Don’t Let Events Get In The Way

Don’t Let Events Get In The Way

One of the most infuriating aspects of the war forever caucus (of which John McCain is the most vocal, visible member) is the imperviousness of their arguments to facts, and/or their ability to take any new fact pattern and retro-fit into an argument for more war. The arguments are grounded in a worldview about the gloriousness and or necessity of imperial conquest, but always masked in the vocabulary of the current tactical situation.

Take this gem discovered by Sam Stein at the Huffington Post. Turns out in McCain’s foreign policy speech the other day he basically lifted a paragraph verbatim from a column he wrote in October 2001 in support of the war on terror. The point is that the posture towards war is always the same, no matter the somewhat significant changes in the actual state of the world in the intervening years.

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One of the most infuriating aspects of the war forever caucus (of which John McCain is the most vocal, visible member) is the imperviousness of their arguments to facts, and/or their ability to take any new fact pattern and retro-fit into an argument for more war. The arguments are grounded in a worldview about the gloriousness and or necessity of imperial conquest, but always masked in the vocabulary of the current tactical situation.

Take this gem discovered by Sam Stein at the Huffington Post. Turns out in McCain’s foreign policy speech the other day he basically lifted a paragraph verbatim from a column he wrote in October 2001 in support of the war on terror. The point is that the posture towards war is always the same, no matter the somewhat significant changes in the actual state of the world in the intervening years.

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Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

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