Mere days after promoting Mike "I'm going to make the CIA a much more vicious agency" Pompeo to Hillary Clinton's old job as Secretary of State, President Trump has replaced his National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster with John Bolton, who Glenn Greenwald just described as "unstable, monstrous and bloodthirsty," and "an actual sociopath in the clinical sense of that term."
Greenwald is not being hyperbolic; there is no more bloodthirsty a war hawk in Washington than John Bolton. Just last month he authored an article for the Wall Street Journal arguing in favor of a preemptive strike on North Korea, in which he cited a quote from Pompeo as part of his argument. Bolton calls for regime change in every rival of the US empire on a regular basis, he knowingly advanced lies to help manufacture support for the Iraq invasion, he revived the US-Russia arms race by leading America's withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, advocates more escalations with both China and Russia, and has spent his entire career pushing for death and destruction at every opportunity.
This latest move makes it abundantly clear that wars are planned, and a team is being assembled to help facilitate them. There is only one thing John Bolton knows, and that's killing. He would not be appointed to National Security Advisor (a position which does not require Senate approval) unless large amounts of killing were planned. That is what John Bolton does. It is what he is for. He is a weapon.
So I think it's fair to say that anyone who voted for Trump who considers themselves anti-war or anti-interventionist has officially run out of valid reasons to support this president. His cabinet is filling with more and more neoconservative war hawks for a reason, and war is the one and only thing that John Bolton is known for. He is the keystone in a blood-soaked archway.
So far the best argument being advanced by the MAGA crowd in defense of this decision is that Trump doesn't have to listen to Bolton's advice, but why would Trump hire someone with a permanent throbbing erection for mass slaughter and then ignore everything that comes out of his furry little mouth? You don't appoint a warmongering psychopath to a position previously held by two generals because you want to hear his opinions about the latest season of The Voice.
The other justifications being advanced all fall in line with an article I wrote a while back titled "Three Stupid, Annoying Things People Often Say When Defending Trump", those three things being "Hillary would have been worse," "Trump is playing 57-D chess," and "Trump is fighting the deep state!" Babbling about Hillary Clinton is never a legitimate defense of actual things this president is currently doing in real life, the "3-D chess" argument has already been done to death by Obama's supporters, and Trump is not fighting the deep state, he's serving it.
McMaster was already scary. Bolton is vastly more terrifying. And now we will find out if Trump supporters really stand where they claim to.
Fifteen years ago, the Republican party spearheaded the charge into Iraq. Now, all signs point to it being used to lead us into Iran, North Korea, and God knows where else. Do you want your name to be part of that, my MAGA friends?
I have many followers who voted for Trump. This is not what you voted for. Make your voices heard. Make it known that you do not consent to any military interventionism. Stand against this as you wished Obama's supporters would have stood up against that president's bloodbaths around the globe.
Demand peace from your leaders. Be the change you want to see in the world. Thank you.
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