Tom Cotton's strength fetish
Ask Trump-supporting Republicans why they stand behind Donald Trump and many reply that they want to end endless wars — in Afghanistan especially, but also throughout the Greater Middle East. That Trump has failed to end any of our wars in his nearly four years in the White House isn't a problem. Just wait for the second term, they say. That's when he'll make good.
Tell it to Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, who delivered a cartoonishly hawkish speech at the RNC Thursday night, just a few minutes before President Trump delivered his acceptance speech, positioning him as a White House favorite in the contest to succeed the current president in 2024. Far from advocating ending wars, Cotton delivered a sermon in praise of bellicosity, denouncing every foreign policy achievement of the Obama administration as a dangerous expression of weakness and attributing all of it to Joe Biden, who supposedly slashed defense spending, coddled dictators, and encouraged ISIS to rampage through the Middle East. Most of all, Cotton accused Biden of aiding and abetting China's rise for 50 years, a policy that has culminated in it "unleash[ing] this plague on the world."
The speech concluded with a peroration about the dangers of weakness and the necessity of achieving and maintaining peace through raw military power.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A party that fetishizes displays of military strength will not be ending any wars anytime soon, no matter how endless they may be, and no matter how many times that party's mendacious leader says otherwise.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Donald Trump and the fascism debate
Talking Points Democrats sound the alarm, but Republicans say 'it's always the F-word'
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Would Trump really use the military against Americans?
Talking Points The former president says troops could be used against 'enemy within'
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Trump blames migrants for the housing crisis. Experts aren't so sure.
Talking Points Migrants need housing. They also build it.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
By The Week UK Published
-
Who are undecided voters, anyway?
Talking Points They might decide the presidential election
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
What power does Elon Musk hold as a campaigner?
Talking Points The world's richest man is going all in to get Donald Trump elected in November — whether it will make a difference is entirely unclear
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published