Why is there so much Russian fearmongering?

Submitted by gjohnsit on Tue, 02/12/2019 - 11:36pm

The U.S. prepared to apply more sanctions on Russia this week. After years of increasing sanctions, it might be difficult to find anything in Russia that hasn't already been sanctioned.
The important thing is that the sanctions are working, right?

Actually, no. The sanctions aren't working at all.

Just to give you an idea, consider these news articles from the past week:

Bloomberg: Russia Earns Investment-Grade Rating From Moody's
Reuters: Russia's GDP growth, at six-year high
Sputnik: Russia's Trade Surplus In 2018 Up 62% To $211.6Bln
RT: Russian stock market hits historic high as oil prices rally
bne: Russia’s corporate foreign debt redemption to be very light in 2019

Does this look like an economy being crushed by sanctions? No, it does not.
What's more, three new major Russian gas pipelines will be going online later this year, bringing in billions of dollars in new revenue, and Washington can't stop it.
We are looking at a nation that has been hit with nearly every financial weapon in our arsenal, and Russia is getting stronger.

Can you see why that might make people in Washington nervous?

Even more important, Russia has been the Asian leader of a continent-wide move away from Dollar Hegemony.
Do you see the reason why Washington is freaking out about Russia?

There is a very good reason for Washington to be afraid. It's just not any of the reasons that you are being told.
Because let's face it, who among us would rush out to join the Russia hate squad if the media pundits told the truth - that we must hate Russia because if they succeed in thriving in spite of our economic sanctions, it'll undermine the power and prestige of our elites in Washington?
And if Russia gets out from under our thumb, other nations will want their independence.
It's hard to get excited about that.

Tags:

Russia

russiagate

Vote

Comments

Submitted by CB on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 1:19am

There have been revolutionary changes going

on in Russia in education and research and development.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOBoBJQbazA]

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvIx4XN1Lu4]

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C_UfFzuvKI]

Submitted by eyo on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 8:17am

Such uplifting propaganda

@CB thanks, those vids make me wish Vlad was my President, making more bigly oligarchs the old-fashioned way. Earning it? lol Siberia right on, resource extraction is what it is. They still have lots of wilderness to exploit. Is the tractor software open source, or did they just make their own proprietary crap? uh huh

Making complex math simple seems revolutionary, but it destroys the idea of smart privilege, doesn't it? I mean if everyone flew first class, then what's the point of coach? huh

bernays envy

Submitted by CB on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 11:57am

It appears you are not yet aware

@eyo
that the current Russia is no longer the old USSR.

Can you picture any American president communicating with their citizens like Putin does? If you really want to understand and get some insight about Putin, I suggest you watch the following video. You will also get a sense of the attitudes, hopes and dreams of the Russian youth.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhwWSiLlJ3I]

The future will be a multi-polar world with China, India and Russia playing leading roles as the US continues to fall behind. Unfortunately, the US may not go gently and may attempt to blow up the entire world if it can no longer be master. American "exceptionalism" has become a cancer upon the world.

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 12:31pm

Russia had a chance

@CB
Before Vlad had his trained seal change the Constitution so that Vlad could become President-For-life.

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by CB on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 1:05pm

It was the US that changed the Russian

@The Voice In the Wilderness
constitution to enable their puppet, Yeltsin, to remain in power and give the presidency greater powers. They figured they would remain the puppet masters after Putin was nominated by Yeltsin and then elected six months later.

By 2004 they realized their mistake when Putin played hardball with the US backed oligarchs who were pillaging Russia. He demanded three things from them - 1) stay out of politics, 2) pay their workers and 3)pay their taxes. Most of them fucked off with their ill-gotten gains to seek refuge in London and New York. Any who decided to fight Putin found themselves in Russian jails convicted of tax evasion, graft and fraud (and NOT on trumped up charges BTW).

You can thank Bill Clinton and the short sighted greedy US establishment for giving Putin sufficient power to be able to pull the badly mauled Russian bear from the bloody claws of the American eagle.

How the United States Got Russia Wrong
February 1, 2019
The West today is paying for its collusion with Russia in the 1990s.
...
Clinton chose Yeltsin to pursue Russia’s interests—as determined by Washington—disregarding not only Yeltsin’s foreign policy objections, but also his corrupt and ineffective government, as well as his extremely unpopular economic policy. It is worth recalling here that the privatization program—that led to an enormous economic downturn in the GDP, a significant decline in the overall standard of living and to what leading U.S. expert on the Russian economy James Millar in 1996 called “a de facto fraud”—was carried out with the help of money from the U.S. government and international financial organizations under Washington’s control. The Russian Privatization Center headed by close Yeltsin associate Anatoly Chubais’ team, was funded by USAID, IBRD as well as the European Union and its individual members. Part of the funds reportedly funneled into Yeltsin’s election campaign. The entire story is described in the academic literature, and particularly in the book by Janine Wedel characteristically titled Collision and Collusion: A Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe.
...

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7HwvFyMg7A]

Submitted by Roy Blakeley on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 1:56pm

Well said but

@CB don't forget his anti-democratic attack on the Russian parliament.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/moscow-still-haunted-by-yeltsin-s-attack...

#1.1.1.1 constitution to enable their puppet, Yeltsin, to remain in power and give the presidency greater powers. They figured they would remain the puppet masters after Putin was nominated by Yeltsin and then elected six months later. By 2004 they realized their mistake when Putin played hardball with the US backed oligarchs who were pillaging Russia. He demanded three things from them - 1) stay out of politics, 2) pay their workers and 3)pay their taxes. Most of them fucked off with their ill-gotten gains to seek refuge in London and New York. Any who decided to fight Putin found themselves in Russian jails convicted of tax evasion, graft and fraud (and NOT on trumped up charges BTW). You can thank Bill Clinton and the short sighted greedy US establishment for giving Putin sufficient power to be able to pull the badly mauled Russian bear from the bloody claws of the American eagle. How the United States Got Russia Wrong February 1, 2019 The West today is paying for its collusion with Russia in the 1990s. ... Clinton chose Yeltsin to pursue Russia’s interests—as determined by Washington—disregarding not only Yeltsin’s foreign policy objections, but also his corrupt and ineffective government, as well as his extremely unpopular economic policy. It is worth recalling here that the privatization program—that led to an enormous economic downturn in the GDP, a significant decline in the overall standard of living and to what leading U.S. expert on the Russian economy James Millar in 1996 called “a de facto fraud”—was carried out with the help of money from the U.S. government and international financial organizations under Washington’s control. The Russian Privatization Center headed by close Yeltsin associate Anatoly Chubais’ team, was funded by USAID, IBRD as well as the European Union and its individual members. Part of the funds reportedly funneled into Yeltsin’s election campaign. The entire story is described in the academic literature, and particularly in the book by Janine Wedel characteristically titled Collision and Collusion: A Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe. ... [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7HwvFyMg7A]

Submitted by CB on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 3:13pm

The Russian people hate Yeltsen

@Roy Blakeley
They still remember it was the United States that was backing him when he and his cohorts were pillaging the country.

The US has a very long and sordid history of meddling in Russia,

Accusing Russia and Listening to History

Even recent history is conveniently forgotten when it comes to blaming Russia for just about everything, as Ted Snider comments.

By Ted Snider

The prophet Cassandra’s curse was that when she told the future, no one listened. Many are cursed because they don’t listen to history either.

The West has no shortage of charges it hurls against Russia, but most of them can be grouped into one of three categories: that Russia intervened in the American elections, that Russia is dragging the world into a new cold war, and that Russia is becoming increasingly aggressive and expansionist. Sometimes when charges are brought against you, the best witness you can call to your defense is history.

Election Intervention

This history of Russia, America and political intervention begins right at the beginning of the Soviet Union. But, it was not the Soviet Union doing the interfering.

The story of America and the West’s interference in the birth of the Soviet Union is not well-known. It began with propaganda but metastasized well beyond words.
...
America would interfere more specifically in Russian elections upon the death of the Soviet Union. In late 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin won a year of special powers from the Russian Parliament: for one year, he was to be, in effect, the dictator of Russia to facilitate the midwifery of the birth of a democratic Russia. In March of 1992, under pressure from a discontented population, parliament repealed the dictatorial powers it had granted him. Yeltsin responded by declaring a state of emergency, giving himself the repealed dictatorial powers. Russia’s Constitutional Court ruled that Yeltsin was acting outside the constitution. But the US sided – against the Russian people and against the Russian Constitutional Court – with Yeltsin.

Intoxicated with American support, Yeltsin dissolved the parliament that had rescinded his powers and abolished the constitution of which he was in violation. In a 636-2 vote, the Russian parliament impeached Yeltsin. But President Bill Clinton again sided with Yeltsin against the Russian people and Russian law, giving him $2.5 billion in aid. Clinton was interfering in the Russian people’s choice of leaders.
...
“Funded by the U.S. government,” Cohen reports, Americans “gave money to favored Russian politicians, instructed ministers, drafted legislation and presidential decrees, underwrote textbooks, and served at Yeltsin’s reelection headquarters in 1996.”
...
The two cases offered by the West in evidence of its claim that Russia is increasingly aggressive and expansionist were really specific defensive responses forced on Russia by Western expansionism that had taken earlier NATO expansionism too far. Charges that Russia “invaded” Ukraine have never be backed by evidence. According to German intelligence, the accusation was largely fabricated.

Like the charges against Russia of election interference and aggressive expansionism, both lack evidence. The charge of inciting a new cold war requires a blinding dose of hypocrisy and a strong case of historical amnesia. The witness that gives the defense the best chance of answering the charges is history itself. But, only if we listen.

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 3:48pm

What a great relief it is to hear the truth

@CB

...as I saw it and as it has been filmed and written by the witnesses of that time. What I want to know is where people get these thin nonsense narratives they throw out with such belligerant certainty. Something happened inside the duck-and-cover brains. A post traumatic stress disorder reaction goes off like a flash bulb over events that not only didn't happen — but happened in the exact opposite way.

No wonder all the psycho-propaganda luminaries who emerged in the 1930s and 1940s were in such great awe of the Big Lie. It's effect was greater than the after effects of a nuclear weapon attack.

In any event, we can see why this Russia Hoax will endure when all evidence points to the exact opposite. The US cannot proceed in a sane fashion until the delusional fall silent, and the truth about many things can finally be spoken.

This is not an opinion. It is a fact.

#1.1.1.1.1.1
They still remember it was the United States that was backing him when he and his cohorts were pillaging the country.

The US has a very long and sordid history of meddling in Russia,

Accusing Russia and Listening to History

Even recent history is conveniently forgotten when it comes to blaming Russia for just about everything, as Ted Snider comments.

By Ted Snider

The prophet Cassandra’s curse was that when she told the future, no one listened. Many are cursed because they don’t listen to history either.

The West has no shortage of charges it hurls against Russia, but most of them can be grouped into one of three categories: that Russia intervened in the American elections, that Russia is dragging the world into a new cold war, and that Russia is becoming increasingly aggressive and expansionist. Sometimes when charges are brought against you, the best witness you can call to your defense is history.

Election Intervention

This history of Russia, America and political intervention begins right at the beginning of the Soviet Union. But, it was not the Soviet Union doing the interfering.

The story of America and the West’s interference in the birth of the Soviet Union is not well-known. It began with propaganda but metastasized well beyond words.
...
America would interfere more specifically in Russian elections upon the death of the Soviet Union. In late 1991, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin won a year of special powers from the Russian Parliament: for one year, he was to be, in effect, the dictator of Russia to facilitate the midwifery of the birth of a democratic Russia. In March of 1992, under pressure from a discontented population, parliament repealed the dictatorial powers it had granted him. Yeltsin responded by declaring a state of emergency, giving himself the repealed dictatorial powers. Russia’s Constitutional Court ruled that Yeltsin was acting outside the constitution. But the US sided – against the Russian people and against the Russian Constitutional Court – with Yeltsin.

Intoxicated with American support, Yeltsin dissolved the parliament that had rescinded his powers and abolished the constitution of which he was in violation. In a 636-2 vote, the Russian parliament impeached Yeltsin. But President Bill Clinton again sided with Yeltsin against the Russian people and Russian law, giving him $2.5 billion in aid. Clinton was interfering in the Russian people’s choice of leaders.
...
“Funded by the U.S. government,” Cohen reports, Americans “gave money to favored Russian politicians, instructed ministers, drafted legislation and presidential decrees, underwrote textbooks, and served at Yeltsin’s reelection headquarters in 1996.”
...
The two cases offered by the West in evidence of its claim that Russia is increasingly aggressive and expansionist were really specific defensive responses forced on Russia by Western expansionism that had taken earlier NATO expansionism too far. Charges that Russia “invaded” Ukraine have never be backed by evidence. According to German intelligence, the accusation was largely fabricated.

Like the charges against Russia of election interference and aggressive expansionism, both lack evidence. The charge of inciting a new cold war requires a blinding dose of hypocrisy and a strong case of historical amnesia. The witness that gives the defense the best chance of answering the charges is history itself. But, only if we listen.

Submitted by ggersh on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 3:58pm

If this doesn't say it all nothing will

@CB it fits clinton to a T.

The bolded part does seem to be what is being
carried out in amerika, no? GDP is nothing but
a made up number.

Clinton chose Yeltsin to pursue Russia’s interests—as determined by Washington—disregarding not only Yeltsin’s foreign policy objections, but also his corrupt and ineffective government, as well as his extremely unpopular economic policy. It is worth recalling here that the privatization program—that led to an enormous economic downturn in the GDP, a significant decline in the overall standard of living and to what leading U.S. expert on the Russian economy James Millar in 1996 called “a de facto fraud”—was carried out with the help of money from the U.S. government and international financial organizations under Washington’s control. The Russian Privatization Center headed by close Yeltsin associate Anatoly Chubais’ team, was funded by USAID, IBRD as well as the European Union and its individual members. Part of the funds reportedly funneled into Yeltsin’s election campaign. The entire story is described in the academic literature, and particularly in the book by Janine Wedel characteristically titled Collision and Collusion: A Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe

#1.1.1.1 constitution to enable their puppet, Yeltsin, to remain in power and give the presidency greater powers. They figured they would remain the puppet masters after Putin was nominated by Yeltsin and then elected six months later. By 2004 they realized their mistake when Putin played hardball with the US backed oligarchs who were pillaging Russia. He demanded three things from them - 1) stay out of politics, 2) pay their workers and 3)pay their taxes. Most of them fucked off with their ill-gotten gains to seek refuge in London and New York. Any who decided to fight Putin found themselves in Russian jails convicted of tax evasion, graft and fraud (and NOT on trumped up charges BTW). You can thank Bill Clinton and the short sighted greedy US establishment for giving Putin sufficient power to be able to pull the badly mauled Russian bear from the bloody claws of the American eagle. How the United States Got Russia Wrong February 1, 2019 The West today is paying for its collusion with Russia in the 1990s. ... Clinton chose Yeltsin to pursue Russia’s interests—as determined by Washington—disregarding not only Yeltsin’s foreign policy objections, but also his corrupt and ineffective government, as well as his extremely unpopular economic policy. It is worth recalling here that the privatization program—that led to an enormous economic downturn in the GDP, a significant decline in the overall standard of living and to what leading U.S. expert on the Russian economy James Millar in 1996 called “a de facto fraud”—was carried out with the help of money from the U.S. government and international financial organizations under Washington’s control. The Russian Privatization Center headed by close Yeltsin associate Anatoly Chubais’ team, was funded by USAID, IBRD as well as the European Union and its individual members. Part of the funds reportedly funneled into Yeltsin’s election campaign. The entire story is described in the academic literature, and particularly in the book by Janine Wedel characteristically titled Collision and Collusion: A Strange Case of Western Aid to Eastern Europe. ... [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7HwvFyMg7A]

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by Raggedy Ann on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 5:49am

At our university, in our program,

International Studies, students want to learn more about Russia, but we don't offer so much, and, in fact, much has been cut. By design? I don't know, but the interest us out there.

—

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Submitted by earthling1 on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 1:39pm

Nailed it, CB

@Raggedy Ann

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by kharma on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 6:56am

Putin is working his ass off

trying to remove the sanctions against Russia because they don't bother them. Got it.

—

There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties.. This...is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.--John Adams

Submitted by gjohnsit on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 8:29am

What part of this essay is untrue?

@kharma make your case

Submitted by eyo on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 8:57am

You can both be right

@gjohnsit thanks. Business is business, geopolitical. Why wouldn't they be trying to get the sanctions lifted? Exports make some folks millionaires so competition is still a thing. Russia seems aggressively looking for "partners" everywhere, with their own military superiority intact.

good luck

Submitted by gjohnsit on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 2:39pm

True

@eyo
The sanctions have heavy "opportunity costs". Who knows how much the Russian economy would have grown without sanctions?
Otherwise I stand by everything I said.

Submitted by Snode on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 9:17am

Mostly it's a response to Russias allies, I think

Russia has been developing relations with Venezuela, Iran and other countries not friendly with the US. Also supplying energy to the EU. Venezuela is starting to default on loans from Russia and the sanctions on Iran are binding their economy. Also some of the sanctions are targeted to individuals that head Russian industries to attempt to drive wedges between them and Putin. China and Russia have been investing in developing countries while the US is threatening or exploiting them.

Trump is making a mosh pit out of the Ukranian sanctions that Obama put in place, and the Capitalist party want continued. Still....no pee tape, no justice.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 10:10am

Enemy in common

@Snode

Russia has been developing relations with Venezuela, Iran and other countries not friendly with the US.

Well, sure. Our attempts at controlling China has pushed Russia and China together.

Venezuela is starting to default on loans from Russia and the sanctions on Iran are binding their economy.

Venezuela probably isn't going to make it, but Iran is like Russia - they know how to live under sanctions.

Submitted by bobswern on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 9:37am

It's a shame that U.S. voters "learn" so little from history...

Read the three links, herein.

"How U.S. Economic Warfare Provoked Japan’s Attack on Pearl Harbor." (For the record, I strongly disagree with many of this think tank's [The Independent Institute] policy positions; but the historical facts in this essay are an important/different take on the causes of Japan's entry into World War II.)

Then again, that's by design, isn't it?

Smedley Butler had it right, from the get-go.

The truth is staring us in the eye for all who wish to face it.

Rinse. Repeat.

—

"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 9:51am

Honestly, I trust a judoka more...

than a non-judoka. At least Putin can execute throws properly, and you can't just fake that. It takes a long time to get the moves down, and a lot of pain.

Plus we've got a lot of ethnic Orthodox Russians round here. I trust the people I live with more than people who claim I owe them anything, these days.

Yes I may sound a little bit like the judge...

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5u7yZiV3bI]

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by MrWebster on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 10:35am

Russiagate is also big bidness now.

Have said it before, lots of money to be made. Defense industry must be heaven now. The Norwegian lackey who is ahead of NATO said there was an increase of $100 billion in new spending. Best selling books, ratings nirvana, think tank appointments, and below, government grants for finding Russians everywhere.

Measles outbreak: Anti-vaccination misinformation fueled by Russian propagandists, study finds

“Compared with average users, Russian trolls, sophisticated bots and ‘content polluters’ tweeted about vaccination at higher rates,” the study concluded last fall. The research, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found that “[a]ccounts masquerading as legitimate users create false equivalency, eroding public consensus on vaccination.”

An example of a “disinformation” tweet: "Did you know there was a secret government database of #Vaccine-damaged child? #VaccinateUS."

The measles cases have hit mainly hit Oregon and WA, and this article comes out. I looked up the report and it is based on 899 tweets. Yup, 899 tweets "eroded the public consensus on vaccination." The Russians are messaging geniuses.

But to the main point, the study was funded by National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health. From what I can tell, part of the Russiagate Industry is people vying for grant monies. I have seen other studies funded by government grants/monies. The funding seems to be based on "Go Find Us Some Russians".

Submitted by Roy Blakeley on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 2:08pm

An important thing is that Russia is a Goldilocks enemy

@MrWebster The MIC always needs an enemy to justify our absurd military/security spending. Russia is a great enemy because they are militarily advanced enough to be perceived as a threat, but our trade links with them are not so important that we can't afford to cut them. Before 9/11 Dick Cheney was trying to stir up anti-China venom, but our trade ties with them are now too extensive to make them a full fledged bete noire.

Submitted by earthling1 on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 11:46am

We hate them

for their freedom.

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 11:51am

Who we, Tovarich?

@earthling1 [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgXlUxDGFvU]

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by earthling1 on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 12:04pm

Cool vid, DMW

@detroitmechworks
Arkona.
Was she bitchin' about the snow?

—

Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 4:31pm

izvinite, ya ne govorju po-russki

@earthling1 But my daughter wants to take it after french, so check back next year

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by Snode on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 7:49pm

On Napalm Records, natch.

@detroitmechworks The faces of the immortals (Liki Bessmertnykh Bogov) Stop, a blind eternity the truth! From the filthy reality I run away !

With prayer about life raising to an own shrine You look in a deep, in a veil of the dreams And in this oblivion of soul, in gray life confusion Mimes of immortal Idols will revive in a mind Where is the essence of this world?

A soul has been forgotten in spurious reality Stop eternity, truth is blind! I'm running from a reality in baseness In madness of night you see, how the old maid Will beckon you on the specified way But still again, having started, you will escape of this confine And reminiscence will raise that terrible essence As creeping serpent, touching invisible root

You had fallen in a void-like being of invisible darkness And here you're alone on open spaces of an immemorial shrine And in thoughts you will remember that has been sealed out by man Where is essence of this world? A soul has been forgotten in spurious reality

Stop eternity, truth is blind! From a reality in baseness, I'm running You thirst fire in a cold life That dies during this instant And again you will be shrouded by darkness – Fear before death by oblivion And at the crossing these roads Dream will silent by sorcery You will see the world of the dead You're in embraces of Mary Idol Stop eternity, truth is blind! From a reality in baseness I leave...

Submitted by Snode on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 7:53pm

Also a good book about

@Snode after the Soviet Union is "Travels in Siberia" by Ian Frazier. He learned Russian from scratch to make his dream come true.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 12:52pm

Outstanding comment! LOL

@earthling1

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by Bob In Portland on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 12:07pm

Wars and petroleum

You would hope that the American public would one day connect the dots. Fracking and the vast tar fields in the West have made the US the biggest producer of this stuff. Alas, where do we sell it?

I saw an article years ago about liquid natural gas terminals being built along the US's Atlantic Coast. Who were we supposed to sell it to? That explains the coup in Ukraine, not because Ukraine has much oil and gas deposits but because Russia's pipelines to Europe cross over Ukrainian territory.

In 2011 Syria agreed to a pipeline that would run from Iranian gas fields, through Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean where it would be shipped to Europe. Russia is building Nord 2 and the gasline through Turkey. All those pipelines would make selling American LNG, which would have to be shipped to Europe, financially too expensive and entirely uncompetitive. The 2011 war in Syria, financed in large part by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, effectively shut down the pipeline across Syria. The coup attempt in Turkey failed a couple of years ago, and despite US sanctions against Germany and other EU countries, Nord 2 is nearing completion.

This is hardball capitalism. Our military is Big Oil's enforcer. Even with the suppression of green alternatives the world is not at all in any kind of energy crisis, yet another hoax perpetrated on the world for decades by people connected with the energy business. When the US destroys a country with oil and gas, those industries go offline and in a crowed energy market the prices go up. If the US controls that country it controls the country's oil profits, much like a big criminal syndicate dips its beak into little syndicate's profits. Russia not only has plenty of oil and gas which can be delivered much more cheaply than the US, it's got plenty of customers.

This is why Russia is the major topic in the hate rooms we call the mainstream news. It isn't because they are communist, although there are plenty of right-wingers here in the US who still believe that. It is because they are winning the capitalist war by supplying energy far more cheaply than the US can.

Submitted by Snode on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 8:00pm

Yes

@Bob In Portland one of the first sanctions was on prohibition of sales on oil drilling and energy production equipment. That and sanctions on individuals heading the energy companies and their holdings. In capitalism, disruption is opportunity. When profits wane, shake things up. The cold war made money for the 1% back in the day too.

You would hope that the American public would one day connect the dots. Fracking and the vast tar fields in the West have made the US the biggest producer of this stuff. Alas, where do we sell it? I saw an article years ago about liquid natural gas terminals being built along the US's Atlantic Coast. Who were we supposed to sell it to? That explains the coup in Ukraine, not because Ukraine has much oil and gas deposits but because Russia's pipelines to Europe cross over Ukrainian territory. In 2011 Syria agreed to a pipeline that would run from Iranian gas fields, through Iraq and Syria to the Mediterranean where it would be shipped to Europe. Russia is building Nord 2 and the gasline through Turkey. All those pipelines would make selling American LNG, which would have to be shipped to Europe, financially too expensive and entirely uncompetitive. The 2011 war in Syria, financed in large part by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, effectively shut down the pipeline across Syria. The coup attempt in Turkey failed a couple of years ago, and despite US sanctions against Germany and other EU countries, Nord 2 is nearing completion. This is hardball capitalism. Our military is Big Oil's enforcer. Even with the suppression of green alternatives the world is not at all in any kind of energy crisis, yet another hoax perpetrated on the world for decades by people connected with the energy business. When the US destroys a country with oil and gas, those industries go offline and in a crowed energy market the prices go up. If the US controls that country it controls the country's oil profits, much like a big criminal syndicate dips its beak into little syndicate's profits. Russia not only has plenty of oil and gas which can be delivered much more cheaply than the US, it's got plenty of customers. This is why Russia is the major topic in the hate rooms we call the mainstream news. It isn't because they are communist, although there are plenty of right-wingers here in the US who still believe that. It is because they are winning the capitalist war by supplying energy far more cheaply than the US can.

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 12:39pm

I blame the Democrats

with their "Trump is a Russian Agent" nonsense. They drive this hard and so Trump has to disprove it by being tough on Russia. Meanwhile China absorbs more and more control over the US economy as the traitors in boardrooms everywhere outsource more and more.

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by Bob In Portland on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 2:37pm

What happened to the Democratic Party?

@The Voice In the Wilderness What happened to the Democratic Party can be traced back to the sixties. With the Kennedy-King threats resolved the CIA (our government's secret police in the service of the oligarchs) knew that honest elections with candidates who actually delivered on promises had to be removed from the picture. Some of that was done with money, which is part of the first hurdle. But along the way from 1963 to today there have been a few scandals, real or not-so-real, to be used against candidates actually independent of the Deep State. By the time we get to Bill Clinton and the DLC the Dems were controlled. If you look at all he did in office, militarize local police, expand the drug war, free Wall Street from all sorts of legal burdens, free trade et al, Bill was the best Republican President the Deep State ever had. The CIA had grown out of the old OSS, which was filled with Wall Street bankers who actually looked at Nazi Germany as a good trading partner. The CIA inherited the old Gehlen Org, the Nazi intelligence network now behind the Iron Curtain. Oglesby estimated that 20% of the CIA at its creation were stone Nazis and fascists in Europe and the USSR. Back in the US, following the successful Operation Paperclip (importing Nazi scientists and doctors) the CIA initiated the Crusade For Freedom, a fake grass roots effort to import anti-Communist "freedom fighters". That is, more Nazis and fascists. What's interesting is that it was watched over by then-Vice President Richard Nixon. And their spokesman? Why it was Ronald Reagan, fresh from his gig of ruining lives in Hollywood. So our secret history includes one party and two Presidents who secretly imported Nazis into America.

There is an interesting edition of the old Covert Action Information Bulletin which documents the work of the CIA, USAID and other government agencies in the post-Warsaw Pact Eastern Europe. The Republicans had their ethnic heritage outreach wing of their party. Soon thereafter, when the Clintons took over, a lot of this work passed to the Democrats. The 2014 coup in Ukraine was directed by Hillary Clinton's State Department (I know, she left in 2012 but her people stayed on). It put into power the same movement of fascists that helped the Nazis ethnically cleanse that country.

I suspect, looking at their histories, that Bill and Hillary were both CIA, recruited in the late sixties before, at least per their public biographies, they even met. Because of the takeover of the Democratic Party by the intelligence wing of the Deep State we had over fifty identifiable candidates in the 2018 primaries who were identified as military, State Department, CIA or otherwise Deep Staters.

That's why the "centrist" Dems are running with the intelligence okeydoke that is Russiagate. And that's why I have little faith that either of the two parties will ever give us more social or financial democracy at home, or less war abroad.

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 6:38pm

I wonder

@Bob In Portland
Is that how Bill got his deferment? by agreeing to infiltrate the anti-war movement? Already being groomed as a fake Leftie?

#11 What happened to the Democratic Party can be traced back to the sixties. With the Kennedy-King threats resolved the CIA (our government's secret police in the service of the oligarchs) knew that honest elections with candidates who actually delivered on promises had to be removed from the picture. Some of that was done with money, which is part of the first hurdle. But along the way from 1963 to today there have been a few scandals, real or not-so-real, to be used against candidates actually independent of the Deep State. By the time we get to Bill Clinton and the DLC the Dems were controlled. If you look at all he did in office, militarize local police, expand the drug war, free Wall Street from all sorts of legal burdens, free trade et al, Bill was the best Republican President the Deep State ever had. The CIA had grown out of the old OSS, which was filled with Wall Street bankers who actually looked at Nazi Germany as a good trading partner. The CIA inherited the old Gehlen Org, the Nazi intelligence network now behind the Iron Curtain. Oglesby estimated that 20% of the CIA at its creation were stone Nazis and fascists in Europe and the USSR. Back in the US, following the successful Operation Paperclip (importing Nazi scientists and doctors) the CIA initiated the Crusade For Freedom, a fake grass roots effort to import anti-Communist "freedom fighters". That is, more Nazis and fascists. What's interesting is that it was watched over by then-Vice President Richard Nixon. And their spokesman? Why it was Ronald Reagan, fresh from his gig of ruining lives in Hollywood. So our secret history includes one party and two Presidents who secretly imported Nazis into America. There is an interesting edition of the old Covert Action Information Bulletin which documents the work of the CIA, USAID and other government agencies in the post-Warsaw Pact Eastern Europe. The Republicans had their ethnic heritage outreach wing of their party. Soon thereafter, when the Clintons took over, a lot of this work passed to the Democrats. The 2014 coup in Ukraine was directed by Hillary Clinton's State Department (I know, she left in 2012 but her people stayed on). It put into power the same movement of fascists that helped the Nazis ethnically cleanse that country. I suspect, looking at their histories, that Bill and Hillary were both CIA, recruited in the late sixties before, at least per their public biographies, they even met. Because of the takeover of the Democratic Party by the intelligence wing of the Deep State we had over fifty identifiable candidates in the 2018 primaries who were identified as military, State Department, CIA or otherwise Deep Staters. That's why the "centrist" Dems are running with the intelligence okeydoke that is Russiagate. And that's why I have little faith that either of the two parties will ever give us more social or financial democracy at home, or less war abroad.

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by Bob In Portland on Thu, 02/14/2019 - 11:15am

@The Voice In the Wilderness He certainly was

@The Voice In the Wilderness He certainly was concerned about his deferment. He went to Cambridge on his Fulbright scholarship, hung out around the anti-war movement and then went back home. His classmates thought he was CIA. That was about the last time anyone remembered him associating with the anti-war movement.

Submitted by Snode on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 8:05pm

Either that

@Bob In Portland or the Clintons were just low life social climbing 1% wannabees, flitting around the lucre bushes and recruiting drones.

#11 What happened to the Democratic Party can be traced back to the sixties. With the Kennedy-King threats resolved the CIA (our government's secret police in the service of the oligarchs) knew that honest elections with candidates who actually delivered on promises had to be removed from the picture. Some of that was done with money, which is part of the first hurdle. But along the way from 1963 to today there have been a few scandals, real or not-so-real, to be used against candidates actually independent of the Deep State. By the time we get to Bill Clinton and the DLC the Dems were controlled. If you look at all he did in office, militarize local police, expand the drug war, free Wall Street from all sorts of legal burdens, free trade et al, Bill was the best Republican President the Deep State ever had. The CIA had grown out of the old OSS, which was filled with Wall Street bankers who actually looked at Nazi Germany as a good trading partner. The CIA inherited the old Gehlen Org, the Nazi intelligence network now behind the Iron Curtain. Oglesby estimated that 20% of the CIA at its creation were stone Nazis and fascists in Europe and the USSR. Back in the US, following the successful Operation Paperclip (importing Nazi scientists and doctors) the CIA initiated the Crusade For Freedom, a fake grass roots effort to import anti-Communist "freedom fighters". That is, more Nazis and fascists. What's interesting is that it was watched over by then-Vice President Richard Nixon. And their spokesman? Why it was Ronald Reagan, fresh from his gig of ruining lives in Hollywood. So our secret history includes one party and two Presidents who secretly imported Nazis into America. There is an interesting edition of the old Covert Action Information Bulletin which documents the work of the CIA, USAID and other government agencies in the post-Warsaw Pact Eastern Europe. The Republicans had their ethnic heritage outreach wing of their party. Soon thereafter, when the Clintons took over, a lot of this work passed to the Democrats. The 2014 coup in Ukraine was directed by Hillary Clinton's State Department (I know, she left in 2012 but her people stayed on). It put into power the same movement of fascists that helped the Nazis ethnically cleanse that country. I suspect, looking at their histories, that Bill and Hillary were both CIA, recruited in the late sixties before, at least per their public biographies, they even met. Because of the takeover of the Democratic Party by the intelligence wing of the Deep State we had over fifty identifiable candidates in the 2018 primaries who were identified as military, State Department, CIA or otherwise Deep Staters. That's why the "centrist" Dems are running with the intelligence okeydoke that is Russiagate. And that's why I have little faith that either of the two parties will ever give us more social or financial democracy at home, or less war abroad.

Submitted by Bob In Portland on Thu, 02/14/2019 - 11:38am

It depends on how you define lowlife

@Snode Well, the best way for lowlife wannabes to become successful is to work for the winners. And if you look at the Clintons' political lives you see that they talked a good game of liberalism while essentially serving the interests of the Deep State, especially the CIA. When Clinton was Governor of Arkansas he overlooked the duffel bags of cocaine coming in on Southern Air Transport planes to Mena. Less reported in the rightwing press was that the federal prosecutor in the area that covered Mena was Asa Hutchinson. If that name is familiar he was Dubya's first "drug czar" a little later in his career (last I saw he was filling Clinton's old seat in the governor's mansion). That is, while Barry Seal was showing off a "get out of jail" letter signed by Bill Clinton to his pals and making calls to Vice President GHW Bush's private phone line, Asa Hutchinson managed to miss all that. And when Robert Swan Mueller III prosecuted John Gotti for cocaine distribution, Mueller also managed to not go to "Mena".

So the two may have been lowlifes, whatever that would mean, but they were lowlifes who quickly moved up the ladder. Their MO was to spout liberal talking points that didn't involve profit or big-time corruption. Hillary's stint on the Walmart board says more about her intentions than any photo ops with black women or ripping off the "it takes a village" meme. Bill's trade deals, increased drug war and mandatory sentencing, his deregulation of Wall Street as well as his fascist war in Yugoslavia all point to their actual motives. Follow THEIR money.

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Thu, 02/14/2019 - 1:38pm

Very worthwhile comments

@Bob In Portland . Very illuminating. Thanks.

Submitted by The Wizard on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 12:38pm

Other countries should ask for US sanctions

Russia's story is one of amazing success. They have almost no debt, a net positive balance of trade with China and Germany which are growing by leaps and bounds. They had a large federal surplus this past year. They are the number one producers and exporters of wheat. Elvira Nabiullina is a Russian economist and head of the Central Bank of Russia. She continues to get accolades for the performance of the bank and the economy. Russia's economy is being prepared for very large, sustained growth in the 2020s, that's what this is all about. Russia just finished running the best Soccer World Cup in history, across 11 cities. There is nothing that the West can do to Russia, except look on in admiration. Most if not all Western states have disastrous economies, with massive debt and balance of trade deficits. Russia's economy is now largely decoupled from the West. When we crash, she will do just fine.

And no, President Putin is not begging to have the sanctions lifted, not even asking. If you think that, then you know nothing about him or Russia. Underneath all of these sanctions there are actually good trading relations with many nations of the EU, especially Germany, who has invested over 2 Billion Euros inside of Russia last year building new factories. Italy has no interest in continuing the sanctions. Expect to see considerable disagreement and arm twisting within the EU this year. Again, Russia is not going to ask. Many within Russia do not want to see the sanctions lifted as the internal response to develop self sufficient industries has been spectacularly successful, and opening trade will hurt some of these sectors. It has also forced Russia to develop global trade outside of the West, which is the vast majority of the peoples of the world.

Before drawing any conclusions about Russia you need to study Russian history. The Great Patriotic War (WWII) lives on in their souls and the Russian Motherland is a real thing for them. They are wicked smart, competent, love their country and their President. I believe that most Americans don't have a clue as to the real nature of Russia, being bombarded by constant Russophobia in the media and from their politicians who have many different axes to grind. The good news is that Russia is extremely moderate, mature, and reasonable as opposed to the West, and that gives me hope.

—

Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

Submitted by divineorder on Fri, 02/15/2019 - 12:12pm

One thing I learned when working with Citizens Diplomacy

@The Wizard efforts to end the nuclear arms race back in the 80's is that the Russians are highly educated, strategic thinkers, and are in it for the long game, planning it always two or three moves ahead.

Russia's story is one of amazing success. They have almost no debt, a net positive balance of trade with China and Germany which are growing by leaps and bounds. They had a large federal surplus this past year. They are the number one producers and exporters of wheat. Elvira Nabiullina is a Russian economist and head of the Central Bank of Russia. She continues to get accolades for the performance of the bank and the economy. Russia's economy is being prepared for very large, sustained growth in the 2020s, that's what this is all about. Russia just finished running the best Soccer World Cup in history, across 11 cities. There is nothing that the West can do to Russia, except look on in admiration. Most if not all Western states have disastrous economies, with massive debt and balance of trade deficits. Russia's economy is now largely decoupled from the West. When we crash, she will do just fine. And no, President Putin is not begging to have the sanctions lifted, not even asking. If you think that, then you know nothing about him or Russia. Underneath all of these sanctions there are actually good trading relations with many nations of the EU, especially Germany, who has invested over 2 Billion Euros inside of Russia last year building new factories. Italy has no interest in continuing the sanctions. Expect to see considerable disagreement and arm twisting within the EU this year. Again, Russia is not going to ask. Many within Russia do not want to see the sanctions lifted as the internal response to develop self sufficient industries has been spectacularly successful, and opening trade will hurt some of these sectors. It has also forced Russia to develop global trade outside of the West, which is the vast majority of the peoples of the world. Before drawing any conclusions about Russia you need to study Russian history. The Great Patriotic War (WWII) lives on in their souls and the Russian Motherland is a real thing for them. They are wicked smart, competent, love their country and their President. I believe that most Americans don't have a clue as to the real nature of Russia, being bombarded by constant Russophobia in the media and from their politicians who have many different axes to grind. The good news is that Russia is extremely moderate, mature, and reasonable as opposed to the West, and that gives me hope.

—

A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.