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Let's be honest about the roots, costs and consequences of the Iran War
DAVID ROTHKOPF
MAR 07, 2026
Not since Adolf Hitler blew his brains out in a bunker beneath the garden of the German Reich Chancellery on April 30, 1945, have the lives of so many people around the world been so buffeted by the psychosis of a single man.
It is not that there have not been mad men in power since. There have even been very powerful ones. But, at this moment in history, the fate of virtually everyone on the planet is being impacted by the toxic cocktail of character flaws, insecurities, and pathologies that are shaping the actions of the President of the United States.
Economic chaos and hardship ranging from spiking energy prices to the destruction of the global trading system; wars, military and diplomatic decisions that are causing death and suffering to millions and striking profound insecurity in the hearts of the rest of the planet; assaults on the rule of law and democracy that are not only causing misery and inequity for Americans but robbing the world of an important champion for a more just planet; attacks on science and medicine that are doing profound damage both to individuals and families but also the environment of the entire planet at a time of climate crisis; the active promotion of racism, misogyny, religious intolerance and hate that is inevitably altering global discourse and behaviors
look anywhere and there is evidence that a sick, sick man holds the most powerful job in the world.
This is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, the mental defects and warped personalities of leaders have plagued humanity since the dawn of time.
much much more at link
https://davidrothkopf.substack.com/p/living-in-a-time-of-lunatics-and?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web
Fairly lengthy essay , well worth the read
✌🏻
Goonch
(4,746 posts)
some_of_us_are_sane
(3,065 posts)vanessa_ca
(779 posts)some_of_us_are_sane
(3,065 posts)multigraincracker
(37,414 posts)apparent pathology that ever got better and not worse?
rampartd
(4,499 posts)malaise
(295,249 posts)Was he distracting from the Epstein Files? From economic decline at home? From plummeting poll numbers? Did he have some darker alternative motive? We cant know. Indeed, all we do know is that his stated reasons for action changed so muchfrom concern about nuclear weapons to concern about missiles to concern about Iranian proxies in the region to support for Iranian protestors in the street to warnings of an urgent threatwere all embraced and discarded with such frequency that they certainly were just fabrications.
leftstreet
(40,142 posts)2naSalit
(102,057 posts)niyad
(131,705 posts)vanessa_ca
(779 posts)"Your country is truly sick. All Americans are at fault here, not just Trump. Your supine Congress and Senate let this mad King do what he wants. The fact that Americans voted this corrupt paedophile in to a second term speaks to the sickness in your society. The fact that neither Congress nor the Senate are capable of reigning him in speaks to the weakness in your democratic institutions. The real concern is how weak the checks and balances put in place by the forefathers have proven to be. Never again can Europe link its future to the US. These are not our values and you will stand alone."