The Last Temptation of the Evangelical Right 2

by • Culture Wars/Current Controversies, Electoralism/Democratism, Left and Right, Religion and Philosophy

I generally hold to the obviously heterodox view that, contextually speaking, Donald Trump is the most liberal president the USA has ever had (though Barack Obama was more liberal on some social issues like the environment and transgender rights, and Jimmy Carter was more liberal on some foreign policy issues like international human rights). It is therefore interesting that his biggest supporters would be some of the furthest right sectors of US society, such as the religious right and the racialist right. Imagine Hugh Hefner or Larry Flynt running for president in the 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s with followers of George Wallace, Jerry Falwell, or Pat Robertson as their biggest backers., and you have a rough analogy to the present situation. This article by a neocon evangelical and former member of the Bush administration explains why. During the George W. Bush era, I said that Dubya did not govern any further to the right than LBJ, and Trump is much further to the left.

By Michael Gerson

The Atlantic

ne of the most extraordinary things about our current politics—really, one of the most extraordinary developments of recent political history—is the loyal adherence of religious conservatives to Donald Trump. The president won four-fifths of the votes of white evangelical Christians. This was a higher level of support than either Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, an outspoken evangelical himself, ever received.

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The Weekly Standard’s demise is a reminder that there are some ideas worse than Trumpism Reply

by • Left and Right • Tags: ,

It’s good to see someone on the Left recognizing this. The most important benefit of Trumpism, in my view, is the eclipsing of the neocons.

By Matthew Yglesias

Vox

Moderator Joy-Ann Reid (L) and Bill Kristol at an “LBJ” panel during Politicon at the Pasadena Convention Center on July 29, 2017, in Pasadena, California.
Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images for Politicon

The future of the venerable conservative magazine the Weekly Standard is in doubt for the sin of being insufficiently pro-Trump to satisfy the tastes of its owner and other denizens of the right-wing moneybags community. It’s a sad commentary on the state of the American conservative movement.

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Why the News Media is stealing from the Pro Wrestling playbook | Eric Bischoff Reply

by • Uncategorized • Tags: , ,

Only what I have been saying for years.

Professional Wrestling and Political News Media have become the ultimate tag team, both utilizing the exact same techniques and formula’s for a very specific outcome. And the outcome is not what you think it is… In 1991, Turner Broadcasting’s World Championship Wrestling (WCW) recruited Eric as an on-camera talent. His entrepreneurial instincts and interests quickly propelled him from talent through the corporate ranks to become WCW’s President in 1998. Before leaving Turner Broadcasting in 1999, Eric had established WCW as the leader in the sports/entertainment category and is largely credited for re-inventing the professional wrestling genre. Eric also created the New World Order (nWo) brand for the TNT Network and was responsible for growing licensing, merchandising, pay-per-view, and live event business units by more than $325M. In 2002, he joined long time competitor Vince McMahon to be an on-air character on the highly successful USA Network Series “RAW”. Eric Bischoff can be heard on his weekly podcast 83 Weeks with Eric Bischoff exclusively on Westwood OnePodcast Network. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Ukraine launches drill near Russia’s border Reply

by • Anti-Imperialism/Foreign Policy • Tags: , ,

Ukraine launches a military drill near Russia’s border with which Kiev has been at loggerheads over a wide range of issues. The three-day military exercises involve tanks and heavy artillery. Ukraine stressed that it is prepared to defend its territory. The drill came as Kiev has accused Moscow of planning to seize two of its strategic port cities. However, Russia rejected the allegations as absurd and unsubstantiated. Relations between the two countries have been strained since the crisis began in eastern Ukraine in 20-14 and Crimea re-joined Russia following a referendum the same year. The relations worsened further after Russia seized three Ukrainian ships recently accusing them of illegally entering Russian waters off the coast of Crimea.

2019 Outlook: The State of Sound Money in the United States Reply

by • Economics/Class Relations • Tags:

By JP Cortez

The Great Recession, coupled with the “Ron Paul Revolution,” prompted a renaissance of the sound money movement in the United States.

As Germany, Russia, and China — to name a few — continue to increase their gold holdings, the hegemonic power of Federal Reserve Notes (referred to today as the dollar) is slowly slipping away.

Simultaneously, whispers—once relegated to fringe corners—of restoring sound money have become passionate, concerned, and loud.

The destruction of sound money over the past century stems from actions at the federal level, but there are steps which states can take —and even have already taken —to move toward real, sound, constitutional money.

As state legislatures reconvene in the next few weeks, let’s take a look at the current state of play…

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Fact Tank – Our Lives in Numbers August 22, 2017 U.S. active-duty military presence overseas is at its smallest in decades Reply

by • Anti-Imperialism/Foreign Policy, Military

Is the Empire receding?

By Kristen Bialik

Pew Research Center

The number of active-duty U.S. military troops stationed overseas has dipped below 200,000 for the first time in at least 60 years. The decline, reflecting a broader one in active-duty U.S. forces, has occurred in multiple countries – including South Korea, which has become a focus of attention amid escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea.

There were around 1.3 million total active-duty U.S. military personnel in 2016. Of these, 193,442 – or 15% – were deployed overseas. That’s the smallest number and share of active-duty members overseas since at least 1957, the earliest year with comparable data, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of information from the Defense Manpower Data Center, a statistical arm of the Department of Defense.

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Black Panther Fred Hampton Was Assassinated 49 Years Ago Today We Visit His Memory Reply

by • Police State/Civil Liberties • Tags: ,

South Carolina Herald

Exactly 49 years ago, Black Panthers Fred Hampton, 21, and Mark Clark, 22, were shot to death by Chicago police.

At around 5 a.m. on December 4, 1969, 14 police officers raided Hampton’s apartment, which was a known Illinois Black Panther Party stronghold in Chicago’s West Side, according to theChicago Tribune. The gunfire lasted seven minutes, and Hampton and Clark were shot dead while sleeping.

“Never forget that 49 years ago today the FBI & Chicago Police Dept conspired to murder Fred Hampton in his apartment because they were afraid he was creating a multiracial political coalition to challenge those in power,” Clint Smith wrote on Twitter today. “He was just 21 years old.”

At the time, authorities claimed that the Black Panthers opened fire on the police while they were serving a search warrant for weapons and have maintained that they were justified in the return fire, the Tribune reported. But evidence from the night, activists argue, showed that the FBI, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Chicago Police Department worked together to assassinate Hampton.

In the months that followed, a federal investigation showed that only one shot was fired by the Panthers. Police, on the other hand, fired 82 to 99 shots. Cook County State Attorney Edward Hanrahan was indicted for the raid but was cleared along with 13 other law enforcement agents, according to the Tribune.

The incident worsened an already contentious relationship between the Panthers and police, resulting in eight gun battles nationally within the following two years, which left three cops and five more Panthers dead.

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Thomas Sowell on the Myths of Economic Inequality Reply

by • Economics/Class Relations, Race and Ethnicity

Thomas Sowell is much, much further to the Right on most issues than I am, e.g. endorsing neocon foreign policy views, uncritical of the police state, practically ignoring “crony capitalism,” etc. But he’s pretty good at debunking reductionist theories coming from the Left on the causes of a range of disparities, which is his area of specialization.

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Anti-White Politics is anti-Revolutionary Nonsense Reply

by • Anti-Imperialism/Foreign Policy, Culture Wars/Current Controversies, Economics/Class Relations, Left and Right, Political Correctness/Totalitarian Humanism, Race and Ethnicity

An interesting M-L-M critique of the critical theory oriented “Left.” I don’t agree with his general ideology but I agree with his assessment of “identity politics” as having no real value other than to create divisiveness that will have the effect of undermining the system (“destabilizing the imperialist core”), thereby making anti-imperialist victory more likely. That’s why I have spent so much time promoting all kinds of fringe, freakazoid movements and ideologies, and favor the most extreme, ridiculous or insane political candidates. Weaken the system at its core. Another thing I like about Jason is that he recognizes that the “revolutionary potential” of the First World is minimal to non-existent. I agree with his assessment of the Third World at the focus of anti-imperialist revolution, even if I don’t share his Marxism.

 

 

Xi Jinping & Chinese Communist Party are the cutting edge of Marxism Reply

by • Left and Right • Tags: ,

Needless to say, I think Caleb is overly enthusiastic about China (interestingly, I know Libertarians who are Sinophiles as well). But his takedown of the Western Left is refreshing. Caleb is also being overly optimistic about the interest of young people in “socialism.” Yes, there is a growing number of Millennials who identify as “socialists,” but for them that only means the Canadian healthcare system and free college tuition (i.e. neo-Rooseveltian liberalism). Very few young people would have a clue about ideas like nationalization of the means of production and a centrally planned economy or, alternately, workers control of the means of production on the syndicalist model.

 

 

Showdown Looms on Federal Spending, Border Wall Reply

by • Economics/Class Relations • Tags:

By Stefan Gleason, Money Metals Exchange

U.S. government agencies could run out of operating funds starting on midnight this Friday, December 7th. At issue: President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall. He wants Congress to commit $5 billion for construction of a wall along portions of the U.S.-Mexico border. The migrant caravan that recently attempted to crash the border near Tijuana has helped rally Republicans to support his request. It may be now or never for Trump’s wall. In the next Congress, presumptive House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be able to kill any of Trump’s legislative priorities. At present, Trump faces obstacles in the Senate, where Democrats seem intent on blocking wall funding. If both sides can’t agree to a spending bill by Friday, then a partial government shutdown could ensue.

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Unraveling Political Theory – Leaders And Vertical Hierarchy Reply

by • Uncategorized • Tags:

In episode 15 of Unraveling Political Theory, Tim and Keith will be discussing leaders and vertical hierarchy. To understand the world of politics and change it for the better, it’s paramount that people begin to study political theory and the ways in which it has manifest throughout history up into the present day. By bringing light to the origins of political and philosophical thought, the present day becomes all the more explainable because one is now able to see the logical progression of such manifestations.

George H.W. Bush, Icon of the WASP Establishment—and of Brutal US Repression in the Third World Reply

by • American Decline, Anti-Imperialism/Foreign Policy • Tags:

By Greg Grandin

The Nation

Obituaries have transformed the terror that Bush inflicted, depicting it as heroism.

Keith Preston: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman becoming a liability, embarrassment to US 1

by • Anti-Imperialism/Foreign Policy • Tags: ,

Press TV. Listen here.

Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has become a “liability” to the United States but Washington is not in a position to take action against him, an American analyst says.

Keith Preston, director of the Attackthesystem.org, said Washington was feeling embarrassed by bin Salman’s actions but couldn’t do anything about it.

“The American government is currently in a very difficult situation because the Saudi Arabian government is a staunch ally of the United States and it is obvious that the Trump administration wants to maintain that relationship,” Preston told Press TV.

US President Donald Trump has so far resisted growing calls from both sides of the isle in Congress for a strong response to the Saudi regime’s murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, arguing that doing so would endanger deep financial and political ties between the two sides and push Riyadh towards Russia.

Trump’s reluctance to go after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite growing evidence pointing to his role, became clearer after he undermined a CIA assessment that the prince was indeed aware of the murder.

The biggest reason is the risk that losing Saudi Arabia’s services would pose to Israel, Trump has admitted.

 

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Kick the Puppy Episode 13 1

by • Kick the Puppy, Uncategorized

PC2_go-12-512

12.02.18

Former President George H.W. Bush dies at 94, the ruling classes live longer, suicide rates at a 50 year peak, life expectancy declines, senior citizens replacing teenagers as fastfood workers, the rise of the inter-generational household, ballot initiative for decriminalization of magic mushrooms may be on Oregon ballot in 2020, the Senate’s Yemen vote is a historic first, Rand Paul works to block aid to Israel and gets attacked by Zionist groups, Marc Lamont Hill calls for a “free Palestine” and gets fired from CNN.

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Robert Stark interviews Aleksey Bashtavenko about Education 5

by • Uncategorized

https://www.starktruthradio.com/?p=1065

 

Aleksey Bashtavenko is the owner and principal writer for Academic Composition

Topics include:

The History of Education

How education was originally reserved for the elites

Voltaire’s statement that the masses should be guided and not educated

How Senator Horace Mann modeled the American education system on the Prussian Model that was compulsory and based on regimentation, obedience, and conformity

How the value of a College Diploma has vastly decreased

How Student Loan debt is greater than the National debt

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American Anarchy: Intense Photos Of The Early 1900s Reign Of Radicalism In The U.S. Reply

by • Culture Wars/Current Controversies

American political conflict isn’t quite what it used to be. The American Revolution, the Civil War, the labor wars of the late 19th/early 20th century, and the racial/cultural revolution of the 1960s make today’s “polarization” and “incivility” look pretty tame in comparison. Today’s “political conflict” is Yankees vs. Red Sox, not the Weimar Republic. Even events like Charlottesville are more a gang fight or a riot by sports hooligans than political combat. All across the US, urban street gangs make the Alt-Right/Lite and SJWs/Antifa look like tenth rate amateurs. In 2017, there were 17, 284 homicides in the US. At most, 34 of these were committed by political extremists, only about half of those murders were actually politically motivated. We live in an age of “bourgeois bitchiness” (the rivalry within the  upper middle class between Reds and Blues) and “tiddlywinks radicalism” (virgin basement dweller “fascists” vs triggered snowflake “leftists”).

Mckinley Assassination Anarchists

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What Happens When Trump Falls? Reply

by • American Decline, Culture Wars/Current Controversies, Electoralism/Democratism

I find it fascinating that Donald Trump, a man who personifies the perfect hybrid of 1960s/70s hedonism and 1980s/90s greed and materialism, would emerge as a conservative hero, with the religious right and social conservatives being his biggest backers. If there are any snowflakes left who still think some right-wing Christian theocracy is on the horizon, they need not worry. Trumpism represents the Latin Americanization of US politics (a high stratified class system where open corruption is the norm in politics) rather than “A Handmaid’s Tale.”

By Rod Dreher

The American Conservative

TheBlackRhino/Shutterstock

Ross Douthat has a good column today, about how Trump’s grift has been paradoxically cleansing. He argues that Trump’s claim that he would go to Washington and “drain the swamp,” while only ever plausible to those eager to be a mark, is now impossible for anyone to take seriously:

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From Rojava to the Mapuche Struggle: The Kurdish Revolutionary Seed Spreads in Latin America Reply

by • Left and Right

Internationalist Commune

For several years, the Kurds have been at the forefront of a revolution in Western Kurdistan (Rojava). Their alternative system to capitalism has resonated all over the globe. Their society is organized according to Democratic Confederalism, an ethical form of political organization that brings together ideas from libertarian municipalism, social ecology, and feminism.

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Do We Need a Fifth Political Theory? 7

by • Left and Right

Alexander Dugin’s Fourth Political Theory is an attempt to create a new ideology beyond lliberal democracy, fascism, and communism while avoiding “prejudices” against any of these. I would argue that the approach of ATS amounts to a “fifth political theory” which involves establishing the anti-authoritarian paradigm (pan-anarchism) as a “revolutionary center” which opposes liberal democracy, fascism, and communism as existential enemies.