He should be fired. I have never seen any type of political banner on a US embassy. Imagine if he unveiled "Trump 2020". I am shocked at the stupidity, and I'm sure many other embassy staffers told him it was wrong. I don't like firing people for mistakes, but this was so stupid it shows him unfit for this job.

Posted by: Carlton Meyer | Jun 15 2020 15:12 utc | 1

Come on b, what's it with these strange articles about the current unrest in the US? First you immediately peddled the 'rioters come from outside the black communities' bullshit in Minneapolis and now you paint the acts of some hypocrite diplomat with political ambitions in such a good light...

Posted by: namulith | Jun 15 2020 15:24 utc | 2

State Department officers are in what passes in sissified American government as "rebellion" against Trump. The War Department [to give it its true name] has put a thumb in Trump's eye. The thieves at Interior are too busy stealing.

Posted by: stevelaudig | Jun 15 2020 15:27 utc | 3

Since I follow other than just DNC approved media, I have the strong impression that it is the DNC that is running full-blown "election tactic of raising tensions" as is reflected by the approved riots, approved autonomous zones, approved looting and burning, approved hunting of policemen in cities and countries controlled by Democrats. They now pay lip service to the concerns of black people for just as long as they need their votes, and then it will be business as usual.
This ambassador is a disgrace to diplomacy - as are other US ambassadors including Grenell. You don't interfere with your host country, and you don't run propaganda for your own country's internal problems. Harris needs to go.

Posted by: Matthias | Jun 15 2020 16:02 utc | 4

I don't like firing people for mistakes, but this was so stupid it shows him unfit for this job.

Posted by: Carlton Meyer | Jun 15 2020 15:12 utc | 1

Reminds me a commander of an aircraft carrier who was fired (and restored, if I recall). Sometimes people should follow their opinions and not the instructions. To paraphrase -- which German is a good German?

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 15 2020 16:03 utc | 5

Not sure it is appropriate for the US government supporting protest directed at the US government.
In private life is another matter.
Problem solved.

Posted by: jared | Jun 15 2020 16:05 utc | 6

it is not endorsing this POS to point out what he is doing. he may be a Col. Jack T Ripper, another "Mad Dog" Mathis conveniently seeing the light, sure sounds like it, w/his "NK is about to take over the peninsula!" sounds like someone worried about the US brand who is positioning himself for the post-Trump world, as much as anything. He sounds so progressive probably listens to "In the Navy" daily, or NPR, to remind himself to make the US killing machine more diverse, so that villagers can feel some pride in US diversity when a gay person napalms their village. Colin Powell agrees and will happily hold up a vial of sugar and say to the world whatever he's told to say about anthrax, My Lai, what have you. see? diversity.

Posted by: jason | Jun 15 2020 16:12 utc | 7

Do you even read the article ? The character named Harry Harris is a unique character that are appointed by Trump administration in which he's rather an anti racism and tend to pick the left than right. The quality that Trump seek from him is his hawkish attitude towards North Korean (his background as a general and pacific commander could've helped him nominated by Trump. Trump love the military and general despite where he come from).
B do not noting anything being great about his action. He noted that open objections from character of this character background can indicate that US military doesn't come full in support of Trump policy regarding the domestic insurrection.

Posted by: Lucci | Jun 15 2020 16:13 utc | 8

@5 Piotr

Conflating insubordination out of the welfare of your crew with this obvious butt-hurt political statement is the stupidest thing I have read from you.

Posted by: Nemesiscalling | Jun 15 2020 16:15 utc | 9

So a NoKo hawk reveals himself as politically-charged on team-Globalist.

Trump is on a roll unmasking these clowns. Keep it up, I say.

"...Trump's election tactic of raising tensions."

At first I almost spit out my water reading this...but upon reflection, it is an ok statement. It would have been better if you would have followed with, "in an effort to smoke out the coordinated neolib agents who are conspiring politically against Trump 2.0."

Posted by: NemesisCalling | Jun 15 2020 16:20 utc | 10

The hypocrisy among commenters here is glaring.

If this was a Chinese admiral or diplomat, the tone of the comments here would be completely different: "whistleblower", "Chinese totalitarianism collapsing", "we should support him", "the Chinese should reform", "Xi Jinping should be removed from power" etc. etc.

However, as this is an American admiral and diplomat, the tone is "this is absurd", "he should be immediately fired for insubordination", "private opinion should be kept separate from the office", "a subordinate should never contradict his superior" etc. etc.

Posted by: vk | Jun 15 2020 16:24 utc | 11

just another wingnut from the usa seeking a hollywood type ending to his short diplomatic career....

@ 11 vk... i sort of agree with you... as long as they can find more personalities who can see a commie popping up everywhere, the usa will be a okay, lol.. maybe pat lang is up for the gig? i heard he is retiring from blogging, lol...

Posted by: james | Jun 15 2020 16:41 utc | 12

This is the honourable act of an adult who knows his boss is an asshole, a racist, and incompetent fool. He has assessed Trump as unworthy of his loyalty and respectful support. The Admiral knows Trump isn't loyal to anything but his ego and money. The Admiral knows Trump is a traitor to everything that made the US and other western democracies great. The commentators above are incapable of admitting the abject failure of Trump and Republican politics. They are terrified Trump will completely destroy the Rethuglican 'brand' for decades.

Posted by: ricardo2000 | Jun 15 2020 16:41 utc | 13

@5 Piotr

Conflating insubordination out of the welfare of your crew with this obvious butt-hurt political statement is the stupidest thing I have read from you.

Posted by: Nemesiscalling | Jun 15 2020 16:15 utc | 9

How about insubordination out of the welfare of United States Citizens ?
Are you seriously unconcerned by divisive and confrontational nature of Trump reaction to your social crisis ?

Posted by: Lucci | Jun 15 2020 16:45 utc | 14

Harris is Asian-American. His mother is Japanese.
How that works in the Great American Melting Pot, people inherit their surnames from father and their "race" from mother?

Posted by: hopehely | Jun 15 2020 16:49 utc | 15

It indicates a schism within the military. One step closer to a civil war. A fractured military set against one another is perfect fodder for a civil war. Crucial to winning the civil war is commandeering the nuclear arsenal. If it comes to a civil war, Pompeo and Trump would most definitely nuke Americans. No doubt about it. In fact, I would bet Pompeo has had contingency plans in place for such a manifestation. They have already shown themselves to be war criminals. I really don't think there is anything Pompeo and Trump wouldn't do to remain in power.

Posted by: 450.org | Jun 15 2020 16:50 utc | 16

well, we are all clearly suffering from tds if we have a different view... i am glad i got this out of the way, lol...

Posted by: james | Jun 15 2020 16:51 utc | 17

I'm thinking about Benjamin Studebaker's analysis when I watch this video. Most Americans are gong to think black thugs/goons burned the Wendy's down. Instead, it was what looks like a white female professional provocateur.

Verifying Videos Of Arson Suspect Accused Of Burning Down Atlanta Wendy's

Posted by: 450.org | Jun 15 2020 17:00 utc | 18

@namulith #2

"Come on b, what's it with these strange articles about the current unrest in the US? First you immediately peddled the 'rioters come from outside the black communities' bullshit in Minneapolis and now you paint the acts of some hypocrite diplomat with political ambitions in such a good light..."

What "good light" are you talking about?

B.'s tone and analysis was factual. I see no indication of any attempt put Harris in a good light. Why do you say Harris is hypocritical? And what makes you think he has political ambitions?

I don't know if B.'s analysis will turn out to be correct, but it's pretty plausible.

The wisdom of sending a Japanese-American to Seoul is highly debatable in the first place. And apparently the mustache that Harris grew post-Navy reminded South Koreans of the Japanese officers of the occupation.

The whole thing has been an own-goal from the start. But even the common cause of being hardline on North Korea couldn't keep Harris and this crazy administration on the same sheet of music. As ambassador, he must have been greatly aggravated at having to be the front man for Trump's low-class negotiations over paying for US troops, preventing Samsung from making chips for Huawei, etc.

Just one more act in the late-stage imperial comic opera known as US diplomacy.

Posted by: Oscar Peterson | Jun 15 2020 17:04 utc | 19

"Harry Harris, a former 4-star general"

Uh, in the navy they're called admirals.

Posted by: Oscar Peterson | Jun 15 2020 17:11 utc | 20

@12 It is entirely possible that Mr. Harris is a closet gay anarchist trying to bring down the system. Anything is possible in such a stressful job.

Posted by: dh | Jun 15 2020 17:18 utc | 21

@ 21 dh... it is worth a shot, lol.... maybe pl is too and he only has to run a gestapo type personal blog!!

Posted by: james | Jun 15 2020 17:21 utc | 22

@22 It is very hard to tell with anarchists. They use all kinds of disguises. I might be one myself.

Posted by: dh | Jun 15 2020 17:25 utc | 23

This happened prior to Crooke writing his current article, but I'm sure he'd liked to have included it. What to make of it all? Without being within the beast, IMO it's difficult for an Escobar or Crooke to grasp the great complexity that's at play, although I'll give Crooke credit for trying. One aspect he apparently overlooks is the very poor understanding of history and contemporary events exhibited on all sides--the "woke" are asleep as they know nothing of Anti-Federalism or of the Class-based rationale related to the genesis of Police, although they seem to be aware of the social control goals of that Genesis in both North and South as we examined last week. I mused quite a lot over the weekend about the demonstrators's values based upon the behaviors I'd seen both now and over that past several years and concluded the display is a blending of two important long running strains of political philosophy--Collectivist-Libertarianism: The need for a Community Collective where individuals are free to be themselves, to be accepted as is yet be part of a much greater whole. It's connection to Jeffersonianism ought to be clear: The Yeoman Farmer freely does his thing yet participates in community affairs as an equal to all others--class has no distinction as all are considered equal. What that omitted then and later were African-Americans and other Others--one of America's Great Sins. The Class War is also sidelined despite the reality of it being the most important factor in the equation--The .1% being the genuine looters and those responsible for the hollowing out of American Industry, Asset Inflation, and the existential crisis facing not just Middle America, but every strata of the bottom 80%.

IMO, there's no discernable ideological direction aside from some basic demands related to policing and the racism connected to it because those in the streets lack the tools to articulate a complete vision--something that's very difficult to do when you don't know where you've actually been and the happenings over the past 75 years that have shaped the current landscape: The genuine history of the Outlaw US Empire that relatively few actually know. People rage, but they don't really know the cause of their rage. Social Control of poor whites and minorities and being driven into debt-peonage are the two most easily identifiable, although knowing debt-peonage's definition is more recognizable as living paycheck-to-paycheck, with no real healthcare and zero upward mobility--stuck in the new suburban ghettos. Others have analyzed the situation as a revenge against Boomers, but I see all ages in the streets. Crooke's right that there're many weeks to go before the election. I do hope the major sport leagues remain idle, for the citizenry needs to focus on its relationship with government, and not be distracted from that very serious responsibility.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 15 2020 17:36 utc | 24

Another in a series of positive reports. Any and all acts which harm and cause delay and confusion on the part of the ruling Western imperial oligarchy is good news for the rest of the world.

Just in case some of you didn't quite notice, the "bailout" bills handed over to (or partnered with) the oligarchy the sovereign power of the US nation state had over its finances its currency and its economy.

The sovereign powers of the USA are now surrendered to the private oligarchy.

The USA is no longer a sovereign state.

Posted by: Babyl-on | Jun 15 2020 17:40 utc | 25

The hypocrisy among commenters here is glaring.
Posted by: vk | Jun 15 2020 16:24 utc | 11

My feeling of English is that this sentence implies that all, or a substantial proportion of commenters here exhibit glaring hypocrisy. Clearly, there are some thin lines here and there. Government officials have a wide attitude in interpreting rules they are obliged to obey, so under "qualified immunity" Amb. Harris should not have any trouble defending himself from criminal accusation. If he were in civil service, he probably was instructed to take care of displays and other messaging by the embassy with some vague general terms, so he should not be fired. But he may be removed from the post of Ambassador.

In general, USG is very happy if an ambassador is in blatant insubordination, e.g. supporting a FAILED coup against his own government. Could it misled some ambassadors that it is OK?

In short, there are good and bad types of hypocrisy, and USG should have some (online?) courses, so passing quizzes in Hypocrisy.1, Hypocrisy.2 and Hypocrisy.3 would be a prerequisite before granting a post (the higher the post, the more quizzes may be needed).

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 15 2020 17:47 utc | 26

A little fantasy: an ambassador strives to frankly convey the sentiment of his leaders.

Protester banners "We are not a colony" "We are not an ATM"

Embassy raises a banner "You ARE an ATM, deluded fools!"

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 15 2020 17:53 utc | 27

The Admiral Ambassador will be replaced. If his action were copied by more embassies, then we might speculate on an Anti-Trump revolt within State, but that isn't happening. Crooke had this to say about the military's reaction:

"Trump is well known to be viscerally ‘law and order’. And he almost went the full-Monty, ‘strongman’ act – he was on the cusp of deploying the U.S. military. Senator Cotton set the meme: 'Let’s see how these anarchists respond, when the 101st Airborne is on the other side of the street', he warned on Fox News.

"And on cue, the military – serving and retired – jumped in, to reminded Trump about the Constitution, and to walk back military deployment, beyond that of the state National Guards. Trump symbolically was imprisoned in the White House (behind high fences); he was being taunted by the DC local authorities, and was inside fuming. But he didn’t take the bait. Perhaps he understood: You don’t have a ‘collective’ of serving and retired senior military leaders suddenly disavowing a President, unless given ‘a nod’ that they might be needed to step in – and take over."

At first, contrived polling was produced showing majority support for Cotton's od/ed, but I noted lots of pushback from major and minor newspapers nationally, and significantly, no other politico seconded Cotton's Fire-Eater position. And looming tall in the background is the resurgence of COVID-19 as gathering restrictions are eased and state economies reopen.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 15 2020 18:00 utc | 28

Another crack un the wall. Nice to see even a retired general and N Korea hawk has some humanity left. As a parting shot he spit in the old bastards eye

Posted by: C | Jun 15 2020 18:27 utc | 29

karlof1 @24

No great complexity. No surprise. Welcome to the Glorious Permanent Revolution within the War Machine. If the much-feared asteroid were falling on New York, or the proverbial divine lightning had finally been unleashed by Jealous Jehovah, that would also get co-opted, financed and approved by CIA + Dim Party, to get the usurper out. It all, yet again, boils down to Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Posted by: Piero Colombo | Jun 15 2020 18:27 utc | 30

it’s inappropriate. That’s not the place for it. It’s childish and makes us look like the banana republic we’re quickly heading towards being

Posted by: DannyC | Jun 15 2020 18:34 utc | 31

@10 NemesisCalling

"...Trump's election tactic of raising tensions."

At first I almost spit out my water reading this...but upon reflection, it is an ok statement.

@

Agreed, I had an initial negative reaction to that line but after thinking it is true. The current unrest to me seems stoked by Trump's enemies, but Trump has used a strategy of pushing their buttons throughout his whole campaign and term. I do think he is trying to make them do something ridiculous, like defending riots and publicly supporting eliminating the police, as a way to galvanize his base for the election. I wish these tactics were not necessary but given that both sides are using them, I can only assume they are effective.

Posted by: sabre | Jun 15 2020 18:42 utc | 32

" One aspect he apparently overlooks is the very poor understanding of history and contemporary events exhibited on all sides.." karlofi@24
I'm beginning to think that Crooke simply doesn't know much history.
In today's piece for example he has "a tradition of state co-sovereignty, dating back to the 1871 (the Articles of Confederacy)..." ????
Then he suggests that we "Recall how the Trotskyites in the 19th Century ‘called out’ Russians..."???
before referring to those who "saw ‘statues falling’ with Cromwell’s illiberal ‘model army’ in the 1630s.."???
He gets 1619 right. I wonder what he studied at University.
For those who don't know there were no Trotskyists in the C19th, the New Model Army was formed in 1645 and the Articles of Confederation came into effect in 1781.

Posted by: bevin | Jun 15 2020 18:45 utc | 33

Of course the unprecedented banner has no logic. The native koreans will ask: what the hell those protectors of ours are up to?
Logical would be North Korean embassy to fly the banner in their
front entry.

Posted by: augusto | Jun 15 2020 18:47 utc | 34

karlof1 @ Jun15 18:00 #28

"Trump is well known to be viscerally ‘law and order’.

PS Where's the tax returns that Trump promised to release?

!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jun 15 2020 18:55 utc | 35

To me, this is a serious indication that BLM (which in principle I support) has been co-opted by the "Foreign Policy Establishment" (Vindman) and the Democratic Party.

Posted by: bjd | Jun 15 2020 19:05 utc | 36

bevin @33--

Thanks for your reply. Yes, those were very big errors. Most people in US streets don't even know who Trotsky was or the philosophy that's attributed to him. Hell, most don't even know what Jeffersonianism is or what the bases are for the Social Contract between federal government and citizen or where to find them; but I don't blame them for their enforced ignorance--they aren't supposed to know. I think this essay marks the second time in a month that Crooke has shown the need for an editor! But I do think he's correct about the multiple factions present in the game; and that to be successful, the majority must arrive at an agreed upon political vision.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 15 2020 19:05 utc | 37

There are other matters going on regarding the US in the Republic of Korea.
>ROK broke off intelligence-sharing with Japan.
>Trump wants an increase in ROK offset payment, or it will reduce commitment.
>DPRK has threatened ROK with attack of some kind, after two years of "give" to the US and no reciprocity on sanctions etc.

With the election coming up, Trump reverts back to his earlier campaign pledge to bring US troops home, which (as we know) is a non-starter with the "security establishment." His recent decision to significantly reduce troop numbers in Germany has caused a huge negative reaction. The fact remains that there is no good reason for 30,000 troops, with their dependents, to be in Korea at all. ROK is much richer and stronger that DPRK.
All of this bears on whatever decisions Admiral Harris makes.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 15 2020 19:10 utc | 38

"I have never seen any type of political banner on a US embassy. I am shocked at the stupidity... but this was so stupid it shows him unfit for this job."

Posted by: Carlton Meyer | Jun 15 2020 15:12 utc | 1

...

How about a "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" banner on a warship with a President dressed in Pilots garb? Is that more appealing to you?

USA- the "Worlds Foremost Leading Experts" on arrogance, hypocrisy and ignorance- would make a nice Embassy Banner.

As if Black lives, South Korean lives or North Korean lives actually matter to the Amurikan Political Murder Establishment. It's great to see the cracks expanding into the Abyss of USA, the exceptional nation full of shit...

Posted by: CitizenX | Jun 15 2020 19:44 utc | 39

Does he really think Koreans care about black Americans? Seriously, as a distinct people from a particular land, we should expect them to view ethno-nationalism as perfectly natural and even proper, and I imagine South Koreans can do without seeing as many Americans of any race on their soil.

Posted by: Jonathan Lester | Jun 15 2020 20:27 utc | 40

DannyC #31

You are well past being thought of as a banana Republic. You are a banana republic well on its way to becoming a peanut Republic. The ambassador is a nasty clown acting for a disreputable nation with a ridiculous political class.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 15 2020 20:35 utc | 41

450.org #18

Thank you for that link. It was amazing that she just walked up and did the trick and walked away. No one grabbed her. No cops in sight and yet they are supposed to be so well trained. Time to ditch the Occupied Palestine trainers and take advice from German or UK police.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 15 2020 20:44 utc | 42

Today's Renegade Inc while omitting news about the ambassador's actions does dig into the deeper reasons for the outrage triggered by George Floyd's execution. The show consists of two interviews, the first with Ajamu Baraka and second with Margaret Kimberley. But the introduction IMO was very powerful as it shows a clip of educator Jane Eliot asking a most important question to a hall filled with white students. Much of what's discussed in the interviews is daily grist for the MoA mill that myself and many others write about daily. One of the reasons I invested 30 minutes of my time to watch was to see just how close my thinking is to that of Baraka and Kimberley and if what I'm currently composing has an opportunity to be useful in our fight for Social Justice and the systemic change being successful in that endeavor will bring. Happily, I'm on the right track but need to quicken my pace of writing.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 15 2020 20:53 utc | 43

Indeed, the US is so diverse that the nation's ambassadorscan feel entitled to openly defy the State Department.

Posted by: Liberty Blogger | Jun 15 2020 21:01 utc | 44

vk #11

"the hypocracy among commenters here is glaring"

What a ridiculous statement. After ten comments with almost zero support for the jerk ambassador, you jump to some conclusion that is absent logic, absent analysis and an attack on this sites contributers.

You then make a fake comparison with an imagined converse scenario in a lame attempt to further denigrate MoA writers.

Please stick to writing for zero hedge.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 15 2020 21:02 utc | 45

uncle tungsten @42--

This probably isn't the appropriate thread, but policing is one of the factors relevant to the ambassador's actions: What ought to constitute appropriate policing? Ah, but there's an issue that precedes that isn't there, so here's the entire equation: What constitutes an appropriate level of policing in a society with proper amounts of socio-economic support for all its members? If needs are mostly eliminated, then how much social control needs to be applied? IMO, a miniscule fraction of the amount currently employed.

If police are to be defunded, then all social inequities that cause need for such services must be addressed.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 15 2020 21:05 utc | 46

When will BLM move past the few deaths to the many thousands of Black homicide victims that are killed largely by an identifiable 6% of Americans?

Posted by: Liberty Blogger | Jun 15 2020 21:07 utc | 47

karof1 #46

Agreed - social needs met first as an essential step. I imagine that excellent models can be found in Cuba, Sweden, Venezuela where there is a foundation of being of service to community. I have not studied this subject and I am sure there are many outstanding sources of knowledge.

Certainly social and personal security are priority investments well before prisons and policing.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 15 2020 21:13 utc | 48

Q How do you tell when a politician is lying ?
A. Their lips are moving !
The point is Trump willl be intending to use ‘law and order
As his election campaign. But the reality of his actions is the exact opposite of ‘law and order’ (its what psycopaths do)
The gulable fall for it, as he knows.
But you can’t stop reality. World wide more and more people are standing up and speaking up. The silent majority will become bolder, braver.
Trump is a pathetic emperor with no clothes.
The truth be told ther will be a huge huge number of people like Harry Harris In the armed forces, media, finance and govenment not to mention the public.
I’m optamistic.
Q What do BLM and all the protesters want ?
A. LAW AND ORDER ! Think about it !

Posted by: Mark2 | Jun 15 2020 21:20 utc | 49

Liberty Blogger @47--

Other organizations have already done so, like Black Alliance for Peace, but they don't have Establishment connections and thus get very little media attention. In his Renegade Inc interview, Ajamu Baraka, which I suggest you invest 30 minutes to watch, acknowledged the Socio-economic Systemic roots of the problem we confront, that the oppressed include not only Blacks but all other minorities and "the poor white working class." Those I know from that group are pissed off not at BLM but at Media for ignoring their plight, for they're a much larger group and many more of them die at the hands of police than blacks. A much better question would be: When will BLM change its name and focus to All Lives Matter?

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 15 2020 21:23 utc | 50

Karlofi @ 50
You ask ‘when will black lives matter chainge their slogan to all lives matter ‘
After 400 years of being the victem of white brutal violence. That question is inappropriate ! And garenteed to produce a very angry response, and rightly so.
That question is simply counterd by the slogan.———
NO JUSTICE NO PEACE !!
So you can see it’s a white problem not a black problem.
My view is ——— all lives don’t matter until black lives matter ! Racists lives don’t matter, trumps life dosent matter. And the quicker the USA & U.K. are ‘broken up the better !
Neither are fit for purpose.

Posted by: Mark2 | Jun 15 2020 21:54 utc | 51

Is this news? The fairground attraction of US domestic decline has been showing reruns for 40 years and is a tad predictable. I would prefer to hear long-awaited updates on Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Venezuela, etc, for which this site is rightly regarded.

Posted by: Patroklos | Jun 15 2020 22:01 utc | 52

b hates the US, because it played a significant role in the destruction of his beloved Third Reich.

Posted by: bob sykes | Jun 15 2020 22:02 utc | 53

Posted by: bob sykes | Jun 15 2020 22:02 utc | 53

Well, you guys (US) are killing people all over the world, so that's why the world hates you. Stop killing people all over the world and then people might stop hating you.

Posted by: Passer by | Jun 15 2020 22:06 utc | 54

Maybe the ambassador is a man of principle, maybe not. In either case, he has probably had all that he can stand of working for fools like Trump and Pompeo. Hanging the banners on the embassy is his way of flipping both of them a giant and very public middle finger as he walks out the door. Also, he might not want to go down with a sinking ship.

Posted by: Rob | Jun 15 2020 22:13 utc | 55

Thank you, karlof1@50. This is the crux of the 'matter', not meaning to be glib about it all. Those of us on the fringes, and there are many, do not want the divisive issues of the past to rear their ugly heads again. We have come too far. We do not need to focus on the shameful deeds or positions of former bigots who rose to prominence in this country. Martin Luther King is dead but his words live on, and so they should. They are the better part of his nature and of human nature itself. So it is in my church with the saints we revere. No man is perfect, and they themselves knew their own imperfections. But we build on the shining moments some men have risen to, and we hold fast to the good if we are to make our own lives meaningful.

The sins of our ancestors are not our sins, but their achievements can be ours if we remember and pay them respect. In that spirit I would like to recall that George Wallace, whose earlier bigotry was so shameful, rose above those beginnings after his near death experience when crippled by a would be assassin. He renounced his former self. He should be remembered more for that renunciation than for his bad character that was so damaging theretofore. And President Kennedy was a good president, struck down too soon. His intention was to make the world a peaceful place; he did not deserve his end.

Hold fast to the good.

Posted by: juliania | Jun 15 2020 22:25 utc | 56

Patroklos @ 52
Having read your comment I’m genuinely interested ! What country do you live in ?

Posted by: Mark 2 | Jun 15 2020 22:25 utc | 57

@ Posted by: bevin | Jun 15 2020 18:45 utc | 33

The problem with these kind of analyses (Crooke's) is that, in order to preserve the sanctity of the object, they paint a narrative where the problems came from nowhere. It's like the USA was paradise on Earth before 2020, when, suddenly, aliens attacked a la Independence Day.

And the fact that he tries to do it by somewhat denigrating the Russian Revolution makes it all the more bizarre. It just tarnishes his (and his country's) credibility. Like, what does he mean? That there was a Trotskyist underground movement going on in the USA? That any alternative is objectively worse?

All of this only reinforces my hypothesis that, beyond being nationalists, the American people is anti-communist. Consciously or not, they know that their ultimate purpose on Earth is to stop the rise of socialism at all costs (even at the cost of their own country).

I remember reading the main NYT article when the first cracks of the COVID-19 were beginning to appear in the USA. Trump was doing blunder after blunder, and the article was about that and was a huge success with many thousands of comments. I went to the comments container with the message in my mind: "I bet at least one of the top 5 readers' recommendation comments is something negative about the Bolshevik (October) Revolution". And I won the bet: the second most recommended comment was one about how the USA should avoid, at any costs, a revolution, because that would be "as bad as 1917".

I can't explain, but you can certainly feel in the air that the October Revolution and the USSR still haunt the American people - from Alabama to California; from North Dakota to New York. I think that, deep down, every American knows they are a capitalist empire - it's "popular wisdom", as they say.

Posted by: vk | Jun 15 2020 22:29 utc | 58

@ 50
The premise that there is as much prejudice toward poor whites as there is against blacks in the US is ignorant, untrue and ridiculous.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 15 2020 22:41 utc | 59

Finally ... I get to be a flag waving loon. As much as I agree with the ambassador, this is an inappropriate display for a federal employee in his position, especially one who represents the Administration and U.S. interests in the world. One has to keep a certain decorum based on your job.

BTW I believe people are blowing smoke to cover up the origins of the 'neck kneeling' technique and its possible origins to Israel. And I am appalled at the baboonish response to the slaying of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta by senior Law enforcement officers. If I had any authority I would use this opportunity to purge as many of these leaders as possible. They should be ashamed of themselves by bringing up so many false things to cloud the issue.

Yes, he was drunk and should have been arrested but he was fleeing the scene and posed no danger to anyone yet he was shot in the back. He was on foot, not driving a car. He was unarmed. He had already fired the one shot taser. They had his car and all the info they needed to track him down. BTW there is something off w/Dan Bongino other than your typical belligerence but he's not the law enforcement I'm referring to because he's just an ex-security guard.

Posted by: Christian J Chuba | Jun 15 2020 22:54 utc | 60

vk@58, the American people are not haunted by the Russian Revolution. If they are haunted by anything it is by the multiple assassinations that occurred here from 1993 on. Whatever actually occurred and who set those tragic events in motion has never been publicly resolved, and as long as that will not happen, that is what haunts us all. I know; I was here as a young person. I saw my late husband cry after the assassination of JFK, one of only two times in our life together that he did so.

Most American youths from that time have been waiting for a new Kennedy figure to appear. There have been lookalikes - Clinton, Obama especially trading on that charismatic trio of potential standard bearers, the two Kennedys and Martin Luther King. Crushing them was evil incarnate in this country and in many others. And that it was three huge blows of that nature is hardly imaginable today. Yet the same anguish is stirred every time a man, black or white, brown or yellow is assassinated by someone with a weapon of power. Those public assassinations simply add to our ongoing angst. It's why I can't forget the young man drone assassinated by Obama, the Iranian general blown to bits by Trump. These are aweful, aweful crimes. They haunt those of us having to live through them. All power to anyone who can heal these wounds. We all feel them.

The Russian Revolution? That's for Russians to come to terms with. That's what Putin is doing, and I think he is doing it well.

Posted by: juliania | Jun 15 2020 22:55 utc | 61

Sorry, 'from 1963 on,' of course. Tired fingers.

Posted by: juliania | Jun 15 2020 22:58 utc | 62

@61 juliania

I agree, and thanks for bringing that up. I think you're correct to speak of what haunts at least a couple of generations in the US. And the younger ones have even more to haunt them, of course: they're living the nightmare in real time now, and trying to make ends meet and visualize some kind of future.

I have been quite surprised to see voices rising up across all constituencies and viewpoints lately, in dissatisfaction, in the US. Even my small town newspaper carries letters from citizens saying that our police department doesn't need that damned "tank" (armored personnel carrier) gifted by the Pentagon and sitting down at the station, waiting for...what?

It begins to seem that many people have grievances. It strikes me as on-topic to think that this Harris guy has his own grievances too. I would expect to see countless more eruptions of willful behavior everywhere, and opinions offered that would have been held silently in prior times. No one is happy, anywhere in the US.

Posted by: Grieved | Jun 15 2020 23:11 utc | 63

In this photo the LGBTQ banner is displaced above the BLM one at the embassy. This happens at a time when the supreme court decided a major victory for LGBTQ rights over the objections of the administration who argued that the word "sex" in Title VII refers to male and female only.. . .Title VII bans any employment discrimination that occurs “because of ... sex.”

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 15 2020 23:14 utc | 64

@18

> a white female professional provocateur

That description fits any one of a number of current (or previous) Fox News commentators.

Posted by: Rich | Jun 15 2020 23:24 utc | 65

Very interesting article by Vladimir Odintsov:

Vestiges of the American Dream

It brings this very curious information that I wasn't aware of:

On May 15, the US Department of the Treasury released Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for March 2020. It showed that total foreign ownership of Treasuries dropped by $256.6 billion to $6.81 trillion.

I already knew there was a race to the Renminbi since China recovered from the first wave of the pandemic (it is mentioned in at least two op-pieces in the Asia Times), but I didn't know there was a correspondent race from the USD. Let's remember: in 2008, there was a race to the USD; the USD became stronger than ever with that crisis, and America's dominance in the financial sector strengthened, not weakened.

Now it may be different. The USD is getting weaker, not stronger. Faith in the USA is weaning.

Also there's this nice little piece, very poetic, whose only value is in the fact that it was written by an American who loves his country and served in the Army:

America Without the Sugar Coating: Wishing Ill Will On Our World

--//--

@ Posted by: juliania | Jun 15 2020 22:55 utc | 61

What will become of "Putin's Russia" is a very interesting topic.

Pepe Escobar's interview with Karaganov made it look like Russia's plan is to serve as some kind of leader of the "non-aligned" countries in a future China-USA bipolar world order. I found it too vague, could mean anything.

However, there's another, much more interesting, phenomenon: the rise of some right-wing intellectuals from Russia and the USA who are trying to revive what we call nowadays as "paleoconservatism". They are the Martyanovs, Dugins, Korybkos the guys who write for Unz and The Saker, the Russia Insider team around there.

Those "new paleoconservatives" differentiate themselves in the sense that they really try very hard to be intellectuals -- that is, they do not adopt the irrational methodology of the typical far-right/neofacism, they abhor the neocons/neoliberals, they abhor the so-called "woke left/cultural marxists/pluralists/SJWs" (which they frequently associate, if not equate, to the neoliberals), they believe in some kind of a concept of race or racially determined culture based on geography and climate, they certainly abhor scientific socialism (some of them even, under absurd and extremely dumbed down arguments, directly stating Marx's theory was wrong) but they also abhor Nazism - albeit for reasons that are not, let's say, "orthodox". They are also against imperialism as the USA is practicing right now, but not against "self-defense" imperialism, that is, the line is blurry.

But the most important factor that unites this group is their blind faith in Christianism. They somehow believe that if you fuse capitalism (which, for many of them is not even a system, but human nature itself) with Christian values (it doesn't need to be Christian religion per se, you don't need to be a practicing Christian), you somehow get the perfect mix between man's animal side (capitalism) and spiritual side (Christianism). It's like your traditional post-war social-democracy, with the difference that they put Christianism in socialism's place. As a result, you go back to the good ol' times, more or less in the 1950s, where everything was, allegedly, "in their place".

This obsession with Christianism makes me, jokingly, to call this coterie as the "Neobyzantines" - a bizarre postmodern chimera born from the degeneration of late stage capitalism.

But this is the boring part. The cool part about the Neobyzantines is the fact that they have a geopolitical policy. What's this policy? You guessed it right: they want a Christian confederation composed of the entire Northern Atlantic (NATO countries)... plus Russia. This, the Neobyzantines say, will save Christianism (and the correspondent white race) from subjugation and hegemony of the socialist Yellows (some of them also have a racial-based theory about why socialism/communism naturally occurs in East Asia; for some of them, South Korea and Japan are even communist themselves already).

We know Putin was raised as a Neobyzantine. He's an Ocidentalist that believed in the concept of an European civilization. That's why, in my opinion, he plays such a good sport with the Orthodox Church, as it is a living fossil of the times of Peter the Great etc. etc. However, as time passed, he became increasingly disillusioned with the USA and the EU, and the ties were definitely broken with the invasion and partition of the Ukraine in 2014. His policies, therefore, clearly became more Eurasianist, but that certainly was the result of necessity, not free will.

Is Putin may be converting himself to "Neobyzantism"? Will Neobyzantism really become a thing, or will it just be thrown to the dustbin of History, as was many other ideologies of the past of which only a Historian knows nowadays?

Posted by: vk | Jun 15 2020 23:35 utc | 66

Clearly this poster was hung in response to the continued black on black violence in Chicago

Posted by: Jezabeel | Jun 15 2020 23:41 utc | 67

Trump's "recent decision to significantly reduce troop numbers in Germany has caused a huge negative reaction. The fact remains that there is no good reason for 30,000 troops, with their dependents, to be in Korea at all. ROK is much richer and stronger that DPRK.
All of this bears on whatever decisions Admiral Harris makes.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 15 2020 19:10 utc | 38

I wonder what reactions you have in mind. In Poland the reactions are mixed. The idea to pay two billions to welcome American troops does not seem popular, but within rotten political consensus. However, Polish government allegedly prefers to place these troops in eastern Poland, and Americans, in western. Anywhere in Poland, folks In the countryside are kind of surly, if outsiders make problems they are not shy to smack them on the face. In the west the incomes are better and the prospect of getting jobs related to American presence is not much of a sweetener. Somewhere near Poznan there is a base with storage of "prepositioned weapons" and the example of smacking Americans on the face is from there (a farmer was irate because an American truck flattened his fence, so when he saw uniformed Americans in a bar...).

In the east one can find more amenable population and even better, some former military facilities In a deep forest, or next to a big quagmire. This is pretty unattractive for the troops.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 16 2020 0:02 utc | 68

It would seem that if Harry Harris takes anti-racism pretty seriously as B suggests, it would be when such anti-racism might be directed at himself or his mother or when he wants to profit from it in some way, cloaking himself in the banner of "diversity" and what it supposedly represents.

When it comes to considering the feelings and views of the people of the country to which he was posted as US ambassador back in 2018, I wonder whether Harris realises his own attitudes might be construed as racist by his host nation.

Posted by: Jen | Jun 16 2020 0:10 utc | 69

Piotr Berman @ 68:

I read your comment with interest.

Are you suggesting that the Polish government might be cynical enough to want to place Americans near where the Americans might have to fight (shock, horror!) imaginary Russian forces near the eastern borders or actual Banderite gangs near the southeast so the regular Polish army would not have to face those enemies?

Are you also suggesting that Americans would prefer not to have to fight any of Poland's enemies, real or imaginary? What might that suggest about American readiness to fight, that the US prefers to place its troops in areas near Germany despite opposition from both Germans and Poles on either side of the border? What does that say about the real role of US forces in Poland, that they might really be there to put pressure on Berlin to give up relying on Nordstream II for German gas supplies?

Posted by: Jen | Jun 16 2020 0:23 utc | 70

Don Bacon @59--

I never used the term "prejudice"; that was your own. IMO, you need to be confronted by the 20-30s something aged men I've been corralled into interacting with as they do have their own real grievance on this issue and they're correct as that's what Identity Politics has done. As others have pointed out, the bullets that shattered the brains of the Kennedys and murdered MLK were essentially the same bullet aimed at destroying solidifying resistance to the Thugs hiding behind the Police-state's power--a resistance that wanted Social Justice For All--And you know that! We ALL suffer from Neoliberalism today because we failed as a society to prevent its rise to dominance, but the brunt of that economic and social hegemony was aimed at the White working class and their unions--not because they were White, but because they were the majority within that Class. It mustn't be forgotten that this is first and foremost a Class War where supposed racial differences are used to prevent solidarity from being achieved. And you know that too! Just as Mark2 knows it as well.

The Enemy is the Rentier Class, of whomever that consists. It is their desire to universally enslave humanity via Debt Peonage. And that Class will use every tool at its disposal to arrive at that outcome. Previously, Most resistance has occurred elsewhere, outside the Outlaw US Empire, but now that's all shifted as the guns are now aimed at all of us. So we either resist as one or lose, as we all together constitute the only countervailing force capable of fomenting the required change of our societal order!

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 16 2020 1:00 utc | 71

imperial spear and water carrier Harris's lifetime spent on behalf of imperialism cannot be undone by draping himself or US history and foreign policy in the struggles of other peoples. USPACOM and Pompeo-headed State Dept don't stop being what they are cuz this asshat puts up a sign. (what are they? getting what they deserve in places like Benghazi, that's what.)

"if the light that is in you is darkness..." like a capitalist thief, he steals others' beliefs and labor for himself to assert a lie, that Trump is an aberration, that a person's intentions within the system matter in the slightest (like it matters for what the US Navy does that he hearts gays in the Navy. thanks Obama for this shit,) or that Korea wants anything except for this fuck and his 30000 soldiers to get the hell out, whether they meet their "diversity quotas" or not.

and that foreigners who've only been exposed to African-Americans thru the US media might be prejudiced should not be surprising in the least. It would be rather shocking if they weren't, given that the purpose of media exposure of Black lives in the US is largely to show how much blacks really deserve prison after all. if they aren't entertaining us, that is.

Posted by: jason | Jun 16 2020 1:09 utc | 72

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 15 2020 17:36 utc | 24 This happened prior to Crooke writing his current article

Just read that piece. I was fascinated to see him referencing an article by "Walrus" over at SST (which was a particularly BS article in my view.) However, he referenced the concept of Walrus' article about a "billionaire network" controlling everything by corrupting people over 40.

My reaction to that is: Isn't that how it was always done throughout history? The rich control the less-rich who control the less-rich - using his matryoshka example.

His main thesis is that younger ideologs are setting up a more serious divide in US society than the old "Liberal vs Conservative" or "North vs South" division, and that this is putting pressure on the "billionaires network."

I'm not sure how to regard that concept yet. On the one hand, I know that the old "young vs old" dynamic is always at work - and generally irrelevant since it is the old that controls the money and the military power. OTOH, there is a new phenomenon in the last decades, starting with the availability of networks, and then growing with the availability of affordable personal computers, and now exploding with the presence of the Internet. That phenomenon is hacking. And it is the youth that control that technology.

I referenced the "cyberpunk" sci-fi genre a few threads back. If one is familiar with the hacker community and the infosec profession, ne if struck by the massive disparity between the capabilities of the attackers and that of the defenders of networks. No matter what the defenders do, there is no stopping an adversary which has motivation, resources and time. The defender has to always be right, the attacker only has to be right once.

This translates to the current situation socially - but only to a limited degree. Hackers are a particular breed intellectually and emotionally. Their attitudes and abilities do not translate to the rest of people their age. Their political and social attitudes *may*, to some degree, depending on the hacker.
But most hackers have a decidedly anti-authoritarian, if not libertarian, or dare I say anarchist, attitude. They can join with others, but that tends to be at arm's length. So I don't see the majority of them empowering a "youth collectivism" or whatever one wants to call the general social and political attitude of the young today.

I *do* see them being willing to take on political and social power. That was the entire reference point of the cyberpunk genre: technically proficient iconoclasts marginalized as criminals taking on (and frequently losing) TPTB depicted as corporations and the state.

I see the rise of hacking as a direct threat to the "billionaires network" (if such a thing actually exists as a coordinated entity.) The only question is whether the hackers have a coherent view of their potential. I suspect they don't, much like the "Woke" (see below). But they could - and if they did, they'd be very dangerous since there is no real way to stop them, and their numbers are growing worldwide as more Third World societies develop middle classes that can afford to own computers while still not providing an adequate economy for their people (places like India, Malaysia and Indonesia.)

"One aspect he apparently overlooks is the very poor understanding of history and contemporary events exhibited on all sides--the "woke" are asleep as they know nothing of Anti-Federalism or of the Class-based rationale related to the genesis of Police, although they seem to be aware of the social control goals of that Genesis in both North and South as we examined last week."

Agreed. That's my problem with the "Woke" - they're even more ignorant than their parents were, even if they're more socially conscious. They believe things that aren't correct just as much as their parents did - they just believe different incorrect things.

"The Class War is also sidelined despite the reality of it being the most important factor in the equation--The .1% being the genuine looters..."

Agreed.

"IMO, there's no discernable ideological direction aside from some basic demands related to policing and the racism connected to it because those in the streets lack the tools to articulate a complete vision--something that's very difficult to do when you don't know where you've actually been and the happenings over the past 75 years that have shaped the current landscape"

Indeed. One has to burrow rather deeply into first principles to formulate a coherent philosophy - and I don't see anyone doing that. I had nine years in a Federal prison to re-orient myself and I benefited from having a previous forty years of exposure to concepts outside the mainstream "left vs right" dichotomy. I doubt many of these people on the streets have a clue as to what should be done either on their personal level or a social level.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 16 2020 1:11 utc | 73

Jen | Jun 16 2020 0:23 utc

The current government is crazy in Trumpian way, meaning, from time to time they say something that makes sense, but being crazy, it does not add to a lot of sense. Concerning how to defend from Russia, there is a lot of schizophrenia. Unlike in USA, Russians are not some abstract primitive people, but actually people who look, eat, drink, think and speak quite similarly. More similarly than Americans. Sure, our borsch is better, but the most popular type is "Ukrainian". More educated people get more excited about Russian dangers, but to lower classes, not so much. And a lot of people were talking with Russians or other Russian speakers, seeing them work etc. Imagine independent California, with elite begging USA (that does not have California) to defend them against Mexico. Or imagine that each state is a separate state and we need to beg Holy Roman Empire of German Nation to defend against Mexico.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jun 16 2020 1:12 utc | 74

I'm struggling to care about what some upper mid-level imperial functionary gets up to, as whatever their particular vagaries may be, the fact is they all pursue the ridiculously unattainable mirage of 'global domination' without question.

A few days ago a poster who I apologise to for forgetting who it was, posted a a link to site called 'viable opposition'. The subject was the failure of amerika to get a grip on hypersonic missile technology. Towards the end of the article there is a video of a talk given by members of defense dept, 'think tank experts' and a retired service person now a mid-level MIC spruiker.
It runs nearly an hour & I watched all of it fascinated by the insight it gave me into the enemy.
Their conversation is peppered with acronyms & other lame jargon understood only by their fellow travelers.
They all passionately believed in the necessity of getting amerika into 'hypersonics' which I must remember to use as a noun since one of them, the one the others deferred to,& the MIC spruiker, went into a long rant about how hypersonic is an adjective not a noun.
Anyway after establishing as an unquestioned truth that China's advanced hypersonics are preventing amerika from its standard right of 'force projection' into the western pacific, the discussion became about ways & means.

There was no interest in pursuing if amerika truly had to have 'hypersonics', no concern about the danger to the world not to mention amerika, caused by the real problems that amerika's desire to dominate the globe presented.

It was just a bunch of mid sized fish maneuvering on the best way they can jointly become the boss of their sad little MIC pond.

This admiral turned state department drongo will be no different, as I said before, he may have his vagaries, but his devotion to the impossible, keeping amerika supreme, will be no different to any other imperial functionary, so why waste any thought much less words on such a flea.
Because he may be a servant of the dem half of the amerikan empire party?

Who cares, as we have all seen time & time again, that makes zero difference to the amount of gratuitous rape & murder and only slight difference in the direction booty is sent, though never the amount of the thefts.

They all require a firing squad, gas shower or guillotine.

Posted by: A User | Jun 16 2020 1:17 utc | 75

from wiki:
Commander, Joint Task Force Guantanamo
In March 2006, he assumed command of Joint Task Force Guantanamo in Cuba. His service was notable as he was in charge when three prisoners, Mani Shaman Turki al-Habardi Al-Utaybi, Salah Ali Abdullah Ahmed al-Salami and Yasser Talal Al Zahrani, died in the custody of US forces. Defense reported the deaths as suicides. Harris said at the time,

"I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us."

what won't this asshole say?

Posted by: jason | Jun 16 2020 1:18 utc | 76

Posted by: karlof1 | Jun 15 2020 19:05 utc | 37 Hell, most don't even know what Jeffersonianism is or what the bases are for the Social Contract between federal government and citizen or where to find them

Did you see that post I made yesterday about how a significant portion of the population can't even name the three branches of government, or know that the Constitution is (supposed to be) the supreme law of the land?

It's not hard to advocate policies against the Constitution when you don't know what it's about. I come to that via the Second Amendment (and the First), but most people don't know the meaning of either and are therefore happy to jettison both. This is what the "Woke" will achieve. Except they'll fail with gun control (since that's physically impossible). But they'll succeed with destroying the First. There's an increasing view that censorship is a good thing.

Of course, in my case, I know the Constitution is an irrelevant piece of paper, violated almost before its inception, so it doesn't matter to me. But a lot of armed, ex-military militia guys are gonna be pissed - they already are. I read the gun mags and view the firearms Youtube channels, trust me, these guys are unhappy. They hate the rioters, they hate the government (but they love the police), and sooner or later someone's going to start shooting. If the "Woke" or the government start shooting back, things will get a lot more tense than they are now. They can't win, but the conflict will raise some hell worse than these riots.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 16 2020 1:24 utc | 77

@vk 66

re: neo-Byzanyines. Clever. And there may be something to that idea. Certainly the general flavor of Christian conservatism you describe holds some real currency among the national security types. However, despite ideological commonality across borders, I think it is clearly nationalist and not internationalist.

The more theatrical "paleo" versions stand out, if only for being one of the few cohesive alternatives to neoliberalism (socialism and socdem being sadly moribund). But if you dial down the drama and take away the contrarian personalities, then pan-nationalist Christian conservatism (and for that matter, the Islamic or Hindu analogs) can be integrated into neoliberalism too. I don't see why not.

Considering the post-millennial generations may well end up in a Byzantium of some kind in some decades, this is worth following up on.

Posted by: ptb | Jun 16 2020 1:28 utc | 78

Posted by: vk | Jun 15 2020 22:29 utc | 58 I can't explain, but you can certainly feel in the air that the October Revolution and the USSR still haunt the American people - from Alabama to California; from North Dakota to New York. I think that, deep down, every American knows they are a capitalist empire - it's "popular wisdom", as they say.

Agreed. You had to have lived from 1949 to now, i.e., the Cold War. *Everyone* in that period remembers certain things: the Kennedy assassination, Khrushchev pounding his shoe in the UN, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Berlin Airlift, the Vietnam War (and the opposition to it). Maybe not clearly, but they remember it was in their history. Most people under 50 only remember things from the 1970's on. Economically, things only started going bad in the 1970's with the oil crisis, the Nixon corruption, then the '80s, '90s. Then 9/11 and the bogus "War on Terrorism" takes over for the last twenty years.

The conflict between the Soviet Empire and the US Empire pretty much controls how the US perception was created. The media had a hand in it, too. In the '50s everything was "Ozzie and Harriet" (does anyone even remember that show existed?) In the '60s it was "Father Knows Best." In the '70s it was Archie Bunker - the first sign of a change. In the '80s it was "Cheers". In the '90s it was "middle class black" shows like "Fresh Prince". You can see the progression just from Google searching "TV icons" of each period.

There's never been any reality in 20th Century US history, at least since WWII ended.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 16 2020 1:44 utc | 79

Posted by: vk | Jun 15 2020 23:35 utc | 66 Will Neobyzantism really become a thing, or will it just be thrown to the dustbin of History, as was many other ideologies of the past of which only a Historian knows nowadays?

I've noticed that trend as well - the rise of the Russian Orthodox Church and the rise of conservatism in Russia. I see it reflected in the attitudes on the Crosstalk show that I used to watch regularly.

I agree that trying to resurrect Christianity is a major error. It will just lead to even greater anti-intellectualism and irrational belief systems, and possibly even eventually into a "theocracy" - hardly conducive to freedom. As a rabid atheist myself, I despise all of this.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 16 2020 1:53 utc | 80

Another good one from Tim Cushing at TechDirt...

Court Cites George Floyd Killing While Denying Immunity To Officers Who Shot A Black Man 22 Times As He Lay On The Ground

In 2013, Wayne Jones, a black man experiencing homelessness, was stopped by law enforcement in Martinsburg, West Virginia for walking alongside, rather than on, the sidewalk. By the end of this encounter, Jones would be dead. Armed only with a knife tucked into his sleeve, he was tased four times, hit in the brachial plexus, kicked, and placed in a choke hold. In his final moments, he lay on the ground between a stone wall and a wall of five police officers, who collectively fired 22 bullets.

One homeless black man, carrying a knife in his sleeve -- one he seemingly never held in his hands -- was extrajudicially killed by a semi-circle of "reasonably scared" officers.

Having learned of the knife, the officers simultaneously drew back approximately five feet. As they moved back, Jones’s left arm dropped lifelessly. Jones was motionless on the ground, laying “with his right side on the ground” and his “right elbow . . . on the ground.” All five officers drew their firearms and formed a semi-circle around the recumbent Jones, who was between the officers and the bookstore wall. The officers ordered Jones to drop the weapon. Jones remained motionless and did not verbally respond. Lehman reported that Jones “did not make any overt acts with the knife towards the officers.” On the night of the incident, Staub similarly reported that as the officers stepped back, Jones “still had the f**king knife in his hand and he wasn’t f**king doing nothing.” Seconds later, the five officers fired a total of 22 rounds at Jones, causing 23 wounds, and killing him where he lay on the sidewalk. Neely fired the first shot, but the next rounds immediately followed. Most of the bullets entered Jones’s back and buttocks. Jones died shortly before midnight.

Let me be clear, in view of the reaction to the discussion of Tueller's Rule in the previous thread: this ain't that. This was *not* a legitimate application of that rule. This was an extrajudicial execution. All these cops need to be in prison.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 16 2020 2:18 utc | 81

I like Alistair Crooke, generally. But this piece has me scratching my head...
Here in the U.S. we are in the midst of an unprecedented upheaval: covid, economic meltdown(s), huge wealth "transfer" (stealing), Democratic Party finally exposed and naked, police thugs killed one too many Black men, the supposed election, China,Russia, Iran, Venezuela rising and Trump is assuring us that he will be our Daddy.
Everyone wants to make sense of all these movements and actions. I think Crooke is speculating too much. We should back up.
1. The Blacks- listen to them. Learn from them. Don't try and speak for them. Give them time. They are our "untouchable" caste and they have a story to tell. Listen to the Illinois Attorney General's statement about the riots and the police killings. Don't pigeon hole him. Listen. be patient. and stop figuring everything out so fast.
https://capitolfax.com/2020/06/05/ag-raoul-opens-up-to-employees-im-angry/

Posted by: migueljose | Jun 16 2020 2:19 utc | 82

@ Posted by: ptb | Jun 16 2020 1:28 utc | 78

I think that, if we take it from your approach, the problem with the neobyzantines is more related to the fact that they can't accept being juniors to the "yellows" (i.e. a non-white, non-Christian people) than with Chinese-style socialism. They are like the reverse Chicoms in this sense (and, if that's indeed the case, they are very different than the American Bannonist far-right).

The Bannonists (I think Bannon himself coin his ideology as "Neopopulism" or something like that) believe in the reverse case: it is good that the Chinese are to hegemonize the world in the 21st Century - as long as they do so in a capitalist form, not in a socialist one, that is, without the CCP at the helm.

Indeed, neoliberalism is very malleable, and for one very simple reason: it is not an ideology per se, but a doctrine. Doctrines are not as much incisive as ideologies, but they have the advantage of being very adaptable and quickly digestible. For example: who, at the beginning of the 1970s, would think that - of all places - neoliberalism would find its most fertile ground in Latin America? Theoretically, Latin America should be the anti-neoliberalism area of the world par excellence, as it was the subcontinent that suffered the most (except, maybe, Africa - but Africa was razed to the ground, there's no material there to any doctrine or ideology to sprout) under the hands of American neocolonialism. But here we are: the lack of a strong revolutionary movement in Latin America gave birth to a strong inferiority complex, which created a political vacuum in which neoliberalism fitted perfectly (Mexico, then Ménem's "Peripheral Realism", then FHC's "we must be the last of the top" in Brazil).

Neoliberalism's success story in Latin America is a warning example for historians to never stick to a sociological formula either for trying to explain History or to try to predict History. There's always the human factor, that "x" factor that only good old method of studying History can decipher.

--//--

@ Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 16 2020 1:53 utc | 80

I use the term "Neobyzantine" as some kind of pejorative joke (my humor is very dark). I don't think those who I would classify as "neobyzantine" feed any illusions about the real Byzantine Empire - which, as a Christian Empire, was an absolute farce: it was plagued with schisms after schism inside Christianism that castigated them with endless drama, exiles, executions, dead emperors and civil wars. No Byzantine citizen ever believed Christianity would rise someday to become a world religion: it was under the hands of the Western European medieval lords and their descendants that it became so (conquests of America, Africa, Oceania and SE Asia).

It is a myth Christianism ever brought unity to the Roman Empire, but it may be true that the early Christian emperors (from Constantine the Great onward) thought it would. If Constantine and his successors really thought that, then they were to be proven completely wrong - as today's schism between Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox are to serve as living evidence.

Posted by: vk | Jun 16 2020 2:26 utc | 83

Posted by: vk | Jun 16 2020 2:26 utc | 83

Yes, I wasn't postulating anything with regard to the Byzantine aspect. I'm not familiar with that period of history anyway. It's that Russia appears to be experiencing a resurgence of the Church, which is not surprising after decades of the Soviet forced atheism. But that it is concomitant with the rise of conservatism (although I've read that Russians have always been "conservative" in the general sense) suggests that it will lead to more authoritarian social and political outcomes than the reverse.

It just sounds the same to me as the rise of Christian Fundamentalism in the US concomitant with more oppressive conservative government (not to leave out the neoliberals in that horrid mix.) In the end, any kind of religion retards the quest for more freedom, intellectually, socially and politically. I've never taken seriously the US conservatives call for a "return to the values of the family, morality, religion", etc. It's just a cover for a basically anti-freedom mind-set.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jun 16 2020 3:14 utc | 84

@vk 83

I think that, if we take it from your approach, the problem with the neobyzantines is more related to the fact that they can't accept being juniors to the "yellows"

Well, not sure how that fits into the byzantine analogy, but I do think it is a central unifying theme of conservatives in the west who are taking an anti-neoliberal position.

I think the position toward capitalism is something between nuanced and contradictory, or at least very heterogenous. There is plenty of awareness of its ills of a state captive to private $ and corps. Yet the ideal of free enterprise is celebrated without reservation, with a real hope for markets that could in theory become non dysfunctional. So no, IMO anti-neoliberal conservatives in the US are not socialist in the slightest (except the military has universal health and education). Basically very sympathetic to the "libertarian" side of it. But that may be unique to the US vs the rest of the "west". I mean this is all stereotyping very much, everyone has their own emphasis. Also the economic idea are maybe not so important to the byzantium / historical analogy, we might happen to prioritize them higher ourselves.

Where does the Chinese socialism fit in? That is contradictory too. One has to make a judgment of capitalism with Chinese characteristics, and also Socialism with Chinese characteristics. Neither of those is a direct translation of the European versions of them. You also have a strong and intimate state power, which the nationalists might actually be jealous of but I find off-putting. I do think the commonality there, for the would-be neobyzantines is, again, simple national power.

Kindof like Bannonites, except he represents just one version of this. Specifically, his version of a conservative anti-neoliberal position is especially uninteresting IMO. And I dont take most of what he says at face value anyhow. Just a particularly unattractive nationalist IMO... Finally, I don't think he would make a good byzantine, but maybe I am romanticizing the idea in my head a little.

Posted by: ptb | Jun 16 2020 3:15 utc | 85

I'm always amused, nah that is a little harsh - dumbfounded is more reasonable, when amerikans express dismay that 'their' constitution is not being adhered to by the elites.
The minutiae of Amerikan political history hasn't greatly concerned me after a superficial study at high school, when I realised that the political structure is corrupt and was designed to facilitate corruption.

The seeming caring & sharing soundbites pushed out by the 'framers' scum such as Thomas Jefferson was purely for show, an attempt to gather the cannon fodder to one side.
This was simple as the colonial media had been harping on about 'taxation without representation' for decades.

It wasn't just taxes, in fact for the amerikan based elites that was likely the least of it. The objective of the elites was to wrest control of resources eg land and/or timber plus so-called royal warrants that controlled who was allowed to produce, sell export products to who, grab allocation out of the control of the mobs of greedy royal favourites, then into the hands of the new amerikan elites.

A well placed courtier would put a bagman into the regional center of a particular colony (each colony becoming a 'state' post revolution), so that if someone wanted to, I dunno, say export huge quantities of cotton, the courtier would charge that 'colonial' for getting the initial warrant, then take a hefty % of the return on the product - all collected by the on-site bagman then divvied up.

The bagmen & courtiers grew fat at the expense of the colonists and generally the bagman, who also spied on the locals for obvious reasons, would go back to england once he had made his stash.

The system was ponderous inaccurate & very expensive. Something had to be done, but selling revolutionary change to the masses on the basis of the need to enrich the already wealthy was not likely to be a winner. Consequently the high faluting blather.

The amerikan elites wanted and, after the revolution got, the power to control economic development for themselves.
Hence the birth of lobbyists simultaneous with the birth of the amerikan nation state.

IMO the constitution was about as meaningful to the leaders of the revolution as campaign promises are to contemporary politicians.
That is, something to be used as self protection without ever implementing.

Posted by: A User | Jun 16 2020 3:36 utc | 86

"They were replaced with a banner commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War."

Not to be nitpicky, but there has been no signing of a peace treaty between neither South Korea/United States and North Korea. An armistice exists, a cease-fire if you will, however, technically, both the US and South Korea still remain in a state of war with the North.

This could have been resolved peacefully decades ago, but for United States intransigence. The US could've been such a force for good in the world. Money corrupted it. According to them, it's the capitalist's way, or it's the highway.

Posted by: rgl | Jun 16 2020 3:39 utc | 87

I have perused your blog periodically for some time, first with suspicion, now with growing admiration. Just pointing to this story is a service to inquiring minds and the meat you run down and add to such offerings is unavailable anywhere else I know of. I won't go into how the original raison d'être for the US Postal Service was to aid the distribution of a free, independent press; to benefit and nurture an informed citizenry for the sake of maintaining The Republic (newspapers were +90% of weighed traffic; provided -10% of revenue). Individual efforts such as yours are the last flickering lanterns that might distract from the dancing shadows projected on the flatscreen walls of American caves 4/7 these days. Kudos for your inquiring mind and for grubbing for details like a hog for truffles
.
I also won't try to respond to some of the "not appropriate for a gubment imperial satalite's office" comments. The recent Sanders farce of a Political Revolution has convinced me that what this country needs is not a good 5-cent cigar or another DNC-controlled Charlie McCarthy to sing the tired old Hope and Change and prosperity is just around the corner lullaby. Ando buscando un Emiliano Zapata pero todos los que veo son puros payasos.

Posted by: defaultcitizen | Jun 16 2020 3:53 utc | 88

@ Posted by: ptb | Jun 16 2020 3:15 utc | 86

Yes, I agree: the Bannonites are certainly not Neobyzantines. They are more like the traditional fascists: radical in form, conservative in essence. They are like agents of chaos - a domesticated chaos, of course.

The unifying factor of the Neobyzantines, in my opinion, is the fact that they believe a universalized (forced upon the masses) Christian moral code can save capitalism. In their opinion, it is greed by the rich and the depravity of the leftists that is the problem.

They believe that the end of the USSR and the slow rise of China (plus, I guess, the failure of the West in Christianizing the Middle East and Asia) put an end or proved wrong the existence of economic systems. In this sense, they lowkey agree with Fukuyama in essence, albeit kot in form. This would also make the Neobyzantines part of the Postmodern constellation of ideologies, which preach absolute relativism.

--//--

@ Posted by: A User | Jun 16 2020 3:36 utc | 87

Yes, if you think about it, the American Revolution was a petite-bourgoeis revolution: it was just a bunch of small planters not wanting to pay taxes.

Thomas Jefferson certainly didn't imagine he was building the world's future sole superpower. None of the founding fathers imagined that.

However, the American Revolution was important in the sense it was the first European colony to achieve independency without consent of it metropolis. It showed the other colonies it was possible. We know the American case would never be replicated, but it inspired the colonised a world without metropoleis was possible, and opened way for the end of the old colonial system in 1945.

Posted by: vk | Jun 16 2020 4:02 utc | 89

@ karlofi1 71
re: It mustn't be forgotten that this is first and foremost a Class War . . .IMO, you need to be confronted by the 20-30s something aged men I've been corralled into interacting with as they do have their own real grievance on this issue
Class War?
Not for the blacks being assassinated by white police it isn't.
Not for the black teens who are arrested for some school offense and put in prison.
Not for the blacks who can't pay their bills in their slums, then get their drivers license suspended, then get pulled over by a cop for driving with a suspended license, then put in jail and denied visiting privileges.
Not for the black guy arrested for sleeping at Wendy's, then shot twice in the back and killed, one of the most recent of many other racial assassinations

Before that it wasn't a Class War:
Not for the black slaves,
Before that it wasn't a Class War for the Native Americans who were virtually exterminated. The US Army had a policy of exterminating Native Americans, men women and children.
More recently it wasn't a Class War for my family doctor, a man of the highest repute in our community, well-deserved for his high competence and compassion, who when he came to our country from India was refused service in a restaurant because of his skin color. It still rankles him (of course it does)

So you're wrong. What we see now is a revolt by people who are treated very badly and wantonly killed just because of their skin color, not their class. That's prejudice being resisted in cites large and small, in this country and many others and it's wrong to call it anything else, like a "Class War," no matter what your white twenty-somethings say. . . .What do they know? Nothing, that's what. Like what it means to be black.

Black lives matter. Live with it. Get in line, your time hasn't come yet.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jun 16 2020 4:09 utc | 90

@61 juliania...thanks for that... well said and heartfelt...

Posted by: james | Jun 16 2020 4:14 utc | 91

@b and all barflies. Trump just issued a directive overturning America’s landmark worker protection law, and now corporations can transfer the savings of 100 million workers to Trump’s Wall Street donors — and this hasn’t been mentioned on TV, because nothing matters. Chump and his neo-confederates are the gift that keeps on giving to wall street hedge fund hyenas and parasites. Deplorables will be left with only their eyes to cry with when front goy is done fleecing working class. After reelection he's going after pension funds and retirees no doubt about it. He's gutting all protections that stand between working class and Wall street parasites, but AnTiFaAaAaAaA, lol. https://jacobinmag.com/2020/06/trump-just-fulfilled-his-billionaire-pals-dream

Posted by: Augustin L | Jun 16 2020 4:28 utc | 92

@b and all barflies. Trump just issued a directive overturning America’s landmark worker protection law, and now corporations can transfer the savings of 100 million workers to Trump’s Wall Street donors — and this hasn’t been mentioned on TV, because nothing matters. Chump and his neo-confederates are the gift that keeps on giving to wall street hedge fund hyenas and parasites. Deplorables will be left with only their eyes to cry with when front goy is done fleecing working class. After reelection he's going after pension funds and retirees no doubt about it. He's gutting all protections that stand between working class and Wall street parasites, but AnTiFaAaAaAaA, lol. https://jacobinmag.com/2020/06/trump-just-fulfilled-his-billionaire-pals-dream

Posted by: Augustin L | Jun 16 2020 4:29 utc | 93

re Don Bacon | Jun 16 2020 4:09 utc | 92

While I agree that race is a primary motivator for many/most of the people protesting, there is no reason the protest cannot be about more than one thing - as long as black lives matter is not subsumed.

Right now in amerika a cluster of societies completely lacking for a welfare system, that has at least 42 million x 1.5 unemployed with little or no income, little or no access to healthcare, which are run by an elite blind to the needs of citizens, and worst of all buttressed by centuries entrenched systemic racism, a sustained protest about the effects of all of these unjust and unsustainable without the support of the citizenry injustices of their society, is now confronted by a growing revolt.

The revolt can continue to grow for as long as all the protesters are careful not to try to define their particular area of concern, outside of Black Lives matter.

For a soon as they do that, they will have delineated their particular group separating it from the whole, and provided a place for splitters to assist the elites by leveraging their particular to one side where it can either be crushed or catered to, whichever the elites consider best for divide & rule.

Posted by: A User | Jun 16 2020 4:51 utc | 94

re vk | Jun 16 2020 4:02 utc | 90 who said:
"Thomas Jefferson certainly didn't imagine he was building the world's future sole superpower. None of the founding fathers imagined that."

I'm not at all certain of that as both the english colonial system and the amerikan elites who replaced them had discussed eventual expansion south.
In fact were it not for the issue of southern succession, IMO the spanish amerikan war would have kicked off earlier & expansion south would have been much more 'robust'.
The problem was that post the amerikan civil war, committed cannon-fodder was difficult to come by.

Posted by: A User | Jun 16 2020 5:03 utc | 95

More anti-US sentiment from a vassal: Japan ends land-based Aegis deployment citing financial troubles.

It's not just money, this move is just another calculated move in the endless game of passive-aggressive Taichi played by both Japan and SK to get rid of US occupation as an end goal, timed well to take advantage of the empire's weakening position.

Posted by: JW | Jun 16 2020 5:31 utc | 96

Mike Whitney
https://www.unz.com/mwhitney/do-deep-state-elements-operate-within-the-protest-movement/

"The protest movement is the mask that conceals the maneuvering of elites. The real target of this operation is the Constitutional Republic itself. Having succeeded in using the Lockdown to push the economy into severe recession, the globalists are now inciting a fratricidal war that will weaken the opposition and prepare the country for a new authoritarian order."

This has been done before

Posted by: Blue Dotterel | Jun 16 2020 6:09 utc | 97

He probably got an offer from CNN or MSNBC and wanted to "martyr" himself first.

Posted by: Peter | Jun 16 2020 6:30 utc | 98

bob sykes #53

b hates the US, because it played a significant role in the destruction of his beloved Third Reich.

Calling BS on that post bob sykes.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic did the Third Reich in and the USA dragged its heels until way too late.

Russia took Berlin.
Russia liberated the survivors of the slaughterhouses of the Auschwitz cluster in Poland.
Russia drove the Third Reich out of Russia then Poland towards Germany and then crushed their armies one after the other.
Russia defeated the Third Reich and all of Hitler's leadership and Hitler topped himself to avoid arrest by Russia.

Russia exhausted and then crushed the Third Reich.

There was some distraction to the west from UK, France and its USA ally.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 16 2020 6:46 utc | 99

Piotr Berman #27

Embassy raises a banner "You ARE an ATM, deluded fools!"

Thank you - good one.
Poland raises a banner: "We want to be an ATM too"
Germany raises a banner: "ATM out of service"
Australia raises a banner: "Bunya nuts fund raiser sale"
Iraq and Syria raise a banner:"Yankee go away"
Palestinian Occupier raises a banner: "will someone fill our ATM $ or sterling please"

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jun 16 2020 6:56 utc | 100