Saturday, January 28, 2017

Interesting Parallels

Interesting Parallels . Way back in 2009 , 8 years ago thousands took to the streets nationwide to protest a new American President . Our nations first African- American to win a Presidential election was being called a Marxist. The far right muster such a opposition to Obama  that the  potency of grassroots opposition to Mr  Obama despite a landmark speech to Congress that attempted to unify a nation erupted with a Congressman yelling out "YOU LIE". All   that attempted to quell opposition to his overhaul of the health-care system. Next came the  high point of the anti-Obama "tea party" movement, which came together  amid outrage over the $787 billion economic stimulus package. All this was to Delegitimize Obama after he won . { RIGHT NOW the Left is doing the same to Trump}   Remember when Barney Frank got in a heated
In 2009
Newly elected Obama gets
the "hitler" treatment
by the far right . 
exchange with a questioner
 at a Massachusetts Town Hall, who held up a poster of  (1)>>President Barack Obama overlaid prominently with a Hitler mustache. “Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy?” she demanded. His response: “On what planet do you spend most of your time?” What is fascinating is that Donald Trump faces the same Hitler image , 
Of all the far-left, wacky statements made at Saturday’s Women’s March, actress Ashley Judd may take the top honor (or DisHonor) for an R-rated tangent against “Electoral College-sanctioned hate speech” by President Trump and his team of “Nazis” capturing “little girls like Pokemon” and Ivanka Trump as his “favorite sex symbol.” Judd seized the stage from Michael Moore and proclaimed prior to her spoken word diatribe that she was
....And Trump too.
there to“bring you words from Nina Donovan, a 19-year-old in middle Tennessee and she has given me the privilege of telling you what she has to say.”  The Pope himself got into it as well ,Pope Francis  During the interview, the pontiff condemned the use of walls and barbed wire to keep out foreigners, but said it was too early to judge Mr Trump, saying: “I think we must wait and see.” When asked if he worries about the rise of populism in the United States and Europe, he said people should not repeat the same mistakes as in the 1930s, when they turned to “saviours” to resolve economic and political crises only to end up at war. “Crises provoke fear, alarm. In my opinion, the most obvious example of European populism is Germany in 1933,” the Pope said.
Same Protests , but a different Time .
In 2009, anti-Obama protesters lashed out against minorities because of their discontentment with a black man being voted into the office of president for the first time in our nation’s history,  may have unnearved the Republican Party .{ Yes, the same party of Abraham Lincoln , anti-slavery , and civil rights}  . AS I
The Tea Party
protests of 2009
against Obama the
Marxist Dictator .
remember correctly the (2)>>Republicans worked to sabotage Obama
That hatred of President Obama, and the related scorched-earth efforts to smother his agenda, prepared the way for Trump. Many Republican voters became, in the words of one conservative writer, “just increasingly divorced from reality” after spending years in the right-wing echo chamber.In the first.  months after Obama’s election, as the president sought solutions for the most immense economic crisis in decades, conservative media became completely unhinged. Violent, doomsday rhetoric and overt appeals to feelings of anger and paranoia in their audience became regular features of commentary across the full spectrum of the right-wing press. While the level of demagoguery waxed and waned over the years, the hatred and fear that had been unleashed never dissipated. With Trump as President the anger and hate that the right threw at Obama will soon engulf the Trump administration.
When Obama became the first African-American president in the White House in 2008, there were plenty of voters at the time who were equally as troubled by an Obama presidency as those who fear a Trump presidency now. Even when Obama was reelected, opponents lashed out — including our very own president-elect: Trump called for a "revolution" when Obama retained the White House. Now, four years later and just two days after winning the election, Trump called protesters "unfair." Double standard ?
Pink was not just about
women , but the whole
untrustworthiness of
our Federal Government .
How much? Interesting as well I remember that over 2 million marched against Obama . I wonder if the same people who marched agianst Obama in 2009 are now marching against Trump . A MAJORITY of PROTESTERS go by their own free will , but a said few (3)>>ARE PAID to Protest  The size of the crowd - by far the biggest protest since the president took office in January - shocked the White House. Demonstrators massed outside Capitol Hill after marching down Pennsylvania Avenue waving placards and chanting 'Enough, enough'.  There people were "brainwashed" by the right wing media to such a point that most of the marches took place before President Obama ever started to do anything . IN 2017 . (4)>>there is a "fear" of another dictatorship in the UNITED STATES. { right now I fear more this Trump administration as a petty right wing dictatorship with Trump as a puppet yes -man for the Religious right } Its the same thing .  On Saturday {since Jan 20th } , millions of people worldwide poured into the streets to protest the presidency of Donald Trump. Just before he started to do anything . In Washington, D.C., more than half a million people flooded the National Mall for the Women’s March on Washington—many wearing pink hats dubbed "pussyhats." So many people turned out that by midday the entire planned march route was filled with people-- the so called "pink protests " took to the streets , it was about women's issues . The Pro-Abortion movement was not just the only persons marching , no wants to accept Trump as a legitimate President almost on the same grounds that Obama was subjected to by the right wing nut jobs .  AS Crowds broke out into dozens of anti-Trump chants, including "Love trumps hate" and "P---y grabs back." The crowd outside Trump Tower grew to nearly 10,000 late Wednesday, according to the New York Police Department.People in San Francisco also numbered in the thousands, holding signs with messages like "Trump says go back, we say fight back. No to racism, sexism, war." Some of the slogans chanted by the Pink Protests oddly familiar . I heard a few , word for aimed against both Bush Presidents , Obama and now Trump .   
 TRUMP and a New Wave of Social Unrest .
President Donald Trump in my view is going to ignite so individuals to jump the wagon of protests in this nation , we just have to brace ourselves with his "executive orders" . The GOP candidate’s talk of “millions” of fraudulent votes and his commitment to only accept the election results “if I win” don’t sound like the words of a typical American politician, and for good reason: The typical American politician has faith in the system, accepts the results of an election, and moves on.
Trump is doing something very different, pairing rhetoric about a rigged election with a message that basically says it’s him or the apocalypse. He has repeatedly warned his fans that if he loses, the America they know will be irreparably damaged. The Damage has already begun . FAR from the cry of the ultra-Right politics that are now in control of the Country . WE had 8 years of Mr. Obama's failing Progressive agenda , before that we had a nation that had acquired enormous debt by the Last two Bush's wars , and their attempt at occupying Iraq  { the failed War on Terror} . I am worried what the years 2017-2020 are going to bring to this county . If you turn the TV on , watch BREAKING NEWS . Protests .. terrorism .. mass shootings . A sad , VARY sad Lady Liberty weeps . How much more of this ? I Pray to GOD that this could be turned around . 






NOTES AND COMMENTS: 
(1)>>President Barack Obama. Five days before Obama’s 2009 inauguration, the nation was in dire straights. A financial crisis had sent the economy into a tailspin, triggering massive job losses and a plummeting stock market. The banking system was still on the brink of failure. The auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Americans were rightly frightened of the immense economic insecurity, but broadly supportive of the new president who promised to right the ship.But on January 16, 2009, Rush Limbaugh -- one of the most powerful voices in Republican politics -- told his millions of listeners that his “hope for the Obama presidency” was “I hope he fails.” In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity the day after Obama was sworn in, Limbaugh doubled down, saying: "We are being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whichever, because his father was black, because this is the first black president." (2)>>Republicans worked to sabotage Obama As the Obama administration took control of the reins of government and began trying to halt the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the right-wing media reviews rolled in.The new president was a Marxist. And a fascist. And a Nazi. And a Maoist. And a Bolshevik. And aTrotskyite.
“Is this where we’re headed?” asked Beck over a montage of photos of Hitler, Stalin, and Lenin.Obama’s aim was “destroying our economic system as we currently know it." His financial rescue plan was “Josef Stalin without the bloodshed.” It was also socialism. So was his economic recovery plan (unless that was really communism. Or fascism. It was definitely slavery). The auto industry rescue made him a mob boss. So did his labor proposal. His cabinet secretaries were Soviet commissars(3)>>ARE PAID.The Washington Times reported Tuesday that ads offering activists up to $2,500 per month to protest the inaugural of President-elect Donald Trump were running in more than two dozen cities, posted by a company called Demand Protest. last week than the anti-Trump Women’s March held the day after, according to a new poll — and a fair share believe philanthropist George Soros is to blame.in the post-inaugural protest were paid to attend by Mr. Soros, a Hungarian-born billionaire who frequently contributes to liberal causes.For months now, rumors have circulated the Internet that individuals were being paid to protest at rallies held by presidential hopeful Donald Trump. Today a man from Trump’s rally in Fountain Hills, Arizona back in March has come forward to say that he was paid to protest the event.  (4)>>there is a "fear" of another dictatorship in the UNITED STATES. Fear pervades Americans’ lives—and American politics. Trump is a master of fear, invoking it in concrete and abstract ways, summoning and validating it. More than most politicians, he grasps and channels the fear coursing through the electorate. And if Trump still stands a chance to win in November, fear could be the key.In addition to vowing to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton and put her in jail, Trump has also pledged to “open up our libel laws” so when reporters write “purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money.” He has also talked of establishing a religious test on immigrants and about setting up a national stop-and-frisk program, despite the fact that policing policies are considered to be in the purview of state and local governments.

Saturday, January 21, 2017

NATO, RUSSIA and Trump.

NATO, RUSSIA and  Trump.




Why our nation is at odds with Russia again ...
and the possible reasons 
behind Russian "influence"
in our election system .

"From Russia with Love"
a stunning journalist  in Russia  holds
a triad of icons during
a press conference in December .
There is lots to talk about . Three subjects , namely NATO , RUSSIA and Trump . It seems that this subject is going full swing in the next few months , Washington D.C. . It all began in 2009 when Mr.Obama’s strange approach to Putin, since then relations with Russia have taken a serious dive , not since the cold war era . The Obama administration pounded Putin over (1)>>Ukrainian and Crimean issues  . If anyone remembers Secretary of State John Kerry's remark to Russia " You lose" in 2014 right in the city of Kiev after the pro Russian Ukrainian government was overthrown by American backed dollars . The whole mess was centered on Ukraine joining NATO . It's hard for anyone reading this , but the Obama administration plaid the game of regime change right on the boarder of Russia . It was such a dangerous move that it virtually destroyed all the work that Reagan - Gorbachev ever accomplished .       Mr. Obama did not understand Russian nationalism . History lesson here ,Russia had once lost a million civilians at the siege of Leningrad when Hitler’s Army Group North raced through the Baltic States (picking up volunteers as it went) and met up with the Finns. At Sevastopol, General Erich von Manstein’s Eleventh Army may well have inflicted 100,000 Russian Crimean casualties in a successful but nihilistic effort to take and nearly destroy the fortress. The Kiev Pocket and destruction of the Southwestern Front of the Red Army in the Ukraine in September 1941 (700,000 Russians killed, captured, or missing) may have been the largest encirclement and mass destruction of an army in military history.For Putin, these are not ancient events but rather proof of why former Soviet bloodlands were as much Russian as Puerto Rico was considered American. We find such reasoning tortured, given Ukrainian and Crimean peoples  desired to be Russian . (1.2)>>That simple lack of understanding has led to tensions . I personally think that our own governments unreasonable meddling in Russian affairs over Ukraine may have pushed Putin to the level to retaliate . 
Trump - Putin "connection".
Now here is a GREAT MYSTERY how much if there is a Trump -Putin connection? Here is my theory of sorts . Trump is a business man , a billionaire who has multiple international connections we all know that . (2)>>Let's assume as well that he has had business dealings  with the Russian government over the years . Yes he made visits to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Along those lines ,  MSNBC's Thomas Roberts interviewed Trump about his relationship with Putin back in 2013 in Moscow, when Roberts served as the co-host for a show that was a joint production of NBC Entertainment and the Trump Organization. "Do you have a relationship with Vladimir Putin? A conversational relationship or anything that you feel you have sway or influence over his government?" Roberts asked. The real estate mogul responded in the affirmative. "I do have a relationship and I can tell you that he's very interested in what we're doing here today," Trump said at the time. "He's probably very interested in what ... I am saying today, and I'm sure he's going to be seeing it in some form."But the real truth is that, as major banks in America stopped lending him money following his many bankruptcies, the Trump organization was forced to seek financing from non-traditional institutions. Several had direct ties to Russian financial interests in ways that have raised eyebrows. What’s more, several of Trump’s senior advisors have business ties to Russia or its satellite politicians. Trump over the course of his campaign  and interviews on television expressed the zeal for pro -Russian - Putin statements , and a renewal of relations . It is obvious in strict defiance of the Obama administrations sanctions . Donald Trump’s recent statements regarding his respect for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his policies regarding, among other places, Ukraine, are evidence that the United States is becoming pro-Russian, regardless of the Obama stance .Russian Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachev suggested “Trump has repeatedly proven that he, like no one else, understands the public’s demand for a change in course, and the attitudes of a large part of voters who have grown tired of the Clintons and the Bushes,” Kosachev wrote on his Facebook page. The fact that a presidential candidate is speaking out in favor of improving relations with Russia means that “similar sentiment is becoming more and more popular in the US, and it can unify political points,” Kosachev added. “Only time will tell whether Trump is ready or—no less important—capable of implementing this. It is definitely too early to celebrate,” the lawmaker concluded. This sent in motion the Russian government to support Donald J Trump as President of the United States . It has to do with the political situation . Ending a new "cold war" , renewing relations that were obviously marred by President Obama's failed foreign policy. The Russians sized the moment as claimed by (2.1)>>House Democrats that Russia some how "influenced" our election results for a Trump win . Putin drummed up his support for Trump , Putin said last week’s leak of the 35-page report -- written by a private investigator as a series of memos and eventually passed on to the intelligence community -- was a last-ditch attempt on the part of President Obama’s outgoing administration to “undermine the legitimacy of the president-elect.”“Trump, when he came to Moscow a few years ago, was not a politician,” Putin said. “We did not even know about his political ambitions,” Putin said. “He was just a businessman, one of the richest men in America. Is someone really thinking that our intelligence agencies are chasing every American billionaire, or what? Of course not. It’s just a complete nonsense.” Putin added: "I find it hard to believe  (3)>>that he rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world.”


ADDITIONAL : 
NATO . 
The idea of Russia becoming a NATO member has at different times been  floated by both Western and Russian leaders, as well as some experts.  The first formal contacts and cooperation between Russia and NATO started in 1991, and were further deepened as Russia joined the Partnership for Peace pro gramme.The last time someone mentioned the possibility of russia joining the NATO was in 2009, when the Polish Foreign Minister suggested to discuss if including Russia in NATO will be a possible scenario.   Russia made it clear they did not plan to join  the alliance, preferring to keep cooperation on a lower level. In 2010 German defence experts and the former defence minister wrote in an open letter that Russia should join the NATO to counterbalance emerging Asian powers.  But on 1 April 2014, NATO unilaterally decided to suspend practical co-operation with the Russian Federation, in response to the Ukraine crisis. Russia is instead active in another alliance, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Russia actually tends to view the Eastern expansion of NATO as a threat to their country, and they were very upset when Bush and others talked about Ukraine and Georgia joining NATO.What about Germany as a counterweight to the U.S?  Germany, however, is not really a sovereign nation; it is occupied by tens of thousands of U.S. troops, and the German NATO forces are under U.S. command.  Whereas the NATO Secretary General can be a citizen of any NATO country, the Supreme Commander, that is the number onemilitary commander, has always been an American.  So the German NATO forces answer to an American commander.  And the U.S. keeps a watchful eye on Germany in other ways, as the latest scandal of NSA’s spying on Germans in general and Angela Merkel in particular. NATO’s goal remains what it was from the beginning, a mechanism to “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down,” as the first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949.  The idea that the U.S. keeps troops in Germany, and in Japan for that matter, out of excessive generosity to help in their “defense” is only for us rubes.  It is time to dissolve NATO and let Russia and the rest of the European nations devise their own mechanisms for preserving peace on the Continent in a nuclear age.




NOTES AND COMMENTS:

(1)>>Ukrainian   and Crimean issues. Since the crisis in Ukraine escalated to a point where the lives of the Russian speaking population of Ukraine has become threatened, Secretary  Kerry’s reaction comes, some believe, as the most ridiculous thus far, taking into account US own history of military actions all over the globe.  he condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “act of aggression” for his choice to invade Ukraine and warned of “very serious repercussions,” including trade sanctions. “It’s really 19th century behavior in the 21st century,” Kerry said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. He suggested Putin is “possibly trying to annex Crimeam,” saying, “You just don’t invade another country on phony pretexts in order to assert your interests.”Kerry declared Putin will come out of this ordeal the loser. “He’s going to lose on the international stage, Russia is going to lose, the Russian people are going to lose, and he’s going to lose all of the glow that came out of the Olympics, his $60 billion extravaganza.” Kerry has also threatened to isolate Russia economically and politically and warned of potential asset freezes and visa bans, adding to media and political hype that followed Russia authorization of sending a stabilization force in Crimea on official request from the authorities. The funny thing is that Russia did not lose , it just got smarter . (1.2)>>That simple lack of understanding has led to tensions . We need Russia as a friend, not an enemy! War with Russia is unthinkable today! Yes, I wish Putin were much more liberal, but Russia is better now than it was! We have more in common than most people realize! Haven’t heard one democrat advocating for a peace deal with Russia! No Democrat has said anything about peace with Russia . Yet our America media was bombarded by negative images and "news" reports about the "evil " Russia . The misinformation appears that no American swallowed it , with particular news from Syria crisis which the Obama administration tried to blame Russia with no evidence .   (2.1)>>House Democrats that Russia some how "influenced". Mr Putin dismissed accusations of hacking in the Democratic National Convention during the election, but praised those who leaked documents from the computers there, for revealing "the truth" about Hillary Clinton's collusion to keep Bernie Sanders from the nomination. He said the US election showed many Americans shared Russia's view of the world and position on traditional values and praised Mr Trump for "uniting society" where the Obama administration "divided it". But he also played down the prospect of a rapid improvement of relations under Donald Trump, saying only that "things cannot get worse" in the relationship. (2)>>Let's assume as well that he has had business dealings . Besides the Mafia otherwise Trump had business dealing in Russia . Its extensively documented here .  ( see URL : https://ig.ft.com/sites/trumps-russian-connections/ ) there too large for me to write about . The Washington Post has a great article here : https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-trumps-financial-ties-to-russia-and-his-unusual-flattery-of-vladimir-putin/2016/06/17/dbdcaac8-31a6-11e6-8ff7-7b6c1998b7a0_story.html?utm_term=.ce55149856a4   .  (3)>>that he rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world. For a good laugh , Putin claims Russian prostitutes are the "best in the world" as he slammed the Watersportsgate dossier against Donald TrumpThe Russian leader denied his country has any compromising information about the President-elect - and claimed those who compiled it were "worse than prostitutes". The shocking 37-page document, dumped online last week, claims Trump booked the Presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton in Moscow and hired sex workers to urinate on the bed, where the Obamas had stayed previously. Trump refuted the claims, branding them "fake news". Putin suggested the 37-page collection of salacious claims about Trump's business dealings and behaviour in Russia were an attempt to "delegitimise" his election victory. Trump was elected President in November, despite losing the popular vote by 2.8 million votes - more than any other winning candidate in US history.Putin told Russian state-controlled propaganda outlet Sputnik: “These claims are an obvious fake. Trump, when he came to Moscow a few years ago was not a politician. “We did not even know about his political ambitions, he was just a businessman, one of the richest men in America. Is someone really thinking that our intelligence agencies are chasing every American billionaire, or what? Of course not! It's just a complete nonsense.” The U.S. tycoon-turned-politician was last in Moscow in 2013 for the staging of the Miss Universe contest that he owned. He hoped unsuccessfully to meet Putin, tweeting in June that year about the possibility the Russian leader would attend the beauty pageant.








Monday, January 16, 2017

Get Ready for TRUMP-CAre

Get Ready for TRUMP-CAre

 In the telephone interview late Saturday with The Washington Post. Mr Trump said that he is nearing completion of a plan to replace President Obama’s signature health-care law with the goal of (1.1)>>“insurance for everybody,” while also vowing to force drug companies to negotiate directly with the government on prices in (1.2)>>Medicare and Medicaid. As I was reading this . I am prepelexed . Trump is going to get insurance for everyone ? just how ? Is that what Mr. Obama tried to do ?
Remember that obamacare is nothing but a pale copy of Mitt  Romney attempt in Massachusetts . Trump’s plan is likely to face questions from the right, after years of GOP opposition to further expansion of government involvement in the health-care system, and from those on the left, who see his ideas as disruptive to changes brought by the Affordable Care Act that have extended coverage to tens of millions of Americans.Undoing Obamacare will be a monumental task. Although the new Republican leadership in Congress has begun moving quickly to deprive the ACA of funding, it has also stressed it does not want to "pull the rug out from anyone" who might lose coverage if there is no replacement plan on offer.Congressional Republicans have shied away from saying how many people their replacement plan will insure, preferring to use the term "universal access" versus the Obamacare's "universal coverage" goal. Some 20 million people have gained coverage under Obamacare and the nation's uninsured rate has dropped to 8.9% in the first half of 2016, from 14.4% in 2013, before the Affordable Care Act's exchanges opened and Medicaid expansion took effect.He also offered no explanation of how he would persuade Congress to pass his plan, though he indicated that it would have the backing of the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, and the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Mr. Trump said only that “I won’t tell you how, but we will get approval.”

NOTES AND COMMENTS:
(1.1)>>“insurance for everybody. We've always had health care available for everybody. It's health insurance that's the culprit. And Obama's promise of payback for their campaign support was paid back when he destroyed that system, which in turn is destroying the health care system and taking all the control out of the hands of medical professionals and private citizens who are the patients and giving the power to the insurance company to make ill informed determinations based on their own financial interests! 
(1)>>Medicare and Medicaid. The agenda the party is rallying around is truly unprecedented. Never before in history have ideological extremists held such sweeping control of government and had the power to repeal laws, dismantle and privatize public programs, and revoke fundamental civil and human rights. On the campaign trail, Trump was not fully in alignment with Ryan, so it is uncertain just what we should expect, but there is every reason to expect a truly catastrophic defunding and privatization of Medicaid that could force 30 million people out of the program, a dismantling of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that could take insurance away from another 22 million people, and a privatization of Medicare that would drastically limit health care access for seniors. The gravity of this would be enormous: taking comprehensive health care access away from people would literally kill tens of thousands of people every year.