How Clinton, Blair and Obama paved the way for Donald Trump by destroying the idealism of politics

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Paul Jay of the Real News spoke with the famous actor Gabriel Byrne in an interesting interview about politics and other issues.

Byrne describes the disappointment of the people when Blair and Obama were elected, as they were expecting a real progressive turn in politics. As Byrne says characteristically, Tony Blair "destroyed the idealism of politics for so many people,":

There was an interesting parallel between British politics and American politics. When Margaret Thatcher was finally voted out of office, Tony Blair arrived, and Tony Blair arrived like a rock star. He was mobbed in the streets, people were saying, "At last, Thatcherism is over. Conservatism is finished, we now have the savior."

What Tony Blair subsequently did, was he betrayed all the ideals of the traditional labor party, he became Thatcher with a different colored tie on him. He destroyed the idealism of politics for so many people, and a similar thing happened here when Obama was elected, in that everybody was saying, "Oh my god, this was our savior. This is the man who is no longer George Bush."

What Byrne describes is actually the full adoption of neoliberalism by the Democrats in the US and the Labour Party in the UK.

People thought that they were about to escape Thatcherism and Reaganism, but this was actually the time where both the US and the UK were completely taken over by the neoliberal doctrine under which the establishment political parties became one big party under the control of the plutocracy.

Clinton, Blair and Obama continued the agenda of their conservative predecessors, which included devastating wars around the globe, as well as deregulations in favor of the banks and the big companies, Wall Street bailouts, further destruction of the social state against the majority of the people.

This was the full adoption of Thatcher's 'There is no Altrnative', which helped inequality reach unprecedented levels. People felt betrayed by the parties that are supposed to be on their side. But nothing was left from FDR's heritage.

So now, the Democrats have the audacity to blame everyone but themselves for the fact that the US ended up with one of the worst presidents in its history. They blame the Russians, Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein, progressive voters, alternative media, WikiLeaks, Whistleblowers. Full arrogance, zero self-criticism, total denial.

The Dems appear to be so much blinded by the corporate money that they are unable to look in the past and trace the roots of today's situation. How the US ended up with someone like Trump? That's easy. People got so fed up with the neoliberal establishment that they desperately turned to the first nominee that would promise to fight it. Even if he was just an alternative for the establishment itself ...