by
Mark
Wilson/Getty
Images)
Imagine
a
press
conference
during
which
President
Donald
Trump
makes
this
surprising
announcement: “If
the
situation
in
the
Gaza
Strip
isn’t
resolved
by
March
15,
the
United
States
will
drop
a
nuclear
bomb
on
Gaza
City.”
There
would
naturally
be
horror
on
the
left:
“That
would
be
2
million
dead! He
can’t
do
that!”
“That’s
a
war
crime!”
“So
far,
there’s
only
been
talk
of
genocide
in
Gaza. That
would
be
actual
genocide!”
“The
United
States
is
the
only
country
in
the
world
to
have
used
atomic
weapons.
And
now
we’re
going
to
do
it
again?
Where’s
our
morality?
The
shame;
the
shame!”
Islamic
terrorists,
on
the
other
hand,
would
be
motivated:
“We
thought
Israel
was
the
most
evil
country
in
the
world.
We
were
wrong.
The
Great
Satan
is
in
fact
the
Great
Satan.
The
barracks
in
Lebanon
and
the
Twin
Towers
on
9/11
were
just
warm-up
acts.
It’s
time
to
unlock
the
gates
of
Hell.”
The
MAGA
faithful,
of
course,
would
be
impressed
by
Trump’s
brilliance:
“Trump’s
a
real
estate
developer. He
knows
that
your
opening
bid
should
always
be
a
little
over
the
top.
Trump’s
just
starting
a
negotiation.”
“Trump’s
my
kind
of
guy.
He
thinks
outside
the
box.”
“Nobody’s
solved
the
Gaza
problem
in
70
years.
Trump’s
not
going
to
nuke
the
Palestinians,
and
this
will
get
people
thinking
about
new
possible
solutions.”
“It’s
just
Trump’s
way
of
clearing
out
the
Gaza
Strip
so
we
can
start
building
hotels
there.
Now
we
know
that
Gaza
will
be
cleared
out
by
March
14.
We
won’t
have
to
drop
the
bomb.
And
we’ll
move
in
the
bulldozers
on
March
15
to
start
the
new
development.”
“If
Trump
didn’t
threaten
to
nuke
Gaza,
then
no
other
Arab
state
would
have
any
incentive
to
accept
displaced
Palestinians
or
to
contribute
to
a
reconstruction
effort.
Now
that
Trump’s
going
to
nuke
the
Palestinians,
Egypt
and
Jordan
will
have
to
take
in
more
refugees
and
cough
up
some
dough.”
And
of
course
the
right-wing
nutjobs
on
social
media
would
go
further
still:
“Two
million
dead?
It’s
a
start.”
“I
love
Trump.
He
shows
that
America’s
tough.
Now
the
world
respects
us.
Trump
’28!”
As
for
me?
Sometimes,
a
stupid
idea
is
not
brilliant.
Sometimes,
a
stupid
idea
is
just
a
stupid
idea.
Mark Herrmann spent
17
years
as
a
partner
at
a
leading
international
law
firm
and
later
oversaw
litigation,
compliance
and
employment
matters
at
a
large
international
company.
He
is
the
author
of The
Curmudgeon’s
Guide
to
Practicing
Law and Drug
and
Device
Product
Liability
Litigation
Strategy (affiliate
links).
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected].