LAST FRIDAY, on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington, a Trump supporter shot a Trump opponent. The (non-fatal) shooting took place during a violent protest against the presence of Milo Yiannopoulos – the tech editor of Breitbart News. Violence erupted after Yiannopoulos’s opponents formed a picket-line and physically obstructed the Alt-Right commentator’s followers from entering the auditorium where he was speaking.
In a nation where “the right to bear arms” is constitutionally protected, it can only be a matter of time before such clashes escalate into a ferocious firefight – and fatalities.
What happens then is all-too-easy to predict. President Trump will denounce his political opponents as enemies of free speech and democracy. Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies will crack down hard on anti-Trump agitation. More ominously, the President’s most vociferous supporters will militarise themselves into special protection squads. Presented to the American public as “self-defence” organisations, the actual purpose of these goon squads will be to intimidate and/or terrorise progressive individuals and groups into silence.
Thus will President Trump pay homage to his mentor Vladimir Putin – whose use of “patriotic” organisations (often comprising a hard core of former soldiers and secret policemen) to shut down his political opponents is well documented. The appearance on American streets of an aggressive political militia will be the strongest proof yet that the United States has fallen under the sway of a fascist regime.
The arrival of these political thugs will force Trump’s opponents to make a choice. Either: fall quietly into line with the new realities of American political life. Or: put your own personal safety (not-to-mention the safety of your friends and family) at risk by continuing to speak out against the policies of the Trump Administration.
This choice will likely be an urgent one for members of the journalistic profession. If the Putin comparison holds true, it will not be long before at least one reporter, columnist or blogger pays the ultimate price for exposing the sins of Trump and his supporters.
If fearless journalism leads directly to murder, as is currently the case in the Russian Federation, America’s editors will feel torn between the duty-of-care they owe to their employees, and their democratic duty to defend freedom of expression. Their decision-making will, almost certainly, be simplified by their publishers, America’s huge media corporations, making it clear that the shareholders’ dividends (and the CEO’s bonuses!) are not to be jeopardised by Quixotic editors sanctioning crusades to rescue the First Amendment.
With the consequences of opposition clearly evident to the by-now-thoroughly-cowed news media, Trump’s people will invite the Fox News Network to assume the role played by the state-owned broadcasters of the Russian Federation. Fox will receive the Administration-approved editorial line on matters political and cultural, and all the other mainstream media organisations will be expected to follow its lead.
The quiescence of the American working-class during any such period of political co-ordination will likely be secured by the Trump Administration’s skilful co-optation of the American trade unions. Already, Trump has received praise from the leader of the US trade union movement, AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, for nixing the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Trumka hailed the President’s actions as “just the first in a series of necessary policy changes required to build a fair and just global economy.”
Further union backing is to be anticipated as Trump ramps up his “American jobs for American workers” infrastructure programme. Few union leaders – and especially not the leaders of the steelworkers, auto and construction unions – will be willing to kill Trump’s golden, job-creating goose by standing in solidarity with the environmentalist and Native American opponents of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines – both of which were restarted today (25/1/17) by Executive Order.
As anyone familiar with the last 50 years of American political history will attest, any eruption of American fascism was certain to feature an angry, white, working-class complexion. Ever since 1968, when all those furious blue-collar “Hard-Hats” marched off their New York construction sites to beat up defenceless anti-war student protesters, a cross-class alliance of White Christian Americans exposed itself as the most likely vector of American fascism. Nixon recognised it. Reagan primed it. Trump has set it in motion.
It sounded like a plausible scenario until I read this:
‘Thus will President Trump pay homage to his mentor Vladimir Putin’, at which I stopped reading.
Because he will actually be just be paying homage to the way autocratic morality-free zones like Trump’s Organization operate, because there is nothing wrong with paying homage to a great leader like Putin, or because Putin would never do the kinds of things Chris is painting as a potential future path for the new American President?
Or was it just to put your fingers in your ears and go :”Lalalalalaland”?
Afewknowtetruth: “…President Trump pay homage to his mentor Vladimir Putin’, at which I stopped reading.”
Hahaha…. yes, me too. Oh, enough already of the “evil Putin” schtick, commentators of the Left! Instead of uncritical repetition of the neocon line, how about you remember that Russia is a democracy, and has been since the fall of Communism. Then go read something other than Washington propaganda about what’s happening in that part of the world, what happened there in the 1990s, and why Putin came to prominence. Then come back and comment when you’re much better-informed. We the readers will benefit as well.
Looking beyond “Washington propaganda”, I checked Al Jazeera which ran this story about the March 2012 elections in Russia;
ref: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/03/201234174822513879.html
So, D’Esterre. I do not share your heightened enthusiasm for Putin and the election that returned him to power. There is ample doubt as to how honest and fair the Russian elections actually were, especially as journalists and political opponants have been physically attacked and many killed.
There is more I could find on the disputed Russian election, but I think you get the message.
Frank Macskasy: Best not to rely on Al Jazeera as a commentator of record. Remember where it is based and who funds it. Note also that the results of the 2012 election still stand.
Russia is a democracy; in many respects it is a much more vigorous and open democracy than ours; you’d know this, were it the case that you could watch Russian-language TV. Which is why we know about the dissent there that is inevitable in any democracy. Witness what’s going on in the US right now: plenty of dissent there too! And we’re also hearing about it.
“…especially as journalists and political opponants have been physically attacked and many killed.”
If this were indeed a tactic to silence dissent, it’s been spectacularly unsuccessful, hasn’t it!
This is possibly a reference to the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, although that was considerably before the 2012 election. Her killers were later convicted and sentenced to lengthy spells in the jug.
In case you don’t know, the people convicted of her murder were all Chechens, I believe. She’d been working there, I think, or at least working on Chechen issues. She’d made enemies, in a culture where insults are traditionally answered by murder. A bunch of Chechens organised the murder, actual triggerman was a Russian ex-cop moonlighting as a contract murderer.
Political opponents have tried to pin on the Kremlin the blame for ordering her murder; that doesn’t make sense, though. At the time, Putin pointed out that her death did much more damage to the Russian government than her work could ever do. There was no percentage in the Kremlin getting involved: Occam’s razor says that those who were convicted planned and carried out the crime all by themselves.
The Chechen conflict was an early example of jihad and jihadi terrorism, though it was not reported as such here, as far as I recall. It was a very complex and violent conflict; it’d be worth your while reading up on it. Though finding an impartial account might be a bit of an enterprise; best to avoid AJ and mainstream US media. There may well be some academic work available online by now.
D’esterre, aren’t you one of the Islamophobes who expressed prejudice against mulsim women who chose to wear the burkha? No wonder you’re a fan of Il Duce Trump, he expresses your bigotry with chilling effect.
You’re indeed correct, Theodore. D’esterre is noted for her hatred of all things muslim.
Trumka’s position is where any national union centre will likely end up if it embraces class collaborationist ideology rather than a class struggle ideology
“I met a traveller from an antique political land….”
The fucken cards have been dealt for it for sure. The acid test for trump is when he starts paying off debt which could go good or bad for peace
I can see it all happening……
It happened here in NZ, once upon a time. Remember “Massey’s Cossacks” https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/black-tuesday/the-1912-waihi-strike
Good point Priss.
It’s nothing new ..
As for the ultra – right.
Remember .. ‘ One Law for all ‘ … ‘ Maori Privilege ‘ .
How it had tapped into … ‘ The Silent Majority ‘
It’s all happened here.
Yet the silence here was deafening when Hillary Clinton/Democrats organised violent protests at Trump rallies. I guess it’s ok when the left does it?
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/10/jamesokeefeiiis-project-veritas-proven-right-by-cnn-video/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-10-17/caught-tape-clinton-funded-democrat-operatives-inciting-anarchy-trump-rallies
So you don’t support the right of citizens to protest, Nitrium? What do you say to those thousands of people who protested the TPP from Day 1?
And why the continuing, ongoing reference to Hillary Clinton? Can’t you validate Trump without pointing to someone else?
If the only way to support your favourite demagogue is by comparison to someone else, then he has nothing of value. The man is an empty shell, a caricature. And you’ve bought into it, lock stock & barrel!
Protesting is one thing, inciting violence is something entirely different. Don’t you think “our” side should be held to the same standards (i.e. why is it “fascist” when Trump supporters do it but glossed over when Hillary did it)?
What does Hillary have to do with the protestors, Nitrium? Did she organise and lead them?
Thus far, as others have pointed out, Trump supporters seem to invoke Hillary Clinton as some kind of People’s Scapegoat, as if she is required to validate Trump’s ascendency.
I’m reminded of “Goldstein” in Orwell’s 1984 – a mythical “people’s enemy of the state” needed by Big Brother as a focus for hate. Someone in the Establishment has taken that onboard very well by demonising Clinton.
I wonder how they would have demonised Bernie Sanders? An agent of Nth Korea? Links to the Illuminati? God only knows.
‘ I wonder how they would have demonised Bernie Sanders? An agent of Nth Korea? Links to the Illuminati? God only knows.’
————————————————————-
The Republicans would have awarded Sanders a different treatment ,… he would have received the old McCarthy era JFK label ‘ soft on Communism’ line.
Then out would have come all the lines about the USA’s dwindling influence around the glove, a shrinking military etc etc , … Americas failing to hold its end of the bargain with the U.N and NATO ,… USA’s interests being compromised …
Sanders probably would have been the best choice for all concerned… but the Dems chose Clinton… and it backfired monumentally. And not just for her .
And in some ways – has thrust not just the USA but world politics into a long needed reevaluation of clandestine globalist self interests… and that … if anything , is the lesson to be learned here.
I suspect you’re correct on that assessment, Katipo. The old “soft on communism/terrorism” fear, dangled in front of a gullible electorate.
We are fortunate so lone-wolf butter has committed an act of violence in the name of ISIS here in New Zealand. Key would have made a meal out of it by now, and we’d have a massive surveillance state worse than what we have now. All with manufactured consent by a fearful populace.
I agree, my choice was for Sanders as well.
As for Clinton, the more I read about her “failings”, the more my skepticism is aroused that a massive “con-job” has been created to smear her. That may not be a popular thought amongst many (especially by what I view increasingly as an “alt.Left”), but my suspicions are aroused when many of the charges are unsubtantiated; patently absurd, and seem to emanate from alt.Right and neo-con websites.
More research required…
https://www.democracynow.org/2016/12/27/headlines/obama_signs_defense_bill_establishing_anti_propaganda_center The Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act is pumping a lot of fake news into the public domain and keeping afloat spin doctors that should have gone belly up but aren’t. Just thought I’d leave this here for you.
“What does Hillary have to do with the protestors, Nitrium? Did she organise and lead them?”
What does Trump have to do with the protesters Frank? Did he organise and lead them?
See, you can’t have a double standard for this stuff. Trotter calls out Trump supporters for doing what they think is their leader’s bidding (their is no video AFAIK that Trump is literally calling out for violent action), but remained utterly silent when Hillary supporters did the same sort of things.
Madonna said she wanted to bomb the Whitehouse. Is that ok, because it’s a voice from the left? Where is TDB outrage citing, say, Stalinism coming from the left? It comes across as hypocritical.
So,Nitrium, where do you stand on Trump’s declared intention to return to waterboarding and forced rendition to black bases? Because Trump has stated he intends to pursue those policies.
Forget what any one else says on this. Trump is wrong. Torture or what ever the fuck PC nerds want to call it, works for the same reasons the court system works
Investigate
Prosecute
Sentence
When you investigate all suspects with torture they will assassinate you. So trump is wrong. The presumption of innocence is fundamental to any legal fraternity or it turns into a complete farce and no one has ever defended stupid successfully in all of history, because there ideas die with them.
The u,s.a govt or cia is still doing kidknapping and much much worse torture than water-boarding …..
They get proxies to do it …… towards the end of this Doco you get some info on the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN4Sn5u_pK0
Hillary is a war criminal regarding Libya in particular and Wikileaks shows her pushing for war ….. which she got to the great expense and many deaths of Blacks, women, families and people of Libya.
” Clinton knew the claims about Qaddafi issuing Viagra to troops for rapes were bogus.
But, perhaps, the most troubling revelation is that Secretary Clinton was being explicitly told that the Libyan rebel forces were conducting racially charged massacres of black Africans under the rationale of labeling them “foreign mercenaries.”..
http://www.obv.org.uk/news-blogs/black-genocide-libya-why-silence
Libya is a war torn failed state now infested with Isis now ….
This is what it was like pre- clinton, Obamas war for freedom campaign ….
“Women in Libya are free to work and to dress as they like, subject to family constraints. Life expectancy is in the seventies. And per capita income—while not as high as could be expected given Libya’s oil wealth and relatively small population of 6.5m—is estimated at $12,000 (£9,000), according to the World Bank. Illiteracy has been almost wiped out, as has homelessness—a chronic problem in the pre-Gaddafi era, …..”
http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/08/31/the-top-ten-myths-in-the-war-against-libya/
All gone now ….
Trump is a rich narcissist for whom I have very low expectations
Hillary is a proven war criminal with blood all over her …
…. And did I mention the fascists/nazis who Hillary and the usa support in the Ukraine …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-RyOaFwcEw
Real nazis …. shoot, strangle, burn, kill type nazis.
Not donald trump type wankers ….. real nazis.
Hillary don’t care who dies …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8veOzd39VWI
A few idiots turned violent, hundreds of thousands, millions of people marched all around the world the NEXT day, peacefully.
go usa and hillary
http://theantimedia.org/emails-prove-hillary-knew-libyan-rebels-were-conducting-ethnic-cleansing-supported-them-anyway/
https://levantreport.com/2016/01/04/new-hillary-emails-reveal-propaganda-executions-coveting-libyan-oil-and-gold/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmYZ_kWHk3Q
Still banging on about Clinton, Nitrium?
You remind me of the Nats continually blaming the previous Labour government when their policies fail to deliver promised results.
Tell us, as an apologist for Trump, when will your man-in-the-white-house take responsibility for his actions, words, and policies? Any time soon?
Not at all. This is about continuous Trump bashing but forgetting to look in the mirror.
I disagree, Nitrium.
It is not “Trump bashing” when he targets minorities, muslims, and treats women like flesh. It is not Trump bashing that he has appointed Republicans, far-right wingers, neo-cons, business tycoons, et al, to his cabinet.
It is not Trump bashing that he denies climate change and has authorised two new pipelines.
Neither is is Trump bashing that he has canned funding for NGOs that offer information to women in other nations about abortions and contraceptions – meaning an inevitable rise in unwanted pregnancies.
It is not Trump bashing that he intends a massive escalation to build up the US military (whilst freezing other Federal hiring of staff) anmd at the same time provoking China.
So far this has been a very right-wing government. His utterances, appointments, and executive orders all point to the inescapable conclusion that Trump’s cloak of being an “anti-establishment rogue” is a charade and has successfully hoodwinked many into supporting him.
I have blogged against Key and his right-wing, neo-liberal government since July 2011. I see no reason to treat Trump and his right-wing regime any differently.
In fact, more than ever, I believe that the One Percent oligarchy that has ruled the US since Day One is as strong as ever and have taken a whole new approach to governing.
Next step; tax cuts for the rich and cuts to Federal social services.
I’ve seen it all before here in New Zealand with our own very popular “smiling assassin”.
Remember how populist he was?
The shame of it is that the DNC is incapable of looking in the mirror.
After 4 years of being traumatised by Trump I’m sure the DNC will convince the voters to turn out and vote for Hillary or Cory Booker whoever the Coprates want, and Americans will find themselves back to square one, just even worse.
Since the early 1980’s the policy of the U.S has been to enforce a unipolar hegemony over the rest of the world.In particular, Russia has been seen to be the only country to be capable of being an impediment to this realisation.Any countries that could conceivably be allies of Russia have received violent attacks from the U.S and Nato allies.ie Serbia,Syria, and Iran.Countries showing an independence have been vilified or physically attacked, or both.ie Iraq,Afghanistan ,Libya,and China.In this context we have unverified information about Russian hacking,Russian doping,and Russian interference in the U.S election put about by the usual suspects.The credulous like Chris trotter don’t get it.
I find you are turning into a political chameleon , Chris…
A) ( ” With the consequences of opposition clearly evident to the by-now-thoroughly-cowed news media, Trump’s people will invite the Fox News Network to assume the role played by the state-owned broadcasters of the Russian Federation.” )
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* Was it not you , and others like Martyn that fed us a constant diet of railing against and bemoaning a biased global MSM that guarded and protected the likes of John Key and other global elites , and that the amalgamation in NZ of our media which would ensure a wall to wall propaganda machine for not only the National party,… but more importantly larger economy’s and those global elites that ensured working people simply became chattels… for as we know… one powerful advantage capital has over labour in a globalized , free market is that labour lacks the ability to be mobile as does capital… and is the very strength of neo liberalism itself.
Hence the neo liberals lust for free trade deals. So much easier to electronically move money around than it is for workers to relocate. Hence an easy way to drive wages down.
You seem to support this process, Chris…
———————————————————————————
B ) ( ‘ Trump Administration’s skilful co-optation of the American trade unions. Already, Trump has received praise from the leader of the US trade union movement, AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, for nixing the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Trumka hailed the President’s actions as “just the first in a series of necessary policy changes required to build a fair and just global economy.”
Further union backing is to be anticipated as Trump ramps up his “American jobs for American workers” infrastructure programme. ‘ )
———————————————————————————
* I’m reminded of the lyrics of Billy Bragg … ” which side are you on boys, which side are you on ” … lyrics that YOU yourself included in one of your posts … in fact basing one of your whole articles on those very words.
There is a peculiar and obvious double standard emerging with many of your and other Liberal Progressives posts around the world as of late , … which is product of the schism created by the very movements you once supported – yet now use as a weapon and tool to lambaste those same movements – to support the very things you once decried…
Your historical references to the 1913 Great Strike and Massey’s Cossack’s and the opinion you held of NZ always being a society in deference to authority… where the govt of the day deputized farmers to migrate to the city’s on horseback and use physical force against striking urban workers…
It was used in context to the treatment of workers – particularly if I recall in regards to the recent Talley’s strike… and then was extrapolated to the larger issues of neo liberal hegemony against workers worldwide…
NOW , … however … we find you creating an emotive little scenario ( particularly with reference in harking back to the days of your youth in invoking the heady days of the protest / civil rights movement over the Vietnam war… ) … whereby unions are now NOT the oppressed , nor the vulnerable – , but the willing and self interested thugs and uneducated , unthinking masses ready at moments notice to take to the streets reminiscent of Hitlers Brownshirts…
Are you ,… no more than a mercenary political animal yourself, Chris Trotter?
Are you , – and other Progressives ,- guilty as charged in using the poor, the unions , the homeless , … as nothing more than pawns to further your own political agenda?
Is that not the charge that is being brought against the sheer impotence , the hypocrisy , the double standards of the Progressive Left and Global Media currently as we speak ?
Is it not for all these reasons and more that worldwide there have been mass movements of the populations , – tired of the glaring lies, deceit and propaganda of globalist self interest and manipulations – tired of the globalists deceitfulness in using those parading all the trappings in word of claiming to be ‘ Left’ or ‘ Progressive ‘ – and yet were nothing more than the opposite wing of the same globalist agenda ?
Those Blairites who rushed to war to massacre millions whilst under the guise of being a ‘ Left’ Labour govt , – acting in full approval and in willing tandem with an American President from the ‘ supposed ‘ exact opposite end of the political spectrum…
Murder and war and killing is the same , Chris Trotter ,- and it observes NO flags.
And you conveniently forget … this current President has committed and is responsible for no mass war crimes , has cut off the very conduit ( by defeating Clinton and the Clinton Foundation ) for access to and supply of American arms to ISIS – the very group Obama’s administration claimed they were ‘ fighting’ to bring back a state of ‘democracy’ in the middle east…
No Chris,… the establishment is in a rage over Trump.
They have lost a lucrative business when Trump won. The largest arms deal in history worth over $80 billion and responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands has been cut off and severed.
I take aim also at those emotive anti – Trump organizers as well . Do they secretly like blood?
AND DO they like that blood in container loads , to be emptied onto the streets of the world , indiscriminate of which streets so long as not their own ?
… Do they support the neo cons now , … with their vast war machine and their vast profits? … or did they always do so surreptitiously and that nothing has changed at all concerning them barring the mask they present to the world to always be on the side of globalist machinations ?
Are these anti Trump demonstrators comfortable with all these facts and willing to admit that all their beliefs have been nothing more than a hypocritical ruse and agenda using the poor, the unions and the homeless as their convenient weapons ?
Yet painting themselves still that they are the ‘ caring ‘ people of the ‘ Left’ ?… and of the world ? … the voices of reason and compassion ???
That they now turn full circle against the very people , – organisations they once claimed they supported – to rally around the globalists paid for and financially backed anti Trump campaign ?
It is no wonder Brexit occurred. It is no wonder that Trump won the election.
And it is no wonder the ‘ Progressive Left ‘ … in this country fails so badly. It is said that NZ is traditionally behind the rest of the world by 20 or so years – despite the advent of modern communications.
If that is so it goes a long way to explain the kind of social and economic conditions the poor experience currently in this country , – and the reasons for it – and it also goes a long way in predicting both the future and demise of these same sets of self interested globalists both on the ‘ Right ‘ and on the ‘ Left’ in this country and their futures…
Katipo, you do realise Trump has stated he intends to spend billions on re-arming the US military? According to one report;
Ref: http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/06/politics/donald-trump-defense-spending-sequester/
So I’m not sure where you get the notion that Trump has cut military spending. He has not. He intends to increase it.
Interestingly, one of Trump’s recent Executive Order was a freeze on hiring any new Federal workers except for the military;
ref:http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/01/23/trump-executive-order-freezes-federal-employee-hiring-except-for-the-military/
Make no mistake, this is a military build-up, and it will provoke a new arms race between the super-powers. And deliver massive profits to the arms industry.
Indeed he has pledged to increase military spending .You are right.
It is not a massive military build up designed for any pre emptive strike . However,… much of that would also incorporate the sheer size of the American military – and the colossal amounts needed just for its maintenance.
I’m not sure if you have misquoted or taken out of context something I said about the $80 billion arms deal.
The $80 billion arms deal I was referring to was the same deal mentioned in the John Pilger interview with Julian Assange .
It was in that interview that the Wikileaks founder stated that among the volume of e mails intercepted was one in particular that demonstrated that the govts of Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Qatar in particular were channeling vast amounts of finance through the Clinton Foundation and purchasing arms from American arms manufacturers to which these purchased arms were then redistributed back into the hands of ISIS.
Here is the link to that interview and is one of the most damning pieces of evidence against the Clinton’s and the Clinton Foundation – no matter how one tries to paint it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9xbokQO4M0
( short version – just over 2 minutes )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sbT3_9dJY4
( Long version – full interview )
* I would also like to clarify something. My political views are shaped by those who at least attempt to try to remain honest and without guile and do the right thing for humanity out of a genuine respect and set of values. For all races and country’s and peoples.
That is not always possible in politics. Sometimes immense pressures and painful decisions have to be made unfortunately that can force a political leaders hand , within and without the system – often to the personal disappointment of that leader.
We all get that.
However , there is a vast difference between the above , .. and leaders who actively and intentionally deceive the voters in what they really stand for, …leaders who indulge in clandestine political deals that impoverish either their own nationals ( local example : John Key ) or those of other country’s – right through to deliberately engaging in activity’s that are layered under secrecy that ultimately lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent men , women and children.
Hilary Clinton falls into the last category. As does Obama and the Washington political establishment / military industrial complex . I have already demonstrated that in another recent post in TDB.
And though someone may claim they are Left or Right or somewhere in between – if they are indulging in that type of activity they deserve to be outed.
It doesn’t matter who does it.
Wrong is wrong.
I’m not enjoying this – I don’t enjoy seeing this sort of hypocrisy , – its dispiriting. Its even more dispiriting to have to go against voices who have expressed the values I also accept and I have a lot of respect for . Both on TDB and The Standard.
But blowed if I’m just going to be a herd animal and blindly follow along just because someone says they are one thing while at the same time ignoring the gross and murderous hypocrisy such as Clinton was involved in.
Or because she was a Democrat.
Who knows ?… when Trump has racked up the same sort of serious offending as Clinton , Obama, Albright , Blair , Bush junior and Bush Senior , Kissinger and a whole long list of others Ill have a crack at Trump as well.
For sure there is trillions of upwards flow into the stock markets and I question Trumps honesty around wages. A vital component of wages will come from Trumps infrastructure spend. But the animal spirits have been reinvigorated. I fail to understand in this light why New Zealand is advertising itself as a bolt hole for American business men when short term business trends have never looked better. I question the pundits who made, and when they made this forecast the mythical pitchforks. If Trump fails to pass his first budget or is delayed in any way preventing infrastructure spends then soldiers will go where trade stops flowing but not before.
‘ Make no mistake, this is a military build-up, and it will provoke a new arms race between the super-powers. And deliver massive profits to the arms industry.’
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* Interesting as it would seem Trump and Putin seem to be working towards a closer relationship.
* Trump has also indicated the possibility of withdrawing from the U. N – and by default also NATO.
* If that happened then funding and supply of troops and logistics to NATO to perform war games in an intimidating fashion on Russia’s doorstep would be cut – by which NATO would then lose a considerable amount of its ‘ teeth ‘ to do so…. which is exactly what Trump promised in the election campaign – much to the chagrin of country’s in Europe and like Japan… that ‘ these country’s would now have to put more back into their own defense’…
* So that cancels out war with Russia … so who’s left?… China. And Trump has indicated economic measures in that quarter – not military ones. He has railed against China’s currency manipulations – not its military expansionism . It may be a build up is required to demonstrate it means ‘ business’… to which war with China will not happen . Far too much at stake there. The solutions will be economic and diplomatic. Regardless if there is an initially tense political environment . Trump will not risk any regional and global destabilization in any military responses with China.
* So possibly it could indicate joint operations ( or at least funding or assistance ) in the middle east ,… with Russia. Against ISIS. Saudi Arabia is one of America’s ‘ allies ‘… and oil rich. Yet supports ISIS because of Sunni versus Shiite politics. Russia has a lot of oil. And looks as if there may be some sort of future interdependence in that quarter developing…without the Sunni/ Shiite middle eastern tensions… while at the same time placating Israels pressure to be seen to be ( at least in the public’s view ) working in their interests as well…
* Trump often stated ‘ we should have kept the oil ‘ if they were going to go into Iraq… ( even though he thought the whole adventure was madness .. ) as it turned out…. ISIS got the oil … for awhile at least… and used it to finance operations and procure armaments etc…
* Trump , along with other commentators has mentioned Iran … as moving in on Iraq . Doubtful if in a military sense. More realistically ,… it will be by other means , trade , diplomacy … to have a stake in Iraq’s oil… if that were to happen, we can expect an outlet for American / Russian bases to then be placed in Iraq… justified as keeping stability in the region,… but reality because of the oil…
Some ideas , then … some farfetched, others perhaps less so… but if you were a recently elected President who has at times found themselves offside with the military industrial establishment … yet wishes to placate their wishes without actually starting or being involved in a war … this just might be some of the thinking behind it .
There’s a difference here for me. Spending money on your own military vs selling $60bn of gear to Saudi Arabia which Obama knew would be spent subjugating Yemen and supplying foreign radicals in Syria. Fair enough if you’re anti-war enough not to care about the comparison, but for myself and plenty of others the difference is important. Of course it is early days – will Trump turn out to be as sleazy as Obama in his pursuit of geopolitical gains? I’m watching things as they develop.
So what will Trump intend to do with his increased military build-up? SIt and hold hands in a circle-jerk? No, Mr Jones, when a fascist begins a military build-up, it usually ends badly.
It’s should b commen knowledge now that Trump intends a Hittler style purge of ISIS all over the world. But he’s going to do it on the cheap. Locals will provide manpower and Intel in exchange for US fire power. Iv written quite a bit about this all over TDB and don’t feel like going on about it any more
Trump has restated his intention to bring back torture. The use of torture is one of the recognised sign posts of a fascist regime. The other is the suppression and outlawing of public protest. Already some Republican dominated states have begun to enact legislation to do just that.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/25/trump-executive-order-torture-black-sites-guantanamo-bay
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/19/republican-lawmakers-in-five-states-propose-bills-to-criminalize-peaceful-protest/
Basha Assad’s Syria was preivously the number one destination for CIA flights of Special Rendition, before they were canceled by the Obama administration.
With Trump’s raproachment with the Syrian regime, the dictator will be pleased to earn some foreign currency for agreeing to outsource some of the CIA’s wet work again.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/16/syria-stories-behind-photos-killed-detainees
http://www.albawaba.com/news/rendition-syria-torture-468616
Original programme
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Another hallmark of fascist regimes is censorship.
Breaking Bad-Ass-Lands
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/88760631/badlands-national-park-defies-donald-trumps-orders-then-eerily-deletes-its-climate-change-facts
Go Trump. The best president yet.
Dave, only if you think banning protest, censoring climate science, kidnapping and torturing people without trial, are good policy.
The majority of the world’s people looks on appalled and repelled.
What would you all say if NZ started speaking like Trump?
– Legalizing cannabis (granted not Trump)
– Rejecting the TPP (granted dead-in-the-water)
– Restricting immigration
– Bringing back jobs to NZ
– Building needed infrastructure
– Encouraging medication to become generic ASAP
I mean, Trump talks about putting ‘America First’ – well, we even have a party here called NZ First. I think a lot of people are buying into the deceptive anti-Trump narrative coming out of the ignorant American MSM.
Yeah, I agree. Once people realise that they have been lied to for years by the MSM and that Trump seems to be doing stuff that people like, the mood will change. Gotta say, I’m loving the feeling of optimism coming out of the USA right now. Real people are feeling listened to at last.
Then your optimism is misplaced, Cosmicray. Trump is creating fear, uncertainty, and revulsion at his bigotted policies. If that’s “optimism,”, it’s the same optimism that Germans must’ve felt in 1939.
“Optimism”? Like the “optimism” from Nazi Germany prior to WW2? How did that work out for the German people six years later?
https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/ctc/uncharter.pdf – Article 107
“Nothing in the present charter shall invalidate or preclude action in relation to any state which during WW2 has been an enemy of any signatory to the present charter, taken or authorised as a result by the government having responsibility for such action.”
If I’m reading this right. All nazi fundamentalists lost the right to be assaulted in the face along time ago. #MakeRacistsAffraidAgain
Secretary for Labour in the Clinton Admin ’93—’97 Robert Reich said of Trump recently, that he talked to a associate in the GOP, the general consensus seemed to be get what they want out of Trump and then let him implode under his own stupidity.
He is not one of them, he is an outsider.
I would hope that America doesn’t go down that road that Chris outlined but it could easily happen.
The media need to stand firm on the absurdities that are puked out on a regular basis and focus on the issues.
If Trump does make progress with the infrastructure plans the increase in GDP could be off set by a lack of decent wages paid to the workers, as outlined in the linked article.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/25/heres-why-the-trump-rally-wont-last-says-former-us-labor-secretary.html
http://www.rense.com/general37/fascism.htm This sets out what the author calls the 14 Defining Characters of Fascism.
The scariest thing is that so many of these characteristics can be seen in a government that is barely a week old.
The following report lists the number of state agencies suffering under presidential censorship and gagging orders.
Starting with the attempts to massage the reports of the innaugeration crowd sizes. In particular a phone call from President Trump to the National Park Service, NPS, Director Michael Reynolds criticising the NPS for publishing the unflattering photos of the crowd sizes compared to previous innaugerations, and the much bigger Womens March the next day.
http://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/trump-pressured-parks-chief-for-photos-to-prove-media-lied-about-inauguration-crowd-%E2%80%93-report/ar-AAmiVtU?li=BBv6TfA&ocid=spartanntp
Only a matter of time:
….And probably much quicker than Chris Trotter thinks.
President Trump has signed an executive order to restart the XL pipeline canceled by the Obama administration after massive protest action. These protests powerful protests were led by the 350.org group, supported by the Sierra Club, America’s biggest and most influential environmental organisation.
There can be little doubt that massive protests will again erupt at Trump’s restarting of the XL pipeline.
To get the XL pipeline through, Trump will either have to ban all protest, or call out his right wing supporters (via tweet) to violently suppress them.
Both the actions of a fascist leader.
Violent riots around the XL pipeline started by Trump’s “goon squads” will lead to state intervention and the banning of protest by that means. ie under grounds of keeping the peace.
However it happens…
The banning of public protest was also one of Hitler’s first executive actions.
The suppression and banning of public protest, around issues of public concern, like war and peace for instance, is the hallmark of all repressive and fascist regimes.
The use of street gangs, and paramilitary groups, (ie the Brown Shirts in Germany) to help enforce these bans is also reminiscent of what Chris Trotter talks of here.
Where war and peace were the big dividing issues of the ’30s.
Climate change is the big dividing issue of our time.
The Second World War was the the most deadly conflict in human history, resulting in over 60 million deaths.
Unchecked climate change is set to result in billions of human deaths.
As well the almost certain deaths of billions of human beings, the destruction of large part of the biosphere due to climate climate change will see habitat destruction and mass extinction for many species of plants and animals and even the death of whole ecosystems, like coral reefs and rainforests for instance. Not to mention the cryrosphere at the poles and all animals and plants reliant on these ecosystems.
In effect a very changed world to the one we live in now.
A regime has been installed in the US that has made it its mission to oversee this destruction in the interest of the making profit and generating growth. It will need all the techniques and tactics of totalitarianism to enforce this anti-human and anti-life program through, against the opposition of the American people.
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