In modern America, the liberal elite serve as ideological gatekeepers for the depraved agenda of imperialism. They put positive labels on the indefensible acts of the war state, like “liberal interventionism” and “pragmatism.” They voice theoretical opposition to war while helping in, and expanding on, the wars that Republicans openly engage in. At the moment of a war runup, they always back the official narrative about the target country, giving the narrative supposed credence. The consequences of America’s wars are blocked from view by mainstream “left-leaning” media as much as by right-leaning mainstream media.
The plutocracy can’t have it any other way. If the Democratic Party were to challenge corporate and military power, the dualistic party system that’s used to marginalize dissent would be shattered. This is why the party’s leadership is now sabotaging the campaigns of the 2018 Berniecrat candidates, and clearly planning to rig the 2020 Democratic primary against the anti-establishment candidate. Bernie Sanders’ opposition to the empire’s worst excesses, not even nearly as radical as what the hardcore socialists want, is enough to appall the establishment.
The Democratic Party’s tactics for shutting down the antiwar movement are well on display right now amid the ongoing Syria and Russia war escalations. The Trump administration’s illegal and inflammatory strike on Damascus last week was endorsed by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, with just a few senate Democrats strongly opposing it. Anyone who’s pointed out the glaring inconsistencies in the claim that Assad had committed a chemical attack beforehand is attacked as a “far right” conspiracy theorist, or as a Russian agent.
This is how wars are always carried through; the liberal party’s complicity makes the war bipartisan, forcing dissenters out of the conversation. It was done throughout Obama’s war’s with slightly different maneuverings, and it’s being done throughout Trump’s wars just as effectively.
This underlies the fact that for the last couple years, Democrats have been pushing for war escalations like these. It’s been supposedly left-leaning news outlets like MSNBC that have used the still unsubstantiated “Russiagate” scandal to attack Trump from the right, responding with charges of Trump being a Russian agent each time he hasn’t went along with the new cold war agenda. It’s the Democrats’ last presidential nominee who advocated for a no-fly zone in Syria and planned to escalate Syrian involvement, with many Democratic leaders supporting similar policies towards Syria. These Syria strikes, as Norman Solomon has assessed, are “a salute to ‘Russiagate’ enthusiasts, whether they like it or not.”
This war campaign surrounding Syria and Russia has been uniquely dangerous, both because of the multiple ways it could trigger World War III and because it’s involved an intense authoritarianism. In one of the most alarming examples of this, during February the liberal pundit John Stoehr put out an article titled “It’s Time for Democrats to Wave the Flag.” Its message was that Democrats must present themselves as protectors against Russia to attract voters. The absurdity of this plan makes it easy to laugh at. But the open Cold War nationalism that expressions like it represent shows the Orwellian future that the deep state wants to take the country into.
In the last year or so, we have seen major attempts to normalize a war mentality within liberal America: rehabilitations of George W. Bush’s image in corporate media; recruitments of former intelligence heads into networks like MSNBC; a 2018 Democratic candidate slate that includes 57 ex-intelligence or military officials. Militarism, fear of foreign threats, and obedience to established institutions are being drilled into the American people like never before. We need to counter the war state before it either totally dismantles liberty, or leads us into an apocalyptic worldwide conflict.
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