Biden Launches Divisive Attack On MAGA
Yesterday U.S. president Joe Biden held a speech in Pennsylvania in which he incited the public against those who want to Make America Great Again.
The optics were a bit scary, ...
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..., as were his words:
Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.
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[T]here is no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country.
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And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people.They refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.
MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards — backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.
They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.
They look at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6th — brutally attacking law enforcement — not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger to the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as patriots.
And they see their MAGA failure to stop a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election as preparation for the 2022 and 2024 elections.
They tried everything last time to nullify the votes of 81 million people. This time, they’re determined to succeed in thwarting the will of the people.
That’s why respected conservatives, like Federal Circuit Court Judge Michael Luttig, has called Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans, quote, a “clear and present danger” to our democracy.
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MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies.
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Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans: We must be stronger, more determined, and more committed to saving American democracy than MAGA Republicans are to — to destroying American democracy.
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Democracy cannot survive when one side believes there are only two outcomes to an election: either they win or they were cheated. And that’s where MAGA Republicans are today. (Applause.)
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MAGA Republicans look at America and see carnage and darkness and despair. They spread fear and lies –- lies told for profit and power.
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The MAGA Republicans believe that for them to succeed, everyone else has to fail. They believe America — not like I believe about America.
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The speech was, hmm ..., aggressive. What does he expect to come from it? A civil war?
Sure, Biden spoke out against violence:
And this is a nation that rejects violence as a political tool. We do not encourage violence.
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We hear — you’ve heard it — more and more talk about violence as an acceptable political tool in this country. It’s not. It can never be an acceptable tool.So I want to say this plain and simple: There is no place for political violence in America. Period. None. Ever. (Applause.)
We saw law enforcement brutally attacked on January the 6th ...
But guess who, on January 6th, also spoke out against violence:
I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.
Speaking out against violence makes little difference when, at the same time, there are so many loaded accusation leveled against the political opponent. Especially dangerous is Biden's quote of judge Luttig who called MAGA Republicans a "clear and present danger" to democracy.
According to Wikipedia:
Clear and present danger was a doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States to determine under what circumstances limits can be placed on First Amendment freedoms of speech, press, or assembly.
That doctrine has since been replaced but that Biden, a lawyer, uses it is unwise. He will be accused of wanting to suppress free speech.
Next to MAGA the word "democracy" was at the core of Biden's speech. It appears 31 times.
Both speeches, Trump's and Biden's are somewhat similar to each other. Both describe their side as threatened, both emphasize their political successes, both entice against the political opponent to the applause of their own followers. They both follow the typical Hollywood script of good versus evil.
As the New York Times notes:
If it sounded like a repeat of the 2020 campaign cycle, in some ways it is, although the incumbent and likely challenger have changed places. A country torn apart by ideology, culture, economics, race, religion, party and grievance remains as polarized as ever.
But while such a form of speech works well for Trump with his MAGA crowd, I doubt that Biden partisans or even swing voters are willing to follow the same script. They will rather look at inflation, gas prices and the slump in the house market to decide on their vote.
Biden's speech was meant to prop up his party for the mid-term election. I think it failed to do that.
Posted by b on September 2, 2022 at 14:54 UTC | Permalink
next page »Democracy from the lips of Biden is a code word for establishment rule. Biden is mafioso. Just what was his crackhead son doing in Ukraine?
Posted by: Nook | Sep 2 2022 15:05 utc | 2
Well, his speech will surely prop up the MAGA crowd for the mid-terms.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Sep 2 2022 15:08 utc | 3
Very interesting "optics" for sure. Or maybe I should say political taste. Whomever allowed those pics of Biden to be set up and taken better start running, IMHO. Inflammatory doesn't quite describe it adequately.
Posted by: Bemildred | Sep 2 2022 15:08 utc | 4
They spend their consultants thousands of dollars to tell them which shoes to wear. If this looks scary, it was supposed to. But why?
Posted by: Jonathan W | Sep 2 2022 15:08 utc | 5
whether Biden supporters will reject his words is questionable in my view. they've swallowed everything else.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Sep 2 2022 15:11 utc | 6
"They refuse to accept the results of a free election."
Huh?
Joe, have you ever heard of Russiagate?
Posted by: Mike from Jersey | Sep 2 2022 15:12 utc | 8
I did not and will not listen to the speech. I read it, and that was enough. I remember the one speech I have listened to from Biden, which was his similar attempt to victimize the non-takers of the US version of a vaccine against the covid virus. It seems to be the only manner in which he can now think, 'us against them'. Which in a larger context might well be considered the grounds for impeachment, since it offers only instability ahead.
Pair that with Pelosi's grand tour of Taiwan, and that country will only feel grateful if she can be denied 'leadership' in Congress this coming time around.
Biden did the country a favor. He reminded us who he is, and who we have to be afraid of.
Thank you, b.
Posted by: juliania | Sep 2 2022 15:14 utc | 9
Posted by: Jonathan W | Sep 2 2022 15:08 utc | 5
well, maybe to lay the grounds for declaring a state of emergency, in order to cancel elections?
Posted by: pretzelattack | Sep 2 2022 15:15 utc | 10
yes, there are only two outcomes to American elections, and the people are cheated every time.
in fact, more of us see them as one party than choose to associate with them.
their rhetoric is identical. 'justice' means violence and incarceration. 'rule of law' means armed blueshirts.
the 'soul of America' is a greedy decrepit white testosterone-injected crook with three heart transplants paid for by the people - the people who don't get health care and if they are homeless they get bulldozed during extreme heat waves.
who cares who wins?
Posted by: ka | Sep 2 2022 15:16 utc | 11
they are speaking out against (political) violence hey?? that's what this speech is - political violence..
and of course usa foreign policy is all about violence if coercion doesn't get the desired results..
"They refuse to accept the results of a free election."
"They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence."
these quotes reminds me of usa foreign policy too!
are we one step closer to civil war in the usa? this speech certainly helps it along...
Posted by: james | Sep 2 2022 15:17 utc | 12
I believe that people get so focused on the individual stories that they forget to look up at the big picture. When I do, I cannot help but feel that this country and this world have run out of time. Biden's entire speech was, just like everything else, a textbook definition of projection. All the ignorance, greed, incompetence, arrogance, fear and hate has driven this country insane. It's done...over...all except the dying.
We have reached peak insanity....well almost. I would have to reserve that honor for when the nukes begin to fly, or the bio-weapons get set loose. As a student of history and human behavior I can tell you that when a society becomes this irrational, this unhinged, anarchy, war and mass death is almost always the inevitable result.
We have allowed ourselves to be led by madmen and psychopaths and will reap the consequences. It won't be long now. Appreciate every moment of what normality is left in your life because soon, it's over.
Some would call this pessimistic. I call it realistic.
Posted by: JustAMaverick | Sep 2 2022 15:20 utc | 13
background's not real, is it? i had a comment about it and how lost we are here in the u.s., but it's lost in the ether.
Posted by: polarbear4 | Sep 2 2022 15:22 utc | 14
It will appeal to those suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. Party affiliation is irrelevant as both sides have members with TDS. Just a guess but Trump will be likely arrested soon with hopes some lame ass supposedly right wing group with hidden ties to some government agency will riot or something.
Then mass arrests will happen in earnest or not. I have asked glassy eyed sufferers of TDS, what is Trump was an approved stooge to become president? Mass psychosis Russian hate that was seeded by Hillary Clinton early in 2016 sure needed a President Trump to turn the previously peaceful leftists to raving warmonger.
What I don't get is the why and the why now? The left virtually owns every institution in the country. The approved right cheerleads every banker approved war. Thanks to 2016 election they have the extra advantage of the Russian hating left joining in with pro war sentiment. So what exactly are they scared of? Elections? Even if they are legitimate, the two parties of the same coin have imported enough pro big government voting immigrants. My only guess is a war is desired, and the Trump right has gone from flag waving pro war to active passivists.
Posted by: Old and Grumpy | Sep 2 2022 15:22 utc | 15
RNC: We Are All Domestic Terrorists
It's too bad the opposition party is garbage.
They spend no time questioning the US's commitment to escalation in Ukraine, and instead push unpopular neofeudalism and carrying headless fetuses to term.
Posted by: JMW | Sep 2 2022 15:23 utc | 16
Posted by: Old and Grumpy | Sep 2 2022 15:22 utc | 15
neither party is the left. you want to see a left, go to China. this is the uniparty (right wing) asserting a more blatant control as the wheels fall of the Empire train.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Sep 2 2022 15:24 utc | 17
Wasn't that Biden rant really just a declaration of war on over half the population of the US?
Posted by: Leroy | Sep 2 2022 15:24 utc | 18
This site and this comments section is a cesspool of fascists, insurrectionists and traitors.
Posted by: j70 | Sep 2 2022 15:31 utc | 19
I read barflys asking why/why now and I have the potential answer.
Step way out and look at what is going on in the world.
China and Russia are REVOLTING against the God of Mammon Western (Top/Bottom) empire so empire is being existentially challenged from OUTSIDE the empire bubble. Those of us on the INSIDE of the bubble are being fed the desperation version of divide and rule to keep the Western public away from the curtain being torn away by China and Russia.
It is quite fun to watch actually. I have been waiting 50+ years for this potential to be realized and believe our species has the opportunity to evolve from barbarism, finally.
Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 2 2022 15:32 utc | 20
What all the "sophisticated" folks who like to equate Biden's speech to anything Trump has said are missing is this: the US president, flanked by armed marines, gave a speech that deliberately targeted his political opponents as enemies of the state. You can harp about Trump all you want, but he never, ever pulled such a fascist stunt. If the Jan. 6th committee wants to know what real incitement to violence looks like, this is it.
Posted by: GioCon | Sep 2 2022 15:35 utc | 21
The quote, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable' has been coming to mind more and more of late. And that pic of the Biden could use a few torches; that'd make it perfect.
Thanks b, and best of luck to all of us imperial subjects; it's gonna be a bumpy few years.
Posted by: robjira | Sep 2 2022 15:36 utc | 22
I have to laugh every time Brandon opens his mouth. These people are pathetic. They are desperately trying to hold onto American world supremacy, not realizing that they have already squandered it through their arrogance, greed and stupidity. The only thing America leads the world in is being the biggest menace to the peace and prosperity of other nations. Here's to hoping that Russia and China will do better.
Posted by: Steven | Sep 2 2022 15:36 utc | 23
Both monopoly Parties in the USA are LAUGHABLE. And criminal. And guilty of grave crimes against humanity. To discuss it like American politics is rational is equally laughable.
But, clearly, Trump Derangement Syndrome is the Kool Aid of choice for Democrats.
While GOP seems stuck in 1952.
Posted by: gottlieb | Sep 2 2022 15:41 utc | 24
Along with being garish and not all that credible, the speech clearly was significant as the staged backdrop and classic demagogic gesturing emphasized:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FbpZc9NWAAAP1-X?format=jpg&name=small
I thought some aspects may prove to be politically brilliant, namely:
1. By forthrightly and openly proclaiming that the extreme elements of the Republican Party are a 'clear and present' danger to the Republic (a legal term which justifies suspending habeas corpus and due process which various prisoners in DC have already experienced without any significant pushback from the country) he is encouraging a significant percentage of Republicans not to vote (lest the country drown in violence and chaos) and a greater percentage of Independents to hold their nose and vote for him again for the same reason. That plus many people genuinely don't want to be considered as traitors and terrorists. So politically this might prove a masterstroke. Even if this effect is not as pronounced as desired it can serve as explanation once the counting machines have done their work in November. They now have a winning narrative; no small thing. Gutsy too.
2. By continuing to pressure and vilify Trump supporters who are about to see their leader indicted on bogus lawfare charges, this will gradually pare them down to the hard core loyalists in whom they will do all they can to provoke righteous indignation leading to perfectly legal street protests which of course will be seeded with false flag 'white supremacist' groups who will inject lawlessness and violence against which the Regime can righteously crack down and make arrests. If the Deplorables don't protest they will continue to be marginalized and see their numbers slowly lessening as many people who don't generally take politics all that serious decide to pass rather than continue to face up to the pressure in their families and workplaces.
Unless there is pushback, the ongoing coup turning the US into something more totalitarian will continue.
3. The more pressured the MAGA people feel, the more many will tend to feel outraged and determined and some may indeed decide that they 'are not going to take it any more.' Most will remain peaceful and uplifted, but some will not.
4. Generally, the MAGA people are now being subjected to continuous existential anxiety, a precursor for mass formation, or let's call it group hysteria. They can be made to feel great fear, great anger, great despair. They can be used to make things get out of hand and moreover their supporters have group hysteria in terms of seeing MAGA people as demons and are similarly excitable into negative states including fear, anger and despair.
5. I thought Biden did a surprisingly good job of projecting both righteous wrath and friendly Uncle Joe quality. People who hate him won't feel that of course but most ordinary non-partisan people don't have strong feelings about politicians either way so tend to give the President the benefit of the doubt (unless it is Trump, the most unrelentingly demonized public figure in US history).
Of course it's all a spell. It remains to be seen how many people fall under it but given how well-intentioned and obedient most US citizens are, and given how bad various economic norms involving energy and food supply are about to get, probably they will succumb to being told what to do just as with covid and the vaccines.
Jeez, you mean anyone here would actually take this seriously?
Maybe we could have some debate reruns from the 80s.
Trump's support is looking more like Sandernistas. Big splash, over before it started.
Meanwhile South America is pretty much swinging left, BRICS and the SCO are rocking the house, and it's lights out in Europe.
Biden mimicks sentience, oh, be still my heart.
Posted by: Stumpy | Sep 2 2022 15:42 utc | 26
On goes the US capitalist intra-elite fight between global capital (finance, transnationals and the media etc. plus the arms manufacturers) and domestic capital (real estate, domestic fossil fuels and minerals, petit bourgeoisie). The former have been in power since at least the 1940s and have their representatives embedded through the Deep State, the DNC and the "Never Trump" wing of the GOP. An example being the noxious Vindman who could not comprehend that a President would exercise his constitutional right to change foreign policy, also the horrible Liz Cheney.
The globalists seem to have been doing a lot of embezzling etc. in Ukraine, hence the apoplectic responses to Trump attempting to make peace there. They also miss the easy money from the pillaging of Russia. China is both a source of profit and a long term risk to them. The MAGA wing see China a enemy #1 as its rise undermines the strength of the domestic US economy.
Lets remember that George W. Bush was a globalist (as was Clinton before him), at a time when the US was worried about peak oil and therefore grabbing as much oil as possible. He was allowed to steal elections in both 2000 (hanging chads and the Supreme Court) and 2004 (Ohio fun and games). After him the charming globalist Obama who was of the right skin tone to bring hope to and quieten the rebellious nature of the masses. 2016 was such a surprise the globalists had not prepared for it and Trump won in the electoral college. In 2020 they were ready with the suppression of negative news (Hunter's laptop etc.) and way more election tricks than the MAGA team had dreamt up.
Neither group is the friend of the masses, with both favouring lower taxes on the rich and less protections and support for the masses (the DNC just say they are for the masses but their policies say different). The masses are predominantly spectators to the show, and will be fed crumbs (e.g. student loan debt forgiveness and mock angst about the loss of Roe vs Wade) by the globalists. The danger for the globalists is that if they "off" Trump they will turn him into a martyr for someone else to use such as a Tucker Carlson, so the attempts to trash Trump will continue.
The words of Biden are scary, as they echo those of fascist leaders who identify a section of the population as an enemy within. Could white MAGA supporters become the new Jews, together with those of Russian ancestry? If we think that the globalist propaganda is already bad wait until the economy goes into recession in 2023 in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Sep 2 2022 15:15 utc | 10
That is what Naomi Wolf just said The saturated red has been used in the branding of corona. She says there will be no election.
Posted by: Jonathan W | Sep 2 2022 15:50 utc | 29
Further to this story,"When you are not with what majority of Americans are, then you know, that is extreme; that is an extreme way of thinking," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. [Link to Whitehouse]
While this is not a sentence in any known language, highlighting the fact that the US education system has collapsed to such an extent that not even the Whitehouse can find a press secretary fluent in Americanese, let alone English, but Americans are largely incapable of noticing this, let's attempt to parse it anyway.
Only 158 million Americans voted in 2020, and the reported votes were largely split between the Democrats at 81,283,098 and Republicans at 74,222,958. At the time there were approximately 240 million eligible voters out of 333 million Americans, all of whom were forced to choose between representatives of the wealthy and powerful oligarchs, by the noxious combination of money and propaganda usual in what passes for politics in America. [Data ex Link to CFR]
In 2021 "Sixty-two percent of U.S. adults say the "parties do such a poor job representing the American people that a third party is needed," an increase from 57% in September. Support for a third party has been elevated in recent years, including readings of 60% in 2013 and 2015 and 61% in 2017." [Link to Gallup]
That means that while 85.6% of Americans did not vote for the Republicans, a full 75.6% of Americans did not vote for the Democrats. In other words, despite more money, propaganda and censorship than ever before in US history, and with oligarch owned companies micro managing the public discourse, neither oligarch controlled political party can validly claim a mandate to rule and, in yesterday's incendiary language, given that the war mongering Democrats (vis e.g. Russia, Syria and the PRC) are "not with what majority of Americans are", they are, by their own logic and in their own terms, "extreme".
It also suggests all the self awareness of a more than usually cognitively challenged rock, but that is America for you.
Posted by: Hermit | Sep 2 2022 15:50 utc | 30
Amazing development of projection hologram technology there, even set to written script. Looked real with the background. What will they do next? A four year hologram presidency and nobody the wiser? Politically Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre, Unprecedented.
Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Sep 2 2022 15:55 utc | 31
The madness continues. Both sides in this pseudo controversy are wrong and both are aiming for the same thing: blocking the few paths that remain to democracy and cementing the power of the ruling class oligarchy. There are no real differences between Trump and Biden, one party or the other. Their foreign and domestic policies are clearly indistinguishable- global hegemony and sustained attacks on working class living standards. There is no lesser evil, just one evil system with two carefully constructed buttresses holding it in place.
We all know this. A very large number of Americans knows it too but the nonsense goes on. The only way to end this putrid play is to demolish the theatre it is staged in.
This guy understands, (I think).
The Politics of Anti-Trumpism
The Inadequacy of the Left-Liberal Critique of the Threat of Fascism by Roger D. Harris
"...Rather than allowing Trump to fade into the shadows, the Democrats have continued to fan the flames of fear of fascism for their partisan advantage with their liberal constituency. By the same token, though, their publicity helps to mobilize the very right populism that they oppose.
"Hence, over a year and a half since the original incident on 1/6/21, the House select investigative committee continued to keep the media spotlight on the former chief executive. And with a professional TV producer for the primetime extravaganza.
"What has happened since that infamous day? The angry Republican mob took some selfies in the Capitol and went home. They never returned.
"Meanwhile the Democrats had hundreds of the perpetrators pursued, causing some to be imprisoned. Under Democratic leadership, the US Army – not the civilian police – occupied the streets of the national capital. And new legislation was passed extending police powers to limit protests.
"In the name of preserving “our democracy” and fighting fascism, measures that are in fact fascistic were enacted. What ensued under Democratic aegis is not what democracy looks like...."
https://dissidentvoice.org/2022/09/the-politics-of-anti-trumpism/#more-133010
Posted by: bevin | Sep 2 2022 15:59 utc | 32
@Posted by: Stumpy | Sep 2 2022 15:42 utc | 26
The Sandanistas are in power in Nicaragua, surviving and coming back from US sanctions and regime change operations. Inside Nicaragua’s 2021 elections – and the latest US/OAS coup attempt. They recently stopped recognizing Taiwan and moved over to the China side.
Lula is a "neoliberalism with crumbs" operator, who will have been further disciplined by the elites through his incarceration. The left leader in Peru is being slowly destroyed by the drug-capitalism elites and the US embassy. Ecuador elected a neoliberal as President last year. There are some spots of light, as in Honduras (although we have to question how much elbow room the wife of the couped ex-President has) and the new President of Colombia (with the drug elites, right wing death squads, the US Embassy and a massive US military presence providing limitations). Bolivia stands out, because its left-leadership is based among the masses who rejected the elite coup.
Varieties of Neoliberalism in Brazil (2003–2019)
The collapse of the PT’s transformative project was due to its attachment to neoliberalism rather than its reforms. The party’s administrations collapsed because of their attachment to pragmatism even when it had become counterproductive and the PT’s dogged triangulation toward a political center that was collapsing into the far right. The political crisis in Brazil and the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff revealed the limitations of developmental neoliberalism and the contradictions of the PT’s political project. They showed, in particular, that what was lasting in the experience of the federal administrations led by the PT was their neoliberal economic base and what was untenable was the distributional policy superimposed upon the system of accumulation. In the end, the PT’s dalliance with neoliberalism opened political space for the far right, propelled Rousseff’s impeachment, and supported the reversal of the economic, distributive, and social advances of the 2000s.
Four Latin American nations back Castillo as Peru political crisis continues
While his election spooked investors, Castillo has since moderated his stance, keeping technocrats in the key finance ministry. But he has cycled through many crises, including surviving two impeachment attempts and reshuffling his Cabinet many times.
He is also under six separate criminal investigations for, among other things, obstruction of justice in the firing of an interior minister. Opposition lawmakers have said they would like to launch a third impeachment attempt but acknowledge they do not have the votes to oust him.
His speech has had the intended effect of making the far right who support Trump even more crazy than they already look by making them react. The intention is clear, which is to make people who think they are sane, not want to associate themselves with the weirdness that Trump has brought out in people. It's intended to divide the Republican party further.
But we know both the Republican and Democratic parties are do the bidding of the rich. This is a war between the nationalist rich against the globalist rich. Both can give two shits about the American people. Those that think Trump and Biden are on their side are delusional people.
Posted by: okpmem | Sep 2 2022 16:04 utc | 34
Charlie Kirk:
'dark words by a weak man presiding over a collapsing regime.'
'A move of desperation, of panic.'
(So somebody's chipper about it!)
Which would be my Nr 6: if people DON'T give into the spell and are not intimidated then it could well be the last gasp of the coupsters. That seems to be the MAGA punditry's hope. I suspect it's not going to be that easy...
JustAmaverick no. 13
I agree with your realism. The speech was so patriotic and gushingly smarmy. (Here's something to think about from an article in today's guardian)
"Rising costs of food and energy and the impact of the climate crisis on resources are predicted to increase civil unrest in more than half the world’s countries over the coming months, according to new analysis.
This year has already witnessed large-scale protests as inflation levels soar in Argentina, Ecuador and Sri Lanka, but the worst is yet to come, said risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft."
Posted by: ThusspakeZarathustra | Sep 2 2022 16:09 utc | 36
J70
You have to do way better then that pathetic attempt to sway any of the MoB crowd.
Posted by: Thaisleeze | Sep 2 2022 16:09 utc | 37
Creepy Joe's speech with a satanic red background. Divide and Conquer, promoting civil shooting war. Bye bye USofA.
Posted by: Hannibal | Sep 2 2022 16:11 utc | 38
polarbear @ 14
The background is perfectly real but nothing else is. Watch the two Marines flanking Biden closely. In a thirty minute speech they do not move at all. They aren't even breathing. The Marine to the left of your screen has some occasional twinkle on his medals and that is all. Dramatic high contrast lighting with deep shadows allows all sorts of editing and manipulation.
Posted by: oldhippie | Sep 2 2022 16:12 utc | 39
@ Roger
Argh. Sad to hear the setbacks. But thanks for relaying.
@: JustAMaverick | Sep 2 2022 15:20 utc | 13
>> Some would call this pessimistic. I call it realistic.
It’s the “Those who make peaceful change impossible…” thing.
Also, I call you *optimistic*!. ;-) Why? Unfortunately, I see no easier way for the RoW to survive.
Posted by: dfg | Sep 2 2022 16:15 utc | 40
The attempted assassination of Argentinian VP Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner today (and the persistent calls for "Putin to be dealt with") should serve as a warning to us all that an Archduke Ferdinand moment is always a risk - the more so in turbulent times such as these. The Hollywood scriptwriters are clearly setting the stage for a MAGA Gabrilo Princip to emerge. VP Harris should be on the 'phone double checking who the target is....
Posted by: Tinxx | Sep 2 2022 16:15 utc | 41
Posted by: j70 | Sep 2 2022 15:31 utc | 19
You’ve described the Yank ruling, political and media class perfectly.
Posted by: Prince Andrew | Sep 2 2022 16:21 utc | 42
Formerly T-Bear | Sep 2 2022 15:55 utc | 31
Precisely! Projection to the Max. I just traveled through the Trump Region of Oregon, and it's booming economically and confidently. And it's not Trump-related: Any populist with the correct message will be supported--that message is to attack the Globalists and Big Money that's destroying the nation along with the War Industry. It's not that these people aren't patriotic; what they want to see is patriotism at home, meaning building a "more perfect Union" that allows for upward mobility and corrects corruption.
If they wanted to beat Trump it'd be easy. Stop this insane 'immigrationist' policy of not just being indifferent to immigration restriction but pushing for more of it and generally knock off neoliberalism or tone it down a notch. It seems as if mainstream Democrats have gone so long into neoliberalism they don't even know what left-wing economic policy should look like. All they seem able to do is promise a little bit more social welfare when in power and promise not to push things as hard as the Republicans but pushing back is anathema to them.
Donald Trump has a monopoly on people who get a nomination and advocate immigration restriction or any explicit pushback against neocon adventurism. It might be warped, but he does genuinely have his ego tied up in the USA and does want it to be 'great', he has some sense of a nation which has interests. Even if he only articulates it rather than does much about it.
It's be trivially easily to defeat him but we know that in reality it's not him but those populist policies they hate, that's why Sanders and Gabbard get torpedo'd. (Sanders would have won actually, no matter what anybody says, he'd have taken those Democrat strongholds who voted for Trump after voting for Obama twice and whose realignment gave him the electoral college numbers) Or the outrageous 'anti-semitism' campaign against Corbyn in Britain which had high profile support from major public figures who were supposedly left wing progressives. (None of whom have ever been held to account)
Posted by: Altai | Sep 2 2022 16:26 utc | 44
@ Scorpion | Sep 2 2022 15:42 utc
Of course it's all a spell. It remains to be seen how many people fall under it but given how well-intentioned and obedient most US citizens are, and given how bad various economic norms involving energy and food supply are about to get, probably they will succumb to being told what to do just as with covid and the vaccines.
Grim assessment but reality often is.
Posted by: majoab | Sep 2 2022 16:28 utc | 45
That doctrine has since been replaced but that Biden, a lawyer, uses it is unwise. He will be accused of wanting to suppress free speech.
Biden was a lawyer for 3 years from 1969 to 1972, then 100% politics. Similar to "Constitutional Law" expert Obama that way.
The only thing "lawyer-like" about either is the selective manipulation of facts (and outright lying) to make a point.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Sep 2 2022 16:30 utc | 46
psychohistorian @20--
Yes, an excellent way of explaining the D's hysteria--everything they do is wrong and the Rs help them along knowing the Ds will take the blame. The Ds would be better off if they did nothing as every fix they try just puts them in a deeper fix.
I understand Biden's cognition is disintegrating by the day, and he needs drugs to hold him together when he speaks publicly, and his "stealth handler" his wife, has to make sure he walks in the right direction, and he can't speak without a prepared script, and his "delivery" is a throwback to some old subsumed idea of "trying to look tough and in control by grinding your teeth and pulling faces," but I didn't know that the fools who "handle" him think that by presenting him as a Hutu ("cockroaches" "Cut the tall trees") they will accomplish anything but a further slide into the mass hatred which is destroying that trough of vomit that is the US.
Trump is a despicable megalomaniac, but Biden is a despicable, worn out silly old man who's helping drag that country into a morass of social hatreds at least as deep as anything Trump did. The whole place needs to be seriously brutalized so they get a taste of what they inflict on everyone else. We can only hope they sell enough rope to hang the nauseating lot of them.
Posted by: hoggy | Sep 2 2022 16:32 utc | 48
Just noticed something from the visuals of the Biden speech. The vertical hanging flag behind him is backwards. Not a mistake. Intentional. A signal.
Posted by: oldhippie | Sep 2 2022 16:36 utc | 49
@Old And Grumpy 15
My monograph, Link to Wars of Depopulation addresses this question at some length.
In short, population growth in excess of the planet's carrying capacity and the resulting degradation means that at some point we will experience resource shortfalls that will be critical and will prevent further expansion. We cannot predict when the shortages will occur, as we are smart apes and good at switching one thing for another when the relative costs change. The onset of criticality will be detected in the rear view mirror, through sharp rises in the price of goods, followed by widespread famines and general economic collapse. Governments will fail, revolutions will occur, and wars will break out on a global scale. The Westphalian system and international structures might collapse and the collapse will probably be rapid in onset and deep. When it happens, a sudden depopulation would be vastly preferable to a long slow decline, as a decline would lead to wasteful fighting which would destroy resources that would otherwise be available to survivors.
While the current global crisis is very much self-inflicted, primarily by the USA hegemony's aggression and sanctions towards Russia and the PRC, it does appear much as predicted above, and some people delusional enough to imagine that some including themselves might survive the coming wars and their sequelae, or that as long as the last human to die is an American, are cheering on both götterdämmerung and the apocalypse.
Posted by: Hermit | Sep 2 2022 16:49 utc | 50
I'm amazed that team Brandon looked at the black and blood red setting for this pep talk and still said, "Yes, this is the image of strength we want to show the American people". For all of the Democrats and their cat calls of Fascism, they clearly are the ones who love the imagery of Fascism.
Posted by: Kadath | Sep 2 2022 16:52 utc | 51
i would say this is a bit more "problematic" though it can't top this for sheer dictatorial assholeishness. there was a saying i heard back in the day that went something like "the republicans fear their voters while the democrats simply hate theirs". it's hard to miss the palpable hatred for "democracy" coming from the centrists in both parties (and it goes both ways as cheney recently discovered).
but again, the US and the west in general is an organism crippled by senility and decadence. neither side of this internecine tard fight has a grip on reality; it's guys in dresses being called "women" vs qanon lizard rapists or whatever the fuck. the civil war has already started and the best case scenario is balkanization. the only guesswork is whether DC will be nuked by another country or burnt to the ground by US citizens.
Posted by: the pair | Sep 2 2022 17:01 utc | 52
Hermit - 50
Well, Meadows hypotheses are still quite reasonably on track, and on time, even though they were made 50 years ago. We have a broad idea of when shit will begin to happen, and when we'll go down. I'd say the key unknown is actually how low we'll go, and how many humans, if any, will eventually make it out.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Sep 2 2022 17:04 utc | 53
You doubt that Biden supporters will follow the same script. But in places where Democratic party supporters and liberals hang out, like here:
https://politicalwire.com/2022/09/01/biden-calls-out-trump-as-threat-to-this-country/#disqus_thread
they're praising the speech as the speech they've been waiting for. The Biden voters here have hated his emphasis on "bipartisanship" where we try to reach out to the Republicans. Biden seems to be getting this message finally and abandoning that premise, to the delight of his partisans.
Back in Billmon's time, this was one of the most popular blogs among progressives such as those at Daily Kos. Now it tends to lean more right wing than the Azov Battalion.
Posted by: Inkan1969 | Sep 2 2022 17:08 utc | 54
Is that a real picture of the speech? Holly Molly does it look like it was taken straight out of a dystopian movie/video game.
Anyway, the speech doesn't seem scary. Losing elections by antagonizing an entire segment of voters is one of the job descriptions of a US politician. It happened with Romney's "47%" in 2012, happened with Clinton's "deplorables" in 2016 and it will continue to happen.
Posted by: FieryButMostPeaceful | Sep 2 2022 17:14 utc | 55
-optics unbelievable, right out of one of Hitler's nazi performances!
-words were even more unbelievable!
The demented skeleton is clearly being medicated to the point of elder abuse but his handlers, rice, klain, obummer, jarrett, et al have a very sinister goal with the fourth branch of govt, intell branch, driving this takeover:
IMHO, there is clearly a better than even chance that the mid terms and the 2024 election will not be held, i.e. a military block (coup) "to protect the democracy, blah, blah"! Indeed, the developments and optics are ominous, this is no longer possible to shelve as just another conspiracy theory.
This author,who I respect, introduces a film which raises the alarm and possibility of such a coup:
https://cynthiachung.substack.com/p/new-cp-documentary-why-assume-there?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
(first 2-3 minutes relevant to today's dangers, balance of film just historical on coup attempt in 1930's.)
Second film more relevant to today, with a discussion of the odious cal sunstein's work "to control thought and behaviour" at about 7-8 minute mark.
Sunstein was and is prominant in the obummer/biden admin and is the husband of the equally odious Samantha power, now head of cia front, USAID.
Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 2 2022 17:15 utc | 56
An interesting inconvenient truth.
The Union of the Soviet States of Amerika is a deeply divided nation based on racism and bigotry.
Cannot function without seventeen million plus undocumented Hispanic slaves. Working in the service industry.
Thus the new norm in Amerika. To be a USSA card-carrying member of the new Red Republican Army. Or racist bigot lunatics party. One must tell oneself a minimum of 100 DJT lies per day.
A truly interesting choice. If the Troll in chief says leap over the edge of that cliff. These fools and idiots would obediently jump off said cliff in blind obedience to said order.
Posted by: Bad Deal Motors On | Sep 2 2022 17:18 utc | 57
Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 2 2022 15:42 utc | 25
I think you're right that the manipulations you mentioned were the primary goal of that ridiculous rant last night. It clearly was an attempt to provoke "Maggie Republicans" to wrath. But our Fabian Lords will need to do better than this quaint recreation of "V for Vendetta". Instead, they should try something like, say, massive, coordinated, in-your-face-whatcha-gonna-do-about-it election fraud. I'm just guessing--without any historical context to support, of course--but that would probably make a few thousand Trump supporters do something really impulsive and stupid.
Posted by: Tom SteChatte | Sep 2 2022 17:18 utc | 58
A curiosity. The insurrection/coup that sent an elected President scuttling out of Ukraine was democracy in action. Whereas the so-called insurrection against Corrupt Old Joe was actually a democratic exercise of political rights. Overblown rhetoric notwithstanding.
The US needs a Colour Revolution. And to be truly American, the Tree Of Liberty (or at least its roots) must be .... uh... refreshed.
Posted by: DilNir | Sep 2 2022 17:19 utc | 59
Is this a set for a new Star Wars movie? It's all so melodramatic I can't take any of it seriously. Too bad the youth are enculturated to eat up this crap from such a tender age. It boggles my mind when people shrug and say, "it's made for kids", as though that makes it better. At least most people have some decency or are too busy making ends meet to do something rash.
Posted by: Justin | Sep 2 2022 17:30 utc | 60
The hypocrisy and lack of self-awareness amongst Dems and the White House is remarkable.
Didn't they refuse to accept the 2016 election and proceed to concoct conspiracies about Russiagate -- effectively calling Trump a traitor for Russia?
Didn't they refuse to work with Trump on every single issue, except when he bombed Syria?
Didn't they come up with "not my president?"
Didn't they launch impeachment on the matter of sending arms to Ukraine, a non-treaty ally?
Didn't they tacitly endorse the BLM riots which "violently" burned down many city centers?
Aren't they much worse war mongers than Trump ever was?
This is all so stupid, and a sign of the political degeneration of the American ruling class and its system of domination over its increasingly restless population.
Trump inflames MAGA. The Dems inflame liberal identity politics. A clash of barbarisms. All workers are screwed.
Posted by: Richard | Sep 2 2022 17:31 utc | 61
He will be accused of wanting to suppress free speech.
As Republican state governments assault free speech themselves, and because I can still remember how the former guy acted, the worries expressed here feel a little lame. Hopefully the Republicans understand, though, that turnabout is fair play after spending the last three years maligning everyone to their left as devil worshipers who all engage in Satanic ritual abuse against children (even as conservative pastors kept getting involved in their own rape and CSA scandals). Just as amusing is the recent trend of far right conservative candidates losing soundly to centrist or liberal candidates and then reflexively crying election fraud. This is a party of sore losers who reserve insults and invective as tactics for themselves, but limply demand civility when these are finally used against them. Biden dropping Obama's naive civility and pretentious above-it-all-ness, and finally setting the terms of the debate. It's now up to the Republicans to prove they aren't "semi-fascists," which they can't because their actions in power - from banning discussions of the history of racism in the United States in the classroom, to their increased policing of sexuality, gender identity and bodily autonomy, including their desired bans on abortion - indicate that that is exactly what they are.
Posted by: fnord | Sep 2 2022 17:36 utc | 62
Throw more gas on the fire, arrest Trump the day after the midterms.
Posted by: circumspect | Sep 2 2022 17:37 utc | 63
When you strip out the orgy of projection (as I heard someone else call it), and the rest of the generalised abusive diarrhea directed towards GOP voters, there was one specific that was included in the speech.
"They refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself."
Too many times we have seen the Democrats and Progressives try and get ahead of the story.
We had the leaking of the draft opinion in the Dobbs case, and it only took a few days from Zuckerberg's appearance with Joe Rogan before it was all revealed from evidence presented at an ongoing court case.
Is there something around the corner, is there a court case about to drop that will vindicate those who question the outcome of 2020.
Whatever else we know, we know that Biden and those who control him couldn't give a toss about the Constitution, the rule of law, individual rights and freedoms, and in particular, electoral integrity.
So, why that speech, and why now?
Posted by: Orchard1 | Sep 2 2022 17:46 utc | 64
Orchard1 @ 63
"They refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself."
In other words, they will not let dead voters vote for us anymore? The optics makes me think they dug up the corpse of Leni Riefenstahl.
We keep break new ground in the war of division.
Posted by: circumspect | Sep 2 2022 17:51 utc | 65
karlof1 | Sep 2 2022 16:25 utc | 43
It's now 37 years since leaving U.S., the divide and rule has made political identity unrecognisable: left is right which is something else again. Words have become fungible; have need to be in order cover all the divisions, many weak approximations of their former meanings.
One advantage has been the distance time gives from the daily political cacophony seeding the daily propaganda colouring perceptions (for which I'm grateful). Picture, if you will, most of the citizenry is intimately involved in having and raising a family, little time is given to following let alone analysing the slowly morphing world about them outside what affects them directly. Every four years an emperor's ransom is raised and spent to divide the voting citizen into as equal sized groups as possible, allowing a few 'rotten' districts to exercise undue effect on the outcome. One recent election statisticians noted only ten cities were capable of deciding the presidency - some concentration of political power that. An Achilles heel for a Republic that; it's all in the numbers and if you want to terrorise the citizenry, just give them a number, any number and they won't know what it is, what it stands for or what to do with it.
Unfortunately history, civics, law and now the political process are included with math in terrorising the citizen, mostly of upright and honourable character. Universal suffrage is not democracy, particularly if used against the interests of its citizens by keeping them from being fully participating in a Republic (a political bait and switch scam). There seems to be a systematic fault at play; YMMV.
Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Sep 2 2022 17:56 utc | 66
The optics made me think of a Nazi eagleabove Biden's head but I guess that's OK when similar symbols are acceptable as tattoos on Ukrainian warriors.
Posted by: Brendan | Sep 2 2022 17:56 utc | 67
Those "optics" leave me stunned.
I can only think of two possible explanations for this spectacle. Either Biden's handlers think this will frighten the MAGA crowd into submission or they are trying to goad the "deplorables" into a kinetic fight. Both options exhibit incredible stupidity and a complete departure from anything like reason and rationality.
The Establishment doubtless feels that have the overwhelming advantage. Perhaps they feel if the fight were brought into the streets then they would be able to thoroughly crush the "deplorables" once and for all, but my suspicion is that such a plan would workout somewhat like their plans for the Ukraine.
I'm getting a bit long in the tooth to be a global vagabond again, but maybe it is time for me to return to being an expat. Times as interesting as those I am afraid are coming would be best appreciated from a few thousand miles away.
Posted by: William Gruff | Sep 2 2022 17:58 utc | 68
So, why that speech, and why now?
Posted by: Orchard1 | Sep 2 2022 17:46 utc | 63
Because they’re scared.
You get the most flack when you’re over the target
Posted by: PalmaSailor | Sep 2 2022 18:00 utc | 69
Was this the speech where he suggested American Christians should unite and get F-15 fighter jets to fight the Democrats?
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Sep 2 2022 18:03 utc | 70
Both parties are criminal fascist bullies that want to oppress the rest of the world.
The only real solution is to wipe the US from the face of the planet once and for all.
Posted by: Nico | Sep 2 2022 18:06 utc | 72
Hey there, J70, we are 'fascists traitors and insurrectionists' eh?
You're 2/3 right.
American fascists are so lacking in self-awareness they don't notice that everything they say boils down to projection. The easiest way to spot a fascist is to take note of who calls others that.
But as for treason and insurrection, well, ALL insurrectionists are branded traitors by lackeys of the corrupt order they seek to overthrow. And yes, we most certainly ARE going to destroy the horrific totalitarian monstrosity you keep calling 'our democracy.'
Just know, when the insurrection triumphs, you won't know what hit you. A hint: It won't look anything like a bunch of boomers in MAGA hats breaking Capitol windows and playing grab-ass with the speaker's gavel.
Meanwhile, Biden's speech reminded me of nothing so much as this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8hDsIoEFYw
Only one question remains, is he Kang, or Kodos?
Posted by: jmj59 | Sep 2 2022 18:11 utc | 73
All true. Of course what goes unsaid is the Dems do the same thing although the strategy and tactics manifest somewhat differently. Domestically anyway. In the international arena they are pretty much in lockstep - Tweedledee and Tweedledumb (or is it Tweedledumber?).
Posted by: Vincent Berg | Sep 2 2022 18:12 utc | 74
This is straight out of a dystopian Hollywood production, think "Brazil", think "Brave New World", think "The Matrix", think "1984". This was a carefully choreographed and executed effort to instill bone chilling fear in the average, "comfortably numb" American voter. "Vote for Democrats, our fascism is better than Trump's fascism, at least we will give you marriage equality" - that could have been the simple message.
The Democrats have nothing to show for since they took control of both chambers in the House and the presidency. Thus, the only thing they can do is go back to the old playbook of identity politics, like they did in 2016 and 2020. They will still lose the midterm election and still enabling the advance of U.S. style fascism.
Posted by: Beverly | Sep 2 2022 18:13 utc | 75
So will DT take the bait? Or does he have an SPO prepared and he can ignore the taunts? He is better than VP at the publicity game, but prone to indulge.
And what's next in the Dem theatre of the absurd? I see a sample of Night of the Living Dead. Biden, Pelosi, Feinstein, etc trudging forward toward a polling booth on a dark and rainy night. "Bring out your vote! Bring out your vote!"
Sad thing is we will survive and be worse off for it.
Posted by: Michael | Sep 2 2022 18:15 utc | 76
Just noticed something from the visuals of the Biden speech. The vertical hanging flag behind him is backwards. Not a mistake. Intentional. A signal.
Posted by: oldhippie | Sep 2 2022 16:36 utc | 49
Crap! Now you got me looking at it again!
You mean the stars and stripes are the wrong way?
Might you not argue that this is the 'forward flying' version transposed to vertical?
Or the flag stage left with the eagle pointing downwards which seems to me almost certainly upside down?
Now looking again pretty strange the crowd is only 3-4 rows deep. Reminds me of his non-campaign campaign.
I just dunno, old hippie. From where I sit outside the country I simply cannot believe that the people put up with so hollow a performance - am talking decades now. It's so clearly a Reality TV Republic phony as the century was long... Not the people, of course, but the construct known as 'America' or 'USA.' I just cannot understand what forces hold it together as such.
But then that's why I left in the 80's. Grew up in Europe/UK, spent 12 fun years in the US during mid-70's to mid-80's but left because I just couldn't grok how it was holding together as a country. Years later when I visited UK again I felt it was surprisingly similar to the US in terms of feeling phony. Maybe it always was and I was older or maybe it had changed - most likely both. My 30-year old son in Germany says that most large European cities no longer feel like themselves. He knows this not from memory but direct perception. The people and behaviors don't fit the buildings, the cuisines, the language one can still read from decades or centuries ago. They don't match up.
Similarly the concept of America and the current manifestation are a total mismatch.
B-movie black magic land!
I am listening to some of his speech again as I write. It is literally unbelievable. And yet significant. Time for a revolution!!!
I'm not sure why but the speech reminded me of " Triumph of the Will".
Posted by: Michael Hogan | Sep 2 2022 18:24 utc | 78
Beverly | Sep 2 2022 18:13 utc | 75
Cnn color shifted the red during the speech, to make it more pink, less nazi. So it seems not all propaganda puppets were involved in the idiotic stage and text, some tried to fix it. That diversity hire hurts
Posted by: rk | Sep 2 2022 18:24 utc | 79
I'm not sure why but the speech reminded me of " Triumph of the Will".
Posted by: Michael Hogan | Sep 2 2022 18:24 utc | 79
Because they deliberately mimicked Third Reich optics which she brought to life in film.
I think oldhippie is onto something with those flags though. Ceremonial military/marines are trained to stand to attention during ceremonies so that's no biggie, but the flags I think ARE upside down or backwards which is a clear signal of the republic having fallen or a desperate warning from those hanging them to their military-savvy brethren. That said, I agree that this is certainly deliberate and the most truthful, if non-verbal, message in the entire sorry event.
Why that speech now? Obviously they're desperate to not lose the House in Nov because Hunter hearings and impeachment come next. We hope.
Posted by: Richard | Sep 2 2022 18:32 utc | 82
Apologies to international audiences. Grandpa Biden got some of his words mixed up again - I blame the horse tranquilizers. Here's what he meant to say:
The Deep State and the neocon warmongers represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic. ... [T]here is no question that the Democratic Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by the Deep State and the neocon warmongers, and that is a threat to this country. ... And here, in my view, is what is true: The Deep State does not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.Deep State forces are determined to take this country backwards — backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.
The Deep State promotes authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence that are a threat to our personal rights, to the pursuit of justice, to the rule of law, to the very soul of this country.
The Deep State looks at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6th — brutally attacking law enforcement — not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger to the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as an existential threat to The Deep State that must be eliminated.
Neocon warmongers tried everything last time to nullify the votes of 81 million people. This time, they’re determined to succeed in thwarting the will of the people.
That’s why respected conservatives, like Federal Circuit Court Judge Michael Luttig, has called The Deep State and the extreme neocon warmongers, quote, a “clear and present danger” to our democracy.
...
The Deep State has made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies.
...
Democrats, independents, and mainstream Republican Deep State proxies: We must be stronger, more determined, and more committed to saving American democracy than The Deep State are to — to destroying American democracy.
...
The Deep State looks at America and sees carnage and darkness and despair. Neocon warmongers spread fear and lies –- lies told for profit and power.
...
The Deep State believe that for them to succeed, everyone else has to fail. They believe America — not like I believe about America, and I should know... I work for The Deep State.
Posted by: PavewayIV | Sep 2 2022 18:36 utc | 83
William Gruff @67--
I find it easy to talk and debate ideas with those on what was once considered the Right, many of whom are long-haired, non-racist red necks who were as betrayed by Reagan as was everyone else. The facts of the past matter to them and to a great mass of others calling themselves Independents. Once you name the enemy of all--Neoliberalism--and tie the great mass of corruption to its practitioners in both parties, you'll find you have lots of friends. The Bankster Frauds were enabled by both parties. Most of these people know the political system at the national level is broken, but only Trump is saying what comes close to what they'd like to hear. But it's recognized that he's flawed too. And that leads to the actual problem caused by the Duopoly--there're no candidates for POTUS that the people want.
I understand wanting to go overseas. I can't--responsibilities and duty. I would if I didn't have them. I'd go to Russia, to the Caspian Sea Region. In four more POTUS election cycles by 2036, I'll be 81, and be very pleased if I make it that far. Perhaps the system will blow-up by then. If not 2024, then 2028. Maybe PavewayIV's special forces will emerge by then. There're many possibilities. For now, I intend to talk with other Oregonians willing to dialog, for we do have choices, and our state system remains functional provided people both talk AND listen.
Full blown senility
President Biden on Friday said he does not consider any Donald Trump supporters to be a "threat" to the U.S., though he said the failure to condemn violence for political gains was "inappropriate."
The president’s comments were in answer to a question from Fox News’ Peter Doocy who asked if Biden considered all Trump supporters to be a threat to the country less than a day after he blasted "MAGA Republicans" in a speech Thursday.
"You keep trying to make that case. I don't consider any Trump supporters a threat to the country," Biden said. "I do think anyone who calls for the use of violence, refuses to acknowledge an election…changing the way you count votes, that is a threat to democracy..."
Posted by: Cincinattus | Sep 2 2022 18:42 utc | 85
"After it was over I said to myself, you know it's really true — I've said this before — the water's not gonna clear up in Washington until we get the pigs out of the creek," Kennedy explained. "And no one is coming to save us but ourselves."
Sen John Kennedy, always good for a neat quip...
More of them need to make a simple point: all the fascism and violence and anti-constitutionality etc. that Biden projects on Trump and his supporters are precisely how his sides feels and behaves. They are very dangerous. People need to wake up.
B somehow does not mention another quote (perhaps form another speech) where Biden mocked MAGA and "their guns", saying if MAGA wants to fight him the American president - they should have F-15 not AR-15.
That to me sounded very tasteless or very threatening, and worth mentioning
Posted by: Arioch | Sep 2 2022 18:54 utc | 89
Thank you b for a specific American politics threads.
In my opinion, all things Trump, and Biden are so terribly interesting, and special, that they truly deserve to have threads of their own.
Posted by: robin | Sep 2 2022 18:57 utc | 90
I follow pro-Russian English-language Telegram channels like Donbass Devushka and Slavyangrad. Many of the people in the comments sections are Right-wing Americans, people Biden might call the MAGA crowd.
One outcome from the Russian Special Military Operation in the Ukraine is, that it militarizes and radicalizes the American crowds. The Ukrainian civil war is divisive, not only in the Ukraine, but also in America. It widens the void between the parties and drives the United Stated toward civil war.
Posted by: Petri Krohn | Sep 2 2022 18:59 utc | 91
Sen John Kennedy, always good for a neat quip...Posted by: Scorpion | Sep 2 2022 18:52 utc | 88
... or was it Ted Sorensen, who wrote most of his stuff.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Sep 2 2022 19:01 utc | 92
Since many barflies here exchange their impressions and associations about "the optics" - let me reference Pink Floyd (with Rogers Waters yet).
https://youtu.be/yX4O3dNTFYw?t=102
see 1:42 and then 1:56
Posted by: Arioch | Sep 2 2022 19:01 utc | 93
So, what GOP strategist sent the e-mail telling conservative media ring leaders to make the Leni Riefenstahl comparison? Been hearing it from conservatives all morning. Something tells me a lot of people woke up to a talking point memo.
Note that the image b posted here is cropped. The red backdrop is flanked by blue on each side in the uncropped photo, and is significantly less sinister. The Leni comparison doesn't work with the full lighting, which produces a much less striking image than the almost baroque image in the original post.
Posted by: fnord | Sep 2 2022 19:10 utc | 94
> Posted by: fnord | Sep 2 2022 19:10 utc | 94
Isn't it what is called "plausible deniability" ?
"Nice shop you have there. Would be a shame if something happen to it".
What you say? I threatened shop owner??? Nonsense!!! I just was sympathetic and even compasionate to his hard work! I was trying to protect him!!!
What are you, blue-lives-matters guys, woke with one same memo this morning?
Posted by: Arioch | Sep 2 2022 19:18 utc | 95
Joe’s 50 years in the heart of US politics is part of the problem #WallStreet #oligarchs #proxywars
Always seeking the boogeyman ... Saddam - al Zarqawi - Bin Laden - al Awlaki - Gaddafi - Assad (failed) - Putin (poor bet) - Trumpistas as terrorists - Civil War - martial law - get me some popcorn 🍿
The same old script ... scenes of different plays are performed on his stage. Wrecking ball policy ... Joe is a tired old man ... a bit delusional ... a losing streak of defeats.
Opport Knocks | Sep 2 2022 19:01 utc | 92
Scorpion is referring to another Senator John Kennedy. He is from Louisiana, not Massachusettes, and is active today rather than 60 years ago. He is the opposite of JFK: not particularly attractive but very folksy and full of earthy humor. he most certainly writes his own material, it is very distinctive and unlike anything else in american politics today. he is only a few steps removed from appearing on the comedy circuit.
Posted by: Cincinattus | Sep 2 2022 19:19 utc | 97
Biden looks like the love child of Adolf Hitler and Grandpa Simpson.
If I have to hear 'Democracy' and 'Clear and Present Danger' one more time from another globalist warmonger i am going to vomit. Baerbock used the same words just a few days ago... are they being coached by the same people, or are they just reading from the same script?
Posted by: Et Tu | Sep 2 2022 19:23 utc | 98
@ Posted by: Cincinattus | Sep 2 2022 19:19 utc | 97
Yeah, comedy circuit; as one of his constituents, I assure you the guy is a clown.
Posted by: fnord | Sep 2 2022 19:25 utc | 99
Scorpion @ 81
Well thank you but I have to eat a bit of crow here. The flag puzzled me enough to go and look it up. That is actually the correct way to display a vertical flag. Reasons. And yes, many people see it displayed correctly and think it odd. Some people who hang a flag on the front porch will hang it the other way around because correct looks funny to passersby and they keep hearing about it. But I was wrong.
I am going to stand with what I said about Marines being immobile. It is possible to train for that and it happens that honor guards will be selected for ability to carry it off well. Perfection for a few minutes is possible. To not breathe for 25 minutes is not possible. They weren't there.
At start of speech Biden has a coughing fit bad enough to make anyone wonder how he will get through this. And then he is on and on continuously. And energetic in his cranky old man shaking his fist manner. I just don't believe he did that except with lots of production work. Not believing it was a live speech. The lighting is a perfect setup for all manner of trickery. The "audience" is small enough to all be in on the act.
Your previous remarks about depopulation have been on my mind too. Problem is that would happen three pay grades above the POTUS and you and I will never know. Even in retrospect it would be hard to know. But yes, at some point by evidence that keeps adding up you might just make that call. I am resisting, I do read more than one line if someone is writing about that.
Posted by: oldhippie | Sep 2 2022 19:28 utc | 100
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Thanks for the reporting of the latest Wag The Dog episode.
This is the thread where those left/right zombies can get their rocks off while the folks at the top of our top/bottom world laugh their assess off at the effectiveness of the manufactured curtain covering their anti-humanistic perfidy.
Go for it Zombies!
Posted by: psychohistorian | Sep 2 2022 15:04 utc | 1