BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN AMERICA? March 6, 2026
I started this post about the Iran war on Wednesday. Yesterday, a comment by Donald Trump confirmed my worst fears about imperiled American democracy.
As to the war, I’m not disturbed by the deaths of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and other top officials. They can rot in Hell. Since 1979, the Iranian theocracy has proven itself intolerant, antisemitic and brutal.
Still, I’m troubled. Washington has offered conflicting reasons for the war. Were we responding to an imminent, unprovoked attack on the U.S. or American positions in the Middle East? Would attacks follow Israel’s bombing of Tehran’s leadership? Could we not prevent Bibi Netanyahu from launching those attacks? Or, had we planned to augment them?
Why? Was Iran close to developing nuclear warheads after we “obliterated” their nuclear facilities last July? Were ballistic missiles the threat?
Trump bypassed Congress. He also failed to formally address the American people to make his reasons clear.
Trump believes he can start wars without anyone’s consent. The U.S. shoots up boats in the Caribbean and Pacific on unproven grounds that they’re smuggling drugs. Sure. American soldiers kidnap the “drug kingpin” president of Venezuela? Trump pardons the former president of Honduras, serving 40 years in a federal prison for his major role in drug trafficking.
The would-be king sees himself constrained only by his own sense of morality. He exhibits that trait by its absence.
Which brings me to this war’s possible impact on American democracy.
Trump may or may not put American boots on the ground in Iran, but he’s already put boots on American ground. ICE and Border Patrol agents have run wild in American cities. They’ve murdered innocent American citizens. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continued calling them terrorists. Trump fired her only yesterday.
Now for my added fear: Trump said that he wants a say in Iran picking its Supreme Leader. Is Trump Emperor of the World? That’s his view. So, who will prevent him from putting Federal agents on the ground during the mid-term elections this fall? Why wouldn’t Trump also reserve the right to dictate who serves in Congress? In Iran, the Supreme leader disqualifies political candidates he doesn’t like.
The Republican majority in Congress gives a free hand to the man who long has declared that an election he doesn’t win is, by definition, “rigged.” Trump instigated January 6 with no evidence of wrongdoing. In January 2025, he pardoned 1,500+ people convicted of, or charged with, crimes relating to that riot.
This November, Federal agents, National Guard and even regular military troops could swarm polling places. The goal: Frighten away citizens who might vote for Democrats in contested elections. They might also seize voting machines and ballot boxes, then toss out “illegal” votes to assure Republican victories.
Legal? The Brennan Center for Social Justice explains: “A presidential declaration of national emergency unlocks powers contained in 137 different laws, but none gives the president authority over elections. Even the Insurrection Act, which is the most potent of the president’s authorities to deploy the military domestically, does not permit troops deployed under the law to take illegal actions — which would include interfering in elections.”
Trump holds the law in contempt. If enabled, interference in the mid-terms won’t call into question American democracy. It will kill it.
To understand the background of today’s far-right, authoritarian descent, read my new novel, RIDE THE TYGER. Order from Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, iuniverse.com, or your favorite bookstore.
Hi David—
Excellent points, as always. As a veteran of the undeclared Vietnam war who spent a year there questioning why, I fully understand the horrendous effects on our country and citizens when we fight undeclared wars in foreign lands with no real threat of war on us nor the full support of our citizens.
Under this President, we live in VERY DANGEROUS times, not only for us now but for future USA residents! Hopefully, the November elections will begin to bring changes that will help prevent some of these reckless and quite harmful actions.
Ron Laupheimer
The mid-terms will be critical, Ron. First, to see if Congress—or at least one side of it—goes Democratic. Second and more important, to see if a fair and free election again can be held.
In the Frost-Nixon interviews, David Frost eventually got Nixon to say that “if the president does it, it’s not illegal.” Trump has taken that principle and elevated it to his stated position that the only constraint on his action is his own morality. That clearly includes starting a war — and despite the administration’s waffling it is a war — without asking Congress to declare it or authorize the use of military force. Regardless of one’s opinion on the wisdom of striking Iran and killing much of its leadership, this flies in the face of Article One of the Constitution, which grants Congress the authority to declare war.
The question you are raising is deeply troubling: if Trump is so clearly willing to ignore the constraints of the Constitution in this respect — and others — what will stop him from taking direct action to affect the midterm elections, despite the clear lack of presidential or federal authority to have anything to do with elections? Federal agents at voting sites or seizing voting machines and ballots are both possibilities. And in Republican-led states (Texas, Georgia, Florida) with sizable Democratic-led cities (Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami) , who will step in to stop the power grab?
Ultimately, I expect the courts to stop the steal, but the effort will be expensive and time-consuming and, even if successful, there will be a level of chaos surrounding the elections that will legitimize people’s concerns about the results.
What we can do as individuals — particularly in states like California — is to become very involved in helping people get appropriate IDs, register to vote and actually get out and vote. In sports parlance, we have to flood the zone — win in as many places as possible by margins that are unimpeachable.
Action is called for, David, and that includes preemptive lawsuits or court filings—I leave it for you to say what can be done—to prevent Federal boots from trampling the ground near polling places and election offices. Planning will be required to get those boots on the ground, so the relevant Federal agencies will have to be watched—and stopped—well before Election Day.
David – how ironic that donald trump kills the supreme leader of Iran, when that’s what donald himself really wants to be – the Supreme Leader of the world. I guess ths golden throne doesn’t have room for more than one Supreme Leader.
FYI, Joan, Trump will run for Emperor in 2028. He says he has the only legal vote.