Truth and ideology.
I don’t know how many of you have been following the impeachment
trial of one Donald John Trump. I’ve watched some of the proceedings,
and it has been at various times hilarious, painfully dull, and
infuriating. It seems now, though, that it has come down once again to
the question of whether or not to allow relevant witnesses to testify
before the Senate; particularly former National Security Advisor John
Bolton, whose forthcoming book has been strategically excerpted and
propagated by anonymous reviewers in the White House. With respect to
this, I find myself in rare agreement with Ezra Klein, who this week
commented on how crazy it makes him that we’re all focusing on witnesses
when we already know what the President did …. he said it himself. Whether or not you think that’s enough really just comes down to party affiliation.
Just a word about Bolton. This man is an ideologue and a warmonger. His views are so toxic regarding war and peace that he failed to win confirmation from a Republican Senate back in the 2000s. I don’t know him, but I believe he is neither a Trump acolyte or a never-Trumper. I think it’s likely that he merely saw in Trump an instrument of power – the belief that, though Trump, Bolton could climb higher than he had ever done before and push his policy agenda forward in a way that had been unthinkable previously. Over his brief tenure as NSA, he supported coups in Bolivia and (attempted) in Venezuela, helped carry us to the brink of war with Iran, derailed detente with North Korea, and quite a bit more. Quite a roster of grisly accomplishments in just a few months. Dream come true for that guy.
Iowa Votes. Big week ahead, people, and I don’t mean impeachment. Barring disaster, I’ll do a post on the Iowa Caucuses. Stay tuned.
Just a word about Bolton. This man is an ideologue and a warmonger. His views are so toxic regarding war and peace that he failed to win confirmation from a Republican Senate back in the 2000s. I don’t know him, but I believe he is neither a Trump acolyte or a never-Trumper. I think it’s likely that he merely saw in Trump an instrument of power – the belief that, though Trump, Bolton could climb higher than he had ever done before and push his policy agenda forward in a way that had been unthinkable previously. Over his brief tenure as NSA, he supported coups in Bolivia and (attempted) in Venezuela, helped carry us to the brink of war with Iran, derailed detente with North Korea, and quite a bit more. Quite a roster of grisly accomplishments in just a few months. Dream come true for that guy.
So to all of you center-leftists out there who
may be singing the praises of John Bolton just lately, don’t forget –
he is a walking disaster, book passages or no. His prescriptions for
foreign policy would have us plunging into war again and again. It may
be, though, that he doesn’t feel one way or the other for the President,
thus his willingness to spill. What is obvious is that Bolton got
himself hired by doing a little Trump dance on Fox News, then took up a
position that allowed him to affect the course of American foreign
policy in a meaningful way. That’s all he cares about. Trump can be
damned, or not … it depends on what’s best for Bolton’s agenda.
Iowa Votes. Big week ahead, people, and I don’t mean impeachment. Barring disaster, I’ll do a post on the Iowa Caucuses. Stay tuned.
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