There was a chance President Trump could have brought some positive change, especially in reeling in foreign wars, but his bizarre narcissism and flaming incompetence have overwhelmed everything else, as Michael Winship describes.
By Michael Winship
Donald Trump is not a president but he plays one on TV. And a terrible one at that.
Watching him last week during what were, arguably, the worst of many horrible days of this presidency, was to see pure, rampaging id. Aggressive, needy, without logic or reason, Trump continues to rule with ignorance and incoherence, seemingly oblivious to the havoc he causes or maybe just thoroughly enjoying it. Whether his new chief of staff John Kelly, a career Marine officer, can bring order and discipline — drop and give me 20, Trump — remains to be seen.
President Trump speaks to the Boy Scout Jamboree on July 24, 2017. (Screenshot from Whitehouse.gov)
“Trump now has a chance at governing, but it may be only a slim chance,” Chris Whipple, author of a book about White House chiefs of staff, said in an interview with The New York Times:
“The fundamental problem is that Donald Trump is an outsider president who has shown he has no idea how to govern — who, more than any of his predecessors, desperately needs to empower a chief of staff as first among equals to execute his agenda and tell him hard truths.
“But does anyone believe that this president wants such a person around?”
All of this is taking place at such a breakneck pace, trying to keep track feels a little bit like those guys who paint the George Washington Bridge from one end to the other and then start all over again. Speed that up multiple times without a moment’s rest and you have life in the land of Trump.
For the moment, though, let’s focus on three speeches delivered by Trump during the last week of July that epitomize the depths to which the weight belts of this White House have sunk us.
On Monday, July 24, came that wildly inappropriate address to the Boy Scouts National Jamboree in West Virginia, at which he told 24,000 young people all about fake news and his stunning electoral victory and a rich friend who sold his business and bought a yacht to pursue a life of wine, women and song.
The scouts had been instructed beforehand to be “courteous” and many of them applauded, even cheered, his remarks and booed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton when he mentioned them. One 15-year-old scout from Indiana told The Washington Post, “There were disagreements all over camp. Some people saying ‘F Trump,’ some people saying ‘MAGA.’ I heard there was a troop from New York that had a troop from Texas right next to them and the leaders had to keep them separate.”
That many of our worthy New York lads resisted the urge to pelt our whackdoodle commander-in-chief with s’mores and trail mix may only be explained by a healthy fear of the Secret Service. The Boy Scouts’ chief executive apologized to those offended by the speech, saying, “We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program.” But then, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump claimed, “I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful.”
It will come as no shock that the Boy Scouts deny such a call ever took place. In any case, as even Fox News regular Kat Timpf said to The Post, “It’s a strange thing to use your time in front of tens of thousands of teenagers to brag about your election win and your partying days in New York.”
You remember the old joke: What’s the difference between government and the Boy Scouts? The Boy Scouts have adult leadership.
Encouraging Police Abuse
At the end of the week, on Friday, July 28, there was the president’s now-notorious speech to law enforcement officers in Long Island’s Suffolk County, where police have been fighting murder and other violence perpetrated by the brutal street gang MS-13. Trump used the occasion to deliver one of his fearmongering “American carnage”-style speeches as he described gang members as “animals” who “have transformed peaceful parks and beautiful, quiet neighborhoods into bloodstained killing fields.”
A screen-shot from a video showing Walter Scott being shot in the back by a North Charleston, South Carolina, police officer Michael Slager on April 4, 2015. (Video via the New York Times.)
MS-13 began in California, but many if not most of its members are from Central America. It is “transnational.” Trump’s subtext was ugly and clear: Too many immigrants commit heinous crimes. (This week’s White House rollout of the RAISE Act to slash the amount of immigration to the US was the latest legislative manifestation of Trump and the right wing’s xenophobia).
Much of this anti-immigrant rhetoric was lost, however, as the focus of public and media attention shifted to remarks in the speech that all but endorsed police brutality:
“When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, I said, please don’t be too nice. Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over. Like, don’t hit their head and they’ve just killed somebody. Don’t hit their head. I said, you can take the hand away, okay?”
As many responded in disbelief and revulsion, Trump’s spin team tried to brush this off as one big funny joke but even if it was meant in jest — and what snowballs have you been fighting with in hell? — his words were revolting, and resulted in pushback from police departments (including Suffolk County’s) and other professional law enforcement organizations. “The last thing we need,” the Police Executive Research Forum’s Chuck Wexler said in a radio interview, “is a green light from the president of the United States for officers to use unnecessary force.”
A Reelection Rally
The third speech, on Tuesday, July 25, in Youngstown, Ohio, was the one least noticed, perhaps because there was so much other Trump news — part of the day was spent by the president dissing Attorney General Sessions and it also was just hours after the Senate voted to begin debate on their proposals to repeal Obamacare. What’s more, it wasn’t an official White House event but part of yet another campaign rally — the sixth since he became president — meant to placate and keep inflated his Macy’s balloon-sized ego.
Jeff Sessions supports Donald Trump at a rally during campaign 2016. (Wikipedia)
You won’t find the text on the official White House website, but it was in many ways the most cringe-inducing of the three addresses, once again hammering at the empty catchphrases that have characterized Trump’s candidacy and presidency:
“I’m back in the center of the American heartland, far away from the Washington swamp to spend time with thousands of true American patriots,” he began. “… I’m here this evening to cut through the fake news filter and to speak straight to the American people. Fake news. Fake, fake, fake news. Boy oh boy, people. Is there anyplace that’s more fun, more exciting and safer than a Trump rally?”
He painted what was in many ways an even more lurid picture of immigrant violence than he would later in the week on Long Island:
“The predators and criminal aliens who poison our communities with drugs and prey on innocent young people, these beautiful, innocent young people will find no safe haven anywhere in our country. And you’ve seen the stories about some of these animals. They don’t want to use guns, because it’s too fast and it’s not painful enough.”
He then went into more explicit detail — ” Make America Afraid Again” was the headline at Slate.com — then attacked the notion of sanctuary cities and said:
“We are dismantling and destroying the bloodthirsty criminal gangs, and well, I will just tell you in, we’re not doing it in a politically correct fashion. We’re doing it rough. Our guys are rougher than their guys.”
Read the Youngstown speech in its entirety. While awash in his standard campaign bluster, it is even more disturbing when uttered by the man who as president is supposed to set an example of leadership. Which brings us to this astonishing statement:
“Sometimes they say he doesn’t act presidential. And I say, hey look, great schools, smart guy, it’s so easy to act presidential but that’s not gonna to get it done. In fact, I said it’s much easier, by the way, to act presidential than what we’re doing here tonight, believe me. And I said with the exception of the late great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that’s ever held this office. That I can tell you. It’s real easy. [Cheers] But sadly, we have to move a little faster than that.”
Wow. What’s appalling, Mr. President, is that the moves you envision diminish us as a nation, remove all traces of grace and charity, play to the basest instincts and demean the high office you hold. I am trying to move as fast as I can, too, sir. In the opposite direction from wherever you are.
Michael Winship is the Emmy Award-winning senior writer of Moyers & Company and BillMoyers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelWinship. [This article first appeared at http://billmoyers.com/story/trump-speeches-dead-nation/]
I think Donald Trump is the perfect president for these times. It shows how far we have descended as a nation. And believe me, if Hillary were running the show right now, we would be bombing Moscow and Tehran (which seems like our fate anyway).
Maybe it is all a covert attempt by Gaia to rid herself of the subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens, which would certainly be a blessing to the other sentient beings on the planet.
And who the hell else did we have to vote for?
In any case, Trump is much more effective than acknowledge, and would be even more so if we could get the Israeli-Neocon Stasis Quo off his back and out of the White House.
My problem is that blind hatred of ANYONE obscures peoples’ good judgement. Mr. Trump, in my opinion, is an a!@hole who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and who never HAD to act any other way than he does because of his money, pure and simple. However, he DID get elected and so far, there is no hard evidence that he has done anything impeachable. This could change, yes, but as of now, shouldn’t we be keeping our eyes on the prize? Watching this guy, his administration, and keeping an eye out to see what they are doing, and NOT just blindly hating everything they propose simply because he’s a jerk and they are his people. He’s definitely not the ONLY president who we have had that fits into the a#$hole category. I can think of a few in fact, although it’s hard to think of one offhand who has had any LESS experience governing. However, some people think this could be a GOOD thing. Although he would probably have more decorum, I’m pretty sure that a President Pence would not be much of an improvement as far as actual U.S. POLICY goes. But the blind hatred on both sides needs to stop.
More than just encouraging police to use unnecessary force, he is encouraging them to begin punishing them for their “crimes” before they even get them to the station.
My question is, how did a nation of 300+ million people end up with the two Presidential candidates they did. One an out an out crimainal and the other a total ignoramous. He surprised many, especially those in dark places that allowed him and Clinton to arrive on the podium. I guess the answer is, the nation didn’t put him there at all.
Congress proved this week that the lobbyists put politician where they are in America. That’s what make the USA the biggest non democracy on the planet. A non democracy that is spreading its ‘democratic’ principles to countries that don’t want them. God help us all.
Backwardsevolution, read the Amazon review, a very long one, gives a lot of information on “JFK and the Unspeakable”, written in 2008 but now increasingly relevant with the current insanity. I think you’re right, legislators know the threat of the intelligence agencies (even Maxine Waters?). Someone like McCain gets in big with them for power, Graham, too. Zachary is quite right, it is far worse now than in the ’50s and ’60s, far more is at stake and the planet itself is in dire trouble from the last century of overstress by humans. We really don’t have a very rational society, even globally. Even if a nuclear weapon is not used, the future still doesn’t look good, in my pessimistic opinion.
Jessica K – thanks, I’ll read the reviews. Yes, I feel the stress from all of this. I think we all do. I worry for my children.
Maybe. But he got rid of Hillary. No other candidate could have done that. For that he deserves our eternal gratitude. He did it!
yo Donald, keep on DISTRACTING the plebs by “baffling with BS” and your own very special brand of buffoonery while “attempting” to trash the United SNAKES Corp’s Sodom-on-the-Potomac, D[e]C[eit] “smoke-and-mirrors” cabinet. Just hope a shard of flying glass doesn’t slice off that swaggering scrotum.
This country is in such a mess that I just don’t see any incisive analysis possible to figure out how to turn it around. I think it festered too long. Trump is a symptom of the disease. There have been many, many excellent points made all along at CN, and especially by commenters, since the abominable election. I like the Codwallower or whatever the name here, saying that Trump ripped off the fancy label from the can (Obama comes to mind), opened the can and exposed the whole rotten mess inside.
I still think that the CIA is at the core of the rotten mess in the Beltway and that the evil ghost of Allen Dulles lingers over all of Washington DC. Every President is “brought to heel” by the intelligence agencies, and it’s particularly messy in the Trump administration. F. G. Sanford referred to James W. Douglass’ book “JFK and the Unspeakable” and I just started reading it. A remarkable book. On the front cover at top, are the words “He chose peace. They marked him for death.” The Congress never stops being enthralled by the intelligence agencies. Obama and Clinton certainly played their game.
Russia’s PM, Dmitri Medvedev, made an excellent point on his Facebook page as reported in RT, that Trump, by signing the new Russia sanctions bill, allowed himself to be humiliated and also turned over the executive functions to the legislature. In the long run, the US will pay by losing business as Eurasia continues to proceed. I think the US by its hostility will be shunned in many ways. We shall see but those folks over there aren’t in any mood to be bullied by the US anymore.
And the other point I feel like making, although it’s not directly connected, is that our society has gotten so uncivil that I don’t wonder those uncivil civil servants in Washington are as vicious as they act. Or, did they start the incivility by their dreadful decisions that stripped the people of a decent livelihood in cahoots with the American oligarchs? I read an article on the vile behavior of NYC landlords towards tenants yesterday that showed people unbelievably repugnant. Every day, uncivil behavior of Americans is on display and so I am not surprised by Donald Trump. That is a large part of the problem, society is uncivil and there are also many desperate people. How can we possibly fix this if American oligarchs aren’t reined in as Putin did in Russia?
Trump is incompetent, sure. But was Obama competent? He was a smooth and silky deceiver. I’d rather see the putrid mess exposed. And that’s what the world is finally seeing, despite all the lies, deceit, and spin staged by the US Congress and media shills.
Jessica K – “The Congress never stops being enthralled by the intelligence agencies. Obama and Clinton certainly played their game.”
I wonder if instead of being enthralled, they’re actually scared. The very book you’re reading is reason enough for them to be.
You screw up a little, you get Lewinsky’d. You screw up a lot, you get Kennedy’d.
Could be this information is laid out for all new members of the Presidents Club early on in their first term. I think you are right about the CIA. Let us know if you enjoyed the book. I might like to read it.
Who was it who envisioned the scene of Donald in a room with a man explaining to him very clearly “We have an endless supply of ‘lone gunmen’.”
Sorry, not buying. We had a choice between stupid (with some generally good intentions) and evil. Clinton was the most sinister candidate to run for President in my lifetime, which includes Richard Nixon. The whole Russia-gate goes to prove she is actually far worse than I imagined. Ego? Clinton is willing to destroy the planet in order to seek personal revenge on Trump, not to mention doing irreparable harm to our entire political system. We have elections in this country, and we don’t try to overturn them afterward with a pack of lies.
yes, I remain unconvinced — even at this late date — that Trump WASN’T the LOTE…. (I voted Socialist) …
The Democratic Party has only doubled down to further blow their credibility as an alternative since losing … they’re still rejecting any but “true believers” … A Clinton administration likely would have been Obama neoliberalism on steroids with a extra-helping of neocon interventionism.
SteveK9 – “We have elections in this country, and we don’t try to overturn them afterward with a pack of lies.” Yep. There’s a coup taking place right under people’s noses and they don’t even see it. They’re too busy fighting the very person trying to point this out.
To all: Please see what Paul Craig Roberts has to say here:
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2017/08/03/trump-will-now-become-war-president/
absolutely off-topic — but the new Intercepted Podcast has a “History of North Korea” post WWII that I found invaluable — not previously realizing that I knew NOTHING about North Korea’s origin as a “rogue state” … I suspect the Vietnam war/Domino Theory /Cold war era is a bit more complicated than presented there but again, I knew nothing …
Goddamn it — Appeals judge just threw out the Blackwater conviction
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/04/world/middleeast/blackwater-contractors-iraq-sentences.html
no fucking justice, no fucking peace
Just one word, Xanex
Winship’s Salon archive: http://www.salon.com/writer/michael_winship/
New Sirota interview with Tom Franks …
http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/whats-matter-democrats-thomas-frank-explains-2567486
One thing I appreciate about Sirota’s twitter feed is how often he points out just how inconsequential today or yesterday’s new outrage and hot takes are to the bigger picture … Specifically who is impacted if Sean Spicer is sacked …. Treating the likelihood that Kelly will “bring order” to the White House like some contest of odds-makers … the over/under and tea-leaf reading …
I agree Susan S. – Trump is not just someone to make fun of and point out his foibles. This is a vicious dangerous man who is already hurting millions of people, and threatens to cause much more harm before he is done.
And I am not forgetting that the deep state players are far more vicious and intent on causing harm to millions of us than Trump by himself could ever accomplish.
The American audience (which includes the millions of Democrats who are being given no effective leadership) is being super-saturated with this sort of gossip-mongering kitchentable psychologizing to the exclusion of all-else — to include ACTUAL REAL NEWS … Trump is the new Kim Kardashian with reporting of what he had for breakfast and what his bad spelling and lying about his golf scores portend.
It wouldn’t matter quite so much (though it would still be diversionary and cheap) if actual news were not being drive off the stage by breathless Entertainment Tonight / TMZ /Inside Edition — like coverage by the “reputable sources” in search of clicks or just trying to hold their dumbed-down-to audience…. who the fuck — Americans — cares about Princess Diana … my local PBS (KRMA DENVER) has become conservatively anglophile to an extreme … while my smaller PBS station (KBDI) is still regularly playing truther documentaries … god help us all.
Trump’s buffoonery and narcissim are so minimally important in contrast to the actual devastation of any sense of security in Hispanic communities, among documented and undocumented residents (and their extended families) … this obsession with our “embarassment” at having this man as POTUS is also narcissistic … we are embarassed by him much as we deplore a wing-nut uncle …
Exactly part of the critical error of the Clinton campaign and so many Democrats who somehow thought that calling Trump supporters “deplorable” and that mocking would some how neutralize their toxic belief systems. It reminds me of too many incidents when actual demonstrable racism is similarly provokes mocking, shaming and horrified shock — when the enduring prevalent nature of American racism is considered self-evident as back ground. Being “shocked” and “horrified” instead is some “safe” fallback response … rather than blowing up the polite silence that greets most institutional racism and — for example, the religious conservative movement that successfully — in much of our country — censors the science that undermines even the meaningful existence of genetic racial traits … iow, it’s not the skin color, the problems are not “bred in the bone” or “borne in the blood”
Here’s Lakoff doing a deeper dig as to “what Trump’s buffoonish narcissism says about his world view” … what few bother to confront is Trump’s vision of the presidency and his role — he apparently believes — as captain of the ship of state … Trump as flat-earther, Trump as creationist, Trump as historical revisionist run amok.. Rather than whine about Trump, he needs to be refuted (as he increasingly is). He’s not “the nation” … those 3 million votes for Clinton demonstrate he wasn’t even the popular vote choice … he is not a visionary .. He is not Steve Jobs and the United State is not run like a corporation, it’s not Apple, it’s not nimble, real people far down the line suffer the consequences of bad decisions.
https://georgelakoff.com/2017/08/01/the-president-is-the-nation-the-central-metaphor-trump-lives-by/
How perfect that he’s “gone on vacation” while the new quartermaster whips the Oval Office troops into shape … after evidence that the leakers are still alive and well and leaking … who will be frogmarched out of the White House and indicted for “undermining the president” because l’etat c’est moi.
I believe Trump is just the latest “figurehead” of “democracy” at “work.” And we are: The Prisoners of “Democracy”
[read more at link below]
http://graysinfo.blogspot.ca/2017/07/the-prisoners-of-democracy.html
You’ve been on to this all along Stephen J., keep up your excellent research and keep posting. Many thanks…
I think Naomi Klein’s prediction of a crisis which will empower the creature and his administration is right around the corner. Or maybe these idiots are so incompetent they can’t get that done either?
This is a dangerous possibility because the brainwashed, braindead American public would go for such a false flag excuse for increased fascist government powers in a New York minute.
Wm. Boyce and mike k.,totally agree. I’m quite afraid that your thought is accurate because they have been wrong for some time now, and they only have one move, and that is to double down…
A crisis may be created, but only by the deep state War Party to further their ambitions for further war. Trump does not have control of the actors who create false flags. This is the purview of the CIA, which is deeply infiltrated with pro-war forces.
The illegal, false, attempted coup against the President, has put many of us in the uncomfortable position of defending someone we wish was not in office. In doing so we should be clear that we are not defending this horribly flawed man, bur standing up for our tattered democratic processes, and more deeply, we are defending the truth from those who would distort and abuse it. So let’s be clear – we are not defending Donald Trump except incidentally and unavoidably in the process of carrying out our real purpose, which is to defend the truth from it’s attackers. Those who are attacking Trump have chosen to do that primarily on the basis of lies about Russia’s imagined interference in our Presidential election, and Trump’s supposed collusion with them to get himself elected. These are both lies put forward as unquestionable truths.
It should also be clear that the present “investigation” into what has come to be called Russiagate, is a witch hunt and fishing expedition, which needs to be exposed and condemned for what it actually is. This is a dangerous crime and precedent, no matter who occupies the White House.
I totally support your thoughts mike k., and would ask you to start thinking about how America might be able to accept and respond to international outrage as this unfolds’ as it surely will…
Just a note thanking most of the posters on this article for their insightful comments.
Unlike most comments on most articles on most websites these days, Consortium readers *get it*.
A damn shame, that there aren’t more of you/us.
SOME Consortium readers “get it” (whatever that means?) but let’s not get carried away with groupthink fantasies. We don’t all agree here – and that is a good thing.
Thank you too Kim…there may be more of “us” than we think.
“We are dismantling and destroying the bloodthirsty criminal gangs” would be great if he meant the US government, Congress and the corporations!!!
You certainly got that right rosemerry, thanks.
Last week Tucker Carlson flew down to El Salvador to interview MS13 members and to see El Salvador up close and personal. Jeff Sessions was down there too, and Tucker Carlson interviewed him as well.
This week on Tucker Carlson Tonight he’s doing a nightly segment on MS13. I believe that at one point Tucker said that one-quarter of the population of El Salvador was in the United States. You might want to check it out on Youtube. You certainly aren’t going to get any of the facts from reading articles like this.
Yeah, those bloodthirsty Salvadoreans are the greatest threat in human history! But wait, wasn’t it Al-Qaida? Or maybe the Crips and the Bloods? It’s so hard to keep up with the next fear-mongering menace.
Wm. Boyce – what’s your address so that we can send a few hundred MS13 over your way. You can show your benevolence by housing and feeding them all. I’m sure they wouldn’t steal from or do any harm to someone who shows them a little kindness, right? You can get them set up in some jobs programs, on your own dime, and they’ll all be happily and joyfully employed at Walmart. I’m sure this is how it would play out (sarc)!
There’s a lot of money being made off illegals by charities/social workers, etc. Just imagine if there was a wall, or some actual serious vetting and a demand for skilled/English speakers versus the unskilled/non-English speakers, or if people were actually allowed in only if there was a dire need. What would happen to these charities? What would happen to English-as-a-second-language teachers?
“It’s so hard to keep up with the next fear-mongering menace.” So you think it’s stupid to vet people, to be worried about potential harm? When you have a choice, wouldn’t it be prudent and intelligent to make sure you’re getting good, honest, law-abiding citizens? Do you want completely open borders? If so, there’s a few billion who will be making their way to your shores. Good luck with that.
I think it’s stupid to believe compromised sources such as Tucker Carlson, come on do you really think this shill is a journalist. You’re a joke, bro.
Wm. Boyce – you’re right, Tucker Carlson is doing an excellent job at getting the facts out. What I really like is his calling for equal treatment: an investigation of Hillary Clinton re her private server, the deletion of 30,000 emails after she had been served with a subpoena to produce them, the destruction of hard drives, the removal of sim cards from requested cell phones, the $100 million missing from the Clinton Foundation, the Uranium One deal and the resulting kickbacks that flowed back to the Clinton Foundation, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, unmasking, leaking of classified information…..and on and on.
When all of this information starts rearing its ugly head, the press is going to have a field day.
Mr Boyce; MS13 is real, Al Quaida is real, Bloods and Crips are real, the threat is real, drug distribution organizations are real (it’s nearly destroyed Mexico). Also, I suspect that this is part of the general global terrorist movement funded by Deep State monies and used to justify a police-state response to the threat, along with inducing a “failed state” status within those Nations (Muslim, Ibero-American) where the terrorist organizations are headquartered. Drug money is the singled biggest “liquid asset” for the Bankster Elite’s financial operations, from production, to distribution, to money-laundering; the entire chain of operations. The endpoint will probably be something like the dreadful Myanmar military dictatorship, where Chinese drug lords have operated for decades (since being expelled by the Chinese Revolution). There is no room for “ivory tower” type thinking about these problems, and their solutions. They are real, and life-threatening, from BOTH ends of the social spectrum, from the smallest participants to extremely powerful Oligarchs.
Michael Winship – again, with absolutely no facts or background provided, Winship gives us this:
“(This week’s White House rollout of the RAISE Act to slash the amount of immigration to the US was the latest legislative manifestation of Trump and the right wing’s xenophobia).”
Here is black Democratic Senator Barbara Jordan, who must clearly be a xenophobe too (couldn’t be anything as simple as actually caring about jobs for existing U.S. citizens, could it?) speaking on immigration in 1995. Have a good listen to what she is saying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMywOal05s0
From Barbara Jordan’s Wiki page:
“In 1994 and until her death in 1996, Jordan chaired the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, which advocated increased restriction of immigration, increased penalties on employers that violated U.S. immigration regulations. While she was Chair of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform she argued that “it is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest.” Opponents of modern U.S. immigration policy have cited her willingness to penalize employers who violate U.S. immigration regulations, tighten border security, oppose amnesty for illegal immigrants, harm to US citizens in jobs and employment from cheaper illegal alien workers,[citation needed], and clear process for the deportation of legal immigrants. In 1994, Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom and The NAACP presented her with the Springarn Medal. She was honored many times and was given over 20 honorary degrees from institutions across the country, including Harvard and Princeton, and was elected to the Texas and National Women’s Halls of Fame.”
It isn’t xenophobic to do what’s right for your citizens! Only a buffoon would say something like that.
It is easy to behave in this way against anyone desperate enough to want to enter the USA.
What a pity the US does not also restrict its adventures abroad to those places where there is a threat to the USA.
Backwardsevolution – I agree with a lot of your ideas, but I am puzzled by your defense of Trump’s obvious xenophobic racism. This dog whistle appeal to the huge contingent of racists in this nation was part of his election campaign from day one. Trump is a Hitler wannabe in drag. He is a white supremacist. Make America great again with the wall excluding dark skinned immigrants and Muslim invaders is his sick, unrealistic trip. If you agree with him that this is all to make America “safe”, then I must politely but firmly disagree.
mike k – “…I am puzzled by your defense of Trump’s obvious xenophobic racism.”
Barbara Jordan (see link above) wanted to limit immigration. Was she a xenophobic racist? How about the millions that Obama quietly deported back to their countries? Was he a xenophobic racist? What’s the difference here? Oh, I know, Trump is white. So if someone who isn’t white does something, then they must have had a really good reason for doing it? It couldn’t just be that the blacks and whites I’ve mentioned did it and are doing it because it’s good for the country?
“Trump is a Hitler wannabe in drag.”
Really? Do you think that Hitler would have embraced his Jewish son-in-law the way that Trump has done? And more than that, do you think his daughter, had she been raised in an outright racist household, would have ever gone over to the dark side and married a “filthy Jew” had been she taught to hate from her so-called Hitler father? No, she would not have done this. She has a very close bond with her father and most likely would never have done anything to displease him. She not only married a Jew, but she became a Jew herself, with his blessings. Yeah, that really paints a picture of someone who was raised by a racist father, doesn’t it? (NOT)
“This dog whistle appeal to the huge contingent of racists in this nation was part of his election campaign from day one.”
Yeah, people who question the huge amounts of unskilled immigrants (legal/illegal) who are flooding into the country just have to be racist, right? I mean, it couldn’t be that they are making less than their fathers made or are out of a job altogether and they’re wondering if the numbers aren’t part of the problem? Do you actually think that if white people were flooding into the country that they’d think any differently? “Oh, that’s okay, I don’t mind being unemployed and starving because these are ‘whites’ coming in”? No, they’d still be angry, but then the simple-minded wouldn’t be able to call them racist, would they?
Do you actually have more allegiance to foreign workers than you do to your own fellow citizens? What gives? When did this stupidity become the mainstream thinking? That’s the kind of thinking that Trump is being accused of, favoring a foreigner over his own country, IOW a “traitor”. You’d rather see your own country, which is already circling the drain, be brought down further just so long as nobody called you a “racist”?
People who sit in their ivory towers and spout off words like “bigot, xenophobe, racist, anti-semite” without ever thinking any deeper than the length of their noses, who never offer any suggestions on what the right amount of immigration might be, who never stop to ponder the role automation will have in the future are, IMO, the simplest of the simplest.
They’re people who will probably sit around a table and try to come up with a new term to counteract the “skilled” component of the new immigration policy, perhaps calling anyone who favors the policy a “skillist”. But I’ll just bet these simple people will use terms like “racist” because it’s so much easier. It incites the simpletons and stops all conversation.
“I must politely but firmly disagree.” Gee, thanks. I acknowledge your disagreement. Now let me see some thinking.
Great response ! and I love the ‘skillist’ moniker. So many ‘identity politics’ Ivory Tower types
have absolutely no clue as to how the world actually functions and who makes it keep going.
I’m referring to the ‘nuts and bolts’ work of mechanics, carpenters, farmers, plumbers, etc. etc.
It’s very disturbing to read about the ‘low information Trump voters’ as described by the Ivory
Tower types. Those voters are the people who do the grunt work that keep the Ivory Tower
types comfy (and well fed!) in front of their computers. The lack of respect for skilled laborers,
many of whom have a huge knowledge base and can function well in lots of different arenas,
is a big part of the election puzzle which left Miss Hillary wondering ‘What Happened’ ?
irina – yeah, those mechanics, carpenters, farmers, plumbers, whose own fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers built the country, with no medical, no welfare, no nothing, and did it all with hand tools, plows, horses, who gave their lives in ridiculous wars, they’re somehow worth less than the unskilled illegal who walks across the border, doesn’t speak English and who never did a thing to help the country? What?
All I can think of is people who support this type of thinking must want to feel good when they go to bed, must have a need to pat themselves on the back, must want to feel like they’ve done something, when in fact they’ve done nothing at all. They’ve just screwed one guy in favor of another. Unbelievable.
“Wow. What’s appalling, Mr. President, is that the moves you envision diminish us as a nation”
Trump is awful. So were Obama and the others. You seem more upset that our nation is exposed as a vile entity by Trump than if it weren’t. You would prefer the sweet lies of an Obama or Clinton.
Also P.S. if an argument could be made that the US is an overall bad actor globally, then “diminishment” should be applauded. Not reviled in favor the status quo. What of the dozens of regime-changes and supporting autocrats in the past 120 years did you think gave us a special view as a nation? Do you actually believe the US’ meddling was about democracy, rather than capitalism? That a democratic Chile is preferable to a non-democratic Saudi Arabia?
Trump is just openly showing the masses what every President since at least Taft has done. Trump sucks. So does US global hegemony with 1000 bases and 7 carrier fleets. Sorry you don’t still have a pretty face to lie to people about what this country is.
Michael Winship – “You remember the old joke: What’s the difference between government and the Boy Scouts?”
Not much. Even the Boy Scouts can’t seem to escape; Ted Bundy was a Boy Scout. Bad people are everywhere, even in journalism.
backwardsevolution, I’ve been leery of Bill Moyers for years. I think that he knows far more about LBJ than he lets on… Isn’t Michael Winship an associate?
Excellent analysis CitizenOne, the only ones left out of your analysis are some unknown number of the population who disapprove of this now seemingly total government policy. That is why I often go off topic here to elicit alternatives to countervail the status quo. The only thing I can think of is to begin a discussion as to how to organize a movement aside from the intrenched D and R co-operative.
We were at a very similar point in 1967-8 when Dr. Spock, Martin Luther King, and William Pepper began discussing a completely separate third party anti-war movement…
What you speak of is revolution. If the citizens who vote can’t elect responsible leaders then democracy is dead. Thomas Jefferson argued this point. It all depends on our Fourth Estate which has abdicated its responsibility to inform us. Soon even this forum and many others will be branded as heretics and enemies of the state. The most galling thing is it will be algorithms that silence us. Silenced by a robot. In outer space no one can hear you scream. Here comes the vacuum.
If it were possible to crowd source candidates with small contributions guaranteeing the sidelining of big money, and not supporting the status quo, wouldn’t that, at least, establish a fresh look? I like, by the way, that aspect of Jeffersonian Politics.
I agree with your forth estate analysis. I’m very enamored of the “Defend Democracy Press” news site are you familiar with it?
http://www.defenddemocracy.press
Exactly. We are in an extremely difficult position at this critical time. To pretend otherwise is worse than simply irrelevant; it distracts us from trying to come up with real solutions.
That’s the conclusion I came to, right after the election, in which I voted Green, because both mainstream parties are simply toxic now, to the General Welfare, to good governance, to democracy. I took it upon myself to donate 10$ a month to the Greens, (no other genuine, broad people’s party being in sight), treating it like a labor union (a Citizens Union) funded entirely by union dues (NO DONORS ALLOWED). The hope is to sponsor candidates for office who sign a pledge not to take any monies beyond union dues money for their campaign, and to be dropped from the list of candidates if in violation of their pledge (to keep out Deep State moles). But yeah, Bob, I completely agree we need a genuine people’s movement/Party, maybe even a threat of a general strike, to challenge the criminal Oligarchy. Please understand the Criminal Oligarchy is trans-national in its nature, stemming from ancient, continuous, forces to be found within Europe and Britain, with many centuries (since Roman Empire days) of experience in handling the “peasantry”, and accompanied the colonists to this Continent,
having never departed, despite the Revolution. We’re dealing with wise old, ruthless, cunning, serpents, quite familiar with how to crush peasant revolts. Our Revolution succeeded only because of 18th century distances involved, AND the French Empire wanted some serious payback against the British Empire for the losses of the Seven Years War.
I am sad that Trump signed the bill to sanction Russia but perhaps it was because the bill was wound up with other sanctions and I think he fairly characterizes it as an unconstitutional bill. Why he signed this bill which he characterized as unconstitutional is a sign he has been pummeled enough by the main stream media and the Congress which voted in a nearly unanimous way to wrap up Russia with North Korea and other enemies of America. Worse yet by signing this legislation he has relinquished his authority to the Congress of the United States to limit his power as President of the United States to undo the sanctions against Russia.
Russia will now have every impulse to foster alliances with China and forge new economic relations with nations other than the USA. Opportunity has once again been squandered and the Military Industrial Complex has been handed another poison chalice to make the war effort and a new military buildup a priority. Poison because it disenfranchises a potentially major industrial partner while it groups Russia with the rouge nations who oppose American interests.
Signing this bill was by Trump’s words signing on to an unconstitutional bill which he challenged the Congress to not enforce.
But that is the equivalent of pleading guilty to all charges and then challenging his prosecutors to not pursue their case against Russia and the Trump collusion propaganda. They have no intention of not pursuing this witch hunt against the fiction that Russia hacked the election and that they had a hand in Trump’s election victory. They will pursue this line of attack and it will end in Congress’s indictment of Trump in collusion with the Russians and it will be the end of his presidency. He will now be seen as a puppet to be manipulated by the forces which he describes as the forces of national unity and which he has declared as unconstitutional.
Perhaps he is betting that the Supreme Court will take a case but I don’t think so. They have no reason to find the nearly unanimous verdict of the Congress to be unconstitutional.
Trump’s capitulation is a call to arms. It defines Russia in the camp with North Korea and it cuts Trump’s powers to reverse this legislation.
Win win for the war mongers in the press and the stooges in Congress.
When we at first attempt to deceive oh what a tangled web we weave. Untangling the web of deceit and propaganda might now be impossible. America is now on the march to war for no reason with Russia. All the lies were codified by Trump signing away his power and relinquishing it to the military. He is now muted and his defense has been handed over to the prosecutors.
Dear Donald,
What have you done? I hope I am wrong but capitulating to a bunch of liars is not the best way to rule.
I agree with your comments wholeheartedly Citizen One. Trump has sold us all out to the warmongers. Anything else he ever does is small potatoes compared to this betrayal of humanity. The gates of Hell are now open wide….
That this man gained his present position at a time when the world needed the wisest leadership it could get, is a historical tragedy of giant proportions, and may be the final nail in the coffin of a world culture riddled with profound flaws.
Thanks for that mike k. For those that can remember history we have an obligation to speak truth to power. If not ourselves then who? Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.
mike k – well, you had Trump and Hillary to choose from. You did get the “wisest” of the two. It’s just you refused to listen to him. He advocated no more war, getting rid of or greatly reducing NATO, and another stupid notion, some would say, of actually learning to cooperate with other countries.
No President of the United States has had to contend with more. I just heard tonight that the Washington Post has leaked telephone conversations Trump had with the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Australia in order to further embarrass and stymie him. And Robert Mueller, special counsel into the Russiagate liefest, has impaneled a Grand Jury to push the knife in deeper.
Betrayal of humanity? You have no idea.
To have a few good ideas lightly entertained does not constitute the strong and wise leadership we need at this time. You know from my numerous posts that I am fully aware of the deep state and it’s power to get it’s way over any individual who may oppose it. So the problem with Trump is that he has no deep ethical standards to help him when adverse winds are howling against him. He has no deep knowledge of history, government, international realities, diplomacy, military matters, and many other relevant areas to being president of the world’s dangerous super power.
As president, Trump did not have to stand alone against the inevitable storms he would face. By wisely selecting his cabinet and key federal officers, he could have shielded and armed himself against his numerous foes. He did the exact opposite and filled these posts with those who were either incompetent like himself, or actually determined to undermine his presidency in favor of his enemies. His whimsical ideas of détente with Russia, or withdrawing from our useless wars and foreign military bases, had no solid leadership support behind them, and blew away at the first breaths of serious opposition he encountered. How could he be so naïve as to expect anything different?? He was, and he is just that ignorant, and unaware of it due to his egotistic arrogance. “I don’t need help, I can handle everything” vacillates with “Help! You do it (to the military) I can’t handle it, it’s all in your lap, you take responsibility for the whole thing.”
Trump is a weak, cowardly, ignorant bully with no business being the President of The United States of America. Period.
Mike K – Oh please. “Strong and wise leadership” was/is not on the menu, or anywhere to be seen, for that matter. No such leadership is visible on the horizon either.
Life is NOT Burger King. You cannot have it just the way you want it. You/we must choose between the options which are available and make the best of those choices. No more whining, let’s move on.
Monte George Jr. – thank you for some common sense.
I’m glad he’s been there to humiliate and weaken US “soft power” I’m glad for the wreckage he is causing. I think it’s over for him now, the coup has already taken place. The “deep state” that is that group of institutions including the Privileged Press the political parties and the military/spy industrial complex have consolidated and are just moving forward no matter what he does. He’s been good because he has brought into stark relief who is really controlling US power.
As I posted here the other day, the US Empire sense it dropped the nuclear bombs on tow cities full of innocent people has been killing people every single day – 70 years of tens of millions of people killed by the US or its hires.
In view of the above, any and all harm to the Empire I welcome.
You’re right MaDarby. Time to build something much better…
I don’t get leftists complaining about the incompetence of right wing leaders. Would you rather have competent right wing leaders? If so, you’ll love Pence. I would much prefer that my adversaries be stupid, inept, erratic and ridiculous, so I think Trump is the perfect foil. I also consider him a radically transitional president. In only six months, he has eviscerated US leadership of “the West”. World leaders (except Saudis and Israelis) wouldn’t follow him across the street, let alone into a war with Iran. US “soft power” has been significantly diminished. I regard this as some of the best news I’ve heard in decades. Relish unintended consequences.
David, let’s see if the unintended consequences go far enough. If Germany and France especially, but also Italy, Spain, and others would truly show some independence and say look, these sanctions don’t make economic sense for any of us, we don’t see a need to punish Russia at our own expense, or even just for the hell of it for that matter, because ratcheting up tensions towards military conflict is counterproductive as well. But I’m afraid the U.S. still has too much “pull” in these matters for reasons I fail to wrap my head around. I mean, other than the “protection” racket (from what?), and issues of “currency” or money markets (of which I have little understanding), what does the U.S. actually export anymore that anyone truly needs or can’t get elsewhere? I get that our market is huge for others to export to, but it seems to me we can ill afford “trade wars” as much as anyone else. Is everyone afraid to use a little economic leverage against the U,S. to further their own long-term economic interests, or is that idea just too risky for whatever reasons? I’m just asking questions.
As far as “leftists” are concerned…beyond the margins, there really is no functioning Left left in America. A right-wing agenda has pretty much had it’s way for some time, incompetence notwithstanding. To my mind, a true Left is antiwar and stands for the development of “the commons” and a “social contract” that serves the interests of general welfare with priorities of having a solid floor for income, affordable housing, utilities, healthcare services, and education (primary through post-graduate).
If there were a true Left in America, Obama’s policies would be excoriated for what the are…anti-Left (anti-progressive), and strictly serving monied interests and war profiteers. Jill Stein would have had much broader support and at least one major party (presumably the Democrats) would have had a serious faction AGAINST his warmongering, against his Wall Street Theft, against his policies with regard to education and the lack of infrastructure investment & development and affordable healthCARE. They would have opposed his ratcheting up of surveillance and the “national security state”. They would have abhorred the vilification of Drake, Manning, Snowden, Assange, and others. But they didn’t…because in America these days, it’s all about “partisanship” and phony “politics”. It’s not about defending the Constitution or rights and well-being for general,populations. It’s not about goodness or mercy or any of that. There is no Left anymore…except for the few, the marginalized few.
Greg Herr, I agree with much that you say here especially about the missing left. I suspect that the true analysis about that category is what caused Bernie to run on the Democratic ticket. Bernie knows what we don’t know. Would he have been a viable candidate on the Green Party ballot?
But, before we waste any more time on that, the left such as it is, needs to run a Real peace candidate. One who will not capitulate at all. Also, anticipating a Neocon type reaction, let me say that I’m a proponent of a very smart, well armed, rapid action Local military and not bases everywhere in the world.
On the economic front. That is where we are extremely vulnerable having pursued neoliberal economic policy to near collapse. I’m very concerned about that as well.
Greg on the economic issue, please look at this article, I think it is totally accurate.
‘’Indeed, a good deal of discussion about whether the world is heading toward multi-polarity or the persistence of US dominance misses the point that the chief actor in today’s world is international or globalized finance capital, and not US or German or British finance capital. So, the concept of imperialism that [Utsa Patnaik and I] are talking about belongs to a different terrain of discourse from the concept of US imperialism per se. The latter, though it is, of course, empirically visible because of US military intervention all over the world, in order to acquire a proper meaning has to be located within the broader setting of the imperialism of international finance capital.’’ By C.J. Polychroniou
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41204-imperialism-is-alive-and-kicking-a-marxist-analysis-of-neoliberal-capitalism
Thanks for this Bob. Money travels. And the control of money supply (debt) is the key to “owning” the world. Kennedy knew this and his silver certificates were a good idea that died with his assassination.
I wonder how much we the people’s government could have saved on interest alone these past 50 years.
http://www.john-f-kennedy.net/executiveorder11110.htm
“No duty is more imperative for the Government than the duty it owes the People to furnish them with a sound and uniform currency, and of regulating the circulation of the medium of exchange so that labour will be protected from a vicious currency, and commerce will be facilitated by cheap and safe exchanges…
The monetary needs of increasing numbers of People advancing towards higher standards of living can and should be met by the Government. Such needs can be served by the issue of National Currency and Credit through the operation of a National Banking system .”
Looks like the bastards had several “reasons” to off Kennedy.
Gregory Herr: Your comments on “The Left” are on the Mark. But I think Vassal States of Europe are going to go along with the sanctions after making some empty noises. Merkel is pretty slippery. After she wins election, she will be on board with the sanctions. All these statements she is making are just a PR stunt.
That’s likely the case, Dave. Too bad they can’t call a spade a spade and denounce the sanctions as counterproductive…and while they’re at it, they should denounce the root of the refugee crisis (America’s wars) as well. We destabilize the Middle East and Europe gets a shot of destabilization in the bargain. Is that the plan?
Isn’t Michael Winship convinced that Vladimir Putin caused the DNC to be hacked, thereby giving Trump the election?
Mush worse, he was the character rooting in his articles for US sponsored Head Choppers in Syria (the ones who cut off the head of an 8-year Palestinian boy in Syria and posted a video of it, the ones who cut out the heart of a Syrian soldier and starting eating it), the ones for whose funding Trump stopped. That is one small good thing that Trump has done.
Ah, the famous morality of the US “Left”.
I would not evaluate anything Trump does as good, until we see what it leads to. It’s hard to predict what he will put his idiot mind to next.
Cutting the funding for the CIA in Syria is a good move. Let’s hope he chops the CIA some more, maybe $10 or $20 billion more would be good.
Such a statement is like asking if he stopped beating his wife. If he answers “yes”, he is admitting he is a wife beater. If he answers “no”, he has not stopped beating her. Similarly the question asks if he has stopped blaming the Russians for Trump’s win. If he answers “yes” then he is guilty of blaming the Russians and if he answers “no” then he still believes the Russians are behind Trump’s win.
Sorry. Not buying it. Leading questions should be deleted from the website.
Winship is a propagandist. Joined CIA choir to suppress what’s positive in Trump utterances and now laments that he is useless joke while in fact he quietly pursues extreme corporate and neocon agenda of Hillary.
Trump is guided by political strait jacket, agents like Winship put him in, now hypocritically complain about.
In fact anyone who thinks now that POTUS has any real power not Deep State should have their head examined.
POTUS is a puppet of the regime with ability of influence peddling over substantial part of population no other qualifications needed or required.
For every reaction there was an equal and opposite action. Yes, Trump has responded poorly to the challenge, but what other president in our lifetimes (Andrew Johnson perhaps faced this in the post-Civil War era) has been so assailed by, for all practical purposes, the totality of congress, both parties–the Democrats and his own Republicans, all out accusing him of stealing the election, being “Putin’s puppet” and a traitor to his own country. The unrelenting opposition comes not only from within the government but from within the entirety of the corporate media and even show business entertainment. All the analysts, all the pundits, most of the internet blogs all want to one up each other as to how scathing an indictment they can bring against the guy. It has sure looked and smelled like a coup to me.
Even a hollow man like Barack Obama or a clueless dolt like George W. Bush would have gotten a little more than P.O.ed at the endless personal attacks. Their policy was ripped daily, but only by the opposition, not their own party. (Extreme partisanship is what allowed Obama to continue all the awful policies of the Bush years. Turns out the Dems were cool with warmongering and deceits as long as it was their team doing it.) There were no pre-inaugural attempts to prevent them from taking office and once in office efforts to extract them abetted by constant harangues from the media.
Now this sanctions bill passed by the bipartisan Anti-Trump War Party has essentially wrested away constitutional powers of foreign policy-making from the presidency. Yet more clearly we see that this has been a coup by a congressional junta whose generalissimos are Schumer, Pelosi, McConnel and Ryan. They are now collectively your head of state whether you realise it or not. May they have many bloody internecine fights and destroy themselves. Yes, the inexperienced naif Trump has failed again to protect the powers of his office by ignorantly signing the bill rather than shelving it and functionally ignoring it, allowing the constitutional crisis, sure to be taken before the court, to either vindicate him or make him a martyr for the constitution and sanity. Even Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton were not so set upon by insurrectionists while suffering the ignominy of impeachment proceedings. Both were allowed to fulfill the functions and prerogatives of their office. This, my friends, has been an overthrow of the government in slow motion. So far, no one has come to the aid of Trump to give him practical advice and useful assistance in governing and fending off the jackals dead set on nailing him because they see him as an obstacle in their quest for a war with Russia.
If I must say it again, I am not a proponent of MOST of Trump’s policies, but I am appalled at how roughshod nearly everyone in government and the media have treated the constitution in their quest to overthrow an elected president. I am still waiting to see ANY real evidence (not conjecture or surmise) for the continuous litany of charges they level against him and his supposed Svengali, Vladimir Putin. This “revolution” has been even more transparent than the coup the same people arranged against Yanukovych in Ukraine. I’m sorry, the republic as been lost, we are now ruled by a junta, only the leaders are not strongmen, they are clowns. They are useful tools of whoever is the real power behind the throne in the Deep State. Everybody with a brain knows it, just don’t expect Wolf Blitzer or Rachel Maddow to ever admit as much. Excuse me while I go vomit.
I agree with everything you said here Realist. But it in no way exonerates Trump. He had no business running for president, and his election is a disaster for all of us period. I have no time for sympathy towards this criminal, egotistic, sadistic oligarch who is dead set on destroying what little is left of democracy in our country. Making any excuse for him whatever is a dangerous mistake in my book. To hell with comparing him to Hilary or Pence or Hitler or whoever. That gets us nowhere. The dems, repubs, congress MIC MSM etc etc are all incredibly evil, but let’s judge Trump on his own merits (which are none) and never never trust this man to do anything good for mankind ever. He has proved himself a total failure as a human being, and a grave danger to the future of mankind. Period.
And I agree with you Realist that Trump should never have signed that sanctions bill. He just signed away any right he had to be president. Having no valid moral compass, he just showed that in spades by copping out under pressure.
“To hell with comparing him to Hilary or Pence or Hitler or whoever.” You might have missed one small point, blinded by your orgasmic hate of Trump – the elections were a comparison between Hillary and Trump. “That gets us nowhere.” Of course, that is exactly what got you to the lost election, which is nowhere.
I really, really enjoy this perverse pleasure of reading such brainless comments.
I don’t hate Trump Kiza. Hate is not my game. I merely want to be clear what Trump is. I feel sorry for anyone as sick as that man is. And this last US election was not designed to get us anywhere we wanted to be. I did not vote, and am not deluded that voting in these fixed elections will accomplish anything worthwhile. This election farce is all part of the “our great democracy” illusion. As far as my comment being “brainless” I think you are way off on that one.
Your remark that my comments show that I hate Mr. Trump say more about you than about me.
Kiza you’re right we’re in a mess and it’s time to quit wasting time on the past. Time to strategize how to peacefully (if possible) win the next election cycle with completely new and hopefully crowd funded candidates rejecting all candidates with corporate and PAC funding.
Great Bob, you are on the right track.
But will “the Left” be able to resists blaming Russia for something along the way to the next election?
Well, that is the question, isn’t it, my group has always seen Russia as the Soviets, will we Ever Learn?
I have some news for you. Trump had every business running for president. He was elected by the media and here is how it all worked. Let me explain it to you.
The Supreme Court in two rulings Citizens United vs. FEC and McCutcheon vs. FEC eliminated every campaign finance regulation back to the last century. Now ALEC is promoting the 1800’s political structure which existed prior to the constitutional amendment which gave the electorate the power to elect members of Congress. Before that, it was crony capitalism. Senators picked the members of Congress. It was a good old boys club. They so desperately want to wrest the political governance of America away from the unwashed, ignorant masses and restore their former hegemony.
ALEC and The Federalist Society which numbers in the tens of thousands of lobbyists and lawyers want to roll back the Constitution to wipe out all of the amendments which were enacted based on huge social inequities in the past. Think of the Pinkerton cops shooting labor organizers and protesters. These are modern day Pinkerton cops and they are gunning for people who have Social Security and Medicare. They want to abolish all social and other governmental agencies which had long hard fights in history to address social injustice. They believe that the Commerce Clause in the Constitution which relegates the power to the Federal Government to regulate commerce between states should be abolished and in doing so it will end the federal agencies such as the IRS, Social Security, FDA, DOE, DOJ, DOE, DOC, DO… just about every governmental regulatory agency designed to prevent the abuse of power which comes as the result of an unelected plutocratic elite with unlimited ability to undo a century of social justice reforms. Media pundits on the right lead campaigns trying to equate “social justice” regulations as tools of the devil. They instruct their followers to look out for the watch words “social justice” as a sign that creeping socialism is creeping up the flag pole of the good old USA and like communist rats are knawing at the flag which unites us. They use these propaganda techniques to associate Medicaid with Communism, Healthcare with Socialism and government regulations with the usurpers of our Nations Constitution.
Donald Trump was nothing but a lure created by the media to take advantage of the Citizens United and McCutcheon SCOTUS rulings to exhort all the money from 14 “stuffed to the gills with money” SuperPACs.
The Republican donors were robbed by the media. They didn’t have their guy in office. They were pissed off. The media then went on an attack against the election results which they were responsible for and created or rather whooped up the charges it was a Russian hack and it has been the same diversion all along up to today and it will continue. They need to shield themselves and their shareholders from wrath and what a better way to do it than to hand the Military Industrial Complex the gift of creating a new enemy which serves the media and the military to enhance their wealth and immunize themselves from any blame.
Meanwhile female members of congress are being told to take their place at the back of the bus and be respectful of the crooks in charge of our government. They see leadership as a white mans world where they have every means at their disposal to silence the opposition including the media which now has embarked on a successful mission to cast doubt on Trump and force him to sign a law relinquishing the powers of the president to the bought and owned puppets in Congress.
Look at it this way. Carter was cheated out of an election win when his attempts to negotiate with Iran to gain the release of American hostages were subverted by the Bush Reagan election campaign by selling arms to the Iranians in exchange for prolonging the captivity of US citizens who remained locked up until after the election. Surely, making secret negotiations with an enemy nation which the USA had severed diplomatic ties to and which the US was essentially in a state of war with in order to influence an election by making Carter look weak and ineffectual is an act of treason. But Americans were never presented with that side of the story. Instead we heard the news that the reason that the airplane sat loaded with fuel on the runway in Tehran until the minute Reagan was sworn in when it finally throttled up and took off with the freed hostages was because the Iranians feared Reagan. Thus began the ability of the media government complex to fool us all.
Then came Clinton and again the media published every titillating scandal regardless of whether or not the story had any merit or was based on facts. There was a group think that anyone who questioned the official media line that Clinton was guilty of whatever allegations he was charged with was not a team player. Those “news” stories were almost entirely based on “leaked” information which was instantly published by the press. Those reporters who objected to the fake news were to be excommunicated and shunned and banished from the ranks of the official trustworthy main stream press.
Then came Bush and 9/11 where we have ample evidence that the main stream press parroted the false claims of weapons of mass destruction to gin up a war with Iraq even though the sources of the information would have never gotten by the editors desk unless the editor was on the CIA payroll.
Now we have Trump and another masterful fooling of Americans by the press that it was all the fault of the Russians.
How can we believe this? It is apparent we have been fooled all along. Why do we think right now that the press is telling the truth about Trump?
Very nice, well put, CitizenOne.
Realist : Excellent. What a lucid analysis of the ongoing political drama!
” . . .This, my friends, has been an overthrow of the government in slow motion. So far, no one has come to the aid of Trump to give him practical advice and useful assistance in governing and fending off the jackals dead set on nailing him because they see him as an obstacle in their quest for a war with Russia. . . I’m sorry, the republic as been lost, we are now ruled by a junta, only the leaders are not strongmen, they are clowns. They are useful tools of whoever is the real power behind the throne in the Deep State. ”
Everything you said in the comments is right on the mark.
There is no so called Left there any more in the country. It is all a show. There is only one Political Party in the country. Gibert Mercier political analyst calls it Republocrat War and Wall Street party in his comments in the news article, on sanctions, in Sputnik International News on August 1st.
Gilbert Mercier’s comments from the article:
“Thankfully more people in Russia’s policy circles and media have come to the realization that Trump’s hands are tied, and that he is largely a powerless empty suit serving a joint military-industrial/ Wall Street Junta with an almost mummified one-party Congress which could be called the Republocrat War & Wall Street Party,” Mercier pointed out, commenting on Moscow’s countermeasures to the US sanctions bill aimed against Russia and Iran.”
I am disgusted that CN ran this piece by Winship. He is a dyed in the wool apparatchik of the establishment Democratic Party and a primary promoter of the nonsense of Russiagate.
I have no time for this despicable tool of the Clinton agenda.
Miranda Keene, with the exception of your disgust for Consortiumnews, I’m with you here. There are many things I find distressing about this article. One is that there seems to be a kind of media rolling out of ex chiefs of staff as though any of them in the past were in any way exceptional. The other thing that jumped off the page for me was the flag set-up behind Jeff Sessions. I’m an image maker and very aware of how backdrops are used in propaganda. Michael Deaver was Reagan’s prop manager and whoever set that podium for Jeff Sessions is an expert at set-design. Set design IS image management and people should become more aware of it. With Trump’s name on the podium and Sesssions wearing his Make America Great Againt hat; reminds me of the image making of Leni Riefenstahl. Creepy stuff, in my opinion.
Excellent article. It’s amazing how even intelligent people still can’t see how dangerous Donald Trump is to our nation and the world. For some of them, even if Trump initiates a global nuclear war, they will find some way to exonerate him, and blame someone they consider worse than him. For me Trump is incredibly, dangerously, the worst possible choice to lead a crazy power mad nation like America. I get tired of people coming up with bizarre excuses for this dangerous psychopath. How much worse a president can they even imagine?
Millions of people will suffer and die because of this man. Every single thing he has done since becoming president has been a disaster for humanity. Name me one single good thing he has done? No? I thought so – he is a total failure as a human being, and certainly as a president. He would make a terrible president of a kiddie show.
Mike, I think if it comes to that it will be because the congress, the media and the other powers within the Deep State have pushed him to it. I really don’t think he has been allowed to act upon his own instincts, certainly not in foreign policy. Why has the congressional leadership not been educating and assisting him behind the scenes, rather than castigating him in public endlessly? It’s clear that if he acts erratically, it is because they are willfully trying to push him into behavior that will justify his removal from office.
He certainly has responded cluelessly and foolishly to the provocations set upon him by the establishment that is out to get him. Signing the sanctions bill and ceding presidential powers under the constitution to an insurrectionist congress was the cherry on the cake in what has been a slow-motion coup that has now established a junta of Schumer, Pelosi, McConnell and Ryan as the functional head of state.
Why did he do it? Because he didn’t know any better, didn’t understand the ramifications and, being an impetuous man, only wanted the jackals off his back. Maybe he still thinks they won’t impeach him if he dances to their tune.
You can blame Trump as the fall guy if war does come, but the congress, the media and the Deep State will have had more to do with that eventuality than him. You can second guess the results of the election, but really, what sane options did we have? Hillary looked like a much worse deal. All the other GOP candidates looked like much worse deals. Why were we condemned to this fate? Among others, ask Obama why he set us on this war track with Russia? Ask him why he continued all of Dubya’s warmongering foreign policies. Ask Dubya, Cheney, Bill Clinton, Bushdaddy, Reagan, and so ad infinitum why they have taken America to this state of madness with their endless bad policies. Silly orange-haired Trump probably has the least to do with it.
Realist: Yes, I agree with you. Also, If Hillary would have been elected, U.S. troops will already be there in Syria, and may be on the borders of Russia in battle mode as well. The country would have been in War by this time.
One thing I would suggest Realist is that Trump and his lawyers looked at his options for several days before signing the Sanctions Bill. They are not acting in a vacuum and Trump seems to get things right when he deliberates. He has plenty of advice from different sources including most importantly, the Military and the economy is on fire , the Stock Market is at record levels and Congress, The Senate and the Democrats are just as unpopular as he is. . Taking advice from the Congress and Senate.? Ryan told him to quit the race. Pelosi insults him daily. It was basically an ultimatum. Did you see the vote totals. I think if it all goes haywire and the EU / Germany chooses Trade War rather than real war with Iran/Russia and therefore China then he can actually step in and act like a President because these sanctions were illegal in terms of International Law and established International Treaties that the USA has signed and ultimately they will prove detrimental to National Interests. Trump and his people know this.. The Senate and Congress took a step towards conflict and put North Korea , Iran and Russia in the same basket. These are totally separate issues. This is ridiculous. It was bad legislation. Congress cannot Declare War, they can vote to go to war but they do not have actual War making powers. This was a serious overreach. Mike K needs to relax and watch what unfolds here just as do you and I , maybe even Mueller. Let’s not be to hasty here.
LJ, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the geopolitical break was engineered by the brilliant team of Kissinger, Rice, Albright…
Trump said he will not enforce this law. That puts an end to it.
Canceled TPP and yes he is making a NAFTA minii me to TPP. Blocked H? Attempted Detente with Russia. There are positives to enforcing immigration laws.
Wrong Mike, Trump is only a side show and it is the war criminals in the deep state who will start and prosecute the wars to come. The deep state ran rings around Obama as they do Trump and would have done Clinton if she had won, although of course, she would have embraced them like the warmongering hag seed that she is.
Yes John I think your right. My only appeal was to who is behind this coup? The urgency to dump Trump is over the top, especially since Trump possesses every possible personality flaw which a rich guy could have, in which the coup masters could simply allow Trump to fall upon his own weight, but with that there go I.
I suppose I could overlook all the lying and erratic behavior if I could see some backbone in the buffoon…if he were able to challenge the mic and the msm on those issues that are so important to demilitarizing conflicts around the world, but in the end I can only see an egocentric cartoon of a man who would trade public welfare for his own selfish interests. The illusion of candor in his politics doesn’t make them any more palatable. The thief that robs you in broad daylight is hardly any better than the one that steals in the still of the night.
Understand that those speeches were going on while the Republican Non Healthcare Plan was trying to be rammed through.
So lets review. Here is what was promised by President “My daughter is a nice piece of a–” (MDINPA)
Insurance for everyone, and much less expensive. Nobody who has insurance would lose it.
Reality: the Rep Health plan did nothing of the sorts, in fact it would have denied millions insurance and millions more would have lost their current insurance. So once again – I know I know – Pres MDINPA lied. In this case mostly to the very people who support him. But there were several layers of dishonesty. In prev attempts to add Healthcare, whether by Roosevelt, Johnson, Clinton, or Bush (Part D), those administration came up with THEIR plan, then consulted with Congress and helped push it through.
Not only did Pres MDINPA not provide leadership, or work with Congress, he had NOTHING to do with the legislation. ZIP. The man who everyone like R Parry and commenters on this site all seem to think has a PLAN, actually had no plan. No input. The art of the No Deal.
It is kinda hilarious, and incredibly baffling, to read people whine about how Pres MDINPA has so many ideas and plans, but big bad Deep State and everyone is out to get him. Really? How many examples of incompetence, and constant lies, do you need?
One last point. There is a group of people who understand the incompetence. His fellow Repubs in Congress. Both the House and Senate Republicans ignored him, excluded him, and avoided him. They understand the complete lack of knowledge he possesses, the lack of interest. They know he could not explain the basic principles of any healthcare debate. The know he is ignorant. They understand there is nobody home, except to make those clownish, repugnant political speeches. And they will only embrace him when or if his buffoonish bluster and lies can somehow someway help their cause.
If you have not been paying attention stay tuned. This will just keep repeating itself. It is who he is, it is his life story.
This will only keep getting worse, it will not get better.
All politicians are delusional, or corrupt, or psychopaths, or congenital liars, or irredeemably ignorant. Many are all five. Think Clinton, McCain, Schumer, Graham, Obummer, Palin, Haley, Waters. Trumpenstein is no worse than all the others. He’s just more entertaining, if you enjoy the degrading spectacle that passes for American politics. It doesn’t make any difference who parks his/ her arse in the Oval Office. Nothing will change.
Mark, i agree but Pense is worse for two reasons, He could never have been elected President and he’s real close to becoming one. And he wouldn’t have even polled 1% like Lindsey Graham if he had run in the primaries. (If he did I can’t remember anyway) Trump folded but he had no choice. He was not prepared and neither were the people he surrounded himself with. Priebus was an even worse choice for Chief of Staff than Rahm Emmanuel who effectively ruined the Obama Presidency. . Trump probably didn’t think he was actually going to win. He does not have the necessary negotiating skills to be President, (I bet he’s lousy at chess) and he had no experience dealing with people who were good at the political game. Look what happened top Obama and Obama was a politician , GW Bush, a governor, . Why would be different for Trump? They were also led into a trap but they posed a lot better and were a lot more comfortable in their roles . A lot of people didn’t like them either. The media and now basically , ALL OF US,are denigrating Trumpsky whether for good reason or not and it hurts the Office of the President, the Institutiuon and our Government in general and Rule of Law. I think it would have been better if Trump had been allowed to pursue rapprochement with Russia. Call me silly. I do not like where he is being herded or by whom.
Pence reminds me of his being a modern day Harry Truman….now, try and get a good nights sleep, sorry.
Don’t be sorry Joe, you’re right.
The Congress and Senate have usurped his Constitutional role regarding Foreign Affairs. He is not in charge. The Reps have to pay the base on Immigration Reform. That’s all he gets. He should never have signed increased sanctions . He should have made them override his veto. Don’t get me wrong I don’t like him a whole lot but the trend seems to be towards a strike on North Korea and pressure on Iran is increasing. The new sanctions on Russia are illegal and should force Germany, Austria and several other nations to break ranks with the USA. Nord Stream 2 is in their interest, buying our LNG and building trillion dollar infrastructure to pay higher prices to benefit US companies is not. We now have a trade war looming and Trump and the US Senate and Congress are extremely unpopular in Europe. So too there is sabre rattling regarding the Chinese. It’s like a last stand for Pax Americana or World War with Trump at the helm or Pense? He’s Trump without the balls and with a better vocabulary. This is all bad but this is what Obama bequeathed him. Hillary would be doing the same thing only she would have support .
What balls? Donald Trump is a braggart coward without compare. He folded like a wet pancake from the neocon’s puffball attacks.
Agree! mike K, thanks.
mike k: I tend to agree with your comment on Trump being a braggart coward. What is coming it seems to me is not impeachment. The Establishment does not want it. They know it will be too traumatic for the country and very dangerous to U.S. prestige in the World. I heard yesterday that Mueller is convening a grand jury, probably to look at all his business deals etc. By Fall, they will make Trump to resign with some kind of plea bargain.
If you watch all his interviews with Journalists and talk show hosts, going back to 1980’s, Trump just loves to display his wealth. That is all he lives for – to make money. If Mueller and the Establishment goes after him and his wealth, he is going to fold very quickly. The Establishment knows it too well. All these people who have amassed wealth in Financial and Development Industry have lot of skeletons hidden there. He will be gone very soon. It seems that he loves his wealth too much, and does not have the courage to stand up and fight.
Yet, I may be proven wrong on that.
Dave P-
I believe you are right that they are sharpening their knives, and Trump will be gone soon. I think Pence will be more malleable to the Deep State Oligarchs imperial ambitions. I am no fan of Trump or Pence, and I fear for our future. The only possible “Hail Mary” would be if somehow Trump laid bare the machinations of the intelligence agencies for the whole world to see with a great speech. Alas, he is not the man to make that happen. If only he were as smart as Putin, and had surrounded himself with better people, he’d have a chance.
Listen to Trump’s W. Virginia speech the other night. He actually nailed it on the head. Flat called Russia-gate garbage, and said he won the election because of them … not Russia. Even asked if there were any Russians out there.
It was actually pretty funny, and very direct. I think you should give it a listen. This guy just had the Congress vote against him 419-3 and 98-2. That’s tough to fight, but his tweet is actually pretty good.
‘Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can’t even give us HCare!’
Pretty accurate if you ask me.
I don’t understand the point of this essay. That Trump is a self-centered jackass is about as obvious as anything can be.
I’d have rather seen his loud-mouthed braying analyzed as a mechanism to divert attention from the incredible damage the rightwingnuts are doing while everybody is obsessed with the Presidential Ignoramus.
Are not most Demo NeoCons supporting criminalizing BDS?
Not as many as were a few days ago.
“Prominent US Jewish Leader Slams New York Senator Gillibrand’s Backtrack on Israel Boycott Bill”
BTW, that headline bothers me because the ***hole Ronald Lauder is prominently identified as “Jewish” instead of “Rabid Zionist”. This sort of clumsy work could cause all American Jews some real trouble in the future.
New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was catching hell, and as a consequence has quickly backtracked. Or pretended to – who can say what she is really thinking. Or if she has been guilty of “thinking” at any point of this mindless sucking up to Israel.
h**ps://www.algemeiner.com/2017/08/03/prominent-us-jewish-leader-slams-new-york-senator-gillibrands-backtrack-on-israel-boycott-bill/
I tried to read this garbage, but I stopped reading when the author quoted the NYT.
After making a pact with Deep State to bring Trump down at any cost, “the Left” has lost all bearings and any credibility, and it has been running a primitive and grubby power fight worthy of their Deep State allies. Is Trump buffoonish, of course he is. Are you the deadbeats of “the Left” much worse, of course you are. It will be soon a year since the election and you still cannot understand why you lost power and, instead of learning, you keep repeating and making greater and greater mistakes.
Ultimately, Trump has failed to fulfill his promises and to reform US, but you have been the main barrier preventing him to change things, the problem not the solution for your country. In pieces such as this, you keep accusing Trump of all your own faults, you keep throwing stones from your already cracked glass castles.
For all Trump’s faults, the whole World is letting a sigh of relief for your absence from power, because yours was the reign of stupidity and terror (or stupid terror), dressed in haughty human rights and faux equality of races and genders.
BTW, this is the author who claimed that US is losing when Russia is helping stabilize Syria (when US sponsored terrorists were losing).
Kiza: Thanks. What an accurate analysis! You have summarized it in very beautiful and meaningful words.
I concur with your comment. The record of the last several years reveals that the author is a lackey of the power structure and can be published anywhere where most of the other stuff we see here is stuff the power structure won’t touch.
quick point,
its both the professional democrats AND republicans who are keeping trump from achieving his promised policy changes. not just the democrats/liberals. even those in his own cabinet…..
I find Trump to be bizarre, just like many others do, but let me ask you this, if Trump were not Trump, if Trump were a Clinton or a McCain would we at this current moment in time be analyzing his every moves so close, as we are now doing? I find Trump’s attack on minorities to be painfully hateful, and humanly wrong, but this isn’t what we are talking about here with Mr Winship’s article. We are talking about his buffoonish style, and his off the cuff speech making. Why, if Trump were on board with the CIA and the Neocon tribes, then we all would be laughing at our cute, and funny small handed president. Make no mistake about it, the criticism for the most part, is part of an effort to bring Trump’s presidency down….nothing more, but to just bring him down. This wouldn’t be all that bad, but what replaces Trump could be, or most certainly is, a worst option if there ever was one. Trump is paying a heavy price, all because he said, of how he would simply talk to Putin.
No – T is paying a price because he is a pathological liar about everything. Everything on a daily basis.Including all statements he has made about no connections to Russia.
And as Winship points out an ignorant fool and charlatan, only interested in self enrichment and egomania. According to T everything about himself is bigger or best – including his penis.
Ya just the guy we need to lead this country and world.
How does this compare with BHO not paying a price despite him also being a proficient liar? Maybe it was on account of his velvet voice. Hillary couldn’t manage that last bit – listening to the woman was akin to hearing a metal trash can dragged across a concrete garage floor. Of course that was complemented by the better-than-you way she said whatever it was she was saying.
This only speaks to your inability to be objective in any way at all.
Biggest crowds, best speeches, biggest penis, calls from the Boy Scouts Leader and Mexican President? Ya I seem to remember BHO saying that. On a daily basis.
“Listening to the woman” “Trash can dragged”
Really?? Are you really going to go there?
At this point I’ve got to hold my nose and post a title from the wretched Bezos Blog Washington Post.
“These Obama voters snubbed Hillary Clinton — and ‘they don’t regret what they did’”
Trump’s popularity is deservedly dropping steadily, yet Hillary remains even more unpopular. The man is absolutely horrible, but US citizens as a whole still understand that the alternative of President Hillary was a worse one.
Regarding Obama, he was a smooth talker, and for some reason the Democrats who had accurately identified GWB as a war criminal and general jerk overlooked the instances of Obama doing the very same things. And even worse things, for that matter.
I’m going to make a wild leap to speculate you’re of that “forgiving” group.
???
Zach, great comment, thanks very much. Even Bezos Blog understands what this author and his supporters do not and, it appears, never will.
That is the essence of it Zachary: who was the lesser evil. Always the same choice we are given: who disgusts me the least. If it’s not, if a candidate presents himself as standing for “hope and change,” he turns out to be a liar. The key novelty in the last race was that in Trump we finally had a candidate who was not a thoroughly vetted creature of the inside establishment, but a real outsider–the maverick that McCain falsely claimed to be. Since he surprisingly won, the insiders have been working overtime to i) drive him from office, ii) transform him into a “liar,” i.e., get him to rebuke the stands he took on the issues during the campaign, or iii) ensure that he is a failure unable to effect any of his campaign promises. Forcing him to sign the sanctions bill is a major rebuke of his campaign goals. The inability to get any health care legislation passed (good or bad) is a fail, i.e., evidence of ineffectiveness as a leader. The same with his immigration policies, which seemed ill advised though were probably vote-getters. Maybe he earns points among his supporters for trying there. I dunno.
Frankly, I don’t see the logic of the Dems’ single-minded determination to get him impeached or to transmogrify him into a president itching to make simultaneous war on four new fronts. Number one, Pence is not going to play ball with the Dems on anything. He will be even more hard core on domestic social issues. So, they are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Number two, if Trump goes all in on more warfare, assuming there is any country left to govern their cherished social programs will receive an even smaller fraction of the budget. More noses lost. Besides, if the Dems think any of those countries are going to THANK us for invading and conquering them, killing their people, destroying their infrastructure and exterminating their polity, especially Russia and Iran (as if that could happen) they are out of their freakin’ gourds. Why is wild-eyed craziness like this allowed to flourish in our political discourse? Why are Neocons tolerated here any more than Nazis are allowed a role in modern day Germany?
I’ll just say this, everyone in the D.C. Beltway is a jerk, and a liar. What has me so completely flabbergasted is how we are all living through a Televised Pop Culture Coup, and how this is being played out with Americans acceptance is disturbing, and mystifying in a weird way. Trump may be bad, and I agree Hillary would have been much worst, and stop for a minute to think of her with N Korea and her wonderful Pivot to Asia being front and forward, but considering all of the players, consider the effort being put forward by our 24/7 Anti-Trump wall to wall coverage media. Again, Trump is poorly suited to be a great president, but who in the hell are we getting with Trump out? What war will just materialize, and how much freedom will be loss, to have Trump removed from office? And why?
ADL yes Trump is a pathological liar, and more, but please stop for a moment, and try and understand where I am coming from. Granted Trump, is not a cookie cutter model, of what we Americans are to use to referring too, as ‘Our President’, but there is more going on here than meets the eye.
I hate the things that Trump stands for. I throughly hate his law enforcement, and immigration polices, as we continue through Trump to slide even more so into a police state. On the other side of Trump, his wanting to talk to foreign adversaries, if you want to call Russia that, isn’t all that bad of an idea. Reference that all during the original Cold War we always had detente with the then USSR. Many believe wholeheartedly that these moments of conversation that went on between the two super powers, no doubt prevented a world war.
While we continue to watch the CIA, Neocon, Media corporatocracy, follow through on their mass media engineered coup, you might want to ask what comes next if they succeed? Trump maybe the least of our worries, if these agents of war should overthrow him. So, hating Trump is one thing, but ask yourself, are Trump’s attackers the kind you want to be left in charge? Watch, a knee jerk answer, maybe hard to live with once the coup is complete, and the new regime takes hold.
And, as a corollary to that, I really have to wonder what the Putin demonizers think will happen
if they succeed in displacing him. Another case of ‘be very careful what you wish for !’
Exactly so, Irina. Stephen F. Cohen makes the point all the time that Russia has its own very hard line ultra-nationalist faction whom we would NOT want to see in power if peace is what we really want. They are still seething at Yeltsin and would have beat him if America had not stolen the election for him. If Putin is overthrown, the strongest factions will be the Medvedev Atlanticists who want integration with the West and the remnant communist/nationalists. The Atlanticists were already discredited and probably not coming back. Putin returned to power as a rebuke of their policy, especially after the Georgian war. At least that’s something I’ve read, but as an American I must plead mostly ignorance of internal Russian politics. To my understanding, Putin is the sane middle ground, whom Washington destroys at its ignorant peril.
Destroying Putin or destroying Trump is madness, but what the Neocons, with a firm grip on the American government through the Deep State, seem to want. Some of their defenders say that they only bluff war, playing a game of chicken with Russia that they will never take to the end game. But they have gone to the wall already in seven or more other countries, basically demolishing them and scattering their people. Why should any sane person assume they will change their modus operandi? They must be treated like the deadly venomous snakes they are and ideologically exterminated, rather than given harbor by American political parties, think tanks, corporate sponsors and the media.
The biggest most regretful loss of this whole Russia-Gate story is America’s loss of the Russian people. The Neocon mindset doesn’t give a rats ass about the consequences of that loss, so ruining future building blocks towards a multi international relationship isn’t in their thinking. I think the Neocon’s worry more about, how by 2050 we will all be paying them rent, and paying their other made up expenses for us little people to endure…no, I don’t have a overly frustrated attitude over all of this, I don’t, I don’t. Seriously though, this pop culture attack on Trump, and Russia, does way more harm than good. Maybe what we need is some good ole fashioned Emily Post.
https://slavyangrad.org/2014/09/24/the-russia-they-lost/
Dear Realist, yours is The Manifesto for Change that US desperately needs, even though Trump is not the one to deliver it.
I agree. Lots of bad things spoken on this page about Trump, and I’ve said some of them myself. But just because he’s mostly bad doesn’t mean he is entirely a louse on every single issue. The War Party (most Democrats, most all the Republicans) are in alliance with Big Intelligence to force Trump to do what they want with Russia. My Republican Senator Young had nothing on his web site about that Sanctions bill, and when I called a local office the person I spoke with didn’t know a thing about his view. Yet a couple of days later he had voted for it. Knee-Jerk behavior – he did what he was told to do. Probably without giving it a single thought; possibly not even reading it.
Yes, this has nothing to do with defending Trump, but it has everything to do with who are these people who are so eager to replace Trump? Why, is this question always met with the questionnaire being questioned to if they are a Trump supporter? Should I answer, no I’m a defender of democracy (if this is still a democracy?) but you know what I’m talking about. No one seems to think these things through, instead they rely on bubble gum high school rhetoric to condemn what they don’t even understand in the first place. I hope there will be many who will be able to live with what they wished for, if this pop culture coup does succeed.
Let me get this straight. Your whole backing of T is he wants to talk with Russia. (Let’s ignore it most likely has much more to do with his own enrichment, and possible money laundering, and absolutely nothing to do with our or Russia’ national interest.) So that and that alone trumps everything else for you? Let me 1 last time explain where I am coming from.
You agree he is a pathological liar and more. Really? And more? Like a convicted racist, who made money off of discriminating against blacks? A convicted fraud who made money off of cheating people in his bogus school. A man who has as his 2 main political advisors self proclaimed White Supremacists. An AG whose whole legal and political career has been to roll back Civil Rights Laws – which if successful would mean it would be legal for T to discriminate against minorities – and enrich himself from same. A man who openly denigrates and demeans women, even his own daughter (nice piece of a–). And a man who has no knowledge or interest in even the most basic problems/issues the US has. Like healthcare. Or jobs. His knowledge starts and ends with those campaign cliches and propaganda, blaming all those ‘others’. With absolutely zero solutions to anything. Please name 1 positive thing he has done for this country? Please.
So you think wanting to talk with Russia supersedes documented lifelong racism, misogyny, ignorance, and fraud? That is it? So what solutions to Russia has he provided? What are his policies? You mean talking to adversaries just like he talked to the Mexican President, and Australia’s PM. Did you read that incoherent nonsense and lies? This is what you are thinking is a good idea?
I could care less about Russia. Leave them alone. let them rise or fall on their own. I am concerned we have an administration lead by a man that is working as I write on taking us as far back to Jim Crow as they can. (just ask Miller,Bannon & Sessions). That treats 1/2 of this country as sex toys who they can ignore, physically and verbally assault, and deprive of basic rights and female healthcare. That thinks polluting our air and water is a good thing. That thinks demonizing immigrants ( you and I came from immigrants) is righteous. That thinks an enormous tax cut for the rich at the expense of the poor and our debt is wonderful. Kinda reverse Robin Hood.
I have a long list of needs for the US, for all of us.
Your list starts and ends with talking to Russia. Supercedes everything else in this country and world.
This whole paranoia thing/black helicopters does not become sensible people. Your solution to go with the idiot, racist, misogynist, fraud and buffoon over some unforeseen possible bogeyman does not serve you or us well.
I can’t argue with anything of what you said. My only fear is to what comes next. That’s all.
Trump may be the least of our worries. That’s for sure. The Democrats are too blind to pin the tail on that Donkey! Thanks Joe.
I’m trying to avoid to much talk about the Dem’s, because mostly I’m tired of talking about the Dem’s. Until I see the Democrates start acting like the party of the people, I’m kind of done with this whole lot of bribed officials who calls themselves representatives of the working people. At this very moment the average American voter is now flying by wire.
Unfortunately, as recent bipartisan Congress votes show, Trump is not so different from the rest of the “élite” ie the rich who rule us but do not represent us. How can nearly 100% of Senate and House want to destroy any hope of agreements and peaceful trade with anyone when such a law (like the coming anti-BDS law pandering as always to Israel) has no link to what Americans would prefer when polled?
The media have practically no diversity, and any dissent is called fake news.
The “recent bipartisan votes” were not of Trump’s choosing. The overwhelming votes in favor would have made Trumps veto a futile, meaningless gesture. If you want to know where this bill came from, just count the votes. Usually getting 2/3 of votes in congress in favor of any bill is a high hurdle to overcome. This bill only had 3 dissenting votes in the house and a similar near-unanimity in the senate. This is the signature characteristic of a measure pushed by AIPAC, ADL, etc. Orders from Tel Aviv (again) directed not to Trump, but to the disgraceful traitors in our congress.
For that matter, I’d be interested in any examples of Mr. Winship writing critically of the Butcher of Libya. Or of the way the ***** used a private email system to avoid the Freedom of Information Act and to also increase the profitability of the Clinton Foundation. I’d predict they’ll be few and far between.
Hillary gets the biggest media pass award ever for both the 20th and so far the 21st Century. In fact, it’s no joke, that right now at this very moment, there are way more reasons and so much more mountains of evidence of Hillary wrongdoing, but yet we hear of but nothing but about Russia-Gate. What we are all witnessing is one of the greatest power grabs that this country has ever experienced to within its 241 year old history.
Current case in point is the MSM media blackout on Imran Awan.
I agree, that Awan story has the potential to reach into many dark holes inside the Washington Establishment. In fact, that’s why I’m beginning to believe that TPTB will need to crush it, as they are now currently doing to the Seth Rich investigation and story. This whole thing, is getting the ‘single bullet’ treatment, and these stories will then become ‘conspiracy theories’, because somebody at the CIA got to recognize us old folks for something…right? It’s all down hill from here, now since we went to reality news reporting…I’m hoping next year by this time it will all be animated cartoons, because at least it would be funny. Notice I didn’t say, funnier.
As a still registered Democrat, I get at least a dozen pleas for money from the DNC every day via email. They have created a whole hero-worshiping mythology surrounding Killary. For the right donation you can get all sorts of kitch inscribed with their latest rallying cry: “Nevertheless, She Persisted” (see below), meaning she will never STFU, will continue to hatch intrigue, create trouble, snipe at Trump and probably run for prez again in 2020 when she will be about 102 year old. Everyone in her Zombie corp eagerly awaits her book of Alternate History in which she lays out who did what dirty deed to her in the campaign in exquisite detail. Hint: most of the bad guys were from Russia or NYC.
“Tomorrow is your LAST CHANCE to become a Founding Donor of the 2018 Women’s Senate Network. Pitch in $7 or more to support our Senate Democratic women and we’ll send you our limited-edition “Nevertheless, She Persisted” magnet (Shipping included!)”
My god that is awful. I usually keep music soundtracks in my mind to play over and over when I’m walking or whatever, to enjoy. For months that was replaced by “please stay in the woods” and other pathos that drowned out my nice head music. The idea that Clinton would emerge triumphant-Resistance and governing a new PAC was incredibly scary. So is Trump’s governance. But let’s just look at Syria–if instead of Trump Clinton were Prez would that situation be more or less bad? More or less innocent civilians killed.
And again, good lord. She came out of the woods. Incredibly depressing. I’m going to have to watch every song of my mind’s playlist again to burn it in so I can listen to that in downtimes rather than fretting.
And while I do hate Trump and nearly everything he stands for (and also dislike Obama), at least the past 12 years have :maybe: broken up dynastic POTUSes of the like of Bush or Clinton. And that JFK anti-vax moron has done doom to that too.
JEB flaming out for example was greatly enjoyable (in general, I actually don’t think he ever had a heart in it and may have intentionally failed. I am not a pyschologist though I play one on internet message boards.)
They probably got co-op dollars from the book publisher. I hate to see advertising campaigns waste money on the wrong message. Why not just crush the product on the shipping dock, it’s cheaper. The Demonuts just don’t get it. Until they come to their senses, and wipe Hillary out of their heads, then they deserve what they get, or they don’t get in their case. Pathetic!
Of course The Donald is awful. But Barry OBOMBER was just as bad or worse.
The difference is that he was a SMOOTH, COOL, SMILING, VILLAIN-WAR CRIMINAL
WHO ALSO DEPORTED 3 MILLION IMMIGRANTS AND LEFT THE VAST MAJORITY OF CITIZENS U SHIT CREEK WITHOUT A ADDLE WHILE HE KISSED THE ASSES OF THE BANKSTERS AND CORPORATIONS !!! Oh I FORGOT TO MENTION THE DESTRUCTION OF LIBYA , THE FASCIST TAKEOVER IN UKRAINE, THE
OVERTHROW OF THE DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED GOVERNMENT IN
HONDURAS (ALL WITH HILLAROID’S ASSISTANCE) AND THE EVIL HORRIBLE
DRONE MURDERS OF INNOCENT LITTLE BABIES, WOMEN AND MEN IN
SEVERAL DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER OBAMA.
WHERE WAS ALL THE CRITICISM THEN?????????????????
TPP, 2012 NDAA, and the classic as Natives are being brutalized at Standing Rock he says “Let it play out for a few more weeks”.
And who crushed our best chance at Regime Change, Occupy?
And I’d include Clinton’s non-statement on Standing Rock:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/28/what-crock-clinton-breaks-dapl-silence-statement-says-literally-nothing
“”What a crock,” said Ruth Hopkins, a Dakota-Lakota Sioux writer for Indian Country Today Media Network.
“Hillary Clinton managed to make a statement about the Dakota Pipeline that literally says nothing. Literally,” 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben tweeted in response.”
The statement in full (not issued by Clinton herself of course, but by the campaign in general:
“We received a letter today from representatives of the tribes protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. From the beginning of this campaign, Secretary Clinton has been clear that she thinks all voices should be heard and all views considered in federal infrastructure projects. Now, all of the parties involved—including the federal government, the pipeline company and contractors, the state of North Dakota, and the tribes—need to find a path forward that serves the broadest public interest. As that happens, it’s important that on the ground in North Dakota, everyone respects demonstrators’ rights to protest peacefully, and workers’ rights to do their jobs safely.”
“All voices should be heard” and “worker’s rights to do their jobs safely” and “broadest public interest” is code for “Fuck those Injuns, their voices will be soon gone after they’re removed, and if they rise up let’s kill them in order to keep worker’s who are screwing them safe”. And this statement doesn’t even address land rights, or the USG’s noncompliance with various treaties going back to the 1800s which would deny this action and instead give rights to the Sioux.
Yomamama, I was so snowed by president Obama that I wrote a long-hand letter describing how he could close Guantanamo Bay, seek extended talks with Cuba on new relations and reconciliation in South America in general and I received a similar marketing thank you. That is when I first realized that he was not what he sold himself as… Now that I write this, I remember a troop commander in early Iraq complaining that what they were experiencing was not what they “gamed for”. So really it’s all code for screw you we’ll do what ever we please!
Many years ago I worked at a very large ‘institution of higher learning’. (It had its own zip code and two telephone exchanges – that large.). While,like most people, I learned to hate sitting through meetings, what still to this day causes me to clench my fists is hearing someone say:
“We value your input.”
I’m not going to compare any of the two, Obama or Trump, but I do this because I just want to concentrate on the forces who are opposing Trump. I believe that questioning the intentions of Trump’s opponents is a must, and a requirement, to us knowing what is behind Trump’s planned undoing. I mean where do the anti-Trumpers want to take us? Shouldn’t this question be answered before we get out our pitchforks and storm the castle? Hating Trump is fine, but who are we rallying with may not be fine.
You are right, Joe. Since they claim to be in charge now, why don’t we demand a detailed foreign policy, especially with Russia, that goes beyond the latest iron clad sanctions they’ve heaped onto the mess they call a work in progress. Let’s ask Generalissimos Schumer, Pelosi, McConnell and Ryan what are their plans for all the ongoing wars and the confrontations that teeter on the edge of wars since they are now dictating foreign policy, at least with respect to Russia, Iran and North Korea, to the titular President of the United States.
Schumer I can tell you wants whatever Israel does, so ask Netanyahoo instead. Pelosi is sounding more incoherent by the day, so that should be interesting. McConnell and Ryan? Who’s number one on their speed dials? AIPAC, Adelson, the Koch Bros? Those folks are all highly organised. They’ve probably got a bullet pointed 50-page abstract of their agenda. Sorry, nothing in there for you if you are merely an American citizen.
Might be worth asking Obomber what he and his shadow government in DC are after, other than Deval Patrick as the next president. It’s gonna be a sweet rest of the 21st century dontcha know.
I agree, we should demand from ‘them’ a detailed foreign policy, and with that you and I would have even more broken promises and deceitful lies to contend with. Since I’m against capital punishment I will just say, we should not only eject these corrupt creatures from our corridors of executive, legislative, and judicial halls of justice, but we should ensconce them onto Devil’s Island to be seen nor heard from no more….but hey in America they keep coming back, don’t they? But yeah, at least it would be nice to start thinking about what will replace Trump.
Exactly. Also, with all the fuss now, it was Obama who watered down the 2009 Copenhagen Climate meeting, AND insisted on the Paris agreement being voluntary ie useless. His climate credentials are not show-off acts like Trump’s, but still bad.
Couldn’t have put it better,so won’t try to other than to add that Trump rips the fancy label off the can, peels back the lid and allows everyone to see that the contents have gone rotten. Obama was the fancy label and suited those who want to see no further.
By signing off on the new sanctions against Russia Trump has as good as accepted that the Russians won him the election. Surely he could have refused to sign on the basis that the enquiries are still ongoing and that no evidence has been produced to indicate that Russia in anyway interfered with the election. Up to now I thought he had some balls, but its clear he has prostrated himself in a quivering jelly like state at the feet of the deep state.
John, I would have much rather Trump would have stood his ground. Possibly he could have taken his case to the American people, before he signed the new dreaded Russia-Iran-N Korea sanctions bill. Now he has not only appeared in someways to look like he backed down out of fear of Russia-Gate, but he also loss his presidential control by signing that God awful bill into law. Trump with his approval of this bill has now become basically powerless to lifting any of these sanctions, since now through the wording of the sanctions bill congress has that sole power. Your right John in some people’s eyes this caving in makes him look guilty, or at least this makes him look to weak to defend his innocence. With Trump’s going along to get along, the Russians now feel empty, and left without a negotiating partner, and with that we all lose.
Yes, Joe, since one of the reasons that congress gave for the sanctions was “Russia interfering in the American election,” by signing the document Trump basically acknowledged the truth of this unsubstantiated claim. He’s agreeing that Vlad Putin put me in office, so now his country (and Europe) must be punished. It’s absurd. I’ve already complained about the cession of executive power to an unhinged congress pumped up for war several times already.
Since it historically has taken decades for any sanctions to be lifted against Russia, congress has ensured that this new cold war will be transgenerational. Your grandkids will probably be fighting it when their cohort ascends to power, assuming humanity has not destroyed itself by then. By then, America will have sold all of its fracked natural gas overseas and we will be in a shortage again, as we were not long ago. Europe can then resume purchasing their gas from Russia and the USA can go back to making water gas from coal. Whatever is expedient in the moment. Humans are fascinating to watch in all their contradictions.
A destroyed future, all due to the greed for short term profit.
I guess I’ve heard ’em all now. Trump signed the sanctions bill because he was guilty? Why? And of what? It could be something we don’t know about, but what would lead anyone to the conclusion he signed away his presidential power because he was guilty of something he did with the Russians to win the election . More likely, he is afraid of being impeached simply because of the power of his opposition to make it happen, but to conclude he was guilty and that is why he signed the sanctions bill is strange reasoning.. Why? Of what? I was as disappointed as anyone about Trump bowing down on the sanctions bill.
By the by, if they Congress does proceed to impeachment, all hell is likely to be unleashed in this country. Sure, the advocates will say we survived worse, but getting all those “deplorables” to feel betrayed by removing the man they elected is something to think about. It may, if you think about, explain why Trump is the campaign mode in his speeches.
Not at all, Herman. I never said there is an implication of Trump’s guilt (of collusion with Russia) because he signed the document. Reread my statement. The document (speciously) said that Russia was guilty of interfering in the American election, it doesn’t address Trump’s imputed role which is being pursued by the special prosecutor. I’m pretty sure that the congress and the American public will (as intended by congress) interpret Trump’s signing of the document as an unfortunate endorsement of the charges against Russia. If he disagreed with that premise he had no business affixing his name to the paper. While no proof of his collusion, it’s an admission that he benefited from the alleged illegal actions of Russia and possibly would not be president absent them, which is foolishly putting himself at a disadvantage. He should have either vetoed the bill or simply refused to sign it, as we know the consequences would be exactly the same: with near unanimous congressional approval that sucker is becoming law no matter how absurd. Got it?
I could very well be wrong, but I remember seeing that a provision of these sanctions is that they can be lifted ONLY by Congress, not by this or any future President. If true, as you say they are cemented in place, as Congress rarely (never?) admits they made a mistake.
Correct, but it seems all the Congress wants to remove any power from Trump. Who will replace him is not explained, but with McBraintumor and Lindsey Gray-ham leading the way, it won’t be better.
It surely won’t be better. Thanks for that rosemerry…
Realist, I agree he shouldn’t have signed the bill. Your explanation that it was not about Trump’s guilt but the Russians is splitting hairs.. How do you separate Trump’s guilt from Russia’s? President Trump made his first mistake when he fired Flynn. As to what most people concluded when he signed the bill, that didn’t change the conclusion they had already been led to make, only strengthened it.
By Trump going to the streets, all the faults of the president pale by what is at stake, and the President knows it and will use it. Whether for selfish or noble reasons, no matter.
The “rationale” for the first round of sanctions against Russia (in 2014) was “supposed” Russian “aggression” in Ukraine. The “reasoning” behind this current round of sanctions is to punish Russia for supposed “interference” in the U.S. presidential election of 2016. So by signing the bill, Trump is essentially “agreeing” that Russia “interfered” and should be punished via sanctions. If Trump does not believe Russia interfered, then he should say so and tell Congress that the basis for the sanctions is bogus.
Let’s just be outlandish for a second and say that Russian state actors “hacked” the DNC and got e-mails released to Wikileaks for the purpose of exposing Clinton malfeasance so as to give Trump a leg up. And they made RT tell the truth (er, “fake news” I mean) to make Clinton look bad! Anyway…supposing Russia “interfered” in the election to get Trump elected doesn’t presuppose that Trump was “in on it”….
But of course that’s all bullshit and Trump should say so, because it’s the truth..and as far as the “spin” is concerned regarding Russia…he’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t anyway…sign it and you’re trying to placate Congress and obscufate supposed “collusion” ….don’t sign it and you get “see! you ARE in league with Russia, aren’t you?!”
I know Herman, I did a doubletake at first and had to think about it from the standpoint of the reasons behind the bill before it clicked.
Thank you, Gregory. I hope people can see the distinctions now and congress’ nefarious intent. Trump is not admitting “his” guilt but rather “Russian” guilt (both specious in my opinion), though the casual citizen may not see the distinction, conflate the two and turn against Trump.
Joe, I agree…a Mike Pense would be no consolation and Yes, probably even worse because he wouldn’t question Deep State designs. But I just can’t fall into the trap of deciding which is the lesser evil. We’ve had too much of that!
I don’t think there are any good choices, we’re all kind of screwed at this point. What I’m referring too, is that all of us citizens should do everything we can to stay aware of what kind of forces are behind Trump’s demise. What we have been watching with the media’s trashing of Trump, since before the inauguration is a coup. Call it anything you may like, but it’s a coup. I don’t know about you, but when a coup happens in my neighborhood I like to know who the next officers of the junta are to be left in charge, and where this new regime will take us…maybe that’s just me. So yeah BobH, we citizens better stay on the ball…with or especially without Trump, if you know what I mean.
Stay well BobH and thanks for the reply Joe
So true, Joe…the ones in charge are content to move the others like chess pieces. Whatever happens they will jockey themselves to appear removed from responsibility.
I think in D.C. ‘plausible deniability’ is a religion.
Joe and BobH, when I tried to explain my vote for Jill Stein to my local group, I was always warned that,”Great, Bob, then we’ll get Trump,” and I’d retort that at least then, the republicans will expose their shallowness for all to see. I could only take that risk because Hillary was and is, even a worse choice. So, now both parties are exposed as worthless…Time to start a new party, a party of peace and for the people and the land. Really it’s a great opportunity…
You know Bob I’ve about had it with people doing their ‘vote shaming’. I mean for crying out loud we supposedly live in a democracy, so you vote for the candidate you most believe in. This making people feel bad, because others claim your third party vote was a vote for Trump, is just wrong and in a mythical way it’s Un-American. Your best counter argument is by you pointing to a picture of Hillary, and making a thumbs down expression, and then that’s the end of the debate.
Thanks Joe, in no way do I regret my vote…
BobV, JoeT et al…I think we’re all waiting for the system to implode before the delusional members of both parties realize the constitution needs some major amendments. The electoral system is so fundamentally flawed I don’t think 3rd parties have any chance before that happens. They can, however, be the incubators for some much needed solutions.
I like that thought BobH, anything that moves the conversation along at this point is valid. Bottom line, change…
Joe and the Bobs (sounds like a band. This place is getting thick with Bobs…) –
We all seem to agree that the chances for implosion are increasing, and I don’t mean to be overly broad here, but that some kind of change is necessary and possible. Where my concern lies in the idea of actually amending the Constitution.
Not that it could not be done well or effectively, meaning those things that need to be improved – mainly the electoral system – would be. I worry that so many cooks would be in that kitchen the broth would not just be spoiled, it would be poison. I fear the process would be hijacked by the very people/powers/money/cabals that have got us to this point, and the end product would be even worse than where we are now.
I am no Constitutional scholar, and am well aware that working within the sytem is often futile. I just would like to know if we could “throw the bums (and their money) out” without jeopardizing the whole deal. Maybe we need to start anew, but I don’t trust that we could do that much better.
Just the other day a co-worker thought he was “shaming” me for my Stein vote by referencing her campaign rhetoric as “pie-in-the-sky”. It’s all about “free stuff” for some people. And of course we have all those enemies that must be dealt with, hence the “real-world” necessity for a huge military expenditure.
They are brainwashed into believing the way things work is some kind of natural law or something, not understanding how skewed priorities are….and that money can be made to function in much different ways if we could control the supply and reconfigure some of the basics.
I’ve said on a number of occasions that the time is right to try creating a new popular third party (or engineering one or more of the extant ones such at the Libertarians or the Greens). The first step is convincing people to vote in large numbers against all the incumbents, who gave us this mess. But don’t just vote for the other major party, vote for real change. If enough voters are angry or disillusioned enough, this tactic might work, or at least it might throw such a scare into the establishment that they will work harder to effect the will of the people.
I know the big stumbling block is that doing the convincing will take an advertising campaign. That means taking money from wealthy people (at least at first, to jump start a drive for small donations). Accepting people’s money means being beholden to them just like now. Also, people with the wherewithall to start a movement usually have an agenda, perhaps hidden, perhaps at variance from most would-be joiners.
The Dems and GOPers won’t permit this, but perhaps we should examine how they run elections involving so many different parties in Europe. I think the parties are often based in demographics like religion, occupation and union membership (is that better or worse than our system?). I think the government finances the elections in some countries and the campaign is limited in duration and advertising propaganda. I remember being told these things about West Germany roughly 40-45 years ago. Well, just some things to contemplate.
Joe: ” Make no mistake about it, the criticism for the most part, is part of an effort to bring Trump’s presidency down….nothing more, but to just bring him down. . . .Trump is paying a heavy price, all because he said, of how he would simply talk to Putin.”
Very true. Your comments explain it all.
Make no mistake about it Dave, I really don’t like seeing Trump in the White House, but I’m distressed to no end too who and what is trying to take him out. You might say, that Trump is the enemy of my enemy. Oh god am I doing what our CIA does with al Queda? But yeah, Trump we can see, and oh boy do we ever get to see him constantly day and night in all of his glory, but what or who is it we don’t see? There are no good options, the lessor of the two evils still spells evil, so in the end the citizen doesn’t win.
Joe, You are right. But I think Trump is the best right now or the World may be in much bigger trouble. Your question in one of the comments above, who is behind the ongoing coup and who will be in charge . . . next Officers of the Junta is very interesting. Citizens need to know it as you said. Right after the election, it seemed like they designated Madeleine Albright and Stephen Hadley to go around the Capitol Hill with their presentation and canvassing support for this project. I watched them on PBS. That was the first salvo I think.
America has up to this point not provided a leader such as the kind who may properly address all of this world’s problems, and have a solution to fix anything. If it isn’t a bomb, then it’s not American. We are now rudderless, and drifting away without a paddle. Trump is only part of the problem, what concerns me most, is who is on the other end of our problems…I ask you, who?
“Trump we can see, and oh boy do we ever get to see him constantly day and night in all of his glory, but what or who is it we don’t see?”
This is the key point, Trump appears to be another Obama-like distraction. They got a reality show MC this time.
I could not agree more. The grown ups always said that to much television isn’t good for you, now I believe them. We Americans are now currently part of a huge worldwide cast on a made for tv production of the American political life in action. This stupid show, has the Donald starring in the role of president, but with any luck the producers will dump Trump (be sure and stay tuned), and replace him with a more congenial to the Neocon/CIA way of life lapdog, and for this new commander and chief to finally achieve the hegemonic goal all have so waited for to come to be. We are here now, but what lies ahead is anyone’s guest. I just wonder about what’s next, after the Donald, that’s all.
Joe – “…to much television is not good for you…”
Thus is just a detail, but I learned in the 1970’s that television was technologically and optically designed to shorten attention spans. I don’t know what it looks like now, as I haven’t watched it in decades.
If you turned off the sound and went in another room and just observed the light patterns in the room the TV was in, it was easy to see. There was (is?) what is referred to as an “event”, a camera angle change, change of scene, lighting, etc., every 7 to 8 seconds. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.
Some claim, of course, it is one part of the general dumbing down process of the public:
Don’t. Think. Any. Longer. Than. This.
I can say that when I was tutoring 8-12 year old students in math, the ones who I got to watch less television (a BIG struggle, but if the parents or more often grandparents were on board, we could wean them off the crap) were the ones who made the most progress. In some cases attention spans went from seconds to minutes in a few months. But it took real dedication from adults.
Relevant points, Joe. We all know Trump is a wrestling fan, and represents that demographic, among others. Whereas the other Republican candidates would only wink and nod at those folks, Trump openly embraced them. They love him for that, including his sometimes barroom manner. But it remains relevant to look at what is actually occurring on his watch. Avoiding the neocon (Israeli) push for more war is no minor feat. The fact that the oligarchy is trying so hard to bring him down suggests they don’t like something he’s up to.
You are at least trying to see this on a spread sheet level of evaluation. Yes, Trump stands tall amongst his beloved deplorables, and in a democratic society this is way more than understandable, its democracy at its best. Although, we don’t agree with Trump’s minority restrictive policies, his ideas on foreign policy do have some good merits. Imagine how desperate we old peace lovers are, that we get behind Trump with this tiny but slime piece of goodness, but where else, or who else, is there we can turn to? No one.
JWalters, I think the oligarchs are globalist, and by their standards Trump is seen as being a nationalist. So, what we have is a congress that wants to continue on sanctioning countries until there are no more countries to sanction, and Trump just wants to start a trade war with a few nations, and in someway collect dues from NATO allied nations, and oh get Mexico to pay for the wall. Yeah, we American taxpayers got some real nut cakes running our country…so what, we are all indispensable and exceptional in every way, right?
Joe, it is unfortunate that he kills people in Syria and Yemen, that he signed the sanctions bill, and plays neocon with Iran and Israel, but all this stuff going on in the media was from the start intended to weaken the president, to make sure he stayed within the bounds of Presidents before him. How scary to have a president who might have the power with a handshake to end the very reckless and stupid Cold War.
A real shame. The possibilities were earth shaking. As to Mr. Winship, I suppose he would be saying much the same thing if Trump was shaking hands with Putin and keeping his campaign promises. It’s visceral. .
Herman everyone in our nation’s capital, and in the infotainment industry, is trying to out do each other. While the citizen is being forced to stay in suspended shock because Trump is our president, forces behind keeping that news front and foremost are plotting something, and that plotting is what is most disconcerting. To find out more to who loses or who will win, stay tuned….to be continued. This is Reality White House America.
Pence is out ‘n’ about talking war smack with Russia. If only we could by-pass Trump, Pence and Ryan, and get Tillerson for Prez, we would enter into a new era of peaceful cooperation with Russia, and, along with China, bring the World into a rare era of peace and progress. Of course the War party (Ds & Rs) would violently object; war being the last option for covering over a collapsing finance system which IS the Empire. Glass-Steagall and bankruptcy reorganization just over the horizon.
Brad, only because I respect you, and appreciate your sound comments, will I agree.
It’s just the Constitutional chain-of-command. If Trump is impeached or 25th-ed out, Pence will be much worse, guaran-damn-tee it, you can bet your gravestone on it, and the same with Ryan. So, whoever is for dumping the Trump, had better go for a three-fer. Tillerson is still plugging away at friendly cooperation with Russia. Financial collapse is also a done deal. The high poobahs of finance have pissed around since the crash of 87, fer chrissakes, doing everything but the right thing to fix the problem, and we’re Waaay-long overdue for the Roosevelt playbook, and I doubt even Tillerson is sympathetic to the Roosevelt play book, but at least he doesn’t see war as any kind of positive option for anything (probably believes we can still finesse our way out of financial ruin, like we’ve done for 30 years now, unfortunately). We’re in a bad way, with no great leaders anywhere near the “Captain’s Chair”, and let’s please not kid ourselves that we no longer need Great Leaders, that would be a sure road to certain destruction and chaos. The only candidate that LaRouche expressed any confidence in, was O’Malley (whose campaign revolved around reinstatement of Glass-Steagall, with ALL that THAT implies), who dropped out early in the primaries. The last thing I read him saying (couple of years ago, I think) was we’ll have to put together an ad hoc, de facto, Presidency of knowledgeable men and women as some sort of Emergency Council of Advisers, is how I took his meaning (although I apologize if I’m reading too much into his meanings), implying the end of one-man Presidencies, in my mind. LaRouche himself knows what must be done, but he also knows he is too old now (something like 95 years old) for the task-at-hand. We’re in a bad way.
Okay Brad, then Tillerson it is! I mean who else is there?
This is the way it is. He is a buffoon, but he’s not fully on board with the nihilist power structure. In the end the question is how risky he is to our continued existence, and he is less risky than the deep state. The writer of the article is fully on board with the deep state power structure and all that entails.
I wish Trump would quit watching FOX or whatever it is he gets his news information from. I mean why can’t he hang out with Paul Craig Roberts, or be interviewed by Dennis Bernstein. I wish for at least once that Donald Trump would read a VIP report, or invite Ray McGovern over for a piece of chocolate cake, and no missiles please. Although, all my life I’ve wished for things, and upon not receiving many of my wishes I usually found out later I wasn’t missing much by not having every one of my wishes granted. So, here we are, helpless, confused, and anxious to see our government improve…well, you don’t always get what you wish for, so the tired of waiting must wait a little while longer. Seriously, I don’t know what to say. We are here now, so enjoy what little of it you can, because as usual we don’t know what lies ahead.
Joe, I am surprised why Trump did not call on people like Lawrence Wilkerson. They had all this experience, and he could rely upon people like that to give him at least some good advice. They are a lot of them out there like him.
That’s what I’m talking about Dave. Thanks for your opinion. Joe
The article misses the main thing – the question of why Trump is under fire. Joe Tedesky is right to dismiss the personal remarks aimed at Trump, the “celebrity gossip” method. It wrong and misleading to engage in it. It distracts from the real question of why Trump is in so much trouble.
The truth is plain: his policy aims of normalization of relations with Russia and settlement of the war in Syria have aroused powerful ruling class forces that want the opposite. The political conflict arises from the conflict of interests between “globalist” capital interests oriented toward international markets and “America First” capital interests rooted in the domestic economy.
Celebrity gossip is a harmless enjoyment in itself, nothing wrong with it. But it should never be mistaken for politics.
David read the why we shouldn’t like Trump written above under ADL. ADL slams it in there, and I agree, but what I was pointing out, and you David have seemed to latch on to with my thinking, is what comes next? Who, or what agenda will be served if Trump is replaced, that’s all I ponder too. I mean Trump has been bombastic all of his celebrity celebrated life, so why the shock? If we are to impeach Trump, then impeach him for the many reasons ADL listed. Although, we citizens would do ourselves a huge disservice if we were not to question to what comes after Trump. Something about this pop culture coup that is unsettling, and that is, who are we rallying behind in order to bring Trump down? Answer me that, then we can move along to the next exciting chapter of this American life.
There seems to be this feeling the “never Trump” crowd are owed some denunciation of Trump in recognition of their childish deep-state inspired tirades. The ain’t owed nothing! Trump should be opposed on specific issues or supported on specific issues, and let it go at that.
The ruling class is having a huge fight within itself for reasons that are deeply grounded in economic development and will not go away. The people’s forces should not take either side. The conflict is exposing the realities of capitalist domination in ways that “normally” (whatever that’s supposed to mean in a capitalist context) remain hidden. The allegiances of huge numbers of people are coming undone. The ability of the people’s forces to build a popular constituency are greatly enhanced.
But who are the people’s forces? What we call the left in the United States has almost no relation to the working class. It is the left wing of the petty bourgeoisie. A working class movement must be built, and it can win the allegiance of many among the petty bourgeoisie. (That’s not a pejorative term, it’s the name of a class.)
Specifically, an Independent Workers’ Party can be built on a program of people’s economic justice, anti-capitalism, and anti-imperialism. The parts are all there, but at present they are floating around without unity.
What, as someone once said, is to be done? For starters (conditions now are quite different from those that other guy was talking about) we can bring talk about people’s economic justice and see where that leads. A few specific points:
*Universal government administered and funded healthcare, like they have in civilized countries.
* A quality public educational system available to all, through four years of college; end segregation.
* Save the environment, fill in here.
* Shorten the standard working day from 8 hours to 6 with no reduction in the daily wage.
* Etc.
Get this rolling, see what happens, call a convention, etc.
David, you not only ask a question, you answered it, and then you supplied a solution. I like that, and yes America has loss it’s left. Although, as what you remedied we should as a united citizenry gather together and put our foot down. What would help, is if we in this liberating group of frustrated and concerned, were to have a leader. Just thought I’d throw in my two cents worth. Joe
David, correct analysis I think. What we are doing now is essentially analyzing, blaming and are obsessed with the personality and quirks of ROBESPIERRE as the cause of the FRENCH REVOLUTION. As if, if ROBESPIERRE went away the revolution would come to an end. We can see how idiotic this is in hindsight, Robespierre rode the wave of the Revolution, but was hardly its cause or its driver. Until we come to grips with the issues you cite, the TRUMP MOVEMENT will not go away, but probably metastasize if he were impeached.
We are not “rallying behind” anyone. We are being led by the nose by the most massive and deceitful propaganda campaign I’ve seen in my lifetime.
Glad you noticed this, because so many haven’t.
Bannon’s philosophical foundation Primal Traditionalist demands negating globalism.
Joe Tedesky: I doubt many people will remember the CAINE MUTINITY, but your post pretty much describes that. CAPTAIN QUEEGE was marginally incompetent, but instead of helping overcome his handicaps, they AMPLIFIED it and created a TRUE CRISIS.
Here is the closing scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jw6gwGawbXA
If Clinton or McCain were president, we would be exactly where we are on the cusp of nuclear war, because the same Deep State stands behind every president and every war – but Clinton and McCain would be cheering. I don’t think Trump, for all his myriad faults, wants a nuclear war.
trump wears his opinions on his sleeve.
almost all other politicians pretend to be someone they are not and are, in fact, probably more twisted and egotistical than trump behind the scenes. why do so many writers get their collective panties in a wad that a non politician acts like a non politician?
policies aside, i welcome non pc speech by any politician and i have always expected that if we were to ever see a politician speak his mind, that politician would go far.
imagine, if you will, the things a john mccain or a hillary clinton actually say behind closed doors?
I’ve always believed that a Labrador Retriever would be a better president than Donald.
A Lab may pee on a bed, like Donald
A Lab may eat two scoops of ice cream when other gets only one, like Donald
A Lab may breed with his own daughter, like Donald
A Lab may deny its wrongdoings, like Donald
But at least a Lab can tell what wrong and right, and is smart enough to stay away from the worst kind of people
A Labrador has a better hairdo.