Trump’s base was vocally divided over the prospects of direct U.S. attacks up until the moment they happened.
The MAGA movement’s top influencers were divided over bombing Iran until Donald Trump did just that Saturday night.
Now, at least for the time being, the lay leaders in Trump’s base appear to be rallying around a position that spares Trump criticism: Direct attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities are justified, as long as American troops aren’t sent into a third full war halfway around the world in the last quarter of a century.
Well, do you want to be right or do you want things to change for the better?
I don’t think anyone should have to engage with these people if they don’t want to, but something like 40%+ of the population are more or less OK with the way things are going. Humiliating someone, even if they had it coming and it’s entirely justified, tends to make them very defensive and double down on their position.
Is it fair? No. I hate it. They do not deserve grace in a lot of cases in my opinion, but when dealing with people and human nature I often find I have to decide between being right or being constructive. I am no saint. If the stakes only really involve myself, I’m probably more inclined to be a self-righteous sanctimonious jack wagon more often than not, but at these scales I think we need to be realistic. Acknowledge that it’s not fair we have to do this work, and then do it anyway.