There is a lack of reality in the Borgist Resistance

600px-Seal_Of_The_President_Of_The_United_States_Of_America_svg

" … enemies are defined very precisely under American treason law. An enemy is a nation or an organization with which the United States is in a declared or open war . Nations with whom we are formally at peace, such as Russia, are not enemies. (Indeed, a treason prosecution naming Russia as an enemy would be tantamount to a declaration of war.) Russia is a strategic adversary whose interests are frequently at odds with those of the United States, but for purposes of treason law it is no different than Canada or France or even the American Red Cross. The details of the alleged connections between Russia and Trump officials are therefore irrelevant to treason law.

This was true even in the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War. When Julius and Ethel Rosenberg handed over nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union, they were tried and executed for espionage, not treason. Indeed, Trump could give the U.S. nuclear codes to Vladimir Putin or bug the Oval Office with a direct line to the Kremlin and it would not be treason, as a legal matter. Of course, such conduct would violate various laws and would constitute grounds for impeachment as a “high crime and misdemeanor” — the framers fully understood that there could be cases of reprehensible disloyalty that might escape the narrow confines of the treason clause."  Washpost

———–

It seems to me that the Borgist Resistance is intent on removing President Trump from office and probably in this calendar year.  One must ask how they think they can do that.

– They are flirting with the idea of a charge of treason or espionage based on Trump's supposed subservience and surreptitious loyalty to Russia.  They face serious barriers to this ambition; 1.  They control neither chamber of Congress.  Controlling both is necessary to removing a president through impeachment by the House and trial in the Senate.  2.  What would be the charge?  IMO there is no plausible charge.  Thus far there is no publicly known evidence of collusion with Russian government and even if there were such evidence this professor of law does not think that would qualify as treason.  3. Common sense dictates that such collusion even of proven would not qualify as "espionage" which as a crime against the US is always about collecting information rather than covert actions. 

Since the impeachment/trial scenario is so implausible the Borgist Resistance is now contemplating the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution as a means of action against President Trump.

25th Amendment –

"Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President."

What's the chance of this happening?  IMO 0%

And … the Borgist Resistance seems blind to the continued loyalty of those who agree with the 9,000 people who rallied for Trump in Melbourne, Florida this week.  Does the Borgist Resistance really want to defy all those who would feel cheated by the removal of the president?  pl 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-treason/2017/02/17/8b9eb3a8-f460-11e6-a9b0-ecee7ce475fc_story.html?utm_term=.9986158b6ea2

This entry was posted in As The Borg Turns, government, Politics. Bookmark the permalink.

125 Responses to There is a lack of reality in the Borgist Resistance

  1. bks says:

    His unfathomable comment about Sweden at the campaign rally would seem to indicate a problem. In fact, why is he having a campaign rally at all?
    http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=31195

  2. turcopolier says:

    bks
    Thank you for serving as an example of the nuttiness of the Borgist Resistance. pl

  3. Cvillereader says:

    I have several family members who have never owned or shot a gun in their life, who have decided that now is the time to make the purchase, get the license, and take the necessary lessons.
    All of them are affluent, in their fifties, and live in deeply blue states. They also voted for Trump.
    The Resistance should carefully consider how long they will be permitted to continue their antics, without encountering a backlash from people who have a lot more invested in the future of this country than they do.

  4. Wrxrally says:

    Bks, its amazing how easily Trump can make his make his opponents dance on cue with an irrelevant comment. All he has to do is make an outlandish comment and you guys jump on it like vultures. Like the inaguration crowd sizes, EC biggest landslide since Regan, Conway’s “alternative facts” etc. It drives his opponents crazy, while real policy issues are largley ignored. Trump is succesfully trolling you and you don’t even realize it, you take the bait, every time. While his opponents gleefully mock some stupid thing Trump said, most Americans could not care less, they want jobs and security and are hopeful Trump will deliver. Trump is succesully isolating his opponents and making them look hysterical and childish. These are not gaffes, he did it througoht the campaign, and its still working like a charm.

  5. bks says:

    And Trump’s comment wasn’t nutty?

  6. jld says:

    Sorry but I can only reiterate my assessment of MOST lefties.
    “hostile deranged idiots”
    To me, not an American, this is the most important consequence of Trump election, discovering so many people were gone to the nutty side and how far they were.
    I would never have guessed from their ordinary conversations, whatever disagreements I could have had with them.

  7. Thomas101st says:

    Trump’s comment was in regard to the fact that, as the result of the Muslim invasion, Sweden has become the rape capitol of the world. Not unfathomable at all. What IS unfathomable is that the members of the Swedish government responsible for this have not been arrested, prosecuted, and executed for treason.

  8. I think the Borg just wants rid of Bannon.

  9. bks
    The problem is that DJT misconstrued what he heard on Fox News — not to be confused with Faux News.
    As to the rally, my only complaint is that tax-payer money was wasted on aviation fuel to fly POTUS, via Air Force One, to a political rally — this has long been a pet peeve of mine.

  10. Valissa says:

    A tale of two female liberal Hillary voters and lifelong Dems and what they think now about Trump and current events.
    These are the only 2 friends that I can somewhat discuss my own non-partisan political viewpoints with and who are receptive to the information I share about the true nature of our gov’t and politicians and where the US is now in the larger historical context. Both are females in their late 60’s. Both have long been into ‘self awareness’ and spirituality, which is how I connected with them originally. Both expressed much disgust about Trump during and after the election. Like the great majority of Americans, neither of them reads alternative news sources or political blogs, either through lack of interest or lack of time.
    One of them has finally realized the media is not to be trusted, is avoiding news headlines, and she is a bit freaked out and very turned off by all the hysteria and the way the Democrats have been acting. This plus her increasing recognition that the Dems have become a corporate-owned war party have effected her such that she is no longer sure she is a Democrat anymore. She still doesn’t like Trump, but her lips no longer curl in deep disgust when we discuss him. She is trying to take and wait and see attitude. She is a very sweet and gentle person by nature, and a massage therapist. She grew up in California in a middle class family and now lives down the street from me in a Boston suburb.
    The other friend has a PhD in psychology and did a stint in the navy in the mid-late 60’s so that she could afford to go to college. She grew up in a large Catholic working class family in an old Massachusetts industrial city. She lives and works in Florida now and went to the first protest at Mar-a-Lago a few weeks ago. I asked her what she was protesting since Trump has not been in office long enough to actually change anything yet. Very uncharacteristically for her, she could not articulate it very well … she just wants Trump gone. When I asked her how she thought the protests would accomplish her goal she mentioned the protests of the 60’s and how that convinced LBJ not to run for another term. Then I gently challenged that belief and asked her a couple more questions to try and make sense of her current thoughts and feelings about Trump and why she thought protesting would change anything, but it was clear her rational mind was not engaged in the conversation so I changed the topic. She is caught up in the tribal hatred of “the Other” right now. She primarily gets her news from watching CNN in the morning as she is getting ready for work and again at night as she is getting ready for bed. She says she does not have time to read any online alternative news sources, though back in the 60’s protest era she avidly read the alternative newspapers and we have talked numerous times about propaganda in the media in recent years.
    IMO, these two women have both been experiencing cognitive dissonance around this election, but it’s pushed them in different directions. One has chosen to be part of the Resistance (and identifying even stronger as a righteous Dem) and the other has chosen peace and acceptance (is reconsidering her political affiliation, though she hasn’t left the party yet).
    I think these two women are probably representative of the choices millions of Democrats are making. The media is making a big deal about the Resistance because most of them are part of it, but I’m not yet convinced that membership in the Resistance is large enough to accomplish anything. I think it’s being magnified by the anti-Trump MSM. Also the so-called Resistance does not seem to have any goal other than getting rid of Trump. They are angry about election results and have no positive vision of their own as to how to improve the Democratic party and pull others into their fold.

  11. iowa steve says:

    Regardless of your feelings about Trump, impeachment/removal ain’t happening for the reasons stated.
    If the dems want to do something constructive in opposition to Trump, they need to offer concrete policy alternatives that deliver real economic benefits to the working and middle class–Medicare for all and a minimum wage increase would be good starts. But as the election showed, the dem elite is not interested in those things. Hence, the nonstop, non-policy oriented gibberish about Russia. It’s all they got.

  12. TV says:

    And the Borg (ruling class) apparently doesn’t know (or care) that those yahoo flyover Trump supporters are the ones who own most of the guns.

  13. Hood Canal Gardner says:

    bks, Come on in any other circumstance, admit it, you would not be listening or reading “rally” transcripts. You must have lots of disposable time .. but maybe not.
    To your Q “why is he having a campaign rally at all? For one mundane answer bts check his 2017 tax returns. I’ll bet you a quarter that his accountants claim a chunk of the cost numbers as deductible business expenses..

  14. JJackson says:

    pl
    1. They control neither chamber of Congress.
    Don’t they? While the Dems may be withering on the vine the Borg (adherents of the long standing US FP positions seem alive and well). Unless this is not the group you mean by ‘The Borg’. I note Bolton has reappeared on the Flynn replacement short list. I thought – or at least hoped – we had heard the last of him.

  15. eakens says:

    Just? If you believe that then I don’t know what to tell you

  16. Sam Peralta says:

    Col. Lang
    The Borg Resistance live so completely in their own echo chamber that they believe their own BS. One of the downsides of the vast information trove on the internet is that every conspiracy theory have all the information for confirmation bias. No longer are people in general seeking the truth or seeking information sources with limited bias. Most align with the information and sources that confirm their own bias. The MSM is fully dedicated in propagating the Borg groupthink. It seems we are in the interregnum between the death of the MSM as an outlet of real news and the rise of the next sources. SST is at the vanguard of this next epoch of news.
    Trump is unusually savvy about the use of media and communications to promote his brand. I don’t think he was particularly successful as a real estate developer but he was hugely successful in building a brand. I believe the preponderance of revenues of the Trump Organization come from brand licensing deals. His rally in Florida yesterday was I believe again masterful. He is giving his supporters a feeling of being part of something larger.
    The Borg is again making the same mistakes they made during the election campaign. Once again the stories are about a White House in disarray just like the stories earlier of a campaign in chaos. Trump with his fight back against the MSM is making them less relevant among large swathes of the people. The Democrats are so esconced in their DC/coastal/MSM bubble that they are making no effort to understand why they have steadily lost so many states over the past decade and becoming less and less relevant. It is quite possible that Trump will play a huge role in backing primary challenges to many GOP Borgists during the next mid-term.

  17. LeeG says:

    He needs some adulation and photo ops at Mar-a-Lago won’t support the Trump brand like Air Force 1 and cheering fans.

  18. b says:

    I don’t get why anyone would even think of blaming Trump (or Flynn) of any talk with the Russians.
    It is his publicly declared policy to seek better relations with Russia. That of course requires communication with it. Non-public communication for starters. Trump could have easily protected Flynn with just a few words: “I ordered him to explore some possibilities with Russia.” I still wonder why he did not do that. (He would have had better ways to get rid of Flynn who seemed way of his capabilities as NSA.)
    The Dems are currently behaving like that McCain dude. Ranting against Trump but enabling him on all real policy issues that actually could need active opposition. Its childish theater. Who do they hope to win with such nonsense?

  19. David E. Solomon says:

    If the Democrats and Trump’s other enemies proved successful in removing him, just how much would they like having a President Pence?

  20. Jason says:

    It will be Pence and McCain leading the charge to remove Trump. Since Trump has trolled Democrats into hysterics, they will join in even though it isn’t in progressive interests to remove him. I have been pushing my friends and associates hard to see the danger posed by Borg/Deep State actors and finally making headway. Strategically why not let the Republicans attempt to take him down? Why would anyone on the left prefer Pence to Trump?

  21. Ghostship says:

    “At Florida rally president refers to attack in Sweden that did not happen, possibly confusing it with Sehwan in Pakistan”
    The Guardian is being charitable and suggests he might be confusing wSweden with Sehwan in Pakistan where there was a major ISIS terrorist attack on a Sufi shrine last week. I wonder who hates Sufis enough to fund such an attack.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/19/sweden-trump-cites-non-existent-terror-attack
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/16/thirty-killed-100-injured-isis-bomb-sufi-shrine-pakistan-sindh.
    http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2014/11/wahhabism-isis-how-saudi-arabia-exported-main-source-global-terrorism

  22. Valissa says:

    Are Liberals Helping Trump? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/18/opinion/sunday/are-liberals-helping-trump.html?_r=0
    … for many Trump voters, even peaceful protests are unsettling. “I don’t have a problem with protesting as long as it’s peaceful, but this is destroying the country,” said Ann O’Connell, 72, a retired administrative assistant in Syracuse who voted for Mr. Trump. “I feel like we are in some kind of civil war right now. I know people don’t like to use those terms. But I think it’s scary.” Mrs. O’Connell is a registered Democrat. She voted for Bill Clinton twice. But she has drifted away from the party over what she said was a move from its middle-class economic roots toward identity politics. She remembers Mr. Clinton giving a speech about the dangers of illegal immigration. Mr. Trump was lambasted for offering some of the same ideas, she said.
    “The Democratic Party has changed so much that I don’t even recognize it anymore,” she said. “These people are destroying our democracy. They are scarier to me than these Islamic terrorists. I feel absolutely disgusted with them and their antics. It strengthens people’s resolve in wanting to support President Trump. It really does.” Polling data suggest many center-right voters feel the same way.
    ————

  23. Valissa says:

    Extreme Protest Tactics Reduce Popular Support for Social Movements https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers2.cfm?abstract_id=2911177
    Abstract
    Social movements are critical agents of change that vary greatly in both tactics and popular support. Prior work shows that extreme protest tactics – actions that are highly counter-normative, disruptive, or harmful to others, including inflammatory rhetoric, blocking traffic, and damaging property – are effective for gaining publicity. However, we find across three experiments that extreme protest tactics decreased popular support for a given cause because they reduced feelings of identification with the movement. Though this effect obtained in tests of popular responses to extreme tactics used by animal rights, Black Lives Matter, and anti-Trump protests (Studies 1-3), we found that self-identified political activists were willing to use extreme tactics because they believed them to be effective for recruiting popular support (Studies 4a & 4b). The activist’s dilemma – wherein tactics that raise awareness also tend to reduce popular support – highlights a key challenge faced by social movements struggling to affect progressive change.
    ————-

  24. TV says:

    I give Trump points for dumping Flynn.
    He lied,”misstated” to the VP.
    AND, Flynn either didn’t know – or didn’t care – that the Russian Amb. phone was tapped.
    So, he’s not the brightest bulb on the porch, either.

  25. Blrturner says:

    Col. Lang, as an African American woman I am tried of all tbe whining about how White people are upset about job lost. Every community has experienced job lost and evergy community needs to understand the jobs are not coming back. Everyone needs to understand a High School Graduate is not going to make 40-70 per hour in some mfg. Plant. Trump @ Boeing in SC ignored the fact many of the parts used are mfg. in other countries. Boeing Spply Chain is Global. Thats not going to change. Boeings customer are these same countries. Trump is a fraud. As usual White People blame “Other” in the end Trump is only interested in helping his family. He is man that does not feel empathy. This African American woman has heard enough and say,”White People” go to school, retrain, etc. And Please Stop Whinning”

  26. Stan P. says:

    First of all, you do understand this is not a campaign rally? He won the election and not yet running for 2020. Why did you use that term?
    Second, this was a very big story recently and I understand you don’t read these stories in the Borgist media. It’s been viral and maybe seen be Trump recently:
    Alleged gang rape shown on Facebook shocks Sweden
    Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY
    February 7, 2017
    Outrage and shock are spreading across Sweden over a case against three men of foreign origin arrested on suspicion of raping a woman and broadcasting it live on Facebook.
    Swedish authorities said Wednesday that the case against the unidentified men was “growing stronger” amid an increasing backlash against immigrants in a country that took in more asylum seekers per capita than any other nation in Europe last year.
    “There have been cases in Sweden before where crimes have been filmed and publicized on social media but not like this,” said Pontus Melander, chief prosecutor in the case in Uppsala, the city where the alleged incident took place in an apartment Jan. 22.
    “I have seen different cases around the world — but not sexual cases,” he added.
    The alleged crime in the Scandinavian country, which has one Europe’s highest recorded rates of sexual assaults, was live-streamed on a private Facebook page accessible to about 60,000 people.

  27. Fred says:

    bks,
    Yes the good professor of linguistics points out a trivial literal linguistic fact while purposely obscuring the point that a colloquial expressions such as “last Friday” might perhaps mean something other than Friday February 17th, 2017. Lord forbid the good Imam of the Intelegencia have a “conversation” with a deplorable who might point out that Trump may have been meaning this:
    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/02/08/alleged-gang-rape-facebook-shocks-sweden/97633012/
    Or this:
    https://www.rt.com/news/373853-sweden-no-go-zones-gangs/
    and he might mention the 60 minutes report too:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ1_6s5OFmM
    Looks like pattern recognition and confirmation bias are concepts not in the good professor’s indoctro-educational toolkit. Unfathomable indeed.

  28. Babak Makkinejad says:

    Boeing was forced to give that work to foreign countries so that they would become customers.
    In case of Japan, they have learnt enough to build their own smaller passenger airplane; that was the fear in Boeing 30 years ago.
    The global supply chain can be broken, it is not a Law of Nature, just another arrangement – economic in this case.

  29. Babak Makkinejad says:

    He was a liability in his explicit enmity to Islam.

  30. Fred says:

    Cvillereader,
    Big O is busy helping organize a coup in the DNC to get Keith Ellison as chair. I think that is likely to drive a wedge through the gordian not of KKKrazy glue that holds the party together. It is certainly not going to do anything positive for Hilary’s power and influence within the DNC.

  31. Fred says:

    Birturner,
    “not going to make 40-70 per hour in some mfg…”
    They never did. More like $20-25 plus benefits. Skilled trades in new UAW contract max out about $40/hour and there aren’t many of those around and there are plenty of UAW members in competition for them too.
    http://www.allpar.com/news/2015/09/the-uaw-contract-is-now-up-to-the-workers-30036

  32. hans says:

    The Dems, along w their allies in the MSM and the IC, are committing a cardinal political error these days; they’ve driven their troops in an hysterical charge without giving them a feasible, attainable goal. Impeachment is not going to happen, given the complexion of the House n Senate. In a while, outrage fatigue will set in, morale will bottom out, and if the Dems hope to rekindle the outrage they’ll have to come up with ever more outrageous outrages.
    Lyndon Johnson used to describe moving the electorate to do something as akin to the technique he used on the U.S. House – driving cattle. First you speak softly to ’em, even sing to ’em a little. You find the lead cow and put a bell on her, set her going in the direction you want the herd to go; pretty soon other cows’ll start following her. Then you get your outriders and dogs to start squeezing the herd from the sides and pick up the pace a little. Your corral is maybe 5 or 6 miles away, remember, so you better’ve strung some fence to make a funnel. When you’re within a mile or so you get your dogs nipping, crack your whips, bring in the stragglers, and stampede ’em.
    What the Dems are doing here is starting the stampede within the first mile, there’s no bell cow to lead ’em, there’s no corral and no guide wires, they pay no attention to your dogs cuz they’re moving too fast to even see ’em. Pretty soon your cattle are scattered all over hell n high country and it’ll take you forever to round ’em up again.
    And your main chance, the 2018 election? Long n forever gone.

  33. Valissa says:

    I expect the popcorn industry will see big growth in the coming years 😉

  34. Valissa says:

    Leaked Emails: Dem State Leaders Think Obama’s New Organizing Army is ‘Grade A Bullshit’
    Organizing for Action was supposed to complement the Democratic National Committee. Instead, Democratic leaders say, it nearly killed the Democrats.
    http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/02/17/leaked-emails-dem-state-leaders-think-obama-s-new-organizing-army-is-grade-a-bullshit.html

  35. turcopolier says:

    birturner
    I am sorry but for me to think you are a real person would be racist. I leave it to others to respond. pl

  36. Jack says:

    b said…
    I don’t get why anyone would even think of blaming Trump (or Flynn) of any talk with the Russians.
    b, as you know the Borg doesn’t want any rapprochement with Russia. So they have to rant and rave and drive the fear factor with Trump is a cossack in disguise.
    I would take seriously when Trump says he’d like to do a deal with Putin and discount what Pence, Mattis, etc. say.

  37. wisedupearly says:

    Pence does a few more presidential tours while Trump holds rallies with ever decreasing numbers attending. The Borg keep feeding Trump’s obsession with the media and Washington elite, Trump stays for longer periods in Florida, is unable to complete his cabinet. Nightly news would keep pounding away at Trump’s isolation and questionable behavior. Mental confusion/exhaustion might be the term they use.
    Pence will graciously take over until Trump recovers. Once he is in a hospital he will never quite recover. Videos carefully leaked will show someone really sick.
    At some point Trump has to shut the Borg down and he can’t do that from Mar de Largo. Can he survive by whipping up his supporters and having them march on Washington? He would need mass rallies with millions in every major city.
    Which in my opinion he is not going to get.

  38. turcopolier says:

    wisedupearly
    Dream on. pl

  39. Wrxrally says:

    Right, only the “oppressed black woman” has the right to whine. You still dont get it do you? Nobody cares if you are a black woman, it gives no validity to your arguments. Race-baiting and all the other social justice BS is why the Democrats lost,we are sick of it. This has nothing to do with race.

  40. wisedupearly says:

    you are joking. Pence would be a lot worse for the country. Good for the Borg but not the country.

  41. VietnamVet says:

    Colonel,
    There is definitely a coup ongoing to switch the nationalistic ideology of the White House back to corporate globalism. What happens depends 100% on the Republicans. The globalist Republicans are headed by John McCain and Lindsey Graham. There are 60 members of Congress are in the Tea Party caucus. They won’t be turned. The Democrats are powerless unless a GOP faction needs their votes. The question is what will the corporatist Republicans like Paul Ryan do? I think they are smart enough to realize that an Impeachment will start a 3rd American Revolution and permanently split their party if they live long enough. On the other hand, their global paymasters want Donald Trump gone. Corporate Republicans may try to manage perceptions with the media’s assistance to convince the American public that the President is insane and elevate Mike Pence through the 25th Amendment but that is dangerous without obvious cause.
    Although the Democrats are powerless, they can’t admit it. They avoid mentioning their support of offshoring jobs and looting the middle class. They are purposefully stoking the fires for a war with Russia. This is why Globalists pay them big bucks. This causes horrendous cognitive dissonance among progressives. If they face the truth, they realize there is no way of returning their world to sanity. Americans are in a similar position as the Greeks. The only way Greeks can throw off the yoke of the European Central Bank is to revolt and invite the destruction of their society.

  42. ex-PFC Chuck says:

    Valissa, do you know what your two friends’ preferences were in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination? Hilary or Bernie?

  43. ex-PFC Chuck says:

    With regard to what they might be accomplishing, from their Borgillionnaire funders’ prespective, every day the Resistance goes on is another day that Democratic grass roots activists don’t do any self-reflection on why the party did so badly.

  44. ISL says:

    Dear Colonel,
    Thanks for your piece. As (sadly very) few commenters here have noted, Trump is playing the media and the Dems/liberal class and many of the responders – see focus on the trivial while missing the point –red flag in front of a bull named snowflake.
    Trump calls the media the enemy of the American people – does he believe that? I am sure he doesn’t – you do not rise to be a billionaire without understanding power and its application.
    Who is the media? The major media is just a mouthpiece – for the media owners (six companies) and the Deep State. Currently the Deep State has elements who are leaking information (true and false). I predict the media owners will find themselves soon facing anti-trust investigations and selective application of numerous SEC and other regulations. This will be effective in largely taming the media – but it is slow and time consuming process.*
    IMO Trump is following classic Mao strategy – (narrative of weakness) to flush out the old regime loyalists who are not respecting the election. There is a reason why he stacked his admin is Goldman and General heavy. Absent a strong powerbase of his own he will be destroyed. The Borgist #Resistance smells blood, which is making them crazy (Spirited Away – the River Spirit) and believes the US will revert to status quo as under Obama without complaint. They believe support for Trump is inflated – a popular Borg narrative.
    * I support freedom of the press, by which I do not mean public relations stenographers. The US no loner has a free and independent mainstream media – its oligarchically-owned after the extreme consolidation of the last few decades, reverting to its format in the 1920s when there was a similar Gini Index. New media will become more important, but billionaires (e.g., Bezos) will consider major media as a cost center and a good investment – ABC never reports on problems with Disney, and they rags will persist.
    In this light, net neutrality is very important.

  45. ISL says:

    Bitturner,
    Presuming your self description is accurate, google:
    Trump, Sharpton Image
    or
    Trump Jesse Jackson image
    and your see if your cognitive dissonance survives.

  46. Tyler says:

    Many people (including more than a few here) seem absolutely dead set on creating conditions that exponentially increase the odds of them being brought before a Deploreable’s Tribunal where someone like me passes judgment on whether you get to see another sunrise.

  47. Wrxrally says:

    Sir, there are rumors flying around that the reason some anti-trump politicians are so hysterical and acting irrationally is because many are afraid of being exposed as pedofiles. Robert David Steele (ex-CIA) is doing the rounds of the alt-media pushing this narrative. He claims among other things, that Epstein’s slave island was a mossad operation to blackmail us politicians. Do you have an opinion on this man’s (Steele) reputability?

  48. Valissa says:

    Both Hillary supporters, who expressed admiration for her competence and sympathy for how hard her political journey has been. They both “identified” with her.

  49. Jack says:

    While you may wish what you penned comes to fruition, Trump’s supporters who elected him are pleased with what they see.
    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-19/ap-asked-trumps-supporters-how-feel-about-his-war-press-what-it-found
    Just like the election every one is going to be surprised at how strong Trump is relative to his cabinet. He’s unlikely to be rolled on issues he really cares about.

  50. sid_finster says:

    No black people work in factories?

  51. optimax says:

    Jeff Bezos owns Amazon and the Washington Post and Amazon has a $600 million contract with the CIA. This makes it a perfect conduit for Borgist propaganda.
    http://www.blackagendareport.com/wp_under_amazon_cloud

  52. Bandolero says:

    All
    I think the best way for Trump to respond to the treason-for-speaking-with-Russia-nonsense would be to order an investigation of direct or indirect collaboration of US citizens and officials, and foreign officials, too, with Al Qaeda, especially in Syria, or threaten such an order for that matter.
    I think helping Al Qaeda would be factually, juridically and politically much more fertile ground than the talking-to-Russia-witchhunt, wouldn’t it? As far as I understand the US is at war with Al Qaeda, so the laws of treason may apply here?

  53. Babak Makkinejad says:

    Steel-workers did in late 1970s early 1980s.

  54. wisedupearly says:

    wrong, that scenario is not my wish at all.
    Several of Trump policies are essential to our survival such focusing on American jobs, illegal immigration, rebuilding the infrastructure, getting out of stupid wars, straightening out the military weapons programs.
    I really hope he can succeed.
    If Pence replaces him we lose the country.

  55. Cortes says:

    Well said.
    And maybe toss a few jalapeño peppers into the mix by beginning an investigation into the rethink on this guy’s incarceration:
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Pollard

  56. David says:

    Sweden should do what is done in Australia, which is that dual-nationals involved in serious crimes can have their Australian citizenship revoked. This has happened to at least a few involved in terrorism abroad and there was also case in Sydney where a whole family was deported because of multiple felonies by two teenage brothers.

  57. David says:

    Degringolade,
    Don’t you mean it the other way around as it were
    the populist Gracci brothers who were assassinated by the Roman “Borg”.

  58. Stan P. says:

    Lol, Tyler de Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor. But you can’t joke like this because the Xanax-dependent neurotic liberals will start running stories that Trump has restarted the Inquisition. All joking aside, the people populating the Acela corridor better dial back their BS before they open an apocalyptic scenario ending in rivers of blood or a glass field in that same corridor.

  59. Sam Peralta says:

    A very good idea to identify all those that have given aid, comfort and material support to the radical islamist jihadi enemy. Love to see Jake Tapper & Chuck Todd come to their defense.

  60. Tyler says:

    Stan,
    The problem is these idiots are going to meme in the Ninth Crusade and the Pinochet regime with their hyperventilating.
    Personally I prefer “Archon” or “Alastor” if I need a title.

  61. Scylla says:

    Just thought I would point out that Sweden defines and reports rape differently than other nations (Ask Assange). They do not necessarily have more or fewer actual instances of sexual assault than other nations. They are the exact opposite of nations like the US that do everything they can to discourage the reporting and prosecution of sexual assault.

  62. optimax says:

    The following quote from Trump is from a 2002 magazine article profiling Jeff Epstein, six years before he served time for soliciting an underage girl for prostitution.
    Epstein likes to tell people that he’s a loner, a man who’s never touched alcohol or drugs, and one whose nightlife is far from energetic. And yet if you talk to Donald Trump, a different Epstein emerges. “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy,” Trump booms from a speakerphone. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it — Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
    This doesn’t mean Trump indulged in Epstein’s underage brothel but Trump was being sued by a Jane Doe for him raping her at Epstein’s when she was 13. Trump’s past associations with sleazy characters {thew owner of a helicopter service he contracted with was busted for moving massive amounts of cocaine and Trump wrote a letter to the court vouching for his character} is hardly mentioned in the press.
    I have no conclusion, just doubts about our prez or any prez we’re allowed to have.

  63. Bandolero says:

    Cortes
    I think it wouldn’t be clever to mix the subjects of who supported Al Qaeda with Israeli spying in an initial investigation on who supported – or still supports – the Al Qaida enemy. That would only put wide open the door for Borginst allegations of a biased enquiry regarding the support of Al Qaeda while damaging perspectives for Major Tulsi Gabbard’s “Stop Arming Terrorists Act.”
    But, of course, if an investigation ordered by Trump would somehow come to the conclusion, that there are indications that Israeli officials somehow supported or support Al Qaeda, than, I think, Trump would be well positioned to order an investigation of possible Israeli spying in the US, including the circumstances of Pollard’s pardon.
    With regard to possible Israeli support for Al Qaeda, I think an investigation may start with a JPost article September 17, 2013. The relevant text there reads, quote begin:
    ‘”Tehran-Damascus-Beirut arc is the greatest danger,” says outgoing Israeli envoy to US Michael Oren. … “The initial message about the Syrian issue was that we always wanted [President] Bashar Assad to go, we always preferred the bad guys who weren’t backed by Iran to the bad guys who were backed by Iran,” he said.
    This was the case, he said, even if the other “bad guys” were affiliated to al-Qaida.’
    Quote end. Source: http://www.jpost.com/Syria-Crisis/Oren-Jerusalem-has-wanted-Assad-ousted-since-the-outbreak-of-the-Syrian-civil-war-326328
    Well, to me it sounds like that the Israeli ambassador to the US told the world there, that Israel wanted the officially declared US enemy of Al Qaeda to win. I find that a remarkable statement from a close US ally, even more so from an ambassador of an ally having a “special relationship” receiving billions of Dollars of US military aid each year.
    So for the US Israel seems to be an ally which wants the enemy of the US to win. I think if President Trump would explain this situation to his people – who usually love Israel – he could make American voters understand that this is something quite contrary to what it should be.

  64. different clue says:

    Valissa,
    I think the #theResistance is an undercover Clinton Restoration group. All the Clinton/Obama people already knew eachother and had their connections and linkups in place. They have rushed out this #theResistance to get DemParty citizens rounded up and serving the Clinton/Obama party lords early. The #theResistance leader-planners hope to occupy so much brainspace that the “Berniecrats” are denied any space to entrench and grow outward from.
    Keeping the DemParty controlled by the DLC Free-Trade Wall Street Democrats is the goal of #theResistance. “Getting rid of Trump” is just the organizing hook and loyalty reinforce.

  65. different clue says:

    David E. Solomon,
    The DLC Wall Street Democrats would prefer a President Pence over a President Trump. Pence supports Cold War 2.0 with Russia, Free Trade Agreements, and regime change in Syria and probably elsewhere just like they do.
    Any impeachment effort will have to be aborted in the House. Because if the House is permitted to vote for Articles of Impeachment and send them to the Senate, enough mainstream Republican and mainstream Democratic Senators will vote to impeach that he would be removed. So it has to be prevented from passing the House.

  66. different clue says:

    Fred,
    Why would Obama want Ellison to be DemParty Chair? Doesn’t Ellison oppose Obama on several important issues? Isn’t Perez more
    DLC/Free Traderite/anti-Russianitic than Ellison?

  67. different clue says:

    Cvillereader,
    In reading this, I note that the biggest thing OFA is organized to agitate about is “protecting Obamacare”. Since Obama expected to earn a lot of gratitude-reward money from the different medical-industrial-insurance players for getting Obamacare passed, perhaps he sees those payoffs threatened if Obamacare gets repealed. Perhaps his owner-sponsors have privately told him that he has to make sure Obamacare stays the law if he wants to get any of the money he is expecting.
    That would explain to me why he cares so much. Its all about the money . . . the “his” money which he has been expecting for a job well done over these last 8 years.

  68. different clue says:

    Birturner,
    Your comment is so full of grammatical mistakes and misspellings that I wonder if you are really an African American woman at all. I wonder if you aren’t some kind of “performance satire” troll.

  69. OldCoastie says:

    Geez, Stan P., all joking aside, who exactly is gonna mete out this punishment on the Acela corridor? Trump? His supporters? I keep seeing stuff like this but am never sure who is going to do the dirty deed.

  70. Bill H says:

    Removal of Trump from office does seem unlikely, but the behavior of “The Resistance” seems odd to me even in calling themselves that. “Resistance” is what one does against a totalitarian government. In a democracy, the minority is still part of government, both in the legislature and in the electorate.
    They are on the losing side of an election and have the expressed goal of delegitimizing and removing the winner, in which case we would pretty much have to quit pretending to be a democracy. Elections in which only one outcome is accepted are the kind of thing that is done in, for instance, Syria.

  71. David says:

    My apologies Degringolade,
    I read the tweet backwards.

  72. jld says:

    Thank you for the laugh.

  73. I think for once we’re ahead of the American press in the anti-Trump campaign:-
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-39015559
    We’ve got Chairman Mao and Stalin lined up. You’d better hurry up and get Pol Pot and Tony Blair before they’re taken. Or is that going a little too far?

  74. Jackrabbit says:

    To paraphrase Nuland: “F*ck the Left”
    “The Left” doesn’t matter anymore than “the EU”. Other than a few progressives, “the Left” has been betrayed, marginalized, mocked, hippy-punched into submission by the Centrist Hillary-Obama Democratic Party establishment.

  75. Jackrabbit says:

    1. There is an old, but still valid law, that makes it illegal for a private citizen to interfere in a US dispute with another country. Hence the focus on whether Flynn spoke with the Ambassador about SANCTIONS.
    2. If Trump ASKED Flynn to talk with the Ambassador about sanctions, he could be guilty of a crime. That would put Trump at risk of being removed by impeachment.
    3. If Trump had tried to retain Flynn because Trump favors peace with Russia, that could put Trump at risk of removal via 25th Amendment. The reasoning going like this: Trump is compromised by Russia’s help during the election (as determined by US intel agencies) and demonstrates this by retaining Flynn who (allegedly) committed a crime.
    For the reasons above, I believe that Flynn resigned to protect Trump and Trump had no choice but to accept Flynn’s resignation.
    (PS I’ve written about this on your blog b.)

  76. Jackrabbit says:

    I’ve always thought that a 25th Amendment removal was more likely because Trump is too good at communicating to the people. My view was reinforced by his performance at the recent news conference. Impeachment takes weeks, if not months – during which Trump can appeal to the people. 25th Amendment happens within hours.
    Flynn’s resignation has greatly reduced the threat from supposed Russian connections. But those supposed connections will still dog Trump.
    The Borg’s not having a majority in Congress is incorrect. The Democrats will all vote against Trump and many Republicans would prefer Pence.
    Now that we’ve seen Pence & Co. in Munich, I am wondering if Trump will ever be allowed to actually meet with Putin (still no date set for that!).

  77. Valissa says:

    dc, I wondered that too.

  78. Tyler says:

    Coastie,
    You’re right. No one can leave their backyard to smash a wasp’s nest. Or maybe the Acekea Corridor has a force field that only lets the goodthinkers in?
    This question is so silly it sounds like you’re whistling past the graveyard.

  79. Matthew says:

    Tyler: Are you auditioning for the part of Bain in the Batman series?
    Seriously, do these apparatchiks really believe that Trump supporters will quietly accept this coup?
    I’m a lot more afraid of the so-called smart people than I am of Trump.

  80. ked says:

    I see it growing likely that the dynamic that will deflate the Trump admin will be a common one of populist movements. Implosion within, among contending cliques. This is more commonly a purification dispute. With Trump it will be more an expression of his character (autocratic, self-referencing) through over-dependence upon a restricted circle of family & staff. He evidences idiosyncratic and significant-probability failure modes, & faces institutional rejection. He’s easy to read, so the Law of Large Numbers (call it the Borg if you like) will find its way around him (& it’s way past time to forget the WH PC, pay attention to political satire). I expect him to break under self-induced load.

  81. Lefty says:

    Thanks for what sounds like genuine LBJ political process insight. It’s as applicable today as it was 50-75 years ago. What happened to the profanity?

  82. Petrous says:

    If interested
    A recent post on the informed comment blog by Prof. Juan Cole shes some light on the Sweden comment by Mr. Trump and other statements made by him and others about crime & immigration linkage .
    http://www.juancole.com/2017/02/invents-sweden-immigrant.html

  83. Jason says:

    And good riddance to it! I have been enjoying the process of rebuilding. Thanks to Trump for finishing it off.

  84. Tyler says:

    Matthew,
    I could probably die happy if I got to ask Friedman/Graham/Kristol/Kristoff “Do you feel in charge?”

  85. OldCoastie says:

    Tyler, I’m not trying to be silly. I really want to know. If someone is going to nuke NY City, I’d like to warn my niece. Thanks.

  86. different clue says:

    Lee A. Arnold,
    The Borg wants Cold War 2.0 with Russia.
    The Borg wants serial regime change operations overseas.
    The Borg wants more Free Trade Agreements.

  87. Tyler says:

    Ked,
    Ah the newest iteration of “Trump will never win the primary!”
    Meanwhile the man has turned the spotlight on the problem with rapefugees in Sweden and the fake news is busy handwaving away hand grenade attacks as no big deal.

  88. VietnamVet says:

    Tyler,
    Steve Bannon’s 3rd American Turning was the New Deal. There was no revolt in the USA for the simple reason that FDR was a traitor to his class, the Bolshevik Revolution was within living memory, and smart people agreed to redistribution of wealth to avoid a Red firing squad. This led to the great economic boom that lasted until redistribution started to end during the Ronald Reagan era. This will not be the case for a 3rd American Revolution. It will be very much like the revolt America supported in Syria. If you look like a recruit for the gang with the rifles, you may have a chance to convert. If not, you are a dead duck.
    The real question is what will happen to the US military and its nuclear weapons if WWIII is avoided. They are naturally conservative and support existing institutions. On Herbert Hoover’s orders, General Douglas MacArthur crushed the Bonus Army. But, if the wealth inequality continues to grow and corporate supranational institutions supersede democratic nations; at some future point, the USA will split apart and the Praetorian Guard with their families will end up inside corporate defense berms.
    Eric Prince (Betsy DeVos brother) is setting up training centers for a privatized army to protect Chinese overseas interests:
    https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/betsy-devoss-brother-is-setting-up-a-private-army-for-china?utm_term=.shLVmDKGLl#.qb2NKlXGwa
    The Left-Behinds outside business protection rings will revert to their tribal origins. Chaos will reign in the no man lands unless People Protection Units or Religious Police squads arise to protect the surviving communities in the new Dark Age.

  89. turcopolier says:

    raven
    To what Tylerism are you referring? pl

  90. turcopolier says:

    Tyler, Raven and Oldcoastie
    You all have tried my patience too far. pl

  91. turcopolier says:

    OldCoastie
    What the hell are you talking about? Nobody want to bomb New York City except a few half assed anarchists. pl

  92. Kurt Van Vlandren says:

    I wouldn’t feel cheated if he were booted. I’d feel relieved.

  93. turcopolier says:

    Kurt Van Vlandren
    I hope to god that you are foreign so that I can feel better about your total disrespect for the constitutional order in the USA. pl

  94. Fred says:

    DC,
    The DLC is very much a Clinton organization . Obama and Ellison want to have the power and influence over the party organization, just like the Clinton’s enjoyed these past many years.

  95. Fred says:

    Babak,
    NAFTA+EEOC+an end to competency testing. I was making the point of not conflating the gross income earned from a great deal of overtime pay with a pay-rate that gives one a $100K a year base income.

  96. TonyL says:

    Col,
    It is a difficult task to referee these exchanges. I would suggest you forbid them to respond to each other comments. They can post whatever, but if they respond to each other then you’d ban them for a week or so. The comments from raven and Tyler are interesting when they are not part of these chidish arguments.

  97. Fred says:

    James,
    The Greeks sure wouldn’t have any money to pay those refugees bills if they did so. Thus they would be forced to move on, or move back home.

  98. Jack says:

    All
    More fake news – Swedish edition.
    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-20/meanwhile-rioting-breaks-out-sweden
    Looks like POTUS was on to something.

  99. turcopolier says:

    Tony L
    An excellent suggestion. pl

  100. LeaNder says:

    EO,
    you can go back to the French revolution’s “ennemi du peuple” or further back to the Romans. Nero?
    The Germans changed it to ‘traitor’ or ‘betrayer of the people’ starting in the failed 1848 March Revolution, it was then picked up by Marx and Engels and later frequently used by the Nazis too. Although Marx and Engels used “enemy of the working class” (Klassenfeind) more frequently. On the other hand isn’t that what Trump claims he has in mind? 😉
    Nothing new under the sun:
    https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennemi_du_peuple#Origine
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_of_the_people
    Trump surely doesn’t exhibit linguistic sensibility. The BBC author does not have historical sensibility for his subject either. To that extend I agree with you. 😉

  101. VietnamVet says:

    James
    Perhaps it is propaganda, but I have no doubt that the Euro Zone will destroy Greece if they think it is their best interest to avoid a contagion of bad debt. Also, Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism says that introducing a new currency is very difficult: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/02/why-central-bankers-should-not-be-trusted-with-money-greek-exit-edition.html
    Greece was brought to its knees in 2015 in a standoff with the EuroZone when their banks were closed. The Greek radical left party in power caved and implemented more austerity. One reason for the restart of the Cold War 2.0 with Russia is to prevent the rise of a new reserve currency and the One Belt, One Road in Eurasia that Greece could join as an alternative to the EU and NATO.

  102. different clue says:

    VietnamVet,
    I have an interpretational quibble to offer. I hope it is not too niggling and small.
    FDR’s fellow super-rich people called him a Traitor To His Class, and they hated him for it. He himself always felt he was the Savior Of His Class. He oversaw the legalization and legislation and regulation of enough reforms so as to give people hope and set the stage for feeling that hope was fulfilled. The steam was taken out of revolutionary (Communist) and populist ( Huey Long) movement.
    I remember reading an FDR statement once. I will do my best to remember the exact words right. ” The rich are like a fellow who, having been rescued from drowning, berates the lifeguard for not having rescued his hat as well.”
    By the way, that item about Prince training up a private Chinese army to defend Chinese interests overseas confirms my feeling that the OBOR should be regarded as the COBOR-CPS. ( Chinese One Belt One Road Co-Prosperity Sphere).

  103. We are already in Cold War 2.0 with Russia.
    I don’t know which country “serial regime change” refers to, so pick one.
    Trump thinks he’s going to succeed at one-on-one trade agreements with different countries, but they may think it’s a waste of time, and meanwhile investment money would start leaving the U.S. for better profits elsewhere, sticking the U.S. consumers & taxpayers with higher interest rates.

  104. Tyler says:

    OC,
    Who said anything about nukes?

  105. shepherd says:

    Col Lang,
    My guess is she’s a real person who grew up speaking Trinidadian Creole.

  106. different clue says:

    Lee A. Arnold,
    We are still early enough in the opening stages of the Cold War 2.0 rollout that we can still walk it back under the right leadership. The Russian leadership is prepared to consider rational renormalization of relations with the US if Trump is equally prepared to consider rational renormalization with the RF. I voted for Trump in hopes of helping that happen.
    Hillary the Borgist would have renewed and redoubled the effort to work with Turkey, KSA, Qatar and anyone else to support the Cannibal Leaver Eating Jihadis in toppling the government of the Syrian Arab Republic and spreading the ISISlamic Caliphate of Jihadistan all the way to the Mediterranean coast. She would also have redoubled efforts to support the Banderazi Coup Regime in Kiev to conquer and subdue East Ukraine. That’s two countries right there. I voted for Trump to abort the re-double-down on those two missions.
    Trump envisions “fair” trade agreements country by country as AGAINST Forced Free Trade Agreements like TTP, TTIP, etc. He has announced the American pullout from TTP. I voted for Trump to get all such Multilateral Corporate Globalonial Plantation Agreements rejected and he has already rejected a major one.
    The Borg is upset at way more than “Bannon”.

  107. different clue says:

    Valissa,
    Notice how the “birturner” had its cover blown early and hasn’t been back.

  108. different clue says:

    shepherd,
    I don’t know Trinidadian Creole. I can only guess that it has the same internal consistency and coherency as any other language.
    So I gave the “birturner” comment another look. I can’t find any consistency and coherency at all in the use of words or the kind of spelling and typo mistakes.
    The “birturner” still looks like a performance satire troll to me.

  109. OldCoastie says:

    In my experience, referring to a “glass field” is a reference to the use of nukes.
    ” All joking aside, the people populating the Acela corridor better dial back their BS before they open an apocalyptic scenario ending in rivers of blood or a glass field in that same corridor.”
    Now Stan P. has asked us to take him seriously, so I am offering that courtesy. Perhaps, Tyler, you could let him answer for himself?
    My very lovely neighbors next door store 20,000 rounds of ammo in their garage. They go to the range twice a year and shoot for an hour. While I understand that they are very afraid, I do have to wonder who are they planning on shooting with all those bullets? They certainly don’t seem to be the type of people who would go on a shooting rampage, so who EXACTLY are they planning on shooting? I cannot wrap my mind around any scenario where 20,000 bullets, used by 2 people would be warranted. It’s a mystery to me. These are smart, well educated, highly employed, older people. I’m sure having all those bullets make them feel safe. But how that works out in reality, I just can’t imagine.
    When Stan or others threaten that NY or California or some other stated place that appears to contain too many light in the loafers/multiculties for someone’s taste, and needs to be seized or nuked or whatever, I have to wonder, who do you expect to cause this tragedy? Seriously! How does this work?
    And like my neighbors, I wonder how you come by so much fear of people not like you? It mostly seems tragic and sad.

  110. turcopolier says:

    OldCoastie
    “I wonder how you come by so much fear of people not like you? It mostly seems tragic and sad.” How clever! You manage to suggest that your neighbors ae simple minded fools without actually saying it. Well, troll, you are one hin ice. pl

  111. Tyler says:

    Stan,
    He’s talking about the Borgists starting nuclear war with Russia. I am talking about the Deploreable People Tribunal lining up the NYT Op-ed board for a one way live fire demonstration. Keep up.

  112. It looks to me like ISIS is being fought back by a coalition of regional actors without many U.S. troops involved, and there is no reason to believe that Trump will change this. By now it is U.S. foreign policy, and Hillary would have done the same.
    Russia? I believe that I was the first person to point out — in comments on this blog, many moons ago — that Putin had an unstable southern border, and, given the majority residents in Crimea are Russian, we could imagine that any other country in the world (including the U.S.) would have considered the same border annexation. And I doubted what most other commenters here feared: that Putin would push all the way to Poland. Why? Because it would leave him with an unmanageable mess, wasting resources to rule the area. As far as I remember, I was the only one who got this right (so far).
    Similarly, I think Russia should work in the Middle East. It is their next-door, too. The U.S. and Russia have had a de facto working relationship on Syria for nearly 3 years. Do they have disagreements? Yes. That’s going to happen. Hillary would have been no different here, either. But Putin is not your friend, and neither is Assad.
    Trump supporters, other Republicans, & the Democrats too — you ALL follow your emotions. The facts are secondary. Then you fit the facts into your emotions, to support your emotions. You paint your pictures black and white. There is not much clear-mindedness here.
    On international trade? Answering that means writing a book, but the facts are: Trade agreements are about 3rd or 4th on the list of things that take U.S. jobs, and pretty small compared to the top things on the list.
    First is 1. technology. Manufacturing jobs are disappearing everywhere on the planet, and this has been happening for decades. The trade agreements barely changed the effect on jobs. It’s all being automated. Which is a good thing. We should go to 20-hour work weeks. The 40-hour work week was a piece of socialist labor legislation, and we should do another one.
    The second thing that takes jobs is, 2. policies favoring the richest U.S. people. They have too much input into these international trade agreements, they busted the unions, they got the workers angry at each other, they got themselves huge tax cuts, yet they can’t start enough new businesses. The “makers vs. takers” thing is baloney. Trump is already back to slicing it, thick.
    Anyway, the problem with one-on-one trade agreements (“bilateral” — as opposed to multilateral) is that you have to negotiate a LOT of different agreements. That takes too much time; businesses have more uncertainty; and pretty soon, you yourself have to campaign for the next election. Not only all of that, but each country that you negotiate with, is going to be wondering about all the OTHER trade deals you are doing with all the other countries, to make sure the others aren’t getting a better deal, so they don’t lose trade, and also so they can figure out how to negotiate their own deals with them. It’s a complicated negotiating nightmare.
    But still, it might have worked in the past. Not now. There is a new situation, with China.
    China is ready to start its own world trade organization. Xi announced it, the day after Trump’s election. They waited for the right moment. TPP (which should just be changed a little) was in negotiations for 6 years already — and that time is now gone, wasted. So, a lot of the U.S.’s old trading partners may say, “Forget the U.S. — and forget Trump! He cannot be trusted, and all the other countries are getting a better deal with China.” Trump and his advisors still believe that the U.S. is the kingpin of world trade, & so everybody will do the deals he wants. (Read for example, the opinions of his advisor Michael Anton.) But now China is the world exports leader. In addition, China has begun to spend money to pull ahead in technological development, so they are going to maintain their position, and gain traction as the U.S. pulls out.
    One of the ex-defense secretaries said that the TPP was worth an additional aircraft carrier in the Pacific.
    Worse still, U.S. retreat means less of the world will buy U.S. goods. That means that U.S. export industries (and U.S. jobs in the export sector) won’t get off the ground. That means that Wall St. financial capital, being internationally mobile, will go to some other country that gets better profits dealing with China. That means that U.S. interest rates will rise. And that means that you will pay more to buy a house or car.
    The U.S. can retract into itself (“nationalism”) — and that can work in the very long-term, because automation is developing to the point where any country can make anything for itself. But, there may not be a lot of new jobs.
    Take it by sector: Manufacturing is going the way of farming — very few jobs. Then there is the service sector, but that is pretty much topped-out because Obamacare increased medical coverage which already increased jobs in healthcare to the point where only a few more workers are needed there — so, not a lot more jobs. That leaves construction (including housing) and infrastructure. But these are financed by debt — housing by mortgages, and infrastructure by gov’t debt (& taxpayer repayment). Well, we know how mortgages turned out!
    So, infrastructure? Trump & the GOP can try to ramp-up the economy with a big infrastructure package (after not letting Obama do it!) but that means more gov’t debt. The only way around this is privatization of infrastructure, so that you will pay fees to private corporations when you use bridges and roads. (And they will probably stick the taxpayers with repairs.)
    Thing to do instead is 20-hour work weeks, get the private insurers out of healthcare and retirement and make it universal, increase taxes on Wall Street and put it to infrastructure, education, science & arts.

  113. LeaNder says:

    I didn’t check the facts, Fred, doubt I can. But it was news that the EU is ware of the issue. Gladly. They mainly ignored that “the South” obviously has more problems in this context for a very, very long time. Relaxing comfortably: on Schengen?
    But admittedly this doesn’t help Greeks. Someone I watch, recently indicated that Grexit would benefit only those that have never suffered. Although leaning in that direction slightly.
    Wondered if I should stop babbling, on the other side the theme surfaces in VV’s response somewhat on first check.

  114. shepherd says:

    different clue,
    That may seem logical to you, but language isn’t logical. Like a lot of people who grow up speaking a sociolect, she may be blending grammatical forms with the dominant language, especially when writing. Nonetheless, there are some tells. The phase “job lost,” which she uses twice, is a Trinidadian formulation. So is the use of abbreviations midstream (mfg. is used twice). Trinidadians write and speak a lot like American teenagers text.
    But it’s the sentiment that’s what makes me most suspect it’s Trindadian. She’s saying, you people are lazy, entitled, and need to quit whining and get a job. That’s not your average troll, but it’s exactly what a Trinidadian grandma sounds like.

  115. shepherd says:

    different clue,
    And for what it’s worth, it’s hard to thin-slice the dialect given the amount of text and the obvious lack of concern with getting it right. She could also be Bajan or Jamaican, or someone similar hanging out with lots of the other. The main thing is that there are world views that don’t fit neatly into our disputes. It’s quite possible to look at Trump’s America and not see it as a problem of global cultural elites vs. deplorables.

  116. different clue says:

    Lee A. Arnold,
    Thank you for taking the time to write a long and detailed reply to my comment. It deserves an equally long and detailed reply in return. Unfortunately for me I still have not gotten around to getting my very own computer so I still am screentime-limited to workplace computers on breaks or the public library computers at times. So I hope that other commenters may have detailed things to say in reply here. Perhaps I may be able to reply to one or another small part of your reply over the next few days.
    So for now, I would begin by saying that I thought I remember quite a few people here saying the Russiagov has and had no desire to invade or otherwise take over Poland, Ukraine, or other countries. But that is just my memory. If other people here remember having said that very thing, they might well decide to say so.
    As to Clinton and Syria, she was RUNNING on Safe Zones and No Fly Zones against Russia in Syria . . . in order to get Assad toppled. Did she run on that concept to specifically get ISIS into power in Damascus?
    I don’t think so. I think she would have been just as happy with an Alphabet Jihadi takeover of Damascus as long as the Assad government were destroyed. But I also believe she would have accepted an ISIS takeover as the price to be paid for toppling Assad, if ISIS would have been the successor state after Hillary’s Assad overthrow.
    You think she would have totally reversed everything she ran on in the campaign regarding Syria? Well alrighty then. Maybe you would have been right. I was not prepared to take the chance that a President Clinton would do the opposite on Syria of what she ran on doing in Syria. So I voted against her.

  117. mike says:

    Old Coastie –
    20,000 rounds was the Jedburgh standard ammunition airdrop to the French Maquis guerrilla bands.

  118. OldCoastie says:

    Tyler? You keep up. You were not able to recognize Stan’s reference to nuclear war. Enough. Too often on this site, the reference to civil war is promoted. I can never tell who is supposed to be killing who. If you think the Borgists will be the perpetrators or will start a nuclear war with Russia, then so be it.
    Please live happily with your fantasies.

  119. OldCoastie says:

    Colonel – they are not simple minded people at all. I’ve known them for many years, shared many Christmases with them. I am very aware of who and what they are afraid of. They are my friends and I still find it hard to understand why they arm themselves so heavily.

  120. turcopolier says:

    OldCoastie
    I have about a thousand rounds, bought on the internet. Am I also incomprehensible to you? Ammunition gets cheaper and cheaper as you buy larger lots. Are you an insurgent troll? pl

  121. AnR says:

    The city council of Richmond CA unanimously passed a resolution supporting the impeachment of President Trump for violating the emoluments clause. I’m not sure if they have a case but the sentiment is sure there.

Comments are closed.