How can you tell when your empire is crumbling? Some signs are actually visible from my own front window here in San Francisco.
Directly across the street, I can see a collection of tarps and poles (along with one of my own garbage cans) that were used to construct a makeshift home on the sidewalk. Beside that edifice stands a wooden cross decorated with a string of white Christmas lights and a red ribbon—a memorial to the woman who built that structure and died inside it earlier this week. We don’t know—and probably never will—what killed her: the pandemic raging across California? A heart attack? An overdose of heroin or fentanyl?
Behind her home and similar ones is a chain-link fence surrounding the empty playground of the Horace Mann/Buena Vista elementary and middle school. Like that home, the school, too, is now empty, closed because of the pandemic. I don’t know where the families of the 20 children who attended that school and lived in one of its gyms as an alternative to the streets have gone. They used to eat breakfast and dinner there every day, served on the same sidewalk by a pair of older Latina women who apparently had a contract from the school district to cook for the families using that school-cum-shelter. I don’t know, With unprecedented economic inequality and massive overspending on military expansion, America now looks a lot like 476 CE Rome. either, what any of them are now doing for money or food.
Read more at:
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/american-empire-decline/
Showing posts with label Nightmare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nightmare. Show all posts
2/4/21
11/10/20
The American Dream: Americans must wake up from the illusion they live in a democracy - by Hamid Dabashi
The US is a failed experiment. It is a political culture that is not compatible with democracy, for Americans, both conservative and liberal, are trapped in a vicious cycle exacerbating the worst in their respective characters.
I look at Mike Pompeo, the repugnant evangelical crusader who is now the US secretary of state - the country’s “top diplomat,” as they say, the face and figure that represents it around the world - and I think he is worse in his fanaticism, and infinitely more dangerous in his zealotry, than Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi put together.
And Pompeo did not fall from the sky: he and the entire cabinet that President Donald Trump selected and enabled are definitive to US politics.
Read more: Americans must wake up from the illusion they live in a democracy | Middle East Eye
I look at Mike Pompeo, the repugnant evangelical crusader who is now the US secretary of state - the country’s “top diplomat,” as they say, the face and figure that represents it around the world - and I think he is worse in his fanaticism, and infinitely more dangerous in his zealotry, than Osama bin Laden, Mullah Omar and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi put together.
And Pompeo did not fall from the sky: he and the entire cabinet that President Donald Trump selected and enabled are definitive to US politics.
Read more: Americans must wake up from the illusion they live in a democracy | Middle East Eye
3/4/20
USA - Trump Administration: Trump has trapped us all in a nightmare whirlwind — but he’ll eventually jump ship
In this Trumpian prison of ours, you really have little choice. Whether
you like it or not, whether you want to or not, you’re a witness to the
vagaries of one Donald J. Trump, morning, noon, and night, day in, day
out. I mean, you know what film the president thinks should have won the
best-picture Oscar this year, right? Gone With the Wind, which, after he brought it up, promptly shot to number one on topics trending on Twitter. You have a sense of how many years he expects to remain in the White House (up to 26,
as he told one of his rally crowds recently, or assumedly until Barron
is ready to take over); you know that he’s a “germophobe” (small tip:
don’t cough or sneeze in his presence and the next time you meet him,
don’t try to shake his hand); you’re probably aware that his properties in India (as well as his pronunciation of Indian names) leave something to be desired, but that the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas is buzzing along (especially
when he visits while on the campaign trail). And here are some other
things you might have caught as well: that you and I have spent quite a
little fortune (up to $650 a night per
agent) putting up the Secret Service people protecting him at Trump
properties; that, thanks to a tweeted photo of him on a windy day, he
has quite a tan line (or
that, as he tweeted back, “More Fake News.
This was photoshopped, obviously, but the wind was strong and the hair looks good? Anything to demean!”); or that he hates being told, especially by American intelligence officials, no less “Shifty Schiff,” that Vladimir Putin would like to lend his reelection a hand, but loves it that the Russian prexy may have a yen to promote Bernie Sanders in this election season; that his greatest skill (à la The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice) may be firing people he considers personally disloyal to him (even if it’s called purging when you’re the president and they’re government officials or bureaucrats), hence his three years in office represent the greatest turnover in Washington officialdom in presidential memory; or perhaps the way he tweets charges and claims of every sort (that, for instance, Mitt Romney is a “Democratic spy”); or all the people he actually knows but claims he doesn’t; or his urge to slam every imaginable, or even unimaginable, figure ranging from the forewoman of the Roger Stone jury (“She somehow weaseled her way onto the jury and if that’s not a tainted jury then there is no such thing as a tainted jury”) to the 598 “people, places, and things” the New York Times counted him insulting by May 2019, including John McCain (23 times, “last in his class”) and his daughter Meghan (four times, “obnoxious”); oh, and let’s not forget his threats to unleash nuclear weapons on North Korea (“They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”) and Afghanistan (“And if we wanted to do a certain method of war, we would win that very quickly. But many, many — really, tens of millions of people would be killed…”). And that, of course, is barely a hint of the world we now inhabit, thanks not just to Donald J. Trump, but to the very Fake News Media that he denounces so incessantly.
Read more at: Trump has trapped us all in a nightmare whirlwind — but he’ll eventually jump ship – Alternet.org
This was photoshopped, obviously, but the wind was strong and the hair looks good? Anything to demean!”); or that he hates being told, especially by American intelligence officials, no less “Shifty Schiff,” that Vladimir Putin would like to lend his reelection a hand, but loves it that the Russian prexy may have a yen to promote Bernie Sanders in this election season; that his greatest skill (à la The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice) may be firing people he considers personally disloyal to him (even if it’s called purging when you’re the president and they’re government officials or bureaucrats), hence his three years in office represent the greatest turnover in Washington officialdom in presidential memory; or perhaps the way he tweets charges and claims of every sort (that, for instance, Mitt Romney is a “Democratic spy”); or all the people he actually knows but claims he doesn’t; or his urge to slam every imaginable, or even unimaginable, figure ranging from the forewoman of the Roger Stone jury (“She somehow weaseled her way onto the jury and if that’s not a tainted jury then there is no such thing as a tainted jury”) to the 598 “people, places, and things” the New York Times counted him insulting by May 2019, including John McCain (23 times, “last in his class”) and his daughter Meghan (four times, “obnoxious”); oh, and let’s not forget his threats to unleash nuclear weapons on North Korea (“They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”) and Afghanistan (“And if we wanted to do a certain method of war, we would win that very quickly. But many, many — really, tens of millions of people would be killed…”). And that, of course, is barely a hint of the world we now inhabit, thanks not just to Donald J. Trump, but to the very Fake News Media that he denounces so incessantly.
Read more at: Trump has trapped us all in a nightmare whirlwind — but he’ll eventually jump ship – Alternet.org
8/27/18
USA: Vice President Pence Faces Heightened Scrutiny Over His Relationship with Paul Manafort - by Gwendolyn Smith
 |
| The "American Nightmare" has become a reality |
The line of succession would call for Mike Pence to replace Donald Trump should he be removed from office. Many have feared what a Pence presidency would look like, given his actions as the Governor of Indiana against the LGBTQ community, women, and others.
Amongst the bad news for Trump last week was the indictment of Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Manafort was found guilty last week on eight counts of financial crimes in his fraud trial.
It was Paul Manafort who chose Mike Pence as Donald Trump's vice president, with the president reportedly preferring Chris Christie for the role.
The link between Manafort and Pence is leading to additional scrutiny for the vice president, as people ask just what Pence knew about Manafort and his connections.
Many are also curious about Pence's involvements with former adviser Mike Flynn, questioning if he lied to protect the general in January of 2017 when he declared that Flynn had not discussed, "anything having to do with the United States' decision to expel diplomats or impose censure against Russia" with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Read more: Vice President Pence Faces Heightened Scrutiny Over His Relationship with Paul Manafort | Alternet
3/17/18
USA: Could this nightmare be brought to an end? Trump impeachment: Cincinnatians gather for Tom Steyer-led town hall - by Scott Wartman
California billionaire Tom Steyer's brought his quest to impeach President Trump to Cincinnati.
Steyer inveighed against the president before a crowd of about 100 people in a small room of the Clifton Cultural Arts Center.
"On a daily basis, there's a series of events that proves Trump is both lawless and dangerous to our Democracy and American people," Steyer said.
The Cincinnati event felt more like a literary discussion than a rally. No bullhorns or chants. Instead, Steyer, in blue fleece and sportcoat, laid his case out to the sympathetic audience. He then answered questions for more than an hour.
Many in the crowd felt the stakes were high and feared Trump could start World War III.
"I think he's dangerous," said Mundy May, of Covington. "I think he's going to end up getting us into a nuclear war, because of the way he talks to people."
Trump's style and ego seemed to be one of the biggest concerns among the crowd.
"He'd end the world just so he wouldn't have to look bad," said Mel Shuller of Montgomery.
Note EU-Digest: Tom STEYER is the former hedge fund manager turned progressive environmental activist worth an estimated $1.6 billion, was Robert Rubin's protege at Goldman Sachs before becoming one of the Democratic Party's most generous donors and activists.
Steyer kicked off a 30-city tour in Columbus to make a case for impeaching Trump.
Read more: Trump impeachment: Cincinnatians gather for Tom Steyer-led town hall
Steyer inveighed against the president before a crowd of about 100 people in a small room of the Clifton Cultural Arts Center.
"On a daily basis, there's a series of events that proves Trump is both lawless and dangerous to our Democracy and American people," Steyer said.
The Cincinnati event felt more like a literary discussion than a rally. No bullhorns or chants. Instead, Steyer, in blue fleece and sportcoat, laid his case out to the sympathetic audience. He then answered questions for more than an hour.
Many in the crowd felt the stakes were high and feared Trump could start World War III.
"I think he's dangerous," said Mundy May, of Covington. "I think he's going to end up getting us into a nuclear war, because of the way he talks to people."
Trump's style and ego seemed to be one of the biggest concerns among the crowd.
"He'd end the world just so he wouldn't have to look bad," said Mel Shuller of Montgomery.
Note EU-Digest: Tom STEYER is the former hedge fund manager turned progressive environmental activist worth an estimated $1.6 billion, was Robert Rubin's protege at Goldman Sachs before becoming one of the Democratic Party's most generous donors and activists.
Steyer kicked off a 30-city tour in Columbus to make a case for impeaching Trump.
Read more: Trump impeachment: Cincinnatians gather for Tom Steyer-led town hall
3/1/18
USA: The Rob Porter Story Exposes the White House's Dishonesty, Not Chaos - by David A. Graham
The White House’s response to allegations of domestic violence against former Staff Secretary Rob Porter has so stunned reporters that the whole episode has become an exemplar of the total disorganization of the Trump administration.
“Abuse Case Exposes Fissures in a White House in Turmoil,” The New York Times intones. Axios’s Jonathan Swan writes, “This is crazy. Even in a White House that’s famous for chaos, I’ve never seen anything like this.” Politico’s Playbook simply announced, “CHAOS at 1600 Pennsylvania.”
This is peculiar, not only because it is difficult to imagine what would rise to the level of notable chaos relative to the standards of this White House. It’s strange because the focus on disorder has overshadowed the more salient feature of the moment: Insofar as the administration is engulfed in chaos, it is a result of its inability to tell the truth. The Trump team doesn’t have a chaos problem so much as it has a dishonesty problem. Of course this is not new, either—in fact, the serial dissembling of the White House has become so banal that it goes almost unremarked in this case—yet it is on particularly dramatic display here.
It might be useful to rehearse the basic chronology. Early last week, the Daily Mail reported on allegations of physical and verbal abuse lodged against Porter by his two ex-wives. Tuesday night, Chief of Staff John Kelly issued a statement standing firmly behind Porter, who worked closely with both Kelly and the president. Wednesday morning, The Intercept published photos showing a black eye Porter had allegedly given one ex-wife, Colbie Holderness. Later that day, Porter resigned. The time since has seen investigation and recrimination about who knew what. Both of Porter’s ex-wives had told the FBI about their allegations during the background-check process, and White House Counsel Don McGahn reportedly knew about allegations as early as January 2017. Politico reports Kelly also knew of a 2010 protective order against Porter this fall. The White House had also learned, well before the Daily Mail stories, that the FBI would recommend Porter not be given security clearance. (The FBI’s recommendation is non-binding on the president.
The president, with his prodigious capacity for pumping out nonsense, may be the wellspring of the White House’s honesty problem, but he is not alone. The Times reports that one factor in Kelly’s recent struggles is the loss of his deputy Kirstjen Nielsen, who was tapped to succeed him as secretary of Homeland Security: “Ms. Nielsen frequently blocked and tackled for the chief of staff, making herself the main line of approach to him. Without her, officials often approach Mr. Kelly freely now, and he sometimes does not remember what he has said to different people, two officials said.”
Telling conflicting things to different people is indeed likely to sow chaos, but chaos is only a product. It’s much easier to avoid telling conflicting stories if one sticks to the truth.
Note EU-Digest:"an unending nightmare"
Read more: The Rob Porter Story Exposes the White House's Dishonesty, Not Chaos - The Atlantic
“Abuse Case Exposes Fissures in a White House in Turmoil,” The New York Times intones. Axios’s Jonathan Swan writes, “This is crazy. Even in a White House that’s famous for chaos, I’ve never seen anything like this.” Politico’s Playbook simply announced, “CHAOS at 1600 Pennsylvania.”
This is peculiar, not only because it is difficult to imagine what would rise to the level of notable chaos relative to the standards of this White House. It’s strange because the focus on disorder has overshadowed the more salient feature of the moment: Insofar as the administration is engulfed in chaos, it is a result of its inability to tell the truth. The Trump team doesn’t have a chaos problem so much as it has a dishonesty problem. Of course this is not new, either—in fact, the serial dissembling of the White House has become so banal that it goes almost unremarked in this case—yet it is on particularly dramatic display here.
It might be useful to rehearse the basic chronology. Early last week, the Daily Mail reported on allegations of physical and verbal abuse lodged against Porter by his two ex-wives. Tuesday night, Chief of Staff John Kelly issued a statement standing firmly behind Porter, who worked closely with both Kelly and the president. Wednesday morning, The Intercept published photos showing a black eye Porter had allegedly given one ex-wife, Colbie Holderness. Later that day, Porter resigned. The time since has seen investigation and recrimination about who knew what. Both of Porter’s ex-wives had told the FBI about their allegations during the background-check process, and White House Counsel Don McGahn reportedly knew about allegations as early as January 2017. Politico reports Kelly also knew of a 2010 protective order against Porter this fall. The White House had also learned, well before the Daily Mail stories, that the FBI would recommend Porter not be given security clearance. (The FBI’s recommendation is non-binding on the president.
The president, with his prodigious capacity for pumping out nonsense, may be the wellspring of the White House’s honesty problem, but he is not alone. The Times reports that one factor in Kelly’s recent struggles is the loss of his deputy Kirstjen Nielsen, who was tapped to succeed him as secretary of Homeland Security: “Ms. Nielsen frequently blocked and tackled for the chief of staff, making herself the main line of approach to him. Without her, officials often approach Mr. Kelly freely now, and he sometimes does not remember what he has said to different people, two officials said.”
Telling conflicting things to different people is indeed likely to sow chaos, but chaos is only a product. It’s much easier to avoid telling conflicting stories if one sticks to the truth.
Note EU-Digest:"an unending nightmare"
Read more: The Rob Porter Story Exposes the White House's Dishonesty, Not Chaos - The Atlantic
12/7/16
War Criminals: Hospitals Cannot Be Targets in War - by Jason Cone
On April 27, a series of airstrikes hit Al Quds hospital in the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo, killing upwards of 50 people, including at least 29 women and children, and wounding scores more. The hospital—its emergency room, its intensive care unit, its operating theater, all of it—was destroyed. Doctors were among the dead as well, including one of the very few, if not the last, pediatrician in Aleppo.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supported Al Quds hospital with supplies and funding to help its remarkably brave staff assist patients. The bombing was shocking news. But, like a painfully recurring nightmare, it was not surprising.
There have been far too many of these attacks in recent years, in far too many places. It seems obvious enough that people, even people at war, should not attack hospitals and kill medical workers and patients. And yet in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan and elsewhere, it happens over and over again—a man-made, and eminently avoidable, epidemic of death and destruction.
Read more, click here: Time Magazine
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) supported Al Quds hospital with supplies and funding to help its remarkably brave staff assist patients. The bombing was shocking news. But, like a painfully recurring nightmare, it was not surprising.
There have been far too many of these attacks in recent years, in far too many places. It seems obvious enough that people, even people at war, should not attack hospitals and kill medical workers and patients. And yet in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan and elsewhere, it happens over and over again—a man-made, and eminently avoidable, epidemic of death and destruction.
Read more, click here: Time Magazine
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