O, those heroes with feet of clay! We should be getting used to it, and never believe their campaign promises, but watch what they do. Of course by the time they ‘do things’, then…it’s too late. Allow me to go backward in time, if you will. Here’s some of the recent the recent evidence brought to my awareness:
Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts to Apartheid Israel:
‘Foreign Policy for Sale Greece’s Dangerous Alliance with Israel’ by Ramzy Baroud, Feb. 7th, 2018, dissidentvoice.org
“The Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) came to power in January 2015 as a direct outcome of popular discontent with the EU. It was a time where ordinary people took a stance to fend for whatever semblance of sovereignty that was not wrestled away from them by politicians, bankers and powerful bureaucratic institutions.
The result, however, was quite disappointing. Tsipras, now a Prime Minister, transformed his political discourse, and gradually adopted one that is more consistent with the very neoliberal policies that pushed his country to its knees in the first place.
Syriza sold out, not only politically and ideologically, but in an actual physical sense as well.” [long snip]
“When Tsipras came to power on the shoulders of a populous political movement, Palestinians too hoped that he would be different.
It was not exactly wishful thinking, either. Syriza was openly critical of Israel and had “vowed to cut military ties with Israel upon coming to office,” wrote Patrick Strickland, reporting from Athens. Instead the “ties have, nonetheless, been deepened.”
Indeed, soon after taking power, the ‘radical left’-led Greek government signed a major military agreement with Israel, the ‘status of forces’ accord, followed by yet more military exercises.
All of this was reinforced by a propaganda campaign in Israel hailing the new alliance, coupled with a changing narrative in Greek media regarding Israel and Palestine.
Greece was not always this way, of course. Who could forget Andreas Papandreou, the late Greek leader who gave the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) diplomatic status in 1981, and stood by Palestinians despite American and Israeli threats?”
Beware of Greeks Bearing Swords of Damocles to the Working Class (should they be dubbed ‘Obomba clones?):
Jan. 16, 2018: ‘Greek workers strike against Syriza’s imposition of EU austerity “multi-bill” Alex Lantier, wsws.org
“Workers in Greece struck Monday against the Syriza (Coalition of the Radical Left) government and protests erupted in Athens in the evening, as Syriza rammed a 1,300-page “multi-bill” of European Union austerity measures through the Greek parliament. The conservative New Democracy, the social-democratic Democratic Alignment, the nationalist Union of Centrists and the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn voted against the bill in parliament.
Shipping and public transport in Athens were almost entirely halted, amid mass opposition to fresh EU attacks on basic social and democratic rights, including the right to strike. Athens subway, bus and tramway workers and air traffic controllers all took strike action. Schools were closed and hospitals operated on skeleton staffs as doctors joined the strike. Tens of thousands of people marched in two separate trade union protests in the capital.
Clashes erupted between protesters and riot police in Athens after the Greek parliament, led by Syriza deputies, voted 154 to 141 to approve the multi-bill, which slashes family welfare payments, facilitates foreclosures and includes draconian limitations on the right to strike.” (the rest is here)
Beware of Greek Privatizations lauded by Geoffrey Pyatt:
But let’s back up to Nov.3, 2017: ‘US ambassador hails role of Greek shipping, calls for transparent privatisations’, amna.gr.en
All hail the conquering neoliberal capitalist heroes!
“Commenting on Prime Minister Tsipras'(sic) recent visit to Chicago and Washington, he said it strengthened Greek-U.S. ties and that “the message Americans heard throughout the visit, at the very highest levels, was that Greece is back, open for business and a pillar of stability in its region.“
Pyatt said this partnership includes enhanced bilateral investment cooperation, including an overall strategy where Greece serves as a regional hub and supplies energy from diverse sources to Europe, spurred by increased U.S. investment in this sector, as well as U.S. investment in Greek shipping, ports, and shipyards.
“In particular, I hope we will be able to celebrate a major U.S. investment in the Syros shipyard in the very near future,” he said, referring to U.S. company ONEX which has expressed an interest in investing at the Syros shipyard.”
“An investment and privatization system based on transparency and the rule of law will help build confidence in Greece as an investment destination, and create momentum that can sustain the Greek economic rebound. I am confident that if Greece continues to commit itself to building such an environment, American investors will take a fresh look at Greece,” he said.
The U.S. is also interested in the port of Alexandroupolis, he continued. “The strategic position of this port is on full display right now: elements of the US Army’s 10th Combat Air Brigade are using it as a staging area for Blackhawk helicopters and cargo moving back to the U.S. from Romania- demonstrating, as I discussed with the Mayor of Alexandroupolis this summer, the potential of that port to play a much bigger role in regional infrastructure and connectivity,” he said.”
Beware of Greeks Prostrating Themselves before Trump’s Rule of the Imperium
Via wws.org Oct. 19:
“Tsipras made clear that after nearly three years of devastating European Union austerity imposed by his government on the working class, there are lots of profits to be made in Greece. Smiling as Trump praised the Syriza government’s “continued implementation of reform” and announced that it will spend $2.4 billion on upgrading US-made F-16 fighter jets, Tsipras hailed the “common democratic principles” he shares with Trump. Officials in Greece, he said, “look forward to attracting US investments.”
Tsipras made an unambiguous appeal to the US war machine. He and Trump alluded to the fact that Athens and Washington plan to upgrade the US naval base at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete and open a new US base elsewhere on the island, putting US forces in range of key war theaters such as Syria and Iraq. Claiming that Washington helps Greece with “fundamental national concerns in the areas of security and defense,” Tsipras asked Trump to help resolve Greco-Turkish conflicts over Cyprus.
Tsipras hailed American policy in the Middle East and the Balkans, where US wars have claimed millions of lives and turned tens of millions into refugees. The United States, he said, “promotes cooperation with the Middle East and the Balkans, which contribute to the security and the growth of the area.” Tsipras dismissed a journalist who recalled that, during the US presidential election last year, Tsipras called the prospect of a Trump victory “evil.” Tsipras said, “The US is a very strong power and its ability to intervene for good is very, very important… We have common values.” [long snip]
“In 2013, the WSWS wrote on Tsipras’ first trip to the Brookings Institution in Washington, where he auditioned for the Greek prime ministership with the US State Department, the International Monetary Fund and the CIA. Tsipras, the WSWS noted, got top marks: the IMF called him “constructive and sincere,” and Syriza said Tsipras and the State Department had reached a “common assessment.” Tsipras told his Brookings Institution audience, “I hope I’ve convinced you that I’m not as dangerous as some people think I am.”
Also on Oct. 17: ‘Trump’s message to Tsipras: US may boost investments in Greece, a key NATO ally, cnbc.com
- On Tuesday, President Donald Trump met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to shore up economic and defense cooperation with the key NATO ally.
- Investments in Greek oil resources and Greece-based military bases are among the topics being discussed at a time when the U.S.-Turkey relationship has become tense.
Hadn’t yanis varoufakis kinda been re-branded ‘yanis varouFAKEis’ by the actual, radical left? as in: a capitalist reformer, akin to the DSAs (Bernie, et.al.? well, in any event, here he is promoting a New! version of DieM (iteration 25.), while laughin’ in his ouzo and dialing for dollars…er…euros, of course:
!Support Constructive Disobedience in Greece!’ (my italics)
Comments
Comprador:
'A comprador or compradore is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation". A comprador is a native manager of European business houses in East and South East Asia, and, by extension, social groups that play broadly similar roles in other parts of the world.'
Greece is going to blow sky-high one of these near days.,
This is happening in Greece, where democracy was born in the 5th century b.c. This is inhumane, compassionless, cruel and sadistic. One day soon the Greek government and the EU is going to find out what it is that happens when people have nothing to lose.
Our 1% is aiming for the same degree of austerity for us.
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I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
thanks for bringing the extra bits
as well as the google blocking video. there's so much in that wsws denouncement of 'the shameless liar tsipras, isn't there? including the quotes by herr schauble the schnauzer.
yeppers, how often have we heard him yodel 'greece is the cradle of democracy'? one of his detractor was a fiery woman named zoe konstantopoulou, who was elected prez of the parliament some time back. silly me, i discovered her twitter account is...all greek to me. yanis and alexis have english ones, helpfully.
one never knows what spark might light the fuse, does one? and when it comes, they won't be soros 'color revolutions' (she sayed hopefully).
nothing left to lose
Especially Greek people who have nothing to lose!
These are the descendants of the 300 people who held over a million back at Thermopylae! And the writers of this song, too:
[video:https://youtu.be/R7yGQGnfm9w]
(Major Clue: The song's name, Αρνιέμαι, means "I refuse" !!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I don't understand the words, but I get
the drift of what they’re saying.
And in the meantime, we all just got added to the Watch and No-Fly Lists.
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
@Amanda Matthews
Jeeze, I've been assuming for years we would already have been on at least watch lists... considering that TPTB et al are willing to incidentally kill us all, one way or another, I think we're getting down to the 'nothing left to lose' category anyway.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
@Amanda Matthews
Plain black video just gives me 'An error occurred Please try again later' (and dunno if it was linked to anywhere, but no Youtube link)...
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
The revolution is not going to be led by people
wearing suits. Or robes.
That's just a big al rule of thumb.
Well done!
The british army comes to mind.
I'm going dressed as mother earth.
Blend into the scenery.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
yeah, but yanis reckons maybe leather jacket-clad
motorcycle riders'll take care of it, smile. academic elites don't feel the pain of oppression, poverty, and utter disregard of their lives.
wait, i was thinkin' of adding this to your thread: "Exclusive: Hundreds of thousands have pledged to take to the streets if Special Counsel Robert Mueller is removed, reflecting misplaced priorities and some fundamental misunderstandings", report Coleen Rowley and Nat Parry, consortium news.
ya think? but it's the compromised NGO avaaz, once again. kinda sad to see how far downhill CN has gone since robert parry first had his stroke though.
I thought that the writer was ridiculing the idea
of people taking to the streets over this issue, not in favor of it. It explained how Mueller and Comey were complicit in our loss of rights and other things that they did when they worked for Bush.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
yes, rawley was blown away by it.
sorry hadn't except enough to make that clear. my jest was to big al, as in: 'see, here's where the revolution is! pink pussyhats and all'. gotta love the hell out of the libruls loving the cia and the fbi cuz: clinton/drumf now. and swear to the goddess, there is almost never any pushback to 'journalists' casually saying that 'roosians stole the election from clinton', and that 'wikileaks is a russian puppet organization'.
assange had tweeted this a day or two ago, and oy, did the trolls come out to play.
Constructive Disobedience in Greece
emphases in original
In ελληνική γλώσσα, that works out to:
Υποστηρίξτε την εποικοδομητική ανυπακοή στην Ελλάδα!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
think yanis might be 'a reformer', lol?
not: #ShutItDown! and #KeepItShutDown! now where'd you get the greek? the google universal babelizer up already?
Greek
I have a limited (reading) command of Greek.
translate.google.com I use mostly to get stuff into Greek orthography because (among other things) it's easier and faster than picking one Greek character at a time from the Unicode tables.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
good on ya, then. and on the 'i refuse!' crie de coeur as well
crie de coeur
Eυχαριστώ! (Thank You!)
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
welcome
but my goodness, folks around here seem to skitter off to the next diary, then the next, don't they? without waiting for responses to their comments, i mean. so...thanks for returning, dead head (smile)(i loathe emoticons, lol)
Too much good stuff here to miss out on!
Lol, with so many gifted, informative and sometimes very prolific writers, I know I personally tend to start reading essays at the bottom of what's currently showing and try to get to the top, while keeping a watch out for new comments on those already read, but it's often impossible to keep up with even the 'novel ones', even if hoping that temp-skipped EBs and 'regular' others will stay up long enough to get there to have a go at the content and however many comments they usually acquire. Certainly not complaining, though!
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Dunno if I trust unverified translators like that...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6D1YI-41ao
AND my 'like' made the number of 'likes' 9,666 - for what more could one possibly ask?
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
lol; 'my hovercraft issss full of eels'
thanks for the laughs; i'd never seen that one. and for the explanation up yonder.
Monty Python provides some excellent explanations.
You know how The Mad Bomber always said that 'it takes a village' in her public persona and when in (generally paid) company with private industry thought that all Non-Billionaire-Americans were idiots?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF-CkMpQtlY
I believe that she and Pelosi both studied there as well, to learn how to get away with murder and flagrant corruption while hazarding national security, by claiming mental incompetence when cornered.
Explains a lot about the Clintons, doesn't it?
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
well even a 'blithering idiot' can make 10,000 lbs. a year!
yes, that ghost-written book made the red queen seem so...grass-roots maternal (as she was busy grooming chelsea for the amerikan presidency..)
@wendy davis
Apparently the website's been encountering an unexpected error,. although by the 12th time throughout the day, it's becoming somewhat less unexpected, lol. Post got through in another thread! But not here...going to try this in sections, lol.
Yeah, guess Her was disappointed in the double coronation of Herself and Her Heir-Apparent, but luckily This Was Not Her Fault and if Her could only nuke Russia, the voters, the DNC, the media and almost everyone else in the world At Fault, apparently, apart from the Electoral College and certain billionaires/multi-millionaires who abruptly dumped the Dems around the same time, the latter due to the words 'billionaires' and 'multi-millionaire' being mentioned 'by the Dems', these being only the Berniecrats, of course, who the CorporDems unfortunately couldn't just fire, (although they did shut them out of committees and apparently make them swear not to say/do/to say/do certain things to be permitted to join/run as a Dem in the first place) who was on that List Of Those Losing Hillary's Turn, the Clintons'd have no problem being Coronated as a group, Bill being part of the 'two-fer' and the Heir Apparent, a bonus.
This is part of something I'd written previously but never finished or posted prior to the thread falling off the page and finding that a good part of what I was saying had already been better said in newer threads, once I got there.
2 of the only 3 remaining examples (the 3rd being a duplicate of one) found on search (all emphasis in all following, mine):
https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/billionaire-threatens-democratic-pa...
Sounds more like a fait accompli than a public threat at that point, doesn't it?
I believe Trump's electoral win to have been their punishment - and the Dems are obligingly ever-more-blatantly suppressing/ditching-where-possible anyone wanting to work for the people, in order to get those funders back by screwing the people over harder. Even the 'optics' of their 'public-position' don't matter any more than the public does, where their paymasters are involved. They believe that the powers of their public office are not delegated by The People for the (transient) holder of that office to act in the (perpetual) public good, as mandated within the US Constitution (which their paymasters are intent on rewriting in a 'runaway Con Con'), but are dependent upon outside moneyed, self-interested and destructive powers to be used against that public good for these hostile outside interests, to embezzle it all. Something that has been ongoing for a very long time.
And I think the Dem leadership believes that this ludicrous RUSSIA!!!gate tactic guarantees them that so-essential big donor return from the other wing of the Corporate Party and another rigged win for them, if they can only help get everyone hysterically - and impotently - inflamed against both Trump and the countries their funders want demonized and forcibly prevented from achieving a stable and complete independence from their to-be-micro-managed global control.
This especially beginning with Russia, doubtless perceived by them as a more publicly acceptable first powerful victim (since they couldn't crush the typically small, relatively impoverished countries they've so enjoyed profiting from their bullying, killing, dispossessing and terrorizing the citizens of) due to the old US Cold War indoctrination (particularly, I suppose, affecting the elderly who remember it and were therefore likely pre-programmed) and the McCarthyism the US PTB et al have been reviving and so farcically revving up, (RUSSIAN!!! FB PUPPY ADS!!! influenced the election!!! RUSSIANS!!! HACKED!!! Vermont's electrical grid!!!) complete with Stalinist censorship and the 'legalized' ability to make citizens dead or to be 'disappeared' under the guise of 'protecting' a 'national security' otherwise of no apparent concern, propaganda, intimidation and the abuse of The People's delegated legislative powers.
And for this to work, they must isolate the people from the actual news, as is now well expanded and underway, because those who know better will not fall for the propaganda.
(If this works, will continue below.)
Edit: getting 'unexpected error again, will try adding in edit: still getting blocked, will try breaking up URLs which can be re-attached if this works. Didn't, will try again in reply to this.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Attempted continuation
I can post elsewhere on site and the other but went on fine? Now trying with smilie which I just noticed removed from Twitter post. Edit: t'was indeed the tiny yellow thing which I failed to notice until this last effort, but assume was a smilie...
Dunno if this is the same guy, same sort of thuggish language to 'his employees'...
https://twitter.com/RoseAnnDeMoro/status/928411303135215621
They certainly aren't 'attacking the rich' - Bernie is, however, very publicly doing so, hazarding everything he has and is - including alive - to get out the concept of government of, by and for the people to The People limited to the propagandist concentrated corporate media, having achieved that thought-impossible goal as he's achieved so many others, by negotiation, which evidently limits him, and has demonstrated that he will do absolutely anything he has to in order to give the people some final chance of rising up to save themselves by forming their government themselves and finally fulfilling the true American Dream of self-government in the public interest.
But if Bernie or anyone close to him so much as stubs a toe - there will, for a change, be consequences. He's the best-loved senator in the rankings for good reason. He can't 'have an accident' without the world stepping in, the Dems can't isolate him without becoming a ghost town - and he's great for media ratings. So, within limits, Bernie Democra-seed gets to cultivate the consciousness of even those so carefully propagandized into a distorted belief and acceptance in what their now-slavish lives and more-obviously-occupied country should and could be, if you can't 'get rich quick, and the Devil take the hindmost'. The 'shining beacon of fascism' wasn't the more visionary US Founders plan. But the Psychopaths That Be want everyone else subjugated in the process of achieving total global control in their own personal hegemony.
That, of course, being why Bernie - the only potential political spoiler, as he still is - couldn't be allowed to win the Dem Nomination and the Presidency.
Could this be why the Electoral College switched from the Mad Bomber to Trump - when these authoritarian, Party-controlling billionaires/multi-millionaires did? Gee, I wonder...
The CIA-associated corporate propaganda-producing papers kindly prepared the public somewhat in advance for the fact that the almost equally (but definitely not entirely as) horrifying Presidential (s)electoral loser had won via this varied group of (s)election Deciders, (even including lobbyists, as it does,) although Clinton, presented as having had millions more votes, had had many of these (illegally) nailed down even before the nominations began and was so certain of her win that she really didn't even bother lying to the people about doing anything for the public when she went on her fund-raising 'campaign' tour, predominantly consisting of various among the nations wealthiest at expensive dinners, and apparently even engaged in at least one I recall hearing of outside the country, perhaps because her crowds of 'everyday Americans' (not the good ones you'd wear to a nice dinner) were, in (and at) any event, so pathetic next to Bernie's?
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/18/us/elections/donald-trump...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/18/us/politics/the-electoral-college-mee...
I'd suspect rather that the (oft-cheated) popular vote in (rigged) elections is evidently regarded as a "vestige".
But if Hillary actually got more votes despite however many millions of Americans turning into 'Russian propagandists' based on her record, attitude, corruption, behaviours, policies and... much too long a list to repeat here, why would the Electoral College she'd already predominately captured decide to vote against her - and how did Super-Putin The Magically Ubiquitous manage to influence the Electoral College against her? Was he responsible for the billionaires firing the Dems as well?
But Hillary naturally daren't blame the Electoral College and those adored Big Funders actually responsible for her losing Her Turn, so it became virtually everyone else's fault, as well as RUSSIA's!!! although it's now really far more Russia's than the voters or DNCs and everyone else's, who seemingly aren't even being mentioned anymore, although probably still on the Clinton's 'enemy' list.
(And I'll stop there. Better late than never, lol, but if you've read though this, you see my points. The devil is in the details and often the connections.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Ellen...
It's the tweet that's stopping your comment from posting. There's a little yellow hand in the tweet, it's a unicode character, our database doesn't recognize unicode characters. Remove the little yellow hand code from the the tweet and then it will post. Unicode characters start with a hashtag and then is followed by four or five alphanumeric characters. You can also remove the tweet and then your comment will post.
@JtC
Thanks! I only noticed that little yellow thing on the last try, after trying to post that all day, couldn't make out what it was and thought it must be a smilie. Good to know what the dratted thing is! Couldn't figure out what would be triggering that, although initially I thought it was either a site or a computer problem, until something else and then the first bit posted and the rest wouldn't, having that technological black thumb and all...
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
hat tip mr. wd who peeked in further
oh, fuck me; how very radical & revolutionary!:
“On March 26, DiEM25 members will gather in Athens to constitute ourselves as a political party that participates in European, national and local elections — but also as an indivisible part of the transnational, radical europeanist movement DiEM25.
The party will start its life with an army of committed volunteer activists across Greece. A set of realistic proposals to make Greece’s social economy viable again, that is embedded in DiEM25's European New Deal. The support of progressive international figures like Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky and Brian Eno. And of course the involvement of key Greek political players like Yanis Varoufakis who believe passionately that despite what the Establishment says, there is an alternative to Greece’s — and Europe’s — current impasse.”
i'll trade ya one billy bragg for 1000 brian enos, varouFAKEis. night all, i'm shuttin' down for the night. but: it was 3-loaves-of-bread-day, they're out of the oven, and smell like...heaven.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbddqXib814]
not the roosians meddling in our democracy for some™
Either Marco is a little on the ‘simple’ side
OR
We’re not as dumb as he thinks we are,
(And the two aren’t mutually exclusive.)
I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa
hard to know how to repond to this
but...the agitprop against maduro has been sooo ubiquitous in the Imperium's and client states stenographers that i'd reckon that not one in a thousand would believe that first chavez, now maduro isn't a brutal thug dictator guilty of human rights violations and press control. see: syria, russia, iran, honduras under zelaya, dilma before the putsch, meaning: 'we're' not his audience, but the ruling capitalist class is.
the Eu's debating 'further sanctions', tra la la. but rexxon tillerson was only slightly more coy a couple weeks ago on this tour of 'our backyard'. rexxon has always been cray about chavez having nationalized all the oil, etc., and VZ has huge oilfields including disputed one off-shore. sadly, that's been their currency for far too long now. obomba had first declared VZ to be a threat to US security, drumpf followed suit, as he did in so many ways...but enter ReXXon, we might have us a whole new ballgame.
‘Rex Tillerson’s Excellent Adventure in Latin America: Don’t blame the Monroe Doctrine’; Former US diplomat Jim Jatras warns the Trump administration is taking a dangerously aggressive tone towards Venezuela.
“If Tillerson had sought to confirm the worst image of the United States in the minds of Latin Americans, he could not have done a better job. Ironically, he tried to conflate that image with the Monroe Doctrine, which he said “clearly has been a success, because… what binds us together in this hemisphere are shared democratic values.” Really? That would have been big news to President James Monroe, who promulgated the Doctrine back in 1823 when no other country in the Americas could be described as a democracy and when even most of the US Founding Fathers would have disputed that label for the Republic they sought to create.
Monroe’s declaration had nothing to do with democracy. Rather, its core was a warning to other powers not to establish colonies in our hemisphere, an exclusion which we have considered essential to our security for almost two centuries." (the rest is here.)
"shared democratic values"...brings us back to comprador tsipras and trump. gawd's blood, i watched all that live as he and other bidness leaders broke bread w/ the commander-in-chief. it was soooooo nauseating.
Hey Marco there are people here who do that same thing
while they are living on the streets you ass wipe. Some of our soldiers are relying on food stamps because your congress friends won't pay them enough like you do Generals who live like kings.
No I don't want our troops going there for any reason. Let's take care of us first for once. Besides, I'm sure that if the military gets involved there will be more people killed.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
after ReXXon had offered similar 'advice' to the military
telesur reported that the military brass had stood beside maduro in a presser, and (iirc) written a letter to Rex stating 'stay the fuck out our bidess' (a bit more politely).
but i do regret that i took us far off-topic; i'd really wanted it to be about tsipras and syriza. the alliance with israel was what finally blew me away so hard that i went back and bingled for some of his other dastardly deeds to put into one sorta...package.
on edit: some commodities are hard to come by, esp. due to the very heavy sanctions weighing down on VZ, but i sure doubt the military is going hungry. but marco wouldn't lie, would he? about VZ or cuba???? think of his base in florida...
tsipras had tweeted photo of himself meeting with the prez
of georgia, but not knowing its significance i let it alone. but i went a-hunin' this a.m. and found:
‘Georgian President, Greek Prime Minister discuss deepening cooperation’, feb. 9
“Prime Minister Tsipras once again reiterated his country’s support for Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union (EU) and NATO.
Discussing security issues, President Margvelashvili spoke about the situation in the Russian occupied regions of Georgia – Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
Margvelashvili and Tsipras believe joint effort is necessary to resolve conflicts and ensure stability in Europe.”
remember the ‘russo-georgian war’ & 'the longtime Arizona senator, who had adopted an increasingly tough line against Moscow well before the crisis in Georgia, told a town meeting in Pennsylvania that he had spoken with Mikhail Saakashvili, president of the former Soviet republic, to assure him that 'today we are all Georgians'? later, after he was deposed in georgia, saakashvili showed up in the ukraine in some high position, only to get routed from there, as well.
but yeah, he'd doubling down on the new (?) cold war rhetoric, pokin' the bear for revanchism, and the beat goes on.