The timing of the Iran Conflict is unfortunate. The political cost of it will take its toll by way of the mid-term elections, no doubt costing the Republicans some votes due to the impact of high oil prices. That will be somewhat mitigated by the true and valid reason of the issue…the simple fact is that the Iranians could not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon. They have proven themselves to be madmen…and madmen with a nuke are simply not tolerable. But the political cost will no doubt remain.
The
progress of the conflict has ebbed and flowed.
What began as an efficient military endeavor shifted to a cat-and-mouse
game in the Straits of Hormuz, and has now settled into a long-term economic
strangulation of the Iranian regime. In
practical terms, the current strategy is sound.
It eliminates the need for military conflict and the human risks
involved therein. It eliminates the need
for “US boots on the ground” which is
clearly an unacceptable action. It is
much easier to acquire allied involvement…especially
Middle Eastern allies…in a financial effort as opposed to a military
effort. And finally, it preserves the
potential for the Iranian people to return to a reasonable status of function
and prosperity…hopefully with a new
government.
Along
with many others, I spent weeks inwardly pleading with our President to drop
the hammer, hit the remaining military targets, and get the hell out of the
Middle East…returning home with a victory and turning the conflict over to the
Middle Eastern nations most affected by the Iranian menace. I have now come to believe that I was
mistaken. My anxiousness to wrap up the
conflict in order to improve the mid-term election environment for the
Republicans was short-sighted. That strategy
would have left the current Iranian regime…though weakened and bloodied…still
in firm control of Iran. It would have
simply kicked the can down the road…ultimately requiring military action in the
future, or counting on the long shot gamble that our Middle Eastern allies would effectively deal with the
cancer in their midst.
The
economic strategy being practiced now, if taken to a successful end, will
weaken the Iranian regime to the point where it will be vulnerable to a popular
uprising by the Iranian people and may possibly be overthrown. That is
the best solution to the entire problem.
That is the long game that is
being played. It is regrettable that
this long game will likely have the collateral effect of costing the
Republicans in the coming mid-term elections.
But that cost is minor compared to the fundamental goal of removing the
Iranian terroristic threat for the future.
The success of this current strategy is not guaranteed; but it certainly
looks like the best way to approach the national…and international…security challenge
posed by the Iranian regime.
President
Trump knows all of this. He has the
authority to push the button that drops the military hammer. He has chosen not to do that…fully realizing
the political costs that will follow.
The man deserves a great amount of credit for this courage, humanitarian
restraint, and common sense. If, as it
appears, the Democrats take the House and the Republicans hold the Senate…any
real legislative progress for the remaining two years of the Trump
Administration will be extremely limited.
What will not change is the
President’s ability to pursue a successful conclusion to the Iranian
Conflict. And if at some point in the
foreseeable future that struggle comes to a satisfactory conclusion…, then it
should go down as a monumental accomplishment and President Trump should
receive legitimate credit for placing national security concerns over
politics.
And
speaking of the long game, let us briefly consider our economy. The greatest economic accomplishment of
Donald Trump’s first term as president was the fact that the US economy was
fundamentally solid and reaching all levels of our working class. It was proof of the old saying that “a rising tide lifts all ships”. Inflation was low, jobs were plentiful,
workforce participation was high, and upward mobility was tangible. Those who wanted to work had good jobs, good
opportunities to move up, and were being rewarded for their efforts. The fundamentals
were in place to establish long-term economic prosperity for all Americans.
The
Covid Epidemic screwed all of that up.
Our government went through a period of literally throwing money around
like it was monopoly currency. People
were shuttered and quit working. Small
and large businesses failed. It was a
miserable and heartbreaking time in so many ways and we are still living with
the damaging consequences.
And
then…along came the Biden Administration.
Rather than make the hard choices that might address the social and
economic challenges posed by Covid, they consistently took the easy way
out. Their first reaction to addressing
any problem was to throw money at it.
They fueled the inflation furnace with cold, hard, taxpayer cash and the
basic prices of goods and services soared into the heavens. What was the Biden Administration response to
these high costs? It was to simply give
people more money to spend. THAT did not address the cost of living
challenge; that INFLAMED the cost of
living challenge. THAT built a solid foundation beneath the high cost of living. It increased the height of the hill that
must be climbed.
When
Donald Trump came into office for his second term, he inherited the hot
economic mess created by the Biden Administration. While his economic strategies have not been
infallible, he has more or less returned to the successful steps he took in his
first administration to return our national economy to a fundamentally good
standing…one that will benefit all
citizens. The Trump Administration
has significantly reduced the size of government; it has seriously pursued the
elimination of fraud in government entitlements; it has spurred industrial and
technological investments through wise tax revisions; it has placed thoughtful
individuals with real life experience in its economic policy theatre; and it
has prioritized federal spending in a common sense fashion. What it HAS
NOT done…along with all other elected officials…is show any conviction
whatsoever towards restraining overall federal spending. It
appears that is a bridge too far for any federal elected official.
The
Iran Conflict has thrown a monkey wrench into this effort; but the Iranian
Conflict will not last forever. It is so
very critical that the Trump Administration economic strategy continue into the
balance of his term. The high cost of
living has reached its current state over the last six years and it will take
time and good policy to bring it back down to reasonable levels. That
type of treatment requires a long game approach.
Can
the long game approach that is currently in place for both the Iranian Conflict
and the US Economy survive a Republican defeat in the upcoming mid-term
elections? That is the question that
should be foremost in voters’ minds when they go to the polls this November. The power of the Executive Branch will
largely enable Trump to continue his Iran Conflict strategy unimpeded. If it is brought to a successful conclusion,
the benefit of that effort will endure.
However,
the economic strategy of the Trump Administration cannot succeed without
support from the Legislative Branch. In
lieu of that support…in the instance of Democrat House and/or Senate control,
the Trump Administration economic strategy will revert to a series of Executive
Actions. That is a pitiful excuse for
proper governmental function and will be doomed to failure. The consequences of that failure could lead
to a Democrat in the White House come January of 2029, and considering the
candidates vying for that spot…it would not bode well for our nation…in both an
economic and foreign policy sense. Do we really want to go back to the Biden
Administration economy?
Look…Trump
is an arrogant blowhard. But we do not
elect saints for president; we pick someone who should be able to manage. Trump has demonstrated he can manage. Reagan was a Hollywood actor; but he rescued
our nation from dismay and brought back prosperity and patriotism. Clinton was a serial womanizer; but he
balanced the federal budget for the only time in my life. The Bushes were competent; but ungrounded in
conservative principles. Obama was/is
the ultimate narcissist who could not get past his own image in the mirror. His autopilot mode of governing perpetuated many
of our nation’s problems and created new ones that had never existed. Biden was/is a hopeless, incompetent fool. The
bottom line is that if we have proof of performance…if a candidate has a record…we
should look at that record and base our decision on facts.
It
is hard for all of us to consider the long game when having to deal every day
with the short game. Curing serious ills is hard and oftentimes
requires strong medicine. Taking the medicine
might be unpleasant…but it feels so good when it quits hurting. I would encourage voters to realize that
the future of oil prices will be a
downward spiral. Upon conclusion of the
Iranian Conflict, considering the new and abundant inflow of Venezuelan oil,
and realizing that our nation is actually energy independent and exporting oil
to other nations…the oil-driven sectors of our economy will be moving towards a
much more affordable position. That
reality will have a moderating effect throughout our economy. Our job sector is healthy and improving…AI
technology, abundant industrial/financial investment cash reserves, and the
need to replace military assets based on the Iranian Conflict depletion…all of
these things will help to lift our economy to a point where we can once again
have the vibrant, growing, and far reaching American affordability environment
that we enjoyed in the first Trump Administration…pre-Covid. Never forget the hard truth: We will get the government we deserve. Think hard before you vote this year.
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Consider
the actual statistics from the Trump years of 2016-2019 and the Biden years of
2020-2024…
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/
https://www.macrotrends.net/3442/federal-employee-count
Foreign
Policy…
https://americanmind.org/salvo/the-heavy-yoke-of-9-11/
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/10/its-time-to-recognize-irans-complicity-in-the-9-11-attacks/
https://thefederalist.com/2026/09/11/9-11-exposed-the-weakness-of-a-post-christian-west/
https://reason.com/2026/09/10/americans-have-learned-virtually-no-lessons-from-9-11/
Government
Operations…
https://americanmind.org/salvo/ending-the-pentagons-corporate-welfare-racket/
https://www.newsnationnow.com/prime/tom-homan-blasts-congress-ice/
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/11/the-deep-states-get-out-of-jail-free-card/
The
Economy…
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/canada-carney-trump-tariffs-trade-war/2026/09/08/id/1268748/
https://www.newsmax.com/us/donald-trump-canada-import/2026/09/08/id/1268775/
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/canada-europe-european/2026/09/13/id/1269251/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-265LpIW5uI
Technology…
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22849/china-against-us-data-centers
https://reason.com/2026/09/11/politicians-see-opportunity-in-data-center-panic/
Crime
and Justice…
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/09/he-had-the-hardest-time.php
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/09/08/why-americas-prisons-keep-failing/
https://reason.com/2026/09/06/will-the-supreme-court-hear-the-case-about-swinging-dicks/
Politics…
https://nypost.com/2026/09/07/opinion/democrats-faux-affordability-agenda-will-cost-americans/
