by William Skink

Donald Trump, like Barack Obama, said a lot of shit to get elected, then transformed once in office. Plenty of Obama supporters couldn’t make the cognitive shift to acknowledge they had been played. Similarly, plenty of Trump supporters also refuse to acknowledge Trump suckered them with populist rhetoric.

Pointing this out won’t mean anything if it comes from a source with even a hint of liberal/left ideology. That’s why I’m glad Michael Krieger at Liberty Blitzkrieg wrote this post, where he says things like this:

Though not surprising, it’s nevertheless extraordinary to watch Donald Trump publicly and shamelessly morph into a George W. Bush era neocon when it comes to foreign policy, and a CNBC stock market cheerleader when it comes to the economy. Just like Barack Obama before him, Trump talked a good populist game on two issues of monumental importance (foreign policy and the rigged economy), but once elected immediately turned around and prioritized the core interests of oligarchy.

Trump doesn’t even give lip service to big picture populist topics anymore unless they’re somehow related to the culture war, which works out perfectly for the entrenched oligarchy since the culture war primarily serves as a useful distraction to keep the rabble squabbling while apex societal predators loot whatever’s left of this hollowed out neo-feudal economy.

The pivot toward status quo consensus when it comes to two of the most existential issues facing the nation should be deeply concerning to everyone, but particularly to those who thought Donald Trump would be different. When it comes to militarism and empire, Trump’s hypocrisy and bait and switch is one for the record books. Just as it became clear Obama was a fraud once he hired Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner (we later found out his cabinet was apparently chosen by Citibank), Trump placing neocons Mike Pompeo and John Bolton into key positions was a clear sign you could take “Make America Great Again” and flush it down the toilet. This administration is now laser focused on maintaining and even expanding imperial reach.

I know putting the names Trump and Obama in the same sentence and then suggesting there’s any kind of similarity short-circuit’s partisan brains, but there IS a dangerous continuity when it comes to the reckless imperial overreach of an empire in decline.

Take Libya. It amazes me, as I listen to “liberal” NPR, how casually the voices gloss over the fact Gaddafi was overthrown during Obama’s reign because fake news was used to claim an impending humanitarian crisis that was then immediately exploited with NATO peace bombs. Then, after Gaddafi was summarily executed, Libya was left to devolve into a nation where human slaves are sold in daytime markets.

Montana Public Radio is currently panhandling the public airwaves for money. If you appreciate how you’ve been lied to for 2 years about Russiagate, make sure to give them a nice handout so they can continue making Trump’s reelection prospects great again.