Day: February 17, 2016

“And Now…For Something Completely Different”

If you are an old fart and like me watched PBS and every show of ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus”…then you will recognize the title……so my regular readers might want to brace themselves or at least have a seat……

I am going to defend Donald Trump…..(wait for the amazement to settle down)…..you heard it right…I will defend some of the things the Donald has had to say…….

In the last GOP debate Trump made a comment about the 9/11 attack and the other GOPers are all over him saying that he is blaming GW for the attack……that is a LIE!  He said that the attacks occurred on GW’s watch and NEVER said it was his fault…..

He, Trump, is being attacked by his opponents for saying that Iraq was better off before the US attacked then occupied and that Saddam was known to go after AQ…..all of this is common knowledge……..I want to defend what he said about GW….he said…”Bush would have been better off going to the beach than into Iraq”…..that is an excellent analysis….do not know if it is his or one of his advisers….does not matter…..he is RIGHT.

The Donald has said much and not much of it was anywhere near accurate but on these two points he is……spot on!

Please make note that I have had very little positive to say about Donald Trump…..but I will be fair and give the candidate props when they are deserved….no matter which party they belong….

One more thing….this time it is about Cruz….I heard him talk and say that some were trying to write the 2nd amendment out of the Constitution…..cute campaign rhetoric but no one can write anything out of the Constitution…..any changes must go through the amendment process and then the ratification process……and this from a Senator that is always using the Constitution as a political prop….another pathetic piece of political crap!  My granddaughter knows more about the Constitution than these fools we elect……she has my vote.

Please do not hold this against me…..there is enough lying in politics and I think that they need correcting wherever I see them……

“A Paranoid Russia”

That is how the US Intel chief describes Russia…..his accusation is that Russia is pushing the US into a new Cold war……

Even though Ukraine has been in a state of ceasefire for a solid year now, the annual assessment from the US Director of National Intelligence on Russia still centered heavily on putative “Russian aggression” in Eastern Ukraine, saying the Russians are forcing the US “into another Cold War-like spiral.”

Clapper’s assessment accused the Russians of being “paranoid about NATO” and its ability to contain Russia, though the rest of his comments did not dispute the notion that NATO and US missile defense programs are aimed heavily at weakening Russia.

I believe there is an old saying…..”I would not be paranoid if everybody was not out to get me”……maybe that is what Russia is thinking…..

Historically, the US has insisted the missile defense in Europe was solely aimed at Iran, and the fact that it was all on the Russian border was coincidental. That Iran’s missiles don’t have the range to reach those parts of Europe never made this a very credible argument, but Clapper appeared to scrap it entirely, a tacit admission that they’re targeting Russia, while railing against Russia’s “paranoia” for noticing that they’re being targeted.

I know we all want to believe that the US is innocent of any attempts to make the world less safe…..but if one looks at the world and our actions would call into question those beliefs……

There is something to be said about the NATO build-up in Eastern Europe…..if one looks at the situation realistically then there is a way to see why Russia could be paranoid….I mean it is not like they have NEVER been invaded from Eastern Europe….now is there?

Russia’s aggression in Europe — its invasion of Ukraine, its military flights up the noses of NATO states, its nuclear saber rattling — has faded from the news. But it’s still very much a threat, which is why the US is planning to quadruple its military spending in Europe, something NATO’s European members have welcomed, to deter Russia.

In other words, the dynamics that brought Cold War–style military tension to Europe in 2015 are still with us. And that tension can be dangerous.

Source: The risk of an unintended war with Russia in Europe, explained in one map – Vox

An unintended war is the worse kind of war possible……the road to war is paved with good intentions (a small paraphrase)…….

“Intelligent people know that the empire is on the downhill”

When I am commenting on the state of the US I have had a few readers that say that the empire built on war is on the downhill slide…..that the US has been empire building since the end of WW2…..

After almost 30 years in the CIA, Ray McGovern became a truth-teller. He sits down with Salon for a long debriefing

What a lost pleasure it is in our indispensable nation to be in the presence of someone who thinks, acts and speaks out of conscience and conviction. Even better, these were precisely McGovern’s topics that day three years back: The necessity of careful thought, of honoring one’s inner voice, of acting out of an idea of what is right without regard to success or failure, the win-or-lose of life. One way or another, these themes run through everything he has to say, I have since discovered. At an inner-city church in Washington, McGovern teaches a course he calls “The Morality of Whistleblowing.”

Source: “Intelligent people know that the empire is on the downhill”: A veteran CIA agent spills the goods on the Deep State and our foreign policy nightmares – Salon.com

By sticking to the old school techniques from 50 years ago has made it possible for this state to die a slow death……new plans and new thinking is sadly needed or this prediction will arrive sooner than later…..

 Can You Imagine World War III?

I have spent a lot of time studying war and its causes…..most of it at university for my graduate work……I have also written a bunch on war and its possibilities….

Many people are saying that we are entering into another Cold War….as if the last one ever really ended……people worry about China and Russia as the host of the power vacuum that could ignite the world to war…..

The truth be told the world is already at war but for some reason it is not being called a “World War”…….

The BBC did a study on the events around the world that could lead to WW3……a good read and a thought provoking article……

Source: BBC Imagines World War III | Consortiumnews