Still shocks me a little when smart people don't realize the reason we don't have, at a minimum, a basic social democracy is b/c those resources are used to maintain the American Empire. And the Prez is the figurehead of that empire...

...his, or her, job is to manage that empire, from the core to the provinces. The reason president's will never be prosecuted for any of their crimes: they aren't crimes, as far as imperial governance is concerned. It's part of the job.

The Brits didn't get the NHS until WWII forced it into existence. They were too broke to maintain the Global Brittania. Same goes for social democracy is post-war Western Europe. The same will be true for the US. Lose the empire, gain a democracy. That's the math.

I didn't fully understand it myself until Obama's second term. Brennan faced zero consequences for allowing the CIA to spy on the Senate when they were investigating the Torture Program. How could Brennan go to jail for serving the empire?

It's really depressing shit. No empire has consciously contracted. Some tidal wave of horror hits and, if they're lucky, some organized left-wing remains standing to rebuild. I guess that's all the left in this country can do for now: get stronger, be ready.