I know! Detente with Russia and China! How amazing would that be? Cancel student loan debt. Minimum wage to 18/hr. He could get re-elected so easily…

Posted by: Hickory | Jan 14 2022 18:05 utc | 1

casus belli

Posted by: urblintz | Jan 14 2022 18:12 utc | 2

There is talk among some Democrats that Hillary Clinton should be the Democrat candidate in 2024 because Biden and Harris are such non-entities. I hope it comes about because I'd really love to see Hillary "defeat" Donald again.

Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jan 14 2022 18:12 utc | 3

What could Biden aim for? What else can propel an unpopular president to another term? War!

Posted by: JC | Jan 14 2022 18:13 utc | 4

C'mon, man. The USA has the best democracy one can buy. And we have Dominion Voting Systems.
( I love the name. A bit too... on the nose, though. )
Everything is going to be fine.
10 percent for the big guy.
Where is Kamala? Chilling in the Yay with Willie Brown? I remember b saying that Kamala in Finnish means horrible.

b is a Cassandra like Michel Houellebecq.

Sickening. I am going to move to Moscow.

Posted by: lex talionis | Jan 14 2022 18:18 utc | 5

The question is not really what Biden will do as a lame duck. Rather it is what the Atlanticist-Deep State, who will equally be lame ducks, will do.

I expect that they will do everything possible to prevent this outcome, including finding an excuse to cancel the election, if they realize that they can't steal it.

If they do lose the election, then I would expect the decline of the U.S. into anarchy to accelerate, as the Atlanticist-Deep State does everything possible to make it possible for their opponents to govern.

Posted by: dh-mtl | Jan 14 2022 18:27 utc | 6

I think the US foreign policy strategy at the moment is to sabotage EU-Russia relations.

In this long run this benefits China, in the short term, it might buy some time for US -- by making EU more dependent on US and slowing down Russia's industrial buildout, compared to what it could've been with EU being less suicidal.

None of this helps Democrats any good politically. With Senators Manchin and Sinema voting with Republicans, Congress was already effectively split. Assuming Republicans regain nominal control at the end of the year, Democrats will fall back to the default strategy of blaming Mitch McConnell or whoever takes the role he had. That sets up 2024.

Prediciton 1: Democrat vs Republican has zero impact on foreign policy either way
Prediction 2: US slowly gets forced out of middle east and central asia. At some point this gets too frustrating and troops will have to be deployed again. Who will be the lucky winner? I nominate Egypt, it hasn't been invaded in too long

Posted by: ptb | Jan 14 2022 18:29 utc | 7

Inasmuch as I don't care about the US retarded politics, its (USA) ability to set the world on fire, literally, makes me wish Joe Biden would show some strength of character and stare down the war party. I wouldn't believe that he is thinking of running for the second term. But then, an American politician is nothing if not deluded. Let's hope he is smart enough not to start a war he cannot win or finish.

Posted by: Steve | Jan 14 2022 18:31 utc | 8

B.

Can you confirm if Ukraine has booted up and is running at max output all of it's 15 nuclear reactors? Even the ones damaged by using US based fuel?

I only found it in one source, it would be good to confirm this.

Just think, any Russian military action could be blamed on causing a meltdown. The ultimate PR big stick.

Posted by: Les7 | Jan 14 2022 18:36 utc | 9

which side is the war party?

Posted by: ld | Jan 14 2022 18:46 utc | 10

Does war with Russia count as foreign policy success?
Seems Biden will be able to add that to resume.
Of course, it is not Biden's decision though he will need to behave as if it were.

Thing is, the threat to Russia comes from the US.
Will it take the bait or attack the hunter - literally or indirectly?

Posted by: jared | Jan 14 2022 19:07 utc | 11

Bad days can always get worse. I guess we (on this American side of the pond) are all experiencing the empty shelves at the supermarkets. It's the "supply chains" issue. One of my contacts warns things are about to get worse: "Expect more COVID travel disruption in the weeks leading up to Chinese New Year (CNY). A lot more. Add to that CNY holiday and Olympics travel restrictions- we are going to see delays in production and shipments through March. Many more cities (than are being reported in the west) are going through mandatory testing and travel restrictions- even movement within that city is restricted. Xian, Zhengzhou, Yuzhou, and more - all in Henan province. Per the BBC article (cited) on Tianjin, north near Beijing. But that's not all. It looks like Omicron is spreading rapidly in China too. We can expect restrictions on movement in more and more cities in the coming weeks. This affects the movement of raw materials, staff, finished goods. Delays, higher costs, more disruption."

By the way, I find this article on the US-Russian "negotiations" simply adorable, particularly the last sentence: What is clear, however, is that we enter a new tournament of great power politics and that Europe arrives at the start not as a strong, unified team, but as throng of plump puerile pygmies.

Posted by: Maracatu | Jan 14 2022 19:07 utc | 12

thanks b... but i see it as more proof of decaying empire... it doesn't matter whether the dems or repubs are in power.. both work for the war party, centered in wall st..

i agree with some of the earlier posters commentary...

@ lex talionis | Jan 14 2022 18:18 utc | 5... i'll meet you in moscow!

@ dh-mtl | Jan 14 2022 18:27 utc | 6.. doesn't matter if they win or lose... usa is on a fast track to decline and nothing is going to change this as i see it..

@ ptb | Jan 14 2022 18:29 utc | 7.. prediction 1 not a prediction, but a fact! i like your prediction 2 and hope to see it in my lifetime..

@ ld | Jan 14 2022 18:46 utc | 10 - easy answer.. both sides... everything else is a facade..

europe is cementing its roll as complete loser as well in all of this...europe is a much bigger loser then biden, lol.. i thought canada, australia and other countries were impressive in their slavish devotion to the usa, but europe does them 1 better..

Posted by: james | Jan 14 2022 19:15 utc | 13

If he had lifted 'sanctions' (merciless, global, trade embargo) against Venezuela and Iran, global oil production would have increased anywhere from 2-4M bpd by now. But he chose the mindless path of U.S. aggression.

Posted by: Christian J. Chuba | Jan 14 2022 19:18 utc | 14

The question is not really what Biden will do as a lame duck. Rather it is what the Atlanticist-Deep State, who will equally be lame ducks, will do.

Posted by: dh-mtl | Jan 14 2022 18:27 utc | 6

ADS is "bipartisan", which means that any foreseeable election outcomes in USA is OK. Additionally, there exist surprisingly strong barriers for non-ADS person to have any type of responsibility in foreign affairs and defense. We could see it quite vividly in Trump Administration: Trump himself was too wobbly to be trusted by ADS, but his administration was ADS to the hilt.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jan 14 2022 19:19 utc | 15

David E. Sanger
By David E. Sanger
Jan. 14, 2022
Updated 2:07 p.m. ET. NYT
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration accused Moscow on Friday of sending saboteurs into eastern Ukraine to stage an incident that could provide President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia with a pretext for ordering an invasion of parts or all of the country.

The White House did not release details of the evidence it had collected to back up its charge, though one official said it was a mix of intercepted communications and observations of the movements of people.
....
John F. Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, called the intelligence about the operation “very credible” when asked about it at a Pentagon briefing on Friday.
--------
Another paragraph in the article would the boldest possible critique of the government that could appear in Communist press in Soviet times.
--------
The release was clearly part of a strategy to try to prevent the attacks by exposing them in advance. But without releasing the underlying intelligence — some of which has been provided to allies and shown to key members of Congress — the United States opens itself up to Russian charges that it is fabricating evidence. In past years, Russia frequently recalled the deeply flawed intelligence case the United States built for invading Iraq, as part of an effort to discredit the C.I.A. and other American intelligence agencies as political operatives.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jan 14 2022 19:26 utc | 16

What should Kamala aim for?
she is on top of her power and all Biden needs is a little push. Or else she will wither with him.

Posted by: gary | Jan 14 2022 19:34 utc | 17

@13 James - we can start a band. I need to get my chops back, though. You are a much better musician than I am. Thanks for your video from the other day.

Here's a song for everyone.

The Clash - I'm so Bored with the USA

I live in this place. I am sad.

Posted by: lex talionis | Jan 14 2022 19:36 utc | 18

@ Piotr | 16

re.: Russia denies "false-flag" preparations.

I think the better response would have been that Mr Sullivan tries to make the situation more complicated than it is.
Russia has already explain that the US has taken steps which justify action by Russia - no further provocations need to be fabricated at this time.

Posted by: jared | Jan 14 2022 19:36 utc | 19

I don't know about Biden -- I'm aiming for my garden! Planted snow peas in December under glass - no snow yet, but peas are very happy with the recent rain and beaucoup mulch. More stimulus would be good --- in the right places this time!! Russia came out of the doldrums with plenty of agricultural 'do it right' -- it couldn't hurt!

Posted by: juliania | Jan 14 2022 19:42 utc | 20

Don't ya' just love it when a plan comes together? Did anyone REALLY expect much to change with brother Joe?

Just another puppet for the Commerce empire.

ld @ 10 asked; " which side is the war party?"

Short answer; BOTH...

Posted by: vetinLA | Jan 14 2022 20:00 utc | 21

P.S.; And, if anyone expects ANY "elected official" to change the empire's policies, domestic or foreign, they're hopelessly naïve.

The corporate empire has one goal; Commerce driven hegemony.

Posted by: vetinLA | Jan 14 2022 20:10 utc | 22

Biden has achieved a big win for the Republicans and that is what he has always done. He is a winner for the entire conservative cause and that includes democrats. The majority of USAians have had no benefit as usual.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 14 2022 20:10 utc | 23

There is a very plausible scenario outlined in a recent post on The Duran - https://theduran.com/the-liberation-of-ukraine-and-murder-suicide-in-the-west/
Many commentators suggest any Russian moves in response to the recent meetings between Russia and the U.S., Russia and NATO and Russia and OSCE, which resulted in a refusal by all three agencies to even consider Russia's concerns, would probably wait until after the Olympics due to start in February.
Why wait? Russia's move, as considered in the above article, could be a done deal by early February.
Not a prediction - just thinking out loud...

Posted by: Hal Duell | Jan 14 2022 20:22 utc | 24

@Ghost Ship #3
Krystal and Saagar @BreakingPoints had a long laugh about Hilary for #4 President attempt in 2024.
Their view is that, while nothing is impossible for the Democrat party, that such an attempt would be seen even by core fanatic Democrat woke base as betraying hyena laughing Vice President Kamala from her chance to be the first black and woman president.
And their view is, whether it is Kamala or Buttigieg or some other idiotic woke sock puppet, that the result will be the biggest Republican presidential victory in 100 years. We're talking FDR pounding Herbert Hoover type of loss.

Now couple this with also increasingly likely historic Democrat Congressional losses in both houses of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections - get ready for an all Republican government in 2025.

The only question is: how much of this is going to be Trump?
Trump has certainly lost some luster after his vaxxing + boosting public avowals - the more rabid anti-COVID types have booed him on multiple occasions - but that's isn't the real question. The real question is whether DeSantis is going to be able to make the jump to the next level, and Trump is still enormously influential.

Note this isn't a "Contract for America" type situation as in 1994 - the Republicans only have to run as being "not Democrat" in 2022 and 2024 much as Biden ran as being "not Trump" in 2020.

To me, it is not as interesting that the Democrats lose as how: it is now increasingly clear that the Democrats are actively alienating the independents/relatively apathetic in numerous, in your face ways ranging from defending woke school nonsense (which parents saw firsthand due to COVID in-home schooling) to tone and direction deaf posturing that the economy is fine (which middle and lower class earners don't see; gas and food prices matter to them while stock market gains are what matter to the PMCs) and now to the latest COVID flip flop - in which the Democrats have surrendered whatever high ground they supposedly occupied by "focusing on saving lives" when it was still Trump, in favor of obvious corporate selling out.

It is only January, but does anyone really think the major issues on people's minds: inflation, energy costs, supply chain, COVID, etc etc are going to radically change in time for the November elections?

I certainly don't. It isn't that these issues cannot be addressed, it is that the people in charge will never undertake the radical steps needed to address any of these issues.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 14 2022 20:22 utc | 25

My predictions for 2022

- Russia stations hyper-sonic missile carrying ships in Cuba and Venezuela
- Biden invades Grenada in retaliation
- Republicans win control of the House in mid-term elections
- Republicans impeach Biden
- Federal Reserve bails everything out with more helicopter-money
- Stock market sets new records
- Kamala Harris accidentally shoots Hilary Clinton, mistaking her for an intruder

Posted by: Gareth | Jan 14 2022 20:26 utc | 26

Instead of speculating about what a lame duck Biden might aim for

I posit instead

What might a lame duck empire aim for?

Will the God of Mammon cult get to keep the private BIS (Bureau of International Settlements) that was suppose to be made public as part of the Bretton Woods agreement? While less transaction/dollars go through the system than initially, it still has manipulative control over exchange rates of countries.

Will the God of Mammon cult be able to infiltrate the PBOC of China enough to keep the cult alive?

Will the God of Mammon cult continue to get away with debt subjugation of most of the nations of the world through the World Bank and the IMF?

Will the God of Mammon cult be able to continue to force its meme of oligarchy controlled Central Bank and profit over people economic focus on the worlds nations or will a multi-polar world allow for people over profit sorts of forms of social organization?

Joe Biden and Co are the US version of the Hollywood front for the God of Mammon cult. Before them it was Trump. And before Trump was Obama

What I don't think people are understanding here is that the definition of doing the same thing over and over expecting different results no longer applies.

Where it goes from here will be interesting as can be....stay tuned!

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 14 2022 20:58 utc | 27

Sorry, all part of the plan to bring in a right-wing totalitarian Government, with a vast majority. There will not be a choice. Themes; "Security", to avoid civil breakdown, and a hand of steel to "direct" the country.

The Totalitarian reset.

With "passes" and all sorts of restrictions, present and future ones etc.
There is nobody clearly fit for the part. "Trump" may or may not be the solution, but even if he was, who would be VP? None of the "good" guys, De Santis or Rand Paul, but he, she or it would have to be an insider.

I exclude Elon Musk this time.

Posted by: Stonebird | Jan 14 2022 21:07 utc | 28

RE: Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jan 14 2022 18:12 utc | 3's comment on Hillary Clinton.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/hillary-clinton-is-definitely-running-again-in-2024.html

https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/01/14/editorial-hillary-clinton-in-2024-is-a-nightmare-scenario/

The USA Dimmocraps Corporate MIC Party are merely the bulwark against the left for the Republican Corporate MIC Evangelical Party.

This stuff with Manchin and Sinema demonstrates it perfectly. There is always a scapegoat; in this case 2. The same played out with Obama's non-inclusion of universal healthcare and of Obama's nomination for Merrick Garland and for many issues facing Biden, including the notion of "packing the SCOTUS"; it'll never even move beyond a glimmer in the eye of the more progressive DNC apparatchiks.

The Dems are the "Good Cop" to the American anti-war left while the GOP is the "Bad Cop." Delaware Corporation Joe Biden is essentially a tough on crime Republican with a "D" next to his name instead of an "R". By virtue (or lack thereof) of that fact, he's a warmongering neolib/neocon (really what's the difference?) and any pretense otherwise is designed to quell what remains of the true left anti-war constituency.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 14 2022 21:11 utc | 29

The corporate empire has one goal; Commerce driven hegemony.

Posted by: vetinLA | Jan 14 2022 20:10 utc | 22

Correctamundo and in order to maintain this hegemony, any trick in the book will be employed. Most often, in developing, post-Soviet and middle east countries, this involves sending them into chaos by way of sanctions, blockades, regime change coups/assassinations, color revolutions or military invasions and bombing. In the aftermath you'll always find 1) a much larger market for new weapons 2) further justification for military budget increases which flows to the MIC.

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 14 2022 21:16 utc | 30

@ dh-mtl | Jan 14 2022 18:27 utc | 6

The only way the Atlanticist Deep State can lose the election is for another candidate like Trump to emerge, because, as has been observed repeatedly, both parties are completely deep-state warmongers.

@ Piotr Berman | Jan 14 2022 19:19 utc | 15, saying, "...there exist surprisingly strong barriers for non-ADS person to have any type of responsibility in foreign affairs and defense."

Indeed no truer statement was ever said; the deep state warmongering military/security apparatus can never allow any outside input at all. To oust them will require a revolution, and there is no way that that can be pretty.

However, circumstances change and may force the deep-state honchos into dilemmas where they have to take steps they dislike. Despite the usual screaming and whining public chorus, the withdrawal from Afghanistan suggests discord among the warmongering elite. So some movement might be possible, particularly if it seemed it might lengthen the time of the status quo.

On the other hand, for a real revolution to break out, which is not impossible either, some member of the ruling class has to come out, turn against his class, and break the deep state consensus, as Trump did partially and willy-nilly in 2016, and as Julius Caesar did at the end of the Roman Republic. That was enough for the deep state to be out to get him; they even didn't want him in office at all. Had he been an American Julius Caesar, he might have had the backing to show them who was boss, but unfortunately for that expectation, he turned out rather to be an American Marcus Licinius Crassus. Still, he terrified them.

When we come to the actual election prospects, it is far from certain at this point that the Republicans will win. The public as polled is almost split down the middle, but there is a fairly large undecided group, at least 15%, who could obviously swing it one way or the other. From the point of view of antiimperialism, however, what party wins doesn't matter.

What is more interesting is that there is no candidate of either party in view at all, for the presidency. Biden is old and may not want it, although polling-wise he is still slightly better than Kamala Harris. Both are real losers. But do the Republicans have anybody either? Maybe Trump redux, but he is really old too. The problem is, the deep state has lost the confidence of the public. All they can do now is to try to divide and rule by making the nativist whites vs. the so-called left really hate each other, which may not be a good idea for public order either. Anyone the deep state puts up ends up being justly hated. So what might happen in 2024 is anybody's guess.

Posted by: Cabe | Jan 14 2022 21:18 utc | 31

More news on the lame duck performance abject failure.

Biden campaigned on police reform and early on it looked like he would deliver. The House passed the Justice in Policing Act in March, swiftly advancing it on to the Senate before Biden even introduced his infrastructure plan. However, it quickly stalled out in the Senate before negotiations totally collapsed in September.

After talks ended, the Democrat negotiators for the Justice in Policing Act, Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Karen Bass (the latter wrote the bill), called on Biden to get whatever chunks of the bill enacted via executive action. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was “disappointed” that the bill didn’t pass and echoed what Biden said in a statement, i.e., that he would explore “executive actions I can take to advance our efforts to live up to the American ideal of equal justice under law.” Biden must still be in the exploring phase.

But what more could you expect from the Senator from the greediest, state of thievery in the USA. He was always the banksters man who's works are chronicled in every story here.

Lame duck? my rs. Biden will be happy as a pig in a bank and the USA will have a perfectly aligned malevolence - hatred of the middle and working class and hatred of competitive eurasian foreigners. Expect nasty even bigger nasty than Trump.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 14 2022 21:34 utc | 32

@vetinLA #22
You'll have to be more clear what the goals of a "commerce led hegemony" is.
Among other things: it is 100% clear that the winner in commerce for the past 30 years is China.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 14 2022 21:35 utc | 33

@Cabe #31
You need to spend a few minutes looking at a few of the national polls out there.
The Democrats are barely supporting their own candidates in terms of approval rating; both independents and Republicans are in huge negative support territory.
Thus the "independents" aren't just a neutral party - they are 100% aligned with the Republicans in blaming the Democrat party for all that they see wrong with America and their own lives today.

That's how historic Congressional swings happen.

The 2024 Presidential election, on the other hand, is a tone-deaf, PMC driven Democrat party doubling down on its lack of touch with the average American combined with more woke nonsense - hence Saagar and Krystal's outright statements about a literally historic Republican shellacking of the Democrat candidate in said 2024 Presidential election. Note they're not saying the Republican candidate will be good - it is just that the Democrat candidate will be historically bad.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 14 2022 21:40 utc | 34

Never mind who wins the next election, the United States is ungovernable as is moving forward. The GOP may think that purging and suppressing 20 million African-american and hispanic votes will give them bulletproof permanent minority rule, but the reactionary fools will only hasten America's demise.

https://www.channel4.com/news/revealed-trump-campaign-strategy-to-deter-millions-of-black-americans-from-voting-in-2016

https://www.gregpalast.com/tag/voter-purge/

Chinese and russian analysts are licking their chops at the prospect of more MAGA grandstanding and buffoonery. I'm pretty sure a gaggle of wall street financial parasites, autistic evangelic nuts (fake christians), neocons and YT nativists won't buck the rules of physical production and economy. Let them topple what few columns remain inside their exceptional temple.

Posted by: Boss Tweet | Jan 14 2022 21:45 utc | 35

@psychohistorian #27
There's no great mystery: the American oligarchy will continue its idiotic ways: enriching itself while pretending to "correct historical wrongs" even as it lurches about internationally like a drunken bull goaded by its decadent and nepotistic intel agencies and think tank experts.
In other words: more of the same nonsense as the past 30+ years.
But unlike much of the past 30+ years, the American public is both directly negatively affected in ways they understand: inflation is visible vs offshoring of blue collar, not so much even as they see ever more just how their leaders are useless and actively harmful.
How would an anti-Vietnam war style movement, but directed at the American oligarchy look like? The principal drivers won't be drugged up 20-somethings threatened by the draft.
That's the real question.
In the meantime, the mainstream media will be ever less relevant even as it expounds what the PMC/oligarchy believes in important. The megacorps will continue to destroy American lives and livelihood through the Great American Health Care Scam, the Great Amazonian destruction of the retail sector, the Great Tech destruction of civil public discourse and the Great degeneration of a 65+ year international dollar supremacy.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 14 2022 21:49 utc | 36

psychohistorian calls it the god of mammon.. i call it wall st... some call it the dem or repub party - i call them both the war party... the war party works with wall st and that is the wrap.... if the ordinary american actually had a say in anything, things would be different, but they're not...

i suppose we could call it the god of mammon as it doesn't only center on the usa, but for some friggin reason we talk a lot about the usa, usa politics, usa this and that, so i am calling it what i call it for all these reasons..

Posted by: james | Jan 14 2022 22:33 utc | 37

He could do a lot that would both benefit large numbers of Americans and (this will be hard to understand for democrats) lead to votes because the people got something and guess they might get more. He could cancel a bunch of student loans and generate a lot of economic activity. He could direct DEA to reclassify some illegal drugs, saving a bunch of money and allowing a bunch more to be generated. He could prioritize anti-monopoly action. He could actually try to get some of the agenda passed. He doesn’t because he doesn’t want to.

So yes, the Dems will be blasted in the midterms. They’ll blame the “left” for not voting Dem with sufficient vigor. There will be two years of an unproductive shit show of a Congress. The GOP will nominate the worst human being it can find. He’ll win. Alternately, Biden’s lame duck two years and goat rodeo of a legislative branch will see a color revolution. Either way, we’ve got some bills coming due and it’s going to be unpleasant.

Posted by: Lex | Jan 14 2022 22:35 utc | 38

He will preside over an ungovernable mess of a country. The MAGA ambition to rule all will keep his hands tied with political explosions at home.

Posted by: Cesare | Jan 14 2022 22:36 utc | 39

Another plague, another war, another terrorist, another __________________.

Politics is dead in the USA. Progress is a pipedream. The Democrats are toast, and the Republicans are Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

It's doom, I tell you Doom! Bahwhahhawa.

Posted by: gottlieb | Jan 14 2022 22:41 utc | 40

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 14 2022 20:22 utc | 25:

I've always enjoyed reading your posts :-). Agree with everything you said on this one too, except for one implied deduction: your claim that little will change between now and early November even if there are 10-months in between, therefore Biden/Dem should sweat the onslaught.

That claim is based on an implied assumption that who wins in November, Rep or Dem, depends on popular sentiment. So, you still think sensible people actually cast votes and select leaders here in the USA. I have my doubts!

Between now and November, there is plenty time to wash people's brains, to false-flag and manipulate events, to doctor the voting machine/ vote counting machines, to do whatever it takes for whatever desirable results that Lucifer prefers, whoever Lucifer turns out to be (I really don't know, does anybody?) We have seen surprises for the last 2, 3 decades. Who'd thought Slick Billy Clinton would have won? Who'd thought stupid Dubya would've won? Who'd thought Freshman Hussein Obama would've won? Who'd thought nutcase Trump would've won? Who'd thought Sleepy/Demental Brandon would've won. Those were all dramas to me based on my readings of the contemporary sentiments of the time. How had I wondered the true leadership in the grand U S of A is selected? This is one game I don't understand. I believe Brandon can marry his son's wife and still win in 2024 if he wants to run again and someone (the inscrutable deep-state guy :-) wanted him to win.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 14 2022 22:54 utc | 41

Biden brought this on himself. All he had to do was be sane, boring and offer basic competence - not try to be FDR or LBJ. Just not be crazy. No midnight tweets.

Posted by: ian | Jan 14 2022 22:55 utc | 42

@Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 14 2022 20:58 utc | 27

I really like the God of Mammon phrasing. Exactly right. That being the case, how do humans go about deposing a Titan when they've convinced themselves that neither Gods nor magics exist?

Posted by: New Guy | Jan 14 2022 23:15 utc | 43

Just ran across this.

https://english.pravda.ru/news/world/150057-russian_submarine/

I guess Ol' Joe might poop his pants. There will be a pandemic of extreme embarrassment among the PMC. Or would be if they had a soul among them.

The thought that a lame duck, or simply lame, America would go to war is cringe worthy. Hubris is one thing, greed even is one thing, but wholesale delusion is really frightening in this context.

I guess BBB will now include Duck and Cover exercises for those days when classes are in session. * new and improved with bring your own covid masks and ** $10 pay as you go low rates available PCR testing guaranteed to give a false positive or negative result **not covered by medicare or other insurance***tax deductible for citizens earning over $400k/annum

Posted by: New Guy | Jan 14 2022 23:31 utc | 44

Oh dunno what would help Mr President, now that the Jan 6th thing has fizzeled out, how about'ta war, you know, the kind that Trump haters seem to love? Hmmm...Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine...

Just get our buddies over at MI-6 to start a little of that Euromaidan mayhem magic! That'll get the fascist "Obama/Hillary" herd to break bread with the fascist "Dick & Bush" brigade...huh? It'll be another love fest, just like old times. Gosh I really miss the days of being able to label half the voters racist-Nazi-Putin-puppets for not enthusiastically supporting Hillary...life was so simple back then.

So..I guess we're decided then...war it is! Let's give 'em all a call...Dick, Jr, Obomba...Hillary...the whole horde, it's party time in DC! Selling the Country down the river is such a joyful thing..we'll take our 30 pieces of silver (and then some), let's party like it's 1999!

Posted by: S Brennan | Jan 14 2022 23:48 utc | 45

Biden won't become a genuine lame duck unless he loses the 2024 election, then he becomes a lame duck until 20 Jan 2025 when the next POTUS is installed.

Remember, the Ds and Rs are as one despite the ongoing theatre trying to display them as mortal enemies, and as the Duopoly provide those pukes behind the curtain with a winner every time regardless which flavor wins.

As Michael Hudson noted, to which I agree, in his interview with Rosh Ashcroft I linked to a few days ago, Biden's policies have merely been an extension of Trump's, or what are known as Blue Dog or Corporate Democrats, with Manchin running interference for him in the process. Indeed, the policy continuity goes back to Reagan/Bush and is the same old parasitic Neoliberal jive. Look at what the Marten's uncovered and Hudson explains regarding the biggest financial crime ever to occur. But will Biden prosecute? No; he'll follow in Obama's footsteps because they both work for the Neoliberal Parasites--those pukes behind the curtain. Inflation will continue to soar, but the government will do its best to lie about its severity. At least the USSC nixed the OSHA vaccine mandate and will likely do the same to vaccine passports. IMO, the current Congress is the biggest Clusterfuck since the 1850s and maybe alltime.

Instead of tiptoeing through the tulips, what stands for the Outlaw US Empire's national government is instead slogging through the massive fen it's mired in awaiting Pogo and crew to show up and deliver them to solid ground. Too bad Pogo and crew are artificial, so no help will be coming. The only other hope is for the populous to rise. There's a big anti-mandate demo to be held in DC scheduled for Jan 23rd that should be much more than just that single issue. Too bad the populous won't be informed of the massive crime mentioned above for them to vent their anger about. One way Biden could redeem himself his to cut down the miscreants in a show of upholding Law & Order--yeah, I know; that's a pipedream.

On foreign policy, prognostication at this juncture depends too much on the answers provided Russia and if they're timely. Otherwise, I'd expect more of what we've seen since the Afghan escape--more self-defeating policy across the spectrum as the Outlaw Anglo Empire attempts to contain the growing Multipolar World.

Posted by: karlof1 | Jan 14 2022 23:51 utc | 46

Well, as others may have mentioned, we are seeing at least part of what "Biden" (the quotes representing the corporate conglomeration known as Joe Biden) may be aiming for to pull his chestnuts out of the fire: heavy news pressure today about the "Russian false flag" operation that "Biden" is bravely going to forestall.

Or, better yet and more likely, "Biden" is preparing the field for the long planned eastern Ukraine offensive (to be called a false flag), aimed at destroying Ukraine and Russia together. I'm sure others here have noted that the Chinese hosted Winter Olympics are set to start ... and remember what happened at the Sochi games ...

Posted by: Caliman | Jan 15 2022 0:32 utc | 47

Fwiw

“ A US Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine was sighted in the Norwegian port of Tromsø. The submarine carries Tomahawk cruise missiles. The submarine is heading towards Russia's territorial waters, avia.pro website reports.

The purpose, for which USS New Mexico nuclear submarine appeared in this part of the world remains unknown. However, it is believed that the submarine arrived at the Norwegian port for the purpose to stage new provocations against Russia.

Russian warships, submarines and anti-submarine aircraft may soon set off on a mission to intercept the US sub, the website noted.

For the time being, USS New Mexico is staying some 50 kilometers from the territory of Russia. The United States may thus be trying to put more pressure on Russia before the NATO meeting.”

Читайте больше на https://english.pravda.ru/news/world/150033-uss_new_mexico/

Posted by: DG | Jan 15 2022 0:38 utc | 48

Boss Tweet @35: "Chinese and russian [sic] analysts are licking their chops at the prospect of more MAGA grandstanding and buffoonery."

To a degree, but what the Chinese and Russians are really looking forward to is the woketards in the US Establishment doubling down on trying to gaslight the American working class "deplorables" into believing they are the cause for America's ills. That nonsense has already lost traction with most Americans and the more that woketards in mass media try the hard sell the more they just spin their wheels.

Sparks will fly!

Posted by: William Gruff | Jan 15 2022 0:39 utc | 49

From what I hear and read on JCPOA Iran deal negotiations on this round, US and E3 are testing some of their own Medicene (technique), meaning the western favorite good cop bad cop technique. In this new negations Russia (good cop) and Iran (bad cop) are forcing the west to let go of their demand for missiles and regional policies of Iran, as matter of more equilibrium in negations where Iran is not allowing US on the table till the agreement is reinstated, now RIC 3 countries are negotiating with EU3 countries unlike before where 4 on western side.

Posted by: Kooshy | Jan 15 2022 0:45 utc | 50

Posted by: S Brennan | Jan 14 2022 23:48 utc | 45

There's so many of us
There's so many of us
There's so many
There's so many of us
There's so many of us
There's so many [Repeat: x2]

Let's have a war!

So you can go and die!

Let's have a war!

We could all use the money!

Let's have a war!

We need the space!

Let's have a war!

Clean out this place!

It already started in the city!

Suburbia will be just as easy!

There's so many of us
There's so many of us
There's so many
There's so many of us
There's so many of us
There's so many [Repeat: x2]

Let's have a war!

Jack up the Dow Jones!

Let's have a war!

It can start in New Jersey!

Let's have a war!

Blame it on the middle-class!

Let's have a war!

We're like rats in a cage!

It already started in the city!

Suburbia will be just as easy!

There's so many of us
There's so many of us
There's so many
There's so many of us
There's so many of us
There's so many [Repeat: x2]

Let's have a war!

Sell the rights to the networks!

Let's have a war!

Let our wallets get fat like last time!

Let's have a war!

Give guns to the queers!

Let's have a war!

The enemy's within!

It already started in the city!
Suburbia will be just as easy!

There's so many of us
There's so many of us
There's so many
There's so many of us
There's so many of us
There's so many

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJAlIHsXcLY

Posted by: Tom_Q_Collins | Jan 15 2022 1:11 utc | 51

"there is no candidate of either party in view at all, for the presidency"...Cabe 31

I think you meant - "for the presidency, there is no "serious" candidate of either party in view at all"

There are a lot good people who fill the bill but, the shallow thinkers, [of both sides] can easily be manipulated by unfounded accusations..."communist", "Russian spy", "racist", "anti-Semite", "Putin Puppet". et al, that is how we wind up with venal, weak, or, most preferable to the Security State [SS], people who have something in their past that the 3LA's exclusively know about.

As a side note, all good people come with flaws, those that appear "pure" are most certainly not, or...they are complete cowards who can't even be counted on to raise their voices against great injustices, much less fight against them. Always consider the source of ad hominems, particularly without DEFINITIVE PROOF. BTW, when are spell checkers going to include "hominems", it's been almost 35 years since the first time I noticed.

Posted by: S Brennan | Jan 15 2022 1:30 utc | 52

@Oriental Voice #41
Regarding the 10 months remaining before the 2022 elections:
Economies don't turn on a dime, barring literal cinematic style action. Do you see Volcker anywhere? I sure don't.
That means the half-assed present Fed actions will do nothing whatsoever to tame the inflation spiral that has already begun - certainly nothing tangible before November 2022.
Even if Volcker were in charge and empowered, it would take 2 or 3 months before talk translated into action, and another 2 or 3 months for action to translate into effect. As such, it won't matter even if Volcker magically replaced Powell tomorrow. And note while Volcker is still alive, the possibility of him being put in charge is literally zero: Volcker's actions would crush the stock market, which in turn would make all of the Democrat/American oligarchy angry.
That's the inflation issue - #1.

COVID: we're in the midst of a literal historic spike in new COVID cases. At least 10.5 million COVID cases since December 26; it seems likely we will exceed 15 million plus by the end of January - and might even take a shot at the 20 million new case mark. 15 million would represent an increase in total historic COVID cases in the US of over 25%. In one month!
COVID has the one area where Biden and the "science based" PMC policies had the most impact and support - that is all literally pissed away now. Is there anything, period, that will restore the public's trust in the next 10 months? I don't see it.
That's the public health issue, #2.

I can go further into the angry schoolkid parent thing, the failed bills and promises, etc etc but those are mostly secondary (angry schoolkid parent thing isn't, rest are).

As for your views on the past few presidents: I disagree significantly.

While the American oligarchy absolutely wants one of its own as President, it isn't an aristocracy no matter what the Clintons or Bushes desire.

Dubya Bush won because he was bland enough and less uncharismatic enough to beat Gore. Yes, there were Florida shenanigans but it really never should have been that close.
Blame the fundamental unlikeability of Gore. If you contrast Gore with Bill Clinton: B Clinton is a slimeball but is both charismatic and politically astute enough to steal whatever benefits himself.
Gore was supposed to win as B Clinton's anointed successor; Dubya was there because the Republicans didn't think they could win. Jeb Bush was supposed to be the next Bush/Republican president but he was busy building his base in Florida in preparation for a 2004 assault against a weakened Gore.

Obama/2008: Hilary was supposed to win. Again, we see the fact of a fundamentally unlikeable candidate beaten in primaries by a superior sock puppet. Obama was the perfect woke candidate with the perfect bridge crossing message, who then perfectly executed a betrayal of what he campaigned on but only after being elected. I will vociferously argue with anyone who says that Obama was supposed to win from the get go but Obama's primary success and his eventual primary victory over HC and in general was 100% apparent pretty early on due to his messaging.

Obama/2012: In my view, Obama was vulnerable in 2012. The GFC response plus 4 years in office made it abundantly clear that "hope and change" was bullshit and that Obama was a bankster and health insurance industry bitch. Even as the Obama Secretary of the Treasury - "Goldman" Paulson stumped for bailing out the banks and financial institutions which caused the GFC, McCain literally paused for 2 weeks before endorsing the bailout. The bailout was/is immensely unpopular because it was clear to everyone that the banksters would be saved but no one else would. The very fact that McCain paused for 2 weeks in interesting - McCain is the Republican of Biden: a bankster's bitch including being one of the Savings and Loan Crisis "Keating 5": 5 senators who so egregiously protected Charles Keating's Lincoln Savings and Loan shenanigans that the Senate enacted an ethics investigation. Most of the Keating 5 resigned in disgrace but not McCain...
If even a bankster's bitch like McCain paused 2 weeks before going along with the Paulson/Obama "no bankster left behind" bailout, clearly nothing was set in stone. I don't know for sure McCain could have won if he went against the bailout but it certainly would have been a LOT closer.

Then there's 2016: Hilary's comeback after Obama against a clownish, New York insider, reality show star. I don't know about you, but I still remember with crystal clarity how each of Trump's electoral wins on election night were met with literal tears and disbelief both in the MSM shows and the crowds of San Francisco liberals watching them in the bar I was in on election night.

The subsequent mobilization of the Deep State plus its intertwined American oligarchy/PMCs against this transgressor was a wonder to behold.

And 2020: Brandon's victory is a direct result of the shitstorms created both by Trump and by above mentioned mobilization creating an environment where most people just wanted some peace - the kind of peace which Brandon hiding in a basement could promise. Even then, the reality is that without COVID and its accompanying voting by mail shenanigans, Trump could well have won again. For all the complaints about how Trump won with only X digit votes in 2016 - the reality is that the number of digit votes comprising Biden's margin in 2020 is actually smaller given the much larger (mail in ballot) induced turnout.

So I disagree that any of the above is particularly surprising or set in stone.

And note that I've been pointing towards a Republican switchover and likely landslide for months now. Maybe things will change but neither I nor the handful of political pundits I respect and follow, believe so.

In the absence of dramatic action - which Biden has never in his existence done and which he likely couldn't even if he wanted to - the 2022 election outcome was already extremely likely. Throw in Democrat idiocy, and it is set in stone.

As for 2024: Brandon is done. He got elected by not being Trump, but even a single year in office with same party control over Congress has shown that Biden can't get diddly done. With an obstructive Republican Senate and Congress - he will fade into even more obscurity: hiding in the basement without even wanting to.

So I say it now: Brandon is not going to win the Democrat primary in 2024, much less run for President. He is already sleeping with the fishes in the political sense.

And try as I might to dispute it - Saagar and Krystal are 100% unassailable in saying that the wokeness of the PMCs/Democrats will force them to run Kamala and/or Buttigieg in 2024, regardless of the 2022 Congressional rout. And I am 100% in agreement that one of both of these unlikeable and incompetent candidates would be crushed even if a new version of the Shrub (Dubya) ran against them much less a bruiser like DeSantis or Trump. The only question is who that candidate will be - and there are a large number of energetic and active Republicans in the field unlike the Democrat bench.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 15 2022 1:33 utc | 53

#51

aka John Belushi's favorite band:

https://vimeo.com/461111332

Posted by: Gulo | Jan 15 2022 1:34 utc | 54

@ 51 - I love Fear. Here they are destroying Saturday Night Live in 1981.

Fear on SNL

Posted by: lex talionis | Jan 15 2022 1:36 utc | 55

Post I made at Antiwar.com today in response to the following Gilbert Doctorow post:
Russian Roulette: As Croupier at This Particular Casino Table, I Invite You To Place Your Bets

This is my bet.

Gilbert's post is considerably more pessimistic than some of his previous posts. And I pretty much agree with all of it.

Except the part about February and frozen ground. I read an article yesterday that said it's been a mild winter in Ukraine and much of the ground is still muddy. OTOH, a military expert quoted said that while that might complicate things, Russian forces are trained and used to such conditions. Mud is a nuisance, not a show-stopper.

Gilbert is also right about the morale of the Ukrainian troops. They've been sitting in those trenches for a year now. Perhaps some of them have been rotated out back to permanent bases and replaced - exactly like the so-called "Russian invasion" troops have been from those training bases that gave rise to the fake "Russian invasion" stories we've all read. But there's a difference between being in a barracks and being in a field somewhere. Having been in the US military back in the 60s I'm aware.

One thing Gilbert and every other commentator misses about the "Russian invasion" is that it's quite probable that it's being *invited* by the Biden administration. The CIA and the neocons *want* Russia to invade so they can further their geopolitical agenda - regardless of what happens to Ukraine. They want to sacrifice Ukraine on the alter of their agendas, just like the US has done to countless "allies" over the years, such as the Shia of southern Iraq after the 1991 Iraq war.

As for the loss of credibility that the US would suffer when Russia destroys Ukraine, the CIA and the neocons probably figure that would be offset by dumping all the blame on Russia. They also assume such a war would force the wavering EU back into the NATO fold.

None of these outcomes need to be true. They just need to be believed in by the CIA and the neocons, just like they believed (or at least told everyone) that "the Iraq war would pay for itself" and that the US would go on to overthrow Iran.

It's even possible the CIA and the neocons have planned an every worse outcome than just a war between Ukraine and Russia. I previously assumed that, given the military balance reality between Russia and NATO, that the US and NATO would stay out of any conflict in Ukraine. Supposedly Biden has assured everyone that the US will *not* fight Russia over Ukraine. But it's not that simple.

I wasn't aware of the number and extent of NATO military exercises scheduled for Ukraine in 2022. According to Global Research, nine maneuvers will be carried out in 2022 and the number of military personnel participating in them will almost double compared to 2021 – to 64,000. The number of aircraft and helicopters will more than triple – to 361, and warships almost 4 times – to 256. Many of them begin in February - precisely when the prediction of a Russian invasion is being touted.

“Expect Escalation of Conflict in Donbass and Ukraine Soon,” Says Foreign Correspondent
https://covertactionmagazin...

Zelensky Opens the Way for Foreign Troops to be Permanently and Legally Based in Ukraine
https://www.globalresearch....

Military exercises will be held both in Ukraine and abroad.
https://www.perild.com/2021...

Joint Efforts 2022 multinational exercise. Duration: up to 45 days, February-December 2022.
Ukrainian-American exercises Rapid Trident-2022. Period: up to 45 days, March – December 2022.
Ukrainian-British exercise Kozak Mays-2022. Duration: up to 45 days, March – December 2022.
Multinational exercise Light Avalanche-2022. Duration: up to 45 days, February-December 2022.
Ukrainian-Polish exercises Silver Saber-2022. Duration: up to 90 days: 1st stage – up to 30 days, February – April, 2nd stage – up to 30 days May – July, 3rd stage – up to 30 days August – December
Sea Breeze 2022 Ukrainian-American exercise. Duration: up to 45 days, March – December 2022.
Ukrainian-Romanian exercises Riverine-2022. Duration: up to 45 days, March – December 2022.
Maple Arch multinational exercise 2022. Duration: up to 45 days, March – December 2022.
Viking 2022 multinational exercise. Duration: up to 45 days, February-December 2022.

Now imagine that during one of these exercises, Ukraine launches a new offensive against the Donbass, under cover or even with the assistance of the foreign forces taking part in the exercises. Let's say that some of those foreign NATO forces get caught up in the Russian response. Russia would undoubtedly be aware of those forces and their location, but as they say, "things happen." This could result in NATO invoking Chapter 5 of the NATO Charter. This would literally force Biden to commit a US response.

And then we're off to the races. There is a possibility that this is exactly the situation the CIA and the neocons have engineered. And this is what everyone commenting on the situation has missed. Yes, it's a "conspiracy theory." But it's a plausible one.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jan 15 2022 1:44 utc | 56

Why do people here continue to believe Biden is in charge given the evidence of his mental state? We all know he can barely muster enough strength to speak coherently. During the run up to the 2020 election, Biden let the truth slip out that he's not in charge and that nothing fundamentally will change.

Spend enough time observing US politics and you'll know most, if not all, of the benefactors of both establishment parties support a foreign policy of war, aggression onto others. The infighting is just about who gets the spoils of war.

On the economic front, it's clear that China defeated the US because Wall Street largely decided the US have outlived it's usefulness. The defeat hasn't sunk in yet for a few, thinking there's still time left to reverse their fortunes. The remaining factions are gathering as much wealth for themselves, sucking up whatever is left before they depart in their private jets with suitcases stuffed with their ill-gotten gains. I'm hoping to see leaked satellite videos of them fleeing the country at some remote airfield. And when we do, the game is over.

Posted by: Ian2 | Jan 15 2022 1:47 utc | 57

The 17th could be an interesting day in the U$ senate. They'll be debating the filibuster. Let the circus begin...

Posted by: vetinLA | Jan 15 2022 2:15 utc | 58

@my 58; Uh, make that Tues. the 18th. Duh!!

Posted by: vetinLA | Jan 15 2022 2:22 utc | 59

"Weird Al" Yankovic: Maybe Vader Maybe Later
Putin today. Tomorrow who knows?

Get simple hedge voting, please.

Posted by: blues | Jan 15 2022 2:25 utc | 60

@ RSH 56
Let's say that some of those foreign NATO forces get caught up in the Russian response. Russia would undoubtedly be aware of those forces and their location, but as they say, "things happen." This could result in NATO invoking Chapter 5 of the NATO Charter. This would literally force Biden to commit a US response.

Article 5
"... if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area."

Article 6
“For the purpose of Article 5, an armed attack on one or more of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack:
-- on the territory of any of the Parties in Europe or North America, on the Algerian Departments of France 2, on the territory of Turkey or on the Islands under the jurisdiction of any of the Parties in the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer;
-- on the forces, vessels, or aircraft of any of the Parties, when in or over these territories or any other area in Europe in which occupation forces of any of the Parties were stationed on the date when the Treaty entered into force or the Mediterranean Sea or the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer.” . .here

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 15 2022 2:25 utc | 61

blues@60; Love it...

Posted by: vetinLA | Jan 15 2022 2:51 utc | 62

Posted by: Don Bacon | Jan 15 2022 2:25 utc | 61

Technically that would not include Ukraine since I assume no such forces were stationed there when the Treaty went into force. I suspect, however, that will be a moot point if any significant number of NATO troops get trashed in Ukraine. Certainly the out-cry from NATO will put a lot of pressure on NATO and the US to respond.

As I say, it's a conspiracy theory, but a plausible one. I do think the CIA and the neocons want at least a war between Ukraine and Russia, despite any negative outcome one can obviously predict resulting. The neocons are known for assuming their plans will work, e.g., Iraq.

Posted by: Richard Steven Hack | Jan 15 2022 3:22 utc | 63

Can you confirm if Ukraine has booted up and is running at max output all of it's 15 nuclear reactors? Even the ones damaged by using US based fuel?
Posted by: Les7 | Jan 14 2022 18:36 utc | 9

Saw the same thing but don't remember where. Apparently the Ukronazis are courting another Chernobyl [coincidentally, also in Ukraine].

On the bright side, they get to blame it on Putin if it does happen.

Posted by: kral | Jan 15 2022 3:55 utc | 64

Posted by: Hal Duell | Jan 14 2022 20:22 utc | 24

Whats the hurry. If you throw a frog into scalding water he will jump out. If you place him in tepid water and gradually turn up the heat, he will stay there until he cooks.

Posted by: kral | Jan 15 2022 4:10 utc | 65

@c1ue, #53:

Thank you for your elaborate response to my tongue in cheek comment of #41, which I truly didn't think would deserve anyone's taking it too seriously. But you mistook my point regarding what Brandon may or may not be able to do to reverse the tidal wave of losses in November or in 2024. I wasn't assessing Brandon's chances. I was mocking America's voting public. I believe we live in a political environment in which the voters know beans about which candidates possess what merits, or which candidate can rescue us from what straitjackets. I think the voting public as a whole is too stupid to know what is right or wrong, or who is worthy of their supports on which platform. They are easily brainwashed, manipulated, or even have wool pulled over their heads and would nary know it. That's how sad of a state in politics we are in. Just look at the clan of politicians with name recognition enough to win national offices. Can you name one worthy of your support??? I couldn't.

On the presidents of recent past, I was lamenting the same sadness of state of being. It isn't so much of whether Dubya should beat or lost to Gore. It's why the hell were we given the choice between Dubya and Gore. Same horror in Obama versus Hillary, and last year Trumpo versus Brandon. Don't we have better people to cast a vote of support than these clowns? Given this clan of clowns, and the hundreds with name recognitions enough to be considered future national leader candidates, I don't really give a damn who wins or loses. In 2024, I don't see a GOP candidate I would care to consider voting for. Among the donkeys, I think Brandon will be persuaded to pass up on health reasons, but his sub would just be another ass. I may pass on casting a vote, or will cast my 6th protest presidential vote in a row on a candidate named Donkey's Ass.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 15 2022 4:16 utc | 66

We are under mountains of problems. We are on the edge of collapses in economy, in infra-structure conditions, and in education. And we are introduced to 2 minutes of speech by a bozo, whom I don't even know if it's a he or a she, and we are supposed to know this bozo enough to trust our nation in his/her/its hands? Wow, democracy sure is a funny game.

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 15 2022 4:22 utc | 67

@ c1ue | Jan 15 2022 1:33 utc | 53
Thank you for the detailed analysis of recent US presidential history, which in general I agree with. For a similar but differently expressed view that is also exceedingly well put, I offer this link to an article today by Nicky Reid: https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/14/liz-cheney-and-the-many-lives-of-neoconservatism/ .

As for my own view of it, it is like this. In their party's history, the Republicans fielded a number of successful "Manchurian candidates," men who were not what they seemed and were always under the control of others: Grant, McKinley, Harding, Reagan, and George W. Bush. But the office itself has developed, and now having only "Manchurian candidates" is de riguer for both parties. This is because the real rulers cannot trust politicians who might have their own ideas. Hence their extreme hatred for Trump, which turned out to be an overreaction by which they damaged themselves. All because they had created this monstrous, evil office of the presidency, unconstitutionally usurping all powers from the other branches, and then they had, or feared they had, lost control of it. So they freaked out, exposing themselves and how things really work in the USA.

Most of the candidates are always unlikeable now to the voters because they are all liars and everybody knows it. So the elite have a monumental task, which they probably aren't up to, to persuade the people otherwise and "restore confidence" in the system. Also, since we live in the age of dearth, dross, and dwarfs, their dwarvish minds cannot contemplate anything and retreat into the formulas of the past, whose time is over. At the end of the Cold War, it would have seemed like a no-brainer to team up with Russia to dominate Europe and keep China in its place, but could they even think of something like that? Oh, no, not when they would have had to share power with the other great nuclear power. So the dummies had to reignite the Cold War. And they are so dumb they may even turn it into a hot war.

Of course, the prospective candidates are not all so stupid. Obama, being a person of color and a law professor, had to be really smart to get where he was, but as a complete outsider, he also had to kowtow to the hacks in the Democratic Party. Of course, in exchange for being president, he also had to sell out ever last shred of ethics he had, if he ever had any, and he certainly had hardly any accomplishment. His bank bailout speaks for itself. In a way, he is guiltier than George W. Bush and even Trump, because he knew the real score in great detail.

As for Biden, I don't think he wanted to be president at all, because he was too old and forgetful, and probably tired too. But they told him, oh, no, you have to do it! You have to save the world! You're our only hope. They also told him, look, you won't have to do anything. We'll tell you what to sign, and you can read the teleprompter or whatever it is now at public appearances. So, loyal servant of power that he is, he gave in. I think, in view of his age and mental disabilities, his public performance has been better than expected, which maybe isn't saying much. I agree that he is unlikely to be up for reelection, but I was mainly being sarcastic about the popularity and prospects of the other Democrats, which are even worse than his.

As for De Santis, he looks to me like a typical warmongering Republican hack. Ipso facto, he cannot duplicate what Trump did. I would imagine he would have a trajectory more like Jeb Bush.

I am all right with the Republicans winning in 2022, just as I am with the Democrats. What difference does it make? A plague on both their houses! Political parties indeed! They are all just a pack of warmongers, and those who are not, in their hearts, don't dare challenge the military-security apparatus.

I do foresee disorder in the offing, however. And the rulers will not be able to restore order by using force. Of course, they may try to divert the public's attention by foreign military adventures, but those aren't going to work anymore to get the public united. It will be rather like Sulla's going off to fight Mithradates of Pontus and expecting patriotic Roman support but instead getting a civil war in Rome itself.

Posted by: Cabe | Jan 15 2022 5:12 utc | 68

new guy #44

Russian submarine surfaces off USA at this link.

OMFG it has nukes onboard. The Karens will have kittens.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 15 2022 5:23 utc | 69

c1ue #53

As for 2024: Brandon is done. He got elected by not being Trump, but even a single year in office with same party control over Congress has shown that Biden can't get diddly done. With an obstructive Republican Senate and Congress - he will fade into even more obscurity: hiding in the basement without even wanting to.< BLOCKQUOTE>

Perhaps a person who actually has the name Brandon could easily win.

That person would be a walk in if they were half sincere and had a sense of humor beyond just the name. Anything is possible and it would be so sweet to see all those televised rallies chanting let's go Brandon. Imagine the televised debate ;)

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 15 2022 5:31 utc | 70

@ uncle tungsten | Jan 15 2022 5:23 utc | 69 with the link to the Russian submarine surfacing off the US coast

Thanks and yep, it was one of our conjectures and I expect more shows of potential threat.

What will The Karens do is a good question....bring out the pearls to clutch

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 15 2022 5:32 utc | 71

OOOOps here it is again:

c1ue #53

As for 2024: Brandon is done. He got elected by not being Trump, but even a single year in office with same party control over Congress has shown that Biden can't get diddly done. With an obstructive Republican Senate and Congress - he will fade into even more obscurity: hiding in the basement without even wanting to.

Perhaps a person who actually has the name Brandon could easily win.

That person would be a walk in if they were half sincere and had a sense of humor beyond just the name. Anything is possible and it would be so sweet to see all those televised rallies chanting let's go Brandon. Imagine the televised debate ;)

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 15 2022 5:33 utc | 72

It looks like b is not the only one looking at Biden's trajectory

11 Reasons Why This Was Joe Biden’s Worst Week EVER

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 15 2022 5:38 utc | 73

psychohistorian #71

Thank you and of course there is a chance that it is entirely fictional and just a ethereal poke in the eye. Wait till one surfaces right next to a cruise liner with folks from Miami on board heading for the bahamas or some such. Time for the submarine crew to hoist the flag, file on deck in their bright whites and band and play 'the east is red' or some such. Russians are known to be wicked you know ;)

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Jan 15 2022 5:39 utc | 74

@ uncle tungsten | Jan 15 2022 5:39 utc | 74 about the Russian sub

If the MSM doesn't report on it then it never happened..../s

I vote for them getting on deck and doing the Daft Punk song Get Luck as seen being done by the Russian Police Choir in the following link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlUsMuz9_RU

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 15 2022 5:50 utc | 75

@Richard Steven Hack | Jan 15 2022 1:44 utc | 56

You should be more sincere with your words, or others could perceive you as a liar. You promised that you were done here and that you would kill those who crossed your path. Apparently none of that was true? If so, why should we take you seriously now?

Ref your post here Nov 9, 2020
https://postimg.cc/dDN4J6rQ

Maybe you should apologize or simply live up to your words.

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 15 2022 6:05 utc | 76

@psychohistorian | Jan 15 2022 5:38 utc | 73

It looks like b is not the only one looking at Biden's trajectory

11 Reasons Why This Was Joe Biden’s Worst Week EVER

Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris of The Duran had an extensive discussion of exactly this topic yesterday:

Bad week for Biden (Live)

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 15 2022 6:13 utc | 77

@ Norwegian | Jan 15 2022 6:13 utc | 77 with the negative opinion of my link.

Agreed....I hadn't read it all and the evangelical bit at the end...sigh

I just went and watched the first minute of the link you provided and think it is more obfuscatory narrative control while, simultaneously, empire is trying to develop a successful response to the Russian push for regional security.

To me, the job of the empire MSM currently is to confine the narrative to those subjects that they have control of the outcome/process of and ignore the ones outside those parameters except when forced to back into some mention of an event.

Part of me wonders why b brought this up because it sounds like folks putting up Christmas decorations before Halloween.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Jan 15 2022 6:40 utc | 78

Maybe the lame duck government (Mayor Pete: Transport Sec., LOL) can do something about America's rail infrastructure?

Thieves raid rail cargo containers in LA, numerous parcels left opened

Posted by: too scents | Jan 15 2022 9:50 utc | 79

DG | 48

"A US Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine was sighted in the Norwegian port of Tromsø. The submarine carries Tomahawk cruise missiles. The submarine is heading towards Russia's territorial waters, avia.pro website reports.
The purpose, for which USS New Mexico nuclear submarine appeared in this part of the world remains unknown. However, it is believed that the submarine arrived at the Norwegian port for the purpose to stage new provocations against Russia."

USS New Mexico is probably there to take part in "Exercise Cold Response".

This navy exercise is due this year.

Russia is very much aware and even invited as an observer, I believe.

Posted by: Scotch Bingeington | Jan 15 2022 9:52 utc | 80

Scotch Bingeington | Jan 15 2022 9:52 utc | 80

Thank you for the clarification

Posted by: DG | Jan 15 2022 11:26 utc | 81

Can you confirm if Ukraine has booted up and is running at max output all of it's 15 nuclear reactors? Even the ones damaged by using US based fuel?

Yes, they are...

INDY

Posted by: George W Oprisko | Jan 15 2022 11:37 utc | 82

There is talk among some Democrats that Hillary Clinton should be the Democrat candidate in 2024 because Biden and Harris are such non-entities. I hope it comes about because I'd really love to see Hillary "defeat" Donald again.
Posted by: Ghost Ship | Jan 14 2022 18:12 utc | 3

Careful what you wish for. Human voters don't count anymore, they have zero votes. After the Demofrauds succeeded in getting away with such massive voter fraud in 2020, all the votes are now digital votes tied to digital virtual humans. The DNC gets to program the desired digital votes in advance. regardless of how the humans cast their "votes", they are overwritten by the pre-programmed virtual voters. Sorry about that, but if you really want your votes to count, why not emmigrate to another country that does not use electronic voter machines?

Posted by: BM | Jan 15 2022 12:25 utc | 83

@George W Oprisko | Jan 15 2022 11:37 utc | 82

Who funds the institute activities linked to in your moniker? I could not find that info. on the website, but if I missed it a link will do just fine. Thanks.

Posted by: Norwegian | Jan 15 2022 12:28 utc | 84

There is no doubt that both the Democrat ‘rebels’ are following orders.
By the Dem high command which liaises with the Reps.

Why you may wonder? Well that is the only way of not delivering wha they promised to if they got a majority - a new NEW DEAL; Medical access for all; a reverse of the rip-off of US workers who are slaves in all but name; the actual spending of $3trillion as promised to rebuild the US infrastructure and public housing, schools and facilities. Etc

All stopped by the two Democrats following their orders.

War is the only thing that will save Biden as well as the U.K. high command.
The rhetoric in propagandist rag for the deluded who consider themselves progressive and liberal , the Guardian which has milder itself into a 24/ 7 rolling coverage across the 5+1 Eyed Gollum Empire , is banging the drum for the escalation.

It does seem they are ready to actually sacrifice one or more of their ships and crews by asking to be shot.

I guess the crews and commanders will know they are being set up and may even be subjected to a false flag to save the dumb imperial fantasists they are ‘defending’

What we are seeing both in the US and U.K. is the jettisoning of the concocted ‘democracy’ of a two party system. It has been laughably reduced by the loss of its skin and fat to reveal the bones of the ‘opposite’ parties joined at the hip.

So a move to replace with a saviour ‘new force’ and a single party rule to mock the Chinese reality. We are already through the mirror in the deep shit of fascism.

When people wonder about how nazism took hold on n the German peoples psyche against all odds - they find there was an answer in the stirred up hatred for the ‘other’ and self protection from that.

It is clearly being by played out with the unvaxxed even in f they are recovered issue.

Djokovic is been used as the focal point of that. An excuse to advertise widely the ‘with us or against us’ mentality of the patriotism that leads to mindless sacrifice by the Peoples against their better choice retests whilst preserving the Money.

Posted by: D.G. | Jan 15 2022 13:11 utc | 85

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 14 2022 21:49 utc | 36

...How would an anti-Vietnam war style movement, but directed at the American oligarchy look like? The principal drivers won't be drugged up 20-somethings threatened by the draft.
That's the real question...

Now, I'm not saying people have become passive, it's simply that any grievance they may have will be promptly co opted by sectarian logic. Perhaps that 2003 antiwar movement was at one time sincere, but that original intent was effectively killed once it got packaged into a wider anti Bush movement.

You say that mainstream media has lost its relevance. Perhaps, in the sense that we traditionaly view it. However, by the sheer volume and spread of its message, it has a big role in framing the narrative.

My observation is that most folks will yawn at any issue outside the regular subject package. If, by chance, one manages to discuss concepts outside this narrative frame, the exchange invariably devolves back to the usual wedge issues and coke and pepsi stuff. It's like a gravity well, pulling everything down.

Posted by: robin | Jan 15 2022 14:40 utc | 86

@86 Students have traditionally been a source of protest. Not any more it seems. You might get a few out to pull down a statue but most prefer to watch on their Smartphones in Starbucks..

Posted by: dh | Jan 15 2022 15:01 utc | 87

@Oriental Voice #66
Fair enough.
What I will say in defense of the "average American voter" is:
most of them are either locked into bad information systems (compulsive viewing of Fox or CNN/MSDNC) and so could not express judgment whatever their actual capability, or are too busy and don't pay attention to political nonsense except for a few days a year or on specific issues.
I will furthermore note that this lack of information/interest/time translates into the lack of accountability that the entire American oligarchy, via its political sock puppets, enjoy.
However, I will finally note that much of this sad state exists because of 2 reasons:
a) Americans had it pretty good for a long, long time, and
b) Americans trusted that things would work out because a)

In my view, both parts of the above are broken. Obama's 2008 success and Trump's 2016 victory are both attributable to an increasingly angry electorate. I've talked to many people in the last 15 years who know something is wrong but not what. They know that life is worse than it was 5 or 10 years ago and is still getting worse. They don't know why, but it is this underlying dis-satisfaction which is driving the massive swings in electoral behavior, which in turn is why the MSM and their American PMC oligarch masters are ever more strident and desperate to stop the bleeding.

So while I understand your displeasure with the choices - those choices exist because the American oligarchy wants its interests preserved at all levels, and putting up acceptable candidates (as voted in by political donations) is how it has always been done...especially after Citizens United.

This logjam is why I have, for many years now, concluded that only when things get bad enough will there be a chance for change. The only question then being whether it will be so bad that we have an explosion a la the Robespierre Terror or an FDR style systemic pushback. My money is on the former, unfortunately; I see no public examples of the Roosevelts (Theodore and FDR) anywhere.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 15 2022 15:19 utc | 88

@Cabe #68
I would suggest that your views are, consciously or subconsciously, skewed by your liberal worldview.
In particular, the notion that the Republican party is the only one putting up "Manchurian Candidates".
This notion is risible to begin with - Manchurian candidates are puppets for enemy foreign powers whereas American presidential candidates are primarily puppets for domestic powers.
Secondly, you clearly have not done your homework regarding Obama.
Obama is articulate, intelligent and highly presentable, but he is also a historical water carrier for the Pritzkers in Chicago (hence his appointment of Penny Pritzker as Commerce Secretary). His main distinction prior to becoming POTUS was Judas Goating/spearheading the conversion of historic black low income housing into fancy Pritzker condos.
I'd also suggest looking into who and what Obama's mother did and her family.
I think you'll find that Obama is anything but an "outsider" nor that he ever gave up anything as POTUS that wasn't already sold before.

But be that as it may, your statement that Biden didn't want to be President is nonsense. Politicians want power and influence and POTUS is the biggest pot around.

As for DeSantis: what I have followed is his actions in Florida regarding COVID. Whatever you want to say about the political posturing re: vax or lockdowns or whatever, DeSantis
a) Didn't force anyone to do anything. Businesses and whatnot are allowed to have mask or no mask policies - the only requirement is that the place clearly post what its policy is.
b) Florida and DeSantis in particular have been at the forefront in obtaining and distributing monoclonal antibodies for their constituents.
c) DeSantis focused very early on vaxxing and otherwise protecting seniors from COVID

Or in other words, despite his frankly shady Medicare past, he had the most sane COVID policies (obviously IMO) pretty much anywhere. Nor have I seen any particular DeSantis warmongering - perhaps you can post some examples since I literally never watch MSM.

But yes, I absolutely agree in general that the choices for Presidential candidates, in both parties, in the US is abysmal, but that's for a good reason: the candidates are chosen by the political donor class = the American oligarchy to be of some minimal acceptability. The choice isn't fiat - they vote via their dollars and see how well these dollars translate into popularity. Thus the specific candidate and his policies matter - which is how a New York accent reality show star pounded an opponent literally funded 3x.

The thing that is different, or perhaps just accentuated, this time is that (IMO) the person on the street is directly impacted: everyone is seeing the effects of lack of supply, of inflation, of business and other service interruptions, of the flip-floppery incompetence of those supposedly who know better.

This is very different than esoteric debates about the appropriate interest rate for the economy or XX country's accession into the WTO (China) or NAFTA etc. Trump exploded the Iron Curtain of disinformation surrounding the economic betrayal of the American people by its leaders - for that, he deserves recognition.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 15 2022 15:39 utc | 89

@uncle tungsten #72
That would be amusing but I see Brandon as being a pushback directly to Uncle Joe and the AmeriPravda MSM.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 15 2022 15:41 utc | 90

@robin #86
I was not referencing the anti-war movement; the recent anti-war movement was clearly purely Democrat party sponsored given its immediate silence in the Obama era.
What I was referencing was the Vietnam era anti-war movement as a social movement.
The core motivation underlying that movement was the draft and the real possibility of getting sent to Vietnam and being killed/injured. Whatever the "free love" and blaberty, that's how it started and what sustained it.
What I was asking was: what would the equivalent of the Vietnam era antiwar movement, but based on the economic and social suppression of far more Americans, look like?
It isn't just the draft eligible this time, although the Gen X/Y/Z are absolutely part of the suppressed.
And maybe it never occurs - that the "divide and conquer" strategies of the American oligarchy continue to succeed.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 15 2022 15:45 utc | 91

@ c1ue | Jan 15 2022 15:19 utc | 88.. interesting comments.. thanks.... you mention that there are no examples of roosevelts.... can you imagine any present day examples of a 'robespierre'?

Posted by: james | Jan 15 2022 16:59 utc | 92

@james, #92:

Uh.....how did you missed the presence of Trump? He was there just a year or so ago, and profess to come again in 2024 :-). True, Trump is not babbling on idealism, but he speaks eloquently the language of the rednecks. That will bring the like effect.

I do agree with c1ue though on "things won't change unless it gets bad enough".

Posted by: Oriental Voice | Jan 15 2022 17:45 utc | 93

@ c1ue | Jan 15 2022 15:39 utc | 89
Of course the candidates of the elite are all "Manchurian candidates" today, not in that they come from foreign powers, but in that they come from the enemies of people, the elite rulers, the MICIMATT, or the deep state. It seems to me at an earlier phase of US history, there were more cases of the presidents not really holding power on the Republican than on the Democratic side, but after the emergence of the military-security state from at least 1945 on, all have been increasingly like that. Kennedy was probably assassinated for reasons connected with that.

As for my being a liberal, I would disown that. It is true that some of my family are liberals, but not me. I don't think I have any positive program, although I see the faults in others' programs. To some extent, I would say I am an abolitionist, in that I would like to abolish NATO, the United Nations, the European Union, the Euro currency, the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, NAFTA, all ISDS mechanisms in international treaties, all patenting and copyrighting (I think intellectual property is an invalid concept), the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Council, the Federal Reserve Board, and fiat money. I would also abolish monetary interest, if it could be done, and the US armed forces, but I would settle for a 90% reduction in the military budget if that actually could be enacted. Preferably, the army, navy, air force, and marine corps could all be abolished. They could keep the national guard and coast guard. Also, a constitutional amendment like Japan's should forbid the deployment of any US forces outside the borders of the US forever. I am highly suspicious of the state and statism.

When I said Obama was an outsider, I meant that he had no partisan block of support of his own he could bring in to replace the usual imperialist and corporatist hacks. Obviously he went along with most everything he was supposed to. But he was a brilliant stroke from the deep state. They pushed him in the face of the world to say, "Oh, so you all call us racist, huh? Well, here we have a black president, so hah, hah, hah!" He looked very good running interference for them. Also, they were able to continue to divide and rule, because all the liberal side went for him, while the white nationalists hated him. His masters, of course, have never cared about either, but like to keep them divided so they don't unite against the oligarchy.

As for Biden not wanting it, well, we don't really know. The man might be tired. One of the ways nature has provided for elites not to be able to perpetuate their rule forever is that they are all just fallible humans. When things fall apart, they fight among themselves. The US is like the late Roman Republic, abusing everyone else on the flimsiest of excuses, but itself changing in structure. Because the elite is now a world elite with worldwide interests, they have diverged from the actual citizen body of Americans, whose interests they no longer care about or represent, except to plot how to bamboozle them. So it is set up for a clash. The ways in which the people have been tricked are more visible now to them, so there is trouble ahead for sure. Some of the elite will have to come out to lead this. Then you will have an American Julius Caesar.

I don't know about DeSantis. I just don't see him as sincere like Ron Paul. He looks more like Paul Ryan to me. As you observed, generally the elite won't let anyone come into national office who has not been carefully vetted by them.

As for Trump, whatever, I think his 2016 victory was the biggest event in US politics in my lifetime. Whether he intended it or not (presumably not), he transformed US politics profoundly and did shake the oligarchy, so I do give him credit as a catalyst of processes that had been already happening more slowly.

If I could choose my own candidate for president, it would be Edward Snowden.

I see no prospect of anything I want actually happening. According to the rule that things always get worse continually and never better, we might end up with Lynn Cheney for president if the oligarchy gets its way.

And it does look rather like the electoral process might not continue to muddle through.

Posted by: Cabe | Jan 15 2022 18:11 utc | 94

c1ue 91;

You are correct when you say [paraphrased]:

"the recent anti-war movement was a Democrat [ploy] given its immediate silence in the Obama era..the Vietnam anti-war movement was a social movement...the motivation underlying that movement was the draft..what sustained it."

However, I would add that it wasn't the draft per se, no, the uppermost/upper/middle/middling class had numerous means to dodge the draft, exemptions were easy to come by, about half of eligible men sought & received exceptions. Both of my older brothers used this and both are now rabid war fans...except when the war turns sour, then they are the wise sages who, if you will only selectively remember, advised against the whole affair at the outset...and only supported the war as a means of "supporting the troops". I recall one older brother asking why I wasn't OVERJOYED at my activation and upcoming deployment during my last semester at University? Such is the blindness of today's liberals.

That cultural fault still remains buried beneath an ever growing sedimentary strata. It is the genesis of the "New Democratic Party" under Al From. Young Republicans who still fervently supported a rigid social hierarchy/classes, a life of privileged access moved over to the Democratic party during this time and methodically purged the party of it's working class acolytes. Carter captured this vote but, he was too naive, he gave away all the goodies straight away, hoping that voters would remember next election. A beau monde type recognizing his social debt? I laughed writing the sentence, too funny.

While Ford allowed daft-dodgers to work off their convictions in 24 months, this was not good enough for privileged kids who were used to sending the lower-classes off to war! Why were their exceptions taken away in the first place? NOT FAIR !!! No, those who dodged the draft and sent others in their place had done no wrong, they had simply helped themselves to their entitlement...as others had done before them.

In turn, Carter granted a general pardon and instituted "reforms", initiating the big U-turn that would bring the Democratic Party back to it's pre-FDR days, back to Woodrow Wilson's brand of privileged venality. That is why the phrase "white privileged" resonates with the D's leadership, for them, it's true...and the working class should have to pay off their debt..just as during Vietnam's early days.

Posted by: S Brennan | Jan 15 2022 18:26 utc | 95

@ Oriental Voice | Jan 15 2022 17:45 utc | 93... i wasn't thinking of trump as a modern day robespierre, but that is an interesting thought! i was just reading up on robespierre.. i didn't know that much about him in fact.. i remain largely illiterate when it comes to a number of features of history.. also the fact i live in canada means i am less engaged directly in the usa political process.. i am enjoying the conversation on all this here with others including you..

Posted by: james | Jan 15 2022 19:48 utc | 96

@james #92
It is far too early to identify a "new Robespierre".
I've actually read significantly into him; a not insignificant part of the actions by the Committee of Public Safety and Robespierre were cases of the Committee and its "leaders" trying to retain credibility and control over a mob for which all social norms had been erased. A bloody example of "There go my people, I must hurry to catch up with them for I am their leader." (Gandhi)

It doesn't excuse what happened but is a reminder of what can happen when everything in a society gets upended.

An examination of the November Revolution gives more examples of how literally anything can happen once all the rules are broken or ignored.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 15 2022 20:11 utc | 97

@Cabe #94
Please excuse my mistaken impression.
As for your other views: it is clear you are as angry over how the United States has been led down the wrong path, as I am.
For me personally, I will vote for whoever acknowledges and attacks the biggest American socio-economic scams starting with health care at the top.
Every single day that passes where the American political classes ignore this problem is affirmation that they have sold out their constituents in favor of personal gain.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 15 2022 20:14 utc | 98

@S Brennan #95
I don't disagree with your characterization of how the draft actually worked in the Vietnam war.
I would still note that people clearly recognized that going to Vietnam was extremely risky and dangerous - and the possibility of that war expanding to where the "better half" would have to risk itself was never off the table.

Posted by: c1ue | Jan 15 2022 20:16 utc | 99

Sorry for the length...
What War With Russia Would Look Like
January 10, 2022

By Scott Ritter
Special to Consortium News

If ever a critical diplomatic negotiation was doomed to fail from the start, the discussions between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine and Russian security guarantees is it.
...
As for the American threats, Russia has given its response—any effort to sanction Russia would result, as Putin told Biden last month, in a “complete rupture of relations” between Russia and those countries attempting sanctions. One need not be a student of history to comprehend that the next logical step following a “complete rupture of relations” between two parties that are at loggerheads over matters pertaining to existential threats to the national security of one or both is not the peaceful resumption of relations, but war.

...
The U.S., it seems, believes that the worst-case scenario is one where Russia invades Ukraine, only to wilt under the sustained pressure of economic sanctions and military threats.

Russia’s worse-case scenario is one where it engages in armed conflict with NATO.

Generally speaking, the side that is most prepared for the reality of armed conflict will prevail.

Russia has been preparing for this possibility for more than a year. It has repeatedly shown a capability to rapidly mobilize 100,000-plus combat-ready forces in short order. NATO has shown an ability to mobilize 30,000 after six-to-nine-months of extensive preparations.

What would a conflict between Russia and NATO look like? In short, not like anything NATO has prepared for. Time is the friend of NATO in any such conflict—time to let sanctions weaken the Russian economy, and time to allow NATO to build up sufficient military power to be able to match Russia’s conventional military strength.

Russia knows this, and as such, any Russian move will be designed to be both swift and decisive.

First and foremost, if it comes to it, when Russia decides to move on Ukraine, it will do so with a plan of action that has been well-thought out and which sufficient resources have been allocated for its successful completion. Russia will not get involved in a military misadventure in Ukraine that has the potential of dragging on and on, like the U.S. experience in Afghanistan and Iraq. Russia has studied an earlier U.S. military campaign—Operation Desert Storm, of Gulf War I—and has taken to heart the lessons of that conflict.
...
Given the overwhelming supremacy Russia has both in terms of the ability to project air power backed by precision missile attacks, a strategic air campaign against Ukraine would accomplish in days what the U.S. took more than a month to do against Iraq in 1991.

On the ground, the destruction of Ukraine’s Army is all but guaranteed. Simply put, the Ukrainian military is neither equipped nor trained to engage in large-scale ground combat. It would be destroyed piecemeal, and the Russians would more than likely spend more time processing Ukrainian prisoners of war than killing Ukrainian defenders.

For any Russian military campaign against Ukraine to be effective in a larger conflict with NATO, however, two things must occur—Ukraine must cease to exist as a modern nation state, and the defeat of the Ukrainian military must be massively one-sided and quick. If Russia is able to accomplish these two objectives, then it is well positioned to move on to the next phase of its overall strategic posturing vis-à-vis NATO—intimidation.

While the U.S., NATO, the EU, and the G7 have all promised “unprecedented sanctions,” sanctions only matter if the other side cares. Russia, by rupturing relations with the West, no longer would care about sanctions. Moreover, it is a simple acknowledgement of reality that Russia can survive being blocked from SWIFT transactions longer than Europe can survive without Russian energy. Any rupturing of relations between Russia and the West will result in the complete embargoing of Russian gas and oil to European customers.

There is no European Plan B. Europe will suffer, and because Europe is composed of erstwhile democracies, politicians will pay the price. All those politicians who followed the U.S. blindly into a confrontation with Russia will now have to answer to their respective constituents why they committed economic suicide on behalf of a Nazi-worshipping, thoroughly corrupt nation (Ukraine) which has nothing in common with the rest of Europe. It will be a short conversation.

If the U.S. tries to build up NATO forces on Russia’s western frontiers in the aftermath of any Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia will then present Europe with a fait accompli in the form of what would now be known as the “Ukrainian model.” In short, Russia will guarantee that the Ukrainian treatment will be applied to the Baltics, Poland, and even Finland, should it be foolish enough to pursue NATO membership.
...
And—here’s the kicker—short of employing nuclear weapons, there’s nothing NATO can do to prevent this outcome. Militarily, NATO is but a shadow of its former self. The once great armies of Europe have had to cannibalize their combat formations to assemble battalion-sized “combat groups” in the Baltics and Poland. Russia, on the other hand, has reconstituted two army-size formations—the 1st Guards Tank Army and the 20th Combined Arms Army—from the Cold War-era which specialize in deep offensive military action.

Even Vegas wouldn’t offer odds on this one.
..
What Sherman, Biden, Blinken, and the others have yet to comprehend is that Russia has already weighed the consequences and is apparently willing to accept them. And respond. With action.

One wonders if Sherman, Biden, Blinken, and the others have thought this through. Odds are, they have not, and the consequences for Europe will be dire.

https://consortiumnews.com/2022/01/10/what-war-with-russia-would-look-like/

Posted by: daffyDuct | Jan 15 2022 20:28 utc | 100