Imperialism and Polls
We know one thing for sure: Trumps wants to be seen as the greatest president there ever was. But he’s not stupid. He sees that the American public doesn’t agree with him—yet. His net popularity rating is minus 12.
Sure, he can claim that all the polls lie but he knows better. He’s always been obsessed by ratings, and he wants them them up fast. And that, I believe, is one of the reasons for his overt imperialist adventure, arresting Maduro and making a claim on Venezuelan oil. Maybe he also believes that taking the oil will drive down U.S. energy prices so that “affordability” concerns will no longer turn consumers against him, though this is almost certainly wrong.
But there is no doubt he’s also worried that unless his popularity changes, the Democrats will gain control of not only the House but also the Senate, putting a major dent in his ability to do as he pleases. So, he appears to be betting the farm that military adventures in Latin America and sword rattling over ever-peaceful Greenland will rally the public behind him, sending his ratings to new heights and leading the Republicans to victory in 2026. It’s called wagging the dog.
Historically, he might not be wrong. Successful expansionist military adventures have led to rallying around the flag: The Mexican-American War (1846-1848) gave us the annexation of Texas and the territories of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. The Spanish-American War of 1898 removed Spain from the Western Hemisphere and gave the U.S. control of the Philippines. Teddy Roosevelt gained a great deal of positive press by leading his Rough Riders up San Juan Hill in Cuba. Quick and dirty wars against weaker adversaries are often good politics.
Are they this time around? We don’t know for sure yet, but early poll results are not promising for Trump. As expected, the Republicans overwhelmingly support the imperialist adventure, and the Democrats overwhelmingly do not. But the all-important independents vociferously oppose the ousting of Maduro, 43 percent to 26 percent.
Another easy way to increase public support is promoting the never-ending War on Drugs. I’m sure Trump believes that blowing up the drug-running boats has helped and will continue to help his ratings. But maybe not, especially when these extrajudicial murders aren’t argued for and supported by the public release of any evidence. Using military force to attack boats suspected of bringing drugs into the U.S. is supported only by 53 percent to 47 percent, even though nearly everyone supports less narcotics in the U.S..
But isn’t stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. a good, something that we all should support? Sure, it sounds good. Addictive life-threatening drugs are a social bad, but prohibition never, ever works. If we as a society want to get high, that demand will somehow be fulfilled, always. Increased enforcement provides a textbook example of how to raise the price of drugs while increasing employment in the drug-enforcement complex. Prohibition, from the 19th Amendment to the Sinaloa Cartel, usually drives up the profits of the traffickers as cuts in supply lead to price increases. Like everything else in America, poorer drug users will face an affordability crisis, while rich users won’t notice. But in no case will the drugs stop flowing. There is just too much money in it due to our very human desire to feel good.
What happens next? As ratings sag I truly worry that Trump, egged on by Steven Miller, who truly is off his rocker, will go after Greenland. They seem to believe that expanding the U.S. to the north will be viewed with great pleasure by the American public, like the Louisiana Purchase from France and the buying of Alaska from Russia. Why? Because it shows we’re tough, and tough guys always are admired. Miller said it clearly to Jake Tapper on CNN:
“We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power,” he said. “These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”
I try to stay positive about what we can achieve in this country. I’m calling for a new political organization of working people to promote progressive populism, especially in red America. Finding ways to empower working people in our political system is my lifelong mission. But that mission will be derailed if we allow our nation to stomp all over our friends and neighbors just because our president and his minions get high by pushing weaker countries around.
If we can’t stop our country from taking over Greenland, I will cry.
You sound depressed. I feel bad that you do given all your hard work for us, the union remnants of the suffering majority working class. You've written about domestic neglect by the D party elite; no need to go there again.
If Trump were gone, the econ system would still be kept by neolib Ds and so would imperialism. Biden's Dept. of State was run by neocons trained by Dick Cheney. They're dominant among the D party elite. The difference is the Ds are smooth and clever in contrast to inarticulate and blatantly power mad Trump. The fantasy of neocons is a unipolar world enforced by the U.S. military, de facto imperialist empire. It's also very profitable for multinational corporations in the short run. Who cares about the long run? We workers are merely economic cannon fodder and our kids serve as actual cannon fodder for their forever wars.
Nothing new. Look up Gen. Smedley Butler (1881-1940) a Marine starting as enlisted and rising through the ranks. He was a Gen. in WWI, which was nothing more than a war over empires. He also fought in the Boxer Rebellion, the Philippine-American war, and the Banana Wars--protecting American business interests in Central America and Caribbean nations. After retiring, he spoke out against war profiteering, American adventurism, and the possibility of fascism in the U.S. His book is titled //War Is a Racket// He was right.
BTW, the cold, dead eyes of Stephen Miller make me wonder if that's really a human. It's as if some German Nazi were forced to reincarnate as Jewish to learn a lesson. Instead, the evil part subsumed the rest. Whatever it is, it's scary.
If you can stand it... Chris Hedges posted on his own Substack 2 days ago and it's on today's (1/7/26) Consortium News site: "America the Rogue State." He covers all of the horrid policies, whether D or R, domestic or foreign. He notes the last D admin blocked "the only weapon that can save Americans--popular movements and strikes." And he says the D party elite thinks "better to let the whole ship go down than surrender their status and privilege."
If Trump and his minions (especially Stephen Miller) try and put their filthy hands on Greenland, they might as well start WW III.