[roenxi]

> Why do I mention all this? Because despite the mantra of "making America great", the current administration is doing more to destroy US direct and soft power than anyone could possibly have imagined, more than current and former adversaries (eg the USSR, China) could ever have dreamed of doing themselves.

The two aren't inconsistent; one of the major dissident observations that has propelled Trump is that the Not-An-Empire doesn't seem to be driving prosperity in the way people would expect. It is driving prosperity to the ... I dunno, call them imperial elites or upper middle class+. Obviously the empire is great for people like the Bush or Biden families. Not so obvious the 20 years of war in Afghanistan was a big win for everyone else or all the unrelated destruction. It stands out that China has built a US-sized economy in the last 50 years without really sending out any armies; military aggression obviously isn't the only factor here.

It is a complex issue but ultimately it is not easy to rule out the bureaucracy that manages the empire doing more damage to the US than the benefits empire brings. Voting by the numbers is suggesting that the damage has been significant.