This Thursday’s episode will air on television at 9pm. All In With Chris HayesChris Hayes of MSNBC spent much of his first segment debunking the threat Al-Qaeda poses the United States. This was in order to show that Russia’s invasion is the real threat to the international order. Hayes also suggested that former President Donald Trump is a threat to democracy just like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungary President Viktor Urban, and the “Nationalist-Populist forces that push for Brexit.”
Hayes began his monologue with some meaning, but like all good writers, he soon gets lost. This is a moment of pivotal importance in the history of humanity, if we take a look at all that’s happening in Ukraine. “This is the first time that the global order has been utterly changed in 30+ years after the collapse of the Cold War.”Hayes made the observation.
After the Soviet Union fell, he took viewers through American History and made a comment about how The “ex-Soviet republics including Ukraine became independent almost overnight.” This marked a major shift toward freedom and democracy, and began an era between 1991-2001 when liberal democracy was at its zenith.
MSNBC’s host pointed out how the Cold War ended after World War II, and that MSNBC was still broadcasting during it. Communism was the main threat, politically and militarily.After the Cold War was over, there was an era of conciliation. By the end of 1990s, there was a “palpable sense degeneration, decadence.” Our way of life isn’t difficult to alter.After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, everything changed.
Hayes lamented the excessive response to 9/11, and accused George W. Bush’s former president of trying. These attacks and the subsequent war against terror were framed as an apocal, defining clash between civilizations. A battle for liberty and democracy.” He continued attacking former President Bush and conservatives for attempting to keep America safe after 9/11:
Conservatives and Bush Administration massively exaggerated Al-Qaeda’s importance and their ideological challenges. To alter the lives of Americans in the manner we did was absurd. It cost us trillions and we lost thousands of Americans. This is a horrible thought. All these people clearly longed for the great ideological struggle of World War II, and later the Cold War. (…) Looking back, it’s clear that Al-Qaeda’s fight was not an historic global struggle for hearts and minds. Wasn’t a fundamental challenge to the global order or to liberal democracy as we know it. I have been very skeptical about the fall rush approach to framing things, like a type of civilizational struggle, because it doesn’t seem to be the kind of framework that will allow me to understand global affairs and fight for freedom or tyranny.
Hayes instead believes we are in dangerous times that conservatives assumed we were in after 9/11. “We have witnessed over the past several years a move toward liberal democracy and openness among nations. We are seeing backsliding.” Hayes fretted. We’ve witnessed it in Europe, with Viktor Orban’s rise who proudly describes himself as an illiberal Democrat. And the United Kingdom with its Nationalist-Populist forces pushing for Brexit.
Then, of course, he named former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as the last two threats to democracy: It has been happening at home. Donald Trump was an ambitious authoritarian and admirer of authoritarians. He tried to overturn free and fair elections.
Chris Hayes’ segment on Donald Trump and Al-Qaeda was made possible through Infiniti, Dove & Mercedes-Benz. Your information can be linked to allow you to inform them about what content they have funded.
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes
3/24/2022
Eastern Time: 8:02 p.m.CHRIS HAYES – It is difficult to see the moment as pivotal in human history, if you take a step back from all of the devastation in Ukraine. In the past 30 years, we have come to see the world as being transformed for the first time. When the Berlin Wall was toppled in 1989, I was only ten years old. This was the beginning of the fall of communism across eastern Europe. The 1991 Soviet coup that ended in failure was still a summer break for me. Last chance for the Soviet Communist Party.
(…)
HAYES – This coup was defeated within days. The Communist Party was defeated. The Soviet Union was disintegrated in a matter of months. Ex-Soviet republics like Ukraine gained independence almost overnight. This marked a major shift toward freedom and democracy, and began an era between 1991-2001 when liberal democracy was at its zenith.
(…)
HAYES. After the defeat of the Nazis in World War II the biggest challenge political, militarily and ideologically was faced by the liberal capitalist democracy. This came after communism, which is headquartered in Russia. The global order was established by the Cold War between the two model of liberal democracy, capitalist democracy and communism. 40 years. For decades, that struggle defined the face of our planet. Fukuyama states that there wasn’t any ideological threat to liberal democracy’s supremacy after communism fell. There was a sense of decadence and drift in the 1990s. There was no great effort to change our lifestyle. And then something happened. September 11, 2001, was a day that changed everything. The attacks of September 11th were almost immediate. I can still recall the rush to put together a narrative that portrayed the great apocal, defining clash among civilizations. A battle for liberty and democracy.
[cuts to video]
PRESIDENTGEORGE W. BUSH: Today, the world is awakened and called upon to protect freedom. This is the fight of the entire world. This is the fight of civilization. It is the struggle of everyone who believes in freedom, progress, pluralism, tolerance and freedom.
VICE-PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY : This century has seen the defeat of militant ideologies by forces for freedom and democracy. This kind of threat is again facing us tonight. We will win again.
SECRETARY IN STATE COLINPOWELL: This attack was against civilization. The civilisation must respond.
[cuts back to live]
HAYES – This mentality was dominant. Even hegemonic. The trend continued for several years. John Kerry, then the Democratic presidential candidate for president, was subject to a lot of backlash in 2004 for how he described what it would take to make Americans feel safer again. He said, quote, “we have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they’re a nuisance. A former member of law enforcement I understand that prostitution will not be stopped. Illegal gambling will not be eliminated. But we’re going to reduce it. We are going to bring down organized crime so that it doesn’t rise. It isn’t threatening people’s lives every day and fundamentally, it’s something that you continue to fight, but it’s not threatening the fabric of your life.”
However, it was ultimately a correct decision. I remember feeling this way back then, and now I know that John Kerry was right. Conservatives and Bush Administration massively exaggerated Al-Qaeda’s importance and fundamentally the ideological threat they presented. It was absurd to change our lives in such a way that we were able to divert resources to fight them. It cost us trillions and we lost thousands of Americans. This is a horrible thought. These people were obviously enthralled by the epic ideological struggle of World War II followed by the Cold War. They were committed to this new war, even though the scope of it was too small. Retrospectively, it’s clear that Al-Qaeda’s fight was not an era-defining global battle for hearts and mind. Wasn’t a fundamental challenge to the global order or to liberal democracy as we know it. I have been very skeptical about the fall rush approach to framing things, like a type of civilizational struggle, because it doesn’t seem to be the kind of framework that will allow me to understand global affairs and fight for freedom or tyranny.
However, it is a moment of truth that I believe we are now at an apocal point, as people believed 9/11 to be. This is the end of the story on Francis Fukuyama’s world order. After the Cold War ended, the peak of liberal democracy was reached. Over the past few years, we’ve seen the shift towards openness and liberal democracy among nations. We have also witnessed backsliding. This has been seen in Europe as Viktor Orban, a proudly illiberal Democrat from Hungary, and in Britain with Nationalist-Populist forces pushing for Brexit. This has been going on right at home as well. Donald Trump was an authoritarian and admirer of authoritarians. He tried to overthrow a fair and free election. Still trying to accomplish it. And of course in Putin’s Russia. His fascist ideology is writ large and his wounded national pride has transformed into an aggressive assault on battlegrounds.
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