All empires come to an end—some with a whimper, some with a bang. It’s not surprising, therefore, that the American Empire is coming to an end following the usual trajectory—overreach fueled by massive debt and its attendant political corruption and social disintegration at home. However, the decline of the American Empire has been rendered worse than it might have been, causing massive damage to the American brand in the eyes of the world, due to the complete takeover of imperial policy by the Neocon coalition dating back to the Clinton years. The legacy of forever wars with their horrific human and infrastructural devastation gives the lie to the notion that the American Empire has been in the business of spreading “freedom and democracy” around the world, as John Mearsheimer makes clear in 25 words or less (follow link for brief video exchange):
Piers Morgan says the US is "the defender of freedom and democracy around the world", and John Mearsheimer has to keep himself from laughing in his flabby face as he destroys and humiliates him
0:47 / 2:49
Until the Clinton/Neocon takeover of foreign policy there was still a chance that a more traditional US foreign policy might allow for a gradual drawdown of American imperial ambitions, avoiding the debt fueled overreach, although the path would probably still have proven bumpy at times. However, the Neocons injected an overtly ideological element into our foreign policy with their never-a-step-back clinging to their drive for global empire. This has climaxed with the Neocon wars on Russia and on China. Now, the Neocon driven genocide of Palestinian Arabs has led to political conflict at home during a presidential election year, drawing attention to the nature of the decades long Neocon involvement in the Middle East and to the total corruption of our political system—caught in a civil war of sorts between the Prog Left and the Neocon Right, with ordinary Americans serving as proxies.
With that, a bit of a roundup, structured around tweets by Doug Macgregor over the weekend.
Douglas Macgregor @DougAMacgrego
It is now very clear Gaza has been a catastrophe for the Israeli Defense Force.
Clearly it is a failure.
The mission to eradicate, root out and destroy Hamas has failed.
I personally believe Mr. Netanyahu recognizes they have thus far failed in Gaza.
The question is, what will they do next.
Israel's notion of expanding the war to Hezbollah, who will not be easily defeated and conceivably bring in Iran, is a very bad idea.
This disastrous and will bring The United States right back into the fight.
The catastrophic consequences for the US are plain enough to see. We are militarily and economically unprepared for the wars the Neocons are courting. Their ideology demands these forever wars, but the American constitutional order does not.
Our Country Our Choice @OCOCReport
You have two choices.
You can sit back and watch our country get taken over.
Megatron @Megatron_ron
BREAKING:
 According to a new FEC Reports, House Speaker Mike Johnson allegedly received $524,000 from AIPAC.
And a $95,000 payment from a foreign lobby group shortly after the passing of the $14.5 billion military aid package.
Americans are now being subjected to a degree of gaslighting that is unprecedented since, oh, well, the anti-Trump campaigns of the Russia Hoax and now the developing China Hoax. I guess gaslighting on a massive scale is the American Way, at least since the last quarter century of the 20th. But, examples of the civil war being waged on our college campuses, and the coordinated propaganda to hide what’s really going on—the fight for control of American foreign policy—are quite egregious:
Huntington News: Video footage reveals ‘Kill the Jews’ remark used to explain police intervention at Northeastern made by pro-Israel counterprotester in provocation
Katie Halper is a Jew For #CeasefireNow
@kthalps A viral video by @loffredojeremy
captured pro Israel protestors at an NYC rally saying "Palestine my d*ck," "kill all Palestinians" "wipe them off the fu*king map." Don't remember the media covering this racist hate speech at all. Wonder why.
Do you believe in coincidences? Sorry, I don’t. When Fox News talks of “hate filled mobs” storming our college campuses—referring to anti-genocide demonstrators—they know they’re not telling the truth. There is enormous financial pressure being brought to bear to lie to the American people.
All of this is culminating in the trashing of the American brand—the whole world now sees that The Israel Lobby rules America and can force the most degrading behavior on our proxy representatives—Johnson and Zhou, it’s bipartisan:
Megatron @Megatron_ron
BREAKING:
 The US threatens the International Criminal Court in The Hague:
"If you send an arrest warrant to Netanyahu and his ministers, there will be no cease-fire" - Bloomberg reports
The US and its allies are concerned that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials just as the country is getting closer to a cease-fire agreement with Hamas, potentially jeopardizing a deal, people familiar with the matter said. - the article says.
As if the US couldn’t force a cease-fire with one phone call. Americans may be fooled, but few others are.
Douglas Macgregor @DougAMacgregor
Strategically Putin holds all the cards in the Middle East.
He is widely respected in the region and has practiced restraint.
If you look at this like a branding exercise, our branding is seriously damaged in the Middle East.
We look ridiculous and Russia looks strong.
10:22 PM · Apr 28, 2024
And briefly pivoting to the other side of the civil war—it’s hoaxes all the way down!
The author bio says it all about The New Republic’s journalistic standards and the current state of US liberalism
Quote
The New Republic @newrepublic
Are there Republican politicians on Russia’s payroll? It would be foolish, not to mention dangerous, to think we are immune. https://trib.al/G772JIH
But on to Ukraine—now we’re finding out the full scope of the potential betrayal of the American people for the sake of the Neocon war of revenge against Russia:
Ian Jaeger @IanJaeger29
BREAKING: President Biden is reportedly working on a 10 year deal to send Ukraine $1 trillion in military aid and $500 billion in reconstruction loan guarantees and would prevent the next two presidents from cutting off aid.
Zelensky announces that Ukraine is working on a security agreement with the U.S. that will fix levels of support for the next 10 years. The $61 billion was just the beginning. The next two U.S. presidents won’t be able to switch it off.
My personal view, which may be the result of incorrigible optimism, is that a President Trump could probably find a way to switch this insane Ukraine project off. One way or another. The looming disaster for our entire foreign policy is so clear that a way can be found. Nevertheless, Macgregor’s comment on this scheme does point to the danger this places America in. As usual, we tend to forget the effect our policies have on the rest of the world. We tend to assume, oh, it’ll all go away, it doesn’t really mean anything, it’s just DC politics. But, beyond the unsustainable increases in debt, this policy is aimed at a country that we have attempted—and continue in that attempt—to destroy. Russia has lost thousands to tens of thousands of casualties, and the Neocons have forced Russia into destroying a country and inflicting half a million casualties that they never wanted to inflict. Russia did all in its power to avoid war, and now they’re very angry. We should be asking, how does this look to Russia? How will Russia react? Macgregor, for one, does ask these questions, and he doesn’t let Trump off the hook:
Douglas Macgregor @DougAMacgregor
Insanity. Biden’s foolish actions could ensure war with Russia sooner, rather than later.
Trump’s reckless and uninformed support for the new bill could convince Moscow that peace is impossible regardless of whom Americans elect without a Russian advance to NATO’s Easter Border.
Most members waving Ukraine Flags after the passage of the massive funding bill were expressing gratitude for donors who will reward them for voting for this terrible bill.
60-70 % of the cash will most likely not even reach Ukraine and will be circulated through the DC laundry machine to the Department of Defense and the Military industrial complex.
5:05 PM · Apr 28, 2024
Mark. Can you think of a way to focus on our Constitution and bring our country back? I.e., the Constitution is still valid and good, but the implementation is flawed. The administrative state and communist instigators have subverted it. Can we stop that?
We've talked briefly in the past about whether the Z Man is kosher or not. He just wrote a very good article comparing Athens after the Persian defeat to the GAE today. Just like the Athenian democracy after 479BC, the GAE couldn't kick its "war is the solution" mentality and sense that its way of doing things was the only way. https://thezman.com/wordpress/?p=31917