Mar 2

Mar 2 Pretzel Logic

Chicago, Demonstrations, Donald J. Trump, Performance, Protest, Public Declarations

“When you’re born to play the fool
And you’ve seen all the western movies
Woe to the one who does you wrong
You hide in the bushes
Murder the man
With Luger in hand

I understood that you will soon be leavin’ town
Don’t try to call me when they finally run you down
Just give fair warning any time you come around”

— With a Gun, Steely Dan, from Pretzel Logic (1974)

“Yeah, come on all of you, big strong men
Uncle Sam needs your help again
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books, pick up a gun
Gonna have a whole lot of fun

[Chorus]
And it’s 1, 2, 3
What are we fighting for?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn
Next stop is Vietnam”

— Country Joe and the Fish, I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die (1967)

This past Saturday, Chicago saw its first Iranian War demonstrations. I assume the one held by the Iranian community supported Donald J. Trump’s decision to wage war against Iran’s theocratic regime. Unfortunately, I did not attend it because I couldn’t find it. I arrived on time for the scheduled 1:00 PM demonstration at 205 North Michigan, but not a single demonstrator was to be found in the plaza. When I texted my “protest photographer” chat group, I received a text back: no demonstrators in Daley Plaza. Nor in Federal Plaza. I headed to Congress Plaza (on the southern end of Grant Park), but I turned back once the plaza came into sight. No green, red, and white flags were visible.

I had planned to remain in the Loop after the Iranian community’s demonstration because an anti-war demonstration was scheduled for 5:00 PM. But not wanting to waste three hours just standing around until the start time, particularly given the frigid temperatures, I headed home, figuring not a lot of people would show up for a demonstration on a Saturday night in freezing cold temperatures. Moreover, I knew there would be plenty of opportunities to cover anti-war demonstrations in the coming weeks.

My intuition proved correct. Tonight, I found myself in Congress Plaza, surrounded by signs demanding that the Trump Administration “Stop the War on Iran!” At the end of today’s demonstration, the organizers announced a second anti-war demonstration, scheduled for Friday.

Somewhere around 100 people braved the plummeting temperatures to make their demands known. I saw many veterans of the weekly pro-Palestinian demonstration that followed October 7, 2023 attacks against Israel by Hamas, including one of the lead organizers, who gave me a fist bump.

I stand with the tonight’s demonstrators in opposition to war with Iran, but I am conflicted. The demise of Iran’s repressive theocracy would be a positive development, particularly given the most recent body count from late January’s crackdown—anywhere between 7,000 and 50,000 dead Iranians, depending on who is reporting the number. Whatever it is, thousands were slaughtered in the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities. That alone is troubling, but since the Iranian revolution on January 7, 1978, the mullahs have sponsored terrorism throughout the Middle East and Europe. Given Iran’s deplorable human rights record, nobody should be shedding tears over the elimination of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his top lieutenants.

Yet, Donald J. Trump is not much better in terms of fostering democratic ideals. I oppose Trump’s war for a number of reasons. First, Trump acted unconstitutionally when he invoked the War Powers Resolution because there was no imminent threat to the United States. Only Congress has the power to declare war. See, U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 11.2.1

Second, at least four or five competing factions exist in Iranian society, including monarchists, Marxists, the Iranian clerics, and the Principlists (conservatives). Add to that, the Kurds, who seek an independent state. In the chaos unleashed by Trump, each group will look for opportunities to achieve their long standing objectives. The ensuing battles for power could lead to civil war, further destabilizing the Middle East.

Third, Iran has no history as a democratic nation. Consequently, no institutional framework exists for collective decisions. So, when Trump tells “the people” to take the control, he throws them into a pool with no water wings. War offers no bridge from clerical rule to democratic decision making. How are “the people” supposed to spontaneously produce democratic regime with the corrupt IRGC and the clerics still in power?

Fourth, Trump has indicated that he is using the same template in Iran that he used in Venezuela, meaning that he will leave a corrupt and repressive regime led by the IRGC in place once hostilities subside. Trump may strike deals with the IRGC for his personal enrichment—e.g., a Trump-branded hotel in Tehran—but he doesn’t care about democracy in Iran or the people in the streets, particularly because they are Muslims, an anathema to his MAGA base.

Fifth, Trump’s decision to go to war is entangled with his narcissistic boredom and lies. We are told war is necessary because of Iran’s nuclear program, but a little over eight months ago, Trump told us that he had “obliterated” the program through Operation Midnight Hammer (June 22, 2025). Moreover, by many accounts, ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over nuclear enrichment apparently were headed toward a deal. The military fascinates Trump. He must harbor deep regrets that his bone spurs kept him out of Vietnam.

Sixth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims that Trump was forced to act because Israel had planned an attack against Iran that would result in reciprocal attack against U.S. interests in the Middle East. With the U.S. providing Israel $16.3 billion in direct military aid from October 7, 2023 through October 2025, Trump was in a position to tell Israel to stand down, particularly because since Israel’s founding in 1948, the U.S. has provided Israel with over $300 billion in aid, plus a de facto security guarantee.

Rubio’s claims are undercut by the facts that have recently surfaced. The U.S. and Israel have been planning a coordinated attack on Iran during the last several months, with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu manipulating Trump.

Seventh, Trump, Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and Tulsi Gabbard have put forth no roadmap for what happens after the initial attack. Improvisation is the foundation of jazz, but it has no place in foreign policy. The conflict has already precipitated violence in Lebanon, unleashed Netanyahu’s lust for blood and territory, and produced unexpected Iranian attacks on the Gulf States, once thought to be safe havens.

Federal and local law enforcement agencies in the United States are now on guard against likely terrorist attacks from Iranian sleeper cells. No one in the Trump Administration has any idea of what the endgame looks like.

Trump claims the war was about regime change. But no bombing campaign has ever brought about regime change without boots on the ground. In reality, President Bone Spurs likes the Viagra-like effects that deploying the military produce deep in his loins.

Despite my reservations about the war, I was not sorry to see Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other members of the regime parish under a pile of rubble when the U.S. military launched a barrage of missiles into Khamenei’s compound, leveling it as Khamenei and his advisors arrogantly met Saturday morning. I feel great ambivalence: the death of Khamenei is a positive, but this war is one of choice. It can’t be justified.

During the ten or more speeches in Congress Plaza tonight, I did not hear rational arguments against the war on Iran. Instead, I heard the same tired Palestinian chants and the same dribble about class warfare, with repeated references to Jeffrey Epstein and pedophiles tossed in. As I’ve just pointed out, plenty of good reasons exist for opposing Trump’s decision to go to war. The speakers should have relied on those rather than the pretzel logic that I heard spewed from the mic as speaker after speaker read his or her remarks, trying to fit them into a outdated paradigm.

Shockingly, at least one speaker seemingly offered praise for Khamenei, forgetting that Trump has much in common with the deceased theocrat. During the peak of the unrest that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020, former Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper reported in his 2022 memoir, A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Defense During Extraordinary Times, that Trump asked General Mark Milley, “Can't you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?” That speaker, along with the two protesters holding signs depicting Khamenei, forget that like the now deceased Supreme Leader, an unrestrained Trump would gun everyone down at today’s protest if he could.

As I said to several bystanders, “As more body bags come home and Spring arrives, the anti-war demonstrations will grow much larger, bringing the suburbanites downtown.” For now, we will have to live with the Far Left’s tired rhetoric. While their overall position is spot on, the speakers today were inept in fashioning their argument against the war.

Given the relatively small turnout, the organizers thankfully decided against a march following the speeches. Until far less ideological protesters take to the streets in massive numbers, I don’t see Trump altering course. His impulsive actions this past weekend will in all likelihood define the “No Kings” rally scheduled for March 28.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]