Month: October 2016

Why Progressives Love the New Cold War

First, there is NOTHING progressive about Democrats….so stop using the term to describe a bunch of center-left cowards. (And center left is being kind to them)

Second, NO true progressive would be in love with a war either hot or cold….

The Clinton campaign’s full-scale effort to turn this election into a referendum on Vladimir Putin is causing liberals like Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation, and Glenn Greenwald, the energizing force behind The Intercept, much heartburn. Here is Ms. van den Heuvel wondering what the heck is going on: “How does new Cold War […]

Source: Why Progressives Love the New Cold War – Antiwar.com Original by — Antiwar.com

Democrats are nothing more than a neo-liberal……and neo-liberalism is a failed concept…..no matter how the Dems try to spin the thing they are nothing but war hawks and should be in bed with the GOP.

Yemen And The Attacks

I am always writing and the good people at Ace News Room seem to always want an op-ed from me…..this is one I wrote awhile back when the news that missiles had been fired at a US Naval vessel…..

I could go into the barbaric conflict that the Saudis are forcing on Yemen….or I could write about the Yemeni deaths, the starvation, the destruction….but no….I want to talk about…

Source: Yemen And The Attacks

After I wrote this op-ed more news has come out….

US warships have once again attacked Yemen’s Red Sea coast after reporting for the third time in a week that they came under fire from the area by anti-ship missiles, a large number of which were fired but none of which actually hit anything. At least, that was the story initially.

After once again attacking Houthi targets along the coast, in spite of any evidence that the Houthis fired the missiles at them, officials are now saying they’re not even sure about the missiles, and are looking into the possibility that the USS Mason, which has claimed all the attacks, has a radar malfunction which is generating ghost signals.

This raises the possibility that the US warships are not only retaliating against the wrong people, but that there was nothing to retaliate against in the first place. Though there was some speculation that remnants of the Yemeni military were involved in firing missiles, by way of explaining why the Houthis were denying it, this must inevitably raise questions if anything happened at all other than the heavy-handed US reaction.

(antiwar.com)

If there was NO proof on who launched the missiles then why did we attack?  Did we attack to help the Saudis in their destruction of Yemen?

Oops will not get it!  Time for someone to answer some tough questions….questions that will never be asked.

Syria: Lies And Damn Lies

This election there is a wealth of solutions for the problems in Syria….they range from “making the sand glow” to a no-fly zone……the problem is that most of these brilliant ideas ill do nothing to solve any problems…..

Let me illustrate the 5 biggest damn lies about Syria……

1. Lie Number 1: The world will not forgive us for inaction in the face of mass atrocities in Syria. Nothing dries faster than a politician’s tear. International relations are unsentimental. The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. The world has “forgiven” us for inaction while Stalin and Mao collectively murdered over 100 million, genocides unfolded in Rwanda and Cambodia, and Hitler exterminated 6 million Jews. At present, the world is not rebuking us for inaction during the killings of more than 5 million Congolese in an ongoing civil war and during the mass atrocities and starvation that are besetting the South Sudanese people. Today, we enjoy a semi-alliance with Vietnam despite dropping 388,000 tons of napalm and killing more than 2 million civilians during the Vietnam War.

2. Lie Number 2: The carnage in Syria would be diminished if the United States provided military assistance and intervened on behalf of moderate Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, the Russians, and Hezbollah. There are no moderates in Syria dedicated to the rule of law and democratic norms. All Syrian fighters are driven by ulterior motives to make their tribe dominate others. Internecine warfare rages amongst the rebels. A $500 million Pentagon plan to vet and train 15,000 moderate fighters collapsed because no qualified enrollees could be discovered.

3. Lie Number 3: Russia will gain at our expense. The opposite is the truth. Conquest or occupation of a hostile population weakens the conqueror or occupier. The annexation of Crimea has proven an economic albatross to Russia. The Soviet Empire disintegrated in 1991 because the costs of occupying and subsidizing Eastern and Central Europe were prohibitive. President Vladimir Putin is losing money and men to support Syrian President al-Assad in exchange for the fleeting and juvenile thrill of projecting power for its own sake. The United States loses nothing by inaction. Thus, after we refused to rescue South Vietnamese President Thieu from defeat by North Vietnam in 1975, sixteen years later the USSR—our arch-enemy—fell without our firing a single shot. We were left as the sole superpower in the world in large measure through masterly inactivity.

4. Lie Number 4: If Aleppo succumbs to President Al-Assad and President Putin, international terrorism against the United States will spiral. This is nonsense on stilts. Assad and Putin are enemies, not allies, of ISIS and Al Qaeda. Their takeover of Aleppo would be a setback for international terrorism. President Reagan withdrew our troops from Lebanon in 1984 after the Hezbollah terrorist attack on our Marine barracks in Beirut, but no spike in international terrorism against us ensued.

5. Lie Number 5: The credibility of the United States as the leader and defender of the free world will be devastated. This argument if the last refuge of a scoundrel eager to risk the lives and fortunes of others to gratify a craving for power or domination. Our withdrawal from Vietnam made us stronger, not weaker. Ditto for Lebanon. The argument’s premise is also flawed. As the United States Constitution and patriotism require, we pursue self-interest abroad like all other nations. Freedom is made subservient to Realpolitik. We have sold a staggering $90 billion in arms to Saudi Arabia in recent years despite its oppressive monarchy, military intervention in Bahrain to suppress freedom, and war crimes in Yemen. We recognize the dictatorial People’s Republic of China at the expense of the democratic Republic of China on Taiwan. We are snug with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi despite his totalitarian methods. Other examples are endless.

Read a bit more about these lies……Source: Five Stupendous Lies Told By Buglers for Military Intervention in Syria | Huffington Post

One more thing…..the US spy master has waded into the fray and commented on Clinton’s pet solution to the problem in Syria…..thew No-Fly Zone…….

A proposal backed by Hillary Clinton could cause Russia to lash out and shoot down American planes over Syria, the nation’s top intelligence official said on Tuesday.

Clinton has repeatedly called for a no-fly zone to halt the chaos in Syria and prevent Russian and Syrian government forces from launching air strikes on the war-torn country, in a break with the Obama administration’s policy.

But doing so could trigger a backlash from Russia that might put Americans at risk, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said.

“I’m not a mind reader, but I do take seriously the very sophisticated air defense system and air defense coverage that the Russians have,” Clapper said at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Maybe now would be a good time to go back to the drawing board, Mrs. Clinton.

The New “Commander-In-Chief”

We will soon go to the polls and vote for the one person that we trust to be out new commander-in-chief……but in this day and age do we need a commander-in-chief?

Maybe it’s the phrase — “Commander in Chief” — that best captures the transcendent absurdity and unaddressed horrors of the 2016 election season and the business as usual that will follow.

I don’t want to elect anyone commander in chief: not the xenophobic misogynist and egomaniac, not the Henry Kissinger acolyte and Libya hawk. The big hole in this democracy is not the candidates; it’s the bedrock, founding belief that the rest of the world is our potential enemy, that war with someone is always inevitable and only a strong military will keep us safe.

Source: Commander In Chief: Not Needed – LA Progressive

The voter needs to wake up top the fact that we are in a perpetual war footing…..we need to find a way to take ourselves out of this ever expanding equation…..all in all it is a world gone mad……(good title for an article)……

The relentless drumbeat against Donald Trump continues. The Washington Post on October 14 endorsed Hillary Clinton for president while also including in the print edition nine articles, three op-eds, and three letters blasting the GOP candidate, including pieces in the Style and Metro sections of the paper. On the following day there were five articles, a lead editorial, three letters, two op-eds, and two cartoons. And the Post is not alone, with the New York Times doing its bit in running news articles on Trump’s alleged sexual proclivities while the television media continue to run with the stories relating to earlier revelations. When Trump raised the possibility that all of this activity is being coordinated and possibly in part fabricated by the Clinton campaign, he was castigated for even suggesting such a thing.

More disturbing, in my opinion, is the role the White House has been playing in the drama. President Barack Obama has been active in speaking for Hillary and damning Trump, describing the GOP candidate as both unfit for office and lacking in the experience necessary to become head of state. There is a certain irony in Obama’s assertions, as he himself entered office as probably the least experienced president of the past hundred years, but it is the White House’s taking the lead in an electoral campaign that is at a minimum troubling. Traditionally, the president as head of state should be above the fray, as he is paid and empowered by the people to run the country, not to campaign for his successor. It is to be presumed that the Democratic National Committee foots the bill when Obama engages in campaign whistle-stops, but one has to wonder if that includes all the infrastructure costs involved in moving the president from place to place. And, undoubtedly, it would be difficult to winnow out costs when Obama combines campaigning and his official duties.

Source: A World Gone Mad | The American Conservative

Your vote can decide whether the world continues to go mad or if sanity can return of our foreign affairs……

Me?  I’m thinking Green!

My First Hundred Days

Since most normal humans are fed up with this election season….the sane ones that is…..so I thought I would inject a bit of humor into the last couple of weeks……

Every candidate for president sees to always issue some sort of report that says what they will try to accomplish in the first 100 days in office…..and 2016 is no different……Clinton and Trump have both made mention of this situation…..

Let us begin with Mrs. Clinton…….

  • Choose only strong, independent appointees — not Wall Streeters. Clinton can ensure that her Administration will be free of those “deep-seated cultural and ethical failures” by choosing appointees who’ll enforce the rules without fear or favor – and by not appointing anyone from a major bank to a senior government position.
  • Investigate Stumpf’s trades. If the SEC hasn’t moved swiftly to investigate those trades, itsalready-embattled director has some explaining to do. But the next president must make sure that promptly opens an investigation into Stumpf’s stock trading in the month before the185 million settlement.
  • Investigate the 2 million phony accounts. The SEC and Department of Justice should also investigate Stumpf, his senior executives (including Sloan), and the Wells Fargo board regarding this account fraud.
  • Protect and expand the CFPB. Wells Fargo’s crimes prove that we need the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It should be defended from the Republicans who seek to gut it. Its budget and oversight responsibilities should be expanded to meet the ongoing threat posed by criminal bankers.
  • Break up the big banks. We agree with Republicans and Democrats who say that Wells Fargo proves too-big-to-fail banks are still a threat to the economy. The next president should direct her Treasury Secretary to develop a plan to break up Wells Fargo and others of comparable size.
  • Restore Glass-Steagall. The new president should also press for a 21st-Century Glass-Steagall Act separating consumer banking from investment activities, so that shareholders and executives will no longer be bailed out when they engage in fraud or mismanagement.
  • Investigate big-bank involvement in payday lending. The new president should direct her regulators to investigate the current state of big-bank involvement in the payday lending industry, and to publish a report of its findings that includes the social cost of this activity and more constructive alternatives for the so-called “unbanked” population.
  • Ensure justice for all. Lastly, she should demonstrate in word and deed what has unfortunately yet to be demonstrated in the nation’s capital: that the law will be enforced on Wall Street as well as on Main Street without fear or favor. Whether those crimes consist of investor fraud, consumer fraud, theft, or racial discrimination, no bank executive should ever again believe he or she is above the law.

(laprogressive.com)

These all all the things the voters want to hear on the Dem side…..I say less than 10% will actually be accomplished.

Watch Clinton’s appointees…they will tell you just what her agenda really is all about.

Now for the biggies for Mr. Trump……..

Trump eventually turned to his plans for his first 100 days in office, listing six major steps he’ll take once elected—in addition to suing his accusers, presumably—that he called a “contract between myself and the American voter.” Those plans include congressional term limits and more restrictions on government officials becoming lobbyists, the Washington Post reports. Trump said he would immediately deport immigrants in prison for violent crimes and cancel visas for countries that won’t take them back. He said his administration wouldn’t approve of the AT&T/Time Warner merger announced today. He would also implement a hiring freeze on all federal employees outside public health, safety, and the military. According to CNN, there were few policies or details laid out Saturday that Trump hadn’t already discussed elsewhere.

But before he does anything he will sue someone…….

I will be watching the game as it is played and will write about their first 100 days….no matter which one of the toads wins…..

Why This Year’s Presidential Election Is So Depressing?

14 days and counting….14 weary days of endless immature rantings by both candidates……

The answer is easy……

Some voters are thrilled with the choices they have…..Me?  I am just thoroughly disgusted that these two d/bags are the best we can do for the presidency…..in reality you have other choices but if you exercise your right and the “chosen” one losses then it will be YOUR fault for not holding to party line and voting that way…..

Why is this election such a bummer for some of us?

William J. Astore: Trump and Hillary: one a Nero, one an Imperator. Both American exceptionalists, both believers in the military, both willing to wield big sticks while never speaking softly. Yes, I find that depressing.

This year’s presidential election is depressing.  I suppose Trump and Hillary supporters are fired up.  They want to see “their” candidate win.  But for me, I wish a pox on both their houses, even as I hope the eventual winner is not as bad as he or she appears to be.

Source: Why This Year’s Presidential Election Is So Depressing – LA Progressive

I think that most voters are not thrilled with their candidates but most are too timid to admit it….and will either stay home or drag themselves off to the voting booth and pick the candidate that does not smell the worse.

I am beyond playing the game that society wants me to play…..that I must choose between the 2 major parties…..I will vote principles not popularity.

What about you?

Generation Jihad

Have you had enough of the antics, the childish antics, of the candidates?

let’s talk about something that is getting very little play these days….terrorism.

This is an op-ed that I wrote for my friends at Ace News room…….

BAM! Just when the word terrorism was taking a backseat to the antics of these clowns that are pretending to campaign and some idiot has set a couple of bombs in New York and New Jersey….. An…

Source: Generation Jihad

I shall return to the comical world of American politics after this post is read…..

Hillary’s ‘Puppet’ Screed

Most recent elections have been very nasty and insulting…..the truth be known most of our elections since the 1800’s have been on the nasty side……its like we Americans cannot function in politics without the nastiness and the insulting demeanor….

But this time one candidate has pushed the nasty to a new level….and about here you, my reader, is thinking that I am talking about something Trump has uttered…..which could be an accurate assumption since he just cannot keep his mouth shut long enough to make actual points…..but in this case you would be mistaken.

That is right!  I am talking about Hillary Clinton…..and NO I am not a supporter of her either….but she has pushed the envelope of nasty a bit far…….

The American Conservative has taken a look at her accusation about Trump and Russia……

For months she had only intimated it, or delegated the real dirty work to her surrogates and campaign staff, but at the final televised debate this week Hillary Clinton finally let loose: Donald Trump is “a puppet” of the Kremlin, she declared.

It’s worth pausing to consider just how extreme and incendiary that allegation is. For Trump to be a “puppet” of a hostile foreign power—especially Russia, arguably America’s oldest continuous adversary—would be an event of earth-shaking magnitude, unrivaled in all U.S. history. It would mean that by some nefarious combination of subterfuge and collusion, the sinister Russian leader Vladimir Putin had managed to infiltrate our political system at its very core, executing a Manchurian Candidate-style scheme that would’ve been dismissed as outlandish in even the most hyperbolic 1960s-era espionage movie script.

Source: Hillary’s ‘Puppet’ Screed | The American Conservative

Just an after note…..the original “Manchurian Candidate” is far superior to the re-make…..if you have not seen it then I suggest that you have a movie date and watch….some of the rhetoric by the character in the Senate sounds familiar these days….

Will Progressives Crap On Clinton?

Since Hil has won the nomination she has had a full court press to get progressives, real progressive not some sad shade of one, to support her in her bid for the presidency.

She had even convinced Bernie, her opponent in the primaries, and Warren to sign on to her damn deception.

Us true progressives are not buying her crap….and now more troubling news about her lies and deceptions……

A steadydrip of hacked emails being released by WikiLeaks isn’t getting anywhere near the attention Donald Trump would like, but they could still cause plenty of trouble for Hillary Clinton, reports Politico. If the polls are right and Clinton wins the White House, she can expect to confront hostility from the left wing of her own party—a wing she would need to counter GOP opposition. That’s because the emails stolen from aide John Podesta’s account reveal that the Clinton camp has used words like “puritanical,” “pompous,” “radical,” and “freaks” to refer to its more liberal counterparts. Podesta himself, for example, calls Bernie Sanders a “doofus.” (In an interview with CNN, via Real Clear Politics, Podesta downplays it with a heat-of-the-moment defense.)

“We were already kind of suspicious of where Hillary’s instincts were, but now we see that she is who we thought she was,” a liberal operative tells Politico. “The honeymoon is going to be tight and small and maybe nonexistent.” In addition to Podesta, key advisers Jake Sullivan and Neera Tanden have made enemies with the progressive wing of the party because of the emails, which are expected to continue emerging through Election Day. If Clinton wins, expect the animosity to surface as liberal opposition to both personnel appointments and policy proposals. Meanwhile, the libertarian Reason blog highlights 10 revelations of the emails so far, including Tanden’s jokey reference to the Democratic base as the “Red Army.”

I have said before that the voter needs to know their candidate…..words are cheap….deception is their stock and trade……

Are you ready for this liar to take the White House?

But the next issue is…..will Bernie’s supporters come around and support Clinton?

If they do then they cannot call themselves “progressive”…….she is nothing more than an extension of the liberal policies that have put this nation in the shape it is now……

Me?  I am thinking Green!

Vote2016: Dr. Jill Stein On The Issues

I am always saying that I am thinking Green for this election…..I would rather marry a head of lettuce than vote for either GOP or Dem candidate…

I will show why I support Dr. Stein in her bid for the presidency……of course I do not agree with everything she has on the issues……but they are a damn sight better than either of the other two……

China

The United States should stop isolating and intimidating China, including in the East and South China Seas, where Beijing has territorial disputes with its neighbors, Stein said in July 2016. She says that if the United States made deep cuts to its military, China could follow suit and then both countries could redirect those savings toward converting their economies to green energy, which she says is needed to address the global warming crisis.

Read on…her international positions on the important issues in this election…..

Source: Jill Stein on The Issues – Campaign 2016 – Council on Foreign Relations

I am still thinking Green.