John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Why the Most Expensive Military Still Can't Win a War
“Spending money has become its primary purpose”
The Pentagon used to prepare fresh, hot pizzas in Vietnam and helicopter them out to troops in the field.
I think that says something important about America and war.
But we have to keep in mind that America's wars aren't like other people's wars to start with.
Since WWII, every single war had absolutely nothing to do with defense.
They were all colonial wars fought, not for the protection of the American people, but for the interests of America's power establishment.
None of them inspired the troops involved.
All of them were viewed as dirty little jobs.
Except by the psychopaths, a type always attracted to the military, for whom they were playtime with real human beings, free of all constraints and laws.
Morale, bravery, heroism, and purpose - all the stuff of epoch war stories of the past - pretty much have been missing from three-quarters of a century of American colonial wars and interventions. There are no Jimmy Stewart types with tears on the cheeks to bring a lump to your throat.
I noted with interest that back in the time of the illegal American invasion of Iraq, the New York Times – always an imperial drum-beater despite its reputation inside the United States as “liberal” – made an effort for a while to revive the old American WWII expression “GIs.”
“GIs” [Government Issues, for those unfamiliar] was an affectionate term for citizen-soldiers fighting aggressors in faraway places seventy-five years ago. The term was used in films and in newspaper reports and cartoons.
When I saw the New York Times trying to label well-paid, well-equipped modern American mercenaries who were illegally invading a country as “Aw shucks, Ma” GIs, it brought bitter laughter.
These guys actually lived in air-conditioned tents, generating immense electric bills on the desert.
I believe The New York Times abandoned the effort, but I’m not certain since I stopped reading the paper. Again, that pathetic effort tells us something about America’s modern wars.
Perhaps it helps explain why so many of America’s wars are so unsuccessful, despite the huge amounts of money spent on them and all the public relations hype from Washington and the pitiless destruction of other people with practices like carpet-bombing.
There can be no success when you attempt meaningless tasks. It’s often not even clear what success would be, say for example, in a war like that in Afghanistan. The only certainty is lots of death and destruction.
Friday, November 16, 2018
Thursday, November 15, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: PLAYING THE ESTABLISHMENT'S GAME BY DEMONSTRATING THIS OR THAT PAST DISHONESTY AS WITH INTELLIGENCE AND THE IRAQ INVASION - WHERE EMPIRE IS CONCERNED POLITICIANS AND AGENCIES AND PRESS ARE ALL COMPLICIT AND UTTERLY DISHONEST - MANUFACTURING TRUTH IN AMERICA
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY RAY MCGOVERN IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Clapper Admits Gross Intelligence Failure
on Iraq WMDs But Still Escapes Justice”
I am always glad to see confirmation in such matters, however, for people who work to inform themselves, there are no real surprises to be discovered about the invasion of Iraq. It was a dirty imperial project from the start, and the fact was knowable at the time.
It could clearly be seen as a fraud because there were a number of experts, experts not working for the American government, and people in other governments who, in effect, told us then that it was a fraud.
What the whole experience with Iraq reveals is a couple of profound truths about imperial America, truths that are quite unpleasant and yet seem to remain lost to the general public.
One, lying and manipulation are virtually work-a-day activities in Washington. They go on at all levels of the government, from the President through all of the various experts and agency heads who in theory hold their jobs to inform the President and others of the truth in making decisions.
Indeed, these experts and agency heads actually work more like party members from George Orwell’s Oceania in 1984, party members whose job it was to constantly rewrite history, making adjustments in the words and pictures of old periodicals and books to conform with Big Brother’s latest pronouncements and turns in policy.
America has an entire industry devoted to manufacturing truth, something the rather feeble term “fake news” tries to capture, although its accusations are often not accurately focused. Still, its use reflects the widespread and true impression of being lied to and often.
The public’s reaction to officials and agencies in Washington ought to be quite different than it generally is. Under the American imperial system with its elite power establishment, it should be a presumption that officials and agencies are not telling us the truth, that they usually have ulterior motives, and that they are tailoring a story to fit a policy.
It sounds extreme to say so, but it truly is not in view of recent history. There is almost not an important event in American foreign policy in recent decades where this assumption would not yield something closer to truth than its opposite. That is the dark nature of empire with its powerful and large, and largely unaccountable, agencies, and with its utter corruption for the benefit of a privileged few.
We are all watching actors in a costly play used to support already-determined destructive policies.
Two, the press lies, and it lies almost constantly in support of government’s decided policies. You simply cannot trust the American press on such matters, and the biggest names in the press – the New York Times or Washington Post or CBS or NBC – are the biggest liars because they put the weight of their general prestige into the balance to tip it.
Their fortunes and interests are far too closely bound to government to be in the least trusted for objective journalism. Journalism just does not exist in America on the big stuff.
This support by the press is not done just on special occasions, such as the run-up to the illegal invasion of Iraq, but consistently in the major affairs of state. We see it today in everything from “Russia-gate” to the Western-induced horrors of Syria.
Russia-gate is almost laughable, although few Americans laugh, immersed as they are in a stream of non-stop propaganda. But a matter like Syria, with more than half a million dead and terrible privations, isn’t laughable, yet no effort is made to explain the truth and bring this monstrous project – the work equally of Republicans and Democrats - to an end.
Three, while virtually all informed people understand that Israel’s influence in Washington is inordinate and inappropriate, many still do not realize that the horror of Iraq, just like the horror today of Syria, reflects the interests of Israel.
When Ariel Sharon was lobbying George Bush to attack other Middle Eastern countries following the Iraq invasion, Bush made a rarely-noticed remark to associates along the lines of, “Geez, what does the guy want? I invaded Iraq for him, didn’t I?”
Well, today, pretty much all of the countries that Sharon thought should be attacked have indeed been attacked by the United States and its associates in one fashion or another – covertly, as in Syria, or overtly, as in Libya. And we are all witnessing the ground being prepared for Iran.
It has been a genuinely terrifying period, the last decade and a half or so. War after war with huge numbers of innocents killed, vast damages inflicted, and armies of unfortunate refugees created. All of it completely unnecessary. All of it devoid of ethics or principles beyond the principle of “might makes right.”
It simply cannot be distinguished, except by order of magnitude, from the grisly work of Europe’s fascist governments of the 1930s and ‘40s.
All the discussions we read or see from America about truth in journalism, about truth in government, and about founding principles are pretty much distraction and noise, meaningless noise. The realities of what America is doing in the world make it so.
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY RAY MCGOVERN IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Clapper Admits Gross Intelligence Failure
on Iraq WMDs But Still Escapes Justice”
I am always glad to see confirmation in such matters, however, for people who work to inform themselves, there are no real surprises to be discovered about the invasion of Iraq. It was a dirty imperial project from the start, and the fact was knowable at the time.
It could clearly be seen as a fraud because there were a number of experts, experts not working for the American government, and people in other governments who, in effect, told us then that it was a fraud.
What the whole experience with Iraq reveals is a couple of profound truths about imperial America, truths that are quite unpleasant and yet seem to remain lost to the general public.
One, lying and manipulation are virtually work-a-day activities in Washington. They go on at all levels of the government, from the President through all of the various experts and agency heads who in theory hold their jobs to inform the President and others of the truth in making decisions.
Indeed, these experts and agency heads actually work more like party members from George Orwell’s Oceania in 1984, party members whose job it was to constantly rewrite history, making adjustments in the words and pictures of old periodicals and books to conform with Big Brother’s latest pronouncements and turns in policy.
America has an entire industry devoted to manufacturing truth, something the rather feeble term “fake news” tries to capture, although its accusations are often not accurately focused. Still, its use reflects the widespread and true impression of being lied to and often.
The public’s reaction to officials and agencies in Washington ought to be quite different than it generally is. Under the American imperial system with its elite power establishment, it should be a presumption that officials and agencies are not telling us the truth, that they usually have ulterior motives, and that they are tailoring a story to fit a policy.
It sounds extreme to say so, but it truly is not in view of recent history. There is almost not an important event in American foreign policy in recent decades where this assumption would not yield something closer to truth than its opposite. That is the dark nature of empire with its powerful and large, and largely unaccountable, agencies, and with its utter corruption for the benefit of a privileged few.
We are all watching actors in a costly play used to support already-determined destructive policies.
Two, the press lies, and it lies almost constantly in support of government’s decided policies. You simply cannot trust the American press on such matters, and the biggest names in the press – the New York Times or Washington Post or CBS or NBC – are the biggest liars because they put the weight of their general prestige into the balance to tip it.
Their fortunes and interests are far too closely bound to government to be in the least trusted for objective journalism. Journalism just does not exist in America on the big stuff.
This support by the press is not done just on special occasions, such as the run-up to the illegal invasion of Iraq, but consistently in the major affairs of state. We see it today in everything from “Russia-gate” to the Western-induced horrors of Syria.
Russia-gate is almost laughable, although few Americans laugh, immersed as they are in a stream of non-stop propaganda. But a matter like Syria, with more than half a million dead and terrible privations, isn’t laughable, yet no effort is made to explain the truth and bring this monstrous project – the work equally of Republicans and Democrats - to an end.
Three, while virtually all informed people understand that Israel’s influence in Washington is inordinate and inappropriate, many still do not realize that the horror of Iraq, just like the horror today of Syria, reflects the interests of Israel.
When Ariel Sharon was lobbying George Bush to attack other Middle Eastern countries following the Iraq invasion, Bush made a rarely-noticed remark to associates along the lines of, “Geez, what does the guy want? I invaded Iraq for him, didn’t I?”
Well, today, pretty much all of the countries that Sharon thought should be attacked have indeed been attacked by the United States and its associates in one fashion or another – covertly, as in Syria, or overtly, as in Libya. And we are all witnessing the ground being prepared for Iran.
It has been a genuinely terrifying period, the last decade and a half or so. War after war with huge numbers of innocents killed, vast damages inflicted, and armies of unfortunate refugees created. All of it completely unnecessary. All of it devoid of ethics or principles beyond the principle of “might makes right.”
It simply cannot be distinguished, except by order of magnitude, from the grisly work of Europe’s fascist governments of the 1930s and ‘40s.
All the discussions we read or see from America about truth in journalism, about truth in government, and about founding principles are pretty much distraction and noise, meaningless noise. The realities of what America is doing in the world make it so.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A FREE PRESS - USELESSNESS OF POLITICAL SERMONS ON THE SUBJECT - THE HYPOCRISY SO OFTEN DISPLAYED BY THE PRESS ITSELF - THE CASE OF CBC - NOTHING LIKE THE GROTESQUERIES OF THE GUARDIAN BUT HYPOCRISY JUST THE SAME
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Journalists barred from Morneau speech in Beijing a day after Trudeau praises free press
“Business council says media excluded due to 'misunderstanding'; minister's office says it wasn't consulted”
First, it goes almost without saying, people who love a free society embrace a free and healthy press.
But I don't think preaching about it, as Trudeau did, is very helpful, just as preaching about almost anything is not very helpful. Its main usefulness is for a political impression back home.
And I actually thought some of Trudeau's words missed the mark even for us in Canada.
They certainly missed the mark in China, a proud, ancient society which very much resents preaching from the outside.
I wish we could just respect our differences, and the differences are real and will not fade away because of sermonettes.
As they say about writing, it is always more powerful to show than to tell. Our best effort should be in showing a good and peaceful and decent Canadian society. Something I have to say we do not always succeed at, making it even less appropriate to preach.
Actually, I thought Trudeau was mainly addressing, without saying so directly, the situation in Washington.
But what a waste of breath there. In the world's self-declared "indispensable nation," the true believers in American exceptionalism who run the place and try running the planet are not even tuned to the right channel to hear the sermon.
___________________
Response to another reader’s comment:
Yes, a fair number of comments do get censored, and I don't mean comments using vulgarity.
The CBC, while it does a good job overall in these forums, can't help but reflect political pressures with regard to certain topics and how they are treated in the articles and certainly how they are commented upon.
For people who do a lot of reading in the world press, this is fairly obvious.
My own view on a free press is included in the fabulous old quote about freedom of the press being possible only for those who own one.
Our Western journalism is full of a lot of high, airy notions which in fact, day to day, are ignored, just as we see, say, in our politics.
It is a complex issue, and that reality gives us even less cause to be preaching.
Readers may enjoy aspects of: https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/09/25/john-chuckman-comment-on-the-hatred-of-russia-its-background-and-the-purposes-it-serves-on-the-dishonesty-of-our-press-in-serving-that-purpose-and-the-importance-of-foreign-and-independent-news-s/
__________________________
Further response to the same reader:
They've already disabled my previous response to you, a response containing no vulgarity or name-calling.
Gee, there is sure a lot of hypocrisy around notions like a "free press.”
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Journalists barred from Morneau speech in Beijing a day after Trudeau praises free press
“Business council says media excluded due to 'misunderstanding'; minister's office says it wasn't consulted”
First, it goes almost without saying, people who love a free society embrace a free and healthy press.
But I don't think preaching about it, as Trudeau did, is very helpful, just as preaching about almost anything is not very helpful. Its main usefulness is for a political impression back home.
And I actually thought some of Trudeau's words missed the mark even for us in Canada.
They certainly missed the mark in China, a proud, ancient society which very much resents preaching from the outside.
I wish we could just respect our differences, and the differences are real and will not fade away because of sermonettes.
As they say about writing, it is always more powerful to show than to tell. Our best effort should be in showing a good and peaceful and decent Canadian society. Something I have to say we do not always succeed at, making it even less appropriate to preach.
Actually, I thought Trudeau was mainly addressing, without saying so directly, the situation in Washington.
But what a waste of breath there. In the world's self-declared "indispensable nation," the true believers in American exceptionalism who run the place and try running the planet are not even tuned to the right channel to hear the sermon.
___________________
Response to another reader’s comment:
Yes, a fair number of comments do get censored, and I don't mean comments using vulgarity.
The CBC, while it does a good job overall in these forums, can't help but reflect political pressures with regard to certain topics and how they are treated in the articles and certainly how they are commented upon.
For people who do a lot of reading in the world press, this is fairly obvious.
My own view on a free press is included in the fabulous old quote about freedom of the press being possible only for those who own one.
Our Western journalism is full of a lot of high, airy notions which in fact, day to day, are ignored, just as we see, say, in our politics.
It is a complex issue, and that reality gives us even less cause to be preaching.
Readers may enjoy aspects of: https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/09/25/john-chuckman-comment-on-the-hatred-of-russia-its-background-and-the-purposes-it-serves-on-the-dishonesty-of-our-press-in-serving-that-purpose-and-the-importance-of-foreign-and-independent-news-s/
__________________________
Further response to the same reader:
They've already disabled my previous response to you, a response containing no vulgarity or name-calling.
Gee, there is sure a lot of hypocrisy around notions like a "free press.”
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A NOTICEABLE CHANGE IN THE CONTENT OF THE SPUTNIK INTERNET SITE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY M K BHADRAKUMAR IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Russia Keeps Israel’s Netanyahu at an Arm's Length
“Moscow is signaling there can be no 'business as usual' after the shot down of Russia's Il-20 plane over Syria with the loss of 15 crew”
On the general topic of Israel and its relations with Russia, I wonder whether other readers have noted the changed treatment of Israel by the Sputnik news site?
Now, almost a day doesn't go by that there is not a story about Israel. Sometimes two.
This includes some pretty unimportant stuff, not just matters of consequence.
It is a quite noticeable change, and it makes me wonder just what is going on.
Deliberate instructions to play Israel up more, including just human-interest stories? If so, why?
This is, after all, a very tiny country with a population only somewhat more than one-one thousandth of the globe.
So, just in terms of numbers, it is strange to have daily stories and often small stories.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY M K BHADRAKUMAR IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Russia Keeps Israel’s Netanyahu at an Arm's Length
“Moscow is signaling there can be no 'business as usual' after the shot down of Russia's Il-20 plane over Syria with the loss of 15 crew”
On the general topic of Israel and its relations with Russia, I wonder whether other readers have noted the changed treatment of Israel by the Sputnik news site?
Now, almost a day doesn't go by that there is not a story about Israel. Sometimes two.
This includes some pretty unimportant stuff, not just matters of consequence.
It is a quite noticeable change, and it makes me wonder just what is going on.
Deliberate instructions to play Israel up more, including just human-interest stories? If so, why?
This is, after all, a very tiny country with a population only somewhat more than one-one thousandth of the globe.
So, just in terms of numbers, it is strange to have daily stories and often small stories.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: HOW THE MIGHTY ARE FALLEN - THE NORWEGIAN WARSHIP IN AMERICA'S BIG POINTLESS WAR GAMES IS NOW VIRTUALLY UNDERWATER - A FITTING EPITAPH TO ARROGANT STUPIDITY - AMERICA NEEDS TO "GET A LIFE"
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“NATO Drills Fallout: Norwegian Frigate Is Pretty Much Toast
“It is now almost completely submerged”
https://russia-insider.com/en/nato-drills-fallout-norwegian-frigate-pretty-much-toast/ri25361
The entire event is right out of Monty Python.
I can't help laughing every time I see another photo of this modern warship underwater as a result of colliding with an oil tanker.
It serves as a very fitting epitaph for America's gigantic, overblown, and pointless war games in the region.
America simply looks ridiculous with all of its hostility and bluster over nothing, nothing, that is, except its own compulsive drive to dominate.
It’s a nation badly in need of "getting a life," as people sometimes say in America about others doing or saying pointless things.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“NATO Drills Fallout: Norwegian Frigate Is Pretty Much Toast
“It is now almost completely submerged”
https://russia-insider.com/en/nato-drills-fallout-norwegian-frigate-pretty-much-toast/ri25361
The entire event is right out of Monty Python.
I can't help laughing every time I see another photo of this modern warship underwater as a result of colliding with an oil tanker.
It serves as a very fitting epitaph for America's gigantic, overblown, and pointless war games in the region.
America simply looks ridiculous with all of its hostility and bluster over nothing, nothing, that is, except its own compulsive drive to dominate.
It’s a nation badly in need of "getting a life," as people sometimes say in America about others doing or saying pointless things.
Monday, November 12, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: BRITAIN'S PRIME MINISTER BRAGS OF RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE BEING DEGRADED AFTER SKRIPAL AFFAIR - BUT WASN'T THAT THE POINT OF THE ENTIRE EFFORT BY THERESA MAY WHO NEVER PRODUCED A COHERENT EXPLANATION OR PROOF OF WHAT SHE CLAIMED HAPPENED?
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Russia's intelligence services ‘fundamentally degraded’ after Salisbury attack, says Theresa May
Prime minister hails 'international unity' after UK blamed Moscow for poisoning”
Well, yes, and that was the point of the entire Skripal Affair, wasn’t it? The very reason for all that noise about a supposed effort at state murder with no real explanation of the event and no real evidence ever provided?
When you send enough diplomats packing, you naturally send intelligence officers packing because all countries use diplomatic cover for intelligence. All of them. And with several Western countries closely following May’s hasty lead, Russia naturally lost experienced intelligence people in several countries.
The entire business was just one more anti-Russian scam.
Theresa May’s voice has been notably missing following a number of genuine, terrible events. She stands neither for fairness nor justice that I can see.
There is her empty response to the Khashoggi killing, the clearest possible instance of gruesome state murder. It just happens to be one by a government spending billions on contracts with Britain and doing Western dirty work in Yemen. Her government has even been provided by Turkey with the tapes of Khashoggi’s death, but she says not a word.
We see that, too, in her lack of response to Israel’s wholesale mass killing in Gaza where the victim toll now stands at over 200 plus thousands wounded. All unarmed. All guilty of no crime. All shot by cowardly Israeli military snipers hiding behind a fence.
We see that in her ignoring what Ukraine does in the Donbass region and in its failure to follow the protocols of the Minsk Agreements for peace.
May brings neither honor nor dignity to the role of Prime Minister. She is proud to play an utterly subservient role in America’s imperial efforts. And she explains herself with drivel.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Russia's intelligence services ‘fundamentally degraded’ after Salisbury attack, says Theresa May
Prime minister hails 'international unity' after UK blamed Moscow for poisoning”
Well, yes, and that was the point of the entire Skripal Affair, wasn’t it? The very reason for all that noise about a supposed effort at state murder with no real explanation of the event and no real evidence ever provided?
When you send enough diplomats packing, you naturally send intelligence officers packing because all countries use diplomatic cover for intelligence. All of them. And with several Western countries closely following May’s hasty lead, Russia naturally lost experienced intelligence people in several countries.
The entire business was just one more anti-Russian scam.
Theresa May’s voice has been notably missing following a number of genuine, terrible events. She stands neither for fairness nor justice that I can see.
There is her empty response to the Khashoggi killing, the clearest possible instance of gruesome state murder. It just happens to be one by a government spending billions on contracts with Britain and doing Western dirty work in Yemen. Her government has even been provided by Turkey with the tapes of Khashoggi’s death, but she says not a word.
We see that, too, in her lack of response to Israel’s wholesale mass killing in Gaza where the victim toll now stands at over 200 plus thousands wounded. All unarmed. All guilty of no crime. All shot by cowardly Israeli military snipers hiding behind a fence.
We see that in her ignoring what Ukraine does in the Donbass region and in its failure to follow the protocols of the Minsk Agreements for peace.
May brings neither honor nor dignity to the role of Prime Minister. She is proud to play an utterly subservient role in America’s imperial efforts. And she explains herself with drivel.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: MORE ON THE TRUMP PRESS CONFERENCE-JIM ACOSTA AFFAIR - IT DID NOT REALLY GO TO THE HEART OF PRESS FREEDOM IN AMERICA WHICH IS IN A DISMAL STATE ANYWAY - AMERICA LOVES A FOOD FIGHT WITH LOFTY-SOUNDING WORDS - JOURNALISM AND EMPIRE SIMPLY DO NOT MIX - CNN'S OWN QUITE DOUBTFUL RECORD
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY SAM HUSSEINI IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Trump and Big Media: Clash or Collusion?
“Now that the media is protesting the suspension of Jim Acosta’s credentials Sam Husseini asks why he and the other journalists didn’t intervene on his behalf when he was expelled from a news conference.”
Yes, but there is no getting away from the basic fact that the principles of journalism are at odds with an imperial state.
Always.
There’s no avoiding it.
Really powerful entities, such as the American government, have absolutely no use in private for journalism or a free press. None, although they would never say that in public.
American corporate journalism understands this perfectly, and virtually everything it does is informed by its truth.
The Acosta Affair, I agree, was not some fundamental principled fight. Not at all.
But it is entertaining to see this bizarre President driven to such lengths in a public gathering.
It has, however, very little to do with journalism or freedom of the press.
It is the just the kind of stage drama America loves.
America’s culture of complaint just loves to play act at fighting over high principles when in fact it has none operating.
Food fights using lofty words about principles – that’s America.
By the way, and I am not at all picking up on Trump’s rhetoric about the press here, CNN has always been quite a disgraceful operation.
There are countless examples of crappy, shameful work. but a few stand out for me.
There was the obvious phony documentary at the time of America’s blundering invasion of Afghanistan about poison gas labs and experiments in Osama’s “mountain redoubt,” a redoubt which truly was little more than some primitive caves for hiding in.
It showed elements of a lab with equipment and records and had images of sandals shuffling around, and its disgusting piece de résistance was a dog dying, supposedly as part of a poison test. It was the cheapest, most obvious piece of manufactured propaganda, yet CNN broadcast it, over and over.
CNN has participated in many frauds, but this one was memorable for its comic book character at a time when America was bombing a country with which it was not legally at war, killing a great many people.
Then there was their pathetic coverage of that poor security guard, Richard Jewell, who was completely innocent but was accused by some in the press for the Atlanta Olympic bombing. CNN had truly garbage stuff like a reporter ambushing him outside his house, shoving a microphone into his face, asking aggressive and inappropriate questions.
He properly declined answering and simply drove away in his car. CNN actually broadcast his driving away at length as though something real was happening. And there was the reporter, standing, watching, doing pantomime gestures as CNN photographed nothing.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY SAM HUSSEINI IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Trump and Big Media: Clash or Collusion?
“Now that the media is protesting the suspension of Jim Acosta’s credentials Sam Husseini asks why he and the other journalists didn’t intervene on his behalf when he was expelled from a news conference.”
Yes, but there is no getting away from the basic fact that the principles of journalism are at odds with an imperial state.
Always.
There’s no avoiding it.
Really powerful entities, such as the American government, have absolutely no use in private for journalism or a free press. None, although they would never say that in public.
American corporate journalism understands this perfectly, and virtually everything it does is informed by its truth.
The Acosta Affair, I agree, was not some fundamental principled fight. Not at all.
But it is entertaining to see this bizarre President driven to such lengths in a public gathering.
It has, however, very little to do with journalism or freedom of the press.
It is the just the kind of stage drama America loves.
America’s culture of complaint just loves to play act at fighting over high principles when in fact it has none operating.
Food fights using lofty words about principles – that’s America.
By the way, and I am not at all picking up on Trump’s rhetoric about the press here, CNN has always been quite a disgraceful operation.
There are countless examples of crappy, shameful work. but a few stand out for me.
There was the obvious phony documentary at the time of America’s blundering invasion of Afghanistan about poison gas labs and experiments in Osama’s “mountain redoubt,” a redoubt which truly was little more than some primitive caves for hiding in.
It showed elements of a lab with equipment and records and had images of sandals shuffling around, and its disgusting piece de résistance was a dog dying, supposedly as part of a poison test. It was the cheapest, most obvious piece of manufactured propaganda, yet CNN broadcast it, over and over.
CNN has participated in many frauds, but this one was memorable for its comic book character at a time when America was bombing a country with which it was not legally at war, killing a great many people.
Then there was their pathetic coverage of that poor security guard, Richard Jewell, who was completely innocent but was accused by some in the press for the Atlanta Olympic bombing. CNN had truly garbage stuff like a reporter ambushing him outside his house, shoving a microphone into his face, asking aggressive and inappropriate questions.
He properly declined answering and simply drove away in his car. CNN actually broadcast his driving away at length as though something real was happening. And there was the reporter, standing, watching, doing pantomime gestures as CNN photographed nothing.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: JUSTIN TRUDEAU'S REMARKS ABOUT ATTACKS ON MEDIA AND THE RISE OF NATIONALISM - HE GLOSSED OVER WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN BOTH CASES
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Attacks on the media are a threat to democracy, Trudeau says
“'The very capacity for a citizen to engage with truth is under attack,' PM tells press freedom event
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a press freedom event in Paris Sunday that one of the bulwarks protecting democratic governments from being undermined is also an institution under stress — a free-thinking, robust media.”
"...a free-thinking, robust media."
The word "media" is plural, and it is getting very tiresome to see it used this way. First time I've caught it in a mainstream publication.
As to the heart of Trudeau's comments, yes, yes, all that stuff about the press is true, but it is largely true in the sense of platitudes.
Attacks on the press by the likes of Trump are of course inappropriate, but I think we have a far more fundamental problem concerning the press.
It, to a great extent, simply does not do its job anymore. With mergers and consolidation, the press has become just one more big corporate entity in a corporate state.
It largely echoes government because there is no advantage to it in seriously investigating government. Government approves mergers and acquisition. Government gives leaks and tips. Government offers access and validation. And in America, reporting against major government interests can get you labelled as subversive or disloyal.
The American government has been increasingly busy with dark operations abroad, operations which kill many people and create whole armies of refugees, but I follow the press closely and I don't know of a single North American press organization which looks into any of it.
They are simply complicit.
That's part of why there is such a large audience for some of Trump's ugly rhetoric. People know they often aren't being told the truth.
As one example of many. Refugees. Almost all the streams of poor refugees, whether on the frontiers of Europe or in Mexico, are simply the result of aggressive American policies of bombing and subverting governments, but our press virtually never examines this to try enlightening public opinion.
_____________________
Some of Trudeau's comments are simply blather.
For example, "When people feel their institutions cannot protect them, they look for easy answers," Trudeau said, "in populism, in nationalism, in closing borders, in shutting down trade, in xenophobia."
I do not see that as a valid observation.
Nationalism and xenophobia are genuine feelings by fairly large numbers in almost every country.
They bubble to the surface periodically for many reasons, but especially because of fear.
Fear of the unknown. Fear of a poor economy. Fear of wars, and we now have plenty of that. Fear of government dishonesty. Fear of press dishonesty. Just plain fear, which no one in position of responsibility does anything to dispel.
This kind of generalized talk doesn't deal with them at all.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Attacks on the media are a threat to democracy, Trudeau says
“'The very capacity for a citizen to engage with truth is under attack,' PM tells press freedom event
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a press freedom event in Paris Sunday that one of the bulwarks protecting democratic governments from being undermined is also an institution under stress — a free-thinking, robust media.”
"...a free-thinking, robust media."
The word "media" is plural, and it is getting very tiresome to see it used this way. First time I've caught it in a mainstream publication.
As to the heart of Trudeau's comments, yes, yes, all that stuff about the press is true, but it is largely true in the sense of platitudes.
Attacks on the press by the likes of Trump are of course inappropriate, but I think we have a far more fundamental problem concerning the press.
It, to a great extent, simply does not do its job anymore. With mergers and consolidation, the press has become just one more big corporate entity in a corporate state.
It largely echoes government because there is no advantage to it in seriously investigating government. Government approves mergers and acquisition. Government gives leaks and tips. Government offers access and validation. And in America, reporting against major government interests can get you labelled as subversive or disloyal.
The American government has been increasingly busy with dark operations abroad, operations which kill many people and create whole armies of refugees, but I follow the press closely and I don't know of a single North American press organization which looks into any of it.
They are simply complicit.
That's part of why there is such a large audience for some of Trump's ugly rhetoric. People know they often aren't being told the truth.
As one example of many. Refugees. Almost all the streams of poor refugees, whether on the frontiers of Europe or in Mexico, are simply the result of aggressive American policies of bombing and subverting governments, but our press virtually never examines this to try enlightening public opinion.
_____________________
Some of Trudeau's comments are simply blather.
For example, "When people feel their institutions cannot protect them, they look for easy answers," Trudeau said, "in populism, in nationalism, in closing borders, in shutting down trade, in xenophobia."
I do not see that as a valid observation.
Nationalism and xenophobia are genuine feelings by fairly large numbers in almost every country.
They bubble to the surface periodically for many reasons, but especially because of fear.
Fear of the unknown. Fear of a poor economy. Fear of wars, and we now have plenty of that. Fear of government dishonesty. Fear of press dishonesty. Just plain fear, which no one in position of responsibility does anything to dispel.
This kind of generalized talk doesn't deal with them at all.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: NATO'S GIANT WAR GAMES NEAR RUSSIA EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS WITH THEIR GPS SYSTEMS - A CLEVER DEMONSTRATION BY RUSSIA OF WHAT A HOSTILE NATO MIGHT FACE?
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN SOUTHFRONT
“On November 6, Finland’s air navigation services issued a warning for air traffic due to a large-scale GPS interruption in the northern part of the country. Norway released a similar warning about loss of GPS signals for pilots in its own airspace in late October when the Trident Juncture started. Since then, some mainstream media outlets have been in fire speculating about the “Russian involvement” into these GPS failures.”
"Prime Minster Juha Sipila has come with a statement blaming Moscow for GPS failures during the recent NATO war games."
This is quite possible.
Russia is known to possess some powerful military electronic counter-measures.
If it was so, it would appear a brilliant move by Russia to use NATO's own gigantic war games for a real-life demonstration of one of the powerful weapons they could face.
It would have made a big impression in the cockpits and control centers of NATO.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN SOUTHFRONT
“On November 6, Finland’s air navigation services issued a warning for air traffic due to a large-scale GPS interruption in the northern part of the country. Norway released a similar warning about loss of GPS signals for pilots in its own airspace in late October when the Trident Juncture started. Since then, some mainstream media outlets have been in fire speculating about the “Russian involvement” into these GPS failures.”
"Prime Minster Juha Sipila has come with a statement blaming Moscow for GPS failures during the recent NATO war games."
This is quite possible.
Russia is known to possess some powerful military electronic counter-measures.
If it was so, it would appear a brilliant move by Russia to use NATO's own gigantic war games for a real-life demonstration of one of the powerful weapons they could face.
It would have made a big impression in the cockpits and control centers of NATO.
Saturday, November 10, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: OIL TANKER MAKES SHORT WORK OF MODERN NORWEGIAN WARSHIP DURING NATO'S GIGANTIC EXERCISES MEANT TO INTIMIDATE RUSSIA - MAYBE RUSSIA SHOULD BUILD A FLEET OF TANKERS TO USE AGAINST NATO
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“NATO's Trident Juncture Drill Takes Its Toll: Frigate Hit by Tanker Runs Aground to Prevent Sinking
One of Norway's largest warships with a crew of 137”
For dramatic photos:
https://russia-insider.com/en/natos-trident-juncture-drill-takes-its-toll-frigate-hit-tanker-runs-aground-prevent-sinking/ri25334
Very impressive warship...sunk by a tanker, and the tanker was barely scratched.
Maybe Russia should build a fleet of tankers whose only purpose would be in time of war to sink NATO ships?
My understanding is that these latest warships have much lightened the hulls for speed and saving weight for missiles carried?
No one repeats errors like the military.
Remember in the Falklands War how a then-modern British destroyer was tremendously damaged by virtue of having an aluminum upper-structure which melted?
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“NATO's Trident Juncture Drill Takes Its Toll: Frigate Hit by Tanker Runs Aground to Prevent Sinking
One of Norway's largest warships with a crew of 137”
For dramatic photos:
https://russia-insider.com/en/natos-trident-juncture-drill-takes-its-toll-frigate-hit-tanker-runs-aground-prevent-sinking/ri25334
Very impressive warship...sunk by a tanker, and the tanker was barely scratched.
Maybe Russia should build a fleet of tankers whose only purpose would be in time of war to sink NATO ships?
My understanding is that these latest warships have much lightened the hulls for speed and saving weight for missiles carried?
No one repeats errors like the military.
Remember in the Falklands War how a then-modern British destroyer was tremendously damaged by virtue of having an aluminum upper-structure which melted?
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AMERICA'S WAY OF CLEANING UP ITS ACT IN YEMEN - WE'LL STOP REFUELING THE SAUDI PLANES BLOWING UP WOMEN AND CHILDREN
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN SOUTHFRONT
“US TO STOP REFUELING SAUDI COALITION WARPLANES BOMBING YEMEN”
What a cheap American stunt to try reducing its blame for Saudi atrocities by the public.
The bombs dropped are American.
The fighter-bombers used are American.
The pilots are trained by Americans.
Saudi Arabia and America have a huge and complex relationship, with America raking in tens of billions of dollars.
But the White House never says a word about the slaughter of women and children, even though it is clear America has tremendous leverage in the matter.
Why? Because the Saudi war crimes against Yemen are what Washington want.
They are part of the whole set of American Neocon Mideast wars.
It just doesn't want to get blamed for them though.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN SOUTHFRONT
“US TO STOP REFUELING SAUDI COALITION WARPLANES BOMBING YEMEN”
What a cheap American stunt to try reducing its blame for Saudi atrocities by the public.
The bombs dropped are American.
The fighter-bombers used are American.
The pilots are trained by Americans.
Saudi Arabia and America have a huge and complex relationship, with America raking in tens of billions of dollars.
But the White House never says a word about the slaughter of women and children, even though it is clear America has tremendous leverage in the matter.
Why? Because the Saudi war crimes against Yemen are what Washington want.
They are part of the whole set of American Neocon Mideast wars.
It just doesn't want to get blamed for them though.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: WHAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICA TODAY? "TRUTH IS FOR DREAMERS AND LOSERS"
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN ZEROHEDGE
“Written in History: The Death Of America's Hyper-Power Fantasy”
Paul Kennedy, and I remember when his book was first published, summed up some fundamental truths about great empires.
And, yes, they are ignored, still.
But then that is the case for so many truths recorded by great observers.
From Lord Acton or David Hume to Jimmy Carter and George F Kennan in his late years, just to name a few.
America's fundamental problem is plutocracy and its empire.
Those coming up in the empire’s service see only the opportunities and benefits before them in their Washington careers, ignoring the serious problems and ethical considerations their efforts entail.
Truth? It's for dreamers and losers, that last being a favorite word of Trump’s.
That is what is wrong with America, and there is no prospect for its correction, short of unpleasant large destructive events.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN ZEROHEDGE
“Written in History: The Death Of America's Hyper-Power Fantasy”
Paul Kennedy, and I remember when his book was first published, summed up some fundamental truths about great empires.
And, yes, they are ignored, still.
But then that is the case for so many truths recorded by great observers.
From Lord Acton or David Hume to Jimmy Carter and George F Kennan in his late years, just to name a few.
America's fundamental problem is plutocracy and its empire.
Those coming up in the empire’s service see only the opportunities and benefits before them in their Washington careers, ignoring the serious problems and ethical considerations their efforts entail.
Truth? It's for dreamers and losers, that last being a favorite word of Trump’s.
That is what is wrong with America, and there is no prospect for its correction, short of unpleasant large destructive events.
Thursday, November 08, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: DONALD TRUMP'S PRESS CONFERENCE FLYING CIRCUS - DANGEROUS NEAR-LUNATIC ANTICS RECORDED FOR ALL TO SEE - AND THIS IS A MAN TO DEAL WITH HEADS OF STATE? TO CHART AMERICA'S ROLE IN THE WORLD?
John Chuckman
COMMENT ON TRUMP’S PRESS CONFERENCE FIASCO WITH JIM ACOSTA
I think nothing we have seen – and we’ve seen plenty – so clearly demonstrates Trump’s unfitness for high office as his row at a press conference with White House reporter Jim Acosta.
You do not have to be a fan of Mr. Acosta’s network, CNN, to say so. Certainly, I never have been.
Acosta was being persistent in his questioning, but that is what such reporters are supposed to do, especially when the politician being questioned clearly does not want to answer.
Acosta’s behavior was never inappropriate (we have it all on video). However, Trump’s was rather shockingly so. He behaved like a really angry 12-year old in the school yard who isn’t getting his way, calling names and libeling the reporter and his employer.
It really was behavior most people would not expect or welcome at the level of a local school board meeting, but here it was, right in the White House.
When a young female aide approached Acosta and tried, with some rudeness and mild force, to remove the microphone from his hand, Acosta avoided her several lunges, but finally used his arm to block her continued effort.
This was then termed “placing his hands on a female aide trying to retrieve a microphone” by Trump’s near-lunatic Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who went farther with self-serving righteous indignation, “we never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job.”
The reporter’s White House credentials were revoked, endangering his job, basically just for doing his job, and to justify that action, the White House had what proved a heavily-doctored snippet of video of Acosta’s interaction with the aide shown on Trump-friendly media. Again, since we have the entire interaction on undoctored video, we do know just what happened.
Now, none of this is quite at the police-state stage, but it all is characterized by terrible, manic behavior, and all of that behavior was motivated by Trump’s unwillingness simply to answer a legitimate question. None of this is in the spirit of openness or trying to inform people. Indeed, quite the opposite and crudely handled.
Is a man who treats a question he does not like from a reporter in this manner, including all the darkly absurd follow-up from his press secretary, really fit to be engaging heads of other states, and particularly in such volatile and dangerous matters as his self-created crisis with Iran?
I think the answer is clear, at least to any clear-thinking observer.
COMMENT ON TRUMP’S PRESS CONFERENCE FIASCO WITH JIM ACOSTA
I think nothing we have seen – and we’ve seen plenty – so clearly demonstrates Trump’s unfitness for high office as his row at a press conference with White House reporter Jim Acosta.
You do not have to be a fan of Mr. Acosta’s network, CNN, to say so. Certainly, I never have been.
Acosta was being persistent in his questioning, but that is what such reporters are supposed to do, especially when the politician being questioned clearly does not want to answer.
Acosta’s behavior was never inappropriate (we have it all on video). However, Trump’s was rather shockingly so. He behaved like a really angry 12-year old in the school yard who isn’t getting his way, calling names and libeling the reporter and his employer.
It really was behavior most people would not expect or welcome at the level of a local school board meeting, but here it was, right in the White House.
When a young female aide approached Acosta and tried, with some rudeness and mild force, to remove the microphone from his hand, Acosta avoided her several lunges, but finally used his arm to block her continued effort.
This was then termed “placing his hands on a female aide trying to retrieve a microphone” by Trump’s near-lunatic Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who went farther with self-serving righteous indignation, “we never tolerate a reporter placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job.”
The reporter’s White House credentials were revoked, endangering his job, basically just for doing his job, and to justify that action, the White House had what proved a heavily-doctored snippet of video of Acosta’s interaction with the aide shown on Trump-friendly media. Again, since we have the entire interaction on undoctored video, we do know just what happened.
Now, none of this is quite at the police-state stage, but it all is characterized by terrible, manic behavior, and all of that behavior was motivated by Trump’s unwillingness simply to answer a legitimate question. None of this is in the spirit of openness or trying to inform people. Indeed, quite the opposite and crudely handled.
Is a man who treats a question he does not like from a reporter in this manner, including all the darkly absurd follow-up from his press secretary, really fit to be engaging heads of other states, and particularly in such volatile and dangerous matters as his self-created crisis with Iran?
I think the answer is clear, at least to any clear-thinking observer.
Wednesday, November 07, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AN ELECTION OUTCOME WHICH CHANGES ALMOST NOTHING - DESPITE THE WORLD'S FACING TERRIBLE AMERICAN-INDUCED PROBLEMS AND HAVING A GENUINELY OBSCENE MAN AS PRESIDENT - AN AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM INCAPABLE OF MEANINGFUL RESPONSE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“The president may not know it, but things just got a lot more complicated for him”
I don't see the election as a big loss or a big gain for either political party.
I wish it were otherwise, but the net Democratic gains are not impressive.
Yes, they regained control of the House, but not by a big margin, and they lost ground in the Senate, which is, by far, the most powerful branch in America’s legislature, having control over all major appointments and treaties.
And don’t forget, there are numbers of Democrats indistinguishable from Republicans, so with a fairly thin majority, you have the strength to do very little.
Trump has been so unmistakably awful, and on a whole list of matters, that it's just remarkable there wasn't a huge voter rejection of him, but the fact is, there was not.
Indeed, Trump was emboldened to fire his Attorney General.
The Republicans are now captives of this truly awful, filthy man, but the Democrats seem still to have nothing to offer and no articulate leadership worthy of the title.
America’s voters really do resemble a huge pool of fairly stagnant water, slowly approaching and beginning to swirl around the edge of a drain which empties into a dark pit of unknowable depths.
With all the dangers and turmoil we face in the world, much of it deliberately created by America’s own government, I regard this election outcome as the promise of nothing. The American political system proved itself incapable of meaningful response.
As far as impeachment goes, well, the actual trials take place in the Senate, and the Republicans increased their hold on that powerful branch of government.
It would be fruitless even to start proceedings in the House.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“The president may not know it, but things just got a lot more complicated for him”
I don't see the election as a big loss or a big gain for either political party.
I wish it were otherwise, but the net Democratic gains are not impressive.
Yes, they regained control of the House, but not by a big margin, and they lost ground in the Senate, which is, by far, the most powerful branch in America’s legislature, having control over all major appointments and treaties.
And don’t forget, there are numbers of Democrats indistinguishable from Republicans, so with a fairly thin majority, you have the strength to do very little.
Trump has been so unmistakably awful, and on a whole list of matters, that it's just remarkable there wasn't a huge voter rejection of him, but the fact is, there was not.
Indeed, Trump was emboldened to fire his Attorney General.
The Republicans are now captives of this truly awful, filthy man, but the Democrats seem still to have nothing to offer and no articulate leadership worthy of the title.
America’s voters really do resemble a huge pool of fairly stagnant water, slowly approaching and beginning to swirl around the edge of a drain which empties into a dark pit of unknowable depths.
With all the dangers and turmoil we face in the world, much of it deliberately created by America’s own government, I regard this election outcome as the promise of nothing. The American political system proved itself incapable of meaningful response.
As far as impeachment goes, well, the actual trials take place in the Senate, and the Republicans increased their hold on that powerful branch of government.
It would be fruitless even to start proceedings in the House.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: POSSIBLE HISTORIC TURNING POINT COMING IN AMERICA'S EFFORTS TO IMPOSE HARSH SANCTIONS ON IRAN AND TO SAVE THE BLOODY CROWN PRINCE OF SAUDI ARABIA
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PATRICK COCKBURN IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Iran Sanctions Could Turn Into Demonstration of US Weakness
"The danger for the US is not only that these countries are opposing sanctions against Iran, but that they all have an interest in making sure that they fail"
https://russia-insider.com/en/iran-sanctions-could-turn-demonstration-us-weakness/ri25289
An excellent summary analysis of the situation.
The United States is pretty much trying to demonstrate its capacity to do whatever it feels the urge to do despite the harm it may do to others.
And a good deal of the world, and especially some important American friends and allies, seem very much to be saying, "No, you can't do that! We want to stay as your friends, but this action is just going too far, and it works against peace and reason."
It's an interesting, if distressing and dangerous, situation, and it could prove a kind of watershed event towards the coming new era of a multi-polar world or, at any rate, to the American establishment's falling on its face in public with its aggressive policies to assert a new authority over the planet.
Of course, the real fundamental cause of all this, the mass killer running Israel, stands to see his years-long struggle to throttle Iran defeated, and be defeated by a number of Israel's friends and allies who just happen to recognize that he has pushed things much too far, although they aren't able to say that in public.
It is a very consequential set of events underway, and we have the parallel struggle over the murderous Saudi Crown Prince which is closely related because he was to provide a cornerstone in America's efforts to re-make the Middle East and is a much-favored ally of Netanyahu's.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PATRICK COCKBURN IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Iran Sanctions Could Turn Into Demonstration of US Weakness
"The danger for the US is not only that these countries are opposing sanctions against Iran, but that they all have an interest in making sure that they fail"
https://russia-insider.com/en/iran-sanctions-could-turn-demonstration-us-weakness/ri25289
An excellent summary analysis of the situation.
The United States is pretty much trying to demonstrate its capacity to do whatever it feels the urge to do despite the harm it may do to others.
And a good deal of the world, and especially some important American friends and allies, seem very much to be saying, "No, you can't do that! We want to stay as your friends, but this action is just going too far, and it works against peace and reason."
It's an interesting, if distressing and dangerous, situation, and it could prove a kind of watershed event towards the coming new era of a multi-polar world or, at any rate, to the American establishment's falling on its face in public with its aggressive policies to assert a new authority over the planet.
Of course, the real fundamental cause of all this, the mass killer running Israel, stands to see his years-long struggle to throttle Iran defeated, and be defeated by a number of Israel's friends and allies who just happen to recognize that he has pushed things much too far, although they aren't able to say that in public.
It is a very consequential set of events underway, and we have the parallel struggle over the murderous Saudi Crown Prince which is closely related because he was to provide a cornerstone in America's efforts to re-make the Middle East and is a much-favored ally of Netanyahu's.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: "RIGHTING THE WRONGS OF THE PAST" BY NOT HONORING SOMEONE (AS WAS JUST THE CASE IN BRITAIN WITH ROALD DAHL) HAS A NICE SOUND TO IT - BUT IT IS TRULY AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK - AND THERE ARE SO MANY DARK LITTLE CORNERS IN SO MANY HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC LIVES THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO TOSS A HUGE NUMBER OF IMPORTANT ONES EVEN TO ATTEMPT THE TASK
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Royal Mint made the right decision over [in not honoring] Roald Dahl. If only we could say the same for other British institutions
“This is not a matter of censorship; it is a way of righting the wrongs of the past”
The situation is so much more complex than the simplistic presentation we receive in newspapers.
Richard Wagner was an intense, unrelenting anti-Semite, but orchestras everywhere still play his music.
Henry Ford was also an intense anti-Semite, and he wrote a hateful book about Jews. Hitler quite admired him and kept his photo on the wall of his chancellery office. Yet millions drive Ford cars, and governments everywhere do business with the company.
There are many other important cases, including the historical giant, Martin Luther, important scholar, translator of the Bible, religious revolutionary, composer, and major church-founding figure.
And I like to think that not just anti-Semitism is important, but all hatreds, and all equally, and there are just so many of them. That would literally open the floodgates against many hundreds of historical and artistic figures, including important ones like Winston Churchill or the former King of England who gave up the throne for "the woman he loved."
So, I think a little better understanding is much in order, with more balance and a little less absolute self-righteousness.
We aren't trying to praise someone for the darker corners of his life but for a large contribution to literature.
But in a case like this, we lose sight of all balance and conclude a few ugly expressions out of an entire life render him unwelcome.
__________________________
An added thought.
Since the author, a black woman, has part of her name as French, I can't help but reflect on Haiti, even though it may have no connection to her.
Napoleon, a much-honored figure, made a huge effort to crush the slave revolt in what was then a French colony. He sent 50,000 troops, and it was a very bloody business.
Just one of Napoleon's many less admirable acts, but we find his name and image everywhere. A true world figure.
Add to that the name of President Thomas Jefferson. That lifetime, unrepentant owner of about 200 slaves, actually worked to assist Napoleon in his efforts to crush the rebellion, going against both his own words about freedom and the right and obligation to revolt, but also very much giving real substance to his well-known writing on the inferiority of blacks.
I haven't seen his statues pulled down or his face expunged from countless government documents (including the American 2-dollar bill) or his name removed from hundreds of schools and institutions.
Only a fairly widespread lack of knowledge of history allows things like the Roald Dahl business to become important. Truth is, overwhelmingly, most people will have had no awareness of his darker remarks, just as they have virtually no awareness of these other dark matters, and yet many more which could be cited.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN THE INDEPENDENT
“Royal Mint made the right decision over [in not honoring] Roald Dahl. If only we could say the same for other British institutions
“This is not a matter of censorship; it is a way of righting the wrongs of the past”
The situation is so much more complex than the simplistic presentation we receive in newspapers.
Richard Wagner was an intense, unrelenting anti-Semite, but orchestras everywhere still play his music.
Henry Ford was also an intense anti-Semite, and he wrote a hateful book about Jews. Hitler quite admired him and kept his photo on the wall of his chancellery office. Yet millions drive Ford cars, and governments everywhere do business with the company.
There are many other important cases, including the historical giant, Martin Luther, important scholar, translator of the Bible, religious revolutionary, composer, and major church-founding figure.
And I like to think that not just anti-Semitism is important, but all hatreds, and all equally, and there are just so many of them. That would literally open the floodgates against many hundreds of historical and artistic figures, including important ones like Winston Churchill or the former King of England who gave up the throne for "the woman he loved."
So, I think a little better understanding is much in order, with more balance and a little less absolute self-righteousness.
We aren't trying to praise someone for the darker corners of his life but for a large contribution to literature.
But in a case like this, we lose sight of all balance and conclude a few ugly expressions out of an entire life render him unwelcome.
__________________________
An added thought.
Since the author, a black woman, has part of her name as French, I can't help but reflect on Haiti, even though it may have no connection to her.
Napoleon, a much-honored figure, made a huge effort to crush the slave revolt in what was then a French colony. He sent 50,000 troops, and it was a very bloody business.
Just one of Napoleon's many less admirable acts, but we find his name and image everywhere. A true world figure.
Add to that the name of President Thomas Jefferson. That lifetime, unrepentant owner of about 200 slaves, actually worked to assist Napoleon in his efforts to crush the rebellion, going against both his own words about freedom and the right and obligation to revolt, but also very much giving real substance to his well-known writing on the inferiority of blacks.
I haven't seen his statues pulled down or his face expunged from countless government documents (including the American 2-dollar bill) or his name removed from hundreds of schools and institutions.
Only a fairly widespread lack of knowledge of history allows things like the Roald Dahl business to become important. Truth is, overwhelmingly, most people will have had no awareness of his darker remarks, just as they have virtually no awareness of these other dark matters, and yet many more which could be cited.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: WRITER SAYS THE WEST IS FAILING JULIAN ASSANGE - YES BUT IT IS ALMOST THE CASE UNIVERSALLY THAT THOSE WHO SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER ARE MADE TO SUFFER FOR DOING SO - THAT'S JUST HOW HUMAN SOCIETY WORKS
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY STEFANIA MAURIZI IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“The West is Failing Julian Assange
“While the media focused on Julian Assange’s cat rather than his continuing arbitrary detention, evidence shows that Britain worked hard to force his extradition to Sweden where Assange feared he could then be turned over to the U.S.”
One of my favorite modern dramas has always been Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People."
The reason I like it so much is that it captures an enduring, but not always appreciated, truth about human society.
Julian Assange is today a real-life version of the play’s main character, Dr. Stockman.
Truth in this matter, and that’s all Assange has done is to report truth, is not even an issue, except for unimportant people like me.
Power and challenging that power over an issue of ethics or just plain truth has always been a losing proposition. Always.
And the greater is that power - as the imperial United States now striving to enforce its arbitrary will worldwide - the more hopeless is the situation of the challenger.
I hope we all keep supporting Assange, but I do fear it will all be to no effect.
After all, this is an America which daily shakes hands with truly evil men because they have something tangible to offer. It has no regard for someone with nothing to offer but some truth, embarrassing truth at that.
Savages like the Saudi Crown Prince or the Prime Minister of Israel are fawned over while their many victims are paid absolutely no attention as they lie in the dust.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY STEFANIA MAURIZI IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“The West is Failing Julian Assange
“While the media focused on Julian Assange’s cat rather than his continuing arbitrary detention, evidence shows that Britain worked hard to force his extradition to Sweden where Assange feared he could then be turned over to the U.S.”
One of my favorite modern dramas has always been Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People."
The reason I like it so much is that it captures an enduring, but not always appreciated, truth about human society.
Julian Assange is today a real-life version of the play’s main character, Dr. Stockman.
Truth in this matter, and that’s all Assange has done is to report truth, is not even an issue, except for unimportant people like me.
Power and challenging that power over an issue of ethics or just plain truth has always been a losing proposition. Always.
And the greater is that power - as the imperial United States now striving to enforce its arbitrary will worldwide - the more hopeless is the situation of the challenger.
I hope we all keep supporting Assange, but I do fear it will all be to no effect.
After all, this is an America which daily shakes hands with truly evil men because they have something tangible to offer. It has no regard for someone with nothing to offer but some truth, embarrassing truth at that.
Savages like the Saudi Crown Prince or the Prime Minister of Israel are fawned over while their many victims are paid absolutely no attention as they lie in the dust.
Tuesday, November 06, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: ISRAEL'S EMBRACE OF THE NEW FAR-RIGHT LEADERS COMING UP IN THE WORLD - IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE - THIS "DEMOCRACY" HAS REJECTED DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENTS IN ITS REGION SINCE THE BEGINNING AND LONG EMBRACED KINGS AND TYRANTS
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ELI BITAN IN DESERTPEACE
“The rise of the global far-right could energize the anti-occupation movement
“The warm relations between Israel and a new crop of anti-democratic leaders are tragic, but they also expose the true nature of Israel’s relationship to the Palestinians.”
Absolutely true. And it comes as no surprise that Israel would embrace the likes of Brazil’s Bolsonaro and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, both violent, vile men.
I've observed in my commentary writing many times the often-overlooked fact that Israel likes kings and tyrants in the Middle East, so long as they are kings and tyrants which toe the American policy line, which, of course, includes the conception of Israel as a special and privileged place in the region.
King of Saudi Arabia. The late President Mubarak of Egypt. King of Jordan. President el-Sisi of Egypt.
It hates democracies, everything from the brief one we had in Egypt to the democratic emergence of Hamas in Gaza. It has worked actively to destroy or discredit them in virtually all cases.
This attitude of comfort with authoritarians has been a notable part of Israel's character from the beginning.
I think it quite an important observation, and one generally overlooked while our press and politicians parrot Israel's meaningless slogan about being “the Mid East's only democracy.”
Real democracies are not comfortable with tyrants.
And I've long said, if Israel can be construed as a democracy, it is a good thing the world does not have more democracies like it.
We did have a couple of quite notable ones in the past, Nationalist South Africa and the American Confederacy.
Both of those historical states were democratic and had protected rights, so long as you were the right type of person. And the law was used ruthlessly against those who were not the right type of person.
That describes Israel perfectly. It is stunning that the fact is so widely accepted by those with power.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ELI BITAN IN DESERTPEACE
“The rise of the global far-right could energize the anti-occupation movement
“The warm relations between Israel and a new crop of anti-democratic leaders are tragic, but they also expose the true nature of Israel’s relationship to the Palestinians.”
Absolutely true. And it comes as no surprise that Israel would embrace the likes of Brazil’s Bolsonaro and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, both violent, vile men.
I've observed in my commentary writing many times the often-overlooked fact that Israel likes kings and tyrants in the Middle East, so long as they are kings and tyrants which toe the American policy line, which, of course, includes the conception of Israel as a special and privileged place in the region.
King of Saudi Arabia. The late President Mubarak of Egypt. King of Jordan. President el-Sisi of Egypt.
It hates democracies, everything from the brief one we had in Egypt to the democratic emergence of Hamas in Gaza. It has worked actively to destroy or discredit them in virtually all cases.
This attitude of comfort with authoritarians has been a notable part of Israel's character from the beginning.
I think it quite an important observation, and one generally overlooked while our press and politicians parrot Israel's meaningless slogan about being “the Mid East's only democracy.”
Real democracies are not comfortable with tyrants.
And I've long said, if Israel can be construed as a democracy, it is a good thing the world does not have more democracies like it.
We did have a couple of quite notable ones in the past, Nationalist South Africa and the American Confederacy.
Both of those historical states were democratic and had protected rights, so long as you were the right type of person. And the law was used ruthlessly against those who were not the right type of person.
That describes Israel perfectly. It is stunning that the fact is so widely accepted by those with power.
Sunday, November 04, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: RUSSIA-GATE MAKES AMERICA LOOK JUST PLAIN DUMB - AND THAT'S ASIDE FROM MANY OTHER CONSEQUENCES AND DANGERS - THE WORLD DOESN'T LAUGH AS IT SHOULD BECAUSE OF THE ARMIES OF KNUCKLE-DRAGGERS AND THUGS AT THE PENTAGON AND CIA PLUS A SET OF POLITICIANS WHO THREATEN OR SANCTION EVERY TIME THEY OPEN THEIR UTTERLY CORRUPT MOUTHS
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY GARETH PORTER IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“33 Trillion More Reasons Why The New York Times Gets it Wrong on Russia-gate
“Further research shows The New York Times was even further off the mark in blaming Russian social media for Trump’s win”
The entire noise and effort around Russia-gate has been just bizarre from the beginning, and that includes all the parties who have joined in for various reasons.
It all makes the United States look just plain dumb, but I guess that doesn't register because there are so many other things going on which make the United States look dumb. A gigantic muscle-bound beach boy strutting around with just the look on his face telling you there’s not a whole lot going on behind the eyes.
Of course, the real origin for all of this is the American establishment's current aggressive effort all over the planet to reassert its authority, in light of its coming to fully appreciate America's relative decline in the world.
It is the effort to substitute military might and bullying in gaining advantages in place of traditional routes of trade and economic competition, and in any effort of that nature, Russia just automatically takes on the appearance of an opponent, if not an outright enemy.
This effort is brought to you largely through the influence of Washington’s Neocons, the good folks who have championed fifteen years of bloody, unproductive war in the Middle East and who help keep America bound, hand and foot, to the rotting values of Israel, a country which has, since its inception, practiced nothing else than what America is now attempting.
The Washington establishment, of course, is interested in real stuff, not just silly Russia-gate name-calling. Real stuff like the paid-for coup in Ukraine and the monstrous and threatening efforts by NATO on Russia's borders and quitting the INF Treaty, but they'll take anything that comes along which helps sell the line about the dangers of Russia.
Americans in general have not proved themselves very discerning over the years in many such matters - from drunken old senator McCarthy with his 200 "commies" in the State Department to the Warren Commission total rubbish on the Kennedy assassination - so there seems to be no floor-level for stupidities about Russia.
Russia is hated, and that's all there is to it, and if you are hated in America, well, pretty much anything goes. You have a galaxy of stars who've made their fame and fortune through stupidities and hatreds. There’s enough of them to create a new kind of Walk of the Stars, perhaps to be located in Washington. Ann Coulter. Rush Limbaugh. Thomas Friedman. Pat Robertson. Franklin Graham. Newt Gingrich. Etc, etc, etc.
Vociferous stupidities and hatreds do seem to be an integral part of America's national culture of complaint.
The noise and activity keep Americans occupied and doing things that keep them emotionally hyped, and if there is one thing a good many Americans like, it is being hyped, whether on junky notions about the terrors of football players kneeling or the terrors of seeing poor broken refugee families approach the border from places like Honduras, where people have suffered miserably from America’s violent interference with their government.
Meanwhile, infrastructure all over America rots, Americans still have no national health-care worth mentioning, poverty and degradation are to be found in a thousand places, racism and various hatreds flourish, and schools in countless places are a national shame.
Meanwhile also, we have America’s genuine interference in other countries’ affair, as in Honduras, going on around the clock and on a grand scale. You have a monstrous and unaccountable agency whose job it is, full-time, to interfere, bribe, threaten, pay-off, and kill. It enjoys unlimited budgets and doesn’t even have to recognize American laws, much less those of other lands.
I guess Putin is just too timid to adopt the same tactics in overturning America’s democracy, so he sticks to stuff like buying the odd ad on Facebook, sort of the international-affairs equivalent to chalking up a few dirty words on a wall in an alley.
But, my God, this is America, and just let there be one word about some Russian who may have bought a totally inconsequential ad on Facebook, and there will be hell to pay.
See what I mean by ridiculous? And you are, America, ridiculous, and the whole world would be laughing out loud at you, if it weren’t for the armies of heavily-armed knuckle-draggers at the Pentagon and the CIA and your politicians’ readily-hurled tyrannies of sanctions and threats of every kind.
As for what the New York Times says about this or almost anything else, it is almost a bad joke to quote it or to bother to disagree with it. After all, disagreeing with a publication of that nature should almost be taken for granted amongst thinking people. Its record, on consequential matters of international affairs and war, is startlingly clear:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/09/23/john-chuckman-comment-misconceptions-about-the-new-york-times-setting-the-record-straight-it-simply-aint-what-it-pretends-to-be/
And there are still other consequences of the giant fraud called Russia-gate. These are longer-term but even more dangerous in their effect upon American democracy and Americans’ trust in the integrity of their own government, and they are nicely enumerated by the distinguished American academic expert on Russia, Stephen F. Cohen:
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/442943-russia-midterms-meddling-democracy-cohen/
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY GARETH PORTER IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“33 Trillion More Reasons Why The New York Times Gets it Wrong on Russia-gate
“Further research shows The New York Times was even further off the mark in blaming Russian social media for Trump’s win”
The entire noise and effort around Russia-gate has been just bizarre from the beginning, and that includes all the parties who have joined in for various reasons.
It all makes the United States look just plain dumb, but I guess that doesn't register because there are so many other things going on which make the United States look dumb. A gigantic muscle-bound beach boy strutting around with just the look on his face telling you there’s not a whole lot going on behind the eyes.
Of course, the real origin for all of this is the American establishment's current aggressive effort all over the planet to reassert its authority, in light of its coming to fully appreciate America's relative decline in the world.
It is the effort to substitute military might and bullying in gaining advantages in place of traditional routes of trade and economic competition, and in any effort of that nature, Russia just automatically takes on the appearance of an opponent, if not an outright enemy.
This effort is brought to you largely through the influence of Washington’s Neocons, the good folks who have championed fifteen years of bloody, unproductive war in the Middle East and who help keep America bound, hand and foot, to the rotting values of Israel, a country which has, since its inception, practiced nothing else than what America is now attempting.
The Washington establishment, of course, is interested in real stuff, not just silly Russia-gate name-calling. Real stuff like the paid-for coup in Ukraine and the monstrous and threatening efforts by NATO on Russia's borders and quitting the INF Treaty, but they'll take anything that comes along which helps sell the line about the dangers of Russia.
Americans in general have not proved themselves very discerning over the years in many such matters - from drunken old senator McCarthy with his 200 "commies" in the State Department to the Warren Commission total rubbish on the Kennedy assassination - so there seems to be no floor-level for stupidities about Russia.
Russia is hated, and that's all there is to it, and if you are hated in America, well, pretty much anything goes. You have a galaxy of stars who've made their fame and fortune through stupidities and hatreds. There’s enough of them to create a new kind of Walk of the Stars, perhaps to be located in Washington. Ann Coulter. Rush Limbaugh. Thomas Friedman. Pat Robertson. Franklin Graham. Newt Gingrich. Etc, etc, etc.
Vociferous stupidities and hatreds do seem to be an integral part of America's national culture of complaint.
The noise and activity keep Americans occupied and doing things that keep them emotionally hyped, and if there is one thing a good many Americans like, it is being hyped, whether on junky notions about the terrors of football players kneeling or the terrors of seeing poor broken refugee families approach the border from places like Honduras, where people have suffered miserably from America’s violent interference with their government.
Meanwhile, infrastructure all over America rots, Americans still have no national health-care worth mentioning, poverty and degradation are to be found in a thousand places, racism and various hatreds flourish, and schools in countless places are a national shame.
Meanwhile also, we have America’s genuine interference in other countries’ affair, as in Honduras, going on around the clock and on a grand scale. You have a monstrous and unaccountable agency whose job it is, full-time, to interfere, bribe, threaten, pay-off, and kill. It enjoys unlimited budgets and doesn’t even have to recognize American laws, much less those of other lands.
I guess Putin is just too timid to adopt the same tactics in overturning America’s democracy, so he sticks to stuff like buying the odd ad on Facebook, sort of the international-affairs equivalent to chalking up a few dirty words on a wall in an alley.
But, my God, this is America, and just let there be one word about some Russian who may have bought a totally inconsequential ad on Facebook, and there will be hell to pay.
See what I mean by ridiculous? And you are, America, ridiculous, and the whole world would be laughing out loud at you, if it weren’t for the armies of heavily-armed knuckle-draggers at the Pentagon and the CIA and your politicians’ readily-hurled tyrannies of sanctions and threats of every kind.
As for what the New York Times says about this or almost anything else, it is almost a bad joke to quote it or to bother to disagree with it. After all, disagreeing with a publication of that nature should almost be taken for granted amongst thinking people. Its record, on consequential matters of international affairs and war, is startlingly clear:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/09/23/john-chuckman-comment-misconceptions-about-the-new-york-times-setting-the-record-straight-it-simply-aint-what-it-pretends-to-be/
And there are still other consequences of the giant fraud called Russia-gate. These are longer-term but even more dangerous in their effect upon American democracy and Americans’ trust in the integrity of their own government, and they are nicely enumerated by the distinguished American academic expert on Russia, Stephen F. Cohen:
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/442943-russia-midterms-meddling-democracy-cohen/
Friday, November 02, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE FULL IMPACT OF TRUMP'S THOUGHTLESS SANCTIONS CONCERNING IRAN MAY BE FAR DIFFERENT THAN EXPECTED - HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS MUST FEAR THREATS TO FILL TRUMP'S 2020 CAMPAIGN COFFERS - IT MAY MARK A PRECIPITOUS NEW DECLINE IN AMERICA'S POSITION
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PATRICK LAWRENCE IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“New Iran Sanctions Risks
“Europe, Asia May Rebel Against US Penalties”
This extreme and arrogant American behavior is quite threatening to everyone.
One minute, we had a set of arrangements with Iran with which most of the world was happy and which all informed authorities believed worked well.
There was only one known violent and dishonest leader who constantly spoke against it, Netanyahu, a documented liar and mass-killer.
A few minutes later, we find a world much destabilized by Trump’s mad actions of tearing up a solemn agreement, his actions taken only to please Netanyahu and Netanyahu’s chief American billionaire supporter, Sheldon Adelson. Trump, of course, will benefit handsomely in his 2020 campaign contributions.
And now, not too much later, we find something developing which threatens much of our world’s arrangements and alliances, again owing to Trump’s mad acts and, specifically, the way he intends to enforce them with truly massive sanctions which violate the independence and rights of many countries.
This is the stuff of nightmares.
The fears and insecurities of hundreds of millions of people are to pay to fill Trump’s 2020 campaign coffers?
There is no other explanation for all of this, for abruptly halting peace and stability and turning it into chaos.
Trump not only will badly fail in “making America great again” - a silly slogan if ever there was one - he very much will succeed in reducing America to a much ignored and maligned force in the world. Ultimately, the very balance of international arrangements may be destroyed with new and totally unexpected arrangements emerging.
No one likes a bully. And no one likes irrationality. And no one likes feeling threatened on account of someone else’s special interests.
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PATRICK LAWRENCE IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“New Iran Sanctions Risks
“Europe, Asia May Rebel Against US Penalties”
This extreme and arrogant American behavior is quite threatening to everyone.
One minute, we had a set of arrangements with Iran with which most of the world was happy and which all informed authorities believed worked well.
There was only one known violent and dishonest leader who constantly spoke against it, Netanyahu, a documented liar and mass-killer.
A few minutes later, we find a world much destabilized by Trump’s mad actions of tearing up a solemn agreement, his actions taken only to please Netanyahu and Netanyahu’s chief American billionaire supporter, Sheldon Adelson. Trump, of course, will benefit handsomely in his 2020 campaign contributions.
And now, not too much later, we find something developing which threatens much of our world’s arrangements and alliances, again owing to Trump’s mad acts and, specifically, the way he intends to enforce them with truly massive sanctions which violate the independence and rights of many countries.
This is the stuff of nightmares.
The fears and insecurities of hundreds of millions of people are to pay to fill Trump’s 2020 campaign coffers?
There is no other explanation for all of this, for abruptly halting peace and stability and turning it into chaos.
Trump not only will badly fail in “making America great again” - a silly slogan if ever there was one - he very much will succeed in reducing America to a much ignored and maligned force in the world. Ultimately, the very balance of international arrangements may be destroyed with new and totally unexpected arrangements emerging.
No one likes a bully. And no one likes irrationality. And no one likes feeling threatened on account of someone else’s special interests.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: ARTICLE ON AMERICAN PATRIOTS NOT EVEN KNOWING WHO THE REAL ENEMIES ARE - AMERICA'S STAGE-SHOW NATIONAL POLITICS WITH TWO PARTIES CAPABLE OF DOING NOTHING - THE REALITIES OF THE AMERICAN-ISRAEL RELATIONSHIP AND INHERENT INSTABILITIES LIKE THE EMBRACE OF SAUDI ARABIA AND ITS BUTCHER CROWN PRINCE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY CHUCK BALDWIN IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Most Conservative Americans Who Identify as 'Patriots' Have No Idea Who the Real Enemy Is”
I find much of this surprisingly refreshing and genuinely insightful.
Not every point here is like that, but enough are to make this piece a worthwhile read. It is very clearly written, too.
I tend to avoid any pastor or religious figure dabbling in politics or world affairs, and there is so much of that in America, but Mr. Baldwin makes many sound points that have nothing to do with religious affiliation or ideology.
His views on the phony Republican-Democrat divide are mine precisely, and I call them mine because I regard them as fundamental truth to be embraced by all concerned about truth in public affairs.
I would only add that this silly political dumb-show gives Americans a constant public spectacle with which to become emotionally involved, thus avoiding hard realities that really matter. Almost all of it is on the same superficial and meaningless level as America’s ongoing ridiculous controversy over football players kneeling in protest, something small which nevertheless makes millions of American hearts pump faster and the veins on their foreheads and neck bulge.
America's culture was aptly described by the brilliant Robert Hughes as the "culture of complaint," and this artificial political division exactly meets the needs of people who like to scream at each other, attack each other, and really achieve very little but their own notoriety and sense of being "leaders" of often meaningless factions.
No matter which party you vote for, you get war, insider privilege, money-saturated politics, and the dominance of gigantic corporations and well-funded lobbies.
Nothing of substance ever changes. The political parties are only separated by rhetoric about social and domestic affairs, and it is very much just "rhetoric" because with the empire there are simply no resources left for such things. And would-be career politicians know where the future money and opportunities are, and they vey much are not in social or domestic affairs.
That's part of why slogans are so popular in American national politics. You don't have to think to embrace a slogan, and people are conditioned from the sphere of corporate advertising to understand that, “well, that's how it is with slogans, often empty promises that just fade away.”
But still, come election time, everyone wants to put on some warpaint for a while. I think Trump understands this reality instinctively, having lived an entire life of bamboozling people and separating them from their money.
He is a genuine con-artist, a P. T. Barnum type, or a smaller-scale Bernie Madoff, the kind who somehow actually believes what he says for just so long as it takes to say it and fleece people. The “belief” of such people adds a soupcon of “je ne sais quoi” to make them more convincing in their raging enthusiasms. They are the types who always make the best con-artists. They have a form of mild psychopathy and, while they might not murder people, they will do almost any underhanded or manipulative thing with a big smile.
Apart from no resources, there is no political will either, because politicians of both American parties know where and how you build careers and power, and it certainly is not in the sphere of domestic and social programs.
Both parties are united with the other elements of the establishment in keeping the system we see, by and large.
Until you see a national candidate talking about axing great parts of the Pentagon and CIA and about serious measures to get rid of the corrupting flood of money in American politics and about halting interference in the internal affairs of other nations, there is no such thing as "change" in America politics. It's all as illusory as the inflated advertising promises of detergent and shampoo manufacturers.
And the author’s point about Trump not fighting the Deep State is one I own too. It's remarkable how people delude themselves about that.
Here I would only add, Trump actually represents a new layer of danger from the Deep State. He will literally do anything if he can stay in power, continue as their servant, giving them anything they want and more. His really is that kind of character.
He is essentially a coward in nature, and that is how cowards behave in high office. Extremely dangerous.
____________________
Response to another comment:
Israel is effectively an American colony in the Middle East.
It serves virtually all the purposes of a colony, and it is heavily subsidized as are most colonies.
It truly has very little meaning as an independent state because it really is not one.
That, too, is an illusion, just like the Republican-Democrat divide inside America.
Note that both those parties embrace Israel as if it were a region of the United States.
All while claiming some kind of humanitarian credit for helping Jewish people who have been so abused in the past.
Of course, few remember that America was no help at all to the people abused by Hitler and indeed shared, to a considerable extent, his views, albeit in somewhat attenuated terms.
And the politicians who do this, all while collecting substantial political benefits in terms of campaign funds and press support, offer a kind of reimbursed humanitarianism, you might cynically say.
The Israel Lobby in America, many members of it I think, secretly do remember what America was really like and that is part of why they work so hard to maintain the present set of arrangements which benefit Israel.
So, we have a kind of secret political pact in which Israel gets to continue with its show of being a strong independent state so long as it serves American imperial interests. American politicians, individually and not by party, support the arrangement so long as it assists their careers, as it currently very much does.
Groups and lobbies inside the United States do their best to keep the arrangement going.
Every once in a while, the arrangements are threatened by events, as when Israel attacked the USS Liberty in the Six Day War or today, in a more peripheral fashion, when Saudi Arabia’s blood-drenched Crown Prince - a much-beloved figure in both Israel and establishment Washington - was caught, more or less red-handed, having a prominent journalist cut into pieces while still alive.
When these kinds of events happen, every covert effort is made to restore arrangements and pretend nothing untoward has happened. But it may not always work out that way, as we have yet to see in the case of the Crown Prince. There is fragility in arrangements involving so many differing objectives.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY CHUCK BALDWIN IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Most Conservative Americans Who Identify as 'Patriots' Have No Idea Who the Real Enemy Is”
I find much of this surprisingly refreshing and genuinely insightful.
Not every point here is like that, but enough are to make this piece a worthwhile read. It is very clearly written, too.
I tend to avoid any pastor or religious figure dabbling in politics or world affairs, and there is so much of that in America, but Mr. Baldwin makes many sound points that have nothing to do with religious affiliation or ideology.
His views on the phony Republican-Democrat divide are mine precisely, and I call them mine because I regard them as fundamental truth to be embraced by all concerned about truth in public affairs.
I would only add that this silly political dumb-show gives Americans a constant public spectacle with which to become emotionally involved, thus avoiding hard realities that really matter. Almost all of it is on the same superficial and meaningless level as America’s ongoing ridiculous controversy over football players kneeling in protest, something small which nevertheless makes millions of American hearts pump faster and the veins on their foreheads and neck bulge.
America's culture was aptly described by the brilliant Robert Hughes as the "culture of complaint," and this artificial political division exactly meets the needs of people who like to scream at each other, attack each other, and really achieve very little but their own notoriety and sense of being "leaders" of often meaningless factions.
No matter which party you vote for, you get war, insider privilege, money-saturated politics, and the dominance of gigantic corporations and well-funded lobbies.
Nothing of substance ever changes. The political parties are only separated by rhetoric about social and domestic affairs, and it is very much just "rhetoric" because with the empire there are simply no resources left for such things. And would-be career politicians know where the future money and opportunities are, and they vey much are not in social or domestic affairs.
That's part of why slogans are so popular in American national politics. You don't have to think to embrace a slogan, and people are conditioned from the sphere of corporate advertising to understand that, “well, that's how it is with slogans, often empty promises that just fade away.”
But still, come election time, everyone wants to put on some warpaint for a while. I think Trump understands this reality instinctively, having lived an entire life of bamboozling people and separating them from their money.
He is a genuine con-artist, a P. T. Barnum type, or a smaller-scale Bernie Madoff, the kind who somehow actually believes what he says for just so long as it takes to say it and fleece people. The “belief” of such people adds a soupcon of “je ne sais quoi” to make them more convincing in their raging enthusiasms. They are the types who always make the best con-artists. They have a form of mild psychopathy and, while they might not murder people, they will do almost any underhanded or manipulative thing with a big smile.
Apart from no resources, there is no political will either, because politicians of both American parties know where and how you build careers and power, and it certainly is not in the sphere of domestic and social programs.
Both parties are united with the other elements of the establishment in keeping the system we see, by and large.
Until you see a national candidate talking about axing great parts of the Pentagon and CIA and about serious measures to get rid of the corrupting flood of money in American politics and about halting interference in the internal affairs of other nations, there is no such thing as "change" in America politics. It's all as illusory as the inflated advertising promises of detergent and shampoo manufacturers.
And the author’s point about Trump not fighting the Deep State is one I own too. It's remarkable how people delude themselves about that.
Here I would only add, Trump actually represents a new layer of danger from the Deep State. He will literally do anything if he can stay in power, continue as their servant, giving them anything they want and more. His really is that kind of character.
He is essentially a coward in nature, and that is how cowards behave in high office. Extremely dangerous.
____________________
Response to another comment:
Israel is effectively an American colony in the Middle East.
It serves virtually all the purposes of a colony, and it is heavily subsidized as are most colonies.
It truly has very little meaning as an independent state because it really is not one.
That, too, is an illusion, just like the Republican-Democrat divide inside America.
Note that both those parties embrace Israel as if it were a region of the United States.
All while claiming some kind of humanitarian credit for helping Jewish people who have been so abused in the past.
Of course, few remember that America was no help at all to the people abused by Hitler and indeed shared, to a considerable extent, his views, albeit in somewhat attenuated terms.
And the politicians who do this, all while collecting substantial political benefits in terms of campaign funds and press support, offer a kind of reimbursed humanitarianism, you might cynically say.
The Israel Lobby in America, many members of it I think, secretly do remember what America was really like and that is part of why they work so hard to maintain the present set of arrangements which benefit Israel.
So, we have a kind of secret political pact in which Israel gets to continue with its show of being a strong independent state so long as it serves American imperial interests. American politicians, individually and not by party, support the arrangement so long as it assists their careers, as it currently very much does.
Groups and lobbies inside the United States do their best to keep the arrangement going.
Every once in a while, the arrangements are threatened by events, as when Israel attacked the USS Liberty in the Six Day War or today, in a more peripheral fashion, when Saudi Arabia’s blood-drenched Crown Prince - a much-beloved figure in both Israel and establishment Washington - was caught, more or less red-handed, having a prominent journalist cut into pieces while still alive.
When these kinds of events happen, every covert effort is made to restore arrangements and pretend nothing untoward has happened. But it may not always work out that way, as we have yet to see in the case of the Crown Prince. There is fragility in arrangements involving so many differing objectives.
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE TEMPLE SLAUGHTER IN PITTSBURGH AND SHAMEFUL EFFORTS TO EXPLOIT IT - IDEA OF "WIDESPREAD ANTI-SEMITISM" GROSSLY ABUSED - V.P. MIKE PENCE'S COLOSSAL BLUNDER BRINGING A "CHRISTIAN RABBI" TO PITTSBURGH TO PRAY FOR REPUBLICANS TO WIN
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN BREITBART
“British Baroness Tonge Blames Israel, Netanyahu for ‘Reigniting’ Hatred Against Jews”
She may well be right. Her statement is not something to be casually dismissed. It does seem to me that you cannot assert increased anti-Semitism in the world while at the same time instantly rejecting a quite plausible explanation for its rise.
Yet, that is just what we see being done in article after article and speech after speech. Yes, they say, anti-Semitism is growing fiercely, but, no, Israel’s often-appalling behavior could not possibly have contributed, and for anyone to say that it did, just represents more anti-Semitism.
I don't know how anyone can see Israel's horrors in Gaza and not think they would exert influence on the attitudes and perceptions of many people. It could not be otherwise.
Of course, it is important to keep in mind that Jews are not the same as Israelis. Most of the world’s Jews do not live in Israel, but it is Israel itself which insists on blurring the distinction in so many matters, including its latest racist-tinged laws, its efforts to inject itself into Jewish affairs in other countries, and in its incessant pressure on Western governments to pass unjust laws equating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism.
But I still question the whole idea of appreciably increased anti-Semitism in the world. I read a good deal of the press every day, and I see very little credible support for the notion.
It is unproved, being supported only by "stats" generated by diligently pro-Israeli organizations, the idea of widespread anti-Semitism being a founding principle for Israel and a key element in its defense by all supporters.
We have some very revealing events in the recent long and terrible campaign against Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party. It was a campaign marked by all the ugly features of the late Senator Joseph McCarthy’s campaigns in 1950’s America against “commies in government.”
The campaign against Corbyn was nothing less than a witch hunt by a minority who regularly hurled accusations of anti-Semitism against a thoroughly decent and fair-minded man, all without ever a piece of supporting evidence. Indeed, a couple of times, what proved to be embarrassingly spurious “evidence” was produced. Someone actually busied themselves producing such things.
The pressure was so intense, Corbyn was forced to win his leadership a second time, which he handily succeeded in doing. We even saw the Prime Minister of Israel join the attacks (directly interfering in another county’s politics) with statements which proved he did not know what he was talking about. So, important recent experience demonstrates how readily charges of anti-Semitism are used as a tool for political advantage.
Why was Corbyn, a man with a lifelong record of decent and fair behavior, so viciously attacked? Because his views on Israel and Palestine are also decent and fair, and that really isn’t allowed by some.
In today’s political environment, when we hear charges of anti-Semitism or blanket statements about rising anti-Semitism, we have every reason to remain skeptical. We have a number of ugly examples of the words being unconscionably used for political advantage.
The inconsistencies and the effort at cheap exploitation of the terrible crime in Pittsburgh are simply appalling.
I am always distressed by senseless killings. We have far too many, a sad reflection on the human condition.
But just because one obviously sick man said something about Jewish people has nothing to do with the assertion of increased anti-Semitism.
When Anders Breivik slaughtered about 70 children in Norway, one of the most terrible crimes of our lifetime, did people immediately start talking about a rise in hatred for children? The talk about Pittsburgh and anti-Semitism really does make as much sense as doing that would have made.
I could cite many instances of hideous crimes by sick people - Columbine, Las Vegas concert shooting - but it should be obvious that generalizing from any of them about numbers of people is completely wrong-headed.
I feel fairly confident in saying that talk here about rising anti-Semitism exploits the crime in Pittsburgh to provide cover for other, even larger, crimes - in particular, Israel's ongoing military ambushes in Gaza, shooting literally thousands and slaughtering about two hundred unarmed people. It is just utterly unethical.
Readers may enjoy:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/10/01/john-chuckman-comment-my-definitive-points-against-the-ongoing-shabby-effort-to-conflate-criticism-of-israels-behavior-with-the-prejudice-of-anti-semitism-those-two-things-are-no-more-the-same-th/
AFTERWARD
Mike Pence, in his appearance at Pittsburgh, brought with him a Rabbi from the organization, Jews for Jesus, an organization many American Jews regard as offensive and as merely a gimmick for evangelizing Jews. It was an exercise in bad taste by both Pence and the Rabbi.
The Rabbi managed to offend even further by invoking prayers for the Republicans Party in upcoming midterm elections. It was the trashiest injection of politics and personal views into a terrible event that I recall.
Clearly, the fact is that there are always people ready to politically exploit tragedy. Here was the Vice-president of the country doing just that.
EXPANSION OF COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN BREITBART
“British Baroness Tonge Blames Israel, Netanyahu for ‘Reigniting’ Hatred Against Jews”
She may well be right. Her statement is not something to be casually dismissed. It does seem to me that you cannot assert increased anti-Semitism in the world while at the same time instantly rejecting a quite plausible explanation for its rise.
Yet, that is just what we see being done in article after article and speech after speech. Yes, they say, anti-Semitism is growing fiercely, but, no, Israel’s often-appalling behavior could not possibly have contributed, and for anyone to say that it did, just represents more anti-Semitism.
I don't know how anyone can see Israel's horrors in Gaza and not think they would exert influence on the attitudes and perceptions of many people. It could not be otherwise.
Of course, it is important to keep in mind that Jews are not the same as Israelis. Most of the world’s Jews do not live in Israel, but it is Israel itself which insists on blurring the distinction in so many matters, including its latest racist-tinged laws, its efforts to inject itself into Jewish affairs in other countries, and in its incessant pressure on Western governments to pass unjust laws equating criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism.
But I still question the whole idea of appreciably increased anti-Semitism in the world. I read a good deal of the press every day, and I see very little credible support for the notion.
It is unproved, being supported only by "stats" generated by diligently pro-Israeli organizations, the idea of widespread anti-Semitism being a founding principle for Israel and a key element in its defense by all supporters.
We have some very revealing events in the recent long and terrible campaign against Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the British Labour Party. It was a campaign marked by all the ugly features of the late Senator Joseph McCarthy’s campaigns in 1950’s America against “commies in government.”
The campaign against Corbyn was nothing less than a witch hunt by a minority who regularly hurled accusations of anti-Semitism against a thoroughly decent and fair-minded man, all without ever a piece of supporting evidence. Indeed, a couple of times, what proved to be embarrassingly spurious “evidence” was produced. Someone actually busied themselves producing such things.
The pressure was so intense, Corbyn was forced to win his leadership a second time, which he handily succeeded in doing. We even saw the Prime Minister of Israel join the attacks (directly interfering in another county’s politics) with statements which proved he did not know what he was talking about. So, important recent experience demonstrates how readily charges of anti-Semitism are used as a tool for political advantage.
Why was Corbyn, a man with a lifelong record of decent and fair behavior, so viciously attacked? Because his views on Israel and Palestine are also decent and fair, and that really isn’t allowed by some.
In today’s political environment, when we hear charges of anti-Semitism or blanket statements about rising anti-Semitism, we have every reason to remain skeptical. We have a number of ugly examples of the words being unconscionably used for political advantage.
The inconsistencies and the effort at cheap exploitation of the terrible crime in Pittsburgh are simply appalling.
I am always distressed by senseless killings. We have far too many, a sad reflection on the human condition.
But just because one obviously sick man said something about Jewish people has nothing to do with the assertion of increased anti-Semitism.
When Anders Breivik slaughtered about 70 children in Norway, one of the most terrible crimes of our lifetime, did people immediately start talking about a rise in hatred for children? The talk about Pittsburgh and anti-Semitism really does make as much sense as doing that would have made.
I could cite many instances of hideous crimes by sick people - Columbine, Las Vegas concert shooting - but it should be obvious that generalizing from any of them about numbers of people is completely wrong-headed.
I feel fairly confident in saying that talk here about rising anti-Semitism exploits the crime in Pittsburgh to provide cover for other, even larger, crimes - in particular, Israel's ongoing military ambushes in Gaza, shooting literally thousands and slaughtering about two hundred unarmed people. It is just utterly unethical.
Readers may enjoy:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/10/01/john-chuckman-comment-my-definitive-points-against-the-ongoing-shabby-effort-to-conflate-criticism-of-israels-behavior-with-the-prejudice-of-anti-semitism-those-two-things-are-no-more-the-same-th/
AFTERWARD
Mike Pence, in his appearance at Pittsburgh, brought with him a Rabbi from the organization, Jews for Jesus, an organization many American Jews regard as offensive and as merely a gimmick for evangelizing Jews. It was an exercise in bad taste by both Pence and the Rabbi.
The Rabbi managed to offend even further by invoking prayers for the Republicans Party in upcoming midterm elections. It was the trashiest injection of politics and personal views into a terrible event that I recall.
Clearly, the fact is that there are always people ready to politically exploit tragedy. Here was the Vice-president of the country doing just that.
Sunday, October 28, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE SAD STATE OF JOURNALISM - REALITIES OF CORPORATE PRESS AND BROADCASTERS - THE IMPORTANCE OF ALTERNATIVE PRESS BUT THE FEEBLE POSITION IT IS IN FOR REAL INFLUENCE - OURS IS NEITHER AN ORWELL NOR A HUXLEY WORLD BUT SOMETHING MUCH STRANGER
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOHN SCALES AVERY IN RUSSIA INSIDER
"The Importance of Alternative Media
"The Roman emperors gave their people bread and circuses to numb them into political inactivity. The modern mass media seem to be playing a similar role."
Overall, a good piece. I like the Huxley-Orwell comparison.
Neil Postman was, of course, an eloquent and interesting social critic.
But I do think our situation is a little darker and less susceptible to change and improvement than the author seems to think.
"...today there is an urgent need to make public opinion aware of the serious problems facing civilization, and the steps that are needed to solve these problems."
While I recognize the importance of that statement, I think it misses something. That "something" has to do with who it is that has an urgent need.
Certainly, it is not the power establishment. They have in fact single-handedly created what we see.
And part of that establishment is the mainline press. It is not a "fourth estate" as the press used to like calling itself in the United States.
It is not a “tribune of the people,” a reference to an ancient Roman office privileged with rights to speak out, an office the old names of some newspapers try to recall.
And, in truth, it is no longer dedicated to the kind of journalistic ideals we would have heard from an I.F. Stone and as I’m sure some journalism schools are still feeding their naïve and optimistic students.
No, American mainline journalism is a corporate entity, much consolidated over the years by mergers and take-overs.
And the economics of many aspects of this corporate entity reflect hard realities of changing technology. Most do not any longer do anything that could be honestly called “investigative reporting,” and most no longer even have staff assigned all over as foreign correspondents.
Those activities are just too costly even if we found some publication or broadcaster willing in spirit to undertake them.
There are no signs that major publishers and broadcasters today are even willing in spirit. They have to be extremely careful about their balance sheets and survival. They would not even think of offending an important corporation, something which could cause additional economic difficulties.
And they have to be extremely careful about government. After all, it is government agencies which shape many aspects of their corporate life, as, for example, whether they will be able to do a merger or take-over. It is also government sources which quietly hand-out leaks and tips for valuable stories. If you aren’t cooperative with government, you will simply be left out in the future and immediately rendered non-competitive vis-à-vis your peers.
There is also the intense nonsense in the United States over patriotism and supporting the country in its wars (not one of which has anything to do with defense). You could be branded almost as a a traitor in today’s America for printing or broadcasting the wrong words, and that would have extremely grave consequences for your audience, for you advertisers, and for your relationship with government.
So, I see no possibility of America’s press now ever rising to the challenges the author outlines.
We actually aren’t in quite an Orwell or a Huxley world but in something much stranger than either of them.
For quite a while, too, in America, citizens have not been referred to as citizens, with the obligations that name entails, by politicians, but as “consumers,” reflecting the immense influence of corporations in America, or as “the middle class,” whatever that may mean, although it is always treated as something important that no one wants to be left out of.
Even people working at Walmart or McDonald’s want be regarded as “middle class” in America, and America’s generous politicians oblige them, the honorific being one of the few things ever bestowed on the people.
America has ended the “working class” through some social and economic miracle. Even referring to it today can get you labelled as an advocate of class warfare or worse, a commie.
No, it is a greatly changed environment, one with no room for the principles of classical journalism, although everyone will continue to make appeals to those, aware of the “resonance” of such appeals, but they mean no more than the often-heard appeals to some of the Bill of Rights, every article of which has been violated by modern American governments.
America lives in an environment where the Department of “Defense” is continuously engaged in aggression or threatening people. Not a single war or action in the post-WWII period has remotely had anything to do with defense.
It also lives in an environment in which the CIA, the NSA, and FBI give the lie daily to ideas of rights and privacy and even decency, and they are only three of America’s current seventeen national security agencies.
Both the Pentagon and the security establishment literally crowd out spending on anything new or beneficial to average Americans. Their budgets are vast and grow like metastasizing cancer. And the last thing such immensely powerful agencies want is interference from the press. The bigger such agencies are, the more the humiliation piled on anyone daring to investigate or attack them.
Indeed, the greater America’s imperial drives are in the world – the very jobs of the Pentagon and CIA - the greater are the numbers and extent of dark operations and dark programs and things labelled “national security.” There is no room for journalism there, except in a kind of superficial re-assuring role and in the role of “getting the message out there.” “Getting the message out there” used to be called propaganda or disinformation, but not anymore in America, unless they are speaking of Russian journalism.
It is what America’s mainline press does 24-hours a day. The only exception is in the case of harmless local news or business news or travel news or events where journalism can still be done.
Just think about it. How easily even several top-notch journalists, given the assignment and the needed resources, could have discovered the truth of the Syrian War or the truth of the Iraq War or Libya or the collapse of Ukraine. But it never happened, and it won’t in a world shaped as ours is.
Yes, some independent journalists have done reporting, but they have no resources, they have their efforts made difficult by government, whose spokespeople even contradict them, and the general public mostly never reads their stuff. They have no big outlets for their product. The general public wants, just as at the grocery store, national brand names, not Brand X. So, independents cannot even reach the audience they should.
The system works perfectly for supporting the dark plans of a determined power establishment while leaving a semblance of press influence.
But that influence is as illusory as America’s national elections where each citizen gets to vote for a candidate who will change nothing important. Democrat or Republican, you get wars, dark operations, a privileged establishment, bloated security agencies and the Pentagon all working with the wealthy individuals and corporations which the establishment serves and protects.
No other outcome is realistically possible. And just so for America’s press and mainline journalism. I think no other outcome than what we see is possible. Since they are part of that same establishment.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOHN SCALES AVERY IN RUSSIA INSIDER
"The Importance of Alternative Media
"The Roman emperors gave their people bread and circuses to numb them into political inactivity. The modern mass media seem to be playing a similar role."
Overall, a good piece. I like the Huxley-Orwell comparison.
Neil Postman was, of course, an eloquent and interesting social critic.
But I do think our situation is a little darker and less susceptible to change and improvement than the author seems to think.
"...today there is an urgent need to make public opinion aware of the serious problems facing civilization, and the steps that are needed to solve these problems."
While I recognize the importance of that statement, I think it misses something. That "something" has to do with who it is that has an urgent need.
Certainly, it is not the power establishment. They have in fact single-handedly created what we see.
And part of that establishment is the mainline press. It is not a "fourth estate" as the press used to like calling itself in the United States.
It is not a “tribune of the people,” a reference to an ancient Roman office privileged with rights to speak out, an office the old names of some newspapers try to recall.
And, in truth, it is no longer dedicated to the kind of journalistic ideals we would have heard from an I.F. Stone and as I’m sure some journalism schools are still feeding their naïve and optimistic students.
No, American mainline journalism is a corporate entity, much consolidated over the years by mergers and take-overs.
And the economics of many aspects of this corporate entity reflect hard realities of changing technology. Most do not any longer do anything that could be honestly called “investigative reporting,” and most no longer even have staff assigned all over as foreign correspondents.
Those activities are just too costly even if we found some publication or broadcaster willing in spirit to undertake them.
There are no signs that major publishers and broadcasters today are even willing in spirit. They have to be extremely careful about their balance sheets and survival. They would not even think of offending an important corporation, something which could cause additional economic difficulties.
And they have to be extremely careful about government. After all, it is government agencies which shape many aspects of their corporate life, as, for example, whether they will be able to do a merger or take-over. It is also government sources which quietly hand-out leaks and tips for valuable stories. If you aren’t cooperative with government, you will simply be left out in the future and immediately rendered non-competitive vis-à-vis your peers.
There is also the intense nonsense in the United States over patriotism and supporting the country in its wars (not one of which has anything to do with defense). You could be branded almost as a a traitor in today’s America for printing or broadcasting the wrong words, and that would have extremely grave consequences for your audience, for you advertisers, and for your relationship with government.
So, I see no possibility of America’s press now ever rising to the challenges the author outlines.
We actually aren’t in quite an Orwell or a Huxley world but in something much stranger than either of them.
For quite a while, too, in America, citizens have not been referred to as citizens, with the obligations that name entails, by politicians, but as “consumers,” reflecting the immense influence of corporations in America, or as “the middle class,” whatever that may mean, although it is always treated as something important that no one wants to be left out of.
Even people working at Walmart or McDonald’s want be regarded as “middle class” in America, and America’s generous politicians oblige them, the honorific being one of the few things ever bestowed on the people.
America has ended the “working class” through some social and economic miracle. Even referring to it today can get you labelled as an advocate of class warfare or worse, a commie.
No, it is a greatly changed environment, one with no room for the principles of classical journalism, although everyone will continue to make appeals to those, aware of the “resonance” of such appeals, but they mean no more than the often-heard appeals to some of the Bill of Rights, every article of which has been violated by modern American governments.
America lives in an environment where the Department of “Defense” is continuously engaged in aggression or threatening people. Not a single war or action in the post-WWII period has remotely had anything to do with defense.
It also lives in an environment in which the CIA, the NSA, and FBI give the lie daily to ideas of rights and privacy and even decency, and they are only three of America’s current seventeen national security agencies.
Both the Pentagon and the security establishment literally crowd out spending on anything new or beneficial to average Americans. Their budgets are vast and grow like metastasizing cancer. And the last thing such immensely powerful agencies want is interference from the press. The bigger such agencies are, the more the humiliation piled on anyone daring to investigate or attack them.
Indeed, the greater America’s imperial drives are in the world – the very jobs of the Pentagon and CIA - the greater are the numbers and extent of dark operations and dark programs and things labelled “national security.” There is no room for journalism there, except in a kind of superficial re-assuring role and in the role of “getting the message out there.” “Getting the message out there” used to be called propaganda or disinformation, but not anymore in America, unless they are speaking of Russian journalism.
It is what America’s mainline press does 24-hours a day. The only exception is in the case of harmless local news or business news or travel news or events where journalism can still be done.
Just think about it. How easily even several top-notch journalists, given the assignment and the needed resources, could have discovered the truth of the Syrian War or the truth of the Iraq War or Libya or the collapse of Ukraine. But it never happened, and it won’t in a world shaped as ours is.
Yes, some independent journalists have done reporting, but they have no resources, they have their efforts made difficult by government, whose spokespeople even contradict them, and the general public mostly never reads their stuff. They have no big outlets for their product. The general public wants, just as at the grocery store, national brand names, not Brand X. So, independents cannot even reach the audience they should.
The system works perfectly for supporting the dark plans of a determined power establishment while leaving a semblance of press influence.
But that influence is as illusory as America’s national elections where each citizen gets to vote for a candidate who will change nothing important. Democrat or Republican, you get wars, dark operations, a privileged establishment, bloated security agencies and the Pentagon all working with the wealthy individuals and corporations which the establishment serves and protects.
No other outcome is realistically possible. And just so for America’s press and mainline journalism. I think no other outcome than what we see is possible. Since they are part of that same establishment.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: BLOOD-SOAKED AMERICAN ALLY SAUDI ARABIA - ACTUAL DEATH TOLL IN YEMEN - ONLY CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE WASHINGTON ATTACKS TYRANTS - COMPARE THE GLARING HYPOCRISY OF THE KHASHOGGI AND SKRIPAL AFFAIRS - AN UPSIDE-DOWN WORLD WHERE POWER AND MONEY ALWAYS TRUMP PRINCIPLE
John Chuckman
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ANN WRIGHT IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“America’s Bloody Ally
“The U.S. continues to support the dictatorship of Saudi Arabia—as a key ally—even after the horrific murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the horrendous five-year bombing campaign on Yemen…”
On the deaths inflicted in Yemen by Saudi Arabia, Patrick Cockburn offers a convincing argument that the number is five times larger than what we typically read:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yemen-war-death-toll-saudi-arabia-allies-how-many-killed-responsibility-a8603326.html
_______________________
Response to a comment:
Yes, but it is all about world empire.
Nothing better illustrates the actual nature of America abroad than the friends and allies that it keeps.
Some truly disgusting people, but they are useful to Washington's power establishment.
When America goes after a "tyrant" it is only because he does not toe the policy line or he has shown some independence of mind in some matter of consequence. That isn't allowed.
In many cases, America actually effectively grants licenses to kill to favored governments. In Central America. In Syria. In Saudi Arabia. In Egypt. In Israel. And other places.
I truly think the average American still does not understand this basic truth and naively believes his country stands internationally for principles of human and democratic rights. Of course, that is the official, often-repeated State Department line and the view promoted by America’s corporate press.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s like believing some old sobby Jimmy Stewart movie reflects real life rather than melodramatic fantasy.
And as I often stress, there is absolutely no difference between Republicans and Democrats in this matter. None.
They are only separated by rhetoric about domestic social issues, and it is just rhetoric because there's no real will or resources left after imperial efforts for doing anything decent for ordinary citizens. Those with investment in empire get all the attention and resources of government. The pretense of vital differences between the two parties keeps Americans involved emotionally and blinded to reality.
__________________
Response to a comment:
Perfect illustration of what I wrote above.
The Crown Prince is very useful to Washington, especially because of his warm relationship with Israel and his ready willingness to kill, as demonstrated in Yemen.
Putin is the opposite, he represents a barrier to American imperial interests and drives. He represents a multi-polar world loathed in Washington.
So, the two cases – Khashoggi and Skripal - get completely different treatments from governments and their faithful script-readers in the press.
The Prince gets away with grisly murder, and the proof of his guilt is there because everything we know comes from actual Turkish audio and video recordings, some of which the government of Turkey leaked to the Turkish press.
To this day, no one even knows what happened to the Skripals in Britain. No one can see or talk to either of them, and no hard evidence of anything asserted by the government has been provided to the public. We have only government innuendo and accusations, but the fact that we know nothing didn’t prevent, or even slow down, a huge diplomatic row with new sanctions against the accused.
We really do live in an upside-down world.
As I said above, America actually effectively gives some its helpers abroad a licence to kill.
For its imagined enemies, as Russia, it has only contempt and threats and belligerence.
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY ANN WRIGHT IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“America’s Bloody Ally
“The U.S. continues to support the dictatorship of Saudi Arabia—as a key ally—even after the horrific murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the horrendous five-year bombing campaign on Yemen…”
On the deaths inflicted in Yemen by Saudi Arabia, Patrick Cockburn offers a convincing argument that the number is five times larger than what we typically read:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/yemen-war-death-toll-saudi-arabia-allies-how-many-killed-responsibility-a8603326.html
_______________________
Response to a comment:
Yes, but it is all about world empire.
Nothing better illustrates the actual nature of America abroad than the friends and allies that it keeps.
Some truly disgusting people, but they are useful to Washington's power establishment.
When America goes after a "tyrant" it is only because he does not toe the policy line or he has shown some independence of mind in some matter of consequence. That isn't allowed.
In many cases, America actually effectively grants licenses to kill to favored governments. In Central America. In Syria. In Saudi Arabia. In Egypt. In Israel. And other places.
I truly think the average American still does not understand this basic truth and naively believes his country stands internationally for principles of human and democratic rights. Of course, that is the official, often-repeated State Department line and the view promoted by America’s corporate press.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s like believing some old sobby Jimmy Stewart movie reflects real life rather than melodramatic fantasy.
And as I often stress, there is absolutely no difference between Republicans and Democrats in this matter. None.
They are only separated by rhetoric about domestic social issues, and it is just rhetoric because there's no real will or resources left after imperial efforts for doing anything decent for ordinary citizens. Those with investment in empire get all the attention and resources of government. The pretense of vital differences between the two parties keeps Americans involved emotionally and blinded to reality.
__________________
Response to a comment:
Perfect illustration of what I wrote above.
The Crown Prince is very useful to Washington, especially because of his warm relationship with Israel and his ready willingness to kill, as demonstrated in Yemen.
Putin is the opposite, he represents a barrier to American imperial interests and drives. He represents a multi-polar world loathed in Washington.
So, the two cases – Khashoggi and Skripal - get completely different treatments from governments and their faithful script-readers in the press.
The Prince gets away with grisly murder, and the proof of his guilt is there because everything we know comes from actual Turkish audio and video recordings, some of which the government of Turkey leaked to the Turkish press.
To this day, no one even knows what happened to the Skripals in Britain. No one can see or talk to either of them, and no hard evidence of anything asserted by the government has been provided to the public. We have only government innuendo and accusations, but the fact that we know nothing didn’t prevent, or even slow down, a huge diplomatic row with new sanctions against the accused.
We really do live in an upside-down world.
As I said above, America actually effectively gives some its helpers abroad a licence to kill.
For its imagined enemies, as Russia, it has only contempt and threats and belligerence.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: WIKILEAKS HAS EXPOSED A GOOD DEAL OF BRITISH-UNITED STATES COMPLICITY - WHY ASSANGE IS SO HATED EVEN THOUGH THE TWO GOVERNMENTS KEEP THEIR PUBLIC RHETORIC QUITE LOW - NATURE OF SECRETS
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MARK CURTIS IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“WikiLeaks’ Legacy of Exposing US-UK Complicity
“WikiLeaks is vilified by governments (and increasingly by journalists) for its exposures, including of the U.S.-UK “special relationship” in running a joint foreign policy of deception and violence that serves London and Washington’s elite interests…”
The label “secret” is largely used by governments to cover up blunders and what would be regarded as dark practices from their own citizens.
This is especially true for a government like America’s which constantly is doing dirty deeds and manipulations for its huge empire. There simply is no other way to have an empire, a fact I think most ordinary Americans still have no appreciation of.
Britain has become a kind of constant maidservant in the effort, demonstrating no independence at all. This especially true in the Middle East because Britain is under just as heavy an influence from the Israel Lobby as is the United States. We saw this with blinding clarity during the long siege effort, assisted by most of the press, to unseat Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party.
WikiLeaks has worked against these government practices with secrecy, and with considerable effect.
That’s why Assange is so hated and under threat, even though they try to be restrained and not make too much public noise about him. They work behind the scenes as with pressure against Ecuador’s government. Assange has a gained a good deal of almost-mythical hero status, and going after him too openly looks bad.
WikiLeaks truly has only done what old-fashioned investigative reporting did.
But we don’t have investigative reporting anymore. We have a consolidated corporate press working loyally to protect the privileges and prerogatives of empire.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY MARK CURTIS IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“WikiLeaks’ Legacy of Exposing US-UK Complicity
“WikiLeaks is vilified by governments (and increasingly by journalists) for its exposures, including of the U.S.-UK “special relationship” in running a joint foreign policy of deception and violence that serves London and Washington’s elite interests…”
The label “secret” is largely used by governments to cover up blunders and what would be regarded as dark practices from their own citizens.
This is especially true for a government like America’s which constantly is doing dirty deeds and manipulations for its huge empire. There simply is no other way to have an empire, a fact I think most ordinary Americans still have no appreciation of.
Britain has become a kind of constant maidservant in the effort, demonstrating no independence at all. This especially true in the Middle East because Britain is under just as heavy an influence from the Israel Lobby as is the United States. We saw this with blinding clarity during the long siege effort, assisted by most of the press, to unseat Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party.
WikiLeaks has worked against these government practices with secrecy, and with considerable effect.
That’s why Assange is so hated and under threat, even though they try to be restrained and not make too much public noise about him. They work behind the scenes as with pressure against Ecuador’s government. Assange has a gained a good deal of almost-mythical hero status, and going after him too openly looks bad.
WikiLeaks truly has only done what old-fashioned investigative reporting did.
But we don’t have investigative reporting anymore. We have a consolidated corporate press working loyally to protect the privileges and prerogatives of empire.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE REASON WHY AMERICAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS HAVE HIT ROCK BOTTOM
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY M K BHADRAKUMAR IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Ahead of Putin-Trump Summit US-Russian Relations Hit Rock Bottom
"Clearly, the US is hoping to achieve military superiority over Russia by vastly expanding its nuclear capability and developing new weapons so as to reach a position where it can dictate to Moscow"
"US-Russian Relations Hit Rock Bottom"
You can say that again.
And whose fault is that?
Could it possibly be the man responsible for appointing animals like Bolton and Pompeo?
Of course, it is.
He is in fact not your friend, Russia, because he is simply too weak, despite the empty bluster, to be an effective friend. The bluster only makes him more dangerous.
If the Neocon establishment lets him be re-elected, he'll do literally anything for them in return. Anything.
A very dangerous man, as weak men in powerful positions always are.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY M K BHADRAKUMAR IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Ahead of Putin-Trump Summit US-Russian Relations Hit Rock Bottom
"Clearly, the US is hoping to achieve military superiority over Russia by vastly expanding its nuclear capability and developing new weapons so as to reach a position where it can dictate to Moscow"
"US-Russian Relations Hit Rock Bottom"
You can say that again.
And whose fault is that?
Could it possibly be the man responsible for appointing animals like Bolton and Pompeo?
Of course, it is.
He is in fact not your friend, Russia, because he is simply too weak, despite the empty bluster, to be an effective friend. The bluster only makes him more dangerous.
If the Neocon establishment lets him be re-elected, he'll do literally anything for them in return. Anything.
A very dangerous man, as weak men in powerful positions always are.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE "NATURAL" MARRIAGE OF GERMANY AND RUSSIA - BOTH COULD BENEFIT IMMENSELY BY A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP - BUT THIS IS AN IDEA WASHINGTON LOATHES AND IT WILL DO EVERYTHING IN ITS POWER TO PREVENT
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Moscow's Astonishing Infrastructure Boom - 25 New Metro Stops, Massive Roads, Tunnels, Bridges”
_________________
Response to a comment saying, “peace will bring Russia everything it needs..... that's why NATO is pushing war...because economically she will naturally bind Germany to her and eastern Europe ...:”
That's a very true observation.
Germany and Russia are a marriage made in heaven.
Geography, resources, history - all demonstrate it.
Both would become stronger by a close relationship.
But for the US this idea is anathema, and they will do everything they can to be disruptive.
It is no understatement to say the US today is the most dangerous nation on earth.
I don't know that they want actual war, but they do want a constant state of tension, of threats, of unpredictability.
The American establishment just cannot accept its relative decline in the world, a decline that comes naturally through the growth of others, and it has adopted a whole new strategy of aggressiveness to grab whatever advantages it can in every part of the world.
Very dangerous. Readers may enjoy:
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/john-chuckman-essay-dangerous-flailing-and-bellowing-of-the-beast/
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/john-chuckman-comment-americas-unmistakable-relative-economic-decline-the-hopeless-and-dangerous-assaults-of-trump-and-the-american-establishment-on-the-world-a-clear-drift-towards-fascism-im/
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Moscow's Astonishing Infrastructure Boom - 25 New Metro Stops, Massive Roads, Tunnels, Bridges”
_________________
Response to a comment saying, “peace will bring Russia everything it needs..... that's why NATO is pushing war...because economically she will naturally bind Germany to her and eastern Europe ...:”
That's a very true observation.
Germany and Russia are a marriage made in heaven.
Geography, resources, history - all demonstrate it.
Both would become stronger by a close relationship.
But for the US this idea is anathema, and they will do everything they can to be disruptive.
It is no understatement to say the US today is the most dangerous nation on earth.
I don't know that they want actual war, but they do want a constant state of tension, of threats, of unpredictability.
The American establishment just cannot accept its relative decline in the world, a decline that comes naturally through the growth of others, and it has adopted a whole new strategy of aggressiveness to grab whatever advantages it can in every part of the world.
Very dangerous. Readers may enjoy:
https://chuckmanwords.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/john-chuckman-essay-dangerous-flailing-and-bellowing-of-the-beast/
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/john-chuckman-comment-americas-unmistakable-relative-economic-decline-the-hopeless-and-dangerous-assaults-of-trump-and-the-american-establishment-on-the-world-a-clear-drift-towards-fascism-im/
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND SOCIETY'S APPROACH TO THE PROBLEMS IT REPRESENTS
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
"Here's what climate change could look like in Canada"
First, "could" isn't "will," and I think that important to say.
Humanity has adjusted to many big changes, including ice ages, over tens of thousands of years.
It will adjust to this, too.
I don't doubt in the least that climate change is underway.
But that is not the same thing as saying we can control it, by a carbon tax or any other means.
Nor does it mean that we humans caused the change.
The great Roman writer, Tacitus, referred to North Africa as "the granary of Rome."
No one would call it that now, and the change had nothing to do with people.
Alberta was once largely under a sea millions of years ago.
Sixty million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the earth, and there was not a human in sight, but every last one of the dinosaurs is gone.
The earth is simply a dynamic place, sometimes violently so as with great storms and earthquakes, not some static idyll that humans came along and disturbed and now need to set right again. To my mind, that view much resembles some feeble Bible story like the Garden of Eden, but it is implicit in a great deal of what one hears today from self-proclaimed champions of the earth.
Indeed, adjusting to change over time is likely to be far less costly, and far more certain in its effect, than any grand and costly schemes to prevent it.
Every time I hear of such schemes, I think of the Soviets in, say, the 1950s. They had many huge and ambitious schemes for changing the very physical face of their country, but all came to naught or, worse, when done, created terribly adverse effects.
The drying-up and shrinking of the Aral Sea was one of these. The mountain waters which naturally replenished the sea were in part diverted to create irrigation to vast new lands put under agriculture. Today, the sea has immense parched, cracked-earth areas, and one sees old fishing ships rotting in the sun.
We simply do not know enough to re-engineer the earth.
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN CBC NEWS
"Here's what climate change could look like in Canada"
First, "could" isn't "will," and I think that important to say.
Humanity has adjusted to many big changes, including ice ages, over tens of thousands of years.
It will adjust to this, too.
I don't doubt in the least that climate change is underway.
But that is not the same thing as saying we can control it, by a carbon tax or any other means.
Nor does it mean that we humans caused the change.
The great Roman writer, Tacitus, referred to North Africa as "the granary of Rome."
No one would call it that now, and the change had nothing to do with people.
Alberta was once largely under a sea millions of years ago.
Sixty million years ago, dinosaurs ruled the earth, and there was not a human in sight, but every last one of the dinosaurs is gone.
The earth is simply a dynamic place, sometimes violently so as with great storms and earthquakes, not some static idyll that humans came along and disturbed and now need to set right again. To my mind, that view much resembles some feeble Bible story like the Garden of Eden, but it is implicit in a great deal of what one hears today from self-proclaimed champions of the earth.
Indeed, adjusting to change over time is likely to be far less costly, and far more certain in its effect, than any grand and costly schemes to prevent it.
Every time I hear of such schemes, I think of the Soviets in, say, the 1950s. They had many huge and ambitious schemes for changing the very physical face of their country, but all came to naught or, worse, when done, created terribly adverse effects.
The drying-up and shrinking of the Aral Sea was one of these. The mountain waters which naturally replenished the sea were in part diverted to create irrigation to vast new lands put under agriculture. Today, the sea has immense parched, cracked-earth areas, and one sees old fishing ships rotting in the sun.
We simply do not know enough to re-engineer the earth.
Friday, October 26, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE "PIPEBOMB" AFFAIR AND THE PROMINENT ROLE OF LUNACY IN AMERICA
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Suspicious Packages Could Be ‘Russian Operation,’ Says MSNBC Host
“That didn't take long”
“I have this fear that it could be some Russian operation,” Chuck Todd told his guests, explaining his reasoning as, “It is dividing us.”
Well, the ridiculous claims and suggestions just never stop oozing out of Americans, much resembling some unstoppable leak of toxic sludge.
This television host's statement truly is as disturbingly stupid as the handiwork of the man who has been arrested and appears to have made and sent these "bombs."
I've read now a couple of times from experts that these were not bombs.
They were movie props in effect, made to look intimidating.
Of course, they could scare someone, but they were really incapable of hurting anyone.
The pipes didn't even contain an explosive, but a sulphur compound.
The man responsible is simply mentally disturbed, and believe me you will find many of those walking the streets of America.
And you'll find them even sitting in front of television cameras for a major American network.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Suspicious Packages Could Be ‘Russian Operation,’ Says MSNBC Host
“That didn't take long”
“I have this fear that it could be some Russian operation,” Chuck Todd told his guests, explaining his reasoning as, “It is dividing us.”
Well, the ridiculous claims and suggestions just never stop oozing out of Americans, much resembling some unstoppable leak of toxic sludge.
This television host's statement truly is as disturbingly stupid as the handiwork of the man who has been arrested and appears to have made and sent these "bombs."
I've read now a couple of times from experts that these were not bombs.
They were movie props in effect, made to look intimidating.
Of course, they could scare someone, but they were really incapable of hurting anyone.
The pipes didn't even contain an explosive, but a sulphur compound.
The man responsible is simply mentally disturbed, and believe me you will find many of those walking the streets of America.
And you'll find them even sitting in front of television cameras for a major American network.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: SAUDI ARABIA REALLY HAS ONE KEY PROBLEM GENERATING VARIOUS THREATS TO ITS STABILITY - ITS CLOSE ASSOCIATION WITH ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES - MY ANSWER TO SOMEONE TELLING AMERICANS TO STOP TALKING AND JUST VOTE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DANIEL LAZARE IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“The Khashoggi Affair and the Future of Saudi Arabia
“If the Saudi power structure were to crumble in the wake of the Khashoggi scandal there would be chaos at home and a shift in power around the Gulf”
Saudi Arabia’s biggest problem is being in bed with Israel.
That now-intimate, but still-covert, connection is at the root of many Saudi problems
Heavy involvement in supporting the Syrian terror – an Israeli project from the beginning. The horror in Yemen. The extreme antagonism towards Iran.
If there is one person in the entire region who is more brutal and ruthless than the Saudi Crown Prince, then that person is Netanyahu.
Cozying up to Israel has been a way to supposedly gain greater influence with America, and it does do that, but at an immense price, a price Saudi Arabia perhaps cannot bear.
Readers may enjoy:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/10/18/john-chuckman-comment-the-israeli-saudi-de-facto-alliance-what-the-murderous-crown-prince-represents-for-america-re-making-the-planet-and-hitlers-willing-helpers/
____________________
Response to a comment, “it serves no purpose going over the same old arguments. Act. Vote.”:
Vote for what?
Obama was in all the blood and dirt up to his armpits.
He just comes off better in public speaking. More graceful, less argumentative than Trump. But every bit the same ruthless killer and supporter of scum like the Crown Prince.
And Hillary? A natural born killer.
Joe Biden? He pushed Obama to create America’s massive hi-tech extrajudicial killing industry run by CIA.
What choice do Americans have?
Close to zero in my view.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY DANIEL LAZARE IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“The Khashoggi Affair and the Future of Saudi Arabia
“If the Saudi power structure were to crumble in the wake of the Khashoggi scandal there would be chaos at home and a shift in power around the Gulf”
Saudi Arabia’s biggest problem is being in bed with Israel.
That now-intimate, but still-covert, connection is at the root of many Saudi problems
Heavy involvement in supporting the Syrian terror – an Israeli project from the beginning. The horror in Yemen. The extreme antagonism towards Iran.
If there is one person in the entire region who is more brutal and ruthless than the Saudi Crown Prince, then that person is Netanyahu.
Cozying up to Israel has been a way to supposedly gain greater influence with America, and it does do that, but at an immense price, a price Saudi Arabia perhaps cannot bear.
Readers may enjoy:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/10/18/john-chuckman-comment-the-israeli-saudi-de-facto-alliance-what-the-murderous-crown-prince-represents-for-america-re-making-the-planet-and-hitlers-willing-helpers/
____________________
Response to a comment, “it serves no purpose going over the same old arguments. Act. Vote.”:
Vote for what?
Obama was in all the blood and dirt up to his armpits.
He just comes off better in public speaking. More graceful, less argumentative than Trump. But every bit the same ruthless killer and supporter of scum like the Crown Prince.
And Hillary? A natural born killer.
Joe Biden? He pushed Obama to create America’s massive hi-tech extrajudicial killing industry run by CIA.
What choice do Americans have?
Close to zero in my view.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: SAUDI ARABIA'S KILLER CROWN PRINCE MAKING HIS FIRST POST-KHASHOGGI SPEECH - WHY I AM REMINDED OF SOLZHENITSYN'S GULAG ARCHIPELAGO
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Saudi crown prince to give first speech since journalist's killing”
There's a powerful scene in Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago in which Stalin is giving a speech to a packed hall.
Members of the audience clap very hard in response to his every sentence because members of the NKVD (forerunner of the KGB) stride up and down the aisles, looking here and there for people who are not clapping.
I imagine the atmosphere for the Crown Prince's speech will much resemble Solzhenitsyn's scene.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Saudi crown prince to give first speech since journalist's killing”
There's a powerful scene in Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago in which Stalin is giving a speech to a packed hall.
Members of the audience clap very hard in response to his every sentence because members of the NKVD (forerunner of the KGB) stride up and down the aisles, looking here and there for people who are not clapping.
I imagine the atmosphere for the Crown Prince's speech will much resemble Solzhenitsyn's scene.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE UNFORTUNATE TIMING OF THE LATEST CARAVAN OF REFUGEES HEADING TOWARDS THE AMERICAN BORDER - APPEAL TO AMERICAN XENOPHOBIA LIKELY TRUMP'S STRONGEST POLITICAL ASSET AND IT MAY HELP HIM SURVIVE MIDTERM CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“If Trump's talk of Democratic 'mobs' is meant to scare Republicans to the polls, it's working”
I am sympathetic with the Central American refugees.
And I know they form caravans for their own safety, not for any sinister reasons, although the Trump crowd works itself up with talk of invading armies.
The refugees pass through some pretty dangerous territory on their search for a better, safer life, and of course they include many women and children.
And so much of what people are fleeing in Central America is the result of destructive American policies and interference in the internal affairs of other countries, fomenting civil ways and barbarous government behavior.
But could organizers have picked a worse time to form up the latest group approaching the American border?
Fear and loathing of migrants and refugees is likely Trump's single strongest political appeal factor.
It is simply an ugly truth about United States' voters.
Right before the Midterm Congressional Elections, which, were they to go the right way, would turn Trump into a lame duck for the balance of his term.
EXPANSION OF A COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“If Trump's talk of Democratic 'mobs' is meant to scare Republicans to the polls, it's working”
I am sympathetic with the Central American refugees.
And I know they form caravans for their own safety, not for any sinister reasons, although the Trump crowd works itself up with talk of invading armies.
The refugees pass through some pretty dangerous territory on their search for a better, safer life, and of course they include many women and children.
And so much of what people are fleeing in Central America is the result of destructive American policies and interference in the internal affairs of other countries, fomenting civil ways and barbarous government behavior.
But could organizers have picked a worse time to form up the latest group approaching the American border?
Fear and loathing of migrants and refugees is likely Trump's single strongest political appeal factor.
It is simply an ugly truth about United States' voters.
Right before the Midterm Congressional Elections, which, were they to go the right way, would turn Trump into a lame duck for the balance of his term.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: A VERY SAD EVENT - THE RECENT WOMEN'S DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PENTAGON - WHAT IT REALLY TELLS US - AMERICA NOW EVERYTHING THE JACK-BOOTED STATES OF THE 1930s WERE - ONLY JACK-BOOTS ARE OUT OF STYLE
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOE LAURIA IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Women March on the Pentagon
“Fed up with ongoing wars depleting innocent lives and the U.S. Treasury, more than a thousand women marched on the Pentagon on Sunday to declare their opposition to the continuing slaughter.”
I could not possibly be more in sympathy with the cause these marchers represent.
I wouldn't want to demean or diminish them for any reason.
But I think the main thing a march like this one tells us about is an extremely unhappy fact.
1,500 people? My God that wouldn't fill the auditorium of a big movie theater.
America, collectively, simply does not care that its government is now in the full-time killing business.
Which of course precludes so very many activities governments are supposed to be concerned with, from health care to building needed bridges.
The sad facts just reinforce my view of contemporary America as an extremely dangerous force in the world.
America’s government literally burns resources on wars, needless wars, and does next to nothing for and about the people it is supposed to govern, supposed to represent, and from whom it collects taxes to pay for the dark work that it is involved in.
There is a huge disconnect there between the American people and “their” government.
So, not only are American national elections close to a charade as to real choice - Trump versus Clinton? What a choice the plutocrats offer people - but the national government seems to enjoy virtually complete freedom to kill on a massive scale with unwarranted geopolitical wars, support tyrants also engaged in killing, men like the Saudi Crown Prince and Israel's Netanyahu, and it even freely and openly conducts a program of extrajudicial killing on an industrial scale.
My God, there's just no pretence anymore. America is about killing and bullying the planet, and America's own citizens remain pretty well completely indifferent.
The basic structure and dynamics of a situation like this are extremely threatening for the entire world. America today much resembles the 1930s jack-booted states of Europe marching around to threaten everyone. The only difference now is that jack-boots have gone out of style.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY JOE LAURIA IN CONSORTIUM NEWS
“Women March on the Pentagon
“Fed up with ongoing wars depleting innocent lives and the U.S. Treasury, more than a thousand women marched on the Pentagon on Sunday to declare their opposition to the continuing slaughter.”
I could not possibly be more in sympathy with the cause these marchers represent.
I wouldn't want to demean or diminish them for any reason.
But I think the main thing a march like this one tells us about is an extremely unhappy fact.
1,500 people? My God that wouldn't fill the auditorium of a big movie theater.
America, collectively, simply does not care that its government is now in the full-time killing business.
Which of course precludes so very many activities governments are supposed to be concerned with, from health care to building needed bridges.
The sad facts just reinforce my view of contemporary America as an extremely dangerous force in the world.
America’s government literally burns resources on wars, needless wars, and does next to nothing for and about the people it is supposed to govern, supposed to represent, and from whom it collects taxes to pay for the dark work that it is involved in.
There is a huge disconnect there between the American people and “their” government.
So, not only are American national elections close to a charade as to real choice - Trump versus Clinton? What a choice the plutocrats offer people - but the national government seems to enjoy virtually complete freedom to kill on a massive scale with unwarranted geopolitical wars, support tyrants also engaged in killing, men like the Saudi Crown Prince and Israel's Netanyahu, and it even freely and openly conducts a program of extrajudicial killing on an industrial scale.
My God, there's just no pretence anymore. America is about killing and bullying the planet, and America's own citizens remain pretty well completely indifferent.
The basic structure and dynamics of a situation like this are extremely threatening for the entire world. America today much resembles the 1930s jack-booted states of Europe marching around to threaten everyone. The only difference now is that jack-boots have gone out of style.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: WHY TRUMP DOES NOT CONTROL THE AMERICAN MILITARY - THE CIA'S ROLE - KENNEDY'S ASSASSINATION - DRUG-DEALING AND OTHER OFF-THE-BOOKS MONEY-MAKERS FOR CIA SUPPORTING PROGRAMS NO POLITICIAN EVEN KNOWS ABOUT - A VERY THREATENING NATION
John Chuckman
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PAUL KINDLON IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Why Trump Cannot Control the American Military
“Trump's admirable talk about pulling out of global conflicts is meaningless"
"Perhaps this is the reason JFK was assassinated – a man who was on the verge of dismantling the CIA and pulling out U.S troops from Vietnam."
I don't think there is any "maybe" about it, although I believe the issue of Cuba and the CIA’s years-long terror campaign there, was more central to the assassination than the matters the writer mentions. So, too, were Kennedy’s various arrangements and agreements (as “backchannel” communications) with the USSR concerning Cuba and the general state of the Cold War.
See:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/john-chuckman-comment-the-first-genuine-information-in-the-kennedy-assassination-records-release-to-give-us-some-genuine-information-about-what-happened/
On the wider topic of military and security services control of government, there also is little doubt.
Indeed, if people just think about it, they will realize that it would be virtually impossible to run a massive global empire on the basis of elected officials whose views might be different every 4 to 8 years.
It's something not many Americans have given much thought to - see:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/10/02/john-chuckman-comment-why-modern-presidents-cannot-set-american-foreign-policy-even-if-they-want-to-do-so-founding-of-american-empire-after-ww-ii-the-needs-all-empires-share-whether-american-or-s/
All of which, in addition to the ugly reality we see of new hyper-aggressive efforts by Washington to extend its authority, demonstrates just why America is in fact the most dangerous nation on earth today.
_________________
Response to a comment about the US not being very good at winning wars:
No, they aren’t, but if you notice, when they do win, as at the close of WWII, it is by being absolutely ruthless and using terrible weapons. That, they can do.
They considered the same weapons against the USSR (something Kennedy was sickened by after a briefing by the Joint Chiefs) and against China and North Vietnam.
___________________
Response to a comment about the CIA being the world’s biggest drug dealer:
Oh, that's been clear for a while.
The CIA does whatever it takes to make plenty of money, off-the-books, needed to run operations no politician even knows anything about
Gun-running has been a big one for them, too.
I suspect counterfeiting, too, sometimes.
Remember, a few years back, when perfect one-hundred-dollar counterfeits were showing up for quite a while? There were a number of newspaper stories about it.
The story was "put out there" that it was North Korea, but I doubt North Korea ever had the technology to do that.
The CIA very much does, excellent quality counterfeiting having been used against countries they don't like to degrade their currency.
COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE BY PAUL KINDLON IN RUSSIA INSIDER
“Why Trump Cannot Control the American Military
“Trump's admirable talk about pulling out of global conflicts is meaningless"
"Perhaps this is the reason JFK was assassinated – a man who was on the verge of dismantling the CIA and pulling out U.S troops from Vietnam."
I don't think there is any "maybe" about it, although I believe the issue of Cuba and the CIA’s years-long terror campaign there, was more central to the assassination than the matters the writer mentions. So, too, were Kennedy’s various arrangements and agreements (as “backchannel” communications) with the USSR concerning Cuba and the general state of the Cold War.
See:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/john-chuckman-comment-the-first-genuine-information-in-the-kennedy-assassination-records-release-to-give-us-some-genuine-information-about-what-happened/
On the wider topic of military and security services control of government, there also is little doubt.
Indeed, if people just think about it, they will realize that it would be virtually impossible to run a massive global empire on the basis of elected officials whose views might be different every 4 to 8 years.
It's something not many Americans have given much thought to - see:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/10/02/john-chuckman-comment-why-modern-presidents-cannot-set-american-foreign-policy-even-if-they-want-to-do-so-founding-of-american-empire-after-ww-ii-the-needs-all-empires-share-whether-american-or-s/
All of which, in addition to the ugly reality we see of new hyper-aggressive efforts by Washington to extend its authority, demonstrates just why America is in fact the most dangerous nation on earth today.
_________________
Response to a comment about the US not being very good at winning wars:
No, they aren’t, but if you notice, when they do win, as at the close of WWII, it is by being absolutely ruthless and using terrible weapons. That, they can do.
They considered the same weapons against the USSR (something Kennedy was sickened by after a briefing by the Joint Chiefs) and against China and North Vietnam.
___________________
Response to a comment about the CIA being the world’s biggest drug dealer:
Oh, that's been clear for a while.
The CIA does whatever it takes to make plenty of money, off-the-books, needed to run operations no politician even knows anything about
Gun-running has been a big one for them, too.
I suspect counterfeiting, too, sometimes.
Remember, a few years back, when perfect one-hundred-dollar counterfeits were showing up for quite a while? There were a number of newspaper stories about it.
The story was "put out there" that it was North Korea, but I doubt North Korea ever had the technology to do that.
The CIA very much does, excellent quality counterfeiting having been used against countries they don't like to degrade their currency.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: TURKEY'S ERDOGAN SPEAKS OF THE KHASHOGGI MURDER WITH LESS THAN THE FULL DISCLOSURE HE PROMISED - LACK OF WESTERN RESPONSE TO A PUBLICLY-CONDUCTED ATROCITY - AMERICA'S PIVOTAL ROLE IN THE RESPONSE
John Chuckman
EXPANSION OF COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Saudis plotted journalist's 'savage murder' for days, Turkish president says
“Suspects should be tried in Turkey, Erdogan says, after 18 arrested in Saudi Arabia”
__________________________
Response to a comment:
Because those countries you listed, except for Germany, are not "calling out” Saudi Arabia, any more than their ally the US.
Only Ms. Merkel has taken a somewhat serious step in halting arms deals.
The West's reactions here have been pathetic, and even distasteful, but then that has long been the case for the "butcher of Yemen" and the man who has pay-rolled many of the terrorists operating in Syria. And I never heard anyone speak of his atrocities inside Saudi Arabia against its minority Shia.
Our Foreign Minister's one frail little effort at something, over the arrest of one woman, touched on none of these horrors. It itself was, to my mind, pathetic. She earned no “creds,” creating a big international disruption over the very smallest of any of Saudi Arabia’s many crimes. One could seriously question her judgment, quite apart from the ethics of silence in the face of true horror.
When Theresa May put on her big hate-Russia show months ago, the Skripal Affair, everyone immediately jumped on the bandwagon, including Canada, with expelling diplomats and piling up more American sanctions, even though to this day we do not know what happened to Skripal. He's alive, but no one can even talk to him., many months after the event, whatever its actual nature.
Here, we have an almost an open-and-shut case of the most gruesome political murder at the top, and no one, except Ms. Merkel in Germany, has done a thing, except utter platitudes.
The key difference in the reactions to the two events is simply that, in the one, a man America treats as an enemy (and with no justification, other than he has proved an inconvenience to some of their dirty work abroad) was accused and, in the other case, a man America regards as a useful associate in some of that same dirty work abroad, is accused. America much values the Killer Crown Prince.
That's some idea of justice, isn't it? And values? But that's our current American imperial world. Power corrupts… and, my God, is America corrupt.
___________________
Response to another comment on Erdogan’s own dark record:
Erdogan is no hero, as all informed people know, but remember that in our courts of law, many important convictions take place only because a criminal is given immunity in exchange for his testimony.
Also, this is not the Crown Prince's only crime, only the most public in details.
Almost no one speaks of his butchery in Yemen and in Syria because that involves activities the United States values.
________________________
Response to another comment about how Erdogan’s statement failed to fulfill his pledge to reveal all Turkey knows about the killing:
Erdogan got some late urgent phone calls, I'm sure, and I guarantee they were not in favor of revelation.
We are dealing with very dark forces here, and I'm not referring to Turkey or Saudi Arabia, but a power much closer to home.
EXPANSION OF COMMENTS POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON CBC NEWS
“Saudis plotted journalist's 'savage murder' for days, Turkish president says
“Suspects should be tried in Turkey, Erdogan says, after 18 arrested in Saudi Arabia”
__________________________
Response to a comment:
Because those countries you listed, except for Germany, are not "calling out” Saudi Arabia, any more than their ally the US.
Only Ms. Merkel has taken a somewhat serious step in halting arms deals.
The West's reactions here have been pathetic, and even distasteful, but then that has long been the case for the "butcher of Yemen" and the man who has pay-rolled many of the terrorists operating in Syria. And I never heard anyone speak of his atrocities inside Saudi Arabia against its minority Shia.
Our Foreign Minister's one frail little effort at something, over the arrest of one woman, touched on none of these horrors. It itself was, to my mind, pathetic. She earned no “creds,” creating a big international disruption over the very smallest of any of Saudi Arabia’s many crimes. One could seriously question her judgment, quite apart from the ethics of silence in the face of true horror.
When Theresa May put on her big hate-Russia show months ago, the Skripal Affair, everyone immediately jumped on the bandwagon, including Canada, with expelling diplomats and piling up more American sanctions, even though to this day we do not know what happened to Skripal. He's alive, but no one can even talk to him., many months after the event, whatever its actual nature.
Here, we have an almost an open-and-shut case of the most gruesome political murder at the top, and no one, except Ms. Merkel in Germany, has done a thing, except utter platitudes.
The key difference in the reactions to the two events is simply that, in the one, a man America treats as an enemy (and with no justification, other than he has proved an inconvenience to some of their dirty work abroad) was accused and, in the other case, a man America regards as a useful associate in some of that same dirty work abroad, is accused. America much values the Killer Crown Prince.
That's some idea of justice, isn't it? And values? But that's our current American imperial world. Power corrupts… and, my God, is America corrupt.
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Response to another comment on Erdogan’s own dark record:
Erdogan is no hero, as all informed people know, but remember that in our courts of law, many important convictions take place only because a criminal is given immunity in exchange for his testimony.
Also, this is not the Crown Prince's only crime, only the most public in details.
Almost no one speaks of his butchery in Yemen and in Syria because that involves activities the United States values.
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Response to another comment about how Erdogan’s statement failed to fulfill his pledge to reveal all Turkey knows about the killing:
Erdogan got some late urgent phone calls, I'm sure, and I guarantee they were not in favor of revelation.
We are dealing with very dark forces here, and I'm not referring to Turkey or Saudi Arabia, but a power much closer to home.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: THE THINGS NIKKI HALEY AND DONALD TRUMP SAY SHOW VIVIDLY HOW DEGRADED AMERICAN POLITICS HAVE BECOME - NO ETHICS OR DECENCY - I SUSPECT IT HAS SOMETHING TO WITH A NATION BUSY IN THE BUSINESS OF KILLING PEOPLE ALL THE TIME
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN INVESTMENTWATCH
“BOOM! After Elizabeth Warren Fails DNA Test Nikki Haley BRUTALLY ROASTS Her In Front Of Hundreds”
Why should this matter be of any concern to Nikki Haley? And why should Haley’s ugly behavior be celebrated here or anywhere?
Elizabeth Warren is rather a silly woman, an eccentric, and a bit pitiful with her stuff about descent from Native Americans, but since when do such topics become the focus of national politics? Since when is it even acceptable to make fun of someone like that?
People like Haley and Trump only prove how utterly degraded American politics have become. No civility. No decency. No ethics. Talk about “a swamp,” this is it.
Their words and behavior resemble those of some ugly bullies standing on a street corner insulting and attacking people with deformities or mental problems who happen to pass by.
Is that the required mindset now for a country busy killing people abroad, day-in and day-out?
I think there's actually something to that thought.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE IN INVESTMENTWATCH
“BOOM! After Elizabeth Warren Fails DNA Test Nikki Haley BRUTALLY ROASTS Her In Front Of Hundreds”
Why should this matter be of any concern to Nikki Haley? And why should Haley’s ugly behavior be celebrated here or anywhere?
Elizabeth Warren is rather a silly woman, an eccentric, and a bit pitiful with her stuff about descent from Native Americans, but since when do such topics become the focus of national politics? Since when is it even acceptable to make fun of someone like that?
People like Haley and Trump only prove how utterly degraded American politics have become. No civility. No decency. No ethics. Talk about “a swamp,” this is it.
Their words and behavior resemble those of some ugly bullies standing on a street corner insulting and attacking people with deformities or mental problems who happen to pass by.
Is that the required mindset now for a country busy killing people abroad, day-in and day-out?
I think there's actually something to that thought.
JOHN CHUCKMAN COMMENT: HUMAN SEXUAL IDENTITY AND ALL THE IGNORANCE WE HAVE ABOUT IT - AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ABOUT TRANSGENDER IDENTICAL TWINS
John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON STATIONGOSSIP
“Identical twins, 23, who were born female are now brothers after BOTH coming out as transgender - and they're going through the transition process together (14 Pics)”
http://www.stationgossip.com/2018/10/identical-twins-23-who-were-born-female.html
This article is interesting in that it points out some of the immense complexity, not all of it even understood, involved in human sexual identity.
The Internet is used by many ignorant and cruel people to make fun of transgender people or, indeed, anyone who is different in any way.
But the reality is that transgender people are a normal result of genetics and how brains work, matters that we do not at all thoroughly understand.
There is a proportion of transgender people occurring in every human population, just as is the case for gays or still other sexual identities.
I can't help thinking what a terrible ordeal these young men have put themselves through, but they simply cannot help it. This is what they must do.
We do know that human sexual identity involves far more than the particular set of organs with which you are born, but that simplistic view remains fairly common.
There are portions of the brain involved and perhaps other organs.
Just think about the immense range of feelings and attitudes around what people find attractive and unattractive, just in the heterosexual population. “A leg man,” “a breast man,” fetishes over things like feet, etc. The variety is almost endless with many subtle variations.
Think about the immense range of behaviors we observe, from asexuality, a very real phenomenon, to those who are sex addicts.
None of the differences seem to involve sexual organs. They all involve the mind and how it is wired or how some aspect of its chemistry works.
We have so very much yet to learn, just about ourselves.
COMMENT POSTED TO AN ARTICLE ON STATIONGOSSIP
“Identical twins, 23, who were born female are now brothers after BOTH coming out as transgender - and they're going through the transition process together (14 Pics)”
http://www.stationgossip.com/2018/10/identical-twins-23-who-were-born-female.html
This article is interesting in that it points out some of the immense complexity, not all of it even understood, involved in human sexual identity.
The Internet is used by many ignorant and cruel people to make fun of transgender people or, indeed, anyone who is different in any way.
But the reality is that transgender people are a normal result of genetics and how brains work, matters that we do not at all thoroughly understand.
There is a proportion of transgender people occurring in every human population, just as is the case for gays or still other sexual identities.
I can't help thinking what a terrible ordeal these young men have put themselves through, but they simply cannot help it. This is what they must do.
We do know that human sexual identity involves far more than the particular set of organs with which you are born, but that simplistic view remains fairly common.
There are portions of the brain involved and perhaps other organs.
Just think about the immense range of feelings and attitudes around what people find attractive and unattractive, just in the heterosexual population. “A leg man,” “a breast man,” fetishes over things like feet, etc. The variety is almost endless with many subtle variations.
Think about the immense range of behaviors we observe, from asexuality, a very real phenomenon, to those who are sex addicts.
None of the differences seem to involve sexual organs. They all involve the mind and how it is wired or how some aspect of its chemistry works.
We have so very much yet to learn, just about ourselves.
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