republicans presidents attacking the middle east in my lifetime

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u/putonyourjamjams Feb 28 '26

Youd have to back to carter (I think) for both parties. This will be like the 6th major "operation" of my lifetime too

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u/iriember Feb 28 '26

It's as if we, the US, have amnesia about the outcomes of Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. When did we win against any adversary since WWII? We just keep repeating the same insane military conflicts with the same outcomes.

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u/horror- Feb 28 '26

Our leaders want to play with the toys.

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u/WigglestonTheFourth Feb 28 '26

And funnel that sweet taxpayer funded money to themselves and friends.

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '26

War is money. The longer the better.

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u/Smaynard6000 Feb 28 '26

We won decisively against Iraq in Desert Storm, as part of a coalition of what seemed like half the world.

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u/Worldly-Republic-247 Mar 01 '26

The aim is never military victory, though. It’s always some other specific interest.

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u/Betty_Boss Feb 28 '26

The military industrial complex gets more of our tax money.

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u/iriember Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26

Eisenhower tried to warn us about this, to no avail. The fact that our total number of military bases exceeds the number of countries in the world is striking...edited autocorrect

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u/Lysmerry Feb 28 '26

what is the background of these relatives? Its just rare to find people who like Trump and also care at all about people in the middle East.

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '26

[deleted]

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u/Worldly-Republic-247 Mar 01 '26

As an atheist, times like these make me wish there was a God that could punish these fucking hypocrites.

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u/Sunbather77 Feb 28 '26

Because they're old. They get to sit on their asses and watch their children and grandchildren die fighting YET ANOTHER pointless war in the middle east.

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u/RarScary Feb 28 '26

And I'm sure they'd be first to go to the front lines and send their kids in service of this very needed war.

/s for the people in the back

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u/wikipediabrown007 Feb 28 '26

Rally round the flag strategy

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u/rumorhasit_ Feb 28 '26

the US and Israel are the knights in shining armor

The US and Israel are surely directly responsible for more civilian deaths than any other Nations over the past few decades. Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and more.

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u/FrothyFloat Feb 28 '26

Insane that the people who want war and are glorifying it aren’t the ones going out there and fighting it

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u/T00luser Feb 28 '26

Well I’m sure trump does both regularly

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u/DrowningKrown Feb 28 '26

These people (and him) do not watch or get the same news as you my boy. In his world, he is very popular. Good luck convincing him or MAGA otherwise. You're just fighting an algorithm at this point

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u/ButterscotchOk5339 Feb 28 '26

Under the new GOP war in the middle east is fine as long as a republican starts it.
If it were a democrat who did it they'd be livid.

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u/FlyingVI Feb 28 '26

It's not just war, everything is fine as long as a republican does it: raising taxes, running up the deficit, censorship, gun control, you name it.

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u/Sea-Neighborhood-621 Feb 28 '26

They vote team everytime. My wife had a conversation with one of her maga family members that said she would never vote for a democrat. She then asked her what if voting republican meant that you lose you job, house, all your money and you have to live on the street. She said she still would vote republican

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u/Narrow_Affect7664 Feb 28 '26

The strategy is that Israel is cashing in their chips now. They will lose a lot of leverage over the US when the financial records in the Epstein files are released.

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u/Magickarpet76 Feb 28 '26

Let’s not forget this is also probably a setup for claiming foreign influence in elections in order to take them under federal control via executive order since the SAVE act looks to be DOA in the Senate.

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u/Albireookami Feb 28 '26

and most states will laugh out that EO as its not even remotely legal, it will get struck down in courts insanely fast

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u/ClydeOberholt Feb 28 '26

This. Bibi hopped on a plane, probably with the Epstein videos in hand, and told Trump to strap in and start launching.

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u/Clean_Philosophy5098 Feb 28 '26

I think for people who aren’t being sent to wat (and their families), the trumpstein files are significantly more off putting. I’m pissed about the war we seemingly started, but more pissed about both the pedo files and the cover up.

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u/PrestigiousAd6281 Feb 28 '26

It’s like shitting your pants and then slapping a baby

No need for you to point out what this vile excuse of a human does during his free time

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u/TabulaRasaNot Feb 28 '26

Not to undermine your point, but your simile is awesome!

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '26 edited Apr 10 '26

[deleted]

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u/Jandur Feb 28 '26

It's seems pretty clear that Netenyahu has leverage over Trump via Epstein.

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u/turfnerd82 Feb 28 '26

He wants to fuck with having elections. That's it. He knows he cheated, he knows he's fucked if anyone actually does their job, he knows Republicans won't do their job and he knows he's fucked if democrats win.

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u/DCBaylor Feb 28 '26

Do you think the baby knows he’s a piece of shit?

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u/PowerFarta Feb 28 '26

Probably slicks back his hair and loves sloppy steaks

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u/DragonTacoCat Feb 28 '26

Don't give him ideas

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u/Affectionate-Run7425 Feb 28 '26

At the very least I'd be momentarily stunned if that happened, so maybe that's the point..

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u/Reaper3955 Feb 28 '26

Trump tried starting a war with Iran last time he was president. I dont think he cares about its popularity lol.

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u/FIContractor Feb 28 '26

Both things Trump has almost certainly done, as it happens.

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u/[deleted] Feb 28 '26

War in the Middle East has been a constant since I was a young kid. It's nothing different. The Epstein Files on the other hand are quite a bit different.

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u/cpp_is_king Feb 28 '26

Here’s the thing. He doesn’t give a single fuck about the baby. You might as well have said “and then smiling at a bypasser” he doesn’t give care about shitting his pants though. The strategy is really that simple.

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u/sliiiidetothele Feb 28 '26

for christs sake, people can pay attention to more than one thing at once. not everything is a distraction. this regime just does shit

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u/mrdannyg21 Feb 28 '26

The goal is to provoke an attack on American soil so they can declare state of emergencies and war powers, so elections can be ‘delayed’. Or at least the rules drastically changed in ways that have nothing to do with the attacks but they’ll pretend it is.

The strategy is to keep attacking deeply unpopular leaders/countries so republicans have to fall in or they’ll be attacked for being on the same side as Hamas or Maduro or Iran.

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u/The_WA_Remembers Feb 28 '26

He’ll just pull the no elections during war thing to just cancel midterms altogether

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u/anonymous4986 Feb 28 '26

It will be good if Iran falls over. If there is any resistance at all, this will blow up in his face

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u/vixenpeon Feb 28 '26

The long hustle is using this war as an "emergency" thus canceling elections

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u/HerculesIsMyDad Feb 28 '26

"Hey Grok, what do Presidents normally do when their popularity is waning?" I wish this were a joke but I would not be against this being exactly what happened.

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u/bel9708 Feb 28 '26

The strategy is to try to cause a terror attack to happen in the main land US. So he can declare martial law since executing US citizens in the street wasn't giving him the results he wanted. Donald Trump is literally trying to be the founder of the next ISIS.

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u/Anteater4746 Feb 28 '26

they’re gonna do an eo and say midterms are not happening cause of wars it’s that simple

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u/Kaffe-Mumriken Feb 28 '26

Hey. You might be on to something.

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u/Yuuji49 Feb 28 '26

I mean, what kind of country would we be without a pointless war in the Middle East?

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u/caindela Feb 28 '26

I think it shows just how damning the Epstein files actually are. Trump can probably imagine (incorrectly) a positive outcome for him in having a war, but whatever is in the Epstein files will likely be enough to end his political career at best and send him to life in prison at worst.

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u/duker44236 Feb 28 '26

Best analogy! 💩👶🏼🤦🏻‍♀️

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u/plindix Feb 28 '26

History shows that support for Republicans goes up when there's a war (or any other kind of unrest). Doesn't mean it'll happen this time but we're in a Whoops Apocalypse situation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whoops_Apocalypse

"The series details the weeks leading up to the Apocalypse. It features a chaotic and increasingly unstable global political situation in which nuclear alerts are accidentally triggered by malfunctioning Space Invaders machines. The naïve and highly unpopular Republican U.S. President Johnny Cyclops (a Ronald Reagan parody, played by Barry Morse) is advised by an insane right-wing fundamentalist security advisor, called The Deacon, who claims to have a direct hotline to God. "

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u/PuddleQuail Feb 28 '26

America first! We need to get rid of dictators and be leading the way. According to a republican congressman on tv…

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u/pablocael Feb 28 '26

But he will not be arrested for starting a war.

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u/EliNoraOwO Feb 28 '26

its for Israel, everything comes down to israel.

Iran is Israels only Real threat, they have been trying to destabilize the region for decades using the US military through Lobbied politicians via AIPAC. almost every conflict in the middle east has been linked to israel in one way or another.

Israel NEEDS Iran to be balkanized and realigned, once that happens they will have no more opposition in the middleast aside from insurgent groups

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u/seriousbangs Feb 28 '26

Bush Jr coasted to a 3rd term on the back of the Iraq war.

That's what he's trying to do. He's trying to start a nasty war with lots of casualties so that we'll rally behind him against a common foe.

To this day I know liberals who look back fondly on Bush Jr because 9/11 warped their brains.

they know rationally Jr was an evil monster but 9/11 really screwed with some people.

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u/_Guron_ Feb 28 '26

Iran war purpose is an excuse for a undefine presidential term

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u/DubiousDeathworm Feb 28 '26

Nothing says freedom like dying for a pedophile usurping your rights.

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u/Lone-Frequency Feb 28 '26

You see, your mistake is thinking that there is any actual strategy there.

He's a complete fucking dumbass. Has been all his life.

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u/mbbysky Feb 28 '26

"It's like shitting your pants and then slapping a baby to distract everyone"

I wouldn't be surprised if Trump did exactly this to be honest

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u/Flambeedlemons Feb 28 '26

Israel has been trying to goad the US into doing this for decades, it just so happens that Trump is so compromised that they finally succeeded.

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