In his interview with Sharmini Peries (formerly of Democracy Now!), Lawrence Wilkerson has it exactly right: Whether we’re talking about torture overseer/proponent, Gina Haspel, or raging neocon, John Bolton, the key, defining attribute of both individuals is their astonishing INCOMPETENCE. Like most corporate “journalists” today, Haspel and Bolton are grasping careerists who simply do the bidding of the most rabid of our elites.
(AKA, “Yes Men.” Simpering toads.)
Haspel and Bolton are dead wrong about Venezuela, just as they were 100% wrong about torture’s alleged efficacy and the wisdom of invading Iraq.
I’ll admit that it’s good to see Trump finally squaring off, somewhat, with Bolton, and backing off — at long last — from the establishment’s long-term regime-change op in Venezuela. As much as our last few presidents have endeavored to overthrow the South American democracy that sits upon the world’s largest proven oil reserves, there’s no sane way forward.
(To hell with the plundering plans of Pompeo, Abrams, and Bolton — serial war criminals, all. And if an egomaniacal, narcissistic demagogue, like Trump, is what it takes to scuttle their despotic agenda, so be it… though it seems the neocons are still driving the buggy, where Iran is concerned.)
Before closing, I’ll also note that it’s positively bizarre to see Rachel Maddow urging her “liberal” audience toward sympathy with John Bolton, who — per Maddow — is “only a human being” in addition to being a “fearless truth-teller.” (Poor John Bolton has to deal with “Putin’s puppet” in the White House, aka, Donald Trump: the far-right jerkoff who wants to back away from WWIII.)
Unrecognizable Maddow offers her Bolton apologia in the name of Russiagate and xenophobia — still peddling the New Cold War, because that’s all she knows how to do anymore.
Apparently, this is what happens when the party of the “Left” and the party of the “Right” co-mingle and take turns playing the Hawk. In this Good Cop/Bad Cop waltz/Kabuki, it’s the Blue Team’s turn to warmonger and tout the unimpeachable integrity of various neocons and our noble intelligence agencies.
And what a tragedy that represents for so-called liberals (utterly lost, both to themselves and the actual left).