BILL VAN AUKEN—The launching of a major US military escalation in Syria would provide Trump with the means of blunting the attacks on his presidency. At the same time, it would raise the risk of a military confrontation that could quickly escalate into a region-wide and global war.
Monthly Archives
August 2018
MATT TAIBBI: Yeah, I think the really, the wakeup call for me was the news that Facebook announced a partnership with a group called the Atlantic Council. Which is essentially sort of a NATO-backed think tank. If you look at its board it’s packed with ex-security state officials; people like Henry Kissinger and Michael Morrell, the former acting CIA Director Michael Hayden. It’s a quasi-governmental agency that sees itself essentially as a sort of government in exile. It imagines itself as the sort of watchdog that would have existed had Hillary Clinton won the presidency.
An Open Letter to ‘Socialists’ Who Might be Fronting for the Democratic Party
by shorty23 minutes readQUETZAL CACERES—Ocasio-Cortez has a unique opportunity to educate people about the forgotten history of socialist struggle in this country and the ugly workings of capitalism, past and present, which by definition must include an honest assessment of the Democratic Party as one of the two political party heads of the U.S. capitalist beast. But Ocasio-Cortez is completely and incompetently blowing it. Any socialist who thought, as I did, that she would be our socialist champion should watch the entire twenty-seven-minute PBS Firing Line interview to get a sense of just how bad this train wreck might be. Is she naive? Is she simply in over her head, woefully ignorant of a genuine Left analysis of political issues and history?
PHILIP A. FARRUGGIO—So, we have established that Pro Football and UFC are violent. Sadly, many Amerikans love violence, as long as they are not on the receiving end of it. Too many of them even can enjoy dishing it out at times… making the ‘ Big Dick ‘ theory valid. Yet, not too many out there in these ‘ Amerikan wastelands’ can enjoy seeing or hearing about unarmed black men being gunned down by the police. Even that is beyond the pale, except for the few virulent racists among us. So, when 70% of the NFL happens to be black, and the average salary of these guys is well over $ 2 million per year, cannot they afford to use their power and prestige to set an example?
The great half-mast/full-mast kerfuffle over McCain, the hero that never was.
by shorty
5 minutes read
P. GREANVILLE—It’s curious, even comical, how Trump often hits the nail on the head by accident. McCain was a contemptible figure, an unrepentant agent for the plutocracy, a death-lover, and an obsessive warmonger. That’s why he is so loved by the establishment. Besides, his military career has long strecthes that can only be regarded as murky, in both quality and ethics. Many fellow vets have disturbingly low opinions of McCain, the warrior. In lowering the flag to half-mast at the White House for only the briefest of periods (an act which immediately outraged the media-frenzied McCain worshipers), Trump was asking for a storm, and he got it. But, things being what they are at the heart of the empire, pathetically soon enough, under obvious pressure and advice by his handlers, he was forced to allow the lowering of the flag to half mast, once again, this time for a respectfully long time. After all, the hagiography of McCain should not be interrupted by heretics, let alone one so highly placed.
