S8 Ep824: The current war with Iran is significantly less popular than the Vietnam War was at its lowest point. Polling suggests an 80% disapproval rate, compared to the 60-70% disapproval seen during the depths of the Vietnam conflict. The administration is per

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

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4.5 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2026

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The current war with Iran is significantly less popular than the Vietnam War was at its lowest point. Polling suggests an 80% disapproval rate, compared to the 60-70% disapproval seen during the depths of the Vietnam conflict. The administration is perceived as being trapped in a "sunk cost fallacy," pursuing a failing course of action to protect the leader's reputation, similar to the "one day at a time" strategy that led to the "shambolic defeat" in Vietnam. The sources note a historical pattern of the U.S. successfully overthrowing regimes only to create failed states, citing Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Iraq, and Ukraine as examples. 3/3
1968 VIETNAM WAR

Transcript

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0:30.2	This is the Friends Vista Debating Society. I am Gaius. Jamanticus is here, and it's a beautiful
0:35.9	night on the Thames, Lunditian, 92 AD,
0:39.3	and we're a little marveled at the inability of the office of the president in the 21st century
0:47.6	to learn from lessons that are right at hand.
0:50.1	You don't have to go into the history books.
0:52.9	You can see what happened to George Bush's administration
0:56.5	when it ran up against the unpopular Iraq war.
1:01.4	You certainly see what happened to the Vietnam generation.
1:05.2	The president is of, in 2026, is the Vietnam generation.
1:10.8	Exactly.
1:12.1	His vice president is not.
1:14.6	He's probably closer to a millennium,
1:17.1	somewhere between a Gen Xer and Millennium,
1:18.9	but the president lived through it,
1:20.8	and I believe he had draft deferrals during it,
1:23.5	so he knows the system.
1:25.2	However, I wanted to speak to a weakness in the emperor system
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