[American Spectator] As his plot to destroy Trump backfires, his squeals grow louder.
It was the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky who coined the phrase the "dustbin of history." To his political opponents, he sputtered, "You are pitiful, isolated individuals! You are bankrupts. Your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on ‐ into the dustbin of history!"
It is no coincidence that John Brennan, who supported the Soviet-controlled American Communist Party in the 1970s (he has acknowledged that he thought his vote for its presidential candidate Gus Hall threatened his prospects at the CIA; unfortunately, it didn’t), would borrow from Trotsky’s rhetoric in his fulminations against Donald Trump. His tweet last week, shortly after the firing of Andrew McCabe, reeked of Trotskyite revolutionary schlock: "When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America... America will triumph over you."
America will triumph over a president it elected? That’s the raw language of coup, and of course it is not the first time Brennan has indulged it. In 2017, he was calling for members of the executive branch to defy the chief executive. They should "refuse to carry out" his lawful directives if they don’t agree with them, he said.
Trump has said that the Russians are "laughing their asses off" over the turmoil caused by Obamagate. No doubt many of the laughs come at the sight of Brennan, a supporter of Soviet stooges like Gus Hall, conducting a de facto coup from the top of the CIA and then continuing it after his ouster. Who needs Gus Hall when John Brennan is around? This time the Russians don’t even have to pay for the anti-American activity.
Another hardcore leftist, Samantha Power, who spent the weeks after Trump’s victory rifling through intelligence picked up on his staff, found Brennan’s revolutionary tweet very inspiring. "Not a good idea to piss off John Brennan," she wrote. Sounded pretty dark and grave. But not to worry, she tweeted later. She just meant that the former CIA director was going to smite Trump with the power of his "eloquent voice."
Out of power, these aging radicals can’t help themselves. They had their shot to stop Trump, they failed, and now they are furious. The adolescent coup talk grows more feverish with each passing day. We have a former CIA director calling for the overthrow of a duly elected president, a former attorney general (Eric Holder) calling for a "knife fight," a Senate minority leader speaking ominously about what the intelligence community might do to Trump ("they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you," Schumer has said), and assorted former FBI and CIA officials cheering for a coup, such as CNN’s Phil Mudd who says, "You’ve been around for 13 months. We’ve been around since 1908. I know how this game is going to be played. We’re going to win."
#1
I suspect 'you can take this one to the bank.' The fellow who forwarded this article to me has nearly a half-century of experience within the community (USN, Federal Employee, annuitant contractor). The comments are also quite revealing as well.
#5
In this article about Obama - note Brennan was CIA station chief at Pakistan when the student Obama visited and the same time BCCI was in full swing. Posted by: 3dc
From an insightful link and article provided this morning by our own Procopius2k
[PJ] There are two ways to find one's bearings in the maze of allegations over Russian collusion in the West. The first is to evaluate each piece of breaking news with respect to the tangled skeins of conspiracy that both sides and hundreds of pundits tirelessly launch. The second approach is to understand Russia's objectives from first principles, and from them evaluate each piece of information in relation to the Kremlin's interests.
Unless there's some easy way to find Waldo it's easy to become a victim of disinformation. The quickest way to identify the character is to become familiar with his signature. The unfailing signature of a Putin stooge is he promotes the Kremlin's interests. What are those interests?
Common sense suggests Russia's three most immediate priorities are a) keeping its energy industry profitable; b) maintaining a military posture of intimidation in Europe; and c) keeping Assad in Syrian power and evicting the U.S., in cooperation with Iran, from the region. It will be readily apparent that achieving these goals will serve the interests of Putin. Conversely, their defeat or frustration is necessarily a setback for him. Find the man or men who back those goals and you've got Waldo.
It may be useful to examine the prospects of each of these Russian goals at the present time.
The future of Russian oil isn't very bright under current trends. As CNBC noted in March 2018: "[T]he United States will dominate the oil industry for the next 5 years, International Energy Agency forecasts." If this continues it will beggar Putin, or at least straiten his circumstances. He would certainly welcome a reduction in American oil production.
Current American military increases must dampen Russia's military prospects in the European theater. In the words of the Los Angeles Times in February 2018: "Trump Proposes Huge Increase in Military Spending." This can hardly be welcome to Putin:
The budget blueprint, combined with a defense boost that Congress approved last week, would increase Pentagon accounts for weapons, troops, training and for nuclear arms programs run by the Energy Department by more than $74 billion, a 10% increase over current spending levels. Trump's budget plan was released weeks after the Pentagon issued a national security strategy that called for a shift away from battling terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda and Islamic State, and retooling the military to deter and, if necessary, fight nuclear-armed adversaries such as Russia, China or North Korea.
Russia's position in Syria was recently threatened by national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who "called for further U.S. action against Russia as punishment for crimes in Syria, in a fiery address at an event marking the seventh year of the Syrian Civil War." Only a few days ago, UN ambassador Nikki Haley warned of action unless Russia, Syria and Iran honored a ceasefire in Syria. While some skepticism has been expressed over whether the U.S. can effectively checkmate Russia in Syria, the Washington Post reports the administration lobbying the Saudis in just such an endeavor.
But current policies are not a given. There may be political pressure from the Saudis to cut back on U.S. oil production. Developments in Syria may push the administration into withdrawing before Iran and Russia. Whatever the justification, if this ever happens at least there will be an objective yardstick against which to measure Trump's direction of movement, some frame of reference against which to base the suspicion of collusion or the opposite thereof. Given the tangle of theories swirling around the Russia probe, it may ultimately be simpler and more accurate to evaluate actions in the light of the following question: does the development empower Russia's strategic goals? Or does it hinder them?
#1
Why on Earth are we in Syria? What possible national interest is served there? You know our "allies" in Syria are groups like al-Nusra, who are Islamist headchoppers, right? Because they are.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
03/21/2018 10:42 Comments ||
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#2
Why on Earth are we in Syria? What possible national interest is served there? You know our "allies" in Syria are groups like al-Nusra, who are Islamist headchoppers, right? Because they are.
No good reason and the answer to your second question is "correct." But Ralph Peters, John McCain, Bill Kristol, the Notional Review, Langley, Foggy Bottom and InjunBucket will call you a moron for thinking like that.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 11:11 Comments ||
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#7
Unfortunately the United States has a long history of abandoning allies or friends when the going gets tough. From the shores of Tripoli c1804 to Vietnam to Libya and Mubarak recently, these actions have damaged us and made others lose faith in us. To abandon the Kurds we have supported in Iraq and Syria or to abandon the government of Afghanistan would be disasters comparable to Obama's ceding our influence in Syria to Russia. It would encourage Iran and North Korea to wait for us to let them have their way. My impression, based on very incomplete information is that the CIA was not very useful in Syria, that is not the issue. The significance of an action has little to do with its direct intent and very much to do with what impression it makes on other actors on the world scene.
It is true that Carter's incompetent foreign policy got Sadat to seek direct peace with Israel, but that is insufficient reason to promote incompetence in such matters.
Posted by: Daniel ||
03/21/2018 18:02 Comments ||
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#8
Ref #7: I recall the difficulties gaining 'Zonie' (US Citizen) support in 1989, in the lead up to Operation Just Cause. They wanted to help, but were fearful of the consequences if dictator Manuel Noriega was not effectively removed. "Look what happened in Vietnam" was a frequent retort.
[The Hill] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Trump on Tuesday over news that Trump phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his recent electoral win.
Putin won reelection in a landslide on Sunday ‐ but both election observers and Putin's political opponents have charged that the vote was tainted by widespread fraud.
In a statement, McCain called Trump's phone call to Putin an insult to "every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election to determine their country's future."
"An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections," McCain said.
"And by doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election to determine their country's future, including the countless Russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist Putin's regime."
Trump called Putin on Tuesday to offer his congratulations on the Russian president’s victory, saying the two world leaders could meet again soon.
#5
The founders probably had high hopes that the Senate would be so good it would smooth over the failings of the other branches. They'd be deservedly chagrinned today...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 11:06 Comments ||
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#6
Keating 5.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/21/2018 12:14 Comments ||
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#7
Keating 5
And the Arizona electorate did nothing. Dumbass cowboys...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:35 Comments ||
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But, yes, McCain is an asshole who would have us pay no attention to Xi Jinping setting himself up as president for life in China. Putin is not our friend but I don't worry much about him because I don't believe he has the wherewithal to cause many problems for us. Xi Jinping does.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/21/2018 12:40 Comments ||
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#9
China owns the Republican establishment through McConnells family. Just like McCain and Manafort assisted the Russians in 2006 in making Montenegro a colony of Moscow. But then McCain stabbed Manafort in the back by working with the Dims on the fake Trump/Russian dossier.
[WSJ via Mannhattan Institute] And racial preferences set up bright students‐who otherwise would be excelling at less-selective schools‐to fail at elite colleges.
Amy Wax, a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, was recently barred from teaching certain courses there. Her crime? During an interview in September with Glenn Loury, a black economist at Brown University, Ms. Wax remarked on the academic underperformance of black students at Penn Law.
"Here’s a very inconvenient fact, Glenn: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a black student graduate in the top quarter of the class, and rarely, rarely, in the top half," said Ms. Wax. "I can think of one or two students who scored in the top half of my required first-year course."
In his announcement amending her teaching responsibilities, Penn Law School Dean Theodore Ruger accused Ms. Wax of speaking "disparagingly and inaccurately" about the performance of the school’s black students, whom he characterized as "extremely successful." Like Ms. Wax, Mr. Ruger didn’t offer any empirical data to back up his claim; school administrators are known to guard such information as closely as the president guards his tax returns. But it’s an open secret that highly selective schools like Penn lower their standards significantly for black applicants to achieve a predetermined amount of racial diversity on campus. Harvard is currently being sued over this practice, and the plaintiffs have complained that getting demographic data on admissions from the school is like pulling teeth.
Moreover, the evidence is overwhelming that students (of any color) who do not meet the normal standards applied to other students at a school tend to have lower grades and graduation rates. That’s not because they are less intelligent or less capable, but because they have not been prepared for the pace and rigor of an Ivy League institution. Affirmative-action policies in higher education regularly set up bright students‐students who otherwise would be excelling at less-selective schools‐to fail at elite colleges, and the proponents of these policies become indignant when you point out the obvious.
#1
Social Justice Warriors and Virtue Signaling narcissists just know that wishing and saying something just has to make it so! But as Tucker Carlson said last night, a bag of hair isn’t a pony.
#2
Sheila Jackson Lee was born Sheila Jackson in Queens, New York. Her parents were immigrants from Jamaica.[1] She graduated from Jamaica High School in Queens. She earned a B.A. in political science from Yale University in 1972, followed by a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1975.[2] She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[3]
Yet, she's a certifiable AA racialist moron
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/21/2018 10:36 Comments ||
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#3
If they can just hang on.... liberal companies will hire them despite the grades and they'll have it made.
What most people don't realize is that "affirmative action" doesn't just hurts these it discriminates against. It's also promotes the worst members of its putative beneficiary group.
[Guardian] As scientific discoveries go, the male contraceptive pill has long been considered the unicorn of reproductive healthcare – much touted, but frustratingly elusive (in part, hindered by big pharma’s lack of desire to fund research). But on Sunday, Washington University scientists at the annual Endocrine conference hailed early trials which showed that a once-daily tablet that lowers sperm production seemed safe and effective in preventing pregnancy. The trouble is, in the time it’s taken to develop a male hormonal pill, attitudes to contraception, particularly among thirtysomethings, have moved on, with swathes of women abandoning the pill and hormonal coil for condoms or contraceptive apps. The future of reproductive health is part digital, part hi-tech latex, but not hormonal. Suddenly this much-longed-for solution may already be obsolete.
The history of the contraceptive pill is fraught – fraught with a thousand examples of women who took charge of their reproductive destiny at the cost of their physical and mental wellbeing. As Julie Burchill once put it: “The freedom that women were supposed to have found in the 1960s largely boiled down to easy contraception and abortion; things to make life easier for men, in fact.” Despite the touted liberties of the female pill, many feminists fantasised about the male equivalent as a matter of biological and social justice. Yes, eunuchs make excellent servants or slaves. Tongue removal might also be an available option.
But given the many miserable side-effects for women of hormonal contraception – everything from lack of concentration to severe depression – the appetite for a male drug is weak. Even the Male Contraceptive Initiative estimates it at under 50%. Even though the Washington scientists conducting the trial of 100 men aged 18-50 say that dimethandrolone undecanoate – the drug’s chemical name – had no pernicious side-effects, long-term trials are now needed to gauge the effects for a far larger sample of the male population. And the finished product is still a long way from market. Even when the long-term trials are complete, female contraceptive scientists such as Herjan Coelingh Bennink believe that big pharma is currently run by too many resistant middle-aged men, who will take some persuading to manufacture and sell it. Societal side-effects such as 'western' population decline obviously not mentioned.
It may be high time that men stepped up to the plate when it came to taking more contraceptive responsibility, but in the meantime women have already come up with a better solution for themselves. Case in point – Elina Berglund, a former Cern physicist who gave up her work on the Large Hadron Collider to create the Natural Cycles app, which prevents or helps plan a pregnancy by having the user take their basal temperature each day and input the number into the app, which then predicts ovulation and fertile v infertile days. "Natural Cycles" in reproduction...... new technology ?
It’s already a well-adopted solution: cheaper, safer and more informative than any of its hormonal counterparts – and while it again puts the onus on women rather than men, it seems to be an onus that many women, particularly digital natives, are prepared to bear. In the words of another male pill researcher, Richard Anderson of Edinburgh University, many men still have a “lazy attitude towards responsibility for contraception”. Yes of course, men are both stupid and lazy.
Or research into body-safe biohacking that could provide a non-hormonal solution, such as the Michigan State University research into temporarily turning off the gene that controls sperm production? Genetic blocking and mutation? What could possibly go wrong there ?
Younger millennial and Generation Z men are far more health conscious than their 1960s liberal grandparents ever were ‐ with both drinking and drug-taking on the down, and fitness and veganism on the up. As younger generations express a desire to take better and better care of their bodies, the male pill may be just too hard to swallow. Non-hormonal, non-pharma solution, such as abstinence? How intriguing.
Try riding a bike 40 miles every other day on a vegan diet - it doesn't work because you can't eat enough proteins & calories to recover after a physical effort like that. Anyone remember this pro cycling team? I laughed about it then and I'm laughing about it now.
[Hot Air] In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration. When prime-time hosts‐who have never served our country in any capacity‐dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller‐all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of "deep-state" machinations‐ I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove. To me, Fox News is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit.
As a Russia analyst for many years, it also has appalled me that hosts who made their reputations as super-patriots and who, justifiably, savaged President Obama for his duplicitous folly with Putin, now advance Putin’s agenda by making light of Russian penetration of our elections and the Trump campaign. Despite increasingly pathetic denials, it turns out that the "nothing-burger" has been covered with Russian dressing all along. And by the way: As an intelligence professional, I can tell you that the Steele dossier rings true‐that’s how the Russians do things.. The result is that we have an American president who is terrified of his counterpart in Moscow.
Update: Fox replies, "Ralph Peters is entitled to his opinion despite the fact that he’s choosing to use it as a weapon in order to gain attention. We are extremely proud of our top-rated primetime hosts and all of our opinion programing."
#2
So.........He hates Trump. *Shrug* I'm not found of Trump either. Ralph Peters can opine from the peanut gallery with the rest of us. But this whole situation reminds me of the dumpster fire that Gerald Ford inherited from the previous LBJ and Nixon administrations in that there is no clean, tidy, easy way forwards.
#5
Gained much knowledge from him. Now he has been infected by the zombies so expect everyone to suffer from that when you commit them to the loony bin of liberalism.
Which is in itself is liberalism.
I call it psychological warfare. The left really know what they are doing. Very effective.
#8
Update: Fox replies, "Ralph Peters is entitled to his opinion despite the fact that he’s choosing to use it as a weapon in order to gain attention. We are extremely proud of our top-rated primetime hosts and all of our opinion programing."
"Gain attention"....WTF? In an increasingly dangerous environment, perhaps his decision is based upon a desire to avoid attention.
#11
In recent appearances on Fox Peters seemed to have lost weight, gained ten years in appearance, and was increasingly shrill. I believe that people began to reject his views shortly after Trump took over. In essence he was sidelined and made fewer appearances. Similar to other retired LTC with a Napoleonic complex, he went mad.
#13
We don't get FOX on cable TV, so I can't say much. I prefer reading anyway.
CNN (which we get)is hard to stomach. In general I find U.S. news channels almost intolerable. Constant yelling, sanctimonious moderators, loud and repetitive advertising and useless debates.
I consider myself well read on Russia, so I share some of Peters' concerns. But then again, I'm a cold warrior.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 9:29 Comments ||
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#14
I consider myself well read on Russia, so I share some of Peters' concerns. But then again, I'm a cold warrior. Posted by European Conservative
#20
We used to say in the Bundeswehr that Hauptmann was the highest ranking officer who gets things done.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 10:15 Comments ||
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#21
Fox News is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit.
I worry more about the lies that come from the other MSM outlets. They hammer Trump without mercy. At least some at Fox still do something like investigative reporting. Trump is not perfect but he was far and above the alternative, Hillary.
I worry about Mueller running a witch-hunt without any limits or end despite not finding much that is relevant regarding Russian collusion after 14 months. I worry that the SC is loaded with Democrat hatchet men with an unsavory legal record.
Mueller may have been a war-hero. My concern is whether he is a patriot today.
I worry about the politicians who wittingly get unbelievable wealthy as the result of their "government service."
I worry about the way that government agencies have previously gotten weaponized against its people.
I worry about crime in government becoming legitimatized and covered up.
I worry more about Hillary and Obama and others meddling and trying to rig the 2016 election illegal unmasking and surveillance.
I worry about the continued efforts to unseat a legitimately elected POTUS. I worry that laws have been broken to do so.
I worry about freedom being eroded in the name of security.
I worry about truth being called propaganda or worse treason.
I worry about our government not being reformed and cleaned up.
BTW, it is not good enough to merely present yourself as a Russian expert. You state that the dossier rings true because that is the way Russians do things. How about some evidence? Does it matter that many don't believe the dossier? Does it matter that it was ginned up and paid for by Hillary and the DNC? Even discredited Comey states that it was salacious and unverified. Moreover, this fake dossier was presented to the FISA court used to obtain a warrant.
#22
I consider myself well read on Russia, so I share some of Peters' concerns. But then again, I'm a cold warrior.
I never heard about Peters' concerns reaching this level about Obama _giving_ the OPM root password and database to China and saying "oops, we've been hacked!"
I think we've hired the foxes to guard the henhouse, and I'm not talking about Trump.
If you want to be concerned, there's an ex premier of Germany sitting on the board of Gazprom. Call me back when your country is no longer a life support system for Russia.
#23
The party of that ex premier of Germany now polls at 16%
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 10:40 Comments ||
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#24
It could be that Peters in now in his 'Lee' moment. To choose which community he has more loyalty to.
There was a reason for a limited federal government and Big Government aka Deep State is the antithesis to it. Burning the village in order to save it does sell well as an excuse to choose bureaucracy over a republic.
#25
Quo vadis. Who benefits? Who benefited from the poisoning? It certainly wasn't Russia. The benefit went to the warmongers who want a big shooting war with Russia.
Vietnam war - started by a false flag, Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Iraq war - started by a false flag, Robert Mueller's infamous WMD memo. WWII - started by a false flag, Gleiwitz Incident. Sino-Japanese war - started by a false flag, Mukden Incident.
They really do these things, and they are willing to kill real people to do them. Our lives mean nothing and they will happily sacrifice us to get what they want. For some reason, during Obama's second term they decided they wanted war with Russia. Hillary was all set to start it with her no-fly zone in Syria and CIA false flags alleging infrastructure hacking, which we know for a fact they can manufacture, due to the Vault 7 leaks.
Remember when the CIA claimed Russian hacking due to finding "Russian" malware on infected systems? From Vault 7: CIA can customize the "fingerprints" hacks leave behind and make it look like someone else did it.
The evidence that we've seen for Russia hacking the DNC is this exact "Russian fingerprint" that we now know the CIA had the ability to implement in their hacks to hide their tracks. That fingerprint is now completely shoddy evidence. Not just because the CIA can put a Russian fingerprint on any hack, but because anyone else can too, because the CIA was so Clinton-esque with their security that all the "fingerprints" they collected were leaked to hackers and rogue agents.
https://wikileaks.org/ciav7p1/#EXAMPLES
Always ask: quo vadis. Who benefits? That's who did it. Works every time, in your daily life as well.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
03/21/2018 11:17 Comments ||
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#26
Quo vadis means "where do you go". You meant "cui bono".
And now go back to your Petersburg troll factory.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 11:28 Comments ||
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#27
See? There it is again. I've been posting on Rantburg since shortly after 9/11 when it got linked from Instapundit or Little Green Footballs, I forget which. I rejoiced at all the crossfire posts and chuckled at North Korea's constant threats to turn us into a sea of fire. I followed the entire Sri Lankan crushing of the Tamil Tigers from beginning to end.
I've found that "go back to St. Petersburg" is just a code phrase for "you made some arguments I can't counter, so I'm going to dismiss you with the ad hominem fallacy."
I used to be the most pro-European American you ever saw. This will sound silly, but I actually looked up to Europe. While other kids had American or British flags in their rooms, I looked fruitlessly for a NATO flag to hang. Europe left me, not the other way around. The event that broke my heart was the famous survey where Europeans named America as their greatest threat. Russia? Don't make me laugh, it wasn't even in the top 10.
The 1980s called, they want their foreign policy back. The Cold War wasn't fought with Russia, it was fought with Communism, an evil ideology that took over Russia as its first step to world domination. A lot of people forget that Russia was just the first country to fall to Communism. Fuck you for calling me a troll.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
03/21/2018 11:44 Comments ||
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#28
Herb, European Conservative has been increasingly bitter for some time now, you really shouldn't worry about it as it relates to you. I quit buying Duluth Trading stuff because Minnesota is so off the rails. I definitely don't even look for products from the Eurines. Don't buy from New England or California either. Don't listen to their politicians. Just move on...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 11:57 Comments ||
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#29
OK I'll take that back. But you might want to check your "false flag" conspiracy theories a bit more thoroughly.
WW2 was certainly not started by the Gleiwitz incident. Nobody believed it at the time. We all know why and how WW2 was started.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 11:58 Comments ||
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#30
I'm a ranking member of the probably most America-friendly political party in Europe.
The people I hang out with are conservative, no nonsense but friendly traditional Bavarian business people. And they just can't understand the Trump hype and why so many Americans can't see that Trump is a fraud.
Bitter? No. Scratching my head? Yes, at times.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 12:04 Comments ||
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#31
EC, though I agree with you less and less (Mercedes and BMW buyers are assholes.) I will agree that yeah, everyone knows how WW II started. Hitler went off and France grabbed its ankles. You have a lot to be bitter about, but none of it is America's fault...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:07 Comments ||
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#32
And I'll throw this rock: I'm not a bug eyed Ralph fan...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:15 Comments ||
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#33
Since I drive a Mercedes I'm curious why.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 12:17 Comments ||
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#34
Trump a fraud? This from a citizen of the country that elects Angela Merkel? You think we should settle for Bush/Clinton in perpetuity? You think we should open our borders like you did? We should accept all of our jobs going to China? If you don't understand that you have no business telling us anything. Your country is dying. Your grandchildren will bow down to Mecca.
Gulf of Tonkin was a false flag. Iraq WMDs were a false flag. Pearl Harbor was a false flag, Japan wasn't doing anything in China that Europeans hadn't already done in the rest of Asia and Africa too. We're sick of it. If you wanna fight these wars, go ahead. Just don't ask me to pay for it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/21/2018 12:18 Comments ||
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#35
#34 Boom. Lowered.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:21 Comments ||
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#36
Since I drive a Mercedes I'm curious why.
Come drive in south Florida. And see.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:22 Comments ||
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#37
My country is not dying. You may want to look at the latest Mercer quality of living ranking to find out how your city compares to mine (Munich).
We have a few more Muslims in our country we actually need but we haven't change the way we live or the God we pray to.
We're doing quite well, thank you very much.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 12:27 Comments ||
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#38
EC's a gut cherman. The homosexuals are all tasteful and polite. Nobody ever breaks the law (in ECs part of town) what EC sees is the totality of how it is You are an unwashed Amerikan fermin if you think different.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:29 Comments ||
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#39
Once, we might have wanted to import you, EC. Now, as Heather says, "No way no day..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:32 Comments ||
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#40
EC, a good portion of the folks driving MB's here in the states do so to impress their neighbors.
In Europe, they are more of the 'hometown product' and aren't necessarily status symbols.
Nevertheless, still a well-made vehicle. In 1986 I bought and drove a very used 1970's era 350SE (M116 engine - 3499 cc) for several years. Great car and sold it at ~365,000 miles for what I had into it for costs.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/21/2018 12:40 Comments ||
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#41
You are entitled to your opinion. I will continue to like America and stand with America when things get tough.
I lived for a few years in the U.S. (mainly Texas) and still have fond memories.
We disagree on Trump and a few other things. That doesn't mean we've become opponents.
I might buy some land in the U.S.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 12:40 Comments ||
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#42
EC - Some of it is an old battle that goes way way back. It's always been a left right battle in the US just most of the left's battle has been really under the table.
In the early 70s I was in a far left school in my university that was founded by the lady who took the first US young communist to Mao's China to visit in 1963/4. The place was chock full of SDS, a few Black Panthers and the like along with lots of kumbaya and drugs and weird sex and the CIA. I got one of the professors to explain a bit too much one night (after he had too much mind altering stuff) and got some strange tales I would have dismissed if he didn't disappear from his job and all contacts the next day. (still nobody has heard of him decades later except a possible expiration in the late 90s)
Anyway, the story he told me was about $33 billion given by the USSR to the SDS and their plan/politics to use it. First it's obvious that if the story was true the money was used a bit differently then the plan. Actually more effectively (I suspect Obama's friend Bill Ayers there as billions in the market then could be trillions now and his dad was definitely Markets Inc.). But dig to all the current players and you start finding spin off organizations of the SDS like the Students for Economic Democracy (SED)(who mentored Obama).
The main democratic party had the horrible (and mainly covered up) BCCI scandal of the late 79-82 timeframe that financed Pakistan's nuke weapons and collapsed savings and loans in the US (Whitewater, Keating 7 etc) - so who was Station Chief of the CIA in Pakistan then? Obama's buddy Brennan who had just voted for the CPUSA prez candidate Gus Hall in 1976. Obama visited Pakistan then and may have met him at that time.
Even trying not to be a conspiracy nut, lots of stuff currently playing out looks like failed massive conspiracy trying to save large pieces of itself and do as much possible damage as it can.
Sorry... for this rant European Conservative but stuff is just not meeting the smell test these days.
#43
Last time I was in Munich (1983) I watched a homeless guy work a bottle and give a Nazi salute. I was a young kid full of bad ideas, so I paid him into the strip club I was going to. When he puked, we both got thrown out...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:43 Comments ||
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#44
Oh and one of the Keating 5 was none other than foaming at the mouth Manchurian senator and spit war hero, John McCain.
#45
Some of us still like Europe too. I'd like to see it before the Muslims take over. You need to make more good German babies to prevent that.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/21/2018 12:44 Comments ||
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#46
I have four kids. Dome my part I guess.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 12:48 Comments ||
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#47
EC, another bit.. one of my dad's cousins led that little covert US/USSR war in europe in the 80s. Nothing is ever as it is presented to the masses.
#48
ranking member of the probably most America-friendly political party in Europe
Political parties do mostly damage. That's not a recommendation to claim that...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:50 Comments ||
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#49
Rumsfeld's "unknown unknowns", right?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 12:51 Comments ||
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#50
Hauptmann was the highest ranking officer who gets things done
In America, Hauptmann means Bruno Hauptmann, probably railroaded into the electric chair for kidnapping the Lindbergh child. You didn'd know that?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 12:57 Comments ||
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#51
And now for something completely different...
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 12:59 Comments ||
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#52
Colonel Peters was a big time cheerleader for the Gulf war. He should just go away quietly rather than virtue signalling in the hopes of getting a pet conservative job at MSNBC.
I just said your countryman got a raw deal and you made a Monty Python joke.
Jackoff...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 13:03 Comments ||
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#54
The German guy they gassed in Arizona had it coming. So there's that...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 13:05 Comments ||
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#55
And to take the heat off EC, let me say bug eyed Ralph will be calling for a nuke strike on Damascus as soon as he starts his new gig at MSNBS
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 13:17 Comments ||
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#56
Schroeder's party is low in the polls but y'all still follow his policies. All the Mueller "right" is doing is shrieking about how they're shocked, SHOCKED that gambling is going on in this establishment and they need to do a full investigation of Trump as a result...
As for Trump being a fraud... the last ten years or so were about as much fraud and betrayal as the country, and I, could stand, and nearly killed me. A lot of the people who are so "concerned conservative" now weren't saying jack shit about all the things five years ago.
#57
It's entertaining, really. Germany's "huge" economy has mostly to do with MB cars to US and China / Hong Kong. Cars mostly built by Turkish immigrants. EC's crowd wants to sell as much dual use stuff to Iran / Pakistan / Turkey / SA as possible. Sidesplittingly funneee...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 13:41 Comments ||
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#58
And. My own contribution. Stopped buying WSJ (Murdoch product, 30 year subscriber) Stopped buying DirecTV (20 year subscriber) Fuck that shit...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/21/2018 13:48 Comments ||
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You say "And they just can't understand the Trump hype and why so many Americans can't see that Trump is a fraud."
Did they think Obama was a fraud? Did they think Clinton was a fraud? No just the Bushes and Trump. I see.
You and your friends might want to read thesebooks based on the premise that hucksterism is at the heart of the American con dream. A refreshing version of our history; it is unfortunate it was never completed.
In Bavaria we often have heated political debates, but then we all have some good beers and get along very well... that's something internet debates don't have and therefore they appear a lot more bitter than they actually are (or should be).
The words to use when the debate stops and the drinking begins is: "Schwoam ma's abi" (which means "Let's wash it all down").
Look, my country is far from perfect, and Merkel has proved to be a major disappointment in the last years, but we'll survive her. Life is still pretty good in Germany.
The regulars here know that I didn't like Obama either.
I don't think I've moved away from America, but with Trump, things aren't easy. A looming and totally unnecessary trade war is nothing to look forward to. I was actually hoping for a North Atlantic Free Trade Zone. We shouldn't have tariffs at all and we should rather join forces to keep China at bay.
Btw the bulk of German exports go to other EU countries. Not just cars.
Russia is a clay colossus. We need to take Russia seriously but the Russian military is overrated and much of it is blustering. Polish patriots would beat the crap out of them before they reach Germany. But Russia can destroy the whole world, so calling them a "regional power" like Obama did was stupid.
To sum it up: Life is good here, and I'm sure it's good in most places in the U.S., too.
Americans, who visit Germany, usually like it here, and Germans who visit the U.S., like it there, too. Despite some political differences, we get along pretty well.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 16:42 Comments ||
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#62
Come now EC, what's not to like about Germany ?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 17:03 Comments ||
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#66
Okay, EC, you do know that America gets totally ripped off every year, right? We get to pay $150 billion per annum for the privilege of trading with Europe. This isn't some mistake, or oops, it was deliberate policy by the State Department to bribe Europe with American taxpayers' money to stay on our side during the Cold War. Because evidently Europe would have gladly voted in Communists otherwise.
Cold War ended 30 years ago, but these horrid policies continue. Why do advanced, wealthy nations need such massive amounts of aid? Let's have fair trade agreements instead that benefit everyone. BUT Europe doesn't want this because they profit handsomely and don't see why things should change. Friends don't rip each other off.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
03/21/2018 17:23 Comments ||
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#67
"We get to pay $150 billion per annum for the privilege of trading with Europe."
Would you mind explaining that figure? I see it popping up a lot but without any sources.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 17:26 Comments ||
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#68
The people I hang out with are conservative, no nonsense but friendly traditional Bavarian business people. And they just can't understand the Trump hype and why so many Americans can't see that Trump is a fraud.
I agree with you 100%. But for now, he's the only game in town. A sizeable portion of the electorate is in thrall to him. Another portion that pays little attention to politics will see impeachment and removal from office as an indictment of Republicans generally. That's why the GOP hasn't gotten together with the Democrats to knock this man off his perch. Because he's the only game in town for a stalemated GOP that is simultaneously hurt by him with independents, and needs the votes of a bigger gullible core of voters who can't see through his con tricks.
Trump is a fake populist who only gets the things he personally favors done. On the things he doesn't support, he virtue signals to his base while deliberately sabotaging those items with outrageous statements that he knows will give the judiciary an excuse to strike those executive orders down.
Trump's not stupid. Nobody amasses a fortune in the billions accidentally when the principal is at most in the tens of millions. He knows he's fucking his supporters over. I think he gets the con man's thrill from screwing over his marks.
The problem for him, as election returns in PA-18 show, that a small but growing core of voters who put him in office are starting to notice that he hasn't delivered on all that much for them on immigration (deport them all, build a wall, Mexico will pay) or health care (best health care ever). Instead, he has increased gun restrictions, lowered taxes for wealthy investors and expressed support for the DACA illegals. At the margins, this is significantly eroding his support. If he wants their votes back, he needs to stop yanking their chain and start delivering.
Obama got tons of things done through executive orders. Where are Trump's executive orders - not just reversing Obama's actions, but implementing his voters' priorities?
#70
Forfoksake! Obviously eight years of Obama and the threat of the Hildebeest as POTUS was not enough.
I don't like Trump, but he is preferable to any Democrat who might conceivably run for the presidency, and a good many Republicans. But it's OK to hate our guy. Yankee fans hated Steinbrenner for a long time. Then the Yankees started bringing home the bacon. All was forgiven.
#71
The 2017 US trade deficit with the EU was $150 billion, half of it with Germany. Not as much as with China at $375 billion, but equalizing trade with the EU would add nearly $500 billion to US GDP assuming a monetary turnover of 3 times a year in the economy.
Now factor in the total 2017 US trade deficit of $800 billion. That would add 2.4-3.2 to the US economy based on a monetary turnover of 3 and 4 or an additional 12-16.5% to GDP. That enough to re-employ the cities and countryside and eliminate the budget deficit.
The world is still operating under rules that were established after WWII. That's right, 70 years ago. The US purposely agreed to non-reciprocal tariffs such that we would subsidize other countries and allow them to rebuild their economies after the war. This was fine up until the 70s, as even with the subsidy, the US still had a trade surplus.
Folks, we are no longer the same global economy as after WWII. Germany does not need any economic subsidy, nor does China. The Trump administration is going to move trade into the 21st century.
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
03/21/2018 18:47 Comments ||
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#74
"The 2017 US trade deficit with the EU was $150 billion, half of it with Germany."
Herb, I understand that, but not why you call this "ripping us off" or "we pay that for the privilege..."
It's true that the unweighted average EU customs duty is 5.2 percent, versus the US rate of 3.5 percent. But this doesn't explain the trade deficit, as this is quite a low number. Tariffs used to be much higher, but once again, we shouldn't have any (and TTIP would have abolished them).
Also note that the U.S. fares a lot better with services.
Btw the U.S. has a trade surplus with Canada. Does that mean the U.S. is ripping off Canada?
I don't say Germany is all innocent. We should and could raise wages, stimulate domestic demand. This would reduce the deficit.
But the main reasons why U.S. goods (not services) don't sell that well in Europe are not tariffs. Take cars, for instance. You compete with Japanese and even German cars re-imported from the U.S. which pay the same tariff. U.S. cars don't sell well, because quality is often a problem and - more importantly - they are not well adapted to European needs (too big, gas guzzler etc.).
This has nothing to do with ripping you off.
Trump wants to turn back time. He wants to bring back "old" industries, but this approach will fail. Much better to invest in future industries. Tariffs won't bring back lost jobs. They will just kill existing ones.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 19:20 Comments ||
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#75
So, you won't mind if we reverse this, then? Europe pay America $150 billion per year?
No, that's no good? Oh, heavens why?
Posted by: Herb McCoy7309 ||
03/21/2018 19:33 Comments ||
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#76
You didn't understand a thing, do you?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 19:40 Comments ||
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#77
He wants to bring back "old" industries, but this approach will fail. Much better to invest in future industries. Tariffs won't bring back lost jobs. They will just kill existing ones.
You must think he's a moron. Except in showbiz, you don't become a billionaire by being stupid. This is all about electoral votes. He's doubling down on trying to raise his numbers in the Rust Belt states, which is where he obtained the electoral votes that won him the election. That's what the steel and aluminum tariffs are all about - pure politics. The morons are the policymakers and journalists in the EU who are getting all worked up about Trump's flurry of BS about what is just a ploy for Rust Belt support that affects a tiny sliver of European steel and aluminum producers, which are, in total, a tiny sliver of European GDP.
The tariffs against China are the main event, and that is where the EU should be focusing its attention. Unfortunately, EU morons are once again so kneecapped by their stupidity with respect to reading Trump's actions, that they are missing the opportunity to create a united front against Chinese trade barriers and misbehavior on intellectual property rights.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 20:11 Comments ||
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#81
ZF
"He's doubling down on trying to raise his numbers in the Rust Belt states"
Now when China retaliates, don't you think it will hit those Rust Belt states first?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/21/2018 20:44 Comments ||
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#82
As a Rantburger of Herb McCoy vintage I enjoyed this thread. All of you make this site something unique and uniquely valuable. I genuinely appreciate European Conservative’s perspective. Hell, I even drive a Mercedes that was very well made in Alabama a couple hours west of here.
I also miss True German Ally’s participation from years ago. What became of him?
#83
Trump wants to turn back time. He wants to bring back "old" industries, but this approach will fail. Much better to invest in future industries. Tariffs won't bring back lost jobs. They will just kill existing ones.
You can call Trump a liar all you want, the problem is, Obama promised to bankrupt anyone in fossil fuels and he was telling the truth. I'll grasp at the straw of someone maybe lying to me about wanting me to live instead of risking that the other guy is telling the truth when he tells me "Die, motherfucker!"
#85
don't you think it will hit those Rust Belt states first?
China is ALREADY hitting the Rust Belt states with its mass production and export of fentanyl and carfentanil, imported courtesy of the postal service. The only way China could hit them harder would be to nuke them.
#86
I also miss True German Ally’s participation from years ago. What became of him?
Very probably he died, Classical_Liberal. He survived both the concentration camps and the Soviet labour camps thereafter, giving him a unique perspective.
#87
China is ALREADY hitting the Rust Belt states with its mass production and export of fentanyl and carfentanil, imported courtesy of the postal service. The only way China could hit them harder would be to nuke them.
That's what the North Korea Tribute Nation is for.
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.
[The Hill] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Trump on Tuesday over news that Trump phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to congratulate him on his recent electoral win.
[WSJ via Mannhattan Institute] And racial preferences set up bright students‐who otherwise would be excelling at less-selective schools‐to fail at elite colleges.
