[Asia Times] The funeral service for the late senator John McCain, which was held at Washington’s National Cathedral on September 1, was notable not so much because of the 2,500 mourners in attendance but because of the conspicuous absence of US President Donald Trump.
The mourners paying their respects to the veteran conservative politician, who died on August 25 aged 81, included former US presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama, as well as Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos, comedian Jay Leno, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, and former vice-presidents Dick Cheney and Al Gore. While the latter two were possibly as far apart politically as can be and ultimately represented the opposite bookends of the American political arena, they were still part of a political continuum that included the whole spectrum of the American power Establishment.
That Trump was absent from this assembly was not a passing trivial occurrence. Those that had assembled to pay their last respects to one of their own was the American political Establishment. Trump’s absence was simply a brazen reminder that he was not one of them.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Why the "establishment" lost credibility was that
#1 it decided it was above the law (see Hillary email treatment and Sandy burglar)
and
#2 decided it was entitled to rent-seek upon americans for things that were not in americas interests
and
#3 Americans could take a bit of rent-seeking if the establishment were at least a paragon of patriotism, but the current lot are oikophobic.
#2
That he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by a margin of 2 million should have ensured that a person of his ilk would never be elected president.
The writer's assumption here is that all of those votes were cast by legally registered voters who are citizens of the United States. There are those of us who have some doubt about that.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/25/2018 11:49 Comments ||
Top||
The attempted political assassination of Brett Kavanaugh is bad for the country, but good for a Trumpian attitude toward American politics.
The last-minute ambush validates key assumptions of Trump’s supporters that fueled his rise and buttress him in office, no matter how rocky the ride has been or will become. At least three key premises have been underlined by tawdry events of the last couple of weeks.
First, that good character is no defense.
...Second, that the media is an unremitting political and cultural adversary.
...Third, that politics isn’t just rough-and-tumble; it’s red in tooth and claw
...Senate Democrats may delicately talk about the importance of norms and civility on Sunday shows, but watch how they act.
...If Trump’s attacks against the media are over-the-top and sometimes disgraceful, at least he understands the score.
He may not be a constitutionalist, but he will be faithful to his own side, and fiercely battle it out with his political opponents.
#2
False claims of sexual harassment / assault = sexual harassment / assault. Let's get Feinstein, Schumer, Chrissy Ford, Avenatti, Stormy, Soros et al registered as sexual predators.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
09/25/2018 11:25 Comments ||
Top||
h/t Instapundit
My fellow Americans: I feel like I need to say this.
A lot of you are angry. You're concerned about what's going on right now, and you're worried about the future. You're disgusted by the actions of your political opponents, and you feel hope and anticipation whenever there's the slightest possibility that their goals will be thwarted. You're filled with dread when they're winning, and you're lifted into paroxysms of joyous schadenfreude when they fail.
Good news: Those feelings are all you need! If there was ever a time in American history when it was worthwhile to pay attention to facts and evidence, those days are over. Thanks to the cutting-edge technology of the early 21st century, choosing to go with your gut has never been easier or more effective. Name the outrage, and you're just a click away from the corresponding mob.
[Wash Times] Radio host Rush Limbaugh has a stark message for the Republican Party’s leadership: "You can kiss goodbye holding the House and you can kiss goodbye holding the Senate" if Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination is derailed by vague accusations of teenage sexual misconduct.
The conservative host told millions of listeners on Monday that Republicans will pay a steep electoral price if they allow unsubstantiated claims dating back 35 years to sink President Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Chairman Grassley has a job to do here because if he gives Democrats enough time they’ll produce a woman claiming to be Kavanaugh’s secret Russian wife who Trump paid to urinate on that bed in Moscow," Mr. Limbaugh joked. "If Grassley waits long enough, the Democrats will come up with the woman claiming to be Kavanaugh’s secret Russian wife ‐ he’s a bigamist, too, don’t you know ‐ and Trump paid Kavanaugh’s second wife to hire a bunch of prostitutes to urinate on the bed Obama slept in while in Moscow."
California professor Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations threw the Senate Judiciary Committee’s nomination process into chaos just prior to lawmakers’ first scheduled vote.
#1
Chairman Grassley has a job to do here because if he gives Democrats enough time they’ll produce a woman claiming to be Kavanaugh’s secret Russian wife who Trump paid to urinate on that bed in Moscow," Mr. Limbaugh joked
Joke? I'm sure they're preparing the woman in question right now.
#3
Skid, I believe if the Dems take the Senate (and probably even if they don't) Garland is the only possible Justice who could be approved by the Senate during this Trump administration.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Who murdered and injured dozens at the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s military parade a few days ago in the Ahwaz region in Iran: The Arab region that has revolted against Tehran’s oppressive authorities for years?
The attack – as it is known – was shocking as it was captured live on television. It killed 29 people and injured many others.
The enemies of the ruling Khomeini regime are many on both the domestic and foreign levels.
There is the Mojahedin-e Khalq organization, the largest real Iranian opposition network. There is also of course the Arab-Ahwazi opposition in all it colors, those who adopt the military option and those who reject it and those who want complete independence and those who reject it, while settling fora formula that guarantees the Ahwazis’ identity and interests.
The Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz is one of the Ahwazi operating factions that adopted the operation, just like the mysterious ISIS. Of course, there is the opposition inside Iran from within the Republic’s tent, the sons of the Green Movement and last but not least, there are the Kurds. We here note the recent shelling of the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s headquarters in Iraq by Iranian missiles.
WHY IS ISIS’S RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ATTACK DOUBTED?
Because the Iranian regime’s accusation of it is flawed with the suspicion of political exploitation of the Ahwaz attack, especially as Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was quick to hint that Saudi Arabia and other regional countries, as he described them, and of course the US stand behind the attack through ISIS.
And as they said: “The Ahvazi struggle movement” or perhaps the Kurds. What’s important is that they are “agents” of Riyadh or Washington or Abu Dhabi. This is the Iranian regime’s narrative especially towards Riyadh as the daily newspaper Kayhan’s headline, and its editor-in-chief Hossein Shariatmadari, who is Supreme Leader Khamenei’s consultant, vowed retaliate in Riyadh!
Of course, accusing Riyadh is nonsense, and so is accusing Abu Dhabi. They’ve never done this before, neither with Tehran nor with a country other than Iran, and they will not do it now and will not do it in the future. This terrorist militant behavior is the nature of the Iranian regime and its affiliates. May God have mercy on the soul of Rafiq Hariri as now the whole world knows who killed him and his comrades on that sad Lebanese day!
Tehran’s regime is cornered due to American pressure, and President Trump promised to do more. He will dedicate a part of his UN speech to talk about the Iranian regime.
Trump’s friend and attorney, New York’s former mayor Rudy Giuliani said during a meeting a few days ago that American sanctions on Iran will lead to a “successful revolution.”
Did the demons of the Revolutionary Guard in the dark secret world plan this operation?
We cannot go in this direction, although the Revolutionary Guard experts have previously sacrificed Shiites in terror operations in Iraq to make bigger political gains. The real threat on the Iranian regime is the collapse of the economy and the people’s anger at the regime, including the oppressed Ahwazis.
The real enemy of Tehran’s rulers is their evil policies, and not any other party.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/25/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
gee, you use terrorism as a tool of state and you're offended that somebody turns it on you. It's a sword with two blades and no handle.
[NationalInterest] Syrian government forces and their allies stand ready to roll into the province of Idlib and extinguish the last major rebel stronghold in the country. Russian air attacks pummeled Idlib in early September. Today’s announcement of a Russo-Turkish agreement for a buffer zone in Idlib appears to have postponed a full-scale attack on the province, but it is likely to be only a temporary reprieve . The Syrian civil war is in its endgame.
Yet at this late hour, holding few cards, the United States has doubled down on its Syrian intervention. Why?
America’s Syria policy is now in dire straits. On September 3 President Trump made a typical Twitter threat, warning Bashar al-Assad not to "recklessly attack Idlib Province." This bluster was paired with a far more serious announcement. The administration’s newly-appointed "representative for Syria engagement," retired diplomat James Jeffrey, told reporters that the United States had redefined its Syria goals to include the withdrawal of all Iranians and Iranian proxy forces from Syria and the "establishment of a stable, non-threatening government acceptable to all Syrians and the international community." Jeffrey added: "That means we are not in a hurry ."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
09/25/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Yet at this late hour, holding few cards, the United States has doubled down on its Syrian intervention. Why?
Because the cold war is back and USA can't allow Russian-Iranian alliance a free hand in Syria.
#3
I've never understood why we tolerate these dolts. We could remove him anytime we wanted. Sure there would be lots of pretty explosions because we still refuse to put up microwave beam weapons, but we could do it.
#4
Globalists are the only ones trying to bring back the Cold War. Remember Obama's reset button? All those times he accommodated Russia?
The Islamists are on OUR side. We're supporting them against Syria's government.
A free hand in Syria? What's so important there? Why are we spending massive amounts of our money that could be better spent on our own people? Why is it so important that we need to ally with head-chopping Islamists? What's the prize at the end?
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
09/25/2018 8:01 Comments ||
Top||
#5
What's the prize at the end?
Syria, and democratizing Iraq, buffer Turkey's move thru oil regions and Israel/Jordan into Saudi Arabia.
#6
The US would like to see Syria's Al-Hasakah Governorate (Kurdish: Parêzgeha Hesîçe,) incorporated into Iraqi Kurdistan. Hasakah, "located in the far north-east corner of Syria and distinguished by its fertile lands, plentiful water, picturesque nature... Prior to the Syrian Civil War nearly half of Syria's oil was extracted from the region." After Israel, it would provide the US a second ally in the Levant.
#8
Re: #6 & #7 -- Exactly! A Free and prosperous Kurdistan would be nice , but hardly practical unless we can build a Coalition and conquer all of the neighboring countries. ...So after we nuke Assad then what? Do we go in and do the full Nuremberg Trial circus with all of his supporters? If we don't then why kill Assad?
Sometimes a problem is like a forest fire in the wilderness -- just standing back and letting it 'burn itself out' is the only pragmatic (if ruthless) response.
George Orwell’s 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is no longer fiction. We are living it right now.
Google techies planned to massage Internet searches to emphasize correct thinking. A member of the so-called deep state, in an anonymous op-ed, brags that its "resistance" is undermining an elected president. The FBI, CIA, DOJ, and NSC were all weaponized in 2016 to ensure that the proper president would be elected ‐ the choice adjudicated by properly progressive ideology. Wearing a wire is now redefined as simply flipping on an iPhone and recording your boss, boy- or girlfriend, or co-workers.
But never has the reality that we are living in a surreal age been clearer than during the strange cycles of Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
#1
According to some polls, about half the country believes that Brett Kavanaugh is now guilty of a crime committed 36 years ago at the age of 17.
That'd be the half of the country who voted for Hilly and knew as sure as Hilly really won that any of Trump's appointees must be guilty of some heinous crime, yet to be discovered. And their media cheerleaders.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/25/2018 18:28 Comments ||
Top||
I’m very afraid this is another of those posts that will get me accused of being a "gender traitor."
That’s just fine. If you think a gender ‐ the fact that you were born with one piece of physical equipment ‐ demands your loyalty and forces your opinions to be the same as those people with the same piece of equipment, call me a traitor. Guilty as charged.
...It always ends up that way. Humans are individuals, not groups. When you empower the groups, you empower the worst in any group. The power-thirsty, the aggrieved, those who want to manipulate group-outrage for their own purposes.
It is the same with women. It’s lots of fun to read the more sentimental writers of centuries past (and the not so sentimental and totally un-ironic feminists of the last century) go on until your eyes bleed about women being kinder, gentler, softer, nicer.
Poppycock. Poppycock with powdered speciousness. Yes, women presented that way. This was the result of centuries where women had the subservient position.
The first one of you to open her mouth about how this is the injustice feminism needed to correct is going to go to the corner with the dunce cap, so help me bog.
...Marija Gymbutas was ‐ yes, I’m crossing Godwin, and I have a reason ‐ as much of a fabulist as Hitler, and about as good a scientist. She didn’t have armies at her disposal, but those who believe in her might in the end bring down civilization as effectively as the Nazis would have done, so I do not apologize for using the analogy. (If you don’t think convincing women that all men are their enemies, handicapping boys in school, running men out of the teaching profession, and generally making men guilty-until-proven-innocent is a civilization-killing meme, you need to go out and meet some real men and some real women.)
...We are now, if we want to be, equals.
The problem is that most of us don’t want to be equals.
...women have been sold on males-as-the-boogeyman and therefore they see evil intention and coordination and conspiracy behind males’ being people. Meet one abusive male, and you’ll go through life convinced that all men are like that. Does anyone do the same when meeting an abusive woman? I don’t know about you, but I’ve had bosses from hell in both genders. So, why is only one accused of being "oppressive"?
Because it’s the myth. And it’s a myth the power-hungry people who took charge of the feminist movement (one that initially only wanted equality under the law) are happy to perpetuate. It’s a myth every college, every entertainment gatekeeper cherishes.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
By Evan Ellis
