Is it possible to rehinge the unhinged?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAhxXbLetk

Please watch as much of the above video as you can handle. Dancing around the room is not only permitted, it is highly recommended!

Here are the lyrics to this happy bit of pop music fluff . . .

A recent article in RT  tells us about the song. “The track was recorded by 11-year-old Svetlana Chertischeva, known as Betsy, and 12-year-old Maria Yankovskaya, two rising stars of Russian music. Released in November, the track was initially popular among elementary and middle schoolers, but later gained popularity among adults, and has since been featured in a number of meme videos.” 

Okay . . . now the juicy part.

A member of the European Parliament from Germany, former school teacher turned social psychologist/politician Nela Riehl, is claiming: “’Sigma Boy’ is a viral Russian trope used on social media, which communicates patriarchal and pro-Russian worldviews, only one example of Russian infiltration of popular discourse through social media.”

It appears to me that we have to read an awful lot into these vacuous lyrics, quite typical of pop music faire, to find the cultural abominations Riehl is referring to. It seems like a bit of a stretch, for example, that ‘Skittles’ and ‘Snickers’ are Trojan horses for embedding love of Russia and deification of Putin into the minds of young music fans. And ‘get into my Bentley, get into my Beauty Box’ are seeds to destroy the West’s embrace of neoliberalism and love of democracy? Are we to regard ‘And you’ll make me yours someday’ a forecast of some sort of demon possession, the demon being Russian culture?

Riehl is so off-the-rails, I have to wonder if the brain damage is permanent or not. Is there any way to “unhinge” such a whacko?

Evidence of this pandemic of lunacy is also everywhere here in the US. Hatred of Russia and Vladimir Putin has reached epic levels. For anything resembling normalcy and productivity to return to our national conversation — and hopefully our foreign policy — we as a nation must return to our senses. Those would be the five senses which allow us to view and embrace reality.

The challenge is formidable. I do regular postings related to my War Is Making Us Poor campaign on social media. Sometimes the responses from Americans is discouraging, if not shocking. I posted my video indictment of Vlodymyr Zelensky on over 110 allegedly progressive Facebook political groups and got comments like . . .

“This is russian propaganda”

“This is utter bullshit. Fuck Russia, Fuck Putin, Slava Ukraini”

“Hey..shit poster… so what part of Russia are you from ??”

“This is one of the more disgusting posts I’ve seen recently. How would you have played the hand Putin dealt him? Ukraine invaded Russia? Get real.”

“This reads as a translation from a Putin propaganda hit piece. It’s ridiculous.”

“This needs to be taken down! ASAP”

“You’re fucking insane.”

“This site seems to have been taken over by Meta trolls”

Obviously, animus toward Russia is running very high. Here are some stats from Pew Research Center . . .

“Roughly six-in-ten Americans (61%) label Russia an enemy of the U.S.” 

“Americans overwhelmingly rate Putin negatively: 88% say they do not have confidence in the Russian president to do the right thing regarding world affairs.”

These negative sentiments are shared across party lines . . . 

“Republicans and Democrats are about equally likely to say they view Russia unfavorably (88% vs. 87%), although Democrats are more likely to have very unfavorable opinions of Russia.”

No doubt about it. The Deep State campaign to smear Putin and create fear and hatred of Russia has been extremely effective.

And I worry . . .

There’s a threshold where brainwashing becomes more of a lobotomy and is irreversible. I fear many Americans have crossed that threshold and are permanent residents of Hate-Russia-La-La-Land. There may be no effective remedy.

We might be able to mitigate the impact of such colossal ignorance. I’m just not sure we can mass produce enough of these . . .

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

Is it possible to rehinge the unhinged? | John Rachel

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[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

Photoshop is great for promoting a book! | John Rachel

A Few Things Left Out of the Russia-Bashing Narrative

All of the bleating bloviators, all of the hand-wringing virtue signalers, all of the misguided misinformed peace lovers condemn Russia for its “invasion”. But somehow they don’t ever get around to mentioning the 100,000+ Ukrainian troops in the conflict zone. They don’t mention the huge deployment of lethal arms on the line of contact with the Donbas republics. They don’t mention the increased shelling and killing of innocent citizens by the barbaric Azov Battalion troops. They don’t mention the declared intention of Ukraine to invade and occupy Crimea against the will of the citizens there, who voted overwhelmingly to rejoin Russia rather than be subjected to persecution by the Russia-hating neo-Nazis in control of the country after the US-orchestrated Maidan uprising and coup. They don’t mention the statement by Zelensky about Ukraine obtaining nuclear weapons — just what the world needs, eh? Another nuclear-armed state controlled by oligarchs, mobsters, and power-drunk sociopaths.

And no one mentions THIS * . . .

Do you think these might be among the assets Russia has targeted for “demilitarization”?

Or after the chaos caused by coronavirus, gain-of-function, the whole pandemic mess, do you think it’s just hunky-dory that the US has hundreds of bio-weapons labs across the globe? If so, I nominate your hometown for building one of these “research” facilities.

I’m going to give Putin the benefit of the doubt on this and wait to see how the military campaign unfolds and is finally resolved. I’ll take him at his word when he says Russia cannot tolerate a hostile military presence, nuclear weapons, NATO-trained hostile troops and armaments, and US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BIOWEAPONS LABS in a country that borders on Russia. Putting the shoe on the other foot, e.g. similar threats in Canada or Mexico, his request for a binding security agreement seems reasonable and constructive, for everyone involved.

Russia respectfully requested that US/NATO imperial powers grant it some basic courtesy and understanding. US/NATO refused. Putin did and is doing what he had to do to protect Russia from further intimidation and inevitable military assault. Putin has been absolutely clear about Russia’s position on everything that went into creating this crisis, going back to his landmark Munich address in 2007. Something US/NATO can’t comprehend is that he does not bluff, play games, posture, or prevaricate.

Since Russia mounted their operation, the US/NATO aggressors have since shown their true colors by promising more lethal weaponry to Ukraine to further inflame the conflict and promote a larger war, presumably to exhaust and bankrupt Russia. Which has been their intent and raison d’être all along.

Mind you, I’m categorically opposed to war and unprovoked aggression. But when all the weepy honk-for-world-peace folks out there demand an end to war, maybe they should start with their own belligerent governments and build out from there.

*  The original link was blocked, which went to a video discussing the various biolabs in Ukraine and other nearby countries. Several other links which took me to sites, where I saw with my own eyes discussions of this open secret, are also blocked. I noticed now there are scores of fake news alerts about the biolabs claim, a red flag in my view. Apparently, this has been deemed taboo. Here are more links and you can judge for yourself whether the claim has any validity: VIDEO … US Embassy in Ukraine … Algora Blog … South Front.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]

A Few Things Left Out of the Russia-Bashing Narrative | John Rachel

Book Review: “The Plot To Scapegoat Russia: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Putin”

It takes enormous courage to write a book like this, which goes completely against the narrative promoted by America’s foreign policy and military establishments.  Courage because now any defense of Putin and Russia as actors on the world stage will not be met with reasonable, polite rebuttal and rational well-supported refutation, but personal vilification, marginalization, attacks on character and integrity, aspersions about disloyalty and lack of patriotic commitment, allegations of treachery and even sedition.  Lacking anything — e.g. facts — with which to rebut and refute the message, opponents of a balanced, objective, truthful analysis of Russian-American relations must resort to attacking the messenger.

Early in the book, Mr. Kovalik describes the process which radicalized him, what personal events opened his eyes to the barbarity and hypocrisy which has been centerpieces of America’s history from its earliest days.  His transformation occurred during a visit to Nicaragua during his college years.  He learned then to question and always be highly skeptical of the “official rationale” inflicted on the general public in the U.S., because it was often driven by the covert intent of obtaining — often manufacturing out of thin air — consent for America’s diplomatic bullying, manipulations, wanton aggressions, destructive interference, regime changes, and outright subjugation of countries across the planet.

History is the best teacher for understanding the present.  Our history, as is thoroughly explored and documented in this short but incisive volume, is riddled with false flags, misrepresentations, distortions, propaganda and outright lies, all carefully calculated to serve the real agenda of our government.  This is to provide unambiguous support for U.S. corporate interests; ruthlessly undermining any nation which dares to consider even the most diluted iteration of socialism; and punishing — all too frequently destroying — any country, often even murdering its leaders, for independently adopting policies which don’t disproportionately benefit the U.S. and honor the authority of the U.S. as world hegemon.

What has Russia under Putin done?  It put Russia’s interests first, it openly criticized the U.S. for its wanton aggression and disregard for international law, called out the U.S. for its consistent meddling in the affairs of other nations, including all too often violently overthrowing governments it doesn’t approve of, and moreover had the audacity to deploy national defense mechanisms which frees it of being blackmailed by U.S. military might.  For the U.S., which regards itself as the “exceptional” nation selected by destiny to control the world, these constitute an inexcusable affront which must be answered, a challenge which must be eradicated, even if this requires a world war which might go nuclear.

So it’s Russia bad, Putin badder.  Every imaginable and imagined accusation, typically presented as fact, is spewed out and flung at Putin and Russia.  And thus what we get as “news” these days is a childish white hats vs. black hats depiction of the momentous battle of Great Good America vs. Scary Evil Russia, a facile scenario now dubbed as the Second Cold War.

The extremes our government spokespersons and the obsequious media has gone to in order to strike fear in all of us about Russia and to incite a personal hatred for Vladimir Putin, should by themselves raise suspicions and reasonable doubts about what’s going on. But when the media is controlled by six major corporations with unshakeable deference to official government propaganda and those who fabricate it, and political leaders from both major parties who are owned by Wall Street, the big banks, the corporations, the ruling elite who obscenely profit from perpetual war, all everyday people get 24/7 is yarns about the Russian threat, Putin’s bloodthirsty desire to return to the glory days of Russia as a great power, Russian aggression, Russian invasions, Russian meddling in our otherwise perfect democracy, Russian targeted assassinations, Russian plots to subvert and destroy freedom-loving countries, Russian blame for everything from STDs to plugged toilets and family squabbles. It’s a premeditated program of brainwashing inflicted on a gullible and generally hapless American public.

The only possible pre-revolutionary antidote is thorough, unbiased investigative journalism, potent research, historical knowledge and perspective, personal insights shared with candor and clarity, all of the foregoing assembled by an author of the high caliber of Dan Kovalik, into an immensely readable and superbly informative book like The Plot To Scapegoat Russia: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Putin.

[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]


Book Review: “The Plot To Scapegoat Russia: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Putin”

The Politics of Panic and Puerile Propaganda

 

Desperation creates a sickening stench.

At least that seems to be the case with dying empires.

As the front pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post become more and more indistinguishable from puerile and poisonous publications like the National Inquirer, Daily News, Globe, and Weekly World News, we see the symptoms of a nation whose auto-immune system has stopped working, and no barriers any longer stand in the way of fantastic lies and the opportunistic diseases of exceptionalist self-absorption and kleptocratic abuse. 

Much of what claims to be news puts spectacle and rumor ahead of fact and truth-telling.

Every day I scan the pages and websites of main stream media and nowhere can I find a discussion of truly critical issues, much less a serious attempt to address them with cogent, creative, promising solutions.

 

Yet, who am I to decide what is said and written.  Am I to tell a dying man that I find his death rattle annoying and counter-productive?

Having accepted the irrelevancy of my own opinion of the national conversation, we are still looking at a total retreat from journalistic integrity, an abandonment of responsibility vital to our survival as a nation, in fact, a complete surrender and servility to self-serving, corrupt leadership which acknowledges no allegiance or debt to those who put them into office, and driven by panic and desperation can only make excuses and offer distractions for its failure to serve the real interests of the country. 

There is no other verdict any sane, aware, concerned person can come to.

The rest of the world seems to have our number.  The U.S. pretends to be in charge but more and more we see one nation after another turning away.  And apparently citizens across our once-great country -- regardless of whether they voted for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders or Gary Johnson or Jill Stein, or just stayed home out of disgust -- will be the last to know that the U.S. is no longer a functioning democracy and has been completely taken over by fierce, ruthless, elitist, self-serving, corporate autocrats, and more fatefully we are being simultaneously prepared for major economic collapse and a global war which carries the ominous risk of extinction for the human race.

Moreover, the planet itself each day stands in silent but immutable judgment.

The Arctic is in crisis, evidence of catastrophic global heating.  The oceans are on their way to becoming vast sea creature graveyards.  Scientists have now concluded we are in the middle of another mass species extinction.  The world we now inhabit will go away and eventually become uninhabitable, both for humans and much of the life on the planet which we now take for granted.

Pathological levels of hubris, demagoguery, and megalomania have the major nations on hair-trigger alert, with the nuclear destructive power to destroy the world 25 to 50 times over, just a launch button away.  Most of this animosity stems from America's inability to accept its place as one of a community of nations.  We will run things our way or destroy the entire world in a colossal temper tantrum.



With existential crises of an unprecedented and truly apocalyptic scale . . . let's talk about hacking by the Russians.  Let's talk about Trump's potty mouth and dicey business deals.  Let's form two massive groups -- die-hard Hillary Clinton supporters and President-elect Donald Trump supporters -- face off and scream at one another.  Let's talk about Trump's rumored man-love of Vladimir Putin and his pussy-grabbing -- apparently he's bisexual, since he can swing both ways.  Let's spread the word! After all . . .

Someone told someone else that when Putin and Trump aren't butt-fucking, they're scheming to take down the greatest country in the world.  Just as bad, when Hillary isn't spreading state secrets across the world wide web like viral mannequin challenges, she's running a child sex slave ring  out of a DC pizzeria, to try to make a buck, while of course supplying fresh nubile flesh for Bill's pedophilia parties.  We know this story is true, which is a big part of the reason many people didn't vote for her, because someone mentioned it to Alex Jones and he subsequently devoted a lot of time to it on his show.  I love Alex's voice, don't you?

Of course, our whole electoral system is in crisis.  THANKS TO THE DAMN RUSSIANS!  Seventeen intel agencies told someone anonymously -- of maybe someone told us that 17 intel agencies told them -- the idea of hacking our elections is consistent with the priorities of Russia.  We don't know which agencies suggested this.  It's hard to know because at my last count there were 1,271 government organizations responsible for national security.  Out of these, 500 could easily be considered "intel agencies".  Hmm . . . 17 out of 500.  That seems odd, eh?  Whatever.  Those Russians are always up to no good.  Especially the Bolshoi Ballet and Tchaikovsky.  And Tolstoy!

Then there's the whole Electoral College mess.  Hard to believe that we didn't notice.  But apparently the electoral college's potential to not represent the express will of the voting public -- sometimes referred to by the rich and powerful elite who occasionally take a break from plundering the Treasury and devising more effective means of maintaining full control over the machinery of government and even our pathetic personal lives to elbow each other in the ribs and snicker about the "slobbering masses" -- has been secreted in Article II of our venerated Constitution now for over 227 years.  Sure, they'll claim it was there the whole time.  But they put it in Article II, and let's face it, most of us never got past reading the Preamble, much less Article I.  Anyway, better late than never.  Now we know that whether you love him or hate him, Trump was right!  The system is rigged!  Therefore it's time for some real effective action.  Let's start a petition!  No way can let that pussy-grabbing scumbag be president over some technicality in the Constitution probably put in there by the slimy Russians.  We should have our first female president, who despite having ovaries and a pussy -- which Trump probably tried to grab! -- is tough as nails and will hit the ground running by starting World War III with either Iran, Russia, or China.  Maybe all three!  Talk about macho!



Granted, a lot of this seems to miss the big picture questions, which are . . .

Why did we have to choose only between Hillary and Donald?

Or . . .

Why is it no matter who we elect, everything just gets worse?

Or . . .

What's the point of representative government if the people we elect don't represent us?

Or . . .

How can it be called choice when both of the two major political parties just put people up for election who serve the interests of the wealthy, who promote war, who can't find it in their hearts or in our national budget to provide the basic services and necessities which many other nations in the world take for granted?

Then again . . .

Those kinds of questions are really really difficult.

Solving those problems requires radical reform and profound systemic changes.
It would be very embarrassing to admit to the world that our democracy is in big trouble.
Addressing those challenges takes a lot of hard work and time which most of us don't have.
Having a government which serves everyday citizens is sure to piss off the Koch brothers!



Isn't it more convenient to ask questions which are more likely to get answered?

Like . . . is or was Dick Cheney ever a robot?

You know, folks, I suspected something like this all along.  I even wrote a blog about it.

Deep-State Doppelgängers

See?  I'm on top of the news!



[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



The Politics of Panic and Puerile Propaganda

Oratory as a Weapon of Mass Deception

 

I used to say President Obama is a great orator.

In retrospect, particularly in view of his speeches over the past two years, I would have to modify my appraisal: Mr. Obama is a mind-numbingly effective orator -- with major emphasis on 'mind-numbing' -- whose powers of persuasion are both awe-inspiring and reality-altering.

But great? I think not.

You see, great orators don't insult their audiences by lying and using their enormous gifts to wreak havoc on the world, demean other world leaders, and generally inflict listeners with self-serving propaganda.

Great orators ennoble, enlighten, inspire!

There is so much deception, obfuscation, manipulative innuendo, faulty logic, sheer raw hypocrisy in his recent U.N. speech, I could write volumes. But it's not worth your time or mine, since so many of the lies upon which he built this petty and self-aggrandizing show have been repeated with such relentless regularity, they are part of the accepted collective wisdom of both the American public and the government propaganda apparatus, aka the main stream media.

I'll just throw out a few comments.

"But we cannot stand by when the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a nation is flagrantly violated. If that happens without consequence in Ukraine, it could happen to any nation gathered here today."

Like Yemen being bombed by the U.S.-supported tyrannical government of Saudi Arabia? Like Iraq? Or Libya? Or Afghanistan? Or any of the 30+ countries the U.S. has attacked or effected regime change by proxy?

Here's a real gem.

"It is not a conspiracy of U.S.-backed NGOs that expose corruption and raise the expectations of people around the globe; it’s technology, social media, and the irreducible desire of people everywhere to make their own choices about how they are governed."

Oh really? One of America's favorite 'NGOs' is the National Endowment for Democracy. First of all even calling it an NGO is a laugh. Everyone knows -- at least in the crowd I run with -- that the NED was created by the CIA and is funded by Congress. For some reason, whenever it shows up on the scene, countries become immersed in chaos and insurrection, with regime change soon to follow. The most recent victim of its handiwork is Ukraine, where it fomented the overthrow of the legitimate democratically-elected government, then installed a chocolate puppet doll to do the bidding of the U.S.

Here the President deftly conflated bragging and threats, as in, "See how we've messed up things for you, Russia? If you don't tow the line, you ain't seen nothing yet, baby!"

"Sanctions have led to capital flight, a contracting economy, a fallen ruble, and the emigration of more educated Russians."

Then, just when I though it was safe to stop gagging and listen further, I picked up on this.

"When a dictator slaughters tens of thousands of his own people, that is not just a matter of one nation’s internal affairs — it breeds human suffering on an order of magnitude that affects us all."

Which is why we supplied chemical weapons to Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein in order to get the job done right back when he was one of our buddies? Which is why we overthrew the democratically-elected leader of Chile and replaced him with a brutal autocrat who then proceeded to kill tens of thousands of his people? Of course, I could go on with many more examples. But it's tedious and pointless, as hypocrisy is apparently now considered one of the great virtues in the Empire of Chaos.

"Assad reacted to peaceful protests by escalating repression and killing that, in turn, created the environment for the current strife."

Really? Is that the whole story? Or just the one the U.S. creates for its fairy tale version of every uprising it seeds and supports to overthrow governments it doesn't like?

Oh yes . . . about those crazy Muslims running around beheading people, driving tens of thousands to flee their native lands and seek refuge in Europe:

"We know that ISIL — which emerged out of the chaos of Iraq and Syria — depends on perpetual war to survive."

Like the U.S. military-industrial complex? Or the U.S. itself which can't stop bombing countries into complying with its dictates?



Credit where credit is due, however:  Our president did stumble into the truth a few times. Thus, here is absolutely my favorite quote from his speech . . .

"On this basis, we see some major powers assert themselves in ways that contravene international law. We see an erosion of the democratic principles and human rights that are fundamental to this institution’s mission; information is strictly controlled, the space for civil society restricted. We’re told that such retrenchment is required to beat back disorder; that it’s the only way to stamp out terrorism, or prevent foreign meddling."

. . . because it perfectly describes the United States of America, in particular the policies aggressively promoted by Mr. Obama himself.

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Watch President Obama's entire speech and judge for yourself whether this man is ever capable of doing anything but creating a smokescreen for America's malfeasance in the world, its monomaniacal fixation with its power, its self-proclaimed right to lecture and dictate to others how the world should be run.

[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Justin Bieber is the new Hitler!

 

If someone in the State Department or the White House decides that Justin Bieber's music truly sucks, or even if they just take a disliking to that froofy, pseudo-pompadour hair style he alternates with his Beetle boy look, you can be assured of the headline the next day, front page of the New York Times:

Justin Bieber is the new Hitler!

The campaign of demonizing this young pop star, thus getting the public fired up for his inevitable liquidation, will have begun.

We've seen a lot of 'Hitlers' over the past couple decades. If fact, this vilification by association would seem by now to have outworn its usefulness. But no, the public's knee still jerks when tapped with the mallet of ultimate evil personified. Then it's bombs away, or at bare minimum, a nice bloody assassination or regime change by proxy.

The great thing about the Hitler device is that everyone knows how it ended. And they can now sleep well, fully convinced of what the new evil-drenched Hitler-reincarnation faces in the Great Battle of the White Hats vs. the Black Hats, an epic struggle which defines our moral sensibilities in this age of television and smart phone enlightenment.

Back in 2003, we had a real solid Hitler in Saddam Hussein. Boastful, cocky, imperious to the core.  He ended up swinging on a rope.  Yes!  Take that brutal tyrant!  Nobody messes with freedom, justice, and the American Way!

Gaddafi was an easy target. He even strutted like Adolph, and though he dispensed with the erect-penis-surrogate arm salute, Muammar had all of the PR trappings of Hitler, his Third Reich gallery-of-rogues henchmen, even his puffed-up Italian sidekick, Benito. Ha! Take a knife up the ass, scumbag!  Blam blam blam!  Bye-bye, chest-thumping despot. Guess we showed him what democracy is all about.

 

Of course, the latest big-bang-for-the-buck Hitler clone is the grim Vladimir Putin. Oh baby! Are we ever doing a number on this contemptible autocrat!  Though the wily and aggressive Russian propaganda machine pumps out transparently phony approval ratings __ the latest was a laughable 86% __ we know in the West that the cowering Russkies can't wait for the U.S. and its hyper-masculine NATO allies to reduce their struggling ball-and-chain nation to smoldering, radioactive rubble, so that they can enjoy the benefits of the Home Shopping Channel and 24/7 Donald vs. Hillary news, just like us lucky, well-informed Americans. I'd say your days are numbered, Vlad the Impaler! Keep your shirt on.  Oh . . . I forgot.  You don't wear a shirt.

Not regularly making the headlines up there with the big neo-Hitlers are little neo-Hitlers. Maybe the general public isn't paying very close attention, but these tyrants are never off the radar screens of the neocon ninjas and their proud servants, the Orkin men in the CIA.

Included now or the recent past in this exclusive Hitler-lite, by-invitation-only club would be the likes of Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Evo Morales of Bolivia, certainly Raol and Fidel Castro of Cuba, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and Tabaré Vázquez of Uruguay.

What do all of these scary new Hitlers have in common?

Well, it turns out to be one of two things.

Either they're socialists __ working hard to block the predatory agenda of capitalism, offering citizens a fair share of national wealth, fulfilling the promise of a good life with minimum standards for income, health care, education, home and land ownership __ or they're trying to get out from under the oppressive control of the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency __ the Bretton Woods system that has propped up American political and economic hegemony over the past seven decades.

This last one will definitely get you blown away. This was the real crime of both Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi in the eyes of our neocon goon squad politicos __ George W., Obama, Hillary Clinton, and way too many others to mention.  Currently, we see that their cooperative de-dollarizing has installed Russia and China as the #1 and #2 ranking targets for America's 7000+ nuclear arsenal.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen . . . many observers have drawn the conclusion that America's exceptionalist imperial conquerors would prefer risking nuclear Armageddon to giving up the almighty USD as the economic weapon of choice in the international marketplace. World War III will be the ultimate temper tantrum.

"If we can't have it our way, then everybody dies!"

Having said that . . . I always try to end on a positive note.

All of you devoted fans who swooned to "One Less Lonely Girl" and danced the night away to "As Long As You Love Me" can rest easy. 

It doesn't appear that Justin Bieber is planning on de-coupling from the U.S. dollar __ it has served him quite well __ or leading a socialist revolution among his tweener fan base. Justin seems not at all concerned about the general welfare and never sings about social justice to his faithful "Beliebers".  He just keeps pumping the U.S. dollars out of their non-biodegradable plastic wallets, like the exemplary capitalist he is.

I'd say he's probably pretty safe for now.



[This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Give Peace A Chance

 

Before the jingoistic cheer leading and Russia-hating catcalls start pouring
from the poorly informed but enthusiastically irrational peanut gallery,
let's take a moment to review a few important FACTS. Maybe FACTS are
not quite as spectacular or emotionally satisfying as burping up bilious
gas balls of MSM propaganda, but they can provide PERSPECTIVE.

During the 90s, following the dissolution of the USSR, the military flights and
air-space patrols and probing by Russia as part of their stand-off with
the West __ mirrored 24/7  by the U.S. and NATO with similar fleets of
fighters, bombers, reconnaissance planes, refueling tankers __ stopped
completely. The reconnaissance and war readiness exercises by the
Western powers, however, continued uninterrupted.

Reacting to this unbroken protraction of war readiness by the West, Russia
started up their long range bomber patrols again July and August 2007,
returned to guarding its air space and borders, keeping a sufficient
number of planes in the air to let the West know that they were not to
be permitted carte blanche superiority in the skies near Russian air
space.

This means, for over 15 years Russia suspended a major component of the Cold
War years confrontation, taking itself completely off of a war footing.
Rather than take advantage of this historic opportunity, the West
continued, and if anything increased, its intimidation of Russia, which
by both choice and circumstance __ its empire had disintegrated and the
country itself was in dire economic straits __ tried to pursue peaceful
relations.

During the 90s Russia was understandably preoccupied with putting its house back
in order and trying to rebuild the functional framework of a nation.
With calculating deftness but in direct violation of recorded assurances
made to Russia that NATO would not move "one inch east"
of Germany __ a trade-off for Russia's quickly withdrawing its troops
from East Germany to permit an orderly, uncontested reunification of the
German nation __ NATO at the prompting of the U.S. proceeded to rapidly
expand its geographical orbit. Today it includes Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia. All of these countries are considerably more than an inch east of Germany.

Then in December 2001, the U.S. announced that it was unilaterally pulling out of the ABM Treaty,
signaling that it claimed the right to now put anti-ballistic missiles
in any country in the NATO alliance. This move was unprovoked, meaning
there was no specific incident or level of tension between Russia and
the U.S. prompting such a sudden breach of the agreement, one that had
been in force since 1972. Ominously, this was the first time in U.S.
history that America had walked away from such a major agreement.

Since the U.S. at the time and for many years afterwards, claimed that the
anti-ballistic missiles were purely to prevent rogue nations like Iran
and North Korea from attacking Europe, Russia offered to become part of a
unified system of missile defense of Europe, offering its own
sophisticated missile tracking radar to the mix.

America turned down this offer from the Russians.

While there is much more, sometimes less is more.

Here less is enough.

Encapsulating . . .

NATO moves its military alliance and bases to Russia's borders. The U.S. starts
deploying ABMs near Russia's borders. The U.S. wants no part of Russian
cooperation in optimizing those systems against the "enemies".

Who is Russia to conclude is the real enemy being targeted by these ABMs?

What is Russia to conclude from the relentless move east, right up to its borders, of the military forces of NATO?

What is Russia to conclude from what appears to be a "containment" policy directed at them, currently implemented by twenty-seven major military installations, with possibly more yet to come?

Then to pour gasoline on the embers of suspicion, last year the U.S. assisted the overthrow of a democratically elected government in Ukraine, a nation with long historical ties going back centuries to Russia, located right on Russia's "underbelly".

Concurrently, a venomous anti-Russia propaganda blitz began in the West.

Everything became Russia's fault: The whole Ukraine crisis, the downing of
Malaysian Flight 17, the deaths in eastern Ukraine, the "invasion" and
annexation of Crimea. 

About the same time, a massive campaign to demonize Putin went into high gear, initiated and aggressively promoted by the U.S. via its presstitute media __ direct personal attacks even made by
Obama, Biden, and Samantha Power at the U.N. __ and spread across the
globe, the truculence championed by England, Germany and France.

What is going on here? What does this look like to you?

I know what it looks like to me.
 
There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that hubris and arrogance,
that delusional imperial ambitions and diplomatic megalomania, coupled
with just plain horrible judgment has again replaced thoughtful
analysis, basic respect for the interests of other nations, and
responsible leadership. 

Many are coming to this horrifying conclusion: America wants war with Russia.

It doesn't help that some clueless imbeciles escaped their short bus ride for a
day at the Leggo Park and infiltrated our policy-making institutions,
preaching the suicidal gospel that we can win a nuclear war with Russia. They are joined by self-proclaimed political geniuses __ masters of the universe who think history is a 90s Michael Jackson album __ proposing after consulting their Magic 8-Ball that with a few slick moves America can just topple the current government of Russia
and render the entire nation with its vast natural resources a vassal
state, ready for easy picking by America's corporate predators. I'm sure
these same Pollyannas also believe that the Russian people will welcome
America, weeping for joy, throwing bouquets before our Humvees as they
roll through Moscow Square.

America thinks it can bluster and bluff, use color revolutions to nudge Putin out of office and install some bloated puppet in his place like they did with Poroshenko in Ukraine __ though even that's far from a done deal itself.

America thinks what it says is divine truth and to hell with anyone who disagrees.

America thinks its military might and economic power confers it a special,
unassailable place in the world, a position of supreme and
unquestionable leadership and iron rule.

With these recent dealings with Russia, we're another 25 years into the
tragicomedy of our infantile machinations, self-absorbed exceptionalism,
diplomatic myopia, and sociopathic delusions of imperial grandeur. We
have engaged some of the best minds and produced some of the worst
ideas.

Where do we now stand?

What do we have to show for all of this American ingenuity?

First and foremost, Cold War 2.0 is up and running full-tilt because Russia finally arrived at the inescapable conclusion that NATO is a profound military threat.

The meticulously and arduously fashioned trust and spirit of cooperation
gradually built over decades is trashed, relations between the U.S. and
Russia severely damaged for many years to come. Russia now believes all of the talk of
integration and cooperation was just lip-service, a cheap smokescreen
for America's real agenda __ destroying their country.

As accusations and hysteria prompted by old habits and grudges now take
center stage, hopeful and constructive dialogue have become drown out by
the drums of war. 

War fever and sabotage of peace initiatives __ mostly emanating from Washington DC __ are becoming pandemic.

The escalation of paranoia and preparation for major conflict keeps ratcheting up and up.

Trying to stop this madness is like trying to stop an avalanche with a pair of wool mittens.

We are way beyond the finger-pointing and blame-game phase. Now it's tit-for-tat
as both sides ramp up their respective militaries, each new step
bringing the situation closer to spinning completely out of control.

The Pentagon pushes for a military build-up along Russia's border. The world gets to hear General Frederick Hodges explain his no-mercy policy and lecture Europe and NATO about preparedness.  Friction develops and Russia objects as NATO continues a massive military build-up of troops in the Baltic States and other Eastern Europe NATO countries. There are U.S. paratroopers headed for Ukraine to train their army. Ukraine President, Petro Poroshenko, claims to have struck a deal will eleven EU countries to provide military weapons, including lethal ones. Great Britain deploys 30 Royal Air Force planes for Rising Panther, its largest war aerial exercises in a decade, in
response to the "Russian threat". U.S. tanks, Humvees and armored personnel carriers roll through Latvia. We have JOINT WARRIOR, a huge deployment of naval ships out of Scotland, for war game exercises. Poland is purchasing the Patriot ABM system to defend against the anticipated Russian invasion. Even the U.S. National Guard has sent twelve F-15 interceptor jets to Europe guarding against Russia.

None of this has escaped Russia's attention, so understandably they have responded with their own build-up and heightened alert status. They conducted huge rapid deployment drills
in Kaliningrad, and have deployed a new missile defense radar system
there which covers the entire Atlantic. Russia is sending advanced supersonic strategic bombers to Crimea for global training exercises, as well as re-equipping early warning radar sites in the recently annexed territory. They have also announced the launch of a new advanced missile-attack warning satellite. There have been reports of an escalating presence of Russian strategic bombers near U.S. airspace, and concern expressed by NATO at the apparently growing number of "incidents" involving Russian planes and seagoing vessels, with of course no mention of the
provocations emanating from NATO itself and its allies. Recognizing that
Russia will stand toe-to-toe with the West in the face of aggression by
NATO, U.S. troops at the front now feel "vulnerable" and want bigger, better weapons.

Through all of this, a stream of propaganda,
outright condemnation, shoddy fabrication, angry provocation, and
malicious innuendo continued to spew from President Obama,
Vice-President Biden, Secretary of State Kerry, and U.S. Ambassador to
the United Nations, Samantha Power, aided and abetted naturally by the
main stream media.

Then yesterday, as I was finishing this article, Geoffrey Pyatt, a man with a
long sleazy record of diplomatic disservice, who is currently U.S.
Ambassador to the Ukraine, was reported to have tweeted an image of Russian air defense systems,
claiming they were there in the country, when in fact the photo was
actually taken outside of Moscow two years ago at an International
Aviation and Space Show. Mr. Pyatt has thus expanded the range of his
incompetence to even being pathetic at lying __ making him more
dangerous.

So we now have the perfect storm:  hubris, idiocy, and paranoia.

The military one upsmanship coupled with diplomatic dysfunction is sheer madness.

I keep listening for a voice of sanity, appeals for restraint, some thoughtful analysis __ occasionally there have been a few faint whispers __ but mostly I'm hearing adolescent boys shouting at one another, as they rev up for a serious scrap in the schoolyard.

At the same time, as with most fights someone had to start it. Usually that gives us some clue who needs to stop it.

No matter what spin you put on everything I've laid out in this article, no matter
how you rationalize it, hide it behind the thin vapor of noble
intentions, without any equivocation, doubt, or splitting of hairs, it is the U.S. that has been provoking and perpetuating this extremely dangerous and counter-productive confrontation.

It's not even in America's long term interests to keep this war of nerves going.

Russia is not Zimbabwe, Iraq, or Yemen.  It's not Grenada or Haiti.

Russia is not going to be intimidated by a chest-beating schoolyard bully.

This can only end badly for the U.S., its allies, and the rest of the world.

Obama, Kerry, Biden . . . COME ON! . . . man up a little! 

Admit your mistakes.  Show some self-respect.  Let's see real leadership.

Stand up to the neocon crazies and psychopathic empire builders.

Thoughtful judgment and common sense go a long way.

Drop the arrogant posturing and cut your losses.

History will judge you more kindly.

Give peace a chance.


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]