Interesting Articles: Late May, 2023
Interesting Articles: Late May, 2023
Fading to Black through the Durham Report
[Image: (left to right) who cares, Giorgia Meloni, Justin Trudeau, Emmanuel Macron, Fumio Kishida, Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz, Rishi Sunak and who cares: a meeting at which Mr. Z was guest of honor and Sleepy Joe announced more money for his friends in the MIC.]
Published: 2023-05-26
The Durham Report
Before delving into the Durham Report one should recall the key event which preceded Russiagate; the publication by Wikileaks of internal emails amongst the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign which demonstrated irrefutably that the Democratic primary was fixed for Clinton.
The "Russiagate" hoax was, to quote Ray McGovern, a "two-fer". It was to undermine Trump and malign Wikileaks. The media-narrative, election-influencing lie was created by the Clinton campaign to be validated by the FBI and told by others. Recall the vacillation of the FBI as to whether to release the report on the Clinton private email server in the run-up to the election and whether it may influence the election while they were running an ongoing investigation which did exactly that.
The enmity between H.R Clinton and Julian Assange runs long. and deep The 2010 "cablegate" release of over 200 000 U.S.A diplomatic cables exposed the pay for play corrupt scheme which the Clintons were running through their foundation, along with many other schemes and immoral and/or illegal actions by other players in the USA power elite.
Patrick Lawrence has written an excellent summary of that which he found most troubling about the report, namely that it is not a report but a cover up. In the article he provides links to many others who have also added their analysis to this scandalous attempted election rigging for which the riggers will pay no penalty apart from appropriate scorn. In addition to the links provided in Lawrence's article to Greenwald, Hedges, Susan Schmidt and others, I add Larry Johnson and The Duran (see Sources).
The US commercial media, cable news in particular, deserve at least as much scorn for committing the same stenographic stupidity as was shown almost 15 years previously in the lead up to the illegal invasion of Iraq on false pretenses. This they solemnly swore to never repeat. The illegal invasion destroyed a country, created over 5 million refugees, further destabilized the region and killed around a million people. But repeat the same stenographic behaviour the US commercial media did for the Russiagate hoax, wall to wall for four years. First they profited from running footage of an empty Trump podium or the actual rally speeches as Trump played them for the chumps they are and then they played the Russiagate hoax to dismantle the supposed horror they'd help create, again profiting in the mania created. This time the excuse of stupidity just doesn't cut it.
In the second half of Mr. Lawrence's essay he delves into some of his past work and Nietzsche to explore the tragedy of unwritten history and forced memory. If one can get over the brazen undermining of any pretense of democracy which lingers in the Democratic Party, this exploration of tragedy is thought provoking. When a troubling history is written and acknowledged it causes pain and provides a path to accept a sequence of inhumane actions. This allows a culture to then ease the burden of lugging this memory with them. A future can be created where the wound is present though healed. When the history is known but not written and accepted the burden of carrying it remains. A full reckoning of it is unavailable. A fresh future cannot be created for the past remains.
For the USA not only does the past remain, but continues. Saint "we tortured some folks" Obama strode forth to corral the 2020 Democratic primary with everyone falling in line behind then slightly less mentally challenged Biden to defeat the great evil of Trump. The same is happening again as "hush money" charges are being run through the courts to deny Trump time to campaign, as though this will actually help. It may help De Santis which is the Uniparty's goal. Russiagate may be buried, but its beating heart lives on.
Maintaining Ideological Momentum
Ranging out from the Durham tarpaulin draped over the trash the US displays as its electoral system, James Howard Kunstler weaves a summary of the general state of play for the USA and "its allies and partners" in his beautifully written "Fade to Black" (h/t to Andrei Martyanov for highlighting the article).
Things are so dark that the uppity darkies from the "Global South" are demanding a bit of democracy at the U.N. They want to veto the vetoes! The dastardly, evil Chinese are conniving to convince their fellow not-white-enough skinned brethren that they support a change in the intolerable “P5” configuration of the Security Council.
Of course, the real problem is the money that makes the world go 'round. Of course, the 'go' requires transport and those same untrustworthy Chinese are using their version of the IMF (the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank) to bankroll some rolling stock. Whether the rail lines are for holidays in central Asia, for bypassing storms in the South China Sea or a straitjacket placed across the straits of Malacca is anybody's guess. Perhaps its all an elaborate ruse to confuse the clever analysts at the CIA while India hooks up with Iran to walk-on-water over the Caspian Sea, not to alight in Almaty but to march onto Moscow with goods rather than guns?
Was it all part of some global practical joke foisted on the USA and its appendages by the almighty? Did the 11th sanctions package from the EU finally convince Russia to give up on being a part of Europe to allow the Russian Eurasianists the upper hand? Who cares! The end result is a Russian economy re-engineered to operate outside of the financial systems and trade networks which previously enabled the "west" to attempt to constrict it. With much of the western populace sick and tired of the stupidity proffered by their media, and the sanctions regime now rebounding on the west and Europe in particular, the US is left with using its military to "drain the Russians". Sadly for them, they're failing there too, excluding profits for the western arms manufacturers and further indebting the US taxpayer.
The re-establishment of diplomatic relations between regional powers Saudi Arabia and Iran caught almost everyone by surprise and the USA has been running around trying to counter the secondary effects. The most important was Syria's invitation back into the Arab League, which the USA desperately attempted to scuttle to no avail.
Just as in the case of Russia, they are left high and dry on influence and economic avenues to threaten the region into compliance and have resorted to the military option. In this case, its the building of yet another illegal military base in northeastern Syria under the pretense of supporting the Kurds. Naturally, this will not impress nations in the region for whom the "Kurdish problem" is a bit like the "Palestinian problem", a constant challenge. The USA's construction of this base and its rhetoric around the Kurds will anger Turkey, Syria and Iran, and probably not be to the liking of Iraq either.
All of the above continues to further the emerging reality that the USA's foreign policy is run by a bunch of ideologues looking for more lucrative career advancements on a sinking ship. Bernard from Moon Of Alabama asked why suddenly a sizable collection of people are leaving their positions of influence on said sinking ship. He asks his readership if they can see a reason for this?
Perhaps they are the intelligent rats?
As any observer who lives outside of the western media bubble has been able to observe over the last few years, the "rest of the world" (or Global South or whatever) is organizing itself outside of the systems controlled by the old imperialist "west". The current leader of that imperialist collective, the USA, seems not to be adapting to these changing circumstances. Hence the "ideological" label applied above. Further evidence of the continued organization outside of western structures is that Russia is calling for the creation of an economic ratings agency not controlled by London or New York.
Here are some recent headlines from Dave DeCamp (exceptimg the second last) at Antiwar to highlight the consistency of application of the failing approach of sanctions and aggression to deal with the global majority:
2023-05-21
Biden Announces New Military Aid for Ukraine During Zelensky Meeting in Japan
G7 Leaders Take Aim at China, But Biden Expects "Thaw" in Relations
US, British, French Naval Commanders Transit Hormuz Strait in Message to Iran
Republican Senators Introduce Bill to Scrap Last Nuclear Arms Treaty With Russia
2023-05-23
2023-05-24
2023-05-25
We must conclude insanity (expecting different results from the same action), a masterful and diabolical plan to implode western dominance or astronomical incompetence, or the usual case of “a bit of all of the above”.
Sources
John Durham and the Burying of American History, Patrick Lawrence, ScheerPost, 2023-05-24
John Durham Ignores Role of U.S., U.K., Australian, and Israeli Intelligence Operatives in Setting the Stage for Crossfire Hurricane, Larry Johnson, Sonar 21, 2023-05-21
The Durham Report and coverup. Where is Professor Mifsud?, The Alexes, The Duran, 2023-05-17
Why the Conspiracy Theory About Trump and Russia Won’t Go Away, Chris Hedges, ScheerPost, 2023-05-21
Fade to Black in Ukraine, James Howard Kunstler, Clusterfuck Nation, 2023-05-22
Global South Aims to Fix the UN, Ramzy Baroud, Consortium News, 2023-05-23
Railway of Resistance: A grand project to connect Iran, Iraq, Syria, Mohamad Hasan Sweidan, The Cradle, 2023-05-19
The inside story of Russia-Iran-India connectivity, Pepe Escobar, The Cradle, 2023-05-23
Media And Politicians Throw So Much Bullshit At Us That It Is Difficult To See Through It, b, Moon Of Alabama, 2023-05-22
US Building New Base in Northern Syria, Dave DeCamp, Antiwar, 2023-05-25
Why Are These Biden Officials Leaving Their Top Posts?, b, Moon Of Alabama, None
"Biased" Is A Wrong Term., Andrei Martyanov, Reminiscence of the Future..., 2023-05-25
Trade between BRICS nations hits record levels, The Alexes, The Duran, 2023-05-21
Culture
RIP Tina. What a voice and what a performer.
Tina Turner - Private Dancer (Live from Barcelona 1990) (Remastered), Tina Turner, Arquest Remixes, uploaded 2021-04-11
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