Hillary "Warmonger" Clinton == Obama 2.0, a Manchurian candidate fully controlled by financial oligarchy
"Being a neoconservative should receive at least as much vitriolic societal rejection as being a Ku Klux
Klan member or a child molester" ~Caitlin
Johnstone
Hillary Clinton is "a shifty, corrupt, lying shill, who cared
nothing for real progressive values… (Kevin
Drum). The only area in which she is highly qualified in selling out the American people to globalists.
This despicable Wahhabism appleaser (who pretends to be a fighter for women
and minorities rights) voted for Iraq war, was the butcher of Libya and Syria
and was instrumental in killing thousands of women and children in those two
countries. She accepted millions in "donations," from despotic Middle Eastern
regimes that stone women for adultery.
Her addiction to Wall Street money
and Saudi money like Bill addiction to sex is impossible to break. With the exception of a few social issues, Hillary Clinton is a right wing Republican.
Hillary Clinton can change her views in an instant on trade, guns, gay marriage, and all sorts
of issues, but she's consistent in this: she wants war.
Washington Examiner
"Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected, and nothing will change."
-- Barack Obama, 2008
Clintonism is about playing the "identity politics" as a bulwark against any
class or populist upheaval that might threaten neoliberalism.
"Clintonism's core identity is not, in other words, as a crusade for groups suffering from the
legacy and future threat of oppression by Trump's white male followers. It is a full-court press
to keep the wheels on the neoliberal sh*twagon as it careens down the road of globalization, and
it recognizes the importance in American democracy of slicing and dicing the electorate by identity
politics and co-opting useful demographics as the key to maintaining power... There is more to
Clintonism, I think, than simply playing the “identity politics” card to screw Bernie Sanders or
discombobulate the Trump campaign. “Identity politics” is near the core of the Clintonian agenda as
a bulwark against any class/populist upheaval that might threaten her brand of billionaire-friendly
liberalism."
China Matters
The key points
The whole Democratic Party is in trouble as it lost its key constituency. Probably for
long time. My feeling is that Dems already lost working class and large part of lower middle.
They became the party of professionals and Wall Street speculators. They systematically betrayed
union members since Bill Clinton and now the train probably left the station. By estimate of
union brass, probably three out of four union members will vote against Hillary this election
even if the union endorsed Hillary.
The way Hillary plays identity politics is viewed by many people, especially women as
completely dishonest. How she can a champion for woman and minorities right is she was
instrumental in killing so many women and children in Iraq, Libya and Syria? What about her
defense of 40yars old rapist of 12 years old girl? Those fact this alone our shadows Trump
"transgressions"? Looks like she overplayed her "identify politics" hand.
The fact that she is a neocon, warmonger, hell-bent on Russophobia (making it the
cornerstone of her election strategy) might backfire.She essentially converted
Democratic Party into War Party with Russophobia as a banner. Is this that different from
neofascism, if we replace Jews with Russians ? People do not want yet another
war, especially with Russia. Her (and Democratic Party) demonization of Putin is a very dirty
election play. Three wars for expansion of neoliberal empire seems to be way too much. Enough is
enough. Her idea of no fly zone in Syria is just a code word for full invasion. And
she is a staunch advocate of "humanizing bombing" of brown people. That might not help her with
minorities.
Her important weakness that people view her of compulsive, pathological liar. Few
people believe anything that she is promising. Most understand that she is lying and will "bait
and switch" them at first opportunity after assuming the office, much like Barack Obama did.
Her "identity politics" and her fake feminism are completely insincere. She is
completely numb to human suffering and interests of females and minorities. Looks like she has a
total lack of empathy for other people.
For most Sanders supporters she is a right wing Republican -- a wolf in sheep clothing.
Some might just prefer to vote for a real wolf, other for Jill Stein.
In case of election victory her win might well be a Pyrrhic victory. And the unknown
neurological disease that she has (Parkinson?) makes her even more vulnerable after the election.
The role of POTUS involves a lot of stress and requires substantial physical stamina as POTUS is
the center of intersection of all important government conflicts. She is a natural center of all
commutations within the government. That's a killing environment for anyone with Parkinson.
Possible impeachment and continued leaks might add to the stress too. And remember she was
not able to survive the pressure of the role of the Secretary of State when she was younger, in
much better physical and mental health and has an earlier stage of the disease.
Here is one exchange from naked capitalism blog that can extend this summary brings
several other interesting points (nakedcapitalism.com,
Oct 05, 2016)
Well, I would hope that informed voters who have a healthy fear of the military-industrial-political
complex will vote to keep the scariest of the two re: nuclear war out of office. This particular
concern is the reason why I will in all likelihood be voting for the man I've been ridiculing
for most of the past year, simply because I am terrified of the prospect of Hillary Clinton as
Commander-in-Chief.
Trump is a bad choice for a long list of reasons, but the most outrageous things he has
proposed require legislation and I think it will be possible to defeat his essential sociopathy
on that level, since he will face not only the opposition of the Dem Party, but also MSM and a
significant number of people from his own party.
But when it comes to the President's ability to put American 'boots on the ground' vs.
some theoretical enemy, no such approval from Congress is necessary. Hillary Clinton will be in
a position to get us into a costly war without having to overcome any domestic opposition to pull
it off.
What scares me is my knowledge of her career-long investment in trying to convince the
generals and the admirals that she is a 'tough bitch', ala Margaret Thatcher, who will not hesitate
to pull the trigger. An illuminating
article in the NY Times revealed that she always advocates the most muscular and reckless
dispositions of U.S. military forces whenever her opinion is solicited.
All of her experience re: foreign policy that she's been touting is actually the scariest
thing about her, when you look at what her historical dispositions have been. The "No Fly Zone"
she's been pushing since last year is just the latest example of her instinct to act recklessly,
as it directly invites a military confrontation with Russia.
Her willingness to roll the dice, to gamble with other people's lives, is ingrained within
her political personality, of which she is so proud.
Her greatest political fear-that she might one day be accused by Republicans of being "weak
on America's enemies"-is what we have to fear. That fear is what drives her to
the most extreme of war hawk positions, since her foundational strategy is to get out in front
of the criticism she anticipates.
It is what we can count on. She will most assuredly get America into a war within the first
6-9 months of her Presidency, since she will be looking forward to the muscular response she will
order when she is 'tested', as she expects.
How reckless is Trump likely to be? Well, like Clinton-and all other civilian Commanders-in-Chief,
Trump be utterly dependent upon the advice of military professionals in deciding what kind of
responses to order. But in the position of The Decider, there is one significant difference between
Trump and Clinton. Trump is at least willing and able to 1) view Putin as someone who is not a
threat to the United States and 2) is able/willing to question the rationality of America's continued
participation in NATO.
These differences alone are enough to move me to actually vote for someone I find politically
detestable, simply because I fear that the alternative is a high probability of war, and a greatly
enhanced risk of nuclear annihilation-through miscalculation-under a Hillary Clinton Presidency.
Excellent, really excellent summary. Thank you. Especially this observation:
"Her greatest political fear-that she might one day be accused by Republicans of being "weak
on America's enemies"-is what we have to fear. That fear is what drives her to the most extreme
of war hawk positions, since her foundational strategy is to get out in front of the criticism
she anticipates."
2. She (like most sociopaths, although it is unclear whether she is one or not) is not able
to apologize for mistakes. New York Times:
In the end, she settled on language that was similar to Senator John Kerry's when he was the
Democratic nominee in 2004: that if she had known in 2002 what she knows now about Iraqi weaponry,
she would never have voted for the Senate resolution authorizing force.
Yet antiwar anger has festered, and yesterday morning Mrs. Clinton rolled out a new response
to those demanding contrition: She said she was willing to lose support from voters rather
than make an apology she did not believe in.
"If the most important thing to any of you is choosing someone who did not cast that vote or
has said his vote was a mistake, then there are others to choose from," Mrs. Clinton told an
audience in Dover, N.H., in a veiled reference to two rivals for the nomination, Senator Barack
Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.
Her decision not to apologize is regarded so seriously within her campaign that some advisers
believe it will be remembered as a turning point in the race: either ultimately galvanizing
voters against her (if she loses the nomination), or highlighting her resolve and her willingness
to buck Democratic conventional wisdom (if she wins).
At the same time, the level of Democratic anger has surprised some of her allies and advisers,
and her campaign is worried about how long it will last and how much damage it might cause
her.
3. Due to her greed she and her close entourage represent a huge security risk. Emailgate had
shown that as for computer security she is an absolute zero. Absolutely, horribly incompetent
and absolutely, horribly greedy (the key idea of private server was to hide her "pay for play"
deals related to Clinton foundation). The same level of computer security incompetence is prevalent
in her close circle (Huma Abedin, Cheryl Mills, etc) .
4. She strongly believe in the neoconservative foreign-policy agenda by re-casting the neoconservatives'
goals in liberal-interventionist terms. In reality the difference between "liberal interventionism"
and Neoconservatism are pretty superficial (Kagan already calls himself liberal interventionalist)
and Hillary's willingness to infest a foreign-policy establishment with neocons is beyond any
doubt and comparable with Bush II.
As the recent Republican primary contest had shown neoconservatives have virtually no support
among the US voters. Their base is exclusively military-industrial complex. So the reason she
is reaching out to those shady figures is a deceptively simple: she shares common views, respects
their supposed expertise, and wants them in her governing coalition. That means that "… today's
Democrats have become the Party of War: a home for arms merchants, mercenaries, academic war planners,
lobbyists for every foreign intervention, promoters of color revolutions, failed generals, exploiters
of the natural resources of corrupt governments. …" (
http://crookedtimber.org/2016/09/27/donald-trump-the-michael-dukakis-of-the-republican-party/#comment-693421
)
5. She is completely numb to human suffering. She has a total lack of empathy for other people.
"... My life story is very similar to yours -- blue collar upbringing, worked graveyard shift in factories during college, made it all the way to Wall Street --- and I completely agree with you. The Democratic Party might have been the party of the working-class families many years ago, but it's absolutely not that now. ..."
"... The most interesting aspect of party realignment in almost every country is the movement of the Anglo-Saxon elites to the parties of leftist authoritarianism, whether in the UK, US, or Canada. Since elites have always had “fluid” political values, one can only assume that they see tyranny as our destiny. ..."
I am a retired attorney but was reared in a blue collar home. I have not lost the values I
learned where my father returned home from work six days a week as a railroad brakeman.
Thanks to my pre-law curriculum I am well read in history and literature. My undergrad major
was history and my minor literature.
Having acquired a love for reading in college I have read both all my life but it has not
changed me from the son my father reared. I worked construction and general labor jobs to
help pay for college and law school and am very aware of how hard those jobs are and I have a
healthy respect for the men and women who provide us with the essential goods and services we
all need.
I therefore have no use for attitude of most on the left and some on the right who have no
respect for average working people and small business.
It seems many in Britain have the same outlook. My Dad was very proud I became a lawyer
but I am just as proud of the job he performed to give me that chance.
SUBSCRIBER 5 hours ago
I therefore have no use for attitude of most on the left and some on the right who have no
respect for average working people and small business. It seems many in Britain have the same
outlook.
My life story is very similar to yours -- blue collar upbringing, worked graveyard
shift in factories during college, made it all the way to Wall Street --- and I completely
agree with you. The Democratic Party might have been the party of the working-class families
many years ago, but it's absolutely not that now.
SUBSCRIBER 4 hours ago
Most democrat leaders are career politicians like Obama, Biden, Pelosi and Schumer. They
never had a real job and paid any taxes. They love raising taxes for big government and dole
out. Can’t wait for midterm election and take back the congress. R
SUBSCRIBER 14 hours ago
The most interesting aspect of party realignment in almost every country is the
movement of the Anglo-Saxon elites to the parties of leftist authoritarianism, whether in the
UK, US, or Canada. Since elites have always had “fluid” political values,
one can only assume that they see tyranny as our destiny.
"... I doubt this narrative. I think that, much like the radicalization of conservatives, the radicalization of liberals is driven by the development of a media bubble. Not by real life experience, but rather by the lens through which that real life experience is framed by people mostly disconnected from the real life experiences they claim to have had. ..."
“No one under 65 today was an adult during the chaotic years of the
1970s and early 1980s. â€
Well, yes. It’s possible to mutter that old saw about financial
markets. That the disaster will only repeat itself when the people who remember it last time
around have just retired.
So, the joys of strong union power â€" just as a simple example â€"
are coming back into fashion as those Brits who recall 3 day weeks, perhaps that glorious
year of 1976 when the country was as equal as it ever has been, are fading over the hill.
It is the same point you’re making about generations and formative
experiences of course, just leading to a slightly different conclusion.
Soon enough those who saw, first hand, the disaster of Gosplan style government direction
of the economy will also be passing out of that sphere of political influence. Which is a joy
to look forward to, isn’t it?
Since at least 1960, it seems to me, generations’ self-image follows a
narrative about teenagers raised in families are like, how education transforms them, and how
“real life†sorts them. This narrative shifts as generational
change occurs, and both get more complicated, to the point where both seem essentially
rhetorical to me now. Though that may just be a middle aged reaction on the order of
“get off my lawn†(being just a few years too old to see truth
as linguistic, myselfâ€"it will be interesting to see how long this idea retains
its hold as “left†after earnest and striving undergraduates
are taught it over several decadesâ€"the reverse, maybe, of the leftward drift of
support for globalization and neoliberalism).
@1BTW, I am 65 and entered the workforce in 1978, almost identical to your case. So I
should have caught my own slipup
@11 I plan to make that point. We need to pay attention to what went wrong in the 1960s
and 1970s, as well as why the neoliberal response was such a disaster. Aim is to avoid the
cycles of error you mention
Coincidentally at Stumbling and Mumbling
On generational difference
…
Napoleon, then, was correct: “to understand the man you have to know what
was happening in the world when he was twenty.†Napoleon
…
Of course, not all 50-somethings share the formative experiences of my youth. David Cameron
and Boris Johnson are around my age. But the 1980 recession looked very different from Eton
than it did from a single-parent terraced house in inner-city Leicester.
Napoleon’s point still holds. Class matters, as well as age.
We could extend the point. One reason for the generational divide over Brexit is that
older folk who came to maturity before we joined the EU have the impression that we can do
well outside the EU, whilst younger folk who have known nothing but EU membership see no
reason to rock the boat.
I doubt this narrative. I think that, much like the radicalization of conservatives,
the radicalization of liberals is driven by the development of a media bubble. Not by real
life experience, but rather by the lens through which that real life experience is framed by
people mostly disconnected from the real life experiences they claim to have had.
@nobody9
â€By the time younger Democrats take control of the party, the GOP will have
seized enough control over the political process to keep the Democratic Party out of power
permanentlyâ€.
One interesting thing about the Reagan/Thatcher era “shift to the
right†in both the UK and the US is that it didn’t
involve a comparable shift in voter beliefs. (In contrast, I agree with JQ and most of the
commentators that the current shift to the left does involve dead righties being replaced by
18-year old lefties)
In the US, the Southern Strategy wasn’t about turning left-wing voters
into conservative voters â€" it was about turning southern conservative Democrats
who were already comfortable voting for Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond into southern
conservative Republicans. The centre-right + right was always a majority in America, the
Republicans just needed to hold their coalition together, which Nixon and later Reagan
did.
In the UK, Thatcher (and Major, although he did it on a higher-than-usual turnout) won
with the same 42-44% of the vote that the Conservatives had been losing with in the
1960’s â€" what changed is that the British left became (and
still are) completely unable to hold their coalition together.
The increasing rapidity of technological, economic and social change since the Industrial
Revolution 250 years ago has exhibited generational concomitants due to new careers
beginning, adaptations & adoptions, successes and victimizations. The mass media has
identified this generational process at least since the 1920’s Jazz Age.
What hasn’t changed since then are the faulty institutional dynamics of
finance capitalism and its deathdance with the two major blankslate alternatives, communism
and fascism. This became evermore apparent with the recent financial crash and increasing
inequality in the developed countries. Now a thousand podcasts, YouTubes and substacks are
exploding with gaseous reiterations, reinventing the wheel from all sides. But the
comprehensive synthesis of political economy has not much improved beyond the early
institutionalists, in particular WC Mitchell & JR Commons.
We are going to need BOTH markets and social welfare institutions. Markets for the
freedoms of choice and innovation, and for the dynamics of self-interest, profit,
competition, allocation and substitution. Social welfare institutions for the freedoms of
time and attention, and for the dynamics of reciprocity, altruism, risk protection, social
growth and ecological preservation. BOTH markets and social welfare institutions save costs
thus cause growth in different, complementary and necessary ways. BOTH have natural and
endemic failures of different kinds; they both need fixing all the time.
Political parties that reject neoliberalism (defined as “everything
should be marketized;†“the market is the best information
processorâ€) and wrap their heads around the necessary co-equal combination of
markets and social welfare institutions â€" and reiterate the need for BOTH in
each and every sentence of rhetoric they utter â€" are the ones that will
suceed.
The two Pew reports below from a few years ago do a nice job illustrating the differences
between generation/cohort effects and time effects. For instance, their graph of attitudes
towards same-sex marriage divided by generation illustrates nicely how overall variation in
attitudes are about equally due to generational differences and attitude change within
generations over time. Marijuana, by contrast, is less generational and more something that
changed equally for everyone over time.
And on the other hand, religiosity, marriage, and to a lesser degree partisan affiliation,
appear to be more generational (ie, fixed for an individual and more a function of when they
were born) and less likely to change within an individual over time.
So “ largely a matter of generational replacementâ€
is probably putting it too strongly. Depending on the attitude, changes in ideological
distributions over time may be due to different mixes of generational replacement and
within-generation attitudinal shifts.
I’m at the tail of the boomers, born in 1960. Here’s
my story.
I’ve never identified with the boomers at all. Their fantastic
achievements and activism were already pretty stale in my youth, though it was clear that
much fun was had. I grew up with stagflation, the (1st) Arab oil crisis, gas lines, the Iran
hostage debacle, and de-industrialization, all of which combined to give us Reagan and the
modern GOP, whose policies have made almost everything worse since then.
From my perch, Viet Nam is not what killed American prosperity of the post WW2 era, it was
the toxic brew of a changing oil-baswed economy crashing into the toxic situation in the
Middle East. This was the fulcrum that broke that system. We’ve been stuck
in that zone ever since. Christ, Biden is gonna pull the troops out of Iraq AFTER 20 YEARS
and it’s controversial? We are still living in that world that I grew up
in, and it’s not the Summer of Love. It sucks.
Needless to say, I have no love for any of our “Friends†in
the Middle East, not the Israelis, not the Saudis, not the Egyptians.
We’ve been played by all of them and I’m sad for all
the death and destruction America has been party to there. I feel that for most of my adult
life our country has lived in a tortured state with these people. It’s
been really harmful to the USA. I know we don’t have clean hands
â€" look at what we’ve done to Iran â€"
it’s not a surprise they don’t like us. I feel like we
just need to quit them all, but we can’t.
I’m not sure how that fits into the leftward shift. But the times
really do shape who you are and the things that happen when you are a young adult are very
strongly remembered indeed.
Regarding your footnote, the problem seems to be the human tendency to focus more on how
you get ahead inside your organisation rather than on how to get the entire organisation
ahead. A politician may not actually care about the threat that their party will never again
win an election as long as the donations keep flowing and a cushy corporate contract beckons
after leaving office.
derrida derider,
Not sure if it is that US-centric. Although individual elections and faces differ, the
fact is that deregulation, privatisation, and wage suppression have wreaked havoc across most
of the “Western†countries since c. late 70s/early 80s.
I am a 44 year old German living in Australia, and I cannot remember things ever getting
better since I become politically aware, new shiny gadgets aside. Increasing precarisation of
the workforce is a constant background noise, interest rates tend towards zero as wealth is
unable to find any profitable investment beyond buying commodities and infalting the next
bubble, and here in Australia the gulf between large numbers of people owning 2-3 investment
properties and even larger numbers of people being increasingly unable to even afford rent is
painfully obvious. I have never seen any reason to become more economically conservative than
I was as a teenager, although supposedly that is the fate of all who mature.
I am also fairly certain that the majority view in my and younger generations is far to
the left of political mainstream, whose position is largely informed by well-off, socially
conservative, and reliably voting retirees. The question is if generational shits will
ultimately matter, because the wealth of those retirees will ultimately be inherited by the
next lot.
Jonathan Monroe,
I was shocked recently to realise that Thatcher had only ever got that little of the vote,
given how fundamentally she then went on to change UK politics. The UK electoral system
really is bananas, but not all other countries have that excuse. Pretty much all
“Western†democracies currently face the problem of a block of
c. 40% people voting the traditional centre-right party no matter what it does, even if it
nominates a bag of potatoes as its top candidate or has been blatantly captured by the far
right. Mass media in the hands of the modern Hugenbergs helps with that, and not sure what
anyone can do about it.
Pretty much all “Western†democracies currently face the
problem of a block of c. 40% people voting the traditional centre-right party no matter
what it does …
Hmm. Which countries do you count as Western democracies, which do you count as the
traditional centre-right parties, and how much checking of the figures have you done? I
don’t know, but let’s look at some data without knowing
the answers to those questions.
In Japan, the Jiyu Minshuto consistently receives under 40% of the PR votes; in the
plurality voting for single-member constituencies, it generally gets over 40% of the vote but
fell below that mark in 1996 and again in 2009.
In Germany, the combined vote for the ‘Union’
parties (CDU and CSU) has fluctuated around the 40% mark: often over it, sometimes somewhat
under it.
In the UK, the vote for the Conservatives was well below 40% in 1997, 2001, 2005, 2010,
and 2015.
In French presidential elections, the variously named Gaullist predecessors of the
Republicans (as they are currently known) have not scored anywhere close to 40% of the vote
in the first round since 1969 (but could naturally do better in the second-round
two-candidate run-off, if they got into it). In legislative elections they have not been
close to 40% in the first round since 1968, and in the second round have been well under that
mark more often than over it.
In Italy, no single party has reached 40% of the vote since 1958.
In Spain, the PP has exceeded 40% of the vote only in 2000 and in 2011 and has often been
well under that mark.
In Canada, there was a time when the Conservatives might get over 40% of the vote, but in
recent elections they have fluctuated between slightly under 40% and well under 40%.
In Australia, the combination of the Liberals and the Nationals consistently receives over
40% of the primary vote (falling a fraction below that in 1998).
In the Netherlands, none of the existing parties has ever received over 40% of the vote;
none has received over 30% of the vote since 1989.
Well, that’s nine examples: is that a fair test of the
generalisation?
John you write, “The leftward shift of the Democratic party is largely
a matter of generational replacement.â€
I think it is because the longer-than-a-generation arc of market fundamentalism, also
known as neoliberalism (defined once again as: “everything should be
marketized†because of the delusion that “the market is the
best information processorâ€) has temporarily declined as the reigning ideological
frontispiece of mainstream economics. “Temporarily†because
it’s not dead yet, hoping for a revival just as soon as there is a
generation that isn’t suffering the aftermath of the financial crash and
can turn themselves behaviorally indifferent to inequality.
Economists seem to be touchy on the subject of their previous surrender but there is no
denying that the Hayekian bafflegab, ushered along by heaping doses of Milton
Friedman’s disingenuous cheerleading, became the public face of economics
on the newspaper editorial pages and network TV commentators starting in the
1970’s, and John Kenneth Galbraith showed that any economist who opposed
it would become a lonely quaint ineffective dismissed voice. Consequently more than a few of
the 1960’s peace & love generation were soon primed to agree with
“Get government off our backs!,†Reagan’s
1980 campaign slogan, and in the 1990’s maybe 3/4s of the Democrats
climbed aboard under Clinton.
The story, taken only that far, already shows our endemic conditions of: 1. generational
change, 2. every generation’s limits in attention and cognition, and 3.
malpractice and intellectual incompetence in the public presentational side of the economics
community.
Today we must add: 4. a rightwing wrongfooted by the financial crash, thus 5. opening a
public window for leftward correction no matter the age of the leftward advocate, but
â€"and this is a very big butâ€" 6. we have a new, further and perhaps
permanent loss of authoritative legitimacy in the social media cacophony. Leftward gains
could easily be lost in the next calamity, overwhelmed again by disingenuity.
So number 6 puzzles me. A better economics might emerge, if the mainstream profession
weren’t tribalists and if they could find a comprehensive intellectual
framwork. Two big ifs. But then, how will ANY attempt at creating factual authority fare in
this new media age? Maybe the internet and social media now command a general confusion
solely because they are new and shiny, but soon they will be regarded generally as just
another tarnished old thing, mostly full of repetition and misleading information, sound and
fury signifying nothing. Or maybe the siloed tribes will harden into heatseeking political
parties, so that the final internet information authority is actually decided in the election
voting booth.
In a democracy new leaders must arise from the demos, a fact the 1960’s
protestors largely derided and forgot. Now the Millennials are frustrated and overwhemed: the
economy hurts them and they need to find solid facts in an information cesspool. At the same
time it may be that social media returns us all to the condition that authority in the
political economy is simply determined by orators, a fact the ancients believed.
Jonathan 22 makes an interesting point:
„ In the UK, Thatcher (and Major, although he did it on a higher-than-usual
turnout) won with the same 42-44% of the vote that the Conservatives had been losing with in
the 1960’s â€" what changed is that the British left became
(and still are) completely unable to hold their coalition together.“
A similar observation holds for Germany. The Christian Democrats, the party of Adenauer
and Kohl, received between 44 and 49% of votes between 1961 and 1990, without much
fluctuation. In that period, the government changed from center-right to social-liberal
(1969) back to center-right (1982) solely in response to the small liberal party FDP changing
sides. The 1998 election, won decisively by an SPD-Greens alliance led by Schroeder, was the
first time that an incumbent Federal government was unseated by an election defeat.
(Many readers will recall that Schroeder’s government was a disappointment
for the left.)
This a great discussion, John! Some of this may be repetitious, but:
1) The rise of the GOP was a matter of a major Democratic bloc â€" White
Southerners â€" shifting parties, followed by a shift of those who were
‘anti-anti-racist’. It clearly was in full swing as of
1964, when a white South which had been Dem since there was a Dem party changed.
2) Generations are of course crap. I was born in 1960, so an theoretical a (white male)
Boomer. My teens were the mid-late 1970’s, so more in common with early
Gen X. If I had graduated from college on time, I’d have graduated in
1982, into the teeth of the worst slump since the Great Depression in the USA. I was in the
Army at the time, and the change in recruits was dramatic, due to economics.
3) N, thank you for the Pew reports.
4) rdbrown, I think that another reason for the generational differences about Brexit is
that the older are losing not that much, while the youth have had the next 60 years of their
lives truncated. They went from being able to live, work, marry and retire in 28 countries to
1.
5) I’m amazed at the diffidence of the older Dem establishment, since
the GOP’s actions cut very directly at their power. If it were old-style
politics, the other party directly cutting out one’s own voters would be
recognized as the direct threat that it was.
6) Tim, have you not noticed that yelling ‘Commie! Go back to
Russia!’ isn’t working as well?
Additionally, the idea that financial crashes appear when the people who lived through
them as adults retire doesn’t match the recent data we have in the
USA.
In the USA we had the Savings and Loan crisis, the Dot-com crash and the Great Financial
Crash all in just over 20 years. There was some learning; I’ve heard that
Texas rel-regulated some real estate matters after the S&L crash, and that this helped in
’08.
But it looks like a general tendency of cash-flush unregulated markets seeking higher
gains, when there are several layers of actors involved.
In a democracy, new leaders arise by inheritance. One of the currently most
“powerful†politicians is Joe Manchin. Manchin is from an old
political family. His uncle was State Treasurer, for one thing. He was a part of an
embarrassing large loss of state funds in obscure deals in finance (along with a fellow named
Margolin.) The old NatWest scandal from Margaret Thatcher days played a role.
The other WV senator is the daughter of a governor, Arch Moore. Moore was merely indicted,
which doesn’t count. The story of thousands of dollars in cash in
Moore’s desk drawer I suppose merely proves he was a successful man, with
agency. (Agency is the summum bonum in an astonishingly wide array of value systems,
including some that deem themselves very woke indeed.)
Descending to the depths, the House of Representatives, one of WV’s is
a Carol Miller. She is the daughter of an Ohio politician, one time Representative himself.
She is doubly qualified by being married to the owner of a large automobile dealership. Out
of state people moving in and getting elected is a noble tradition. Another WV
representative, Alex Mooney, began his career running in Maryland. Current Attorney General
Patrick Morrissey began by running in New Jersey. Of course, the famous example is Jay
Rockefeller who moved to WV instead of Arkansas, or maybe Puerto Rico.
Formation of a new democratic leadership is also achieved by selection by an informal
council of the natural leaders (as they see it,) who groom candidates. This can be an
intensive process, like the men who put Reagan on his path. Special relationships with the
some of the largest owners in any given state, like the Waltons and Perdues in Arkansas can
be helpful.
Even a healthy friendship with, say, Coca-Cola, can matter too. Selection by the wealthy
of course can be more market oriented, conducted under auspices of political professionals
with mailing lists who use them in primary campaigns.
And of course, the advertising purchased by the wealthy has a great deal of influence on
what’s deemed suitable, regardless of mere ratings or readership. Thus, a
Trump is suitable for playing up as a contender, while a Sanders, is not.
Marxist fears of being coopted or fears of a drug test don’t seem to be
so very important to me. A democracy is one where property is protected, which means that
those who own property are protected against a mere numerical majority (as John Calhoun
called it.)
“Soon enough those who saw, first hand, the disaster of Gosplan style
government direction of the economy will also be passing out of that sphere of political
influence.â€
So will people who are aware that that is a possible style of government, much less a
“left†one. I’m not aware of any political
movement that’s pushing for anything remotely like that.
Together they allude to the fact that many of the best political and sociological minds
forged in the 1960’s shunned democracy’s necessary
requirement that they enter electoral politics to become leaders.
I’m curious to know whom you’re thinking of.
But even far beyond the intellectuals, the counterculture’s explosive
cleavage with the previous status quo included frequent insistence that voting is
irrelevant, …
There I feel as if I get you. I’ve encountered instances of people
insisting that voting is irrelevant, and I agree with your implicit evaluation. Participation
in electoral politics is not the only effective technique for achieving change, but
it’s certainly one of them, and in-principle rejection of it is a
mistake.
We definitely have to separate generational zeitgeist from emerging power blocs and from
actual demographic aggregations. Much of the recent “wokenessâ€
is actually people finally digesting ideas from the 80s. Judith Butler and Michel Foucault
are not millennials but many of us had to read them for school.
The people who were opposing the 70s-90s neo-liberal turn obviously lost the political
battles of their day, but became hip with the people who taught the next generation. The
modern right wing meme of “cultural marxism†is based on the
idea that the “anti-establishment†thinkers of old have become
the new dogma and ushered in a sort of cultural revolution toward intersectional identity and
“safe spaces†and away from cold scientific reason.
This seems like an obvious overreaction, but its just a link in the chain of them. The
post-stucturalists, post-modernists, and extreme cultural relativists were overreacting to
the cold bloodedness of the economic rationalists, behaviorists etc. who were overreacting to
what they saw as misguided bleeding heart reformism. You can draw the line back from there
with each genation of ideas sowing the seeds of its own antithesis.
It may be best to think of generational coalitions, rather political generations. Anyone
at any age can shift political parties and (less frequently) ideologies, but the genealogy of
ideas helps influence when a political generation “comes of
age.†New ideas gestate in the background for years or decades, but only
“take off†when existing ideologies lose their functionality
(granting legitimacy to political leaders) and leave a power vacuum. “New
ideas†can actually be quite old as long as they seem novel to enough voters,
which is why old-young Bernie Sanders style coalitions may actually be the standard for
birthing “new†ideologies that only comes of age when their
old standard bearers have moved on.
Tim: “The contention is that the same financial market problem recurs
when the people who worked through the last iteration of that same mistake retire.
It’s entirely agreed that there are many possible mistakes to make.
Financial markets will continue to make new ones. It’s that the old ones
only come back when the institutional knowledge has retired.
S&L, dotcom and GFC are all different mistakes.â€
The S&L crisis was blown up by people making loans on properties with inflated prices,
on the grounds that they could flip those loans.
Same for the Dotcom crash, but based on stocks with massive prices and no profits. Same
for the Great Financial Crash.
J-D #43: “curious to know whom you’re thinking
of.â€
Specifically antiwar organizers from the 1960’s whom I came to know
personally in the late 1970’s. They were intellectually brilliant;
completely practical & dedicated â€" yet eschewed personal involvement in
electoral politics. To be sure there are some famous names from the civil rights &
antiwar movements who later became nationally-known politicians. But it seems to me that on
the whole the showings from this cohort were rather weak in the
’70’s, helping to create a vacuum into which flowed the
Mont Pelerin and other rightwing thinktank propaganda, then into which flooded the
Reaganites.
Looks like an attempt to redirect anger against neolibel elite into racial antimosity does nto work well. A least for this UNZ commentariant.
They are not folled by woke nonsense.
In any case it looks like the USA is a divided country.
Never underestimate the insanity of Zionists, be they full Jews, half-Jews, or soulless Jew-wannabes like Joe "I am a Zionist"
Biden. We're in unprecedented territory -- an empire run by Zoglodytes. They'll run it into the ground sooner or later, but just
how quickly and at what cost to the humanity is anyone's guess.
Of course, none of it would be possible but for the Anglo-elites doing deals with ((bankers)) in search of post-Imperial easy-living.
In fact, that's probably what caused WW2.
Today, gangsters from every creed, race and religion want in on the Zionist action, and happily signal to their criminal lodestar
that they're "all in" with virtually unlimited aid, wars and diplomatic support in Congress for the Jewish state.
The New World Order. How do you like it, whitey? You just had to listen to the gold-plated promises of the Jew confidence man.
The streets will be paved with gold, right?
If you're white and in the armed forces/police, you're a moron.
The fact is Americans are nothing but the Jew's bitch, killing for them. There isn't one American, who's defended their country,
well, you'll have to go back to the war of independence for that. Every, serving member of the armed forces is a mercenary, paid
by the US taxpayer, to kill fire Israel as they establish greater Israel.
So STOP looking at your armed forces as heroes. They aren't, not one, single one! See them for what they are, braindead, brainwashed,
fighting machines, WHO DON'T FIGHT FOR YOU! And that's what's worrying. Throughout history every armed force has been turned against
its own nation and its just a matter of time with the US. THEY WILL use them against you, to push nationwide vaccination.
The armed forces, like the police, are your enemy and I strongly suggest that if you know anyone in them, or a friend whose
family members are in them, tell them to leave ASAP before they institute martial law. Remember, the armed forces don't serve
you, so leaving them is doing the people good while staying within is causing them harm.
I'm suspicious of Biden's planned withdrawal from Afghanistan. The troops will probably get reassigned to the Middle East or
the Polish Border. Trump's "withdrawal" from Syria just amounted to shipping those troops to Iraq.
The Biden administration is a revolutionary one. It is not American and doesn't pretend to be. Like Lenin's early revolutionary
Bolshevik government it is comprised of mostly Jews and racial/ethnic minorities who are antagonistic towards the majority population
and its history and traditions.
I believe that the Jews, radical blacks and others who are really in charge of the Biden administration have no plans to relinquish
power in 2024 even if they lose the election. Since the courts refused to provide a legal remedy for battleground states breaking
their own elections laws to massively increase Democrat mail-in ballots then they will just do it again unless Republicans can
win the gubernatorial elections in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. But that might not be possible with mail-in ballot schemes
that were illegally put in place.
Will whites support a globalist regime that picks fights abroad and wars against them at home? The mood of the country is
comparable to East German during the 1980's. Resignation and apathy. The last election was a fraud, the media are liars, the courts
are political, privacy and free speech aren't being protected, and half the country declares it hates the other half.
Go ahead, try to conjure a false flag to rally Team America
There are no signs whites are about to repudiate the Evil Empire. Trace Adkins, Gerald McRaney are on tv advertisements imploring
whites to provide financial support to the fools who came back crippled from fighting in Israel's wars.
"Will Whites Support A Globalist American Empire That Picks Fights Abroad and Wars Against Them At Home?"
The answer is YES, they will.
Why?
Because they've been zombified by 150 years of corporate media whose only purpose is to use subliminal messages 24/7 to control
them. Worse of all, they pay monthly fees in order to be zombified!
Wait for the next false flag attack against the US "Interests" at home or abroad and you'll see how the zombies behave.
Elites, oligarchs, plutocrats, super-rich, whatever, but don't slime the Yankees.
And while I agree with much of this, don't forget that in the late 1960's the elites imported Mexicans to specifically replace
blacks. And then cried a river of tears at how blacks were mysteriously losing ground!!!!
Oh and also: nobody NEEDS cheap labor to run factories. History has shown that without cheap labor factories run perfectly
well. It's just that the elites need cheap labor to stay elite
The real enemy of the American working class and middle class all of them is neoliberalism ! Coupled with a two party plutocracy
that disenfranchises the same Americans who desperately need a more equitable society! Nothing to do with Russia or China we caused
it all by ourselves!
This is why there needs to be White Liberation from Jewish Supremacism. But Jewish Power tries to preempt this by making a
big stink about 'white supremacism'.
No more white support for Jewish supremacist tyranny over Palestinians and mass murder of Arabs/Muslims. If, after 2020, any
white person still harbors sentimentality about Jewish Power, he or she is cuck-roach. Useless and worthless.
Currently, an indebted, belligerent, imperialist U.S. is being propped up by naïve, well-meaning whites.
These "well-meaning whites" are the enemy. "Well-meaning whites" have always been the greatest enemy of Whites. A lot of people
here consider Jews to be our greatest enemies. But why are they here in such huge numbers and why are they in control? It started
with the Powdered-Wig Gang (a.k.a. the Founding Fathers) giving them citizenship on the basis of their shit "Enlightenment" ideology,
which held that religion was merely a private matter and of no importance. No country at the time gave Jews citizenship save Poland,
which had fallen under their sway and paid an exceedingly high price for it. Then France followed the American example when they
had their own powdered-wig revolution.
The tragedy of the US is that nearly every fair-skinned, non-Jewish individual who has any influence here is a "well-meaning
White". Generations of brainwashing have done that. Their latest bit of tomfoolery is the belief "Uncle Tim" Scott, a dim, charmless,
venal, ugly black mediocrity, will be their savior. By the way, the first time I laid eyes on Uncle Tim, I said myself, "They're
going to want to make that fellow president." That's no reason to brag, however, because "well-meaning whites" are nothing if
not predictable.
"Well-meaning whites" have no common sense and can't learn from experience. They could not conceive the idea "diversity" is
the problem. "Diversity" elected Joe Biden, through bloc-voting by non-Whites and by she-boons in black-dominated counties bringing
in suitcases of fake ballots, but guess what: as far as "well-meaning Whites" are concerned, "diversity" in the form of "Uncle
Tim" Scott is the solution.
What it comes down to is that if Whites want the White race to survive, then "well-meaning whites", who can accurately be called
"liberals", have to go. Whites cannot afford to be sentimental about "well-meaning whites".
@xyzxy the Zio-western imperialists decided ( ie "backed down") not to risk crossing them.
Incidentally JK I don't disagree with this position --
"Rather than feeling anger or shame at this national humiliation, instead I feel something like schadenfreude against them --
along with righteous indignation on behalf of the countless patriots used up and spat out by a System unworthy of their sacrifice."
But perhaps you could spare a few words & emotions for the poor bloody average Afghans who have died in their 100's of 1000's
in this vicious, stupid war.
A lack of sympathy for & indeed basic knowledge of, other peoples is part of the reason the US constantly gets stuck in these
ridiculous wars. (Had they the "leaders" we have now , the Vietnam War would probably have limped to a halt sometime in
the late 80's).
Hmm. Kirkpatrick doesn't seem to realize that 911 was sort of an official beginning to the elites domestic threat problem?
There was never a reason to enter Afghanistan because Afghanistan never attacked us and nor did Osama Bin Laden.
As long as ppl believe the official story there will always be a reason the American citizen can support for invading middle east
countries
Like the holocaust, it is a lynch pin lie that is the pre-requisite for all sorts claims and behaviors that without them would
otherwise not give validation
I doubt Russia has any regard for Turkey – it has a very long history of wars against them and knows just how treacherous they
are.
Russia alone is powerful enough to end life in USA
USA has lost Europe already- Merkel is aligning with China
Americans think Russian gas binds Germany rather than export markets like China and the fact EU needs semiconductors and Asia
is where they are produced
No one takes USA seriously any more it is peripheral as in 19th century. You forget Europeans cannot travel to US and frankly
fear to do so anyway
This cannot be said nearly enough. WASP culture is WASP elites hating all 'other' whites and pretending not to hate
a few non-WASP white groups when they (the WASPs) can use them against the whites they most hate or fear at the moment. WASPs
discard all groups they use as soon as they no longer need them to wage some type war against still other whites.
The Scotch-Irish are probably the best example of what WASPs think of even those who serve them most ruthlessly.
The mood of the country is comparable to East German during the 1980's. Resignation and apathy.
The last election was a fraud, the media are liars, the courts are political, privacy and free speech aren't being protected,
and half the country declares it hates the other half.
Go ahead, try to conjure a false flag to rally Team America.
It does look like resignation and apathy – which is sort of logical – given that all centers of power are in the hands of the
totalitarians (same as in the old East Germany).
The totalitarian Communist East German regime actually collapsed when it became caught up in the mass demonstrations of neighbouring
countries (Poland Feb. 1989 and Hungary the following month). The Communists didn't have the political will/ability to suppress
demonstrations on this scale and ceded power. Two points here are 1) that the public in each country overwhelmingly opposed the
government 2) each country was ethnically united (Poles in Poland, Hungarians in Hungary and Germans in East Germany) and viewed
their oppression as sourced externally (the Soviet Union).
The US looks different, since the population is split both politically and ethnically. So if anything is going to happen (unlikely)
then it's either a civil war, a military coup or a world war (nuclear) removing most major American cities + Israel.
@anonymouseperson c accountants uncovering the depths of Israel and its fifth column's theft of many tens of billions of our
war matériel and of our most guarded military secrets, which were then sold to China in concert with the Greenspan/Goldman Sachs
plan to transfer of our industrial intellectual assets and over 50,000 factories to China in preparation for a new order based
on joint Israeli-Chinese technocratic hegemony.
My point is that the uninterrupted, elaborate efforts at 9/11 concealment legally constitute, by themselves, sufficient proof
of the Pentagon's complicity and guilt in 9/11 and, therefore, make it an alien occupation force that serves Israel, its fifth
column, and no other. A war completing the "Bolsheviks" effective extermination of white Christian Russia at the same time as
exterminating white Christian America appears to be the objective of International Jewry, whom alone Joe Biden and his Pentagon
answer to.
When I was in the US Army, I never met anyone who signed up to 'fight for the Anglo-Zionist empire'. We were there for a variety
of reasons, no job, to get training, money for college, adventure or maybe running away from a crazy girlfriend. As the grandson
of immigrants, I was probably the most patriotic, the rest of the guys, not so much. Young men will always join the military,
whether the military oppresses its people or not. How many Irishmen served in the British military when they had few civil rights
back home? In the military, a young White man can learn a trade, learn military tactics, earn money for college and become a real
asset to his community. You can also get killed or maimed, but at 18 or 19, we didn't think about that.
Will Whites Support A Globalist American Empire That Picks Fights Abroad and Wars Against Them At Home?
If they are members of Congress, the military leadership, the police, the FBI, the NSA, the CIA, the MSM, or the leadership
of either political party the answer is clearly a resounding YES!!
I believe a large percentage of whites in America have a Stockholm syndrome of some kind going on. The title of the article
has rolled two very separate issues into one. As far as continuing to support wars abroad that aren't benefiting the average person
of whatever color is not an issue that can be specifically directed at Marxist oriented regimes such as that of Obama/Hillary
and now Sleepy Joe & Camel Toe. One can never forget the years of the faux conservative Bushlet regime. Whites as a group more
overtly support the military than do other racial groups (even though blacks and Hispanics make up a large percentage of our military).
They are very reluctant to criticize American foreign policy as unpatriotic and somehow react to military interventions as if
they were a sporting event.
Their concept of patriotism is very puerile. Many never ask the question of who benefits? (bankers, weapons manufacturers
and Zionists). As far as the war on whites is concerned, here is where the Stockholm syndrome comes more into play. Our people
have been psychologically beaten into submission by accepting whatever the Marxist intelligentsia throws at them.But there is
also a cultural flaw primarily among Northern European Protestant whites which consists of being perceived as NICE. Stop being
NICE, especially to people who wish you dead. Is this some sort of perversion of Christianity? Maybe. Rather than throwing the
whole Gospel message out the window, a recalibration of one's Christianity needs to happen as well. The churches have not been
our friend either.
"... Don't deny W his agency. As I followed the horrors, from Vietnam to Iraq to Syria to Central America and elsewhere, the full list that was visible anyway, of the W regime, it sure seemed clear to me that W played the bumbling yuk very well. ..."
"... the dumb cluck thing was mostly an act. he was deliberately talking that way not only to paint himself as stupid, but also because those in power assume we must be spoken to as children (they've studied president speeches since JFK have decreased from high school level to 6th grade in complexity, word usage etc). ..."
"... In our kayfabe duoparty system, it also gave the "opposing" side the "W is a Chimp" talking point to harp on (dress rehearsal for the same stuff against tRUMP). ..."
"... Abu Ghraib was not an anomaly, Con Son Island served the same purpose during the Vietnam War. When I was young I was proud to be an American Citizen, we had the Bill of Rights, the Military was controlled by Civilians and their oath was to defend the Constitution from "All Enemies Foreign and Domestic.". I have been horrified, ashamed and deeply saddened by what has happened in the US over the last half Century or so. ..."
"... I view the 2008 election as the major failing-to-turn-back-when-we-had-the-chance point. Obama could have undone Bush's worst policies, but instead he cemented them into place forever. ..."
"... Our elites are both stupid and evil, but Bush is more stupid and Obama is more evil ..."
"... you are 40 years off the mark-It was Reagan who's brand of avuncular fascism, celebrating stupidity as a virtue who paved the way. ..."
"... albrt: I agree with your take. Obama campaigned as an anti-war candidate (at least wrt Iraq). He then proceeded to "˜surge' into Afghanistan and added Libya, Syria, and Yemen, to the regime change mix. Never a thought given to prosecuting the war criminals: Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Tenet, Feith, Wolfowitz, Powell, et al; much less even consider a truth and reconciliation commission. ..."
"... Obama was equally complicit in this never ending horror show and, I am hopeful, history will hold him equally accountable. ..."
"... Is it not written that Margaret Thatcher's true legacy was Tony Blair? If that is true, then the true legacy of Dubya is Obama. ..."
"... As far as harm that George W. Bush did and launched (illegal/immoral wars, domestic surveillance, tax cuts for the wealthy"¦.) Bush should take the award. ..."
"... When Obama deliberately and with malice aforethought turned all the admitted (and in fact proudly self-avowed) war-criminals and criminals-against humanity loose, free and clear under "look forward not back", he routinised and permanentized the up-to-that-very-minute irregular and extra-constitutional novel methods of governance and practice which the Cheney-Bush Administration had pioneered. Obama deliberately made torture, aggressive war, etc. "legal" when America does it and "permanent" as long as America is strong enough to keep doing it. ..."
"... The Greatest Disappointment in History. No-one else comes close, in terms of the sheer numbers of people globally who he let down. The Bait and Switch King, The Great Betrayer. After the nightmare of Bush we got him and his "˜eloquence', pulling the wool over the dazzled sheeple's eyes while he entrenched the 1% and the neocon MI complex, his paymasters, and sponsors for his entry into the overclass. ..."
"... Lambert, you forgot this one" Biden presents Liberty Medal to George and Laura Bush Instead of a war crimes trial at the Hague, Biden gave him a (family bloging) medal! ..."
"... A Clean Break: A New Strategy For Securing the Realm ..."
"... It's really sickening to see George W being "rehabilitated" and made to look like some kind of a senior statesman, when he should be hauled off to the Hague to spend the rest of his life in prison for war crimes. For me, his election in 2000 was mostly the beginning of the end of the rule of law in this country. As a result, the U.S. has Guantanamo, the Patriot Act, in addition to all the other events mentioned, and don't forget he tried to privatize Social Security. ..."
"... and welfare "reform", the crime bill. Talk of privatizing SSI made commonplace acceptable. Repeal of Glass Steagall. They were going to do to healthcare what oBLAM succeeded at, 20 years before him but got sidelined by Lewinsky's blue dress stains. Clintoon is a criminal and so is his spouse, and he did his share of damage everywhere. people who think otherwise might be looking back with nostalgia on a simpler (pre 9.11) time. ..."
"... Jeff Wells wrote some interesting essays in the Bush years, though many of his connections were a bit too far out, even for me. He had some striking collateral evidence for his concept of High Weirdness in high places "" sex abuse, torture and magick figuring prominently, juxtaposed with political skulduggery, and financial crimes and misdemeanours. The Gannon/Guckert affair, the Franklin ring and Gary Caradori were the sort of thing that laced his quite penetrating analyses of events. Facts were jumping off points for speculations, but given our lack of facts his imaginings were a nourishment of sorts, though often very troubling indeed. ..."
"... People have been brain washed by the glossed over history of the US they are taught. It gives people a false belief of our past. The phrase American Exceptionalism comes to mind. It is a myth. The real history is out there but you have to search it out. From it's beginning continuing to today our government is responsible for bad behavior. ..."
"... We Americans have this thing called exceptionalism which among other things creates the idea that our government is more virtuous than others. ..."
"... We are not at Hitler/Stalin/Mao standards ""yet"" but who's to say that could never happen here? One of the bafflements of the 20th century was how a civilized people descended into the dark barbarism of Nazi Germany. ..."
"... Noam Chomsky observed some thirty years ago that if the Nuremberg standards were applied to all the post-war American Presidents, then all of them would hang. ..."
"... We have such a dismal record. Little George was the most audacious of all our criminal presidents, but he has plenty of company. My question is now, looking back, why was the USA incapable of organizing a peaceful world after WW2? I start there. 1945. ..."
Bush became President in the year 2000. That was "" let me break out my calculator "" 2021 "" 2000 = 21 years ago. It occurs to
me that our younger readers, born in 2000, or even 1990, may not know how genuinely horrid Bush was, as President.
I was blogging even back then, and I remember how horrid Bush was; certainly worse than Trump, at least for Trump's first three
years in office, until the Covid pandemic. To convey the full horror of the Bush years would not a series of posts, but a book. The
entire experience was wretched and shameful.
Of the many horrors of the Bush years, I will pick three. (I am omitting many, many others, including
Hurricane Katrina , the
Plame Affair
, Medicare Part D, the Cheney Energy Task Force
, that time
Dick Cheney shot an old man in the face ,
Bush's missing
Texas Air National Guard records , Bush gaslighting the 2004 Republican National Convention with terror alerts, and on and on
and on. And I didn't even get to 9/11, "
You've covered your ass ," WMDs, and
the AUMF. Sorry. It's exhausting.) I'm afraid my recounting of these incidents will be sketchy: I lived and blogged in them, and
the memories of the horror well up in such volume and detail that I lose control of the material. Not only that, there was an actual,
functioning blogosphere at that time, which did great work, but unfortunately most of that work has succumbed to link rot. And my
memory of events two decades ago is not as strong as it could be.
The White House Iraq Group
Here I will rely on excerpts from Colonel Sam Gardiner's (PDF) "Truth from These Podia: Summary of a Study of Strategic Influence,
Perception Management, Strategic Information Warfare and Strategic Psychological Operations in Gulf II" (2003), whose introduction
has been saved from link rot by the
National Security Archive and
a full version
by the University of Leeds . I would bet, long forgotten even by many of those who blogged through those times. ("Gulf II" is
what we refer to as the "War in Iraq.") Quoting from the full version:
You will see in my analysis and comments that I do not accept the notion that the first casualty of war is truth. I think we
have to have a higher standard. In the most basic sense, Washington and London did not trust the peoples of their democracies
to come to right decisions. Truth became a casualty. When truth is a casualty, democracy receives collateral damage.
Seems familiar. (Gardiner's report can be read as a brilliant media critique; it's really worth sitting down with a cup of coffee
and reading it all.)[2] More:
My research suggests there were over 50 stories manufactured or at least engineered that distorted the picture of Gulf
II for the American and British people . I'll cover most in this report. At the end, I will also describe some stories that
seem as if they were part of the strategic influence campaign although the evidence is only circumstantial.
What becomes important is not each story taken individually. If that were the case, it would probably seem only more of the
same. If you were to look at them one at a time, you could conclude, "Okay we sort of knew that was happening." It is the pattern
that becomes important. It's the summary of everything. To use a phrase often heard during the war, it's the mosaic. Recognizing
I said I wouldn't exaggerate, it would not be an exaggeration to say the people of the United States and UK can find out more
about the contents of a can of soup they buy than the contents of the can of worms they bought with the 2003 war in the Gulf.
The White House was, naturally, at the center of the operation:
One way to view how the US Government was organized to do the strategic communications effort before, during and after the
war is to use the chart that was used by the Assistant Deputy Director for Information Operations. The center is the White House
Office of Global Communications, the organization originally created by Karen Hughes as the Coalition Information Office. The
White House is at the center of the strategic communications process"¦.
Handy chart:
And:
Inside the White House there was an Iraq Group that did policy direction and then the Office of Global Communications itself.
Membership of the White House Iraq Group:
So, in 2020 Bush's write-in vote for President was Condi Rice, the [x] Black [x] woman who helped run a domestic disinformation
campaign for him in 2003, to sell the Iraq War to the American people. Isn't that"¦. sweet?
Of course, I was very naive at that point. I had come up as a Democrat, and my first real political engagement was the Clinton
impeachment. Back in 2003, I was amazed to discover that there was a White House operation that was planting fake stories in the
press "" and that I had been playing whackamole on them. At a higher level, I was disturbed that "Washington and London did not trust
the peoples of their democracies to come to right decisions." Now it all seems perfectly normal, which is sad.
Torture at Abu Ghraib
There are a lot of images of our torture prison in Iraq, Abu Ghraib. This one (
via ) is not the
most famous , but to me it is the most shocking:
What kind of country sets dogs on a naked prisoner? Well, my kind of country, apparently. (Later, I remember discussing
politics with somebody who came from a country that might be considered less governed by the rule of law than my own, and they said:
"Abu Ghraib. You have nothing to say." And they were right.)
For those who came in late, here's a snapshot (the detail of the story is in fact overwhelming, and I also have pity for the poor
shlubs the brass tossed into that hellhole[3].) From the Los Angeles Times, "
Few have faced consequences
for abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq " (2015):
[A] 44-year-old Al Jazeera reporter named Salah Ejaili, said in a phone interview from Qatar that he was arrested in 2003 while
covering an explosion in the Iraqi province of Diyala. He was held at Abu Ghraib for 48 days after six days in another facility,
he said.
"Most of the pictures that came out in 2004, I saw that firsthand "" the human pyramid where men were stacked up naked on top
of each other, people pulled around on leashes," he said in the interview, with one of his attorneys translating. "I used to hear
loud screams during the torture sessions."
Ejaili says he was beaten, left naked and exposed to the elements for long periods, and left in solitary confinement, among
other acts.
"When people look at others who are naked, they feel like they're animals in a zoo, in addition to being termed as criminals
and as terrorists," he said. "That had a very strong psychological impact."
The plaintiffs also say they suffered electric shocks; deprivation of food, water and oxygen; sexual abuse; threats from dogs;
beatings; and sensory deprivation.
Taha Yaseen Arraq Rashid, a laborer, says he was sexually abused by a woman while he was cuffed and shackled, and also that
he was forced to watch a female prisoner's rape.
Ejaili said that his face was often covered during interrogations, making it difficult for him to identify those involved,
but that he was able to notice that many of the interrogators who entered the facility wore civilian clothing.
His attorneys, citing military investigations into abuses at Abu Ghraib and other evidence, say the contractors took control
of the prison and issued orders to uniformed military.
"Abu Ghraib was pretty chaotic," said Baher Azmy, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which brought suits
against CACI and L-3 Services. "They were involved in a conspiracy with the military police to abuse our clients.""¦. Eleven U.S.
soldiers were convicted in military trials of crimes related to the humiliation and abuse of the prisoners.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers , and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
If our legal system had the slightest shred of integrity, it would be obvious to the Courts, as it is to a six-old-child, that
what we laughingly call our "personal" computers and cellphones contain "paper," not in the tediously literal sense of a physical
material made from wood fibre, but in the sense of content . Bits and bytes are 20th Century paper, stored on silicon and
hard disk platters. Of course a warrant should be needed to read what's on my phone, ffs.
That Fourth Amendment common sense did not prevail is IMNSHO due in large part to Bush's program of warrantless surveillance,
put in place as part of the Global War on Terror. Here again, the complexity is overwhelming and took several years to unravel. I'm
afraid I have to quote Wikipedia on
this one :
A week after the 9/11 attacks, Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF), which
inaugurated the "War on Terror". It later featured heavily in arguments over the NSA program.
Soon after the 9/11 attacks President Bush established the President's Surveillance Program. As part of the program, the Terrorist
Surveillance Program was established pursuant to an executive order that authorized the NSA to surveil certain telephone calls
without obtaining a warrant (see 50 U.S.C. § 1802 50 U.S.C. § 1809). The complete details of the executive order are not public,
but according to administration statements, the authorization covers communication originating overseas from or to a person suspected
of having links to terrorist organizations or their affiliates even when the other party to the call is within the US.
In October 2001, Congress passed the Patriot Act, which granted the administration broad powers to fight terrorism. The Bush
administration used these powers to bypass the FISC and directed the NSA to spy directly on al-Qaeda via a new NSA electronic
surveillance program. Reports at the time indicate that an "apparently accidental" "glitch" resulted in the interception of communications
that were between two U.S. parties. This act was challenged by multiple groups, including Congress, as unconstitutional.
The precise scope of the program remains secret, but the NSA was provided total, unsupervised access to all fiber-optic
communications between the nation's largest telecommunication companies' major interconnected locations, encompassing phone conversations,
email, Internet activity, text messages and corporate private network traffic .
Of course, all this is perfectly normal today. So much for the Fourth Amendment, good job. (You will note that the telcos had
to be in on it; amusingly, the CEO of Qwest, the only telco that refused to participate, was charged and convicted of insider trading,
good job again.) The legal aspects of all this are insanely complex, but as you see from my introduction, they should be simple.
Conclusion
Here's a video of the Iraqi (now in Parliament) who threw shoes at Bush (who got off lightly, all things considered):
We should all be throwing shoes at Bush, seriously if not literally. We should not be accepting candy from him. We should not
be treating him as an elder statesman. Or a "partner in crime." We should not be admiring his paintings. Bush ran a bad, bad, bad
administration and we are living with the consequences of his badness today. Bush is a bad man. We are ruled by bad people. Tomorrow,
Obama!
NOTES
[1] Indeed.
[2] For example, I vividly remember playing whack-a-mole as a blogger with the following WMD stories: Drones, weapons labs, WMD
cluster bombs, Scuds, nuclear materials from Niger, aluminum tubes, and dirty bombs. They one and all fell apart on close inspection.
And they were only a small part of the operation, as Gardiner shows in detail.
[3] My personal speculation is that Dick Cheney had a direct feed from the Abu Ghraib torture chambers to the White House, and
watched the proceedings live. Some of the soldiers burned images of torture onto CDs as trophies, and the prison also had a server,
whose connectivity was very conveniently not revealed by the judge in a lawsuit I dimly remember being brought in Germany. So it
goes.
Does anyone believe that W, son of H. W. Bush, H. W. son of Senator Prescott Bush, would have been been pres without that familial
lineage and its important govt connections? The pity is W wasn't smart enough to grasp world politics and the US's importance
as an accepted fulcrum in same beyond his momentary wants. imo. Brent Scowcroft and others warned him off his vain pursuits. The
word "squander" come to mind, though I wish it did not.
See for example Kevin Phillips' book American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush
. ( Kevin Phillips is a great
modernist American historian, imo, who saw the rise of Nixon before anyone else.)
Don't deny W his agency. As I followed the horrors, from Vietnam to Iraq to Syria to Central America and elsewhere, the
full list that was visible anyway, of the W regime, it sure seemed clear to me that W played the bumbling yuk very well.
He did what he set out to do, no doubt with careful guidance from that sh!t of a father (magically turned into a laid-in-state
"statesman") and mother-of-string-of-pearls, and of course Cheney and the rest of the corpo-gov policy gang.
The Consent Manufacturers are whitewashing an evil man and his slicker but equally evil successor and his glamorous spouse.
Helluva job, Georgie! Full marks for kicking the world a long way down a dark road.
the dumb cluck thing was mostly an act. he was deliberately talking that way not only to paint himself as stupid, but also
because those in power assume we must be spoken to as children (they've studied president speeches since JFK have decreased from
high school level to 6th grade in complexity, word usage etc).
see Pelosi's daughter's film of his campaign trail. He's no Angel Merkel, but sly enough for politics in this country
and most third world corruptocracies.
In our kayfabe duoparty system, it also gave the "opposing" side the "W is a Chimp" talking point to harp on (dress rehearsal
for the same stuff against tRUMP).
Abu Ghraib was not an anomaly, Con Son Island served the same purpose during the Vietnam War. When I was young I was proud
to be an American Citizen, we had the Bill of Rights, the Military was controlled by Civilians and their oath was to defend the
Constitution from "All Enemies Foreign and Domestic.". I have been horrified, ashamed and deeply saddened by what has happened
in the US over the last half Century or so.
And it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
You actually "˜blogged' back when we had to use punch cards to program our PCs? How oh how did you clamber on up out of "the
Well" so many times a week? I am somewhat convinced that the Hollerith Cards Protocol was the origin of the Twitter 140 character
limit.
I also "lived through" the "˜Reign of "W""˜ and see it as a Time of Prophecy. Most of the things we are now staring down the
barrel of were effectuated then.
I may be foilly, (may be? who am I kidding,) but I view the 2000 election as a major turning point of American history.
I view the 2008 election as the major failing-to-turn-back-when-we-had-the-chance point. Obama could have undone Bush's worst
policies, but instead he cemented them into place forever.
Our elites are both stupid and evil, but Bush is more stupid and Obama is more evil.
All the pomp and circumstance surrounding the personage of the President serves to conceal the people behind the scenes who
vetted and groomed said president, and actively advise him while in office. It's in this way that a Jimmy Carter may be viewed
as a gentle soul so far as presidents go, but he was actually vetted by Brzezinski on behalf of the CFR goons. Once in office
he was then advised by Brzezinski and Volcker, among other assorted lunatics. And he gladly took their advice the entire time.
That's how he came to be president in the first place. And so it goes.
albrt: I agree with your take. Obama campaigned as an anti-war candidate (at least wrt Iraq). He then proceeded to "˜surge'
into Afghanistan and added Libya, Syria, and Yemen, to the regime change mix. Never a thought given to prosecuting the war criminals:
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Tenet, Feith, Wolfowitz, Powell, et al; much less even consider a truth and reconciliation commission.
Obama was equally complicit in this never ending horror show and, I am hopeful, history will hold him equally accountable.
Could you explain your view that Obama and Trump are "worse than that" (Bush-Cheney).?
As far as harm that George W. Bush did and launched (illegal/immoral wars, domestic surveillance, tax cuts for the wealthy"¦.)
Bush should take the award.
Obama did push for military action in Libya, but at least held back from Syria.
The administrations after Bush "kicked the can down the road" but he initiated the events they simply continued. And Trump
did attempt to pull troops back from Bush initiated wars. How is Trump worse than Bush? What are your metrics?
I am just a commenter here, but I would say that . . .
When Obama deliberately and with malice aforethought turned all the admitted (and in fact proudly self-avowed) war-criminals
and criminals-against humanity loose, free and clear under "look forward not back", he routinised and permanentized the up-to-that-very-minute
irregular and extra-constitutional novel methods of governance and practice which the Cheney-Bush Administration had pioneered.
Obama deliberately made torture, aggressive war, etc. "legal" when America does it and "permanent" as long as America is strong
enough to keep doing it.
He did some other things like that which I don't have time to mention right now. Maybe others will beat me to it.
Most of all, by slickly conning or permitting to self-con numbers of people about "hope and change" to come from an Obama Administration,
he destroyed all hope of hope. He destroyed hope itself. Hope is not a "thing" any more in this country, thanks to Obama.
He may also have destroyed black politicians' dreams of becoming America's " Second Black President" for several decades to
come. Been there, done that. Never Again. But since I am not Black, that is not my problem. That is something Black America can
thank Obama for, if they decide to wake up to the fact of that reality.
Of course , if the Evil Countess Draculamala becomes President after Biden, then I guess I will be proven wrong about that
particular observation.
The Greatest Disappointment in History. No-one else comes close, in terms of the sheer numbers of people globally who he let
down. The Bait and Switch King, The Great Betrayer. After the nightmare of Bush we got him and his "˜eloquence', pulling the wool over the dazzled sheeple's eyes while he entrenched
the 1% and the neocon MI complex, his paymasters, and sponsors for his entry into the overclass.
Last, does any single person with the possible exception of Hillary Clinton, bear so much responsibility for the election of
Trump?
Remember that Obama voted in favor of FISAA, the bill that immunized Bush and his flunkies from prosecution for their felony
FISA violations, as a senator, not long before the presidential election. It was impossible to make myself vote for him after
that.
Thanks Lambert. I'd add that the intelligence being sent to the "White House Iraq Group" was being manufactured by the Office
of Special Plans (OSP) which was set up and run by Douglas Feith and Paul Wolfowitz. Following Feith's history and connections
alone is a fruitful endeavor for those so inclined.
Among other things, Feith co-authored, along with Richard Perle and David Wurmser, the A Clean Break: A New Strategy For
Securing the Realm paper prepared for the prime minister of a certain foreign country. This is back in 1996. Around the same
time the PNAC boys were formed by Kagan and Kristol and started selling the same policy prescriptions vis a vis Iraq to the pols
and public here.
Feith was also fired from the NSC back in the early 80's for passing classified information to some little country. Fast forward
to his OSP days and, lo and behold, his employee Larry Franklin is convicted of the same thing, along with Steve Rosen and Keith
Weissman of AIPAC.
This stuff has gone on forever. What amount of ventilation is needed to blow this kind of dung out of the Augean stables of
geopolitics? Not much chance of that anyway, given all the incentives and and interests"
Is it luck that Putin and Xi might be a little less monstrous?
It's really sickening to see George W being "rehabilitated" and made to look like some kind of a senior statesman, when he
should be hauled off to the Hague to spend the rest of his life in prison for war crimes. For me, his election in 2000 was mostly
the beginning of the end of the rule of law in this country. As a result, the U.S. has Guantanamo, the Patriot Act, in addition
to all the other events mentioned, and don't forget he tried to privatize Social Security.
His eight years as president, for me, was a horror show. What really bothers me is that he got away with all of it "" and now
he's hailed as an eminence gris. I can't help but think that his rehabilitation is to remind us all of how bad Orange Man was
"" Obama was just as bad because he cemented everything W did "" and more.
That is an assignment, which is a violation of our written site Policies. This applies to reader comments when you could easily
find the answer in less than 30 seconds on Google rather than being a jerk and challenging a reader (or even worse, me derivatively)
on bogus grounds.
> For me, [W's] election in 2000 was mostly the beginning of the end of the rule of law in this country.
At this moment I'm writing it is still early days for this thread: there are only 24 comments. In these comments are named
many bad people. However, one name that does not (yet) appear is "˜Clinton'. W was a monster as president (and likely remains
a monster as a human being) but surely Billy Jeff needn't yield to him in his contempt for the rule of law.
Quite right, of course. My comment was specifically in regard to his disdain for and abuse of the rule, and rôle, of law in
the American polity, e.g., his perjury > disbarment. Sort of like the famous photograph of Nelson Rockefeller who, while serving
as VP, was captured giving the finger to a group of protestors; Clinton also oozed that kind of hubristic impunity.
Regarding Clinton, the damage he caused to his own country and the world was substantial. The destruction of Yugoslavia caused
considerable mayhem "" in addition to bombing and breaking apart a sovereign nation, it enabled "liberals" to feel good about
war again, and paved the way for the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc.
And the damage done by NAFTA was enormous "" in terms of leading to deaths of despair in both the US and Mexico I suspect NAFTA
has a higher domestic "body count" than any of the subsequent forever wars.
and welfare "reform", the crime bill. Talk of privatizing SSI made commonplace acceptable. Repeal of Glass Steagall.
They were going to do to healthcare what oBLAM succeeded at, 20 years before him but got sidelined by Lewinsky's blue dress
stains. Clintoon is a criminal and so is his spouse, and he did his share of damage everywhere. people who think otherwise might be
looking back with nostalgia on a simpler (pre 9.11) time.
little known covered up crime from his ARK days is the selling of HIV tainted blood (taken from prisoners) to Canada, among
other things.
yet another who had credible rape allegations. which damages our image at home and abroad.
I read that for the very briefest time, somebody or other was selling Total Information Awareness memorabilia with the Total
Information Awareness symbol on it. I wish I had thought to buy a Total Information Awareness mug.
I imagine knockoffs and parodies exist, but I am not sure the real thing is findable any more.
After Dennis Rader, the Wichita serial killer, murdered someone, the cops always found his semen on the floor next to the mutilated
victim. He got sexual pleasure out of gruesome murder. This is how I always pictured Cheney's attitude toward torture. Well. I
tried not to actually picture it.
Talk about your target rich environment. Where do you even start? Where do you begin? A serial business failure, draft dodger,
military deserter, drunk driver "" and all that was before he became President. A man so incurious about the world "" just like
Trump "" that he never even owned a passport until he actually became President and who never knew that Islam (prior to the Iraq
invasion) , for example, was just not one religion but was divided into Sunni and Shia in the same way Christianity is divided
into "" mostly "" Protestant and Catholics. But to me he was always the "Frat Boy President". His family always protected him
from his many flaws and he never had to grow up like his father had to in WW2. Even as President he never grew into the job, again,
just like Trump.
Lambert gives a few good reminders but there were many others and these are just the top of my head. He cared little for the
US Constitution and called it nothing more than a goddamn scrap of paper. He officially made the US a torture nation, not only
by pretending that US laws did not apply in Guantanamo bay but also aboard US Navy ships for which laws definitely did apply.
As part of a movement to make America an oil-fueled hegemony for the 21st century, he invaded Iraq with the firm intention on
invading Iran next so that Washington would have a firm grip on the fuel pump of the world. As he said "" "America is addicted
to oil." He dropped the ball on 9/11 through over-obsessing on Iraq and in the immediate aftermath sent jets around the country
"" when all jets were grounded "" to fly Saudi royalty back to Saudi Arabia before the FBI could interrogate them about all their
knowledge of the attack. All this to hide his very deep connections with the Saudis.
I could go on for several more paragraphs but what would be the point? For the neocons he was a great fronts-man to be followed
by a even greater one. I sometimes think that if Biden was a "˜real' Republican, then he would have been a great vice-president
for Bush. And now the establishment and their trained seals in the media are trying to make him out as "America's Favourite Uncle"
or something so that when he dies, he will have the same sort of funeral as John McCain did. And I predict that tens of thousands
of veterans around the country will then raise their glasses to him "" and then pour the contents on the ground.
W's rehab continues in the UK MSM, not just the Independent. The worst offenders are probably the Grauniad and Channel 4, both
Blairite.
The rehab mirrored the rise of Trump. His lack of interest in war upset these preachy imperialists.
Using Michelle Obama to facilitate the rehab brought id pol into the equation and made it easier. It was remarkable how often
the above photo is used in the neo liberal and neo con media.
Thank you, Colonel. That foto is remarkable and I suspect that the origins for the idea for it may lay on the other side of
the pond as it seemed so familiar-
There is a blog called Rigorous Intuition 2.0. Many of its blogposts are about the Bush period and Bush related subjects and
events. ( Many others are not). The sections on 9/11, Iraq, and Katrina probably have the highest percent of Bush-related blogposts,
in case one is interested.
Jeff Wells wrote some interesting essays in the Bush years, though many of his connections were a bit too far out, even for
me. He had some striking collateral evidence for his concept of High Weirdness in high places "" sex abuse, torture and magick
figuring prominently, juxtaposed with political skulduggery, and financial crimes and misdemeanours. The Gannon/Guckert affair,
the Franklin ring and Gary Caradori were the sort of thing that laced his quite penetrating analyses of events. Facts were jumping
off points for speculations, but given our lack of facts his imaginings were a nourishment of sorts, though often very troubling
indeed.
Who needs to make shit up during those years?
The facts"¦the shit he actually did, was glossed over or simply forgotten.
If shit was made up about his sorry ass i didn't bother checking, Sir.
I just assumed it was true.
Bushies destroyed the country. If there's a country in 100 years they'll be paying for those years.
And then came obama and big Mike
People have been brain washed by the glossed over history of the US they are taught. It gives people a false belief of our
past. The phrase American Exceptionalism comes to mind. It is a myth. The real history is out there but you have to search it out. From
it's beginning continuing to today our government is responsible for bad behavior.
Some scholars like Noam Chomsky write about
our real history. Unfortunately most people don't read this material. They are content with our glossed over shining star version
of US history that unfortunately continues to be taught in our educational system , starting in elementary school continuing through
a 4 year college education. Our system of government is so corrupted , I don't believe it can be fixed.
Nixon was rehabbed so he could open China, Kissinger got to keep his mantle. W portrayed by Josh Brolin pretty good take. Nice
to see dunking on GW, but the cycle of rehabilitation is due. The question is can he do some good or is there too much mud on
his boots. Can't see W as a new Jimmy Carter. Glossing over history begins the moment it's made. Makes me miss LBJ
Between 1998 and 2000, under the rule of Saddam Hussein, about 1000 prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison were executed and buried
in mass graves.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_prison
How many Abu Ghraib prisoners did the US army execute?
Tell me again how many Iraqis were killed by the US Army because they were doing their own version of "Red Dawn"? And that
tens if not hundreds of thousands of Iraqis would still be alive if Saddam was simply left in place. Here is a video to watch
while you have a little think about it-
We Americans have this thing called exceptionalism which among other things creates the idea that our government is more virtuous
than others. It's a useful idea in that it calls us to be different and better than the average nation, and certainly different
and better than a cruel dictatorship. But it's also a dangerous idea because too many of us actually believe it to be true. Our
atrocities are different in kind, but the scale is the same.
We are not at Hitler/Stalin/Mao standards ""yet"" but who's to say
that could never happen here? One of the bafflements of the 20th century was how a civilized people descended into the dark barbarism
of Nazi Germany.
"(I am omitting many, many others, including Hurricane Katrina, the Plame Affair, Medicare Part D, the Cheney Energy Task Force,
that time Dick Cheney shot an old man in the face, Bush's missing Texas Air National Guard records, Bush gaslighting the 2004
Republican National Convention with terror alerts, and on and on and on. An I didn't even get to 9/11, "You've covered your ass,"
WMDs, and the AUMF. Sorry. It's exhausting.)"
Agree with all the criticism of Bush, Cheney, Obama. On a lighter note, my father-in-law is a high tech oil prospector in W
Texas, much of it in Midland, overlapping in time with W. Both members of the Petroleum Club (been there once, very stuffy) and
worked out at the same gym. Naturally, my wife asked if he had ever seen W naked. Her dad wouldn't answer, but did turn beet red.
We take this as confirmation.
Noam Chomsky observed some thirty years ago that if the Nuremberg standards were applied to all the post-war American Presidents,
then all of them would hang. Chomsky could not have imagined the future sequence of presidents from that point forward, but certainly
they did not break the chain of criminality. My point is that Bush is not unique in the type of crimes, just the enormity of them.
But I also believe he set new standards (lower) for shamelessness. Remember his smirk?
But also remember Obama joking about killing people.
Remember the comedy skit in which GWB "looked" for Iraq WMD's in the Oval office as part of the White House Correspondent's
dinner?
Anyone with any sense of decency would have refused to do this skit, but Bush apparently followed his handlers' advice to get
some laughs. That the USA was led by someone of such limited talent for 8 years speaks volumes. Years ago, a New York Times reader wrote that Hillary Clinton is a "well-connected mediocrity".
That comment may be true for ALL of the recent political candidates, from both parties, for a great many years.
LBJ was definitely not mediocre (civil rights/war on poverty), and would be viewed far more favorably, maybe as great, if he
had pulled out of Vietnam rather than escalating. Carter in his post presidency has much to recommend. Post presidency Bush is painting his portraits rather than having any retrospective regrets for the harm he did.
We have such a dismal record. Little George was the most audacious of all our criminal presidents, but he has plenty of company.
My question is now, looking back, why was the USA incapable of organizing a peaceful world after WW2? I start there. 1945. How
did our ideology become so inept? And everything I have read about our failures over the years is contrasted with what might have
been. We have operated under a system that could not function without extraction. There was always a sell-by date on the cover;
one that we tried to ignore. There's no doubt in my mind that it has finally failed completely. Ignominiously. But we have also
learned and come to admit certain realities. The most important one is that there can be no more war; civilization cannot survive
a modern war. So, ironically, our advanced warfare might well bring a peaceful world without world war. And our advances in science
(mostly militarily inspired) will help us now survive.
Lambert, thank you for this piece. I won't repeat what others have opined. I've had a real problem with Michelle Obama being
the rehabilitation cheerleader leader for Dubya. Imho, we lost all of our rights under the odious Patriot Act, which was pre-written.
Russ Feingold was the lone Senate holdout. And I recall Byrd's ire and rant at the tome they had no time to read, but he caved.
It went downhill from there. The links below, (apologies, I don't know how to fashion a hot link..) are about Bush's crimes and
Amnesty International's exhaustive investigation of them.
I don't have the citation anymore, and I've knocked myself out trying to find it. But there exists a UN human rights commission
memo suggesting (?) Obama to do a number of things: hold Bushco accountable for war crimes etc, as well as address what is termed
as "systematic racism" in incarceration (and more). I had printed it out a number of years ago and can't find it.)
I'm not buying that Bush fils is any elder statesman. He and his cronies used torture, extreme rendition, hired mercenaries and
completely destabilized the Middle East. We still don't have our rights back, and I'm betting the Patriot Act will never go away.
(Nor will data mining under the guise of "targeted advertising" and sold to..the military.) The NYT's link is how Obama elected
to rug sweep and just move ahead! I look forward to Lambert's take on the Obama administration..
Finally, someone has the courage to point out the obvious. An excellent article, well researched and nicely nuanced.
I'm disappointed with the remedy proposed, however. Throwing shoes is not enough; it's merely symbolic. The potential crimes
committed here, including lying us into war, the extent of torture committed, and practices that violate international military
norms and intelligence require a transparent and impartial investigation. One possible venue is the International Criminal Courts
in the Hague.
I've been told many times that sunlight can be an effective deterrent against disease.
The FBI has produced 68
pages relating to a Democrat National Committee (DNC) worker who was shot dead in 2016 in
Washington, including an investigative summary that appears to suggest someone could have paid
for his death.
... The newly
released files show top Department of Justice officials met in 2018 and discussed Rich's
murder. They reviewed Rich's financial records and did not identify any unusual deposits or
withdrawals.
...One witness saw an individual walking away from the location where Rich was killed but
thought Rich was merely drunk so did not alert authorities . They realized something bad had
happened when they saw a bloodstain on the ground in the same place the following day, as well
as police tape surrounding the scene.
A person whose name was redacted took Rich's personal laptop to his house , according to one
of the newly released documents. The page also indicates that authorities were not aware if the
person deleted or changed anything on Rich's personal laptop.
The FBI came into possession of Rich's work laptop, the bureau
previously revealed .
On another page, it was said that "given [redacted] it is conceivable that an individual or
group would want to pay for his death."
"That doesn't sound like a random street robbery," Ty Clevenger, a lawyer, told The Epoch
Times.
... ... ...
The files were released this week in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Texas resident Brian
Huddleston, who Clevenger represents.
Huddleston sued the FBI after it told him it would take 8 to 10 months in June 2020 to
respond to his Freedom of Information Act request. Huddleston asked the FBI to produce all
data, documents, records, or communications that reference Seth Rich or his brother, Aaron
Rich.
A federal judge earlier this year ordered the FBI to produce documents concerning Rich by
April 23. The FBI identified 576 relevant documents but only produced 68 of them to
Huddleston.
The FBI has declined to speak about the lawsuit. Attorneys for Rich's parents did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.
The documents show that some reporting on Rich's death was wrong, such as an ABC News
report
that claimed the FBI was not involved in investigating the murder.
Clevenger said he found concerning how the government apparently does not know whether
anything was deleted from Rich's personal laptop.
The documents were largely redacted but the information that did get through "shows that
their whole narrative is falling apart," he added. "It's a step in the right direction."
The attorney plans to ask U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant, an Obama nominee, to produce
unredacted copies for his perusal. The judge could rule that some redactions were improper.
Defendants could also face repercussions for not producing all of the documents they have
concerning Rich, including fines.
U.S. Attorney Andrea Parker, who is representing the FBI, told the judge in a court filing
this week that the bureau can only process 500 pages per month for each Freedom of Information
Act request. She asked the court to give the bureau additional time to produce all of the
relevant records.
Clevenger told the judge in a court filing this week that the private sector routinely
processes 500 pages or more per day and that the government should be afforded no more than two
weeks to produce the remaining 1,063 pages.
RiverRoad 1 hour ago
Was a reward offered for solving his murder? A robbery murder with a nice reward attached
in DC gets solved pretty quickly. Is it correct that his parents were given a million dollars
by the FBI to agree that questions re his murder are only conspiracy theory?
Buzz-Kill 11 hours ago (Edited)
WoW! The FBI does exist. Wonder when they're gonna get on the Hunter Biden investigation.
Waiting with anticipation! /s
Brazillionaire 2 hours ago
I think Chris has that scheduled for 2025 early/mid summer. But, then again, no reasonable
prosecutor...
Nelbev 12 hours ago
And PETER STRZOK was the FBI agent handling the investigation? Not an important detail to
mention in article, guess he was familiar with Seth case after his work burying the Clinton
investigation, and obvious match, best FBI agent to pick for the investigation.;
Art link https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20690299-fbi-documents-on-seth-rich
He seems to be everywhere doesn't he?
Hillary.....Seth....Trump.....and covering up for dems and attacking repubs 100% of the
time.
LetThemEatRand 12 hours ago
Crazy conspiracy theories for f's sake. It is totally common in a robbery not to take the
guy's wallet.
williambanzai7 PREMIUM 12 hours ago
They solve all the cases involving known terrorist suspects with connections to the FBI.
But everything else is a puzzle wrapped in an enigma.
hackjealousy 12 hours ago
If only the attacker had dropped his passport at the scene.
LetThemEatRand 12 hours ago
"A person whose name was redacted took Rich's personal laptop to his house, according to
one of the newly released documents. The page also indicates that authorities were not aware
if the person deleted or changed anything on Rich's personal laptop."
Happens all the time. Wear your mask, take your jab, 9/11, WMDs.
r0mulus 11 hours ago
Yes- why exactly would anybody be handling Rich's personal laptop after he died? And why
would they need to have their name redacted?
Seth Rich's murder was a political assassination. Did John Podesta have Seth Rich
murdered?
Soloamber 12 hours ago
Are the Kennedy's gun shy ?
Podesta wanted an example .
DNC ordered hit .
Seasmoke 12 hours ago remove link
Lost all respect for the FBI.
Tinfoil Masker 12 hours ago
You mean like 58 years ago right?
r0mulus 11 hours ago
At this point, it's been at least 75 years since they deserved any respect. Probably
longer.
lwilland1012 11 hours ago
Durham? What the Hell is a John Durham?
Dr Phuckit 11 hours ago
Summed up in three words
Russia Russia Russia
Redactions don't protect the Innocent, they protect the Guilty.
And it's obvious some people at the FBI were deeply involved.
sbin 11 hours ago
Epoch times
Surprised they didn't blame China.
Almost as believable as Bellingcat Gatestone White helmets or CNN.
DNC scum had Seth Rich murdered.
messystateofaffairs 10 hours ago
FBI released? Thats for disinformation purposes not part of a search for truth.
uhland62 9 hours ago
I thought NSA saves every keystroke people make. So when Seth's keystrokes happened, there
was a computer glitch?
ClamJammer 7 hours ago
Right, but they only use that for evidence to lock up the likes of you and me, not to
expose the crimes they themselves commit. Despite being funded by the tax-payer, i dont think
a FOI request works there.
El Chapo Read 12 hours ago
About as truthful as the 9/11 Commission Report.
Spare me.
NightWriter 12 hours ago
Just like the 2020 Election verdict:
The Deep State finds the Deep State not guilty.
Mzhen 12 hours ago
The Rich murder was a subject of discussion for FBI lovebirds Peter Strzok and Lisa
Page.
Gringo Viejo 10 hours ago
5 years after the fact. What's the FBI's motive in releasing this information at this
time?
... ... ...
Soloamber 10 hours ago
The FBI motive ...They were told to .
Kanzen Saimin 9 hours ago
It's a clever tactic used by professional liars. If you can distract people for long
enough they will forget about what happened in the first place.
... ... ...
uhland62 9 hours ago
Same thing happened in Australia. What made Australia has been privatized, deregulated,
and digitized. And now we are payment slaves to a handful of global billionaires.
But today we celebrate national militarism day, Anzac Day and we get softened up by the
politicians to accept a war against China.
Rich family representative, Brad Bauman, responding to the conspiracy theorists' claim
that the FBI was investigating the case said, " The FBI is not now and has never been a party
to this investigation. "
" The FBI has indirectly denied investigating the case , which Washington police consider
a robbery gone wrong."
" Snopes.com looked
into the matter and stated: "We were able to confirm the FBI is not investigating Rich's
murder "
Kanzen Saimin 9 hours ago
Wikipedia wasn't allowed to be referenced when I attended university years ago. The
co-founder disavows it now.
Half a decade later, they still can't find their own ***.
That's the way it will stay.
sbin 12 hours ago
Barr and Dunham are looking into it.
gcjohns1971 1 hour ago
Given the sordid, lawless, partisan, and seditious history of the FBI since its founding,
why should anyone suspect their actions here are benign?
ThanksIwillHaveAnother 3 hours ago
Seth Rich supported Bernie Sanders. He saw how Hillary and Dems piped in cheers for
Hillary and detuned the real cheers for Bernie. He saw how the powers behind the curtain
manipulated Hillary into being the nominee. He sent the files to WikiLeaks. Now ask
yourself...would someone want him killed???
Chief Joesph 3 hours ago remove link
Really can't help to think Hillary Clinton had a hand in Rich's murder. Afterall, Rich
knew about her financial affairs, along with the rest of the Democratic party, and was
passing it on to Wikileaks. It also stands to reason why the Democrats would like to see
Julian Assange murdered too. Needless to say, Assange will never see any prospects for Biden
to pardon him.
But what doesn't make sense is if this murder was at the hands of someone wanting to rob
Rich, then why didn't they take his computer along with his wallet? (Neither was taken). The
Police invented that story for public consumption.
Dragon Breath 3 hours ago (Edited)
We're certain that Director Wray at the FIB is burning the midnight oil trying to solve
Seth Rich's murder, Wiener's laptop crimes, Clinton's computer server crimes, and any day now
Hunter Biden's crimes with evidence on his laptop that he "lost" at the computer repair shop.
Wray and the FIB have it all under control...
It's all under control...
DayWear 3 hours ago
"the bureau can only process 500 pages per month"
that is so laughable I can't believe the fbi attorney even agreed to say it.
MaF 33 minutes ago
500/month = 25 pages/day = 3 pages/hr.
Sounds like only 1 govidiot is doing all the "work."
fleur de lis 2 hours ago remove link
As if the FBI would even dare issue parking tickets to the DNC psychopaths whom they know
very well to be the plotters.
The FBI ain't what it used to be.
Only listen to Comey for one minute.
The FBI is just a security guard agency for whomever has the biggest checks and best
benefits.
TheySayIAmOkay 3 hours ago
Smartest criminal in DC. No traffic cams. No store cams. No gunshots. No witnesses. He
even stole stuff that wasn't there.
Vandal 2 hours ago
Yep...and the American Gestapo(FBI) is complicit in the coverup. True Deepstate kind of
stuff.
Blurb 3 hours ago
Let's see here...
The FBI would have benefited from this guy getting killed, and they're the ones
investigating the murder...
The media reports that the FBI are not investigating, which turns out to be a lie.
The FBI somehow ends up with Seth Rich's laptop, even admitting that 'someone might have
deleted something'.
The FBI won't turn over documents, many of which had redacted content.
These are the people we got glimpses of from 2016 to 2020. Now, they are back in the
shadows.
I'll just leave this here, for anyone interested in a level of detail to this case that
most people aren't aware of.
tl;dr: The FBI may have provided the guns used to kill Rich. An FBI agent's car was broken
into the night of Rich's murder, and guns were stolen. Then the FBI ****** with the
timestamps of the event to make it look like it took place after the murder, when in fact, it
took place before.
Suzy Q 3 hours ago remove link
I remember that incident of the stolen guns. Very odd circumstances surrounding that
"theft" of FBI weapons.
TheRealBilboBaggins 4 hours ago
With all the obvious wrong-doing at the FBI, did any FBI agents come forward to denounce
it? Anyone? Anyone?
True Ferris Buehler moment looking for an FBI agent to testify against criminality.
Jung 5 hours ago
It was already a long while back when Julian Assange spoke about Rich and the so-called
Clinton email scandal: justice in the USA is worse than many a banana republic (more
sophisticated). Of course it was not Russia, it was proven to be no hack at all, but a
person, likely Seth Rich. At the end of time we'll know more.
US Banana Republic 4 hours ago
Guaranteed the Deep State (and that includes the FBI), the Clintons and the DNC all had
their fingers in it. But especially Hillary.
JOHNLGALT. 5 hours ago
Never mind. JOHN DURHAM is on the job. SARC.🆗
Fat Beaver 12 hours ago (Edited)
Never anything about the female fbi officer's duty weapon stolen off the front seat of her
suv 2 blocks away from the murder site 2 hours before the murder...she was apparently
shagging up with another agent and parked in his driveway and left the gun on the front seat
with passenger side window completely open...she reported it to police 2 hours before the
murder...this was found by a private investigator about a week after the murder and
published, never to be brought up again.
Nelbev 11 hours ago
It was a .40 caliber Glock and a rifle stolen out of the FBI vehicle, but no casings found
on ground at murder site, thus it is assumed that the murder weapon was a revolver (unless
someone picked up the casings).
Nelbev 11 hours ago remove link
Some informed person at the scene could have cleaned up, but doubt it. Rich was only
wounded at scene, not dead. As I remember there was funny business at the hospital too before
he died. I do not see reporting of the bullet's caliber.
JustSayNo 10 minutes ago
I don't need to read it. I won't believe a thing the FBI says and I also don't believe
that ANY US attorney actually does the job the American taxpayer pays them to do. I've got no
faith in any US attorney and the FBI has been a joke for longer ago than they shot that guys
wife and kid out west. FBI=coverup, period. And everyone knows it.
When I want to know what really happned to Seth Rich, the ZH comments section is actually
my best source
The federal bureaucracy, including the FBI, is now part of the democrat fascist regime in
TOTAL control in washington. Long ago these bureaucrats stopped working for the public and
began focusing on their own agenda where they don't have to answer to anyone. Reality is that
washington is a national Mafioso operation demanding extortion (protection) money from the
public, they serve themselves. The scary part is they don't just demand the protection money,
they demand everyone adhere to politically correct thoughts, speech, and actions, or you'll
be destroyed by the state.
Downhill from here 4 hours ago
What is the FBI's jurisdiction to conduct the investigation? He was not a state law
enforcement officer, he was not an interstate traveler, and was not a federal employee.
TheFederalistPapers 5 hours ago
The FBI is a brand and not a law enforcement agency.
rag_house 5 hours ago
Our government has a long history of having those that commit the crime then perform an
investigation on themselves. Wouldn't be surprised one bit if that is true here.
notfeelinthebern 12 hours ago remove link
All rats lead to Rome, is what they are not saying.
El Chapo Read 11 hours ago
All roads lead to Tel Aviv.
FIFY.
Dumpster Elite 23 minutes ago remove link
The FBI....they make the KGB look like a boy scout organization. Seriously...do you TRUST
the FBI, or do you view them as an enforcement tool of the Globalists.
DeeDeeTwo 25 minutes ago
Whew, it's a good thing Trump drained the swamp and declassified everything.
Totally_Disillusioned 26 minutes ago
The FBI has released their "findings" which we all know from previous "findings" released,
they are a mix of half-truth, manufactured evidence and outright lies. With our Federal law
enforcement, we will NEVER know the truth about matters they "investigate". Several quickly
come to mind such as Russiagate, Kennedy assassination, MLK assassination, explosion Murrah
Federal Building in Oklahoma City, 9/11, Justice Anton Scalia's murder, Ruby Ridge, Dividian
Compound, as well as so many more to list.
PT 5 hours ago
Only five years late. Who knows what progress they might make in another five years?
fishpoem 16 minutes ago
A person whose name was redacted took Rich's personal laptop to his house If one follows
the bread crumbs through the forest, it will certainly lead straight to the Witch's
house.
Angelo Misterioso 19 minutes ago
Strange that not a single house on that street had any video or ring doorbell or stuff
like that...
bshirley1968 3 minutes ago
bshirley1968 3 minutes ago
"Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg cares so much about the environment that he
decided to ride a bicycle to work at least the last two blocks.
He was caught unloading a bicycle from a black SUV a short distance from the White House
so he could finish his ride to the cabinet meeting on bike. Such a great photo
opportunity.
Security followed in the SUV.
Perfect example of everything coming out of DC. Everything is a narrative supported by some
kabuki theater.
Highly recommend the Przeworski piece at Phenomenal World. Most of it is reflections on/by 3
European leftist leaders from the 1970s-80s (German Prime Chancellor Willy Brandt, Austrian
Chancellor Bruno Kreisky, and Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme) about how the oil shocks and
associated economic changes of the era presented a challenge to social democrats –
including ending the belief/fantasy that reformism could be system-changing – that they
(we) were not then, and I would argue still are not, able to address.
Palme spells out the difficulty:
"We told the people who were already enjoying a prosperous situation that things would be
much better for their children and that we would be able to solve the outstanding problems.
[But the new situation] presents a much more difficult task to fulfill. Because from the
moment there is no longer a constant surplus to be distributed, the question of distribution
is appreciably more difficult to resolve."
Brand echoes these concerns, noting that it is essential to prevent inequality from
increasing as growth resumes. Eighteen months later, during another in person meeting on 25
May 1975, Kreisky makes the fiscal constraint even more explicit: "It is precisely now that
reforms should be made. It is just a question which. If we strongly develop social policies,
we will not be able to finance them."
Also included an amazing graph of declining electoral support for left/SD parties in
Europe.
In the reality the USA is not falling apart. It is neoliberalism that is falling apart and
this is just how common people feel during the collapse of neliberalism.
"79% of Americans think the US is falling apart" those not accounted for are possibly
homeless or illiterate and don't have the opportunity of putting their view forward.
RTaccount 1 day ago 15 Jan, 2021 02:22 PM
There will be no peace, no unity, and no prosperity. And there shouldn't be.
TheFishh RTaccount 1 day ago 15 Jan, 2021 03:38 PM
The US regimes past and present have worn out their bag of tricks. A magician is a con-man.
And the only way they can entertain and spellbind the crowd with their routines is if
everyone just ignores the sleight of hand. But people are starting to call the US out for the
tricks it is pulling, and that's where the magician's career ends.
SJMan333 23 hours ago 16 Jan, 2021 01:02 AM
America as a whole is now reaping the fruits of its decades of exceptionalism complex.
Through its propaganda machine, Americans as individuals and collectively as a society, have
been brainwashed into believing that laws, rules and basic human decency do not apply to
themselves. These are only sweetened poisons for them to shove down the throats of other
lesser countries, especially those in Africa, Latin America, Middle East and Asia ((bluntly
put, non-white countries)) when it suited America's global resource thievery and daylight
wealth grabbing. Habitualized into bullying every other countries with no resistance,
Americans are now showing their ugly faces on each other. The same exceptionalism delusion
"the laws apply to you, not me'' is driving every American (except the colored Americans
probably) to blame all the ills of the country on everyone else except himself. Nancy Pelosi
advocated total lock-down but treated herself to a total grooming in a hair saloon is just
one example. For the sins it has committed over the decades, I guess the time is right for
USA to have a dose of its own medicine. Except in this case, America never thought it
necessary to develop an antidote.
"... Clinton hollowed out his own country in order to completely remove all constraints (financial, mediatic, military). He doesn't get called out for it nearly enough in my opinion. ..."
"... Clinton was a particular type of low-class, sybaritic evil but he didn't have a strong USSR to contend with. Instead he had the drunken traitor Yeltsin dance for him like a bedraggled starving bear. ..."
"So when was this golden age? Under Reagan? Well, this is when the dismantling of the
inner core of the empire began."
Beg to differ. Reagan understood how to administer the US empire. He knew the risks of
overstretching it. He made the promise to the Soviets not to encroach on their sphere of
influence. He defended the high interest rates which strengthened the USD and which kept the
banking sector in check.
All of that went to hell with Bill Clinton:
He broke Reagan's promise and expanded NATO eastwards, he dismantled the Glass Steagall act
which led to a malignant hypergrowth of the banking sector, and he was the who introduced the
telecommunications act in 1996 which allowed for the concentration of corporate media in the
hands of the few.
Bill Clinton basically turned the empire into a rapacious and uncontrollable animal.
(Funny how noone here is talking about imprisoning him )
There is a silver lining to Bill C's blood-soaked administration. It was while he was in
power, that the Russians finally awoke from their 1990s stupor. They began to understand the
mortal danger they were facing, and they patriotically chose Putin to lead them in 1999.
– Reagan was a disgusting Russophobe and Serbophobe who proclaimed 10th April (the
founding of the Independent State of Croatia) a national holiday in California as governor.
Not surprising given that his was the most RC government ever – he also colluded with
the Polish anti-Christ to destroy the USSR. In the process he encouraged the German Nazis
(see visit to Bitburg) who then destroyed Yugoslavia.
– He brought the world to the brink of a nuclear holocaust that was prevented by a
vigilant Russian officer (in 1983?).
– He turbo-charged the power of corporations and decimated social structures and the
rights of the working class (the Americans are paying for this now).
This is not to say that the scumbag Clinton was good – after all he was trained at
Georgetown – that seminary for American murderers.
Thanks for this Ken. Good to know who Reagan really was!
To get back to your point about the "dismantling of the empire" Reagan, for all his
personal awfulness and recklessness (and subversiveness) was still more restrained than
Clinton. Clinton hollowed out his own country in order to completely remove all
constraints (financial, mediatic, military). He doesn't get called out for it nearly enough
in my opinion. I guess it's personal, after what he did to us.
Clinton was a particular type of low-class, sybaritic evil but he didn't have a strong
USSR to contend with. Instead he had the drunken traitor Yeltsin dance for him like a
bedraggled starving bear. Never again!
On Sept. 15, Tucker Carlson brought onto his show Darren Beattie, a former Trump
speechwriter. Beattie explained to viewers that the same networks promoting color revolutions
overseas are now training their sights on President Donald Trump: "What's unfolding before our
eyes is a very specific type of coup called the 'color revolution.' "
Similarly,
Revolver website posted a multi-part series on the color revolution against Trump, with its
Sept. 9 installment taking up Norm Eisen, one of the participants in the Transition Integrity
Project's war gaming of the 2020 election. Eisen was Obama's White House ethics czar and was
hired by the Democratic leadership of the House Judiciary Committee in 2019, where he prepared
ten articles of impeachment against Trump a month before Pelosi announced an official
impeachment inquiry. He himself took part in the impeachment proceedings.
But his involvement in ousting Trump began even before the nomination. Eisen ran Citizens
for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), financed amongst others by George Soros's
Open Society, which partnered with David Brock to put forward a blueprint -- issued before the
inauguration -- for attacking Trump through such means as policing social media, getting tech
companies to censor content (media platforms ... will no longer uncritically and without
consequence host and enrich fake news), impeachment itself, fake news (a steady flow of
damaging information, new revelations), and other techniques.
Eisen co-authored "The Democracy Playbook: Preventing and Reversing Democratic
Backsliding," a Brookings guide to the perplexed seeking to institute policies through frankly
undemocratic means. Eisen named Gene Sharp's From Dictatorship to Democracy as an inspiration
for his document.
Consider another color revolutionary. Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia
and a supporter of the Ukraine color revolution, realized that "color revolution" was taking on
a negative connotation. In August he tweeted a revised nomenclature: "Autocrats have demonized
the phrase, 'color revolutions.' (& revolution generally has a negative connotation for
many.) Instead, I use the term 'democratic breakthroughs.' "
What kind of democratic breakthrough? Consider McFaul's Sept. 4 tweet:
"Trump has lost the Intelligence Community. He has lost the State Department. He has lost
the military. How can he continue to serve as our Commander in Chief?"
Astute readers will note that neither the IC, State Department, or military appoint the
President, who takes that office by means that are actually democratic -- an election!
Eisen also heads the Transatlantic Democracy Working Group, whose website announces that
it is "a bipartisan and transatlantic platform for discourse and coordination to address
democratic backsliding in Europe." What is "democratic backsliding"? Naturally, it's when the
plebes get uppity and vote for their favored candidates, as in, you know, elections.
Russiagate has been an obvious coup attempt from the beginning
jinn @ May 10 15:20
That is not at all obvious... you have to be extremely gullible to believe any of it is
real.
IMO Russiagate was about initiating a new McCarthyism.
And Trump's Deep State selection was about re-igniting nationalism in response to
the Russia-China alliance which was recognized as a threat to the Empire in 2013-2014 with
Russia's blocking of US action in Syria and Ukraine.
There was nothing mysterious about "Russiagate." It was a transparently false narrative
designed, by the most incompetent election campaign team in history, to excuse their shocking
inability to defeat one of the weakest and most discredited Presidential candidates there has
ever been.
_________________________________________________
Yeah that is what we are asked to believe, but the problem is how did this incompetent
election campaign keep the ball in the air for more than 2 years?
They did not invent the Flynn lied to FBI story and they did not invent the Trump
obstructed justice stories. And they did not create any of the silly stories about contacts
with Russians. There is no doubt the Hillary supporters sat on the sidelines and cheered all
the nonsense that was unfolding in the Russiagate narrative but the storyline that they were
cheering for was all created by Trump and his lackeys.
C3
@C_3C_3
FBI knew the Dossier was FAKE
CIA knew the Dossier was FAKE
DOJ knew the Dossier was FAKE
ODNI knew the Dossier was FAKE
Media knew the Dossier was FAKE
Mueller knew the Dossier was FAKE
Congress knew the Dossier was FAKE
BO Admin knew the Dossier was FAKE
They were all in on it
The Democratic party has always specialized in co-opting the groundswell movements that
arise from the street level up, and neutering those movements through a tongue-twisting and
mind-bending variety of rationales for doing nothing.
And so the Democratic party sees its imperative currently as co-opting this call for
Medicare for All. It has attempted this, and is still attempting this, but its efforts are
failing. It cannot turn the impulse from the street into longer-view delays on getting this
done - especially because both the tactical moment and the strategic realities are NOW, and
the people know this.
~~
A clever Democratic party, deep in its back room, would realize that the only way to
maintain its mystique as a "progressive" force now would be to concede the loss of its
obstructionist position, and to allow the vote for Medicare for All, in order to save itself
as a party for the future decades.
It so far doesn't seem to have understood this.
The Democratic party is enabling its own destruction and it will never understand why. And
as we have seen before with multiple examples, this lack of understanding is alone the reason
that any representative entity should die.
"... The bottom line is the true enemies of the American people are no foreign nation or adversary---the true enemy of the American people are the people who control America. ..."
"... This way of thinking points to a dilemma for the American ruling class. Contrary to a lot of the rhetoric you hear, much of the American ruling class, including the "deep state" is actually quite anti-China. To fully account for this would take longer than I have here. But the nutshell intuitive explanation is that the ruling class, particularly Wall Street, was happy for the past several decades to enrich both themselves and China by destroying the American working class with policies such as "free-trade" and outsourcing. But in many ways the milk from that teat is no more, and now you have an American ruling class much more concerned about protecting their loot from a serious geopolitical competitor (China) than squeezing out the last few drops of milk from the "free trade." ..."
This is awesome, he nails the dilemma which our owners are confronted with;
I'll put it this way: It is not as though the American ruling class is intelligent,
competent, and patriotic on most important matters and happens to have a glaring blind spot
when it comes to appreciating the threat of China. If this were the case, it would make
sense to emphasize the threat of China above all else.
But this is not the case. The American ruling class has failed on pretty much every
issue of significance for the past several decades. If China were to disappear, they would
simply be selling out the country to India, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, or some other country
(in fact they are doing this just to a lesser extent).
Our ruling class has failed us on China because they have failed us on everything. For
this reason I believe that there will be no serious, sound policy on China that benefits
Americans until there is a legitimate ruling class in the United States. For this reason
pointing fingers at the wickedness and danger of China is less useful than emphasizing the
failure of the American ruling class. The bottom line is the true enemies of the
American people are no foreign nation or adversary---the true enemy of the American people
are the people who control America.
This way of thinking points to a dilemma for the American ruling class. Contrary to
a lot of the rhetoric you hear, much of the American ruling class, including the "deep
state" is actually quite anti-China. To fully account for this would take longer than I
have here. But the nutshell intuitive explanation is that the ruling class, particularly
Wall Street, was happy for the past several decades to enrich both themselves and China by
destroying the American working class with policies such as "free-trade" and outsourcing.
But in many ways the milk from that teat is no more, and now you have an American ruling
class much more concerned about protecting their loot from a serious geopolitical
competitor (China) than squeezing out the last few drops of milk from the "free
trade."
@102 karlof1 - "By deliberately setting policy to inflate asset prices, the Fed has
priced US labor out of a job, while as you report employers sought labor costs that allowed
them to remain competitive."
I never heard it said so succinctly and truly as this before. That is what happened isn't
it? The worker can't afford life anymore, in this country.
And if the worker can't afford the cost of living - who bears the cause of this, how
follows the remedy of this, and what then comes next?
I really appreciate your point of view, which is the only point of view, which is that the
designers of the economy, the governors of the economy, have placed the workers of the
economy in a position that is simply just not tenable.
No wonder they strive to divide in order to rule - because they have over-reached through
greed and killed the worker, who holds up the society.
How long can the worker flounder around blaming others before the spotlight must turn on
the employer?
You have to remember these people really do think they are better. They do think in class
terms even if they avoid that rhetoric in public. The problem is they thought they could
control China like they did Japan. That was dumb then and it looks even dumber now. You can
see similar dumbness in their lack of grip on any realisitic view of Russia. Provincials
really. Rich peasants.
Thank you, they certainly DO think in class terms ALWAYS. + Rich peasants is perfect
:))
Thankfully they are blinded by hubris at the same time. The USA destroyed the Allende
government in Chile in 1973. After the Nixon Kissinger visit to China in 1979 they assumed
they could just pull a color revolution stunt when they deemed it to be the right time.
Perhaps in their hubris they thought every Chinese worker would be infatuated with capitalism
and growth.
They tested that out in the People Power colour (yellow) revolt in the Filipines in 1986
following a rigged election by Marcos. In 1989 only 16 years after China had been buoyed up
with growth and development following the opening to USA capitalism, they tried out the same
trick in Tienanmen square in China but those students were up against the ruling party of the
entire nation - not the ruling class. BIG MISTAKE. The ruling party of China was solidly
backed by the peasant and working class that was finally enjoying some meager prosperity and
reward a mere 40 years after the Chinese Communist Party and their parents and grandparents
had liberated China from 100 years of occupation, plunder, human and cultural rapine and
colonial insult. Then in 2020 it was tried on again in Hong Kong. FAIL.
The hubris of the ruling class and its running dogs is pathetic.
We see the same with Pelosi and the ruling class in the Dimoratss today. They push Biden
Harris to the fore, piss on the left and refuse to even hold a vote on Medicare for All in
the middle of a pandemic. Meanwhile the USAi ruling class has its running dogs and hangers on
bleating that "its wrong tactic, its premature, its whatever craven excuse to avoid exposing
the ruling class for what they are - thieves, bereft of compassion, absent any sense of
social justice, fakes lurking behind their class supposition.
They come here to the bar with their arrogant hubris, brimming with pointless information
some even with emoji glitter stuck on their noses. Not a marxist or even a leftie among them.
Still its class that matters and its the ruling class that we must break.
@102 karlof1 and Grieved | Dec 19 2020 3:12 utc | 129
I did not understand inflate-assets/suppress-workers and forgot to return to it to clear
it up. Grieved sent me back to Karlof1. I just got it.
That viewpoint indeed explains method of operation to accomplish the results I observed.
When Nixon was forced to default on Bretton Woods use of Gold Exchange Standard* [the USD is
as good as gold], then printing fiat solved the problem [threat to US inventory of
gold]....but printing fiat [no longer redeemable as a promise convert to gold] became the new
problem [no way to extinguish the promises to redeem/pay].
So how to proceed? Aha! Steal from the workers; squeeze 'em, entertain and dazzle 'em!..
Such an elegant solution...slow, certain and hardly noticeable...like slow-boiling frogs...an
on-going project as we blog.
There is so much agreement and support for Jimmy Dore hammering away that it is emerging
as a wave. With any luck for the people, the USA establishment might have to make a show of
conceding to a floor vote on medicare for all in the next month.
Right now the Dimoratss shills - like the Squad and David Sirota are looking totally
dishonest. SAD
Jimmy Dore has gathered considerable momentum and is now joined by other high profile
utoobers Kyle
Kulinski and Mike
Figueredo.
Will Joe Rogan add weight to M4A. I say do two birds with one stone - achieve a floor vote
on M4A and finally destroy the Pelosi stranglehold on the journey for progressive
legislation.
Print
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (
FBI
) has files from the
laptop computer belonging to Seth Rich, the Democratic National Committee employee who was killed, according to a new email.
The bureau also has tens of thousands of documents mentioning Rich.
The FBI "has completed the initial search identifying approximately 50 cross-reference serials, with attachments totaling
over 20,000 pages, in which Seth Rich is mentioned," Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Parker wrote in the message to attorney Ty
Clevenger, who is representing a plaintiff Huddleston v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, a case dealing with a Freedom of
Information Act request to the bureau.
"FBI has also located leads that indicate additional potential records that require further searching," Parker added.
The Epoch Times confirmed the email is legitimate.
Parker, who is representing the FBI in the case, didn't respond to an email or return a voicemail.
The bureau also confirmed it has files from Rich's laptop.
"FBI is also currently working on getting the files from Seth Rich's personal laptop into a format to be reviewed," Parker
said.
The disclosure came as part of a case brought in federal court by Texas resident Brian Huddleston, who filed a Freedom of
Information Act request in April asking the FBI to produce all data, documents, records, or communications that reference Seth
Rich or his brother, Aaron Rich.
The FBI told the plaintiff in June that it would take 8 to 10 months to provide a final response to the request, prompting the
filing of the case in the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
Rich was working for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) when he was killed in Washington in 2016. His murder remains
unsolved.
The new email bolsters a key charge in Huddleston's filing: that David Hardy, the FBI's records chief, was wrong when he said
in two affidavits that the FBI searched for records pertaining to Rich but could not find any.
Rich is pictured on a poster created by police officials to urge people with information about his murder to come forward.
(Metropolitan Police Department)
The first sign that the testimony was erroneous came earlier this year
when the nonprofit watchdog Judicial Watch received emails exchanged by FBI agent Peter Strzok and Department of Justice lawyer
Lisa Page. The production
included
several emails
mentioning Rich.
Another sign came in March, when former Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Sines was deposed in a separate case, Ed Butowsky v.
David Folkenflik et. al.
Sines testified that the FBI conducted an investigation into possible hacking attempts on Seth Rich's electronic accounts
following his murder. She said FBI agents examined Rich's laptop as part of the probe and that a search should uncover emails
between her and FBI personnel. She also said she met with a prosecutor and an FBI agent assigned to special counsel Robert
Mueller's team.
The FBI declined to comment, citing a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
The judge overseeing the Huddleston case in October ordered the defense to produce documents and an index.
In the new email, the government lawyer said the FBI has made "significant progress" in searching for documents mentioning
Rich, but still has much work left, including processing the approximately 50 cross-references, undertaking some level of review
of the laptop, and completing all remaining services.
The efforts are hampered by the FBI's Freedom of Information Act office being at 50 percent of its normal workforce due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The government is proposing an amended schedule that would give it three more months to produce the records.
WikiLeaks
founder Julian Assange arrives at court in London on May 1, 2019. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images)
Clevenger, Huddleston's lawyer, told The Epoch Times via email that his client is hoping to find out why the FBI was involved in
the case, and why it originally denied involvement.
"We suspect the FBI may be right that the Metropolitan Police Dept. in D.C. was responsible for investigating Seth's murder,
so that leaves a couple of likely explanations for the FBI's role: it was investigating a counterintelligence matter or a
computer crime. Either scenario would be consistent with Seth transmitting DNC emails to
Wikileaks
,"
he added, referencing a theory put forth by Fox News in 2017 in a report that was later retracted.
A federal judge overseeing the case had earlier this year requested testimony from Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange.
Rich was killed less than two weeks before WikiLeaks "released a collection of thousands of internal emails and documents
taken from the DNC servers," according to a court filing. One month after Rich's murder, Assange referenced the DNC staffer in
an
interview
with a Dutch television
reporter when discussing the dangers faced by WikiLeaks sources. On Aug. 9, 2016, WikiLeaks offered $20,000 for information about
Rich's murder. The website increased the reward to $130,000 in January 2017.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) several weeks after Rich was shot dead offered a reward for information. A
spokeswoman told The Epoch Times via email that the case "remains under active investigation."
The spokeswoman declined to answer whether the FBI assisted police with its probe. "MPD remains the lead investigative agency
over this homicide," she said.
Clevenger said he thinks the timing of the email from Parker, the assistant U.S. attorney, is significant.
"Some of my colleagues suspect the Trump Administration has pushed the release, but I doubt that," he wrote. "With the
purported election of Joe Biden, the FBI brass probably think they are in the clear, and nothing will ever happen to them, so
they no longer have any reason to hide what they did."
"... Band said he had no idea about Epstein's sex crimes back then but got enough bad vibes that he advised Clinton to end the relationship. But Clinton continued to socialize with Epstein and take his money. In 2006 Epstein donated $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Clinton made more than two dozen trips on Epstein's jet around this time, Epstein's flight logs show. In January 2003, according to Band, Clinton visited Epstein's private Caribbean island, Little St. James. Band said it was one of the few trips he declined to go on in his time with Clinton. - Vanity Fair ..."
"... Chelsea Clinton had a relationship with Epstein and his alleged co-conspirator in an underage sex trafficking ring, Ghislaine Maxwell. ..."
"... Chelsea had ties to Epstein and Maxwell, Band said; he showed me a photo of Bill and Chelsea posing with Epstein and Maxwell at the King of Morocco's wedding. Chelsea remained friends with Maxwell for years after the press revealed Maxwell was a close associate of Epstein's. For instance, Chelsea invited Maxwell to her 2010 wedding at the Brooke Astor estate in Rhinebeck, New York, after Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida to procuring sex from a minor. - Vanity Fair ..."
"... "Ghislaine had access to yachts and nice homes. Chelsea needed that ," said Band. ..."
"... Thanks again to WikiLeaks, we also know that Band was soliciting donations for Clinton through his PR and investment firm, Teneo in an sordid example of "pay for play" which most of the mainstream media refused to cover - which he worried about in an email to John Podesta, saying: " If this story gets out, we are screwed ." ..."
"... In 2011, Band says he instructed Bill Clinton's staffers to ban Maxwell 'from all Clintonworld events' to try and drive a wedge between Chelsea and Ghislaine . ..."
Bill Clinton's former top aide and
Chelsea Clinton nemesis Doug Band has told
Vanity Fair that former
President Bill Clinton did visit Jeffrey Epstein's infamous "pedo island" in January 2003, and that he was unable to push Epstein
out of Clinton's orbit since they flew to Africa together in 2002 aboard the the pedophile's (Epstein's) private 727, dubbed the
"Lolita Express."
Band said he had no idea about Epstein's sex crimes back then but got enough bad vibes that he advised Clinton to end the relationship. But Clinton continued to socialize with Epstein and take his money. In 2006 Epstein donated $25,000 to the Clinton Foundation.
Clinton made more than two dozen trips on Epstein's jet around this time, Epstein's flight logs show. In January 2003, according
to Band, Clinton visited Epstein's private Caribbean island, Little St. James. Band said it was one of the few trips he declined
to go on in his time with Clinton. -
Vanity Fair
Band - who revealed the Clinton Foundation's
'for-profit' activity and accused Chelsea Clinton of tapping Foundation funds to
pay for her wedding (known only because of WikiLeaks) - also says Chelsea Clinton had a relationship with Epstein and his alleged
co-conspirator in an underage sex trafficking ring, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Chelsea had ties to Epstein and Maxwell, Band said; he showed me a photo of Bill and Chelsea posing with Epstein and Maxwell
at the King of Morocco's wedding. Chelsea remained friends with Maxwell for years after the press revealed Maxwell was a close
associate of Epstein's. For instance, Chelsea invited Maxwell to her 2010 wedding at the Brooke Astor estate in Rhinebeck, New
York, after Epstein had pleaded guilty in Florida to procuring sex from a minor. -
Vanity Fair
"Ghislaine had access to yachts and nice homes. Chelsea needed that ," said Band.
Band notably created the
now-defunct
Clinton Global Initiative, which has helped to raise $74 billion for Clinton global charities, according to
Newsmax . Thanks again
to WikiLeaks, we also know that Band was
soliciting donations for Clinton through his PR and investment firm, Teneo in an sordid example of "pay for play" which most
of the mainstream media refused to cover - which he worried about in an email to John Podesta, saying: "
If this
story gets out, we are screwed ."
In response to Band's claims about Chelsea, a family spokesperson said that " Chelsea was on friendly terms with Maxwell because
of a mutual friend (Gateway computer founder Ted Waitt) and only took one yacht trip with Maxwell in 2009: "It wasn't until 2015
that Chelsea became aware of the horrific allegations against Ghislaine Maxwell and she hopes that all the victims find justice."
In 2011, Band says he instructed Bill Clinton's staffers to ban Maxwell 'from all Clintonworld events' to try and drive a wedge
between Chelsea and Ghislaine .
"I knew in telling everyone to stop including Ghislaine that Chelsea and her father would be very angry. It made it harder for
them to justify being close to her," said Band.
"... If Trump's legal action against brazen election fraud to deny him a second term succeeds -- what's highly unlikely but possible -- will a phony DJT/Russia connection again make headline news? ..."
The scheme was cooked up by Obama/Biden regime Russophobes John Brennan, Hillary and the
DNC -- to smear Russia and discredit Trump at the same time.
It aimed to maintain and escalate US hostility toward the Russian Federation – for its
sovereign independence, advocacy for world peace, opposition to Washington's imperial agenda,
and having foiled its aim to transform Syria into another US vassal state.
It also relates to Sino/Russian unity – representing the only obstacle to Washington's
aim for unchallenged global dominance.
Probes by special counsel Robert Mueller, as well as House and Senate committees found no
evidence of Russian US meddling.
Nor did the US intelligence community. Claims otherwise without corroborating evidence were
and remain baseless.
In US criminal judicial proceedings, evidence beyond a reasonable doubt is required for
convictions.
Without it, fairly and impartially adjudicated cases would be dismissed.
Time and again, Russia was falsely accused of US election meddling, notably in the run-up to
Trump v. Hillary in 2016.
To this day, no credible evidence ever proved accusations because none exists.
The Russiagate hoax remains one of the most shameful political chapters in US history,
exceeding the worst of McCarthyism because despite its exposed Big Lies, it's still around.
Yet in 2018 testimony before House Intelligence Committee members, former Director of
National Intelligence James Clapper (2010 – 2017) said the following:
"I never saw any direct empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone in it was
plotting (or) conspiring with the Russians to meddle with the election."
"I do not recall any instance when I had direct evidence of the content of" alleged Trump
team-Russia collusion.
Remarks like the above, along with failure of probes by Mueller, House and Senate members to
present evidence of Russian US election meddling should have ended the Russiagate witch-hunt
once and for all.
While largely dormant in the run-up to and aftermath of US Election 2020, it could resurface
any time in old or new form.
In following NYT reports on other issues, most recently with regard to Trump v.
Biden/Harris, I haven't seen a Russiagate report in its online editions for some time.
Belatedly I discovered an August 2020 mini-book-length article in the NYT Magazine
(online), a publication I don't follow.
It discusses a classified National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of various geopolitical
issues, this one prepared in July 2019.
The Times: "According to multiple officials who saw it, the document discussed Russia's
ongoing efforts to influence US elections: the 2020 presidential contest and 2024's as well
(sic)."
Its so-called "interest" is much the same as in other nations.
"Interest" has nothing to do with meddling. No credible evidence ever surfaced to show US
election interference by any nations.
It's in sharp contrast to credible evidence of US meddling in scores of elections abroad
throughout the post-WW II period and earlier.
According to "key judgments" of US intelligence officials, "Russia favored the current
president: Donald Trump," adding:
Ahead of the summer 2020 party national conventions, "Russia worked in support of the (Dem)
presidential candidate Bernie Sanders," said the Times, based on the NIE report.
It wasn't "genuine" support for Sanders, just an effort "to weaken that party and ultimately
help the current US president (sic)."
The Times: "Just as this article was going to press," the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence (ODNI) claimed the following:
Moscow "is using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former (Joe) Biden and what it
sees as an anti-Russia 'establishment (sic).' "
The ODNI accused Moscow of "sophisticated election-disrupting capabilities (sic)."
An unnamed intelligence community source familiar with the NIE was quoted, saying it's "100
percent reliable (sic)."
Left unexplained by the Times was that from inception to the present day, Russiagate was and
remains a colossal hoax.
No evidence ever surfaced to suggest Kremlin US election meddling, nor by any other foreign
country.
What the NIE allegedly called "100 percent reliable" defied reality. It's part of
longstanding Russia bashing.
In January 2017, a US intelligence community report titled "Assessing Russian Activities and
Intentions in Recent US Elections: The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution" --
claiming Trump v. Hillary election meddling -- included no evidence proving it.
None existed then or now to present day.
When Vladimir Putin was asked if he wanted Trump to win in 2016 -- at a joint Helsinki,
Finland news conference with DJT in July 2018 -- he replied: "Yes, I did."
His preference for Trump over Hillary was unrelated to election meddling.
If other foreign leaders expressed a preference for one US presidential candidate over
another, the same logic holds.
One thing has nothing to do with the other. Implying otherwise is an act of deception, a
longstanding US intelligence community and Times specialty.
Trump was justifiably skeptical about accusations of Russian US election meddling that
favored him over Hillary in 2016 or over Biden/Harris this month.
According to the Times, Trump's objections to claims about alleged Russia US election
meddling "alarm(ed) the intelligence community."
Former acting CIA director/Hillary campaign advisor Michael Morell was quoted calling Trump
"an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation."
He's a political novice, geopolitical know-nothing, first ever US reality TV president.
He's no witting or unwitting Russian agent.
Separately, Morell defied reality, claiming:
Election 2016 was "the only time in American history when we've been attacked by a foreign
country and not come together as a nation," adding:
"In fact, it split us further apart."
"It was an inexpensive, relatively easy to carry out covert mission." It deepened our
divisions."
"I'm absolutely convinced that those Russian intelligence officers who put together and
managed the attack on our democracy (sic) in 2016 all received medals personally from
Vladimir Putin (sic)."
The above claims and others about a DJT/Russia connection et al are pure rubbish.
The lengthy Times magazine piece was all about smearing Russia, falsely claiming Kremlin US
election meddling, and demeaning Trump for defeating media darling Hillary.
No evidence was included to back any of the above claims. None exists.
In the run-up to and aftermath of US election 2020, Russiagate simmers largely below the
surface.
If Trump's legal action against brazen election fraud to deny him a second term succeeds --
what's highly unlikely but possible -- will a phony DJT/Russia connection again make headline
news?
Will there be claims of Kremlin involvement in backing litigation to discredit
Biden/Harris?
No matter how often the Russiagate Big Lie was debunked before, it may never die.
It may be around as long as the Russian Federation and China remain Washington's favorite
national security threats.
Real ones don't exist so they're invented as pretexts to advance US imperial interests.
*
Note to readers: please click the share buttons below. Forward this article to your email
lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.
Award-winning author Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected] . He is a Research
Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG)
His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for
Hegemony Risks WW III."
From comments to YouTube: "570,000 votes for Biden in 90 minutes" (1:30), "IM HONORED TO BE
HERE REPRESENTING FREEDOM!", "The Legislature, are our Lawmakers and they need to enforce and
protect the people from corrupt politicians who seek to capitalize on their position of power for
person profit and personal gain."
" Fascinating testimony. Amazingly straightforward and easy to follow. Not surprised at any
information given, only sadly disappointed that our country allowed itself to get to this point
by not standing firm and stopping the deceit for several generations. Thank you for finally
standing up and addressing the disgrace."
"It's in everyone's interest to have a full vetting of election irregularities and fraud,"
Giuliani said in a statement Tuesday. "And the only way to do this is with public hearings,
complete with witnesses, videos, pictures and other evidence of illegalities from the November
3rd election."
"There were serious irregularities, we have proof of fraud in a number of states, and it is
important for all Americans to have faith in our electoral process," Trump campaign senior legal
adviser Jenna Ellis said in a statement. "All we have wanted from the outset is to count every
legal vote and discount every illegal vote."
WHO: Senate Majority Policy Committee Chair David Argall (R-Berks/Schuylkill); Senate
Majority Leader-Elect Kim Ward (R-39); State Rep. Dan Moul (R-91); State Rep. Rob Kauffman
(R-89); and State Rep Paul Schemel (R-90); among other lawmakers will join Senator Mastriano in
this historic hearing.
Mastriano is clear what is at risk.
"Elections are a fundamental principle of our democracy – unfortunately,
Pennsylvanians have lost faith in the electoral system," said Mastriano, who recently called
for the resignation of State Department Secretary Kathy Boockvar for negligence and
incompetence. "It is unacceptable."
"Over the past few weeks, I have heard from thousands of Pennsylvanians regarding issues
experienced at the polls, irregularities with the mail-in voting system and concerns whether
their vote was counted," said Mastriano. "We need to correct these issues to restore faith in
our republic."
WHERE: Wyndham Gettysburg, 95 Presidential Circle, Gettysburg, PA 17325.
The hearing will be streamed live on policy.pasenategop.com.
WHEN: Wednesday, November 25th at 12:30 pm.
"We want assurance that the issues encountered during this past election don't happen
again," said Chairman Argall. "Senator Mastriano requested this meeting because Pennsylvanians
deserve a fair election."
"... If Biden steals this election, it will be Obama 2.0. If Biden's mental health declines, Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris, one of the most unpopular democrats in modern history will be the President at least for the short term. The question is who will be her vice-president? ..."
"... "only votes for Biden and no down-ballot selections, which she regarded as suspicious" ..."
"... New York Post article ..."
"... "two pieces of software called Hammer and Scorecard were used to flip votes from Trump to Biden in some pre-election voting ballots." ..."
"... "declaring that trespassers will be removed from the White House." ..."
"... Timothy Alexander Guzman writes on his blog site, Silent Crow News, where this article was originally published. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research. ..."
If Biden steals this election, it will be Obama 2.0. If Biden's mental health declines,
Vice-President-Elect Kamala Harris, one of the most unpopular democrats in modern history will
be the President at least for the short term. The question is who will be her
vice-president?
Both of the US political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans are a one-party system
controlled by special interests no matter who is president .
It's fair to say that Trump's foreign policy was heading towards a dangerous path to a world
war as I have written about in the past.
Many of Trump's foreign policies are similar to past administrations whether they were
Democrats and Republican, the only difference that I can say is that he did not start any new
wars, he continued ongoing wars that was launched by his predecessors.
Trump's domestic policies are mixed at best with an economy built on debt through its
Federal Reserve's printing press that can never be repaid jeopardizing the US economy and it's
US dollar-based hegemony which are already in a steady decline. However, on a good note about
the Trump presidency is that he secured America's 2nd amendment rights (an important right to
have during uncertain times), expanded school choice for families and he cut taxes for
individuals' and small businesses. Despite a handful of successes on the domestic front, his
foreign policy is dangerous for world peace . However, it's fair to say Trump is a different
type of politician, one who openly expressed how he felt about certain people in politics or in
Hollywood and the mainstream-media (MSM) hated all of it, they despised Trump. The Democratic
party has been planning this scenario the day after Hillary Clinton lost the elections to
Donald Trump in 2016 with the Russia-Gate Hoax, allegations of sexual assaults, racism and
other anti-Trump shenanigans to remove the President. The Democrats were going to steal the
2020 elections no matter what with help from the MSM. If the Supreme court reverses Biden's
election win to a loss, giving Trump the victory by January 20th,violence will erupt on US
streets leading to a civil war among the American people, and that is certain.
Stolen Elections and Biden's Voter Fraud Organization
This election was rigged by the Democratic party, plain and simple. The so-called
"President-Elect" Joe Biden has admitted unconsciously that they put together an extensive
"voter fraud" organization in U.S. history:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/WGRnhBmHYN0
One of Trump's lawyers fighting the election fraud, Sidney Powell, said that 450,000 ballots
was found in several key states with "only votes for Biden and no down-ballot selections,
which she regarded as suspicious" according to a recent New York Post article who
also said that Powell claimed that "two pieces of software called Hammer and Scorecard were
used to flip votes from Trump to Biden in some pre-election voting ballots."
In Michigan, the vote had increased at one point to over 130,000 votes for Biden in the
middle of the night, without a single new vote for Trump while most people were asleep:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/wLRITa1jHHw
https://www.youtube.com/embed/3P36qnU-Ozc
In Pennsylvania, former New York City Mayor and Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani made a press
statement on the fact that dead people were voting in Philadelphia:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/__fR2H_Bsu4
There will be many more whistleblowers, pollsters that were denied the access to observe the
vote count and average voters who will be exposing Biden's election as a fraud in the coming
days, weeks and months. This is just the beginning.
Mainstream Media Censorship In Your Face
This is perhaps the most in your face evidence that media censorship has been legitimized
against President Trump. The MSM now is fact-checking Trump in real-time claiming that he is
stating false-facts:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/F74MfjZWjI4
A Coming American Coup D'état?
The Biden regime had issued a warning to President Donald Trump "declaring that
trespassers will be removed from the White House." Former sportscaster Keith Olbermann has
even called for a coup against President Trump:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/q_7f-DfmNNQ
The 2020 election was stolen from Trump, no doubt about that,
However, Trump and his administration knew that the Democrats were going to commit fraud
through mail-in ballots.
The US just became a banana republic, a dictatorship with Orwellian overtones that will
ensure a Democratic and the Neocon Republican establishment that will move forward with an
American-style scientific based-dictatorship.
Biden has prematurely announced a Covid-19 task force that will include planned lockdowns,
vaccine mandates and mandatory facemasks due to an increase in Covid-19 cases. The US is surely
heading towards what George Orwell has warned the world about. Make no mistake about it, there
will be a resistance, a human resistance that will ultimately prevail, and that I can say with
certainty.
*
Note to readers: please click the share buttons above or below. Forward this article to your
email lists. Crosspost on your blog site, internet forums. etc.
Timothy Alexander Guzman writes on his blog site, Silent Crow News, where this article was originally
published. He is a frequent contributor to Global Research.
"Methodological error? No. A deliberate information operation designed to discourage Trump
voters."
I think those fake polls are meant to add some plausible deniability to the election fraud
so that no reasonable person would question a result that conform exactly to what the polls
said we should expect.
'Exit polls' are not trustworthy, viable, etc. is a meme running about. In fact exit polls
are good; of course all polls are subject to some margin of error.
Newsweek published the results of the Edison exit poll*:
The fact that Trump made gains amongst Black, Hisp. etc can be read all over the MSM,
twitter, blogs, with Dems sometimes saying 'that can't be right!' - minorities are expected
to vote Dem - a white racist can't 'make gains.' (One can increase votes in one category and
still lose the / an election.)
Imho particularly many Hispanics are attached to law and order (see "Defund the Police")
and many established immigrants are against uncontrolled immigration. I also suspect that
quite a few Blacks, probably specially women strongly disaprove of Antifa - etc. Much more
could be said, at least some Blacks see through the Dem. condescension and Obama fakery.
Important factor: the economy, which was the no. 1 concern of Trump voters (see Pew polls,
80% about, posted previous), which pre-covid did put a little more money into many poorer
pockets. Chart at link, the visible uptick is small but steady.
Using the exit poll to 'extrapolate' the overall result:
Ethnicity || voted for DT according to poll || % of electorate || equals * out of 100
voters
White 57% . 67% . 39.18
Black 12% . 13% . 1.56
Asian 31% . 4% . 1.24
Hisp 32% . 13% . 4.16
Other 40% 3% 1.2
Total = 46.35
This makes sense: a 'good, fair' majority of whites voted for DT. A small minory of blacks
did so. Just under a third of Asians and Hispanics voted for DT, and 'other' did so somewhat
under half.
If we award all the other votes to Biden, that makes 53.75 for JB.
Tricky. How many votes were for for 3rd party candidates ? Vox estimates 2% 3rd cand.
2020. Jill Stein got 1% plus, Gary Johnson 3.28% in the past. Maybe 3% is a good guess. Of
course on the intertubes ppl saying they voted 3rd cand. proliferate - you'd think it was
15%! Certainly there were many other candidates.
Then, the non conforming ballots, mistakes, spoiled / blank ones, etc. About 2% is
standard in the EU so let's say (conservatively) 5% NOT for DT or JB. With 5%, Total:
46.35 For DT
5.00 for 3rd party, write-ins, invalid
51.35 accounted for
48.65 for JB is the remainder, he is the winner.
If 10% of ballots were for 3rd party / other fanciful / rejected, DT got 46% and JB 44%,
DT win.
Tight race, with many imponderables. Extrapolating from that one exit poll.
*15,590 voters outside polling stations, early voting sites, and over the phone. The
number is large enough. *poll distinguishes Latino/Hispanic but that is the same category in
census.
My take here is that the pollsters made them think that Biden was going to win and they
were just going to push him over the finish line as necessary.
But then the pollsters were wrong......and that's where the cheating became blatantly
obvious as they were committed to cheating the count. The line graph from Michigan that night
was the most appalling thing that I have ever seen which suggests that nobody with a
statistical background was on board at 3 a.m. because allowing that pattern on a chart was
moronic.
This is why they are so angry at the pollsters for being wrong. They were so wrong that
the entire game plan was destroyed.
Oliver Klozoff , 5 hours ago
Article reads:
" What a complete shock.
A Black Lives Matter goon beat the hell out of some liberal woman at a Biden celebration in
Madison, Wisconsin.
Then when the BLM goon was arrested by police the protesters started screaming at the cops
for arresting a black man.
This is your future under Democrat mob control.
God help us"
Michael McCaffrey is a writer and cultural critic who lives in Los Angeles. His work can be
read at RT, Counterpunch and at his website mpmacting.com/blog . He is also the host of the popular cinema
podcast Looking California and
Feeling Minnesota. Follow him on Twitter @MPMActingCo 23:32 Biden's electoral victory has been met
with cheers, proving that gullible Americans are eager to get fooled once again.
A few hours ago I was startled by a collective shout that went out across my neighborhood
here in Los Angeles. I had no idea what all the noise was about, but people were making quite
an exuberant ruckus. After checking the news I quickly realized the cheers were due to the fact
that all the networks were officially calling the presidential race for Joe Biden.
I haven't heard that much happy screaming since a few weeks ago when the Dodgers won the
World Series, and before that when the Lakers won the NBA championship. It is apropos that
Angelinos would cheer Biden's victory the same way they celebrated their sports team's titles
as all of these events are nothing but a function of empty tribalism and vacuous emotionalism
that in the long run don't actually mean a damn thing.
For the fools here in the City of Angels celebrating Biden's victory, nothing will
fundamentally change in their lives, for good or for ill. They will still have to step over
hordes of homeless people and used needles and human excrement as they navigate this sick,
venal, miserable third world shithole trying, and usually failing, to scratch out a living and
to make ends meet.
Biden's rapturously received electoral victory is a vacant win for nothing but a
stylistic change. The hysterically happy masses around me are overjoyed because Biden isn't as
much of a boor as Trump, not exactly a high bar. That said, Biden will certainly be more of a
bore than Trump.
On substance, Biden is, like the Orange Man liberals love to loathe, a shameless
corporatist who will bend over backwards to fill the coffers of the fat cats in board rooms and
on Wall Street, all while screwing over poor, working and middle-class people.
Biden's ascension to the American throne is akin to the dreadful sitcom Two and a Half
Men replacing Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher. The obnoxious Sheen and his "tiger blood"
were gone, but the show still really sucked and Kutcher was an annoying jerk in his own
right.
As far as Biden replacing Trump goes, for people like me, things will only change on the
surface and the sitcom that is American politics will still suck.
For instance, those who think public college should be tuition free for the working class
and student debt cancelled, meet Joe Biden, the man who was instrumental in getting a
bankruptcy bill passed that made it impossible to discharge student debt , thus damning
generations to indentured servitude to pay back school loans over-inflated through government
interference.
For people who think we should have universal health care, meet Joe Biden, an architect of
Obamacare, that insidious bill written by insurance companies that fleeces Americans by forcing
people to buy their abysmal product at exorbitant prices under force of law. Biden, similar to
Trump, has even promised to
veto any universal health care bill that would ever come to his desk.
For those opposed to Wall Street socializing losses while privatizing gains, meet Joe Biden,
who will, like Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump before him, populate his administration with
nefarious Wall Street shills and despicable devotees of the Goldman Sachs cult who will
hungrily devour any taxpayer bailouts that they can get their hands on.
For peace loving people who think America should be less militaristic, belligerent and
bellicose abroad, meet Joe Biden, the man who voted for the
Iraq War that killed tens of thousands, and is a poodle to the Pentagon with an itchy
trigger finger to get tough with America's adversaries, be they real or imagined, across the
globe.
For those who think the drug war and criminal justice system are an abject failure, meet Joe
Biden, the man who wrote the 1994 Crime Bill that has given
America the dubious distinction of having the highest prison population rate in the entire
world.
For working class folks that have repeatedly gotten screwed by Washington's corporate
friendly free trade policies that decimated the manufacturing base in America and eventually
led to the rise of Donald Trump, meet Joe Biden, the
NAFTA -loving narcissist who pretends to be a man of the people but is really the lap dog
of big money interests.
For those who despised Trump for his war on the press, meet Joe Biden, who was vice
president for Obama, the man who waged more than a Trumpian rhetorical war on the press, but an
actual war on the press by using the
Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers more times than every other president in US
history combined.
For people outraged by Trump putting "kids in cages" as part of his crackdown on illegal
immigration, meet Joe Biden, who was vice president during the Obama administration which
aggressively deported
more immigrants than Trump and who also put "kids in cages".
For every emotionally triggered simpleton so gloriously giddy over Trump's demise and
Biden's rise: meet the new boss same as the old boss. You are all being fooled. Me I won't
get fooled again.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author
and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Vey enlightening analysis by a great mind. Gives me comfort & hope not to mention a
deeper understanding of what is actually happening now & the political downside for the
democrats. Thank you so much 💓 God Bless America.
What a mind blowing articulate profound interview! That analogy at around 37 mins, of the
rough decent gunslinger cleaning up the cattle baron / stand over merchant type and then the
'conmon folk' wanting him to leave... that gave me shivers. Every decent policeman/
serviceman/defender of the weak knows exactly what thats about. The weak fear the bullies but
they also fear the decent tough guy who has the guts to stand up to them. Soldiers are
extremely popular during wartime but are shunned during peacetime. People are so happy to see
the police when they are being threatened but so glad to not see them otherwise. President
Trump is such a man but his job isnt finished. The Cattle Baron is attempting to run him off,
aided by his minions/ cronies/ stooges. Time for the townsfolk to take his example and stand
up for their own folks. Yeehaaa!
These "expert" pollsters also predicted "blu wave..."
Repub's gonna lose the senate majority, and multiple House seats. Yet, the Repub's did
very well, picked up several seats...
This big tech "charity," organization, that just got over $350M tax-subsidies from Fed
Govt tax $$$'s to run this "get out the vote," movement, that set up 8xs as many
registration/early vote "centers."
They had trucks that drove around had cook-outs, and carnivals, givin out gift cards,
VOTE-COUNTIN jobs countin all these mail-in, drop-box, early (FRAUD) votes...
Legit concerned, honorable, PRODUCTIVE taxpayin citizens in these swing states, living
amongst these urban cities that the "get out the vote" project were CONCENTRATES in.
Used FB and social media to recruit and HIRE looters and rioters to count the votes!!! And
wouldn't even consider "training" those whom SOUGHT OUT to volunteer their time...
The few (NON leftists) volunteers, that've gotten in these secret closed "vote count
centers," to count votes, have been videoing and posting/making public what's go'n on inside
there and it's beyond FRAUD!!!
Pres DjT and his campaign have known this, was go'n be, & that's why they had
grassroots volunteers trained poll watchers and (mostly volunteer) lawyer teams on the ground
in every swing state to verify that there was some kind of Constitutional law followed to
make sure that even tho will be some fraud that got thru at least some would be caught!
Anyone NOT affiliated w/radical dEms, were LOCKED OUT!!!
Happenin in real time, and NO MSM outlets were making this serious situation aware to the
public! Then started their non-stop "expert" BIAS coverage, w/state vote counts... NO way
possible biDen got HIGHER votes than oBama (& HRc) in ALL majority blck, swing state
large urban inner-cities, yet in EVERY dark-blu Dem stronghold city, like LA, NYC, chiCago,
even in DC... biDen didn't even get as high has HRC did in 2016!
I believe Mr Hanson expresses the feelings of the majority of Americans. I, and the vast
majority of those I meet are especially aggravated by the big tech companies and their
control of the narrative, and their censorship. People are very frustrated and angry. It
feels like Big Brother is real, and we're getting fed 'double speak' by the mainstream media.
Thanks for your program. Beat wishes to you.
"... When you fill up the mail in ballot for your demented grandmother this is a fraud though on a micro scale. But multiply it by thousand. Do it in nursing homes. Then do it in community centers in minority areas and ghettos for people who would never vote. You incentivize them and twist their arms. ..."
"... A well oiled (with money) political party machine with motivated workers do it naturally; they can do it in their sleep. ..."
"... Fake polls were very important to demoralize and demotivate Republican voters, donors and, most importantly, on the ground election workers. ..."
"... I think you’re right that fraud was done at the micro-level. Easy to do and probably impossible to counter legally. ..."
“The most probable
fraud would be ballot harvesting facilitated by the fact that millions of ballots were sent unsolicited based on lists
including a significant proportion of people who have moved or are dead. “
When you fill up the mail in ballot for your demented grandmother this is a fraud though on a micro scale. But
multiply it by thousand. Do it in nursing homes. Then do it in community centers in minority areas and ghettos for people who
would never vote. You incentivize them and twist their arms. This is no different than ballot stuffing but impossible to
be proven as a fraud, yet everybody knows about it:
claim is impossible because it would require too much of planning, coordination, secrecy? Absolutely not. A well oiled
(with money) political party machine with motivated workers do it naturally; they can do it in their sleep.
How do you get the motivated workers and why it was for Republicans harder to emulate Democrats’ shenanigans? Very simple.
The full spectrum dominance in media; creation of Trump derangement syndrome that removes any inhibition to win; most
importantly the sense of doom for Trump supporters by fake polls predicting two digit Biden’s win.
The meme of ‘shy Trump supporters’ is a fake invented in 2016 to explain away the fake poll results.
Fake polls were very important to demoralize and demotivate Republican voters, donors and, most importantly, on the
ground election workers.
This article is another example of author’s psychopathology. A cowardly bully who position himself on the side of the
winner and takes a pleasure in rubbing it in to the losers.
Bert says: November 7, 2020 at 4:02 pm GMT
@utu I don’t have an opinion about AK’s personality, but otherwise I think you’re right that fraud was done at the
micro-level. Easy to do and probably impossible to counter legally.
But this is what left are about today, silencing people that dont agree with them on every
topic.
This is also how absurd the left have become, look back past years since Trump was elected
they are now OK with having a neocon foreign policy president Biden to be elected - just
because they hate Trump so much. Have you guys already forgotten 4 years of Russiagate?
Or are you guys watching Rachel Maddow for your foreign policy knowledge?
"If Biden wins, the best-case scenario is that we'll be forced to deal with a Democratic
Party of resurgent centrism, convinced that their path to victory is through vacuous
messaging calibrated to cause the least offense to the maximum number of people. They'll
insist that their future dominance is assured, normalcy has been restored, and that the
nightmare is over. With eyes fixed on a seemingly winning formula, they won't see who's
getting left behind again, or history repeating itself before their very eyes."
Everyone falsely assumes that 'winning' actually involves getting elected. If the term
'winning' is viewed as maintaining the status quo, propping up the rich at the expense of the
poor while robbing the State, then regardless of who is carrying out the agenda, the Dems
leadership and fundraisers are still 'winning'.
Many big corporations have an each way bet in elections and can rest comfortably knowing
that whomever is elected, be they Red or Blue, will always join the ranks of weak and corrupt
politicians, seeking corporate approval for reelection, chasing profits or a board seat once
retired, while regularly selling their voters out. That's how the game is played to 'win'.
Politicians are just pawns on the chessboard, racing to get to the other end with the promise
of being turned into a queen.
Polling should have died in 2016. People seem to think polling will die after the 2020
repeat of 2016.
It won't.
Polling is too useful a tool for manipulating people - the herd effect.
People will be mimics (and herdable) until evolution or the Apocalypse carries the day,
whichever comes first.
It will be about 5 minutes from now when we again hear the words, "polls show...".
"... There was no blue tide. Nor was there a red tide. ..."
"... Trump outperformed 2016 in every demographic category except white males. ..."
"... The Republican increase in the House plus Republicans holding the line in the Senate means if Biden wins - McConnell is 99% certain to not go along with a stimulus in February just to ensure that the blue states' bleeding budgets don't get shored up and to set up maximum pain during the Biden administration - as a prelude to the 2024 presidential race. ..."
"... There will not be scrutiny of tech companies unless Trump wins. The Google antitrust will fizzle out with Biden/Harris in office. ..."
"... Health care remains a quagmire. If Biden had gone Medicare For All, or even Bernie, I would have voted for either, holding my nose. The ongoing Democrat sellout to the health care industry continues. ..."
"... If Biden wins, the Democrat party won't change its ways. ..."
2) There was no blue tide. Nor was there a red tide. I said it would be close, and this
present situation absolutely qualifies as close. I now expect this to drag on for weeks -
possibly until December.
3) COVID policies - lockdowns and what not - are not even close to universally supported.
The PMCs like it, the conservatives don't.
4) Trump outperformed 2016 in every demographic category except white males. Not that he
is majority supported, that he got more votes from these groups in 2020 than in 2016 - from
black men, from black women, from white women, from Hispanic men, from Hispanic women and
from the "other" category: source
What can we say for sure from this election?
a) There won't be a new stimulus unless Trump wins. Pelosi not taking the $1.8T proposed
in October (vs. the $2.8T the Democrats wanted and vs. the $1T first proposed by McConnell)
was a huge mistake.
The Republican increase in the House plus Republicans holding the line in the Senate means
if Biden wins - McConnell is 99% certain to not go along with a stimulus in February just to
ensure that the blue states' bleeding budgets don't get shored up and to set up maximum pain
during the Biden administration - as a prelude to the 2024 presidential race.
b) There will not be scrutiny of tech companies unless Trump wins. The Google antitrust
will fizzle out with Biden/Harris in office.
c) Health care remains a quagmire. If Biden had gone Medicare For All, or even Bernie, I
would have voted for either, holding my nose. The ongoing Democrat sellout to the health care
industry continues.
d) If Biden wins, the Democrat party won't change its ways. It won't go Medicare For All.
It won't return to its blue collar roots. It will continue to be the apologists for
Republican deregulation pushes.
e) Identitarian politics doesn't work. If Biden wins, this may be glossed over but Trump's
improvement vs. 2016 - even in a record turnout year - means that the identitarian politics
issue resonates only with the PMC crowd. As Krystal of Rising notes: it is stupid to focus on
this issue when the PMC crowd is pro-Democrat no matter what.
Things which are less clear:
Will the Republican party understand and acknowledge what Trump has done? Call it populism
or Trumpism or whatever - Trump has breached the Democrat stranglehold on minorities and the
lower classes. Anyone who saw any of the rallies in the past 5 weeks knows the base Trump
inspired is not going to disappear, but the old-money stranglehold on the Republican party is
not to be underestimated.
Strategically:
I see this election as positive. So many sacred cows gored. So many people - regardless of
who wins President - are going to be energized/angry. This hopefully focuses attention on the
huge list of things which need to be fixed so that there is a chance they will be.
First, those people who will agree to answer questions from a stranger. Who does that? Would you do that? I would never even
pick up the phone from a number I do not know.
Second, people lie. Not a whole lot of people like to admit to a stranger that yes, yes I am a racist.
Incurable problems. And they should be totally ignored.
Arne , November 5, 2020 2:36 pm
"who will agree to answer questions from a stranger"
The thing is, the results show that Trump voters are less likely to answer questions from strangers then Biden voters. Or that
Trump voters are more likely to lie to pollsters.
I observe that I think that this systematic issue in polling highlights a problem for Biden's desire to be a president for
all Americans. How do you govern people who do not want to communicate with you?
I can remember - 8 to 12 years ago - when Democrat primaries were not fixed. It's a
completely different beast in 2020. The entire Left is unrecognizable from 15 years ago. It
used to care more about wars in Iraq then Trannie washrooms!
Even with obvious fraud, you
still see them here making excuses for their Left wing candidate.
It seems that we all will have to fill up our popcorn supplies as the rather comical and
disgraceful
process of U.S. vote counting is likely to continue until maybe December 8, the safe harbor date on
which the states will have to certify their electors.
The race is nowhere near where the Democrats and their supporting media had expected it to
go. Just last week polls claimed that Biden would lead in Wisconsin
by 17 percent . The current margin is a rather dubious
0.6 percent which upcoming recounts may well eliminate.
That the Democrats lose House seats, do not win the Senate and barely manage to drag their
demented presidential candidate towards a stalemate tells a lot about their lack of sane
policies. A donor party completely disinterested in what the people really want - medicare for
all, no fracking etc. - will have little chance to survive a future onslaught of conservatives
with a more competent figure head than Donald Trump.
There will be protests, probably violent ones, and more legal action from either side. I see
no comprise possible that would satisfy both parties. I fear that, should Trump lose this
election.
Trumpism will only grow and make the U.S. ungovernable.
Maybe Trump and Biden could publicly draw straws to get over with it.
I did not support #DemExit before tonight. But I just got off the phone with my 24 year old daughter. She's depressed as hell
by what we all see, because they are not bothering to hide it anymore. I could not promise her things will get better, because
they won't.
We do not have a democracy, we have an #oligarchy and when shit hits the fan (as it will sooner than later), our nation
will become another dictatorship or military junta.
So, I'm done with the party system, because we only have one party - the party
for and by the rich. I'm abandoning the Democratic party because it abandoned us for corporate cash decades ago. That's all I
have to say. End of story.
reporting that 82% is in. If so then Biden would need to get 67% of the remaining votes. He's currently at 27%. What are the
odds that such a huge number of Biden votes would now come in? Zero, of course. There's no chance of it and Bernie has won California.
But CNN, for one, is still refusing to call it for him. They had no problem calling Michigan, though, with something like 18%
in.
Perhaps Bernie will hold on and win Washington. We'll see. Tulsi has over 8,500 votes so far. If we were to emulate the Hillbots
we'd be screaming at her, saying she hurt Bernie!!! ! But we don't do that because we're more aware.
#2 Said results won't
be available until tomorrow. We still don't have full results from California...
@Shahryar@Shahryar
Meanwhile, Bernie shows at 14.8%, below the 15% threshold.
I did not have an instant of anger at Tulsi, only sadness.
Sadness
that the mockery of democracy that holds sway in this country would repeatedly set us up for those ridiculous attacks that someone
has been a "spoiler".
The FBI agent that was charged with looking at Anthony Weiner's pc discovered Hillary
Clinton emails on the pc. He tried and tried to get action from the higher ups but ...
(crickets)...
The agent kept trying but then realized he had to become a whistleblower
if he wanted something to be done.
The FBI higher ups were going to look like the shits that they are when it
came out that they had just sat on the emails.
To protect himself James Comey had to preempt the whistleblower and DO SOMETHING.
James Comey had to weigh the costs of hurting Hillary's chances at getting elected
and protecting himself. The polls were saying that Hillary had this nailed so
Comey calculated and pretended to look at the emails. As we know, he determined that
the emails weren't a problem after all (big surprise, FBI guys). But, oops, Comey
really hurt Hillary's election chances. Ha!
If James Comey and Friends had looked at the Hillary emails on Weiner's laptop earlier
in
the summer it would have been old news by the time the November election rolled around.
Thanks for stalling, Comey and Friends!
If Donald Trump wants to get re-elected as President of the U.S. he's going to have to take
out former President Barack Obama. At this point Obama is the person who most stands in his
path for a second term.
Former Vice President Joe Biden may well wind up being the nominee but that's only because
he is Obama's stand in since Obama can't run for a third term thanks to the only part of the
U.S. Constitution anyone seems to give a damn about anymore.
But, make no mistake, the current flap about the unmasking of Trump's first (and
short-lived) National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn is all about Trump finally going on
the offensive after more than three years of fighting rear-guard actions just to stay in
power.
Obama was the ring leader in the operation to spy on Trump and anyone with half a brain
knows it. The unmasking of the unmaskers in the Obama administration is to tarnish his legacy
and dishearten any centrist voters who may be tiring of Trump's mistakes and the worsening
economic collapse engineered by the shutdown of the economy during the peak of the COVID-19
hysteria.
This is why it is imperative for Trump to take Obama out of this election cycle as quickly
as possible.
With Hillary finally bending the knee to Obama when she publicly endorsed Biden that was the
signal that she's acknowledging she's lost the fight for control over the Democratic Party,
which she and her husband have ruled with a closed fist for decades.
Now Obama is free and clear to begin campaigning openly on Biden's behalf. And don't for a
second think that the trial balloons of his wife Michelle being Biden's running mate are the
fanciful wishes of hopeless Democrats. Michelle is absolutely one of the top candidates for
that job.
Because with Trump surviving everything thrown at him to this point the only chance Biden
has this fall is his second coming as the Left's political messiah. Take nothing away from
Obama, he is an excellent campaigner.
With Michelle as his running mate that puts Obama right where he needs to be, hounding Trump
on all the issues that are supposed to be weaknesses for him – the economy, COVID-19
deaths, unemployment, etc.
So, the timing of Trump having his acting ODNI Director Richard Grenell pick a public spat
with the hapless Head of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff and get the transcripts
of the impeachment interviews released to the public isn't coincidence, folks. These
transcripts confirm that Obama's inner circle all lied through their teeth in the media for
years about the RussiaGate collusion story.
This comes on the heels of Trump's somewhat cleaned up Dept. of Justice dropping the case
against Flynn which then opens up the opportunity to resurrect the timeline of events which led
up to his firing and indictment by the very people now revealed as bald-faced liars and
conspirators.
Trump then goes directly to the people and coins the term of the year, "Obamagate."
He's telling the entire world who his target is. He knows that if he loses this election any
chance of reforming any part of the D.C. swamp vanishes as Biden steps aside for health reasons
after sweeping everything under the rug and Obama rules the White House from the shadows as
First Lady.
And it's clear that this is the real reason behind the Democratic governors defying their
people and Trump on opening up their cities and states. They are purposefully trying to destroy
the country to regain control over it.
These people are vandals.
But Trump's biggest obstacle at this point isn't the Democrat-controlled House or the Media,
it is the Republicans in the Senate who have proven repeatedly to be spineless when it comes to
anything substantive.
Obama is guilty of the highest crimes a President can be guilty of, utilizing Federal law
enforcement and intelligence services to spy on a political opponent during an election. This
is after eight years of ruinous wars, coups both successful and not, drone-striking U.S.
citizens and generally carrying on like the vandal he is.
Thankfully Rand Paul (R-Ky) has been activated by Trump to go after Graham directly and
force him to back peddle. Paul is already calling for hearings in the Senate, using his
Chairmanship of the Government Oversight Committee to end run around Light in the Loafers
Lindsey.
The FBI is now going after people like Richard Burr (R-NC), head of the Senate Intelligence
Committee for potential insider trading violations. This is a pure power play to make sure Burr
doesn't let this die in committee.
If this tweet isn't clear enough that Trump wants Obama's head on a platter and he's now
willing to go scorched earth on him and anyone trying to protect Obama to get it I don't know
what is.
Things are spiraling out of control in D.C. quickly. A reader noted to me recently that one
of Trump's strengths is that he thrives in chaos, that he's most comfortable stirring the pot
and getting everyone around him 'on tilt' as the poker players say.
That's what he's doing now with #Obamagate. He's doing what he does best, forcing his
opponents to ab react to him and leaving them vulnerable to his next attack. He's in pure
campaign mode now, which we haven't seen in four years.
But this time he's campaigning with a lot more resources at his disposal especially if he
has them all nailed. Trump wouldn't be going after Obama if he didn't have proof of Obama's
guilt. He's a limbic creature but he's not random.
Obama's people will spin this as desperation over the mishandling of COVID-19, but it won't
matter. With a Justice Dept. that looks ready to get to work for the first time in decades,
Trump just well be ready to finally do something right.
1. What went wrong with the polls? They didn't do too badly in 2016; the popular vote was
close to the consensus prediction, and the electoral college was a squeaker within the margin
of error. This time though the polls were apparently way off. Yes, the votes are not all in,
but it doesn't look like we'll see the massive popular victory for Biden they foretold. In
fact, as I fade away tonight, it's still possible that Trump could pull out a legitimate
electoral college victory, something that seemed almost impossible a day or two ago. Take
Wisconsin (my home state) for instance. We saw numbers ranging from 5-13% for Democrats, and
now it's nip and tuck. Meanwhile, analysts were giving the Dems a better than even chance of
taking the Senate, but that looks out of reach now. So what gives? Supposedly the weights were
adjusted to better reflect the role of education, and the "shy Trumpster" effect was taken into
consideration. But here we are.
2. And how do we understand the politics? We're dealing with a president whose failures were
about as massive as could be, especially in the context of a pandemic. He made a fool of
himself in the first debate. He is mired in corruption. And the Republican senate has
repeatedly blocked measures to support workers, small business,es and local governments
devastated by the economic effects of the virus. If this isn't enough to expunge them from
office, what is?
Comments (1)
Likbez , November 4, 2020 10:32 pm
What went wrong with the polls?
Remember Talleyrand advice to young diplomats: "Surtout, pas trop de zele" – Above
all, not too much zeal
In their desire to influence electorate, pollsters quickly lose contact with the reality
(oversampling, etc). All those fables "Biden leads Trump by at least 5-7%" were actually
thinly disguised propaganda designed to influence electorate (I am not saying that Biden
lost; its currently undecided, but this is nail-biting at best, not a landslide)
Also you need to answer a very simple question: who will answer the phone those days
when such poll is conducted. Massing error is built-in only due to this factor (probably
+-20%)
November 4, 2020 10:56 pm
And how do we understand the politics? We're dealing with a president whose failures
were about as massive as could be, especially in the context of a pandemic. He made a
fool of himself in the first debate. He is mired in corruption.
This is all true and I am firmly in "anybody but Trump" camp, but let's do not forget
who Biden is: a corrupt to the core neoliberal politician; warmonger who never saw the war,
he did not like (and by voting for Iraq war he can be considered to be a war criminal, if
we apply Nuremberg standards to US politicians) .
When Stalin answered the question "Which deviation is worse, the Rightist or the
Leftist one?" by "They are both worse!", the underlying premise is that the Leftist
deviation is REALLY ("objectively," as Stalinists liked to put it) not leftist at all,
but a concealed Rightist one! When Stalin wrote, in a report on a party congress, that
the delegates, with the majority of votes, unanimously approved the CC resolution, the
underlying premise is, again, that there was really no minority within the party: those
who voted against thereby excluded themselves from the party
It is also undeniable that Biden has problems with health, and probably should not run
int he first place and let Sanders run instead. But DNC decided differently, pushing
Sanders and Tulsi under the train, and now is paying the price (if they really care).
Biden dementia worries are probably exaggerated by media, but some level of mental
decline is obvious:
In yet another embarrassing senior moment, Biden introduced his teenage granddaughter
Finnegan (err.. no, Natalie) as his late son Beau Biden ['s daughter? (mindreading here)]
to a crowd of supporters during an election day appearance in Philadelphia today.
Like in 2016, the key question of the 2020 elections is the question of the legitimacy
of neoliberal elite and classic neoliberalism as governing the USA elite ideology.
Many people, especially among the working class and lower-middle-class (including white
color lower middle class), answer this question negatively now.
Also, with their "Russia, Russia, Russia", scam neoliberal Dems further destroyed their
own credibility among those who can think, and to this slice of the electorate they now
look like fraudulent and desperate losers. Despicable warmongers.
What is good in the fact that the neoliberal Dems became the second war party, happily
married to the intelligence agencies brass. That's simply disgusting.
National security parasites want taxpayers money. Badly.
Notable quotes:
"... Just days before the 2020 election the bureaucratic forces behind the original claim of Russian hacking of state election-related websites in 2016 launched a new drive to spawn fears of Moscow-made political chaos in the wake of the voting. ..."
"... The new narrative was not consistent with information previously published by the the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), however. It was so incoherent, in fact, that it suggested a state of panic on the part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials worried about a possible transition to a Joe Biden administration. ..."
"... Krebs' warning of a possible Russian announcement that hackers had succeeded in disrupting the result of the U.S. election was so removed from reality that it suggested internal panic DHS over the failure of Russian hackers to do anything that could be cited as interfering the election. ..."
"... Two days after Krebs' dubious warning, the FBI and the DHS's new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an "alert" reporting that "a Russian state-sponsored APT [Advanced Persistent Threat] actor" known as "Berserk Bear" had "conducted a campaign against a wide variety of US targets." ..."
"... On October 28, Krebs elaborated on the latter theme in an interview with the PBS NewsHour . Referring inaccurately to government warnings about "Russian interference, some of which targeted voter registration," which the FBI-CISA alert had never mentioned, PBS interviewer William Brangham asked, "Do you worry at all that there might be infiltration that we are not aware of?" ..."
"... Instead of correcting Brangham's inaccurate suggestion, Krebs responded that "infiltration" into voter registration files was "certainly possible," but that "[W]e have improved the ability to detect compromises or anomalous activity." ..."
Reprinted from The Grayzone with
the author's permission.
A Department of Homeland Security election alert spawning new Russia fears was so
incoherent and inconsistent with previous findings, it suggested a state of political panic
inside the agency.
Just days before the 2020 election the bureaucratic forces behind the original claim
of Russian hacking of state election-related websites in 2016 launched a new drive to spawn
fears of Moscow-made political chaos in the wake of the voting.
The new narrative was not consistent with information previously published by the the
FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's new Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security
Agency (CISA), however. It was so incoherent, in fact, that it suggested a state of panic on
the part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials worried about a possible
transition to a Joe Biden administration.
On October 20, Christopher Krebs, the head of CISA, issued a
video statement expressing confidence that "it would be incredibly difficult for them to
change the outcome of an election at the national level." Then he abruptly changed his tone,
adding, "But that doesn't mean various actors won't try to introduce chaos in our elections
and make sensational claims that overstate their capabilities. In fact, the days and weeks
just before and after Election Day is the perfect time for our adversaries to launch efforts
intended to undermine your confidence in the integrity of the electoral process."
Krebs' warning of a possible Russian announcement that hackers had succeeded in
disrupting the result of the U.S. election was so removed from reality that it suggested
internal panic DHS over the failure of Russian hackers to do anything that could be cited as
interfering the election.
Two days after Krebs' dubious warning, the FBI and the DHS's new Cybersecurity and
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued an "alert" reporting that "a
Russian state-sponsored APT [Advanced Persistent Threat] actor" known as "Berserk Bear" had
"conducted a campaign against a wide variety of US targets."
Since "at least September," according to the DHS alert, the DHS warning claimed that it
had targeted "dozens" of "US state, local, territorial and tribal government networks." It
even claimed that the supposed Russian campaign had compromised the network infrastructure of
several official organizations and "exfiltrated data from at least two victims servers". At
the same time, it acknowledged there was "no indication" that any government operations had
been "intentionally disrupted."
The report went on to suggest, "[T]here may be some risk to elections information housed
on SLTT [state, local territorial and tribal] government networks." And then it abruptly
shifted tone and level of analysis to offer the speculation that the Russian government "may
be seeking access to obtain future disruption options, to influence US policies or actions",
or to "delegitimize" the "government entities".
On October 28, Krebs elaborated on the latter theme in an interview with the PBS
NewsHour . Referring inaccurately to government warnings about "Russian interference,
some of which targeted voter registration," which the FBI-CISA alert had never mentioned, PBS
interviewer William Brangham asked, "Do you worry at all that there might be infiltration
that we are not aware of?"
Instead of correcting Brangham's inaccurate suggestion, Krebs responded that
"infiltration" into voter registration files was "certainly possible," but that "[W]e have
improved the ability to detect compromises or anomalous activity."
Krebs then homed in on a scenario he obviously wanted the public to focus on: "[Y]ou might
see various actors, foreign powers, claim that they were able to accomplish something, [that]
they were able to hack a database or hack the vote count. And it's simply not true."
Although the October 22 alert did not assert any deliberate Russian government hack of
election-related sites, Krebs sought to keep speculation about both Russian capabilities and
intent alive.
The buried alert that undermined the frightening official assessment
Eleven days before Krebs debuted his speculation about Russia claiming to have hacked US
elections, the FBI and CISA issued a separate alert that seriously undercut
his questionable claims.
The earlier document was clearly referring to the very same efforts by hackers to break
into various websites address in the October 22 alert. It not only referred to the same state
and local government networks and to the wider range of targets affect but also mentioned
precisely the same technical vulnerabilities that were targeted in the series of hacks.
The alert further stated that, "[I]t does not appear these targets are being selected
because of their proximity to elections information ." In other words, the two US agencies
conceded they had no basis for attributing to any of the hacks in question to any election
interference plot.
The most striking difference between the two alerts, however, was that the October 9 alert
did not refer to any "Russian state-sponsored APT actor" as the October 22 one did. Instead,
it simply pointed to "APT actors" in the plural, indicating that the US intelligence
community had no evidence indicating a single actor was at work, let alone one that was
"Russian-state sponsored."
Contrary to the impression that US officials may have conveyed in referencing an "Advance
Persistent Threat," or APT,
it is now widely understood by cybersecurity specialists that this term no longer refers
to a state-sponsored actor. That is because the sophisticated tools and techniques once
associated with state-sponsored hacking have now become available to a much wider range of
cyber actors. Indeed, the codes for such high-end tools have been identified in the
Shadow Brokers and Vault 7
leaks, and the tools have been marketed widely at affordable prices on the dark web.
The October 9 alert firmly established the dearth of evidence on the part of CISA and FBI
about a Russian state-sponsored hacking team planning elections-related operations in the US
The sudden pivot days later to an unqualified claim that a single state-sponsored APT had
been responsible for the same very large range of operations should have been accompanied by
claims of substantial new intelligence, or at least a reference to the evidence underlying
the dramatic new reversal. But no such proof ever arrived.
Scott McConnell, the spokesman for CISA, promised the Grazyzone on October 29 that he
would provide someone to answer questions about the October 22 alert by the close of business
Friday. In the end, however, no one from CISA responded, and there was no answer on
McConnell's line.
The peculiar reversal by the DHS and CISA on the hacking claims raise questions about the
institutional considerations taken by these agencies. Did indications that President Donald
Trump's campaign was faltering inform their decision to issue a more stridently anti-Russian
assessment in hopes of surviving a political transition?
The US officials who drew up the initial pre-election alert seemed keenly aware that
despite that drumbeat of over the past two years, no state-sponsored Russian hacking of
election institutions was underway. But as the Trump campaign sputtered, they had their own
careers to consider. Days later, DHS and CISA declared the wily Russians guilty of yet
another malign operations – albeit one that would not require the slightest evidence to
provide, and which proved impossible to explain.
Gareth Porter, an investigative historian and journalist specializing in US national
security policy, received the UK-based Gellhorn Prize for journalism for 2011 for articles on
the U.S. war in Afghanistan. His new book is
Manufactured Crisis: the Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare. He can be contacted
at [email protected]
.
Jim Rickards - remember him? Calling for a Trump win because Republican new voter
registrations are outnumbering Democrat new voter reg 2 to 1. The typical ratio is Dem 2 or 3
to 1 vs. Republican. He interprets this as the Republican ground game via canvassers being so
much stronger - unsurprising given the "lockdown" views of the mainstream Democrats.
He then cites the minority vote: black women. They voted 99% for HRC in 2016 - it looks like
they will vote 90% for Biden (and 10% for Trump). Rickards says this translates to a 0.6%
swing in the overall vote - which is huge since the margins are 0.2%.
Rickards also notes that the new registered voters don't show up in the polls because the
polls use existing voter databases, and that the conservative anti=poll bias means 1000 new
registered Republican voters means 10,000 or more actual new Republicans voting.
Lastly he cites the 56% "are you better off" poll recently. He notes that Obama, Bush etc
were winning with sub-50% responses (46%, 47% etc).
He notes that small businesses are half of GDP: nail salon and what not.
Other considerations that come to mind when considering the possible election outcome:
1) In 2016, it seems an unexpected number of people who didn't vote before decided to vote
because Clinton was simply unacceptable given her husband already was President, i.e., they
voted for "someone new" - which was Trump. Today, I suspect the shoe is on the other foot.
After four years of this asshole, I suspect a *lot* of people want him gone, even if they
don't think Biden is worth a hoot.
2) The military voted for Trump in 2016 because of his (alleged) "no new wars" promise.
It's unclear whether that remains the case today - even though Trump hasn't actually started
a new war (yet).
3) Gun owners voted against Clinton in 2016 and they will vote for Trump again in this
one. That almost goes without saying.
4) Speculation about new voter registrations is just that - speculation. Allegedly, most
of the new voters are from the young and minorities - most of whom are not favorable to
Trump. From
an article in The Atlantic:
The nature of the population eligible to vote is evolving in a way that should indeed help
Democrats. McDonald estimates that the number of eligible voters increases by about 5 million
each year, or about 20 million from one presidential election to the next. That increase
predominantly flows from two sources: young people who turn 18 and immigrants who become
citizens. Since people of color are now approaching a majority of the under-18 population --
and also constitute most immigrants -- McDonald and other experts believe it's likely that
minorities represent a majority of the people who have become eligible to vote since
2016.
The generational contrast in the eligible voting pool is also stark. States of Change, a
nonpartisan project studying shifts in the electorate, projects that Millennials (born,
according to the organization's definition, from 1981 to 2000) will constitute 34.2 percent
of eligible voters next year. Post-Millennials (born after 2000) will make up another 3.4
percent. That means those two groups combined will virtually equal the share of eligible
voters composed of Baby Boomers (28.4 percent) and the Silent and Greatest Generations
(another 9.4 percent).
These shifts have enormous implications because of the generational gulf in attitudes
toward Trump and the parties more broadly. His approval rating has consistently lagged among
the more racially diverse, socially tolerant younger generations. Though Trump and the GOP
have shown some signs of weakness recently among seniors, he has generally polled much better
among voters older than 50, in part because a much larger share of Americans in that cohort
are white.
"The group of voters that is going to increase at the fastest rate [in 2020] is
Millennials," says Josh Schwerin, the communications director of Priorities USA, a leading
Democratic super PAC that is already organizing in swing states for next year. "Donald Trump
is at a horrible standing with them and doing nothing to help himself."
5) "Are you better off" polls are hand-waving. Specific issue polling is likely more
accurate.
6) Given the figures that indicate Trump is trailing by five to eleven percent or more
except in close states, it doesn't look good for Trump. But see below.
7) Allegedly, Biden is way ahead in electoral votes - over 2 to 1. This is a serious
problem for Trump, if true.
8) In the top 21 closest states, Biden leads in most of them, although his lead is narrow
in half of them, and Trump leads in six of them
9) The question remains: Can the belief that this election is "important" lead to more
votes coming out for Trump than more coming out for Biden? Assuming that a certain percentage
of Trump supporters are no longer happy with his performance (white seniors allegedly don't
like his pandemic performance), is it possible that any new Republican voters who support
Trump can override those no longer happy with his performance *and* also the Democratic
vote?
10) Along with that, the overall turnout for early and mail-in voters is alleged to be 82
million so far, much higher than 2016. How many of those will be Trump supporters? If a
majority aren't, he will need Republican voters to turn out in record numbers at in-person
polling stations.
11) The number of undecided voters is much lower than 2016, so it's not clear how much a
swing either way would necessarily mean a win for either candidate.
(1) Fewer people answer phones. Political poll response rates are below 10% (and that's
overall, some demographic sections are way lower). It takes an unusual person to answer,
one who is generally less suspicious, or one whose job/life forces them to answer calls
from random numbers. The result is that polls really have to adjust for known demographic
qualities: age, race, geography, education, and most importantly political party. Most
don't do all of them, and political party in particular creates the next issue.
(2) A handful of states, most importantly PA and FL, have closed primaries. Thus
independents (i.e. the swing voters) are forced to strategically register to whichever
party had the more interesting primary. Except that most people don't bother to change it
every time. So in PA for example, there are 5% or 6% more registered Dems, yet the state
consistently goes down the middle. In particular we have lots of new voters in the past 4
years, and it's fairly certain 20-30% of the new ones who registered Dem did so because the
2020 Dem primary (Bernie) was obviously more meaningful than the 2020 Rep. primary which
has an incumbent Prez. So then: some polls ask for the party registered, and others ask for
self-proclaimed "what party do you consider yourself generally". With the latter, you get
what looks like more independents. But polls with both types of party identification seem
to adjust the party of the sample to the state registration stats, i.e. they spot Democrats
5-6% if we're looking at PA. It isn't necessarily dishonest, but they just don't have much
else to go on other than the previous election's results, which is also an iffy
assumption.
(3) Many (most?) of the polls are sponsored by an organization with an agenda or at
least a bias. When the pollster makes the results public (if at all) is typically the
discretion of the sponsor. So there is some cherry picking, tho I don't think it is as bad
as many suspect. But still it must be treated as another source of uncertainty. Things like
95% confidence aren't really valid if you hide groups of results you don't like.
"... Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a Denver-based physician and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in American Thinker, Daily Caller, Rasmussen Reports, and other publications. Follow him on Facebook , LinkedIn , Twitter , Parler , and QuodVerum . ..."
Listen to network or cable news and you will hear that the November election is over. Joe
Biden has a growing double-digit lead over President Trump, despite the election being over
three months away and the issues that may decide the election largely unknown at present.
What do the polls say? Biden's campaign manager, also known as CNN, has
their "poll of polls" described as, "the five most recent national telephone polls
measuring the view of registered voters." Considering that only 58 percent of eligible voters
went to the polls in
2016, CNN's "poll of polls" may not be particularly representative of the electorate.
CNN's
headline screams déjà vu, "Biden maintains a double-digit lead over Trump
nationally." That's it then, the election is over. Trump supporters may as well pack it up and
stay home. At least that is what they want you to believe.
Four years ago, the media was singing the same tune. On June 26, 2016, Time reported ,
"Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton holds a double-digit lead over presumptive
GOP nominee Donald Trump." How did that turn out?
To Clinton's credit, despite her falls, bizarre facial tics, needing to be carried into a
van, and overall unlikability, she was generally coherent. Unlike Biden who can't get through a
scripted interview without saying something incoherent, as he recently
claimed his campaign attorneys are reaching out to "voter registration physicians."
... ... ...
One of the most
accurate polls in 2016,
Rasmussen Reports , showed Biden this week with only a two point advantage over Trump, 47
to 45 percent, among likely voters, even with a 4-point Democrat oversampling. If the sample
was equally balanced between Democrats and Republicans, Trump might have a 2-point
advantage.
What about these "secret voters"? Might they portend a Trump landslide? The Cato Institute's
poll
revealed ,
62 percent of Americans say they have political views they're afraid to share.
These fears cross partisan lines. Majorities of Democrats (52%), independents (59%) and
Republicans (77%) all agree they have political opinions they are afraid to share.
Strong liberals stand out, however, as the only political group who feel they can express
themselves.
This is the "silent majority" which Trump
tweeted is "alive and well." Which group would be afraid to speak out, Trump supporters or
detractors?
Two last bits of good news for Trump. The
Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll on June 24 gives Trump 49 percent total approval
compared to Obama at 48 percent exactly four years ago. Obama won reelection easily against
Mitt Romney, a far more formidable candidate compared to Dementia Joe.
The
internals of Rasmussen's poll are horrific for Democrats. 31 percent of black likely voters
approve of Trump. In 2016, Trump
won only 6 percent of the black vote. If he won 15 or 20 percent in November, only half
this approval number, this becomes landslide territory.
If Democrats and the media truly believed Biden was on track to win easily, they would not
be pushing for mail in ballots or against voter ID. A large Biden poll lead now allows the left
to prepare the narrative of electoral fraud since how else could Trump win against such a big
lead. If Democrats retain the House, expect another impeachment based on Trump somehow rigging
the election to go from a Biden double digit lead now to a Trump landslide in November.
These polls are not meant to inform the electorate but to dispirit Trump supporters in the
hopes that they throw in the towel and tune out from the election and voting. Such information
warfare didn't work in 2016 and won't work in 2020. Instead we might see a Trump landslide.
Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a Denver-based physician and freelance writer whose pieces
have appeared in American Thinker, Daily Caller, Rasmussen Reports, and other publications.
Follow him on Facebook ,
LinkedIn ,
Twitter , Parler , and QuodVerum .
"... it must be treated as another source of uncertainty. Things like 95% confidence aren't really valid if you hide groups of results you don't like. ..."
(1) Fewer people answer phones. Political poll response rates are below 10% (and that's
overall, some demographic sections are way lower). It takes an unusual person to answer,
one who is generally less suspicious, or one whose job/life forces them to answer calls
from random numbers. The result is that polls really have to adjust for known demographic
qualities: age, race, geography, education, and most importantly political party. Most
don't do all of them, and political party in particular creates the next issue.
(2) A handful of states, most importantly PA and FL, have closed primaries. Thus
independents (i.e. the swing voters) are forced to strategically register to whichever
party had the more interesting primary. Except that most people don't bother to change it
every time. So in PA for example, there are 5% or 6% more registered Dems, yet the state
consistently goes down the middle. In particular we have lots of new voters in the past 4
years, and it's fairly certain 20-30% of the new ones who registered Dem did so because the
2020 Dem primary (Bernie) was obviously more meaningful than the 2020 Rep. primary which
has an incumbent Prez. So then: some polls ask for the party registered, and others ask for
self-proclaimed "what party do you consider yourself generally". With the latter, you get
what looks like more independents. But polls with both types of party identification seem
to adjust the party of the sample to the state registration stats, i.e. they spot Democrats
5-6% if we're looking at PA. It isn't necessarily dishonest, but they just don't have much
else to go on other than the previous election's results, which is also an iffy
assumption.
(3) Many (most?) of the polls are sponsored by an organization with an agenda or at
least a bias. When the pollster makes the results public (if at all) is typically the
discretion of the sponsor. So there is some cherry picking, tho I don't think it is as bad
as many suspect. But still it must be treated as another source of uncertainty. Things like
95% confidence aren't really valid if you hide groups of results you don't like.
Update (1745ET): President Trump just took a minute away from the campaign trail to weigh in
on the 'coming out' of Miles Taylor, the formerly "anonymous" op-ed writer and self-proclaimed
leader of the internal White House #resistance,
"Who is Miles Taylor?" President Trump wrote, before recounting Taylor's association with
various adversaries of the administration. He added that "they should fire, shame, and punish
everybody associated with this FRAUD on the American people" - a group that would presumably
include some members or former members of his own inner circle, as well as the editors of the
NYT.
A photo of Taylor and Trump has been circulating on Twitter since before Trump published his
tweet, and we imagine Trump's response to the inevitable reporter question will be his usual
"so what?".
Meanwhile, CNN has reportedly decided not to fire Taylor, even though he lied on air to one
of the network's anchors (anderson cooper, clip below) despite being a paid employee of the
company.
It's still unclear what Google's response will be.
* * *
Roughly two years have passed since an anonymous Trump Administration insider
published an op-ed - then later, a whole book - warning Americans how President Trump was a
danger to the nation, primarily due to his "lack of character".
Well, on Wednesday afternoon, with six days left until the big day, the MSM and their
political operative allies, orchestrated the public coming-out of Miles Taylor, a former senior
official within Trump's Homeland Security Department who, before today, was best known as the
first former senior administration official to endorse Joe Biden for president.
In the year since Taylor has left the White House, he has parlayed his national security
bona fides (which were burnished during a stint working for Dick Cheney in the Bush White
House) into a top job working for Google, as well as a lucrative contract to appear as a
talking head on CNN and...did we mention the book deal?
Shortly following a teaser from George Conway, who called his fellow conservative Republican
a "true patriot"....
...Buzzfeed Ben - excuse us, Ben Smith - the former top man at Buzzfeed who left that
struggling media company to take the coveted job as the NYT's media columnist (a position
formerly held by both Brian Stelter and, before him, the legendary American media reporter
David Carr), was the first to confirm Taylor's identity, followed by a tweet from Taylor
acknowledging that it was all true.
Taylor published a statement on his reasoning for "why I'm no longer 'anonymous'" via his
new Medium page, which is strange, considering he now works for CNN, technically. In the
statement, Taylor wrote that Trump "sees personal criticism as subversive" followed by a Teddy
Roosevelt quote condemning those who say the president must not be criticized as "not only
unpatriotic and servile, but...morally treasonable to the American public." Later in the piece,
he quoted Abraham Lincoln.
Though Taylor acknowledged that he has been a life-long Republican, and that he "wanted this
president to succeed", he said Trump is "a man without character", and "his personal defects
have resulted in leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American
lives."
More than two years ago, I published an anonymous opinion piece in The New York Times about
Donald Trump's perilous presidency, while I was serving under him. He responded with a short
but telling tweet: "TREASON?" Trump sees personal criticism as subversive. I take a different
view.
As Theodore Roosevelt wrote, "To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile,
but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about
him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant,
about him than about anyone else." We do not owe the President our silence. We owe him and the
American people the truth. Make no mistake: I am a Republican, and I wanted this President to
succeed. That's why I came into the Administration with John Kelly, and it's why I stayed on as
Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security. But too often in times of crisis, I saw
Donald Trump prove he is a man without character, and his personal defects have resulted in
leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American lives.
I witnessed Trump's inability to do his job over the course of two-and-a-half years.
Everyone saw it, though most were hesitant to speak up for fear of reprisals. So when I left
the Administration I wrote A Warning, a character study of the current Commander in Chief and a
caution to voters that it wasn't as bad as it looked inside the Trump Administration -- it was
worse. While I claim sole authorship of the work, the sentiments expressed within it were
widely held among officials at the highest levels of the federal government. In other words,
Trump's own lieutenants were alarmed by his instability.
Much has been made of the fact that these writings were published anonymously. The decision
wasn't easy, I wrestled with it, and I understand why some people consider it questionable to
levy such serious charges against a sitting President under the cover of anonymity. But my
reasoning was straightforward, and I stand by it. Issuing my critiques without attribution
forced the President to answer them directly on their merits or not at all, rather than
creating distractions through petty insults and name-calling. I wanted the attention to be on
the arguments themselves. At the time I asked, "What will he do when there is no person to
attack, only an idea?" We got the answer. He became unhinged. And the ideas stood on their own
two feet. To be clear, writing those works was not about eminence (they were published without
attribution), not about money (I declined a hefty monetary advance and pledged to donate the
bulk of the proceeds), and not about crafting a score-settling "tell all" (my focus was on the
President himself and his character, not denigrating former colleagues). Nevertheless, I made
clear I wasn't afraid to criticize the President under my name. In fact, I pledged to do so.
That is why I've already been vocal throughout the general election. I've tried to convey as
best I can -- based on my own experience -- how Donald Trump has made America less safe, less
certain of its identity and destiny, and less united. He has responded predictably, with
personal attacks meant to obscure the underlying message that he is unfit for the office he
holds. Yet Trump has failed to bury the truth.
Why? Because since the op-ed was published, I've been joined by an unprecedented number of
former colleagues who've chosen to speak out against the man they once served. Donald Trump's
character and record have now been challenged in myriad ways by his own former Chief of Staff,
National Security Advisor, Communications Director, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense,
Director of National Intelligence, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others he
personally appointed. History will also record the names of those souls who had everything to
lose but stood up anyway, including Trump officials Fiona Hill, Michael McKinley, John Mitnick,
Elizabeth Neumann, Bob Shanks, Olivia Troye, Josh Venable, Alexander Vindman, and many more. I
applaud their courage. These are not "Deep Staters" who conspired to thwart their boss. Many of
them were Trump supporters, and all of them are patriots who accepted great personal risks to
speak candidly about a man they've seen retaliate and even incite violence against his
opponents. (I've likewise experienced the cost of condemning the President, as doing so has
taken a considerable toll on my job, daily life, marriage, finances, and personal safety.)
These public servants were not intimidated. And you shouldn't be either. As descendants of
revolutionaries, honest dissent is part of our American character, and we must reject the
culture of political intimidation that's been cultivated by this President. That's why I'm
writing this note -- to urge you to speak out if you haven't.
While I hope a few more Trump officials will quickly find their consciences, your words are
now more important than theirs. It's time to come forward and shine a light on the discord
that's infected our public discourse. You can speak loudest with your vote and persuade others
with your voice. Don't be afraid of open debate. As I've said before, there is no better screen
test for truth than to see it audition next to delusion. This election is a two-part
referendum: first, on the character of a man, and second, on the character of our nation.
That's why I'm also urging fellow Republicans to put country over party, even if that means
supporting Trump's Democratic opponent. Although former Vice President Joe Biden is likely to
pursue progressive reforms that conservatives oppose (and rest assured, we will challenge them
in the loyal opposition), his policy agenda cannot equal the damage done by the current
President to the fabric of our Republic. I believe Joe Biden's decency will bring us back
together where Donald Trump's dishonesty has torn us apart.
Trump has been exactly what we conservatives always said government should NOT be:
expansive, wasteful, arbitrary, unpredictable, and prone to abuses of power. Worse still, as
I've noted previously, he's waged an all-out assault on reason, preferring to enthrone emotion
and impulse in the seat of government. The consequences have been calamitous, and if given four
more years, he will push the limits of his power further than the "high crimes and
misdemeanors" for which he was already impeached.
Trust me. We spent years trying to ameliorate Trump's poor decisions (often unsuccessfully),
many of which will be back with a vengeance in a second term. Recall, this is the man who told
us, "When somebody's president of the United States, the authority is total." I believe more
than ever that Trump unbound will mean a nation undone -- a continued downward slide into
social acrimony, with the United States fading into the background of a world stage it once
commanded, to say nothing of the damage to our democratic institutions.
I was wrong, however, about one major assertion in my original op-ed. The country cannot
rely on well-intentioned, unelected bureaucrats around the President to steer him toward what's
right. He has purged most of them anyway. Nor can they rely on Congress to deliver us from
Trump's wayward whims. The people themselves are the ultimate check on the nation's chief
executive. We alone must determine whether his behavior warrants continuance in office, and we
face a momentous decision, as our choice about Trump's future will affect our future for years
to come. With that in mind, he doesn't deserve a second term in office, and we don't deserve to
live through it.
Removing Trump will not be the end of our woes, unfortunately. While on the road visiting
swing states for the past month, it's become clear to me how far apart Americans have grown
from one another. We've perpetuated the seemingly endless hostility stoked by this divisive
President, so if we really want to restore vibrance to our civic life, the change must begin
with each of us, not just with the occupant of the Oval Office. Fortunately, past generations
have lit the way toward national reconciliation in even harder times.
On the brink of a civil war that literally split our nation in two, Abraham Lincoln called
on the people not to lose sight of one other. He said in his Inaugural Address:
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it
must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every
battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land,
will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the
better angels of our nature.
Heed Lincoln's words. We must return to our founding principles. We must rediscover our
better angels. And we must reconcile with each other, repairing the bonds of affection that
make us fellow Americans.
Mere minutes after Taylor's big coming-out, the online backlash began. Even members of the
'#resistance' slammed Taylor for his involvement in executing Trump's child-separation policy,
and for waiting this long to speak up.
As it turns out, Google execs reportedly misled their own employees when they insisted that
Taylor wasn't involved with the child-separation policy, an issue that ranks as Trump's
paramount sin among denizens of Silicon Valley.
Many also complained about the NYT hyping up the identity of the "anonymous" insider to try
and suggest that he was a top-level staffer, prompting speculation about Rex Tillerson, John
Kelly or even James Mattis. Trump's current chief of staff Mark Meadows,
And journalist Judd Legum with the extended version of that explanation, in which he
denounces "Anonymous" as little more than a grifter, who played a "critical role" in the family
separation policy, now working to parlay his brief time in the Trump Administration into a
quick buck.
Some were incredulous that Taylor left the administration and now works for Google and
CNN.
https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-18&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1321546046363721728&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerohedge.com%2Fpolitical%2Fanonymous-author-outs-himself-liberal-media-immediately-slams-him-child-separating&siteScreenName=zerohedge&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px
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With Taylor now outed as a child prison guard, as we have no doubt he will be branded by the
left, we imagine Google will need to make a statement at some point about whether Taylor will
continue on in his role, or be...fired.
play_arrow Unknown User , 58 minutes ago
A typical Neoliberal incapable of comprehending loyalty and ready to sellout anyone for a
dollar.
Everybodys All American , 1 hour ago
This little man operates like a CIA agent. I'd be shocked if that's not the case. He
actually said he believes in Joe Biden's' decency. No one in their right mind is saying that
...
gmrpeabody , 50 minutes ago
Biden's decency..? Now THAT'S funny...
JLee2027 , 1 hour ago
Just another one who betrayed his country for bucks and fame. Hope it was worth it.
Perseus-Reflected , 1 hour ago
Looks like a latte-drinking little b!tch to me.
aspen1880 , 58 minutes ago
he "identifies" with bish
chelydra , 4 minutes ago
The epitome of an effete, preening dandy.
hot sauce technician , 1 hour ago
Everything the biden campaign is doing seems to backfire on it.
LVrunner , 58 minutes ago
Should be giving away puppies soon like Hilary did at this point.
Redhotfill , 1 hour ago
Working for Google, CNN, Book deal yeah Pay Offs! Surprised no Netflx stock options.
44magnum , 1 hour ago
Or a seat on the board
mrslippryFIST , 1 hour ago
The year isnt over yet.
OGAorSAD , 1 hour ago
And we care why? Should be a headline with Section 230 being repealed, and multiple
indictments of Biden's, Clinton's, and Obama's
nope-1004 , 54 minutes ago
Never heard of him.
The fact that he's a documented public liar and democrat makes complete sense though.
mrslippryFIST , 1 hour ago
Hah, little beta cuck didn't get his 15mins so he outs himself to get his 15 mins of
fame.
This is what participation ribbons gives you.
Willie the Pimp , 1 hour ago
What else would you expect from an obvious jizz guzzler? The LGBT have destroyed the
USSA.
pictur3plane , 1 hour ago
SOY BOY NOTHING BURGER.
JRobby , 52 minutes ago
Oh! Look! He shops at Amazon!!!
Pop this prick and dump him in a landfill
Friedrich not Salma , 54 minutes ago
DNC probably asked him to reveal himself to eat up Teevee time and distract from Hunter's
story.
Md4 , 53 minutes ago
Zactly.
Where's Hunter?
Boxed Merlot , 31 minutes ago
...Where's Hunter?...
Chillin with Mr. Corzine? You remember that guy don't you? He's another GS Vice President
and Mr. Obama's prized confidant in his financial wizardry that ripped off his "investors" to
the tune of frn1B and slunk out of the public eye.
Who are these people? Look at the way they dress. Look at the smug arrogant look on their
faces.
They are caught in a bubble and are totally divorced from reality.
It should be requirement of every individual who enters government to spend at least one
year unclogging apartment building sewer stoppages.
Having a basic grasp of reality and a first hand look at where sewage actually goes is
vital to a healthy reality based outlook on life.
Peace
Salsa Verde , 1 hour ago
Scumbags gonna scum.
EnoughBS21 , 56 minutes ago
How's it feel, little traitor? You threw Trump under the bus and now your "new friends"
are tossing you away.
A Mister nobody!
Md4 , 54 minutes ago
And was " anonymous".
Credible?
44magnum , 1 hour ago
Trump has no character and Biden is senile.
So he picks Biden and the whore? She is definitely a character.
I am more equal than others , 1 hour ago
Judging character from afar. It is an amazing skill that has never existed.
novictim , 46 minutes ago
On the scales of justice, Trump is light as a feather while these Leftist
infiltrator-traitors and grifters, China-stooges and bribe takers, are lead weights on the
American Republic. There is no parallel to the corruption that has been revealed about the
Russia-Collusion hoax and now the truth about Biden's sale of US' China-policy in return for
the CCP padding the Biden family nest egg.
Watergate has nothing on these latest scandals. And Trump comes away from all of this like
a shining star.
JmanSilver.Gold , 44 minutes ago
Just another leftwing swamprat.
Floki_Ragnarsson , 46 minutes ago
So this weasel turd creates the problem, whines about it, and then makes a book deal, bags
a CNN job, etc?
Obviously a slimy Democrud.
Teamtc321 , 51 minutes ago
***** shadow man talks about character? Typical Demshelvic POS.
Joe Biden is burning down.
zerozerosevenhedgeBow1 , 1 hour ago
Ahh... Wallet before country, honor and integrity. I see a trend of "Public Service".
Delete his security clearance before he tries to change genders, because politically then you
probably couldn't afterwards.
Hipneck911 , 45 minutes ago
So a minor level DHS obama holdover who is a lifelong democrat-donated to Obamas
campaign-and probably had all of maybe ONE meeting where the President was present. AKA
typical leftist LOSER.
Imagine That , 1 hour ago
Big fuss about a chicken-sh*t nobody, who the world will forget before he changes his silk
panties.
Pvt Joker , 45 minutes ago
"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies"
Yeah, Imma say this guy and any one who thinks like him is my enemy.
Occams_Razor_Trader_Part_Deux , 47 minutes ago
You had me till Vindman.................... you're an operative .....................
Blaster09 , 55 minutes ago
Another POS!!!
lwilland1012 , 1 hour ago
Give people enough time, and they will always show you their true colors. Just watch and
listen.
novictim , 42 minutes ago
But the election is on Tuesday. Millions have already voted.
The MSM has betrayed every American in ways unthinkable just a decade ago.
Dindu Nuffins , 45 minutes ago
Not worth changing the news cycle from the laptop. No one cares who this rat is,
undifferentiated as he is from the many others.
POLITICS Matthew Yglesias has a good
discussion of why
the poll-based models that give Biden a high probability of winning are probably right, despite
the well-known polling errors in 2016. Nonetheless, it seems reasonable to believe that the
poll based models (538, The Economist) are overstating Biden's chances, for several reasons.
Turnout this year will be unusually difficult to predict. How will the surge in mail in
balloting affect turn out? Will it lead to a large increase in voting, likely favoring
Democrats, or are many voters likely to leave their ballots on the dining room table, or mail
them in too late to be counted? Will weather effects on voting have a partisan slant (in either
direction, potentially), given that Republicans are more likely to vote in person? How will
COVID affect in person turn out? Any increase in uncertainty favors Trump, given that he is
behind in projections.
We don't know how effective voter suppression efforts will be. How will long lines affect
turnout? How widespread and effective will outright intimidation be? Will efforts to intimidate
backfire and increase Democratic turnout? Voter suppression tactics have changed enormously in
the past few years due to Shelby County, so the current state of affairs may not be reflected
in data from prior elections.
Finally, we don't know what the Courts will do, and how their rulings will affect the vote.
The biggest uncertainty is probably what happens to late mail in ballots, but other issues will
arise.
As Andrew Gelman (creator of The Economist model)
says , poll-based models are of "vote intentions, not of votes as counted." Comments
(2)
J.Goodwin , October 28, 2020 3:38 pm
Polls within a week of the election aren't so much polls of vote intentions, they
include 30%+ of the final count because people have already voted.
Turnout will probably be about the same as it has been. Any claim otherwise is
probably subject to the exceptional evidence criteria. Turnout being about the same is
what the esitmates from the polls reflect.
Likbez , October 28, 2020 5:50 pm
Polls has dual function: to inform and to influence.
Sometimes, like in 2016, the second function predominates.
Yesterday, former Vice President Joe Biden was again insisting that the scandal involving
Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation despite the direct refutation of that claim by
the FBI .
In her interview with Joe Biden, CBS anchor Norah O'Donnell did not push Biden to simply
confirm that the emails were fake or whether he did in fact meet with Hunter's associates
(despite his prior denials). Instead O'Donnell asked: "Do you believe the recent leak of
material allegedly from Hunter's computer is part of a Russian disinformation campaign?"
Biden responded with the same answer that has gone unchallenged dozens of times:
"From what I've read and know the intelligence community warned the president that
Giuliani was being fed disinformation from the Russians. And we also know that Putin is
trying very hard to spread disinformation about Joe Biden. And so when you put the
combination of Russia, Giuliani– the president, together– it's just what it is.
It's a smear campaign because he has nothing he wants to talk about. What is he running on?
What is he running on?"
It did not matter that the answer omitted the key assertion that this was not Hunter's
laptop or emails or that he did not leave the computer with this store.
Recently, Washington Post columnist Thomas Rid wrote
said the quiet part out loud by telling the media:
"We must treat the Hunter Biden leaks as if they were a foreign intelligence operation --
even if they probably aren't."
Let that sink in for a second. It does not matter if these are real emails and not Russian
disinformation. They probably are real but should be treated as disinformation even though
American intelligence has repeatedly r ebutted that claim. It does not even matter that the
computer has seized the computer as evidence in a criminal fraud investigation or that a Biden
confidant is now giving his allegations to the FBI under threat of criminal charges if he lies
to investigators.
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It simply does not matter. It is disinformation because it is simply inconvenient to treat
it as real information.
Bastiat , 3 hours ago
I should have lost the capacity for shock in reaction to this Mockingbird crap but the
sheer naked audacity of it still gets me.
Carbon Skidmark , 3 hours ago
I don't know what is worse. The concept that hiding crimes is no longer that important or
the lack of response to the crimes by so many.
jin187 , 3 hours ago
I don't know what's worse. The fact that our supposed news networks do this, or the fact
that in spite of the vast majority of Americans saying they distrust them, they still let
them get away with it. They still watch, and read, and listen. TBH, I don't think the lack of
MSM coverage is an issue with this particular story. I think the average Democrats and RINOs
are just covering their eyes and ears with this one. They want Trump to lose so bad, they
don't care if day one of the Biden administration is him handing suitcases of military
hardware blueprints to the Chinese. Anyone with a (D), never Trump, keep the swamp churning.
That's all they care about.
Four chan , 25 minutes ago
the laptop and its contents are 100% verified with clean chain of control.
UndergroundPost , 3 hours ago
It's now clear the Democrat Party under the Biden / Clinton Dynasties is nothing more than
a fully compromised, corrupt and criminal extension of the Communist Party of China
SDShack , 3 hours ago
Absolutely! The timelines of everything line up perfect. These laptops were dropped off at
the computer shop in early 2019. Work was done, but not paid for. The owner tried to get paid
and have the laptops picked up for 3 months. No go, so abandoned property now belongs to the
computer shop. All perfectly legal. It's now fall 2019 and the Impeachment Sham related to
Ukraine is starting. Computer shop realizes that laptops belonged to Demorat VP son being
caught up in the entire Impeachment Sham. Computer shop guy realizes he is holding dynamite
with lit fuse so he contacts FBI. FBI does nothing, then gets involved, then sits on the
story. This is all end of 2019.
Meanwhile, demorat primaries are starting and Bernie is the leader. DNC can't have Bernie
win, so they try to game the system to stop him just like 2016. But no one early on can do
it. Senile Joe fails first. Then Kamalho, who was the favorite, flames out. Then all the
others. It's now early 2020 and the DNC is hemorrhaging money and in disarray. Then look what
happens, the DNC miraculously unities around Senile Joe to stop the Angry Berd, with Kamalho
being the fallback position as VP. It is clear that the CCP ordered the DNC to do this
because they had the goods on Corrupt Joe, and the DNC needs the Chicom money. They all
figured they had it all covered up. They never figured on the crazy cokehead son blowing it
all up. The timelines all line up, and explain why Senile Joe rose from the dead in the
primaries to be the anointed one, along with Kamalho. The CCP got the candidates they bought
and paid for.
GoldmanSax , 1 hour ago
100% true but the republican government refuses to prosecute their buddies. The US has 1
party and we ain't invited.
Robert De Zero , 3 hours ago
It isn't real, we hope it isn't real, you can't prove it's real, 50 experts said it isn't
real, Russia planted it, Russian disinformation, Rudy is compromised, Rudy might be a Russian
agent, Rudy almost banged a 24 YO and he can't be trusted, It's not about Joe we don't care,
Hunter isn't running, Bobulinski has a funny name so he can't be trusted...NOT ONCE ASKING IF
THIS IS a MAJOR PHUCKING PROBLEM.
The problem isn't RUSSIA, it's you bastards in the Big Lies Media!
GoldmanSax , 1 hour ago
Why hasn't the patriotic republicans arrested the evil democrats? Whats the hold up?
tonye , 3 hours ago
At some point we are going to have to break up the corporate media conglomerates.
All of them.
And start racketeering prosecutions.
Salsa Verde , 3 hours ago
Facts mean nothing in a country where emotional outbursts are now considered gospel.
Stable-Genius , 3 hours ago
I think we need to bring back the death penalty in every state and not keep housing these
criminals for lifetimes.
Zorch , 2 hours ago
Wait! What does Gretta say?
VisceralFat1 , 3 hours ago
so... the hunter laptop is fake
and global warming is real
got it
jin187 , 3 hours ago
You just summed up the only thing 90% of students actually learn from 12 years of public
school.
rwe2late , 3 hours ago
correct on both points
Zerogenous_Zone , 3 hours ago
duh...
the Feds have plenty of laptops that have incriminating evidence of our elected leaders
(Wasserman Schultz, Iman Brothers, Weiner, DNC Servers, etc...), Dems and Repubs
at issue is if we REALLY knew the depths of treason from said leaders, we'd run out of
rope and tall trees...
so...anyone who votes Democrat, is complicit in my eyes (and they don't need to vote
Republican) and deserve the heat of the truth, strong enough to melt all the
snowflake-SJW's
Carbon Skidmark , 3 hours ago
ban laptops...it's so simple...no laptops and bad things stop happening
Zerogenous_Zone , 3 hours ago
/sarc
banned public schools first...they're indoctrination centers of controlled deception
NO critical thinking...NO innovative strategies
ONLY State sponsors 'information' filtered by the snowflakes anti-social media platforms
and e-encyclopedia (Schmoogle)
11b40 , 3 hours ago
Ban email & instant messages. Life would be immediately better.
CosmoJoe , 3 hours ago
Dorsey looks like a fvcking homeless person. What a clown. I'd love to rip that ring right
out of his nose.
sunhu , 2 hours ago
losers anger is always fun to watch
chubbar , 3 hours ago
The media is acting against the best interests of the USA. Think about it, "IF" the
allegations are true, we need to find out BEFORE we elect someone who is selling out our
country for personal gain, not after. WHY would the media think differently unless they don't
care whether the allegations are true or not? Are they working for China? Is the DNC? These
are appropriate lines of inquiry given the wholesale censoring the media has levied on the
Biden corruption story. The FBI sat on this for months and it has Child ****, which means
children remain at risk until the FBI goes in and stops it. WTF is wrong with Wray that he
allows this to go on?
somewhere_north , 3 hours ago
Dude, if it was for real Hunter Biden would have been arrested by now. You can't seriously
believe they're just holding back their damning evidence. The obvious conclusion is they
don't have it.
Mr. Universe , 2 hours ago
...except those pictures of a naked Hunter with his niece and the emails of the family
trying to keep a lid on Mom's protestations.
You see lots of pics of Hunter Biden with a blacked out bitch. No way of knowing who he's
actually with.
hugin-o-munin , 2 hours ago
Yeah like duh really man, I mean come on man. Stop thinking so much man, hang ten and
chill bruh.
8-(
Im4truth4all , 2 hours ago
Has Comey, Clapper, Strozk and the list goes on ad infinitum, been arrested? No.
ebear , 1 hour ago
"The obvious conclusion is they don't have it."
An inference, by itself, is not a conclusion.
Soloamber , 2 hours ago
Wray inherited a completely screwed up Comey FBI .
He is not a culture changer .
glasshour , 3 hours ago
Stop calling these people mainstream. There is nothing mainstream about them because
nobody watches their crap.
Joe Rogan's show last night got more views than all of them combined.
WhatDoYouFightFor , 3 hours ago
Hunter is still walking around free, system is F'd. Nothing will right the United States
at this point.
Zerogenous_Zone , 3 hours ago
it's the Hillary conundrum, right?
IF they get Hunter, it's 'election interference'...
deceitful godless individuals...
randocalrissian , 3 hours ago
But but but Her Emails
slightlyskeptical , 3 hours ago
he will always be free on these items as the evidence was all acquired illegally and
likely doctored to all hell.
jin187 , 3 hours ago
This is why I said the day Trump got elected that these people just need to disappear to a
blacksite in Yemen. The best way to drain the swamp is waterboarding all the ones we know to
find the ones we don't know.
Ghost of Porky , 3 hours ago
If Trump rescued 30 drowning children with his helicopter the CNN headline would read
"Trump Increases Carbon Footprint to Risk Superspreader Event.
Stable-Genius , 3 hours ago
Exactly - so tired of MSM and their opinionated lies
pstpetrov , 3 hours ago
Yes Liberals are all about disinformation and Trump has the moral high ground.
randocalrissian , 3 hours ago
Best joke I've heard in October. Well played, sir!
otschelnik , 3 hours ago
How would the MSM react if Don Jr. flew into China on AF1 with his father, met with
Chinese central committee members and intelligence officials, formed a Joint Venture with
them and then got a 5 million dollar no interest loan from the head of a private oil company,
who's chairman used to work in intelligence?
Imagine that. How would ABC MSNBC CNN NPR WaPo NYT PBS broadcast that?
glasshour , 3 hours ago
Better question, who cares. Nobody watches that junk anymore.
fanbeav , 3 hours ago
Liberal sheeple still do.
randocalrissian , 3 hours ago
Let's get the case in a court of law so allegations and wild claims can be proven or
disproven. But wait, this was timed so court isn't an option. So all we are left with is the
sniff test. Smells like baby diaper needs changed.
slightlyskeptical , 3 hours ago
How did they react when it was Kushner doing the traveling and getting the money for his
business?
Iconoclast422 , 3 hours ago
the computer has seized the computer as evidence
Why does every article have these little tidbits that make me think every writer has
stroked out in 2020?
11b40 , 3 hours ago
You see that, too? Something is wrong in the editing process. Sloppy, I guess, or
foreign.
Santiago de Mago , 3 hours ago
I noticed that in several articles today... almost like they are being written by AI
bots.
"My Macaroni And Cheese Is A Lesbian Also She Is My Lawyer"
balz , 3 hours ago
Every time you see someone saying they are a "journalist" at a MSM, don't forget to tell
them they are wrong and their job-title is "propagandist".
Shut. It. Down. , 2 hours ago
Some of the emails have already been verified by the outside recipient or sender.
Next you'll tell me all the sex videos were photoshopped by Putin.
KayaCreate , 1 hour ago
I lost 5 mins of my life watching Hunters **** getting kicked around by a probable minor
while smoking crack. You could tell it was him as his fake teeth glowed in the dark.
Cephisus , 3 hours ago
The media are scum.
Bill of Rights , 3 hours ago
Funny isn't it, every time the Globalist are exposed its " Disinformation " ..Hows that
Russian Collusion evidence coming along? its only been four years.....
American2 , 2 hours ago
The only question remaining to ask is simply this: Who is more enfeebled, Joe Biden; or
the networks and ABC, NBC, CBS, NY Times, WaPo, LA Times?
CosmoJoe , 3 hours ago
I have been out of f*cks to give when it comes to the MSM for a decade now. What is so
comical is that when the MSM so overtly covers for candidates, it backfires horribly. You
can't hyperventilate over an anonymously sourced Trump tax return story and yet ignore the
Biden laptop. People see right through that.
randocalrissian , 3 hours ago
Trump's taxes were made public. Nobody knows where Biden's (or whoever's) laptop came
from. Giuliani is already very late with the promised salacious details. How many people do
you think are really changing their vote to the Domestic Terrorist in the WH?
IndicaTive , 3 hours ago
I know of one person
Invert This MM , 3 hours ago
You are a freaking Share Blue Clown. Nobody buys your monkey dung
IndicaTive , 3 hours ago
You know me so well, after 3 months of trolling here.
Invert This MM , 2 hours ago
You really are one stupid fuuk. You just outed one of your sockpuppets and I was purged in
the Google crack down. I have been posting here for 12 years. You monkeys are really
stupid.
Invert This MM , 2 hours ago
Hey Monkey, I was purged during the Google shake dawn. Been here 14 years. Like a complete
moron, you just outed one of your sockpuppets. Dumbass
replaceme , 3 hours ago
No serious Dem thinks the laptop isn't Hunter's - your supposed to ignore it, or pretend
it has nothing to do with Joe. The Russians, booga boogah
invention13 , 3 hours ago
No, his taxes weren't made public. Claims about his taxes were made public - there is a
difference which you seem happy to elide.
CosmoJoe , 3 hours ago
Trump's taxes as reported by the NY Times were NOT made public, what gives you that idea.
The info was leaked to the Times.
jin187 , 3 hours ago
This is what I want to know. How is it that the NYP is still banned from Twitter based on
them obtaining information "illegally or illicitly", when we know for a fact now that they
didn't? At the same time, I'm pretty sure that the NYT and their followers are still happily
linking and chatting away about the story on how they illegally obtained Trump's tax
returns.
wearef_ckedwithnohope , 3 hours ago
Matt Taibbi has written a series of articles bemoaning the current state of
journalism.
replaceme , 3 hours ago
What's journalism?
invention13 , 3 hours ago
I'm beginning to think it is something that never really existed - just an ideal in some
people's minds.
Shillelagh Pog , 2 hours ago
Journalism is putting down on paper your, or someone you like, or is paying you for,
feelings, duh.
slightlyskeptical , 3 hours ago
He has the same issues with his journalism.
starcraft22 , 1 hour ago
The laptop is real. The media is the foreign disinformation.
Stable-Genius , 3 hours ago
Just shocking how MSM is so quick to dismiss this shocking evidence. We know it's not part
of their brainwashing echo chamber of lies for their low IQ and low informed voters but had
this been one of Trump's sons laptops - this would be MAJOR HEADLINES for the next 12
months.
Remember the 4 year Russiangate investigation, 40 million to Robert Mueller all based on a
bought and paid dossier paid for by the DNC/Clinton foundation, corrupt FBI, FISA warrants
all to spy and setup Trump to incriminate him for the VERY same crimes they were in FACT
committing.
Ar15ak47rpg7 , 2 hours ago
Note to all Zero HEDGERS....there seems to be no difference between the scrubbing of
comments on Twitter and Facebook and ZH. The free flow of ideas on ZH no longer exist. Just
like the Drudge Report the Deep Stater's have gotten to the Tylers. Beware
One of these is not like the others.. , 2 hours ago
I concur, the more thoughtful the post, the more likely it seems to vanish.
ebear , 1 hour ago
I must be an idiot then. As much as I'd like to add that badge to my collection, my stuff
never seems to get scrubbed. Damn!
Urfa Man , 3 minutes ago
Gulag and the shrews that run it are putting big financial pressure on ZH to censor us.
This month I've twice tried to post a URL for the news article that details the censorship
here, but go figure, those posts get scrubbed.
It's all because of you and me. The Bolsheviks at Gulag say this comment section hurts
feelings and therefore must be dominated and controlled with an iron fist.
Gulag Bans ZeroHedge From Ad Platform
If you replace "Gulag" with the name of a major search engine and conduct a search using
the words in italics above - via a search engine like duckduckgo - the results will probably
point you to the news article that gives the details of this ZH censorship and why your
comments disappear.
lacortenews com is the domain that carries the news report
Good luck. There's not much left of free speech or the original freedom of the
internet.
unionbroker , 3 hours ago
A business associate of mine told me with a straight face that he didn't trust Bobulinski
because he had a Russian sounding name. He is on Twitter a lot so maybe that explains it.
slightlyskeptical , 3 hours ago
I don't trust him either. He has already changed his story. he requested to meet Joe Biden
and then later he didn't request it. . And he met him, but he didn't have a meeting with him.
He confirmed that on Fox last night.
Stable-Genius , 3 hours ago
I trust him 100% #imwithhim
remember Dr Christine Ford and her fake as story against Kavanaugh - this is much more
realistic than her fake as
Republicans can play dirty too
jin187 , 2 hours ago
Yeah, this is what it's come to, so **** it. I hope Rudy is out there right now handing
out suitcases of cash to anyone willing to come forward with any lies about Biden, Pelosi,
Schumer, just like our side's Gloria Steinem.
Zerogenous_Zone , 3 hours ago
bring him in under oath and actually investigate...
BUT that would be 'election interference' (you know, the whole Hillary conundrum,
right?)
rule of law is now changed to morality of feelings...if it makes me feel insignificant, it
CAN'T be TRUE!!
WAAAHHHHHH
Stable-Genius , 3 hours ago
he will testify under oath watch - and he won't be like pencil neck Schiff and those other
cowards and plea the 5th
rwe2late , 3 hours ago
???
you could watch the Tucker Carlson show interview instead of your imagined one.
Uh... did watch it. And yes, the story he tells there about meeting Biden is not the same
as the one he told before. Riddle me this: if this is real, why would they hopelessly
compromise their chain of evidence by dribbling it to the public like this?
Stable-Genius , 3 hours ago
because no one in the MSM would dummy - they are all in DEEP ****
somewhere_north , 3 hours ago
They don't have to use the MSM, or any media. They simply arrest Hunter Biden, then drop
all the info at once instead of tantalizingly holding the smoking guns out of our view. All
they are doing here, if they actually have anything, is risking the lives of their witnesses
and giving the perps a lot of warning. That's to say nothing about compromising the evidence
to the point of inadmissability. It's running a risk for no gain whatsoever.
rwe2late , 3 hours ago
stuff is only out of your view if your eyes are closed
rwe2late , 3 hours ago
"not the same" ?
missed your weblink (not that you could be making stuff up, cough, cough.)
also, how that would have any significant bearing on the whole matter,
including most MSM news censorship and Russia nonsense ?
RedNeckMother , 3 hours ago
Who told you that bulls hit?
calculator , 2 hours ago
It's entirely possible he is military intelligence and was sent undercover to infiltrate
the Bidens and discover their treachery. The CIA and FBI sure as hell don't appear to be
doing it. Since we may very well be in a shooting war with the CCP at some point in the near
future, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the military is actually doing their jobs to ensure
we are not compromised.
SDShack , 3 hours ago
We must treat the Hunter Biden leaks as if they were a foreign intelligence operation --
even if they probably aren't."
Cmon Turley, parse these words> Why does the WaPo say 'WE MUST' treat these leaks this
way? This implies that the WaPo is BEING ORDERED to treat these leaks this way! So WHO has
power over the WaPo? Is that power direct, or financial, or BOTH? Also the assumption the
WaPo is trying to propagate is that the Foreign Intelligence Operation is...THE
RUSSIANS...but could it not actually be the CCP that is pulling the WaPo strings? Doesn't the
CCP revelation go to the central heart of the entire Corrupt Joe matter, as well as the
financial angle for the Bezo's Amazon WaPo? Even in their lies, the nuggets of hidden truth
are exposed.
Amel , 3 hours ago
Asking yourself why the CIA control of the MSM favors a Manchurian candidate over Trump ?
Because the CIA's own survival is valued above national security.
invention13 , 3 hours ago
For they same reason they had to treat the Russian collusion allegations as though they
were real.
LetThemEatRand , 3 hours ago
Same reason there was no outrage at the Obama child cages at the Mexico border. Or outrage
at all of the wars Obama started. Or outrage at all of the drone killing under Obama.
Most Blue Team members are satisfied getting their news from MSM, leaving MSM able to
shape the narrative almost completely. There are a handful of guys like Jimmy Dore on the
left who call out the rest of the left on this. Pretty scary, actually.
factorypreset , 3 hours ago
It sure seems like the press is helping to squash this whole thing by asking any questions
in such a way that Joe doesn't perjure himself.
mtl4 , 3 hours ago
Yesterday, former Vice President Joe Biden was again insisting that the scandal
involving Hunter Biden's laptop was Russian disinformation despite the direct refutation of
that claim by the FBI.
All makes perfect sense in a time when you chose your gender in the morning while getting
dressed, you only need to be accused of anything to completely ruin your reputation (unless
your a politician in which case there are no laws). So why would anyone deal with reality at
a time when we've gotten so good at simply ignoring it.
"... Same principle with speaking engagements. Nobody in the corporate world seriously believed that listening to a speech from Hillary Clinton was worth $200,000 - especially when she sometimes kept getting these gigs at the same company every few months: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-03/every-hillary-and-bill-clinton-speech-2013-fees ..."
"... Furthermore, the book sales conduit adds an extra degree of separation between the ultimate source of the money and the recipient of the money. Somebody who wants to buy a politician could for example donate money to an NGO that does "political education" and buys political books to distribute to people, and that NGO buys the copies of the corrupt politician's book in bulk. ..."
Learned here on SST that a lot of the huge book contracts given to swampies are a form of
money laundering. I have long tried to figure out how the publishing companies could afford to
pay yuudge advances for ghost written books in a country where so few people read much of
anything any longer. Simple answer! Big money people order yuudge numbers of books in advance
so that the publisher is assured a profit.
I think it was the previous mayor of Baltimore who got a multi-million dollar windfall
from her best-selling children's book. I wonder how many kids actually read it.
Lots of trucks out with their flags here, people are becoming optimistic here in South
Florida, feels almost normal here.
Trump taking New York would be the ultimate, lets hope. I'm looking forward to watching
CNN's Wolf Blitzer on election night, it's been 4 years for me and CNN. I just want to see
him squirm.
it looks a lot less like corruption when a politician receives money because he wrote an
"inspiring book" that seemingly sells lots of copies than when he receives money outright for
political favors.
Furthermore, the book sales conduit adds an extra degree of separation between the
ultimate source of the money and the recipient of the money. Somebody who wants to buy a
politician could for example donate money to an NGO that does "political education" and buys
political books to distribute to people, and that NGO buys the copies of the corrupt
politician's book in bulk.
Interesting question about book deals. Certainly it could be a channel to hide the names
of donors, which would seem the only rational reason to do so. I would guess the lecture
circuit a more appropriate way to do that. If I'm going to part with that much I'd at least
want a song for their dinner out of it.
The 10 biggest book deals have a mixture of celebrities, I can't imagine anyone wanting to
slip Bruce Springsteen $10 million under the table so it appears the publishers do make money
on these deals, counter-intuitive though it be.
Book writing can be far more lucrative than I ever thought possible. James Patterson got
150 million for a 17 book series. I would say he earned it although I've never read any of
his stuff. Michelle Obama's first book sold over 10 million copies and netted her at least 65
million in a deal for both her and Barrack's memoirs.
Ken Follett got 50 million for his trilogy.
Bill Clinton got 15 million for his book while George W. Bush only got 7 million for
his.
Hillary got 14 million for hers. Springsteen got 10 million for his autobiography.
Even Pope Jan Pavel II made a cool 8.5 million for his memoirs back in 1994. There are an
awful lot of 7 figure book advances out there.
Another phenomenon in the book world is the mass purchase of books by organizations. For
example the RNC bought $100K worth of Don Trump Jr's book and more than $400K worth of Sean
Hannity's latest. I'm sure the RNC is not alone in this practice.
He forgot to mention Trump University as a shining example of Trump morality. Both men are
are crooks. One of corrupt neoliberal politician who is the worst type of crooks, the person who
is on same small moral level as child molesters.
Notable quotes:
"... How The Bidens Earned $16.7 Million After Leaving The White House, ..."
"... Barack and Michelle Obama net worth 2020, ..."
Even setting all that aside, though, being a U.S. Senator for 36 years and then a Vice
President for eight can be mighty remunerative. You don't have to be sensationally crooked: A
U.S. Senator has enormous influence, a Vice President even more, and the money will come
looking for you.
Forbes has the details of Biden's post-Vice-Presidential income growth:
Absent the principled restraint of a Truman or a Menzies you just have to sit back and let
the gifts, the fees, the favors, the "contributions," the stock options roll in. (Barack and
Michelle Obama's net worth is estimated at $40 million -- each! [
Barack and Michelle Obama net worth 2020, by Margaret Abrams, London Evening
Standard, February 19, 2020.])
So comparing these two guys, there is a strong moral case in favor of Trump.
Lol, giving praise to a Slimeball who screw his siblings, with business skills "so great"
that he had to file bankruptcy several times to screw the banks (for a change). No guts to
show his tax returns because everybody would see what he really is, a complete sham.
No US bank would deal with him and he had to find some stupid foreign bank like Deutche Bank
to screw.
No wonder the US is so so so screwed. What a joke. Dozens of third world countries that Trump
like to call " sh ** hole countries " are leaving US in the dust, when it comes to choice of
leaders. Fact is, this so called Beacon of Democracy is long dead, only a name remains. If US
wanna prove to the world that it still stands for equality before the law, have him tried and
jail after he loses the election.
So trump is superior to biden because he is a corrupt capitalist, while biden is a corrupt
politician? Got news for the israeli prostitute writing this likudite toss. BOTH TRUMP AND
BIrEN ARE CORRUPT TO THE MAX AND TRAITORS, AS WELL. EQUALLY. Put that in your pipe and smoke
it, israeli.
Of all the efforts to boost Trump, this one appears to be the closest to a joke. Only the
braindead can believe in Trump's morality or that he's a self-made man. Both Biden and Trump
are rotten to the core. US presidential elections are never about who's morally better,
they're always about who's the lesser evil and their only purpose is to continue the
legitimacy of evil.
@Peter Akuleyev billionaire and he took the presidency right from under the Democrat's
entitled noses. Regardless of whether he's a good man or not, he pulled the covers off a
heinously corrupt, hostile culture of subversion present within the American left and has
inoculated millions of Americans to their effects. The left cannot work any further in the
shadows, the alphabet organizations are known to be untrustworthy, self-serving cunts and
normal people are now aware of Epstein after years of Alex Jones yelling into space about
him.
And beyond that, the man's a hero for stymieing the Zionist takeover of the middle east
which the last 20+ years of presidencies have enabled. Greater Israel isn't getting Syria
while Trump is president.
If you can make any kind of appeal from personal morality, that's a big plus.
Trump can -- but he doesn't, I don't know why.
It's way outside his wheelhouse, that's why. Unfortunately, so are many other things even
more germane to governing, not to mention running for office. He got lucky in 2016 because
Hillary Clinton was even more of a horror show than Biden and Harris combined. We'll see what
happens this time–all too soon. The Forces of Reaction are particularly well-focused
though.
Don't mistake me. It's not like Trump losing will be good for America. The Democrats
already have their plans in place for cementing their rule as a permanent, single-party
dictatorship. I've been working on a list of expected results and if anyone wants to add
items I'd be grateful for ideas.
Trump tries a lot of things so he naturally fails at a lot of things, but he doesn't fail
at everything . Plenty of stories of successful men like that.
I agree with Derb's point. Trump leaves a lot of red meat on the table. He should have a
ready-made death blow for every subject, gotcha question and accusation that comes up, but he
seems to be too impatient and undisciplined to more fully prepare himself. He also goes off
on petty tangents now and then. I surely admire his energy, though. He's fat and old enough
to be my father, but there's no way I could keep up with him. He had Covid for all of five
minutes.
@Peter Akuleyev ess person could come back from bankruptcy. Trump's lawyer–son of
an Orthodox rabbi Friedman who is now the Ambassador to Israel– drove a coach and
horses through the newly lenient bankruptcy laws, enabling Trump to bilk his creditors like
he always had his contractors (by saying 'the project will collapse and you'll get unless you
agree to be satisfied with less that the originally stipulated amount).
Wall Street distrusted Trump as a result of his repeated rising like a financial phoenix
from the financial ashes of tactical bankruptcies, so he paid a price in the denial of his
access to new capital, which may have had an underappreciated effect on his thinking. He is a
renegade and a traitor to his class, but not to his country.
The U.S.A., as every foreigner notices, is an intensely moralistic nation. If you can
make any kind of appeal from personal morality, that's a big plus.
Trump can -- but he doesn't, I don't know why.
My impression is, that Donald Trump does not understand this kind of subject at all.
– And that that hangs loosely together with the – I can't resist, sorry –
huge (I hear him right in my ear now ) – with the huge fact, that he
indeed, as you pointed rightfully out above, did make his money in business and that he is a
businessman throughout. He is basically a utilitarian – and utilitarians act as if
– morals and ethics, etc. would not be necessary really, not in the first place, for
sure.
@Peter Akuleyev unny in a obscene way to see Trump's most exuberant fans foist upon him
the mantra "Drain the swamp!" What is he to do but run with it? The difference between the
careerist swamp creature Biden and the outsider Trump is that while the one is highly
corruptible the other is downright corrupt. If the social virtues of integrity, honesty,
empathy, courage, politeness, magnanimity and so forth may be said to make the building
blocks of high social organization and flourishing, the embodiment of antisocial forces of
social decay – dishonesty, envy, greed, insecurity – would seem foolish to hold
up as lead representative of some movement of revitalization. Better to be in the wilderness
with leaders of some earnestness and vision than in the palace with Commodus.
Trump Organization is still standing. In a business based on real estate that is actually
quite a feat. Blame the bankers if you want for both Trump's successes and failures. But it
is still survival unlike Biden's pay to play game. Although calling it "Biden's" is a
misnomer, the political lifers all play that game. Grooming your sons to be your grift's
prostitutes might be unique, but unfortunately at this point I doubt that.
This argument holds no water. Trump allowed the entire economy to be shut down over
scientific fraud, which was the worst business decision made in world history. Biden is the
same. Both candidates are economic terrorists and economic hitmen. The facts prove it.
Ignoring the specifics of Trump and Biden, the issue that there is a moral distinction
between making money in business and making money in politics is totally absurd, because
these are today the same thing!
Most modern wealthy people do NOT make their money competitive industries: they basically
get it by stealing from the public treasury. Tens of trillions in Wall Street bailouts and
ongoing subsidies, trillions in endless pointless winless wars that serve only to enrich
politically connected defense contractors, "public-private partnerships" where the public
puts up the money and takes the risk, and the "private" rich get guaranteed profits no matter
how it turns out The robber-barons of the 19th century at least built things, and had to
compete, the modern rich are just welfare queens on a vast scale.
But the rich only get away with this because they have bribed politicians like Joe Biden
to let them! So both "businessmen" and "politicians" are morally the same thing.
@Anon ound it's young, white 20 something conservative males who are seeing their future
destroyed before their eyes. Seeing Americans walking around with what amounts to respiratory
diapers on their face is disgusting, pathetic and embarrassing. The elderly, who for the most
part have overall lived the peak American dream, are living in hysteria and fear. The boomers
in America are confirmed now as some of the most selfish, self absorbed, and enfranchised
generations ever. To blame the covid deaths on Trump is the most stupid and intellectually
dishonest argument in this whole election narrative. Dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery
you want to wear a worthless diaper on your face fine .don't force tyranny on the rest of us!
The worst thing to do is give the Democrats a supermajority.
Not voting would have turned the US into California.
They would raise taxes even higher and they would also ban most guns instead of facing the
harsh truth of Black crime. California has some of the highest taxes and yet they still blame
their education failures on Whites for not paying enough.
Both parties are in fact evil but giving one side complete control is a very bad idea.
That is what not voting would do. The Democrats can always get the votes of people that are
desperate. One reason I don't like US style conservatism is because it really doesn't have a
plan to help the working poor and this plays into the hands of Democrats
Maybe it's a form of Gresham's Law. How long could you work with sociopathic liars like
Schiff and Schumer while other sociopaths in the media report that you are the real
sociopathic liar? How long would you want to?
Plus, a serious statesman would discuss trade-offs and the American voter isn't good with
trade-offs.
Leftism, no matter what you call it, has always been dysgenic and always will be. It is a
"philosophy" embraced by those unable to surrender their dream for an impossible to achieve
perfect world for an imperfect and achievable good one.
"... Douglas MacKinnon was a writer in the White House for former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and former special assistant for policy and communication at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration. He is the author of " The Dawn of a Nazi Moon: Book One ." ..."
Weeks before the 2016 election, I sent an email to several media and political personalities
predicting that Donald
Trump would win Pennsylvania and get 306 electoral votes .
I'm not a professional pollster, but I did work on three winning presidential campaigns, and
I simply tried to block out the noise from supporters of both the Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigns. I pulled up
the 2012 electoral map to
see which states Mitt
Romney won and then, factoring in the latest data and political miscalculations, made an
educated guess for 2016.
Using that same system, I have come up with a prediction for 2020: an absolute floor of 278
electoral votes for Trump, with a real chance that he'll win more than 310 electoral votes.
That may upset Joe Biden 's
supporters and the Trump haters, but hopefully some of those who oppose Trump will ask
themselves if this is a possibility and, if so, why it would happen -- again.
It is not an exaggeration to state that much of the mainstream media, academia,
entertainment, medicine and science, Big Tech, the "deep state," the Never Trumpers, the
Democratic Party, and other entrenched establishment elites have joined forces to defeat Trump.
Of course, they have a right to oppose the president on any grounds. But they should stop to
consider what they themselves might represent to many Americans who struggle to pay bills, feed
their children and, in some cases, simply survive.
To those Americans, those who adamantly oppose the president -- Democrats or Republicans --
look like the power center that has ruled over them for decades and made their lives miserable.
These elites typically preach, "Do as I say, not as I do." They're rarely subject to the rules
and dictates that they hand down. They have an "inside track" because they hold the keys to a
club that's off limits to the average American.
For anyone who can do the math, the main answer to why Trump won in 2016 -- and why I
believe he will win again on Nov. 3 -- should be blindingly obvious: Trump went out of his way
to expose those elites to the American people as the very problem making their lives
exponentially worse. He convinced enough voters that he is not one of those "ivory tower
elites" and can't be bought by their special interests.
As was proved to varying degrees with the last presidential election, many Americans bought
into Trump's narrative regarding liberal elites. That's not surprising; human nature dictates
that most people tend not to take the advice of those they view as the ones putting them down
and keeping them down.
With the coronavirus pandemic, this year has been surreal -- and painful -- in so many ways
for most Americans. There's no question those issues will play a key role in the election. The
virus has touched everyone, and its economic effects have been especially devastating to the
working class. Trump, now a COVID-19 survivor, has made it clear that, in general, he
opposes perpetual lockdowns to deal with the virus.
After the government of Ireland issued a truly punishing
new lockdown in that country, one person summed up the collective hopelessness in a tweet :
"The sense of devastation and despair this has created is like nothing I have ever experienced.
They have stripped us of everything that gave us joy. Every social outlet, every relief, has
been made illegal."
While the left may not realize it, Trump knows there are millions of Americans who agree
with that sentiment. They believe that the handling of this virus has been politicized and that
some state restrictions have robbed them of their
joys .
If it is fair to hear voices arguing for continual lockdowns, then it should be equally fair
to hear the voices arguing against them -- especially if some of them are medical experts . Unfortunately, many Americans
fear that science and medicine have become politicized as well. As proof, they cite that
certain medical experts who argue against wearing face masks and imposing lockdowns are ignored
by the mainstream media and censored by Big Tech.
Honest opinions, based upon research, can be debated but should not be silenced. Silenced
debate is the opposite of honest science and medicine. Trump is counting on enough voters
buying into that argument as well.
And while the virus may be the main issue of 2020, it is far from the only issue. Many
Americans have very real concerns about the economy, crime, policing, home schooling and other
issues -- including those related to the presidential campaign itself, such as Biden's
avoidance of hard questions and apparent reluctance to hit the campaign trail.
So while some members of the media, academia, entertainment, medicine and science, Big Tech,
the deep state, Never Trumpers, the Democratic Party, and various entrenched establishment
elites do have the right to join forces to try to defeat Trump, they probably fail to see
themselves as millions of American voters do: namely, that they're the problem.
Douglas MacKinnon was a writer in the White House for former Presidents Ronald Reagan
and George H.W. Bush and former special assistant for policy and communication at the Pentagon
during the last three years of the Bush administration. He is the author of " The Dawn of a Nazi
Moon: Book One ."
There is considerable evidence that the American system of government may have been
victimized by an illegal covert operation organized and executed by the U.S. intelligence and
national security community. Former Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper, former CIA
Director John Brennan and former FBI Director Jim Comey appear to have played critical
leadership roles in carrying out this conspiracy and they may not have operated on their own.
Almost certainly what they may have done would have been explicitly authorized by the former
President of the United States, Barack Obama, and his national security team.
It must have seemed a simple operation for the experienced CIA covert action operatives. To
prevent the unreliable and unpredictable political upstart Donald Trump from being nominated as
the GOP presidential candidate or even elected it would be necessary to create suspicion that
he was the tool of a resurgent Russia, acting under direct orders from Vladimir Putin to
empower Trump and damage the campaign of Hillary Clinton. Even though none of the alleged
Kremlin plotters would have expected Trump to actually beat Hillary, it was plausible to
maintain that they would have hoped that a weakened Clinton would be less able to implement the
anti-Russian agenda that she had been promoting. Many observers in both Russia and the U.S.
believed that if she had been elected armed conflict with Moscow would have been inevitable,
particularly if she moved to follow her husband's example and push to have both Georgia and
Ukraine join NATO, which Russia would have regarded as an existential threat.
Trump's surprising victory forced a pivot, with Clapper, Brennan and Comey adjusting the
narrative to make it appear that Trump the traitor may have captured the White House due to
help from the Kremlin, making him a latter-day Manchurian Candidate. The lesser allegations of
Russian meddling were quickly elevated to devastating assertions that the Republican had only
won with Putin's assistance.
No substantive evidence for the claim of serious Russian meddling has ever been produced in
spite of years of investigation, but the real objective was to plant the story that would
plausibly convince a majority of Americans that the election of Donald Trump was somehow
illegitimate.
The national security team acted to protect their candidate Hillary Clinton, who represented
America's Deep State. In spite of considerable naysaying, the Deep State is real, not just a
wild conspiracy theory. Many Americans nevertheless do not believe that the Deep State exists,
that it is a politically driven media creation much like Russiagate itself was, but if one
changes the wording a bit and describes the Deep State as the Establishment, with its political
power focused in Washington and its financial center in New York City, the argument that there
exists a cohesive group of power brokers who really run the country becomes much more
plausible.
The danger posed by the Deep State, or, if you choose, the Establishment, is that it wields
immense power but is unelected and unaccountable. It also operates through relationships that
are not transparent and as the media is part of it, there is little chance that its activity
will be exposed.
Nevertheless, some might even argue that having a Deep State is a healthy part of American
democracy, that it serves as a check or corrective element on a political system that has
largely been corrupted and which no longer serves national interests. But that assessment
surely might have been made before it became clear that many of the leaders of the nation's
intelligence and security agencies are no longer the people's honorable servants they pretend
to be. They have been heavily politicized since at least the time of Ronald Reagan and have
frequently succumbed to the lure of wealth and power while identifying with and promoting the
interests of the Deep State.
Indeed, a number of former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Directors have implicitly or
even directly admitted to the existence of a Deep State that has as one of its roles keeping
presidents like Donald Trump in check. Most recently, John McLaughlin, responding to a question
about Donald Trump's concern over Deep State involvement in the ongoing impeachment process,
said unambiguously "Well, you know, thank God for the 'deep state' With all of the people who
knew what was going on here, it took an intelligence officer to step forward and say something
about it, which was the trigger that then unleashed everything else. This is the institution
within the U.S. government is institutionally committed to objectivity and telling the truth.
It is one of the few institutions in Washington that is not in a chain of command that makes or
implements policy. Its whole job is to speak the truth -- it's engraved in marble in the
lobby."
Well, John's dedication to truth is exemplary but how does he explain his own role in
support of the lies being promoted by his boss George "slam dunk" Tenet that led to the war
against Iraq, the greatest foreign policy disaster ever experienced by the United States? Or
Tenet's sitting in the U.N. directly behind Secretary of State Colin Powell in the debate over
Iraq, providing cover and credibility for what everyone inside the system knew to be a bundle
of lies? Or his close friend and colleague Michael Morell's description of Trump
as a Russian agent , a claim that was supported by zero evidence and which was given
credibility only by Morell's boast that "I ran the CIA."
Beyond that, more details have been revealed demonstrating exactly how Deep State associates
have attempted, with considerable success, to subvert the actual functioning of American
democracy. Words are one thing, but acting to interfere in an electoral process or to undermine
a serving president is a rather more serious matter.
It is
now known that President Barack Obama's CIA Director John Brennan created a Trump Task
Force in early 2016. Rather than working against genuine foreign threats, this Task Force
played a critical role in creating and feeding the meme that Donald Trump was a tool of the
Russians and a puppet of President Vladimir Putin, a claim that still surfaces regularly to
this day. Working with James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence, Brennan fabricated
the narrative that "Russia had interfered in the 2016 election." Brennan and Clapper promoted
that tale even though they knew very well that Russia and the United States have carried out a
broad array of covert actions against each other, including information operations, for the
past seventy years, but they pretended that what happened in 2016 was qualitatively and
substantively different even though the "evidence" produced to support that claim was and still
is weak to nonexistent.
The Russian "election interference" narrative went on steroids on January 6, 2017, shortly
before Trump was inaugurated, when an "Intelligence Community Assessment" (ICA) orchestrated by
Clapper and Brennan was published. The banner headline atop The New York Times, itself an
integral part of the Deep State, on the following day set the tone for what was to follow:
"Putin Led Scheme to Aid Trump, Report Says."
With the help of the Establishment media, Clapper and Brennan were able to pretend that the
ICA had been approved by "all 17 intelligence agencies" (as first claimed by Hillary Clinton).
After several months, however Clapper revealed that the preparers of the ICA were "handpicked
analysts" from only the FBI, CIA, and NSA. He explained rather
unconvincingly during an interview on May 28, 2017, that "the historical practices of the
Russians, who typically, are almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor,
whatever, which is a typical Russian technique," adding later that "It's in their DNA."
Task Force Trump was kept secret within the Agency itself because the CIA is not supposed to
spy on Americans. Its staff was pulled together by invitation-only. Specific case officers
(i.e., men and women who recruit and handle spies overseas), analysts and administrative
personnel were recruited, presumably based on their political reliability. Not everyone invited
accepted the offer. But many did because it came with promises of promotion and other
rewards.
And this was not a CIA-only operation. Personnel from the FBI also were assigned to the Task
Force with the approval of then Director James Comey. Former MI-6 agent Christopher Steele's
FBI handler, Michael Gaeta, may have been one of those detailed to the Trump Task Force.
Steele, of course, prepared the notorious dossier that was surfaced shortly before Donald Trump
took office. It included considerable material intended to tie Trump to Russia, information
that was in many cases fabricated or unsourced.
So, what kind of things would this Task Force do? The case officers would work with foreign
intelligence services such as MI-6, the Italians, the Ukrainians and the Australians on
identifying intelligence collection priorities that would implicate Trump and his associates in
illegal activity. And there is evidence that John Brennan himself would contact his
counterparts in allied intelligence services to obtain their discreet cooperation, something
they would be inclined to do in collegial fashion, ignoring whatever reservations they might
have about spying on a possible American presidential candidate.
Trump Task Force members could have also tasked the National Security Agency (NSA) to do
targeted collection. They also would have the ability to engage in complicated covert actions
that would further set up and entrap Trump and his staff in questionable activity, such as the
targeting of associate George Papadopoulos. If he is ever properly interviewed, Maltese citizen
Joseph Mifsud may be able to shed light on the CIA officers who met with him, briefed him on
operational objectives regarding Papadopoulos and helped arrange monitored meetings. It is
highly likely that Azra Turk, the woman who met with George Papadopoulos, was part of the CIA
Trump Task Force.
The Task Force also could carry out other covert actions, sometimes using press or social
media placements to disseminate fabrications about Trump and his associates. Information
operations is a benign-sounding euphemism for propaganda fed through the Agency's friends in
the media, and computer network operations can be used to create false linkages and misdirect
inquiries. There has been some informed speculation that Guccifer 2.0 may have been a creation
of this Task Force.
In light of what has been learned about the alleged CIA whistleblower there should be a
serious investigation to determine if he was a part of this Task Force or, at minimum,
reporting to them secretly after he was seconded to the National Security Council. All the CIA
and FBI officers involved in the Task Force had sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution of the
United States, but nevertheless were involved in a conspiracy to first denigrate and then
possibly bring down a legally elected president. That effort continues with repeated assertions
regarding Moscow's malevolent intentions for the 2020 national elections. Some might reasonably
regard the whole Brennan affair, to include its spear carriers among the current and retired
national security state leadership, as a case of institutionalized treason, and it inevitably
leads to the question "What did Obama know?"
"... The sustained tosh from the good old boys at state, cia, fbi & nsa isn't worthy of comment, given that it is 100% evidence-free accusations which surprise surprise 'just happens' to align with these provenly corrupt organisations' most prioritsed foreign policy goals. ..."
Last month, national security prosecutors at the Justice Department were told to look at any
ongoing investigations involving Iran or Iranian nationals with an eye toward making them
public.
The push to announce Iran-related cases has caused internal alarm, these people said, with
some law enforcement officials fearing that senior Justice Department officials want to
reveal the cases because the Trump administration would like Congress to impose new sanctions
on Iran.
U.S. officials on Wednesday night accused Iran of targeting American voters with faked but
menacing emails and warned that both Iran and Russia had obtained voter data that could be
used to endanger the upcoming election.
The disclosure by Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe at a hastily called
news conference marked the first time this election cycle that a foreign adversary has been
accused of targeting specific voters in a bid to undermine democratic confidence -- just four
years after Russian online operations marred the 2016 presidential vote.
The claim that Iran was behind the email operation, which came into view on Tuesday as
Democrats in several states reported receiving emails demanding they vote for President
Trump, was leveled without specific evidence .
...
Metadata gathered from dozens of the emails pointed to the use of servers in Saudi Arabia,
Estonia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, according to numerous analysts.
The emails are under investigation, and one intelligence source said it was still unclear who
was behind them.
...
... the evidence remains inconclusive.
The claims that Iran is behind this are as stupid as the people who believe them.
I for one trust (not) those 50 former intelligence officials who say that all emails are
Russian disinformation. They are intended to 'sow discord' which is something the U.S. has
otherwise never ever had throughout its history.
More than 50 former senior intelligence officials have signed on to a letter outlining their
belief that the recent disclosure of emails ... "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian
information operation."
...
While the letter's signatories presented no new evidence, they said their national security
experience had made them "deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant
role in this case" and cited several elements of the story that suggested the Kremlin's hand
at work.
"If we are right," they added, "this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in
this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this."
No, this doesn't make any sense. It is not supposed to do that.
Posted by b on October 22, 2020 at 7:21 UTC | Permalink
The sustained tosh from the good old boys at state, cia, fbi & nsa isn't worthy of
comment, given that it is 100% evidence-free accusations which surprise surprise 'just
happens' to align with these provenly corrupt organisations' most prioritsed foreign policy
goals.
We know that these yarns align in syncopation with
what the amerikan empire most wants to promulgate, yet bereft of even a a cunt hair's worth
of evidence, the only truth which can be inferred from this foggy bottom tosh is the obvious
one - that is that the empire is becoming so desperate they will happily toss their
credibility with the many to the winds if they can, please sir, just convince a few of the
few.
Stuff like this is a suitable test of how the media are supposed to represent our interests
and help us in not getting fooled. You report, and afterwards you test what your readers
believe.
Independently of questionable bias issues serious newspapers will defend news like this
with formal justifications of journalistic code
- neutrality and objectivity: we just report but don't judge.
- null hypothesis of trustworthiness: official sources are to be trusted unless proven
otherwise. At least, proven otherwise by someone we consider trustworthy.
The propaganda is already embedded in the lofty ethics codes journalists will proudly adhere
to.
"Other documents that have emerged include FBI paper work that reveals the bureau's
interactions with the shop's owner, John Paul Mac Isaac, who reported the laptop's contents
to authorities. The document shows that Isaac received a subpoena to testify before the U.S.
District Court in Delaware on Dec. 9, 2019 . One page appears to show the serial
number for a MacBook Pro laptop and a hard drive that were seized by the agency."
https://www.ibtimes.sg/signed-receipt-hunter-bidens-name-delaware-laptop-repair-store-surfaces-52672
So the FBI kept Hunter Biden's bomb shell HDDs under wraps for almost a year. Enough time
to figure out they where not filled with Russian kompromat.
If you needed a leaked email to understand why it was corrupt for Hunter Biden to be getting
50k a month to be on the board of a Ukranian energy company, then you are likely already so
propagandized that you will vote for Joe Biden no matter what gets printed.
Really this propaganda is a brilliant move for those who control what is in print. They
have a clear circle of blame in Russia, Iran, or China, who are to blame for everything, and
this allows the media to limit the scope of discussion greatly by suppressing real criticisms
towards actual problems (the Bidens being corrupt across multiple generations) and deflecting
that energy into hating Russia, China, and Iran, which are the main targets for imperialism.
It is also a crude and vague lie to use anonymous sources to blame foreign entities for these
types of things, which actually makes it an elegant argument for a simpleton as it is
difficult if not impossible to disprove.
Because the media is really owned and operated by so few people who all have a hive-mind
about money and power, the messages are consistent, even though ridiculous, and they resonate
with many of the readers who really ought to know better, but have become inured to the
damaging effects of the lies they have consumed for decades. Stories like these will keep
working for a long time. If one of the sources in the article reported 'Up is Down, Left is
Right!', there would be a wave of car accidents until they issued a retraction.
The Russians ( Putin / Lavrov) say ever so politely that the US is not agreement-capable.
I add that the US ( politicians, Wall Streeters, MSM, think tanks ) are:
-- not truth-capable;
-- not ethics-capable;
-- not shame-capable;
-- not honour-capable.
What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?
He turns into a ghoul without a soul, says I, a devil without human-ness!
How dare they call us deplorables when they are the despicables?
More than 50 former senior intelligence officials have signed on to a letter outlining
their belief that the recent disclosure of emails ... "has all the classic earmarks of a
Russian information operation."
Do American journalists actually believe it's still in Russia interest to re-elect Trump?
Washington-Kremlin relations have deteriorated rapidly under Trump.
Posted by: Et Tu | Oct 22 2020 9:35 utc | 9 -- "In America, Truth is a Foreign Agent and
World Peace is a threat to National Security."
Nice one... Meet Mr Truth, un-registered foreign agent !!! and Mr World Peace, national
security threat !!!
American leadership would not be so despicable IF they do not pretend to be "spreading
freedom / democracy" when they wreak their global malice.
They do not even care for their own people (covid19 fiasco, anyone?), but pretend to care
for the Chinese people so much they would regime-change the CCP; they pretend to care for the
Russian people so much they would sooner shoot Putin's plane from the sky; they pretend to
care for the Iranian people so much they block their access to covid19 medicines.
Here's a part of a comment I posted back in February 2020 that none of you took
seriously.
Posted by: Circe | Feb 28 2020 20:29 utc | 124:
The planet of extremely bad karma SATURN is moving into Bloomberg's sign, Aquarius, right
after mid-March and forming a square to Biden's sign, Scorpio. This is a very malefic
aspect.
People under these two signs, Aquarius and Scorpio ie Bloomberg and Biden will
experience obstacles, setbacks and challenges, create hidden enemies , and aging
will be accelerated and serious health issues could emerge.
So I was criticized for injecting astrology into that election thread, mostly by
AntiSpin.
Turns out as usual I hit the mark.
Bloomberg lost close to a BILLION dollars and failed badly in the primaries. That's what I
call a major setback. However, as of December after a 6-month retrograde into Capricorn,
Saturn is returning to Aquarius, so it ain't over for Bloomberg and things will get
complicated for Biden , for the U.S. and the rest of the world.
I also stated back then that nominating Joe Biden would be a greater risk for Dems than
nominating Bernie Sanders because Joe Biden was heading for serious astrological head winds
relating to something unseen at the time involving a serious family issue.
While I was certain that whatever the issue was would come to light and could affect him
in the Presidential campaign, I couldn't figure out the family aspect at the time, since he
appears to have a solid marriage and tragedy is in the rear view now.
Last night however it all suddenly became clear and I've come to the realization that I
was 100% right when I wrote that comment back in February 2020. Tonight I realized that the
family issue...is Hunter Biden!
I was sounding the alarm that something bad would come to light because Saturn was headed
into Aquarius, Biden's Home and Family sector squaring Biden's sign.
However, to make matters worse, it turns out that Hunter Biden is an Aquarian and Saturn
the karmic taskmaster is headed on a collision course to upend his life.
At the time I wrote the comment I obviously couldn't predict exactly what would unfold,
how or the precise timing, only that it would be bad and that's why I warned back then that
Democrats should have chosen Bernie. I believed Bernie could beat Trump and I was right,
because Trump is in total mental meltdown and self-destructing with his handling of the
pandemic.
Now even if Saturn will square Biden's Scorpio that's not to say that Biden won't still
win, but we are approaching a very bad full moon on October 31st. There is massive tension
building, subterfuge lurking and the situation is going to get ugly. A battle royal is
brewing. This is a powder keg moment.
Trump will not behave at the debate today. Must see t.v. With Obama's scorching speech
yesterday seething in Trump's brain, and his Iran stunt unravelling and ineffective at
distracting from the spotlight from Obama and the laptop bone clenched between his teeth;
he's a rabid dog fit to be tied. Give him a padded cell, already.
As for the U.S. and the world: The pandemic started with Saturn crossing Pluto's path in
Capricorn and entering full force into Aquarius in March when the world shut down.
So what will happen when karmic Saturn crosses Pluto again on it's way out of Capricorn
and enters Aquarius for the next 3 years?
Fasten your seat belts everyone...we're heading into major turbulence. There's so much
karmic tension gathering steam; it's very scary.
How much does it cost to get a trip to the moon?
I'll get back to sleazy Giuliani and his Pandora's box. There's too much to unpack there
than meets the eye. Just know that when circumstances appear too convenient-it's because they
are.
Trump's dirty play is a day late and a dollar short plus he's not playing with a full
deck. Must be one of those Covid long-term effects.
It's time...to get these scum-sucking, misery mongers out of the damn White House
already!
You know the US government is suffering from severe Alzheimer's disease when it claims that
Iran (of all nations) sent threatening emails to Democrat voters demanding that they vote for
a President who authorised the murder of a popular Iranian military general back in early
January this year.
Brian Kilmeade and morning crew run the fake Iranian emails story by former CIA station
Chief Daniel Hoffman.
Kabuki Actor Hoffman:
'[Uses opportunity to say Iranian Mantra] Iran has been attacking us for years, they have
attacked our shipping in the Gulf (???, that's a new one) blah-blah-blah.
'Iran and Russia are attacking our democracy because that is what they fear most about
America. Democracy would be the end of both regimes (Iran has no other motive to dislike the
U.S. such as us killing their top General, the Stuxnet virus, murderous sanctions, ...)'
So they hate us because of our freedoms, a classic.
Kabuki Actor Kilmeade:
'Can't we do something about this?' [note, the U.S. is the perpetual victim, never the
bully]
'Can't we pushback?' [The aggrieved victim, the U.S. is defending itself]
'Iran is doing this, Russia is sending bombers, can't we blow up an oil well?'
Kabuki Actor Kilmeade represents the entire degenerate U.S. public, unable to process
information that views another country as having rational motives or our Intel agencies of
being deceptive.
God, if you exist, You must hate this more than I do. How long?
All that rubbish is distraction. Discussing it is just playing to Borg's music.
They come up with so outlandish and jaw dropping crap that half he people thinks "it is so
outlandish it gotta be true, who would lie so much?" and other half that knows better is in
such a shock and disbelief that it needs some time to come to its senses and start tearing
apart the lie piece by piece BUT.... Time is lost, distraction worked and MSM/Borg come up
with next outrageous lie for next round. Russia, China, Navalny etc. etc.
And while marry go round Borg is doing it's deeds in dark while people is obsessing with
Trump's knickers.
Barack oblamblam held off until as long as he possibly could, a move most likely connected to
two realities, (1) not wanting to contradict what he, oblamblam said back in march "do not
underestimate Joe's ability to screw anything up" and (2) Oblamblam's desire not to be
found to be associated with sleepy joe's blatant corruption. Mud sticks n all that. Oblamblam
was much more subtle in lining up wedges to be trousered. eg. Try as people might they have
yet to uncover how a community worker turned prez found the dough to purchase a 45 acre
Martha's vineyard estate off a notorious billionaire and Oblambam is reluctant to do anything
which could prompt those questions,
Hence it wasn't until the 2020 election was mostly over that some DNC extortionists
managed to convince oblam to say a few words, or else, to the Philadelphia african american
males who chose to stay home on election day 2016.
Barack can claim 'he paid his dues' whilst keeping as much space as he can organise
between himself and crooked joe, who has already brought oblamblam's prezdency into disrepute
with the shameless & ugly ukraine rort that he and his bagman hunter had concocted.
There we mentioned the philly speech oh rabid, irrationally superstitious dembot.
Here's my prediction
Trump re-elected I fortell will mean more racist murdering thugs on the street. an guess what
they'l be In uniform and directly or indirectly trained by Israel.
And then there's the military presence on your streets -- you ain't seen nothing yet.
Wake the f up your gunna be massively oppressed by a fascist govenment ya skin couloir won't
matter, nore who you voted for. You already live in a one party dictatorship.
ie the elite. Face it your redundant as a human being replaced by a micro-chip.
Revolt I tell you revolt !!
The greater American public are about to become the next oppressed Palistinians ! oppressed
devalued and slowly distroyed. Like a frog in a heated pan.
You won't notice till it's to late will you ?
No really, will you ?
Journalism love's that high minded nonsense.
They write what they are paid to write.
Looking at the guardian wrt Assange
these clowns are beneath contempt.
Don't know if you are familiar with the box populi blog.
There a very good set of chapters from a book about journalist ethics.
i'm just surprised they haven't brought in venezuela and bolivia yet. that's supposed to be
sarcasm, but reality keeps outstripping sarcasm. i am actually worried they are ramping up
for a war in biden's first 100 days, either against iran or some serious provocation of
russia like provoking some incident in azerbaijan and blaming armenia. they're f/n batshit.
mark2 i think you're correct about more jackbooted government thugs on the street, but that's
gonna happen under either trump or crime bill joe/copmala. you're right about the israeli
training too, they trained cops in that kneeling on the throat technique. field tested on
palestinians.
Idiotic.
The united States was once a nest of excellence in nearly everything. Now it s a hub of naked
idiocy.
The Russians have nothing to fear from the US or Nato, except in the economy but they can fix
it. The Iranians have enough of what it takes to keep the Zio anglos away and at bay:
thousands of missiles to target Israel, Saudiland, a 25 year economic alliance program with
Beijing.
And clearly the time and opportunity where it was possible to still erase in a single coup
the Iranian military might is over.
"Breaking WaPo: The U.S. government has concluded that Iran is behind a series of threatening
emails arriving this week in the inboxes of Democratic voters, according to two U.S.
officials. https://washingtonpost.com/technology/202"
Posted by: librul | Oct 22 2020 12:52 utc | 22 When you hear, "Russians", just substitute in
your mind "witches", the weight of evidence is the same.
Absolutely correct. You win the thread.
Neither Iran nor Russia nor China give a rat's ass about the US election. There may be
literally thousands of private enterprise hackers who want to breach US election servers
precisely to get the Personal Identifying Information which is coin of the realm on the Dark
Web, but they couldn't care less about the election itself. It's physically impossible for
any country outside of the US to significantly influence the election in a country of 300
million people - and every country knows that. The only country that *doesn't* know that is
the US, which is why it spends scores and hundreds of millions of dollars - up to five
billion in Ukraine, allegedly - to influence foreign elections. That's the level of effort
needed to influence a foreign election more than the influence of the actual inhabitants of
that nation. But every time some private group in Russia launches an ad campaign for a couple
hundred thousand bucks tops, with zero effect on the US election, Putin gets blamed for some
plan to mastermind the overthrow of "democracy."
I rather liked Obama's speech If for no other reason than the tone was completely
different from the two candidates.
1. I'm tired of Trump's narcissism .
2. Can't stand Biden's fake 'I'm one of you'. He is corrupt, feels guilty about it, and
has to reassure us that he's Lunch Box Joe .
I've noticed this about Biden for a while, he conjures up these fake memories ...
'You know what I'm talking about because I've been on that park bench at noon when you only
have 20 minutes to eat your lunch because that whistle going to blow and you have to run
back to your Tuna canning station or lose your job and with that your health insurance,
car, and home.'
Okay this is not a literal quotation but it is a pattern and you know what I'm talking
about :-)
Pretzelatack @ 26
Yes to all you say their.
Re-reading my above comments they sound pretty harsh !
I am sorry, and do apologise !
It was part desperation and part morbid humour in the spirit of b's post.
Comparing Americans to a frog in pan may be a bit much !
I am in the U.K. we had a gen election one year ago !
I WAS THAT FROG IN A PAN.
Now I live in a pox ridden bankrupt banana republic run by a bunch of Israel bootlickers.
I don't go down well at party's.
And it's not superstition when the facts start to align with planetary motion.
How do you explain the Moon's effect on nature?
You think it's the only celestial body in the Solar System that influences life on Earth?
That cosmic order is inescapable. Astrology is thousands of years old dating back to the
Babylonians and has evolved through centuries of study and cannot, should not be dismissed as
mere superstition.
I'm not an expert at all, but I recognize order and higher authority when I see it and
believe me those planets are there for a reason and they rule everything. They're like
carrots and sticks (IMHO mostly sticks). Now who put them there and to what ultimate purpose
besides order and evolution is another matter.
I don't often bring it into a discussion, especially not to throw a discussion off topic,
except when I intuitively feel fate present in important events both personally and on a
universal scale.
This is a time of fated/karmic events, the pandemic being the most important (lesson) of
these.
I think a more appropriate title would be "Fascist Season" . . . Fascism has come of age here
in the land of the fee. The "intelligence agencies" create disinformation campaigns to
overthrow the elected President while the "justice department" et al withhold evidence and
fail to prosecute all the oligarchs and crooks who are busy censoring
information and preparing to rig and disrupt the
impending presidential election.
But technology and the "progressive" (pun intended) destruction of the US Constitution has
led the dumbed-down US masses (don't forget Canada and Australia lol) into a whole new world
of Orwellian lock-downs and wholesale economic destruction aimed at finishing off what was
left of the US middle class. Soon we will have our cash taken away and replaced with a
digital currency that can
always be taken away or tailored for limited use, subject to negative interest rates that it
cannot escape, etc. And all this is ushered in via
hyperinflation leading to a collapse of the bond and equities markets, and finally the
collapse of the US dollar (and all other Western fiat currencies).
The USA is so naive. They have been interfering in so many elections using money,
blackmail,CIA operations. There was no way for other countries with less means to do the same
to the USA. Now with social media they can, and they are absolutely right to take their
revenge for all the troubles they got into with the USA plotting to promote a pro-US
leader.
Now the battle is equal and the USA does not have the monopoly of interfering in other
countries election!
Tit for tat...
All these stories are risible. Note the struggle to clarify who these 'malign'
Régimes are attacking the US, and why.
Russia-R-R for Trump, but Iran-Ir-Ir for Trump doesn't quite hit the spot so now Iran is
trying to damage Pres. Trump (from one of the articles..) .. is Iran trying to promote the
election of Kamala Harris? What? Russia is for Trump and Iran against ?
The fall-back is a blanket, these evil leaders are trying to 'undermine democracy',
influence 'US voters', meddle in 'our freedom-loving' politics, etc.
The attempt to stir up the spectre of threatening enemies far off is a hackneyed ploy. In
the case of the USA, it is now melded with the promotion and control of planned internal
strife, with internal enemies being natives (not islamist terrorists who sneak in and are
under cover before erupting in murderous madness..) - Color Revolution Style.
-- BLM + Antifa haven't been active recently (or not in MSM top stories) as the election
is approaching. Such would be upping the Trump vote for "law-and-order."
(imho from far off..) Many in the US don't take any of this seriously, it is just
game-playing, false alarm, pretend concern.
"Oh wow, Iran is targetting Trump, did you know, real serious, did you hear, tell me is
Zoe-chick divorcing that creep Edmond, I want to know, did you have that interview with Gov.
X for the job? Is she hot? How much "
The credentialised class and the movers and shakers just roll their eyeballs, and the poor
are in any case stuck in a desperado cycle of struggle against misery, what is going on with
Putin / Iran / Xi is off the radar.
Vilification of China (hate hate hate); claimed by the media and the pundits and our
"Fearless Covid Conquering Leader" and all the good little parrots, to be the source of evil
itself... Scapegoat extraordinaire... Hacking and Cheating and Aggressing and exercising
Brutality towards its own citizens... The worst of the worst per our "intelligence" apparatus
(and blind ideologues). Existential threat numero uno.
But wait!
The US is being attacked! Attacked they say; by all of the "bad" guys simultaneously.
The forces of evil out there are broad and out to get us. They hate our (imagined)
freedoms.
Evidence (not):
Justice Department pushing Iran-connected charges in HBO hack, other cases
U.S. government concludes Iran was behind threatening emails sent to Democrats
U.S. intelligence agencies say Iran, Russia have tried to interfere in 2020 election
Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say
Invariably in all cases, The Voice of "Intelligence" (not bloody likely from ANY of this
crew) deeply intoned to impart the "certainty", neatly encapsulated in the words "highly
likely", delivered without a scrap of proof but loud, prominent, regular, mind numbing
pontification.
Trust me! We lie, We cheat, We steal; and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
The US, all on its own, engenders distrust within the population because the US and all
its political and Executive, and Legislative and Judicial and "intelligence" bureaucracies
are corrupt to the core... Worse, they make no bones about it if you pay attention. And
Partisanship is nothing but distraction because they are ALL corrupt and morally bankrupt;
without empathy, remorse, sense of guilt or shame.
It was the US itself that thought it could subjugate the world through its faux
"democratic" business practices and its claim of natural superiority... Its self declared
Rules of Order instead of adhering to and supporting consensus established International
LAW... Hegemon pompously declaring it has a RIGHT to Full Spectrum Dominance and slavish
obedience.
Not the Iranians, not the Russians, not the Chinese, not the CCP, not the North Koreans,
not the Venezuelans; none of them are disrupting, threatening or meddling in the US
elections.
If you believe what the morons are smearing across the public consciousness through every
communication medium possible you are a sucker... Totally disconnected any critical thinking
faculties that may have been present. The very definition of sheeple... baaaa! (the sound
drowns out reason and thought).
The rest of the World beyond NATO and Five Eyes isn't attacking the US or its
institutions. They have all been attacked every which way from Sunday BY the US and its
Satraps (targets of, victims of, and willing accomplices to our sophisticated excessively
funded and supported global protection racquet).
The US, our Government, always blames our designated and non-compliant, non-obeisant
existential threats for all the things we do to them.
And all this cacophony of alleged evil "attacks" from outside right now?
Look!!! Look!!! Over here!
Don't pay any attention to who and what decided to put us in the position we find
ourselves in and what we have done to vast swaths of the world's populations "over
there".
Now go vote for one of two degenerate teams, both of which are headed by supremely
unqualified psychopaths.
The CIA really needs a new playbook. The Russia/Iran thing is laughable to the rest of the
world, and to many 'Americans' as well. Unfortunately Partisans run the country, and those
folks are addicted to the Kool Aid of MAGA – just different versions.
This October is like an Advent Calendar of October Surprises with plenty of time still on
the clock for some great Golden Shower or Democratic child orgy deep fakes. Who the hell
knows at this point – the acceleration of events this year makes Future Shock look like
an Ambien commercial.
Trump is toast and good riddance. And sure Biden et al are war criminals and corrupt
creatures of the Swamp. The Establishment is a much easier target to resist vis a vis policy
than a crazy cretin without any policy but his own self-aggrandizement.
"Astrology believers tend to selectively remember predictions that turn out to be true,
and do not remember those that turn out false. Astrology has not demonstrated its
effectiveness in controlled studies and has no scientific validity.[6]:85;[11] The study,
published in Nature in 1985, found that predictions based on natal astrology were no better
than chance, and that the testing "...clearly refutes the astrological hypothesis."[10] "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology
As for getting voter US state voter databases, most states allow people to purchase part of a
voter's information. Other parts like birth dates remain private. But the publicly available
list is probably enough as it identifies party affiliation, voting history as when dates they
voted (not how they voted). All the other private information is more useful to identity
thieves and Indian scam centers. And as one poster noted, those databases like gold on dark
web.
As for email addresses that implies those must be acquired through party officials and
candidates off donor lists. Off hand I do not know that an email address is required to
register to vote--I seriously doubt it. I know that Bernie famously refused to give his donor
database to Hillary. The emails imply some sort of inside job or some false flag.
Just read the story on Truthout of voters in Alaska & Florida, and possibly Pennsylvania
and Arizona receiving threatening messages if they should vote against Trump. "We know you're
a Democrat and we have access to your voting records..." Metadata indicates servers located
in the kingdoms of Israel's new friends...
Well, I just went to the Board of Elections website for my county here in Ohio and I can,
with a few clicks, generate a report from their site of a county listing of voters filtered
in over a half-dozen ways - i.e. by Party affiliation and including addresses. Comes under
the heading of "Voter and Candidate Tools."
So some concoct a tale which blames Iran, Russia, etc. for information freely available
from your State's BOE? This information has always been available, but not exploited before
in this way by US neo Nazis.
So, even though your ballot is secret, intimidation is easy to engage in based solely on
Party affiliation of record. If Trump loses, should some people expect bricks through their
windows, or perhaps fire-bombings? Trump and his supporters are certainly ratcheting up the
apocalyptic messaging, working themselves into a frenzy - that is obvious and not even
debatable.
I never read Dante; which circle of hell are we entering now?
Everyone here knows I was 100% behind Bernie Sanders for the Presidency because I felt he was
the right person for these times, but the mass is dumb and blind. I agree with the comment I
read on the previous thread I think by someone called Horseman that portrays Bernie's goal as
moving the Dem Party to the Left and not sheepdogging, but recognizing the stakes involved
superceded Left purity.
At the same time I was totally against Biden because he is much more Zionist than Bernie,
therefore more corrupt, as Zionism is counter-evolutionary being inherently supremacist,
entitled, and undemocratic.
However, Trump is exponentially worse! He is a fascist Zionist and totally depraved. There
is a choice here of monumental significance. Short term loss for greater future gain.
Biden is very flawed, but I'm inclined to view a man who suffered multiple life-altering
tragedies to reach this point and who is grappling with embracing a son, Hunter, who probably
was destroying his life, than a narcissistic less than evolved baby-man pig with a god
complex who squandered life and daddy's money on material and artificial pursuit and has no
notion of humanity, as the only sane choice.
Yes, Joe Biden should face his flaws and answer for whatever corruption exists in him, but
that laptop issue should not be a reason to stop people from getting Trump, the most corrupt
President in my lifetime next to Bush OUT. That goal is paramount. This is 2nd to the
pandemic in fated events. If people do not make the right choices and learn something from
these events then let this planet devolve into hell because that will be what is deserved!
The stakes right now are astronomical and super-fated!
Don't blow a singular opportunity to get rid of that Fascist pig Trump over a laptop
that's really a Pandora's box being used by Shmeagol Gollum Giuliani as a trap to unleash
misery for years to come.
This is clearly the Deep State and imperial establishment spouting obvious nonsense in order
to discredit themselves and therefore to help in Trump's reelection bid! Henry Kissinger told
me so! What incredibly subtle and intricate plans they have!
Or... maybe it is just a bunch of incompetent baboons in the Deep State control room
randomly flipping switches and pulling levers in the desperate hopes that something,
anything, works.
Nah! This is all part of the Great Plan! It just seems like abject stupidity because we
cannot grasp its intricate complexities.
All these new threads are defaulting to election threads. Sorry, b.
But I'll bite.
In the case of a Biden victory, which do you think will happen first?:
1) Renewed hostilities w/ Assad in Syria leading to his violent ousting and thrusting the
west into violent confrontation w/ Russia...
Or...
2) Forcible entry into the Armenian/Azerbaijan conflict and establishing a no-fly
zone...
Or...
3) a combination of both and would throw us into a direct confrontation with either Russia
or Iran or both?
It looks like the demonizing of Iran is ramping up with the mail-threats telling dims to
vote Trump or else. Dims don't like hostile, foreign powers helping the Don and swaying
elections. It's a nice tip-off as to what Biden and the dim establishment might consent to
once Obama-era sycophants and technocrats move back in to the White House.
Seems to be the year of anniversaries; another's being celebrated today but not by the Outlaw
US Empire. China
& North Korea Celebrate 70th Anniversary of China's intervention in Outlaw US Empire's
invasion of Korea , which is how it's being portrayed, "China, N. Korea stand together
'for self-protection against US hegemony' like 70 years ago" reads the headline at the link.
To mark the anniversary, China has published an official
history , explaining its decision "To resist US aggression and aid Korea, China had no
choice but to fight a war;" the 3-volume work is The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid
Korea . From China's perspective, it defeated Outlaw US Empire forces; so, it's not
"forgotten" at all. Xi's using the occasion to give a major speech, the subject of which
hasn't been disclosed.
Just 12 days to go until the refusals to abide by the outcome day arrives. If one wants to
look, there's lots of illegal foreign influence happening but from sources that go
unmentioned: Corporations that have foreign owners, which most do, who provided campaign
contributions in any form to any entity associated with the election.
HeHeHe!!! The first bits of Putin's appearance at the Valdai Club today
are being published . In a jab back at those accusing Russia of interfering in elections
and such Putin said:
"Strengthening our country and looking at what is happening in the world, in other
countries, I want to say to those who are still waiting for the gradual demise of Russia: in
this case, we are only worried about one thing -- how not to catch a cold at your
funeral."
There's more, although a transcript has yet to be published.
There's a thread right before this one on International Events. Why don't you go spew your
poisonous Trump Kool-Aid there instead of polluting with Trumpian-laced propaganda here?
I know-I know, Election threads raise the common sense factor further and that leads to
Trump's demise, so you can't help but rush in to correct that dangerous shift. Why
don't you do something equally meaningless like pounding sand down a rat hole?
After the Russiagate fiasco I thought the Americans had learned their lesson, but it seems I
was wrong.
Honestly, this may be the beginning of an irreversible process of ideological polarization
of the American Empire.
The thing is it's one thing to wage propaganda warfare against a foreign enemy to your
domestic audience: the foreign enemy will be destroyed either way, so they will never be able
to tell their version of the story, plus the domestic audience can give itself the luxury of
living the lie indefinitely as it doesn't affect their daily lives. Plus they'll directly
benefit from the conquest of a foreign enemy, e.g. cheaper gas to your car after the
destruction and conquest of Iraq; the abundance in the shelves of Walmarts after the
subjugation of China, and so on.
It's a completely different story when you wage propaganda warfare against yourself: the
Trump voter knows he/she didn't vote for Trump because of Russian influence, while the Hilary
Clinton/Joe Biden voter knows he/she didn't vote in either of them because of Chinese
influence. But each part will believe the half of the lie that benefits them against the
other, creating a vicious cycle of mistrust between the two halves.
Meanwhile, the American economy (capitalism) continues to decline. Time is running up:
It was a shock-and-awe moment when lawmakers gave the package a thumbs up. Yet in the
months since, the planned punch has not materialized.
The Treasury has allocated $195 billion to back Fed lending programs, less than half of
the allotted sum. The programs supported by that insurance have made just $20 billion in
loans, far less than the suggested trillions.
The programs have partly fallen victim to their own success: Markets calmed as the Fed
vowed to intervene, making the facilities less necessary as credit began to flow again.
So, the very announcement of the Fed it would lend indefinitely and unconditionally made
such loans unnecessary!
I didn't like it at the beginning, but the term "Late Capitalism" is growing on me.
MSM pushing the the Iran angle shows that they are more anti-Iran than anti-Trump.
What effect would Iran intend by sending fake threatening emails from right-wing guns nuts
to Democrats? I doubt it would discourage those Democrats from voting (for Biden), and I
doubt Iran would think it would. The only effect it would have is to increase the fear,
distrust, and disgust Democrats already have for those groups - which is "sowing discord",
not "meddling with elections".
The Trump regime pushes this because it makes Trump look good & makes Iran look bad
(at least the way it's been framed). MSM generally doesn't like Trump, but prints this
because hyping fear & loathing toward Iran matters more to them than dumping Trump.
Great that they are working on it, I was taking notes but kind of lousy its not easy to
listen and write at the same time. Started kind of nervous, but right now it is Putin at his
most relaxed and eloquent.
It is interesting to see how Putin is way more at ease when answering journalist's
questions than when exposing his part of the event. Right now they asked him about his image,
punk, criminal etc etc. Answer: my function is the main thing, and I do not take it
personally, now the chinese will ask.
In case the truth gets lost in your purposely misleading translation. This hare-brained
scheme was cooked up by Trump and his newly-appointed right-hand bootlicker RATcliffe, at DNI
and delivered to the American people by the latter as a desperate distraction minutes after
Obama smacked down Trump on every air wave.
It immediately gave off an offensive odor, as I stated previously, of Trump turd floating
in golden toilet.
And that's why Chris Wray looked so awkward and uneasy behind that RAT.
Three hours of serious talking about any and all world problems. I wonder how long Lunch Box
Joe could hold on his own. The orange man probably could do it, but just talking about
himself. The US need someone like VVP.
I ought to listen while also reading the Russian close-captioning so I can rebuild my
Russian language facility and catch the body language messages, but I still need to read/hear
it all in English. As for his response to questions, IMO Putin knows what to expect from
media reporters but not from other experts in the audience whose questions are usually more
complex. Then there's the need to remain tactful, although there are times when he does need
to get indignant, as with the issue of illegal sanctions that harm nations's abilities to
deal with the pandemic--the utter immorality and inhumanity of the Outlaw US Empire that
never gets the attention it deserves.
What would Iran gain by scaring lower end of the spectrum Democrats into voting for Trump,
is that desirable for Iran?
Ah ... but it was a pump fake, Iran thought that people would think that the emails were
genuine, arrest a few of the Proud Boys and this would hurt Trump by associating him with a
domestic terror group. Not only is this scenario convoluted but it is extremely risky because
it might scare a handful of impressionable Democrats into voting for Trump and any
investigation would uncover hacking of some kind.
Most likely suspect, Israel. They have the means to hack and the contacts in the U.S. to
suggest Iranian origin.
As Putin said, Russia was able to find "balance" in its reaction to COVID; and as with China
but unlike the Outlaw US Empire, it put the safety of the Russian people first and foremost.
The Empire is experiencing yet another big outbreak nationwide and has yet to put the
interests of its citizenry first.
Is Circe deranged?
I don't know but I doubt if she spends trillions of dollars each year on murdering inocent
men women and children.
Mmmmm
Perhaps to people living in a ''loony bin'' (America) people outside must seem quite strange
!
I live near Glastonbury finest bunch of people you'd ever meet. Not known for genocidel
tendency's.
Any ways Iran, Russia interfering in America's elections -- -- - pure paranoid delusion
(weaponised)
The Mighty Wurlitzer has
begun to sound more like the New York Philharmonic tuning up while riding the Empire State Express
as it crashes endlessly into Grand Central Station.
Dear Circe, each language is a world view, I wish I had the resources available today when
I was younger, I would speak as many as possible, I consider that with the means available
today speaking half a dozen would be no problem at all. You have the blessing and the curse
of speaking english, so no need for anything else, but that is your problem, you are so
relaxed about it that you're not able to spell correctly the name of one of your best known
cities, San Francisco, with a c before the s.
Again, come up with something else, the bot label is as primitive as your knowledge of your
own language and geography.
kiwiklown@14: They do not even care for their own people (covid19 fiasco, anyone?), but pretend to care
for the Chinese people so much they would regime-change the CCP; they pretend to care for the
Russian people so much they would sooner shoot Putin's plane from the sky; they pretend to
care for the Iranian people so much they block their access to covid19 medicines.
Well said, although rather sad! The last pretension reveals exactly the mentality that was
behind the genocide upon the Native American centuries ago, resorting to tactics such as
passing out smallpox infected blankets, dispensation of whisky, as well as outright
slaughters of course.
Gruffy @ 68
Maybe but she martches to a different drum beat. Not the trump drum beat of war that you
follow, and will lead you all over the cliff.
Don't get me wrong ! You'd have to squeeze my nuts pretty dam hard (tears in my eyes) before
I'd vote for Biden.
But you must know two things -- -
A. Trump is bat shit crazy and has his finger on the button whilst the Dems are money mad and
there is know profit in Armageddon.
And
B. I'm antifa my hobby is smashing the filthy fascists !!
Who's streets ? Our streets !!
Without mentioning its name, Putin in his speech pinned the tail on
the donkey regarding TrumpCo's pandemic failure:
"The values of mutual assistance, service and self-sacrifice proved to be most important.
This also applies to the responsibility, composure and honesty of the authorities, their
readiness to meet the demand of society and at the same time provide a clear-cut and
well-substantiated explanation of the logic and consistency of the adopted measures so as not
to allow fear to subdue and divide society but, on the contrary, to imbue it with confidence
that together we will overcome all trials no matter how difficult they may be.
"The struggle against the coronavirus threat has shown that only a viable state can act
effectively in a crisis ..." [My Emphasis]
Yes, it didn't begin with Trump, but he sure did accelerate the process of making the
domestic part of the Outlaw US Empire dysfunctional, which for me makes this "silly season"
even worse than usual.
I view this as shit-against-the-wall policy. You throw it up there. Sometimes it sticks,
sometimes it doesn't.
This is how lowly vermin do foreign policy nowadays.
Remember the story -- first reported as Russians, then Iranians -- paying bounty to the
Talibs to kill (as if they needed motivation) American soldiers?
Well, in that case, I guess neither story really stuck, but you see where I'm going with
this. It's all shite
And silly season continues with self-proclaimed anti-fascists who don't know what fascists
are.
Fascism doesn't necessarily have anything to do with race or religion. Is there any racial
difference between Ukropians and Russians? Fascism is simply a tool that capitalists use to
smash class consciousness. Literally any differences can be used by the capitalists to direct
the violent mobs at their victims, even differences that are completely imaginary and don't
really exist except in the group mind of the mob.
Now I wonder... who is it that will attack someone for saying "But ALL lives
matter!" ? Who is smashing class consciousness?
And this is why the USA is turning into a failed state and Russia isn't:
"Nevertheless, I am confident that what makes a state strong, primarily, is the
confidence its citizens have in it . That is the strength of a state. People are the
source of power , we all know that. And this recipe doesn't just involve going to the
polling station and voting, it implies people's willingness to delegate broad authority to
their elected government, to see the state, its bodies, civil servants, as their
representatives – those who are entrusted to make decisions, but who also bear full
responsibility for the performance of their duties .
"This kind of state can be set up any way you like. When I say 'any way,' I mean that what
you call your political system is immaterial. Each country has its own political culture,
traditions, and its own vision of their development. Trying to blindly imitate someone else's
agenda is pointless and harmful. The main thing is for the state and society to be in
harmony .
"And of course, confidence is the most solid foundation for the creative work of the
state and society. Only together will they be able to find an optimal balance of freedom and
security guarantees ." [My Emphasis]
What a brilliant collection of words emphasizing the absolute requirement for the state to
do its utmost to support and develop its human capital--its citizens--while also saying
citizens have their own duty to ensure the quality of the state, which means installing
representatives that will work for them and promote their interests first and foremost since
they are the backbone of the state. Don't feed and care for the citizenry as in the USA and
you'll have a corrupt, feeble state when it comes to keeping itself strong. And IMO the
primary difference that's making Russia stronger while the USA atrophies is that Russia
listens to its people and genuinely cares for and acts in their interests while in the USA
the demands of the citizenry have fallen on deaf ears for decades, regardless the political
party running the government.
Gruffy is trying to conflate perpetrator as opposed to the victim/ victems !
Classic -- -
US geo-politics.
Blame shifting fascist tactic.
Learned far right tactic.
Or
Psychopathic projection.
Example -- --
US attacks Iran &Russia but blames them for attacking The US.
Also Gruffy I note how you side step a point well made by
Asking a deliberately distracting question. Yawn
"Blame shifting" absolutely is part of smashing class consciousness. Shift the blame
for people's difficulties from capitalism to various parts of the working class. Those who
participate violently in this process are fascists and perpetrators. Of course, they are also
victims because they are destroying their own class consciousness. Class consciousness is
necessary if they are ever to be able to address the real issues causing them hardship.
When the question and answers segment comes online it is worth reading his opinion about
the Karabakh conflict and how it is a very difficult situation for Russia since both
countries involved, Armenia and Azerbaijan are part of a common family. The question implied
that Russia would unequivocally side with Armenia based on religion, to which Putin answered
that 15% of Russia population professes the islamic faith and that he considers Azerbaijan a
country as close to Russia as Armenia, with over two million nationals from each of the
warring countries living in Russia and as part of a very influential and productive
community.
Interesting too his take on Turkey, admitting that there are a lot of disagreements Putin
had good words for Erdogan admitting that he is independent and that he is someone able to
uphold his word, the Turk Stream project, it was agreed upon and completed, compared to the
europeans to whom he did not spare in his almost contemptuous words insinuating their lack of
sovereignty.
Gruffy error !!
In this context the 'mob'
Is trump followers.
The thugs in uniform.
The proud boys.
The US forces abroad and at home.
Gruffy 'you' ARE the mob.
I feel you watched to many cowboy films portraying native Americans as the bad guys! It
shows.
I won't be replying more. as I see your very shabby diversionary tactic. Nice try though. We
see you !! What you are and what you do.
Thanks for your reply! Even before the Q&A Putin skewers both the Empire and EU in
this paragraph:
"Genuine democracy and civil society cannot be imported.' I have said so many times. They
cannot be a product of the activities of foreign 'well-wishers,' even if they 'want the best
for us.' In theory, this is probably possible. But, frankly, I have not yet seen such a thing
and do not believe much in it. We see how such imported democracy models function. They are
nothing more than a shell or a front with nothing behind them, even a semblance of
sovereignty. People in the countries where such schemes have been implemented were never
asked for their opinion, and their respective leaders are mere vassals. As is known, the
overlord decides everything for the vassal . To reiterate, only the citizens of a
particular country can determine their public interest." [My Emphasis]
And that "particular country" is one where both the citizens and the government share
"confidence" in each other such that they work in "harmony." Thus the #1 goal of the Outlaw
US Empire to sow chaos within nations so such confidence and harmony can't be established;
and if they are, then destroyed.
No one has ever lied to American people more than the American regime and her terrorizing
intelligence community organization, Snowden is the living proof of this . Anyone still alive
and living on this planet if it ever believed a word on anything coming out of the USG not
only is a fool and a total idiot but his/her head must be seriously checked. Regardless of
their party affiliations they have no shame of lying cheating steeling those United
oligarchy' Secretary of State is the proof that.
This poster is on neither "side" . More like Putin looking in pain over Azerbaijan and
Armenia killing each other at the prompting of some third party that doesn't care about
either of them. This poster is neither faux left nor right wing; however, this poster's
grandmother was Cherokee. There is no anger directed your way for your failure to understand,
though.
If Americans had any backbone they would be on the streets protesting about this sham
election prior to the election, of false choice no choice.
You earn your democracy or you loose your democracy.
Iran, Russia bashing ! Just how low have you people sunk.
No hind sight, no insight and no foresight !
No hope. Spineless.
Totally weird! You all, please get behind re-electing Trump. He is doing such a good job of
destroying the US empire and its pretensions. If you are really a leftist, this is a GOO:-D
thing!
The alternative is to vote Independent or Green but they don't have a chance right
now.
Walking only 3 miles on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles , going west I have counted 47 homeless
(male,females,wht,black,Asian)asking for handouts. These lost soles are the ones who have
paid the price for the for ever wars to secure the Israel' realm,
The propose of yesterday's security show at FBI was to convince the public that all negative
comments and cretics coming their way by internet blogs, email , media etc. is not really
from disfranchised Americans public, but rather foreign countries operation that they do not
like our democracy and way of life, It was solely meant to make people not to subscribe and
believe what negativity they hear or read on US( non existing)democracy ,
This is a cheap standard operation by totalitarian regimes.
53
That money went to the ESF,what else do you think is levitating stocks and bonds ?
You assumed wrongly, but Kudlow let slip they(ESF) were broke and actually stated the money
was going to them in a presser.
I dunno why I'm bothering to do this because astrology is such a lame easily disproven
superstition that gets by because there are just so many con artists making predictions that
occasionally some must be correct - the stopped clock effect, but here goes.
The moon's effect on our planet's oceans is proven to be caused by a known phenomenon,
gravity. These stars whose positions we are told influence our human lives (just another
anthrocentric load of bulldust what about beings on other planets?) are thousands of light
years away from earth, meaning when the con-artists draw up their star charts or WTF they
call 'em, they are looking at formations that happened thousands of years ago - all different
depending on a particular star's distance from earth.
Claiming to be able to predict anything rational from such a mish mash of incorrect data is
risible, sad really and goes much to explain the house dembot's mania.
As for oblammer in Miami? I guess the dnc know where quite a few oblammer bodies are
buried.
My view is changing, Biden is so crooked that even though if he wins, the corporate media
will try hard to leave him alone, but he's just too clumsy, so that some dems are going to
side with the rethugs to impeach him and fast, however that may be what the oligarchy is
counting on, as that brings bad karmala harris to the fore, a women so unpopular with dem
rank and file she withdrew from the primary before any votes were cast, how's that for
'democracy'.
This is the real issue, both dem & rethug prez candidates are crooks through and
through, if the dems win, then the spotlight the corporate media shone on orangeutan will be
turned off. At least some of trump's worst rorts were stopped by a fear of being found out,
but if the dems win dopey joe will have no such constraint - until he does something so over
the top eg kick off nuclear war, that the media finally wakes up. too late but at least now
they're awake.
Posted by: vinnieoh | Oct 22 2020 16:04 utc | 45 If Trump loses, should some people expect
bricks through their windows, or perhaps fire-bombings?
That is the threat. If either side loses, there will be massive civil unrest - at least
it's very likely that is (part of) "the plan" - whatever the plan actually is. In any event,
plan or not, it's predictable. Most of the preppers I follow on Youtube are urging everyone
to stock up on food and water because there's a good chance that everyone will be back on
movement restrictions of some sort, if not full-on martial law, within the next couple
months. As I said before, this country is going to start looking like Turkey or Italy in the
70's when the Grey Wolves and the Red Brigades were terrorizing those countries. It may not
be "civil war", but it's likely to be uglier than what happened this summer.
There will be cries of joy in the streets and maybe some celebratory looting, all from the
urban left.
Trump's supporters might assemble peacefully in a very sparse manner, but I would bet most
would simply take the newly alotted time from the Biden-victory to prep and ready a little
more before the real fireworks begin. Violence would only erupt from the urban left attacking
those demonstrations.
Real men are lying in wait. The city is not their playground any longer.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Oct 22 2020 11:21 utc | 19 -- "Barack can claim 'he paid his dues'
whilst keeping as much space as he can organise between himself and crooked joe, who has
already brought oblamblam's prezdency into disrepute with the shameless & ugly ukraine
rort that he and his bagman hunter had concocted."
Thanks for your astute observations. Am learning much.
A compromised man never escapes blackmail: he is but a tool in the hands of his owners. It
is not IF, but WHEN he will be used / abused. Over and over again, like a banker's boot
stomping on his arrogant face.
But then, who is to say that Obanger Obummer was unaware of his VP, that Basement-Biding
Bidet Biden's 'arrangements' for wealth accretion? And more (there is always more), who is to
say that Obanging Ohumming gets NO share therefrom at some 'convenient' time?
Evil thinks himself clever to hide in the dark, yet lives in daily fear of the light.
Thusly Obanging Ohummer's calculations that you noted above, and his dark demeanour these
days. He knows he is walking on a knife edge, with a sword hanging over his head, and a
safety net (those 17 intelligence agencies?) that can turn into a fowler's snare (sorry,
mixed metaphors!)
Yet, looking at the happier demeanour (she used to scowl all through 2017/2018) on that
shallow face called Michelle Ohummer, we can guess that she thinks they have escaped clean
with their 'rewards of office'.
Christian J. Chuba @17 asked, "How long?" I ask, how does an immoral leadership ever going
to turn moral? When does America get the leadership that she deserves?
@71 karlof1 - "only a viable state can act effectively in a crisis" - Putin
What a brilliant equation from Putin. Even more penetrating and useful than the formerly
existing observation that socialist-style societies have performed best in response to the
virus. Putin's criterion cuts exactly to the essence of the thing.
What the US has demonstrated from the virus response is that it is not a viable state. The
benchmark now exists. Thanks for bringing it over.
I have a friend of Cherokee ancestry. She told me how once she was speaking with an elder
woman of the tribe, and described herself as "one-eighth Cherokee".
The old woman shook her head and said, "The Cherokee spirit cannot be diluted."
Should any here be interested, Wikipedia has aa extensive listing of governmental scandals
for the 20th and 21st century administrations. Note the number of executive, legislative and
judicial scandals for each administration. Note also the volume of scandals as
administrations go from Franklin D. Roosevelt through to D.J. Trump for both executive and
legislative branches. The political parties of the malfeasant are of interest as well -
trending can be discerned, maybe, for the observant.
I'd have more hope for Russia if the Russian ruling class weren't so obsessed with the
West and didn't send their children to Western (woke) schools, etc.
theallseeinggod , 7 hours ago
They're not doing that well, but they're not repeating many of the west's mistakes.
Normal , 5 hours ago
Now the West has rules only for poor people.
Helg Saracen , 6 hours ago
Advice to Americans (for the sake of experiment): prohibit lobbying in US and the right of
citizens with dual citizenship to hold public office in US. I assure - you will be surprised
how quickly Russians go from non-kosher to kosher for Americans and how American politicians,
the media will convince Americans of this at every intersection. :) Ha ha ha
Nayel , 5 hours ago
If the [Vichy] Left in America weren't so determined to project their own Bolshevik
leanings on to a possible great ally that their ideology now fears, Russia would be just
that: a great ally that could help America shake the Bolsheviks that have infiltrated the
American government and plan the same program their Soviet forefathers once held over
Russia...
Arising 2.0 , 1 hour ago
Western zionist controlled propaganda reminds me of Mohamed Ali- he used to talk up the
******** so much before a fight that when the time came to fight the opponent was usually
traumatised or confused. Until Ali met with Joe Frazier (Russia) who didn't fall for all the
pre-fight BS.
ThePinkHole , 39 minutes ago
Time for a pop quiz! Name the two countries below:
Country A - competency, attention to first principles, planning based on reality,
consistency of purpose, and unity of execution.
Country B - incompetency, interfering in everything everywhere, planning based on hubris
and sloppy assumptions, confusion, and disunity.
(Source: Adapted from Patrick Armstrong)
foxenburg , 3 hours ago
This one is always good for a laugh....the Daily Telegraph's Con Coughlin explaining in
2015 how Putin will fail in Syria...
We have all this talk of the 'Ruskies' when in fact it is not the ordinary Russian people
but rather a geopolitical power struggle. The ordinary US citizen or European just wants to
maintain their liberty and be able to profit from their endeavours. The rich and powerful
globalists who hide behind their military are the ones that play these games. I am no friend
of Putin but equally I am no friend of our own political establishment that have been
captured by Wall Street. I care about Main Street and as the US dollar loses its privilege
there will be real pain to share amongst our economies. The last thing we need is for the
elites of the Western alliance to profit with cold/hot wars on the backs of ourselves.
Having been behind the iron curtain as a young Merchant Navy Officer I found ordinary
citizens fine and even organized football matches with the local communist parties. People
have the same desires and aspirations and whether rich or poor we should respect each others
cultures and territories. http://www.money-liberty.com/gallery/Predictions-2021.pdf
"... When the matter of truth is depicted as a possible threat to those that govern a country, you no longer have a democratic state. True, not everything can be disclosed to the public in real time, but we are sitting on a mountain of classified intelligence material that goes back more than 60 years. ..."
"... From this recognition, the whole matter of declassifying material around the Russigate scandal in real time, and not highly redacted 50 years from now, is essential to addressing this festering putrefaction that has been bubbling over since the heinous assassination of President Kennedy on Nov. 22nd, 1963 and to which we are still waiting for full disclosure of classified papers 57 years later. ..."
"... These intelligence bureaus need to be reviewed for what kind of method and standard they are upholding in collecting their "intelligence," that has supposedly justified the Mueller investigation and the never-ending Flynn investigation which have provided zero conclusive evidence to back up their allegations and which have massively infringed on the elected government's ability to make the changes that they had committed to the American people. ..."
"... Just like the Iraq and Libya war that was based off of cooked British intelligence (refer here and here ), Russiagate appears to have also had its impetus from our friends over at MI6 as well. It is no surprise that Sir Richard Dearlove, who was then MI6 chief (1999-2004) and who oversaw and stood by the fraudulent intelligence on Iraq stating they bought uranium from Niger to build a nuclear weapon, is the very same Sir Richard Dearlove who promoted the Christopher Steele dossier as something "credible" to American intelligence. ..."
"... In other words, the same man who is largely responsible for encouraging the illegal invasion of Iraq, which set off the never-ending wars on "terror," that was justified with cooked British intelligence is also responsible for encouraging the Russian spook witch-hunt that has been occurring within the US for the last four years over more cooked British intelligence, and the FBI and CIA are knowingly complicit in this. ..."
"... "The Central Intelligence Agency violated its charter for 25 years until revelations of illegal wiretapping, domestic surveillance, assassination plots, and human experimentation led to official investigations and reforms in the 1970s." [emphasis added] ..."
"... On Dec. 22, 1974, The New York Times published an article by Seymour Hersh exposing illegal operations conducted by the CIA, dubbed the "family jewels". This included, covert action programs involving assassination attempts on foreign leaders and covert attempts to subvert foreign governments, which were reported for the first time. In addition, the article discussed efforts by intelligence agencies to collect information on the political activities of US citizens. ..."
"... Largely as a reaction to Hersh's findings, the creation of the Church Committee was approved on January 27, 1975, by a vote of 82 to 4 in the Senate. ..."
"... In addition, the Church Committee produced seven case studies on covert operations, but only the one on Chile was released, titled " Covert Action in Chile: 1963–1973 ". The rest were kept secret at the CIA's request. ..."
"... Among the most shocking revelation of the Church Committee was the discovery of Operation SHAMROCK , in which the major telecommunications companies shared their traffic with the NSA from 1945 to the early 1970s. The information gathered in this operation fed directly into the NSA Watch List. It was found out during the committee investigations that Senator Frank Church, who was overseeing the committee, was among the prominent names under surveillance on this NSA Watch List. ..."
"... According to Garrison's team findings, there was reason to believe that the CIA was involved in the orchestrations of President Kennedy's assassination but access to classified material (which was nearly everything concerning the case) was necessary to continue such an investigation. ..."
"... Though Garrison's team lacked direct evidence, they were able to collect an immense amount of circumstantial evidence, which should have given the justification for access to classified material for further investigation. Instead the case was thrown out of court prematurely and is now treated as if it were a circus. [Refer to Garrison's book for further details and Oliver Stone's excellently researched movie JFK ] ..."
"... On Oct. 6th, 2020, President Trump ordered the declassification of the Russia Probe documents along with the classified documents on the findings concerning the Hillary Clinton emails. The release of these documents threatens to expose the entrapment of the Trump campaign by the Clinton campaign with help of the US intelligence agencies. ..."
"... Trey Gowdy, who was Chair of the House Oversight Committee from June 13th, 2017 – Jan. 3rd, 2019, has stated in an interview on Oct. 7th, 2020 that he has never seen these documents. Devin Nunes, who was Chair of the House Intelligence Committee from Jan. 3rd, 2015 – Jan. 3rd, 2019, has also said in a recent interview that he has never seen these documents. ..."
"... Reprinted with permission from Strategic Culture Foundation . ..."
"Treason doth never prosper; what is the reason? Why, if it prosper, none dare call it
treason." – Sir John Harrington.
As Shakespeare would state in his play Hamlet, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,"
like a fish that rots from head to tail, so do corrupt government systems rot from top to
bottom.
This is a reference to the ruling system of Denmark and not just the foul murder that King
Claudius has committed against his brother, Hamlet's father. This is showcased in the play by
reference to the economy of Denmark being in a state of shambles and that the Danish people are
ready to revolt since they are on the verge of starving. King Claudius has only been king for a
couple of months, and thus this state of affairs, though he inflames, did not originate with
him.
Thus, during our time of great upheaval we should ask ourselves; what constitutes the
persisting "ruling system," of the United States, and where do the injustices in its state of
affairs truly originate from?
The tragedy of Hamlet does not just lie in the action (or lack of action) of one man, but
rather, it is contained in the choices and actions of all its main characters. Each character
fails to see the longer term consequences of their own actions, which leads not only to their
ruin but towards the ultimate collapse of Denmark. The characters are so caught up in their
antagonism against one another that they fail to foresee that their very own destruction is
intertwined with the other.
This is a reflection of a failing system.
A system that, though it believes itself to be fighting tooth and nail for its very
survival, is only digging a deeper grave. A system that is incapable of generating any real
solutions to the problems it faces.
The only way out of this is to address that very fact. The most important issue that will
decide the fate of the country is what sort of changes are going to occur in the political and
intelligence apparatus, such that a continuation of this tyrannical treason is finally stopped
in its tracks and unable to sow further discord and chaos.
When the Matter of "Truth" Becomes a Threat to "National Security"
When the matter of truth is depicted as a possible threat to those that govern a
country, you no longer have a democratic state. True, not everything can be disclosed to the
public in real time, but we are sitting on a mountain of classified intelligence material that
goes back more than 60 years.
How much time needs to elapse before the American people have the right to know the truth
behind what their government agencies have been doing within their own country and abroad in
the name of the "free" world?
From this recognition, the whole matter of declassifying material around the Russigate
scandal in real time, and not highly redacted 50 years from now, is essential to addressing
this festering putrefaction that has been bubbling over since the
heinous assassination of President Kennedy on Nov. 22nd, 1963 and to which we are still
waiting for full disclosure of classified papers 57 years later.
If the American people really want to finally see who is standing behind that curtain in Oz,
now is the time.
These intelligence bureaus need to be reviewed for what kind of method and standard they
are upholding in collecting their "intelligence," that has supposedly justified the Mueller
investigation and the never-ending Flynn investigation which have provided zero conclusive
evidence to back up their allegations and which have massively infringed on the elected
government's ability to make the changes that they had committed to the American
people.
Just like the Iraq and Libya war that was based off of cooked British intelligence
(refer here
and here ),
Russiagate appears to have also had its impetus from our friends over at MI6 as well. It is no
surprise that Sir Richard Dearlove, who was then MI6 chief (1999-2004) and who
oversaw and stood by the fraudulent intelligence on Iraq stating they bought uranium from
Niger to build a nuclear weapon, is the very same Sir Richard Dearlove who promoted the
Christopher Steele dossier as something "credible" to American intelligence.
In other words, the same man who is largely responsible for encouraging the illegal
invasion of Iraq, which set off the never-ending wars on "terror," that was justified with
cooked British intelligence is also responsible for encouraging the Russian spook witch-hunt
that has been occurring within the US for the last four years over more cooked British
intelligence, and the FBI and CIA are knowingly complicit in this.
Neither the American people, nor the world as a whole, can afford to suffer any more of the
so-called "mistaken" intelligence bumblings. It is time that these intelligence bureaus are
held accountable for at best criminal negligence, at worst, treason against their own
country.
When Great Figures of Hope Are Targeted as Threats to "National Security"
The Family Jewels
report , which was an investigation conducted by the CIA to investigate itself, was spurred
by the Watergate Scandal and the CIA's unconstitutional role in the whole affair. This
investigation by the CIA reviewed its own conduct from the 1950s to mid-1970s.
The Family Jewels report was only partially declassified in June 25, 2007 (30
years later). Along with the release of the redacted report included a six-page summary with
the following introduction:
"The Central Intelligence Agency violated its charter for 25 years until revelations of
illegal wiretapping, domestic surveillance, assassination plots, and human experimentation led
to official investigations and reforms in the 1970s." [emphasis added]
Despite this acknowledged violation of its charter for 25 years, which is pretty much since
its inception, the details of this information were kept classified for 30 years from not just
the public but major governmental bodies and it was left to the agency itself to judge how best
to "reform" its ways.
On Dec. 22, 1974, The
New York Times published an article by Seymour Hersh exposing illegal operations conducted
by the CIA, dubbed the "family jewels". This included, covert action programs involving
assassination attempts on foreign leaders and covert attempts to subvert foreign governments,
which were reported for the first time. In addition, the article discussed efforts by
intelligence agencies to collect information on the political activities of US
citizens.
Largely as a reaction to Hersh's findings, the creation of the Church Committee was
approved on January 27, 1975, by a vote of 82 to 4 in the Senate.
The Church Committee also published an interim
report titled "Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders", which investigated
alleged attempts to assassinate foreign leaders, including Patrice Lumumba of Zaire, Rafael
Trujillo of the Dominican Republic, Ngo Dinh Diem of Vietnam, Gen. René Schneider of Chile
and Fidel Castro of Cuba. President Ford attempted to withhold the report from the public, but
failed and reluctantly issued Executive
Order 11905 after pressure from the public and the Church Committee.
Executive Order 11905 is a United States Presidential Executive Order signed on February 18,
1976, by a very reluctant President Ford in an attempt to reform the United States Intelligence
Community, improve oversight on foreign intelligence activities, and ban political
assassination.
The attempt is now regarded as a failure and was largely undone by President Reagan who
issued Executive
Order 12333 , which extended the powers and responsibilities of US intelligence agencies
and directed leaders of the US federal agencies to co-operate fully with the CIA, which was the
original arrangement that CIA have full authority over clandestine operations (for more
information on this refer to my papers
here and
here ).
In addition, the Church Committee produced seven case studies on covert operations, but
only the one on Chile was released, titled " Covert Action in
Chile: 1963–1973 ". The rest were kept secret at the CIA's request.
Among the most shocking revelation of the Church Committee was the discovery of
Operation SHAMROCK ,
in which the major telecommunications companies shared their traffic with the NSA from 1945 to
the early 1970s. The information gathered in this operation fed directly into the NSA Watch
List. It was found out during the committee investigations that Senator Frank Church, who was
overseeing the committee, was among the prominent
names under surveillance on this NSA Watch List.
In 1975, the Church Committee decided to unilaterally declassify the particulars of this
operation, against the objections of President Ford's administration (refer here and
here for more information).
The Church Committee's reports constitute the most extensive review of intelligence
activities ever made available to the public. Much of the contents were classified, but over
50,000 pages were declassified under the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records
Collection Act of 1992.
President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22nd, 1963. Two days before his
assassination a hate-Kennedy handbill (see picture) was circulated in Dallas accusing the
president of treasonous activities including being a communist sympathizer.
On March 1st, 1967 New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison arrested and charged Clay Shaw
with conspiring to assassinate President Kennedy, with the help of David Ferrie and others.
After a little over a one month long trial, Shaw was found not guilty on March 1st, 1969.
David Ferrie, a controller of Lee Harvey Oswald, was going to be a key witness and would
have provided the "smoking gun" evidence linking himself to Clay Shaw, was likely murdered on
Feb. 22nd, 1967, less than a week after news of Garrison's investigation broke in the
media.
According to Garrison's team findings, there was reason to believe that the CIA was
involved in the orchestrations of President Kennedy's assassination but access to classified
material (which was nearly everything concerning the case) was necessary to continue such an
investigation.
Though Garrison's team lacked direct evidence, they were able to collect an immense
amount of circumstantial evidence, which should have given the justification for access to
classified material for further investigation. Instead the case was thrown out of court
prematurely and is now treated as if it were a circus. [Refer to Garrison's book for further details and
Oliver Stone's excellently researched movie JFK ]
To date, it is the only trial to be brought forward concerning the assassination of
President Kennedy.
The Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) was created in 1994 by the Congress enacted
President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, which mandated that all
assassination-related material be housed in a single collection within the National Archives
and Records Administration. In July 1998, a staff report
released by the ARRB emphasized shortcomings in the original autopsy.
The
ARRB wrote , "One of the many tragedies of the assassination of President Kennedy has been
the incompleteness of the autopsy record and the suspicion caused by the shroud of secrecy that
has surrounded the records that do exist." [emphasis added]
Asked about the lunchroom episode [where he was overheard stating his notes of the autopsy
went missing] in a May 1996 deposition, Finck said he did not remember it. He was also vague
about how many notes he took during the autopsy but confirmed that 'after the autopsy I also
wrote notes' and that he turned over whatever notes he had to the chief autopsy physician,
James J. Humes.
It has long been known that Humes destroyed some original autopsy papers in a fireplace at
his home on Nov. 24, 1963. He told the Warren Commission that what he burned was an original
draft of his autopsy report. Under persistent questioning at a February 1996 deposition by
the Review Board, Humes said he destroyed the draft and his 'original notes.'
Shown official autopsy photographs of Kennedy from the National Archives, [Saundra K.]
Spencer [who worked in 'the White House lab'] said they were not the ones she helped process
and were printed on different paper. She said 'there was no blood or opening cavities' and
the wounds were much smaller in the pictures [than what she had] worked on
John T. Stringer, who said he was the only one to take photos during the autopsy itself,
said some of those were missing as well. He said that pictures he took of Kennedy's brain at
a 'supplementary autopsy' were different from the official set that was shown to him.
[emphasis added]
This not only shows that evidence tampering did indeed occur, as even the Warren
Commission acknowledges, but this puts into question the reliability of the entire
assassination record of John F. Kennedy and to what degree evidence tampering and forgery have
occurred in these records.
We would also do well to remember the numerous crimes that the FBI and CIA have been guilty
of committing upon the American people such as during the period of McCarthyism. That the FBI's
COINTELPRO has been implicated in covert operations against members of the civil rights
movement, including Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960s. That FBI director J. Edgar Hoover
made no secret of his hostility towards Dr. King and his ludicrous belief that King was
influenced by communists, despite having no evidence to that effect.
King was assassinated on April 4th, 1968 and the civil rights movement took a major
blow.
In November 1975, as the Church Committee was completing its investigation, the Department
of Justice formed a Task Force to examine the FBI's program of harassment directed at Dr. King,
including the FBI's security investigations of him, his assassination and the FBI conducted
criminal investigation that followed. One aspect of the Task force study was to determine
"whether any action taken in relation to Dr. King by the FBI before the assassination had, or
might have had, an effect, direct or indirect, on that event."
In its report
, the Task Force criticized the FBI not for the opening, but for the protracted continuation
of, its security investigation of Dr. King:
"We think the security investigation which included both physical and technical
surveillance, should have been terminated in 1963. That it was intensified and augmented by a
COINTELPRO type campaign against Dr. King was unwarranted; the COINTELPRO type campaign,
moreover, was ultra vires and very probably felonious."
In 1999, King Family
v. Jowers civil suit in Memphis, Tennessee occurred, the full transcript of the trial can
be found here
. The jury found that Lloyd Jowers and unnamed others, including those in high ranking
positions within government agencies, participated in a conspiracy to assassinate Dr. King.
During the four week trial, it was pointed out that the rifle allegedly used to assassinate
King did not have a scope that was sighted, which meant you could not have hit the broad side
of a barn with that rifle, thus it could not have been the murder weapon.
This was only remarked on over 30 years after King was murdered and showed the level of
incompetence, or more likely, evidence tampering that was committed from previous
investigations conducted by the FBI.
The case of JFK and MLK are among the highest profile assassination cases in American
history, and it has been shown in both cases that evidence tampering has indeed occurred,
despite being in the center of the public eye. What are we then to expect as the standard of
investigation for all the other cases of malfeasance? What expectation can we have that justice
is ever upheld?
With a history of such blatant misconduct, it is clear that the present demand to declassify
the Russiagate papers now, and not 50 years later, needs to occur if we are to address the
level of criminality that is going on behind the scenes and which will determine the fate of
the country.
The American People Deserve to Know
Today we see the continuation of the over seven decades' long ruse, the targeting of
individuals as Russian agents without any basis, in order to remove them from the political
arena. The present effort to declassify the Russiagate papers and exonerate Michael Flynn, so
that he may freely speak of the intelligence he knows, is not a threat to national security, it
is a threat to those who have committed treason against their country.
On Oct. 6th, 2020, President Trump ordered the declassification of the Russia Probe
documents along with the classified documents on the findings concerning the Hillary Clinton
emails. The release of these documents threatens to expose the entrapment of the Trump campaign
by the Clinton campaign with help of the US intelligence agencies.
The Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe released some of these documents
recently, including former CIA Director John Brennan's handwritten notes for a meeting with former
President Obama, the notes revealing that Hillary Clinton approved a plan to "vilify Donald
Trump by stirring up scandal claiming interference by the Russian security service."
Trey Gowdy, who was Chair of the House Oversight Committee from June 13th, 2017 –
Jan. 3rd, 2019, has stated in an interview on Oct. 7th, 2020 that
he has never seen these documents. Devin Nunes, who was Chair of the House Intelligence
Committee from Jan. 3rd, 2015 – Jan. 3rd, 2019, has also said in a recent interview that
he has never seen these documents.
And yet, both the FBI and CIA were aware and had access to these documents and sat on them
for four years, withholding their release from several government-led investigations that were
looking into the Russiagate scandal and who were requesting relevant material that was in the
possession of both intelligence bureaus. Do these intelligence bureaus sound like they are
working for the "national security" of the American people?
The truth must finally be brought to light, or the country will rot from its head to
tail.
Is this 50 former Intel officials or 50 former national security parasites? Real Intel
officials should keep quite after retirement. National security parasites go to politics and
lobbying. One telling sign that a particular parson is a "national security parasite" is his
desire to play "Russian card"
From comments: "Did the 50 former intelligence officials find the Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction yet?"
Hours before Politico
reported the existence of a letter signed by '50 former senior intelligence officials' who say
the Hunter Biden laptop scandal "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information
operation" - providing "no new evidence," while they remain "deeply suspicious that the Russian
government played a significant role in this case," Tucker Carlson obliterated their (literal)
conspiracy theory .
According to the Fox News host, he's seen 'nonpublic information that proves it was Hunter's
laptop ,' adding " No one but Hunter could've known about or replicated this information ."
" This is not a Russian hoax. We are not speculating ."
TUCKER: "This afternoon, we received nonpublic information that proves it was Hunter's
laptop. No one but Hunter could've known about or replicated this information. This is not a
Russian hoax. We are not speculating." pic.twitter.com/cl2ktdmdVc
Meanwhile, the Delaware computer repair shop owner who believes Hunter dropped off three
MacBook Pros for data recovery has a signed work order bearing Hunter's signature . When
compared to the signature on a document in his paternity suit, while one looks more formal than
the other, they are a match.
Going back to the '50 former senior intelligence officials' and their latest Russia
fixation, one has to wonder - do they think Putin was able to compromise Biden's
former business associate , Bevan Cooney, who gave investigative journalist Peter Schweizer
his gmail password - revealing that Hunter and his partners were engaged in an
influence-peddling operation for rich Chinese who wanted access to the Obama
administration?
Did Putin further hack Joe Biden in 2011 to make him take a meeting with a Chinese
delegation with ties to the CCP - arranged by Hunter's group, two years they secured a massive
investment of Chinese money?
The implications boggle the mind.
Here's the clarifying sentences from the '50 former senior intelligence officials' that
exposes the utter farce of it all:
While the letter's signatories presented no new evidence , they said their national
security experience had made them "deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a
significant role in this case" and cited several elements of the story that suggested the
Kremlin's hand at work.
"If we are right," they added, "this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in
this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this."
"Hunter Biden's laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign."
And then there's the fact that no one from the Biden campaign has yet to deny any of the
'facts' in the emails. lay_arrow jin187 , 2 hours ago
Totally ridiculous. This ******** beating around the bush for both sides pisses me off.
Dump all the laptop contents on Wikileaks if it's real. Let the people sort it out. If you
say it's not real, prove it. If Biden wants me to believe it's not real, then stand behind a
podium, and say clear as day into a pile of cameras that's it's all a forgery, and that
you've done nothing wrong.
Instead we have Giuliani swearing he has a smoking gun, but as far as I can tell he's just
pointing his finger underneath his shirt. Biden on the other hand, keep using weasel words to
imply it's fake, but never denies it outright. It's almost like he's trying to hedge his bet
that no one will manage to prove it's real before he gets into office, and makes it
disappear.
Roacheforque , 7 hours ago
To play the "Russian Card" yet again should be beyond embarrassing. An insult to the
intelligence of anyone with an IQ over 80. And so it's harmful to the left wingnut
derangeables. Like Assad's chemical weapons and Saddam's WMDs, it is now code for pure
********. Not even code, just more like a signal.
A signal that say's "guilty as charged - we got nothin' but lies and BS over here".
East Indian , 4 hours ago
An insult to the intelligence of anyone with an IQ over 80.
They know their supporters wont find this insulting.
Kayman , 4 hours ago
@vulvishka.
538 ? North Korea has better propaganda.
Don't forget to go all in, like you did with Hillary.
Antedeluvian , 2 hours ago
Unfortunately, some very bright people are sucked into the conspiracy theory. I know one.
Very bright lawyer. She says, "I still think there is substantive evidence of Russian
collusion." I can point to a sky criss-crossed with chemtrails (when you see these
"contrails" crossing at the same altitude, this is one sure clue these are not from regular
passenger jet traffic) and she refuses to look up. She KNOWS I am an idiot (a PhD scientist
idiot at that) because I get news and analysis on the web from sites that just want to sell
me tee shirts and coffee mugs (well, she is partly right there!) whereas she gets her news
from MSNBC, a venerable and trustworthy news source.
4DegreesOfSeparation , 6 hours ago
More Than 50 Former Intel Officials Say Hunter Biden Smear Smells Like Russia
"If we are right," the group wrote in a letter, "this is Russia trying to influence how
Americans vote."
DescendantofthePatriots , 7 hours ago
That ****, James Clapper, signed his name at the top of this list.
Known liar, saboteur, and sneak.
The cognitive dissonance in our country is astounding. The fact that they would take these
people's opinion over hard fact is astounding.
No wonder why we're sliding down the steep, slippery slope.
strych10 , 8 hours ago
So... let me get this straight.
50, that's 10 times five, fifty former intelligence officials are going with a convoluted
narrative about a ludicrously complicated Russian Intelligence disinformation campaign
involving planted laptops and at least half a dozen patsies when the two words "crack
cocaine" explain the entire thing?
I'm not sure what's more terrifying; That these people think everyone else is dumb enough
to believe this or that they're actually retired intelligence officials
.
Who the actual **** is running this ****show? The bastard child of Barney Fife and
Inspector Clouseau?
Seriously, "Pink Panther Disinformation Operation" is more believable at this point.
Someone Else , 9 hours ago
This needs to get out, because a FAVORITE method of the Deep State, Democrats and the
media (but I repeat myself) is to parade some sort of a stupid letter with a bunch of
signature hoping to look impressive but that really don't mean a damn thing.
Notre Dame graduates against the Supreme Court nominee, Intelligence agents alleging
collusion, former State Department operatives against Trump. Its grandstanding that has been
overdone.
moneybots , 8 hours ago
The letter by 50 former intelligence officials is itself, disinformation.
otschelnik , 8 hours ago
Remember when Weiner's attorney turned over Huma's home laptop to SDNY/FBI with all of
Shillary's emails, and the FBI sat on it for a month and then Comey deep sixed them without
even looking at them?
So now the FBI subpeona'd Hunter's laptop and burried it? Deja vu all over again.
enough of this , 8 hours ago
The FBI and DOJ constantly hide behind self-serving excuses to refuse the release of
documents and, when forced to do so, they release heavily redacted files. They offer up the
usual pretexts to fend off public disclosure such as: the information you seek cannot be
disclosed because it involves an ongoing investigation, or the information you seek involves
national security, or our methods and sources will be jeopardized if the information you seek
is divulged to the public. But it seems the ones who would be most harmed by public
disclosure are the corrupt FBI and DOJ officials themselves
Cobra Commander , 7 hours ago
A short 4 years ago the FBI and CIA were all concerned about "Kompromat" the Ruskies might
have on Candidate Trump; concerned enough to spy on his campaign and open a
counter-intelligence operation.
There are troves of Kompromat material, actual emails and video, on Joe, Hunter, and the
whole Biden family; not made-up DNC-funded dossiers claiming a Russian consulate in
Miami.
Now when it's Candidate Biden, everyone be all like, "Meh."
Cobra!
The Fonz...before shark jump , 5 hours ago
we gotta listen to the 50 former intelligence agents...you know the ones that had lone
superpower status in the early 90s and then pissed it all away with 9/11 and infinity wars in
middle east hahahahah ok buddy lol... histories D students....
Occams_Razor_Trader_Part_Deux , 7 hours ago
Signed by James Clapper and John Brennan;
You mean, the 2 Bozos who under the threat of perjury said there was NO evidence of
Russian Collusion and the Trump campaign................. and 2 hours later called Trump
'Putin's puppet' on CNN.............
The main reason for the fake polls is to
demoralize
the losing side
. The idea is to instill a sense of helplessness and inevitability so people start to give up. Volunteers
start to quit, and excitement for the election dwindles, affecting turnout.
This year, however, the skew in polls is particularly egregious.
Below is a case study of how FOX NEWS undersamples independent voters to lift Biden. We un-skewed the poll using 2016 turnout
numbers as the baseline.
We
found Trump ahead by 1-5 points.
Also, we collected every single post-debate poll on Twitter and
listed
them here
.
For a poll to be predictive, the pollster needs to understand who will show up on election day. Polls that try to predict turnout on
Election Day, describe their sample as
likely
voters
.
Polls that sample
registered
or
eligible
voters
are not intentionally predictive. Each Election Year, a significant percentage of registered voters do not show up. Likewise, many
eligible voters do not register to vote.
Most polls
reported in the news are of
registered
or
eligible
voters.
Republicans almost always overperform against these two poll types. Historically, Republicans record a higher turnout rate going
back decades. Polls of eligible and registered voters are not intentionally predictive.
Polls of
likely
voters
are intended to be predictive. These polls attempt to identify the voters most likely to vote though statistical
measures. These types of polls are more favorable to Republicans because they factor in voter turnout expectations and this estimate
is reflected in the poll results.
This Article Explains
How undersampling significantly affects poll results with the latest FOX NEWS poll.
How to unskew polls and get an estimate of actual poll results.
This Article Finds
After unskewing the sample size of the FOX NEWS poll of registered voters, Trump and Biden are statistically tied.
Because this is a poll of registered voters, it is not predictive of what will happen on Election Day. We should expect Trump to
overperform this poll because Republicans generally have higher turnout.
We
have reason to predict a Trump win based on this poll.
Their methodology appears promising. However, the fact remains FOX NEWS consistently undersamples independent voters, driving
materially false conclusions. In order to assess the gravity of the situation, we compared FOX NEWS' data to larger and reliable
data sets for comparative purposes.
PART 2
THE
DATA
Voter Registration Data
First, I attempted to gather voter registration data from all states. But, some states restrict registration data to political
candidates only. In the states where I obtained registration data, the ratio of Republican, Democrat and independent voters look
identical to Gallup's
numbers
.
I was only able to get registration data from 28 states. From those states, here are the numbers:
28 State Sample
Year
Republican
Democrat
Independent
2020
28%
29%
40%
Gallup
Gallup has been tracking political affiliation since 2004. For
July
2020
, here are their results: 28% Republicans, 38% independents, 29% Democrats.
Since FOX NEWS identifies their sample as registered voters, and their methodology appears compatible with sound data management, we
should expect a poll sample that corresponds to the nationwide ratio of Democrats, Republicans and independents.
It does not. FOX NEWS' undersampled independents by 70% in their latest poll. It's possible this particular poll was an outlier.
Sadly, this is not the case.
In
fact, they have been undersampling independent voters for months.
Such consistent and persistent anomalies suggests
intentional manipulation.
The data suggests FOX NEWS oversamples registered Republicans by 51.9% and Democrats by 51.8%. FOX NEWS undersampled independent
voters by 70.74%.
Remember,
they are claiming their poll is based on registered voters
. The disproportionate set of registered voters' political ID to
our larger data sets suggests there was self-selection of the sample. In other words, they crafted their data sample to produce a
desired outcome.
PART 5
UNSKEWING
THE DATA
Undersampling independent voters hurts Trump's numbers significantly.
Why? Because FOX NEWS' own poll numbers show that
Trump performs better with independent voters than Biden. When FOX NEWS cuts people from this segment, they also remove more Trump
supporters than Biden supporters.
Fox
News: Trump the preferred candidate for independents.
PLUG THE DATA HOLES
Let's adjust their result by extrapolating the results based on a ratio of Republican, Democrat and independent voter ratios that
match the latest Pew/Gallup numbers.
We will use FOX NEWS' poll data to deduct how each of these groups would vote. This will unskew the data, and give independent
voters their fair share in contributing to the final poll results.
PLUG THE DATA HOLES
Extrapolating the data based on the current ratio of Republicans, Democrats and independents renders the polls a statistical dead
heat, assuming a similar margin of error of ±3%.
Scope:
It's important to obtain comparative that corresponds to the scope of your analysis. For example: If you want to
deskew the popular vote, use national data. To unscrew data for the Electoral College, you want to focus on state data like state
exit polls.
METHOD
Compare multiple points of reputable data.
State registrations, exit poll data, Gallup and Pew all show similar ratios
of nationwide Republicans, Democrats and independents. We took the average of these and calculated a national ratio of
Republicans, Democrats, independents and other of 28.4% to 30.3% to 37.6% to 3.8%, respectively.
.
Extrapolate the number people in each Party ID that is consistent with the established data in step #1.
We reviewed FOX
NEWS' poll data and for each one of these Party ID segments, we calculated how many people would belong in each one of these sub
groups if they followed the national ratio.
.
Extrapolate the number of people in each Party ID that intends to vote for a certain candidate.
We looking at the raw
FOX NEWS
poll
data
and the voter candidate preference ratios in each Party ID subgroup. We apply that ratio to the extrapolated number of
people in each Party ID segment to estimate how many people are voting for each candidate.
For example, according to FOX NEWS, the Republican pool prefered Trump 86% of the time and Biden 8%. (Note: for simplicity, we
will not attempt to deskew this ratio. However, this ratio is suspect for a couple of reasons). This gives Trump 249 people from
the registered republican subset.
The full extrapolated data is in the table below. This adjustment is net positive for Trump. Whereas before he was down by 7.5
points vs. Biden. The extrapolated data puts Trump in a statistical dead heat.
Pool 28.3%
Pool 30.3%
Pool 37.6%
Pool 3.8%
Republicans
Democrats
Independents
Other
Results
Results%
Trump
249
12
120
15
397
42.00%
Biden
23
276
102
14
414
43.84%
Other
11
9
40
10
70
7.41%
Undecided
8
6
91
11
116
12.34%
Make no mistake: This is purposeful undersampling
.
PART 5
BOTTOM
LINE
This is an important lesson: It's important to be precise when analyzing poll numbers if you want to assess the predictive qualities
of a poll. Pollsters can materially change the outcome of the poll by just skewing independent voter ratios. The data suggests this
is how FOX NEWS is manipulating polls.
Pollsters are being driven by outside agendas. Nearly all polls are suspect.
Key Points
Know the difference between polls
of eligible voters, registered voters and likely voters. Each poll type has results
changing assumptions.
Know how to assess if a poll over or undersamples.
As a baseline you can consider the previous Presidential Election to
quickly assess if the poll oversamples or undersamples by comparing the ratio of participants by party ID.
Know that over or undersampling of of voters
based on Party ID can dramatically affect the results of the poll.
Follow up:
We are
not
the only ones
to notice FOX NEWS' gross undersampling of independents voters.Western Journal wrote about what
they
found
.
It appears the "Russia, Russia, Russia" cries from Adam Schiff and his dutiful media peons
is dead (we can only hope) as Director of National Intel John Ratcliffe just confirmed to Foxx
Business' Maria Bartiromo that:
"Hunter Biden's laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign."
As Politico's Quint Forgey details
(@QuintForgey) , DNI Ratcliffe is asked directly whether accusations leveled against the
Bidens in recent days are part of a Russian disinformation effort.
He says no:
"Let me be clear. The intelligence community doesn't believe that because there is no
intelligence that supports that."
" We have shared no intelligence with Chairman Schiff or any other member of Congress that
Hunter Biden's laptop is part of some Russian disinformation campaign. It's simply not true.
"
"And this is exactly what I said would I stop when I became the director of national
intelligence, and that's people using the intelligence community to leverage some political
narrative."
"And in this case, apparently Chairman Schiff wants anything against his preferred
political candidate to be deemed as not real and as using the intelligence community or
attempting to use the intelligence community to say there's nothing to see here."
"Don't drag the intelligence community into this. Hunter Biden's laptop is not part of
some Russian disinformation campaign. And I think it's clear that the American people know
that."
So "the emails are Russian" narrative serves the interests of political convenience,
partisan media ratings, and the national security state's pre-planned agenda to continue
escalating against Russia as part of its
slow motion third world war against nations which refuse to bow to US dictates, and
you've got essentially no critical mainstream news coverage putting the brakes on any of it.
This means this narrative is going to become mainstream orthodoxy and treated as an
established fact, despite the fact that there is no actual, tangible evidence for it.
Joe Biden could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and the mainstream
press would crucify any journalist who so much as tweeted about it. Very
little journalism is going into vetting and challenging him, and a great deal of the
energy that would normally be doing so is going into ensuring that he slides right into the
White House.
If the mainstream news really existed to tell you the truth about what's going on,
everyone would know about every questionable decision that Joe Biden has ever made,
Russiagate would never have happened, we'd all be acutely aware of the fact that powerful
forces are pushing us into increasingly aggressive confrontations with two nuclear-armed
nations, and Trump would be grilled about
Yemen in every press conference.
But the mainstream news does not exist to tell you the truth about the world. The
mainstream news exists to advance the interests of its wealthy owners and the status quo upon
which they have built their kingdoms. That's why it's
so very, very important that we find ways to break away from it and share information
with each other that isn't tainted by corrupt and powerful interests.
As we detailed previously, as the Hunter Biden laptop scandal threatens to throw the 2020
election into chaos with what appears to be solid, undisputed evidence of high-level corruption
by former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, the same crowd which peddled the
Trump-Russia hoax is now suggesting that Russia is behind it all .
To wit, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who swore on National television
that he had evidence Trump was colluding with Russia - now says that President Trump is handing
the Kremlin a "propaganda coup from Vladimir Putin."
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) has gone full tin-foil , suggesting that Giuliani was a 'key
target' of 'Kremlin constructed anti-Biden propaganda.'
2/ Russia knew it had to play a different game than 2016. So it built an operation to cull
virulently pro-Trump Americans as pseudo-assets, so blind in their allegiance to Trump that
they'll willingly launder Kremlin constructed anti-Biden propaganda.
Yet, if one looks at the actual facts of the case - in particular, that Hunter Biden appears
to have dropped his own laptops off at a computer repair shop, signed a service ticket , and
the shop owner approached the FBI first and Rudy Giuliani last after Biden failed to pick them
up, the left's latest Russia conspiracy theory is quickly debunked .
This is the story of an American patriot, an honorable man, John Paul Mac Issac, who tried
to do the right thing and is now being unfairly and maliciously slandered as an agent of
foreign intelligence, specifically Russia. He is not an agent or spy for anyone. He is his own
man. How do I know? I have known his dad for more than 20 years. I've known John Paul's dad as
Mac. Mac is a decorated Vietnam Veteran, who flew gunships in Vietnam. And he continued his
military service with an impeccable record until he retired as an Air Force Colonel. The crews
of those gunships have an annual reunion and Mac usually takes John Paul along, who volunteers
his computer and video skills to record and compile the stories of those brave men who served
their country in a difficult war.
This story is very simple – Hunter Biden dropped off three computers with liquid
damage at a repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware on April 12, 2019. The owner, John Mac Issac,
examined the three and determined that one was beyond recovery, one was okay and the data on
the harddrive of the third could be recovered. Hunter signed the service ticket and John Paul
Mac Issac repaired the hard drive and down loaded the data . During this process he saw some
disturbing images and a number of emails that concerned Ukraine, Burisma, China and other
issues . With the work completed, Mr. Mac Issac prepared an invoice, sent it to Hunter Biden
and notified him that the computer was ready to be retrieved. H unter did not respond . In the
ensuing four months (May, June, July and August), Mr. Mac Issac made repeated efforts to
contact Hunter Biden. Biden never answered and never responded. More importantly, Biden stiffed
John Paul Mac Issac–i.e., he did not pay the bill.
When the manufactured Ukraine crisis surfaced in August 2019, John Paul realized he was
sitting on radioactive material that might be relevant to the investigation. After conferring
with his father, Mac and John Paul decided that Mac would take the information to the FBI
office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mac walked into the Albuquerque FBI office and spoke with an
agent who refused to give his name. Mac explained the material he had, but was rebuffed by the
FBI. He was told basically, get lost . This was mid-September 2019.
Two months passed and then, out of the blue, the FBI contacted John Paul Mac Issac. Two FBI
agents from the Wilmington FBI office–Joshua Williams and Mike Dzielak–came to John
Paul's business . He offered immediately to give them the hard drive, no strings attached.
Agents Williams and Dzielak declined to take the device .
Two weeks later, the intrepid agents called and asked to come and image the hard drive. John
Paul agreed but, instead of taking the hard drive or imaging the drive, they gave him a
subpoena. It was part of a grand jury proceeding but neither agent said anything about the
purpose of the grand jury. John Paul complied with the subpoena and turned over the hard drive
and the computer.
In the ensuing months, starting with the impeachment trial of President Trump, he heard
nothing from the FBI and knew that none of the evidence from the hard drive had been shared
with President Trump's defense team.
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The lack of action and communication with the FBI led John Paul to make the fateful decision
to contact Rudy Giuliani's office and offer a copy of the drive to the former mayor. We now
know that Rudy accepted John Paul's offer and that Rudy's team shared the information with the
New York Post.
John Paul Mac Issac is not responsible for the emails, images and videos recovered from
Hunter Biden's computer. He was hired to do a job, he did the job and submitted an invoice for
the work. Hunter Biden, for some unexplained reason, never responded and never asked for the
computer. But that changed last Tuesday, October 13, 2020. A person claiming to be Hunter
Biden's lawyer called John Paul Mac Issac and asked for the computer to be returned. Too late.
That horse had left the barn and was with the FBI.
John Paul, acting under Delaware law, understood that Hunter's computer became the property
of his business 90 days after it had been abandoned.
At no time did John Paul approach any media outlet or tabloid offering to sell salacious
material . A person of lesser character might have tried to profit. But that is not the essence
of John Paul Mac Issac. He had information in his possession that he learned, thanks to events
subsequent to receiving the computer for a repair job, was relevant to the security of our
nation. He did what any clear thinking American would do–he, through his father,
contacted the FBI. When the FBI finally responded to his call for help, John cooperated fully
and turned over all material requested .
The failure here is not John Paul's . He did his job. The FBI dropped the ball and, by
extension, the Department of Justice. Sadly, this is becoming a disturbing, repeating
theme–the FBI through incompetence or malfeasance is not doing its job.
Any news outlet that is publishing the damnable lie that John Paul is part of some
subversive effort to interfere in the United States Presidential election is on notice. That is
slander and defamation. Fortunately, the evidence from Hunter Biden's computer is in the hands
of the FBI and Rudy Giuliani and, I suspect, the U.S. Senate. Those with the power to do
something must act. John Paul Mac Issac's honor is intact. We cannot say the same for those
government officials who have a duty to deal with this information.
"... The neocon/NATO aggressive expansionism has many purposes, but one is surely domestic repression: to gaslight and cause fear-the-foreign-bogeyman trauma among the American and British people as a whole and make most of them become docile and lose their critical thinking skills and their ability to analyze their own societies. ..."
"... One of the best ways to lobotomize the publics of the US and UK is to very gradually impose martial law in the name of protecting national security and ensuring peace and harmony at home. ..."
The neocon/NATO aggressive expansionism has many purposes, but one is surely domestic
repression: to gaslight and cause fear-the-foreign-bogeyman trauma among the American and
British people as a whole and make most of them become docile and lose their critical
thinking skills and their ability to analyze their own societies.
One of the best ways to lobotomize the publics of the US and UK is to very gradually
impose martial law in the name of protecting national security and ensuring peace and harmony
at home.
After several color revolutions succeeded, the Russiagate/Spygate op was carried out in
the US, with British assistance. This op has been largely successful, though there has been
limited resistance against its whole fake edifice as well as with the logic of Cold War2.0.
Nevertheless, Spygate has shocked many tens of millions of Dems into a stupor, while millions
more are dazed and manipulated by the Chinese bogeyman being manufactured by Trump.
The most dangerous result of the martial law lite mentality caused by Spygate and its MSM
purveyors is the growing support for censorship of free speech coming mostly from the Dems,
such as Schiff and Warner. The danger inherent in this trend became very clear when FaceBook
and Twitter engaged in massive and unprecedented arbitrary censorship of the New York Post
and of various Trump-related accounts.
This is the kind of thing you do during Stage 1 of a coup. Surely it was at least in part
an experiment to see how various power points in the US would respond. Even though Twitter
ended the censorship later, it was probably a successful experiment designed to gauge
reactions and areas of resistance.
In November, there could be further, more serious experiments/ops. If so, the current
expansionist movements being made and planned by the US and NATO may well be integral parts
of a new non-democratic model of "American-style democracy" -- not constitution-based but
"rules-based."
SUBSCRIBE SEARCH Neoliberal centrists and phony fascists as political tools of the
capitalist classes in an escalating warOctober
15, 2020 globinfo freexchange The progressive movement has lost recently one
of its pioneers. David Grabber was an American
anthropologist, anarchist activist, leading figure in the Occupy Wall Street movement, and is
sometimes credited with having coined the slogan "We are the 99%".
In the following short analysis, Grabber describes almost perfectly the nature of the
neoliberal centrism and how its carriers manipulate the masses. He also unveils the role of
those to the right, which in the US is played politically by the Republican Party.
As he points out: There's a symbiotic relationship between these centrists, who are just
sort of sneering elitists and these guys who are the scam artists, who pretend to be locals,
who pretend to be idiots, or pretend to be fascists. They're not even real fascists, they're
kind of phoney fascists. They are trying to set up a situation where those are the only two
viable political choices because they both feed off and complement one another.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/-9afwZON8dU
While in previous decades the capitalist class formed a solid front against the working class
through the complete domination of neoliberal doctrine, this "symbiotic relationship" described
by Grabber is declining rapidly.
As we already explained
, it was a matter of time to see a major crisis, comparable to that of 1929, inside the heart
of neoliberal capitalism. The big meltdown of 2007-08 in the United States fully unleashed the
centrifugal forces inside the Western capitalist system, and revealed a merciless
endo-capitalist war, which had been already brewing underground in previous years.
The two major events as a result of this war, were the rise of Donald Trump and the Brexit
vote. Both in the motherlands of neoliberalism. What we see now in the United States with
Trump, is a counter-attack by the part of the American capital against the globalist faction.
The faction that is primarily consisted by the
liberal plutocracy . Therefore, as the capitalist class splits, the capitalists
around Trump are now taking with them the most conservative part of the American society, as
they need electoral power. They have the money and their own media network. Their first big
victory was Trump in the US presidency and this explains why the liberal media attack him so
hard and so frequently.
Both Donald Trump and Boris Johnson represent the capitalist faction which senses an
existential threat from the globalized capital represented politically by the neoliberal
center. And as Grabber says, these are only phoney fascists.
Inside the capitalist civil war, both Trump and Johnson are essentially the tools of a tough
bargain between capitalists. Capitalists around Trump and Johnson are using these phoney
fascists to sabotage, for example some international treaties, like NAFTA, which are critical
for the complete domination of the globalized capital. They present these actions as a
"patriotic" stance to lure conservative voters who are angry and feel that globalization is the
key cause for the loss of jobs.
In the UK, Brexit is an additional powerful tool in Johnson's hands to bargain hard. As we
already pointed
out , if the globalist faction wants a smooth Brexit through a deal with the EU, it
will have to proceed in a permanent truce with the pro-Brexit faction. If it wants to postpone
and even reverse Brexit, it will have to give much more. That is, give a privileged position to
the pro-Brexit capitalists, in order for them not only to survive, but even gain significantly
from one more transformation of the global capitalist system. The transformation that will
occur after the next global financial meltdown. Well, it seems that this transformation is
taking place right now with the outburst of the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis. And everything
shows that the endo-capitalist war will become wilder. Capitalists around phony fascists like
Trump and Johnson are ready to make the game tougher if they see that they won't get some
guarantees that will secure them a place in the post-capitalist, neo-feudal landscape. And this
probably means that puppets like Trump and Johnson will be replaced by some real fascists.
We've seen something similar in the past. The level of ruthlessness of this capitalist war can
also be identified in the behavior of the US political class against the American people. It's
astonishing that, inside this terrible situation, where thousands die from the pandemic,
millions lose their jobs and live under extreme insecurity, no one is willing to offer
anything. Both Democrats and Republicans have turned the oncoming election into a political
bargain and they don't even try to hide it.
Inside this ruthless capitalist war, people have become almost irrelevant. What only matters
for the political puppets is to secure the interests of the capitalist faction they represent.
The
rampageous bulls of capitalism are fighting each other in an arena in which
democracy has now turned into dust under their violent clatters. It seems that the only hope
for the people, is the revival of the real Left through grassroots political parties, that will
become strong enough to challenge the neoliberal and the far-right monsters across the
globe.
SHARE LabelsBoris Johnson Brexit
capitalism COVID-19David Grabber Democrats
Donald Trump liberal plutocracyneoliberal centrism
Occupy Wall Street Republicans working class LABELS: BORIS JOHNSON BREXIT
CAPITALISM COVID-19DAVID GRABBER DEMOCRATS
DONALD TRUMP LIBERAL PLUTOCRACYNEOLIBERAL CENTRISM
OCCUPY WALL STREET REPUBLICANS WORKING CLASS SHARE C
The problem with American imperialism that like tiger it can't change its spots. In this
sense Trump vs Biden is false dilemma. "Bothe aare worse" as Stalin quipped on the other
occasion. Both still profess "Full Spectrum Dominance" doctrine at the expense of the standard of
living of the USA people (outside of top 10 or 20%)
The problem with Putin statement is that both candidates are marionette of more powerful
forces. Trump is a hostage of Izreal lobby, which in the USA are mostly consist of rabid
Russophobes (look art Schiff, Schumer and other members of this gang). Biden is a classic
neoliberal warmonger, much like Hillary was, who voted for Iraq war, contributed to color
revolution in Ukraine, and was instrumental in the conversion of Dems into the second war party.
So there is zero choice in the coming election unless you want to punish Trump for the betrayal
of his electorate, which probably is the oonly valid reason to vote for Biden in key states;
otherwise you san safely ignore the elections as youn; influence anythng. In a deep sense this is
a simply legitimization procedure for the role of the "Deep State", not so much real elections as
both cadidates were already vetted by neoliberal establishment
The key problem with voting for Bide is that this way you essentially legitimizing Obama
administration RussiaGate false flag operation. But as Putin said, chances for extending the
Start treaty might worse this self-betrayal.
Like much of the American public, the Russian public is no doubt weary of the prior couple
years of non-stop 'Russiagate' headlines and wild accusations out of Western press, which all
are now pretty much in complete agreement came to absolutely nothing. This is also why the
whole issue has been conspicuously dropped by the Biden campaign and as a talking point among
the Democrats, though in some corners there's been meek attempts to revive it, especially
related to claims of "expected" Kremlin interference in the impending presidential
election.
Apparently seeing in this an opportunity for some epic trolling, Russian President Vladimir
Putin in an interview with Rossiya 1 TV days ago said it was actually the Democratic Party and
the Communist Party which have most in common.
Putin was speaking in terms of historic Soviet communism in the recent interview (Wednesday)
detailed in Newsweek. "The Democratic Party is traditionally closer to the so-called liberal
values, closer to social democratic ideas," Putin began. "And it was from the social democratic
environment that the Communist Party evolved."
"After all, I was a member of the Soviet Communist Party for nearly 20 years" Putin added.
"I was a rank-and-file member, but it can be said that I believed in the party's ideas. I
still like many of these left-wing values. Equality and fraternity. What is bad about them?
In fact, they are akin to Christian values."
"Yes, they are difficult to implement, but they are very attractive, nevertheless. In
other words, this can be seen as an ideological basis for developing contacts with the
Democratic representative."
The Russian president also invoked that historically Russian communists in the Soviet era
would have been fully on board the Black Lives Matter movement and other civil rights related
causes. "So, this is something that can be seen, to a degree, as common values, if not a
unifying agent for us," the Russian president said. "People of my generation remember a time
when huge portraits of Angela Davis, a member of the U.S. Communist Party and an ardent fighter
for the rights of African Americans, were on view around the Soviet Union."
So there it is: Putin is saying his own personal ideological past could be a basis of
"shared values" with a Biden presidency, again, it what appears to be a sophisticated bit of
trolling that he knows Biden won't welcome one bit. Or let's call it a 'Russian endorsement
Putin style'. The Associated Press and others described it as Putin "hedging his bets",
however.
Another interesting part of the interview is where the Russian TV presenter asked Putin the
following question:
"The entire world is watching the final stage of the US presidential race. Much has
happened there, including things we could never imagine happening before but the one constant
in recent years is that your name is mentioned all the time," Zarubin said. "Moreover, during
the latest debates, which have provoked a public outcry, presidential candidate Biden called
candidate Trump 'Putin's puppy.'"
"Since they keep talking about you, I would like to ask a question which you probably will
not want to answer," the interviewer continued. "Nevertheless, here it is: Whose position in
this race, Trump's or Biden's, appeals to you more?"
And here's Putin's response:
"Everything that is happening in the United States is the result of the country's internal
political processes and problems," Putin said. "By the way, when anyone tries to humiliate or
insult the incumbent head of state, in this case in the context you have mentioned, this
actually enhances our prestige, because they are talking about our incredible influence and
power. In a way, it could be said that they are playing into our hands, as the saying
goes."
But on a more serious note Putin pointed out that contrary to the notion some level of
sympathy between the Trump administration and the Kremlin, much less the charge of "collusion",
it remains that US-Russia relations have reached a low-point in recent history under Trump. The
record bears this out.
Putin underscored that "the greatest number of various kinds of restrictions and sanctions
were introduced [against Russia] during the Trump presidency."
"Decisions on imposing new sanctions or expanding previous ones were made 46 times. The
incumbent's administration withdrew from the INF treaty. That was a very drastic step. After
2002, when the Bush administration withdrew from the ABM treaty, that was the second major
step. And I believe it is a big danger to international stability and security," Putin
explained.
"Now the US has announced the beginning of the procedure for withdrawing from the Open
Skies Treaty. We have good reason to be concerned about that, too. A number of our joint
projects, modest, but viable, have not been implemented – the business council project,
expert council, and so on," he concluded.
But then on Biden specifically Putin said that despite "rather sharp anti-Russian rhetoric"
from the Democratic nominee, it remains "Candidate Biden has said openly that he was ready to
extend the New START or to sign a new strategic offensive reductions treaty."
"This is already a very significant element of our potential future cooperation," Putin
added of a potential Biden presidency.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday dropped a little October surprise said his
department has Hillary Clinton's 'deleted' emails and will release them before the
election.
"We're getting them out," Pompeo told Fox News Dana Perino.
TheGhostOfJamesOtisJr 17 minutes ago (Edited)
Shandong Carter Heavy Industry received all email, including classified material, sent to
Hillary Clinton's private server based on an Intelligence Community Investigator General (ICIG)
report. The ICIG determined all Hillary Clinton email was being forwarded to " [email protected] ",
an address possibly connected to the Chinese equipment manufacturer Shandong Carter Heavy
Industry The ICIG alerted FBI agent Peter Strzok who strangely did not seem alarmed by the
connection despite the fact all but four of the emails sent to Hillary Clinton's private email
server were forwarded to that address, roughly 600,000 in total.(
pdf , p14/105)
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019-08-14%20Staff%20memo%20to%20CEG%20RHJ%20-%20ICIG%20Interview%20Summary%20RE%20Clinton%20Server.pdf
The following is an excerpt from testimony by Frank Rucker of the ICIG, "Mr. Strzok seemed
to be 'aloof and dismissive.' [Rucker] said it was as if Mr. Strzok felt dismissive of the
relationship between the FBI and ICIG and he was not very warm." - (
pdf p15/105)
The FBI later determined the email address was set up by a Clinton IT staffer named Paul
Combetta. The FBI dismissed the possible China connection because they found no evidence to
contradict Combetta's claim he "had no connection to, and had never heard of, ' Shandong Carter
Heavy Industry Machinery CO., Ltd.'''(
pdf p104/105) That's an odd statement because IT staffers wouldn't normally be expected to
have relationships with Chinese heavy industry. IT workers usually set up email addresses for
others.
Paul Combetta is the IT staffer who used BleachBit to erase emails on Clinton's private
email server.( pdf
p38 ) . Perhaps this is why the FBI didn't consider it necessary to question Combetta in
front of a Grand Jury .( pdf , p127 ) That this didn't demonstrated
criminal intent to the FBI is beyond comprehension. Obviously this goes beyond mere bias and
borders on obstruction of justice. The numerous attempts to debunk this story are almost
comical when combined with other evidence, namely Peter Strzok's leaking to the press:
December 15, 2016 Peter Strzok: " Think our sisters have begun leaking like mad. Scorned
and worried, and political, they're kicking into overdrive. "
April 10, 2017 Peter Strzok: " I had literally just gone to find this phone to tell you I
want to talk to you about media leak strategy with DOJ before you go. "
April 22, 2017 Peter Strzok: " Article is out! Well done, Page. "
There is only one important matter at this time. And that is confirming ACB to the SC prior
to the so-called election. All this other stuff can wait. Lose and it's all pointless
anyway.
Jim Comey Ignored State Department Whistleblower on HIllary's Crimes With Classified
Material by Larry C Johnson
One year before Jim Comey was immersed in his plot to overthrow Donald Trump, the duly
elected President of the United States, a brave Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department
of State came forward with firsthand information of Hillary Clinton's rampant abuse of
Classified material. The man, a senior State Department diplomat who had served as the acting
Ambassador (Chargé d'Affaires) in the Asia Pacific
region under President Clinton, also was a veteran of the U.S. Army during the Vietnam
War.
The letter from this whistleblower is stunning and I am going to present it in total. It is
dated 10 January 2016. You can read it for yourself here
starting at page 121 . I became aware of this letter thanks to the assiduous research and
writings of Charles Ortel (he wrote about this recently
at the American Thinker ).
The letter explains in great detail how Hillary and her cabal of sychophants used an
unclassified system to disseminate Top Secret and Secret intelligence. But the Senior Diplomat
did not stop there. He explained carefully and specifically who the FBI needed to interview and
the questions they needed to ask. You do not need to take my word for it. You can read the
letter for yourself.
And what did the sanctimonious, smug buffoon heading up the FBI do? Nothing. But this senior
Foreign Service Officer was dogged in making sure the FBI had the information. He called FBI
Headquarters and could not get any confirmation that his letter was accepted. Not satisfied, he
walked into the FBI's Washington Field Office. The results of this meeting were reported to
three FBI Agents working on the Hillary Clinton investigation. Named in the report are Peter
Strzok and Jonathan Moffa (the third name is blacked out).
Here is the report in its entirety. Please note that the State Department official delivered
the information on the 27th of January 2016, but the report was not written up until four weeks
later–22 February 2016. (You can see the original on the
FBI website here starting at page 11.)
I do not know if John Durham has seen these documents. I am posting to make sure that he
does. There is no evidence that Inspector General Horowitz examined these documents or
interviewed the Foreign Service Officer. With Secretary of State Pompeo's promise that Hillary
emails will be forthcoming, I think it is worthwhile to revisit what this brave whistleblower
tried to bring to the attention of the FBI, who clearly was hellbent on protecting Hillary
rather than pursing justice and upholding the law. Shameful.
Unfortunately the formatting on this website cuts off the sides of the letter and makes it
unreadable for me - anyone else having this problem? (MacAirBook- Safari)
Great find and wish I could read it. Thanks, LJ. Share your appreciation of the American
Thinker website.
Sad but I suspect that the shear number of those in Government that have a vested interest
in this will ensure that nothing continues to be the outcome.
Deap: I had the same formatting problem. But you can find the letter by clicking on the
link in the post which states "here starting at p. 121."
When you get to the FBI Vault, click on the PDF on the left side of the page, near the
top, entitled "Hillary Rodham Clinton part 23 of 23.pdf."
When the PDF opens, scroll down to page 121. The letter will be found at pp. 121 to 131.
Page 132 (HRC 10114) may be the postage receipt for the letter when it was originally sent,
but it is illegible.
I haven't tried to find the American Thinker article which is referenced in this post, but
it may provide context.
I found the Ortel article at American Thinker. Google "Charles Ortel American Thinker" and
you can find a page with Ortel's articles and blogs. The article is entitled "James Comey and
Robert Mueller have Massive Clinton Foundation Problems." It appears that Mr. Ortel has a
significant interest in the Clinton Foundation.
Carter Page is interviewed by Sharyl Atkinsson on C-Span 2/ Book TV this weekend.
Chilling, interesting perspective. Page's book is out: Abuse and Power.
Apparently Atkinson, of Sinclair Broadcasting, has had her own troubles with illegal
surveillance.
Often Book tv replays programs, sometimes late, when it can be recorded.
Thanks all for the tips to access this link. Got it. All I can remember is Barry Soetoro
stating ...but Hilary didn't mean any harm running her separate insecure server.
The beginning pages of this link re-capping the strings of false and highly hedged
statements about Benghazi were bone chilling to read too. I guess we should be grateful Biden
did not pick Susan Rice for VP, but then he did much worse, he picked Kamala Harris.
And oh yeah, lock her up!
PS: is there some comfort seeing my spell check still does not recognize the word
"Kamala"? The gods of small favors strikes again.
am so very happy that you have been able to get the documents to prove what became so very
obvious to so many who did not have access to documents but who just had working brains. They
help us to understand what was going on with HRC's computer situation and with Jim Comey's
FBI.
You mention Hillary's "cabal of sychophants." There was no one more eager to become a
card-carrying member of that cabal than Comey himself. I do remember an interview on
television--don't have the date nor can I remember the media outlet that broadcast it--in
which Comey gushed about how wonderful it would be for Hillary to win since his wife and
daughters and even he himself were excited about possibly having the first female POTUS.
It seemed to me at the time that it was not an appropriate statement for the head of the
FBI to make on national television--especially with all the questions about Hillary's emails
and her obliterated computer--not to mention also the tarmac meeting in AZ between Bill and
Loretta Lynch (supposedly to discuss grandchildren). I thought then and still think that the
old Peter Principal was really being played out in the FBI at the time.
I don't remember the timeline of all this. But all I remember is how rotten things seemed
were the District of Columbia.
That's where random sampling became a scam. People who hold minority views or views that they
think are opposite of the reviewer often will not respond honestly creating false narrative that
MSM propagate.
Notable quotes:
"... Philip Giraldi, Ph.D. is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest ..."
"... So don't worry! As long as enough Americans keep playing Red v Blue, the Establishment will be just fine. ..."
Watching the network news on television or reading about current events in the newspapers
seemingly transports one to an alternate universe where nothing seems to make sense. The profit
driven news cycle in the United States is admittedly a poor mechanism for actually gaining an
understanding of what is going on, but seven days of Ruth Bader Ginsburg worship hardly
addresses what is ailing the country, particularly as questions about how she
earned many millions of dollars while serving as a judge as well as some unsavory aspects of her
career have been carefully buried.
A friend who is a retired U.S. Army general made an interesting comment several days ago,
observing that when it comes to politics and voting patterns the so-called "silent majority" is
indeed silent. What he meant was that many Americans who hold currently unpopular conservative
views will not respond honestly to a call from an unknown pollster regarding voting intentions.
This is particularly true of the current campaign in which Donald Trump is being reviled by the
media and depicted by the Democrats as no less than a threat to American democracy. Biden by
way of comparison pretty much gets a free pass, to include forgiveness for his frequent
faux pas and mental lapses. In other words, Trump is being framed as someone poised to
mount a totalitarian takeover of the United States, which in and of itself would disincline
many voters to indicate openly that they would support him over Biden.
My friend was suggesting that the polls on the upcoming election just might be more than
usually wrong. I would add to that the general vapidity of what one might expect from the
presidential debates, which are similarly being framed in such a fashion as to avoid any topics
that might really matter. But the polls do reveal two things. First, that there is a lack of
any confidence in
the integrity of politicians at all levels, and second, that jobs and healthcare are
the
principal concerns of nearly all voter demographics as they directly impact on quality of
life.
Healthcare is admittedly a complicated issue given the fact that the entire system in the
United States would have to be reformed, with considerable government intervention. The
respected British medical journal The Lancet recently published "Measuring
universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services in 204
countries and territories" . The study revealed, to no one's surprise, that the United
States has by far the world's most expensive medical care, at around $9,000 per person per year
while at the same time delivering poorer results than virtually any other industrialized
nation. Medical expenses are in fact a leading cause of personal bankruptcy by Americans.
So, what are the two parties saying about health care? The Republicans want to overturn
so-called Obamacare and replace it with something else which they cannot
describe while the Democrats insist that they want to keep Obamacare in place while also
blaming the president for the response to the coronavirus. That's it. There is plenty of blame
to go around on Covid-19 and Obamacare is in fact a bad program. It is good if the government
is footing the bill for you, but anyone who is paying for his or her own insurance has seen the
rates treble and even quadruple since the program became active. It has become a gold mine for
the health care industry, which now assumes that it can charge whatever it wants and the
suffering customer will be obliged to pay for it. That there is no effective regulation of
health care is due to the fact that Big Pharma and other providers have completely corrupted
Congress through political donations to make sure that the highly profitable status
quo remains untouched.
And when it comes to the other great concern, "The Economy," which means jobs, the two major
parties have even less to say since they know deep down that they have both conspired in the
gutting of America's industrial and manufacturing infrastructure.
But another area dear to my own heart which the parties have been silent about is Foreign
Policy, which also subsumes National Security, a related issue that the opinion polls do not
specifically address. Both parties are strong on issuing position papers that refer to
supporting allies, meaning Israel followed by everyone else, confronting threats from Russia
and China, and maintaining the world's number one military. Beyond that it gets a bit vague. We
have recently learned from a possibly unreliable source named Bob Woodward that President Trump
sought to assassinate Syria's President Bashar al-Assad but was talked out of it. Trump did
order the assassination of senior Iranian General Qassim Soleimani, whom he and Secretary of
State have recently described as the "world's leading terrorist," which is manifestly untrue.
Is assassinating foreign leaders something that the United States wants to engage in? Why is no
one talking about it?
And then there are the "hot wars" being fought in Syria, Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. None
of those wars benefit from a constitutionally mandated declaration of war by Congress and they
have cost the U.S. taxpayer trillions of dollars. Shouldn't that be under discussion? Or the
"maximum pressure" economic wars being waged against Venezuela, Cuba, Syria and Iran? Those
"wars" have collectively killed tens of thousands of civilians and have done nothing to enhance
the security of the United States. Shouldn't Trump and Biden be talking about that?
Instead, we will see much finger pointing and hear a lot about how dangerous a win by either
presidential candidate will be, all couched in general terms based on a lot of "what-ifs." But
what the American public needs, particularly the silent majority, is a viable plan for decent
and affordable healthcare similar to what most of the rest of the world enjoys. And a new
government also must act decisively to challenge corporate offshoring interests to bring
manufacturing jobs back home. But most of all, the United States needs peace after nineteen
years of spreading chaos all over the globe. End the wars and bring the troops home. Do it
now.
Philip Giraldi, Ph.D. is Executive Director of the Council for the National
Interest
Much respect, Phil, but you know the news cycle in America is not driven by "profit" but
rather by agenda. If profit drove the news CNN and MSNBC would be podcasts by now. (((Big
Other))) is willing to lose a lot of money in the short-mid term to drive their long term
agenda.
"What They Are Not Talking About: War and Peace, Healthcare and Jobs Are Non-Issues"
I'm not aware that either party has any credible idea what to do to really fix jobs and
healthcare so they basically have nothing to talk about.
Trump wants less war and the Deep State would like more war but even if President Biden and
then President Harris are willing to give it to them, the Covid Great Depression means we
really can't afford them any more so there is no point in talking about that either.
The election comes down to how many people really hate Trump + how many Republicans and
neutrals are willing to give him a second chance + how much the Democrats can stuff the
ballot boxes. Every thing else is just WWF noise.
This article really hits it on the head for me. The last four years I've been screaming
that the issues are:
1. End the forever wars, strengthen diplomacy
2. Jobs
3. More better jobs
4. Even more better jobs
5. Fix the trade balance (jobs)
6. End the healthcare boondoggle.
These are all issues that NO ONE talks about anymore.
People generally don't vote on issues. Except for fundamentalists, who vote on only one
issue, abortion, which is precisely equivalent to not voting on any issues at all.
What they vote on is "like" and "dislike." If they "like" a candidate, then they vote for
them. If they don't "like" a candidate, then they don't vote for them.
observing that when it comes to politics and voting patterns the so-called "silent
majority" is indeed silent.
Thanks, that statement sums up the underlining problem, that is why the massive problems
of the US are running out of control, with no fix in sight.
The general Middle Class public will not stand up for their own and true interests or even
want to comprehend what those interests might be until they are in a jobless claims line.
They go silent and let corrupted politicians of all shades run the show as if they dont have
a dog in the fight.
Trump supporters should call him out where he goes off the reservation to serve Special
interests and not their and the same goes for all others.
@jsinton ct exploiting a viral dempanic with its trillion$ for Wall Street, another
handful of 401Kibble to prevent snarling among the professional and managerial class who tend
to read and think, and a paid vacation for the proles.
But Beltway politics abhors a vacuum, and draws its breath from strife. Which is why
people have to be distracted and divided over transgender statues and Confederate bathrooms,
strung along by the hopes/fears of Barr Durham indictments, and rallied to vote in the next
Most Important Election Ever by food fights over robed, unelected politicians whose real job
is to sanctify rule of a country and as much of the world as can be grabbed by
Washington.
So don't worry! As long as enough Americans keep playing Red v Blue, the Establishment
will be just fine.
This is the absolute crux of the matter. Debates are a ceremonial pissing contest. They
always censor any of your principal concerns. As with all official US propaganda, you can
categorically say there's never any mention of your rights.
Two things will happen in November. There will be a futile ritual to decide which CIA
puppet ruler fucks you over. Then on November 9th, the whole world is going to talk about
your rights. Unlike your parties, they ask you what you want. They encourage you, yes you, to
demand what you want and they give you a platform in front of the whole world, in the most
public forum on earth. You can watch it live. Hell, you can go there and have your say. A
bunch of Americans will. Actual democracy. Holy fucking shit.
Think of it. You have two coincident four-year cycles of governance. One is phony
bullshit. One is exactly what you need. The whole world is pushing your right to peace, to
health, to a livelihood, to your culture, all your other rights you don't even know you got.
It's like the whole world is yelling in your face, loud as they can, "Why do you put up with
that shit?" The world is trying to teach you how you run a grown-up country – go
through your rights systematically like a checklist, and make your government respect them.
And your horseshit regime in DC makes sure you never hear a peep about this great institution
of yours.
We could shitcan parties and elections, pick politicians by lot and run the country with
human rights reviews. It's that simple. This is how we get rid of this parasitic, predatory
US police state.
If there's a constant in history, it's that politicians never talk about the things that
matter to people because the solutions to the problems are too divisive – apart from
the fact that they're clueless anyway beyond a few barfly level notions.
They'd rather concentrate on looks.
In France, in 1981, socialist candidate François Mitterrand came up with 120
propositions that nobody read but his campaign adviser, Jacques Séguéla, a
publicist, thought he looked like a vampire and said to him: "If you don't have your canines
filed down, you'll always inspire distrust. You'll never get elected to the presidency with
such a set of teeth".
So he had his canines filed down.
Because it's SYSTEMIC RACISM! That is the source of all of our problems.
And the thing about systemic racism is that it's invisible, the only way to fight it is to
scream loudly about how bad it is, bend the knee when the national anthem is being played,
and give your nice local diversity officer a raise and a corner office. Jobs? Healthcare?
That just won't work, so don't even think about it.
Both main parties in the US (Republican and Democrat) are fundamentally controlled by
billionaires and corporations (billionaire robots), so they have no interest in helping the
little people.
Certain elements benefit from the broken medical system in the US. Ditto for offshoring
jobs, fighting wars with and selling expensive weapons, ruining the environment, and
welcoming third world immigration.
And the same forces control the media (MSM and big tech) which influences greatly what
people see and what they care about, get emotional about.
There was no discussion of the destruction of Syria, which was spared when Russia
intervened. If Wallace wanted to corner Trump, he could have mentioned that Trump said
American troops would be withdrawn from Syria several times, but it never happened. Why? And
what would Biden say if asked if American troops should leave Syria and Iraq?
Whatever health care system the Dems concoct will crash and burn because they will make
the care available to illegal aliens while ceasing to control the influx of same.
"Joe Biden's 'war economy' policies are a radical break with the status quo."
Telegraph
"Bidenomics is a heady brew. The Democrats' $7.9 trillion blast of extra spending is a step
beyond Roosevelt's New Deal. It mimics the Keynesian expansion of the Second World War and
consciously aims to run the economy at red-hot speeds of growth.
If enacted in full, it is large enough to lift the US economy out of the zero-rate
deflationary trap of the last decade and entirely reshape the social and financial
landscape.
The stimulus will be corralled inside the closed US economy by Joe Biden's protectionist
"Buy America" policies, his industrial strategy, and his carbon border tax (i.e. disguised
tariffs against China). This limits leakage.
It is a laboratory of sorts for a post-globalisation experiment in what used to be called
"reflation in one country" – before the free flow of goods and capital emasculated
sovereign governments.
"It's quite likely that, just as in World War II, when we push down on the economic
accelerator, we will find that we have been running on one cylinder up until no w," said the
Roosevelt Institute, now advisors to the
Biden campaign .
This is why
Moody's Analytics estimates that Bidenomics accompanied by a Democrat clean sweep of
Congress would lift American GDP by an extra 4.8pc, add an extra seven million jobs, and raise
per capita income by an extra $4,800 over the next four years , compared to a clean sweep by
Donald Trump. Economic growth would rocket to 7.7pc in 2022." Telegraph -------------
Evans-Pritchard, the author of this piece baldly declares that the Trump tax cut failed to
stimulate economic growth and that a clean sweep by the Democrats in November would lead to
massive GDP growth and a reduction in present economic inequalities in American society. I will
be very interested in your comments. pl
That's a fine read Col. Thank goodness that after 47 years as a politician, including 8
years as VP - during which TARP did what? - Biden finally has a plan to Tax and Spend that
beats all the Tax and Spend plans that went before this one.
Just what is this getting spent on - the same things Obama-Biden promised, "green" (the
color of money) energy, solar charging stations and 1.5 million energy efficient homes
(didn't the Housing bubble cause a little economic problem?), 'educaiton'! I wonder if that
includes teaching us all critical race theory? and "infrastructure". And here I thought
broken records were out of style.
Where's the money coming from? According to Oxfordeconomics, which the Guardian links to,
Biden's raising taxes, but it won't lower consumer spending:
".... we estimate an overall multiplier of 0.25 for the individual provisions in Biden's tax
package. So, for every dollar of tax increase, households would reduce their spending by 25
cents. As such, while the proposal would generate a substantial revenue inflow, we
don'tbelieve it would significantly constrain consumer spending."
So what is the decline in corporate spending if you raise corporate taxes? The economists
at Oxfordeconomics conveniently left that out, nor did they eplicitly tell you that a decade
of tax revenue will still leave you with 60 years of tax burden from Joe's spending.
"On the corporate tax front, the most significant revenue raisers are:•A 7ppt
increase in the statutory corporate tax rate to 28%, which would raise $1.3tn over
10years.•An increase in taxes on foreign earnings.•A 15% minimum tax on global book
income.•The elimination of several real estate investment tax preferences." (Oooh look,
Trump's screwed! Yeah! I wonder how all those REITs look with that?)
Another unasked question: Who is going to do all that economy stimulating work if there is
a national lockdown due to Covid?
"LaRouche's comments were prompted by an article published in the Telegraph on May 19 by
British intelligence stringer Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, whose experience in orchestrating U.S.
impeachment drives for the British goes back to his attacks on President Bill Clinton.
Evans-Pritchard, on the eve of Trump's first trip abroad as President, is spreading the black
propaganda line that Trump might already be incapacitated, in much the same way as President
Richard Nixon was incapacitated by then-Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, who "instructed
U.S. military officials to ignore any order from the Oval Office to use nuclear weapons."
Evans-Pritchard asserts that the key to overthrowing Trump is to pull Republican support
away from him, which he admits is still strong. But what happens next? He quotes Sir Jeremy
Greenstock, former British UN ambassador and now chairman at Gatehouse Advisory Partners:
"America can be very powerful if it decides to act hard. Xi Jinping and Putin will probably
wait and see whether Trump self-destructs." Evans-Pritchard then raises the question: How
will Trump behave "when the special prosecutor [Robert Mueller] starts to let rip with a
volley of subpoenas."
I like the idea of a Carbon Border Tax. Or at least the one proposed by the EU, as I have
not seen Biden's proposal. It has never made sense to me that we import from countries with
low environmental standards when our own manufacturers are handicapped.
But unless Biden can carry Democratic Senatorial challengers against GOP incumbents it
ain't gonna happen. It will be stalled in the Senate. There is no way McConnell will even
allow it on the Senate floor.
This thinking has been wrong, repeatedly so, for the last 10 years. The idea that there is
just one more pedal to push down to jumpstart the economy belies the truth that we have
experienced the most accommodative and expansive monetary policy on a global level in modern
times.
Aside from the lack of efficacy, which I may look to discuss at length later on, there is
another striking thing about this plan, and that is how it will be paid for. The reason is
not the traditional "where will the money come from" I know where it will come from, cheap US
debt, but it tells us two key things. The first is that the functional ideas of Modern
Monetary Theory (MMT) that you can basically just issue debt and have your central bank both
monetize it and keep the interest payments low and use that to fund largely unlimited
government spending have for the most part been endorsed by those on the left as a mechanism
to deliver on their grand plans. The second thing that is striking though is what they want
to spend the money on, which is military spending and infrastructure and not healthcare and a
green new deal. This calls into question what alignment there is on the cadres of the left or
the possibility that starting with infrastructure is a way to run cover to expand these
fantasy economics to social projects without reorienting the economy towards their
achievement.
Evans-Pritchard's talents are wasted on economic commentary. He writes well, but in the
breathless tones of a failed thriller writer. His entire worldview is based on the notion
that it is always two minutes to midnight. It's a shame that they put all of his stuff behind
a paywall.
Maybe if Biden's plan is approved we will finally see the inflation that Wall Street and
its media minions have been whining about for the past forty years.
I have no doubt that the collapsing pocket that is Conservative Inc will luxuriate back on
the familiar loser's ground of "fiscal responsibility."
Biden's plan, such as it is, simply marries the essence of Trump's nationalist policies
with Great Society spending levels. Like so much of his platform, it is designed to keep the
progressives on the plantation until Nov 3 and not one minute beyond.
Sure it will. The devil is in the details. When has any Democrat economic plan ever
produced intended results. First they have to confess what went wrong with their trillion
dollar "War on Poverty" that now requires another trillion to pretend to clean up that
grotesquely distorted mess.
Until they confess to their sins of the past, they are doomed to repeat them. How are they
going to remedy their decades of teacher union K1-2 fail turning out entire generations of
dysfunctional illiterates who are somehow going to be absorbed into this dynamite
economy.
They are sitting in the back room smoking dope and spinning tales. What I hear is wealth
confiscation and/or turning on the printing presses. Time for a good recap of Obama's initial
"Green Jobs Revolution" from his first term - who did those promise work out and why are we
having to undo the piles of excrement Biden First Term left behind.
I have a bad case of deja vu When in fact the Trump Tweaking was paying long term
dividends, until the deep state hijacked covid to destroy any possible Trump bragging rights.
Never forget Nancy Pelosi tearing up Trump's SOTU address and declaring they were all lies --
and then carrying out her covid porn agenda to make sure she was proven correct.
Remember the three generation rule - all revolutionary and planned economies always fail
by the third generation. Soviet Union, Margaret Thatcher's warning, Cuba, etc ......if all
the wealth in the world was redistributed, it would be back in similar hands three
generations later. Societies always stratify, even since the Sumerians.
America is unique primarily because of the mobility it offers between the strata by its
relatively free market system. Don't mess with it. Democrat's heavy handed planned utopia is
a nightmare.
I am no economist. However, I am not in debt. I am not wealthy, but I have all I need and
want. I've worked very hard during my life and enjoyed my jobs because they were suited to my
training and kislls. My retirement funds keep me comfortable. My two sons are doing well in
our current economy. That's, of course, a self-centered view of the situation.
But, with that in mind, I say this: "beware of Greeks bearing gifts." (I know Biden is not
Greek, but I hope you get my point.)
I am also remembering the Obama administration. I may receive only an Obama phone and an
EBT card.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is generally a very astute writer. However, on economics and
national fiscal policies and central banking he has bought into the Davos sophistry that
defies common sense for over a decade.
An example of this sophistry is this line from the passage in your post - "..lift the US
economy out of the zero-rate deflationary trap of the last decade...". Ask an average
American if they've seen any price deflation in their rents or house prices, their kid's
tuition, their health care premiums, their cost of pharmaceuticals, the cost of tacos at
their neighborhood taqueria, the cost of getting their shirt cleaned, over the past decade
and they'll laugh at you. The cost of living of average Americans have risen and that is the
real living experience. But of course if you're Ben Bernanke or Mario Draghi or Jerome Powell
or Ms. Lagarde then we are in a "deflationary trap" and they should print more and more money
that gets shipped first to their friends on Wall St. The Party of Davos as Jack called
it.
Under the government enforced lockdown, how many trillions has the US federal government
under the Trump administration borrowed from future generations in the first and now the
second stimulus waiting for approval? How many trillions did Jerome Powell print up and send
to his friends at Blackrock and Citadel?
GDP is a useless indicator IMO. Digging trenches and filling them up will raise GDP. A
very important indicator however is productivity growth. That has been lagging for many
years. Another are media
Michael McCaffrey
Trump was a symptom of American decline that Biden is unlikely to reverse
Trump's reign has proved the US president is merely a figurehead. Does it really matter who wins the vote?
TheGhostOfJamesOtisJr 17 minutes ago (Edited)
deFLorable hillbilly 28 minutes ago (Edited) remove link
