Hillary Clinton's Neo-McCarthyism and the Real Father of "Extreme Nationalism"

Hillary Clinton's Neo-McCarthyism and the Real Father of "Extreme Nationalism"

by Danny Haiphong

“Any act of protest that questions the legitimacy of the US claim to hegemony over the rest of the planet is subject to the harshest of attacks.”

In late August, Hillary Clinton accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being the "godfather of extreme nationalism" in a campaign speech in Nevada. The accusation was part of a longer condemnation of Donald Trump's supposed relationship with the Russian head of state. Clinton cited Trump's cozy relationship with UK white nationalist Nigel Ferage but then blamed Putin for the rise of both Ferage and Trump. In recent weeks, the Clinton campaign has increased its attention on the so-called right-wing in the US and West by coining the term "Alt Right." But by adding Putin into the equation, the Clinton campaign has ignited a neo-McCarthyist war on Russia and anyone who stands in the way of her agenda.

In the mid 20th century, Senator Joseph McCarthy led the US government's domestic war on socialism. McCarthy and the FBI warned of the dangers of communism. Anyone deemed a communist was subject to surveillance, imprisonment, exile, and even death. The domestic war on communists in the US complimented a broader global project to contain the Soviet Union. Socialism was on the march all over the world. Millions of workers in the Soviet Union, China, and the Third World had overthrown capitalism and instituted workers’ states capable of providing healthcare, education, and employment for all.

Socialism's global example threatened US capitalism's Post World War II hegemony. The existence of socialist societies inherently questioned the legitimacy of US capitalism's racist order. That is, Black Americans and workers as a whole may find it to their advantage to fight for a similar social order. So the US government furiously demonized the Soviet Union. Its multifaceted, anti-communist campaign forever impacted the way people in the United States think about Russia's role in the world.

“By adding Putin into the equation, the Clinton campaign has ignited a neo-McCarthyist war on Russia and anyone who stands in the way of her agenda.”

Hillary Clinton has revived anti-Russian dogma to fit the current times. Clinton has this time accused Russia not of a communist plot but of the complete opposite: fascism. She has long used Trump's overt white supremacy to instill fear in the US electorate. But to blame Putin for the rise of white supremacist nationalism is not only absurd, but dangerous as well. The accusations against Putin only heighten tensions between Washington and Moscow. And these tensions have reached World War III potential.

Clinton has only added fuel to the fire. In a moment where the US-NATO alliance has militarily surrounded Russia along its European border and waged a non-stop proxy war in Syria to weaken Russia's position in the world, Putin has become the primary boogeyman of Clinton's campaign. Prior to being labeled the father of extreme nationalism, Putin was accused of hacking into the DNC computer system in favor of Donald Trump. Clinton's claims against Putin have only become more farcical by accusing him of something that is as American as apple pie.

It is the United States that birthed the most extreme nationalism the world has ever known when its founding rulers created a state based on white supremacy. It then imposed the dominance of its racist, capitalism system on the rest of the world. The US has not only made white rule a staple of its domestic economy, but it has also created, coddled, and empowered racist regimes such as Israel to serve its global interests. Clinton has hidden behind Trump's white nationalism and hurled lies about Putin in order to avoid such truths. The hardest truth of all is that Putin has nothing to do with the rise of “extreme” nationalism.

“To blame Putin for the rise of white supremacist nationalism is not only absurd, but dangerous as well.”

Hillary Clinton has good reason to avoid these facts. Her popularity has plunged and the truth can only make matters worse. What is striking about her neo-McCarthyist attack, however, is how the same accusations she has made against Putin could be turned right back on her. As Secretary of State, Clinton laid the foundation for the coup in Ukraine in 2014. The coup's mastermind, Victoria Nuland, was a Clinton surrogate who has been a chief foreign adviser for the Bush Jr. Administration. Ukraine is now controlled by political parties that harbor Nazi ideology such as the Right Sector.

Clinton's endless wars abroad and loyalty to privatization is what really gives white, fascist nationalism the strength to fester and thrive. Clinton has ushered in the rise of a one-party dictatorship of monopoly capital where only fringe elements of the bourgeoisie such as Trump dare to lead from the Republican Party wing of the capitalist state. Such a dictatorship can only bring more misery and thus more opportunities for white nationalists to increase their political power. This was not Russia's doing. It was from start to finish an American project.

Neither white supremacist nationalism nor World War III scenarios are products of some Putin and Trump collaboration. They are products of an imperialist system in decline. This system is ruled by the forces of capital and managed by politicians such as Hillary Clinton. It is the ruling circle that has set into motion the most vile and murderous form of nationalism to date. The formation of the US nation-state was predicated on the mass occupation of indigenous people and the mass enslavement of African people. US nationalism has since justified the plunder of the world in service of the post-industrial capitalist class.

“Clinton has ushered in the rise of a one-party dictatorship of monopoly capital where only fringe elements of the bourgeoisie such as Trump dare to lead from the Republican Party wing of the capitalist state.”

Objectively, it would be difficult to find a form of nationalism more "extreme" than the US variety in terms of violence and oppression. Subjectively, the US nation-state has been cloaked with notions of "freedom," "democracy," and "liberty" to mask its true character. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick has learned that simply kneeling during the US flag's "national anthem" creates a knee-jerk reaction among followers of US nationalism. Any act of protest that questions the legitimacy of the US claim to hegemony over the rest of the planet is subject to the harshest of attacks. In cases like Vladimir Putin, it can bring accusations from the very class and nation responsible for the problem in the first place.

What makes Clinton's anti-Putin slander so dangerous is that the US has for years now been engaged in war maneuvers against Russia. The use of Putin to attack Trump only lays the basis for a new lie to justify full-scale military intervention. By blaming Putin for "extreme nationalism," Clinton and the ruling class have taken the lies against Russia to a new level. The danger of a new world war is growing, and it is not because of Donald Trump. It is because of the nature of the imperialist system, which is in desperate need of a revolutionary movement capable of putting it out of its misery.

Danny Haiphong is an Asian activist and political analyst in the Boston area. He can be reached at wakeupriseup1990@gmail.com

More Stories