The doctrine of "Nicaragua's caudillo: “Somoza may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch.” can be applied to the Shah of Iran, Pinochet, Ferdinand Marcos, Saudi, Egypt, Suharto, El Salvador, Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, Haiti..on, and on. Now the US has a son of a bitch as president?

fair. from Mossadegh on down

That's what i was trying to convey by emphasizing the world wars, because you're obviously right about the many falls from grace thereafter. But I could have been more explicit

Just want to note how nice it is to see writers engage thoughtfully with criticism.

Also, yes, I feel this essay so hard. Beyond the suffering of people and the environment from destruction of supportive policy, it’s the dismantling of this goal of liberty and what the US means that feels like a generational wounding.