"The problem is no one can rein in Biden, and if Biden has a policy, he’s the commander-in-chief ― we have to carry it out. That’s what it comes down to, very, very, very unfortunately.’ ”
I remember when the military ignored Trump telling them to bring the troops home from Syria and a few other countries. Then there was the CIA and the pentagon ignoring Obama’s ceasefire and they let their terrorists break the ceasefire and attack each other’s terrorists.
Just the fact that Austin's vacancy went unnoticed for almost a week shows us that even the pentagon's most powerful dude isn’t in charge of what the military does. Maybe it’s the council on foreign relations that is in charge or one of the defense industry’s think tanks.
But it’s so hypocritical of Biden to tell other countries not to think about attacking Israel while he lets Israel bomb whoever the fck it wants to. If this continues then yes Biden will own starting WWW-3..
All that, plus it's hard to imagine any difficulty reining in a man who can't go up stairs without tripping and can't give a speech without slurring his words. Maybe they meant to say, they can't rein in the puppet masters.
I agree with your gist but doubt there will be a Woodrow Wilson III. In fact what we have now is what would have happened had there not been a Woodrow Wilson I - viz., various regional conflicts that have existed from time to time. It was Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge that laid the foundation for Nazi Fascism - a race based foreign thinly veiled under pretence of ethnicity i.e., "historical claim". The US should have never entered into what is deemed WW I.
And on the domestic front, under the Biden Administration, sending an IRS agent to the home of investigative journalist Matt Taibbi while he is testifying before a Congressional committee on 'The Weaponization of the Federal Government on the Twitter Files.' Intimidation? Fascist much? Something shitlibs will accuse Trump of ad nauseum.
and he is setting records for oil and gas production and approvals of new fossil production and new infrastructure, especially for natural gas (LNG) exports (which rely on fracking).
On the domestic front Biden trumped Trump by approving the Willow oil drilling project in the alaskan wildlife - and going to court to efeat opposition so that the oil project would be implemented:
Excellent point. Old School JJA BAU (Jumping Jack Ass Business as Usual) LBJ used to do stuff like that all the time it's really the bedrock of SPM (Single Party Monolith) 'politics'. It's pandemic at all levels of government.
"Humanity won’t ever have a chance at a healthy and peaceful world until that world is freed from the tyranny of a planet-dominating power structure that is fueled by human blood."
You can't say it any better than that. It's what the world needs now... to be truly free from the tyrannical system that takes and takes and feasts upon human blood. Capitalism.
It must also be said that empire's are parasitic stealing the wealth and well-being of Americans and NATO puppet states. We Westerners think the mighty empire is our protection from conniving enemies, its not. It is actually destroying our societies. It is entirely predictable in 20 years USA will be like Britain, broke and on the ropes. Empires are as fallible as the idiots that run them, and they can only write so many cheques before they start bouncing. Empires are houses of cards built on quick sand.
Yes, it appears the Western Europe is content to continue as colonies of the US, for which they have already paid a heavy price and will continue to do so. As the Multipolar world emerges any country that opts for colonization is a dead end street. The whole objective of the multipolar world is to escape colonization which some countries just aren't prepared to do. Canada is also one such country.
The choice is freedom or oppression, many are content with the latter.
NOT TRUE, NO ONE HAS TO OBEY *ILLEGAL*, UNSCRUPULOUS AND/OR ILL-ADVISED ORDERS OF THEIR SO-CALLED "COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF"!!!!! AND THE PRESIDENT, ANY AND ALL U.S. PRESIDENTS, IS AND/OR ARE *ONLY* THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF *OF THE MILITARY* AND THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF THAT ARE MILITARY, *NOT* COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF *ANYONE ELSE* IN THE PRESIDENT'S ADMINISTRATION AND/OR CABINET, AND CERTAINLY NOT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE (UNLESS THEY ARE MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY) WHO THE PRESIDENT IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT (HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH)!
It's like everyone in U.S. politics today, as well as most of the American people, falsely believe that the president is their "Commander-in-Chief". This is a really dangerous precedent because it encourages everyone to be on a military footing, to falsely believe that whatever the president orders militarily must be "necessary", and to blindly support almost anything and everything that the presidency orders. On the contrary, we all as Americans have the DUTY to NOT obey orders that are not truly to the benefit of the American people, the world, and to national and international security. So, obviously, if the president orders something that is disagreed to by most of their primary staff, and/or the majority of the American people, the staff have the duty to not allow it to be followed.
In "Doctor Strangelove", wasn't the "president" in that movie a lunatic like Biden, if I remember correctly? What if lunatic Biden, suffering as he is from Alzheimer's and dementia, ordered nuclear missiles to be fired in a moment of delusion, or where he's not thinking correctly (he should have already been removed from office under, what is I believe, the 25th Amendment, simply because of the possibility of that scenario---as it is, NONE of Biden's thinking can be trusted AT ALL at this point?), are the staff going to blindly obey orders to do it, regardless of the president's incapacity, and because they falsely believe that he is their "Commander-in-Chief" and must be obeyed no matter what?
The "officials" are lying they're obeying Biden rather than real powers behind any puppet that makes it into the WH. The vegetable that is Biden just makes it very obvious.
Most commenting on this thread have not seen the film in many years, or have not seen it all. This, the pro opinion comments, as opposed to the facts of the script in the film. Incredible writing in it !
Yeah Trump was not perfect, but no wars under Trump, and gee he wanted to get along with Russia, but they wouldn't let him so he stupidly sang their song. He supported sanctions in Venezuela , but all the democrats supported him, except Sanders. Albright, under Bill Clinton thought 500 thousand dead children was worth it. The democrats also supported the overturn of the Iran deal. No wars under Trump!!!!!!!!!
Compared to Obama/Clintons (both)/Biden, there was the failed, laughable attempted regime change in Venezuela compared to the "successful" destructions of Yugoslavia and Libya, the "successful" coup in Ukraine, the "successful" foundational work for the destruction of Syria (yes, Trump added to the stew), the "successful" provocation of getting Russia into a war. All the "liberal fears" of Trump were based on words (vis-a-vis N Korea, China) not deeds, and on their OWN projections. I don't support or especially like Trump, particularly regarding Israel and most of the "global South," but it's no contest on who's regime has caused more worldwide destruction; and that includes economic damage, in the United States and, overall, internationally.
On TV I saw Trump just leaving a sit down with some people who already left and the cameramen were still there, and someone asked him about war. He said war was stupid, where millions die and cost the country millions better spent elsewhere. He tried to get along with Russia, and went over there even though the dems claimed he was Putin's puppet. The democrats used him to gain greater control and become more autocratic, and fostered the hate since they weren't going to let their support for the overthrow of a pro-Russia government in Ukraine go to waste. I really believe that. As Biden said, Putin has got to go.
Trump is only into himself and his own interests - not America, not the World. If he can be shown that war is in his interest, he would be all for it.
Also, I don't think he understands (or pretends not to) how war works. Wars (and the Military-Industrial-Complex) greatly benefit the US economy (for the elite) in terms of GDP growth (from weapon sales and from reconstruction contracts). Also, after a war there is always the victim country that will be in need of loans to rebuild itself. The IMF and World Bank (which are controlled by the US) use this opportunity for debt diplomacy and earnings from interest on those loans.
A good book is "War is a Racket" written by General Smedley Butler in 1935.
War is what keeps the engine of capitalism going. If it wasn't for war, the US empire would have eroded by now.
I disagree, and don't you wish they would have allowed him to get along with Russia, since hundreds of thousands would now be alive? When the war broke out in Ukraine, Norm Chomsky said, the only statesman who could stop the war was Trump. Look it up. You're adopting the attitude pushed and pushed during his administration that he was totally self serving and much more so then the others whom some idiots thought were motivated only by their sense of good will. They thought that during Trump's reign America would be destroyed, since he had his finger, as Nancy said, on the nuclear button. A friend was terrified and she knew he would wind up killing us all. She was so abusive I ended the relationship. I wonder what the bitch is thinking now?
Noam Chomsky might have said "the only statesman who could stop the war was Trump" but that doesn't mean he would have been able to (or even wanted to).
I would prefer to listen to John Mearsheimer when it comes to analysis of the Ukraine war (and sometimes Scott Ritter).
US Foreign Policy is at a higher level than US Presidents. It doesn't matter what a certain US President wants, it's what the Empire demands.
If you think for even a second that Trump is interested in anything but himself, I think you may have misjudged him. If the war with Russia was in his interest, he would be all for it. If not, he would not. It's that simple.
Trump is not a complicated man. He shouts it out from the top of the mountain about his narcissistic & egotistical personality all the time - if you fail to see that, you may have succumbed to confirmation bias.
There have been so many books written by reputed journalists and authors (that Trump himself authorized) that makes it evidently clear that he has been this way all his life (check out his whole history from the beginning - his behavior as a president has been no different from anything else he has done in his life).
To me, pointing out that Trump is interested only in himself (and some members of his immediate family) is like pointing out that Israel is a Zionist settler-colonial project.
But besides our pontificating on what Trump would or would not have done, it really doesn't matter in the end - as US Foreign Policy is decades in the making and supercedes the actions of any one administration or political party.
It is unbelievable that Americans are still arguing in 2024, about which evil to vote for. Their choices are woefully limited to Trump ( again )and Biden (again )! Who's the lesser evil is anybody's guess. (You can have your pick of more evil waiting in the wings - the likes of Nikki Haley and DeSantos).
That the people's vote matters is another myth. They are deluded if they believe they choose their president. That they live in the greatest democracy on earth is another delusion. Better leave it to AIPAC and the oligarchs to choose for you.
As an aside, Noam Chomsky did say that all US presidents are war criminals.
I didn't vote for Trump in 2016, nor Clinton, a war monger. Assange said she was a very sick woman in that regard, and I agree. It's amazing the way people single Trump out for all manner of criticism, usually personal, mostly personal, which isn't true for the other presidents. He's become an object of ridicule, an illegitimate president, a scapegoat, but not true for the others, not true for Obama who was, and is lauded by many, but what happened during his rein? A proxy war in Syria, and it's people suffering to this day. A lie of a war in Libya, because they said he was carrying out a genocide No, Gaddafi had too much influence in Northern Africa, too much gold, too much silver and he might just switch to the dinar and that's why the Obama administration killed him, sodomized him with a sword, overthrew his rein. Clinton laughed when she heard about his death. She was also very happy to sign on to the military coup in Hondurus that kicked Zelaya out and handed the country over to elites. Obama also supported a coup in Ukraine which is never really spoken of, and even supported the neo-Nazi's who carried out the deed, and it was the prelude to the war in Ukraine. Now some 400 thousand dead Ukrainians because those Minsk accords were used to bide time until Ukraine became weaponized and we could use her to bring down Putin. You see you don't have to know much about Trump to go on the attack other then calling him a bunch of names. By the way, Obama was no liberal, which people mistakenly claim.
The word "fascist" has almost become a cliche, it's so overused. But keeping with the trend, OK. Trump at his worst is a potential 20th century style fascist. Biden/Obama ARE actual 21st century fascists, which, for me, is the "worse evil." More divorced from and blind to real physical and emotional reality, technocrats, drone fascists, hologram and AI worshipers. "Transhuman," or less than human.
Fran, In an earlier comment you mentioned that someone may have felt they could make an abusive comment because you are a woman. Have you not heard the completely disrespectful, never mind abusive, comments that Trump has made about women such as "grabbing women by the pussy" and referring to women as "pieces of ass"??
I've heard a lot of things about Trump, many of them lies made up by many people, especially the democrats, or those that support them. Have you heard the one about him hiring people, or maybe he hopped on a plane by himself, and went to Russia and did pee pee on the bed Obama and his wife slept on in Russia? I guess you can figure out that's a lie. Did you hear the one about Russia putting him in office? It took America 3 years to say that was a lie,
but no one was held accountable. Do you think Biden when he recently said that on Jan 6 we almost lost America, then he whimpered a bit, is true? Yeah I heard a lot of crap about him. No new wars under Trump, now I know that is the truth. Can't say that about any of the other presidents who held office in the 21st century.
Well, I feel a lot worse, less safe living under Biden, with his open door policy, and so many their bussing them all over. The other day they kicked kids out of school so they could provide a place for the migrants to sleep. The parents were furious and let it be known so no more sleeping at that school, but they'll find another. Not under Trump. Yeah let people in but as we did in the past have a policy in place for people who want to become US citizens, and your motivated for letting them in is to garner their vote. Gee, never felt we might be headed for a nuclear war under Trump, as I did during the war in Ukraine used by Biden and his neocon pals to bring down Putin. Oh, and I am just appalled by his supporting a genocidal assault on a people, killing children, and a war that just might spread. Got a son or a daughter in the military who might lose their lives if it does? Nah, I'll go with Trump, and maybe living expenses will go down and the quality of what I buy will go up. Take a black and white view of things, Trump bad, or the deep state prevails, what ever that means. That's no thinking at all.
I know he is, and I didn't approve of what he did during his presidency, "President Trump on Wednesday formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reversing nearly seven decades of American foreign policy and setting in motion a plan to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to the fiercely contested Holy City." Not good.
I understand how you feel. But understand neither Trump nor Biden are/were calling the shots. I believe that if Trump were the 'President,' the situation would be no different. We now live in a plutocratic oligarchy.
Well, in 2003 Biden was the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and he really pushed the war in Iraq down the throats of his democrat comrades, and felt even prior to that we should take out Iraq. He knew there were no weapons of mass destruction, but he pushed that lie anyway. He supported Obama's wars, and supported the 2014 coup and Obama put him in charge and that's how his son got to make a lot of money at Burisma knowing nothing about oil. Under Trump, who wanted to get along with Russia, well they just wouldn't let him, no wars. Biden's elected, and four hundred thousand dead in Ukraine, and now he is feeding a genocide, that could escalate not only into a regional war but a world war. That's not true of Trump. If you say that Trump was under pressure to start a war, well, if he was, he didn't., I heard him remark to a bunch of reporters that wars were stupid and killed millions of people and used up millions of dollars better spent elsewhere. No they're not the same. The neocons whose agenda we follow high tailed it over to the democrats once Trump was in office. They knew who would follow their instructions and start their wars.
Yeah, I've been thinking that myself, and I certainly didn't approve of his sucking up to Israel while he was in office, but I have always disliked Biden who is a total opportunist, and has little to any sense of morality. We'll see what happens. What is happening in the West Bank is a genocide in slow motion. Each year the Israel's kill over a 100 Palestinians, and even settlers kill a handful or two, knowing no charges will be brought. Israel pretty much has displaced them in building their expansive Jewish settlements, and basically the West Bank is theirs. People in the media need to cover that too, since it provides more credence to Israel implementing a genocide in Gaza, since some still believe it's solely a response to what Hamas did. I really believe Israel knew about Hamas's planned assault since they were informed, several times, and gave it a pass. They would use it to remove the Palestinians from their land. I'm so glad their are world wide protests. Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My main resentment toward Biden had been his ineffectual handling of the Clarence Thomas hearings. As for Israel, I had been boycotting any of their products for a long time. But this genocide has been beyond what I had ever imagined from them.
Biden in my eyes has always been a screw up and self serving. I never liked him. I also boycott Israeli products. Well, the West Bank is also suffering, and Abbas does nothing, controls nothing and basically Israel is building Jewish settlements all over the West Bank. The Israeli police kill some 100 or more Palestinians each year making life unbearable and the settler population kill them too, with no repercussions. We should call it based on how Palestine became there's The Land of Hypocrisy.
This isn’t kindergarten and you can’t repeat idiotic slogans and imagine them into truth.
Trump was a warmongering murderous president. Same as the rest. Trump led invasion of Syria and occupied its oilfields. He continued major war in Afghanistan. Trump assassinated an Iranian leader in the hope of provoking Iranninto retaliating. Trump continued silent wars with the U.S. having its troops ACTIVE military operations in 100 countries.
Trump was the same old swamp-dwelling murderer as Obama, Biden and Bush.
Vladimir Putin acknowledged the US presidential election coming up and opined that it really did not matter who was elected president of the US. Putin and I are in complete agreement with Caitlin as far as the duopoly. However, because I REFUSE to vote for evil (greater or lesser), I will vote for Jill Stein. RESIST. ABOLISH THE DUOPOLY. SMASH THE DEEP STATE.
White House press statement today: the United States will officially be represented at the Workd Economic Forum summits in Davos, by Anthony Blinken, Jake Sullivan and….Douglas Emhoff aka Mr Kamala Harris.
Guess which one of these three men is there for no other reason to hobnob with the rich bases of family connections and do a “Hunter Biden at Burisma”? Yep….
"Amazingly, the Biden administration has managed to easily top Trump in aggression and maximalism, destabilizing relations to an alarming degree with the planet’s two other major economic (China) and nuclear (Russia) powers, while continuing, and accelerating, bluntly threatening, uncompromising approaches to any states defying imperial hegemony." https://open.substack.com/pub/ourimperialpress/p/the-imperial-end-timers?r=nv5i&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Caitlin - what is bloody terrifying is the upcoming elections in the AUKUS countries; there's outrage and protests against leaders US Biden, UK Sunak and here in Australia Albanese - who of the three is actually (despite appearances forced on him) is the least pro-Israeli.
If the massively right-wing pro-Israeli alternatives get in through misguided non-strategic protest votes Trump (US), Starmer (UK) and Dutton (AUS) - we're all fucked (he hinted).
Israel must be hoping they can hang on, obfuscate, keep up appearances and lobby like heck until the US Election ... and hope Trump gets in. Shite.
Nah….
"The problem is no one can rein in Biden, and if Biden has a policy, he’s the commander-in-chief ― we have to carry it out. That’s what it comes down to, very, very, very unfortunately.’ ”
I remember when the military ignored Trump telling them to bring the troops home from Syria and a few other countries. Then there was the CIA and the pentagon ignoring Obama’s ceasefire and they let their terrorists break the ceasefire and attack each other’s terrorists.
Just the fact that Austin's vacancy went unnoticed for almost a week shows us that even the pentagon's most powerful dude isn’t in charge of what the military does. Maybe it’s the council on foreign relations that is in charge or one of the defense industry’s think tanks.
But it’s so hypocritical of Biden to tell other countries not to think about attacking Israel while he lets Israel bomb whoever the fck it wants to. If this continues then yes Biden will own starting WWW-3..
Agree. That's whining bullcrap about "not being able to stop him because he's the commander in chief."
Ain't it funny how we can't follow orders that we don't want to follow, but orders we like are obligatory.
All that, plus it's hard to imagine any difficulty reining in a man who can't go up stairs without tripping and can't give a speech without slurring his words. Maybe they meant to say, they can't rein in the puppet masters.
Inside gossip has it that Joe’s a gabbling bedwetter when the Adderall wears off.
The thing is though it did not go “unnoticed”. It was kept silent.
Austin is the handpicked frontman for the neocons. The pound shop “Colin Powell” of our time.
Sam,
Thank you for stating some long overdue facts and stating some plausible outcomes and ominous truths.
If that source had any integrity and courage, he would blow the whistle (or at least no be used as an anonymous source). What a corrupt coward.
I agree with your gist but doubt there will be a Woodrow Wilson III. In fact what we have now is what would have happened had there not been a Woodrow Wilson I - viz., various regional conflicts that have existed from time to time. It was Woodrow Wilson and Henry Cabot Lodge that laid the foundation for Nazi Fascism - a race based foreign thinly veiled under pretence of ethnicity i.e., "historical claim". The US should have never entered into what is deemed WW I.
And on the domestic front, under the Biden Administration, sending an IRS agent to the home of investigative journalist Matt Taibbi while he is testifying before a Congressional committee on 'The Weaponization of the Federal Government on the Twitter Files.' Intimidation? Fascist much? Something shitlibs will accuse Trump of ad nauseum.
On the domestic front, Biden is also building the border wall. Detentions are continuing.
and he is setting records for oil and gas production and approvals of new fossil production and new infrastructure, especially for natural gas (LNG) exports (which rely on fracking).
This is why Biden blew up the Nordstream pipeline: to export US LNG to Europe.
Hahaha!!!
On the domestic front Biden trumped Trump by approving the Willow oil drilling project in the alaskan wildlife - and going to court to efeat opposition so that the oil project would be implemented:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-in-alaska-upholds-biden-administrations-approval-of-the-massive-willow-oil-drilling-project
https://apnews.com/article/alaska-willow-oil-drilling-project-upheld-abf128e53eaf053005bffe771b7af574
Biden also outtrumped Trump by with abusive program of caging migrant children seeking asylum at the border instead of letting them free:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/tensions-rise-within-biden-administration-migrant-kids-crowd-shelters-2021-04-15/
https://burgess.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=403650
Trump would have done it too.
Excellent point. Old School JJA BAU (Jumping Jack Ass Business as Usual) LBJ used to do stuff like that all the time it's really the bedrock of SPM (Single Party Monolith) 'politics'. It's pandemic at all levels of government.
That was a not unusual individual abuse of power (Nixonian) - it was NOT fascism.
“In America you can change your President, but you cannot change American policy...” - a western educated non-western diplomat
That's been true forever, and forever has the moronic American public been arguing whom they're voting for.
And then the morons are puzzled why the American policy stayed the same.
"Humanity won’t ever have a chance at a healthy and peaceful world until that world is freed from the tyranny of a planet-dominating power structure that is fueled by human blood."
You can't say it any better than that. It's what the world needs now... to be truly free from the tyrannical system that takes and takes and feasts upon human blood. Capitalism.
Face it. The world would be a safer place without the U.S. in it.
Let’s add IsraHell.
INDEED gypsy33
No matter who’s in office, seems like a race to the bottom
It must also be said that empire's are parasitic stealing the wealth and well-being of Americans and NATO puppet states. We Westerners think the mighty empire is our protection from conniving enemies, its not. It is actually destroying our societies. It is entirely predictable in 20 years USA will be like Britain, broke and on the ropes. Empires are as fallible as the idiots that run them, and they can only write so many cheques before they start bouncing. Empires are houses of cards built on quick sand.
Yes but Germany, France, Sweden, Finland will be broke faster than that.
Yes, it appears the Western Europe is content to continue as colonies of the US, for which they have already paid a heavy price and will continue to do so. As the Multipolar world emerges any country that opts for colonization is a dead end street. The whole objective of the multipolar world is to escape colonization which some countries just aren't prepared to do. Canada is also one such country.
The choice is freedom or oppression, many are content with the latter.
"It is entirely predictable in 20 years USA will be like Britain, broke and on the ropes."
This has already happened.
....
NOT TRUE, NO ONE HAS TO OBEY *ILLEGAL*, UNSCRUPULOUS AND/OR ILL-ADVISED ORDERS OF THEIR SO-CALLED "COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF"!!!!! AND THE PRESIDENT, ANY AND ALL U.S. PRESIDENTS, IS AND/OR ARE *ONLY* THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF *OF THE MILITARY* AND THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF THAT ARE MILITARY, *NOT* COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF *ANYONE ELSE* IN THE PRESIDENT'S ADMINISTRATION AND/OR CABINET, AND CERTAINLY NOT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE (UNLESS THEY ARE MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY) WHO THE PRESIDENT IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT (HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH)!
It's like everyone in U.S. politics today, as well as most of the American people, falsely believe that the president is their "Commander-in-Chief". This is a really dangerous precedent because it encourages everyone to be on a military footing, to falsely believe that whatever the president orders militarily must be "necessary", and to blindly support almost anything and everything that the presidency orders. On the contrary, we all as Americans have the DUTY to NOT obey orders that are not truly to the benefit of the American people, the world, and to national and international security. So, obviously, if the president orders something that is disagreed to by most of their primary staff, and/or the majority of the American people, the staff have the duty to not allow it to be followed.
P.S.---I laugh again, with tears in my heart.
....
Thank you Steppen-Wolf,
You’ve made some valid and salient points here.
In "Doctor Strangelove", wasn't the "president" in that movie a lunatic like Biden, if I remember correctly? What if lunatic Biden, suffering as he is from Alzheimer's and dementia, ordered nuclear missiles to be fired in a moment of delusion, or where he's not thinking correctly (he should have already been removed from office under, what is I believe, the 25th Amendment, simply because of the possibility of that scenario---as it is, NONE of Biden's thinking can be trusted AT ALL at this point?), are the staff going to blindly obey orders to do it, regardless of the president's incapacity, and because they falsely believe that he is their "Commander-in-Chief" and must be obeyed no matter what?
The "officials" are lying they're obeying Biden rather than real powers behind any puppet that makes it into the WH. The vegetable that is Biden just makes it very obvious.
Staff will blindly obey those orders that they wish to obey, and find reasons not to obey orders that they don't wish to obey.
No, the President was sane in that movie and worked with Soviets to avert disaster, against the strong advise of his military men.
Thank you bill,
Most commenting on this thread have not seen the film in many years, or have not seen it all. This, the pro opinion comments, as opposed to the facts of the script in the film. Incredible writing in it !
The atrocities shall continue as long as the empire continues to exist. That’s the point. As simple as that. 😐
Yeah Trump was not perfect, but no wars under Trump, and gee he wanted to get along with Russia, but they wouldn't let him so he stupidly sang their song. He supported sanctions in Venezuela , but all the democrats supported him, except Sanders. Albright, under Bill Clinton thought 500 thousand dead children was worth it. The democrats also supported the overturn of the Iran deal. No wars under Trump!!!!!!!!!
Compared to Obama/Clintons (both)/Biden, there was the failed, laughable attempted regime change in Venezuela compared to the "successful" destructions of Yugoslavia and Libya, the "successful" coup in Ukraine, the "successful" foundational work for the destruction of Syria (yes, Trump added to the stew), the "successful" provocation of getting Russia into a war. All the "liberal fears" of Trump were based on words (vis-a-vis N Korea, China) not deeds, and on their OWN projections. I don't support or especially like Trump, particularly regarding Israel and most of the "global South," but it's no contest on who's regime has caused more worldwide destruction; and that includes economic damage, in the United States and, overall, internationally.
On TV I saw Trump just leaving a sit down with some people who already left and the cameramen were still there, and someone asked him about war. He said war was stupid, where millions die and cost the country millions better spent elsewhere. He tried to get along with Russia, and went over there even though the dems claimed he was Putin's puppet. The democrats used him to gain greater control and become more autocratic, and fostered the hate since they weren't going to let their support for the overthrow of a pro-Russia government in Ukraine go to waste. I really believe that. As Biden said, Putin has got to go.
Trump is only into himself and his own interests - not America, not the World. If he can be shown that war is in his interest, he would be all for it.
Also, I don't think he understands (or pretends not to) how war works. Wars (and the Military-Industrial-Complex) greatly benefit the US economy (for the elite) in terms of GDP growth (from weapon sales and from reconstruction contracts). Also, after a war there is always the victim country that will be in need of loans to rebuild itself. The IMF and World Bank (which are controlled by the US) use this opportunity for debt diplomacy and earnings from interest on those loans.
A good book is "War is a Racket" written by General Smedley Butler in 1935.
War is what keeps the engine of capitalism going. If it wasn't for war, the US empire would have eroded by now.
I disagree, and don't you wish they would have allowed him to get along with Russia, since hundreds of thousands would now be alive? When the war broke out in Ukraine, Norm Chomsky said, the only statesman who could stop the war was Trump. Look it up. You're adopting the attitude pushed and pushed during his administration that he was totally self serving and much more so then the others whom some idiots thought were motivated only by their sense of good will. They thought that during Trump's reign America would be destroyed, since he had his finger, as Nancy said, on the nuclear button. A friend was terrified and she knew he would wind up killing us all. She was so abusive I ended the relationship. I wonder what the bitch is thinking now?
Noam Chomsky might have said "the only statesman who could stop the war was Trump" but that doesn't mean he would have been able to (or even wanted to).
I would prefer to listen to John Mearsheimer when it comes to analysis of the Ukraine war (and sometimes Scott Ritter).
US Foreign Policy is at a higher level than US Presidents. It doesn't matter what a certain US President wants, it's what the Empire demands.
If you think for even a second that Trump is interested in anything but himself, I think you may have misjudged him. If the war with Russia was in his interest, he would be all for it. If not, he would not. It's that simple.
Trump is not a complicated man. He shouts it out from the top of the mountain about his narcissistic & egotistical personality all the time - if you fail to see that, you may have succumbed to confirmation bias.
There have been so many books written by reputed journalists and authors (that Trump himself authorized) that makes it evidently clear that he has been this way all his life (check out his whole history from the beginning - his behavior as a president has been no different from anything else he has done in his life).
To me, pointing out that Trump is interested only in himself (and some members of his immediate family) is like pointing out that Israel is a Zionist settler-colonial project.
But besides our pontificating on what Trump would or would not have done, it really doesn't matter in the end - as US Foreign Policy is decades in the making and supercedes the actions of any one administration or political party.
To Fran, Chang Chokaski & other friends,
It is unbelievable that Americans are still arguing in 2024, about which evil to vote for. Their choices are woefully limited to Trump ( again )and Biden (again )! Who's the lesser evil is anybody's guess. (You can have your pick of more evil waiting in the wings - the likes of Nikki Haley and DeSantos).
That the people's vote matters is another myth. They are deluded if they believe they choose their president. That they live in the greatest democracy on earth is another delusion. Better leave it to AIPAC and the oligarchs to choose for you.
As an aside, Noam Chomsky did say that all US presidents are war criminals.
I didn't vote for Trump in 2016, nor Clinton, a war monger. Assange said she was a very sick woman in that regard, and I agree. It's amazing the way people single Trump out for all manner of criticism, usually personal, mostly personal, which isn't true for the other presidents. He's become an object of ridicule, an illegitimate president, a scapegoat, but not true for the others, not true for Obama who was, and is lauded by many, but what happened during his rein? A proxy war in Syria, and it's people suffering to this day. A lie of a war in Libya, because they said he was carrying out a genocide No, Gaddafi had too much influence in Northern Africa, too much gold, too much silver and he might just switch to the dinar and that's why the Obama administration killed him, sodomized him with a sword, overthrew his rein. Clinton laughed when she heard about his death. She was also very happy to sign on to the military coup in Hondurus that kicked Zelaya out and handed the country over to elites. Obama also supported a coup in Ukraine which is never really spoken of, and even supported the neo-Nazi's who carried out the deed, and it was the prelude to the war in Ukraine. Now some 400 thousand dead Ukrainians because those Minsk accords were used to bide time until Ukraine became weaponized and we could use her to bring down Putin. You see you don't have to know much about Trump to go on the attack other then calling him a bunch of names. By the way, Obama was no liberal, which people mistakenly claim.
oh, c'mon, Fran, Trump is probably not totally worse than the rest of the moneygrubbers, but he certainly is no answer to anything either.
The word "fascist" has almost become a cliche, it's so overused. But keeping with the trend, OK. Trump at his worst is a potential 20th century style fascist. Biden/Obama ARE actual 21st century fascists, which, for me, is the "worse evil." More divorced from and blind to real physical and emotional reality, technocrats, drone fascists, hologram and AI worshipers. "Transhuman," or less than human.
How is Trump a fascist?
Isn't he suggesting 'Trump *at his worst* is a *potential* 20th century style fascist.'?
Maybe could have said, "at THE worst," to make it clearer.
Fran, In an earlier comment you mentioned that someone may have felt they could make an abusive comment because you are a woman. Have you not heard the completely disrespectful, never mind abusive, comments that Trump has made about women such as "grabbing women by the pussy" and referring to women as "pieces of ass"??
I've heard a lot of things about Trump, many of them lies made up by many people, especially the democrats, or those that support them. Have you heard the one about him hiring people, or maybe he hopped on a plane by himself, and went to Russia and did pee pee on the bed Obama and his wife slept on in Russia? I guess you can figure out that's a lie. Did you hear the one about Russia putting him in office? It took America 3 years to say that was a lie,
but no one was held accountable. Do you think Biden when he recently said that on Jan 6 we almost lost America, then he whimpered a bit, is true? Yeah I heard a lot of crap about him. No new wars under Trump, now I know that is the truth. Can't say that about any of the other presidents who held office in the 21st century.
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Patricia go over to Facebook and talk, at least there you'll find people who understand you.
Trump continued hladlybthe many wars already going on. So that’s a lie of omission on your part.
To sum up your comment. Trump was ineffectual and useless...the Deep State still prevails.
Well, I feel a lot worse, less safe living under Biden, with his open door policy, and so many their bussing them all over. The other day they kicked kids out of school so they could provide a place for the migrants to sleep. The parents were furious and let it be known so no more sleeping at that school, but they'll find another. Not under Trump. Yeah let people in but as we did in the past have a policy in place for people who want to become US citizens, and your motivated for letting them in is to garner their vote. Gee, never felt we might be headed for a nuclear war under Trump, as I did during the war in Ukraine used by Biden and his neocon pals to bring down Putin. Oh, and I am just appalled by his supporting a genocidal assault on a people, killing children, and a war that just might spread. Got a son or a daughter in the military who might lose their lives if it does? Nah, I'll go with Trump, and maybe living expenses will go down and the quality of what I buy will go up. Take a black and white view of things, Trump bad, or the deep state prevails, what ever that means. That's no thinking at all.
Trump would have done exactly what Biden is doing right now regarding Gaza.
You can't state that as fact, because he is not and that is your opinion. That's what it is called.
Fran, Trump is at least as much of an Israel supporter as Biden. Just my opinion. They same as everything you are saying is just your opinion.
I know he is, and I didn't approve of what he did during his presidency, "President Trump on Wednesday formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, reversing nearly seven decades of American foreign policy and setting in motion a plan to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to the fiercely contested Holy City." Not good.
I understand how you feel. But understand neither Trump nor Biden are/were calling the shots. I believe that if Trump were the 'President,' the situation would be no different. We now live in a plutocratic oligarchy.
Well, in 2003 Biden was the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and he really pushed the war in Iraq down the throats of his democrat comrades, and felt even prior to that we should take out Iraq. He knew there were no weapons of mass destruction, but he pushed that lie anyway. He supported Obama's wars, and supported the 2014 coup and Obama put him in charge and that's how his son got to make a lot of money at Burisma knowing nothing about oil. Under Trump, who wanted to get along with Russia, well they just wouldn't let him, no wars. Biden's elected, and four hundred thousand dead in Ukraine, and now he is feeding a genocide, that could escalate not only into a regional war but a world war. That's not true of Trump. If you say that Trump was under pressure to start a war, well, if he was, he didn't., I heard him remark to a bunch of reporters that wars were stupid and killed millions of people and used up millions of dollars better spent elsewhere. No they're not the same. The neocons whose agenda we follow high tailed it over to the democrats once Trump was in office. They knew who would follow their instructions and start their wars.
Well, my point is that this country's electoral system is dead. Voting will solve nothing. Those in control intend to stay in control.
I'm worried about that too. .
He and Congress would have supported Israel just as strongly as Biden after Oct. 7.
Yeah, I've been thinking that myself, and I certainly didn't approve of his sucking up to Israel while he was in office, but I have always disliked Biden who is a total opportunist, and has little to any sense of morality. We'll see what happens. What is happening in the West Bank is a genocide in slow motion. Each year the Israel's kill over a 100 Palestinians, and even settlers kill a handful or two, knowing no charges will be brought. Israel pretty much has displaced them in building their expansive Jewish settlements, and basically the West Bank is theirs. People in the media need to cover that too, since it provides more credence to Israel implementing a genocide in Gaza, since some still believe it's solely a response to what Hamas did. I really believe Israel knew about Hamas's planned assault since they were informed, several times, and gave it a pass. They would use it to remove the Palestinians from their land. I'm so glad their are world wide protests. Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My main resentment toward Biden had been his ineffectual handling of the Clarence Thomas hearings. As for Israel, I had been boycotting any of their products for a long time. But this genocide has been beyond what I had ever imagined from them.
Biden in my eyes has always been a screw up and self serving. I never liked him. I also boycott Israeli products. Well, the West Bank is also suffering, and Abbas does nothing, controls nothing and basically Israel is building Jewish settlements all over the West Bank. The Israeli police kill some 100 or more Palestinians each year making life unbearable and the settler population kill them too, with no repercussions. We should call it based on how Palestine became there's The Land of Hypocrisy.
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Okay, Pat, what ever that little whatever means.
Ah, well if you're talking about Syria, yeah, could have done a lot better, but no new wars!
This isn’t kindergarten and you can’t repeat idiotic slogans and imagine them into truth.
Trump was a warmongering murderous president. Same as the rest. Trump led invasion of Syria and occupied its oilfields. He continued major war in Afghanistan. Trump assassinated an Iranian leader in the hope of provoking Iranninto retaliating. Trump continued silent wars with the U.S. having its troops ACTIVE military operations in 100 countries.
Trump was the same old swamp-dwelling murderer as Obama, Biden and Bush.
Because you introduced your comment in an abusive way, and may feel free to do so because I am a woman, I will not address your comment or any other.
You told kindergarten-level lies and got called out on it. Rightly.
How childish and stupid you are.
Couldn't agree more. The empire is as the empire does.
I don’t see how anyone could be surprised. We should have learned our lesson after Obama.
Vladimir Putin acknowledged the US presidential election coming up and opined that it really did not matter who was elected president of the US. Putin and I are in complete agreement with Caitlin as far as the duopoly. However, because I REFUSE to vote for evil (greater or lesser), I will vote for Jill Stein. RESIST. ABOLISH THE DUOPOLY. SMASH THE DEEP STATE.
Biden is everything the Media said Trump is.
And so is Kamala Harris.
White House press statement today: the United States will officially be represented at the Workd Economic Forum summits in Davos, by Anthony Blinken, Jake Sullivan and….Douglas Emhoff aka Mr Kamala Harris.
Guess which one of these three men is there for no other reason to hobnob with the rich bases of family connections and do a “Hunter Biden at Burisma”? Yep….
Yep.
"Amazingly, the Biden administration has managed to easily top Trump in aggression and maximalism, destabilizing relations to an alarming degree with the planet’s two other major economic (China) and nuclear (Russia) powers, while continuing, and accelerating, bluntly threatening, uncompromising approaches to any states defying imperial hegemony." https://open.substack.com/pub/ourimperialpress/p/the-imperial-end-timers?r=nv5i&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Caitlin - what is bloody terrifying is the upcoming elections in the AUKUS countries; there's outrage and protests against leaders US Biden, UK Sunak and here in Australia Albanese - who of the three is actually (despite appearances forced on him) is the least pro-Israeli.
If the massively right-wing pro-Israeli alternatives get in through misguided non-strategic protest votes Trump (US), Starmer (UK) and Dutton (AUS) - we're all fucked (he hinted).
Israel must be hoping they can hang on, obfuscate, keep up appearances and lobby like heck until the US Election ... and hope Trump gets in. Shite.
FYI - how the local Australian pro-Israeli lobby has influenced our PMs over years: https://sleekitscotsman.substack.com/i/140472136/australian-pm-level-lobbying