Hillary Clinton is American, owned by financial interests to whom she is completely in thrall, a rabid neo-conservative warmonger, completely uncritical of Israel and focused for any claim to be progressive entirely on identity politics. Which is also a precise description of today’s Guardian newspaper. The once august and intellectual title is now a shrill cheerleader for far right Blairites and wealthy American feminists.
The Guardian is as unabashed in its support for Clinton as in its support for the Blairites. The stream of “feminist” articles about why it would advance the cause of women to have a deeply corrupt right winger in the White House is steadily growing into a torrent. It is a perfect example of what I wrote of a month ago, the cause of feminism being hijacked to neo-conservative ends.
Bernie Sanders is not perfect – nobody is. But he understands that obscene and still burgeoning wealth inequality is the greatest problem of western society, and that the state framework supporting crazed banking structures is the root cause of this. The support for him is a sign of the inevitable popular reaction to the extreme inequality of society. Sanders is channelling that reaction effectively.
The establishment therefore circles its wagons around Hillary Clinton. The hope is that women can be persuaded it is an act of misogyny simply to stand in her way. The other great establishment hope is that the Democrat party machinery is so strong in black communities, that black Americans can be in effect ordered to vote for a woman who epitomises the system which disadvantages them, rather than an apostle of genuine change in the economic order. I retain hope the establishment may find that black Americans are cleverer than that.
The machinery used to manipulate identity politics – racial and gender – is all that Clinton has. If Clinton beats Sanders, it will be the perfect demonstration of the fact that identity politics has become the enemy of progress in society.
In the field of identity, Bernie Sanders would be the first non-Christian President of the United States. Would that not be wonderful in a country whose politicians feel the need to genuflect to swarms of religious evolution-denying nutters who believe foreign wars are good because they presage the Rapture?
And would it not be great if the first President since Carter not in thrall to Israel were Jewish?
“Kempe : Assad’s last election was also Syria’s first since daddy took power in a coup. Out of two dozen or so candidates the only two allowed to stand against him were practically unknown so fair or not it was no surprise he won.
….. whereas in OUR democracy, we get to choose whether our Neocon Party leader wears a red tie or a blue.”
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Surely the silliest “comment” of the day?
Does the writer really equate the one and only Syrian “election” since the day Assad père seized power in a military coup with UK general elections?
“Comments” such as that devalue Craig’s blog and thereby devalue Craig himself.
Mr Goss
“The United States of America has taught the world the meaning of greed.”
Of course the Soviet nomenklatura were all decent and honourable people and motivated by a commitment to world socialism and Marxist- Leninism! And that nice Mr and Mrs Ceaucescu only kept their foreign bank accounts for a rainy day
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/27/world/upheaval-east-hidden-wealth-disclosures-ceausescus-riches-appall-many-threadbare.html
Resident Dissident; “And isn’t it just blatant racism to believe that all Syrians are either for Assad or the “hand choppers” and incapable of wanting something better than either alternative”
A question best directed to those who are forcing the head-chopping “moderates” onto the Syrians, ie the people you support & are a useful idiot for.
@Chris Rogers, it didn’t take you long to spot that RD is one of the more amusing trolls here, because it’s clear by his trade-mark deluded self-righteous furious rants, that he’s appears to believe in his propagandised garbage ! 😀
@Chris Rogers
“You are if truth be told full of shit,”
And you are a turd – I never denied that refugees started to arrive from Syria after 2011 (following the Arab Spring). I never said all the refugees from Assad went to Europe at the start – if you bothered to look at the UNRWA reports you would see that they went first to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey (and millions are still there creating great strains for the countries concerned). Perhaps you should go back to 2011 and see what your comrades were actually saying about Western/Saudi interference in Syria.
And I am not a neo con – that is just your lazy shorthand for dismissing all those of a democratic inclination who disagree with you. We have many different political views even though we all share a belief in democracy – it is only your arrogance or ignorance that conflates our views into a lazy single label.
“Greed was unknown before the founding of the United States?”
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Modern times I have to agree,the USA is built on greed. By gone days British, Spanish and French empires, in the West, and the Russian Japanese and Ottoman empires nearer the East.
China is fast catching up.
John the trouble is Nato is supporting the ver same Kurds who are under the rolling fire of Turkish howitzers that is member of Nato, does this mean Nato is wrong and Turkey is taking the correct action?
Let’s face it the Empire has had it, and it is crumbling away, hence the little tosspot coat hangers at the periphery are making hay whilst the chaos is king! There is a report of 20 countries that are to conduct joint military manoeuvres in the al saud fiefdom.
I tried to find the list of these countries; I only managed to find fifteen; the Persian Gulf emirates of course with their most excellent golden machine gun brigades of sword dancers. In addition to eleven powerful nations like Chad, and the rest of the motley crew that includes Pakistan.
Although the date is not yet set, numbers of personnel and the place are not determined neither. However the intent is there, effectively bouncing the US into a war or retreat. It is a risky strategy but wait and see how far the al saud have miscalculated?
Poor old Macky – nothing to contribute apart from insults and calling those who disagree with his peculiar world view trolls. Well at least he seems to have found a friend to join him under his bridge.
“Of course the Soviet nomenklatura were all decent and honourable people and motivated by a commitment to world socialism and Marxist- Leninism! And that nice Mr and Mrs Ceaucescu only kept their foreign bank accounts for a rainy day”
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Surely the above comment is tongue in cheek so to speak.
The Russian empire infiltrated China, and corrupted and bribed the countries political up and comings. That led to Mao killing millions.
Russia also murdered thousands in the process of installing a puppet government in Afghanistan, prior to 1979.
As for Ceaucescu, his communist rule over Romania was said to be the most brutal regime of all the Soviet bloc controlled countries, his secret police the Securitate, were renowed for their violence and repressive conduct.
@Resident Dissedent,
The only claims one has made on behalf of Syria are that Assad and his government are the UN recognised government of Syria, that elections have been held and that Assad was elected – of course bias as far as any election goes, or corruption – may, or may not been present, but the fact remains Assad is the legitimate leader of Syria as defined by the UN or am I missing something.
Further, and despite a cilil war orchestrated by the USA and its allies, the last election held in Syria Assad won. I’ll defer to former President carter on that one if you don’t mind.
Further, in what few opinions polls have been undertaken since the descent into chaos Assad comes out with overwhelming support – but who gives a fuck the USA demands regime change.
Now talking about regime change in Syria, this has been on the table since after 9/11 and has been well documented by Sy Hersh as early as 2006.
Shall I go on?
However, what I do find funny is the fact that before regime change became a part of US policy, one President Assad and his wife were of great interest to the UK weekend magazines, most notably the Sunday Times – but then all of a sudden he became a per on non grata and vilified. Strange that?
But according to your book it would seem that Assad is not only not the legitimate leader in Syria, but that he’s a murderous bastard, despite being lauded in The sunday Times Colour Supplement by way of one example.
The House of Saud are murderous bastards, can we please have regime change there too, or are they our allies and as such their barbarism and support for global terrorism does not count.
Talk about bloody hypocrisy, and then you make cheap remarks. You cannot have your cake and eat it old bean – I may detest the Tories, but one does not take arms up to remove the buggers, although many deserve to be hung.
Some further Syrian analysis on the military/geo political side of the equation with an emphasis on Turkey just posted on Sic Temper Tyrranis: http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2016/02/ah-the-terrible-turks.html
“The only claims one has made on behalf of Syria are that Assad and his government are the UN recognised government of Syria, that elections have been held and that Assad was elected – of course bias as far as any election goes, or corruption – may, or may not been present, but the fact remains Assad is the legitimate leader of Syria as defined by the UN or am I missing something.”
If you had been here any length of time Chris Rogers you would know that RD is not opposed to supporting nasty regimes that overthrow legitimately elected governments. His support for the Maidan coup and Open Ukraine was palpable. He is also a supporter of the Soros, NATO, Chatham House funded Open Russia (sadly for him falling flat on its face because of how popular Putin has become due to western interventionism) – which he also supports. And a certain football team.
My mate who is an English Musician now living in Spain was walking home alone last night (he is nearly as old as me)….they smashed him to the ground – the three of them kicked him to fck….they smashed his specs ..stole his old mobile phone…worth nothing..and he had virtually no money either…
Why did they do that?
Tony
“I detect a note of hope – even longing – in the above. Am I mistaken?”
Absolutely. Though when are you right? 😀
@ John Goss,
But Resident Dissident claims he’s not a neocon, that he is by all accounts a firm believer in democracy and as such, this gives him the God given right to be an arbiter of who rules and does not rule any given country.
Who elected RD in the beginning I’d like to know, or is he self appointed?
Luckily, unlike Mary I actually bite back, something one learned at a tender age!
Resident Dissident
14 Feb, 2016 – 6:43 pm
“The usual idiots are back lying for their cause again with all this Assad was democratically elected garbage, just so they can justify the invite to Putin to come and bomb away for his rescue.”
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ResDis, can you stop ranting and counter any perceived “lies and liars” you mention with facts and logical arguments?
Also, while you’re at it, can you tell us what you think of the most brutal dictatorship in the middle east, Saudi Arabia and its threat to invade Syria?
The head chopping Saudis are allies of the west which is perhaps the reason that you haven’t, to my knowledge, criticised that regime.
Resident Dissident
14 Feb, 2016 – 6:47 pm
“And isn’t it just blatant racism to believe that all Syrians are either for Assad or the “hand choppers” and incapable of wanting something better than either alternative. As we found out when the Soviet Empire collapsed there were rate a lot of decent people who were not too keen on their rulers – even though they too voted in elections with turnouts near and above 100% and who didn’t organise themselves into militias.”
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That comment is completely illogical and incoherentResDis.
Please re-submit.
“Who elected RD in the beginning I’d like to know, or is he self appointed?”
Hard to say. I think Habbabkuk might have his telephone number or email address. He became most noticeable (in all his guises) by his sudden appearance when Habbabkuk had got himself into more difficulty. But us talking about them is what they want. There are serious issues and global insecurity to worry about.
Resident Dissident
14 Feb, 2016 – 7:01 pm
“Of course what Turkey is doing to the Kurds is totally reprehensible – but of course when Saddam was gassing and bombing them…”
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Saddam’s Iraq was an ally of the west in 1980 and I believe (will have to research) his chemical weapons were made from ingredients supplied by the west.
The wealth of the Soviet nomenklatura and of the Ceaușescu family was chicken feed compared to that of the .01% in the U.S.
Resident Dissident
14 Feb, 2016 – 7:06 pm
Bevin
“Look at the facts – Assad was creating millions of refugees well before the “mercenaries” got involved in any substantial numbers…”
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Please supply evidence for that comment ResDis.
Iraqi chemical weapons program:
“this gives him the God given right to be an arbiter of who rules and does not rule any given country”
Don’t be stupid – it gives me the right to disagree and put counter arguments, it even gives you, John Goss and Doug Scorgie the right to do so – though you all either prefer to offer insults and innuendo.
PS Scorgie – I have always opposed serial abusers of human rights such as the House of Saud. Don’t you think that the vast majority of Syrians and Saudis are capable of supporting leaders who don’t want to abuse their human rights – or do they lack the intelligence to break out of the simple dichotomy that you think rules everything?
Doug,
Its now acknowledged that the Iraq invasion of Kuwait was given the nod of approval by US officials on the ground in the ME, whether this was a trap, or an actual nod of real approval is debatable, but the Yanks were aware before the invasion that Iraq was deploying and the USA was informed – it took no action.
After the Iran Revolution the USA and the West were supportive of Iraq and Saddam, this continued throughout the duration of the Iran-Iraq war. To dispute this flies in the face of all documentary evidence from the US archives. But strange is it not, the stories about infants being killed in their incubators were propagated by none other than relatives of the Kuwait Royal family who were not even in kuwait during the actual invasion – but our media gobbled it up nonetheless and churned it out as fact.
This is not to deny Saddam was a brutal bastard, but the West seems to have a fetish for supporting despicable regimes, particularly that one containing Mecca.
Earlier I saw this Mr Mohamedou from the Geneva Centre of Security Policy, interviewed on ‘Worlds Apart’ on RT
Very impressive guy; well spoken, concise and very coherent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Mahmoud_Ould_Mohamedou
I recommend you guys watch the programme first so that your squabbles can be more coherent too.
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I am sick to my stomach of whats going on in Syria and what that country has been reduced to.
One is at a loss for words observing this humanitarian crisis.
When you get violently attacked and robbed especially in a foreign country…it kind of makes you a little bit annoyed..well it did me (though they didn’t physically hurt me)
You have taken everything I have got…you have taken all my money – everything…what more do you want?
I had my wife with me..and she had the passports and tickets home to England in her Rucksack…she didn’t have any money – never does..so when we tried to report it to the Police..they said you can’t report it here…you need to get a cab to the central police station.
I said – We haven’t got any money to pay the cab fare..he kind of laughed and said..NEXT
(English Tourists – haven’t got a clue)
So I knew things were going to get Much Worse in Athens…and they did.
“sahb “next” live 1973″
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vaLi9W6HRc
Tony
Please supply evidence for that comment ResDis.
No you go back and look at the chronology of events and what I was saying when the refugee crisis first started and Assad started to put down the Arab Spring Demonstrators. Sure the Islamofascists have stepped into the vacuum subsequently – but they were not the initial instigators of the revoilt against Assad.
@Lysias, remember when just before the attack on Iraq, the US confiscated the massive Iraqi report & documentation on their WMD purchase history & research that the UN had demanded of them; if I remember correctly it was eventually returned months later, with about 70 pages missing, that detailed contracts with US & other Western companies.
Resident Dissident
14 Feb, 2016 – 7:13 pm
“In democracies – people disagree and are allowed to do so, those with a totalitarian mind set don’t like it…”
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In a democracy ResDis, Jeremy Corbyn would be regarded by all the MSM and the political parties, as the legitimate leader of the Labour party but instead he is vehemently attacked because he is regarded as a threat to the establishment and corporate power.
Democracy is ok as long as it doesn’t change anything.
I’m sure you know that ResDis but you can’t admit it.
Doug,
And in refuting RD’s claims, I actually have provided EU evidence to back up the fact that the Syrian’s were not exiting Syria in huge number requesting asylum in the West. This is not to say dissidents or religious fruitcakes did not have valid claims or that abuse did not happen. But the facts speak for themselves as far as the EU is concerned from 2000, which is from 2000-2010 less than 2,000 Syrian’s per annum applied for asylum within the EU, but after the alleged civil war began – Western imperialist regime change – that number increased exponentially, and its not broken down to determine if some of the asylum seekers were supporters of Assad flee territories captured by the rebels and jihadists.
Facts are facts, but RD seems to think his facts are better than the EU’s facts, which is strange given the number of Syrians trying to gain entry to the EU, which has overwhelmed many countries, among them Greece. But hey, Turkey is our ally and we are all looking forward to warm winters as a result of a nuclear war. And for what?
Fucking oil, gas and money and fuck the Syrians!!!!!!!!
@RD,
Please don’t spread myths about the Arab Spring, which was in fact sponsored and orchestrated by the West – just go as George Soros who was up to his neck in it with other Western NGO’s. And prey tell do tell us about the success of the Arab Spring in North Africa as I really am all ears?????
And can you add some detail on the Yemen too?