The Illegal War of a Would-Be King
Trump’s attack on Iran is not a show of strength. It’s a desperate attempt to cling to power.
Without the Congressional authorization that the Constitution requires, Donald Trump has dragged the United States into war with Iran. On Saturday evening, June 21st, the day of the year with the most daylight, Trump acted in darkness before standing behind the Presidential seal at the White House to try to project strength.
It was a scene that revealed both how desperate Trump is and how dangerous his desperation is for the whole world.
Trump had said he would take “two weeks” to consider his options in Iran. No one needs to see the intelligence to know that nothing could change about Iran’s nuclear program in 24 hours to necessitate these strikes.
Donald Trump has dragged the United States into another unnecessary war because his “America First” agenda is failing at home. He is using big bombs like a little man.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump said he could end Russia’s war against Ukraine before his inauguration. He said he would negotiate an end to the war in Gaza with a phone call. He said Biden was going to drag the US into World War III, but he would be a peace president.
It was all lies.
Trump said he was going to stand up for working people, but he handed the government over to a billionaire before their big bad breakup.
He said he’d bring prices down, but his wild talk about tariffs has created economic uncertainty.
He said his budget was big and beautiful, but the Americans people have seen that it is a big, greedy, ugly, destructive, and deadly proposal to slash Medicaid, take nutrition assistance away from hungry children, and sell off America’s public lands in order to give the wealthy a tax break and pay for more masked men to terrorize US communities.
Trump is desperate for a win, and he decided that Netanyahu’s attacks on Iran’s air defense systems gave him a window to take action and look strong. But this is not a win for the prospect of peace, nor for the American people.
Just two weeks ago, Trump illegally deployed troops to an American city without authorization from Congress. Now he has gone to war without consulting the branch of government that the Constitution grants exclusive power to declare war. The attack on Iran is a radical extension of Trump’s extreme notion that the office of the Presidency gives him power to do whatever he wants with the vast resources of the US government.
According to the most recent polling, only 21% of Americans support the US taking initial military action against Iran.
Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, has refused to call a vote on the war powers resolution that Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, introduced to forbid the President from taking this action. Congressional leadership has again abdicated its Constitutional responsibility to check Trump’s abuse of power.
We will all pay the costs of this war, though we can’t yet know how high they will be. The lives of US service members are at risk, in addition to civilians who are vulnerable to the terrorist attacks that are the inevitable response to this kind of assault. Just ask anyone living in Israel today: no one will be able to live in peace as long as we are at war with Iran.
Iran also has the power to cripple the global economy by restricting the flow of oil, driving up prices for everyone. The “supply chain” issues of Trump’s first term could pale in comparison.
Every dollar spent on the war economy, bolstering defenses and replenishing bombs, is money that will be taken away from essential and life-sustaining programs here at home and around the world. It’s no accident that Trump has insisted on funding for his “Golden Dome” in this big, ugly budget bill that would take healthcare away from 16 million Americans.
It would be a mistake in a moment like this to argue military strategy. There are many things we can’t know, but what we do know is clear:
Americans don’t want this war.
Trump doesn’t have the authority to declare war.
Trump’s regime will overstep its authority as long as Congress allows.
For the sake of the global community and this Earth, our common home, Americans must unite to build a movement that meets this madness with a clear and definitive, “No.”
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Tomorrow, June 23, Bishop Barber will join
of for a Substack Live at 12:30pm ET. You can download the Substack app to join their conversation live.
So what's the answer? The military could have refused the orders but they didn't, Congress could have clearly declared it illegal before he took action, but they didn't. How do you hold him accountable and restrict his power?
In watching an interview with former Secretary of Energy Earnest Moniz this afternoon, who is a nuclear physicist and was a critical figure in negotiating a nonproliferation agreement with Iran before Trump tore up the agreement, stated that we’re no safer now than before Trump bombed the nuclear facilities in Iran this past weekend, which reminds me of the many hundreds and thousands of brilliant scientists and government workers whose jobs were terminated so that Trump could surround himself with ‘yes’ people who have absolutely no understanding or ability to do the work of those they replaced. This applies across the spectrum — from the Department of Homeland Security, DOD, DOJ, Health & Human Services, to nearly all programs & services. I’m so damn angry that so many people were stupid enough to believe Trump was such a great businessman and didn’t think about this shit ahead of time. God’s will, I hope these selfish fools are the ones who end up suffering the most.