Friday, October 26, 2018

Sympathy for the devil: The politics of fear as the two parties demonize each other for votes



  
Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste.  I've been around for a long, long year, stole many a man's soul to waste…  So if you meet me have some courtesy, have some sympathy, and some taste.  Use all your well-learned politesse or I'll lay your soul to waste.  ~ Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil


Who can gin up more fear and anger?  Who is the best at stoking political violence?  Who is the victim and who is the victimizer.  Which devil will engender the most sympathy from the voters and win the 2018 midterm elections?  That is what American elections have devolved into, sympathy for the devil.

The Republicans portray the Democrats as dangerous socialists who will socialize health care providing America’s best medical care for the rich elite while the masses are subjected to government panels deciding who should receive care and who should be culled from the herd for being sick.  They stoke the fear that oppressed, endangered white men will be eviscerated by mobs of women-led, dark skinned men wearing pink pussy hats and me-too tee shirts as they pour over our borders to vote for Democrats. 

Democrats portray the Republicans as dangerous capitalists who will continue with for-profit health care providing the best medical care for the elite while the masses are subjected to insurance company panels deciding who should receive care and who should be culled from the herd for being sick.  They stoke the fear that if the racist Republicans maintain control of our government we can expect burning crosses in every yard. 

Both parties have betrayed the American people; neither give a rip about the devastating effects of their greed, avarice and self-dealing.  If the American people were allowed to vote and have their votes counted, neither party could be elected, but we’re not allowed to vote and have our votes counted.  It’s all a sham.  Through gerrymandering, restrictive voter ID, caging lists and the ridiculous sham of “provisional ballots” that are nothing more than toilet paper, the American voter has been disenfranchised.

Every election season the more hatred, fear and loathing that can be ginned up the better, for it provides cover for when the preordained election outcome is announced.  The election is then held up as cover for the most regressive, horrific legislation to be passed saying the people have spoken, this is what they want.  Is it?  Look at the laws these demons pass, who do they serve?  A trillion dollars a year for the military industrial complex’ wars that profit only the arms dealers while America lays in waste. 

Donald Trump was elected to normalize relations with Russia and pull America out of the wars of aggression against nation states that have done no harm to the American people.  President Trump, the builder promised to rebuild the American infrastructure and to put America first above all other countries.  How has that worked out?  From Caitlin Johnstone at Russia Insider:


Excerpt:

'Putin's Puppet' Advances Nuclear Missile Escalations Against...Putin?

"So, on the one front where cooler heads prevailing is quite literally the single most important thing in the world, the exact opposite is happening"

Yesterday the news broke that Swamp Monster-In-Chief John Bolton has been pushing President Trump to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the 1988 arms control agreement between the US and the Soviet Union eliminating all missiles of a specified range from the arsenals of the two nuclear superpowers. Today, Trump has announced that he will be doing exactly as Bolton instructed.

This would be the second missile treaty between the US and Russia that America has withdrawn from since it abandoned the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002. John Bolton, an actual psychopath who Trump hired as his National Security Advisor in April, ran point on that move as well back when he was part of the increasingly indistinguishable Bush administration.

“This is why John Bolton shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near US foreign policy,” tweeted Senator Rand Paul in response to early forecasts of the official announcement. “This would undo decades of bipartisan arms control dating from Reagan. We shouldn’t do it. We should seek to fix any problems with this treaty and move forward…”

“Russia has violated the agreement. They’ve been violating it for many years and I don’t know why President Obama didn’t negotiate or pull out,” Trump told reporters in Nevada. “We’re not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and do weapons and we’re not allowed to. We’re the ones that have stayed in the agreement and we’ve honored the agreement but Russia has not unfortunately honored the agreement so we’re going to terminate the agreement, we’re going to pull out.”

What Trump did not mention is that the US has indeed been in violation of that agreement due to steps it began taking toward the development of a new ground-launched cruise missile last year…

So, on the one front where cooler heads prevailing is quite literally the single most important thing in the world, the exact opposite is happening. Hotter, more impatient, more violent, more hawkish heads are prevailing over diplomacy and sensibility, potentially at the peril of the entire world should something unexpected go wrong as a result.

This is of course coming after two years of Democratic Party loyalists attacking Trump on the basis that he has not been sufficiently hawkish toward Russia, and claiming that this is because he is Putin’s puppet.  In response to this predictable escalation the path for which has been lubricated by McResistance pundits and their neoconservative allies, those very same pundits are now reacting with horror that Putin’s puppet is now dangerously escalating tensions with Putin…

“Hilarious to listen to all this alarmed screaming about US withdrawal from INF Treaty emanating from those who for 2 years have been demanding that Trump get tough with Russia,” tweeted George Szamuely of the Global Policy Institute. “Now that they’ve got their arms race I hope they are pleased with themselves.”

“Are those who have spent the past two years warning of a Trump-Kremlin conspiracy & cheering confrontation w/ Russia ready to shut the f### up yet?” asked Aaron Maté, who has been among the most consistently lucid critics of the Russiagate narrative in the US…

Are they ready to shut the f### up? That would be great, but this is just the latest escalation in a steadily escalating new cold war, and these blithering idiots didn’t shut the fuck up at any of the other steps toward nuclear holocaust. They didn’t shut the fuck up after Trump’s capitulation to the longstanding neoconservative agenda to arm Ukraine against Russia.

They didn’t shut the fuck up after Americans killed Russians in Syria as part of their regime change occupation of that country. They didn’t shut the fuck up when this administration adopted a Nuclear Posture Review with greatly increased aggression toward Russia and blurred lines between when nuclear strikes are and are not appropriate.

They didn’t shut the fuck up when Trump started sending war ships into the Black Sea “to counter Russia’s increased presence there.” They didn’t shut the fuck up when this administration forced RT and Sputnik to register as foreign agents.

They didn’t shut the fuck up when this administration helped expand NATO with the addition of Montenegro, at the assigning of Russia hawk Kurt Volker as special representative to Ukraine, at the shutting down of a Russian consulate in San Francisco and throwing out Russian diplomats in August of last year, when Trump threw out dozens more diplomats in response to shaky claims about the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, or when he implemented aggressive sanctions on Russian oligarchs. WHY WOULD THEY SHUT THE F### UP NOW?

As signs point to Mueller’s investigation wrapping up in the near future without turning up a single shred of evidence that Trump colluded with the Russian government, it’s time for everyone who helped advance this toxic, suicidal anti-Russia narrative to ask themselves one question: WAS IT WORTH IT?

Was it worth it to help mount political pressure on a sitting president to continually escalate tensions with a nuclear superpower and loudly screaming that he’s a Putin puppet whenever he takes a step toward de-escalation? Was it worth it to help create an atmosphere where cooler heads don’t prevail in the one area where it’s absolutely essential for everyone’s survival that they do? Or is it maybe time to shut the f### up for a while and rethink your entire worldview?

A trillion dollars a year for the Pentagon to piss away and what does America have to show for it?  Do we have a state-of-the-art war arsenal?  Are we a strategic threat to Russia and China?  Look at America’s infrastructure compared to that of Russia and China.  What has trillions of dollars in a war based economy bought?  From RT:

Excerpt:

Exorbitant cost, multiple failures, years overdue: A recap of the ongoing F-35 calamity (VIDEO)



As the entire F-35 fleet was yet again grounded for technical inspections, in the wake of its first crash in September. RT looks at the abject history and prospects of the most expensive Pentagon program in history.  Over $300 billion has been spent on the project to create a state-of-the-art fifth-generation multi-role fighter since 1992, with the eventual cost likely to easily cross the trillion dollar threshold, unless the Pentagon decides that enough is enough.

Despite being introduced into service in 2015, the jets, which cost about $100 million each to manufacture had a readiness rate of 55 percent - which meant that almost half the planes were not capable of actually performing a mission, either due to maintenance, breakages, or design faults that made them unsafe.

While a fuel tube problem has been potentially blamed for the non-fatal September 28 crash in South Carolina, previous issues have included inefficient weight distribution, low maneueverability, outdated software and communication devices, helmet vision failure, and cabin oxygen supply problems. Worst of all, is that many of the issues stem not from kinks or one-off problems to be ironed out, but fundamental flaws in the design, with the Pentagon saying that even new planes need to be modified to become effective.

When multi-year time and materials contracts are given to the military industrial complex you can expect their products to take years and years with massive cost overruns to make their flawed products, it’s just common sense.  As long as congress and the president do not hold these contractors accountable this nonsense will continue.  From RT: 

Excerpt:

Trump threatens to build up US nuclear arsenal until Russia, China 'come to their senses'

US President Donald Trump threatened Russia and China that Washington intends to build up its nuclear arsenal until “people come to their senses.”  The president said his words were directed towards Moscow and Beijing, as he prepared to unilaterally leave the Intermediate Nuclear Forces in Europe (INF) treaty. The US president implied China should be part of any new nuclear arms control treaty.

“Russia has not adhered to the agreement,” neither in form or in spirit, Trump told reporters outside the White House on Monday, before departing for a campaign rally in Texas.  Until people come to their senses, we will build it up he said, referring to the US nuclear arsenal. “When they do, we will all be smart and we’ll stop. Not only stop, but we’ll reduce, which I’d love to do.”

Asked if this should be taken as a threat, Trump said yes.  It’s a threat to whoever you want. It includes China, it includes RussiaThe US has “more money than anyone else by far,” Trump added, implying an arms race wouldn’t come as a burden. “You can’t play that game on me.”

Yes, yes that’s true the US has more money than anyone, but its fiat currency is becoming worthless.  If we have more money than anyone else, why is everyone else’s infrastructure far better than ours?  Why do the other industrialized countries’ citizens have universal healthcare and we have to beg our fellow citizens to help pay to keep us alive?  Threatening to throw more money at the Pentagon is more of a threat to American citizens than to Russia or China.  We’re supposed to feel sympathy for the devil as we slit our own throats.  

The Bush tax cuts were a prelude to the 2008 financial crash and now the Trump tax cuts come just as the 2019 financial crash is scheduled to hit.  From Free Thought Project:

Excerpt:

US Economy About to Collapse, Taking Down Dollar and US Standard of Living With It—Peter Schiff

(RT) — Tuesday’s US stock plunge following a massive selloff on global markets is seen by some analysts as a sign of more bad things to come. RT talked to veteran stock broker Peter Schiff to explore the issue in depth…

“All the signs are already there. Look at what’s happening out there. The stock market is falling, 40 percent of the S&P is already in a bear market. Look at homebuilders, the housing stocks, the financials, the retailers – all these are the same things that were happening in 2007 leading to that crisis,” the strategist told RT America.

The economist urged people be prepared for not only an economic crisis, but a political crisis as well with the current administration likely to take the blame.  According to Schiff, the US national currency is set to meet with the worst losses. 

“So, what you’ve got to do is get out of US dollar assets. The dollar is going to be the biggest casualty along with the American standard of living,” he said, adding that foreign stock markets, especially emerging markets, currently depressed by the strong dollar would see a strong rise.  “They are going to see a boom, when the dollar weakens,” Schiff said.

“Look at the price of gold up another eight bucks, but it’s still about $1,230, gold’s going to new highs, it was at $1,900 in 2011, it’s going to go much higher this time,” the analyst added.  

According to the economist, the US household debt that is about $15 trillion represents a crucial issue for the standard of living in the country. 

“Everybody is loaded up with debt, and it’s not like we began this monetary experiment without much debt. We had a lot of debt in 2008. In fact, the financial crisis was about debt, it was about our inability to pay the debt that we had,” Schiff said.

With that debt bomb about to explode who is it that, as Trump says “should come to their senses?”  “We have more money than anyone” so we can just plow trillions more into the Pentagon’s war machine to build more and more worthless junk in a new cold war that could lead to a hot war.  After years of plowing money into the military industrial complex with absolutely no oversight, America is playing a losing hand.  From Tom Luongo at Gold Goats and Guns:

Excerpt:

Putin Lays Down the Law at Valdai

Every year Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the Valdai Economic Forum.  And each year his talk is important.  Putin isn’t one to mince words on important issues.  With tensions between Russia and the West reaching Cold War levels, Valdai represented the first time we’ve heard Putin speak in a long-form discussion since Helsinki and the events thereafter — IL-20, Khashoggi, etc.

So, this talk is worth everyone’s time.  And when I say everyone’s I mean every single person who could be affected by the breakdown of the U.S. political system and how that spills over onto Russia’s shores.  In other words, pretty much everyone on the planet.  Because what Putin did at Valdai was to lay down the new rules of conduct in geopolitical affairs.  He put the U.S. and European oligarchs I call The Davos Crowd on notice.


There is a limit to your provocations and attempts to undermine Russia.  So don’t cross that line.  The big quote from his talk is the one everyone is focusing on, and rightly so, Russia’s policy about using nuclear weapons.

It’s not that Putin’s stance was any different than in the past. Russia will strike back at an aggressor under any circumstance where the future of Russia is at stake.  It was his assurance that in doing so 1) it would be just and righteous “dying like martyrs” and 2) so swift and brutal the aggressors would “die like dogs” bereft of the chance to ask for salvation…

Those are strong words.  They are the words of a meek man.  And the word meek, as Jordan Peterson reminds us, describes someone who has weapons, knows how to use them and keeps them sheathed until they have no other option.  He was serious.  This is the very definition of meek…

Men like this are not to be tested too hard.  And Putin’s response to the shooting down of the IL-20 plane and its crew was to cross a bunch of diplomatic lines by handing out S-300s to Syria and erecting a de facto no-fly zone over Western Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Notice how there have been no attacks or even harsh language coming out of Israel or the U.S. in the past few weeks.  The failure of the British/French/Israeli operation to sucker Trump into an invasion of Syria is now complete.

And I’m convinced that Nikki Haley paid the price. 

Putin wasn’t boasting or grandstanding about Russia’s hypersonic weapons capability.  He told everyone they are deployed.  He did this to shut up the U.S. neoconservative chattering class who he rightly says whisper in President Trump’s ear that they can win a nuclear conflict with Russia.

They are insane.  And you have to treat them that way…

The Limits of Empire

Ultimately, Putin looked resigned, if confused, to the insanity emanating from U.S. policy.  But it’s obvious to him that Russia cannot get caught up in the tit-for-tat nuisances put up to derail Russia’s future.  He mentioned the Empire loses its way because it believed itself invulnerable or as my dad used to say about certain athletes, “He reads his own press clippings too much…”

Power is slipping away from the U.S. and Trump is both helping the process along while also trying to preserve the core of what’s left.  And no interaction during Putin’s talk was more indicative of his view of the U.S. empire than his interaction with a Japanese delegate who asked him about signing a peace treaty with Japan.

And Putin’s answer was clear.  It’s Japan’s pride and political entanglements that preclude this from happening.  Signing the peace treaty is not necessary to solving ownership of the Kuril Islands.  Russia and Japan are both diminished by having this obstacle in the way.  The issue can resolve itself after the peace treaty is signed.  The current state of things is silly and anachronistic and keep the divide between Russians and Japanese from healing.  Create trust through agreement then move forward.

That’s what is happening between Russia and Egypt and that is why Putin is winning the diplomatic war. And it’s why Trump is losing the diplomatic war.  Putin knows where Trump is.  He was there himself seventeen years ago, except an order of magnitude worse. 

The problems Trump is facing are the same problems Putin faced, corruption, venality, treason all contributing to a collapse in societal and cultural institutions.  Putin knows the U.S. is at a crossroads, and he’s made his peace with whatever comes next.  The question is have we?

How true, “Putin knows the U.S. is at a crossroads, and he’s made his peace with whatever comes next.  The question is have we?”  That indeed is the question.  However, with war mongers surrounding Trump convincing him that “we have more money than anyone” and that “we can prevail in a war against Russia” one must conclude that no, we have not made peace with whatever comes next.  For that reason the two parties must gin up fear and anger, as well as stoke political violence against each other for optimal sympathy for the devils.

They cannot rely on their horrific congressional record of tax cuts for the obscenely wealthy as our debt climbs past 21 trillion and our infrastructure collapses.  After all how do they justify the ginormous debt racked up in a war based economy that sucks a trillion dollars a year out of our economy while they threaten to slash earned benefits of Social Security and Medicare to pay for tax cuts?  The answer is, they don’t instead they must elicit Sympathy for the Devil.








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