By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Out-of-touch Dems opposed Trump on Iran; they’re as predictable as the tides
They were for it before they were against it. Um, actually, I don’t remember them ever being for anything at all.
Speaking of today’s over-the-top Democrats and their reactions to the strike the United States military made against the awful Iranian regime, a successful (thus far) mission that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who, as President Donald Trump so aptly put it, was one of the most evil men in the world.
Comparisons to Adolf Hitler are all-too-common in today’s hyper-partisan, kneejerk political environment – especially among Democrats – but Ali Khamenei was notorious for doing the types of things that historically awful dictators did, which is plot and kill a lot of innocent people with systematic intention and efficiency.
Trump acted to take out another figure that most of the westernized part of the planet feared and loathed – purportedly – but precious little backup was advanced by the usual boobird contingent.
Will it hurt the Democrats for being so duplicitous in circumstances where unity is demanded? In an article titled, “For Democratic contenders, Iran war presents opportunity and risk”, the always astute Byron York commented at the Washington Examiner after the Iran event:
“The contenders’ big problem is they can’t know which path of attack will be more effective because they don’t know what is going to happen. If, after initial military success which included killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iran effort fails to establish a new government and the country descends into chaos and remains a danger to the region — if that happens, the Democratic contenders will be proved right. Trump and his Republican supporters will suffer grave political damage — shades of George W. Bush and the Iraq War — and Democrats will benefit.
“On the other hand, if, after initial military success, the Iran effort produces a stable government that seeks to live in peace with its neighbors — if that happens, the Democrats will be proved wrong. Their political opponents will portray them as TDS-afflicted losers who didn’t have the guts to stand up to tyranny…
“So what to make of the top five contenders’ reactions? First, they all spoke in character — Newsom slash and burn, Shapiro balanced, etc. But more importantly, they’re all betting that the potential for things to go wrong in Iran will soon make their criticisms look trenchant. Given the riskiness of Trump’s move, they might be right. And if they are right, Trump and his party will likely be cooked politically. Indeed, from the Republican perspective, the gravity and substance of the Democratic criticisms show how politically critical it is that the president’s Iranian mission succeed.”
So, in essence, the mystery isn’t all that different from what happened in Venezuela two months ago. There were the same post- strike queries and bellyaching from Democrats back then, too. Weren’t Democrats terrified that Trump got us into another war when he had the U.S. fighting forces go in to snatch away the Venezuelan dictator and his wife?
We haven’t heard much about prolonged conflict just north of the equator ever since. Predictable? Or not?
On the surface, it isn’t at all surprising Democrats reacted the way they did. They’re basically powerless to prevent Trump from acting, and they hate it. Democrats didn’t give a squat about the Constitution’s implied limitations on war orders when they themselves possessed executive (and commander-in-chief) authority. They’re just honked off now because they’re not the ones proverbially pushing the buttons.
Democrats are like grade school students bickering and blubbering because their collection of army men isn’t as impressive as another kid’s. And that all their protestations are falling on deaf ears with the man at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
For his part, Trump, even if he portends to hear the whiners and political benchwarmers and outcasts, doesn’t pay any mind to them. Everything Donald Trump does is justifiable in his own mind, and clearly, he intends to make America as safe as he possibly can while he has power to do so.
In this, Trump absorbed a valuable lesson from his first term. No matter how securely he acted to take out dangerous people last decade, he still received nothing but vitriol and accusations from the supposedly loyal opposition. To reiterate, Trump all-but stamped out ISIS, killed an Iranian general and launched further blows against Al Qaeda, but he received no goodwill for it politically.
Democrats are emboldened to act the way they’re doing and it doesn’t hurt them with their own voters. Only a token handful of Democrats commended Trump for severely weakening (even further) the Iranian regime, which, sane people agree was heinous and continually unpredictable and dangerous. Getting rid of them was a worthy goal, but not at the expense of having to do something risky and politically bold in the opposition’s minds.
Here’s thinking Democrats are secretly breathing a sigh of relief at Trump’s actions, since his strong foreign policy alleviates the need to offer counter-proposals in certain areas. Do you think Pete Buttigieg has a detailed plan for how to treat (contingency X) overseas? Heck no! But eliminating the threat from Iran sure frees him up to lie and bloviate and lecture and condemn when it comes to domestic policy, doesn’t it?
Democrats would much prefer complaining about consumer prices and how awful Republicans are for favoring tax rate reductions. Or to cut into Trump and Republicans for actually desiring to enforce immigration law. How inhumane it is!
Absent from the Democrats’ critiques are concrete, verifiable notions on how things should be done. Instead, they kvetch and moan about Trump “dragging us into another war” and “acting without Congress”, when they know no such thing. It’s opinion. In a free society, they’re entitled to theirs, and the establishment media is all too happy to give them column space and airtime to do just that.
Further, AOC demonstrated her (lack of) foreign policy knowledge and policies at the recently conducted Munich Security Conference when she couldn’t field and answer a simple question about Taiwan and China’s threats and aggression.
If asked about what she thought about the Iranian dictator, “The Squad” leader might’ve replied, “Who, Trump?”
It’s easy pickings for Gavin Newsom to offer negative observations about something Trump’s done because the hair-gelled one doesn’t have to answer for anything real, the type of dilemma he prefers. Can Newsom even locate Iran on the globe? Can he name the surrounding nations and articulate the differences between the Sunni and Shia Muslim countries?
One would think cackling Kamala Harris would be in the best position to offer something substantive and thoughtful – since she did spend four years as vice president and presumably received the most vital intelligence briefings – but she’s simply not able to think of detailed replies on the spot. So she retreats to her default position of “Trump sucks!!” and the reporting class doesn’t call her on her failure to elaborate.
After five-plus years of experience being president, Democrats, and everyone else, should surmise that Trump wouldn’t get America bogged down in anything that resembles a George W. Bush/Dick Cheney vintage “forever war” that Democrats are supposedly apprehensive about.
Democrats probably hope the fighting lasts until November.
The Trump-ian pattern is always the same: He sends the military’s men and women in, they fulfill their duties with as few casualties as possible, and arrangements are made for the native populations to attend to the political void created from said operation.
The only difference being this most recent excursion includes the Israeli military and intelligence apparatus, about as formidable an ally is we’re going to get. If something nasty and unpleasant is left to execute, the Israelis are just the ones to carry it out. They’re ruthless. In a good way.
At the same time, every enemy of America was served notice that Donald Trump doesn’t dawdle, and the Democrats’ claims of incessant lies from the president… didn’t turn out to be true.
Donald J. Trump means what he says, and says what he means. Even more satisfying is the fact he gives the foreigners plenty of warnings and forecasts. Foreshadowing? Perhaps. But if I were them, I’d take Trump seriously. And do what he asks. It’s simple, actually.
Democrats could stand to learn the same lesson. Rather than take the president’s word at face value, Democrats are too preoccupied with hyperventilating about minutiae and endlessly asserting that he and all Republicans are bigoted liars who just want to aid rich people. The Iran matter will take care of itself in time; Americans must act like Americans now.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .