Gonzo Geopolitics

[stonefruit]

(how is this for a new thread?)

It is not the freshest news. But it is still breaking, people are still absorbing it ,and it all till needs context.

The filthy greedheads and the doomed can't have exclusive rights to this news territory. The insane and the loyal opposition must have their say as well.

My take - the Russian armada is going to bomb the living fuck out of Aleppo.  Not so much to help Assad as to show they can still break shit, and still matter in one of their few areas of influence outside of Russia. 

Sebostabol/Crimea alreadytaken and those pieces are swatted off the chess board.

Then they will pass through the Suez canal to a favorite area of contemporary interest - the south china sea, to dock at the "chinese" island. 

They will refit at Vizag (a top indian navy base), go hover around the "chinese" island in the spratleys, maybe some commando/fast boat/SEAL type training with the chinese there. then they go right by the senkaku islands on the way to vladivostick for winter.

just to show the world the BRICS aint nobody to fuck with. 

Turkish PM Erdogan just "cleaned house," by firing about 40,000 people in government and shooting a

few hundred security, military and intelligence staff accused of being Gulen supporters.  some probably were, some probably were not, and Gulen's infleunce is not as profound as the govt makes it out to be. but he just bought himself 5 more years of unchallengable rule. and the ability to flip turkey out of NATO into the BRICS. I think it is very possible and could happen suddenly if it does.

Then much of eastern europe NATO (esp former ussr/Warsaw Pact) all quit too - because it is a stupid antiquated instiution that has not had a rational strategic reason of existence since the fall of the Berlin wall.  nato is not world's army the blue hats in the UN are.

Timing - Putin put them at sea when he knew he would have a four month window of no real response from usa because of the  elections.

They will have proved they are back as a true blue sea navy, anf kicked some ass, and shored up crucial geostrategic along the way.

I feel no portence of WWIII but instead feel this is a macho country saying "we be back motherfucka!"

and the advanced cyber and ground/space/ship-to-shore warfare eqpt of china, russia (less so india) is getting really good, and hits all the achilles heels of nato/USSA, efficiently, cheaply, and on the button.

[pan]

Thanks for posting this - I had shared a slightly trimmed version on FB.  It is brilliant.

[BO]

I shared it too, but deleted my post because I wasn't sure people would see the humor in it. Sensitivities are running pretty high on Facebook right now. I probably need to stay away for a while and preserve my own sanity anyway.

[waldopaper]

Keep your eyes on Mike Pence.   “He makes it simple for people like me,” she said. “He puts it clearly.”  

[pan]

What scares me more than a Trump presidency is a Pence presidency - or Pence as Dick Cheney.

[pan]

The Authoritarian Politics of Resentment

The US has become a country motivated less by anger, which can be used to address the underlying social, political and economic causes of social discontent, than by a galloping culture of individualized resentment, which personalizes problems and tends to seek vengeance on those individuals and groups viewed as a threat to American society.

[pan]

I know BO has given up on the Guardian but they still feature some insightful writers like Naomi Klein:

They will blame James Comey and the FBI. They will blame voter suppression and racism. They will blame Bernie or bust and misogyny. They will blame third parties and independent candidates. They will blame the corporate media for giving him the platform, social media for being a bullhorn, and WikiLeaks for airing the laundry.

But this leaves out the force most responsible for creating the nightmare in which we now find ourselves wide awake: neoliberalism. That worldview – fully embodied by Hillary Clinton and her machine – is no match for Trump-style extremism. The decision to run one against the other is what sealed our fate. If we learn nothing else, can we please learn from that mistake?

I'm not convinced that Trump will end neoliberalism though

[BO]

I have no idea, at this point, whether Trump is actually sypathetic to the plight of the working class or not. But I think we all have a pretty good idea what people were voting against.

Re: The Guardian...they will run an article from an actual progressive from time to time, to establish some credibility. But during the election, the dem establishment/ant-Trump propaganda was so thick, I had to quit going there. They were doing all the things that Klein describes in your post. It got so bad that it actually became a running joke with a lot of Bernie people, who eventually got fed-up and left.

[pan]

It is in my bookmarked news folder.  Morning ritual to go there and go through the list, including the Chimp. I think I need to revise the list. The pro-Clinton slant was very obvious and odious.  As you might imagine, I have no issues with an anti-Trump bias though.

[pan]

Regarding Trump's views towards those of us who actually labor, I think the many cases of him stiffing small businesses out of agreed upon contracted stipends because he could with his army of lawyers is a pretty good indicator.

[BO]

Seems like the elites are fomenting civil war  -- Koch Brothers on the right, George Soros on the left. Same as it always was -- rich fuckers sacrificing humanism for their own gain. They ought to be the first ones to have their heads detached.

Interesting to see journalists duking it out on Twitter over their election coverage. The MSM is attacking independent journalists by claiming party support was way more important than exposing the truth about either party. The hypocrisy is mind blowing.

Americans look to be caught in a fascist sandwich.

Love this...

[BO]

Been reading up on George Soros since he seems to be behind the current revolution being waged by democrats through various Sorros funded organizations. Frankly, some of policies do make sense to me  -- socialized health care, minimum wage stuff. At the same time, I'm having trouble reconciling his anti-national, globalist NWO stance. Also seems incongruent to me that he supports the DNC since they seem to be the party of corporate totalitarianism  -- not global socialism.

Anyone have some insights for me? What am I missing?

[pan]

He is, and always will be, a capitalist.