Sunday, January 10, 2021

Remember when we used to call the US president the "most powerful man in the world?"

That's been more or less bullshit since at least the time of JFK, but the Trump era should by now have put paid to such a quaint fantasy once and for all. Over the past four years it's become clear that this president's actual influence doesn't go much beyond whether to have KFC or McDonalds for lunch.

In the event that presidential whims coincide with the will of the ruling elite, things do indeed get done.  So if we're talking bombs on Muslims or giving away the store to Israel, there's no problem. Likewise with tax cuts for the billionaire class. 

Ending America's endless wars, or easing tensions with adversaries, is another kettle of fish entirely. Trump would make an announcement, and whoopsie, the opposite would happen! US troops out of Syria? Not so fast, Buckaroo... we gotta protect those Syrian oilfields!

By now it's beyond obvious that even anonymous "fact checkers" at Twitter and Facebook have more power than the POTUS. 


That should alarm anyone who claims to be for "freedom of speech." 



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