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2016: Britain Voted To Leave Europe; The United States Voted To Leave The Planet…

Ok, ok, we were all surprised by Britain’s decision to leave the EU. Well, when I say we, I mean people like me who were surprised. The people who weren’t surprised probably weren’t at all shocked by Britain voting the way it did. But I’m trying to sound like an intelligent media person in order to be taken seriously and the way to sound like an intelligent media person is to write as though everyone thinks the way you do and that if – from time to time – elections don’t go the way you and all your friends expect them to, then it’s not because you don’t get out enough, it’s a major shock…

As Felicity Kennett suggested, when her husband was surprisingly beaten in 1999, the result was a complete surprise because she didn’t know anybody who’d voted Labor… Which may partly explain why people felt that Jeff was out of touch.

But it’s Donald Trump that I wish to talk about. As some of you are aware, my prognostications have been quite accurate. Not all of them, mind you. However, the ones I’ve got right have been almost 100% accurate. So with this in mind, remember that you heard it here first. Just like my assurance about Malcolm taking over as PM before the 2016 election.

So let’s put a few facts on the table and – unlike our current PM who seems to think that anything on the table needs to be cleared away faster than they do at restaurants with two sittings – leave them there, so that people can put them all together.

  1. Donald Trump praised Putin and hoped for closer ties with Russia. This, in past years, would have been political suicide for any presidential candidate.
  2. In response to the Ukraine crisis, the USA imposed sanctions on Russia which resulted in ExxonMobil losing almost a billion dollars. Exxon have more exploration licences in Russia than in the United States, so these sanctions were rather costly for them.
  3. Russia has been accused of trying to influence the US presedential election with hacking and false news.
  4. There is report in the NY Times that the CIA believes point 3 to be likely.
  5. Donald Trump suggests that there’s no need for any investigation into such things because, well, weren’t the CIA wrong on the WMD thingies, so what’s the point of investigating things now that he’s won. Mm, when he said that the election was rigged and that there were lots of illegal votes, we all presumed that it was to harm him, but perhaps he meant in his favour.
  6. There is a suggestion that there is a number of FBI agents helping Russia. Don’t mention the leaked emails and the announcement that Hillary was being investigated.
  7. Trump’s likely appointment as Secretary of State is not someone with extensive diplomatic experience. No, it’s Rex Tillerson. What’s his qualification for such a post? Well, he’s the president of ExxonMobil

Ok, these are readily searchable facts. And from this, I’m prepared to suggest the following will happen:

Trump will remove the sanctions, and in response to criticism, he’ll point to all the business that this has generated for Exxon. When somebody suggests that there may be a conflict of interest when his Secretary of State was once head of the very company benefitting, Trump will suggest that it’s thinking like that which stifles success and he’s determined to make America great again and people are just being too politically correct because Putin is the sort of man that doesn’t take any crap and he’s a really good guy and it’s about time that we stopped letting our prejudice against macho men stop us from being friends with Russia…

While that may not actually address the issue, it seems that saying something irrelevant in a very emphatic manner doesn’t seem to be doing politicians much harm lately.

Mm, maybe it won’t happen exactly like that, but it’ll be interesting to check back on this in six months time!

 

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49 comments

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  1. Markus

    Since when do accusations and suggestions become facts ? I think you are clutching at straws to make a story.

  2. Rossleigh

    Gee, Markus, when you say that someone has made an accusation, it’s a fact that they’ve made an accusation. Unless they haven’t, in which case it’s a lie.
    However, only three of the seven points were actually about accusations that people had made; the other four were completely factually.

  3. Matters Not

    Good article Ross. That the US government with all its necessary intricacies, complications, nuances and the like could be subsumed into a ‘reality show’ with all its defining and attending crassness is simply amazing.

    That it’s the reality which we must confront is one hell of a mountain to climb.

  4. Annie B

    Rossleigh … … I tend to agree with much you have written here.

    Markus questions accusations and suggestions, but then – you are putting forward possibilities – along with some fact. And you have somewhat of a proven record of ‘predictions’ …. at least from what I have read over the years, you have put forward some astute possibilities ( as have many others here and elsewhere ) for possible / probable outcomes in the grubby political sphere.

    I do question though, the title of the article. 😉 … I frankly think the U.S. have never ever been ON the planet – from the get-go. Trump might be trumpeting hefty hints about isolation etc. ( as some writers see it as being ) … but the U.S. have been isolating themselves for decades – throwing their weight around anywhere they can place a piece of war machinery – and the rhetoric / propaganda that they spout is wretched. They have further isolated themselves by being so … “exceptional” !!! And now it’s most likely coming right back to bite them in the bum.

    Many many moons ago, I sat ( very uncomfortably I might add ) and watched the intense hatred in a family, projected at their TV screen while watching Canada and Russia ‘fight it out’ on a skating rink – in something called “Ice Hockey” … it was blatant, dishonorable and disgraceful. … The U.S. haven’t moved one INCH from that kind of mindset – over those decades. Like here – it is ‘always Labors’ fault’ … over there it is absolutely ALWAYS the fault of the Russkis. Gawd, I was even cautioned ( please whisper this to yourself, while reading ), to not mention anything about communism whatsoever, while in the ( now ) unholy “un-united S of A”. ( UUSA). “If you do, you – being an alien, could land in jail”. Yep – I was advised that little pearler. And so I did – shut uppa ma face. … I probably wouldn’t now though ! 🙂

    Coming then, from a country that was open and free, laid back, and tolerant – that shocked me then. … Of course, Australia has closed a few of those ‘open’ type doors in recent times – thanks to the grovelling right wing neo-cons, who throw their weight around here now. But we are nowhere near the U.S. mindset – and I hope we never EVER reach those depths.

  5. John Brame

    So much for the drained swamp. Your future scenario sounds very plausible Rossleigh. Look like more of the same bullshit, drill dig, drill dig, as we unleash the climate change monster.

  6. mark delmege

    Ross you should get out more. I take your comments as some sort of support for Clinton – as if she was a better candidate to lead the USofA with the usual shallow Putin bashing. Well I wont go into details of her long and disastrous policies – which I have done elsewhere but just two stories might be somewhat enlightening for you. And I wont even mention the crooked election voting system.

    So the people hated Clinton more than they now hate Trump. Never mind they will probably hate him too and also with good reason –

    https://www.facebook.com/PatrickJohnLancaster?pnref=story

    http://www.blacklistednews.com/Former_UK_Ambassador_Blasts_“CIA%27s_Blatant_Lies”%2C_Shows_”A_Little_Simple_Logic_Destroys_Their_Claims”/55732/0/38/38/Y/M.html

  7. Michael Taylor

    “I take your comments as some sort of support for Clinton”.

    About six months ago I mentioned that I wasn’t a big fan of Trump, so one very angry individual kept messaging me with all sorts of vile abuse for being a Clinton supporter. By the time I logged in to check my messages there would have been about a half a dozen of his tirades waiting for me.

    He stopped abruptly when I told him that (like Rossleigh, btw) my preferred candidate was Bernie Sanders.

  8. Matters Not

    they will probably hate him too and also with good reason

    Never mind the ‘probably’, my main concern is that the majority of citizens possibly won’t. (hate him that is). And the ‘good reason’ dimension will be drowned out by an addiction to his ‘clapping’. Never mind the ‘thumbs up’. How embarrassing.

    I am almost tempted to become a ‘prepepper’. But I strongly suspect that most of the ‘preppers’ voted for Trump.

  9. mark delmege

    That couldn’t have been me Michael cos I wouldn’t have sent you a tirade of messages – but I seem to remember you saying that you thought Clinton was the best option – at least I think it was you.
    I guess there are a number of ways one can respond to articles. Ignore them. Offer some sort of congratulations or criticism. Ross has a style sometimes I enjoy sometimes I don’t. This one had a tenor I felt I wanted to respond too – as I felt some of the assumptions were wrong – and I did so.

  10. wam

    We have an old darwin high school boy on the trump team. He supports his old school with a great passion that sadly we were unable to put the enough of the ;’com’ in front.
    Nevertheless, he has some good ideas for trump to succeed, so good luck to him.
    ps
    Sanders wasn’t there, michael so you were for trump?

  11. mark delmege

    That Craig Murray link doesn’t appear to work anymore – but if you read his blog you will know how F/b has been censoring his work. Anyway the article is here – its worth a read.

    The CIA’s Absence of Conviction

  12. king1394

    With the Arctic icecap practically gone, the Arctic Sea is one big happy lake for oil explorers. Opportunity for sharing between Exxon and the Russians

  13. Steve Laing

    Ahh, the false dichotomy argument. You said you dislike x, ergo you must like y.

    Having lived in the US for a year, I’d agree that the fact that Russia appears to have crept its talons into the US political mainstream would normally have resulted in a McCarthyist witch trial, and am sure if it had been Clinton, that would have been the case. Yet now, hardly a whimper. I wonder how much Murdoch has got invested in the Trump/Putin relationship? Because otherwise the omens do sound like something from Revelations.

    I guess it reveals it is no longer capitalism vs communism (if indeed it ever was). It is now quite simply the ultra wealthy versus the rest, with the poorest being the necessary “cannon fodder” to famine, war, pestilence and death, as the scare tactics to keep the rest of the masses in order.

  14. Michael Taylor

    No, it wasn’t you, mark. Definitely not.

  15. Arthur Baker

    “saying something irrelevant in a very emphatic manner doesn’t seem to be doing politicians much harm lately.”

    I like that. I like that very much. I’m going to use that. Thank you.

  16. Andreas Bimba

    That is probably the worst aspect of the Trump Presidency – that climate change denialist corporate appointees like ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson may be given such important positions such as Secretary of State.

    ExxonMobil were always one of the main funders and drivers of the climate change denialist movement and of lobbying and corrupting the democratic process.

    Recent observations of massive releases of methane from the Arctic seabed and tundra and that this source is a positive feedback mechanism that will most probably greatly exceed the global warming impact from CO2 is critically dangerous. I urge everyone here to research this topic.

    Never have we faced a bigger and more urgent existential threat, we may have even passed the point of no return, and the largest nation and most important part of the solution is heading in the opposite direction and appears determined TO ACCELERATE OUR DESTRUCTION.

    ExxonMobil and other promoters of climate change denial and the undermining of efforts to slow global warming should be facing legal sanction for the most serious crime imaginable. We must all work to destroy Trump and his evil corporate backers.

  17. mark delmege

    Wakey wakey – this is exactly what the Obama regime did – appoint business ‘leaders’ to govt positions often oversighting and regulating the industries they once help build. Monsanto was a recent example.

  18. Kaye Lee

    2001
    George W. Bush became president with $100,000 in inaugural funding from ExxonMobil. Shortly after, the Bush administration announced withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol.

    Organisations including the American Enterprise Institute, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the National Black Chamber of Commerce — all organisations with a record of misinformation on climate science — all received grants in 2015 from ExxonMobil. The 2015 tally brings the total amount of known Exxon funding to denial groups north of $33 million since 1998.

    https://www.desmogblog.com/2016/07/08/exxonmobil-new-disclosures-show-oil-giant-still-funding-climate-science-denial-groups

    “My view on the competency of the models has really not changed,” Tillerson said. The IPCC panel following the Paris climate accord last December was asked if there was a scientific basis for the 2 degree C target.

    “I’m going to paraphrase it, the answer is ‘no.’ There’s no scientific basis for the 2 C target,” Tillerson said of the IPCC’s findings. The target was “chosen by society in a general consensus process.

    “Our difference on policy choices are, I think, one that is grounded in reality. And the reality is, there is no alternative energy source known on the planet that is available to us today to replace the pervasiveness of fossil fuels in our global economy and in our very quality of life — and I would go beyond that and say our very survival.”

    The judgment is a “balance between future climatic events, which could prove to be catastrophic — but are unknown by the IPCC’s own acknowledgement — and more immediate needs of humanity today to address poverty, starvation, broad-based disease control and the quality of life that billions of people are still living in today, which is unacceptable to many of us.”

    http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/106549-exxonmobil-shareholders-again-reject-fracking-transparency-measure-ok-board-nominations-for-outsiders

    Riiiiight….it’s got nothing to do with obscene profits – it’s all about eliminating poverty and disease. They spent over $8 million on “public information and policy research” last year alone.

    http://cdn.exxonmobil.com/~/media/global/files/worldwide-giving/2015-worldwide-contributions-public-policy.pdf

  19. Rossleigh

    So far, so bad…
    Tillerson is about to be appointed, so at least one part of my prediction is proving correct…

    G.B. Shaw was right: “If you tell the truth, make them laugh. Otherwise they’ll kill you!”

  20. mark delmege

    Lets see – I can play that game too – monster fracking expansion under Obama became a monumental methane producer for the environment.

    Actually if Trump is serious about draining the swamp I can see some sense in what he is doing by surrounding himself with powerful right wingers. The Deep State has run the show for a very long time and to kill it off is going to take a courageous effort. And we can see the destabilisation beginning. Fake CIA claims about Russian involvement is only the start. Actually Trump might be the bravest man in America right now. He is fighting a machine that ran coups, invaded and destroyed countries and is still running terrorist armies in the ME and that is only under Obama – who did nothing but strengthen their hands. The military security intelligence and industrial complex is arguably the most powerful lobby group in the world. I think they will try to destroy Trump any way they can. Think about it.

    Actually I find it mildly disgusting that the so called Liberals are now out in force over imagined ‘threats’ after they have been in a soporific dreamland for the past eight years ignoring the very real crimes of Empire.

  21. Kyran

    G.B. Shaw was right: “If you tell the truth, make them laugh. Otherwise they’ll kill you!”
    Sooo, wait a minute. Trump (who always reminds me of that ‘Caddyshack’ gopher) wasn’t telling the truth, but should be excused, because he made us laugh? I doubt it would be of any interest to him as to whether we are laughing at him, or with him.
    Bearing in mind your observation that the predictions you got right have been almost 100% accurate, which is far more accurate than our government, it seemed only appropriate to check out some other GB Shaw observations.
    “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
    “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”
    “The liar’s punishment is, not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.”
    “Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.”
    “Why should we take advice on sex from the pope? If he knows anything about it, he shouldn’t!”
    “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
    “He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.”
    “My way of joking is to tell the truth. It’s the funniest joke in the world.”

    Apologies for the ‘Pope’ one. Had to include it. What he know’s about sex is likely equivalent to what the gopher knows about honesty.
    Thank you, Mr Brisbane. Take care

  22. Kaye Lee

    “Lets see – I can play that game too ”

    It really disturbs me when you say stuff like that mark. You hate Obama with a passion. I get that (well not really but I know how you feel). Clinton likewise. I get that too. But what game do you think I/we am/are playing? We need to understand the present and Tillerson is a real concern. He has only ever worked for Exxon, he has significant skin in the game, he has been awarded honours by Putin, sanctions have hurt Russia and Exxon….conflict of interest? Climate change is a far greater threat than anything that is happening in the Middle East and Trump is collecting the worst of the vested interests and known deniers as advisers. Remember, he has executive power. I really wish he, and his advisers, would stop tweeting.

    You sayTrump is “fighting a machine”? In my opinion, Trump now owns the machine and will drive it wherever suits him and he sure as hell doesn’t know the way to altruism.

  23. Michael Taylor

    Mark, I’d be interested to hear what you have to say after four years of Trump.

  24. Freethinker

    Mark, you are very optimistic if you think that Trump can last 4 years if he keep behaving like this.

  25. Matters Not.

    mark delmege re:

    I can see some sense in what he is doing by surrounding himself with powerful right wingers

    I did note your ‘back door’ – with the use of some sense.. But putting that aside for the moment.

    We have the implications of your stated assumption, belief, or whatever that because ar@e holes know how it all ‘works’, that when put in a position of power, will suddenly see the ‘light’, use those insights to then become paragons of virtue re public policy. Any examples where the poacher became the good game keeper – apart from ‘stories’?

    So the new political maxim will be to put thieves in charge of the treasury, the uneducated in charge of education, climate denialists in charge of … That’s Trump’s record to date – or at least his stated intention.

    Not a good look.

    .

  26. mark delmege

    if you look at what has transpired over the recent history could it get much worse?

  27. Matters Not.

    Yes!

    But you can imagine that, can’t you?

  28. Michael Taylor

    If you refer to ‘recent’ as being, say, the last couple of decades then I too answer ‘yes’. And a big YES at that.

  29. mark delmege

    No Matters that was not what I meant. I was suggesting they might offer some protection. And he will need it if he is to roll back the bad guys.
    The thing is if you dont understand history you can’t understand the present – and I’d argue most here don’t understand their history. Its not a case of me hating Obama or Clinton. I just happen to see what they did/are doing in office.
    Had you lot who criticise me here ever shown any understanding of what happened in Ukraine Palestine Honduras or Syria Libya with IS al Qaeda the refugees or even the NSA etc I might take you seriously – but I don’t recall most having done so. Its a case of four feet good Two feet bad. Your blind allegiance to the Status Quo and the Democrats has blinded you to reason and understanding.
    It terms of foreign policy the US libertarians are far more rational and open minded than most of the rest though I’m not a libertarian myself. They tend to be anti imperialist unlike the apologists for Obama – or any other US President in my lifetime.
    That the CIA and Republican elders and the Liberal media etc is against him is a plus in my book – in terms of the threat he poses to the traditional order. Try thinking outside the box – try thinking beyond the MSM bullshit you are fed everyday. Try thinking.

  30. Kaye Lee

    “Your blind allegiance to the Status Quo and the Democrats has blinded you to reason and understanding.”

    I have seen NO-ONE here express blind allegiance to ANYONE in the US. In fact, I will go further and suggest that it is you who only has one eye open mark. You think anything at all to do with US Democrats is evil. You think any aid funding is automatically corrupt.

    It is wrong of you to think that the people here have not read widely about Western interference and colonialism. You are not the suppository of all wisdom.

    But you see no such concern when it comes to Putin and Assad. You seem unwilling to accept that they too are involved in propaganda and disinformation campaigns. You give bad guys a free run.

    As for your support of Trump and the advisers he has chosen…..that leaves me speechless. They are an extraordinarily dangerous group of people. If you think you have seen racial tension in the states, I would suggest it’s about to get a whole lot worse. And to deliberately poke China by publicly backing Taiwan before you even take office is madness. He said he’s bored already with daily briefings? Is this bunch of crazies to be given free rein? The first thing they want to do is get rid of regulations for big business and lower taxes. So much for fighting the machine!

    This is the Israeli perspective of the slaughter going on in Aleppo

    http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/.premium-1.758722

  31. John Brame

    Malcolm Roberts will be ducking down to the local liquor store for more champagne.

  32. Michael Taylor

    Your blind allegiance to the Status Quo and the Democrats has blinded you to reason and understanding

    Mark, you assume too much. Because people don’t like Trump you are assuming they have a blind alliance to the Democrats. The Koch brothers don’t like Trump either, yet they still donated $800 million to the Republicans in the last election. They just didn’t give any to Trump, deciding instead to donate it to the Republican governors after Trump won the ticket. No former Republican president likes Trump either. Neither does Paul Ryan.

  33. Michael Taylor

    Anyway, there’s no point in speculating the bad that might have come out of a Clinton presidency (who I’m not a big fan of either – I have repeatedly mentioned that my preferred candidate was Sanders – though I do prefer Clinton over Trump) as we’re lumbered with Trump. Two issues of global importance that he has already shown he will handle badly surround the South China Sea (and China, for that matter) and climate change.

  34. Michael Taylor

    As if on cue:

    ONE of the world’s most crucial relationships is going from bad to worse by the day.
    China has expressed “serious concern” over Donald Trump’s muscling up to the rising superpower in a series of defiant acts over the past week. Last week, a single phone call between the President-elect and Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen prompted widespread outrage, with the celebrity billionaire shaking up one of the Asia-Pacific’s most sensitive relationships.

    http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/inside-the-controversy-surrounding-china-taiwan-and-donald-trump/news-story/8c4770a71518f8b52f1785a127df12b6

  35. Jexpat

    The Neo-McCarthite hysteria -which consists of baseless accusations, without a shred of evidence- and/or outright falsehood goes to show that America’s to leave the planet -or at least the realm of reason, is a bipartisan phenomenon.

  36. Jexpat

    Objections to Tillerson are actuially a prime example of the Russian hysteria that’s crept into progressive sites via the Clinton camp.

    There are myriad reasons to oppose this nomination, including the very real prospect of an indictment on securitues fraud and other charges.

    Suffice to say, connections with Russia are near the bottom of the list.

  37. Annie B

    Rossleigh …. re your link.

    A big hmmm ! … sounds like a win / win / win for everyone concerned. … But then that kind of scenario is not altogether possible in the real world. Still and all – it all remains to be seen.

    The big problem is – how to get the American public-at-large, to get over their Russki-phobia which they’ve nurtured and almost worshipped, for at least 60 years if not a lot longer. … It is so entrenched, I doubt it can be altered. … Which could lead to some massive public protest type upheavals – then again, who knows.

    A huge ‘who-the-hell-knows’ hangs over the formerly great U.S. of A. – which is something it ain’t at the moment ( in fact, has it really ever been ? ). … Very big game changing going on over there – potentially – provided the elusive and almost enigmatic Trump doesn’t change his mind again. !!

    A PotUS who is ‘bored’ by briefings, is – um – unsettling to say the least. … [ much to be found on the Net about that too ]

  38. mark delmege

    The same people who backed nazi’s and ultra nationalists to bully a coup in Kiev are the same people who have used al qaeda like proxies in Syria and Libya are the same people who are running a destabilisation campaign against the man who has threatened to drain the swamp. They are scared and desperate and are doing what they can to stop or hinder him.
    Our media – who for days (actually years) have been running propaganda using fake (emotionalism) stories allegedly out of East Aleppo – are all willing participants.
    We have been lied to for years by the same people to convinces us that the events in Syria are some how just part of a Civil war – when in Reality it is a Western Attempt at Regime Change.
    We are lied to on an hourly basis.

    Trump for all his faults has explicitly threatened to end this madness. And it is MADNESS. As an outsider he has a very slim chance of making any headway. But only he has threatened to do so. Not even Bernie went as far as Trump is naming the real enemy. And they are fighting back.
    Be careful what you wish for.

  39. Freethinker

    Another “brilliant” appointment by Trump, David Friedman.
    He cannot pick up a better individual to destabilize more the Middle East and sabotaging the ‘two-state solution’
    What next?!!!

  40. Miriam English

    Mark, you seem lost in a ludicrous hall of mirrors.
    You condemn those on all sides as liars, yet praise the most pathological liar of them all.
    You think people who’ve actually devoted time to helping the most impoverished people in the world are less capable of fixing things than a crooked clown who habitually rips off people all around him and can’t even summon the focus of mind read his security briefings.
    You really think someone like that is going to make a good job of being president of USA? Really???

  41. mark delmege

    ‘people who’ve actually devoted time to helping the most impoverished people in the world ‘

    Who are these people you are talking of Miriam? The ones who brought war to Libya and Syria and Ukraine? And refugees to Europe?
    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-14/true-story-how-war-broke-out-syria

    I’ve long said I don’t have a horse in this race. But I am glad Clinton didn’t win. Trump we don’t know what he will do. No doubt many bad things and maybe some good things if he can tame the deep state and stop their foreign manipulations. We are witnessing something special – the establishment is attempting a coup against the incoming President on trumped up charges by claiming an insider leak is a Russian Hack. Sit back and enjoy the show. If they (the establishment) keep this up there will be blood on the streets. And they will have brought home what they have done elsewhere abroad.

  42. mark delmege

    freethinker – there is no two state solution – none whatsoever – that is now impossible and anyone claiming that is off with the fairies. The only ‘just solution’ is for everyone in Palestine to be given a vote and for parliament to represent everyone. But Zionism won’t allow that.

  43. Annie B

    No matter who won, and who is to be inducted to the white house on 20th January 2017 – either / or – doesn’t matter. … Not in the long range view of things.

    BUT now we DO know who will take the reins in that absurd country – and this time I have to agree with mark on one point – Have to say apropo the ‘induction’ this coming January, and its outcome ( whatever that might be !! ) – “If they (the establishment) keep this up there will be blood on the streets. And they will have brought home what they have done elsewhere abroad.” – which they have been doing for many decades – interfering in other countries with lies and deceit, for their own greed and purposes ( read ‘oil’, in many cases ), couched continually in their own prolific propaganda.

    America has been heading down this self-destructive path for decades. And the chook very likely, is now on its’ way home to roost.

    Agree with Miriam – also on one point, ref. Trumps ‘phfft – – piss off, I’m bored’ approach to security briefings, to begin with. A very unsettling scene .. Personally I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could kick a mallee root across the Murray – but – it all remains to be witnessed. I doubt everything about him and his choices for appointments to his ‘crew’. Can’t say I’d have felt much better however, if Herrself Clinton had won. Both products of a country that has tried screwing, or has screwed everyone ( including ourselves – refer the F-35 debacle ), with mostly disastrous results.

    “Those who suffer from an exaggerated sense of their own ability and accomplishment, are continually subject to frustration, disappointment and rage when reality intrudes and the world does not validate their idealised view of themselves” … Dalai Lama.

    And from their own revered forefather of the nation : ” Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves” … Abraham Lincoln.

    Could it be they are now to be hoisted on their own petard ??

  44. Jexpat

    “Could it be they are now to be hoisted on their own petard?

    As long as we’re going with old quotes, let’s have some fun with this one:

    Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” ~Benjamin Franklin.

    Suffice to say when read in their original context, the author may have conveyed a somewhat diferent meaning to that which we’d like to attribute to the words today.

  45. Annie B

    Now that is interesting Jexpat

    According to your link to techcrunch.com … ‘how the world butchered the quote’ etc. – there is reference there to the words being originally in a letter allegedly from Benjamin Franklin “The letter wasn’t about liberty but about taxes and the ability to “raise money for defense against French and Indian attacks.” … hmmm !!

    Which may just have added cause to the 2nd amendment which is so clearly revered by todays’ Americans – the right to bear arms. The Constitution was written at a time when the French from across the ( now ) Canadian border, were looming to come and disintegrate entire settling villages – and the savagery of some of the tribes of the Indians in those days was extreme danger. Not to mention, the terrifying wild life of the times ( terrifying to new settlers ). THAT is I believe, why the 2nd amendment was devised. It was not envisaged then, to have bands of people of all colours and creeds, waving semi-automatic and automatic repeat rifles, along with hand guns all over the place ? Surely not. Franklin would have been 81 at the time. He died 3 years after the Constitution was signed & 2 years after it was ratified. Just sayin’.

    Very easy to create a meme in a graphics programme – with words that you or I might dream up – and attribute it to someone who never said any such thing. But the words, if they resonate to a writer to underscore a point, are legitimate. It’s just that the writer didn’t think them up themselves ?

    We could have a lot of fun with hundreds of them … I agree. 😉

  46. mark delmege

    Not reading the briefings is not such a bad idea – this way he is not drawn into the CIA alphabet agency soup. These would be designed into keeping him locked into the wars of the present/past. Which he has stated he wants to break out. Clearly if he survives to day one in office the first call will be to clean out the CIA.

  47. Annie B

    Interesting comment there mark

    The President of the U.S. has always only ever been a figurehead – a ‘spokesperson’ if you like. All in that office from way back, have been ruled by the agencies. They speak – put forward words for the PotUS to utter, and he [ usually ] obeys. A ‘she’ doesn’t enter into this – they haven’t had one yet. !!!

    If Trump starts to even THINK about ‘cleaning out the CIA’ – there will be yet another drums abeating, aircraft overhead, horse without rider, and lowered sobbing heads fanfare – attending the funeral of the President Elect.

    If Trump ( or anyone for that matter ) could pull off the need to break from war and militarism that is so rife in that countrys’ mindset – then it would be a true miracle.

    I choose to not believe in him – until ( if he survives that long ) a year or so down the track. IF ( big IF ) he manages to pull off something spectacular for that country – I might begin to believe …

    Meantime, I choose to remain at least, skeptical. I also wonder how many vetoes Trump might issue – in his pursuit of making ‘America great again’ … he might just break Franklin D Roosevelts’ ( b.1882 > d.1945 ) record, to get his own way.

    But then, he’d have to study the ways and means of achieving that, which according to his recorded ‘boredom’ at briefings etc., might be beyond him.

    We wait – to see.

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