The US government might be able to print more money to juggle the books, but it can't "print" lives and body parts to make the dead and maimed whole again.
Perhaps Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will prove to be the Gavrilo Princip of World War Three. They or some idiot in their cohorts probably have what it takes.
The Clintons have a long history of opposition to progressives and other people and entities on the left. There is no reason to believe or hope for Hillary appointing a justice to the supreme (?) court anywhere near left of center. Nor will she be likely to appoint any justice who might be a threat to Citizens United. With Hillary in alliance with neocons, the Koch Brothers, and the Israel Lobby more wars and regime changes would be a safer bet.
Steve King not only is ignorant of many elements of world history, he apparently is disinclined to taking the first step towards wisdom; that is, recognizing how much he doesn't know.
Except for soldiers imported from the British and French empires, World War One was very much a "white" event that led to the mindless deaths of tens of millions of people. And that was only one of many "white" wars.
If only Americans could follow the example of these Turks in opposition to the takeover of America by its plutocrats and Republican and Democratic party oligarchies.
I have to admit my statement about Hillary Clinton showing her real policies on November 9th was wrong. She and her accomplices are already making it obvious we will have a dystopian future under a president Hillary, but Donald Trump is no better.
According to the NRA when someone starts shooting there need to be people in the target area with guns to respond to the shooter. Didn't quite work out that way with dozens of armed police in Dallas, did it?
This is the core of the problem with guns in America. 1. The proliferation is beyond incomprehensible measure and needs. 2. There are thousands of people with homicidal tendencies with access to the guns they need to commit any crime they desire. 3. Until people with homicidal tendencies are prevented from access to guns, the carnage will continue.
So the challenge for bringing an end to this obscene aspect of life and death in America is 1. Get control of guns so that people with homicidal tendencies can’t get access to them, OR, 2. Identify people with homicidal tendencies and block them from acquiring guns.
To paraphrase the Scottish bard, "Would some power the giftie gie us to set up a new Nuremberg Trial for George W. Bush, Tony Blair and their accomplices."
Hopefully, someone someday will write an honest history of Fallujah. Surely, it is one of the most tragic stories that could every be told. In the meantime, where is the Picasso to present to the world a representation of its present tragedy?
The United States is not the only nation with people having homicidal tendencies. Fortunately for the Brits and other nations with similar people they don't have the easy access to guns available here. You're right, President Obama. The United States is exceptional.
Then there is the media's claim of the Orlando mass shooting being the worst in US history. Obviously, these "journalists" don't know US history or chose to ignore it. Consider the massacres of Native Americans, My Lai, the slaughter of Filipinos during the Spanish-American War, and the mass shootings of men, women and children in the Middle East and South Asia.
And tomorrow, June 8th, just for the record, will be the 49th anniversary of the Israeli air and naval attack on the USS Liberty, a research and intelligence-gathering ship in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. The Israeli plan was to sink the ship and kill all of its crew. The Johnson administration and top admirals went full speed ahead to cover up this crime for Israel.
"Still Waiting for USS Liberty’s Truth: Exclusive: During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israeli warplanes and warships tried to sink the USS Liberty, killing 34 of the spy ship’s crew. Afterwards, U.S. and Israeli officials excused the attack as an unfortunate mistake and covered up evidence of willful murder," as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern explains. - https://consortiumnews.com/2015/07/04/still-waiting-for-uss-libertys-truth/
If Cuomo gets away with this abuse of power, will a President Hillary turn the screws on the BDS movement at the national level on behalf of her friend, Netanyahu, and as a token of appreciation to her pro-Israel campaign donors?
1. The United Nations Special Rapporteur found that the US was guilty of cruel and inhuman treatment of Chelsea (Bradley) Manning, who was responsible for the Wikileaks and revelations of US killing of unarmed journalists in Iraq. Manning was kept in solitary confinement and isolated 23 hours a day for months on end, was kept naked and chained to a bed, and was subjected to sleep deprivation techniques, all three well known forms of torture, on the trumped up pretext that he was suicidal (his psychiatrist disagreed).
And President Obama considered this treatment "appropriate" despite claiming torture would not be allowed in the United States.
We need to remember the wrongful causes of US military action since WWII, because those predominate today.
Why just consider US wars since WW2? The US has been at war ever since the War of Revolution. The Revolutionary War may have begun as a war against colonialism, but it didn't take long for the new government to become a colonial power with its pursuit of empire that continues to this day.
Apparently, Netanyahu didn't get the message about not digging deeper when you are in a hole.
The symptoms of decline and fall are now prevalent in the US and Israel. The question now is, "Which will go first? The US or Israel? Clinton or Netanyahu? Or, will they both go together in a deadly embrace like some people in a Berlin bunker in April 1945?"
With the Clintons back in the White House and allied with Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman, and other right-wing extremists in Israel and around the world the decline and fall of the American empire seems all but inevitable - but not before immeasurable suffering is inflicted on the world's people.
It is always ethically wrong to generalize from an individual or particular group to the larger category of which they form a part. Individuals must be judged as individuals, groups as groups.
This is not surprising in Trump's case after his opening remarks about Mexicans and the need to build a wall followed by exclusion of Muslims. These are examples of his shallow thinking (if thinking is the right word) by looking at the symptoms of the alleged disease and not its causes. Trump is apparently oblivious to the roles, especially regime changes, the United States has played in creating those migrants and refugees.
Smart USG officials with whom I’ve interacted have had a firm belief that leadership is a rare quality and that you can attrite an organization by killing its leaders.
That tactic wouldn't work in the US or in one of its satrapies where there are legions of authoritarian followers ready to ascend to or beyond their levels of incompetence.
The responsibility for ISIS/ISIL/Daesh began many years before Hillary came on the scene. It began with the Zionist plan and its implementation leading to the "transfer" (ethnic cleansing) of Palestinians from the Palestine Territories. Osama bin Laden raised the stakes with the establishment of Al-Qaeda and the implementation of its plan to avenge Israel's abuse of the Palestinians. That included 9/11 for US support of Israel's crimes against the Palestinians. ISIS/ISIL/Daesh just happened to be the most aggressive of the Al-Qaeda franchises. The Clinton Administration, which obviously included Hillary, gave Al-Qaeda another reason for attacking the US on 9/11. They apparently disagreed with Madeleine Albright that whatever "it" was sacrificing an estimated half million Iraqi children wasn't worth it. Since then Hillary has been very active in encouraging anti-US sentiment in the Middle East and North Africa with continued support of Israel's murderous operations in Gaza, the war on Iraq, and regime changes in Libya and Syria. Clinton didn't start the fire. She just piled on more fuel.
And, of the over 11,000 Palestinians killed, about 2,000 were children.
How many Palestinian children, like those Iraqi children in the 1990s, have died because of the deplorable living conditions that are a consequence of Israel's stranglehold on Gaza? Do Israel's Likudniks and other right-wingers and their supporters in the United States believe, like Madeleine Albright on the Iraq sanctions, it was/is worth it?
Of course, the fundamental rule of who has the power ultimately determines the path of justice. The trials of alleged war criminals in Germany and Japan after World War II were determined by the victors' interpretation of justice. Of the list of war crimes original proposed for the Nuremberg Trials many were deleted because the Allies sitting in judgment were also guilty of these crimes. As the Israelis learned a long time ago as long as they are the tail wagging the American dog they can do whatever they like. Why all this attention to one Israeli murdering one Palestinian in cold blood? What about the thousands of Gazans - men, women and children - slaughtered in Operations Cast Lead and Protective Edge?
The only danger for Israel is that it is being enabled to continue its decline into a cesspool of moral degradation that will eventually bring about its fall, but not before many more Palestinians have their lives destroyed by "the most moral army in the world." What a crock!!!
Another Mid-East surprise: Tom Friedman is getting out of the columnist business for (unfortunately just) a while. He apparently finally recognized that on many occasions he didn't know what he was talking about. - http://mondoweiss.net/2016/04/tom-friedman-to-work-as-cairo-taxi-driver-because-those-guys-know-everything/ He should have known better as he confessed "He began reading Electronic Intifada and Juan Cole “surreptitiously, as a guilty pleasure,” and discovered that “ordinary people” are more accurate than the big shots and US envoys he quotes in his reports."
Clinton used her speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee meeting, the gathering of some of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, to lambaste Donald Trump for saying he’d try to be neutral in heading up negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
At least Hillary has shown some degree of honesty for a change by inadvertently making obvious American policy regarding the Israelis and Palestinians has not been one of an honest broker and will not be one if she is elected president. What a ghastly thought!!!
It is truly mind-boggling to witness eminent citizens such as Meryl Streep, George Clooney and others like them endorse this 20th/21st Century Lady Macbeth.
How is it a great Country like America with millions of highly intelligent men and women, who are scholars, scientists, engineers, writers, philanthropists and people of vision and integrity (?), cant find two candidates to stand for the presidency other than these two serpents from hell!
How about critical deficits in the humanities, especially morality, ethics and a knowledge of history among all these alleged great people? These two "serpents from hell" are evidence the United States is exceptional. Nowhere else in the world or in history have the masses raised two people who may be psychopathic (at least in the layperson's understanding of that term) to assume a position of power with the potential to bring on Armageddon.
Given Clinton's warmongering history it would be naive to believe she will change to a peacemaker role. Only a fool would discount the possibility of more and more disastrous wars if she becomes president, especially after she declared she would be a best friend to Netanyahu. Trump is a loose cannon, but he might be slightly less inclined to start a major war.
There is one point in favor of Trump becoming president. Given the hostility of many members of Congress towards Trump, he might be impeached If he acts on his idea of torturing people or commits other misdemeanors. Hillary, on the other hand, wouldn't have to worry about impeachment. Wars of choice are apparently not impeachable offenses, especially if they are favored by Netanyahu and his fellow hawks.
But she has a long history of being a hawk and supporting illegal and immoral wars. There is also the problem of Hillary's embrace of Netanyahu who has made repeated calls for war on Iran. Will Hillary finally give him his war?
... inciting people to violence on an almost daily basis. When has this ever happened in the post-Civil War history of this nation?
During the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans and the run-up to the Spanish-American War.
bipartisan group ... race-baiting, xenophobic, and unhinged individual
Newt Gingrich and his gang, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed and their gangs and the Tea Party have declared bipartisanship null and void. Race-baiters, xenophobes and other unhinged individuals have been part of the American scene ever since the first European colonists landed on what is now America's East Coast.
Which Protest-busting Dictator is Trump most Like?
Who among the anchors on the main television channels has the courage and integrity to address the presidential candidates and emulate Edward R. Murrow who said, “The right of dissent, or, if you prefer, the right to be wrong, is surely fundamental to the existence of a democratic society. That’s the right that went first in every nation that stumbled down the trail toward totalitarianism.” Where is a national figure to match Joseph Welch who said to Senator Joe McCarthy, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"?
There is a very interesting article over at the Mondoweiss blog - Understanding the fundamental roots of conflict and suffering: An interview with Rich Forer by Katie Miranda –http://mondoweiss.net/2016/03/understanding-the-fundamental-roots-of-conflict-and-suffering-an-interview-with-rich-forer/ – that helps to explain the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It also can help us understand why so many people support Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton despite the strong antipathy felt by many others towards them in and beyond the United States. The article is a long, challenging read that will be worthwhile for many people. For those not up to that challenge they may consider a line from Aldous Huxley’s “Point Counterpoint”: “We become possessed by our possessions.” In choosing/possessing Trump and Clinton as their leaders it appears many have surrendered their own capacities to think for themselves and accept as gospel whatever comes out of the mouths of these candidates.
The preceding applies to the masses of Trump and Clinton supporters, but what about people such as Meryl Streep and George Clooney who have endorsed Clinton? These and people like them have the capacity to think beyond the campaign rhetoric coming out of the Clinton camp. So what gives? Can it be they are part of and possessors of niches in the Clinton social milieu and are, thus, possessed by it?
How else can we explain Meryl Streep, who gave superb humanistic performances as the lead character in “Sophie’s Choice” and in other roles, supporting Hillary Clinton? Streep claimed before an audience of women that she supported Clinton because she heard three women from Central America claim Clinton saved their lives. But, how, other than being possessed by Clinton’s friendship, do we explain Streep being blind to the countless women whose lives have been destroyed by death and displacement because of policies supported and promoted by Clinton?
Can any prospect be worse than having to choose between Hillary and Trump in November? Neoliberals in Hillary's camp need to get in touch with reality and switch to Bernie Sanders. He may not be perfect in the opinion of many lefties, but he might keep the United States from going over the precipice by vetoing any insanity that comes out of Congress. The chances of his programs - Medicare for All, minimum wage, etc. - coming to fruition are slim. The oligarchies in both wings of the corporate bird of prey will gang up on him and nothing will likely be done without a majority of supporters in Congress, but that will be much better than anything we can expect from Hillary and Trump. With the bully pulpit of the White House, Sanders might keep the dream of a civilized society alive - if by some divine intervention the mainstream media don't gang up on him.
The poor CNN moderators were often visibly uncomfortable with the bizarre and bloodthirsty answers they got to their sober foreign policy questions.
Perhaps if the moderators hadn't sold out to the corporate media they would have had the integrity to call the candidates on their repugnant positions.
So let’s get this straight. The European Parliament is so disturbed at the human rights situation that it has urged an EU cut off of military cooperation with the Egypt of Gen. al-Sisi. But this is the regime that Marco Rubio demands we admire and support.
Not to worry, General al-Sisi. Hillary will make up the difference.
I tried reading "An Eyewitness History of the Crusades" edited by Christopher Tyerman but had to give up half-way through the second volume. The first and second volumes were mostly litanies of bloodthirsty calls from alleged Christians to butcher Muslims. Presumably, the third and fourth volumes were similar. Trump, other anti-Muslim hatemongers and their acolytes aren't quite as bad (if we exclude Ted "Carpet-Bomber" Cruz) but they are on the same side of the moral divide. Hillary and Obama have obliterated and shattered many Muslim lives, but their motivations appear to be more political than religious.
There isn’t any member of the European Union where a large plurality of the population wants to ethnically cleanse a fifth of their co-citizens.
Fortunately for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians the American empire builders have discontinued their program of ethnic cleansing provided Natives are not on land coveted by mining companies. The Israeli Zionists and the religious and secular right are more determined to complete their plan of total ethnic cleansing. After the Palestinians are gone they will go after bi-ethnic Israeli-Palestinians, After that, who knows? But Israeli ingenuity knows no bounds and they will find more scapegoats to play into their paranoia.
"(Netanyahu) declined a White House dinner invitation.”
There is nothing strange about that. There is a long history of Israeli prime ministers having contempt for US presidents. Perhaps in Netanyahu's case, the novelty of insulting Obama and the office of the presidency has worn off and is now a bore.
There are two sides to Trump that have been revealed in reams of articles. Among the many features that get him criticized and labeled as a charlatan is his appealing to the uninformed and taking advantage of their lack of knowledge. Take immigration and The Wall. He makes a big issue out of (mainly) Mexicans coming into the United States and that scares the hell out of people afraid of losing their jobs to immigrants who will work for less. Trump ignores the causes of migration to the United States for which, in part, the United States is responsible - support of right-wing governments and overthrow of others especially in El Salvador and Honduras. Nor does Trump say anything about recent reports of more Mexicans leaving the US than coming into it.
We should not be surprised if others see the United States, for the most part, as a nation of sheep led by Judas Goats and chicken hawks into a state of perpetual war that will end the short American exercise in democracy but not before havoc and disasters are inflicted throughout the planet. Will the Queen of Chaos be the one to write the final chapters of the decline and fall of the American Empire and lead it through its last hurrah?
And will the Scottish Bard’s dream be deferred yet again?
Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.
One of the more interesting points brought up in the debate but didn't get much traction was the inference that military officers would never obey an illegal order. Surely this was worthy of debate given the recent history of the Iraq war, but obviously neither the candidates nor the moderators would want to touch that one.
Trump is not only oblivious of Nuremberg but of many other historical events a US president should know. But Trump is not the only one. He is part of an enormous majority in the United States. On several occasions in 2015 a variety of people and organizations recognized the 70th anniversaries of several events related to the end of World War II. Unfortunately, the commencement of the Nuremberg Trials was not one of them because some people might have learned important lessons from discussions of the defendants, the jurists, and the victims.
I am talking about the totality of their policies.
As several political observers with greater knowledge than you or I possess have concluded "there's not a dime's worth of difference between the Democrats and Republicans" that are the two wings on the corporate bird of prey.
I see you have bought into the corporate media's story on the Balkans. From the Huffington Post of 02/03/2015: "Peter Tomka, president of the International Court of Justice, said the forces of both countries had committed crimes during the conflict, but that the intent to commit genocide -- by "destroying a population in whole or in part" -- had not been proven against either country.
From the estimable John Pilger: "In 1999, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair sent Nato to bomb Serbia, because, they lied, the Serbs were committing "genocide" against ethnic Albanians in the secessionist province of Kosovo. David Scheffer, US ambassador-at-large for war crimes [sic], claimed that as many as "225,000 ethnic Albanian men aged between 14 and 59" might have been murdered" John Pilger -http://www.atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-01-260215.html
People who still believe the corporate media's version of events in the Balkans would do well to search for "Diana Johnstone" for a more reliable source. Her latest book, "The Queen of Chaos," should dissuade anyone with any sense of justice from voting for Hillary Clinton.
The worst Democrat is better than the best Republican.
Madeleine Albright, Democrat and Hillary booster, said of the estimated half million Iraqi children who lost their lives due to sanctions maintained in Iraq during the Clinton presidency "We thought it was worth it."
"We" must surely have included President Bill Clinton, co-President Hillary Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, their top staff and secretaries for war. All Democrats. It might be a challenge to find Republicans in Washington who are less evil than that, but surely among ordinary citizens there must be several who would agree whatever "it" was, this crime against humanity wasn't worth it. Perhaps, the small minorities that voted for Rand Paul.
The worst Democrat is better than the best Republican.
There are exceptions to every rule. How about former Senator Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI) who voted against the Iraq War? I have lots of problems with Rand Paul (R-KY) and his father, Ron Paul (former Representative R-TX) but they are both anti-war? In my book, they would be much better than the former wicked witch of Foggy Bottom.
Trump is a loose cannon and could be a disaster as president, but he might do some good which is probably more than can be said for Lady Macbeth Clinton. If Trump cleans out that Augean Stable known as the GOP he will do some good if he doesn't replace it with something worse.
As for Lindsey Graham, his election as one of South Carolina's senators helps to explain Hillary's success there over Sanders.
Suggested closing remarks for the moderator at the next Republican presidential debate: You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, "gentlemen"? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?
If Rubio, Cruz, and Hillary were the only politicians owned by the Israel Lobby (The Donald will eventually join) it would still be a matter of concern, but the real problem is the Lobby's ownership of the oligarchs of both corrupt and morally bankrupt parties and a sizable number of their legionnaires in Congress. And that includes otherwise decent people who just can't seem to rise to the level of profiles in courage.
In the 1930s many Germans who supported the National Socialist Party that wasn't socialist thought they were getting their country back from the bogeymen presented to them.
If someone’s platform is unconstitutional, it boggles the mind that a major American party would put him or her up for president.
No surprise there. The major parties and their courtesans have little interest in the Constitution. They apply it when it suits their agendas and ignore it when it is politically expedient to do so. Consider Senator Byrd on the Rush to War Ignores the U.S. Constitution - http://www.antiwar.com/orig/byrd1.html. Seventy-some percent of senators and representatives in Congress ignored Byrd's point they would be violating their oaths to uphold the Constitution. And Washington is rampant with elected and appointed officials who also ignore their oaths to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
It is the Fourth Estate, i.e. the press, it is the country’s leaders, and the general public who stand between the republic and the rise of a Mussolini.
Unfortunately, many of these supposed guardians have betrayed the Republic and its citizens.
In past wars people similar to these immigrant soldiers were referred to as canon fodder. Now, with hypocritical concern, authorities write off innocent victims of war as collateral damage.
The problem with Trump and his authoritarian followers is that they are oblivious to American responsibilities for creating refugees who seek to become immigrants. Think of American complicity in destabilizing Honduras, El Salvador and other nations in Central America and more recently Libya and Syria. They address the symptoms and not the disease.
Trump likes to talk. He talks, talks & talks, but never gives any substantive answer for any policy matters.
That is particularly true when it comes to immigration. He sees only the symptoms and not the disease. Trump is apparently oblivious to the reality that the vast majority of immigrants are abandoning their homes and homelands because of great injustices inflicted upon them by a variety of forces initiated directly or indirectly by American politicians and capitalists. Many of these immigrants come from societies that are family-oriented so that if they leave their families it is with the greatest reluctance.
To get back to basics, what is a Christian? The bloodthirsty Crusaders claimed to be Christians. The Grand Inquisitors who sent people to be burned as the stake were certified Christians. Albert Schweitzer who lived a life based on reverence for life was a Christian. Many charities with volunteers making big sacrifices to help the poor, the victims of injustice and wars have many professed Christians among them.
Why Trump’s tiff with the Pope endangers his Political Future
If that doesn't do it, his mouth will eventually deliver the coup de grace.
Trump delighted many people with his early pronouncements about plutocrats buying politicians, but showing his other side has taken the gloss of that apple and shown a rotten core.
Bush mirrored this public frustration and inflamed the public with a constant barrage of fearmongering about Iraq.
And, what does that say about a large segment of the American people that they were gullible enough or deficient in other ways to fall for Bush's mendacity?
Unfortunately, Erik, your analysis and prognosis are correct. The Constitution has for most of its history been open to interpretation according to the biases of the court. In too many instances, majority decisions have resulted in countless victims suffering cruel travesties of injustice. Given the apathy that is rampant among the citizenry the hope of an uprising is beyond remote.
Conservatives praising Scalia want him replaced by someone who will be a strict interpreter of the original constitution that came out of Philadelphia in 1781 despite the fact it had to be amended ten times within ten years to include the Bill of Rights. Since the original it has been amended a total of 27 times. So much for the sacredness of what the "founding fathers" thought.
FORD, KISSINGER AND THE INDONESIAN INVASION, 1975-76: Ford and Kissinger Gave Green Light to Indonesia's Invasion of East Timor, 1975: New Documents Detail Conversations with Suharto - National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 62 Edited by William Burr and Michael L. Evans - http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/
With friends of Hillary such as Kissinger and Albright I have to go for Bernie. If that doesn't work, Plan B might just be Anybody-but_Hillary.
Clinton did not reply effectively, resorting instead to saying that as secretary of State you listen to all kinds of people.
But her reply was more than sufficient to listeners who want a woman as next president and who don't know or care about the Clinton legacy: The Balkans, Iraq sanctions, Iraq War, Libya, Syria, "welfare reform," criminal justice "reform," etc.
Pershing also was opposed to the armistice that ended the First World War. He and MacArthur and, most likely, Colonel George Patton wanted to continue the war on to German soil despite the fact millions of people had already died because of the war. Pershing continued the fighting up to the last minute at 11:00 am on 11/11/1918 even though the armistice was agreed on at dawn that day.
What is really cringe worthy is the number of proto-barbarians both parties are offering the voters for the next president of the American Empire. To make matters worse it appears a sizable portion of the American people, perhaps a majority, want another warmonger in the White House.
As usual nice words from President Obama. Most likely Muslims who remember his nice words in Cairo in 2009 and who have noted his treatment of Muslims in the Middle East since then will regard this latest photo-op with skepticism.
Hillary Clinton’s Hawkish Record: Surviving Iowa in a dead heat with Sen. Bernie Sanders, ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now hopes her establishment-backed campaign will grind down her opposition and pave the way for her presidential nomination. But many Democrats remain leery of her hawkish foreign policy, writes Marjorie Cohn. - https://consortiumnews.com/2016/02/02/hillary-clintons-hawkish-record/ … Although Clinton supports the nuclear deal, she talks tough about Iran. In September 2015, she provocatively declared, “I don’t believe Iran is our partner in this agreement. Iran is the subject of the agreement,” adding, “I will confront them across the board.” She said, “I will not hesitate to take military action if Iran attempts to obtain a nuclear weapon.”
In addition to campaign finance reform the US also needs some way of disqualifying potential candidates who are sociopaths and psychopaths. An intelligent electorate could do that - if we had one.
As for the Democrats -" But note that both support the Iran nuclear deal and neither would put ground troops into the Middle East." - I don't buy anything the Queen of Chaos says.
Could be Obama got the message from a pro-Israel source. It's a good bet whatever the motivation he saw something in it for himself. As for previous insults, I'm reminded of the king's advice to his son in Henri de Montherlant's play "La Reine Morte" about nothing passing like an insult.
Unfortunately for peace and a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict it is really up to the Israelis according to Uri Avnery who has little hope that might occur - http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/29/the-pied-piper-of-zion-2/. Avnery recognizes the need of outside pressure but that it also its limits.
The US government might be able to print more money to juggle the books, but it can't "print" lives and body parts to make the dead and maimed whole again.
Perhaps Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will prove to be the Gavrilo Princip of World War Three. They or some idiot in their cohorts probably have what it takes.
Where is the American press?
Publishing news that only fits the Establishment's priorities.
Russian & Iranian Press deplore Hillary Clinton Hawkishness; Israelis complain she’s Dove
IMHO the Russians and Iranians were accurate.
The Clintons have a long history of opposition to progressives and other people and entities on the left. There is no reason to believe or hope for Hillary appointing a justice to the supreme (?) court anywhere near left of center. Nor will she be likely to appoint any justice who might be a threat to Citizens United. With Hillary in alliance with neocons, the Koch Brothers, and the Israel Lobby more wars and regime changes would be a safer bet.
Well said. This hypocrisy, like many others, appears to be beyond the comprehension of most Americans.
Steve King not only is ignorant of many elements of world history, he apparently is disinclined to taking the first step towards wisdom; that is, recognizing how much he doesn't know.
Except for soldiers imported from the British and French empires, World War One was very much a "white" event that led to the mindless deaths of tens of millions of people. And that was only one of many "white" wars.
What does it say about the majority of voters in Indiana that they elected Mike Pence as their governor?
If only Americans could follow the example of these Turks in opposition to the takeover of America by its plutocrats and Republican and Democratic party oligarchies.
I have to admit my statement about Hillary Clinton showing her real policies on November 9th was wrong. She and her accomplices are already making it obvious we will have a dystopian future under a president Hillary, but Donald Trump is no better.
According to the NRA when someone starts shooting there need to be people in the target area with guns to respond to the shooter. Didn't quite work out that way with dozens of armed police in Dallas, did it?
This is the core of the problem with guns in America. 1. The proliferation is beyond incomprehensible measure and needs. 2. There are thousands of people with homicidal tendencies with access to the guns they need to commit any crime they desire. 3. Until people with homicidal tendencies are prevented from access to guns, the carnage will continue.
So the challenge for bringing an end to this obscene aspect of life and death in America is 1. Get control of guns so that people with homicidal tendencies can’t get access to them, OR, 2. Identify people with homicidal tendencies and block them from acquiring guns.
To paraphrase the Scottish bard, "Would some power the giftie gie us to set up a new Nuremberg Trial for George W. Bush, Tony Blair and their accomplices."
There is no point in telling Donald Trump anything that he doesn't want to hear. He has already built a wall - around his brain.
If Britain didn’t want Muslim and Hindu citizens, it shouldn’t have ravaged India for 200 years.
"The sins of the father shall be visited upon the children." Who will pay in the United States for the sins of its current and future leaders?
Pyrrhic victory in Fallujah? The same label can be attached to all current war zones.
Hopefully, someone someday will write an honest history of Fallujah. Surely, it is one of the most tragic stories that could every be told. In the meantime, where is the Picasso to present to the world a representation of its present tragedy?
The United States is not the only nation with people having homicidal tendencies. Fortunately for the Brits and other nations with similar people they don't have the easy access to guns available here. You're right, President Obama. The United States is exceptional.
Nor will it likely influence many Americans and others who have come to regard anything Barack Obama says with skepticism.
Then there is the media's claim of the Orlando mass shooting being the worst in US history. Obviously, these "journalists" don't know US history or chose to ignore it. Consider the massacres of Native Americans, My Lai, the slaughter of Filipinos during the Spanish-American War, and the mass shootings of men, women and children in the Middle East and South Asia.
And tomorrow, June 8th, just for the record, will be the 49th anniversary of the Israeli air and naval attack on the USS Liberty, a research and intelligence-gathering ship in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. The Israeli plan was to sink the ship and kill all of its crew. The Johnson administration and top admirals went full speed ahead to cover up this crime for Israel.
"Still Waiting for USS Liberty’s Truth: Exclusive: During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israeli warplanes and warships tried to sink the USS Liberty, killing 34 of the spy ship’s crew. Afterwards, U.S. and Israeli officials excused the attack as an unfortunate mistake and covered up evidence of willful murder," as ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern explains. - https://consortiumnews.com/2015/07/04/still-waiting-for-uss-libertys-truth/
If Cuomo gets away with this abuse of power, will a President Hillary turn the screws on the BDS movement at the national level on behalf of her friend, Netanyahu, and as a token of appreciation to her pro-Israel campaign donors?
Your fear is justified.
Vindication for Edward Snowden From a New Player in NSA Whistleblowing Saga by Jenna McLaughlin and Dan Froomkin - https://theintercept.com/2016/05/23/vindication-for-edward-snowden-from-a-new-player-in-nsa-whistleblowing-saga/
1. The United Nations Special Rapporteur found that the US was guilty of cruel and inhuman treatment of Chelsea (Bradley) Manning, who was responsible for the Wikileaks and revelations of US killing of unarmed journalists in Iraq. Manning was kept in solitary confinement and isolated 23 hours a day for months on end, was kept naked and chained to a bed, and was subjected to sleep deprivation techniques, all three well known forms of torture, on the trumped up pretext that he was suicidal (his psychiatrist disagreed).
And President Obama considered this treatment "appropriate" despite claiming torture would not be allowed in the United States.
We need to remember the wrongful causes of US military action since WWII, because those predominate today.
Why just consider US wars since WW2? The US has been at war ever since the War of Revolution. The Revolutionary War may have begun as a war against colonialism, but it didn't take long for the new government to become a colonial power with its pursuit of empire that continues to this day.
Typical Obama-speak: "Obama Promised a "World Without Nuclear Weapons," But May Now Spend $1 Trillion on Upgrades - http://www.democracynow.org/2014/10/24/obama_promised_a_world_without_nuclear
Perhaps General Votel can bring the same brilliant success to Syria that Generals Petraeus and MacChrystal brought to Afghanistan.
Apparently, Netanyahu didn't get the message about not digging deeper when you are in a hole.
The symptoms of decline and fall are now prevalent in the US and Israel. The question now is, "Which will go first? The US or Israel? Clinton or Netanyahu? Or, will they both go together in a deadly embrace like some people in a Berlin bunker in April 1945?"
With the Clintons back in the White House and allied with Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman, and other right-wing extremists in Israel and around the world the decline and fall of the American empire seems all but inevitable - but not before immeasurable suffering is inflicted on the world's people.
It is always ethically wrong to generalize from an individual or particular group to the larger category of which they form a part. Individuals must be judged as individuals, groups as groups.
This is not surprising in Trump's case after his opening remarks about Mexicans and the need to build a wall followed by exclusion of Muslims. These are examples of his shallow thinking (if thinking is the right word) by looking at the symptoms of the alleged disease and not its causes. Trump is apparently oblivious to the roles, especially regime changes, the United States has played in creating those migrants and refugees.
Smart USG officials with whom I’ve interacted have had a firm belief that leadership is a rare quality and that you can attrite an organization by killing its leaders.
That tactic wouldn't work in the US or in one of its satrapies where there are legions of authoritarian followers ready to ascend to or beyond their levels of incompetence.
The Bush-Cheney-Rice-Powell war on Iraq: The gift that continues to give.
On this issue it is a no-brainer for anyone with a basic sense of justice to vote for Sanders.
There are many other reasons to vote for Sanders and many more to vote for (almost) anybody but Clinton.
***
“Unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists,” Wasserman Schultz, chair of the DNC, calmly explained. - http://www.salon.com/2016/02/13/un_democratic_party_dnc_chair_says_superdelegates_ensure_elites_dont_have_to_run_against_grassroots_activists/
The deeper insinuation is that HRC is not her own person at all, but merely an echo of a larger set of forces
Hillary's primary interest is Hillary, and she will align herself with anyone or any movement that will cater to her personal agenda.
She said the Mubaraks were like family to the Clintons.
And, when it became obvious Mubarak was out, she wanted General Suleiman, chief of staff for torture operations, to replace him as president.
The responsibility for ISIS/ISIL/Daesh began many years before Hillary came on the scene. It began with the Zionist plan and its implementation leading to the "transfer" (ethnic cleansing) of Palestinians from the Palestine Territories. Osama bin Laden raised the stakes with the establishment of Al-Qaeda and the implementation of its plan to avenge Israel's abuse of the Palestinians. That included 9/11 for US support of Israel's crimes against the Palestinians. ISIS/ISIL/Daesh just happened to be the most aggressive of the Al-Qaeda franchises. The Clinton Administration, which obviously included Hillary, gave Al-Qaeda another reason for attacking the US on 9/11. They apparently disagreed with Madeleine Albright that whatever "it" was sacrificing an estimated half million Iraqi children wasn't worth it. Since then Hillary has been very active in encouraging anti-US sentiment in the Middle East and North Africa with continued support of Israel's murderous operations in Gaza, the war on Iraq, and regime changes in Libya and Syria. Clinton didn't start the fire. She just piled on more fuel.
... Hillary Clinton would make every excuse possible for not holding Israel or its PM responsible ...
Hillary would not be alone in defending the indefensible. The halls of power in Washington and New York are filled with similar Israel-Firsters.
And, of the over 11,000 Palestinians killed, about 2,000 were children.
How many Palestinian children, like those Iraqi children in the 1990s, have died because of the deplorable living conditions that are a consequence of Israel's stranglehold on Gaza? Do Israel's Likudniks and other right-wingers and their supporters in the United States believe, like Madeleine Albright on the Iraq sanctions, it was/is worth it?
Of course, the fundamental rule of who has the power ultimately determines the path of justice. The trials of alleged war criminals in Germany and Japan after World War II were determined by the victors' interpretation of justice. Of the list of war crimes original proposed for the Nuremberg Trials many were deleted because the Allies sitting in judgment were also guilty of these crimes. As the Israelis learned a long time ago as long as they are the tail wagging the American dog they can do whatever they like. Why all this attention to one Israeli murdering one Palestinian in cold blood? What about the thousands of Gazans - men, women and children - slaughtered in Operations Cast Lead and Protective Edge?
The only danger for Israel is that it is being enabled to continue its decline into a cesspool of moral degradation that will eventually bring about its fall, but not before many more Palestinians have their lives destroyed by "the most moral army in the world." What a crock!!!
This was just another example of Friedman getting it wrong.
Another Mid-East surprise: Tom Friedman is getting out of the columnist business for (unfortunately just) a while. He apparently finally recognized that on many occasions he didn't know what he was talking about. - http://mondoweiss.net/2016/04/tom-friedman-to-work-as-cairo-taxi-driver-because-those-guys-know-everything/ He should have known better as he confessed "He began reading Electronic Intifada and Juan Cole “surreptitiously, as a guilty pleasure,” and discovered that “ordinary people” are more accurate than the big shots and US envoys he quotes in his reports."
Clinton used her speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee meeting, the gathering of some of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, to lambaste Donald Trump for saying he’d try to be neutral in heading up negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
At least Hillary has shown some degree of honesty for a change by inadvertently making obvious American policy regarding the Israelis and Palestinians has not been one of an honest broker and will not be one if she is elected president. What a ghastly thought!!!
It is truly mind-boggling to witness eminent citizens such as Meryl Streep, George Clooney and others like them endorse this 20th/21st Century Lady Macbeth.
How is it a great Country like America with millions of highly intelligent men and women, who are scholars, scientists, engineers, writers, philanthropists and people of vision and integrity (?), cant find two candidates to stand for the presidency other than these two serpents from hell!
How about critical deficits in the humanities, especially morality, ethics and a knowledge of history among all these alleged great people? These two "serpents from hell" are evidence the United States is exceptional. Nowhere else in the world or in history have the masses raised two people who may be psychopathic (at least in the layperson's understanding of that term) to assume a position of power with the potential to bring on Armageddon.
There is a great deal of logic in your comment, but when it comes to Clinton, Netanyahu, and Trump logic is not a major factor.
Given Clinton's warmongering history it would be naive to believe she will change to a peacemaker role. Only a fool would discount the possibility of more and more disastrous wars if she becomes president, especially after she declared she would be a best friend to Netanyahu. Trump is a loose cannon, but he might be slightly less inclined to start a major war.
There is one point in favor of Trump becoming president. Given the hostility of many members of Congress towards Trump, he might be impeached If he acts on his idea of torturing people or commits other misdemeanors. Hillary, on the other hand, wouldn't have to worry about impeachment. Wars of choice are apparently not impeachable offenses, especially if they are favored by Netanyahu and his fellow hawks.
at least Hillary is not inciting violence
But she has a long history of being a hawk and supporting illegal and immoral wars. There is also the problem of Hillary's embrace of Netanyahu who has made repeated calls for war on Iran. Will Hillary finally give him his war?
I confess to being an ideologue. My ideology is encapsulated for the most part in the Nuremberg Principles.
... inciting people to violence on an almost daily basis. When has this ever happened in the post-Civil War history of this nation?
During the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans and the run-up to the Spanish-American War.
bipartisan group ... race-baiting, xenophobic, and unhinged individual
Newt Gingrich and his gang, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed and their gangs and the Tea Party have declared bipartisanship null and void. Race-baiters, xenophobes and other unhinged individuals have been part of the American scene ever since the first European colonists landed on what is now America's East Coast.
And while some here equate Clinton with the Republicans, that is a serious mistake.
How about the neocon wing of the Republican Party?
Hillary Clinton Has Long History of Collaboration with GOP on Foreign Policy by
Jon Schwarz - https://theintercept.com/2016/03/13/hillary-clinton-has-long-history-of-collaboration-with-gop-on-foreign-policy/
Which Protest-busting Dictator is Trump most Like?
Who among the anchors on the main television channels has the courage and integrity to address the presidential candidates and emulate Edward R. Murrow who said, “The right of dissent, or, if you prefer, the right to be wrong, is surely fundamental to the existence of a democratic society. That’s the right that went first in every nation that stumbled down the trail toward totalitarianism.” Where is a national figure to match Joseph Welch who said to Senator Joe McCarthy, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"?
There is a very interesting article over at the Mondoweiss blog - Understanding the fundamental roots of conflict and suffering: An interview with Rich Forer by Katie Miranda –http://mondoweiss.net/2016/03/understanding-the-fundamental-roots-of-conflict-and-suffering-an-interview-with-rich-forer/ – that helps to explain the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It also can help us understand why so many people support Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton despite the strong antipathy felt by many others towards them in and beyond the United States. The article is a long, challenging read that will be worthwhile for many people. For those not up to that challenge they may consider a line from Aldous Huxley’s “Point Counterpoint”: “We become possessed by our possessions.” In choosing/possessing Trump and Clinton as their leaders it appears many have surrendered their own capacities to think for themselves and accept as gospel whatever comes out of the mouths of these candidates.
The preceding applies to the masses of Trump and Clinton supporters, but what about people such as Meryl Streep and George Clooney who have endorsed Clinton? These and people like them have the capacity to think beyond the campaign rhetoric coming out of the Clinton camp. So what gives? Can it be they are part of and possessors of niches in the Clinton social milieu and are, thus, possessed by it?
How else can we explain Meryl Streep, who gave superb humanistic performances as the lead character in “Sophie’s Choice” and in other roles, supporting Hillary Clinton? Streep claimed before an audience of women that she supported Clinton because she heard three women from Central America claim Clinton saved their lives. But, how, other than being possessed by Clinton’s friendship, do we explain Streep being blind to the countless women whose lives have been destroyed by death and displacement because of policies supported and promoted by Clinton?
Can any prospect be worse than having to choose between Hillary and Trump in November? Neoliberals in Hillary's camp need to get in touch with reality and switch to Bernie Sanders. He may not be perfect in the opinion of many lefties, but he might keep the United States from going over the precipice by vetoing any insanity that comes out of Congress. The chances of his programs - Medicare for All, minimum wage, etc. - coming to fruition are slim. The oligarchies in both wings of the corporate bird of prey will gang up on him and nothing will likely be done without a majority of supporters in Congress, but that will be much better than anything we can expect from Hillary and Trump. With the bully pulpit of the White House, Sanders might keep the dream of a civilized society alive - if by some divine intervention the mainstream media don't gang up on him.
The poor CNN moderators were often visibly uncomfortable with the bizarre and bloodthirsty answers they got to their sober foreign policy questions.
Perhaps if the moderators hadn't sold out to the corporate media they would have had the integrity to call the candidates on their repugnant positions.
So let’s get this straight. The European Parliament is so disturbed at the human rights situation that it has urged an EU cut off of military cooperation with the Egypt of Gen. al-Sisi. But this is the regime that Marco Rubio demands we admire and support.
Not to worry, General al-Sisi. Hillary will make up the difference.
Thank you for the tip, Grumpy. I was aware of Runciman but feared he might be more of the same.
I tried reading "An Eyewitness History of the Crusades" edited by Christopher Tyerman but had to give up half-way through the second volume. The first and second volumes were mostly litanies of bloodthirsty calls from alleged Christians to butcher Muslims. Presumably, the third and fourth volumes were similar. Trump, other anti-Muslim hatemongers and their acolytes aren't quite as bad (if we exclude Ted "Carpet-Bomber" Cruz) but they are on the same side of the moral divide. Hillary and Obama have obliterated and shattered many Muslim lives, but their motivations appear to be more political than religious.
There isn’t any member of the European Union where a large plurality of the population wants to ethnically cleanse a fifth of their co-citizens.
Unfortunately the Austrian parliament and media appear to be willing accomplices for Israel's right wingers: "Austrian Parliament cancels International Women’s Day event following attacks on Hedy Epstein" by Annie Robbins - http://mondoweiss.net/2016/03/austrian-parliament-cancels-international-womens-day-event-following-attacks-on-hedy-epstein/
There isn’t any member of the European Union where a large plurality of the population wants to ethnically cleanse a fifth of their co-citizens.
Fortunately for Native Americans and Native Hawaiians the American empire builders have discontinued their program of ethnic cleansing provided Natives are not on land coveted by mining companies. The Israeli Zionists and the religious and secular right are more determined to complete their plan of total ethnic cleansing. After the Palestinians are gone they will go after bi-ethnic Israeli-Palestinians, After that, who knows? But Israeli ingenuity knows no bounds and they will find more scapegoats to play into their paranoia.
"(Netanyahu) declined a White House dinner invitation.”
There is nothing strange about that. There is a long history of Israeli prime ministers having contempt for US presidents. Perhaps in Netanyahu's case, the novelty of insulting Obama and the office of the presidency has worn off and is now a bore.
A pox on both houses and their acolytes
The phony in American politics: how voters turn into suckers: History tells us that the skeptical American people are easily conned when confronted with the promises of politicians. In 2016, the hairstyles may have changed but the schtick remains the same - http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/13/american-politics-election-voters-suckers
There are two sides to Trump that have been revealed in reams of articles. Among the many features that get him criticized and labeled as a charlatan is his appealing to the uninformed and taking advantage of their lack of knowledge. Take immigration and The Wall. He makes a big issue out of (mainly) Mexicans coming into the United States and that scares the hell out of people afraid of losing their jobs to immigrants who will work for less. Trump ignores the causes of migration to the United States for which, in part, the United States is responsible - support of right-wing governments and overthrow of others especially in El Salvador and Honduras. Nor does Trump say anything about recent reports of more Mexicans leaving the US than coming into it.
In part of an essay - Donald Trump’s Policies Are Not Anathema to U.S. Mainstream, but an Uncomfortable Reflection of It - https://theintercept.com/2016/03/04/trumps-policies-are-not-anathema-to-the-u-s-mainstream-but-an-uncomfortably-vivid-reflection-of-it/ - Glenn Greenwald addresses this topic.
We should not be surprised if others see the United States, for the most part, as a nation of sheep led by Judas Goats and chicken hawks into a state of perpetual war that will end the short American exercise in democracy but not before havoc and disasters are inflicted throughout the planet. Will the Queen of Chaos be the one to write the final chapters of the decline and fall of the American Empire and lead it through its last hurrah?
And will the Scottish Bard’s dream be deferred yet again?
Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.
One of the more interesting points brought up in the debate but didn't get much traction was the inference that military officers would never obey an illegal order. Surely this was worthy of debate given the recent history of the Iraq war, but obviously neither the candidates nor the moderators would want to touch that one.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think the bozos who are running for office are representative of all Americans.
But it looks like they represent half or more of the Democrats and more than half of the Republicans.
Donald Trump and Germany in the 1930s: Reflections After a Visit to Nuremberg by Richard W. Gillett - http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/04/donald-trump-and-germany-1930s-reflections-after-visit-nuremberg
Trump is not only oblivious of Nuremberg but of many other historical events a US president should know. But Trump is not the only one. He is part of an enormous majority in the United States. On several occasions in 2015 a variety of people and organizations recognized the 70th anniversaries of several events related to the end of World War II. Unfortunately, the commencement of the Nuremberg Trials was not one of them because some people might have learned important lessons from discussions of the defendants, the jurists, and the victims.
I am talking about the totality of their policies.
As several political observers with greater knowledge than you or I possess have concluded "there's not a dime's worth of difference between the Democrats and Republicans" that are the two wings on the corporate bird of prey.
I see you have bought into the corporate media's story on the Balkans. From the Huffington Post of 02/03/2015: "Peter Tomka, president of the International Court of Justice, said the forces of both countries had committed crimes during the conflict, but that the intent to commit genocide -- by "destroying a population in whole or in part" -- had not been proven against either country.
From the estimable John Pilger: "In 1999, Bill Clinton and Tony Blair sent Nato to bomb Serbia, because, they lied, the Serbs were committing "genocide" against ethnic Albanians in the secessionist province of Kosovo. David Scheffer, US ambassador-at-large for war crimes [sic], claimed that as many as "225,000 ethnic Albanian men aged between 14 and 59" might have been murdered" John Pilger -http://www.atimes.com/atimes/World/WOR-01-260215.html
People who still believe the corporate media's version of events in the Balkans would do well to search for "Diana Johnstone" for a more reliable source. Her latest book, "The Queen of Chaos," should dissuade anyone with any sense of justice from voting for Hillary Clinton.
South Carolina has a reputation for being poorly educated and that applies to both Democrats and Republicans and whites and blacks.
The worst Democrat is better than the best Republican.
Madeleine Albright, Democrat and Hillary booster, said of the estimated half million Iraqi children who lost their lives due to sanctions maintained in Iraq during the Clinton presidency "We thought it was worth it."
"We" must surely have included President Bill Clinton, co-President Hillary Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, their top staff and secretaries for war. All Democrats. It might be a challenge to find Republicans in Washington who are less evil than that, but surely among ordinary citizens there must be several who would agree whatever "it" was, this crime against humanity wasn't worth it. Perhaps, the small minorities that voted for Rand Paul.
The worst Democrat is better than the best Republican.
There are exceptions to every rule. How about former Senator Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI) who voted against the Iraq War? I have lots of problems with Rand Paul (R-KY) and his father, Ron Paul (former Representative R-TX) but they are both anti-war? In my book, they would be much better than the former wicked witch of Foggy Bottom.
Trump is a loose cannon and could be a disaster as president, but he might do some good which is probably more than can be said for Lady Macbeth Clinton. If Trump cleans out that Augean Stable known as the GOP he will do some good if he doesn't replace it with something worse.
As for Lindsey Graham, his election as one of South Carolina's senators helps to explain Hillary's success there over Sanders.
Suggested closing remarks for the moderator at the next Republican presidential debate: You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, "gentlemen"? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?
Where is a contemporary Joseph Welch when we need him? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_N._Welch
If Rubio, Cruz, and Hillary were the only politicians owned by the Israel Lobby (The Donald will eventually join) it would still be a matter of concern, but the real problem is the Lobby's ownership of the oligarchs of both corrupt and morally bankrupt parties and a sizable number of their legionnaires in Congress. And that includes otherwise decent people who just can't seem to rise to the level of profiles in courage.
It isn't just the US media: "Lying Press? Germans Lose Faith in the Fourth Estate: Germans are losing faith in their media. Nowhere is this more apparent than in mistrust of refugee crisis media coverage. Where did journalists go wrong? And how much of this skepticism reflects a preference for rumors over facts? By SPIEGEL Staff" - http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/most-germans-think-the-press-is-lying-to-them-about-refugees-a-1079049.html
Elsewhere the British media have been on the receiving end of well-deserved criticism.
In the 1930s many Germans who supported the National Socialist Party that wasn't socialist thought they were getting their country back from the bogeymen presented to them.
If someone’s platform is unconstitutional, it boggles the mind that a major American party would put him or her up for president.
No surprise there. The major parties and their courtesans have little interest in the Constitution. They apply it when it suits their agendas and ignore it when it is politically expedient to do so. Consider Senator Byrd on the Rush to War Ignores the U.S. Constitution - http://www.antiwar.com/orig/byrd1.html. Seventy-some percent of senators and representatives in Congress ignored Byrd's point they would be violating their oaths to uphold the Constitution. And Washington is rampant with elected and appointed officials who also ignore their oaths to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States.
It is the Fourth Estate, i.e. the press, it is the country’s leaders, and the general public who stand between the republic and the rise of a Mussolini.
Unfortunately, many of these supposed guardians have betrayed the Republic and its citizens.
In past wars people similar to these immigrant soldiers were referred to as canon fodder. Now, with hypocritical concern, authorities write off innocent victims of war as collateral damage.
The problem with Trump and his authoritarian followers is that they are oblivious to American responsibilities for creating refugees who seek to become immigrants. Think of American complicity in destabilizing Honduras, El Salvador and other nations in Central America and more recently Libya and Syria. They address the symptoms and not the disease.
Trump likes to talk. He talks, talks & talks, but never gives any substantive answer for any policy matters.
That is particularly true when it comes to immigration. He sees only the symptoms and not the disease. Trump is apparently oblivious to the reality that the vast majority of immigrants are abandoning their homes and homelands because of great injustices inflicted upon them by a variety of forces initiated directly or indirectly by American politicians and capitalists. Many of these immigrants come from societies that are family-oriented so that if they leave their families it is with the greatest reluctance.
To get back to basics, what is a Christian? The bloodthirsty Crusaders claimed to be Christians. The Grand Inquisitors who sent people to be burned as the stake were certified Christians. Albert Schweitzer who lived a life based on reverence for life was a Christian. Many charities with volunteers making big sacrifices to help the poor, the victims of injustice and wars have many professed Christians among them.
Why Trump’s tiff with the Pope endangers his Political Future
If that doesn't do it, his mouth will eventually deliver the coup de grace.
Trump delighted many people with his early pronouncements about plutocrats buying politicians, but showing his other side has taken the gloss of that apple and shown a rotten core.
It is a feat that had never been accomplished until yesterday.
And, it is not likely to be the last. The Donald will find beating China easier said than done.
Bush mirrored this public frustration and inflamed the public with a constant barrage of fearmongering about Iraq.
And, what does that say about a large segment of the American people that they were gullible enough or deficient in other ways to fall for Bush's mendacity?
Unfortunately, Erik, your analysis and prognosis are correct. The Constitution has for most of its history been open to interpretation according to the biases of the court. In too many instances, majority decisions have resulted in countless victims suffering cruel travesties of injustice. Given the apathy that is rampant among the citizenry the hope of an uprising is beyond remote.
There is no guarantee that the successor to the late Justice Antonin Scalia will be a liberal.
Given Obama's record and the makeup of the senate, the odds are very likely heavily against Scalia's replacement being a liberal.
A good and valid point, but watch for the avalanche from partisans settling scores.
Conservatives praising Scalia want him replaced by someone who will be a strict interpreter of the original constitution that came out of Philadelphia in 1781 despite the fact it had to be amended ten times within ten years to include the Bill of Rights. Since the original it has been amended a total of 27 times. So much for the sacredness of what the "founding fathers" thought.
Then there was East Timor:
East Timor excerpts from the book The Trial of Henry Kissinger by Christopher Hitchins - http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Kissinger/East_Timor_TOHK.html
FORD, KISSINGER AND THE INDONESIAN INVASION, 1975-76: Ford and Kissinger Gave Green Light to Indonesia's Invasion of East Timor, 1975: New Documents Detail Conversations with Suharto - National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 62 Edited by William Burr and Michael L. Evans - http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB62/
With friends of Hillary such as Kissinger and Albright I have to go for Bernie. If that doesn't work, Plan B might just be Anybody-but_Hillary.
Clinton did not reply effectively, resorting instead to saying that as secretary of State you listen to all kinds of people.
But her reply was more than sufficient to listeners who want a woman as next president and who don't know or care about the Clinton legacy: The Balkans, Iraq sanctions, Iraq War, Libya, Syria, "welfare reform," criminal justice "reform," etc.
How many Friedman Units will it take to create this one-state solution?
Pershing also was opposed to the armistice that ended the First World War. He and MacArthur and, most likely, Colonel George Patton wanted to continue the war on to German soil despite the fact millions of people had already died because of the war. Pershing continued the fighting up to the last minute at 11:00 am on 11/11/1918 even though the armistice was agreed on at dawn that day.
What is really cringe worthy is the number of proto-barbarians both parties are offering the voters for the next president of the American Empire. To make matters worse it appears a sizable portion of the American people, perhaps a majority, want another warmonger in the White House.
"At Mosque, Obama Confronts Islamophobia but Ignores Role of US Foreign Policy: Author Laila el-Haddad praises Obama's defense of Muslim Americans, but says his foreign policy perpetuates anti-Muslim bias" - http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=15576
As usual nice words from President Obama. Most likely Muslims who remember his nice words in Cairo in 2009 and who have noted his treatment of Muslims in the Middle East since then will regard this latest photo-op with skepticism.
Presumably, Marjorie Cohn also distrusts Hillary:
Hillary Clinton’s Hawkish Record: Surviving Iowa in a dead heat with Sen. Bernie Sanders, ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton now hopes her establishment-backed campaign will grind down her opposition and pave the way for her presidential nomination. But many Democrats remain leery of her hawkish foreign policy, writes Marjorie Cohn. - https://consortiumnews.com/2016/02/02/hillary-clintons-hawkish-record/ … Although Clinton supports the nuclear deal, she talks tough about Iran. In September 2015, she provocatively declared, “I don’t believe Iran is our partner in this agreement. Iran is the subject of the agreement,” adding, “I will confront them across the board.” She said, “I will not hesitate to take military action if Iran attempts to obtain a nuclear weapon.”
In addition to campaign finance reform the US also needs some way of disqualifying potential candidates who are sociopaths and psychopaths. An intelligent electorate could do that - if we had one.
As for the Democrats -" But note that both support the Iran nuclear deal and neither would put ground troops into the Middle East." - I don't buy anything the Queen of Chaos says.
Could be Obama got the message from a pro-Israel source. It's a good bet whatever the motivation he saw something in it for himself. As for previous insults, I'm reminded of the king's advice to his son in Henri de Montherlant's play "La Reine Morte" about nothing passing like an insult.
Unfortunately for peace and a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict it is really up to the Israelis according to Uri Avnery who has little hope that might occur - http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/29/the-pied-piper-of-zion-2/. Avnery recognizes the need of outside pressure but that it also its limits.
Apparently, Obama's recent visit to the Israeli embassy made the Israelis feel much better about themselves and relieved the outside pressure to some degree: "After ‘tepid’ welcome at Israeli Embassy, Obama’s pro-Israel speech brought down the house" by Philip Weiss - http://mondoweiss.net/2016/01/after-tepid-welcome-at-israeli-embassy-obamas-pro-israel-speech-brought-down-the-house