Now that is rich, a “bi-partisan” poll, wherein bi-partisan means there is no difference between the Republican establishment and the Democratic establishment, found that half of Americans think the US is in real danger of becoming an authoritarian country. What I find surprising is that the number is so low. What planet are the other half occupying? What is even more laughable is that the poll was conducted by “stink tanks” formed under the auspices of George W. (the constitution is just a God damned piece of paper) Bush and Joe (I am a Zionist) Biden. Well no shit Shakespeare.
What a joke the people most responsible for the dismantling of Democracy in America conducted a poll and found Americans are losing faith in their own government. From CityWatch:
Excerpt:
RESISTANCE WATCH: Half of Americans think the United States is in “real danger of becoming a nondemocratic, authoritarian country.” A majority, 55 percent, see democracy as “weak” — and 68 percent believe it is “getting weaker.” Eight in 10 Americans say they are either “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the condition of democracy here.
These are among the sobering results of a major bipartisan poll published Tuesday that was commissioned by the George W. Bush Institute, the University of Pennsylvania’s Biden Center and Freedom House, which tracks the vitality of democracies around the world… (I’m going to barf).
“We hope this work can be a step toward restoring faith in democracy and democratic institutions,” Bush said in a statement. (Ha, ha what a laugh) The concern about the condition of democracy inside the United States transcends the tribal divide between Republicans and Democrats, with majorities across races, genders, age groups, levels of education and income brackets expressing fear. (Those majorities are the people who have no representation in government)
Hey dipsticks you don’t have to pay millions to your stink tanks, the GW Bush Institute and the Biden Center and (cough, cough) Freedom House to figure out why Americans believe that our government has been taken over by fascist forces like the RNC and DNC. Here’s a twenty-year study that doesn’t cost you anything. From City Watch LA:
Excerpt:
Have you ever felt like the government doesn’t really care what you think?
Professors Martin Gilens (Princeton University) and Benjamin I. Page (Northwestern University) looked at more than 20 years’ worth of data to answer a pretty simple question: Does the government represent the people?
Their study took data from nearly 2000 public opinion surveys and compared it to the policies that ended up becoming law. In other words, they compared what the public wanted to what the government actually did. What they found was extremely unsettling: The opinions of the bottom 90% of income earners in America has essentially no impact at all.
Princeton University study: Public opinion has “near-zero” impact on U.S. law.
Gilens & Page found that the number of Americans for or against any idea has no impact on the likelihood that congress will make it law. “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”
One thing that does have an influence? Money. While the opinions of the bottom 90% of income earners in America have a “statistically non-significant impact,” Economic elites, business interests, and people who can afford lobbyists still carry major influence.
Nearly every issue we face as a nation is caught in the grip of corruption. From taxation to national debt, education to the economy, America is struggling to address our most serious issues. Moneyed interests get what they want, and the rest of us pay the price.
They spend billions influencing America’s government. We give them trillions in return. In the last 5 years alone, the 200 most politically active companies in the US spent $5.8 billion influencing our government with lobbying and campaign contributions. Those same companies got $4.4 trillion in taxpayer support — earning a return of 750 times their investment.
It’s a vicious cycle of legalized corruption. As the cost of winning elections explodes, politicians of both political parties become ever more dependent on the tiny slice of the population who can bankroll their campaigns.
To win a Senate seat in 2014, candidates had to raise $14,351 every single day... In return for campaign donations, elected officials pass laws that are good for their mega-donors, and bad for the rest of us.
Our elected officials spend 30-70% of their time in office fundraising for the next election. When they’re not fundraising, they have no choice but to make sure the laws they pass keep their major donors happy — or they won’t be able to run in the next election. Until it’s addressed, Corruption will continue to block progress on every issue.
That’s right these bought and paid for politicians can’t understand why the American people hate them. The Democratic Party in particular can’t figure out why their dogs (the Democratic voters) won’t eat the dog food they give them. Both parties are corrupt beyond repair and they still can’t understand why the voters voted for an outsider like Donald Trump to be President.
They are still trying to breathe life into their “Russian collusion” hot air balloon that won’t fly. It’s a lie, a stinking, rotting lie devised before the election as an insurance policy against a Trump Administration and the people know it. America’s founders wrote the Declaration of Independence to declare the states’ independence from the monarchical rule of Great Britain and what we got was an oligarchical rule from the billionaires who own our politicians. From Caitlin Johnstone at Consortium News:
Excerpt:
America Celebrates Lateral Move From Monarchy To Corporate Rule
Today America celebrates its liberation from the shackles of the British Crown and the beginning of its transition into corporatist oligarchy… Fireworks will be set off, hot dogs will be consumed, and a strange yellow concoction known as Mountain Dew will be imbibed by patriotic high-fiving Yankees eager to celebrate their hard-fought freedom to funnel their taxes into corporate welfare instead of to the King.
In trouncing King George’s red-coated goon squad, you made it possible for the donor class to slowly buy up more and more control of your shiny new government, allowing for a system of rule determined not by royal bloodlines, but by wealth bloodlines. Now instead of your national affairs being determined by some gilded schmuck across the pond, they are determined by the billionaire owners of multinational corporations and banks…
The elite class secured its stance as British Rule 2.0 by throwing their money behind politicians who they knew would advance their interests, whether those interests are in ensuring that the arms and munitions they manufacture get used frequently, the expansion of predatory trade policies, keeping tax loopholes open and keeping taxes on the wealthiest of the wealthy very low, deregulating corporations and banks, or enabling underhanded Wall Street practices which hurt the many for the benefit of the few…
So if you’ve ever wondered why seemingly common sense matters like a living wage and healthcare as a right consistently get shot down by your government, this is why… The oligarchs can keep that from happening by continually escalating income inequality. They use their massive political power to repress the minimum wage, to undermine the power of unions, and to continually pull more and more energy away from socialist programs and toward the corporate deregulation of neoliberalism.
America is a corporatist oligarchy dressed in drag doing a bad impression of a bipartisan democracy. Sometimes it doesn’t even keep its wig on; a recent party at the Hamptons saw Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Kellyanne Conway and Charles Koch mixing it up with Chuck Schumer and George Soros. When they’re not dining on champagne and rare fillet together, these people pretend to be locked in a vicious partisan battle that is “tearing the nation apart,” but at Lally Weymouth’s annual Southampton summer party the act stops and the oligarchs frolic together like children.
1776 turned out to be nothing other than a transition from one form of exploitative rule to another, but who knows? Maybe a year in the not-too-distant future will see America celebrating a real Independence Day.
Let’s hope that sometime in the near future there is a real Independence Day, but in the meantime the Oligarchs are calling in their chits and demanding their puppets in the US Senate rein in President Trump’s advances toward peace. They are demanding the Senate bestow some kind of legitimacy on their corrupt FBI’s concocted Russian collusion crap report. From The Hill:
Excerpt:
Senate panel upholds finding that Russia backed Trump, contradicting House
The Senate Intelligence Committee has unequivocally upheld the conclusion of the intelligence community that Russia developed a "clear preference" for then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 election and sought to help him win the White House.
The assessment, announced in an unclassified summary released Tuesday, represents a direct repudiation of the committee’s counterpart in the House — and of President Trump himself, who has consistently rejected assertions that Moscow sought to bolster his candidacy through its election interference…
The so-called "intelligence community assessment," or ICA, is a "sound intelligence production," according the Senate panel..."
Senate investigators also rejected the notion that the ICA was inappropriately influenced by politics, as some of Trump's supporters have alleged… The committee says it reviewed "thousands of pages of source documents" and interviewed all the relevant officials who were involved in developing the ICA, from agency heads and managers to line analysts—and "heard consistently that analysts were under no politically motivated pressure to reach any conclusions…"
Move on, nothing to see here. Our spooks weren’t politically motivated, we asked them and they said no. Sounds like a case of “if you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit.” Who can trust the Deep State “intelligence” agencies who have been only consistent in one thing, being wrong? Wrong on “911 terrorist warnings” wrong on “weapons of mass destruction,” wrong on the many mass shootings where the perpetrators were well-known to and associated with the FBI or CIA and we’re supposed to believe them now?? From TheAnti-Media:
Excerpt:
Former US Ambassador: Intel Report on Russian Interference “Politically Motivated”
Prominent journalists and politicians seized upon a shabby, politically motivated, “intelligence” report as proof of “Russian interference” in the U.S. election without the pretense of due diligence, argues Jack Matlock, a former U.S. ambassador in Moscow.
I spent the 35 years of my government service with a “top secret” clearance. When I reached the rank of ambassador and also worked as Special Assistant to the President for National Security, I also had clearances for “codeword” material. At that time, intelligence reports to the president relating to Soviet and European affairs were routed through me for comment.
I developed at that time a “feel” for the strengths and weaknesses of the various American intelligence agencies. It is with that background that I read the January 6, 2017 report of three intelligence agencies: the CIA, FBI, and NSA.
This report is labeled “Intelligence Community Assessment,” but in fact it is not that… The report states that it represents the findings of three intelligence agencies: CIA, FBI, and NSA, but even that is misleading in that it implies that there was a consensus of relevant analysts in these three agencies.
In fact, the report was prepared by a group of analysts from the three agencies pre-selected by their directors, with the selection process generally overseen by James Clapper, then Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Clapper told the Senate in testimony May 8, 2017, that it was prepared by “two dozen or so analysts—hand-picked, seasoned experts from each of the contributing agencies.”
If you can hand-pick the analysts, you can hand-pick the conclusions. The analysts selected would have understood what Director Clapper wanted since he made no secret of his views. Why would they endanger their careers by not delivering?
What should have struck any congressperson or reporter was that the procedure Clapper followed was the same as that used in 2003 to produce the report falsely claiming that Saddam Hussein had retained stocks of weapons of mass destruction. That should be worrisome enough to inspire questions, but that is not the only anomaly.
Unusual FBI Participation
During my time in government, a judgment regarding national security would include reports from, as a minimum, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) of the State Department. The FBI was rarely, if ever, included unless the principal question concerned law enforcement within the United States…
What did I notice when I read the January report? There was no mention of INR or DIA! The exclusion of DIA might be understandable since its mandate deals primarily with military forces, except that the report attributes some of the Russian activity to the GRU, Russian military intelligence. DIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, is the U.S. intelligence organ most expert on the GRU. Did it concur with this attribution? The report doesn’t say.
The omission of INR is more glaring since a report on foreign political activity could not have been that of the U.S. intelligence community without its participation… This is where due diligence comes in. The first question responsible journalists and politicians should have asked is “Why is INR not represented? Does it have a different opinion? If so, what is that opinion?
The second question should have been directed at the CIA, NSA, and FBI: did all their analysts agree with these conclusions or were they divided in their conclusions? What was the reason behind hand-picking analysts and departing from the customary practice of enlisting analysts already in place and already responsible for following the issues involved?
As I was recently informed by a senior official, the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence Research did, in fact, have a different opinion but was not allowed to express it. So the January report was not one of the “intelligence community,” but rather of three intelligence agencies, two of which have no responsibility or necessarily any competence to judge foreign intentions.
The second thing to remember is that reports of the intelligence agencies reflect the views of the heads of the agencies and are not necessarily a consensus of their analysts’ views. The heads of both the CIA and FBI are political appointments…
Prominent American journalists and politicians seized upon this shabby, politically motivated, report as proof of “Russian interference” in the U.S. election without even the pretense of due diligence. They have objectively acted as co-conspirators in an effort to block any improvement in relations with Russia, even though cooperation with Russia to deal with common dangers is vital to both countries.
Ouch, seems the highly political report used by the Senate Intelligence Committee is just a load of crap compiled by and for the special interests who want to derail any cooperation between Russia and the U.S. that would cut into their highly lucrative defense contracts.
Oh those wily Russians are at it again, not only did they interfere with America’s Presidential election, now they’ve installed a Socialist president in Mexico! Oh the horrors! From Strategic Culture:
Excerpt:
Andrés Obrador Becomes President of Mexico: Good Prospects for Russian-Mexican Relations
Until now, it has been generally believed that the era of left rulers in Latin America was over. In December 2017, Sebastián Piñera of the National Renewal party, won in Chile after right-wing forces came to power in Argentina (2015) and Brazil (2016). Three leading economies of the continent had right-wing governments. It all changed on July 1 with the sweeping victory held by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the candidate representing the country’s Left.
His party Morena, the National Regeneration Movement (Movimiento Regeneración Nacional), was formed only in 2014 to lead Obrador to victory over other candidates from political parties that have ruled the country for the entire century. Now he has enough power for implementing drastic changes. The Mexican revolution took place 101 years ago. This is the first time the Left have come to power.
One of the president-elect’s promises was standing up to Donald Trump if need be. His election is a blow to the United States influence in Latin America. The US and newly elected Mexican presidents don’t see eye-to-eye on NAFTA, bilateral trade and border security.
During the race, Obrador had to deny the rumors that originated from the United States, not Mexico, that he had received money from Moscow. As in the course of the 2016 US election, the invented stories were spread around. Then US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said he had seen “signs” of Russia’s meddling into Mexican election campaign. The affirmation was left unconfirmed as the official offered no details but US Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Tim Kaine (D-VA) lost no time to chime in.
So did Enrique Ochoa Reza, the chairman of the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party that lost the election. Rumors remained rumors but media did its part to make people believe the concoctions were true. Andres Obrador used the strongest weapon against lies – humor. He jibed the stories to win even more popular support…
Its economy is strongly linked to NAFTA – the economic union US President Trump wants to end so much, replacing it with separate deals. Perhaps, this is the time for Mexico to diversify its economic partners.
Russia, China and other BRICS nations can offer a good alternative to the rocky relationship with the northern partner having become so unpredictable recently. Obrador’s victory may provide an impetus to the development of Russian-Mexican ties, including energy, security and political interaction on the global stage.
The sanctions imposed by the US and the EU have prompted Moscow to expand contacts with other world economies. Russia has a strong diplomatic presence in such countries as Brazil, Venezuela, Columbia, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Cuba…
Russia’s strongest trade relationships are Brazil and Mexico, which together account for about half of all of Russian trade in the continent. The Russian twin-engine MC-21 short-to-mid-range airliner with a capacity for between 150-211 passengers offers a potential lucrative deal Mexico has paid interest in.
In January, the Mexican Association of Importers and Exporters (ANIERM) opened its trade office in Moscow. Mexico is eager to explore a partnership with Russia to purchase and assemble helicopters. Mi-35M and the Mi-28NE combat helicopters as well as Mi-17 military transport rotary wing aircraft are under consideration. Russia’s Lukoil energy giant has won two tenders to expand its drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Grupo Maseca and Nemak are operating in Russia.
Experts believe that Obrador’s election is a good chance to spur the Russian-Mexican cooperation in all spheres. President Putin also expressed hope that with Andrés Obrador at the helm, the bilateral relationship will get a new impetus. The two leaders will meet at the upcoming G20 summit, scheduled for November 30–December 1 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
And what does our great leader, President Trump have to say about Mexico’s election of President Obrador? He says congratulations. From ElPais:
Excerpt:
Trump congratulates Mexico’s new president: “I look forward to working with him”
Donald Trump, who has been coming down hard on Mexico over immigration and trade ever since he reached the White House, struck a conciliatory tone on Sunday night and congratulated the winner of the Mexican presidential election, the leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Some of the most contentious issues between both countries include a renegotiation of the NAFTA trade agreement, which is currently blocked, and Trump’s promise to build a border wall that will be paid for by Mexicans.
Speaking on Fox News Sunday, US National Security Advisor John Bolton said about Trump and López Obrador that “in this kind of context, having the two leaders get together may produce some surprising results.”
“I think President Trump will follow through with the same pattern he’s used with other foreign leaders. They look forward to meeting with him, sitting down and talking about these things,” added Bolton in reply to a question about López Obrador’s support for Mexican migrants who cross into the US…
A few months ago, López Obrador – or AMLO, the acronym he is known by – stated that there was one issue on which he and Trump were in agreement: that Mexican workers’ wages have to go up. AMLO, who won the election with a coalition whose main member is his own Morena party, is now being observed with equal doses of hope and misgivings by the rest of the continent.
Congratulations indeed. Maybe a real Independence Day will come in the near future for America and the world. A new day is dawning, one that will wash away the filth left behind by the past two administrations that served as handmaidens for the billionaires who installed them. Perhaps an Independence Day will arrive that finds America as an agent of peace instead of the agent of war and destruction across the world for the benefit of the banks and the military industrial complex.
Rejoice America and the world, a new, real Independence Day is on the horizon. In the meantime George W. Bush and Joe Biden can pay their stink tanks to conduct polls to tell them the obvious. Americans believe they left us on the brink of fascism and voted for Donald Trump to turn the Titanic around.
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