SEPTEMBER 21, 2026 – Of all the goof-ball initiatives taken by the Current Regime, the biggest by any measure is the military action without an end in sight: the war against Iran. Back in April conventional wisdom on the part of Democrats was that if Trump didn’t end it before the mid-terms so that gas prices would fall back to pre-war levels before Election Day, there’d be hell to pay by the Republicans. Conventional wisdom on the Republican side, meanwhile, was that because Trump had originally estimated that the war would be over in “four to five weeks,” what he said would come true.
So much for Republican “conventional wisdom.” Soon we’ll observe the accuracy of the Democratic version. Meanwhile, we voters—and to be fair, non-voters—are paying out every time we stop at a gas station. Yesterday, a gas vendor near our neighborhood was holding fast to a price as high as any I’ve seen: $4.49/gallon (regular unleaded). For a Honda Accord, that works out to $65.42 for a full tank of gas. For a Ford F-150 with the smallest tank, a full load of regular unleaded gas costs over $100. For a lot of people, these prices/costs are unsustainable, and most likely, if anything, prices will increase more by November 4, since the factors driving gas and diesel prices will not likely abate before then. Prediction markets are forecasting gas prices to reach $4.60/gal. later this year.
If the price of eggs defeated the Harris-Walz ticket in November 2024, the price of gas poses a far graver threat to the Republican control of Congress. This stands to reason: gas is a more important ingredient in the economy than eggs are. The kicker for Republicans is that their fearless . . . I mean, thoughtless . . . leader drove the party’s prospects into the muck and has no tow truck-with-cable to rescue them anytime soon. Blame for the “four- to five-week” war cast hubristically as “Operation Epic Fury” lies at the feet of Trump’s enablers in Congress.
Now the proverbial chickens—speaking of eggs—have come home to roost. Polls across the country show competitive contests in formerly solidly red states and districts. A less than perfectly organized and unified Democratic Party is now more sanguine about the mid-terms than was the case before Trump and Hegseth pressed the “START” button and lost sight of the “FINISH.” As conditions worsen over the next six weeks, as they are bound to do, more eligible voters will be motivated to take their frustrations to the ballot box. The authors and enablers of Operation Epic Fury will meet an epic loss.
Of course, election deniers will be afoot; will cry foul; will file lawsuits left and right—but only in jurisdictions where Republicans of lost, not in districts where Democrats have. But I’m beginning to believe that the tide has finally turned—not by Democrats pulling their act together but by abject incompetence and its companion, raw ignorance, reigning supreme for all too long among Republicans. As a result of this reversal of positions, shenanigans deployed by or on behalf of the regime will be overwhelmed by a public that has been pushed to the wall. Try as he might to upset the process, Trump will go down with the ship.
The country will then face the task of repair and restoration. There will be no Marshal Plan to save us from our political wreckage, but we Americans are nothing if not resilient. After rolling up our sleeves, we’ll shape a new country—more just and equitable; more inclusive and with fewer disparities.
Don’t wake me from this dream. Instead, join me in making it happen.
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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
