JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A WRITER SPECULATES THAT MEDIA SILENCE ON JULIAN ASSANGE HELPS TRUMP – I’M NOT SO SURE – OBAMA’S ROLE WAS CENTRAL TO THE PERSECUTION AND IMPRISONMENT AND EXILE OF ALL THE NOTABLE WHISTLE-BLOWERS AND OBAMA WAS BIDEN’S BOSS FOR EIGHT YEARS – SOME THOUGHTS ON OBAMA AND THE CIA – WAS HE THE SECOND CIA PRESIDENT? – GEORGE H W BUSH WAS CAREER CIA – THE FASCINATING PICTURE THAT HELPS PROVE IT – CIA’S LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND ITS LIMITLESS FUNDING MAKE IT SO THAT IT NEVER LEARNS FROM ITS MANY FAILURES

John Chuckman

EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ELIZABETH VOS IN CONSORTIUM NEWS

“Media Silence on Assange Aids Trump”

“By ignoring Donald Trump’s apparent abuse of power in allegedly ordering Julian Assange’s arrest, it seems the liberal media’s hatred for Assange trumps that of Trump…”

The author has a point, although I tend to think Biden wouldn't welcome the publicity.

It might create a burden he does not want.

The press may just be trying to keep things as simple as possible. They want no complexities getting in the way of getting rid of Trump.

Remember, the great prosecutor of heroic whistle-blowers was none other than Barack Obama of the big smile, and he was Biden’s boss for eight years.

He was ruthless. He is responsible for the exile or jailing of all the noted voices, as well as being responsible for the creation of the hideous NSA supercomputer complex which destroys privacy. He also never closed Guantanamo as he promised.

Obama, despite his pleasant public persona, was a highly secretive man.

Colleagues at the University of Chicago commented on that in the past. He kept to himself.

I have a moderate suspicion that he was CIA, as very much was George H W Bush.

The whole complex effort by the security agencies to prevent Trump’s election or to hurt him after being elected had to be overseen by Obama. All those senior guys speaking out and acting secretly just does not happen without the blessing of the President.

The fact that the plots failed so miserably and embarrassingly can still support the CIA thesis. So very many of their spider-web plots abroad have backfired.

They never really learn because they are not held truly accountable for anything. And they have unlimited resources to play dirty games with. When their huge budget isn’t adequate, they turn to the drug- or gun-running they have used many times. Afghanistan’s opium poppies have been a shower of gold for them.

Obama certainly did yeoman’s service for the military-security complex with his Middle East wars, extrajudicial drone killing system (run by CIA), going after whistle-blowers, and support for secrecy.

Here is the truly remarkable photo of George H W Bush that virtually proves he was CIA, although there are lots of other clues and bits of evidence:

https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/12/11/john-chuckman-comment-a-remarkable-dull-little-photograph-of-george-h-w-bush/

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: CHINA IS MODERNIZING ITS ARMED FORCES – CHINA AND RUSSIA ARE INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT TO THE WORLD AS COUNTER-FORCES AGAINST AMERICA’S SHARP NEW AGGRESSIVENESS – DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS TIMES AHEAD AS AMERICAN ELITES RESENT THEIR LOSS OF INFLUENCE, MEN WHO THINK THEY ARE ENTITLED TO DOMINATE DESPITE AMERICA’S INABILITY TO COMPETE – THE WAY XI AND PUTIN ADDRESS THE WORLD IS PERFECT, AND I HOPE IT DOES NOT CHANGE – BUT I BELIEVE THEY NEED TO QUIETLY PREPARE – THE APT ADVICE IS “WALK SOFTLY BUT CARRY A BIG STICK”

John Chuckman

COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN GLOBAL TIMES

“China’s centennial goal of building a modern military by 2027 in alignment with national strength: experts”

 

A strong China, just like a strong Russia, is very much in the world’s interest.

The recent surge in America's threats and sanctions and hatreds is not going to go away quickly. It has deep roots.

The world needs a counter-force to the genuinely evil men running Washington.

I suspect some dangerous days are ahead as America’s elites become more frustrated over their lack of progress.

Arrogant men, used to thinking they should run the world, are not going to quietly go away soon.

Besides the American political system is geared toward supporting them, not the interests of ordinary Americans.

And their constant hate-campaigns now towards China and Russia are conditioning the American population, conditioning it towards thinking of China and Russia as enemies. It is poisonous stuff.

The profound root cause here is America’s inability to compete – It makes little except weapons, lots of weapons – yet its elites believe they are entitled to dominate everything despite their reduced importance to the world.  It is a tyrant’s attitude.

I am not advocating that China and Russia behave anything like the way America is behaving.

The way Xi and Putin address the world is perfect, always positive and encouraging and talking of others as partners. I hope that does not change.

But still, they must be quietly prepared.

As old imperialist American, Theodore Roosevelt said, “Walk softly but carry a big stick.”

It’s suitable advice today.

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: FRANCE’S PRESIDENT MACRON – AN ARROGANT AND INEFFECTIVE LEADER – HIS MANIPULATION OF A MURDER FOR POLITICAL GAIN – THE GAME PLAYED WITH THE WORD “TERROR” – FRANCE’S OWN GRIM HISTORY – FAILING TO CONDEMN CHARLIE HEBDO’S GUTTER-LITERATURE CARTOON IS NOT ABOUT BEING A FREE SOCIETY – INSULTING THE RELIGION OF MORE THAN A BILLION PEOPLE IS NOT ABOUT PEACE OR GOODWILL – FRANCE’S OWN ROLE AS A GENUINE TERRORST ASSISTING AMERICA IN ITS BLOODY, YEARS-LONG RAMPAGE THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST – MACRON’S OTHER POORLY-CONSIDERED POLICIES – A PROPOSED BOYCOTT ON FRENCH EXPORTS WOULD BE A SUITABLE RESPONSE

 John Chuckman

EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA TODAY

“Macron calls killing of ‘beheaded’ French teacher an ‘Islamist terrorist attack’”

 

Macron has no judgment.

This grisly crime was the work of one seriously deranged person who happens to be a Muslim.

Scores of people are murdered every day somewhere in the West.

Normally, we do not examine a suspected killer’s religious affiliation, and then proceed to declare the crime an act of terror and to pontificate about what is wrong with the suspect’s religion.

Of course, by calling the crime "terrorism," Macron gets to increase budgets for the French military and security services. He intimidates and frightens people into supporting things that they should not support.

That word “terror” has proved a powerful totem. As I’ve written before, its effect resembles declaring some poor unfortunate with a mental disturbance a “witch” in the 16^th century. Only burning at the stake was good enough.

And if you know some European history, you will know France’s past is steeped in blood from the wars and savageries which followed the Protestant Reformation. Thousands of people literally had their throats cut while in bed and on the streets during the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. The Pope actually issued a gold medal to honor the French Queen for the achievement.

Of course, the long epoch of France’s overseas empire saw countless deaths and barbarities inflicted on the innocent in their own lands. Many observers have described French colonial rule as having been particularly harsh.

Louis XIV and Napoleon each drenched Europe in blood.

Is Macron so ignorant of his own history that he is unaware of these events?

Macron will earn some credit with the American power establishment, always keen to hear its prejudices supported, just as is the case with Russophobia. After all, America just spent the last twenty years killing a couple of million Muslims and turning millions more into hopeless refugees in its Middle East wars.

And, by the way, it is France with its bombing support for America in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and other places that has played the role of genuine terrorist. It has supported the mercenary armies so often now disguised as some kind of jihadis in hybrid-warfare efforts to overthrow governments America dislikes.

The boycott against French goods seems to be picking up steam.

Even though I am a longtime admirer of French culture and food, I hope that it does.

It is the only effective way to show this maladroit and rather malicious leader what he has done. He has insulted hundreds of millions of people. Good people, doing no harm. He has added, much like Trump, to the world’s stock of ignorance and prejudice.

And he has refused to condemn genuine hate-literature. The Charlie Hebdo cartoon is gutter literature, not satire. It should be condemned as surely as anyone scrawling hateful graffiti on a building.

What a remarkably arrogant man Macron has proven to be, as well as a man wrong in just about his every major policy. He is busy right now, as the EU Brexit deadline approaches, making demands and alienating Britain, a major importer of French products. He echoes American nonsense about a number of international situations.

His treatment of the Yellow Vest protesters in Paris was indistinguishable from what we would expect from a tyrant, killing about a dozen and wounding many hundreds, including some mangled for life.

Poor France. It has had in the past some towering leaders.

But in recent years, it has had Macron, Hollande, and Sarkozy – just pathetic, each of them.

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE ON THE HARSH REALITIES OF AMERICA’S “NORMALIZATION” EFFORTS IN THE CASE OF SUDAN – ISRAEL’S SPECIAL STATUS FOR THE UNITED STATES AS AN IMPERIAL COLONY – BIBLICAL LORE ACTUALLY SERVES SOME GEOPOLITICAL ENDS – THE RELATIONSHIP OF MODERN ISRAEL TO THE LACK OF DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST – ISRAEL’S FRIENDS IN THE REGION ARE ABSOLUTE MONARCHS AND TYRANTS AND “NORMALIZATION” ONLY INCREASES THEIR NUMBER AND STRENGTHENS THE NEED TO PROTECT THEM

John Chuckman

EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CONSORTIUM NEWS

The US Just Blackmailed Sudan

Washington has proven that it is willing to make people suffer, and even starve, if governments don’t acquiesce to normalization with Israel

https://consortiumnews.com/2020/10/26/the-angry-arab-the-us-just-blackmailed-sudan/

 

An excellent article with a nice historical perspective,

I especially like this insight: “Those peace treaties will require a solid U.S. commitment to support Arab despots at all cost to preserve those treaties.”

Yes, indeed, democracy is so important for the United States.

____________________

Response to a comment:

But the truth is, by a hundred different measures, the United States and Israel are not truly two countries.

Israel is a privileged American imperial colony in a strategically-important region.

It floats on a sea of American government and private subsidies, and it receives privileges no other country does, even the oldest allies.

Privileges like high-level technical and military sharing, extraordinary access to the highest American officials, free trade, periodic special additional financial packages and loans, very large American government contracts in communications and security, plus many other supports. And Israel freely interferes in America’s lawmaking without ever receiving any criticism.

The lore about a people returning to the promised land serves some hard-nosed realpolitik, including putting in place a contingent of defenders, highly motivated ones, representing a situation a bit like imperial Britain's use of the Gurkhas.

It bestows on American politicians and elites a sense of their own benevolence and feeling good about their treatment of Jews, treatment which was in the past in fact terrible, both within American society and in its unwillingness to accept Jewish refugees.

One of the great ironies of modern Israel is that it has effectively served to suppress democracy throughout the region, and, as the article’s author so rightly points out, the new agreements will require more support for the absolute monarchs of the Gulf States.

All of Israel’s friends in the region are absolute monarchs or tyrants, serious ones. After thirty years of a dictator in Egypt, that country’s brief precious experiment with democratic government was ended with a coup, undoubtedly facilitated by the CIA. Now, Egypt’s people have as their leader a Field Marshal who packs his dingy prisons full.

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: TRUMP HAS TAUGHT THE WORLD SOMETHING IMPORTANT ABOUT AMERICAN SOCIETY – CLOSE TO HALF OF AMERICAN ADULTS ENTHUSIASTICALLY SUPPORT A MAN UNMISTAKABLY STAINED WITH RACISM AND MISOGYNY – A MAN WHO DESPISES EXPERTS AND DISPLAYS ALMOST UNPARALLELED TOTAL SELF-INTEREST

 John Chuckman

COMMENT – WHAT TRUMP HAS REVEALED

 

Trump has provided some new insight into contemporary American society.

The world has long understood that there are some dark corners in that society, but Trump’s success has shown that they are not just corners. They are large portions of the society, amounting to nearly half.

Absolutely no person of conscience and decency could still support Trump, having seen and heard him for nearly four years. Yet he can still draw large, enthusiastic crowds.

He reeks of hatreds – racial hatreds and misogyny are prominent. We’ve had many examples of misogyny, from his words about Kamala Harris, whom he called "extraordinarily nasty," to the recent revelation by a diplomatic insider that Trump called both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May “losers.”

Note that Trump also said this about Harris, “We're not going to have a socialist president, especially a female socialist president.” A truly odd statement, serving only to qualify “female” as being a negative.

Trump used the expression “nasty woman” in the past for Hillary Clinton, so perhaps Harris earned the added “extraordinarily” because of her ethnicity? For there cannot be any doubt that Trump’s genuine obsession with Barack Obama goes far deeper than mere political differences. Just as his many pejorative statements about Muslims and migrants and refugees.

He also tends to despise experts, at least experts in many important fields, and he is not willing to share his audiences with them, apparently believing the self-serving speeches he consistently offers provide adequate information for a concerned public. On many topics, he already has decided what is valuable and what is not and done so without either listening to experts or reading them. That kind of predetermined judgment almost defines the word “prejudice,” and of course ignorance is closely associated.

He provides an almost unparallel example of total self-interest. He actually suppressed early intelligence about the pandemic that has now killed about 230,000 Americans out of concern that it would affect his chances for re-election, and his entire approach since then has reflected the same primary concern, the importance of his own re-election.

His recent stunt of getting up and leaving a television interview was because he did not like the interviewer’s focus on the pandemic. The question that actually caused him to get up and leave concerned his language about Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, yet another woman he insulted, saying she was doing a terrible job, when, in fact, she has been among the more conscientious governors in dealing with the virus.

Despite his efforts to tamp his prejudices down, knowing they are not in his wider political interests, his choice of words and angry reactions to people and his ceaseless name-calling reveal, almost like a kind of body language, a very dark psychology. What has been revealed by insiders of his still harsher private language suggests the idea of his making an effort to tamp things down a bit in public.

Of course, his political base identifies with these barely suppressed attitudes. He reveals enough to signal them whose side he is on.

Were it not for wider social pressures, and providing it worked for his re-election, this is a man who might well strut around in uniform in the style of 1930s European authoritarians. In fact, he almost does, with his closetful of predictable, expensive big suits and corporate power ties and his relish for big rallies with lots of arm-waving and hand-gestures. He is, without any exaggeration, an American entrepreneurial version of a fascist.

And again, the most disturbing thing about Trump is that he carries the loyalty and enthusiasm of a large segment of the American people. The ugly fact brings to mind the observation of the great American journalist and historian of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer, when he wrote, “Perhaps America will one day go fascist democratically, by popular vote.”

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AMERICA’S MILITARY AS THE GREATEST POLLUTER ON EARTH – A NEW BOOK REVEALS ABOUT ITS DUMPING GHASTLY POISONS INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN FOR MANY YEARS – BUT THAT IS ONLY A PART OF THE GIGANTIC MILITARY POLLUTION MACHINERY – 800 TO 1,000 BASES ABROAD TO BE SUPPLIED TO NORTH AMERICAN STANDARDS – BURN PITS – USED AMMUNITION – CHEMICALS AND OLD MACHINERY – DEPLETED URANIUM DUST – AGENT ORANGE

 John Chuckman

EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN PRESS TV

'Poisoning the Pacific' details US military's secret dumping of poison into Far East

The new book, written by British journalist Jon Mitchell, details how the US military has been disposing toxic substances, including plutonium, dioxin, and VX nerve agent in the Pacific for many years

 

This kind of revelation is disturbing but not unexpected.

The American military is likely the greatest polluter on earth.

America has somewhere between 800 to 1,000 bases abroad. Imagine the pollution generated just by all the planes, ships, and trucks needed to keep them supplied, and to North American standards of consumption, and the endless mountains of trash generated.

And then there’s the filthy stuff like chemicals, used engine oil, and spilled fuel, broken or outdated machinery and equipment, and used ammunition scattered over land and sea in shooting practice.

Remember the controversy over "burn pits" used at military bases? Everything unwanted, vast amounts of stuff, was just dumped into them, soaked with fuel, and burned. The smoke and fumes made a lot of Americans very sick.

Depleted uranium dust is scattered all over the Middle East from American munitions, undoubtedly causing thousands of cancers over decades. The great weight of uranium produces shells which strike with great force so they can pierce armor, but every shell fired distributes a cloud of poisonous dust that will last for a very long time.

When the US left Vietnam, it left a beautiful land with so many bomb craters, areas were said to resemble the moon. And it had dumped thousands of tons of Agent Orange in the forests. And it left behind countless land mines that would keep killing farmers for decades.

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE DESTRUCTION OF FLIGHT MH 17 IN UKRAINE – RUSSIA HAS LEFT THE CONSULTING PANEL OWING TO NON-STOP BIAS AND LACK OF GENUINE COOPERATION – REVIEWING SOME OF THE BACKGROUND – AN INVESTIGATION THAT SHOULD HAVE REACHED RELIABLE CONCLUSIONS WITHIN A FEW MONTHS IS NOW INTO ITS 7TH YEAR – CRUCIAL EVIDENCE NEVER SOUGHT OR SUPPLIED

John Chuckman

COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY NEIL CLARK IN RUSSIA TODAY

Plane bias: Russia’s decision to quit MH17 panel a logical result of Dutch provocations

Russia’s decision to quit the three-sided consultations with the Netherlands and Australia on flight MH17 is not surprising. It’s surprising that Moscow hasn’t done this earlier, having been declared guilty from day one.

 

I took an interest in this matter in the early days and followed the information released fairly closely.

Absolutely crucial to understanding are the facts that Ukraine never released radar data, which is something that should have been done as normal procedure, and that the United States never provided any photos from spy satellites.

The American Keyhole satellites have cameras with lenses almost like the Hubble Space Telescope.

And we know an American satellite was active over the area. Those satellites always are set to take a special interest in regions of conflict like the Ukraine. There absolutely must be high-resolution photos. Why do they remain hidden?

Those satellites read other kinds of data too, but no one has seen any from the US.

If you study the case, you know there are many other interesting and unexplained facts. That just shouldn't be the case for such an event. Air crashes are often thoroughly investigated and reported within a few months.

Remember, the US very much had a motive to hide any responsibility by its coup-installed government in Ukraine. They had invested 5 billion dollars in toppling an elected government.

For more interesting facts, see: 

https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/05/25/john-chuckman-comment-latest-installment-of-the-years-long-foot-dragging-investigation-into-the-downing-of-flight-mh-17-over-ukraine-raises-old-concerns/

___________________

Response to a comment about the Dutch government:

I long have admired the Dutch as creative and industrious and scrupulous people.

This extremely poor investigation, done under America’s thumb, absolutely casts a dark shadow over their reputation, I am sorry to say.

I almost suspect the US chose the Dutch because their historic excellent reputation would add credibility to the cover-up.

I'm sure they were forced into a hard place. The US had a 5 billion-dollar investment in Ukraine's coup. We know that number from the State Department's Victoria Nuland being overheard.

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AMERICAN RUSSOPHOBIA BADLY INFECTS CANADA – CONSORTIUM NEWS, AN OLD AND DISTINGUISHED INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE, IS SUING A CANADIAN NEWS NETWORK FOR CLAIMING IT WAS PART OF A RUSSIAN-DIRECTED POLITICAL ATTACK – A FEW NOTES ON CHRYSTIA FREELAND’S CONNECTIONS IN WASHINGTON AND ON HER BIAS – SHE IS SOMEONE JUSTIN TRUDEAU MUCH DEPENDS ON OWING TO HIS OWN WEAKNESS – CANADA’S CHANGED REPUTATION IN THE WORLD – INTERESTING NOTES FROM THE CONSORTIUM NEWS’ INVESTIGATION

John Chuckman

COMMENT IN RESPONSE TO AN ARTICLE BY JOE LAURIA IN CONSORTIUM NEWS

Consortium News Sues Canadian TV Network for Defamation Over Report CN Was Part of ‘Attack’ ‘Directed’ by Russia

In January Consortium News sent a libel notice to Global News demanding a retraction and apology. The TV network refused. On Tuesday CN filed suit in Virginia.

https://consortiumnews.com/2020/10/13/consortium-news-sues-canadian-tv-network-for-defamation-over-report-cn-was-part-of-attack-directed-by-russia/

Go get ’em, CN.

Just the most appalling stuff from a Canadian news network, but one which I have always regarded as something of a broom-closet, mop-and-bucket effort at being an authoritative news source. Maybe that’s why they did not adequately check facts and claims?

It does seem that in this era of consistently hostile American foreign policy, literally anything goes in the way of shabby speech – from Democrats or Republicans or American security services or allies abroad who jostle for a place at the hem of the imperial garment.

Chrystia Freeland – Canada’s former Foreign Minister and now Deputy Prime Minister with special responsibility for relations with Washington – is what I describe as a Neocon-Lite, although the “Lite” designation is debatable. You can easily identify her orientation from the set of her prejudices revealed over time. She has helped change Canada’s traditional approach to, and reputation in, international affairs under Liberal governments beyond recognition.

She gets on quite well with Mike Pompeo, perhaps the most poisonous senior diplomat in modern history. We never have a word against America’s current destructive set of foreign policies, including the horrors of Yemen. Indeed, Freeland and Trudeau supported Saudi Arabia by selling it billions of dollars’ worth of armored cars, and they are still doing it, selling armored cars to the bloodiest tyrant in the Middle East. American influence? Of course.

She advocates strongly for America’s ugly efforts to topple a twice-elected (six times-elected, if you also count the past leader) government in Venezuela. She supports America’s shameful use of severe – and illegal, having no authority beyond America’s say-so – sanctions against poorer states suffering under the pandemic.

She helped destroy Canada’s previous excellent relations with China because that is what Washington wanted. We hear never a word against Saudi Arabia’s many bloody horrors, wars and murders and record numbers of grisly executions. Never a word on America’s illegal occupation of part of Syria and theft of its oil. Never a word about America’s numerous public assassinations in Iraq. Never a word about America’s ugly new pressures against Cuba, a country Pierre Trudeau, father of the current Prime Minister, had befriended.

Never a word as Israel spent months regularly ambushing unarmed protesters in Gaza, killing over two hundred, including women and children, and wounding a few thousand, some mangled for life. Never a word about (clearly neo-Nazi) paramilitary organizations in Ukraine, such as the Azov Battalion and the Right Sector, organizations which are quietly used to keep the country’s elected government intimidated so that it doesn’t stray from the American line in trying to settle the country’s many post-coup problems. And never a word against Trump’s literally tearing up a whole series of important treaties concerned with nuclear weapons.

A sure sign of Canada’s decline in the world’s esteem was seen in Justin Trudeau’s recent fairly desperate and costly effort to secure a temporary UN Security Council seat. He was embarrassingly turned down by the General Assembly. Likely they didn’t feel they needed another echo of the United States in deliberations.

Distinguished past Liberal Party figures like Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, Jean Chretien, and Paul Martin gave Canada an enviable international reputation, a reputation it has largely lost. The loss started under the rightwing Conservative government of Stephen Harper, but it has been reinforced by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government with Chrystia Freeland as its major player, always assigned top posts.

Justin Trudeau, unlike his esteemed and brilliant father, a man of many accomplishments and one who stood up to the United States during the Vietnam War and on relations with Cuba, is simply a weak leader. He has revealed that in many acts and words. He ran for office on his name and his smile and has amply demonstrated the adage about strong fathers often having weak sons.

He originally avoided politics, but Liberal Party insiders lured him to run for office in desperate hopes of defeating the longstanding Stephen Harper government. The Trudeau name had retained a lot of magic in Canada more than thirty years after Pierre left office.

Before entering politics not many years ago, Justin Trudeau’s career was as a drama coach and snowboard instructor at a high school. I think that’s about all you need to know concerning qualifications.

Ms. Freeland is both tougher and more intelligent than Justin, and he leans on her a great deal, but she is also something else, as you can see in the following quotes concerning a memo released by the American State Department.

‘The US State Department boasted in a declassified memo in March 2017 that Canada had adopted an “America first” foreign policy.

‘The cable was authored just weeks after the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Chrystia Freeland as foreign minister.

‘The State Department added that Trudeau had promoted Freeland “in large part because of her strong U.S. contacts,” and that her “number one priority” was working closely with Washington.’

She is connected, having worked as an editor for one of the news services known through the Cold War as an outlet for CIA disinformation. Her husband also works for The New York Times, the American establishment’s official house organ. She is noticeably biased on a whole range of subjects, and especially with respect to Ukraine and Russia, a bias not uncommon with Canadians of Ukrainian heritage, which is of course in line with American policy today.

NOTES

BELOW ARE EXCERPTS FROM THE CONSORTIUM NEWS’ INVESTIGATION OF CHRYSTIA FREELAND’S FAMILY BACKGROUND – AN HONEST JOURNALISTIC INVESTIGATION THAT SAW CANADA’S GLOBAL NEWS LABEL CONSORTIUM NEWS AS A “RUSSIAN COLLABORATOR” DISTRIBUTING DISINFORMATION.

CONSORTIUM NEWS, THE OLDEST INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE ON THE INTERNET (25 YEARS) AND ONE FOUNDED BY AN AWARD-WINNING AMERICAN JOURNALIST, THE LATE ROBERT PARRY, ONLY PICKED UP ON THE STORY AFTER IT HAD BEEN MENTIONED IN OTHER PLACES, INCLUDING CANADIAN NEWSPAPERS, THE GLOBE AND MAIL AND THE OTTAWA CITIZEN.

AS IS OFTEN THE CASE, CONSORTIUM NEWS DUG DEEPER INTO THE MATTER – THE LIST OF CONSORTIUM NEWS’ WRITERS AND DIRECTORS INCLUDES MANY DISTINGUISHED NAMES.

“Freeland presents her grandparents in the following way: ‘My maternal grandparents fled western Ukraine after Hitler and Stalin signed their non-aggression pact in 1939. They never dared to go back..”

“Chrystia Freeland’s dark family secret is that her grandfather, Mykhailo Chomiak, faithfully served Nazi Germany right up to its surrender, and Chomiak’s family only moved to Canada after the Third Reich was defeated.”

“Of course, if she had told the truth, she might never have achieved a successful political career in Canada. Her fierce hostility toward Russia also might be viewed in a different light.”

“Freeland’s grandfather – rather than being a helpless victim – was given a prestigious job to spread Nazi propaganda, praising Hitler from a publishing house stolen from Jews and given to Ukrainians who shared the values of Nazism.”

“While it is true that the sins of a grandfather should not be visited on his descendants, Freeland should not have misled the public on history of such importance, especially when her deceptions also concealed how she partly developed her world view.”

Freeland has misled the public about these matters a number of times. Here’s a quote from 2016: ‘Thinking of my grandparents Mykhailo & Aleksandra Chomiak on Black Ribbon Day [A day which remembers the crimes of both Hitler and Stalin]. They were forever grateful to Canada for giving them refuge and they worked hard to return freedom and democracy to Ukraine. I am proud to honour their memory today.’

In her autobiography, she wrote: “My maternal grandparents fled western Ukraine after Hitler and Stalin signed their non-aggression pact in 1939. They never dared to go back..”

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: FEELING ALMOST SORRY FOR TRUMP – HE SEEMS TO BE LOSING THE ELECTION AND KNOWS IT – HE EVEN MAY HAVE RISKED HIS LIFE LEAVING THE HOSPITAL TO TRY TURNING THINGS AROUND – A RATHER SAD LONELY DESPERATE MAN WITH A RECORD OF NO ACHIEVEMENT – LIKELY THERE WILL BE NO SECOND DEBATE OWING TO A CHANGE IN BIDEN’S VIEW – LOW EXPECTATIONS IN MATTERS AT HOME AND ABROAD FOR BIDEN AS PRESIDENT – SOMETHING TO FEEL SORRY ABOUT, PROFOUNDLY SORRY, TOO IN THE NATURE OF AMERICA’S ELECTIONS – A CHANGE IN THE CAST OF CHARACTERS AND THE SAME PLAY JUST CARRIES ON

 

John Chuckman

COMMENT – FEELING ALMOST SORRY FOR TRUMP

 

I am now fairly convinced Trump will lose the election. The sense of things, including his own behavior, and not just polls, is going that way.

So, it is hard to believe, but I find myself feeling almost sorry for him now. Maybe it’s just a twinge of the belief I share with the great Graham Greene about the duty of writers always to support the underdog.

No, I do not in any way support Trump, and the world will be a better place without his influence, but there is something sad in his situation. As there is very much in his complete failure to deliver anything for peace and demilitarization in the world, things that he spoke of four years ago.

Quite the opposite, he has dumped huge quantities of weapons into a fragile world, torn up hard-won treaties, opened new intense hostilities, as against Iran and China, and actually murdered people as well as supported others who murder, such as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

I reject virtually everything Trump has done and said, but since leaving the hospital, I’m seeing a lonely, desperate figure, someone who believes he is heroically fighting for a cause. The belief is delusional, of course, but for those suffering with them, delusions are as real as anything else.

A man ready to risk his life (along, of course, with the lives of others) to be re-elected. There is an immense sadness about that, particularly when you consider the trail of chaos that his time in office leaves behind. He has made absolutely nothing better in the world.

He left the hospital against expert advice. And he remains not just sick, but infectious, perhaps highly so.

Biden has changed his view on a second debate. Plexiglass screens are not going to be enough. Now, he says there will not be a debate unless medical experts declare Trump free of the virus. How much chance is there of that, given the short time left?

Not much, and I think the Democrats have hit upon an effective political tactic to avoid any risks from a second debate. The first one was a record-breaking shame and disaster for all involved.

There is very little ever to celebrate in American politics. Trump is a horror; however, Biden is anything but a hero. His record in public office, a long one, is impressive only for being unimpressive and frequently downright shabby.

American elections really are designed as huge public events that get people excited but, in the end, do not make terribly much difference to the country’s many harsh realities. Both parties are war-and-imperial parties, only differing by talk about social policies which never are realized.

And the bought-and-paid-for nature of Washington’s entire political establishment, where “money is free speech,” means there is little in the way of a pool of leadership talent to call upon. Leadership is quite a different matter than performing tasks for those who pay your way. It must be nurtured, and it takes time to develop and mature, just as any other talent.

A former CIA man who writes articles on some independent Internet sites, John Kiriakou, wrote recently about John Negroponte’s support of Biden.

If you are not familiar with Negroponte, he is one of Washington’s true eminence grises. He is a Republican, but he is more than that. He is an insider’s insider, an advisor to Presidents, a manipulator, a Neocon, a true war hawk sharing responsibility for much of America’s global carnage over the last 20 years or so.

Negroponte says the country could not stand another four years of Trump. He will likely now be part of Biden’s inner circle. I don’t find that very comforting.

So, if you expect imperial America to tone down its many hostilities, demands, and its dangerous arrogance in the world under Biden, think again.

Biden’s entire 50-year political career gives no encouragement for such expectations. He has, just like the late John McCain on the Republican side, never seen an American war he didn’t like.

I’ve noted before that you don’t receive the Medal of Freedom – the one for politics and national affairs, as Biden did – for being a hero. Past recipients include Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright among a regular Madame Tussaud’s Chamber of Horrors.

In domestic matters, too, there will only be a bit of furniture rearranging. There was an incident a while back when some big Democratic donors expressed concern about Leftist noises coming from the Party.

For example, remember Bernie Sanders saying he believed Biden would be the most progressive President ever? Clearly, a case of Bernie’s getting carried away by his own hopes and enthusiasms. But the big-money people do not take such words lightly. They take no chances about what they are getting for their money.

That is just the way politics work in America, and in both parties. That is why so little ever changes, changes at least for the better. Changes for the worse are frequent. The worse for both ordinary Americans and the world’s people.

Biden was reported to have assured the donors that there would be no real change in the status quo.

At least, we will not have to hear the ugly words of Trump. Or watch his grimacing and grotesque posing. That’s about as much as any contemporary election in America can deliver. A change in the cast of characters for a long-running play which just carries right on.

And, of course, that fact, too, is something to feel sorry about, profoundly sorry.

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: COVID ENTERS THE ELECTION – CHANGES THAT IT BRINGS – NOTES ON TRUMP’S COMPLETE LACK OF EMPATHY FOR OTHERS – A WORD ON A SHABBY, EMBARRASSING DEBATE – MUSSOLINI DOES A STAGY EVENING RETURN-HOME SCENE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE BALCONY – THE MOST TROUBLING THING ABOUT TRUMP’S TIME IN OFFICE

 John Chuckman

COMMENT – COVID ENTERS THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE

 

Polls showed that a majority of Americans thought Biden won the first Presidential debate, and he gained a little boost vis-à-vis Trump from the fact.

But it was nothing large or decisive, and I think victory in such a shabby, embarrassing event means very little in the scheme of things. Biden just scraped through. All perceptive commentators called the event a record low point in the country’s politics, which is exactly what it was. You don’t gain a lot of credibility just getting through something like that.

Now, we have a new entrant in the contest, COVID-19.

Trump’s coming down with what appears to be a relatively mild case of COVID could have some significant effects on the election.

First, Trump may well gain a certain “sympathy vote.” That is just the way large populations of people react. We already see lunatic prayer vigils for him. We can be certain he will milk the situation for all it is worth.

The irony is in his being a person of zero empathy or sympathy for anyone else, something we see demonstrated almost daily.

Months ago, it was projected that there would be 200,000 American COVID deaths by Election Day, November 3. But we have already surpassed that number with about 210,000 deaths at this writing and a daily toll of about 700 nearly thirty days before the election. Plus, all the experts expect a new surge in cases during the Fall. Yet these are matters Trump never addresses in his briefings, which are pretty much about himself, his own attitudes and uninformed views.

Other countries gained control early – outstanding examples include China, Singapore, Thailand, and New Zealand – but not the United States. Trump literally sat on accurate information early in the year, taking no meaningful measures. Any journalist who asked questions around those matters received anger and contempt as a response. Trump contradicted and opposed every true expert at home and abroad. He made efforts even to suppress American experts offering their views to the public. His ostentatious quitting – he called it “terminating” – the World Health Organization in May has to rank as a policy-act equivalent to his manic debate performance.

He has offered a world-class display of incompetence. And the reason? Because bad news would damage his re-election chances. So, tens of thousands died needlessly in order to help Trump get re-elected. See what I mean by demonstrated lack of empathy and sympathy?

Aspects of that could work against him, as I very much hope they do. There is a relatively large list of White House staff and others now revealed to have been infected by his recklessness. Some important Republican donors were exposed. Many Secret Service Agents have been infected with all his travel.

We had a story about Secret Service Agents anonymously saying Trump didn’t give a damn about what happened to them.

His little limo drive-by in front of the hospital certainly demonstrated how little concern he had for staff and those assisting him in a needless stunt. That armored limo is hermetically-sealed against gas attacks and provides an ideal transmission environment for people inside with a virus according to one expert.

The approval for his nominee to the Supreme Court is going to be slowed down owing to virus concerns in the Senate, quite possibly making confirmation of the appointment before the election impossible.

He may not get his tie-breaking vote for an election thrown into the Court. Will he still throw the election into the Court if Biden is elected without an overwhelming lead?

Who knows, but I suspect so. Trump will pretty much do anything offering him a chance at victory he would not otherwise have had.

He is an utterly unscrupulous man.

Perhaps, the most troubling fact about Trump’s time in office is seeing how many Americans still enthusiastically support him.

It does say dark things about a very large fraction of the American people because the enthusiasm comes after almost four years of demonstrated ignorance, incompetence, and lies. Plus, public murder, theft, and unrelenting aggression against hundreds of millions of people, unprecedented crudeness and incivility in international affairs, including towards traditional friends and allies, and generous support for some of the world’s bloodiest tyrants.

 

NOTE

As I write these words, Trump has left the hospital and shown up at the White House, where on the balcony in front of a row of flags he stagily removed his mask for a gang of photographers, assumed one of his grim-jawed Mussolini poses and pronounced, “Don’t let it dominate you.”

Such profound advice from the man who has been pumped full of exotic drugs and experimental treatments for four days at taxpayer expense. I am sure that relatives of the more than 210,000 dead Americans will appreciate his words.

Separately, the Senate Judiciary Committee announced confirmation hearings for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, will begin in a week.

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: TRUMP’S GOLD-PLATED MEDICAL TREATMENT – HELICOPTERED TO WALTER REED HOSPITAL FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CARE WHILE MILLIONS OF OTHER AMERICANS RECEIVE NO HEALTHCARE AT ALL – AND TRUMP IS STILL OUT TO KILL OBAMACARE WHICH HIS SUPREME COURT NOMINEE THINKS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL

 John Chuckman

COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA TODAY

 

Trump flown to Walter Reed as ‘precautionary measure’ for Covid-19, will be working from military hospital for a ‘few days’

 

Trump's treatment here is immensely symbolic of what he stands for.

He gets helicoptered to Walter Reed and will receive millions of dollars worth of treatment. And he is not even very sick by all reports.

Meanwhile, millions of ordinary Americans have no healthcare at all.

And he still works hard to destroy Obamacare, a system that is inadequate in many ways but still provides some protections to tens of millions.

His Supreme Court nominee is on record saying Obamacare is probably unconstitutional.

His poor management also helped greatly increase America's toll, now at about 210,000 dead.

So, solid gold service for "The Chosen One" and nothing for the peasants.

Great man.

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE FIRST AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE – TRUMP’S DANGEROUS INTENTIONS WITH STREET-GANG SUPPORTERS AND THE SUPREME COURT – BIDEN’S RELATIVELY INSIPID LEADERSHIP – A CANDIDATE WHOSE ONLY REAL ATTRACTION IS NOT BEING TRUMP – I HOPE I AM WRONG, BUT IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE SOMEONE WHO GENERATES SO LITTLE ENTHUSIASM GETTING THE DECISIVE VICTORY REQUIRED TO THWART TRUMP’S INTENTIONS – THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY HAS DONE THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD NO SERVICE IN TAKING THE BIG RISK OF RUNNING HIM – EVERYONE COMES OUT OF THIS ELECTION SMELLING BADLY – THE DANGEROUS STUPIDITIES AND ATTITUDES TAKING HOLD IN AMERICA AS ITS ECONOMIC DECLINE IS MORE FULLY GRASPED – AMERICA DESPERATELY NEEDS LEADERSHIP BUT THERE IS NONE TO BE FOUND IN ITS MONEY-DRIVEN POLITICS – THE THINGS REALLY NEEDING CHANGE WILL NOT BE TOUCHED – AMERICA IS POLITICALLY BANKRUPT JUST AS IT IS MORALLY AND SOCIALLY AND ABOUT TO BECOME FINANCIALLY

 John Chuckman

EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN PRESS TV

 “First US presidential debate for 2020 race in Cleveland, Ohio”

 

A good summary of some key points in the ugly, childish food-fight being called a Presidential political debate.

America just becomes stranger every day. While it has been a brutal country for all of my lifetime – both abroad in its wars and at home on its streets – it had kept that fact somewhat disguised with a softening veil of civility and seeming respect for law on the part of government. And much of the world saw America, quite unrealistically, in terms of sympathetic Jimmy Stewart movies.

But that veil has been torn down by Trump, completely, and there is no pretense of civility. There is just the most open contempt for others, again both abroad and at home. Unfortunately, there is a large population of Americans – approaching half of adults – who believe he is right and feel empowered by his extreme behavior, so the acrimony he has generated is not going to disappear even if he loses the election decisively. It is his legacy, a legacy of hate.

In the “debate,” Trump was unpleasant or frightening on virtually every topic, but I do think the most frightening are his words about the ballots and accepting the outcome of the election.

He works constantly to undermine the legitimacy of an election result that does not make him the winner. He thinks like Mussolini, and that isn’t the slightest exaggeration.

He is preparing the ground for two very unwelcome outcomes.

One, in a time of strife and division across the country, he is telling his supporters to be ready not to accept the election outcome, hyping already hyped-up people, a good many of them armed, to conflict.

That can only translate into rage on the streets.

Two, and most important, Trump is setting the stage for his own refusal to accept the election result. The rage on the streets will serve to support his demands, reminiscent of the way 1920s fascist leaders in Europe used organized groups of streetfighters – Germany’s Brownshirts and Italy’s Blackshirts.

He will want to throw the violently-contested election result to the Supreme Court for a decision.

That Court’s current Justices would likely divide, four-to-four, for and against him.

But the Justice he has just appointed – if she is approved by the Senate, which seems likely – will have the tie-breaking vote, and she will be immeasurably beholden to him for the judicial appointment of a lifetime. Indeed, it is, literally, an appointment for a lifetime, one of great prestige and privilege.

While she is very intelligent, it is obvious from her past words and associations, that she is extremely conservative, Right-wing is a more fitting term. And there is an unwelcome touch of the dark and mystical in what is known of her religious beliefs. History tells us, over and over, that pure intelligence does not overcome extreme emotional attitudes and biases in judgments. Many highly intelligent people have done terribly destructive things.

The chances of her supporting anyone but Trump have to be close to zero. And that will be a disaster for all of humanity.

NOTE ON BIDEN

Of course, all of Trump’s plotting cannot come to anything if Biden were to win a resounding election victory, in which case there would be no basis for an appeal to the Supreme Court, but how likely is that?

Despite Biden’s effort to appeal to the television audience in the debate, as by looking directly into the camera sometimes to create an impression of openness and concern for others, and his effort to appear as a calm and reassuring, rather avuncular figure in contrast with the sputtering rage of Trump, he only just barely got by.

He is not especially impressive in any way, either in his words or his range of views. And he does look old and somewhat washed-out. His Irish temper, something he has always been known for in politics, got the best of him several times, and he made insulting remarks. A couple of them were actually funny, but they had no place in a debate, no matter how maddening your opponent was. Of course, they just don’t come more maddening than Trump.

He had one or two good moments, but they were brief and only related to Trump’s insulting words touching his sons, which of course had no place in a political debate.

Biden does not even attempt to make a case for any great issues, and that is in keeping with his entire fifty-year political career. He is a man who inspires little enthusiasm, as opposed to the ferocious enthusiasm Trump arouses in his mob. The Democratic Party really has taken a chance with the country’s future by running him. Absolutely no one comes out of this election smelling good, although I think it safe to say Trump’s smell is about as rank as it gets.

Biden’s only real merit is that he is not Trump, and what an indictment of America’s political institutions it is to have to say that. America is politically and morally and socially bankrupt, and it is about to become financially bankrupt as well.

Its global relative economic decline, the result of natural evolutionary processes, is being met at home by nothing but stupidities and viciousness that will only increase the speed and extent of that decline. “Whom the gods would destroy…”

The very notion that America’s decline results from unfair competition and evil plotting is laughable, resembling something from a 1940 Hollywood movie serial like Flash Gordon. But that dangerous notion is entrenching itself in a people and in their political establishment who are stunned by the realization that someone else can be as good or better than America at doing many things. No matter who wins, I’m afraid America will pursue that barren path. A one-way trip to nowhere.

A real leader would deal with that immense challenge, which has implications across every part of American society, but I don’t see any real leaders in America. Its corrupt, money-driven politics has produced exactly the sad sight we see

Readers may enjoy:

https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2020/05/23/john-chuckman-comment-the-hazy-idea-of-returning-to-normal-in-america-with-joe-biden-americans-want-a-sugary-walt-disney-cartoon-while-the-killing-and-destruction-are-carried-on-abroad/

https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2020/05/14/john-chuckman-comment-biden-called-the-worst-candidate-in-recent-history-perhaps-but-something-worse-stares-us-in-the-face-the-worst-president-of-all-time/

https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2020/03/12/john-chuckman-comment-objections-to-joe-biden-a-consolidation-of-points-from-several-earlier-comments-the-feeble-state-of-american-democracy/

JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE ENCOURAGING AMERICAN POLITICAL PHENOMENON OF “THE SQUAD,” FOUR REMARKABLY BRAVE AND OUTSPOKEN WOMEN NEW TO POLITICS – THEY PROVIDE SMALL RAYS OF HOPE IN AMERICA’S TRULY BLEAK POLITICAL LANDSCAPE – SURE, THEY MAKE MISTAKES, BUT CAN YOU IMAGINE ANY GREATER BLUNDERS THAN WHAT WE JUST WITNESSED IN A PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE? ONE CAN ONLY HOPE A BIT FOR THE FUTURE HERE, REMEMBERING THEY ARE NEW AND FEW AND THEY WILL EXPERIENCE THE FULL FORCE OF MONEY-DRIVEN POLITICS UNLEASHED AGAINST THEM

 John Chuckman

COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN MONDOWEISS

 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley – just extraordinary women in American politics taking Washington by storm.

I am immensely impressed by their courage in speaking truth to the establishment.

They make mistakes, so what? Just look at that fiasco of the first Presidential debate.

Any of these women is head-and-shoulders above the two election debaters, a President and a former vice-President, in terms of honesty, openness, and fresh ideas.

It’s an amazing phenomenon.

So, we are seeing some small rays of hope in America’s otherwise bleak political landscape.

One can only hope.