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

[CousinIT]

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

. . .

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?

What could go wrong?

American Democracy Might Not Survive a War With Iran (though it's dead already, things could be made much worse under the guise of "we're at war" )
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/06/democracy-iran-israel-war-trump/683269/

[BannonsLiver]

1. It worked for Bush for about 3 years

And then by 2006 he was deeply underwater in the polls and Dems easily took both the Senate and the House in that year's midterms. He was deeply unpopular in his final 2 lame duck years, even more so after he crashed the economy in 2008. The bill always comes due.