The Moral Bankruptcy of the Left
Trump Derangement Syndrome leads to moralizers supporting mass murderers
It wasn’t but 20 years ago that the left considered the scourge of humanity to be George W Bush, but due to the incompetence and stupidity of W, much of the ire was directed toward Dick Cheney, his Vice President.
About as emblematic a figure of the deep state as ever there was, Dick Cheney served in the Nixon, Ford, George H. W. Bush and George W Bush White Houses, constantly pushing for more war, centralization of power, and suspension of civil liberties. Along with his political positions of power, he also sat on the board of the Council of Foreign Relations, and was chairman of the board of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000. He is most infamous for his behind the scenes orchestration of the War in Iraq, the PATRIOT Act, and his staunch support of “enhanced interrogation techniques.” This mass murdering maniac was rightly reviled by many a left winger in the early 2000’s.
But apparently all it takes to soften anti-war left wingers is a charismatic young black man who wins a Nobel Peace Prize before he escalated us from two to seven active conflicts. Concern for the preservation of civil liberties and the overturning of Habeas Corpus dried up amidst fervent cheers that hope and change had entered the White House.
The Obama presidency was a fever dream for the neocons. They had to rebrand themselves into “liberal interventionists” as the Dick Cheney/George W Bush related term “neocon” was unpopular, but they were able to ramp up tensions with Russia, Libya, Iran, and side with Al Qaeda and ISIS against Assad in Syria and against the Houthis in Yemen. Things were looking good for neoconservatives going into the 2016 election with Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton as likely nominees for each party.
However, a wrench in the cog had arrived. By no means an anti-interventionist or peacenik, Donald Trump was simply willing to blast Jeb Bush on stage and tell him that the Iraq War was a “big fat mistake” and that we had no idea who the people in Syria we were supporting against Assad shared allegiance with. He also dared to say that he would “try to get along with Putin.”
After Donald Trump’s upset victory, the neocons took two different strategies. Some like Robert Kagan and Bill Kristol would leave the Republican Party behind, and some like John Bolton and Mike Pompeo would infiltrate the Trump administration and continue to push the Republicans toward international conflict. But to the Cheneys and the Bushes, Donald Trump was a pariah who had personally assaulted and insulted them on the main stage in 2016 and started turning the popular tide of the GOP against the Bush dynasty. This was inexcusable to them.
Trump ended up being disappointingly prone to war compared to the hopes of many antiwar supporters. He ramped up tensions between the US and Russia, Iran, China, and unrelentingly backed the Israelis and Saudis against their adversaries. However, his public attacks against George W Bush and former GOP favorites like John McCain and Mitt Romney alienated him from reconciliation with many. This is the true irony, as almost all of Trump’s decisions have been in line with the neocons. It is obvious their hatred for him is theatrical and personal.
Blinded by their irrational hatred for Donald Trump, many Democrats and progressives have come to the defense of some of the United States’ worst warmongering mass murderers including John McCain, John Bolton, Mitt Romney, and now even Liz Cheney. Now, looking at a purely voting record-based approval, it is sad that left wingers would support Hillary Clinton, but at least there is a thin veneer of cultural preference. However, the support for Liz Cheney is staggeringly baffling.
Liz Cheney is a spitting image of her father. A staunch supporter of interventions overseas, a cheerleader for torture, and more power grabs by the intelligence agencies, she represents absolutely nothing that the early 2000’s liberal voter would have claimed to stand for. But she is constantly lauded as “the only Republican willing to stand up for the Constitution.”
Really? What about Article 1 Section 8 that explicitly gives the power to declare war ONLY to a majority vote from Congress? Liz Cheney lauded Trump’s unilateral bombing campaigns in Syria, but protested his moves to remove troops from Syria or Afghanistan. She believed he should have the power to go to war on his own but not to bring troops home.
What about the 4th Amendment?
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Liz Cheney is a demon. She wants to send young men and women to die for her political experiments overseas just like her father, and hates Trump because he didn’t want to fight forever in Syria or Afghanistan, and because he rightly called her father a liar, and his legacy of the Iraq War a “big fat mistake.” Any Democrat or self-respecting left winger should be absolutely ashamed to stand with Cheney.
Reed, im becoming more impressed with your skills of creative writing and constructing how your story flows. This was probably one of the best articles you have summarized so far. Thank you for sharing it. The establishment Left portrays itself as the "moral" compass in the political spectrum, but, as you clearly outlined it in these few examples, they are a spiritually broken sect of government.
HOT FIRE, dude! One of your best yet.