US is now that far off the rails that the “west” is starting to turn away from it? Germany and France, Minsk 2, UK joining China led infrastructure bank, Venezuela a threat?
The world starting to recognise that the US exceptional nation ideology the biggest threat to world peace?
On another note Robert parry has another article on MH17.
“In January, when I re-contacted the source who had been briefed by the U.S. analysts, the source said their thinking had not changed, except that they believed the missile may have been less sophisticated than a Buk, possibly an SA-6, and that the attack may have also involved a Ukrainian jetfighter firing on MH-17.” https://consortiumnews.com/2015/03/14/us-intel-stands-pat-on-mh-17-shoot-down/
Peter, it certainly seems the US is doing a fine job of discrediting itself. Venezuela a threat, indeed. Probably cuz of the name of their Defense Minister: Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
The letter is exactly right. Separation of powers exists for a reason. And making sure foreign governments know they are not simply negotiating with the executive is polite.
If someone was selling you a bridge he didn’t own you’d want to know about it.
No. [ removed ]..
You do not understand the concept of the separation of powers.
There isn’t a “competition” a la free market thinking, where Congress can step in and compete with and show up the President and try to take over his function.
Foreign policy is the responsibility of the Executive Branch. The State Department is part of the Executive Branch. So is the DoD. [ removed ]
Congress has the power of the purse and the power to declare war.
Our government is in a shambles. Neither the pols nor the citizens understand their government.
Once you have finished ad hominem attacks perhaps you might take the time to actually read the US constitution. Or [ removed ] maybe I can direct your attention to this crappy page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_Clause
It is clear that treaties that are not ratified carry now legal weight.
The president cannot create a treaty with a foreign power unilaterally. This is by design.
I don’t think any offense was intended. It is simply a tool of rhetoric. For my part a letter to the foreign parties involved that the treaty must be ratified, by congress, to carry weight and not be easily reversed at the whim of the standing president is not treason. It is simply an informational communication about the american political structure. This is a reminder that they may be being sold a false bill of goods. Unfortunately this is not unusual behavior for this, or previous, administrations.
Perhaps to describe it better:
I have a brother. I love my brother, but he is selling you a car he does not own and the car is about to be repossessed. I am embarrassed by his behavior and it has caused my family all sorts of trouble. But he is still my brother. Don’t buy the car from him please. For your sake as well as mine.
OK, let’s review “separation of powers” and “checks and balances”:
separation of powers: A fundamental principle of the United States government, whereby powers and responsibilities are divided among the legislative branch, executive branch, and judicial branch. The officials of each branch are selected by different procedures and serve different terms of office; each branch may choose to block action of the other branches through the system of ***checks and balances.*** The framers of the Constitution designed this system to ensure that no one branch would accumulate too much power and that issues of public policy and welfare would be given comprehensive consideration before any action was taken.
**************
As Jim Lobe points out in the video, Congress has powers to legitimately block action by the president. But going around him and behind to in effect conduct its own foreign policy is not one of them. I expect that the Iranians know perfectly well how our system works. They will know that there is a lot of air between negotiating a treaty —or, in fact, any domestic policy as well—and actually getting it ratified. SEnding a letter that they will block ANY treaty that Obama negotiates when they finally see it, and the reasons as given by Fred, stands as evidence that the American government has broken down.
As both Lobe and Hillary cogently point out, and the poster above makes abundantly clear in his choice of examples, the subtextual theme of these legislators and Fred and the above commenter is that the president requires “adult supervision”—is not an adult and should not be president. Then there is the racist theme as well. And don’t forget the pure ignoramus-regarding-others’-cultures-and-belief- systems theme. This action undermines this president and the presidency in general. I am no fan of Obama. But I certainly wish he would act more forcefully to protect his prerogatives and those of his office and not let sand be kicked in his face by a bunch of hicks. But, as John Chuckman makes abundantly in his excellent piece on the CIA and American presidents, here http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41222.htm
there is no way to know the constraints that Obama is under.
Obama did not come to DC with an independent power base. He was “chosen” and “groomed.’
He was green and did not have the kind of political skills possessed by, say, LBJ or even (gasp) Nixon.
But, to get back to the point, both Jim Lobe and Hillary put forth cogent arguments, and this fellow Fred must have agreed to go on the show as the stooge—to show the world a good example of the “all-American nut job” whose natural habitat is Foggy Bottom!!! Good job, Peter Lavelle!! And I was most positively impressed by Hillaryl. She has guts and is articulate. And Jim Lobe, so simpatico and laid back. They make a good pair and i hope to see them on Lavelle’s show more often. (Or perhaps they are regular commentators and I have missed them, as I just pick up the shows when they are posted here. )
PS.
If any congressmen had tried a stunt like that under LBJ, retribution would have been swift. LBJ would have known exactly how to put the screws on—let’s say, “discipline”—such types via committee appointments, budgets, favors to supporters, blackmail, whatever.
None dare call it treason? What would you call all the laws passed under Obama that violate the freedoms of our constitution? I’ve seldom seen gut level truths so openly displayed emotionally as this crosstalk. They dare not call it treason but they do call it racism. There you have it with Israel’s Netanyahoo the prime exhibit. The saker has a knack for picking out what is relevant.Racism is an ugly word for an uglier reality. Join racism to classism and we get what we’ve got: a world sick to death; in other words, terminal. We’ve got a disease no doctor can cure. It’s coming down to love or nothing with no middle ground. More at thelovegovernment.com.
Obama is trying to sell a car that is in the process of being repossessed. Who should be angry? I’d be angry too if someone told my mark that I was ripping them off.
It seems the Iranian negotiator has an International Law degree from an Ivy League US University.And he disputes that Congress has the power to throw out International Treaties signed by the US government.And from what I heard he informed those Congressmen of that.So in that way,it was totally embarrassing for the US Congress.When your opponent knows laws better than the “so-called” law makers.
Looked Fleitz up — he used to work for John Bolton. Very zionist (his mouth opened a bit at the first mention of Israel). His frozen half-smiling face reminds me of someone laid out at a funeral parlor or a robot whose head is about to fall off revealing springs and circuit boards. I wish they had had him on camera in the wide shot more so I cold have seen the subtle flickerings of expression as various points were brought up. About the only time he was animated was when he was spewing his lies.
He gave me the creeps just looking at him. Scary, actually. I’m guessing he is genuine psychopath (as is Bolton), just from his visage.
This Fred Leitz character almost seems like he came out of a plastic mould -a robot sitting there like a statue and then spouting brainwashed paranoid ideology impervious to any logic or reason.
How many decades is it now that we have heard that Iran is within months of acquiring a nuke?
Hypothetical queston: what would happen if Iran were to actually acquire a small number of nukes?
Aside from it being less likely that the US/Israel would bomb them, what are the oher possible permutations?
BTW in response to you comment about calling them psychos instead of evil, made a few days ago which I just read last night, you can call them evil, and I’ve done so on occasion, as a nice catch-all word, but it can complicate matters because of the ambiguity of the term, as defined differently in various moral or ethical systems, or by atheists, humanists, and the different religions.
Functionally, ‘sociopathic’ or ‘psychopathic’ is more specific, at least in political and social context. ‘Evil’ has connotations regarding one’s personal integrity where as sociopathic implies someone messing with others, and also implies a different driving force behind their actions. It might even be argued that the true psychopath is not being evil because he is so mentally deranged he has no free will in the matter — like a rabid dog biting people. (Hence my characterization of him as robotic.)
In general, you can say the US government is evil, or insane, but in either case the remedy is to neutralize it — stop it from it’s destructive actions. Judging motivation may be useful in predicting what they will do next, or how to exert control on it, but if a dog attacks me, rabid, crazy, wild, or whatever, my response will be the same: eliminate it.
Yeah, I agree that the word psychopath does also mean evil. but the literature that I read the most…Steiner…says that if we as a society don’t recognize that there is real evil in the world, that it is a spiritual force of evil, that we will not be able to ever get free of it. That its a part of the ‘evil’ to dis-own the spiritual worlds.
I don’t know how you feel about spirituality stuff. I always enjoy your comments. I think you feel a connection with the spiritual world view, but its not a religious denomination.
As soon as I get into spiritual areas I run out of words, and even thoughts. I call myself an ignostic — ‘ig’ implying ignorance, but hear meaning one can’t even ask meaningful questions or make meaningful statements. I think of spirituality as close to art — if you could say it you wouldn’t have paint or perform it. But I can say I think there’s a duality — a definite difference between ‘spiritual’ and ‘physical’, but that it’s all part of a continuum.
Once you start getting into religious or spiritual things the tendency is for people to confuse personal emotions and conditioning with reality, and can go off in very strange and unhealthy directions. Just look at all the ‘true believers’ in manifest destiny, or extreme religious cults, or ‘woo-woo new age hippies’, and see where it gets us: it’s as bad as the physicalists who think that ‘science’ and ‘logic’ has all the answers, and are just as convinced they are ‘right’ as the religious cults. Lots of hubris in all of these ideologies, and getting stuck in just one mode of thinking and perception.
I can do science and math, I can do magick, I can do art, I can do myth or religion — all are good for some things and bad for others, and one should be flexible and adaptable and understand the limits and fuzzy edges of each mode or system. Evil? You can say that capitalism, with evaluating everything in terms of profit (included as part of power) is evil, and it’s because it’s all stuck on one very limited context. And empire? everything is in terms of winning and power. These people will look at a musical composition and want to know how much it’s worth and how to know if you win when you perform it (like it’s a war).
All of these are also similar to a language — trying to express and understand things, but thinking if it’s not in the vocabulary then it doesn’t exist, and that there are no other languages, and that everything can be done and expressed linguistically.
That’s why these people are like zombies or robots. I’d say they are not involved in ‘spiritual evil’ because they are so cut off and undeveloped they can’t even touch those areas. It’s like talking about if one year old infants can commit a sin — and yes, some wackos will say they can and try to beat it out of them — or maybe even try to reason or negotiate treaties with them. But we understand small toddlers — they want what they want when they want it and have little or no concept of or ability to handle anything beyond their immediate desires and impulses. Neocons and imperialists never grew out of that — they want everything.
Natural cultural ignorance/lack of consideration and sensitivity towards other cultures and being proud of it. That type of ignorance can really be summed up in one word -exceptionalism, and that is cemented by an ideology consisting of ‘Manifest Destiny’ and religious delusions e.g. evangelical fundamentalism. Guns, a false God and greed.
This manifests itself in a war non-democracy nation based on money and corporate lobbies. Corporate money, especially from MIC lobbies buys the war government that is the USA. Israel, aided by MSM ownership, controls much of US government foreign policy -Israel thinks they can only exist defending against permanent enemies and thus have a huge lobby dedicated to promoting permanent war and handouts from the USA.
This ugly power is too well entrenched and the general American populace too unquestioning and brainwashed to fail from the outside. It is impervious to any political democratic reform and is essentially one government -remove the facade and the Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same coin. It can only fail from within.
Its really great the Peter Lavelle is speaking out so much on the Israel Lobby. RT is watched by lots of Americans…this is very positive. I guess its good to have these idiots sometimes…I don’t enjoy watching the ‘big lie’ in action….”Iran is a state of terrorists.” what a lie…what about Saudi ????..
The post-modernist west is unable to comprehend a self-confident modern Russia
Peter Lavelle
Peter Lavelle is host of RT’s political debate program “CrossTalk.” His expressed opinions may or may not reflect those of his employer.
From the chattering classes mingling with to those roaming to the corridors of power to the west’s media oligarchs, Russia is consistently portrayed as alien and a country to be wary of, even feared. The west’s 24/7 media echo chamber tells us relentlessly that something is simply not right about Russia and that somehow it is because of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is where the west simply gets Russia wrong. Putin’s popularly at home is real and not artificially constructed.
[…]
The letter obviously came from AIPAC. That alone makes the senators traitors. Allowing a foreign country, over that of one’s own country, to determine what a politician does is treason. And this foreign state being Israel makes it a hostile foreign nation the senators are working for, since Israel considers itself literally at war with every state. That makes it treason in war time.
The USA needs more people in politics like this woman:
The deal is the US uses Israel as it’s local gangster enforcer in the MIddle East and Israel uses the US as the supporting godfather which keeps the zionists in Israel happy, through it’s network of zionists in US politics, media, and finance.The US is the host and Israel the parasite, but It’s a symbiotic relationship, and part of the empire’s agenda. That’s why the US supports Israel: the benefits both domestically and foreign. If Israel gets too far out of line it will be made offers it can’t refuse, or be dumped or eliminated, despite all the power it has in the US — same as anyone in the US who goes against the imperial hegemony and oligarchy. Israel is not immune from being regime-changed, and there is no shortage of excuses publicize and to do it if the time comes (anyone want to see Netanyahu ‘Saddamized’ — like Gaddafi, to Hillary’s glee).
Sorry, but that is the standard “Chomsky spiel”. Very simple logic dispels that “USA-master, Israel-tool” propaganda. If Israel was the junior partner, why would the USA tolerate the Israel lobby? I don’t just mean AIPAC, which is only a fraction of the disease.
Come on, since when do empires allow the colonies to dominate their political process? Besides in the USA, the zionazis/Israel has duplicated almost the exact same Israel lobby in many other countries. No other special interest lobbies carry even remotely the same weight in politics in the “western 1st world”. These Israel/zionazi lobbies not only enforce zionazi interests, they duplicate all the other capitalist interests in the countries they operate in. And they do it from the national down to the local level.
Why would a master allow a slave to not only dominate its political process regarding narrow interests (IE: Israel), but also why would capitalists waste effort and money (oodles of the stuff) on duplicating capitalist political lobbies they already have? The capitalists in the west have long had their various mechanisms in place to control the regime they operate in, why go to the trouble and cost to duplicate these with a whole new layer that corporates zionazi interests? This is the major disconnect in such “Chomsky/zio-“left” disinfo.
Bot Tak, so what you’re saying is that Israeli money is dominant in the US. And England.
But I still think that the Anglo-American alliance is stronger and more powerful than the Israeli-American alliance.
And I think that what we see in England, David Cameron et al.., is a parrallel of the real English power. The elites don’t get into the news. And they’re ok with America being the lead voice….because their money is really the ruler of this world.
They are slaves and Israel is not a colony; they are ‘conspirators’, like an attack dog which the ‘master’ no longer controls well because it can turn on him. But it’s also profitable to retain that dog. The zionists can control politicians but don’t control the other oligarchs, and the zionist oligarchs really don’t care about either Jews or Israel — both are just tools. Neither do any of them care about the US, which is also a tool. They care party for their own class because there is safety in numbers and organization, but the bottom line is they care about themselves, and everything and everyone is a tool in their own eyes — that’s the classic psychopath.
When you ask why the USA tolerates the zionist lobby, which USA do you refer to? Call it psychopathic ‘professional courtesy’. They will tolerate each other as long as the other is not a direct threat, or if they don’t have the power to destroy the competitor without being hurt themselves. Gangsters often come up with an agreement to keep to their own turf.
No, it’s a creation of some very rich Jewish oligarchs, some of whom lived in the UK. The Rothschild family may have been the main force behind Israel.
Blue
With that new comment, it looks like we don’t disagree as much as I thought. I like the attack dog comparison and agree in many ways Israel is like an attack dog that has slipped its leash. Pretty much agree with most of the rest, except this:
The zionists can control politicians but don’t control the other oligarchs, and the zionist oligarchs really don’t care about either Jews or Israel — both are just tools.
The zionists and non-zionists intermix in a lot of their areas. Many of the giant international conglomeration corporate earth swallowing monsters have both zios and non-zios in the top slots. Their main differences, besides the usual capitalist/psychopath ones you mentioned, are zionism. Or better put, Jewish supremacism. Israel was born of Jewish supremacism and its maintenance as “the homeland” serves a strong unifying factor among those Jewish oligarchs who are zionists/Jewish supremacists. This makes Israel a tool, yes, but an indispensable tool. This is why so much effort, money and time has been spent on Israel, and it is also why these Jewish supremacist oligarchs consider Israel to be sacrosanct, alone among nations. The unifying force Israel, their shared purpose, provides this grouping is their source of strength. Without Israel to focus on, they would probably be like the way they were in the 19th century. Which is pretty much as the rest of the non-zionist oligarchy is still.
Israel itself has always maintained some independence and my view is they, and the zionist oligarchs outside Israel share an interdependency such that each needs the other, so wont push it if the other strongly wants something.
The Israel lobby exists as a duplicate of the other business lobbies because it is there to influence the non-zionist oligarchy. The control the zionists exert over politics, the media, finances and all other aspects of society is to influence the other non-oligarchs. IE: to control them. But that control is not absolute, it is more of veto power. And the non-zionist oligarchs have that power, also. At least for now*. Most of the time, neither side uses it, it’s not necessary since most of the time, they agree and work together, such as in their current campaign against Russia. But if there is line being crossed that one side cant tolerate, that veto power is used.
*The zionist faction continues to increase in power. If unchecked, they could dominate. I believe that is their end goal. That’s also where Israel comes into play. Once the zios dominate, Israel will become their central capital.
RT has an infuriating habit of not looking at any of this in terms of the.Petrodollar system and some sort of current desperation to preserve it, but Hillary came close when she said this was about the rise in Russian Sino and Iranian power overall and the end of our warlike stance. Maybe they would be taken off the air in the States if they got too close to the truth.
The premier of the Israeli regime tried to sabotage a meeting of its own intelligence service, Mossad, with US congressmen, not to warn them that the political games of Congress could undermine the dialogue with Iran.
Guys, I don’t think you understand the facade that is being played out right now. The majority of the country is now against Obama. Therefore he’s now playing the “role” of being weak on Iran, Isis, Russia, etc. Therefore, when his replacement comes in, the vast majority of the dumbed down populace will root for anything “perceived” as opposite of what Obama was doing. This is how they will sell ww3 with the help of an entirely controlled msm.
However, all the legit reasons to despise Obama (he’s a communist, he’s a homosexual promoting sodomite marriage, etc, “obamacare”) won’t be touched with a ten foot pole.
The NWO agenda marches on. It’s all a damn farce. Don’t be played guys. Obama is doing exactly what he’s told. He is a controlled stooge, like all of them.
I’m a great fan of Catherine Austin Fitts–in principle.
But I can’t really follow what she says.
Either she is way above my head, or maybe she leaves out a step here and there. I still don’t understand what she means by “crashup.” She described the impact of new technologies on equities and gave the example of a robot that can make a hamburger from start to finish. She described how much money such advances would save for corporations and this seems to be “crashup.” But she made no mention of what happens to the people, and the economy, when such jobs are taken by a robot. So, I am still kind of in the dark. Do the robots pay income tax on their “earnings”??
Also, for me there were a couple of links missing in the chain of reasoning as to the relationship between the drug business and government finances. I think I kind of get it but I would not be able to explain anything to anyone else.
The interview with Catherine, she calls the shadow government “mr Global”…but she also asks “Who is Mr. Global ?”
Bot Tak thinks its Israel…but Catherine doesn’t…watch the interview….she should know…she’s been there. Assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
No I don’t. Israel is the “bolt hole”, the “last refuge”, the special place that is untouchable, the only country not subject to liquidation by the ZPC/NWO oligarchy. All others are fair game, if the price is right. Outside of protection for Israel, “Mr. Global” does not recognize states exist.
That’s a good point. These critters are not operating in a vacuum. It’s a team effort for the good ole ZPC/NWO. Some play one role, some another. But it is only roles, the ZPC/NWO plan moves ahead, irregardless of the prestidigitator’s soap opera.
Amarican policy is logically inconsistent. They jump up and down about having to deal with a nuclear armed Iran. Yet they clearly embark on a crusade against Russia. Iran May build some nuclear weapons but Russia definitely 7000 of them ready to go. If tension between nuclear armed nations is so problematic how about making nice to Russia.
It’s not illogical at all. All but the flunkies knows Iran has no and wants no nukes, but it has oil and refuses to be puppets of the empire. The narrative (the ‘map’, hat tip to Korzibsky) is not the territory (reality). Nuclear development in Iran was not a problem when the US had it’s Shah, there, of course, just as chemical weapons (WMD) was not a problem in Iraq when Saddam was doing what the US wanted.
We got two problems now: some the crazy US clowns think they can be assured that Russia won’t use nukes, and others think they can survive — even ‘win– a nuclear war. They live in a delusional group think bubble.
Ignore the narratives — we have to understand the deep politics and underlying madness and motivations.
International Criminal Lawyer Mr. Chris Black writes, that General Breedlove should be charged for war crimes for inciting war against Russia when he said on Fox News that few Russians need to be killed to make Putin pay attention. These American cowboys like his former colleague in NATO Salona and Wesley Clarke should all be in jail for their crimes against civilians.
” The Nuremberg principle that propaganda inciting aggressive war is a crime was codified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1966.
Article 20 states,
“1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”
I don’t see any reference to Breedlove in that article. Wasn’t it Major General (retired) Robert Scales that made that comment on Faux News? (See this Sputniknews item.)
Not that I’m saying a similar case couldn’t be made against Breedlove.
The dollar must be destroyed before the Empire can set off a nuclear war. Putin has come forward and offered to lead the people of Earth in this endeavor. The author of this letter and his owners want war. Which side are you on?
Obama is a terrible, awful, bad no good president just like the other two modern presidents that preceded him. But he is dragging his feet on war with Iran. This buys us some time. Which side are you on?
The constitution was mortally wounded by Lincoln and finished off by Wilson. It is not relevant to current discussions of war and peace. The Anglo Zionist Empire is in steep decline and will pass into history with or without a nuclear winter. Which would you prefer?
Thanks for the link to Catherine Austin Fitts. I hope everybody goes there.
The change from these united states to this united states meant the demise of federalism. In my opinion the constitution sans federalism is already not the constitution. This is my point of view. I have neither the chops nor the will to defend it.
I credit Lincoln and Wilson for their singular rolls in transforming the republic into an expansionist empire with an agenda to rule the world by force of arms.
I’m a 10th amendment guy. A tenther if you will. A literate but uneducated man such as myself can read the constitution and know what it says. But only 9 people on earth know what it means. Instead of a supreme court we should have had a jury. But it’s too late now.
With friends like these who needs enemies
US is now that far off the rails that the “west” is starting to turn away from it? Germany and France, Minsk 2, UK joining China led infrastructure bank, Venezuela a threat?
The world starting to recognise that the US exceptional nation ideology the biggest threat to world peace?
On another note Robert parry has another article on MH17.
“In January, when I re-contacted the source who had been briefed by the U.S. analysts, the source said their thinking had not changed, except that they believed the missile may have been less sophisticated than a Buk, possibly an SA-6, and that the attack may have also involved a Ukrainian jetfighter firing on MH-17.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/03/14/us-intel-stands-pat-on-mh-17-shoot-down/
Peter, it certainly seems the US is doing a fine job of discrediting itself. Venezuela a threat, indeed. Probably cuz of the name of their Defense Minister: Vladimir Padrino Lopez.
The letter is exactly right. Separation of powers exists for a reason. And making sure foreign governments know they are not simply negotiating with the executive is polite.
If someone was selling you a bridge he didn’t own you’d want to know about it.
Yes?
No.
[ removed ]..
You do not understand the concept of the separation of powers.
There isn’t a “competition” a la free market thinking, where Congress can step in and compete with and show up the President and try to take over his function.
Foreign policy is the responsibility of the Executive Branch. The State Department is part of the Executive Branch. So is the DoD.
[ removed ]
Congress has the power of the purse and the power to declare war.
Our government is in a shambles. Neither the pols nor the citizens understand their government.
Once you have finished ad hominem attacks perhaps you might take the time to actually read the US constitution. Or [ removed ] maybe I can direct your attention to this crappy page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_Clause
It is clear that treaties that are not ratified carry now legal weight.
The president cannot create a treaty with a foreign power unilaterally. This is by design.
I don’t think any offense was intended. It is simply a tool of rhetoric. For my part a letter to the foreign parties involved that the treaty must be ratified, by congress, to carry weight and not be easily reversed at the whim of the standing president is not treason. It is simply an informational communication about the american political structure. This is a reminder that they may be being sold a false bill of goods. Unfortunately this is not unusual behavior for this, or previous, administrations.
Perhaps to describe it better:
I have a brother. I love my brother, but he is selling you a car he does not own and the car is about to be repossessed. I am embarrassed by his behavior and it has caused my family all sorts of trouble. But he is still my brother. Don’t buy the car from him please. For your sake as well as mine.
OK, let’s review “separation of powers” and “checks and balances”:
separation of powers: A fundamental principle of the United States government, whereby powers and responsibilities are divided among the legislative branch, executive branch, and judicial branch. The officials of each branch are selected by different procedures and serve different terms of office; each branch may choose to block action of the other branches through the system of ***checks and balances.*** The framers of the Constitution designed this system to ensure that no one branch would accumulate too much power and that issues of public policy and welfare would be given comprehensive consideration before any action was taken.
**************
As Jim Lobe points out in the video, Congress has powers to legitimately block action by the president. But going around him and behind to in effect conduct its own foreign policy is not one of them. I expect that the Iranians know perfectly well how our system works. They will know that there is a lot of air between negotiating a treaty —or, in fact, any domestic policy as well—and actually getting it ratified. SEnding a letter that they will block ANY treaty that Obama negotiates when they finally see it, and the reasons as given by Fred, stands as evidence that the American government has broken down.
As both Lobe and Hillary cogently point out, and the poster above makes abundantly clear in his choice of examples, the subtextual theme of these legislators and Fred and the above commenter is that the president requires “adult supervision”—is not an adult and should not be president. Then there is the racist theme as well. And don’t forget the pure ignoramus-regarding-others’-cultures-and-belief- systems theme. This action undermines this president and the presidency in general. I am no fan of Obama. But I certainly wish he would act more forcefully to protect his prerogatives and those of his office and not let sand be kicked in his face by a bunch of hicks. But, as John Chuckman makes abundantly in his excellent piece on the CIA and American presidents, here
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41222.htm
there is no way to know the constraints that Obama is under.
Obama did not come to DC with an independent power base. He was “chosen” and “groomed.’
He was green and did not have the kind of political skills possessed by, say, LBJ or even (gasp) Nixon.
But, to get back to the point, both Jim Lobe and Hillary put forth cogent arguments, and this fellow Fred must have agreed to go on the show as the stooge—to show the world a good example of the “all-American nut job” whose natural habitat is Foggy Bottom!!! Good job, Peter Lavelle!! And I was most positively impressed by Hillaryl. She has guts and is articulate. And Jim Lobe, so simpatico and laid back. They make a good pair and i hope to see them on Lavelle’s show more often. (Or perhaps they are regular commentators and I have missed them, as I just pick up the shows when they are posted here. )
PS.
If any congressmen had tried a stunt like that under LBJ, retribution would have been swift. LBJ would have known exactly how to put the screws on—let’s say, “discipline”—such types via committee appointments, budgets, favors to supporters, blackmail, whatever.
None dare call it treason? What would you call all the laws passed under Obama that violate the freedoms of our constitution? I’ve seldom seen gut level truths so openly displayed emotionally as this crosstalk. They dare not call it treason but they do call it racism. There you have it with Israel’s Netanyahoo the prime exhibit. The saker has a knack for picking out what is relevant.Racism is an ugly word for an uglier reality. Join racism to classism and we get what we’ve got: a world sick to death; in other words, terminal. We’ve got a disease no doctor can cure. It’s coming down to love or nothing with no middle ground. More at thelovegovernment.com.
indeed!
Obama is trying to sell a car that is in the process of being repossessed. Who should be angry? I’d be angry too if someone told my mark that I was ripping them off.
It seems the Iranian negotiator has an International Law degree from an Ivy League US University.And he disputes that Congress has the power to throw out International Treaties signed by the US government.And from what I heard he informed those Congressmen of that.So in that way,it was totally embarrassing for the US Congress.When your opponent knows laws better than the “so-called” law makers.
that former CIA neo**** is so typical of the standard American official now. Huge lower lip jutting out into space, with a stupified grin on his face.
Looked Fleitz up — he used to work for John Bolton. Very zionist (his mouth opened a bit at the first mention of Israel). His frozen half-smiling face reminds me of someone laid out at a funeral parlor or a robot whose head is about to fall off revealing springs and circuit boards. I wish they had had him on camera in the wide shot more so I cold have seen the subtle flickerings of expression as various points were brought up. About the only time he was animated was when he was spewing his lies.
He gave me the creeps just looking at him. Scary, actually. I’m guessing he is genuine psychopath (as is Bolton), just from his visage.
Yes, Blue, isn’t it awful that this is the representative of America. Its so serious. The lies are so blatant….Al Quaeda in Tehran….what an old lie.
This Fred Leitz character almost seems like he came out of a plastic mould -a robot sitting there like a statue and then spouting brainwashed paranoid ideology impervious to any logic or reason.
How many decades is it now that we have heard that Iran is within months of acquiring a nuke?
Hypothetical queston: what would happen if Iran were to actually acquire a small number of nukes?
Aside from it being less likely that the US/Israel would bomb them, what are the oher possible permutations?
BTW in response to you comment about calling them psychos instead of evil, made a few days ago which I just read last night, you can call them evil, and I’ve done so on occasion, as a nice catch-all word, but it can complicate matters because of the ambiguity of the term, as defined differently in various moral or ethical systems, or by atheists, humanists, and the different religions.
Functionally, ‘sociopathic’ or ‘psychopathic’ is more specific, at least in political and social context. ‘Evil’ has connotations regarding one’s personal integrity where as sociopathic implies someone messing with others, and also implies a different driving force behind their actions. It might even be argued that the true psychopath is not being evil because he is so mentally deranged he has no free will in the matter — like a rabid dog biting people. (Hence my characterization of him as robotic.)
In general, you can say the US government is evil, or insane, but in either case the remedy is to neutralize it — stop it from it’s destructive actions. Judging motivation may be useful in predicting what they will do next, or how to exert control on it, but if a dog attacks me, rabid, crazy, wild, or whatever, my response will be the same: eliminate it.
Yeah, I agree that the word psychopath does also mean evil. but the literature that I read the most…Steiner…says that if we as a society don’t recognize that there is real evil in the world, that it is a spiritual force of evil, that we will not be able to ever get free of it. That its a part of the ‘evil’ to dis-own the spiritual worlds.
I don’t know how you feel about spirituality stuff. I always enjoy your comments. I think you feel a connection with the spiritual world view, but its not a religious denomination.
anyway, my 2cnts.
As soon as I get into spiritual areas I run out of words, and even thoughts. I call myself an ignostic — ‘ig’ implying ignorance, but hear meaning one can’t even ask meaningful questions or make meaningful statements. I think of spirituality as close to art — if you could say it you wouldn’t have paint or perform it. But I can say I think there’s a duality — a definite difference between ‘spiritual’ and ‘physical’, but that it’s all part of a continuum.
Once you start getting into religious or spiritual things the tendency is for people to confuse personal emotions and conditioning with reality, and can go off in very strange and unhealthy directions. Just look at all the ‘true believers’ in manifest destiny, or extreme religious cults, or ‘woo-woo new age hippies’, and see where it gets us: it’s as bad as the physicalists who think that ‘science’ and ‘logic’ has all the answers, and are just as convinced they are ‘right’ as the religious cults. Lots of hubris in all of these ideologies, and getting stuck in just one mode of thinking and perception.
I can do science and math, I can do magick, I can do art, I can do myth or religion — all are good for some things and bad for others, and one should be flexible and adaptable and understand the limits and fuzzy edges of each mode or system. Evil? You can say that capitalism, with evaluating everything in terms of profit (included as part of power) is evil, and it’s because it’s all stuck on one very limited context. And empire? everything is in terms of winning and power. These people will look at a musical composition and want to know how much it’s worth and how to know if you win when you perform it (like it’s a war).
All of these are also similar to a language — trying to express and understand things, but thinking if it’s not in the vocabulary then it doesn’t exist, and that there are no other languages, and that everything can be done and expressed linguistically.
That’s why these people are like zombies or robots. I’d say they are not involved in ‘spiritual evil’ because they are so cut off and undeveloped they can’t even touch those areas. It’s like talking about if one year old infants can commit a sin — and yes, some wackos will say they can and try to beat it out of them — or maybe even try to reason or negotiate treaties with them. But we understand small toddlers — they want what they want when they want it and have little or no concept of or ability to handle anything beyond their immediate desires and impulses. Neocons and imperialists never grew out of that — they want everything.
that CIA guy is so arrogant and aggressive. I’m so ashamed of the US. How did this type of American come to be the standard ???
Natural cultural ignorance/lack of consideration and sensitivity towards other cultures and being proud of it. That type of ignorance can really be summed up in one word -exceptionalism, and that is cemented by an ideology consisting of ‘Manifest Destiny’ and religious delusions e.g. evangelical fundamentalism. Guns, a false God and greed.
This manifests itself in a war non-democracy nation based on money and corporate lobbies. Corporate money, especially from MIC lobbies buys the war government that is the USA. Israel, aided by MSM ownership, controls much of US government foreign policy -Israel thinks they can only exist defending against permanent enemies and thus have a huge lobby dedicated to promoting permanent war and handouts from the USA.
This ugly power is too well entrenched and the general American populace too unquestioning and brainwashed to fail from the outside. It is impervious to any political democratic reform and is essentially one government -remove the facade and the Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same coin. It can only fail from within.
Its really great the Peter Lavelle is speaking out so much on the Israel Lobby. RT is watched by lots of Americans…this is very positive. I guess its good to have these idiots sometimes…I don’t enjoy watching the ‘big lie’ in action….”Iran is a state of terrorists.” what a lie…what about Saudi ????..
Speaking of Crosstalk…
http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/15/4496
Russians Have Had Enough of the West
The post-modernist west is unable to comprehend a self-confident modern Russia
Peter Lavelle
Peter Lavelle is host of RT’s political debate program “CrossTalk.” His expressed opinions may or may not reflect those of his employer.
From the chattering classes mingling with to those roaming to the corridors of power to the west’s media oligarchs, Russia is consistently portrayed as alien and a country to be wary of, even feared. The west’s 24/7 media echo chamber tells us relentlessly that something is simply not right about Russia and that somehow it is because of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is where the west simply gets Russia wrong. Putin’s popularly at home is real and not artificially constructed.
[…]
The letter obviously came from AIPAC. That alone makes the senators traitors. Allowing a foreign country, over that of one’s own country, to determine what a politician does is treason. And this foreign state being Israel makes it a hostile foreign nation the senators are working for, since Israel considers itself literally at war with every state. That makes it treason in war time.
The USA needs more people in politics like this woman:
Meet Lee Whitnum—AIPAC’s Worst Nightmare
The deal is the US uses Israel as it’s local gangster enforcer in the MIddle East and Israel uses the US as the supporting godfather which keeps the zionists in Israel happy, through it’s network of zionists in US politics, media, and finance.The US is the host and Israel the parasite, but It’s a symbiotic relationship, and part of the empire’s agenda. That’s why the US supports Israel: the benefits both domestically and foreign. If Israel gets too far out of line it will be made offers it can’t refuse, or be dumped or eliminated, despite all the power it has in the US — same as anyone in the US who goes against the imperial hegemony and oligarchy. Israel is not immune from being regime-changed, and there is no shortage of excuses publicize and to do it if the time comes (anyone want to see Netanyahu ‘Saddamized’ — like Gaddafi, to Hillary’s glee).
Sorry, but that is the standard “Chomsky spiel”. Very simple logic dispels that “USA-master, Israel-tool” propaganda. If Israel was the junior partner, why would the USA tolerate the Israel lobby? I don’t just mean AIPAC, which is only a fraction of the disease.
Come on, since when do empires allow the colonies to dominate their political process? Besides in the USA, the zionazis/Israel has duplicated almost the exact same Israel lobby in many other countries. No other special interest lobbies carry even remotely the same weight in politics in the “western 1st world”. These Israel/zionazi lobbies not only enforce zionazi interests, they duplicate all the other capitalist interests in the countries they operate in. And they do it from the national down to the local level.
Why would a master allow a slave to not only dominate its political process regarding narrow interests (IE: Israel), but also why would capitalists waste effort and money (oodles of the stuff) on duplicating capitalist political lobbies they already have? The capitalists in the west have long had their various mechanisms in place to control the regime they operate in, why go to the trouble and cost to duplicate these with a whole new layer that corporates zionazi interests? This is the major disconnect in such “Chomsky/zio-“left” disinfo.
Bot Tak, so what you’re saying is that Israeli money is dominant in the US. And England.
But I still think that the Anglo-American alliance is stronger and more powerful than the Israeli-American alliance.
And I think that what we see in England, David Cameron et al.., is a parrallel of the real English power. The elites don’t get into the news. And they’re ok with America being the lead voice….because their money is really the ruler of this world.
Israel is a creation of England.
They are slaves and Israel is not a colony; they are ‘conspirators’, like an attack dog which the ‘master’ no longer controls well because it can turn on him. But it’s also profitable to retain that dog. The zionists can control politicians but don’t control the other oligarchs, and the zionist oligarchs really don’t care about either Jews or Israel — both are just tools. Neither do any of them care about the US, which is also a tool. They care party for their own class because there is safety in numbers and organization, but the bottom line is they care about themselves, and everything and everyone is a tool in their own eyes — that’s the classic psychopath.
When you ask why the USA tolerates the zionist lobby, which USA do you refer to? Call it psychopathic ‘professional courtesy’. They will tolerate each other as long as the other is not a direct threat, or if they don’t have the power to destroy the competitor without being hurt themselves. Gangsters often come up with an agreement to keep to their own turf.
Sorry — that should have been ‘they are not slaves’
Ann
“Israel is a creation of England.”
No, it’s a creation of some very rich Jewish oligarchs, some of whom lived in the UK. The Rothschild family may have been the main force behind Israel.
Blue
With that new comment, it looks like we don’t disagree as much as I thought. I like the attack dog comparison and agree in many ways Israel is like an attack dog that has slipped its leash. Pretty much agree with most of the rest, except this:
The zionists can control politicians but don’t control the other oligarchs, and the zionist oligarchs really don’t care about either Jews or Israel — both are just tools.
The zionists and non-zionists intermix in a lot of their areas. Many of the giant international conglomeration corporate earth swallowing monsters have both zios and non-zios in the top slots. Their main differences, besides the usual capitalist/psychopath ones you mentioned, are zionism. Or better put, Jewish supremacism. Israel was born of Jewish supremacism and its maintenance as “the homeland” serves a strong unifying factor among those Jewish oligarchs who are zionists/Jewish supremacists. This makes Israel a tool, yes, but an indispensable tool. This is why so much effort, money and time has been spent on Israel, and it is also why these Jewish supremacist oligarchs consider Israel to be sacrosanct, alone among nations. The unifying force Israel, their shared purpose, provides this grouping is their source of strength. Without Israel to focus on, they would probably be like the way they were in the 19th century. Which is pretty much as the rest of the non-zionist oligarchy is still.
Israel itself has always maintained some independence and my view is they, and the zionist oligarchs outside Israel share an interdependency such that each needs the other, so wont push it if the other strongly wants something.
The Israel lobby exists as a duplicate of the other business lobbies because it is there to influence the non-zionist oligarchy. The control the zionists exert over politics, the media, finances and all other aspects of society is to influence the other non-oligarchs. IE: to control them. But that control is not absolute, it is more of veto power. And the non-zionist oligarchs have that power, also. At least for now*. Most of the time, neither side uses it, it’s not necessary since most of the time, they agree and work together, such as in their current campaign against Russia. But if there is line being crossed that one side cant tolerate, that veto power is used.
*The zionist faction continues to increase in power. If unchecked, they could dominate. I believe that is their end goal. That’s also where Israel comes into play. Once the zios dominate, Israel will become their central capital.
I watched the Lee Whitnum vid for a couple of minutes, but I myself liked the gal on Crosstalk way better. I guess we need all these brave women.
RT has an infuriating habit of not looking at any of this in terms of the.Petrodollar system and some sort of current desperation to preserve it, but Hillary came close when she said this was about the rise in Russian Sino and Iranian power overall and the end of our warlike stance. Maybe they would be taken off the air in the States if they got too close to the truth.
petro dollar is part of the 2.0 economy. Technology in information industry is the 3.0 ecomony.
“Netanyahu wanted to abort Mossad meeting with US Congressmen”:
http://hispantv.com/newsdetail/Oriente-Medio/24074/Netanyahu-quiso-abortar-reunion-de-Mossad-con-congresistas-de-EEUU
Guys, I don’t think you understand the facade that is being played out right now. The majority of the country is now against Obama. Therefore he’s now playing the “role” of being weak on Iran, Isis, Russia, etc. Therefore, when his replacement comes in, the vast majority of the dumbed down populace will root for anything “perceived” as opposite of what Obama was doing. This is how they will sell ww3 with the help of an entirely controlled msm.
However, all the legit reasons to despise Obama (he’s a communist, he’s a homosexual promoting sodomite marriage, etc, “obamacare”) won’t be touched with a ten foot pole.
The NWO agenda marches on. It’s all a damn farce. Don’t be played guys. Obama is doing exactly what he’s told. He is a controlled stooge, like all of them.
fabulous new interview with Catherine Austin Fitts….watch it….2 hours…worth it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tiqMAf0Wc1U
I’m a great fan of Catherine Austin Fitts–in principle.
But I can’t really follow what she says.
Either she is way above my head, or maybe she leaves out a step here and there. I still don’t understand what she means by “crashup.” She described the impact of new technologies on equities and gave the example of a robot that can make a hamburger from start to finish. She described how much money such advances would save for corporations and this seems to be “crashup.” But she made no mention of what happens to the people, and the economy, when such jobs are taken by a robot. So, I am still kind of in the dark. Do the robots pay income tax on their “earnings”??
Also, for me there were a couple of links missing in the chain of reasoning as to the relationship between the drug business and government finances. I think I kind of get it but I would not be able to explain anything to anyone else.
The interview with Catherine, she calls the shadow government “mr Global”…but she also asks “Who is Mr. Global ?”
Bot Tak thinks its Israel…but Catherine doesn’t…watch the interview….she should know…she’s been there. Assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Ann
“Who is Mr. Global ?” Bot Tak thinks its Israel
No I don’t. Israel is the “bolt hole”, the “last refuge”, the special place that is untouchable, the only country not subject to liquidation by the ZPC/NWO oligarchy. All others are fair game, if the price is right. Outside of protection for Israel, “Mr. Global” does not recognize states exist.
Hi Bot Tak…ok. I think I understand. Why has Mr Global made Israel untouchable. I agree with you about that, by the way.
But somehow, after thinking about it lately…it seems like Israel is a gateway….and perhaps the zionists are gatekeepers.
did you watch that video of Catherine’s at the Secret Space Program…its fabulous..you’ll love it..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=w0mimIp8mr8
That’s a good point. These critters are not operating in a vacuum. It’s a team effort for the good ole ZPC/NWO. Some play one role, some another. But it is only roles, the ZPC/NWO plan moves ahead, irregardless of the prestidigitator’s soap opera.
Amarican policy is logically inconsistent. They jump up and down about having to deal with a nuclear armed Iran. Yet they clearly embark on a crusade against Russia. Iran May build some nuclear weapons but Russia definitely 7000 of them ready to go. If tension between nuclear armed nations is so problematic how about making nice to Russia.
It’s not illogical at all. All but the flunkies knows Iran has no and wants no nukes, but it has oil and refuses to be puppets of the empire. The narrative (the ‘map’, hat tip to Korzibsky) is not the territory (reality). Nuclear development in Iran was not a problem when the US had it’s Shah, there, of course, just as chemical weapons (WMD) was not a problem in Iraq when Saddam was doing what the US wanted.
We got two problems now: some the crazy US clowns think they can be assured that Russia won’t use nukes, and others think they can survive — even ‘win– a nuclear war. They live in a delusional group think bubble.
Ignore the narratives — we have to understand the deep politics and underlying madness and motivations.
International Criminal Lawyer Mr. Chris Black writes, that General Breedlove should be charged for war crimes for inciting war against Russia when he said on Fox News that few Russians need to be killed to make Putin pay attention. These American cowboys like his former colleague in NATO Salona and Wesley Clarke should all be in jail for their crimes against civilians.
” The Nuremberg principle that propaganda inciting aggressive war is a crime was codified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1966.
Article 20 states,
“1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.”
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/03/13/nato-war-propaganda-a-danger-to-world-peace/
I don’t see any reference to Breedlove in that article. Wasn’t it Major General (retired) Robert Scales that made that comment on Faux News? (See this Sputniknews item.)
Not that I’m saying a similar case couldn’t be made against Breedlove.
The dollar must be destroyed before the Empire can set off a nuclear war. Putin has come forward and offered to lead the people of Earth in this endeavor. The author of this letter and his owners want war. Which side are you on?
Obama is a terrible, awful, bad no good president just like the other two modern presidents that preceded him. But he is dragging his feet on war with Iran. This buys us some time. Which side are you on?
The constitution was mortally wounded by Lincoln and finished off by Wilson. It is not relevant to current discussions of war and peace. The Anglo Zionist Empire is in steep decline and will pass into history with or without a nuclear winter. Which would you prefer?
“The constitution was mortally wounded by Lincoln”
response:I disagree
[ Moderator paraphrasing in order to keep conversation civil ]
Thanks for the link to Catherine Austin Fitts. I hope everybody goes there.
The change from these united states to this united states meant the demise of federalism. In my opinion the constitution sans federalism is already not the constitution. This is my point of view. I have neither the chops nor the will to defend it.
I credit Lincoln and Wilson for their singular rolls in transforming the republic into an expansionist empire with an agenda to rule the world by force of arms.
I’m a 10th amendment guy. A tenther if you will. A literate but uneducated man such as myself can read the constitution and know what it says. But only 9 people on earth know what it means. Instead of a supreme court we should have had a jury. But it’s too late now.
Regards:
WC
yeah, and Catherine’s one of the people…and she’s so friendly and good. I love her.