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March 17, 2016
Open Thread 2016-11
Comments
too bad we don’t care mememememeouimememlookatmeclickonmylinks
Posted by: xmasucks | Mar 17 2016 17:31 utc | 1
(from Syrian Kurds thread)
Re: URLs
Posted by: Grieved | Mar 16, 2016 11:53:41 PM | 37
Thanks, that was very helpful in deducing which comment on page 2 of O/T-10 was the cause of the format disruption; and to confirm that its effect is obvious in Preview mode.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Mar 17 2016 17:43 utc | 2
For rhetorical purposes: Many cannot see the political nature of society’s supposedly “apolitical” economic institutions. How do you explain that the Mexican market is, on average, trading at a premium given the alleged “stable economic output”, while Brazil is trading, on average, at a discount, with some individual stocks and sectors trading at a deep discount? All in the face of this news from Mexico. Of course, in Brazil these folks are the oppressed, according to the mainstream media.
Posted by: Maracatu | Mar 17 2016 18:08 utc | 3
….how quickly the media/RNC Establishment forgets their neverending “cigars in the oval office stories” of the 1990’s.
And they pretend to be righteous NOW??? Hide the CHILDREN!!
Posted by: shadyl | Mar 17 2016 18:14 utc | 4
No penalty for early withdrawal …
The Ministry of Defense of Russia has transferred the latest combat helicopters Mi-28N and Ka-52 to Syria. This is evidenced by video recordings by the TV channel “Zvezda” and the agency Reuters, which was filmed at the Khmeimim airbase.
The Mi-28N helicopter is seen flying over the airbase at around 15 seconds in the video filmed by Reuters. Ka-52 is seen at the beginning of the “Zvezda” video in the background of the su-24 front-line bomber. Ka-52 is without blades, which probably suggests that it was only recently transferred to the base by military transport aircraft.
Posted by: ALberto | Mar 17 2016 18:42 utc | 5
Hmmmm. Maidan comes to America.
“Democracy Spring” – a Soros’ well funded Moveon.org anti-Trump group to launch largest civil disobedience action of the century. View the faces:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/03/16/anti-trump-groups-threaten-largest-civil-disobedience-action-of-the-century/
======
What took so long? The U.S.A has determined
“ISIS actions in Iraq and Syria ‘genocide’ – Kerry” https://www.rt.com/usa/335971-isis-genocide-iraq-syria/
Posted by: likklemore | Mar 17 2016 18:59 utc | 6
Shandi Screams: No
Shandi Screams: Nooooooooooooooooo
Shandi Screams: Noooooooooooooooo
Shandi Screams: Noooooooooooooo
Shandi Screams: Noooooooooooo
Shandi Screams: Noooooooooo
Shandi Screams: Noooooooo
Shandi Screams: Nooooooo
Shandi Screams: Noooooo
Shandi Screams: Noooo
Mary Jane Watson: (Screaming)
Mary Jane: (Screaming)
Posted by: jennie screams | Mar 17 2016 19:17 utc | 7
Lift sanctions on Iran. Sue Iran. Awesome charade.
http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/03/17/456311/Iran-Russia-US-court-Maria-Zakharova-September-11-attacks/
Posted by: MadMax2 | Mar 17 2016 19:18 utc | 8
Big Butt Screaming: It’s A Rabbit A Rabbit
Big Butt Screaming: And The Woods And The Woods
Big Butt Screaming: My Bunny Rabbit
Butt Screaming: Such A Mess
Big Butt Screaming: I Am So Sorry Bunny Rabbit
Big Butt Screaming: I Don’t Wanna Leave You Screaming
Butt Screaming: Oh This Boss It’s Just A Toy
Big Butt Screaming: He Is A Toy
Big Butt Screaming: He Is Real
Mary Jane Watson: (Screaming)
Mary Jane: (Screaming)
Posted by: jennie screams | Mar 17 2016 19:21 utc | 9
Posted by: likklemore | Mar 17, 2016 2:59:51 PM | 7
Hmmmm. Maidan comes to America.
“Democracy Spring” – a Soros’ well funded Moveon.org anti-Trump group to launch largest civil disobedience action of the century….
…and MoveOn supports Democratic Party and Bernie Sanders
George Soro donated like 1.5 BILLION
Posted by: Jack Smith | Mar 17 2016 19:23 utc | 10
How much of the state oil revenue makes it to the state rather than directly to functionaries? Can you point me to any good reading? Privatization will be much worse, of course, I only wonder about the present state of things.
My only personal experience with this sort of thing is seeing the oil money kink around like the old cellphone game ‘snake’ avoiding the state and enriching officials, in Nigeria.
Posted by: Cresty | Mar 17 2016 20:05 utc | 11
in re 7 —
Yes, a few thousand drearily well-meaning “pwogwessives” volunteering to be arrested certainly sounds like battalions of jack-booted Banderists on the march. They’re calling on some particularly dangerous subversive groups, like artists and trade unionists. I don’t see how our piteously disarmed and beleaguered Republic can endure.
As I predicted on the earlier open thread, here comes the Beltway Insider “They All Do It” Meme. On steroids, ‘shine, and Red Bull. Or artisanal bourbon, if you’re an Establishment fellow-traveler. Trump has made his political career by shouting others down. But he can’t take it when someone shouts back.
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 17 2016 20:08 utc | 13
rufus aims to further the establishment narrative that Trump called for riots. But he didn’t. Trump merely predicted that “there would be” riots if the Republican nominee wasn’t the democratic choice.
We see the same mischaracterizations with respect to racism. Yet Trump rejected David Duke’s support and Ben Carson endorsed him.
Trump’s words are twisted because he has a possibility of winning.
There is now talk of running a conservative as a third-party candidate if Trump is the nominee. So-called “true conservatives” say that they couldn’t allow Trump or Hillary to be President. But, of course, splitting the Republican vote would make Hillary a shoe-in.
What we are witnessing is the neolibcon establishment against the people. rufass jester the contortionist fool, trolls for the neolibcon establishment.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 17 2016 20:41 utc | 14
It’s always interesting when senior officials are not just wrong, but insist on being wrong. Here is the official US Defence Dept response to the Russian pullback in Syria:
Ash Carter: “”Russia said it was coming into Syria to fight ISIL but that’s not what it did.”
Joseph Dunford: “When Putin went into Syria he said his express purpose was to go down and address ISIL… ISIL is not addressed.”
Can anyone point to where or when Putin said the “express purpose” of the Syrian mission was to “address ISIL”? No, because he never said that. Putin did outline clearly in several outlets the purpose of the Russian mission, information which apparently the Sec Def and Joint Chiefs Chairman are unaware. Of course, in reality, these men are fully aware of what exactly Putin said and what exactly the Russian mission was. The incorrect notion that it was “expressly” against ISIL traces back to a John Kerry press conference from October 1, 2015. It was clearly the Public Relations response to the Russian gambit. It is not astonishing that the US would take this line, but it is amazing that it has been repeated constantly by MSM reporters without anyone actually fact-checking by consulting the easily obtainable record of what Putin said. (well, maybe not so amazing). No reporter during this press conference brought up the fact that the ISIL supply lines running back and forth into (NATO ally) Turkey have been broken up and this alone has blunted the caliphate’s operations by numerous degrees of magnitude compared to the US coalition’s year and a half of bombing runs.
http://www.voanews.com/content/putin-russia-could-boost-syrian-military-presence-again/3241777.html
Posted by: jayc | Mar 17 2016 20:48 utc | 15
My latest Trump video: https://t.co/DgaUkyQEY9 (and YouTube continues the game of pulling monetization, then restoring it, then pulling it, then restoring it)
Posted by: Tom Murphy | Mar 17 2016 21:14 utc | 16
The very best analysis I’ve read anywhere of the Syrian draw-down of forces was given today by someone with inside knowledge of Kremlin thinking. President Putin addressed the returning troops. The Saker emphasized some important parts of it and you can find his highlighted version over there.
Putin is very supportive of Syria’s strength and Assad’s cooperation. In particular, Putin says (and Saker highlights) that Russian forces remaining are adequate to any task, and that Russian reinforcements if necessary can be in Syria in a few hours. Meanwhile any violation of Syrian airspace will be shot down, regardless of who they are (Putin’s emphasis). Also, any of the opposition who violate the ceasefire will be taken off the list provided by the US. Putin says all this.
So the US can keep its assets in-country, but if they misbehave they’re dead.
Here’s the source, in English: Meeting with Russian Armed Forces service personnel
Posted by: Grieved | Mar 17 2016 21:20 utc | 17
The very best analysis I’ve read anywhere of the Syrian draw-down of forces was given today by someone with inside knowledge of Kremlin thinking. President Putin addressed the returning troops. The Saker emphasized some important parts of it and you can find his highlighted version over there.
Putin is very supportive of Syria’s strength and Assad’s cooperation. In particular, Putin says (and Saker highlights) that Russian forces remaining are adequate to any task, and that Russian reinforcements if necessary can be in Syria in a few hours. Meanwhile any violation of Syrian airspace will be shot down, regardless of who they are (Putin’s emphasis). Also, any of the opposition who violate the ceasefire will be taken off the list provided by the US. Putin says all this.
So the US can keep its assets in-country, but if they misbehave they’re dead.
Here’s the source, in English: Meeting with Russian Armed Forces service personnel
ps..sorry if this posts twice. Is there a block against linking to Saker here? I took out a link I had to see if this post appears.
Posted by: Grieved | Mar 17 2016 21:22 utc | 18
CA allows non preference registered voters in the Democratic primary. I’ll vote for Killary without changing my voting preference. I spoke to many non preferences (including my handyman), Democratic and Repub. voters, many will votes for Trump in Nov, but some willing to vote for Killary in the primary.
Bernie Sanders is a Trojan horse another liar-in-chief. Since Bernie admitted he’ll support Killary earlier in the primaries. Killary will picks Bernie as her running mate.
Come Nov, most likely vote for Trump and he’s the only one can stop Killary.
No more Dem……………..
Posted by: Jack Smith | Mar 17 2016 22:19 utc | 19
the frump and frilary show, brought to you by the folloers of wafer media, where no wafer is too thin to not give you indigestion..
Posted by: james | Mar 17 2016 22:48 utc | 20
@ Rufus Magister 14
I missed your scarc indicator.
And you missed the coverage of the shutting down of Trump’s rally in Chicago – brutal beatings occurred.
Peace loving artists!
Chicago rally postponed amid scenes of chaos and violence:
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/donald-trump-cancels-chicago-rally-protests-220660
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/12/donald-trump-rally-called-off-in-chicago-amid-protests-violence-and-chaos
In will not take much to declare a suspension of the Election. Well they are getting prepared for the riots.
The Convention is designated a National Security Event.
Cleveland seeking to buy riot gear for Republican National Convention
http://www.cleveland.com/rnc-2016/index.ssf/2016/03/cleveland_seeking_to_buy_riot.html
“interlocking steel barriers, each 3.5 feet high, and buy another 3,250 feet of interlocking barriers that each would be 6.5 feet tall for the RNC, according to bid documents [.]
Because the RNC has been designated as a National Special Security Event, it is eligible to receive federal funding.
You think?
Posted by: likklemore | Mar 17 2016 23:16 utc | 21
Speaking of neocons just dying to start World War III, check out the website that John Kasich has set up, which displays this headline:
Make Tyranny Great Again.
Stand with Trump-Putin 2016!
see http://trump-putin2016.com/
The deep state wants a man of Kasich’s caliber to run against Hillary, that would be a win-win situation for them.
Posted by: Perimetr | Mar 17 2016 23:54 utc | 22
Maidan indeed. If Russia, through some wacko Christen groups, provided arms to Trumps opposition, we would have a reverse Maidan. Headlines would read, paybacks are a bitch.
Posted by: ben | Mar 17 2016 23:54 utc | 23
Poll data, Trump vs. Sanders general election:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_sanders-5565.html
Posted by: ben | Mar 18 2016 0:00 utc | 24
On Sanders/Clinton electability:
https://www.minnpost.com/eric-black-ink/2016/02/new-polls-sanders-clinton-electability
Posted by: ben | Mar 18 2016 0:03 utc | 25
Trump vs. Clinton:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_clinton-5491.html#!
Posted by: ben | Mar 18 2016 0:10 utc | 26
Brazil it seems another coloured revolution happening. We’ll see what’s going to happen. I am hoping Wall Street/CIA/Soros’s investment (like the one in Ukraine) will fail.
Posted by: Nick | Mar 18 2016 0:13 utc | 27
@27 probably, but Brazil is a mess.. poor environmental management + drought + corruption = easy pickins
Posted by: aaaa | Mar 18 2016 0:17 utc | 28
@ Nick 27: Not to worry, just like whoever “wins” our “elections”, they will all fall in line, and do the Empire’s bidding. It’s just good business.
Posted by: ben | Mar 18 2016 0:21 utc | 29
Re: Perimeter @22
Many years ago I made an observation that so-called moderate politicians are all to often balancing their milk-toast positions with something much wilder. One example was Rudolf Guliani who was a moderate Republican on most litmus tests and he balanced that with pretty vicious rhetoric (perhaps observed keenly by Donald Trump). Second and perhaps more typical example is “Third Way” Labour leader Tony Blair who was an adamant “anti-Saddam” crusader and well-rounded neo-con, Hillary and Kasich are from that school.
That said, I am inclined to believe that GOP nomination is between Trump and Cruz. GOP is pretty much “Tea Party” now, Rubio won Senate primary on that basis, and in that landscape, Kasich is an outlier. In Ohio he had a benefit of being a decent governor (more than can be said about Christie), and that can carry him as far as Indiana.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 18 2016 0:56 utc | 30
@27 Nick – Brazil is on a knife edge apparently right now.
Pepe Escobar is deep in the politics of the situation and just published his piece on CounterPunch: ‘Prime Minister’ Lula: The Brazilian Game-Changer
Lula is the canny operator, and it seems that Dilma is rather inept. Maybe they or he can win over all the forces of darkness. Escobar’s Facebook page seems to be where the breaking news is, and Petri Krohn just posted the news there that a federal judge has enjoined Lula’s appointment – but the government can appeal.
The politics must be dozens of layers deep there, and apparently it’s a very corrupt system even in good times. I guess we start learning about Brazil in a hurry in the next few days. Rooting for our BRICS partner 🙂
Posted by: Grieved | Mar 18 2016 1:22 utc | 31
Putin contradicts the speculations that he was giving a “cold shoulder” to Bashar al Assad
MOSCOW, March 17 (Xinhua) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday promised further support for the legitimate government of Syria.
“(The support) is comprehensive: financial assistance, supplies of weapons and armaments, intelligence support, and staff assistance in planning operations,” Putin said.
….
The president also hailed his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad’s “restraint, sincere striving for peace and readiness for compromise and dialogue.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-03/18/c_135199085.htm
Posted by: virgile | Mar 18 2016 1:24 utc | 32
Maracatu @4,
“The idea of a Mexico that is transformed, competitive and an architect of its own future has disappeared.”
Mexican civilization survives in the culture, the courtesy and the warmth so characteristic of the Mexican people. Mexico has long been the victim of the oligarchs al otro lado. From NAFTA to PEMEX, from undermining land reform to the War “Against” Drugs, from political assassination to dispossession in Chiapas. My heart hurts for the injustice you see in Mexico; it is here too– but not yet so sharp.
The goal is to leave every human being stripped of the power of his state, left to struggle against a global bureaucracy that knows no morality– and whose first priority, already begun, is to vastly reduce the population. But this is not inevitable. How can it be that so many decent people, recognizing that cooperation is our means of survival, will let this de-spiritualized monstrosity destroy the civilization of each of our lands? Es un pecado, it’s a sin to despair. We MUST come together to win.
Posted by: Penelope | Mar 18 2016 1:39 utc | 33
European Union agrees on plan to send Syrian migrants back to Turkey
Erdogan is radiant… His blackmail worked. He has twisted the E.U arms and he is getting all what years of begging had not got him. He has made the E.U an accomplice to a international crime that both will end up by paying dearly
I wonder what do they call packing the migrants who are in Greece on buses to send them back to Turkey that they left while risking their lives? Will they accept like sheep to get into these buses? Won’t there be riots? Is this is not a forced mass deportation, then what is it?
The EU made a wrong decision, as it always does, and it will pay a heavy price.
I guess Lebanon should start to send its 1 million refugees on boats to Cyprus and get 6 billions Euro and free visa not to!
Posted by: virgile | Mar 18 2016 1:40 utc | 34
Ben @ 29, Yes, I think you’re right to put “wins” the election in quotes.
Only paper ballots counted at each polling station could redeem the corruption.
http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/03/15/election-fraud-if-it-happened-in-michigan-will-it-happen-in-ohio/
Posted by: Penelope | Mar 18 2016 1:42 utc | 35
thanks everyone for discussing brazil… i have been asking with no responses.. this is good and links too! thanks.
Posted by: james | Mar 18 2016 1:54 utc | 36
likklemore at 21
I see no evidence of any “brutal beatings.” The Guardian mentions scuffles and a few arrests.
This from the Politico piece you cited says it all. “Trump spoke out on CNN later Friday night, claiming his freedom of speech was infringed upon and that he does not regret making earlier statements of violence against protesters.”
Trump attempted a provocative rally at a minority institution. Rather than face the community’s righteous indignation at what he has spouted ad naseum from Fox to NBC, he affected to be shocked, shocked at the reaction. Rather than stand up to criticism, he punked out.
Like the Secret Service, with state and local police, couldn’t have provided security? Security officials said — hey, we didn’t advise him to cancel, that was his call (so said the local AM newsradio yesterday afternoon). I think he didn’t want to be shown up by the crowd, and he is now hypocritically playing the free speech card.
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 18 2016 2:03 utc | 37
rufass jester:
… [Trump] is now hypocritically playing the free speech card.
MoveOn admitted to being behind the attempt to disrupt Trump’s rally. They wanted to provoke a reaction from Trump supporters, then blame Trump for the violence.
So how is Trump wrong in saying that his right to free speech was infringed?
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 18 2016 4:06 utc | 38
in re 38 —
I see no source for your info. on mean and nasty MoveOn giving the “Make America Great Again” crowd the occasion to show their true red-white-and-blue colors. Veterans Today, perhaps? Again, from the Politico account; the announcement suggests they seem to know their target demographic well enough. What does that say about them?
“Please do not touch the protester,” an announcement overhead said. Instead, supporters were instructed, they should chant “Trump! Trump!” until security personnel were able to remove the disruptive person.
On the other hand, here we have a detailed account of Mr. Trump’s relationship with the First Amendment. He be likin’ them SLAPP suits.
Unbowed and seemingly gearing up for more battles, Trump is quoted in the same article as saying that he knew he couldn’t win the case against O’Brien. “I spent a couple of bucks on legal fees, and they spent a whole lot more,” he admitted. “I did it to make his life miserable, which I’m happy about.”
And that’s precisely the problem with Trump’s war on the First Amendment. He loves the combat. He thrives on it. And no matter how many lives he imperils in the process, and no matter how many times he comes up short in court, he has no intention of relenting.
You look to be diggin’ in there at “The Warren,” pending the riots by enraged Sanders supporters demanding their immediate arrest after their coup, a.k.a. their sit-in in D.C.
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 18 2016 5:01 utc | 39
hillary *enforcer* clinton
*like hell im gonna let my grandchildren live in a world where those awful chinese dominate* [1]
——————————————–
well mdm dowager ,
ffs, stop projecting your own obscene mindset on the others, i see no evidence of china wanting to rule the world, unlike the fukus.
zero, nada, zilch.
besides, it aint the chinese raping okinawa….literally. !
——————————————————-
murkkan army brass
*this is the price you have to pay for our protection* !!
he was admonising the huge crowd of protestors after a 12yr old okinawan girl was gang raped by 3 beasts from the murkkan base.
——————————————————–
mdm dowager ,
i heard your are a fervent champion of women’s right, you lecture the chinese when in china [sic] ,where women’s status is amongst the best in the world.
what happen to the tens of thousands female, from 5yr old to grannies, raped in okinawa over 70yrs of occupation ? [2]
what happened to that letter sent to you, did you throw it away ?
***************************************
Hillary R. Clinton,
Secretary of State.
Dear Madame Secretary,
*The people of Okinawa have never welcomed the continuous presence of United States military bases since the end of the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. We have been deprived of opportunities to express our own will regarding the bases. In his famous Fourteen Points speech, President Woodrow Wilson stated that “a free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.” Yet even today the people of Okinawa do not fully own the right of self-determination which President Wilson saw as an essential condition for world peace. The very origins of the military base issue in Okinawa lie in the lack of this right of self-determination……………*
full text here [3]
————————————————————-
update
another rape in okinawa 3 days ago, a daily affair.
http://examinergazette.com/2016/03/15/us-sailor-accused-of-hotel-rape-in-japan.html
————————————————————–
[1]
http://tinyurl.com/h9kr55q
[2]
One recent survey by a school teacher on Okinawa found two third of his female high school students had been sexually molested by U.S. soldiers.
murkkan base commandant
*its just flirting, boys’ll be boys*
[3]
http://henoko.ti-da.net/e2345478.html
i heard google had tweaked its software to push down or delete outright articles considered *biased * towards fukus.
i key in the same search words i used to find this letter [another version, with signatures and all ] yesterday, it doesnt show up today !
now u c it, now u dont,
hehehehehe
Posted by: denk | Mar 18 2016 5:55 utc | 40
[this comment was by an imposer, not by rufus
– b.]
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 18 2016 6:44 utc | 41
I would like to encourage all barflies to focus on supporting or providing contrary argument to others rather than stooping to puerile character assassination. It diminishes the character of the establishment and besmirches the proprietor.
That said, I believe in using the depth and breath of language to say bad things about public people that are elected, appointed or members of the global plutocracy.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 18 2016 7:00 utc | 42
“stooping to puerile character assassination.” psychohistorian @43
Truer words are rarely spoken. Assassination is a serious business, and expert stiletto beats the cudgel. Don’t be rude, be snide, my children!
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 18 2016 7:23 utc | 43
Here’s the new Russia. Check out these excerpts from a Lavrov interview. Someone gave him an overdose of the truth drug. Now he’s spilling it all, insulting Breedlove as the joke beyond surreal, and telling truth about the US as the Kremlin must now calculate it.
Lavrov says the US is so screwed up it doesn’t know whether it’s coming or going. But Russia will hold its hand until it regains a firm identity again. I believe this is the exact truth, and it answers a myriad of questions.
I have to thank the Saker site again for bringing this to my attention. It seems you can’t link over there from here, but fortunately one can still use words to give credit where it’s due.
Anyway, check this out (7 mins): Lavrov: The Americans now understand that they can do nothing without Russia.
I ask myself how it is that Lavrov can speak so candidly. I recall that Dylan went electric when the US started bombing Cambodia, and I remember the words of Hunter S. Thompson, that when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
And the lies of the west are so pathetic and so vomitous that anyone loses patience with them and just wants to cut them off and shout the truth back in their faces. Because they are powerless now. Russia has proved it.
Mission accomplished. Paradigm changed.
Posted by: Grieved | Mar 18 2016 7:28 utc | 44
KSA go home
http://tinyurl.com/jmnswwh
al ahram: Saudis to scale down Yemen intervention
Posted by: Mina | Mar 18 2016 8:51 utc | 45
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-putin-idUSKCN0WJ1D4
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia could scale up its military presence in Syria again within hours and would still bomb terrorist groups there despite a partial draw-down of forces ordered after military successes.
Speaking in one of the Kremlin’s grandest halls three days after he ordered Russian forces to partially withdraw from Syria, the Russian leader said the smaller strike force he had left behind was big enough to help forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad keep advancing.
Posted by: okie farmer | Mar 18 2016 9:45 utc | 47
42 is not mine. How could a website be “an asshole”?
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 18 2016 12:09 utc | 48
Posted by: x | Mar 18 2016 12:19 utc | 49
rufass: If it wasn´t for me ….
No one missed you when you left in a huff and dissed the MoA community with a sarcastic “thanks for all the fish”. And part of the reason that you left was that nobody likes you.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 18 2016 12:20 utc | 50
…
Remember that you are quite new here at MoA. If it wasn´t for me and a few other assorted and quite informed commenters here, MoA would be just that, an insignificant asshole were people like you could vent their shit. Now, fuck off.
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 18, 2016 2:44:03 AM | 42
I love it when you ambush yourself, get out of your depth, run out of ideas, and then try to sweep the vacuum under a carpet of tantrums and insults.
Friendly Persuasion?
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Mar 18 2016 12:31 utc | 51
short, recent, easy-read pieces
David Graeber. Despair Fatigue.
The Baffler
Edward Luttwak. Why Fascism is the Wave of the Future.
London Review of Books
Steve Topple. Profits of death: Disaster capitalists fan flames of war in Syria.
(this piece bashes Russia as well.)
Insurgent Intelligence
podcast w. a partial transcript (v. good)
Vijay Prashad, interview. The US, Saudi Arabia, and the Destruction of Lybia by Western Forces.
Shadow Proof
Posted by: Noirette | Mar 18 2016 12:54 utc | 52
43 & 44:
“… focus on supporting or providing contrary argument to others rather than stooping to puerile character assassination.”
Anyone care to provide contrary argument regarding this statement from rufus?:
He made it nearly 5 months ago after the unjust killing of a Palestinian bystander in an incident that was denounced by Amnesty Int’l and has repeatedly stood by it since.
My term for rufus, “contortionist fool”, is accurate because of the many contortions that he uses to justify his statement and the foolishness of not simply retracting it.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 18 2016 12:58 utc | 53
after the 2 above it took a while to decide whether this was Noirette or Pseudo-Noirette
KSA starts to feel the heat
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35842708
Posted by: Mina | Mar 18 2016 12:59 utc | 54
well no, can’t be the real Noirette who posted those links; sorry
Posted by: Mina | Mar 18 2016 13:15 utc | 55
I’ve gone to various sites today to see what Trump said to Aipac.Not a word.WTF?
Lindsey goes for Cruz,in a big way!He has nice big hands.After once saying Cruz was poison,he now backs him.Oh.Israel,hear our prayer!
Cruz puts up ad in Arizona attacking illegals and Rubio says I’m for him.
Obomba calls the HB inauthentic,but says ,vote for her anyway.
4 Jews on the SC?Hey,hate speech against Israel is Unconstituional!
They don’t care a whit for US.
Posted by: dahoit | Mar 18 2016 13:46 utc | 56
Interesting tidbit: donations to Clinton Foundation by the nationality of donor (donations > $50,000):
Sri Lanka no. 15 with 0.7 million dollars
France, no. 14 with 0.8
Bosnia no.13 with 1.0 (take that, Sri Lanka!)
…..
UAE, no 9, with 1.4
…
Ireland, no. 5, with 6.5
Germany, no. 4, with 6.7
KSA, no. 3, with 7.3
England, no. 2. with 8.4 (is Scotland separate?)
and, tadah! number 1:
Ukraine, 10.0.
Israel not on the list. Hm. Russian tycoons seem stingy too.
Source: WSJ
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 18 2016 13:48 utc | 57
From the linkl given by Mina @54:
Saudi Arabia said it was investigating the attack on Mastaba, adding its forces had targeted a “gathering area” for Houthi rebel fighters about six miles (10km) away.
This is 21-st century and super-modern air-force assisted in “targetting” by USA. Mere 10 kilometers away, an hour by brisk jog, was a putative military target. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gang_That_Couldn't_Shoot_Straight
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Mar 18 2016 13:55 utc | 58
Seems like there is somebody impersonating posters here. I like the real RM, and the realNoirette, and I like you too, Jackrabbit…
b, I’m sure you can sort this out…
Posted by: dan | Mar 18 2016 14:38 utc | 59
@Jackrabbit no. 38
Absolutely jack.
Fascist gangs continue to rampage in U.S. city-state of Chicago, slaughtering supporters of Donald Trump with neither pity nor mercy.
–DPRK news service
Posted by: sleepy | Mar 18 2016 14:47 utc | 60
March 18, 2016 – today’s you can’t make this stuff up entry …
from the jpost
“The protest organization, which calls itself Come Together Against Hate and claims to represent a variety of rabbis, cantors and Jewish leaders, announced that it intends to mobilize thousands of attendees to both stage a silent walkout before Trump’s speech and hold an independent session on human rights and dignity outside of the venue used by the pro-Israel lobbying group.”
source – http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Protests-planned-at-Trump-AIPAC-appearance-448313
Posted by: ALberto | Mar 18 2016 14:54 utc | 61
sleepy @60
“Fascist gangs continue to rampage in U.S. city-state of Chicago, slaughtering supporters of Donald Trump with neither pity nor mercy.”
Without mentioning any names, how is it that in Chiraq one can pay a family $5,000,000 for their silence so that one can win a mayORAL election?
Posted by: ALberto | Mar 18 2016 15:09 utc | 62
Bread & Circus – You cannot make this stuff up …
Bill Clinton’s mixed race love child Danney Williams
https://twitter.com/danney_williams
Posted by: ALberto | Mar 18 2016 15:12 utc | 63
Sleepy @60
LOL!
It seems that who is responsible for disrupting Trump’s rally in Chicago is unclear. MoveOn has been blamed because they had previously vowed to protest Trump.
Trump called it an organized effort and that conclusion seems justified by the number of protesters that showed up. Trump also recognized the likelihood that his supporters would respond violently to such a disruption when explaining why he called the rally off.
I think it is reasonable to conclude that the intent of an organized disruption was to provoke a violent reaction and then blame Trump.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 18 2016 15:15 utc | 64
denk @ 41: Great synopsis on the state of the Empire’s occupation of Okinawa.
I spent 2yrs. there (67’68’), and I can see NOTHING has changed.
Psycho @ 43: I second your remarks!
I see the trolls are back. New names, same old tactics.
Posted by: ben | Mar 18 2016 15:16 utc | 65
Trump’s hotel in Las Vegas. Maybe ” the donald” could settle this one.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/98-arrested-las-vegas-strip-union-workers-protest-article-1.1295024
When someone shows you who they are, you should believe them.
Posted by: ben | Mar 18 2016 15:32 utc | 66
TRNN right now, live stream on: AIPACK, good or bad for the US:
http://therealnews.com/t2/
Hope link works.
Posted by: ben | Mar 18 2016 16:01 utc | 67
heh i did post those pieces (so no taking over names, b doesn’t need to sort anything out) but because i had trouble with the links and copy/paste one sentence was missing, saying this is the kind of analysis that is supposedly ‘deeper’ but taken on board.
As for the interview of Prashad, i do think it is worthwhile – others might not agree.
Posted by: Noirette | Mar 18 2016 16:02 utc | 68
Turkish President Erdogan has just declared democracy, freedom, and the rule of law to be kaput.
It looks like Erdogan is going into full monster mode. This is not good for anyone at any time, much less under the present political circumstances. The EU states have thus far accepted to look the other way, while his massacres of the Kurds continue. All in exchange for Erdogan’s cooperation in bottling up potential migrants before they can come to Europe. The deal with the devil gets more costly by the day.
Forced mass deportation costs 6 billions euro and a visa free regime for Turks?
Will there be an visa free travel to Europe for Turks in June as Davutoglu claimed?
I heard that many Turkish Kurds have requested a passport ( it seems that only 10% of Turks have a passport. Turkish authorities will make lots of money with bribes to get one fast enough).
If the visa free issue is solved, starting immediately after, Europe will not be invaded by Syrians, but by Turks fleeing the dictatorship and the insecurity of Erdogan and legally entering the E.U not to go back.
That’s what Erdogan wants.. Kurds out!
Posted by: virgile | Mar 18 2016 16:53 utc | 70
Reasons to $follow$ $the$ $money$ in the catastrophic climate change business were evident 25 years ago. See the end of “The Greenhouse Conspiracy”, posted on youtube, originally released in 1990.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-x4YbXZtIA
jump to 42:55
According to the poster, “This documentary was made many years ago and PBS refused to show it as it was too “unbalanced””
Another way to think of this is: Exxon Mobil should have known, 25 years ago, that CO2 climate catastrophism was being strongly pushed and $incentivized$. Since false conclusions emanating from this dynamic threatened their profits, why did they not at least investigate the $money$ bias, and seek to make it common knowledge??
Didn’t Exxon Mobil have an obligation to its stockholders to make sure the facts of $bias$ were fully explored, and fully publicized?
Posted by: metamars | Mar 18 2016 17:34 utc | 71
Interview of Lavrow about the USA, Turkey and the Kurds( in Russian with subtitles)
Lavrov: The Americans now understand that they can do nothing without Russia
Posted by: virgile | Mar 18 2016 17:59 utc | 72
Sorry I had to post and run and didn’t follow up on Brazil until now. HERE is a good background from a year ago, written by a PhD. in history.
Posted by: Maracatu | Mar 18 2016 18:30 utc | 73
@73 So whats the story in Brazil, white coup against Roussef/Lula Vs attempt to save the state?
Posted by: Lozion | Mar 18 2016 18:59 utc | 74
What is going in Brazil is coup backed by Obomba/CIA. First the Judge Moro isn’t a hero! The guy is an agent who was trained at Harvard in 2007. So the fact that he is strongly connected to the corrupt right wing party PSDB – his wife works there – is something to be ignored? Just like the fact that he refuses to investigate high level PSDB politicians like Lula’s biggest opponent Aecio Neves that are involved in the same Lava Jato scandal? That’s not exactly an impartial judge.
The other judge that yesterday suspended Lula’s nomination as a minister was caught red-handed in his social networks militating for, once again, the PSDB party, asking people to vote for Aecio Neves, promoting an anti-Dilma coup and suggesting even to kill Lula…. So it looks like PSDB has turned the judiciary system in Brazil to a complete joke.
For your information Moon of Alabama posters: Folha, Globo, Estadao, TV Record, Jornal do Brasil, etc etc simply all the mainstream media in Brazil is rotten, totally corrupt and have a hidden agenda. There is no neutral or reasonable voice here.
What is going on in Brazil is indeed a politically motivated coup. At stake is the independence of Brazil’s resources. And I haven’t even mentioned yet that George Soros and Arminio Fraga (PSDB) are closely connected, that Dilma pissed off Israel for not allowing their ambassador to enter Brazil for war crimes and that the US ambassador to Brazil is “coup by impeachment” specialist Liliana Ayalde (check wikileaks and her memos and role in the impeachment “coup” in Paraguay 2012).
Posted by: BrazilianAnonymaus | Mar 18 2016 20:03 utc | 75
There’s a story that’s been percolating and resurfacing since 2015 and it’s relevant and important because of political implications regarding the normalization of U.S./Cuba relations, its relevant linkage to the Black Lives Matter movement and how indirectly it might provide insight into Trump’s mind and vision for the future if you can call it that.
Republicans including Trump supporter, N.J. Gov. Chris Christie and other N.J. Congressional lawmakers including N.J. cops and even a Democrat, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, have been pressuring the Obama Administration as a condition to fund normalization of U.S./Cuba relations that Cuba extradite wanted U.S. fugitives and in particular black activist, Joanne Chesimard who has a 2-million dollar bounty on her head. Chris Christie has repeatedly called for this extradition to be a condition of normalized relations with Cuba.
Gov. Chris Christie, the state’s congressional delegation and New Jersey police officers all demand that Cuba extradite convicted cop-killer Joanne Chesimard. …U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the son of Cuban immigrants, has used his position as a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee to press the Obama administration on Chesimard.
It is Cuba’s continuing harboring of Chesimard that caused Christie and other officials to disagree with Obama’s decision to remove the country from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/06/poll_should_joanne_chesimard_be_returned_to_the_us.html
Cruz and Rubio are also involved in the effort to derail normalization of U.S./Cuba relations over the extradition of U.S. fugitives. Cuba not only refuses to return the Black Panther/BLA activist, that the U.S. considers a terrorist and enemy of the state, but Cuba also cites U.S. refusal to extradite fugitive from justice Mr Carriles, who lives in Florida, is accused by Cuban officials of plotting to kill Fidel Castro and killing 73 people in a bombing of a Cubana de Aviación aeroplane in 1976. (no doubt to indicate the glaring hypocrisy)
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31668056
But Joanne Chesimard’s bio indicates that there were irregularities in the case against her and that she may have been wrongly accused and that she was shot repeatedly after she had her hands up before being arrested and convicted by a white jury. The nine-week trial was widely publicized, and was even reported on by the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assata_Shakur
By the way it’s noteworthy that Joanne Chesimard is considered by many in government to be more than just a criminal but a terrorist and enemy of the Republic.
Breibart an internet news site that covers Trump in a favorable light and that was recently in the news because several of its staffers resigned after Michelle Fields a journalist at Breibart accused Trump’s Campaign Manager, Corey Lewandowski, of assaulting her, also addressed the issue of Chesimard in a recent article meant to condemn and disparage the Black Lives Matter movement and Elizabeth Warren’s support for the movement in an article that signals the movement’s admiration for Chesimard.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/15/black-lives-matter-group-referenced-sen-elizabeth-warren-idolizes-terrorist/
Trump has insinuated his disapproval of the Black Lives Matter movement with repeated statements favoring and praising the police. For instance in the following tweet:
https://twitter.com/foxnews/status/701226034784559104
and in these statements:
Police are the most mistreated people in this country. At the same time, we have to give power back to the police… This begs the question: How does he intend to give the police even more power?
In fact Trump not only indirectly undermines the Black Lives Matter movement with this effusive praise for the police, but his rhetoric demonstrates a more direct intolerance of the movement that borders on a veiled threat to crack down on the movement in a Trump Presidency.
And in November, he suggested that a number of his white supporters in Birmingham, Alabama, acted appropriately at an official campaign rally when they “shoved, tackled, punched, and kicked” a Black Lives Matter protester who disrupted his speech. “Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing,” Trump said.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/22/politics/donald-trump-black-lives-matter-protester-confrontation/
And when challenged on his inflammatory statements he railed against political correctness.
We argue that Donald Trump’s critique of political correctness is representative of collective white rage over the most recent destabilization of Black respectability politics at the hands of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Contrary to the claims of corporate media, political correctness isn’t a progressive project insisting upon sensitivity for traditionally marginalized communities — it’s a conservative strategy that sets and polices the parameters of acceptable racial redress. And this conservative form of racial redress has a name. It’s called respectability politics. Conservative critiques of political correctness should be interpreted as thinly veiled white rage over the knockout punch to Black respectability politics dealt by the Black Lives Matter movement.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/donald-trump-black-lives-matter-and-death-respectability-politics
So in fact there are at least two issues going on here linked to one conclusion:
On the surface we see Republicans trying to derail normalization with Cuba with an extradition issue that Cuba will never agree to. Below the surface there’s the issue of what the Black Lives Matter Movement represents to the established class system in other words; the know your place system. It represents a a kind of domestic terror movement waiting to explode. And Trump represents the match that will make that happen.
Chesimard is a symbol for both sides of the racial divide. But to the elite she represents: the black unrest that needs to be tamed, minimally appeased and locked away.
Republicans can’t stand the idea of black emancipation and full equality within the Republic and neither can some Democrats who exploit the black electorate only to win campaigns and then discard it and even throw the black community under the bus after they’re in power and Hillary Clinton is no exception since her support for her husband’s policies that contributed to denying social justice for blacks is well-documented.
So, Donald Trump is no different from other Republicans in the fascist supremacy that he exudes and promotes, but maybe his inflammatory rhetoric demonstrates that he’s actually worse and that civil rights riots could even be reignited during a Trump Presidency because he might impose the racial/ethnic class system with force. This is no doubt very troubling to the elite that have kept the racial class system under control for now.
So the Party’s opposition to Trump might be based on the fact that Trump is too vocal and unpredictable and could spark massive civil unrest in the form of racial class warfare and that such an outcome would not only destroy the party but have serious long-term consequences relating to disruption in the established class hierarchy. The elite’s fear on both sides of the political system is that Trump will not only destroy the Party but destroy the country as they know it because he will in fact unintentionally spark a revolution that will change everything.
And if this is the case then are we not giving Trump too much anti-establishment credit? He is the worst of the system: part of the 1% and part of the white supremacy. And aren’t we fooling ourselves when we think of his foreign policy as…non-interventionism? Maybe Trump is more emperor than we think. Maybe his view of the Black Lives Matter movement reflects his global view as well and he’s different only in that he expects the world’s subjects to pay America back for all the great policing it does; but that doesn’t mean he’s going to break up the empire or disengage from global hegemony.
Posted by: Circe | Mar 18 2016 20:30 utc | 76
Sorry if it’s hard to read my post since I neglected to appropriately turn of the italics after posting quoted passages from links I provided.
Posted by: Circe | Mar 18 2016 20:40 utc | 77
Posted by: Circe | Mar 18, 2016 4:30:42 PM | 76
What motivates a pro-Israel sorceress to pose as a Greek Sorceress in order to smear Trump – battle fatigue? He wasn’t born yesterday and he didn’t fall off a Christmas tree. He’s his own Spin Tank and he’s going to keep making everyone else look like sleepwalking zombies.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Mar 18 2016 21:15 utc | 78
@75 Thank you for your input BA. I have been watching Syria so closely that other crisis were off my radar. I can’t say I’m surprised.
Will they call it the “parda revoluçao”? 🙁
Posted by: Lozion | Mar 18 2016 21:36 utc | 79
Pro-Israel sorceress? Ha! You couldn’t be more wrong! But that’s okay. Actually, maybe Trump is exactly what’s needed to destroy everything as we know it.
Posted by: Circe | Mar 18 2016 21:53 utc | 80
yeah, Hoarse, where do you get pro-Israel Sorceress? Trump is the least evil of the candidates, but that’s not saying much.
Posted by: ruralito | Mar 18 2016 22:42 utc | 81
@ Circe.
I am in the “ALL LIVES Matter” movement, myself. Which includes Palestinians and Law Enforcement.
Posted by: shadyl | Mar 18 2016 23:03 utc | 82
#44. Oh my gawd. Thank you for that post. I don’t read Saker as much as I did afore. But that piece on Lavrov is priceless. Seriously. For a long time I’ve wondered how the hell intelligent, professional Russian diplomats handle the BULLSHIT and STUPIDITY coming from POTUS, DOS, DOD, NATO? And the endless stream of US ZIONAZI hacks. This is the answer. They don’t. Stick a fork in it. They’re done. SMH in total sympathy. Is there an adoption program in Russia which takes old-ish farts which just can’t take the bullshit anymore? Cuz I’m past embarrassment. It’s simply unendurable. I don’t consider these idiots my “countrymen”. Just peeps who happen to live in the same hood.
Posted by: 4H | Mar 18 2016 23:09 utc | 83
@41 b comment.. thanks for pointing that out to the folks unable to see that..
@75 ba…thanks for confirming my suspicions.. i await the next shoe to drop.. brazil as a part of the bric group had to be singled out as all other bric countries will be singled out.. they are a threat and thus they will be singled out for regime / ideology change..
Posted by: james | Mar 18 2016 23:33 utc | 84
Circe @ 76, Thanks for a well-reasoned comment. I can’t speak for the South
cuz I have no familiarity w it. But outside of the South I can’t even imagine
White rage at the Black Lives Matter program. I’ve lived in big cities like
New York, in smaller places, and in the country. I’ve only heard anti-Black
comments twice in my whole life. I overheard in the Post Office line a woman say,
“Wasn’t that a terrible thing?” about the latest police execution of a Black man.
I don’t know where you live, Circe, but I think we all feel terrible and even
threatened by such police behavior.
I’ve not the slightest idea whether Trump does “Support the Police” comments
to motivate what he sees as his base. I guess Republicans automatically write off
all the Black votes, but even so I think all candidates have a duty to reach out
to Blacks out of common decency and a wish for national unity.
The only thing I like less than a pig in a poke is a b* in one.
Posted by: Penelope | Mar 18 2016 23:39 utc | 85
Trump is persona non grata because he challenged the neoconservative stranglehold on the US government. For that reason and that reason alone, he will not make it to the presidency. The oligarchy (both “Democrat” and “Republican”) will coalesce around Hillary Clinton. PERIOD!
Posted by: Maracatu | Mar 18 2016 23:41 utc | 86
@Circe
Trump is anti-establishment because he calls politicians puppets and criticizes crony deal-making that disadvantages USA. That is why the neolibcon establishment hates him.
He is a populist demagogue. So he says what people want to hear. But he will have to be more moderate to win a general election. That’s probably why we haven’t heard much detail about his policy positions.
There is an important political true-ism: “only Nixon could go to China”: only a peace-maker can start a war (witness Obama – Libya/red-line/Maidan). Only a hardliner can make peace (Trump?).
Many conservatives complain that Trump is actually much less conservative than his rhetoric. They point to his previous statements/record.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 18 2016 23:43 utc | 87
I see Trump and Third-parties like the Greens as more anti-establishment than Sanders.
As a career politician and “friend” to Democratic Party leaders like Obama, Hillary, and Schumer, Sanders’ anti-establishment credentials are less than stellar. He has not forcefully questioned Hillary’s character or the disparaged neocon adventurism. This gentlemanly, only-so-far political persona has allowed Hillary to make the case that SHE is a fighter that will go to bat for ordinary people.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 19 2016 0:04 utc | 88
Somebody earlier down the thread asked about Mexico. According to THIS (my translation):
The Mexican budget is largely funded by oil revenues that has left a significant shortfall in the finances of the nation thanks to international price declines. Pemex aims to cut 15 thousand jobs and the Government another 10,000 as a result of low profitability. (…) In Mexico, oil exports account for one of every three pesos in the budget of the Nation, which is already preparing a program of financial aid for Pemex.
Posted by: Maracatu | Mar 19 2016 0:06 utc | 89
Maracatu @88
Thanks for the data point about the effects of the whipsawing of oil prices on Mexico. I see the oil price swings as more efforts by private finance to emasculate countries financially with mountains of debt. The mountains of debt are because the smaller countries, and even the larger ones, cannot compete against the House (meaning private finance backed by the US Fed and its Reserve Currency Status).
The House always wins in currency and raw material price fluctuations. They screw folks both ways being in the middle. and when they can’t do that they make it up with transaction fees or out and out price manipulation like we are seeing now with oil.
We are seeing another iteration of the Shock Doctrine but worldwide this time………we are all Greece!
Posted by: psychohistorian | Mar 19 2016 1:02 utc | 90
ben 65
after 70 yrs under the jackboot by the occupation force, the jp seem to have lost their pride and dignity.!
in a recent survey, 90% of them like murkka their tormentor, also 90% loathe china, victim of jp aggression since the ming dynasty !
go figure !
in this latest rape case, many jp commentors actually blamed the victim for kinda like *inviting the crime*,
*why’d a 40yr old woman slept on the corridor of a hotel* ?
must be something in the jp water, is this the fukushima syndrome ?
more like the stockholm syndrome i guess ??
———————
* Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon described in 1973 in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with the captors.*
Posted by: denk | Mar 19 2016 1:35 utc | 91
A couple of Hillary emails from wikileaks remove all doubt as to what’s really behind the Syria regime change project.
https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/18328#efmADMAFf
https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/12172#efmBbqBf9
@circe #76
BLM has got to be one of the stupidest social movements in a generation. Racial grievance politics over the past 50 years has accomplished essentially nothing except for providing careers for self-appointed “leaders,” lawyers, and bureaucrats. It has presented a false narrative over race and class dynamics. It has made taboo discussion of the race-specific issues doing the most harm to blacks: dysfunction, drugs, crime, resistance to education, and resistance to positive social mores (“acting white”). All Lives Matter.
Posted by: Thirdeye | Mar 19 2016 1:56 utc | 92
There are many who will endorse Trump knowing he’s mostly everything they revile; supporting Trump like they would use reverse psychology. They pretend they’re for the very thing they want to destroy – fascist white privilege because they sense that Trump’s the one that will destroy the status quo. But what does that mean exactly? Is Trump really the enemy of the establishment? Will he change anything about the status quo? Or will he make it worse? Who knows? No one has a crystal ball.
But Trump’s words are ominous; his language inflammatory, his incitement feels like a precursor of things to come; he points to the media calling them LIARS and scum (see note at the end), people everywhere are thrilled, repulsed and revolted, they’re excited and angry, they’re throwing punches; brawling, the establishment is anxious and outraged, the media feel used and abused instead of using and abusing, no one is indifferent, everyone’s waking up, so in fact, he’s already affecting and threatening the status quo; he’s already paving the revolutionary road.
Farrakhan stated: Trump is dangerous…dangerous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Q0YEZDXVM
…to the status quo.
How does Farrakhan get millions of blacks to turn against Hillary? i.e. Hillary, the coddler of the black status quo.
Hillary IS the establishment status quo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu41CPQw0hg
Now, Farrakhan may not be the oracle of all wisdom: But when he alludes to Trump taking America on a rocket ship to the abyss he might be saying either of these two things: You will get to the destruction of the status quo you seek but on the vehicle of evil, or be careful what you wish for. However, there’s no denying that Farrakhan is using what is right about Trump to steer black people away from Hillary’s false coddling which is a very good thing. Hillary is using black people as a ticket to power.
The time appears ripe for revolution — everyone is disgusted; but who will take us there; who will drive us to destroy the status quo, and is a Trump presidency the necessary evil for revolution of change that has been simmering for too long?
{*some of Trump’s comments on the media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVA-6ZsH43U
“They’re scum,” Trump said. “They’re horrible people. They are so illegitimate. They are just terrible people.”)
Posted by: Circe | Mar 19 2016 2:24 utc | 93
Oh The Don can take you there alright. Be it on the highway to hell, or a giant, collective hallelujah (probly highway to hell), when you have the NeoCon hissing and howling at their own you know you’re headed on the right direction – if it is down, so be it, the quicker the better…the Constitution will save you at the turn of the revolution. Trumps holding a mirror up to the establishment, and they don’t like it – The Don…well…he’s Untouchable. And he’s going to destroy Hillary.
The schizophrenic nature of the US on the world stage at this moment is contrasted by the calm, measured, clear approach of the Russian Federation. There is a lot of praise for Putin lately, and his latest speech is a cracking piece of work, up there with last years UN speech… Though, it’s not hard to fly like an eagle when you are surrounded by geese.
Team America World Police are not exactly setting a high bar these days.
Posted by: MadMax2 | Mar 19 2016 3:00 utc | 94
Re: Brazil
Solid article from The Intercept, echoing comments and sentiment inside this thread.
https://theintercept.com/2016/03/18/brazil-is-engulfed-by-ruling-class-corruption-and-a-dangerous-subversion-of-democracy/
Posted by: MadMax2 | Mar 19 2016 3:41 utc | 95
in re 50. 51, 53
Sorry to disappoint. Did I not tell you not to hold your breath? Do I seem likely to run out of things to say? What on earth makes you think I’d back off anything I said?
Haven’t I welcomed all the haters to be hatin’ on me? Do you seriously think anybody really cares about you missing the joke?
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 19 2016 5:34 utc | 96
in re 87 —
What a bloody laughable idea. You clearly have absolutely no understanding of progressive or radical politics. Progressives do not get endorsed by the Klan and white nationalists. He is a nativist and proto-fascist. Sanders is calling her out on Wall St. speeches and ties, and he’s not critical enough? Maybe you think he should reverse himself and sign onto to your right wing talking points on the server.
I don’t get it, weren’t you just raising the specter of “indirect” calls to insurrection by Sanders? I wonder where all theses Trump-leaning progressives are? Besides yourself, who else is sold on “Donald Trump (TM) Counter-Establishment Democratic Choice (TM)”?
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 19 2016 5:59 utc | 97
Penelope at 33
Even though the religious overtones don’t appeal to me, I must say, you put that very eloquently, and I would agree on the need of popular unity.
Posted by: rufus magister | Mar 19 2016 6:06 utc | 98
@94 Indeed. Props to Greenwald who lives in Brazil and can give us a refreshing perspective of events in the field. I was awaiting his appraisal for a while..
Posted by: Lozion | Mar 19 2016 6:21 utc | 99
No one’s disappointed.
Its all part of the rufass Show!
Dig! rufass dig!
Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 19 2016 7:02 utc | 100