On Trump’s Reaction to Putin Not Expelling US Diplomats

They are Information Operationers and Psychological Operationers. They are trying to save and operationalize the Cold War 2.0 they have been working for years to achieve. SecState Clinton was to be their Visible Leader and War Co-Ordinator from atop the White House. They fact that they have lost their Clinton makes them afraid that they may lose their Cold War.

Here’s a link to MoA;
http://www.moonofalabama.org/
Scroll down the first article and see a hilarious cartoon of Putin vs. Obama.
It says it all…

“If you are going to oppose everything Trump does, and always draw the worst possible conclusion about his actions, you lose all credibility.”

Oh? Really???

I believe we’ve just witnessed 8 years of exactly this behavior with exactly 0 loss of credibility. Or have you and I been living on different planets?

Disturbing to see the media in the grips of hysterics once again. A few months ago it was Trump Terror 24/7, a relentless blaring siren, now it’s Russia Fear. The Joint Analysis Report was a big fat nothingburger yet I’ve seen so many commenters talking around the complete lack of evidence. Look. If you’re moron enough to give US intelligence services the “benefit of the doubt” after Iraq, if you believe “17 intelligence agencies” are withholding the “real evidence” for spycraft reasons, just abandon your voting privileges now — you’re too stupid for the franchise. Nobody gets the benefit of the doubt after Iraq, torture, surveillance, and so many other lies.

Pretty much all the JAR said was that some of the attack IP addresses came from Russia. But get this, even more of them came from the US. Whoa surprise! That’s because hackers don’t care where computers are located — they scan machines at random and infect whatever they find. Not exactly relevant for proving the attacks were directed personally by Putin. The report also provided evidence that the PHP malware stack used in an attack was an out of date version preferred by Ukrainian and Russian hackers. No evidence of “nation-state level” hackery — it was off-the-shelf stuff any 14 year old could download from github. No evidence. Deceitful garbage.

And they expelled 35 diplomats over this…

Taibbi finally admits the Russia story stinks, says it may be a “a cynical ass-covering campaign” from the election-bungling Democrats, and goes on to wonder if it’s all a bullshit attempt to sabotage Trump by escalating tensions with a nuclear power. Ginning up a war with Russia, that’s all we need. I’m looking forward to the next round of WikiLeaks that’ll show how the Clinton camp neocons relentlessly coordinated this story with their breathless enablers in the press.

Anyone here read Spengler’s “Hour of Decision”? Published in 1936, it is his historical method from Decline of the West applied with laser focus to the crisis of that era. I wonder what he would say today.

Who would he say are the true statesman, if any, who are able to act in history rather than be swept along by its forces? Putin maybe – anyone else? What would he say are the active living cultures? Does Islam and its anti-Western fury herald a re-emergence of the old Caliphate, or a purely chaotic force? Before the war Japan was seen as more formidable than pacifist China – will the Japanese militarism ever re-kindle, and what spirit will finally wield China as a military force? Spengler thought the Bolshevik overthrow of the Czar represented in part Asia re-claiming Russia from Europe – would he see in Putin’s Russia a revival of Europe, or the final triumph of Asia? And is there any outpost of the old “white” diaspora that still has the will to survive?

Spengler wrote that the state’s purpose is in relation to other states, and that domestic policy only serves to keep the nation “in form” for external conflicts. We can see that the USA is in a state of anarchy – it likely has no policy at all, and if it had one, it certainly couldn’t carry it out. Trump is too old to be the first Caesar, but when Caesarism comes, will it be the Roman imperium style, or dueling warlord states? Or will we get that final apocalypse that Spengler warned of, the simultaneous class- and race-Bolshevik revolution? The San Diego plan realized, a continent-wide Haiti? What kind of chaos is about to be unleashed as the shabby scaffolding of the post-world order finally collapses? Does Spengler’s “Asiatic will to destroy” finally end in a form Spengler himself couldn’t have foreseen, the nuclear winter?

I keep seeing references to the future “American Empire” ruled by a modern-day Caesar. This is looking at things from the wrong end of the historical spectrum. We are not at the beginning of the American Empire, we are at the end of the American Empire.

The United States is not Republican Rome, on the verge of Empire; it is later-day Byzantium, and has played the part of “Byzantium” to England’s “Rome” since its founding. Just remember, history rhymes, it does not repeat…

Trump is no Roman Augustus; he is more along the lines of Phocas, the usurper who ended the Justinian Dynasty… he began his rule as a “populist,” to great acclaim of the people and the wealthy, turning to cruelty, terror and murder to continue his rule, and ended it with the collapse of the Byzantine borders, civil war, and in the end his own body “mutilated, paraded through the capital, and burned.”

There is a much bigger underlying issue, for which Russia, in my view, is just a distraction. Our elections have become increasingly unfair and undemocratic. While Freedom House gives the U.S. an 11 out 12, that is still worse than 61 countries. The better measure is the Electoral Integrity Project , which gives the U.S. an index of 62 out of a possible 100, and a ranking of 47th in the world, behind all of Western Europe, most of South America, and about a third of Eastern Europe. Russia is not ranked, it is not considered a democracy.

The 49 indicators they use include standards for campaign finance, proportional electoral systems, election management bodies, and electoral registration. We are absolutely the worst among Western democracies. Russian influence, and the ability to make hay from even the possibility of it, are by-products of how bad our election system is. The media and our politicians are not interested in fixing the bigger problem, so we get distraction. It’s always easier to blame external factors than to face our own rot.

The whole “Russia hacked our elections and must be punished for it” kerfluffle has really had me wondering. I’m not a real political junkie, but I grew up knowing that nations messed in each other’s power relations. This wasn’t cynicism; everybody knew it. The U.S. government was proud of Voice of America, which broadcast “the truth” into repressive countries to help their citizenry out. The government wasn’t always really upfront about fomenting coups, although it wasn’t really secretive about it either. But it was clear that it provided help to electoral parties that represented our values, again to help them elect the kind of government that would bless them with our way of life.

So when all this Russia hacking hysteria started, I thought it was just red-baiting, but either a lot of these writers and politicians are really having a great game being into it or there’s something weird about their sudden concern about foreign influence. I don’t know if it has to do with the real problems we have with freedom of speech and the press — if money is speech and corruption is limited to explicitly agreed upon quid pro quo and reporters are stenographers for the big bucks, then the issues of how to prevent a foreign government from buying the election does get serious. Russia can outbid even the Koch brothers.

Still, the hysteria is extraordinary.

BlizzardOfOz,

The Putin-Diddit story is a rallying cry for the Clintonite Shitobamacrats in particular, the DLC Third Way New Yuppie Scumocrats in broader general, and the FIRE Sector Klepto-Industrial Complex in broadest general . . . .who all planned to party hearty for the next four years and maybe 4 more years after that. Also for antirussianitic racist antirussianites like Zbiggie-poo Brzezinski and his ilk-load of accolytes who inform the DC FedRegime’s racist antirussianitic foreign policy. Starting with the vile scum Bill Clinton who began pushing NATO eastward in violation of the Gentleman’s Agreement Promise from Reagan and Elder Bush to Gorbachev not to do so. Clinton diddit in order to set the stage for Cold War 2.0. One more of Clinton’s gifts that keeps on giving.

I am not persuaded the dust-up with Russia (or Israel) at the close of the Obama Adminstration is important. I don’t think the US will ever meet Glenn Greenwald’s standard for proof of Russian hacking laid out for all to see. As much as I usually agree with Glenn’s logic, I think he is setting the bar too high to suit his rhetorical purposes and that is about all. The US display of righteous indignation is alarmist and hypocritical, and Putin saw a way to emphasize that very effectively. On the other hand, Mr. Trump’s tweet– patting himself on the back for ‘always’ knowing Putin was ‘smart’– seems to alarmed the standard media more. Trump has again managed to convey ambiguity about his intentions and his intellectual capacity. It is like saying his first conversations with President Obama in person were ‘nice’ or ‘interesting’. Putin’s first take on the tweet was probably like Boris Badinoff laughing a Moose and Squirrel–but then, he too probably had second thoughts: “Who is this guy?”

«America and Russia have no significant real national interests that clash. It does not matter to America who rules in Georgia or the Ukraine.»

That is rather optimistic: there are huge untapped natural resources in the Ukraine, other bits of Russia’s “near abroad”, and in Russia itself. It is very much in the private interests of many top USA nationals that the rulers of those countries be friendly to foreign asset strippers. The great advantage of the post-Soviet, pre-Putin politicians was that they were quite compliant with that.

And the private interests of very rich USA nationals are the «real national interests» of America. What is good for Exxon or Citigroup or Blackrock is good for America.

PS Georgia is economically irrelevant, but its location is moderately important.

@racerx tu quoque fallacy. learn some basic logic, for CHRIST SAKES.

A doi! A doi! The Republicans were nasty and repellent, so we can be too!

So you advocate losing your mind and fearmongering like the conservatives? Yeah, that is exactly why I left the Democrats and spit on liberals. I will not have a part in red baiting 2.0. You keep spouting such nonsense, and be prepared to lose again and again and again.

@ neoliberalkilla

Righteous rant, and right you are on all points.

Very inconvenient truths, but obvious nonetheless.

The my team/your team Dem/Rep bullshit is what got us here.

For a while, pragmatism must rule, and nothing is more pragmatic than understanding that the real fight is regular folks vs. the corporatocracy and its minions and enablers.

Along the way, we must become more comfortable with the task of pissing on all bullshit talking points, no matter their source.

As always, Ian, AMEN and thank you. It’s nearly impossible to find writing, like yours, that is truthful and based on common sense from my so-called, “side” (as much as I still have one), about our present politics, and specifically anything whatsoever about our new prez to be, Donald Trump.
When I first noticed you writing in this way, it was almost like music. And no horrible comments, either–at first. And I thought to myself that something was wrong with me and/or some of the kinds of friends (on FB, for me) I had chosen because when I so much as questioned something basic, like, “well, what is ‘honest journalism’?” in regard to a HRC comment, I was advised, for example, to “get the toilet paper” and etc. I never made a FB friend because someone shared my political position–especially because almost no one else shares it. (The Christian Left is a very small group, although as long as Bernie ran, I was in excellent company; afterward is when the conflict began.) Rather, it was b/c of music/my bands, family, childhood and academy and grad school friends, etc. Anything but politics, even as I studied political science. As a result, I probably have one of everything…and, in my opinion, all great people. I have only 300+ FB friends, not 4,999.
But I have been astounded that there is literally no thought process associated with many of my FB friends’ comments. If you are not righteously pro-Hillary, you then, automatically, embody every depraved thing about Donald Trump and deserve evil to befall you. Of course, HRC is considered an angel, “my shero”, etc., and the big one, “pizzagate never happened, it’s a lie” (idiots may believe this). Several friends actually sent out blanket notices to everyone they knew that “any Trump supporter will be DEFRIENDED.”
And then I saw your version of conflict over what you wrote. Music to me was not music to everyone after all. It takes courage to speak against the grain–well, come to think of it, that would be to speak against Galbraith’s well-known “conventional wisdom”!! ha…which is what I am doing right now.
Thank you again.

“The hysterics about Russia, in general, are hysterics.”

Yep. This is weird but is part of a long, since WW2, US tradition, There are some serious people in many places in the US Govt and military that really do want war with Russia.
Yes it is suicidal, yes it is insane, but they exist. And to ignore them and their influence is naive.

And they are not going to stop, to expect otherwise is also naive.

Look if you take the long view Russia has been the demonified enemy for centuries, the British Empire saw it for a very long time as its ‘greatest enemy’. The fact that the were allies in both WW1 and WW2 never changed that. Their ‘communism’ (it was never that) then became the next ‘greatest enemy’. Heck a coalition of what, the UK, France, US and many others fought on the side of the ‘white army’ after WW1.

Russia and its current ‘federation’ (past empire, past ‘republic’) has always been coveted, a vast area of resources. The fact that traditionally whether it was an empire, a ‘soviet republic’ or a ‘federation’ it has always been conservative (in the old sense) and cautious that is dealable with is irrelevant.

In the end it it greed and stupidity of the elites that drives the ‘west’ and to be able to get something for nothing has always been their ideal. Russian elites are just as greedy and stupid, but for some reason they periodically cull them, so therefore they always seem to manage to reinvent themselves as a society and along the way many ordinary people get a bit of a shot at survival and some sort of decent life….. Not always of course, Stalin was a rare animal, sociopathic and competent (they are usually contradictory such as Hitler), so bad that when Germany invaded many, for a very short term, people in the USSR cheered the Germans.. then found to their surprise that they were even worse (which was hard to believe) .

Putin is obviously intelligent and conservative, canny, cunning, cautious. He managed to achieve a rare thing these days, an increase in the standard of living by the vast majority of people over the last 20 years, something no western country (or nearly anywhere) has managed.
Periodically he culls the corrupt elites..to a certain extent (but not enough). His modus operandi is to bribe first, act secondly, threaten thirdly.. He has also made huge mistakes that will create great challenges in Russian society in that they also have their right wing and ‘religious right’ and he hasn’t shut them down enough. The Russian Orthodox church is just as bad and odious and destructive as any western ‘religious’ right bigots, they have their racists and ‘alt right’ as well.

The classic ‘canary in the coal mine’, LGBTI hatred. is endemic. Because once it is ok to hammer one group, then the next one is even easier and in Russian society they have ‘red necks’ that would make an Alabamian jealous. Given its multi racial, multi ethnic and multi religious structure that spells doom for the Russian ‘federation’ unless they get it under control. Chechnya writ large is not a low probability outcome.

Remember how Hitler did it, the weakest the mentally ill went first (100% death rate) , that set the scene to go to the next group, then the next …and so on.
Note to those who want to protect society…protect the weakest first….If you hold the line there it becomes impossible for those to attack the next.

So called ‘christian’ religious groups are the most devisive groups in any society these days and will, left alone, destroy everyone. They have to be fought down at all points. I exclude Real Christians (and Muslims, etc) from that of course. Who really follow the meta teachings of their religions and who care, accept and fight for everyone.

Note those observations are also true for the US which I believe will break up. The divisions are too great in its society to continue as a sort of united whole.

Russian ‘federation’ post Putin … break up as well.

“there is, as yet, no hard proof, all the evidence is circumstantial at best”

Seventeen intelligence agencies disagree.

@Tim

You might want to recalculate your IA count because the Director of the FBI, James Comey and the DNI, James Clapper have never made public statements supporting this Clintonite smear campaign. In fact Comey has contradicted these evidence-less assertions directly in conversation with The President-elect. We don’t even actually know for certain what the other IA’s think because all information on this subject comes through the Clintonite media and Clintonite supporters in the IA’s.

Hopefully by Wednesday Trump will drive a stake into this vampire Queen’s last sick scheme and close the casket sealing up that festering corruption forever.

You can download any flash file on the web plus Flash games on Facebook or
any other web site of Flash games. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijonRusZ7Ms