Even if it all "works out for the best" this war is disasterous

[Tom Rinaldo]

I can conceive of the possibility that some good may yet come from the attack on Iran. I abhor the religious tyranny that has governed that nation. I am horrified by the slaughter of thousands of Iranians who took to the streets in defense of basic human rights that too long were denied them. I sympathize with Iranian exiles who now are celebrating the death of a tyrant. And yes, the Middle East could possibly become more peaceful should the absolute best case scenario prevail in the aftermath of the war that Trump just started (as unlikely as that may be.)

But this year we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the American experiment in democracy. That is a meaningful milestone not just for us, but for all of humanity, who for literally thousands of years had been living under the arbitrary dictates of varied Emperors, Kings, Despots and Tyrants The American Revolution marked a key turning point in our collective evolution toward more egalitarian forms of governance. It evoked a vision which, though far from fully realized even when it succeeded, still trail blazed a new path forward none the less.

No decision is more consequential to the citizens of a nation than choosing whether to go to war.The final toll is always unpredictable at the onset of an international conflict. Over 58,000 Americans were killed fighting in the Vietnam War. The U.S. Constitution clearly mandated that no single person be given the sole authority to commit our nation to war. It represents the ultimate legal constraint on the authority of those who would be King. In a democracy, that decision is reserved for a representative body of the citizenry to make, after thorough public debate. In practice it is the literal embodiment of the American Revolution, and all that it stood for.

Trump just made a mockery of all of that. That is the meta reality, wherever one might stand on the merits of this current conflict. As an American citizen, I argue against it. Others can disagree, but no one man had the right to make that decision for all of us. It negates what America stands for.