One of the frustrating things about a Trump presidency–and it was true during his first term too–is that there is a never-ending cavalcade of shit. In the midst of it all, it’s hard to focus on any one thing. There are going to be a ton of people who will write about Trump’s illegal attack on Iran, but for now, I’m not going to focus on that because there’s a whole ton of other awful shit happening too: there are professional commentators, some of whom might even know what they’re talking about, who will be discussing this*.

The key thing is not that one thing is a distraction from something else (which is implied to be more important), but the fascist cult of personality that governs the U.S. is part of a single piece. That is, the same factors that motivate Trump et alia’s horrible domestic policies also give rise to his horrible Iran policy. The depredations of ICE, the ludicrous and lethal public health policies, and the cruelty of the reconciliation bill are not going away simply because of the attack on Iran (though more than a few centrists and most Republicans probably wouldn’t mind that).

*Over the short term, it’s clearly a violation of the War Powers Act, but the initial response by most, though not all, Democrats suggests they’re not going to do anything concrete (maybe place Trump on double secret probation or something?).