This is the first in a series about the largest problem when it comes to the American Empire: The Boomer. The Boomer is not just a generation, but a mindset. It is the culmination of the intellectual life propagated by myths of the World War 2. It comes in many forms with many names: neoconservatism, neoliberalism, American exceptionalism, senility, Evangelical Zionism, holocaustianity, and so forth and so on. This is the mindset of both those who benefit from the status quo and those who fearfully follow them. Outside their generation they have attempted to replicate this mindset through ‘Boomer Grooming’ the subsequent generations into ‘neoBoomers’ with some success like they had by pumping Generation Xers full of Ayn Rand. Today they put young people on the conservative version of welfare by paying millennials to shitpost against ‘the libs’. Others on the liberal side wallow in the same post-9/11 sanctimonious drivel on values and ‘the troops’ and viciously shut down anything that would contradict these fragile sensibilities. Join me in the first of what will hopefully be an enlightening series.

Bolton is our first example. His entire political ethos is a kind of hard-fisted defense of the Nixonian white middle class. This thread of thought lionizes the United States, bringing up their global warmongering strategy as a force for good because of muh World War 2. [1] He attends memorials on D-Day which have the same saccharine reverence of any religious service.[2] This chickenhawk who never fought a day in his life touts himself as the ‘defender’ of America because he made his career angrily spiting vitriol at some meek European bureaucrats during the Iraq War. For these and more he’s the first in this series on the threat of World Boomery.

While the political and media class are acting somehow shocked regarding National Security Advisor John Bolton’s actions in escalating conflict with Iran, what escapes people’s notice is the wide net of people who enable him. This establishment holds back these frothing at the mouth neoconservative maniacs saying that they’re bringing Iran close to conflict, and yet, these people seem to be just barely restraining these people. They never take action against them. They only simply allude to them being ‘dangerous’ and capable of visiting great destruction on those who defy American hegemony. They seem less like enemies. Instead more like acquaintances that hold back an angry belligerent drunk at a party who will inevitably shout back “You’re lucky they were there.” For such a man to have a career however, he must have a broad class of enablers. They same can be said for all of these neoconservatives as they would for anyone else who would abuse their power.

Firstly many of these mainstream media outlets have lionized him who are later ‘shocked’ at such escalation. The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, MSNBC and almost countless others were all too happy to give pro-Bolton neocons a platform throughout his career. Graem Wood[3] and Mark Dubowitz[4] scarcely have a hard time finding a platform, and while a platform does not equal endorsement, it is clear that the media is complicit in allowing Bolton apologists access to significant media clout. The same idea that propped up Hilary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren propped up Bolton in that they are ‘establishment’, ergo they know what they are doing. No need to scrutinize. As John Gans writes: ““A seasoned policymaker like Bolton, who has been serving in government off and on since the Reagan administration, could have helped bring order to the White House. The national security advisor has said, “I’m proud to say I’m a good bureaucrat,” and the unconventional president needed one.“[5]

Of course Bolton’s favorite media platform is Fox News, wherein the network shot the mustachiod bureaucrat to stardom as far as Fox’s geriatric paranoid audience is concerned. While bashing Fox News as a partisan sport is no longer as popular as it was during the Bush years with Jon Stewart dedicated nightly segments to chastising them, the issue clearly extends outside of this one network. The momentum when it comes to criticizing it is largely gone because the forces it represents are a legitimate part of the political process who very few question. The people who tune into these major news networks for the sports and stay around for the war propaganda.

Time magazine was too forgiving when they called John Bolton ‘Trump’s attack dog’. It would have been more accurate to say that he was America’s attack dog.[6] Specifically, the American political class because we should understand by now that the plebs hardly matter. The only people who mindlessly vote for them are as always: The Boomer. While some of the previous generations may still be kicking around, the mindset of the Baby Boom of the years 1946-1964 have taken a life of its own as they coalesced with the Silent Generation. This Silent Generation with curmudgeonly figures such as Bush Sr. and Richard Nixon is where we first get Bolton.

Bolton is a baby boomer through and through. His first presidential campaign was with Barry Goldwater. Bolton did not serve in Vietnam as he thought it was largely a loser’s war. Instead he threw himself in with the proto-neoconservative movement as it was, THEY who would have had to join him in the post-Goldwater republican party. He’s always been insufferably smug about how he did it first. He never gave into the Trotskyist idealism of the Straussians. Everything was par for the course by the time he was an adult and these neoconservatives gradually took over US politics through their ability to manufacture consent and gain funding by foundations of long dead tycoons.

These organizations like the FDD and AIE got funding from Israelis, various ‘libertarian/conservative’ charities, and industrial interests which would functionally serve as a type of welfare for these pundits once they were kicked out of office. This is what sustained Bolton in his gap during the Obama years. The funders were his second group of enablers. The money therefore laundered through these various interest groups in the donor’s fund managed to turn into Super Pacs that could buy media clout as well as other kinds of support for these mainstream conservatives. Neoconservatism thus went back into its shell and by 2016 the neocons were back and on both sides. While the Clintonite Never-Trumpers disliked Trump’s optics they functionally shared his goals and were all too happy to give him a pat on the back whenever he undertook hawkish actions such as the Syrian missile strike.

Neoliberals were another kind of enabler, and while I would not toy with the definitions game at this point, it should be noted that when Bolton faced criticism, the many figures who were seen as ‘beyond politics’ such as the military and FBI came out in support by the dozens in the Los Angeles Times. They refuted the man’s obvious disdain for international law. The stories about him threatening diplomats from European countries.[7] That didn’t matter. These trustworthy institutions said he was ok back in 2005 when 64 ‘colleagues’ supported his nomination letter.[8] These same institutions are propped up in hopes of defeating ‘Trumpism’. This is a convenient attempt to have one fall guy for all of these decades long policies.

Bolton has many enablers. It’s foolish for people to fall for this sleight of hand when the man has been legitimized by the media, the intelligence agencies, academics, the donor class, and others. Obama had a choice to prosecute the excesses of neoconservatism. Instead of going counter to the direction that the Republican party chose, the Democrats decided they could do it better, and thus continued with it to the chagrin of any of the supporters who were actually paying attention.

As many of us have grown weary of reading articles that cite the problems while avoiding both causes or solutions, it’s become necessary to cite extra steps. How do you solve a problem like the perceived issue we have now: Bolton instigating an Iran war, with or without the consent of the US president. It is clear that there are a lot of underlying problems here. Many of them stem from the same pool. Whatever the opinions on causes, it’s clear that more radical solutions are needed. Media enablers will eventually be squeezed out by the growing mediums online. What of the other enablers? What of the mindset of the man himself?

For the funders and government-linked institutions with unilateral power there is no easy way outside of simple legislation. This involves contacting local government officials, lobbying, and other slow processes. Organizations like the Office of Foreign Assets Control need to be curtailed so people like Bolton won’t be able to unilaterally control the economic sanctioning mechanisms. The think tanks should either be made illegal or frankly sued until they are out of funds. The funders run on what is essentially a form of legalized corruption. Once this is recognized, people can steps to correct this problem.

As for international law, the very existence of a man like Bolton exposes it for what it is: a joke. It needs to be exposed as such in every institution possible. It should be met with scornful and derisive laughter wherever it is. More on this argument later, but for now, the argument is Bolton. International law cannot constrain a Bolton. Local law probably has a better chance. In fact, a local sheriff could probably arrest any of these supposedly powerful officials should they so choose to. Never underestimate the power of local politics. There is a reason why officials with open disdain for international law don’t visit some European countries, however, the fact that any decent society with laws is the impetus for such action means that even though these laws are on the books, they are largely irrelevant.

Bolton himself and any of these neoconservative cabals should be pointed out and ostracized wherever they live in society. There is no method that would be unwelcome when it comes to targeting them. People have been more militant about Twitch rivalries instead of matters of life and death. This extends to any kind of openly Zionist, neoliberal, or ‘mainstream’ conservative institutions as well because they are frankly the same thing.

Another institution that’s obviously a large part of war: the military. There are many young people signing up to fight an enemy they don’t understand. The backlash to Vietnam War experience has citizens worship the military in a way that would make any junta dictator proud. At this point there is no reason to support the troops after a series of stupid mistakes. In fact, instead of supporting the troops, why not educate them. Let’s keep in mind military circles are extremely isolated from the rest of society and disdainful of civilians. This is a class of people trained not to think after all. If someone were to start treating military recruitment stations the same way the Republican party has treated abortion clinics, we can keep many young men from making a horrible immoral mistake they’ll regret for the rest of their lives. Why save one fetus when you can save about 20 children?

Finally, there is the matter of the root problem: Boomers. I would like to propose a plan for more muscular anti-Boomer action in the vein of the anti-fascist movements of the past. While these ‘antifa’ movements have been rather pro-establishment lately, I think that the Boomer is a much worse political problem in their soft suppression of every subsequent generation, as well as other demographics. Ergo I think it is important to have street-level organization against them. Particularly during important elections such as primaries, but even on a local level. Will detail this plan for ‘antiboom’ in subsequent posts.

So, there are some options from a Bolton-free world. The ones who enable him should not be able to escape the fact that they are accessories to his crimes. The media may as well have covered up the bodies of the thousands in civilian casualties. The funders handed him the weapons. The other mechanisms of enforcement turned a blind eye as he went on his merry way. We can’t be certain of what 2020 holds for the world, but if people in the know don’t muzzle America’s least favorite chickenhawk/attack terrier, nobody will.

[1] Bolton, John. Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations. Simon and Schuster, 2007.

[2] “Trump and Media Join Forces to Falsify WWII History.” Truthdig: Expert Reporting, Current News, Provocative Columnists. Accessed June 25, 2019. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/trump-and-media-joined-forces-to-falsify-wwii-history/.

[3] Wood, Graeme. “Will John Bolton Bring on Armageddon—Or Stave It Off?” The Atlantic, April 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/john-bolton-trump-national-security-adviser/583246/.

[4] “FDD Aligned with State Department to Attack Supporters of Iran Diplomacy – LobeLog.” Accessed June 25, 2019. https://lobelog.com/fdd-aligned-with-state-department-to-attack-supporters-of-iran-diplomacy/.

[5] Gans, John. “Trump’s National Security Council Is Replicating Reagan’s Chaos.” Foreign Policy (blog). Accessed June 25, 2019. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/21/bolton-nsc/.

[6] Wood, Graeme. “Will John Bolton Bring on Armageddon—Or Stave It Off?” The Atlantic, April 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/john-bolton-trump-national-security-adviser/583246/.

[7] Hasan, Mehdi. “‘We Know Where Your Kids Live’: How John Bolton Once Threatened an International Official.” The Intercept (blog), March 29, 2018. https://theintercept.com/2018/03/29/john-bolton-trump-bush-bustani-kids-opcw/.

[8] “Bolton’s Nomination Gets Letter of Support.” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2005. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-apr-04-na-briefs4.4-story.html.