Trump’s Iran War Plan Falls Apart as Allies Walk Away

Summary

Podcast Summary: Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov

Episode: Trump’s Iran War Plan Falls Apart as Allies Walk Away
Date: March 17, 2026
Host: Vox Media Podcast Network

Episode Overview

This episode centers on President Trump’s rapidly unraveling Iran war strategy, an immigration policy under strain, and the consequences of isolated leadership on the global stage. Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov, self-described “raging moderates,” analyze how Trump’s promises on ending “forever wars,” lowering costs, and toughening immigration have met reality. They dissect the administration’s faltering coalition-building abroad, economic pressures at home, controversial policies like the SAVE Act, and the tone-deafness of official communications during crisis.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Trump’s Isolated Iran War Plan

• Strained Alliances:

  • Trump is demanding allies—particularly NATO countries—provide military support to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after a significant escalation: Israel’s killing of top Iranian leader Ali Larajani near Tehran.
  • However, “no one’s committing warships and he’s openly frustrated.” (Scott, 03:33)
  • Allies claim they weren’t consulted, are unwilling to “pick up your call at this moment. This is not our war.” (Jessica, 10:54)

• Comparison to Past U.S. Wars:

  • Scott contrasts prior coalition-building (Gulf War I: 35 nations; Iraq: 40 nations, if symbolically) to Trump’s approach: “This war, two nations, US and Israel, no UN authorization, and the US is paying 100% of the bill.” (Scott, 14:44)
  • Scott’s pointed summary:

    “It’s a pretty stiff competition for Trump’s biggest flaw, but right up there is arrogance... he believes with 30% of world GDP we can muscle around the world, not recognizing that control came from cooperation.” (Scott, 14:45)

  • Jessica notes Trump’s flip-flopping rhetoric, as he posts “we never wanted your help” while having previously sought it.

• Strategic Missteps:

  • The lack of an international coalition and Congressional authorization is seen as isolating the U.S.:

    “You broke it, you own it. And we’re sort of out there alone right now.” (Scott, 16:13)

  • There’s concern about broadening conflict: 14 countries are now involved, with Israel moving into Lebanon after Hezbollah attacks.

2. Economic Fallout and Domestic Discontent

• Rising Costs:

  • Diesel surpasses $5/gallon for the first time since 2022, dramatically impacting trucking, agriculture, and housing (Jessica, 07:12).
  • Fertilizer prices up 77%; bankruptcies for farmers up 46% in 2025—a trend worsening into 2026. (Scott + Jessica, 09:00 – 09:27)
  • Cost of living remains the top concern: “Over 70% say that Trump is not paying attention to what matters most … Energy prices in general continue to spike. They seem to just not be taking it seriously.” (Jessica, 07:12)
  • Consumer prices have jumped 24% in five years.

• Administration’s Detachment:

  • Jessica critiques officials’ attitude:

    “This affordability is a hoax thing, they think it’s just a buzzword. But that’s what wins you elections, to show people you actually care about their experience on the ground.” (Jessica, 07:19)

  • Scott sarcastically likens official denial to a child caught red-handed:

    “[He] realized he had written his name and that’s what his voice sounds like. He sounds like, okay, there’s no way anyone’s going to believe I’m not lying here.” (Scott, 06:30)

3. Operational Excellence, Strategic Incompetence

• Military Execution vs. Big Picture:
  • U.S. and Israeli forces are said to be achieving short-term objectives:

    “In terms of military objectives, the US is performing—and Israel are performing—really well.” (Scott, 25:13)

  • However, Jessica fears a cycle of conflict:

    “If we are not taking out their capabilities on a permanent basis, I worry that ... it’s going to become like a ritual. … I’m not sure that the American people are going to be up for something like that.” (Jessica, 24:20)

  • Scott’s one-liner:

    “The best description of the war so far is operational excellence and strategic incompetence.” (Scott, 25:13)

4. Immigration Policy Collides With Realities

• Broken Promises:

  • The administration is expanding visas for migrant farmworkers—contradicting Trump’s pledge to create a “100% American workforce."
  • Supreme Court is considering ending protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants.
  • Resignation of DHS hardliner Greg Bevino after controversies.

• SAVE Act – Voter ID Debate:

  • Jessica unpacks how the proposed voting bill is a disguised voter suppression tool—not just a voter ID bill. Only passports or birth certificates would be accepted for voting—a hurdle for many, especially young, old, or recently married/adopted individuals. (Jessica, 25:35 – 26:19)
  • She urges Democrats to be proactive:

    “We need to move from indignance to ideas... Come up with an alternative voter ID law that puts them on their heels.” (Scott, 28:05)

  • Scott affirms:

    “Rather than just complaining, come up with a response... I think that’s a great idea.” (Scott, 28:14)

  • Concern that the act could disenfranchise more Republicans than Democrats due to the demographics of those without qualifying documents.

5. White House Communication Tone-Deafness

• Memes and “AI Slop”:
  • Jessica and Scott are appalled at official White House social media, including game-like war videos—a move they feel trivializes real loss.
  • Jon Ossoff’s criticism aired:

    "The White House put a video on social media that depicted this war as a video game … This White House treats war like a game." (Ossoff, played at 20:38)

  • Scott’s summary:

    “Anything that comes out from the President is essentially an official communication from the US Government... it just erodes our reputation as a serious people when we start putting out memes.” (Scott, 21:58)

  • Jessica: “It's so depraved.”

6. Memorable Moments and Notable Quotes

• On Leadership:

  “Greatness is in the agency of others.” (Scott quoting Larry Bond, 14:38)

• On U.S. Brand Erosion:

  “It just erodes our reputation as a serious people when we start putting out memes and… don’t know… when they actually mean something and when they don’t.” (Scott, 21:58)

• On War Planning:

  “Trump started a war with Iran with basically check notes: Israel. That’s it. No coalition, no UN, no allies.” (Scott, 14:44)

• On Conflict Cycles:

  “It’s gonna come back again in five years. They say we have to go do this again, and it’s gonna become like a ritual.” (Jessica, 24:20)

• On the SAVE Act:

  “This will hurt the young and the old. It will hurt married women, people who have been in the foster system or been adopted.” (Jessica, 26:19)

• On Political Strategy:

  “We need to move from indignance to ideas.” (Scott, 28:05) “Jim Crow 2.0, I don’t want to hear that again.” (Jessica, 28:14)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening and Theme (01:33): Start of substantive discussion.
• Trump’s Handling of Iran & Strained Alliances (03:33–14:44): Escalation, coalition failures, and analysis of public statements.
• Economic Concerns at Home (05:47–09:27): Impact on gas, groceries, and livelihoods.
• Operational Success vs. Strategy (14:38–25:13): Military action and strategic failures.
• Media, Messaging & Memes (20:28–21:58): White House communication criticized.
• SAVE Act and Voter ID Debate (25:35–28:43): Deep dive into voting legislation.
• Closing Immigration/Enforcement Notes (29:00–29:31): Migrant labor visas and DHS reshuffling.

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Tone & Style

Scott and Jessica blend sharp policy analysis with pointed criticism and wry humor. They alternate between statistics, recent news, and personal commentary, maintaining an acerbic, “middle-ground” moderate tone that is frustrated with both extremes but highly critical of the current administration’s competence and priorities.

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This episode delivers a persuasive argument that the administration's promises—on war, cost of living, and immigration—are colliding with hard realities, while the absence of coalition-building and tone-deaf public messaging push America toward global isolation and domestic instability. For moderates, the message is clear: it’s time for serious leadership, both at home and abroad.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

The administration is completely off base and out of sync with the 330 million Americans who are invested in not only where American lives may end up, not only there are 50,000 troops in the region, but potentially perishing, what their costs are as a result and what this says about American power at large and our allies.

[A]

Welcome to Raging Moderates. I'm Scott Galloway.

[B]

And I'm Jessica Tarlov.

[A]

Jessica, I went to the Oscar party at Vanity Fair. The Vanity Fair Oscar party. I don't know if you knew that.

[B]

I did know it, but I want to know more. I want to know everything. You sent me one great text.

[A]

I did.

[B]

And then nothing. So tell me everything. And that was before all the winners started showing up.

[A]

Yeah, it was. I'm not exaggerating. I, at one point I started googling actors with last name Galloway because I think they screwed up. I don't know. I literally have no idea how I got them. Someone said, oh, podcasts are important. And some 19 year old intern went, what about that crazy professor? It's. It was incredible. I thought. I mean, they just did an amazing job. And then standing in between, you know, Jacob, Elodie and John Hamm ordering drinks. It just, it felt.

[B]

Did you talk to them?

[A]

I did. I talked to a bunch of people. Everyone was very friendly.

[B]

These people know who you are. They at least love what you're doing for young men. I'm sure a lot of them are pivot listeners. You've seen that. I mean, you guys have become, you

[A]

know, your celebs anyway, so I didn't want to go there. I really wasn't finished with your compliments. It was amazing.

[B]

You know, that's honest. That wasn't even when I'm trying to make you feel better, I genuinely think that's the case. I don't know about Jacob Elordi, but it was amazing.

[A]

I had an amazing time. Thank you for asking. What did you do this weekend?

[B]

I was at south by Southwest with you.

[A]

Oh, I knew that. And we had a great time.

[B]

I was literally sitting next to you.

[A]

Oh, and it was wonderful.

[B]

James Talarico was the Jacob Elordi of South by Southwest.

[A]

That was actually. I'll go as far as to say that was a close second in terms of my weekend was my interview with. With Representative Talarico. He's so good. Anyways. All right, enough of that. Today we're going to be discussing Trump's demands to allies to step up on Iran and is immigration policy colliding with reality? If you aren't already, please make sure to subscribe to our YouTube page to stay in the loop on all the political news. And if you're really motivated, please subscribe to our substack, where you'll get exclusive content and these podcasts ad free, amongst other things. All right, let's get into it. Trump is facing mounting pressure on multiple fronts, abroad and home. Overseas tensions are escalating fast. Israel said it killed a top Iranian leader, Ali Larajani, in a strike near Tehran. The latest blow to Iran's leadership. That comes as Trump tries to rally allies to help reopen the Straits of Hormuz. But so far, no one's committing warships and he's openly frustrated. Back at home, there's a reality check on immigration. After promising mass deportations would create 100% American workforce, the administration is now expanding visas for migrant farm workers because farm workers can't find enough labor. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is weighing whether Trump can end protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants. Inside the government, there's also turmoil at dhs, where border control hardliner Greg Bevino is stepping down after a strain of controversies, clashes, and a federal judge accusing him of misleading the Court. And Republicans are pushing the SAVE Act, a voting bill requiring proof of citizenship and id, which critics say could tilt elections toward the gop. So the bigger question is, are the administration's biggest promises on immigration and global leadership colliding with reality? Still, that hasn't stopped officials from saying the quiet part out loud. Let's watch Kevin Hassett this morning on CNBC talking about the economic impact of the Iran conflict. The fact is that the US Economy is fundamentally sound and that if it were to be extended this, it wouldn't really disrupt the US Economy economy very much at all. It would hurt consumers. And we'd have to think about, you know, if that continued, what we would have to do about that. But that's like really the last of our concerns right now because we're very confident that this thing is going ahead of schedule.

[B]

Haven't you heard that US Consumers being hurt is not part of the general health?

[A]

An economy that's 2/3 consumer.

[B]

It's so weird. Like, I know I've said this a million times. Why do you not learn lessons from our defeat? That's like exactly the same thing that Democrats went out there and said, actually a little less callous than we don't really care what happens to the average person. But we went out there with our GDP growth and our job growth and said, you know, you can basically deal with the prices cuz we have the fastest recovery in the G7. And everyone was like, guess what, you lose. We're picking the other guys. And then they show up, do everything wrong and then use the same talking point.

[A]

Yeah, his, the tenor of his voice reminds me, this is my, one of my favorite moments with my youngest. When he was 5, he drew on the wall with a marker and he started denying it. In the middle of his denial, he realized that he had written his name and that's what his voice sounds like. He sounds like, okay, there's no way anyone's going to believe I'm not lying here. What I'm saying is true. You know, all of these guys, J.D. vance, Scott Besant are like, no, I'll pass on that Meet the Press interview. I think I'm, I think I'm just going to take a little vacation here and not have to defend any of this nonsense. Do you think that, what do you think? Do you think things are getting cheaper here or what's our data, Jess?

[B]

No, the data does not indicate that's the case. Certainly gas is not getting any cheaper and we're going to be talking 40%. Yeah, right. And diesel went over $5 a gallon for the first time since 2022. Without diesel, you've got no trucking business, agriculture, housing, all of it relies on diesel. I people still report that the grocery store is tougher for them. Over 70% say that Trump is not paying attention to what matters most to them, which is cost of living. Energy prices in general continue to spike. They seem to just not be taking it seriously. This affordability is a hoax thing, they think it's just a buzzword. And I get it. It's, you know, funny when you hear everyone from mom Donnie to Abigail Spanberger using the same lines. Right. Because it's affordability, affordability, affordability. But that's what wins you elections, to show people that you actually care about their experience on the ground. And I think that, you know, it's still a long way until the midterms and people might not be paying attention to the everyday flow of this. You know, what did Kevin Hassett say on CNBC today? But their feelings are not changing because there has been no indication that the administration is taking the realities on the ground seriously. And if you wanna run a midterm election around, I'm the peace president and I stopped eight wars or whatever ridiculous claim he's going to make. And you don't feel like you can take a vacation to Disney and go out to dinner once a week and maybe catch a movie. If that's something that appeals to you and your family, then why would you entrust the keys to the car to the Republicans? Certainly for the Senate, the House and the White House. I mean, I think there are gonna be a lot of people out there hankering for at least divided government.

[A]

Yeah. According to Kalshee, there's a 53% chance gas prices exceed $4 this week. You had referenced farmers who are getting especially hard hit. I think a combination of the surge in diesel prices, what will be a huge increase in the price of fertilizer and also their inability to find workers has led to bankruptcies. Rose 46% in 2025, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. And you're probably going to see an even greater increase in 2026.

[B]

And fertilizer prices up are 77%, which

[A]

is, it's funny, it's the stuff you're not expecting. I wouldn't have thought like fertilizer would be.

[B]

Well, 30% of the world's fertilizer comes through the Strait of Hormuz.

[A]

Yeah, Qatar, right?

[B]

I think so.

[A]

Anyways, that's a word we're going to hear more about January, Pew survey found that 92% of Americans were concerned about the cost of food and consumer goods. And the level of consumer prices has increased 24% since March of 2021. So in about five years it's up 24%. I'd be interested to know what inflation. Inflation's probably up 12 or 14% since then anyways. This is a big deal. If I think about, well, if you think about his three big pillars of the three legs of the Trump stool that were so effective in 2024, it was immigration, affordability, and quite frankly, no forever wars. And let's use this to segue into the Strait of Hormuz. It appears that with their approach to the war in Iran, he's immediately got a twofer and not in a good way. He's gone back on affordability and on what potentially could be, or what people are worried about could be a forever war. And US Allies don't want to commit to ships. What do you think are ships to help escort tankers through the Gulf or the Straits of Hormuz? What do you think that means for the war and the U.S. jess?

[B]

Well, if you're going by the original war plan, there's about three weeks left with the amount of strikes that they want to carry out where they'll quote, unquote, feel like they've finished the job. The question is, can we hold on through those three weeks? He seems pretty dug in about it. There are obviously reports of various off ramps that they've been trying, conflicting reports about Witkoff trying to talk to the negotiators, like get back on good terms with the Omanis and the Iranians to get back to the table. Then there are counter reports that the Iranians want to talk to us. I'm not sure what's true there. What I do know is that attitudinally the administration is completely off base and out of sync with the 330 million Americans who are invested in not only where American lives may end up, not only if there are 50,000 troops in the region, but potentially perishing, what their costs are as a result and what this says about American power writ large and our allies. I mean, Donald Trump just posted a true social before we got on here, basically saying, you know, we never wanted your help when he openly wanted the help of the NATO countries. And they've all basically said, like, I can't pick up your call at this moment. This is not our war. We weren't consulted. No one was given a heads up. And when you consider the fact that there is, for lack of a better term, another war going on in Lebanon right now that the Israelis are waging. I mean, there are 800,000 people that have been evacuated out of Lebanon because of what Israel is doing there, which was clearly part of the plan, but not something that we were necessarily signing up to be a de facto part of. So I think that the administration is doing themselves no favors. I was really stuck on, and I know, you know, I live in a bubble to some degree, and these clips, once the algorithm knows that I like these clips of Donald Trump saying stupid stuff, I just get more and more and more. But I'm sure you saw this exchange with Peter Doocy.

[A]

Thank you. You were talking about Iran a couple times today and what they did after Epic Fury began. You said they hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, uae, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked. Are you surprised that nobody briefed you ahead of time, that that might be their retaliation? Nobody? Nobody. No, no, no, no. The greatest experts. Nobody thought they were going to hit. They were. I wouldn't say friendly countries. They were like, neutral. They were. They lived with them for years.

[B]

Iran publicly warned nine days before the US Israeli sneak attack that this is what they were going to do. They said all basis facilities and assets of the hostile force in the region would constitute legitimate targets. They sent that letter to the UN on February 19th. There's also this guy in Iranian specialist Nate Swanson, who was on the National Security Council under Biden and then was actually on Trump's negotiating team for this new nuclear deal that they were trying to get through. And he wrote a piece in Foreign affairs called why Iran Will Escalate, and that came out four days before the attack. So Donald Trump is trying to sell us this idea that no one could have seen this coming, that they would shut down the Strait of Hormuz, when it seems like not only did Iran tell us that that's what was going to come, but people who worked on his own negotiating team said it out loud.

[A]

Yeah. I just feel obligated to insert that Israel moving into Lebanon is after the Hezbollah fired hundreds of projectiles into Israel. So it wasn't just.

[B]

Oh, no, I was. Yeah, I wasn't trying to make it like nothing had happened. And I wanted to say as well that more rockets are getting through the Iron Dome than we've seen in a really long time. And it is a very dangerous situation on the ground in Israel. I just meant that this is not just about what's going on in Iran anymore. 14 countries are involved.

[A]

Yeah, look, the statement that is one of the most. I don't know. One of the statements I carry in my back pocket of one of my board members, Larry Bond from General Catalyst said something that always struck me where it stuck with me and that is greatness is in the agency of others. And I think, I mean it would be hard to. It's a pretty stiff competition for Trump's biggest flaw, but right up there is and arrogance and belief that with 30% of the world's GDP we can muscle around the world, not recognizing that that control came from cooperation amongst 60 or 70% of the world's GDP, that generally speaking the world saw us as obnoxious. But the good guys, or at least the Western world and would follow us into conflicts even when they were a bit unsure to maintain this alliance, recognizing they benefited from an American led operating system. And just some history here around Gulf wars and the coalitions. In 1991 under Herbert Walker Bush, 35 nations, it was UN authorized and allies paid the bill. In 2003 W40 nations claimed or were claimed as part of the coalition. It was mostly symbolic. There was no UN authorization and the US paid the bill. This war, two nations, US and Israel, no one UN authorization and the US is paying 100% of the bill and absorbs all of the blowback. And so Bush Sr. Built a 35 nation coalition for Desert Storm, got the UN on board and made allies pay 54 billion of the $61 billion tab. You know, that's real leadership. Bush Jr. Claimed that 40 countries were for Iraq, but it was really the US, UK and a few thousand Australians. Trump started a war with Iran with basically check notes. Israel, that's it. No coalition, no UN, no allies paying just two countries bombing a nation of 93 million people while the rest of the world, including the Arab states whose military bases we're operating from, are getting hit with retaliatory strikes that they never agreed to. You could argue this isn't a coalition. Right. It's an attempt to distract from domestic political disasters. I mean, they just so badly blew it here. If they'd gone to Congress for an authorization for the use of military force, if they'd limited the scope in terms of objectives, if they'd got, they probably got a couple, a couple at least cooperation from a couple Gulf states, a couple European nations, it would have been just such a different complexion of the war. And on a very basic human level, it's like I didn't consult with you. I've created problems for you. Now, I expect you to help me. And people are like, go fuck yourself, boss. You broke it, you own it. And we're sort of out there alone right now. So this again, I think the lesson, the takeaway here is that no matter how powerful you are, no one nation is able to dominate without a coalition, without cooperation, which is our species superpower. And I believe this is Trump's Achilles heel, as he believes he can muscle around Congress, muscle around the courts, and muscle, quite frankly, muscle around the West. And I think that this is their moment where they're happy to say, sorry, boss, this one's on you. Okay, let's take a quick break. Stay with us. Spring is here and the shopping list is long. Time to make a Lowe's run. Buy three bags, get three free of stay green one cubic foot garden switch Soil plus. Right now, members can earn four times the points on an eligible purchase. Start spring off strong with these deals and more. Our best lineup is here at Lowe's. Ballot through 325 while supplies last soil offer excludes Alaska and Hawaii. Loyalty program subject to terms and conditions. See lowe's.com terms for details. Subject to change Point boosters subject to exclusions and more terms apply. One time only offer. When you think about wealth inequality in America, there's probably one man whose name comes to mind. And yes, he did. Compare America's billionaire era to the Gilded Age. We're living in a moment where the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%. Where one man, Elon Musk, owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. Where while 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, the billionaire class has seen its wealth increase by a trillion and a half dollars since Trump was elected. How's that? They doing? Pretty well. I talked to Senator Bernie Sanders about his latest bill for a wealth tax and his call for a moratorium on AI data centers, plus how much he uses AI himself. Today explained every weekday and now on Saturdays, too. There's a reporter named Emmanuel Fabian who's been covering the war in Iran for the Times of Israel. Recently, he got a ton of feedback about a tiny article he wrote, but he couldn't figure out why. It was about a missile that exploded just outside the Israeli city Beit Shemesh. I'd appreciate it if you could update your article as in its current form, it does not reflect reality. Someone wanted him to say it was a missile fragment instead of a missile. Weird, because it was a missile, not a fragment. If you could correct this tonight. You'd be doing me and many others a great favor. Eventually, the messages got more threatening. You have exactly half an hour to correct your attempt at influence. You will pay the full price for your irresponsible act. Emmanuel finally figured out why people were getting so aggressive. They had bet money on how bombings in Israel would play out on Polymarket. After you make us lose $900,000, we will invest no less than that to finish you betting on the Iran war on Today Explained. Welcome back.

[B]

I'm sure you've seen this AI slop that they're posting from the official White House account.

[A]

I hate that.

[B]

Actually, we have a clip of Jon Ossoff responding to the video games.

[A]

Let's play that. Last night the White House put a video on social media that depicted this war as a video game. Did you all see that? When American service members killed in action are returning to the United States in flag draped coffins and even more Americans have lost limbs or suffered terrible brain injuries or are fighting for their lives. This White House treats war like a game.

[B]

Jon Ossoff having a moment also, but he's completely right. And I've seen online a lot of veterans, Gold star families responding to these posts from the White House saying, how dare you do this? And then Trump is also fundraising off of using a picture of him wearing the white USA cap at the Dignified Transfer. Remember, they didn't want anyone to know that he wore a baseball cap to it, but now they're making money off of it. You just can't take these people seriously. And not only that, you can't think that they're good human beings. It's so depraved.

[A]

Yeah, the word in there is serious. I think when Logan Roy says to his children who act like the entitled jerks that they are, he says, you are not serious people. The US Government should never be putting out memes. Anything that comes out from the President is essentially an official communication from the US Government. The US Government should never be. I'm not even sure the US Government should ever be tweeting or on social media. They, they need to ensure that what they said is take what they say is taken seriously. And it just erodes our reputation as a serious people when we start putting out memes and we don't know what to. We don't know when, when they actually mean something. And when they don't, it's just again, a further erosion in our brand equity. And the result is all of these things mocking people not being, taking this Seriously, we're now more isolated than we were in Iraq. And that war cost us $2 trillion and 4,500American lives and created ISIS. And the scary part here is that, you know, and I. I need to. I need to have an asterisk here, is that I've gotten this information from a lot of geopolitical creators I follow on TikTok, who follow troop movements. There are amphibious vessels and combat troops circling the island or getting in a position to go after Khargarh. And one of the other observations that was really interesting to me is they said, look, going after Iran's oil infrastructure means that the administration has given up on the notion of regime change. Because if you had regime change, you'd want the new regime to have the benefit of economic support of an intact oil infrastructure. And so attacking the oil infrastructure kind of acknowledges we're not going to have regime change. But this is. The chickens are coming home to roost. He went at it alone, made no effort to even nod to any sort of a coalition. And the, you know, who should be logical allies have said, I'm sorry, you didn't check with us, and now you want our help. Yeah.

[B]

Pound sand just on the big takeout of their intel head, essentially. The guy who they took, Ali Lara Johni, he was Iran's supreme National Security Council head. It's a big deal. It shows, you know, great infiltration of the Iranian leadership coalition. We knew that they had infiltrated, obviously, to that level. But how this war is being executed makes it very hard, and I think you've put it in these terms before, to look for the good in it. Right. To see what's going. Right. And, you know, we are being sold this idea that, you know, their missile capabilities are way down, which is objectively true. Right. They're sending up 10 to 14 a day compared to, what was it, like, 900 on day one. But we also had complete obliteration of Fordeau, and it was the end of the nuclear program. And then within a few months, it was up and running. And so if we are not taking out their capabilities on a permanent basis, I worry that we're going to. It's gonna come back again in five years. They say we have to go do this again, and it's gonna become like a ritual. Right. That we do this. And I'm not sure that the American people are going to be up for something like that.

[A]

Yeah. And just. Just to put a fine point on the notion that there. It's always important to ask what could go right Here. And to your point, that's how you said it.

[B]

What could go right?

[A]

I've found that the best description of the war so far is operational excellence and strategic incompetence. And to the point of operational excellence, the US has damaged more than 30 Iranian mine laying vessels. So there is. In terms of military objectives, the US is performing and Israel are performing really well. Thoughts on the SAVE Act?

[B]

Yeah. So the Republicans are going forward with this even though John Thune didn't want to. He's not open to nuking the filibuster to get this passed. It is being marketed as a voter ID bill and it is not a voter ID bill. They come out with a stat. I think it's 87% of Americans or something believe that you should have to show voter ID when you go to the polls. Jim Clyburn agrees with that. Not that you should have to show proof of citizenship in order to be able to register to vote. That is only a passport or a birth certificate. 50% of Americans don't have a passport. Majority of whom are Republicans, by the way. As for the birth certificate, who has access ready to access to that? First of all, like, think of the kid who just went off to college. Do you think he took his birth certificate with him?

[A]

Or got married?

[B]

Or got married, changed your name, got adopted, changed your name because you wanted to. I went to get a real ID on maternity leave. Um, and it took me three trips to the DMV to be able to show them the proper documentation in order to get my real ID. Because I have two middle names and I have some IDs that have both of my middle names. Some have one of them and some have none of them. And I didn't even change my last name when I got married. Um, this will hurt the young and the old. It will hurt married women, people who have been in the foster care system or been adopted. Um, there are some people who own that. Like Senator Ron Johnson has said, you know, I'm conscious the fact that this could hurt us. I think it's worth it to stop illegals from voting when there is evidence that like 30 people illegally voted in the 2024 election. I mean, sure, go ahead with it then, but Democrats have to get smart about this. Sorry, it's a bit of a diatribe. I would love to see us go on offense with this and say, okay, let's talk about a good voter ID bill. Voter ID can encompass this range of IDs. You should be able to show a student ID to do it we should have automatic registration. We should have a national holiday to go and vote. Also, Native Americans, they require a date for the ID that would be valid at the polls. And tribal IDs don't have that on them. So we should make it possible for everybody who needs one. And this would take several years to do. Obviously, you can't say it's for 2026 or 2028 to have valid ID to go to vote, to push back on them. Like, if you can get, you know, a gun with something, you should certainly be able to vote with it. We should own this issue more. There is an opportunity to do that because what they're talking about will disenfranchise people, probably majority of whom would vote for the Republicans.

[A]

But I think what you just outlined is a key strategy and the key flaw for Democrats, and that is we need to move from indignance to ideas. And rather than just complaining and correctly

[B]

pointing out that saying Jim Crow 2.0, I don't want to hear that again.

[A]

Or saying correctly pointing out that a passport costs $160, that. All right, what if you have global entry? Right there should be our student id. I love that. Or biometrics. They should facilitate. Come up. I love a response. I think that's a great idea to an alternative voter ID law that puts them on their heels as opposed to us just giving indignant speeches and no

[B]

access to the voter rolls. Because we know what you're trying to do with that, who you're trying to purge from those roles. We saw Tulsi Gabbard lurking around Fulton county and no doing away with mail in voting. Conservative states use it. It is very effective. There is not fraud with it. Go talk to Governor Cox in Utah about mail in voting.

[A]

All right. Any thoughts on the last of Greg Bevino?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

See ya.

[B]

I don't miss you. I mean, let's see how immigration enforcement really plays out. But now that they're giving visas to migrant workers because they realize like, holy shit, we don't have anyone to do these jobs, it seems like we're being proven left, right and center, which is a good thing. But how we capitalize on it, I don't know. And hopefully things stay calmer. And we don't see, like Minnesota, what happened in Minneapolis again.

[A]

There you go. All right, let's leave it there. Before we go, a reminder that not only is Raging Moderates now five days a week, we're now available on Substack. Subscribers will get ad free episodes, live streams, and a place to engage with Jess and me and other listeners. Find [e-mail] Again, that's raging moderates.proptinemedia.com that's all for this episode. Thanks so much for joining us today. Have a good one, Jess.

[B]

You too. I'll see you later,

[A]

Sam.