I am wondering why the evidence of the administation's connections to Russia is such a concern? No one seems to mind when administrations have connections to Israel or other "allied" nations.
He wants to deny the least of us anything. Pence is no Christian if he doesn't recognize the spirit of God in his fellow living creatures, animal and human, on this planet. That's not me. That's the Old and New Testament.
Born Again Christians are really just Social Darwinists on the Right. The Left really does have the correct side - one the tends towards social justice - on this argument. Pence and Trump are patently un-Christian (as are Republicans and their supporters in general).
Bill you have a point. After watching and hearing the reactions over Milo, and then listening to sound bites of Milo, I could not help but think of how Milo will now have a solid cult following. You ain't heard the last from St. Milo he is now part of the twenty teens of this new century. The bad news is how will the world respond to what Milo is preaching?
Here's a guy, Richard Clarke, who we know from Bush II's administration, talking about the amateurism and upheaval in Trump's NSC from the perspective of 9/11
The point is that all this stuff now coming out of the Trump administration is setting us up for a nightmare of inconceivable proportions, apart from its simple foolishness.
When/if something bad does happen over the next 4 years, which these guys are practically begging for, we'll be wishing for the good ol' days of Dubya.
What the future has in store for the US is incomprehensible.
"the Republicans seem to be uncharacteristically open minded"
That phrase is so far removed from reality it merits becoming one for the ages.
An open-minded Republican: what a contradiction in terms.
Even after hearing the conversation of “Pussy grabbing” & other revelations, women decided (Men too) to vote & put him in the White House, It clearly shows the:
“… the low moral and ethical standards of the American people…”.
Even if the people like Bannon resign. Milo & others like him are eliminated: they will still be handsomely rewarded like J Gordon Liddy & Col. Oliver North, to become TV talk show hosts & analysts.
Empty slogans to make America Great again is no more than a slogan, America is already GREAT.
Point (1) is hardly a concession - it is what any occupying power is supposed to do. Still, nice to know that he is admitting that the current policy is to squeeze the Palestinians.
Point (2) is nothing: the weasel-worded "a willingness to negotiate the components with Arab states" doesn't mean negotiating a peace deal on that basis, but instead means a willingness to act as an editor and re-write what's in the Arab Initiative.
Point (3) doesn't actually involve Israel at all - it is a set of instructions for what the Arab states have to do, at the end of which Netanyahu will agree to stand next to them for a photo-op.
Part (4) will - as it always does - flounder on a simple fact: Netanyahu will insist on having sole authority to define what is a "bloc" and what isn't, and he'll define it as "anywhere we are building".
Point (5) can not be taken seriously - he's asking the President of the most powerful country on earth to stand up and announce "Hey everyone! I just want to tell you that I'm Bibi's Bitch! "
To be more specific, Pence is a "Seven Mountains" Dominionist, a faux-Christian political movement which attracts those who want our country to be a theocracy with them in charge.
This and similar scandalous events reveal much that is deplorable about the main characters in the stories but also, probably much more seriously, a greater defect in the American people. In the long-ago past the careers of the principal figure or figures in a scandal would be finished. In extreme cases they would commit suicide. In our present era of decadence the perpetrators, when caught, engage in public relations campaigns. If successful, they continue to operate in high positions with power and commit similar and sometimes greater tragedies. This is made possible by the low moral and ethical standards of the American people and their attendant silence. If more people rose and spoke out in protest then we might see more resignations and firings.
Instead, a broad consensus of the American people agreed Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were two of the worst candidates ever to run for president. Nevertheless, more than 120 million people considered one or the other acceptable instead of voting "none of the above."
According to what I have read, Bannon's initial appointment does not require Senate confirmation. However, if he becomes a member of the NSC board, the membership which is spelled out in law, he should be required to get Senate confirmation. Since the Republicans control the Senate, the question then becomes if they bow to Trump or insist on their institutional right.
By your standards, America was a one-party state in 1860. No objective person could deny that both North and South were ruled by capitalists. Yet we still had a Civil War.
There is a pervasive attitude from the early days of the republic that diplomatic relations between governments is a game of kings - which was pretty true 200 years ago - and that those kings (and the Pope, and the Jewish bankers, and any powerful institution that has committed the crime of not being controlled by Anglo businessmen) are plotting against America. Unfortunately, the greater diversity of government since those days has not taught Americans to spend more effort distinguishing which governments have which motives and which sorts of relationships with them are proper. For 160 years we went with isolationism as a crude catch-all, then suddenly were plunged into a hegemonic position at the very top of the international order.
In other words, Americans have no real experience in power-sharing with other countries as equals. It sounds to them like some sort of welfare scam, especially if the country isn't as White or capitalist as America is. If we can't be giving all the orders, we want to have no relations at all.
Isn't time to ditch the 2 state solution and start advocating against Isreali apartheid. Shift the focus to giving Palestinians civil rights, voting, and political parties?
There'll be no deal. The only hope was when Israel was genuinely threatened (motivated). Think Camp David I, and they even played that to their ends. A rather brilliant and extraordinarily profitable case of making lemonade out of lemons.
The only reason there's bee this drama through the years has been to fleece the US, and of course to not feel so guilty about what they have been up to.
Yes, these smears have been believed by the bottom feeders, that make Trump's base.
In order to get a feel for this constituency I make a point of following the fake news site zerohedge.com where there is a fair share of those cretins.
This "ouside-in" business is noteworthy, representing a strategic shift in how Israel is pressing its rather transparent agenda.
Whereas before they'd just scream in outrage whenever the Palestinian s made any feeble attempt at self-defense (often provoking things for just this reason), they're now shifting to the demonization of Iran as a unifying point for mobilization, especially with the US.
Methinks they judge their project effectively done, with the current degree and momentum of colonization.
What remains is follow-through. AND, more free money and arms from the US: hence a bigger bogeyman.
Not that Iran is particularly benign. But shifting the focus to a matter of regional geopolitical balancing shows the irrelevance of the Palestinians going forward.
Injustice alway leads people into the hands of the extreme. Pity the US / UK axis decided that democracy wasn't what Iran needed in the 1950's, or that the House of Saud was the right choice to rule Saudi Arabia.
The US is a one party state. The Democrats also believe in privatising everything - and of course in socialising corporate debt.
As Chris Hedges describes, the Dems use the language of "I feel your pain" while serving the interests of the powerful. The Republicans are at least more honest about their intentions.
This, while awful, is refreshing, because people now seem to be awakening from their slumber of the past eight years when that "charming president" dropped 20,000 bombs a year and Libya was turned from the most prosperous nation in Africa to another typical post US regime change disaster zone.
Ahhh... you guys are delusional. Trump never mentioned a terror attack AT ALL in Sweden. Period. End of story.
He said that Sweden has numerous problems following their large refugee influx.
Do you all have problems with the English language or something? All you need to do is actually watch the speech.
See E. O. Wilson, an excellent socio-biologist who notes a simple hard and fast biological rule about eusocial animal societies (whether termites, ants, humans, or a number of other species): Selfish individuals thrive and altruistic individuals fail, while selfish societies fail but altruistic ones thrive. It's pretty clear which course ours has now taken.
Should be "Sweden’s former Prime Minister" .The one who in one wikileaked message from the USA embassy was described as "A Medium-Sized Dog with Big Dog Attitude".
My opinion, unsupported by any data, but I believe it nonetheless -- Trump's hardcore supporters have been feeding on a diet of hatred for "liberals," "the Democrat party," intellectuals, the media, etc. (all euphemisms for Jews) for over 20 years now via Fox and Limbaugh. It's been engraved pretty deeply at this point.
They don't know, understand, or even care what Trump is actually doing. As long as he's driving us crazy, it must be good. They love Trump because they hate us.
There must be something fundamentally flawed within the present security vetting process that allows persons such as Steve Bannon to have access to the critical infrastructure apparatus and information. That he is within an arms length of the nuclear football [launch code authenticator], has made a nightmare come true. Conversely, maybe I am finally officially crazy, as I am seeing these nightmares while I am awake!
Resigning would be an admission of error, on their part and/or the part of the Authoritarian. And that just can't be done, not if you want to build an authoritarian state.
Lower level minions might get sacrificed, from their pov I'll bet that includes the Flynn guy, but the leader and his closest comrade will be privileged. I think that if Trump knows anything, he knows he needs Bannon to stay.
How does one get their head completely around the prospect of 4 years of this, ranging from daily deranged tweets to painful incompetence to a deliberate strategy of self a destruction.
Bear in mind that all of this stuff compounds and takes on a life of its own. Not to mention actions have consequences that cannot be undone.
I had not made the association between Bannon and Milo...interesting. According to "Fake News" there is a small group ready to turn in their resignations if Milo is not fired. This comes on the heels of his book deal being canceled as well as his invitation to speak to the "Family Values" Protestants at CPAC, a group that is fine with pu$$y grabbing but not so much with pedophilia.
You realize as the days go by that Trump is surrounded with scum, and that these low life elements play a huge part in the Trump administration corrupting our system, challenging it, and trying to shape it to their twisted ways. If this was part of the Hillary Clinton administration, the right would be howling with outrage, playing the part of indignant Americans who are besides themselves at how immoral the Clinton administration is, but here you are, the Republicans seem to be uncharacteristically open minded, accepting racists, disturbing connections to Russia, tweeter wars, the feuds with Australia and Sweden, and Bannon, all in their stride. There is no hope for this country. It is run by rotten eggs with disturbing connections be it Russia or a man named Milo who seem to approve of pedophilia.
As someone born and brought up a Roman Catholic, I am intrigued by how many of the wingnuts in and around the Trump administration are not just political extremists, but also extremist Catholics (Pence, Gorsuch, Bannon, Yiannopoulos, Gorka).
I don't know if peace fosters peace. Asia has basically been at peace since the China-Vietnam war, and now everyone's trying to make claims on the oceans and rioting at any offense by their neighbors. Europe has been largely at peace since 1945, and hateful bigots are talking more and more voters into seeing immigrants as terrorists. America is full of people sniffing around for excuses to destroy all that we learned from the Civil War and the Depression and the Civil Rights struggle.
And the aggressors in each case are comfortable, basically middle-class, certainly better off than they were during the 2008 crash.
The U.S. thugs did not want to "keep the Somali's in the U.S."; they would have sent them back to Somalia.
I grew up and was educated in the U.S. but 40 years ago, I left for a professional opportunity (as a certified translator) in Canada. While in the U.S., I Iived through the civil rights struggle and the Viet-Nam war. I experienced or read about some really bad actions by the government, but I never expected to live to see what's going on now.
The Electoral College has put a malignant and delusional narcissist in power. The world is watching and is frightened by what they see.
Perhaps the time has come to put the Statue of Liberty in the the Smithsonian Museum with a sign quoting John Greenleaf Whittier: “For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'.”
This is what he suggested, below. Point number 4 is not new. Bush had approved it.
1. The approval of large-scale Palestinian construction and advancement of economic initiaves in Area C in the West Bank, where Israel maintains security control, the approval of infrastructuve projects in the Gaza Strip, closer coordination with the Palestinian Authority, including allowing entry of weapons needed by its security forces.
2. Positive public references by the Israeli goverment to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, also known as the Saudi initiative, including a willingness to negotiate the components with Arab states.
3. The support and active participation of Arab states in a regional peace summit, including dispatching senior officials from Saudi Arabia , the UAE and other Sunni states to a public gathering attended by Netanyahu.
4. Practical American recognition of construction in the settlements blocs, in exchange for a freeze outside those areas.
5. A guarantee by the then-Obama administration to bloc any moves against Israel at the United Nations, including the use of its veto power at the Security Council.
Of course you're right. Israel has always held the upper-hand on the ground, as well as the power needed to bankroll any potential peace through the US.
Israel's actions have never been sincere: only the need to keep up appearances, domestically and internationally, while consolidating the boundaries conquered in 1967,
You see, for purposes of Israel and Jewish collective ego, especially given their tragic history, it just doesn't do to have them do what they're doing too blatantly. Things have to be done delicately. Aside, of course, from the untold billions (now trillions?) they've managed to con out of the US over the years.
There's never really been that much to discuss here, at least between informed, clear-eyed adults. Except, perhaps, how easily childish people are able to kid themselves about something when they want to believe in it so badly (e.g., the illusion of Israeli Good Faith).
A favorite quote, very appropriate. - "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." H. L. Mencken
YEAH, and now you have Jared Kushner wanting an 'outside' peace deal that may 'look like' the arab plan but is centered on building a coalition of Arab states against Iran. He is willfully ignorant of ME politics. The 'best' he can do is waste more time in false peace initiatives while Israel swallows up more Palestinian land.
The Bolsheviks invented agit/prop. Trump's a master of it. Agit/prop uses symbols, slogans, pictures and other short communication means to reach people. The most effective example was the Bolshevik slogan "Bread. Land. Peace" which helped mobilize the massive outpourings during the October Revolution. Trump's is not so elegant: "Lock her up" "Build the Wall" etc. Twitter is agit/prop DEFINED.
How delusional could Kerry have been if he believed Netanyahu and his cohort of right-wing racists would accept a peace plan that would preclude Israel from completing the Zionist plan of transferring all Palestinians out of their territory?
Any overly devout person, drooling racist or privileged xenophobe who can be motivated into acts of violence and destruction is a potential “terrorist” irrespective of skin shade.
" Trump made up another alleged terrorist attack at his rally on Saturday, this one about a figment of his imagination that did not actually take place in Sweden on Friday night "
Despite statements by the security leadership of Sweden disputing his wild post-campaign bull•••• self-aggrandizing rants spewed in low-information regions of our country, the •••clown in Chief persists.
“Give the public a break - The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2017
Maybe someone in the maladministration could read this to the INSANE ILLITERATE POTUS?
Why should Israel make any concessions to the Palestinians?
Militarily, the Israelis are infinitely stronger than the Palestinians, and 150 years of Zionist thinking has fixed all of Palestine, and then more, as land which belongs to Jews by either divine right or historical right - the so-called "Land of Israel". This is a universal understanding within Israel.
The Israelis are taking over all of Palestine as fast as they can and displacing the Palestinians into disparate disjointed Bantustans, or encouraging their emigration, - in effect, ethnic cleansing.
American politicians are either ignorant of what is going on, too shallow minded to think critically, or are intentionally burying their head in the sand.
The status quo suits Israel perfectly, because it is not a static status quo but a dynamic one in which Israel is expanding like a cancer.
As for peace, Israel already has peace - peace at the barrel of a Uzi.
Juan you remarked sarcastically, "Sure. A comprehensive peace with the Arab League states..would doom Israel." I've long thought that Israel could not long survive peace. The different groups of Jewish Israelis don't like each other very much. Without a real or imagined common enemy what's to stop them from going at each other's throats?
trump is a bad extra in a horribly expensive and long hollywood movie fiasco. he is not the director. he is not the writer. he is not the movie company. he is an extra just reading a couple of lines poorly. hillary might have read the lines better but it would have been the same script. actually i am not sure she would have read the lines any better. give trump a break. cant blame him for everything.
The unrestricted rampant waste water injection activity in Oklahoma is triggering ever increasing numbers of stronger and stronger earthquakes. Here is the last 30 days - link to earthquake.usgs.gov
Pruitt has done NOTHING to protect Oklahoma citizens and property from forced fossil-fuel extraction greed and corruption.
Now, Scott Pruitt will be allowed to unleash pure poison into our atmosphere and water on behalf of those he slavishly serves. This man is truly dangerous in his loyalties and IGNORANCE. link to theatlantic.com
Hmm 61/120 is an exceedingly weak position. Have past "coalitions" been as weak as that?
One would think that PMs that had strong backing would be in a much more tenable position to both succeed in seeking peace and enhancing their personal position. Are these assumptions reasonable?
Now that the "peace process" has been fully exposed as the sham cover for colonization that it always was, Israel is pushing an alliance against the "evil and dangerous" Iran as the new cover. He apparently has a willing accomplice in Trump, and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States are on board, at least sort of behind the scenes, as well as Egypt and probably Jordan and other Sunni states.
So things are looking rosy for Netanyahu's plan to simply keep the status quo and slowly nibble away all Palestinian rights. He can live with occasional outbreaks of violence and loss of a few Israeli and lots of Palestinian lives. With the unlimited military, financial and diplomatic support of the US government, he, and most Israelis, are quite content with the status quo.
This latest "trial balloon" eviscerating the Ukraine makes it extremely difficult to believe that we haven't been played by the Russians, with the aid and consent of Republicans in congress.
Of registered voters, not representing all eligible, the 2016 turnout was light;
A significant number of Trump voters were actually voting against HRC, not for Trump in a direct sense. This is my anecdotal perception, but I think the evidence would support it. I knew any number of people would couldn't conceive of T winning, so just used their vote to spite Clinton.
Then you get any number of ignorant and desperate for change folk, who were too naive to know how they were being manipulated, but who really aren't outright stupid.
Disaggregate things and the number of irredeemable Yahoos shrinks to background noise. This does assume there is competent leadership with inclusive programs and an involved polity.
So isn't it time Netanyahu and the zionists stopped playing the " Palestinians rejected peace deals", card, which was always ridiculous when you consider the 60 years long occupation, the on going land grabs and acres of illegal settlements, the blockades, the mowing of the lawn, the Palestinian kids being thrown in jail kidnapped in the middle of the night, and abused? Only the ignorant will keep believing that victims of an occupation prefers the status quo, the occupation, and keep suffering this way. Netanyahu was offered fighter jets worth millions of dollars just to get his behind to sit for peace talks, and they turned it down too. Israel has the upper hand and plenty of Palestinian land and water, and keeps offering the Palestinians a pittance. It is time Americans got wise to this stupid charade. Israel does not want peace, it prefers the status quo, so that they can continue to steal all the lands, and deprive the occupied of their freedom. Netanyahu has already said there will be no 2SS, so what is the world waiting for?
Shame on the Arab nations (Saudi Arabia) who are best buddies with the occupier, and who have ignored the plight of their own people Shame on them.
Thanks for the history lesson. As for your question: "If you keep rejecting peace, guess what you get?" -- what you get is more of the West Bank, plus more financial, military and diplomatic support from the US.
Netanyahu has been exceptionally adept at fooling the world by perpetuating the charade of the two-state solution despite his own admission that he was the person who killed the Oslo Accord. He has done this partly through doublespeak and partly by diverting attention from Israeli expansion by raising the bogus claim about Iran’s “nuclear weapons”.
As early as 1992, he predicted that Iran would be able to produce a nuclear weapon within three to five years. This has been his constant refrain right up to the present time, as we saw during his meeting with President Trump last week.
However, Netanyahu has not been the only Israeli leader who has misled the world about the Zionists’ real intentions. Right from the start, the Zionist leadership formally accepted the partition plan, giving the lion’s share of Palestine to the Jews who constituted a minority, but their real intention was the total annexation of the whole of Palestine. When Zionist leaders objected to the partition plan they were persuaded by Ben-Gurion to agree to official acceptance. However, in several secret meetings he made it clear that the partition borders were unacceptable and had to be rectified at the first opportunity. The minutes of those meetings reveal the real intentions of Ben-Gurion and hard-line Zionists, which was to annex the whole of Palestine. In July 1948, Ben-Gurion gave orders for the operation in Lydda and Ramleh, “Expel them”, and they did. Some 70% of Palestinians were expelled and the stealing of more and more territory has continued unabated. The Yinon Plan published in 1982 even envisaged a “greater Israel”, gobbling up some parts of the Middle East outside the Palestinian territory.
In addition to numerous UN resolutions declaring Israeli settlements in occupied territory illegal, in 2004 the International Court of Justice by a 14-1 majority also declared the wall built deep into Palestinian territory and the occupation of Palestinian lands illegal.
It is time to implement international law and to stop this vicious plan of expansion, because if it continues under the most pro-Israeli, anti-Arab and Islamophobic administration in America’s entire history nothing will be left of Palestine and the rights of dispossessed Palestinians.
It doesn't matter how careful a plan be laid before them, the only way to achieve their withdrawal and the return to coherent life of the erstwhile inhabitants is force. Since they are armed to the hilt, it needs global ostracisation to bring them to order. Quite apart from the appalling indignities and suffering their naked colonialism lays on innocent people, it is accomplished with total disregard for the supranational institutions put in place precisely to protect the values of that level of civilisation to which most of our world has evolved, values to which they pay not even lip service. That unleashes the worst elements in human nature and is arguably responsible for most of the bloody discord in that area. Peace fosters peace and the corollary is even more true. This is not peculiar to the Middle East, you see it in any area where gangs and gangsterism develop until whole communities live in fear.
Funny, I was just reading something over at the Wash Post site claiming an entirely different history, that Kerry's initiative was doomed from the start as neither side --which this write defined as Netanyahu and Abbas -- made any kind of move off their previous positions.
I do give a lot of credibility to this report, but I'd like to see more Arab voices saying it did happen. The Arab league states, presumably led by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, etc., were really ready to co-sign a peace treaty with Israel ??
Was it so tenuous that Kerry couldn't even hint at it? If such a big institutional change actually was in the realm of real possibility, that would have been a game-changer, one leak of it would have changed history.
A very intriguing story, obviously still developing.
It is shocking how Trump can get away with things where if President Obama or Clinton had done those things, Republicans would have put Obama and Clinton on trial for treason. It's becoming horrifying shocking. And, little children don't tell the truth to their parents? Parents tell them to stop lying and punish them. Husband or wife or companion cheat they say "you lied to me!" When is the national media going to start calling Trump a liar? Everyday people will be called liars if we lie. But not Trump?
The thing to remember is, this is not about plucky Russia standing up to the evil American empire to liberate us all from Wall Street. This is about a corrupt right-wing petro-state that wants the world divided Orwell-style between several Wall Streets, each subservient to a right-wing tycoon/tyrant who runs a government as his private property supported by a populist henchman cult. There is no room for democracy in this model, or dissent, or a free press, because each tyranny is absolute within its sphere of influence.
Well, that is consistent with plotting to undermine the Lincoln Amendments - which the far-right skulking around on the Internet has been pimping since the '90s.
The only way to do it is the way the Virginia plantation owners did it in the 1670s. Enslave one portion of the working class under a caste label, and elevate another portion and hand them the whips. We've come full circle.
Someone recently pointed out that a nation of settlers is not the same as a nation of immigrants. Settlers come to conquer and impose their values on all who live there. Then they turn around and claim immigrants want to do the same, but they're wrong. The immigrants want at most a share of power. But even that is an abomination to the settler mentality of absolutism.
it is worth thinking about why the intelligence community is leaking so much this time, when it hasn't done so in the past. Seeing the CIA and Pentagon using their power to deligitimize an elected President is a bit scary.
I think you're on to something, and it is something that has been on my mind for a while now.
I think we're looking at this in the wrong way.
Yes, there are elements of fascism in Trumpism, but, as you stated, I think there is also an element of anarchy - an anarchy that could partially explain the obsession with Russia by the Trumpists, with its roots being in 19th century Russian anarchism/socialism.
Let's call this "anarcho-fascist Trumpism."
Of course Trump doesn't have the intellect to formulate or interpret any of this, but I think someone in his sphere is quite enamored of Russian history vis-a-vis the methods of revolutionary transformation.
Trumpism as a "People's Will" movement, more concerned with nihilism and chaos than with any coherent political ideology. Instead of the two-headed Goebbels, Bannon and Miller are more aligned with a Bakunin and/or a Nechaev.
The former pushing an economically neoliberal populism, while the latter a socialistic populism - both of which were doomed to failure because of their authoritarian underpinnings.
Obviously, this is not a perfect comparison, and I only offer it as a starting point in the alternative to the "Trumpism as Nazism" premise.
It's late Sunday night, and I'm a bit punchy, so feel free to dismiss or just laugh off.
I'll probably do the same in the a.m...LOL
There is a very basic division in human nature between the individually and the cooperatively minded, the bumble and the honey bee, with the former possessing an inborn sense of superiority.
That's really the whole issue isn't it? All those Trump supporters. Maybe not a majority of US adults, but perhaps 40% or so. That's enough to keep the whole neo-Nazi project alive and well until Reichstag Fire time comes.
And yes, they are not just an amorphous group or stupid people or deplorables. In fact, as far as I can tell there weren't too many "working class" voters for Trump despite all that media stuff about it. They seem to be professionals and business owners. I know a few and they are in pretty good financial shape, for the moment anyway.
So the question is: will events and decency and reason move them from their support of Trump? And I think the answer is a big NO.
Here's why...it's an anecdote. From today. The short version.
So I live in a small town in the Southwest. Votes Democratic, mostly. And so does the county. But get a little further out and there are plenty of solid Republican areas. There are ranchers, university professors, artists and retirees.
I was talking with someone I know slightly. He's a successful small business owner. Makes a decent living in town. I like him and we were discussing an idea that we share for a business. Maybe. He was complaining about how unreliable his low-paid help was. I suggested he pay them more. He didn't respond and instead went on about how people had been living off the government for generations and it was time to end all of that. He didn't want to be paying for lazy people's bills. Cut off the supply of free money and maybe they'd do something useful. And so on. You've probably heard it all before.
So here's the shocker. I told him that really implementing a complete elimination of all those government programs would amount to Social Darwinism. He knew exactly what I was talking about. He didn't quite smile, but gave me a look that I understood very well.
Do you understand? There are a significant minority of Americans who believe that ALL government programs need to be eliminated. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps. Subsidies for art and science. Free school lunches...all of it. Unions. Labor laws. Environmental laws. Etc. All completely eliminated. And they know very well that it will impoverish and kill million upon millions of people. It’s what they want, without saying it directly.
They know very well what the result of the most extreme Trump/Republican agenda will be.
Donald Trump has, and continues, to aid and abet an immigrant to evade the proper protocols for obtaining residency and citizenship in the United States of America. His wife purportedly supplied false and misleading information to Federal immigration authorities to obtain said residency and citizenship. Not one single person should be deported from this country prior to this issue being addressed by Congress and resolved.
My own opinion is that the die hard Trump supporters number maybe one third of the electorate. He has another 8 to 10-% that can swing his way depending on the situation. He got 46% of the vote and that was inflated by about 2.5% points because of the Comey letter.For example, he got almost all Republican votes, many holding their nose because they couldn't stand the idea of Clinton winning and appointing a liberal to the Supreme Court. There are a lot of independents who lean right and with things like the email propaganda and the Comey letter, voted for Trump because they ignored the warning signs and figured he was the lesser of two evils. Trump's favorability rating is now 38%. Bush got down to the mid to upper 20's by the time he left office, so i think Trump could get down as low as the low 30's within this year, depending on developments. On the effect of the Comey letter, see link to vox.com
They are of a different intellect. They are angry, racist, and brainwashed by Limbaugh, Hannity, and Ted Nugent. They will believe anything as long as it is against the "liberals" who in their minds has destroyed the nation. Ironic they cannot see it happening right now.
Yes, the Washington Post reported that the man fired his gun in the pizzeria and traumatized children and families
"US inspired" ?
Are you implying this was a copycat crime ? Or a rigged one in response to Trump's comments.
Keep on doing your good work, Juan. A quick fact check: were shots fired at the pizzeria?
I am wondering why the evidence of the administation's connections to Russia is such a concern? No one seems to mind when administrations have connections to Israel or other "allied" nations.
Yes, drain the swamp of Bannon.
Apologies to swamps for the insult.
He wants to deny the least of us anything. Pence is no Christian if he doesn't recognize the spirit of God in his fellow living creatures, animal and human, on this planet. That's not me. That's the Old and New Testament.
Born Again Christians are really just Social Darwinists on the Right. The Left really does have the correct side - one the tends towards social justice - on this argument. Pence and Trump are patently un-Christian (as are Republicans and their supporters in general).
Bill you have a point. After watching and hearing the reactions over Milo, and then listening to sound bites of Milo, I could not help but think of how Milo will now have a solid cult following. You ain't heard the last from St. Milo he is now part of the twenty teens of this new century. The bad news is how will the world respond to what Milo is preaching?
Travis I hear ya, but I think that's why they invented ESPN and all those Desperate Housewives shows.
Oh and don't forget to stock up on duct tape!
There were real choices then (1860), not smokescreens for hidden agendas.
Here's a guy, Richard Clarke, who we know from Bush II's administration, talking about the amateurism and upheaval in Trump's NSC from the perspective of 9/11
link to theatlantic.com
The point is that all this stuff now coming out of the Trump administration is setting us up for a nightmare of inconceivable proportions, apart from its simple foolishness.
When/if something bad does happen over the next 4 years, which these guys are practically begging for, we'll be wishing for the good ol' days of Dubya.
What the future has in store for the US is incomprehensible.
"the Republicans seem to be uncharacteristically open minded"
That phrase is so far removed from reality it merits becoming one for the ages.
An open-minded Republican: what a contradiction in terms.
Just to add a little bit more, Bill:
Even after hearing the conversation of “Pussy grabbing” & other revelations, women decided (Men too) to vote & put him in the White House, It clearly shows the:
“… the low moral and ethical standards of the American people…”.
Even if the people like Bannon resign. Milo & others like him are eliminated: they will still be handsomely rewarded like J Gordon Liddy & Col. Oliver North, to become TV talk show hosts & analysts.
Empty slogans to make America Great again is no more than a slogan, America is already GREAT.
Point (1) is hardly a concession - it is what any occupying power is supposed to do. Still, nice to know that he is admitting that the current policy is to squeeze the Palestinians.
Point (2) is nothing: the weasel-worded "a willingness to negotiate the components with Arab states" doesn't mean negotiating a peace deal on that basis, but instead means a willingness to act as an editor and re-write what's in the Arab Initiative.
Point (3) doesn't actually involve Israel at all - it is a set of instructions for what the Arab states have to do, at the end of which Netanyahu will agree to stand next to them for a photo-op.
Part (4) will - as it always does - flounder on a simple fact: Netanyahu will insist on having sole authority to define what is a "bloc" and what isn't, and he'll define it as "anywhere we are building".
Point (5) can not be taken seriously - he's asking the President of the most powerful country on earth to stand up and announce "Hey everyone! I just want to tell you that I'm Bibi's Bitch! "
Honestly, the chutzpah...
To be more specific, Pence is a "Seven Mountains" Dominionist, a faux-Christian political movement which attracts those who want our country to be a theocracy with them in charge.
This and similar scandalous events reveal much that is deplorable about the main characters in the stories but also, probably much more seriously, a greater defect in the American people. In the long-ago past the careers of the principal figure or figures in a scandal would be finished. In extreme cases they would commit suicide. In our present era of decadence the perpetrators, when caught, engage in public relations campaigns. If successful, they continue to operate in high positions with power and commit similar and sometimes greater tragedies. This is made possible by the low moral and ethical standards of the American people and their attendant silence. If more people rose and spoke out in protest then we might see more resignations and firings.
Instead, a broad consensus of the American people agreed Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were two of the worst candidates ever to run for president. Nevertheless, more than 120 million people considered one or the other acceptable instead of voting "none of the above."
According to what I have read, Bannon's initial appointment does not require Senate confirmation. However, if he becomes a member of the NSC board, the membership which is spelled out in law, he should be required to get Senate confirmation. Since the Republicans control the Senate, the question then becomes if they bow to Trump or insist on their institutional right.
By your standards, America was a one-party state in 1860. No objective person could deny that both North and South were ruled by capitalists. Yet we still had a Civil War.
There is a pervasive attitude from the early days of the republic that diplomatic relations between governments is a game of kings - which was pretty true 200 years ago - and that those kings (and the Pope, and the Jewish bankers, and any powerful institution that has committed the crime of not being controlled by Anglo businessmen) are plotting against America. Unfortunately, the greater diversity of government since those days has not taught Americans to spend more effort distinguishing which governments have which motives and which sorts of relationships with them are proper. For 160 years we went with isolationism as a crude catch-all, then suddenly were plunged into a hegemonic position at the very top of the international order.
In other words, Americans have no real experience in power-sharing with other countries as equals. It sounds to them like some sort of welfare scam, especially if the country isn't as White or capitalist as America is. If we can't be giving all the orders, we want to have no relations at all.
Mr. Cole,
I wish you wouldn't feel the necessity to use such a polite term as "deeply flawed". "Lying bastard" would do just as well.
Isn't time to ditch the 2 state solution and start advocating against Isreali apartheid. Shift the focus to giving Palestinians civil rights, voting, and political parties?
There'll be no deal. The only hope was when Israel was genuinely threatened (motivated). Think Camp David I, and they even played that to their ends. A rather brilliant and extraordinarily profitable case of making lemonade out of lemons.
The only reason there's bee this drama through the years has been to fleece the US, and of course to not feel so guilty about what they have been up to.
Yes, these smears have been believed by the bottom feeders, that make Trump's base.
In order to get a feel for this constituency I make a point of following the fake news site zerohedge.com where there is a fair share of those cretins.
This "ouside-in" business is noteworthy, representing a strategic shift in how Israel is pressing its rather transparent agenda.
Whereas before they'd just scream in outrage whenever the Palestinian s made any feeble attempt at self-defense (often provoking things for just this reason), they're now shifting to the demonization of Iran as a unifying point for mobilization, especially with the US.
Methinks they judge their project effectively done, with the current degree and momentum of colonization.
What remains is follow-through. AND, more free money and arms from the US: hence a bigger bogeyman.
Not that Iran is particularly benign. But shifting the focus to a matter of regional geopolitical balancing shows the irrelevance of the Palestinians going forward.
Injustice alway leads people into the hands of the extreme. Pity the US / UK axis decided that democracy wasn't what Iran needed in the 1950's, or that the House of Saud was the right choice to rule Saudi Arabia.
What have we done to the world?
The US is a one party state. The Democrats also believe in privatising everything - and of course in socialising corporate debt.
As Chris Hedges describes, the Dems use the language of "I feel your pain" while serving the interests of the powerful. The Republicans are at least more honest about their intentions.
This, while awful, is refreshing, because people now seem to be awakening from their slumber of the past eight years when that "charming president" dropped 20,000 bombs a year and Libya was turned from the most prosperous nation in Africa to another typical post US regime change disaster zone.
Pence has left the Catholic faith. He's a born-again Christian.
Ahhh... you guys are delusional. Trump never mentioned a terror attack AT ALL in Sweden. Period. End of story.
He said that Sweden has numerous problems following their large refugee influx.
Do you all have problems with the English language or something? All you need to do is actually watch the speech.
Shocking, I know.
Maybe you can't see past your own long noses?
See E. O. Wilson, an excellent socio-biologist who notes a simple hard and fast biological rule about eusocial animal societies (whether termites, ants, humans, or a number of other species): Selfish individuals thrive and altruistic individuals fail, while selfish societies fail but altruistic ones thrive. It's pretty clear which course ours has now taken.
FAUXNews is currently blowing U.S. inspired minor incidents of vandalism in Sweden far out of proportion.
link to foxnews.com
And where an illiterate POTUS gets his facts.
Should be "Sweden’s former Prime Minister" .The one who in one wikileaked message from the USA embassy was described as "A Medium-Sized Dog with Big Dog Attitude".
It will live in my heart like Bowling Green... forever.
Perhaps they discussed the subject over a pizza?
"Dropping" Milo from 10,000 feet would have been much more appropriate.
My opinion, unsupported by any data, but I believe it nonetheless -- Trump's hardcore supporters have been feeding on a diet of hatred for "liberals," "the Democrat party," intellectuals, the media, etc. (all euphemisms for Jews) for over 20 years now via Fox and Limbaugh. It's been engraved pretty deeply at this point.
They don't know, understand, or even care what Trump is actually doing. As long as he's driving us crazy, it must be good. They love Trump because they hate us.
There must be something fundamentally flawed within the present security vetting process that allows persons such as Steve Bannon to have access to the critical infrastructure apparatus and information. That he is within an arms length of the nuclear football [launch code authenticator], has made a nightmare come true. Conversely, maybe I am finally officially crazy, as I am seeing these nightmares while I am awake!
Should they? Yes. Will they? Of course not.
Resigning would be an admission of error, on their part and/or the part of the Authoritarian. And that just can't be done, not if you want to build an authoritarian state.
Lower level minions might get sacrificed, from their pov I'll bet that includes the Flynn guy, but the leader and his closest comrade will be privileged. I think that if Trump knows anything, he knows he needs Bannon to stay.
Here's a thought:
How does one get their head completely around the prospect of 4 years of this, ranging from daily deranged tweets to painful incompetence to a deliberate strategy of self a destruction.
Bear in mind that all of this stuff compounds and takes on a life of its own. Not to mention actions have consequences that cannot be undone.
I had not made the association between Bannon and Milo...interesting. According to "Fake News" there is a small group ready to turn in their resignations if Milo is not fired. This comes on the heels of his book deal being canceled as well as his invitation to speak to the "Family Values" Protestants at CPAC, a group that is fine with pu$$y grabbing but not so much with pedophilia.
I agree with allot of what you say but cannot grasp why anyone believes good U.S. relationships anywhere isn't good for America.
You realize as the days go by that Trump is surrounded with scum, and that these low life elements play a huge part in the Trump administration corrupting our system, challenging it, and trying to shape it to their twisted ways. If this was part of the Hillary Clinton administration, the right would be howling with outrage, playing the part of indignant Americans who are besides themselves at how immoral the Clinton administration is, but here you are, the Republicans seem to be uncharacteristically open minded, accepting racists, disturbing connections to Russia, tweeter wars, the feuds with Australia and Sweden, and Bannon, all in their stride. There is no hope for this country. It is run by rotten eggs with disturbing connections be it Russia or a man named Milo who seem to approve of pedophilia.
As someone born and brought up a Roman Catholic, I am intrigued by how many of the wingnuts in and around the Trump administration are not just political extremists, but also extremist Catholics (Pence, Gorsuch, Bannon, Yiannopoulos, Gorka).
I don't know if peace fosters peace. Asia has basically been at peace since the China-Vietnam war, and now everyone's trying to make claims on the oceans and rioting at any offense by their neighbors. Europe has been largely at peace since 1945, and hateful bigots are talking more and more voters into seeing immigrants as terrorists. America is full of people sniffing around for excuses to destroy all that we learned from the Civil War and the Depression and the Civil Rights struggle.
And the aggressors in each case are comfortable, basically middle-class, certainly better off than they were during the 2008 crash.
I think people just got bored.
Propaganda.
That word, so misunderstood by too many Americans, needs to be now typed prominently by all journalist's with a conscience.
Part of Propaganda is to instill confusion. The "fake news" mantra does just that.
Trump may be a, um, not an historian, but people writing his words are. Otherwise they would not be so good with their Propaganda.
@Chip Pitfield: This is exactly what our Canadian press is reporting, with photos.
link to shawglobalnews.files.wordpress.com
The U.S. thugs did not want to "keep the Somali's in the U.S."; they would have sent them back to Somalia.
I grew up and was educated in the U.S. but 40 years ago, I left for a professional opportunity (as a certified translator) in Canada. While in the U.S., I Iived through the civil rights struggle and the Viet-Nam war. I experienced or read about some really bad actions by the government, but I never expected to live to see what's going on now.
The Electoral College has put a malignant and delusional narcissist in power. The world is watching and is frightened by what they see.
Perhaps the time has come to put the Statue of Liberty in the the Smithsonian Museum with a sign quoting John Greenleaf Whittier: “For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been'.”
Here is Netanyahu's offer at the secret summit:
link to timesofisrael.com
This is what he suggested, below. Point number 4 is not new. Bush had approved it.
1. The approval of large-scale Palestinian construction and advancement of economic initiaves in Area C in the West Bank, where Israel maintains security control, the approval of infrastructuve projects in the Gaza Strip, closer coordination with the Palestinian Authority, including allowing entry of weapons needed by its security forces.
2. Positive public references by the Israeli goverment to the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, also known as the Saudi initiative, including a willingness to negotiate the components with Arab states.
3. The support and active participation of Arab states in a regional peace summit, including dispatching senior officials from Saudi Arabia , the UAE and other Sunni states to a public gathering attended by Netanyahu.
4. Practical American recognition of construction in the settlements blocs, in exchange for a freeze outside those areas.
5. A guarantee by the then-Obama administration to bloc any moves against Israel at the United Nations, including the use of its veto power at the Security Council.
I figure Trump is one Russian Wikileak away from Leavenworth.
No -- some of them are drooling kleptomaniacs.
Just because "Iran" and "Aryan" derive from the same root, that doesn't make them white people.
These weak attempts to broker peace by a totally inexperienced man, will only waste tax payer money. It is already a fool's errand.
Of course you're right. Israel has always held the upper-hand on the ground, as well as the power needed to bankroll any potential peace through the US.
Israel's actions have never been sincere: only the need to keep up appearances, domestically and internationally, while consolidating the boundaries conquered in 1967,
You see, for purposes of Israel and Jewish collective ego, especially given their tragic history, it just doesn't do to have them do what they're doing too blatantly. Things have to be done delicately. Aside, of course, from the untold billions (now trillions?) they've managed to con out of the US over the years.
There's never really been that much to discuss here, at least between informed, clear-eyed adults. Except, perhaps, how easily childish people are able to kid themselves about something when they want to believe in it so badly (e.g., the illusion of Israeli Good Faith).
Over the objections of the spineless weasels in Congress, Uncle Sam should close the checkbook until Israel makes a peace deal.
Look at this video? And easy to find.
link to nytimes.com
A favorite quote, very appropriate. - "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." H. L. Mencken
link to brainyquote.com
"your implied denigration of people who shop at WalMart and mega-churchgoers is bigoted and offensive." Not implied and statistically very correct.
Care to refute?
YEAH, and now you have Jared Kushner wanting an 'outside' peace deal that may 'look like' the arab plan but is centered on building a coalition of Arab states against Iran. He is willfully ignorant of ME politics. The 'best' he can do is waste more time in false peace initiatives while Israel swallows up more Palestinian land.
Last time I checked this wasn't Russia.
Mop your drool.
If you think all Trump supporters are drooling racists, etc., you are what the Social Democrats in Russia used to call 'infintile leftists.'
Geez, your implied denigration of people who shop at WalMart and mega-churchgoers is bigoted and offensive.
It is scary. Unfortunately, not as scary as Trump.
The Bolsheviks invented agit/prop. Trump's a master of it. Agit/prop uses symbols, slogans, pictures and other short communication means to reach people. The most effective example was the Bolshevik slogan "Bread. Land. Peace" which helped mobilize the massive outpourings during the October Revolution. Trump's is not so elegant: "Lock her up" "Build the Wall" etc. Twitter is agit/prop DEFINED.
Those faces are from the Persian Empire which embraced Central Asia. They are not Iranian.
The man is probably Russian.
How delusional could Kerry have been if he believed Netanyahu and his cohort of right-wing racists would accept a peace plan that would preclude Israel from completing the Zionist plan of transferring all Palestinians out of their territory?
Any overly devout person, drooling racist or privileged xenophobe who can be motivated into acts of violence and destruction is a potential “terrorist” irrespective of skin shade.
Your basic armed-to-the-teeth Trump supporter.
" Trump made up another alleged terrorist attack at his rally on Saturday, this one about a figment of his imagination that did not actually take place in Sweden on Friday night "
SO, WHAT DID HE ACTUALLY SAY?.
Here is a great bumper-sticker based on your satire.
Sweden + Blowing Green = Never Forget
It would sell like crazy at WAL•MART and in wide-screen church parking lots.
Despite statements by the security leadership of Sweden disputing his wild post-campaign bull•••• self-aggrandizing rants spewed in low-information regions of our country, the •••clown in Chief persists.
“Give the public a break - The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2017
Maybe someone in the maladministration could read this to the INSANE ILLITERATE POTUS?
link to csmonitor.com
Why should Israel make any concessions to the Palestinians?
Militarily, the Israelis are infinitely stronger than the Palestinians, and 150 years of Zionist thinking has fixed all of Palestine, and then more, as land which belongs to Jews by either divine right or historical right - the so-called "Land of Israel". This is a universal understanding within Israel.
The Israelis are taking over all of Palestine as fast as they can and displacing the Palestinians into disparate disjointed Bantustans, or encouraging their emigration, - in effect, ethnic cleansing.
American politicians are either ignorant of what is going on, too shallow minded to think critically, or are intentionally burying their head in the sand.
The status quo suits Israel perfectly, because it is not a static status quo but a dynamic one in which Israel is expanding like a cancer.
As for peace, Israel already has peace - peace at the barrel of a Uzi.
Juan you remarked sarcastically, "Sure. A comprehensive peace with the Arab League states..would doom Israel." I've long thought that Israel could not long survive peace. The different groups of Jewish Israelis don't like each other very much. Without a real or imagined common enemy what's to stop them from going at each other's throats?
trump is a bad extra in a horribly expensive and long hollywood movie fiasco. he is not the director. he is not the writer. he is not the movie company. he is an extra just reading a couple of lines poorly. hillary might have read the lines better but it would have been the same script. actually i am not sure she would have read the lines any better. give trump a break. cant blame him for everything.
and what would hillary be doing if she was the emperor?
The unrestricted rampant waste water injection activity in Oklahoma is triggering ever increasing numbers of stronger and stronger earthquakes. Here is the last 30 days - link to earthquake.usgs.gov
Pruitt has done NOTHING to protect Oklahoma citizens and property from forced fossil-fuel extraction greed and corruption.
Now, Scott Pruitt will be allowed to unleash pure poison into our atmosphere and water on behalf of those he slavishly serves. This man is truly dangerous in his loyalties and IGNORANCE.
link to theatlantic.com
Hmm 61/120 is an exceedingly weak position. Have past "coalitions" been as weak as that?
One would think that PMs that had strong backing would be in a much more tenable position to both succeed in seeking peace and enhancing their personal position. Are these assumptions reasonable?
Now that the "peace process" has been fully exposed as the sham cover for colonization that it always was, Israel is pushing an alliance against the "evil and dangerous" Iran as the new cover. He apparently has a willing accomplice in Trump, and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States are on board, at least sort of behind the scenes, as well as Egypt and probably Jordan and other Sunni states.
So things are looking rosy for Netanyahu's plan to simply keep the status quo and slowly nibble away all Palestinian rights. He can live with occasional outbreaks of violence and loss of a few Israeli and lots of Palestinian lives. With the unlimited military, financial and diplomatic support of the US government, he, and most Israelis, are quite content with the status quo.
Does hyper-partisan behavior enabling a TRAITOR disturb anyone else?
Hammer on your Congressperson for real action! Never mind being put on someone’s “enemies” list.
. Not certain this story is correct; the US Border Patrol wished to keep the Somali's in the US? Somehow I kind of doubt that 😀
This latest "trial balloon" eviscerating the Ukraine makes it extremely difficult to believe that we haven't been played by the Russians, with the aid and consent of Republicans in congress.
Republican candidate Richard Nixon sent a message, via envoy Anna Chennault, to the South Vietnamese autho… link to t.co
Someone else can cite actual numbers, but:
Of registered voters, not representing all eligible, the 2016 turnout was light;
A significant number of Trump voters were actually voting against HRC, not for Trump in a direct sense. This is my anecdotal perception, but I think the evidence would support it. I knew any number of people would couldn't conceive of T winning, so just used their vote to spite Clinton.
Then you get any number of ignorant and desperate for change folk, who were too naive to know how they were being manipulated, but who really aren't outright stupid.
Disaggregate things and the number of irredeemable Yahoos shrinks to background noise. This does assume there is competent leadership with inclusive programs and an involved polity.
Terrorism training is part of the political science courses?
Only one kills? It's a major difference.
- This is an unmitigated shame.
So isn't it time Netanyahu and the zionists stopped playing the " Palestinians rejected peace deals", card, which was always ridiculous when you consider the 60 years long occupation, the on going land grabs and acres of illegal settlements, the blockades, the mowing of the lawn, the Palestinian kids being thrown in jail kidnapped in the middle of the night, and abused? Only the ignorant will keep believing that victims of an occupation prefers the status quo, the occupation, and keep suffering this way. Netanyahu was offered fighter jets worth millions of dollars just to get his behind to sit for peace talks, and they turned it down too. Israel has the upper hand and plenty of Palestinian land and water, and keeps offering the Palestinians a pittance. It is time Americans got wise to this stupid charade. Israel does not want peace, it prefers the status quo, so that they can continue to steal all the lands, and deprive the occupied of their freedom. Netanyahu has already said there will be no 2SS, so what is the world waiting for?
Shame on the Arab nations (Saudi Arabia) who are best buddies with the occupier, and who have ignored the plight of their own people Shame on them.
Thanks for the history lesson. As for your question: "If you keep rejecting peace, guess what you get?" -- what you get is more of the West Bank, plus more financial, military and diplomatic support from the US.
Netanyahu has been exceptionally adept at fooling the world by perpetuating the charade of the two-state solution despite his own admission that he was the person who killed the Oslo Accord. He has done this partly through doublespeak and partly by diverting attention from Israeli expansion by raising the bogus claim about Iran’s “nuclear weapons”.
As early as 1992, he predicted that Iran would be able to produce a nuclear weapon within three to five years. This has been his constant refrain right up to the present time, as we saw during his meeting with President Trump last week.
However, Netanyahu has not been the only Israeli leader who has misled the world about the Zionists’ real intentions. Right from the start, the Zionist leadership formally accepted the partition plan, giving the lion’s share of Palestine to the Jews who constituted a minority, but their real intention was the total annexation of the whole of Palestine. When Zionist leaders objected to the partition plan they were persuaded by Ben-Gurion to agree to official acceptance. However, in several secret meetings he made it clear that the partition borders were unacceptable and had to be rectified at the first opportunity. The minutes of those meetings reveal the real intentions of Ben-Gurion and hard-line Zionists, which was to annex the whole of Palestine. In July 1948, Ben-Gurion gave orders for the operation in Lydda and Ramleh, “Expel them”, and they did. Some 70% of Palestinians were expelled and the stealing of more and more territory has continued unabated. The Yinon Plan published in 1982 even envisaged a “greater Israel”, gobbling up some parts of the Middle East outside the Palestinian territory.
In addition to numerous UN resolutions declaring Israeli settlements in occupied territory illegal, in 2004 the International Court of Justice by a 14-1 majority also declared the wall built deep into Palestinian territory and the occupation of Palestinian lands illegal.
It is time to implement international law and to stop this vicious plan of expansion, because if it continues under the most pro-Israeli, anti-Arab and Islamophobic administration in America’s entire history nothing will be left of Palestine and the rights of dispossessed Palestinians.
It doesn't matter how careful a plan be laid before them, the only way to achieve their withdrawal and the return to coherent life of the erstwhile inhabitants is force. Since they are armed to the hilt, it needs global ostracisation to bring them to order. Quite apart from the appalling indignities and suffering their naked colonialism lays on innocent people, it is accomplished with total disregard for the supranational institutions put in place precisely to protect the values of that level of civilisation to which most of our world has evolved, values to which they pay not even lip service. That unleashes the worst elements in human nature and is arguably responsible for most of the bloody discord in that area. Peace fosters peace and the corollary is even more true. This is not peculiar to the Middle East, you see it in any area where gangs and gangsterism develop until whole communities live in fear.
Funny, I was just reading something over at the Wash Post site claiming an entirely different history, that Kerry's initiative was doomed from the start as neither side --which this write defined as Netanyahu and Abbas -- made any kind of move off their previous positions.
I do give a lot of credibility to this report, but I'd like to see more Arab voices saying it did happen. The Arab league states, presumably led by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, etc., were really ready to co-sign a peace treaty with Israel ??
Was it so tenuous that Kerry couldn't even hint at it? If such a big institutional change actually was in the realm of real possibility, that would have been a game-changer, one leak of it would have changed history.
A very intriguing story, obviously still developing.
It is shocking how Trump can get away with things where if President Obama or Clinton had done those things, Republicans would have put Obama and Clinton on trial for treason. It's becoming horrifying shocking. And, little children don't tell the truth to their parents? Parents tell them to stop lying and punish them. Husband or wife or companion cheat they say "you lied to me!" When is the national media going to start calling Trump a liar? Everyday people will be called liars if we lie. But not Trump?
The thing to remember is, this is not about plucky Russia standing up to the evil American empire to liberate us all from Wall Street. This is about a corrupt right-wing petro-state that wants the world divided Orwell-style between several Wall Streets, each subservient to a right-wing tycoon/tyrant who runs a government as his private property supported by a populist henchman cult. There is no room for democracy in this model, or dissent, or a free press, because each tyranny is absolute within its sphere of influence.
Well, that is consistent with plotting to undermine the Lincoln Amendments - which the far-right skulking around on the Internet has been pimping since the '90s.
The only way to do it is the way the Virginia plantation owners did it in the 1670s. Enslave one portion of the working class under a caste label, and elevate another portion and hand them the whips. We've come full circle.
Someone recently pointed out that a nation of settlers is not the same as a nation of immigrants. Settlers come to conquer and impose their values on all who live there. Then they turn around and claim immigrants want to do the same, but they're wrong. The immigrants want at most a share of power. But even that is an abomination to the settler mentality of absolutism.
it is worth thinking about why the intelligence community is leaking so much this time, when it hasn't done so in the past. Seeing the CIA and Pentagon using their power to deligitimize an elected President is a bit scary.
I think you're on to something, and it is something that has been on my mind for a while now.
I think we're looking at this in the wrong way.
Yes, there are elements of fascism in Trumpism, but, as you stated, I think there is also an element of anarchy - an anarchy that could partially explain the obsession with Russia by the Trumpists, with its roots being in 19th century Russian anarchism/socialism.
Let's call this "anarcho-fascist Trumpism."
Of course Trump doesn't have the intellect to formulate or interpret any of this, but I think someone in his sphere is quite enamored of Russian history vis-a-vis the methods of revolutionary transformation.
Trumpism as a "People's Will" movement, more concerned with nihilism and chaos than with any coherent political ideology. Instead of the two-headed Goebbels, Bannon and Miller are more aligned with a Bakunin and/or a Nechaev.
The former pushing an economically neoliberal populism, while the latter a socialistic populism - both of which were doomed to failure because of their authoritarian underpinnings.
Obviously, this is not a perfect comparison, and I only offer it as a starting point in the alternative to the "Trumpism as Nazism" premise.
It's late Sunday night, and I'm a bit punchy, so feel free to dismiss or just laugh off.
I'll probably do the same in the a.m...LOL
...
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There is a very basic division in human nature between the individually and the cooperatively minded, the bumble and the honey bee, with the former possessing an inborn sense of superiority.
Just keep in mind who's really at the helm, and what's not being told of those actions!
That's really the whole issue isn't it? All those Trump supporters. Maybe not a majority of US adults, but perhaps 40% or so. That's enough to keep the whole neo-Nazi project alive and well until Reichstag Fire time comes.
And yes, they are not just an amorphous group or stupid people or deplorables. In fact, as far as I can tell there weren't too many "working class" voters for Trump despite all that media stuff about it. They seem to be professionals and business owners. I know a few and they are in pretty good financial shape, for the moment anyway.
So the question is: will events and decency and reason move them from their support of Trump? And I think the answer is a big NO.
Here's why...it's an anecdote. From today. The short version.
So I live in a small town in the Southwest. Votes Democratic, mostly. And so does the county. But get a little further out and there are plenty of solid Republican areas. There are ranchers, university professors, artists and retirees.
I was talking with someone I know slightly. He's a successful small business owner. Makes a decent living in town. I like him and we were discussing an idea that we share for a business. Maybe. He was complaining about how unreliable his low-paid help was. I suggested he pay them more. He didn't respond and instead went on about how people had been living off the government for generations and it was time to end all of that. He didn't want to be paying for lazy people's bills. Cut off the supply of free money and maybe they'd do something useful. And so on. You've probably heard it all before.
So here's the shocker. I told him that really implementing a complete elimination of all those government programs would amount to Social Darwinism. He knew exactly what I was talking about. He didn't quite smile, but gave me a look that I understood very well.
Do you understand? There are a significant minority of Americans who believe that ALL government programs need to be eliminated. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps. Subsidies for art and science. Free school lunches...all of it. Unions. Labor laws. Environmental laws. Etc. All completely eliminated. And they know very well that it will impoverish and kill million upon millions of people. It’s what they want, without saying it directly.
They know very well what the result of the most extreme Trump/Republican agenda will be.
Donald Trump has, and continues, to aid and abet an immigrant to evade the proper protocols for obtaining residency and citizenship in the United States of America. His wife purportedly supplied false and misleading information to Federal immigration authorities to obtain said residency and citizenship. Not one single person should be deported from this country prior to this issue being addressed by Congress and resolved.
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My own opinion is that the die hard Trump supporters number maybe one third of the electorate. He has another 8 to 10-% that can swing his way depending on the situation. He got 46% of the vote and that was inflated by about 2.5% points because of the Comey letter.For example, he got almost all Republican votes, many holding their nose because they couldn't stand the idea of Clinton winning and appointing a liberal to the Supreme Court. There are a lot of independents who lean right and with things like the email propaganda and the Comey letter, voted for Trump because they ignored the warning signs and figured he was the lesser of two evils. Trump's favorability rating is now 38%. Bush got down to the mid to upper 20's by the time he left office, so i think Trump could get down as low as the low 30's within this year, depending on developments. On the effect of the Comey letter, see link to vox.com
Fox News supported Clinton to the hilt? Those are alternative facts.
They are of a different intellect. They are angry, racist, and brainwashed by Limbaugh, Hannity, and Ted Nugent. They will believe anything as long as it is against the "liberals" who in their minds has destroyed the nation. Ironic they cannot see it happening right now.