Trump: The Culmination Of Capitalist Piggery
Dear Ed,
Thanks for your email and the link to Ray McGovern and Mark Crispin Miller's talk about "Making News. Faking News. Mainstream Media Manipulation." http://raymcgovern.com/2017/
I watched the whole hour, complete with "Q&A," and while I agree that the CIA, FBI, Homeland Security, NSA and sundry authoritarian freak shows are, generally speaking, up to no good, I do not buy McGovern/Miller's underlying premise that these routinely malicious organizations are angling toward war with Russia.
Similarly, I do not believe their allegations that alleged "Russian hacking" is a beachhead on which Uncle Sam will beat an anti Russia war drum.
Similarly, I do not believe their allegations that alleged "Russian hacking" is a beachhead on which Uncle Sam will beat an anti Russia war drum.
Russia has a smaller GNP than Brazil, Italy and Canada and nearly smaller than Spain.
In light of Trump's evident championship of Putin, it makes no sense to me that Uncle Sam (or "the deep state") would choose to provoke this 2nd/3rd class "player on the world stage" which happens to have enough nukes to destroy life as we know it.
On a deep psychological level, the insane policy of "Mutually Assured Destruction" is still in effect.
In light of Trump's evident championship of Putin, it makes no sense to me that Uncle Sam (or "the deep state") would choose to provoke this 2nd/3rd class "player on the world stage" which happens to have enough nukes to destroy life as we know it.
On a deep psychological level, the insane policy of "Mutually Assured Destruction" is still in effect.
Yes, the the "Military Industrial Complex" is always on the lookout for "the next war" but wealthy Americans' survival instinct is strong enough to make Russia the LAST potential enemy we would fast track to Numero Uno. (Iran, Venezuela and even South Korea are much more likely candidates.)
Unlike McGovern and Miller, I believe Putin is a very bad actor and that his twin passions for authoritarianism and kleptocracy make him Trump's automatic ideological ally. "Birds of a feather flock together."
Not surprisingly, every authoritarian leader in the world cheered Trump's election. No matter what "The Deep State" is doing, I simply ponder the surface of Trump/Putin's identification and my stomach turns.
Not surprisingly, every authoritarian leader in the world cheered Trump's election. No matter what "The Deep State" is doing, I simply ponder the surface of Trump/Putin's identification and my stomach turns.
Although McGovern and Miller argue that "no one expected Trump to win" (and therefore, "why would Putin support him?") good statisticians like Nate Silver were aware, even on election eve, that Trump's chances of winning were 15%.
Unless Putin were an idiot, he would invest in the relatively inexpensive enterprise of getting Russia's world renowned hackers to meddle.
And even though McGovern and Miller point their finger at "deep state" hacking (which probably existed as well), I am ultimately more fearful of Russian meddling than I am of lifelong Republicans like Comey and Mueller, both of whom LOATHE Trump who is the darling of Christian Conservatives, twisted by their subtly egotistical need to subject others to their own vision of perfection, whether or not it has ANYTHING to do with the words of Jesus as spoken in the 4 canonical gospels.
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.”
"Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” by Trappist monk, Father Thomas Merton
In a surpassing burst of irony/paradox, "Christian" "conservatives" are too true to be good.
My bottom line in all this is that Trump and his antidemocratic, proFascist minions are, always and everywhere, the ultimate beneficiaries of ALL conspiracy thinking.
What remains of conspiracism is ideological diversionism... and impotent at that.
People of a certain bent are more interested in persuading themselves that conjecture is real rather than looking at reality as it confronts them and doing something to right those wrongs.
Trump, for example, is all wrong except in the strictly limited way that even a broken clock is right twice a day.
One of The Deplorable One's most bewildering capabilities is that he tells the truth accidentally more often that he tells it on purpose.
If biblical literalists really expect us to believe in literalism, how can they brown nose Trump and still think that "the truth will set them free." (Of course, they can easily square this circle because their subtle but sturdy egotism makes them as loosey goosey with scriptural truth as apocalyptic jihadis in whose mirror image they are made.)
Given the choice between wading into that swamp where conspiracism couples with "conservative" "Christianity," even for the ostensible purpose of "accomplishing good," is, inevitably, a losing proposition compared with devoting one's time and energytime to build a "new world" within the old.
To quote the Nazarene: "Let the dead bury their dead."
We will not eliminate "The Deep State" nor "The Military Industrial Complex" by knocking heads, but by growing new "forms" that will eventually "leave them in the dust."
"Do Wars Really Defend America's Freedom?"
(Homage To Marine Commandant, Major General Smedley Butler)
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
(Homage To Marine Commandant, Major General Smedley Butler)
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
Why We Love Violence And Pump It Even Though It Rarely Works And Is Typically Counterproductive
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
"Why We Fight," Excellent Documentary With Ike's "Military-Industrial Complex" As Springboard
Scare The Sheep
And They Will Applaud Military-Industrial Profiteering
"Why We Fight," Excellent Documentary With Ike's "Military-Industrial Complex" As Springboard
Scare The Sheep
And They Will Applaud Military-Industrial Profiteering
American "Patriotism": Why So Many Americans Are Fundamentally Violent And Paranoid
Republican Lawmaker From Nevada Sends Christmas Card Featuring Fully Armed Family
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/republican-lawmaker-from-nevada-sends.htmlThe Age-Old Normalization Of Warfare Through Stupidity, Ego And Religion
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-age-old-normalization-of-warfare.htmlThe Mistaken Concept That Reducing Cultures To Rubble Results In Peace
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-mistaken-concept-that-reducing.htmlPunishment Rarely Reforms But Instead Tends To Reinforce Wrongdoing
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2015/12/punishment-rarely-reforms-but-instead.htmlBest Pax Posts On Punishment And Torture As "Necessary" Methods For Righting Wrongs
Conservative Christians Delight In The Punishment And Pain Of Others
America's Passion For Punishment And Torture
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
Christians And "Christians" Choose Mercy, Love & Forgiveness, Or Retribution & Punishment
Bad Things Happen: Punishment, Mercy And The Demise Of The Republican Party
Bad Things Happen: Punishment, Mercy And The Demise Of The Republican Party
"Whom The Gods Would Destroy, They First Make Mad"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
"Whom The Gods Would Destroy, They First Make Mad"
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
Compendium Of Best Pax Posts On Organized Religion And The Everyday Validation Of Violence
At the same time, I do not turn my back on political activity but have always understood/intuited, down to my marrow, that politics, particularly "big league" politics, is a swamp and that when "good" manifests, it should be welcomed as unexpected gravy rather than a sign that the swamp is drainable in any final sense.
I must also mention that, for me, the primary purpose of political activity is to do everything in our power to keep lunatics and criminals from being elected or appointed at the state and federal level.
In the main, this goal is achievable, although it is also true that higher reproduction rates among neanderthals, churls and genetically predisposed criminals insure intermittent outbreaks of fascism, neofascism and the kind of vulgarian populism that tends, very quickly, to become overtly fascist.
CONSPIRACY - CONSPIRACISM
Compendium Of Pax Posts: Persuading A Loved One That His Conspiracism Is Mostly Crazy
My Friends' Devoted Conspiracism Is As Crazy As Trump's Birtherism. What To Do With Lunacy?
Harvey/Irma Hurricane Conspiracy Reveals The Idiocy Of Most Conspiracism
Ongoing Correspondence With A Conspiracist Friend Re: The "Staged" Slaughter At Sandy Hook
"More On The Newtown Massacre": Professor David Ray Griffin And The Swamp Of Conspiracism
"Who Killed Sister Cathy?" Tom Nugent
How Rochester, New York Detective Fantigrossi "Leaned On Me" To Identify The Wrong Man
The Thinking Housewife's Conspiracism: Exploring The Falsehood
Discussion With 9/11 Truther Friend About Epistemology, Belief, Certainty And Purpose
The 9/11 Truth Movement: Where Does It Lead?
"More On The Newtown Massacre": Professor David Ray Griffin And The Swamp Of Conspiracism
Conspiracy Thinking, The Death Of Shared Identity And The Collapse Of Common Purpose
Conspiracy Thinking, The Death Of Shared Identity And The Collapse Of Common Purpose
"Crisis Acting": A Standard Conspiracist Hoax That Supposedly Reveals Hoaxes (Snopes)
The Daily Show Goes To Trump Rally To Hear Conspiracy Theories: They Are Not Disappointed
"More On The Newtown Massacre": Professor David Ray Griffin And The Swamp Of Conspiracism
Trump Resurrects Clinton-Foster Murder Conspiracy
More political good could be accomplished by trying to declare Smedley Butler's birthday a National Holiday than all conspiratorial pursuits that ever were, or will be.
"Do Wars Really Defend America's Freedom?"
(Homage To Marine Commandant, Major General Smedley Butler)
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
Persistent popularization of Smedley's views have more strategic value on "the battlefield of consciousness raising" than ANY direct opposition to The Deep State.
(Homage To Marine Commandant, Major General Smedley Butler)
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
Persistent popularization of Smedley's views have more strategic value on "the battlefield of consciousness raising" than ANY direct opposition to The Deep State.
Massive amounts of disinformation are everywhere, quite likely so much disinformation that the various agencies that generate it have no idea of its "infinitely" fragmented totality.
"Satan, your name is Legion."
At bottom we are passing through an epistemological crisis in which the very existence of rigorous epistemology is at stake.
Tyranny's Best Kept Secret: It's ALL About Epistemology
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspo
"Mein Kampf"
Chapter 6
"War Propaganda"
There are two ways of lying, as there are two ways of deceiving customers. If the scale registers 15 ounces, you can say: "It's a pound." Your lie will remain relative to an invariable measure of the true. If customers check it, they can see that they are being robbed, and you know by how much you are robbing them: a truth remains as a judge between you. But if the demon induces you to tamper with the scale itself, it is the criterion of the true which is denatured, there is no longer any possible control. And little by little you will forget that you are cheating.
Although it is hard to distinguish Cowboy Capitalism's "chicken" and "egg," the destruction of epistemological rigor and the correlative reemergence of Trump's Big Lie manifest alongside the accumulation of money as Life's prime directive.
Perhaps most notably, money enables Trump to buy sex.
If we "follow the money," we will find that these dull, dispirited, noncreative capitalist pigs (and their suckup underlings) are only interested in vacuuming "all the money they can."
"The Rich Aren't Just Grabbing A Bigger Slice Of The Pie. They're Taking It All"
And, in the advanced state of decadence/ignorance/besottedness wrought by Cowboy Capitalism, the filthy rich are far along the path to their hearts' acquisitive desire. (Notice that McGovern and Miller offer no criticism of Capitalism itself. Is this because they themselves are "deep state" operatives, protecting The Very Essence of "The Great American Fuck Up?")
Once conspiracism raises its ineffectual head, the only dependable outcome is the demise of worthy epistemology and the metastatic spread of each person's unsubstantiated "opinions" as Absolute Truth; in effect, the apotheosis of ego driven subjectivity.
Now there's a Swamp!
"Among the Very Rich you will never find a really generous man, even by accident. They may give their money away, but they will never give themselves away; they are egoistic, secretive, dry as old bones. To be smart enough to get all that money you must be dull enough to want it." G. K. Chesterton
"The Poor Are More Than Twice As Charitable As The Rich"
The Rich Believe They Are Rewarded Because They're Deserving. Not So The Scum
"Most Of The Rich Think The Poor Have It Easy," Washington Post
Are Highly Religious People Less Compassionate?
At some point, quite likely during the next recession which, according to brother Gerald (as he told us in Spain three years ago) will be a doozy, in effect, "an irresistible force meeting an immovable object."
But it is also a source of hope for finally the plutocrats will have gone too far and people will start attacking them with pitchforks.
Unsocialized Capitalism will be seen as the cancer it has been from the start.
Or, perhaps we will see "the end of the world" because the assholes will not go down without an apocalyptic fight.
Or, we could witness the next "New Deal," promoted by the emergence of progressive leadership: finally, "Christian" "conservatism" will have discredited itself forever, and the United States will finally take The European Road of socialized capitalism.
But it is also a source of hope for finally the plutocrats will have gone too far and people will start attacking them with pitchforks.
Unsocialized Capitalism will be seen as the cancer it has been from the start.
Or, perhaps we will see "the end of the world" because the assholes will not go down without an apocalyptic fight.
Or, we could witness the next "New Deal," promoted by the emergence of progressive leadership: finally, "Christian" "conservatism" will have discredited itself forever, and the United States will finally take The European Road of socialized capitalism.
"The Pitchforks Are Coming... For Us Billionaires," Amazon Financier, Nick Hanauer
"Capitalism's Betrayal Of The Working Class Could Be Its Undoing," Prof. Emeritus Richard Wolff
In 20 years the citizenry of the United States will be mostly people of color and, while I'm prepared for this demographic change to have completely unexpected and potentially deleterious effects, I think the emergence of a "black/brown/bronze" majority (with ongoing miscegenation resulting in the universal "browning of America") will coincide with the upsurge of progressivism, and together these two interrelated tendencies will establish deep and lasting roots, out of which will grow America's version of socialized capitalism.
McGovern and Miller's "twin talks" elicit my longstanding view of "conspiracism": we are much better off dedicating our efforts and resource to improve the quality of our communities, our families and our social circles rather than being distracted by conspiracism which, no matter how truthful any particular conspiracy can be, does not "go anywhere" if only because the radical subjectivity of conspirators prevents them from reaching agreement. What starts out as a single conspiracy becomes a hodgepodge of impossible contradition, yet another Tower of Babel.
9/11 Conspiracy Theories
Wikipedia
It is an observable fact that conspiracy theories are most often subscribed by people like Trump and Alex Jones, firebrand dimwits completely surrendered to the most meaningless manifestations of raw materialism.
Their personal lives are so ugly and vapid that these latterday hedonists have sold their souls for lucre and an ever expanding menu of purchasable pleasures whose chief purpose is to distract them, fleetingly, from the meaningless hollowness of their self/centered, materialistic lives.
Their personal lives are so ugly and vapid that these latterday hedonists have sold their souls for lucre and an ever expanding menu of purchasable pleasures whose chief purpose is to distract them, fleetingly, from the meaningless hollowness of their self/centered, materialistic lives.
Notably, Trump launched his presidential campaign on the back of "birtherism," a conspiracy theory held by roughly one quarter of Americans.
Imagine: One quarter of Americans believe birther nonsense, and among "conservatives," the number still hovers half. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/birther-polls-unite-obama_n_855135.html
A revealing particular...
McGovern and Miller both decry Obama's use of drones and also his support for Saudi Arabia's war on Yemen.
Although the use of drones is rife with deadly abuse, and although Saudi Arabia's war on Yemen is abominable, our views of morality, when rooted in rigorous epistemology, are properly qualified by context.
Consider:
Consider:
"An Eye For An Eye And A Tooth For A Tooth": The Long, Plodding Advance Of Human Morals
In the tossup between "carpet bombing" and "drone use," the choice of one or the other (while arguably a false choice) is nevertheless a "no brainer."
Drones are better than "carpet bombing."
Drones are better than "search and destroy."
But McGovern and Miller give no quarter to contextualization which is where Truth takes on its true form. They seem ignorant of the plodding slowness with which "moral development" manifests in "the real world."
Drones are better than "carpet bombing."
Drones are better than "search and destroy."
But McGovern and Miller give no quarter to contextualization which is where Truth takes on its true form. They seem ignorant of the plodding slowness with which "moral development" manifests in "the real world."
Similarly, although I have staunchly opposed our collaborative war on Yemen, it is, in comparison with Bush/Cheney's Whimsy War on Iraq, very small potatoes.
"Saudi Support For Wahhabi Radicalism Is The Taproot Of Islamic Terror"
But whenever conversation turns to perfection I am very wary of hypocrisy and haughty, perfectionist disdain for those whose actions mark a small step out of The Swamp, a swamp that can not, and will not, drain of a sudden.
"The terrible thing about our time is precisely the ease with which theories can be put into practice. The more perfect, the more idealistic the theories, the more dreadful is their realization. We are at last beginning to rediscover what perhaps men knew better in very ancient times, in primitive times before utopias were thought of: that liberty is bound up with imperfection, and that limitations, imperfections, errors are not only unavoidable but also salutary. The best is not the ideal. Where what is theoretically best is imposed on everyone as the norm, then there is no longer any room even to be good. The best, imposed as a norm, becomes evil.” "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander,” by Trappist monk, Father Thomas Merton
"Is Perfectionism A Curse? Paul Ryan Tells The Truth"
Whenever perfectionists raise their self/satisfied heads, and particularly when they start wagging their fingers, I take special care not to bend over.
Austerity And Anorexia Are Different Faces Of The Same Human Impulse To Eliminate "Fat"
Then there are those who would starve us of trustworthy information.
Alan: Why look for deeply hidden "conspiracies" when the worst horrors are hiding in plain view?
Just wake up to the existing evidence:
"Is Israel The World's Worst Terror State? An Israeli General's Son Thinks So"
On Wed, Sep 19, 2018 at 9:26 PM EM
Hola Compa,This is lengthier than I tend to take time for, but exceedingly interesting if you listen to even a portion: Ray McGovern the first 17 min., followed by Mark Crispin Miller the next 17 min. (then panel discussion, which I did not listen to ):
Subject: Must See video about US Media Deception of US publicOf all the hundreds of videos I've seen since the start of 2017, this panel discussing the lies of the mainstream media has got to top the list as the most important video for us all in these times. It covers WikiLeaks, the election, Syria, Trump, The DNC, the CIA, Russia-gate, the Deep State and much much more that is so critical that every American understand. This means YOU! (Yes, you.) Please, please, watch it at the link below (or at least listen to it while you wash dishes or fold laundry).
Any feedback appreciated. EdP.S. I personally got to witness gross misinformation in the U.S. news as it pertained to the Sandinista-Contra war (1984), and the WFP kidnapping (1985)
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