Charlie, weighing in during today’s edition of The Editors on the U.S.–Israeli attack on Iran, says he’s “watched with great admiration and pride as the United States demonstrates that it is exceptional, and that it has put together a fighting force that would make anyone in the world think twice before they touched us.” But: He’s “nervous about the military plan.”

Judge Cannon’s Flawed Order to Suppress Jack Smith’s Report on the Mar-a-Lago Documents Caper

The Dog That Isn’t Barking in Iran

Trump Predicts More U.S. Casualties in Iran War

“I’m not demanding perfection here,” he says. “I’m not suggesting that we should be able to anticipate every single fall of every single domino. But it would be nice if we had had a debate in which the aims had been clear. That’s another advantage of debate: When you are the prime mover, you are obliged to explain what it is that you want to do so you can later be judged on it. And those who join you in the debate can also be judged on it, which is useful for representative democracy. I think it’s a problem, both domestically and in relation to this action per se, that we didn’t do that.”

Charlie believes that “if the United States can achieve Trump’s aims, whatever they are, and then get out with few casualties, they can persuade the public that it was necessary. But they’re going to have to do that. . . . [S]howing up in a baseball hat on a Saturday morning, briefly discussing it, and then not appearing on any other programs is odd. It’s odd and  . . . it is self-harming.

“Winning a voting public that is up for grabs takes work,” Charlie reminds listeners. “It’s not self-executing. They might well find themselves rich in a position in which they have presided over one of the great military operations in American history that comes out well — and yet they still lose because while they’re silent or assuming that everyone knows it, the Democrats are saying, ‘Well, while you’re paying too much for eggs, while you’re worried about your job, while you can’t buy a house, he’s off gallivanting around the Middle East.’

Judge Cannon’s Flawed Order to Suppress Jack Smith’s Report on the Mar-a-Lago Documents Caper

Iran’s Last-Stand Strategy

No, the Threat to U.S. Interests Need Not Be ‘Imminent’ for POTUS to Use Force Unilaterally

“I think politically, this is not that easy to call. I don’t quite know how this will come out, but my advice to the administration will be: Do not expect, if it does work out for you, for that to be transmitted automatically into the minds of the electorate, because it will not be.”

The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.

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