"Blame America"

The growing, and disturbing, right-left consensus in self-loathing.

Rather than seeing America as a city on a hill, a surprising consensus on the left and right in America wants to place the lamp under the bushel.

One of the things that's so striking about Ukraine on the one hand and Hamas on the other is the revelation of just how much "blame America" has infiltrated both sides of the aisle.

The facts are stark and unavoidable. The Ukraine War is Putin's fault. He invaded a sovereign country. Terrorism from Hamas is the fault of Hamas. They're the ones gunning down Jews in the streets.

Yet, in the face of these facts, we have right-wing Putiniks acting like we pushed Putin into asserting hegemony and that our support of Ukraine in defending their sovereignty is escalating us toward WWIII. As well, we have very confused progressive agitators who assert Hamas can't be blamed for its actions because such violent behavior is inevitable in the face of Zionism and colonialism, and however ugly it may be, the actions of Hamas are a legitimate pushback against American imperialism.

These narratives disgustingly frame acts of naked aggression as reasonable foreign policy and genocidal mayhem as simply cries for help. They are tantamount to looking upon the face of the sun and claiming to see only darkness.

But at least with the left, this is nothing new. This is the same drumbeat they've marched to since the sixties. The connective tissue between campus protesters in support of the intifada and Jane Fonda doing photo ops in Hanoi is not that difficult to fathom.

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But to the right, I have to ask the question we've long asked of the left: why do you hate your own country, and when did you start to believe we are the root of the world's problems rather than the city on the hill we used to believe ourselves to be?

For all the talk of "America First" and of "Making America Great Again," for all the flag hugging and uber displays of aggressive patriotism, there's just a whole lot of self-loathing and cynicism, even nihilism, toward America's place in the world baked into this nationalist-populist pie.

When did those who still think of themselves as conservative begin to believe strong American leadership is the problem in the world, rather than the focal point upon which peace and security in our time hinges?

-Justin

The Daily Saucer is our place for freelance contributors and editorial staff to offer short takes on the news cycle, quick observations on the issues, and brief thoughts on broader topics. The views offered in this space reflect only the personal views of the authors.