The ultimate objective of the ruling class in this period is to channel
oppressed people's energy into the Democratic Party machinery. For over
four decades, the ruling circle has painted the Democratic Party as the
"progressive" political faction of the US political system. Its
existence is rooted in liberalism, which the US capitalist regime has
always aligned with the interests of profiteers. The American
“Revolution,” for example, was a war in defense of colonialist slavery
and conquest yet is seen by many as a war for liberal values such as
liberty and democracy. US capitalists and politicians have brandished
liberal values in all subsequent wars ever since in an effort to expand
and monopolize profits. The US invasion of Vietnam was framed as a
project in democracy when in reality the war was meant to brutally
counter the threat socialism and independence posed to US empire in the
region. When communism ceased being an immediate threat, Washington's
21st century offensive was reframed in a civilizing, colonial narrative
that posits that the world's people are incapable of achievement without
the Western world. This can be seen in both the so-called projects of
democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan circa 2001-2003 and the "humanitarian
intervention" in Libya in 2011.
-- Danny Haiphong, "Liberalism Still the Left Flank of Oppression in the Coming Post-Obama World" (Black Agenda Report).