Quick Hit: Owning on the World Stage

In the eyes of his followers, Trump can't lose.

When considering responses to the current Iran conflict, it's worth considering how Donald's base and defenders respond to any other conflict involving him: anything he does is automatically a masterstroke, any response or reaction by anyone against him is painted as a victory for him.

His actions are widely condemned? He triggered his critics. They are so owned. "You love to see it." 

His actions are ignored? His critics are cowed, because they are weak and spineless. BTFO'd. 

Owned. Owned. Owned.

Iranian-American journalist Yashar Ali made a thread yesterday about Iran's recent historical approach to long-term planning, which cautioned against seeing the missile attacks as the extent of their reprisals rather than a short-term response:

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yashar

1. I want to express this carefully cause I don't want to minimize anything that results in loss of life. But missiles flying back/forth in Mid East is all too common (something US can handle) & not what makes me nervous about the Soleimani situation Here's what makes me nervous

Dan Lamothe @DanLamothe

U.S. defense official confirms that Al Asad air base in Iraq's Anbar province has been hit by at least six rockets tonight. Additional details unclear. But very credible source.

But in Trumpland, the short term response and how it's spun is all that matters. Trump launched an attack that killed an Iranian general who was a top-level government official? That's a show of strength, to them. They launched a ballistic barrage against a base that doesn't seem to have killed any US forces. That's lashing out powerlessly, to them. Anything that happens in the future is immaterial; it will be sorted into the "Trump Rules, Everyone Else Drools" paradigm when and if it happens.

We are all so owned.

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