https://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/The_New_Era_of_Secret_Law.pdf

Posted by: jason | Oct 22 2016 15:36 utc | 3

I am providing a link that shows a peaceful Muslim prayer protest in Rome
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/muslims-stage-protest-prayers-near-romes-colosseum/
It seems that Italy recognizes Mormons as a valid religion but not Muslims. How is that for religious compassion and understanding?
I have posited in comments before that I think that back in the Enlightenment period we didn’t quite make it through there was a “devils pact”
established between the owners of private finance and Xtian religious leaders to provide ongoing validity and support to each other.
And here we are, headed to that Xtian hell in a already burning basket because we refuse to evolve as a species.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 22 2016 16:27 utc | 5

In Illinois, Trump will be citing the Illinois criminal statute. The Mob action is a Class Four felony punishable by 3-6 years in prison and a $25,000 fine for each charge in Illinois. When Trump brings forward the paperwork, he very well could charge anyone associated with helping, planning, organizing, or paying anyone to commit acts of violence–which would include Hillary Clinton.
In Illinois, statute reads as follows:
A person commits mob action when he or she engages in any of the following:
The knowing or reckless use of force or violence disturbing the public peace by 2 or more persons acting together and without authority of law;
The knowing assembly of 2 or more persons with the intent to commit or facilitate the commission of a felony or misdemeanor; or
The knowing assembly of 2 or more persons, without authority of law, for the purpose of doing violence to the person or property of anyone supposed to have been guilty of a violation of the law, or for the purpose of exercising correctional powers or regulative powers over any person by violence.
Donald Trump would win this case easily, but he is not stopping in Illinois. Trump and his team have indicated that he will also be suing for the brutal attacks that occurred in San Diego, California.
ibid

Posted by: ALberto | Oct 22 2016 16:40 utc | 7

Putin on Hillary or Trump
https://twitter.com/rodriQuez/status/789555582663479296

Posted by: From The Hague | Oct 22 2016 16:51 utc | 9

7
I get 8 spams a day from Trump operative for moar money, which he and his family will keep, just as Gore, Kerry and McCain kept their campaign $10sMillions, which together with the bribes he will receive from DNC to drop the baseless lawsuits, will go to file Melania’s shoe closet with moar Italian bling.
Meanwhile, US news is not reporting violent classes between Philippines hard ring-wing army and police, and mobs of ‘leftist’ protestors marching in support for Duterte’s ‘I declare separation from the US!’. However upon return to Davao, he clarified that he meant separate foreign policies with patron-states America and China, …just as Trump will clarify his ‘The Wall’ and his ‘Kill ISIS’ policies are really moar about making the DOD-DHS-NSA-CIA Deep State Axis of Terror the Be All It Can Be, at $1,000,000,000,000 a year bleedout, 4x more than under Reagan. Then On to Crimea for the good of ‘Stand With Israel’, just as soon as World Bank infrastructure loans to the Israeli Junta Coup in Kiev, to rebuilt E Ukraine roads and bridges to military load capacity concludes it’s work.
And Duterte will remain isolated in his Davao compound, while the Philippines own Deep State rules from Manila, building naval bases for US military dockage and resupply within air strike distance of China, not because they ever would, but because ‘South China Sea Is Not China’s” is a very sellable brand, with unlimited grift potential through the criminally corrupt Pinoy Defense (sic) establishment, rount-tripping $10s Bs right back to WADC NOVA, as all the Pentagon’s brands and flavors have, $6,400,000,000,000 of taxpayers’ last life savings, that are never coming back, now listed as ‘Missing in Action’.
“Now they’re coming for your SS. And you know what? They’ll get it! They’ll get all of it!” (which they already have, Rodham’s new stealth 3% withholding tax, like her $3.5B grift to Karzai to cover the theft of her $5B grift to Karzai, is meant to cover the gaping shortfalls in the looted SS and MS TRUST FUNDS.)

Posted by: TheRealDonald | Oct 22 2016 17:08 utc | 11

5
There were no churches and no clergy and no liturgy when Jesus broke away from the goat gods of the Caananites, just as there were no temples and no monks and no liturgy when Buddha broke away from the monkey gods of the Brahmanites.
In both cases, Jesus’ and Buddha’s principal precept was ‘all men are created equal’ and the Caananite and Brahman Exceptionalist caste-systems were the great evil, yet in less than a century, the clergy and the monkhood had carved out a griftfest.
In the East, that Buddhist monkhood continues to serve the people, provide temples where poor youth are save to learn and study the precepts that help the East survive grinding poverty, and to challenge the modern wars of the Caananites, as they still do today.
In the West, however, the role of the clergy became the spox for Deep State during the Dark Ages purges under the absolute rule of the Royals, then the Devilish twins evils of the ‘Rolling Rock Ascension’ and the “Worship of Queen Mary” mystical gobbledegook. With a very few exceptions, the church of jesus original faith has been lamentably shamed, and now resides beside the throne of continuance of government, leaving welfare (sic) up to the for-profit Khazarim.
Or as Reverend Billy Graham, ‘America’s Preacher’ once exhorted the seething crowds in WA DC at the Lincoln Memorial, “Bomb the Gooks for Jesus!” And that’s your Mammonite Monkey God world manifesting in this era, back to the Dark Ages.

Posted by: TheRealDonald | Oct 22 2016 17:32 utc | 13

First one here is days old, but goes with the theme of another story out today IRAQ warning Erdo to stay TF out of Iraq (as in Mosul specifically for now)!
Po’ sultan just can’t get no love no how.
No R-E-S-P-E-C-T, either.
Syrian Army: Erdogan Regime Committed Massacre against 150 Civilians in Aleppo Countryside
2 days ago October 21, 2016
http://english.almanar.com.lb/72136
It warned that any attempt to repeat the violation of the Syrian airspace by the Turkish warplanes will be responded and downed with all available means.

Posted by: schlub | Oct 22 2016 19:26 utc | 15

And for your sick political humor of the day
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/trump-blasted-for-grievanceburg-address-threat-to-sue-all-the-women-accusing-him-of-assault/
This posting is mostly twitter responses to the latest from the other Donald at Gettysburg
Example:
Chris Antenucci @chrisantenucci
#Gettysburg “4 score and 7 years ago, I assaulted women, went bankrupt multiple times, and sued everyone who criticized me.”
10:01 AM – 22 Oct 2016

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 22 2016 19:31 utc | 17

TheRealDonald says:
There were no churches and no clergy and no liturgy when Jesus broke away from the goat gods of the Caananites,…
yeah, it came to me in a waking dream, our good friend JC wandering the hemp-clad hills of the Beqaa Valley, with a head full of hemp no doubt, in the very shadow of majestic Baalbek, out on the very fringe of Empire, with his gentle rant, his radical message, of peace and brotherly love.
he never meant it to be like this, dude’s rollin’ in his grave, er, or whatever

Posted by: john | Oct 22 2016 20:13 utc | 19

@20 schlub – hypocrisy is on display 24/7…

Posted by: james | Oct 22 2016 21:28 utc | 21

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttyVw1P7nIw Duterte raises his fist with the Reds. “This will not stand!”

Posted by: ruralito | Oct 22 2016 22:31 utc | 23

@ 8, Hillary Clinton and her gang of Neocons are the spiritual (and sometimes even physical) successors of the Soviet Bolsheviks and they, just like their Bolshevik forefathers, will not hesitate for a second to crush their enemies.
Bullshit, the Bolsheviks made Russia Grrrreat! To suppose out loud that they’re similar in any way to the gore-flecked gangster cabal at present raping the planet is a grotesque slander. Thank Christ they disposed of the Liberal filth that, even today, make smiley faces while they gorge on innocent flesh.

Posted by: ruralito | Oct 22 2016 23:02 utc | 25

@15 schlub
Syrian Army Command: Any Turkish military presence inside Syria will be dealt with as an “occupation force”

The statement referred to the targeting of villages and towns in northern Aleppo by Turkey’s air force and its army units’ transgression into Syrian territory, along with providing direct military support, using artillery and tanks, to the terrorist organizations to continue committing crimes against civilians in northern Aleppo.
The statement said Erdogan’s regime is playing a “dirty” role having provided shelter, training, weapons and funds to the armed terrorist groups and opened Turkey’s border to facilitate the flow of thousands of mercenary terrorists into Syria since the beginning of the war.
The Army’s General Command affirmed in its statement that any presence of the Turkish army units across the border into Syria, under whatever excuses, is rejected and condemned and will be considered an “occupation force” and confronted with all the means available.
It also held the Turkish leadership fully responsible for the “dangerous consequences” that might result from its acts on the security and stability of the region.
Turkish tanks and vehicles penetrated earlier today into the northern countryside of Aleppo, over two days after Turkish warplanes committed a massacre of killing more than 150 civilians in attacks on the villages and towns of Hasadjek, al-Wardiyeh, Hassieh, Ghoul Sorouj, Sad al-Shahba, Ihres and Um Hawsh in the same countryside of Aleppo.
On September 28, the Turkish forces transformed a school building in Jarabulus city into a hospital and hoisted the Turkish flag above it in another violation of the Syrian sovereignty.
While falsely claiming to be fighting ISIS terrorist organization through these actions, the Turkish military forces aim at helping other terrorist organizations linked to the Turkish regime to replace ISIS in those areas.

… and Syria’s Russian partners will help Syria repulse the Turkish occupation and invasion?

Posted by: jfl | Oct 22 2016 23:14 utc | 27

“As president, I will make it clear that the United States will treat cyberattacks just like any other attack,” the Democratic presidential nominee said. “We will be ready with serious political, economic and military responses.”
We need to tell everyone that for the sake of the word. do not vote for this dangerous woman!

Posted by: Tom Murphy | Oct 22 2016 23:33 utc | 29

Seems UK is moving into full war-propaganda-lying mode, check this whopper:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3851326/Finland-sees-propaganda-attack-former-master-Russia.html
Their “Russian” they quote, works at, get this, the neocon *Cato Institute* in Wash DC (you would be correct in assuming they don’t mention that) try SourceWatch to get some info on them
The icing on the cake is they refer to the “Balkan Sea” throughout the article, and still haven’t corrected it, they just don’t give a hoot anymore about the plebs they make up the dross for 😀
Someone want to grab a copy of the page before they trash it?

Posted by: land_of_the_few | Oct 22 2016 23:55 utc | 31

28
“We need to tell everyone that for the sake of the word. do not vote for this dangerous woman!”
Trump’s ‘The Wall’ = $TRILLION DOD-DHS National Police State, as others have already described.
DHS legislation was already passed but defeated by Republicans. This is the NeoLiberal end-run.
The whole Trump-Rodham Royal Schtick 2016 was to mobilize The People through Fear of The Other.
Trump’s ‘Kill ISIS’ = $TRILLION DOD-DHS Military Wehrmacht State, as others have already described.
DOD legislation was already passed but defeated by Democrats. This is the NeoConservative end-run.
The whole Trump-Rodham Royal Schtick 2016 was to mobilize The People through Fear of The Other.
Trump’s ‘Stand With Israel’ = $TRILLION DOD-DHS Global Apocalypse, as others have already described.
The whole Trump-Rodham Royal Schtick 2016 was to enable The Globalists through Freeing Moar Grift.
Trump’s ‘Cut Corporate Taxes’ = $TRILLION Tax Revenues Collapse, as others have already described.
The whole Trump-Rodham Royal Schtick 2016 was to finance The Globalists through Easing Up Taxation.
Trump’s ‘Kill Off ACA’ = $TRILLION SS and MC Services Holocaust, as others have already described.
The whole Trump-Rodham Royal Schtick 2016 was to Suffocate Our Elders by cutting SS & MC payouts.
1998 was their Soft Coup. 2001 was their Hard Coup. For 15 years America has been in an Apocalypse.
Sanders held down the Left so Rodham could move Center-Right. Then Sanders delivered the Left to her. Trump held down the Far Right, isolated and split them into Tax Dodgers versus Rabbinicals. Then he is going to take them over the cliff in November, leaving a palm-strewn path to Galilee for Rodham.
Rodham the Royal. Rodham the Globalist. Rodham the Friend of Wall Street. It was all so predictable!
Don’t feel so bad! Rumsfeld-Cheney’s ‘Continuance of Government’ Deep State siphons off $10sBs for domestic psyop, and they hire the best social engineering graduates that money can buy. From the signing of Gramm-Leich-Bliley, to the 9/11 destruction of all the IRS/SEC/Congressional records of high crimes and misdemeanors by Wall Street and Pentagon, America’s demise has been irreversible.
Anything you manage to save and set aside, their MIC elder-care will reverse-mortgage back again.
You have no choice. You are owned. They own you.
Now we must vote, we must accept the outcome, we must pay our annual tithe-tax to the One Party,
together with our annual interest-only ‘debt’ (sic) tithe-tax to the Private Fed Bank…forever.
And if someone poorer than you crosses your path, you’d better have cash in your pocket to share.
Sack up, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride to Charon’s Crossing.

Posted by: chipnik | Oct 23 2016 0:23 utc | 33

“A #RallyForAleppo will be taking place at 12 outside Downing Street in London calling for more decisive action on #Syria from the Government”
https://twitter.com/Sara__Firth/status/789774499671633921
“Teddy bears for the children of Aleppo #RallyForAleppo”
https://twitter.com/asadidarya/status/789965833929945088
Oh the insanity ….
Interestingly the signs they carry have the logo of Avaaz. Which is the PR company behind Syria Campaign and the White Helmets ….
http://www.alternet.org/world/inside-shadowy-pr-firm-thats-driving-western-opinion-towards-regime-change-syria

Posted by: Qoppa | Oct 23 2016 0:27 utc | 35

@ jfl
I am wondering if the situation with Turkey is that Erdogan has told the US that in exchange for his support he wants to expand his country into Syria.
The little boys are playing with big marbles now……..

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 23 2016 0:49 utc | 37

@30 lotf, ‘Their “Russian” they quote, works at, get this, the neocon *Cato Institute* in Wash DC’
Andrei Illarionov
Cato Institute
The real story of the “Balkan Sea” ‘aggression’.

‘It also aims to make citizens suspicious about the European Union, and to warn Finland over not joining NATO.’

Posted by: jfl | Oct 23 2016 1:16 utc | 39

@31 jfl – Don’t hear so much about the Russian-Turkish detente and its attendant peace and light any more.
Patience. Looking at tactics on the ground to reveal if Turkey has thrown in with east or west doesn’t seem to be getting any of us anywhere. There’s a major geopolitical pivot at stake here. Is it real or not? Russia certainly has shown enormous tolerance for the less than perfect at the tactical level when it comes to major shifts at the strategic level. What lines will Erdogan cross, and with what degree of alliance with US forces or designs will he cross them? Not known yet. Not shown yet.
There seem to be a lot of layers here. Erdogan is being warned by Iraq and now also the Syrian General Command that his presence on both countries is occupation and will be fought militarily. There’s a huge amount of rhetoric and bluster coming from Turkey lately. How much is real can only be revealed by how much territory it ultimately controls beyond its own current borders.
And speaking of layers, try this mass of nuance from Peskov (today’s date): Peskov: Putin and Erdogan are working to restore trust

“President Putin sufficiently trusts President Erdogan,” Peskov remarked. He added that the leaders of the two countries “are discussing the most sensitive topics related to the situation in the region and bilateral relations.”
Peskov went on: “I think that, of course, this mutual trust could be destroyed very easily and very quickly. Restoring trust takes time but without a doubt the two countries’ presidents have come a long way in this regard.”

To me it reads like walking a knife edge. Nobody has had to flatten Erdogan yet. On the other hand, he’s being incredibly pushy for a man who had an epiphany on the road to Damascus. If he betrays his own best interests and forfeits his chance to join Eurasia and leave the US, he will go down as the fool of the century. His brinkmanship at each turn suggests either the madman he often seemed to be, or numerous currents within Turkey and perhaps its military. But the course for Turkey is clear. How well Erdogan can steer that course remains to be seen.

Posted by: Grieved | Oct 23 2016 1:21 utc | 41

@LochEarn 29
Have I got the stuff for you, or what? 😉
He (Latvian:- Mārtiņš Lācis, Russian form: Martin Ivanovich Lācis, seems to have been a rum character. Lācis means “bear” in Latvian. His original name was actually Jānis Sudrabs. That is a pure Latvian-Ethnic name, not Russian at all. Sudrabs means Silver in Latvian.
He was a Latvian origin Soviet Revolutionary and writer.
He was from Vecpiebalgas pagasts (parish) specifically Putina estate, Wenden district (Wenden is the traditional German exonym for modern-day town Cēsis – these Baltic German names existed for 100s of years along with the German Landowners who were in the end kicked out by the Swedes), Livland Governorate (i.e. the future Latvia) Russian Empire.
OK anyway seems he worked mostly in Russia proper, and got shot by the NKVD in 1938. He was accused of belonging to a “counter-revolutionary, nationalist organization” by the NKVD.
He was not from Courland/Kurzeme, that is an error, definitely from Vidzeme region.
He worked in Rīga as a teacher until he went LSD (Latvian Social Democrats)
and participated in revolution against the Rusdian Empire. Then he moved to Moscow in 1913 then Irkutsk, then Ukraine then Moscow again. Which is where they shot him. They rehabilitated him posthumously in the 1950s tho ….

Posted by: land_of_the_few | Oct 23 2016 1:27 utc | 43

@40 g, ‘His brinkmanship at each turn suggests either the madman he often seemed to be, or numerous currents within Turkey and perhaps its military. But the course for Turkey is clear.’
I think Erdogan has dried up ‘the numerous currents’ within Turkey, at this point, other than his own torrent. I’m amazed that you think ‘Turkey’ is on a predetermined course of its own, independent of human agency, apparently.

Posted by: jfl | Oct 23 2016 1:51 utc | 45

@LochEarn 29
On an equally sombre note we have some Baltic Germans who didn’t go Soviet.
Specifically
Alfred Rosenberg, primary Nazi theorist, and colleague of Hitler. Born in Tallinn, his father was from Latvia, and he went on to study at Riga Polytechnic – not their fault I imagine? 😉 then went to Germany. He was hanged at Nuremberg for war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Secondly:-
Herberts Cukurs, sometime known as the Butcher of Rīga.
All round bundle of fun, ace aviator, explorer, and apparently an absolutely avid Pogrom participant.
He started out as a Bolshie but flipped and went completely HH.
He helped run Arajs Commando operation in an abandoned police precinct house at 19 Valdemāra Iela (street) in Rīga city centre. There they organised transport for rounding up and shooting Jews in Riga (mostly in Rīga forests at Bikernieki and Rumbula, and further west on beach at Skede) as part of Arajs Commando.
His crimes were so bad that after he ran away to South America, Jewish people (in Mossad, including one German-speaking Balt) tracked him down to Uruguay and killed him in 1965, leaving a note pinned on him “from those who will never forget”
Try this memorial and cinema film production project partly run by survivors – there were not many, some were hidden and saved from their fate by non-Jewish Latvians –
http://www.rumbulasecho.org

Posted by: land_of_the_few | Oct 23 2016 2:06 utc | 47

I’m sure the Russian message to Turkey is, don’t go anywhere near Aleppo city. Doing so will cause us to strike you wherever we feel it is necessary – so forget about the Aleppo city.
As for Northern Syria, there would have to be an East-West “red” line the Russians have drawn on a map for the Turks as to what they can tolerate (which is no doubt different to what their Syrian allies think, but what are they going to do about it?). Whether this line is north or south of Al-Bab for instance, who could possibly know?
As for Iraq & Mosul, I’ve no doubt the Russians have effectively told the Turks – Mosul is not our problem, sort it out with the Iraqis/Kurds/Americans, we will not get involved.

Posted by: Jules | Oct 23 2016 2:29 utc | 49

Idiotic Putin has organised the ceasefire with Russian themselves in Syria, where at the same time Russians have once again, admitted ceasefires have always failured because the terrorists ignore ceasefires and use it to rearm and resupply.
But this time the Russians did it to themselves without the evil US Empire pressure. How pathetic.
Like I said months ago, this is a piss weak Russia reacting to western propaganda lies. Not only does the propaganda lies work agaist most Western people, it works against Russian miss- leadership too.
So you can’t provide humanitarian corridors without military defence of those corridors being attacked? Not really a question because it’s obvious ? Except for maybe the Putin cultists

Posted by: tom | Oct 23 2016 4:25 utc | 51

Re NATO attempts to assassinate President Assad – back in 2013 it was UK:
G8: Cameron contemplates a military dictatorship in Syria. According to the Times of London, British Prime Minister David Cameron suggested to his NATO partners the idea of assassinating President Bashar al-Assad and organizing a military coup in Damascus…
In 2012 or 2011 I remember reading on VN (not in English) a short note stating that Obama in phone conversation refused Sarcozy’s proposal to bomb the presidential palace in Damascus and murder Al-Assad with his family.

Posted by: ProPeace | Oct 23 2016 4:36 utc | 53

@ Debsisdead comment 53
I agree with all of your comment except this line:
”
It would also send a signal to DC pols that having aipac on your side doesn’t mean jack shit anymore.
”
I think that AIPAC is also on the side of Trump, but differently. I see Trump, if “elected”, as being a tinpot dictator/president that is easily manipulated by the existing power structure.
I look at this (s)election process as being one that delivers a leader that reigns over the ultimate demise of the US as unilateral world power or extermination of us all. While it seems that Clinton II leads the parade to extinction, Trump is not far behind. The people that vote for Trump are not going to want the US to lose the empire hold on the world it has had until recently. They will be rabid about Manifest Destiny and all that racist treatment of all but whites.
Whatever happens, Obama is going to hand over a existing WWIII by January, 2017 to the new president…..how would Trump alter that course?
At 68 I am just happy I didn’t make any kids to have to explain or make excuses for our species idiocy to….or worry about their future in this world.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 23 2016 6:14 utc | 55

jfl@31 When Erdogan said to the Iraqi Prime Minister, “Its not important at all how you shout from Iraq,you should know that we will do what we want to do, know your place”. What arrogance, Erdogan will push and push on this because he thinks [probably correctly] that the Iraqi Prime Minister is weak and a US lackey. Time will tell.http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/know-your-place-erdogan-slaps-down-iraqi-pms-criticisms-turkish-troops-iraq-1387738724

Posted by: harrylaw | Oct 23 2016 7:32 utc | 57

Without justice, aka fairness, there will be chaos. Justice is vital to rehabilitating America.
If DTrump becomes pres., could he quickly act on his own to attract overwhelming popular support and loyalty to defang Establishment opposition? Perhaps using Executive Authority?
What actions can he quickly take that bypass permission and pressures from Congress, cronies and bureaucracy?
To wit:
Eliminate the lie of Too-Big-To-Fail by setting a clear example.
Legal and sensible acts to rehabilitate the justice system?
Acts to remove current injustices that are damaging the justice system?
Eliminate some IRS tax loopholes and tax-avoidance schemes.
Et Cetera!
Or:
1. Select 10 bright volunteers, of demonstrated ability and highly experienced by actual track-record.
2. Task them to make a list of such actions, as above, that are obvious, quickly done and easily agreeable to the 99%.
3. Assign them a deadline, pay expenses, get the list.
4. Select and do the actions and evaluate the actual results.
5. Promote and disseminate the successes.
6. Repeat as appropriate.

Posted by: chu teh | Oct 23 2016 8:37 utc | 59

As Turkey prepares to invade the strategic city of Al-Bab in Syria, the question on all our minds is what will be Russia’s response?
Will Russia help Syria throw the Turks out of the country, or simply stand by and watch, while preparing the bags to return home?

Posted by: redrooster | Oct 23 2016 11:45 utc | 61

“…annual interest-only ‘debt’ (sic) tithe-tax to the Private Fed Bank…forever.”
Gimme a break.
The Fed is a non-profit, turns over every penny it earns less expenses to Treasury.
Interest paid on bonds is income to the non-government…meaning us. Bondholders are us.

Posted by: paulmeli | Oct 23 2016 12:23 utc | 63

@tom – 50. What is so obvious in your opinion? Is it obvious to you that the U.S controls the narrative and that U.N and other international organizations blindly buttress what the west says? So if the narrative is that Russia is killing and starving innocent civilians in East Alepo, all the while, Mosul’s siege is (which actually affects more innocent civilians) is being touted as a good thing. What do you expect a reasonable Russia to do? Not counter the false yet loud narrative? You’re being naive and have no clue how international relations is played. They paused to counter the narrative of the west, even though they knew it wouldn’t work, the pause puts the western noise in its place, it shows their moderates are actually not, since they’ve been bombing and executing civilians trying to flee. It seems to me you’re the one with the narrow point of view.

Posted by: Blk | Oct 23 2016 12:55 utc | 65

We didn’t drop the hammer down during the Cold War, when it was The Existence of Capital Itself at stake. So we are unlikely to play Samson now and pull the temple down over — what? Enhanced arms sales to the Baltic? I discount highly Russia Insider’s repeated assertions of war.
Talk of the no-fly zone in Syria is just that, tough talk to impress the rubes (you know who you are). Formal imposition would require a UN resolution not forthcoming, and I doubt if most voters are fully aware of this.
The Donald would be an extinction-level event, the question being would it be just democracy or all of humanity that dies from Trump’s exaggerated ego and its overwhelming sense of mindless, careless solipsism. Mrs. Clinton is business as usual. Being the sole and necessary superpower is of course a messy and often brutal business.
Now, if something can be done about the Republican Senate….
And why is there increasingly a common dislike of the Day-Glo Orange Diatribe? Could it be that he’s said enough stupid or offensive things that he’s managed to alienate a good part of the political spectrum? That’s not a bloody conspiracy, it’s freaking common sense.

Posted by: rufus magister | Oct 23 2016 13:38 utc | 67

@Outsider | Oct 23, 2016 9:43:01 AM | 67
Trump says AT&T purchase of media giant Time Warner will “destroy democracy”
This soundbite may make me change, vote for Trump, if he breakup Comcast, AT%T and Verizon
“US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has vowed to block a proposed media mega-deal for AT&T to purchase Time Warner if he wins the presidency, insisting that such deals “destroy democracy.”
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/10/23/490262/US-Republican-Presidential-nominee-Donald-Trump-ATT-Time-Warner-purchase-deal-media-power-structure
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/10/23/490262/US-Republican-Presidential-nominee-Donald-Trump-ATT-Time-Warner-purchase-deal-media-power-structure

Posted by: Jack Smith | Oct 23 2016 14:10 utc | 69

Debsisdead @ 53

The reality, that if elected prez trump won’t have a ready made power monopoly across any of the usual tools of the imperial regime (…)

I’m not so sure that presumption holds up.

Posted by: jdmckay | Oct 23 2016 14:18 utc | 71

Jack Smith it certainly would be nice to break apart as many monolithic conglomerate-like pseudo-monopoly companies as possible. Trump seems to be interested in applying either the RICO act or similar to a lot of them, he mentioned something along those lines concerning Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post.
He should know by personal experience how it is misused but his priority is elsewhere in applying first aid to the US and stopping the bleeding which is a tall order on its own. It won’t be easy. Later on someone might be able to whisper sensible suggestions into his ear about Snowden, Assange, Manning, Binney and so many others both alive and dead.

Posted by: Outsider | Oct 23 2016 14:52 utc | 73

…
And Duterte will remain isolated in his Davao compound, while the Philippines own Deep State rules from Manila, building naval bases for US military dockage and resupply within air strike distance of China, not because they ever would, but because ‘South China Sea Is Not China’s…
…
Posted by: TheRealDonald | Oct 22, 2016 1:08:52 PM | 11
Don’t bet more than $5-00 on that.
Duterte returned from Beijing with a crash-course in Chinese-style (grown-up) Diplomacy & Wisdom under his belt and immediately ‘softened’ his stance on relations with the loud-mouthed Yankees.
No doubt the Chinese pointed out to him how easy it would be for nasty, reckless Obama to make a few Philippines Airlines Boeings “mysteriously” disappear, and acquainted him with the principles of The Long Game.
AmeriKKKa is so fucked…

Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Oct 23 2016 16:00 utc | 75

@ Hoarsewhisperer
I see Duterte’s role as being the canary in the coal mine to other outposts of empire. The message being that either a multipolar or extinct world is coming and they may want to rethink their fealty to the US.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 23 2016 16:39 utc | 77

Who posted that website that detailed problems with American voting machines and systems? They linked a really useful website, I think there was a long post about New Mexico? I cant seem to find it. Any help?

Posted by: Cresty | Oct 23 2016 17:09 utc | 79

@ Piotr Berman | Oct 23, 2016 9:28:26 AM | 66
“Douthat, of all people, wrote something sensible about HRC. Namely, rather than an ideologue, dangerous or otherwise, she is totally a herd creature.”
__________________________
Douthat, like the proverbial blind pig, may have come surprisingly close to rooting up an acorn of insight here.
But I don’t think that “herd creature” is quite accurate. For one thing, it’s too benign– or, at least, it can mean merely “sociable”.
Also, in isolation it suggests merely blindly “following the majority”. Incidentally, my late dear mother had this characteristic; for instance, she tended to wait and see what others ordered in a restaurant, and almost always ended up saying, “I’ll have that too.”
I do see that this designation is enhanced, or refined, by suggesting that Clinton follows the elite herd. That’s more like it, but one might as well use the term “authoritarian-submissive”. She’s not following the “herd” per se, but the scent of the elite few who lead, direct, and own the herd.
Put another way: when I read your comment, I asked myself for the thousandth time why the idiomatic expression “time-server” has all but disappeared from public discourse.
____________________
time-serv·er (tīm’sûr’vər) pronunciation
n.
One who conforms to the prevailing ways and opinions of one’s time or condition for personal advantage; an opportunist.
____________________
I have a standard, if not particularly original, joke that goes along with this: if I were publishing a dictionary, the Clintons’ pictures would appear beside the definition of “time-server”.
But I couldn’t just limit it to that odious pair. My Western Hegemony dictionary would have to have a separate volume for “time-server”, with a Rogue’s Gallery so extensive it would have to be divided into chapters– like a high school yearbook from Hell.

Posted by: Ort | Oct 23 2016 17:28 utc | 81

outsider at 68 re presidential rapid effects
Since two/multiple passports are a contradiction in terms of citizenship loyalties/obligations, might they be outlawed? And the benefits of that correction be far-reaching? Particularly as it concerns the exorbitant privilege* of bypassing citizen responsibilities?
* exorbitant privilege–was term first used to describe USA exclusive rights to Reserve Currency status of USDollar.[Perhaps by Jacques Rueff in clarifying difference between Gold Standard versus the Gold Exchange Standard created by 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement.

Posted by: chu teh | Oct 23 2016 19:31 utc | 83

@74 Noirette, ‘Apparently Clinton has friends at Amazon’
None of Hillary’s ‘friends’ have legs long enough for their feet to reach the ground.
@84 PB
That’s the second time I’ve noticed you mis-spelling the name … so precious. Calls attention to the relative strengths of signal to noise, though … and to your own weak second, signalwise, in this fortuitous, two-person matchup. That’s only my humble opinion, of course.

Posted by: jfl | Oct 23 2016 21:29 utc | 85

I have here the UN press release, as well as statements by assorted ambassadors. It seems a pretty routine, indeed almost generic denunciation of bad people doing bad things, and gosh darn it, somethin’ should be done. So you’ll need chapter and verse to support that assertion.
Since the Russian Federation signed on, I cannot see how this resolution could construed to authorize the abrogation of Syrian sovereignty, without the strong and effective objection of Russia and likely China as well.
So if I may, let me again put my unanswered question — what are the concrete aims of this “war” and how are they to be obtained?

Posted by: rufus magister | Oct 23 2016 21:52 utc | 87

Sam T @ 14, Also the true explanation concerning MH17 was left out: The poultry farm where it crashed
had industrial refrigerators for storing the already-dead bodies, a private railroad spur for transporting plane parts,
a boxcar & buildings to store them, and even a truck with crane for placing them. This was a very large operation.
Its purpose was sanctions to block continued Russian industrial development, especially its very lucrative
relationship with Germany. Russia did not immediately sign on to this hoax.
The Russian generals gave their press conference concerning the cause of the crash, thereby signing Russia on to the
hoax. The following morning sanctions were announced. The Russians’ mouths were stopped. They could no longer
say it was a hoax. Putin was shocked. Whatever the agreement had been, the US betrayed it by issuing sanctions.
For the only time, Putin lost his poker face. Perhaps it takes a woman to have seen it. Only the surface muscles
stayed the same. The underlying musculature was that of a great grief kept constantly before the eyes.
I don’t think it can be faked. It looked like constantly seeing the dead face of the beloved– or the death of
a long-cherished dream.
When he travelled almost at once to see Angela Merkel, she commented on his “absence.” The media chose to interpret
this as “He was not all there”– an insulting reflection on his sanity.
Whatever the extent or purpose of the collusion, MH17 cannot have been a real event. It is impossible for engines
weighing tons– and all the other parts– to fall from the sky, leaving no impact craters in the soft farmland.
When planes crash, they break even asphalt.
http://killtown.911review.org/flight93/crash-comparisons.html what the impact craters of real plane crashes look like.
There was collusion, too, in the Sinai fake crash of the Russian passenger liner. US & UK imm’y announced that their
intelligence services had discovered that it was the terrorists who had downed the plance. This hoax was obviously
being used to motivate the Russian people to accept further Russian involvement in Syria. Why wd US & UK want this?
What could be the common purpose among the three, except to drag the war out for further destruction of Syria,
destabilization of Europe via immigration– and of course as distraction.
Absent the Syrian war we might see and resist their progress in destroying the last of the civilization that we know.
Links to the Sinai crash photos, where every part sits lightly upon the sand which so readily takes tire tracks:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3297871/Russian-passenger-plane-220-tourists-board-missing-Egypt-Fears-aircraft-crashed-Sinai-desert.html close ups
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/616547/Ross-Clark-comment-Islamic-state?_ga=1.66755054.1719026965.1474088239 an engine.

Posted by: Penelope | Oct 23 2016 22:17 utc | 89

Trump’s latest proposals are worthless, because the oligarchs can and will bypass them easily.
For example, term limits on people like Pelosi or Cruz just means TPTB will promote a round-robin selection of crooked candidates “known to them” but “unknown to us”. Moreover, thanks to a constant barrage of “non-partisan” neoliberal propaganda, a good percentage of voters won’t even entertain “radical” change.
Power resides in the oligarchs, because they can afford to spend money on self-serving propaganda and campaigns for compliant politicians. In the absence of confiscatory taxation like we had from the 1930’s to 1980, wealth and power accumulate in a small number of hands. That concentration of wealth guarantees further corruption of the political process, until we have government like today that is so thoroughly corrupted that it refuses to prosecute blatant crimes.
With our present trajectory, I presume we’ll endure another 2-3 terms of successively worse conditions before people start ignoring neoliberal teams “R” and “D”. Black swans will likely emerge before then.

Posted by: dumbass | Oct 24 2016 0:10 utc | 91

@93. Sorry about that. I meant to add a comment. It seems WP may be having second thoughts about Hillary’s Syria intervention policy.
Trump should make it into a big deal.

Posted by: dh | Oct 24 2016 0:45 utc | 93

dh @93, 94:

It seems WP may be having second thoughts about Hillary’s Syria intervention policy.

More likely it is an attempt to play down her militarism now that there is talk of conflict with Russia. They don’t want to frighten people so close to the election.
Hillbot rufus was attempting to do the same @67 (see my reply @76).

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Oct 24 2016 2:26 utc | 95

And in more local USA news of further suppression
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/83-People-Tear-Gassed-Arrested-in-Dakota-Pipeline-Protest-20161023-0010.html
Its all about the God of Mammon instead of doing what is right for ongoing “civilization”. There is not another planet to bequeath to the children of the future but those that own private finance which instantiates the God of Mammon incentives, don’t seem to care about anything but money and power/control.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 24 2016 2:42 utc | 97

Sorry for the double post….I thought I maybe hit refresh instead of post because my comment didn’t come up after the refresh….

Posted by: psychohistorian | Oct 24 2016 2:47 utc | 99