What “Social-Imperialism” Looks Like

Republican senator John McCain was an imperialist war criminal notorious for bombing civilians in Vietnam; war-mongering from Indochina to Afghanistan, Gaza, Iraq and Syria; and being an all-purpose racist reactionary.

“I admire President Nixon’s courage” for ordering “the mining, the blockade, the bombing” of North Vietnam as part of his escalation of genocidal terror (which included the bombing of Hanoi’s Bach Mai civilian hospital) in 1972.

–John McCain (2008)

When McCain died on August 26, his imperialist colleagues and would-be colleagues fell all over themselves glorifying this enemy of the world’s oppressed. The paeans of praise included:

“John McCain was an American hero, a man of decency and honor and a friend of mine.”

–Senator and Democratic “socialist” presidential contender Bernie Sanders

“John McCain’s legacy represents an unparalleled example of human decency and American service.... He meant so much, to so many.”

–Democratic congressional candidate and DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (25 August 2018, on her Twitter account).

Remember this when you hear Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez & Co. praised by pseudo-socialist groups purveying what Lenin called social-imperialism: socialism in words, imperialism in reality. ■