I get what you're saying and I find it hard to disagree with any of it. I do think though that there are real world consequences - even if they're secondary ef

I get what you're saying and I find it hard to disagree with any of it. I do think though that there are real world consequences - even if they're secondary effects and tangential - of showing the world that the senior figures in our political system are buffoons, and that the folks who get millions of votes from ordinary Americans think of the world this way. I think the effects are cumulative and not just in Iran but in our friendly countries, where it becomes increasingly an embarrassment and politically awkward to support America even when America is in the right. In Europe anti-Americanism is so detached from reality and often requires one to ally oneself with truly awful people just in order to oppose anything America says, and those who hold these positions are treated with far more respect than they should be, largely because of how tired people are at the noise they here coming from the US. It's wrong, and it's foolish, because whatever criticisms one levels at the US Europe has far more in common with the US than its enemies. I suppose my point is gut-feeling and frustration, rather than well argued, but it rings true to me.