Agree 100%. Too much time and energy has been spent recently on this blog focusing on Trump and Biden. It's a waste of time and energy, and a diversion. There are 4 existential crises facing the country and the world, and neither of these clowns has any intention or plan to deal with them. One is nuclear weapons. They need to be eliminated. Trump and Biden will do the opposite and instead spend billions of dollars to build more. Two is dismantling the military-industrial complex and peacefully transitioning to a multi-polar world. If anyone thinks Biden or Trump has a plan to do this, then you believe in the tooth fairy, too. Third is saving the planet from climate catastrophe. On this one, Biden at least pays some lip service. And fourth is ending plutocratic rule and creating an egalitarian society whereby people's basic needs are met. Neither of these clowns has any plan to end the plutocracy or take on the oligarchs. Just the opposite---they are owned by them.
Part of my charge, Charlie, is writing about U.S. politics. My personal choice. I've always been interested in politics, especially at the federal level. A personal quirk (or failing?) of mine.
True, Denise, but nukes are something that we can pretend is not a threat until it ends things literally in a flash. Climate change is the opposite, it gradually changes things, but not abruptly enough that it can't be dismissed as something to think about in the future, you know the old story about the lobster in water that is slowly warming doing nothing until it is too late to avoid being boiled.
Maybe an impression will be made soon, I see that every month of 2024 has been the hottest example of that month in the history of weather records.
You're right about relative timing, Clif. The threat level is about the same, though. And yes, perhaps the weather extremes are finally starting to capture people's attention. Whether they're worried enough to do anything, or push politicians to do anything, is another story.
Charlie, I disagree with your view of WJA's priorities here, but you are certainly correct in naming issues of extreme importance, though I think polling has shown that none of them are at the top of the list for Americans. The threat of nuclear destruction is paramount but as I have mentioned, it has been put out of mind because it not only brings intense anxiety, it is also impossible to get rid of the weapons...though maybe after WW3 if anything is left? Before nukes there were world disarmament proposals that managed to at least be discussed at a high level, but even that failed. Going back through human history, would any major weapon (let's say cannon, for example) have been given up?
Instead of looking at nukes as The End, those in power look at them as The Ace that it just might be possible to play. The crazy US position in Ukraine that is essentially slapping Russia's face and then slapping a little harder is telling me that there is no concern about nukes in US decision making.
As far as I can tell the American political landscape is full of small, isolated single-issue grouplets and NGOs, for the most part. There is no serious, national political organization that is in any position to challenge the duopoly. What parties are there? The Green Party, DSA? The anti-capitalist left in this country is fragmented and divided. There is a lot of protesting, picketing and petition-signing online. All of that does not add up to a strategy and is not a threat to the powers-that-be. The Right is extremely well-funded, well-organized and controls all the levers of state power, including control of the mass media and other systems of indoctrination. Calls to "organize" sound a bit weak, to say the least. We know what needs to change. But no one seems to have anything approaching an adequate answer to the question "How?"
Jill Stein gets my vote. She openly states things that accord with my views. All the claims that she can't get traction don't mean that I can't give my vote for at least that amount of traction. AFAIK she will be on the ballot in every state.
Cynicism rules America, everyone considers themself a realist that will not be fooled and being smart to them means going with what is presented by the two major parties. To do otherwise is to be a fool or or a naif, both despicable to the person who claims to see the big view and thinks it wisdom. So we the prisoners will dutifully vote on the candidates provided by the wardens, or face the wrath of fellow prisoners.
PS - Jill Stein says her first act as president would be to stop weapons going to Israel. Good thought, but don't vote for her, deny her your vote. Instead go with Joe Biden who just yesterday said, "I’m the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody" and he, even in his deteriorating mental state, will get millions of votes because he is not Trump. And this is thought to be reasonable, denfinitely not crazy.
According to the Green Party USA website, ballot access is currently less than 50% of the 50 states (https://www.gp.org/ballot_access ). This is evidence of how the US electoral system is totally rigged and corrupt. You can also throw in the electoral college, which openly subverts the will of the majority. In all other Western democracies, multiple parties are the norm. People actually have something resembling a genuine choice, even if far from perfect. Not so in the country that likes to portray itself as the "paragon of democracy." It's a farce. As I have said before, unless and until the myth of "America is a democracy" is finally exposed for being the bold-faced lie that it is, not a damn thing is gonna change.
It’s like draining the oceans with a teaspoon: words cannot express the enormity of human stupidity. But day after day, week after week, you’re doing your best, Bill. Keep it up as long as you can. I admire and salute you.
Great article Bill. A couple of years back, I wrote a piece with similar sentiments. My take is that it's become trendy for so-called experts to be cavalier about nuclear war - which is totally bonkers. We need to reverse that trend like we did in the '70s and especially the '80s. Educate, organize, bring back the nuclear freeze movement, agitate to get arms control back on track, and center stage, etc. All other issues pale in comparison. https://punditman.substack.com/p/unchecked-militarism-is-all-the-rage
Reading a history of the US in the 20th century, I noted that the military budget was $250 billion and that an upgrade was proposed that would cost close to $1 trillion. In 2024 we are at the point of reaching $1 trillion for the budget for one year.
This history is distressing because it details all the action taken by members of the public to try getting the military budget cut. Demonstrations at military sites, gaining access to weapons production sites to spill actual blood around. The freeze movement.
It's all gone, the MIC has been victorious and then some. The people are quiet.
It is pretty obvious this has nothing to do with national security (it makes us much less secure) and everything to do with war profiteering. That's what the US does; they raise tensions all over the world on purpose only to come back to the public and say... "look at all these horrible people threatening us around the world!" and then they go ahead and raise the "offense budget" once again. Nuclear weapons are some of the most expensive in the "arsenal" and that makes them very profitable and therefore highly desirable for the merchants of death. Unless our military is somehow divorced from the investor class, this will only get worse over time.
Oppenheimer was such a self-contradictory person. How could he not understand how crazy that statement was? Brilliant as he was, he had no vision. He saw the escalation of conventional weapons from WWI to WWII, knew that the Germans were working on an atomic bomb, and yet evidently did not foresee a nuclear arms race. He must have deluded himself that war would become obsolete after the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.
Denise, I don't know that Oppy had this thought - but I have wondered if the use of the bomb on Japan has been valuable in showing the horror that would be nuclear war. Nobody can say we don't know how bad it can be, particularly since the weapons we have now put those used on Japan deeply in the shade. Insanity awaits us sitting in silos and submarine launch tubes, ready to go immediately. We know the danger, have seen "small" examples of what awaits us. We are the problem. For all that we know of human behavior through history, the one thing we cannot do is stop warring and the basis of that inherent inability is the lust for power.
In response to Rachel's comment, I used Britain and France as examples of countries which have recently overcome extreme-right-wing attempts to seize power, and have formed coalition governments, which may be representative of more citizens. In other words, reasons for a little hope.
My larger reference concerned the rise of militarism. Australia is part of AUKUS, in that regard. New Zealand would not appear to be a participant, if my info is correct.
I don't question the authenticity of either Australia's or New Zealand's democracies; that wasn't the purpose of my comnent. I will note, however, that I greatly admired Jacinda Ardern, and was sorry to see her step down, followed by a significant rightward shift.
“On 15 January 1986, Gorbachev announced a Soviet proposal for a ban on all nuclear weapons by 2000, which included INF missiles in Europe. This was dismissed by the United States as a public relations stunt and countered with a phased reduction of INF launchers in Europe and Asia with the target of none by 1989.” The same Soviet leader proposed a new security structure after the demise of Communism. Triumphalists in Washington prevented both proposals and we, our children and grandchildren are paying the price. The west (NATO and U.S.) are economically declining and are set on a course of world wide destruction because the “military, industrial and congressional complex” is suffering from some form of apocalyptic insanity.
I think the long-standing non-disclosure policy re nuclear armaments is derived from legendary Bluesman Muddy Waters' response to the question, "What are The Blues?" to which Muddy replied, "If you got to ask, I can't tell you." When it comes to nuclear weapons, the approved response to any question regarding them is based on a "need to know" policy, as in "If you have to ask, you don't need to know."
PS: It may be me showing my ignorance, but aren't bombers basically redundant these days?
Don't know, Dennis, but I've read there's a lot of "hype" about hypersonic weapons.
Bombers and ICBMs are obsolete. The USN submarine force is all the U.S. needs for "deterrence." Indeed, the missiles on one submarine, with all their warheads, could tip the world into nuclear winter.
TWO AMERICANS WALKING DOWN THE STREET AND TALKING ABOUT POLITICS by Caitlin Johnstone 16 Jul 24
JUL 16, 2024
“Man that assassination thing with Trump was so freaky,” said Carl while stepping over a woman in a hijab clutching a dead child to her chest.
“I know man! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said Steve, nimbly leapfrogging a large puddle of blood.
“He’s definitely got the election in the bag after that one, right?” Carl asked as the two strolled casually down the sidewalk through mountains of gore and human suffering.
“He’s gotta!” replied Steve. “Did you see that epic photo of him with his fist raised and his face all bloody underneath the American flag? You couldn’t make a better campaign ad if you tried.”
A skeletal young girl approached them with hands outstretched, urgently speaking to them in Arabic. The two ignored the child and walked on.
“Man, he’s gonna run this country into the ground,” said Carl, sidestepping a screaming man holding a headless baby.
“Oh no, the woke mob got to you!” exclaimed Steve, holding his nose as they passed a decomposing corpse being gnawed at by a stray dog.
“What? I’ve always preferred Democrats!” shouted Carl over the sound of machine gun fire and anguished cries. “I come from a long line of Dems!”
“But Trump is just what this country needs right now,” objected Steve, shielding his face from the heat of a burning hospital. “What about your kids? Do you want them learning about butt plugs from some drag queen at the library? You gonna let the government force your son to wear a dress and use female pronouns?”
“Ah Christ, man, that’s just some dumbass conspiracy crap,” said Carl, stepping over a small burning body. “And anyway, Trump’s literally a secret agent working for Russia!”
“That’s just—ah shit—that’s just propaganda from the liberal media,” replied Steve, disentangling his foot from a dead woman’s intestines. “They’re trying to start a war with Russia to distract us from preparing for war with our real enemy, China.”
“Sounds like you’re the one who’s propagandized,” said Carl, moving out of the way of a crying man carrying two plastic bags full of body parts. “You probably get all your news from RT and Alex Jones.”
“No way I do my own research, mostly on 4chan,” said Steve as they dodged around emaciated children approaching them with empty bowls.
“Well, I hope he doesn’t suck too bad,” said Carl, covering his ears at the sound of an explosion. “Either way, this is gonna be a brutal presidential race.”
“That we agree on!” said Steve. “Fuck, man, it’s gonna be like the only thing on the news 24/7 for the next few months.”
“Yeah but what the hell,” said Carl. “It’s not like there’s anything else going on in the world that’s particularly newsworthy anyway.”
It's very interesting, Bill, that You posted this today, the 79th anniversary of the First Atomic Explosion, when J Robert Oppenheimer exclaimed: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
WHY WE’LL NEVER KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN BUTLER, PA by Ron Paul / Campaign For Liberty 15 Jul 24
Just days after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, theories are flying from all directions. Many who ridiculed the “conspiracy theories” of conservatives are now suggesting the whole event was a set-up to boost Trump in the polls ahead of the election. Others suggest it was the “deep state” or even foreign actors who organized it.
Former US Navy Seal and founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, claims that “The fact that allowed a rifle armed shooter within 150 yds to a preplanned event is either malice or massive incompetence.” He went on to observe that, “unaccountable bloated bureaucracies continue to fail us as Americans,” adding that “unserious and unworthy people in positions of authority got us to this near disaster. Merit and execution must be the only deciding factors in hiring and leadership, not the social engineering priority of the day.”
Video has emerged showing that for at least two minutes law enforcement knew someone with a gun was on a roof aiming at the former President and no one communicated the need to pull Trump from the stage. You can clearly hear the crowd warning law enforcement that someone was on the roof. Yet he was unhindered until the first shots rang out.
Considering this fact, Erik Prince has a point.
If this is like any previous governmental foul-ups, we can expect hearings, investigations, and commissions that will actually serve to hide the official errors or even malicious intent by some in the government. That’s what government does no matter who is in office: protect itself from actual scrutiny and resist being exposed as incompetent or worse.
But what if there was a genuine investigation that actually revealed the truth about what happened at the Trump rally over the weekend? Could we rely on the mainstream media to even report it? This is the same media that, after Trump was clearly shot on live television, reported “Trump escorted away after loud noises at PA rally.” (Washington Post). And “Secret Service rushes Trump offstage after he falls at rally.” (CNN).
This is the same mainstream media that has been comparing Donald Trump to Hitler for years, and now pretends to be shocked that their vile rhetoric ended up in violence. There is a good reason why the mainstream media is regarded by the American public with record levels of contempt.
The current Director of the Secret Service has been interviewed expressing her dedication to “diversity” in hiring agents. What if her dedication to DEI goals led to an agency that is more “diverse” but fails at its core mission? Can we rely on the media to inform us of this? Or will they, as usual, just blame it all on the Second Amendment?
What if the problem with the Secret Service is that it was moved into the bloated, incompetent, and menacing Department of Homeland Security, the creation of which I strongly opposed when I was in Congress?
We shouldn’t count on hearing the truth about the attempted assassination from the mainstream media. No wonder the elites remain determined to censor social media sites like Twitter/X and TikTok. We live in an empire of lies, propped up by the mainstream media. And seeking the truth in this empire of lies is the greatest challenge for us in the moral bankruptcy in which we live.
Off Topic; but not really. UNDERTHROW’s Max Borders concludes his 16 July piece SINGLE BULLET THEORY as follows:
While I am one who thinks the presidency (with its toxic agencies and grotesque budgets) should go the way of the dodo, the electorate is not ready to face the fact that our democracy is a theater of the absurd run by a legal mafia.
Donald Trump cannot change that.
If he’s not killed, jailed, or cheated out of his win, Donald Trump will be elected for a second term. But those are big ifs. Trump’s enemies are upping the ante. THE POWER CONSOLIDATED IN THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE DOESN’T CARE IF YOU ARE AN R OR A D, IT HAS NO PATIENCE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO “STOP THE KILLING” IN UKRAINE, a sentiment recently echoed by Trump’s VP choice, J.D. Vance. IT HAS NO TIME FOR ANYONE ON TEAM TRUMP WHO HAS THREATENED TO MASS FURLOW FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HOLLYWOOD HAS PAINTED AS HEROES FOR DECADES. It has no truck with ANY RABBLE CHANTING BALANCE THE BUDGET OR END THE FED. [Note: Not sure when Team Trump has done that.]
“It” is the furnace in Moloch’s belly.
Under a Trump presidency, repairing the Republic will take a miracle. It is infested with a class of permanent functionaries that will be nigh impossible to dislodge. THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO IS THAT THE EMPIRE WILL DROWN IN A SEA OF RED INK SOMETIME UNDER TRUMP’S WATCH.
This will cause accelerating inflation as interest on the debt compounds at an unstoppable rate. To service that debt and pay food stamps and an army of functionaries, the treasury will have to insist that the Fed print like Peronists as the contractors stay at the head of the trough queue.
Although the seeds of America’s demise were sown long ago, Trump will be blamed entirely for the coming disaster. But no matter. WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT THE REST OF US WILL DO IN THE SHITSTORM. WILL WE RISE TOGETHER WITH DRAGON ENERGY TO RECONSTITUTE OUR LIVES AND COMMUNITIES, AND TO BUILD NEW AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS? OR WILL WE PROSTRATE OURSELVES BEFORE THE CHURCH OF POLITICS AND BEG FOR OUR SUPPERS?
I have a theory. Call it “the single bullet theory.” We will tap into what we felt that Summer day when a bloody man got up one more time and told us exactly what we had to do.
Important P.S., the solution to end nuclear weapons is all the more confusing when it is true that they serve as a deterrent - but not in the typical American meaning. I'm specifically thinking of the DPRK's successful socialist society (yes, despite the west against them, the DPRK has managed amazing things, their people are much freer than their brothers and sisters to the south, living under US-backed puppets.
Point is, the DPRK has protected itself by having nuclear weapons.
Important P.S., the solution to end nuclear weapons is all the more confusing when it is true that they serve as a deterrent - but not in the typical American meaning. I'm specifically thinking of the DPRK's successful socialist society (yes, despite the west against them, the DPRK has managed amazing things, their people are much freer than their brothers and sisters to the south, living under US-backed puppets.
Point is, the DPRK has protected itself by having nuclear weapons.
Agree 100%. Too much time and energy has been spent recently on this blog focusing on Trump and Biden. It's a waste of time and energy, and a diversion. There are 4 existential crises facing the country and the world, and neither of these clowns has any intention or plan to deal with them. One is nuclear weapons. They need to be eliminated. Trump and Biden will do the opposite and instead spend billions of dollars to build more. Two is dismantling the military-industrial complex and peacefully transitioning to a multi-polar world. If anyone thinks Biden or Trump has a plan to do this, then you believe in the tooth fairy, too. Third is saving the planet from climate catastrophe. On this one, Biden at least pays some lip service. And fourth is ending plutocratic rule and creating an egalitarian society whereby people's basic needs are met. Neither of these clowns has any plan to end the plutocracy or take on the oligarchs. Just the opposite---they are owned by them.
Part of my charge, Charlie, is writing about U.S. politics. My personal choice. I've always been interested in politics, especially at the federal level. A personal quirk (or failing?) of mine.
And a charge well fulfilled, Bill.
Heh. i didn't think so.
Say that again?
I think destroying nuclear weaponry and decisively addressing climate change are equally important. They're both end-of-the-world situations.
True, Denise, but nukes are something that we can pretend is not a threat until it ends things literally in a flash. Climate change is the opposite, it gradually changes things, but not abruptly enough that it can't be dismissed as something to think about in the future, you know the old story about the lobster in water that is slowly warming doing nothing until it is too late to avoid being boiled.
Maybe an impression will be made soon, I see that every month of 2024 has been the hottest example of that month in the history of weather records.
You're right about relative timing, Clif. The threat level is about the same, though. And yes, perhaps the weather extremes are finally starting to capture people's attention. Whether they're worried enough to do anything, or push politicians to do anything, is another story.
Charlie, I disagree with your view of WJA's priorities here, but you are certainly correct in naming issues of extreme importance, though I think polling has shown that none of them are at the top of the list for Americans. The threat of nuclear destruction is paramount but as I have mentioned, it has been put out of mind because it not only brings intense anxiety, it is also impossible to get rid of the weapons...though maybe after WW3 if anything is left? Before nukes there were world disarmament proposals that managed to at least be discussed at a high level, but even that failed. Going back through human history, would any major weapon (let's say cannon, for example) have been given up?
Instead of looking at nukes as The End, those in power look at them as The Ace that it just might be possible to play. The crazy US position in Ukraine that is essentially slapping Russia's face and then slapping a little harder is telling me that there is no concern about nukes in US decision making.
Very well said, Charlie.
So the question now is: Who DOES have a plan to end the plutocracy, take on the oligarchs, and create an egalitarian society?
Anybody on the current American political landscape?
As far as I can tell the American political landscape is full of small, isolated single-issue grouplets and NGOs, for the most part. There is no serious, national political organization that is in any position to challenge the duopoly. What parties are there? The Green Party, DSA? The anti-capitalist left in this country is fragmented and divided. There is a lot of protesting, picketing and petition-signing online. All of that does not add up to a strategy and is not a threat to the powers-that-be. The Right is extremely well-funded, well-organized and controls all the levers of state power, including control of the mass media and other systems of indoctrination. Calls to "organize" sound a bit weak, to say the least. We know what needs to change. But no one seems to have anything approaching an adequate answer to the question "How?"
Yes. Lots of work. Creative thinking. Leadership. Money. And spine, sand, a fighting spirit. And even that may not be enough.
Jill Stein gets my vote. She openly states things that accord with my views. All the claims that she can't get traction don't mean that I can't give my vote for at least that amount of traction. AFAIK she will be on the ballot in every state.
Cynicism rules America, everyone considers themself a realist that will not be fooled and being smart to them means going with what is presented by the two major parties. To do otherwise is to be a fool or or a naif, both despicable to the person who claims to see the big view and thinks it wisdom. So we the prisoners will dutifully vote on the candidates provided by the wardens, or face the wrath of fellow prisoners.
PS - Jill Stein says her first act as president would be to stop weapons going to Israel. Good thought, but don't vote for her, deny her your vote. Instead go with Joe Biden who just yesterday said, "I’m the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody" and he, even in his deteriorating mental state, will get millions of votes because he is not Trump. And this is thought to be reasonable, denfinitely not crazy.
According to the Green Party USA website, ballot access is currently less than 50% of the 50 states (https://www.gp.org/ballot_access ). This is evidence of how the US electoral system is totally rigged and corrupt. You can also throw in the electoral college, which openly subverts the will of the majority. In all other Western democracies, multiple parties are the norm. People actually have something resembling a genuine choice, even if far from perfect. Not so in the country that likes to portray itself as the "paragon of democracy." It's a farce. As I have said before, unless and until the myth of "America is a democracy" is finally exposed for being the bold-faced lie that it is, not a damn thing is gonna change.
You can't beat the system if you don't try.
Another question that needs to be asked and adequately answered beyond How what needs to be changed is to be effectively changed is:
What is the current system of government and governance to be replaced with, and changed to?
Heh. i'll give You three minutes. You wouldn't be able to handle more than that.
It’s like draining the oceans with a teaspoon: words cannot express the enormity of human stupidity. But day after day, week after week, you’re doing your best, Bill. Keep it up as long as you can. I admire and salute you.
Great article Bill. A couple of years back, I wrote a piece with similar sentiments. My take is that it's become trendy for so-called experts to be cavalier about nuclear war - which is totally bonkers. We need to reverse that trend like we did in the '70s and especially the '80s. Educate, organize, bring back the nuclear freeze movement, agitate to get arms control back on track, and center stage, etc. All other issues pale in comparison. https://punditman.substack.com/p/unchecked-militarism-is-all-the-rage
Reading a history of the US in the 20th century, I noted that the military budget was $250 billion and that an upgrade was proposed that would cost close to $1 trillion. In 2024 we are at the point of reaching $1 trillion for the budget for one year.
This history is distressing because it details all the action taken by members of the public to try getting the military budget cut. Demonstrations at military sites, gaining access to weapons production sites to spill actual blood around. The freeze movement.
It's all gone, the MIC has been victorious and then some. The people are quiet.
It is pretty obvious this has nothing to do with national security (it makes us much less secure) and everything to do with war profiteering. That's what the US does; they raise tensions all over the world on purpose only to come back to the public and say... "look at all these horrible people threatening us around the world!" and then they go ahead and raise the "offense budget" once again. Nuclear weapons are some of the most expensive in the "arsenal" and that makes them very profitable and therefore highly desirable for the merchants of death. Unless our military is somehow divorced from the investor class, this will only get worse over time.
"But Robert Oppenheimer warned us, that the real task at hand was not nuclear weapons but the elimination of war itself."
Oppenheimer was such a self-contradictory person. How could he not understand how crazy that statement was? Brilliant as he was, he had no vision. He saw the escalation of conventional weapons from WWI to WWII, knew that the Germans were working on an atomic bomb, and yet evidently did not foresee a nuclear arms race. He must have deluded himself that war would become obsolete after the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.
Denise, I don't know that Oppy had this thought - but I have wondered if the use of the bomb on Japan has been valuable in showing the horror that would be nuclear war. Nobody can say we don't know how bad it can be, particularly since the weapons we have now put those used on Japan deeply in the shade. Insanity awaits us sitting in silos and submarine launch tubes, ready to go immediately. We know the danger, have seen "small" examples of what awaits us. We are the problem. For all that we know of human behavior through history, the one thing we cannot do is stop warring and the basis of that inherent inability is the lust for power.
Along with the lust for power is that fact that there is lots and lots on money to be made from War. For all the right people, of course.
Agree completely, Clif, particularly on your last points.
Your last sentence: He knew what the USSR would do. Eliminate weapons does not eliminate war. Eliminate wars. It is possible.
Agree. I think Oppenheimer did eventually realize what he'd done, MUCH too late.
You summed it up in one line, Bill: "This is insanity."
💯 So much insanity lately
It seems the entire world is infected. At least Britain and France appear to be righting their political ships, for now.
Has there been any change to Britain's and France's position on and participation in America's Wars in Gaza and Ukraine?
In response to Rachel's comment, I used Britain and France as examples of countries which have recently overcome extreme-right-wing attempts to seize power, and have formed coalition governments, which may be representative of more citizens. In other words, reasons for a little hope.
My larger reference concerned the rise of militarism. Australia is part of AUKUS, in that regard. New Zealand would not appear to be a participant, if my info is correct.
I don't question the authenticity of either Australia's or New Zealand's democracies; that wasn't the purpose of my comnent. I will note, however, that I greatly admired Jacinda Ardern, and was sorry to see her step down, followed by a significant rightward shift.
Let's see what happens when the Third Front of Cold War II opens in Taiwan and the South China Sea, shall we?
“On 15 January 1986, Gorbachev announced a Soviet proposal for a ban on all nuclear weapons by 2000, which included INF missiles in Europe. This was dismissed by the United States as a public relations stunt and countered with a phased reduction of INF launchers in Europe and Asia with the target of none by 1989.” The same Soviet leader proposed a new security structure after the demise of Communism. Triumphalists in Washington prevented both proposals and we, our children and grandchildren are paying the price. The west (NATO and U.S.) are economically declining and are set on a course of world wide destruction because the “military, industrial and congressional complex” is suffering from some form of apocalyptic insanity.
I think the long-standing non-disclosure policy re nuclear armaments is derived from legendary Bluesman Muddy Waters' response to the question, "What are The Blues?" to which Muddy replied, "If you got to ask, I can't tell you." When it comes to nuclear weapons, the approved response to any question regarding them is based on a "need to know" policy, as in "If you have to ask, you don't need to know."
PS: It may be me showing my ignorance, but aren't bombers basically redundant these days?
Don't know, Dennis, but I've read there's a lot of "hype" about hypersonic weapons.
Bombers and ICBMs are obsolete. The USN submarine force is all the U.S. needs for "deterrence." Indeed, the missiles on one submarine, with all their warheads, could tip the world into nuclear winter.
I think Peter Thiel has a bunker in NZ. Make him your friend!
P.S. Somebody owes me another bottle for all the grief he's been giving me. :-)
TWO AMERICANS WALKING DOWN THE STREET AND TALKING ABOUT POLITICS by Caitlin Johnstone 16 Jul 24
JUL 16, 2024
“Man that assassination thing with Trump was so freaky,” said Carl while stepping over a woman in a hijab clutching a dead child to her chest.
“I know man! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” said Steve, nimbly leapfrogging a large puddle of blood.
“He’s definitely got the election in the bag after that one, right?” Carl asked as the two strolled casually down the sidewalk through mountains of gore and human suffering.
“He’s gotta!” replied Steve. “Did you see that epic photo of him with his fist raised and his face all bloody underneath the American flag? You couldn’t make a better campaign ad if you tried.”
A skeletal young girl approached them with hands outstretched, urgently speaking to them in Arabic. The two ignored the child and walked on.
“Man, he’s gonna run this country into the ground,” said Carl, sidestepping a screaming man holding a headless baby.
“Oh no, the woke mob got to you!” exclaimed Steve, holding his nose as they passed a decomposing corpse being gnawed at by a stray dog.
“What? I’ve always preferred Democrats!” shouted Carl over the sound of machine gun fire and anguished cries. “I come from a long line of Dems!”
“But Trump is just what this country needs right now,” objected Steve, shielding his face from the heat of a burning hospital. “What about your kids? Do you want them learning about butt plugs from some drag queen at the library? You gonna let the government force your son to wear a dress and use female pronouns?”
“Ah Christ, man, that’s just some dumbass conspiracy crap,” said Carl, stepping over a small burning body. “And anyway, Trump’s literally a secret agent working for Russia!”
“That’s just—ah shit—that’s just propaganda from the liberal media,” replied Steve, disentangling his foot from a dead woman’s intestines. “They’re trying to start a war with Russia to distract us from preparing for war with our real enemy, China.”
“Sounds like you’re the one who’s propagandized,” said Carl, moving out of the way of a crying man carrying two plastic bags full of body parts. “You probably get all your news from RT and Alex Jones.”
“No way I do my own research, mostly on 4chan,” said Steve as they dodged around emaciated children approaching them with empty bowls.
“Well, I hope he doesn’t suck too bad,” said Carl, covering his ears at the sound of an explosion. “Either way, this is gonna be a brutal presidential race.”
“That we agree on!” said Steve. “Fuck, man, it’s gonna be like the only thing on the news 24/7 for the next few months.”
“Yeah but what the hell,” said Carl. “It’s not like there’s anything else going on in the world that’s particularly newsworthy anyway.”
Source: https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/two-americans-walking-down-the-street .
A photoshopped image, an incident of an explosion that didn't explode and some shop dummies from 1955- all very underwhelming.
I still believe that nukes are a lucrative deterrents. People in power talk about them and aren't personally afraid of them in the same way they do about deadly viruses https://jowaller.substack.com/p/just-like-scary-contagions-and-911?utm_source=publication-search
It's very interesting, Bill, that You posted this today, the 79th anniversary of the First Atomic Explosion, when J Robert Oppenheimer exclaimed: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
The National Security Archive has a very comprehensive and detailed Report on that day at https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2024-07-16/first-atomic-explosion-16-july-1945 .
Didn't realize that, Jeff, even though I've been to the Trinity test site in NM. Wish I had remembered. I would've mentioned it in my new intro.
Rog,
Again OT, and again, not really... :
WHY WE’LL NEVER KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN BUTLER, PA by Ron Paul / Campaign For Liberty 15 Jul 24
Just days after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, theories are flying from all directions. Many who ridiculed the “conspiracy theories” of conservatives are now suggesting the whole event was a set-up to boost Trump in the polls ahead of the election. Others suggest it was the “deep state” or even foreign actors who organized it.
Former US Navy Seal and founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince, claims that “The fact that allowed a rifle armed shooter within 150 yds to a preplanned event is either malice or massive incompetence.” He went on to observe that, “unaccountable bloated bureaucracies continue to fail us as Americans,” adding that “unserious and unworthy people in positions of authority got us to this near disaster. Merit and execution must be the only deciding factors in hiring and leadership, not the social engineering priority of the day.”
Video has emerged showing that for at least two minutes law enforcement knew someone with a gun was on a roof aiming at the former President and no one communicated the need to pull Trump from the stage. You can clearly hear the crowd warning law enforcement that someone was on the roof. Yet he was unhindered until the first shots rang out.
Considering this fact, Erik Prince has a point.
If this is like any previous governmental foul-ups, we can expect hearings, investigations, and commissions that will actually serve to hide the official errors or even malicious intent by some in the government. That’s what government does no matter who is in office: protect itself from actual scrutiny and resist being exposed as incompetent or worse.
But what if there was a genuine investigation that actually revealed the truth about what happened at the Trump rally over the weekend? Could we rely on the mainstream media to even report it? This is the same media that, after Trump was clearly shot on live television, reported “Trump escorted away after loud noises at PA rally.” (Washington Post). And “Secret Service rushes Trump offstage after he falls at rally.” (CNN).
This is the same mainstream media that has been comparing Donald Trump to Hitler for years, and now pretends to be shocked that their vile rhetoric ended up in violence. There is a good reason why the mainstream media is regarded by the American public with record levels of contempt.
The current Director of the Secret Service has been interviewed expressing her dedication to “diversity” in hiring agents. What if her dedication to DEI goals led to an agency that is more “diverse” but fails at its core mission? Can we rely on the media to inform us of this? Or will they, as usual, just blame it all on the Second Amendment?
What if the problem with the Secret Service is that it was moved into the bloated, incompetent, and menacing Department of Homeland Security, the creation of which I strongly opposed when I was in Congress?
We shouldn’t count on hearing the truth about the attempted assassination from the mainstream media. No wonder the elites remain determined to censor social media sites like Twitter/X and TikTok. We live in an empire of lies, propped up by the mainstream media. And seeking the truth in this empire of lies is the greatest challenge for us in the moral bankruptcy in which we live.
Source: https://www.campaignforliberty.org/well-never-know-really-happened-butler-pa .
Off Topic; but not really. UNDERTHROW’s Max Borders concludes his 16 July piece SINGLE BULLET THEORY as follows:
While I am one who thinks the presidency (with its toxic agencies and grotesque budgets) should go the way of the dodo, the electorate is not ready to face the fact that our democracy is a theater of the absurd run by a legal mafia.
Donald Trump cannot change that.
If he’s not killed, jailed, or cheated out of his win, Donald Trump will be elected for a second term. But those are big ifs. Trump’s enemies are upping the ante. THE POWER CONSOLIDATED IN THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE DOESN’T CARE IF YOU ARE AN R OR A D, IT HAS NO PATIENCE FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO “STOP THE KILLING” IN UKRAINE, a sentiment recently echoed by Trump’s VP choice, J.D. Vance. IT HAS NO TIME FOR ANYONE ON TEAM TRUMP WHO HAS THREATENED TO MASS FURLOW FEDERAL EMPLOYEES HOLLYWOOD HAS PAINTED AS HEROES FOR DECADES. It has no truck with ANY RABBLE CHANTING BALANCE THE BUDGET OR END THE FED. [Note: Not sure when Team Trump has done that.]
“It” is the furnace in Moloch’s belly.
Under a Trump presidency, repairing the Republic will take a miracle. It is infested with a class of permanent functionaries that will be nigh impossible to dislodge. THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO IS THAT THE EMPIRE WILL DROWN IN A SEA OF RED INK SOMETIME UNDER TRUMP’S WATCH.
This will cause accelerating inflation as interest on the debt compounds at an unstoppable rate. To service that debt and pay food stamps and an army of functionaries, the treasury will have to insist that the Fed print like Peronists as the contractors stay at the head of the trough queue.
Although the seeds of America’s demise were sown long ago, Trump will be blamed entirely for the coming disaster. But no matter. WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT THE REST OF US WILL DO IN THE SHITSTORM. WILL WE RISE TOGETHER WITH DRAGON ENERGY TO RECONSTITUTE OUR LIVES AND COMMUNITIES, AND TO BUILD NEW AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS? OR WILL WE PROSTRATE OURSELVES BEFORE THE CHURCH OF POLITICS AND BEG FOR OUR SUPPERS?
I have a theory. Call it “the single bullet theory.” We will tap into what we felt that Summer day when a bloody man got up one more time and told us exactly what we had to do.
The full piece is at https://underthrow.substack.com/p/single-bullet-theory , and is well worth the read. [EMPHASES added.]
Important P.S., the solution to end nuclear weapons is all the more confusing when it is true that they serve as a deterrent - but not in the typical American meaning. I'm specifically thinking of the DPRK's successful socialist society (yes, despite the west against them, the DPRK has managed amazing things, their people are much freer than their brothers and sisters to the south, living under US-backed puppets.
Point is, the DPRK has protected itself by having nuclear weapons.
What a complicated problem.
Important P.S., the solution to end nuclear weapons is all the more confusing when it is true that they serve as a deterrent - but not in the typical American meaning. I'm specifically thinking of the DPRK's successful socialist society (yes, despite the west against them, the DPRK has managed amazing things, their people are much freer than their brothers and sisters to the south, living under US-backed puppets.
Point is, the DPRK has protected itself by having nuclear weapons.
What a complicated problem.