It’s easy to understand why some of President Trump’s senior advisers privately consider him a “moron,” with a limited vocabulary and stunning lack of normal human empathy, as William Blum explains at Anti-Empire Report.
By William Blum
Capturing the wisdom and the beauty of Donald J. Trump in just one statement escaping from his charming mouth: “Our military has never been stronger. Each day, new equipment is delivered; new and beautiful equipment, the best in the world – the best anywhere in the world, by far.” [Washington Post, Sept. 8, 2017]
President Donald Trump speaking to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 19, 2017. (Screenshot from Whitehouse.gov)
Here the man thinks that everyone will be impressed that the American military has never been stronger. And that those who, for some unimaginable reason, are not impressed with that will at least be impressed that military equipment is being added EACH DAY. Ah yes, it’s long been a sore point with most Americans that new military equipment was being added only once a week.
And if that isn’t impressive enough, then surely the fact that the equipment is NEW will win people over. Indeed, the newness is important enough to mention twice. After all, no one likes USED military equipment. And if newness doesn’t win everyone’s heart, then BEAUTIFUL will definitely do it. Who likes UGLY military equipment? Even the people we slaughter all over the world insist upon good-looking guns and bombs.
And the best in the world. Of course. That’s what makes us all proud to be Americans. And what makes the rest of humanity just aching with jealousy. And in case you don’t fully appreciate that, notice that he adds that it’s the best ANYWHERE in the world.
And in case you still don’t fully appreciate that, notice that he specifies that our equipment is the best in the world BY FAR! That means that no other country is even close! Just imagine! Makes me choke up.
Lucky for the man … his seeming incapacity for moral or intellectual embarrassment. He’s twice blessed. His fans like the idea that their president is no smarter than they are. This may well serve to get the man re-elected, as it did with George W. Bush.
William Blum is an author, historian, and renowned critic of U.S. foreign policy. He is the author of Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II and Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower, among others. [This article originally appeared at the Anti-Empire Report, https://williamblum.org/ .]
ALL U.S> presidents bow to the Military-Industrial Complex. WAR is a BIPARTISAN endeavor (along with service to Corporations–esp. those MAKING WEAPONS—Big Banks, Big Pharma & Wall Street). The only difference between Trump & previous presidents (including Obama) is that Trump has no capacity to disemble–he just blurts out whatever comes into his narrow & limited mind.
If democracy is to choose between Hilary or Trump than it’s perhaps better to have no other choice than to vote for Putin.
At least one of the US weapons has never been described as “beautiful”. In fact, it has a nickname of BUFF, an acronym standing for Big Ugly Fat (Fellow).
There is an odd story out that Trump & Company are planning to put the nuclear bombers on the full alert as in the worst of the Cold War.
EXCLUSIVE: US Preparing to Put Nuclear Bombers Back on 24-Hour Alert
So far as I’m concerned this has nothing to do with the silly claims being made at the link, and something else going on. Psychological pressure on US citizens? Perhaps they’re trying to get everybody in a panic mode for some scheme they’ve concocted.
Your guess is as good as mine.
h**p://www.defenseone.com/threats/2017/10/exclusive-us-preparing-put-nuclear-bombers-back-24-hour-alert/141957/
Zach, yes, I think you’re right. Really, shouldn’t they always be operating as though they should be able to do what their supposed to be able to do? Whether it’s a drill to moving logistics or to check on whether nukes systems are properly manned and functional, it’s but an audit.
It’s got more with containing the citizens than any outside “threat.” Maybe they’re trying to get anti-war folks to pull off some stint such that they can then revoke more rights? I’d consider this the more likely thing they’re looking for.
The financial bomb is still out there, And like a chicken, it’s going to come home to roost, eventually, and when it does there’s going to be real chaos. Having “the people” consented to constraints on themselves, of course in the name of protecting our freedoms, is the way in which to pre-program folks to accept this fate of enhanced control.
You’re right with your criticism, of course. But remember that what Obama said is not much better, as Media Lens reported:
http://medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2016/811-obama-the-art-of-ruin.html
Voting in the United States is a charade. Two or 3 weeks before the next “election” MSM outlets will babble and mumble jumble about “voter suppression” and ignore incredulous election results. Corporate media will put on a show for the world and the hundreds of precincts throughout America will dismiss the obvious lying, cheating and unbelievable results of another “Black Box” election.
Fundamentally, the American citizenry is powerless without democracy. The federal government is presently waging war against the citizens of this nation. Constitutional Law and Bill of Rights has become arcane. From a political perspective the republic no longer exists. There are no “branches” of government to “check” each other just a blatant conspiracy against “We the People…”.
Which federal gov’t
are you speaking of?
Which “Federal Gov’t”
is Waging War”???
That being formed by right wing autocracy?
Where Trump Leads, there you’ll follow.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/80318/10-bang-zoom-facts-about-honeymooners
begin to choose, if you will… .
https://qz.com/702497/the-famous-poem-by-an-anti-nazi-pastor-rewritten-for-donald-trumps-america/
So,I have this to say to those of you,
Bamboozled former Trump supporters –
Those of you that accused the “deep-state” of
Insidious influence over Trump’s decisions,
I say to you, what de we have here Now?
Capitulation via comments of recognition
That the “Commander-in-Chief is a thief in
Amorphous charade,a charlatan/a pretender?
When will you/we wash our hands of him
With his ignorantly Backward delegation of
World Affairs or States on Fire/or Floods?
What’s the collective cause of our Blindness?
I would like to see Consortium News please dig into the Bana Alabed stay as this little girl is now being exploited in the US for nefarious geopolitical purposes. https://clarityofsignal.com/2017/10/19/metoo-a-course-in-deductive-reasoning-separating-fact-from-fiction-through-the-child-exploitation-of-8-year-old-bana-alabed/
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (1893-1986) American biochemist, Nobel Prize 1937:
“You have only to wish it and you can have a world without hunger, disease, cancer and toil – anything you wish, wish anything and it can be done. Or else we can exterminate ourselves … at present we are on the road to extermination.”
“Man is a very strange animal. In much of the world half the children go hungry and we spend a trillion on rubbish – steel, iron, tanks. We are all criminals. There is an old Hungarian poem, If you are among brigands (bandits) and you are silent, you are a brigand yourself.”
“It is sad that man is not intelligent enough to solve problems without killing … The present world crisis can be solved only by a general human revolution against outdated concepts … Man is not a blood-thirsty animal, and war is only due to the greed and lust for power of relatively small groups, the conspiracy of the few against the many.”
Sounds all nice and fuzzy until you realize that we live on a finite planet, that at some point the sheer number of humans won’t allow everyone to have full stomachs, no disease, no cancer or to work(?).
People kill over resources. No mystery. Animals do the same things. And humans are animals, we are of nature. Our greatest trick was in fooling ourselves that we are not (at the expense therein of treating the earth like a disposable thing). But “God” will come down and whisk the “true believers” away; or, technology will send us off to some fresh planet to start the the whole thing over again. Escapism. Look around. We’ve “achieved” it (but we didn’t really go anywhere, and the planet is going to swat us like flies).
Stay at home mom Kelly Richards from New York after resigning from her full time job managed to average from $6000-$8000 a month from freelancing at home… This is how she done it
……. 222
???USA~JOB-START
This seems to be the right place to pitch that shit- a lot of proudly ignorant Stein voters here.
111
Trump is America’s Maitre d’ in Chief. He serves you only the finest and freshest cuts of beef along with beautiful WMDs. He will graciously recommend a superb wine pairing to go with your deluxe Abrams Tank. When you are paying top dollar, you expect the best and deserve service with a smile. Trump is bringing his world famous brand of hospitality to the largest single equipment line item in the U.S, budget. With a wave of his very large hands, he has made us feel like pampered guests at one of his gorgeous properties. Before Trump, I could have cared less about the next delivery of land mines landing on the loading dock with a thud. Now, I can’t wait to go First Class.
You are right RenoDino, and I’ve seen where our President Orange serves Chocolate Cake to Chinese people. I’m Italian would he serve me pizza? Oh well as I digress RenoDino at least we both know that if Trump Foods opens up more chains across the globe, well at least you wrote the menus for it. Good luck. Joe
“upset the entire apple cart” in Washington.Seer October 21, 2017 at 11:42 pm. But how to straighten out USA.?
consensus is required to bring about change; but to get consensus, one needs a platform?
Damning is the obvious lack of a bottom up, popularly supported, platform declaration (Republican=Democrat good guy/bad guy platforms do not well serve Americans; but such good guy/bad guy platforms do what they are supposed to do: promote Rule by Divide and Conquer (D&C) strategies”. For centuries the D&C rule has allowed the wealthy to super educate and super advantage-support their young in ways that position their siblings to always be among those chosen to rule.
Masses of people divided by conflict of opinion, purpose or goal c/n assert effective authority (see saw effect of D&C). ————- What the so called founders did was —–to draft a proposed new government, they —–completely ignored the then sitting Articles of Confederation (AoC) Government that had defeated the British in 1778. ——- The Founders invented ratification as a means to force their proposed new constitutional government into power —-the effect of ratification {..ratification shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this constitution..”Art. VII COUS} then the founders lobbied legislators at the states, to ratify their new constitution and the government (USA) it would authorize, and presto; ratification: transformed America’s hard earned majority rule states rights heavy democracy into a rich man’s one central group rules all republic <gee whiz, is it that easy?
In order to prevent opposition to ratification, the founders also refused to allow old government (AoC) operations to be funded, rendering the old AoC government DOA; ratification came about for lack of alternative, the wealthy founders and their constitutional supporters managed to shut down the AoC and to successfully lobby state politicians ( Surely none of those politicians took bribes, or personally profited by giving up everyone's freedom and by decimating democracy). Essential it is imperative to change that a central platform be adopted.
What policy should Americans follow to achieve a government beneficial to Americans?
Consensus in America is the problem, no platform is the reason, but if change were within reach, what would the post-change USA look like? Maybe that is the way to develop the platform?
The constitution is broken down into a relatively few parts:
Art 1 Legislative
Art. 2 Executive
Art 3. Judicial
Art. IV between state issues
V. Amendment procedures and persons allowed to propose or vote on amendments
VI. National debt +contract clause that saved founders title to their land grant obtained estates and which prevented those estates to be divided into parcels and publicly distributed, equally to all then living Americans
Art VII. <ratification {..s\b sufficient for the Establishment of this constitution.."Art. VII COUS
Art XXX Amendments..
Hey elmerfudzie, reading what you wrote here gave me a strange sense of irony. What if the U.S. were to invade the U.S. verse a revolution, and do as the U.S. always does upon entering another invaded sovereign nation and put the ‘local thugs’ in charge of the new American installed government? And then it all goes downhill from there, except for the few corrupt ones who only get richer by the day, or assassinated by night. Joe
Sorry fudmier I called you elmerfudzie. Although calling you elmerfudzie is a compliment. Joe
It used to be and in many places still is hereditary or ruthless egomanial imbeciles running, capturing and ruining theirs or someone others domains, now we have to put up with the “s-elected” ones. It is a miracle to see how some background operators manage their business. Celestial representatives, money trafficing institution owners, delusional military heros and public opinion doctors and last but not least education manipulators. That is all that is needed to keep this “STUPIDITY” going; to quote Stephen Hawking https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/oct/19/stephen-hawking-ai-best-or-worst-thing-for-humanity-cambridge
Looking at the world, i.e. the USA from Peoria Ill. just does not do it anymore. I suggest to install the UN HQ on the moon in the hope to give the s-elected ones a better perspective of what this ball of minerals, gases and bacteria is all about.
He should get his honorable bones and lipids, golf clubs and gilded furniture moved to our closest heavenly body, he may also invite his fellows from Russia, China, Germany, India, England etc. to join, let’s not forget the media representatives.
But it looks like Peoria or Tolyatti are still the rulers to measure everything and therefore we are continuing going up the shitty creek whilst our leaders are still seriously busy looking for the most beautiful equipment anywhere and by fare.
The best way to get Trump to the moon to build a UN HQ, is to tell him he can erect a ‘Trump Tower’ right next to it.
My concern about all the money spent on a global attack force, is how well are our defenses on the home front? The other thing is, will all of this armament work, and are the logistics sufficient enough to handle the load?
Yeah, we’re just kickin’ ass with “new and beautiful equipment, the best in the world – the best anywhere in the world, by far.” Meanwhile, U.S. health care is a mess and infrastructure is right up there with the best in the Thirld World. USA! USA! USA!
Hey Joe, yes the U.S. has some of the greatest equipment money can buy, but does it, or better put when the day comes (God forbid) will it all work?
What does dear William Blum mean with Trump having little empathy? Did ANY other US-president have more empathy when they slaughtered millions of people all over the world? Did Obama have empathy sending thousands of drones to kill children, women and old people in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia? Did Obama with greater vocabulary help him to have more empathy? Had Bush a less limited vocabulary an more empathy? Monsters can be very smart and intelligent. So William should think once more. He surely will find some better arguments.
So Trump is not so bad, because other Presidents were also bad? What a stupid argument. What are you trying to prove?
No, the stupidity is the hypocrisy we hear every day now from the people who killed hundreds of thousands of people in the last 8 years without ever criticizing that, while now jumping Trumps throat for, in comparison, irrelevant crap.
Thank you for speaking truth.
Which is it?
1) We are upset with Trump. Attacking him for Militarism is a good way to express that.
2) We are upset with Militarism. Trump must be resisted as we resist all Militarism.
I see too much of the former (as in one response to you,) which ends up excusing Militarism when done by ‘our team.’
Don’t be fooled, folks, the horrors we ought to rightly condemn being done by Trump were done by Obama and will be done by the next establishment Democrat who gets in the Oval Office. So resisting Trump’s Militarism is empty if we don’t expand it to resisting all Militarism.
If one keeps digging up skeletons then we’re spending too much time in the graveyard. TODAY is the issue at hand. Comparison of live vs death IS the issue. Further, I don’t know who “we” is: I don’t recall having to take any oath to uphold some group-think in order to post on this site.
It’s not about digging up skeletons. It’s about realizing the problem isn’t just Trump, but, as you point out, the system. The problem is that a focus only on Trump means that ‘we’ will dismiss the Imperialism when the next Democrat wins and does the same stuff with urbane rhetoric.
The ‘we’ are all of us who upset with Trump’s militarism. But, as I said, why are we upset?
You don’t have to take an oath. I think we’re probably more simpatico, though, that our reactions to each other’s posts might seem. But even if we didn’t agree on all this I’d still support your right to post here and my right to post my thoughts in response. :)
Thanks for the interchange.
OK, gotcha!
The “problem” I’ve noted. Unless people really understand it there an absolute zero possibility of rectification (well, there’s a cosmic chance, but it’s not the kind of odds I’d wager on).
EVERY empire collapses. That is what is happening. ZERO to do about that because empire’s base premise is growth.
When I refer to the “System” it’s more along the lines of its predication on growth, not political and such (though, everything is political).
What is occurring now is that the basic economic system is no longer able to deliver growth. Everything is tied to this economic system. NO ONE bothered to ask what would happen when growth was no longer possible. Reason no one asked is because we’d have then run into the fact that it’s a totally flawed idea.
Derrick Jensen put it well when he said that the aim of those in power was to blast the premise by you such that you fail to question it. Once it’s kind of there then everything else can be made to look like it’s possible/supportable. So, anyone looking for a “solution” ought to stop and question the premise of a system based on perpetual growth (on a finite planet).
Comparisons of Trump with previous presidents make your remarks valid ones. Regarding your last point, I doubt if Mr. Blum is making an “argument”, but instead is merely letting off some steam in his extremely brief piece.
I understand the impulse.
Yes, I do believe he’s saying that if you don’t like what you’re seeing in Trump then take a good look in the mirror.
Right you are.
But the so-called intelligence of some (most) previous presidents fooled people into believing that they had empathy. It was their studied language, (Harvard language…) full of patriotic cliches, that fooled people with a limited vocabulary. The present president does not have those skills and is perceived as a fool, not having empathy, as if that were a requirement.
A good vocabulary gives a president a better chance of getting his killing schemes accepted.
Just discovered this site , Love it! , hilarious article, will definitely stick around
He will be re -elected. Has no opposition full obvious in your face coup by the pentagon and the neo-cons and liberal interventionist having taken over all aspects of foreign and domestic policy . The only thing that will not guarantee as second term is his death or retirement . All systems go for the empire of Chaos . Pax -American on it’s last legs. Dangerous times for the Washington consensus mob know that their paradigm is dying hence they r acting like rabid dogs. Meanwhile our infrastructure is crumbling and we the sheeple r getting more economically desperate.But hell the Stockmarket is rising so all is well with the post modern Gilded age. Lets keep kicking that can down the road. Like the seventies song WE ARE ON THE ROAD TO KNOW WHERE.
I’m not so certain that the Pentagon is full-in. There’s plenty of studies out there that the Pentagon has commissioned (or has been involved with) that point out the realities of the world. Trumps rhetoric has no real connection to reality. As much as I dislike the Pentagon I have to say that they’re not crazy or stupid, and that they’re quite aware that a loose cannon like Trump can upset the entire apple cart. It is for this reason why I expect there to be a military coup before things get really stupid. I’m pretty certain that behind the scenes, out of sight from the Donald, folks are working on a plan; the trick is how to have some sort of transition, and whether the likes of a person such as Pence would get shoved into the POTUS seat (I’m thinking they see problems with this, and this is why Pence hasn’t been dropped into the POTUS chair by now).
Seer,…I tend to agree with your assessment, but meanwhile they might use the loose cannon to perpetrate one of their riskier schemes, then use him as a scapegoat when it goes awry.
Sadly, yes. I have little other than hope (and just typing the word [hope] is an energy expenditure wasted) that someone that has any ability to influence things in a less insane manner can do so.
Who knows what Trump’s connections are to Russia , Israel, the mafia, …. the point is, we are stuck with this guy for a few more years..
So what do we do? Vote/ write petitions/ call our congress/(Never happening because they do not allow phone calls), demonstrate, put a bumper sticker on a car, I do not know anymore. Anyone of you very smart people here on CN have better or more effective ideas ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysistrata
When women realize that it’s not OK to send their sons and daughters off to war then that’s the time that the cycle becomes broken. NOTE: Actual defense of one’s home lands is totally different (as long as it’s actually ON/WITHIN one’s home lands).
The connection is there. It’s why the religious fanatics always base their powers on the suppression of women. The native “American Indians” had the correct view with regards to decision-making:
http://www.powwows.com/matrilineal-societies-women-with-power-and-respect/
Clearly, however, this does not mean that just because a person is a woman that she should be accepted in a high level of decision-making. I give Madeline Albright, Condolezza(sp?) Rice and Hillary Clinton as examples: one could go outside of the US and find others. I’m NOT picking on women (view all that I have said above), only those who seek to mimic the existing power-hungry men (who constitute the overwhelming majority of the world’s decision-makers) that are killing humanity.
My comment is awaiting moderation because I’ve got some links in it. I’ll repost w/o links, though I strongly suggest checking out the links (when available). I wanted to get across some of what I’d said in that pending post while there were still eyes on this article and its comments. So, here it is:
When women realize that it’s not OK to send their sons and daughters off to war then that’s the time that the cycle becomes broken. NOTE: Actual defense of one’s home lands is totally different (as long as it’s actually ON/WITHIN one’s home lands).
The connection is there. It’s why the religious fanatics always base their powers on the suppression of women. The native “American Indians” had the correct view with regards to decision-making:
/
Clearly, however, this does not mean that just because a person is a woman that she should be accepted in a high level of decision-making. I give Madeline Albright, Condolezza(sp?) Rice and Hillary Clinton as examples: one could go outside of the US and find others. I’m NOT picking on women (view all that I have said above), only those who seek to mimic the existing power-hungry men (who constitute the overwhelming majority of the world’s decision-makers) that are killing humanity.
Mr. Andrew October 21, 2017 at 2:36 pm we need to be concerned about how to convert the USA into an American government;. Actually, John Neal Spangler October 21, 2017 at 3:00 pm }the military belongs to the USA, whether or not it is powerful , it does not belong to, nor is it controlled by, Americans.
War, corrupt intelligence, weaponed reserve currency, bureaucratic sanctions are divide and conquer (D&C) tools used to maintain {Mr. Seer’s turmoil, October 21, 2017 at 4:29 pm) because Turmoil allows to steal the oil. Mr. Welsh the USA maintains a military for budget expansion purposes, but the USA military is protected by a very high priced private mercenary army. Politics in America is allowed to but 527 salaried professional politicians each of whom have been elected to the USA .. all others are American wimps. I wish Trump were an idiot {mike k October 21, 2017 at 3:46 pm } or a moron [Stevie Lee October 21, 2017 at 4:48 pm] unfortunately Trump is a puppet of the commander of the USA Middle East military base known as “Israel”..
America’s ability to conduct covert wars, like with its laser, sound and radar satellites, the Boeing X-37Bs, HAARP. and special attack subs are nothing to sneer at.
I’m not too sure Trump is a moron but he seems to fit Ambrose Bierce’s definition of an idiot:
Idiot, n. A member of a large and powerful tribe whose influence in human affairs has always been dominant and controlling.(Devil’s Dictionary)
I can’t argue with Blum’s point of describing Trump as a “moron with a limited vocabulary, be he ain’t the only prominent person of late to use the word “beautiful” when describing weapons of the US military’s war machine.
Brian Williams said pretty much the same thing when describing Trump’s Tomahawk missile adventures in Syria earlier this year:
“We see these beautiful pictures at night from the decks of these two UN Navy vessels in the eastern Mediterranean,” Williams told his viewers on “The 11th Hour.”
“I am tempted to quote the great Leonard Cohen: ‘I am guided by the beauty of our weapons,’” he added. “They are beautiful pictures of fearsome armaments making what is for them what is a brief flight over to this airfield.”
Seems he and Trump see the sight of big, hard, fully loaded missiles in the same “beautiful” way..
Well, yes, BUT… Brian Williams doesn’t have his had on “THE BUTTON,” nor was he elected by “the people.”
Expect there to be a military coup in the US. At some point the generals can no longer ignore history, they will no longer be able to be able to command their troops in the name of a madman (and against the supreme laws of the land, laws that all have sworn to protect).
You don’t think Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Corey Booker, and Kamala Harris don’t think our weapons are beautiful and wouldn’t exult in making the military bigger?
I’m sick of people only being disgusted with Trump having the same view as every fucking political leader of my lifetime but that he expresses himself in a blunt, 7th grade language, bully type way instead of a sophisticated, urbane, Ivy League way.
They all are a group of sociopaths who think our bombs being dropped on our ‘enemies’ is beautiful.
How many people upset with Trump for saying this were upset a year ago for Obama bombing and killing so many?
Why does this bother me? Because this resistance is shallow. If a Democrat is elected in 2020 and keeps up all this or even expands it, will those upset now raise even a voice or be busy posting about how much nicer it is having a ‘sane’ Democrat in office?
Do I sound angry? I am. I’m angry at 70 years of this military imperialism and people thinking that Trump is the problem instead of just another symptom of it.
How about being angry at all the Democrats in Congress who took a few moments away from shouting about resisting Trump to vote him $25 billion more than he asked in increasing the military? How else can he brag about all his new beautiful weapons? Any blood on hands for those killed by these weapons will not just be on Trump’s hands but on every fucking Democrat who gave him those weapons and earlier voted to continue his authorization to use military force where ever and however he chooses.
Not sure what made you decide to jump all angry on my post. But…
I’m not a Party person: I’ve been attacked by all others, nothing new to me.
I’ve spent plenty of time bashing Democrats (I actually tried working with them at one point, a total waste of my time).
You see, as I’ve stated MANY times here in this forum (and have for YEARS elsewhere on the Internet- you can likely find many of my posts under the same screen name), it’s not the people, it’s not the Party, it’s the System. The System’s fundamental premise -perpetual growth (on a finite planet)- is false. You cannot build a sturdy building upon the loose sands of the beach. Changing materials, changing designs, none will rectify the fundamental problem. Further, and I strongly encourage people to read it (before really trying to engage me, engage what I say), Sir John Glubb’s Fate of Empires and Search for Survival (bootlegged copies exist out on the Internet); and, understand what the exponential function is and its application to humans (Dr. Albert Bartlett’s lectures are all that’s needed here).
I’m not angry at you, Seer. I’m angry at the system you also oppose.
But it was your pointing out that Trump has his finger on the button that prompted my expressing that anger. Too many folk seem to think it is worse having Trump have his finger on that button than if Hillary had it on it. You don’t seem to think that, but too many saying what you said do.
Replying to Miranda below… (above?)
If you look at the post I was responding to it was comparing Brian William’s position and Donald Trump’s position. I did not invoke any other person or presidents.
I have equal disrespect for all POTUSes. I’ve been on the front lines of the anti-war battle and I can tell you this, far away the most vociferous pro-war folks were, without a doubt, the right-wing types, the types that have flocked to Trump. Yes, the “left” does the same discretely while the “right” does it openly and aggressively. Sadly, and I think you noted it elsewhere (or somewhere here) that the “left” was silent during Obama’s tenure. Absolutely correct! It’s really hard to fight back against something that isn’t there! The right-wingers were out in the streets in opposition. The left-wingers were off the streets, nowhere to be found. I’f been pushed by supposed “left-wingers,” ridiculed. My strategies were ignored. Anti-war candidates that I supported got snuffed. We are on an unchangeable course, straight over the cliff and on to the heap of history’s other failed empires. Propping up this empire, “hoping” to fix/cue it is a fools errand. It’s the nature of empires to collapse: nothing, absolutely nothing to do with what kind of government, ideology or leaders, they ALL have, and will, collapse (because the System is one of perpetual growth).
“Replying to Miranda below… (above?)
“If you look at the post I was responding to it was comparing Brian William’s position and Donald Trump’s position. I did not invoke any other person or presidents.”
I see now. But then I was just activated. I apologize for posting that in response to your post. Sorry.
As far as the rest of your post, it is clear we are Simpatico.
The difference is that Trump is quite inane in his praise of beautiful weapons, even if not entirely original. And this is rather mild example of his “Compleat Idiot Guide to Policy” (he does not make more sense on domestic matters after all). When POTUS and his cohorts are smooth and eloquent, our allies have much easier time following stupid American policies. Trump makes it harder, and who knows, there may be some rebellion. However, masochistic and submissive instincts of European and other “Western” elites may prevail.
The beauty of war is indoctrinated into Americans also through the National Anthem: ” . . . and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air . . .” Does any other country have an anthem where rockets and bombs are held in such awe?
Lee Anderson: “The beauty of war is indoctrinated into Americans”
My point exactly. The current moron in chief is just further reinforcing this hyper-nationalistic indoctrination.
A violent people born in America the “beautiful” weapons country.
I recall that in “Trump’s Tomahawk missile adventures in Syria”, some were off-target and most did not work at all. There is no evidence that U.S. defense “shields” will work.
Last September during the 4 day civil defense drills in Russia, 40 million citizens, (30% of the population), went to their assigned bomb shelters to locate them, review and practice procedures with the 200,000 emergency professionals. Where is your bomb shelter? How is your government preparing you?
Pouring more money into weapons makers is neither defense nor preparation.
As much as I suspect the accuracy of US weaponry, in the case of that adventure I believe that it was never intended to actually do much damage as it was just to send a signal (to Syria as well as to get the neocons/warmongers off of Trump’s back). Regardless, it was what it was, a statement on our very sad state of affairs.
I have often quoted the following passage by H.L. Mencken, but this seems the best possible opportunity.
“The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.
“The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron”.
– H. L. Mencken (Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920)
If only we could summons up the likes of Mencken, Paine, Twain and MLK.
here’s another mencken quip:
‘democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.’
Tom Welsh:
Words to this effect are supposed to have been exchanged between an admirer and Adlai Stevenson during his campaign for the presidency:
“Oh, Mr. Stevenson!” a young woman gushed after hearing his stump speech. “I think every thinking person in the country will vote for you!”
“Well, thank you,” he replied, “but you do realize . . . I need a majority.”
That sounds like the factual(?) exchange between Churchill and some woman in which Churchill acknowledged that he was drunk but that in the morning he’d be sober, whereas in the morning the woman would still be ugly. OUCH! (not presented in any sexist way, just brought it up because it is another example of some extreme wit).
I think if this country’s newspapers were run by folks with the mind of Mark Twain that life would be many time improved. (BTW – here’s an excellent Twain piece: https://americanliterature.com/author/mark-twain/short-story/how-i-edited-an-agricultural-paper one of the funniest bits I’ve ever read!)
Exactly. Trump is a dangerous idiot. It says a lot about the real level of intelligence in the USA that a huge number of my fellow citizens voted for him to be our President. Ameruca the stupid. That some think him to be a hidden genius only confirms my understanding of what a disaster he and his supporters are. People will go to great lengths to avoid seeing how dumb this guy is.
Sadly, the options were either this idiot or a mass murderer.
False. Jill Stein was on 95% of the ballots. Gary Johnson was on 100% of the ballots. 95% of the voters chose between the other two who were also on 100% of the ballots, with a majority of those 95% actually choosing the war criminal. This of course is if the voting process itself wasn’t completely falsified. I opted for Stein when I couldn’t have Bernie in the primaries. D & R are finished, they just don’t know it yet. The oligarchs are breaking ranks though (Nick Hanauer is a symptom of this). They know a gigantic stock market crash is coming, worse than 2008, and the Empire Game will be untenable. The London/Wall Street Imperium will be over. The biggest threat then will be a war to prevent anyone else (Russia-China) from “taking the throne” while the Synarchists retreat into a new Dark Age for a few centuries to,recuperate and return to power (this has been their M.O. for many centuries). At least Trump wants friendly cooperative relations with Russia and China, where Clinton would be onboard with her Establishment/Deep State buddies for a WWIII ride into,a new Dark Age. Trump must dance with the Deep State a little. It matters not that he is a moron. He is an unwitting instrument in the “Hands” of a higher power. What must be accomplished is too big for mere mortals to pull off. I know faith is in short supply in our modern age of defacto atheism/materialism. It does not matter. Your belief is not required.
Jill Stein would have made the lunatic country of hypocrisy complete. Johnson didnt even know what Aleppo is.
They were no choice at all.
Not knowing where Allepo was is the best answer he could have given. It meant he wasn’t sticking his nose into another countries business!
He didnt say “where is Aleppo”, he said “what is Aleppo”.
Such huge gaps in knowledge, even though that was shown every day in the news at that time, showed how incompetent and ignorant he really is.
But nice try at defending him. Only made you look like him.
“I opted for Stein…” = ‘I voted for Trump’.
You get 2 viable choices in a US presidential election. You vote for a third party candidate, you essentially give your vote to the eventual winner.
Remarkable that in 2017 people are too dim to understand this simple concept.
You know Bob I have been ashamed to come out and admit this, as I too was going to vote for Jill Stein, or at least I thought I was. What happened here in my neighborhood with a couple of Trump supporters who were racist made me think like what you just wrote, and I didn’t want to embolden the Trumpster anymore than it looked like he had been already became supported by a bunch of these crude racist (I apologize Trump supporters who aren’t racist) and with that on my mind I hate to say it, and yes I voted for the other of the lessor of the two evils….I am a hypocrite for going against my own principles, but now I’m regretting ever voting for the witch because I let myself down greatly….in a big way I’m jumping for joy she did lose, although scenes like Charlottesville in another way make me feel somewhat better, because I don’t think madam secretary would have seen that many, many who weren’t bad…I hate this system we got where neither candidate is of any good, but hey let’s all keep the other candidate out, especially those third rail candidate spoilers, as is the methodology we all adhere too, so we get what we get. Take care Bob. Joe
BobS-
When you vote for evil, you get evil. It is remarkable that you are too dim to understand this simple concept.
it is this kind of thinking that keeps the 2 party system in power
You vote for a third party candidate, you essentially give your vote to the eventual winner.
if everybody that thinks like that would have voted for jill stein
together with those that voted for hillary because they hated trump
and those that voted for trump because they hated hillary
jill stein woud the presdent of the US
Remarkable that in 2017 people are too dim to understand this simple concept.
I will no longer vote for the lesser evil.
So I didn’t vote for Trump, who definitely is evil.
But Clinton was the greater evil because if she was president we’d already be at war with Russia and that is always the greater evil.
The idea that we must choose between the two sides of the same establishment insures that change will never come and the system of oppression and imperialism will remain.
I call crap on the idea that we must vote for the lesser evil and I call greater crap that Clinton was the lesser evil.
But I won’t vote for Stein in 2020, not after the shenanigans she did after the election to get Clinton a win. I’ll vote Socialist. If I’m going to build a party, I’ll build the party that continues Eugene V. Debs legacy.
https://www.socialistpartyusa.net/
Not necessarily in response to BobS (I’m just looking to jump in on this track.)
Don’t look at me, I don’t vote! You see, it’s not the folks running, it’s the System. The System does not allow the mechanism for sufficient change. Further, HISTORY is pretty clear on the common person’s success in any revolutionary change: let’s face it, ONLY a revolution can truly change things (people know this, that’s why various politicians use that word, it’s because they’re playing on people’s awareness). The System is no “friend,” it is becoming the “foe.” (as pertains to the common man)
The media and the DNC/RNC have the entire election system cornered. Johnson was humiliated. Sad thing is is that probably 90% of Trump supporters (70% Clinton supporters?) wouldn’t have been able to tell you what Allepo was/is.
The fundamental structure of our civilization rests upon the need for perpetual growth. On a finite planet this is a complete fail. Anyone touting a changing of the distribution mechanism for goods and services, e.g. “socialism,” is also a BIG FAIL IF the underlying premise is based on growth.
“Do people demand a really just system? Well, we’ll arrange it so that they’ll be satisfied with one that’s a little less unjust … They want a revolution, and we’ll give them reforms — lots of reforms; we’ll drown them in reforms. Or rather, we’ll drown them in promises of reforms, because we’ll never give them real ones either!!” — Dario Fo, Accidental Death of an Anarchist
The last and final solution for my betrayal to myself, is to not allow my emotions to get the best of me when I vote, if I do vote again. In fact, with the system we have it would be fantastic if the voting tally was to be so low that no international recognition could be validated. (Ref; Batista Cuba, and the fall of South Africa) There’s the campaign to have during this lessor of the two evils system as it rolls on, just campaign to encourage voters not too vote.
What happened here in my neighborhood, was just plain ignorant on so many levels it’s hard to wrap my head around it even today, as I look back. The day before the election my one daughter called me with a story about two friends of hers, who live nearby. These woman are two white moms raising two adopted black children, a girl and boy, the boy is five the little girl is four. I saw a picture of the family, and yes these lovely human beings, big and small, make a beautiful portrait of a happy well adjusted family. So this lovely little family is in the front of their well kept modest home in the suburbs when all of a sudden a car pulls up in front of their house, and out jumps a Trump supporter, and the mom’s knew this due to the Trump supporters car having so many Trump stickers on it, and out of the car jumps an irate older fellow who starts yelling out some pretty darn crude things. This lousy bastard called these precious little kids names using animal references, and he further yelled out obscenities to the two married mom’s using the worst of the worst remarks to state his feelings about these mom’s sexual orientation.
Earlier before that my neighbor of twenty two years chased me off his property calling me a N word lover. He was freaking out at my son having Bernie bumper stickers, and that I have a few black friends. His real meanness showed when he persuaded a wall contractor friend of his, who was going to build a couple of walls for me, to not do my twenty thousand dollar wall renovation. On top of that this racist neighbor somehow got a roofer who I had contacted for an estimate to quote me eighteen thousand dollars, for a small roof project where I found another roofer who ended up fixing the small leaking porch roof problem for one hundred bucks. I saw the first roofers truck pulling out of my neighbors driveway a day after he came to give me an estimate.
So my only excuse I have for ending up pulling the lever for the lying bitch Hillary was I lost my head, and thinking back on how I wanted to make my vote count to keep Trump out, yes I voted for ‘Her’. Never again I tell you, and to all of you who thought you knew me better I apologize if I let any of you down. In away I feel better admitting this to all of you who know me, because the truth will set you free, but sadly I let myself down for not sticking to my guns, and not voting for anyone other than Trump or Hillary.
So if there is a next time, god willing, I will either vote for someone I have my whole well thought out faith in, or I’ll just not vote at all, and if need be never again. Joe
Joe,
Don’t feel like you need to apologize. I may disagree with lesser voting thinking (and that Hillary was the lesser evil,) but it is a strategy that many think is okay.
I only get upset with people who thought Hillary was the greater good, not those who admit they voted for her holding their noses.
Miranda thank you very. very. much. You not only made my day but you help make my year a whole lot better. You have no idea to how disappointed I have been with myself since I voted for ‘you know who’. All I can tell you, is when I saw the picture of this beautiful family, and oh those precious little babies, Miranda I’m not joking they are the cutest, I thought we have to stop this racist Trump. The mom’s it turns out are like school teachers, and the one I think is involved in some kind of church duties. Really impressive couple, and two adopted lovely children. Just for the record I was adopted, so we orphans need to stick together. So with that I allowed my emotions to take over, and I thought how I need to keep racist Trump out of office so as not to embolden the hateful racist who are out there just waiting for a leader to take them to the white promise land.
I have been blessed, because through out my life I have had some great interactions with people of all kinds of different varieties. You know to well how I like to tell stories, but there are so many stories of my living, and working, around such diverse people, that if I were to start writing about my experiences with people’ not like me’, then I would have a really thick book ready be read by those interested.
Miranda, again thanks a lot, you are one kind & thoughtful lady. Joe
I found Dabuya’s recent speech to be eloquent and presidential, which is how low Trump has brought my expectations down.
Trump has been the best thing for Bush’s legacy. Who would ever have thought to use the words “eloquent” and “presidential” to describe any action by Bush? Yet, here we are. There could be no better proof that we’re devolving…
Not after he himself tuned in against Trump. That actually strengthened Trump massively.
Not that it should matter, but I was referring to the affect Trump has on Bush’s legacy (rather than the affect of Bush on Trump or Trump’s supporters).
Thats what I was talking about. Bush is as dishonest as it gets. If he speaks against someone, that someone will instantly be looked at with less criticism and Bush is making a laughing stock of himself (and we all know hes a professional at that).
Andrew:
“I found Dabuya’s recent speech to be eloquent and presidential . . . ” Yeah, I wonder who wrote it for him.
So you just have been fooled by Bush again?
Wow…
So what if he seemed presidential and eloquent to you?
He’s a war criminal and should be in prison.
Who wrote it?
“Elevate those guns a little lower.” ~ Andrew Jackson
There seems to be quite a few unsolvable problems in wonderland, like getting a aircraft carriers to work or F35s.
Ha! It’s only a flesh wound!
Actually our military is not that powerful. Yes it can use its numerous conventional weapons to destroy the military of a small country, but looking at Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the counterinsurgency spectrum is woefully inadequate. A lot of our weapons are overpriced and such high maintenance that the wars just bankrupt us for no meaningful gain, other than the weapons makers and the generals who cash in to work for them. The generals are careerists and incompetents who kill people for no purpose, other than making everyone hate the USA.
Part of the reasons why we struggled in Afgan and Iraq is because we are selling our weapons to these guys. We play too many sides in the name of profit.
Folks missed the point about these wars, and that’s that there was no intention of settling them! It was always about keeping the entire area in turmoil, for only then can there be any reasoning as to why the US military should be there. With turmoil then the people, and certainly not their “leaders” (which have all been decapitated), can not challenge US supremacy.
At any rate, NEVER in human history has an invading army every managed to sustain itself (every single empire in history has collapsed).
“Yes it can use its numerous conventional weapons to destroy the military of a small country…”
… which, however, doesn’t ever achieve any political goals. The armed forces having been destroyed or scattered, the people just go on fighting until the enemy is driven out.
Politics is just war by other means. ALL politics is about establishing the distribution of goods/materials. Wars are always about the control of resources. The US tends to support dictators because dictators have the greatest control over resources. If not buying off dictators then it’s a matter of ousting leaders, creating “terrorists” to be the excuse for permanent encampment (always around resources).
Seer, you’re statements do indeed shed some light., and I do believe that you see.. For example; Intel programs at the CIA were created specifically to identify new markets for U.S. business enterprise(s), bump their competitors from any foothold interfering with Western Occident corporations vying for sovereign state commodities and keep secure, those captured markets, “fortune 500’s” have in foreign countries. During the great world wars, ground breaking industrialization(s), scientific advancements, political and resource consolidations were all brought to the fore, thus became highly accelerated in terms of scale and time. However, during “peacetime” conditions (whatever that means anymore) the power grabs for international commerce assume the shape of political interference, corruption of officialdoms, assassinations, financial manipulation (skewed lending policies), propaganda, stealth and the like. As I get older, it all seems to be such a tiresome mess, so dishonest and needless. As water, energy, food and other important resources “dwindle”, the truly competitive spirit and pioneer types have fallen away. They’ve either been suppressed or have succumbed to the notion of so-called, scarcity, deliberate price manipulation, control instead of creativity, consolidation instead of diversity, a sick conformity in place of trust, trust in the inventive spirit of man. I now recall a scene in the Hollywood movie,Three Days of the Condor, right at the end of the flick, where Cliff Robertson (playing the CIA dude) turns to Robert Redford (portrayed as a rogue elephant) and says; I’m paraphrasing here, when the people (masses) get hungry and the home heating fuel stops, they won’t ask where we got it, they’ll just want us to get it for them…..Redford responds with the comment, “boy have you found a home”
I’m not making any excuses elmerfudzie but won’t you think that the American public’s best defense for ‘plausible deniability’ would be made valid by the people pointing to a propaganda media mill not supplying the misinformed U.S. citizen with the truth on every issue?
This stupidity on the American citizen being at fault, is understandable if people are way over their head managing their busy life’s, or if comprehension of geopolitical matters is one of their biggest weak points. Other than those two categories, I see the biggest problem to any public display of outrage being the blame of a corporate owned mass media (the MSM) who do a great job of keeping the eyes of the average American off of the real game in play.
I wish that all news media be made to be small single missioned entities, and that their business plan would focus solely on providing true and accurate news reporting. I would even encourage all internet news sites describe themselves as such, and not stagger away from reporting the truth. I don’t want laws against freedom of speech, but having news agencies run independent away from diverse investment groups would keep the news media not owing to anyone over them, as news media’s should not have a conflict of interest in their portfolio. I’d really love a commercial free c-span style news channel or three being offered.
Okay, there’s my two cents worth of it, elmerfudzie. Joe
All is see-able when you understand history. Smedley Butler exposed the “racket” of war. ALL wars are about resources. Sir John Glubb’s Collapse of Empire and Search for Civilization (you can find it boot-legged on the Internet) is, if one hasn’t read it, perhaps one of the most eye-opening, profound pieces ever written, as it shows the certain cycles of empire. Take these two and add in Dr. Albert Bartlett’s dissertations on growth and everything is predictable. Note, however, that some would claim that anyone warning of the calamities of growth being a mask for eugenics; fair enough of a concern, but I think that this distracts from exploring the underlying issue (study, THEN look to apply some type of alterations- as Eric Servareid said, “The chief source of problems is solutions.” – w/o properly investigating a “problem” there’s little chance that you’ll properly define what the problem is, and, thus, even a smaller chance you’ll end up with any positive impact). I do NOT propose any “solution” (the very word conveys a sense of permanence, and as long as time ticks by NOTHING is permanent).
Responding to Joe (Hi, Joe!):
“Truth” can be created. While it can be created out of facts it can also be created out of lies. Beware! It is one reason why I only accept Facts. (It will be I who determines what “truth” is, and will only do so for my own consumption, not to pass along/foist on others.)
Not until there is a a full and open accounting of people’s needs and consumptions will there be any real equity. And the problem here is human nature, human hubris and deception will never allow us to be totally transparent. Those enforcing such rules would, as history has well proven, side step their application to themselves as they see fit: All animals are equal. Some are more equal than others – “Alternate facts”….
I curse the gods that I don’t believe in, the gods that others believe in as they violate other human beings’ dignity and rights because they believe that their gods will treat them as being more equal than the others.
Technically, Drumpf is correct. Our military is the best…. for now.
What we need to be concerned is the fast rise of China, decline of America in every imaginable fronts (environments, ethics, education), and our decline in leadership. We are really a third world country with the most powerful military.
The US environment has been getting steadily worse since the colonists spread across the whole continent. Nothing special has happened recently; the effects just got so bad that even Americans have started to notice them. (And we thought nothing mattered to them except money!)
American ethics have never been anything to write home about. A fiarly typical sample is this by L. Frank Baum (author of the “Oz” books”:
“The proud spirit of the original owners of these vast prairies inherited through centuries of fierce and bloody wars for their possession, lingered last in the bosom of Sitting Bull. With his fall the nobility of the Redskin is extinguished, and what few are left are a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them. The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Why not annihilation? Their glory has fled, their spirits broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are. History would forget these later despicable beings, and speak, in later ages of the glory of these grand Kings of forest and plain that Cooper loved to heroism.
“We cannot honestly regret their extermination, but we at least do justice to the manly characteristics possessed, according to their lights and education, by the early Redskins of America.”
As for education, Jefferson hoped to accomplish something, but found it an uphill struggle. Already in the 1910s Albert Jay Nock was lamenting that education was everywhere being replaced by training.
I consider Sitting Bull to be one of the greatest leaders ever to live. Why, because he never forgot from where he came from, and he died with his people.
Hello Andrew, I disagree. We would have our asses handed to us if we faced some of the military in the world on a battlefield. Iran, China and Russia come to mind. Our capabilities decrease each and every day. If our current military was what we had in WWII the Axis Powers would have won. If you mean can we destroy a country with our weapons, including nukes, then yes we are the best!
I agree, but why do you weaken your own country then with irrelevant bully crap like “Drumpf”, which, even if you research it, any German will tell you how stupid that logic behind “Drumpf” really is?
Why do we need to be concerned about the fast rise of China?
Trump is a distraction.
Here’s where the rubber meats the road
Into the Cold and Dark
http://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/into-the-cold-and-dark/
Great article WC. I agree we are being entertained with the Twitter antics of President Orange, all the while B52’s are being fitted with nuclear bombs. God help this world. Joe
I’d suggest you define “best”. Most expensive, yes. Most dispersed, yes. Most wasteful, yes. Most destructive, yes. Most effective, no. Most victorious, no. Beaten by poor folk in pyjamas or turbans using rifles, yes.
Trump should be as proud of “his” military as his steaks.
All I can say is, you can’t eat a Tomahawk Cruise Missile, or survive without clean drinking water.