Anyone who was expecting National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster to provide some voice of reason within the Trump regime can give up that dream. Not only has McMaster provided a ready defense for Trump’s worst outrages, his name appears on this May 25 editorial which is one of the most genuinely disturbing pieces of writing to emerge from the whole Trump era. Titled “America first doesn’t mean America alone,” the article, coauthored by Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn, is intended to be a statement that the revived “America First” movement need not seem discouraging to allies or threatening to others. But both the tenor and the content of the editorial lay out a claim to authority that should be frightening to everyone, inside or outside the United States.
President Trump just returned from nine days in the Middle East and Europe that demonstrated his America First approach to ensuring security and prosperity for our nation. America will not lead from behind. This administration will restore confidence in American leadership as we serve the American people.
It’s hard to think about Trump’s foray into the world without thinking of his utter embarrassment before leaders of Europe, his awkward meeting with the Pope, and his surprisingly weak and tentative actions in Israel. But if McMaster and Cohn stopped with a defense of Trump’s often lackluster, sometimes laughable trip abroad, this would be a rather harmless addition to the mass of material produced in an effort to create a buffer between Trump’s bumbling and public perception. However, the editorial swiftly moves to the heart of an argument that’s little less than chilling.
The president embarked on his first foreign trip with a clear-eyed outlook that the world is not a “global community” but an arena where nations, nongovernmental actors and businesses engage and compete for advantage. We bring to this forum unmatched military, political, economic, cultural and moral strength. Rather than deny this elemental nature of international affairs, we embrace it.
Not only do the pair dismiss the idea of international cooperation in a passing sentence, invoking a world red in tooth and claw, they go on to declare that America possess “unmatched military, political, economic, cultural and moral strength.” This is more than an announcement that America is the world’s policeman or the planet’s father. It’s a declaration of godhood.
from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2sfjGmP
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