If there was ever any doubt that the US president is a figurehead- a puppet for the directors of empire (deep state), Biden/Harris 2024 dispels that.
And if leftists can watch these indictments and feel more and more anger at Democrats, imagine how the 74.2 million Americans who voted for Trump in 2020 feel.
Even if it ends up not being Biden vs Trump again, we can rest assured that whoever either party puts up as America's next choice, they will be vomit. At this point in the game, that apparently is all that our Ruling Duopoly is capable of doing.
What is amazing is that the Blue Team is so clueless as to why anyone would vote for Trump. Any rational person would know that a lot of Americans don't like the hyper-capitalist, worker-unfriendly, dog-eat-dog, can't get ahead world that has been foisted on them. But the Blue Team seems to believe their own lies about the great economy, lots of jobs, freedom and democracy, not to mention everyone loves to Bomb-The-World, so they have no idea other people don't see it that way.
It is going to be Trump vs. Biden again unless something miraculous intervenes. That is how depraved our so-called "freedom and democracy" have become.
Anybody who thinks he can be the President for another 4-years needs their head examined. This is an old man who won't even be able to participate in a debate. Surely voting for him is voting for Kamala Harris to be the President. A woman who dropped out of the primaries!
You seem to be as enamored with RFK Jr as You are with Trump.
What exactly do the two of them have in common ~ particularly when it comes to Issues and proposed Solutions to the Problems [if not Crises] confronting America ~ that enables You to like them both the way You apparently do?
Biden (a sociopathic war monger) and his cabal of neocons are quite good at making totally wrongheaded decisions based on fundamentally flawed assumptions. Remember when they promised everyone an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan and a handover to a fully functioning Afghan army, and that there would be no repeat of the Vietnam debacle with people hanging on to helicopters flying off the roof of the US embassy? Well, ok, in Afghanistan the location was slightly different--they were hanging on to helicopters taking off from the Kabul airport--but it was the same humiliating debacle. Great call Joe! Then, in 2022, it's quite clear that the nefarious cabal also assumed that, once draconian sanctions were applied against Russia for the war in Ukraine (after doing everything possible to provoke Russia for the previous 8+ years), the Russian economy would be totally wrecked and the country would collapse, thereby leading to the defeat of Russia and Putin's downfall. Looks like their assumptions did not work out quite that way, does it? One thing you can count on with Biden and his villainous cabal--they are clueless. Thus, their strategy to defeat Trump is likely to have the same outcome, no matter how much saliva is drooled on MSNBC and CNN in the coming months.
Some other politicians who have claimed their elections were stolen: Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Stacey Adams, ........ Plus of course much of the mainstream media and the Democratic Party spent 2 years trying to convince the American people that Clinton lost the 2016 election due to Russian interference, a charge that was found to be baseless. So was that a conspiracy? Oh well. It looks like they're getting back at Russia and have been for the better part of 2 years.
And of course the irony is that the latest charge against Trump is that he (falsely) claimed the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him. So what are the Democrats doing now? They are using the DOJ to rig the 2024 election. Which suggests that maybe Trump was right. We sure do live in bizarre times.
Happy Hiroshima Day 2023, America: The 78th anniversary of ~ with the exception of the United States’ refusal to offer refuge, asylum, and sanctuary to Jews and other “non-desirables” seeking to escape Hitler’s Holocaust ~ the biggest War Crime in World War II, if not all of human history.
And if You’re too busy or distracted to properly observe and reflect on what happened that day, You’ll get another chance on August 9, Nagasaki Day.
Since the US arrested me to be deported home to CanaDa as an Alien in 1976, I have paid much closer attention to the unfolding leading Indicators in the US and the World.
Politics are a lot more dirty and cutthroat in the US Goliath, than they are in CanaDa, the small David next door.
It seems obvious to me the Republicans are investing more time and effort investigating Biden and Hunter for corruption, than accomplishing anything good for the American People and the World.
Why Politics can be so brutal is because whoever wins has control of the People's Big Pile Of Money, and can disperse it as it suits them.
Not that I'm justifying Biden's actions. He was the US Viceroy in Ukraine presiding over the 2014 US-CIA Coup/Regime Change of the Democratically Elected Russian friendly government, installing an un-elected anti-Russian government, setting this World on the Path to the WAR escalating, not de-escalating. Victoria Nuland on the ground in Ukraine and managing the Coup under Biden, was just promoted in the White House. Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, was the intermediary between Nuland and Biden in 2014.
If Biden and his Cabal win in 2024, what can be expected with those 2 being his Advisors?
Can the escalation be stopped before it's TOO LATE? Silence IS consent.
What moved me to write this comment was reading this, 'Opinion: Jared and Ivanka are slinking back to Gomorrah' from The Washington Post.
For those who don't subscribe to the Post, this post is longer than usual.
Why aren't Republicans investigating this family connected corruption under Donald Trump?
If only Ivanka Trump were as witty as Barbie. Instead, she and her Ken, Jared Kushner, somnambulate like renegades from the wax museum from one investment fund to the next. Preternaturally perfect and utterly lacking in affect, Javanka, as they’re called, make real dolls seem animated.
Do you suppose the naked pursuit of power and money makes people unhappy? Or, in their case, is it the killer company they keep?
Both spawns of excessive wealth and privilege, Ivanka and Jared are reason enough to cast Donald Trump into the outer darkness. Their presence in the White House from 2017 to 2021 was a frequent embarrassment, as they convinced themselves that their value amounted to more than the family name. For a while after the 2020 election, they distanced themselves from Trump, which meant we were all spared their spectral visages.
But those days are nigh gone, as the pair appears to be back in search of the family ring. (Run, Gollum, run.)
Trump could be doomed. Or not. With him, one never knows. It’s hard to gauge whether these latest charges will budge his supporters. I doubt it, since to be a Trump fan is to distrust everyone other than He Who Must Be Obeyed. Nor do supporters probably care that Jared and Ivanka took advantage of their White House status to enrich themselves.
Ivanka might be forgiven for her conflicted relationship with Trump. He’s Daddy, after all. But familial attachments do not — and did not — qualify her or Kushner to serve as senior advisers to the president of the United States. When Kushner was denied security clearance by career intelligence officers because of concerns about foreign influence, outside business interests and personal conduct, Trump overrode them.
As for Kushner’s credulity-straining role as impromptu diplomat to the Middle East, we can only wonder what other conversations took place as he persuaded leaders in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to recognize Israel’s sovereignty and normalize relations among them. The Abraham Accords are widely viewed as a landmark development toward building relationships and mitigating tensions in the Persian Gulf region. But it is also increasingly clear that Kushner was simultaneously securing his own financial future via massive investments in his pop-up private equity firm, Affinity Partners, by many of the very same countries that signed the accords. Quelle coincidence.
Kushner’s biggest financial backer, however, was Saudi Arabia, which declined to sign the accords. This was of no consequence to Kushner, who was already pals with Mohammed bin Salman, commonly known as MBS, before joining the Trump White House. The two “princes,” both then in their 30s and eager to establish themselves on the international stage, reportedly bonded as only the born elite can.
Less than six months after leaving the White House, Kushner secured a $2 billion commitment from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which MBS controls, despite opposition from the fund’s board of directors because of Kushner’s lack of experience in private equity. Other countries followed suit, including signatories to the accords — the UAE, Qatar, Sudan and Morocco. Today, Affinity’s investment commitments have reached at least $3 billion, which is not a bad haul for a young adviser to a twice-impeached president who, recently arrested for the third time, faces several fresh indictments..........................................................................................................
While I agree in principle that this appears to be shady - if there is/was anything illegal don’t you think it would have come out by now? The press hates Trump and anyone associated with him with a purple passion - something would have been leaked long ago. A bit of whataboutism - but it’s obvious that Trump wasn’t as pall’sy with J. Epstein as many in the press like to lead on - as if he were a frequent flier on the Lolita Express, it would have been on full blast 24/7/365 for years. The fact that Epstein’s little black book hasn’t been made public speaks volumes in this respect. Epstein’s partner in crime is in federal prison for basically mass underage human trafficking - but apparently there were no clients? Point being - they can investigate Trump ad nauseam and find any kernel of wrongdoing - as they would with Kushner no doubt….but one of the biggest political scandals in history involving underage girls and they can find one name or individual to put up against the wall. And of course, Epstein didn’t really kill himself. Fascinating.
Note: Anyone who is in the least surprised by anything that has happened over these past seven plus years since the dawn of THE AGE OF TRUMP obviously missed this interview with then-President-Elect Trump by al-Jazeera, back shortly after 11/9.
President-Elect Trump On "Making America Great Again" [from the al-Jazeera Interview, late-November, 2016]
~ 1. What, exactly, do You mean, Mr Trump, actually, really mean by "Great"?
~ 2. When, exactly, did America become "Great"?
~ 3. Exactly How and Why did it become "Great"?
~ 4. When, exactly, did America stop being "Great"?
~ 5. Exactly How and Why did it stop being "Great"?
~ 6. How, exactly, will the American people and the world know that America is "Great Again"?
~ 7. And What, exactly, will a "Great Again America" actually, really Be, for Americans; and for the world?
When posed these questions during a recent exclusive interview with a reporter from al-Jazeera [the Muslim-owned and -operated, Doha, Qatar-based, global news network], President-Elect Trump responded as follows:
TRUMP: "'What is... ?' 'When did...?' 'How did... ?'; Jeeezus... . That has to qualify as one of the, if not the, lamest... no, make that the stupidest and most irrelevant set of questions any soon-to-be-ex-reporter has ever asked the next President of the United States. Ever.
"Anybody who could even think up such a dumb bunch of questions like that wouldn't, because they couldn't, understand my answer, anyway. But, because I like Muslims..., no..., I really do. Because I like you folks, I'll try and answer you.
"The question is not what 'Great' is; or when America got or stopped being 'Great'; or even what it will be like when it's 'Great Again.' Americans, real Americans i mean, don't care about all that stuff. And neither should you Muslims, or anybody else in the world. The real question is, 'When will America be Great Again?'
"Because, mark my podium-pounding words: It WILL Be. And that's so easy to answer that even you folks might understand it.
"America will be Great Again when I am President. When I am President, America will be Great Again because I, its President, am Great. Is that clear? Now, you may ask: 'How do I know that?'
"I know that because I always have been, am now, and will always be Great. And further, because everything I have ever done, am doing, and always will do has always been, is now, and always will be Great. And finally, because anything and everybody, and anybody and everything that has ever had, now has, or ever will ever have anything to do with me has always been, now is, and always will be Great, as well.
"For example, my empire of skyscrapers, golf courses, super-malls and condos, strip malls and slum flats; my casinos, University, and donations to veterans; my trophy wives; and, of course, my reality-tv shows [in one of which You are a role-playing, bit-extra right now, even as we speak]. Hell... come to think of it, even my bankruptcies have been, are, and will be great; especially for the stiffs.... heh.... .
"All Great. All Great, just like me. And do you want to know Why they were, are, and will be Great? Because they are mine. All mine. I made them; I created them. All of them. All in my own image. And That's exactly why they're Great.
"And when I move my corporate headquarters from the Trump Towers down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ['and the White House up to New York ~ or over to Mar-a-Lago ~ for the weekends,' he added, parenthetically], America will be Great Again. Because it will be mine. To create, or in this case, re-create in my own image.
"Does that answer your question?"
AL-JAZEERA: "Almost. Can you give us at least some examples of what America will be like when it is 'Great Again'"?
TRUMP: "Sure. When America is Great Again, anybody that I, The President, don't like or don't want in my country will either be thrown out, or won't be allowed to get in here in the first place. Sort of like Obama killing anybody he doesn't like with drones; or Bush torturing anybody who crossed him. Only better because truly preemptive, and much less costly, in both blood or treasure.
"When America is Great Again, all our financial, fiscal, monetary, and budgetary problems will be over after I screw all those losers who have bought, paid for, and invested in our nation's public debts at all levels: federal, state, and local. I have lots of real-world ~ and not just some Harvard Business School jerk-..., classroom ~ experience with that sort of thing, and know how to 'Get 'er Done,' as they say in the parlance.
"When America is Great Again, all them punks in Beijing, Bonn, Brussels, and Basel, and Elsewhere, and all them prevert Muslim jihadist terrorists and their mullahs, ayatollahs, and sheikhs of Arabi, and anybody else with an attitude, will come face-to-face with the reality that you don't fu~..., mess with The Donald. Or His country. Or his embassies or flag. Anywhere. Anytime. For any reason.
"When America is Great Again, we will put OurSelves, the U S of A, Number One again, and get rid of all those bull~..., bullshit rules and regulations that say that and what we can and can't do to whatever we want to do to the land, the water, and the air, anywhere, anytime. Or for that matter, to people, too.
We may only be, what is it, 4 percent of the world's population; but, as Great Again Americans, we need, want, demand, and, by God, have and will take our God-given Right to consume more than just our fair share of, what is it, 20 percent of the world's resources, or to create 25 or 30 percent of its garbage and pollution.
"You'll know that America is Great Again when I build a 3-hole golf course on the White House grounds, and open it up to the public, for a modest greens fee, of course. The plan is to have it ready to go in time for spring, when the weather breaks. I'm also exploring putting in an 18-hole PGA Championship course and lodge out at Camp David.
"Does that help you any?"
AL-JAZEERA: "It certainly does, Mr Trump. One other follow-up question before moving on to our other subjects: How soon do you think it will be before you're on Mount Rushmore?"
TRUMP: "How'd you know about that? ... Well, the plan is to unveil it just in time for my re-election Inaugural Ball in 2021."
AL-JAZEERA: "Ahhhh. Thank you, Mr Trump. Now..., what about Russia?"
Biden must step down and more democrats need to throw their hat in the ting. The best candidate will resonate during the primaries. Coalitions will form helping major candidate to attract more votes than he/she needs to convince voters they are the better choice over the Republican candidate or Cornel West.
Assuming there is an election in 2024, i believe that the best option for any American who is fed the hell up with all this bullshit was detailed in the April 10, 2022 BV piece “Reforming America's Elections the NOTC Way” that presented the argument that:
“’None Of These Candidates’ should be on every ballot of every federal election, and proposes a nation-wide campaign to give the American Voters a real Alternative to ~ and an actual Antidote for ~ what America's Ruling Political Class will give them for choices in 2022 and 2024: To make ‘None Of These Candidates’ a mandatory choice on every ballot in every federal election held in the United States for Election2022 and Election2024.”
Like i commented yesterday to Your 2 August piece “Putting Warheads on Foreheads,” Bill:
“This whole string of indictments is nothing more than a multi-pronged desperate attempt by the Democrats to somehow make their boy Biden look “good” by making Trump look very, Very bad.
“And the fact that the two leading candidates to become the next President of the United States are Biden and Trump should alert every American old enough to think for themself that this nation is in serious, serious trouble. [An early indicator of that was back in 2016, when the best that America could come up with was the choice of Trump or Clinton.]
“And cause them to ask themself if the United States will survive to celebrate its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026: 1,066 days from today.
Phew Jeff, reading the 464-comments in that Reason magazine comment thread surely tells you there are a lot of very unreasonable people on both sides of the aisle who are half crazed.
This is scary shit my friend!
Is there any reason RFK Jr is being left out of the discussion by commentors here? Surely, it's not just Trump or Biden eh? I wonder what our fellow BV commentors think about Kennedy's chances? Is he really just the next Bernie Sanders?
Wadda yuh think? Will Americans vomit if Kennedy is the Democratic Party candidate you think?
I wouldn't. But RFK Jr. is being attacked and smeared by the DNC and its operatives. He harkens back to a different Democratic Party, one more in tune with workers and the idea of peace. Perish the thought!
It isn't necessary to read the comments on that article to know that there are a lot of "very unreasonable people" on both sides of the aisle all over America, Dennis. And whether or not they are "half-crazed" is impossible to determine based on the reading of a single comment to a single article.
And what do You realistically think are the chances of the Democrats making him their candidate? Do a Google search on "polls on RFK Jr vs Biden," and see what You come up with.
Heh. So, because You agree with 90% of Kennedy’s platform, Dennis, You think that the majority of Americans do as well, eh? At what point in Your career did You become an accurate barometer of what the majority of Americans believe. feel, and think about the issues?
And i’m curious: Which 10% of his platform do You disagree with? And I’m very curious as to what Your physician Daughters think about him. Particularly his stands on vaccinations, autism, COVID, and other health-related issues.
i think the DNC has already made it abundantly clear what it thinks about him and his platform.
And finally, my guess is that there are a lot of folks who feel like You do, but in reverse: That the "stupid" Democratic voters will vote for Kennedy over Biden in the primaries.
My guess is as good as yours my friend. I'm curious: at what point in your career did YOU become an accurate barometer of what the majority of Americans believe, feel, and think about the issues?
BTW, my two daughters disagree with Kennedy's stands on vaccinations, autism, and COVID. But agree with me that there are many of their colleagues in the medical profession who do not.
i don't claim to be a barometer of anything, Dennis.
Especially about what Americans ~ a majority or otherwise ~ believe, feel, or think about anything. Especially about the Issues ~ and more importantly ~ the Existential Crises confronting America.
And again: Which 10% of Kennedy's platform do You not agree with?
Catholic Democrats have been praying for a Kennedy since the real RFK went down in '68. Teddy knew better than to make a run for the Big Chair. So, now they've got This Year's Model. What's the old saw, "Be careful what you wish for"? Apart from the name, there's little if any "Classic Kennedy" about him. Hey: Maybe he's a deep cover operative for the GOP. He certainly sounds like one. Maybe he's short on cash. Or maybe he's the "every family's got one" member of the once mighty Clan Kennedy. As my Uncle George might've said, "He sounds like a guy who's tryin' to cash in on havin' never had to hit a lick in his life."
"Reason" magazine on-line comments certainly has a variety of views that's for sure. Plus you see several offers for making tons of money just sitting at your computer. (sarc)
If there was ever any doubt that the US president is a figurehead- a puppet for the directors of empire (deep state), Biden/Harris 2024 dispels that.
And if leftists can watch these indictments and feel more and more anger at Democrats, imagine how the 74.2 million Americans who voted for Trump in 2020 feel.
Democrats are scaring the shit out of me.
Good points!
Functionaries in both parties are scaring the shit out of me! I refuse to vote for either party if they vomit up Biden and Trump again.
Even if it ends up not being Biden vs Trump again, we can rest assured that whoever either party puts up as America's next choice, they will be vomit. At this point in the game, that apparently is all that our Ruling Duopoly is capable of doing.
What is amazing is that the Blue Team is so clueless as to why anyone would vote for Trump. Any rational person would know that a lot of Americans don't like the hyper-capitalist, worker-unfriendly, dog-eat-dog, can't get ahead world that has been foisted on them. But the Blue Team seems to believe their own lies about the great economy, lots of jobs, freedom and democracy, not to mention everyone loves to Bomb-The-World, so they have no idea other people don't see it that way.
It is going to be Trump vs. Biden again unless something miraculous intervenes. That is how depraved our so-called "freedom and democracy" have become.
It's gotta be TRUMP 2024.
Joe Biden is a walking corpse.
Anybody who thinks he can be the President for another 4-years needs their head examined. This is an old man who won't even be able to participate in a debate. Surely voting for him is voting for Kamala Harris to be the President. A woman who dropped out of the primaries!
i'm curious, Dennis.
You seem to be as enamored with RFK Jr as You are with Trump.
What exactly do the two of them have in common ~ particularly when it comes to Issues and proposed Solutions to the Problems [if not Crises] confronting America ~ that enables You to like them both the way You apparently do?
Anti-war
Biden (a sociopathic war monger) and his cabal of neocons are quite good at making totally wrongheaded decisions based on fundamentally flawed assumptions. Remember when they promised everyone an orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan and a handover to a fully functioning Afghan army, and that there would be no repeat of the Vietnam debacle with people hanging on to helicopters flying off the roof of the US embassy? Well, ok, in Afghanistan the location was slightly different--they were hanging on to helicopters taking off from the Kabul airport--but it was the same humiliating debacle. Great call Joe! Then, in 2022, it's quite clear that the nefarious cabal also assumed that, once draconian sanctions were applied against Russia for the war in Ukraine (after doing everything possible to provoke Russia for the previous 8+ years), the Russian economy would be totally wrecked and the country would collapse, thereby leading to the defeat of Russia and Putin's downfall. Looks like their assumptions did not work out quite that way, does it? One thing you can count on with Biden and his villainous cabal--they are clueless. Thus, their strategy to defeat Trump is likely to have the same outcome, no matter how much saliva is drooled on MSNBC and CNN in the coming months.
Some other politicians who have claimed their elections were stolen: Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Stacey Adams, ........ Plus of course much of the mainstream media and the Democratic Party spent 2 years trying to convince the American people that Clinton lost the 2016 election due to Russian interference, a charge that was found to be baseless. So was that a conspiracy? Oh well. It looks like they're getting back at Russia and have been for the better part of 2 years.
And of course the irony is that the latest charge against Trump is that he (falsely) claimed the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him. So what are the Democrats doing now? They are using the DOJ to rig the 2024 election. Which suggests that maybe Trump was right. We sure do live in bizarre times.
it is now a crime to argue with the gaslighting....
same as from covid repression!
the bill of rights ist kaput!
Hail Victory! (this sounds better in the original German) (sarc)
This is soooo true that I wish it could get to the Dems in charge those that still blame me for Hillary losing because I supported Bernie.
Happy Hiroshima Day 2023, America: The 78th anniversary of ~ with the exception of the United States’ refusal to offer refuge, asylum, and sanctuary to Jews and other “non-desirables” seeking to escape Hitler’s Holocaust ~ the biggest War Crime in World War II, if not all of human history.
And if You’re too busy or distracted to properly observe and reflect on what happened that day, You’ll get another chance on August 9, Nagasaki Day.
For an introduction to and overview of that biggest War Crime, see https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/us-government-turned-away-thousands-jewish-refugees-fearing-they-were-nazi-spies-180957324/ and https://www.history.com/news/wwii-jewish-refugee-ship-st-louis-1939 for starters.
Since the US arrested me to be deported home to CanaDa as an Alien in 1976, I have paid much closer attention to the unfolding leading Indicators in the US and the World.
Politics are a lot more dirty and cutthroat in the US Goliath, than they are in CanaDa, the small David next door.
It seems obvious to me the Republicans are investing more time and effort investigating Biden and Hunter for corruption, than accomplishing anything good for the American People and the World.
Why Politics can be so brutal is because whoever wins has control of the People's Big Pile Of Money, and can disperse it as it suits them.
Not that I'm justifying Biden's actions. He was the US Viceroy in Ukraine presiding over the 2014 US-CIA Coup/Regime Change of the Democratically Elected Russian friendly government, installing an un-elected anti-Russian government, setting this World on the Path to the WAR escalating, not de-escalating. Victoria Nuland on the ground in Ukraine and managing the Coup under Biden, was just promoted in the White House. Biden's National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, was the intermediary between Nuland and Biden in 2014.
If Biden and his Cabal win in 2024, what can be expected with those 2 being his Advisors?
Can the escalation be stopped before it's TOO LATE? Silence IS consent.
What moved me to write this comment was reading this, 'Opinion: Jared and Ivanka are slinking back to Gomorrah' from The Washington Post.
For those who don't subscribe to the Post, this post is longer than usual.
Why aren't Republicans investigating this family connected corruption under Donald Trump?
If only Ivanka Trump were as witty as Barbie. Instead, she and her Ken, Jared Kushner, somnambulate like renegades from the wax museum from one investment fund to the next. Preternaturally perfect and utterly lacking in affect, Javanka, as they’re called, make real dolls seem animated.
Do you suppose the naked pursuit of power and money makes people unhappy? Or, in their case, is it the killer company they keep?
Both spawns of excessive wealth and privilege, Ivanka and Jared are reason enough to cast Donald Trump into the outer darkness. Their presence in the White House from 2017 to 2021 was a frequent embarrassment, as they convinced themselves that their value amounted to more than the family name. For a while after the 2020 election, they distanced themselves from Trump, which meant we were all spared their spectral visages.
But those days are nigh gone, as the pair appears to be back in search of the family ring. (Run, Gollum, run.)
Trump could be doomed. Or not. With him, one never knows. It’s hard to gauge whether these latest charges will budge his supporters. I doubt it, since to be a Trump fan is to distrust everyone other than He Who Must Be Obeyed. Nor do supporters probably care that Jared and Ivanka took advantage of their White House status to enrich themselves.
Ivanka might be forgiven for her conflicted relationship with Trump. He’s Daddy, after all. But familial attachments do not — and did not — qualify her or Kushner to serve as senior advisers to the president of the United States. When Kushner was denied security clearance by career intelligence officers because of concerns about foreign influence, outside business interests and personal conduct, Trump overrode them.
As for Kushner’s credulity-straining role as impromptu diplomat to the Middle East, we can only wonder what other conversations took place as he persuaded leaders in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco to recognize Israel’s sovereignty and normalize relations among them. The Abraham Accords are widely viewed as a landmark development toward building relationships and mitigating tensions in the Persian Gulf region. But it is also increasingly clear that Kushner was simultaneously securing his own financial future via massive investments in his pop-up private equity firm, Affinity Partners, by many of the very same countries that signed the accords. Quelle coincidence.
Kushner’s biggest financial backer, however, was Saudi Arabia, which declined to sign the accords. This was of no consequence to Kushner, who was already pals with Mohammed bin Salman, commonly known as MBS, before joining the Trump White House. The two “princes,” both then in their 30s and eager to establish themselves on the international stage, reportedly bonded as only the born elite can.
Less than six months after leaving the White House, Kushner secured a $2 billion commitment from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which MBS controls, despite opposition from the fund’s board of directors because of Kushner’s lack of experience in private equity. Other countries followed suit, including signatories to the accords — the UAE, Qatar, Sudan and Morocco. Today, Affinity’s investment commitments have reached at least $3 billion, which is not a bad haul for a young adviser to a twice-impeached president who, recently arrested for the third time, faces several fresh indictments..........................................................................................................
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/08/04/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-corruption-return/
While I agree in principle that this appears to be shady - if there is/was anything illegal don’t you think it would have come out by now? The press hates Trump and anyone associated with him with a purple passion - something would have been leaked long ago. A bit of whataboutism - but it’s obvious that Trump wasn’t as pall’sy with J. Epstein as many in the press like to lead on - as if he were a frequent flier on the Lolita Express, it would have been on full blast 24/7/365 for years. The fact that Epstein’s little black book hasn’t been made public speaks volumes in this respect. Epstein’s partner in crime is in federal prison for basically mass underage human trafficking - but apparently there were no clients? Point being - they can investigate Trump ad nauseam and find any kernel of wrongdoing - as they would with Kushner no doubt….but one of the biggest political scandals in history involving underage girls and they can find one name or individual to put up against the wall. And of course, Epstein didn’t really kill himself. Fascinating.
The only space with complete privacy in the USA was Epstein's cell. No cameras that worked, no guards with eyes and ears, nothing.
I'm sure it was all a coincidence!
ON THE REAL MEANING OF MAGA
Note: Anyone who is in the least surprised by anything that has happened over these past seven plus years since the dawn of THE AGE OF TRUMP obviously missed this interview with then-President-Elect Trump by al-Jazeera, back shortly after 11/9.
President-Elect Trump On "Making America Great Again" [from the al-Jazeera Interview, late-November, 2016]
~ 1. What, exactly, do You mean, Mr Trump, actually, really mean by "Great"?
~ 2. When, exactly, did America become "Great"?
~ 3. Exactly How and Why did it become "Great"?
~ 4. When, exactly, did America stop being "Great"?
~ 5. Exactly How and Why did it stop being "Great"?
~ 6. How, exactly, will the American people and the world know that America is "Great Again"?
~ 7. And What, exactly, will a "Great Again America" actually, really Be, for Americans; and for the world?
When posed these questions during a recent exclusive interview with a reporter from al-Jazeera [the Muslim-owned and -operated, Doha, Qatar-based, global news network], President-Elect Trump responded as follows:
TRUMP: "'What is... ?' 'When did...?' 'How did... ?'; Jeeezus... . That has to qualify as one of the, if not the, lamest... no, make that the stupidest and most irrelevant set of questions any soon-to-be-ex-reporter has ever asked the next President of the United States. Ever.
"Anybody who could even think up such a dumb bunch of questions like that wouldn't, because they couldn't, understand my answer, anyway. But, because I like Muslims..., no..., I really do. Because I like you folks, I'll try and answer you.
"The question is not what 'Great' is; or when America got or stopped being 'Great'; or even what it will be like when it's 'Great Again.' Americans, real Americans i mean, don't care about all that stuff. And neither should you Muslims, or anybody else in the world. The real question is, 'When will America be Great Again?'
"Because, mark my podium-pounding words: It WILL Be. And that's so easy to answer that even you folks might understand it.
"America will be Great Again when I am President. When I am President, America will be Great Again because I, its President, am Great. Is that clear? Now, you may ask: 'How do I know that?'
"I know that because I always have been, am now, and will always be Great. And further, because everything I have ever done, am doing, and always will do has always been, is now, and always will be Great. And finally, because anything and everybody, and anybody and everything that has ever had, now has, or ever will ever have anything to do with me has always been, now is, and always will be Great, as well.
"For example, my empire of skyscrapers, golf courses, super-malls and condos, strip malls and slum flats; my casinos, University, and donations to veterans; my trophy wives; and, of course, my reality-tv shows [in one of which You are a role-playing, bit-extra right now, even as we speak]. Hell... come to think of it, even my bankruptcies have been, are, and will be great; especially for the stiffs.... heh.... .
"All Great. All Great, just like me. And do you want to know Why they were, are, and will be Great? Because they are mine. All mine. I made them; I created them. All of them. All in my own image. And That's exactly why they're Great.
"And when I move my corporate headquarters from the Trump Towers down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ['and the White House up to New York ~ or over to Mar-a-Lago ~ for the weekends,' he added, parenthetically], America will be Great Again. Because it will be mine. To create, or in this case, re-create in my own image.
"Does that answer your question?"
AL-JAZEERA: "Almost. Can you give us at least some examples of what America will be like when it is 'Great Again'"?
TRUMP: "Sure. When America is Great Again, anybody that I, The President, don't like or don't want in my country will either be thrown out, or won't be allowed to get in here in the first place. Sort of like Obama killing anybody he doesn't like with drones; or Bush torturing anybody who crossed him. Only better because truly preemptive, and much less costly, in both blood or treasure.
"When America is Great Again, all our financial, fiscal, monetary, and budgetary problems will be over after I screw all those losers who have bought, paid for, and invested in our nation's public debts at all levels: federal, state, and local. I have lots of real-world ~ and not just some Harvard Business School jerk-..., classroom ~ experience with that sort of thing, and know how to 'Get 'er Done,' as they say in the parlance.
"When America is Great Again, all them punks in Beijing, Bonn, Brussels, and Basel, and Elsewhere, and all them prevert Muslim jihadist terrorists and their mullahs, ayatollahs, and sheikhs of Arabi, and anybody else with an attitude, will come face-to-face with the reality that you don't fu~..., mess with The Donald. Or His country. Or his embassies or flag. Anywhere. Anytime. For any reason.
"When America is Great Again, we will put OurSelves, the U S of A, Number One again, and get rid of all those bull~..., bullshit rules and regulations that say that and what we can and can't do to whatever we want to do to the land, the water, and the air, anywhere, anytime. Or for that matter, to people, too.
We may only be, what is it, 4 percent of the world's population; but, as Great Again Americans, we need, want, demand, and, by God, have and will take our God-given Right to consume more than just our fair share of, what is it, 20 percent of the world's resources, or to create 25 or 30 percent of its garbage and pollution.
"You'll know that America is Great Again when I build a 3-hole golf course on the White House grounds, and open it up to the public, for a modest greens fee, of course. The plan is to have it ready to go in time for spring, when the weather breaks. I'm also exploring putting in an 18-hole PGA Championship course and lodge out at Camp David.
"Does that help you any?"
AL-JAZEERA: "It certainly does, Mr Trump. One other follow-up question before moving on to our other subjects: How soon do you think it will be before you're on Mount Rushmore?"
TRUMP: "How'd you know about that? ... Well, the plan is to unveil it just in time for my re-election Inaugural Ball in 2021."
AL-JAZEERA: "Ahhhh. Thank you, Mr Trump. Now..., what about Russia?"
###
Biden must step down and more democrats need to throw their hat in the ting. The best candidate will resonate during the primaries. Coalitions will form helping major candidate to attract more votes than he/she needs to convince voters they are the better choice over the Republican candidate or Cornel West.
Assuming there is an election in 2024, i believe that the best option for any American who is fed the hell up with all this bullshit was detailed in the April 10, 2022 BV piece “Reforming America's Elections the NOTC Way” that presented the argument that:
“’None Of These Candidates’ should be on every ballot of every federal election, and proposes a nation-wide campaign to give the American Voters a real Alternative to ~ and an actual Antidote for ~ what America's Ruling Political Class will give them for choices in 2022 and 2024: To make ‘None Of These Candidates’ a mandatory choice on every ballot in every federal election held in the United States for Election2022 and Election2024.”
See https://bracingviews.substack.com/p/reforming-americas-elections-the-notc-way for details.
Like i commented yesterday to Your 2 August piece “Putting Warheads on Foreheads,” Bill:
“This whole string of indictments is nothing more than a multi-pronged desperate attempt by the Democrats to somehow make their boy Biden look “good” by making Trump look very, Very bad.
“And the fact that the two leading candidates to become the next President of the United States are Biden and Trump should alert every American old enough to think for themself that this nation is in serious, serious trouble. [An early indicator of that was back in 2016, when the best that America could come up with was the choice of Trump or Clinton.]
“And cause them to ask themself if the United States will survive to celebrate its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026: 1,066 days from today.
“For a different perspective on this whole Goat Rope, see Reason magazine's Elizabeth Nolan's August 2 piece IS TRUMP'S LATEST INDICTMENT ABOUT DEFENDING DEMOCRACY OR ATTACKING FREE SPEECH? at https://reason.com/2023/08/02/is-trumps-latest-indictment-about-defending-democracy-or-attacking-free-speech/ .”
Phew Jeff, reading the 464-comments in that Reason magazine comment thread surely tells you there are a lot of very unreasonable people on both sides of the aisle who are half crazed.
This is scary shit my friend!
Is there any reason RFK Jr is being left out of the discussion by commentors here? Surely, it's not just Trump or Biden eh? I wonder what our fellow BV commentors think about Kennedy's chances? Is he really just the next Bernie Sanders?
Wadda yuh think? Will Americans vomit if Kennedy is the Democratic Party candidate you think?
I wouldn't. But RFK Jr. is being attacked and smeared by the DNC and its operatives. He harkens back to a different Democratic Party, one more in tune with workers and the idea of peace. Perish the thought!
It isn't necessary to read the comments on that article to know that there are a lot of "very unreasonable people" on both sides of the aisle all over America, Dennis. And whether or not they are "half-crazed" is impossible to determine based on the reading of a single comment to a single article.
And what do You realistically think are the chances of the Democrats making him their candidate? Do a Google search on "polls on RFK Jr vs Biden," and see what You come up with.
And while You're at it, check out the following Wiki articles about him, his career, and his positions on a number of important issues; and then You tell me if the Democrats will even consider him as a candidate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr._2024_presidential_campaign and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr.#Political_views .
If You read those two pieces, my guess is that You will learn a great deal about Mr Kennedy that You are not aware of at this time.
Jeff,
Are you saying that Kennedy's platform is anathema to the majority of Americans?
I don't think it is. I agree with 90% of it.
Or are you saying his platform is anathema to the DNC and Democratic Party -and they will prevent him from being their candidate?
Or that the stupid Democratic voters will vote for Biden over RFK jr in the primaries?
Heh. So, because You agree with 90% of Kennedy’s platform, Dennis, You think that the majority of Americans do as well, eh? At what point in Your career did You become an accurate barometer of what the majority of Americans believe. feel, and think about the issues?
And i’m curious: Which 10% of his platform do You disagree with? And I’m very curious as to what Your physician Daughters think about him. Particularly his stands on vaccinations, autism, COVID, and other health-related issues.
i think the DNC has already made it abundantly clear what it thinks about him and his platform.
And finally, my guess is that there are a lot of folks who feel like You do, but in reverse: That the "stupid" Democratic voters will vote for Kennedy over Biden in the primaries.
My guess is as good as yours my friend. I'm curious: at what point in your career did YOU become an accurate barometer of what the majority of Americans believe, feel, and think about the issues?
BTW, my two daughters disagree with Kennedy's stands on vaccinations, autism, and COVID. But agree with me that there are many of their colleagues in the medical profession who do not.
i don't claim to be a barometer of anything, Dennis.
Especially about what Americans ~ a majority or otherwise ~ believe, feel, or think about anything. Especially about the Issues ~ and more importantly ~ the Existential Crises confronting America.
And again: Which 10% of Kennedy's platform do You not agree with?
Catholic Democrats have been praying for a Kennedy since the real RFK went down in '68. Teddy knew better than to make a run for the Big Chair. So, now they've got This Year's Model. What's the old saw, "Be careful what you wish for"? Apart from the name, there's little if any "Classic Kennedy" about him. Hey: Maybe he's a deep cover operative for the GOP. He certainly sounds like one. Maybe he's short on cash. Or maybe he's the "every family's got one" member of the once mighty Clan Kennedy. As my Uncle George might've said, "He sounds like a guy who's tryin' to cash in on havin' never had to hit a lick in his life."
"Reason" magazine on-line comments certainly has a variety of views that's for sure. Plus you see several offers for making tons of money just sitting at your computer. (sarc)