I'm never sure if the typos happen on my keyboard on in my brain.

I know there's no difference between Ds & Rs, but there's also no difference between parties in Ukraine & Russia?

The Podesta Group was one of several firms that worked on a Manafort-led campaign for a nonprofit called the European Centre for a Modern Ukraine (ECMU). The campaign promoted Ukraine’s image in the West and was reportedly backed by the Party of Regions, a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine that was previously led by former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

I thought we fucked up the relationship between Ukraine and Russia (Thanks, Obama!)

I'm so confused.

Since the Podesta group has been heavily involved in Russia already and there is a known relationship with Manafort, I believe that Tony Podesta is taking a small fall in order to stop further investigation into Clinton connections.

I keep going back to the fact that Mueller is a part of the deep state and heavily tied to the Clintons. Mueller acted as a mule taking a uranium sample to Russia on behalf of Hillary Clinton.

I may be wrong here, but right now my take on all of this is that they are trying to stop the leaking faucet with a couple of sacrificial lambs in hopes that the dam does not burst taking the Clintons, Mueller and the rest of the deep state with it.

if it gets that far and it looks like he is facing a long prison sentence he will be "Suicided" and just another convenient death of someone close to the Clintons.

I wonder what kind of odds I could get on that,based on their history I'd probably have to bet $100 to win $15....

Great work, Gulf Gal.

The visiblity of the military in running the govt. of Trumpland, and the obvious war between various factions of the intelligence agencies and opposed forces within the shadow govt. has pulled back the veil on what has been developing (I agree) since end of World War II -- and that Eisenhower warned us about. Obama was much better at making it all look pretty.

I watched Ta-Nehisi Coates on Book TV this past week addressing a largely African American audience in the AME church in DC. One woman stood up and referenced the role of Cointelpro in subverting progressive Black movements and organzations, the assassinations and imprisonment of progressive leaders, etc. She asked Coates if he was going to write the book on this one.

His answer was instructive. He told her he couldn't possibly give her his most direct answer while on camera and said that he probably won't write that book, because -- as he said he had recently commented to his wife -- "We don't have an army."

He said he has no common ground with liberals who want to make room for what are essentially proto-Fascist elements in our society. He asserted "this is war." Paraphrasing, he said that he doesn't seek common ground with neoliberals and forces who are truly our enemies, who do not care for or support the well-being of most members of our society.

I too have observed the militarization of local police forces, the violent suppression of movements such as Occupy, the unpunished assassination of young Black men in most cities through the U.S., and the calls for elimination of freedom to protest and even to speak.

The sham of the primary election in 2016 took away any sense that we could use the ballot box to create change. If we don't acknowledge the subversion of electoral politics, we can't begin to fight back. It may, of course, already be too late. As Chris Hedges says, the coup may already have happened -- and that is what we are witnessing.

So it's very important to extend the analysis that you have begun, in order to assess possible strategies for pushing back, for intensifying the contradictions within the Shadow Government itself. It is important also to understand that the analysis and exposure of how regimes based on dictatorial financial power and military force are risky arguments to make. Their response to internal threats is increasingly the same as the response to external threats -- violent suppression without explanation or justification.

One version of such an analysis -- and it's projection in the near-term - is that indeed the empire is crumbling and that inevitably it will fail. China is already making significant gains with other nations by offering them economic help (rather than drone warfare) and, oddly enough, by offering support for various levels of democracy and sustainable development -- greater than those experienced in the nations that the U.S. has subjugated and destroyed. India's economy is growing rapidly and finding less reason to pay subsistence level wages to the outsourced minions of multinational corporations headquartered in the U.S.

The shift in world power --financially and militarily -- will be a source of external pressure on this corrupt state that we have allowed to consolidate. For those of us in the belly of the beast, what forms of resistance are possible? Certainly research and evidence about the nature of the state we already inhabit is crucial. As Ta-Nehisi said, "we need more people" to write, to analyze, to uncover the nature of the power structure -- to understand the nature of the deep state, its origins, and to look for and exploit every crack and fissure resulting from the inter-class conflicts which are visible at the top.

The power blocs that you correctly describe are not without their contradictions. In fact, perhaps the most significant aspect of all the Russia-mania is the recognition that Putin et. al. saw how desperately corrupt our state is and how easy it is to sow discord and mistrust on all sides.

So if that is a lesson in what we are observing, then it is possible to create division even at the levels at which absolute power is controlled. Perhaps one line of inquiry is to figure out how to do that from a progressive or left perspective. As Bernie said the other day, the vast majority of Americans are not losing sleep over what Russia may or may not have done to the various factions of the ruling power stucture, nor how they hurt or helped those squealing Siamese twins, HIllary and Donald. This sideshow is just a distraction from the fundamental issues: economic survival for the 99% and of the loss of democracy are at the heart of the matter.

The modes of struggle, however, may have to be re-examined and reinvented during this current phase. I think, as Americans, we have been led to believe, somewhat arrogantly and unrealistically, that we can exercise rights and freedoms that are guaranteed and protected.

Instead, we may have to recognize that we are more like the citizens of France and Belgium during the Fascist occupation. We may no longer have the means to liberate ourselves without lots of help. So considering how to direct energies of meaningful resistance, how to seek alliances and how to avoid the dangerous forcess of neo-liberal collaboration are essential and urgent steps to consider, as we continue with the analysis you have begun.