Both parties are pushing Russia Gate
Russia-gate’s Monstrous Offspring
Americans used to think that Russia-gate was about a plot to hack the 2016 election. They were wrong. Russia-gate is really about an immense conspiracy to do four things:
No. 1: Ratchet up tensions with Russia to ever more dangerous levels;
No. 2: Show that Democrats are even more useless than people imagined;
No. 3: Persecute Julian Assange;
No. 4: Re-elect Donald Trump as president.
This was the takeaway from Mitch McConnell’s devastating “case closed” speech last week in which the Senate majority leader jeered at President Barack Obama for mocking Mitt Romney’s claim (seven years ago now) that Russia was America’s “number one geopolitical foe.” As Obama famously replied during that presidential debate: “The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because the Cold War’s been over for 20 years.”
But that was so 2012. Now, says McConnell, it looks like Romney was right:
“We’d have been better off if the administration hadn’t swept [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s invasion and occupation of Georgia under the rug or looked away as Russia forced out western NGO’s and cracked down on civil society. If President Obama hadn’t let Assad trample his red line in Syria or embraced Putin’s fake deal on chemical weapons, if the Obama administration had responded firmly to Putin’s invasion and occupation of Ukraine in 2014, to the assassination of Boris Nemtsov in 2015, and to Russia intervention in Syria — maybe stronger leadership would have left the Kremlin less emboldened, maybe tampering with our democracy wouldn’t have seemed so very tempting.
“Instead,” McConnell went on, “the previous administration sent the Kremlin a signal they could get away with almost anything, almost anything. So is it surprising that we got the brazen interference detailed in special counsel Mueller’s report?”
Lies and Distortions
Like so much out of Congress these days, this was a farrago of lies and distortions. It wasn’t Moscow that started the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, but Tbilisi. While Russia has indeed cracked down on U.S.-backed NGO’s, Washington has done the same by forcing Russia’s highly successful news agency RT to register as a foreign agent and by sentencing Maria Butina, a Russian national studying at American University, to 18 months in prison for the crime of hobnobbing with members of the National Rifle Association. The charge that Syrian President Bashar al Assad “trampled” Obama’s red line by using chemical weapons is hardly as clear-cut as imperial propagandists like to believe – to say the least – while the agreement between Putin and former Secretary of State John Kerry to rid Syria of chemical weapons was not fake at all, but an example, increasingly rare unfortunately, of diplomacy being used to prevent an international crisis from getting out of hand.
....
Simultaneously, it backfires on Democrats by making them look weak and foolish as they argue that even though the Mueller report says “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government,” somehow “significant evidence of collusion” still exists, as an increasingly unhinged Rep. Adam Schiff maintains. In the Alice-in-Wonderland world of congressional Democrats, no evidence does not mean no evidence. In fact, it means the opposite.
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Democrats Feed the Super HawksThe result: a Democratic consensus that Russia can’t be trusted and that America must put itself on a war footing to prevent Putin from “toppl[ing] the mighty oak that has been our republic for two hundred years,” as Schumer put it. It’s an across-the-board agreement that the long-awaited Mueller report has only strengthened by regurgitating the intelligence-community line that “[t]he Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion” and then cherry-picking the facts to fit its preconceived thesis. (See “Top Ten Questions About the Mueller Report,” May 6.)
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Assange Convicted in Eyes of PressThen there’s Julian Assange, currently serving a 50-week sentence in a supermax prison outside of London after being ejected from the Ecuadorian Embassy. By claiming that the WikiLeaks founder was “dissembling” by denying that Russia was the source of the mammoth Democratic National Committee leak in July 2016, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has effectively convicted him in the eyes of Congress and the press.
The New York Times thus reports that Mueller has “revealed” that Russian intelligence was the source while, in a venomous piece by Middlebury College professor Allison Stanger, The Washington Post declared that Assange “is neither whistleblower nor journalist,” but someone who helped Russian intelligence interfere in “the American electoral process.”
Now that Julian Assange has been arrested, I hope he will soon be held to account for his meddling in our elections on behalf of Putin and the Russian government.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 11, 2019
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia declared that “[i]t will be really good to get him back on United States soil [so] we can get the facts and the truth from him.” source
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Assange languishing behind bars, war breaking out in Latin America or the Persian Gulf, Trump in the Oval Office for four years more – it’s the worst of all possible worlds, and the Democratic Party’s bizarre fixation with Vladimir Putin is what’s pushing it.
Ultimately, Russia-gate is yet a variation on the tired old theme of American innocence. If something goes wrong, it can’t be the fault of decent Americans who, as we all know, are too good for our deeply flawed world. Rather, it must be the fault of dastardly foreigners trying to hack our democracy. It’s a deep-rooted form of xenophobia that has fueled everything from the criminalization of marijuana (smuggled in by evil Mexicans) to the 1950s Red Scare (a reaction to Communism smuggled in by evil Russians), and the war on terrorism (the work of evil Muslims). The idea that America may in anyway be responsible for its own fate is of course unthinkable.
Who will be the beneficiary of this two year massive psyops of propaganda that Americans have been hammered with?
What will America look like at the end of 6 more years of Trump giving the rich and the corporations everything they want? I think we can imagine can't we?
Comments
The Democrats played a dangerous game and lost
By screaming Russiagate to terminate Trump's presidency the Democrats legitimized Russophobia. Now the Republicans are going to run with Russophobia and the Democrats can't say a thing against it and the MSM will not print the truth. Everything, yes everything, that McConnell said was a lie. But who is going to point this out? Not the Democrats not the MSM. The Republicans will now turn this against the Democrats.
The really good news, though, is that Russia and China are finally getting their act together as allies against the West. On top of this the US has gone way too far with it's anger, sanctions, and threatening war. People around the world are taking notice. Russia and China have mature, stable intelligent leadership that can form a uniform opposition to the US. I expect this to strengthen by an order of magnitude over the next few years. I expect Europe to remove all sanctions against Russia and start to relate to Russia in a mature mutually beneficial way. Germany will finish Nord Stream II. By the end of the year Russia will have turned on three new pipelines, Nord Stream II, Turkstream, and the Power of Siberia to China. Russian gas will be powering a large part of Eurasia. The German response to US demands is that they need a cost-effective, reliable source of gas into the future. US LNG is neither. Good trade makes for good partners.
In the meanwhile,back to my original point, in the US, both parties, will be screaming Russophobia, at the top of their lungs, each trying to "get" the other party and worsen relations with Russia. The next two years will be very dangerous as the US loses battle after battle, and becomes more isolated and strident. I'm coming around to the view that Tulsi is our best chance at a decent outcome to these geopolitical problems. How do we move her candidacy to better visibility?
Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.
Great comment!
...and thanks for the essay too, SD.
Jimmy reviews the never ending Russia narrative in his live show this week.
Media Having Mental Breakdown Over Mueller Report's Conclusion (Live From Burbank Ca.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3nLTYzdq-4 (8 min)
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Jimmy Dore
I went to the Jimmy Dore Comedy Show at the Ventura Comedy Club. He's even better in person when you hear more of his off the cuff comments. He's the real deal. He has a very complete understanding of the current political situation. He's a national treasure. It was a great experience to be with him, his group of comedian friends and an audience that is politically conscious. We, in the audience, all compared notes as how hard it was to talk to other friends about current politics, as the general level of political awareness is so low that one cannot just talk about reality, but just proceed slowly. The brainwashing of America has been going on for so long and is so complete that there is a high wall between the people of the country and reality.
Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.
I bet that was fun
Jimmy MCed one of Tulsi's CA events. Don't know that he has endorsed anyone as he is so understandably anti-dim.
The live show is a different vibe from the garage taping. Take care!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
It is very very hard to be put in this position:
If the remedy for the dangerous and preposterous delusions of the brainwashing that American's have received at the hands of the media monopoly collaborators working with the Deep State... if the antidote were as simple as the poison to administer... if the obvious truth could cut through the cognitive binding of the lies that occupy their minds — then we could breathe again. We would be part of a nation where such conversations could be had. What a relief it would be to simply deal with the physical reality of what actually took place, and make sensible plans for the future.
But seeing what I see, I would rather not try at all. I cannot metabolize their fevered delusions, and I am tired of care-giving to them like special-needs adults who are permitted to vote.
These conformists have turned us into aliens in our own nation. The real government with the real power created these blinkered humans, who happily cheer for war and for the downgrading of their own lives. The real government is on their side, of course, and they will not put up with the likes of Jimmy Dore for long. Their acceptance of the dystopia has now reached a pitch where the "government" finally feels free to step on Julian Assange — who Empowers People with the Truth — and silence him.
They will quietly pick the rest of us off, and our delusional friends will cheer and cheer.
So true.
These conformists have turned us into aliens in our own nation. The real government with the real power created these blinkered humans, who happily cheer for war and for the downgrading of their own lives.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Here then is a lesson in safe logic...
Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, i'm a liberal
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
That's perfect.
Thanks.
Expect to see a lot more of this:
Tulsi Gabbard’s Campaign Is Being Boosted by Putin Apologists
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Who?
Everything, yes everything, that McConnell said was a lie. But who is going to point this out?
We will.
Verum usque in sempiternum
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Once again, the Dems are the Washington Generals
How can anyone continue to doubt that this is by design? How can anyone continue to think this “opposition party” is going to do anything other than advance the wishes of TPTB? Or is this more 11th dimension chess/winning by losing garbage? If the Republicans are on board with Russiagate, doesn’t that mean the Dems have to be against it now? Sheesh.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
The dems have whiplashed
so many times on so many issues, they just don't know where to go anymore. Their heads fell off their bodies and are rolling around on the floor.
dfarrah
Nope, just like they support Trump's war in Venezuela.
We hate Trump except when it's time to give him massive surveillance powers or invade a foreign nation.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
America has nothing left of the Post War era except
Cold War paranoia and bipartisan hatred for Russia.
brazen interference detailed in special counsel Mueller’s report
How about making that report public so we can see that "brazen interference" from the Russian government? Because all that I have seen is a few Russian businesses that ran Facebook ads.
And I assure you, I am no friend of Putin. I regard him as the murderer of Russian democracy, an unreformed GRU General, and an enemy of the United States.
But that doesn't mean that I will tolerate lies about him.
"In War, Truth is the first casualty."
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Respectfully disagree about President Putin
I first traveled to Russia about 5 years ago. One of my goals was to talk to as many Russians as I could, to find out how they really feel about politics. I expected to hear negative things about Putin. Not so, in fact I didn't hear anything negative, except that some people felt that he had been in office too long. Their attitude was enormous respect for him and appreciation for what he had done for Russia. I was shocked, having heard all of the negativism in the MSM. Last year he polled at about an 85 percent approval rating. That was real, and not a product of brainwashing. Russians have access to worldwide news and they read it. Gorbachev has stated that there would be no Russia today if it was not for Putin. No wonder the neocons hate him. The US does not hesitate to bring the enormous propaganda machine down on anyone who they don't like.
There is no pro-Western political party of any consequence in Russia today. The term for these people is "Liberal" and they are thoroughly hated in Russia. The question asked of them is "why do you hate Russia". They poll at about 1%. The Western media fantasizes that pro Westerners are popular purveyors of democracy, and are Putin's major opponents. This is not true by about two orders of magnitude. I would say that the last Presidential election in Russia was far more democratic than the 2016 joke of an election in the US. Russians had a huge choice of candidates, including a businessman running under the Communist Party. It just so happened that no one could hold a candle to Vladimir V Putin.
So having heard from Russians as to how they really feel, I decided I had better listen to every conference and speech given by President Putin. He is truly an amazing leader, probably the only world class statesman of the 21st century. He's smart, educated to the smallest historical details, moderate, diplomatic, speaks well and dearly loves Russia. He also tells the truth when it hurts. He handled the Kursk submarine disaster by speaking plainly and truthfully to the relatives of the victims. He was respected for that. It's impossible for me, just one person, to undo the enormous damage by lies from the Western MSM, but I'm glad to add my experience to the conversation.
Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.
I once told friends I would trade Putin for Trump ....
however they reacted badly. Of course these are the same friends that think Julian should be prosecuted. Such blindness.
Music is what binds that group....at least it is something to hold in common.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS5_EQgbuLc]
Perhaps the Beatles influenced the collapse of the USSR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sw6OCDiKLQ (15 min part 1 of 4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNtGbnJb0ks (15 min part 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc_ZyVcJ6bY (1`5 min part 3)
I couldn't find part 4
I have wanted to make this film for years, and the finished documentary, crammed with bizarre archive and improbable tribute bands, is even wilder and more surprising than I'd anticipated How The Beatles Rocked The Kremlin has been fun to make. But along the way, it also tells the unknown story of a revolution which helped to change a superpower.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
That was my experience in Russia last year.
I think Putin is the world leader completely leading the pack.
And my admiration for Russians, for Russia, knows no bounds.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I disagree with you, but blessings on you
for respecting the truth. Wow, rational disagreement that values truth--almost an extinct phenomenon around this country.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Incredible, isn't it!
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
How much more "firmly" could Obama have responded
to the situation in the Ukraine? Didn't we put, basically, a U.S./Western European puppet government in control of a country right up in Russia's grill? Didn't we establish a far-right government there, one which increased the power of a political party headed by an actual Nazi? (That party, as I understand it, did not become the governing party, but as our ally, they helped us oust Yanukovych, and their power increased in the aftermath, as did the power of neo-Nazi forces generally in the Ukraine). Isn't Ukraine at the moment in the hands of people whose rhetoric against Russia is unfailingly bellicose? Didn't Obama actually build up troops on Russia's western border, including German troops? You'd be hard put to it to find a more incendiary thing to do to the Russian people, or government, than to put German troops on their border, and anybody who doesn't know that has no business in foreign policy; I conclude that Obama, John Kerry, and the others involved in crafting U.S. foreign policy certainly knew it. The only reason Russia hasn't actively gone to war with us is that they are still cognizant of the principle of mutually assured destruction--well, that, and Russia hates world war, having lost 26 million people the last time they were involved in one.
None of this should be understood as my defense of Yanukovych as a wonderful leader, or of Russia, which is a petro-empire apparently with rampant homophobia. But Russia does have one great quality: they don't want a nuclear war. Low bar, I know, but those are the times we're living in. And, for what it's worth, Putin and Lavrov have handled the tense and dangerous relationship with the U.S. quite well.
I'd like to know what Mitch McConnell's hard line would have been. Staging an invasion?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver