Posted on 10/31/2018 1:38:41 AM PDT by vannrox
Is America Finished?
Paul Craig Roberts
The refusal of the Democratic Party and the military/security complex to accept the results of the 2016 US presidential election and the misuse of their positions of power to prevent Donald Trump from exercising presidential powers is a revolutionary step, well described by Angelo Codevilla here: https://americanmind.org/essays/our-revolutions-logic/
Americans are now so polarized that they “no longer share basic sympathies and trust, because they no longer regard each other as worthy of equal consideration.” Codevilla blames the progressives and their attitude of moral superiority, but his explanation is independent of who is to blame. I blame both sides. The Constitution and our civil liberties took a major hit from the “conservative” Republican regime of George W. Bush.
The consequence has been to weaponize government for use against the domestic adversary. In other words, unity has departed us. The absence of unity makes it easy for the ruling oligarchy to achieve its material interests at the expense of the welfare of the American people. Indeed, it is amazing to find progressives aligned with the military/security complex to block Trump from normalizing relations with Russia.
The provocations of Russia, which have been ongoing since the Clinton regime, have reached unprecedented levels under the neoconservative regimes of Obama and Trump. The conflict that has been orchestrated is good for the $1,000 billion annual budget of the military/security complex at the cost of maximizing the chance of nuclear war. The demonizations of Russia, Putin, China, and Iran are so extreme as to have convinced Russia and China that Washington intends war.
For Russia, Trump’s withdrawal from the intermediate range missile treaty (INF) confirms that an attack on Russia is being prepared. Intermediate range missiles cannot reach the US. The treaty gave safety to Russia and Europe, which is why Washington’s claim that Russia is violating the treaty is absurd. The only reason for Washington to withdraw from the treaty is to be able to place intermediate range nuclear missiles on Russia’s borders that would substantially increase the likelihood of success of a US first strike against Russia.
This apparently is not clear to the American people, media, and Congress, but it is clear to the Russians.
Mikhail Gorbachev, who negotiated the INF Treaty with President Reagan, stated the war threat succintly: “It looks as if the world is preparing for war.” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/27/mikhail-gorbachev-looks-world-preparing-war-nuclear-threat-re/
It is also very clear to the Russian government. A top official, Andrei Belousov, declared: “Yes, Russia is preparing for war, I have confirmed it. We are preparing to defend our homeland, our territorial integrity, our principles, our values, our people – we are preparing for such a war.” https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1037059/Russia-INF-treaty-world-war-3-Donald-Trump-Vladimir-Putin-Mikhail-Gorbachev-US-violence
Putin himself finally found tough words. A country that attacks Russia will be obliterated, “will die like dogs,” and “go to Hell.”
As demonization of Russia is part of the Democrats’ demonization of Trump—“Putin stooge,” “Putin agent,” or, in the words of former CIA Director John Brennan, “traitor”—the American people are too disunited to take a stand against conflict with Russia that serves the agendas of the military/security complex and the neoconservatives’ ideology of US world hegemony.
As it is impossible for Russia to accept US intermediate range nuclear missiles on Russia’s border, war is close at hand.
China also sees war on the horizon. China’s president has ordered the military to “prepare for war.” https://www.rt.com/news/442625-china-prepares-war-us/
The recklessly irresponsible policy of the US government toward Russia and China is leading to nuclear war.
Perhaps the European governments, Washington’s compliant stooges, will finally wake up and refuse to participate in Washington’s orchestrated conflict. If not, the Doomsday Clock will have to be moved to one second before doom.
The Rooskies aren’t going to finish the USA, except for the ‘Rat favored CPUSA.
Tell this guy to take a Xanax the size of a horse pill.
I’ve not read so much over reacting in a LONG time.
85 percent of the country accepts President Trump as their legitimate president.
That’s the NORM compared to past presidents.
But this is the FIRST TIME people have become violent!!
Except it’s not. See the 1970s and the weather underground.
Trump is STILL in office, wishful thinking of making the SCOTUS null and void or making term limits blah blah are a DREAM.
We will at WORST hold the house.
EVERY attempt to undermine Trump by dems has failed.
Trump is SMARTER, TOUGHER, and as a fellow NYer, I know he is DEVIOUS enough to play the game with ANYBODY and WIN.
He will throw rabbit punches and kidney punches and if the ref’s not looking, a shot below the belt.
THIS IS GOOD!!
The days of the southern gentleman losing and being gracious are OVER.
Southern senators, our most conservative folks, ARE saying more and more what they WANT because they have a president who will back them up!
No one is going to war with Trump as president because they know HE WILL ROCK AND ROLL AND PLAY TO WIN.
And no one has a SHOT IN HELL against our military. Still.
That’s the reality.
The sky is falling sells magazines though.
I meant at WORST hold the senate. Sorry.
We are at the Alamo this election cycle.
The choice is so stark and obvious as demonstrated by the outing of the Dem playbook a la Cavanaugh hearings.
Its do or die time , so get out and vote to allow a true patriot and world leader to continue to MAGA...
We will, hope you will too
This guys article is part of the Dem playbook.
Create fear, and cause people to cower at the thought of the unknown that is just a scenario created by his fingers on a keyboard....
The world knows we are capable , quickly of dealing with any real threat.....
Their fear is greater than ours when it comes to the end game.......
The Japanese awoke the sleeping giant...... The terrorists tried theirs with 911.
We can take a punch and deliver a knockout if needed.... They know it and count on fools like this writer to give them a non lethal form of intimidation
Were the Germans finished after they bombed Pearl Harbor?
*** The Constitution and our civil liberties took a major hit from the “conservative” Republican regime of George W. Bush.***
Patriot Act, Domestic Spying on every one of us. Warrantless searches, No Knock Raids, suspension of habeus corpus, extrajudicial killings. I won’t lay it all on Bush, but I don’t find these supposed antiterrorism measures which have been used against Joe Average comforting.
Americans are now so polarized that they “no longer share basic sympathies and trust, because they no longer regard each other as worthy of equal consideration.”
The Left are doing EXACTLY as they have done for 50 yrs. The ONLY difference now is that the Right are fighting back. You can’t go beyond possibility, the Left are as intolorant now as they were 50 yrs ago.
Not on my watch.
Well then, Paul, you're an idiot.
I am certainly no fan of the Bushes in general, the Bush 43 Administration, or the Patriot Act and associated laws. However, Roberts seems to believe that the Patriot Act and related laws are aimed at the Democrats. They are not, they are aimed at the entire citizenry. To state that these laws are the right-wing equivalent of the attempted delegitimization and coup against Donald Trump is absurd on its face.
That both of these sets of actions are harmful to the domestic peace of this country that was engineered into our Constitution is correct. To claim that both of these sets of actions are related to the United States wanting to start a war with Russia and or China is absurd.
What Roberts is missing about the President’s cancellation of the intermediate-range nuclear treaty is that the Russians have, in fact, developed intermediate-range weapons to carry nuclear weapons, in violation of that treaty. Roberts is missing the fact that Russia is a regional power, attempting to further dominate the region within 1000 miles or so of its borders weapons that no one else has. I don’t blame them for doing this, I would do the same if I was running a nation, but the simple fact is that they are violating the treaty. Donald Trump is not the kind of guy who sits around with his thumb up his rear end when somebody breaks a contract against him. He does something about it, starting with unshackling himself from the obligations of that contract. Here, of course, he is not acting in his own self-interest, but in the interest of this nation. He has made it abundantly clear that he not only does not seek war with Russia, China or any other Nation, but that he hopes to work out mutually beneficial deals with nations that are not terribly friendly with us.
Paul Craig Roberts is an extremely astute economic analyst. He is also very good at picking out, and picking apart, laws or proposed legislation that is dangerous to our civil liberties. However, sometimes he jumps the shark, and this is most definitely one of those times.
All demonrats and all liberals are my sworn enemy, and I don’t think of them as fellow Americans.
The one thing that gives me hope is that most Liberals lack staying power.
Not their theorists or hard-core activists. Those are the ones who lay awake in bed all night, every night, thinking up cute new ways to stick it to Conservatives.
But the average Liberal voter out there is lazy, barely engaged, and has the attention span of a gnat. One can hope that after suffering a sufficiently demoralizing string of defeats they will just give-up and go home to watch Jerry Springer.
If I am wrong the only outcomes are CW 2.0, Bill Ayers’ re-education camp wet dream, or the Pinochet Solution.
Writer needs to step outside once in a while.
“...under the neoconservative regimes of Obama and Trump.”
Paul Craig Roberts has lost his mind.
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