[This Iran war post is even lighter than usual at launch because Links. I hope to have it done by 8:00 AM EDT, at worst 8:30 AM EDT]
The sort-of-good news for the day is that Trump still seems to be stuck on his current rung of the escalation ladder in the Iran war. He has doubled down on whinging about how none of America’s putative (ex-Israel) allies are willing to bail him out of the mess he cr...
This narrative presents a stark, almost apocalyptic vision of a U.S.-led war spiraling out of control, with Iran as an "unmovable object" and Trump as a trapped, erratic leader. The strongest version of this argument highlights real economic and geopolitical fractures: rising oil prices, Gulf States’ vulnerability, and the U.S.’s waning influence. Yet the framing leans heavily on emotional exploitation (ARC-0043 Motte-and-Bailey), oscillating between factual reporting and speculative doom—e.g., ...