WHY we are at war again? Ten reasons not in the news.

== Why are we at war again? ==

I'll be concise here, laying down reasons why thousands of U.S. service members - and eventually millions of the rest of us are being thrown into danger amid gaudy explosions that terrify - and sometimes kill - a people we want as friends.. I'll briefly offer some bullet points, many of them I've already elucidated, in other locales. But one thing is certain...

...that this is not about Iran's nuclear program. Sure, the Mission Accomplished 'deal' that Donald Trump will eventually bray will claim that's the reason for it all. It's not. Even remotely.

1. Elsewhere, I speak of Republican Bipolar Foreign Policy. The GOP always ... and I mean literally always... veers sharply between isolationism and imperial thuggery. We saw this manic-depressive mania under Nixon, Reagan, Ford, and both Bushes (remember the Neocons braying "We're an empire now!"). 

Only now these frenzied veers are gyrating daily, as Trump brags America First! Then "I settled EIGHT WARS! (Not one of which happened.) And "I'm the Peace President!" While he's bombed TEN other countries in just his first 13 months. And eviscerated the Foreign Service, driving away thousands of skilled experts on other nations and cultures.

2. When Republican presidents do wage war, it is with an unmistakably different style of military action than Democratic presidents. I've seen no one comment on this, even though it expresses a fundamental difference in character. And yes, it expresses diametrically opposite attitudes toward the fantastically professional men and women of the US military officer corps....

3. ...whose demoralization is a core aim of the Trumpists. Take how Pete "Filthy Fingers"* Hegseth commanded 500 of the world's finest professionals -- generals, admirals and top sergeants - to drop their work all over the world and hurry to Quantico, where 'former' alky Hegs and Trump berated them as "too fat and too woke to fight." just 6 weeks before they performed the most spectacularly complex and competent raid (in Caracas) in the history of the world. A raid that exposed many of our secret methods and tools to scrutiny, without liberating any Venezuelans from their criminal masters (We'll say more on that.)

But yes. Demoralization and culling of the Officer Corps is a feature, not a bug. Trump fired the JAGs whose task includes advising military folks about the legality of orders. And he's been reaming out dozens of flag officers who demur over sending boots into American cities. Now why would he do that?

4. Then there's distraction. Trump is not the first to use war to divert attention away from domestic failures and discontents. Nixon did it. Reagan several times. As did Bush Jr. But Donald Trump is truly desperate to sidetrack. Now with Operation Epstein Slurry... I mean Epic Fury.

Which brings us to something that many of you keep falling for.

5. This Iran war is not even remotely about oil. Except as he's been able to get Venezuelan oil export revenues diverted into offshore slush accounts that he controls. And sure, he likely intends the same re: Iran. And starving Cuba could lead to the option described below. But the USA - as a nation - does not benefit from war-seized oil. We got none from the Iraq wars - and I want you to read this sentence several times, till that fact sinks in. "We did Iraq for oil" is an idiotic incantation worthy of MAGA.

Anyway, the US got energy independence under Obama and is a net exporter. So STFU about that cliché.

6. Except that shutting down Iranian oil does boost world prices, benefiting his fellow oligarchs. So, okay. Maybe a bit.Indirectly.

7. This is not about toppling despots! Decapitating the top capo of the Venezuelan and Iranian gangs is classic mafia technique, that is not meant to liberate the people of those countries! DT has already made offers to the Iranian Republican Guard and Religious Police etc to make deals with him to stay in power, in exchange for them kissing his ring. In Venezuela, Argentina, El Salvador etc. - and possibly soon in Cuba - the aim is never, ever to establish democracy or to liberate citizens from their oppressors. 

The pattern is perfectly that of mafiosi. Take over another gang's territory by decapitating its top capo, then get allegiance (and resulting vigorish) from the terrified sub-capos of the gang that's left in place. This pattern is now so repeatedly blatant that no other theory is even remotely tenable,

Oh, and Marco will ensure that Miami crime families will slip in atop the Castro power structure in Cuba. This is a Mafia gang and the capo di tutti capi - even above Don - was named Vlad.  Though the power of his blackmail files to coerce western elites into obedience may be fading!  For reasons I'll go into, elsewhere. (Hint: because of AI.)

8. I mentioned the exposure of hard-won military secrets and methods, each time we go to physical war. Sometimes, that can't be helped. Russian and Chinese observers are all over eastern Ukraine, for example. Mostly amazed by the brilliance and effectiveness of most Western systems and studying hard how to copy or counter them. But Ukraine is an actual need. Perhaps Iran is, too. But this factor belongs on the balance sheet.

9. Russia's interest. Look up The Great Game of the 19th Century between the Russian and British Empires, as the former kept maneuvering and jostling, trying to win its way to a southern, ice-free port into the Indian Ocean and from there to the rest of the world. Iran/Persia was always a major part of that great-powers struggle and if most in the west don't remember it, you can be sure that Russians do. Above all, the very last thing they want is a free, secular and democratic Iran. Far better to divide power there with the Trumpist gang. Whose relations with Putin are the ghosts at the banquet.

10. Okay, this final reason for the war is harsh. It is speculative, but makes perfect sense, 

Another aim is to foment anger, to re-enrage the forces in the Middle East who want to do terrorism on America. Riling up enough enemies to deliver us into another 9/11 attack. One that Old Two Scoops imagines might save him from having to face devastating elections, this fall. 

Do I have any evidence for that last one? Other than vows of revenge that are already echoing across the region, for the blatantly dumb targeted assassination of Iran's 82-year old paramount religious leader? 

Well, it would explain why Don fired over half of our counter-terrorism folks. And can you think of anything less than a major national trauma that'd provide the excuse he needs for martial law? 

Put it all together folks. 

Prepare, in that event, to chant "Reichstag Fire!" 

But also keep in mind another word. One that shows we finally understand what's going on. Phase 9 of the 25 year recurring psychic schism between pro- and anti-modernity Americans. Our never settled civil war. And hence one word that will efficiently show our grit, our determination, our courage... our firm intent.

APPOMATTOX.

* Filthy Fingers Hegseth. Look up how many times, on Fox, he (drunkenly) bragged: "I don't believe in germs; I haven't washed my hands in a decade." Though I'll admit. Most Trump appointees are even more crazy and even less qualified.

Is there a goal in all of this: the argument for a paranoid, worst-case scenario

Many are trying to make sense of the Trumpist Revolution, seeking to decipher some pattern or plan, under all the chaos.  And like those blind, wise men fondling different parts of an elephant, smart people are yelling “aha!” and proclaiming they have it sussed. Take this theory by Michael Klare, on Salon: Is Trump launching a New World Order?

“Domestically, he’s pulled out all the stops in attempting to cripple the rise of alternative energy and ensure the perpetuation of a carbon-dominated economy.  Abroad, he is seeking the formation of an alliance of fossil-fuel states led by the United States, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, while attempting to isolate emerging renewable-energy powers like Germany and China. If his project of global realignment proceeds as imagined, the world will soon enough be divided into two camps, each competing for power, wealth, and influence: the carbonites on one side and the post-carbon greens on the other.”

Well… if you squint hard… maybe. Especially if you throw in policies blatantly favoring states like Texas, Wyoming, Oklahoma and the Dakotas, arm-twisting companies like Boeing to shift jobs from green states along the west coast to rescue red ones, like Kansas.

But this axis of fossil (fuels) is at-best overly simplistic.  The Trump Administration promised to be a tiger with China, but has turned into a purring lapdog. The White House overflows with zealots who want war with Iran, an oil state. A contradiction that eases when you realize how much Putin and the Saudis will benefit, if Persian oil is removed from the market.

No, you need to add more ingredients, to parse this out, like the administration’s savage attack upon U.S. science. Not just efficiency and sustainable energy, but also the R & D that gave America its shale gas and oil boom, and its first brush with energy independence since the 1960s. Without that research support, small-scale companies might have to sell out to Big Boys, like Exxon, and petroleum independence could become a fleeting thing.

(Noteworthy: Trump is the first president since Hoover not to appoint a scientific adviser -- apparently even the radically weird candidates he had been interviewing were prone to, occasionally, saying the forbidden words: "that's not true." Under Trump, the White House Office of Sciene and Technology Policy (OSTP) has been eviscerated, as Newt Gingrich earlier demolished the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA.)

In fact, studies have long shown that at least half of the U.S. economy arose from our spectacular advances in science and technology — which is why our core confrontation with China should not be about currency manipulation or trade sanctions, but the stunning, bald-faced theft of our crown jewels of intellectual property.  Yet, the Trump Administration has backed off from such efforts, begun under Barack Obama. Meanwhile, the GOP budget plans burn through or gut almost every kind of federally supported R&D.

Michael Klare’s article is worth reading.  He makes a strong case, but doesn’t step back to see a bigger picture.  Yes, Trump is doing everything in his power to help dictators, especially most — not all — of those who count on us continuing our fossil fuel dependence.  This maps onto those U.S. states that Trump favors, as well. But the model needs expansion.

Under their current strongmen, Turkey and the Philippines have joined the loose alliance being corralled by Putin’s Kremlin, in an arc that stretches from Ankara to Manilla.  While the Beijing mandarins are navigating their own path, they are at minimum fellow travelers.

== He's a symptom ==

Naturally, I like Stephen Colbert.  I mean, what's not to like? At least once a week, he drops some sci-fi or fantasy reference. A couple of months ago he quoted Salvor Hardin, the mayor of Terminus in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series! (Which I completed for Isaac.)

So it's with trepidation that I disagree with this paladin of civilization, who at one point said: "Donald Trump is not a symptom; he's the disease."

Oh, that got lots of applause!  But no, no, no.  Elsewhere I go into details as to why this fellow is much less dangerous than most folks think, because all of our civil servants and the FBI, intelligence agencies and most military officers can see that there's a cranky toddler in the White House. They can be trusted to prevent worst-case things. And hence, all the "impeachment " talk is just loony.

A Pence presidency will be far, far worse. Instead of leaky chaos, we'd have a White House packed with tightly disciplined Dominionists bent - with deliberate malice and fierce intent - upon bringing about the end of the world. Picture that, Stephen, please.  And let's plan out the campaign.

== The Russian Question ==

This article by Max de Haldevang on “What Russia Wants” adds insight into why Vladimir Putin - with support from much of the Russian public — seeks to restore a sense of empire. Indeed, not just a sense, but the reality.

Moreover, the mullah faction in Iran is blatantly cozy with Moscow. As we speak, Iranian volunteers fight side by side with Russian advisers, in Syria. When Steve Bannon rails about a coming U.S.-Iran conflict, all it accomplishes is to make Tehran more dependent on the protection of Russia’s nuclear umbrella, turning the Persian Republic into a Kremlin client state, despite the clear wish of that nation’s huge and educated middle class to join the modern world.

But all of this leaves out the biggest and most rabid elephant in the room — the concerted, 25-year campaign to destroy America’s political resilience.  Our once-renowned genius at negotiating pragmatic solutions to problems… partly through a once-respected process called “politics.”

Starting with Newt Gingrich, then the “Hastert Rule,” and enforced ferociously by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, the U.S. right shifted from tough bargainers at the political table to adamant and absolutely rigid obstructionism. Controlling Capitol Hill for 20 of the last 22 years, the GOP ran the laziest and least productive Congresses in U.S. history, passing fewer bills, per capita, holding fewer hearings — even on topics that obsessed them — especially if you subtract theatricals like Monicagate and the Benghazi Imbroglio, that went nowhere.

Add to this the incitement of levels of red-blue animosity not seen since the Civil War. Now stir in Donald Trump’s deliberate spurning of our oldest friendships and alliances. Throw in a stench of Kremlin collusion in the top ranks of the Republican Party, and a picture starts to emerge.

The only trait that unites all of these factors is that each and every one of them weakens America and the West. 

How ironic! I have long expressed skepticism toward most conspiracy theories. Yet, in this maelstrom, most of those who are sniffing at the Russia Collusion stench seem unable to step back and smell the obvious. This is not about getting the U.S. to ease sanctions on Moscow.

It’s not about propping up an already-doomed fossil fuels industry — though that (and an Iranian War) would certainly help Trump’s Saudi-Russian-Murdoch-Koch patrons.

It is about weakening the west and its entire set of enlightenment values, from democracy and science to transparency and negotiated politics. 

It is already war. Vladimir Putin has said so, as do the Saudis, in the textbooks that they give to boys in madrassas all over the Wahabbi-influenced world. It is already war. And our capital has been seized, and fools like the D.C. shooter only hurt the cause. 

With Washington occupied, the revolution that stunned the world with creativity and gradually improving goodness since 1776 is exiled to Berlin, Paris and Sacramento, where the resilience and brilliance of our renaissance will face its greatest test, since the 1940s.

Elsewhere, I talk of a vastly important tactic that could help us to march through this madness, all the way from mountains and plains to the sea. 

But first, we must awaken. This will be won by reminding our fellow citizens that men and women of knowledge and skill are not the enemy. They are the people who will lead us to victory.

  

====================

Addendum:

== Cross Check ==

Is this posted remark true or a rumor? Write in to comments!:  “The RNC had a plan even before Trump was their candidate. They used a system called Crosscheck (now adopted in over 30 states) to knock registered minorities off the voter rolls. The system checks if someone named James Washington (for example) is registered in more than one state, then knocks someone in Georgia and someone in Pennsylvania off the voter rolls (it's supposed to check DOB and middle name, but it doesn't and that's proven) and then they show up to vote, are told they are not on the roll (even though they voted there for years) and are given a provisional ballot which is later checked against the same roll and thrown away (no evidence).”

Which crisis will we face next?

All right, here is the danger I fear most right now. The heads of four world powers desperately fear democracy in their own nations. All four want to trigger war between the United States and Iran.

A while back, I did a round-up regarding international affairs and their calamitous bungling, in recent weeks. But I left you with the impression that war with Iran might happen because of “stumbling,” as described here in The Atlantic. But in fact, things are far worse. It appears that a confluence of pivotal world leaders want  this to happen. 

Are these four nations all enemies of the U.S.? Heck no. One of them is an “ally” - Saudi Arabia. Another is best pals with our president - Russia’s Putin regime. The other two may shock you. They are the United States and Iran.

Both Donald Trump and the Iranian mullahs know that time is not on their side. Their people tire of them, daily. Hence, both of them try pumping up support through fear — of “terrorism” or “Satanic American meddling.” 

But eight years of almost-perfect safety, under Obama, has made paranoiac fear very hard to push, outside their fanatical base. Both Trump and the mullahs would benefit - domestically - from some kind of crisis — war, or a “Reichstag fire” — to reverse their slide.

The Saudi position is even simpler — and more shortsighted. They rightfully fear the rise of a Shia empire, arcing through Syria and Iraq and Iran to Bahrain and their own non-Sunni coast. But they believe rattling sabers and even hurling bombs will prevent this, even though such things have only strengthened the Ayatollahs, every single time. And in the event of a major conflict, the Persian regime will just cling for protection to their next door neighbor — nuclear armed Russia, sealing their nascent alliance.

Hence, of the four, the only one wanting an Iran-U.S. War for clever reasons is, of course, Vladimir Putin.  And well, we all know about his puppet strings to you-know-who.

Find all this implausible? Look at the foreign affairs team appointed by Trump, from Tillerson and Bannon on down. Every single one of them has called for confrontation with Iran, which would only undercut the democracy movements  among Tehran’s rising middle class. There are no exceptions. Every… single… one of Trump’s people have spoken glowingly of struggle with “Iran,” ignoring the fact that a majority of its people want to join the modern world.

Of course there is a final ingredient -- removing Iranian oil from world supply would instantly boost prices for... well, guess whom.

You can see this in the recent Travel Ban, which fiercely clamped on not just Iran (which - despite a lot of noise - has done us very little tangible harm, since 1980) but also our supposed best Shia ally — Iraq.  Moreover, there was word recently that the Trump Administration wanted to fire at an Iranian military skiff near Yemen, but was stopped by cooler heads. Only, what if the mullahs order more skiffs to charge ever closer? How long before we see some sort of Gulf of Tonkin incident, that serves the interest of both sets of rulers?

And no, forget this ramping up into something truly conflagration-level. Sure, Trump and Putin might like that, for their own reasons.  (Trump because he is a Republican, and Republicans like gaudy styles of war.) 

But that is where both the mullahs and the Saudi royals might balk. Certainly the Israelis, who know that Tehran already has a bomb. And they know where it's aimed.

== Which battle will Republicans choose? ==

A House committee voted on Tuesday to eliminate an independent election commission charged with helping states improve their voting systems as President Donald Trump erroneously claims widespread voter fraud cost him the popular vote. Let's be clear on this.  The EAC is the only force currently thwarting efforts to rig every voting machine in red states. (Blue states nearly all have paper ballot receipts that can be audited, limiting cheating.) 

There is no other conceivable reason to eliminate a voting-fraud-preventing agency that costs next to nothing, in a year when everyone is screaming about "voter fraud." The reason is simple.  The GOP intends to do even more election fraud.  It is a matter of survival.

Meanwhile, the president endorsed civil asset forfeiture, which lets police seize even innocent people’s property.  Hey libertarians!  Add this to the one hundred ways that Republicans are vastly, vastly worse than democrats for freedom. And any libertarian who chooses the GOP as his "hold my nose" choice or lesser of two weevils, is an utter dunce and traitor to Adam Smith.

== AH, hate Obamacare much? ==

"For seven years, opponents of the Affordable Care Act vowed to make its repeal their top concern, warning that the law would turn America overnight into a socialist dystopia. Now these opponents have unfettered control of the government and they aren’t even talking about repealing," reports Dana Millbank in The Washington Post. 

Seriously? Seven years railing it was work of satan. (In fact Obama crafted it after Romney-care/Heritage Care and the GOP's own platform, hoping they'd react with gratitude.) Seven years screeching and demanding immediate cancelation and replacement. Seven years they could have offered an alternative! Seven years you dopes have swallowed this koolaid...

... and now the max they are talking about is (1) tweaking a few fixes the dems were eager to negotiate, and (2) changing a lot of the names of things! Renaming the program and its parts. And you dopes will swallow that. You'll swallow anything you're told.

BTW... see here why GOPpers actually think that names matter more than substance.

== Disturbing Miscellany ==

Hayley Miller reports that despite the Trump administration’s renewed focus on fossil fuels, a new Pew poll says two-thirds of Americans favor a path to a renewable energy future. Writing from Hong Kong, Li Jing reports that Chinese officials say they are prepared “to take a leadership role” in defending the Paris climate accord no matter what the new Trump administration decides to do.  

Combat readiness — I've long pointed out that it plummeted for the US military under both Bushes and raised up to almost 100% under Clinton and Obama. One member of this blog community reported: "There are elaborate systems that track readiness: SORTS and DRRS.  When I was reporting for my unit, it was on a classified system, and we would evaluate our ability to conduct our mission vs our 'Designed Operational Capability (DOC) statement'...usually we had minimum number of qualified and current personnel and mission capable equipment.  If we were good to go, we were "C1" if not, we might be marginal or some degradation "C2", but always tried to avoid not mission capable "C3" or worse C4."

 Definitions: Department of Defense Readiness Reporting System (DRRS), improved upon by Status of Resources and Training System (SORTS).

Candidate Donald Trump was a big fan of leaks, especially when they targeted Hillary Clinton and reports of her deleted emails.  "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump said last July in Florida. "I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press."  

Now in the White House less than a month, President Trump is far less enthusiastic about leaks in general, and those involving Russia in particular.

Is Ohio Governor John Kasich gearing up for a primary run against Donald Trump in 2020, as this article suggests?  Or is something more immediate and bold afoot?  Someone report here if you notice Kasich meeting with McCain, Murkowski, Portman, Collins, Graham and others.  It’s too soon. But something bigger may be back-burner simmering.

Evan McMullen tried, hard, to help the folk of Utah to spurn the recent collapse of American conservatism. Had they listened, they might have escaped direct, shared responsibility for this calamity, instead of lining up with the most opposite-to-Jesus set of leaders America has ever seen. Well, McMullen and his minority of followers continue to stand up. They might seed a new American conservatism – an adult kind – to rise from the coming ashes.

Trump makes false statements about U.S. murder rate to sheriffs’ group. The president claimed the country’s murder rate is the highest it’s been in 45 to 47 years. But the rate actually is almost at its lowest point, according to the FBI.  You who are complicit and making excuses for this.  You are flirting with madness and riding a rabid tiger.

Meanwhile (same day) -- Open-carry advocates walked into a police station with a loaded rifle. Officers were not amused. Seriously, after declaring open war on the US Military and Intelligence officer corps, now the alt-right is doing everything in its power to bully police.  Seriously? You had those conservative-by-personality clades safely republican, some years ago.  Now the cops & spooks and generals are fleeing, like every single other knowledge and fact-based profession.

‘“I’m a Leninist,” Bannon proudly proclaimed.’  So goes the anecdote told by Ronald Radosh on The Daily Beast, about President Donald Trump’s Rasputin. ‘“Lenin,” he answered, “wanted to destroy the state, and that’s my goal too. I want to bring everything crashing down, and destroy all of today’s establishment.” Bannon was employing Lenin’s strategy for Tea Party populist goals. He included in that group the Republican and Democratic Parties, as well as the traditional conservative press.’

== North vs South ==

Having a blog community can be handy.  One of my commenters (and I have the best)  went and appraised how many cabinet members recent presidents have chosen from states on which side of the Civil War.

For comparison:

Obama's initial cabinet:      3 Westerners, 1 Confederate, 10 Unionists.

G.W. Bush's initial cabinet: 1 Westerner, 5 Confederate, 9 Unionists.

Clinton's initial cabinet:       2 Westerners, 6 Confederates, 6 Unionists.

Bush the Elder's cabinet:   3 Westerners, 4 Confederates, 7 Unionists.

Reagan's initial cabinet:    2 Westerners, 1 Confederate, 10 Unionists.

Carter's initial cabinet:      2 Westerners, 4 Confederates, 7 Unionists.

(skipping Ford as he inherited the cabinet of:)

Nixon's initial cabinet:      3 Westerners, 1 Confederate, 8 Unionists.

Reagan’s was the most tilted in favor of the Union, followed by Obama. 

Trump’s is by-far the most tilted toward former Confederate states.

See Trump’s cabinet, with C for confederate state, U for union state, W for western state (not admitted in 1865):

C: TX (SecState)

U: NY (SecTreas)

W: WA (SecDef)

C: AL (AttyGen)

W: MT (SecInt)

C: GA (SecAg)

C: FL (SecComm)

C: TN (SecLabor)

C: GA (SecHHS)

C: FL (SecHUD)

C: KY (SecTrans)

C: TX (SecEnergy)

U: MI (SecEd)

U: PA (SecVA)

U: MA (SecHS)

3 Westerners (states not admitted during the War)

4 Union

9 Confederate States

2016 estimates (Census Bureau):

Current population of today’s Confederacy: 113 million

Current population of the West: 33.5 million

Current population of the Union: 177 million

Total population of the United States: 323.5 million

Probability that a randomly chosen Cabinet member would be from:

* the Union: (177/323.5) = 54.7%

* the Confederacy: (113/323.5) = 34.9%

* the West: (33.5/323.5) = 10.3%

Probability that a randomly chosen Cabinet would contain:

4 or fewer Union denizens: CDF(binomial, 15, 0.547, 4) = 2.7%

9 or more Confederate denizens: 1 - CDF(binomial, 15, 0.349, 9) = 1.2%

Conclusion: There is a statistically significant bias against the Union and in favor of the Confederacy in choices for Cabinet members. 

Of course there are quibbles.  Indiana long ago stopped being for the Union and Virginia is ditching Dixie. Many Western states are confederate hotbeds.  Still….

== Ask... Demand ... they define when America was Great! ==

The struggle for our civilization will be a long and complicated one, especially as our greatest weapons – facts – have been undermined with clever - though ancient - appeals to tribalism. It appears we shall have to slog through refutation after refutation. 

Ironically, you can refute the current “everybody knows that” poisons with even stronger things that “everybody knows.”

Take the nostrum: “Make America Great Again.” I do not recall even a single Democratic pol, or sage pundit, or reporter ever asking – even once – “WHEN was America’s iconic moment of greatness?”

Of course one reflexive answer is obvious – the halcyon 1950s of “Happy Days.” Only notice that it’s never actually said, in order to avoid the unfavorable comparisons that I make here:  Was 1957 America Better Than Today?  

In fact, you get nowhere by denigrating the 1950s.  

What’s vastly more effective is to lead these nostalgic folks out onto a limb, getting them to express admiration for the “Greatest Generation” that endured a depression, crushed Hitler, contained Stalinism, went to the Moon, spanned the continent with infrastructure and universities, and built a market economy so strong and rich that we could then afford to take on a myriad old sins, like poverty, racism, sexism and planetary neglect.

Do the Greatest Generationers deserve our gratitude and respect? Sure! Might they have been better and greater than their boomer children? Well, sure… maybe… though that insults them as having been poor parents.  Still, yes, those men and women of the Greatest Generation truly were great! 

Only, didn’t they achieve all those mighty things at high tax rates on the rich? And with fierce regulation of banks and monopolies?

Weren’t all those mighty accomplishments of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s achieved with strong labor unions? With intense national respect for teachers and scientists? Wasn’t that when the most trusted American was a journalist (Edward R. Murrow, followed by Walter Cronkite), the most admired was a scientist (Jonas Salk), and the most beloved – by far – was Franklin Delano Roosevelt?

Given that not a single promise ever made by Supply Side Economics ever once came true, is the prescription for making America Great again truly to reverse every single thing that the Greatest generation did and believed in? 

Hey, just askin’

 == Wrapping up...==

Okay, some tactics should be beneath us. Still, one can get a chuckle out of this site that will connect you by phone to some Trump business venture, around the world, so you can do what foreign leaders and oligarchs already can do… talk policy through the back door of DT’s businesses.  

According to a classified FBI counterterrorism policy guide obtained by The Intercept, “white supremacists and other domestic extremists” have been joining law enforcement agencies across the United States.

Counter-factual drivel abounds: "Unlike his predecessors, Trump is serious about winning. To do so, he is even willing to take the radical step of accepting Israel as an ally." See where I long ago discussed how Republicans and Democrats wage war.

The Turkish Parliament passed constitutional amendments last weekend that could allow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to amass unprecedented power. 

“Let me tell you what is coming. After the sacrifice of countless millions of treasure and hundreds of thousands of lives, you may win Southern independence if God be not against you, but I doubt it. I tell you that, while I believe with you in the doctrine of states rights, the North is determined to preserve this Union. They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates. But when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche; and what I fear is, they will overwhelm the South." 

-- Sam Houston, denouncing the Texas convention’s decision to secede, in 1861.