Share your thoughts about Trump’s wild Arlington Cemetery ride and Harris’ very safe CNN interview… or whatever else tickles your fancy.
TTG
RSS- Black voters may have cast Virginia ballots in 1864
- The 2024 federal fiscal year ended. $35.46 trillion in debt. A $1.83 trillion deficit. $1.13 trillion in gross interest payments. The presidential candidates are silent.
- On the Lunatic Fringe
- Mars declared unsafe for humans to live as scientists explain why it’d never work
- “Does Russia face military collapse by 2026? Inside Ukraine’s strategic assessment”
- Open thread – 28 October 2024
- Israel launches airstrikes on Iran
- “US says evidence shows North Korea has troops in Russia for Ukraine war”
- Moldova’s Sandu secures knife-edge EU vote win
- “Leaked documents show US intelligence on Israel’s plans to attack Iran, sources say”
Americans on twitter
https://x.com/Truth__BTOLD/status/1829260205835817133
mcohen,
So what is the solution? Censorship?
Yes censorship or pruning.Too much of a good thing.
Telegram is a good example.Spreading military stratergy and secrets to non players reducing the element of surprise which is crucial in warfare.
Read my 42 sins poem.
The internet needs to be pruned.A I needs to be contained
Ray manzarek said it
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oi2-3J2_qEc
There is an election coming and interference by pipsqueaks needs to be curtailed,me included.
Wanna see my dripheads,i got dripheads by the dozen,straight from the oven,step right up.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A2_snSkpULQ
We must end freedom to save freedom says guy who can’t control himself
Uncontrol is similar in plasticity as uncut but an attributtal feature
Take the truth of a matter and thinly slice.verify and confirm as a whole.Then publish
Later
Separate said slices into many parts and reattach to lies in various forms with a a thin slice of truth attached.
One truth sliced up into 10 pieces and then each piece attached to 10 seperate lies gives credence to blackwater revivals.
Censorship on the revivals to protect the truth from being sliced up.Does that explanation work for you.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zUQiUFZ5RDw
I would like to once again recommend this interview by Tucker of Mike Benz (who was Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy a the state department):
https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1828918312069128268
It is largely about how ‘the Borg’ has turned their information operations apparatus, which they have used for years to influence the politics of other nations, and turned it to essentially do information operations on the USA.
I cannot recommend this interview enough.
The problem with Tucker is his lack of credibility that he has shown over and over. The idea of cabals and various conspiracies is not credible. They certainly do not stay secret for long. Most of us also know that getting a large group to all agree on any course of action is an uphill endeavor. The idea that one guy has all the goods is also suspect.
Lars,
51 intelligence profess though, …
The FBI, …
Hilary,….
Yes. That’s because the US as we knew it – the great Protestant nation that won WW2 – no longer really exists. It’s been hollowed out by Neo-liberalist economics and lunatic ex-Trotskyite warmongering neoconservatives. Most profound of all is the destruction or hollowing out of the American middle class which was fundamental to the success of American society. The situation today is analogous to an animal without a nervous system — that’s how vital an educated middle class is to the sort of society that led to American greatness. Morals and ethics reflect all this — they’re in the gutter. It’s a police-military state with 24/7 surveillance. Douglas Valentine, author of several books on the Phoenix project and organized crime has stated that the US Population has been subjected to a domestic Phoenix project since the days of the Patriot act.
F&L,
Well said. Good summary of the decline of the US via Washington DC, universities and big cities.
I think Benz is a combination of con artist and double agent.
1. He says enough things that are true to gain your confidence,
but then slides into claiming that U.S. foreign policy is dominated by economic interests.
Sure, sometimes those are significant, but nowhere near to the extent he claims.
And to claim that foreign policy dominates domestic policy is absurd.
See his “Domestic Policy Doesn’t Exist” (25:20)
2. For evidence of him being a double agent, see
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/michael-benz-rising-voice-conservative-criticism-online-censorship-rcna119213
E.g.
Or Google Mike Benz Frame Game.
3. There are efforts to conceal Jewish interests and influence.
Often by making excessive claims about the influence of the CIA (see Sundance at the Conservative Tree House),
or by making excessive claims about how economic factors are in control.
Of course, Marxism is a paradigmatic example.
My suspicion is Benz is an example.
For the accusation of being a double agent,
evidence is in a paragraph from the Newsweek article
that I mistakenly failed to quote:
Newsweek does not provide a reference for that that I could find.
Oops –
Nbcnews, not Newsweek.
You’re overthinking it times ten. Did you see the first 15 seconds of Tucker’s X video? It’s a panoply of retards, clowns, and criminals. For example Alex Jones and Trump’s sons are up.there. Mike Benz or whatever his name is one of that cavalcade of idiots. I commented “Yes” in the first line of my response to James comment, but it wasn’t meant in any way to be an endorsement of Carlson or Trump. America has been royally fucked but not by any fantasy of a “radical left” — not at all, the truth is opposite. It’s been fucked by neoliberal ultra-capitalism on steroids. The sight of a spoiled criminal rapist billionaire degenerate like Trump leading a disenfranchised middle class to a promised land is so silly I simply can’t find words for how laughable it is. And by the way, that doesn’t mean I think Kamala Harris or Joe Biden belong anywhere particularly other than jail. They are their own flavor of awful. The one thing the poor bozos following Trump understand however vaguely and inarticulately is that they’ve been screwed royally.
Ah, this seems to be the statement directly from Benz:
https://x.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/1710479185028726943
He is extremely detailed about his background,
and attacks the nbcnews article.
It is quite interesting.
James,
Yes. It is a good interview. Mostly accurate too, I think.
But a lot of Americans like the Borg. Walz/Harris are, like brain dead Biden, borg. Obama was borg as was Bush Jr. The one guy who is not borg is the most hated by the borg and its assimilates. Funny how that works.
When invited by the family to speak it is a ‘wild ride’. When you ignore the event entirely it is Presidential. I wonder what Walz taught the Chinese after the Tiananmen massacre ’cause ‘grammar’ is the reason for his stolen valor, not actually lying about it. “During that school year, Walz taught English and U.S. history to around 300 students…” (NPR) Grammar forgot the teacher.
Fred,
Your insinuating that Waltz is a traitor because he taught English in China is frankly bizarre. Because of Tiannamen square? What about Kent State or Jackson state? Or Daley’s Democratic convention in ’68? Or the 58,000 boys and men we sent to death in Vietnam for no reason at all other than LBJ’s ego and the profit margins of Bell Helicopter &c. You’re easily sophisticated enough to understand that US Government agents are sent overseas to teach English all the time — to get a feel for what’s going on by being close to the action. Someone could easily argue that what he did was brave and important. I don’t, by the way, mean to imply that I think he was a US agent, even though he was career Army/National Guard and just happens by some fluke of coincidence to be running for VP USA (mild dash of sarcasm). I’ve considered the possibility that you are simply determined for good reason to try to promote the Trump/Vance ticket and are merely grasping at hand a handy tool; something along the lines of “there’s a good 40% or more cranky old commie haters at large among probable voters so why not use this available ammunition?” There’s other possibilities too.
Signed,
Confused.
F&L:
“for no reason at all other than LBJ’s ego and the profit margins of Bell Helicopter &c.”
You know better.
It was the Domino Theory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domino_theory
Enough with these superficial arguments!
F&L and Keith Harbaugh –
I didn’t go there for LBJ and not for any domino theory either.
Communists were murdering and/or kidnapping teachers, priests, village chiefs and anyone who stood against them. It started out as a just cause, at least until B52s started flying. And until Dow and Monsanto provided agent orange so the US could copy the UK use of herbicides in Malaya.
By the way, it was Harry Truman’s administration that came up with the falling dominoes metaphor. It was before Ike and long before Viet-Nam.
Leith,
You didn’t want B-52s to drop lots of bombs on murdering commies?
Sounds like a good idea to me.
Eric –
They did good work around Khe Sanh. In NVN the smaller a/c from the Navy and Seventh Air Force did a a much better precision job of interdiction with only 2 or 3% of the ordnance dropped by B52s. Nixon & Kissinger used the 52s to get Hanoi back to the negotiating table and then sold out SVN and the 58,000 American GIs that died there.
I’m surprised your going after Walz. Consider the alternative VP, the mascara queen and cross-dresser JD Prance. As you know Bone Spurs Trump is a 78-year-old fat man in bad health. When he has a fatal coronary or his next stroke renders him into a vegetable it means the little fag, JD, presides in the oval office. Then the country will really be f*cked.
Dear Confused,
You understanding of english is as bad as good commie teacher Timmy’s grammar. Fear not though, Orange Man will win the rainbow flag vote. Much to the chagrin of the Indian black cat lady.
Leith,
The NVA invaded in ’75. Nixon was out of office and the Democrats still controlled Congress – which refused to provide assistance.
Fred –
The Case-Church Amendment of 1973, which stopped all assistance to Viet-Nam, was co-sponsored by Senator Clifford P. Case a Republican. It passed in the House by a vote of 325–86 with the aid of 113 Republican votes. It passed in the Senate by a vote of 73–16 with the aid of 32 Republicans. It was veto-proof with both parties voting for it so Tricky Dicky didn’t even bother to try a veto. So much for his promises to President Thieu.
Walz is the useful idiot’s – Kamala – communist party handler. It’s pretty obvious to anyone who isn’t a socialist or communist. Walz is always in the wrong place at the wrong time; in China during very public oppression, at home while his unit deploys to a combat zone for the first time, installing tampon dispensers in the men’s head while cities burn because one of his police departments applies approved techniques to felon overdose casualties, who he won’t defend.
The weekend warrior served, in total, about the equivalent – probably a little less – than an active duty enlisted four year tour. Other than play patty cake with commies and flaunt woke BS from the Gov’s mansion, what has the guy ever done?
Tulsi Gabbard six years ago:
https://x.com/acnewsitics/status/1828586884827881701
Now she accompanies DonOld on the town hall circuit for his campaign. People are asking: will she replace JD Prance as DonOld’s VP. After all, her mascara is much prettier applied than JD’s. And preps him for a debate with Kamala. But that debate may or may not happen – some are saying he has developed bone spurs on his tongue so may have to regrettably decline any dialogue with his opponent.
like a buncha others that have been buzzing around trump ever since he lucked into political power, Gabbard wants her some power too. & if she too is lucky, she just might getcher some. she’s certainly smart & driven. & her timing is right (& getting farther right). in fact, I think timing is just about everything this go-round. it’s a special kinda character that can take the heat that emanates from his… his… whatever. only hi-quality operators like Lewandowski & Flynn can hang in there for the long haul. well, he does need some political female to take over from Kari Lake in explaining the Women’s POV to him.
Leith –
My impression of Tulsi Gabbard from start to present in three words:
A hitter chick.
The hate and animosity is constant, everpresent and not even thinly concealed.
A female Colonel Noriega seems to be trying desperately to emerge. She’d like to take a machine gun to her audience but she understands that wouldn’t get her far. Maybe Stalin is a better analogy.
F&L,
In the 2020 primaries, Tulsi went all in on New Hampshire. I really thought she’d make a mark there, but she got nothing. I can’t explain it. She was progressive as hell back then and should have done well in a Democratic primary. No wonder she’s trying the Trump schtick out for size.
TTG:
Two possiblities re Tulsi’s diminution.
1- She met with Assad. Suicide politically for a US pol.
2- She and her dad in Hawaii belonged to a Hindu cult of some sort and the cult and here dad made remarks and legislative proposals that very very decidedly anti-Gay rights or at least were construed that way. It was resurrected and used against her in various polemics.
F&L,
Very possible. Not being a rabid Democratic partisan did hurt her in the primaries just as Republican candidates not sufficiently dedicated to Trump have little chance in the primaries.
F&L,
There’s also this:
https://www.civilbeat.org/2019/09/why-is-tulsi-gabbard-paying-this-obscure-consultant-big-bucks/
Something right here in the United States to be worried about:
“Viewers now get a steady diet of figures like MSNBC commentator Elie Mystal
who called the U.S. Constitution “trash”
and argued that we should simply just dump it.”
https://jonathanturley.org/2024/08/30/human-rights-campaign-president-calls-for-rejection-of-the-little-piece-of-paper-of-the-founders/
Compare that to the oath U.S. Army officers take:
“I (state your full name),
having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States,
as indicated above in the grade of Second Lieutenant,
do solemnly swear (or affirm)
that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic …”
https://www.jsums.edu/arotc/army-officer-oath-of-office/
No, I think the enemy we should be concerned about is not in Europe.
It is right here in the United States.
Yes, and when the then President of the US takes actions to actually throw the Constitution in the trash.
He is arguing to move his 34 convictions to federal court so if he is elected he will simply pardon himself. You are right, the enemies are here in the US.
Stefan,
Did the judge issue a judgement of conviction yet? Why not? Are only certain convictions appealable to higher courts? Where in NY law is that and where in the state and national constitutions?
A steady diet of MSNBC would lead to starvation. Very few watch
Al,
A steady diet of any MSM or social media will rot your brain. Read books, read local newspapers and talk with your neighbors. Sometimes it’s best to just sit and think, especially if you have a favorite spot out in nature.
TTG,
My local paper routinely runs articles from WAPO (Bezos) AP (Powell Jobs) and the rest of the usual suspects. Little is local beyond HS sports and the fishing report.
Fred,
My local paper, though no longer local family owned, still focuses on local issues and usually features those on the front page. We still get the big AP stories, but they are among the Culpeper Star-Exponent and Richmond Times-Dispatch stories. Not much from the WAPO.
Keith,
Absolutely. The enemy is here and using our rights against us. The socialists, perverts, muslims and anarchists and their brainwashed hordes of dumbed down citizens. Mostly with backing from China and Russia, but also various deranged psychopaths in school administrations, media and government at all levels. It’s funny how supposedly a little social media activity by Russians was said to have altered the 2016 election, but all the insane crap from government and media is just whatever and there’s no reason to explore China and Russia’s involvement in any of that.
McCarthy was right.
The year is 2024 and everyone is a Nazi.
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/1f0psrw/more_dissatisfied_russians_reacting_to_the_attack/
Two F16s destroyed in Ukraine, one by Russian rockets, one by Patriot friendly fire. Allegedly, both Ukrainian pilots died.
Two top Ukrainian pilots. The best they have.
35 % casualties in a week. Can’t win a war that way,
If you were a Palestinian would you let an Israeli holding a syringe anywhere near you?
————————-
After 11 Months of War, Gaza and the Region Face a New Threat: Polio:
Starting Sunday, the Israeli military and Hamas will observe brief, staggered pauses in fighting to allow for 640,000 children to be vaccinated, officials said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/30/world/middleeast/gaza-polio-vaccinations.html
F&l
Is Fauci american.Last i heard he was phoenician.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_alphabet
mcohen — you need your head examined. I’m serious.
Yes, weak attempt to distract attention. Maybe? Like the suggested resettlement/expulsion?
On the other hand nothing isn’t in associatively connectable on our meandering minds:
Vaccines – Antony Fauci – Fauci/National Geographic Documentary Films – Phoenician Order Musik, may have been involved in the production of the soundtrack for the documentary & trailer:
https://phoenicianordermusic.com/fauci-official-trailer-national-geographic-documentary-films-mp4/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fauci_(film)
LeaNder –
Fauci just signed a deal with netflix for a series titled ‘Petri Dish Diaries’. In the series he travels the world a la Anthony Boudain, but instead of exotic food he’ll be tracking down the planet’s most horrifying diseases.
and making those horrifying diseases worse with gain of function work.
I heard the bastard had some kind of bird flu. Hope it was enhanced by one of his own labs.
Does strike inside italics work? It may?
isn’t
in[one way or another]associatively connectable.Changed sentence without paying attention to leftovers.
George says that the Polio virus spreads beyond barbed wire and that’s why the [unprintable unprintables] are doing this.
I Lived in the Time of Polio| George Galloway | 50 seconds.
https://youtu.be/-5GRJSe8Y0I
Man, those conspiracy theorists are alive and well! Have none of you ever heard that “Sometimes shit happens!”? It must be terrifying to live every day in fear and loathing of those with whom you disagree.
The mistake Arlington made was not having a 4 Star General on hand to stop the mess. (Not so easy to push away.)
Dana Bash is a horrible interviewer so no one learned anything worth knowing. Oh, except for the fact that Kamala is NOT going to play Trump’s little race-baiting game. “Same old story.” Indeed.
You are correct about the conspiracies. I did not watch the entire interview, but I expect the MSM having problems with KH, since she seems rather normal. But in the snippets I saw, I agree about Dana Bash. Actually, I think most of the pretend journalists are highly overrated.
Laura,
Sure does, like when a guy sees the massacre in Tiananmen Square and goes to teach english for the year. Of course years later “it was just bad grammar” not stolen valor. I wonder how good a teacher he was to the Chinese? They must have seen something, they kept allowing him back year after year after year. Which also says something, just not “shit happens”.
not to worry… he’ll have 8 yrs as VP to improve his shtick. & after all, he’ll only have to face trump. maganauts being big into serial forgiveness, getting born again & the underground deep state-dish pizza he serves so well.
I think the Chinese taught Comrade Walz, not the other way around.
I would like to thank Mark Zuckerberg, who just admitted to aiding censorship at government direction – but isn’t getting banned in Brazil, for reminding me of why I left the Democratic Party:
https://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2013/08/us-government-view-of-what-happened.html
“Well, the USIC should be considered a bordello with Clapper as madam.”
“This is entirely a reiteration of the assertions made by the BHO government concerning what happened on the 21st. The social media are believed? The claim that SIGINT concerning Syrian government culpability is too sensitive to be disclosed is absurd. This was likely an intercept of plain voice, unencrypted Arabic conversation. A short wave radio tuned to the right frequency would have collected this text. If the Israelis were the source they should publish the text to avoid condemnation when the truth of this matter becomes clear. History will judge GW Obama. pl ”
And it looks like CSPAN deep-sixed the pdf file.
Fred:
I gave up on Obama at “Yes we can!” The genuflecting didn’t help either. He was a CIA Hitman and little more. I’m not speaking figuratively.
Short quiz:
Which President of the United States said this — publicly, meaning not bashfully?
“It turns out I’m really good at killing people.”
F&L,
Any democrat not named Hilary was going to win that election.
No argument here.
Buzz is that Ukraine is pulling out of its offensive in Kursk to reinforce defenses in the Pokrovsk direction.
On the Markov Logic Telegram channel this morning it says the opposite. Could be disinformation but I’ve seen similar on various other channels and Ru YouTube interviews. The consensus is they might well be there for 2 or 3 months. Perhaps your sources know better. It would be strategically sensible if indeed they did pull back to Pokrovsk, assuming everything else remains the same but we don’t know that yet.
————————–
https://t.me/logikamarkova/13773
Kursk. The same situation continues here. 1. The front line is stabilized.
2. The Ukrainian Armed Forces still have the initiative and are trying to attack. In the same directions.
3. The Russian Army aviation is delivering strong blows to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Hoping to cause them severe damage.
4. The Ukrainian Armed Forces group is estimated at 15 thousand, possibly 20 thousand.
5. The Russian Army group is already comparable in size to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Maybe even more.
6. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region are elite units. And the Russian army has transferred to the Kursk region, as analysts believe, a small number of experienced troops from the front. And most are from the reserve without experience. And there may even be conscripts, but this is not certain,
7. The forecast for now is that everything will be the same.
8. The Russian forecast for September is that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be forced to transfer troops from the Kursk region to the Donbass, where the situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces is rapidly deteriorating. 9. The Ukrainian forecast for September is that there will be another breakthrough of the Ukrainian Armed Forces into Russian territory in the Bryansk or Belgorod region.
As long as we’re on about Tucker here’s an interview of his that is in fact Commendable.
Jeffrey Sachs: The Looming War With Iran, CIA Coups, and Warnings.. | Tucker Carlson
https://youtu.be/IsjKZstp-XU
he makes $$$ on paranoia. it’s a growth mkt w/ long term opportunities.
Ked, worshipper of big government/deep state. It’s all good. Shut up and obey; or else you are a conspiracy theorist.
But if it’s a Trump admin government, it will be Nazi Germany version 2.0! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
LOL. Who do you think you’re fooling?
worship? no way. that’s for contemplation of the infinite, for those so inclined. in the world we inhabit today, it’s a fool’s errand to just bitch bitch bitch about the momentum of planetary civilization. it’s almost as useless as embracing the likes of trump as mechanism – unless one’s after a cut of the action – some high quality flies buzzing around that pile of dying action.
recognizing the state as emerged civilization in the face of massive change? easy, if one can drag themselves out of reverie for some small scale of stateness long gone (never existed how one likes to enshrine ’em anyway) – it’s happening, baby. I defined the Deep State to Col Lang when it gained currency here & elsewhere, some 15+ yrs ago. I did so ’cause I don’t find fruit among smart-asses throwing around loaded phrases w/o surfacing meaning (should try to dig it up – esp since he accepted it as adequate – high praise, I thought). it isn’t about conspiratorial planning, or good / evil dichotomy, or flawed personalities on paths to power.
simply; shared class values flowing from shared socio-cultural settings that yield identifiable behaviors in the face of a shared reality. there are 8B humans sharing reality on earth. existing in an era of relativity, uncertainty, proven capacity to extinguish living existence (quickly, slowly, both), even weird entanglement. it’s a deep place… sorry (not sorry) to have to point out that out – tough shit. “live it, or live with it”. humanity ain’t goin’ back (a pithy phrase of recent).
my 6 grandchildren will not inherit a simple state, a small state, a past or perfect state… definitely not a stable or genius state (sorry / not sorry to have to break that bit of news too), & I hope to god not an ugly aut/the-ocracy run by diseased souls on the make. a few folk of all sorts choose redoubt in the woods, mountains, islands. I know a few & wish them luck – without reminding them that canaries expire in coal mines – wouldn’t want to harsh the vibe. for the vast rest of us, being inside states of all sorts is destiny. applied wisdom is the tool at hand.
Ked,
Like covid hysteria
A couple of thoughtful essays on what NATO escalation in Ukraine would mean in practice. I don’t know anything about the writer, “Aurelian”, but he knows a lot about the practical details of how we had intended to conduct a war with Russia in the old Cold War days.
He then contrasts that with what we could manage now. Seems to me to come to the conclusion that was the only conclusion one could arrive at in February 2022 and that has been rammed home since. Our Grahams and Ben Wallaces and Macrons can call for escalation in Ukraine as much as they please. But we have precious little to escalate with.
https://aurelien2022.substack.com/p/the-third-world-war-has-been-cancelled
https://aurelien2022.substack.com/p/natos-phantom-armies
Entitled, respectively “The Third World War Has Been Cancelled. It was all too difficult, finally.” and “NATO’s Phantom Armies. And the ghost of Carl von Clausewitz.
Only came across the essays just now. Sort of completes a journey for me. Early in ’22, when the entirety of England, it seemed, was breathing fire and slaughter against the dreaded Russkies, I was fulminating on English blogs “What the hell’s all this nonsense about? We haven’t got a cat in hell’s chance of winning so we’ll just be getting the Ukrainian PBI slaughtered for nothing.”
A few months later I came across an interview with one of our top British Generals, one with a brain which is by no means a racing certainty these days, saying exactly the same thing but more soberly and authoritatively. Baud and Kujat and Zorn adding their brand of sober realism later, and many with them. And now I end up with this elegantly written couple of essays spelling out the same thing all over again.
End of a journey indeed. And while making it I’ve seen the Ukrainians, furiously egged on by our all hat and no cattle politicians, losing a million casualties minimum and their country.
Still wondering what it was all for. And why we were so willing, eager even, most of us, to let our politicians take us into this disaster. We usen’t to be so dumb, did we?
EO:
Thanks for the links. I’m working my way through Emmanuel Todd’s “La Defaite de l’Occident” (The Defeat of the West), which is about the US-Ukraine-UK versus Russia war. It was published several months ago so it’s not up to date but it’s damned interesting. Available in French and Spanish AFAIK. My French is rusty but I manage with the Kindle version and it’s translation feature which is admittedly quite awkward but works (you have to learn to highlight text with your fingers and read translated text inside a weensy little box). Todd is flat out brilliant and I’ve enjoyed it immensely so far. Just Fyi.
Is E. Todd English Outsider’s name?
I didn’t realize that war was over and done now.
Eric:
I’ve read your comments today. I have a couple questions.
1- Did your dick get caught in your pants’ zipper?
2- Have you managed to free it yet?
F&L,
No. I laced my boot too tight while watching the idiot nooz spewing nonsense about politicians spewing nonsense, and it caught in there. Happens all the time. It’s a blessing and a curse simultaneously.
Eric-
I chuckled, too rare these days. Thanks.
Eric – the war was “over and done” February 2022. I still hold obstinately to the opinion I formed at that time. Nobody with half a brain cell ever thought the military war against Russia was winnable. Provoking Russian military action was only done to get the real war going. The sanctions war.
Which we promptly lost. End of story.
Couple of loose ends, as always. How is Russia going to neutralise remnant Ukraine? Will the Russians impose reverse sanctions on Europe?
We in the West are now just sitting around watching how those loose ends play out.
No big deal. The Ukrainian conflict is merely an accelerant of our decline, not the cause. Those causes turn out to be rather pedestrian. Usual problems. Deindustrialisation. Dysfunctional polities. Out-dated economic dogma. All that.
Those are the reasons the West is going down. Nothing much to do with the Russians or the Chinese. Mostly our own work. We are the authors of our decline.
D’you reckon your man Trump will pull us back from the edge? Can’t see anyone else around who might. And he’s something of a long shot, given what he’s up against.
EO,
Yeah sure because a world where industrialized countries can just up and invade other industrialized nations is one in which we’d be happy to live.
Russia is sucking great big donkey dongs right now. They have fumbled and are not winning anything. But keep the faith alive if you wish. I say it’s a delusion.
Trump might help pull us (Americans) back from the brink of stupid implosion, but there’s more to it than the US, then again, why should we care about Europoodles if they want to go extinct?
A lot of Americans are fed up with the gay clown world in Washington DC and other “elite” centers. I hear that from white, Black and Hispanic friends and associates. We’re not relying on Trump. We will do it ourselves. We only look to Trump to not stand in our way and, perhaps, to clear the path. With Trump we get a softer landing and a less ugly path to that landing. We don’t count on government for anything except a hard reaming, without vasoline. America is about the people, not the government. Too many have forgotten that, but not so many that we can’t turn it around.
F&L, I haven’t read Todd. My French isn’t up to the original and he’s not been translated. So I only know of him from hearsay or reviews. Be interested to know what you make of him.
He predicts an eventual rapprochement between Germany and Russia. Maybe the Germans will be open to that, if they ever managed to dump mini-Barbarossa Scholz and his merry men, but somehow I don’t see the Russians wanting to kiss and make up for a while. Twice in living memory, they may be thinking, is one time too many.
One review says “For Todd, the best thing that could happen to Europe would be for the United States to withdraw from the entire continent. While Euro-Atlanticists, accustomed to Washington’s hegemony, might ask themselves: “What would happen to us then?”, Todd sees a peace emerging in a European space freed from the US yoke. In this, he is very French.”
I don’t see it like that. My view, the best thing that could happen to the United States would be to withdraw from Europe. Not that that’s easy to do. We tried it ourselves recently and it didn’t come off. Our politicians, like yours, are besotted with the damn place.
Can’t think why. Great culture and superb cuisine of course. The Berlin Philharmonic is the best in the world and French cooking still in a class of its own. But politically primitive compared to us and riven with tribal animosities. Also wildly parochial (“As a result of the conflict in Ukraine, the European Union has distanced itself from Russia, damaging its own trade and energy interests. According to Todd, we now live in a “Putinophobic and Russophobic” world, permeated by the Western narrative.”)
So not something you’d want to be tangled up with if you had a choice, continental Europe.
English Outsider:
Thanks for your informative reply. I haven’t finished reading Todd’s book yet so ask — are you familiar with the phrase “Spoiler Alert?” [Kindly forgive my attempt at humor.] Your summary of his conclusions is a lot to digest at the moment but I’ll happily get back to you with any thoughts if I manage to formulate them. Suffice it to be said now that those projections which go out years into the future from the present day seem very dicey to me, there’s just a boggling number of unknowns — we can’t even predict the weather past a few days ahead. Biggest and most important unknown is the timing and degree of Western (NATO) participation. Today and yesterday there was a massive UAF drone attack on Western Russia hitting numerous vital industrial targets — the collective experience of Ru commenters this morning was one of extreme displeasure, disappointment, fear and loathing of both “the hohols” and “bald grandpa.” A week before these most recent strikes, EO, the reduction in Ru fuel oil production was estimated at 7% and prices have risen. What it is now is unknown to me. Russian inflation stands at 9.5% and it’s prime central bank rate at 20 %. I needn’t explain to you or anyone how dismal that is.
I’m in the dark, EO, as to the extent to which you have adapted yourself (or not) to the current commonplace that the Russians are no longer in a war versus the Ukrainians but in fact are in a war with the United States. (Your repeated assertions that Ukraine was defeated early in 2022 prompted me to mention this). Emmanuel Todd himself in fact, in his chapter devoted to Ukraine — published Jan 24, 2024 btw — says that Ukraine (by which he means central & western Ukraine) no longer is a state in the proper sense of the word, but a Military & Police establishment of the United States.
It should be added that “Ukraine” now advertises its “own” allegedly homegrown ballistic missile (!) and an absolutely devastating domestically sourced drone with 600 km range — I’ve seen that thing and it is really frightening. Some of the drones which flew today and yesterday have ranges of 1000 km. It also bears mentioning that the “Air Defense” which worked at the many industrial sites which were attacked today was practically non existent, contrary to media reports that all were shot down. (They certainly were not).
So the game being played is – I provoke you repeatedly, so that you must strike back as seen the other day with the record setting Ru drone & missile on Ukraine. And I continue to provoke you until you are forced to retaliate so forcefully that the media hue and cry for NATO intervention becomes irresistible. I wish it were otherwise. But Putin and his system seems to me dismally incompetent and unprepared. Sure it can level the Ukrainian playing field with nukes — but that’s another thing that the criminal unelected deep state of the USA deeply longs for because it makes Russia a pariah for all time and, if it needs pointing out, a few hundred thousand or several million incinerated Ukrainians means absolutely nothing to the rulers of this world.
F&L – I have to defer to you on the Ukrainian drones strikes on Russian refineries – you’re obviously following all that more closely than I am able to do. On the one side it’s said that these are pinprick attacks of little military significance. On the other, that they are severely damaging Russian energy infrastructure. Have to wait and see?
More worrying are the attacks on nuclear facilities. This is an account of the type of construction of the Kursk NPP :-
“The man said that the situation at the nuclear power plant is more serious than even the Russian media reports. According to him, the nuclear power plant is attacked by drones several times a day, which is far more dangerous at the Kursk nuclear power plant than at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The reason is that the Kursk nuclear power plant is a Chernobyl-type nuclear power plant, which means that there is no protective concrete shell around the reactor. The Kursk nuclear power plant is therefore much more at risk from attacks than the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.”
Gleaned from a commenter on “b’s” site, (Posted by: Multipolar Panda | Sep 1 2024)
https://anti-spiegel.ru/2024/der-vollkommen-andere-krieg/
The ZNPP was protected by a thick concrete roof, safe against drones and probably HIMARS. The vulnerability there lay in the fuel rod storage. The fuel rods were stored in the open air and could be hit. The Russians rigged up a cover for them that would have prevented drone strikes on the fuel rods but it all sounded somewhat makeshift and risky.
The position with the KNPP is quite different and much riskier. The roof is flimsier and is therefore vulnerable to drone and artillery strikes. The IAEA is too beholden to the Western powers to be of much use and even if it were not there’s not much it can do in practical terms to stop the strikes on this NPP.
It looks as if the Kursk offensive had as one of its objectives the seizing the of the KNPP. That proving difficult these attacks are being mounted instead. This is the hidden side of the Ukrainian war and I don’t believe Western complicity in these attacks will ever be acknowledged.
Or not by us. The Russians, however, know full well that the Kursk offensive and all that goes with it was planned and facilitated by the West. It’s for that reason that I don’t believe the Russians will stop at the Dnieper. They are forced, in whatever manner they can, to neutralise the entirety of remnant Ukraine. Else they will be exposed indefinitely to the West using the Ukrainians to mount such “look no hands” attacks as these.
EO:
Forgot to provide a link to info about the frightening Palianysta rocket drone.
Ukraine’s Mysterious New ‘Rocket Drone’ Targets Russian Air Force.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2024/08/28/what-we-know-about-ukraines-mysterious-new-rocket-drone/
Your summary of his conclusions is a lot to digest at the moment but I’ll happily get back to you with any thoughts if I manage to formulate them.
Yes, indeed, I couldn’t agree more. Here a snippet by another reviewer, more about him below.
All the same, Todd is surely right that societies flounder without the kind of public doctrine that churches once provided. It allows him to give a particularly shrewd account of the United Kingdom. He sees its Lilliputian bellicosity as a desperate attempt to revive its vanished standing as an elect nation. Although an inveterate enemy of the single currency and the neoliberal European Union, Todd is unimpressed by Brexit, which he presents as a symptom of a fraying Britishness, rather than a revival of it. Its leaders have fled this disarray by posturing as defenders of the West, even though decades of deindustrialization have so sapped its military that they cannot even emulate the French and make themselves “hated in Africa.” Boris Johnson embraced and armed Volodymyr Zelensky with an alacrity that surprised even the Americans.
The whole review is definitely worth reading. The author is a historian of European church history, which seems a good choice considering that Todd’s argument is that the Anglo-Saxon World is in decline as a result of the growing weakness of the US’s WASP elite or its foundational Protestant Ethics more generally, which will then lead to It’s or more generally the ‘Western Decline’. Below his second to last paragraph … :
Michael Ledger-Thomas,
Emmanuel Todd Prophesies the Defeat of the West
https://jacobin.com/2024/03/emmanuel-todd-demography-religion-putin-ukraine
Todd has often essentialized and overdetermined the world as he finds it, a tendency evident in The Defeat of the West. His admittedly gripping portrait of America and Europe’s post-Christian nihilism is so overwhelming that it leaves little space for solutions. Only the Germans inspire him with some hope. Although Todd has always classed Germany as an authoritarian society and disliked its efforts to foist economic austerity on the European Union, he loathes American power more. He has long hoped that Germany might shed its status as an “inert” nation and team up with the Russians to break NATO’s hold over Europe, which has allowed America to “robotize” its political and economic elites. Todd impatiently anticipates Ukraine’s defeat primarily because it might reopen the opportunity for such an alliance, which seems neither a very plausible nor inviting prospect
Compare a book review of the collected essays by UK’s Jon Stevenson, contributing editor of LRB, Someone Else’s Empire:
The third narrative in dispute is that of American decline. Stevenson dismisses the US pull-out from Afghanistan as evidence of wider retreat. That twenty years of NATO statecraft could crumble within weeks confirmed only that the Afghan government had been ‘a corrupt and artificial dependent’. The humiliating conditions of the exit were partially compensated by Biden’s ‘signature act of punitive sadism’ in freezing Kabul’s central bank assets, ‘a flourish of parting malice’. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was widely proclaimed a mortal threat to the international order, as imperial propagandists like to call it, but Stevenson pours cold water on this notion. The US strategy of building up Ukrainian armed forces proved ‘quite effective’; that the CIA appeared to have a mole in the Kremlin with access to the invasion plans also ‘ran counter to the narrative of the empire’s demise’.
Why Russia switched from small-scale operations, aimed at reasserting influence in the states around its borders, to adopt ‘a completely different and far more hubristic strategy’ for Ukraine remains, he stresses, poorly understood. ‘Part of the story must lie in the agreements signed between the US and Ukraine between September and November 2021’, even if the Western powers remained ‘studiously ambiguous’ about NATO accession; the failure of us–Russia talks in January 2022 evidently ‘set’ the decision to invade. More significant for Someone Else’s Empire, Moscow’s ‘grave gamble’ in launching the attack was mirrored by the escalatory strategy of Washington and its allies, which shifted in April 2022 from the ostensible goal of shoring up Ukrainian defences to the ‘grander ambition’ of using the war for the strategic attrition of Russia—a terrible risk for the people of Europe, but no proof of us declension. ‘We live not in the mossy ruins of empire but in its still-smouldering battlefields.’
A great summary, LeaNder. Provisional view of Todd:-
He’d do better to get out the microscope and look at the military position along in LoC in February 2022, before going large with grand geopolitical theories. He will find the true reason for the Russian invasion there. As stated here by “Walrus”:-
” in my opinion, the Russians launched a classic spoiling attack in Donbass to prevent a Ukrainian advance.
“As you would be aware, once Ukrainian forces had advanced into Donbass, the outcome would have been a catastrophe for the predominantly Russian civilians of that region.
The Azov types could rerun their grandfathers WWII genocidal behaviour and the Russians would have had the impossible task of trying to protect the Donbass civilians from them.”
The notion that the invasion was a response to ever-increasing NATO pressure doesn’t bear an instant’s examination. The invasion was clearly going to provoke maximum increase in that NATO pressure, as it did. Why would the Russians respond to NATO pressure by doing the one thing that was guaranteed to make it worse?
They invaded because we left them no choice. Right up to the last minute Putin himself was trying all avenues to get our proxies to pull back from the LoC. Only when he failed did he let his generals loose.
As Strobe Talbot is reputed to have said, we had Putin cornered at last. By forcing him to take military action we forced him to expose the Russian economy to our sanctions, sanctions that were explicitly designed to drive his administration from power and destabilise the RF.
Does Todd get that? Doesn’t look like it.
Leander:
Gracious thanks for these marvelous references / reviews.
First thoughts on Stevenson.
On the question of what prompted Putin to invade: it doesn’t really matter. Because when and if an “answer” to that is uncovered the analysis leading to that answer will fall mostly under the heading “Human (however abnormally human) psychology of a bungling and thieving nitwit dictatorial leader who was hopelessly out-of-touch with 21st century reality, not to mention lied to by his legions of scared to death advisors.” It doesn’t matter for the same reasons that it wouldn’t matter whether or not a panel of experts was convened to analyze the contents of the Collected and Annotated Memoirs and Meditations of Mrs O’Leary’s Cow who was popularly held responsible for The Great Fire of Chicago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Chicago_Fire
Everything the Russian leadership has done since 2022 has been an ongoing sequence of blunders. Why on Earth would anyone think that the calculations of Vladimir Putin up to the fateful February 24th would be any more interesting than Mrs O’Leary’s Cow’s? Stalin didn’t attack Germany in June 1941, and was being royally routed and demolished until the disaster at Moscow. But 32 months later he was winning. And not so curiously he had arranged, before any of this jumped off, to provide himself with the most powerful allies in world history. Who are Russia’s allies? Belarus – population 9 million. China? Not even an ally really and hasn’t fought a war since 1975 against tiny Vietnam which it LOST!
And regarding “the humiliating” US pullout from Afghanistan. That’s typical uninformed nonsense. The US pulled out of Afghanistan because it knew what was coming in Ukraine and therefore 1- needed its troops elsewhere and 2- Sure as hell couldn’t leave them stranded in Central Asia wedged between Russia and China as a potential World War erupted in Eastern Europe.
It’s beginning to look like Emmanuel Todd belongs to that species of philosopher who decide in advance what conclusions they want to reach and then work backwards from that desired conclusion to provide analyses and proofs of why they are right. That’s no great criticism actually because in fact all philosophers belong to that species. Todd is interesting though because he has an excellent mind and superb scholarship and mastery of a wealth of factual material.
I’m not really down on Stevenson btw, he can’t afford to be as silly as I am or he’d never be published or employed. His essay is very interesting and I thank you again Leander.
Thanks great response, not sure I deserve it.
Wonderful: Mrs O’Leary’s Cow. Try to keep that great bit of US history in mind.
The US pulled out of Afghanistan because it knew what was coming in Ukraine and therefore 1- needed its troops elsewhere and
Yes, you would write something like that. I enjoyed your exchange with Eric above. 😉
EO:
No kidding Putin was provoked. The US and its friends greatly and reverently desired Russia’s invasion. It was their most fervently desired dream that he do so since forever. Because if he did they knew they’d slowly and inexorably destroy his country which they knew had been rendered defenceless by his thieving crew of kleptomaniac imbeciles and Yeltsin’s in the 90’s was far worse. That the US is in many if not most regards run by thieving psychopathic sadists (the ruling class) who don’t care how much poverty, drug addiction, homelessness, obesity and crime afflict their population is also true. But the US is in population much bigger, in treasure incomparably wealthier, in technology incomparably more advanced and is a much better armed and positioned monstrosity than is Russia. And it can print its own money onto infinity. No one deserves leaders like these. But almost always, leaders are atrocious human beings who get where they are due to a massive urge to dominate other people. That is axiomatic or should be. Supporting bastards like Trump or Biden is by definition ridiculous.
You may or may not be aware that the most eminent American political scientists as far back as 2010 or so concluded that America was so grievously imperiled by internal division that they needed quickly to find an external enemy on whom their social and media engineering demons could focus their violent hatreds. Lo and behold — soon came the Russian election interference delusion and now we are essentially at war with Russia. You don’t know about those political scientists and engineers of apocalypse for obvious reasons – the same reasons Eisenhower didn’t publish the D-Day invasion plans in the NY Times in 1943. And they are a super high Ivory tower elite of elites who keep their own company. Colonel Lang possibly knew of one or two of them.
F&L,
I can’t tell how much of that is sarcasm or deeply held belief.
He was the first to speak about the collapse of USSR ” La Chute finale” year….. 1976.
Reading his book was highly recommended for General Staff Officers.
TTG – damn silly mistake. “Aurelien”, not “Aurelian”.
TTG, You are not too far from Williamsburg (~100 miles).
If you haven’t seen it, you (and others) might find this of interest:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/08/31/colonial-williamsburg-american-history-culture-wars-00176182
Keith Harbaugh,
I spent a lot of time there in 1988 while at the nearby Camp Peary. This was before most of the changes noted in the article, which was very good, by the way.
Growing up, both my family and my class made several trips to Sturbridge Village showing life in New England back in the 1830s. I don’t know how or if it changed since then, but I enjoyed those trips. I saw a lot of continuity with what was depicted in Sturbridge Village in my home town. A lot of the farm tools and practices and even architecture never changed.
The author writes
“The Heritage Foundation believes Colonial Williamsburg has gone woke”
The issue seems to be the relative emphasis that should be put on
different parts of American history.
For the POV of the Heritage Foundation, see
https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/commentary/colonial-williamsburg-grapples-political-correctness
https://www.heritage.org/progressivism/commentary/wokeness-colonial-williamsburg
Most of you know about this but could benefit from this detailed summary, I sure did.
Don’t fret though, sweety-pootums. Our fags and tranny’s are the best! Does this go under the heading of “Hollowed out and gutted America” or “Potemkin has a distant American relative?” Something can maybebe done with “Deep State or Sleep State?”
Knowing our deep state cowards and perverts though I think maybe they’re strategy will be to get other peoples / nations to fight their wars. Such as stealing Chinese weapons to use for attacks on Taiwan or Japan or insisting that ancient, highly conservative Asian societies such as China and Russia !must! immediately adopt same sex marriage and ultra LGBTQ+ OR ELSE — sanctions etc.
Anyway I’ll shut up now — this is excellent and full of information.
America isn’t ready for another war — because it doesn’t have the troops:
The US military’s recruiting crisis, explained.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/368528/us-military-army-navy-recruit-numbers
Need to replace my MAC. Any suggestions?
Re the discussion above of
Emmanuel Todd’s “La Defaite de l’Occident” (The Defeat of the West)
There was a most excellent book published in 2011 with a similar title and theme:
Suicide of a Superpower:
Will America Survive to 2025?
by Patrick Buchanan
https://g.co/kgs/8dAqPGp
https://books.google.com/books/about/Suicide_of_a_Superpower.html?id=d7keqFsWjB8C
I recommend this book highly.
TTG – since Emmanuel Todd has been looked at, maybe only fair to let him have the last word?
Emmanuel Todd : «La Russie gagne la guerre et l’Europe implose»
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AISnPMPUl4c
The rift over classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
This is an intersection between national security and politics, which some may find of interest.
The FBI and DOJ disagreed over the significance of this:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/bitter-personal-battle-top-fbi-doj-officials-mar-lago-rcna169067
This gives a quite remarkable view of how politics is interacting with the judicial system.
Trump’s visit to Arlington National Cemetery
has led to understandable controversy.
This seems a good non-political look at the issues involved:
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/09/06/trump-campaign-violated-rules-arlington-national-cemetery-visit-cemetery-legal-expert-explains.html