Their oligarchs love our oligarch. They buy condos in his buildings, partner for golf tournaments, give his daughter payments, pass huge sums of money to his son in law, and pay "state" visits to his Florida resort.
Their oligarchs love our oligarch. They buy condos in his buildings, partner for golf tournaments, give his daughter payments, pass huge sums of money to his son in law, and pay "state" visits to his Florida resort.
The desecration of Arlington virtually assures a victory for Kamala Harris. This is the big one that will sink Trump. Not so much the convictions but the army that goes out of its way to avoid anything political to make the statement. ItтАЩs huge. ItтАЩs bigger than Don-old TrumpтАЩs butt. Trust me on this one. And hopefully the down ballots will benefit as well.
And Harris is smart leaving this one alone since itтАЩs a train wreak still in motion. IтАЩm flabbergasted but gratified that Trump and company would think this photo op-Ed would be beneficial. ItтАЩs almost humorous if not so pathetic. I think the only thing he could do worse now would by to fly off to North Korea and in another photo op, plunk a big huge kiss on the lips of Kim Jong Un.
Bill Clinton learned a political lesson from Nixon that goes like this: Identify your core voters and then identify what they care about most. Then always address and support those issues without fail. After that you will be free to deal with the other issues your voters donтАЩt prioritize any way you want. ThatтАЩs what Trump does. As long as he keeps pushing the grievance button and sticking his finger in the eyes of the Democrats he is golden with MAGA. WeтАЩll see how this dust up with the military goes. I hope itтАЩs the straw that breaks the camelтАЩs back with veterans.
There is an underlying support by some who are transfixed by pure white bloodline. They have no capacity to use reason as their guide. Mandy inside are just pure unadulterated racists, in my humble opinion.
The veterans I know are really angry about this although they wouldn't have voted for him in any case. My LMT, a navy veteran, and I talked about this during my massage. He understands how sacred that cemetery is. Death star was aided and abetted by at least some of the families and a couple of them had the their thumbs up as well. I understand how they would like to cast blame, but Biden is not responsible for the Islamic terrorist group that did this. Also death star cannot really say anything about his approach to the Taliban. He is a walking foreign policy (love me some dictators) disaster.
In addition to the 5 'thumbs up' (including tfg), there was someone at the right end (from viewer perspective) giving the Hawaiian hand gesture of thumb & little finger, middle fingers folded down. Looking online , there apparently are various interpretations but all more or less equivalent to 'thumbs up'.
It really bothers me too. Here he is and those who joined him in a very sacred space and they act like they are at the Roman colosseum watching some gladiators and allowing those they favor to live.
Trump is not a normal human being. HeтАЩs a long way from being even a decent being. HeтАЩs one of the most deeply narcissistic animals in history. Furthermore, Trump wasnтАЩt the only thumbs up scumbag in the photo.
I love your optimism Bill, but the only thing that will ensure the victory we all want to see is getting more votes on Nov. 5. I suppose it's impressive that the Army made a public statement, but even more impressive would have been enforcing the law on the people who broke it and engaged in assault in doing so.
Respectfully, the issue isn't that the failed insurrectionist feels that way although he clearly does, it's that other people enable him behaving as though he is. In this case, the officers senior to the woman who tried to enforce the ANC policy, who did not back her up. At minimum, the individual who had physical contact with her should have been arrested on the spot. Had it been one of us who are discussing it, we would be in a stockade right now.
On one other SubStack column written immediately after the incident, it said that Trump disciple, Mike Johnson, cleared the way with the Army to allow him in. If true, that is even more abominable.
So many things Trump has done or said should be disqualifying -- Jan 6th at the top of the list -- but nothing seems to shake the base of his support. Maybe this one will resonate. It certainly did for me.
Let us not forget that there is nothing he can do that will lose support - NOTHING!! Let's hope that the ignorant voters will see the stark contrast between these two candidates and choose the more likable, which is always the deciding factor in presidential elections, it is not policies, facts, or accomplishments. If those things mattered the Republicans would never have been elected since FDR. The exception was Nixon, who won due to the backlash against the war demonstrators.
I hope you are right Bill. Now it's up to the media. If folks aren't bothered by the arrogance and disrespect of laws and ordinary people, Buddha help us. MAGA supporters cannot see that 45 only cares about them if they have something he wants, and then he'll try to take it.
Check out "Autocracy Inc" by Anne Applebaum. The audio book only takes 4 hours. Quite illuminating.
Seems more like half of the US is yelling once again "LIBERTY!" and helps the Israelis to liberate the Palestinians of their properties, families and friends, lives and limbs.
Believe it or not, most of us also think war is gross. You're not special by reminding us of this. If you ever posted here on any other topic, with any other tone than seething zealotry, you would actually be a part of the community we would be able to take seriously. Instead, we know just what we will see when we see your name, and it is all too easy to scroll on by.
How exactly is that helping the unfortunate people half a world away you are obsessed with? Oh right, it doesn't. Something tells me it isn't about them for you, anyway.
Will, I enjoy most of your post, this one not so much. "We would" "we know", "we will" when "we" see your name. As my daddy would have asked, "have you got a mouse in your pocket?"
I believe Sabine was replying to Betsy's comment about the "Trumplings" (I love and am reusing that Betsy) eyeing the waterfront in Gaza. It made me angry too, remembering when I saw Jared taking about what he would do, build waterfront resorts.
Sabine is a purposefully divisive troll and somebody had to say it. I could have spoken in the singular but it's late into the night and I guess delusions of grandeur crept in lol. Mea culpa!
What I know may be small, but at least I know that telling someone they don't know much of anything is not a good way to win them over. On those grounds alone, between the two of us, looks like I win!
Enjoy stewing in your all-consuming outrage on this single issue, while alienating possible allies to your cause! I'd love to catch up in a while and see how it's workin' for ya!
Sabine the darl is gratuitous and lends zero to the convo here. Social media appears to have helped slay our ability to communicate with one another. We are not here to knock one another down no matter how furious we are about a situation. It is a community of trust and integrity. Name calling does not belong no matter who started it. Please try to hear that as a suggestion. I am sure many people here are interested in the issues facing people in the middle east and would like to converse with you about them. Thanks for listening.
What I do know is that this thread has just been hijacked by this screed. I've spent the last 10 minutes reading through and realizing the main post of HCR has been forgotten. Well done Sabine with the hijack - actually NOT.
I'm moving back to HCR and comments about the cascade of DJT indignities to us veterans and those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice being used as props. We all mourn the war and hate Hamas, Hezbollah and what they have done to Palestinians as well as Jewish people. I remember 1984 Beruit as a Marine Vet and it still seethes, but I don't hijack other topics.
I do blame the US government because our historic policy through the corruption of PACS buying off politicians gave Israel a green light to do anything it has wanted.
I have liked Biden, but he made a HUGE mistake to back Israel without considering that Netanyahu is a butcher. He is riding the wave of war for his own purposes. The moment the conflict halts, Israelis can have an election and vote him out of office. Most of them want to.
Harris has signaled that she has her own view of things and I strongly suspect it does not include backing Netanyahu. Most of us in the US hate watching what Bibi is doing with our weapons. I am ashamed of the death, the starvation, the continuing warfare for the sake of "winning." There is no "winning" for anybody in this carnage. BTW, Trump will give Bibi anything he wants and Trump will love it.
You should blame that part of the US government and the people they represent for the corruption -- not all of us. Capitalism and fascism make an effective, slimy team that now seems to also enjoy the support of much of the press.
The Israelis have received over 500 Airlifts of Munitions since this latest Gaza War has started... They have essentially run out of Munitions... If the U.S. stops replenishing their War Machine, they will stop their Ethnic Cleansing...
Especially yes since no other country would send arms to Israel as we have. Which means that blood spilled is on our hands collectively speaking. When Biden gave Netanyahuyahoo a big huge, I almost vomited.
And someone tossed in polio just for good measure. Every parent there is now terrified of their kids getting polio on top of the constant bombing and shooting. And that's on top of everyone being malnourished and sick from contaminated water. Hell on earth.
This is double-standards on full display. The Zionists and Bibi are the land-grabbing butchers. The U.S. backing of Israel for this human (inhumane) slaughter has given license to rob and kill using Hamas as the targeted reason and justification. The U.S. has failed the Palestinians just as we are failing Ukraine.
I too have questions concerning this slaughter of women, children and elderly Palestinians.
I have multiple questions about the October music festival and why at that time a part of Israel's protective shield over that specific area was not working....so the military did not receive warnings immediately.
Why is it taking so long for the brilliant Israeli military to free the hostages? I guess they are too busy raping their prisoners!!!
Each time I listen to the news and see the devastation of Palestinian humanity in Gaza and other areas of the war, I feel that each death is on me!!! Each rape is on me!!! We are sending the weapons!!!! We share in this destruction.
In my opinion we are neglecting the most important reason to be in this conflict and that is to free the hostages.
I have never seen Netanyahu without a very satisfied smile on his face. He is using the USA to accomplish the destruction of Gaza and the Palestinian people...in my opinion. The longer the hostages are held, the more power he has to use us.
Remember the long term goal of many Israelis is to reclaim the land they say belongs to them from ancient writings.....not from laws concerning a land of their own decided legally following WW11.
This is my opinion....one of my best and most respected friends growing up was Jewish. I am not against Jewish people, Palestinian people or Iranians....etc. I had a wonderful Iranian friend in college.
I care for all persons and value the ideals of freedom and mutual respect. It is often leaders who have an agenda for themselves who are the problem.
Netanyahu has a naked hatred for the Palestinians and his bloodlust is being sated with eacch killing and each taking of more of the Palestinian land. Militant Jews are carving out increasing portions of the West Bank. I, too, have longtime Jewish friends. There is an effort to separate the Jew from the Zionist. I understand that line of demarcation. The current Israel -- note, current -- is behaving in ways that belie her claimed humanity. I borrow a line from the series "Vikings": "I Would Sup With The Devil If He Would Show Me How To Achieve My Earthly Goals."
Bibi and the Likud are seated at the Devil's banquet. To them, Palestinians have no value; human or otherwise.
Apparently, many of the Israelis killed at the Music Festival were 'Friendly Fire' Casualties from the 1st Responder Gunships... They started firing indiscriminately at running people on the Ground... Many of the Israeli Soldiers killed were unarmed Women whose duty was to 'Stare' at the monitors of their 'High Tech' Border Wall that collapsed when a moderately skilled Enemy Assaulted it.... Why was there a lack of an Organized Reaction Team in place? Israel is a small country... Why did it take hours to get unorganized Ground First Responders there? Brilliant Military? Yair Lapid says that Netanyahu was warned of the potential of this Attack a Year prior, and he shrugged it off... Is he now overcompensating, and Slaughtering the Gazans, many of who are the descendants of the 1947 Nakba? Is he Stringing out the War to avoid accountability...?
How is 'The US' failing Ukraine? Most of us support aid to Ukraine. Only one side wants us to stop the aid. Using blanket terms like 'the US' doesn't help.
New York Post, 02 JUL 2024: In his fixation on helping Ukraine in small doses for тАЬas long as it takes,тАЭ President Biden is setting Kyiv up for failure, and NATO for a major strategic setback.
That one side is Putin and his serfs. This from Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis today:
"At the same time, the diplomat is convinced that Europe alone is unlikely to tackle Russia. Noting that history is a bad example for planning the future, but good for explaining what is happening now, Landsbergis said he does not currently see how the European continent can be stabilized without the participation of the United States.
"Throughout the last 100 years, every time U.S. would look inwards, war breaks out in Europe. And this is the thing that keeps on happening. So our job is now, at this point, to build up ourselves, build up our muscle, get stronger, but bring back the U.S. and keep the U.S. as much as possible involved because there's a very easy explanation why it is needed, is it not just for Europe, not just for Ukraine, but for the whole society to work, for the entire global society to work,тАЭ the minister emphasized."
No doubt there is an endless campaign for Israelis to divest Palestinians of property and space as they seek to continue to colonize. "one state solution". There is little sentiment in Israel i have heard for an independent, autonomous Palestine, though Hamas has perhaps provided the final nail in the coffin for this. Palestine has been split how between what the PLO used to do (think the Lebanese uncivil war/s of the 70s) and Arafat once espoused, and what Hamas has continued to espouse ever since. Just how can Israelis think there is a firm foundation for a two state solution while a hunk of Palestine still wants to drive Israel "into the sea", a phrase as old as Israel itself.
Well "from the river to the sea" just has become a completely new meaning looking at the increased atrocities they're now committing against the Palestinians in the Westbanks - wonder how long it will take for the US to stuff that slogan down our throats.
It has never felt more disgusting to be - thanks to our morally bankrupt politicians - complicit in this disturbing and unintelligent game of "never blame Israel!"
Sabine this may sound naive to you but hopefully not dismissive: What exactly would you like President Biden, VP/ presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, The Pentagon or whoever else to do about the murderous campaign between Hammas, Israel and probably somewhat Palestine? What power do these people have to fix that problem ( if that is the solution you are hoping for). They are trying negotiation, humanitarian aid and weapons supply. Which of those things should they stop doing? Given they are American citizens and not dictators, colonizers or unopposed leaders of an international military how exactly do you think they should be responding to Israel's retaliatory war mongering or the viscious attacks on Israel by Hamas at the expense of the Palestinian people. And what about Hezbola in Lebannon and the Iranians? Do you think Russia has any involvement in this? None of them are NATO members and the US only recognizes Israel & the PLO (not Palestine proper) as far as I know. I am not very knowledgable on middle east affairs, and it is possible some of what I think is offensive to people who are experts on the middle east - so lets talk about it. For me realistic suggestions are necessary. Israel came into being just before I was born. As long as I can remember there have been issues involving Israel and her neighbor Palestine. Palestine lost a lot when Israel was created. Were bad politics involved? Bad decision making? Should they have made Israel at all? Yes people felt bad about the holocoust. Rightly so in my opinion but I know everyone does not agree. Yes the land had to come from somewhere to make Israel - where should it have been made - what do you think? Now it is 2024 ( about 76 years after Israel was created I think). Americans are facing another tough election where many of us feel we are at risk for losing democracy and our freedom. Israel, our official ally, is at war with Hamas in Palestine once again because Hamas ( whom the US considers a terrorist organization & defacto government that abuses Palestine by sheltering in their homes and indoctrinating their children) aggressively attacked Israel and slaughtered citizens. Again. Israel, led by a war monger in the opinion of many world citizens, has retaliated and been supported in doing so. Who wants to place blame for all of the carnage - do you? Do others engaged here? Who among us has the knowledge of middle eastern culture, religion, politics and war to come up with the right answers? These people do not get along. They have not gotten along for decades and will not likely get along tomorrow. President Biden, VP Harris, Antony Blinkin and all the other experts know a whole lot more than I do and I believe are doing ALL THEY CAN to end this current war. I don't see that they have the power to do more. I also do not see why our election must be focused ( once again) on this recurrent middle eastern issue - why our candidates must be judged by their response to this issue. Please explain to me why the problems in the middle east or Iran or North Korea - or Russia are more important than the problems in the USA. I really do not get it. Thanks.
Agreed there is blame to go all around, straight from the creation of Israel, never any light of day once hostilities began, by all concerned. I'm doing a read of O Jerusalem, a remarkable piece of narrative journalism written in the 70s. Like it or not, this stuff hardly began with Hamas, this is just the latest, perhaps the most horrific outbreak of violence since the wars themselves, most which led to Israel's expansion of its borders. A history of contortions, Sabine.
Why should this be any surprise to anyone? With Jared and his father-in-law, it's always been about the money. Think resort beaches in North Korea. This is typical of and oligarch's mentality taking advantage of those who cannot defend themselves, thinking that they are doing everyone a favor while stuffing their pockets with "easy money."
If someone cares about what's happening in Gaza, I don't see how they could vote for anyone BUT Kamala Harris. Trump is the worst possible choice on this issue too!
Do not forget global warming. It is bigger than immigration. (Immigration is one result of climate change.) Bigger than reproductive freedom or LGBTQ rights.
Trump promises Drill, baby, drill. And for a billion in funds for his campaign he promises to get rid of regulations which bother the Fossil Fuel Community.
I am not a high finance person, but I am sincerely hopeful that the financial reforms directed by the Biden administration will serve as a way to track and regulate this apparent financial Wild West which a certain ex pres, and his cohorts, have been attempting to partake in for a quite a while.. Three cheers to the Biden admin and thanks to HCR for highlighting it!!
"A year and a half after the Panama Papers revealed an international network of tax havens used by celebrities and politicians, the International Consortium of Journalists released the Paradise Papers...13.4 million documents mostly from one of the largest offshore law firms, Appleby.
"It reveals the offshore interests and activities of over 120 politicians... reveals the financial engineering of 13 advisers, donors, and cabinet members of President Trump, including that of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that may have implications for the ongoing Russia investigation. Ross holds a stake in a shipping company, Navigator, whose top clients includes a Russian firm called Sibur controlled by Russian President Vladimir PutinтАЩs son-in-law."
From Russia to Ukraine ( YanocovichтАЩs regime) to Wilbur RossтАЩs Bank in Cyprus, through Malta to LONDON and NYC real estate, to banks in Sioux Falls South Dakota, and buying and selling distressed commercial real estate/closed factories through out the rust states, and old buildings in disrepair on the other side of the tracks. Christi Noem and Mitch McConnel knows we know. Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota are all havens for money laundering through American real estate. Both parties are complicit, but one is far worse, and the other aims to fix it. Go Harris/Walz!!!
Seems to me that don't ask, don't tell for financial crime has grown since the "Reagan Revolution". This 13 year old story from The Guardian is not atypical of many have read and seen met with virtual indifference.
It started when he visited Russia in the late 1980s, which is when the Soviets, with their long view of history, ID'd him as a potential asset who would be easy to use as he was susceptible to flattery and money.
That тАЬpageantтАЭ really does tell us all there is to know about him. ItтАЩs on his mind all the time. He does the things he does because he wants to host more events like that. He even brought it up during his тАЬperfectтАЭ phone calls with Zelensky before the first impeachment!
Long before Miss Universe, Trump properties have been vehicles for Russian money laundering. How many properties in NYC, Florida, and other are owned by Russians? How many are owned or flipped by dark LLCтАЩs? ( before this change in the law, an llc can buy real estate without dis losing foreign partners. This all started after the fall of the USSR and the Eastern bloc. The Russian mafia moved into the west. Russian officials and oligarchs use/sponsor the Russian mafia as an unofficial partner to make and hide illicit money. The Russian Mafia is a different structure than western mafia. Putin rose to power in St Petersburg, with the help of organized crime, stole $100s of millions from the people of the city while working for/with the mayor. With the $, he acquired power to become appointed successor to Yeltsin.
Respectfully, IтАЩm going to be a contrarian on this one. Spreading real capitalism and real democracy do go hand in hand. Republican politicians focus on spreading two opposite things that go hand in hand. One is CAPINO (capitalism in name only), and the other is phony democracy.
Should the fact that the Democratic Republic of Congo calls itself a democracy cause us to believe that democracy is bad? Of course not. We need to recognize what the word тАЬdemocracyтАЭ means so weтАЩre able to recognize when an authoritarian autocracy that calls itself a democracy is the opposite of democracy. Otherwise, organized criminals, corrupt government officials, and business leaders who pose a significant national security threat are effectively, even if unintentionally, being supported.
Real democracy is built on a stable foundation. The definition of тАЬdemocracyтАЭ describes that foundation. The definition of democracy in AmericaтАФper the United States Declaration of Independence (1776)тАФis тАЬall men are created equal,тАЭ which we now understand to mean that the intrinsic value of any one human life is equal to the intrinsic value of every other human life. A person that believes that the intrinsic value of human life is unequal is effectively, even if unintentionally, supporting DonOld tRump.
Real capitalism is built on the same stable foundation. The definition of тАЬcapitalismтАЭ describes that foundation. The definition of capitalism is per the name of Adam SmithтАЩs book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). SmithтАЩs understanding of the movement he inspired that we now call capitalism is the same as the Harris-Walz campaignтАФan equal opportunity economy. A person that believes that capitalism and morality do not go hand in hand is effectively, even if unintentionally, even if in only a small way, supporting DonOld tRump.
Don't forget the butterfly effect. We live in a large, complex, and adaptive social system in which small positive acts can have enormous positive long-term effects, and small negative acts can have enormous negative long-term effects.
I recall that Trump Tower NYC was purportedly floundering after Kushner made an outsized deal for the property, but came around after Russian oligarchs moved into floors just above his own. I cannot find the sources I remember from ages ago about NYC Tfg Tower. But this article addresses some of the more recent examples: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-property/.
I am sure that I was not alone among bankers who simply assumed that Trump's come-back in the 1990s and thereafter came from laundering dirty money from Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine has made steady progress against this corruption. She is as democratic as we are these days (i.e., a 'flawed democracy').
The Ukrainian people have earned our support. President G.H.W. Bush alienated me in 1992; I regret voting against him to this day. First he said we had won the Cold War, which I felt would rub Russian noses in their own poop. Second, in explaining that victory, President Bush argued that free market values had prevailed. Capitalism has utility, not value.
And the big onesтАж Russians, and their cut outs in current and former sphere of influence countries pay huge bogus license fees to use his name for building projects and events like Miss Universe.
Their oligarchs love our oligarch. They buy condos in his buildings, partner for golf tournaments, give his daughter payments, pass huge sums of money to his son in law, and pay "state" visits to his Florida resort.
Is there any question why DJT prefers Dictators... Didn't DJT say that he wanted to build Resorts in North Korea?
And the Trumplings are eyeing the waterfront of Gaza...
The desecration of Arlington virtually assures a victory for Kamala Harris. This is the big one that will sink Trump. Not so much the convictions but the army that goes out of its way to avoid anything political to make the statement. ItтАЩs huge. ItтАЩs bigger than Don-old TrumpтАЩs butt. Trust me on this one. And hopefully the down ballots will benefit as well.
I hope you are correct, Bill. It seems every vile act he commits isnтАЩt low enough because he and his ilk ALWAYS find a way to go lower.
I don't know how ANY veteran could vote for him. He has done nothing but denigrate the military and anyone who has served.
And Harris is smart leaving this one alone since itтАЩs a train wreak still in motion. IтАЩm flabbergasted but gratified that Trump and company would think this photo op-Ed would be beneficial. ItтАЩs almost humorous if not so pathetic. I think the only thing he could do worse now would by to fly off to North Korea and in another photo op, plunk a big huge kiss on the lips of Kim Jong Un.
This photo op reminds me of holding the Bible upside down.
I wouldn't put it past him! :)
He may be flying to Kim land after he loses the November election!
lips?
Bill Clinton learned a political lesson from Nixon that goes like this: Identify your core voters and then identify what they care about most. Then always address and support those issues without fail. After that you will be free to deal with the other issues your voters donтАЩt prioritize any way you want. ThatтАЩs what Trump does. As long as he keeps pushing the grievance button and sticking his finger in the eyes of the Democrats he is golden with MAGA. WeтАЩll see how this dust up with the military goes. I hope itтАЩs the straw that breaks the camelтАЩs back with veterans.
Sadly, a friend of mine a Vietnam vet ,who has ParkinsonтАЩs as a result of agent orange exposure , is a devoted supporter! Go figure!
There is an underlying support by some who are transfixed by pure white bloodline. They have no capacity to use reason as their guide. Mandy inside are just pure unadulterated racists, in my humble opinion.
Dementia is common in Parkinson's disease. Speaking as a retired internal medicine M.D.
45 will take his health care away
Is your friend white? If so, no further explanation need education.
That's what I thought about women after the Hollywood Access tape...and yet...
Even Trump thought the Access Hollywoid tape was the end. It wasnтАЩt because racism trumps everything.
The veterans I know are really angry about this although they wouldn't have voted for him in any case. My LMT, a navy veteran, and I talked about this during my massage. He understands how sacred that cemetery is. Death star was aided and abetted by at least some of the families and a couple of them had the their thumbs up as well. I understand how they would like to cast blame, but Biden is not responsible for the Islamic terrorist group that did this. Also death star cannot really say anything about his approach to the Taliban. He is a walking foreign policy (love me some dictators) disaster.
In addition to the 5 'thumbs up' (including tfg), there was someone at the right end (from viewer perspective) giving the Hawaiian hand gesture of thumb & little finger, middle fingers folded down. Looking online , there apparently are various interpretations but all more or less equivalent to 'thumbs up'.
It really bothers me too. Here he is and those who joined him in a very sacred space and they act like they are at the Roman colosseum watching some gladiators and allowing those they favor to live.
Trump is not a normal human being. HeтАЩs a long way from being even a decent being. HeтАЩs one of the most deeply narcissistic animals in history. Furthermore, Trump wasnтАЩt the only thumbs up scumbag in the photo.
I love your optimism Bill, but the only thing that will ensure the victory we all want to see is getting more votes on Nov. 5. I suppose it's impressive that the Army made a public statement, but even more impressive would have been enforcing the law on the people who broke it and engaged in assault in doing so.
The crux of it is that Trump believes he is above the law - no matter what the situation.
Respectfully, the issue isn't that the failed insurrectionist feels that way although he clearly does, it's that other people enable him behaving as though he is. In this case, the officers senior to the woman who tried to enforce the ANC policy, who did not back her up. At minimum, the individual who had physical contact with her should have been arrested on the spot. Had it been one of us who are discussing it, we would be in a stockade right now.
Yeah... They probably paid them off with cash & threats!
"Paid them off with cash" is slander to the people who tried to uphold the law. You need to rethink this.
On one other SubStack column written immediately after the incident, it said that Trump disciple, Mike Johnson, cleared the way with the Army to allow him in. If true, that is even more abominable.
So many things Trump has done or said should be disqualifying -- Jan 6th at the top of the list -- but nothing seems to shake the base of his support. Maybe this one will resonate. It certainly did for me.
Let us not forget that there is nothing he can do that will lose support - NOTHING!! Let's hope that the ignorant voters will see the stark contrast between these two candidates and choose the more likable, which is always the deciding factor in presidential elections, it is not policies, facts, or accomplishments. If those things mattered the Republicans would never have been elected since FDR. The exception was Nixon, who won due to the backlash against the war demonstrators.
The "thumbs up" photo op was particularly vile.
I hope you are right Bill. Now it's up to the media. If folks aren't bothered by the arrogance and disrespect of laws and ordinary people, Buddha help us. MAGA supporters cannot see that 45 only cares about them if they have something he wants, and then he'll try to take it.
Check out "Autocracy Inc" by Anne Applebaum. The audio book only takes 4 hours. Quite illuminating.
May the Universe hear you loud and clear. I will offer a toast to your predictions!!
Yes, letтАЩs hope every new vote gives us more down ballot leverage in the year 2025!
Seems more like half of the US is yelling once again "LIBERTY!" and helps the Israelis to liberate the Palestinians of their properties, families and friends, lives and limbs.
Look, we get it.
Believe it or not, most of us also think war is gross. You're not special by reminding us of this. If you ever posted here on any other topic, with any other tone than seething zealotry, you would actually be a part of the community we would be able to take seriously. Instead, we know just what we will see when we see your name, and it is all too easy to scroll on by.
How exactly is that helping the unfortunate people half a world away you are obsessed with? Oh right, it doesn't. Something tells me it isn't about them for you, anyway.
Will, I enjoy most of your post, this one not so much. "We would" "we know", "we will" when "we" see your name. As my daddy would have asked, "have you got a mouse in your pocket?"
I believe Sabine was replying to Betsy's comment about the "Trumplings" (I love and am reusing that Betsy) eyeing the waterfront in Gaza. It made me angry too, remembering when I saw Jared taking about what he would do, build waterfront resorts.
I agree with Betsy, actually.
Sabine is a purposefully divisive troll and somebody had to say it. I could have spoken in the singular but it's late into the night and I guess delusions of grandeur crept in lol. Mea culpa!
Thank you Will. Both sides need to find leaders who are willing to negotiate. If not perhaps there is a way to do it for them.
Does it, Will? I don't think you know much of anything, darl.
What I know may be small, but at least I know that telling someone they don't know much of anything is not a good way to win them over. On those grounds alone, between the two of us, looks like I win!
Enjoy stewing in your all-consuming outrage on this single issue, while alienating possible allies to your cause! I'd love to catch up in a while and see how it's workin' for ya!
Sabine the darl is gratuitous and lends zero to the convo here. Social media appears to have helped slay our ability to communicate with one another. We are not here to knock one another down no matter how furious we are about a situation. It is a community of trust and integrity. Name calling does not belong no matter who started it. Please try to hear that as a suggestion. I am sure many people here are interested in the issues facing people in the middle east and would like to converse with you about them. Thanks for listening.
What I do know is that this thread has just been hijacked by this screed. I've spent the last 10 minutes reading through and realizing the main post of HCR has been forgotten. Well done Sabine with the hijack - actually NOT.
I'm moving back to HCR and comments about the cascade of DJT indignities to us veterans and those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice being used as props. We all mourn the war and hate Hamas, Hezbollah and what they have done to Palestinians as well as Jewish people. I remember 1984 Beruit as a Marine Vet and it still seethes, but I don't hijack other topics.
Have a better day.
Good Lord, you sound like Trump's people. If you think this is helping your cause, you'd better think again.
I sincerely believe that most Americans do not like whatтАЩs going on. But do not blame America for what Netanyahu is doing.
I do blame the US government because our historic policy through the corruption of PACS buying off politicians gave Israel a green light to do anything it has wanted.
I have liked Biden, but he made a HUGE mistake to back Israel without considering that Netanyahu is a butcher. He is riding the wave of war for his own purposes. The moment the conflict halts, Israelis can have an election and vote him out of office. Most of them want to.
Harris has signaled that she has her own view of things and I strongly suspect it does not include backing Netanyahu. Most of us in the US hate watching what Bibi is doing with our weapons. I am ashamed of the death, the starvation, the continuing warfare for the sake of "winning." There is no "winning" for anybody in this carnage. BTW, Trump will give Bibi anything he wants and Trump will love it.
You should blame that part of the US government and the people they represent for the corruption -- not all of us. Capitalism and fascism make an effective, slimy team that now seems to also enjoy the support of much of the press.
The Israelis have received over 500 Airlifts of Munitions since this latest Gaza War has started... They have essentially run out of Munitions... If the U.S. stops replenishing their War Machine, they will stop their Ethnic Cleansing...
Especially yes since no other country would send arms to Israel as we have. Which means that blood spilled is on our hands collectively speaking. When Biden gave Netanyahuyahoo a big huge, I almost vomited.
And someone tossed in polio just for good measure. Every parent there is now terrified of their kids getting polio on top of the constant bombing and shooting. And that's on top of everyone being malnourished and sick from contaminated water. Hell on earth.
This is double-standards on full display. The Zionists and Bibi are the land-grabbing butchers. The U.S. backing of Israel for this human (inhumane) slaughter has given license to rob and kill using Hamas as the targeted reason and justification. The U.S. has failed the Palestinians just as we are failing Ukraine.
Keltik_Warrior (Vince T)
I too have questions concerning this slaughter of women, children and elderly Palestinians.
I have multiple questions about the October music festival and why at that time a part of Israel's protective shield over that specific area was not working....so the military did not receive warnings immediately.
Why is it taking so long for the brilliant Israeli military to free the hostages? I guess they are too busy raping their prisoners!!!
Each time I listen to the news and see the devastation of Palestinian humanity in Gaza and other areas of the war, I feel that each death is on me!!! Each rape is on me!!! We are sending the weapons!!!! We share in this destruction.
In my opinion we are neglecting the most important reason to be in this conflict and that is to free the hostages.
I have never seen Netanyahu without a very satisfied smile on his face. He is using the USA to accomplish the destruction of Gaza and the Palestinian people...in my opinion. The longer the hostages are held, the more power he has to use us.
Remember the long term goal of many Israelis is to reclaim the land they say belongs to them from ancient writings.....not from laws concerning a land of their own decided legally following WW11.
This is my opinion....one of my best and most respected friends growing up was Jewish. I am not against Jewish people, Palestinian people or Iranians....etc. I had a wonderful Iranian friend in college.
I care for all persons and value the ideals of freedom and mutual respect. It is often leaders who have an agenda for themselves who are the problem.
Netanyahu has a naked hatred for the Palestinians and his bloodlust is being sated with eacch killing and each taking of more of the Palestinian land. Militant Jews are carving out increasing portions of the West Bank. I, too, have longtime Jewish friends. There is an effort to separate the Jew from the Zionist. I understand that line of demarcation. The current Israel -- note, current -- is behaving in ways that belie her claimed humanity. I borrow a line from the series "Vikings": "I Would Sup With The Devil If He Would Show Me How To Achieve My Earthly Goals."
Bibi and the Likud are seated at the Devil's banquet. To them, Palestinians have no value; human or otherwise.
Apparently, many of the Israelis killed at the Music Festival were 'Friendly Fire' Casualties from the 1st Responder Gunships... They started firing indiscriminately at running people on the Ground... Many of the Israeli Soldiers killed were unarmed Women whose duty was to 'Stare' at the monitors of their 'High Tech' Border Wall that collapsed when a moderately skilled Enemy Assaulted it.... Why was there a lack of an Organized Reaction Team in place? Israel is a small country... Why did it take hours to get unorganized Ground First Responders there? Brilliant Military? Yair Lapid says that Netanyahu was warned of the potential of this Attack a Year prior, and he shrugged it off... Is he now overcompensating, and Slaughtering the Gazans, many of who are the descendants of the 1947 Nakba? Is he Stringing out the War to avoid accountability...?
How is 'The US' failing Ukraine? Most of us support aid to Ukraine. Only one side wants us to stop the aid. Using blanket terms like 'the US' doesn't help.
New York Post, 02 JUL 2024: In his fixation on helping Ukraine in small doses for тАЬas long as it takes,тАЭ President Biden is setting Kyiv up for failure, and NATO for a major strategic setback.
That one side is Putin and his serfs. This from Lithuanian Foreign Minister Landsbergis today:
"At the same time, the diplomat is convinced that Europe alone is unlikely to tackle Russia. Noting that history is a bad example for planning the future, but good for explaining what is happening now, Landsbergis said he does not currently see how the European continent can be stabilized without the participation of the United States.
"Throughout the last 100 years, every time U.S. would look inwards, war breaks out in Europe. And this is the thing that keeps on happening. So our job is now, at this point, to build up ourselves, build up our muscle, get stronger, but bring back the U.S. and keep the U.S. as much as possible involved because there's a very easy explanation why it is needed, is it not just for Europe, not just for Ukraine, but for the whole society to work, for the entire global society to work,тАЭ the minister emphasized."
https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3900535-conflicts-in-europe-can-be-prevented-only-if-ukraine-comes-out-victorious-from-war-with-russia-landsbergis.html
No doubt there is an endless campaign for Israelis to divest Palestinians of property and space as they seek to continue to colonize. "one state solution". There is little sentiment in Israel i have heard for an independent, autonomous Palestine, though Hamas has perhaps provided the final nail in the coffin for this. Palestine has been split how between what the PLO used to do (think the Lebanese uncivil war/s of the 70s) and Arafat once espoused, and what Hamas has continued to espouse ever since. Just how can Israelis think there is a firm foundation for a two state solution while a hunk of Palestine still wants to drive Israel "into the sea", a phrase as old as Israel itself.
Well "from the river to the sea" just has become a completely new meaning looking at the increased atrocities they're now committing against the Palestinians in the Westbanks - wonder how long it will take for the US to stuff that slogan down our throats.
It has never felt more disgusting to be - thanks to our morally bankrupt politicians - complicit in this disturbing and unintelligent game of "never blame Israel!"
Sabine this may sound naive to you but hopefully not dismissive: What exactly would you like President Biden, VP/ presidential candidate Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, The Pentagon or whoever else to do about the murderous campaign between Hammas, Israel and probably somewhat Palestine? What power do these people have to fix that problem ( if that is the solution you are hoping for). They are trying negotiation, humanitarian aid and weapons supply. Which of those things should they stop doing? Given they are American citizens and not dictators, colonizers or unopposed leaders of an international military how exactly do you think they should be responding to Israel's retaliatory war mongering or the viscious attacks on Israel by Hamas at the expense of the Palestinian people. And what about Hezbola in Lebannon and the Iranians? Do you think Russia has any involvement in this? None of them are NATO members and the US only recognizes Israel & the PLO (not Palestine proper) as far as I know. I am not very knowledgable on middle east affairs, and it is possible some of what I think is offensive to people who are experts on the middle east - so lets talk about it. For me realistic suggestions are necessary. Israel came into being just before I was born. As long as I can remember there have been issues involving Israel and her neighbor Palestine. Palestine lost a lot when Israel was created. Were bad politics involved? Bad decision making? Should they have made Israel at all? Yes people felt bad about the holocoust. Rightly so in my opinion but I know everyone does not agree. Yes the land had to come from somewhere to make Israel - where should it have been made - what do you think? Now it is 2024 ( about 76 years after Israel was created I think). Americans are facing another tough election where many of us feel we are at risk for losing democracy and our freedom. Israel, our official ally, is at war with Hamas in Palestine once again because Hamas ( whom the US considers a terrorist organization & defacto government that abuses Palestine by sheltering in their homes and indoctrinating their children) aggressively attacked Israel and slaughtered citizens. Again. Israel, led by a war monger in the opinion of many world citizens, has retaliated and been supported in doing so. Who wants to place blame for all of the carnage - do you? Do others engaged here? Who among us has the knowledge of middle eastern culture, religion, politics and war to come up with the right answers? These people do not get along. They have not gotten along for decades and will not likely get along tomorrow. President Biden, VP Harris, Antony Blinkin and all the other experts know a whole lot more than I do and I believe are doing ALL THEY CAN to end this current war. I don't see that they have the power to do more. I also do not see why our election must be focused ( once again) on this recurrent middle eastern issue - why our candidates must be judged by their response to this issue. Please explain to me why the problems in the middle east or Iran or North Korea - or Russia are more important than the problems in the USA. I really do not get it. Thanks.
Agreed there is blame to go all around, straight from the creation of Israel, never any light of day once hostilities began, by all concerned. I'm doing a read of O Jerusalem, a remarkable piece of narrative journalism written in the 70s. Like it or not, this stuff hardly began with Hamas, this is just the latest, perhaps the most horrific outbreak of violence since the wars themselves, most which led to Israel's expansion of its borders. A history of contortions, Sabine.
Hard to believe but then I see https://apnews.com/article/jared-kushner-trump-israel-waterfront-property-901895eeafee867e69d0c4582a4deb47
Why should this be any surprise to anyone? With Jared and his father-in-law, it's always been about the money. Think resort beaches in North Korea. This is typical of and oligarch's mentality taking advantage of those who cannot defend themselves, thinking that they are doing everyone a favor while stuffing their pockets with "easy money."
Just "move the people out of there and rebuild....". As I live and breathe...sounds like royalty to me...
"Trumplings"... perfect. I've always enjoyed the old style fairy tales with deceptively evil children.
Very trumpian to feast on otherтАЩs miseryтАЩ
If someone cares about what's happening in Gaza, I don't see how they could vote for anyone BUT Kamala Harris. Trump is the worst possible choice on this issue too!
Do not forget global warming. It is bigger than immigration. (Immigration is one result of climate change.) Bigger than reproductive freedom or LGBTQ rights.
Trump promises Drill, baby, drill. And for a billion in funds for his campaign he promises to get rid of regulations which bother the Fossil Fuel Community.
Not for the impoverished North Korean population to enjoy, I would guess.
Nope. Just for their labor unions. Oh wait. There arenтАЩt anyтАж
Unbelievable? No, but certainly unimaginable to most of us. See https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-06-12/trump-sees-potential-for-north-korean-beach-hotels-condos-video
At least oceanfront condos! He will need one after loses the next election!
He might have!
How about the building in Moscow that he worked on getting during his first campaign?
I am not a high finance person, but I am sincerely hopeful that the financial reforms directed by the Biden administration will serve as a way to track and regulate this apparent financial Wild West which a certain ex pres, and his cohorts, have been attempting to partake in for a quite a while.. Three cheers to the Biden admin and thanks to HCR for highlighting it!!
@ Joyce. How soon we forget. "I have no loans in Russia. I don't have any deals in Russia." White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, "He [Trump] has no business in Russia. He has no connections to Russia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_projects_of_Donald_Trump_in_Russia#:~:text=I%20have%20no%20loans%20in,has%20no%20connections%20to%20Russia.%22
Michael Cohen went to jail for lying about the number of Trump attempts to invest in Trump Moscow. Meanwhile Russians invested in Trump properties here and abroad. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-property/
"A year and a half after the Panama Papers revealed an international network of tax havens used by celebrities and politicians, the International Consortium of Journalists released the Paradise Papers...13.4 million documents mostly from one of the largest offshore law firms, Appleby.
"It reveals the offshore interests and activities of over 120 politicians... reveals the financial engineering of 13 advisers, donors, and cabinet members of President Trump, including that of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that may have implications for the ongoing Russia investigation. Ross holds a stake in a shipping company, Navigator, whose top clients includes a Russian firm called Sibur controlled by Russian President Vladimir PutinтАЩs son-in-law."
https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/takeaway/segments/paradise-papers-and-trump-administration
https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/paradise-papers-exposes-donald-trump-russia-links-and-piggy-banks-of-the-wealthiest-1-percent/
More recently, Russian money saved Truth Social. https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a43329318/russian-investment-trump-media/
From Russia to Ukraine ( YanocovichтАЩs regime) to Wilbur RossтАЩs Bank in Cyprus, through Malta to LONDON and NYC real estate, to banks in Sioux Falls South Dakota, and buying and selling distressed commercial real estate/closed factories through out the rust states, and old buildings in disrepair on the other side of the tracks. Christi Noem and Mitch McConnel knows we know. Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota are all havens for money laundering through American real estate. Both parties are complicit, but one is far worse, and the other aims to fix it. Go Harris/Walz!!!
Seems to me that don't ask, don't tell for financial crime has grown since the "Reagan Revolution". This 13 year old story from The Guardian is not atypical of many have read and seen met with virtual indifference.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/03/us-bank-mexico-drug-gangs
JL,
https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/us-trusts-offshore-south-dakota-tax-havens/
Strange how tolerant we as a society seem to be of abuses by the wealthy.
Oligarchs of whatever nation or ideology seem more alike than different.
When DJT went to Moscow for 'The Miss Universe Pageant', the Russians sized him up, and liked what they saw... Birds Of A Feather...
Worse, they saw a rube they could control.
Not just a rube, but an effing moron, to quote Rex Tillerson.
DJ T is their puppet, actually a marionette, but what are they going to do now that he has a few strings broken?
HeтАЩs still functional for their needs. TheyтАЩll keep on using him now, and when heтАЩs dead and buried, to keep on manipulating his supporters.
But even a useful idiot is still an idiot. Trump's shameless narcissism is both an asset and a liability for those who would be kings.
And when he went to Helsinki, I would suggest that deals were made which are just waiting for the clown with the flamethrower to perform again.
It started when he visited Russia in the late 1980s, which is when the Soviets, with their long view of history, ID'd him as a potential asset who would be easy to use as he was susceptible to flattery and money.
That тАЬpageantтАЭ really does tell us all there is to know about him. ItтАЩs on his mind all the time. He does the things he does because he wants to host more events like that. He even brought it up during his тАЬperfectтАЭ phone calls with Zelensky before the first impeachment!
He was itching to display his "might" with Soviet-style military parades, but the military resisted it.
Long before Miss Universe, Trump properties have been vehicles for Russian money laundering. How many properties in NYC, Florida, and other are owned by Russians? How many are owned or flipped by dark LLCтАЩs? ( before this change in the law, an llc can buy real estate without dis losing foreign partners. This all started after the fall of the USSR and the Eastern bloc. The Russian mafia moved into the west. Russian officials and oligarchs use/sponsor the Russian mafia as an unofficial partner to make and hide illicit money. The Russian Mafia is a different structure than western mafia. Putin rose to power in St Petersburg, with the help of organized crime, stole $100s of millions from the people of the city while working for/with the mayor. With the $, he acquired power to become appointed successor to Yeltsin.
Long before thet
Also filmed him and built a vast kompromat file
Curiously, Trump shares the same taste for gilt and mirrors that Saddam Hussein had.
I think you meant guilt and mirrors
I love the way HCR leaves us readers to our own conclusions and, bingo, you nailed it, short, sweet and spot on.
Respectfully, IтАЩm going to be a contrarian on this one. Spreading real capitalism and real democracy do go hand in hand. Republican politicians focus on spreading two opposite things that go hand in hand. One is CAPINO (capitalism in name only), and the other is phony democracy.
Should the fact that the Democratic Republic of Congo calls itself a democracy cause us to believe that democracy is bad? Of course not. We need to recognize what the word тАЬdemocracyтАЭ means so weтАЩre able to recognize when an authoritarian autocracy that calls itself a democracy is the opposite of democracy. Otherwise, organized criminals, corrupt government officials, and business leaders who pose a significant national security threat are effectively, even if unintentionally, being supported.
Real democracy is built on a stable foundation. The definition of тАЬdemocracyтАЭ describes that foundation. The definition of democracy in AmericaтАФper the United States Declaration of Independence (1776)тАФis тАЬall men are created equal,тАЭ which we now understand to mean that the intrinsic value of any one human life is equal to the intrinsic value of every other human life. A person that believes that the intrinsic value of human life is unequal is effectively, even if unintentionally, supporting DonOld tRump.
Real capitalism is built on the same stable foundation. The definition of тАЬcapitalismтАЭ describes that foundation. The definition of capitalism is per the name of Adam SmithтАЩs book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). SmithтАЩs understanding of the movement he inspired that we now call capitalism is the same as the Harris-Walz campaignтАФan equal opportunity economy. A person that believes that capitalism and morality do not go hand in hand is effectively, even if unintentionally, even if in only a small way, supporting DonOld tRump.
Don't forget the butterfly effect. We live in a large, complex, and adaptive social system in which small positive acts can have enormous positive long-term effects, and small negative acts can have enormous negative long-term effects.
Thank you for this excellent explanation of the American Democracy/Capitalism Vision,
James! May I share?
Yes, please share. And thank you.
Key West is owned by Russian oligarchs.
And 40% of Trump flordia properties.
Not conch-heads?
I recall that Trump Tower NYC was purportedly floundering after Kushner made an outsized deal for the property, but came around after Russian oligarchs moved into floors just above his own. I cannot find the sources I remember from ages ago about NYC Tfg Tower. But this article addresses some of the more recent examples: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-property/.
Interesting. Miami, yes, but IтАЩve not seen much evidence in Key West. More info please? I thought Pritam Singh was the local oligarch.
And THE ONLY people to benefit from all these financial shenanigans are the trumps.
Disgusting Criminals! Why isn't this public knowledge? Maybe the media is too afraid for their lives if they report anything.
I am sure that I was not alone among bankers who simply assumed that Trump's come-back in the 1990s and thereafter came from laundering dirty money from Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine has made steady progress against this corruption. She is as democratic as we are these days (i.e., a 'flawed democracy').
The Ukrainian people have earned our support. President G.H.W. Bush alienated me in 1992; I regret voting against him to this day. First he said we had won the Cold War, which I felt would rub Russian noses in their own poop. Second, in explaining that victory, President Bush argued that free market values had prevailed. Capitalism has utility, not value.
2 Words - Deutsche Bank, :)
And the big onesтАж Russians, and their cut outs in current and former sphere of influence countries pay huge bogus license fees to use his name for building projects and events like Miss Universe.