One of the great tricks of the neoconservatives was to reshape opposition to radical causes into support for their own radical projects. In the early days, this allowed normal people to strongly oppose limits on corporate power, in the name of fighting the communist threat from the Soviets. Alternatively, working class people could support the military industrial complex as their patriotic duty. Their own interests and genuine opposition to the Left was always secondary.

After the Cold War, this game rapidly evolved so that so-called conservatives supported a massive expansion of government, as well as a massive expansion of foreign policy entanglements, all in the name of freedom. Most conservative people assumed the end of the Cold War meant America could go back to being a normal country again, but those feelings were quickly channeled into new causes. The old tricksters were up to their old tricks, turning virtues into vices.

This is why conservatism never conserved anything. In the Reagan years, the conservatives were too busy fighting the Soviets to roll back the cultural revolution or clean up the welfare state. In the Bush years they were too busy spreading freedom and smart bombs to address domestic concerns. Despite promising to promote conservative causes, conservatives instead found some war to fight. Meanwhile, the bad guys got to run riot in the culture.

You can see the same game emerging with the war against Russia. The deception here is another version of the big lie. This time the villain is Putin, who for no reason at all, attacked Ukraine. All that opposition to perverts in sundresses and bigots spewing antiwhite propaganda in the classroom is being channeled into opposing Putin in order to defend our democracy. Normal people are supposed to be mad at Putin rather than the sorry state of their own country and its leaders.

You see how this works in this Victor Davis Hanson post. The goal of the post is to divert opposition to the regime’s foreign policy into a Republican brand of the same policies toward Russia. You see, the reason that dude in a dress is chasing your daughter around the classroom is Obama was soft on Russia. Biden is following the same policies, which is why things are so bad. He uses some form the word “appeasement” nine times, because, you know.

Of course, the column is also an attempt to whitewash the neoconservative involvement in the current crisis. You see, it is not the people who started this war with Russia who are to blame for the fallout. No, it is some guy off stage who is turned into the Emmanuel Goldstein of this show. He is the one who set the wheels in motion and all the people currently running foreign policy, all members of the same Trotsky cult, coincidentally enough, are just victims like you.

The truth is this war has its roots much further back than Obama. If you want to point to an incident as a starting place, it would be American involvement in the Balkan war during the Clinton years. American support for Kosovo against Serbia was the start of a new conflict with Russia. At the time, it was viewed in Moscow as a deliberate offense to the Russians. In the years that followed, this affair has become a warning for the Russians about what Washington plans for them.

There are other capers that could be a starting point. Washington supporting Georgia against South Ossetia in the Bush years is a good example. The neocons wanted to add Georgia to NATO. The Russians made clear that they saw this as a provocation, as well as another broken promise. Washington had promised Moscow after the fall of the Soviet Union that NATO would not expand to the Russian border. In other words, the neocons have been at this for a long time.

Of course, one does not have to go back that far to see the grimy fingerprints of the Trotskyites in the current crisis. Victoria Nuland, who is running Russia policy for Biden, was the person running Ukraine policy for Obama. She was right there on the ground when Washington overthrew the Ukrainian government in 2014. She is pals with Ihor Kolomoyskyi, the Ukrainian oligarch who backed Zelensky. The point is this is another neocon war that runs against American interests.

It also needs to be pointed out that Hanson supported all of the neocon misadventures going back to the Clinton years. He wanted Clinton to take an even tougher stance in the Balkan conflict. You will note that the neocons used the same language against Clinton as they are using now against Biden. He was not tough enough against this new Hitler from the hinterlands. Hanson, of course, supported the Bush wars. He also supported the Georgia – South Ossetia caper.

The point of Hanson’s post is to make sure no one turns over any of these rocks with regards to the neocons and Russia policy. Instead, the game is to channel general opposition to the Biden administration into an even more deranged hatred of Russia and Vladimir Putin. All your troubles will go away conservatives, if you just hate the Russians more and vote harder this November. It is a clever trick that works on a gullible but trusting population.

This is why foreign policy must become a litmus test. There are no American interests in the Ukraine, South Ossetia or Tajikistan. Not only does meddling in these areas invite trouble, but it also diverts attention from important matters. Building superhighways in Afghanistan did not shorten a single commute in America. “Standing with Ukraine” does not stop the flood of invaders over the southern border. What these foreign adventures do is divert attention from America’s real problems.

Given that all of these foreign escapades over the last thirty years trace back to the same Trotsky cult, the real litmus test is neoconservatism. Back before most people were born, they hollowed out conservatism and have used to as a Trojan horse to trick decent people into supporting that which is against their interests. A genuine conservative policy with regards to Russia would oppose Biden for meddling in the affairs of Russia, not demand more meddling.

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