The right-wing knew for years that McCain was on his way out, and they planned their massive PR offensive, which still unfolds all around us. It's a sickening nationalism with a fake martyr who isn't supposed to be criticized.
For fifty years, John McCain was elevated by the right-wing because of his victim status. Being a captured prisoner of war made him a solid, reliable commodity. His "patriotism" was beyond question. This allowed McCain, or "McNasty" as he was known to his military peers, to rise through the ranks and become one of the most malignant politicians of our lives, selling war after war, supporting any and all blood-drenched tyrants, terrorists, or Nazis who would do business with America. McCain's agenda was the problem, the main problem in the world today. Millions of innocent civilians perished in part due to John McCain's tireless efforts to launch more US wars of aggression, both overt and covert.
John McCain and Lindsey Graham with the head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, Abdelhakim Beladj, who has both Al Qaeda and ISIS links.
Your Empire at Work
Empires persist because of several principles which aren't taught in American K-12 schools. No public school, to my knowledge, dares call America an empire at all, despite it keeping military bases and active soldiers in the overwhelming majority of foreign landson this planet. It is an invisible empire then, and the less the general public knows about it the easier it is to manage. Good guys and bad guys are assigned on the fly, minor bit parts to sell the latest news cycle, nothing more. Often the good guys pop up later as bad guys or vice-versa.
Osama bin Laden in 1993 -- "Good" Guy?
One principle that is obvious and common to every empire since Rome is "bread and circuses." The domestic population is kept at a slightly elevated standard of living--that's the bread--but distracted with entertainment as much as possible, a devil's bargain. Your morals for a wide-screen TV, now shut up and watch it. The people therefore have something to lose, and they aren't educated enough about current global situations to mount any kind of organized challenge to the powers that be. That's the game.
Opportunity cost is the phenomenon that prompts an empire to promote distraction and entertainment. If the people spend their lives watching football, television, or video games, or just fighting with each other over race and religion, then they are not learning about flash points across the globe. The average citizen cannot do both. Few Americans today could locate Syria on a blank map, despite it being the target of US belligerence since at least 2011.
A second principle of running an empire is to outsource your dirty work to your vassals, your "friends." This is about creating a false perception of ethics and morals. Your foreign henchmen serve as proxies to enforce your will on the periphery. You ship them high-tech arms, intelligence, money if need be, in order to exercise control beyond your own borders. Thus, America is in bed with the leaders of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Uzbekistan, Israel, and too many "human rights" abusers to list.
"Progressive" Voices
The problem with political labels is that they don't actually mean much. They cover a wide range of people, views, and agendas.
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