The Absurd Gaslighter Trump Falls Flat AGAIN

Kudos to Paula Reid (CBS reporter) and to The Intercept, an alternative News organization---  https://theintercept.com/2020/04/14/trump-pr-stunt-falls-flat-white-house-video-exposes-failure-prepare-pandemic/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=The%20Intercept%20Newsletter
At least watch the embedded video clips in the piece at the link above.

The above article clearly shows the absurdity of Donald John Trump.  His egomaniacal antics at the Press Briefing demonstrate not only his ongoing psychological gaslighting, but also his utter incompetence.  Apparently, Trump thinks not only his remaining base supporters are stupid and uneducated, but the entire country as well.

When pressed by Reid about the glaring gaps in his self-promotional video, Trump's primary response was:  "You're so disgraceful... you know you're a fake".  Launching personal attacks is one way that gaslighters handle legitimate criticism.  Another way is to completely ignore verifiable instances of failure... key instances.  Too bad for Trump, though--- this time all his efforts fell flat.

It's incredible and baffling how this man believes he can sell the idea that his handling of the covid-19 crisis was spot-on from the very beginning.  Even a drugged chimpanzee [😊] could see through that outright lie.  Unfortunately, if a lie is repeated by a cult leader enough times, then some people (especially cult followers) come to believe it.  Despite that, I don't see how that's possible in this particular case.  Trump finally made a claim that is so absurd not even his die-hard supporters will believe it.  At least, if there's any reasonableness at all left in this Land--- any critical thinking skills still remaining--- that's how it should play out.  If it doesn't, that will be one more reason why many Plutocrats and Oligarchs have (for the last 50 or so years) suppressed & poo-pooed the idea of a Liberal Arts education.  They didn't want any critical thinkers graduating from colleges and universities, and in general, the broader one's education, the more one possesses critical thinking skills.

Having critical thinkers would not be favorable for the implementation of propaganda... which now reigns supreme.  It wasn't any kind of "conspiracy"; it was right out in the open for all to see.  Basically, the whole process was people with mutual interests working (primarily independent of each other) toward a common goal.  In large part, the goal was reached.  Mostly due to a lack of sufficient critical thinking skills on our part, we now have a President who is the King of Elected Gaslighters, makes outrageous claims and contradictory statements, spews out lies as though there's no tomorrow, can't handle the slightest bit of legitimate criticism, usurps unconstitutional power on an unprecedented scale, has totally alienated all our key Allies, launches personal attacks and smears as though he's a spoiled eighth-grader, is a crass bully, and is an Autocrat Wannabe.  On top of all that, he may have a 50-50 chance of being re-elected... when his chances in any rational society would be ZERO.  I find it all tragic, sad, revealing, and darkly hilarious.  It's Bizarro World... again... and eerily Orwellian.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  I'm not a Biden supporter, either.

NeoCon & NeoLib Warmongers & Regime Changers Continue On

It never ends.  Now our Gov't has assassinated the Iranian General Soleimani, who essentially was the equivalent of our Secretary of Defense, and a folk hero in Iran.  Supposedly, he was an "imminent threat" to Americans overseas.  He probably was a threat to anyone associated with our Corporate-Government Complex, but the question is why?  The simple answer is twofold:  1) our Gov't keeps sticking its nose into Arab and Persian affairs; and 2) our Fed Executive Branch has been attacking and strangling the Iranian Gov't for decades.  Why?  According to the Feds, it's because they're "terrorists".  It would behoove anyone who believes that to study a little history.

I suggest to anyone who launches such a historical search:  start with the British discovery of petroleum in Iran in 1908 and the formation of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP).  Then look into the Pahlavi Dynasty--- 1925-1979.  Don't overlook the Anglophile CIA-MI6 conspiracy that overthrew Mosaddeq in the 1953 Coup, after the Iranian Parliament voted in favor of nationalizing oil facilities in Iran.  Don't forget the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988.  Saddam invaded Iran, and was more or less backed by the USA.  More recently, don't forget to consider our economic & financial sanctions on Iran, which are punishing the entire population.  Then there's Trump's withdrawal from the Iran Nuclear Agreement, at a time when (according to independent sources) Iran was meeting all of the requirements.  Finally, don't ignore the Sunni-Shia Conflict, which has been going on for hundreds of years.  Dubya Bush didn't know anything about it; he thought all believers in Islam were of the same cloth.

This whole mess isn't about "terrorism".  It's all about economics and finance.  It's about natural resources.  It's about the Dollar as the world's reserve currency.  It's about Neoliberal plans to privatize the world.  It's about the fact that the USA's position as the preeminent Leader of the World is on a downhill slide.  Many countries have had quite enough of our Corporate-Gov't Complex trying to run everyone else's affairs.  Those countries are forming their own economic and financial alliances in order to bypass the control of the USA's Gov't-Sachs Cabal.  It's also about the NeoCon obsession with Regime Change, and "defending Christianity".  NeoCon nutcakes never would admit it, but I suspect many of them really do believe they are on a "Crusade".  If you recall, Dubya Bush used that word after 9-11, and was roundly criticized for it.

The Ivory Tower Powers-That-Be appear to be trying everything they can to start a war with Iran.  Don't let them do it.  Speak up every way you can.  When they harp on Iranians being "terrorists", keep in mind that Shia Iran is fighting against Sunni ISIS.  Also keep in mind that Iran has much more reason to be interested in Iraq than we do.  Iraq is their neighbor, and they were invaded by Iraq.

In his almost constant gaslighting, Trump goes back & forth between withdrawing militarily from the Middle East to escalating the trouble there.  It's all designed to distract us from his utter incompetence and violations of the Constitution.  Don't fall for it.

Lastly, consider the following.  The Orwellian politicians (both major Parties) in DC have been quietly changing the definitions of words for at least a couple of decades now.  Example:  "imminent", as in "imminent threat", no longer means "immediate"; rather, it now officially means something akin to "perhaps sometime in the future".  Another example:  "war" (the way it's used in our Constitution) no longer means war; instead, it officially means something akin to "counter-terrorism".  As such, Rules, Laws, the Supreme Law of the Land, and even morals & ethics no longer apply.  At least, that's according to the Powers-That-Be.  In reality, it's Orwellian nonsense ...and criminal.

SIDE NOTE---  In reference to his massive escalation of drone attacks, Obama once stated,  "Well, it's not really a war.".  Here's a clue, Mr. Obama:  when you cross a border and kill hundreds of people (1400 in Pakistan alone), that's a war.  The war clause in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution applies.  Nothing in Article II can contravene that provision...unless the USA is hit with a surprise invasion.  You know that; after all, you're a Constitutional scholar.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Companies Claim to Have Gizmos With Artificial Intelligence

IBM (and a few other companies) claim to have created AI.  That's unadulterated hogwash.  AI does not presently exist...unless it has been created secretly (probably by the Fed Gov't, perhaps DARPA) and is known only to a select few.  To be an AI creation, a gizmo would have to be aware of itself as a separate being.  In other words, it would have to be a sentient being.  A machine that can memorize data is not an AI being...not even close.

Those false claims by IBM and others are illustrations or examples of how Orwellian our society has become.  Cognitive dissonance often stresses us because of the way in which words are used today.  Newspeak, oldspeak, doublethink, crimestop, thoughtcrime, facecrime, etc.---or similar ideas--- seem to be fast becoming accepted concepts.  Lies, propaganda, and with Trump, gaslighting, all have become commonplace with many politicians and many people in Big Biz.

Whether purposely or inadvertently, the State-Military-Corporate Complex makes use of Orwellian methods to manipulate the public.  Those methods, plus Bread & Circuses, enable the Plutocrats to confuse and distract those of us on Main Street.  For our own good, we need to recognize such things and whenever possible, shun the perpetrators.  We are many; they are few.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Beware: The U.S. "Debt Ceiling" is an Utter Joke

It was instituted by Law in 1917.  In the 20th century, our Government's Debt Ceiling was raised 90 times.  From 2001 through 2016, it has been raised 14 times; and it was supposed to be raised again last Fall.  Through some sort of machinations, Congress conjured up "emergency spending funds" and postponed the problem until mid-March of this year.

Doublespeak---

March 2018 has come and gone, so what happened?  Congress SUSPENDED the Debt Ceiling until March 2019.  In other words, there is no Debt Ceiling presently.  It was suspended once during Obama's Administration as well.  Considering the history of it, arguably there never has been a Debt Ceiling.   The whole thing appears to be Orwellian Doublethink and Doublespeak.

The Nixon Shock---

Why is any of this important?  Why should we care at all?  It started with the "Nixon Shock" in 1971.  That's when the Executive Branch issued a "temporary suspension" of the convertibility of the U.S. Dollar into gold.  We went completely off the "Gold Standard".  Essentially, our Gov't defaulted on its Debt.  Shortly thereafter, the Dollar lost 25% of its value.  Our long, "temporary" excursion into fiat currency began.  Instead of being backed by gold, our "money" became backed by "the full faith and credit of the United States".  That means virtually nothing at all if our Gov't borrows, and borrows, and borrows into oblivion... and the rest of the world knows that.

The Largest Debtor Nation---

This great Land has gone from being a creditor nation to being the world's largest debtor nation.  To whom is the "money" owed?  Primarily, it's owed to foreign Central Banks, other Mega Banks (including domestic ones), and other Mega Corporations.  The kicker is this:  that Debt is now mathematically impossible to repay in full.  So why do those outfits keep loaning us funds?  For the same reason a Bank doesn't want you to ever repay the full amount on your credit card:  the perpetual interest payments; they will never end.  And from where does the Gov't get the funds to make those multi-billion dollar interest payments to Banks & Corporations...from personal income taxes, of course.

In the spirit of Orwellian Doublespeak, the Fed Reserve calls borrowing the "selling of Debt, or Bonds".  When other entities cut back on "buying Debt" (loaning us funds), the Fed Reserve (which is made up of privately owned banks) "buys" U.S. Bonds.  That essentially means a supposed part of our Gov't loans funds to our Gov't.  All this borrowing serves to devalue the fiat Dollar.

The Bottom Line---

Why should we care?  If for no other reason, because we are saddling our children and grandchildren not only with a continually devalued Dollar, but also with a Debt that will have interest payments in perpetuity.  Then there's the extremely high probability that our economy will collapse because of the Financial shocks brought on by the Fed's insane amount of borrowing.

When it comes to borrowing, the Trump Administration is following right in the footsteps of the Administrations of Obama, Dubya Bush, and others:  increasing the National Debt by multiple times.  And why all this borrowing?  For the most part, it's to maintain U.S. Hegemony throughout the world.  And why is that?  Because the availability of several key natural resources is peaking or shrinking, and without control of those resources, the USA cannot dominate the world and further enrich itself.  Naturally, the Establishment denies any such thing...hardly a big surprise.  The Plutocrats claim the whole shebang is to protect the world, spread democracy, and preserve freedom.  Right.  Edward Bernays would be proud of such claims.
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SIDE NOTE---
Price Inflation is not the result of the cost of production going up; rather, it's the result of the value of the Dollar going down.  When the value of the dollar decreases, it takes more dollars to buy the same amount of goods or services as before the decrease.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Clever, Ignorant Madman Strikes

The clever, deceitful, ignorant, gaslighting, lying Trump ups the ante in Syria.  Here are the problems with that--

1.  There's no legal authority at all for the USA to attack Syria.

2.  There's no legal authority at all for us even to be in Syria.

3.  Trump & His Crew want a major war in the worst way.

4.  It's all about economics & finance...nothing else.

5.  A significant part of the world is waging an economic/financial war on the USA, the purpose of which is to end Dollar Hegemony.

6.  The Fed Reserve is out of ammo (so to speak), so war is now the response by our Gov't...unless Russia & Iran act responsibly by not being goaded into a major conflict.

7.  Once again, Trump has ignored/violated the Constitution.

8.  Once again, Congress has abrogated its Constitutional duty relative to war.

9.  The War Powers Act does not supercede the Constitution.  Neither do Presidential orders.

10.  Only Congress can initiate hostilities;  The Commander-in-Chief then manages the war after Congress declares war.

That's how it works IF the Constitution is followed.

11.  Republicans and Democrats have changed the Constitution without legally amending it.  They've done that by passing unconstitutional laws, laws that contradict the Constitution.  No one person or group has challenged those laws...either because they don't want to, or they don't have the time, effort, & money to take it all the way to the Supreme Court.  A Justice Harlan warned about all this in 1901.  He called it "Legislative Absolutism".

12.  Finally, Republicans and Democrats have changed the common sense definition of War via Edward Bernays style Propaganda.  The whole thing is Orwellian to the max.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well