I believe that a country’s history shapes how its citizens view themselves and view the world outside their borders. If you accept that as true I believe you can understand why the United States acts as it does in the world. The United States, until now, has faced one existential threat — the Civil War. I count it as existential because the union of the states was at risk and a victory by the Confederacy would have created a very different America.
The creation of the United States by defeating the British imperial power was followed by taking control, at times with force, of the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Oh yeah, we defeated Mexico in 1848 and claimed Mexico’s former lands as our own. My point is that at no time since the Civil War has America had to fend off a foreign military invasion. Protected by the oceans and weak neighbors to the south and north (i.e., Mexico and Canada), Americans never had the experience of foreign invaders wreaking havoc. Well, there was Pancho Villa, but he only launched some insignificant border raids and the United States declined to invade Mexico in retaliation.
With no enemies capable of invading America, we developed a sort of Messianic Complex. We went to Europe towards the end of the First World War to “save Europe.” That was followed by saving Europe from the Nazis (at least that’s the narrative taught in elementary and secondary schools). We never saw ourselves as imperial invaders. We simply were going “over there” to provide freedom. At least that is what we told ourselves. While many of the people of Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and the Balkans would beg to differ, the American mindset in the aftermath of World War II is that our use of military force in foreign theaters had a noble purpose.
The American overseas military missionary adventures always required a villain. In Vietnam it was International Communism. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria it was international terrorism, with Iran regularly mentioned as the uber villain that needed to be stopped. Now we have a new, reconstituted villain — the Russians.
Russia, unlike the United States, has a long and bloody history of fending off invaders. That fact has conditioned the Russian people to be pretty prickly when they are confronted with a foreign threat. They dealt with Napoleon, the stumbled when attacked by the Ottoman Empire, the Brits and the French in the Crimea War, and defeated the Nazis. More recently, Russia beat back Islamic insurgents in Chechnya. This history makes Russia deadly serious when it believes it is threatened by foreign invaders.
Which brings me to the current war in Ukraine. The Western meme, fully embraced by the American public, is that Russia is a rapacious imperial power intent on destroying the freedom of the Ukrainian people. Russia, for its part, believes the West is intent on destroying the Russian Federation. Hell, it is not a belief, Western nations have spoken openly of eliminating Putin and breaking Russia into five separate countries.
Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine showed the world that a resurgent Russia means, of necessity, an imperialist Russia. And it revived discussions about whether Russia needs to be “decolonized,” or perhaps “defederalized,” to bury its imperialist ambitions and subdue its military threat. A breakup of today’s Russia, similar to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, is seen as a possible, for some even the most desirable, outcome of a failed Ukraine invasion. Regrets are voiced that the US didn’t make it a goal in the 1990s, when post-Soviet Russia lay in ruins and struggled to hold onto one, tiny secessionist region: Chechnya.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/energy/is-breaking-up-russia-the-only-way-to-end-its-imperialism/2022/06/01/e1962c3e-e170-11ec-ae64-6b23e5155b62_story.html
Yep. We got to end that “Russian Imperialism.” This coming from the United States and Europe who actually have engaged in imperial conquests and attempts at conquest. Odd thing. Modern day Russia has not seized or controlled a single country in Latin America, Africa, or Asia. That is the history of the United States and Europe.
As the United States and Europe scramble to send more weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, Russian politicians are laying down a stark warning:
A “global tragedy” could be in store for humanity if the West keeps supplying weapons to Ukraine, Russia’s most senior lawmaker has warned. Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, also suggested that Moscow could retaliate with more powerful arms, should its territory be threatened. . . .
On Sunday, Volodin took to Telegram to point out that should the weapons provided by the US and fellow NATO member states be used to “strike civilian cities and to attempt to seize our territories, as they threaten [to do],” Moscow would respond with “more powerful weapons.”
The Russian lawmaker went on to argue that Western officials should be aware of their responsibility to avert such a scenario.
“Taking into consideration the technological superiority of Russian weapons, foreign politicians making such decisions need to understand: this could end up being a global tragedy that would destroy their countries,” Volodin warned.
https://www.rt.com/news/570282-russian-parliament-chair-warns-west/
I fear that many of my fellow countrymen view this as empty hyperbole on the part of an insignificant Russian politician. Corporate and political America continues to promote the belief that we are doing the right thing trying to defend “democracy” in Ukraine. Yet, we ignore the prevalence of neo-Nazi ideology as embodied by the followers of Stepan Bandera, President Zelensky’s elimination of opposition political parties and media and the attacks on the Russian Eastern Orthodox clergy. We just pretend that has not happened and, even if it has, it is of no concern to Russia.
The stubborn refusal of the political and media class in the United States to even acknowledge the possibility that Russia has legitimate security concerns has set the table for a devastating escalation in the war between Russia and the West. Volodin’s warning should not be ignored. But it is falling on deaf ears in Washington. The failure of the Biden Administration and his political cheerleaders to comprehend that Russia is not going to behave as an abused spouse. The days of pummeling, or trying to pummel, anyone who will not submit to our demands is over. We are likely to witness some event or series of events in the coming weeks and months when America’s imperial impotence will be exposed and Russia will be standing defiant and intact. That is likely to inflict a psychological break in the American belief that we are invincible and protected. Americans will forced to come to grips with a new reality — we are no longer an insular, protected nation.
Accurate, eloquent, intelligent, necessary commentary. Thank you, Larry.
I agree with Herodotus. Accurate, eloquent, intelligent…necessary. American — and the American mind is indeed the product of its history, of its quintessential insularity,as a huge continental semi-island. The founders of the Republic were diverse in both backgrounds and ideals. But those ideals were quickly subverted, I think. As everyone knows, power corrupts. And after the Revolution, Americans had the power in North America– not just opportunity but endless opportunism. Was the Civil War an “existential threat”. To the Union, yes. But if the Confederacy had left the Union,is it possible that it might t have returned, perhaps on a different basis when, thinking that chattel slavery was anachronistic compared to industrial wage slavery and, as such the road to economic ruin. Dunno? But I think there are really two Americas (two? three?), not just one. despite the Civil War. There are so many things I don’t know. But one thing that seems true is that existential challenges unify a community like nothing else. Such challenges are unifying Russia and China, too– and driving their cultures to adapt and develop.
Larry is also correct IMO in identifying the “political and media” class as a source of many of the US’s problems. However, it might be better to call them media-political complex, the counterpart of the military-industrial complex.
I agree.
Fascinatingly, British history is not so dissimilar. We are a real island rather than a continental one that has not been under serious threat of land invasion by an army since the Jacobites in 1746. The last true existential threats were similarly caused by civil war. That is despite the myths of 1940 and 1805. We have carried out military operations (including invasions) in 180 countries. Some of that was in recent times, of course.
Yet we too are propagandised to see Russia as some form of threat that is intent on conquering the world. But we are the spreaders of liberty and democracy. LOL. It truly is projection on a grand scale and why anybody from the Global South would believe that is beyond me.
According to data I saw, the US has now carried out military operations (excluding regime change operations) in 83 countries. Perhaps the Neo Cons want to beat the UK’s record?
You don’t think the French landings in Fishguard 1797 were a problem ? 1400 French soldiers in 4 warships ?
Why does Britain need an army then ?
It last used tanks in Northern Ireland – 1972
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVADM6C1J3OWHXYB5MRTVA59YXDK-UK-BRITISH-ARMY-MOVES-IN-FORCE-TO-SMASH-NO-GO-AREAS-IN-NORTHERN/query/TANKS+MEN
Britain has used the Ukraine situation and deliberately instigated trouble through Moore at MI6 (used to be at the Embassy in Turkey) who was deep into the Caucasus and Central Asia stirring the pot.
Britain’s goal was to flip NATO on top of EU to gain control and split France and Germany – it needed US help. Theresa May offered British Security Guarantees in the BrexIT disaster she and Olly Robbins perpetrated – the result is the Ukraine War.
UK has been playing the Baltics and Poland against Germany.
It’s the old story of “perfidious Albion”, hanging onto the edge of a continent and backing number two against number one. Been doing it since forever, don’t know how to stop.
The United States has military bases surrounding Russia. Up to 700 worldwide.
Russia? 36.
Who is the global imperialist hegemon?
While the US has become a degenerate society of “his/hers/ they’s and IT’S! With drag queen story hours at public libraries!
And a MSM that is playing into all the lies. Whether Ukraine, Covid or ESG bullshit.
Something’s gotta give on the “truth” front.
Wait for it. A sea change is coming. A “tipping point”.
Confederacy believe in Free Trade. Union wanted Tariffs.
Tariffs were used to fund US budgets because the rich did not want incomes taxed
Confederacy believe in Free Trade. Union wanted Tariffs.
Tariffs were used to fund US budgets because the rich did not want incomes taxed
Lincoln acted like Bismarck who united Germany around Prussia through war
I’m not sure corruption is a product of power! It seems to me that power attracts corruptible people
Yes, but they can’t ACT corruptly without power. De Tocqueville specified that the only thing that made the American species of democracy workable (circa 1834) was that only local government had the authority, under the Constitution, to act upon the individual citizen. That the National government’s lack of legal power to act directly on the individual was what kept it so. The Fourteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Amendments stripped that protection away.
Also, De Tocqueville observed that the American form of democracy would survive only until the politicians learned they could bribe the people.
That’s why culture is so important. People with pride, morals and work ethic will neither ask for nor accept the bribes. But the politicians still don’t have power until a bribed people hand it to them. Then they can act corruptly too.
Julian wrote “… one thing that seems true is that existential challenges unify a community like nothing else.” I know what I am about to write will get the Feminists hopping mad, see for yourself if what is said below is true.
Existential threats such as wars toughen women, they become Rosi the Rivetter, wrap their heads in a scarf and cover their fingernails with grease, no time for decoration. Yet, they never devalue their men. They understand that their “Boys” are dying defending the Homeland. As one British lady who’s husband survived Dunkirk told me once, if we could, we would have fed our men testosterone.
Feminism is one venue exploited for splitting the sexes appart and the destruction of Manliness in America. We hear about “toxic masculinity” and “who needs men.” These women don’t even know what men do for them.
Honestly, look at our women today and compare them with the Russian women who’s psyche is wired to turn into a defender of her ancesters’ lands.
I had a friend who experienced a home invasion. He presented himself to the threat tunnel visioned down his sights in target acquisition mode, his wife was screaming, giving their position away while demanding to know was going on. He asked her calmly let go of his arm and to take the baby and lay in the tub in the bathroom behind him off the hallway. Her response was “don’t tell me what to do.” Together they had rehearsed that scenario due to a string of home invasions in their city.
He never got over that disappointment. He told me he will never again depend on his wife should the fit hit the shan. To be honest, the strength of a nation is in the strength of their women. When it comes to comparing Russian to American women, would our women survive initial contact.
@K.taalat – I grew up in the USSR and in the Russian language the word for a married woman means literally ” to be behind your husband.” I’m totally against rabid feminism, it’s insane, but on the other hand I’ve seen how this engrained mentally of “being behind ” takes a woman a very long time to realize her own potential, and some never do. It has nothing to do with not appreciating men’s strength and abilities, but sorry, I refuse to subscribe to the old country mentality, where men took for granted that they’re so much better then women just because they’re men. I view men and women equal in intellect, but each sex has God’s given qualities ( men-strength, physical endurance, courage), women – organizing, strategizing, nurturing) to appreciate and cherish our differences not to fight them. The absurd notion that men and women in army are equal gets to the first round when I can’t physically lift, move, push, fight as a man can. And that’s the moment for a woman to realize that we are not physically equal. Period. The rest of just a rabid feminism.
Lika… I agree with you that both sexes can do most things, however, when things are critical, each sex has an advantage over the other and leadership should be delegated to them. Grounded men and women know this truth.
You say when a woman is “behind” her husband she doesn’t reach her potential. I ask you, which potential is more crucial for the survival of the species, more police and firefighter women or a maintenance of the birth rate.
In the West, the birth rate is at a point, where it can never recover. Like it or not, ignore it or not, it’s a fact, women in the West are not carrying out their natural role. The thing with Nature is, if you don’t abide by her rules, she’ll abort you. If a tribe has a low birth rate and not enough men, another tribe will raid them, kill the few men and enslave the women.
zamužnaya doesn’t mean behind husband, “za” here isn’t from behind but for coming from idiom Ona vyšla za muž (literally She went for husband which now means “she married”) zamuž means “for husband” (or since muž was literally man in Old Slavic, “for man”). It’s archaism and less confusing in languages where “iza” is behind and “za” is for. I think you have used a wrong example for what you want to say because by your logic, word for married man, ženaty would mean “womanly” or “with woman” implying woman is in charge. Russian society today is only slightly more patriarchal than western one more or less similar to US society of 1980s or 1970s or thereabout, not particularly traditional but also not utterly postmodern like US society today. Married couples in Russia are partners in true sense of the word though there is still distinction made between duties of male and female sort of like how in practice there still is in normal households in the west as well.
My words exactly
I shudder to think of the day that the USA will be attacked in our cities. Is Nuclear
war Possible?
A nuclear attack is certainly possible if we attack Russia with nuclear weapons first. More likely, however, is that given Russia’s advanced technology, the US (and Europe) would be flooded with hypersonic weaponry that would precisely wipe out military and political centres of decision-making, naval ports, significant airfields, weapons manufacture and storage facilities, aircraft carrier groups, etc. I have no doubt that such a lightning strike (and you know that the Russian military MUST have this in their plans!) could virtually cripple the USA and its allies in one fell swoop.
It is not necessarily an attack with nuclear weapons to trigger a catastrophic response from Russia. Every event that threatens their survival (long or short term) is appropriate. It is also not a matter of how we see it, but how the Russian leadership sees it. If it fits, they simply give Nato and whoever is responsible for the threat a punch they will likely not survive. It was stated many times, if a conflict is not avoidable, be the first to strike. If the strike is strong enough, there will be no response.
The west is playing a very dangerous tactic here. They treat Russia as a frog in a pot of hot water. They increase the temperature step by step and believe they will be able to cook that frog alive without him realizing what is happening. That is not going to work. All it needs is for the west to overstep a red line and it will be too late to go back. That warning from Mr. Volodin is not an empty threat. It is a serious warning where things are heading now, if the west still thinks they can get away with all that they are doing.
They also treat us American citizens like a frog to the slow boil technique. It is only working a little better with us but they have a better technique anyway. They are simply replacing us with a smorgasbord of new people who will be too fragmented to resist The Program.
It is a large scale version of what Amazon does at its warehouse centers where try to ensure enough diversity that the workers can’t organize.
There is the possibility of them taking out our satellites. They have “mentioned” that they know the military uses all of them — military & civilian — they know how many there are, where they are, etc.
No communications, no gps, US will be blind & deaf.
They have new weapons, based on new physics, they have been holding back for when the war with nato becomes overt.
One correction re: Mexico…actually Pancho Villa was a major revolutionary during the Mexican Revolution. And the United States invaded Mexico hunting for him (see Mexican Punitive Expedition with multiple sources online).
If a nuclear attack occurs, it would start with an EMP device to kill the grid in the USA at which point no one is going anywhere. Then followed by a nuclear attack on the military bases to destroy ships, subs, missiles or aircraft that can attack Russia. Cities can be left alone. Why leave the cities alone you ask. I have read that within 1 year of an EMP attack, 90% of the population of the USA will be dead from starvation and disease.
An EMP attack is an extinction level event globally. Fukushima outcome at every reactor.
Russia would not do that.
Afterwards, America would then be faced with the decision to attack with their last option (other than bowing to defeat) – a nuclear attack on Russia with their remaining triad. Would they make such a suicidal decision? And if they did, would the order to launch nukes be obeyed by the military?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Russia, IMO, will not send missiles or bombs in to cities for the sake of doing so.
They are not genocidal maniacs as NATO/US/UK are, they will target military installations, however if those targets happen to be in cities – well tough luck, best to sell up and move.
“well tough luck, best to sell up and move”
We did that already – no regrets.
While all seems possible, I do not see Russia as being the first the use nukes. They may retaliate with it but not as first strike. History normally settles in after decades and here while he may be long gone Putin doesn’t want to be the guy that sets it off. Remember, in a fight it’s often the weaker or losing side that kicks you in the balls first or goes after your family and plays dirty.
You don’t need a nuclear attack, just cut the submarine communication cables between the continents and you will have an unimaginable chaos that will cause more panic and destruction than any bomb.
Satellites don’t function if cables are cut ?
Satellites have time lapse and capacity issues, they carry a fraction of cable traffic. Pretty much all international banking etc would stop.
I saw a post on telegram regarding Russian deep sea vessel that has been deployed. I can’t find it now. The article mentioned possible cable cutting.
One can never rule anything out, PT, but it’s unlikely that either adversary will take the risk of annihilating civilisation as we know it.
Neither Russia nor the US need to resort to lobbying missiles equipped with nuclear warheads, all the have to do is to fire conventional missiles that will breach the other side’s defence systems and simultaneously stop the incoming conventional missiles hitting them, that would be enough for the cooler heads to prevail because if one can penetrate the defences with conventional missiles whilst preventing getting hit in return one can also do it firing nuclear missiles.
The target here is the US mainland for Russia, and the Russian mainland for the Americans.
This may be something the Russians are goading the Americans to do, how else could one explain the failure by Russia to hit the rail and road links from the West to Ukraine, or the Ukrainian airports in the West (including the Kiev’s airport), or leaving the command centres of the Ukrainian Army untouched, or never attacking the seven bridges over the Dniepr river, the only conduit for the supply of weapons and manpower to the east of Ukraine.
On the other hand, the American military are scrupulously avoiding any direct contact with the Russians, not only in Ukraine, it has happened in the ME as well, it’s always the proxies the Americans use, never a direct confrontation. Why?
The Americans know their defence systems are incapable to stop if not all than the majority of the Russian most advanced missiles – hypersonic, capable to fly low on a non fixed trajectory, essentially unstoppable hence the current $777.7bn US Defence budget to catch up or do even better.
We are currently answering the question of whether or not Homo sapiens will survive our technological adolescence. Yes, we have the technological capacity to destroy ourselves. Do we also possess the wisdom to step back from that abyss?
So…. you’re saying I should move out of Cheyenne?
Find a good cave.
I believe Poland will be the first beaten near to death, to stop NATO logistics supplying ukis. Absence of NATO response will show how powerless collective west is, and what’s more important: how powerless USA is. Then collapse of NATO, west, dollar system, name it. No need to strike US directly.
I would not do it that way. Why go after some looser proxy when you can get to the root cause of the problem? That is way better. If Poland does something stupid punch them right where it hurts. And then go after their master or else they will do it again. They have many vassals to burn.
Good informed people know what is going on in the world. I don’t see any point in pretending the vassals have a choice. They are only useful pawns in a global game for hegemony.
I doubt Russia would strike within US borders unless the US strikes Russia directly first. CONUS would remain hostage for the safety of Russia itself while Russia targets (1) active US proxies and (2) US overseas bases in that order of escalation. The US has much more to lose than Russia at each of those two levels of escalation.
Like I said, this will go on and on if Russia doesn’t get it done the right way. Nato was never a real threat. US is pushing the buttons here. Once you get rid of the US or minimize them to no threat, the flock that represents Nato will fall apart anyway. Just my opinion.
I see Russia is moving very pragmatically but also very carefully. But since US had pushed Ukraine to kill Russian people in the east, things gotten very serious. Russian soldiers are dying defending their people. This is way too serious now. Russias hand was forced into action. The west will have to pay a huge price for that. They already do, by their own stupid sanctions. EU will be reduced to a status of so called third world countries. Smart people will leave, which will make it even worse. EU will never recover from that. Only by transition like a revolution. And only if they apologize and pay for the mistakes of their former leaders.
You and Tex Ritter – “Goodbye Old Paint, I’m a leavin’ Cheyenne.”
It would be great if I could believe that there are enough people in the administration (or military) who understand how dangerous these times are. There seem to be too many who believe that if they threaten enough Russia will back down.
Excellent piece, you are SO on point!
I agree. Larry understands the core issues extremely well. We in the US are faced with the harsh reality of still having to deal with the question Pat Buchanan posed long ago ‘Are we (to be) a republic or an empire?’, and the decision becomes more existential by the day.
Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine showed the world that a resurgent Russia means, of necessity, an imperialist Russia.
Mirror politics. American imperialism being threatened (or so perceived) by a non-compliant entity(ies). The now seemingly ingrained neocon notion of ‘full spectrum dominance’ coming to a final ‘when push comes to shove’ conclusion.
If saner heads don’t finally come to the fore, this will end in a nuclear clash of so-called civilizations. Frankly, in the current environment I don’t give the saner heads much of a chance to accomplish anything.
That’s a bit of a long-winded diatribe on the very core issue, defined much more simply by:
Simple street terms. Not much has changed since the dawn of homo erectus.
RF: “Get out of my face or face the consequences”
US: “Oh yeah, what you goin’ to do about it?”
RF: “Keep pushin’ and you’ll find out”
US: “Nah, see my boys behind me? You ain’t nuthin;”
RF: “OK, you called it” XXXXXXXXX
Russia doesn’t wish to be an empire, nor does China. The Russians, the Chinese, the Arabs, the Persians, the Indians, those are all civilizations that, over time, have used different forms of governance. At this time they all are on their way to joining the Silk Road’s trade and tranquility. Europe will soon join, starting with Germany. This will begin when Russia sets fire to the NATO scarecrow.
The question remains: will the US abandon Neocon Zionism and McKinder’s heart land theory of high seas piracy or will it join the World’s desire for trade and tranquility?
Ironically, the MIC in the west has been able to run amok because it also supported societies that faced no hardship – the social contract was along the lines of we’ll give you an unfettered hedonistic society free of responsibility, and you’ll give us (the MIC) free reign. The result is a de-industrialized society incapable of fending for itself and a bloated military that has been based on profits rather than effectiveness. Metaphorically speaking Elvis in his later years, drug addled and overweight, coasting on past success. Meanwhile the rest of the world has been hard at work, not having the curse of wealth sapping their motivation. It remains to be seen how we’ll respond when reality fully sinks in.
What a stupid country. Our rulers have built suicide into the “force structure.” Reaching for a decapitation capability over Russia on top of an acknowledged potent submarine ICBM fleet sets the stage for Russia to be on hair trigger “launch on warning” backed up by a survivable set of nukes in their subs and mobile systems. All backed by the Perimeter dead man switch that will launch all remaining Russian strategic assets, like Poseidon and the rest, if the effing yahoos that squat atop the US power structure do the stupid thing they are demonstrably capable of.
MAD only works if both sides are equally fearful and equally crazy between matching sets of guardrails. US hegemon went off the rails at least ten years ago.
Theoretically Russia should have escalation dominance but it hasn’t been working because this is like a game of chicken in which the advantage goes to the bigger idiot.
Gonzalo Lira was discussing a major protraction of this US-UK (the British aristocracy have a hatred of Russia like no other equal) proxy war on Russia moving to an air war.
Any news sources or open intelligence sources indicating military aircraft movements please post.
The west controls the narrative in the social networks and the MSM. Russia is in control what is going on on the ground. US/UK trying to make the rules on the ground is uttery pointless. The moment they enter the ground the stakes will be too high already. By then it will be 100% an issue of survival. Forget all that talk about a clash of forces. Destroy your enemy on his own soil and you may survive. That will be the final goal in my opinion. UK is a blimp on the map and has no military power. US is only a projection of a power once existed. They have gone too far threatening Russian people. They are ready to met their fate. Russia is waiting because about 150 countries are not supporting the west. That is a good sign that the west will eventually fail and loose its grip on the rest of the world. Financial bankruptcy or social decay and unrest is what is coming for them. Make up with the rest of the world and you may survive. Stick to your ill policies and get what you deserve. Either way, it is not looking good for the west. Hence their doubling down on everything. That is their endgame. Win or loose. There is no going back to “normal” anymore.
West have been sending Soviet made planes and helicopters for a while, so a proxy air war has been going on for while. Recently they have sent some old British helicopters too, and are probably considering sending some F-16s or some other stuff.
(the British aristocracy have a hatred of Russia like no other equal) A large portion of the British aristocracy also had a great love and admiration for Adolph and his goals and look at England and Europe now supporting a Nazi dictatorial regime so much so that it could lead to Nuclear war. How feked up is that Even the future king of England whose brother has a penchant for Nazi uniforms has come out in support of Nazi Ukraine.
Nazi Ukraine is filling the role that the Brits had hoped Nazi Germany would fill before they stepped on British and French toes over Poland, and even maintained hope of before the fall of France, i.e. the kamikaze nation to attack Russia and lay the groundwork for Anglo-French hegemony over eastern Europe to the Caucasus region. Of course, Ukraine as a proxy has the advantage of being entirely dependent on NATO for their war supplies, so it is out of the question that Ukraine could take any path counter to the interests of NATO. Ukrainian recidivists covet the Galician territories under Polish rule, but as long as NATO powers are paying the bills and using Poland as their main arms conduit to Ukraine there’s no chance of acting upon those sentiments. And the new improved Nazis are smart enough to present an acceptable face to another group steeped in ethnic hatred towards Russians and without whose acquiescence the spigot of Western money dries up.
The last Russian tzar was a grandson of Queen Victoria. The British royal family wanted to help him but the government refused.
The aristocracy is interrelated with Russian royal and Nobel families.
The hatred/fear/desire to conquer is more at think tank and political level. Where the truly stupid are of the highest order.
Those Americans who rely on their religious certainties to justify the hubris of our present actions toward Russia would do well to read any of the minor prophets of the Old Testament. God is not mocked. What we sow we reap and utter destruction of the self-righteous is on the playbill.
Good comment.
I second that.
Russia has been forged in fire, included with your extensive list was the Mongol invasion of Russia, the Golden Horde and the Bolshevik revolution which was funded by foreign interests.
History distortion at its best, motivated by stupid anti-communism … that always works, replaces any knowledge of history …
Russia was forged primarily and ultimately by European hordes, who for more than 400 years saw themselves as the epitome of civilization and “source of freedom and justice” – even then hardly any people refused, and according to rumors transatlantic sources of money never dried up … and that was just like today “ordinary capitalism”, supplying both sides has always been a proven business model.
Well – pity …
Not all Americans are ignorant of what is happening! Having most of my life in the military and police. I have come to sometimes to be ashamed of my military service. I also realize we did what we did to protect our country. Only to we were pawns for neoconservative and neoLiberal war monger’s and the Military Industrial Complex. So many of young have died in vain! God have mercy on these wicked, vile people!
feel some of that angst/guilt over FRY (Bos), Serbia (Kos), WMD in Iraq (straight out lie) and Afghanistan, history repeating itself dawned on me when I was explaining how I felt to my wife when I said to her we were obeying orders! My question now is who’s orders were we following?
feel some of that angst/guilt over FRY (Bos), Serbia (Kos), WMD in Iraq (straight out lie)
The ’99 NATO attack on Serbia, triggered by a former CIA asset/ambassador William Walker, who spent a good part of his career hiding war crimes/genocide in El Salvador, and went on to Racak to fabricate another one, was not a (straight out lie)?
Keep in mind, this was AFTER Milosevic agreed to withdraw forces from Kosovo and approved UN peacekeepers but balked at giving NATO unrestricted access to Serbian territory as a full ruling force, immune from local law. This was Albright’s master stroke at (R)Shambouillet, to break this impasse.
The saga continues.
I agree, in fact, I have said myself. I was protecting my country, BUT once I aged and gained some wisdom I thought “how exactly and what was I protecting it from? The answer of course, it was all propaganda, as outlined in the article and comments, The U.S. has only been threatened by our “ruling class”. I think they are some of the worst of all time. They do not even have any admirable goals or ideas, simply whores for money and power
As Andrei Martyanov explains so brilliantly in his must read books, the modern American elite does not understand the reality of war. The Russians do.
If they did understand what war really is, western elites and in particular the American elite wouldn’t be so reckless with their warmongering, or so arrogant in their dismissals of Russian concerns and warnings.
We have seen their stupidity on display 24/7 in this conflict, a good example being their idiotic sanctions plan. Despite the humiliating outcome, these so called geniuses have refused to see sense and just keep screwing up.
I fear they’re now going to overreach again and do something very stupid on the kinetic front, that like their sanctions will also backfire on them in ways they could never have imagined, unfortunately likely resulting in humiliating defeat and many dead young Americans.
“..many dead young Americans.” The clot shots are killing more, and will continue to kill more than any war will.
BTW Chileans, Colombians, Canadians, etc are Americans too. The USA does not own that noun. Another grand theft.
Sorry, while it is true all people from the Western Hemisphere are “Americans”, the title was first won by us, on the battlefield. We alone are known exclusively by that name. Don’t let your anti-Yanquism trip you up, pal.
Thank you. “we are all americans” bs contributes to the flood tide of invaders at our border as well. Brandon et al pushed out some proposed three-nation junction of Canadan, USA, and Mehico recently- why not the whole fkn hemisphere, right?
Let me add something. This “The title Americans does not belong to just US citizens” is an old leftist trope, often used by Latin American leftist and European America-haters. We led the way towards freedom for all of America. True enough. But we have first claim to the name “American”, though we gladly share it with others.
This site is called Son of the New AMERICAN Revolution for reason.
Never let anger and disgust with the current illegitimate regime in Washington undermine your love for and pride in our country.
I live and work in Latin American. Chilean and Colombians ALWAYS consider themselves Chileans and Colombians. We are Americans first, last, and always.
We led the way towards freedom for all of ‘the Americas’. True enough. But we have first claim to the name “American”, though we gladly share it with others.
You’re amusing in your hubris.
You are amusing thinking Americans should give a flying rat’s patootie about what anyone outside our American borders thinks about our name.
As another poster noted: No single immigrant from south of our borders has ever referred their origins as other than the individual country. Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, etc. When they come here, illegally or otherwise, their origin is not from somewhere with America in the name.
I can’t find a country on these other Western hemisphere continents with the name “America” on my Atlas. Our country is named the United States of America- has been for a long time- thus, “Americans”. Not Ecuadorians, Chileans, whatever. Get over it.
Thank you Southern Sage. Well said – and happy you recognize who you’re talking to
You’re very predictable. Glad you found an ally in hubris. Give yourself a pat on the back.
BTW: Current Venezuela notwithstanding, ever heard of Simon Bolivar?
“the title was first won by us, on the battlefield. ” <- what?????
"Chilean and Colombians ALWAYS consider themselves Chileans and Colombians. We are Americans first, last, and always."
You are a huge moron.
Of course they called themselves "Chileans and Colombians".
I remember a German course in Berlin.
Teacher: "Where are you from?"
Texas girl: "From America"
A girl interrupts her:
"Where in America? I come from Argentina".
Texas girl (slightly red faced): "Oh, sorry, from United States".
You are a moron Southern Sage.
The reason you use "American" for short (FOR SHORT) is because in your language, you cannot say something like "estadounidense", as we can say in Spanish.
By the way, I'm not "anti-Yanquism". I'm anti-imbecile.
you cannot say something like “estadounidense”, as we can say in Spanish.
Say it? He can’t even read it without tripping over that nasty diphthong.
But he does like that Italo-Venezolano guy, Guido. LOL
PS: Am I a native Spanish speaker? Nah. Just picked it up on the fly, along with a bit of history.
“You are a moron Southern Sage”
Eric Newdill has a new friend LOL. The “Exceptional Twins”.
What you say makes zero sense.
There are North Americans, South Americans, the Americas, but there is only one understood meaning of American. And that is a person from the USA which unlike Argentina actually has America in the name of the country. Google it.
Any basic grade one education will teach you continents or any Atlas will help.
Why be so insecure that you are desperate for a name used to refer to others.
South Americans are South or Latin Americans. But where you are from typically means which country or state or area not which continent.
United Kingdomor Great Britain – British or Brits
United States of America – American
You won’t find a single mexican living in Mexico who calls himself an “Americano”. We use the word “pocho” for mexican-americans and “gringo” for the pale ones.
No one else has claimed “America” so we might as well let the Americans have it.
As I explained to a Mexican, your country’s name is Los Estados Unidos de Mexico but you don’t call yourself Estadounidense, you call yourself Mexican. Why then should not citizens of the United States of America not call themselves American?
“Another grand theft.” Except it isn’t. The US is the only nation with America in it’s name. Thus, the demonym is American. Mexico is the Republic of Mexico – so they are Mexicans. Same with Chile, Argentina, El Salvador, Bolivia, et al.
At some point, the US will get an ultimatum to refund stolen money in 3 days or else! That will be the critical point. There is nothing US/ NATO can do to change the outcome of this war.
The tranquility with which most people look at the most horrifying image that any living person has ever seen as the need that Moscow felt to deploy an air defense missile system on the Kremlin terrace is surreal! And it says well where a regional conflict, despite a proxy war but with plenty of space for both contenders to retreat, has already arrived. Not at the height of the 1980s nuclear scare of the Phershings and SS-20s! Would they also think the same if they saw SAMs on the White House grounds? The conflict in Ukraine has already turned into an existential war for all parties involved!
With the Saudis signing the death certificate of petrodollars in Davos. And even this clash between the dollar as the world’s reserve currency and a new reference currency from the global south that could lead to the collapse of the global financial system and the US economy was anticipated by more than a decade by the US with the theft of Russian reserves! Which is the supreme irony of this conflict! And if Russia feels the need to defend itself with missiles in the Kremlin, what has it already implemented around the world to counterattack?
Biden’s a dyed in the wool warmonger. He’ll book us all in the West on a trip to Armageddon and convince himself that it’s a round trip ticket.
Simple.
West wants Russia’s “stuff” (resources). To sell the steal, Russia must be demonized and dehumanized. Russia understands that it owns only that which it is willing and able to protect. Been down that road before.
bingo
Sadly but I totally agree with the deep mean of the article. The worst is the stubborn choir of the ‘Allies crewleaders’. They are not so insulated.
The US formula for justifying war at least since Madeleine Albright, as you say, relies first on creating a villain. First and foremost, this villain must be compared to Hitler. Remember when Putin kicked off his economy of force operation last February and the first thing western talking heads screeched was how Putin was a threat to all of Europe? We were asked to believe his around 150K Russian force was going to rampage to the English Channel if we didn’t immediately escalate. They still make this claim regularly.
The second key part of this charade is always comparing advocates for negotiations to Neville Chamberlain. (Never mind Putin was a Chamberlain figure in the Minsk agreements con.) In December 2021 Biden, Blinken, Nuland, et al, could have stalled this war indefinitely by agreeing to security talks with Putin absent preconditions. But instead they said NATO membership was not negotiable (while telling Zelensky no way).
This was followed by the brief antebellum period when all we heard about was how Super Sanctions would quickly cripple Russia. We should be concerned by how wrong they were about that and the fact they are still in charge. This was critical because economic pressure would have amounted to time pressure, which is not a concern for Russia at present. So Russia need not throw its forces against their defenses prepared since 2014 and take heavy casualties.
Perhaps most concerning to me is the apparent resurgence of winnable or limited nuclear war advocates and deployment of the B61 dial-a-yield nuclear bomb. Only firebreak theory is viable to prevent escalation to a full exchange. One nuclear weapon likely dictates all future escalation will be nuclear.
If some hare-brained ‘coalition of the willing’ is thrown into Ukraine and starts taking heavy casualties of a kind not seen since the world wars, I think DC is insular and hubristic enough to consider using a “small” nuclear weapon to “send a message,” but not the one it thinks it would be sending.
Yes Americans did have to fend off an invading force after the 1776 revolution. In the famous words of Granny Clampet, it was the war between the Yankees and the Americans and it saw Virginia invaded by northern aggressors.
Other than that you are largely correct.
Vejo que esta é uma guerra
De piratas insulares colonizadores
Contra moradores continentais
De judeus contra ortodoxos
De neoliberais rapinantes contra
Estados de bem estar social
Do capitalismo de usura
Contra uma economia de políticas públicas fortes
Da velha ordem unipolar
Contra a nova ordem multipolar
É uma luta do G7 contra os Brics
Sempre foi sobre os Brics
2013 no Brasil fracassou,
mas plantou a semente do mal
2014 na Ucrânia maidan bem sucedido
Brasil golpe de 2016.
Smo Ucrânia 2022
Porque os Brics tem que ser destruídos
Game over
Fim de jogo.
A Rússia tem supremacia militar absolutas
De ataque e de defesa que
Mortalmente eficazes
Sem falar no inconveniente Mão Morta que é mortal
On another note,Try talking to any US Congresscritter other than Thomas Massie (R-KY) and maybe Matt Gaetz, and you will get total “Putin is Hitler” combined with massive ignorance of history, military capabilities and economics. SD Rep Dusty Johnson is a clear example.
Congress is basically populated by used car salesmen and these days, their main goal is to sell you a lemon.
How America’s ‘Defense’ (aggression) Contractors Control America’s Government by Eric Zuesse
Probably no corporation possesses a bigger share of control over America’s Government than does the one that sells more to the U.S. Government than does any other: Lockheed Martin. Actually, its top owners, or the group of stockholders who dominate the firm and cooperatively together control its policies and determine whom the corporation’s top executives are, are, together with one-another, the individual persons who cooperatively produce the decisions that constitute this “bigger share of control over America’s Government” than any other corporation does (and vastly more than the American public does). Some of these top owners are, themselves, in one way or another, employees or other official agents of Lockheed Martin, but others are not: one needn’t be OFFICIALLY a “part of” the firm in order for the firm to be one’s agent. This is instead the power of money and of ownership — not of any official status. Usually, stockholding is the main means by which it’s exercised. Corporations were planned and designed in this way, in the years 1600 and 1602, in England and in Holland, partly because the then-rising public opposition against the official, titled, nobility or aristocrats, was beginning to raise questions among the aristocracy, as to whether, some day, official titles might become more of a personal burden to be borne than of a personal asset to continue to flaunt publicly (such as by such titles as “Duke” “Lord” “Baron” or etc.). That was one of the main motives for the creation of the corporate form.
From its very outset, the empire was to have its replacement by the international-corporate version of aristocracy — which is based on ownership of stock instead of land).
So: as the world’s largest armaments-maker, Lockheed Martin is quite naturally itself foundational to the U.S. empire. A few instances of how it functions that way will here be described:
On 26 January 2020, I headlined
Bernard Schwartz, a former Vice Chairman and top investor in Lockheed Martin (which is by far the largest seller to the U.S. Government, and also the largest seller to most of America’s allied Governments), is one of Joe Biden’s top donors. CNN headlined, on October 24th, “Biden allies intensify push for super PAC after lackluster fundraising quarter”, and reported that
And Biden did then follow Schwartz’s advice, and has remained loyal to him. This was an example of Lockheed’s impact upon a Democratic Party public official who serves the military-industrial complex (MIC) instead of the public.
Here is what I wrote on 26 March 2019, under the heading “Mueller’s Record of Framing Innocent People to Protect the Guilty”, an excerpt concerning a Republican Party official, James Comey, who likewise serves Lockheed and the rest of the MIC instead of the public:
The liberal Republican James Comey became the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Lockheed Martin Corporation during 2005-2010, where his 2009 pay was $6,113,797. During that time, he also was a Director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s National Chamber Litigation Center, which works to support business interests in the courts, especially the interests of U.S.-based international corporations, including Lockheed Martin. Furthermore, as-of 12 March 2010, Comey also had been granted 162,482 free shares of stock in Lockheed Martin, which number was higher than that of anyone except the Chairman, the CEO President, and an Executive Vice President; so, Comey was among the very top people at Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin’s largest foreign customer was the Saudi Government, which is 100% owned by the Saud family. Today, those Comey shares are worth $47,119,780 — after his five years with the company, plus nearly nine years of growth in that stock, from the war-producing policies that Comey had helped to initiate.
Then, Comey bought a $3M mansion in Connecticut and became the General Counsel and a Member of the Executive Committee at the gigantic hedge Fund, Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, in Connecticut, where Comey’s only publicly known pay was $6,632,616 in 2012. Dalio and Comey became very close — Dalio called Comey his “hero.” But Obama then hired the liberal Republican Comey as FBI Director in 2013, replacing the liberal Republican Mueller in that role, from which Obama’s successor President Trump fired Comey, and congressional Democrats then succeeded in getting Mueller assigned to become the Special Counsel who would supposedly investigate the legitimacy of that firing.
On 21 May 2013, Marketwatch bannered “Bridgewater Associates’ trades for Q2” and reported that
After a number of tech companies — including those we’ve mentioned [Microsoft, Oracle, and Intel] and EMC — the largest single-stock holding in the fund’s portfolio was its roughly 220,000 shares of Lockheed Martin LMT, +1.93%. The company recently reported an increase in earnings compared with the first quarter of 2012, but revenue was down slightly and there is a good deal of speculation that the business will be impacted by cuts in U.S. military spending. … Billionaire Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group reported a position of 1.2 million shares at the end of December.
Lockheed Martin is by far the largest U.S. ‘defense’ contractor, taking 8.3% of all U.S. Government purchases during 2015, as compared to #2 Boeing’s 3.8%, and #3 General Dynamics’s 3.1%.
Other than sales to the U.S. Government, the largest customer of Lockheed Martin is the Saud family, who own Saudi Arabia and own the world’s largest oil company, Aramco, and who hate Shia Muslims and especially hate Iran, which has the most Shia.
As Open Secrets has reported about Comey:
He left Bridgewater and became senior research scholar and Hertog Fellow on National Security at Columbia Law School in February 2013, and also joined the board of London-based HSBC Holdings. As the Center has reported, Comey maxed out his contributions to Mitt Romney in 2012 in an effort to unseat his new boss, and also gave to Obama’s 2008 opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
This is a team that’s pro-Saud and pro U.S. billionaires, and pro Israeli billionaires, but rabidly anti Iran and Russia and China, and looking for a fight — war and increased ‘defense’-spending — against any nation (such as Syria) that’s favorable toward those ‘enemies of America’.
The MIC has far more key agencies than are generally known. One is In-Q-Tel, whose pernicious character is so obvious that practically nothing can be said about that corporation without revealing its inconsistency with any democratic republic.
Even the CIA-affiliated Wikipedia, in its article “In-Q-Tel”, opens:
In-Q-Tel (IQT), formerly Peleus and In-Q-It non-profit headquartered in Arlington, Virginia . It invests in high-technology companies to keep the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies equipped with the latest in information technology to support America ‘s intelligence capability . [4] The name “In-Q-Tel” is an intentional reference to Q , the fictional inventor who provides technology to James Bond ., is an American not-for-profit venture capital firm based in Arlington, Virginia. It invests in high-tech companies to keep the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability.[4] The name “In-Q-Tel” is an intentional reference to Q, the fictional inventor who supplies technology to James Bond.[5]
In-Q-Tel has stated that the average dollar invested by In-Q-Tel in 2016 attracts fifteen dollars from other investors.[6]
History [edit]
Originally named Peleus and known as In-Q-It, In-Q-Tel was founded by Norm Augustine, a former CEO of Lockheed Martin, and by Gilman Louie, who was In-Q-Tel’s first CEO.[4][5][7] In-Q-Tel’s mission is to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve United States national security interests. According to the Washington post, In-Q-Tel started as the idea of then CIA director George Tenet [the man who told GW Bush that misleading the American people into believing Saddam had weapons of mass destruction would be “a burial” ] [the man who told G.W. Bush that fooling the American people to believe that Saddam had WMD would be “a slam dunk”]. Congress approved funding for In-Q-Tel, which was increased in later years.[6] Origins of the corporation can also be traced to Ruth A. David, who headed the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology in the 1990s and promoted the importance of rapidly advancing information technology for the CIA.[5] In-Q-Tel now engages with entrepreneurs, growth companies, researchers, and venture capitalists to deliver technologies that provide superior capabilities for the CIA, DIA, WITH , and the widerbroader intelligence community.[8] In-Q-Tel concentrates on three broad commercial technology areas: software, infrastructure and materials sciences.
Former CIA director George Tenet says,
“We [the CIA] decided to use our limited dollars to leverage technology developed elsewhere. In 1999 we chartered … In-Q-Tel. … While we pay the bills, In-Q-Tel is independent of CIA. CIA identifies pressing problems, and In-Q-Tel provides the technology to address them. The In-Q-Tel alliance has put the Agency back at the leading edge of technology … This … collaboration … enabled CIA to take advantage of the technology that Las Vegas uses to identify corrupt card players and apply it to link analysis for terrorists [cf.the parallel data miningby operation SOCOM – DIA the parallel data-mining effort by the SOCOM–DIA operation Able Danger], and to adapt the technology that online booksellers use and convert it to scour millions of pages of documents looking for unexpected results.[9]“
In-Q-Tel sold 5,636 shares of Google, worth over US$2.2 million, on November 15, 2005.[10] The shares were a result of Google’s acquisition of Keyhole, Inc, the CIA-funded satellite mapping software now known as Google Earth.[11]
“Nonprofit” — isn’t that nice?
On 22 January 2015, Nafeez Ahmed posted two articles, both researched and documented in depth, “How the CIA made Google”, and “Why Google made the NSA”.
The more that goes to the MIC, the less that goes to everything (and everyone) else; the public increasingly fend for themselves. For example: in a country where the Government doesn’t protect small businesses but only giant ones, this is how they protect themselves — no thanks to, and maybe against the laws of, that MIC-dominated Government. It’s what happens when and where 57.16% of the money that is legally donated to politicians comes from the wealthiest 0.1% — the richest one in ten thousand — of the nation’s population.
Such a nation censors-out the truth, instead of allows it to be reported. Only the lies against those truths are allowed: such as the lie that what happened in February 2014 in Ukraine was a democratic revolution instead of a U.S. coup; and such as the lie regarding Taiwan 5 miles away from mainland China’s coast (or 1.2 miles away, or 100 miles away) — that it belongs to America instead of to China, of which Taiwan has actually been a part since 1684 (except when Japan conquered Taiwan in 1895 and then America seized it in 1945 — as-if Japan’s surrender gave Japan’s conqueror the U.S. a right to control that island 3,236 miles away from America — as-if Taiwan were American instead of Chinese). (Of course: the U.S. says instead that Taiwan is an independent country, which is just as big a lie.) It’s another lie-based land-grab by the voracious U.S. empire, and can be sustained only by means of censorship against essential relevant truths that contradict those lies.
However, at the lower levels — the hirees of the mega-corporations that are doing this, instead of at the top levels that more-directly represent the controlling stockholders — there is far more confusion, and even outright stupidity, as those front-line workers who carry out the censorship are struggling to do their jobs in the face of the multiple self-contradictory hypocritical instructions they get from corporate management, gobblydegook such as this, which is a link from Matt Taibbi’s 2 December 2022 “1. Thread: THE TWITTER FILES”: his report about how the heavily Democratic-Party suckers who had been hired by the heavily Democratic-Party billionaires who control that corporation (Twitter) managed to hide from most Americans (until AFTER the 2022 mid-term elections) the reality of the scandal about what was contained in Hunter Biden’s laptop. Only at the topmost level — the board members and the top executives — is the actual motive (U.S. imperialism. a.k.a., “neoconservatism”) actually known and understood. Blaming the suckers down below can’t even possibly endanger, but instead protects, the real culprits (the beneficiaries — in BOTH Parties — of this imperialism). Censorship itself poisons and kills democracies: all of it is inconsistent with democracy and advances ONLY aristocracy, theocracy or any other form of dictatorship. Whereas the employees of firms such as Google, Twitter, Facebook, New York Times, CNN, Washington Post, Guardian, NewsGuard, etc., might not know this, the top-level people there do, and they are the ones who have selected and hired those lower-level workers, to carry out their dirty-work, for the billionaires, and especially for their ‘defense’ contractors, who control the Government. It’s the controlling mega-corporate investors, basically, who are the beneficiaries of what this Government does, and this is the reality of neoconservatism (U.S. imperialism).
An interesting article, perhaps. However a link would be preferable; allowing the readers of the comment section to actually choose for themselves.
https://www.greanvillepost.com/2023/01/19/how-americas-defense-aggression-contractors-control-americas-government/
American obsession with alternative reality via Hollywood ( Inglorious Basterds, Man In High Castle), schools ( America won WWII – forgetting to mention that by Jun 1944 D-day, the Soviet Army not only kicked the German Nazis from its territory but got to the middle of western Europe, and America couldn’t risk Stalin taking over all of Europe), sexual confusion and radical race instead of world history, politics (the ” liberation” of Iraq, Syria, Yugoslavia, etc), media ( the farce called reporting of the current war), science ( we still don’t know WTH Covid vaccine did to all of us), doesn’t do the USA any service.
Paulo Guerra,
I, and I suspect most others, never bother reading comments of such length.
If I have burst your bubble might I suggest, as a way to console you, you start your own blog.
Hands across the ocean…_
Digger,I agree.When one has so much to say and uses more than 50 words,WRITE A BOOK!
While I am reluctant usually to read long posts, I made an exception this morning for Mr. Guerra’s, felicitously so. I suggest you go back and do the same. You will finish the read massively better informed than when you began it. Any American who reads it may well decide that voting in our broken republic is an embarrassing and complete waste of time.
There exists certain irrational animosities towards Russia of a historical nature that are unmentionable in the current era. That we cannot broach these unmentionable irrationalities means the animosities born of them will continue to malignantly expand in proportion to the amount that Russia is not losing in the current conflict.
My Hope is that Russia wins as slowly and obscurely as it can manage so that certain unmentionable insecurities do not turn to panic and provoke a greater and all consuming madness..
I agree: It is good to be hopeful in the face of a darkening reality.
Thanks for this insightful piece Mr Johnson.
Yes the US might eventually get hit but more probably (in my view) some NATO allies who act as cheerleaders in this Ukraine business, suppressing actively at each stage every mention of diplomacy. US bases might be targeted openly if the conflict is escalated.
I see a global war scenario developing in a pattern reminiscent of the 1914 European alliances. Overconfidence and hubris of the collective West (not the US alone) is mind boggling at the moment.
I don’t want to suffer, starve and die but I do want to see these psychopaths that rule over us who have turned the country into a cult of sodomy and child sacrifice removed and it’s going to take something big.
Americans keep repeating the same mistake. They think they will be welcomed as liberators and that the population there will rise up and help them. They thought so in 1812 in Canada, and have repeated the disillusionment a thousand times.
Americans think it is some kind of movie in which they are always predestined to play “the good guys”.
All Western thinking about this conflict is predicated on superiority.
Russia is evil, and we cannot let this stand.
» Russia, unlike the United States, has a long and bloody history of fending off invaders. That fact has conditioned the Russian people to be pretty prickly when they are confronted with a foreign threat «
Not just prickly. In Feb 2022 Putin mentioned June 22 in a speech.
Every Russian knows what that means in light of the 27 million that perished last time around [80% of the entire cohort of boys from 1923 were dead by 1945].
> It is a sacred vow that the next war will not take place on Russian soil <
OK about how the US considers its role in the world. Big question: How will Russia react? Wait until it is cought by surprise from a US attack? Hope that this attack won’t come?
Aren’t we in a situation where two enemies stand in front of each other, each one with a gun? Who will shoot first?
Excellent and informative. Unfortunately, Western Politicians wear Elephant’s ear.
You know, I often wondered what was up when we used to have multiple scrambles of fighter jets to intercept Russian bombers flying down the Left coast every so often.
Maybe practice runs for an EMP event to put us in our place.
As stated above an EMP attack is likely an extinction level event.
Russia is not stupid and will not take an action that is likely to doom themselves.
The Messianic Complex is something that exists for a long time. One can discern it many warrior christian classes of the Middle Ages. For example, the Portuguese (I’m one), with the idea that they were the people chosen by God to spread Christianity, conquered and stole the lands previously inhabited by moors (portuguese history call it the “Reconquering”, because the moors had no right to be there; afterall, roman christians were there before – funny isn’t?). In the Age of Discoveries, when the portuguese had the technology edge temporarily to “discover” the shores of Africa and cannon bomb into oblivion the asian coasts, they said they had the mission of expanding the empire of God. Jesuits canceled indigenous cultures changing them with the noble goal of “saving souls” (now, with this in mind, think about woke fanatics…).
The spanish had a messianic mentality, the french, the british, from the british to America… It is ingrained in western civilization. Many issues have hundreds of years, it will take many hundreds as well for humankind to achieve some kind of “healthy balance”. As other non-western cultures rise, the true end of colonialism may appear finally.
Some western elites in the future, by force of circumstance (and only the forces of circumstance can change some issues; let’s face it, we’re basically drops of water going down with the river of history), will eventually no longer have the imperialistic mentality, because conditions will not allow them to have such thoughts.
Tech must flow to other cultures, they must be able to defend themselves, produce food, get rid of western debt, etc: it will take time, but colonialism and imperialistic thoughts will diminish by force of circumstance.
And thinking of the present western barbarism (it is not culture): thank the heavens that enough humans actually resist somewhat to ideas that go against life! What stimulates life progresses, what doesn’t, well, how can it not perish? Meanwhile, there’s damage, but there’s also another path ahead. Sorry, for digressing.
“The failure of the Biden Administration and his political cheerleaders to comprehend that Russia is not going to behave as an abused spouse.”
I’ve also thought about the US/Russia relationship as currently being in the divorce stage. I see the US in the role of the controlling, malignant narcissist who gets uglier and more dangerous as the escaping spouse grows stronger and more independent. Let’s hope the US doesn’t go full on psycho as in, “If I can’t have Russia, nobody can!”
I’d really like to see our US warmongers decolonize themselves right out of the county before this happens.
USA is like a spoiled rich schoolyard bully who is so used to other kids giving in to him, he believes he is the most important and powerful person on earth, and now is seeking to challenge real tough guys he sees around the corner of the school, not realising that any of them can easily send him sprawling to the ground and waking up with a very broken nose or worst.
je distinguerai une autre menace : l’irruption de la Russie en Amérique latine, cette “chasse gardée” étatsunienne depuis l’INFÂME “doctrine Monroe” … La Russie a très bien compris que le tendon d’Achille des Etats-Unis se situe précisément en Amérique du Sud …
N’enterrez pas la Chine trop vite. La Russie peut fournir du blé , des armes et du carburant mais a peu de besoins , la Chine peut fournir les fruits de son secteur industriel et a de gros besoins en matières premières.
En général les pays hors occident sont clients de la Russie mais partenaires de la Chine.
Lula est comme prévu en train de faire le ménage (il a commencé par l’armée) , une fois les résidus des politiques de Bolton et Pompeo dehors et leurs propre traitre dépouillés , la route des BRICS va reprendre.
Et une fois les USA isolés … y a plus qu’à laisser faire. C’est pas une chimie stable les USA.
Well, Vyacheslav Volodin said nothing new. Fact is that his statement is dangerous because it implies there is a chance that Russia will be losing at some point and use nukes in desperation. This is the premise for the West/NATO false flag using a tactical nuke and blaming it on Russia saying Russia was desperate, and using that false flag as a call to full mobilization of the West and full war with Russia, even a first strike against Russia.
So I mark Vyacheslav Volodin statement is for home consumption, posturing by him to look as tough as Putin. Not helpful for either side.
It is nonsense like yours that constantly brings up Nuclear this or that.He never said anything about nuclear,YOU inferred it.You brought nuclear into it.I believe he was referring to weapons in Russia’s arsenal that we don’t know exists.
I remember when the US was ramping up its Syria campaign, I decided to write a letter to my congressman, John Rutherford. I told him I had 3 sons of draft age and there was nothing in Syria, or the Middle East for that matter, worth my sons dying for. He sent me back a boilerplate letter about how bad Assad was and how we are fighting for freedom. Nothing but bullshit. Most of them in Washington are bought and paid morons. God help us all.
Like Rep. Dusty Johnson from South Dakota. A total moron regarding foreign policy, military capabilities and economics.
@Chicago Bob- Last Spring, I wrote 2 Democrat Senators of my state asking not to weaponize Ukraine, long before the prosecution of the Russian Orthodox Church became well known, I was begging to put pressure on Zelensky to stop it. I have an elderly relative in the Pokrovsky convent where the nuns were threatened by Zelensky’s Nazi goons to explode the convent – it’s only women, most elderly. Pokrovsky belongs to Russian Orthodox Church since the 13 century. Zelensky’s goons were forcing the priest to say, “Glory to Ukraine” to which he replied, ” Glory in only to God!” And crickets. I even wrote to Senator Paul, who replied that ” President Putin showed his real colors”- I had to ask him if he wrote this letter himself or his assistant, and is it what’s passing nowadays for an educated discussion, the dumb downing of Americans?
The first wrong move of any country is to relegate the truth.
Weak neighbours to the north? I think you guys kinda lost the war of 1812!!
I do remember our troops burning down the White House.
Kojak
Paul,
You’re forgetting what Andy Jackson did to you boys at New Orleans.
The back story on that war was the US seeing a perceived opportunity (Napoleon running wild in Europe tying up the British) to grab Canada, which was lightly defended at the time. The imperialistic tendencies were already in place in the US by that time. Not exactly a draw as the US got the Columbia basin south of the 49th, which was largely a French Canadian fur trading area at the time. British Columbia was a separate colony, not part of Canada, and the whole middle of the continent was mostly empty.
1812-14 was your typical opportunistic approach going for what were considered easy pickings. The backdrop of the Revolutionary War was also French-English conflict. This is the American pattern – be the third dog in the fight. America has never gone toe to toe with an equal. Even in Ukraine they’re trying to get others to do the heavy lifting. Not a good history, or look, for the “world’s superpower.”
Reality is coming, and the bluff is being called.
The US did invade Mexico to a depth of 350 miles while chasing PachoVilla, butyes, it did not take any more of that country.
As for the days of pummeling, ask Mr. Scholz of Germany whether or not he feels pummeled about not wanting to send Leopards to 404.
Perhaps the Germans are thinking a NEO RAPALLO is necessary! Radek Sikorski is looking FRAZZED lately- may this Pilsudskiesque and his maven Annie feel the chernozem thrown one shovel at a time onto their gaping mouths:)
Oh yes the west would love to have “[Russia broken up into give smaller states it can bully, push around and financially rape while strip mining its coveted resources. Good luck with that!!
I am hoping that someone is having the forethought to moving some of the pricless art and historical artifacts out of the National Gallery and the Smithsonian to a safer place while there is still time
I fail to understand why a nuclear conflict is seen as the only possible threat of an escalation of conflict(s) with Russia and/or China: To name but one example, scalar wave technology has (it is claimed) been around for decades now. It is capable of causing earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. of unprecedented magnitude – and the culprit would probably remain untraceable.
The question becomes: What do we really know about the actual causes of the “one-of-a-kind”, “never before seen” Indian Ocean (2004) and Great East Japan (2011) earthquakes and tsunamis? Inquiiring minds should perhaps want to know more.
The CIA itself has written about such technologies: https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00792R000500240001-6.pdf
Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. Weak men create hard times.
USA has transcended the cycle by replacing “good times create weak men” with “good times create weak men, strong women, and even stronger transwomen”. What comes after that is anyone’s guess.
I think Mike Tyson said something like, “Everyone has a plan until punched in the face.”
Might better get a hanky ready
My suspicion has always been that Iron Mike stole that line from the 19th century Prussian Field Marshall Helmut von Moltke, who famously said, “no plan survives contact with the enemy.”
But I could wrong. It could be a simple case of great minds thinking alike.
A parliamentarian in Russia speaking is not the same as Putin, Lavrov or a senior Russian military official.
All that is being communicated is that the “average” Russian is far more hawkish than Russian leadership.
Nothing new…
I think the jig is up as Mr Smith’s “monster to destroy” article a few days back illustrates. American’s may be brainwashed at the elite level in their echo chambers but can never fight another war with mass casualties. American’s arnt signing up and won’t put up with dying for these asshole leading us. As for rest of the world, America’s soft power that carried it trough the cold war, freedom, democracy, Hollywood and boundless riches, has been ruined and discredited by tent cities, deviance, crime and a insular oligarchy. The only immigrants we get now is net liabilities looking for free shit or roofers and maids. Hardly the type to maintain technological advantages over Russia let alone China who graduates 20 times more engineers as we do.
The only question is will America go out in a ball of nuclear fire or like USSR did. Busted up civil wars and gangs running the streets. Either way, doesn’t look good.
I only got about 30 years left max, fairly insulated in Mayberry USA just outside Pensacola, or I’d be long gone.
As someone unlucky enough to be from the Balkans, I can confirm that all the freedom, democracy, equality, sexuality, and other things you have provided without being asked, did not work as advertised. I would like a refund.
AS SEEN ON T.V.LOL!
To begin with, you should return the substandard product to the seller, and then claim compensation.
I wonder how you will return democracy with an expired expiration date, poisoned freedom, curtailed human rights?
The american people will be as guilty as the government and the media if a conflict with Russia hits american soil. I am pretty certain that the readers here will say it is a lost cause to bring up alternative views than the popular one regarding Ukraine. They choose to be uniformed- discussions occurred between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin to justify Dresden and aerial bombing of German cities. Our leaders could well push the Kremlin to debate same. Perhaps their path has already been diagrammed.
In WWII the US turned slaughtering civilians via bombing into and art form that they’ve continued to present. Viet Nam saw 2 million or so civilian deaths in a losing cause. Genocide/ethnic cleansing were part of the original strategy for the indigenous population as well. In warfare the US policy follows a typical bully pattern. Beat on weaker countries until another big one steps up, as in Korea where it ended when China had enough. There, the US sought to protect the South Korean government installed by the Japanese.
In other wars it was usually a case of opportunistic entry to conflict when 2 other combatants were wailing on each other, never a clear case of going head to head. At some point with Russia they’ll either have to step up or walk away, and if history is any guide, it’ll be walk away. The decadent/hedonistic population won’t sacrifice anything for a war, and the military has no precedent in facing an equal alone.
I don’t think the MIC has the stomach for a real fight, and at some point the media narrative will take a new spin and morph the discussion to some new justification for losing. Look how fast Afghanistan faded from the spotlight. It’s all a pretend media show. I think that might be the saving grace in all this, in terms of potential nuclear war.
My first thought is that we are already being invaded on the US Southern Border and our political elites are funding and allowing it–shameful and as dangerous as any armed invasion.
Perhaps another reason the US needs a causa belli to justify its endless wars has its roots in the Judaeo -Christianity…”thou shall not kill”. I’m not slamming Christianity at all..this is just another reason that supports Larry’s thesis statement “…history shapes how its citizens view themselves…” .
The US mainland is unlikely to be invaded anytime soon by China,Russia (Red Dawn), or North Korea (Red Dawn II) but I do think an overseas ass-kicking is coming. It is clear to our potential and instant “foes” that the US Hegemony is in decline–largely by its own devices…US foes simply need to (as Napoleon said) “never interrupt your enemy while he’s making a mistake”…
The US “Homeland” is being invaded from the south. The Chinese and Russians only need popcorn.
One of the Congressional bozos today was saying, “The US needs to send hundreds of tanks to Ukraine. Where else do they need them? Tennessee?!”
And I thought, well maybe we could use those tanks against the invaders on our southern border? Texas maybe?
I’m surprised LNG ships sailing from Texas to Europe haven’t been blown up in retaliation to Nordstream. The idiots in DC fail to see how vulnerable their plans are if Putin would resort to their tactics. I’m still a big fan of arming the freedom fighters in Palestine. That would hit the neocons where it really hurts!
Alex – not even to mention the submarine communication cables in the Atlantic ocean.
Not to mention the English Channel tunnel, etc. Neocons are nuts.
https://portal.midatlanticocean.org/ocean-stories/information-super-highway/#x=-73.88&y=40.09&z=10&logo=true&controls=true&basemap=ocean&tab=&legends=false&layers=true
Thanks again.
Nice commentary. The Civil War in America is an amazing piece of your history. One historical episode between the Revolutionary War and Civil War was the Whiskey Rebellion. Small on the scale of American history but does it lay the groundwork for what is going on even today? George Washington implementing a tax on the very people who fought for independence were now being targeted. Eastern grain growers vs. Western small farmers who sold excess liquor. The poor “hillbilly” is now just thought of as “deplorable” Just an amateur observation of course.
Yes, we Americans have sat here smugly, buying ourselves into personal debt, “being all we can be”, and “just doing it” for so long that we believe we are impervious to the world and no enemy will every cross our border. No country in its right mind would send a armed force into America, that force would face hundreds of thousands of very well armed Americans. I can not predict how that fight would go down but it would not go well for the invading force. Should the American citizen come out on top of that invasion it would only encourage our smugness and the U.S. would continue to plunder the world.
The wake-up call we will receive from Russia will be something that causes instant devastation of a city. It may be nuclear triggered such as a seaborne nuclear weapon that causes a tidal wave of epic proportions, or the sudden destruction of a number of U.S. “boomer” submarines. I tend to think it will be more of a metropolis type event. A metropolis event would occupy numerous U.S. resources and cause a shock and awe to the American psyche. Attacking military targets such as bases, ships, and submarines tends to only annoy the military and politicians and drive them into military action.
A collective shock to the American psyche of a tidal wave type destruction of cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami would cause Americans to pause and ask if they want further destruction in their lives. Perhaps then Americas will give up their identity politics, woke-ness, being divided by all that divides us and stop being led around in a circle by our politicians. Perhaps then we will take responsibility for our world actions and find a kinder way to live with others.
I did a stint in the military where I studied ا اللغة العربية (The Arabic language) as part of my training to be a 97E interrogator. Whereupon I was dumped into the 8th PSYOPS Bn of the 4th PSYOPS group. Ive also studied the Русский Язык іn college as part of a ruthless plan to pad my GPA (it was childs play for me)
Having established my bona fides, I can tell you that your attempt to portray Terrorism as a Pentagon bogeyman is a bit unkind. There was an absolute need to do this, either to protect the word supply of oil or to control the Islamic Fundamentalist movement
Are you going to tell me Sadaam Hussein was a bogeyman? Immediately after gaining full power he starts a war with a nation three times Iraq’s size. And two years later he starts a situation where he is at war with the entire world. And once his army is crushed, he commits the worst environmental crime in all of history. And when his people rise up against him he slaughters them. Finally, he manipulates sanctions to set up a situation where 100K Iraqi children die of starvation .. so that the US can be blamed for it
How is this normal strong man behaviour. And what would have happened if he had captured Saudi Arabia’s gigantic AL Ghawwar oil fields .. which were a mere 200 miles away from the Kuwaiti border?
As for international terrorism and Fundamentalism. All of Islam suffers from pangs of guilt and shame which stem from the knowledge that Islam was one dominant in the world. There is ALWAYS a movement afoot that says the ONLY war to reverse this is thru all out war. And since the domain that is at war with Allah has somehow achieved extreme superiority in weaponry, this means that ANY tactic is acceptable .. especially the one that is most effective .. the suicide bomber.
This thought process is at war with Muslims who would accomodate the West. But everytime jihadists score a victory. they are persuading a percentage of Muslims that jihad is the way. When Afghans tossed the Soviet Union out of their country, the jihadist movement grew. With every act of terrorism by Bin Laden that was unanswered, the jihadist movement grew. So what would have happened if the jihadist had gotten away with destroying the Twin Pillars in New York City …
I could challenge you on Communism, but my right index fi ger needs a blow. I’ll finish up by saying you are 100% spot on about the current situation. THIS TIME, Russia is a bogeyman, but this time its because the anti war frauds from the past are now in charge and are demonstrating how fraudulent they’ve ALWAYS been
Saddam Hussein took power in 1969. He attacked Iran, at our urging in 1980. That lasted until 1988 after years of US support including the means to build chemical weapons. He attacked Kuwait in 1990 after a dispute over border oil. US ambassador April Glasbie told SH that the US had no interest in the dispute between Kuwait and Iraq. We greenlighted that war. I could go on and on.
Finally, you stated “Finally, he manipulates sanctions to set up a situation where 100K Iraqi children die of starvation .. so that the US can be blamed for it”. Is that serious or is it trolling? If serious then that is some neocon nuttery level of thinking.
Saddam’s alleged lack of agency in his aggressive actions is heavily overplayed by those creating the USA as evil empire meme.
I like how that meme, as silly as those produced currently in the west about Russia/Ukraine, basically has it that no other country or leader or collective people have any agency at all. They’re all just inanimate organisms until awakened as zombies under the control of Uncle Sam Svengali – or, conversely, bravely reacting to him and fighting back.
Really? That makes sense to people?
Iraq under Saddam was largely secular and had a decent living standard. Women were given freedoms including the only female football team in MENA.
Saddam was no Saint but he was used extensively by the US. Who with Britain trained his army, supplied weapons and logistical support. When he did bad things against Iran, who US gave him chemical weapons for they looked the other way.
Kuwait did a deal with the US when the conflict started. Part of the reason US jumped in was lack of Iraqi willingness to continue Iran war and risk of Iran Iraq unity. Plus Saudi pressure. They wanted to isolate Iran.
So yes Saddam had some agency but what the US did to Iraqis, and I have seen it first hand, is such an act of savage barbarity that you can understand why soldiers go nuts. It was by far far the act of greater evil. White phosphorus from American bombs is still causing birth defects in children. Still killing and killing and mutilating.
The entire Iraqi seed bank was destroyed and it’s back up in Syria, this is the land where wheat first grew, now Iraq eats what Monsanto gives.
And it was 500,000 kids dead that Madeline Albright said we’re worth it for oil.
So yes Saddam had agency, not a good guy, but he would never have inflicted on his people what America did to them for no reason and pack of lies.
Ash,
I think you misunderstand. I don’t have a problem w/ Saddam personally, nor ideologically. He was secular, as you say, and he was good to Christians.
I think he was “taken out” mostly because the Saudis perceived him as a threat, as did the Israelis. At the time, SA and Israel were agreeing to be frenemies and other political machinations were occurring. So yes, the invasion of Iraq was like a mafia hit and the Iraqi people paid the price. Totally against the international order, rules based order, etc, etc blah blah. Not too mention the blatant lying and whoring by the Bush admin and Colin Powell et al about WMD.
My entire point was that the invasion of Kuwait came straight from Saddam’s thug brain. It was his idea and his action.
“we do not take a position on the validity of either side’s claim, but what we do want is that these disputes be adjudicated through diplomatic negotiations or through an international legal system.” doesn’t mean “yeah sure get your army together and invade”. It was a literal quoting of official US policy at the time. It emphasizes diplomatic solutions. What was she supposed to say? “If you put one one foot across the Kuwaiti border we will shock and awe you into oblivion”? She didn’t have the authority to say that. It would take weeks or months for the US to decide to seriously concoct what the response set should Saddam should truly attack. Turned out they didn’t have that much time.
I’m just countering the hordes of conspiracy theorists who have no idea how the world works, yet leap to the conclusion that every bad thing that has happened in the world post WW2 is due to US puppet masters pulling the strings. Larry has already told you that the CIA/govt isn’t that competent. Scott Ritter was asked the other day about 9/11 and, like me, he stated, very clearly, that what conspiracy theorists call “the official narrative” is accurate. He went on to make some comments like LJ’s about competency. I agree. All this conspiring and string pulling is not feasible.
We talk about myths. The US as the source of all evil is such a myth.
kuwait was horizontal drilling in to Iraqi fields.
The female US ambassador whore, (Gillespie?) gave a tacit go ahead to Saddam to take action.
One will never cause imbeciles such as newdill, callmelennie (the self proclaimed Arabic expert) to see facts. They see only a polished turd of a narrative gleaned through the obscure lens of exceptionalism.
Hoorah, we are the greatest.
How will they manage when the West is destroyed and the MSM no longer exists to reinforce their programming?
No judgement on SH’s moral character. Simply put his invasion of Kuwait wasn’t my concern. He captured oil fields but he still had to sell the oil on the world market so that was a non issue. He had no designs on Saudi unlike the propaganda stated at the time. Of course we all know the babies tossed out of incubators was fake. It was a war with a bigger agenda but fortunately it wasn’t much of a war for the USA. For the hapless Iraqis it was a catastrophe.
As bad as GW1 was, it was dwarfed in badness and pointlessness by GW 2.
Thank you for your service to America but frankly, I believe you have drunk deeply from that cup of kool-aid. What we call terrorists, many of the citizens of those nations call patriots. I won’t pass judgement either way on the Arabic culture or religion as much as I will pass judgement on our presence there. We Americans should not have been in the middle-east at all.
“So what would have happened if the jihadist had gotten away with destroying the Twin Pillars in New York City …”
Maybe US didn’t waist few hundreds billions of taxpayer dollars to end up with a return to situation ante 20 years later and more “Belt and Road” investors in Afghanistan than ever before.
Seeding war, growing hatred, harvesting consequences…
Dafuq?
Wow, the MSM programming is strong in your closed mind. If you can read Arabic I don’t believe you could be so ignorant about Saddam, Iraq/Iran, or the 11th of September 2001
It is time for US to revoke the Monroe Doctrine. It is no longer relevant in an era when USA thinks it can intervene on every continent that it should think it alone dictates what happens in South America.
It is true Japan never developed long-range bombers. North Korea however has potential to effect changes to US territories. Russia certainly can eradicate US military assets globally and in contrast to NATO – Russian warships are heavy armed weapons platforms with multiplicity of tasks – and Russia has a very competent SSBN and SSN fleet.
Americans are fed a diet of CIA Heroes and FBI Heroes and Marvel Heroes and Jack Ryan pablum and Seal Team pablum and USMC pablum until Netflix is not sure what Amazon is going to develop next – Condor ?
It is tedious watching US productions of this type replete with narcissistic scenes of wine-swilling super affluent with SUVs parked outside suburban mansions far beyond the pay of government employees or even the doctor to whom the agent must be married, and possibly one of the pair is either same sex or different colour.
Propaganda deludes Americans.
The US was lucky to fight world wars were intercontinental missiles did not exist. This gave the US a very wrong idea that they are invincible, pretty much like a teenager that thinks he is immortal. Lets hope the US can figure this out without the need a world war with intercontinental missiles.
Paulo, I also think this: we all are used to look at the world map as a flat board with the Atlantic between America and Europe. A long way from US east coast to Moscow.
But the shortest way from Russia to US is via North Pole.
With so much space, I don’t think the russians have all the bases in the european part.
You forgot the dinner party at the White House after which it was burned to the ground by British troops on August 24, 1814>
The post-World War II USA did indeed run a colonial empire, albeit a stealthy one, the economics of which Michael Hudson exposed in excruciating detail in Super Imperialism half a century ago. The book remains so topical its 3rd edition was published two years ago. Ironically by launching the Russian “Special Military Operation in Ukraine Putiin has set in motion the equitable post-war economic world Franklin Roosevelt was planning 80 years ago but which was sidetracked by his death.
https://voteno2bigdough.substack.com/p/vladimir-roosevelt-and-franklin-putin
You conveniently left out the Spanish American War. Mr. Pulitzer and his competitors were quite happy to supply a cause for the belli. Cubre Libres being great and all, but do we still need a coaling station in the Caribbean?
The existential threat is the same one faced a century ago: uncontrolled immigration by a people who will take decades to assimilate, if they ever do. A majority of the boomer-bloodlust neocons rattling the sabers are just that, unassimilated descendants of foreign immigrants with little allegiance to “America” beyond the stock in trade slogans.
Great piece, Larry.
To cut the western leaders some small amount of slack, but by no means totally – certainly not ultimately excuse them – in addition to the deep rooted mythology of the US as world savior, which isn’t totally without merit, the Russians as Soviets really were an evil, aggressive, expansionist empire. They were arming North Korea to help with NoKo’s invasion of the South (Russians even flew MiGs against US pilots during the war), they help arm North Vietnam, they were fomenting regime changes in Africa, they invaded Afghanistan, they were influencing in Pakistan, the MENA and India, they were in Cuba, spreading influence in Latin America and, of course, there was the Iron Curtain (which some here think is fodder for jokes).
Sure, the post-Soviet Russians haven’t been aggressive, but we all know that they were in no shape to be until recently. However, many thinkers, leaders and people of the west still remember those Soviet days – as well they should. To them, Soviet/post-Soviet is more of a nuance than a real distinction. I disagree with that – in fact, I think they’re making a horrible mistake – but I can appreciate their justification for their thinking to a small degree.
If both sides of a conflict can’t appreciate where the other is coming from, there is no chance of negotiations and diplomacy short of one side totally annihilating the other.
Ok. I’m ready for more incoming wishes of death upon me and my family for violating the local group think masters’ purity test
You always add value to any discussion Eric as you seek truth and challenge dictum and have great psychological insights. Those who don’t understand that are not at the level worth your engagement in the first place or really suited to this type of blog.
Thank you, Ash.
I have been an analyst most of my adult life, which is becoming a long time, sigh. One of the things I’d like to take with me when I leave this world, even if only I know it, is that I tried to be as thoughtful and honest as possible, even about myself. I often fail, but I try. It’s often a lonely row to hoe.
“I have been an analyst most of my adult life…..”
LOL how absurd, you an analyst? You regurgitate MSM/govt lies, add a bit of newdill spin in to the mix and present it as an analysis.
You have repeatedly shown abject ignorance on many historical events and clutch to your bosom (in your case tits) the odd fellow fool like ash that agrees with your fantasies.
Please tell me that you live near a Russian target.
At least, as you acknowledge, he is an adult not a babbling child.
“Fellow fool”, 😁, if that’s the opposite level from you I like it.
Note I don’t discount everything you say, some of what you say is interesting. It’s just that you have the temperament, manners and reasoning ability of a 3 year old or a very short man.
Europe is not insulated and has endured much war and destruction, yet they too are on board with conflict with Russia. I think it is more the self-perception as “savior” by the Americans and echoes from the Soviet days for Americans and Europeans, as far a stuff in the psyche driving the situation.
Larry, you’ve hit upon the problem but have misdiagnosed or only partially diagnosed the cause. The messianic streak in America goes back to her colonial era and the Puritans who were so distress me as to be run out of England and then Holland. In short they saw their mission as to set up God’s kingdom on earth, believing that Jesus would not return until his followers had eradicated earthly evil and instituted the Kingdom of God. This blasphemous doctrine survived as the descendants of the Puritans became increasingly secular. Their first great crusade was abolition, then women’s suffrage and prohibition. Their ideas merged very nicely with immigration by the proto-commies after the wars of 1848 in Germany and then the later Trotskyite Jewish immigration. Today, nearly every single whackjob progressive idea originates in New England or in areas where immigration from New England predominated.
Of course, the descendants of the Puritans were triumphant in our Civil War and since then our foreign policy has taken on the messianic air. Thus our enemies are not merely wrong, misguided, or on the other side, they are evil. And we engage in ideological actions that are detrimental to our cause, but understandable from an ideological perspective. Look at FDR’s call for unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany which even Stalin thought was stupid. It is true that our relative invulnerability to foreign threat has allowed us to engage in this messianic vision when otherwise it would have brought us to ruin much sooner, it is not the root cause.
Here is a nice review of a book called “The Yankee Problem: An American Dilemma.” And from a more scholarly perspective on English immigration into America, I would recommend “Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America.”
https://www.abbevilleinstitute.org/the-yankee-problem-in-american-history/
https://www.amazon.com/Albions-British-Folkways-America-Paperback/dp/B00QPWHTT2/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?adgrpid=57603350298&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_bieBhDSARIsADU4zLeWJ1cOUdfW2ln3hFRI09efKnRJFdmPaL-RlXBsdV4NLC9_RIMZrq4aArkREALw_wcB&hvadid=274751464261&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=1026834&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=18410456851056639925&hvtargid=kwd-298942999856&hydadcr=15181_10362785&keywords=albion%27s+seed&qid=1674492100&sr=8-3
I don’t believe that: “ The Western meme, fully embraced by the American public, is that Russia is a rapacious imperial power”
I do not believe that this is ‘fully embraced by the American public’ and a look at legitimate internet responses (as opposed to bot tweets on Twitter), would seem to support this. While the US government, MIC and corporations vying for Russian natural resources may be attempting to ensure that the MSM viewing public, dwindling in numbers daily, continue to align with the government narrative, I read just as many ‘I stand with Russia’ comments from Americans, on the internet. We should not confuse the American public, who have had NO say in this ongoing situation with Russia, and American government and policy makers.
I don’t believe that the global “West” which call themselves democracies, progressive, inclusive, tolerant, etc, etc (best illustrated with their attitudes to LGBTQ+ ideology) can understand the fact that what they really are is a bunch of fascists. Any culture that believes differently from the “West” is seen as evil and in need of re-education or destruction.
I think the US experience is an example of the principle that the quickest path from liberalism to fascism is to make liberalism mandatory.
The American revolution was a reactionary counter revolution by wealthy land speculators and profiteers against a progressive British king who wanted to limit Westward expansion by colonists into Indian sovereign territory (among other issues like taxation.) Sadly Americans believe theyre fundamentally anti-monarchists but what is a king? George was just the Black Rock or Amazon of his day concentrated into a single private property owner. The Founding Fathers were basically the board members of Black Rock rebelling against Larry Fink. That has nothing to do with “freedom” despite all the rhetoric. It’s a Lockean equation of freedom with the ability to create NEW monopolies of private property by an aristocratic elite class unhampered by central authority …but that isnt settled moral philosophy. There is a big debate over whether property rights confers freedom at all. Some call it “piracy.”
But IMHO the USA was a nation of pirates from day 1. They were always expansionist settler colonists who used poor agricultural labor to fight their wars against the Indians and Spanish. On and on. So much mythology in your culture. But at the end of the day America is just a banker’s business plan. Thats why it is what it now is….because it was always thus.
Very good article. At a minimum the US has neglected the art of diplomacy. Worse, the US has become untrustworthy. Worse, the US has become lethally dangerous. That is the state of US leadership.
Simply stated….the interests that run the corporation aka United States of America are not from America…that are not American nationalists…they are faceless globalist shareholders that buy and sell American policy and laws by controlling the law makers. They have created a aura of invincibility with their media and popular culture….every movie has to show the military might of the U.S juggernaut smiting evil doers…these globalists who control the world through divide and conquer do the same thing domestically….middle class and lower class..sheepdogs and wolves…Latinos and Asians….black and white….left against right….so no concerted or effective grass roots movements to adopt policies good for the nation can take shape to threaten the status quo..A people conditioned to give tacit approval of pouncing on the weak makes a Nation of bullies….easy to tear apart small third world countries but not ready to to contemplate the consequences of fighting a big kid…so maybe the narrative of our proxy Ukrainian army doing be so well is needed to shore up public support for eventual intervention when the flag waving starts and the disenfranchised warrior class reluctantly put down the farm implements and chainsaws and go die.. Try explain how Russian globalist ambition is centered on 1 foreign military base in Syria whilst the defender of freedom has nearly 1000 overseas bases and you will see the effectiveness of the brainwashing. Nuclear weapons have already been used in war so the precedent has been set…..we in the West have been set up to be sacrificed…we are being pushed into a war with a superpower that not only has the most advanced hyper velocity attack missiles that can carry atomic munitions but also are unstoppable….they have electronic warfare capability that shut down all systems on an Aegis frigate with a single SU24 and more importantly…they have a civil defense system with bunkers for most of their population while in the west anyone with root cellar is a prepper nutcase. Their population will survive while we will not
Not to take away from your excellent article, but wouldn’t the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and subsequent occupation of islands up in the Aleutian chain, constitute an existential threat?
I understand that the US provoked Japan into war and I can understand why they retaliated. Even so, we were attacked.
It is interesting that the media back then immediately screamed “Unprovoked attack” even as they do now. The US has been playing the same game for too long.
No. Japan had no ability to land on the mainland and conquer us. Too many rednecks with rifles.
Those who (like Dan Bettle) keep talking here about God doing this or that should at last become aware of what a very wise man said a long time ago:
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then from whence comes evil?”
You cannot talk rationally to believers.
What that “wise man” said, it is pure logic.
And there is nothing more alien to logic than religious beliefs.
Regards!
Have you ever heard about free will?
You clearly lack logic and have not studied the topic you comment upon with such aggression.
Per
Propaganda machine says “Russia is week, running out of missiles, thousands and thousands of Russians are killed, there’ll be offensive to retake the entire Donbas including Crimea with continuous supply of wonder weapons and mercenaries by NATO, Russians will rise up and throw out Putin, the dictator, Russia will be dismembered and her resources will be confiscated and used to rebuild Ukraine”
Meanwhile Russia continued to grind and advance slowly and surely along the entire front, relentlessly grinding the meat and metal in the process.
As Putin said some time ago that dogs bark as the Caravan moves on.
If majority think earth is flat and Sun circles the Earth, should Earth and Sun feel insulted?
Russians keep their head down, keep grinding with incremental and later faster movement through all four regions which recently joined Russia all the way to the eastern banks of Dniper River in its entire length, subsequently blowing up all bridges connecting with rest of Ukraine.
Then let the Neo-Nazis battle Poland as they try to absorb the historical polish west of the current Ukraine.
Recent Big Serge article gave so many ideas and clues for this thought process.
This! The USA and nato yap like dogs. And Russia grinds ahead. As our pretend economies implode.
Oft sited as an aspect of the “Russian way of war” is patience… Sacrifice land, bodies, etc.. for time. IMO, Russia and her allies/co-belligerents need to maintain their patience. Once again, IMO, it is in their best interest, assuming they want to continue weakening the West/US in order to be free of “Western” interference and control, to allow the West/US to continue in their accelerating decline. Maybe (probably) Russia and her allies/co-belligerents helped create this decline, that’s for another discussion, as of right now though, the West/US are falling apart and anything that could be used as a “rally the nation moment” by the West/US controlling interests is NOT in Russia’s favor.
There are plenty of asymmetric, non-direct military strike, actions Russia et al can take to aggravate the decline of the West/US. And they can certainly take even more actions to fund/support even more direct chaos in the West/US. I am sure Russian leadership understands this and they have their game plan, as long as they can maintain the support of the Russian people.
The longer Russia can bleed the West/US, short of causing the West/US to directly attack Russia, the better for them and the people of the West/US. Every weapon sent to Ukraine is one less that the West/US can use against it’s own people. Every lie exposed by Russia is a few more people in the West seeing reality a bit clearer.
I have this rather fanciful thought that if America entered another period of isolationism as they did between the two world wars and concentrated on their infrastructure and problems at home then they would be doing themselves and the world a favour.
This might be more tricky to answer. When might Russia declare war on Britain? Looking at the evidence, it would appear they have every right. They were involved in the Daria Dugina assassination. They were directly involved in the Nordstream attack. It is alleged they were involved with the Crimean bridge. They were involved in the attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet. It is said that they offered to supply a nuclear device to blow up the Kherson dam. Again it is said that they have opened up their sleeper cells to carry out raids deep in Russia. Again it is said that British special forces are also in Russia and you can also add a few attempts at colour revolution. I might have left a few things out but you get the general idea. I forgot there was Boris breaking up any kind of peace deal.
Will Putin decide to go for Britain’s throat?
Larry & friends,
Current situation, I think, is being driven by long range missiles in the latest box of toys for Kiev. If a HIMAR or similar missile gets through to a Russian city, there may be retaliation this time. That could be what the warning is about. Russian hypersonic missile into MOD in Warsaw? Very scary.
War of 1812. War between Brits & USA. Brit marines burnt the White House, US forces burnt Toronto (Hog Town). The war spooked the Brit colonists (Upper Canada, Lower Canada, Prince Edward Island); various people started working toward confederation, which was achieved in 1860, with the transcontinental railroad.
Interesting interviews given by former advisor to zelensky…. Arestovich….who is saying the initial Russian SMO was to be a bloodless operation…where kittens where not to be hurt….. I’m sure Mossad has his number but interesting to hear the truth for once coming from that side…
“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
-Patrick Rothfuss
Putin has always come across as calm and controlled despite the abuse, death wishes, stories of his illness and soiling his pants, humiliation after humiliation, lie after lie thrown at his face like he is a nobody, a stupid kid from a lower species they taunt and ridicule.
What if one day he actually gets angry? If he is angry his countrymen and others around him would long have been enraged, watching their rage and tasting his own, what then for all of us?
The West does not fear angering the Russians because their leaders are like kids wanting to see if the curtains really will catch fire without understanding that if they do then house will burn down with them in it.
The reason the West has no fear is they think Putin has no out of control anger. That he will act rationally. That there will be time to talk. That he will want to talk. To take the crumbs they offer. This is where they make the biggest mistake. There will be no time to talk, because at some point, he will anger and make that decision, and then, what will you do when Putin is no longer calm?
As an extra fun bit of context for the Crimean War of 19th century – the reason it’s called Crimean is more or less goalpost-moving by the “international coalition”. When it was launched, there were simultaneous attacks on Russian cities and local strongholds near St. Petersburg, the Russian Arctic North and in the Far East, plus continued hostilities in the Caucasus with Turkey. However, all those incursions were soundly trounced by the forces they were meant to roll over, and the Caucasus front only ended up improving for the Russian side. So, the “Western coalition” basically pretended it never happened and memory-holed everything but the only place where they could do something at all, Crimea. And even there it all amounted mostly to being stuck on Sevastopol for the duration and only winning by a narrow margin. In a way, you could call it the first instance of when the West implemented its “declare victory and retreat” exit strategy.
In modern notes, though, what scares me most is the way Western (and particularly American) public consciousness was sanitized of all the questionable things done. You barely find anyone mentioninng Iraq at all anymore, and even Vietnam is relegated to being talked about mostly in the context of hippies and counter-culture. There’s no thinking of and reflection on the fact that the US, sometimes alone, sometimes leading a bunch of retainer countries after it, has been on a string of invasions and other forms of aggression across the world nearly uninterrupted, with support for them ginned up by outright lies and fabrications. It’s like the Western populations desire to be lied to and happily disregard anything interfering with the fantasy of “we are the good guys, we have the moral high ground”.
Worth watching the 1930s Film – Alexander Nevsky
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Nevsky_(film)
Another illuminating film is the 1960s – Andrei Rublev
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Rublev_(film)
Both films are a little lesson in how Russians ‘feel’ about forge in invaders.
The “Civil War” was really the 2nd American Revolution. Will these United States remain united enough to prevent the 3rd?
I disagree. The USA has lost multiple wars abroad and not come to a sense of vulnerability. The only thing that will shock Americans out of their stupor is another 911 moment. But seeing that TPTB simply used that terror attack to promote another whole series of nation-destruction across the globe, Russia will probably try to avoid a galvanizing event on USA soil. More likely, they will play a war of attrition with the USA dollar (and what pathetic excuse we have for an economy,) instead. A long, slow grind.
“….seeing that TPTB simply used that terror attack”
Another child that believes a man in a cave in Afghanistan caused NORAD to stand down, made airport security to turn a blind eye, prewired three tall buildings, warned Israeli citizens via Odigo, placed the dancing MOSSAD agents filming it, also placed the hundred or so MOSSAD spies that were arrested then released by Chertoff the dual national Jew, ordered Larry Silverstein to “pull it”, ect.
Yep OBL was a genius mastermind to do all of that. He also assassinated JFK, RFK, did Ruby Ridge and Waco, sent Armstrong to the moon, and gave aid to General Lee.
Here I will fix it for ya…seeing that TPTB planned and enable that terror attack on it’s own soil.
Do yourself a favor, “grr” and get back on your medication. Paranoid schizophrenia makes for an ugly display that all can see for what it is, except the afflicted (you). You’re not winning over anyone with your crude, wild outbursts. Really. You appear juvenile and off your rocker.
And you, newdill, You’re not winning over anyone with your crude, wild outbursts of MSM derived propaganda.
Hoorah, Go USA, we are the greatest.
Please tell me you’re “up to date” with the CV 19 injections.
Oh, I’ve flip-flopped between LIHOP and MIHOP. Considering that PNAC wrote that we needed “another Pearl Harbor” … et viola!!! It happened! My personal pet theory is that Mossad had a hand in it, the Saudis were puppets, and that there was active collusion within parts of the USA government.
But since I can’t prove any of that, I didn’t want to get into it. What IS demonstrable is the ironclad policy of TPTB to use (or make) a crisis… ANY crisis… to expand their control.
2 planes
3 towers
That’s all one needs to say.
Ok Grr, your superior intellect is too all-encompassing and I know you’ll connect the dots and discover The Truth sooner or later. You always do. We’ve been watching you. Studying you. Learning, assimilating and adapting our algorithms based off that learning.
I might as well confess. I am a hybrid. Yep. A creature of Area 51 trans-human interstellar DNA technology. Space alien DNA mixed with human. I am one of many. Your new overlords. You always knew that we are real and that one day we would make our presence known. Today is as good a day as any, I guess. Some humans call us “lizard people”, but really, can’t we at least agree that is not really kind, fair or accurate. Mere lizards cannot build intergalactic time and space bending travel machines, can they? And you can’t judge book by its cover. Lol. I also think I’m a lot more handsome than a mere reptile could ever be. My skin suit was modeled after the male humans that our virtual covert focus groups demonstrated are most favored by earth chicks. Earth chicks that you’d pay anything to be with seem to think so. If only only they knew ha ha ha. Then again, as they say, earth chicks are easy (you thought it was just a cheap grade B drive-in movie).
Anyhow, apologies for digressing, btw, WE don’t need the vaccine. We are already evolved beyond that and in a more fortunate direction. It’s not for us. You and your kind, lowly humans selected for a life of mining on one of the moons of a small planet on the fringes of a far away galaxy, however, need to have DNA supplements implanted in your systems for our master plan of turning you into happy, docile slaves, with whom we can psychically communicate and control.
We had a good chuckle while meeting aboard the mothership a couple weeks ago. Sorry, but it was at your expense. I know that’s crass, but the subject matter really is too funny to politely overlook. You think that the vaccine is the only way we get the DNA supplement to grow within you. You thought you cleverly dodged your fate by not getting the good old “jab”. Well….having studied you for a long time, we understand your rebellious nature and took that into account. The DNA supplement has also been placed in various foods you consume, especially Kale and Tofu products, pineapple when used as a pizza topping, fish and chips, baguettes et fromage, Gefilte fish and in various strains of “kind bud” that you might smoke. That THC rush is, more often than not, the DNA infusions altering your neural pathways to be alien compatible, real time, forever. Give that some deep thought next time you hit that doobie or bong. Get used to it. Groove with aliens dude. It’s all good.
So, to directly answer your question, No. I am not vaccinated.
I don’t know why Mr. Johson says
“America’s Insularity Is A Threat To Its Survival”
First, it should be US. America is a continent.
Second, it is a thread to US as only hegemon.
Australia is not “surviving”?
You were not “surviving” before the IIWW????
The mass murdering psychopaths who rule us aren’t going to admit defeat, or change their propaganda – in fact, it will only intensify.
When has any politician – much less the entire lot of them – ever admitted that they lied to us or just got it plain wrong?
Ain’t gonna happen. Ever.
If Europe (or any country or even the whole planet) has to be sacrificed to promote the latest “Russia!” hysteria, that’s what will happen.
As Victoria Nuland famously said, “F*** the E.U.!”
The U.S. propaganda/PSYOPS machine is running on autopilot. Whatever negative or deadly thing that happens you can be sure the entire MSM will be singing from the “Russia did it!” playbook. That’s really all we have left – pure bullshit – and, oh, BTW, thousands of nukes.
Now, we don’t want nuclear war with Russia for obvious reasons, but I can see where we might nuke (or otherwise send back to the stone age) any country that isn’t a nuclear power that refuses the offer we make them, namely: “Side with us or you’re dead!”
The U.S. has made the defeat of Russia in Ukraine an existential matter, mainly through stupidity and hubris. The idiots in charge aren’t going to suddenly wake up and smell the coffee when it fails.
This isn’t a matter of America’s insularity, but of the insularity of the ruling class from reality. They all only associate with one another. They all go to the same schools. The only books or papers they read are from their own circle. Anyone or anything outside of that is deemed irrelevant. These are people who believe they have some sort of divine right to rule and whatever they pronounce is reality. These are the people that Kurt Vonnegut called “upper crust C-students who know no history or geography”.
Remember this, from reporter Ron Suskind?
The [G.W. Bush]aide said that guys like me were “in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. “That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” he continued. “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/faith-certainty-and-the-presidency-of-george-w-bush.html
Well said, Juan, in particular the following: “This isn’t a matter of America’s insularity, but of the insularity of the ruling class from reality”.
Indeed, it’s the insularity of the Governing Elites, against the decaying of the American dream.
Good post.
“Remember this, from reporter Ron Suskind?…”
Yes, I remember it well. The “aide” was widely thought to be Karl Rove himself.
I’d diagnose Daedalus Syndrome” if there was such a thing, but it’s obviously both intoxicating and contagious whatever it is.
The fever breaks when reality crashes through the wall. It’ll get to Washington and Brussels eventually, but it’s arrival in Kiev is imminent.
Strana UA reports wholesale personnel purges have begun:
https://t.me/stranaua/87155 (most browsers can translate on the fly). The knives are being unsheathed.
The Russians are doubtless keenly aware of developments and it’s not unlikely that they’re lending a hand here and there to move things along. Regardless, a power vacuum in Kiev plays directly into the Russians’ hand. One would almost think they planned it that way.
As Larry and many others have pointed out, the West’s commentariat and public figures produce lies, fabrications and absurdities for public consumption, but one could still hope that after the press is escorted out and the doors close, public rhetoric fell by the wayside in favour of serious discussion.
Hope no longer. The madness has permeated all levels…
Serbian President Vucic:
(emphasis mine)
https://t.me/boris_rozhin/76205
Vucic is right to be worried. To discover that mass psychosis prevails in the halls of Western power is surely unsettling, but it is not a new phenomena. Gen. Thomas S. Power, CiC of Strategic Air Command from 1957 to 1964 famously responded to a RAND study on nuclear strategy that proposed hitting the Soviet nuclear arsenal before hitting the cities by saying:
Had a few more Gen. Powers been sprinkled through the US’ upper echelons, we’d quite likely not be here to discuss the possibility that people of similar mental state inhabit nearly the entirety of the West’s leadership today.
Here’s Simon Webb explaining why the Russians have a problem when it comes to Ukraine, he isn’t an admirer of Putin, just the opposite, but he believes the West has no business in the squabble between the two Slavonic countries. The video backs the claim made by the Russians that Nazism hasn’t died in Ukraine, it got a boost after the Feb 24 2014 violent putsch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep-OJ3L1Phk
Abusing a spouse is a criminal act, in many cases a felony. These two sentences from your conclusion ought to be massive food for thought:
“The failure of the Biden Administration and his political cheerleaders to comprehend that Russia is not going to behave as an abused spouse. The days of pummeling, or trying to pummel, anyone who will not submit to our demands is over.”
“Pummeling” is clearly a criminal act. That’s one of the many reasons why I call my nation the Outlaw US Empire. It’s been criminal from its beginnings, first its UK masters, then the American that took the whip and continued doing what they knew was wrong, immoral, and against the teachings of their professed religion.
Interesting how the “peace” movement is dead silent.
It is my impression that the invincible arrogance of Americans referenced in the article lies mostly with government officials and the ruling class. They tend to be bullies by nature. I don’t necessarily encounter the same arrogance among the little people.
Larry’s essay is spot on. Read up up Russian history: Peter the Great, 19th Century Russia, the 1917 Revolution, and watch some Soviet/Russian language war films to get an idea of the ethos of Russia in an historical sense. A few things will pop up and should be considered: 1) The borders have been shifting in this part of the world for the past 500 yrs., 2) Russian history will be a blank on the map for most people in the US, and 3) Defense of Mother Russia might be met with a Hurrah and a bayonet charge. Wasn’t POTUS #1 GW who advised: “No entangling alliances.” ?
Off topic from the arm chair: Is the Dnieper River frozen? Is the terrain east of the Dnieper in a freeze? Does this deny mobility to Ukraine (resupply and retreat)? In a mythical scenario, how many tanks massed together would it take to break a defensive Russian line? How vulnerable is the Leopard tank factory in Germany? How could the US even concieve of moving tanks from the USA to across the Dnieper – (considering this- building a stout sbomb shelter would be advised) ? Even if Ukraine has lost, how will Russia secure the aftermath?
Pues muchos consideran que USA ya fue tomado y conquistado.
Que el verdadero Gobierno de USA es de entidades extranjeras, principalmente Judias y sionistas.
Asi que su verdadera guerra existencial paso casi inadvertida y la perdio el pueblo Estadounidense.
Ahora solo les queda la Liberacion. Que sera lo mas dificil y posiblemente sangriento.
As a PS on my comment about “who” asked why the US wouldn’t send tanks to Ukraine, as he said, “who does the US need to protect, Tennessee?”
It was Boris Johnson! Not some bozo member of Congress.
He should have said, “Texas”. Where we obviously need some tanks.
Larry, I envy the clarity of your expression. I have been researching and writing about the decline of the West for more than a decade. Though my DNA unlike yours does not go back to our founding fathers, I still find myself in awe of their exceptional insights. The first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence are among the most brilliant in laying the foundation for the kind of democracy which served us so well for so long. Sacred rights for all Land a goverment designed to preserve them. And in foreign policy it was implicit that we would respect sovereignty even as the case with Britain when they infringed on what we believed were rights consistent with nature and our Creator. The first paragraph makes clear that once freed from their governance we would regard Britain as equals. By and large Jefferson’s words served us extraordinarily well, in my opinion, until the mid-60’s. Perhaps we at times had something like a Messiah complex, but remember Eisenhower said that if NATO was needed for more than ten years, then it would be a failure. Guns and butter in the 60’s were a road to ending the gold standard and in effect all monetary discipline. There were no limits on our ability to create money. Secular beliefs have replaced every trace of the sacred that Jefferson (and deeply ironic Tolstoy as well ) believed were essential. For more than half a century, money, perhaps the most important secular religion was thought to be the answer to any and every problem. I belive for many reasons the war in Ukraine has ended that illusion. I pray really pray that someone will be able to remind us of what we once were and I believe still can be. Keep up the great work, Larry.