Repercussions

Donald Trump and his band of duplicitous, craven, inept warmongers may act with a sense of impunity.

But it appears that the brutal and despotic regime in Iran didn’t get the memo from John Roberts and the U.S. Supreme Court that this president has immunity for all of his actions in office.

Or the directive from Republicans in Congress that there should be no limits on his power.

Or the message from much of corporate America that you have to suck up to him and accede to his demands.

What is unfolding now in Iran and across the Middle East is a horrific tragedy, first and foremost for those caught in the immediate crossfire of a deadly war that is ricocheting and rippling across an ever larger region.

We have no way of knowing where this will lead, but the Iranian regime is responding in ways the hubris-blinded president and his intellectually deficient and morally corrupt national security team clearly did not anticipate. The threadbare narrative meekly trotted out to launch American and Israeli military might without any clear strategic plan has already collapsed into a dismaying and devastating new mission statement from the charlatan-in-chief: Who the hell knows?

When the history of this destructive era is written, the overwhelming conclusion will be a series of incredulous questions: How the hell was a man like this allowed to have, and maintain, power? Why did so many bend to his febrile will? Why did those who could have reined in his delusional instincts normalize his vanity rather than apply the checks our Constitution was designed to provide?

His first term could perhaps be written off as an aberration, even though it was clear to a majority of American voters that he was the worst kind of person for the job. But once we saw him in office and witnessed all that followed, there were no more excuses.

After he bungled the Covid pandemic. After he trafficked in racism and misogyny. After he was charged and later convicted of multiple serious felonies. After he was found liable for sexual abuse. After his corruption became ever more apparent. After he incited an armed insurrection against the government and the Constitution he had sworn to uphold.

After all of that, he was not only returned to power, but those in positions to enforce the boundaries that law and custom demanded have done the opposite. They appease him. They flatter him. And they continue to grant him authority more befitting a monarch than the president of the United States.

This war is not only Trump’s dangerous folly. Responsibility also lies with John Roberts and his confederates on the court. It lies with the oligarchs who buttress and benefit from this madness. It lies with the Republicans in Congress who rubber-stamp the ridiculousness. Blame falls on leaders in academia, the law, and the press who refuse to push back and hold him to account. And sadly, it falls on the American people who returned him to the Oval Office.

The more terribly Trump has acted, the more he seems to get away with it, often being given greater leeway to pursue his destructive impulses. Indeed, the entirety of Trump’s life can be seen through the lens of avoiding responsibility and repercussions. So it makes perfect sense that he rails against those who decry white male privilege. Deep down he understands that he benefits from and embodies the worst of these injustices.

It was bad enough when the damage was mostly limited to those he exploited in his personal life and business career. But now he has the entire world tethered to his whims. And we are quickly finding out, in a rapidly growing tally of bloodshed and global instability, the limits of his bullying.

We are entering an era of repercussions for this president and for the legacy of his actions. He chose war, and now he must face the consequences. The world is far bigger and more complex than his ability to control it. He cannot use his tired act of bluster and debasement to will away what comes next. From spiking oil prices to metastasizing conflict, from economic upheaval to plummeting poll numbers, Trump has no immunity, no matter what he and his sycophants might hope for.

As he has weakened this nation and the world order, he has also weakened himself. He cannot outrun or out-bullshit world events. Recent election results and general political news suggest a deep reckoning for his congressional enablers, which will only increase scrutiny on a cornered administration.

We can hope that peace returns soon and that the Iranian people find some freedom from the horrific repression they have endured. But thus far that hope seems faint, and there is little reason to believe that those waging war in our name could be the ones to deliver any positive outcomes.

What is much more likely is that the repercussions from this dangerous era will usher in a regime change here in the United States. Not a simple return to the old status quo, but a political realignment shaped by what the country has witnessed, specifically the corruption, recklessness, and dangers of unchecked power.

The judgment of the American people can become a mandate to rebuild the institutions of government toward greater justice and a deeper appreciation for the responsibilities that come with power. We can learn from our blindness and mistakes and usher in a new chapter of the American story, one that is more resilient and accountable to the future of this nation and its place in the world.