Before America can stop intervening in the affairs of other nations, it has to rid itself of the baggage that it is the exceptional nation destined to run the world for the benefit of all humanity. From Justin Raimondo at antiwar.com:
President Trump is once again roiling Washington and provoking attacks from both sides of the increasingly irrelevant political spectrum with his pre-Super Bowl interview with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly. Here’s the relevant part of the transcript:
“O’Reilly: Do you respect Putin?
“Trump: I do respect him, but –
“O’Reilly: Do you? Why?
“Trump: Well, I respect a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to get along with him. He’s a leader of his country. I say it’s better to get along with Russia than not. And if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS, which is a major fight – that’s a good thing. Will I get along with him? I have no idea.
“O’Reilly: But he’s a killer, though. Putin’s a killer.
“Trump: There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What do you think – our country’s so innocent?”
The resulting uproar crosses ideological and partisan lines in ways that highlight the President’s role – and his value – as the Great Disruptor. From the worst and most craven apologists for all-things-Clinton, to the little Lenin of neoconservatism and all the usual suspects of right-wing NeverTrumpdom, the chorus of outrage rises like the howling of dogs baying at the moon. David Frum, former neocon enforcer at National Review and now an editor at left-neocon headquarters over at The Atlantic, is apoplectic. A washed up liberal actor who’s long past his expiration date indulges in a little uncharacteristic flag-waving. And the wave of virtue-signaling “patriotic” Trumpophobia rolls on….
What Trump said is something that every ordinary person recognizes – that the US government is not and has not been a conclave of angels. He echoes what every libertarian certainly takes as given: that government is coercion, naked force, and that it routinely kills. Only our political class resists this truism: or, at least, never says it out loud, except on those special occasions when brazen bloodlust is in fashion.
To continue reading: Trump and the End of Innocence
