Hey folks,
I went on TV to talk about something that shouldn’t be controversial but somehow is: if the United States is going to be in a war, Congress should actually authorize it. Instead, we’re watching a situation unfold where Donald Trump has pulled the country into conflict without a clear legal framework, without a defined objective, and without explaining to the American people what “winning” even looks like.
What struck me most in that exchange is how quickly the conversation shifts from process and accountability to political pressure—“support the troops,” “don’t make America lose.” Those are powerful lines, but they dodge the core issue. Funding a war is supporting it. And if you believe the war is wrong, illegal, or strategically unsound, you can’t just wave that away with rhetoric.
There’s also a deeper political reality here: the public isn’t sold. The numbers are soft, the understanding is low, and history tells us these conflicts don’t get more popular over time. Meanwhile, we’re being asked to accept all of this without clarity, without debate, and without the basic democratic process that’s supposed to guide decisions of this magnitude.
That’s not how this is supposed to work—and pretending otherwise doesn’t make it true.
—Mike
