Remember when the Left was anti-war? Ask a leftie why we went to Iraq, and they'll say, "For the oil", as if it's obvious. Ask them why China might have an interest in us leaving Afghanistan and allowing it to break down into chaos, and they'll say, "idk but it's probably Trump's fault. Also, it's racist to criticize China, you bigot".

I think it's because the Left has solidified its hold over academia, the media, and the government. They don't have to pretend anymore for the normies because they control all the (visible) levers of power. Normies go along with it because in their minds the Left now is still the Left of the 1970s.