{"id":1653,"date":"2026-06-15T21:08:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1653"},"modified":"2026-06-15T21:08:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T21:08:34","slug":"how-america-can-stage-a-remarkable-comeback-after-trumps-bread-and-circuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1653","title":{"rendered":"How America can stage a ‘remarkable comeback’ after Trump\u2019s ‘bread and circuses’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Do Trump\u2019s \u201chumiliating loss to Iran\u201d and his White House cage fight signal a nation in free fall? Or the moment America wakes up and fights back? Those are the questions The Bulwark\u2019s Bill Kristol is asking.<\/p>\n

Read more The French theory that explains Trump\u2019s \u2018demented\u2019 weekend spectacle<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe coincidence yesterday of the announcement of an agreement on a deal and the cage match at the White House has led to much discussion of imperial decadence, and of our entering an age of bread and circuses,\u201d writes Kristol in \u201cBread and Capitulation.\u201d He says that the Roman Empire lasted 80 years after the advent of \u201cbread and circuses,\u201d but warns that \u201cthings seem to move faster these days. Our decline shows every likelihood of being far quicker and more thorough than Rome\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kristol points to The Atlantic\u2018s Tom Nichols, who analyzed the deal that is expected to end the Iran war.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States has little to celebrate: Trump and his team, in record time, just lost a war to a militarily mediocre\u2014but nonetheless extremely dangerous\u2014adversary,\u201d Nichols wrote. \u201cIt is clear that Trump has failed to achieve every one of the goals he put forward for this war of choice, and now he is determined to sign, seal, and deliver America\u2019s capitulation as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran, says Kristol, \u201ccomes out a winner.\u201d But that is less important than the \u201cdefeat\u201d of America. He says that \u201cTrump\u2019s failure in Iran has confirmed and accelerated the broader retreat during his second term from our standing as the linchpin and guardian of an American-friendly international order.\u201d<\/p>\n

America was \u201cthe greatest world power\u201d from 1941 to 2025. But now the nation is just one power \u201camong many, even one bully among many, perhaps the preeminent one, but one without much credibility among either allies or enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Red state Democrats sound 2026 warning over \u2018Trump derangement syndrome\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s failed war, says Kristol, leaves the nation and the world \u201cless feared and less respected,\u201d and the world more dangerous.<\/p>\n

But he asks, could \u201cthe humiliating loss to Iran \u2014 along with the embarrassment of our 250th anniversary celebration \u2014 be a kind of blessing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Could it provide the catalyst to stop and \u201creverse our decline in national power and also our slide into imperial decadence?\u201d<\/p>\n

He notes that the American people largely opposed Trump\u2019s UFC cage fight at the White House. \u201cPerhaps here, unlike in imperial Rome, it may not be too late to revive the spirit of republican virtue?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pointing to the Knicks\u2019 \u201cremarkable comeback,\u201d Kristol asks: Who\u2019s to say America can\u2019t have one too?<\/p>\n

Read more What the Supreme Court\u2019s latest legal blow reveals about Trump\u2019s $1.25 million payout<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do Trump\u2019s \u201chumiliating loss to Iran\u201d and his White House cage fight signal a nation in free fall? Or the moment America wakes up and fights back? Those are the questions The Bulwark\u2019s Bill Kristol is asking.\u201cThe coincidence yesterday of the announcement of an agreement on a deal and the cage match …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHow America can stage a 'remarkable comeback' after Trump\u2019s 'bread and circuses' - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1653\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How America can stage a 'remarkable comeback' after Trump\u2019s 'bread and circuses' - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do Trump\u2019s \u201chumiliating loss to Iran\u201d and his White House cage fight signal a nation in free fall? 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