Exclusive: President Trump’s acceptance of National Security Advisor Flynn’s resignation marks Official Washington’s first big success in neutering Trump and killing hopes for a détente with Russia, reports Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
The neocon-dominated U.S. foreign policy establishment won an important victory in forcing the resignation of President Trump’s National Security Advisor Michael Flynn over a flimsy complaint that he had talked to the Russian ambassador during the transition.
Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn speaks at the Defense Intelligence Agency change of directorship at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, July 24, 2012. (DoD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo)
The Washington Post, the neoconservatives’ media flagship, led the assault on Flynn, an unorthodox thinker who shared the neocons’ hostility toward Iran but broke with them in seeing no strategic reason to transform Russia into an implacable enemy.
After Flynn’s resignation on Monday evening, the Post gloated over its success in achieving the first major crack in Trump’s resistance to Official Washington’s establishment. The Post cited Flynn’s “potentially illegal contacts” with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, a reference to the Logan Act, a 1799 never-enforced law that forbids private citizens from negotiating with a country in dispute with the U.S. government.
Though no one has ever been prosecuted under the Logan Act, it has been cited in recent decades as an excuse to attack American citizens who disagree with U.S. government policies while traveling abroad and having contacts with foreign leaders.
Often those accusations are aimed at Americans seeking to peacefully resolve disputes when a U.S. president is eager to escalate a conflict, such as President Ronald Reagan’s denunciations of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson for visiting Cuba and House Speaker Jim Wright for exploring ways to end the Contra war in Nicaragua.
In other words, the Logan Act is usually exploited in a McCarthyistic fashion to bait or discredit peace advocates, similarly to how it has now been used to destroy Flynn for daring to look for ways to reduce the dangerous tensions between Washington and Moscow.
But the media-driven attacks on Flynn are particularly curious since he was the National Security Advisor-designate of an incoming administration at the time of the calls and – as such – he would be expected to make contacts with important foreign officials to begin laying the groundwork for relations with the new president.
Whether U.S. sanctions against Russia were mentioned or not, the notion that an elected president or his designees – during a transition – can have no meaningful contact with diplomats whom they may need to deal with in a matter of weeks represents a particularly contentious interpretation of a law that has never been tested in a court of law and may well represent an unconstitutional infringement on free speech and dissent.
An Expanding Hysteria
Indeed, referencing the Logan Act appears to be an excuse to continue – and expand – Official Washington’s hysteria over Russia, which has become the useful villain to blame for every U.S. foreign policy debacle and even Hillary Clinton’s disastrous presidential run.
Donald Trump and Governor Mike Pence of Indiana speaking to supporters at an immigration policy speech at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. August 31, 2016. (Flickr Gage Skidmore)
Flynn’s more egregious offense in this case may have been to mislead Vice President Mike Pence on exactly what was discussed, but Trump’s White House has not seemed previously overly concerned with the precise accuracy of its statements.
Indeed, Trump and his team have tangled themselves up for weeks by promoting “alternative facts” — that Donald Trump’s inaugural crowd was bigger than Barack Obama’s and that Trump would have won the popular vote if not for three million to five million illegal votes. Though these absurd claims pertain more to Trump’s ego than to anything important, he and his representatives have continued fighting these fights on Twitter and TV appearances and show no signs of stopping.
So, the ouster of Flynn for failing to provide a complete readout on some telephone conversations in December stands out as even more significant in the context of the deluge of falsehoods that have poured forth from Trump’s White House.
Flynn’s real “offense” appears to be that he favors détente with Russia rather than escalation of a new and dangerous Cold War. Trump’s idea of a rapprochement with Moscow – and a search for areas of cooperation and compromise – has been driving Official Washington’s foreign policy establishment crazy for months and the neocons, in particular, have been determined to block it.
Though Flynn has pandered to elements of the neocon movement with his own hysterical denunciations of Iran and Islam in general, he emerged as a key architect for Trump’s plans to seek a constructive relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Meanwhile, the neocons and their liberal-interventionist sidekicks have invested heavily in making Putin the all-purpose bête noire to justify a major investment in new military hardware and in pricy propaganda operations.
The neocons and liberal hawks also hated Flynn because – as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency – he oversaw a prescient 2012 analysis that foresaw that their support for the Syrian insurgency would give rise to “a declared or undeclared Salafist principality in eastern Syria.”
The DIA report, which was partially declassified in a lawsuit over the 2012 killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other U.S. personnel in Benghazi, Libya, embarrassed the advocates for an escalation of the war in Syria and the ouster of secular President Bashar al-Assad.
Flynn even went further in a 2015 interview when he said the intelligence was “very clear” that the Obama administration made a “willful decision” to back these jihadists in league with Middle East allies, a choice that looked particularly stupid when Islamic State militants started beheading American hostages and capturing cities in Iraq.
A Beloved ‘Regime Change’
But “regime change” in Syria was dear to the neocons’ hearts. After all, Israeli leaders had declared Assad’s removal central to smashing the so-called “Shiite crescent” reaching from Tehran through Damascus to Beirut.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Aug. 30, 2013, claims to have proof that the Syrian government was responsible for a chemical weapons attack on Aug. 21, 2013, but that evidence failed to materialize or was later discredited. [State Department photo]
Still, despite those doubts, it appeared a bombing campaign against Assad was in the offing, except that Obama delayed its implementation and Putin then proposed an alternative in which Assad would surrender all his chemical weapons.
Putin’s interference in the neocon/liberal-hawk war plans made him the new prime target – and Ukraine became ground zero for the effort to explode the cooperative relationship between Obama and Putin.
On Sept. 26, 2013, only weeks after the aborted U.S. bombing campaign against Syria, Carl Gershman, the neocon president of the U.S.-government-funded National Endowment for Democracy, took to the Post’s op-ed page to declare “Ukraine the biggest prize” and suggest that winning it could ultimately lead to toppling Putin inside Russia.
Key U.S. government neocons, such as Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland and Sen. John McCain, then began pushing for the violent right-wing coup that – in February 2014 – ousted Ukraine’s elected President Viktor Yanukovych and touched off the new Cold War with Russia.
Amid these heightened tensions, the mainstream media in the United States and Europe joined in the full-scale Russia/Putin-bashing. All rational perspective on the underlying reality was lost, except for a handful of independent Internet journalists and foreign-policy outsiders who rejected the over-the-top propaganda.
A Few Dissenters Too Many
But even a few dissenters were a few dissenters too many. So, to enforce the new groupthink – holding Russia at fault for pretty much everything – a new McCarthyism emerged, deeming anyone who dared disagree a “Moscow stooge” or a “Russian propagandist.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking with supporters at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, March 21, 2016. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
The ugliness penetrated into the U.S. presidential campaign because Democrat Hillary Clinton took a belligerent line toward Russia while Trump broke with the Republican establishment and called for improved ties between Washington and Moscow. Clinton called Trump Putin’s “puppet” and – after Clinton’s stunning loss – the Obama administration floated unproven allegations that Putin had intervened in the election to put Trump in the White House.
This hysteria over Russia gained added strength because Democrats were so angry over Trump’s election that liberal and progressive operatives saw a chance to build a movement and raise lots of money by pushing the Trump-Putin accusations.
This opportunism has turned much of the liberal/progressive community into a pro-New Cold War constituency willing to engage in a new breed of McCarthyism by demanding intensive investigations into alleged connections between Americans and Russians.
From the neocon side, The Washington Post has gone so far as to promote baseless accusations from an anonymous group called PropOrNot that 200 Internet sites, including Consortiumnews.com and other important independent news sources, are guilty of spreading Russian propaganda. Congress approved a new $160 million bureaucracy to combat such “propaganda.”
However, since Trump’s inauguration, the focus has shifted to Flynn, as the personification of the effort to cool off the New Cold War, because he had phone conversations with the Russian ambassador that presumably were intercepted by U.S. intelligence.
Because Flynn supposedly misrepresented some details of the calls to Vice President Mike Pence, senior Justice Department holdovers from the Obama administration concocted an argument that Flynn might be vulnerable to Russian blackmail.
The argument is dubious because the Russians would know that the U.S. government knew exactly what the conversations entailed, so how would the blackmail work? But this “blackmail” argument is another throwback to the earlier McCarthy days when gays were barred from sensitive government jobs because of their alleged susceptibility to blackmail.
But the gambit to get Flynn worked. Amid frenzied coverage on CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times and the rest of the mainstream media, Flynn and the Russia détente that he stood for were not expected to be long for this world of Official Washington.
Flynn’s resignation and its acceptance by Trump also prove that these tactics work and that “tough-guy” Trump is not immune to them. While the President may battle to the end over pointless questions about the size of his inaugural crowd and his belief that he should have won the popular vote, he will cave when the pressure builds on a matter of genuine substance and real importance to the future of the world.
The so-called permanent government of Washington and its complicit mainstream media – what some call the Deep State – have taught Trump a lesson and have learned a lesson, too. They now can be expected to redouble their march toward war and more war, ironically with progressives and leftists in tow.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com).
Robert did not discuss that Flynn lied to VP Pence about the conversation. Perhaps that is the real reason he was fired. I do agree with the general tone of the article and I am waiting to see if and how Trump will be different from Obama in foreign policy. Tillerson is a good start as Secretary of State. Syria is a big test. Maybe Trump realizes he has to move in small steps to get foreign policy changes.
LaRouche says Trump is unfazed by these desperate rearguard actions of the Establishment war faction to undermine Trump and even the institute of the Presidency itself. Two titanic forces are now at war throughout the World; it is The War Party vs. The Nation-Building Party. The War Party is anchored by the Anglo-American Imperium of The City and The Street, from post WWII to now; bankrupt and collapsing. The Nation-Building Party is anchored by Russia and China. Trump has surrounded himself with businees leaders with strong ties to China and Russia. Trump is still to task. In war one must expect early casualties, disrupted formations that cause regrouping. Flynn’s rabid anti-Iran views would have gotten him dismissed anyway; doesn’t fit in with Trump’s plans to ally with Russia and China for the World’s benefit and peaceful development
“They now can be expected to redouble their march toward war and more war, ironically with progressives and leftists
in towleading the way.”There. Fixed that for you.
“Vice-President Mike Pence is a key piece in the puzzle; after all his major role is as insider guarantor – at the heart of the Trump administration — of neocon Deep State interests. The CIA did leak. The CIA most certainly has been spying on all Trump operatives. Flynn though fell on his own sword. Classic hubris; his fatal mistake was to strategize by himself – even before he became national security advisor. ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis, T. Rex Tillerson – both, by the way, very close to Kissinger — and most of all Pence did not like it one bit once they were informed […]
“In the Grand Chessboard, what Flynn’s fall spells out is just a pawn out of the game because the King would not protect him. We will only know for sure ‘draining the swamp’ – the foreign policy section – is doomed if neocons and neoliberalcons continue to run riot; if neoliberalcons are not fully exposed in their complicity in the rise of ISIS/ISIL/Daesh; and if the much vaunted possibility of a détente with Russia flounders for good.”
The Swamp Strikes Back
By Pepe Escobar
https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201702151050696849-flynn-trump-administration-swamp/
Title: “David Ignatius’ Curious Role in the Mike Flynn Story”
So the Washington Post’s prize neocon set the timing of the Flynn drama. Well, I suppose a Good Israel Patriot does what he is supposed to do.
Source – Emptywheel site.
Title: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Set To Meet Trump “
February 14, 2017
Title: “Did The CIA Just Stage A Micro-Coup Against Trump Administration?”
February 15, 2017
A few minutes ago I decided I didn’t like the way these two headlines dovetailed together.
An Intelligence Coup could have happened at any time, but that it has occurred when the prime minister of the Wag The Dog nation of Israel was here on a ‘state visit’ caused my tinfoil hat to really start buzzing. Did they arrange the timing so Trump would understand at last he must listen to His Master’s Voice? Has he now been brought to heel? To find out there will be lots of things to watch for, like who replaces Flynn. The future status and influence of Pence. Any subtle changes in policy moving towards making this Administration into Obama’s third term. Or Bush’s fifth term.
I still feel that Flynn leaving was a net good for Trump, but there are other opinions about that. The Moon of Alabama cites this very essay by Mr. Parry in his own analysis of the matter.
About a month ago Daniel Lazare published an essay here titled “The Scheme to Take Down Trump”. That may still be true, but the Intelligence Community may have alternate plan of bending Trump to their will.
Back to The Moon of Alabama post:
“The Post cited Flynn’s “potentially illegal contacts” with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, a reference to the Logan Act, a 1799 never-enforced law that forbids private citizens from negotiating with a country in dispute with the U.S. government”.
Well, what about the Reagan’s gang in the run-up of the 1980 presidential election meeting with Iranians in Paris? “October Surprise”, anyone?
I think Guillermo is right, Clinton is a lifelong operative and, with Soros, is working behind the scenes; Obama, too, but maybe separately. Trump, I have read, has done business with Russian oligarchs, some who also have Russian Mafia connections. The Mafia in Russia, if I understand from what I have read, is a problem for Putin somewhat like JFK and the American Mafia. I think Trump’s major reason for rapprochement with Russia was for business purposes. But that’s an unreality now, with the current climate of hysteria.
Let’s have a congressional investigation and see what Mr. Trump knew and when he knew it. I think it’s a good idea to have better relations with Russia, but the extensive contacts coming to light between Trump campaign officials and Russian intelligence bear more light being shed upon them. There is no reason to trust anyone in these matters, certainly not this president.
Headed by the Honorable John McCain and first witness the even more Honorable William Browder who will fill us all in as to what a horrible man Mr Putin is. Get a life Mr Boyce
Listen to this at link below:
————————————————————-
“Wake Up America”
Video
Dennis Kucinich Says Intel Community Making ‘Unprecedented’ Effort to Upend Trump…
[see more at link below]
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/46450.htm
“And I tell you there’s a marching band and Chowder Society out there. There’s gold in them there hills. There are people trying to separate the U.S. and Russia so that this military industrial intel axis can cash in.”
– Former U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=277&v=mFR9z5fwf48
“It’s said that in the old days, when there was no television, men really had to think long and hard to come up with clever excuses to get out of the house at night so they could go down to the lodge. Making any organization’s activities ‘secret’ was a real stroke of genius on someone’s part because no matter what it was you were doing down there at the lodge – no matter how frivolous or intoxicating it was – you could always say you had sworn a blood oath to keep it all secret and therefore you couldn’t talk about it.
“Before the invention of the television remote, men had nothing to do at home, so a husband might say to his wife: ‘I’d like nothing more, my dear, than to stay home with you and the children and play a good rousing game of Parcheesi, but I’m afraid we’ve got very important business to tend to down at the lodge and of course since it’s all secret I can’t, under pain of death, tell you any more about it.’
“The highly secretive Cherryfield Chowder and Marching Society was founded more than140 years ago in the Down East town of Cherryfield and soon became the center of male society in town. Those who listen regularly to my weekend radio show on 560WGAN have heard me talk of the society, but I’ve never gone into too much detail. Now, I can talk.
“The society was founded in 1868 by Civil War veteran Harrold T. Hupper, a burly man who looked like his body alone could hold many of the world’s secrets.
“They say Hooper stood 6 feet 8 inches and weighed over 300 pounds. He also had a long, drooping handlebar mustache that made eating chowder a tad difficult.
“He was a man who loved nothing more than to sit his portly frame down to a good, steaming bowl of thick, tasty chowder. He never cared if it was fish, clam or corn – he loved them all. In fact, the secret society’s original name was the Cherryfield Chowder Society. The marching business would come later.
“The organization’s early meetings were on the a closed-off section of the old Cherryfield Town Hall, where Hupper and a small band of charter members would show up with their fixin’s and make themselves a huge pot of chowder and then serve it. After eating, they’d clean up and go home. It was that simple. Some members began complaining it was too simple. Couldn’t there be more?
“That’s when they began adding things like their secret way of eating chowder and the society’s secret flag – a white chowder tureen and two crossed soup spoons on a navy blue field. Eventually, the society adopted a set of secret bylaws.
“By the early 1880s, members decided there should be more to the organization than just chowder. After many heated arguments and a few ugly chowder incidents, it was decided that after chowder would come marching. Since you can’t march without music, the society then voted to form a marching band. Before long, they became the now-famous Cherryfield Chowder and Marching Society.
“Now, the secret is out.”
– “Secret Societies” in Moose Memoirs and Lobster Tales: As True as Maine Stories Ought to Be (2016) by John McDonald
“By the early 1880s, members decided there should be more to the organization than just chowder. After many heated arguments and a few ugly chowder incidents, it was decided that after chowder would come marching. Since you can’t march without music, the society then voted to form a marching band.
Before long, they became the now-famous Cherryfield Chowder and Marching Society.
“Now, the secret is out.” >>
: would this be same as or in category of today’s BLM collective movement into real & actual ‘equal opportunity’ for divers ethnic / tribal bloodlines?
— The Cherryfield Chowder and Marching Band represented a specific ethnic group; am I right?
:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/trump-decapitates-the-russia-peace-initiative/557505
Speaking of the 1880s and a specific ethnic group, only a complete chowderhead or klutz could ignore the no-so-secret sentiment toward Russia that lies at the historical root of Zionism.
In the Russian Empire, waves of pogroms of 1881-1884 (some allegedly state-sponsored), as well as the anti-Semitic May Laws of 1882 introduced by Tsar Alexander III of Russia, deeply affected Jewish communities.
More than 2 million Jews fled Russia between 1880 and 1920. The vast majority of them emigrated to the United States, but some decided to migrate to Ottoman Palestine.
Russian-Polish Jewish doctor and activist Leo Pinsker wrote his famous pamphlet Auto-Emancipation (Selbstemanzipation), subtitled Warning to His Fellow People, from a Russian Jew (Mahnruf an seine Stammgenossen, von einem russischen Juden). Pinsker published it anonymously in German on 1 January 1882. The pamphlet, which urged the Jewish people to strive for independence and national consciousness, raised strong responses both for and against.
As a physician, Pinsker preferred the medical term “Judeophobia” to the recently introduced “antisemitism”. Pinsker knew that a combination of mutually exclusive assertions is a characteristic of a psychological disorder and was convinced that pathological, irrational phobia may explain this millennia-old hatred:
“… to the living the Jew is a corpse, to the native a foreigner, to the homesteader a vagrant, to the proprietary a beggar, to the poor an exploiter and a millionaire, to the patriot a man without a country, for all a hated rival.”
Pinsker’s analysis of the roots of this ancient hatred led him to call for the establishment of a Jewish National Homeland, either in Palestine or elsewhere.
On 31 July 1882, a group of Hovevei Zion enthusiasts from Kharkov (today’s Ukraine) which included noted philanthropist Isaac Leib Goldberg founded Rishon LeZion, the first Zionist settlement in Palestine. Despite obstacles posed by the Turkish government, which hindered the purchase of land, the settlement was strengthened and enlarged. Zikhron Ya’akov was founded in December 1882 by Hovevei Zion pioneers from Romania.
In 1883, Nathan Birnbaum, 19 years old, founded Kadimah, the first Jewish student association in Vienna and printed Pinsker’s pamphlet Auto-Emancipation.
in 1884, Pinsker was among 34 delegates that met in Kattowitz, Germany (Upper Silesia, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia, today Katowice in Poland). Rabbi Samuel Mohilever was elected the president and Pinsker the chairman of the organization they named Hovevei Zion. The group tried to secure financial help from Baron Edmond James de Rothschild and other philanthropists to aid Jewish settlements and to organize educational courses.
The Dreyfus Affair, which erupted in France in 1894, profoundly shocked emancipated Jews. The depth of antisemitism in the first country to grant Jews equal rights led many to question their future prospects among Christians. Among those who witnessed the Affair was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, Theodor Herzl. Herzl was born in Budapest and lived in Vienna (Jews were only allowed to live in Vienna from 1848), who published his pamphlet Der Judenstaat (“The Jewish State”) in 1896.
By 1890, Palestine, which was part of the Ottoman Empire, was inhabited by about half a million people, mostly Muslim and Christian Arabs, but also some dozens of thousands Jews.
Most settlements met with financial difficulties and most of the settlers were not proficient in farming. Baron Edmond James de Rothschild took several of the settlements under his wing, which helped them survive until more settlers with farming experience arrived in subsequent aliyot. He was the main philonthropist.
Immigrants of the First Aliyah also contributed to existing towns and settlements, notably Petah Tikva. The first neighbourhoods of Tel Aviv (Neve Tzedek and Neve Shalom) were also built by members of the aliyah, although it was not until the Second Aliyah that Tel Aviv was officially founded.
In Righteous Victims: A history of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001, Israeli historian Benny Morris wrote:
“[…] the major cause of tension and violence throughout the period 1882-1914 was not accidents, misunderstandings or the attitudes and behaviors of either side, but objective historical conditions and the conflicting interests and goals of the two populations. The Arabs sought instinctively to retain the Arab and Muslim character of the region and to maintain their position as its rightful inhabitants; the Zionists sought radically to change the status quo, buy as much land as possible, settle on it, and eventually turn an Arab-populated country into a Jewish homeland.
“For decades the Zionists tried to camouflage their real aspirations, for fear of angering the authorities and the Arabs. They were, however, certain of their aims and of the means needed to achieve them. Internal correspondence amongst the olim from the very beginning of the Zionist enterprise leaves little room for doubt.”
In Righteous Victims, Morris provided excerpts from three letters written in 1882 by these first arrivals:
Vladimir (Ze’ev) Dubnow, one of the Biluim wrote to his brother, the historian Simon Dubnow, in October 1882: “The ultimate goal … is, in time, to take over the Land of Israel and to restore to the Jews the political independence they have been deprived of for these two thousand years …. The Jews will yet arise and, arms in hand (if need be), declare that they are the masters of their ancient homeland.” (Dubnow himself shortly afterward returned to Russia.)
Ben-Yehuda, who settled in Jerusalem in September 1881, wrote in July 1882 to Peretz Smolenskin in Vienna: “The thing we must do now is to become as strong as we can, to conquer the country, covertly, bit by bit … We will not set up committees so that the Arabs will know what we are after, we shall act like silent spies, we shall buy, buy, buy.”
In October 1882 Ben-Yehuda and Yehiel Michael Pines, who had arrived in Palestine in 1878, wrote to Rashi Pin, in Vilna: “We have made it a rule not to say too much, except to those … we trust … the goal is to revive our nation on its land … if only we succeed in increasing our numbers here until we are the majority [Emphasis in original] …. There are now only five hundred [thousand] Arabs, who are not very strong, and from whom we shall easily take away the country if only we do it through stratagems [and] without drawing upon us their hostility before we become the strong and populous ones.”
An estimated 25,000-35,000 Jews, mostly from Eastern Europe and from Yemen, immigrated to Ottoman Palestine during this first wave. It is estimated that between 40% to 90% of those immigrants left Palestine again, most of them few years after their arrival.
very informative history , thanks. The problem most fair-minded people have is, the forceful taking of land and the genocide being inflicted on the Palestinians. Having a Jewish state in light of centuries of discrimination is understandable but forceful expulsion, “mowing the grass” as was done in Operation Cast Lead was a crime against humanity. AIPAC rules America and no opposition to the crimes of the Likuds is tolerated. I can see no solution as long as the MSM is controlled by the zionist media in America.
I’m going to the Post Office
Robert Parry is correct. Throwing the bloodied body of General Flynn into shark infested waters was a big mistake. Listening to Graham this morning who is one of the biggest sharks, there must have made a dozen outrageous comments all prefaced or ending with if it is true.
Trump missed a great opportunity to challenge the mob by supporting Flynn and his right to talk on issues with the Russians or anybody else. By flinching, he is at least in someway acknowledging the legitimacy of the position that your National Security Adviser needs some kind of clearance from the neocons on what he can talk about. Unless Flynn promised to remove the sanctions, which he had no power to do, raising the issue of sanctions and probing for possible Russian concessions seems to be the kind of things Trump’s man would do.
Very disappointing for now and in what this portends for the future.
.
Roman Redux:
Observations occasioned by an exchange of messages with a much admired friend
The transition between the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire was murky and as it occurred impossible for most if not all of those involved to discern. It may have started with the destruction of Carthage, or with the assassination of the Gracchi brothers, but probably began much earlier and in a much more subtle fashion. Speculation on those points delights historians and political scientists but ought to now concern us all as we seem to be living in all too similar times.
During the past month we have been witnessing what smells like a prelude to our own civil wars; a determined and concerted, well planned effort to overthrow our recently installed government through either quasi-legal political means (Article II, Section 4 of our Constitution), or, if that fails, through any other means necessary. During the past century the so called Deep State (a combination of neoliberal – neoconservative – mercantile – government alliances within the United States government) has developed admirable expertise (assuming the irrelevancy of ethics) in such informal endeavors (e.g., witness the successful very recent implementation of regime changes during the Obama – Clinton administration in the Ukraine, Paraguay, Honduras, Argentina, Brazil and, the continuing efforts in Venezuela, to name but a few). Even if internal regime change is accomplished successfully through quasi legal political means, our republic would probably be doomed, assuming it still exists. Once escaped from Pandora’s Box of constitutional delights, politicized impeachment would first likely become the norm and then virtually irrelevant. The Empire would have slipped in among us virtually unnoticed but by its progenitors, already here among us, active, well-funded, and very, very powerful.
I have to admit that (as my friend Toby might say) this all seems like a delusional paranoiac rant. I definitely hope that’s true but like Cassandra, I fear it’s not. Most among those I most respect as well as among those with whom I most disagree share the perspective that I’m wrong. I attribute that to the fact that they find themselves partisans in the midst of the current conflict. I on the other hand am part of a small disenfranchised but civically active group viewing events at a distance, although in this era of globalization distances tend to be “virtually” invisible (pardon the pun). Still, there are at least two people I greatly admire who I believe at least sense some of what I’m sensing and are culturally sophisticated enough to grasp my comparisons, former Congressman Dennis Kucinich and former Senator James Webb, men with very different political perspectives but similar in their candor, trustworthiness and objectivity.
Although the current crisis has been very long in the making, probably since at least the abrupt demise of the presidency of Richard Millhouse Nixon, it seems to most of us that it has come upon us suddenly, the consequence of a presidential election in which the two major candidates were imposed on an electorate that despised them so that no matter which one won, the victor would have faced an unhappy citizenry. Although the deck was very, very heavily stacked in favor of the unexpected loser, she somehow accomplished the improbable but with the sheen of illegitimacy sometimes inherent in a federalist rather than purely democratic system, a sheen sufficient to allow the mainstream establishments of both political parties, the mainstream media and the Deep State which backed her, to decide that now might be the perfect time to strike to correct the electorate’s unfortunate mistake. The defeated candidate and her principle (albeit not principled) backers, have apparently not faded into the haze of history as so many believe and so many hope, but appear to be successfully orchestrating a carefully planned and funded contingency plan which ought not to be a surprise. They see themselves as Bruti to President Trump’s Caesar, forgetting that an Octavian (subsequently an Augustus) lurked in the wings.
One of my very respected college classmates (we both attended the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina during the late 1960’s) insists that I am paranoid and that the Clintons have deservedly lost their political (if not their historical) relevance and that my perception that a Clinton Wing of the Democratic Party (“CWD”) still exists and is active among the current opposition. I disagree although I very much wish he were right. To think that it merely evaporated after so much investment by people so few in number but so hefty in power appears naïve to me. The coordinated nature of the current anti-Trump campaign bears a familiar imprimatur that leads to my conclusions, as does the immediate implementation of the incredibly well organized and efficient opposition. It is all too familiar in areas of the world that during the past century have been victims of similar campaigns led by United States intelligence agencies on behalf of the Deep State. Thus to me, the Clintons are the catalysts for the paradigm political shift in which I perceive the United States and by contagion, the rest of the world, are in the midst of.
Paradigm shifts are frequently difficult to discern until it’s too late to shape them, but there are usually plenty of indicia which should have provided due warnings in time to make necessary adjustments, unfortunately obvious only after the fact. The past month, indeed this past year, has been deluged with such indicia. Take for instance the demise of the self-perpetuated myth of an objective mainstream media. The truth is than an objective student of history (assuming one ever existed) would probably note than an objective press has never existed in the United States but rather, starting during the colonial era, the press was always not only partisan but highly skilled in the use of calumny, distortion and where convenient, outright falsehood. In that it reflects our character as a nation where we are capable in the same breath of extolling the virtues of democracy, equity, justice and equality on the one hand, and American exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny on the other; tactics on which ethicists may frown but which pragmatists, especially successful pragmatists, loudly applaud; and we have historically been nothing if not oxymoronical ethical pragmatists. Thus the mass media is probably not all that different than what it always has been, but rather, perhaps in a strange manner, more honestly dishonest, more blatant in its prejudices and goals, more obvious in its tactics, more certain that those who’ll buy what it’s selling will, as in the case of hot dog lovers, not care just how it’s made.
Currently, the mainstream media’s part in the proposed overthrow of the current administration involves crafting a dislikeable persona for the current president and anyone associated with him; the antithesis of their immediately past task (which it blew) of crafting a likeable and comforting persona for Mr. Trump’s adversary during the recent presidential election. Mr. Trump, never really a likeable fellow, lends himself well to this form of artistry and his bombastic reaction to the mainstream media’s now constant baiting is merely the music made by the Combined Opposition (the Clintons, the CWD, Obama administration holdovers still in the government and the Deep State), deliberately provoking Mr. Trump in order to facilitate their hoped for coup d’état (so far only a putsch). Mr. Trump certainly did not begin the feud, his comments are almost always reactive (more accurately over reactive), and certainly predictably. The mainstream media’s shock at such reactions is obviously feigned as it is exactly what it sought to elicit. While such “feud” is certainly terrible for US democracy (assuming it still exists), it is a tried and true weapon in the armory used by the Deep State for delegitimization of governments in the process of being overthrown (or during such attempt, e.g., Venezuela during the past decade). Psychologically for the mainstream media after the thrashing it was dealt in its efforts to control the results of last year’s elections, the results of these efforts are, for now, therapeutic, kind of like opium to relieve a mild toothache, although the long term consequences may prove disastrous.
The most immediate success of the Combined Opposition’s putsch in progress has been its artfully designed and implemented removal of President Trump’s National Security Advisor, retired lieutenant general Michael T. Flynn. A practice run to be sure but its success, in the Combined Opposition’s opinion, must auger well. Mr. Flynn was accused of two things, violation of the never invoked, frequently violated, multi century old Logan Act (ironically passed along with the Adam’s administration’s Alien and Sedition Acts) and then with lying to his superiors and the public about the nature of such supposed violation. Mr. Flynn’s conduct was naïve. He not only had the right to conduct conversations with the Russian and other ambassadors but the duty to do so and to do so reflecting the perspectives of the incoming administration. The purported “one president at a time” tradition is and always has been a fraud. One only need look at the Clinton – Trump reunions with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu during the last campaign to see how ludicrous the current posture is (both violated the Logan Act albeit with impunity as it involved Israel). The misconduct was really on the part of former President Obama’s outgoing administration taking political action disguised as national defense intended solely to damage the incoming administration. During presidential transitions, especially during their latter part, with the notable exception of President John Adams, the tradition has generally been to take no unilateral action opposed to the incoming administration’s anticipated policies. Flynn’s sin was to engage in traditional political deception but this time set in the framework of a well planned and executed trap by the Combined Opposition. Ready since well before the act, it pounced, Mr. Flynn is gone and the battle of nouveaux Bunker Hill (appropriately enough, really Breed’s Hill) appears to have been won; the first nail in the Trump administration’s coffin set, albeit perhaps also reflective of the demise of the American Republic, were we inclined to look into untainted mirrors.
The Combined Opposition is in the midst of an all-out battle against every member of President Trump’s cabinet as well. Personally, I am not inclined to defend the members of that cabinet as they do not reflect my values or aspirations other than with respect to avoidance of further armed conflicts and interventions. I especially detest those most favored by GOP traditionalists (who in fact oppose that aspect of Trump’s inclinations), but I do acknowledge that the candidate I supported in the last election, Jill Stein of the Green Party (who all too quickly, after the election, showed her true colors, Clintonian rather than Green), lost the election and that in a democracy (which apparently some people still believe we have) rather than in an enlightened dictatorship, that’s the imperfect manner in which things work.
So, … where does that leave us, where does that leave me? As a historian and political scientist it is fascinating watching the flow of history perhaps being repeated, but as a human being, my aspirations are neither so detached nor so objective. I have long hoped that we would somehow evolve into a setting where commonality of interests for the people of the world as a whole rather than for states or for the few rich and powerful, was the rule, and I am prepared to work toward that goal, one that despite our differing perspectives right now, I know many of us share and are willing to work to accomplish.
For those who, having objected strenuously to Article II, Section 4 of our Constitution’s purported abuse during the 1990’s now find it the silver lining to their recent defeat, you may want to be careful with what you wish for lest it come to pass and become the new norm. That is exactly what I believe the current situation is designed to attain; ironically structured for that purpose by a power couple some believe have passed into the haze of history. But at least it would provide certainty to my suspicion that the American Republic is now just a cold corpse. Certainty but, as in the case of Cassandra, certainly not satisfaction.
Revolutions, real and faux, tend to come about at times when social glaciers have started to move and their movement has started to accelerate. At times, hidden truths leak out greasing such acceleration and those who’ve been comfortable with the status quo ante become desperate and are willing to forego their traditional patience in order to generate the massive energy necessary to reverse the process apparently moving in new directions.
Usually, they cause a lot of trouble, a lot of noise, and manage to change the course of change somewhat but not change itself. Unfortunately, as the Romans discovered millennia ago, change is not always the same as progress, and even progress is not always good.
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© Guillermo Calvo Mahé; Manizales, 2017; all rights reserved
Thanks for a little sanity. I share here a link to a free story posted to stimulate other writers to write a new green story. When enough people can see a better way, it will become reality. Write the new story.
intro … http://zerowastenews.org/chapters-web/Pacifica-ch0.html
Another article of interest at link below:
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Out Like Flynn
Scott McKay
February 15, 2017, 1:41 am
If there is truth to the stories about the intelligence community’s campaign to force the resignation of Trump’s national security advisor, his should be the first of countless heads to roll.
https://spectator.org/out-like-flynn/
Another article of interest at link below:
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A Win for the Deep State
The ousting of Mike Flynn takes us down the road to a police state
by Justin Raimondo, February 15, 2017
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2017/02/14/a-win-for-the-deep-state/
Abraham Lincoln said that “America will never be destroyed from the outside, if we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
That’s it in a nutshell Bob! The “Deep Staters” in the permanent government really have elected Washington leadership in their pockets, no doubt threatening defense jobs lost in their states and districts if the electees don’t go along with their Washington playbook. Obama understood this but was not powerful enough to reverse it. So much for American democracy, sad to say.
The other part of the downside is that by preventing a “Shiite Crescent” we have put our country in the middle of the historic Shiite/Sunni Islamic conflict. Not one of Trump’s seven Islamic countries for immigrants forbidden to enter the US was a traditional Sunni state (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, etc). We sure know how to mix it up, don’t we?
Obama understood the playbook. He enthusiastically played quarterback. Such a cunning interview the con man gave “The Atlantic” magazine. Thanks Obama (you sonofabitch).
America does not have 2 party’s R & D you only have 1. The Z party. If you don’t know that you have had your head in the sand. There may be one chance left for the sorry state of affairs the world is in . We need a Peace movement like never before. I have travelled this world extensivly and one thing I am sure of is that 95 percent of the people on this planet want peace. They want to love there partner there kids there friends and just get along. That 5 percent or maybe even less seems to be running the show. It is time for everyone of the 95 percent to form a peace movement like never before.Its time for every web site that advocates some form of fairness to jump on the peace bandwagon. Have a nice peaceful day.
THANK YOU FOR COGENT AND ASSIDIOUS SENTENCES.
ARTHUR M SCHESINGER IN “WAR AND THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY” SETS THE STAGES FOR
FOR THIS CURRENT “THEATER” WITH FAKE NEWS VERSUS REALITY OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.
THE CURRENT SCENARIO FILLS ALL OF THE CAREFULLY DRAWN TEMPLATES: RESULTS OPEN.
IF ONE CHANGES DATES AND NAMES IT COULD ALL BE LIFTED OUT OF BARBARA TUCHMAN’S
“THE ZIMMERMANN TELEGRAM” ANNO 1916-1917
deap state media then and now…Wilson had to be brought in line
As I wrote earlier Trump is just a “big mouth” who used his people’s hoplessness to reach the White-House. Now we see what that croock is all about. And it is just the beginning ! The MIC, Wall-Street, the Pentagon and the US federal bank want to keep on scaring peoples all over the World (including in America) with a continuous state of insecurity…We must all boycott that “fucken” country; until its people has cleaned the mess made by a tiny minority of her Citizen (people like that bastard Mc Cain)…
Parry,
The main reason Flynn HAD TO GO was the fact that he lied to VP Pence. That’s it. Once that was “out there,” Pence and Trump had no choice. A stupid lie to be sure, but trust has to prevail among the top Trump people (that includes the VP).
It is true that the DEEP STATE took Flynn out and is congratulating itself for a “job well done.” Everyone agrees with that.
My new Trump book, “The Deep State Versus Donald Trump,” gives the background and the major fissures between the Deep State and Trump. It’s worth a read for those who don’t mind purchasing a book on Amazon.
The idea that making Trump look weak makes the Deep State looks strong make work on a domestic level but it won’t fool the Russians. They will be well aware that things are none too good in the Deep State with at least three of its main players already working against each other at home and abroad. And that’s just from analysing the alternative media with an unhealthy sprinkling of the mainstream.
It is fairly obvious that the Pentagon and the CIA have been at loggerheads in Syria and elsewhere for quite some time with neither appraising the other of the full picture. At home the FBI and CIA aren’t exactly walking hand in hand, as shown by the James Comey pantomime just before the presidential election.
Though three major forces warring behind the scenes creates a very dangerous situation as far as global peace is concerned, Americans should be just as worried about potential conflict at home. There is little doubt in my mind Putin will be sitting back and watching how the situation plays out.
On a personal level, I am of the opinion the neocon faction led by Robert Kagan, John McCain and Victoria Nuland has revealed its hand too early and may soon become an irrelevance, as it doesn’t have an armed wing, as such. John McCain’s dark dealings with Eastern European dictators may soon come to haunt him. If he strays to far away from either the Pentagon or the CIA he might find problems with trying to serve the interests of two masters, let alone three or more. He is ripe for picking should any faction decide to topple him.
If none of the sides knows what they are themselves doing, let alone what the others are doing, how on earth can they think the Russians know what they are doing?
For the moment, at least, Putin can watch the plot unfolding in the hope the entire edifice will fall of its own accord. Not that that scenario would be particularly the best option either.
Bryan Hemming,
The Deep State overstepped itself here. Flynn would have fallen because he lied to the VP. So that’s a score for the Deep State but one which will be meaningless—Flynn was the wrong man for the job anyway.
I think you are very wrong on this one. When I look at Flynn’s career I see a covert operative and a warmonger. Like your Oliver North actually.
So what gives?
Trump is a fighter and he’s not known for caving. Someone had this to say:
“…what seems clear is that Trump would not have sacrificed Flynn for a triviality unless he had come to regret his choice of NSec Adviser for entirely different reasons.”
Even though most everyone would like to see him fail – are hoping and praying he will fail – maybe he had a very good reason for doing what he did.
Did you know that the FBI doesn’t record their interviews? The agents take notes and if their notes disagree with what you actually said, well too bad because now you’ll have to change your testimony or else you’ll be charged with lying to the FBI.
All you would need is the FBI to write up a report based on their agent notes and voila! Congratulations, now you’ve committed a felony.
The US appears to be coming apart faster than an unbalanced washing machine.
As a Christian, I must endure the life long belief in a spiritual state called dualism: a “presence” behind this man, something is either inside President Trump or directly behind him. His countenance generates a frightful feel. Be it a beast or good angel, it’s there and it’s Brand New. Nothing like it ever before-something dramatic is going to happen-well, maybe it’s just the orange hair? Now to the General, well, when it comes to the war front(s) of this world, I want a three star, cigar smoking, crafty but even tempered guy who won’t over-react to a PAL from the POTUS permitting a launch of battlefield nukes…never the less, I’m still looking around and Flynn isn’t what most of us had in mind?. Can any CONSORTIUMNEWS commentator suggest a few names to throw into the hat? Would our President accede to creating a citizens suggestion box, perhaps via some social media website? By-the by, where on earth did our new POTUS get that brainstorming? comment about Russia returning Crimea’s sovereignty? Mr President, the Crimean s are very happy being part of Russia. Leave it alone, go fishing with President Putin open a discussion about the “football” that both of you must lug around. My advise, mutually agree to get rid of any instant launch codes/cards. Don’t worry about revenge, or some level of talio or any other nonsense that doesn’t embrace MAD. Revenge will come soon enough, with or without a military response. Even twenty nuclear strikes will turn our big blue marble, gray for ten years or more just from fire storm dusts – does anyone remember what nuclear winter is? what mass starvation is? The Russians know all about this particular subject (starvation) and they also remember the country wouldn’t release a single bushel of wheat (USA) from bumper crops during one of Russia’s greatest famines….Sooo, again, go fishing with Putin, patch up old wounds and bad memories, toss your “footballs”, in the lake, burn your launch code cards (that has a certain delightful ring to it) , laugh, drink vodka all day long, come back stateside in a couple of months-WE WONT HOLD IT AGAINST YOU MR PRESIDENT!!!!
“Thanks, Obama!” (You sonofabitch)
“The people loyal to the administration of former US President Barack Obama waged a months-long campaign to take down the new president’s National Security Adviser Michael Flynn that eventually led to his resignation, US media reported Wednesday.”
“The outlet said the sources were concerned that other prominent figures in the current administration could become targets of similar campaigns next.”
[From Sputnik News]
Obama’s arming and protection of Al Qaeda in Syria, for more than 5 years, is real bonafide “Treason.”
http://intpolicydigest.org/2015/11/29/why-isis-exists-the-double-game/
Let’s not forget that for one second.
Good reference Joe. F. William Engdahl’s book “The Lost Hegemon: Whom the Gods Would Destroy” is commendable.
Trump not only caved on Flynn (he could have refused the general’s resignation and castigated the CIA for spying on his designated cabinet members while he was president-elect), he also caved on the whole notion of reaching a rapprochement with Russia when he personally demanded that Russia give Crimea back to Ukraine as a precondition for good relations with America. Nikki Haley’s screed at the UN was apparently not just her being a loose canon. It was Trump flipping way past Barack Obama’s bellicosity towards Putin and embracing Hillary Clinton’s promised scorched earth of Russia. Perhaps the spooks at Langely promised to make you the next Kennedy, Donald, if you actually pursue your campaign promises on foreign policy. But with NATO and American troops massed on Russia’s western borders, St. Petersburg within artillery range, Moscow within 10-minutes flight time of cruise missiles in Poland and Rumania, and a constant ratcheting up of economic sanctions, “Russian withdrawal from Crimea and drawing down the armed conflict in Ukraine” (to paraphrase your most recent statement) is simply never going to happen–no more than the US giving Texas or California back to Mexico. In fact, Donald, your response to the situation really gives Putin no reason to refrain from moving on Kiev with his army to resolve the issue. You offer no carrots, only a big stick. Submit to American demands that degrade your critical national interests in your own front yard, or you’ll be in for a severe beat down.
Even the Donald should be astute enough to know that those NATO forces are not intended to protect the Baltics from a Russian invasion. They are there to invade Russia via the Baltics. Even he knows the missiles are not poised as a defense against Iran but are meant as an offensive threat to Russia, and that Russia would lose its 300-year old naval base in Sevastopol if Putin gave Crimea back to Ukraine (over the wishes of Crimeans). Putin is supposed to accept US carriers based a couple hundred miles from Sochi–there to support Ukrainian and Georgian incursions into his country? Maybe the spooks and generals have convinced Donald that targeting a few select Russian cultural icons in Moscow and St. Petersburg would quickly cause the Russian populace to rise up, hang Putin and choose a pro-American stooge like Yeltsin to facilitate a new round of plundering Russian natural resources. Maybe they even make the sell that massive collateral damage to Warsaw, Bucharest or Berlin in a short glorious little war would be a fair exchange, especially if Halliburton and Kellogg, Brown & Root got the reconstruction contracts. Whatever they’ve been telling you to change your mind, Donald, it’s guaranteed to make the wars in Vietnam and Iraq look like parish picnics. What you and Ms. Haley are asking for now is World WarIII. Make no mistake about it, Donald. The Russian people know all about America–its propaganda and braggadocio fill the air, and they would rather die on their feet fighting it than surrender on their knees to the likes of it.
Realist your portrayal of Donald folding his cards is spot on, if he gets to continue on. On the other hand Flynn is the botched burglary of Watergate. I think you and I are watching an actual coup take place while in motion. When this coup is over it will be deemed legal by the same media that were the front line for the Deep State who funded it. I could be wrong, but for now and with what data I have been able to read and comprehend…the coup is on!
Tonight the cable networks took down Putin, the whole Trump campaign staff including Manafort, Kellyanne for promoting Ivanka’s clothing line, and the Donald for knowing how Flynn lied, and left it go. By this weekend it will do you no good to debate rationally with any other fellow American, because we will all be throughly brainwashed.
I agree. The forces of regime change are at work. This time in the United States.
MEexpert, above was what I thought yesterday, today I changed my mind. That was then and this is now, Trump can’t be trusted with National Security but Hillary can. The Russians swung the Rust Belt States all to gain control of the White House through such people as Fylnn. Our spy agencies are just doing a bang up of a patriotic job.
Yes I jest I guess, but this whole affair is mighty partisan scripted and it is a certainty that there is a power struggle going on, but what to do,about it? I don’t like when the decision makers start playing chicken with nukes, because the brainiacs who take us closer to doomsday read something which favored their rich wealthy ass survival.
The Military build up in Eastern Europe is good for US business and keeps elements of the EU in American orbit. This new Cold War is all bluster. Much depends on this years elections in various European countries about what will happen with Russia, especially in France and Germany. . I agree that Trump is not showing much of a spine but war is not imminent. The Russians have made it clear that they will use tactical nukes and that Europe will regret any attack on Russia. This new Cold War is an attempt to raise costs and punish Russia but it has already failed. There will be no wavering of the Russian and Chinese alliance any time soon. The Belt and the Road project and the rise of the SCO should make more clear that US intentions were reacting to a deeper challenge than just Neoconservatism within.. You see the failure of the Atlantic and Pacific Trade Pacts as all part of the same dynamic as is the tug of War between East and West on Turkey . It is disturbing that the US Democrats are going all in with “War on Putin” to try and validate themselves and hurt Trump. I think it will peter out but I look at this as one of the negative impact of Obama on our body politic. The Republicans are even more anti Russian , if possible. Trump spoke to a lot of people, just like le Pen in France and many others in Europe now who do not want this kind of endless war mongering and militaristic globalization , unfortunately in the USA and Europe both the political parties have control and are both myopic and tone deaf and well, basically stupid, short tightened and not interested in good governance. They want the status quo even if the people do not. Trump might not be up to the job of reforming our country.. Maybe his ego wrote a check he can’t cash. Too bad but I don’t see War on the horizon.
I think you mean you don’t see a nuclear war with Russia on the horizon, because there is certainly a very frigid cold war ongoing, plus numerous proxy wars, the most lethal being in Ukraine and Syria, and a serious but so far ineffective economic war. Even if neither side starts directly shooting down each other’s planes or launching missiles at one another’s cities, this insane fracas has cost the taxpayer dearly yet again. With an already massive national debt of $20 trillion, this country will never be able to scratch the surface on its social and infrastructural needs which are totally subordinated to its military adventures around the globe. We cannot even afford a strident war of words, if the purpose of government is accepted as outlined in the preamble to the constitution which says “promote the general welfare,” not impose military hegemony across the planet. Time for the American military to pack up and come home. The Russians already are home. If only the EU could grow a spine and tell us that.
Well, yeah and if you want to look at it like that our modern form of Democratic politics, this 2 party system, is basically treasonous because it puts the interests of the two parties (the toxic Pas de Deux) ahead of promoting the general welfare. . The Constitution states that is the government hurts the people (us) the people have the right to change the government. Good luck. Ask one of those partisan Originalst justices on the Supreme Court how to do it legally. It is worth noting that Obama first wanted to be an effective Domestic Policy President but could not get any Infrastructure spending after The Democrats burned all the bridges passing the ACA. I notice there is no chatter , there are no leaks, there is no news about the big infrastructure spending and job creation that Trump promised all throughout his campaign. The Republicans have control of the Senate and the House, this should be happening right now and the NEW YORK TIMES and WASHINGTON POST and all the TV Networks should be demanding , legislated and passed right now. I do not believe that the Republicans will give Trump the package he wants , They like this petty bickering more than the nuts and bolts of governance and so do the Democrats more than they do prompting the General Welfare. There will be no New Deal redux so let’s worry about the Russians and the Chinese instead .
If they keep backing the assaults on Eastern Ukraine and continue the dirty “regime-change” assaults against the Syrians, or try something stupid in the South China Sea…there could be a rude awakening. Even “just playing games” can have accidental or unintended consequences that spin out of “control”. We need to cut the crap, pronto.
“The Russian people know all about America–its propaganda and braggadocio fill the air, and they would rather die on their feet fighting it than surrender on their knees to the likes of it.”
Bears emphatic repetition. In fact, this entire comment bears emphatic repetition.
It should also be noted that they are more than equipped to do so.
As Glenn Greenwald points out, and this nice article by Trevor Timm of CJR, leaks by most likely the Intelligence Community have stopped several possible disasters by Trump regime already.
http://www.cjr.org/first_person/michael-flynn-trump-leaks.php
Flynn resignation shows leaks under Trump are working. Keep ‘em coming.
RE: Flynn – “It turns out it wasn’t the lying that got him fired; it’s that his lying leaked to the press.” Trump knew about Flynn and didn’t get rid of him until it became public.
Other leaks that stopped or changed Trump possible actions:
Mattis wanting to intercept Iranian boats
An executive order to reopen ‘CIA black sites’
Trump dissuaded from rolling back LBGT by Ivanka & Jared who found out via a leak
So the very people Trump trashed, the CIA who got to watch the Prez brag about himself in front of their wall of fallen heroes, and maybe others in IC, they might be the best watchdog we have. And need.
I. F . Stone might have reported this differently. Or not. I wish Christopher Hitchens were alive. It is more than neocon-neo liberal.. Now, it has filtered down to all our lives. If you are unhappy and do not have a job, that is (your own) the fault of trade, or your own stupidity. If you have a job and are okay, no-one should take that away from you. If you are born into wealth, by god, all means keep it ,you are deserving. You are better. To hell with the rest of the world. And I am talking to you losers who are not part of the 1%. How does one rectify the human condition with USA politics?
The human condition is complex and tragic. American politics is hypocritical and absurd. The former subsumes the latter but is by no means congruent with it.
I wish Hitchens was still alive simply because the man suffered an early death. But I would prefer the Hitchens who called out Kissinger’s war crimes to the Hitchens who favored the invasion of Iraq.
@Stephen,
And Flynn is one of those madmen who advocated war with Iran, which would mean war with Russia. So in this regard Parry is wrong; Flynn was not someone to be trusted not to start a war with Russia.
Of course some part of the deep state brought Flynn down.
And of course as member of the president elect’s cabinet in waiting, Flynn had every right to be talking to the Russian Foreign Minister.
However where Parry is likely wrong is Flynn’s purported disinclination for war with Russia.
Real simply, Flynn advocated war with Iran, so as to remove Iran as a regional power challenging the Saudis and the Israelis. There is no way that such a war would not also mean war with Russia, and likely China.
When Trump says he’s a deal maker, I think what he really means is he’s for sale. Someone must have paid the price he asked for (presumably, paid off his debts) to offer Flynn’s head. But he’s also given them an opening thereby to his dark warm underbelly. (Sorry about that visual). Is it possible that the establishment, neocons and liberal Hawks got together to make the deal? So we could have war in Iran and Russia: something in it for everyone.
If so, the deep state may have found its perfect figurehead: an unpopular autocrat/man of action, who will sell for the right price and absorb all the blame. It’s a formula that’s worked so well for them in other countries, why not give it a spin at home? One foresees a long, lingering investigation, and just as these foolhardy conflicts go south – as they will inevitably – tar and feather it on the buffoon and dump trump. The perfect political crime.
Wonder what Russia, Iran and China’s counter moves will be?
The establishment, neocons, and liberal hawks already had practice with your formula with George W. Bush. So will Trump take the sole fall and the establishment, neocons and liberal hawks get away with it? Only if we let them.
You raise an important and complex issue. How to take the reins back is not a simple question. It is hard to see any path that betters the situation without first making it a lot worse. The establishment media megaphoned by social media is already undermining the progressive uprising, and slyly swinging the momentum back to the establishment. The real problem are the folks who go around demonizing Trump (which is deserved) without understanding how long the demonic element has been in possession of their so-called democracy. No easy way out of this mess…but it’s essential for truth to prevail somehow.
A trivial point – not sure you can compare a Bush scion to the bloated patsy who’s been elevated to the office. Fulfilling your dynastic duty as the heir of a carbo-narco-ammo fortune is different from being the uncouth loudmouth upstart, even when the upstart is gilded. It would be like equating the Shah of Iran to Ahmedinijad – as Trump would squeak: so unfair!
I believe the madmen of militarism want war with Russia and Iran. Therefore:
Iran and Russia are the next marketed “enemies” in the war criminals quest for endless war. Iran has never attacked us and neither has Russia, yet NATO has surrounded Russia and called it an “aggressor.” Will these maniacs of militarism start a nuclear war?
[read more at link below]
http://graysinfo.blogspot.ca/2017/02/will-war-agenda-of-war-criminals-result.html
Agreed. And this formula is bound to give ISIS dominance throughout the Middle East. How long will Turkey hold?
Check this out:
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-trump-regime-was-manufactured-by-a-war-inside-the-deep-state-f9e757071c70#.tbnsgb7s2
How the Trump Regime was Manufactured by a War Inside the Deep State
“The world is not going to run out of oil anytime soon, but that might be precisely what drags the global economy down after 2018?—?unless we wake up to the elephant in the room: global net energy decline.”
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-global-economic-growth-will-drown-in-the-oil-glut-after-2018-5c96dec3f13b#.85fu3w88b
How global economic growth will drown in Trump’s oil glut after 2018
All the oil on the planet can’t save a financial system in overshoot, but another world is still possible
The real lesson here is the so-called Deep State — the governance apparatus of the One Percent’s conquer-the-world imperialist majority — is genuinely omnipotent within the context of democratic process.
In other words — even if the Democratic (sic) nomination had not been stolen from Sen Sanders and he had gone on to win the presidency — he would be no less powerless than President Trump to counter the Deep State’s depredations.
Actually, this is merely an especially blatant affirmation of the lesson taught us by the events of 22 November 1963..
What this means is the Deep State is in fact a totally out-of-control secret government: literally dictatorship by the pro-war, anything-goes faction of the plutocracy.
The true horror of this condition is that — just as the history of so many other nations proves — the only removal of such omnipotent tyrants is by revolution, military coup or some combination of both, which in any case is the end, often forever, of even the slightest pretense of democracy.
Article of interest at link below:
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The Deep State Gets a Scalp
By NOAH MILLMAN • February 14, 2017, 5:24 PM
Michael Flynn was a seriously dangerous man, and I am very relieved that he will no longer be in a position of power. But Damon Linker is absolutely right that the way he was brought down should worry everyone who cares about the health of American democracy:…
[read more at link below]
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/millman/the-deep-state-gets-a-scalp/
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Liberals are Becoming Addicted to Fear, and it’s a Problem:
“In order to keep liberal Americans in a constant state of fear since the November election so as to avoid having to make any changes in the way it does business (which has indeed been the objective), the neoliberal/neocon establishment media was pounding the “Russian hacking” narrative into their skulls in daily fire-and-brimstone fearmongering updates until Trump’s inauguration. You don’t hear nearly as much about Russia now that Trump’s been sworn in, because until he became an actual government official taking actual government action, there was only so much they could squawk about before the spell they were casting wore off. So they babbled about Russian hackers and urinating prostitutes nonstop from November 9th until January 20th to fill in the fear gap.
And now, at long last, they’ve got President Trump to fuel the fire. Every single thing he does, every tweet, every comment, every word-salady mouth fart he makes in front of the podium gets twisted into the most extreme possible interpretation and alarm bells ring throughout the nation to keep America’s liberals in a constant state of cortisol and adrenaline-soaked fugue.
A temporary immigration ban becomes a “Muslim ban”. Mumbling some drivel about how it was a mistake not to secure Iraqi oil from ISIS becomes “OMG he’s definitely going to invade Iraq again!” A CIA-funded Washington Post shill drops an anonymous rumor that Trump plans to sign an executive order making it legal to discriminate against gays and it gets pumped all throughout social media as gospel truth despite being immediately denied by the Deputy Press Secretary. Building a wall becomes the most horrifying and monstrous thing anyone could possibly do, despite the fact that it’s a frigging wall. And of course, everyone and their grandmother is Hitler.
It’s true that the neoliberal think tanks are working overtime to pound these fearful narratives deep into America’s consciousness. It’s true that the political establishment’s media mouthpieces have every political and financial incentive to keep people afraid of the Orange One. But it’s also true that American liberals are lapping it up. These narratives are seized upon, circulated, upvoted, made viral all over the internet, over and over and over again, all by the same people who never tire of finding a new thing to be terrified of.
Egos love to freak out about something together with other egos. There’s a reason Eric Hoffer said “Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.” The best way to galvanize people behind you is to give them someone to freak out about together.
Humans are primates, which are among the most social creatures in the animal kingdom. Our ancestors succeeded as organisms because they lived in groups, with many eyes looking in all directions to alert the tribe to approaching predators. Giving a group of primates a predator to whoop and holler about resonates deeply with the most rudimentary aspects of our evolutionary heritage. A pack of monkeys is never more united than when they’re scrambling to the treetops and screeching at a leopard together. It triggers the same social reward center of the brain as receiving compliments or group approval. The triggering of this reward system was essential for the survival of our evolutionary ancestors, strengthening essential social cohesion to ensure collaboration toward group survival. But it’s also highly addictive, and fear hormones kill our ability to think clearly.”
Good, who are you quoting?
There is irony in this. The mainstream media held no one in account in the Iraq war or the arming of terrorist is Syria, but they held Flynn in account for being diplomatic.
It’s a game of pretend…….so play along …..ok
Verrry interesting indeed!
There is irony in this. The mainstream media held no one in account in the Iraq war or the arming of terrorist is Syria, but they held Flynn in account for being diplomatic.
Simple. The mainstream media are not the sources of information they claim to be. They exist solely to disseminate propaganda for the prevailing establishment.
“Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation, aimed at serving an agenda. Even if the message conveys true information, it may be partisan and fail to paint a complete picture. The book Propaganda And Persuasion defines propaganda as “the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”” – http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Propaganda
Thank you for your reply. Yes, media in the U.S. is just as full of propaganda as Pravda during the Soviet Union. I don’t like Trump, but I can’t get behind the media, because I can’t stand its hyprocrisy. Yes Trump is crazy, but is opposition is just as crazy. They say Trump will bring war, and that might be true, but these are the same people who think good relations with Russia are bad and are pushing for increasing tensions that may result in war with Russia. It is crazy!
Because the main stream media are part of the war group. They were the ones promoting the Iraq war with the lies about WMDs. Washington Post, the New York Times, and the CNN are the flagships for the neocon led war party. Their targets are Iran, Syria, and Russia. Flynn’s sin was to reach out to Russia to make peace.
There need for so many American elites to destroy Russia is beyond all understanding, but it is potent and very, very dangerous.
to Jessica…. Yes. We live in a ‘kakistocracy’ (Greek origin) – rule by the worst, the ‘fetid’. Isn’t it interesting what money can buy?
The possible blackmail thing just makes no sense with this crowd. No matter what they do they aren’t even mildly embarrassed. So what makes anyone think they can be flat out blackmailed, any of them? None of them give a rat’s anything. No, this was maneuvering and behind it all is pure evil and ideology being laid down on us as government.
Excellent piece – in a way it’s best that no one should have any illusions about the situation as it stands today.
Hillary thecwarninger may as well have been elected as Trump now will follow the policies of the neo cons
No detente – no point in meeting Putin in July at the G20.
Russia have nothing to gain and should pursue its defence policies and prepare for war.
It only took four weeks for Trump to be turned into a puppet
All those rust belt voters sure were conned
And you have been conned as well by Parry. Is there some reason that Parry, Mark Crispin Miller, etc., all support anti-Islamic extremists, and cannot wait to smear US intelligence regarding Russian involvement. Maybe Parry can write an article about Rex Tillerson and his bff, Putin. It’s president Bannon calling the shots from day one.
Is there some reason that Parry, Mark Crispin Miller, etc., all support anti-Islamic extremists, and cannot wait to smear US intelligence regarding Russian involvement.
Sophie: I have been reading Consortium News almost on a daily basis for the last five years or so but must somehow have missed Robert Parry’s articles supporting “anti-Islamic extremists.” Can you cite an example or two? Flynn is an anti-Islamic extremist, but in this article Parry is offering a legitimate defense of Flynn that has nothing to do with Flynn’s attitude towards Islam. It is a good bet other regular commenters on this site appreciated Flynn’s apparent pro-peace attitude regarding Russia while deploring his bigotry towards people of the Muslim faith.
Given the fact that Sophie thinks that Robert Parry, one of the few people in the media against bombing the Middle East supports “anti-Islamic extremist”, I doubt she has read many of his articles.
And it also suggests what is her underlying agenda.
Never thought I’d ever be writing this, but Good For The Neocons if this was indeed a win for them. Flynn was a major mistake Trump (or somebody he trusted) made early on, and the man has corrected that mistake. Flynn lied to his new bosses, something which is absolutely intolerable, and he lied to the FBI. That latter point could yet get him some jail time.
Hell’s Bells, even I know every telephone conversation in the US of A is recorded and stored for recall, and calls to hotspots like the freaking Russian Embassy are going to get constant attention by humans. Besides being dishonest, Flynn demonstrated he was too stupid to be allowed to be involved in decision-making by adults.
Whoever was responsible for all those stars previously worn by Flynn ought to be under investigation too.
Trump has made some other mistakes with his early appointments, and he’s going to watch them closely or their fumbling will reflect badly on him, and could even serve to drag him into the mudholes they’re going to generate.
James Clapper lied under oath to congress. He got away with only an apology. Double standards?
Of course! Recall how Hillary got a pass with the “alternate truths” she told the FBI. Flynn may not be so lucky because he isn’t American Royalty on the verge of taking the White House throne.
That may be true that governments don’t care about the people, only the power, and H. L. Mencken certainly said that, there hasn’t been a good government. But this government has reached the status of the Evil Empire, with the constant Orwellian lies and massive expenditures for military (Full Spectrum Dominance) and allowing continued impoverishment of people, a precariat, which is a sociology term I learned today, for people in poverty and uncertainty. And this government has blood on its hands around the world, while boasting of its “exceptionalism”. I grew up in the first Cold War, was a brainwashed kid then, but I have to say that human affairs, if anything, have deteriorated. Population increase does complicate it, but the so-called leaders are incredibly lacking in wisdom. Money has corrupted the whole game in the US, and it’s endless campaign mode instead of attention to governing.
Citizens United has changed our political world.
I’ve become a “fan” of your contributions Jessica…look forward to more.
Thank you very much, Robert, for this article. But isn’t it true? The Russians are bad. You should not speak to them, you may get infected through the propaganda and fake news. There is nothing good about them. In the 1930s in Germany there was a government who decided that a certain group of people were just bad, if you speak to them you will be infected even though many of those bad people were doctors who helped the Germans getting better when ill. So they prohibited the bad people from doing good things and eventually threw them into some terrible camps. Sorry for being sarcastic here but I just can’t help it becasue the prospects are indeed frightening. The next biggest price for the neocons etc. is the Kaliningrad Oblast as retaliation for Crimea, all the recent military shipments have been placed around it, where else would they go, that is the Eastern Polish border. They probably will start with a blockade. There is a chance that Lithuania might try to stop a war because that is the last thing they want, they are just happy to enjoy some freedom and peace at last. Like in 1991 and like the brave villagers who tried to stop the Ukraininan army and their tanks with bare hands in summer 2014 moving in on the separatists they might try but in contrast to the Ukraininan army staff who reconsidered moving against their own people this time they probably will be squashed and brushed aside by the “humane” NATO “liberators”.
Not this progressive. These fools in official DC must go. It’s obvious they’ve sold-out to MIC and big money over humanity and the environment. They should be thrown out for good.
Hmmm – not so sure I buy this claim of the neocons plot and triumph. As said above, why did he lie? But then asking that about Trump or anyone in his administration begs the question – do they ever not lie?
Maybe it was an outsider neocon cabal that forced his resignation, but Robert is sorely short on facts proving that. 90% of this article is a rehashing of non relevant info.
It seems much more of an inside attack by Trump WH political advisers, Mattis maybe, or other people in the Pentagon, etc who view Flynn as the ‘fanatic’ he is. You know, let’s revive Gitmo and torture. There is an enormous political battle going on inside Trump’s staff right now as it shakes out between all of the crazies, especially Bannon and Miller.
That he had discussed sanctions policy with Russian officials, that he lied about it to Vice President Mike Pence and others, and that Trump did nothing about this for weeks after the acting attorney general warned him to beware puts Russia/Trump back in the spotlight. And maybe investigations into Trump’s involvement with Russia, taxes, etc. Or even Russia’s involvement in our election which amazingly has disappeared from the front pages. If Fox News and right wing media don’t talk about it, then it never happened, right? Right now we really do not know the extent good, bad, or indifferent of Russia’s interference. Do you really think the WH and Trump people want an investigation?
I might be wrong but for Flynn to bail after 4 weeks, here is the man who was so pro Trump and vice versa, the cheerleader in ‘lock her up’ demagoguery towards Clinton, seems very very much an insider knife fight. Or maybe much more will be revealed?
Not that I mind – he is a dangerous person not suited to be anything more than a man taking orders instead of issuing them.
Great comment.
Thank you. An informed and cogent comment.
“Russia’s involvement in our election”…stop already
I think Melania didn’t want Trump to run, but his ego was too large. He had no idea what he was getting into, doesn’t read, knows nothing of the Deep State. It is clear that this government doesn’t care one bit about its people, only ones with megadough who can grease their palms to continue power games. Whoever said we’re screwed is right, and the tragedy is that we humans are so close to tipping point on Planet Earth that it’s getting more and more scary. Some truly pathological people are willing to destroy anyone and anything for their sick games. Stephen Hawking thinks humans have about 100 years till extinction.
I don’t think Flynn did anything wrong. If Trump is letting him go so easily, not fighting for him, it may be because he’s realized Flynn isn’t the best fit for what he wants to do.
Jessica – sorry, my reply wasn’t meant for you. I just pressed the “reply” button by mistake.
It is clear that this government doesn’t care one bit about its people,
Very, very few governments ever care about the people. European governments that gave their people national health services that cost half of what the U.S. government provides are among the few exceptions.
Good riddance to Flynn. He is a bonafide nutcase and a complete incompetent. Read the recent NYT article about chaos, non-communication and paranoia at the National Security Council. If that is indicative of Flynn’s ability to head the highest level group that advises the president on matters of national security, then the nation is better off without him. We’re also better off without Flynn’s pathologic hatred of Iran.
The “official” reasons for Flynn’s exit may be a pack of lies, but given his rabid Islamophobia (which may be a symptom of some more serious disorder) it is just as well he is finito. The less people we have inclined to a war with Iran the better.
We have not seen his replacement – yet.
Agreed
How could anyone believe a word the NYT publishes? I mean really? THe Times is a neocon propaganda rag that specializes in hit pieces on political enemies and blowjobs on corrupt insiders.
Whatever the corporate media is reporting, pretty much the opposite is true.
Don’t worry, we still have Mattis and his “pathologic hatred of Iran.”
Be careful when reading about foreign policy matters in the NYT. Like the Washington Post, they’re just another Washington propaganda rag.
So if Flynn did nothing wrong, why did he lie…to anyone? I don’t get it. I have finally come around to seeing the truth in the U.S. misinformation on Russia to support the neocon’s and hawkish liberals agenda thanks to the great reporting at this website. What I do not understand is giving any defense or credit to a President and administration who’s behavior is so unprofessional and so confrontational, especially when lives are at risk. I often feel that Mr. Parry is reluctant to see a deeply flawed and dangerous man because he wants the world to see that disaster awaits us as we march into the abyss of a war with Russia. Trump cares not about the Russian people. He cares only for the Russian ruble and Putin was a fool to think otherwise.
What did Putin do to give you the impression he believed in Trump?
It would be normal to want peaceful relations
Aside from the phone call of 15/20 minutes duration
Nothing much has happened to push things along
The Russians have been quite reticent about this administration. Adopting a wait and see position
Not they can see that any detente is not going to happen
Trump has to look tough demanding Crimea back – that is a non starter
It’s not even up for negotiation. It’s ironic that even obama and Kerry stopped talking about it even!!!
One may presume that Trump is keeping his cards very close to his chest. Surely, he has zero trust in the establishment. Chances are Trump instructed Flynn to lie – even to Pence with his phony pious loyalty. Pence surely knew he was being lied to all along, and waited for the drama to unfold in climactic fashion, with the establishment lackeys in the media providing the “news”-ical score to the plot line. I doubt Mr Parry holds the current President in high esteem – who can? But the question is why did you sleep better under the slick previous President, who committed heinous acts (like extrajudicial assassinations on a weekly basis) or the other preceding well-spoken professionals in that office who conducted essentially criminal enterprises in your name?
Does Russia hack American politicians – I bet they do. After all, Obama was even listening in on his selfie-buddy Angela. Did Russia prefer Trump to Clinton – no doubt and made no much secret of it. Do they engage in spin and psy ops? Not nearly as well as the U.S.. Did Trump seek Russian help in toppling Clinton? Publicly. At the end of the day it’s Americans who put Trump in the WH. To try to deflect responsibility for that outcome is to do a disservice to ourselves. Voters in red states should have to face up to the fact that their choice coincided with a rival nation’s.
The Russians aren’t naive for crissakes!
While the new generation at the Washington Post brings back (in their minds) the great ‘Watergate Saga’ of yesteryear, all of Washington brightens their teeth and combs their hair with the media cameras and microphones aimed in their direction. Is this ‘Making America Great Again’?
I’m beginning to think that the only smart ones in America are the ones who didn’t vote. What’s the difference when basically both sides of an issue have the same goals, just different ways to achieve those goals.
I’m also wondering, since everyone is having a pity part for VP Pence since Flynn lied to the VP, if this isn’t the roll out of Mike Pence for President getting underway? Maybe it’s a good thing for Melania that she didn’t move into the White House.
That “rollout” may be much sooner than you think. Trump may be allowed to keep the title – in order to keep his fans off the streets; but Pence will playing the Shadow-Prez roll [like Daddy Bush did after RR’s “attempted assasination.”
These people have more moves than a horny sailor coming off a six month cruise at sea.
You see what happened after JFK fired Allen Dulles, and who got scattered to the wind.
Another past episode I was looking over today started with Spiro Agnew being brought up on charges of tax invasion. After Spiro stepped down from office, and plead ‘no contest’, it was Gerald Ford’s turn to play VP. Then came the botched Watergate break in, and liberal Nixon who by Executive Order signed in the EPA, Affirmative Action, and then he and Henry took their traitorous asses abroad to go play a game of ping pong with some Chinese Maoist and if that wasn’t enough of their treasonous display they then went on to Russia where the two of them hoisted a vodka salute to the Russian Commies. Next thing you know Gerald Ford becomes president, and Nelson Rockefeller is our VP.. My only question is why wasn’t Nelson made president?
So yes Floyd Gardner you are no doubt correct with your comment. Some things just never change.
“My only question is why wasn’t Nelson made president?”
Because VPs are more effective working behind the scenes and out of the limelight.
As an experiment, please perform a search-and-replace in which every instance of our pretend-president’s name — you know, the 2.9-millon-vote loser who is currently squatting in the White House — is replaced by the phrase, “the squatter”.
If initial caps are desired, then “Loser-in-Chief” would be acceptable.
Examples from this article:
“The squatter’s acceptance of National Security Advisor Flynn’s resignation marks Official Washington’s first big success in neutering the Loser-in-Chief and killing hopes for a détente with Russia…”
“…forcing the resignation of the squatter’s National Security Advisor Michael Flynn…”
“Indeed, the squatter and his team have tangled themselves up for weeks by promoting “alternative facts” — that the squatter’s inaugural crowd was bigger than Barack Obama’s and that the squatter would have won the popular vote…”
“Flynn’s resignation and its acceptance by the squatter also prove that these tactics work and that “tough-guy” squatter is not immune to them. While the Loser-in-Chief may battle to the end over pointless questions…”
This tactic was inspired by George Lakoff, who wisely recommends that we all minimize use of the squatter’s name to avoid further entrenching it via endless repetition.
So now it’s become a challenge. How little can we use the squatter’s name?
I’m shooting for zero. How about you?
Further, Lakoff and others point out that the squatter is thin-skinned. Hates to be ridiculed. Therefore Lakoff recommends repeatedly calling him a loser and other legitimate terms of contempt.
Can do, Dr Lakoff!
This is really pretty stupid.
And juvenile.
I am surprised at Laker.
I thought he was smarter than this.
It is not Trump who is being run down by such “squatter” silliness.
It is the office of the presidency, which Trump won according to the laws of the land currently on the books.
Too bad that Lakoff apparently can’t think of anything more constructive to say or do than to join up with the leftists that Parry calls out in the last sentence of his piece.
I can wait to see him in his pink pussy outfit! .
Very, very stupid.
By the way, the term “Deep State” has really taken off in certain circles of late. I use it myself from time to time. However I think it’s important to always remember that “Deep State” is really a much more nimble and less cumbersome way to say “Washington-Zio-Wall Street Militarist Imperialists”.
Drew Hunkins – do the Deep State members have meetings or send memos out to each other on how to keep the lies flowing, or are they so practiced at it, that it’s just automatic? Are they all wired with a certain antenna frequency? Who runs the show? Council on Foreign Relations?
Because somebody is coordinating them all. Who is it? For all the people cheering this type of behavior on, think again. This is very dangerous. The country is being run by a Deep State who could care less about you.
I am glad Trump just let Flynn go. With each setback, Trump is that much wiser about what is really going on and the very dangerous people who are involved. He will have a better idea now of what must be done.
CFR, Trilateralists, Bilderberger annual meetings, Mount Peleren, Davos, Tavistock institute. It is far from being a secret. Their owned media are prevented from reporting it. The smaller free media reports on it. People are not uncomfortable, nor attentive, enough to put a stop to it.
“Are they all wired with a certain antenna frequency? Who runs the show?”
My understanding is it’s the Bilderberg Group, Rothschild and Rockefeller families.
You may be right, but I don’t think it pays to oversimplify the deep state.
According to Peter Dale Scott, who I believe coined the term or was one of the first to study the deep state in this country and got the concept on the country’s radar, there are deep fissures within the deep state. Different factions have different agendas, and it is not entirely clear just where Trump fits in here. You can read Scott’s recent two detailed pieces on this topic at WhoWhatWhy.org.
As far as I know, the term “deep state” was first used in connection with Turkey. Later, the concept was used for other countries.
Yes, Scott says this.
As you allude, the Deep State requires deep pockets. As Deep Throat said, “Follow the money”. The deepest pockets are the banks at the center of the financial system. They have the ultimate inside financial information, fraud as a business model, and can afford the best media outlets and Senators. Their most profitable racket is war, as in “War Profiteers and the Roots of the War on Terror”. An informed public is their Achilles Heel.
http://warprofiteerstory.blogspot.com
I was listening to a Russian shortwave station the other night. Mind you, I don’t speak a word of Russian. It’s just a radio hobby. But there are often enough internationally recognizable words to get a pretty good handle on the conversation. Two apparently knowledgeable analysts were discussing current affairs. The words I could understand were “…Trump…Bush…Trump…Obama…Clinton…Trump…Bush…Trump…Bush…Obama…Trump…”, etc. etc. You’ll have to use your imagination to fill in the unintelligible dots with Russian commentary. My ‘take’ was that the Russians have figured out that the plot never changes. Now that Flynn has gotten the proverbial axe and there is conjecture that Petraeus may be under consideration, the “deep state” national security/finance-industrial complex agenda appears to be back on track. Today’s press conference on CNN reiterating “Russian aggression” and “invasion of Crimea” suggests that President Trump has been shown that unpublished Dealy Plaza film – the one the CIA took from the Dal-Tex building. It obviously got his attention. We had a little comic relief with the Presidential Reality Show to perpetuate the illusion of electoral choice; now it’s back to the original script. The Neocon hit parade just keeps rolling out the gold…the beat goes on!
Spot on F G as usual.
I always thought that a good litmus test to see how deeply embedded the Deep State really is would be to have Ron Paul become president, and then see who wins out. Since that never happened I kind of gave up that thought, and then can along Donald J Trump. So with Trump becoming president that litmus test idea came back to life, but with Flynn’s resignation, and with the Ethnics Committee sharpening their knifes to tear apart Kellyanne Conway for her commercial plug promoting Ivanka’s apparel line, I’m now starting to see who really runs the show.
Next week F.G. start listening to the Chinese, and see what they have to say about N.Korea. I’ll bet you will here them say, Trump….Bush..Obama….Clinton….Trump….Bush….Obama….oh you know the rhetoric them dang foreigners do.
The Deep State is trying to hang in but they aren’t doing a very good job of it.
Why do they hate Trump so much? Why didn’t they hate the peacenik Obama? That’s all in my recent book on Amazon, so check it out (the one with “Deep State” in the title).
This is a powerful tug of war but President Trump is winning. The Deep State’s power slowly is eroding and this victory over Flynn, as I argue below, is bullshit. Flynn would have to go anyway and the Trump administration is stronger for having him gone.
Dr. Bart Gruzalski, Professor Emeritus Philosophy and Public Policy, Northeastern University, Boston, MA—-the only Ph.D. in philosophy who was and continues to be a huge fan of President Trump
Bart that’s the spirit. Also I did read your book, and it was very good. I’m not going to place bets on who’s going to win this tug of war. Since you brought up Obama I thought for a long time that Obama was just going through the motions, because he found it to be healthier that way.
Joe J Tedesky,
I’m pleased you read the book. I have a new one about the Deep State versus Trump which does a number on people like me (academic Ph.D.s in philosophy) and explains why the Deep State is attacking the Donald for his peace commitment but didn’t attack Obama who allegedly came in as a peace candidate (which was all a ruse as I show).
The rest of the book develops President Trump’s credentials as a peace candidate—beginning with his April 2016 foreign policy speech which no one covered—and ending with some of the material you’ve seen an early version of, viz., that Trump’s defense of the United States is totally Gandhian.
I think you might most enjoy the chapter where I tear into my professional colleagues—PhDs in philosophy—and point out that many of my own published articles, including the one that made into a “known commodity” in the field, weren’t worth the paper they were published on (though they did propel me into the ranks of the “young Turks”).
Thanks for your positive comment on the book. IF you get the chance and have the time, please give it a five-star review on Amazon. So far only two reviews (though good ones).
“…Trump is winning,” really? While Obama admitted to being against the invasion of Iraq, I never heard him claim to be a peacenik. There is no powerful tug of war between corrupt Trump and the criminal Deep State. He, alone can’t fix this.
F. G. Sanford,
Not you too! I thought I was the only one who believed incoming presidents were shown the JFK assassination from all angles with the predictable consequence that they’d fall into line. You think this is why Trump is now getting “tough” on Russia and “demanding” foolishly that Crimea needs to go back to Ukraine?
Good imagining. I used to think that’s why Obama chickened out on ending the Bush tax cuts or ending the war in Afghanistan or funding shovel-ready jobs. He didn’t want to be the next JFK or have his many affairs, including the one with Beyonce, exposed. But that’s not what happened to snake-oil salesman Obama. As I point out in my newest book, with sources, Obama was fully vetted by the military-industrial complex to be a “player” before he even ran for the Senate. He wasn’t coerced. He just lied from the getgo.
Trump has not caved in. Trump has not folded his cards.
For all his infamous improvisation, Trump has never departed from the original script and the plot has never changed.
Drums keep pounding
A rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da
Sorry, he’s not your guy. Did his script include installing Government Sachs, the Foreclosure King, Exxon Mobil, the generals and the rest of the plutocrats and oligarchs directly in place of the political middleman? I’m sorry you don’t see the blatant lies, his incompetence and his disdain for others, despite his rhetoric. He’s a corrupt sleight-of-hand trickster CON and a major distraction who is up against experienced corrupt private-public partners-in-crime.
Trump has failed to “fully” disclose his financial holdings, his tax returns, his debts and other business ventures. He has promoted “crony hyper-capitalism,” while filling the swamp with those who continue to pillage and plunder the people’s Treasure.
More tax cuts for the wealthy — No Problem. More tax cuts for the corporations — No Big Deal. Deregulation — Answers All Prayers. Wars — With Putin as a powerful ally against others.
The drums are pounding, but the rhythm is off…
Yes, it’s all in the original script.
Yes, Trump is a corrupt sleight-of-hand trickster CON directly in league with experienced corrupt private-public partners-in-crime, just like the Queen of Chaos.
Distraction is the working title of the original script.
Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump: An endless parade of blatant lies, incompetence and disdain.
And men still keep on marching off to war.
La de da de de…
Shameful. This very likely puts the militaristic-Russophobic set firmly back in the driver’s seat in Washington.
So explain the “great peacemaker’s” hostility toward Iran, another prime target of the neocons. Sorry, but with respect to the general neocon messing about in the mideast, I find it curious that Parry concentrates his attention on Russia.
One does not have to actually be a peacemaker, much less a great one, to differ greatly from the hysterical, insanely genocidal, new neo-con/”progressive” warmongering coalition.
It must be assumed that the neocons and the neo-liberals are intent upon forming a world government (establishing a world empire), and must remove Russia’s ability to resist. Russia’s ability to resist depends upon their access to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, so they need the alliance of Crimea and Syria, and they can only preserve that alliance with the help of Iran and to some degree, China. The neos and zios can’t do much until Assad is chased out of Syria and the Russians are cut off from Iran.
Yes ! Everyone read this…..
– so they need the alliance of Crimea –
What alliance of Crimea???
Were I went to school and learned Geography and World History Crimea was a province of Russia for over three hundred years until some idiot in the Kremlin attached it for some unacceptable reason by Crimea citizens (predominantly Russians) it was attached to Ukraine.
“Alliance” may not be quite the right word. But Russia has a major naval base in the Crimea. They’re going to protect their base. They’re not going to just walk away from it because of a US-promoted coup in the Ukraine. Suppose Russia tried to pry away the US base in Guantanamo by a coup in Cuba? Would the US simply walk away?
JWalters,
Yes, the US would walk away. Guantanamo is nothing but an international embarrassment. The Crimea port for Russia is integral to the defense of Mother Russia.
Mr. Parry has deal with that effectively in a previous article, which notes that aside from the rhetoric, there is no intent to tear up the Iran nuclear deal. The reason his focus is on Russia should be clear. The relationship between the United States and Russia is the most important state to state relationship in today’s world. A cooperative relationship is the precondition for world peace and to tackling all the other major problems, such as terrorism and the financial crises…….On another note, it is very disturbing that the Obama-connected spook agencies be it the NSA, CIA, or whichever, are monitoring the conversations of an American citizen without a wiretap authorization, a crime, and then releasing part of this illegally gotten information to private news agencies, a second crime. And this is being cheered on by the left, as well as the extreme right. The purpose of these agencies is to assist the president in making decisions. Instead they are taking on the role of setting policy, or blocking policy with which they disagree. Scary, stuff. And reminiscent of the last time a president sought to get them under control. That presidency ended in the worst day of my lifetime, Nov. 22, 1963,
Clapper lies for nefarious reasons and stays in his job. TFlynnn lies in his peacemaking efforts and he gets the chop. Easy to see who’s really in charge in the US Oligarchy. We’re screwed.
Andrew – and Nuland and Pyatt’s taped phone call re Ukraine should have resulted in their immediate dismissal, but nothing happened.
And I agree with Robert Parry: “But the media-driven attacks on Flynn are particularly curious since he was the National Security Advisor-designate of an incoming administration at the time of the calls and – as such – he would be expected to make contacts with important foreign officials to begin laying the groundwork for relations with the new president.” That makes good sense to me, but whenever I think something makes good sense, I seem to be wrong. Defective wiring, I guess.
It appears that it doesn’t matter who is elected; the neocons roll on. They really must be broken up and scattered.
Agreed, also no one lost their jobs for lying about the Iraq war.
How is it acceptable that the NSA electronically spies on all Americans?
How is it acceptable that an intelligence agency spies on the phone conversations of a US presidential candidate? ( http://russia-insider.com/en/confirmed-anonymous-intelligence-officials-trump-used-top-secret-kgb-telephone-technology-speak )
How is it acceptable that an intelligence agency spies on the phone conversations of designated cabinet appointees by the president-elect? ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j_ZfKmcnSk )
How do we know that American intelligence agencies are not presently spying on the communications of the sitting president and his cabinet members?
This ability to spy with impunity upon our elected officials gives these spooks the power to discredit them, promote their impeachment and foment a coup against them. Where do they get such absolute power in the constitution?
I would remind everyone that these hired spooks are supposed to work at the pleasure of the president, not the other way around. This would not be tolerated if the spooks and the media were not working hand-in-glove to subvert our constitution.
A sitting president (Nixon) was driven from office for spying on the opposition, now we have the opposition manipulating intelligence agencies and the media to undercut the elected president with an object to drive him from office.
Seems to me that, since the days of Watergate, the United States and the Soviet Union have switched roles in the struggle between good and evil in this world. Now the Dems might as well take up the chant: All we are saying is give war a chance. Only Hillary and the Dems could make Donald Trump look like a paragon of virtue by comparison.
“Where do they get such absolute power in the constitution?”
They don’t. They’re above the law. They were created to run covert ops, which by their very nature means operating *outside* the constitution.
It is ironic that a Republican president might be impeached because of something similar to the russophobia and redbaiting that went on in the 1950s. Who would have thought. And we may likely wind up with Pence and his born-again far right outlook.
I am beginning to think that is the whole plan….President Pence by Deep State maneuvering….and how much the neocon left had to do with it means they are either complete dupes or extremely calculating
The Dems are like the Washington Generals who serve as the perennial patsies for the Globetrotters: they get paid to lose.
Perhaps, those who came to Trump’s financial rescue during his fledgling campaign “helped” him to determine his VP choice. Flynn was also in the running for VP. Trump was aware that Pence disagreed with this aspect of his foreign policy. This was openly discussed and displayed during the campaign.
Trump was in over his head from the beginning. His opponents understand his weaknesses. Most hands on deck are dirty. Unfortunately for Trump, he does not have the support of the majority. If he continues to make these types of unilateral decisions, while using the commercial airwaves and his backup team, things are only going to get worse. Elections still have negative consequences even when one believes he has won.
BTW, I don’t support these senseless wars, the neocons, the interventionist hawks, Donald Trump or Putin.
It’s not about left and right. It’s about the Elite versus the rest of us.
Take to twitter and tell the ‘deal maker’ he’s not much of a tough guy.
Co-opted by both the neo and zios.
I like it: neos and zios.
How about neonazios?
Cal your short reply fits very well with what the saker had to say.
http://thesaker.is/the-anti-flynn-deep-state-coup-spelling-it-out-in-the-clearest-way-possible/
While visiting the saker take the time to listen to what Dennis Kucinich has to say…it’s a 7 minute video.
Cash for war, and the American public suckered in again?
http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/02/15/a-chat-with-joshua-frank-on-trump-russia-and-us-intel-the-goal-of-impeachment/
Thanks Joe. A very important article and the video expands on it too. I wonder about the spying on the phone call with the Russian embassy. Would the USA think it is ok for the Russians to record and disseminate their embassy’s calls?
rosemary, that has already happened. Back in 2015 Putin publicly did expose the CIA involvement in Russia’s Chechnya war. I wasn’t offended by his remarks, in fact I thought it important that a sovereign leader would be so blunt, while being frankly revealing….then that’s me. Yes I love America, put I don’t like what our covert forces have done at different times in so many different places, and then we deny any involvement. I guess I’m a sucker for the truth, but apparently that’s not how the world works.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-23/original-chechnya-bombers-cia-saudis-and-bin-laden
Oh me oh my oh, look at the neo zios
They’re a running around with the rag-top down
They say they wanna do right but not right now
Gonna make Aliyah and live out this fantasy
Running around with the rag-top down
Yeah, they wanna do right but not right now
I know all about it, so you don’t have to shout it
Trump ain’t gonna straighten it out nohow
Yeah, he wanna do right but not right now
Abe, I can picture you with a guitar singing folk songs. You could turn that poem into music.
A thousand apologies to Gillian Welch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TofdvRE0qo