|
English Outsider On Trump’s Cabinet Of Curiosities And How Little It Matters
Referring to Judge Napolitano discussion with Col Lawrence Wilkerson about Trump and the Defense Department (video) English Outsider writes:
"Yes, the man all hoped would give the quietus to the neocons seems to be appointing neocons himself.
Mercouris has made some valuable preliminary observations on the subject of Trump's appointees so far. Risking paraphrasing him (the reference is to his video of a couple of days back), he considers that these appointments are made mainly to ensure Trump has in place those loyal to him, that consideration over-riding any question of whatever foreign policy stance the prospective nominees may hold.
As said, these are preliminary or tentative conclusions arrived at by Mercouris but I believe they make very good sense. Following on from Mercouris' conclusions are I believe further conclusions on the subject of these somewhat hawkish proposed nominees.
1. It no longer matters what US foreign policy is with respect to Ukraine and maybe with respect to the ME.
The Russians are going to get their "demilitarisation and denazification" in Ukraine whatever the West does or attempts. That has long been apparent and is now apparent to all. So the views of the Trump nominees on Ukraine, and the views of Trump himself on Ukraine, no longer matter when it comes to changing facts on the ground.
Similarly in the ME, whether the appointees are Israel Firsters or not also no longer matters. It looks as if Israel is heading for defeat, but whether it is so or not the outcome can't be altered by the US. Neither Biden nor Trump are going to authorise open and declared war on behalf of Israel and if they did, it's doubtful that American military power is sufficient to change that outcome.
In addition, open and active war against Iran, for instance, would lead to an increase in oil prices and to significant damage to American ships and bases. That is not something Biden has been prepared to risk so far and Trump even less: it would damage his credibility were he to open his Presidency with a major war having given the impression, in his election campaign, that he was opposed to one.
So there's nothing much the US or the West as a whole can do to alter the outcome either of the Ukrainian war or of the conflict in the ME. I haven't read "The Art of the Deal" but I'm sure that Trump recognises that when you sit down to play, the first priority is to recognise the strength of your own hand. Whatever the US hawks may believe, the Pentagon will know that in either case we in the West hold no aces.
2. Given that military impotence the US politicians can follow the example of the Europeans. They can make what threats they please knowing they will not risk putting those threats into practice. We've seen Macron threatening French boots on the ground knowing he's never going to declare war on Russia. We see Scholz and Starmer still impeccably resolute, knowing they will never be at risk of having to back up words with deeds. Now we will see US politicians – have in fact been seeing them for some time – doing the same.
But it's not all sound and fury signifying nothing. In the case of the ME the American politicians have to bear in mind the strength of the voting bloc made up of the Evangelicals, Christian Zionists, Mormons and the various religious sects for who Israel First is an article of faith. That voting bloc is large, in the tens of millions. It was not one Biden wished to offend. It was a necessary component in the portion of the electorate that carried Trump to victory. They need the rhetoric even if the reality falls short of their expectations. By proposing Israel Firsters, and vociferous Israel Firsters at that, Trump has given them that rhetoric.
3. After the defeat in Ukraine, and what looks very likely to be defeat in the ME, the first priority of the politicians will be to save face.
The UK politicians, as we see have seen in the UK press, have their alibi ready for Ukraine. "We would have won had the Americans not let us down. They should have permitted deep strikes. They should have put boots on the ground. They should have threatened nuclear". That alibi ignores the fact that none of those courses would have been practicable. But it will probably serve and most of the UK electorate will be content with it.
No doubt such alibis will be coming out of Europe. It is essential for Trump to have a similar alibi. None can say whether the war will end before Trump's inauguration but if it doesn't, if it's the Trump administration that has to confess defeat, the Democrats will undoubtedly attempt to lay the blame for that defeat at his door. By proposing hawks and thus adopting hawkish rhetoric, Trump will be able to avoid that reproach.
…………………
Are those fair conclusions to draw from Mercouris' observation? Pretty squalid conclusions, if so, but then that's politics. But for me, my judgement of the success of the Trump Presidency will be on quite other grounds. I stated that judgement on Colonel Lang's old site and state it here:
This final stage of the Ukrainian war is leading to quite appalling casualties. The genocide in the ME is not only a tragedy for those suffering. It is an ineradicable stain on Western civilisation and future generations will look back in horror at what we supported and often encouraged.
Trump's Presidency will be judged not by the success of his internal reforms. It will be judged by the extent to which he managed, even before his inauguration, to bring these horrors to an end."
Be seated it’s a long one mostly consisting of JFK.
The sermon is inspired by the following post and the continuing discombobulating about the DJT second term and what track it will take. My observations and perhaps recommendation for his team and supporters if they are looking for any inspiration after a hard won election. I’m sure not.
@ Posted by: Trismegistus | Nov 17 2024 0:06 utc | 208
“We shall all be hard-pressed to escape the deadly rain of nuclear fallout should catastrophe overtake us. The problems which confront us today are unprecedented; they have no counterpart in human experience. Men search the pages of history for solutions, for precedents but alas there are none to be found.”
“We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community.”
Thankyou for that Trismegistus ,the whole speech is worth reading it any care to catch up with both after my sermon!
It was in Oct 1963 that Haile Selassie gave that speech to the UN . I was a newborn of a few months at the time. A month before JFK had also made a speech to that UN – hardly remembered these days, if it at all was after his killing! M[square brackets are my comments in the following]
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/John_F._Kennedy%27s_Address_Before_the_18th_General_Assembly_of_the_United_Nations
20th September 1963
‘Twenty-four months ago, when I last had the honor of addressing this body, the shadow of fear lay darkly across the world. The freedom of West Berlin was in immediate peril. Agreement on a neutral Laos seemed remote. The mandate of the United Nations in the Congo was under fire. The financial outlook for this organization was in doubt. Dag Hammarskjold was dead. The doctrine of troika was being pressed in his place, and atmospheric tests had been resumed by the Soviet Union.
Those were anxious days for mankind–and some men wondered aloud whether this organization could survive.’
…
“The pressures on West Berlin appear to be temporarily eased. Political unity in the Congo has been largely restored. A neutral coalition in Laos, while still in difficulty, is at least in being.”
…
“Today we may have reached a pause in the cold war–but that is not a lasting peace. A test ban treaty is a milestone–but it is not the millennium. We have not been released from our obligations–we have been given an opportunity. And if we fail to make the most of this moment and this momentum–if we convert our new-found hopes and understandings into new walls and weapons of hostility–if this pause in the cold war merely leads to its renewal and not to its end–then the indictment of posterity will rightly point its finger at us all. But if we can stretch this pause into a period of cooperation–if both sides can now gain new confidence and experience in concrete collaborations for peace–if we can now be as bold and farsighted in the control of deadly weapons as we have been in their creation–then surely this first small step can be the start of a long and fruitful journey.”
[ lol echos afterwards of Startreks ‘To Boldly Go’ and Neil Armstrongs ‘One small step’ – later in the speech he returns to Space ]
“great powers have no monopoly on conflict or ambition. The cold war is not the only expression of tension in this world–and the nuclear race is not the only arms race. Even little wars are dangerous in a nuclear world. The long labor of peace is an undertaking for every nation–and in this effort none of us can remain unaligned. To this goal none can be uncommitted.”
[The Ziofascists knew who he was talking about even if the rest of the World didn’t!
yup he made sure the worlds leaders knew who exactly he was talking about though]
“We believe that the people of Germany and Berlin must be free to reunite their capital and their country.
We believe that the people of Cuba must be free to secure the fruits of the revolution that have been betrayed from within and exploited from without.
In short, we believe that all the world–in Eastern Europe as well as Western, in Southern Africa as well as Northern, in old nations as well as new–that people must be free to choose their own future, without discrimination or dictation, without coercion or subversion.”
[he was speaking of the perceived difference between the US and USSR. A nod to the Old Guard perhaps before going on about how their world must change]
“We have, in recent years, agreed on a limited test ban treaty, on an emergency communications link between our capitals, on a statement of principles for disarmament, on an increase in cultural exchange, on cooperation in outer space, on the peaceful exploration of the Antarctic, and on temporing last year’s crisis over Cuba.”
…
“building the institutions of peace as we dismantle the engines of war. We must not let failure to agree on all points delay agreements where agreement is possible. And we must not put forward proposals for propaganda purposes.
Finally, in a field where the United States and the Soviet Union have a special capacity–in the field of space–there is room for new cooperation, for further joint efforts in the regulation and exploration of space. I include among these possibilities a joint expedition to the moon. Space offers no problems of sovereignty; by resolution of this Assembly, the members of the United Nations have foresworn any claim to territorial rights in outer space or on celestial bodies, and declared that international law and the United Nations Charter will apply. Why, therefore, should man’s first flight to the moon be a matter of national competition? Why should the United States and the Soviet Union, in preparing for such expeditions, become involved in immense duplications of research, construction, and expenditure? Surely we should explore whether the scientists and astronauts of our two countries–indeed of all the world–cannot work together in the conquest of space, sending someday in this decade to the moon not the representatives of a single nation, but the representatives of all of our countries.”
[He had completely missed out China, India and Japan as well as the European space ambitions – but given the positions of the still downtrodden he can be forgiven- later Nixon got going on it]
“The contest will continue–the contest between those who see a monolithic world and those who believe in diversity–but it should be a contest in leadership and responsibility instead of destruction, a contest in achievement instead of intimidation. Speaking for the United States of America, I welcome such a contest.”
[ yup he was talking directly to the unipolar, end of history, fascists of the US there against the mutipolar that was actually the way forward- cool eh?]
“The effort to improve the conditions of man, however, is not a task for the few. It is the task of all nations–acting alone, acting in groups, acting in the United Nations, for plague and pestilence, and plunder and pollution, the hazards of nature, and the hunger of children are the foes of every nation. The earth, the sea, and the air are the concern of every nation. And science, technology, and education can be the ally of every nation.
Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery. We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world–or to make it the last.”
[ making it plain to the global neocons gathering to make that unipolar world with its first world and the Rest what is now the Garden and the Rest – jfk continued with the idealistic notions of World Health, Disease, Environmentalism and then finished with the appeal to his own racists at home, the Imperial supremacists and the emerging Global South demanding that change]
“But man does not live by bread alone–and the members of this organization are committed by the Charter to promote and respect human rights. Those rights are not respected when a Buddhist priest is driven from his pagoda, when a synagogue is shut down, when a Protestant church cannot open a mission, when a Cardinal is forced into hiding, or when a crowded church service is bombed. The United States of America is opposed to discrimination and persecution on grounds of race and religion anywhere in the world, including our own Nation. We are working to right the wrongs of our own country.
Through legislation and administrative action, through moral and legal commitment this Government has launched a determined effort to rid our Nation of discrimination which has existed far too long–in education, in housing, in transportation, in employment, in the civil service, in recreation, and in places of public accommodation. And therefore, in this or any other forum, we do not hesitate to condemn racial or religious injustice, whether committed or permitted by friend or foe.
I know that some of you have experienced discrimination in this country. But I ask you to believe me when I tell you that this is not the wish of most Americans–that we share your regret and resentment– and that we intend to end such practices for all time to come, not only for our visitors, but for our own citizens as well.
I hope that not only our Nation but all other multiracial societies will meet these standards of fairness and justice. We are opposed to apartheid and all forms of human oppression. We do not advocate the rights of black Africans in order to drive out white Africans. Our concern is the right of all men to equal protection under the law–and since human rights are indivisible, this body cannot stand aside when those rights are abused and neglected by any member state.
…
“It is, for example, most important not to jeopardize the extraordinary United Nations gains in the Congo. The nation which sought this organization’s help only 3 years ago has now asked the United Nations’ presence to remain a little longer. I believe this Assembly should do what is necessary to preserve the gains already made and to protect the new nation in its struggle for progress. “
[that would have pissed off the Belgians and its colleagues in exploitation of the Congo! He really was reading the riot act to the Imperialsits hanging on their Colonial conquests. Finishing with
JFK finished that great path setting speech with : ]
“Archimedes, in explaining the principles of the lever, was said to have declared to his friends: “Give me a place where I can stand–and I shall move the world.”
My fellow inhabitants of this planet: Let us take our stand here in this Assembly of nations. And let us see if we, in our own time, can move the world to a just and lasting peace.”
————-
It was September 1963 he gave that speech to the UN
Followed some weeks later by Haile Selassie speech 1963.
A month later JFK was shot dead in Dallas on his way to give a major speech and launch his campaign for his second term.
The Izzy Nukes. Gulf of Tolkien and various aggressions and false flags were planned and not be put off! Ancient Pirates with their modern WMD and new Aircraft Carriers, Super bombers and omniscience with spy planes and coming satellites. They thought they had what the Nazi Germans didn’t quite develop in time to deliver – the forever Greater Goals of World Domination! The crazed ancient ambitions ziofascists and Banker overlords of Anglo European imperialism of the centuries. A return also of their Khazar Empire in EurAsia.
They thought they had Africa and South America in the bag and were gunning for the World Island and Pacific as usual.
Well those ancients, except India, understood how they could resist and maybe one day subdue the pirates if they could survive. And they did. Helping the Bolivarians and many African nations, starting with helping Cuba and that Crisis 12 months previously.
That moment of Armageddon that sent JFK off piste as far as his sponsors were concerned, including most importantly his Father, the gangster associated , Nazi supporting Joe, the ziofascist creatures who demanded a few pounds of flesh. Brain matter for that supposed treachery by ‘their boy’. Yup another Bush was there to help deliver and cover up for it.
Trump elected in 2016 did what Clinton, Obama and Biden didn’t do – to open and acknowledge that great sacrifice of a visionary potus seeking peace and Multipolarity!
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Temporary_Certification_for_Certain_Records_Related_to_the_Assassination_of_President_John_F._Kennedy
Heavily redacted then still! So with this reelection- with the last surviving generation born to JFK and RFK on board. That history must surely be opened .
That will finally blow off the blinkers of the smug liberal westerners who see things in black and white – we are the actual bad guys and fascist supporters deluded to believe the opposite.
These beliefs and bogeymen installed by our trusted media and cultural hegemonies is the enemy of humanity – be it Putin, Xi or Drumpff!
Well The Donald has the opportunity that was robbed from him of a second term, that was denied JFK by murder and equally of RFK looking to complete his brothers work and vision.
The ZiofascIsts would not let him stand! The assassination era – only Ancient Bastards used to such Gangsterish methods would use them so freely without thinking twice; as they have been doing right up to date in Iran and Lebanon.
So has The Donald got the Legs and Balls to fill his Trousers ?
Will he finish what JFK started? Will he reveal who really killed him and why?
Will RFK jnr expect anything less for the support he brought?
Will DJT join the Multipolarity or will he lead the Collective Waste into the continued delusion of a unipolar Purdah, like a bride abandoned at the altar?
Amen.
Posted by: DunGroanin | Nov 17 2024 12:07 utc | 340
|
