On Inauguration Day 2017—A Reevaluation of Terms

by Brad Benson

On the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States it would seem to be appropriate to reevaluate the meaning of long-used political terms which, subsequent to the advent of President Donald J. Trump, have now lost all meaning.
Terms such as “liberal” and “conservative” were already obsolete by the time of the 2016 Election Campaign. For that matter, we have had Neo-Liberal Interventionists and Neo-Cons for at least 16 years and there is no qualitative difference between the two—at least insofar as our Regime Change Wars are concerned.
The term “Progressive” is also dangerously misused. It is derived from the route-word “progress” and no logical definition of this term includes war. Further, because aggressive war abroad reaps the collateral damage of moral decay and social collapse at home, there can be no expectation of real progress at home so long as our foreign wars of aggression continue.
And what would real “progress” at home mean? Should it really be defined by how many people have been elevated from the poverty level or how many jobs are created per month? No one believes any of these official Government Statistics anymore and even the most gullible believer in our brand of “democracy” knows that these reports are always designed to enhance the prestige of some pompous official or bloated Federal Agency.
In a healthy, war-less economy, true “progress” would be obvious, as it was in the very short period following the aftermath of WWII. In real terms it would mean a new baby boom across all ethnic groups and social strata—one which no one could deny. Our kids would be given an education that would measure up to the highest standards in the world instead of the lowest.
Outdoor sports and healthy behavior would be encouraged through an efficient public school system, while farm-grown food would AGAIN be a regular feature on well-stocked family tables. There would be a feeling of raised expectations, as there was with the advent of a young Kennedy Family, however flawed they may actually have been, when considered under the light of 50 years of hindsight.
In the age of Obama and Queen Wannabee Clinton I, there have been a whole lot of people who love to call themselves “Progressives”, but yet willfully averted their eyes from the increase in secret domestic spying; torture; drone murders; extrajudicial assassinations of US Citizens; Regime Changes; arm sales to Israel; and the 30 year, $1 Trillion nuclear arms build-up.
Don’t avert your eyes now. Here are the details you missed, even as Obama is now being idealized and lionized “for the ages”.
Then there are the so-called “progressives” in the Democratic Party who supported Hillary Clinton—a War Criminal and Mass Murderer who blind-sided her feckless boss when she overthrew the democratically elected government of the Ukraine and who stood down when the legitimately elected government of the Honduras was violently overthrown.
Finally, there are those high-minded “progressives”, corporate leftists and Hollywood Losers who ardently supported the WAR MACHINE over the allegedly evil, racist Trump in the most recent election. These people are the true fools of our times, deceiving themselves into believing that their vote for Hillary was a vote to save us all from “Fascism”.
The fact is that we are already living under a 21st Century Iteration of Fascism, which has been called “inverted Fascism”, because it reverses the concept of the messianic “strong man” with that of Deep State Control, as supplemented by a Presidential Front-man, who can be replaced on a regular basis or taken out as needed.
So get off your high horses and realize that, notwithstanding anything Trump said during his campaign, much of which was intentionally misreported, the FACT is that his opponent was and remains a sociopath and a killer. Therefore, no one who supported Hillary Clinton, or otherwise voted for her as some sort of perverse lesser-of-two-evils choice, can call themselves a “Progressive”.
As for the ideologue “lefties” who stayed away and the purists who believe that voting is a waste of time, good for you. I have been tempted to do the same thing on several occasions in the past. However, in this case, the situation had come too far and Trump offers the only real chance that the people may yet have to rescue this country from the Deep State Thugs that offer nothing but more war, domestic spying, militarized police and the ultimate collapse of the Empire.
Meanwhile Trump offered to end our stupid wars and bring about rapprochement with the Russians. Therefore, in an election that ultimately may have determined the survival of humanity, Trump was by far and away the best choice, if only based upon his promises to defuse the New Cold War.
So it’s time for all you liberals, neo-liberals, faux progressives and garden variety lefties to quit crying about the election defeat and count your blessings that the WAR CRIMINAL did not win. Get to work rebuilding a viable organization that really supports social causes and works to end our wars. Perhaps then, you will have an argument.
Meanwhile, I am a true, anti-war Progressive and I am proud to have voted against a WAR CRIMINAL and for a man who promises to deliver peace. He may not deliver on any single promise, but he remains a better gamble than to vote for someone who was promising WW III.
Therefore, I will support him until he commits his first War Crime and so should you. He’s our last chance to save what’s left of this dying Empire and he will need all of our help. His inaugural speech today elaborated on this clarion call against the establishment. Unfortunately, few on the “left” appear to have been listening.

see also The Beatification of Barack Obama

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