“Imperialism In Pumps”: Greenwald & Johnstone Go Off As Media Gushes Over Presumed Biden Pick For SecDef

Independent commentator Caitlin Johnstone is raining on the parade of Liberals and Progressives who are hailing “barriers being broken” merely because Joe Biden is expected to pick a woman for the top Pentagon post in a historic first, blasting the spectacle as “Imperialism in Pumps” given presumed top choice Michele Flournoy hails from deep within the heart of the hawkish military-industrial complex. 

“President-elect Joe Biden is expected to take a historic step and select a woman to head the Pentagon for the first time, shattering one of the few remaining barriers to women in the department and the presidential Cabinet,” the Associated Press reported gushingly this weekend.

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Apparently the “politically moderate” Flournoy is being viewed favorably by “political insiders” and career Pentagon officials. 

But as a reminder here’s what “moderate” means in establishment NatSec-speak:

Seen as a steady hand who favors strong military cooperation abroad, Flournoy, 59, has served multiple times in the Pentagon, starting in the 1990s and most recently as the undersecretary of defense for policy from 2009 to 2012. She serves on the board of Booz Allen Hamilton, a defense contractor…

Johnstone is unscathing in her attack on the media and Liberal cheerleading:

This word “moderate” which the AP news agency keeps bleating is of course complete nonsense. Standing in the middle ground between two corporatist warmongering parties does not make you a moderate, it makes you a corporatist warmonger. Flournoy is no more “moderate” than the “moderate rebels” in Syria which mass media outlets like AP praised for years until it became undeniable that they were largely Al Qaeda affiliates; the only reason such a position can be portrayed as mainstream and moderate is because vast fortunes have been poured into making it that way.

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She highlights the nauseating spectacle of MSNBC and others attempting to frame it as a great achievement for feminism: 

“White progressives training their fire on women and women of color who are under consideration to lead the nat sec departments makes me deeply uncomfortable about their allyship for those communities,” tweeted MSNBC contributor Mieke Eoyang. “Especially when the nat sec community is dominated by white men.”

It’s only going to get dumber from here, folks.

Let’s clear this up before the girl power parade starts: the first woman to head the US war machine will not be a groundbreaking pioneer of feminist achievement. She will be a mass murderer who wears Spanx. Her appointment will not be an advancement for women, it will be imperialism in pumps.

Glenn Greenwald also pointed out the obvious in terms of what’s really going on here, deriding “the neoliberal scam of exploiting identity politics”.

The more contempt there is for rancid, poisonous, manipulative discourse like this, the better.

People have every right to scorn warmongers, imperialists & militarists regardless of their demographics.

The neoliberal scam of exploiting identity politics to hide its evil is over https://t.co/2FPSYf0spg

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2020

Greenwald came under attack for so much as daring to question Flournoy’s potential appointment on the mere basis that one supposedly can’t possibly question the choice when “barriers are being broken” (and nevermind that a woman, Gina Haspel, currently runs the most powerful spy agency in the world).

This is their tactic: they think if they drape a rainbow flag over Raytheon, or celebrate LGBT Day at CIA, or herald the first woman of color on the Citibank board, you’re barred from criticizing them. That’s their scam. It deserves nothing but contempt.https://t.co/aSmz341cC7

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) November 13, 2020

Greenwald wrote of this tactic: “It belongs as a Hall of Fame exhibit showing why Democratic Party neoliberals and militarists are indescribably deceitful and repulsive.”