How Obama's War on Terror Led to Trump

Subscribe for the full interview at http://usefulidiots.substack.com “That was what the unity after 9/11 really concealed: who it was aimed against.” Next week marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. And as usual, Obama’s apology-free drone strikes, the domestic racism, the enhanced government surveillance, and curtailed civil liberties will be downplayed, if not completely ignored. “The longer this war on terror circumstance goes on,” says Spencer Ackerman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the new book Reign of Terror, “the more and more it's going to be indistinguishable from domestic American politics. And the more the tools of the war on terror are going to be used against Americans.” Will the corporate media outlets discuss liberal complacency and hawkishness in their 20-year-anniversary-paloozas? Will they discuss the fear felt by Americans who were racially profiled not just by other citizens, but by the FBI? Ackerman, whose book lays out how Trump capitalized on the disguised racism in the violent policies of the Obama and Bush admins, worries they won’t. So listen here for the darker side of American unity, and read Spencer’s Substack Forever Wars here. Plus, Texas Republicans try to strip our rights away with their restrictive abortion and voting laws, and new Useful Idiots hero Charles Jaco mocks right-wing teabaggers. It’s all this, and more, on this week’s episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices