What Working with Trump Means

McCain and Graham want to tighten the sanctions screws on Iran — yet again. Trump spoke very strong words against the Iran deal, and these two war-niks find it easy pickings to link up to Trump on an anti-Iran policy. Furthermore, “Defense hawks in both chambers also agree with Trump’s pledge to get rid of limits on military spending imposed by previous budget deals, move Israel policy to be more friendly to the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and roll back the Obama administration’s moves to normalize relations with Cuba.” Since Trump has also urged vigorous attacks on ISIS, the pro-military-war-Israel lobby finds plenty to like in the new president.

This lobby loves power and strength. It loves military spending and weaponry. It loves its positions in and out of government that preach enemies, national security and defense spending. It loves military technology and military profits. It extols the armed forces.

The whole show is its idea of manlihood, its display of aggressiveness. What? Are its proponents impotent or sexually dysfunctional? Is this their only way of demonstrating their manhood?

This lobby loves to bully other countries. It loves to expand the U.S. empire and push it to its limits. It loves to be pugnacious and antagonistic. Its thirst for domination and subjection of other countries is insatiable. Every victory and every defeat equally whet its appetite for more and more and more. The most ardent and zealous members of this lobby are truly cuckoo madmen.

Working with Trump will be easy for all sorts of other lobbies too, due to the eclectic or idiosyncratic nature of the Trump agenda. He will welcome deal-making on some grounds with those who may be antagonists on other grounds. Trump’s ignorant delusions will open him up to all sorts of partnerships with odious interest groups. His lack of a firm grounding in a philosophy of justice (as in natural law) will result in vast disappointment from those who voted for him and those who think that he represents some sort of revolution, populist or otherwise. Trump’s policies will rapidly turn out to belong to the same genus as other recent presidents, naturally with some differences. He will not search out and destroy the people, policies and most importantly, the ideas and fundamental positions, that are destructive of the America he loves and wants to rebuild.

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