There are Democrats whose views on foreign policy are indistinguishable from those of John Bolton.
Hillary Clinton, for one.
But President-Elect Sanders would never have nominated any of them as Secretary of State.
Whereas President-Elect Trump is on course to nominate Bolton.
Trump is barely a member of the Republican Party, but he is starting to realise that he is now dependent on it.
And the Republican Party has defined itself as the War Party for 15 years and counting.
Nor was it as pacific or as unencumbered as it sometimes likes to make out that it was even before that.
America's first war to defend the Kuwaiti and Saudi Royal Families was waged by the first President Bush.
America's first war to defend the Kuwaiti and Saudi Royal Families was waged by the first President Bush.
The only hope lies with the people who are now in pole position to take over the Democratic Party.
As they would have done this year, had it not been for the crooked activities of what is now the completely discredited Democratic National Committee.
Hilarious, isn't it? Trump was supposed to be a return to some imaginary paleocon Golden Age (when? Henry Kissinger?), but his Secretary of State is going to be either Gingrich, bad enough, or Bolton, horrific. That's the GOP. That's where it now is. In many ways that's where it's always been. All those primary voters who wanted opponents of the Iraq war and as you say the first Gulf war as long ago as 1990 to be sent to the electric chair, and they meant it? They've not converted to the editorial position of antiwar.com or the American Conservative. They either didn't know or didn't care what they were voting for this year. They only cared who they were voting against. They probably thought it was Clinton who was some kind of peacenik. But the Dems are Bernie's party now. He has completely redefined it.
ReplyDeleteTrump only wanted to win President, not to be President. Will he seek a second term to take him till he's 78? It's not like he needs the money. This will all be over soon enough.
ReplyDeleteI cleave to the hope that, since Bush, from within the Republican mainstream, could not get Bolton confirmed as UN Ambassador, then Trump has no chance of getting him confirmed as Secretary of State.
ReplyDeleteBut I know the truth. Bush changed the Republicans into a party that would not confirm in a foreign policy role anyone who did not hold views such as Bolton's. Not that Bush had to try very hard. The paleocons have never been the mainstream of the party.