Day: September 2, 2016

When this is over, you will have nothing that you want

Does anyone remember the Prairie home Companion?

It was a very popular radio show done by Garrison Keillor….a little slice of Middle America….down home humor and observations (is it still airing?)…..it seems that this gentleman has something to say to Donald J. Trump in this op-ed…..

The cap does not look good on you, it’s a duffer’s cap, and when you come to the microphone, you look like the warm-up guy, the guy who announces the license number of the car left in the parking lot, doors locked, lights on, motor running. The brim shadows your face, which gives a sinister look, as if you’d come to town to announce the closing of the pulp factory. Your eyes look dead and your scowl does not suggest American greatness so much as American indigestion. Your hair is the wrong color: People don’t want a president to be that shade of blond. You know that now.

Source: When this is over, you will have nothing that you want – Chicago Tribune

I was never a fan of the show….it was a bit too slow for me….but he has done a good job with his op-ed…..

I am shutting it down for the day….let the long weekend begin….may you all have a wonderful time this holiday….we will get it on next week…tah tah…

The High Cost of American Hubris

Hubris?

Yep……From the Greek word of the same spelling, the concept of overweaning pride, or expectations that far exceed the scope of one’s being.

The perfect word to describe the US policies for the Middle East.

Americans have paid a very high price for the Establishment’s imperial ambitions, a price passing a breaking point in blood and money, a problem that must be addressed with realism and humility, explains Natylie Baldwin.

Although renowned political scientist John Mearsheimer does not consider himself to be an isolationist – a term which has acquired a negative connotation since WWII – his definition is illuminating as much for clarifying what the term does not mean as for what it does.

In America Unhinged, Mearsheimer writes: “Isolationism rests on the assumption that no region of the world outside of the Western Hemisphere is of vital strategic importance to the United States. Isolationists do not argue that America has no interests in the wider world, just that they are not important enough to justify deploying military force to defend them. They are fully in favor of engaging with the rest of the world economically as well as diplomatically, but they view all foreign wars as unnecessary.”

Source: The High Cost of American Hubris – Consortiumnews

This election is the height of hubris….at least from the rhetoric coming from the mouths of candidates…..the only realistic thing either candidate has said lately is…..”good evening” at the opening of the speech.

Jill Stein Should Be America’s First Female President

I admit it…I am thinking Green for this election….I cannot find one thing that I like about the two major candidates…..one is a loud-mouth and the other a consummate liar…..

Unlike most voters I am not afraid of a 3rd party candidate……and the best one this election is one Dr. Jill Stein.

It is interesting to see how I am getting push back for the bobble-heads on the Right…these are the same people that hate the “establishment” in DC bit will vote for someone to go there and”change” things….(pause here for raucous laughter)…….the whole superiority of the 2 party thing is just pathetic!

Like I said I am thinking Green and here is why……

Source: Dr. Cornel West Is Right, Jill Stein Should Be America’s First Female President

Dr. Stein at least has principles…..something that other woman cannot say…..

Think Green!

Moving Beyond “Us vs. Them” Politics

For several election cycles the nationalists have been gaining more and more traction with the votes…..and that pimple burst when a black man was elected president and now a woman dares run for the office.

For too long that stupid have been basically “use against them” in our elections…..that is pathetic.

Instead of looking after this country it is all about the crazy ideologies of the Right wingnuts.  This time it has come down to out right superiority complex…..the bigotry, the racism and the total disregard for the Constitution something they accuse Obama of doing….funny how that works, huh?

Since the global financial crisis of 2008, right-wing populist, nationalist, and anti-establishment movements have steadily gained strength across Europe and in the United States. This expanding influence is evident most recently with the presidential election in Austria, the Brexit vote in favor of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, and the Republican presidential nomination of Donald Trump in the United States. Although populist movements of the left have also grown to influence mainstream politics in important ways, these efforts have yet to produce as strong an effect as right-wing nationalist movements have in recent elections.

Donald Trump’s success in taking over a libertarian-leaning national Republican Party and turning it into a vessel of white-nationalist resentment, anti-globalism, and authoritarian impulses is one of the most substantial developments in recent U.S. political history. Although most polls indicate Trump may have hit a ceiling of support short of a national majority, the possibility of an openly xenophobic leader serving as chief executive of a nation as diverse as the United States is alarming.1 Regardless of the outcome of this year’s election, the social and ideological forces driving Trump’s rise will not go away anytime soon, particularly given his base of support among white working-class voters, a partisan media landscape favoring his brand of populist politics, and a fractured and leaderless Republican Party incapable of restoring discipline over Trump’s unruly forces.

Source: Moving Beyond “Us vs. Them” Politics – Center for American Progress Action Fund

Americans need to move beyond “gotcha” politics….the country deserves better than we are giving it by our thoughtless votes.

Me?  I’m thinking Green……..

A Fatal Ménage à Trois

It is election time and the stories coming out about the dealings of both candidates is just mind numbing…….we have Mr. trump and his clown doctor’s letter attesting to his health….then there is Clinton and her damn email scandal which is a gift that just keeps giving to Trump.

Most everybody has heard the stories of the Clinton Foundation and its connections to foreign powers, right?  And it has made great fodder for the Trump camp on the campaign trail…….

I have said that this is an election of foreign policy….and a report political menage a trois….that would be Hillary Clinton, the Podesta Group and Saudi Arabia…..the dealings of these 3 are just amazing…..

If I told you that Democratic Party lobbyist Tony Podesta, whose brother John Podesta chairs Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, is a registered foreign agent on the Saudi government’s payroll, you’d probably think I was a Trump-thumping, conspiratorial nutcase. But it’s true.

The lobby firm created by both Tony and John Podesta in 1988 receives $140,000 a month from the Saudi government, a government that beheads nonviolent dissidents, uses torture to extract forced confessions, doesn’t allow women to drive, and bombs schools, hospitals and residential neighborhoods in neighboring Yemen.

Source: Hillary Clinton, the Podesta Group and the Saudi Regime: A Fatal Ménage à Trois – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

Now the interesting part of this report….the Podesta Group has filed as a foreign agent in Washington……but wait….is not John Podesta a biggie in the Clinton campaign?

Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in this?

Is there any doubt what her foreign policy will look like…or for that matter….who will get preferential treatment by her administration?

But don’t worry her White House will be transparent to the people, right?

It’s gonna be a long 4 years.

Can Violent Extremism Be Beat?

The issue has slid from the news for now…..it seems that it is not as important as it once was…..for today there is more concern about some immigrants and the health of our candidates.  It will return to prominence as soon as another attack occurs……

In doing research on terrorism I have been looking for research that would lead to a successful program that could defeat extreme violence….terrorism if you will.

These days about the only place you can find opinions about a more realistic program against this form of terror is from the region where they must deal with it daily…..

The Muslim world needs to have a moment of reflection and reckoning. This needs to start from within. It requires a revolution of the mind

Violent extremism is a global phenomenon and has many causes. It can be motivated by religious, secular or nationalistic ideas. It is also related to the socio-political circumstances in which individuals react to what they consider to be great injustice and oppression. Wars, internecine fighting, civil wars, tribal hostilities, failed states and a host of other factors play a role in the rise and spread of violent extremism. There is more than one reason for the emergence of violent extremism and we need to adopt an integrated approach to understanding its causes and operate at several levels to contain and prevent it.

Such an approach requires work mainly at two levels: the level of ideas and the level of facts. Violent extremism as an idea is a driving force for various terrorist groups from Daesh and PKK to ETA and anti-Muslim Buddhist nationalists in Myanmar. Fighting against them requires a battle of ideas where attempts to justify terrorist methods are rejected based on authentic and authoritative sources.

Source: Violent extremism: How to fight the monster without becoming one | Middle East Eye

During a the Islamic month of Ramadan there was a rash of attacks by the barbarous group that calls itself….ISIS……this group uses the religion of Islam as a cover for their inhumane acts….that is where the defeat begins…..

The recent terrorist attacks in several countries by individuals inspired by the so-called Islamic State (IS) highlight the enduring ideological threat of IS. Serious consolidated efforts are needed to meet the threat with counter-ideology messages to target audiences.

Source: CO16203 | IS Terrorism: How to Win the Ideological Battle | RSIS

Here’s a thought…..maybe instead of planning sessions at the Pentagon a better program would be to go to the region and get their take on a solution…..

These are only ideas to expand on….hopefully someone is listening.