By Christopher Overfelt
The Citizens United ruling by the US Supreme Court in 2010 marked the formal acknowledgement of what most in the US already knew, that the United States government’s policies and programs are up for the highest bidder. What we have witnessed in the last fifteen years since that ruling is a mind numbingly swift descent into outright corruption, folly, oligarchy, and autocracy. Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran are a direct result of the corruption that the Citizens United ruling formally legalized.
The veneer of any form of representative government in the US has been erased. The rule of law and the Constitution, what little was left of it, has now been completely replaced with the rule of violent, abusive power. Might makes right in the United States. This is why Donald Trump chose to strike Iran. There is no constitutional authority allowing the president to make that unilateral decision, but Donald Trump did it anyway. It was a deliberate decision used as a message to convey to Congress and the Judiciary that Donald Trump is the most violent person in the world and he now holds singular power over the US military.
CENTCOM (US Central Command) Commander General Michael Kurilla played a pivotal role in pushing for these strikes to happen. He is rabid for regime change in Iran. As Donald Trump’s policies become more and more unpopular, he knows that the only way he can stay in power is to have the American military on his side. By allowing CENTCOM and Micheal Kurilla to have their way in the Middle East, Donald Trump is hedging his bets that the American military will help him suppress any resistance to his power that might manifest in the American public. The American military, along with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), have become havens for white supremacists who will be only too happy to crack skulls, kidnap, disappear, and outright murder those who would stand up against Donald Trump.
The American Empire will not be able to withstand these wars abroad and these coming wars at home. When the Empire collapses beneath its own greed, corruption, and idiocy, China will be waiting to fill the power vacuum.
—Christopher Overfelt served in the Air Force National Guard in Topeka, KS, from 2002 to 2011 as an aircraft hydraulics mechanic. He deployed to Turkey and Qatar in 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. ©2025, Christopher Overfelt, Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 International License.