Day: March 7, 2017

Closing Thought–07Mar17

Look behind the door!

From time to time here on IST I will write a “what if” scenario…it is a post about how things could be brought about with a few minor changes……

I recently gave a talk at the local university about a coup d’etat and how it could come about through non-violent means….and that talk got me to thinking about our present day dilemma….well only in some people’s minds that is……

I looked at the people around Pres. Trump and especially the VP, Mike Pence….if you take a close look at him he is a theocrat…..and some of the cabinet I am not sure of their loyalty to the president……but how could any of these people pull off a coup without the use of weapons and violence was my next question….

The Constitution came to mind and the 25th amendment……

The answer lies in Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution.

The amendment states that if, for whatever reason, the vice president and a majority of sitting Cabinet secretaries decide that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” they can simply put that down in writing and send it to two people — the speaker of the House and the Senate’s president pro tem.

Source: The 25th Amendment, explained: how a president can be declared unfit to serve – Vox

I am not saying this is what should be attempted….but I am saying that after careful consideration I would not trust Pence and some within the cabinet as far as I could spit them.

But there is a more troubling situation brewing…..a “Deep State” coup…….

The deep state, although there’s no precise or scientific definition, generally refers to the agencies in Washington that are permanent power factions. They stay and exercise power even as presidents who are elected come and go. They typically exercise their power in secret, in the dark, and so they’re barely subject to democratic accountability, if they’re subject to it at all. It’s agencies like the CIA, the NSA and the other intelligence agencies, that are essentially designed to disseminate disinformation and deceit and propaganda, and have a long history of doing not only that, but also have a long history of the world’s worst war crimes, atrocities and death squads. This is who not just people like Bill Kristol, but lots of Democrats are placing their faith in, are trying to empower, are cheering for as they exert power separate and apart from—in fact, in opposition to—the political officials to whom they’re supposed to be subordinate.

Source: Leading Progressives Say that Even Americans Who Hate Trump Should Defend Him Against Attempted Coup by the “Deep State” | Zero Hedge

I agree there is something nefarious going on in DC these days…..another disturbing thought.

Pres. Trump a word of warning…..your enemies are closer than you think…..do not turn your back on Pence……

How’s that for a closing…..my day has come to an end and I must take my leave but never fear….the Professor will return tomorrow with more STUFF!

Russia….Russia…..Russia!

There has been a wealth of ink wasted on this Russia thing….did Russia meet with any candidates to decide the future?  Or did it not?

If you really do not know about all this wasted time and energy then get up and use the Google machine….you can learn it all….and from whatever side you want……

I am not here to join in that debate….I will do what I always do….give my readers a history lesson….or if you like a historical perspective….

You see if Trump and/or his minions met with someone from the Russia oligarchy then it is NOTHING new.  That is right…it is nothing new!

Whatever are you talking about professor?

First let’s talk about the Nixon years….and the Vietnam Peace talks….

Journalist Robert Parry, editor of Consortiumnews.com, may be the most knowledgeable journalist about the GOP use of foreign policy subterfuge (some might call it treason) to successfully win the 1968 and 1980 elections. He has compiled the evidence in his latest book, “America’s Stolen Narrative.”

It is a persuasive account of the beginning of de facto stolen presidential elections by the GOP, which in turn has led to a lack of accountability for executive branch actions by the DC code of silence among the powerful. These elections (with the exception of Watergate) taught the Republicans, Parry contends, that there would be no consequences for law-breaking behavior in elections and foreign policy.

Source: How Richard Nixon Sabotaged 1968 Vietnam Peace Talks to Get Elected President

Next up is the Reagan campaign of 1980….and the Iranian hostage thing……

“A conspiracy between a presidential candidate and a hostile foreign power against an incumbent president would seem to be without precedent in American history. But if Reagan struck a successful deal with Iran and captured the presidency in 1980, it would explain why he agreed to the bizarre alliance with Iran in 1985 and 1986: He had gotten away with it before.”—B. Honegger and J. Naureckas, In These Times, July 7, 1987.

The charge has been raised, first in the Middle Eastern and European press and now in the US, that in 1980 while Jimmy Carter was frantically negotiating for an early release of American hostages in Iran, members of the Ronald Reagan campaign staff made the Ayatollah Khomeini an offer he couldn’t refuse—badly needed US arms and spare parts for his war with Iraq if he kept the US Embassy hostages in Tehran until after election day.

Source: Did Iran Delay Hostages Release To Ensure Reagan’s Election? | WRMEA

Now we come to all the hoopla about the Trump people and their alleged meetings/deals with the Russians.

Is it just me or all these incidents involving GOP candidates?  I am sure there are others and maybe even a Dem in there somewhere but these examples are the ones that readily came to mind.

Did I mention that all these examples are those of GOP candidates?  Is that a pattern or what?

More Troops For The Fire

As usual an announcement was made that more troops would be sought to throw into the fires around the world….and as usual….NO one noticed.

ABC News is reporting tonight that the Pentagon has been quietly deploying special forces units across the Middle East, particularly in Yemen, and in several nations around Northern Africa, moves seen as a prelude to an escalation in attacks on al-Qaeda and ISIS-linked forces across the region.

Officials say that there is a sense that the Trump Administration is more interested in using special operations’ forces, and that they are particularly interested in attacking al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) targets in Yemen, saying the lack of a functioning government in Yemen justifies more US operations.

Troops around the horn of Africa and elsewhere across the continent’s north are also being deployed, and while the exact details on what they’re going to end up doing aren’t yet clear, those familiar with the situation say the deployed troops expect to “see a lot of action.”

“See a lot of action”….now there is an ominous prediction…..

Women’s History Month–Rosa Luxemburg

We enter into a new month and new period of celebrating our history….history should be celebrated everyday not just once a year….

When I was younger my grandfather gave me a few books and among them was one by Rosa Luxemburg, Reform Or Revolution….she was a fascinating woman of her time……regardless her politics she did much to further the cause of women……

Born on March 5th, 1871, Rosa Luxemburg, a Polish Jew and participant in the Russian Revolution of 1905, was a co-founder of the Social Democratic Party in the joint Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania.

Next to Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg was the most important representative of the left-wing socialist, anti-militarist, and internationalist positions in the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Germany before 1918. She was a passionate and convincing critic of capitalism as well as anti-democratic and dictatorial tendencies within the Bolsheviki. She confronted the compelling logic of economic laws and political strategies with the utopia of a new world. According to Luxemburg, this new world needed to be created in spite of widespread despair, deprivation of rights, cowardliness and the corruption of power.

Rosa Luxemburg was a leading theorist of the SPD’s left wing. She played a crucial role in the formation of the Spartacus League, the Independent Social-Democratic Party (USPD) and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Her fate cannot be separated from the German labor movement. Irreconcilable differences between the evolving different streams of the labor movement lead to reconcurrent confrontations between their respective supporters and in the end to a collapsed labor unity.

On January 15th, 1919, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, and Wilhelm Pieck; the leaders of the German Communist Party, were arrested and taken in for questioning at the Adlon Hotel in Berlin. German soldiers escorted Luxemburg and Liebknecht out of the building, knocking them unconscious with rifle butts. Pieck managed to escape, while the unconscious bodies of Luxemburg and Liebknecht were quietly driven away in a German military jeep. They were shot and thrown into a river by the same circles of militarist Freikorps (Volunteer Corps) that later openly supported the National Socialists’ seizure of power.

Impressively, Rosa Luxemburg combined political commitment, scientific analysis, and the quest for empowerment as a woman. She saw herself as being in conflict, fighting both on a scientific and political level while her daily life presented the essential foundation. Throughout all her actions, she never shunned tenderness and sensibility.

If you would like more info on Luxemburg then this link can help……

Source: First World War.com – Who’s Who – Rosa Luxemburg

Another woman that has been past over by our history courses…her writings were instrumental to politics of the day…

She deserves more recognition than she has gotten over the last 100 years….

Do yourself a favor and learn about this extraordinary woman.

How to Engage North Korea

In recent weeks there has been an uptick of chest thumping by the GOP and their leader over what is happening in North Korea.

I do not normally keep my attention on the Asia region but there is too much macho bullshit coming from Foggy Bottom.

I a always on the outlook for a problem that could lead to the ultimate use of force…war.  And the language around North Korea is starting to worry me.

The US has depended on sanctions for damn near 30 years now and so far it has done little to change the situation in any way…..maybe it is time for a re-think.

The Trump administration has yet to fill out its foreign policy team—but the international challenges won’t stop. There is broad agreement that North Korea is one of the central problems, if not the biggest challenge, facing the new president.

The government of Kim Jong-un won’t give Washington a break. The latest mid-range missile test was routine, if unwelcome. But the apparent public assassination of Kim’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, with deadly VX nerve agent at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur airport, demonstrates a willingness of the North Korean regime to ostentatiously flout the international sensibilities of friend and foe alike.

Source: How to Engage North Korea | The American Conservative

But since a re-think is probably out of the question…we can always use our stand-by plan……

The Trump Administration, and Deputy National Security Adviser K.T. McFarland in particular, are seeking “outside the mainstream” options for dealing with North Korea, according to reports, and that among these options would be attacking North Korea outright.

While the US has kept a large number of troops on North Korea’s border for generations now, but has long centered that deployment on deterrent factor, keeping the two sides, though technically still at war, from too much direct fighting with one another.

McFarland requested multiple options along with the usual one, citing a “fresh series of provocations” from North Korea, including a possible US military attack on North Korea and also the possibility of just recognizing North Korea as a nuclear state.

(antiwar.com)

It is truly sad that there are only two options open to the masters in DC…sanctions and/or war…..

How long?

After writing this draft further NK news has come to light……

North Korea on Monday fired four banned ballistic missiles that flew about 620 miles, with three of them landing in waters that Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone, South Korean and Japanese officials say. The move was an apparent reaction to huge military drills by Washington and Seoul that Pyongyang insists are an invasion rehearsal, the AP reports. It was not immediately clear the exact type of missile fired, but the tests will be viewed as a provocation by the Trump administration in Washington, which is working on its policy for North Korea.

At least one of the missiles landed as close as 190 miles from Japan’s northwest coast, leading Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo to condemn the “extremely dangerous action,” which he noted was clearly in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, Reuters reports. US national security adviser HR McMaster and senior South Korean presidential official Kim Kwan-jin held a phone conversation after the missile firings. The two condemned the launches and agreed to boost cooperation to get the North to face more effective sanctions and pressure, according to South Korea’s presidential office.

North Korea fired four ballistic missiles this morning; they traveled almost 1,000 km towards the Sea of Japan

Time to get serious about North Korea….lip service has accomplished little….time to get serious.