In
an essay written for “The Nation”, Gary Younge has
underscored a point that I have been making for some time. That is,
Caesar Disgustus should not, and indeed cannot, be treated as an
aberration.
“When
Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreau visited Washington in 1964”
Younge begins, “he
made no secret to President Lyndon Johnson of his displeasure with
the US-backed proposal to partition Cyprus. The Greek ambassador
later told Johnson that 'no Greek government could accept such a
plan. The American president replied: 'Fuck your parlaiment and your
constitution. America is an elephant, Cyprus is a flea. Greece is a
flea. Zif these two fellows continue itching the elephant, they may
just get whacked by the elephant's trunk, whacked good...
America
has a consistent history of treating smaller, weaker, poorer nations
with contempt. The litany of sponsored coups, assassinations
(attempted and achieved), and guerrilla-backed incursions, not to
mention threats, is to long to go into here” (1)
Indeed,
the United States in an exercise of 'gunboat diplomacy', and one of
the many “Banana Wars”, occupied Haiti in 1915 putting the
nation under the direct control of the Marine Corps. The Marines
stayed 19 years (2). Haiti is a case in point for if it can now be
characterized, as Disgustus has recently, a 'shithole' country, the
United States bears much of the responsibility for it being so.
The
same is true of the Dominican Republic when Teddy Roosevelt,
proclaiming his famous corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, sent in the
military in 1905 securing “ Dominican
agreement for U.S. Administration of Dominican customs, which was the
chief source of income for the Dominican government. A 1906
agreement provided for the arrangement to last 50 years”. (3)
The imperious hand of 'great power' always administering for others
what is deemed they cannot do for themselves. Such is the contempt
in which the 'others' are held. They are, it is held—even in
'enlightened' circles, so underdeveloped,
so
immature.
Younge
understands that the sentiments of Disgustus “should
be understood as firmly in the tradition of official US immigration
and foreign policy, not as an aberration. As such, liberal
indignation has to engage with two important and challenging issues
when it comes to Trump's bigotry, be it leaked, tweeted, or
officially proclaimed. First, it is not unique to him but has been a
structural feature of the polity for some time, even when individual
leaders have not embraced it. Second, this would not be possible
without broad consent from a considerable section of American
society. Liberals and progressives need to come to terms with the
fact that not only was it possible for such an openly racist
candidate to get elected, but that this could never have happened if
the country weren't more racist than they had previously believed”.
(4)
Of
course, the United States is not alone in its myopic condescension.
All 'great' powers have exhibited like tendency, some—including the
United States—horrifically so. One has only to gain cursory
acquaintance with world history to achieve some understanding of
human inhumanity. But because of our stature and our continual
protestations of innocence, we have blinded ourselves to what has
been and continues to be universal observation in much of the rest of
the world. As Younge so eloquently concludes:
“But
a shift in tone should not be mistaken for a shift in policy or
practice, lest one start to give Trump far more credit than he is
due. He didn't introduce racism, xenophobia, and imperial disdain
into the state any more than Barack Obama, by his presence alone,
could get rid of them. What is new about this moment is its
appalling clarity. The patina of plausible deniability that shrouded
a culture of systemic exclusion has been stripped away with great
fanfare. Nobody is pretending anymore.” (5)
Caesar
Disgustus brings with him the end of pretense, the end of American
exceptionalism, the end of The American Ideal. He makes a mockery of
the constitutional charge to 'create a more perfect union'. He
defiles the very concept of the 'City on a Hill'. Disgustus is the
quintessential 'Boomer', the ultimate vandal. He has assassinated
our dream.
“an'
Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh.
Impeach
and Imprison.
_____________
- Younge, Gary. “Trump's Appalling Clarity, The president's racism is in keeping with the long history of U.S. Foreign policy”. The Nation February 12/19 2018 pp 10-11
- Op. Cit
- Ibid
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