John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Frank Field resigns Labour whip, saying Jeremy Corbyn has become 'force for antisemitism in British politics'
“Veteran MP says Britain fought Second World War to 'banish' type of views voiced by Labour leadership”
Well, the anti-Semitism witch-hunt just keeps getting more and more intense and threatening.
Does anyone ever ask where all this "anti-Semitism" was during Tony Blair's decade of rule?
Or indeed during the period of his successor?
And Jeremy Corbyn has been around a long time in politics, yet somehow these mysterious tendencies of his have only gained attention now.
Now that he is leader, that is, twice democratically elected.
But we can’t let mere democratic process stand in the way of a minority’s bias against someone, can we?
This approach to government and political parties is highly destructive, truly offering something of a declaration of war by a small minority against democratic process.
_____________________
Response to a comment saying “people’s dismissing problems of prejudice in Labour is like listening to Trump supporters who think that objections to pussy-grabbing are part of a liberal conspiracy:”
No, more than anything else, these accusations resemble Trump's way of behaving.
Be noisy.
Be demanding, even against a fair majority.
Make all kinds of reckless claims.
Provide no proof of anything that would convince open-minded observers.
Refuse to cooperate if you don't get your way.
Sure sounds like Trump's behavior to me.
Thursday, August 30, 2018
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE CULTURE OF COMPLAINT IN AMERICAN POLITICS - NOISE FOR THE SAKE OF NOISE - STRUTTING AND POSING FOR THE SAKE OF STRUTTING AND POSING
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN INVESTMENTWATCH
“For the 1000th time: Criticizing Clinton is not support for Trump. Criticizing Trump is not support for Clinton. A person is capable of criticizing both. In fact, I think every person should.”
Yes, of course.
But all the noise about the two sides in America is just part of the fabric of the society.
It's what America does, and it has very little meaning.
A very clever man, Robert Hughes, wrote a book years ago called "The Culture of Complaint" about America, not so much its specific politics as its social patterns around politics and other matters. The tendency to argue for argument's sake and to take sides and make great poses as significant leaders in movements.
Indeed, one could argue that this tendency to meaningless argument in politics serves as a big game Americans have become addicted to, the reality being whether you support Democrats or Republicans, you get the same fundamental results: the Pentagon, the CIA, national plutocracy, lobbies, and imperial war abroad.
It all comes with only a few differences in rhetoric around social issues, and those differences are indeed rhetoric because there is no money left in imperial America for social issues, nor is there the least inclination in all ambitious politicians because they know where the path to power lies, and it ain't in social issues.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN INVESTMENTWATCH
“For the 1000th time: Criticizing Clinton is not support for Trump. Criticizing Trump is not support for Clinton. A person is capable of criticizing both. In fact, I think every person should.”
Yes, of course.
But all the noise about the two sides in America is just part of the fabric of the society.
It's what America does, and it has very little meaning.
A very clever man, Robert Hughes, wrote a book years ago called "The Culture of Complaint" about America, not so much its specific politics as its social patterns around politics and other matters. The tendency to argue for argument's sake and to take sides and make great poses as significant leaders in movements.
Indeed, one could argue that this tendency to meaningless argument in politics serves as a big game Americans have become addicted to, the reality being whether you support Democrats or Republicans, you get the same fundamental results: the Pentagon, the CIA, national plutocracy, lobbies, and imperial war abroad.
It all comes with only a few differences in rhetoric around social issues, and those differences are indeed rhetoric because there is no money left in imperial America for social issues, nor is there the least inclination in all ambitious politicians because they know where the path to power lies, and it ain't in social issues.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: CALLING TRUMP A NARCISSIST AND TALKING TO A PSYCHOLOGIST ABOUT HIM IS JUST ABOUT AS HOPELESS AS TRUMP'S OWN BLUBBERING - NARCISSISTS DOMINATE WASHINGTON WITH A GOOD MANY SOCIOPATHS THROWN IN
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON ALTERNET
'What happens when a narcissist is being threatened with the loss of power and control? The answer is something psychologists call “narcissistic injury.”'
Sorry, but the kind of stuff in this article is as poor as anything Trump’s crowd throws out at us.
What’s special about Trump’s being a narcissist? That characteristic almost comes with the territory of national American politics. Good God, Hillary Clinton? Barack Obama? Newt Gingrich? John McCain? Narcissists all, by any meaningful definition of the word.
I’m almost inclined to think that in pounding-fist, noisy imperial America, narcissists are the only people who can even hope to maneuver in Washington.
Although, we can move a notch up the spectrum of disorders to sociopaths, of which I have little doubt we’ve had more than a few. The ability to smile and project charm while killing, and on a large scale, surely is a recognizable trait in Washington. It absolutely characterizes Obama and Clinton.
My own view of quoting psychologists on almost anything is that it is a game. There are almost as many views and theories as there are practitioners. Psychology is not a science, it is a social science, and not a particularly rigorous one.
So, what is the purpose of calling someone like Trump a name such as “narcissist” and getting a psychologist to give an opinion about what happens when such people lose power? This is just a game, a game of words.
I dislike Trump intensely and certainly do not defend him, but I do like to defend truth, and the truth is that this kind of analysis is “a crock.”
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON ALTERNET
'What happens when a narcissist is being threatened with the loss of power and control? The answer is something psychologists call “narcissistic injury.”'
Sorry, but the kind of stuff in this article is as poor as anything Trump’s crowd throws out at us.
What’s special about Trump’s being a narcissist? That characteristic almost comes with the territory of national American politics. Good God, Hillary Clinton? Barack Obama? Newt Gingrich? John McCain? Narcissists all, by any meaningful definition of the word.
I’m almost inclined to think that in pounding-fist, noisy imperial America, narcissists are the only people who can even hope to maneuver in Washington.
Although, we can move a notch up the spectrum of disorders to sociopaths, of which I have little doubt we’ve had more than a few. The ability to smile and project charm while killing, and on a large scale, surely is a recognizable trait in Washington. It absolutely characterizes Obama and Clinton.
My own view of quoting psychologists on almost anything is that it is a game. There are almost as many views and theories as there are practitioners. Psychology is not a science, it is a social science, and not a particularly rigorous one.
So, what is the purpose of calling someone like Trump a name such as “narcissist” and getting a psychologist to give an opinion about what happens when such people lose power? This is just a game, a game of words.
I dislike Trump intensely and certainly do not defend him, but I do like to defend truth, and the truth is that this kind of analysis is “a crock.”
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: HARD TO SEE ANY DIFFERENCE IN BURMA'S TREATMENT OF ROHINGYA PEOPLE AND ISRAEL'S TREATMENT OF THE PEOPLE OF GAZA - YET THE PRESS AND POLITICIANS WRING THEIR HANDS OFTEN OVER BURMA
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Jeremy Hunt to visit Burma after 'deeply disturbing' UN report on crimes against Rohingya people
“'There must never be a hiding place for those who commit these kinds of atrocities,' foreign secretary says”
Quite literally, anything you can say about Burma’s appallingly brutal treatment of the Rohingya people, you can say also with complete honesty about Israel’s appallingly brutal treatment of the people of Gaza.
Yet, somehow, it never gets said.
What is it in our political and journalistic environment that encourages such selective concerns?
Simply the fact of the status of Burma compared to the status of Israel in the American imperial scheme of things. Nothing else. Not concern for humanity. Not concern for human rights. Not concern for decency.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Jeremy Hunt to visit Burma after 'deeply disturbing' UN report on crimes against Rohingya people
“'There must never be a hiding place for those who commit these kinds of atrocities,' foreign secretary says”
Quite literally, anything you can say about Burma’s appallingly brutal treatment of the Rohingya people, you can say also with complete honesty about Israel’s appallingly brutal treatment of the people of Gaza.
Yet, somehow, it never gets said.
What is it in our political and journalistic environment that encourages such selective concerns?
Simply the fact of the status of Burma compared to the status of Israel in the American imperial scheme of things. Nothing else. Not concern for humanity. Not concern for human rights. Not concern for decency.
Monday, August 27, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: IS CANADA'S COMMISSIONER OF ELECTIONS JOINING THE ELECTION-INTERFERENCE NOISE COMING FROM THE MADHOUSE WE CALL THE UNITED STATES? - A WORD ABOUT A FAVORITE CURRENT JARGON WORD ("TROLLS") USED TO THE POINT OF BEING MEANINGLESS ALREADY
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
"More has to be done to prevent foreign interference and abuse of social media from disrupting Canada's elections, says Canada's chief election watchdog.
“Commissioner of Elections office has already started working with Facebook, Twitter”
I just do not understand such language.
I am not aware of any genuine interference in Canadian elections.
The words just seem to echo the noise coming out of the political madhouse that we call America.
And talk about "trolls" is simply bizarre.
I read a lot of newspapers, having as I do an interest in public affairs, and I often comment where it is permitted.
When I comment, I try to be thoughtful and analytical, bringing a lifetime's experience of reading and trying to understand.
Yet I have been called a "troll" a number of times in thoughtless responses which I simply ignore, but a lot of repetition of that close-to-meaningless term is to be seen in comment sections of newspapers. So, for me the word is millennialist jargon or argot, a form of faddish mumbo-jumbo.
It makes absolutely no sense, but saying that word about someone with whom you disagree has become almost a characteristic of our political times. Useless and sad. And when government echoes the trend, it is only the sadder.
I say all this knowing perfectly well that there are organized and paid efforts by some countries to influence public opinion through comments. I am sure the Pentagon follows this practice because they have large budgets now dedicated to what in former times we would call propaganda or disinformation.
Israel is the most active practitioner of this of which I am aware. You actually cannot miss the flood of comments that find their way onto comment sites. Their tone and direction and even some of the pseudonyms used scream organized effort. I understand that the IDF has a section of people employed this way. The government also pays many students to join in.
I do not see the point. For the most part the effort is recognizable and many of the comments read as if taken from a crib sheet of phrases and argument points. Hard to imagine who would be influenced by them.
Besides, in the cases of both Israel and the Pentagon, the entire mainline press and broadcasting already are heavily skewed in all their reporting and editorial. How can some silly comments add much?
I think this is the clearest evidence of almost out-of-control ideology intensively at work, wasting resources, trying to pound the last nail in, exorcising Satan, and the ideology comes mainly from Washington and its colonial enterprise in the Middle East.
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
"More has to be done to prevent foreign interference and abuse of social media from disrupting Canada's elections, says Canada's chief election watchdog.
“Commissioner of Elections office has already started working with Facebook, Twitter”
I just do not understand such language.
I am not aware of any genuine interference in Canadian elections.
The words just seem to echo the noise coming out of the political madhouse that we call America.
And talk about "trolls" is simply bizarre.
I read a lot of newspapers, having as I do an interest in public affairs, and I often comment where it is permitted.
When I comment, I try to be thoughtful and analytical, bringing a lifetime's experience of reading and trying to understand.
Yet I have been called a "troll" a number of times in thoughtless responses which I simply ignore, but a lot of repetition of that close-to-meaningless term is to be seen in comment sections of newspapers. So, for me the word is millennialist jargon or argot, a form of faddish mumbo-jumbo.
It makes absolutely no sense, but saying that word about someone with whom you disagree has become almost a characteristic of our political times. Useless and sad. And when government echoes the trend, it is only the sadder.
I say all this knowing perfectly well that there are organized and paid efforts by some countries to influence public opinion through comments. I am sure the Pentagon follows this practice because they have large budgets now dedicated to what in former times we would call propaganda or disinformation.
Israel is the most active practitioner of this of which I am aware. You actually cannot miss the flood of comments that find their way onto comment sites. Their tone and direction and even some of the pseudonyms used scream organized effort. I understand that the IDF has a section of people employed this way. The government also pays many students to join in.
I do not see the point. For the most part the effort is recognizable and many of the comments read as if taken from a crib sheet of phrases and argument points. Hard to imagine who would be influenced by them.
Besides, in the cases of both Israel and the Pentagon, the entire mainline press and broadcasting already are heavily skewed in all their reporting and editorial. How can some silly comments add much?
I think this is the clearest evidence of almost out-of-control ideology intensively at work, wasting resources, trying to pound the last nail in, exorcising Satan, and the ideology comes mainly from Washington and its colonial enterprise in the Middle East.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE GOOP EMPIRE AND OTHER WELLNESS MUMBO-JUMBO FROM THE MILLENNIALIST GENERATION - SOME REASONS WHY THIS KIND OF NONSENSE GOES ON
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Goop has exploited the medical establishment's failures on women's health
“The wellness industry taps into — and profits from — women's frustration with conventional medical treatment”
It is not a new phenomenon.
Remember "snake oil" and old medicine wagons?
This has become really big today because of the reach of the Internet.
Millennialist attitudes also play a role with expectations that are often little more than fantasy, and a lot of those attitudes in part result from a generation raised with a press which has stopped doing its job, substituting costless gossip and attitudes for expensive-to-provide facts.
The Internet makes it possible for us to hear about nonsense we once maybe didn't hear about. And its slick advertising and marketing, reaching everywhere, offer promises which minds grounded in reality should only laugh at.
Contrary to the writer’s assertion, I am sure Goop and a hundred enterprises like it have nothing to do with failures of medicine to deal with women’s health concerns.
It may come as a surprise to some, but there is simply a lot we do not know yet. There are lots of health matters we do not understand and really cannot help. Science just patiently carries on trying to find the answers. That is the only way it can function. It is like the proverbial mill which grinds slowly but exceedingly finely.
Once scientists do learn something, what they find often changes lives. Why, it was only in recent decades, we've discovered that stomach ulcers are a bacterial infection that can be cured with certain anti-biotics. For all my life before that there was empty talk of avoiding stress and drinking milk. You can see the assumption in scenes from movies of the 1950s and 60s. And just so with hundreds of health matters.
What also is revealed with phenomena like the growth of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop empire is how many weak and suggestible minds we actually have in society, many of them with more money than they know what to do with. Like “the poor” of which Jesus spoke in the New Testament, they are always there. We just didn’t know about them.
Folks like Gwyneth Paltrow have always been with us, too. Exploiters, whether conscious or unconscious, ready to make money on all the foolish notions people have.
They are everywhere. In the finance industry. Selling used cars. Bible-thumping tent preachers. And they feature quite large in our politics.
However, if people want to waste their money on this kind of stuff, I think they are entitled to do so, just so long as there are no poisons or direct harms involved. We can't have a nanny state making everything "just right."
It is truly unfair and wrong to say that science has failed women’s health concerns. I think that just as wrong as Gwyneth Paltrow’s pitch.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Goop has exploited the medical establishment's failures on women's health
“The wellness industry taps into — and profits from — women's frustration with conventional medical treatment”
It is not a new phenomenon.
Remember "snake oil" and old medicine wagons?
This has become really big today because of the reach of the Internet.
Millennialist attitudes also play a role with expectations that are often little more than fantasy, and a lot of those attitudes in part result from a generation raised with a press which has stopped doing its job, substituting costless gossip and attitudes for expensive-to-provide facts.
The Internet makes it possible for us to hear about nonsense we once maybe didn't hear about. And its slick advertising and marketing, reaching everywhere, offer promises which minds grounded in reality should only laugh at.
Contrary to the writer’s assertion, I am sure Goop and a hundred enterprises like it have nothing to do with failures of medicine to deal with women’s health concerns.
It may come as a surprise to some, but there is simply a lot we do not know yet. There are lots of health matters we do not understand and really cannot help. Science just patiently carries on trying to find the answers. That is the only way it can function. It is like the proverbial mill which grinds slowly but exceedingly finely.
Once scientists do learn something, what they find often changes lives. Why, it was only in recent decades, we've discovered that stomach ulcers are a bacterial infection that can be cured with certain anti-biotics. For all my life before that there was empty talk of avoiding stress and drinking milk. You can see the assumption in scenes from movies of the 1950s and 60s. And just so with hundreds of health matters.
What also is revealed with phenomena like the growth of Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop empire is how many weak and suggestible minds we actually have in society, many of them with more money than they know what to do with. Like “the poor” of which Jesus spoke in the New Testament, they are always there. We just didn’t know about them.
Folks like Gwyneth Paltrow have always been with us, too. Exploiters, whether conscious or unconscious, ready to make money on all the foolish notions people have.
They are everywhere. In the finance industry. Selling used cars. Bible-thumping tent preachers. And they feature quite large in our politics.
However, if people want to waste their money on this kind of stuff, I think they are entitled to do so, just so long as there are no poisons or direct harms involved. We can't have a nanny state making everything "just right."
It is truly unfair and wrong to say that science has failed women’s health concerns. I think that just as wrong as Gwyneth Paltrow’s pitch.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: "THE NEW COLD WAR FLOPS" CLAIMS A SILLY ARTICLE BASED ON POLLS - THE REALITIES OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND THE WARS INTO WHICH THEIR LEADERS DRAG THEM - WHY POLLS DON'T MATTER
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JUSTIN RAIMONDO IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“The New Cold War Flops, The American People Are Not Buying
“Poll shows anti-Russia campaign had little effect”
Justin Raimondo, as he has shown in other articles, often just does not "get it.”
It simply does not matter whether the American public embraces the power establishment’s disinformation efforts.
There is almost no connection between what average Americans want and believe and what Washington does.
And this has been true for a very long time.Did the public want the holocaust in Vietnam or a list of other horrors?
They are simply dragged along for the ride when Washington is determined to do something. They have nowhere to turn with their votes even. Republican or Democrat, the results in terms of war and empire will be the same.
The United States’ power establishment doesn't care what anyone thinks anymore when it wants to do something. Oh, I’m sure they’d rather the public “bought in,” but whether they do or not simply is not a “deal breaker.”
Washington ignores the UN. It ignores international law. It ignores many traditions and norms. Oh, it will offer up some excuse, some flimsy excuse for what it is doing, but, in the end, it doesn't matter what the American public believes, any more than it matters what the other 95% of humanity represented by the UN believes.
The American public is virtually uninformed about what goes on abroad anyway. Their press and government representatives work hard towards that end. And the truth is the American public is largely uninterested. Bored with foreigners and even knee-jerk hostile to many. So many people also are just trying to keep body and soul together in the changed economic realities of contemporary America. They have no time to be concerned about what goes on “out there.” America’s establishment actually counts on such realities in its imperial calculations.
The only time America's public ever gets really worked up over such matters is when Americans die in considerable numbers. Foreigners, who cares? But America has arranged its foreign dirty work so that numbers of Americans do not die.
The numbers at a certain point during Vietnam began to generate something like the national divisions of the American Civil War. Through many mechanisms, that has never been allowed to happen again.
Look at the dirty work in Syria. We know, right now, a new phony gas attack is being planned around Idlib. There is significant intelligence on the matter. And it is only a set-up for a new round of bombing Syria, a country with which America is not legally at war and a country where it has no business having any forces without permission.
John Bolton's ugly public threat about even more devastating bombing if chemical weapons are used again – “again,” entirely begging the question of whether such weapons had ever been used by the government, with virtually all indicators saying they had not - serves as a public invitation to the paid mercenaries in al-Nusra and such affiliates as the phony humanitarians of the White Helmets, to get on with the job of generating a needed provocation.
And will even one newspaper or network in America question the fraud? Or question the excessive response?
And what will it matter if the public supports it or not? They know absolutely nothing anyway about what goes on in Syria and America's big, long-term role in it on behalf of Israel and others, including Saudi Arabia, to work towards destroying a legitimate government and cripple a beautiful country.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JUSTIN RAIMONDO IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“The New Cold War Flops, The American People Are Not Buying
“Poll shows anti-Russia campaign had little effect”
Justin Raimondo, as he has shown in other articles, often just does not "get it.”
It simply does not matter whether the American public embraces the power establishment’s disinformation efforts.
There is almost no connection between what average Americans want and believe and what Washington does.
And this has been true for a very long time.Did the public want the holocaust in Vietnam or a list of other horrors?
They are simply dragged along for the ride when Washington is determined to do something. They have nowhere to turn with their votes even. Republican or Democrat, the results in terms of war and empire will be the same.
The United States’ power establishment doesn't care what anyone thinks anymore when it wants to do something. Oh, I’m sure they’d rather the public “bought in,” but whether they do or not simply is not a “deal breaker.”
Washington ignores the UN. It ignores international law. It ignores many traditions and norms. Oh, it will offer up some excuse, some flimsy excuse for what it is doing, but, in the end, it doesn't matter what the American public believes, any more than it matters what the other 95% of humanity represented by the UN believes.
The American public is virtually uninformed about what goes on abroad anyway. Their press and government representatives work hard towards that end. And the truth is the American public is largely uninterested. Bored with foreigners and even knee-jerk hostile to many. So many people also are just trying to keep body and soul together in the changed economic realities of contemporary America. They have no time to be concerned about what goes on “out there.” America’s establishment actually counts on such realities in its imperial calculations.
The only time America's public ever gets really worked up over such matters is when Americans die in considerable numbers. Foreigners, who cares? But America has arranged its foreign dirty work so that numbers of Americans do not die.
The numbers at a certain point during Vietnam began to generate something like the national divisions of the American Civil War. Through many mechanisms, that has never been allowed to happen again.
Look at the dirty work in Syria. We know, right now, a new phony gas attack is being planned around Idlib. There is significant intelligence on the matter. And it is only a set-up for a new round of bombing Syria, a country with which America is not legally at war and a country where it has no business having any forces without permission.
John Bolton's ugly public threat about even more devastating bombing if chemical weapons are used again – “again,” entirely begging the question of whether such weapons had ever been used by the government, with virtually all indicators saying they had not - serves as a public invitation to the paid mercenaries in al-Nusra and such affiliates as the phony humanitarians of the White Helmets, to get on with the job of generating a needed provocation.
And will even one newspaper or network in America question the fraud? Or question the excessive response?
And what will it matter if the public supports it or not? They know absolutely nothing anyway about what goes on in Syria and America's big, long-term role in it on behalf of Israel and others, including Saudi Arabia, to work towards destroying a legitimate government and cripple a beautiful country.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: JOHN MCCAIN DIES - IT IS DESERVING IN HIS CASE THAT AN EXCEPTION BE MADE OF THE TRADITIONAL "NOTHING BUT GOOD SAID ABOUT THE DEAD"
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“John McCain, war hero and former U.S. presidential candidate, dead at 81”
I know we are to speak nothing but good of the dead.
But I simply cannot do that in John McCain's case.
The truth is that most articles eulogizing him simply reflect a lack of real knowledge.
Apart from the appealing boyish smile, this was in fact a man who shared many of the extremely unpleasant qualities of Donald Trump.
Even the war hero stuff is close to offensive when you know the truth, and I am not even considering the testimony of a number of men who were also prisoners of war with him and who tell terrible tales of him using his influence - his father was a big admiral, and the Vietnamese knew that - to gain privileged treatment.
I wrote a researched article about him back at the time he was running for office.
The facts speak for themselves. Here it is:
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/john-mccain-a-matter-of-character/
And here is another small piece which may interest readers:
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/the-fighter-pilot-and-the-princess-in-americas-presidential-primaries/
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
“John McCain, war hero and former U.S. presidential candidate, dead at 81”
I know we are to speak nothing but good of the dead.
But I simply cannot do that in John McCain's case.
The truth is that most articles eulogizing him simply reflect a lack of real knowledge.
Apart from the appealing boyish smile, this was in fact a man who shared many of the extremely unpleasant qualities of Donald Trump.
Even the war hero stuff is close to offensive when you know the truth, and I am not even considering the testimony of a number of men who were also prisoners of war with him and who tell terrible tales of him using his influence - his father was a big admiral, and the Vietnamese knew that - to gain privileged treatment.
I wrote a researched article about him back at the time he was running for office.
The facts speak for themselves. Here it is:
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/john-mccain-a-matter-of-character/
And here is another small piece which may interest readers:
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/the-fighter-pilot-and-the-princess-in-americas-presidential-primaries/
Friday, August 24, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: I DO GET WEARY OF COMMENTING ON ATTEMPTS TO LYNCH JEREMY CORBYN - BUT WE SEE A NEW OUTRAGE EVERY FEW DAYS AND WE HAVE SO VERY FEW TRULY DECENT POLITICIANS - THE GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER SERVES ALMOST AS LEADER AND PUBLICIST FOR A HOWLING MOB
John Chuckman
(ADDITIONAL) COMMENT POSTED TO A COLUMN BY JONATHAN COOK IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Corbyn’s Labour is Being Made to Fail – by Design”
The situation at The Guardian becomes worse each passing day. They must have a special “get Corbyn” squad at work full-time.
Today, there’s a big story about a video of Corbyn from about five years. His brief quote from the video is labelled by opponents (and of course dutifully quoted by Guardian) as “inexcusable” and “clearly antisemitic.”
But there is nothing at all anti-Semitic in saying someone “lacks a sense of English irony,” whether that person is Jewish or not. To call Corbyn’s harmless words “inexcusable” is so over-the-top, it is laughable, bitterly laughable.
Corbyn was referring to some particular Zionists at a meeting in 2013, part of a group that included both Jews and non-Jews.
So, today’s name-calling accusers, on top of everything else, have taken Corbyn’s harmless words out of context.
Much as they did with a 2014 photo produced some days ago and presented falsely as Corbyn laying a wreath at the grave of some Munich Olympics terrorists in Tunisia.
The vicious Netanyahu even chimed in from Israel on that one. Talk about Putin interfering in elections. Moreover, Netanyahu didn’t even know what he was talking about.
The wreath had absolutely nothing to do with Olympic terrorists. It was at the graves of some innocent people killed by Israeli bombing in Tunisia in 1985.
The cemetery is said also to contain the graves of some “accused” of having been involved in the Munich attack, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the event in which Corbyn was involved.
I truly think the whole ugly campaign has moved past the Senator Joseph McCarthy tone it had for so long and into a kind of “the Stasi accuses” mode.
(ADDITIONAL) COMMENT POSTED TO A COLUMN BY JONATHAN COOK IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Corbyn’s Labour is Being Made to Fail – by Design”
The situation at The Guardian becomes worse each passing day. They must have a special “get Corbyn” squad at work full-time.
Today, there’s a big story about a video of Corbyn from about five years. His brief quote from the video is labelled by opponents (and of course dutifully quoted by Guardian) as “inexcusable” and “clearly antisemitic.”
But there is nothing at all anti-Semitic in saying someone “lacks a sense of English irony,” whether that person is Jewish or not. To call Corbyn’s harmless words “inexcusable” is so over-the-top, it is laughable, bitterly laughable.
Corbyn was referring to some particular Zionists at a meeting in 2013, part of a group that included both Jews and non-Jews.
So, today’s name-calling accusers, on top of everything else, have taken Corbyn’s harmless words out of context.
Much as they did with a 2014 photo produced some days ago and presented falsely as Corbyn laying a wreath at the grave of some Munich Olympics terrorists in Tunisia.
The vicious Netanyahu even chimed in from Israel on that one. Talk about Putin interfering in elections. Moreover, Netanyahu didn’t even know what he was talking about.
The wreath had absolutely nothing to do with Olympic terrorists. It was at the graves of some innocent people killed by Israeli bombing in Tunisia in 1985.
The cemetery is said also to contain the graves of some “accused” of having been involved in the Munich attack, but that has absolutely nothing to do with the event in which Corbyn was involved.
I truly think the whole ugly campaign has moved past the Senator Joseph McCarthy tone it had for so long and into a kind of “the Stasi accuses” mode.
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AN AMERICAN JOURNALIST (NASH RIGGINS) MAKES A SERIES OF TRULY SILLY CLAIMS WHILE BUSY EXPRESSING HIS MORAL OUTRAGE OVER TRUMP - TRUMP IS A LOWLIFE BUT HE'S ONLY ONE IN A SERIES OF LOWLIFE MODERN AMERICAN PRESIDENTS - IT'S JUST THE KIND OF LEADERS PLUTOCRACY AND EMPIRE AND CORRUPTION PRODUCE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY NASH RIGGINS IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Donald Trump is heading towards impeachment – and you have the power to make that happen
"History remembers Richard Nixon as some sort of monster but at least he had the common decency to resign when he was caught."
That's a ridiculous statement.
I lived through the events.
Nixon put the country through torture for a long period of time.
It was only when some very senior Republicans finally approached him in private that Nixon resigned, knowing full-well impeachment would succeed with Republican votes.
Also, not many Americans know this, but Nixon right near the end of his agony, put his wife, Pat, in hospital with a beating.
The press never ran the story, but it is now included in a major biography.
“America is better than this. We are better than this…. if you’d rather focus on solving genuine problems and trying to make our society a better place…”
Another ridiculous statement. American spends all its resources on a titanic series of wars and on spying. There are no resources and no interest in Washington in making “a better place.”
“Never has there been a man less capable of representing my country to the world”
I’m sorry but that is yet another ridiculous statement. The author has forgotten America’s first certified-moron president, George Bush, and a vicious moron at that.
The author forgets or doesn’t realize that Lyndon Johnson easily assumes the crown as most corrupt president ever. He used vote rigging in Texas (proven). He made a fortune with utterly corrupt cronies like Billy Sol Estes. He started a major pointless war. And did so with lies.
Johnson also falls under serious suspicion for his role in Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty.
And he falls under suspicion for his possible role in Kennedy’s assassination. Indeed, that’s what some say Israel used to blackmail him over the USS Liberty attack. After all, this man with the colossal temper never did a thing about the attack and just swallowed his pride. Why? We’ve never been told.
I guess the author also doesn’t recall Johnson frequently conducting discussions with reporters and others while sitting on the toilet.
Or the time, a reporter asked him why we were in Vietnam, and Johnson unzipped his pants and pulled out his ample organ, saying, “That’s why!”
Oh, there’s still more, but that gives a good idea.
America’s modern history is just packed with grotesques. Trump is just one of them.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY NASH RIGGINS IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Donald Trump is heading towards impeachment – and you have the power to make that happen
"History remembers Richard Nixon as some sort of monster but at least he had the common decency to resign when he was caught."
That's a ridiculous statement.
I lived through the events.
Nixon put the country through torture for a long period of time.
It was only when some very senior Republicans finally approached him in private that Nixon resigned, knowing full-well impeachment would succeed with Republican votes.
Also, not many Americans know this, but Nixon right near the end of his agony, put his wife, Pat, in hospital with a beating.
The press never ran the story, but it is now included in a major biography.
“America is better than this. We are better than this…. if you’d rather focus on solving genuine problems and trying to make our society a better place…”
Another ridiculous statement. American spends all its resources on a titanic series of wars and on spying. There are no resources and no interest in Washington in making “a better place.”
“Never has there been a man less capable of representing my country to the world”
I’m sorry but that is yet another ridiculous statement. The author has forgotten America’s first certified-moron president, George Bush, and a vicious moron at that.
The author forgets or doesn’t realize that Lyndon Johnson easily assumes the crown as most corrupt president ever. He used vote rigging in Texas (proven). He made a fortune with utterly corrupt cronies like Billy Sol Estes. He started a major pointless war. And did so with lies.
Johnson also falls under serious suspicion for his role in Israel’s attack on the USS Liberty.
And he falls under suspicion for his possible role in Kennedy’s assassination. Indeed, that’s what some say Israel used to blackmail him over the USS Liberty attack. After all, this man with the colossal temper never did a thing about the attack and just swallowed his pride. Why? We’ve never been told.
I guess the author also doesn’t recall Johnson frequently conducting discussions with reporters and others while sitting on the toilet.
Or the time, a reporter asked him why we were in Vietnam, and Johnson unzipped his pants and pulled out his ample organ, saying, “That’s why!”
Oh, there’s still more, but that gives a good idea.
America’s modern history is just packed with grotesques. Trump is just one of them.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THEY'RE STILL BUSY PUSHING THE DARK FAIRY TALE OF ASSAD USING CHEMICAL WEAPONS - JUST SOME OF WHY THIS CHARGE IS FALSE - THAT IS APART FROM A COMPLETE LACK OF EVIDENCE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MOHAMAD KATOUB IN THE IDEPENDENT
“I helped Syrian children after the Ghouta chemical weapons attack. Five years on, it's time for these war crimes to be prosecuted
“Rescue teams entered affected houses and evacuated all those inside with no time to examine them individually. None of them wore protective material; none of them had any”
_____________________
Response to a comment:
Yes, indeed.
I am quite tired of reading this kind of stuff, too.
We should not forget that Hillary at Benghazi was involved in a program of moving weapons and thugs into Syria.
One of the weapons was some quantity of Sarin from Qaddafi's stocks (kept as a counter to Israel's nuclear weapons).
Some Turkish border guards actually discovered small containers being smuggled too.
And of course, Obama/Hillary were in search of an incident to trigger Obama's "red line" threats.
There is no reason to believe that Assad did anything of this kind.
In fact, I believe it’s a it absurd to promote this idea.
The strategic value of a limited use of such gas is zero. Assad is fighting a huge sweeping invasion of what are essentially paid mercenaries from abroad, America’s terrorists, if you will.
The idea that he would risk giving the United States/Israel/Saudi Arabia a big excuse for even more intervention is close to ridiculous. He is actually quite an intelligent man too, one well aware of risks and realities.
I do not think Assad is a saint, but he is in many ways a reasonable leader for his situation.
He does have a threatening mass killer on his border with Israel, a man we have watched literally mowing down unarmed people and who has killed a thousand kids plus several thousand others in his horrors against Gaza.
And in the new usurper Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia, he has another cold-blooded, ruthless killer.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MOHAMAD KATOUB IN THE IDEPENDENT
“I helped Syrian children after the Ghouta chemical weapons attack. Five years on, it's time for these war crimes to be prosecuted
“Rescue teams entered affected houses and evacuated all those inside with no time to examine them individually. None of them wore protective material; none of them had any”
_____________________
Response to a comment:
Yes, indeed.
I am quite tired of reading this kind of stuff, too.
We should not forget that Hillary at Benghazi was involved in a program of moving weapons and thugs into Syria.
One of the weapons was some quantity of Sarin from Qaddafi's stocks (kept as a counter to Israel's nuclear weapons).
Some Turkish border guards actually discovered small containers being smuggled too.
And of course, Obama/Hillary were in search of an incident to trigger Obama's "red line" threats.
There is no reason to believe that Assad did anything of this kind.
In fact, I believe it’s a it absurd to promote this idea.
The strategic value of a limited use of such gas is zero. Assad is fighting a huge sweeping invasion of what are essentially paid mercenaries from abroad, America’s terrorists, if you will.
The idea that he would risk giving the United States/Israel/Saudi Arabia a big excuse for even more intervention is close to ridiculous. He is actually quite an intelligent man too, one well aware of risks and realities.
I do not think Assad is a saint, but he is in many ways a reasonable leader for his situation.
He does have a threatening mass killer on his border with Israel, a man we have watched literally mowing down unarmed people and who has killed a thousand kids plus several thousand others in his horrors against Gaza.
And in the new usurper Crown Prince in Saudi Arabia, he has another cold-blooded, ruthless killer.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: WHY THE F-35 WOULD BE A TERRIBLE CHOICE FOR CANADA - DO PEOPLE EVEN HAVE AN INKLING OF HOW COSTLY THIS THING IS TO FLY? OR THAT IT DOESN'T EVEN DO WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO DO? PENTAGON PRESSURE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Liberals faced closed-door criticism over now-cancelled Super Hornet fighter plan”
The Liberals were right about avoiding the F-35.
It not only is incredibly expensive to buy - its total price still rising - and incredibly expensive to operate. It is estimated to cost $40,000 for a single hour of flight.
It has many problems yet, and its stealth feature has already been shown to be considerably less effective than claimed.
But on top of those horrors, the F-35 is not a suitable configuration for Canada's needs.
We are not, and I hope will never be, in the bombing business.
And its single engine definitely makes it less suitable for Northern flight.
Why have some military and political figures advocated for it then?
None of these people is immune to the beckoning of buying the latest, fanciest, most costly machine.
And Washington has gone all out to push the F-35 on its allies. It pushes hard because the plane is so wastefully expensive, the Pentagon needs a subsidy from its allies. The US does this increasingly with weapons systems, but the F-35 has been the most egregious example.
The enhanced Hornet, or still another plane, far better suits Canada's needs.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Liberals faced closed-door criticism over now-cancelled Super Hornet fighter plan”
The Liberals were right about avoiding the F-35.
It not only is incredibly expensive to buy - its total price still rising - and incredibly expensive to operate. It is estimated to cost $40,000 for a single hour of flight.
It has many problems yet, and its stealth feature has already been shown to be considerably less effective than claimed.
But on top of those horrors, the F-35 is not a suitable configuration for Canada's needs.
We are not, and I hope will never be, in the bombing business.
And its single engine definitely makes it less suitable for Northern flight.
Why have some military and political figures advocated for it then?
None of these people is immune to the beckoning of buying the latest, fanciest, most costly machine.
And Washington has gone all out to push the F-35 on its allies. It pushes hard because the plane is so wastefully expensive, the Pentagon needs a subsidy from its allies. The US does this increasingly with weapons systems, but the F-35 has been the most egregious example.
The enhanced Hornet, or still another plane, far better suits Canada's needs.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: "CULTURAL APPROPRIATION" IS ONE OF THE ENDURING BITS OF ABSOLUTE NONSENSE LANGUAGE IN OUR TIME
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Jamie Oliver has been inspired by Jamaican culture without having any respect for its history – that's why it's cultural appropriation”
"Cultural appropriation" is a pejorative term with no meaning beyond the empty notion that you have borrowed a concept from someone and included it in your own creation, but it comes with strong negative racial overtones because it seems invariably used by blacks about what someone who is not black has done.
In the rich stew of a culture as we have in modern Europe, with copying, adaptation, and blending from everywhere, I find it bizarre for anyone to be using this term as though it meant something. I never heard anyone condemn, say, Asian-fusion cooking as “cultural appropriation.”
Its use reflects more on the speaker than the person being spoken of.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Jamie Oliver has been inspired by Jamaican culture without having any respect for its history – that's why it's cultural appropriation”
"Cultural appropriation" is a pejorative term with no meaning beyond the empty notion that you have borrowed a concept from someone and included it in your own creation, but it comes with strong negative racial overtones because it seems invariably used by blacks about what someone who is not black has done.
In the rich stew of a culture as we have in modern Europe, with copying, adaptation, and blending from everywhere, I find it bizarre for anyone to be using this term as though it meant something. I never heard anyone condemn, say, Asian-fusion cooking as “cultural appropriation.”
Its use reflects more on the speaker than the person being spoken of.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: VIENNA CHOSEN AS "MOST LIVABLE CITY IN THE WORLD" - JUST A FEW BRIEF MEMORIES OF MY WEEK THERE LONG AGO - A DELIGHTFUL PLACE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“I used to live in Vienna and I’m not surprised it’s been voted the most liveable city in the world’
I spent a week in Vienna about fifty years ago.
And I've not forgotten the enchantment.
It just had the special feeling of comfortable well-used beautiful old furniture.
I especially recall Einspänner Coffees in the park, eating the most delicious schnitzel I've ever eaten outside in a platz under evening lights, the cafe gardens, the sense of the presence of Mozart and Beethoven, the wine stube, and just a kind of mellowness and humanity.
I assume it has done nothing but grow better.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“I used to live in Vienna and I’m not surprised it’s been voted the most liveable city in the world’
I spent a week in Vienna about fifty years ago.
And I've not forgotten the enchantment.
It just had the special feeling of comfortable well-used beautiful old furniture.
I especially recall Einspänner Coffees in the park, eating the most delicious schnitzel I've ever eaten outside in a platz under evening lights, the cafe gardens, the sense of the presence of Mozart and Beethoven, the wine stube, and just a kind of mellowness and humanity.
I assume it has done nothing but grow better.
Monday, August 20, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: NEW DELIBERATELY-INDUCED RELIGIOUS TENSIONS THREATEN TO FIRE UP THE HOSTILITIES IN UKRAINE - THE SAD RECORD OF THE CURRENT INCOMPETENT GOVERNMENT OF UKRAINE AND OF AMERICA'S EFFORTS TO KEEP IT AFLOAT
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DMITRY BABICH IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Religious Divisions Threaten to Further Inflame Ukrainian Civil War”
“Tensions are rising to the point that the Ukrainian government has been accused of suppressing the celebration of the 1030th anniversary of the coming of Christianity to ancient Rus, the proto-state of Eastern Slavs, which included the territories of modern Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. The government is being blamed for involvement in an effort to eliminate the original historic church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), because of its affiliation with Russia and the word “Moscow” in its name.”
Virtually all of the public acts of the Ukrainian government seem to be of this nature.
Petulant, childish, vindictive, and in any large sense, meaningless. Whether we are talking about the kind of anti-Russian language legislation they early on drafted causing the people of Donbas and Crimea, overwhelmingly Russia-speakers, to secede or about the Kiev government’s start of armed hostilities against those regions.
Whether we are talking about the miserable performance of the Ukrainian army against a far smaller “enemy” or about their efforts to have a draft in Western Ukraine, an act which literally saw armies of young men run away or go into hiding.
Whether we are talking about their inability or unwillingness to rid themselves of such clearly fascist organizations as the Azov Battalion or their unwillingness or inability to even begin doing what they must to implement the Minsk Accords, the internationally accepted formula for peace.
Whether you are talking about serious incidents of sabotage in Crimea or the dozens of blundering little hostilities that have occurred, from talking about closing the much-used rail connections to Russia to taking temporary hostages such as the crew of a Russian ship.
Despite their blunders and dangerous acts, they remain protected by America, the same America, of course, we know arranged the original coup against an elected government.
We know this thanks to the ugly talk of graceless former State Department official, Neocon, Victoria Nuland, who was heard bragging about the 5 billion dollars her country spent on the project, just as she was overheard yelling, “F—k Europe!” when reminded of any European concern.
America, too, has worked overtime behind the scenes pressuring for European support of this illegitimate and shameful government.
And there was its biggest piece of work, the complete obfuscation, and even corruption, of the investigation into the downing of Flight MH-17, which appears almost certainly to have been downed by the same incompetent Ukrainian military. A shameful and unethical cover-up to protect the just plain awful current government of Ukraine.
I am sure that all Ukraine’s poor behavior reflects both the immense tensions within its coup-installed government and the just plain incompetence of its leaders.
The entire vast project was intended to create an irritant and a threat along a major Russian border. And Russia’s reactions, so deftly and appropriately, to deflect the threat simply have infuriated Washington’s new-aggressive-imperialist and Neocon crowd. This success of Putin’s, along with his acting to help stop paid mercenary terrorists trying to destroy the beautiful country of Syria – mercenaries paid, supplied, and supported from the beginning by the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, France, and Britain – has earned him the eternal enmity of Washington’s establishment.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DMITRY BABICH IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Religious Divisions Threaten to Further Inflame Ukrainian Civil War”
“Tensions are rising to the point that the Ukrainian government has been accused of suppressing the celebration of the 1030th anniversary of the coming of Christianity to ancient Rus, the proto-state of Eastern Slavs, which included the territories of modern Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. The government is being blamed for involvement in an effort to eliminate the original historic church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), because of its affiliation with Russia and the word “Moscow” in its name.”
Virtually all of the public acts of the Ukrainian government seem to be of this nature.
Petulant, childish, vindictive, and in any large sense, meaningless. Whether we are talking about the kind of anti-Russian language legislation they early on drafted causing the people of Donbas and Crimea, overwhelmingly Russia-speakers, to secede or about the Kiev government’s start of armed hostilities against those regions.
Whether we are talking about the miserable performance of the Ukrainian army against a far smaller “enemy” or about their efforts to have a draft in Western Ukraine, an act which literally saw armies of young men run away or go into hiding.
Whether we are talking about their inability or unwillingness to rid themselves of such clearly fascist organizations as the Azov Battalion or their unwillingness or inability to even begin doing what they must to implement the Minsk Accords, the internationally accepted formula for peace.
Whether you are talking about serious incidents of sabotage in Crimea or the dozens of blundering little hostilities that have occurred, from talking about closing the much-used rail connections to Russia to taking temporary hostages such as the crew of a Russian ship.
Despite their blunders and dangerous acts, they remain protected by America, the same America, of course, we know arranged the original coup against an elected government.
We know this thanks to the ugly talk of graceless former State Department official, Neocon, Victoria Nuland, who was heard bragging about the 5 billion dollars her country spent on the project, just as she was overheard yelling, “F—k Europe!” when reminded of any European concern.
America, too, has worked overtime behind the scenes pressuring for European support of this illegitimate and shameful government.
And there was its biggest piece of work, the complete obfuscation, and even corruption, of the investigation into the downing of Flight MH-17, which appears almost certainly to have been downed by the same incompetent Ukrainian military. A shameful and unethical cover-up to protect the just plain awful current government of Ukraine.
I am sure that all Ukraine’s poor behavior reflects both the immense tensions within its coup-installed government and the just plain incompetence of its leaders.
The entire vast project was intended to create an irritant and a threat along a major Russian border. And Russia’s reactions, so deftly and appropriately, to deflect the threat simply have infuriated Washington’s new-aggressive-imperialist and Neocon crowd. This success of Putin’s, along with his acting to help stop paid mercenary terrorists trying to destroy the beautiful country of Syria – mercenaries paid, supplied, and supported from the beginning by the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, France, and Britain – has earned him the eternal enmity of Washington’s establishment.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AN ARTICLE ASKS WHETHER AMERICA IS A REPUBLIC OR DEMOCRACY - THE HISTORICAL FACTS ARE CLEAR AS IS THE CURRENT REALITY OF AMERICAN PLUTOCRACY AND AGGRESSION AND WORLD EMPIRE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN INVESTMENTWATCH
"Are We A Republic or A Democracy?"
To my mind, this makes very little sense.
Not only the language of the founding document but the views of most of the Founders make it a republic, which incidentally is pretty well the most vaguely defined political term.
It means little more than the fact that you don't have a king and do have some kind of representatives, however selected. Right into the early 20th century, for example, American Senators were appointed.
Most of the Founders disliked the word "democracy" about as much as J Edgar Hoover disliked the word "communist."
It is true that the population of people who can vote has grown tremendously. It was estimated that about 1% could vote in early Virginia, which happens to be a similar number to those who are members of the Communist Party of China and who get to pick the leader.
But while the number of voters has steadily increased over many, many decades, other developments render their votes less meaningful.
The duopoly party system plus the gigantic role of money in America really does mean that no matter which candidate is elected, the American establishment wins. And the role of money has become central. It has been declared “free speech” by the Supreme Court. In American national politics, you can't even play at the table without the kind of huge stakes Democrats and Republicans have in their pockets.
Winning an election means very little in the way of change. It does not change the role of big money, does not change the role of powerful lobbies, the role of the Pentagon, the role of the CIA - in short, America's plutocratic government and its empire and its powerful organizations of support do not change no matter who wins.
In that important sense, American national elections aren’t all that different than the elections of the old Soviet Union. They just spend immensely more money and make a lot of noise in the press, and people think something is happening.
Mainly what changes is just some rhetoric around social issues, and I stress “rhetoric” because even change on the domestic social front is mostly not consequential. There simply is no room for it either in a budget committing so much to empire and war or in the attentions of career-oriented politicians who know where power really lies.
That ain't democracy, for sure.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN INVESTMENTWATCH
"Are We A Republic or A Democracy?"
To my mind, this makes very little sense.
Not only the language of the founding document but the views of most of the Founders make it a republic, which incidentally is pretty well the most vaguely defined political term.
It means little more than the fact that you don't have a king and do have some kind of representatives, however selected. Right into the early 20th century, for example, American Senators were appointed.
Most of the Founders disliked the word "democracy" about as much as J Edgar Hoover disliked the word "communist."
It is true that the population of people who can vote has grown tremendously. It was estimated that about 1% could vote in early Virginia, which happens to be a similar number to those who are members of the Communist Party of China and who get to pick the leader.
But while the number of voters has steadily increased over many, many decades, other developments render their votes less meaningful.
The duopoly party system plus the gigantic role of money in America really does mean that no matter which candidate is elected, the American establishment wins. And the role of money has become central. It has been declared “free speech” by the Supreme Court. In American national politics, you can't even play at the table without the kind of huge stakes Democrats and Republicans have in their pockets.
Winning an election means very little in the way of change. It does not change the role of big money, does not change the role of powerful lobbies, the role of the Pentagon, the role of the CIA - in short, America's plutocratic government and its empire and its powerful organizations of support do not change no matter who wins.
In that important sense, American national elections aren’t all that different than the elections of the old Soviet Union. They just spend immensely more money and make a lot of noise in the press, and people think something is happening.
Mainly what changes is just some rhetoric around social issues, and I stress “rhetoric” because even change on the domestic social front is mostly not consequential. There simply is no room for it either in a budget committing so much to empire and war or in the attentions of career-oriented politicians who know where power really lies.
That ain't democracy, for sure.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AN INTERESTING UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF AMERICA'S NEW ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR IN TRADE - CHINA AND RUSSIA
John Chuckman
COMMENT TO AN ARTICLE BY TYLER DURDEN IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Russia Offers China 2.5 Million Acres of Farmland and a Way to Beat the US Trade War
"It seems like China is willing to accept higher soybean prices in the short-term, but the long-term plan is clear: cheap arable land in Russia’s Far East could be China’s next source of soybeans, thus bypassing US farmers."
Very interesting.
Sweeping new actions or policies in economics and trade often come with unintended consequences.
This development in Russia's Far East perhaps exemplifies what is underway in many places in response to what can only be called American economic imperialism.
Trump may just prove to have been a real agent of change in the world, change America definitely does not want.
COMMENT TO AN ARTICLE BY TYLER DURDEN IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Russia Offers China 2.5 Million Acres of Farmland and a Way to Beat the US Trade War
"It seems like China is willing to accept higher soybean prices in the short-term, but the long-term plan is clear: cheap arable land in Russia’s Far East could be China’s next source of soybeans, thus bypassing US farmers."
Very interesting.
Sweeping new actions or policies in economics and trade often come with unintended consequences.
This development in Russia's Far East perhaps exemplifies what is underway in many places in response to what can only be called American economic imperialism.
Trump may just prove to have been a real agent of change in the world, change America definitely does not want.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: FORMER UN SECRETARY-GENERAL KOFI ANNAN DIES - SOME REFLECTIONS ON WHAT HAS HAPPENED WITH THE UN
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOE LAURIA IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“A Retrospective on Kofi Annan, Dead at 80”
Kofi Annan was the last UN Secretary-General with at least some of what I view as integrity.
We just do not hear the US being questioned or criticized anymore by the head of the world's peace organization, especially about its rampaging wars through the Middle East and threats and other aggression.
The US always punishes UN officials who do speak out.
The American Neocon Madeleine Albright won her State Department spurs in part through backroom manipulations and pressures applied to various states to rid the UN of a more forthright critic before Annan, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
And of course, its recent actions of quitting some important UN agencies and cutting its financial support are quite intimidating.
______________________
Response to a comment that Annan was not quite the wonderful figure the article portrays him as:
I agree he was far from ideal, vis-a-vis American aggression and imperialism.
But he did speak to truth now and then.
We don't even have that limited effort now.
The US literally, through threats and harsh acts, has smothered the UN as a voice for the other 95% of humanity.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOE LAURIA IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“A Retrospective on Kofi Annan, Dead at 80”
Kofi Annan was the last UN Secretary-General with at least some of what I view as integrity.
We just do not hear the US being questioned or criticized anymore by the head of the world's peace organization, especially about its rampaging wars through the Middle East and threats and other aggression.
The US always punishes UN officials who do speak out.
The American Neocon Madeleine Albright won her State Department spurs in part through backroom manipulations and pressures applied to various states to rid the UN of a more forthright critic before Annan, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
And of course, its recent actions of quitting some important UN agencies and cutting its financial support are quite intimidating.
______________________
Response to a comment that Annan was not quite the wonderful figure the article portrays him as:
I agree he was far from ideal, vis-a-vis American aggression and imperialism.
But he did speak to truth now and then.
We don't even have that limited effort now.
The US literally, through threats and harsh acts, has smothered the UN as a voice for the other 95% of humanity.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE PROBLEMS OF VENEZUELA TREATED BY A MAINLINE COLUMNIST IN IDENTICAL FASHION TO WHAT I'VE SEEN FROM THE ALT-RIGHT - HE'S SAYING HERE'S WHAT THE LEFT DOES TO A COUNTRY - LEAVING OUT THE CIA'S FURIOUS EFFORTS AT DAMAGING VENEZUELA
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY BEN CHU IN THE INDEPENDENT
"This is what happens when an economy and a society disintegrates due to economic mismanagement and populist folly"
The author sounds like an echo of the kind of stuff you may easily find on Alt-right Internet sites.
This "analysis" just happens to leave out some desperately important things at work.
While it isn’t featured in the mainline press, we know to a certainty from many bits of information that the CIA has conducted an intensive campaign for several years against this popularly elected government.
It is under the auspices of a larger program, I believe started in 2008, to keep Latin American free from the kind of influences CIA does not like. It had another big operation back in the 1970s called Operation Condor which saw a great deal of violence across a number of states.
Many dirty tricks and and manipulative efforts. I wouldn’t doubt counterfeiting the country’s currency, something CIA has done against targets many times, has been one of them. Good quality counterfeits – and CIA produces the best on Treasury Department presses – can inflate and destroy a country’s currency.
They have been very active in trying disrupt Venezuela’s markets and create uncertainty everywhere as well as in funding opposition interests.
But the strength and intelligence of this leader and his popularity have continued to foil their intentions. It reminds me of the early 1960s in Cuba when the CIA tried everything, spending vast amounts, to hurt Castro’s Cuba and literally to kill Castro, but Castro’s wiliness combined with the deep affection in which most Cubans held him, defeated all the CIA’s efforts.
That’s why Trump has mumbled a couple of times, “Maybe we should invade Venezuela.”
Charming.
_________________
Response to another comment:
Yes, exactly.
This article tries to kill two birds with one stone.
Discredit the government of Venezuela and, by implication, discredit Jeremy Corbyn.
And it makes that effort ignoring some mighty large facts.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY BEN CHU IN THE INDEPENDENT
"This is what happens when an economy and a society disintegrates due to economic mismanagement and populist folly"
The author sounds like an echo of the kind of stuff you may easily find on Alt-right Internet sites.
This "analysis" just happens to leave out some desperately important things at work.
While it isn’t featured in the mainline press, we know to a certainty from many bits of information that the CIA has conducted an intensive campaign for several years against this popularly elected government.
It is under the auspices of a larger program, I believe started in 2008, to keep Latin American free from the kind of influences CIA does not like. It had another big operation back in the 1970s called Operation Condor which saw a great deal of violence across a number of states.
Many dirty tricks and and manipulative efforts. I wouldn’t doubt counterfeiting the country’s currency, something CIA has done against targets many times, has been one of them. Good quality counterfeits – and CIA produces the best on Treasury Department presses – can inflate and destroy a country’s currency.
They have been very active in trying disrupt Venezuela’s markets and create uncertainty everywhere as well as in funding opposition interests.
But the strength and intelligence of this leader and his popularity have continued to foil their intentions. It reminds me of the early 1960s in Cuba when the CIA tried everything, spending vast amounts, to hurt Castro’s Cuba and literally to kill Castro, but Castro’s wiliness combined with the deep affection in which most Cubans held him, defeated all the CIA’s efforts.
That’s why Trump has mumbled a couple of times, “Maybe we should invade Venezuela.”
Charming.
_________________
Response to another comment:
Yes, exactly.
This article tries to kill two birds with one stone.
Discredit the government of Venezuela and, by implication, discredit Jeremy Corbyn.
And it makes that effort ignoring some mighty large facts.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: ONE OF BRITAIN'S WORST HACK COLUMNISTS ACTUALLY INVENTS A STRANGE NEW LINE OF ATTACK ON CORBYN SAYING HE CAN'T WIN AN ELECTION NOW BECAUSE HE HAS "LOST BEING RELAXED" - THE PUBLIC AND RECOGNIZING POLITICAL CHARACTER
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOHN RENTOUL IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Jeremy Corbyn ran a brilliant election campaign last year – but he won’t be able to do it again
"The Labour leader seems to have lost the relaxed, friendly style that worked so well"
Well, we've had every kind of cheap and dishonest attack on Corbyn, I didn't think a new angle was possible.
But here it is, and what an amazing creation it is.
A loss of being relaxed!
If true, I wonder why that might be?
Do you think month after month of being attacked for nothing might have something to do with it?
Being called names, having your integrity questioned?
And this IS a man of integrity, a rare thing in national politics.
All this because the terrible men running Israel now hate Corbyn, and they hate him precisely because of his integrity.
Those brutal men have absolutely no integrity, and anyone honest makes them very uncomfortable.
__________________
As I've written in response to another article, the wonderful Jimmy Carter, someone whose integrity we all understand, was widely called an "anti-Semite" in Israel and in Israel-echoing circles of the United States. It was almost like calling Jesus an "anti-Semite."
No current politician reminds me more of Carter than Corbyn.
The truth is most people, if given the chance to see and study someone, can recognize character.
Corbyn's got it. And you'd be hard-pressed finding someone with less of it than Netanyahu, the man this noisy, small minority attacking Corbyn support.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOHN RENTOUL IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Jeremy Corbyn ran a brilliant election campaign last year – but he won’t be able to do it again
"The Labour leader seems to have lost the relaxed, friendly style that worked so well"
Well, we've had every kind of cheap and dishonest attack on Corbyn, I didn't think a new angle was possible.
But here it is, and what an amazing creation it is.
A loss of being relaxed!
If true, I wonder why that might be?
Do you think month after month of being attacked for nothing might have something to do with it?
Being called names, having your integrity questioned?
And this IS a man of integrity, a rare thing in national politics.
All this because the terrible men running Israel now hate Corbyn, and they hate him precisely because of his integrity.
Those brutal men have absolutely no integrity, and anyone honest makes them very uncomfortable.
__________________
As I've written in response to another article, the wonderful Jimmy Carter, someone whose integrity we all understand, was widely called an "anti-Semite" in Israel and in Israel-echoing circles of the United States. It was almost like calling Jesus an "anti-Semite."
No current politician reminds me more of Carter than Corbyn.
The truth is most people, if given the chance to see and study someone, can recognize character.
Corbyn's got it. And you'd be hard-pressed finding someone with less of it than Netanyahu, the man this noisy, small minority attacking Corbyn support.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ABOUT CORBYN'S COMING OUT STRONGER THAN EVER AFTER HIS CURRENT TRIALS, SOMEONE WHO DISLIKES CORBYN MAKES AN ODD COMMENT ADMIRING JIMMY CARTER - BUT JIMMY CARTER AND JEREMY CORBYN SHARE MANY QUALITIES
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY RICHARD SEYMOUR IN THE INDEPENDENT
“No, this Netanyahu row won’t destroy Corbyn – it will only make him stronger
“Still hovering around forty per cent in most polls, the smears against the Labour leader can’t change the fact that millions of people clearly want what the party is offering”
_____________________
Response to a comment, referencing Jimmy Carter in a favorable way, from someone who obviously does not like Corbyn:
Just stunned at your comment.
Carter indeed is a man of peace, much like Corbyn.
And, also like Corbyn, he is a man of truth.
And boy, does anyone with those two qualities suffer in politics.
Carter wrote a book criticizing Israel's movement towards apartheid.
He was labelled, time and again, in Israel by prominent figures and by American Israel-echoing organizations, as an "anti-Semite" for having done so.
Ridiculous, of course.
It's not so far from labelling Jesus as an "anti-Semite."
Carter also is the only man of his stature – and as ex-president, ex-nuclear engineer, and ex-nuclear submarine commander, he should know – to absolutely confirm Israel’s illegal and lied-about nuclear weapons.
Carter was quoted saying Israel, at the time of the quote, had about the equivalent of 150 nuclear warheads. As you can imagine, he’s not liked in Israel for that also.
But Carter was a man of remarkable integrity for someone who was a politician. There is no politician active today who is more like Carter in that respect than Jeremy Corbyn.
And, of course, that’s just why Corbyn has been shamefully abused by special interests, over and over.
If anyone doesn’t like seeing truth told about what they are doing, it is a leader like Netanyahu.
The classic example of this kind of social/political pattern is the character Dr Stockman in Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” when he tries to tell the truth about his town’s lucrative health baths being dangerously contaminated. Stockman’s fate is the fate of those who tell the truth more times than not, but I think nowhere more so than in politics.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY RICHARD SEYMOUR IN THE INDEPENDENT
“No, this Netanyahu row won’t destroy Corbyn – it will only make him stronger
“Still hovering around forty per cent in most polls, the smears against the Labour leader can’t change the fact that millions of people clearly want what the party is offering”
_____________________
Response to a comment, referencing Jimmy Carter in a favorable way, from someone who obviously does not like Corbyn:
Just stunned at your comment.
Carter indeed is a man of peace, much like Corbyn.
And, also like Corbyn, he is a man of truth.
And boy, does anyone with those two qualities suffer in politics.
Carter wrote a book criticizing Israel's movement towards apartheid.
He was labelled, time and again, in Israel by prominent figures and by American Israel-echoing organizations, as an "anti-Semite" for having done so.
Ridiculous, of course.
It's not so far from labelling Jesus as an "anti-Semite."
Carter also is the only man of his stature – and as ex-president, ex-nuclear engineer, and ex-nuclear submarine commander, he should know – to absolutely confirm Israel’s illegal and lied-about nuclear weapons.
Carter was quoted saying Israel, at the time of the quote, had about the equivalent of 150 nuclear warheads. As you can imagine, he’s not liked in Israel for that also.
But Carter was a man of remarkable integrity for someone who was a politician. There is no politician active today who is more like Carter in that respect than Jeremy Corbyn.
And, of course, that’s just why Corbyn has been shamefully abused by special interests, over and over.
If anyone doesn’t like seeing truth told about what they are doing, it is a leader like Netanyahu.
The classic example of this kind of social/political pattern is the character Dr Stockman in Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” when he tries to tell the truth about his town’s lucrative health baths being dangerously contaminated. Stockman’s fate is the fate of those who tell the truth more times than not, but I think nowhere more so than in politics.
Friday, August 17, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: 12 FORMER CIA DIRECTORS SPEAK AGAINST TRUMP'S TREATMENT OF FORMER DIRECTOR BRENNAN - REMINDER OF WHAT THE CIA ACTUALLY DOES - WASHINGTON SINKS INTO DARK COMEDY JUST AS IT BUSIES ITSELF THREATENING AND TRYING TO MANAGE THE PLANET - IT CANNOT EVEN MANAGE ITS OWN AFFAIRS
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Trump condemned by 12 former CIA chiefs over revocation of John Brennan's security clearance
“'We have never before seen the approval or removal of security clearances used as a political tool, as was done in this case'”
Hard to be sympathetic with any of these people.
Every one of them is repulsive in his arrogance, and they represent an agency which is little more than a government mafia organization used to do everything from overturn legitimate governments, suborn elections abroad, and even to assassinate.
Brennan has been caught lying several times, but perhaps more important, he has spoken out in public against the elected leader of his own country.
I think Trump is a disaster, but it is no less of a disaster to have the head of a secret security service making public remarks about politicians. Totally inappropriate and genuinely dangerous.
What the whole noisy, extended matter shows us is not whether Trump is good or bad – I think we can see for ourselves what a loud-mouthed grotesque he is - but what a chaotic and ignorant and unbelievably arrogant place Washington has become.
It has become almost a parody or dark comedy sketch of a great power’s national government.
A comedy-sketch government controlling a thermonuclear arsenal and now desperately engaged in pushing and bombing many parts of the planet to assert its dominance when it isn’t even fit to dominate its own country.
But this is the spectacle a plutocracy pretending to be a democracy gives us.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Trump condemned by 12 former CIA chiefs over revocation of John Brennan's security clearance
“'We have never before seen the approval or removal of security clearances used as a political tool, as was done in this case'”
Hard to be sympathetic with any of these people.
Every one of them is repulsive in his arrogance, and they represent an agency which is little more than a government mafia organization used to do everything from overturn legitimate governments, suborn elections abroad, and even to assassinate.
Brennan has been caught lying several times, but perhaps more important, he has spoken out in public against the elected leader of his own country.
I think Trump is a disaster, but it is no less of a disaster to have the head of a secret security service making public remarks about politicians. Totally inappropriate and genuinely dangerous.
What the whole noisy, extended matter shows us is not whether Trump is good or bad – I think we can see for ourselves what a loud-mouthed grotesque he is - but what a chaotic and ignorant and unbelievably arrogant place Washington has become.
It has become almost a parody or dark comedy sketch of a great power’s national government.
A comedy-sketch government controlling a thermonuclear arsenal and now desperately engaged in pushing and bombing many parts of the planet to assert its dominance when it isn’t even fit to dominate its own country.
But this is the spectacle a plutocracy pretending to be a democracy gives us.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: RESPONSE TO A SATIRICAL TAKE ON THE JEREMY CORBYN ATTACKS - BUT THERE IS NO HUMOR IN NETANYAHU'S EFFORT AT DIRECT INTERFERENCE IN BRITISH POLITICAL AFFAIRS - NOTES ON NETANYAHU'S OUTRAGEOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE PARIS CHARLIE HEBDO PARADE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MARK STEEL IN THE INDEPENDENT
“The Islamic fundamentalist Jeremy Corbyn should be ashamed of himself – if only he'd behaved more like Margaret Thatcher
“Corbyn supported every gay rights campaign at a time when it was considered extremist to do so. And the way he managed to be an extremist Islamic fundamentalist and an extremist gay rights fanatic at the same time only shows how dangerous he is”
Well done.
But Netanyahu's butting-in raises a huge issue in all this ugly McCarthyite campaign against Corbyn.
A foreign head of state is trying to tell people in Britain about a British leader.
Does any thinking person regard that as fitting?
Of course, Netanyahu even had his facts wrong, as he so often does.
But the very idea that he thinks he can make public charges against a leader in another country is completely out of line.
Earlier the leader of Israel’s Labour Party did the same thing.
Talk about Putin, who, by the way, never engages in such behavior.
And the leader he attacks, moreover, was cleanly elected to his office twice. Netanyahu has always been a minority politician.
You know, just for perspective, I think of the time of the Charlie Hebdo march in Paris.
The French government did not want Netanyahu to come, actually asking him to stay away.
He came anyway and elbowed his way to the front of the parade. Afterward, he went around trying to convince some French citizens to leave France to live in Israel.
Netanyahu almost makes Trump look moderate, yet this godawful man is almost never criticized and is busy making a hell of the Middle East
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MARK STEEL IN THE INDEPENDENT
“The Islamic fundamentalist Jeremy Corbyn should be ashamed of himself – if only he'd behaved more like Margaret Thatcher
“Corbyn supported every gay rights campaign at a time when it was considered extremist to do so. And the way he managed to be an extremist Islamic fundamentalist and an extremist gay rights fanatic at the same time only shows how dangerous he is”
Well done.
But Netanyahu's butting-in raises a huge issue in all this ugly McCarthyite campaign against Corbyn.
A foreign head of state is trying to tell people in Britain about a British leader.
Does any thinking person regard that as fitting?
Of course, Netanyahu even had his facts wrong, as he so often does.
But the very idea that he thinks he can make public charges against a leader in another country is completely out of line.
Earlier the leader of Israel’s Labour Party did the same thing.
Talk about Putin, who, by the way, never engages in such behavior.
And the leader he attacks, moreover, was cleanly elected to his office twice. Netanyahu has always been a minority politician.
You know, just for perspective, I think of the time of the Charlie Hebdo march in Paris.
The French government did not want Netanyahu to come, actually asking him to stay away.
He came anyway and elbowed his way to the front of the parade. Afterward, he went around trying to convince some French citizens to leave France to live in Israel.
Netanyahu almost makes Trump look moderate, yet this godawful man is almost never criticized and is busy making a hell of the Middle East
Thursday, August 16, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A BRITISH PAPER ACTUALLY RUNS A COLUMN DEFENDING JEREMY CORBYN (I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT CAME OVER THEM) FROM THE CALUMNIES OF A SPECIAL INTEREST LOBBY - THE IMMENSELY IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRITICISM OF ISRAEL AND ANTI-SEMITISM - OUR WESTERN VALUES
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ASH SARKAR IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Israel-Palestine is not an equal conflict – for that reason we can’t let people like Corbyn be tarnished as terrorist sympathisers”
“A clash between a nation-state with a defence budget of $18.6 billion and a politically, geographically and militarily fragmented people who’ve been under occupation for the past 70 years is in no way a battle between equivalent powers.”
Well said indeed.
And embedded in that thought is the indisputable reason why it is an absurdity to conflate criticism of Israel with “anti-Semitism,” even though Israel and Israel lobby groups in a number of countries constantly push for laws doing just that.
Israel is a state (and moreover, a highly militaristic state out of all proportion to its size) and it is right to criticize states when they abuse their power.
Israel has often abused its power and behaved in lawless fashion. Saying that has absolutely nothing to do with prejudice against the Jewish religion or Jewish people.
Indeed, the vast majority of Jews do not even live in Israel.
Where do we put ourselves in the West, with our traditions of human and democratic rights, if we are not allowed – whether by social pressure or unfair laws – to criticize abuse and lawlessness by a heavily-armed state?
In an absurd and dangerous position.
I think Israel only pushes for such things because its own situation is so confused and contradictory. It claims to be a democracy but only one kind of people can become citizens. It claims to want peace but it has attacked every neighbor that it has, some several times. It claims to embrace Western traditions of human rights but it holds something like five million people in subjugation with no rights and no hopes.
Anyone who is not willfully blind can see that the men running Israel are driven by the desire for aggressive expansion. And how do we speak of that kind of activity in our history texts when discussing the many empires and aggressors and conquerors and dictators of the past?
And of course, the same logic holds for displaying sympathy or understanding for the Palestinians, as Jeremy Corbyn has done. It has nothing to do with disliking Jewish people. It has everything to do with someone’s having a sense of social justice, or a conscience if you will, and being confronted by abuse and brutality. And in the case of Gaza especially, the abuse has been on a monumental scale, as bad or worse than that of the Rohingya people by Myanmar, behavior which is universally condemned.
And there are many more reasons for not allowing people to tarnish Corbyn.
One important one is not permitting foreign states to interfere in your country’s politics. Russia is accused of doing this regularly now, and without evidence. Lack of evidence doesn’t stop our newspapers from prattling on about it almost daily.
But Israel does do exactly that, interfere in your country’s politics, and on an ongoing basis, and you need no proof beyond events reported in the newspapers and on your television. But you won’t find a word of prattle about it.
Good God, Israel’s Prime Minister, without even understanding what he was talking about, publicly condemned a British national leader over a misrepresented picture. In the courts, that’s called slander, and it has no place in the relationships between countries.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ASH SARKAR IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Israel-Palestine is not an equal conflict – for that reason we can’t let people like Corbyn be tarnished as terrorist sympathisers”
“A clash between a nation-state with a defence budget of $18.6 billion and a politically, geographically and militarily fragmented people who’ve been under occupation for the past 70 years is in no way a battle between equivalent powers.”
Well said indeed.
And embedded in that thought is the indisputable reason why it is an absurdity to conflate criticism of Israel with “anti-Semitism,” even though Israel and Israel lobby groups in a number of countries constantly push for laws doing just that.
Israel is a state (and moreover, a highly militaristic state out of all proportion to its size) and it is right to criticize states when they abuse their power.
Israel has often abused its power and behaved in lawless fashion. Saying that has absolutely nothing to do with prejudice against the Jewish religion or Jewish people.
Indeed, the vast majority of Jews do not even live in Israel.
Where do we put ourselves in the West, with our traditions of human and democratic rights, if we are not allowed – whether by social pressure or unfair laws – to criticize abuse and lawlessness by a heavily-armed state?
In an absurd and dangerous position.
I think Israel only pushes for such things because its own situation is so confused and contradictory. It claims to be a democracy but only one kind of people can become citizens. It claims to want peace but it has attacked every neighbor that it has, some several times. It claims to embrace Western traditions of human rights but it holds something like five million people in subjugation with no rights and no hopes.
Anyone who is not willfully blind can see that the men running Israel are driven by the desire for aggressive expansion. And how do we speak of that kind of activity in our history texts when discussing the many empires and aggressors and conquerors and dictators of the past?
And of course, the same logic holds for displaying sympathy or understanding for the Palestinians, as Jeremy Corbyn has done. It has nothing to do with disliking Jewish people. It has everything to do with someone’s having a sense of social justice, or a conscience if you will, and being confronted by abuse and brutality. And in the case of Gaza especially, the abuse has been on a monumental scale, as bad or worse than that of the Rohingya people by Myanmar, behavior which is universally condemned.
And there are many more reasons for not allowing people to tarnish Corbyn.
One important one is not permitting foreign states to interfere in your country’s politics. Russia is accused of doing this regularly now, and without evidence. Lack of evidence doesn’t stop our newspapers from prattling on about it almost daily.
But Israel does do exactly that, interfere in your country’s politics, and on an ongoing basis, and you need no proof beyond events reported in the newspapers and on your television. But you won’t find a word of prattle about it.
Good God, Israel’s Prime Minister, without even understanding what he was talking about, publicly condemned a British national leader over a misrepresented picture. In the courts, that’s called slander, and it has no place in the relationships between countries.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A USS LIBERTY SURVIVOR ALSO ILLEGALLY ARRESTED IN ISRAEL'S LATEST PIRACY ON THE HIGH SEAS TELLS HIS STORY - THE GREAT AND ENDURING MYSTERY OF ISRAEL'S 1967 ATTACK ON AN AMERICAN SHIP - SOME MOTIVES FOR ISRAEL ARE CLEAR - MOTIVES FOR DEVIOUS LYNDON JOHNSON REMAIN A DEEP MYSTERY - SIX DAY WAR FACTS
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE FROM CONSORTIUM NEWS RADIO
“A USS Liberty survivor who was arrested by Israel this month trying to break the Gaza blockade joins Episode 2 of Consortium News Radio.
“Joe Meadors was a signalman on the USS Liberty surveillance ship on June 8, 1967 when Israel attacked, killing 34 U.S. sailors and injuring 173 more.”
Yes, it was a very cowardly business, just as so many violent activities of Israel are - e.g., platoons of soldiers with sniper rifles shooting from behind a fence at unarmed civilians as though they were in a big-game hunt.
The most interesting missing information about Israel's attack on the USS Liberty is Lyndon Johnson's role.
Was he secretly complicit? He was a very devious person and had no problem causing the deaths of vast numbers, as in Vietnam.
And he was a man with a violent temper and an immense ego, so his behavior afterward in staying quiet, not doing anything against Israel, and in calling off response when the attack was reported is a great mystery.
One can imagine motives for Israel even without Johnson's complicity.
There was the atrocity of Israel's machine-gunning large numbers of Egyptian prisoners of war in the Sinai which was done because Israel was in a rush to turn north for conquests there and didn't want the "burden" of prisoners. An electronic observer ship would record it all.
There was the matter of Dayan turning his armor north, too. American authorities had told Israel not to do this, but they did it anyway. Of course, an electronic observer would notify American authorities and record the activity.
There has been speculation around Israel's blackmailing Johnson to shut up, perhaps over his behavior in the Kennedy assassination. I don't know, but that is entirely plausible given the nature of the two actors.
There has also been speculation of a dirty deal Johnson may have arranged ahead with Israel. You sink my ship for me, and I'll blame Egypt and send in the Air Force.
Possible, but there are reasons to doubt it. What would the motive be? I don't buy it without some evidence.
We have evidence around Israel's possible motives in Sinai and heading North. We also can easily buy some kind of blackmail to shut Johnson up, Israel having done such things many times.
It is all a mystery as big as the Kennedy assassination, but it rarely gets that kind of attention. We generally only hear of a determined sneak attack, killing many Americans, by a supposedly friendly state which said "Sorry, our mistake," afterward. And of the wall of silence which immediately was created.
Of course, it wasn't a mistake. The ship was well marked. A lead pilot flew over first and saw Americans, and he is said to have radioed back to re-confirm orders (if so, the pilots hadn't been told whom they were attacking). But the attack went ahead.
Whatever way you interpret it, the main players come out even dirtier than considering only the attack.
As a last note, the Six Day War was a planned affair by Israel. Provocations were used against several Arab states, Israel certain it could easily defeat them. President de Gaulle, among other notable figures, understood this and commented disapprovingly on it.
Israel was grabbing "Greater Israel" without telling anyone in a lightning war of aggression.
General Dayan, Israel's darling of the war, said a number of times that it would be necessary to make the Palestinians miserable so they would leave.
Well, Israel has certainly worked hard towards that goal, but the brave Palestinians remain, largely peacefully resisting occupation.
Of course, there were UN Resolutions demanding Israel return to its borders, but they have always just been ignored, and the United States has always gone along with the occupation and its countless injustices.
The entire business, from beginning to end, represents complete lawlessness on Israel’s part.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE FROM CONSORTIUM NEWS RADIO
“A USS Liberty survivor who was arrested by Israel this month trying to break the Gaza blockade joins Episode 2 of Consortium News Radio.
“Joe Meadors was a signalman on the USS Liberty surveillance ship on June 8, 1967 when Israel attacked, killing 34 U.S. sailors and injuring 173 more.”
Yes, it was a very cowardly business, just as so many violent activities of Israel are - e.g., platoons of soldiers with sniper rifles shooting from behind a fence at unarmed civilians as though they were in a big-game hunt.
The most interesting missing information about Israel's attack on the USS Liberty is Lyndon Johnson's role.
Was he secretly complicit? He was a very devious person and had no problem causing the deaths of vast numbers, as in Vietnam.
And he was a man with a violent temper and an immense ego, so his behavior afterward in staying quiet, not doing anything against Israel, and in calling off response when the attack was reported is a great mystery.
One can imagine motives for Israel even without Johnson's complicity.
There was the atrocity of Israel's machine-gunning large numbers of Egyptian prisoners of war in the Sinai which was done because Israel was in a rush to turn north for conquests there and didn't want the "burden" of prisoners. An electronic observer ship would record it all.
There was the matter of Dayan turning his armor north, too. American authorities had told Israel not to do this, but they did it anyway. Of course, an electronic observer would notify American authorities and record the activity.
There has been speculation around Israel's blackmailing Johnson to shut up, perhaps over his behavior in the Kennedy assassination. I don't know, but that is entirely plausible given the nature of the two actors.
There has also been speculation of a dirty deal Johnson may have arranged ahead with Israel. You sink my ship for me, and I'll blame Egypt and send in the Air Force.
Possible, but there are reasons to doubt it. What would the motive be? I don't buy it without some evidence.
We have evidence around Israel's possible motives in Sinai and heading North. We also can easily buy some kind of blackmail to shut Johnson up, Israel having done such things many times.
It is all a mystery as big as the Kennedy assassination, but it rarely gets that kind of attention. We generally only hear of a determined sneak attack, killing many Americans, by a supposedly friendly state which said "Sorry, our mistake," afterward. And of the wall of silence which immediately was created.
Of course, it wasn't a mistake. The ship was well marked. A lead pilot flew over first and saw Americans, and he is said to have radioed back to re-confirm orders (if so, the pilots hadn't been told whom they were attacking). But the attack went ahead.
Whatever way you interpret it, the main players come out even dirtier than considering only the attack.
As a last note, the Six Day War was a planned affair by Israel. Provocations were used against several Arab states, Israel certain it could easily defeat them. President de Gaulle, among other notable figures, understood this and commented disapprovingly on it.
Israel was grabbing "Greater Israel" without telling anyone in a lightning war of aggression.
General Dayan, Israel's darling of the war, said a number of times that it would be necessary to make the Palestinians miserable so they would leave.
Well, Israel has certainly worked hard towards that goal, but the brave Palestinians remain, largely peacefully resisting occupation.
Of course, there were UN Resolutions demanding Israel return to its borders, but they have always just been ignored, and the United States has always gone along with the occupation and its countless injustices.
The entire business, from beginning to end, represents complete lawlessness on Israel’s part.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: BRITISH PRESS TRIES YET ANOTHER TACTIC - EDITORIAL SAYS CORBYN NEEDS TO CLEARLY STATE HIS VIEWS ON ISRAEL - A BRITISH NEWSPAPER DOESN'T KNOW THE VIEWS OF A VETERAN BRITISH POLITICIAN? - SEEMS ODD - AND WHY ARE VIEWS ON ISRAEL MORE FEATURED THAN THOSE ON 200 OTHER NATIONS?
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN EDITORIAL AT THE INDEPENDENT
“To put antisemitism claims behind him, Jeremy Corbyn needs to state clearly his position on Israel
“No one is asking Corbyn to change his mind, but more to tell us what his views actually are – and what they might mean for a Corbyn government’s foreign policy. That’s why it matters”
You don't know his views?
Seems rather odd for editors of a British newspaper.
Especially when the subject is a career British politician.
I live in Canada, but I think I understand his views just from reading.
Really, this is just one more subtle item in the long and relentless campaign against a decent and fair-minded man, the Independent having notably supported the small McCarthyite crowd yelling for Corbyn's political blood.
And for no good reason. Just that he is fair-minded about the Middle East, which is not allowed. God, even loony Netanyahu opened his big mouth to say something about a photo he knew absolutely nothing about, making accusations against Corbyn. Accusations against a decent man from a mass killer and perpetual liar.
That's what you call class.
And then you turn around and go on about imagined Russian interference in elections?
And even if it were not imagined, it would be paltry compared to Israel's persistent and flagrant interference. The Prime Minister and the head of Israel's Labor Party both inappropriately have both jumped right into Britain's domestic political affairs.
How about asking them to explain themselves?
_____________________
Response to another comment about Corbyn’s standing up to all this:
Well said.
Amazing stamina in the face of brutal unfairness and name-calling.
A remarkable man, decent and with such a calm demeanor.
Which is precisely why Israel doesn't want him, and Israel's Lobby in Britain works relentlessly and even unconscionably against him.
___________________________
Response to another comment:
Well said and true.
It's been an amazing set of events, conducted by a minority to upset democratic politics in Britain. The man was convincingly elected. Twice.
And just consider how little we hear against this witch hunt in the press. Should give you some suspicion about the press in other matters.
I do give full marks to the Independent for a notably democratic and fair-minded Comments Section, superior to most others, even if some of the articles being commented upon are not.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN EDITORIAL AT THE INDEPENDENT
“To put antisemitism claims behind him, Jeremy Corbyn needs to state clearly his position on Israel
“No one is asking Corbyn to change his mind, but more to tell us what his views actually are – and what they might mean for a Corbyn government’s foreign policy. That’s why it matters”
You don't know his views?
Seems rather odd for editors of a British newspaper.
Especially when the subject is a career British politician.
I live in Canada, but I think I understand his views just from reading.
Really, this is just one more subtle item in the long and relentless campaign against a decent and fair-minded man, the Independent having notably supported the small McCarthyite crowd yelling for Corbyn's political blood.
And for no good reason. Just that he is fair-minded about the Middle East, which is not allowed. God, even loony Netanyahu opened his big mouth to say something about a photo he knew absolutely nothing about, making accusations against Corbyn. Accusations against a decent man from a mass killer and perpetual liar.
That's what you call class.
And then you turn around and go on about imagined Russian interference in elections?
And even if it were not imagined, it would be paltry compared to Israel's persistent and flagrant interference. The Prime Minister and the head of Israel's Labor Party both inappropriately have both jumped right into Britain's domestic political affairs.
How about asking them to explain themselves?
_____________________
Response to another comment about Corbyn’s standing up to all this:
Well said.
Amazing stamina in the face of brutal unfairness and name-calling.
A remarkable man, decent and with such a calm demeanor.
Which is precisely why Israel doesn't want him, and Israel's Lobby in Britain works relentlessly and even unconscionably against him.
___________________________
Response to another comment:
Well said and true.
It's been an amazing set of events, conducted by a minority to upset democratic politics in Britain. The man was convincingly elected. Twice.
And just consider how little we hear against this witch hunt in the press. Should give you some suspicion about the press in other matters.
I do give full marks to the Independent for a notably democratic and fair-minded Comments Section, superior to most others, even if some of the articles being commented upon are not.
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE AMERICAN RIGHT-WING'S FAVORITE FAIRY TALE REPEATED - ABOUT TRUMP AS A GENERAL ON A WHITE HORSE READYING TO CHANGE THE WHOLE WORLD ORDER AND BRING PEACE - IT'S AMAZING HOW BLIND IDEOLOGUES ARE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY GILBERT DOCTOROW IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Trump Is Using Turkey and Iran to Undermine NATO and the EU”
"(Trumps's) logic is to dynamite the whole international order of military alliances which constrain the United States, embroil it in regional conflicts where it has no national interest, and drain away more than half of its defense budget"
"... he knows who are his friends and who are his natural enemies. ... it is comforting to know that this car has a driver with a mission that, in the end, spells peace."
Huh?
It sure ain't NATO embroiling the United States in conflicts.
It actually goes the other way around, the US drags NATO into conflicts where the Europeans have little interest.
That is just one of the values of NATO to the US today. It doesn't have to go it alone in all those wars and conflicts it starts for its own imperial reasons. It has the NATO name to make its operations seem to have international support.
And the US doesn't really have a "defense budget," although it uses that term. Russia has a defense budget. So does China. And India. And most of the countries of Europe. A defense budget is something adequate to your defense against reasonably possible threats.
But over $700 billion a year ain't about defense, especially when you consider that there's no country attacking or threatening the US.
And the budget is actually larger than that when you throw in all the "black" projects and include another vast amount spent on CIA and NSA to support the Pentagon's ugly work.
No, this is the budget of a massively aggressive imperial power whose leadership is hellbent on global dominance. Full-spectrum dominance, everywhere.
And Trump is only a portion of that leadership because in America power is divided. In some matters the Senate is more powerful than the President.
And, furthermore, what we see from Trump is still more of the same old, same old.
A new Space Force branch of the armed services? Missile strikes in Syria on the flimsiest excuse? Tearing-up an international treaty with Iran? Uttering regular threats against Iran? Openly speaking about maybe invading Venezuela? Insulting China? Hugely increasing military budgets? Doing things guaranteed to generate anger and instability, like putting the embassy in Jerusalem? New military bases? Ships sent to the Black Sea? Supplying and encouraging Saudi Arabia in its terrible war? New sanctions?
Why even the man’s everyday speech is packed with name-calling, insults to others, and unbelievable glimpses of hostility and ignorance. And of course, his behavior in international trade is beginning to border on a form of war.
I don't understand how anyone sees a peaceful leader in almost any of his acts. I see a form of chaos, the result of his trying to look like a very active leader combined with relatively little knowledge about the world’s affairs and possessing a reality-distorting ego plus making efforts to please the many American establishment people who simply loathe him.
Having a summit with Putin is good, very good, but that is only what two nuclear superpowers should do regularly, but the evidence suggests that the efforts at the summit are going nowhere.
I wish that were not true, but I'm pretty sure that it is.
And I sometimes suspect and fear Trump’s whole impulse towards Russia reflects nothing more than the advice of that old war criminal himself, Henry Kissinger. That advice is not good for the world’s affairs, including, I very much believe, Russia’s affairs. It is innately full of hostility towards China. And its real purpose is just to help along the effort for American global dominance. Russia, flattered by American attentions, would serve as a temporary crutch towards putting down China.
Trump has no clout in Washington and, therefore, little ability to do anything really important. But even if he did, we have no evidence whatsoever that he would do something good.
And every time he deals with Putin – again, as an American President should – he only becomes more isolated in Washington. Washington’s establishment is not going to stop playing its ugly games, and I think it best for everyone – Russia, Europe, and others – to understand that and prepare for it.
Trump’s answer to his isolation and threats against him, such as the Special Prosecutor, are to give the establishment even more of what it wants, “Yes, Sir, yes, Sir, three bags full!”
You know, American Right-wingers and the Alt-right like to make fun of ”liberals” and pretend that the bizarre man in the White House actually has a plan and that some of it at least is good. But I have never believed in fairy tales.
Both parts of that set of assumptions are confused. There are no liberals in America’s power structure, and Trump’s only plan is to survive in office and make lots of ego-satisfying noise.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY GILBERT DOCTOROW IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Trump Is Using Turkey and Iran to Undermine NATO and the EU”
"(Trumps's) logic is to dynamite the whole international order of military alliances which constrain the United States, embroil it in regional conflicts where it has no national interest, and drain away more than half of its defense budget"
"... he knows who are his friends and who are his natural enemies. ... it is comforting to know that this car has a driver with a mission that, in the end, spells peace."
Huh?
It sure ain't NATO embroiling the United States in conflicts.
It actually goes the other way around, the US drags NATO into conflicts where the Europeans have little interest.
That is just one of the values of NATO to the US today. It doesn't have to go it alone in all those wars and conflicts it starts for its own imperial reasons. It has the NATO name to make its operations seem to have international support.
And the US doesn't really have a "defense budget," although it uses that term. Russia has a defense budget. So does China. And India. And most of the countries of Europe. A defense budget is something adequate to your defense against reasonably possible threats.
But over $700 billion a year ain't about defense, especially when you consider that there's no country attacking or threatening the US.
And the budget is actually larger than that when you throw in all the "black" projects and include another vast amount spent on CIA and NSA to support the Pentagon's ugly work.
No, this is the budget of a massively aggressive imperial power whose leadership is hellbent on global dominance. Full-spectrum dominance, everywhere.
And Trump is only a portion of that leadership because in America power is divided. In some matters the Senate is more powerful than the President.
And, furthermore, what we see from Trump is still more of the same old, same old.
A new Space Force branch of the armed services? Missile strikes in Syria on the flimsiest excuse? Tearing-up an international treaty with Iran? Uttering regular threats against Iran? Openly speaking about maybe invading Venezuela? Insulting China? Hugely increasing military budgets? Doing things guaranteed to generate anger and instability, like putting the embassy in Jerusalem? New military bases? Ships sent to the Black Sea? Supplying and encouraging Saudi Arabia in its terrible war? New sanctions?
Why even the man’s everyday speech is packed with name-calling, insults to others, and unbelievable glimpses of hostility and ignorance. And of course, his behavior in international trade is beginning to border on a form of war.
I don't understand how anyone sees a peaceful leader in almost any of his acts. I see a form of chaos, the result of his trying to look like a very active leader combined with relatively little knowledge about the world’s affairs and possessing a reality-distorting ego plus making efforts to please the many American establishment people who simply loathe him.
Having a summit with Putin is good, very good, but that is only what two nuclear superpowers should do regularly, but the evidence suggests that the efforts at the summit are going nowhere.
I wish that were not true, but I'm pretty sure that it is.
And I sometimes suspect and fear Trump’s whole impulse towards Russia reflects nothing more than the advice of that old war criminal himself, Henry Kissinger. That advice is not good for the world’s affairs, including, I very much believe, Russia’s affairs. It is innately full of hostility towards China. And its real purpose is just to help along the effort for American global dominance. Russia, flattered by American attentions, would serve as a temporary crutch towards putting down China.
Trump has no clout in Washington and, therefore, little ability to do anything really important. But even if he did, we have no evidence whatsoever that he would do something good.
And every time he deals with Putin – again, as an American President should – he only becomes more isolated in Washington. Washington’s establishment is not going to stop playing its ugly games, and I think it best for everyone – Russia, Europe, and others – to understand that and prepare for it.
Trump’s answer to his isolation and threats against him, such as the Special Prosecutor, are to give the establishment even more of what it wants, “Yes, Sir, yes, Sir, three bags full!”
You know, American Right-wingers and the Alt-right like to make fun of ”liberals” and pretend that the bizarre man in the White House actually has a plan and that some of it at least is good. But I have never believed in fairy tales.
Both parts of that set of assumptions are confused. There are no liberals in America’s power structure, and Trump’s only plan is to survive in office and make lots of ego-satisfying noise.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: WHY EVIDENCE DOESN'T MAKE THE "RUSSIA-GATE" STUFF GO AWAY IN WASHINGTON - AND ALMOST NO ONE WILL EVEN SPEAK TO THE MAN WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH ABOUT RUSSIAN "HACKING"
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PATRICK LAWRENCE IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
‘Too Big to Fail’: Russia-gate One Year After VIPS Showed a Leak
“A year has passed since highly credentialed intelligence professionals produced the first hard evidence that allegations of mail theft and other crimes attributed to Russia rested on purposeful falsification and subterfuge”
But this is just the way American politicians have learned to deal with any adverse finding about almost anything, especially in foreign affairs.
They just ignore it. The practice resembles the way they all have learned, when asked a question in an interview, just to repeat what it is they have been saying, perhaps in new words, without ever answering the question.
“How far will we allow our government to escalate against others without proof of anything?” is a reader question cited by the author.
But I ask, first, what the “allow” is doing in there?
Just what options, what real power, do average Americans have today? My best guess is that it is close to zero.
Yes, you’re still free, at least for a while, to write and speak words, words, and more words. But their net effect on the giant engine that is the American power establishment is close to zero also.
And perhaps before long – given events like the Alex Jones creepy stunts – you may not even be able to utter the words, at least in a way that anyone hears you.
The stupid, endless stuff about Russia and hacks is just one small battle front in a huge, multi-front war being waged by the American power establishment for world supremacy.
If you want to understand the engines driving this, read:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/john-chuckman-comment-how-american-politics-really-work-why-there-are-terrible-candidates-and-constant-wars-and-peoples-problems-are-ignored-why-heroes-like-julian-assange-are-persecuted-and-r/
A further thought.
We have, of course, someone who can precisely and accurately answer any question in the matter.
Unfortunately, he is more or less imprisoned at the behest of the American government.
And should he be turned out of his current situation, he faces certain extradition to the US where he also faces ugly treatment and a long prison term.
Such are the realities of American power in the world today.
His name, of course, is Julian Assange.
And the Democratic Party’s own candidate, Ms. Clinton, was quoted in her charming fashion, “Can’t we just drone him [Assange] or something?”
Of course, saying that was in line with many ugly statements by Clinton, as the one, after Qaddafi’s assassination – a man who did his very best for his people and kept them in peace – “We came, we saw, he died! Ha ha ha!”
It isn’t just Trump who has a filthy mouth and constantly tells lies.
It is the whole American power establishment.
There is no easy solution, at least not in our time.
Powerful people who are determined to do terrible things will do them.
As the American power establishment sees it, the total stakes are too big for any argument or evidence to turn it around.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PATRICK LAWRENCE IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
‘Too Big to Fail’: Russia-gate One Year After VIPS Showed a Leak
“A year has passed since highly credentialed intelligence professionals produced the first hard evidence that allegations of mail theft and other crimes attributed to Russia rested on purposeful falsification and subterfuge”
But this is just the way American politicians have learned to deal with any adverse finding about almost anything, especially in foreign affairs.
They just ignore it. The practice resembles the way they all have learned, when asked a question in an interview, just to repeat what it is they have been saying, perhaps in new words, without ever answering the question.
“How far will we allow our government to escalate against others without proof of anything?” is a reader question cited by the author.
But I ask, first, what the “allow” is doing in there?
Just what options, what real power, do average Americans have today? My best guess is that it is close to zero.
Yes, you’re still free, at least for a while, to write and speak words, words, and more words. But their net effect on the giant engine that is the American power establishment is close to zero also.
And perhaps before long – given events like the Alex Jones creepy stunts – you may not even be able to utter the words, at least in a way that anyone hears you.
The stupid, endless stuff about Russia and hacks is just one small battle front in a huge, multi-front war being waged by the American power establishment for world supremacy.
If you want to understand the engines driving this, read:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/john-chuckman-comment-how-american-politics-really-work-why-there-are-terrible-candidates-and-constant-wars-and-peoples-problems-are-ignored-why-heroes-like-julian-assange-are-persecuted-and-r/
A further thought.
We have, of course, someone who can precisely and accurately answer any question in the matter.
Unfortunately, he is more or less imprisoned at the behest of the American government.
And should he be turned out of his current situation, he faces certain extradition to the US where he also faces ugly treatment and a long prison term.
Such are the realities of American power in the world today.
His name, of course, is Julian Assange.
And the Democratic Party’s own candidate, Ms. Clinton, was quoted in her charming fashion, “Can’t we just drone him [Assange] or something?”
Of course, saying that was in line with many ugly statements by Clinton, as the one, after Qaddafi’s assassination – a man who did his very best for his people and kept them in peace – “We came, we saw, he died! Ha ha ha!”
It isn’t just Trump who has a filthy mouth and constantly tells lies.
It is the whole American power establishment.
There is no easy solution, at least not in our time.
Powerful people who are determined to do terrible things will do them.
As the American power establishment sees it, the total stakes are too big for any argument or evidence to turn it around.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: MORE RIGHT-WING STUFF ABOUT LIBERALS AND WHAT BAD STUFF THEY DO - BUT THERE ARE NO LIBERALS IN WASHINGTON - ONLY TWO MILITARY-IMPERIAL PARTIES WITH DIFFERENT SOCIAL-ISSUES LANGUAGE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
"The True Racists: Why Liberals Bash Trump but Ignore Dictators"
Please, it is really tiresome to read stuff about "liberals" and what they supposedly do in America.
There are no liberals in America.
There are only two imperialist war parties to choose from. They differ on some social issues, but on war and empire and the Pentagon and the CIA and the NSA and the privileges of wealth in America, they are as one.
Take your pick, Coke or Pepsi, what you get in either case is a brown fizzy sweet drink which is endlessly promoted as being unique.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
"The True Racists: Why Liberals Bash Trump but Ignore Dictators"
Please, it is really tiresome to read stuff about "liberals" and what they supposedly do in America.
There are no liberals in America.
There are only two imperialist war parties to choose from. They differ on some social issues, but on war and empire and the Pentagon and the CIA and the NSA and the privileges of wealth in America, they are as one.
Take your pick, Coke or Pepsi, what you get in either case is a brown fizzy sweet drink which is endlessly promoted as being unique.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: SEN RICHARD BURR (A FAN OF TORTURE) OVERSAW THE APPROVAL OF GINA HASPEL AT CIA WHOM WE NOW KNOW PERSONALLY ENGAGED IN TORTURE - A TEMPLATE FOR THE WAY WASHINGTON WORKS WITH POLITICAL THEATER
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY RAY MCGOVERN IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Senator Richard Burr: a Longtime Fan of Torture
“Newly released declassified documents prove once and for all that CIA Director Gina Haspel oversaw torture in Thailand, which the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee knew all along, as Ray McGovern explains.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/08/11/senator-richard-burr-a-longtime-fan-of-torture/
Good summary of events.
This is important because it displays the template used over and over again in Washington to drive the agenda of America's imperialist establishment while offering the appearances of constitutional procedure.
Just as American elections offer a display of some kind of choice while actually offering the same bundle of goods from two parties - the Pentagon, the CIA, big lobbies, imperial wars, and America's plutocrats.
Much of the government process in Washington is political theater.
The real power behind the stage show marches right on while all this distracts and entertains.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY RAY MCGOVERN IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Senator Richard Burr: a Longtime Fan of Torture
“Newly released declassified documents prove once and for all that CIA Director Gina Haspel oversaw torture in Thailand, which the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee knew all along, as Ray McGovern explains.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/08/11/senator-richard-burr-a-longtime-fan-of-torture/
Good summary of events.
This is important because it displays the template used over and over again in Washington to drive the agenda of America's imperialist establishment while offering the appearances of constitutional procedure.
Just as American elections offer a display of some kind of choice while actually offering the same bundle of goods from two parties - the Pentagon, the CIA, big lobbies, imperial wars, and America's plutocrats.
Much of the government process in Washington is political theater.
The real power behind the stage show marches right on while all this distracts and entertains.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: CANADIAN RIGHT-WING POLITICIAN COMMENTS ON "EXTREME MULTICULTURALISM" - THE TENSIONS OF LARGE MIGRATIONS WILL ONLY GROW IN THE WEST - AND THE DANGER OF THE RIGHT IN EXPLOITING THEM - UNAVOIDABLE CONFLICTS AHEAD?
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
Maxime Bernier criticizes Liberals for 'extreme multiculturalism'
'Trudeau's ... cult of diversity will divide us into little tribes'
'extreme multiculturalism' is used like a code word.
Unfortunately, the western world is experiencing a great deal of political discontent over large populations of refugees and migrants, especially ones who look different or who practice a different religion.
People are not happy with the feeling that "outsiders" are changing what they have always known.
Our entire western history is full of such change, but it is the speed and volume of the current situation which are bothering people.
Any situation causing discontent is just waiting to be exploited by ambitious politicians. This is exactly one of the things that has happened in the United States and parts of Europe.
It really is the duty of our leaders to oppose this kind of thing and of our press to investigate and expose it.
If you think Trump can only happen in America, you are wrong.
___________________________
Just a further note.
The very language we speak reflects centuries of waves of population change in Britain.
The Celts, the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings, the Norman French, and still other bits and pieces.
It is a dynamic history, not the static picture of Winston Churchill with his bowler and cigar and umbrella.
But we all become attached to the seemingly static pictures of our societies.
But such pictures are not our destiny.Owing to Demographic Transition in advanced societies, they do not replace their own populations. Modern couples rarely want more than two children, if that, and even two children each will not replace our population.
So, immigration is the unalterable fate of every advanced society, and a constant flow of new and different people changes things. There's no avoiding it, any more than you can avoid other great changes, as those brought on by the increasing waves of technology.
Now, add to that the constant rampage of wars we now see, wars which automatically generate millions of refugees, and great political unrest in many places, and the effects of climate change, and you have a giant engine at work generating migrants, and I believe that engine is only going to increase in power.
Politicians like Bernier - remember, this is the careless guy who, when he had a cabinet position, once left top secret NATO papers at his biker-girlfriend's house for many days - are always going to seek to exploit the dynamics of this emerging human population situation.
We must be very careful about letting that happen, but maybe, sadly, it is just as unavoidable as the population changes. If so, we face a fairly dark future in the West with strains of 1930s stuff gaining hold.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
Maxime Bernier criticizes Liberals for 'extreme multiculturalism'
'Trudeau's ... cult of diversity will divide us into little tribes'
'extreme multiculturalism' is used like a code word.
Unfortunately, the western world is experiencing a great deal of political discontent over large populations of refugees and migrants, especially ones who look different or who practice a different religion.
People are not happy with the feeling that "outsiders" are changing what they have always known.
Our entire western history is full of such change, but it is the speed and volume of the current situation which are bothering people.
Any situation causing discontent is just waiting to be exploited by ambitious politicians. This is exactly one of the things that has happened in the United States and parts of Europe.
It really is the duty of our leaders to oppose this kind of thing and of our press to investigate and expose it.
If you think Trump can only happen in America, you are wrong.
___________________________
Just a further note.
The very language we speak reflects centuries of waves of population change in Britain.
The Celts, the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings, the Norman French, and still other bits and pieces.
It is a dynamic history, not the static picture of Winston Churchill with his bowler and cigar and umbrella.
But we all become attached to the seemingly static pictures of our societies.
But such pictures are not our destiny.Owing to Demographic Transition in advanced societies, they do not replace their own populations. Modern couples rarely want more than two children, if that, and even two children each will not replace our population.
So, immigration is the unalterable fate of every advanced society, and a constant flow of new and different people changes things. There's no avoiding it, any more than you can avoid other great changes, as those brought on by the increasing waves of technology.
Now, add to that the constant rampage of wars we now see, wars which automatically generate millions of refugees, and great political unrest in many places, and the effects of climate change, and you have a giant engine at work generating migrants, and I believe that engine is only going to increase in power.
Politicians like Bernier - remember, this is the careless guy who, when he had a cabinet position, once left top secret NATO papers at his biker-girlfriend's house for many days - are always going to seek to exploit the dynamics of this emerging human population situation.
We must be very careful about letting that happen, but maybe, sadly, it is just as unavoidable as the population changes. If so, we face a fairly dark future in the West with strains of 1930s stuff gaining hold.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: CANADIAN JOURNALIST ASSAULTED AT TORONTO "PEACE PARADE" - AN ATMOSPHERE OF UNFAIRNESS AND HATE AND ENTITLEMENT HAS SETTLED DOWN OVER MUCH OF THE WESTERN WORLD
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ROBYN URBACK ON CBC NEWS
“A Canadian journalist was physically attacked for doing his job. That should be huge news”
__________________________
Response to another comment:
An atmosphere of unfairness and hate has settled down over much of the western world.
Trump sets a tremendously ugly example (as did Stephen Harper, although somewhat less frightening), but what is happening is not only about a few leaders.
Russia-phobia, Islamophobia, accusations hurled in every direction without evidence, fifteen years of wars through the Middle East which killed 2 million and caused millions more to become desperate refugees, desperate refugees being viewed as unwelcome intruders, the terrible horrors of Syria, election fraud, the just plain slaughter of 155 people in Gaza without a word raised by our government or press - these are just some of the things which go into the mix for what is becoming a very ugly tone in society.
And it is not only the Right, although they clearly are the main perpetrators. I read of unfairness and hate and irrational activities everywhere, much like an epidemic underway.
Look at our own government. It has ignored Saudi Arabia's horrors of the war in Yemen - killing many women and children - and ignored Saudi suppression of some of the Kingdom's residents, and it ignored a violent Crown Prince who effectively seized power using kidnappings and extortion and violence. It sold $15 billion worth of military equipment to it.
Then it goes and starts a diplomatic storm raging by commenting on one woman in Saudi Arabia. The comment doesn't even make any sense in view of the whole picture of Canada's "relationship" with that country.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ROBYN URBACK ON CBC NEWS
“A Canadian journalist was physically attacked for doing his job. That should be huge news”
__________________________
Response to another comment:
An atmosphere of unfairness and hate has settled down over much of the western world.
Trump sets a tremendously ugly example (as did Stephen Harper, although somewhat less frightening), but what is happening is not only about a few leaders.
Russia-phobia, Islamophobia, accusations hurled in every direction without evidence, fifteen years of wars through the Middle East which killed 2 million and caused millions more to become desperate refugees, desperate refugees being viewed as unwelcome intruders, the terrible horrors of Syria, election fraud, the just plain slaughter of 155 people in Gaza without a word raised by our government or press - these are just some of the things which go into the mix for what is becoming a very ugly tone in society.
And it is not only the Right, although they clearly are the main perpetrators. I read of unfairness and hate and irrational activities everywhere, much like an epidemic underway.
Look at our own government. It has ignored Saudi Arabia's horrors of the war in Yemen - killing many women and children - and ignored Saudi suppression of some of the Kingdom's residents, and it ignored a violent Crown Prince who effectively seized power using kidnappings and extortion and violence. It sold $15 billion worth of military equipment to it.
Then it goes and starts a diplomatic storm raging by commenting on one woman in Saudi Arabia. The comment doesn't even make any sense in view of the whole picture of Canada's "relationship" with that country.
Thursday, August 09, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT - AN ATLANTA SCHOOL ENDS THE MORNING PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - IT'S ABOUT TIME - WHAT A DARK PRACTICE THIS HAS LONG BEEN FORCING PEOPLE TO RECITE PLEDGES - THE STUFF OF CULTS AND TOTALITARIAN STATES - BUT LOOK OUT FOR THE PICK-UP TRUCKS FULL OF LOCKED-AND-LOADED PATRIOTS HEADED THEIR WAY
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN WEB NEWS SYSTEM
“Atlanta school: No more Pledge of Allegiance to start day”
This is the right thing to do.
It has always been a very dark practice to have people recite a pledge of "their allegiance" to something each day.
It is a practice one expects to find in totalitarian countries, not free ones. Or in cultish movements.
It has no great long history either, coming into being in the war years of the 1940s, a time it is important to remember when America put thousands of American residents into internment camps owing simply to their national origins.
Then in the 1950s, the Congress added, "under God" to the Pledge, something quite offensive to millions.
Offensive because many do not believe in God, as is their right, but even more offensive in the fact that the words are mandated by government.
As someone wise once said, "Freedom of Religion," as in the Bill of Rights, includes freedom from religion.
But I'll bet the abuse starts pouring in, just as it has for the poor NFL football players, who completely respectfully go to their knee in their protest during the national anthem at football games.
It is anyone's right to protest peacefully. And they do not deserve to be insulted and treated with scorn for doing so, as even the President of the country has joined in doing.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN WEB NEWS SYSTEM
“Atlanta school: No more Pledge of Allegiance to start day”
This is the right thing to do.
It has always been a very dark practice to have people recite a pledge of "their allegiance" to something each day.
It is a practice one expects to find in totalitarian countries, not free ones. Or in cultish movements.
It has no great long history either, coming into being in the war years of the 1940s, a time it is important to remember when America put thousands of American residents into internment camps owing simply to their national origins.
Then in the 1950s, the Congress added, "under God" to the Pledge, something quite offensive to millions.
Offensive because many do not believe in God, as is their right, but even more offensive in the fact that the words are mandated by government.
As someone wise once said, "Freedom of Religion," as in the Bill of Rights, includes freedom from religion.
But I'll bet the abuse starts pouring in, just as it has for the poor NFL football players, who completely respectfully go to their knee in their protest during the national anthem at football games.
It is anyone's right to protest peacefully. And they do not deserve to be insulted and treated with scorn for doing so, as even the President of the country has joined in doing.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE CORBYN HATE FEST HITS RECORD LOW - AN ARTICLE SPEAKS OF HOLOCAUST-DENIAL WITH A BIG PHOTO OF AUSCHWITZ AND TELLS US THIS IS WHY BRITISH JEWS ARE SO SCARED - WHAT DOES ANY OF THAT HAVE TO DO WITH A DECENT MAN NAMED CORBYN? AND WHY IS IT EVEN PUBLISHED?
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MATT GREENE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“This is what modern Holocaust denial looks like. No wonder British Jews are so scared
“In an age of fake news and alternative facts, history is up for grabs. Convince people to question Auschwitz and what else can’t you challenge?”
"This is what modern Holocaust denial looks like. No wonder British Jews are so scared"
And a picture of Auschwitz thrown in? Good God, what are British politics coming to?
Well, that about pushes things as far as it is possible.
There is no one I've heard of who denies a fact of history. No one. It’s absurd. You know perfectly well anyone who did so would be out on his or her ear in minutes.
We have a noisy and demanding minority, supported, I am sad to say, by British newspapers, who deny all the conventions of civil discourse and respectful politics.
Innuendo and ugly suggestions. Outright name-calling. Accusations with no proof. Constant pressure tactics to get what you want.
And what is wanted?
Jeremy Corbyn, as decent a man as ever there was in politics, to not be leader, after having been elected twice.
It’s that simple. So, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s tactics are deemed perfectly acceptable if they get the job done.
This whole dirty crusade since Corbyn was elected is worse than anything we see in the politics of the United States, and that really is saying something.
Corbyn is fair-minded on Israel, and that is not allowed. Fair-minded is the highest standard there is, but it is rejected by people using such tactics.
Israel simply does not like him, as it does not like all true liberals or Leftists. Why? Because they tend to talk about and be concerned with human and democratic rights.
You have to be totally unfair, almost to the point of saying that there is “no such thing as a Palestinian,” which I’m sure some of this crowd do say.
And by the way, where was all this horrible stuff during Tony Blair’s years and just after? It just exploded into being with Corbyn’s leadership? Preposterous.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MATT GREENE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“This is what modern Holocaust denial looks like. No wonder British Jews are so scared
“In an age of fake news and alternative facts, history is up for grabs. Convince people to question Auschwitz and what else can’t you challenge?”
"This is what modern Holocaust denial looks like. No wonder British Jews are so scared"
And a picture of Auschwitz thrown in? Good God, what are British politics coming to?
Well, that about pushes things as far as it is possible.
There is no one I've heard of who denies a fact of history. No one. It’s absurd. You know perfectly well anyone who did so would be out on his or her ear in minutes.
We have a noisy and demanding minority, supported, I am sad to say, by British newspapers, who deny all the conventions of civil discourse and respectful politics.
Innuendo and ugly suggestions. Outright name-calling. Accusations with no proof. Constant pressure tactics to get what you want.
And what is wanted?
Jeremy Corbyn, as decent a man as ever there was in politics, to not be leader, after having been elected twice.
It’s that simple. So, Senator Joseph McCarthy’s tactics are deemed perfectly acceptable if they get the job done.
This whole dirty crusade since Corbyn was elected is worse than anything we see in the politics of the United States, and that really is saying something.
Corbyn is fair-minded on Israel, and that is not allowed. Fair-minded is the highest standard there is, but it is rejected by people using such tactics.
Israel simply does not like him, as it does not like all true liberals or Leftists. Why? Because they tend to talk about and be concerned with human and democratic rights.
You have to be totally unfair, almost to the point of saying that there is “no such thing as a Palestinian,” which I’m sure some of this crowd do say.
And by the way, where was all this horrible stuff during Tony Blair’s years and just after? It just exploded into being with Corbyn’s leadership? Preposterous.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AMERICA SINKS FURTHER INTO BEING LITTLE MORE THAN AN ARMED PLUTOCRACY - LEGISLATION PROPOSED TO GIVE THE UNBALANCED TRUMP POWER TO START A WAR - JUST LOOK AT WHAT THAT MANIAC IS DOING IN IRAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ONE OF AMERICA'S WEALTHIEST MEN
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOHN KIRIAKOU IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Giving Trump Carte Blanche for War. A little-noticed Senate bill would give Donald Trump blanket permission to launch wars in violation of the Constitution”
America has violated its Constitution many times.
So, I suppose one shouldn't be surprised by this direct assault on one of its basic structural concepts.
The trouble is that words written on pieces of parchment kept in a museum are in reality protection from nothing, any more than a Rosary held in your hand against a gang of thugs with guns coming after you.
Power is power, no matter how it is granted, and democracies are just as capable of abuse as any other form of government, and they frequently act to remind us of the fact.
It just requires determined people in positions of power, and a general population that is relatively powerless and quiescent.
And on top of that, America, of course, isn't a democracy and never has been. Many Founders viewed the word "democracy" the way J Edgar Hoover viewed the word "communism" a century and a half later.
But now what little pretense is left of America’s being a somewhat-democratic republic is disappearing before our eyes, and I don’t mean with just this bill. America is being transformed into an armed plutocracy. Congressmen and Senators creating this kind of just-plainly illegal legislation are its servants.
To see this, reflect on the last national election. Two abominable candidates, a polluted sea of private money buying everything, and out-and-out fraud in getting a nomination. And the outcome, no matter who won, could change almost nothing that mattered, just as it was intended it should change almost nothing.
We have a plutocracy armed with vast armies of soldiers and spies and police forces.
Nothing is less a friend to democratic principles than the military, outfits like the CIA, police forces, and wealthy privileged people.
If you think I’m exaggerating, just consider that all of Trump’s lawlessness and warlike threats towards Iran - with side threats against anyone else, even close allies, daring to oppose him - is the handiwork of a single immensely wealthy man, Sheldon Adelson, who I’m sure promises large resources for Trump’s re-election campaign if he just “takes care of Iran.”
Never mind Iran’s 80 million people or the fact that it has never started a conflict. It stands in the way of Israel’s total domination of the region, and that other truly unbalanced and dangerous man, a close friend and beneficiary of Sheldon Adelson’s, Israel’s Netanyahu, just hates it, so it must be ruthlessly dealt with.
Giving a man of Trump’s proven poor judgment the power to start a war is frightening.
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOHN KIRIAKOU IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Giving Trump Carte Blanche for War. A little-noticed Senate bill would give Donald Trump blanket permission to launch wars in violation of the Constitution”
America has violated its Constitution many times.
So, I suppose one shouldn't be surprised by this direct assault on one of its basic structural concepts.
The trouble is that words written on pieces of parchment kept in a museum are in reality protection from nothing, any more than a Rosary held in your hand against a gang of thugs with guns coming after you.
Power is power, no matter how it is granted, and democracies are just as capable of abuse as any other form of government, and they frequently act to remind us of the fact.
It just requires determined people in positions of power, and a general population that is relatively powerless and quiescent.
And on top of that, America, of course, isn't a democracy and never has been. Many Founders viewed the word "democracy" the way J Edgar Hoover viewed the word "communism" a century and a half later.
But now what little pretense is left of America’s being a somewhat-democratic republic is disappearing before our eyes, and I don’t mean with just this bill. America is being transformed into an armed plutocracy. Congressmen and Senators creating this kind of just-plainly illegal legislation are its servants.
To see this, reflect on the last national election. Two abominable candidates, a polluted sea of private money buying everything, and out-and-out fraud in getting a nomination. And the outcome, no matter who won, could change almost nothing that mattered, just as it was intended it should change almost nothing.
We have a plutocracy armed with vast armies of soldiers and spies and police forces.
Nothing is less a friend to democratic principles than the military, outfits like the CIA, police forces, and wealthy privileged people.
If you think I’m exaggerating, just consider that all of Trump’s lawlessness and warlike threats towards Iran - with side threats against anyone else, even close allies, daring to oppose him - is the handiwork of a single immensely wealthy man, Sheldon Adelson, who I’m sure promises large resources for Trump’s re-election campaign if he just “takes care of Iran.”
Never mind Iran’s 80 million people or the fact that it has never started a conflict. It stands in the way of Israel’s total domination of the region, and that other truly unbalanced and dangerous man, a close friend and beneficiary of Sheldon Adelson’s, Israel’s Netanyahu, just hates it, so it must be ruthlessly dealt with.
Giving a man of Trump’s proven poor judgment the power to start a war is frightening.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AN AFFECTING AND PERSONAL STORY OF ISRAEL'S TREATMENT OF THE GAZA-BOUND FLOTILLA - IGNORED OF COURSE BY OUR MAINLINE PRESS AND BY OUR POLITICIANS - BUT THEY ALREADY IGNORED PUBLIC MASS MURDER
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ANN WRIGHT IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Flotilla Passengers Released by Israel; Many Battered and Bruised; USS Liberty Survivor Held Six Days”
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/08/09/flotilla-passengers-released-by-israel-many-battered-and-bruised-uss-liberty-survivor-held-six-days/
This is a very affecting and detailed story of what it is like to be close-up and personal with Israeli authorities when you have done something they don’t like.
Clearly, the West’s politicians and mainline press should speak out against the outrage, but they don’t say a word.
I suppose these abused people can, in a bizarre way, count themselves lucky. The Gaza Freedom Flotilla of 2010, met with even more brutal treatment. Ten unarmed people were murdered by Israeli commandos, many others were injured, and there was a great deal of abuse and theft of property.
Behind all of it, of course, is the fact of Israel’s having turned the refugee camp called Gaza into a gigantic concentration camp where something like a million-and-a-half people live in a broken squalor with nothing permitted to be repaired and basic services like electricity frequently cut-off.
There are frequent additional poisonous insults, such as the spraying of herbicides or the dumping of raw sewerage, so intense is the hatred coming from Israel.
Of course, “the West’s” press and politicians didn’t say a word either about gangs of Israeli snipers shooting unarmed people from behind a tall fence, including a number of women and children, medics and journalists - perhaps, the most outrageous atrocity we’ve seen staged in public anywhere in our time.
Thousands shot, hundreds seriously wounded or crippled, and over a 150 murdered by cowardly Israeli soldiers, kneeling behind a big fence and using powerful sniper rifles, in some cases with banned dum-dum style ammunition, which when it wounds blows out huge chunks of flesh or bone.
It resembled some Victorian imperial excess, a massive safari party, a killing orgy, shooting thousands of animals somewhere in Africa around 1897. They actually used to do such things, you know.
And no one who counts or has any authority said anything. Oh, I forgot, that remarkable American diplomat, Nikki Haley, assured us that Israel had shown great restraint.
A single clearly-faked gas attack was enough to bring an instant rain of dozens of cruise missiles against innocent targets in Syria, such is America’s intolerance for inhumane behavior. But Palestinians are regarded as less than human apparently, so inhumane treatment is not possible. And, besides, the horror in Syria also is an Israeli project.
Well, all actions have consequences, and the West’s treatment of Israel’s many terrible crimes will too.
What kind of a truly hellish society is Israel working towards?
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ANN WRIGHT IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Flotilla Passengers Released by Israel; Many Battered and Bruised; USS Liberty Survivor Held Six Days”
https://consortiumnews.com/2018/08/09/flotilla-passengers-released-by-israel-many-battered-and-bruised-uss-liberty-survivor-held-six-days/
This is a very affecting and detailed story of what it is like to be close-up and personal with Israeli authorities when you have done something they don’t like.
Clearly, the West’s politicians and mainline press should speak out against the outrage, but they don’t say a word.
I suppose these abused people can, in a bizarre way, count themselves lucky. The Gaza Freedom Flotilla of 2010, met with even more brutal treatment. Ten unarmed people were murdered by Israeli commandos, many others were injured, and there was a great deal of abuse and theft of property.
Behind all of it, of course, is the fact of Israel’s having turned the refugee camp called Gaza into a gigantic concentration camp where something like a million-and-a-half people live in a broken squalor with nothing permitted to be repaired and basic services like electricity frequently cut-off.
There are frequent additional poisonous insults, such as the spraying of herbicides or the dumping of raw sewerage, so intense is the hatred coming from Israel.
Of course, “the West’s” press and politicians didn’t say a word either about gangs of Israeli snipers shooting unarmed people from behind a tall fence, including a number of women and children, medics and journalists - perhaps, the most outrageous atrocity we’ve seen staged in public anywhere in our time.
Thousands shot, hundreds seriously wounded or crippled, and over a 150 murdered by cowardly Israeli soldiers, kneeling behind a big fence and using powerful sniper rifles, in some cases with banned dum-dum style ammunition, which when it wounds blows out huge chunks of flesh or bone.
It resembled some Victorian imperial excess, a massive safari party, a killing orgy, shooting thousands of animals somewhere in Africa around 1897. They actually used to do such things, you know.
And no one who counts or has any authority said anything. Oh, I forgot, that remarkable American diplomat, Nikki Haley, assured us that Israel had shown great restraint.
A single clearly-faked gas attack was enough to bring an instant rain of dozens of cruise missiles against innocent targets in Syria, such is America’s intolerance for inhumane behavior. But Palestinians are regarded as less than human apparently, so inhumane treatment is not possible. And, besides, the horror in Syria also is an Israeli project.
Well, all actions have consequences, and the West’s treatment of Israel’s many terrible crimes will too.
What kind of a truly hellish society is Israel working towards?
Wednesday, August 08, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE CANADA-SAUDI DISPUTE - BADLY HANDLED BY CANADA'S INEPT AND PREJUDICED CHRYSTIA FREELAND AND HER TOUCHY-FEELY BOSS TRUDEAU - THEY DON'T SAY A WORD ABOUT OUTRIGHT HORRORS WE SEE BUT PICK A FIGHT OVER SOMETHING SMALL - EARLIER THEY SOLD $15 BILLION WORTH OF ARMS TO THE SAME SAUDIS TO HELP KILL WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN YEMEN AND SUPPRESS THEIR OWN PEOPLE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PATRICK GOODENOUGH ON CNS NEWS
“Saudi-Canada Spat Over Human Rights Leads to Major Diplomatic Rift”
Yes, and of course, Canada is right to criticize Saudi Arabia.
But this whole event deeply bothers me.
It is just such a cheap shot by Chrystia Freeland, trying to grab some human rights "creds" and headlines she doesn't deserve at all.
Where was her voice while Israel shot thousands of innocent people from Gaza with a giant firing squad?
Thousands shot, hundreds wounded, and more than 150 outright killed by the cowards on the other side of Israel’s fence.
All of the victims were unarmed, a number of them included women and children and people such as medics and journalists.
Just the most appallingly brutal act we have seen in a very long time.
And not a word from good old Chrystia or from her touchy-feely boss.
Nor do we hear her speaking out against the Saudi horrors in Yemen, again killing women and children. Why? Because America approves of that particular activity.
Chrystia, a highly-biased woman of Ukrainian heritage - so many Ukrainian-Canadians were refugees from the Soviets and don't think well of Russia even though the USSR is long gone - goes on and on sometimes about Russia, too.
What has Russia done? Nothing, except defend itself from American dirty tricks.
Meanwhile, in the last 15 years, America has killed about two million people in the Neocon Wars, burning and bombing their way through the Middle East.
Chystia resembles a wannabe American type – indeed, her husband works for the American establishment's house organ, the New York Times - and she regurgitates all the official Washington pabulum she dutifully swallows.
But, the brave soul manages to throw a dart at Saudi Arabia over a comparatively insignificant matter.
The creep that runs Saudi Arabia, the usurper-kidnapper-murderer Crown Prince, is shooting back with everything he's got, from canceling airline flights to questioning the continued presence of Saudi students in Canada, and I have to say, I think it looks good on this pretentious, second-rate Canadian politician.
Yes, and of course, her government honored an existing contract with the Saudi killers for military equipment worth 15 billion dollars early in their term. Hypocrisy just does not come piled any thicker and uglier.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PATRICK GOODENOUGH ON CNS NEWS
“Saudi-Canada Spat Over Human Rights Leads to Major Diplomatic Rift”
Yes, and of course, Canada is right to criticize Saudi Arabia.
But this whole event deeply bothers me.
It is just such a cheap shot by Chrystia Freeland, trying to grab some human rights "creds" and headlines she doesn't deserve at all.
Where was her voice while Israel shot thousands of innocent people from Gaza with a giant firing squad?
Thousands shot, hundreds wounded, and more than 150 outright killed by the cowards on the other side of Israel’s fence.
All of the victims were unarmed, a number of them included women and children and people such as medics and journalists.
Just the most appallingly brutal act we have seen in a very long time.
And not a word from good old Chrystia or from her touchy-feely boss.
Nor do we hear her speaking out against the Saudi horrors in Yemen, again killing women and children. Why? Because America approves of that particular activity.
Chrystia, a highly-biased woman of Ukrainian heritage - so many Ukrainian-Canadians were refugees from the Soviets and don't think well of Russia even though the USSR is long gone - goes on and on sometimes about Russia, too.
What has Russia done? Nothing, except defend itself from American dirty tricks.
Meanwhile, in the last 15 years, America has killed about two million people in the Neocon Wars, burning and bombing their way through the Middle East.
Chystia resembles a wannabe American type – indeed, her husband works for the American establishment's house organ, the New York Times - and she regurgitates all the official Washington pabulum she dutifully swallows.
But, the brave soul manages to throw a dart at Saudi Arabia over a comparatively insignificant matter.
The creep that runs Saudi Arabia, the usurper-kidnapper-murderer Crown Prince, is shooting back with everything he's got, from canceling airline flights to questioning the continued presence of Saudi students in Canada, and I have to say, I think it looks good on this pretentious, second-rate Canadian politician.
Yes, and of course, her government honored an existing contract with the Saudi killers for military equipment worth 15 billion dollars early in their term. Hypocrisy just does not come piled any thicker and uglier.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE TRULY DANGEROUS TENDENCY OF OUR MAINLINE PRESS AND INTERNET TECH GIANTS/MEDIA TO BRING US SERIOUS CENSORSHIP DISGUISED AS PROTECTION FROM SCOUNDRELS - THE CASE OF ALEX JONES - "I DON'T AGREE WITH A WORD YOU SAY BUT I'LL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT" - NOW THAT SUMS UP FREE SPEECH
John Chuckman
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY NEIL JONES ON THE CBS NEWS
“Alex Jones deals in vicious stupidity. It's not free speech — it's incitement”
I want to make it clear that I do not like Alex Jones nor do I watch his programs. And I am an old-fashioned genuine liberal.
But, to my mind, the point of view of this opinion piece is dangerous to a free society.
Short of libel or other legally-defined acts, provable in court, free speech is free speech, full stop.
Deciding to redefine what it is that others are saying is what the kinds of governments do that none of us want to see in power.
But that seems to be the kind of world we increasingly find ourselves in, one where authorities define for us what it is we are to think, and the authorities really doing the defining originate in Washington. Is that a place today anyone regards as anything less than dangerous and threatening itself?
All of the major American hi-tech companies are busy doing just that, and I think we all of us know those companies are not the friends of a free society. They spy on people, they break various international tax laws, they are all in bed with American security services, and they all lie about what they do to their users. They are the servants of the "one-percent" and the war party in Washington
We see this over and over, as for instance our being told that America's industrial-scale extrajudicial killing program with drones is anything other than a system of organized state murder of people we literally know nothing about - "disappearing" people as the old Argentine junta used to do.
I truly am starting to fear dark times coming, only it isn't Alex Jones who'll bring them in.
It was a boyishly smiling man in the White House, everyone inaccurately described as a liberal, who did in fact start the mass killing of those guilty of nothing under law.
_________________________
Response to a comment quoting, 'Yelling “FIRE!” in a crowded movie theatre..."
Those are the words of an American Supreme Court Justice. Deciding about such matters is what courts are for.
It is not the job of any news organization to make or enforce that call.
But making that call is what we see increasingly by companies who already enjoy far too much power - the Facebooks, Googles, and other American hi-tech/media companies of far too much power already and far too vast in size.
Theirs is a privileged position in society, and they are beginning to seriously abuse it.
This is dangerous stuff, and I don't mean Alex Jones. It comes from the same folks who been burning and bombing their way through the Middle East for the last 15 years, killing at least two million people and creating armies of desperate refugees.
I do think they are immensely more frightening than any Alex Jones type.
And does any clear-thinking, critical mind believe all that horror is about freedom or democracy or rights?
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY NEIL JONES ON THE CBS NEWS
“Alex Jones deals in vicious stupidity. It's not free speech — it's incitement”
I want to make it clear that I do not like Alex Jones nor do I watch his programs. And I am an old-fashioned genuine liberal.
But, to my mind, the point of view of this opinion piece is dangerous to a free society.
Short of libel or other legally-defined acts, provable in court, free speech is free speech, full stop.
Deciding to redefine what it is that others are saying is what the kinds of governments do that none of us want to see in power.
But that seems to be the kind of world we increasingly find ourselves in, one where authorities define for us what it is we are to think, and the authorities really doing the defining originate in Washington. Is that a place today anyone regards as anything less than dangerous and threatening itself?
All of the major American hi-tech companies are busy doing just that, and I think we all of us know those companies are not the friends of a free society. They spy on people, they break various international tax laws, they are all in bed with American security services, and they all lie about what they do to their users. They are the servants of the "one-percent" and the war party in Washington
We see this over and over, as for instance our being told that America's industrial-scale extrajudicial killing program with drones is anything other than a system of organized state murder of people we literally know nothing about - "disappearing" people as the old Argentine junta used to do.
I truly am starting to fear dark times coming, only it isn't Alex Jones who'll bring them in.
It was a boyishly smiling man in the White House, everyone inaccurately described as a liberal, who did in fact start the mass killing of those guilty of nothing under law.
_________________________
Response to a comment quoting, 'Yelling “FIRE!” in a crowded movie theatre..."
Those are the words of an American Supreme Court Justice. Deciding about such matters is what courts are for.
It is not the job of any news organization to make or enforce that call.
But making that call is what we see increasingly by companies who already enjoy far too much power - the Facebooks, Googles, and other American hi-tech/media companies of far too much power already and far too vast in size.
Theirs is a privileged position in society, and they are beginning to seriously abuse it.
This is dangerous stuff, and I don't mean Alex Jones. It comes from the same folks who been burning and bombing their way through the Middle East for the last 15 years, killing at least two million people and creating armies of desperate refugees.
I do think they are immensely more frightening than any Alex Jones type.
And does any clear-thinking, critical mind believe all that horror is about freedom or democracy or rights?
Tuesday, August 07, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: SOME SENATORS PUSHING FOR MUCH HARSHER SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA - WHO IS ULTIMATELY BEHIND ALL THE ANTI-RUSSIAN NONSENSE? - MOTIVES IN PROMOTING IT - OUTCOME IN UKRAINE GAVE NEOCONS NEW ARGUMENTS - THE PECULIAR CASE OF SENATOR LINDSAY GRAHAM
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE TO RUSSIA INSIDER
“The 'Magnitsky Trio' (John McCain, Lindsay Graham and Ben Cardin) Pushes for War With Russia With New Sanctions
“The proposed sanctions by the Graham bill are so insane that even the Treasury department thinks they are a bad idea.’
I think in many such analyses about American-Russian strained relations an important actor is left out, and that actor is America’s strange Middle East quasi-colony, Israel.
Israel, assisted by its very powerful lobby in America, was the driving force in the set of Neocon Wars that have burned through the Middle East.
In order to have the kind of highly aggressive America represented by those wars, much in Israel's favor, effort has to be made to keep antagonisms high. And Russia is inevitably viewed as a barrier to an aggressive America, no matter how friendly Russian-Israeli relations are, and Putin does a very good job of trying to keep good relations.
But, still, while Netanyahu and his gang smile for the cameras after meetings, their deep-down drives are in conflict with Russia in some fundamental ways that cannot be made to disappear with handshakes or smiles. A highly aggressive America serves Israel in its own aggressive regional ambitions as well as in vague matters as “security,” the term likely used by its lobby in America.
Russia has her own experience with these drives in the unhappy induced-coup in Ukraine, something in which that charming Neocon from the State Department, Barbara Nuland, famous for bragging that America spent $5 billion on its Ukraine operation and also for once shouting within earshot of others, “Fuck Europe!” played an important role.
The anti-Russian crowd in Washington – very much including the Neocons, who are part and parcel of the total multi-fronted Israel Lobby in Washington, many of the Neocons holding (or having held, as Nuland did) influential government posts - won something for their cause whichever way events in Ukraine went.
They gained either a large country, hostile to Russia right on its border, one with good American connections, to harass and worry Russia, or with the outcome we see, Ukraine having made a fool of itself in falling apart through incompetence and pig-headedness, they have gained the theme of Russian aggression. While Putin’s moves were masterful and required, making the very best of a very bad situation, what has emerged still serves these nasty folks in stoking hatred of Russia, now accused of aggression, a charge strongly embraced in Washington and in American-influenced parts of Western Europe.
Lindsay Graham is about the most vocal and reactionary defender of Israel in the Congress. He might be matched by John McCain, but I’m not sure he doesn’t in fact earn top honors in his service to another country. He quite literally leaps to his feet at any mention of Israel. So, when a guy like that strongly advocates greatly increased hostility towards Russia, it should tell us something.
And I strongly suspect, given the intensity of his all efforts for Israel, that he was caught once in a Mossad "honey trap" and given to understand that very compromising photos of him existed.
You see, Graham is known as a fairly flagrant gay in Washington.
His constituents back home - conservative Southern Baptists and the like – of course, are not aware of his sexual proclivities, so pictures would make a serious threat.
This kind of thing would not at all new to Washington. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, also a closet gay and indeed a cross-dresser according to one reliable biographer, is said to have been compromised the same way by the American Mafia, something which explains his long reluctance to act against Mafia interests, allowing them to flourish while he chased after largely non-existent communists across America.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE TO RUSSIA INSIDER
“The 'Magnitsky Trio' (John McCain, Lindsay Graham and Ben Cardin) Pushes for War With Russia With New Sanctions
“The proposed sanctions by the Graham bill are so insane that even the Treasury department thinks they are a bad idea.’
I think in many such analyses about American-Russian strained relations an important actor is left out, and that actor is America’s strange Middle East quasi-colony, Israel.
Israel, assisted by its very powerful lobby in America, was the driving force in the set of Neocon Wars that have burned through the Middle East.
In order to have the kind of highly aggressive America represented by those wars, much in Israel's favor, effort has to be made to keep antagonisms high. And Russia is inevitably viewed as a barrier to an aggressive America, no matter how friendly Russian-Israeli relations are, and Putin does a very good job of trying to keep good relations.
But, still, while Netanyahu and his gang smile for the cameras after meetings, their deep-down drives are in conflict with Russia in some fundamental ways that cannot be made to disappear with handshakes or smiles. A highly aggressive America serves Israel in its own aggressive regional ambitions as well as in vague matters as “security,” the term likely used by its lobby in America.
Russia has her own experience with these drives in the unhappy induced-coup in Ukraine, something in which that charming Neocon from the State Department, Barbara Nuland, famous for bragging that America spent $5 billion on its Ukraine operation and also for once shouting within earshot of others, “Fuck Europe!” played an important role.
The anti-Russian crowd in Washington – very much including the Neocons, who are part and parcel of the total multi-fronted Israel Lobby in Washington, many of the Neocons holding (or having held, as Nuland did) influential government posts - won something for their cause whichever way events in Ukraine went.
They gained either a large country, hostile to Russia right on its border, one with good American connections, to harass and worry Russia, or with the outcome we see, Ukraine having made a fool of itself in falling apart through incompetence and pig-headedness, they have gained the theme of Russian aggression. While Putin’s moves were masterful and required, making the very best of a very bad situation, what has emerged still serves these nasty folks in stoking hatred of Russia, now accused of aggression, a charge strongly embraced in Washington and in American-influenced parts of Western Europe.
Lindsay Graham is about the most vocal and reactionary defender of Israel in the Congress. He might be matched by John McCain, but I’m not sure he doesn’t in fact earn top honors in his service to another country. He quite literally leaps to his feet at any mention of Israel. So, when a guy like that strongly advocates greatly increased hostility towards Russia, it should tell us something.
And I strongly suspect, given the intensity of his all efforts for Israel, that he was caught once in a Mossad "honey trap" and given to understand that very compromising photos of him existed.
You see, Graham is known as a fairly flagrant gay in Washington.
His constituents back home - conservative Southern Baptists and the like – of course, are not aware of his sexual proclivities, so pictures would make a serious threat.
This kind of thing would not at all new to Washington. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, also a closet gay and indeed a cross-dresser according to one reliable biographer, is said to have been compromised the same way by the American Mafia, something which explains his long reluctance to act against Mafia interests, allowing them to flourish while he chased after largely non-existent communists across America.
Monday, August 06, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: DECENT JEREMY CORBYN JUST CANNOT WIN - SMALL UNFAIR MINORITY KEEPS UP THE NAME-CALLING AND MAKING DEMANDS AS IT GETS REGULAR SUPPORT FROM MAINLINE PRESS - NOW CORBYN IS SAID TO "ACKNOWLEDGE" LABOUR PARTY HAS A "REAL PROBLEM" WITH ANTI-SEMITISM - IF TRUE, WHERE WAS IT ALL IN TONY BLAIR'S DAY? - DID IT JUST SUDDENLY SPRING TO LIFE?
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Jeremy Corbyn has acknowledged Labour has a “real problem” with antisemitism as he attempted to defuse the row engulfing his party.”
Well, yes, "real problems," but not what you might think from a quick glance at the headline.
The real problem is people using the accusation as a cheap attack, a way to libel a decent man and influence a party, and doing so regularly over a considerable period of time.
Where was all this "anti-Semitism" hiding in Tony Blair's day?
Or even after?
It just suddenly exploded into existence under Corbyn? Like a parody of Athena suddenly erupting from the head of Zeus?
No reasonable person can believe that. It's a bizarre notion.
No, what has changed since Blair's day is simply this.
A leader who helped kill about a million people and destroy a society, lying continuously about what he was doing, and received the Israel Peace Prize plus many handsome sinecures for his efforts, stopped being leader.
Another man, a decent man who is fair-minded about the Middle East, as he is about many other matters, became leader.
So, all stops were pulled by interested parties in doing something about it.
He's been attacked from the beginning. He had to win his leadership vote twice. The attacks, here or there, seem to fade a bit, then, wham!, they’re back, this recent round perhaps the worst ever.
Well, you can have whatever kind of country you like, but this way of doing things is shabby and dishonest and can produce nothing good.
Much as some of Theresa May's incompetent efforts and unwarranted attacks, all damaging and utterly without evidence.
As a young man, I always thought of Britain as more honorable political society than the United States with its folks like Senator Joseph McCarthy or FBI Director J Edgar Hoover or blood-drenched liar, Lyndon Johnson.
But either I was naive or Britain has changed, and changed greatly for the worse
_________________________
Response to a comment, "But Jeremy Corbyn has said that Jews, uniquely, can't be trusted to define anti-Semitism and that he knows best":
That's just plain dishonest.
He said no such thing.
But your using that claim as an argument is symbolic of this whole shabby business.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Jeremy Corbyn has acknowledged Labour has a “real problem” with antisemitism as he attempted to defuse the row engulfing his party.”
Well, yes, "real problems," but not what you might think from a quick glance at the headline.
The real problem is people using the accusation as a cheap attack, a way to libel a decent man and influence a party, and doing so regularly over a considerable period of time.
Where was all this "anti-Semitism" hiding in Tony Blair's day?
Or even after?
It just suddenly exploded into existence under Corbyn? Like a parody of Athena suddenly erupting from the head of Zeus?
No reasonable person can believe that. It's a bizarre notion.
No, what has changed since Blair's day is simply this.
A leader who helped kill about a million people and destroy a society, lying continuously about what he was doing, and received the Israel Peace Prize plus many handsome sinecures for his efforts, stopped being leader.
Another man, a decent man who is fair-minded about the Middle East, as he is about many other matters, became leader.
So, all stops were pulled by interested parties in doing something about it.
He's been attacked from the beginning. He had to win his leadership vote twice. The attacks, here or there, seem to fade a bit, then, wham!, they’re back, this recent round perhaps the worst ever.
Well, you can have whatever kind of country you like, but this way of doing things is shabby and dishonest and can produce nothing good.
Much as some of Theresa May's incompetent efforts and unwarranted attacks, all damaging and utterly without evidence.
As a young man, I always thought of Britain as more honorable political society than the United States with its folks like Senator Joseph McCarthy or FBI Director J Edgar Hoover or blood-drenched liar, Lyndon Johnson.
But either I was naive or Britain has changed, and changed greatly for the worse
_________________________
Response to a comment, "But Jeremy Corbyn has said that Jews, uniquely, can't be trusted to define anti-Semitism and that he knows best":
That's just plain dishonest.
He said no such thing.
But your using that claim as an argument is symbolic of this whole shabby business.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: YOUNG PEOPLE FORGETTING TERRIBLE PAST EVENTS - RUSSIAN DECLINING POPULATION DURING COLLAPSE OF SOVIET UNION - ROLE OF ALCOHOL IN HISTORICAL EVENTS - WHY PUBLIC EDUCATION CAN'T DO MUCH ABOUT FORGETFULNESS OF THE TERRIBLE PAST
John Chuckman
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIAN INSIDER
Young people always forget about terrible times.
It's a natural human tendency.
In the US, it is amazing how few young Americans know anything about the Vietnam War, a war in which America conducted a holocaust killing 3 million Vietnamese, many in the most horrible fashion as with napalm.
It was also a time that nearly divided America like a new Civil War.
Polls find few young Americans know much about it.
___________________________
Response to a comment:
Please, don't forget, the USSR lost 27,000,000 in the Hitler invasion.
The loss of men caused a huge demographic deficit.
Also, alcoholism in the USSR, in the 1970s, was widespread and desperate. Many men died prematurely.
But the suffering from the collapse of the USSR did a lot of damage.
_________________________
Response to a comment:
I wasn't labeling Russians.
It is just a fact about the drinking, and it did shorten average lifespan.
Some of the conditions in the Soviet era could be pretty grim. You've heard the joke about "They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work?"
Americans are indeed drug addicts. They consume about as many drugs as the rest of countries together.
There is a whole range of this activity from cocaine at wealthy parties to people in the streets and gutters consuming God-knows-what.
It's American demand that drives the awful drug cartels of Mexico, but Americans never give that a thought.
In a number of American cities recently, the murder rates among blacks have been dramatic, and it involves competitive gangs selling drugs.
The price of some drugs has dropped on the streets and there is over-supply. This has a lot to do with America's pointless invasion of Afghanistan.
Growing opium poppies had been virtually halted by the Taliban government. Then America invaded, and it has been "let her rip" with a flood of drugs.
This always happens in such regions with America. It happened too in the Vietnam War. Many believe CIA makes off-the-books cash by working with drugs in such places. It was said Air America, a then covert private airline serving CIA used to fly loads out. I don't doubt it at all.
By the way, in early America, heavy drinking was very common. Rum from the Caribbean and home-made whisky.
And it is said that Britain's industrial revolution was fueled by cheap gin for the workers.
_______________________________
Response to a comment about the need for education:
You get no argument from me about education.
Trouble is, as with so many of society's institutions, public education - especially in the United States - is highly political.
Many subjects and many ways of talking about those subjects are dangerous territory.
And what could be more stifling than the political correctness of local school boards, state education departments, and the teachers' unions?
It's amazing when anything gets done beyond the basics.
With all these forces at work, in many locations of the US, public education likely has little more latitude than in the good old USSR. Religion? Hands off. Political corruption? Hands off. The delirious effects of plutocracy? Hands off. The political corruption of money? Hands off. Why all the American wars? Hands off.
I don't see a lot of hope in general from education, although there always are exceptional teachers who manage somehow. I had a few.
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIAN INSIDER
Young people always forget about terrible times.
It's a natural human tendency.
In the US, it is amazing how few young Americans know anything about the Vietnam War, a war in which America conducted a holocaust killing 3 million Vietnamese, many in the most horrible fashion as with napalm.
It was also a time that nearly divided America like a new Civil War.
Polls find few young Americans know much about it.
___________________________
Response to a comment:
Please, don't forget, the USSR lost 27,000,000 in the Hitler invasion.
The loss of men caused a huge demographic deficit.
Also, alcoholism in the USSR, in the 1970s, was widespread and desperate. Many men died prematurely.
But the suffering from the collapse of the USSR did a lot of damage.
_________________________
Response to a comment:
I wasn't labeling Russians.
It is just a fact about the drinking, and it did shorten average lifespan.
Some of the conditions in the Soviet era could be pretty grim. You've heard the joke about "They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work?"
Americans are indeed drug addicts. They consume about as many drugs as the rest of countries together.
There is a whole range of this activity from cocaine at wealthy parties to people in the streets and gutters consuming God-knows-what.
It's American demand that drives the awful drug cartels of Mexico, but Americans never give that a thought.
In a number of American cities recently, the murder rates among blacks have been dramatic, and it involves competitive gangs selling drugs.
The price of some drugs has dropped on the streets and there is over-supply. This has a lot to do with America's pointless invasion of Afghanistan.
Growing opium poppies had been virtually halted by the Taliban government. Then America invaded, and it has been "let her rip" with a flood of drugs.
This always happens in such regions with America. It happened too in the Vietnam War. Many believe CIA makes off-the-books cash by working with drugs in such places. It was said Air America, a then covert private airline serving CIA used to fly loads out. I don't doubt it at all.
By the way, in early America, heavy drinking was very common. Rum from the Caribbean and home-made whisky.
And it is said that Britain's industrial revolution was fueled by cheap gin for the workers.
_______________________________
Response to a comment about the need for education:
You get no argument from me about education.
Trouble is, as with so many of society's institutions, public education - especially in the United States - is highly political.
Many subjects and many ways of talking about those subjects are dangerous territory.
And what could be more stifling than the political correctness of local school boards, state education departments, and the teachers' unions?
It's amazing when anything gets done beyond the basics.
With all these forces at work, in many locations of the US, public education likely has little more latitude than in the good old USSR. Religion? Hands off. Political corruption? Hands off. The delirious effects of plutocracy? Hands off. The political corruption of money? Hands off. Why all the American wars? Hands off.
I don't see a lot of hope in general from education, although there always are exceptional teachers who manage somehow. I had a few.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)