Biden & Russia, JFK & USSR, and World Peace

This clip presents a portion of the JFK "Peace for All Time" speech, June 10, 1963.  Then there's commentary by the award-winning publisher of The Nation magazine, Katrina vanden Heuvel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNOQLkp0E5w

Included in the commentary is a brief comparison to the view of Peace held by today's national politicians.  Quite a difference, and not very flattering to Biden, et al.

JFK's Peace speech has been hailed all across the political spectrum as one of the greatest talks ever given by a U.S. President.  One thing is sure:  it demonstrates the almost complete lack of statesmanship in most of today's politicians.  The difference between JFK and them is stunning.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Most Democrats Support NeoCons, re Venezuela

The clip is less than 3 minutes.

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/11/greenwald_how_can_democrats_support_trumps

Pure hypocrisy & self-righteousness on the part of most Dems.  They bray about Russian interference in our politics, but Regime Change in Venezuela is okay.  Then, too, there was Libya.  As long as perceived Bad Guys are the target, it's okay to interfere in the politics of other lands.  NeoCons such as Bolton, Abrams, Pence, & Pompeo must be really pleased!  Go Corporate Dems---get access to that oil.  That will really help Climate Change...and hasten our transition to clean energy.  

Venezuela is no threat to us, but they do have the world's largest reserves of oil.  Hmmm.

No, I'm not in favor of Maduro (or any dictator), but neither do I favor butting into the politics of a sovereign country that is no threat to us.  Look what happened in Honduras recently.  The country is in chaos, & run by thugs that we (especially Hillary) supported.  Never mind our shabby history going way back in South & Central America...supporting Death Squad regimes.

Regime Change worked out so well in Iraq, eh?  Never mind Afghanistan.  You'd think we would learn, but the Corporatist Propaganda rolls on.  Good grief.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Election = a Mixed Bag - Plus, World Corporate Empire

In what should have been a resounding, slam-dunk rejection of the corporatist, plutocratic, serial-lying, ignorant but clever, law-breaking Trump Admin (and any candidate supported by The Don), the election turned out to be a mixed bag.  There are many reasons for that, but in this essay I'll focus on a chief reason.

[Technically, all the election results have not yet been tabulated.  This is being written just before midnight on Tuesday, Mountain Standard Time.  Nevertheless, I feel comfortable with the "mixed bag" characterization.  Of course, both sides undoubtedly will claim victory on Wednesday.  Once again, and for any new readers here, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat.]

Just as during the Bill Clinton Era, today's Democratic Party (at the highest levels) is run by plutocratic corporatists...or their puppets.  After Clinton left office, the DNC re-took power from the Clintonite DLC (Dem Leadership Council, which heavily leaned toward Corporatism).  Unfortunately for genuine Populists, the DNC quietly adopted most of the policies of the outgoing, corporatist DLC.

So, today (& for a number of years), the only difference between so-called Democrats and so-called Republicans is on most social Hot-Button issues---such as gun control, abortion, gay rights, etc.---and maybe one or two non-Hot-Button, domestic issues.  When it comes to the economy, finance, war, empire, monetary policy, fiscal policy, corporatism, and foreign policy, the two Parties (again, at the highest levels) are pretty much the same.

All of the above means that the Dems in control of their Party don't want to rock the Corporate Boat.  That's why, in the lead-up to the election, we heard little to nothing about the following---

1.  About 50% of working families in the USA are either in poverty, or so close to the brink of it that the difference doesn't matter.  They are in the "Precariat Class", a term coined by the economist & professor, Guy Standing.  People in this Class are insecure relative to their material & psychological existence.  Their lives, through little to no fault of their own, have become extremely precarious.

2.  Of the remaining 50%, about 35% of them are doing okay, but they still are in the Precariat Class...at least in terms of economic and financial stability.  Their jobs and lifestyle are no longer secure.  They could lose it all virtually in a few weeks, or at most, a few months.

3.  The economy is "booming" only for about the top 15% of income earners.  Despite any piddly wage increases of late, wages/salaries still essentially are stagnant (after adjustment for price inflation).  That's been true for about thirty years.  In the same period, the Upper Crust has increased its income by 700%.

4.  Our crushing National Debt (which has the potential of further ruining our economy) is not primarily due to social spending; rather, the main cause is massive Corporate Welfare (including military spending).  Corporate welfare DWARFS all social spending combined.  The "Nanny State" in the USA is for corporations, not people.

5.  Our foreign policy kowtows to Mega Corporations...especially those in the Financial Sector.  Our Fed Gov't is belligerent on the world stage because that ultimately benefits the Big Boys in Biz.  [See the book, War is a Racket, by General Smedley Butler, a Marine for 33 years.]  Our foreign policy is further bankrupting our country.  Do you really believe that we need 900 military bases around the world?  Do you really believe that we still need to be in Afghanistan...after 17 years?  Do you really believe that sanctions on a country are not an act of war?  Do you really believe that we need more expensive nukes?  Our military budget already is larger than those of the next top seven countries combined...and that includes China & Russia.

6.  The goal of Mega Corps is to privatize everything...worldwide.  At the highest levels in DC, politicians are helping them do that...or, at the very least, not opposing them.  The monopolists of Mega Biz are moving us all toward NeoFeudalism, and the pace rapidly is increasing.  In the not-too-distant future, the Middle Class no longer will exist.

7.  Finally, our foreign policy is crucial mainly because it drives domestic policy.  Surveillance, War, Trade Wars, Sanctions, Empire...it all drains economic security from We the People.  It all enriches the Upper Crust at our expense.  It serves to funnel spending away from any safety net for the most vulnerable, and increasingly, from any economic security for everyone who isn't in the top tier of income earners.
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The Big Boys & Girls at the DNC ignore most of the above.  Even the small Progressive Wing of the Democratic Party often appears to not get the significance of foreign policy vis-a-vis the World Corporate Empire.  The Democratic hierarchy is basically the same as the Republicans when it comes to foreign policy, sanctions, war, and Empire.

It all comes down to more wealth for the already wealthy...and the top Democrats don't want to rock the boat.  So they mostly ignore Corporatism, and instead, concentrate on immigration or Russian "interference".  No wonder they can't slam-dunk the rejection of Trump & Crew...and if anything needs slam-dunking, it's that.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Reject Two-Party Politics in the USA

If ever there was a year to do it, this is the year.  Consider the following points.

1.  In Modern times, both the Repubs and the Dems each have individually held the majority power more than once.  Campaign rhetoric came to nothing in almost all such cases.  BOTH Parties have led us to where we are today.

2.  Except for a few Hot-Button social issues, the two major Parties pretty much agree on significant issues.  For example, they both believe in institutionalized deficit spending.  Repubs sometimes claim otherwise, but they've never stopped it.  Our National Debt grows every single year...and the principle on the foreign portion of that debt never will be repaid.  Another example--- they both believe in an aggressive foreign policy...and using (not just carrying) a Big Stick.  Another example--- they both believe in economically favoring Wall Street Banks over Main Street citizens.  Anyone who doesn't see that is not paying attention.  Another example--- they both believe in Crony Capitalism.  Big Money in politics has resulted in Mega Corporate Welfare that far outstrips welfare for common people.  There are many more examples, but because of time constraints, I need to keep this relatively short.

3.  Both major Parties almost always distract voters from crucial issues and get them to squabble over issues that may be somewhat important, but are not so crucial that they'll result in the downfall of the country if not addressed in a particular manner.  For example--- gun control.  Whether or not Joe or Jane Doaks can pack a pistol while going into Starbucks is not crucial to the survival of this country.  On the other hand, the elimination of Crony Capitalism is crucial to the survival of this country.  Another example--- Whether or not Joe and Dan...or Nancy and Jane...can legally marry is not crucial to the survival of this country.  On the other hand, the elimination of the aggressive, belligerent use of the military (while violating the Constitution) is crucial to the survival of this country.  It's way past time that our Fed Gov't stops acting as though it is the World Police.  We have no such authority.  According to a worldwide Gallup Poll, 80% of the people in the world believe that the greatest threat to global peace is the Fed Gov't of the USA.  [The Corporate Media here managed to suppress that bit of info.]

4.  There is no provision in the Constitution that restricts us to only two political Parties.  The Repubs and Dems have become dominant primarily by rigging the System.  For example, harsh ballot-access laws are written by...guess who?...Repubs & Dems.  It's almost impossible for a Third Party to get on the ballot in all fifty States in a national election.  Another example--- the Propaganda against Third Party candidates is both rampant and gross.
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On a related but different note... if we want to be a truly democratic society, it would be wise to legally alter our "winner-takes-all" electoral system.  Many, many developed countries have a system (or something similar) in which a Party winning a percentage of the vote gets that amount of representation in the Gov't.  [Even a coalition government is not a political sin, nor is it a bad idea... despite Propaganda to the contrary.]  The way it is now, we really have only one major Party--- the Republicrats, or some say, the Demopublicans... and that's the only Party in elected office.  It's a genuine political monopoly.

People say Third Parties don't have a chance in hell.  That's the Propaganda.  As long as voters believe that, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  If they no longer accept it as inevitable, then the door is wide open... all things become possible.  So, who promotes the no-chance-in-hell idea?... the Republicrats (Demopublicans), of course!  They, especially those at the highest levels, want to keep their monopoly.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Trump Wonders Why We Can't Use Nuclear Weapons???

As reported on Democracy Now, according to MSNBC's Joe Scarborough--- months ago a foreign policy expert went to advise the Don, and three times Trump asked (regarding nuclear weapons), "If we have them, why can't we use them?".  If true, that's the only reason anyone needs to dump Trump.

Clinton should be dumped as well...simply because she's a Neoliberal, Perpetual War Hawk.  Don't take my word for it--- ask Bill Moyers, Cornel West, Chris Hedges, Jeremy Scahill, Ralph Nader, and many others... listed on a previous post on this site.

This is the year to opt out of the corrupt, Rigged Game.  If you don't think so, Google this Neoliberal Think Tank Report---  "Extending American Power: Strategies to Expand U.S. Engagement in a Competitive World Order".  Just what we don't need--- an extension of American Power.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The American Empire and the Democrat Hawks

Yes, the Republicans (in general) are Hawks, too; but this is about the Democrats.

See the last featured piece on the news broadcast of DemocracyNow.org for May 3, 2016.  The title is something like, "Clinton is a Legendary Hawk"; the interview is with Jeremy Scahill (NYT best-selling author) & Glenn Greenwald (Pulitzer Prize in journalism), both co-founders of TheIntercept.com.  They discuss the foreign policy Hawks, Obama, Clinton, & Sanders...and the Democratic Party Establishment that supports a militaristic foreign policy.

Misinformation & outright Propaganda have resulted in much public support for a militarized U.S. foreign policy that is not only unAmerican, but unethical, immoral, & illegal as well.  Never mind that the Corporatist, Crony Capitalist, Super-Rich are the primary beneficiaries.  

The lesser of two evils is still evil.  The game is rigged...don't play.  Boycott all national elections...it doesn't much matter who is in high office.  [If you absolutely can't give up the opium of the masses (voting), then at least vote for a worthy Third Party candidate.]

The probability is very high that sometime (no one knows when) after the election, one of two things---or both---will happen:  an Economic/Financial Crash and/or a major War.  [Of course, they possibly could happen before the election, but I doubt it.]

The "international financial coterie", to which Professor Carroll Quigley (Bill Clinton's mentor at Georgetown U.) referred, will oversee the aftermath...elected U.S. politicians will not.  [It's not a "conspiracy"; it's simply political reality.]

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Politicizing and Militarization of the CIA

Melvin A. Goodman, a former CIA analyst and current Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy, points out how the CIA has declined and fallen due to both being beholden to political interests and becoming militarized.  Goodman was a senior analyst and division chief at the CIA (total CIA service: 1966-1986), a Professor of International Security at the National War College (1986-2004), and currently is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University.  He is regarded as an expert in the fields of Intelligence and National Security.  His latest book is National Insecurity:  the Cost of American Militarism.  Google the man; his views are informed, somewhat prickly, and I think, right on the mark.  Here are a few of those views, as follows.

1.  Failure to anticipate the fall of Soviet Russia, failure regarding the terrorist attacks of 9-11, and failure to anticipate the disastrous consequences of the 2003 Iraq invasion all demonstrate the CIA's decline.

2.  The Pentagon and the CIA essentially are merging into one entity.  Military Intelligence and the Intelligence of our civilian Agency should remain separate; they should counterbalance each other.

3.  Having former military Generals as Heads of the CIA is a really bad idea.  The CIA has become too much of a para-military force.  [In my opinion, that aspect of the CIA (especially regarding the Drone Wars) even could be considered Death Squads.]

4.  The CIA has become a political tool.

5.  Military domination of the Intelligence field now interferes with the CIA's function of providing a check on the Military's influence on foreign policy and the use of force.

6.  Militarism in the USA truly has contributed greatly to national insecurity.
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Militarism is a part of Fascism, which makes use of Crony Capitalism, which dominates the Fed Gov't today...no matter whether Democrats or Republicans are in power.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well