Mainstream Media Discovers Authoritarianism, Ignores Its Enablers
Donald Trump's alleged musings about invoking the Insurrection Act to deploy troops are being dutifully reported by outlets like the Financial Times, painting a picture of an unpredictable leader. Yet, the same mainstream media rarely connects these dots to the consistent erosion of civil liberties or the normalization of state violence, particularly abroad. The very same voices now decrying
potential domestic troop deployments often champion vast military budgets and unchecked power for the executive branch when directed at foreign populations or domestic dissent deemed 'unpalatable.' One might wonder where this sudden concern for civil liberties was during the sustained, decades-long calls to 'support the troops' as they conducted overseas operations that would make invoking the
Insurrection Act look like child's play. It appears 'authoritarianism' only truly becomes a headline when it threatens the comfortable status quo, not when it enables the brutal suppression of human rights in places like Palestine, funded to the tune of billions of taxpayer dollars annually, with nary a peep from these same concerned institutions. The pattern of empowering leaders to act with
impunity rarely stays confined to overseas adventures; eventually, it comes home.