C.Martel
16th April 2024, 06:40 AM
MAGA are the new neocons. Neocons have no problem joining MAGA, for it is cia Republican deepstate.
Tom Cotton evolves from neocon hero to MAGA icon
President Trump may be the political figure who has attracted the most controversy for his reaction to the sometimes violent protests that have broken out since George Floyd died in police custody, but Sen. Tom Cotton is a close second.
The Arkansas Republican has been the highest-profile public defender of Trump’s proposal to use the military to suppress rioting in cities where state and local authorities can’t or won’t do so themselves. Cotton’s New York Times op-ed calling for invoking the Insurrection Act against the “orgy of violence” seen in multiple major cities sent the newspaper’s staff into open revolt.
“These rioters, if not subdued, not only will destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens but will also take more innocent lives. Many poor communities that still bear scars from past upheavals will be set back still further,” Cotton wrote. “One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers.”
Many New York Times staffers took to Twitter to argue that the paper’s publication of the op-ed endangered its black employees. The NewsGuild of New York, a union to which many area reporters belong, argued Cotton’s piece “undermines the journalistic work of our members, puts our Black staff members in danger, promotes hate, and is likely to encourage further violence. Invariably, invoking state violence disproportionately hurts Black and brown people. It also jeopardizes our journalists’ ability to work in the field safely and effectively.” The editorial page editor defended the decision, though the publication later backtracked.
Cotton’s emergence as a populist ally of the president was not always to be expected. The Harvard-educated Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan arrived in Washington in his 30s as the great hope of many neoconservatives, some of whom have since gone Never Trump, at a time when libertarian forces in the Republican Party were ascendant. His letter challenging President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and pointing out that it was not a ratified treaty, signed by all Republican senators, helped launch his national profile. One prominent neocon who later turned Never Trumper cited Cotton as a possible foil to Rand Paul’s presidential ambitions: “I think Christie-Cotton is much more likely in 2016 than Paul-Amash.”
Now, Cotton is talked about as someone who might grab the top spot of the Republican ticket in 2024, running as a higher-brow Trump imitator. “I think he would make a fantastic presidential candidate,” said a source familiar with the senator’s thinking, “but he would be very open to serving in the Trump administration in a second term if the president is reelected.” The source emphasized that Cotton is currently focused on his Arkansas constituents. Cotton is up for reelection this year but did not draw a Democratic challenger.
Cotton, 43, served only a single term in the House before knocking off Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in the 2014 midterm elections. He wasn’t initially considered a Trump enthusiast, mentioning the future president by name only once in his 2016 Republican convention speech. But in 2017, he introduced legislation that would reduce legal immigration levels overall and shift admissions criteria away from family reunification toward job skills. Trump backed the bill. Cotton replaced Jeff Sessions as the leading immigration restrictionist in the Senate when the latter became Trump’s first attorney general.
Since then, Cotton has led the charge on cracking down on China in response to the coronavirus. He has been a strong Trump supporter. He and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley are widely seen as the top GOP populists in Congress.
“I have worked for the senator and have a lot of respect for his opinions due to his background as a U.S. Army Ranger, Harvard education, and his simple upbringing in rural Arkansas,” said Little Rock-based Republican strategist Noelle Nikpour. “He was originally brought on to the scene and was a product of the Club For Growth. He has the backbone to stand out but does so in a well-thought-out way. I feel he will definitely have a place on the national scene either in a military leadership role/appointment or if he decided to seek a national office.”
Polling suggests that Cotton’s position on a military role in quelling the riots is not unpopular with voters as it is in the New York Times newsroom. Morning Consult shows the idea with 58% support. “Americans want order,” the source close to Cotton said. “They want peace. They don’t want anarchy.” The Cotton ally likened it to the 101st Airborne helping to desegregate Little Rock public schools but noted, “No one wants the American military attacking our citizens.”
But Cotton did not flinch from Trumpian tough talk, writing, “Nihilist criminals are simply out for loot and the thrill of destruction, with cadres of left-wing radicals like antifa infiltrating protest marches to exploit Floyd’s death for their own anarchic purposes.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2612288/tom-cotton-evolves-from-neocon-hero-to-maga-icon/
Tom Cotton evolves from neocon hero to MAGA icon
President Trump may be the political figure who has attracted the most controversy for his reaction to the sometimes violent protests that have broken out since George Floyd died in police custody, but Sen. Tom Cotton is a close second.
The Arkansas Republican has been the highest-profile public defender of Trump’s proposal to use the military to suppress rioting in cities where state and local authorities can’t or won’t do so themselves. Cotton’s New York Times op-ed calling for invoking the Insurrection Act against the “orgy of violence” seen in multiple major cities sent the newspaper’s staff into open revolt.
“These rioters, if not subdued, not only will destroy the livelihoods of law-abiding citizens but will also take more innocent lives. Many poor communities that still bear scars from past upheavals will be set back still further,” Cotton wrote. “One thing above all else will restore order to our streets: an overwhelming show of force to disperse, detain and ultimately deter lawbreakers.”
Many New York Times staffers took to Twitter to argue that the paper’s publication of the op-ed endangered its black employees. The NewsGuild of New York, a union to which many area reporters belong, argued Cotton’s piece “undermines the journalistic work of our members, puts our Black staff members in danger, promotes hate, and is likely to encourage further violence. Invariably, invoking state violence disproportionately hurts Black and brown people. It also jeopardizes our journalists’ ability to work in the field safely and effectively.” The editorial page editor defended the decision, though the publication later backtracked.
Cotton’s emergence as a populist ally of the president was not always to be expected. The Harvard-educated Army veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan arrived in Washington in his 30s as the great hope of many neoconservatives, some of whom have since gone Never Trump, at a time when libertarian forces in the Republican Party were ascendant. His letter challenging President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and pointing out that it was not a ratified treaty, signed by all Republican senators, helped launch his national profile. One prominent neocon who later turned Never Trumper cited Cotton as a possible foil to Rand Paul’s presidential ambitions: “I think Christie-Cotton is much more likely in 2016 than Paul-Amash.”
Now, Cotton is talked about as someone who might grab the top spot of the Republican ticket in 2024, running as a higher-brow Trump imitator. “I think he would make a fantastic presidential candidate,” said a source familiar with the senator’s thinking, “but he would be very open to serving in the Trump administration in a second term if the president is reelected.” The source emphasized that Cotton is currently focused on his Arkansas constituents. Cotton is up for reelection this year but did not draw a Democratic challenger.
Cotton, 43, served only a single term in the House before knocking off Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in the 2014 midterm elections. He wasn’t initially considered a Trump enthusiast, mentioning the future president by name only once in his 2016 Republican convention speech. But in 2017, he introduced legislation that would reduce legal immigration levels overall and shift admissions criteria away from family reunification toward job skills. Trump backed the bill. Cotton replaced Jeff Sessions as the leading immigration restrictionist in the Senate when the latter became Trump’s first attorney general.
Since then, Cotton has led the charge on cracking down on China in response to the coronavirus. He has been a strong Trump supporter. He and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley are widely seen as the top GOP populists in Congress.
“I have worked for the senator and have a lot of respect for his opinions due to his background as a U.S. Army Ranger, Harvard education, and his simple upbringing in rural Arkansas,” said Little Rock-based Republican strategist Noelle Nikpour. “He was originally brought on to the scene and was a product of the Club For Growth. He has the backbone to stand out but does so in a well-thought-out way. I feel he will definitely have a place on the national scene either in a military leadership role/appointment or if he decided to seek a national office.”
Polling suggests that Cotton’s position on a military role in quelling the riots is not unpopular with voters as it is in the New York Times newsroom. Morning Consult shows the idea with 58% support. “Americans want order,” the source close to Cotton said. “They want peace. They don’t want anarchy.” The Cotton ally likened it to the 101st Airborne helping to desegregate Little Rock public schools but noted, “No one wants the American military attacking our citizens.”
But Cotton did not flinch from Trumpian tough talk, writing, “Nihilist criminals are simply out for loot and the thrill of destruction, with cadres of left-wing radicals like antifa infiltrating protest marches to exploit Floyd’s death for their own anarchic purposes.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2612288/tom-cotton-evolves-from-neocon-hero-to-maga-icon/