Trump
is uniting those opposed to him on both sides of the aisle into what
is essentially a single party that supports American exceptionalism
and its license to wage endless war around the world. Ironically,
this very precept is fervently embraced by Trump himself.
by
Whitney Webb
Part
3 - Donald Trump’s gift to George W. Bush: popularity
Another
factor that has contributed to the ease with which many on the left
have forgotten Bush’s true legacy is their shock and horror
regarding the current president, Donald Trump. Indeed, so reviled is
Trump that his unfavorability among Democrats has been jet fuel to
Bush’s sudden surge in popularity. Indeed, the poll that found more
Democrats like Bush than dislike him came only a week after Bush
rebuked some of Trump’s policies in a “stunning attack.”
Central
to Bush’s “attack” on Trump as well as criticisms of Trump
raised by other establishment politicians, is the idea that Trump’s
policies are weakening U.S. hegemony and ultimately go against
“American values” and American exceptionalism. Thus, many on the
left who consider themselves to be “anti-Trump,” are now finding
themselves embracing the “exceptional” U.S. empire and
military-industrial complex they once condemned under former
presidents like Bush.
For
instance, a piece by journalist Murtaza Hussain, published by the
Intercept last month decried Trump’s commitment to nationalism as
an indication that he was letting American hegemony fade away.
Hussain wrote:
Through
a network of nearly 800 military bases located in 70 countries around
the globe, in addition to an array of trade deals and alliances. […]
American leaders helped impose a set of rules and norms that promoted
free trade, democratic governance — in theory, if not always in
practice — and a prohibition on changing borders militarily, using
a mixture of force and suasion to sustain the systems that keep its
hegemony intact.
Another
article, published earlier this year at Slate, bemoans “America’s
Abdication” under Trump from protecting the “liberal world
order.” Journalist Yascha Mounk writes:
“Trump’s
ascent to power marks the first time in living memory that the
liberal world order no longer has a powerful defender.” America’s
critics, he warns “will quickly discover that the consequences are
rather less liberating than they have told themselves.”
These
criticisms of Trump, from leftists, echo criticism made by the
establishment right and particularly neo-conservatives. This has
created a bipartisan movement — “the resistance” — that acts
as though the reigning foreign policy consensus of the United States,
built on perpetual war and imperial expansion, is in danger. However,
Trump’s first year in office has made it clear as this is hardly
the case, as his administration is currently led by a junta of
generals, frequently referred to by the corporate media as the
“grown-ups” in the White House.
Trump’s
successful push for a massive increase in military spending, his
decision to unilaterally bomb Syria without evidence, and his push
for U.S. military intervention in North Korea and other nations are
all ignored when he is accused by Democrats and Republicans alike of
“abdicating United States leadership of the world.” Indeed, his
policies – in terms of U.S. war-making – are hardly
distinguishable from the now “lovable” Bush or his immediate
predecessor, Barack Obama.
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