Monday Memo:
Welcome Back to the ’70s, Baby!
Well, dust off your bell bottoms and fire up the rotary phone, because America is boogying straight back into the 1970s.
Let’s be clear: the man who once said, “I’m the only one who can fix it,” just lit a match in a powder keg called Iran.
It’s official—Donald Trump, the guy who repeatedly promised “no new wars” and branded himself as the anti-interventionist candidate, has now launched a military conflict with one of the most volatile and strategically complex nations on Earth.
Fun fact: Iran has a population of 89 million and for the Middle East anyway, a state of the art military. When we invaded Iraq back in 2004 and failed regime change there it had just 25 million people and is 3 times smaller than Iran.
That was why the Obama foreign policy team were so intent to pull off the diplomatic miracle that was the Iran Nuclear Deal.
You know, that thing that Republicans killed for no other reason than Obama did it.
This is the same man who, during his 2024 campaign, told rally after rally that “we’re not going to fight other people’s wars” and that “Joe Biden is dragging us into World War Three.”
Now Trump’s in the Situation Room wondering aloud if the Persian Gulf is near Florida.
This is the man who once had to be talked out of nuking a hurricane—who had to be shown a diagram of the Middle East like it was a placemat at Denny’s because he didn’t know the difference between a Shia and a Sunni, let alone why that matters. This is the man who, according to firsthand reporting from his own national security team, had to be walked through the concept of why we don’t just “take the oil” or “just bomb them and leave.”
And now he’s in charge of one of the most complex geopolitical crises we’ve ever faced.
Are bone spurs inheritable? I’m guessing yes.
Meanwhile, on the home front:
This weekend, immigration agents picked up AND BEAT a father of three U.S. Marines—who’s lived in the U.S. for 27 years. He was detained in front of his children.
In Arizona, a breastfeeding mother—married to an active-duty Marine—was pulled out of her home at dawn. Her infant was still latched when the door was kicked in.
No, really.
In Louisiana, a couple reports they were lied to and intentionally tricked by ICE and immigration officials over the course of several weeks ending in them tricking them to stay after an immigration appointment long enough to give ICE time to come get her.
These are not anomalies. These are the predictable outcomes of retroactively enforcing immigration laws after decades of non-enforcement.
Its like if we all woke up tomorrow and suddenly speeding is a felony offense.
Looking ahead:
If you’re hoping for calm leadership in this unfolding crisis, I’m sorry. We are at the mercy of a mad man.
That said, there are three pillars of Trump’s voting coalition: no wars, mass deportations of even the workers, and MAHA bullshit.
Make no mistake about it, there are MAGA voters outraged that Trump blew his promise to keep us out of war in just 154 days.
Trump promised them this:
Instead they got this
Don’t forget, Trump isn’t lying to us (we know he’s lying) he’s lying to them.
And they are just now realizing that.
Your mission? Make sure they know it.
Buckle up. Gonna be a hell of a week!
Rachel
I’ve read enough comments and talked to enough people since our attack on the Iranian nuclear weapons factories (the uranium enrichment centrifuge facilities) to understand one thing above all others: almost no one can separate their views of Trump from their views on the attack. If you hate Trump then the attacks failed, were useless, were unnecessary and were a sop to Netanyahu, who you also hate. If you like Trump, then the attacks succeeded, were critical to defanging Iran and will lead to a negotiated settlement with Iran transforming Iran and protecting Israel.
For both sides: You need to separate your views on Trump from your views on the attack. Iran’s goal is — and has been — the destruction of Israel. The Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 was its de facto declaration of war. Destruction of Israel for one reason and one reason only. It is Jewish. Iran is enriching uranium to weapons grade and hiding its actions, as determined by the IAEA in a report as recent as two weeks ago. When the Iranians chant “Death to the Zionist State”, they mean death to the Zionist state.
If you oppose the attack because you want the Zionist state destroyed, you should just say so. If you oppose the attack because you believe that Israel and the U.S. should wait until Iran actually has a bomb, you should say that. But don’t take the Iranian position because you hate Trump. I hate Trump and contributed more money to Biden and Harris than most. But the bare minimum for peace in the Middle East is defanging Iran’s black mail and its “Death To Israel” policy. Real peace is only possible when the Persian people overthrow this dictatorial government that is in the process of destroying their own country.