Politics & Power Quote by Mitch McConnell

McConnell’s sentence reads like a policy brief trying to pass itself off as common sense, and the clunkiness is the tell. The repeated hedges - “really basically,” “sort of” - aren’t verbal tics so much as political shock absorbers. He’s floating a sweeping claim (that even “friendly allies” are quasi-dictatorships) while leaving himself exits if anyone objects. It’s permission structure: say the controversial part softly, then land hard on the unavoidable-sounding conclusion.

The intent is to widen the post-9/11 frame from hunting enemies to disciplining partners. “Rogue regimes” is standard villain language; pairing it with “friendly allies” is the move. It normalizes the idea that US security policy should come with ideological compliance requirements, not just cooperation. “Get with the program” is especially revealing: not a treaty, not a coalition, a program - managerial, unilateral, franchised. You can almost hear the PowerPoint.

Subtext: democracy promotion isn’t pitched as a moral imperative but as counterterrorism hygiene. “Long-term security and prosperity from terrorism” is an awkward phrase that conflates threats and outcomes, but the logic is clear: instability breeds terror; authoritarianism breeds instability; therefore, pressure everyone. That logic also launders geopolitical leverage into a public-spirited mandate. If an ally resists US preferences, it can be recast as failing the anti-terror test.

Context matters: this is the early War on Terror worldview, when “with us or against us” expanded into “with us, but not like that.” McConnell isn’t selling nuance; he’s selling a larger radius for American authority, wrapped in the language of safety.