Sadopopulism is a good way to think about it…
To some degree, I think so. It’s not just about him “sticking it” to the “chattering classes” or the inside the beltway elite, but to those of us who disagree with them that a bigoted society is what we should have…
But he’s clearly not doing that. At all. His criticism of Powell is not based on his role in the Iraq war. It was based on Powell being critical of him. Let’s not forget that other Bush era figures made it into his administration (Bolton, for one) and he turned on them not because of their association with Bush and the Iraq war, but due to Bolton daring to say no to him.
Well, not really, but some people believe he was doing that… he wasn’t of course.
I posted this in the other Colin Powell thread and I think it addresses what you’re talking about, specifically from people who say that they are on the left (Greenwald and Taibbi mainly):
