As Republicans Battle with God, "Destruction of a Civilization", No End Game & Soaring Prices

 

As Republicans Battle with “God,” “Destruction of a Civilization,” No End Game & Soaring Prices

The United States also seems terrified of competition & how to explain toxic Trump practices alienating so many

April 15, 2026

In addition to their utter puzzlement at Trump’s self-defeating direct attacks on a very popular Pope Leo XIVth, “Few Republican lawmakers said anything publicly about President Donald Trump’s startling social media post last week warning Iran that ‘a whole civilization will die tonight,’ but privately, in a large text chat, a group of them read his threat with alarm.

“The chat is among members of Congress’ ‘Main Street Caucus,’ a group of almost 100 GOP lawmakers. One Republican lawmaker questioned how the remarks were helpful to those having to defend Trump’s costly war with Iran and complained that the president’s rhetoric isn’t doing the party any favors, according to three House Republicans with direct knowledge of the exchange. Multiple members then chimed in to echo similar concerns.” NBC New, April 15th.

These Republican members of Congress aren’t stupid; they know Trump is eroding their chances at the midterms. However, they are caught in a trap. If they challenge Trump – effectively, do their jobs as members of a theoretically independent branch of government – the MAGA Trump cult, even as their numbers are falling slightly, will punish any GOP member of Congress who questions anything Trump says or does… by killing that congressperson in the next primary. That the policies embraced by Trump may be barriers to winning in the subsequent general election doesn’t move the MAGA needle one whit.

What’s worse, Trump’s actions, combined with the medical catastrophe of RFK, Jr’s war against vaccines as infections rise and Trump’s obvious inability to face the ravages of climate change, are making Russia rich (feeing their coffers to battle Ukraine as oil prices rise) and rapidly moving China to the become the global “king of the hill.” “President Donald Trump’s decades-long ambition to dismantle the Iranian regime has culminated in a six-week conflict that critics warn is exposing American fragility rather than projecting strength. As the war transitions into negotiations largely brokered by Beijing, the United States finds its global authority and the dollar’s supremacy under unprecedented strain.

“The offensive, fueled by a ‘hard sell’ from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was intended to kneecap Tehran before it could threaten the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, the administration’s miscalculation has triggered what historians call a ‘Suez moment’—referencing the 1956 crisis that effectively ended Britain’s era as a global superpower.” Thomas Smith writing for the April 15th Better America. But then, Trump doesn’t read history books.

We’ve moved from a government that has, until now, measured governmental success in terms of embracing global values that have reflected policies and directions redefining how the rest of the world can benefit from following this template. Instead, the Trump era has shifted American policies to a simple dollars-and-cents metric of success, more reflective of the era of colonialism and slavery, as opposed to a global system of mutual dependence… ending the system that led to our 20th century ascendance to the top of the global influence and economic food chain. The more Trump has insisted on setting the global rules, the more the loss of alliances, the greater the pushback and the more China has benefited from that arrogance.

The allegory of this erosion of American power can easily be observed in Trump’s inane support of the fading value of fossil fuel globally, resulting in a massive technology shift favoring China, while minimizing the value of the entire American automotive sector. We’re actually fighting another oil war! As Jack Ewing, writing for the March 3rd NY Times points out: “[US auto] industry veterans say they can’t remember a time when the biggest carmakers faced as much uncertainty as they do now. They have been whipsawed by tariffs. Chinese carmakers are breathing down their necks around the world. Self-driving taxi companies like Waymo are changing the very nature of transportation. Software has replaced horsepower as a key selling point. Sales are flat almost everywhere, and profits are declining.

“How U.S. carmakers cope with this pivotal moment will determine whether they survive as global players or slide into irrelevance, becoming niche manufacturers of pickups and sport utility vehicles that only Americans buy… The early indications are not promising. Many established U.S. and European carmakers have been stumped by electric vehicles at seemingly every turn. First, Tesla’s meteoric rise caught them unawares. They responded by investing in new factories but are now pulling back after the U.S. government repealed tax credits and other subsidies for those cars.”

Not only are Chinese EV cars vastly cheaper, often with enhanced luxury, but they are usually far more technologically advanced… their new batteries often having double the range and far more AI elements than their American counterparts… and they face almost no competition from old world American fossil fuel-driven cars… as oil prices soar from the American failure in Iran. And trust me, after China moves in to solve this American-made “Iran War” problem (behind the scenes or directly), we will fall more than a mere notch to their ascension, eclipsing American power with Trump’s total assistance. Does the new America truly hate competition that much?

So why is April 15th featured in red above? Tax day or something much more? To me, it will soon become apparent that it was the day that Donald Trump accepted that he was unable to extricate the United States from a completely unnecessary war declared by him (alone) without Congress or any allied support – after the world’s most powerful military led by a recovering alcoholic Christian nationalist zealot who never made it past the rank of major, facing serious retention/recruitment issues, was brought to its knees by cheap drones from an asymmetrical enemy after massive bombing destruction – and a nation less than a third our size… decimated our economy. It was the day that Donald Trump had to enlist China (in a private call with China’s President Xi) to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz… an admission that the United States was no longer the number one superpower on Earth. The rise of China to the top became undeniable.

I’m Peter Dekom, and by our accepting Trump’s new bully-driven, under-analyzed colonial expansionist monetary metrics of success, we have cleared the way for China to assume the top position of global economic power and influence.