[American Thinker] Conservatives have been trying to nail Bill and Hillary Clinton’s collective hides to the barn door for a generation—make that two. Time flies whether or not you’re having fun, and for the Clintons, "fun" means staying one step ahead of the GOP.
Just when the opposition looked ready to catch them red-handed, quicker than you can say "Rose Law Firm," they’d pull a rabbit out of the hat—or the more feckless, easily distracted Republicans would chase a rabbit trail instead.
In the end, you came to expect that the Clintons—slick, greasy operators to the last—would wriggle free. And so it went.
But maybe, just maybe, in this new golden era, times have changed.
Hope springs eternal.
And no, I’m not talking about either Hope or Hot Springs, Arkansas, where Bill hails from—despite his revisionist geography.
Back in the day, Hot Springs had a tawdry streak—little wonder Bill turned out as he did.
On Wednesday, news broke of a newly declassified FBI timeline into the "investigation"—if you can call it that—of the Clinton Foundation, the charitable wing of Clinton, Inc.
John Solomon and Jerry Dunleavy of Just the News rolled it out, and it’s a genuine eye-opener.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Denis Davydov
[REGNUM] By the memorable date of the 250th anniversary of the liquidation of the Zaporizhian Sich,
…the fortified capitol of the semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Zaporozhian Cossacks that existed between the 16th to 18th centuries in Ukraine on the Dnieper River….
the myth of this event has gained firmness: Catherine II did not tolerate the freedom and independence of the Cossacks, having liquidated their autonomy on false accusations.
On August 14, 1775, by today's count, the troops of General Peter Tekeli besieged the Sich, presenting an ultimatum and ultimately capturing it without a fight.
“Later, the Empress issued a manifesto on the abolition of this last stronghold of autonomy in Ukraine, a stronghold of freedom and democracy, national independence and a haven for fugitives from the entire Russian Empire from serfdom; a place of developed economy and progressive farming forms of management, a center of freedom-loving, heroism, and brilliant military art,” is reported in one of the many works by Ukrainian authors dedicated to the tragic events.
Over the years, the image of the Zaporozhian Cossacks has been polished to a glamorous shine. In the generally accepted concept of the history of the Cossack period, it is customary to consider their confrontation with the Poles as a struggle for the people and the Orthodox faith, as well as battles on the frontier with the Turks and Tatars.
And most importantly, at the center of the myth was the story of a democratic republic that supposedly existed for several centuries, and a Ukrainian proto-state that developed within the borders of the lands of the Zaporizhian Host under the hand of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
Without paying special attention to the detail that Bogdan's army and the "lower classes" were completely different organizations that could cooperate, but could also not.
One way or another, the liberation of the Northern Black Sea region from the long horror of Tatar raids and from Ottoman rule did not happen by the will of the Zaporozhians. By the time of the 1870s, Novorossiya and Tavria entered a period of active settlement by Christians and peaceful development, while the Sich found itself in the deep rear.
Together with thousands of armed, poorly governed people, accustomed to living on plunder and recognizing no laws other than their own ideas of what is good and what is bad. So the Empress's manifesto is not just some sweeping "act of genocide": it is a list of specific claims against the Sich Cossacks, who simply did not fit into the new conditions and had to either change themselves or free other people from their annoying presence.
GANG OF DEMOCRATS
The first and main source about the structure of the Zaporizhian Sich is, of course, the voluminous work of Dmitry Yavornytsky, “The History of the Zaporizhian Cossacks,” written, among other things, based on documents taken to Moscow by Tekeliy’s subordinates.
And the inquisitive reader has certainly come across his description of the life and customs of the Cossacks, who changed the location of the Sich several times during its history. Nikolai Gogol also vividly described the philosophy of life of its inhabitants in his immortal "Taras Bulba":
"But the first person they came across was a Zaporozhian sleeping in the very middle of the road, with his arms and legs spread out. Taras Bulba could not help but stop and admire him.
- Oh, how importantly he turned around! Phew, what a magnificent figure! - he said, stopping his horse.
In fact, it was quite a bold picture: the Zaporozhian, like a lion, stretched out on the road. His proudly thrown-back forelock covered half an arshin of ground. His trousers of expensive scarlet cloth were stained with tar, to show his complete contempt for them."
The Polish Zaporozhian Army was a regular formation, which was maintained in the image and likeness of the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and received from the king, albeit modest, but payment, as well as cloth, weapons and equipment.
The army concentrated in the Niza region, the center of which was the Zaporizhian Sich, was the complete opposite, representing a living mass. Which could listen to the elders and go on a campaign, but could also simply rob the Moldavians (which happened every autumn), "scratch" the Turkish coast or even sit in kurens, breeding horses and fishing.
The community of free robbers was always looking for profit, and it could only be managed by someone who had enough strength and authority to cope with people who, in Yavornytsky’s description, could “choose” their koshevoy ataman by kicking him in the ass: “Go, son of a bitch, for we need you, you are now our father, you will be our master.”
Nevertheless, the Sich (or Sich, as it was called in the old days) was the only source of military power in the Steppe, which was used by both the Poles and the Muscovites. In fact, the first 300 Cossacks accepted into the service of King Sigismund II Augustus were Zaporozhian Sich Cossacks who were obliged to carry out border and police service.
The oath of 1621 contains the following words:
...to obey, to carry out all orders and decrees of his royal grace, to suppress any disobedience and willfulness, and also, neither personally nor through anyone else, to act against the Turkish Sultan, neither on land nor at sea, except by order of his royal grace of the Commonwealth, if anyone wants to do such a thing, and I find out about it, then I will be obliged to warn the king and the hetmans, and I myself will punish him, fulfilling my duty."
And these words describe a major problem: the raids of the Zaporozhian Cossacks were a constant headache for the Polish crown, since the Turks made claims against Poland for this - as well as for the economic activities of the Cossacks who occupied the land that they liked.
At the same time, the division into the “correct”, privileged Cossacks and all sorts of rabble was the cause of constant uprisings, where the demand for an increase in the register was constant.
Moreover, the Polish government handled the register quite freely, admitting Cossacks when troops were needed for, for example, the campaign against Moscow in 1618, and crossing out the extra ones when the need for personnel disappeared. And although they paid mere peanuts (in 1614, the royal treasury spent 10 thousand zlotys on the entire registered army of 1,000 people - the salary of five hussar captains - and 700 pieces of cloth), it was still real money for the poor.
The Russian kingdom continued cooperation with the Sich in the same vein, concluding the Eternal Peace with Poland in 1686 after a long war, at the center of which were the Zaporozhian Cossacks who supported Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
Now the war turned to the southern borders: the Moscow government “undertook to help the Polish king Jan Sobieski in his fight against the Turks and, for this purpose, was to open a campaign against the Crimean peninsula.”
FROM THE FRONTIER TO THE REAR
By enlisting the Sich into service, as Yavornytsky informs us, the Moscow tsars also “sent the Zaporozhian Cossacks a certain treasury from year to year.” And also, as in the previous case, not a large one: some 2,000 rubles or 500 chervonets for 8-10 thousand people, plus various kinds of “humanitarian aid” in kind – cloth, vodka, gunpowder and weapons.
However, the Cossacks still did not know any other occupations, so for another 90 years they were involved in one way or another in all the wars that Russia waged.
However, not always on her side, supporting, for example, Hetman Ivan Mazepa and taking the side of the Swedes. Peter I did not forgive such betrayal and even before Catherine quite decisively liquidated the Chertomlyk Sich. As the Koshevoy Ataman Stepanenko reported to Hetman Ivan Skoropadsky, "our comrades were beaten off, their necks were chopped off on the chopping block, they were hanged and other tyrannical deaths were inflicted, and they did what was not done even in paganism, for the ancient torturers."
The next Sich, Kamenskaya, in full accordance with the Polish oath, was destroyed by Skoropadsky himself together with the Russian regiments.
Only the decision to become a Russian citizen (that is, until that moment only the registered army had become a Russian citizen) made it possible to return to the usual order: the New Zaporozhian Sich existed until the moment of its complete liquidation and was taken into state support. In 1735, it received an annual salary of 20 thousand rubles, 2 thousand sacks of flour, and for the koshevoy ataman and his retinue - 490 rubles and a bucket of wine each.
The Zaporozhian Cossacks actively participated in the Turkish campaigns, and together with the army of Pyotr Rumyantsev distinguished themselves in the affairs of Larga and Kagul. But at the same time, here and there remained "free Cossacks" who continued to live by their usual robbery, raiding both the Poles and the Turks, and their own.
And after many political and military victories of the Russian Empire over Turkey, with access to the Black Sea, the construction of the Dnieper defensive line and the pacification of the Crimean Khanate, which had terrorized the Russian Ukraine for centuries, the Sich suddenly found itself in the deep rear.
And the empress's manifesto clearly lists the reasons for her acute dissatisfaction with the heroes of the frontier. From the south, ever since the time of Elizabeth Petrovna, there have been endless complaints about the Zaporozhian Cossacks for their "impudence and for the robberies that constantly occur within their borders."
Living in “complete idleness, the most vile drunkenness and contemptuous ignorance,” the Cossacks:
— declared claims to the lands of the Novorossiysk province as their own;
— refused to recognize the demarcation imposed from above, sending representatives of the authorities in obscene language, threatening them with death, setting up their winter huts wherever they wanted, and forcibly driving people away from new settlements;
— “they, the Zaporozhian Cossacks, robbed and ruined the inhabitants of the Novorossiysk Province alone in twenty years, namely since 1755, at a cost of several hundred thousand rubles”;
— they set up their kurens on new lands between the Dnieper and the Bug and imposed a tax on the “newly settled residents of the Moldavian Hussar Regiment”;
— despite a direct ban, they used various means to drag over 50 thousand residents of the indigenous Little Russia, including “married and family-oriented people,” so that they would plow and sow in the personal interests of the Sich;
— they entered the territory of the Don Army, the border with which ran along the Kalmius River within the boundaries of today’s city of Donetsk.
The tenacious outlaws, who in fact did not represent any “people” (since the “buckwheat growers” were a despised class and were subject to merciless robbery at all times), began to pose a concrete threat to the peace and tranquility of the region.
As Apollon Skalkovsky, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, rightly noted already in the 19th century, “the southern borders were quite firmly protected; therefore, Zaporozhye, especially in its orderly, restless and rebellious structure, was almost unnecessary, and could be very harmful. <…> The Empress ordered: with one blow to cut the Gordey knot of disputes and litigations of Zaporozhye with neighboring regions, in order to strengthen peace in the South of Russia.”
And all subsequent events with the “destruction of Ukrainian statehood”, the curtailment of the Little Russian autonomy and the dissolution of the Orthodox gentry into the Russian nobility were, by and large, dictated by normal state calculations.
A useful map from February of Russian troop movements around Ukraine can be seen at the link.
And so, now, in Alaska, Mr. Trump sits down with Vlad Putin to attempt a settling of Ukraine’s hash. This war has been a three-year bloody grind, millions killed, mostly Ukrainians, provoked underhandedly by US State Dept / CIA neocons, Britain’s MI6 apparatus, and the girl-bosses of the EU, for no good reason, namely, to weaken and possibly break-up Russia so as to get at its vast mineral and energy resources. This has been tried before in history, always to the grief of the triers.
From our country’s point of view, the dynamics in play at this moment are delicate to an extreme. In the background of the Trump-Putin meet-up, amid an eerie silence in the DOJ and FBI, an epic, sweeping prosecution of the RussiaGate hoaxers creeps forward. RussiaGate, of course, was born in the false charge (by America’s highest officials, derived from nonsense cooked up by Hillary Clinton) that Donald Trump was a Russian agent. It was preposterous and continually disproven, but the many-footed creatures of America’s deep state, which controlled so many levers of power, dragged it out for years. Altogether, that endeavor amounted to a campaign of sedition and arguably treason.
The delicacy comes in as President Trump must now avoid at all costs any appearance of giving-in to Mr. Putin, of appearing to be any sort of a vassal — “Putin’s puppet,” as charged in RussiaGate. The raw truth is that Russia has likely already “won” the war in Ukraine, in the sense that it has finally gained control of the battlespace and worn out its opponent. It is fait accompli. What remains is the disposition of Ukraine’s future which, in another raw truth, is mostly Russia’s to determine.
Yet another raw truth is that this would probably be the best outcome for all concerned: a neutralized, disarmed Ukraine returned to its prior condition as a mostly agricultural sovereign backwater of Europe within Russia’s sphere-of-influence, resuming its longstanding status as not being a problem for anyone.
Still, yet another raw truth is that the USA would benefit hugely from normalized relations with Russia, no more sanctions, fair trade, a rebalance of the drift toward China, lessening the chance of nuclear war — and this would even benefit the knuckleheads of Europe whose economies are imploding due to a lack of affordable energy (and also because of, let’s face it, the EU’s terrifically stupid “green” policies).
[FOXNEWS] Washington elites — of both parties — are clutching their pearls at the prospect of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska. "He's Putin's stooge!" scream Trump Derangement Syndrome Democrats ...every time you hear the phrase white people, white supremacy,white anything but paint, you're listening to a Democrat. Ask him/her/it to reimagine something for you; they do that a lot, though not well. They can hear a dog whistle a mile or two away. They invented the spoils system and Tammany Hall, and inspired the addition of the word (Thomas) Nasty to the English language. They want to stop continental drift and repeal the law of unintended side effects... . "He'll betray Ukraine to get a deal!" scream the forever war Republican NeoCons. "He'll abandon America First and get us embroiled in Europe's problem!" scream the isolationists in the Republican Party.
None of them understand what makes Donald Trump ...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party... tick. They think he's just like them — another standard issue politician who cares more about perception than reality, who values process over progress. He may have an end goal, but is usually unwilling to make compromises to achieve it.
Donald Trump approaches problems from the other direction. He has an end goal, even if he's not yet sure how to get there. He's willing to improvise, to compromise, to completely change his approach, even if it's unorthodox.
I've been in the Situation Room with four presidents, going back to President Richard Nixon. Trump is different. He focuses on getting a project completed as quickly as possible, no matter how he does it. It makes sense given his background. As a real estate developer, he didn't make money until a building was finished. All the expenses were up front — buy the land, service the debt and pay for workers, materials and machinery.
When Trump began a real estate development, he didn't know what difficulties he'd encounter along the way — bad weather, political roadblocks, labor disputes, supply chain disruptions. When he ran into problems, he improvised. His overriding goal was to finish the building as quickly as possible. Time is money. That's why President Trump is moving on all these issues at warp speed. That is why he always has a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. That's why his critics call him unpredictable and mercurial and howl with outrage if he changes plans.
Most politicians are understandably focused on the next election. They must appear to have all the answers, for fear their opponents will tear them apart. When was the last time a politician admitted his plan didn't work? They give speeches, have negotiations and don't take risks for fear of failure or alienating important electorates. A politician can make process seem like progress.
K.T. McFarland was President Trump’s Deputy National Security Advisor. She is a board member of the American Conservative Union and author of the best-selling book, Revolution: Trump, Washington and "We the People."
[Ynet] Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that "a Palestinian state would be a suicidal move for Israel."
He made these remarks in an interview with the American network "Newsmax," adding that "the fact is that we already tried this 'brilliant' idea with the disengagement 20 years ago. In return, they built the largest terror kingdom on the face of the earth. If you give them a state with control over the border, the skies, and the ability to connect with other countries in the region - probably radical alliances - it would be suicidal for Israel."
Posted by: Grom the Affective ||
08/15/2025 00:00 ||
Comments ||
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[IsraelTimes] Tehran reportedly ‘leaning toward talks’ after US and Israeli strikes showed the ‘cost of military confrontation’ and shattered image of deterrence
Weakened by war and diplomatic deadlock, Iran’s holy manal elite stands at a crossroads: defy pressure to halt its nuclear activity and risk further Israeli and US attacks, or concede and risk a leadership fracture.
For now, the Islamic Theocratic Republic establishment is focusing on immediate survival over longer-term political strategy.
A fragile ceasefire ended a 12-day war in June that began with Israeli Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s, followed by US strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites. Israel launched the opening strike against Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... on June 13. According to Israel, the sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Theocratic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.
Both sides declared victory, but the war exposed the military vulnerabilities and punctured the image of deterrence maintained by a major Middle East power and Israel’s arch-regional foe.
Three Iranian insiders told Rooters the political establishment now views negotiations with the US — aimed at resolving a decades-long dispute over its nuclear ambitions — as the only way to avoid further escalation and existential peril.
The strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets, which included killings of top Revolutionary Guard commanders and nuclear scientists, shocked Tehran, kicking off just a day before a planned sixth round of talks with Washington.
While Tehran accused Washington of "betraying diplomacy," some hardline politicians and military commanders blamed officials who advocated diplomacy with the US, arguing the dialogue proved a "strategic trap" that distracted the armed forces.
However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese... one political insider, who, like others, requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, said the leadership now leaned toward talks as "they’ve seen the cost of military confrontation."
President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that resuming talks with the US "does not mean we intend to surrender," addressing hardliners opposing further nuclear diplomacy after the war.
He added, "You don’t want to talk? What do you want to do? ... Do you want to go [back] to war?"
His remarks were criticized by hardliners, including Revolutionary Guards commander Aziz Ghazanfari, who warned that foreign policy demands discretion and that careless statements could have serious consequences.
Ultimately, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> holds the final say. Insiders said he and the holy manal power structure had reached a consensus to resume nuclear negotiations, viewing them as vital to the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s survival.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said no decision has been made on the resumption of nuclear talks.
DYNAMICS AND EXTERNAL PRESSURE
US President Donald Trump ...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!... and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have warned they will not hesitate to hit Iran again if it resumes enrichment of uranium, a possible pathway to developing nuclear weapons.
Though Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, it enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities, and massively expanded its ballistic missile capabilities. The Islamic Theocratic Republic had recently taken steps toward weaponization, Israel said.
Last week, Trump warned that if Iran restarted enrichment despite the June strikes on its key production plants, "we’ll be back." Tehran responded with a vow of forceful retaliation.
Still, Tehran fears future strikes could cripple political and military coordination, and so has formed a defense council to ensure command continuity even if the 86-year-old Khamenei must relocate to a remote hideaway to avoid liquidation.
Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC, said that if Iran seeks to rapidly rebuild its nuclear capacity without securing diplomatic or security guarantees, "a US-Israeli strike won’t just be possible — it will be all but inevitable."
"Re-entering talks could buy Tehran valuable breathing room and economic relief, but without swift US reciprocity it risks a hardline backlash, deepening elite divisions, and fresh accusations of surrender," Vatanka said.
Tehran insists on its right to uranium enrichment as part of what it maintains is a peaceful nuclear energy program, while the Trump administration demands a total halt — a core sticking point in the diplomatic standoff.
Renewed United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... sanctions under the so-called "snapback" mechanism, pushed by three European powers, loom as a further threat if Tehran refuses to return to negotiations or if no verifiable deal to curb its nuclear activity results.
Tehran has threatened to quit the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But insiders say this is a pressure tactic, not a realistic plan, as exiting the NPT would telegraph an Iranian race for nuclear bombs and invite US and Israeli intervention.
A senior Western diplomat said Iran’s rulers were vulnerable as never before, and any defiance was a gamble liable to backfire at a time of rising domestic unrest, impaired deterrence power and Israel’s disabling of Iran’s militia proxies in wars around the Middle East since 2023.
MOUNTING ANXIETY
Among ordinary Iranians, weariness over war and international isolation runs deep, compounded by a growing sense of failed governance. The oil-based economy, already hobbled by sanctions and state mismanagement, is under worsening strain.
Daily blackouts afflict cities around the country of 87 million people, forcing many businesses to cut back. Reservoirs have receded to record lows, prompting warnings from the government of a looming "national water emergency."
Many Iranians — even those opposed to the Shiite theocracy — rallied behind the country during the June war, but now face lost incomes and intensified repression.
Alireza, 43, a furniture merchant in Tehran, said he is considering downsizing his business and relocating his family outside the capital amid fears of further air attack.
"This is the result of 40 years of failed policies," he said, alluding to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the Western-backed monarchy. "We are a resource-rich country and yet people don’t have water and electricity. My customers have no money. My business is collapsing."
At least 20 people across Iran interviewed by phone echoed Alireza’s sentiment, that while most Iranians do not want another war, they are also losing faith in the establishment’s capacity to govern wisely.
Despite broad discontent, large-scale protests have not broken out. Instead, authorities have tightened security, ramped up pressure on freedom fighters, accelerated executions and cracked down on alleged Israeli-linked spy networks — fueling fears of widening surveillance and repression.
However,
Switzerland makes more than cheese... sidelined moderates have resurfaced in state media after years of exclusion. Some analysts see this as a move to ally public anxiety and signal the possibility of reform from within, without "regime change" that would shift core policies.
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.
...every time you hear the phrase 
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that "a Palestinian state would be a suicidal move for Israel." 
...
