Thursday, February 16, 2017

Paul Craig Roberts: The Trump Presidency: RIP!


Has Donald Trump overestimated his presidential power? The answer is yes.
Is Steve Bannon, Trump’s main advisor, politically inexperienced? The answer is yes.
We can conclude from the answers to these two questions that Trump is in over his head and will pay a big price.
How large will the price be?
The New York Times reports that US “intelligence agencies…sought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election.”
Former National Security Agency (NSA) spy John Schindler tweeted on Twitter that a senior intelligence community colleague sent him an email stating that the deep state had declared nuclear war on Trump and that “He will die in jail.” It is possible that this will be the case.
At the end of World War II, the military/security complex decided that the flow of profits and power from war and threats of war were too great to be relinquished to an era of peace. This complex manipulated a weak and inexperienced President Truman into a gratuitous Cold War with the Soviet Union. The lie was created, and accepted by the gullible American people, that International Communism intended world conquest. This lie was transparent, because Stalin had purged and murdered Leon Trotsky and all communists who believed in world revolution. “Socialism in one country,” declared Stalin.
Academic experts, knowing where their bread was buttered, went along with and contributed to the deceit. By 1961 the overarching power of the military/security complex was apparent to President Eisenhower, a five star general in charge of the US invasion of German occupied Western Europe during the Second World War. The private power that the military/security complex (Eisenhower called it the military-industrial complex) exercised disturbed Ike so much that in his last address to the American people he said we must guard against its subversion of democracy:
“Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
“We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”
Eisenhower’s warning was to the point. However, it relied on “an alert and knowledgeable citizenry,” which the US does not have. The American population is largely insoucient, and is heading, across the ideological spectrum from left to right, to self-destruction.
The print and TV media, which serve as propagandists for the ruling military/security complex and Wall Street elites, make certain that Americans have nothing but bogus orchestrated information. Every household and person who turns on TV or reads a newspaper is programed to live in a false orchestrated reality that serves the tiny few who comprise the ruling Establishment.
Trump challenged this Establishment without realizing that it is more powerful than a mere President of the United States.
This is what has happened: During Obama’s second term, Russia and its president were demonized by the military/security complex and the neoconservatives using the presstitute media. The demonization has facilitated the ability of the controlled presstitute media, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and the rest, to associate contact with Russia and articles questioning the orchestrated tensions between the US and Russia with suspicious activity, possibly even treason. Trump and his advisors were too inexperienced to realize that the consequence of Flynn’s dismissal was to validate this orchestrated association of the Trump presidency with Russian intelligence.
Now we have the media whores and the political whores asking the question used to blacken President Nixon and to force his resignation: “What did the President know and when did he know it?” Did Trump know that Gen. Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador weeks before Trump said he did? Did Flynn do the unspeakable—speak to a Russian—because Trump told him to do so?
The purveyors of fake news—the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the despicable liars are using irresponsible innuendo to entangle President Trump in a web of treason. Here is the New York Times headline: “Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence.” What we are witnessing is a campaign by the deep state using their media whores to set up Trump for impeachment.
Those at work overturning the 2016 presidential election are so confident of their success that they publicly declare their preference for coup over democracy. The zionist neoconservative warmonger Bill Kristol has expressed his preference for a deep state coup over democratically elected President Trump.
The liberal/progressive/left has aligned with the One Percent against the “racist, misogynist, homophobic” working class—the “Trump deplorables”—who elected Trump. Even the uninformed musician, Moby, felt compelled to post ignorant nonsense on Facebook:
“1-the russian dossier on trump is real. 100% real. he’s being blackmailed by the russian government, not just for being peed on by russian hookers, but for much more nefarious things.
2-the trump administration is in collusion with the russian government, and has been since day one.”
Now that Trump has been tainted with “associations with Russian intelligence,” the idiot Republicans, according to Bloomberg, have “joined calls by Democrats for a deeper look at contacts between President Donald Trump’s team and Russian intelligence agents Wednesday [Feb. 15], indicating a growing sense of political peril within the party as new reports surfaced of extensive contacts between the two.
Of course, there is no evidence of such contacts, but facts are not part of the campaign to depose Trump.
Trump’s sacking of Flynn is being used as vindication by his opponents of their false charges that the President of the United States is compromised by Russian intelligence. Realizing the mistake, the White House has tried to counter its blunder by saying that Flynn was dismissed because Trump lost confidence in him, not because he did anything illegal or had connections to Russian intelligence. But none of Trump’s opponents are listening. And the CIA keeps feeding fake news to the presstitutes.
From the very beginning I warned that Trump lacked the experience and the knowledge to pick a government that would stand by him and serve his agenda. Trump has now fired the one person on whom he could have counted. The most obvious conclusion is that Trump is dead meat.
The effort of the American people to bring government back under their control via Trump has been defeated by the deep state.
Chris Hedges argument that revolution is the only way that Americans can reclaim their country continues to gain credibility.
The words that doomed Trump when he declared war before he had his army assembled:
“There is nothing the political establishment will not do, and no lie they will not tell, to hold on to their prestige and power at your expense. The Washington establishment, and the financial and media corporations that fund it, exists for only one reason: to protect and enrich itself. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not We The People reclaim control over our government. The political establishment that is trying everything to stop us, is the same group responsible for our disastrous trade deals, massive illegal immigration, and economic and foreign policies that have bled this country dry.“ 
“The political establishment has brought about the destruction of our factories and our jobs, as they flee to Mexico, China and other countries throughout the world. It’s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.”

Open Warfare Declared in DC as Deep State ‘Goes Nuclear’ — Trump ‘Will Die in Jail’



Washington, D.C. – The United States is entering an extreme and unprecedented political crisis in the form of a soft coup by the deep state. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have publicly called out these elements of the “intelligence-industrial complex” that are actively working to undermine, discredit and forcibly remove President Trump.


Giving a clear admission of a soft coup in progress, John Schindler, a former professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, who spent nearly a decade with the super-secret National Security Agency as an intelligence analyst and counterintelligence officer — and who still maintains deep connections to the intelligence community — readily admitted that senior elements of the intelligence community (IC) are engaging in treason against Trump.


Screen cap, in case it gets deleted.

Speaking to this soft coup and smashing the left/right paradigm, on Tuesday, former Cleveland Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich boldly stated that, “There’s something wrong going on here in the intelligence community,” in calling out the real reason behind the forced resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.

Kucinich urged Trump to take control, and locate where the leakers are so he and the American people will know the truth. Kucinich said members of the intelligence community want to reignite a Cold War between the United States and Russia so the military, industrial and intelligence “axis” can “cash in.”

While on the opposite side of the aisle, California Congressman Devin Nunes (R), chairman of the House Committee on Intelligence, proclaimed that the nine intelligence officials who leaked the contents of Flynn’s phone call should be locked up for leaking classified intelligence.

“That’s nine leakers that all belong in jail,” he said. “Those nine people broke the law, clearly, by leaking classified information to anybody.”

This all comes in the wake of the nation’s top security official, National Security Advisor Flynn, being forced to resign after leaks from the IC revealed that he gave “incomplete information” to Vice President Mike Pence and others about the conversations he had with the Russian ambassador prior to Trump taking office.

Flynn has since publicly stated that he “crossed no lines” during an interview with The Daily Caller. Obviously, an experienced intelligence official like Flynn was completely aware of the signals intelligence on Russian diplomats, thus making it extremely unlikely that he would say anything that could be construed as violating the law.

Just remember, it’s not what Flynn said, it’s who he talked to – the Russians – as it is standard operating procedure for incoming officials to talk to diplomats from other countries. The neoliberal and neocon forces are determined to push a new Cold War with Russia, and will not allow for Trump’s intended rapprochement.

When intelligence officials are using their position to leak details to the press in an effort to control the public narrative in hopes of delegitimizing a sitting president, make no mistake that the politicians are no longer in control of the United States – the intelligence apparatus is in control.

Think about the implications of what is taking place; any person running for public office can essentially be manipulated by the intelligence that the NSA has collected on them. The information can then be anonymously leaked to destroy anyone the intel apparatus chooses, thus giving them total control.

The depth of this political crisis cannot be overstated, as the deep state war on Trump could spiral out of control with grave consequences, including the risk of an actual Civil War.

As noted by respected geopolitical analyst The Saker:

At the risk of sounding over the top, I will say that what is happening now is putting the very existence of the United States in danger almost regardless of what Trump will personally do. Whatever we may think of Trump as a person and about his potential as a President, what is certain is that millions of American patriots have voted for him to “clear the swamp”, give the boot to the Washington-based plutocracy and restore what they see as fundamental American values. 
If the Neocons now manage to stage a coup d’etat against Trump, I predict that these millions of American will turn to violence to protect what they see as their way of life, their values and their country. In spite of the image which Hollywood likes to give of them, most Americans are peaceful and non-violent people, but if they are pushed too far they will not hesitate and grab their guns to defend themselves, especially if they lose all hopes in their democracy. And I am not talking only about gun-toting hillbillies here, I am talking about the local, state and county authorities, who often care much more about what their local constituents think and say than what they are up to in DC. If a coup is staged against Trump and some wannabe President à la Hillary or McCain gives the order to the National Guard or even the US Army to put down a local insurrection, we could see what we saw in Russia in 1991: a categorical refusal of the security services to shoot at their own people.
This is a very prescient warning given the volatile political atmosphere in the United States. It should be noted that the confluence of deep state forces in this soft coup against Trump includes Clinton political operatives of the Brock/Podesta/Soros ilk, neocons represented by McCain/Graham, and intelligence operatives in the security apparatus.

Essentially, the losers of the election refuse to submit and have determined that they will wage total war on Trump in an effort to force regime change – elections be damned.

In fact, the dynamics at play are much larger in scope and volume than what most people understand, as they are part of a full spectrum war, utilizing tactics from various global Color Revolutions, to force regime change in the United States. The neocons and neoliberals have virtual control of the Congress, the media, courts, and parts of the intelligence apparatus.

From the time of Bill Clinton until now, these elements have deeply penetrated the Pentagon, Foggy Bottom, and the three letter agencies. Even the Fed is largely aligned with these globalist forces.

So, how can President Trump survive this soft coup?

Trump has only one chance for his political survival.

He must undertake a ruthless, but legal, anti-corruption campaign against the deep state forces aligned against his presidency ala Putin’s anti-corruption campaign in Russia. Make no mistake that Trump, and those that have declared war upon him, are engaged in a fight to the death.
When Putin came to power he inherited a similar situation in the Kremlin, which was every bit as corrupt and traitor-infested as the White House in which Trump now finds himself.

The manner in which this operation would be conducted would be a methodical FBI crackdown on the forces fomenting the soft coup by investigating the plotters on charges of corruption, abuse of power, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and all the other types of behavior which have gone on forever in Congress, the intelligence community and the media.

Trump could start by instructing FBI Director James Comey to tenaciously investigate criminal activity of those elements involved in the plot. Essentially, he would deal with the coup plotters in the same manner as Putin handled the oligarchs in Russia or how the U.S. took down Al Capone – tax evasion charges, etc.

With the removal of Flynn, Trump is now surrounded by forces that are largely hostile to his stated goal of peace with Russia. The major difference between what Putin faced and what Trump now faces is that the forces aligned against Putin never saw him coming.

Trump’s only choices for political survival are to strike immediately and strike hard, or to cave to the neolibcon line on Russia. Judging by his tweet regarding Crimea this morning, it seems that Trump may be capitulating to the forces intent on his destruction in an effort to save his presidency from total ruin.
To survive the soft coup attempt, without bending to the neolibcon will, Trump must use the FBI to clean house and deliver a steady stream of indictments for corruption, conspiracy to [fill the blank], abuse of authority, obstruction of justice and dereliction of duty, etc. Since such crimes are widespread in the current circles of power, they are also easy to prove and cracking down on corruption would get Trump a standing ovation from the American people.

This is the only way Trump will survive the ongoing coup attempt by the various deep state operatives, working in concert with Clintonian media proxies, is to undertake a widespread anti-corruption campaign aimed at those attempting to overthrow the current U.S. government.

While one may not support Trump’s politics or agenda, make no mistake that those involved in this soft coup are doing nothing less than engaging in treason against the United States.

Evan McMullin: President Donald Trump Is a ‘Domestic Enemy’

Evan McMullin: President Donald Trump Is a ‘Domestic Enemy’


Former CIA operative and 2016 third-party presidential candidate Evan McMullin took to Twitter and CNN on Wednesday to defend rogue intelligence agents who break the law to leak classified information, saying President Donald Trump “presents a threat to the country.”

In response to President Trump’s tweets earlier Wednesday, in which he alleged that elements of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency were engaged in “Russia”-style political operations, McMullin tweeted:

By oath, intelligence officials' first duty is to "defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.." https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/831853862281699331 


So, the real scandal isn't that the President of the United States of America appears to have been co-opted by America's greatest adversary? https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/831853862281699331 

The obvious implication was that McMullin believes that intelligence and law enforcement agents are entitled to break the law based on their own views that the President of the United States is a threat to the Constitution and in cahoots with Russia.
Mcmullen reiterated his views on CNN, where he purported to speak for the concern of the agents doing the leaking:
“I’ll tell you what their concerns are. There concerns are that Donald Trump presents a threat to the country because of his — what they see as his relationship with Vladimir Putin and the relationship of his team to other Russian intelligence officers.”
McMullin cited a New York Times report indicating that Trump campaign aides had contact with Russian intelligence — without also noting that the same report indicated there was “no evidence” that the “Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election.”
He went on to make the very claim denied by the Times article, telling Baldwin Trump “ran a campaign that was assisted by a foreign adversary — our greatest foreign adversary.”
Pressed by host Brooke Baldwin as to whether there were “too many leaks,” McMullin said that intelligence officers were bound by an oath to defend the country and the Constitution against “domestic and foreign enemies.” That included “a security threat coming from the White House.”
An obviously sympathetic Baldwin then asked McMullin: “Are any of these people you’re talking to just even worried about him even getting intel briefings, period?”
McMullin said that they are — and seemed to admit, in the process, that he is speaking with intelligence officials who may be leaking information.
During the presidential campaign, McMullin was a leader in the “NeverTrump” movement, consisting of conservatives who rejected Trump as the Republican Party nominee. Though he hoped to flip Utah, among a few other states, to Hillary Clinton by relegating Trump to third place, Trump won in that state and elsewhere.
On Tuesday, Weekly Standard editor-at-large Bill Kristol expressed similar sentiments, and appeared, in theory, to endorse a coup by the “deep state” against the “Trump state.”

Obviously strongly prefer normal democratic and constitutional politics. But if it comes to it, prefer the deep state to the Trump state.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Neo-con Bill Kristol openly supports a deep-state coup against President Trump


Dr. Eowyn


On February 13, General Mike Flynn resigned from being President Trump’s national security adviser and apologized for telling then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence an untruth — that Flynn had not discussed the issue of sanctions with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. Reportedly, Flynn resigned in lieu of being outright fired.

President Trump did the right thing in removing Flynn because he cannot have as his adviser someone who lies and who might have violated the law (Logan Act) in speaking with and negotiating with the Russian ambassador without Trump’s authorization. But this matter is more than “just” the removal of a dishonest aide because it has to do with how Flynn’s conversation with the Russian ambassador came to light. Only U.S. intelligence agencies could have illegally wiretapped to Flynn’s conversation, and who then leaked the transcript of the conversation to the MSM who are just chafing at the bit to find anything to take down Trump’s presidency.

In the last weeks of the Obama administration, the intelligence agencies were complicit in an effort to subvert the November 8 election with wholly unverified and unfounded allegations that Russia had intervened in the election by hacking and leaking to WikiLeaks damaging emails of the DNC, Hillary Clinton, and the chair of her campaign John Podesta. Trump responded that, as President, he will reform the intelligence agencies, beginning with the CIA.

At the time, on January 3, 2017, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) darkly warned that Trump would be “really dumb” to take on the intelligence community because “they have six ways from Sunday of getting back at you.” Asked if this was a threat against Trump, former Senator Ron Paul (R) said, “I think he [Schumer] is speaking the truth there — better watch out. I think Trump knows about it. That’s why he has private security.” (See my post “Trump’s war with the CIA”)

The taking down of Mike Flynn was the first shot at the Trump administration from the intelligence agencies that are bureaucracies in the executive branch of the U.S. government over which President Trump presumably is the head. The intelligence agencies’ illegal wiretapping of Flynn’s phone conversation and transmission of the transcript to the MSM is an act of revolt, pure and simple. As Thomas Lifson of the American Thinker points out:
Make no mistake: we have just witnessed an operation by members of the CIA to take out a high official of our own government. An agency widely believed to have brought down democratically elected governments overseas is now practicing the same dark arts in domestic American politics. Almost certainly, its new head, [CIA Director] Mike Pompeo, was not consulted . . . . 
Note that the law was broken by whoever leaked the transcripts to the media. Not only is the crime underlying the “scandal” being ignored, but the criminals are being hailed. On Morning Joe‘s first hour today, the host, a former congressman (i.e., a lawmaker) himself, called the leakers “heroes.”  
The Flynn Affair is a huge scandal, all right.  But the media are misdirecting our attention toward the lesser dimension while they studiously ignore the real threat to our democracy. 
This interference in domestic politics by the CIA should be regarded as a major threat to our democracy, but of course our Trump-hating domestic media are reveling in a major point scored against the new president.
To make matters even worse, the leak of Flynn’s conversation is only one of several leaks from the Trump administration. In a series of tweets, President Trump identifies the problem:

trump-tweet-on-leakstrump-tweets-on-intelligence1trump-tweets-on-intelligence
On the intelligence agencies’ takedown of Flynn, neo-conservative Bill Kristol, founder and editor at large of The Weekly Standard and a network political commentator, tweeted:

bill-kristol-coup-tweet-2-14-2017

Kristol’s declaration that he prefers the unelected “deep state” to the constitutional government of duly-elected President Trump is nothing other than Kristol’s admission that he supports a coup d’état.

One of Donald Trump’s campaign slogans was “Drain the Swamp”. President Trump must thoroughly excise the rot in the intelligence agencies, beginning with the CIA and the National Security Agency (NSA) — Gen. Flynn would have been director of the NSA. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the FBI must arrest the wiretappers and leakers, the reporters who solicited and received the transcript from an illegal wiretap, as well as Bill Kristol for openly advocating and fomenting treason against the United States (as per Article III of the U.S. Constitution).

The continuation of Trump’s presidency and the preservation of his very life depend on it.

Pray for President Trump. Pray for America!

trump-wings

See also:
H/t FOTM’s josephbc69

~Eowyn