Trump’s Russian Chum 6-29-2019

29, June 2019                       Trump’s Russian Chum

At the recent G20 meeting, President Trump greeted his friend, Vladimir Putin, warmly with the full knowledge that he got him elected.

The president brushed off accusations of election interference with a wink and smile, a coded gesture inviting more interference targeting his Democratic opponent in the 2020 election. The wily Putin chuckled with a silent nod hinting Russian trolls were ready to further eviscerate American democracy and propel the President to the White House for four more years. The public outrage over Trump’s chumminess with Russia harked back serious concerns over his financial entanglement and possible sexual encounters with Russian prostitutes. Putin seemed delighted with his meeting with Trump, a willing partner to undermine America’s democracy.

Forgotten were the urgent warnings from special counsel Mueller that Russia conducted a “sweeping and systematic” operation to sway the 2016 election in Trump’s favor prompting former President Carter to call him an illegitimate president.

The meeting with Putin followed Trump’s gratuitous insults towards Japan broadly hinting America’s possible departure from the US-Japan security treaty.  It does follow a familiar pattern of treating allies as foes and foes as friends. Well done Mr. President you are fast forwarding America’s demise ably supported by your Republican co-conspirators.

Trump’s Concentration Camps 6-27-2019

27, June 2019                     Trump’s Concentration Camps

No one can watch the video of a dead asylum seeker lying face down with his 23-month-old daughter on the bank of the Rio Grande and not be outraged. President Trump is the architect of this grotesque crisis. He has demonized and created fear of those seeking asylum as “caravans of rapist and criminals” hardening attitudes and using Gestapo tactics to discourage new migrants.

Many have walked thousands of miles to escape violence desperately seeking asylum to the “promised land”. Many have failed to reach the border and have perished in the unrelenting desert heat. Forgotten is America’s tradition as a welcoming nation. Children regardless of age are brutally separated from their parents and tossed into Trump’s concentration camps without basic necessities like soap, tooth brushes and diapers. They are given “noisy” metal blankets and concrete floors as bedding.

The young children are inconsolable begging to be reunited with their parents. Their parents are devastated by the forcible separation. It is hard to imagine a more bizarre scheme to torture young children and their parents. Older children are expected to comfort babies and younger children. The stench of urine and feces is overwhelming.

This heartless attitude is a deliberate scheme to torment migrants in the callous belief that this will deter others from trying to reach America.

This a crisis of American values that cannot go unchallenged. I urge readers to contact their representatives and demand action. Children MUST be reunited with their parents and provided basic hygiene.

Joe Biden 6-24-2019

24, June 2019                                  Joe Biden

Joe Biden’s constant name dropping and fawning over his “good friend Barrack” is difficult to swallow. He is constantly wrapping himself in the mantle of the 44th president. It is time he offered his own plans for the future of America. Fulsome accolades of Obama is not a plan, it is a cheap way of trying to garner African-American votes.

“The proudest thing about serving with him,” Biden gushed of Obama, “was there wasn’t one single, solitary hint of scandal for eight years.” He made the comment at a campaign event in New Hampshire and on the ABC,  “The View” and again in Iowa.

Perhaps, Biden has been listening too closely to Trump’s rerun speeches.  

Joe, you are not going to slay the Trump dragon hanging on to Obama’s coattails.

Obama presidency was not without controversy.

When he took office, none of Bush/Cheney cabal were prosecuted for the “shock and awe” attack on Iraq based on bogus intelligence of non-existent WMDs causing the death of thousands of Americans and millions of Iraqis. Iraq is still in shambles.

Then there was the Benghazi cover-up resulting in the death of  Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others which was falsely attributed to an  irrelevant YouTube video.

On Obama’s watch tens of thousands of veterans were denied proper health care at VA hospitals causing the possible death of 30,000. Thousands of veteran’s heath care files were deleted resulting in the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Obama was called out by PolitiFact and the Poynter Institute for falsely assuring voters that if “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.”

“Operation Fast and Furious” armed narco-traffickers with about 2,000 weapons resulting in the murder of hundreds of Mexicans and one American. Obama denied access to files in connection with the operation claiming executive privilege and attorney general, Eric Holder, refused to respond to Congressional demands relating to the operation leading to his  being held in contempt of Congress, the first in American history.

Obama’s CIA director, John Brennan made a blatant effort to cover up incidents of horrific torture by CIA officials by breaking into Senate computer files and in a purely vindictive effort used his position to demand the firing  at least one staffer charged with investigating his agency.

Biden also seems to have forgotten a major scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service leadership aggressively targeting conservative groups to undermine their voice in elections. Then there were incidents of gross sexual misconduct by the Secret Service.

Nome of the “banksters” were held responsible for the 2008 Wall Street crash caused by  blatant dishonesty promoting worthless mortgage backed securities.

No, Joe you seem to suffer a bout of convenient amnesia. There were lots of scandals under Obama’s watch.

Reparations 6-21-2019

21, June 2019                                 Reparations

Ta-Nehisi’s seminal 2014 essay in the Atlantic, “The Case for Reparations,” helped spur new calls to make amends for slavery. Cotes, the well-known African-American writer, made a number of powerful statements during his recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in favor of H.R.40.  He rightly argues that it is not enough to atone for the horror of chattel slavery but more importantly to address the broader inequities that have persisted since emancipation more than a century ago. Coates identified two great crimes in American history, the near annihilation of Native- Americans, the theft of their land, and the cultivation of the land using enslaved Africans.  Slavery started in 1619 when a Dutch ship brought 20 slaves to the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia, as a source of cheap labor. The profits generated from slavery exceeded $75 billion in today’s dollar value. Cotton in 1860 was the country’s largest exporter.

The richest people at that time were slaveholders including Thomas Jefferson and George Washington. During the civil war, white cotton farmers reaped huge profits from the backs of African slaves.

The contributions of American-Americans to music and film are legendary. Jazz, the blues and hip-hop are tightly woven into the fabric of American Culture. The giants of American literature, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and many others, are the enduring fruits of slavery.

White America have always had distinct advantages over the African-American community through redlining, the FHA  and the GI Bills.

The Reverend Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, called for a “moral budget calling the epidemic of poverty a “moral crisis.”

There were 250 years of enslavement,  followed by 100 years of terror followed by mass incarceration.

It is time we recompense the African-American community for the sins of the past by injecting massive funds to upgrade inner-city communities with excellent schools, affordable housing and jobs. The mass incarceration of African-American communities requires urgent attention and finally we must not forget Native Americans who are suffering enormous hardships, with high unemployment, chronic food shortages and lack of adequate health care.

Many other nations are guilty of similar crimes. Perhaps one of the most egregious examples is France who demanded reparations from Haiti as compensation for gaining their freedom.

How the US makes Enemies 6-19-2019

19, June 2019                              How the US makes Enemies

President Trump’s bombastic language and nasty tweets has made the US the enemy of the planet. He was elected, albeit with some Russian help, by the American people who therefore reflect his values.

Here is one example of Trump’s many “accomplishments.”

IRAN -The Iranian nuclear deal was carefully crafted by the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China—plus Germany and the European Union which limited Iran’s nuclear fuel production. In return US sanctions would be lifted. In a blatant racist gesture to please his adoring fans, President Trump withdrew from the agreement  sending a strong message to the world that US commitments are worthless, can be invalidated on a whim. According to the International Atomic Energy Commission Iran is in full compliance. They are now being punished by crippling US sanctions (prodded by Saudi Arabia and Israel) which is hurting the Iranian people. Always the proverbial bully, the US is now threatening the European Union and other nations who trade with Iran. Iran is left with no other option but to withdraw from the agreement and accelerate its nuclear bomb making capabilities as a viable defense option– much like North Korea. Another US quagmire is looming. Bogged down by an endless losing war in Afghanistan, we are on the cusp of a Middle East quagmire which will drive up oil prices and trigger a worldwide recession, courtesy of the master deal maker, Donald Trump.  To wage war in Iran’s back yard would be a monumental blunder. It seems we have learned nothing from our past foreign adventures, Vietnam, Iraq and Libya, to name just a few. The dynamic duo, Pompeo and Bolton, who aggressively supported the Iraq invasion, are replacing the other miscreants, Bush and Cheney.

 

IRAN 6-16-2019

16, June 2019                                   IRAN

The US has an abysmal record in foreign policy decisions often manufacturing crisis’s to fulfill political agendas. Remember the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which precipitated the Vietnam War causing the death of 58,000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese. President Nixon and Henry Kissinger decided to bomb Cambodia and Laos without informing Congress causing the additional death of millions of Cambodians and Laotians. When Pompeo was head of the CIA he boasted the training manual includes lying, cheating and stealing. The US targets foreign governments and creates false narratives to justify regime change. Readers may recall the CIA/MI6 coup which deposed democratically elected Mohammad Mosaddegh of Iran in 1953, in a blatant effort to steal their oil The Iranian Oil Company was subsequently re-branded BP.

They replaced Mosaddegh with the Shah who used his secret police to imprison and torture tens of thousands of Iranians. In a further effort to inflict more mayhem, the US sent weapons to arch enemy Saddam Hussein in his war with Iran.

President Trump dishonored the 2015 nuclear deal and sent an unmistakable message that a US signature on an international agreement is worthless. Iran, suffering from the crushing blow of economic sanctions, has every right to cease to honor the agreement. Let us hope the P5 + 1 -1 (US) nations do not succumb to US economic blackmail.  Finally, the US should immediately halt its “dirty money” trade deals and free itself from the choke-hold of Saudi and Israeli interests.

Goiath Wins, David Loses 6-15-2019

15, June 2019                 Goliath Wins, David Loses

Israel often boasts that it is the only democracy in the Middle East but also claims it is a Jewish State. Clearly, one claim contradicts the other.

A true democracy offers ALL its citizens, Christians and Palestinians the same EQUAL rights. Since its founding Israel has violated very norm of acceptable human behavior and scores of UN resolutions with its ongoing brutal occupation and ethnic cleansing.

The sad reality is Israel is an apartheid state with one set of laws bestowed on the conquers another on the oppressed minorities. I am sure God doesn’t look approvingly as tens of thousands of Palestinian homes have been demolished, and thousands of innocent men, women and children have been killed to make room for the “chosen people”.

Israel’s image is forever stained by its brutal crackdown on an unarmed population, propped up by a wealthy and powerful diaspora that has significant control over the media. It has used the “anti-Semitic” slogan to mute criticism of Israel, It favors its Jewish citizens through a set of laws clearly defined by its religion.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

The U.S. has exacerbated the situation by blocking $20 million UN funds through the Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), to aid the Palestinians.

Craig Murray, a former British diplomat, recorded the words of Brigadier-General, Zvika Foge, who fully justified the killing of unarmed Palestinians, including an unarmed fourteen year-old boy who was approaching the fence that separates Israel from Gaza.  Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Territories laments many unarmed Palestinians shot by IDF forces will lose their limbs because Israel has blocked critically needed medical supplies.

The slaughter of Palestinians is reflective of the general racist attitude that prevails, namely only Jewish lives matter.

Fodge justified his orders saying “this is the price we have to pay preserve the safety and quality of life of the residents of the State of Israel.”

President Trump’s, former bankruptcy lawyer now Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman displayed his blatant partiality by “cheering Israeli restraint”!

Israel has established a beachhead in the Middle East with British (Lord Balfour) and American help but sadly all three nations have lost their souls. Perhaps one day we will hear those magic words, “the Palestinians have a right exist and defend themselves.” 

Jesu 6-10-2019s would be so proud!

10, June 2019                  Jesus would be so proud!

Congress is becoming more and more irrelevant. Their prime responsibility is to exercise due diligence when waging war. This has been completely usurped by the White House who declared an “emergency” to fast-track arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The emergency authorization allows Raytheon, a prime American Defense Contractor to build highly secret smart bomb parts in Saudi Arabia. In a wonderful Christian gesture, all is forgiven for the high crimes of 9/11 and the killing of Khashoggi. I can hear the loud cheers from Trump supporters and Evangelicals eager to share US weapons secrets with our great Saudi friends. I wonder whether Jared Kushner received payment for his efforts or was this a gesture of unselfish patriotism. These are the same Saudi’s who imprisoned women’s human right activist Loujain Al-Hathloul for her demands on lifting the kingdom’s ban on female drivers and overhaul its suffocating male “guardianship” system. She has been held in solitary confinement and faced abuse, including electric shocks, flogging and threats of sexual violence.

These are the same Saudis who along with another of our great UAE partners pledged $3bn aid money to prop up Sudan’s murderous militias fearful that the winds of democracy might reach Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Super Christian, Vice President Pence must be so proud of our ongoing support for the Saudis who continue to kill Yemini men, women and children in large numbers which I suppose dovetails with our own great Christian values.

Jesus must be so proud!

Beverly Hillbillies visit London 6-7-2019

7, June 2019                     Beverly Hillbillies visit London

The American President arrived in the UK carrying his trash bag of insults which he delivered with relish in sharp contrast to his host’s civility and decorum.

His outrageous comments calling the London mayor a “stone cold loser” the leader of the opposition party “somewhat of a negative force” and downplayed tens of thousands of protesters as “fake new”.

He shamelessly capitalized on his host’s hospitality by including his children in state dinners which intensified revulsion of the US premier and his crime family.” Feeding off the trough of British hospitality was a total embarrassment. The timing of his visit was poorly planned. Mrs. May is still in shock and a lame duck, her successor is unknown and the country is deeply divided over Brexit. 

The Brits renowned for their biting wit did not disappoint. The centerpiece of their protests was a giant balloon showing Trump as a scowling baby wearing a diaper and clutching a cellphone, 

Perhaps my favorite was a banner “make America Great again – impeach Trump” which pretty much summed up British sentiments about their prickly visitor.

Trump’s badgering NATO countries to make a greater contribution to their own defense was a crude attempt to pressure them to purchase more US weapons and increase profits for US contractors and thereby boost his own popularity.

The “special relationship” between the US and Britain has soured much like Trump’s ex-wives. 

How far fallen America has fallen.

Canadian Genocide 6-5-2019

5, June 2019                        Canadian Genocide

A three-year investigation of the genocide of Indigenous women, and girls in Canada has finally been concluded.

The callous treatment of these women and girls was made possible by the colonial mindset of the white invaders who regarded themselves superior and the local population ripe for exploitation. The report cited the common practice of forcing thousands of children to attend government-sponsored residential schools where they were horribly abused. Every effort was made to erase their culture from their names to their native customs.

Indigenous women and girls were the favorite target of abusers who acted with complete impunity.  According to government statistics, Indigenous females make up about 4 per cent of Canada’s females but accounted for 16 percent of females killed.

It is a sad testament to “white man’s” colonial history that pleas for help and intervention were ignored. Survivors and their families complained bitterly that the criminal justice system was “inadequate, unjust and re-traumatizing.”

The report is right to focus on the urgent need for increasing the number of women’s shelters, expanding policing especially in remote areas, intensifying recruitment of Indigenous people on police forces and civilian boards overseeing the police. To ensure Indigenous people retain their culture and pride, their language should be given equal status to Canada’s official languages of English and French.

The recommendations outlined in the report should be applied to our own native Indians who have experienced their own “trail of tears.”  

Is Trump planning to pardon mass killers 6-4-2019

4, June 2019                      Is Trump planning to pardon mass killers

President Trump has sunk to a new low. He is now considering pardoning mass murderer, Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher who is facing charges of shooting unarmed civilians and killing a wounded captive teenage fighter by stabbing him with a knife and then staging a re-enlistment ceremony over the dead teen’s body. Gallagher was also accused of killing a child and an old man.

One of Gallagher most vocal supporters is Republican Congress member, Duncan Hunter who recently admitted in killing hundreds of civilians while serving in the U.S. military during his deployment to Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.  President Trump is also considering pardoning Blackwater contractor Nicholas Slatten, who was twice found guilty of first-degree murder in the deadly 2007 Nisoor Square massacre in Baghdad, which killed 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians.

When President Trump champions war criminals as brave patriots we sending an extremely dangerous message to our adversaries who are likely to use the same twisted logic to celebrate killing American civilians as heroes.

Trump & Netanyahu - Soul Brothers 6-3-2019

3, June 2019                   Trump & Netanyahu - Soul Brothers

President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel have much in common. Both are mired in obstruction of justice and a multitude of indictments.  Donald Trump has managed to avoid removal from office blessed by a gaping hole in the U.S. Constitution which prohibits a sitting president from being indicted. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. As Professor Arad observed, “Netanyahu’s demise may occur because of the toxicity of his leadership style, characterized by impulsiveness, shooting from the hip, surrounding himself with sycophants of modest abilities, using divide and rule on all levels, a style that had led many to turn against him.” The same could be said about Donald Trump.

Meanwhile the American President is pulling out all the stops to get his friend reelected hoping Netanyahu, wealthy American Jews  and evangelicals will return the favor by helping Donald Trump retain his White House throne. Ignoring a recent UN resolution describing Israel as an apartheid state, Santa Claus Trump has already gifted Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to Israel. His soul brother, Netanyahu failed to form a majority following his election victory. This is first time in Israeli history when a prime minister-designate has failed to form a coalition government.

Netanyahu is now hoping the Israeli parliament will grant him an exemption from prosecution for his many crimes.

Meanwhile, Palestinian officials are planning to boycott Kushner’s peace conference which does not address Israel’s gross human rights violations and suffocating occupation.