{"id":27132,"date":"2026-03-03T17:25:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T01:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=27132"},"modified":"2026-03-09T13:21:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:21:22","slug":"fractured-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2026\/03\/03\/fractured-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Fractured Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>How an air campaign alone has never resulted in regime change;<\/li>\n<li>Robert Reich: Trump doesn&#8217;t have a clue;<\/li>\n<li>John Pavlovitz: He&#8217;s not worth this;<\/li>\n<li>Heather Cox Richardson: Trump is workshopping reasons for his war with journalists;<\/li>\n<li>JD Vance says the war can&#8217;t be dumb, because Trump is smart;<\/li>\n<li>Troops are being told Trump has been anointed by Jesus to launch this war;<\/li>\n<li>A megachurch pastor in Texas claims this is all God&#8217;s plan;<\/li>\n<li>How some on the right are fracturing away from MAGA;<\/li>\n<li>Dinesh D&#8217;Souza is still around.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"center\">&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/div>\n<p>Different takes on Trump&#8217;s new war.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Critics<\/i>:<\/p>\n<p>Trump&#8217;s plan (to subdue Iran by strikes from the air, without any &#8216;boots on the ground&#8217;) has no apparent precedent.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.politifact.com\/CACHE\/images\/politifact\/photos\/AP26061519482261\/123586d06af3a0a4591fe37ba07db561.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>PolitiFact, Louis Jacobson, 2 Mar 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/factchecks\/2026\/mar\/02\/chris-murphy\/airstrikes-regime-change-ground-troops-iran\/\">Chris Murphy, stated on March 1, 2026 in an interview with CBS News&#8217; &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221;: \u201cThere is no history \u2026 that shows an air campaign alone will result in positive regime change. In fact, there&#8217;s not a single example of it in the entirety of American history.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Rating: Mostly true.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!YXj9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffbaa6fcc-8848-4532-92fd-fbf950d39325_1920x1080.webp\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Robert Reich, today<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/robertreich.substack.com\/p\/trump-has-no-fcking-idea-what-hes\">Trump Hasn\u2019t a F*cking Clue What He\u2019s Doing<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;He has no endgame for his war, which may be his undoing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!b7fg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ae0feac-29b3-47bb-8224-1aae9db78799_1546x1028.png\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>John Pavlovitz, 2 Mar 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/johnpavlovitz.substack.com\/p\/he-is-not-worth-this-america\">He is Not Worth This, America<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/heathercoxrichardson_498x517.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/heathercoxrichardson_498x517.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Heather Cox Richardson<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/heathercoxrichardson.substack.com\/p\/march-2-2026\">March 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>The Economist\u2019<\/em>s Middle East correspondent Gregg Carlstrom noted that Trump appears to be workshopping the causes for his attacks on Iran and his goals for the war by talking to journalists.<\/p>\n<p>As <em>Meidas Touch<\/em> summarized Carlstrom\u2019s argument, he said: \u201c[Trump] doesn\u2019t sound convinced by any of it. He\u2019s throwing spaghetti at the wall. Ultimately I suspect he just wants to say he \u2018solved\u2019 a problem that has vexed every American president since Jimmy Carter. But there\u2019s no clear idea what that looks like and no plan for how to get there. And there are plenty of possible scenarios in which Trump declares victory and leaves the region with an absolute mess.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p><i>About the Supporters<\/i>:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.theatlantic.com\/thumbor\/uawkvzD2ukXK9vlx26xyZQmCgiU=\/0x0:2000x1125\/976x549\/media\/img\/mt\/2026\/03\/2026_03_02_Trump_Iran\/original.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Atlantic, Jonathan Chait<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/2026\/03\/trump-iran-rubio-vance-war\/686219\/\">A Very Stable War<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;J. D. Vance says this Middle East entanglement can\u2019t be dumb\u2014because Trump is smart.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW\" data-flatplan-paragraph=\"true\">After the president of peace, a man who felt deserving of the Nobel Prize, authorized a massive aerial bombardment of Iran last summer, the task of explaining away the contradiction fell to J. D. Vance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ArticleParagraph_root__4mszW\" data-flatplan-paragraph=\"true\">\u201cI certainly empathize with Americans who are exhausted after 25 years of foreign entanglements in the Middle East,\u201d the vice president <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RpsAgainstTrump\/status\/2028247278268354688\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"74028\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">told<\/a> NBC\u2014a stark understatement, given that Vance had, up to this point, unsparingly denounced Middle East wars and promised that the Trump administration would avoid them. \u201cI understand the concern, but the difference is that back then, we had dumb presidents, and now we have a president who actually knows how to accomplish America\u2019s national-security objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The difference was simple: Other wars were bad because they were led by dumb presidents, but a Trump war would be good because Donald Trump is smart.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What kind of mental contortions are going through Vance&#8217;s mind? Cognitive dissonance. Motivated reasoning. Appeal to authority. Ending:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The usefulness of Vance\u2019s rationale is that it can justify anything. Trump could not be starting a dumb war, because that would mean Trump is a dumb president. And who could possibly think that?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>God is on our side (says both sides, no doubt).<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/PeteHegseth2026boyscouts-660x330.png\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>JMG<\/strong> (via <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheCradleMedia\/status\/2028758279682203764\">The Cradle<\/a>): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2026\/03\/troops-report-being-told-that-trump-was-anointed-by-jesus-to-ignite-armageddon-by-launching-war-in-iran\/\">Troops Report Being Told That Trump Was \u201cAnointed By Jesus\u201d To Ignite Armageddon By Launching War In Iran<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This is irresponsible religious zealotry mongering.<\/p>\n<p>Also here at <strong>AlterNet:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/iran-holy-war\/\">&#8216;God\u2019s divine plan&#8217;: US soldiers say commanders told them they&#8217;re fighting for &#8216;Armageddon&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>And this.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/friendlya_3mar2026-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/friendlya_3mar2026-1-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.friendlyatheist.com\/p\/texas-megachurch-pastor-john-hagee\">Texas megachurch pastor John Hagee is selling Trump&#8217;s Iran conflict as God&#8217;s plan<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;The Cornerstone Church preacher aired a literal infomercial for war\u2014framing airstrikes, end-times prophecy, and Trump\u2019s escalation as divine destiny&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This kind of prophecy has surely occurred innumerable times over the past two thousand years. The parishioner rubes are fooled every time. No doubt similar talk is going on over in Iran, to support their side.<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>Yet there are fractures among the MAGA crowd. And they resort to demon-calling to attack those who disagree with them. Demons? Is that their conception of the world?<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/TuckerCarlson2024constipated-660x330.jpg\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>JMG:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2026\/03\/carlson-bloodthirsty-maga-is-controlled-by-demons\/\">Carlson: Bloodthirsty MAGA Is Controlled By Demons<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>An item from a few days ago. So this guy is still around?<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.peoplefor.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/article_full\/public\/images\/Dinesh%20D%27Souza%20200%20Mules%20trailer.jpg.webp?h=ae1281eb&amp;itok=nUUKY0iD\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Right Wing Watch, 27 Feb 2026<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplefor.org\/rightwingwatch\/discredited-conspiracy-theorist-dinesh-dsouza-raising-money-heal-j6-insurrectionists\">Discredited Conspiracy Theorist Dinesh D\u2019Souza Raising Money to \u2018Heal\u2019 J6 Insurrectionists<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>In a fundraising email for a group devoted to bringing \u201chelp, hope, and healing\u201d to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, right-wing propagandist Dinesh D\u2019Souza begins by claiming, \u201cIn my film\u00a0<em>2000 Mules<\/em>, I exposed one of the greatest scandals in American history &#8211; the hijacking of the 2020 presidential election.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where to begin? As Right Wing Watch has previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplefor.org\/rightwingwatch\/dsouza-raising-money-son-law-gop-rep-who-pushed-discredited-2000-mules-movie\">noted<\/a>, \u201cthe movie\u2019s election-fraud claims have been thoroughly and repeatedly debunked\u2014so thoroughly in fact that [in 2024] the right-wing Salem Media Group apologized for the movie\u2019s promotion of false claims and announced it would stop distributing both the book and movie versions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Some links deleted. And that&#8217;s all I&#8217;m going to quote. His fans will reject any debunking, perhaps as evidence of the worldwide conspiracy against them, and him. They live in a fantasy world, immune from evidence. This, too, will never go away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How an air campaign alone has never resulted in regime change; Robert Reich: Trump doesn&#8217;t have a clue; John Pavlovitz: He&#8217;s not worth this; Heather Cox Richardson: Trump is workshopping reasons for his war with journalists; JD Vance says the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2026\/03\/03\/fractured-reality\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,90,54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-authoritarianism","category-conservatives","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27132"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27185,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27132\/revisions\/27185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}