The Distraction Index

This week saw escalating military involvement in the Middle East as Israel struck Iranian nuclear sites with US air defense support, while Trump threatened Iran with destruction absent a nuclear deal—moves that represent direct US participation in regional conflict with unclear constitutional authorization. Domestically, immigration enforcement operations threaten food supply chain stability, the National Guard remains deployed in Los Angeles following court approval, and federal law enforcement leadership is being used for defamation litigation against media figures, all signaling potential institutional weaponization. Meanwhile, distraction patterns centered on internal administration conflicts, cultural impacts of enforcement actions, and symbolic military events, allowing the more consequential questions about executive power, separation of powers, and constitutional limits on domestic military deployment to recede from public focus.