Neocons are jumping off the Republican ship for Hillary Clinton even though Donald Trump has shifted their way on Israel and military spending. The big reason is his resistance to a new Cold War with Russia, says JP Sottile.
By JP Sottile
Bill Kristol is downright despondent after his failed search for an alternative to Donald Trump. Max Boot is indignant about his “stupid” party’s willingness to ride a bragging bull into a delicate China policy shop. And the leading light of the first family of military interventionism — Robert Kagan — is actually lining up neoconservatives behind the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.
At the same time, the Democrats have become the party of bare-knuckled, full-throated American Exceptionalism. That transformation was announced with a vein-popping zeal by retired general and wannabe motivation screamer John Allen at the Democratic convention in the City of Brotherly Love. During his “speech,” a few plaintive protests of “no more war” were actually drowned-out by Democrats chanting “USA-USA-USA!”
Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona. June 18, 2016. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
This is the same Democratic Party often criticized by Kagan & Co. as the purveyors of timidity, flaccidity and moral perfidy. It’s not that Democrats haven’t dropped bombs, dealt arms and overturned regimes. They have. And they’ve even got the Peace Prize-winning Obama-dropper to prove it. But unlike enthusiastically belligerent Republicans, the Dems are supposed to be the party that does it, but doesn’t really like to do it.
But now, they’ve got Hillary Clinton. And she’s weaponized the State Department. She really likes regime change. And her nominating convention not only embraced the military, but it sanctified the very Gold Star families that neocon-style interventionism creates. It certainly created the pain of the Khan family who lost their son in the illegal war in Iraq. But the Dems didn’t mention that sad fact as they grabbed the flag away from the Republicans.
Truly Neo-confusing.
It kinda feels like reality has slipped off its axis and we’ve landed on a Bizarro World version of America. Democrats are acting like Republicans. Pat Buchanan is championing the GOP’s “Peace Candidate.” And the neocons are fleeing from the party they’ve used like a geopolitical cudgel for the better part of three decades.
At first glance, it all makes sense. Trump captured the GOP nomination in no small part by trashing two of the neocons’ favorite things ever — the Bush family and the Iraq War. He also suggested early on that he’d approach the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza as (gasp!) an honest broker. Trump said he really wanted to “make that deal.” Without irony, one-time neocon wonderboy Marco Rubio remarked that it isn’t a “real estate deal” when, in fact, that’s exactly what it is.
But the ever-pliable Trump quickly got religion on Israel. He did an about-face, marched into AIPAC’s annual confab, and staked out a claim on the reflexively pro-Israel side of the issue. But it wasn’t enough to assuage the angst of the GOP’s forever-circling hawks.
Frankly, nothing seems enough to sway the neocons in Donald’s direction. But it’s not for lack of trying on Trump’s part. Really, he’s checked off many of the boxes that make neocons smile.
Trump wants a “yuuge” military … the biggest and baddest ever! So big, that no one in a million years will ever challenge it. That sure sounds a lot like Reagan’s “peace through strength.” Neocons do love Reagan. And, as if on cue, the Kristol/Kagan-led “Foreign Policy Initiative” just posted a clarion call to spend more bucks to buy bigger bangs for an already gargantuan military. Doesn’t that fit with Donald’s plan to spend defense dollars like a drunken sailor?
Maybe neocons don’t want the military to be so big that no one will ever try anything. Maybe they want a few challenges here and there, just for a little creative destruction to keep the world on its toes. But Trump’s right there with them. He wants to “bomb the shit” out of ISIS. And he even said America has “no choice but to bomb Libya” and “take out” the Islamic State.
C’mon, Neocons … What’s Not to Like?
And how about Trump’s Islamophobia? It sure seems simpatico with the last two decades of neoconservative drum-beating. Trump repeatedly uses the magic words — “Radical Islamic Terrorism.” Can’t you just hear the longing sighs coming out of the American Enterprise Institute?
Prominent neocon intellectual Robert Kagan. (Photo credit: Mariusz Kubik, http://www.mariuszkubik.pl)
He also wants to ban Muslims. Or “just” ban people coming from countries where Muslims have committed terrorism. Who knows? Either way, the message is “Muslims bad.” It even gave neocon bushwacker Frank Gaffney a serious man-crush on The Donald.
To be fair, other less “fringy” neocons like Kristol have repudiated the Muslim ban idea. But, as filmmaker Robbie Martin showed in his just-completed series on the neocons and their “very heavy agenda,” even the most intellectually renowned among them has engaged in the dangerous stereotyping of all Muslims as terrorists.
In fact, Martin featured a frightening clip of two Kagans (Robert’s dad Donald and his brother Fred) making the case that the U.S. military should clean out the Occupied Territories in the aftermath of 9/11 because radical Muslims and “the Arabs” are all basically the same. Oh, by the way, they only respect brute force. So why not take advantage of the “New Pearl Harbor” and show them all who’s boss?
It’s kinda like the “dancing Muslims” Trump — and only Trump — saw celebrating the 9/11 attacks in New Jersey. Even if he didn’t see them, or just conflated them with an isolated incident in East Jerusalem, what’s the difference? It’s all the same to him.
Just like aggrieved and aggressive Muslims were all the same to the Kagans on 9/11. Doesn’t that make Trump’s persistent suspicion of Muslims a perfect match for the neoconservative wrecking crew?
And then there’s the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump has relentlessly criticized as being so bad that it’s downright suspicious. He said he wants to “renegotiate” immediately after taking office. And he wrongly claims the deal is a fast-track to a nuclear-armed Iran (an error that puts him squarely in the neocon camp). As a rule of thumb, he’s livid about all things related to Iran. So, what’s the problem? Why can’t the neocons wrap their arms around Donald Trump?
In a Word: Russia.
It’s framed as a troublesome “bromance” between Vladimir Putin and Trump. Critics don’t like Trump’s comfort with a “dictator” who, as Kagan’s wife Victoria Nuland recently told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, engages in “aggression.” She’s currently the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs. She basically managed the 2014 coup in Ukraine. And she’s outraged by Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Nov. 23, 2015 Tehran. (Photo from: http://en.kremlin.ru)
But she’s not bothered by her husband’s role in pushing for the most blatant and wanton act of aggression thus far this century — the unwarranted destruction of Iraq. Go figure.
On the other hand, Putin has the unmitigated gall to move military forces around inside the borders of his own country. He’s blamed for hacking the Democratic Party — despite a lack of actual evidence and the NSA’s own hacking hijinks. And he’s accused of “meddling” in U.S. elections — a pretty rich accusation given America’s long history of surreptitious electioneering around the world.
There is no doubt that “Bad Vlad” likes Donald. And Donald likes Vlad. But the real problem isn’t their bromance. This is about the neoconservative desire to make sure the United States is the lone guarantor of the geopolitical order. This is about Pax Americana. This is about resurrecting the faded dream of a new American century.
And what stands in the way of the type of the neocon dream of global “full-spectrum dominance?” Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
Russia is the only nation with an arsenal big enough to withstand the subtle nuclear blackmail of America’s trillion-dollar nuclear “upgrade.” That’s why Russia is concerned about the missile defense systems arrayed on their border. Those systems can knock down retaliatory strikes, thus making a first strike with new nuclear cruise missiles at least theoretically possible.
The United States is also using NATO expansion to increasingly encircle a nation that once was America’s geopolitical equal. That’s why Trump’s criticism of America’s outsized support for NATO must’ve been the tipping point from disdain to panic among neocon and neoliberal interventionists alike.
The oddity is that there does seem to be more than a passing affinity between Trump and Putin. Trump’s statements on Ukraine would be easily dismissed if his campaign manager Paul Manafort hadn’t worked as a political consultant to the pre-Nuland leadership of Ukraine. And Trump’s statements on Crimea might be written off if he’d release his taxes and end speculation of financial ties to Putin’s regime.
But the visceral reaction against his repeated calls for cooperation — “By the way, wouldn’t it be great if we got along with Russia?” — exposes the extent to which the entire foreign policy and political establishments are squarely on the same page. They are angling for Cold War 2.0, and Trump is the only major figure willing to challenge that orthodoxy.
Unlike Hillary Clinton, of course, which brings the whole thing back to the miasma of confusion hanging over this strange election. Hillary is on the neocon team — if not in name, certainly in deed. She will “stand up” to Bad Vlad. She’s targeted by Russian hackers because Putin prefers his “unwitting agent” Donald Trump. And Donald is, according to an emerging narrative, a latter-day Neville Chamberlain just inviting the Ruskies to take over the Baltic States, Ukraine, and God knows what else.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressing the AIPAC conference in Washington D.C. on March 21, 2016. (Photo credit: AIPAC)
The greatest irony of all is that Trump catapulted over the neocons’ preferred presidential options by slamming their pet project — the War on Iraq. Trump’s criticism of that war and the chaos it unleashed resonated with the very voters the Neocons took for granted as pliable, fear-responsive bumpkins. That left the neocons out in the cold just as they were angling to trump the disorderly, hard-to-prosecute mess they call “The Global War on Terror.”
What they really want, and have always wanted, is to revive the greatest war of all — the Cold War. That’s the grand chessboard they yearn to play on once again. The War on Terror was really just a stop-gap, like methadone for imperialists. But now they’ve scored because it looks like the supposed party of imperial intransigence is, under the guidance of Hillary Clinton, poised to take the reins from a Trump-addled GOP.
And if a recent article in Der Spiegel is right, Kagan’s wife Victoria has emerged as a candidate for the prized position of secretary of state should Hillary win. If that comes to pass, the neocons may not have succeeded in their initial plan for a new American century, but they will have hastily completed their last-minute project for a new Democratic Party. And that means this election isn’t that Neo-confusing after all.
JP Sottile is a freelance journalist, radio co-host, documentary filmmaker and former broadcast news producer in Washington, D.C. He blogs at Newsvandal.com or you can follow him on Twitter, http://twitter/newsvandal. [This article first appeared at theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific.]
Sorry, but the Likud Party and regionalists in Israel do not run US foreign policy. For those pulling the levers of American hegemony, Israel is just another piece on the chessboard. Their pittance in aid and electoral support are merely a means to an end, i.e. satisfy the Biblically-illiterate Christian Right.
It is refreshing to hear criticism of Israel that is not anti-Semitic. Thank you, Craig Eckland and Rusty Shackleford.
What we have to examine here is what this wild election is all about.
The Democrats want Hillary to win. Yet she has track record that is really amazing. No one else has ever got as many get out of jail free cards as we have seen with this candidate. She appears to be above the law. Maybe being as close to Obama did that.
The Republicans have nominated a close clone to Archie Bunker of TV fiction fame.
So where is the real candidates for election here?
Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? Because what I see here is no candidate worthy of my vote put up by either the Democrats or the Republicans. And this is a common complaint in recent elections.
Do we elect Donald or Hillary? Both of which claim the other is unfit to hold the office of President.
I will take both of them at their words. Neither seems to be a choice here.
I feel that Donald Trump is desperately trying not to become President. I think his entire campaign has been a foolish one full of remarks that normally would get him cast out of the election period.
I think Hillary might be guilty of much but she also might never see a Presidency simply because of her ill health.
Is she terminally ill or not? I think it is a definite possibility.
I can see Donald getting the election in spite of himself.
This man probably has the lowest IQ of any person running for President in the last century.
He has a remarkable ability to accidentally hit on the truth of things more than not even if he does so in a very hostile objectionable manner.
I call him Obnoxious for short.
He has only one chance of making it to the Presidency. That will be if he picks the best people to do the job after he is elected and he follows whatever they recommend to him. Because his triad of impossible remarks are just that. Foolish Archie Bunker statements of bias and racial, religious discrimination.
So what did he do right? He exposed all of the candidates for what they really are.
He is right about a people that do not believe in following law in this country.
Whether that be exiles from abroad or illegal immigration.
Building a wall of any kind is ridiculous.
The real solution is to go after the illegal immigrant’s sponsors in crime. They are technically not eligible for any welfare program since they have never contributed a dime into it. If Al Capone was guilty of tax evasion how so that millions of people never paying taxes are not?
So make it impossible to live here.
Take away their ability to work and feed themselves here.
Unless you have a card with a social security number on it and a driver’s license going through the legal process of immigrating.
If they do not pay taxes they are guilty of tax evasion along with the people that hire them.
Draft them. If they want legal status put them in the army. Then watch them closely.
Some will become naturalized citizens and I welcome those people whole heartedly.
The rest ship back to where they came from.
Each of us in this world wears a uniform and from that uniform we get prejudice.
I say change it around and give them a uniform to be proud of.
Donald may accidentally end up President of this Country. And I think that has surprised him. He has certainly made more statements to become ineligible than any candidate in history.
If he does I hope he has the sense to hire people capable of running things here and abroad.
If not, I see a dark horse candidate Joe BIden becoming a likely person to run the country.
What anti-immigrant propaganda you are spewing, pig. You’re not a fascist like L Garou above, but you are making a deceitful statement.
Actually, I think Trump’s been kind of erratic on Russia as well. He did have an instagram commercial that described Putin as an enemy and compared him to ISIS, he also threatened to shoot down Russian jets in the Baltic… and if you look at the Democrat & Republican platforms, the Democratic one has more to offer for Russia: the Democrat one says, “We will make it clear to Putin that we are prepared to cooperate with him when it is in our interest — as we did on reducing nuclear stockpiles, ensuring Iran could not obtain a nuclear weapon, sanctioning North Korea, and resupplying our troops in Afghanistan — but we will not hesitate to stand up to Russian aggression,” whereas there is no room for cooperation in the Republican platform, which says, “We support maintaining and, if warranted, increasing sanctions, together with our allies, against Russia unless and until Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are fully restored. We also support providing appropriate assistance to the armed forces of Ukraine and greater coordination with NATO defense planning.”
Many good points in the article as well as among the comments. But whenever I read anything about or by the neoconservatives, they bring to my mind what a manager of mine said during the JFK Administration: “We’ve all come down from the trees, but some of us have come down more recently.”
Weirdness. I remember Romney getting into some trouble saying that Russia was our #1 geopolitical foe in 2012, but after that the Republican party and pundits have been singing the praises of Putin for quite a while now.
http://www.forwardprogressives.com/fox-news-host-says-wants-putin-leader-get-things-done-right/
Anyway, there are endless reasons to oppose Trump for president, but for neocons and foreign policy? As far as what is argued here, If they didn’t like what he said about Russia, I’m sure it wouldn’t take much of a slight for Trump to be pushed over to the “Russia is our enemy” side. They couldn’t really be worried about that.
If memory serves, neocons are supposed to be compassionate conservatives invading and regime changing for making a better world. (humanitarian intervention, the responsibility to protect etc. the nice wars they say – or maybe that was Obama.)
Donald doesn’t share the neocon ideals but isn’t against war.
http://www.vox.com/world/2016/5/27/11608580/donald-trump-foreign-policy-war-iraq-hillary-clinton
Hard to believe Republicans or neocons actually have a problem with Trump, though. He seems like the perfect candidate to represent the Republican party an in all ways actually.
Personally, I think the move to disown him by Republicans and Neocons is to encourage independents and the left to latch onto his crazy train and stay out of their way.
If we indulge in antisemitism, then we will be marginalized.
So: from under what rock did the neocons emerge, why the name “neocons,” and do they understand what the father of their “group” taught? The father is Professor Leo Strauss, University of Chicago—a genius at translating and interpreting the great ancient philosophers. For now we’ll stay with Plato and the “Republic of Plato.”
The neocons used Strauss and Plato to affirm those ridiculous interpretations that put them in the “top” “ruling” class. They brought into Plato’s three Gold persons, those “at the top” who are in charge (the neocons of course); Silver persons, those who have worthwhile things to say but really at best they are only the technocrats for the Gold people; and the rest of us, the Bronze people, who are here to haul dirt and to applaud the Gold people.
These ziocons actually believe that because it is how they thought Prof. Strauss taught them to read Plato’s Republic. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Prof. Straus, in indicating how these great ancient texts are to be understood, indicated right off the bat that there was an esoteric interpretation (for those who had eyes to see) and the exoteric interpretation (for the oi polio). The metaphor of the Three Metals is part of the exoteric interpretation. The neocons didn’t and still don’t get it, but that’s the facts.
How is the Republic to be read according to Strauss? As irony. Nothing that appears on the surface is anything but irony. Yet here’s one of the chief ironical statements that philosophy professors from the Redwood mountains to the Gulf stream waters blow. They teach “philosophers should be the kings.” This is actually such an obvious irony that they somehow must get a slightly embarrassing chill out of saying it to their students–that philosophers [like the middle aged man with a large mortgage who stands at the front of the room] are the “top people.” If they are married men that is probably the peak experience for the semester: standing in front of class, uttering the words “Plato wrote that [we] philosophers are to be the kings” slightly embarrassing but, yes, they are really the best of all. Until they get home. Then: garbage, dishes, yard work, pick up around the house and, no, you can’t use the remote control tonight, dear.
Reality… which was what Plato was pointing toward, but not the dumb “philosophers should be kinds” and “there are Gold, Silver, and Bronze people.”
That is garbage. Most of what people think about ancient philosophy is based onthese antiques. To cut to the chase. There are two basic teachings in the Republic:
(1) the “ideal” state is the simple agrarian community where people didn’t have more than they actually needed (no one needs a Mercedes or a fancy watch or even an Ipod). No troops, no rulers, everyone equal politically and restraining from getting any more than a person actually needs.
(2) Every person has the awareness to be fully Enlightened, it’s not just a prerogative of a few AND to be enlightened does not involve anyone teaching you, it just involves learning to abide in your “heart” area and be aware of all things, none of which is “you” (if something falls into awareness—a word, a thought, a hand, a feeling—then it is separate from the awareness which witnesses it—and the “real self” is the deepest awareness possible).
The ziocons didn’t learn any of the subtleties of Plato from Straus. They didn’t even learn how to read the ancient texts. Maybe they were too much in a hurry to cause problems, have people killed, take over small terrorities. Plato says that all of tor the so-called “ordinary” comforts, and it is the need to take over the lands of others to support our habit for the everyday comfortable which leads to war. “I will not say whether war is good or evil,” in the Cornford edition, “but only point out that war has its origin in craving and desire which are the greatest source of evil to men and gods.”
Clearly the ziocons don’t know what they are up to. I’ll take a short break and maybe some further thoughts will creep in. Plus I’ve got to create a new email address for Consortium News colleagues.
———————————————————————————-
How do I know all of this? Well, I’m a Ph.D. philosopher, was able to read passages in the Republic in Greek with the aid of a Greek dictionary, and was let underneath the exoteric text by a remarkable being, Professor Rudd Flemming, who was wise, humble, nce knew seventeen languages, was “drafted” into code-breaking during WWII, and translated with Ezra Pound whom he was able to keep out of prison for being a fascist.
Let’s face it, teachers and colleagues do make a difference.
Pound was no doubt, a hero.
JP Sottil, what a delightful bit of wordsmithing. I would like for us to get in touch. I am a book publisher as well as a writer and the light streams of sarcasm woven through your piece like an autumn wind rustling the leaves kept me interested, awake and delighted. Thank you. I didn’t even need any extra caffeine. It was a privilege to read you. I’m going to create a “special” email so that people on Consortium can contact me, or me them, to get on with whatever. I’ll post it in a comment below. Thanks for a great read.
In my next comment I’ll say a few things about the so-called “Neocons” but that is a ridiculous name for them, at least if it is intended to mean New Conservatives. These hucksters are not any newer than the desires to control and get, and they are not conservative in the slightest.
I liked hyperbola’s “ZionCons” but I think “Ziocons” has the correct rhythm (replacing “Neo” with “Zio”…. and “cons” should not be thought of as short for “conservatives.” Call them what they are–they are lousy philosophers, misunderstand the father of their movement, Prof. Leo Strauss, and are “cons” in the sense of “convicts”. The whole term then: Zioconvicts? That’s an ugly word and much too explicit. But “ziocons” is better… no need to rub their noses in the shit they never understood and will never understand. The folks who consider themselves “neocons” are pompous jerks who do not know what is their fundamental principle(s) and are inclined to jerk one way and then another as they twirl around in the winds of greed, wanting control, desire, fear, and the wind of complete foolishness (sometimes called the wind of forgetfulness). What pompous jerks! Hubris without substance.
I started using the term “neoconmen” back during the Shrub administration.
This is perhaps more accurate, as the con in conman is not “convict” but “confidence” as it is through instilling false confidence than conmen (and neoconmen) are able to maintain yheir scam operations.
Unfortunately, “convict” would be misleading when speaking of neoconmen, as, unfortunately, they seem to be unable to convict, due to the corruption of both judiciary and prsecutorial offices.
I understand the Zio part, and, though it is applicable, unless the use of it enters mainstream, it is unlikely that most people would make the connection, and would, quite likely, think you are talking about something other than the Bush/Klanton/Kagan cabal. “Neoconmen” however, is instantly recognizable as to who is being referred to, even for those who have never heard of Leo Strauss.
I really appreciate the amount of intellect and awareness displayed in some of the articles on this blog and even more many of the comments. However, I feel that one major part is always missing or avoided and that is WHO EXACTLY is behind the NEOCONS and driving them?! These individuals are all using Think Tanks, Newspaper Articles, and positions of power within the branches of government to manifest their ideology BUT who is BEHIND THEM?! Who controls finances, media, powerful political lobby that will end the career of any politician or journalist who gets out of line?!…………Is it about time to give the big microphones to people like Gilad Atzmon, Allison Weir, Greg Felton, Ken O’Keeffe, Chris Bollyn, among others, who actually have the guts to spell out what others are “self-censoring”?!
The neocons can’t stomach Trump? The neocons, who control the government, the defense industry, high finance and the media, to say nothing about the rest of human affairs, created Trump, with a very definite purpose in mind.
He was initially not expected to play any major role in this presidential campaign. He polled in the single digits through most of last year.
Then the corporate media, owned and controlled by the elites, who are neocon through and through, decided he was to be the perfect fall guy in their push to make Hillary Clinton WarMonger-in-Chief.
Suddenly, he got ALL the attention from the media. Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow would cut away from their nightly alleged “left wing” crapola fest to give full coverage to ANY speech Mr. Trump was about to make in Apple Knocker Junction, Illinois, or Hog-Milker Corners, Mississippi. They allowed the public to savor every put-down that the Donald delivered in the face of Listless Jeb, Terrible Ted, Little Marco, Saint Dr. Ben and the rest of the Not-Ready-for-Prime-Time cast of granfalloons vying for the Republican invite to face Hillary in a noble but probably losing cause.
It was exciting theatre to see all the pundits, like Chuck Todd, and pencil jockeys, like Nate Silver, claim to be flummoxed primary after primary as Donald the Crass overturned all expectations and rung up win after win. Every opponent was dispatched in an orderly and inexorable fashion, even as all the mouthpieces of the establishment wrung their hands in phony disbelief.
It was all set up. The insiders, the powerbrokers, the men who move the chess pieces in anonymity while the Koch’s and the Adelson’s monopolise the lime light WANTED the Donald to prevail. Why? So Hillary could just as efficiently vanquish him in the general election.
Don’t you see? Donald Trump is effectively playing the role of Emmanuel Goldstein in Orwell’s “1984.” It was arranged for you to thoroughly hate him, to consider him a vile racist, and even to fervently believe that he has been conspiring with America’s “hated enemy” Vladimir Putin to take control of our government so together they could tear it down and the Eurasian hordes could finally win this endless war. This was done even as he was purposely given the golden ticket to the Chocolate Factory, while you were fooled into thinking it was the usual American political free-for-all. Ain’t freedom always grand?
American politics can always be explained in two words: “bait” and “switch.” You were persuaded to love him by the power of the media, and now you’re being persuaded to despise him… by the same means and by the same people wielding the god’s honest power. By gum, they are almost as powerful as the “Preacher” on AMC with the force of that Genesis Demon inside of him (Google it if necessary).
The only thing I’m not sure of is whether Trump himself knows how he has been used.
I agree with what you say here, but I’m still mystified how they all came to that conclusion. It was plain to me from the beginning that Trump was the only one of the slew of Republican candidates who had any chance at all of beating Hillary. Every single one of the others was an obvious loser and louse of some sort – with regard to the Republican base. IMO that’s still true – if he actually wants the job. And if the no-verify touchscreen computer voting devices aren’t used to install Queen Hillary in the Oval Office. The prognosis on the latter business is ‘iffy’, for there has been almost no Corporate Media coverage of the blatant cheating by the DNC to slaughter Sanders’ candidacy.
Also, I’m still not convinced Trump really wants the job.
It could be the neocons are becoming a bit impatient . Obama has slowed down and perhaps stalled their agenda in some key areas…Syria and Iran. Because of the impatience the MSM is becoming very close to unbelievable …Are they overplaying their hand ? ……Perhaps and now Hillary has a very noticeable (tick) health issue……Having said all that the agenda against Russia as the scape goat continues……The coming days of the hot war are very close at hand no matter who the next USA president…..
The “Hillary – Health” issue is one almost entirely ignored by the Corporate Media.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-08/something-wrong-hillary-bizarre-behavior-seizure-allegations-raise-doubts-about-her-
A whole lot more attention needs to be given to President-In-Waiting Kaine, in my opinion.
Yes, Killary’s severe health issues have suddenly come into focus with video clips and still photos from the press corps. She seems to suffer seizures, has problems with equilibrium, reacts inappropriately to her social milieu at times (displaying a “fright response”), to say nothing of the powerful prescription meds she is on. It’s as if the media is preparing us for a shortened or mere titular Killary presidency. That warmongering, corporatist, blue dog Democrat Kaine sure emerged quickly from obscurity. He does NOT seem like the kind of person this country needs to have leading it, especially considering the current crises and challenges that have been created by recent bad leadership from both parties. Somebody made sure that Clinton picked a veep candidate as far from a progressive agenda as possible. At least she didn’t take Chris Matthews’ advice and select a registered Republican for the job (the fool is always on about that as a creative solution to gridlock).
Clintons’ good friend Trump is playing “Perot” to divide up the right, with some Rs going to the real republican in the race; the Hill. Excellent chance for the Left to break free-from-D (despite Sanders warning about the scary Trumpinator) and run with Jill. They’ve even managed to avoid the dreaded “S”(ocialism) word and call themselves Green (The color of Life in Bloom). The establishment effed-up big, this time. Those wiley Gods know how to get the job done.
Such a rare opportunity; a three-way division of the broad right flank: Trump-R, the Hill-D, and Gary Johnson of the Libertarians. A Patton would appreciate this opportunity; put as much of the broad left flank behind Jill as can be collected, and run with Jill over the Hill. So, it’s to be a Green (Party) Revolution after all…green, the color of good green living fields where the Crop Circles are drawn. I see over on Common Dreams that the Bern is trying to run interference for Hill, trying to set up “the Revolution continues” to bleed away support from Jill and funnel it into “progressives” with a D by their name, so they can be backbenchers and told to sit down and shut up, the right-wing Ds are driving the bus. Not gonna work, Bernie. Not THIS time. Time for the Rs and Ds to wither up and blow away, no good green LIFE left in them anymore…they’re just the color of dead, fascist, Brown.
Commondreams is doing as much as Bernie in leading the sheep to the slaughter. Look through the comments section there sometime and see how many people have responded to people who have been “dissappeared” from their site.
I myself, when I try to log in receive a notice that my account is suspended until 2153. You can see the responses to my comments on almost any article that is more than 3 days old. If you see someone responding to a purple H, that is to me.
My crime, apparently (they gave no reason to me so I can only guess) is calling them out for their neocon stance in this election, and naming and shaming names of the editors there behind the policy (yes, I did get snarky, like “hey hey Abby, how msny Libyan kids did you kill today”). This, and referring to Hitlery Klanton (repeatedly explaining that the use of the same false justification for invading Libya that Hitler used when invading Poland, combined with support for the Nazi coup in Ukraine, topped off by her likening of Putin to Hitler, shows she has worked hard to earn the name Hitlery, and by supporting Goldwater, calling black kids “superpredators” who must be “brought to heel” combined with her support for ending welfare, and mass incarceration, topped off by her dealings in Haiti and knowing support for “rebels” in Libya she knew were massacring any black person they saw, shows the name Klanton is in honor of the hard work she has done to “get things done”.)
Aren’t progressives (which Commondreams claims to be) supposedly a force that counters speech that they do not like with more speech that presents rational arguments that make their case? Isn’t the tactic of suppression of speech something that progressives supposedly abhor?
I am not the only one thus purged from that site in recent weeks, I am aware of at least 4 others who have similarly been purged, and I have good reason to suspect there are more.
I hope Ray McGovern and others who frequent this site, who Commondreams often republishes, recognize the danger of a supposed “progressive” website purging those who vehemently disapprove of their blantant support for a neocon candidate, and takes them to task on this. I’m just a well-informed peon who cannot afford to bribe them, so I have no clout by myself with the likes of Abby Zimmet or her ilk. All I can do is churn out more writing in comments threads than all of the paid Commondreams staffers combined (without continuously whining that taking moral stances caused me to lose donations from amoral people with money to spend).
Yeah, I used to comment on CD some years ago, got thrown off. I ended up turning my back on them. Too much like “gatekeepers” for the “establishment Left”. Eff them. I finally see it was the Clintons who destroyed the New Deal Democratic Party to take us backwards forty years to the Robber Baron Era once again. The Rs are just stark-raving mad…a boogy-man to scare voters over to the REAL R Party…the DLC/DNC Democrats. Center-Left has no home and NOW is the time to strike out for “Greener” pastures
What good is being the king of a wasteland. These neos won’t learn until their competing with cockroaches for food.
Satan’s Credo: “Better to Reign in Hell, Than Serve in Heaven”. Remember this when any satanic dictator takes over, or a satanic group of oligarchs take over, “The Throne”. (that’s just the ancestral Puritan RoundHead in me talking…and don’t think it’s just a matter of wrestling The Throne away from the evil ones, Cromwell found that out. It’s like the Lord of the Rings, a Throne is an extremely corrupting power)
A word of caution: If one achieves a position of Power, NEVER set foot outside the persona of “Public Servant”; at the end of every single day ask yourself “Have I served the Common Good, the General Welfare?, or just self-aggrandisment” then you might just make it through, your soul intact.
Excellent piece by Mr. Sottile.
There’s a viable alternative to our extinction via Clinton /Trump , one who has not been corrupted by Big Money , and one who speaks – sensibly , on all the issues – for the 99%. This 30-min C-SPAN interview is an excellent introduction to Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party :
https://www.c-span.org/video/?413627-1/newsmakers-dr-jill-stein
Time is short. Jill needs a surge to 15% in the polls to get an invite to the debates , after which her viability as a candidate would increase exponentially , so watch the video , then spread the word.
There is a petition at Roots Action to boost Jill Stein for president. If you believe Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the worst possible choices for 2016 but want an honorable alternative consider signing this petition:
“I’ll vote for Jill if you will” pledge campaign to elect Jill Stein president. – https://diy.rootsaction.org/petitions/i-ll-vote-for-jill-if-you-will-pledge-campaign-to-elect-jill-stein-president
‘Jill not Hill’: can Green candidate woo Sanders fans not settling for Clinton?: At the Green party convention, presidential candidate Jill Stein and supporters made a play for those who ‘felt the Bern’ and won’t let the movement die – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/07/jill-stein-green-party-convention-sanders-clinton-us-election
This is a waste of time …Tell us when any “Green Party” candidate won or even made a difference. Another bait and switch…..
There were many people in 1776 who predicted the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War would fail. History is replete with examples of people putting down attempts at revolutions that appeared to have some truth in the short term but were proved wrong in the long run by those with the courage to go the distance for something they believed in.
There is an old proverb attributed to the Chinese that indicates “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Jill Stein and the Green Party are a medium through which the American people can express an opinion that they want something better than what the Democratic-Republican duopoly offers – two right wings on the corporate bird of prey.
If not joining Jill Stein and the Green Party, what then? The Hillary warmongering campaign? The potential roller-coaster ride with The Donald and David Duke and other white supremacists? The Libertarians who are partial to the One Percent?
john
you have no idea what “bait and switch” is, i have provided you with a definition.
bait and switch
noun
;the action (generally illegal) of advertising goods that are an apparent bargain, with the intention of substituting inferior or more expensive goods.
“bait and switch” tactics are generally used in retail, where an advertisement baits a buyer with a high quality product, and once payment is received the seller switches for a lower quality product.
i.e. mcdonalds hamburgers. we see a beautiful, plump burger on the menu, and after paying, we receive a flattened mess of sauce, cardboard burger, and strange bread.
akech’s comment regarding david duke, and neo-cons, did not use a “bait and switch” tactic.
Bill Bodden likewise has not used the “bait and switch” tactic in his endorsement of Jill Stein for President.
While not “Green Party” a third party candidate did put Bubba Clinton in the White House.
Jill Stein isn’t on the ballot in Indiana, and I’m not going to vote Libertarian, not even to throw that vote away.
My ballot will be blank on that spot, and I can only pray that the computerized touch-screen device won’t be tampered with somewhere along the way.
The neo-con dream of a “unipolar world,” has aleady been eclipsed by a booming China which is bringing nation after nation, including Russia, into its “new Silk Road” Eurasian infrastructure program. The desperate response, from the Obama-Clinton camp is to escalate NATO confrontation of both superpowers, sponsor more regime change, and risk war and even nuclear annihilation.
Can anyone help me understand why the promoters of these never ending wars in the Middle East are hell bent on (a) killing as many people as they can in that region of the world (b) leveling every historical infrastructure and home that took thousands of years to erect (c) send millions of traumatized surviving men, women and children fleeing for dear life (an estimated 7.6 million Syrians have been displaced inside their homeland) (d) force countries after countries, including USA, to absorbed these refugees?????
To these war mongers, anyone who dares to question the rationale for the violent displacement, forced migration and forced integration into European countries and USA is considered a racist/xenophobic/David Duke! Why must the Middle East and North Africa be destroyed and depopulated? Why is the merciless killing of the Syrians, Libyans, Iraqis and Yemenites, by the millions, not considered racist? Who will the new occupants of the regions being laid to waste by bombs be?
Note: David Duke and his KKK are registered voters and have been casting their votes for some elected officials in Congress or at the White House during election circles. I have never ever heard anybody complain or reject votes from this group of citizens until now!
It’s very funny how you anchor the crimes of the neocons to David Duke…a poor job of bait and switch
Why don’t you just ignore my “poor job of bait and switch”? Or are you one those control freaks with urge to correct everybody in the universe?
Because it isn’t?
You don’t have to be a racist to murder. The Neocons want every possible enemy of Israel smashed to flinders. No matter who or where they are.
Israel hates the little Muslims
Little Muslims of the world
Red, brown, yellow
Black and white
They are ugly in Its sight.
Israel hates the little Muslims
Of the world.
Just an opinion, but tossing David Duke and the KKK into a neocon discussion makes no sense whatever to me.
Associative anchoring is a redirection technique used in NLP and can be highly effective….A resent example is the email scandal of Hillary….She used the anger (bait) of the people and redirected it to Putin (switch) then the NYT continued to load the switch toward Putin…..This technique along with making three statements that are true and one that’s a lie so listener buy the whole package is a mainstay of the neocons…..
To Zachary Smith
“Just an opinion, but tossing David Duke and the KKK into a neocon discussion makes no sense whatever to me”
It make a lot of sense because this topic covers why Donald Trump is unacceptable to the neocons and others in the MSM!
Donald Trump’s candidacy is being derailed by the mouth pieces in the MSM questioning his fitness to be POTUS. Two of the issues being raised against him are: (a) he is a racist who is being endorsed by David Duke, the KKK grand wiz!
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/05/488802494/former-kkk-leader-david-duke-says-of-course-trump-voters-are-his-voters.
(b) He (Trump) is Islamophobic due to his assertion that refugees coming from the Muslim countries must be fully vetted!
My point is: there is no US law barring David Duke and people who think like him from electing any lawmaker of their choice to fill in a US congressional seat or participate in the election of POTUS. In fact, there may be lawmakers in Congress, as we speak, who owe their elections to such hate groups. These lawmakers are not disqualified from passing US laws in Congress that affects every US citizen!
My questions are : (a) Why must the US citizens be more afraid of Trump than these lawmakers who are in already Congress? (b) Why must US citizens be happy to vote and hand over powers to the brains behind the dubious policies which rationalize the slaughter and displacement of millions and millions innocent men, women and children in North Africa, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey, Ukraine and Afghanistan?
I REPEAT: If Trump is getting votes from the KKK grand wizard and his group, why must he (Trump) be the most dangerous person compared to wise guys/gals behind the policies that promote the relentless slaughter and displacement of millions of innocent human beings? Is this the lesser of the two evil scare tactic? Really? Why are American voters being asked to be afraid of something instead of voting for something tangible?
Additionally, these wise brains are demanding that families, other than their own, participate in these very bloody killings on their behalf. They or their associates are also loading young Americans with trillions $$$ of college debts while they fight tooth and nail to ship jobs abroad through TPP! WAKE UP FROM YOUR SLUMBER FOLKS; you are either on the menu or on your way down some cliffs if you not already there!
Jesus !! How many neocons can there be 50,100, 5000….and how many citizens affected by their agendas….America a pu*^y nation..The puffy cheek neocon (intellectual) Robert Kegan tells you to eat s*^t and you eat…..How does it taste?
The said individual controls immense amounts of (debt) mullah and career advancement, plus the police and the military. In other words, the Ziocons control both the carrot and the stick. Resistance is futile, you will be assimilated. They indebt your country and use it to enslave you. Such power drives perpetuum mobile of US foreign regime change and military interventions.
So, what you are asking is why do Americans vote these people into office? Because they do not run on the agenda they plan to implement.
Bill Clinton always called himself a “progressive” but worked like the devil to continue Ronald Reagan’s agenda. The roots of the most severe present-day political, economic and international crises trace back to his quite deliberate triangulation with Newt Gingrich. He was the first president to ever use NATO in the field, as a tool to dismember Yugoslavia and diminish Russian influence, but also to accrue war-making powers exclusively to the executive branch, irrespective of the verbiage in the constitution.
Both Dubya and Al Gore were definitively cast as nearly equivalent “moderates” by the media during the election of 2000. Gore failed to win, not only because the election was stolen, but because he acted like an ass during the debates, letting the clearly intellectually inferior Dubya be thought of as the “winner.” Dubya’s constitutional powers were immediately co-opted by the devious neocon he idiotically appointed to the vice-presidency, Dick Cheney. Those of us here saw what was happening, but, enabled by the corporate media and the fact that a president gets to serve out his term–short of impeachment–no matter how bad a job he does, we had to suffer through four years of neocon militarism on the rampage in what were two major wars clearly based on lies. Both wars continue to this day–15 years later!
Then, we were treated to a second straight stiff as a Democratic challenger in the form of John Kerry who allowed himself to be swift-boated without raising a defense. In spite of that, he might have won but for the election irregularities in the state of Ohio, where the presidency was again stolen for Dubya, an outcome that would have been impossible in just about every other democratic republic in the world. Score one for both Dieboldt and the smoke-filled back rooms of Cincinnati and Columbus, the political inflection point where the 20th century transitioned to the 21st.
Which brings us to Mr. Hope & Change, our Nobel Peace Prize-winning president Barack Obomber. Did the guy do ANYTHING he had promised during the election, starting with the eponymous “Obama Care” legislation? Had he promised the voters that he would ensure the insurance companies a continued monopoly of American health coverage, with absolutely no competition from a government plan (a la Medicare) to keep premiums low and service standards reasonable? No, he perpetrated a bait and switch on even that. His biggest bait and switch was on his war plans. He campaigned as some sort of “peacenik,” the only candidate who disapproved of Dubya’s wars and promised to end them, but transmogrified into arguably the biggest American warmonger in our nation’s history. You all know the details, the drones, the actions in countries without congressional input, let alone approval.
And, he too won a second term. Why? Because Romney virtually gave it to him on a silver platter by inserting his foot into his mouth early and often during that campaign. Not that Mittens would have done a thing different if he were presently the POTUS. If only there were a tape comparable to Mitt’s 47% boner out there waiting to be leaked and exposing Hillary for all her worst instincts.
Just how did Hillary, in spite of all the mistakes, all the history, and all the bad press, get to be the front runner, putting more distance between herself and the Donald every passing day? Sorry to say, number one, because she’s a woman. Most women out there (except for Ann Coulter) tell the pollsters they are going to vote for Hillary, in spite of all her flaws, because she’s a woman and it is their turn to control the power–as if Hillary is going to share an iota of that power with any other sentient being, including even the Big Dog.
Number two, because, as a seasoned life-long politician, she has out-campaigned Trump at every turn. Simply put, she knows how to lie,distort the truth, inflate her positives and detract from the opposition much better than does Mr. Trump, who is basically running an amateur operation in comparison to her. Look, she’s got a majority of the people now believing that Trump is a racist, rather than a protectionist and an isolationist, and that he’s “Putin’s Puppet,” guilty of treason rather than a leader who prefers diplomacy to warfare. There’s more reason to believe that the NSA hacked her emails at the DNC as part of a ruse to damage Trump than Russia did with the complicity of the Donald. That move was pure McCarthyism and what swung the polls decisively in her favor. Now, you may fairly ask, if Trump is so inept, how did he win the Republican nomination? By essentially running as an anti-neocon against the ilk of clear warmongers like Jeb, Little Marco, Ted and most of the other forgettables.
If Julian Assange and Wiki-Leaks do not come through with the mother lode of reveals before the election, that “Putin Puppet” dirty trick may prove to have been the turning point in the campaign that put her in the White House… and cause the rest of us to yet again ask, “how do neocons keep getting elected president” even though we can’t stand them?
I recall the moment during the Gore-Bush debates when I thought “that stiff dummy may have just handed it to him”. Gore walked right up to Bush, oddly, and unnecessarily close…and Bush kinda made a face and then turned his expression to the crowd. Everyone understood.
But what everyone doesn’t understand is who and what the neocons are, and what they are doing. Too many buy the MSM hook, line, and sinker. They think the worst of Assad, Putin, Iran, Islam in general. They favor war because they think it’s an us against them world and generally can’t conceive of the U.S. ever being in the wrong. They can’t tell the difference between the Soviet Union and modern Russia. Probably couldn’t find Russia on a map
I should think Wikileaks has more on Clinton. Let’s hope it’s damning in a clearly simple enough way so that it can’t be spun into another “Putin plot”. People love that shit just like they cheered Shock & Awe. Disheartening ain’t it.
Hillary is just about the polar opposite of a master campaigner, her face and voice grates while she can’t tell the truth even when it’s to her advantage. What she does have is an adoring MSM carrying water for her and attacking Trump 24/7.
It isn’t just 5,000 think-tankers. It’s the MONEY POWER behind it all, and THEY control the school curricula, the MSM, the Generals, the Admirals, the militarized Police in big municipalities (whose activities can be coordinated from the White House as OWS proved), most of the Federal politicians, the judges, and the ECONOMY (order up a crash & Great Depression to scare the peasants back into line). You want a revolution, or just plain suicide? Enough of these powers that are controlled by the MONEY POWER will HAVE to break ranks with them and join the people, before any significant changes can occur, otherwise it’s just a VERY bloody exercise in futility. THEY’VE been preparing since the sixties riots to CRUSH any repeat performance. Can you say Tiannanmen Square Massacre times one thousand? (this would be an underestimate)
It is interesting to observe how these neocon intellectuals can blithely plan for events that are immoral and in violation of the UN Charter, international law and the Geneva Conventions that have resulted in the deaths and displacement of countless people in the Middle East and elsewhere. Despite this history and a known propensity to cause more of the same, they are free to pursue there diabolical inclinations while they are welcomed in the halls of power for their opinions.
Perhaps there is something incomprehensible about these monstrous events for most people. How else do we explain people’s bizarre acceptance of their crimes against humanity while the same people become enraged and outspoken when one or two children are killed by some individual of deficient character?
I would be interested to know why the author insists that a new Cold War hasn’t been ongoing for some time.
Great article! So what’s worse than an HRC POTUS? I’d really like to know? This election is obscene and horrific!
You’d have to consider President Kaine or President Pence. Trump is truly horrible beyond words, and our situation is a complete nightmare no matter what happens, but I do believe President K or President P could nearly match Hillary.
That’s the grand chessboard they (neocons) yearn to play on once again.
This quote brings to mind a comment made many years ago about the generals who orchestrated the suicidal battles of the First World War. The author was of the opinion they had learned how to fight battles playing with toy soldiers during their childhood, but when they reached adulthood and positions of authority they failed to realize they were then dealing with the lives of real people.
Exactly, Bill… Thanks.
Assuming that they cared.
When democrats and republicans fight each other, the result of the voter is to help one or another party. It is so assured that no other one from the true people ever emerge as president.
Good move, for the idiots people.
”This is about Pax Americana. This is about resurrecting the faded dream of a new American century.”
” And if a recent article in Der Spiegel is right, Kagan’s wife Victoria has emerged as a candidate for the prized position of secretary of state should Hillary win. If that comes to pass, the neocons may not have succeeded in their initial plan for a new American century, but they will have hastily completed their last-minute project for a new Democratic Party. And that means this election isn’t that Neo-confusing after all.”
Yes exactly, that is what makes Hillary so very dangerous. She has been described as the “new Nixon” and that is all too accurate in that she is a threat to our enlisted men, and our supposed enemies as well. Like Cheney, she sees enemies under every stone, and like him, she will not be paying the ultimate price for her actions. Cheney and Rumsfeld have always seen themselves as “above the fray” intellectually, and so does Hillary. All of them (the neocons) are wrong minded and totally unacceptable…
Zionist Neocons around the world are on a mission they claim is their responsibility to a Talmudic Laws they ascribe to.
Under Hillary Clinton & Victoria Nuland etc. etc. the White-House will “may use their available powers to complete the PNAC agenda & claim it as a “ price worth paying” as Madeleine Albright previously claimed 500,000 dead Iraqi Children was “worth it” due to US sanctions …..
Are neocons steering the US into oblivion & Trump may be our last hope ?
Bob, America’s political party system has the Neocon Party, and then the Other Parties. For a Neocon a lot rides on this election. The clock is ticking away for the Neocon’s, because America’s military superiority gets chipped away a little more each year that passes. I mean time is running out, and the Neocon’s are desperate in their quest to conquer the world. Starving out Russia isn’t an easy job, and to a Neocon there is little time left in order to accomplish their worldwide hegemony goals. What’s even worst is Hillary just maybe that one who the Neocon’s have been waiting for. After all Dick Cheney was only a VP, a strong VP, but only a VP. Hillary on the other hand will be president, and to a NeoNut she is just perfect for the office of Commander and Chief.
Brilliant comment Joe: “After all Dick Cheney was only a VP, a strong VP, but only a VP. Hillary on the other hand will be president, and to a NeoNut she is just perfect for the office of Commander and Chief.” Obama did almost everything the Ziocons wanted except bombing Syrian Government and bombing Iran. There is zero doubt that President Hillary would “right both wrongs” as soon as in the office. Trump tried to endear himself to Ziocons, but which Ziocon would risk things with Trump – another almost-fully-controlled robot like Obama, when they have a certifiably fully control-short-circuited robot to place into POTUS.
“Like Cheney, she sees enemies under every stone, and like him she will not be paying the ultimate price for her actions.”
Cheney and Hillary PRETEND to see enemies under every stone, because that is how they line their pockets with contributions from the Military Industrial Complex and New World Order elites.
Writers should stop using the phrase “Pax Americana.” There’s been nothing peaceful about it. America’s been at war more years of my life than not, and I’m in my 50s.