PlanetaryCitizen
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First of all, it was not the U.S. that installed the Shah in Iran. It was the British and the Russians who installed him because his father (exiled to S. Africa) would not cut ties and expel Germans from the country. At the time it was all about Lend Lease and the Trans Iranian railway to keep the Russian military supplied in WW2. The U.S. didn’t get involved until after it joined the war.
The US house just passed a bill this week to do away with the AUMF now that the Democrats have power. AUMF bills have been brought up repeatedly but always crushed because the Repubs wouldn’t allow it. McConnell and Inhofe will kill any resolution on this one in the Senate, no doubt. Let’s just be clear on who is doing what here shall we? It may be possible that some Repubs will join the Dems in the Senate and support the bill, as it was with the one to end support of S.A in it’s war in Yemen. We’ll see, but I doubt it.
What ever the reason is that Trump stopped the attack, we’ll never know with even a modicum of certainty what it is because Trump is incapable of telling the truth. His reality is entirely the one he creates about himself in his own head. AKA narcissistic personality disorder and he’s got it in spades.
Kim Dotcom probably has it right. Seems like a lot of provocation going on and I have my doubts about it coming from Iran. Stockman has it pretty well nailed as does Tulsi Gabbard although she could have added Israel to the quote.
Methane will continue to release at an increasing rate whether there is a big burp or not. Feed back loops are well underway and humanity will evolve through very difficult times, if it indeed it ultimately continues to evolves at all. We’ll think the dinosaurs had it easy when they were wiped out in a matter of hours (according to latest theories).
Great music, had me dancing in my desk chair. I didn’t remember the name Jerry Dammers but I certainly remembered the music. My status as troll and snowflake aside, let me offer this. Shadowproof”s protest song of the week project.
https://shadowproof.com/category/dissenter/protest-music-project/
Further, it’s a biological fact that when overwhelmed, the autonomic nervous system (aka the reptilian brain) will immobilize into a state of freeze and collapse. The only thing that brings the organism out of that state is the prospect of success, or said another way, hope! Movements by groups and individuals all get their motivation through hope. Dammers inspired hope and did it extremely well. Orienting is the first response to threat and in the case of a constant negative input stream (in not knowing what to believe, all information becomes negative) avenues of real success become few and none, and the human being will just check out into it’s own internal world and immediate personal eddy of its own needs. Of course the solution to cognitive dissonance is to just choose a belief. Feels better even if it is just hate. Entertaining opposing possibilities and concepts opens the door to perception but it’s not a comfortable state. Wouldn’t Aldous Huxley be proud.
Ilargi, I think many of your points are quite salient and I don’t have any desire to quibble with them. That said, the entire thrust of this particular thread, and less you than your comment section, is one of accusation, condemnation, nihilism, and general negativity. Most people just won’t care or listen unless they happen to personally resonate with that particular approach to life. Entire countries and their people are maligned with little regard to the diversity of opinion and efforts at just society within them. Australia the other day was a perfect example. With V. it’s all day everyday with the U.S. It’s not what you say, its how you say it. Inspiration doesn’t come from condemnation. Ask any kid.
I think there is value with a lot of what you do here, and, some of the content I take strong exception to and occasionally make a comment. As to my being flounced, some arguments are just too stupid to be continued. But more to the point, my life does occasionally supercede my “trolling.” No doubt I’ll catch shit anyway.
Enjoy your day! It’s pretty much all we have at the end of it!
The point is that he was hired by a Washington based political research firm. He turned his findings over to the FBI as well as the U.S. press. The information was also given to a sitting U.S. Senator, President Obama, as well as President elect Donald Trump himself. “Steele said he decided to pass his dossier to both British and American intelligence officials after concluding that the material should not just be in the hands of political opponents of Trump, but was a matter of national security for both countries.”
@ zerosum Christopher Steele is not a foreign government. He is a private citizen doing “oppo research.” Something you seem to espouse.
If a foreign government wants to make information public they are free to do so. U.S. political campaigns are not allowed to receive anything of value from a foreign government to include information (dirt). It’s against the law, as it should be. It’s a corrupting influence on the political process and makes the politician beholden to the foreign government. Not exactly rocket science, is it!
If Trump didn’t like what Bolton was doing he would fire his ass. He either has no control over his cabinet or he wants it both ways. You know, wanting the appearance of ending wars but just can’t help it if one of his appointees starts one. Unbelievable!
I’ve said it for years. When it comes to the U.S. government…Republicans are evil and Democrats are stupid.
Yes, okay, my bad. Half a million plus dead in Syria and 5.6 million plus refugees. The Afghan president did invite the Soviets in thinking he had an ally to help stabilize the country. They then assassinated him, installed their own president and proceeded to invade the rest of the country per the so called Brezhnev doctrine. Your white washing of history is to be commended and I have no desire to take them on point by point. Life is too short.
If the Russian Bear has changed its spots, more power to them. That there are free and fair elections as well as a free press is not supported by any of those who monitor them.
So, I concede, Russians love their children more than Americans do. For whatever that might be worth. Have a nice day.
And for the record! I think U.S. foreign policy has in many ways been a negative force in the world. I wish you luck with your Russia.
Restless…First of all I’m well aware of the issues with regard to American foreign policy and do not support nor condone much of it. Most particularly the recent wars in the middle east, and I speak out against them on a regular basis. So let’s just say we have that in common.
Secondly, at the time Russia invaded Afghanistan they occupied the Baltic countries, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Albania, and E. Germany. Their history in Cuba, and their proxy use of the Cuban military in places like Congo, and Angola. Their involvement in Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, etc. And that’s just the short list, I could go on. So please don’t tell me of Russia’s lack of equivalence. Russia killed into the millions in the Great Purge before they were ever invaded by Germany in WW2.
I’m also well aware, (and not pushing any trope) of the developments of the Viet Nam war and that it was a war for independence from colonialism and had elections scheduled in which Ho Chi Minh would have won handily and it’s a tragedy that it wasn’t allowed to take place. That doesn’t mean that Soviet expansion in Europe, their involvement in Korea as well what was happening in China wasn’t in the calculus with the creation of SEATO and the subsequent misunderstanding by U.S. leaders of the realities in Viet Nam and how it was a separate issue from all those other factors. Like I said, it didn’t happen in a vacuum and Russia was an aggressor in the Cold War and it’s actions contributed to a whole host of hostilities around the world. That doesn’t release the U.S. from the condemnation it deserves for Viet Nam and it doesn’t absolve Russia of its contribution.
Is Russia different today than it has been in the past? Perhaps, but given that it’s effectively a dictatorship as well as a criminal oligarchy, I have my doubts.
So please don’t tell me what I should think or say about something as inanely stupid and offensive as a statement that Russians love their children more than Americans do because they don’t send them to die in wars far from home. I do believe they have been bombing the shit out of Syria for a couple of years now so they can support a dictator who has killed millions of his own people. Is it a 1000 miles? What earthly difference does it make?
Yes restless I take your point. Some points need to also be taken and in my opinion this was one and one I didn’t start.
“Over time it has become apparent, the Russians love their children far more than we love ours; we keep sending our children off to wars of choice…”
I’m sorry but it is a rather outrageous assertion and one that deserves countering with a few facts.
And to quote you…”It’s a free country!” And…”Denial isn’t healing!” Russia is not the innocent that so many on here try to proclaim any more or less than the U.S. is innocent. One can also assert that Viet Nam was an outcome predicated on communist expansion taking place all over the globe at the time. And according to you we are talking about the U.S. going to war. Events don’t happen in a vacuum be they misguided or not.
Excellent photos. Really love them! The second one reminds me of the joke about the dog catching the car. Now what do I do! I collect a lot of the art you post. These two will certainly be added. 🙂
List of wars the Russian Federation has been involved in since the 10 years the USSR was in Afghanistan 1979-89.
1991-93 Georgia
1991-93 Abkhazia
1992 Transnistria
1992 North Ossetia – Alania
1992-97 Tagikistan
1994-96 Chechnya
1999 Dagestan
1999-09 Second Chechen War
2008 Georgia/S. Ossetia
2009-17 North Caucasus
2014-present Ukraine & Crimea
2015-present Syria@hugho – don’t forget the heel bone spurs. I too cringe inwardly when someone thanks me for my service. It’s the new patriotism in vogue so that people feel like they are doing their part by supporting the troops. The only thing missing is pom poms. The best way to support the troops is to keep them out of war in the first place. And if they do have to go at least support healing their injuries instead of denying injuries like agent orange and Gulf War syndrome. Finally having enough data to decide in the affirmative is a bit late after they mostly are all dead.
Pence (I’m sure in his own mind as well) is one of the major cogs bringing us the War of Armageddon. Brace yourself for the Rapture that never comes.
Military Madness….is killing the country – Graham Nash. Got a brand new 200 gram super vinyl copy off ebay the other day.
As an early 1968 draftee as well as antiwar protester (yes you can be both and many were) I was lucky enough not to be “in country” but was well within staging area of the theater of operations, I watched as the B52’s went off on their nightly bombing runs. The difference between then and now is the draft. Everyone had the potential to have skin in the game (yours or your family and friends). The media did the job they were supposed to do, bring home in detail what was being done in the people’s name. People like Daniel Ellsberg risked their freedom to expose what was happening. We have fine examples of that today but not many really care because they derive the benefit (rationalized) without no potential for sacrifice.
The original line that did not make it into the final copy was…The military, industrial, congressional complex.
As a user of Veteran’s health care as well as a trained trauma therapist I have inquired into what the treatment is for those with ptsd. The reason there are so many suicides these days is because the VA is doing exactly the wrong therapy. The main thrust of what they are doing is making the problem worse, not better. Desensitization therapy only fragments the psyche even further.
to be continued later….
Just because someone says it doesn’t make it so! Like just for instance, Trump is a highly stable genius.
First of all, I’ve been reading TAE many years before the advent of the Donald and have always lauded your website to people I know. It’s been my go to site with my morning coffee since early in its inception. I even kept reading the articles you claim are attacking the attackers that are telling lies. You are the balance as you like to say. I didn’t start commenting until fairly recently. I’ve pointed out time and again how factually incorrect the thrust of what your post is when you use sources like RT and Sputnik News, to mention just a couple. They write things, that while to a casual observer would appear to be true, the actual source content is often originally diametrically the opposite. If that makes me a troll so be it. Consider me the balance to the balance.
You’ve commented how some of your personal friends have communicated to you that you appear to be a Trump supporter and said, if they think that then you can see how others might think so too. You continually come down on Trump’s side (seriously, no matter what it is) and everyone else is a liar. You post things that the Executive Branch is doing that you oppose (as do I often) and call it the U.S., or Empire, or it’s one of Trumps underlings, but never criticize him.
Just because there isn’t enough “evidence” to indict a criminal conspiracy (ie. conspire to commit a crime together) doesn’t mean that (per the Mueller report) the Trump organization wasn’t highly receptive to what the Russians had to offer. “I love it!” Per D. Trump Jr. The criminal always knows the crime better than the investigators. Which is why Trump tried to obstruct the investigation, he knew he was guilty. And, per the M. investigation, If we thought Trump hadn’t obstructed justice we would have said so. Anyway, I’m done.
If you see that I am no longer posting, your site will have taken up residence with Kunstler’s and I’ll have gone the way of MoFlora.
P.S. Dump Dr. D and get Nicole back.
Peace out
And the daily coating of teflon for the Donald by TAE arrives on schedule. Only one person can activate emergency powers to sell arms to S.A. without congressional review, and that is the president. And yet the posting comment is “Empire.” The last two instances of “the emergency” were just prior to going to war in the M.E. Individuals start wars for the sake of Empire. Not vice versa!
From Dr. D… “Ugh. But do remember the minute we stop with violent, regressive, oppressive S.A., the Petrodollar and US$ will fall. You want that now? This minute? Or later? I mean, your choice.” Not saying you’re wrong! And yet U.S. export volume of refined petroleum products including gasoline are at all time highs even though U.S. demand is also high. Corporate empire/greed is transnational. They buy the politics/weapons they need/sell. One hand washing, you know!
Who’s judiciary is it that is invoking the espionage act to indict Assange? Obama’s declined to bring charges for the very reason of first amendment issues.
As to Kunstler: One of the posters in his comment section said it the other day. Ya gotta be getting paid to write this crap!
I’m pretty sure you’ll like this. Reminded me of some things I’d forgotten.
As to the baby being out of proportion…clearly you never saw my nephew at that age 🙂
V. thanks for the addition of your last sentence. I’ll make a point of looking at it though I’m not completely ignorant of the concept.
chett…nice to see someone is current on their fairy tales. Arctic ice free territory (arctic sea) and passages are currently being disputed between the arctic countries. Haven’t heard that Russia has planted its flag at the North Pole (under the sea)? China is planning arctic routes for shipping for certain times of year. Models are just that “models,” available scientific information and theory. Anyone with any notion of science would know that very little in science is conclusive! Additional data, aka, science! What ever the reason (suicide not fucking likely) Walruses went off a cliff. What’s your point!
V…perhaps you’re right and perhaps not. I won’t argue it either way. But what is the evidence that supports your statement and understanding of the subject. “I think?”. Spirituality and science are not antithetical to one another. Plenty can come from wrong understanding, especially when the “wrong” input is of the order of magnitude that established systems are significantly impacted. “Beings” “Gaia,” what have you, become diseased when their homeostatic balances are disturbed/perturbed for long enough that basic systems begin to transform into states that no longer support the current biological state, or Being if you prefer. Had any blood let recently to cure any “bad humours?” Understanding of systems and organisms does advance, No?”
“Climate change and the jet stream”
“Rising global temperatures from global warming are affecting the jet stream and, in turn, the weather. Because the Earth’s polar regions are warming more quickly than the rest of the world, the temperature contrast that drives jet streams has decreased. Slower, weaker jet streams have been linked to melting in Greenland and a potential rise in deadly weather events because they can lock weather systems into place, stalling them over regions.”
“Studies also have linked a warming Arctic with more severe winter weather in the United States (and elsewhere, mine PC), even though other reports note that on average, winter cold snaps are actually getting warmer because of climate change. Part of this link involves the polar vortex, a swirling low-pressure center at the North and South poles. An unstable polar vortex can expand and send cold Arctic air into the jet stream, leading to frigid winter weather and storms southward.”
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/weather/reference/jet-stream/
“Just think about John Bolton as a human being
I saw that quote a while back and I’ve been trying, but it’s really hard. I could imagine him as a walrus, that I could handle, and then Pompeo could be the Eggman, coo-coo ca-choo.”
I love it, best laugh I’ve had so far today.
I don’t refer to it as the United States of Monopoly for nothing. The world continues on its relentless trek down the road of corporatocracy. The new feudalism. Corporations are persons and money is speech. How profane the great experiment in democracy has become. If something is free you’re a product not a customer.
OH! And once again. It has nothing to do with whether Mueller is a good guy or a nefarious scoundrel. It has nothing to do with whether the report is even accurate or not. It’s the misrepresentation for corrupt purposes and the lie to congress that is the crime.
From the Unz Report (where you got The Disinformationists). By Andrew Napolitano (of Fox News fame)
http://www.unz.com/anapolitano/did-the-attorney-general-deceive-congress/
“What’s going on here? It is clear that Barr’s four-page letter, about which Mueller complained to Barr and some of Mueller’s team complained to the media, was a foolish attempt to sanitize the Mueller report. It was misleading, disingenuous and deceptive. Also, because Barr knew that all or nearly all of the Mueller report would soon enter the public domain, it was dumb and insulting.
Barr knows the DOJ is not in the business of exonerating the people it investigates. Yet he proclaimed in his letter that Trump had been exonerated. When the report revealed 127 communications between Russian agents and Trump campaign officials in a 16-month period, and the expectations of those officials of the release of Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails, that is hardly an exoneration.
Was Barr’s testimony before Congress deceptive? In a word: Yes.
In a bit of bitter irony, the statute that the House Democrats now claim Barr violated is the same obstruction of justice statute that Mueller says the president violated — engaging in deceptive or diversionary behavior for a corrupt purpose in order to impede a government investigation or inquiry. This is a gravely serious charge against the attorney general. Barr’s prosecutors regularly prosecute defendants for doing what it now appears Barr has done. And the president last weekend added fuel to this fire by changing his mind on whether he will allow Mueller to testify publicly about his report. He now won’t permit it.”
In my opinion Barr did it because he knew that for Trump acolyte’s that would be enough. Case closed! Nothing to see here. Move along. These are not the crimes you’re looking for.
This from the actual Northwestern Study (not RT).
“Is there simply more news produced on the left? It appears so. We confirmed this by searching the GDELT database of news articles for the same queries we used to audit Google. In GDELT there were 2.2 times as many articles from left-leaning sources as right-leaning sources. But in Google Top Stories that ratio was 3.2, indicating that the curation algorithm was slightly magnifying the left-leaning skew in comparison to the GDELT baseline.”
“Another aspect of Google’s news curation is the timeliness of articles selected. Just how quickly does Google churn through news content? Since the Top Stories box provides the approximate age of each article (e.g. “2 hours ago”), we were able to tabulate the recency of articles. What we found is that 83.5 percent of articles were less than 24 hours old and 13.1 percent were less than an hour old. What this means is that organizations that can generate fresh copy may be more apt to have that material selected by the curation algorithm.”
Once again RT takes information and twists it into the paradigm it wants to impress upon as many people as it can. How is it that Russian media, Fox news, and the GOP are so closely aligned conceptually? Rather strange to me, at least from an historical perspective.
So here’s what you do instead of making nonfactual partisan assertions. Go to Congress.gov. In the filter section check Legislation, 116th congress, House, Committee Consideration, Democratic. You’ll find 119 Democratic sponsored bills currently in committee. Bills such as these to name a few:
Global Fragility Act
DISASTER Act
Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act
Ocean Acidification Innovation Act of 2019
Indian Water Rights Settlement Extension Act
Ending Homelessness Act of 2019
Save the Internet Act of 2019
SAFE Banking Act of 2019
Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019
SAVE Right Whales Act
Protecting Consumer Access to Generic Drugs Act of 2019
State Health Care Premium Reduction Act
Local Water Protection Act
Albatross and Petrel Conservation Act
Aviation Funding Stability Act of 2019
Prohibiting Unauthorized Military Action in Venezuela Act
Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019
Venezuela Arms Restriction Act
Humanitarian Assistance to the Venezuelan People Act of 2019
Raise the Wage Act
Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Act
Climate Action Now Act
Directing the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress.
Paycheck Fairness ActI’ll refrain from stating the egregiously obvious here!
RE: Bolton, Pompeo, & Shanahan and their actions. The real question is, Where does the buck stop? Bolton was a known quantity before he was appointed and as the article states, has no command authority. That Israeli intelligence is behind the motivation is not a good sign either and indicates in my mind that Pence is involved, not to mention Jared Kushner. If it’s true that Trump doesn’t want war, and that’s a mighty big IF, then this is truly one of the most pathetic examples of Executive Branch governance in modern history.
Had people listened to Scott Ritter in the run up to the Iraq War, as well as the State Department at the time, we would not be where we are today in the middle east. Both Ritter and the State Department knew there were no WMD in Iraq and so stated. Cheney was the big mover and shaker for war then and I would not be surprised if Pence is now as well. He’s just a lot more low key about it given his likely Presidential aspirations. Cheney had no such desires.
In case anyone hadn’t figured out where the buck stops (see Truman), it stops at the top, ie. TRUMP! In spite of whether you can drag him away from Fox & Friends, Hannity, and his tweet rages or not.
Not doing something, and ordering your underling TO do something and them refusing to do it are two different things. One is just a bone spur issue and the other is a crime.
Current count 807.
I believe the other line in the letter about McGahn was, he was to “have Mueller fired.” But yes, I take your point. Trump is always thoughtful, measured, and logical in his actions, and if there is dirty work to be done he always does it himself. At least on TV anyway!
Over 600 Federal Prosecutors Say Trump Should Be Charged With Obstruction
636 at present count.
Over 600 Federal Prosecutors Say Trump Should Be Charged With Obstruction
Remember, Bill Clinton was impeached for obstruction of justice when there was no underlying crime.
Kind of boggles the mind why someone would commit a crime believing all the while they were innocent of one. Perhaps they know something that in the end wasn’t provable beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
M.A.S.H. Mueller Agreement Statement Honorarium.
Radar to Colonel Mueller: Here you go Sir, you need to sign this.
Mueller: What is it?
Radar: It’s just a letter to the Commanding A.G. regarding the teams feelings about how the media is misrepresenting all
of our hard work.
Mueller: Oh, okay!
General Barr: Hey Bob, what’s with the letter?
Colonel Mueller: Oh, it’s nothing Bill. Just some of the team are pissed off at the media.
Mueller to Radar: What was with that letter to General Barr? I didn’t mean any of that!
Radar to Mueller: Well you must have Sir, you signed it.Facebook doesn’t exclude people because of their political views (from what I see anyway). If they did Ann Coulter wouldn’t be on there as well as half of my family. They do it because of hate speech, racism, outrageous injurious conspiracy theories (Sandy Hook), the list goes on. And the most recent list of the banned are some of the most egregious examples. If they want to peddle their shit they have the entire internet to do so. Facebook at its essence is about people connecting with their friends and family, at least that’s the way it started out. My personal opinion about the newsfeed portion of FB ought to require them to meet the FCC requirements for a media organization.
If Facebook is covered by public accommodation laws, and I believe it is, political persuasion is not one of the protected classes covered by any state or federal law. Offensive behavior however is considered a valid reason to disallow accommodation. Walmart sets its own rules. One cannot disturb the peace, preach or proselytize in the isles, or bring the apples you picked from your apple tree and sell them in the produce section. You can’t go to a restaurant dressed in a speedo (or not) and harass the patronage with your view of chem trails. You’ll find your scantily covered ass out in the street whether you’re a protected class or not. The private entity sets its own rules within the parameters set forth by the civil rights act, whether federal or state. Public accommodation laws do not imply completely free and unfettered access. The FCC disallows certain language over the “airways.” Free speech has its limitations as well. If the aggrieved individuals in the current instances with Facebook feel they have been unjustly treated they are free to bring civil rights charges in court.
Facebook and Google are not monopolies. There is no overarching need for service such as Facebook and Google which is far different from Standard Oil and Bell Telephone which controlled important sectors necessary for society to function in its then current manifestation. No one needs to be on Facebook to function in life to their fullest extent. It is in reality a social network. If someone wants to communicate with “friends and family” they can send a letter with photos. I communicate with my daughter in Europe via Telegram (yes it’s via the internet). Facebook is just another avenue. I personally use Duck Duck Go as a search engine because it doesn’t keep a record of my searches. There are a whole host of other search engines. I also use hushmail as an email service because it’s a private service and I’m not a product like so many other so called free email services. Emails between hushmail participants is automatically encrypted. It’s also free up to so many megs. If I want to do move into the Gig range then I have to pay for the service which is rather nominal in the scheme of things, even for a poor person like me. Okay, so my margarita has rendered me too intellectually incapable to coherently to go on any further at this point. Ciao
Perhaps oversight hearing and confirmation hearing are truly different animals but then again maybe it’s ultimate hair splitting. But I seem to recall just last year the Repubs used a lawyer to question a private citizen, Christine Blasey Ford, in the Kavanaugh hearing. Perhaps I’m mistaken? Some memories are shorter than others!
I personally don’t like Facebook and my participation in it is purely utilitarian (semi-non-existent) which annoys some of my friends and family, and I’ve never tweeted nor do I read tweets. That said Facebook is a private company and not required by any stretch of the imagination to allow purveyor’s of yellow journalism, hate speech, conspiracy theories, etc., (yes those are my words) to make a living off of Facebook’s platform. They have no right to free speech on Facebook! Actually, they have no rights what so ever! In the event Facebook, google, etc. become classified as media companies then the rules and laws change though what gets published will still be subject to an editorial board. The likes of Alex Jones and his ilk won’t likely be in the news feed. The web is a big place, if Jones et.al. can find a following, bully for them. There will still be restrictions on them even then. Fighting words, libel, etc.
Even the most cursory google search will tell you that dolphins, sea lions, and beluga whales have been and are being used by both the US and Russian military’s since the 1960’s. The US Navy’s program NMMP is in San Diego.
If past is precedent then Russia is most certainly capable of expanding empire, defensive perimeter, area of influence. Call it what you will. Soviet satellite countries remember Soviet dominance all too vividly and is why they were eager to join NATO. That’s not to say that the US/NATO didn’t renege on it’s deal with Russia against NATO expansion and eastern Europe has always been Russia’s Achilles heel, Ukraine and Belarus in particular. Russia would never allow Crimea to be taken up by NATO. That said Russia is not some Putin enabled altruistic paradise. Any man who has been in power for 26 years (at end of current term) and is currently seeking to change the constitution to remain in power is a dictator, plain an simple. Russia is controlled by a criminal oligarchy. Not that much of the rest of the world isn’t controlled by nefarious means as well. How else could we have the level of income disparity that is currently in place? Well, okay, perhaps it’s because in part because people vote against their own self interests. Stupid is as stupid does.
It’s interesting how when it’s Trump’s policy and his policy alone (along with his enabling sycophantic advisers), like the current oil policy with Iran, it’s the U.S. doing it. No mention of Trump. Remember that Iran treaty Trump pulled out of?
When Brits protest his upcoming Tea and Crumpets with the Queen it’s “clean up your own house.” They’re stuck with their own buttheads but they damn sure don’t have to be happy with inviting some excitotoxin addled (see diet cokes) pussy grabber for a settee with the Queen. Nope, no bias for Trump on this website!
Verret first called for Trump’s impeachment in a series of tweets on Saturday. He continued to argue the severity of Trump’s apparent misconduct in a statement issued Tuesday by Checks & Balances, a group of conservative and libertarian attorneys…
Finished a second read through the Mueller Report (Verret). I don’t say this lightly, as a life long Republican, former R Hill staffer, and someone who has worked on every R campaign and pre-transition team for the last ten years. There is enough here to begin impeachment proceedings.
“Depending on how you count, roughly a dozen separate instances of obstruction of justice are contained in the Mueller report,” Verret wrote. “The president dangled pardons in front of witnesses to encourage them to lie to the special counsel, and directly ordered people to lie to throw the special counsel off the scent.”
“We believe the framers of the Constitution would have viewed the totality of this conduct as evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors,” the group said in the statement. “Accordingly, Congress, which carries its own constitutional oversight responsibilities, should conduct further investigation.”
Truthdig…The Man Who Saw Trump Coming a Century Ago. (The link wouldn’t post)
As Galbraith pointed out in his 2008 book The Predator State, the frustrated predators of the twenty-first century sneakily changed tactics: they aimed to capture the government themselves, to become the state. And so they have. In the Trump era, they have created a government in which current regulators are former lobbyists for the very predators they are supposed to restrain. Similarly, the members of Trump’s cabinet are now the saboteurs: shrinking the State Department, starving public schools, feeding big Pharma with Medicare funds, handing over national parks and public lands to “developers,” and denying science and climate change altogether, just to start down a long list. Meanwhile, our Predator President, when not golfing, leaps about the deconstruction site, waving his hands and hurling abuse, a baron of distraction, commanding attention while the backroom boys (and girls) demolish the institutions of law and democracy.
…when those very plutocrats actually captured the government and owned the state, a Gilded Business Man would arise to become a kind of primitive Warlord and Dictator. He would then preside over a new and more powerful regime and the triumph in America of a system we would eventually recognize and call by its modern name: fascism.
