A Timeline of CIA attrocities
CIA operations follow the same recurring script. First, American business interests abroad are threatened by a popular or democratically elected leader. The people support their leader because he intends to conduct land reform, strengthen unions, redistribute wealth, nationalize foreign-owned industry, and regulate business to protect workers, consumers and the environment. So, on behalf of American business, and often with their help, the CIA mobilizes the opposition.
I am cross-posting this from JPR, because it hits so close to home, for me. Bottom line, when CIA manipulation fails, they call in the military to overthrow the dictator they have installed. I participated in two of those operations, against Manuel Noriega and Saddam Hussein, and saw firsthand the truth of this statement:
Often the newly installed dictator grows comfortable with the security apparatus the CIA has built for him. He becomes an expert at running a police state. And because the dictator knows he cannot be overthrown, he becomes independent and defiant of Washington’s will. The CIA then finds it cannot overthrow him, because the police and military are under the dictator’s control, afraid to cooperate with American spies for fear of torture and execution. The only two options for the U.S at this point are impotence or war. Examples of this “boomerang effect” include the Shah of Iran, General Noriega and Saddam Hussein.
The last line of that paragraph is especially insightful, so I separated it to stand on it's own:
The boomerang effect also explains why the CIA has proven highly successful at overthrowing democracies, but a wretched failure at overthrowing dictatorships.
This video gives a concise history of the (most recent) invasion of Panama:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwG8RbiHFGA]
The rest of the article quoted is an excellent timeline, both for understanding our history in greater detail, and also for showing your friends and relatives what we have been doing all along. Great material for future reference.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/a-timeline-of-cia-atrocities/5348804
Near the bottom, there is another "money" quote:
In a speech before the CIA celebrating its 50th anniversary, President Clinton said: “By necessity, the American people will never know the full story of your courage.”
Clinton’s is a common defense of the CIA: namely, the American people should stop criticizing the CIA because they don’t know what it really does. This, of course, is the heart of the problem in the first place.
Comments
How different would the world be?
You know, if 'Murica had simply let other countries decide how they want to run their own affairs in the first place, we'd all probably be a lot better off.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Buenos morning Bisbonian.
Did you catch Bernie's speech introducing his War Powers Resolution ? I believe it was the first time I've heard inflight refueling mentioned as an act of war. That sort of activity rarely appears in the public discussion.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
I HAVEN'T seen that,
. Going for a read, now...that sounds interesting.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Yep,
, he basically reiterated it twice. I totally agree...no one else ever wants to acknowledge such things. Reminds me of the fact that I was never "in combat", because, even though I was shot at nightly over Iraq, I couldn't shoot back! (Well, if I had opened the cockpit window, I could have fired a few rounds from my 38 revolver...) Just as well, as far as I am concerned.
And buenos afternoons to you.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
US and EU MSM has been completely compromised by the CIA
This had started in the post war era and continues to this very day.
Obama has now effectively legalized propaganda to be disseminated by domestic media:
We are now seeing this being done in the current campaign denigrating Putin/Russia and blaming everything on their influence. The massive effect this had on herding (literally) American and European mind-set and opinion is staggering.
It's almost like there's an experiment going on to test how far people's irrational beliefs can be pushed before they begin to realize they're being punked.
We've always had propaganda but never as pervasive and scientifically applied as we now have. The MSM has, for the most part, gone over to the dark side. Even once independent thinking blogs are falling, one by one, under the spell of this insidious virus.
Our society is now completely convinced of crimes that have never actually occurred and for which there is absolutely no proof. Just a pervasive cacophony of media messaging. We are bombing and killing innocent people in foreign nations because we have been led to believe that crimes have been committed for which, again, there is no proof. All this despite the fact that there is actual proof and reasonable logic which tells us that such crimes did NOT, in fact, occur.
It's fucking madness, and if it continues along this same arc, things will not end well.
Exactly why I posted this,
,
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
In the order of things that make me apoplectic
This is number one. Yes, greed drives their evil intent, but it's more than that. They are appropriating every corner of what was once trusted information sources, and turning it against the people they are intended to protect in the most insidious way.
What they are doing physically pains me and the repercussions of a psy-ops campaign with this kind of reach is beyond our imagination.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
From my own perspective
I think they're doing what you highlighted. But then again, maybe that is only because I am on this site and I read what I do. But it sure feels like what our owners are doing - throw a bunch of shit, whatever sticks go with it and if that doesn't continue to stick find another bunch of shit to throw.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
As far as the MSM yep it's not a problem
as the CEO is most happy to cash in their stock options
for the good of the country, but my guess and it's just a
guess is the the "once independent thinking blogs" were
given the dubya warning, "you're either with us or against us"
so take the money and roll over, you won't like the alternative.
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
I don't think Saddam defied the US. He asked us if we'd
mind if he invaded Kuwait. We told him his borders were his business, then warred against him when he proceeded.
He was a bully with his constituents, but not when it came to us. He knew he was no match for us. That's why, when we invaded, he made no attempt to fight back with his military, but ran to a hidey hole in the ground. I think reasons other than his defiance prompted 43 to invade. We may never know all of them.
I am ashamed to admit that I don't know all that much about Noriega or the Shah, except that they would have been fools to think they could defeat us.
I saw quite an effort to fight back
, to include SCUD attacks into Saudi Arabia, and one small military advance across that border. Lots and lots of AAA, minefields laid, Republican Guards dug in. But you're right, it wasn't his defiance that got him removed...he walked right into the trap set for him, in our promise to look the other way if he invaded Kuwait. (This was all in 90-91. He was then painted as a probable aggressor in 2003, leading to the repeated invasion.)
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Immediately after 911, a US govt official said Saddam
was responsible. No qualifiers.
It was by satellite. There was a build up to it, as in, they'd just learned a government official had something to report, they were setting up the link, yadda yadda.
Peter Jennings asked her how she knew it was Saddam and, incredibly she had no answer. She went, "Beeeeeeeeeecawwwwwwwwzzzzzzzzz, who else would do such a thing?" Just like that, no exaggeration.
It was so obviously bs that Jennings cut her mike and that was the extent of the "interview." This was the week right after 911 when the news was on 24/7 but anchors were desperate for something to report and people to interview to fill time, but no one knew anything. Yet, he cut off a government official because he was too much of a pro to let her try to hoodwink the American viewing public.
Saddam did get the okay for Kuwait
Bush one said that he would look the other way if he did. Surprise! Next thing we know was "babies were being thrown out of incubators" by a Kuwaiti woman who was never in Kuwait, she was in New York when that supposedly happened.
But what was one of the most heinous war crimes was when the Iraqi army was heading home with a miles long convoy. We bombed the first and last vehicle so that they had nowhere to go and our jets flew for over an hour and bombed the army. Defenseless men were murdered by us and yet no one heard about it for years. At least I didn't know about for that long. Bastard George Bush Sr.!
And you're right about how the Iraq war was planned before 9/11 happened. Right after it did, Wesley Clark was at the pentagon and he ran into a general who took him into his office and said that they had already decided to go to war. A few days after this he again was told that they had planned to "take out 5 countries in 7 years" Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya and finally the biggest one, Iran! That people can easily plan to kill people for no other reason than resources has to be the most heinous act that humans can do. War for profits is also heinous. This is what this country has been doing since its inception. Starting with the Native Americans! History will not be kind to us if humanity even survives this country.
The Washington Generals should probably sue the Democrats for copyright infringement.
P.S. When I referred to his hiding when we invaded, I
was referring to our post 911 invasion.
There were a number of things, the nexus of which,
spelled Iraq's doom (as well as the doom of six other nations spelled out by General Wesley Clark).
The war between Iraq and Iran had ended. This war was partly instigated, encouraged and assisted by Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US. It's purpose was to destroy or in the least weaken both nations. Covert assistance was given to both warring parties in order to extend and lengthen hostilities. At this time Saddam's value as an asset, especially against the USSR, had come to an end.
Iraq has been a mortal enemy of Israel since they sent Arab fighters against Israel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. At that time the Iraqis shut down the Mosul–Haifa oil pipeline and rerouted it through Syria, another long time foe of Israel. Israel's response can be divined in a publication called A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm. No matter what Saddam did, Iraq was going to be destroyed. It didn't matter that Saddam was now cleaner than when he worked with the US. He had to go, even if reasons had to be invented and gross lies repeated (sound familiar).
The PNAC neocons, who were very supportive of Israel's interests in the ME, had taken control of the Baby Bush WH plus parts of the Defense Department, State Departments and the CIA. The clincher came when the oil interests, personified by Rumsfeld and Condi Rice, joined with the neocons (these two made a dramatic 180 degree change from their previous publicly stated positions about Iraq not being a threat to America).
The final clincher, which brought in the bankers, was when Saddam threatened to go off the Petrodollar.
When the Israelis (who have an inordinate amount of power over the US Congress, well above any other constituent in the US other than banking, big oil and the MIC) and the anglo oil interests and the bankers and the MIC are in unison, there WILL be war.
What we are involved with here is a kabuki show with 7 plays.
But the biggest prize has always been Eurasia of which Russia dominates. The US cannot maintain it's global primacy if it cannot control Russia. Russia's resources and location are key to containing China. The US thought Russia was dead in the water so they made the pivot to China. But Putin brought Russia back from the grave and revived it.
There is an ever dwindling opportunity for the US to accomplish this task - less than a decade now - I would say 2025 at the latest. By that time it's economic and military advantage will have dwindled considerably. I can now see the US making ever more desperate moves.
Unfortunately for America, Putin is an excellent master of The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives. Obama was no match for Putin at this game.
Who is Putin's next opponent? Trump hasn't the faintest clue on how to play The Great Game. He probably thinks it's like bowling or darts or spear chucking.
As a former history major
When it came to the history of realpolitiks, the curriculum was sorely lacking. Will bookmark the links in your comment for later reading.
Re: Putin attribution in your meme...I am reminded of the oft repeated assertion that Putin's "problem" with Obama was purely racial. At the time I didn't see what they were doing with identity politics but I'd be very interested to learn more about Putin and Obama's conflict of interest negotiation history. Any reading suggestions?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
You cannot understand Russian/American foreign policy
or the roots of terrorism in Eurasia w/o out at least a cursory understanding of Zbig's book.
Here's a fairly good discussion of the book in video form by The Real News Network:
The very roots of current Islamic terrorism comes from that man. Here he can be seen planting the seeds.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYvO3qAlyTg]
It's a joke. Putin always addresses even his most ardent adversaries with utmost respect - "Mr. Obama" or "my partner". The following also gives a very good overview of Putin's success as "master of the chessboard".
Putin is probably the least racially biased leader in the world. The ethnic makeup of Russia is very diverse and every ethnic minority with significant members is given full state support. Putin makes many trips to visit various ethnic regions over the year. He is well received in all of them. It puts America to shame.
There are few unbiased English language books available. The best thing to do is view his many speeches themselves in order to get a sense of the man. They are now available on the internet. Western media continually take excerpts out of context to denigrate Putin so make sure you are watching the entire thing with proper translations.
Watch Hillary's misleading representation of Putin here: (skip ahead to 1:17 to by-pass ad)
In the hundreds of Putin appearances and talks I've seen over the years, this is typical Putin.
Inessa S videos on YouTube is an excellent source of good translations. Another source is the Kremlin itself. It has started supplying English translations for all of Putin's major speeches.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZWFf2FimxQ]
Great resources
I appreciate you taking the time to post them
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
I forgot to say that a good source for understanding Putin
are the Oliver Stone Putin interviews. We did manage to get copies to watch in c99 when they first came out but I can longer find the freebies.
Here's Oliver Stone talking about Putin
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6himf54Oso]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBZr8A4yX6Y]
Obama's supporters kept claiming Obama was playing three
dimensional chess and winning the game before the other side knew what hit them. Sure was subtle about it. I never saw it, either on the global scene or with his domestic opponents. At the same time though, they were making every excuse in the book for his "performance."
Early on, Jon Stewart said something like, "Either he's a Jedi master, so far above us all that we can't even comprehend what he's doing, or this thing is kicking his ass." I have an opinion about which it was. Not that I would necessarily have done better. Then again, I didn't run.
Whoops. I didn't see your comment before I posted mine
Well stated.
The Washington Generals should probably sue the Democrats for copyright infringement.
It's a complex subject
It's good to add more information. I find the people here in c99 are much better informed about America's aggression's than at TOP. Once Obama started his bombing campaigns (he dropped more in more countries than Bush) those at TOP refused to look in that direction anymore.
Obama ended up killing the progressive anti-war movement, neutering single payer health care, put Cheney's suicide squads on steroids and set them in stone, basically he destroyed the progressive left from the inside. He pushed the Democrats over the center-line into the right's territory. I really think he was
supportedgroomed to do this job by TPTB.Obama left the country firmly entrenched with neocon/neoliberal policies. He was hired to reverse Bush's excesses - instead he added to them and fucking set them in stone.
" I find the people here in c99 are much better informed
about America's aggression's than at TOP."
None are so blind than those who refuse to see. Also....
"I used to say to our audiences: 'It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!' I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked (1935), ISBN 0-520-08198-6; repr.
Always a good reminder
that we are not the Republic, we are the Evil Empire. #StarWarsAnalogy
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Because the US is a plutocracy pretending to be a republic
while yammering mindlessly about "democracy."
Concise explanation of what the CIA is.
This was great. Will share.
Just the same as how Smedley Butler described his duties as Major General of the US Marines, "a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism."
And their counterpart, the domestic FBI? A license to infiltrate, disrupt, malign, threaten, blackmail and kill anybody or organization seen as a threat to the Fascist status quo of government run by the Economic Terrorists of Wall, Big Business, Big Pharma and the Weapons Manufacturers. Specifically the FBI are in business to destroy LW movements by killing or marginalizing their leaders. It's not opaque at all. The evidence is easy to find.
Bill Hicks was way on to all of this and preaching it in his comedy:
But try to convince the average minion.
The severe conditioning, from childhood as you say the Pledge Of Allegiance, through the propaganda bombardment of American Exceptionalism, through the institutional encouragement to be "successful" (i.e. get on the treadmill of "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do" chasing after the purposefully elusive dangling carrot of the American Dream), and the layers of brainwashing callousness and deceit are so thick and calcified that it's almost impossible to penetrate.
We've also been taught that skepticism is unhealthy, dissent unpatriotic.
They've managed to foist Big Lies onto an increasingly passive, soft and consumer-addled populace.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
No shit!
Who else does this?
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
@Bisbonian
Actually, the indoctrination under Hitler is actually the only other engaging in this type of early conditioning that I've heard of, as far as I recall. And since Hitler was sponsored by the same line of US industrialists as are now ruining the world, and Hitler was deeply impressed by and admiring of US propagandists, I suspect that the root there was also the same. Eliminate these these psychopaths from all, policy, influence and positions where they can exert control over others and the major plague source ought to be gone. They do seem to be the source of most evil.
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.
My thoughts, exactly.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
When I told my German associates at work about high school ROTC,
— compulsory for male pupils in Honolulu high schools in the Fifties and Sixties — they immediately said, “What? Like Wehrkunde (‘military science’) in East Germany? Doesn’t sound like America’s image as ‘Land of the Free,’ at all.”
I keep thinking if the movie "Wally" wasn't animated
People might've shit in their pants a little more at what it portended.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Wall-E?
It was an incredible movie. Billed like this:
The reality of the movie was quite a bit more interesting than that.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Yes, Wall-E
Few "children's" movie have stayed with me like that one.
Do you remember how humans living in outer space were portrayed? Kinda makes you wonder if someone was taking notes.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
I see them every day,
, in the airports.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Great article. Depressing but
lays it all out in writing. I only wish it went up to the present. I sent that one on to my little group of friends, if that doesn't show them just what "US Interests" stands for, I don't know what does.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Just started reading The Devil's Chessboard.
Allen Dulles.... the godfather of the CIA. I'm only a couple of pages into it and my heart is already sinking. How can people like Bernie Sanders parrot the Russia-gate stuff when he lived through the revelations about the CIA?
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
@Fishtroller 02
Maybe because if he does, he gets silenced, one way or another, leaving nobody else with 'impossible-to-achieve' access to mention and validate the concept of democratic government working for the public interest rather than against it to that vast section of the public restricted to the corporate propaganda media?
As Bernie has always said, this isn't about him, change must come from The People - and not to believe him if he has to mouth things he knows no aware person would believe, in order to continue doing what he can toward the public good from the inside. Would the public be as aware as it is without 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.
It’s that Vietnam War strategy thing all over again,
“We had to destroy the village in order to save it.”
Bernie has to catapult falsehoods in order to preserve his effectiveness as a spokesman for truth?
That would be funny
If it weren't a sad state of affairs.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
@lotlizard
Well, that was necessary for undercover Resistance acting from within during Nazi occupation occurring because US industrialists had a sponsored fascist take over a foreign government by proxy, to use that country's resources to attempt a global fascist takeover. Put it together and see if you come up with what I get out of what I'm basing some of the background on?
Although this current and ongoing attempt was more carefully and longer-planned, with years of propaganda campaigns, media consolidation and increased incremental shift of publicly-seen and accepted corporate/multi-millionaire/billionaire power and control of State and Federal government, the judiciary, policy and law, as well as wealth, to corporate interests/those further enriched and empowered by this, conducted incremental step by incremental step within America.
This as the US military and spy network were built up over decades in preparation for planned global total domination, using America this time.
Over the years, various countries have had TPTB-prefered puppets replacing their governments, been weakened and subverted by various subversive and violent means, typically involving targeting civilians, and those countries strong enough to fight off efforts at subversion or conventional military attacks now being threatened with nukes under the tattered claim of 'being the world's
gestapopolicemen'.My suspicions also include Russia being the target it's been designated as not only because of their strength but because TPTB's previous Nazi-proxy invasion attempt, and ultimately their entire global conquest plan, failed, in great part due to the Russian people's valour (and winters) and despite their appalling loss of life (30 million, wasn't it?) during this. That ultimate (and rather ironic) loss to the Allied Forces being when the conspirators brought various Nazis away from prosecution for war crimes and into US industry and government through projects such as Project Paper Clip, which also involved other countries taking in Nazis. That seems probable to me as forming the nucleus of their new start for 'a new American century' of global total domination.
And I believe that the world has been and is being weakened one or a few countries at a time - while also 'normalizing' 'perpetual war'-crimes, kidnapping and torture, multiple corporate and government agencies spying ceaselessly on the world as well as their own population, the stripping of human rights, etc. - and set up ready for a fast-moving military conquest wherever economic conquest has been rejected, using that ever-growing military evidently (in my opinion) being expanded beyond gross extremes to cope with many simultaneous attacks and invasions of many countries better able to defend themselves than were previous victims. As has been planned for many countries that we know of and with total domination in all areas within US military plans as the end game.
The Germans back then could not believe that that had happened to their democracy either. But it seems to me to be unmistakable now in America; TPTB tend to recycle their propaganda and other tactics, so it's logical that the tactics and strategies of the Resistance would again be used by those brave enough to do so from within. That pretty much seems to be Bernie. And he's not stupid enough to spit defiance for the sake of relieving his feelings or of playing unthinking Rambo games when the corporate media wouldn't even carry that, the result simply being the loss of all ability to help encourage his people to tackle whatever chance they're willing to take in pacifically helping to save themselves from these ruthless psychopaths. But they're mostly still waiting for that Super Hero to do that for them...
I don't know what exactly the deal was that gave Bernie such unprecedented access to the corporate media which had blacked him out, apart from disparaging him and most especially his humanist policies, enabling Bernie to keep the large section of the American public limited to corporate propaganda stations aware of, and potentially willing to pacifically fight for, concepts such as that of what democracy actually is and to keep the notion of government of, by and for (this otherwise only madly propagandized) people while forcing him to spout bizarre talking points, but there evidently was one agreement to, at least superficially, 'campaign for Clinton' once cheated in (which naturally made the CorpoDems look bad by contrast, enabled Bernie to continue to remind people that their government was supposed to work for, not against them, and that basics like national public health-care and affordable higher education were certainly attainable for any wealthy industrialized country - and quite a number that weren't,) and he certainly wouldn't waste any such opportunity by simply blowing it and having all imperative issues buried beneath Bernie being a 'Russian patsy' who can't be allowed air time because of passing on 'fake news' - at best. Change has to come from the people, taking back control of their government to make it legitimately of, by and for the people, and to keep that control so that this can never happen again.
Even if nothing else is considered, Bernie's run triggered TPTB to blatantly display the horrendous level of corruption within government and the farce passed off as American 'elections' so that people can easily see for themselves that they have no legitimate government or Justice system and understand what they need to deal with and replace with better if they are to survive, if they will only not only see it but take it into account.
I'm extrapolating from Bernie's warning not to believe him if he was forced to spout nonsense about voting for Clinton; in my view, he'd be assuming/hoping that we're smart and aware enough to do that and to extend it to other 'talking point' areas known to be false - and that we had at least some understanding of history and the ever-more thinly veiled fascism permeating the US government and its branches, if not of the monstrous global web involved. There's not much that any one person can do against this, but Bernie's obviously in the best position to determine what is best for him to try to achieve/work toward without being silenced by whatever means, or at least not when until closer to an electoral media black-out so that essential issues haven't been forgotten by then; however disappointed people may be, there are very few within government who are much concerned with the public interest and any ally working from within is better than none. As long as TPTB have succeeded in preventing Americans from uniting with Bernie during a Presidential run, they'll likely allow him to babble to the serfs, in the hope that their 'token human' might give them some appeal, and as any 'accidents' occurring would create a great public stir and at this point, I'm guessing that the results would not be worthwhile for TPTB. The 99% have far more power than they realize, once unified...
At any rate, that's my theory regarding Bernie, based on Bernie's life-long record and character, and the way in which he so typically keeps trying different approaches until some degree of good has been achieved, in what were thought to be impossible circumstances, for those depending upon his doing so; YMMV.
But he's always said that his run was not about him, it's about The People forming their own government and working for their own universal public good - only it seems that very few people heard what he was actually saying and that many blame him for not being a Super Hero, which he never claimed to be, while The People failed to act en masse as a movement and consistently in their own behalf, apart from those who ran/are running for public office and those doing whatever they can do on their own or in typically smaller groups often not closely allied with each other, if at all. Many likely having no idea of what they were dealing with, beyond electoral cheaters and financial corruption or of what's at stake, not to mention having no idea of what to do and few, if any, resources and little energy/time to spare from scraping something close enough to a living to get by on. On the other hand, Bolivia successfully did it - but they have not, (as far as I know, no other country has yet been,) been subjected to anything approaching the appalling level of propaganda to which Americans have been subjected, over anything like the same time period..
The above was, of course, mingled with my theory regarding the current situation affecting responses and reactions as it does, going by what information I have and which fits and seems likely to me. I do not regard this as anything approaching a political battle, but as an infiltration by powerful psychopaths approaching, if possibly not yet having achieved, absolute control of government, agencies, law and the heavily propagandized public in America, in preparation for that of the subjugation/destruction of the rest of the overall preparatorily weakened and damaged world.
Have just been watching this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aOK8-p8oVA
She speaks much sense. Awareness is all; we cannot act without awareness of what we actually face, to be prepared for whatever pacific efforts we can and for what we may face in return, even if this is far less than whatever will variously happen if this is not stopped in the immediate future. Planetary oblivion might be the kinder road to the end of planetary life than that survived for however long under global, unrestrained fascism. Fascism being, in my estimation, what corresponds to a 'political system' for the psychopathic.
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.
Appending here, for future reference: "Just Following Orders"
https://theintercept.com/2018/03/15/washington-breaks-out-the-just-follo...
During the Nuremberg Trials after World War II, several Nazis, including top German generals Alfred Jodl and Wilhelm Keitel, claimed they were not guilty of the tribunal’s charges because they had been acting at the directive of their superiors.
Ever since, this justification has been popularly known as the “Nuremberg defense,” in which the accused states they were “only following orders.”
The Nuremberg judges rejected the Nuremberg defense, and both Jodl and Keitel were hanged. The United Nations International Law Commission later codified the underlying principle from Nuremberg as “the fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.”
However, many members of the Washington, D.C. elite are now stating that it, in fact, is a legitimate defense for American officials who violate international law to claim they were just following orders.
Specifically, they say Gina Haspel, a top CIA officer whom President Donald Trump has designated to be the agency’s next director, bears no responsibility for the torture she supervised during George W. Bush’s administration.
One who paraphrased it is Michael Hayden, former director of both the CIA and the National Security Agency. In a Wednesday op-ed, Hayden endorsed Haspel as head of the CIA, writing that “Haspel did nothing more and nothing less than what the nation and the agency asked her to do, and she did it well.”
John Brennan, who ran the CIA under President Barack Obama, made similar remarks on Tuesday when asked about Haspel. The Bush administration had decided that its torture program was legal, said Brennan, and Haspel “tried to carry out her duties at CIA to the best of her ability, even when the CIA was asked to do some very difficult things.”
Texas Republican Rep. Will Hurd used the precise language of the Nuremberg defense during a Tuesday appearance on CNN... Hurd, a member of the House Intelligence Committee and a former CIA operative as well, told Blitzer that “this wasn’t Gina’s idea. She was following orders. … She implemented orders and was doing her job.”
Samantha Winograd, who served on President Obama’s National Security Council and now is an analyst for CNN, likewise used Nuremberg defense language in an appearance on the network. Haspel, she said, “was implementing the lawful orders of the president. … You could argue she should have quit because the program was so abhorrent. But she was following orders.”
Last but not least there’s Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, who issued a ringing defense of Haspel in Politico, claiming she was merely acting “in response to what she was told were lawful orders.”
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X