“Trump bamboozled his own supporters“

Bamboozled doesn’t do it. Trump supporters by definition are permanently bamboozled.

Better words would be misled; deceived; swindled; defrauded; double crossed.

Trump’s MAGA gang said they were against “forever wars” which they have now voted with Genocide Joe to fund. The Uniparty in lockstep. They all have their snouts in the MIC trough.

Usually leaders wait until they’ve been voted in before they renege on promises, but Trump and Starmer have broken their pledges before the election campaigns have begun.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 13:42 utc | 1

I have become fascinated by all of the changes happening in West and Central Africa.

The West is losing ground across different countries and personalities. The West loves to divide and conquer. When it is turned on them, they cannot handle trying to herd and control a half dozen states with "crazy" ideas about representing the national interest and making foreigners pay a fair price.

Much of what is happening in Africa is being facilitated by Russia, and to a lesser degree, China.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 21 2024 13:44 utc | 2

1967

-Sir, I see the American flag
-anyway, follow orders

Since 1963/67 the balls of the Romans -now Americans- have hung in a museum display case in the biblical theme park, and a copy of the original is kept in Miami, California, Chicago and New York.

Note the precise name of the ship attacked: USS Liberty.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident

"incident"

LOL

Posted by: Simon | Apr 21 2024 13:45 utc | 3

1967

-Sir, I see the American flag
-anyway, follow orders

Since 1963/67 the balls of the Romans -now Americans- have hung in a museum display case in the biblical theme park, and a copy of the original is kept in Miami, California, Chicago and New York.

Note the precise name of the ship attacked: USS Liberty.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident

"incident"

LOL

Posted by: Simon | Apr 21 2024 13:45 utc | 4

That is an interesting anti Trump screed considering all Democrats voted for the bill and waved Ukrainian flags in the House chambers. I do not recall any such event ever happening. 112 Republicans voted against the measure with one voting present. Considering the power of the AIPAC lobby I would say that has never happened before.

Of course, they were holding out for border enforcement with a few hoping to dump Ukraine all together. All In all, the above tweet is pure garbage as it does not at all mention the War Party but only blames Americas most favored whipping boy. Not that it would be any better, just that the divide for the War Partys survival continues for idiots like the one who produced the above Twit.

Tell the twit to clean up his own house before he points fingers at others. Sure the MAGA crowd is no better than the Democrats. I will pass on scanning truth social for their views.

One would hope for something better here but no one is perfect. Its a tough job running a site lie this parsing massive amounts of information.

Posted by: circumspect | Apr 21 2024 13:51 utc | 5

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 13:42 utc | 1

###############

Reinforcing people's bias is a good way to get elected.

Trump tells people what they want to hear. The electoral process is corrupt and has no bearing on the fact that supporters on both sides willingly and deliberately choose to endorse liars who fail to live up to their promises. The Golden Don has always been light on philosophy but masterful at presentation and BS.

The kabuki opponents of Trump have elevated him to folk hero status by attacking him, which only increased his credibility who want someone to do anything against the elites while taking a few minutes for selfies with the common man.

A big tell on Trump was how little he has agitated for the release of the J9 prisoners.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 21 2024 13:53 utc | 6

Year 70, the legions of Titus and Vespasian, Legio V Macedom, Legio X Fretensis, Legio XV Apollinarus, destroy the Temple of the Sadducean priestly oligarchy.

Year 1967, the balls of the Romans hang in a showcase as a great trophy.

"incident"

LOL

Colossal historical moment

Posted by: Simon | Apr 21 2024 13:53 utc | 7

https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/04/21/724084/new-freedom-flotilla-ready-sail-Gaza-challenge-Israel-naval-blockade-

New Freedom Flotilla to set sail for Gaza in defiance of Israel's naval blockade
Sunday, 21 April 2024 10:59 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 21 April 2024 12:29 PM

Posted by: Mary | Apr 21 2024 13:55 utc | 8

Noam Chomsky was never more correct. Your vote means nothing, a waste of effort. The Uniparty decides that Forever War is the future. And Congress protects other borders but not the US.

Goering nailed it. Accuse others of treason and cowardice and support war.

Posted by: Eighthman | Apr 21 2024 13:55 utc | 9

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 13:42 utc | 1

How many wars did Trump start?

You are way off base.

Posted by: canuck | Apr 21 2024 13:57 utc | 10

@b
There was no reason to expect that some kind of Ukraine funding bill would not eventually get passed.
As you yourself reference: the vast majority of this money goes to American and European military industrial complex players, and from them to the politicians and bureau- and euro-crats.
This does not have to be a spy fiction type plot, just great heaping piles of money and donations talking.

Posted by: c1ue | Apr 21 2024 13:58 utc | 11

The House Passed Ukraine Funding Bill On Hitler's Birthday.
One of the funding packages also allows for the confiscation of Russian assets in the U.S.

Posted by: Perimetr | Apr 21 2024 14:07 utc | 12

Trying to link the MAGA movement with this Funding Bill for Ukraine , Israel and whomever is a stretch.

This is a Uniparty bill and MAGA are opposed to it.

Thinking US politics is still Dems v GOP is naive and does not connect with the reality in the Swamp that is Washington DC

That is why whoever is President of the US will always be a mere figurehead, albeit with a decent sized megaphone, and the actual power will always lie ensewhere

Posted by: Tired of lies | Apr 21 2024 14:08 utc | 13

The Power in Washington

The Power in Washington lives Olympically above the ups and downs of the political-media Show business for entertainment and confusion of the plebs.

Posted by: Simon | Apr 21 2024 14:13 utc | 14

Circumspect at #5

Mike Johnson, an avowed Christian Zionist, was Trump's preferred replacement for McCarthy ... (He wanted McCarty to 'stay' but when that wasn't happening, Johnson was his pick.) Trump told Johnson months ago to refuse additional funding to Ukraine. Rumor is Biden took Johnson into his (Biden's) office and told him a 'secret' (long story short ... RUSSIA IS BAD) Now, as b outlined in his note above, Mike Johnson (Trump) flipped.

Point is not how many Republicans voted for the aid (gift), Trump and his Speaker are for it.

Posted by: crone | Apr 21 2024 14:17 utc | 15

b, wrote: "What are the $14.8 billion for DoD operations in Eastern Europe for?"

Answer: arming up Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland.

Posted by: AI | Apr 21 2024 14:18 utc | 16

Mike Johnson's perfidy, along with impotent rage comments by MAGA types, inspired me to spec out a simple tool for self-organizing that could be used to take out RINO's.

A simple tweak would likewise facilitate honest progressives taking out DINOs.

Posted by: metamars | Apr 21 2024 14:21 utc | 17

If passing this funding resolution was the key to getting Trump elected and Biden out of office - I am happy it passed.

As we all know, Russia has already won this war and this funding will have NO impact on the battle-front.

Why would Ukraine fight on for two years when they are already defeated? They do not have the capability to do so.

This funding deal is a whole lot of nothing - we all know this.

Posted by: Julian | Apr 21 2024 14:24 utc | 18

Re: Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 13:42 utc | 1

Usually leaders wait until they’ve been voted in before they renege on promises, but Trump and Starmer have broken their pledges before the election campaigns have begun.

So what? Why would this funding make any difference to anything?

You know it won't - so what are you whinging about?

Posted by: Julian | Apr 21 2024 14:25 utc | 19

Rome

-Rome, a moment of your attention please.

-on my left Rusticus Maximus Brutus and on my right Brutus Maximus Rusticus

-plebs of Rome, you may choose either one of those two.

America is a banana republic because the political career of a congressman or congresswoman depends on private funding.

America is a banana republic with a magnificent political Show business for entertainment and confusion of the plebs.

Posted by: Simon | Apr 21 2024 14:29 utc | 20

"...The Power in Washington lives Olympically above the ups and downs of the political-media Show business for entertainment and confusion of the plebs..." Simon@14:13 utc | 14

Perhaps that power belongs to those who own the commanding heights of the economy and is exercised by their agents?

Long before Marx- before Jesus- students of society had worked out that the class of men which owned the land and the castles, the ships and the war horses exercised power far beyond the weight that their numbers gave them.

In the matter of politics the truth will set men free.

This inability/unwillingness to identify that behnd the 'deep state' is the ruling, capitalist class is a very modern thing and a measure of how indoctrinated society is.

Posted by: bevin | Apr 21 2024 14:30 utc | 21

Also - one wonders what means the deep state used to push Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and Trump, into this full capitulation. -b
--------------------------------------------------------------
“Trump bamboozled his own supporters“
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 13:42 utc | 1
--------------------------------------------------------------
That is an interesting anti Trump screed considering all Democrats voted for the bill and waved Ukrainian flags in the House chambers.
Posted by: circumspect | Apr 21 2024 13:51 utc | 5
---------------------------------------------------------
How many wars did Trump start?
Posted by: canuck | Apr 21 2024 13:57 utc | 10
----------------------------------------------------
Trump told Johnson months ago to refuse additional funding to Ukraine.
Posted by: crone | Apr 21 2024 14:17 utc | 15
---------------------------------------------------
As I posted earlier, Johnson went to Mar a Lago to kiss the ring.

ZH posted a day or so that Johnson received an intelligence briefing wand was a changed man after he returned from the SCIF. A little man, easily cowed.

I am willing to believe the kissing of the ring ('Don't blame losing Ukraine on Trump') and the CIA scaring the living daylights out of Johnson ('the Russians are capable of taking all of Europe').

Montgomery, when asked after WW II what it would take for the Russians to take all of Europe, said 'shoes.' Times have not changed.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Apr 21 2024 14:30 utc | 22

"Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and Trump"

Last I checked Trump wasn't in the government right now, at least until US elections become free again.

Whatever is going on here, this is deep state shenanigans, although I must admit I don't spend much time analyzing it. You can just assume its corruption.

Posted by: Neofeudalfuture | Apr 21 2024 14:31 utc | 23

Posted by: circumspect | Apr 21 2024 13:51 utc | 5

The War Party you refer to….they are both War Parties, Democrat and Republican.

You sound reasonably bright. Open your eyes and stop coming up with excuses to justify how your inherent bias adversely affects your thinking.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 14:31 utc | 24

They are all frauds. No one here doubted for a moment that the money would be printed up. There will be no “election” in 2024, if there is, the “selection” is a done deal already. The idea that either of these “candidates” care at all about “winning” or the decisions they make/don’t make, have anything whatsoever do to with their “fear” of “losing” an election is laughable.
Biden has no more “fear” of losing Michigan voters over Palestinian genocide, that Trump does losing Texan voters over “Border funding”, as shown with blatant recent betrayal. The bobble head Whitehouse PR placeholders mean nothing.

Everyone here has been screeching about the “Uniparty” and “MIC” and Davos schumcks for a decade.
The House of Corruption will fall on itself.

Posted by: Trubind1 | Apr 21 2024 14:31 utc | 25

Not shortage of bodies to tie up Russia at the LOC, the French moved in on the lead, who's next, not Mercs, soldiers of foreign countries coming to defend the Ukraine. Invited by the Ukraine. As knoble as say Russia defending Syria? Technical difference sure, but an invite is an invite. No Turk Kurd US Israeli forces attacking Russia in Syria....taking bets, France has secured from Russia the same no contact agreement Russia got from its partners in Syria.

Cheers M

Just doing some math, at the current rate, Russia never makes it to The River, never mind Odessa.

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 21 2024 14:32 utc | 26

Posted by: Tired of lies | Apr 21 2024 14:08 utc | 13

MAGA Mike has just rammed through the bill. Wake up.

See above response to circumspect.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 14:34 utc | 27

In support of - the CIA scaring the living daylights out of Johnson ('the Russians are capable of taking all of Europe').

The ISW (neo-con Institute for the Study of War and part of the Icky Vicky brain trust) has posted the supporting visuals for public consumption. Johnson is not big on world history nor military history. A little man. Tucker Carlson is belittling him, too.

Posted by: Acco Hengst | Apr 21 2024 14:35 utc | 28

Posted by: Julian | Apr 21 2024 14:25 utc | 19

I didn’t say that this funding would make any difference.

I made the point that the politicians have reneged before they’re even in office. It doesn’t seem to bother their supporters who are such partisan fanboys that they say that it doesn’t matter that they’re being lied to.

I’m not sure if it’s your lack of reading comprehension or whether the NATO flag that you’ve wrapped yourself in has obscured your vision and leaves you ignorantly cheering on the imperialists.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 14:46 utc | 29

Missing is discussion of the "Ban funding for NPR" bill now in Congress.

Been doing some research, there is an interesting revolving door between correspondents at NPR and Voice of America (VOA).

VOA, as you likely know, has it's origins with the CIA.

More like a triad than a revolving door.
There is a Georgetown (full time CIA recruiter at the school) connection, too.

Posted by: librul | Apr 21 2024 14:47 utc | 30

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 14:34 utc | 27

I think you miss the point.

The swamp have ways of bending people to their will.

I don't know if it's blackmail, bribery or rogue intel briefings, but Johnson has done a 180 degree turn on his stated intentions.

He was supported by the MAGA wing of the GOP as he has a biblical worldview and he vowed not to fund Ukraine without getting concessions on the Southern border.

He has betrayed that promise.

Doesn't make him MAGA mike , or whatever that means .

Posted by: Tired of lies | Apr 21 2024 14:49 utc | 31

I said from the outset that Johnson would flip. The only question was when.

It doesn't matter why Johnson flipped. His action counts just the same.

Posted by: Feral Finster | Apr 21 2024 14:49 utc | 32

Simon | Apr 21 2024 13:53 utc | 7

Year 70, the legions of Titus and Vespasian, Legio V Macedom, Legio X Fretensis, Legio XV Apollinarus, destroy the Temple of the Sadducean priestly oligarchy.

Year 1967, the balls of the Romans hang in a showcase as a great trophy.

"incident"

LOL

Colossal historical moment

Nay, thrice nay, just another day in imperial management. Stamping on the troublemakers.

Posted by: Sarlat La Canède | Apr 21 2024 14:51 utc | 33

Lots of discussion about Trump found above.

There is another candidate for President, RFK, Jr.
His campaign manager is "retired" CIA.
She attended the same school (Walsh School for Foreign Service) at Georgetown University as George Tenet (CIA director under Bush).

And of course, RFK, Jr is Jeffery Epstein connected (connected as tightly as handcuffs).

Posted by: librul | Apr 21 2024 14:51 utc | 34

trump joe trudeau just muddy up the waters
they do not matter one iota except to distract and divide
pay zero attention

A collective “common enemy” now stalks mankind

The psychopathic serial killers using their vast financial, political and media resources are inexorably putting into effect a homicidal global depopulation agenda.

It is indisputable that Harari speaks not just in his own or Schwab’s name. He is publicly articulating the ideological vision of a depopulated Earth, cleansed of human presence and tinged with occultist misanthropy. That vision is widely shared by the luminaries of his elitist set. A high profile member of that set, Bill Gates, has been insistently stressing the need to dispose of the useless multitudes by any means, fair or foul. One of Gates’ alarmingly explicit elocutions on this subject was removed by YouTube, allegedly for “violating community guidelines.” The real reason for expunging his remarks from the internet was the danger that they could raise an alarm amongst the targeted “flood victims,” provoking them to react with uncontrollable rage once they discovered what the elitist “visionaries” have in store for them.

These psychopathic serial killers (we should not mince words) using their vast financial, political and media (brainwashing) resources are inexorably putting into effect a homicidal global depopulation agenda. Depopulation, as Harari has honestly admitted, means physically eliminating as many human beings as they deem superfluous or useless for their purposes. The concept of population control, again not to mince words, is their code for global genocide.

full article
SCF

https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/04/20/a-collective-common-enemy-now-stalks-mankind/

Posted by: ld | Apr 21 2024 14:51 utc | 35

the endless usa election thread... so much for the moa week in review, lol..

@ librul | Apr 21 2024 14:47 utc | 30

you might find this article interesting - about wikipedia and npr -

Larry Sanger Speaks Out

Posted by: james | Apr 21 2024 14:54 utc | 36

The coslition in power

The coalition in power in Washington is unchanged (1963/1997-):

1) the imperial party
2) the Zionist party
3) the corporatocratic party

Permanent Washington has at its service two teams of lackeys: Team Coca-Cola and Team Pepsi-Cola.

It would take an expert mosquito catcher to distinguish between the two teams of lackeys in the service of Power in Washington.

Precisely for this reason, to distinguish between the two brands, a furious culture war has been created.

And so America is divided into two clashing cultures, a side effect of the political Show business to confuse the plebs.

Posted by: Simon | Apr 21 2024 14:55 utc | 37

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 21 2024 14:32 utc | 26

"Not shortage of bodies to tie up Russia at the LOC, the French moved in on the lead, who's next, not Mercs, soldiers of foreign countries coming to defend the Ukraine. Invited by the Ukraine. As knoble as say Russia defending Syria? Technical difference sure, but an invite is an invite. No Turk Kurd US Israeli forces attacking Russia in Syria....taking bets, France has secured from Russia the same no contact agreement Russia got from its partners in Syria.

Cheers M Just doing some math, at the current rate, Russia never makes it to The River, never mind Odessa."

By resorting to cryptic brevity, you're comment has lost any meaning.

Or, as The Captain said in the movie Cool Hand Luke - "What we've got here is a failure to communicate"

Posted by: Johnny Dollar | Apr 21 2024 14:58 utc | 38

re #2 LoveDonbass, I agree - the unfolding changes in West Africa and the Sahel are fascinating and at lest somewhat hopeful. Kicking out the French was huge, and then Niger most recently getting the U.S. to accede to its demands that they end their military mission there and leave. I was surprised and pleased that that story actually appeared on the front page of the Washington Post. Remaining to be seen: Can Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and others in the region work constructively with Russia and possibly China without being dominated and effectively end up having switched one set of foreign domination for another?

Posted by: Maxcrat | Apr 21 2024 14:58 utc | 39

This inability/unwillingness to identify that behind the 'deep state' is the ruling, capitalist class is a very modern thing and a measure of how indoctrinated society is.
@ bevin | Apr 21 2024 14:30 utc | 21

The pertinent question is whether folks sufficiently distrust Powers-That-Be. It's easy to identify power with policy, but most folks merely shrug their shoulders and assume the smart folks know what they're doing (when the wheels are actually falling off). I might suggest that popular obliviousness is a measure of how marginally conscious people are, but gawd forbid & forfend I should ever suggest waking anyone up, lest someone somewhere become "woke"! Let sleeping dogs lie, I say.

Posted by: Aleph_Null | Apr 21 2024 14:59 utc | 40

Posted by: canuck | Apr 21 2024 13:57 utc | 10

Trump authorised the Bay of Piglets invasion of Venezuela, to install Jaun Guiado or wherever he was called as President. It’s probably the most half arsed, shambolic coup attempt in US history and there have a lot of those. I’m not sure Trump has the competence to start a war, given that the people of the Pentagon would simply tell him it wasn’t possible and the dotard would go off and play golf. But anyway, you’re happy to credit Trump as a man of peace.

That’s the day after he has flip flopped and allowed this funding bill. And of course it’s not just prolonging the death and destruction in the former Ukrainian territory…this bill provides weapons to the Israeli government that has been committing war crimes and genocide against the Palestinians.

And with your imperialist dogma that is what you support too, no matter how much you squirm with your justifications; it’s for imperialism and genocide in the name of western capitalist hegemony.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 14:59 utc | 41

How many wars did Trump start?

Posted by: canuck | Apr 21 2024 13:57 utc | 10

#######

It's not that Trump didn't start wars or elevated economic activity by increasing debt. He didn't end the wars he said he would end. He didn't drain the swamp. He didn't hire the best people. He didn't hold Hillary/Obama accountable for trying to stage a coup with Russiagate or Ukrainegate, or for their pre-election crimes vis a vis classified servers. He never waged mass deportations or sealed the border. That wall never really got built because a wall with gaps doesn't protect anything. He told everyone how the election would be "stolen" and then did nothing about it. He appointed Bill Barr to be his AG, an AG who refused to do anything on Trump's agenda if it conflicted with the Deep State.

For all of his meetings with high-level Congressional leaders in both houses, they rarely worked with him unless he did something for them much greater than what he was getting. Which is known as a "bad deal".

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 21 2024 15:00 utc | 42

Oman's hotline is currently idle until April 28 2024, 09:00 GMT. Israel's communication channels with Iran currently frozen until then.

Posted by: AI | Apr 21 2024 15:03 utc | 43

Posted by: Tired of lies | Apr 21 2024 14:49 utc | 31

If you’re truly Tired of lies, I’d suggest you first stop lying to yourself.

Being a fanboy and protecting your hero Trump as he betrays MAGA principles “no forever wars”, by blaming it on a non existent bogeyman called ‘the swamp’. Define the swamp. Trump said he was going to drain the swamp, but proved too incompetent to do anything during 4 years as President. If there is a swamp, then Trump and Genocide Joe are very much part of it.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 15:05 utc | 44

trump is full of shit... too bad some folks still can't figure that one out..

regarding the article - Foreign investor [of online gaming company] in Ukraine accuses officials of corruption (archived) - Financial Times

i get a kick out of the comment section where the americans and brits obsess about who is more corrupt - russia or ukraine.. it never occurs to them that perhaps britian and the usa are far more corrupt.. nope.. that thought never crosses their mind.. they have been effectively distracted by ukraine ( or russias ) corruption.. and that folks is how the msm works, lol.. distraction is the name of the game..

Posted by: james | Apr 21 2024 15:06 utc | 45

From b’s post: Note: Nearly all the money will flow directly towards the U.S. military-industrial complex.

That’s as plain as it gets. Entrenched power is insatiably greedy, not stupid. They know that Russia will not be beaten back. This money is another theft from the average citizens of America and a sop to the industries of the death merchants and their friends. When the dollar has been dethroned as the world’s reserve currency, and its value debased, the people will learn that it doesn’t matter how much you saved if the value of that nest egg has been reduced by half or more, and oopsey, sorry folks your social security checks will not be coming, we had to save “democracy” in Ukraine and Israel. Thats when America will face Civil War 2.0.

Posted by: KMRIA | Apr 21 2024 15:07 utc | 46

In the USA money talks and bullsh*t walks doesn't it? The same is also true to a lesser extent in the rest of the Empire. Thus the Ukraine War will continue to the end of time as long as the chumps who pretend to be citizens of their respective "countries" want to live in a world of lies or there are no more Ukrainians--even then, who knows?

The politicians know how easy it is to function within a system that rewards mendacity and punishes truth. I don't know what the percentage is who actively want to be lied to but it is a substantial majority. For this reason democracy is finished in most societies subject to Washington and it (democracy) cannot be revived. Anyone who is familiar with the criminal "street" should know this. If you f*ck with the wrong people you will suffer drastic penalties whether it's from crooked cops or gang-members. This is just reality--we need to learn to deal with it.

Posted by: Chris Cosmos | Apr 21 2024 15:07 utc | 47

I see b did not include Pepe Escobar's story in his listing of the week's events. I also couldn't find it in the latest Links on Naked Capitalism.

Posted by: Lysias | Apr 21 2024 15:12 utc | 48

Posted by: Johnny Dollar | Apr 21 2024 14:58 utc | 38

Indeed. The Leprachaun’s brevity and incoherence is giving way to cryptic statements in support of NATO actions. Giving readers the impression that he was in support of the mighty French in a war against Russia. Deluded.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 15:13 utc | 49

stop coming up with excuses to justify how your inherent bias adversely affects your thinking.

Posted by: Lev DavidovichTrump bamboozled his own supporters“

Bamboozled doesn’t do it. Trump supporters by definition are permanently bamboozled.

Considering the ubiquitous false nature of discussion representation and reporting you sound a little strange with these comments. Insulting the victims.

Posted by: Not Ewe | Apr 21 2024 15:17 utc | 50

.
Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 15:05 utc | 44

What an intemperate reply. Take a chill pill

Please explain how you deduce that I'm a fanboy ( what a peurile term ) and that Trump is my hero from what I posted.

You won't , because you can't

Grow up

Posted by: Tired of lies | Apr 21 2024 15:19 utc | 51

Posted by: Maxcrat | Apr 21 2024 14:58 utc | 39

###############

I believe (which could be incorrect, time will tell) that Russia and China are older civilizations that aren't as hasty and aggressive as the West. They could end up replacing America and France but they will guide the Africans differently than the French or Americans.

The West is capitalist and individualistic which lays the groundwork for exploitation. The older civilizations know that the future isn't measured in election cycles or even decades but rather by centuries and millennia.

We can see this in how patiently China has handled Taiwan and Russia in how (relatively) lightly it has dealt with Ukraine. Both countries have a paternal approach to diplomatic partnerships in the forms of patience, shared benefits, and integration.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 21 2024 15:19 utc | 52

Posted by: Not Ewe | Apr 21 2024 15:17 utc | 50

Victims are in Donbas and occupied Palestine. Trump supporters are not victims, but claiming to be a victim is an all too familiar tactic.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 15:22 utc | 53

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the US sent $113 billion to Ukraine during the period of February 2022 through September 2023. With the latest appropriation of $61 billion for Ukraine, that brings the total to $174 billion.

What could the US have done with this $174 billion, had it not given it Ukraine?

We could have paid the entire annual budgets of a total of 15 US states and had $17.3 billion left over. Those states include Missouri, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Maine, Delaware, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

($155.7 billion = a total of 15 state government budgets as enacted by each state's legislature, 2022-2023, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_budgets

Posted by: Perimetr | Apr 21 2024 15:25 utc | 54

Johnny Dollar | Apr 21 2024 14:58 utc | 38

Or, as The Captain said in the movie Cool Hand Luke - "What we've got here is a failure to communicate"

Ah say, ah say, weren't that the (slightly overwieght) US style sheriff in one of the (luckily quite forgettable ) unforgettable Bond fillums ?

Posted by: Sarlat La Canède | Apr 21 2024 15:26 utc | 55

it would have been more accurate for me to have written "What could the US have done with this $174 billion, had it not given it to the Military Industrial Complex?"

Posted by: Perimetr | Apr 21 2024 15:27 utc | 56

b's link from above - - Opinion: The futility of the war in Ukraine has become more apparent - MSN - garbage.. not sure why i bother with msm..

Posted by: james | Apr 21 2024 15:33 utc | 57

Posted by: Tired of lies | Apr 21 2024 15:19 utc | 51

Trump himself christened speaker Johnson as “MAGA Mike”.

Of course you’re quick to point out that this capitulation is MAGA Mike’s doing as this allows your brain to deceive itself that Trump has done no wrong. Again Trump himself said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and he’d still have people voting for him.

Like Trump, you blamed ‘the swamp’., an undefined construct that exists only as a bogeyman which allows any blame to be shifted from Trump and blamed on the non existent swamp. If the swamp is corruption in DC then Trump and Biden are very much a part of it.

You doth protest too much when I point out Trump’s dishonesty and culpability, for you now to attempt to claim impartiality with any credibility.

I trust that is not too puerile for your tastes. A long period of thought and reflection would serve you well before making more posts that expose your flawed thought processes.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 15:38 utc | 58

Johnny [email protected] Russia obliterates its first batch of invited French or any other NATO countries designated security detachment I'll revisit the bet. Until then international norms whatever the PTB decided they are between them is how it is, see; Russia's presence in Syria. Yankee in Cuba. Hmm, I'll even bet after May 21/22 Zman never returns to the Ukraine while the SMO continues. He's fair game for Russia and I'm not sure if unemployed comedians get press ganged to the front......cue Gonzalo Lira's Laugh.

Cheers M

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 21 2024 15:40 utc | 59

”Maybe Trump didn’t start any wars, but he assassinated Soleimani!”

That’s just TDS cope. Soleimani was assassinated by the CIA, with the assassination presented to Trump as an established fact. Trump’s options at that point were to embrace the crime and maintain the illusion that he was in control, or protest the crime and try to force the deep state to investigate and prosecute the crime. Since the Establishment would attack him for this and the deep state would stonewall him, it would just make Trump look weak and would destroy the institution of the Executive Branch. Not good options.

Do remember Bloody Gina, CIA director, even lying to Trump about movichoked ducks and kids. Trump never established control over the CIA. It was rogue throughout Trump’s term, and still is even with Biden in office.

This doesn’t make Trump a hero. He’s still just an oligarch, but let’s try to climb down from the TDS hysteria.

Posted by: William Gruff | Apr 21 2024 15:43 utc | 60

This site: https://voenhronika.ru/ mainly covers the SMO however this little snippet appeared:

In Kyrgyzstan, the Soros Foundation was closed . Immediately, the West recalled the threats of such steps-from the outside US Secretary of State Blinken, as well as the reduction of investment inflows. The liquidation of the fund went almost unnoticed by the majority of the population, and only a handful of well-fed employees of well-known NGOs came out to rally.

which somewhat aligns with b’s piece about Georgia.

Posted by: Jeremy Rhymings-Lang | Apr 21 2024 15:44 utc | 61

”Maybe Trump didn’t start any wars, but he assassinated Soleimani!”

That’s just TDS cope. Soleimani was assassinated by the CIA, with the assassination presented to Trump as an established fact. Trump’s options at that point were to embrace the crime and maintain the illusion that he was in control, or protest the crime and try to force the deep state to investigate and prosecute the crime. Since the Establishment would attack him for this and the deep state would stonewall him, it would just make Trump look weak and would destroy the institution of the Executive Branch. Not good options.

Do remember Bloody Gina, CIA director, even lying to Trump about movichoked ducks and kids. Trump never established control over she CIA. It was rogue throughout Trump’s term, and still is even with Biden in office.

This doesn’t make Trump a hero. He’s still just an oligarch, but let’s try to climb down from the TDS hysteria.

Posted by: William Gruff | Apr 21 2024 15:45 utc | 62

Lev [email protected] future is so bright, chaunster choses to wear welding glasses, not Rose tinted. Calling what I can't see, The French are there, yes? On civvie ship, no fan fare, who doesn't love a little Black Sea vacation, must be getting nice there this time of year.

Let them settle in, deluded fools....bet still stands. No direct, on purpose, get the f out attack from Russia on the French Gendarmerie.

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 21 2024 15:50 utc | 63

Posted by: William Gruff | Apr 21 2024 15:45 utc | 61

William, they, the uniparty, are funding genocide.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 15:52 utc | 64

Posted by: sean the leprechaun | Apr 21 2024 15:50 utc | 62

I think you’re correct that back room deals have been done in the last few weeks. We’ll maybe never know. But my point is that your degree of cynicism can come across as anti Russian and pro NATO.

Cheers M

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 15:57 utc | 65

re b: What are the $14.8 billion for DoD operations in Eastern Europe for?

. . .from George Washington's 1796 farewell address

So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. . . .here

Posted by: d | Apr 21 2024 15:59 utc | 66

Perhaps there is a tit for tat behind it. Tronald allows the vote, his opponents give him some kind of legal favour. Who knows?

Posted by: Pnyx | Apr 21 2024 16:08 utc | 67

re: LoveDonbass 42 -- wrong
It's not that Trump didn't start wars or elevated economic activity by increasing debt. He didn't end the wars he said he would end.

Trump pulled troops out of Iraq and Syria, fasioned the US withdrawal from Afghanistan which Biden could then implement. Trump also set a new course withg North Korea by the Singapore accords, which were dead on arrival when Trump got back in town. The US PTB are not about to give up the still-existing war with North Korea, the gift that keeps on giving for seventy-five years. . . Perhaps Trump was shown the video of Dealey Plaza?

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 21 2024 16:12 utc | 68

“Trump bamboozled his own supporters“

Bamboozled doesn’t do it. Trump supporters by definition are permanently bamboozled.

Better words would be misled; deceived; swindled; defrauded; double crossed.

Trump’s MAGA gang said they were against “forever wars” which they have now voted with Genocide Joe to fund. The Uniparty in lockstep. They all have their snouts in the MIC trough.

Usually leaders wait until they’ve been voted in before they renege on promises, but Trump and Starmer have broken their pledges before the election campaigns have begun.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 13:42 utc | 1

That's a funny way for someone named after Trotsky to talk about tens of millions of primarily working class voters seeking an escape from forever wars, attacks on their living standards and rights.

Tell me Lev, what party should these stomped on millions look to? What party would you join or create if you weren't such a "beautiful soul", as Hegel put it?

I get it both parties are shit, Trump's a fraud, etc, but blaming the workers is like blaming the rape victim for dressing too sexy and really strange coming from "Lev Davidovich".

One question for you: are all these working class voters running from the blood soaked Dems, fascists?

Maybe "Chuck Schumer" would be a better handle for you?

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Apr 21 2024 16:17 utc | 69

A big tell on Trump was how little he has agitated for the release of the J9 prisoners.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 21 2024 13:53 utc | 6

Or the fact he's a billionaire capitalist or his ziophilic attitude...

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Apr 21 2024 16:19 utc | 70

Wait until the MAGA yahoos learn the details of the massive fraud that Trump is perpetrating with his media company. Losing one’s life savings has a way of changing people’s minds.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/04/19/wall-street-don-deals-more-liars-poker/

Posted by: Rob | Apr 21 2024 16:32 utc | 71

Posted by: Pnyx | Apr 21 2024 16:08 utc | 66

##########

I have read "The Art of the Deal". It's a clever and accurate book for people to learn negotiation.

To have power in a negotiation, one must have some leverage on or over the other party.

Trump has ZERO leverage right now because he didn't devise a strategy to destroy his opponents before or during his one term and didn't want to seize and use power (like Lincoln or FDR did), and that unused power eroded his authority. One can only bluff for so long before people lose respect for the threat of retaliation or consequences.

Trump has always been a pragmatist. He latched onto the issues that he did in '15 because he researched them at grassroots events. Trump remains one of the greatest marketers in the history of humanity. He will figure out what customers want, and then sell it, and when it doesn't work, find some reason why he isn't responsible because of "reasons" (Democrats, Deep State, other oligarchs, MSM, China, etc.). There is always an excuse.

Remember, the Golden Don only hires the best people like Pompeo, McMaster, Bolton, Haley, Pence, Kelly, and Barr. 😂

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 21 2024 16:39 utc | 72

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Apr 21 2024 16:19 utc | 69

##############

I don't hold wealth against anyone. How they use that wealth is essential for understanding who they are.

Do you feed the poor/sick/orphans or do you install gold toilets in your penthouse and have a vanity personal jet to ape Air Force One years before you run for office?

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 21 2024 16:41 utc | 73

What are the $14.8 billion for DoD operations in Eastern Europe for?

Posted by: robjira | Apr 21 2024 16:46 utc | 74

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Apr 21 2024 16:17 utc | 68

I already replied to someone up the thread to establish that Trump supporters are not victims. Real victims are in Donbas and occupied Palestine. That you embellish the Trump supporters fantasy victim status with the crime of rape, demeans real rape victims. There was some discussion yesterday on how atrocity propaganda often contains rape or beheading as the ‘cherry on the cake’. I’d suggest you leave that nonsense to the masters of the genre such as the CIA and their mouthpieces.

You seem to quote the WSWS more than most, so you won’t be surprised to hear that I’d advocate a government of the people and a truly democratic system as opposed to the corporate corrupted lobby system that functions in Washington and all of its vassals. The Socialist Equality Party is fielding a Presidential candidate, who I would think would serve the interest of most existing Trump voters (certainly the working class Trump voters) much better than the neo-fascist imperialism offered by Trump and Biden, who would continue to do the bidding of the oligarch class.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 16:48 utc | 75

In the US, the left is pretty pathetic, coopted, and useless. There is Jill Stein, who is at least correct on all the major points, and the 1% of voters who support her, but the true blue there, despite their prominence as commenters on this website, are so few. The "Squad" in Congress seem to me to have totally wimped out, never mind that Rashida Tlaib is actually a Palestinian, so that the hard Zionists hate her no matter what. The real opposition to the deep state, such as it is, would seem potentially to come from the right, from the 35% or so of voters who will support Trump no matter what, despite all the MSM propaganda against him, including the political show trials of him.

But the trouble on the right from my viewpoint is not Trump, as useless and compromised as he is, but rather that the people, even though they know everything is wrong, bad, and mainly against them, are still mostly under the control of the lies promoted by the MSM, the MICIMATT, and the warmongers. The state will never help the people to understand exactly how they are being screwed nor to organize their opposition to it; the people are on their own, and unfortunately, they have very few resources to build on. Mostly, it is just the commonplaces of US nationalism, but if they were able to think deeply about the national interest, they would realize that the entire ruling class are traitors who should be put on trial for capital treason, and the so-called US "allies," with few exceptions, actually are enemies or adversaries who only try to sic the US on their own local enemies. The rebellion of some of the Republicans against the aid to Ukraine and Israel may be partly based on the inchoate understanding that this "aid" is robbery from the US citizenry for wicked foreign projects, but they are counterbalanced by a much larger number who just scream for more war, more military, more repression, etc.

So when I talk to people on the right, mostly, I find they are still supporters of US imperialism and its institutions. The exceptions are few. The "Freedom Caucus" may be good on Ukraine, but they are still all terrible imperialists except for Thomas Massie, who seems all right on foreign policy, but maybe not on some other issues. This just makes me despair that anything good can come out of the US political system. I think maybe the whole thing has to catastrophically melt down to be gotten rid of, probably with the most malign consequences for the US and for the rest of the world too. What an ugly situation!

Posted by: Cabe | Apr 21 2024 16:53 utc | 76

IMO, b reported the most important aspect of the war spending bills--the money goes to the Empire's MIC while a few cents go to the Nazis. Yet, there're still no weapons for all that money to buy. What will happen is the MIC corps will book the monies as revenue on their balance sheets a thus bolster their stock price and dividend payouts. So as usual, the spending is actually corruption writ large as a portion of that money will flow back to the Duopoly in the form of campaign cash.

Posted by: karlof1 | Apr 21 2024 16:57 utc | 77

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 21 2024 16:12 utc | 67

##############

Trump also attacked Syria and troops are still there. Troops are still in Japan and South Korea. Troops are still in Germany and Italy.

All the President has to do is make a public announcement of victory in a region detailing all of the materiel and lives lost, and it will be very difficult for a future administration to go back in. Syria is a crucial element of the Greater Israel project, and Trump sold everything (including his favorite child, his daughter) to the Zionist cause.

My underlying point is that nothing Trump did was built on a solid foundation and nothing has survived from his Presidency. That is one of my greater issues with democracy. Each administration spends much time and energy reversing the previous one, leading to no meaningful progress on any issue the voters are concerned about. One can vote until they are blue in the face, change out the bad politicians, and still nothing will happen. The Sahel Africans have a better idea with patriotic Junta leaders taking control from "elected" Western stooges. That wouldn't work in the US today with so many military leaders being mentally ill degenerates.

Maybe Trump was threatened. I think that is a cope that people use for why a Messiah bails on his promises or momentum (Ross Perot comes to mind). Truth is, that job is too big for one man, and Trump didn't have a cohort around him like Putin has the Siloviki such as Shoigu, Naryshkin, and Medvedev.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 21 2024 17:00 utc | 78

Don’t seem to be able to post this so here’s the first of sixteen interesting paragraphs.

https://t.me/rybar/59342

🇺🇸🇰🇬 About attempts to destabilize the situation in Kyrgyzstan

Amid protests against the law on foreign agents in Georgia and the closure of the Soros Foundation in Kyrgyzstan, Western media working on the topic of the CIS decided to once again criticize official Bishkek. They again recalled the threats from the EU and US Secretary of State Blinken to reduce foreign aid and investment due to the adoption of the law.

…

Posted by: anon2020 | Apr 21 2024 17:00 utc | 79

"In a highly revealing exchange during an April 18 hearing, imperialist war propagandist Timothy Snyder and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, discussed their joint support for the Ukraine war bill.

Ocasio-Cortez, in a video she shared on her social media account, began by thanking Snyder for his “very illuminating” opening remarks. She proceeded to solidarize herself with Snyder over their shared goals of “defending democracy domestically and globally.” The phony socialist then invited Snyder to opine on the “necessity of passing aid to Ukraine as quickly as possible.”

Following Snyder’s war-mongering contribution, Ocasio-Cortez stated that “US military assistance and broader global assistance to Ukraine should be one of our top geopolitical priorities, because it is the key in defending democracy geopolitically.

“Whether your interest is in China, whether the interest is in anywhere else, all of the focus here is in Ukraine and in supporting and ensuring that Putin and an authoritarian regime in Russia does not prevail...”

Concluding her full-throated support for virtually open-ended military aid to the far-right regime in Ukraine, Ocasio-Cortez added that “anything that impedes the swiftness and the urgency of our ability to get that support to Ukraine is overall contributing to the volatility of our situation.”

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/04/20/vhxy-a20.html

"The Democrats supplied 165 “yes” votes compared to the Republicans’ 151. Fifty-five Republicans voted against the rules package, while only 39 Democrats opposed it."

With just two legal party options, every worker in the US, whether they think of themselves as republican or democrat, has no legal political means to express it's opposition to imperialist war in Ukraine, Taiwan or the disgusting acts of the Zionazis in Israel.

Posted by: Ahenobarbus | Apr 21 2024 17:04 utc | 80

.

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 15:38 utc | 58

Your Trump Derangement Syndrome is obviously quite advanced and your workdview suffers accordingly. From the flawed analysis you use to formulate your unimpressive and dare I say arrogant assertions I can only assume I'm talking to someone who dropped out of high school

Keep voting for dementia Joe.

Posted by: Tired of lies | Apr 21 2024 17:08 utc | 81

"what means the deep state used"

As ever, the two sides of the same coin play their kabuki theater and wait a little for the concessions and money to reap. Trump, Biden, Haley, Kennedy, Obama, Pence, ... are different brands for the same (imperial) product.

Posted by: xor | Apr 21 2024 17:25 utc | 82

Keep voting for dementia Joe.

Posted by: Tired of lies | Apr 21 2024 17:08 utc | 80

################

Not everyone is American, although what America does profoundly touches every person living in a first-world country.

That you think the big choice is between Biden (dementia) or Trump (incompetent) says more about Yankee politics than it does about anyone with an opinion about it.

You're playing the game of personalities and missing the real game of power being played, exactly as intended.

Posted by: LoveDonbass | Apr 21 2024 17:30 utc | 83

"Trump bamboozled his own supporters... Big League."

---

The ultimate professional function of an American politician is to cheat his own people

-You, Joe, take care of conning your own, your dumb voters, and I, Donald, take care of conning mine.

-OK

And the first function is professional wrestling Show and culture war to conceal that the two teams of lackeys serve the same Power that is Olympically above them

Posted by: Simon | Apr 21 2024 17:37 utc | 84

Posted by: Tired of thinking | Apr 21 2024 17:08 utc | 80

The thought and reflection didn’t work then.

I had to look up TDS, as I thought it meant “three time per day”.

TDS
WHAT DOES TDS MEAN?
TDS is an acronym for Trump Derangement Syndrome, a term applied to people who express deep loathing and fear of President Donald Trump. It’s usually used by Trump supporters for liberals.

Reveals where you’re coming from.

1. I’m not a liberal politically.
2. I live in the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
3. I managed to finish school, then complete three medical science degrees.
4. Even if I lived in the US and could vote, I would not vote for either Genocide Joe or Genocide Trump.

Your character analysis is absolutely fucking hopeless. Like your Presidents.

And ask yourself, why has your man Trump not taunted Biden with the “Genocide Joe” moniker? It’s because Trump also supports the genocide.

The question is how complicit are the people who vote for these genocidal monsters?

Posted by: Lev Davidovich | Apr 21 2024 17:38 utc | 85

@Posted by: james | Apr 21 2024 14:54 utc | 36

Thx for the link

Posted by: librul | Apr 21 2024 17:40 utc | 86

@ Ahenobarbus | Apr 21 2024 17:04 utc | 79

your very last sentence in your post is very true... i imagine it is much the same in ukraine and many other places.. this is why people are given over to saying we don't have anything like a democracy.. it is more like the opposite..

Posted by: james | Apr 21 2024 17:45 utc | 87

lol... to go with my last post..

"Biden asks Americans to choose between freedom and democracy"

obviously you can't have both!!!

Posted by: james | Apr 21 2024 17:47 utc | 88

One of the Canadians asks what wars Trump started? There are some sleazy rhetorical tricks there. First, the cozy plain folks assumption that "we" are against wars, folding together people who are somehow mad that the US Army is going abroad to waste their efforts on ingrates and people who are tired of losing wars (what is usually meant so far as I can tell by "forever" war,) along with pacifists and anti-imperialists who want the good guys who aren't the US to win.

Second is the absurd premise that economic wars are not wars. But they are, they cause real suffering even to death albeit indirectly, mainly to the mass of the people not the supposed enemy leaders. But economic warfare is meant to hurt the people, they are the enemies targeted, no matter what the official aims say.

Third is the absurd presumption that Trump couldn't do anything to stop ongoing wars because, well reasons. The idiot phrase "deep state" gets bandied about. But except for flirting with anti-Semites who mean "Jews" by "Deep State," there is zero intellectual content. The state is controlled by a minority at all times, there's nothing particularly deep about that. The state is a weapon of class rule, which means that the state is at all times an arena of class struggle, as factions of the ruling class struggle with each other for the weapon of the state even as all factions contend against the workers and other lowers. The contradictions of capitalism cannot be resolved by a decorous meeting of the executive committee of the bourgeoisies. Your local PTA doesn't operate that way! Even less can a *secret* executive committee run things. For historical and practical reasons, the facade of democracy must be preserved, as the illusion of consent is of enormous help to the perpetuation of the rule of the owners. The preferred methods include things like two chamber legislatures, plurality single member districts, an emphasis on plebiscites, legal privileges for wealth in politics, and one of their very favorites, the one of the most relevance here: A "strong" President, a hero who saves the masses while doing what the oligarchs want. (That may include putting an end to factional fights within the borugeoisie when the collateral damage gets out of hand, but, still.) Trump had powers, chose not to use them to end wars. Imagining he tried but was defeated is like a supermarket tabloid exclaiming this celebrity couple is about to split, then a month later running a breathless article about how they reconciled. Trump did not even withdraw from Afghanistan. It was Biden who was turned upon by the entire mass media, both liberal and Trumpist, after withdrawing from Afghanistan. It is symptomatic that not one Trumper values their alleged anti-war sympathies enough to hesitate, to pause with their Democrat Derangement Syndrome, something which dates back to the days of Jimmy Carter...who conservatives despised for being too weak to start any wars! Conservatism as a trait in temperament is one thing, but political conservatism is completely dishonest and irrational.

Fourth is ignoring the way covert acts of war continued under Trump. Drone strikes reportedly increased under Trump for instance. The reports that at one point Trump tried to order a direct strike on Iran but was pushed back by generals forcefully explaining this was folly (and murderous but not an issue for them,) may be simply dismissed. I see no good reason for that. But simply dismissing the boasted assassination of Soleimani has no excuse, it betrays a contempt for reason.

So no, there is no anti-imperialism in Trump or his acolytes in Congress.

It seems to me possible b is not placing enough emphasis on the importance of the Israeli and Taiwan packages to the Republican war plans, as well as to Democratic Party war plans. Bipartisanship is after all them teaming up against the rest of us.

Fascists in Ukraine, fascists/fascist adjacents called Zionists in Jerusalem, capitalist counterrevolutionaries in Taiwan: There is a consistency in policy that marks "Biden" as more competent that the average Trumper. That's a low bar, to be sure.

Posted by: steven t johnson | Apr 21 2024 17:55 utc | 89

Re: Voting in the USA

The most powerful message one can send is refuse to vote. Voting implies consent. Withold your consent.

The establishment needs you to vote, because it gives legitimacy to their actions. What happens to supposed legitimacy wheb less than 50% of eligible adults refuse to cast votes ?

Posted by: Exile | Apr 21 2024 18:10 utc | 90

@ LoveDonbass 77 -- still wrong

Trump also attacked Syria and troops are still there. Troops are still in Japan and South Korea. Troops are still in Germany and Italy.

Trump ordered the US troops out of Syria and Iraq but the Pentagon didn't obey, that's why US troops are still in those countries, and they are mostly national guard and reserves, not active military. Trump dumped on NATO as well.
You should know why the US troops are still in in South Korea and Japan is because Trump's Singapore agreement was also nixed by the Pentagon, as I said in my 67, but apparently you can't read.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 21 2024 18:32 utc | 91

Posted by: Cabe | Apr 21 2024 16:53 utc | 75

So when I talk to people on the right, mostly, I find they are still supporters of US imperialism and its institutions. The exceptions are few. The "Freedom Caucus" may be good on Ukraine, but they are still all terrible imperialists except for Thomas Massie, who seems all right on foreign policy, but maybe not on some other issues. This just makes me despair that anything good can come out of the US political system. I think maybe the whole thing has to catastrophically melt down to be gotten rid of, probably with the most malign consequences for the US and for the rest of the world too. What an ugly situation!

Generally agree. There are many people who just think it's a mess, but that's normal. There are many others who feel the mess is exceptionally bad but can be fixed with a few beneficent tweaks (right President, good Congress, better money system, swamp-draining etc.). There are much fewer who believe that not only are things exceptionally bad but it is now too late to reform from within a thoroughly corrupt kleptocracy which has gamed the system to serve its own purposes.

Indeed, am not aware of substantive discussions starting from that latter perspective. And yet that is where I think things stand.

Posted by: scorpion | Apr 21 2024 18:35 utc | 92

What means?? Epstein is dead, but there are many more epsteins to take his place.

Posted by: Hahajizzjizz | Apr 21 2024 18:35 utc | 93

re: Exile 89
The most powerful message one can send is refuse to vote. Voting implies consent. Withhold your consent.

YES!! Voting (which only a slim majority do) only encourages them. People elect the pols, and then the PTB fund their re-election obeyance and get rich.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 21 2024 18:37 utc | 94

Tectonic geopolitical realignments, such as are happening this decade, are always messy. Focus less on daily minutiae such as the purely symbolic sloshing of dollars into the military-corruption complex (MCC) and more on the holistic strategy of those effecting global change to improve the lives of the oppressed, and one will realize that with every passing day the power and influence of the Retard Republic (formerly the United States of America) diminishes. Asia is long gone from the claws of the demons, with Australasia in particular to inevitably follow, Europe will eventually come to its senses purely from geographic pragmatism, and Africa is escaping from the imperial handcuffs that bind it down. It is the poor South Americans who I fear will become the target of the unrestrained fascistic rage of North America, helped along unfortunately by traitors to the Latin cause like the CIA plants Daniel Noboa and Javier Milei.

Posted by: Matthew | Apr 21 2024 18:38 utc | 95

Exile | Apr 21 2024 18:10 utc | 89

The most powerful message one can send is refuse to vote. Voting implies consent. Withold your consent.

The establishment needs you to vote, because it gives legitimacy to their actions. What happens to supposed legitimacy wheb less than 50% of eligible adults refuse to cast votes ?

Rubbish. Garbage. Crap.

If you don't vote, someone (something) will vote for you ! Your vote is meaningless in a corrupt environment. As Mao said - Power Comes At The point Of A Gun !

Posted by: Sarlat La Canède | Apr 21 2024 18:39 utc | 96

Exile | Apr 21 2024 18:10 utc | 89

The most powerful message one can send is refuse to vote. Voting implies consent. Withold your consent.

I tend to agree. If I were a political activist, I would advocate for all ballots to include a 'None of the Above' option in every category (President, Senate, Representative etc.). If the NOTA votes exceed the offered names, then the election has to be done again with new candidates.

Not that it matters in the Reality TV Republic of America, but if they go so far as to actually jail Trump for more than a day or two, I think the MAGA people should withhold their vote entirely because clearly the Republican Party and most MAGA elected officials have, after 8 years, proven ineffective. Let the Uniparty win with 35% of the vote. Let hopelessness set in so that - finally - they begin to discuss other options than doing the same thing again and again (voting for Presidents) expecting a different result (insanity).

Posted by: scorpion | Apr 21 2024 18:49 utc | 97

Trump ordered the US troops out of Syria and Iraq but the Pentagon didn't obey, that's why US troops are still in those countries, and they are mostly national guard and reserves, not active military. Trump dumped on NATO as well.
You should know why the US troops are still in in South Korea and Japan is because Trump's Singapore agreement was also nixed by the Pentagon, as I said in my 67, but apparently you can't read.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 21 2024 18:32 utc | 90

Trump reflexively ordered an airstrike on Syria based on atrocity propaganda proffered by "resistance" terrorists, absent any credible evidence, killing a number of Russian soldiers in the process.

Posted by: nwwoods | Apr 21 2024 18:53 utc | 98

@ Sarlat La Canède 95
If you don't vote, someone (something) will vote for you !
Biden's (and others') bragging about "we're a democracy and China isn't" is all based on the voting charade -- we vote and so we have democracy (government by the people)-- not. Voting means democracy, they claim wrongly. So further destruction of voting is a good thing because we certainly do not have a democracy, and the pols make sure that we never get one.

Posted by: Don Bacon | Apr 21 2024 18:55 utc | 99

Don Bacon | Apr 21 2024 18:55 utc | 98

Biden's (and others') bragging about "we're a democracy and China isn't" is all based on the voting charade -- we vote and so we have democracy (government by the people)-- not. Voting means democracy, they claim wrongly. So further destruction of voting is a good thing because we certainly do not have a democracy, and the pols make sure that we never get one.

❤️‍🔥

Posted by: Sarlat La Canède | Apr 21 2024 19:05 utc | 100