The list of Republicans endorsing Hillary Clinton continues to grow. Much of the focus on the so-called conservatives for Clinton centers around the idea that Trump is so extreme and dangerous that they are forced to break ranks and grudgingly endorse Clinton. While that may be sincere, it does not erase the fact that Clinton is the best candidate for the Empire and, at least on many foreign policy questions, her agenda closely tracks those of the conservatives supposedly grudgingly voting for her. Would these same people have endorsed Bernie Sanders had he won the nomination? Perhaps some would, but the list would be much, much smaller.

Clinton has an impressively hawkish track record as a senator and as Secretary of State. She has no qualms about regime change, she was a top official in the “kill chain” developed by the Obama administration for assassinating people in drone strikes, she streamlined the relationship between the State Department and the CIA and Special Operations forces to expand covert actions across the world. She supported the USA Patriot Act, voted for the Iraq invasion. Later, Clinton said that vote was a mistake and blamed the Bush administration for misleading her and other lawmakers. That explanation is bullshit—she had access to the same info that those who voted against the war did and she still endorsed that horrific, murderous war. She supported the coup in Honduras. She backed the surge in Afghanistan (which produced nothing but more deaths of Afghans and U.S. military personnel). She teamed up with then-CIA Director David Petraeus in 2012 in an effort to convince Obama to authorize a covert plan to arm so-called rebels in Syria.

Is she the ideal candidate for these Republican dissenters? No. But Hillary Clinton is American royalty. It is not shocking that George H.W. Bush—and possibly even Jeb and George W.—would vote for her. She is a known entity. She is predictable. And she is an Empire insider. With all the cards on the table, she’s viewed as the best bet by some really reprehensible people.