The Neocons and the “deep state” have neutered the Trump Presidency, it’s over folks! (UPDATED 2x)

Less than a month ago I warned that a ‘color revolution ‘ was taking place in the USA. My first element of proof was the so-called “investigation” which the CIA, FBI, NSA and others were conducting against President Trump’s candidate to become National Security Advisor, General Flynn. Tonight, the plot to get rid of Flynn has finally succeeded and General Flynn had to offer his resignation. Trump accepted it.

Now let’s immediately get one thing out of the way: Flynn was hardly a saint or a perfect wise man who would single handedly saved the world. That he was not. However, what Flynn was is the cornerstone of Trump’s national security policy. For one thing, Flynn dared the unthinkable: he dared to declare that the bloated US intelligence community had to be reformed. Flynn also tried to subordinate the CIA and the Joint Chiefs to the President via the National Security Council. Put differently, Flynn tried to wrestle the ultimate power and authority from the CIA and the Pentagon and subordinate them back to the White House. Flynn also wanted to work with Russia. Not because he was a Russia lover, the notion of a Director of the DIA as a Putin-fan is ridiculous, but Flynn was rational, he understood that Russia was no threat to the USA or to Europe and that Russia had the West had common interests. That is another absolutely unforgivable crimethink in Washington DC.

The Neocon run ‘deep state’ has now forced Flynn to resign under the idiotic pretext that he had a telephone conversation, on an open, insecure and clearly monitored, line with the Russian ambassador.

And Trump accepted this resignation.

Ever since Trump made it to the White House, he has taken blow after blow from the Neocon-run Ziomedia, from Congress, from all the Hollywood doubleplusgoodthinking “stars” and even from European politicians. And Trump took each blow without ever fighting back. Nowhere was his famous “you are fired!” to be seen. But I still had hope. I wanted to hope. I felt that it was my duty to hope.

But now Trump has betrayed us all.

Remember how Obama showed his true face when he hypocritically denounced his friend and pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr.? Today, Trump has shown us his true face. Instead of refusing Flynn’s resignation and instead of firing those who dared cook up these ridiculous accusations against Flynn, Trump accepted the resignation. This is not only an act of abject cowardice, it is also an amazingly stupid and self-defeating betrayal because now Trump will be alone, completely alone, facing the likes of Mattis and Pence – hard Cold Warrior types, ideological to the core, folks who want war and simply don’t care about reality.

Again, Flynn was not my hero. But he was, by all accounts, Trump’s hero. And Trump betrayed him.

The consequences of this will be immense. For one thing, Trump is now clearly broken. It took the ‘deep state’ only weeks to castrate Trump and to make him bow to the powers that be. Those who would have stood behind Trump will now feel that he will not stand behind them and they will all move back away from him. The Neocons will feel elated by the elimination of their worst enemy and emboldened by this victory they will push on, doubling-down over and over and over again.

It’s over, folks, the deep state has won.

From now on, Trump will become the proverbial shabbos-goy, the errand boy of the Israel lobby. Hassan Nasrallah was right when he called him ‘an idiot‘.

The Chinese and Iranian will openly laugh. The Russians won’t – they will be polite, they will smile, and try to see if some common sense policies can still be salvaged from this disaster. Some might. But any dream of a partnership between Russia and the United States has died tonight.

The EU leaders will, of course, celebrate. Trump was nowhere the scary bogeyman they feared. Turns out that he is a doormat – very good for the EU.

Where does all this leave us – the millions of anonymous ‘deplorables’ who try as best we can to resist imperialism, war, violence and injustice?

I think that we were right in our hopes because that is all we had – hopes. No expectations, just hopes. But now we objectively have very little reasons left to hope. For one thing, the Washington ‘swamp’ will not be drained. If anything, the swamp has triumphed. We can only find some degree of solace in two undeniable facts:

Hillary would have been far worse than any version of a Trump Presidency.
In order to defeat Trump, the US deep state has had to terribly weaken the US and the AngloZionist Empire. Just like Erdogan’ purges have left the Turkish military in shambles, the anti-Trump ‘color revolution’ has inflicted terrible damage on the reputation, authority and even credibility of the USA.

The first one is obvious. So let me clarify the second one. In their hate-filled rage against Trump and the American people (aka “the basket of deplorables”) the Neocons have had to show their true face. By their rejection of the outcome of the elections, by their riots, their demonization of Trump, the Neocons have shown two crucial things: first, that the US democracy is a sad joke and that they, the Neocons, are an occupation regime which rules against the will of the American people. In other words, just like Israel, the USA has no legitimacy left. And since, just like Israel, the USA are unable to frighten their enemies, they are basically left with nothing, no legitimacy, no ability to coerce. So yes, the Neocons have won. But their victory is removes the last chance for the US to avoid a collapse.

Trump, for all his faults, did favor the US, as a country, over the global Empire. Trump was also acutely aware that ‘more of the same’ was not an option. He wanted policies commensurate with the actual capabilities of the USA. With Flynn gone and the Neocons back in full control – this is over. Now we are going to be right back to ideology over reality.

Trump probably could have made America, well, maybe not “great again”, but at least stronger, a major world power which could negotiate and use its leverage to get the best deal possible from the others. That’s over now. With Trump broken, Russia and China will go right back to their pre-Trump stance: a firm resistance backed by a willingness and capability to confront and defeat the USA at any level.

I am quite sure that nobody today is celebrating in the Kremlin. Putin, Lavrov and the others surely understand exactly what happened. It is as if Khodorkovsy would have succeeded in breaking Putin in 2003. In fact, I have to credit Russian analysts who for several weeks already have been comparing Trump to Yanukovich, who also was elected by a majority of the people and who failed to show the resolve needed to stop the ‘color revolution’ started against him. But if Trump is the new Yanukovich, will the US become the next Ukraine?

Flynn was very much the cornerstone of the hoped-for Trump foreign policy. There was a real chance that he would reign in the huge, bloated and all-powerful three letter agencies and that he would focus US power against the real enemy of the West: the Wahabis. With Flynn gone, this entire conceptual edifice has now come down. We are going to be left with the likes of Mattis and his anti-Iranian statements. Clowns who only impress other clowns.

Today Neocon victory is a huge event and it will probably be completely misrepresented by the official media. Ironically, Trump supporters will also try minimize it all. But the reality is that barring a most unlikely last-minute miracle, it’s over for Trump and the hopes of millions of people in the USA and the rest of the world who had hoped that the Neocons could be booted out of power by means of a peaceful election. That is clearly not going to happen.

I see very dark clouds on the horizon.

The Saker

UPDATE1: Just to stress an important point: the disaster is not so much that Flynn is out but what Trump’s caving in to the Neocon tells us about Trump’s character (or lack thereof). Ask yourself – after what happened to Flynn, would you stick your neck out for Trump?

UPDATE2: Just as predicted – the Neocons are celebrating and, of course, doubling-down:

Makutwa Omutiti on February 14, 2017 · at 10:00 pm EST/EDT

Please the Saker community, let us not get caught up in the smoke and mirrors generated by the presstitutes. We must be well grounded in our responses to current events. There is no doubt that a sizeable faction in the American oligarchy hates Trump with a passion. Why? Not because Trump wants to revolutionize America (“drain the swamp). No. In fact, they have no problem with his economic team (the usual Wall Street types) because the same predatory economic policies that were pursued under the previous administrations will more or less continue. The traditional bowing of the political class to Israeli rather than American interests in the Middle East will continue.The wet dream to destroy Iran is still intact. The continued feeding of the maws of the Military Industrial Complex is still in place. They hate Trump because he wants to deal pragmatically with Russia whilst they have decided that Russia is an existential threat to their global hegemony. Related to this is Trump’s proposal not to use NATO to advance America’s hegemonic agenda. Another reason they hate Trump so much is that Trump wants to curtail some aspects of American economic globalism (TTIP, TPP, NAFTA) that have damaged the part of America’s domestic economy that has always supported ordinary Americans.

Definitely, Trump is not alone in his vision. There are elements in the American oligarchy who share his vision. This faction is realistic in the sense that they realize that America’s single-minded pursuit of hegemony is exacting a heavy toll on America economically, politically, militarily and in terms of credibility. They realize that America has been making some strategic blunders that are doing great harm to her.

But it seems that the Neo-con wing of this oligarchy does not even countenance a tweak to their proven disastrous approach to policy. They are hell-bent on doubling down on their stupidity. This faction is more dangerous because they are delusional: they think that the America of today is the same one of, say, 25 years ago. But this is simply not true. The US of today has been hollowed out economically and is only kept afloat mainly by the casino capitalism that is Wall Street and its enablers at the ‘Federal’ Reserve. In fact, Gen. Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was once quoted as having said that the biggest threat to US security is the national debt that today stands at approximately $ 20 trillion. Of course, while the Neo-cons were on their delusional hegemonic forays, the Chinese were more than willing to finance them. Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz estimate that the Iraq war alone has so far cost the US $ 3 trillion. This means that the US has wasted money that it could spend to fix things back home. The US has brazenly caused havoc, death and immense pain in so many countries without achieving any of her strategic objectives to the extent that America is no longer considered a credible political partner in resolving some of the major political and security challenges facing the world. The pork barrel politics of the US Military Industrial Complex have led to the US being outpaced qualitatively in some areas of military technology by Russia. In fact, the Russians are aware of this qualitative gap and that is why Putin could confidently claim that Russia at present can defend itself effectively against ANY potential military aggressor.

The hope I had in Trump’s candidacy and election was that he and the faction he represents in the oligarchy would amass enough critical support within this oligarchy to steer America’s foreign policy away from the suicidal commitment to bring down Russia. I also had hope that they would realize that wanting to bring down China and Iran would be suicidal and hence pragmatism would guide policy. Let’s be clear: the future is Eurasia. America and the west have nothing new to offer. They also see the signs of the times. But instead of pragmatically re-adjusting to this creeping reality, the Neo-con faction does not want “to go quietly into that good night”. They want to desperately maintain the old order which is untenable. Trump won against so many odds. He has been able to put in motion forces that are accelerating the demise of the west . Thanks to Trump’s election, we have learned a few important truths: mainstream western media are simply “presstitutes”;the so-called mainstream ‘experts’ are what Nassim Taleb delightfully calls ‘Intellectuals-Yet-Idiots (IYIs); real democracy in the west is a sham because it boils down to endorsing elite preferences; identity politics has run its bankrupt course; freedom of speech means agreeing with the elite consensus; the elite have visceral contempt for the ordinary person; a sizeable number of ordinary people no longer buy into the dominant elite consensus. The unmasking of these truths gives us hope that the Empire can be resisted to some extent.

In the meantime, Flynn’s resignation is just another sign of the war of strategic visions within the American power elite. Each side has got its own formations of support within the wider society. We cannot predict with certainty the outcome of this war. Prediction is a very risky business. But if the Neo-con vision prevails, then we should brace ourselves for tough times ahead because if they decide to double down on their usual stupidity, this time round a majority in the west and other parts of the world that have been victims of this stupidity will rise up and declare: “Enough is enough.”

304 Comments

No More Neos on February 14, 2017 · at 5:14 pm EST/EDT

Let’s hope that Kellogg shares Flynn’s desire to cut back the civilian neocon’s grip on the WH. Trump needs military support now more than ever, the growing faction within the DS that is fed up with the dictates of “the civilian leadership–the Neocon-Neoliberals– who are responsible for leading the nation into quagmires and handing the keys to the chicken coop to the wolves of Wall Street.

When military leaders such as Eric Shinseki questioned the Neocon’s insane “strategy” in Iraq–essentially a civilian fantasy of magical-thinking–the Neocons quickly cashiered him (Shinseki was a wounded combat veteran of Vietnam who rose through the ranks–the exact opposite of the coddled never-get-my-hands-dirty Elites in the civilian Neocon-Neoliberal leadership.)

To the degree that the U.S. has become a Third World Oligarchy owned and controlled by a financial-political Elite, then the U.S. military is one of the few national institutions that hasn’t been corrupted by top-down politicization and worship of Wall Street.”

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2017/01/trump-aims-to-cut-neocon-deep-state-off.html
teranam13 on February 14, 2017 · at 5:32 pm EST/EDT

Yes, Saker, the American people are going to have to learn the hard way. Sad to say. The battle is not over yet. Obama by nature is a lap dog, but Trump still has lots of vim and vigor. A wounded Lion can still do a lot of damage, in fact, may be even more dangerous.

It is interesting that the neocon liberals running the State of California will spend millions on legal fees for illegal immigrants whom they bring in to keep them voted into power, but very little on fixing worn out infrastructure like dams even when they are warned by environmentalist groups. Governor Brown has mud on his face from this situation which has blown up on him.

180,000 people are marooned out of their homes for days just thinking about the irony of this and getting angrier and angrier. These folks voted Republican.

So much for using California as a base for the slo mo coup as the Soros folks have morph moveon into california/indivisable, utah/indivisable, Roseville/indivisable etc. etc. But they are not the only ones who can think globally and act locally.

Priorities! please.
Bro 93 on February 14, 2017 · at 5:43 pm EST/EDT

I realize most people active in politics for a few decades have been conditioned (by what they only think they are fighting, with no holds barred….The Empire, that is…..) to automatically shun the “L Word”………….however Lyndon very rarely, I would actually say NEVER makes the mistake of missing the forest for the trees.

Which is how I would characterize the majority of the depressed, disgusted comments in this thread. Hmmmm. What could get you over that automatically implanted response without years of dialogue?? Time is short.

My best guess, for people that do have their heads screwed on straight regarding Russia, is this Promethean (meaning “foresight”…) video presentation from 1999 focusing on the forest then, the enemy policy toward the majority of the resources and people on planet earth: Eurasia, the “World Island” in Empire geopolitical doctrine: “Storm Over Asia”

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Storm+Over+Asia+LaRouche&view=detail&mid=0B8A7FFFC198D71D42570B8A7FFFC198D71D4257&FORM=VIRE

If you can hang in there for the first few minutes, that automatic implanted reaction may just start to lose its power.

That was the “forest” in 1999. And it is still the forest, in a very real sense.

But let’s focus a bit more closely on the new US administration aspect of the 2017 forest before throwing in the towel on Trump and the deplorables. No one, and I mean NO ONE, was made more deplorable by the forces of Empire, than this man, over more decades. 46 years guys. Ever since he turned Abba Lerner inside out at that debate at Queen’s College in 1971 and correctly called Nixon and Connally’s August 1971 abandonment of the dollar link to gold, he was a marked man.

Could something be learned from him? Definitely.

His current survey of “the forest”……USA section of it:

Glass-SteagallStop WWIII
What Is Essential in the Fight Over Trump’s Presidency?

Lyndon and Helga LaRouche have made the situation for organizing in the United States quite clear, from a higher viewpoint than the bitter fights over this or that executive order.

They have worked to create a new paradigm in the world over many years of fighting for the World Landbridge policy, now a reality expanding from China; for a new global security concept to replace “geopolitics,” now being realized by Russia’s Putin; and for the new Western economic policies now specified for the United States as LaRouche’s Four Laws to Save the Nation. So what is crucial is the opportunity which Donald Trump’s Presidency represents, to bring about those new policies. First, to prevent thermonuclear war by burying geopolitics, which begins with American cooperation with Putin’s Russia. Second, to pre-empt another looming financial crash, which begins with re-enacting the Glass-Steagall Act.

Lyndon LaRouche reminded today: There is a newly elected President. We have a new Presidency. The new President has already succeeded in some international negotiations, which point to the potential of the United States, Russia, China, Japan and India joining in this new paradigm. But this is fragile, with a domestic economic policy which is still made of unformed promises at best; and it is under sustained attack by forces led by a vindictive Barack Obama and by the British who led everything Obama did.

The attack is joined by the entire elite and media of the European Union — always a London project — who cannot admit that geopolitics and globalist economics are losing elections and referenda everywhere.

The essence, LaRouche said, is to “go to this new Presidency,” by any organizing avenue possible, “and negotiate on our issues,” LaRouche’s own Four Laws. “Don’t deviate from the potential character of this new Presidency, and getting to it.” Immediately, recognize that the Achilles Heel of the new Trump Presidency is the failure thus far, to follow through on the promise of restoring Glass-Steagall. The Democrats’ biggest liberal big talkers have thrown aside their own Glass-Steagall promises to become anti-Trump demogogues. We are filling that void, knowing the new economic paradigm Glass-Steagall can lead to.”

IMHO, without Glass-Steagall handcuffs on what F William Engdahl ( a former long time associate of the LaRouche’s) calls “The Gods of Money” in his book by that title, the desperation of financial collapse and war cannot be stopped by 1000 Michael Flynns.

How about Glass-Steagall but someone other than Michael Flynn? I’ll take that ANY day over no Glass -Steagall and 1000 Michael Flynns.

The forest, not the trees.
Anonymous on February 14, 2017 · at 5:56 pm EST/EDT

Saker has stirred the latest scene with Trumpot and a carousel of comments goes flying by, and I read them all and think most carefully, musing and tending to agree with some of all and all of some and generally that his prognosis is rum and a tad premature. But all in all and all the while it’s a fast learning curve on the carousel’s commentary. Someone prophesied 300 comments so mine jumps aboard and I don’t know but it might be good to keep a cool head.
Jerry Clifford Kays on February 14, 2017 · at 5:59 pm EST/EDT

A wise observation … creating many comments also wise … I will maintain some small amount of hope though based upon some of the more optimistic comments.
Dario on February 14, 2017 · at 5:59 pm EST/EDT

some good points from Mon of Alabama:

” It is unclear what the alleged lies really are and especially why they should matter. Obfuscation is part of any White House business. If Flynn had secretly talked with the Israeli ambassador (which he probably did) no one would have attacked him.

So why was Flynn really under pressure and why didn’t Trump back him? It would have been easy for Trump to say: “I ordered Flynn to do that. Obama did similar. In both cases it was a GREAT success. USA! USA! USA!” Nobody would have been able to further attack Flynn over the issue after such a protective move.

But Trump, completely against his style, held his mouth and did nothing. What else happened in the White House that let him refrain from backing Flynn?

As it looks now a rather small gang of current and former intelligence officials – with the help of the anti-Trump media – leaked Flynn out of his office. They will not stop there.

Now blood is in the street and the hyenas will lust for more. The Trump magic is broken. ”

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/02/the-flynn-defenestration-will-hamper-trumps-foreign-policy.html
Polina on February 14, 2017 · at 6:07 pm EST/EDT

Dear Saker,

There’s no escape – history will always repeat itself. It doesn’t matter whether it’s Trump or whoever – people have been involved in the same things since times before Christ.

Kind Regards,
Polina
Redford on February 14, 2017 · at 6:10 pm EST/EDT

“Ask yourself – after what happened to Flynn, would you stick your neck out for Trump?”

If I think Flynn got it coming by poor judgement call, as he apparently did, sure.
Also if I am already retired or close to be, sure too. Getting the highest career achievement even for one day is still an achievement.

I am pretty sure there’s an army of gov insider dreaming to kick some other out of office who will do everything to try their luck at “cleaning the swamp”.

If Trump is what he seems and not what the media show, he’s actually experienced at dealing with leading large organisation probably more than you or I can grasp. Huge experience. It’s not even your main field, Saker.

BTW I think that’s one misconception about what he should do. You suggested he plays it in an Americanized way of what Putin did. I think you miss out there that he has a completely different array of tools, most of them not very familiar to you. My bet is that if he’s able to get his boat where he wants it, that will be in a very, very different way that Putin. It will use a lot of public controversy, hiring, firing, getting ppl below him to fight at each others, get everyone confused and on their toes missing out about his real play. Remember that’s the guy who everyone thought to be utterly incompetent at running for presidency who beat the most experienced politician at that game with everyone against him and half of the money. Turns out he knew better than everybody else. So before assuming one got something he didn’t got better, I’d advise being cautious. Facts say he outsmarted pretty much everyone. In my book all the people who aren’t updating their view after that are likely to be outsmarted again and again…
voltaire1964 on February 14, 2017 · at 6:20 pm EST/EDT

Most of us, I suspect, don’t know what happens beyond and behind the visible surface of politics. Still, we keep calling ‘neocons’ those who, we assume, are responsible for the debacles of humanity and humanism in the last decades – down to the recent externations and strategy to derail the presidency of the US.
If it is true that clarity of ideas begins with clarity of language, we should not be afraid to confront and correct the vagueness of meaning of the term ‘neocons’. This video shows the composition of Trump’s entourage – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Rrma28Uf8 – the list starts at 9’ 25”.
It seems that ‘neocons’ is a euphemism for ‘zionists’ and ‘zionists’ is the politically correct way of defining the Talmudists, or rather those who, by deed, ideology, evidence and actions promote and pursue the objectives clearly stated in that text.
Possibly influenced by the reading of Soljenitzin’s “200 years together,” I have learned how ‘Talmudism’ worked in Russia and its overall effects on the nation at large. And, given that the Talmud has not changed, there is no reason to assume that ‘200 years together’ only occurred in Russia and not in the West.
Accepting this may mean nothing immediately, but it removes what is, I think, a stumbling block in admitting the evidence. For just saying ‘jew’ smells of anti-semitism, racism, etc. Instead, ‘Talmudists’ are those, jews or otherwise, who, by word, thought and action conform to the tenets and promote the objectives contained therein.
Consider who owns and/or controls banks, media, academia, Hollywood, government and education. For what they do has nothing in common with ‘conservatism’, new, old or any other way you may wish to think it is or means.
- Lyubovnik on February 14, 2017 · at 10:30 pm EST/EDT
  
  Thanks for the suggestion: 200 Yrs Together isn’t in my library, but turns out it’s online at https://thechosenites.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/200-years-together.pdf … all 362
  pages!
Richard Steven Hack on February 14, 2017 · at 6:21 pm EST/EDT

The main problem I had with Flynn was his ridiculously hard line on Iran. With him gone, perhaps Trump can be made to reconsider his approach to Iran. So far all he’s done is empty rhetoric, so possibly he won’t make any overt moves to damage the Iran deal, especially since the Europeans are in no hurry to do so.

The problem remaining is that clearly other members of his administration want to push for war with Iran as well. There was the recent effort to intercept an Iranian ship in international waters to subject it to search for weapons trafficking, which was put on hold. Hopefully that will be the end of it.
canuck on February 14, 2017 · at 6:34 pm EST/EDT

The Saker may be throwing in the towel too soon.

Trump is a neophyte in politics, with an extraordinary business background, an adroit billionaire with much experience in the real world, long successfully swimming with powerful sharks.

So now he has to learn the political ropes. The question is: is he capable of quickly learning key lessons in terms of enemies, effective ways and means, dependable allies, effective tactics, etc.

Another key question is: is Trump a genuine, heartfelt patriot, whose priority is saving America; or is that a guise, political theater? Is he an actual nationalist, or a pretend one?

If he is sincere, capable of learning, and refining tactics, while retaining his personal strategic goals, then the game is still on.

Engdahl’s thesis re Trump is highly suspect, and Engdahl has betrayed a reliance on including ad hominem attacks on Trump (that he’s an obvious phoney etc): No doubt the Empire will attempt to use and defeat Trump, but that is quite different than Trump having been selected by the deep state.

Trump came to power despite the coordinated massive demonization of him in the deep state’s media around the planet, and the opposition of most of the plutocracy, and the Republican and Democratic establishment, and some large part of the deep state. The attack on Trump in media continues to this day. Here in Canada I have not encountered in our media balanced fair minded high quality assessments of Trump, either him personally or him politically.

Trump came to power via the support of most of the American people, most of the military and police, and some unknown but effective part of the deep state. Again, the idea that he was chosen by the oligarchy to make war and to continue the empire is extremely suspect.

So again, the question of Trump’s actual basic intention and basic qualities as a 70 year old person remains. If he is sincere and made of good stuff, he is in the fight of his life and of our lives. Trump has done a heck of a lot already. And I would say that Russia in disaster under Yeltsin was in better shape, more easily
fixed, than the US today.

Putin began a relatively cohesive intelligent extremely tough minded and unspoiled though dispirited people. The US is a basket case in so many ways. Consider the number of people in the USA on anti-depressants, as one of many possible examples. Tens of millions. Try to find some sparkling alive intelligent eyes in the USA. Can be a challenge. Or consider the ghettos and racial divides.

Trump is surrounded by enemies, not allies. He has to find kindred allies or he will lose.

Trump’s innovation of using direct succinct spontaneous blunt communication with the public directly, and completely dissing the bs media, is a revolutionary brand of political engagement. A great compliment to this would be if he engaged the public more directly in terms of what to do, so as to escape somewhat the ‘shield’ from the public that normal coteries of ‘advisors’ and heads of departments and their people normally provide for political leaders.

The new and invigorated cultural currents driving the Trump phenomenon are not going to go away easily. In any case, some kind of unprecedented game is on, even if Trump falters badly, or is defeated.
- ioan on February 14, 2017 · at 10:56 pm EST/EDT
  
  Thanks for your excellent comments, when somebody at 70, having everything what he needs and even more, is running for president, wanting to change something he knows from within, putting everything on one card – his entire life – he must be really up for something. Remains to be seen how reluctant will he go forward, though the stage is too early to jump in fast conclusions. Surely, the media has made the latter for obvious reasons. The war for mind and souls is in full wing and is not a hard task to predict more such setbacks heavily backed by the same media with the same purpose.
Wayne Costigan on February 14, 2017 · at 6:35 pm EST/EDT

Great, if extremely dark and pessimistic, article! I did not vote for Trump, and gave up voting once I saw what the Jewish-controlled press of this once-great nation did to Pat Buchanan, and how they permitted The Clintons to murder with impunity, both here and abroad (Remember Waco!).
Hearing how Trump kowtowed to AIPAC almost made me puke, and his promise to move our embassy to Jerusalem proved to me he was not about to buck the Jewish Neoconservatives and their goyim allies in the ZOG.
We truly are doomed…
sadness on February 14, 2017 · at 6:36 pm EST/EDT

Trump was elected because he wasn’t Hillary, finis. That he would be anyone other than a billionaire realestate magnate was to be seen but never obvious. The overall situation is now becoming clear as it progresses.
- Bill on February 14, 2017 · at 6:55 pm EST/EDT
  
  Saker, I enjoy your blog and have learned from it. I think, though, that you are letting your emotions cloud your reason with this call. Is it not true that sometimes you have to lose a battle – and sacrifice soldiers – in order to regroup and then win the bigger war? I don’t believe that Trump is the helpless fool that he is painted to be.
- Auslander on February 14, 2017 · at 7:21 pm EST/EDT
  
  Oh gawd, the news only gets worse. News just came in that NAF, Novorossiya Armed Forces, have surrendered. With the loss of Givi and Motorola they were so demoralized the will to fight just left them and they surrendered an hour ago. Orcs are swarming in to Donetsk City and Lughansk City as thousands of civilians flee toward the now totally closed Russian borders.
  
  The Golden Pheasants are fleeing Sevastopol and Krimea as the first Orc flags have appeared over the outlying villages. The Black Sea Fleet has steam up and only light lines to the quays as hundreds of civilians clamor to be taken out of Sevastopol on the soon to be retreating Russian Fleet.
  
  Do I have your undivided attention now? What the hell is wrong with you people? Loosing one soldier or 101 soldiers in the fight is not the end. Did you think this would be a cake walk with instant milk and honey handed to you on the street corners whilst you stand there picking your nose? Where the hell is your will to fight, to continue the struggle against ‘them’? While the loss of General Flynn is just that, a loss, it is not the end of the world. As far as I’m concerned one of the good things to come from his resignation is the true colors of a lot of posters on this blog and a whole lot of ‘news’ types and pontificators have been shown.
  
  So you got a bloody nose in a fight. Big deal, or are you going to run home crying for your mommy? Get your asses in gear, stand up and fight! This is not going to be an easy struggle and there will be more reverses just as eventually there will be successes. If you are not willing to pull together and join the struggle to save USA then you are not worthy of being call Americans and/or freedom loving people anywhere.
  
  Auslander
  - SEJMON on February 14, 2017 · at 9:42 pm EST/EDT
    
    Thanks Auslander -you said it all….this is not times for weaklings ,surrenders …..to win WH been only beginning ..and DJT know it.
  - Ngoyo on February 14, 2017 · at 10:14 pm EST/EDT
    
    Thank you Auslander. That needed to be said. This is not the end.
Nightingale on February 14, 2017 · at 6:50 pm EST/EDT

The “power” of the Neo-Cons is based on a lie. It is not real and their tricks are out in the open. Their money, ideologies, intellect and even appearances are all fake. As their machinations become more and more transparent, more and more people will awake. At this point, fluoride, vaccinations, media, and child molesting Hollywood cartel cannot stop awakening. The eyes opening exercise is very difficult one and not happening as fast as it should, but it is happening. There’re millions of comments on youtube and many other social media that are indicating a significant shift in people ability to detect bullshit.

Trump or no Trump, all this garbage bugs, full of pedophiles and mentally sick Zio-Fascists are getting wasted by Russia. This is a slow unfolding of their downfall. They will bite and bark but people are losing their fear and eventually none of it will matter.

Russia is gathering strength and, even at this point, it is already strong enough to destroy these reptilian snake holes in DC, Tel-Aviv and Brussels. The is a fight ahead and, sooner or later, the true reality will win.
- Franz on February 14, 2017 · at 8:10 pm EST/EDT
  
  The Khazars (today’s Ashcanazi Jews) were toll-keepers at the mouth of the Volga River, between the North and Byzantium. They picked up most of their customs agents and shopkeepers bad habits then.
Talks-to-Cats on February 14, 2017 · at 6:59 pm EST/EDT

As is often the case, the deeply insightful comments that have been posted here are, IMO, of the greatest value. Because comments are almost always made from one single perspective. And when you are appraising something in three dimensions (like a statue), an encyclopedic procedure is of vital importance. Because only when ALL sides are seen is the appraisal an accurate one. Otherwise you have partisan propagnda (however well intentioned) at best, and agitprop at worst.

It is striking here the extent to which we (USA) find ourselves reprising the experience of people in the Soviet Union (history DOES repeat itself), who closely examined each day’s Istvestia and Pravda looking for little clues to what might be going on in the Politbureau — who is in a picture with whom (or not in it), what article shares page space with another one (and how close to the front page it is), and so on.

It is also a little like “caption this picture” humor contests, where the same picture can support the wildest interpretations. The historian of religious myth Robert Graves deliniated this as “iconotropy,” showing how one set of images that made perfect sense as depictions of events in Greek mythology served just as well as iconic illustrations of Bible stories.

From one news item (like this one) we try to draw the most sweeping conclusions as to where the whole thing is headed. But sometimes I wonder if we are not sometimes mistaking noise for signal and investing it with importance it does not have ? Not every factoid is a straw in the wind, and red herrings in perception management are not rarely created to misdirect.

For heaven’s sake : being one pawn down does not signal the loss of the game. OK ? It is not only MSM agitprop that can induce despair. If we do this to ourselves because we crave emotional excitement we should be at investment watchblog, which seems to have decided to specialize in this (soap opera excitation).

My dva kopeek.

“Moji dvje kopejki.” Inflected languages can be hell. – fk mod
- Talks-to-Cats on February 14, 2017 · at 11:21 pm EST/EDT
  
  Thank you for the helpful correction : )
  
  T-t-C
jo6pac on February 14, 2017 · at 7:02 pm EST/EDT

Will I wonder how long it will take for retired general criminal betryus name to come for this spot. Yep neo-conns won this one.
Jamie on February 14, 2017 · at 7:04 pm EST/EDT

Let’s not call the game in the first inning. If I was president and really wanted better relations with Russia, I would have fired him too if he lied to Mike Pence. If the deep state is against me, I want the most perfect messenger possible … a boy scout.

Trump’s leadership ability and actual power will be tested when we see if he prosecutes all these deep-state leaks. I know Putin would.
Skylark on February 14, 2017 · at 7:05 pm EST/EDT

Had a crazy dream last night about a team of 20 or so Russian Spetsnaz soldiers who had all crammed into a big cruise missile or drone and then parachuted into Washington DC on a secret mission. No idea what they were up to – some sort of Mission Impossible.
- Franz on February 14, 2017 · at 7:57 pm EST/EDT
  
  The USA is crying out for liberation, just like The Ukraine is.
James lake on February 14, 2017 · at 7:08 pm EST/EDT

Saker,

Trump has said Russia must return Crimea
Reported on RT now as a breaking story.

Took 4 weeks to break Trump. He lasted three weeks longer than obama

They are also complaining about Russia breaking a missile treaty – expect more sanctions to come
Unicorn on February 14, 2017 · at 7:23 pm EST/EDT

It is bad to hate Iran, isn’t it? How then one less hater of Iran near POTUS could be bad?
Isn’t a weaker POTUS a good thing for the world? For the weaker POTUS means the weaker terrorist state No.1 (the USA).
Wouldn’t it be good for human beings (and humanity) if the US elite were eating each other ad finitum?
Kent on February 14, 2017 · at 7:23 pm EST/EDT

Hey!! So,. What is the difference between one “elected” clown and another??

Exactly nothing.

The Empire of Chaos is exactly that.

The fight is first and foremost spiritual, and detailed analysis on a microscopic level leads to numerous Cul de sac’s.

Here is the clown:

Small version. http://telemarksporten.no/SakerPhotos/Trump_Clown_resize.jpg

Large Version: http://telemarksporten.no/SakerPhotos/Trump_Clown.jpg

Take Care
Kent
Nils on February 14, 2017 · at 7:26 pm EST/EDT

SAKER,

I am a little confused by your one-handed analysis of trump. Are you saying he was rational on all policy fronts? Because, from all practical analysis I have seen, he was simply playing divide and conquer. There was not yet proven (or disproven, either) to be newfound application of morals on the geopolitical considerations of the government – he simply switched from Russia to China in threats.

Now he was much more neutered, but who knows if this is just another puppet susceptible to false flags or what have you, just like Bush jr.

Anyways, Trump may have listened to Flynn (or at least the more intelligent Bannon may have) and will continue to subjugation of the intel agencies to American self-interests, not some geopolitical machination pie-in-the-sky shit.

Time will tell if this egg is a dud or not, not the day-to-day political maneuvering.
JJ on February 14, 2017 · at 7:31 pm EST/EDT

White House press secretary Shaun Spicer saying Trump says hopes Russia will de-escalate Donbass and return Crimea to the Ukraine????????
Presumably press briefing today?
Russian spring breaking news saying this today..apparently…. can anyone check accurately?
- Auslander on February 14, 2017 · at 8:28 pm EST/EDT
  
  The only way President Trump or anyone will get Krimea and the Federal City of Sevastopol to ‘return’ to Ukraine is over our dead bodies.
- S113 on February 14, 2017 · at 10:25 pm EST/EDT
  
  OK, I don’t know why Trump is saying this about Crimea, but former diplomat, MK Bhadrakumar has some insight.
  
  It’s a diplomatic move to agree to something from the past, that’s already happened and can’t be undone – and then suggest steps for the present and future (e.g. discussions with the Kremlin).
  
  He explains this in reference to Tillerson’s senate hearing.
  
  http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2017/01/12/tillersons-us-senate-hearing-sets-benchmarks-on-russia-policies/
  
  Steinmeier does this too when speaking about Crimea, and it always baffled me, because he is totally committed to rapprochement with Russia – say what you want about the man, the dude’s got skills where diplomacy is concerned!! (And on that note, I read an analysis that suggests Steinmeier’s anti-Trump rhetoric is another diplomatic ploy to force Germany’s rapprochement with Russia – sneaky, if true. :-)
Anonymous on February 14, 2017 · at 7:41 pm EST/EDT

The great anglo saxon philosopher Mackinder said that history is – Sea Power vs Land Power.
Sea power has been Portugal, Spain, Holland, France, UK and now USA.
Land power has been Persia, Mongols, Arab, China, Russia and the new Eurasian Union.

Now the ONLY way USA Sea Power can keep its power is by ‘divide-and-rule’ the new Land Power alliace of Russia, Iran, Pakistan and China. They hoped that Flynn would be able to trick Russia into becoming hostile to China and abandoning Iran. BUT Putin gave them a clear message- Eurasianism is here to stay, we will not fall for your little schemes! With that divide and rule plan failed, Trump will revert to the Obama mathod of spitting and howling about Russian agression and occupyng Krym, but being powerless to actually do anything. Things are going well, yes, sanctions are making Russia make more of its own products and buying from its allies instead of the west. Best wishes to Russia!
joeyman9 on February 14, 2017 · at 7:47 pm EST/EDT

During the election this same article was written about Trump many times, yet each time he recovered and fought back. I eagerly look for that fight back now.
CaperAsh on February 14, 2017 · at 8:00 pm EST/EDT

Saker, I hope you are premature.

I have always had doubts about T but have been heartened by the ferocity and scope of the attacks against him – clearly many find him threatening which suggests something real is going on.

That said, since clearly he is not trying to dismantle the current financial or military-industrial orders, my assumption has been that
a) some major power has his back (hard zionists who are breaking with globalist zionists?) inc. Mossad? This because he cannot run, let alone govern, unless he knows his family is safe and/or that if they are assassinated, revenge will be taken.
b) he is trading foreign policy for domestic policy. He intends to rebuild American infrastructure and revive the national spirit by creating a strong economy. That is his goal.

However, if what I said above is anywhere close to right, it doesn’t explain the fierce attacks he has sustained. Something doesn’t add up. If he is a phony, why all the worry? If he is not, then what is he proposing to do that has them so up in arms? He wants to rebuild the military and go after Iran and has GS people up the yin-yang in his new admin. What’s the problem?

In short, am baffled by the whole thing. But again, assuming he is somewhat real because it seems he really is being attacked, and assuming he is going to fight and has some sort of agenda that ‘they’ hate, then this is how I see it now:

1. Since Day One after the election, but especially since Day One after Inauguration, war is declared. The Dems have successfully delayed Cabinet appointments and the R’s in Congress were unable to thwart them. The Press has been relentless. Soros-funded agitators are all over everything. The liberal 9th Circuit Court humiliated the new President and stopped a very simple Order cold. Now a major player in combating Deep State operatives in the Intelligence community has been taken down AND the Dems have grounds to begin to push for Impeachment (when did Trump know it etc.) in less than a month.

2. Trump is planning a major counterattack, but first needs to get some things lined up. He might not have time. But if he does, then something like a major pedophile ring (including many of the politicos and press grandees now attacking him) prosecution unfolds. Or they put in place ways of exposing the current leakers inside the civil service and jailing them. Or exposing major crimes from the Obama administration or whatever. In other words, some serious, solid, substantive, irrefutable exposure of full-blown criminal action which shuts down much of the current free-for-all sharkfest.

In other words, instead of sharks circling around his blood in the water, he throws them a lot more of their blood to go feed on.

If that doesn’t happen, then you are right. He is toast. But I don’t think he threw Flynn under the bus so much as that they are simply not ready yet to punch back, and so he had no choice but to let him go now until they are ready.

Remember: Sessions only got in (finally) a few days ago. Although the war has been ongoing for several weeks (or months) now, they haven’t yet got their troops assembled and trained. It’s like an army being shelled before they even went through boot camp. Or a new ship going out on a shake-down cruise with new captain and crew and going into a full-blown tempest.

It might be over as you say; but like another commenter above pointed out: several times it looked like he was down for the count but came back. Yes, this is serious, much more serious than most are realising and kudos to you for pointing it out, but I think this is just the loss of a round, not the whole fight. Not good, but also not yet over.

Keep up the superior work.
- Realist on March 15, 2017 · at 2:36 pm EST/EDT
  
  CaperAsh,
  
  For me, presidents in US, are selected carefully way before their candidacy, especially neocons probably do the pre selection. Therefore, I doubt Trump is anything but an insider. What makes him different than his predecessors is that he is not politically correct, speaks his mind and says he is not politician, insider. In other words, he is giving what the public want. Whether he is true to his words, we will see a year from now. You are right, if he has the same agenda as the neocons, why are they worried? Could it be that, they are seeing signs from him he is not in the same page as they are?
metamars on February 14, 2017 · at 8:22 pm EST/EDT

If Trump is “totally defeated by the neocons”, does that mean Victoria Nuland will be let back into the government? Maybe as Ambassador to Russia?? If not, why not? What other signs of Trump’s “total defeat” can we expect to see? Will Elliot Abrams get the job he was denied, only a few days, ago?

You speak of the “deep state” as though it was monolithic. In this assumption, your aloneness reminds me of the aloneness you have assigned (projected?) onto Trump.

Many other analysts don’t make this assumption. Consider the following, ranging from strongly anti-Trump to strongly pro-Trump:

https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-trump-regime-was-manufactured-by-a-war-inside-the-deep-state-f9e757071c70#.l4pb02jp3

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201701191049765550-how-trump-presidency-will-play-out/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx9_paDhpQs

I was generally a supporter of Flynn, but his anti-Iranian obsessions seemed every bit as irrational as what was coming from the likes of John McCain. Frankly, in this regard, he bordered on nutty. Philip Giraldi had a good piece on this:

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/iran-hawks-take-the-white-house/

———————

“Ask yourself – after what happened to Flynn, would you stick your neck out for Trump?”

I just watched most of Spicer’s press conference today, and Spicer made clear that Flynn broke no laws, but that Trump no longer trusted him. Flynn lied not just to Pence, but to Spicer and “other(s)”. (Apparently, Flynn’s claim of not remembering didn’t fly.)

If you don’t lie to much of Trump’s cabinet, you should be just fine “sticking your neck out” for Trump.
Ngoyo on February 14, 2017 · at 8:28 pm EST/EDT

I wouldn’t go so far as to declare defeat yet. Trump never promised to dismantle the anglozionist empire. he said he wouldn’t do war again and would seek good relations with Russia (“good” not “friendly”) He wants to get along. Folks, people have been reading too much into what Trump has said and wants re Russia and the Empire. Trump has always said he wants the minor satraps of the empire to pay their own way and pull their own weight, not that he wanted to end the whole thing. The pro Russia camp has wrongly assumed that he meant to end the whole thing.

Still the Flynn resignation is a debacle for the Trump admin. But this is a war and in war against a powerful adversary, you are going to lose some battles. That doesn’t mean you have lost the war. I do not see Trump as a coward and people in their 70’s don’t suddenly change what they have been all their lives. I think Flynn was let go to cut losses and allow the fight to proceed in different ways on different fronts.
For example Russia doesn’t need friendly relation or sanctions to be lifted etc. It just needs the stabilization of the relationship and some cooperation, re IS, Syria, Ukraine, missile defence. Thats all!
For the rest if Trump focuses on his domestic agenda that will be sufficient blow to the globalist elites.

All the world needs from Trump is for the US to NOT proactively push the neocon agenda. Thats actually a pretty low bar and even with hits like this or even greater, Trump still has an excellent chance of achieving that. Whether he will or not remains to be seen. But I doubt the war is over yet.
SanctuaryOne on February 14, 2017 · at 8:29 pm EST/EDT

To understand what the Neocons and Deep State are playing at one need only look at what MI6 and assorted vassals are now recycling with renewed legs and beaconing out:

Trump knew of Flynn Russia phone call issues ‘weeks ago’

Note the ‘if the phone calls were lied about then this must also be true’ meme:
“A dossier drawn up by a former MI6 officer – that was flatly denied – alleged all manner of Russian involvement in President Trump’s businesses and presidential campaign”

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38974085
- Franz on February 14, 2017 · at 8:47 pm EST/EDT
  
  I am deeply sorry to see the once-decent Canada’s name mentioned in the link.
  If there are questions about Trump’s allegiance/connection to the Deep State, there can be none about Trudeau’s.
  - SanctuaryOne on February 15, 2017 · at 5:32 am EST/EDT
    
    It is indeed sad to see the descent of Canada. Although the content above has no mention of Canada -just a regional news designation from MI6’s British Bloviator Corp. , most Canadians, poisoned by US programming, buy into the MSM russophobia.
    
    Ukrainian immigrants and their descendants, primarily from Kiev and Eastern Ukraine also form 10% of the population and outnumber Russians by at least 8 to 1. Other former Soviet bloc immigrants appear to have depressing memories that they likely now blame on Russia.
    
    They exist of course but I have yet to meet anyone in Canada who does not suffer some form of russophobia.
Uncle Bob 1 on February 14, 2017 · at 8:48 pm EST/EDT

After seeing this new article on RT. I believe that Trump has gone “full retard” as the saying goes. I don’t see any possibility of good relations with Russia coming about. And if I was in the Kremlin I would give up trying. And just figure having a “little” less violent enemy than Clinton is the best we could look forward to. And seriously,that is good enough.Just do the things needing to be done and stop worrying about the US reaction. And stop trying to cooperate with your sworn enemy. It just never works that way.If Putin could ask Stalin he’d tell him.Almost three years of accommodating Hitler to avoid war,only got him Barbarossa:

Trump expects Russia to ‘return Crimea’ – White House

“US President Donald Trump has been tough on Russia and expects Moscow to “return” the Crimea peninsula to Ukraine, the White House spokesman told reporters.

Addressing the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn – hounded by the media over his contacts with Russian diplomats prior to Trump’s inauguration – Spicer pointed out that Russia “seized” Crimea under the Obama administration and that the Trump-appointed ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has “strongly denounced the Russian occupation.”

“President Trump has made it very clear that he expects the Russian government to de-escalate violence in the Ukraine and return Crimea,” Spicer said at the daily news briefing on Tuesday. “At the same time, he fully expects to – and wants to – get along with Russia.”

“Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine,” Haley said at the UN Security Council meeting on February 2.”

https://www.rt.com/usa/377346-spicer-russia-return-crimea/

I think we can “finally” lay to rest the thinking that Nikki Haley was attacking Russia at the UN without the Trump regime knowing about it, or approving. As Spicer’s words say they knew and approved her rant. So hopefully we can now stop the excuses for the new regime. Old regime,new regime,only difference is “style” not “substance”.
- Talks-to-Cats on February 15, 2017 · at 1:39 am EST/EDT
  
  “Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine,” Haley said at the UN Security Council meeting on February 2.”
  
  @Uncle Bob —
  
  Meaning of the above : the rout is on. The French and German dominoes are tipping (not fallen yet) and when they go, the rest of that joke EU collapses the rest of the way as sheer survival forces them to renounce US/NATO sanctions and re-establish trade relations with RF. Leaving the US with a lot of troops and military equipment there to evacuate.
  
  Factor in no more mandatory buying NATO-compliant military supplies from the US — big OUCH ! for the US military-industrial-congressional complex (Eisenhower’s original speech draft phrase that his aides persuaded him to soften).
  
  Just hastens the breaking point.
Blueby on February 14, 2017 · at 9:05 pm EST/EDT

I feel you underestimate Trump. He tweeted that the most important news that the MSM were ignoring was who was leaking information out. He asked what would be the impact if information regarding North Korea was leaked. No response from the MSM. You see you have to know who your enemies are before you can destroy them. I am pretty sure that Trump knows who these people are. But it is most important that the people know as well. Every day the Globalist establishment reveal their people for the whole world to see. Trump is using the biased MSM to reveal this. They think they are fighting him, but actually they are unintentionally helping him. Flynn’s resignation I am sure is a token. Because I reckon that around the corner you will see Reince Priebus being dismissed as he is obviously the double agent. you will see Paul Ryan toppled and one by one all the two faced globalists that surround him will be going. Sessions will start on the Judicial system and that will be purged. Then the Clinton trials will start. When that starts get the popcorn in. The most important thing for Trump is that the people know the truth about how deeply the corruption runs. At the moment that knowledge is as plain as the nose on your face.
- blue on February 14, 2017 · at 10:40 pm EST/EDT
  
  For all we peasants know about the detailed ins and outs, Flynn may have been a bigmouth and leaking information…
  - blue on February 14, 2017 · at 11:01 pm EST/EDT
    
    Just saw this:
    
    https://sputniknews.com/politics/201702141050684130-white-house-michael-flynn/
    White House Admits Forcing Trump’s Advisor to Retire Over ‘Eroding Trust’
    …
    and General Flynn — who happens to be a lifelong Democrat.
    …
    
    I don’t know — bur the phrasing and his being a Democrat doesn’t refute my speculation. I’m beginning to think there was some internal problem unrelated to the phone call.
    
    But what could a peasant like me know, from down here in the lovely filth, with no information — peasants can only gossip (until we are issued with torches and pitchforks).
    
    Trump expects Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine — and also that Santa will him a unicorn for Christmas….
    - SanctuaryOne on February 15, 2017 · at 3:30 am EST/EDT
      
      Will tumbrels fit in the Pentagon corridors or is there a requirement for a ‘narrow-wheelbase’ version?
      - blue on February 15, 2017 · at 3:48 am EST/EDT
        
        Of course they will fit — if a whole airplane could fit into that little hole in the they must have spacial dimension resizing equipment in there.
Jonas on February 14, 2017 · at 9:15 pm EST/EDT

“Yanukovich, who also was elected by a majority of the people and who failed to show the resolve needed to stop the ‘color revolution’ started against him. But if Trump is the new Yanukovich, will the US become the next Ukraine?”

-Yes, but with nuclear weapons that can destroy all life on earth. What Poroshenko is doing now is what Trump will be doing 2 years from now. (with nuclear weapons).
Sam on February 14, 2017 · at 9:25 pm EST/EDT

Whatever the reasons for his going, Flynn’s departure is however a serious blow for Donald Trump.

It is a much more serious blow than the court decisions on the ‘travel ban’ Executive Order, which I expect the administration to reverse or overcome.

Losing Flynn by contrast shows weakness, and has given Donald Trump’s many enemies – including those in the bureaucracy – their first blood. They will now be hungering for more.

Trump and his advisers presumably calculated that the damage that would have been done by holding on to Flynn would have been greater than the damage that was done by letting him go. Time will show whether they are right. Much will depend on who Trump choses to replace him.

http://theduran.com/first-defeat-donald-trump-michael-flynn-resigns/
Newton Finn on February 14, 2017 · at 9:39 pm EST/EDT

Trump turned out to be the empty suit (and head and heart) we suspected he was…but desperately prayed he wasn’t. We in the U.S. can now expect a chaotic, if not catastrophic, four years of neocon/neolib assault on what little remains of our quality of life and national stature. The only bright side is that the last faint hope of non-revolutionary change has died, leaving more and more Americans completely alienated from mainstream institutions and forced into a militant corner of opposition to all things status quo.

Neither the right nor left of today’s politics, themselves products of capitalist ideology, provide the battle flag that must be carried in the struggle for a new and better world. To cleanse your mind and lift your spirit, read and ponder Edward Bellamy’s “Looking Backward” and “Equality.” Though these 19th Century works need updating, especially on crucial environmental issues, there is no more incisive, more comprehensive, more practical vision to point the way forward than can be found–so accessibly and enjoyably–in these forgotten masterpieces.
- Newton Finn on February 18, 2017 · at 5:57 pm EST/EDT
  
  After having listened to Trump’s latest news conference, I retract my premature write-off of the president’s resolve. Despite the disheartening Flynn resignation, Trump seems to be hanging in there in his war with the deep state and its MSM mouthpiece. But do read Bellamy, please. Absolutely stunning analysis of what capitalism has led to, why it has inevitably led there, and, most importantly, one possible way out. Apart from quaint 19th Century customs and language, “Looking Backward” and “Equality” could have been written yesterday.
Makutwa Omutiti on February 14, 2017 · at 10:00 pm EST/EDT

Please the Saker community, let us not get caught up in the smoke and mirrors generated by the presstitutes. We must be well grounded in our responses to current events. There is no doubt that a sizeable faction in the American oligarchy hates Trump with a passion. Why? Not because Trump wants to revolutionize America (“drain the swamp). No. In fact, they have no problem with his economic team (the usual Wall Street types) because the same predatory economic policies that were pursued under the previous administrations will more or less continue. The traditional bowing of the political class to Israeli rather than American interests in the Middle East will continue.The wet dream to destroy Iran is still intact. The continued feeding of the maws of the Military Industrial Complex is still in place. They hate Trump because he wants to deal pragmatically with Russia whilst they have decided that Russia is an existential threat to their global hegemony. Related to this is Trump’s proposal not to use NATO to advance America’s hegemonic agenda. Another reason they hate Trump so much is that Trump wants to curtail some aspects of American economic globalism (TTIP, TPP, NAFTA) that have damaged the part of America’s domestic economy that has always supported ordinary Americans.

Definitely, Trump is not alone in his vision. There are elements in the American oligarchy who share his vision. This faction is realistic in the sense that they realize that America’s single-minded pursuit of hegemony is exacting a heavy toll on America economically, politically, militarily and in terms of credibility. They realize that America has been making some strategic blunders that are doing great harm to her.

But it seems that the Neo-con wing of this oligarchy does not even countenance a tweak to their proven disastrous approach to policy. They are hell-bent on doubling down on their stupidity. This faction is more dangerous because they are delusional: they think that the America of today is the same one of, say, 25 years ago. But this is simply not true. The US of today has been hollowed out economically and is only kept afloat mainly by the casino capitalism that is Wall Street and its enablers at the ‘Federal’ Reserve. In fact, Gen. Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was once quoted as having said that the biggest threat to US security is the national debt that today stands at approximately $ 20 trillion. Of course, while the Neo-cons were on their delusional hegemonic forays, the Chinese were more than willing to finance them. Linda Bilmes and Joseph Stiglitz estimate that the Iraq war alone has so far cost the US $ 3 trillion. This means that the US has wasted money that it could spend to fix things back home. The US has brazenly caused havoc, death and immense pain in so many countries without achieving any of her strategic objectives to the extent that America is no longer considered a credible political partner in resolving some of the major political and security challenges facing the world. The pork barrel politics of the US Military Industrial Complex have led to the US being outpaced qualitatively in some areas of military technology by Russia. In fact, the Russians are aware of this qualitative gap and that is why Putin could confidently claim that Russia at present can defend itself effectively against ANY potential military aggressor.

The hope I had in Trump’s candidacy and election was that he and the faction he represents in the oligarchy would amass enough critical support within this oligarchy to steer America’s foreign policy away from the suicidal commitment to bring down Russia. I also had hope that they would realize that wanting to bring down China and Iran would be suicidal and hence pragmatism would guide policy. Let’s be clear: the future is Eurasia. America and the west have nothing new to offer. They also see the signs of the times. But instead of pragmatically re-adjusting to this creeping reality, the Neo-con faction does not want “to go quietly into that good night”. They want to desperately maintain the old order which is untenable. Trump won against so many odds. He has been able to put in motion forces that are accelerating the demise of the west . Thanks to Trump’s election, we have learned a few important truths: mainstream western media are simply “presstitutes”;the so-called mainstream ‘experts’ are what Nassim Taleb delightfully calls ‘Intellectuals-Yet-Idiots (IYIs); real democracy in the west is a sham because it boils down to endorsing elite preferences; identity politics has run its bankrupt course; freedom of speech means agreeing with the elite consensus; the elite have visceral contempt for the ordinary person; a sizeable number of ordinary people no longer buy into the dominant elite consensus. The unmasking of these truths gives us hope that the Empire can be resisted to some extent.

In the meantime, Flynn’s resignation is just another sign of the war of strategic visions within the American power elite. Each side has got its own formations of support within the wider society. We cannot predict with certainty the outcome of this war. Prediction is a very risky business. But if the Neo-con vision prevails, then we should brace ourselves for tough times ahead because if they decide to double down on their usual stupidity, this time round a majority in the west and other parts of the world that have been victims of this stupidity will rise up and declare: “Enough is enough.”
- Ngoyo on February 14, 2017 · at 10:33 pm EST/EDT
  
  Absolutely! Trump is not a fool, nor is he a coward, he is a fighter and a winner. That is why he is where he is. Unlike Obama who backed down on every challenge, whether it be Rev Wright, Van Jones, Single Payer healthcare, attacking Syria etc etc. Trump fights back. Thats how he got past the attacks on him in the campaign. “Grab them by the pu**y” was much bigger than this. It was supposed to knock him out of the race. Despite all the howling and screaming, Trump came out swinging in the next debate and knocked Hillary back.
  He will get over this.
  What is likely to happen is that there will be a compromise with the deep state. But the world will get what it needs: No war with Russia, China, or Iran and a US that is internally, not externally, focused. The proforma hostility towards Russia will likely remain, to placate the neocons.
- AOS on February 15, 2017 · at 12:27 am EST/EDT
  
  Excellent comment Makutwa.
- Talks-to-Cats on February 15, 2017 · at 1:28 am EST/EDT
  
  it seems that the Neo-con wing of this oligarchy does not even countenance a tweak to their proven disastrous approach to policy. They are hell-bent on doubling down on their stupidity. This faction is more dangerous because they are delusional: they think that the America of today is the same one of, say, 25 years ago. But this is simply not true. The US of today has been hollowed out economically and is only kept afloat mainly by the casino capitalism that is Wall Street and its enablers at the ‘Federal’ Reserve.
  
  @Makutwa Omutiti
  
  Consider it possible that they know this very well but imagine that they can get one more war out of the US before it collapses entirely (and they flee to some safe refuge to begin again).
  
  Some have the equivalent of castles built and stocked in New Zealand ; word got out a year or so back that the Bush tribe had bought a massive estate in southern Argentina ; billionaires have huge land holdings in Hawaii and Montana that I know about . . .
  - Anonymous on February 15, 2017 · at 4:14 am EST/EDT
    
    Costa Rica is another place favoured by oligarchs for their luxurious compounds containing fallout shelters.
DaveOinAlaska on February 14, 2017 · at 10:01 pm EST/EDT

Further (and extensive) ruminations as to what’s going on in the big pic:

https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-trump-regime-was-manufactured-by-a-war-inside-the-deep-state-f9e757071c70#.m9qorueng
Lyubovnik on February 14, 2017 · at 10:19 pm EST/EDT

Right after I read this, I was looking at twitter and was shocked to see “Russian missile secretly deployed” (or similar) trending. Reading the New York Times’ article, titled “Russia Deploys Missile, Violating Treaty and Challenging Trump,” I saw that they were referring to the US’ angst about Russia’s military power, and that “questions” about this missile were actually raised by Obama, in 2014.

There was no mention of deployment, much less treaty-breaking, then or now; and the fact that of COURSE weapons development is “secret” was completely ignored, as though Russia was acting illegally to even develop them.

Then too, it was completely obvious that all nyt journos (I use the term loosely) were told to tweet incendiary, fear-mongering memes in re this article, to help it trend; And probably, their army of trolls completed that deal.

Got WMDs?
Stalin on February 14, 2017 · at 10:32 pm EST/EDT

So they scream for Crimea again, Russia must double efforts to spread unity between Russian people, and be prepared for the worst. If they only want a Cold War, we must not fall into a trap. A few SARMATS and those new nuclear torpedos with turbo-water driven engines will do. No need for 600 submarines.
Isabella on February 14, 2017 · at 11:11 pm EST/EDT

If it had to be, I’m glad the waiting is over. The “other boot” tension was growing horrifically everywhere. Now at least we can say – “now we know where we stand”.
And I am certain so do Putin, Lavrov, Shoigue et al.
The troops are massing on the borders; the last chance of something sane and strong in America is gone – the Basement crazies are slavering.
Putin has to take American down now. He has no choice.
I remember him saying “50 years ago the streets of Leningrad taught me one thing: if a fight is inevitable – strike first”
He struck hard and fast in Chechnya, Georgia, in Crimea. I think he will this time too.
- sgage on February 14, 2017 · at 11:45 pm EST/EDT
  
  Strike what? Where?
  - Stalin on February 15, 2017 · at 2:19 am EST/EDT
    
    See ( /the-anti-flynn-deep-state-coup-spelling-it-out-in-the-clearest-way-possible/ ) and look for Antaz Almey’s post. He just made a perfect list of targets and list-to-do.
GodSend on February 14, 2017 · at 11:13 pm EST/EDT

Let’s look at Trump without the rose-colored glasses and with 911 and Israel in the foreground:

ANYONE with a working brain and who is reasonably well informed, knows that Dr. Alan Sabrosky [ex-USMC Officer] was correct when he stated that “It is 100% CERTAIN that Israel [Mossad] did 911!”. Trump KNOWS it! – but Trump is a ZIONIST SLIMEBALL, Israel-LOVER and TRAITOR, who will COVER UP Israel’s heinous ATTACK ON AMERICA! He will declare his eternal friendship and loyalty to America’s GREATEST ENEMY and proceed to kiss “Bibi’s” ass with great fervor whenever “Blbi” visits the WH! No matter what wonderful things he does for America, Trump deserves to HANG for HIGH TREASON, along with ALL the CONgress CRITTERS since Bush-it! And the American Military Brass, including the JCOS [Joint Castrati Of Staff] deserve the same fate [HANGING] – because they also KNOW that Israel did 911, but have done NOTHING about it, in clear violation of their OATHS of Office, aka HIGH TREASON!

The ONLY hope for America is “Seven Days in May” (or any other month of the year) and/or someone with the BALLS and visibility to expose 911 Truth – Israel’s guilt! NO, Trump was NEVER the one to do that – he was always a ZIONIST DECOY!
ian on February 14, 2017 · at 11:23 pm EST/EDT

Well I hope you are wrong for once, and we see, only great improvements, jobs beck in the country where they belong, instead of off shore in another country where copies are made at sub standard quality. if he has been got at by powers pulling the strings, then what hope does the world have until, the puppet masters are taken down for good. People need their lives back a country here there is no crime, and the right to achieve their dreams instead of being crushed as we see all over the world as puppets have been placed in power to not grow or help the economy, as we were led to believe, but to destroy because these people serve the devil not us. I was hoping this man was not one of them and he would rise above the vile lying scum that has ruled.
Anonymous on February 14, 2017 · at 11:28 pm EST/EDT

Dear Saker,

Doesnt happen often…hardly ever really.

Saker you may be wrong on Flynn.

Maybe he was the leaker.

Maybe he set up Yemen to eggface the new administration.

Maybe he deliberately planted the sanction daisy cutter under Trump.

Maybe his Iran officially on notice line echoed too closely with the Syrian sarin mousetrap.

Maybe Flynn was a long line mole attached to Trump for purpses becoming evident.

Lets see what transpires.
MarcS on February 14, 2017 · at 11:36 pm EST/EDT

I agree 1000%, I would not stick my neck out for Trump now….. no trust in his words.

There was absolutely nothing wrong about that phone call, Flynn trying to get a jumpstart on relations with Russia, now that is just Deplorable.

Trump made him the scapegoat. Looks like more of the same neocon BS
terry on February 14, 2017 · at 11:45 pm EST/EDT

Is it really as bad as you say ? maybe but maybe not .Trump getting elected was a kind of miracle in many ways .No one save but a few thought it and believed it and it can be shown that it was a blow back plan of Hillary that got him in …I may be overly hopeful but I still have that and in a quiet kind of a way the hidden hand that got him there is more powerful then any standing army .

You suggest that he will be relegated to a castrated position . I think Trump would just resign before he takes that position .POTUS was never what he wanted imo . Taking the gauntlet to try and fix the US was .Make him a back bencher and he has nothing left to do other then to say that he tried .

Here is a what if .What if the silent hand is really directing this and needs to put Trump in a much stronger position then he had before .Just as many of us were second guessing Putins moves and seldome getting them wrong ,we may be doing the same thing with Trump .Could it be that silent hand behind Putin is the same hand with Putin ……..just something to think about and have hope ..We have a faith , lets hope and love will take care of the rest ….terry
ian on February 14, 2017 · at 11:47 pm EST/EDT

I only hope we are wrong, and this man really turns the country around for the good of all, but it appears that the ruling powers hiding like they do and pull strings, are active it seems that they have got at the president and are undermining his good will, what foul vile evil people they really are, their power is an illusion based of fear.
There is a great evil in control of this planet and this evil does not want good things to happen it is an evil of the lowest form, mankind will need the help from God there are things that people can do and that is to not play it’s game, stop giving your lives to the military as cannon fodder to be used in their wars, they have stitched up the world so much, that we are all trapped within the system Trump should have stood up for Flynn it just goes to show that there is a force to bring him down and these ridiculous accusations are complete lies it does not require a college degree to see what is going on. And this gang of thugs will stop at nothing to tear down Trump next they will try something else Mr Trump need to really stand up to them and bring the hole stinking putrid lot of them down, the world knows and they can’t not continue and they must be stopped.
- Anonymous on February 14, 2017 · at 11:57 pm EST/EDT
  
  Trump Expects Putin To “Return” Crimea To Ukraine
  
  Tyler Durden’s picture
  by Tyler Durden
  Feb 14, 2017 5:34 PM
  33
  SHARES
  Twitter Facebook Reddit
  With every passing day, it appears that many of the anticipated foreign policy changes under the new administration may end up being nothing but smoke and mirrors. First, it was the middle east, where despite campaign promises of pulling back US troops, Trump is instead considering adding to US deployments to reinforce what he plans to be Syrian “safe zones.”
  
  Then, during today’s Sean Spicer press conference, the White House spokesman had that President Trump has been “tough” on Russia and expects Moscow to “return” the Crimea peninsula to Ukraine, the White House spokesman told reporters.
Anonymous on February 14, 2017 · at 11:56 pm EST/EDT

Dear Saker,

Maybe Flynn was the mole.

Maybe the fight Trump was supposed to put up to keep Flynn was a trap.

Maybe Trump dodged another one.

Lets see what transpires.
Anonymous on February 14, 2017 · at 11:59 pm EST/EDT

Dear Saker,

The next one out may be Preibus.
AOS on February 15, 2017 · at 12:24 am EST/EDT

How demoralizing. I was hoping against hope that Trump would have the strength to prevail. Now, I am starting to doubt. I frankly couldn’t believe it at first, that Trump would authorize his people to go back to the same tired utterly stupid line of ‘Russia must give Crimea Back’. Don’t you neocons get it, that we are so sick and tired of hearing this ridiculous nonsense? Crimea is Russia’s, end of story. Besides the fact it’s none of our business, Russia will never be so stupid as to relinquish such a key strategic position, so get over it. We have enough problems here at home to solve. I thought Trump understood this.
Jim Miles on February 15, 2017 · at 12:25 am EST/EDT

Congratulations to Russia – they seem to have accomplished something the CIA would be proud of – compromising the most powerful nation on earth.
Charu on February 15, 2017 · at 12:47 am EST/EDT

Recall that Putin warned of a ‘soft’ coup. Well, it just got a lot softer.
Talks-to-Cats on February 15, 2017 · at 1:18 am EST/EDT

After 20 or 30 years of development, OK. But western Europe is a mess — depressed economies, saddled with invaders and occupied by US troops (who are not there to intimidate RF. Europe is revolting and the US forces — like in Germany since 1945 — are there to be available on the scene if things are getting out of hand). Russia has its hands full already. Very unpromising beginning point.
White Whale on February 15, 2017 · at 2:36 am EST/EDT

Everyone with a twitter account, I am begging you. Please please tweet the pics of McCain with his ISIS buddies and his 2016 New Year sojourn with his Ukie buddies at the ATO line.
He must be exposed as he has no authority to be talking about “risks” to national security!

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/02/14/mccain-gen-flynn-resignation-indication-of-dysfunction-in-national-security-apparatus/
rj on February 15, 2017 · at 2:44 am EST/EDT

rubbish, just teething problems in the dirty swamp
Adolph on February 15, 2017 · at 2:56 am EST/EDT

Ziomedia
Mein Gauleiter wo bist du?
Kirk Johnson on February 15, 2017 · at 3:00 am EST/EDT

Saker: you completely misjudge Pence; time will completely prove your thesis wrong about him and Mattis. Also, I agree thatTrump should not have fired Flynn, but he will be searching for the Deep State secret leakers…
THORAX on February 15, 2017 · at 3:46 am EST/EDT

Saker:

May I suggest you relax a little bit. We knew this was a long battle. Think Sun Tzu or chess. The globalist cabal moved their power pieces. The trail will be detected and a space has opened in the deep state to attack.
GuestAug on February 15, 2017 · at 5:05 am EST/EDT

Just spent a few moments watching MSNBC. They were showing and endless stream of pictures of Flynn and Trump together. It very much smelled like an attempt to link Trump to (discredited) Flynn in the viewer’s mind in order to prepare the public for a possible action (impeachment attempt?) against Trump himself.
Julie on February 15, 2017 · at 5:11 am EST/EDT

there is a hero and his name is George Webb. He is writing a daily webcast ‘Where is Eric Braverman’ now day 114. EB was the former CEO of Clinton Foundation and named as the LEAK by PODESTA in the WikiLeaks podesta email. EB realised he had been outed and said ‘Follow the Money’ and disappeared. He was briefly reported by MSM that he was seeking asylum with Russian Embassy but did not show up, he did not show up for his teaching job at Yale either. He is now missing 114 days, the MSM does not cover it. Fortunately we have a George Webb who did, follow the money and every day a webcast. He uncovered the Clinton Foundation selling arms, sarin and stingers to Syria, the reason for regime change is for a oil line from Qutar to the Med. He is now uncovering DynCorp, the CF in Haiti, the corruption etc etc. This is the real story so tell all including your President Trump.
GuestAug on February 15, 2017 · at 5:12 am EST/EDT

I think it was just a self-delusion and wishful thinking when we thought that a president (any president) has a chance against the US deep state. In a way, I am glad we are back to reality. In the end, what really matters is whether China, Russia, and Iran can stand united against the Anglo-Zionists who control the U.S. government. If not, we’ll be stuck in the unipolar world for a long time.
Max on February 15, 2017 · at 5:24 am EST/EDT

It’s like entering an Alt-Facts Matrix of a completely different paradigm.

For one thing, if we are “the new Ukraine”, does that mean Canada is going to invade us in order to gain access to the Texas refineries?

And … WE created the Wahhabis by finding that craziness, a Faustian bargain by a fake kingdom of Saudi “royalty” that only exists as our “oil pimps”!

And finally, Flynn’s main sin was at least creating a strong impression that he was negotiating for a Administration that did not yet exist as a private citizen (major no-no) and then not telling Pence the whole story and thus blindsiding his boss!

Talk about a fevered swamp!

“I am quite sure that nobody today is celebrating in the Kremlin. Putin, Lavrov and the others surely understand exactly what happened. It is as if Khodorkovsy would have succeeded in breaking Putin in 2003. In fact, I have to credit Russian analysts who for several weeks already have been comparing Trump to Yanukovich, who also was elected by a majority of the people and who failed to show the resolve needed to stop the ‘color revolution’ started against him. But if Trump is the new Yanukovich, will the US become the next Ukraine?

Flynn was very much the cornerstone of the hoped-for Trump foreign policy. There was a real chance that he would reign in the huge, bloated and all-powerful three letter agencies and that he would focus US power against the real enemy of the West: the Wahabis. With Flynn gone, this entire conceptual edifice has now come down. We are going to be left with the likes of Mattis and his anti-Iranian statements. Clowns who only impress other clowns.ⁿ
Honora on February 15, 2017 · at 5:45 am EST/EDT

“There was a real chance that he would REIGN in the huge, bloated and all-powerful three letter agencies”.

Oops, typo that changes the meaning of this sentence 180 degrees.
Rick on February 15, 2017 · at 9:11 am EST/EDT

I read many news outlets and enjoy the comments but up to this point I have never commented.The world is full of experts and this site is just crammed full of them,always negative,making a lot out of bugger all.It has to be a complex answer because it just cant be simple!
Well it is simple….Flynn wasnt honest and Trump has said.You know you (edited MOD) up and if I save your arse thats the end of Our only chance to save our country…Bye Bye.
Big Ot on February 15, 2017 · at 10:15 am EST/EDT

This reads like the “Trump’s campaign is over” crap repeated a million times during the campaign. Flynn resigned, its good to get this stupid heat off of Trump rather than keep it around for more weeks and weeks. If he lied to the FBI or whatever its best to let him go now. Trump knows Russians are white, and he admires beauty. He held a beauty pageant in Moscow. Stop adding to the hysteria. Relax. Yes he needs to clean house, leakers should be made an example of. Give him positive energy, damnit!
DocNoss on February 15, 2017 · at 11:04 am EST/EDT

But why would the “deep state” and Neocons want to get rid of Flynn, who was clearly a delusional warmonger determined to start a war with Iran? It seems with Flynn the Neocons finally had their perfect scenario in place to start their long-awaited destruction of Iran.
Nat Mitchell on February 15, 2017 · at 11:23 am EST/EDT

My heart is broken although I expected something like this; I have learned that no one can be trusted. What do we do?
aj on February 15, 2017 · at 12:01 pm EST/EDT

Ok. So Flynn is sacrificed. Can Trump no longer move against the intelligence community?
Steven Rowlandson on February 15, 2017 · at 1:15 pm EST/EDT

I don’t really know Trumps mind but if I was in his shoes the Deep State, Neocons and anyone opposed to my policies, methods and point of view would have been impaled on the white house lawn by now.
When playing the game of thrones you either win or you die! A nation can not survive treason from within committed by previous regimes and their agents or sponsors.

Cicero Treason From Within
https://youtu.be/Ihh-Y85RNmU
- Anonymous on February 15, 2017 · at 3:22 pm EST/EDT
  
  Here’s Trump’s tweet of the day for Wednesday:
  Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 3 hours ago
  
  Crimea was TAKEN by Russia during the Obama Administration. Was Obama too soft on Russia?
S113 on February 15, 2017 · at 3:56 pm EST/EDT

The CETA trade deal between Canada and the EU was ratified today.

https://sputniknews.com/world/201702151050703165-eu-cata-canada/

The deal “could provisionally apply from April.” If CETA grants Russia access to the EU market, through the back door (China is really the Middle Kingdom in this one!!), then Russian sanctions are now de facto over. Finished.

Does this explain some of what we are seeing from the Trump administration?
Anonymous on February 15, 2017 · at 5:04 pm EST/EDT

There is one thing that friends and enemies of Trump have in common – they all consistently underestimate him.

Against incredible opposition, he relentlessly marched forward to be POTUS. Today, he is fumbling around, strengthening his new legs as a neophyte politician. This makes it so easy to overlook what Trump really is – a seasoned ruthless power player.

Get your popcorn ready – For him, this game has only just begun.
- blue on February 15, 2017 · at 8:12 pm EST/EDT
  
  Speculative article —
  http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/02/10/a-psychological-portrait-of-donald-trump/
  A Psychological Portrait of Donald Trump
  
  Always difficult to diagnose someone at a distance — which is one reason that professional shrinks avoid it. However, suppose we take the following to be sort of on target…
  ”
  In that regard, one could say that Trump’s psychological characteristics are consistent with a person with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), which is characterized by a pattern of disregard for, or violation of, the rights of others. Also apparent in this disorder is a history of legal problems and of impulsive and aggressive behavior.
  
  Individuals with this disorder generally have no compunction in exploiting others in harmful ways for their own gain and pleasure. They frequently manipulate and deceive other people through a façade of wit and superficial charm, or even through intimidation and violence.
  
  What makes this disorder particularly dangerous is that among its other characteristics those who have it are often reckless and impulsive, and fail to consider the consequences of their actions. In addition, they are often aggressive and manifest a lopsided temper, lashing out with violence to what they perceive is a provocation.
  ”
  
  Maybe not quite so unpredictable or whatever, but it’s pretty clear he does not like to lose, or to take orders from other, and if he is sociopathic that implies significant capability in playing that game.
  
  “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow death I fear no evil, for I am the craziest and most evil SOB in the valley”.
  
  But maybe not, maybe he is not so crazy but crazy of a more common variety, and quite cunning and crafty. Either way, it’s quite dangerous to take him on, and he should not be expected to simply fold and flutter away in the wind. One does not become president by doing that. His greatest weakness is probably his right wing and capitalist ideology, and associated blind spots, but this also the vulnerability of his government opponents, and yet he seems more flexible and pragmatic than them. He is not so different from them in many ways, and yet different enough that they have difficulty in dealing with him, and, after all, Trump is the one who became a billionaire through his own work and not being a paid off politician. If what he is doing does not work for him, he will change what he is doing. He does give up.
Al on February 15, 2017 · at 5:58 pm EST/EDT

It’s going to depend on who else Trump picks as National Security Advisor.
Wim on February 15, 2017 · at 6:52 pm EST/EDT

Depends how you look at it:
– Flynn was attacked over the conversation with the Russian ambassador. But on that issue Trump stood behind him.
– Flynn allowed himself to be intimidated by the secret services who threatened him with some two century old law (that has never been enforced) that forbids citizens to involve themselves in diplomacy. Of course the services were very wrong here. Instead of claiming that the conversation made him a target for blackmail they should have advised him to become clear so that he couldn’t be blackmailed by anyone.
– Flynn lied on two subjects to Pence. First he made false statements about his conversations with the Russians. And then he lied that he hadn’t given his son he security clearance while in fact he had. In both cases Pence repeatedly defended Flynn in public and he was embarrassed when the lie came out. This cost Flynn the support of Pence.
– Flynn was accused of a chaotic management style. It is hard to say to what extent that was true. But it may have cost him internal support.

Flynn fell because of his own weaknesses. Of course now the neocons smell blood and try to get the most out of it. We have to wait and see to what extent they will succeed.
PokeTheTruth on February 15, 2017 · at 7:23 pm EST/EDT

Back and forth the commentaries go.

Trump’s shortcoming is he engages his mouth before his brain. He needs to act like the Chief Executive and stop wasting his energy on foolish commentary like his former life in television or his daughter’s woe with her clothing business. He does that because he’s use to being the CEO of all he possesses and no one stood up to him, until now. He can’t use that same tact with Washington, DC. He has too many opponents to overcome, the broadcast media, the press, the courts and the military have politically assaulted him on multiple fronts. He has no experience in dealing with such an onslaught at one time and he is losing the battle to make America great again.

Trump was able to defeat the great adversity he faced during the presidential campaign but this is too much to bear. He could have counter-attacked but he and his advisors are too short sighted to have seen what would happen once he obtained the presidency.

Trump needs a diversion, something to distract the country, even briefly. He could bring up the nuclear disaster in Fukishima, Japan and how the radiation is working its way to the Californian coast. He could re-open the investigation to 9/11 which is still an open sore in the minds of many Americans. The Clinton scandal including their foundation that diverted money away from Haiti’s disaster recovery to fill their personal treasury. Anything to take the heat off but he’s not smart or savvy enough to know how to perform combat in the political game of absolute power.

The war mongering neocons are firmly in command, the president is the commander-in-chief in name only; a puppet who vents with innocuous tweets into the vacuum of the social media space. Obama was a figurehead, like Elizabeth, Queen of England and Trump is following in his footsteps. He will accomplish a few things related to the domestic economy but the scepter of foreign policy authority has been removed from his hands by the globalists or whatever name you call them. What can Trump do to stop the coming war with Iran, Russia or China?

If he was bold, he should announce to the nation that war is coming and only the people can stop it. A great call to those citizens who voted for him and plead to stop what they’re doing, bring tents and provisions and come to Washington, DC. Fill the city with 10 million or more of the American people, surround the U.S. Capital, Supreme Court building and the Pentagon. Demand the generals, admirals, justices and the congressmen resign from office.

The only power left to control the central government rests in the people. If they can’t do that for their country then Donald Trump should leave office and accept the reality that Washington is corrupt beyond all saving. Trump’s resignation will be the first sign that military conflict in Eastern Europe is eminent on several fronts.

In the Baltic region, the Kaliningrad Oblast which is surrounded by NATO, will be under a surprise air attack as a diversion, to test Russia’s response. Prior to that, the U.S. will have already moved troop carrying ships into the Black Sea filled with US-NATO forces. During the attack on Kaliningrad, the naval base at Sevastopol, will be assaulted and ground forces will land on the eastern shore of Crimea akin to storming the beachheads of the Normandy coast during World War II. US-NATO will take many losses to succeed in the objective to get a foothold on the peninsula.

If Russia tries to fight regionally, they will be worn down to exhaustion, militarily, economically and politically. Nothing will stop the U.S. hegemon; they control the western press, the halls of justice, the banking system and the American people are too distracted with social media. Russia has to unleash a hellish nuclear counter-attack on the eastern seaboard of the U.S and destroy the war machine. That is the only way to kill the elitist syndicate’s plan for world domination, the only way to stop them once and for all.
pcanon on February 15, 2017 · at 8:25 pm EST/EDT

Have patience, Saker. The inside word is that the Trump people are gradually cleaning house. Give them more time before you write them off. Losing Flynn is a tragedy, without doubt, but the other side has not yet won the war.
Silvan on February 15, 2017 · at 9:09 pm EST/EDT

Trump is surrounded by many Ashkenazi Jews/Zionists in his cabinett as also in his company and family. He is a closet Zionist, for sure.
- Ann on February 15, 2017 · at 10:47 pm EST/EDT
  
  maybe that will help him in this instance –
timtracy on February 16, 2017 · at 12:08 am EST/EDT

Why did Trump, on the same day, cancel the visit to Odessa?

Flynn resigned. Does that mean he no longer exists?