Caffeinated Politics

I admit laughing when reading or hearing MAGA defend Donald Trump’s unnecessary Iran War by merely repeating the White House line that the conflict has been going on for 47 years. Then the defense bottoms out as they do not know what more to say. Since they mimic Trump, and he is the last person with any concrete or well-thought-out policy plans for Iran, his base is left slack-jawed when pressed to address complex ideas and considerations about the crisis that has bloomed in the Middle East. Trump and his base are both void of an international policy background. It is that lack of expertise and seriousness about policymaking that concerns me greatly. While it shows itself in a wide array of issues, the glaring example of Iran is what I want to showcase in this column.

The troubling facts of the past eight weeks, since the war started, are obvious for all to see. The war was never a conflict built on a clear or remotely convincing military rationale. The public heard scattered, shifting explanations from Trump that were never grounded in a logical strategy. The lack of public support for the war is proof that the messaging from the White House has been ineffective. There was no buy‑in from the nation because you can’t expect citizens to support a war when they’re not given a coherent reason for why their sons, daughters, friends, and neighbors are being sent into harm’s way.

From my perspective, what made this mess even worse was the way our allies were treated throughout the process. (Yes, I am an internationalist.) There was little respect shown for the perspectives, concerns, or guidance of the countries that have stood with us in past conflicts. Instead of building a coalition or seeking thoughtful input, Trump pushed forward unilaterally, ignoring the diplomatic relationships that are supposed to matter. That kind of approach doesn’t just weaken alliances, it undermines trust. It has long-lasting international implications that Trump is not aware of or remotely concerned about.

To me, the war feels like something done to the public and around our allies, not with them. And from my point of view, that’s exactly why it never had the legitimacy or support that leaders claimed it did.

Watching the erratic and piecemeal approach from the Oval Office proves that our top elected official has no awareness of the history or culture of Iran. I swear, Trump truly thinks that Iran is simply a place on a map. He acts as if oblivious to their thousands of years of civilization, a deep sense of identity, and a long memory of foreign interference. Its political decisions, its regional posture, and even its resistance to outside pressure all come from that historical experience. Trump has failed to learn from the past and has seriously misread Iran’s resilience. History shows that when a country enters a war without understanding the cultural and historical forces driving the other side, it risks making colossal mistakes. If I could talk with Trump for 90 seconds today, I would impress on him why knowing Iran’s history is vital, especially in moments of war.

The lack of expertise and the promotion of opinion over fact-based, educated policymaking have landed us in the middle of a growing military and economic quagmire. Over the past decade, you have heard commentators argue that Trump’s political style helped accelerate the validation that any viewpoint, regardless of whether it is grounded in research, historical context, or factual understanding, deserves equal weight in national debates. His lower-educated supporters cheered as their lack of applying themselves in classrooms or making any attempt to be better-informed as adults finally paid off. As we know all too often, lower-IQ individuals can be very assertive, even in the face of their shortcomings. I do not mean to be harsh, but we must be honest. That is because we now have a public square where confidence in saying anything matters more than saying something with a factual and reasoned foundation.

I have utter disdain for anyone who would advocate expertise as suspect and position instinct (Trump’s gut feeling) as superior to study. Listen to the MAGA base, and soon you discover that the hard work of understanding complex issues is unnecessary. Just say what you feel.

The consequences of idiocy are visible across debates on immigration, public health, economics, and foreign policy. Specialists who explain nuance or context are often dismissed as biased or out of touch, while unverified claims spread by people who graduated in the lower 25 percent of their high school are treated as legitimate contributions to national discourse. The result is a political environment where the volume of an opinion outweighs its accuracy, and where the distinction between fact and belief becomes increasingly difficult for the public to navigate. What we have from the eroding standards of public discourse is a society unable to make sound collective decisions.

We see that playing out with the Iran War.