The War in Yemen

Map of Yemen from 2017 that shows the site of the botched SEAL Team raid at Yakla

W.J. Astore

I haven’t followed the Saudi war in Yemen that closely. But I’d wager most Americans know far less about it than I do. I know the U.S. has been supporting Saudi Arabia in its bloody repression of Iranian-backed Yemeni forces (the Houthis), providing critical resources such as aerial refueling, intelligence sharing, and, most importantly, an endless supply of weaponry. I know this support has been couched as consistent with a “war on terror,” when it’s driven much more by the U.S. need to appease Saudi rulers for economic reasons (primarily the petrodollar and oil exports). I know the Yemeni people have suffered greatly due to famine and diseases exacerbated by constant warfare and economic blockades. I know Joe Biden campaigned against the war and criticized Saudi officials but as president has done nothing to stop it. And I know a bipartisan force in Congress is trying to take steps to end America’s involvement in what essentially constitutes a genocide against the Yemeni people.

Occasionally, Yemen has appeared in my articles here, as with the SEAL Team fiasco launched by President Trump in late January 2017. (One Navy SEAL died in the raid; his father later accused the Trump administration of hiding behind the death of his son instead of admitting the raid had been a murderous failure.) In passing, I’ve mentioned Yemen in a few articles like this one, but again it’s not something I’ve written about in detail. I’ve been focused on the Afghan war, the military-industrial complex, the new Cold War, plans to build a new generation of nuclear weapons, and on and on.

Fortunately, a freelance journalist based in Yemen, Naseh Shaker, contacted me with a few questions that got me thinking a bit more about Yemen and the U.S. government’s role there. His article addresses whether Congress has any chance of invoking the War Powers Act to limit or end America’s involvement in this brutal war, given the reality that President Biden is once again courting and kowtowing to the Saudis. You can read his article here, which includes a few comments by me, but it may be useful to include his original questions to me, and my responses to them. He asked me to keep my responses short, 2-3 sentences, which I did:

Questions by Naseh Shaker

1- Why the US is sanctioning Russia for invading Ukraine but when it comes to the Saudi invasion of Yemen, the US is providing the Saudis with all logistics and weapons as if it is the American war, not the Saudi war?

2- Why Biden doesn’t fulfill his promise to end the war in Yemen?

3- Is invoking the War Powers Resolution (WPR) an attempt from Democrats to cover Biden’s scandal of not ending the war in Yemen as he promised?

4- If WPR is passed, does it mean the US is responsible for Saudi war crimes in Yemen given that it is providing the coalition “intelligence sharing” and “logistical support for offensive Saudi-led coalition strikes”? 

Answers by William Astore

Question 1: The US sees Russia as a rival and an enemy.  The US sees Saudi Arabia as an ally and a friend.  Put differently, the US economy owes much to the petrodollar and the Saudi appetite for expensive American-made weaponry.

Question 2: Because he doesn’t really care about the Yemeni people.  He cares about maintaining good relations with the Saudis.

Question 3: Unclear.  But I don’t think Democrats consider it a “scandal” that Biden failed to keep his promise.  There are many other promises Biden failed to keep, such as a $15 federal minimum wage for Americans, and these failed promises are not treated as “scandals.”

Question 4: The US government refuses to take responsibility for its own war crimes, so it certainly isn’t going to admit to responsibility or culpability for Saudi crimes.

Ignorance is a major enemy in the USA. We owe it to ourselves as citizens (and to what’s left of our democracy) to inform ourselves about what our government is up to, especially when what it’s up to is killing, whether directly or indirectly, untold numbers of people around the world.

The war in Yemen has killed at least 377,000 people. To what end? For what purpose? How is aiding the Saudis in this war remotely related to the defense of our country?

End the killing. End the wars. Let’s do something right for a change.

97 thoughts on “The War in Yemen”

  1. Our foreign policy is such a maze of seeming contradictions. It would be helpful is someone diagrammed it on a page so we could all understand it. Countries we have sanctions on, countries we’re sending weapons to, countries where we’ve frozen their funds, etc. Although I think it would be a very large page.

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  2. You wrote: “End the killing. End the wars. Let’s do something right for a change.”

    Colonel, when ~ in the last 77 years, just for starters ~ has the United States done ANYTHING “right” in the realm of armed conflict and foreign policy? Can You cite even one instance?

    And, particularly since 9/11, the American people have had and still have ample opportunity to inform themselves of what their government has been and is up to in the realm of killing all over world.

    In this case, the “ignorance” of the American people has less to do with their not knowing what has been and is going on in our “Forever War,” than it has to do with their IGNORing it.

    Which is just the way the folks tasked with the defense of the prosperity of the arms merchants and the rest of the MICC like it.

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    2. It takes quite a bit of energy to fight a concerted pro-war propaganda drive from the news media, which is what we have on Ukraine at least. It’s actually been quite breathtaking if you think of it. You really have to hunt for alternative sources of information. Same in western Europe as I understand it.

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      1. It takes no more energy to fight pro-war propaganda than it does look for it outside of the MSM. Which, back when that consisted of the three major networks and newspapers and magazines, DID require a lot of energy and effort.

        But today, with Webworld, alternative sources of information are not in short supply at all. In fact, the problem is that there are so many alternative sources of information; many of them totally useless as sources of real information.

        Anybody looking for anti-war information [and propaganda] should start with antiwar.com, from which a whole alternative universe beyond the government’s propaganda machine of the MSM is available.

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        1. Propaganda is very comforting. It provides a ready-made framework to “understand” events. That’s a big part of its purpose. For a person to overcome a propaganda campaign they have to say to themselves, “I have a feeling that I’m not getting the complete or even the truthful story.” That’s a pretty big leap for people who’ve been taught all their lives to obey officials, starting of course with school officials. Obey your teachers, Johnny. Look what happened with Covid and all those people who wore masks when they were alone outside. Obedience – aye, that the ticket.

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          1. We Americans are a curious people.

            As such, We demand, We need, We hunger and thirst for, We live and die by Answers. And not Questions.

            We depend for Our livelihood and well-being, for Our sanity and security, for Our sense of Our Self and the Real, we depend on the Expert, the Anchorman, Talk Show Host, Blogger, Influencer, Spokesperson, and other “Reliable Sources”; and, ultimately, The Leader (or Hero, Savior, Guru, etc), who provides us with All the Answers.

            This way, we can make an immediate determination as to whether or not his [seldom but increasingly her]
            Answers agree with Ours. And, if they don’t, then, without having to bother with the process of thinking,
            We can dismiss his/her Answers out of hand. And continue Our search for The Answers that agree with Ours.

            A curious people indeed… .

            A gnome, a pitiable creature of sorts, stopped looking for the right Answers to The Terror Event of September 11, 2001, when he realized just exactly how ready and able the government and its media were to provide exactly those Answers.

            That happened on the morning of September 12. And that happened again with Saddam’s WMDs in 2003,
            the 2008 financial “¢risi$,” The COVID Event, January 6, and most recently, America’s War in Ukraine.

            So… . Instead, he chose [and still chooses] to focus on finding the right Questions.

            Because, he reasoned, if you can ask the right Questions, you will ultimately get to The Truth. Because out of the right Questions, The Truth must ~ because it will ~ inevitably emerge.

            If, on the other hand, your focus is on finding the right Answers, all you can get are the Answers you were looking for in the first place. And what you will get are the Answers that the Answer-Man on the White Horse intends for you to embrace.

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            1. Jacques Ellul (“Propaganda”) thinks that propaganda is something that comes from mass media. You can’t have mass media without propaganda. On the other hand people without access to mass media aren’t really subject to propaganda. You know why countries like Castro’s Cuba immediately started to concentrate on adult literacy? So they could read the government’s propaganda.

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        2. And the way to know you are on the right track, that is, approaching the truth if not actually finding it, is that sources are consistent and back up the story that history reveals to be what happened. Fake news falls apart fairly quickly and often because this or that source spills the beans. A good start is to go with that bean spilling source and broaden the view from there. A good example is Edward Snowden in concert with Glenn Greenwald.

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  3. Heh. You got one of them too, eh?

    But, eh, that wasn’t exactly what i meant by “right.”

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  4. And tragically JG another conflict fueled by American instigation and interference is about to be added to the list of failures in the last 77-years. The American proxy war being fought by the Ukrainians against Russia – about to be lost by the poor Ukrainians at enormous loss. And another $100-billion of US taxpayer money down the drain.

    As for Yemen. The Saudi Arabians have zero industrial manufacturing base. They cannot produce one bullet, one rifle, or one bomb – let alone one jet plane. This war could be stopped tomorrow if the US Congress would put a ban on the MIC selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. Will they – nope. Why not – American oil Companies I would guess.

    And you know what – the American people are not as ignorant as you make out. They are just powerless to put a stop to this. Until the American Congress is no longer bought and paid for politicians – nothing will change. In the state I lived in, nobody has an icebergs chance in hell of defeating Senator Patty Murray, the Senator for Boeing, who has never seen a weapons program she can vote against.

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    1. We’ve been taught our only “responsibility” is to vote. But even voting has been made more difficult for certain groups of people. And of course when the “choice” is between candidates like Trump and Biden, a lot of people aren’t that eager to exercise their “sacred right” to vote

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      1. Where is “None Of These Candidates” ~ NOTC ~ as a mandatory option on every federal election ballot when we need it?

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    2. I actually wrote both my senators and my congressman about Ukraine. What I got back were form letters which could have been written by someone at the White House, even though both senators are “conservative” Republicans. I also got the same response from my conservative Republican congressman but he ended up voting against the $40 billion package. So there’s a nonzero chance that in that case I did some good. I do think if Trump was our current President such a package would have had a much tougher time due to opposition from the Democrats and the news media. Maybe.

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    3. i didn’t say the American people were ignorant of what is going on. i said the American people IGNORE what is going on.

      And the reason nobody had a chance of defeating Murray was because far too many Washingtonians were benefitting massively from her being in Swampland on their behalf.

      She was plugged into the system that poured free money into Washington in the name of “national defense.”

      And how many politicians have ever been elected to office promising NOT to bring any government money to his or her constituents? Or got thrown out of office for bringing too much?

      Unless and until the American People no longer accept bought and paid for politicians as their leaders, nothing will change.

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      1. Let’s just call it “willful ignorance”. To be honest, that seems to be a very prevalent state in the U.S. these days.

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        1. A lot of that has to do with the fact that many Americans are confronting a future that has never ~ in their lifetimes ~ been so indeterminate. Inflation, food, fuel, and power shortages, a resurgent pandemic, World War III any day now, mass shootings…, and an election in November.

          One can’t help but wonder what this year’s “October Surprise” will be, eh?

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    4. The US edition of The Guardian always leads the daily edition with at least three stories on Ukraine. The pressing issue of guns in America gets attention only occasionally. I just agreed to do a 45 minute in person (via Zoom) interview with The Guardian as they survey American readers (and for $50 at that) so I will be giving them a piece of my mind.

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  5. Once again, Lt.Col., thanks for drawing needed attention to this longstanding horror that the U.S. shares responsibility for. Your responses to Naseh Shaker’s questions, though succinct are right on the money.

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  6. Lt. Col, I voted for Trump. He ran on an anti-war platform. My wife and daughters laughed at me saying I was deluded. But he ran on getting out of Afghanistan and out of NATO. Pissed off everybody by suggesting we make “friends” with Putin. And hinted about reeling in the MIC. And being filthy rich, had no need for the MIC’s donor money. And most of all he was not a WA DC insider swamp creature.

    Sadly when he got into power he was too weak a character and the Deep State came down on him like a ton of bricks. His lofty campaign goals squashed by big interests and politicians who vehemently did not want to see a change in the status quo and their gravy train tipped over.

    What remains to be seen is whether if he is elected again, he will have learned how to defeat the enormous powers that derailed him last time.

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    2. The only reason Trump stayed in office for four years, Dennis, was because he very quickly adapted to being a WA DC insider swamp creature.

      And as far as the “Deep State coming down on him,” can You name one sector of the Deep State that was not significantly better off after the reign of POTUS Maxximmuss XLV than it was after the reign of Obomber?

      And what really remains to be seen is not whether Trump can get re-elected, but whether or not there will be an election in 2024. We still have to see if there will be an election this year, don’t we?

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Well, old dogs and new tricks. I don’t see Trump learning much. He’s too self-absorbed.

      A man like Trump has enormous potential for good or harm. But Trump’s potential is limited due to his own narcissism and laziness. And maybe that’s a good thing.

      If you’ve read “Dead Zone” (or seen the movie), you know Stephen King created a Trump analog, a pol by the name of Greg Stillson. Stillson had the populist touch; he was charming and smooth; he was also ruthless and sociopathic. In one possible future, Stillson gains the presidency and launches nuclear missiles after a fevered vision of seeing his destiny, i.e. unleashing Armageddon.

      Here’s the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj9M34DzAKo

      My favorite Stephen King adaptation with a terrifically bittersweet ending.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. I think you’re right about Trump. Whatever few good instincts & intentions he had (like ending the war in Afghanistan & developing peaceful relations with Russia), his lacks in emotional & intellectual development (narcissim, etc.) were always going to be a serious handicap (and risk factor). And he was never going to be a match for the collective cunning and reach of the Deep State denizens.

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        1. Trumps biggest problem with the Deep State Roger is that he was outnumbered by 1000-1.
          His biggest mistake was holding over all the warmongers from the Obama administration in positions of power. Best example – Victoria Nuland. That bit him in the butt. He should have cleaned house of these criminals. Also, he made a real hash of picking people to be his advisors.

          13/12/2016 · I have chosen one of the truly great business leaders of the world, Rex Tillerson, Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, to be Secretary of State………..I mean, come on!!!!

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          1. Like i said earlier, Dennis: The only reason Trump stayed in office for four years was because he very quickly adapted to being a WA DC insider swamp creature.

            He had no choice whatsoever in who he put in the key, core, critical positions in his administration. He was no less a script-reading Sock Puppet than Obomber was [and Cheney/Bush II, and Clinton were before him], and Biden is now.

            Any attempt by him to “clean house of those criminals” would have resulted in his clock being cleaned completely.

            That’s why he didn’t get re-elected. The Deep State determined that they got out of him all they were going to get, and that he had set the stage for the 50-year Swamplander Uncle Joe to take things to the next level.

            And here we are.

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    4. He was in way over his head, a complete novice regarding the American political machine. Trump was at a loss, expecting to be a super-CEO only to see those he expected to toe the line jump ship.

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      1. @CLIF9710
        Another great Jimmy Dore Video – and another great TRUMP rant.
        As much as TRUMP was written off a “pussy grabber” – he was right on many things.
        Not saying he was great President – but no doubt in my mind Hillary would have been worse.
        Jimmy’s greatest virtue – he rips on both Republicans and Democrats.

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        1. Dennis I can understand your support at that time, many including me were/are so frustrated with bipartisan SOS. To his credit, I recall him saying “people claim the system is rigged, and it is” but that truth in reference to power in DC, not elections, came before he got into office. When he was defeated for another term, and perfectly in character, he openly sought to subvert the system for himself with “Stop the Steal”

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  7. Yeah Jeff, can’t disagree with any of that. Sadly. Especially the part about… name one sector of the Deep State that was not significantly better off after the reign of POTUS Maxximmuss XLV than it was after the reign of Obomber? My kids mercifully tease me that the only group that benefited from Trump was the 1%.

    As for whether or not there will be an election in 2024 – come on man! You really have to be a doomer-and- gloomer to imagine that the great American experiment will come to an end in 2-years time. Surely you are not a “prepper” hiding out in your boat in Sitka, hoarding ammunition and candles waiting for the collapse!

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    1. First of all, Dennis, what would it take to cancel that election? Or the one scheduled for this year? Another 9/11? A resurgent pandemic that doesn’t primarily kill old, sick people, but young, healthy ones? Hyperinflation-generated food and fuel shortage rioting not just in the inner cities, but out in suburbia, as well?

      And as far as being a doomer and gloomer about the future of America: What was the state of the USSR and the Warsaw Bloc in 1987, two years before the Berlin Wall came down, and 4 years before the disintegration of the USSR and European Communism? And what is the state of the United States today?

      And no, i’m not a prepper waiting for the collapse. Based on what has happened in and to this Nation since The COVID Event kicked in two years ago, i would say that the collapse has already begun, and is well under way.

      And at age 76, ammunition wouldn’t do me a lot of good. Especially since i don’t have a gun.

      At this stage, about all i’m doing is “lookin for clues at the scene of the crime,” as Joe Walsh once put it.

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  8. Jeff, have you read this?
    https://english.pravda.ru/world/105255-famine/

    One could argue that of the ……Inflation, food, fuel, and power shortages, a resurgent pandemic, World War III any day now, mass shootings… that you list, the US has been through all of these EXCEPT WWIII.

    And whether or not WWIII will begin rests solely in the hands of Americans. A more peaceful and non-interventionist US foreign policy is all it would take.

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    1. Has America been thru inflation like Weimar, or food shortages like Stalin’s Ukraine and Mao’s China? i don’t think so, Dennis. At least not yet.

      And WWIII does not rest “solely” in America’s hands. As we have seen over these past four months, Russia has quite a bit to say about that; as does China. That’s what happens when America’s 30-year reign of global, unipolar hegemony is no longer in force.

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    2. That 2008 Pravda article doesn’t make a lot of sense. Do You actually, really think that the US government could have kept 7,000,000 famine deaths a secret?

      It could certainly manipulate COVID Case and Death figures to suit the agenda; but i seriously doubt it could hide 7 million deaths back in the early 30s.

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  9. @JG MOEBUS, Jeff you will find quite a few American commentators on the web who agree with you.

    “If America’s decline is in fact on a 22-year trajectory from 2003 to 2025, then we have already frittered away most of the first decade of that decline with wars that distracted us from long-term problems and, like water tossed onto desert sands, wasted trillions of desperately needed dollars”

    Alfred W. McCoy is the J.R.W. Smail Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, “From the Cold War to the War on Terror.” Later this year, “Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State,” a forthcoming book of his, will explore the influence of overseas counterinsurgency operations on the spread of internal security measures here at home.

    “How America will collapse (by 2025)”
    Four scenarios that could spell the end of the United States as we know it — in the very near future
    By ALFRED MCCOY
    PUBLISHED DECEMBER 6, 2010
    https://www.salon.com/2010/12/06/america_collapse_2025/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank You, Dennis, i’ve just scanned it and it looks like a very valuable resource. Professor McCoy is a valuable source.

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    1. Brown University has a Costs of War project saying that total post 9/11/01 military spending as of 9/11/21 was about $8 Trillion. Biden used Costs of War to justify pulling out of Afghanistan (8/21) and then shortly thereafter (2/22) started an “undeclared” war with Russia. Out of the frying pan into the fire.
      https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/

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  11. @JG MOEBUS @WJASTORE
    Yes Lt. Col another fine article penned by you quite a while ago now.
    You sure have written some good stuff over the years my man.
    You got 95% of it right!

    With respect to todays discussion you wrote:
    2. Let’s downsize our global mission rather than endlessly expanding our military footprint. It’s time to have a military capable of defending this country, not fighting endless wars in distant lands while garrisoning the globe.

    The US has failed to take your advice. With now they say more than 900+ global military bases; and what is it, 13-aircraft carriers and I’ve lost track of how many nuclear subs, planning extending warfare to outer space, and a much bigger military budget than ever.

    To say as JG MOEBUS does above…..Russia has quite a bit to say about that; as does China… each with mere handful of military bases, is laughable! The fact of the matter is that the US is the biggest threat to World peace. Russia and China has as you say Bill have a “Mind Your Own Business” foreign policy. Neither Xi or Putin( and Lavrov) is dumb enough to start WWIII. Biden(and Victoria Nuland) or Trump – that’s a whole nother story.

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    1. i didn’t say that the US is not the biggest threat to World Peace, Dennis.

      i said that ~ with the recovery of Russia from the collapse of the USSR and European Communism, and China from the madness of Mao ~ that America’s 30-year reign of global, unipolar hegemony is over; and thus, that it is no longer the SOLE determinant as to whether or not there will be a “hot” World War III.

      And China has made no bones about its intent to replace the United States [and the West in general] as that sole hegemon; that’s what its “Belt and Road Initiative” is all about. And that is something that will be a lot easier for it to do now that Russia is back, and able and willing to confront and challenge American hegemonic rule in Europe.

      And Putin’s apparent fascination with Peter The Great fits right in to the whole reality-tv script [https://thehill.com/news/3518666-putin-compares-self-to-peter-the-great-says-he-is-taking-back-russian-lands/].

      Again, yet, and still, it’s that same old Orwellian hit song about Eurasia, Eastasia, and Oceania. One pressing question is: Who will Oceania’s Big Brother be to go along with Putin and Xi?

      But the Real Question is: How are the Ruling Elites of Oceania [which includes the global financial web of the WB, IMF, etc], of Eastasia, and of Eurasia working TOGETHER on all this to ensure that the accumulation of that Elite’s Wealth and Power proceeds as it has so effectively over these past two decades?

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  12. @JG MOEBUS

    “We Americans are a curious people.

    As such, We demand, We need, We hunger and thirst for, We live and die by Answers. And not Questions”

    Bullshit Jeff. Were you being sarcastic? The number of US passport-holders is abysmally low, hovering around 42%. In 2011 when the last UK census took place 76% of people in England held a UK passport. Only 17% had no passport at all.

    Americans think the World is the US! And have pitiful knowledge of anything not within its shores. The most incurious bunch you will ever meet. Ask an American to point the Ukraine to you on a map? You may or may not be surprised at the number of Americans I meet who think Australia and New Zealand is one continent. Or the lady in Arkansas who asked me…”Where you from honey?” “New Zealand”. “Oh that’s nice. We have a boy at the local high school who is from Saudi Arabia too.”

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    1. Was i being sarcastic? That depends entirely upon how one uses the word “curious,” doesn’t it?

      But first, Dennis: What does the percentage of US passport holders have to do with whether or not Americans are “curious,” however the term is used?

      First of all, my guess is that if travel between States in the US required a passport ~ like travel from England to any other nation across the Channel ~ the percentage of US passport holders would be much higher.

      And second of all, even if they were “curious” about other Nations and Peoples, how many Americans can afford the travel that requires passports. What’s the airfare between New York and Paris versus the cost of a train trip across the Channel?

      In any event, Your anecdote about the lady from Arkansas proves my point. She was not interested in asking You a Question so much as she was in giving You an Answer.

      So was i being sarcastic? That depends on whether one reads “curious” as “interested in learning something” or simply oddly weird.

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    2. The Saudis…the Kiwis. I’ve always said they have a lot in common. Too much oil/too many sheep. Etc.

      🙂

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  14. And then there’s this, just to prove my point. Or, “the Beat goes on…La de da de de, la de da de da… .”

    CHINESE DEFENCE OFFICIALS TAKE AIM AT US’ ‘AGGRESSIVE’ TAIWAN-UKRAINE COMPARISON

    Playing the Taiwan card is dangerous move, Chinese general says at Shangri-La Dialogue;
    US defence secretary accuses Beijing of provocative and destabilising military activity near Taiwan

    https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3181348/chinese-defence-officials-take-aim-us-aggressive-taiwan-ukraine

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    1. Yep JG, but doesn’t this prove my point, and the the Lt.Col has made often and well on this site.
      Why doesn’t the US just mind its own business?
      What happens between Taiwan and China is none of the US’s business.

      And how about the US provocative and destabilising military activity near Taiwan.
      https://www.voanews.com/a/pentagon-us-nearly-doubled-military-personnel-stationed-in-taiwan-this-year-/6337695.html

      “The U.S. is showing its support for Taiwan in an ‘American salami-slicing way’ by repeated visits by U.S. congressional members and other high-profile figures,” said Bill Sharp, who writes about Taiwanese history and defense and was a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University in 2020.

      In the last 1½ years, he said, “we have sold one arms package after another to Taiwan.”

      “Trying to be as low-key as possible given the continued [Chinese] threat to Taiwan, we are letting [China] clearly know that the security of Taiwan is crucially important to the US,” he said by email.”

      Sharp did not elaborate just how the security of Taiwan is crucially important to the US. Care to expound on how this is so?

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      1. But Dennis, when the US government minds what’s happening between China and Taiwan, it IS minding one of ~ if not ~ THE principal, primary, and prime businesses, functions, and purposes of the American government: the business of keeping its MICC [and its Secrecy/Surveillance, Security Panopticon] busy and profitable.

        You noted that Mr Sharp “did not elaborate just how the security of Taiwan is crucially important to the US,” and asked if i “care to expound on how this is so?” Sure. That’s not difficult at all. As Mr Sharp put it: “In the last 1½ years, we have sold one arms package after another to Taiwan.”

        And as things heat up over in that part of the world ~ whether between China and Taiwan, or North and South Korea, or anyplace else over there ~ no doubt there will be many, many more arms packages headed to East Asia. And who knows, but no doubt some more troops or aircraft carrier groups or whatever the Pentagon claims it needs to get the job done. Whatever that job is besides, first and foremostly, ramping up the bottom lines of the MICC/SSSP.

        For example: Did You catch this?

        A CHINESE NAVAL BASE IN CAMBODIA SIGNALS A NEW ERA OF COMPETITION IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

        “In October 2020, satellite photos showed that the Cambodian government had demolished two American-built facilities at the Southeast Asian nation’s Ream Naval Base—despite Washington offering to renovate them.

        “On June 9, China is set to break ground on a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) naval facility at the same base, according to reports first published in the Washington Post. It’s a clear sign of Beijing’s increasingly robust power projection in the Asia-Pacific as it seeks to counter a U.S. policy of containment.” Continued at https://time.com/6185021/china-cambodia-ream-naval-base/

        How do You think the US is going to react to that? Ask the Vietnamese if we can come back to Cam Ranh Bay?

        But with America’s primary business being the preparation for War, starting and waging War, and, after losing this one, rebuilding for the next War, what is so surprising about all this?

        Were not America’s Wars in Southeast Asia and Latin America in the 60s, 70s, and 80s just another example of “Takin Care Of [that] Business,” as B-T O once put it? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybtl9qVFAjc]

        And was not bankrolling Saddam’s Holy War against The Great Infidel in Tehran on the 80s and then liberating the Kuwaiti Incubator Babies from him in 1990 ~ and making a viable, credible “enemy” out of OBL and Da Boyz ~ all part of the same program? You know, the guys who had just helped us kick the Russians asses out of Afghanistan?

        Is what happens between Israel and the Palestinians and the rest of the Muslim world America’s business, any more than what happens between China and Taiwan? Can You find anybody in Swampland who will tell You “No”?

        Let me ask You a question a little closer to home for You, literally and metaphorically: Is it any of Australia’s or New Zealand’s business what China does in the South China Sea and indeed among the Island Nations of the whole Southwest Pacific Ocean? Did You catch this…:

        CHINA BROUGHT A MAJOR INITIATIVE TO PACIFIC ISLAND NATIONS. IT HAS THE U.S. WORRIED
        June 8, 2022 Heard on “All Things Considered”

        China’s foreign minister recently wrapped up a visit to eight Pacific island nations, raising alarm in the U.S. and its allies.

        SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST: Palm trees and beaches and turquoise seas – that’s what the islands of the South Pacific are probably best known for. But in recent days, their strategic value has come into the spotlight. China’s foreign minister recently wrapped up a visit to eight Pacific Island nations, and that has raised alarm in the U.S. and among its allies. NPR China affairs correspondent John Ruwitch reports.

        JOHN RUWITCH, BYLINE: A big headline from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip was that it failed to secure a multilateral trade and security agreement between China and 10 Pacific Island nations. But Satu Limaye, vice president of the East-West Center, says that misses a more important point.

        SATU LIMAYE: The real story here is not that China didn’t get everything it wanted from this major diplomatic initiative. The real story is that China brought together such a major strategic and aspirational initiative into the Pacific. That’s, to my mind, a very different Chinese strategy for the region.

        RUWITCH: An ambitious strategy of engagement on multiple fronts with more to come.

        LIMAYE: This is, if you will, the next frontier. We’ve seen it in Northeast Asia. We’ve seen it in Southeast Asia. We’ve seen it in South Asia. Continued at https://www.npr.org/2022/06/08/1103785100/china-brought-a-major-initiative-to-pacific-island-nations-it-has-the-u-s-worrie .

        Like

        1. Yeah, thanks Jeff for your hard work.
          WRT to Australia and New Zealand.

          New Zealand is a tiny country of 5-million with all its agricultural goods exported to China. Insignificant to China’s gross imports. And NZ is 100% dependant on Chinese imports for its domestic consumption. From garden rakes to railroad engines. With cars and utes making increased inroads into the vehicle market pushing out the Japanese and Koreans. A nice little customer for Chinese manufacturers. It would be of very little gain for China to “conquer” NZ – in old fashioned terms.

          Australia, OTH is a little different with its vast mineral ore and goal reserves. However Australia is a huge importer of Chinese products. It would be of very little gain for China to “conquer” Australia, one of its bigger customers, and take on the sustenance and governance of 25-million people in a foreign land. China has enough domestic problems without taking on that burden.

          Besides China knows that the Yanks would come to the rescue of these two allies – starting WWIII.

          What China does in the South China Sea and indeed among the Island Nations of the whole Southwest Pacific Ocean seems of little consequence to these two antipodean nations, or the US – and nothing they can do will change it anyway. Australia and NZ are not going to take on China militarily. What will happen, will happen.

          That’s my take on it as an amateur armchair geo-politician.
          Cheers. Huge thunderstorms in Palmerston North today, and our first tornado. Climate change – a bigger concern than being overrun by the Chinese.

          Like

          1. So based on all the trade data ~ and particularly the level of dependence of the standards of living and the qualities of life of Australians and New Zealanders on China ~ which nation is more important to them: China or the United States?

            And what would happen if China threatened to sever all trade with the Antipodeans if it came down to choosing sides in a conflict between China and the US? Over, for example, Taiwan. Would Australians and New Zealanders stick with the US in the face of reverse sanctions like that?

            And when You say that “China knows that the Yanks would come to the rescue of these two allies – starting WWIII,” do You mean something like the Yanks rescued their allies in Afghanistan and Iraq?

            Liked by 1 person

            1. In reality China is more important to them.
              But emotionally 98% of Kiwi’s and Aussies will choose to be with the US.

              Yes, and if China attacks Australia and New Zealand – and the Yanks jump in – will the Yanks do any better than they have done in conflicts in the last 77-years? You pose a good question.

              Like

              1. Yeah, but what will their Governments choose? And what will those 98% of Kiwis and Aussies actually have to say in and about the decision-making process?

                Like

              1. The scary thing is that U.S. “leaders” like Biden and Harris couldn’t answer these questions with Jacinda’s level of knowledge and honesty. There is also something endearingly goofy about her (her “thumb’s up” at the end). She’s the real deal.

                Biden is now having trouble speaking in complete sentences, frequently losing his train of thought. Harris is ignorant and covers it with giggles and laughs. And they’re the “leaders of the free world.”

                Liked by 1 person

      2. Why doesn’t the U.S. mind its own business? Because a lot of people in Washington have good, high status jobs making everybody’s business our own.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. In Other News and for what it’s worth… :

    In the last three weeks, the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM met in Davos and the BILDERBERG GROUP met in Washington, DC. And the WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION’s confab begins in Geneva today.

    It will be very interesting to see how the decisions made by the Global Ruling Elite at these gatherings will make themselves evident during the days, weeks, and months to come thru what promises to be a very Hot ~ in every sense of the word ~ and “interesting” ~ in the sense of a Chinese Curse ~ Summer and Fall.

    Like

    1. Also, the G7 Meeting starts on June 26 in the German Bavarian Alps. By then, the impact of the decisions of the WEF, Bilderbergers, and WTO may already be being felt.

      Like

    2. In the last three weeks, the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM met in Davos and the BILDERBERG GROUP met in Washington, DC.

      Like

  16. On June 8, Florida US Senator Rubio tweeted what qualifies as a DFQ, or Damn Fine Question: “Have they set a date yet for prime time hearings on the riots that left 19 dead, 2,000 officers injured, 97 police cars burned, over 600 acts of arson, 2300 acts of looting & over $2 billion in property damage?”

    And on June 10, House Republican Leader McCarthy asked another DFQ: “When will Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats hold a prime-time hearing on the out-of-control inflation their policies have created?”

    To which i would add: “The hearing should also include how the policies of Trump and the Republicans contributed to The Deficits and increased Debt over these past five years, and what that has to do with the Inflation now being experienced.”

    The seeds for this potential Weimar-style hyper-inflation were planted well before Biden assumed the throne.

    Like

  18. Well, when it happens, at least nobody in Swampland can say that we weren’t warned, eh?

    NATIONAL TERRORISM ADVISORY SYSTEM BULLETIN – JUNE 7, 2022
    Issued: June 07, 2022 09:00 am Expires: November 30, 2022 02:00 pm
    https://www.dhs.gov/ntas/advisory/national-terrorism-advisory-system-bulletin-june-7-2022

    SUMMARY OF TERRORISM THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES

    The United States remains in a heightened threat environment, as noted in the previous Bulletin, and several recent attacks have highlighted the dynamic and complex nature of the threat environment. ***IN THE COMING MONTHS, WE EXPECT THE THREAT ENVIRONMENT TO BECOME MORE DYNAMIC AS SEVERAL HIGH-PROFILE EVENTS COULD BE EXPLOITED TO JUSTIFY ACTS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST A RANGE OF POSSIBLE TARGETS.

    These targets could include public gatherings, faith-based institutions, schools, racial and religious minorities, government facilities and personnel, U.S. critical infrastructure, the media, and perceived ideological opponents. Threat actors have recently mobilized to violence due to factors such as personal grievances, reactions to current events, and adherence to violent extremist ideologies, including racially or ethnically motivated or anti-government/anti-authority violent extremism. Foreign adversaries—including terrorist organizations and nation state adversaries—also remain intent on exploiting the threat environment to promote or inspire violence, sow discord, or undermine U.S. democratic institutions. ***WE CONTINUE TO ASSESS THAT THE PRIMARY THREAT OF MASS CASUALTY VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES STEMS FROM LONE OFFENDERS AND SMALL GROUPS MOTIVATED BY A RANGE OF IDEOLOGICAL BELIEFS AND/OR PERSONAL GRIEVANCES.

    KEY ASPECTS OF THE EVOLVING THREAT ENVIRONMENT INCLUDE:

    Several recent violent attacks by lone offenders against minority communities, schools, houses of worship, and mass transit have demonstrated the dynamic and complex nature of the threat environment facing the United States:

    Individuals in online forums that routinely promulgate domestic violent extremist and conspiracy theory-related content have praised the May 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and encouraged copycat attacks. Others have seized on the event to attempt to spread disinformation and incite grievances, including claims it was a government-staged event meant to advance gun control measures
    .
    The suspect in the grocery store attack in Buffalo, New York in May 2022 claimed he was motivated by racist, anti-Black, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, often referred to as the “great replacement” or “white genocide.” These theories claim that minorities, multiculturalists, and a ruling elite are deliberately threatening the existence of the white race. The alleged 2019 attacker at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas cited similar grievances and inspiration for the attack, and both the Buffalo and El Paso attackers indicated they were inspired by the 2019 attacker of two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

    A violent attack in May 2022 in Laguna Woods, California targeted congregants of a church that serves the Taiwanese community. The attack killed one individual and wounded five others. According to the lead investigative agency, the suspect also placed Molotov cocktail-like devices around the church and secured the doors with chains and super glue.

    In April 2022, an individual wearing a gas mask threw two smoke canisters and opened fire on a New York City subway during morning rush hour, resulting in injuries to dozens of individuals. Following the shooting, a number of pro-al-Qa‘ida and ISIS users celebrated the attack, which remains under investigation.

    THE CONTINUED PROLIFERATION OF FALSE OR MISLEADING NARRATIVES REGARDING CURRENT EVENTS COULD REINFORCE EXISTING PERSONAL GRIEVANCES OR IDEOLOGIES, AND IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER FACTORS, COULD INSPIRE INDIVIDUALS TO MOBILIZE TO VIOLENCE.

    Some domestic violent extremists have expressed grievances related to their perception that the U.S. government is unwilling or unable to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and have called for violence to stem the flow of undocumented migrants to the United States. We assess that there is increased risk of domestic violent extremists using changes in border security-related policies and/or enforcement mechanisms to justify violence against individuals, such as minorities and law enforcement officials involved in the enforcement of border security.

    ***GIVEN A HIGH-PROFILE U.S. SUPREME COURT CASE ABOUT ABORTION RIGHTS, INDIVIDUALS WHO ADVOCATE BOTH FOR AND AGAINST ABORTION HAVE, ON PUBLIC FORUMS, ENCOURAGED VIOLENCE, INCLUDING AGAINST GOVERNMENT, RELIGIOUS, AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE PERSONNEL AND FACILITIES, AS WELL AS THOSE WITH OPPOSING IDEOLOGIES.

    As the United States enters mid-term election season this year, we assess that calls for violence by domestic violent extremists directed at democratic institutions, political candidates, party offices, election events, and election workers will likely increase.

    FOREIGN ADVERSARIES REMAIN INTENT ON EXPLOITING THE DYNAMIC THREAT ENVIRONMENT TO SOW DISCORD, UNDERMINE U.S. DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, AND PROMOTE OR INSPIRE VIOLENCE BY THEIR SUPPORTERS.

    Following the January 2022 hostage situation at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, ISIS and al-Qa’ida supporters released statements celebrating the hostage taker for bringing attention to the issue of a federally convicted female al-Qa’ida supporter and suggested the event could serve as inspiration for future attackers. Foreign terrorist organizations will likely continue to use online platforms to attempt to inspire U.S.-based individuals to engage in violent activity.

    In April 2022, ISIS released an audio message announcing a new global campaign of attacks to “avenge” the deaths of the group’s deceased leader and spokesman. The message called on ISIS supporters to carry out knife and vehicle ramming attacks in the United States and Europe.

    The pro-al-Qa’ida Malahem Cyber Army released the third issue of its “Wolves of Manhattan” magazine in April 2022, which focused on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The magazine encouraged supporters to travel to Ukraine to acquire training and weapons to use in attacks against the West.

    ***CHINESE, IRANIAN, RUSSIAN, AND OTHER FOREIGN MALIGN INFLUENCE ACTORS HAVE SOUGHT TO CONTRIBUTE TO U.S. INTERNAL DISCORD AND WEAKEN ITS FOCUS AND POSITION INTERNATIONALLY. THESE ACTORS HAVE AMPLIFIED NARRATIVES THAT RADICALIZED INDIVIDUALS HAVE CITED TO JUSTIFY VIOLENCE, INCLUDING CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND FALSE OR MISLEADING NARRATIVES PROMOTING U.S. SOCIETAL DIVISION.

    ***IN RECENT MONTHS, RUSSIA AND OTHER ACTORS HAVE ALSO AMPLIFIED CONSPIRACY THEORIES ALLEGING U.S. RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS AND CLAIMING U.S. SUPPORT FOR BIO-WEAPONS LABS ABROAD. SOME OF THESE ACTORS HAVE USED THESE CONSPIRACY THEORIES TO JUSTIFY CALLS FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST U.S. OFFICIALS AND INSTITUTIONS.

    ***AS THE U.S. 2022 MID-TERM ELECTIONS APPROACH, MALIGN FOREIGN ACTORS COULD BOLSTER THEIR MESSAGING TO SOW DISCORD AND INFLUENCE U.S. AUDIENCES IN KEEPING WITH PRACTICES DURING PREVIOUS ELECTION CYCLES.

    [***EMPHASES added.]

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Its all bullshit Jeff! BE AFRAID! BE AFRAID!
    Unbelievable!

    If the US’s huge standing military, the National Guard, The FBI, The Federal police, the State police, highway patrol and sheriffs, and 400-million guns in citizens hands……….oh never mind!
    My kids and grandkids in Seattle, WA and Madison WI need to just go about their daily routines with a little extra vigilance and nothing will change for them – and hopefully their local sheriff will take care of the ISIS terrorist who appears in the aisle of their supermarket.

    Actually the more I read this rubbish, the more I’m thinking it is a hoax written by some conspiracist nutjob!

    Like

    1. Partly people justifying their jobs. No agency is going to say, “No change. We’re taking the next six months off without pay.”

      Liked by 1 person

      1. And when that mass casualty event happens, they will be able to say “SEE!?!?! We Told You so! We couldn’t stop it from happening, but we KNEW it was going to and told You.”

        And, of course, the next step will then be that they get more money, and power, and authority so that ~ Next Time ~ they WILL be able to stop it. Look at how great a job they did after 9/11. Have there been any more highjacked jetliners flying into buildings?

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    2. Why ~ at age 76 ~ should i be afraid?

      And Yeah…. . That’s what all those nutjobs say about the “hoax” that was 9/11, the 2008 financial “cri$is,” The COVID Event, and now Ukraine and Cold War II. It’s all just the fantasies of a bunch of conspiracy theorists.

      After all: Would the American government ever lie to its citizens? About anything? Ever hear the one about the Tonkin Gulf? Or the Kuwaiti Incubator Babies? Or the really big one: Saddam’s WMDs?

      And Your kids and Grandkids don’t have much of a choice in that matter, do they, Dennis?

      But Yeah again; hopefully their local Sheriff will do a better job than their counterparts did in Buffalo and Uvalde, just to mention the last of 21 [or is it 22 or 23 now] such mass murder events over the past couple of years.

      Like

    1. LOL. That’s why they called him a populist. He said what a lot of us think. In Washington that’s a crime.

      Like

      1. ALEX, that’s why I liked him. He said truths in WA DC that nobody wanted to hear. LOL
        Sadly he turned out to be an a*&^$hole though!
        He could have been so good. Showed so much promise – but was just too much of a jerk!
        Its going to be a real circus if he tries to run again.
        Especially if he learned to just be a little more of a politician.
        They are all s&^t scared of that – that’s what these hearings in WA DC at the moment are all about.
        They are trying to hang him before he gets another shot at it.
        And frankly ANYBODY could beat Joe Biden with the performance he is putting on!

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  21. @JG MOEBUS

    “Yeah, but what will their Governments choose? And what will those 98% of Kiwis and Aussies actually have to say in and about the decision-making process?”

    I can’t speak for our brothers and sisters across the ditch Jeff, but we Kiwi’s are proud of having a political system where the politicians go with the choice of the people. Always. And democratically. Unlike the US.

    The internet rubbish that Jacinda Ardern promulgated Covid Laws against the will of the people is a lie. She did not. All these Laws were made with consultation and consent of a majority of democratically elected politicians in the Party in Power. Same with The Assault weapon Laws passed after the Christchurch shooting. Passed by the will of the people.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. “President Joe Biden’s announcement two weeks after taking office that he would end “all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales,” was welcome. It was also inexcusably ambiguous, and when lawmakers sought clarity into the scope of the policy change, the administration mostly declined to give it. Biden’s announcement “includes the suspension of two previously notified air-to-ground munitions sales and an ongoing review of other systems,” wrote the State Department in a letter. But beyond that, the administration didn’t indicate what military support would continue to flow to the Saudi-led coalition intervening in Yemen’s grueling civil war.

    An extensive new report from The Washington Post this week confirms that skepticism of the drawdown was warranted and the specification of “offensive operations” was deceptive. While rightfully decrying Russian aggression against civilian targets in Ukraine, the U.S. government continues to be implicated in the same kind of brutality against civilians in Yemen, the site of the world’s most acute humanitarian crisis. This Post report is fresh evidence that we need to know exactly how the U.S. government is backing the Saudi-led coalition and its war crimes in Yemen—and that this backing needs to stop.”

    https://reason.com/2022/06/09/why-arent-we-out-of-yemen-yet/

    Like

  23. I wish this man had a show on US Mainstream TV. Not going to happen
    As some smart arse said – Tucker Carlson with a British accent.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. On the Real Meaning of MAGA

    [Note: Anyone who is in the least surprised by anything that has happened over these past five plus years since the dawn of The Age Of Trump obviously missed this interview with then-President-Elect Trump by al-Jazeera, back shortly after 11/9.]

    President-Elect Trump On “Making America Great Again”
    [from the al-Jazeera Interview, late-November, 2016]

    1. What, exactly, do You mean, Mr Trump, actually, really mean by “Great”?
    2. When, exactly, did America become “Great”?
    3. Exactly How and Why did it become “Great”?
    4. When, exactly, did America stop being “Great”?
    5. Exactly How and Why did it stop being “Great”?
    6. How, exactly, will the American people and the world know that America is “Great Again”?
    7. And What, exactly, will a “Great Again America” actually, really Be, for Americans; and for the world?

    When posed these questions during a recent exclusive interview with a reporter from al-Jazeera [the Muslim-owned and -operated, Doha, Qatar-based, global news network], President-Elect Trump responded as follows:

    Trump: “‘What is… ?’ ‘When did…?’ ‘How did… ?’; Jeeezus… . That has to qualify as one of the, if not the, lamest… no, make that the stupidest and most irrelevant set of questions any soon-to-be-ex-reporter has ever asked the next President of the United States. Ever.

    “Anybody who could even think up such a dumb bunch of questions like that wouldn’t, because they couldn’t, understand my answer, anyway. But, because I like Muslims…, no…, I really do. Because I like you folks, I’ll try and answer you.

    “The question is not what ‘Great’ is; or when America got or stopped being ‘Great’; or even what it will be like when it’s ‘Great Again.’ Americans, real Americans i mean, don’t care about all that stuff. And neither should you Muslims, or anybody else in the world. The real question is, ‘When will America be Great Again?’

    “Because, mark my podium-pounding words: It Will Be. And that’s so easy to answer that even you folks might understand it.

    “America will be Great Again when I am President. When I am President, America will be Great Again because I, its President, am Great. Is that clear? Now, you may ask: ‘How do I know that?’

    “I know that because I always have been, am now, and will always be Great. And further, because everything I have ever done, am doing, and always will do has always been, is now, and always will be Great. And finally, because anything and everybody, and anybody and everything that has ever had, now has, or ever will ever have anything to do with me has always been, now is, and always will be Great, as well.

    “For example, my empire of skyscrapers, golf courses, super-malls and condos, strip malls and slum flats; my casinos, University, and donations to veterans; my trophy wives; and, of course, my reality-tv shows [in one of which You are a role-playing, bit-extra right now, even as we speak]. Hell… come to think of it, even my bankruptcies have been, are, and will be great; especially for the stiffs…. heh…. .

    “All Great. All Great, just like me. And do you want to know Why they were, are, and will be Great? Because they are mine. All mine. I made them; I created them. All of them. All in my own image. And That’s exactly why they’re Great.

    “And when I move my corporate headquarters from the Trump Towers down to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue [‘and the White House up to New York ~ or over to Mar-a-Lago ~ for the weekends,’ he added, parenthetically], America will be Great Again. Because it will be mine. To create, or in this case, re-create in my own image.

    “Does that answer your question?”

    al-Jazeera: “Almost. Can you give us at least some examples of what America will be like when it is ‘Great Again'”?

    Trump: “Sure. When America is Great Again, anybody that I, The President, don’t like or don’t want in my country will either be thrown out, or won’t be allowed to get in here in the first place. Sort of like Obama killing anybody he doesn’t like with drones; or Bush torturing anybody who crossed him. Only better because truly preemptive, and much less costly, in both blood or treasure.

    “When America is Great Again, all our financial, fiscal, monetary, and budgetary problems will be over after I screw all those losers who have bought, paid for, and invested in our nation’s public debts at all levels: federal, state, and local. I have lots of real-world ~ and not just some Harvard Business School jerk-…, classroom ~ experience with that sort of thing, and know how to ‘Get ‘er Done,’ as they say in the parlance.

    “When America is Great Again, all them punks in Beijing, Bonn, Brussels, and Basel, and Elsewhere, and all them prevert Muslim jihadist terrorists and their mullahs, ayatollahs, and sheikhs of Arabi, and anybody else with an attitude, will come face-to-face with the reality that you don’t fu~…, mess with The Donald. Or His country. Or his embassies or flag. Anywhere. Anytime. For any reason.

    “When America is Great Again, we will put OurSelves, the U S of A, Number One again, and get rid of all those bull~…, bullshit rules and regulations that say that and what we can and can’t do to whatever we want to do to the land, the water, and the air, anywhere, anytime. Or for that matter, to people, too.

    We may only be, what is it, 4 percent of the world’s population; but, as Great Again Americans, we need, want, demand, and, by God, have and will take our God-given Right to consume more than just our fair share of, what is it, 20 percent of the world’s resources, or to create 25 or 30 percent of its garbage and pollution.

    “You’ll know that America is Great Again when I build a 3-hole golf course on the White House grounds, and open it up to the public, for a modest greens fee, of course. The plan is to have it ready to go in time for spring, when the weather breaks. I’m also exploring putting in an 18-hole PGA Championship course and lodge out at Camp David.

    “Does that help you any?”

    al-Jazeera: “It certainly does, Mr Trump. One other follow-up question before moving on to our other subjects: How soon do you think it will be before you’re on Mount Rushmore?”

    Trump: “How’d you know about that? … Well, the plan is to unveil it just in time for my re-election Inaugural Ball in 2021.”

    al-Jazeera: “Ahhhh. Thank you, Mr Trump. Now…, what about Russia?”

    #######

    Liked by 1 person

    1. All I can say is “wow”. “Wow”…even for Mr.Trump. Tell me honestly, did this come from “The Onion”?

      Like

      1. Heh. May i take that as a compliment?

        The only thing about that interview that isn’t parody are the seven Questions that kicked it off.

        These are Questions that Trump, the champions of Trumpatismo, and all Trumpatistas need to be asking themselves and answering for themselves.

        And they are also the same Questions that every other American needs to be asking themselves and each other.

        Like

        1. Yes, a compliment. These days it’s difficult to tell parodies from the news. We live in strange times.

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          1. Thank You, Alex. And yes it is; and yes we do. And my hunch is that it is fixing to get stranger.

            And the problem won’t be distinguishing Parodies from News, but News from Lies. But we have that challenge already, don’t we?

            Like

            1. BabylonBee, which I read assiduously, had a column showing 70% of their parodies essentially came true.

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      1. How about one for All of the following; for Everybody in Swampland?

        1. The corporatist, crony “democratic capitalist,” neoconservative/neoliberal, post-modern “liberalism” and “conservativism” of the Carter-Reagan-Bush I-Clinton-Cheney/Bush II-Obama-Biden breed [which includes any “anti-Trump” Republicans intent on maintaining some semblance of a non-Trumped GOP].

        2. The populist, nativist, neo-mercantilist, protectionist, proto-national socialism [with its attendant racist, sexist, xenophobic, patriotist wrapped-in the-Flag-mouthing-the-Bible noise while wiping their butts with the Constitution] of Trump, Trumpatismo, the Trumpatistas, and its inevitable gaggle of Greenes, Proud Boys, and Apprentice Emperor-Wannabe Spawns.

        3. The noisy but intellectually, ideologically, and politically bankrupt and bereft neo-progressive, proto-democratic socialism of the “socialistic democrats” of the Sandersista/Warrenite, “Squad,” Green New Dealer ilk, and their Spawn.

        Like

  25. For example:

    #USA-CCL???; OR, WILL AMERICA SURVIVE TO CELEBRATE ITS 250TH BIRTHDAY?

    On my 73d birthday back in July, 2019, i decided and determined to live long enough to see:

    1. If there would be an election on November 3, 2020; and, if there was, to see
    2. If there would be an inauguration on January 20, 2021, regardless of who “won” and/or who “lost” on 11/3.

    i have, in the interim, acknowledged, accepted, and moved on with the fact that, at this point at least ~ and barring what would be nothing less than a Revolution ~ that i will very probably not have to live long enough to see whether or not the United States of America will still be around to celebrate #USA-CCL!!! on July 4, 2026. One wonders if perhaps #USA-CCL!!! shouldn’t be altered to read #USA-CCL???

    “CCL,” of course, is “250” in the Roman numeral parlance [to borrow a meme from the NFL]. And, “USA~CCL” refers to July 4, 2026, the 250th Anniversary of the official start of the American Secession from England [aka the First American “Revolution”] with the American Colonists’ Declaration of Independence.

    The question posed is: What will the United States of America ~ this people, this land, this country, this nation, and above all, this government ~ what will the USA actually, really BE 1,481 days from today, June 14, 2022?

    Another, blunter way of putting the question is: Will the United States of America ~ this people, land, country, nation, and above all, this government; will the USA, as it now exists, operates, functions, and in fact now is ~ will this USA survive over these next 1,481 days all the way up to July 4, 2026?

    Those who would dismiss this question as either irreverent, irrelevant, absurd, conspiratorial, and/or unpatriotic, if not traitorous, treasonous, and seditious [there seems to be quite a lot of that going around these days] are invited to confront the simple, obvious [albeit painful] reality that the United States of America is today, has been for a long, long time, and shows no indication of stopping being:

    1. a Bankrupt Debtor State;
    2. an Imperialist Warfare State;
    3. a Redistributionist Welfare State;
    4. a Secrecy/Surveillance/Security/proto-Police State;
    5. an Oligarchic/Plutocratic Deep State;
    6. a Failing or at best Flailing State;
    7. an Overshoot State;

    And, perhaps most importantly,

    8. a People and Nation no longer merely “divided,” but fractured ~ even to the point of disintegration.

    These eight “States” are the state of the United States of America today. They constitute flashing, warning signal beacons showing the direction in which America’s collision course with reality is headed. And they give only passing reference to the impact that changing weather and climate patterns will have and are already having on this nation’s infrastructure, economy, society, and security.

    Specific definitions of and details about these eight States ~ and justification for claiming they are accurate ~ are provided below.

    In light of all this, the question isn’t so much WILL the United States survive to celebrate #USA-CCL!!!, but CAN it? And if it does survive, will it be in any condition ~ or mood ~ to celebrate anything? And, if it is to survive, HOW?

    What is the Alternative and the Antidote to these eight EXISTENTIAL THREATS to the uniquely American Experiment with Constitutionally-limited representative government under a Rule of Law, before which all Human Beings are created equal and treated equally?

    What changes to the American system of national government and governance ~ and the relationship of that government to the citizens of the United States, to the national and international economy, to domestic and foreign civil society, and to subordinate and foreign governments ~ what changes need to happen to bring that experiment back from the abyss of total failure?

    That is the question that a Critical Mass of Americans need to start asking themselves and each other while the opportunity to do so still exists. But first, they must recognize, realize, acknowledge, and accept the fact that that Experiment is frighteningly close to collapsing into Chaos, and thus its only available alternative and antidote, Tyranny.

    And then they have to commit to actually, really doing something about it. And then all they have to do is figure out What, When, Where, How, and Who. At which point the strategic planning process can then proceed.

    DEFINITIONS AND JUSTIFICATIONS Those who would deny any of these assertions about the current States and situation in America are invited to consider the following facts about the United States in its capacity as:

    1. a BANKRUPT DEBTOR STATE: Consider this nation’s $30.5 trillion and growing by the minute national, sovereign Debt; which does not include State and Local government, business, financial institution, or private, consumer, and household Debt.

    The looming, inevitable bankruptcies of national, state, and local government, and private income and medical security and entitlement programs [Social Security, Medicare, pensions and retirement plans, etc]. America’s current federal Unfunded Liabilities stands at $169.8 Trillion and counting.

    The most immediate questions that arise in the face of the various already passed and further proposed multi-trillion dollar stimulus/rescue/rebuild plans are: Who is going to pay for all this? And When? And How?

    2. an IMPERIALIST WARFARE STATE: Consider that ~ with the last American troop leaving Kabul last August 31 ~ this nation’s “Forever War” is no closer to being over, let alone “won” [whatever that means or ever meant], than it was on September 14, 2001, when the AUMF authorized it to start. And thus the 76-year losing streak of “the greatest military force in the world” continues unbroken.

    And that the perpetual “preparation” for [and if things work out, perpetration of] the next War ~ confronting an even bigger, badder, and thus better “threat” and “enemy” than the one we allegedly have now ~ goes on and on and on. For now looms Cold War II, since the Russians have recovered from the collapse of the USSR and the failure of European Communism ~ and the Chinese from the madness of Mao ~ well enough to present just such credibly saleable “threats” to, and thus obvious “enemies” of, America’s global unipolar hegemony since the end of Cold War I thirty years ago.

    And in fact, Cold War II is here in Ukraine, and threatens in East Asia to get even bigger, badder, and thus better for our military-industrial-congressional complex and its colleagues, cohorts, and compeers in the Deep State.

    3. a REDISTRIBUTIONIST WELFARE STATE: Consider the individuals, groups, organizations, and institutions within which particular political, economic, cultural, social, or other special interest sectors, and which subsidiary governments [foreign and domestic] receiving what kind of and how much of the following largess: welfare, subsidies, relief, bailouts, loans, rescues, grants, gifts, grifts, grafts, pork, log rolls, bribes, and other “entitlements, aid, and assistance” from the federal government.

    And then calculate how much it costs Who [or “Cui Malo,” as they used to say in Rome], and into Whose pockets it all goes [or “Cui Bono”, as the lawyers all say today].

    4. a SECRECY/SURVEILLANCE/SECURITY/PROTO-POLICE STATE: Ponder this nation’s governments’ iron veil of secrets from ~ and blanket, warrantless surveillance of ~ its citizens, all in the name of those citizens’ “security,” all perpetrated and enforced by an increasingly militarized Federal, State, and Local regulatory and law enforcement Praetorian Guard.

    5. an OLIGARCHIC/PLUTOCRATIC DEEP STATE: Examine the military-industrial-congressional complex, the banking-finance-printing press web, the techno-infotainment matrix, the petro-food-guns-n-drugs cartels, the pharmo-medico-insurance-legal cabals, and the surveillance-secrecy-security-safety panopticon that owns and operates and commands and controls the politicians and bureaucrats at center stage in America’s reality-tv extravaganza; and America’s $ 1 = 1 Vote system of government and governance that gets, puts, and keeps them there.

    6. a FAILING OR AT BEST FLAILING STATE: Note that America spends more per capita and a higher percentage of its GNP on Health Care than any other Nation on the Planet, and yet has and has had ~ from almost the very beginning ~ the most Reported Cases of and Deaths from COVID of any other nation on the Planet. With 4.2% of the World’s Population, the US currently has 16.2 % of all Total COVID Cases and 16.3 % of all Total COVID-related Deaths.

    America has a prison-industrial complex that incarcerates more people ~ particularly for non-violent crimes ~ than any other Nation on the Planet. And America leads the Planet in crimes of violence against persons and property.

    Its energy, transportation, and communications infrastructures are crumbling and increasingly vulnerable to increasingly frequent disruptions from weather events, cyber-attacks, supply line choke ups, social unrest, and the like.

    And, one can only wonder: How many current and former Students and/or their Parents are satisfied with the Education they are getting today, and the system that is failing to provide it; at all levels? And what they owe for the “privilege” of having received that “education.”

    7. an OVERSHOOT STATE: That, as 4.2% of the world’s population, while we produce 15%+/- of the world’s measured goods, products, and services, we consume 25%+/- of those services, products, and goods, and create 30%+/- of its waste, garbage, and pollution. If the entire planet lived like we did, it would take more than five Earths to provide the natural resources, goods, products, and services provided by this one Earth that we have.

    8. a PEOPLE AND NATION NO LONGER MERELY “DIVIDED: The results of Election2020 speak for themselves. No politician, party, or special interest group championing any cultural, social, economic, or political agenda has a national “mandate” to do anything in this country about anything. Not Biden. Not Trump. Not Anybody. Especially not the Sandersista/Squad/Warrenite elements of the conversation.

    That 25,000 troops were needed to secure the inauguration and, almost three months later, that several thousand were still in town should make that simple, stark fact amply evident. That the United States Senate is now in the hands of the Tyranny of A Majority of One [either the VP or a guy from West By-God Virginnie] demonstrates this irrevocably.

    Along with the controversies, confrontations, and conflicts looming in the Summer of 2022 over Inflation, Food, Fuel, and Power Shortages, a resurgent Pandemic Event, Mass Shootings and Guns, Police Violence, Abortion, Critical Race Theory, Wokeness, and an Election, note also that the US government is also on the edge of declaring a “War Against Domestic Terrorism,” Whoever they may conveniently end up being.

    Further indication that that time of similar fragmentation to the point of disintegration 160 years ago was the eve of merely the FIRST American Civil War.

    ### 061422

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    1. Jeff: I appreciate your comments, but a few are essays in their own right. Brevity, please.

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      1. i understand and apologize. And it won’t happen again. But that was something i needed to get off my chest, Colonel. Thanks for providing the opportunity.

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    2. In the light of all this, another question that comes to mind beyond WILL and CAN the United States survive to celebrate it’s 250 birthday is SHOULD it survive?

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