Mr McCarthy has a point about the USA resembling Athens rather than Sparta. On the whole, Sparta minded its own business, fighting (very vigorously) only when attacked or cheated. Athens, while bragging loudly about its democracy, freedom, etc., attacked and brutally repressed many smaller city-states (Melos is the classic example). Eventually, it bit off more than it could chew. Following the promptings of the demagogue Alkibiades, it sent two huge armies and fleets to attack Syracuse (a fellow democracy). Both armies and both fleets were utterly wiped out, after which Sparta easily conquered Athens and ended its democracy.
Way to go.
Check this out: http://www.karnacbooks.com/Product.asp?PID=34386&MATCH=1
So, an analytical approach fairly consistent with that favored by those who call themselves liberal today: redefine the terms until they fit your argument.
“Thomas Paine wrote in Rights of Man that “the great part” of social order is not the product of power — i.e., government — but of “mutual dependence and reciprocal interest.” It is tyranny that is unnatural, according to liberalism”
We couldn’t be farther away from this (sensible) ideal of Paine, rather exploitation has come to rule the day. What no one likes to examine is, is the inter-dependence of empire with things a privileged class of Americans take take for granted, such as filling the tank of a Humvee:
http://ronaldthomaswest.com/2014/05/26/counterfeit-coin/
^ What McCarthy seems to actually be concerned with is, the bottom line (profit) is under threat in the push to depart from empire and its rather nasty habits. It can’t hurt to recall, in this context, Obama having stated “The American way of life is non-negotiable” i.e. empire must be maintained at any price, even the price of erecting a police state (or so it would seem.)