By Mason Mohon | @mohonofficial
The ghost of John McCain has risen to possess the most unlikely host: the Democrats. Trump’s magical aura seems to automatically turn anyone with a (D) in front of their names against him. This occurs regardless of his policy decision. Orange man is always bad. Doesn’t matter what he did, has done, or will do. Orange man is bad, even when orange man is creating a world where fewer people die.
Trump has had a foreign policy record so far that makes me glad to call him my president, even as a staunch anarchist. Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria lead to me impulse-buying a MAGA hat. In addition to that bit of excellent news, he has pulled half of our troops out of Afghanistan. With McCain out of the picture and Mattis sulking in the capitol hill bathrooms, the true meaning of “America First” can come to fruition.
A recent Gallup poll reported that Democrats are now in the lead when it comes to believing that the United States should be the global hegemon. Long gone are the days of pot-smoking hippies espousing love and peace. Here to stay is the new archetypal Democrat: one that believes America is in charge, and if you don’t like it, you can leave!
Trump’s reversals of foreign policy since the Obama era has caught him a lot of flack from Democrats. 92% of Democrats completely oppose Trump’s foreign affairs. He’s pulling us out of international agreements and slowly releasing the Bush-infested tentacle grip slithering into the Middle East thirsting for oil.
The poll compares data from 2010 and 2018. Over the 8 years, 6% more of Republicans have agreed with the sentiment that the U.S. should be the global leader. The Democrats trumped this number with a whopping 20% increase. Gallup explains why:
Now, given the improvement in a number of economic measures, the proportion who say the nation’s most important problem is economic has dwindled to 13%. Meanwhile, the past two years have seen foreign affairs thrust into the consciousness of Americans time and again through the actions of Trump and his administration. Trump’s heavy-handed diplomacy with allies in Europe, Canada and Mexico, contrasted with his light-handed approach to North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Russia, has stirred controversy on a regular basis.
Cognitive dissonance is not fun. When the media has hammered into your mind time and time again that Trump will always do the wrong thing, it makes it impossible for you to see when he does the right thing. This is inevitably only going to lead to more and more cognitive dissonance. American interventionism is and always has been a disaster. When we aim to find our freedoms in some far away underdeveloped country, we only seem to make matters worse for the locals.
Here’s to hoping Trump can keep up this anti-interventionist streak and that Venezuela doesn’t turn into another disaster for the American empire.
