Government ethics
This book is a criticism of American foreign policy which typically operates on a "do first, ask forgiveness second" policy. The challenge of quantifying American involvement in conspiracies against other countries is a formidable task, but Johnson takes the time to examine all the moments in recent history when the United States government participated in a military operate which was kept top secret and then later discovered and criticized. This process of justifying the government's actions to a philosophical opinion of truth could be called a kind of ethical examination.
Time and forgetfulness
The author of Blowback suggests that the American public has something of a short memory for American scandals abroad. For instance, he examines a long chain of back-and-forth conflicts between anti-American militants in the Middle East and finds that often, at the beginning of the retaliations, there was some American action (often unknown to the general public) which happened in the past so that through American media, the impression can be given that these foreign militants are anti-American because they oppose American virtues or something.
Secrecy and spin
The government is only checked and balanced as long as it is not passing esoteric legislation in secret, which the government has the ability to do. The author suggests that this kind of power is incredibly dangerous, leading to antagonism from other countries. He suggests that his reader look at America from a foreign point of view to understand that the media spins American politics in a certain way. The spin is designed to keep Americans debating on political issues while abroad the government is creating the kind of economic landscape it prefers—at least that is what the writer suggests.
