Showing posts with label money laundering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money laundering. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

One Trump, Two Trump, Red Trump, Blue Trump

“The hardest thing I’ve ever seen the Democrats fight for is to keep a disabled Marine combat veteran off the ballot.”

– Matthew Hoh, Green Party candidate for US Senate from North Carolina

One Trump, Two Trump, Red Trump, Blue Trump

(or The Future of the So-Called Democratic Party) 

by Coast Watcher

Frankly, the so-called US Democratic Party should be sued for flagrant misuse of the term democratic. They are without doubt the most undemocratic institution in the United States. It’s no secret that the party has a standing order to challenge the right of any third party to be included on electoral ballots, federal, state, or local. With friendly judges in their pockets these iniquitous attacks by Democrats on the right of the American people to have a choice frequently succeed.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, the Establishment Party (composed of the so-called Democrats and their good friends, the Republicans or GOP) have succeeded in placing their members in positions of authority in county electoral boards and changed the rules so no other parties can sit on such boards. These are the people who decide who does or does not qualify to be on the ballot. Naturally, the GOP and the Democrat candidates always qualify. But people running for third parties? Not so much.

Take the case of Matthew Hoh, Green Party candidate for US Senate to represent the people of North Carolina. (More details on this story at Whatever This Is, It's Not a Democracy.) A disabled Marine Corp veteran, Hoh is an excellent candidate for high office. An articulate, intelligent man, Hoh has "seen the elephant" in war. With such experience, his is a voice of authority when it comes to espousing the deep desire for peace and an end to the American government’s policy of constant warfare. Hoh’s campaign has gained a great deal of traction to the point that it looks like the Green Party is becoming a real challenger to the Establishment Party in NC. 

This, of course, doesn't sit well with the "Demopublicans."

The North Carolina Green Party workers went the extra mile in ensuring that all petition signatures for inclusion on the ballot were legitimate, collecting far more than the minimum required. The counties' election boards approved of the Green Party's signature petitions to be on the ballot and sent them onto the state board of elections for final approval. When it came to the state electoral board to certify the counties' findings, the chairman muted the Green Party’s legal representative to prevent him from asking questions and rejected the NCGP's certified signature petitions out of hand. 

The Greens are protesting the railroading of their candidate, but with the courts firmly in the hands of the Establishment Party, do you really think they'll decide in the Greens' favor before the ballot deadline? 

Matthew Hoh’s horrible experience isn’t the only such example. There have been many others across the country, some of which are described in this excellent article. The Establishment-owned electoral boards not only run interference against perceived challengers to the Democrats, they also reject petitions on behalf of Libertarians who are seen to be challengers to the GOP.

This constant denial of ballot access is draining Americans of the right to participate in their own government. It disenfranchises millions of voters who are not affiliated with either wing of the Establishment Party. It also appears to be the sign of the so-called Democratic Party in a death dive. 

Consider this: if the Establishment's policies are oh-so wonderful and beneficial to the American people, why do Democrats and their GOP allies act afraid of any challengers on the ballot? Could it be they realize their policies are actually harmful to working class Americans, and they rightfully fear revolution? Could the handwriting already be on the wall, and those currently in the status quo know they'll be first in line at the guillotine?

The rot has set into the so-called Democrats in a big way. Young adult support for the Dems has hemorrhaged. The current figures make woeful reading for the party leadership. According to a New York Times poll released last Sunday, 94 percent of voters aged 18-29 do not want Biden to run again in 2024. Biden’s betrayal of his election pledge to lessen student loan debt is coming home to roost.

His age is also against him. Biden will turn 80 in November—assuming he makes it that far. The signs aren’t good. You only have to look at his recent performances on TV to see there’s something badly wrong with the man’s health, both physical and mental.

End quote: Repeat sentence. Quite.

Support among Black Americans is also in free-fall. Biden pledged to end police violence against Black citizens. Instead he supported increasing police budgets and allowed police departments to siphon off money intended for COVID relief to fund their own projects. For instance, federal COVID funds are being used to pay for things such as security cameras instead of improving ventilation and filtration systems in schools and public buildings.

Misuse of public funds doesn’t end there. Over half a million Americans are homeless. Many more are insecure in how long they can remain in their dwellings, facing rent or mortgage hikes far beyond their ability to keep up with payments. Many states and local authorities are responding to this crisis by effectively criminalizing homelessness. Over 11 million children are food insecure. Over 17 million people lack even adequate healthcare coverage. Most Americans are but one unexpected $600 bill away from financial ruin. 

In spite of these somber statistics, billions of dollars are being sent to prop up a proxy war in Ukraine with nothing more than the rubber-stamp approval of Congress. Obviously, keeping the military-industrial complex profitable is more important to the Establishment Party than making sure all Americans are housed, fed, and have access to adequate health care.

So what is the future of the so-called Democratic Party?

From the way things are shaping up, I see it merging with the Republican Party before too many years are out. Ideologically they are growing ever closer until, like sunset and sunrise, there soon won’t be any daylight between them.

And the persecution of third parties and their candidates? Parties that offer Americans real choices on the ballot will continued to be harassed by the threatened Establishment. Vicious attacks on social media against alternative voices are at an all time high. It seems when neither wing of the Establishment Party can come up with a good policy to address the pressing needs of suffering Americans all the Demopublicans can do is post nasty tweets and broadcast mudslinging TV commercials. Casting doubt and blame on newcomers who come up with brilliant ideas comes naturally to those mired in the status quo.

A lot of the propaganda that went into the Cold War against the former Soviet Union was based on the USSR’s "One Party State" system. So tell me, how is the United States of America any different from the USSR in denying its citizens a choice on the ballot and a real say in their government? 

BIO: Coast Watcher is very observant. Not much gets past his eagle eyes when it comes to what the Establishment Party says and what it actually does. By forcing voters into choosing between the "lesser evils," evil itself has been baked right into the whole corrupt system of government. It's time to throw out the inedible bad cake and let the people decide how to bake things themselves.

 

Related Articles:

The Democrats' Third-Party Massacres https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/07/15/the-democrats-third-party-massacres/ 

Whatever This Is, It's Not a Democracy http://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2022/07/whatever-this-is-its-not-democracy.html 

Biden Snaps at Reporter Over Low Poll Numbers (video) https://youtu.be/8TYVyQv5qXA

We Are Sooo F*cked... (video) https://youtu.be/p1IVJUdjBY4  

If Trump Jumps Into the Presidential Race Before Midterms, All Bets Are Off    https://truthout.org/articles/if-trump-jumps-into-presidential-race-before-midterms-all-bets-are-off/

Noam Chomsky: Biden's Middle East Trip Contains Echoes of Trump's Policies   https://truthout.org/articles/noam-chomsky-bidens-middle-east-trip-contains-echoes-of-trumps-policies/

Neo-Cons: Genesis to Ascendency  https://scheerpost.com/2022/07/15/neo-cons-genesis-to-ascendency/ 

The Corporatization of Just About Everything  https://scheerpost.com/2022/07/17/the-corporatization-of-just-about-everything-including-the-climate-crisis-and-outer-space/


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Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Brother, Can You Spare $7 Billion?


Brother, Can You Spare $7 Billion?

by Coast Watcher

Once they sent some missiles to Ukraine
Thanks to the folks on the Hill
Once they sent some missiles, now we're done
Brother, can you spare seven bill'?

Joe Biden’s continuing in office as POTUS is verging on elder abuse.

His performances during press conferences lack coherence. How can anyone not see his advancing senility? Neoliberal attempts to explain away his decrepit behavior as a "speech impediment" are failing in credence.

Knowing this man has control over nuclear weapons makes thinking people uncomfortable, especially since NATO seems determined to provoke Vladimir Putin by expanding up to Russia’s border. Putin has warned what will happen if NATO does so, yet we see Sweden and Finland proposing to join the outdated Cold War organization. Putin has also warned that shipments of military gear to Ukraine by Western powers will be considered legitimate targets of war, yet those shipments continue at an incredible rate.

This US proxy war in Ukraine is merely the latest example of how this senile president is still useful to the oligarchy. The US government is funneling literally billions of dollars into Ukraine—one of the most corrupt countries on Earth according to the Panama Papers—to prop up its failing war effort against Russia. Most of those billions pass through the coffers of the military-industrial complex to the complete satisfaction of their boards of directors and shareholders. 

And why? Supposedly so the West can utterly destroy the Russian economy and grab their resources and then move on to conquer the King of Global Capitalism, a.k.a. China. Nothing new there.

It’s not only Biden’s decline in cognitive function that’s concerning people. He's sending $33 billion to Ukraine so the folks there can “have something in their pockets.” Fortunately for the Ukrainians, they already enjoy universal healthcare while many US citizens have to make do with GoFundMe.  

You have to give it to the Democrat Party--there’s no pretense made that Biden is working for the good of ordinary Americans. $33 billion could end many injustices that Americans suffer with a stroke of the president's pen. He could easily end student loan debt, institute Medicare For All, send out stimulus checks or start UBI. It's estimated that it would take a mere $20 billion to end homelessness, for instance. Yet Biden gladly sends all that money into a proxy war. Ukraine gets plenty of money for weaponry while American infrastructure disintegrates all around us. 

It makes one wonder who really is at war and with whom. Could it be that struggling Americans are being bombarded by the mindless, selfish destructiveness of capitalism? Is our tax money simply disappearing into a war zone in the form of weapon drops so these arms can be bought and sold later at a discount by other interested parties?

Just think of all the profits to be made from selling drones and missiles after "cleaning up" all that money... Can't you just picture all those Congress members buying new mansions and yachts with those ill-gotten gains? Hey, they worked hard for it!

Meanwhile across the globe, there is no unity of sanctions against Russia. Hungary is refusing to enact any sanctions, partly because Hungarian President Orbรกn is getting payback against the EU for penalizing his country over its anti-LGBTQIA laws, and partly because Orbรกn isn’t stupid enough to deprive his people of cheap Russian fuel. India also refuses to go along with the drive to sanction Russia, its leadership resisting blandishments and threats from Western powers to do so.


Pakistan wasn’t so fortunate. A US-instigated coup against Imran Khan ousted that pro-neutral leader in favor of one more pliable to Western interests. The message is clear: Nothing personal, but if you're a leader of a country who doesn't go along with NATO's sanctions against Russia, you're going to be out of a job soon.

I can only conclude that Biden is still a useful fool for the one-percent. Any comprehension he might still possess on the nature of politics and capitalism as a whole are more the product of ingrained habit than specific thought. But as long as the American oligarchy thinks he can talk the talk—after a drooling fashion—the more likely he'll keep cutting those big checks for that plucky Ukrainian comedian/puppet-president.


BIO: Coast Watcher is tired of watching the working classes get shafted by the greed and evil manipulations of the billionaires invested heavily in the military industrial complex. Isn't it about time we kick all their politician-puppets to the curb and see how they like begging for small change?


More great insight into the why of spending so much on warfare:

The masters of war require an enemy. When an enemy cannot be found, as George Orwell understood in Nineteen Eighty-Four, an enemy is manufactured. That enemy can become an ally overnight – we allied ourselves with Iran in the Middle East to fight the Taliban and later the Caliphate – before instantly reinstated Iran as the incarnation of evil. The enemy is not about logic or geopolitical necessity. It is about stoking the fear and hatred that fuels perpetual war. 

In 1989, I covered the revolutions that toppled the communist dictatorships in Central and Eastern Europe.  President Mikhail Gorbachev, like his successor Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin in the early stages of his rule, hoped to integrate Russia into the western alliance. But the war industry places profits before national defense. It needed an antagonistic Russia to push the expansion of NATO beyond the borders of a unified Germany in violation of a promise made to Moscow. There were billions of dollars to be made from a Russian enemy, as there are billions more to be made from the proxy war in Ukraine. There would be no “peace dividend” at the end of the Cold War. The war industry was determined to continue to bleed the US dry and amass its obscene profits. They provoked and antagonized Russia until Russia filled its preordained role. --Chris Hedges, The Age of Self-Delusion

Related article links:

The Age of Self-Delusion  https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-age-of-self-delusion?s=r

An Intellectual No-Fly Zone  https://popularresistance.org/an-intellectual-no-fly-zone-online-censorship-of-ukraine-dissent-is-becoming-the-new-norm/

Ex-General Pushing for NATO Troops in Ukraine Has Weapons Industry Ties https://popularresistance.org/surprise-ex-general-pushing-for-nato-troops-in-ukraine-has-weapons-industry-ties/ 

UN Chief Slams Fossil Fuel Industry for Using Ukraine War to Boost Profits https://truthout.org/articles/un-chief-slams-fossil-fuel-industry-for-using-ukraine-war-to-boost-profits/

On Ukraine, the World Majority Sides with Russia Over US https://popularresistance.org/on-ukraine-the-world-majority-sides-with-russia-over-us/

US/NATO Wants War With Russia  https://popularresistance.org/us-nato-wants-war-with-russia/

Ukraine: How the US Empire Uses Propaganda To Turn People Into Monsters https://rainershea.substack.com/p/ukraine-how-the-us-empire-uses-propaganda

PayPal Blocks Multiple Alternative  Media Figures Critical of US Empire Narratives  https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/paypal-blocks-multiple-alternative?s=r 

Americans Believe Nothing Is Getting Better. Biden Feeds That Disillusionment https://www.rsn.org/001/americans-believe-nothing-is-getting-better-biden-feeds-that-disillusionment.html  

"Disinformation Governance Board" Chief is Huge Spreader of Disinformation https://youtu.be/0ac_q8Z9SQk  (video)

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