Daniel Read, Distinguished Collaborator
This a repost. Originally published on
Trump is bad. Trump is mean. Trump said this. Trump said that. Trump likes Russians. Russians are awful. Trump is too. Trumpity Trump Trump. Trump.
This is essentially a summary of much of the western “liberal” media since November, or perhaps even prior. A tiresome bombardment of personality-fixated “news” coverage, much of which amounts to more of a botched character assassination than any real analysis of US politics. It’s beyond boring.
Let’s not mistake me, however. I don’t like the bloke. He stands as an apt personification of a sizeable segment of the American ruling order, essentially a man so enthused with self-adoration, avarice and intellectual inadequacy that you at times find yourself wondering if he’s actually real.
This does not excuse the personalised, partisan mewling of a huge proportion of his detractors, however. It’s never ending; a sea of chattering heads, all turning an increasingly deep shade of pink as their liberal sensibilities are further affronted by the presence of a man who says things they don’t like. The horror.
Again, don’t get me wrong. Trump behaves like a clown. He doesn’t seem to be able to control his own mouth. He’s surrounded himself with reactionary trash ill-suited for anything approaching a modicum of responsibility, let alone political office. Yet he hasn’t actually done anything [major], yet, other than shoot his mouth off.
Trump is mean. Trump said this. Trump said that. Trump likes Russians. Russians are awful. Trump is too. Trumpity Trump Trump. Trump. This is essentially a summary of much of the western “liberal” media since November, or perhaps even prior. A tiresome bombardment of personality-fixated “news” coverage, much of which amounts to more of a botched character assassination than any real analysis of US politics.
The duo so missed by liberal America, however, have done much more. Obama and Clinton are responsible for deaths in multiple countries, the modernisation and upgrading of the US nuclear arsenal, the support of fascism in Ukraine, and the intentional exacerbation of military tensions in Eastern Europe. For some remarkable reason this often escapes notice.
Those now feeling annoyed at such claims need to answer honestly and tell me which is worse. Try and avoid any hypothetical abstractions about how “bad” Trump might be at some unspecific future date, and just answer the following. Why are you angry when Trump behaves like a misogynistic fool, yet are silent over Clinton’s support for a regime that murders feminists? Why are you “scared” of Trump’s foreign policy, yet say nothing over Obama’s massive efforts to revamp America’s world-destroying nuclear capability?
Why are you up in arms about Trump’s “white supremacy” yet didn’t even move from your couch over American support for full-blown fascism elsewhere? Why are you raving about what Trump may do with something known as the “Military Industrial Complex” (essentially a point of “original sin” for all of America’s woes, apparently) yet unconcerned whilst Obama floods Eastern Europe with yet more troops?
Why are you so upset about Trump’s latest macho Twitter storm, yet barely registered Clinton’s maniacal bragging over the murder of a North African political leader? Why are you “moved” over Meryl Streep’s “broken heart” in regard to Trump’s alleged mockery of a disabled person, yet were distinctly unmoved (like Streep) as Obama blasted multiple nations across the planet, killing legions of innocent people?
Why are you so suddenly outraged by the machinations of the Kremlin (who else?) yet unconcerned over habitual US aggression towards Russia itself, from “liberal” Bill Clinton’s support for the crushing of the Supreme Soviet to Obama’s intentionally provocative “Missile Defence Shield”? Why do you stutter and whine over Trump’s idiotic ramblings about a wall with Mexico, yet are again remarkably silent over the Democrat’s creation (and Obama’s endorsement) of NAFTA, a predatory arrangement that has inflicted catastrophic harm upon Mexico’s people?
I could go on. If hypocrisy and self-indulgence could be harvested, the US would be the world’s fruit basket. Yet a few points of query have to be stressed. Are you, liberal America, actually concerned, at any point, with the general welfare of the planet, or simply outraged that your own sense of political identity and esteem has been marred by the trauma of defeat?
Are you sincerely looking to engage with the reality of a fundamentally unjust global order, or merely enjoying gesticulating about your own “progressive” credentials in expectation of another pat on the back? Do you genuinely care about the unpardonable suffering we currently bear witness to, or will such concerns fade the moment a suitably photogenic Democrat is back in the White House?
It’s something to give serious thought. And that’s a thing that’s been lacking on the political and journalistic scene for some time. Thought. Real scrutiny. Real study. Holding back and pondering, rather than simply vomiting vitriol into the public sphere for purposes of furthering your own interests. The superficial media coverage of Trump is a case in point. The irritating, myopic hypocrisy of many of his detractors is another.
A paradigm shift would seem to be in order. And what better place to start than via a study of the actual structural mechanics of oppression, that being the presence of a sole superpower enforcing global economic and military hegemony at the expense of most of the population. An entity that has usurped and exterminated entire peoples, devastated nations, brutalised swathes of the global population via economic predation, and is again scrambling, from Europe to the Pacific, to enforce its flailing order via the barrel of a gun. Would that seem to be a pertinent subject, or is feigned outrage at Trump’s latest Tweet more appealing?
The duo so missed by liberal America, however, have done much more. Obama and Clinton are responsible for deaths in multiple countries, the modernisation and upgrading of the US nuclear arsenal, the support of fascism in Ukraine, and the intentional exacerbation of military tensions in Eastern Europe. For some remarkable reason this often escapes notice.
Absolutely spot-on, Daniel. I’m a USAn also “currently holed up in Western Euroope,” and am dismayed to see my adoptive countrymen not much more conscious than the Americans of the realities you describe. The hypocrisy and selfishness runs deep.
Brilliant! And it would be hopeful if I thought the insights and analysis Mr. Read has so elegantly and eloquently offered here could possibly penetrate the thick skulls of America’s faux-progressives. Even the best and brightest of us have been swept along in the tide of emotional infantilism, rendering in-depth, nuanced, constructive, balanced, creative exchanges a distant memory of an age which predated the internet, smart phones, reality TV, ADHD and Twitter.
However, I don’t pine for the past. I grieve for the devolution of homo sapien Americanus, a sub-species which is engineering its own extinction.